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POPULAR  CYCLOPAEDIA 


BIBLICAL   LITERATURE 


CONDENSED. 


POPULAR  CYCLOPEDIA 


BIBLICAL   LITERATURE 


CONDENSED  FROM   THE  LARGER  WORK. 


/  BY 

JOHN  KITTO,  D.D.,  F.S.A., 

AUTHOE  OF  'THE  PICTORIAl  BIBIB,'  *  THE  HISTOEY  AJJD  PHYSICAL  GEOGEAPHY  OF  PALESTINE,'  ETC., 
AND  EDITOR   OF   THE  JOXJENAL  OF   SACKED  LITERATUEE. 


ASSISTED   BY 


REV.  JAMES  TAYLOR,  D.D., 


OF      GLASGOW. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  NUMEROUS  ENGRAVINGS. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED  BY  GOULD  AND  LINCOLN, 

59    WASHINGTON    STREET. 

1851. 


BOSTON: 

OF  GEORGE  C.  RAND  AND  COMPANV, 

3  Cornhill. 


PEEFACE 


The  Cyclopedia  of  Biblical  Literature  was  designed  to  furnish  a 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  not  framed,  as  others  had  been,  out  of  old  materials, 
but  embodying  the  products  of  the  best  and  most  recent  researches  in  Bibhcal 
Literature,  in  which  the  scholars  of  this  country  and  of  the  continent  had  been 
engaged.  That  work  —  the  result  of  an  immense  labour  and  research,  and 
enriched  by  the  contributions  of  writers  of  distinguished  eminence  in  the 
various  departments  of  Sacred  Literature  —  has  been,  by  universal  consent, 
pronounced  to  be  the  first  work  of  its  class,  and  the  one  best  suited  to  the 
advanced  knowledge  of  the  present  da}^,  in  all  the  studies  connected  with  Theo- 
logical Science.  But  although  that  Cyclopaedia  is  regarded  as  indispensable  to 
the  libraries  of  all  Ministers  and  Theological  Students,  it  has  been  concluded 
that  a  Com-pendious  Abridgment  of  itS  contents,  embracing  all  the  matter 
suited  to  popular  and  general  use,  might  be  acceptable  to  very  many  whose 
studies  have  not  created  a  need  for  the  larger  work,  or  whose  means  do  not 
enable  them  to  secure  the  possession  of  it.  In  the  present  volume  an  attempt 
has,  therefore,  been  made  to  supply  this  Avant,  by  providing  such  a  popular 
Abridgment  of  the  Cyclopgedia  of  Biblical  Literature  as  may  be  suited  to  the 
use  of  the  great  body  of  the  religious  public,  and  which  may  be  expected  to  be 
of  essential  service  to  parents  and  teachers  in  the  important  business  of  Biblical 
Education,  while  to  many  young  persons  it  may  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the 
more  extensive  woi-k. 

The  original  publication  is  above  twice  the  size  of  the  present.  The 
Epitome  now  offered  for  popular  use  has  been  prepared  with  much  care  and 
solicitude,  by  the  condensation  of  most  of  the  matter  in  the  original  work,  and 
by  the  entire  omission  of  some  articles  which  were  supposed  to  be  of  less 
interest  to  the  general  reader  than  to  the  Clergyman  and  the  Theological 


Student.  In  the  work,  as  it  here  stands,  is  offered  such  an  exhibition  of  the 
results  of  large  research,  without  the  details  and  authorities,  as  could  not,  it  is 
beheved,  have  been  produced,  had  not  the  larger  Cyclopaedia  previously  existed, 
and  its  valuable  materials  been  made  available  for  this  service.  Drawn  from 
such  a  source,  it  is  believed  that  this  Abridgment  will  possess  the  same  superi- 
ority over  PopuLAK  Cyclopaedias  of  this  class,  as  the  original  Avork  confessedly 
does  over  those  which  aspire  to  liigher  erudition. 

In  the  Cyclopaedia  of  Biblical  Literature  the  initials  of  the  writers  are 
annexed  to  theu*  respective  contributions.  Tliis  has  not  been  deemed  necessary 
in  the  present  Abridgment ;  but  a  list  is  given  of  all  the  writers  who  coop- 
erated with  the  editor  in  the  production  of  the  original  work,  from  which  the 
present  Compendium  has  been  formed. 

Many  articles  in  the  larger  Cyclopaedia,  more  especially  in  the  department 
of  Natural  History,  are  treated  under  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  form  of  word; 
but,  in  the  present  popular  Compendium,  it  has  been  judged  better  that  these 
articles  should  appear  under  the  names  by  which  they  ai'c  represented  in  the 
authorized  version  of  the  Scriptures,  and  take  then-  place  in  the  alphabetical 
position  they  hold  under  these  names. 

It  remains  only  to  be  added,  that  although  the  editor  lias  taken  some  part 
of  the  labour,  and  has  superAased  the  whole  operation,  the  substantial  work  of 
the  Abridgment  has  been  executed  by  the  careful  hands  of  the  Reverend 
James  Taylor,  D.  D.,  of  Glasgow. 

JOHN    KITTO. 


LIST   OF  CONTEIBUTOES. 


Rev.  W.  L.  Alexander,  D.  D.,  Author  of  '  The  Connexion  and  Harmony  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments,'  &c. 

Rev.  G.  Baur,  Ph.  D.,  Extraordinary  Professor  of  Evangelical   Theology  in   the 
University  of  Giessen. 

Rev.  J.  R.  Beard,  D.  D.,  Member  of  the  Historico-Theological  Society  of  Leipzig. 

G.  M.  Bell,  Author  of  '  Universal  Mechanism,'  &c. 

Rev.  C.  H.  F.  Bialloblotzky,  Ph.  D.,  Gottingen,  Author  of  '  De  Abrogatione 
Legis.' 

Rev.  John  Brown,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Exegetical  Theology  to  the  United  Presby- 
terian Church. 

Rev.  George  Bush,  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Oriental  Literature  in  the  University 
of  New  York. 

Rev.  James  D.  Butler,  AWjot   Resident,  Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  United 

States. 
K.  A.  Credner,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Giessen. 

Rev.  S.  Davidson,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Oriental  Languages 
in  the  Lancashire  Independent  College. 

Rev.  Benjamin  Davies,  D.  D. 

Rev.  J.  F.  Denham,  M.  A.,  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  F.  R.  S. 

Rev.  J.  W.  DoRAN,  LL.  D.,  Association  Secretary  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

Rev.  John  Eadie,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  to  the  United  Presbyterian 

Church. 
G.  H.  A.  VON  EwALD,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Gottingen. 
Rev.  F.  W.  Gotch,  M.  A.,  Trinity  College,  Dublm. 

H.  ^.  C.  Havernick,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Konigsberg. 
E.  W.  Hengstenberg,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Berlin. 
Rev.  J.  Jacobi,  of  the  University  of  Berlin. 


Vm  LIST    OF   CONTKIBUTORS. 

Rev.  R.  Jamieson,  M.  A.,  Editor  of  '  Paxton's  Illustrations  of  Scripture.' 

Rev.  E.  a.  Lawrence,  Haverhill,  United  States. 

Rev.  Robert  Lee,  D.  D.,  Edinburgh. 

Fredeiiick  R.  Lees,  Ph.D.,  F.S.S.A.;  Editor  of  '  The  Truth-Seeker,' &c. 

E.  MiCHELSON,  Ph.  D.  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg. 

Rev.  Peter  Mearns,  Author  of  '  Tirosh,'  &e. 

Rev.  N.  Morren,  M.  A.,  Author  of  '  Biblical  Theology,'  and  Translator  of  '  Rosen- 
miiller's  Biblical  Geography.' 

F.  W.  Newman,  late  Fellow  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  Professor  of  Latin  Language 

and  Literature  in  the  University  of  London. 

John  Nicholson,  B.  A.,  Oxford,  Ph.  D.,  Tubingen;  Author  of  'An  Account  of  the 
Establishment  of  the  Fatemite  Dynasty,'  Translator  of  '  Ewald's  Hebrew  Gram- 
mar.' 

W.  A.  Nicholson,  M.D. 

Rev.  John  Phillips  Potter,  M.  A.,  Oriel  College,  Oxford. 

Rev.  Baden  Powell,  M.  A.,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  G.  S.,  Savillian  Professor  of  Geometry  in 
the  University  of  Oxford. 

J.  F.  RoYLE,  M.  D.,  F.R.S.,  F.L.S.,  F.  G.  S.,  Member  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  So- 
cieties of  Calcutta  and  London ;  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics  in 
King's  College,  London. 

J.  E.  Ryland,  Translator  of  '  Neander's  Chui-ch  History,'  and  of  '  Semisch's  Justin 
Martyr.' 

Leeut.-Colonel  C.  Hamilton  Smith,  K.  H.  and  K.  W.,  F.  R.  and  L.  S.,  President 
of  the  Devon  and  Cornwall  Natural  History  Society,  &c.  &c. 

Rev.  J.  Pye  Smith,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  F.  G.  S. 

Rev.  H.  Stebbing,  D.  D.,  of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  Author  of  '  A  History 
of  the  Church,'  &c. 

Rev.  a.  Tiioluck,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  University  of  Halle. 

Rev.  David  Welsh,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Church  History,  New  College, 
Edinburgh. 

Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  Andover  Theological 
Seminary,  United  States. 

Rev.  William  Wright,  LL.  D.  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  Translator  of  '  SeUor's 
Biblical  Hermeneutics.' 


C  Y  C  L  0  P  -E  D  I A 


BIBLICAL    LITERATURE 


CONDENSED. 


AA'EON,  the  eldest  son  of  Amram  and 
Jocliebad,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  brother  of 
Moses.  He  was  born  b.c.  1574  (Hales,  b.c. 
1730),  three  years  before  Moses,  and  one  year 
before  Pharaoh's  edict  to  destroy  the  male 
children  of  the  Israelites  (Exod.  vi.  20 ;  vii.  7). 
His  name  first  occurs  in  the  mj'sterious  inter- 
view -which  Moses  had  with  the  Lord,  who 
appeared  to  him  in  the  burning  bush,  while  he 
kept  Jethro's  flock  in  Horeb.  Among  other 
excuses  by  which  Moses  sought  to  evade  the 
great  commission  of  delivering  Israel,  one  was 
that  he  lacked  that  persuasive  readiness  of 
speech  (literally  was  'not  a  man  of  words') 
which  appeared  to  him  essential  to  such  an 
undertaking.  But  he  was  reminded  that  his 
brother  Aaron  possessed  in  a  high  degree  .the 
endowment  which  he  deemed  so  needful,  and 
could  therefore  speak  in  his  name  and  on  his 
behalf  (Exod.  iv.  14).  During  the  forty  years' 
absence  of  Moses  in  the  land  of  Midian,  Aaron 
had  married  a  woman  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
named  Elisheba  (or  Elizabeth),  who  had  born 
to  him  four  sons,  Nadab,  Abihu,  Eleazer,  and 
Ithamar ;  and  Eleazer  had,  before  the  return  of 
]\Ioses,  become  the  father  of  Phinehas  (Exod. 
vi.  23-25). 

In  obedience  to  an  intimation  from  God, 
Aaron  went  into  the  wilderness  to  meet  his 
brother,  and  conduct  him  back  to  Egypt.  After 
forty  years  of  separation  they  met  and  embraced 
each  other  at  the  mount  of  Horeb.  "W  hen  they 
arrived  in  Goshen,  Aaron  introduced  his  brother 
to  the  chiefs  of  Israel,  and  assisted  him  in  open- 
ing and  enforcing  the  great  commission  which 
had  been  confided  to  him  (Exod.  iv.  27-.31).  In 
the  subsequent  transactions,  from  the  first  inter- 
view Avith  Pharaoh  till  after  the  delivered  nation 
had  passed  the  Red  Sea,  Aaron  appears  to  have 
been  almost  always  present  with  Moses,  assist- 
ing and  supporting  him  ;  and  no  separate  act  of 
his  own  is  recorded.  This  co-operation  was 
ever  afterwards  maintained.  Aaron  and  Hur 
were  present  on  the  hill  from  which  Moses  sur- 
veyed the  battle  which  Joshua  fought  with  the 
Amalekites ;  and  these  two  long  sustained  the 
weary  hands  upon  whose  uplifting  the  fate  of 
the  battle  was  found  to  depend  (Exod.  xvii, 
10-12). 


"While  Moses  was  absent  in  the  mountain  to 
receive  the  tables  of  the  law,  the  people  seem 
to  have  looked  upon  Aaron  as  their  head,  and 
growing  impatient  at  the  protracted  absence  of 
their  great  leader,  they  gathered  around  Aaron, 
and  clamorously  demanded  that  he  should  pro- 
vide them  with  a  visible  symbolic  image  of  their 
God,  that  they  might  worship  him  as  other 
gods  were  worshipped.  Aaron  ventured  not  to 
stem  the  torrent,  but  weakly  complied  with 
their  demand ;  and  Avith  the  ornaments  of  gold 
which  they  freely  offered,  cast  the  figure  of  a 
calf  or  young  bull,  being  doubtless  that  of  the 
bull-god  Apis  at  Memphis,  whose  worship  ex- 
tended throughout  Egypt.  However,  to  fix  the 
meaning  of  this  image  as  a  symbol  of  the  true 
God,  Aaron  was  careful  to  proclaim  a  feast  to 
Jehovah  for  the  ensuing  day.  On  that  day  the 
people  met  to  celebrate  the  feast,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  Egyptian  festivals  of  the  calf-idol, 
with  dancing,  with  shouting,  and  with  sports. 

Meanwhile  Moses  had  been  dismissed  from 
the  mountain,  provided  with  the  decalogue, 
written  '  by  the  finger  of  God,'  on  two  tablets 
of  stone.  These,  as  soon  as  he  came  sufficiently 
near  to  observe  the  proceedings  in  the  camp,  he 
cast  from  him  with  such  force  that  they  brake 
in  pieces.  His  re-appearance  confounded  the 
multitude,  who  quailed  under  his  stern  rebuke, 
and  quietly  submitted  to  see  their  new-made 
idol  destroyed.  For  this  sin  the  population  was 
decimated  by  sword  and  plague  (Exod.  xxxii.). 

During  his  long  absence  in  the  mountain, 
Moses  had  received  instructions  regarding  the 
ecclesiastical  establishment,  the  tabernacle  [Ta- 
bernacle], and  the  priesthood  [Priests],  which 
he  soon  afterwards  proceeded  to  execute.  Under 
the  new  institution  Aaron  was  to  be  high-priest, 
and  his  sons  and  descendants  priests ;  and  the 
whole  tribe  to  which  he  belonged,  that  of  Levi, 
was  set  apart  as  the  sacerdotal  or  learned  caste 
[Levites].  Accordingly,  after  the  tabernacle 
had  been  completed,  and  every  preparation 
made  for  the  commencement  of  actual  service, 
Aaron  and  his  sons  were  consecrated  by  Moses, 
who  anointed  them  with  the  holy  oil  and  in- 
vested them  with  the  sacred  garments.  The 
high-priest  applied  himself  assiduously  to  the 
duties   of    his   exalted  office,  and  during    the 


AARONITES 


ABARIM 


period  of  nearly  forty  years  that  it  was  filled  by 
him,  the  incidents  which  bring  him  historically 
before  us  are  very  few.  It  is  recorded  to  his 
honour  that  '  he  held  his  peace '  when  his  two 
eldest  sons  were,  for  their  great  offence,  struck 
dead  before  the  sanctuary  (Lev.  x.  1-11) 
[Abiiiu].  Aaron  would  seem  to  have  been 
liable  to  some  fits  of  jealousy  at  the  superior 
influence  and  authority  of  his  brother;  for  he 
at  least  sanctioned  the  invidious  conduct  of  his 
sister  Miriam  [Miriam],  who,  after  the  wife  of 
Moses  had  been  brought  to  the  camp  by  Jethro, 
became  apprehensive  for  her  own  position,  and 
cast  reflections  upou  Moses,  much  calculated  to 
damage  his  influence,  on  account  of  his  mar- 
riage with  a  foreigner — always  an  odious  thing 
among  the  Hebrews.  For  this,  Miriam  was 
struck  with  temporary  leprosy,  which  brought  the 
high-priest  to  a  sense  of  his  sinful  conduct,  and 
he  sought  and  obtained  forgiveness  (Num.  xii.). 

Some  twenty  years  after  (B.C.  1471),  when  the 
camp  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  a  formi- 
dable conspiracy  was  organized  against  the  sacer- 
dotal authority  exercised  by  Aaron  and  his  sons, 
and  the  civil  authority  exercised  by  Moses.  This 
conspiracy  was  headed  by  chiefs  of  influence 
and  station — Korah,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben 
[Korah].  But  the  Divine  appointment  was  con- 
firmed by  the  signal  destruction  of  the  conspira- 
tors :  and  the  next  day,  when  the  people  assem- 
bled tumultuously  and  murmured  loudly  at  the 
destruction  which  had  overtaken  their  leaders 
and  friends,  a  fierce  pestilence  broke  out  among 
them,  and  they  fell  by  thousands  on  the  spot. 
When  this  was  seen,  Aaron,  at  the  command  of 
Moses,  filled  a  censer  with  fire  from  the  altar, 
and,  rasliing  forward.  '  he  stood  between  the 
dead  and  the  living,'  and  the  plague  was  stayed 
(Num.  xvi.).  This  was  in  fact  another  attesta- 
tion of  the  Divine  appointment ;  and,  for  its  fur- 
ther confii-mation,  the  chiefs  of  the  several  tribes 
were  required  to  lay  up  their  staves  overnight 
in  the  tabernacle,  together  with  the  rod  of  Aaron 
for  the  tribe  of  Levi ;  and  in  the  morning  it  was 
found  that,  while  the  other  rods  remained  as 
they  were,  that  of  Aaron  had  budded,  blossomed, 
and  yielded  the  fruit  of  almonds.  The  rod  was 
preserved  in  the  tabernacle  in  evidence  of  the 
Divine  appointment  of  the  Aaronic  family  to  the 
priesthood  (Num.  xvii.  1). 

Aaron  was  not  allowed  to  enter  the  Promised 
Land,  on  account  of  the  distrust  which  he,  as 
well  as  his  brother,  manifested  when  the  rock 
was  stricken  at  Meribah  (Num.  xx.  8-13).  His 
death  indeed  occurred  very  soon  after  that  event. 
For  when  the  host  arrived  at  Mount  Hor,  the 
Divine  mandate  came,  that  Aaron,  accompanied 
by  his  brother  Moses  and  by  his  son  Eleazer, 
should  ascend  to  the  top  of  that  mountain  in  the 
view  of  all  tlie  people  :  and  that  he  should  there 
transfer  his  pontifical  robes  to  Eleazer,  and  then 
die.  He  was  1 23  years  old  when  his  career  thus 
terminated  ;  and  his  son  and  his  brother  buried 
him  in  a  cavern  of  the  mountain  [HoR,  Mount]. 
The  Israelites  mourned  for  him  thirty  days ;  and 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month  Ab  the  Jews  still 
hold  a  fast  in  commemoration  of  his  death. 

AARONITES,  the  descendants  of  Aaron,  who 
served  as  priests  at  the  sanctuary  (Num.  iv.  5, 
seq.;  1  Chron.  xii.  27  ;  xxvii.  17> 


AB  (father)  is  found  as  the  first  member  of 
several  compound  Hebrew  proper  names— such 
as  Abner,ya<^er  <f  li(jht ;  Ahiezcr,  father  of  help; 
&c.  By  a  process  which  it  is  not  difficult  to  con- 
ceive, the  idea  of  a  natural  father  became  modi- 
fied into  that  of  author,  cause,  source  (as  when  it 
is  said, '  has  the  rain  a  father?' — Job  xxxviii. 
28).  So  that,  in  course  of  time,  the  original 
meaning  was  so  far  modified  that  the  word  was 
sometimes  applied  to  a  woman,  as  in  Abigail, 
father  cfjoy. 

AB  is  the  Chaldee  name  of  that  month  which 
is  the  fifth  of  the  ecclesiastical  and  eleventh  of 
the  civil  year  of  the  Jews.  It  commenced  with 
the  new  moon  of  our  August  (the  reasons  for  this 
statement  will  be  given  in  the  article  Months), 
and  always  had  30  days.  This  month  is  pre- 
eminent in  the  Jewish  calendar  as  the  period  of 
the  most  signal  national  calamities.  The  1st  is 
memorable  for  the  death  of  Aaron  (Num.  xxxiii. 
38).  The  9th  is  the  date  assigned  to  the  follow- 
ing events : — the  declaration  that  no  one  then 
adult,  except  Joshua  and  Caleb,  should  enter 
into  the  Promised  Land  (Num.  xiv.  30)  ;  the  de- 
struction of  the  first  Temple  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
(to  these  first  two  '  the  fast  of  the  fifth  month,'  in 
Zech.  vii.  5,  viii.  19,  is  supposed  to  refer)  ;  the 
destruction  of  the  second  Temple  by  Titus  ;  the 
devastation  of  the  city  Buttar,  and  the  slaughter 
of  Ben  Cozibah  (Bar  Cocab),  and  of  several 
thousand  Jews  there ;  and  the  ploughing  up  of 
the  foundations  of  the  Temple  by  Turnus  Rufus 
— the  two  last  of  which  happened  in  the  time  of 
Hadrian. 

The  9th  of  the  month  is  observed  by  the  Jews 
as  a  fast,  in  commemoration  of  the  destruction 
of  the  first  Temple  :  the  1 5th  is  the  day  ap- 
pointed for  the  festival  of  the  wood-oS'ering,  in 
which  the  wood  for  the  burnt-olFering  was  stored 
up  in  the  court  of  the  Temple :  to  which  Nehe- 
miah  alludes  in  x.  34,  and  xiii.  31.  Lastly,  the 
18th  is  a  fast  in  the  memory  of  the  western  lamp 
going  out  in  the  Temple  in  the  time  of  Ahass 
(2  Chron.  xxix.  7,  where  the  extinction  of  the 
lamps  is  mentioned  as  a  part  of  Ahaz's  attempts 
to  suppress  the  Temple  service).  For  an  inquiry 
into  what  is  meant  by  the  western  or  evening 
lamp,  see  the  article  Candlestick. 

AB  AD'DON,  or  Apollvon  {destruction).  The 
former  is  the  Hebrew  name,  and  the  latter  the 
Greek,  for  the  angel  of  death,  described  (Rev. 
ix.  11)  as  the  king  and  chief  of  the  Apocalyptic 
locusts  under  the  fifth  trumpet,  and  as  the  angel 
of  the  abyss  or  '  bottomless  pit '  [Hades]. 

AB'ANA,  or,  as  it  is  given  in  the  marginal 
reading,  Amana,  the  name  of  one  of  the  rivers 
which  are  mentioned  by  Naaman  (2  Kings  v. 
12),  'Abana  and  Pharpar,'  as  'rivers  of  Da- 
mascus.' Amana  signifies  'perennial,'  and  is 
probably  the  true  uame.  At  the  present  day  it 
is  scarcely  possible  to  discover  with  certainty 
the  stream  to  which  this  name  was  applied.  The 
most  recent  conjecture  seeks  the  Abana  in  the 
small  river  Fidgi,  which  rises  in  a  pleasant  val- 
ley fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to  the  north-west  of 
Damascus  and  falls  into  the  Barrada,  the  main 
stream  by  which  Damascus  is  irrigated. 

AB'ARIM,  a  mountain,  or  rather  chain  of 
mountains,  which  form  or  belong  to  the  moun- 
tainous district  east  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the 
lower  Jordan.     It  presents  many  distinct  miisses 


ABEL 

and  elevations,  commanding  extensive  views  of 
the  country  west  of  the  river.  From  one  of  the 
highest  of  these,  called  Mount  Nebo,  Moses  sur- 
veyed the  I'romised  Laud  before  he  died.  From 
the  manner  in  which  the  names  Abarim,  Nebo, 
and  Pisgah  are  connected  ( Dent,  xxxii.  49,  '  Get 
thee  up  into  this  mountain  Abarim,  unto  Mount 
Nebo  ;'  and  xxxiv.  1,  '  Unto  the  mountain  of 
Nebo,  to  the  top  of  Pisgah'),  it  would  seem  that 
Nebo  was  a  mountain  of  the  Abarim  chain,  and 
that  Pisgah  was  the  higiiest  and  most  command- 
ing peak  of  that  mountain.  The  loftiest  moun- 
tain of  the  neighbourhood  is  Mount  Attams, 
about  ten  miles  north  of  the  Arnon  ;  and  travel- 
lers have  been  disposed  to  identify  it  with  Mount 
Nebo.  It  is  represented  as  barren,  its  summit 
being  marked  by  a  wild  pistachio-tree  over- 
shadowing a  heap  of  stones. 

AB'Bi\.  is  the  Hebi-ew  word  Ab,  father,  under 
a  form  peculiar  to  the  Chaldee  idiom  (Mark 
xiv.  3C  ;  Eom.  viii.  15;  Gal.  iv.  6). 

1.  ABDON  (a  servant),  the  son  of  Hillel,  of 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  tenth  judge  of  Israel. 
He  succeeded  Elon,  and  judged  Israel  eight 
years.  Nothing  is  recorded  of  him  but  that  he 
had  forty  sons  and  thirty  nephews,  who  rode  on 
young  asses — a  mark  of  their  consequence  (Judg. 
xii.  13-15).     Abdon  died  B.C.  1112. 

There  were  three  other  persons  of  this  name, 
which  appears  to  have  been  rather  common. 
They  are  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  viii.  23 ;  ix.  36  ; 
and  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  20. 

2.  ABDON,  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Asher, 
which  was  given  to  the  Levites  of  Gershom's 
family  (Josh.  xxi.  30 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  74). 

ABED'NEGO  {servant  of  Nego,  i.  e.  Neho),  the 
Chaldee  name  imposed  by  the  king  of  Babylon's 
officer  upon  Azariah,  one  of  the  three  com- 
panions of  Daniel.  With  his  two  friends,  Shad- 
rach  and  Meshach,  he  was  miraculously  de- 
livered from  the  burning  furnace,  into  which 
they  -Niere  cast  for  refusing  to  worship  the 
golden  statue  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  caused 
to  be  set  up  (Dan.  iii.). 

A'BP^L,  properly  Hebel,  the  second  son  of 
Adam,  who  was  slain  by  Cain,  his  elder  brother 
(Gen.  iv.  1-1 G).  The  circumstances  of  that  mys- 
terious transaction  are  considered  elsewhere 
[Cain].  To  the  name  Abel  a  twofold  interpre- 
tation has  been  given.  Its  primary  significa- 
tion is  weakness  or  vanity.  By  another  render- 
ing it  signifies  grief  ov  lamentation,  both  meanings 
being  justified  by  the  Scripture  narrative.  Cain 
(a  possession)  was  so  named  to  indicate  both  the 
joy  of  his  mother  and  his  right  to  the  inheritance 
of  the  first-born :  Abel  received  a  name  indi- 
cative of  his  weakness  and  poverty  when  com- 
pared with  the  supposed  glory  of  his  brother's 
destiny,  and  propheticalb/  of  the  pain  and 
sorrow  which  were  to  be  inflicted  on  him  and 
his  parents. 

ABEL,  a  name  of  several  villages  in  Israel, 
with  additions  in  the  case  of  the  more  important, 
to  distinguish  them  from  one  another.  It  ap- 
pears to  mean  fresh  g7-ass ;  and  the  places  so 
named  may  be  conceived  to  have  been  in  pecu- 
liarly verdant  situations. 

ABEL,  Abel-beth-Maacah,  or  Abel-Maim, 
a  city  in  the  north  of  Palestine,  which  seems  to 
have  been  of  considerable  strength  from  its  his- 
tory, and  of  importance  from  its  being  called  '  a 


ABIATHAR  3 

mother  in  Israel'  (2  Sam.  xx.  19).  The  iden- 
tity of  the  city  under  these  different  names  will 
be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  2  Sam.  xx.  14,  15,  18 ; 
1  Kings  XV.  20 ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  4.  The  addition 
of  '  Maacah '  marks  it  as  belonging  to,  or  being 
near  to,  the  region  IMaacah,  which  lay  eastward 
of  the  Jordan  under  Mount  Lebanon.  This  is 
the  town  in  which  Sheba  posted  himself  when 
he  rebelled  against  David.  Eighty  years  after- 
wards it  was  taken  and  sacked  by  Benhadad, 
king  of  Syria;  and  20U  years  subsequently  by 
Tiglath-pileser,  who  sent  away  the  inhabitants 
captives  into  Assyria  (2  Kings  xv.  29). 

A'BEL-BETH-MAA'CAH,  that  is,  Abel  near 
the  house  or  city  of  Maacah :  the  same  as  Abel. 

A'BEL-CAllMA'IM  {lilace  of  the  vinei/ards), 
a  village  of  the  Ammonites,  about  six'  miles 
from  Philadelphia,  or  Eabbath  Ammon,  accord- 
ing to  Eusebius,  in  whose  time  the  place  was 
still  rich  in  vineyards  (Judg.  xi.  33)., 

A'BEL-MA'IM.     The  same  as  Abel. 

A'BEL-MEHO'LAH,  or  Abel-Mea  (place  of 
the  dance),  a  towh  supposed  to  have  stood  near 
the  Jordan,  and  some  miles  (Eusebius  says  ten) 
to  the  south  of  Bethshau  or  Scythopolis  (1  Kings 
iv.  12).  It  is  remarkable  in  connection  with 
Gideon's  victory  over  the  Midiauites  (Judg.  vii. 
22),  and  as  the  birth-place  of  Elisha  (1  Kings 
xix.  16). 

A'BEL-MIZRA'IM  (the  mourning  of  the  Egyp- 
tians), the  name  of  a  tlu-eshing-floor,  so  called 
on  account  of  the  '  great  mourning '  made  there 
for  Jacob  by  the  funeral  party  from  Egypt 
(Gen.  L.  11).  Jerome  places  it  between  Jericho 
and  the  Jordan,  where  Bethagla  afterwards 
stood. 

A'BEL-SHIT'TIM  (place  of  acacias),  a  town 
in  the  plains  of  Moab,  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan, 
between  which  and  Beth-Jesimoth  was  the  last 
encampment  of  the  Israelites  on  that  side  the 
river  (Num.  xxxiii.  49).  It  is  more  frequently 
called  Shittim  merely  (Num.  xxv.  1 ;  Josh.  ii.  1 ; 
Mic.  vi.  5).  The  place  is  noted  for  the  punish- 
ment which  was  there  inflicted  upon  the  Israel- 
ites for  their  worship  of  Baal-Peor. 

ABELA.     [Abila.] 

A'BI,  the  mother  of  King  Hezekiah  (2  Kings 
xviii.  2),  called  also  Abijah  (2  Chron.  xxix.  1). 
Her  father's  name  was  Zachariah,  perhaps  the 
same  who  was  taken  by  Isaiah  (viii,  2)  for  a 
witness. 

ABI'A.    [Abijah,  3.] 

ABI'AH,  or  Abijah,  one  of  the  sons  of  Sa- 
muel who  were  intrusted  with  the  administration 
of  justice,  and  whose  misconduct  afforded  the 
ostensible  ground  on  which  the  Israelites  de- 
manded that  their  government  should  be  changed 
into  a  monarchy  (1  Sam.  viii.  1-5). 

ABI-AL'BON.    [Abiel,  2.] 

ABI'ATHAR  (father  of  abundance),  the  tenth 
high-priest  of  the  Jews,  and  fourth  in  descent 
from  Eli.  When  his  father,  the  high-priest 
Abimelech,  was  slain  with  the  priests  at  Nob, 
for  suspected  partiality  to  the  fugitive  David, 
Abiathar  escaped  the  massacre;  and  bearing 
with  him  the  most  essential  part  of  the  priestly 
raiment,  the  ephod  [Priests],  repaired  to  the 
son  of  Jesse,  who  was  then  in  the  cave  of  Adul- 
1am  (1  Sam.  xxii.  20-23;  xxiii.  6).  He  was 
well  received  by  David,  and  became  the  pi-iest 
of  the  party  during  its  wanderings.  As  such  he 
B  2 


ABIGAIL 


ABIJAH 


sought  and  received  for  David  responses  from 
God.  When  David  became  king  of  Judah,  he 
made  Abiathar  high-priest.  Meanwhile  Zadok 
had  been  appointed  high-priest  by  Saul,  and 
continued  to  act  in  this  capacity  while  Abiathar 
was  high-priest  in  Judall.  The  appointment  of 
Zadok  was  not  only  unexceptionable  in  itself, 
but  was  in  accordance  with  the  divine  sentence 
of  deposition  which  had  been  passed  upon  the 
house  of  Eli  (1  Sam.  ii.  30-36).  When,  there- 
fore, David  acquired  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  he 
had  no  just  groimd  on  which  Zadok  could  be 
removed,  'and  Abiathar  set  in  his  place ;  and  the 
attempt  to  do  so  would  probably  have  been 
offensive  to  his  new  subjects.  The  king  got 
over  this  difficulty  by  allowing  both  appoint- 
ments to  stand ;  and  until  the  end  of  David's 
reign  Zadok  and  Abiathar  were  joint  high- 
priests.  As  high-priest  Abiathar  must  have 
been  perfectly  aware  of  the  divine  intention 
that  Solomon  should  be  the  successor  of  David  : 
he  was  therefore  the  least  excusable,  in  some 
respects,  of  all  those  who  were  parties  in  the 
attempt  to  raise  Adonijah  to  the  throne.  So  his 
conduct  seems  to  have  been  viewed  by  Solomon, 
who,  in  deposing  him  from  the  high-priesthood, 
plainly  told  him  that  only  his  sacerdotal  cha- 
racter, and  his  former  services  to  David,  pre- 
served him  from  death.  This  deposition  of 
Abiathar  completed  the  doom  long  before  de- 
nounced upon  the  liouse  of  Eli,  who  was  of  the 
line  of  Ithamar,  the  younger  son  of  Aaron. 
Zadok,  who  remained  the  high-priest,  was  of  the 
elder  line  of  Eleazer  (1  Kings  i.  7,  19;  ii.  26, 
27). 
A'BIB.     [NisAN.] 

1.  AB'l'EL  (father  of  strength,  i.  e.  strony),  the 
father  of  Kish,  whose  son  Saul  was  the  first  king 
of  Lsrael,  and  of  Ner,  whose  son  Abner  was 
captain  of  the  host  to  his  cousin  Saul  (1  Sam. 
ix.  1 ;  xiv.  ,51). 

2.  ABIEL,  one  of  the  thirty  most  distin- 
guished men  of  David's  army  (1  Chron.  xi.  32). 
He  is  called  Abi-albon  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  31  ;  a 
name  which  has  precisely  the  same  signification 
{father  of  strength)  as  the  other. 

ABIE'ZER  (father  of  help,  Josh.  xvii.  2),  a 
son  of  Gilead,  the  grandson  of  Manasseh  (Num. 
xxvi.  30),  and  founder  of  the  family  to  which 
Gideon  belonged,  and  which  bore  his  name  as  a 
pati-onymic— Abiezrites  (Judg.  vi.  34 ;  viii.  2). 

ABIGAIL  (father  ofjoi/),  the  wife  of  a  pros- 
perous sheep-master,  called  Nabal,  who  dwelt  in 
the  district  of  Carmel,  west  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
She  is  known  chiefly  for  the  promptitude  and 
discretion  of  her  conduct  in  taking  measures  to 
avert  the  wrath  of  David,  which  had  been  vio- 
lently excited  by  the  insulting  treatment  which 
his  messengers  had  received  from  her  husband 
[Nabal].  She  hastily  prepared  a  liberal  supply 
of  provisions,  of  which  David's  troop  stood  in 
much  need,  and  went  forth  to  meet  him.  Her 
beauty  and  prudence  made  such  an  impression 
upon  David  on  this  occasion,  that  when,  not 
long  after,  he  heard  of  Nabal's  death,  he  sent 
for  her,  and  she  became  his  wife  (1  Sam.  xxv. 
14-42).  It  is  usually  stated  that  he  had  by  her 
two  sons,  Chileab  and  Daniel ;  but  it  is  more 
likely  that  the  Chilcab  of  2  Sam.  iii.  3,  is  the 
same  as  the  Daniel  of  1  Chron.  iii.  1 ;  the  son  of 
Abigail  beuig  known  by  both  these  names. 


1.  ABIHA'IL  (father  of  light  or  splendour), 
the  wife  of  Rehoboam,  king  of  Judah.  She  is 
called  the  daughter  of  Eliab,  David's  elder 
brother  (2  Chron.  xi.  18);  but  was  doubtless 
only  his  descendant. 

2.  ABIHAIL  (father  of  might,  i.  e.  mighty). 
This  name  should  be  written  Abichail.  It  was 
borne  by  several  persons:  1.  Abichail,  the  son 
of  Huri,  one  of  the  family-chiefs  of  the  tribe  of 
Gad,  who  settled  in  Bashan  (1  Chron.  v.  14). 
2.  Abichail,  the  father  of  Zuriel,  who  was  the 
father  of  the  Levitical  tribes  of  Merari  (Num. 
iii.  35).  3.  Abichail,  the  father  of  Queen 
Esther,  and  brother  of  Mordecai  (Esth.  ii.  15). 

ABI'HU  (father  of  him),  the  second  of  the 
sons  of  Aaron,  who,  with  his  brothers  Nadab, 
Eleazer,  and  Ithamar,  was  set  apart  and  conse- 
crated for  the  priesthood  (Exod.  xxviii.  1).  He 
and  his  brother  Nadab  having  presumed  to  ofi'er 
incense  in  censers  filled  with  '  strange'  or  com- 
mon fire,  they  were  instantly  struck  dead  by 
lightning,  and  were  taken  away  and  buried  in 
their  clothes  without  the  camp.  As  immediately 
after  the  record  of  this  transaction  comes  a  pro- 
hibition of  wine  or  strong  drink  .to  the  priests 
on  duty  at  the  tabernacle,  it  is  not  unfairly  sui-- 
mised  that  they  were  intoxicated  when  they 
committed  this  serious  error  in  their  ministra- 
tions (Lev.  X.  1-11). 

1.  ABI'JAH  (see  signif.  in  Abiah,  2  Chron. 
xiii.  1).  He  is  also  called  Abijam  (1  Kings  xv.). 
Abijah  was  the  second  king  of  the  separate 
kingdom  of  Judah,  being  the  son  of  Rehoboam, 
and  grandson  of  Solomon.  He  began  to  reign 
B.C.  957,  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  Jeroboam, 
king  of  Israel ;  and  he  reigned  three  years. 
At  the  commencement  of  his  reign  Abijah  made 
a  vigorous  attempt  to  bring  back  the  ten  tribes 
to  their  allegiance.  In  this  he  failed ;  although 
a  signal  victory  over  Jeroboam,  who  had  double 
his  force  and  much  greater  experience,  enabled 
him  to  take  several  cities  which  had  been  held 
by  Israel.  The  numbers  reputed  to  have  been 
present  in  this  action  are  800,000  on  the  side  of 
Jeroboam,  400,000  on  the  side  of  Abijah,  and 
500,000  left  dead  on  the  field.  The  book  of 
Chronicles  mentions  nothing  concerning  Abijah 
adverse  to  the  favourable  impressions  which  we 
receive  from  his  conduct  on  this  occasion ;  but 
in  Kings  we  are  told  that  '  he  walked  in  all  the 
sins  of  his  father'  (1  Kings  xv.  3).  He  had 
fourteen  wives,  by  whom  he  left  twenty-two 
sons  and  sixteen  daughters.  Asa  succeeded 
him. 

2.  ABIJAH,  son  of  Jeroboam  I.,  king  of 
Israel.  His  severe  and  threatening  illness  in- 
duced Jeroboam  to  send  his  wife  with  a  present, 
suited  to  the  disguise  in  which  she  went,  to  con- 
sult the  prophet  Ahijah  respecting  his  recovery. 
This  prophet  was  the  same  who  had,  in  the  days 
of  Solomon,  fon.etold  to  Jeroboam  his  elevation 
to  the  throne  of  Israel.  Though  blind  with  age, 
he  knew  the  disguised  wife  of  Jeroboam,  and 
was  authorized,  by  the  prophetic  impulse  that 
came  upon  him,  to  reveal  to  her  that,  because 
there  was  found  in  Abijah  only,  of  all  the  house 
of  Jeroboam,  '  some  good  thing  towards  the 
Lord,'  he  only,  of  all  that  house,  should  come  to 
his  grave  in  peace,  and  be  mourned  in  Israel. 
Accordingly,  when  the  mother  returned  home, 
the  youth  died  as  she  crossed  the  threshold  of 


ABIMELECH 

the  door.    '  And  they  buried  him,  and  all  Israel 
mourned  for  him'  (1  Kings  xiv.  1-18). 

3.  ABU  AH,  one  of  the  descendants  of  Eleazci", 
the  son  of  Aaron,  and  chief  of  one  of  the  twenty- 
four  courses  or  orders  into  which  the  whole  body 
of  the  priesthood  was  divided  by  David  ( 1  Cliron. 
xxiv.  10;  Luke  i.  5).  Of  these  the  course  of 
Abijah  was  the  eighth. 
ABI'JAM.  [ABij.iH,  1.] 
ABI'LA,  capital  of  the  Abilene  of  Lysanias 
(Luke  iii.  1);  and  distinguished  from  other 
places  of  the  same  name  as  the  Abila  of  Lysa- 
nias, and  (by  Josephus)  as  '  the  Abila  of  Leba- 
non.' Abila  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  same 
as  Abel-beth-]Maacah,  but  without  foundation, 
for  that  was  a  city  of  Naphtali,  which  Abila 
was  not.  About  eighteen  miles  north-west  of 
Damascus  is  Souk  Wady  Barrada,  where  an  in- 
scription was  found  by  Mr.  Bankes,  which,  be- 
yond doubt,  identifies  that  place  with  the  Abila 
of  Lysanias.  Burckhardt  states  that  there  are 
here  two  villages,  built  on  the  opposite  sides  of 
the  Barrada. 

ABILE'NE  (Luke  iii.  1),  the  small  district  or 
territory  which  took  its  name  from  the  chief 
town,  Abila.  Its  situation  is  in  some  degree 
determined  by  that  of  the  town  ;  but  its  precise 
limits  and  extent  remain  unknown.  Northward 
it  must  have  reached  beyond  the  Upper  Barrada, 
in  order  to  include  Abila;  and  it  is  probable 
that  its  southern  border  may  have  extended  to 
Mount  Hermon  (Jebel  es-Sheikh).  It  seems  to 
have  included  the  eastern  declivities  of  Anti- 
Libanus,  and  the  fine  valleys  between  its  ba.se 
and  the  hills  which  front  the  eastern  plains. 

This  territory  had  been  governed  as  a  te- 
trarchate  by  Lysanias,  son  of  Ptolemy  and 
grandson  of  Meunaeus,  but  he  was  put  to  death, 
B.C.  3o,  through  the  intrigues  of  Cleopatra,  who 
then  took  possession  of  the  province.  After  her 
death  it  fell  to  Augustus,  who  rented  it  out  to 
one  Zenodorus ;  but  as  he  did  not  keep  it  clear 
of  robbers,  it  was  taken  from  him,  and  given  to 
Herod  the  Great.  At  his  death  a  part  (the 
southern,  doubtless)  of  the  territory  was  added 
to  Trachonitis  and  Itursea  to  form  a  tetrarchy 
for  his  son  Philip ;  but  by  far  the  larger  portion, 
including  the  city  of  Abila,  was  then,  or  shortly 
afterwards,  bestowed  on  another  Lysanias,  men- 
tioned by  Luke  (iii.  1),  who  ic  supposed  to  have 
been  a  descendant  of  the  former  Lysanias,  but 
who  is  nowhere  mentioned  by  Josephus.  About 
ten  years  after  the  time  referred  to  by  Luke,  the 
emperor  Caligula  gave  Abilene  to  Agrippa  I.  as 
'the  tetrarchy  of  Lysanias,'  to  whom  it  was 
afterwards  confirmed  by  Claudius.  At  his  death, 
it  was  included  in  that  part  of  his  possessions 
which  went  to  his  son  Agrippa  II. 

1.  ABIM'ELECH  (father  of  the  king,  or 
perhaps  roj/ul  father),  the  name  of  the  Philistine 
king  of  Gerar  in  the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen. 
XX.  1,  sqq.:  B.C.  1898;  Hales,  B.C.  2054);  but, 
from  its  recurrence,  it  was  probably  less  a 
proper  name  than  a  titular  distinction,  like 
Pharaoh  for  the  kings  of  Egypt,  or  Augustus 
for  the  emperors  of  Rome.  Abraham  removed 
into  his  territory  after  the  destruction  of  Sodom ; 
and  fearing  that  the  beauty  of  Sarah  might  bring 
him  into  difficulties,  he  declared  her  to  be  his 
sister.  The  conduct  of  Abimelech  in  taking 
Sarah  into  his  harem  shows  that  kings  even  then 


ABIMELECH  5 

claimed  the  right  of  taking  to  themselves  the 
unmarried  females  not  only  of  their  natural 
subjects,  but  of  those  who  sojourned  in  their 
dominions.  But  Abimelech,  obedient  to  a  divine 
warning,  restored  her  to  her  husband.  As  a 
mark  of  his  respect  he  added  valuable  gifts,  and 
offered  the  patriarch  a  settlement  in  any  part  of 
the  country ;  but  he  nevertheless  did  not  forbear 
to  visit  with  a  gentle  rebuke  the  deception  which 
had  been  practised  upon  him  (Gen.  xx.).  No- 
thing further  is  recorded  of  King  Abimelech, 
except  that  a  few  years  after  he  repaired  to  the 
camp  of  Abraham,  who  had  removed  southward 
beyond  his  borders,  accompanied  by  Phichol, 
'  the  chief  captain  of  his  host,'  to  invite  the 
patriarch  to  contract  witli  him  a  league  of  peace 
and  friendship.  Abraham  consented;  and  this 
first  league  on  record  [Alliance]  was  confirmed 
by  a  mutual  oath,  made  at  a  well  which  had 
been  digged  by  Abraham,  but  which  the  herdt- 
men  of  Abimelech  had  seized  without  their  lord's 
knowledge.  It  was  restored  to  the  rightful 
owner,  on  which  Abraham  named  it  Beebsheba 
(the  Well  of  the  Oath),  and  consecrated  the  spot 
to  the  worship  of  Jehovah  (Gen.  xxi.  22-341. 

2.  ABIMELECH,  another  king  of  Gerar,  in 
the  time  of  Isaac  (about  b.c.  1804 ;  Hales,  1960), 
who  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  son  of  the 
preceding.  Isaac  sought  refuge  in  his  territory 
during  a  famine  ;  and  having  the  same  fear  re- 
specting his  fair  Mesopotamian  wife,  Rebekah, 
as  his  father  had  entertained  respecting  Sarah, 
he  reported  her  to  be  his  sister.  This  brought 
upon  him  the  rebuke  of  Abimelech,  when  he 
accidentally  discovered  the  truth.  In  those 
times,  as  now,  wells  of  water  were  of  so  much 
importance  for  agricultural  as  well  as  pastoral 
purposes,  that  they  gave  a  proprietary  right  to 
the  soil,  not  previously  appropriated,  in  which 
thej'^  were  dug.  Abraham  had  digged  wells 
during  his  sojourn  in  the  country ;  and,  to  bar 
the  claim  which  resulted  from  them,  the  Philis- 
tines had  afterwards  filled  them  up ;  but  they 
were  now  cleared  out  by  Isaac,  who  proceeded 
to  cultivate  the  ground  to  which  they  gave  him 
a  right.  The  virgin  soil  yielded  him  a  hundred- 
fold; and  his  other  possessions,  his  flocks  and 
herds,  also  received  such  prodigious  increase 
that  the  jealousy  of  the  Philistines  could  not  be 
suppressed  ;  and  Abimelech  desii'ed  him  to  seek 
more  distant  quarters,  in  language  which  gives 
a  high  notion  of  the  wealth  of  the  patriarchal 
chiefs,  and  the  extent  of  their  establishments : — 
'  Depart  from  us :  for  thou  art  more  and  mightier 
than  we.'  Isaac  complied,  and  went  out  into  the 
open  country,  and  digged  wells  for  his  cattle. 
But  the  shepherds  of  the  Philistines  were  not  in- 
clined to  allow  the  claim  to  exclusive  pasturage 
iu  these  districts  to  be  thus  established;  and 
their  opposition  induced  the  quiet  patriarch  to 
make  successive  removals,  until  he  reached  such 
a  distance  that  his  operations  were  no  longer 
I  disputed.  Afterwards,  when  he  was  at  Becr- 
sheba,  he  received  a  visit  from  Abimelech,  who 
I  was  attended  by  Ahuzzath,  his  friend,  and  Phi- 
chol, the  chief  captain  of  his  army.  The  king 
I  having  explained  that  it  was  his  wish  to  renew, 
with  one  so  manifestly  blessed  of  God,  the 
!  covenant  of  peace  which  had  been  contracted, 
j  between  their  fathers,  Isaac  willingly  consented, 
'  and  the  desired  covenant  was,   with  due  cere- 


G  ABINADAB 

inoay,  contracted  accordingly  (Gen.  xxvi.)  [Phi- 
listines]. 

3.  ABIMELECH,  a  son  of  Gideon,  by  a  con- 
cubine-wife, a  native  of  Shechem,  where  her 
family  had  considerable  inflnence.  Through 
.  that  influence  Abimelech  was  proclaimed  king 
after  the  death  of  his  father,  who  had  himself 
refused  that  honour,  when  tendered  to  him,  both 
for  himself  and  his  children  (Judg.  viii.  22-24). 
In  a  short  time,  a  considerable  part  of  Israel 
seems  to  have  recognised  his  rule.  One  of  the 
first  acts  of  his  reign  was  to  destroy  his  brothers, 
seventy  in  number,  being  the  first  example  of  a 
system  of  barbarous  state  policy  of  which  there 
have  been  frequent  instances  in  the  East.  Only 
one,  the  youngest,  named  Jotham,  escaped ;  and 
he  had  the  boldness  to  make  his  appearance  on 
Mount  Gerizim,  where  the  Shechemites  were  as- 
sembled for  some  public  purpose,  and  rebuke 
them  in  his  famous  parable  of  the  trees  choosing 
a  king  [Jotham;  PjVkable].  In  three  years 
the  Shechemites  found  ample  cause  to  repent  of 
what  they  had  done.  They  eventually  revolted 
during  Abimelech's  absence,  and  caused  an 
ambuscade  to  be  laid  in  the  mountains,  with  the 
design  of  destroying  him  on  his  return.  But 
Zebul,  his  governor  in  Shechem,  contrived  to 
apprise  him  of  these  circumstances,  so  that  he 
was  enabled  to  avoid  the  snare  laid  for  him ; 
and,  having  hastily  assembled  some  troops,  ap- 
peared unexpectedly  before  Shechem.  The 
people  of  that  place  had  meanwhile  secured  the 
assistance  of  one  Gaal  and  his  followers  [Gaal], 
who  marched  out  to  give  Abimelech  battle.  lie 
was  defeated,  and  returned  into  the  town ;  and 
his  inefficiency  and  misconduct  in  the  action  had 
been  so  manifest,  that  the  people  were  induced 
by  Zebul  to  expel  him  and  his  followers.  The 
people  still  ventured  out  to  the  labours  of  the 
field;  which  being  told  Abimelech,  who  was 
at  Arumah,  he  laid  an  ambuscade  in  four  bodies 
in  the  neighbourhood ;  and  when  the  men  came 
forth  in  the  morning,  two  of  the  ambushed 
parties  ros-e  against  them,  while  the  other  two 
seized  the  city  gates  to  prevent  their  return. 
Aftei-wards  the  whole  force  united  against  the 
city,  which,  being  now  deprived  of  its  most 
efficient  inhabitants,  was  easily  taken,  and  com- 
pletely destroyed  by  the  exasperated  victor. 
The  fortress,  however,  still  remained ;  but  the 
occupants,  deeming  it  untenable,  withdrew  to 
the  temple  of  Baal-Berith,  which  stood  in  a 
more  commanding  situation.  This  building 
Abimelech  set  on  fire  and  destroyed,  with  the 
thousand  men  who  were  in  it.  Afterwards 
Abimelech  went  to  reduce  Thebez,  which  had 
also  revolted.  The  town  was  taken  with  little 
difficulty,  and  the  people  withdrew  into  the 
citadel.  Here  Abimelech  resorted  to  his  fa- 
vourite operation,  and  while  heading  a  party  to 
burn  down  the  gate,  he  was  struck  on  the  head 
by  a  large  stone  cast  down  by  a  woman  from 
the  wall  above.  Perceiving  that  he  had  received 
a  death-blow,  he  directed  his  armour-bearer  to 
thrust  him  through  with  his  sword,  lest  it 
should  be  said  that  he  fell  by  a  woman's  hand 
(Judg.  ix.).  Vainly  did  Abimelech  seek  to  avoid 
this  disgrace ;  for  the  fact  of  his  death  by  the 
hand  of  a  woman  was  long  after  associated  with 
his  memory  (2  Sam.  xi.  21). 

ABIN'ADAB  (Jather  of  nobleness,   or   noble 


ABISIIUA 

father).  There  arc  several  persons  of  this  name, 
all  of  whom  are  also  called  Aminadab— the 
letters  h  and  m  being  very  frequently  inter- 
changed in  Hebrew. 

1.  ABINADAB,  one  of  the  eight  sons  of 
Jesse,  and  one  of  the  three  who  followed  Saul  to 
the  war  with  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  xvi.  8). 

2.  ABINADAB,  one  of  Saul's  sons,  who  was 
slain  at  the  battle  of  Gilboa  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  2). 

3.  ABINADAB,  the  Levite  of  Kirjath-jearim, 
in  whose  house,  which  was  on  a  hill,  the  Ark  of 
the  Covenant  was  deposited,  after  being  brought 
back  from  the  land  of  the  Philistines.  It  was 
committed  to  the  special  charge  of  his  son  Elea- 
zer ;  and  remained  there  seventy  years,  until  it 
was  removed  by  David  (1  Sam.  vii.  1,  2  ;  I  Chron. 
xiii.  7)  [Ark]. 

1.  ABl'RAM  (father  of  altitude,  i.  e.  high), 
one  of  the  family-chiefs  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben, 
who,  with  Dathan  and  On  of  the  same  tribe, 
joined  Korah,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  in  a  con- 
spiracy against  Aaron  and  Moses  (Num.  xvi.) 
[Aaron]. 

2.  ABIRAM,  eldest  son  of  Hiel  the  Bethelite 
(1  Kings  xvi.  34)  [Hiel;  Jericho]. 

ABTSHAG  (father  of  error),  a  beautiful  young 
woman  of  Shunam,  in  the  tribe  of  Issachar,  who 
was  chosen  by  the  servants  of  David  to  be  intro- 
duced into  the  royal  harem,  for  the  special 
purpose  of  ministering  to  him,  and  cherishing 
him  in  his  old  age.  She  became  his  wife ;  but 
the  marriage  was  never  consummated.  Some 
time  after  the  death  of  David,  Adonijah,  his 
eldest  son,  persuaded  Bathsheba,  the  mother  of 
Solomon,  to  entreat  the  king  that  Abishag  might 
be  given  to  him  in  marriage.  But  as  rights  and 
privileges  peculiarly  regal  were  associated  with 
the  control  and  possession  of  the  harem  of  the 
deceased  kings,  Solomon  detected  in  this  appli- 
cation a  fresh  aspiration  to  the  throne,  which  he 
visited  with  death  (1  Kings  i.  1-4;  ii.  13-25) 
[Adonltah]. 

ABISHAT  (father  of  gifs),  a  nephew  of 
David  by  his  sister  Zeraiah,  and  brother  of  Joab 
and  Asahei.  The  three  brothers  devoted  them- 
selves zealously  to  the  interests  of  their  uncle 
during  his  wanderings.  Though  David  had 
more  reliance  upon  the  talents  of  Joab,  he 
appears  to  have  given  more  of  his  private  con- 
fidence to  Abishai,  whom  we  find  near  his  person 
on  several  critical  occasions.  He  alone  accom- 
panied David  to  the  camp  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxvi. 
5-9).  He  fled  with  him  beyond  the  Jordan 
from  Absalom,  and  commanded  one  of  three 
divisions  of  the  array  which  crushed  that  re- 
bellion (2  Sam.  xviii.  2).  He  rescued  David 
when  in  imminent  peril  of  his  life  from  a  giant 
named  Ishbi-benob  (2  Sam.  xxi.  15-17),  and  was 
also  the  chief  of  the  three  '  mighties,'  who 
performed  the  chivalrous  exploit  of  breaking 
through  the  host  of  the  Philistines  to  procure 
David  a  draught  of  water  from  the  well  of  his 
native  Bethlehem  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  14-17).  Among 
the  exploits  of  this  hero  it  is  mentioned  that  he 
withstood  300  men  and  slew  them  with  his 
spear :  but  the  occasion  of  this  adventure,  and 
the  time  and  manner  of  his  death,  are  equally 
unknown. 

ABISHU'A  (father  of  safety),  the  son  of  Phi- 
nehas,  and  fourth  high-priest  of  the  Jews 
(1    Chron.   vi.   50).     The  commencement  and 


ABNER 


ABOMINATION 


duration  of  his  pontificate  ai"e  uncertain,  but  the 
latter  is  inferred,  from  circumstances,  to  have  in- 
cluded the  period  in  which  Ehud  was  judge, 
and  probably  the  preceding  period  of  servitude 
to  Ei^lon  of  Moab.  He  is  called  Abiezer  by 
Josephus  (Aiitiq.  v.  11.  5). 

ABLUTION,  the  ceremonial  washing,  where- 
by, as  a  symbol  of  purification  from  unclean- 
ness,  a  person  was  considered — 1.  to  be  cleansed 
from  the  taint  of  an  inferior  and  less  pure  con- 
dition, and  initiated  into  a  higher  and  purer 
state  (Lev.  viii.  6) ;  2.  to  be  cleansed  from  the 
soil  of  common  life,  and  fitted  for  special  acts  of 
religious  service  (Exod.  xxx.  17-21);  3.  to  be 
cleansed  from  defilements  contracted  by  par- 
ticular acts  or  circumstances,  and  restored  to  the 
privileges  of  ordinary  life  (Lev.  xii.-xv.) ;  4.  as 
absolving  or  purifying  himself,  or  declaring 
himself  absolved  and  purified,  from  the  guilt  of 
a  particular  act  (Dent.  xxi.  1-9).  We  do  not 
meet  with  any  such  ablutions  in  patriarchal 
times :  but  under  the  Mosaical  dispensation  they 
all  occur. 

After  the  rise  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees,  the 
practice  of  ablution  was  ciirried  to  such  excess, 
from  the  affectation  of  excessive  purity,  that  it 
is  repeatedly  brought  under  our  notice  in  the 
New  Testament  through  the  severe  animad- 
versions of  our  Saviour  on  the  consummate  hy- 
pocrisy involved  in  this  fastidious  attention  to 
the  external  types  of  moral  purity,  while  the 
heart  was  left  unclean.  All  the  practices  there 
exposed  come  under  the  head  of  purification 
from  uncleanaess; — the  acts  involving  Avhich 
were  made  so  numerous  that  persons  of  the 
stricter  sect  could  scarcely  move  without  con- 
tracting some  involuntary  pollution.  For  this 
reason  they  never  entered  their  houses  without 
ablution,  from  the  strong  probability  that  they 
had  unknowingly  contracted  some  defilement  in 
the  streets ;  and  they  were  especially  careful 
never  to  eat  without  washing  the  hands  (Mark 
vii.  1-.5),  because  they  were  peculiarly  liable  to 
be  defiled ;  and  as  unclean  hands  were  held  to 
communicate  uncleanness  to  all  food  (excepting 
fruit)  which  they  touched,  it  was  deemed  that 
there  was  no  security  against  eating  unclean 
food  but  by  always  washing  the  hands  cere- 
monially before  touching  any  meat.  The  Israel- 
ites, who,  like  other  Orientals,  fed  with  their 
lingers,  washed  their  hands  before  meals,  for 
the  sake  of  cleanliness  [Washing].  But  these 
customary  washings  were  distinct  from  the  cere- 
monial ablutions.  It  was  the  latter  which  the 
Pharisees  judged  to  be  so  necessary.  When 
therefore  some  of  that  sect  remarked  that  our 
Lord's  disciples  ate  '  with  unwashen  hands ' 
(Mark  vii.  2),  it  is  not  to  be  understood  literally 
that  they  did  not  at  all  wash  their  hands,  but 
that  they  did  not  plunge  them  ceremonially  ac- 1 
cording  to  their  own  practice.  In  at  least  an 
equal  degree  the  Pharisees  multiplied  the  cere- 1 
nionial  pollutions  which  required  the  ablution  I 
of  inanimate  objects — '  cups  and  pots,  brazen  t 
vessels  and  tables ;'  the  rules  given  in  the  law  \ 
(Lev.  vi.  28 ;  xi.  32-36 ;  xv.  23)  being  extended  i 
to  these  multiplied  contaminations.  Articles  of  ] 
earthenware  which  were  of  little  value  were  to 
be  broken ;  and  those  of  metal  and  wood  were  i 
to  be  scoured  and  rinsed  with  water.  I 

AFNEK  {father  of  light),  the  cousin  of  Saul  j 


(being  the  son  of  his  uncle  Ner),  and  the  com- 
mander-in-chicf  of  his  army.  After  the  death 
of  Saul  (B.C.  105G),  Abner's  experience  and  cha- 
racter for  ability  and  decision  enabled  him  to 
uphold  the  interests  of  his  family  for  seven 
years ;  and  while  David  reigned  in  Hebron  over 
Judah,  Ishbosheth,  a  surviving  son  cff  Saul,  was, 
by  Abner's  influence,  made  king  over  the  ten 
tribes,  and  reigned  in  Mahanaim,  beyond  Jordan. 
A  sort  of  desultory  warfare  arose  between  the 
rival  monarchs,  in  which  the  advantage  appears 
to  have  been  always  on  the  side  of  David.  In 
an  engagement  fought  at  Gibeon,  the  forces  of 
Ishbosheth  were  beaten.  Abner,  their  general, 
fled  for  his  life,  but  was  closely  pursued  by 
Asahel,  the  brother  of  Joab  and  Abishai.  Abner, 
dreading  a  blood-feud  with  Joab,  entreated 
Asahel,  but  in  vain,  to  desist  from  the  pursuit; 
and  finding  that  his  life  was  in  danger,  he  at 
length  ran  his  pursuer  through  the  body  (2  Sam, 
ii.  8-32).  This,  according  to  the  law  of  honour 
which  still  prevails  in  the  East,  put  a  strife 
of  blood  between  Joab  and  Abner  [Blood- 
Eevenge]. 

As  time  went  on,  Abner,  probably  rendered 
arrogant  and  presumptuous  by  the  conviction 
that  he  was  the  only  remaining  prop  of  the 
house  of  Saul,  took  to  his  own  harem  a  woman 
who  had  been  a  concubine-wife  of  Saul.  This 
act,  from  the  ideas  connected  with  the  harem  of 
a  deceased  king,  was  not  only  a  great  impro- 
priety, but  was  open  to  the  suspicion  of  a  poli- 
tical design,  which  Abner  may  very  possibly 
have  entertained.  A  mild  rebuke  from  Ishbo- 
sheth, however,  enraged  him  so  much,  that  he 
immediately  declared  his  intention  henceforth 
to  abandon  his  cause  and  to  devote  himself  to 
the  interests  of  David.  Accordingly  after  ex- 
plaining his  views  to  the  elders  of  the  tribes 
which  still  adhered  to  the  house  of  Saul,  he  re- 
paired to  Hebron  with  authority  to  make  certain 
overtures  to  David  on  their  behalf.  He  was 
received  with  great  attention  and  respect ;  and 
David  even  thought  it  prudent  to  promise  that 
he  should  still  have  the  chief  command  of  the 
armies,  when  the  desired  union  of  the  two 
kingdoms  took  place.  Joab,  David's  genei'al, 
happened  to  be  absent  at  the  time,  but  he  re- 
turned to  Hebron  just  as  Abner  had  left  it.  He 
speedily  understood  what  had  passed;  and  his 
dread  of  the  superior  influence  which  such  a 
man  as  Abner  might  establish  with  David, 
quickened  his  remembrance  of  the  vengeance 
which  his  brother's  blood  required.  Unknown 
to  the  king,  but  apparently  in  his  name,  he  sent 
a  message  after  Abner  to  call  him  back ;  and  as 
he  returned,  Joab  met  him  at  the  gate,  and, 
leading  him  aside,  as  if  to  confer  privately  with 
him,  suddenly  thrust  his  sAvord  into  his  body 
(b.c!  1048).  The  lamentations  of  David,  the 
public  mourning  which  he  ordered,  and  the 
funeral  honours  which  were  paid  to  the  remains 
of  Abner,  the  king  himself  following  the  V.ier  as 
chief  mourner,  exonerated  him  in  public  opinion 
from  having  been  privy  to  this  assassination. 
As  for  Joab,  his  privilege  as  a  blood-avenger 
must  to  a  great  extent  have  justified  his 
treachei-ous  act  in  the  opinion  of  the  people  ;  and 
that,  together  with  his  influence  with  the  army, 
screened  him  from  punishment  (2  Sam.  iii.  6-39), 

ABOMI  NATION.    This  word  describes  gene- 


8  ABOMINATION 

rally  any  object  of  detestation  or  disgust  (Lev. 
xviii.  22  ;  Deut.  vii.  25)  ;  and  is  applied  to  an 
impure  or  detestable  action  (Ezek.  xxii.  11  ; 
xxxiii.  26;  Mai.  ii.  11,  &c.) ;  to  any  thing 
causing  a  ceremonial  pollution  (Gen.  xliii.  32 ; 
xlvi.  34 ;  Deut.  xiv.  3) ;  but  more  especially  to 
idols  (Lev.  xviii.  22;  xx.  13;  Deut.  vii.  26; 
1  Kings  xi.  5,  7  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  13);  and  also 
to  food  offered  to  idols  (Zech.  ix.  7);  and  to 
filth  of  every  kind  (Nahum  iii.  6).  Especial 
attention  has  been  drawn  to  two  or  three  of  the 
texts  in  which  the  word  occurs,  on  account  of 
their  peculiar  interest  or  difficulty.  The  first  is 
Gen.  xliii.  32 :  '  The  Eg}'ptians  might  not  eat 
bread  with  the  Hebrews ;  for  that  is  an  abomi- 
nation unto  the  Egyptians.'  The  primary  reason 
of  this  seems  to  have  been  that  the  cow,  which 
was  a  sacred  animal  in  Egypt,  was  eaten  by  the 
Jews  and  most  other  nations,  and  therefore  the 
Egj'ptians  considered  themselves  ceremonially 
defiled  if  they  ate  with  any  strangers. 

The  second  passage  is  Geu.  xlvi.  34.  Joseph 
is  telling  his  brethren  how  to  conduct  themselves 
when  introduced  to  the  king  of  Egj'pt ;  and  he 
instructs  them  that  when  asked  concerning  their 
occupation  they  should  answer :  •  Thy  servants' 
trade  hath  been  about  cattle  from  our  youth  even 
until  now,  both  we  and  also  our  fathers'  And 
the  reason  is  added :  '  That  ye  may  dwell  in  the 
land  of  Goshen,— ;/br  evert/  shepherd  is  an  abomi- 
nation unto  the  Egyptians.'  In  the  former  in- 
stance they  were  '  an  abomination '  as  strangers, 
with  whom  the  Egyptians  could  not  eat ;  "here 
they  are  a  further  abomination  as  nomade  shep- 
herds, whom  the  Egyptians  held  in  peculiar 
abhorrence.  For  this  aversion  two  reasons  are 
given :  one  is  the  grievous  oppression  which  the 
inhabitants  of  Lower  and  Middle  Egypt  had  suf- 
fered from  a  tribe  of  nomade  shepherds,  to  whom 
they  had  for  many  years  been  subject,  who  had 
only  of  late  been  expelled.  The  other  reason, 
not  necessarily  superseding  the  former,  but  ra- 
ther strengthening  it,  is,  that  the  Egj'ptians,  as 
a  settled  and  civilized  people,  detested  the  law- 
less and  predatory  habits  of  the  wandering  shep- 
herd tribes,  which  then,  as  now,  bounded  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  and  occupied  the  Arabias. 

The  third  marked  use  of  this  word  again  oc- 
curs in  Egypt.  The  king  tells  the  Israelites  to 
offer  to  their  god  the  sacrifices  which  they  de- 
sired, without  going  to  the  desert  for  that  pur- 
pose. To  which  Moses  objects,  that  they  should 
have  to  sacrifice  to  the  Lord  '  the  abomination  of 
the  Egyptians,'  who  would  thereby  be  highly 
exasperated  against  them  (Exod.  viii.  25,  26).  A 
reference  back  to  the  first  explanation  shows  that 
this  '  abomination '  was  the  cow,  the  only  animal 
which  all  the  Egyptians  agreed  in  holding  sa- 
cred ;  whereas,  in  the  great  sacrifice  which  the 
Hebrews  proposed  to  hold,  not  only  would  hei- 
fers be  offered,  but  the  people  would  feast  upon 
their  flesh. 

The  ABO>iiNATio>f  of  Desolation.  In  Dan. 
ix.  27,  literally, '  the  abomination  of  the  desolater,' 
which,  without  doubt,  means  the  idol  or  idola- 
trous apparatus  which  the  desolater  of  Jerusalem 
should  establish  in  the  holy  place.  This  appears 
to  have  been  a  prediction  of  the  pollution  of  the 
temple  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  who  caused  an 
idolatrous  altar  to  be  built  on  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offerings,  whereon  unclean  things  were  offered 


ABRAHAM 

to  Jupiter  Olympius,  to  whom  the  temple  itself 
was  dedicated.  The  phrase  is  quoted  by  Jesus 
(Matt.  xxiv.  15),  and  is  applied  by  him  to  what 
was  to  take  place  at  the  advance  of  the  Romans 
against  Jerusalem.  They  who  saw  '  the  abomi- 
nation of  desolation  standing  in  the  holy  place' 
were  enjoined  to  '  flee  to  the  mountains.'  And 
this  may  with  probability  be  referred  to  the 
advance  of  the  Roman  army  against  the  city  with 
their  image-crowned  standards,  to  which  idola- 
trous honours  were  paid,  and  which  the  Jews 
regarded  as  idols.  The  unexpected  retreat  and 
discomfiture  of  the  Roman  forces  afforded  such 
as  were  mindful  of  our  Saviour's  prophecy  an 
opportunity  of  obeying  the  injunction  which  it 
contained.  Those  however  who  suppose  that 
'  the  holy  place '  of  the  text  must  be  the  temple 
itself,  may  find  the  accomplishment  of  the  pre- 
diction in  the  fact  that,  when  the  city  had  been 
taken  by  the  Romans,  and  the  holy  house  de- 
stroyed, the  soldiers  brought  their  standards  in 
due  form  to  the  temple,  set  them  up  over  the 
eastern  gate,  and  ofj'ered  sacrifice  to  them,  for 
almost  the  entire  religion  of  the  Roman  camp 
consisted  in  worshipping  the  ensigns,  swearing 
by  the  ensigns,  and  in  preferring  the  ensigns 
before  all  the  other  gods. 


Roman  Standards. 


Nor  was  this  the  last  appearance  of '  the  abo- 
mination of  desolation,  in  the  holy  place  : '  for, 
not  only  did  Hadrian,  with  studied  insult  to  the 
Jews,  set  up  the  figure  of  a  boar  over  the  Beth- 
lehem gate  of  the  city  which  rose  upon  the  site 
and  ruins  of  Jemsalem ;  but  he  erected  a  temple 
to  Jupiter  upon  the  very  site  of  the  Jewish 
temple,  and  caused  an  image  of  himself  to  be  set 
up  in  the  part  which  answered  to  the  sanctuary. 
This  was  a  consummation  of  all  the  abomina- 
tions which  the  iniquities  of  the  Jews  brought 
upon  their  holy  place. 

AB'RAHAM  (father    of  a    multitude),    the 


ABRAHAM 

founder  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  Up  to  Gen.  xvii. 
4,  5,  he  is  uniformly  called  Abram  (father  o/" 
elevation,  or  high  father)  ;  and  this  was  his  ori- 
ginal name;  but  the  extended  form,  which  it 
always  afterwards  bears,  was  given  to  make  it 
significant  of  the  promise  of  a  numerous  posterity 
which  was  at  the  same  time  made  to  him. 

Abraham  was  a  native  of  Chaldea,  and  de- 
scended, through  Heber,  in  the  ninth  genera- 
tion, from  Shem  the  son  of  Noah.  His  father 
was  Terah,  who  had  two  other  sons,  Nahor  and 
Haran.  Haran  died  prematurely  'before  his 
father,'  leavmg  a  son  Lot,  and  two  daughters, 
Milcah  and  Iscah.  Lot  attached  himself  to  his 
uncle  Abraham  ;  Milcah  became  the  wife  of  her 
uncle  Nahor ;  and  Iscah,  who  was  also  called 
Sarai,  became  the  wife  of  Abraham  (Gen.  ix. 
26-29)  [Saeah]. 

Abraham  was  born  a.m.  2008,  b.c.  1996  (Hales, 
A.M.  3258,  B.C.  2153),  in  '  Ur  of  the  Chaldees' 
(Gen.  xi.  28). 

Although  he  is,  by  way  of  eminence,  named 
first,  it  appears  probable  that  he  was  the  young- 
est of  Terah's  sons,  and  born  by  a  second  wife, 
when  his  father  was  130  years  old.  Terah  was 
seventy  years  old  when  the  eldest  son  was  born 
(Gen.  xi.  32;  xii.  4;  xx.  12);  and  that  eldest 
son  appears  to  have  been  Haran,  from  the  fact 
that  his  brothers  married  his  daughters,  and  that 
his  daughter  Sarai  was  only  ten  years  younger 
than  his  brother  Abraham  (Gen.  xvii.  17). 
Abraham  was  60  years  old  when  the  family 
quitted  their  native  city  of  Ur,  and  went  and 
abode  in  Charran.  The  reason  for  this  move- 
ment does  not  appear  in  the  Old  Testament ;  but 
it  is  mentioned  in  Acts  vii.  2-4 :  '  The  God  of 
glory  appeared  to  our  father  Abraham  while  he 
was  (at  Ur  of  the  Chaldees)  in  Mesopotamia, 
bpfore  he  dwelt  in  Charran,  and  said  unto  him, 
Depart  from  thy  land,  and  from  thy  kindred, 
and  come  hither  to  a  land  which  /  will  shew 
thee.  Then  departing  from  the  land  of  the 
Chaldees,  he  dwelt  in  Charran.'  This  first  call 
is  not  recorded,  but  only  implied  in  Gen.  xii.  : 
and  it  is  distinguished  by  several  pointed  cir- 
cumstances from  the  second,  which  alone  is  there 
mentioned.  Accordingly  Abraham  departed 
and  his  family,  including  his  aged  father,  re 
moved  with  him.  They  proceeded  not  at  once 
to  the  land  of  Canaan,  but  they  came  to  Charran, 
and  tarried  at  that  convenient  station  for  fifteen 
years,  until  Terah  died,  at  the  age  of  205  years. 
Being  free  from  his  filial  duties,  Abraham,  now 
75  years  of  age,  received  a  second  and  more 
pointed  call  to  pursue  his  destination :  '  Depart 
from  thy  land,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from 
thy  father's  house,  unto  the  land  which  I  will 
sliew  thee'  (Gen.  xii.  1).  This  second  call  re- 
quired the  patriarch  to  isolate  himself,  not  only 
from  his  country,  but  from  his  family.  He 
however  took  with  him  his  nephew  Lot,  whom, 
having  no  children  of  his  own,  he  appears  to 
have  regarded  as  his  heir,  and  then  went  forth 
'  not  knowing  whither  he  went '  (Heb.  xi.  8),  but 
trusting  implicitly  to  the  Divine  guidance. 

When  Abraham  arrived  in  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan, he  found  it  occupied  by  the  Canaanites  in 
a  large  number  of  small  independent  commu- 
nities, which  cultivated  the  districts  around  their 
several  towns.  The  country  was  however  but 
thinly  peopled ;  and,  as  in  the  more  recent  tunes 


ABRAHAM  9 

of  its  depopulation,  it  afforded  ample  pasture- 
ground  for  the  wandering  pastors.  In  their  eyes 
Abraham  must  have  appeared  one  of  that  class. 
In  Mesopotamia,  though  the  family  had  been 
pastoral,  they  had  dwelt  in  towns  and  houses, 
and  had  sent  out  their  flocks  and  herds  under 
the  care  of  shepherds.  But  the  migratory  life 
to  which  Abraham  had  now  been  called,  com- 
pelled him  to  take  to  the  tent-dwelling  form  of 
pastoral  life.  The  rich  pastures  in  that  part  of 
the  country  tempted  Abraham  to  form  his  first 
encampment  in  the  vale  of  Moreh,  which  lies 
between  the  mountains  of  Ebal  and  Gerizim. 
Here  the  strong  faith  which  had  brought  the 
childless  man  thus  far  from  his  home  was  re- 
warded by  the  grand  promise  from  God : — '  I 
will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  bless 
thee  and  make  thy  name  great,  and  thou  shalt 
be  a  blessing ;  and  I  will  bless  them  that  bless 
thee,  and  curse  them  that  curse  thee :  and  in 
thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed' 
(Gen.  xii.  2,  3).  It  was  further  promised  that 
to  his  posterity  should  be  given  the  rich  heritage 
of  that  beautiful  country  into  which  he  had 
come  (v.  7).  The  implied  condition  on  his  part 
was,  that  he  should  publicly  profess  the  worship 
of  the  true  God,  and  accordingly  '  he  built  there 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  who  appeared  unto  him.' 
He  soon  after  removed  to  the  district  between 
Bethel  and  Ai,  where  he  also  built  an  altar  to 
that  '  Jehovah  '  whom  the  world  was  then 
hastening  to  forget.  His  farther  removals  tended 
southward,  until  at  length  a  famine  in  Palestine 
compelled  him  to  withdraw  into  Egypt,  where 
com  abounded.  Here  his  apprehension  that  the 
beauty  of  his  wife  Sarai  might  bring  him  into 
danger  with  the  dusky  Egyptians,  overcame  his 
faith  and  rectitude,  and  he  gave  out  that  she  was 
his  sister.  As  he  had  feared,  the  beauty  of  the 
fair  stranger  excited  the  admiration  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, and  at  length  reached  the  ears  of  the  king, 
who  forthwith  exercised  his  regal  right  of  call- 
ing her  to  his  harem,  and  to  this  Abraham,  ap- 
pearing as  only  her  brother,  could  offer  no 
resistance.  As,  however,  the  king  had  no  in- 
tention to  act  harshly  in  the  exercise  of  his  pri- 
vilege, he  loaded  Abraham  with  valuable  gifts, 
suited  to  his  condition,  consisting  chiefly  of  slaves 
and  cattle.  The-se  presents  could  not  have  been 
refused  by  him  without  an  insult  which,  under 
all  the  circumstances,  the  king  did  not  deserve. 
A  grievous  disease  inflicted  on  Pharaoh  and  his 
household  relieved  Sarai  from  her  danger,  by 
revealing  to  the  king  that  she  was  a  married 
woman ;  on  which  he  sent  for  Abraham,  and, 
after  rebuking  him  for  his  conduct,  restored  his 
wife  to  him,  and  recommended  him  to  withdraw 
from  the  country.  He  accordingly  returned  to 
the  land  of  Canaan,  much  richer  than  when  he 
left  it  '  in  cattle,  in  silver,  and  in  gold '  (Gen. 
xii.  8 ;  xiii.  2). 

Lot  also  had  much  increased  his  possessions : 
and  soon  after  their  return  to  their  previous  sta- 
tion near  Bethel,  the  disputes  between  their  re- 
spective shepherds  about  water  and  pasturage 
soon  taught  thenc  that  they  had  better  separate. 
The  recent  promise  of  posterity  to  Abraham 
himself,  although  his  wife  had  been  accounted 
barren,  probably  tended  also  in  some  degree  to 
weaken  the  tie  by  which  the  uncle  and  nephew 
had   hitherto  been  united.      Th«  subject   was 


10 


ABRAHAM 


ABRAHAM 


broached  by  Abraham,  who  generously  conceded 
to  Lot  the  choice  df  pasture-grounds.  Lot  chose 
the  welJ-watered  plain  in  which  Sodom  and  other 
towns  were  situated,  and  removed  thither  [Lor]. 
Immediately  afterwards  the  patriarch  was 
cheered  and  encoiiraged  by  a  more  distinct  and 
formal  reiteration  of  the  promises  which  had  been 
previously  made  to  him,  of  the  occupation  of  the 
land  in  which  he  lived  by  a  posterity  numerous 
as  the  dust.  Not  long  after,  he  removed  to  the 
pleasant  valley  of  Mamre,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Hebron  (then  called  Arba),  and  pitched  his 
tent  under  a  terebinth  tree  (Gen.  xiii.). 

It  appears  that  fourteen  years  before  this  time 
the  south  and  east  of  Palestine  had  been  invaded 
by  a  king  called  Chedorlaomer,  from  beyond  the 
Euphrates,  who  brought  several  of  the  small 
disunited  states  of  those  quarters  under  tribute. 
Among  them  were  the  five  cities  of  the  Plain  of 
Sodom,  to  which  Lot  had  withdrawn.  This 
bm-den  was  borne  impatiently  by  these  states, 
and  they  at  length  withheld  their  tribute.  This 
brought  upon  them  a  ravaging  visitation  from 
Chedorlaomer  and  four  other  (perhaps  tributary) 
kings,  who  scoured  the  whole  country  east  of  the 
Jordan,  and  ended  by  defeating  the  kings  of  the 
plain,  plundering  their  towns,  and  carrying  the 
people  away  as  slaves.  Lot  was  among  the  suf- 
ferers. When  this  came  to  the  ears  of  Abraham, 
he  immediately  armed  such  of  his  slaves  as  were 
fit  for  war,  in  number  318,  and  being  joined  by 
the  friendly  Amoritish  chiefs,  Aner,  Eshcol,  and 
Mamre,  pursued  the  retiring  invaders.  They 
were  overtaken  near  the  springs  of  the  Jordan  ; 
and  their  camp  being  attacked  on  opposite  sides 
by  night,  they  were  thrown  into  disorder,  and 
fled.  Abraham  and  his  men  pursued  them  as  far 
as  the  neighbourhood  of  Danaascus,  and  then 
returned  with  all  the  men  and  goods  which  had 
been  taken  away.  When  the  victors  had  reached 
'  the  king's  dale '  on  their  return,  they  were  met 
by  several  of  the  native  princes,  among  whom 
was  Melchizedek,  king  of  Salem,  which  is  gene- 
rally supposed  to  have  been  Jerusalem.  He  was 
one  of  the  few  native  princes,  if  not  the  only 
one,  who  retained  the  knowledge  and  worship  of 
*  the  Most  High  God,'  whom  Abraham  served. 
This  circumstance  created  a  peculiar  relation 
between  the  king  and  the  patriarch,  which  the 
former  recognised  by  bringing  forth  '  bread  and 
wine,'  and  probably  other  refreshments  to  Abra- 
ham, and  which  the  latter  acknowledged  by 
presenting  to  Melchizedek  a  tenth  of  the  spoils. 
By  strict  right,  founded  on  the  war  usages  which 
still  subsist  in  Arabia,  the  recovered  goods  be- 
came the  property  of  Abraham,  and  not  of  those 
to  whom  they  originally  belonged.  This  was 
acknowledged  by  the  king  of  Sodom,  who  met 
the  victors  in  the  valley  near  Salem.  He  said, 
'  Give  me  the  persons,  and  keep  the  goods  to 
thyself.'  But  with  becoming  pride  and  disinter- 
estedness Abraham  answered,  '  I  have  lifted  up 
mine  hand  [t.  e.  I  have  sworn]  unto  Jehovah, 
the  most  high  God,  that  I  will  not  take  from  a 
thread  even  to  a  sandal-thong,  and  that  I  will 
not  take  any  thing  that  is  thine,  lest  thou  shouldest 
say.  I  have  made  Abram  rich  '  (Gen.  xiv.). 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Mamre  the  faith  of 
Abraham  was  rewarded  and  encouraged,  not 
only  by  a  more  distinct  and  detailed  repetition 
of  the  pi-omises  formerly  made  to  him,  but  by 


the  confirmation  of  a  solemn  covenant  con- 
tracted, as  nearly  as  might  be,  '  after  the  man- 
ner of  men '  [Covenant]  between  him  and  God. 
It  was  now  that  he  first  understood  that  his  pro- 
mised posterity  were  to  grow  up  into  a  nation 
under  foreign  bondage ;  and  that,  in  400  years 
after  (or,  strictly,  405  years,  counting  from  the 
birth  of  Isaac  to  the  Exode),  they  should  come 
forth  from  that  bondage  as  a  nation,  to  take 
possession  of  the  land  in  which  he  sojourned 
(Gen.  XV.). 

After  ten  years'  residence  in  Canaan  (b.c. 
1913),  Sarai,  being  then  75  years  old,  and  having 
long  been  accounted  barren,  chose  to  put  her 
own  interpretation  upon  the  promised  blessing 
of  a  progeny  to  Abraham,  and  persuaded  him  to 
take  her  woman  slave  Hagar,  an  Egyptian,  as  a 
secondary  or  concubine  wife,  with  the  view  that 
whatever  child  might  proceed  from  this  union 
should  be  accounted  her  own  [Hagak].  The  son 
who  was  born  to  Abraham  by  Hagar,  and  who 
received  the  name  of  Ishmael  [IshjMael],  was 
accordingly  brought  up  as  the  heir  of  his  father 
and  of  the  promises  (Gen.  xvi.).  Thirteen  years 
after  (b.c.  1900),  when  Abraham  was  99  years 
eld,  he  was  favoured  with  still  more  explicit 
declarations  of  the  Divine  purposes.  He  was 
reminded  that  the  promise  to  him  was  that  he 
should  be  the  father  of  many  nations ;  and  to 
indicate  this  intention  his  name  was  now 
changed  (as  before  described)  from  Abram  to 
Abraham.  The  Divine  Being  then  solemnly 
renewed  the  covenant  to  be  a  God  to  him  and  to 
the  race  that  should  spring  from  him ;  and  in 
token  of  that  covenant  directed  that  he  and  his 
should  receive  in  their  flesh  the  sign  of  circum- 
cision [Circumcision].  Abundant  blessings 
were  promised  to  Ishmael ;  but  it  was  then  first 
announced,  in  distinct  terms,  that  the  heir  of  the 
special  promises  was  not  yet  born,  and  that  the 
barren  Sarai,  then  90  years  old,  should  twelve 
months  thence  be  his  mother.  Then  also  her 
name  was  changed  from  Sarai  to  Sarah  {the 
princess)  •  and  to  commemorate  the  laughter  with 
which  the  prostrate  patriarch  received  such 
strange  tidings,  it  was  directed  that  the  name  of 
Isaac  {laughing)  should  be  given  to  the  future 
child.  The  very  same  day,  in  obedience  to  tlie 
Divine  ordinance,  Abraham  himself,  his  son 
Ishmael,  and  his  house-born  and  purchased 
slaves  were  all  circumcised  (Gen.  xvii.). 

Three  months  after  this,  as  Abraham  sat  in 
his  tent  door  during  the  heat  of  the  day,  he  saw 
three  travellers  approaching,  and  hastened  to 
meet  them,  and  hospitably  pressed  upon  them 
refreshment  and  rest.  They  assented,  and  under 
the  shade  of  a  terebinth  tree  partook  of  the 
abundant  fare  which  the  patriarch  and  his  wife 
provided.  From  the  manner  in  which  one  of 
the  strangers  spoke,  Abraham  soon  gathered 
that  his  visitants  were  no  other  than  the  Lord 
himself  and  two  attendant  angels  in  human  form. 
The  promise  of  a  son  by  Sarah  was  renewed ; 
and  when  Sarah  herself,  who  overheard  this 
within  the  tent,  laughed  inwardly  at  the  tidings, 
which,  on  account  of  her  great  age,  she  at  first 
disbelieved,  she  inciirred  the  striking  rebuke, 
'  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  Jehovah  ? '  The 
strangers  then  addressed  themselves  to  their 
journey,  and  Abraham  walked  some  way  with 
them.     The  two  angels  went  forward  in  the  di- 


ABRAHAM 

rection  of  Sodom,  while  the  Lord  made  known 
to  him  that,  for  their  enormous  iniquities,  Sodom 
and  the  other  '  cities  of  the  plain '  were  about  to 
be  made  signal  monuments  of  his  wrath  and  of 
his  moral  government.  Moved  by  compassion 
and  by  remembrance  of  Lot,  the  patriarch  ven- 
tured, reverently  but  perseveringly,  to  intercede 
for  the  doomed  Sodom ;  and  at  length  obtained 
a  promise  that,  if  but  ten  righteous  men  were 
found  therein,  the  whole  city  should  be  saved 
for  their  sake.  Early  the  next  morning  Abra- 
ham arose  to  ascertain  the  result  of  this  conces- 
sion :  and  when  he  looked  towards  Sodom,  the 
smoke  of  its  destruction,  rising  '  like  the  smoke 
of  a  fiirnace,'  made  known  to  him  its  terrible 
overthrow  [Sodom].  Almost  immediately  after, 
Abraham  removed  into  the  territories  of  Abi- 
melech,  king  of  Gerar,  where,  by  a  most  extra- 
ordinary infatuation  and  lapse  of  faith,  he  al- 
lowed himself  to  stoop  to  the  same  prevarication 
in  denying  his  wife,  which,  twenty-thi'ee  years 
before,  had  occasioned  him  so  much  trouble  in 
Egypt  [Abimelech]. 

The  same  year  Sarah  gave  birth  to  the  long- 
promised  son ;  and,  according  to  previous  direc- 
tion, the  name  of  Isaac  was  given  to  him  [Is.iAc]. 
This  greatly  altered  the  position  of  Ishmael,  and 
appears  to  have  created  much  ill-feeling  both  on 
his  part  and  that  of  his  mother  towards  the  child  ; 
which  was  in  some  way  manifested  so  pointedly, 
on  occasion  of  the  festivities  which  attended  the 
weaning,  that  the  wrath  of  Sarah  was  awakened, 
and  she  insisted  that  both  Hagar  and  her  son 
should  be  sent  away.  This  was  a  very  hard 
matter  to  a  loving  father ;  and  Abraham  was 
greatly  distressed ;  but  being  apprised  in  a  dream 
that  this  demand  was  in  accordance  with  the 
Divine  intentions  respecting  both  Ishmael  and 
Isaac,  he,  with  his  habitual  uncompromising 
obedience,  hastened  them  away  early  in  the 
morning,  with  provision  for  the.journey.  Their 
adventures  belong  to  the  article  Hagak. 

When  Isaac  was  about  25  years  old  (b.c. 
1872)  it  pleased  God  to  subject  the  faith  of  Abra- 
ham to  a  severer  trial  than  it  had  yet  sustained, 
or  than  has  ever  fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other 
mortal  man.  He  was  commanded  to  go  into  the 
mountainous  country  of  Moriah  (probably  where 
the  temple  afterwards  stood),  and  there  oflFer  up 
in  sacrifice  the  son  of  his  affection,  and  the  heir 
of  so  many  hopes  and  promises,  which  his  death 
must  nullify.  But  Abraham's  '  faith  shrunk 
not,  assured  that  what  God  had  promised  he 
would  certainly  perform,  and  that  he  was  able  to 
restore  Isaac  to  him  even  from  the  dead '  (Heb. 
xi.  17-19),  and  he  rendered  a  ready,  however 
painful,  obedience.  Assisted  by  two  of  his  ser- 
vants, he  prepared  wood  suitable  for  the  pui-pose, 
and  without  delay  set  out  upon  his  melancholy 
journey.  On  the  third  day  he  descried  the  ap- 
pointed place ;  and  informing  his  attendants  that 
he  and  his  son  would  go  some  distance  fai-ther 
to  worship,  and  then  return,  he  proceeded  to  the 
spot.  To  the  touching  question  of  his  son  re- 
specting the  victim  to  be  offered,  the  patriarch 
replied  by  expressing  his  faith  that  God  himself 
would  provide  the  sacrifice ;  and  probably  he 
availed  himself  of  this  opportunity  of  acquaint- 
ing him  with  the  Divine  command.  Isaac  sub- 
mitted patiently  to  be  bound  and  laid  out  as  a 
victim  on  the  wood  of  the  altar,  and  would  most 


ABRAHAMS  BOSOM 


11 


certninly  have  been  slain  by  his  father's  up- 
lifted hand,  had  not  the  angel  of  Jehovah  inter- 
posed at  the  critical  moment  to  arrest  the  fatal 
stroke.  A  ram  which  had  become  entangled  in 
a  thicket  was  seized  and  offered ;  and  a  name 
was  given  to  the  place  {Jeliovah-Jinh  —  '  the 
Lord  will  provide')  alluding  to  the  believing 
answer  which  Abraham  had  given  to  his  son's 
inquiry  respecting  the  victim.  The  promises 
before  made  to  Abrgjiam  were  again  confirmed 
in  the  most  solemn  manner  (comp.  Heb.  vl.  13, 
17).  The  father  and  son  then  rejoined  their 
servants,  and  returned  rejoicing  to  Beersheba 
(Gen.  xxiii.  19). 

Eight  years  after  (b.c.  1 860)  Sarah  died  at  the 
age  of  120  years,  being  then  at  or  near  Hebron. 
This  loss  first  taught  Abraham  the  necessity  of 
acquiring  possession  of  a  family  sepulchre  in  the 
laud  of  his  sojourning.  His  choice  fell  on  the 
cave  of  Maehpelah  [jNIachpelah],  and  after  a 
striking  negotiation  with  the  owner  in  the  gate 
of  Hebron,  he  purchased  it,  and  had  it  legally 
secured  to  him.  This  was  the  only  possession 
he  ever  had  in  the  Land  of  Promise  (Gen.  xxiii.). 
The  next  care  of  Abraham  was  to  provide  a 
suitable  wife  for  his  son  Isaac.  It  has  always 
been  the  practice  among  pastoral  tribes  to  keep 
up  the  family  ties  by  intermarriages  of  blood- 
relations  :  and  now  Abraham  had  a  further  in- 
ducement in  the  desire  to  maintain  the  purity  of 
the  separated  race  from  foreign  and  idolatrous 
connections.  He  therefore  sent  his  aged  and 
confidential  steward  Eliezer,  under  the  bond  of 
a  solemn  oath  to  discharge  his  mission  faithfully, 
to  renew  the  intercourse  between  his  family  and 
that  of  his  brother  Nahor,  whom  he  had  left 
behind  in  Charran.  He  prospered  in  his  im- 
portant mission  [Isaac],  and  in  due  time  re- 
turned, bringing  with  him  Rebekah,  the  daughter 
of  Nahor's  son  Bethuel,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Isaac,  and  was  installed  as  chief  lady  of  the 
camp,  in  the  separate  tent  which  Sarah  had  oc- 
cupied (Gen.  xxiv.).  Some  time  after  Abraham 
himself  took  a  wife  named  Keturah,  by  whom 
he  had  several  children.  These,  together  with 
Ishmael,  seem  to  have  been  portioned  off  by  their 
father  in  his  lifetime,  and  sent  into  the  east  and 
south-east,  that  there  might  be  no  danger  of  their 
interference  with  Isaac,  the  divinely  appointed 
heir.  There  was  time  for  this :  for  Abraham 
lived  to  the  age  of  175  years,  100  of  which  he 
had  spent  in  the  land  of  Canaan.  He  died  in 
B.C.  1822  (Hales,  1978),  and  was  buried  by  his 
two  eldest  sons  in  the  family  sepulchre  which  he 
had  purchased  of  the  Hittites  (Gen.  xxv.  1-10). 

ABRAHAM'S  BOSOM.  There  was  no  name 
which  conveyed  to  the  Jews  the  same  asso- 
ciations as  that  of  Abraham.  As  undoubtedly 
he  was  in  the  highest  state  of  felicity  of  which 
departed  spirits  are  capable,  '  to  be  with  Abra- 
ham '  implied  the  enjoyment  of  the  same  felicity  ; 
and  '  to  be  in  Abraham's  bosom '  meant  to  be  in 
repose  and  happiness  with  him.  The  latter 
phrase  is  obviously  derived  from  the  custom  of 
sitting  or  reclining  at  table  which  prevailed 
among  the  Jews  in  and  before  the  time  of  Christ 
[Accubation].  It  was  quite  usual  to  describe  a 
just  person  as  being  with  Abraham,  or  as  lying 
on  Abraham's  bosom  ;  and  as  such  images  were 
unobjectionable,  Jesus  accommodated  his  speech 
to  them,  to  render  himself  the  more  intelligible 


12 


ABSALOM 


by  familiar  notions,  when,  in  the  beautiful  pa- 
rable of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus,  he  describes 
the  state  of  the  latter  after  death  under  these 
conditions  (Luke  xvi.  22,  23). 

AB'SALOM  (father  of  peace),  the  third  son 
of  David,  and  his  only  son  by  Maachah,  daugh- 
ter of  Talmai,  king  of  Geshur  (2  Sam.  iii.  3). 
He  was  deemed  the  handsomest  man  in  the 
kingdom;  and  was  particularly  noted  for  the 
profusion  of  his  beautiful  hair,  which  appears  to 
have  been  regarded  with  great  admiration. 
David's  other  child  by  Maachah  was  a  daughter 
named  Tamar,  who  was  also  very  beautiful.  She 
became  the  object  of  lustful  regard  to  her  half- 
brother  Amnon,  David's  eldest  sou;  and  was 
violated  by  him.  In  all  cases  where  polygamy 
is  allowed,  we  find  that  the  honour  of  a  sister  is 
in  the  guardianship  of  her  full  brother,  more 
even  than  in  that  of  her  father,  whose  interest 
in  her  is  considered  less  peculiar  and  intimate. 
We  trace  this  notion  even  in  the  time  of  Jacob 
(Gen.  xxxiv.  6,  13,  2.5,  sqq.).  So  in  this  case 
the  wrong  of  Taraar  was  takeu  up  by  Absalom, 
who  kept  her  secluded  in  his  own  house,  and 
said  nothing  for  the  present,  but  brooded  silently 
over  the  wrong  he  had  sustained  and  the  ven- 
geance which  devolved  upon  him.  It  was  not 
until  two  years  had  passed  that  Absalom  found 
opportunity  for  the  bloody  revenge  he  had  me- 
ditated. He  then  held  a  great  sheep-shearing 
feast  at  Baal-hazor  near  Ephraim,  to  which  he 
invited  all  the  king's  sons.  Amnon  attended 
among  the  other  princes ;  and,  when  they  Avere 
warm  with  wine,  he  was  slain  by  the  servants 
of  Absalom,  according  to  the  previous  directions 
of  their  master.  Absalom  then  hastened  to 
Geshur,  and  remained  there  three  years  with  his 
father-in-law,  king  Talmai. 

Now  Absalom,  with  all  his  faults,  was  emi- 
nently dear  to  the  heart  of  his  father,  who 
mourned  every  day  after  the  banished  fratricide. 
His  secret  wishes  to  have  home  his  beloved 
tliough  guilty  son  were  however  discerned  by 
Joab,  who  employed  a  clever  woman  of  Tekoah 
to  lay  a  supposed  case  before  him  for  judg- 
ment ;  and  she  applied  the  anticipated  decision 
so  adroitly  to  the  case  of  Absalom,  that  the  king 
discovered  the  object,  and  detected  the  interpo- 
sition of  Joab.  Regarding  this  as  in  some  de- 
gree expressing  the  sanction  of  public  opinion, 
David  gladly  commissioned  Joab  to  '  call  home 
his  banished.'  Absalom  returned ;  but  David, 
still  mindful  of  his  duties  as  a  king  and  father, 
controlled  the  impulse  of  his  feelings,  and  de- 
clined to  admit  him  to  his  presence.  After  two 
I  years,  however,  Absalom,  impatient  of  his  dis- 
grace, found  means  to  compel  the  attention  of 
Joab  to  his  case ;  and  through  his  means  a  com- 
plete recoaciliation  with  the  king  was  eftected 
(2  Sam.  xiii.  xiv.). 

.\bsalom  was  now,  by  the  death  of  his  elder 
brothers,  Amnon  and  Chileab,  become  the  eldest 
surviving  son  of  David,  and  heir  apparent  to  the 
throne.  But  under  the  peculiar  theocratic  insti- 
tutions of  the  Hebrews,  the  Divine  king  reserved 
the  power  of  bestowing  the  crown  on  any  person 
whom  he  might  prefer.  The  house  of  David 
was  now  established  as  the  reigning  dynasty, 
and  out  of  his  family  Solomon  had  been  selected 
by  God  as  the  successor  of  his  father.  In  this 
fact,  which  was  probably  well   known  to  the 


ABSALOM 

mass  of  the  nation,  we  have  a  clear  motive  for 
the  rebellion  of  Absalom,  who  wished  to  secure 
the  throne,  which  he  deemed  to  be  his  by  the 
laws  of  primogeniture,  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
father,  while  the  destined  successor  was  yet  a 
child. 

The  fine  person  of  Absalom,  his  superior  birth, 
and  his  natural  claim,  pre-disposed  the  people  to 
regard  his  pretensions  with  favour :  and  this 
pre-disposition  was  strengthened  by  the  conde- 
scending sympathy  with  which  he  accosted  the 
suitors  who  repaii'ed  for  justice  or  favour  to  the 
royal  audience,  combined  with  the  state  and  at- 
tendance with  which,  as  the  heir  apparent,  he 
appeared  in  public.  By  these  influences  'he 
stole  the  hearts  of  the  men  of  Israel ; '  and  when 
at  length,  four  years  after  his  return  from  Geshur, 
he  repaired  to  Hebron,  and  there  proclaimed 
himself  king,  the  great  body  of  the  people  de- 
clared for  him.  So  strong  ran  the  tide  of  opinion 
in  his  favour,  that  David  found  it  expedient  to 
quit  Jerusalem  and  retire  to  Mahauaim,  beyond 
the  Jordan. 

When  Absalom  heard  of  this,  he  proceeded  to 
Jerusalem  and  took  possession  of  the  throne 
without  opposition.  Among  those  who  had 
joined  him  was  Ahithophel,  who  had  been  David's 
counsellor,  and  whose  profound  sagacity  caused 
his  counsels  to  be  regarded  like  oracles  in  Israel. 
This  defection  alarmed  David  more  than  any  other 
circumstance,  and  he  persuaded  his  friend  Hushai 
to  go  and  join  Absalom,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
be  made  instrumental  m  turning  the  sagacious 
counsels  of  Ahithophel  to  foolishness.  The  first 
piece  of  advice  which  Ahithophel  gave  Absalom 
was,  that  he  should  publicly  take  possession  of 
that  portion  of  his  father's  harem  which  had 
been  left  behind  in  Jerusalem.  This  was  not 
only  a  mode  by  which  the  succession  of  the 
throne  might  be  confirmed  [Abishag],  but  in 
the  present  case  this  villauous  measure  would 
dispose  the  people  to  throw  themselves  the 
more  unreservedly  into  his  cause,  from  the  as- 
surance that  no  possibility  of  reconciliation 
between  him  and  his  father  remained.  Hushai 
had  •  not  then  arrived.  Soon  after  he  came, 
when  a  council  of  war  was  held  to  consider 
the  course  of  operations  to  be  taken  against 
David.  Ahithophel  counselled  that  the  king 
should  be  pursued  that  very  night,  and  smitten, 
while  he  was  'weary  and  weak  handed,  and 
before  he  had  time  to  recover  strength.'  Hushai, 
however,  whose  object  was  to  gain  time  for 
David,  speciously  urged,  from  the  known  valour 
of  the  king,  the  possibility  and  fatal  conse- 
quences of  a  defeat,  and  advised  that  all  Israel 
should  be  assembled  against  him  in  such  force 
as  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  withstand. 
Fatally  for  Absalom,  the  counsel  of  Hushai  was 
preferred  to  that  of  Ahithophel ;  and  time  was 
thus  given  to  enable  the  king  to  collect  his  re- 
sources. A  large  force  was  soon  raised,  which 
he  properly  organized  and  separated  into  three 
divisions,  commanded  severally  by  Joab,  Abl- 
shai,  and  Ittai  of  Gath.  The  king  himself 
intended  to  take  the  chief  command;  but  the 
people  refused  to  allow  him  to  risk  his  valued 
life,  and  the  command  then  devolved  upon  Joab. 
The  battle  took  place  in  the  borders  of  the 
forest  of  Ephraim ;  and  the  tactics  of  Joab,  in 
drawing  the  enemy  into  the  wood,   and  there 


ABSALOM-S  TOMB 

hemming  them  in,  so  that  they  were  destroyed 
with  ease,  eventually,  under  the  providence  of 
God,  decided  the  action  against  Absalom. 
Twenty  thousand  of  his  troops  were  slain,  and 
tlip  rest  fled  to  their  homes.  Absalom  himself 
lied  on  a  swift  mule ;  but  as  he  went,  the  boughs 
of  a  terebinth  tree  caught  the  long  hair  in  which 
he  gloried,  and  he  was  left  suspended  there. 
The  charge  which  David  had  given  to  the 
troops  to  respect  the  life  of  Absalom  prevented 
any  one  from  slaying  him:  but  when  Joab 
heard  of  it,  he  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  pierced 
him  tlirough  with  three  darts.  His  body  was 
then  taken  down  and  cast  into  a  pit  there  in 
the  forest,  and  a  heap  of  stones  was  raised 
upon  it. 

David's  fondness  for  Absaiom  was  mi  extin- 
guished by  all  that  had  passed;  and  no  sooner 
did  he  hear  that  his  son  was  dead,  than  he  re- 
tired to  his  chamber  and  gave  vent  to  his  pa- 
ternal anguish  in  the  most  bitter  wailings— '  0 
my  son  Absalom !  my  son,  my  son  Absalom ! 
Avould  God  I  had  died  for  thee,  0  Absalom,  my 
.«on,  my  son !'  The  consequences  might  have 
been  most  dangerous,  had  not  Joab  gone  up  to 
him,  and,  after  sharply  rebuking  him  for  thus 
discouraging  those  who  had  risked  their  lives  in 
his  cause,  induced  him  to  go  down  and  cheer  the 
returning  warriors  by  his  presence  (2  Sam.  xiii.- 
xix.  8). 

ABSALOM'S  TOMB.  A  remarkable  monu- 
ment bearing  this  name  makes  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  outside 
Jerusalem ;  and  it  has  been  noticed  and  described 
by  almost  all  travellers.  It  is  close  by  the 
lower  bridge  over  the  Kidron,  and  is  a  square 
isolated  block  hewn  out  from  the  rocky  ledge 
so  as  to  leave  an  area  or  niche  around  it.  The 
body  of  this  monument  is  about  24  feet  square. 


ABSTINENCE 


13 


2.  Absalom's  Tomb. 


The  elevation  is  about  18  or  20  feet  to  the  top 
of  the  architrave,  and  thus  far  it  is  wholly  cut 
from  the  rock.  The  upper  part  of  the  tomb, 
'wiiich  is  about  20  feet  high  (the  whole  has 
therefore  an  elevation  of  about  40  feet),  has  been 


carried  up  with  mason-work  of  large  stones. 
I'hcre  is  a  small  excavated  chamber  in  the  body 
of  the  tomb,  into  which  a  hole  had  been  broken 
through  one  of  the  sides  several  centuries  ago. 

The  old  travellers  who  refer  to  this  tomb,  as 
well  as  Calmet  after  them,  are  satisfied  that  they 
find  the  history  of  it  in  2  Sam.  xviii.  1 8,  which 
states  that  Absalom,  having  no  son,  built  a  mo- 
nument to  keep  his  name  in  remembrance,  and 
that  this  monument  was  called  *  i^bsalom's 
Hand' — that  is,  index,  memorial,  or  monument. 
With  our  later  knowledge,  a  glance  at  this  and 
the  other  monolithic  tomb  bearing  the  name  of 
Zecharias,  is  quite  enough  to  show  that  they  had 
no  connection  with  the  times  of  the  persons 
whose  names  have  been  given  to  them.  But 
tradition  seems  never  to  have  become  fully 
settled  as  to  the  individuals  whose  names  they 
should  bear,  and  to  the  present  day  the  ac- 
counts of  travellers  have  been  varying  and  in- 
consistent. 

ABSTINENCE  is  a  refraining  from  the  use 
of  certain  articles  of  food  usually  eaten;  or 
from  all  food  during  a  certain  time  for  some 
particular  object.  It  is  distinguished  from 
Temperance,  which  is  moderation  in  ordinary 
food ;  and  from  Fasting,  which  is  abstinence 
from  a  religious  motive.  The  first  example  of 
abstinence  which  occurs  in  Scripture  is  that  in 
which  the  use  of  blood  is  forbidden  to  Noah 
(Gen.  ix.  4)  [Blood].  The  next  is  that  men- 
tioned in  Gen.  xxxii.  32 :  '  The  children  of  Is- 
rael eat  not  of  the  sinew  which  shrank,  which 
is  upon  the  hollow  of  the  thigh,  unto  this  day, 
because  he  (the  angel)  touched  the  hollow  of 
Jacob's  thigh  in  the  sinew  that  shrank.'  By  the 
law,  abstinence  from  blood  was  confirmed,  and 
the  use  of  the  flesh  of  even  lawful  animals  was 
forbidden,  if  the  manner  of  their  death  rendered 
it  impossible  that  they  should  be,  or  uncertain 
that  they  were,  duly  exsanguinated  (Exod.  xxii. 
31 ;  Dent.  xiv.  21).  A  broad  rule  was  also  laid 
down  by  the  law,  defining  whole  classes  of 
animals  that  might  not  be  eaten  (Lev.  xi.) 
[Food].  Certain  parts  of  lawfiil  animals,  as 
being  sacred  to  the  altar,  were  also  interdicted. 
These  were  the  large  lobe  of  the  liver,  the  kid- 
neys and  the  fat  upon  them,  as  well  as  the  tail 
of  the  '  fat-tailed'  sheep  (Lev.  iii.  9-11).  Every- 
thing consecrated  to  idols  was  also  forbidden 
(Exod.  xxxiv.  15).  Instances  of  abstinence 
from  allowed  food  are  not  frequent,  except  in 
commemorative  or  afflictive  fasts.  The  forty 
days'  abstinence  of  Moses,  Elijah,  and  Jesus  are 
peculiar  cases  requiring  to  be  separately  con- 
sidered [Fasting].  The  priests  were  com- 
manded to  abstain  from  wine  previous  to  their 
actual  ministrations  (Lev.  x.  9),  and  the  same 
abstinence  was  enjoined  to  the  Nazarites  during 
the  whole  period  of  their  separation  (Num.  vi.  3). 
A  constant  abstinence  of  this  kind  was,  at  a 
later  period,  voluntarily  undertaken  by  the 
Rechabites  (Jer.  xxxv.  14-18).  Among  the  early 
Christian  converts  there  were  some  who  deemed 
themselves  bound  to  adhere  to  the  Mosaical  limi- 
tations regarding  food,  and  they  according!}' 
abstained  from  flesh  sacrificed  to  idols,  as  well 
as  from  animals  which  the  law  accounted  un- 
clean ;  while  others  contemned  this  as  a  weak- 
ness, and  exulted  in  the  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  had  made  his  followers  free  (Rom.  xiv. 


I     14 


ACCAD 


1-3;  1  Cor.  Tiii.).  Mention  is  made  by  the 
apostle  Paul  of  certain  sectaries  who  should 
arise,  forbidding  marriage  and  enjoining  absti- 
nence from  meats  which  God  had  created  to  be 
received  with  thanksgiving  (1  Tim.  iv.  3,  4). 
The  council  of  the  apostles  at  Jerusalem  decided 
that  no  other  abstinence  regarding  food  should 
be  imposed  upon  the  converts  than  '  from  meats 
oflFered  to  idols,  from  blood,  and  from  things 
strangled'  (Acts  xv.  29). 

ABYSS.  The  Greek  word  means  literally 
without  bottom,  but  actually  deep,  profound.  In 
the  New  Testament  it  is  used  as  a  noun  to 
describe  Hades,  or  the  place  of  the  dead  gene- 
rally (Rom.  X.  7 ) ;  but  more  especially  that  part 
of  Hades  in  which  the  souls  of  the  wicked  were 
supposed  to  be  confined  (Luke  viii.  31 ;  Kev.  ix. 
1,  2,  11 ;  XX.  1,  3;  comp.  2  Pet.  ii.  4).  In  the 
Revelation  the  authorized  version  invariably 
renders  it  '  bottomless  pit,'  elsewhere  '  deep.' 

Most  of  these  uses  of  the  word  are  explained 
by  reference  to  some  of  the  cosmological  notions 
which  the  Hebrews  entertained  in  common  with 
other  Eastern  nations.  It  was  believed  that  the 
abyss,  or  sea  of  fathomless  waters,  encompassed 
the  whole  earth.  The  earth  floated  on  the  abyss, 
of  which  it  covered  only  a  small  part.  Accord- 
ing to  the  same  notion,  the  earth  was  founded 
upon  the  waters,  or,  at  least,  had  its  foundations 
in  the  abyss  beneath  (Ps.  xxiv.  2 ;  cxxxvi.  6). 
Under  these  waters,  and  at  the  bottom  of  the 
abyss,  the  wicked  were  represented  as  groaning, 
and  undergoing  the  punishment  of  their  sins. 
There  were  confined  the  Rephaim— those  old 
giants  who,  while  living,  caused  surrounding 
nations  to  tremble  (Prov.  ix.  18;  xxx.  16).  In 
those  dark  regions  the  sovereigns  of  Tyre,  Baby- 
lon, and  Egypt  are  described  by  the  prophets  as 
undergoing  the  punishment  of  their  cruelty  and 
pride  (Jer.  xxv.  14 ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  10,  &c.).  This 
was  '  the  deep '  into  which  the  evil  spirits  in 
Luke,  viii.  31,  besought  that  they  might  not  be 
cast,  and  which  was  evidently  dreaded  by  them 
fCosMOGOXY;  Hades]. 

AC'C  AD,  one  of  the  five  cities  in  '  the  land  of 
Shinar,'  or  Babylonia,  which  are  said  to  have 
been  built  by  Nimrod,  or  rather,  to  have  been 
•the  beginning  of  his  kingdom'  (Gen.  x.  10). 
It  seems  that  several  of  the  ancient  translators 
found  in  their  Hebrew  MSS.  Achar  instead  of 
Achad,  and  it  is  probable  that  this  was  really 
the  name  of  the  city.  Its  situation  has  been 
much  disputed,  but  in  all  probability  it  may  be 
identified  with  a  remarkable  pile  of  ancient 
buildings  called  Akkev-hlf,  in  the  district  of 
Siticene,  where  there  was  a  river  named  Argades. 
These  buildings  are  called  by  the  Turks  Akker- 
i-Nimnid  and  Ahker-i-Bahil. 

Akker-kuf  is  about  nine  miles  west  of  the 
Tigris,  at  the  spot  where  that  river  makes  its 
nearest  approach  to  the  Euphrates.  The  heap 
of  ruins  to  which  the  name  of  Nimrod's  Hill  — 
Tel-i-Nimnid,  is  more  especially  appropriated, 
consists  of  a  mound  surmounted  by  a  mass  of 
brickwork,  which  looks  like  either  a  tower  or 
an  irregular  pyramid,  according  to  the  point 
from  which  it  is  viewed.  It  is  about  400  feet  in 
circumference  at  the  bottom,  and  rises  to  the 
height  of  125  feet  above  the  sloping  elevation 
on  which  it  stands.  The  mound,  which  seems 
to  form  the  foundation  of  the  pile,  is  a  mass  of 


ACCHO 

rubbish  accumulated  by  the  decay  of  the  super- 
structure. In  the  ruin  itself,  the  layers  of  sim- 
dried  bricks,  of  which  it  is  composed,  can  be 
traced  very  distinctly.  They  are  cemented  to- 
gether by'liae  or  bitumen,  and  are  divided  into 
courses  varying  from  12  to  20  feet  in  height, 
and  are  separated  by  layers  of  reeds,  as  is  usual 
in  the  more  ancient  remains  of  this  primitive 


region.  Travellers  have  been  perplexed  to 
make  out  the  use  of  this  remarkable  monument, 
and  various  strange  conjectures  have  been  ha- 
zarded. The  embankments  of  canals  and  reser- 
voirs, and  the  remnants  of  brickwork  and  pot- 
tery occupying  the  place  all  around,  evince  that 
the  Tel  stood  in  an  important  city ;  and,  as  its 
construction  announces  it  to  be  a  Babylonian 
relic,  the  greater  probability  is  that  it  was  one 
of  those  pyramidal  structures  erected  upon  high 
places,  which  were  consecrated  to  the  heavenly 
bodies,  and  served  at  once  as  the  temples  and 
the  observatories  of  those  remote  times.  Such 
buildings  were  common  to  all  Babylonian  towns ; 
and  those  which  remain  appear  to  have  been 
constructed  more  or  less  on  the  model  of  that  in 
the  metropolitan  city  of  Babylon. 

ACCHO,  a  town  and  haven  within  the  no- 
minal territory  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  which 
however  never  acquired  possession  of  it  (Judg. 
i.  31).  The  Greek  and  Roman  writers  call  it 
Ace,  but  it  was  eventually  better  known  as 
Ptolemais,  which  name  it  received  from  the 
first  Ptolemy,  king  of  Egypt,  by  whom  it  was 
much  improved.  By  this  name  it  is  mentioned 
in  the  New  Testament  (Acts  xxi.  7).  It  was 
also  called  Colonia  Claudii  Cctsaris,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  receiving  the  privileges  of  a  Ro- 
man city  from  the  emperor  Claudius.  But  the 
names  thus  imposed  or  altered  by  foreigners 
never  took  with  the  natives,  and  the  place  is 
still  known  in  the  country  by  the  name  of  Akka. 
During  the  Crusades  the  place  was  usually 
known  to  Europeans  by  the  name  of  Acon: 
afterwards,  from  the  occupation  of  the  Knights' 
of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  as  St.  Jean  d'Acre, 
or  simply  Acre. 

This  famous  city  and  haven  is  situated  in  N. 
lat.  32""  55',  and  E.  long.  35°  5',  and  occupies 
the  north-western  point  of  a  commodious  bay, 
called  the  Bay  of  Acre,  the  opposite  or  south- 
western point  of  which  is  formed  by  the  pro- 
montory of  Mount  Carmel.    The  city  lies  OD 


ACCHO 

the  plain  to  -which  it  gives  its  name.  Its  western 
side  is  washed  by  the  waves  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, and  on  the  south  lies  the  bay,  beyond 
which  may  be  seen  the  town  of  Caipha,  on  the 
site  of  the  ancient  Calamos,  and,  rising  high 
above  both,  the  shrubby  heights  of  Carmel. 
The  mountains  belonging  to  the  chain  of  Anti- 
Libanus  are  seen  at  the  distance  of  about  four 
leagues  to  the  north,  while  to  the  east  the  view 
is  bounded  by  the  fruitful  hills  of  the  Lower 
Galilee.  The  bay,  from  the  town  of  Acre  to 
the  promontory  of  Mount  Carmel,  is  three 
leagues  wide  and  two  in  depth.  The  port,  on 
account  of  its  shallowness,  can  only  be  entered 
by  vessels  of  small  burden ;  but  there  is  excel- 
lent anchorage  on  the  other  side  of  the  bay, 
before  Caipha,  which  is,  in  fact,  the  roadstead 
of  Acre.  In  the  time  of  Strabo  Accho  was  a 
great  city,  and  it  has  continued  to  be  a  place  of 
importance  down  to  the  present  time.  But  after 
the  Turks  gained  possession  of  it.  Acre  so  ra- 
pidly declined,  that  the  travellers  of  the  six- 
teenth and  seventeenth  centuries  concur  in  de- 
scribing it  as  much  fallen  from  its  former  glory. 
Traces  of  its  ancient  magnificence,  however, 
still  remained  in  the  fragments  of  spacious 
Nuildings,  sacred  and  secular,  and  in  portions  of 
old  walls  of  extraordinary  height  and  thickness. 
An  impulse  was  given  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
place  by  the  measures  of  Sheikh  Daher,  and 
afterwards  of  Djezzar  Pasha,  and  the  town 
greatly  increased  in  actual  importance.  The 
population  in  1819  was  computed  at  10,000,  of 
whom  3000  were  Turks,  the  rest  Christians  of 
various  denominations.  Approached  from  Tyre 
the  city  presented  a  beautiful  appearance,  from 
the  trees  in  the  inside,  which  rise  above  the  wall, 
and  from  the  ground  immediately  around  it  on 
the  outside  being  planted  with  orange,  lemon, 
and  palm  trees.  Inside,  the  streets  had  the 
usual  narrowness  and  filth  of  Turkish  towns ; 
the  houses  solidly  built  with  stone,  with  fiat 
roofs;  the  bazaars  mean,  but  tolerably  well 
supplied.  The  principal  objects  were  the  mosque 
built  by  Djezzar  Pasha,  the  pasha's  seraglio,  the 
granary,  and  the  arsenal.  The  trade  was  not 
considerable;  the  exports  consisted  chiefly  of 
grain  and  cotton,  the  produce  of  the  neighbour- 
ing plain ;  and  the  imports  chiefly  of  rice,  coffee, 
and  sugar  from  Damietta.  As  thus  described, 
the  city  was  all  but  demolished  in  1832  by  the 
hands  of  Ibrahim  Pasha;  and  although  con- 
siderable pains  were  taken  to  restore  it,  yet,  as 
lately  as  1837,  it  still  exhibited  a  most  wretched 
appearance,  with  ruined  houses  and  broken 
arches  in  every  direction. 

As  the  fame  of  Acre  is  rather  modern  than 
biblical,  its  history  must  in  this  place  be  briefly 
told.  It  belonged  to  the  Phoenicians,  until  they, 
in  common  with  the  Jews,  were  subjugated  by 
the  Babylonians.  By  the  latter  it  was  doubtless 
maintained  as  a  military  station  against  Egypt, 
as  it  was  afterwards  by  the  Persians.  In  the 
distribution  of  Alexander's  dominions  Accho 
fell  to  the  lot  of  Ptolemy  Soter,  who  valued  the 
acquisition,  and  gave  it  his  own  name.  After- 
wards it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  kings  of 
Syria  ;  and  is  repeatedly  mentioned  in  the  wars 
of  the  Maccabees.  It  was  at  one  time  the  head- 
quarters of  their  heathen  enemies.  In  the  en- 
deavour   of   Demetrius   Soter    and   Alexander 


ACCHO 


15 


Balas  to  bid  highest  for  the  support  of  Jonathan, 
the  latter  gave  Ptolemais  and  the  lands  around 
to  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  Jonathan  was 
afterwards  invited  to  meet  Alexander  and  the 
king  of  Egypt  at  that  place,  and  was  treated 
with  great  distinction  by  them,  but  there  he  at 
length  (B.C.  144)  met  his  death  through  the 
treachery  of  Tryphon.  Alexander  Jannseus 
took  advantage  of  the  civil  war  between  An- 
tiochus  Philometor  and  Antiochus  Cyzicenus  to 
besiege  Ptolemais,  as  the  only  maritime  city  in 
those  parts,  except  Gaza,  which  he  had  not  sub- 
dued ;  but  the  siege  was  raised  by  Ptolemy 
Lathyras  (then  king  of  Cyprus),  who  got  pos- 
session of  the  city,  of  which  he  was  soon  de- 
prived by  his  mother  Cleopatra.  She  probably 
gave  it,  along  with  her  daughter  Selene,  to  An- 
tiochus Grypus,  king  of  Syria.  At  least,  after 
his  death,  Selene  held  possession  of  that  and 
some  other  Phoenician  towns,  after  Tigranes, 
king  of  Armenia,  had  acquired  the  rest  of  the 
kingdom.  But  an  injudicious  attempt  to  extend 
her  dominions  drew  upon  her  the  vengeance  of 
that  conqueror,  who,  in  B.C.  70,  reduced  Ptole- 
mais, and,  while  thus  employed,  received  with 
favour  the  Jewish  embassy  which  was  sent  by 
Queen  Alexandra,  with  valuable  presents,  to 
seek  his  friendship.  A  few  years  after,  Ptolemais 
was  absorbed,  with  all  the  country,  into  the 
Roman  empire ;  and  the  rest  of  its  ancient  his- 
tory is  obscure  and  of  little  note.  It  is  only 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  from  St.  Paul 
having  spent  a  day  there  on  his  voyage  to 
Cajsarea  (Acts  xxi.  7).  It  continued  a  place  of 
importance,  and  was  the  seat  of  a  bishopric  in 
the  first  ages  of  the  Christian  Church.  The  see 
was  filled  sometimes  by  orthodox  and  sometimes 
by  Arian  bishops ;  and  it  has  the  equivocal  dis- 
tinction of  having  been  the  birth-place  of  the 
Sabellian  heresy.  Accho,  as  we  may  now  again 
call  it,  was  an  imperial  garrison  town  when  the 
Saracens  invaded  Syria,  and  was  one  of  those 
that  held  out  until  Ca;sarea  was  taken  by  Aminx 
in  A.D.  638. 

The  Franks  first  became  masters  of  it  in  a.©. 
1110,  when  it  was  taken  by  Baldwin,  king  of 
Jerusalem.  But  in  a.d.  1187  it  was  recovered 
by  Salahed-din,  who  retained  it  till  a.d.  1191, 
when  it  was  retaken  by  the  Christians.  This 
was  the  famous  siege  in  which  Eichard  Coeur- 
de-Lion  made  so  distinguished  a  figure.  The  j 
Christians  kept  it  exactly  one  hundred  years,  oi*  I 
till  A.D.  1291 ;  and  it  was  the  very  last  place  of  I 
which  they  were  dispossessed.  It  had  been  as- 
signed to  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  Jerusalem, 
who  fortified  it  strongly,  and  defended  it  I 
valiantly,  till  it  was  at  length  wrested  from 
them  by  Khalil  ben  Kelaoun,  or  Melek  Senif, 
Sultan  of  Egypt.  Under  this  dominion  it  re- 
mained till  A.D.  1517,  when  the  Mamluke  dynasty 
was  overthrown  by  Selim  I.,  and  all  its  terri- 
tories passed  to  the  Turks.  After  this  Acre 
remained  in  quiet  obscurity  till  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  when  the  Arab  Sheikh  Daher 
took  it  by  surprise.  Under  him  the  place  re- 
covered some  of  its  trade  and  importance.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  barbarous  but  able  tyrant 
Djezzar  Pasha,  who  strengthened  the  fortifica- 
tions and  improved  the  town.  Under  him  it 
rose  once  more  into  fame,  thiough  the  gallant 
and  successful  resistance  which,  under  the  direo- 


16 


ACCOMMODATION 


tion  of  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  it  offered  to  the  arms 
of  Buonaparte.  After  that  famous  siege  the 
i  fortifications  were  further  strengthened,  till  it 
became  the  strongest  place  in  all  Syria.  In 
1832  the  town  was  besieged  for  nearly  six 
months  by  Ibrahim  Pasha,  during  which  35,000 
shells  were  thrown  into  it,  and  the  buildings 
were  literally  beaten  to  pieces.  It  had  by  no 
means  recovered  from  this  calamity,  when  it 
was  subjected  to  the  operations  of  the  English 
fleet  under  Admiral  Stopford,  in  pursuance  of 
the  plan  for  restoring  Syria  to  the  Porte.  On 
the  3rd  of  November,  1840,  it  was  bombarded 
for  several  hours,  Arhen  the  explosion  of  the 
powder-magazine  destroyed  the  garrison  and 
laid  tlie  town  in  ruins. 

ACCOMMODATION  (exegetical  or  special) 
is  principally  employed  in  the  application  of 
certain  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  to  events 
in  the  New,  to  which  they  had  no  actual  his- 
torical or  typical  reference.  Citations  of  this 
description  are  apparently  very  frequent  through- 
out the  whole  New  Testament,  but  especially  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  many  such  passages, 
although  apparently  introduced  as  referring  to, 
or  predictive  of,  certain  events  recorded  in  the 
New  Testament,  seem  to  have,  in  their  original 
connection,  an  exclusive  reference  to  quite  other 
objects.  The  difficulty  of  reconciling  such 
seemimj  misapplications,  or  deflections  from  their 
original  design,  has  been  felt  in  all  ages,  al- 
though it  has  been  chiefly  reserved  to  recent 
times  to  give  a  solution  of  the  difficulty  by  the 
theory  of  accommodation.  By  this  it  is  meant 
that  the  prophecy  or  citation  from  the  Old 
Testament  was  not  designed  literally  to  apply 
to  the  event  in  question,  but  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment writer  merely  adopted  it  for  the  sake  of 
ornament,  or  in  order  to  produce  a  strong  im- 
pression, bj'  showing  a  remarkable  parallelism 
between  two  analogous  events,  which  had  in 
themselves  no  mutual  relation. 

There  is  a  catalogue  of  more  than  seventy  of 
these  accommodated  passages  adduced  by  the 
Rev.  T.  H.  Home,  in  support  of  this  theory,  in 
his  Introduction  (ii.  343,  7th  ed.  1834),  but  it 
will  suffice  for  our  purpose  to  select  the  following 
specimens : — 

Matt.  xiii.  35,  cited  from  Psalm  Ixxviii.  2. 
„      viii.  17  „  Isaiah  liii.  4. 

„         ii.  15  „  Hosea  xi.  1. 

„         ii.  17,  18    :,  Jeremiah  xxxi.  15. 

„        iii.  3  „  Isaiah  xl.  3. 

It  will  be  necessary,  for  the  complete  elucida- 
tion of  the  subject,  to  bear  in  mind  the  distinc- 
tion not  only  between  accommodated  passages 
and  such  as  must  be  properly  explained  (as 
those  which  are  absolutely  adduced  as  proofs), 
but  also  between  such  passages  and  those  which 
are  merely  borrowed,  and  applied  by  the  sacred 
writers,  sometimes  in  a  higher  sense  than  they 
were  used  by  the  original  authors.  Passages 
which  do  not  strictly  and  literally  predict  future 
events,  but  which  can  be  applied  to  an  event 
recorded  in  the  New  Testament  by  an  accidental 
parity  of  circumstances,  can  alone  be  thus  desig- 
nated. Such  accommodated  passages  therefore, 
if  they  exist,  can  only  be  considered  as  descrip- 
tive, and  not  predictive. 

It  -will   here  be    necessary    to   consider  the 


ACCOMMOD.ITION 

various  modes  in  which  the  prophecies  of  the 
Old  Testament  are  supposed  to  be  fulfilled  in 
the  New.  For  instance,  the  opinion  has  been 
maintained  by  several  divines,  that  there  is 
sometimes  a  literal,  sometimes  only  a  mediate, 
typical,  or  spiritual  fulfilment.  Sometimes  a 
prophecy  is  cited  merely  by  way  of  illustration 
(accommodation),  while  at  other  times  nothing 
more  exists  than  a  mere  allusion.  Some  pro- 
phecies are  supposed  to  have  an  immediate 
literal  fulfilment,  and  to  have  been  afterwards 
accomplished  in  a  larger  and  more  extensive 
sense ;  but  as  the  full  development  of  this  part 
of  the  subject  appertains  more  properly  to  the 
much  controverted  question  of  the  single  and 
double  sense  of  prophecy,  we  shall  here  dwell 
no  further  on  it  than  to  observe,  that  not  only 
are  commentators  who  support  the  theory  of  a 
double  sense  divided  ou  the  veiy  important 
question,  what  are  literal  prophecies  and  what 
are  only  prophecies  in  a  secondary  sense,  but 
they  who  are  agreed  ou  this  question  are  at 
variance  as  to  what  appellation  shall  be  given  to 
those  passages  which  are  applied  by  the  New 
Testament  writers  to  the  ministry  of  our  Saviour, 
and  yet  historically  belong  to  an  antecedent 
period.  In  order  to  lessen  the  difficulty,  a  dis- 
tinction has  been  attempted  to  be  drawn  from 
the  formula  with  which  the  quotation  is  ushered 
in.  Passages,  for  instance,  introduced  by  the 
formula  'that  it  might  be  fulfilled,'  are  con- 
sidered, on  this  account,  as  direct  predictions  by 
some,  who  are  willing  to  consider  citations  in- 
troduced with  the  expression  'then  was  ful- 
filled '  as  nothing  more  than  accommodations. 
The  use  of  the  former  phrase,  as  applied  to  a 
mere  accommodation,  they  maintain  is  not  war- 
ranted by  Jewish  writers :  such  passages,  there- 
fore, they  hold  to  be  prophecies,  at  least  in  a 
secondary  sense.  Bishop  Kidder  appositely 
observes,  in  regard  to  this  subject,  that  '  a 
scripture  may  be  said  to  be  fulfilled  several 
ways,  viz.,  properly  and  in  the  letter,  as  when 
that  which  was  foretold  comes  to  pass ;  or  again, 
when  what  was  fulfilled  in  the  type  is  fulfilled 
again  in  the  antitype ;  or  else  a  'scripture  may 
be  fulfilled  more  improperly,  viz.,  by  way  of 
accommodation,  as  when  an  event  happens  to 
any  place  or  people  like  to  that  which  fell  out 
some  time  before.'  He  instances  the  citation, 
Matt.  ii.  17,  'In  Ramah  was  a  voice  heard,'  &c. 
'  These  words,'  he  adds,  '  are  made  use  of  by 
way  of  allusion  to  express  this  sorrow  by.  The 
evangelist  doth  not  say  "  that  it  might  be  ful- 
filled," but  "  then  was  fulfilled,"  q.  d.,  such 
another  scene  took  place.' 

It  must  at  the  same  time  be  admitted  that  this 
distinction  in  regard  to  the  formula  of  quotation 
is  not  acknowledged  by  the  majority  of  com- 
mentators, either  of  those  who  admit  or  of 
those  who  deny  the  theory  of  accommodation. 
Among  the  former  it  will  suffice  to  name 
Calmet,  Doddridge,  Rosenmiiller,  and  Jahn, 
who  look  upon  passages  introduced  by  the 
formula  '  that  it  might  be  fulfilled,'  as  equally  ] 
accommodations  with  those  which  are  prefaced 
by  the  words  '  then  was  fulfilled ;'  while  those 
wlio  deny  the  accommodative  theory  altogether, 
consider  both  as  formulas  "f  direct  prophecies, 
at  least  in  a  secondary  or  typical  sense.  This, 
for  instance,  is  the  case  especially  in  regara  to 


ACCOMMODATION 

the  two  citations  of  this  description  which  first 
present  themselves  in  the  New  Testament,  viz., 
Matt.  ii.  15,  and  Matt.  ii.  17,  the  former  of  which 
is  introduced  by  the  first,  and  the  latter  by  the 
second  of  these  formulas.  But  inasmuch  as  the 
commentators  above  referred  to  cannot  perceive 
how  the  citation  from  Hosea  xi.  1,  'Out  of 
Egypt  have  I  called  my  son,'  althougli  prefaced 
by  the  formula  '  that  it  might  be  fulfilled,'  and 
which  literally  relates  to  the  calling  of  the 
children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt,  can  be  propheti- 
cally diverted  from  its  historical  meaning,  they 
look  upon  it  as  a  simple  accommodation,  or 
applicable  quotation.  IMr.  Home  observes,  that 
'it  was  a  familiar  idiom  of  the  Jews,  when 
quoting  the  writings  of  the  Old  Testament,  to 
say,  that  it  might  be  fuljillcd  winch  was  spoken 
by  such  and  suck  a  prophet,  not  intending  it  to 
be  understood  that  such  a  particular  passage  in 
one  of  the  sacred  books  was  ever  designed  to  be 
a  real  prediction  of  what  they  were  then  relating, 
but  signifying  only  that  the  words  of  the  Old 
Testament  might  be  properly  adopted  to  express 
their  meaning  and  illustrate  their  ideas.'  '  The 
apostles,'  he  adds,  '  who  were  Jews  by  birth, 
and  wrote  and  spoke  in  the  Jewish  idiom,  fre- 
quently thus  cite  the  Old  Testament,  intending 
no  more  by  this  mode  of  speaking,  than  that  the 
words  of  such  an  ancient  writer  might  with 
equal  propriety  be  adopted  to  characterize  any 
similar  occurrence  which  happened  in  their 
tin;es.  The  formula  "  that  it  might  be  ful- 
filled," does  not  therefore  differ  in  signification 
from  the  phrase  "then  was  fulfilled,"  applied 
in  the  following  citation  in  Matt.  ii.  17,  18,  from 
Jer.  xxxi.  15-17,  to  the  massacre  of  the  infants 
at  Bethlehem.  They  are  a  beautiful  quotation, 
and  not  a  prediction  of  Avhat  then  happened, 
and  are  therefore  applied  to  the  massacre  of  the 
infants  according  not  to  their  original  and  his- 
torical meaning,  but  according  to  Jewish  phrase- 
ology.' Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  also,  in  his  Com- 
mentary on  Jeremiah  (xxxi.  15-17),  takes  the 
same  view :— '  St.  Matthew,  who  is  ever  fond  of 
accommodation,  applied  these  words  to  the  mas- 
sacre of  the  children  of  Bethlehem ;  that  is,  they 
were  suitable  to  that  occasion,  and  therefore  he 
applied  them,  but  they  are  not  a  prediction  of 
that  event.' 

D.  J.  G.  EosenmuUer  gives  as  examples,  which 
he  conceives  clearly  show  the  use  of  these  for- 
mulas, the  passages  Matt.  i.  22,  23;  ii.  15,  17, 
23 ;  XV.  7  ;  Luke  iv.  21 ;  James  ii.  23  ;  alleging 
that  they  were  designed  only  to  denote  that 
something  took  place  which  resembled  the  literal 
and  historical  sense.  The  sentiments  of  a  dis- 
tinguished English  divine  are  to  the  same  effect : 
'  I  doubt  not  that  this  phrase,  "  that  it  might  be 
fulfilled,"  and  the  like  were  used  first  in  quoting 
real  prophecies,  but  that  this,  by  long  , use,  sunk 
in  its  value,  and  was  more  vulgarly  applied,  so 
that  at  last  it  was  given  to  Scripture  only  accom- 
modated.' And  again,  '  If  prophecy  could  at 
last  come  to  signify  singing  (Titus  i.  12 ;  1  Sam. 
X.  10;  1  Cor.  xiv.  1),  why  might  not  the  phrase 
fulfilling  of  Scripture  and  prophecy  signify  only 
quotation'  (Nicholl's  Conference  with  a  Theist, 
1698,  part  iii.  p.  13). 

The  accommodation  theory  in  exegetics  has 
been  equally  combated  by  two  classes  of  oppo- 
nents.   Those  of  the  more  ancient  school  co^- 


ACCUBATION 


17 


usual  number  of  guests  on  each  couch  was  three, 
making  nine  for  the  three  couches,  but  some- 
times there  were  four  to  each  couch.  The  Greeks 
went  beyond  this  number ;  the  Jews  appear  to 
have  had  no  particular  fancy  in  the  matter,  and 
we  know  that  at  our  Lord's  last  supper  thirteen 
persons  were  present.  As  each  guest  leaned, 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  entertainment,  on 
his  left  elbow,  so  as  to  leave  the  right  arm  at 
c 


sider  such  mode  of  application  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment passages  not  only  as  totally  irreconcilable 
with  the  plain  grammatical  construction  and 
obvious  meaning  of  the  controverted  passages  { 
which  are  said  to  be  so  applied,  but  as  an  un-  [ 
justifiable  artifice,  altogether  unworthy  of  a  j 
divine  teacher ;  while  the  other  class  of  expo- 
sitors, who  are  to  be  found  chiefly  among  the 
most  modern  of  the  German  Rationalists,  main- 
tain that  the  sacred  writers,  having  been  them- 
selves trained  in  this  erroneous  mode  of  teaching, 
had  mistakenly,  but  bond  fide,  interpreted  the 
passages  wliich  they  had  cited  from  the  Old 
Testament  in  a  sense  altogether  different  from 
their  historical  meaning,  and  thus  applied  them 
to  the  history  of  the  Christian  dispensation. 
Some  of  these  have  maintained  that  the  accom- 
modation theory  was  a  mere  shift  resorted  to  by 
commentators  who  could  not  otherwise  explain 
the  application  of  Old  Testament  prophecies  in 
the  New  consistently  with  the  inspiration  of  the 
sacred  writers  :  while  the  advocates  of  the  sys- 
tem consider  that  the  apostles,  in  adapting  them- 
selves to  the  mode  of  interpretation  which  was 
customary  in  their  days,  and  in  further  adopting 
what  may  be  considered  an  argument  e  concessis, 
were  employing  the  most  persuasive  mode  of 
oratory,  and  the  one  most  likely  to  prove 
effectual ;  and  that  it  was  therefore  lawful  to 
adopt  a  method  so  calculated  to  attract  attention 
to  their  divine  mission,  which  they  were  at  all 
times  prepared  to  give  evidence  of  by  other  and 
irrefragable  proofs. 

ACCUBATION,  the  posture  of  reclining  on 
couches  at  table,  which  prevailed  among  the 
Jews  in  and  before  the  time  of  Christ.  We  see 
no  reason  to  think  that,  as  commonly  alleged, 
they  borrowed  this  custom  from  the  Romans 
after  Judea  had  been  subjugated  by  Pompej'. 
But  it  is  best  known  to  us  as  a  Roman  custom, 
and  as  such  must  be  described.  The  dinner-bed, 
or  triclinium,  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  dining- 
room,  clear  of  the  walls,  and  formed  three  sides 
of  a  square  which  enclosed  the  table.  The  open 
end  of  the  square,  with  the  central  hollow, 
allowed  the  seiwants  to  attend  and  serve  the 
table.  In  all  the  existing  representations  of  the 
dinner-bed  it  is  shown  to  have  been  higher  than 
the  enclosed  table.     Among    the   Romans  the 


18 


ACCUSATION 


liberty,  and  as  two  or  more  lay  on  the  same 
couch,  the  head  of  one  man  was  near  the  breast 
of  the  man  who  lay  behind  him,  and  he  was, 
therefore,  said  '  to  lie  in  the  bosom '  of  the  other. 
This  phrase  was  in  use  among  the  Jews  (Luke 
xvi.  22,  23;  John  i.  18;  xiii.  23),  and  occurs  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  to  lie  next  below, 
or  '  in  the  bosom'  of  the  master  of  the  feast,  was 
considered  the  most  favoured  place,  and  was 
usually  assigned  to  near  and'  dear  connections. 
Thus  it  was  '  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved ' 
who  '  reclined  upon  his  breast'  at  the  last 
supper.  The  frame  of  the  dinner-bed  was  laid 
with  mattresses  variously  stuffed,  and,  latterly, 
was  furnished  with  rich  coverings  and  hangings. 
Each  person  was  usually  provided  with  a  cushion 
or  bolster  on  which  to  support  the  upper  part  of 
his  person  in  a  somewhat  raised  position  ;  as  the 
left  arm  alone  could  not  long  without  weariness 
sustain  the  weight.  The  lower  part  of  the  body 
being  extended  diagonally  on  the  bed,  with  the 
feet  outward,  it  is  at  once  perceived  how  easy  it 
was  for  'the  woman  that  was  a  sinner'  to  come 
behind  between  the  dinner-bed  and  the  wall, 
and  anoint  the  feet  of  Jesus  (Luke  vii.  37,  38 ; 
John  xii.  3). 

The  dinner-beds  were  so  various  at  different 
times,  in  different  places,  and  under  different 
circumstances,  that  no  one  description  can  apply 
to  them  all.  Even  among  the  Romans  they  were 
at  first  (after  the  Punic  war)  of  rude  form  and 
materials,  and  covered  with  mattresses  stuffed 
with  rushes  or  straw;  mattresses  of  hair  and 
wool  were  introduced  at  a  later  period.  At  first 
the  wooden  frames  were  small,  low,  and  round ; 
and  it  was  not  until  the  time  of  Augustus  that 
square  and  ornamented  couches  came  into 
fashion.  In  the  time  of  Tiberius  the  most 
splendid  sort  were  veneered  with  costly  woods 
or  tortoiseshell,  and  were  covered  with  valuable 
embroideries,  the  richest  of  which  came  from 
Babylon,  and  cost  large  sums.  The  Jews 
perhaps  had  all  these  varieties,  though  it  is  not 
likely  that  the  usage  was  ever  carried  to  such  a 
pitch  of  luxury  as  among  the  Romans ;  and  it 
is  probable  that  the  mass  of  the  people  fed  in 
the  ancient  mannei' — seated  on  stools  or  on  the 
ground.  It  appears  that  couches  were  often  so 
low,  that  the  feet  rested  on  the  ground ;  and  that 
cushions  or  bolsters  were  in  general  use.  It 
would  also  seem,  from  the  mention  of  two  and 
of  three  couches,  that  the  arrangement  was  more 
usually  square  than  semi-circular  or  round. 

It  is  utterly  improbable  that  the  Jews  derived 
this  custom  from  the  Romans,  as  is  constantly 
alleged.  They  certainly  knew  it  as  existing 
among  the  Persians  long  before  it  had  been 
adopted  by  the  Romans  themselves  (Esth.  i.  6 ; 
vii.  8);  and  the  presumption  is  that  they  adopted 
it  while  subject  to  that  people.  The  Greeks  also 
had  the  usage  (from  the  Persians)  before  the 
Romans ;  and  with  the  Greeks  of  Syria  the  Jews 
had  very  much  intercourse.  Besides,  the  Ro- 
mans adopted  the  custom  from  the  Carthaginians, 
and,  that  they  had  it,  implies  that  it  previously 
existed  in  Phoenicia,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Jews.  Thus,  that  in  the  time  of  Christ  the 
custom  had  been  lately  adopted  from  the  Ro- 
mans, is  very  improbable.  It  is  also  unlikely 
that  in  so  short  a  time  it  should  have  become 
usual  and  even  (as  the  Talmud  asserts)  obli- 


ACELDAMA 

gatory  to  eat  the  Passover  in  that  posture  of 
indulgent  repose,  and  in  no  other. 

ACCURSED.    [Anathema.] 

ACCUSER.  The  original  word,  which  bears 
this  leading  signification,  means — 1.  One  who 
has  a  cause  or  matter  of  contention ;  the  ac- 
cuser, opponent,  or  plaintiff  in  any  suit  (Judg. 
xii.  2 ;  Matt.  v.  25 ;  Luke  xii.  58).  We  have 
little  information  respecting  the  manner  in  which 
causes  were  conducted  in  the  Hebrew  courts  of 
justice,  except  from  the  Rabbinical  authorities, 
who,  in  matters  of  this  description,  may  be 
supposed  well  informed  as  to  the  later  customs 
of  the  nation.  Even  from  these  we  learn  little 
more  than  that  great  care  was  taken  that,  the 
accused  being  deemed  innocent  until  convicted, 
he  and  the  accuser  should  appear  under  equal 
circumstances  before  the  court,  that  no  preju- 
dicial impression  might  be  created  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  the  defendant,  whose  interests,  we  are 
told,  were  so  anxiously  guarded,  that  any  one 
was  allowed  to  speak  whatever  he  knew  or  had 
to  say  in  his  favour,  which  privilege  was  with- 
held from  the  accuser.  The  word  is  also  applied 
in  Scripture,  in  the  general  sense,  to  any  adver- 
sary or  enemy  (Luke  xviii.  3 ;  1  Pet.  v.  8).  In 
the  latter  passage  there  is  an  allusion  to  the-  old 
Jewish  opinion  that  Satan  was  the  accuser  or 
calumniator  of  men  before  God  (Job  i.  6,  sq. ; 
Rev.  xii.  10,  sq.;  comp.  Zech.  iii.  1).  In  this 
application  the  forensic  sense  was  still  retained, 
Satan  being  represented  as  laying  to  man's 
charge  a  breach  of  the  law,  as  in  a  court  of 
justice,  and  demanding  his  punishment  [Satan]. 

ACEL'DAMA  (field  of  blood),  the  field  pur- 
chased with  the  money  for  which  Judas  betrayed 
Christ,  and  which  was  appropriated  as  a  place 
of  burial  for  strangers  (Matt,  xxvii.  8;  Acts  i. 
19).  It  was  previously  'a  potter's  field.'  The 
field  now  shown  as  Aceldama  lies  on  the  slope 
of  the  hills  beyond  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  south 
of  Mount  Zion.  Sandys  thus  writes  of  it :  '  On 
the  south  side  of  this  valley,  neere  where  it 
meeteth  with  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  mounted 
a  good  height  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  is 
Aceldama,  or  the  field  of  blood,  purchased  with 
the  restored  reward  of  treason,  for  a  buriall 
place  for  strangers.  In  the  midst  whereof  a 
large  square  roome  was  made  by  the  mother  of 
Constantine;  the  south  side,  walled  with  the 
naturall  rocke  ;  fiat  at  the  top,  and  equall  with 
the  vpper  level ;  out  of  which  ariseth  certaine 
little  cupoloes,  open  in  the  midst  to  let  doune 
the  dead  bodies.  Thorow  these  we  might  see 
the  bottome,  all  couered  with  bones,  and  certaine 
corses  but  newly  let  doune,  it  being  now  the 
sepulchre  of  the  Armenians.  A  greedy  graue, 
and  great  enough  to  deuoure  the  dead  of  a  whole 
nation.  For  they  say  (and  1  believe  it)  that  the 
earth  thereof  within  the  space  of  eight  and  forty 
houres  will  consume  the  flesh  that  is  laid  thereon.' 
He  then  relates  the  common  story,  that  the  em- 
press referred  to,  caused  270  ship-loads  of  this 
flesh-consuming  mould  to  be  taken  to  Rome,  to 
form  the  soil  of  the  Campo  Santo,  to  which  the 
same  virV'.e  is  ascribed.  Castela  affirms  that 
great  quatMties  of  the  wondrous  mould  were 
removed  b)  divers  Christian  princes  in  the  time 
of  the  Crusades,  and  to  this  source  assigns  the 
similar  sarcophagic  properties  claimed  not  only 
by  the  Campo  Santo  at  Rome,  but  by  the  ceme- 


ACHAN 

tery  of  St.  Innocents  at  Paris,  by  the  cemetery 
at  Naples,  and,  we  may  add,  that  of  the  Campo 
Santo  at  Pisa. 

The  plot  of  ground  originally  bought  '  to  bury 
strangers  in,'  seems  to  have  been  early  set  apart 
by  the  Latins,  as  well  as  by  the  Crusaders,  as  a 
place  of  burial  for  pilgrims.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  it  belonged  to  the  Knights-Hospitallers. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  in  the 
possession  of  the  Armenians,  who  bought  it  for 
the  burial  of  their  own  pilgrims.  The  erection 
of  the  charnel-house  is  ascribed  to  them.  In 
the  time  of  Maundrell  they  rented  it  at  a  sequin 
a  day  from  the  Turks.  Corpses  were  still  de- 
posited there;  and  the  traveller  observes  that 
they  were  in  various  stages  of  decay,  from  which 
he  conjectures  that  the  grave  did  not  make  that 
quick  despatch  with  the  bodies  committed  to  it 
which  had  been  reported.  '  The  earth,  here- 
abouts,' he  observes,  'is  of  a  chalky  substance ; 
the  plot  of  ground  was  not  above  thirty  yards 
long  by  fifteen  wide ;  and  a  moiety  of  it  was 
occupied  by  the  charnel-house,  which  was  twelve 
yards  high.'  Richardson  affirms  that  bodies 
were  thrown  in  as  late  as  1818;  but  Dr.  Robin- 
son alleges  that  it  has  the  appearance  of  having 
been  for  a  much  longer  time  abandoned :  '  The 
field  or  plat  is  not  now  marked  by  any  boundary 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  rest  of  the  hill-side ; 
and  the  former  charnel-house,  now  a  ruin,  is  all 
that  remains  to  point  out  the  site. . .  .An  opening 
at  each  end  enabled  us  to  look  in ;  but  the  bot- 
tom was  empty  and  dry,  excepting  a  few  bones 
much  decayed.' 

ACHA'IA,  a  region  of  Greece,  which  in  the 
restricted  sense  occupied  the  north-western  por- 
tion of  the  Peloponnesus,  including  Corinth  and 
its  isthmus.  By  the  poets  it  was  often  put  for 
the  whole  of  Greece,  whence  Achaioi,  the  Greeks. 
Under  the  Romans,  Greece  was  divided  into  two 
provinces,  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  the  former  of 
which  included  Macedonia  proper,  with  Illyri- 
cum,  Epirus,  and  Thessaly ;  and  the  latter,  all 
that  lay  £Outh\A'ard  of  the  former.  It  is  in  this 
latter  acceptation  that  the  name  of  Achaia  is 
always  employed  in  the  New  Testament  (Acts 
xviii.  12,  27 ;  xix.  21  ;  Rom.  xv.  26 ;  xvi.  5  ; 
1  Cor.  xvi.  15 ;  2  Cor.  i.  1 ;  ix.  2 ;  xi.  10 ;  1  Thess. 
i.  7,  8).  Achaia  was  at  first  a  senatorial  pro- 
vince, and,  as  such,  was  governed  by  proconsuls. 
Tiberius  changed  the  two  into  one  imperial  pro- 
vince under  procurators;  but  Claudius  restored 
them  to  the  senate  and  to  the  proconsular  form 
of  government.  Hence  the  exact  and  minute 
propriety  with  which  St.  Luke  expresses  him- 
self in  giving  the  title  of  proconsul  to  Gallio, 
who  was  appointed  to  the  province  in  the  time 
of  Claudius  (Acts  xviii.  12). 

ACHA'ICUS,  a  native  of  Achaia,  and  a  fol- 
lower of  the  apostle  Paul.  He,  with  Stephanus 
and  Fortunatus,  was  the  bearer  of  the  1st  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  and  was  recommended  by 
the  apostle  to  their  special  respect  (1  Cor.  xvi. 
17). 

A'CHAN  (trouhler) ;  in  1  Chron.  ii.  7  written 
AcHAR.  From  the  peculiarly  appropriate  sig- 
nificance of  the  name,  it  is  supposed  to  have 
been  imposed  after  the  occurrence  of  the  facts 
which  rendered  it  notorious.  The  city  of  Jeri- 
cho, before  it  was  taken,  was  put  under  that 
awful  ban,  whereby  all  the  inhabitants  (except- 


ACHISH 


19 


ing  Rahab  and  her  family)  were  devoted  to 
destruction,  all  the  combustible  goods  to  be  con- 
sumed by  fire,  and  all  tlie  metals  to  be  conse- 
crated to  God.  This  vow  of  devotement  was 
rigidly  observed  by  all  the  troops  when  Jericho 
was  taken,  sate  by  one  man,  Achan,  a  Judahite, 
who  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  secreting 
an  ingot  of  gold,  a  quantity  of  silver,  and  a 
costly  Babylonish  garment,  which  he  buried  in 
his  tent.  But  God  made  known  this  infraction, 
which  (the  vow  having  been  made  by  the  nation 
as  one  body)  had  involved  the  whole  nation  in 
his  guilt.  The  Israelites  were  defeated,  with 
serious  loss,  in  their  first  attack  upon  Ai ;  and 
as  Joshua  was  well  assured  that  this  humiliation 
was  designed  as  the  punishment  of  a  crime 
which  had  inculpated  the  entire  people,  he  took 
immediate  measures  to  discover  the  criminal. 
As  in  other  cases,  the  matter  was  referred  to  the 
Lord  by  the  lot,  and  the  lot  ultimately  indicated 
the  actual  criminal.  The  conscience-stricken 
offender  then  confessed  his  crime  to  Joshua ;  and 
his  confession  being  verified  by  the  production 
of  his  ill-gotten  treasure,  the  people,  actuated  by 
the  strong  impulse  with  which  men  tear  up,  root 
and  branch,  a  polluted  thing,  hurried  away  not 
only  Achan,  but  his  tent,  his  goods,  his  spoil,  his 
cattle,  his  children,  to  the  valley  (afterwards 
called)  of  Achor,  north  of  Jericho,  where  they 
stoned  him,  and  all  that  belonged  to  him ;  after 
which  the  whole  was  consumed  with  fire,  and  a 
cairn  of  stones  raised  over  the  ashes.  The  se- 
verity of  this  act,  as  regards  the  familif  of 
Achan,  has  provoked  soms  remark.  Instead  of 
vindicating  it,  as  is  generally  done,  by  the  alle- 
gation that  the  members  of  Achan's  family  were 
probably  accessories  to  his  crime  after  the  fact, 
we  prefer  the  supposition  that  they  were  included 
in  the  doom  by  one  of  those  sudden  impulses  of 
indiscriminate  popular  vengeance  to  which  the 
Jewish  people  were  exceedingly  prone,  and 
which,  in  this  case,  it  would  not  have  been  in 
the  power  of  Joshua  to  control  by  any  authority 
which  he  could  under  such  circumstances  ex- 
ercise. 

A'CHAR.     [Achan.] 

A'CHISH  (called  Abimelech  in  the  title  of 
Ps.  xxxiv.),  the  Philistine  king  of  Gath,  with 
whom  David  twice  sought  refuge  when  he  fled 
from  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxi.  10-15;  xxvii.  1-3).  The 
first  time  David  was  in  imminent  danger ;  for  he 
was  recognised  and  spoken  of  by  the  officers  of 
the  court  as  one  whose  glory  had  been  won  at 
the  cost  of  the  Philistines.  This  talk  filled 
David  with  such  alarm  that  he  feigned  himself 
mad  when  introduced  to  the  notice  of  Achish, 
who,  seeing  him  '  scrabbling  upon  the  doors  of 
the  gate,  and  letting  his  spittle  fall  down  upon 
his  beard,'  rebuked  his  people  sharply  for  bring- 
ing him  to  his  presence,  asking, '  Have  I  need 
of  madmen,  that  ye  have  brought  this  fellow  to 
play  the  madman  in  my  presence  ?  Shall  this 
fellow  come  into  my  house  ?'  After  this  David 
lost  no  time  in  quitting  the  territories  of  Gath. 
About  four  years  after,  when  the  character  and 
position  of  David  became  better  known,  and 
when  he  was  at  the  head  of  not  less  than  600 
resdlute  adherents,  he  again  repaired  with  his 
troop  to  King  Achish,  who  received  him  in  a 
truly  royal  spirit,  and  treated  him  with  a  ge- 
nerous confidence,  of  which  David  took  perhaps 
C2 


20 


ACHMETHA 


rather  more  advantage  than  -was  creditable  to 
him  [David]. 

ACHME'THA  (Ezra  vi.  2 ;  in  the  Apocrypha 
2  Mace.  ix.  3 ;  Judith  i.  1,2;  Tob.  iii.  7  ;  Joseph. 
Antiq.  x.  1 1,  7  ;  xi.  4,  6 ;  also,  in  Greek  authors, 
Ecbatana),  a  city  in  Media.  Th^name  seems 
to  have  been  applied  exclusively  to  cities  having 
a  fortress  for  the  protection  of  the  royal  trea- 
sures. In  Ezra  we  learn  that  in  the  reign  of 
Darius  Hystaspes  the  Jews  petitioned  that  search 
might  be  made  in  the  king's  treasure-house  at 
Babylon,  for  the  decree  -which  Cyrus  had  made 
in  favour  of  the  Je-ws  (Ezra  v.  17).  Search  was 
accordingly  made  in  the  record-office  ('  house  of 
the  rolls'),  where  the  treasures  were  kept  at  Ba- 
bylon (vi.  1):  but  it  appears  not  to  have  been 
found  there,  as  it  was  eventually  discovered  '  at 
Achmetha,  in  the  palace  of  the  province  of  the 
Medes'  (vi.  2).  In  Judith  i.  2-4,  there  is  a  brief 
account  of  Ecbatana,  in  which  we  arc  told  that 
it  was  built  by  Arphaxad,  king  of  the  Medes, 
who  made  it  his  capital.  It  was  built  of  hewn 
stones,  and  surrounded  by  a  high  and  thick  wall, 
furnished  with  wide  gates  and  strong  and  lofty 
towers.  Herodotus  speaks  of  it  in  similar  *erms, 
and  ascribes  its  foundation  to  Dejoces,  who  was 
probably  the  same  with  the  Arphaxad  of  Judith. 
Ecbatana  has  been  usually  identified  with  the 
present  Hamadan,  which  is  still  an  important 
town,  and  the  seat  of  one  of  the  governments 
into  which  the  Persian  kingdom  is  divided.  It 
is  situated  in  north  lat.  34^^  53',  east  long.  40°, 
at  the  extremity  of  a  rich  and  fertile  plain,  on  a 
gradual  ascent,  at  the  base  of  the  Elwund 
Mountains,  whose  higher  summits  are  covered 
with  perpetual  snow.  Some  remnants  of  ruined 
walls  of  great  thickness,  and  also  of  towers  of 
sun-dried  bricks,  present  the  only  positive  evi- 
dence of  a  more  ancient  city  than  the  present  on 
the  same  spot.  Heaps  of  comparatively  recent 
ruins,  and  a  wall  fallen  to  decay,  attest  that 
Hamadan  has  declined  from  even  its  modern 
importance.  The  population  is  said  by  South- 
gate  to  be  about  30,000,  which,  from  what  the 
present  writer  has  seen  of  the  place,  he  should 
judge  to  exceed  the  truth  very  considerably.  It 
is  little  distinguished,  inside,  from  other  Persian 
towns  of  the  same  rank,  save  by  its  excellent 
and  -well-supplied  bazaars,  and  the  unusually 
large  number  of  khans  of  rather  a  superior 
description.  This  is  the  result  of  the  extensive 
transit  trade  of  which  it  is  the  seat,  it  being  the 
great  centre  where  the  routes  of  traffic  between 
Persia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Persia  converge  and 
meet.  Its  own  manufactures  are  chiefly  in 
leather.  Many  Jews  reside  here,  claiming  to 
be  descended  from  those  of  the  Captivity  who 
remained  in  Media.  Benjamin  of  Tudela  says 
that  in  his  time  the  number  was  50,000. 
Modern  travellers  assign  them  500  houses ;  but 
the  Rabbi  David  de  Beth  Ilillel,  who  was  not 
likely  to  understate  the  fact,  and  who  had  the 
best  means  of  information,  gives  them  but  200 
families.  He  says  they  are  mostly  in  good  cir- 
cumstances, having  fine  houses  and  gardens, 
and  are  chiefly  traders  and  goldsmiths.  In  the 
midst  of  the  city  is  a  tomb,  which  is  said  to  be 
that  of  Mordccai  and  Esther.  As  Ecbatana  was 
then  the  summer  residence  of  the  Persian  court, 
it  is  probable  enough  that  Mordecai  and  Esther 
died  and  were  buried  there ;  and  traditional  tes- 


ACRABATENE 

timony,  taken  in  connection  with  this  fact,  and 
with  such  a  monument  in  a  place  where  Je-vrs 
have  been  permanently  resident,  is  better  evi- 
dence than  is  usually  obtained  for  the  allocation 
of  ancient  sepulchres.  The  tomb  is  in  charge 
of  the  Jews,  and  is  one  of  their  places  in  pil- 
grimage. 

History  notices  another  Ecbatana,  in  Pales- 
tine, at  the  foot  of  Mount  Carmel,  towards  Ptole- 
mais,  where  Cambyses  died.  It  is  not  mentioned 
by  this  or  any  similar  name  in  the  Hebrew 
writings. 

A'CHOR,  a  valley  between  Jericho  and  Ai, 
which  received  this  name  (signifying  trouble) 
from  the  trouble  brought  upon  the  Israelites  by 
the  sin  of  Achan  (Josh.  vii.  24)  [Achj^n]. 

AC'HSAH  {an  anklet),  the  daughter  of  Caleb, 
whose  hand  her  father  offered  in  marriage  to 
him  who  should  lead  the  attack  on  the  city  of 
Debir,  and  take  it.  The  prize  was  won  by  his 
nephew  Othniel ;  and  as  the  bride  was  con- 
ducted with  the  usual  ceremony  to  her  future 
home,  she  alighted  from  her  ass,  and  sued  her 
father  for  an  addition  of  springs  of  water  to  her 
dower  in  lands.  It  is  probable  that  custom 
rendered  it  unusual,  or  at  least  ungracious,  for 
a  request  tendered  under  such  circumstances  by 
a  daughter  to  be  refused;  and  Caleb,  in  ac- 
cordance with  her  wish,  bestowed  xipon  her  '  the 
upper  and  the  nether  springs'  (Josh.  xv.  16-19  ; 
Judg.  i.  9-1 5). 

AC'HSHAPH,  a  royal  city  of  the  Canaanites 
(Josh.  xi.  1),  has  been  supposed  by  many  to  be 
the  same  as  Achzib,  both  being  in  the  tribe  of 
Asher.  But  a  careful  consideration  of  Josh.  xix. 
25  and  29,  will  make  it  probable  that  the  places 
were  different.  There  is  more  reason  in  the 
conjecture  that  Achshaph  was  another  name  for 
Accho  or  Acre,  seeing  that  Accho  otherAvise 
does  not  occur  in  the  list  of  towns  in  the  lot  of 
Asher,  although  it  is  certain,  from  Judg.  i.  31, 
that  Accho  was  in  the  portion  of  that  tribe. 

ACHZIB.  There  were  two  places  of  this 
name,  not  usually  distinguished. 

1.  Achzib,  in  the  tribe  of  Asher  nominally, 
but  almost  always  in  the  possession  of  the  Phoe- 
nicians ;  being,  indeed,  one  of  the  places  from 
which  the  Israelites  were  unable  to  expel  the 
former  inhabitants  (Judg.  i.  31).  In  the  Tal- 
mud it  is  called  Chezib.  The  Greeks  called 
it  EcDiPPA;  and  it  still  survives  under  the 
name  of  Zib.  It  is  upon  the  Mediterranean 
coast,  about  ten  miles  north  of  Acre.  It  stands 
on  an  ascent  close  by  the  sea-side,  and  is  de- 
scribed as  a  small  place,  -with  a  fcAV  palm-trees 
rising  above  the  dwellings. 

2.  Achzib,  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv. 
44;  Mic.  i.  14),  of  which  there  is  no  historical 
mention,  but,  from  its  place  in  the  catalogue,  it 
appears  to  have  been  in  the  middle  part  of  the 
western  border-land  of  the  tribe,  towards  the 
Philistines.  This  is  very  possibly  the  Chezib  of 
Gen.  xxxviii.  5. 

ACRABATE'NE,  a  district  in  that  portion 
of  Judaea  which  lies  towards  the  south  end  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  occupied  by  the  Edomites  during 
the  Captivity,  and  afterwards  known  as  Iduma;a. 
It  is  mentioned  in  1  Mace.  v.  3;  Joseph.  Jliitiq. 
xii.  8.  1.  It  is  assumed  to  have  taken  its  name 
from  the  Maaleh  Akrabbim,  or  Steep  of  the  Scar- 
pions,  mentioned  in  Num.  xxxiv.  4,  and  Josh. 


ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES 


21 


XV.  3,  as  the  southern  extremity  of  the  tribe  of 
Judah  [Akrabbim].  Another  district  of  the 
same  name  is  mentioned  by  Josephus  as_  extend- 
ing between  Shechem  and  Jericho,  but  it  is  not 
mentioned  in  Scripture. 
ACRE.    [AccHO.] 

ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES.  This  is  the 
title  of  one  of  the  canonical  books  of  the  New 
Testament,  the  fifth  in  order  in  the  common 
arrangement,  and  the  last  of  those  properly  of 
an  historical  character.  Commencing  ^rith  a 
reference  to  an  account  given  in  a  former  work 
of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  Jesus  Christ  before 
his  ascension,  its  author  proceeds  to  conduct  us 
to  an  acquaintance  with  the  circumstances  at- 
tending that  event,  the  conduct  of  the  disciples 
on  their  return  from  witnessing  it,  the  outpour- 
ing on  them  of  the  Holy  Spirit  according  to 
Christ's  promise  to  them  before  his  crucifixion, 
and  the  amazing  success  which,  as  a  consequence 
of  this,  attended  the  first  announcement  by  them 
of  the  doctrine  concerning  Jesus  as  the  promised 
Messiah  and  the  Saviour  of  the  World.  After 
giving  the  history  of  the  mother-church  at  Jeru- 
salem up  to  the  period  when  the  violent  perse- 
cution of  its  members  by  the  rulers  of  the  Jews 
had  broken  up  their  society  and  scattered  them, 
with  the  exception  of  the  apostles,  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  surrounding  region ;  and  after 
introducing  to  the  notice  of  the  reader  the  case 
of  a  remarkable  conversion  of  one  of  the  most 
zealous  persecutors  of  the  church,  who  afterwards 
became  one  of  its  most  devoted  and  successful 
advocates,  the  narrative  takes  a  wider  scope  and 
opens  to  our  view  the  gradual  expansion  of  the 
church  by  the  free  admission  within  its  pale  of 
persons  directly  converted  from  heathenism  and 
who  had  not  passed  through  the  preliminary 
stage  of  Judaism.  The  first  step  towards  this 
more  liberal  and  cosmopolitan  order  of  things 
having  been  effected  by  Peter,  to  whom  the 
honour  of  laying  the  foundation  of  the  Christian 
church,  both  within  and  without  the  confines  of 
Judaism,  seems,  in  accordance  with  our  Lord's 
declaration  concerning  him  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  to 
have  I  '^"U  reserved,  Paul,  the  recent  convert  and 
the  destiucd  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  is  brought 
forward  as  the  main  actor  on  the  scene.  On  his 
course  of  missionary  activity,  his  successes  and 
his  sufferings,  the  chief  interest  of  the  narrative 
is  thenceforward  concentrated,  until,  having  fol- 
lowed him  to  Eome,  whither  he  had  been  sent 
as  a  prisoner  to  abide  his  trial,  on  his  own 
appeal,  at  the  bar  of  the  emperor  himself,  the 
book  abruptly  closes,  leaving  us  to  gather  further 
information  concerning  him  and  the  fortunes  of 
the  church  from  other  sources. 

Respecting  the  authorship  of  this  book  there 
can  be  no  gi-ouud  for  doubt  or  hesitation.  It  is, 
unquestionably,  the  production  of  the  same 
writer  by  whom  the  third  of  the  four  Gospels 
was  composed,  as  is  evident  from  the  introduc- 
tory sentences  of  both  (comp.  I^uke  i.  1-4,  with 
Acts  i.  1).  That  this  writer  was  Luke  has  not 
in  either  case  been  called  in  question,  and  is 
uniformly  asserted  by  tradition.  From  the  book 
itself,  also,  it  appears  that  the  author  accom- 
panied Paul  to  Rome  when  he  went  to  that  city 
as  a  prisoner  (xxviii.).  Now,  we  know  from 
two  epistles  written  by  Paul  at  that  time,  that 
Luke  was  with  him  at  Rome  (Col.  iv.  14 ;  2  Tim. 


iv.  11),  which  favours  the  supposition  that  he 
was  the  writer  of  the  narrative  of  the  apostle's 
journey  to  that  city.  It  was  rejected  by  certain 
heretics  in  the  primitive  times,  such  as  the  Mar- 
cionites,  the  Severians,  and  the  Manicheans,  or 
we  should  rather  say,  it  was  cast  aside  by  them 
because  it  did  not  favour  their  peculiar  views.  A 
complaint  made  by  Chrysostom  would  lead  us 
to  infer  that  in  his  day,  though  received  as 
genuine,  the  Acts  was  generally  omitted  from 
the  number  of  books  publicly  read  in  the  churches, 
and  had  consequently  become  little  known  among 
the  people  attending  those  churches. 

Many  critics  are  inclined  to  regard  the  Gospel 
by  Luke  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  as  having 
formed  originally  only  one  work,  consisting  of 
two  parts.  But  this  opinion  is  at  variance  with 
Luke's  own  description  of  the  relation  of  these 
two  writings  to  each  other  (l)eing  called  by  him, 
the  one  the  former  and  the  other  the  latter 
treatise);  and  also  with  the  fact  that  the  two 
works  have  invariably,  and  from  the  earliest 
times,  appeared  with  distinct  titles. 

Of  the  greater  part  of  the  events  recorded  in 
the  Acts  the  writer  himself  appears  to  have  been 
witness.  He  is  for  the  first  time  introduced  into 
the  narrative  in  ch.  xvi.  11,  where  he  speaks  of 
accompanying  Paul  to  Philippi.  He  then  dis- 
appears from  the  narrative  until  Paul's  return  to 
Philippi,  more  than  two  years  afterwards,  when 
it  is  stated  that  they  left  that  place  in  company 
(xx.  G) ;  from  which  it  may  be  justly  inferred 
that  Luke  spent  the  interval  in  that  town.  From 
this  time  to  the  close  of  the  period  embraced  by 
his  narrative  he  appears  as  the  companion  of  the 
apostle.  For  the  materials,  therefore,  of  all  he 
has  recorded  from  ch.  xvi.  11,  to  xxviii.  31,  he 
may  be  regarded  as  having  drawn  upon  his  own 
recollection  or  on  that  of  the  apostle.  To  the 
latter  source,  also,  may  be  confidently  traced  all 
he  has  recorded  concerning  the  earlier  events  of 
the  apostle's  career ;  and  as  respects  the  circum- 
stances recorded  in  the  first  twelve  chapters  of 
the  Acts,  and  which  relate  chiefly  to  the  church 
at  Jerusalem  and  the  labours  of  the  apostle 
Peter,  we  may  readily  suppose  that  they  were 
so  much  the  matter  of  general  notoriety  among 
the  Christians  with  whom  Luke  associated,  that 
he  needed  no  assistance  from  any  other  merely 
human  source  in  recording  them. 

With  regard  to  the  desiyn  of  the  evangelist 
in  writing  this  book,  a  prevalent  popular  opinion 
is,  that  Luke,  having  in  his  Gospel  given  a 
history  of  the  life  of  Christ,  intended  to  follow 
that  up  by  giving  in  the  Acts  a  narrative  of  the 
establishment  and  early  progress  of  his  religion 
in  the  world.  That  this,  however,  could  not 
have  been  his  design  is  obvious  from  the  very 
partial  and  limited  view  which  his  narrative 
gives  of  the  state  of  things  in  the  church  gene- 
rally during  the  period  through  which  it  extends. 
As  little  can  we  regard  this  book  as  designed  to 
record  the  official  history  of  the  apostles  Peter 
and  Paul,  for  we  find  many  particulars  concern- 
ing both  these  apostles  mentioned  incidentally 
elsewhere,  of  which  Luke  takes  no  notice  (comp. 
2  Cor.  xi.;  Gal.  i.  17;  ii.  11;  1  Pet.  v.  13). 
Some  are  of  opinion  that  no  particular  design 
should  be  ascribed  to  the  evangelist  in  compos- 
ing this  bock  beyond  that  of  furnishing  his 
friend  Theophilus  with  a  pleasing  and  instruo- 


22 


ACTS,  SPURIOUS 


tive  narrative  of  such  events  as  had  come  under 
his  own  notice;  but  such  a  view  savours  too 
much  of  the  lax  opinions  which  these  writers 
unhappily  entertained  regarding  the  sacred 
writers,  to  be  adopted  by  those  who  regard  all 
the  sacred  books  as  designed  for  the  permanent 
instruction  and  benefit  of  the  church  universal. 
Much  more  deserving  of  attention  is  the  opinion 
that  '  the  genA'al  design  of  the  author  of  this 
book  was,  by  means  of  his  narratives,  to  set 
forth  the  co-operation  of  God  in  the  diffusion  of 
Christianity,  and  along  with  that,  to  prove,  by 
i  remarkable  facts,  the  dignity  of  the  apostles  and 
the  perfectly  equal  right  of  the  Gentiles  with 
the  Jews  to  a  participation  in  the  blessings  of 
that  religion.'  Perhaps  we  should  come  still 
closer  to  the  truth  if  -we  were  to  say  that  the 
design  of  Luke  in  writing  the  Acts  was  to  sup- 
ply, by  select  and  suitable  instances,  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  power  and  working  of  that  religion 
which  Jesus  had  died  to  establish.  In  his  Gospel 
he  bad  presented  to  his  readers  an  exhibition  of 
Christianity  as  embodied  in  the  person,  character, 
and  works  of  its  great  founder ;  and  having  fol- 
lowed him  in  his  narration  until  he  was  taken  up 
out  of  the  sight  of  his  disciples  into  heaven,  this 
second  work  was  written  to  show  how  his  reli- 
gion operated  when  committed  to  the  hands  of 
those  by  whom  it  was  to  be  announced  '  to  all 
nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem '  (Luke  xxiv. 
47). 

Respecting  the  time  when  this  book  was  com- 
posed it  is  impossible  to  speak  with  certainty. 
As  the  history  is  continued  up  to  the  close  of  the 


ACTS,  SPURIOUS 

second  year  of  Paul's  imprisonment  at  Rome, 
it  could  not  have  been  written  before  a.d.  63 ;  it 
was  probably,  however,  composed  very  soon 
after,  so  that  we  shall  not  err  far  if  we  assign  the 
interval  between  the  year  63  and  the  year  65  as 
the  period  of  its  completion.  Still  greater  un- 
certainty hangs  over  the  place  where  Luke  com- 
posed it,  but  as  he  accompanied  Paul  to  Rome, 
perhaps  it  was  at  that  city  and  under  the  auspices 
of  the  apostle  that  it  was  prepared. 

The  sti/le  of  Luke  in  the  Acts  is,  like  his  style 
in  his  Gospel,  much  purer  than  that  of  most 
other  books  in  the  New  Testament.  The  He- 
braisms which  occasionally  occur  are  almost 
exclusively  to  be  found  in  the  speeches  of  others 
which  he  has  reported.  His  mode  of  narrating 
events  is  clear,  dignified,  and  lively ;  and,  as 
Michaelis  observes,  '  he  has  well  supported  the 
character  of  each  person  whom  he  has  intro- 
duced as  delivering  a  public  harangue,  and  has 
very  faithfiiUy  and  happily  preserved  the  manner 
of  speakmg  which  was  peculiar  to  each  of  his 
orators.' 

Whilst,  as  Lardner  and  others  have  very  satis- 
factorily shown,  the  credibility  of  the  events 
recorded  by  Luke  is  fully  authenticated  both  by 
internal  and  external  evidence,  very  great  ob- 
scurity attaches  to  the  chroiwlogy  of  these  events. 
Our  space  will  not  permit  us  to  enter  at  large 
into  this  point,  we  shall  therefore  content  our- 
selves with  merely  presenting,  in  a  tabular  form, 
the  dates  affixed  to  the  leading  events  by  those 
writers  whose  authority  is  most  deserving  of 
consideration  in  such  an  inquiry. 


The  Ascension  of  Christ 

Stoning  of  Stephen 

Conversion  of  Paul 

Paul's  first  journey  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  ix.  26) 

James's  Martyrdom,  &c 

Paul's  second  journey  to  Jerusalem  (Acts 

xi.  30) 

Paul's  first  missionary  tour 

Paul's  third  journey  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  xv.) 

Paul  arrives  at  Corinth 

Paul's  fourth  journey  to  Jerusalem   (Acts 

xviii.  22) 

Paul's  abode  at  Ephesus 

Paul's    fifth   journey   to    Jerusalem   (Acts 

xxi.  17)    ._ 

Paul  arrives  in  Rome 


34 
35 
38 
44 

44 

45-46 

53 

54 

56 
56-59 


44 
44-47 


54 
54-57 


33 
37? 
44 
44 

54? 


35 

38 
44 

44 
44 
52 
53 

55 
56-58 

59 
62 


36 

36-38 

39 

44 

44 

49? 

54 


31 
37 
38 
41 
43 

44 

44 
48 
52 

54 
55-59 

58 
61 


ACTS,  SPURIOUS  [Apocrypha].  This 
term  has  been  applied  to  several  ancient  writings 
pretended  to  have  been  composed  by,  or  to  supply 
historical  facts  respecting  our  Blessed  Saviom- 
and  his  disciples,  or  other  individuals  whose 
actions  are  recorded  in  the  holy  Scriptures. 
Some  of  these  writings  are  still  extant ;  others 
are  only  known  to  have  existed,  hj  the  accounts 
of  tliem  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  ancient 
authors. 

Such,  for  example,  is  the  beautiful  sentiment 
dted  by  St.  Paul  (Acts  xx.  35),  It  is  more  blessed 


to  give  than  to  receive,  which  some  have  supposed 
to  be  taken  from  some  lost  apocryphal  book. 
But  the  probability  is  that  St.  Paul  received  the 
passage  by  tradition  from  the  other  apostles. 
Various  other  sayings,  ascribed  to  Christ  by 
early  writers,  which  are  alleged  to  be  derived 
from  apocryphal  gospels,  are  in  all  probability 
nothing  more  than  loose  quotations  from  the 
Scriptures,  which  were  very  common  among  the 
apostolical  fathers. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  apociyphai  Acts 
ascribed  to  our  Lord  is  the  letter  which  he  is 


ADAM 

said  to  have  written  to  Agbanis,  king  of  Edessa, 
in  answer  to  a  request  from  that  monarch  that 
he  would  come  to  heal  a  disease  under  which  he 
laboured.  Some  few  historians  have  maintained 
the  genuineness  of  these  letters,  but  most  writers, 
including  the  great  majority  of  Roman  Catholic 
divines,  reject  them  as  spurious;  and  there  is 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  whole  chapter  of 
Eusebius  which  contains  these  documents  is 
itself  an  interpolation. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  Spurious. 

Of  these  several  are  extant,  others  are  lost,  or 
only  fragments  of  them  are  come  down  to  us. 

The  following  is  a  catalogue  of  the  principal 
spurious  Acts  still  extant :  —  The  Creed  of  the 
Apostles. —  The  Epistles  of  Barnabas,  Clement, 
Ignatius,  and  Poli/carp. —  Tfie  Recognitions  of 
Clement,  or  the  Travels  of  Peter. —  The  Shepherd 
of  Hernias.  —  The  Acts  of  Pilate  (spurious),  or 
tlie  Gospel  of  Nicodemiis. —  The  Acts  of  Paul,  or 
the  Martyrdom  of  Thecla. — Abdias's  History  of 
the  Twelve  Apostles. —  The  Constitutions  of  the 
Apostles. —  The  Canons  of  the  Apostles. — The  Li- 
turgies of  the  Apostles. — St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Laodiceans. — St.  Paul's  Letters  to  Seneca. 

AD'AD  is  the  name  of  the  chief  deity  of  the 
Syrians,  the  sun.  The  name  of  this  Syrian  deity 
is  most  probably  an  element  in  the  names  of  the 
Syrian  kings  Benhadad  and  Hadadezer. 

ADAD-RIM'MON,  properly  Hadad-Rimmon 
(a  garden  of  pomegranates),  a  city  in  the  valley 
of  Jezreel,  where  was  fought  the  famous  battle 
between  King  Josiah  and  Pharaoh-Necho  (2 
Kings  xxiii.  29;  Zech.  xii.  11).  Adad-rimmon 
was  afterwards  called  Maximianopolis,  in  honour 
of  the  emperor  Maximian.  It  was  seventeen 
Roman  miles  from  Caesarea,  and  ten  miles  from 
Jezreel. 

A'DAH  (adornment,  comeliness) :  1.  one  of  the 
wives  of  Lamech  (Gen.  iv.  19) ;  2.  one  of  the 
wives  of  Esau,  daughter  of  Elon  the  Hittite 
(Gen.  xxxvi.  4).  She  is  called  Judith  in  Gen. 
xxvi.  34. 

AD'AM,  the  word  by  which  the  Bible  desig- 
nates the  first  human  being. 

It  is  evident  that,  in  the  earliest  use  of  lan- 
guage, the  vocal  sound  employed  to  designate 
the  first  perceived  object,  of  any  kind,  would  be 
an  appellative,  and  would  be  formed  from  some- 
thing known  or  apprehended  to  be  a  charac- 
teristic property  of  that  object.  The  word  would, 
therefore,  be  at  once  the  appellative  and  the 
proper  name.  But  when  other  objects  of  the 
same  kind  were  discovered,  or  subsequently  came 
into  existence,  difiiculty  would  be  felt ;  it  would 
become  necessary  to  guard  against  confusion,  and 
the  inventive  faculty  would  be  called  upon  to 
obtain  a  discriminative  term  for  each  and  sin- 
gular individual,  while  some  equally  appropriate 
term  would  be  fixed  upon  for  the  whole  kind. 
Different  methods  of  effecting  these  two  pur- 
poses might  be  resorted  to,  but  the  most  natural 
would  be  to  retain  the  original  term  in  its  simple 
state,  for  the  first  individual :  and  to  make  some 
modification  of  it  by  prefixing  another  sound,  or 
by  subjoining  one,  or  by  altering  the  vowel  or 
vowels  in  the  body  of  the  word,  in  order  to  have 
a  term  for  the  kind,  and  for  the  separate  indi- 
■viduals  of  the  kind. 

This  reasoning  is  exemplified  in  the  first  ap- 
plications of  the  word  before  us :  (Gen.  i.  26), 


ADAM  23 

'  Let  us  make  man  [Adam]  in  our  image ; '  (i. 
27),  '  And  God  created  the  man  [the  Adam]  in 
his  own  image.'  The  next  instance  (ii.  7)  ex- 
presses the  source  of  derivation,  a  character  or 
property;  namely,  the  material  of  which  the 
human  body  was  formed :  '  And  the  Lord  God 
[Jehovah  Elohim]  formed  the  man  [the  Adam] 
dust  from  the  ground  [the  adamah]'.  The  mean- 
ing of  the  primary  word  is,  most  probably,  any 
kind  of  reddish  tint,  as  a  beautiftil  human  com- 
plexion (Lam.  iv.  7) ;  but  its  various  derivatives 
are  applied  to  different  objects  of  a  red  or  brown 
hue,  or  approaching  to  such.  The  word  Adam, 
therefore,  is  an  appellative  noun  made  into  a 
proper  one.  It  is  further  remarkable  that,  in  all 
the  other  instances  in  the  second  and  third  chap- 
ters of  Genesis,  which  are  nineteen,  it  is  put  with 
the  article,  the  man,  or  the  Adam. 

The  question  arises.  Was  the  uttered  sound, 
originally  employed  for  this  purpose,  the  very 
vocable  Adam,  or  was  it  some  other  sound  of 
correspondent  signification  ?  This  is  equivalent 
to  asking,  what  was  the  primitive  language  of 
men? 

That  language  originated  in  the  instinctive 
cries  of  human  beings  herding  together  in  a  con- 
dition like  that  of  common  animals,  is  an  hypo- 
thesis which,  apart  from  all  testimony  of  revela- 
tion, must  appear  unreasonable  to  a  man  of  se- 
rious reflection.  There  are  other  animals,  be- 
sides man,  whose  organs  are  capable  of  pro- 
ducing articulate  sounds,  through  a  considerable 
range  of  variety,  and  distinctly  pronounced. 
How,  then,  is  it  that  parrots,  jays,  and  starlings 
have  not  among  themselves  developed  an  arti- 
culate language,  transmitted  it  to  their  succes- 
sive generations,  and  improved  it,  both  in  the 
life-time  of  the  individual  and  in  the  series  of 
many  generations  ?  Those  birds  never  attempt 
to  speak  till  they  are  compelled  by  a  difiicult 
process  on  the  part  of  their  trainers,  and  they 
never  train  each  other. 

Upon  the  mere  ground  of  reasoning  from  the 
necessity  of  the  case,  it  seems  an  inevitable  con- 
clusion that  not  the  capacity  merely,  but  the 
actual  use  of  speech,  with  the  corresponding  fa- 
culty of  promptly  understanding  it,  was  given 
to  the  first  human  beings  by  a  superior  power: 
.and  it  would  be  a  gratuitous  absurdity  to  suppose 
that  power  to  be  any  other  than  the  Almighty 
Creator.  In  what  manner  such  communication 
or  infusion  of  what  would  be  equivalent  to  a 
habit  took  place,  it  is  in  vain  to  inquire ;  the 
subject  lies  beyond  the  range  of  human  investi- 
gation :  but,  from  the  evident  exigency,  it  must 
have  been  instantaneous,  or  nearly  so.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  suppose  that  a  copious  language  was 
thus  bestowed  upon  the  human  creatures  in  the 
first  stage  of  their  existence.  We  need  to  sup- 
pose only  so  much  as  would  be  requisite  for  the 
notation  of  the  ideas  of  natural  wants  and  the 
most  important  mental  conceptions  ;  and  from 
these,  as  germs,  the  powers  of  the  mind  and 
the  faculty  of  vocal  designation  would  educe 
new  words  and  combinations  as  occasion  de- 
manded. 

That  the  language  thus  formed  continued  to 
be  the  universal  speech  of  mankind  till  after  the 
deluge,  and  till  the  great  cause  of  diversity 
took  place,  is  in  itself  the  most  probable  suppo- 
sition [Tongues,  Confusion  of].     If  there  were 


ADAM 


any  families  of  men  whicli  were  not  involved 
in  the  crime  of  the  Babel-  builders,  they  would 
almost  certainly  retain  the  primeval  language. 
The  longevity  of  the  men  of  that  period  would 
be  a  powerful  conservative  of  that  language 
against  the  slow  changes  of  time.  That  there 
were  such  exceptions  seems  to  be  almost  an 
indubitable  inference  from  the  fact  that  Noah 
long  survived  the  unholy  attempt.  His  faithful 
piety  would  not  have  suffered  him  to  fall  into 
the  snare ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  none 
of  his  children  and  descendants  would  listen  to 
his  admonitions,  and  hold  fast  their  integrity  by 
adhering  to  him :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  the  habit  and  character  of 
piety  were  established  in  many  of  them. 

The  confusion  of  tongues,  therefore,  whatever 
was  the  nature  of  that  judicial  visitation,  would 
not  fall  upon  that  portion  of  men  which  was  the 
most  orderly,  thoughtful,  and  pious,  among 
whom  the  second  father  of  mankind  dwelt  as 
their  acknowledged  and  revered  head. 

If  this  supposition  be  admitted,  Ave  can  have 
no  difficulty  in  regarding  as  the  mother  of  lan- 
guages, not  indeed  the  Hebrew,  absolutely  speak- 
ing, but  that  which  was  the  stock  whence 
branched  the  Hebrew,  and  its  sister  tongues, 
usually  called  the  Shemitic,  but  more  properly, 
by  Dr.  Prichard,  the  Syro-Arabian.  It  may  then 
be  maintained  that  the  actually  spoken  names  of 
Adam  and  all  the  others  mentioned  in  the  ante- 
diluvian history  "were  those  which  we  have  in 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  very  slightly  and  not  at  all 
essentially  varied. 

It  is  among  the  clearest  deductions  of  reason, 
that  men  and  all  dependent  beings  have  been 
created,  that  is,  produced  or  brought  into  their 
first  existence  by  an  intelligent  and  adequately 
powerful  being.  A  question,  however,  arises  of 
great  interest  and  importance.  Did  the  Almightj^ 
Creator  produce  only  one  man  and  one  woman, 
from  whom  all  other  human  beings  have  de- 
scended?—or  did  he  create  several  parental 
pairs,  from  whom  distinct  stocks  of  men  have 
been  derived?  The  aflarmative  of  the  latter  po- 
sition has  been  maintained  by  some,  and,  it  must 
be  confessed,  not  without  apparent  reason.  The 
manifest  and  great  differences  in  complexion 
and  figure,  which  distinguish  several  races  of 
mankind,  are  supposed  to  be  such  as  entirely  to' 
forbid  the  conclusion  that  they  have  all  de- 
scended from  one  father  and  one  mother.  The 
question  is  usually  regarded  as  equivalent  to 
this :  whether  there  is  only  one  species  of  men, 
or  there  are  several.  But  we  cannot,  in  strict 
fairness,  admit  that  the  questions  are  identical. 
It  is  hypothetically  conceivable  that  the  Adorable 
God  might  give  existence  to  any  number  of 
creatures,  which  should  all  possess  the  properties 
that  characterize  identity  of  species,  even  with- 
out such  differences  as  constitute  varieties,  or 
■with  any  degree  of  those  differences.  _ 

But  the  admission  of  the  possibility  is  not  a 
concession  of  the  reality.  So  great  is  the  evi- 
dence in  favour  of  the  derivation  of  the  entire 
mass  of  human  beings  from  one  pair  of  ancestors, 
that  it  has  obtained  the, suffrage  of  the  men  most 
competent  to  judge  upon  a  question  of  compa- 
rative anatomy  and  physiology. 

The  animals  which  render  emhient  services  to 
man,  and  peculiarly  depend  upon  his  protection, 


are  widely  diffused— the  horse,  the  dog,  the  hog, 
the  domestic  fowl.  Now  of  these,  the  varieties  in 
each  species  are  numerous  and  different,  to  a 
degree  so  great,  that  an  observer  ignorant  of 
physiological  history  would  scarcely  believe 
them  to  be  of  the  same  species.  But  man  is 
the  most  widely  diffused  of  any  animal.  In  the 
progress  of  ages  and  generations,  he  has  natural- 
ized himself  to  every  climate,  and  to  modes  of 
life  which  would  prove  fatal  to  an  individual 
man  suddenly  transferred  from  a  remote  point 
of  the  field.  The  alterations  produced  affect 
every  part  of  the  body,  internal  and  external, 
without  extinguishing  the  marks  of  the  specific 
identity.  A  further  and  striking  evidence  is, 
that  when  persons  of  different  varieties  are  con- 
jugally united,  the  offspring,  especially  in  two 
or  three  generations,  becomes  more  prolific,  and 
acquires  a  higher  perfection  in  physical  and 
mental  qualities  than  was  found  in  either  of  the 
parental  races.  From  the  deepest  African  black 
to  the  finest  Caucasian  white,  the  change  runs 
through  imperceptible  gradations;  and,  if  a 
middle  hue  be  assumed,  suppose  some  tint  of 
brown,  all  the  varieties  of  complexion  may  be 
explained  upon  the  principle  of  divergence  in- 
fluenced by  outward  circumstances.  The  con- 
clusion may  be  fairly  drawn,  in  the  words  of  the 
able  translators  and  illustrators  of  Baron  Cuvier's 
great  work: — '  We  are  fully  warranted  in  con- 
cluding, both  from  the  comparison  of  man  with 
inferior  animals,  so  far  as  the  inferiority  will 
allow  of  such  comparison,  and,  beyond  that,  by 
comparing  him  with  himself,  that  the  great 
family  of  mankind  loudly  proclaim  a  descent, 
at  some  period  or  other,  from  one  common 
origin.' 

Thus,  by  an  investigation  totally  independent 
of  historical  authoritj',  we  are  brought  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  inspired  writings,  that  the 
Creator  •  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of 
men,  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth ' 
(Acts  xvii.  26). 

We  shall  now  follow  the  course  of  those  sacred 
documents  in  tracing  the  histoi-y  of  the  first  man, 
persuaded  that  their  right  interpretation  is  a  sure 
basis  of  truth.  At  the  same  time  we  shall  not 
reject  illustrations  from  natural  history  and  the 
reason  of  particular  facts. 

It  is  evident  upon  a  little  reflection,  and  the 
closest  investigation  confirms  the  conclusion, 
that  the  first  human  pair  must  have  been  created 
in  a  state  equivalent  to  that  which  all  subse- 
quent human  beings  have  had  to  reach  by  slow 
degrees,  in  growth,  experience,  observation, 
imitation,  and  the  instruction  of  others :  that  is, 
a  state  of  prime  maturity,  and  with  an  infusion, 
concreation,  or  whatever  we  may  call  it,  of 
knowledge  and  habits,  both  physical  and  intel- 
lectual, suitable  to  the  place  which  man  had  to 
occupy  in  the  system  of  creation,  and  adequate 
to  his  necessities  in  that  place.  Had  it  been 
otherwise,  the  new  beings  could  not  have  pre- 
served their  animal  existence,  nor  have  held 
rational  converse  with  each  other,  nor  have  paid 

'  to  their  Creator  the  homage  of  knowledge  and 
love,    adoration,    and    obedience ;    and    reason 

I  clearly  tells  us  that  the  last  was  the  noblest  end 

I  of  existence.  Those  whom  unhappy  prejudices 
lead  to  reject  revelation  must  either  admit  this, 

I  or  must  resort  to  suppositions  of  palpable  ab- 


ADAM 

surdity  and  impossibility.  If  they  will  not 
admit  a  direct  action  of  Divine  power  in  crea- 
tion and  adaptation  to  the  designed  mode  of 
existence,  they  must  admit  something  far  beyond 
the  miraculous,  an  infinite  succession  of  finite 
beings,  or  a  spontaneous  production  of  order, 
organization,  and  systematic  action,  from  some 
unintelligent  origin.  The  Bible  coincides  with 
this  dictate  of  honest  reason,  expressing  these 
facts  in  simple  and  artless  language,  suited  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  men  to  whom  revelation 
was  first  granted.  That  this  production  in  a 
mature  state  was  the  fact  with  regard  to  the 
vegetable  part  of  the  creation,  is  declared  in 
Gen.  ii.  4,  5 :  '  In  the  day  of  Jehovah  God's 
making  the  earth  and  the  heavens,  and  every 
shrub  of  the  field  before  it  should  be  in  the 
earth,  and  erery  herb  of  the  field  before  it 
should  bud.'  The  two  terms,  shrubs  and  herb- 
age, are  put  to  designate  the  whole  vegetable 
kingdom.  The  reason  of  the  case  comprehends 
the  other  division  of  organized  nature ;  and  this 
is  applied  to  man  and  all  other  animals,  in  the 
words,  '  Out  of  the  ground— dust  out  of  the 
ground — Jehovah  God  formed  them.' 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  there  are  two  narra- 
tives at  the  beginning  of  the  Mosaic  records, 
ditferent  in  style  and  manner,  distinct  and  inde- 
pendent ;  at  first  sight  somewhat  discrepant,  but 
when  strictly  examined,  perfectly  compatible, 
and  each  one  illustrating  and  completing  the 
other.  The  first  is  contained  in  Gen.  i.  1,  to 
ii.  3 ;  and  the  other,  ii.  4,  to  iv.  26.  As  is  the 
case  with  the  Scripture  history  generally,  they 
consist  of  a  few  principal  facts,  detached  anec- 
dotes, leaving  much  of  necessary  implication 
which  the  good  sense  of  the  reader  is  called 
upon  to  supply ;  and  passing  over  large  spaces 
of  the  history  of  life,  upon  which  all  conjecture 
would  be  fruitless. 

In  *he  second  of  these  narratives  we  read, 
•  And  Jehovah  God  formed  the  man  [Heb.  the 
Adam],  dust  from  the  ground  [ha-adamali],  and 
blew  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and  the 
man  became  a  living  animal'  (Gen.  ii.  7).  Here 
are  two  objects  of  attention,  the  organic  me- 
chanism of  the  human  body,  and  the  vitality 
with  which  it  was  endowed. 

The  mechanical  material,  formed  (moulded, 
or  arranged,  as  an  artificer  models  clay  or  wax) 
into  the  human  and  all  other  animal  bodies,  is 
called  '  dust  from  the  ground.'  This  would  be  a 
natural  and  easy  expression  to  men  in  the  early 
ages,  before  chemistry  was  known  or  minute 
philosophical  distinctions  were  thought  of,  to 
convey,  in  a  general  form,  the  idea  of  earthy 
matter,  the  constituent  substance  of  the  ground 
on  which  we  tread.  To  say,  that  of  this  the 
human  and  every  other  animal  body  was  formed, 
is  a  position  which  would  be  at  once  the  most 
easily  apprehensible  to  an  uncultivated  mind, 
and  which  yet  is  the  most  exactly  true  upon  the 
highest  philosophical  grounds.  We  now  know, 
from  chemical  analysis,  that  the  animal  body  is 
composed,  in  the  inscrutable  manner  called  or- 
ganization,  of  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  nitro- 
gen, lime,  iron,  sulphur,  and  phosphorus.  Now 
all  these  are  mineral  substances,  which  in  their 
various  combinations  form  a  very  large  part  of 
the  solid  ground. 

The    expression   which    we    have    rendered 


ADAM 


25 


'  living  animal'  sets  before  us  the  organic  life 
of  the  animal  frame,  that  mysterious  something 
which  man  cannot  create  nor  restore,  which 
baffles  the  most  acute  philosophers  to  search  out 
its  nature,  and  which  reason  combines  with 
Scripture  to  refer  to  the  immediate  agency  of 
the  Almighty—'  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being.' 

The  other  narrative  is  contained  in  Uiese 
words,  '  God  created  man  in  his  own  image :  in 
the  image  of  God  created  he  him;  male  and 
female  created  he  them '  (Gen.  i.  27 ).  The  imaije 
(resemblance,  such  as  a  shadow  bears  to  the 
object  which  casts  it)  of  God  is  an  expression 
which  breathes  at  once  archaic  simplicity  and 
the  most  recondite  wisdom  ;  for  what  term  could 
the  most  cultivated  and  copious  language  bring 
forth  more  suitable  to  the  purpose  ?  It  presents 
to  us  man  as  made  in  a  resemblance  to  the 
author  of  his  being,  a  true  resemblance,  but 
faint  and  shadowy ;  an  outline,  faithful  according 
to  its  capacity,  yet  infinitely  remote  from  the 
reality  :  a  distant  form  of  the  intelUyeuce,  wisdom, 
power,  rectitude,  goodness,  and  dominion  of  the 
Adorable  Supreme.  To  the  inferior  sentient 
beings  with  wliich  he  is  connected  man  stands  in 
the  place  of  God.  We  have  every  reason  to 
think  that  none  of  them  are  capable  of  con- 
ceiving a  being  higher  than  man.  All,  in  their 
different  ways,  look  up  to  him  as  their  superior ; 
the  ferocious  generally  flee  before  him,  afraid  to 
encounter  his  power,  and  the  gentle  court  his 
protection  and  show  their  highest  joy  to  consist 
in  serving  and  pleasing  him.  Even  in  our 
degenerate  state  it  is  manifest  that  if  we  treat 
the  domesticated  animals  with  wisdom  and  kind- 
ness, their  attachment  is  most  ardent  and 
faithful. 

Thus  had  man  the  shadow  of  the  divine  do- 
minion and  authority  over  the  inferior  creation. 
The  attribute  of  power  was  also  given  to  him,  in 
his  being  made  able  to  convert  the  inanimate 
objects  and  those  possessing  only  the  vegetable 
life,  into  the  instruments  and  the  materials  for 
supplying  his  wants,  and  continually  enlarging 
his  sphere  of  command. 

In  such  a  state  of  things  knowledge  and  wis- 
dom are  implied :  the  one  quality,  an  acquaint- 
ance with  tilose  substances  and  their  changeful 
actions  which  were  necessary  for  a  creature  like 
man  to  understand,  in  order  to  his  safety  and 
comfort ;  the  other,  such  sagacity  as  would  di- 
rect him  in  selecting  the  best  objects  of  desire 
and  pursuit,  and  the  right  means  for  attaining 
them. 

Above  all,  moral  excellence  must  have  been 
comprised  in  this  '  image  of  God  ;'  and  not  only 
forming  a  part  of  it,  but  being  its  crown  of 
beauty  and  glory.  The  Christian  inspiration, 
than  which  no  more  perfect  disclosure  of  God 
is  to  take  place  on  this  side  eternity,  casts  its 
light  upon  this  subject :  for  this  apostle  Paul,  in 
urging  the  obligations  of  Christians  to  perfect 
holiness,  evidently  alludes  to  the  eadowments  of 
the  first  man  in  two  parallel  and  mutually  illus- 
trative epistles;  ' —  the  new  man,  renewed  in 
knowledge  after  the  image  of  Him  that  created 
him ;  the  new  man  which,  after  [according  to] 
God,  is  created  in  righteousness  ai.d  true  holi- 
ness' (Col.  iii.  10;  Eph.  iv.  24). 

In  this  perfection  of  faculties,  and  with  these 


26 


ADAM 


high  prerogatives  of  moral  existence,  did  hu- 
man nature,  in  its  first  subject,  rise  up  from  the 
creating  hand.  The  whole  Scripture-narrative 
implies  that  this  8tate  of  existence  was  one  of 
correspondent  activity  and  enjoyment.  It  plainly 
represents  the  Deity  himself  as  condescending 
to  assume  a  human  form  and  to  employ  human 
speech,  in  order  to  instruct  and  exercise  the 
happy  creatures  whom  (to  borrow  the  just  and 
beautiful  language  of  the  Apocryphal '  Wisdom') 
'  God  created  for  incorruptibility,  and  made  him 
an  image  of  his  own  nature'  (Wisd.  Sol.  ii.  23). 

The  noble  and  sublime  idea  that  man  thus 
had  his  INIaker  for  his  teacher  and  guide,  pre- 
cludes a  thousand  difficulties.  It  shows  us  the 
simple,  direct,  and  effectual  method  by  which 
the  newly  formed  creature  would  have  commu- 
nicated to  him  all  the  intellectual  knowledge, 
and  all  the  practical  arts  and  manipulations, 
M'hich  were  needful  and  beneficial  for  him. 

Religious  knowledge  and  its  appropriate  habits 
also  required  an  immediate  infusion  :  and  these 
are  pre-eminently  comprehended  in  the  '  image 
of  God.'  On  the  one  hand,  it  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  the  newly  created  man  and  his  female 
companion  were  inspired  with  a  very  ample 
share  of  the  doctrinal  knowledge  which  was 
communicated  to  their  posterity  by  the  succes- 
sive and  accumulating  revolutions  of  more  than 
four  thousand  years :  and,  on  the  other,  we  can- 
not imagine  that  they  were  left  in  gross  igno- 
rance upon  the  existence  and  excellencies  of  the 
Being  who  had  made  them,  their  obligations  to 
him,  and  the  way  in  which  they  might  continue 
to  receive  the  greatest  blessings  from  him.  It  Ls 
self-evident  that,  to  have  attained  such  a  kind 
and  degree  of  knowledge,  by  spontaneous  effort, 
under  even  the  favourable  circumstances  of  a 
state  of  negative  innocehce,  would  have  been  a 
long  and  arduous  work.  But  the  sacred  narra- 
tive leaves  no  room  for  doubt  upon  this  head. 
In  the  primitive  style  it  tells  of  God  as  speaking 
to  them,  commanding,  instructing,  assigning 
their  work,  pointing  out  their  danger,  and  show- 
ing how  to  avoid  it.  All  this,  reduced  to  the 
dry  simplicity  of  detail,  is  equivalent  to  saying 
that  the  Creator,  infinitely  kind  and  condescend- 
ing, by  the  use  of  forms  and  modes  adapted  to 
their  capacity,  fed  their  minds  with  truth,  gave 
them  a  ready  understanding  of  it  and  that  de- 
light in  it  which  constituted  holiness,  taught 
them  to  hold  intercourse  with  himself  by  direct 
addresses  in  both  praise  and  prayer,  and  gave 
some  disclosures  of  a  future  state  of  blessedness 
when  they  should  have  fulfilled  the  condition  of 
their  probation. 

An  especial  instance  of  this  instruction  and  in- 
fusion of  practical  habits  is  given  to  us  in  the 
narrative :  '  Out  of  the  ground  Jehovah  God 
formed  every  beast  of  the  field  and  every  fowl 
of  the  air ;  and  brought  them  unto  the  man,  to 
see  what  he  would  call  them'  (Gen.  ii.  19). 
This,  taken  out  of  the  style  of  condescending 
anthropomorphism,  amounts  to  such  a  statement 
as  the  following:  the  Creator  had  not  only 
formed  man  with  organs  of  speech,  but  he 
taught  him  the  use  of  them,  by  an  immediate 
communication  of  the  practical  faculty  and  its 
accompanying  intelligence ;  and  he  guided  the 
man,  as  yet  the  solitary  one  of  his  species,  to 
this  among  the  first   applications  of  speech,  the 


ADAM 

designating  of  the  animals  with  which  he  was 
connected,  by  appellative  words  which  would 
both  be  the  help  of  his  memory  and  assist  his 
mental  operations,  and  thus  would  be  introduc- 
tory and  facilitating  to  more  enlarged  applica- 
tions of  thought  and  language.  We  are  further 
warranted,  by  the  recognised  fact  of  the  anec- 
dotal and  fragmentary  structure  of  the  Scripture 
history,  to  regard  this  as  the  selected  instance 
for  exhibiting  a  whole  kind  or  class  of  opera- 
tions or  processes ;  implying  that,  in  the  same  or 
similar  manner,  the  first  man  was  led  to  under- 
stand something  of  the  qualities  and  relations  of 
vegetables,  earthy  matters,  the  visible  heavens, 
and  the  other  external  objects  to  which  he  had 
a  relation. 

The  next  important  article  in  this  primeval 
history  is  the  creation  of  the  human  female. 
The  narrative  is  given  in  the  more  summary 
manner  in  the  former  of  the  two  documents : — 
'  Male  and  female  created  he  them '  (Gen.  i.  27). 
It  stands  a  little  more  at  length  in  a  third  docu- 
ment, which  begins  the  fifth  chapter,  and  has 
the  characteristic  heading  or  title  by  which  the 
Hebrews  designated  a  separate  work.  '  This, 
the  book  of  the  generations  of  Adam.  In  the 
day  God  created  Adam;  he  made  him  in  the 
likeness  of  God,  male  and  female  he  created 
them ;  and  he  blessed  them,  and  he  called  their 
name  Adam,  in  the  day  of  their  being  created ' 
(ver.  1,  2). 

The  second  of  the  narratives  is  more  circum- 
stantial :  *  And  Jehovah  God  said,  it  is  not  good 
the  man's  being  alone :  I  will  make  for  him  a 
help  suitable  for  him.'  Then  follows  the  pas- 
sage concerning  the  review  and  the  naming  of 
the  inferior  animals  ;  and  it  continuee — '  but  for 
Adam  he  found  not  a  help  suitable  for  him. 
And  Jehovah  God  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall 
upon  the  man  [the  Adam],  and  he  slept :  and  he 
took  one  out  of  his  ribs,  and  closed  up  the  flesh 
in  its  place :  and  Jehovah  God  built  up  the  rib 
which  he  had  taken  from  the  man  into  a  woman, 
and  he  brought  her  to  the  man.' 

The  next  particular  into  which  the  sacred 
history  leads  us,  is  one  which  we  cannot  ap- 
proach without  a  painful  sense  of  its  difficulty 
and  delicacy.  It  stands  thus  in  the  authorized 
version :  '  And  they  were  both  naked,  the  man 
and  his  wife;  and  were  not  ashamed'  (ii.  25). 
The  common  interpretation  is,  that,  in  this  re- 
spect, the  two  human  beings,  the  first  and  only 
existing  ones,  were  precisely  in  the  condition  of 
the  youngest  infants,  incapable  of  perceiving  any 
incongruity  in  the  total  destitution  of  artificial 
clothing.  But  a  little  reflection  will  tell  us,  and 
the  more  carefully  that  reflection  is  pursued  the 
more  it  will  appear  just,  that  this  supposition  is 
inconsistent  with  what  we  have  established  on 
solid  grounds,  the  supernatural  infusion  into  the 
minds  of  our  first  parents  and  into  their  nervous 
and  muscular  faculties,  of  the  knowledge  and 
practical  habits  which  their  descendants  have 
had  to  acquire  by  the  long  process  of  instruc- 
tion and  example.  We  have  seen  the  necessity 
that  there  must  have  been  communicated  to 
them,  directly  by  the  Creator,  no  inconsiderable 
measure  of  natural  knowledge  and  the  methods 
of  applying  it,  or  their  lives  could  not  have  been 
secured;  and  of  moral  and  spiritual  'know- 
ledge, righteousness,  and  true  holiness,'  such  a 


ADAM 

measure  as  would  belong  to  the  sinless  state, 
and  -would  enable  them  to  render  an  intelligent 
and  perfect  worship  to  the  Glorious  Deity.  It 
seems  impossible  for  that  state  of  mind  and 
habits  to  exist  without  a  correct  sensibility  to 
proprieties  and  decencies  which  infant  children 
cannot  understand  or  feel;  and  the  capacities 
and  duties  of  their  conjugal  state  are  implied  in 
the  narrative.  Further,  it  cannot  be  overlooked 
that,  though  we  are  entitled  to  ascribe  to  the 
locality  of  Eden  the  most  bland  atmosphere  and 
delightful  soil,  yet  the  action  of  the  sun's  rays 
upon  the  naked  skin,  the  range  of  temperature 
through  the  day  and  the  night,  the  alternations 
of  dryness  and  moisture,  the  various  labour 
among  trees  and  bushes,  and  exposure  to  insects, 
would  render  some  protective  clothing  quite  in- 
dispensable. 

From  these  considerations  we  feel  ourselves 
obliged  to  understand  the  word  arom  in  that 
which  is  its  most  usual  signification  in  the  Hebrew 
language,  as  importing  not  an  absolute,  but  a 
partial  or  comparative  nudity,  a  stripping  off  of 
the  upper  garment,  or  of  some  other  usual  article 
of  dress,  when  all  the  habiliments  were  not  laid 
aside ;  and  this  is  a  more  frequent  signification 
than  that  of  entire  destitution.  If  it  be  asked. 
Whence  did  Adam  and  Eve  derive  this  clothing  ? 
we  reply,  that,  as  a  part  of  the  divine  instruc- 
tion which  we  have  established,  thej'^  were 
taught  to  take  off  the  inner  bark  of  some  trees, 
which  would  answer  extremely  well  for  this  pur- 
pose. If  an  objection  be  drawn  from  Gen.  iii.  7, 
10,  11,  we  reply,  that,  in  consequence  of  the  trans- 
gression, the  clothing  was  disgracefully  injured. 
Another  inquiry  presents  itself.  How  long 
did  the  state  of  paradisiac  innocence  and  happi- 
ness continue  ?  Some  have  regarded  the  period 
as  very  brief,  not  more  even  than  a  single  day  ; 
but  this  manifestly  falls  very  short  of  the  time 
which  a  reasonable  probability  requires.  The 
first  man  was  brought  into  existence  in  the 
region  called  Eden;  then  he  was  introduced 
into  a  particular  part  of  it,  the  garden,  re- 
plenished with  the  richest  productions  of  the 
Creator's  bounty  for  the  delight  of  the  eye  and 
the  other  senses  ;  the  most  agreeable  labour  was 
lequired  'to  dress  and  to  keep  it,'  implying  some 
arts  of  culture,  preservation  from  injury,  train- 
ing flowers  and  fruits,  and  knowing  the  various 
uses  and  enjoyments  of  the  produce ;  making 
observation  upon  the  works  of  God,  of  which 
an  investigation  and  designating  of  animals  is 
expressly  specified;  nor  can  we  suppose  that 
there  was  no  contemplation  of  the  magnificent 
sky  and  the  heavenly  bodies:  above  all,  the 
wondrous  communion  with  the  condescending 
Deity,  and  probably  with  created  spirits  of  su- 
perior orders,  by  which  the  mind  would  be  ex- 
cited, its  capacity  enlarged,  and  its  holy  felicity 
continually  increased.  It  is  also  to  be  remarked, 
that  the  narrative  (Gen.  ii.  19,  20)  conveys  the 
implication  that  some  time  was  allowed  to  elapse, 
that  Adam  might  discover  and  feel  his  want  of  a 
companion  of  his  own  species,  'a  help  corre- 
spondent to  him.' 

These  considerations  impress  us  with  a  sense 
of  probability,  amounting  to  a  conviction,  that  a 
period  not  very  short  was  requisite  for  the  exer- 
cise of  man's  faculties,  the  disclosures  of  his 
happiness,  and  the  service  of  adoration  which  he 


ADAM 


27 


could  pay  to  his  Creator.  But  all  these  con- 
siderations are  strengthened  by  the  recollection 
that  they  attach  to  man's  solitary  state ;  and  that 
they  all  require  new  and  enlarged  application 
when  the  addition  of  conjugal  life  is  brought 
into  the  account.  The  conclusion  appears  irre- 
sistible that  a  duration  of  many  days,  or  rather 
weeks  or  months,  would  be  requisite  for  so  many 
and  important  purposes. 

Thus  divinely  honoured  and  happy  were  the 
progenitors  of  mankind  in  the  state  of  their 
creation. 

The  next  scene  which  the  sacred  history  brings 
before  us  is  a  dark  reverse.  Another  agent 
comes  into  the  field  and  successfully  employs  his 
arts  for  seducing  Eve,  and  by  her  means  Adam, 
from  their  original  state  of  rectitude,  dignity, 
and  happiness. 

Among  the  provisions  of  divine  wisdom  and 
goodness  were  two  vegetable  productions  of 
wondrous  qualities  and  mysterious  significancy : 
'  the  tree  of  life  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  and 
the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil'  (Gen. 
ii.  9).  It  would  add  to  tlie  precision  of  the  terms, 
and  perhaps  aid  our  understanding  of  them,  if 
we  were  to  adhere  strictly  to  the  Hebrew  by  re- 
taining the  definite  prefix:  and  then  we  have 
♦  the  tree  of  the  life '  and  '  the  tree  of  the  know- 
ledge.' Thus  would  be  indicated  the  particular 
life  of  which  the  one  was  a  symbol  and  instru- 
ment, and  THE  fatal  knowledge  springing  from 
the  abuse  of  the  other.  At  the  same  time,  we 
do  not  maintain  that  these  appellations  were 
given  to  them  at  the  beginning.  We  rather 
suppose  that  they  were  applied  afterwards,  sug- 
gested by  the  events  and  connection,  and  so  be- 
came the  historical  names. 

We  see  no  sufficient  reason  to  understand,  as 
some  do,  '  the  tree  of  life,'  collectively,  as  im- 
plying a  species,  and  that  there  were  many  trees 
of  that  species.  The  figurative  use  of  the  ex- 
pression in  Eev.  xxii.  2,  where  a  plurality  is 
plainly  intended,  involves  no  evidence  of  such  a 
design  in  this  literal  narrative.  The  phraseo- 
logy of  the  text  best  agrees  with  the  idea  of  a 
single  tree,  designed  for  a  special  purpose,  and 
not  intended  to  perpetuate  its  kind.  Though  in 
the  state  of  innocence,  Adam  and  Eve  might  be 
liable  to  some  corporal  suffering  from  the  changes 
of  the  season  and  the  weather,  or  accidental  cir- 
cumstances ;  in  any  case  of  which  occurring, 
this  tree  had  been  endowed  by  the  bountiful 
Creator  with  a  medicinal  and  restorative  pro- 
perty, probably  in  the  way  of  instantaneous 
miracle.  We  think  also  that  it  was  designed  for 
a  sacramental  or  symbolical  purpose,  a  repre- 
sentation and  pledge  of  '  the  life,'  emphatically 
so  called,  heavenly  immortality  when  the  term 
of  probation  should  be  happily  completed.  Yet 
we  by  no  means  suppose  that  this  '  tree  of  the 
life'  possessed  any  intrinsic  property  of  com- 
municating immortality.  In  tiie  latter  view,  it 
was  a  sign  and  seal  of  the  divine  promise.  But, 
with  regard  to  the  former  intention,  we  see 
nothing  to  forbid  the  idea  that  it  had  most  effi- 
cacious medicinal  properties  in  its  fruit,  leaves, 
and  other  parts.  Such  were  called  trees  of  life 
by  the  Hebrews  (Prov.  iii.  18;  xi.  30;  xiii.  12; 
XV.  4). 

The  '  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil' 
might  be  any  tree  whatever ;  it  might  be  of  any 


28 


ADAM 


species  even  yet  remaining,  though,  if  it  were  so, 
■we  could  not  determine  its  species,  for  the  plain 
reason,  that  no  name,  description,  or  information 
■whatever  is  given  that  could  possibly  lead  to  the 
ascertainment.  Yet  -we  cannot  but  think  the 
more  reasonable  probability  to  be,  that  it  was  a 
tree  having  poisonous  properties,  stimulating, 
and  intoxicating,  such  as  are  found  in  some  exist- 
ing species,  especially  in  hot  climates.  On  this 
ground,  die  prohibition  to  eat  or  even  touch  the 
tree  ■was  a  beneficent  provision  against  the 
danger  of  pain  and  death.  But  the  revealed  ob- 
ject of  this  '  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil '  was  that  ■which  ■would  require  no  particular 
properties  beyond  some  degree  of  external  beauty 
and  fruit  of  an  immediately  pleasant  taste.  That 
object  ■was  to  be  a  test  of  obedience.  For  such  a 
purpose,  it  is  evident  that  to  select  an  indifferent 
act,  to  be  the  object  prohibited,  was  necessary ; 
as  the  obligation  to  refrain  should  be  only  that 
which  arises  simply,  so  far  as  the  subject  of  the 
law  can  know,  from  the  sacred  will  of  the  law- 
giver. This  does  not,  however,  nullify  what  we 
have  said  upon  the  possibility,  or  even  proba- 
bility, that  the  tree  in  question  had  noxious 
qualities :  for  upon  either  the  affirmative  or  the 
negative  of  the  supposition,  the  subjects  of  this 
positive  law,  having  upon  all  antecedent  gi-ounds 
the  fullest  conviction  of  the  perfect  rectitude  and 
benevolence  of  tlieir  Creator,  would  see  in  it  the 
simple  character  of  a  test,  a  means  of  proof, 
whether  they  would  or  would  not  implicitly  con- 
fide in  him.  For  so  doing  they  had  every  pos- 
sible reason ;  and  against  any  thought  or  mental 
feeling  tending  to  the  violation  of  the  precept, 
they  were  in  possession  of  the  most  powerful 
motives.  There  was  no  difficulty  in  the  observ- 
ance. They  were  surrounded  with  a  paradise  of 
delights,  and  they  had  no  reason  to  imagine  that 
any  good  whatever  would  accrue  to  them  from 
their  seizing  upon  anything  prohibited.  If  per- 
plexity or  doubt  arose,  they  had  ready  access  to 
their  divine  benefactor  for  obtaining  information 
and  direction.  But  they  allowed  the  thought  of 
disobedience  to  form  itself  into  a  disposition,  and 
then  a  purpose. 

Thus  was  the  seal  broken,  the  integrity  of  the 
heart  was  gone,  the  sin  was  generated,  and  the 
outward  a«t  was  the  consummation  of  the  dire 
process.  Eve,  less  informed,  less  cautious,  less 
endowed  with  strength  of  mind,  became  the 
more  ready  victim.  '  The  woman,  being  de- 
ceived, was  in  the  transgression;'  but  'Adam 
was  not  deceived '  (1  Tim.  ii.  14).  He  rushed 
knowingly  and  deliberately  to  ruin.  The  offence 
had  grievous  aggravations.  It  was  the  prefer- 
once  of  a  trifling  gratification  to  the  approbation 
of  the  Supreme  Lord  of  the  imiverse ;  it  implied 
a  denial  of  the  wisdom,  holiness,  goodness, 
veracity,  and  power  of  God;  it  was  marked 
with  extreme  ingratitude  ;  and  it  involved  a  con- 
temptuous disregard  of  consequences,  awfully  im- 
pious as  it  referred  to  their  immediate  connection 
with  the  moral  government  of  God,  and  cruelly 
selfish  as  it  respected  their  posterity. 

The  instrument  of  the  temptation  was  a  ser- 
pent ;  whether  any  one  of  the  existing  kinds  it 
is  evidently  impossible  for  us  to  know.  Of  that 
numerous  order  many  species  are  of  brilliant 
colours  and  playful  in  their  attitudes  and  man- 
ners   so  that  one  may  well  conceive  of  such  an 


ADAM 

object  attracting  and  fascinating  the  first  woman. 
Whether  it  spoke  in  an  articulate  voice,  like  the 
human,  or  expressed  the  sentiments  attributed  to 
it  by  a  succession  of  remarkable  and  significant 
actions,  may  be  a  subject  of  reasonable  question. 
The  latter  is  possible,  and  it  seems  the  prefer- 
able hypothesis,  as,  without  a  miraculous  inter- 
vention, the  mouth  and  throat  of  no  serpent 
could  form  a  vocal  utterance  of  words ;  and  we 
cannot  attribute  to  any  wicked  spirit  the  power 
of  working  miracles. 

This  part  of  the  narrative  begins  with  the 
words,  '  And  the  serpent  was  crafty  above  every 
animal  of  the  field'  (Gen.  iii.  I).  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  this  is  not  said  of  the  order  of 
serpents,  as  if  it  were  a  general  property  of  them, 
but  of  that  particular  serpent.  Indeed,  this 
'  cunning  craftiness,  lying  in  wait  to  deceive ' 
(Eph.  iv.  14),  is  the  very  character  of  that  ma- 
lignant creature  of  whos?  wily  stratagems  the 
reptile  was  a  mere  instrument.  The  existence 
of  spirits,  superior  to  man,  and  of  whom  some 
have  become  depraved,  and  are  labouring  to 
spread  wickedness  and  misery  to  the  utmost  of 
their  power,  has  been  found  to  be  the  belief  of 
all  nations,  ancient  and  modern,  of  whom  we 
possess  information.  It  has  also  been  the  ge- 
neral doctrine  of  both  Jews  and  Christians,  that 
one  of  those  fallen  spirits  was  the  real  agent  in 
this  first  and  successful  temptation;  and  this 
doctrine  receives  strong  confirmation  from  the 
declarations  of  our  Lord  and  his  apostles.  See 
2  Cor.  ii.  11 ;  xi.  3,  14 ;  Rev.  xii.  9  ;  xx.  2  ;  John 
viii.  44.  The  summary  of  these  passages  pre- 
sents almost  a  history  of  the  Fall— the  tempter, 
his  manifold  arts,  his  serpentine  disguises,  his 
falsehood,  his  restless  activity,  his  bloodthirsty 
cruelty,  and  his  early  success  in  that  career  of 
deception  and  destruction. 

The  condescending  Deity,  who  had  held  gra- 
cious ajid  instructive  communion  with  the  pa- 
rents of  mankind,  assuming  a  human  form  and 
adapting  all  his  proceedings  to  their  capacity, 
visibly  stood  before  them ;  by  a  searching  inter- 
rogatory drew  from  them  the  confession  of  their 
guilt,  ■B'hich  yet  they  aggravated  by  evasions 
and  insinuations  against  God  himself;  and  pro- 
nounced on  them  and  their  seducer  the  sentence 
due.  On  the  woman  he  inflicted  the  pains  of 
child-bearing,  and  a  deeper  and  more  humiliating 
dependence  upon  her  husband.  He  doomed  the 
man  to  hard  and  often  fruitless  toil,  instead  of 
easy  and  pleasant  labour.  On  both,  or  rather  on 
human  nature  universally,  he  pronounced  the 
awful  sentence  of  death.  The  denunciation  of 
the  serpent  partakes  more  of  a  symbolical  cha- 
racter, and  so  seems  to  carry  a  strong  impli- 
cation of  the  nature  and  the  wickedness  of  the 
concealed  agent.  The  human  sufferings  threat- 
ened are  all,  excepting  the  last,  which  will  re- 
quire a  separate  consideration,  of  a  remedial  and 
corrective  kind. 

Of  a  quite  different  character  are  the  penal 
denunciations  upon  the  serpent.  If  they  be  un- 
derstood literally,  and  of  course  applied  to  the 
whole  order  of  Ophidia,  they  will  be  found  to  be 
so  flagrantly  at  variance  with  the  most  demon- 
strated facts  in  their  physiology  and  economy, 
as  to  lead  to  inferences  unfavourable  to  belief  in 
revelation.  Let  us  examine  the  particulars : — 
'  Because  thou  hast  done  this  cursed  art  thou 


ADAM 

above  all  cattle;'  literally,  '  above  every  behe- 
mah.'    But  the  serpent  tribe  cannot  be  classed  with 
I    that  of  the  behemoth.     The  word  is  of  very  fre- 
[    quent  occurrence  in  the  Old  Testament;    and 
}    though,  in  a  few  instances,  it  seems  to  be  put  for 
brevity  so  as  to  be  inclusive  of  the  flocks  as  well 
as  the  herds,  and  in  poetical  diction  it  sometimes 
!    stands  metonyniically  for  animals  generally  (as 
I    Job  xviii.  3;  Ps.  Ixxiii.  22;  Eccles.  iii.  18,  19, 
j    21);  yet  its  proper  and  universal  application  is 
I    to  the   large   animals   (pachyderms   and  rumi- 
I    nants),  such  as  the  elephant,  camel,  deer,  horse, 
I    ox,  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  &c.  [IBehejioth]. 
I        As   little   will   the   declaration,  '  cursed  — ,' 
j    agree  with  natural  truth.     It  may,  indeed,  be 
supposed  to  be  verified  in  the  shuddering  which 
persons  generally  feel  at  the  aspect  of  any  one 
cf  the  order  of  serpents ;  but  this  takes  place 
als«  in  many  other  cases.     It  springs  from  fear 
of  the  formidable  weapons  with  which  some 
species  are  armed,  as  few  persons  know  before- 
!     hand  which  are  venomous  and  which  are  harm- 
less ;  and,  after  all,  this  is  rather  an  advantage 
than  a  curse  to  the  animal.     It  is  an  effectual 
defence  without  effort.     Indeed,  we  may   say 
that  no  tribe  of  animals  is  so  secure  from  danger, 
or  is  so  able  to  obtain  its  sustenance  and  all  the 
enjoyments  which  its  capacity  and  habits  require, 
as  the  whole  order  of  serpents.     If,  then,  we 
decline  to  urge  the  objection  from  the  word 
behcmah,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  serpents 
have  more  causes  of  suffering  than  any  other 
great  division  of  animals,  or  even  so  much. 

Further,  '  going  upon  the  belly '  is  to  none  of 
them  a  punishment.  With  some  differences  of 
mode,  their  progression  is  produced  by  the  push- 
ing of  scales,  shields,  or  rings  against  the  ground, 
I  by  muscular  contractions  and  dilatations,  by 
elastic  springings,  by  vertical  undulations,  or  by 
horizontal  wrigglings ;  but,  in  every  variety,  the 
entire  orc;anization — skeleton,  muscles,  nerves, 
integuments — is  adapted  to  the  mode  of  pro- 
gression belonging  to  each  species.  That  mode, 
in  every  variety  of  it,  is  sufficiently  easy  and 
rapid  (often  very  rapid)  for  all  the  purposes  of 
the  animal's  life  and  the  amplitude  of  its  enjoy- 
i  ments.  To  imagine  this  mode  of  motion  to  be, 
I  in  any  sense,  a  change  from  a  prior  attitude  and 
I  habit  of  the  erect  kind,  or  being  furnished  with 
!  wings,  indicates  a  perfect  ignorance  of  the  ana- 
tomy of  serpents.  Yet  it  has  been  said  by  learned 
and  eminent  theological  interpreters,  that,  before 
this  crime  was  committed,  the  serpent  probably 
did  '  not  go  upon  his  belly,  but  moved  upon  the 
hinder  part  of  his  body,  with  his  head,  breast, 
aid  belly  upright'  (Clarke's  Bible,  p.  1690). 
This  notion  may  have  obtained  credence  from 
the  fact  that  some  of  the  numerous  serpent  spe- 
cies, when  excited,  raise  the  neck  pretty  high ; 
but  the  posture  is  to  strike,  and  they  cannot 
maintain  it  in  creeping  except  for  a  very  short 
distinre. 

Neither  do  they  '  eat  dust.'  All  serpents  are 
carnivorous;  their  food,  according  to  the  size 
and  power  of  the  species,  is  taken  from  the  tribes 
of  insects,  worms,  frogs,  and  toads,  and  newts, 
birds,  mice,  and  other  small  quadrupeds,  till  the 
scale  ascends  to  the  pythons  and  boas,  which  can 
master  and  swallow  very  large  animals.  The 
excellent  writer  just  cited,  in  his  anxiety  to  do 
honour,  as   he   deemed  it,  to   the   accuracy  of 


ADAM 


29 


Scripture  allusions,  has  said  of  the  serpent, '  Now 
that  he  creeps  with  his  very  mouth  upon  the 
earth,  he  must  necessarily  take  his  food  out  of 
the  dust,  and  so  lick  in  some  of  the  dust  with  it.' 
But  this  is  rot  the  fact.  Serpents  habitually 
obtain  their  food  among  herbage  or  in  water ; 
they  seize  their  prey  with  the  mouth,  often  ele- 
vate the  head,  ai.d  are  no  more  exposed  to  the 
necessity  of  swallowing  adherent  earth  than  are 
carnivorous  birds  or  quadrupeds.  At  the  same 
time,  it  may  be  understood  figuratively.  '  Eating 
the  dust  is  but  another  term  for  grovelling  in  the 
dust ;  ai,d  this  is  equivalent  to  being  reduced  to 
a  condition  of  meanness,  shame,  and  contempt. — 
ISee  Micah  vii.  17.' 

But  these  and  other  inconsistencies  and  diffi- 
culties (insuperable  they  do  indeed  appear  to  us) 
are  swept  away  when  we  consider  the  fact  before 
stated,  that  the  Hebrew,  literally  rendered,  is 
THE  serpent  was,  &c.,  and  that  it  refers  specifi- 
cally and  personally  to  a  rational  and  account- 
able being,  the  spirit  of  lying  and  cruelty,  the 
devil,  the  Satan,  the  old  serpent.  That  God,  the 
infinitely  holy,  good,  and  wise,  should  have  per- 
mitted any  one  or  more  celestial  spirits  to  apos- 
tatize from  purity,  and  to  be  the  successful  se- 
ducers of  mankind,  is  indeed  an  awful  and  over- 
whelming mysteiy.  But  it  is  not  more  so  than 
the  permitted  existence  of  many  among  man- 
kind, whose  rare  talents  and  extraordinary  com- 
mand of  power  and  opportunity,  combined  with 
extreme  depravity,  have  rendered  them  the 
plague  and  curse  of  the  earth;  and  the  whole 
merges  into  the  awful  and  insolvable  problem. 
Why  has  the  All-perfect  Deity  permitted  evil  at 
all  ?  We  are  firmly  assured  that  He  will  bring 
forth,  at  last,  the  most  triumphant  evidence  that 
'  He  is  righteous  in  all  his  ways,  and  holy  in  all 
his  works.'  In  the  mean  time,  our  happiness 
lies  in  the  implicit  confidence  which  we  cannot 
but  feel  to  be  due  to  the  Being  of  Infinite  Per- 
fection. 

The  remaining  part  of  the  denunciation  upon 
the  false  and  cruel  seducer  sent  a  beam  of  light 
irito  the  agonized  hearts  of  our  guilty  first  pa- 
rents :  '  And  enmity  will  I  put  between  thee  and 
the  woman,  and  between  thy  seed  and  her  seed: 
he  will  attack  thee  [on]  the  head,  and  thou  wilt 
attack  him  [at]  the  heel.'  Christian  interpreters 
generally  regard  this  as  the  first  gospel-premise, 
and  we  think  with  good  reason.  It  Avas  a  ma- 
nifestation of  mercy :  it  revealed  a  Deliverer, 
who  '  should  be  a  human  being,  in  a  peculiar 
sense  the  offspring  of  the  female,  who  should 
also,  in  some  way  not  yet  made  Iciiown,  counter- 
act and  remedy  the  injury  inflicted,  and  who, 
though  partially  suffering  from  the  malignant 
power,  should,  in  the  end,  completely  conquer 
it,  and  convert  its  very  success  into  its  own 
punishment '  (J.  Pye  Smith,  Scripture  Testimony 
to  the  Messiah,  vol.  i.  p.  226). 

The  awful  threatening  to  man  was,  '  In  the 
day  that  thou  eatest  of  it,  thou  wilt  die  the 
death.'  The  infliction  is  Death  in  the  most  com- 
prehensive sense,  that  which  stands  opposed  to 
Life,  the  life  of  not  only  animal  enjoyment,  but 
holy  happiness,  the  life  which  comported  with 
the  image  of  God.  This  was  lost  by  the  fall; 
and  the  sentence  of  physical  death  was  pro- 
nounced, to  be  executed  in  due  time.  Divine 
mercy  gave  a  long  respite. 


ADAMANT 


ADBEEL 


'        The  same  mercy  was  displayed  in  still  more 
tempering  the  terrors  of  justice.     The  garden  of 
1 1     delights  -was  not  to  be  the  abode  of  rebellious 
I     creatures.     But  before  they  were  turned  out  into 
I     a  bleak  and  dreary  wilderness,  God  was  pleased 
!     to  direct  them  to  make  clothing  suitable  to  their 
j     new  and  degraded  condition,  of  the  skins  of  ani- 
I     mals.     That  those  animals  had  been  offered  in 
I     sacrifice  is  a  conjecture  supported  by  so  much 
]     probable  evidence,  that  we  may  regard  it  as  a 
well-established   truth.      Any  attempt  to   force 
"oack  the  way,  to  gain  anew  the  tree  of  life,  and 
!     take  violent  or  fraudulent  possession,  would  have 
!     been  equally  impious  and  nugatory.     The  sacri- 
I     fice  (which  all  approximative  argument  obliges 
us  to  admit),  united  with  the  promise  of  a  de- 
liverer, and  the  promise  of  substantial  clothing, 
contained  much  hope  of  pardon  and  grace.    The 
terrible  debarring  by  lightning  flashes  and  their 
consequent  thunder,  and  by  visible  supernatural 
I    agency  (Gen.  iii.  22-24),  from  a  return  to  the 
I    bowers  of  bliss,  are  expressed  in  the  characteristic 
I    patriarchal    style    of    anthropopathy ;    but   the 
I    meaning  evidently  is,  that  the  fallen  creature  is 
I    unable  by  any  efforts  of  his  own  to  reinstate 
'<    himself  in  the  favour  of  God,  and  that  whatever 
i    hope  of  restoration  he  may  be  allowed  to  cherish 
I    must  spring  solely  from  free  benevolence.  Thus, 
i    in  laying  the  first  stone  of  the  temple,  which 
i    shall  be  an  immortal  habitation  of  the  Divine 
j    glory,  it  was  manifested  that  '  Salvation  is  of  the 
'    Lord,'  and  that  '  grace  reigneth  through  right- 
I    eousness  unto  eternal  life.' 
!        From  this  time  we  have  little  recorded  of  the 
!    lives  of  Adam  and  Eve.     Their  three  sons  are 
i    mentioned  with  important  circumstances  in  con- 
I    nection  with  each   of  them.     See   the   articles 
i    Cain,   Abel,   and   Seth.     Cain  was  probably 
j    born  in  the  year  after  the  fall;  Abel,  possibly 
I    some  years  later;  Seth,  certainly  one  hundred 
;    and  thirty  years  from  the  creation  of  his  parents. 
After  that,  Adam  lived   eight  hundred  years, 
:    and  had  sons  and  daughters,  doubtless  by  Eve, 
and  then  he  died,  nine  hundred  and  thirty  years 
I    old.     In   that   prodigious   period   many  events, 
j    and  those  of  great  importance,  must  have  oc- 
]    curred ;  but  the  wise  providence  of  God  has  not 
:    seen  fit  to  preserve  to  us  any  memorial  of  them, 
and  scarcely  any  vestiges  or  hints  are  afforded  of 
'    the  occupations  and  mode  of  life  of  men  through 
I    the  antediluvian  period  [Antediluvians]. 

2.  ADAM,  a  city  at  some  distance  east  from 

the  Jordan,  to  which,  or  beyond  which,  the  over- 

]    flow  of  the  waters  of  that  river  extended  when 

the  course  of  the  stream    to  the  Dead  Sea  was 

j    stayed  to  afford  the  Israelites  a  passage  across 

its  channel. 
1  AD'AMAH.  [Admah.] 
j  ADAMANT.  The  word  thus  rendered  is,  in 
Hebrew,  Shamir.  It  occurs  in  Jer.  xvii.  1 ; 
I  Ezek.  iii.  9;  Zech.  vii.  12.  The  Sept.  in  Jer. 
j  xvii.  1,  and  the  Vulgate  in  all  these  passages, 
j  take  it  for  the  diamond.  The  signification  of 
j  the  word,  '  a  sharp  point,'  countenances  this  in- 
'  terpretation,  the  diamond  being  for  its  hardness 
j  used  in  perforating  and  cutting  other  minerals. 
I  Indeed,  this  use  of  the  shamir  is  distinctly  al- 
I  luded  to  in  Jer.  xvii.  1,  where  the  sti/his  pointed 
[  with  it  is  distinguished  from  one  of  iron.  The 
I  two  other  passages  also  favour  this  view  by 
using  it  figuratively  to  express  the  hardness  and 


obduracy  of  the  Israelites.  Our  Authorized 
Version  has  'diamond'  in  Jer.  xvii.  1,  and 
'  adamant '  in  the  other  texts :  but  in  the  ori- 
ginal the  word  is  the  same  in  all.  Bochart, 
however,  rejects  the  usual  explanation,  and  con- 
ceives it  to  mean  '  emery.'  This  is  a  calcined 
iron  mixed  with  siliceous  earth,  occurring  in 
livid  scales  of  such  hardness  that  in  ancient 
times,  as  at  present,  it  was  used  for  polishing 
and  engraving  precious  stones,  diamonds  ex- 
cepted. Rosenmiiller  urges  in  favour  of  this 
notion  that  if  the  Hebrews  had  been  acquainted 
with  the  diamond,  and  with  the  manjierof  work- 
ing it,  we  should  doubtless  have  found  it  among 
the  stones  of  the  high-priest's  breastplate  ;  and 
that,  as  the  shamir  was  not  one  of  the  stones 
thus  employed,  therefore  it  was  not  the  diamond. 
But  to  this  it  may  be  answered,  that  it  was  per- 
haps not  used  because  it  could  not  be  engraved 
on,  or  was  possibly  not  introduced  until  a  later 
period.        • 

A'DAR  (Esth.  iii.  7)  is  the  sixth  month  of  the 
civil  and  the  twelfth  of  the  ecclesiastical  year  of 
the  Jews.  The  name  was  first  introduced  after  the 
Captivity.  The  following  are  the  chief  days  in  it 
which  are  set  apart  for  commemoration : — The 
7th  is  a  fast  for  the  death  of  Moses  (Dent,  xxxiv. 
5,  6).  On  the  9th  there  was  a  fast  in  memory 
of  the  contention  or  open  rupture  of  the  cele- 
brated schools  of  Hillel  and  Shammai,  which 
happened  but  a  few  years  before  the  birth  of 
Christ.  The  13th  is  the  so-called  'Fast  of 
Esther.'  Iken  observes  {Antiq.  Hehr.  p.  150) 
that  this  was  not  an  actual  fast,  but  merely  a 
commemoration  of  Esther's  fast  of  three  days 
(Esth.  iv.  16),  and  a  preparation  for  the  ensuing 
festival.  Nevertheless,  as  Esther  appears,  from 
the  date  of  Haman's  edict,  and  from  the  course 
of  the  narrative,  to  have  fasted  in  Nisan,  Bux- 
torf  adduces  from  the  Rabbins  the  following 
account  of  the  name  of  this  fast,  and  of  the  foun- 
dation of  its  observance  in  Adar,  that  the  Jews 
assembled  together  on  the  13th,  in  the  time  of 
Esther,  and  that,  after  the  example  of  Moses, 
who  fasted  when  the  Israelites  were  about  to 
engage  in  battle  with  the  Amalekites,  they  de- 
voted that  day  to  fasting  and  pi-ayer,  in  prepa- 
ration for  the  perilous  trial  which  awaited  them 
on  the  morrow.  In  this  sense,  this  fast  would 
stand  in  the  most  direct  relation  to  the  feast  of 
Purim.  The  13th  was  also,  '  by  a  common  de- 
cree,' appointed  as  a  festival  in  memory  of  the 
death  of  Nicanor  (2  Mace.  xv.  36).  The  14th 
and  15th  were  devoted  to  the  feast  of  Purim 
(Esth.  ix.  21).  In  case  the  year  was  an  inter- 
calary one,  when  the  month  of  Adar  occurred 
twice,  this  feast  was  first  moderately  observed  in 
the  intercalary  Adar,  and  then  celebrated  with 
full  splendour  in  the  ensuing  Adar.  The  former 
of  these  two  celebrations  was  then  called  the 
lesser,  and  the  latter  the  great  Purim. 

ADA'SA,  or  Adarsa,  called  also  by  Josephus 
Adazer,  Adaco,  and  Acodaco,  a  city  in  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim,  said  to  have  been  four  miles 
from  Beth-horon,  and  not  far  from  Gophna.  It 
was  the  scene  of  some  important  transactions  in 
the  history  of  the  Maccabees  ( 1  Mac.  vii.  40,  45  ; 
Joseph.  Antiq.  xii.  10.  5;  Bell.  Jud.  i.  1). 

ADB'EEL,  one  of  the  twelve  sons  of  Ishmael, 
and  founder  of  an  Arabian  tribe  (Gen.  xxv. 
13,  16). 


ADDER 

ADDER,  the  English  name  of  a  kind  of  ser- 
pent. It  occurs  several  times  in  the  English 
version  of  the  Bible,  and  is  there  used  not  for  a 
particular  species,  but  generally  for  several  of 
this  dangerous  class  of  reptiles.  We  have  before 
us  a  list,  far  from  complete,  of  the  erpetology  of 
Palestine,  Arabia,  and  Egypt,  in  -which  there 
are,  among  forty-three  species  indicated,  about 
eight  whose  biteis  accompanied  with  a  venomous 
eflusion,  and  therefore  almost  all  very  danger- 
ous. In  our  present  state  of  knowledge  we 
deem  it  best  to  discuss,  under  the  words  Serpent 
and  Viper,  all  the  Hebrew  names  not  noticed  in 
this  article,  and  to  refer  to  them  those  occurring 
in  our  version  under  the  appellations  of  '  asp,' 
'  cockatrice,'  &c. ;  and  likewise  to  review  the  al- 
lusions to  colossal  boas  and  pythons,  and,  finally, 
to  notice  water-snakes  and  muraense,  which 
translators  and  biblical  naturalists  have  totally 
overlooked,  although  they  must  exist  in  the  lakes 
of  the  Delta,  are  abundant  on  the  north  coast 
of  Africa,  and  often  exceed  eight  feet  in  length. 

In  this  place  we  shall  retain  that  genus  alone 
which  Laurenti  and   Cuvier  have   established 


ADDER 


31 


upon  characters  distinguished  from  the  inno- 
cuous coluber,  and  the  venomous  vipera,  and 
denominated  uaja. 

The  genus  Naja — Haridi(?)  of  Savary — is 
distinguished  by  a  plaited  head,  large,  very 
venomous  fangs,  a  neck  dilatable  under  excite- 
ment, which  raises  the  ribs  of  the  anterior  part 
of  the  body  into  the  form  of  a  disk  or  hood,  when 
the  scales,  usually  not  imbricated,  but  lying  in 
juxta-position,  are  separated,  and  expose  the 
skin,  which  at  that  time  displays  bright  iride- 
scent gleams,  contrasting  highly  with  their 
brown,  yellow,  and  bluish  colours.  The  spe- 
cies attain  at  least  an  equal,  if  not  a  superior, 
size  to  the  generality  of  the  genus  viper;  are 
more  massive  in  their  structure ;  and  some  pos- 
sess the  faculty  of  self-inflation  to  triple  their 
diameter,  gradually  forcing  the  body  upwards 
into  an  erect  position,  until,  by  a  convulsive 
crisis,  they  are  said  suddenly  to  strike  backwards 
at  an  enemy  or  a  pursuer.  With  such  powers  of 
destroying  animal  life,  and  with  an  aspect  at 
once  terrible  and  resplendent,  it  may  be  easily 
imagined  how  soon  fear  and  superstition  would 


Naja  Haje ;  and  the  form  of  Cneph  from  the 
Egyptian  Monuments. 

combine,  at  periods  anterior  to  historical  data, 
to  raise  these  monsters  into  divinities,  and  en- 
deavour to  deprecate  their  wrath  by  the  blandish- 
ments of  worship  ;  and  how  design  and  cupidity 
would  teach  these  very  votaries  the  manner  of 
subduing  their  ferocity,  of  extracting  their  in- 
struments of  mischief,  and  making  them  sub- 
servient to  the  wonder  and  ami^seraent  of  the 
vulgar,  by  using  certain  cadences  of  sound  which 
affect  their  hearing,  and  exciting  in  them  a  de- 
sire to  perform  a  kind  of  pleasurable  movements 
that  may  be  compared  to  dancing.  Hence  the 
nagas  of  the  East,  the  hag-worms  of  the  West, 
and  the  haje,  have  all  been  deified,  styled  aga- 
thodsemon  or  good  spirit ;  and  figiires  of  them 
occur  wherever  the  superstition  of  Pagan  an- 
tiquitiy  has  been  accompanied  by  the  arts  of 
civilization. 

The  most  prominent  species  of  the  genus  at 
present  is  the  naja  tripudiam,  cobra  di  capello, 
hooded  or  spectacled  snake  of  India,  venerated 
by  the  natives;  even  by  the  serpent-charmers 
styled  the  good  serpent  to  this  day,  and  yet  so 


Naja  Tripudians  and  Cobra  di  Capello ;  or,  Hooded 
and  Spectacled  Snakes. 

ferocious  that  it  is  one  of  the  very  few  that  will 
attack  a  man  when  surprised  in  its  haunt,  al- 
though it  may  be  gorged  with  prey.  This  spe- 
cies is  usually  marked  on  the  nape  with  two 
round  spots,  transversely  connected  in  the  form 
of  a  pair  of  spectacles ;  but  among  several  va- 
rieties, one,  perhaps  distinct,  is  without  the 
marks,  and  has  a  glossy  golden  hood,  which 
may  make  it  identical  with  the  naja  haje  of  j 
Egypt,  the  undoubted  Ihh-nuphi,  ceneph,  or  ' 
agathodaemon  of  Ancient  Egypt,  and  accurately 
represented  on  the  walls  of  its  temples,  in  almost 
innumerable  instances,  both  in  form  and  colour. 
This  serpent  also  inflates  the  skin  on  the  neck, 
not  in  the  expanded  form  of  a  hood,  but  rather 
into  an  intumefaction  of  the  neck.  As  in  the 
former,  there  is  no  marked  difference  of  appear- 
ance between  the  sexes  ;  but  the  psilli,  or  charm- 
ers, by  a  particular  pressure  on  the  neck  have 
the  power  of  rendering  the  inflation  of  the  ani- 
mal, already  noticed  as  a  character  of  the  genus, 
so  intense,  that  the  serpent  becomes  rigid,  and 
can  be  held  out  horizontally  as  if  it  were  a  rod. 


I     32 


ADDER 


This  practice  explains  what  the  soothsayers  of 
Pharaoh  could  perform  when  they  were  op- 
posing Moses.  That  the  rods  of  the  magicians 
of  Pharaoh  were  of  the  same  external  character 
with  the  rod  of  Aaron,  is  evident  from  no  differ- 
ent denomination  heing  given  to  them:  there- 
fore we  may  infer  that  they  used  a  real  serpent 
as  a  rod — namely  the  species  now  called  haje — 
for  their  imposture;  since  they  no  doubt  did 
what  the  present  serpent-charmers  perform  with 
the  same  species,  by  means  of  the  temporary 
asphi/Tiatioii,  or  suspension  of  vitality,  before 
noticed,  aiid  producing  restoration  to  active  life 
by  liberating  or  throwing  down.  Thus  we  have 
the  miraculous  character  of  the  prophet's  mission 
shown  by  his  real  rod  becoming  a  serpent,  and 
the  magicians'  real  serpents  merely  assuming 
the  form  of  rods  ;  and  when  both  were  opposed 
in  a  state  of  animated  existence,  by  the  rod  de- 
vouring the  living  animals,  conquering  the  great 
typical  personification  of  the  protecting  divinity 
of  Egypt. 

This  species  of  serpent  may  be  regarded  as 
extending  to  India  and  Ceylon ;  and  probably 
(he  ?iaja  triptidians  is  likewise  an  inhabitant  of 
Arabia,  if  not  of  Egypt,  although  the  assertion  of 
the  fact  (common  in  authors)  does  not  exclude  a 
supposition  that  they  take  the  two  species  to  be 
only  one.  We  are  disposed  to  refer  the  '  winged  ' 
or  '  flying '  serpent  to  the  naja  tripiidians,  in  one 
of  its  varieties,  because — with  its  hood  dilated 
into  a  kind  of  shining  wings  on  each  side  of  the 
neck,  standing,  in  undulating  motion,  one-half 
or  more  erect,  rigid,  and  fierce  in  attack,  and 
deadly  poisonous,  yet  still  denominated  '  good 
spirit,'  and  in  Egypt  ever  figured  in  combination 
with  the  winged  globe — it  well  may  have  re- 
ceived tht  name  of  saraph,  swallowing  or  devour- 
iiiil,  and  may  thus  meet  all  the  valid  objections, 
and  coriciliate  seemingly  opposite  comments  (see 
Num.  xxi.  6,  8;  Deut.  viii.  15;  Isa.  xiv.  29; 
XXX.  G). 

AcHSUB  is  another  narae  of  a  serpent  which 
may  be  considered  as  specifically  different  from 
the  former,  though  it  is  most  probably  one  more 
of  this  group  of  terrible  creatures.  The  root  of 
the  name  implies  bending  back,  recui-ving,  but 
not  coiling  up,  for  all  snakes  have  that  faculty. 
The  syllable  ach,  however,  shows  a  connection 
with  tlie  former  denominations ;  and  both  are 
perfectly  reconcilable  with  a  serpent  very  com- 
mon at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  not  unfrequent 
in  Western  Africa,  and  probably  extending  over 
that  whole  continent,  excepting  perhaps  Morocco. 
It  is  the  'poft-adder'  of  the  Dutch  colonists, 
about  three  feet  in  length,  and  about  six  inches 
in  circumference  at  the  middle  of  the  body  ;  the 
head  is  larger  than  is  usual  in  serpents ;  the  eyes 
are  large,  and  very  brilliant ;  the  back  beauti- 
fully marked  in  half  circles,  and  the  colours 
black,  bright  yellow,  and  dark  brown  ;  the  belly 
yellow  ;  the  appearance  at  all  times,  but  chiefly 
when  excited,  extremely  brilliant;  the  upper 
jaw  greatly  protruding,  somewhat  like  what 
occurs  in  the  shark,  places  the  mouth  back  to- 
wards the  throat,  and  this  structure  is  said  to  be 
connected  with  the  practice  of  the  animal  when 
intending  to  bite,  to  swell  its  skin  till  it  suddenly 
rises  up,  and  strikes  backwards  as  if  it  fell  over. 
It  is  this  faculty  which  appears  to  be  indicated 
by  the  Hebrew  name  achsub,  and  therefore  we 


ADJURATION 

believe  it  to  refer  to  that  species,  or  to  one  nearly 
allied  to  it.  The  Dutch  name  (pofF-adder,  or 
spooch-adder)  shows  that,  in  the  act  of  swelling, 
remarkable  eructations  and  spittings  take  place, 
all  which  no  doubt  are  so  many  warnings,  the 
bite  being  fatal.  The  pofF-adder  usually  resides 
among  brushwood  in  stony  places  and  rocks, 
is  fond  of  basking  in  the  sun,  rather  slow 
in  moving,  and  is  by  nature  timid  [Serpent; 
Viper]. 

AD'DON,  one  of  several  places  mentioned  in 
Neh.  vii.  61,  being  towns  in  the  land  of  captivity, 
from  which  those  who  returned  to  Palestine  were 
unable  to  '  shew  their  father's  house,  or  their 
seed,  whether  they  were  of  Israel.'  This,  pro- 
bably, means  that  they  were  unable  to  furnish 
such  undeniable  legal  proof  as  was  required  in 
such  cases.  And  this  is  in  some  degree  explained 
by  the  subsequent  (v.  63)  mention  of  priests 
who  were  expelled  the  priesthood  because  their 
descent  was  not  found  to  be  genealogically  re- 
gistered. These  instances  show  the  importance 
which  was  attached  to  their  genealogies  by  the 
Jews  [Genealogy]. 

ADIABE'NE,  the  principal  of  the  six  pro- 
vinces into  which  Assyria  was  divided.  Pliny 
and  Ammianus  comprehend  the  whole  of  Assj'ria 
under  this  name,  which,  however,  properly  de- 
noted only  the  province  which  was  watered  by 
the  rivers  Diab  and  Adiab,  or  the  Great  and 
Little  Zab  (Dhab),  which  flow  into  the  Tigris  be- 
low Nineveh  (Mosul),  from  the  north-east.  This 
region  is  not  mentioned  in  Scripture ;  but  in  Jo- 
sephus,  its  queen  Helena  and  her  son  Izates,  who 
became  converts  to  Judaism,  are  very  often 
named  (Joseph.  Antiq.  xx.  2,  4;  Bell.  Jitd.  ii. 
16,  19;  V.  4,  6,  11). 

AD'IDA,  a  fortified  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah. 
In  1  Mace.  xii.  38,  we  read  that  Simon  Macca- 
bsEus  set  up  '  Adida  in  Saphela,  and  made  it 
strong  with  bolts  and  bars.'  Eusebius  says  that 
Sephela  was  the  name  given  in  his  time  to  the 
open  country  about  Eleutheropolis.  And  this 
Adida  in  Sephela  is  probably  the  same  which 
is  mentioned  in  the  next  chapter  (xiii.  13)  as 
'  Adida  over  against  the  plain,'  where  Simon 
Maccabceus  encamped  to  dispute  the  entrance 
into  Judeea  of  Tryphon,  who  had  treacherously 
seized  on  Jonathan  at  Ptolemais.  In  the  pa- 
rallel passage  Josephus  {Antiq.  xiii.  6,  5)  adds 
that  this  Adida  was  upon  a  hill,  before  which 
lay  the  plains  of  Judsa.  One  of  the  places  which 
Josephus  calls  Adida  (5e//.  Jitd.  iv.  9,  1)  appears 
to  have  been  near  the  Jordan,  and  was  probably 
the  Hadid  of  Ezra  ii.  33. 

ADJURATION.  This  is  a  solemn  act  or 
appeal,  whereby  one  man,  usually  a  person 
vested  with  natural  or  ofiicial  authority,  imposes 
upon  another  the  obligation  of  speaking  or  act- 
ing as  if  under  the  solemnity  of  an  oath.  We 
have  an  example  of  this  in  the  New  Testament, 
when  the  high-priest  thus  calls  upon  Christ,  '  I 
adjure  thee  by  the  living  God,  tell  us '  &c. — 
(Matt.  xxvi.  63 ;  see  also  Mark  v.  7 ;  Acts  xix. 
13  ;  1  Thes.  V.  27).  An  oath,  although  thus  im- 
posed upon  one  without  his  consent,  was  not 
only  binding,  but  solemn  in  the  highest  degree  ; 
and  when  connected  with  a  question,  an  answer 
was  compulsory,  which  answer  being  as  upon 
oath,  any  falsehood  in  it  would  be  perjury.  Thus 
cur  Saviour,  who  had  previously  disdained  to 


ADONIJAH 

reply  to  the  charges  brougnt  against  him,  now 
felt  himself  bound  to  answer  tlie  question  put  to 
him. 

AD'MAH,  one  of  the  cities  in  the  vale  of 
Siddim  (Geu.  x.  19),  which  had  a  king  of  its 
own  (Gen.  xiv.  2).  It  was  destroyed  along  with 
godom  and  GomoiTah  (Gen.  xix.  24 ;  Hos.  xi.  8). 

ADONIBE'ZEK  {lord  of  Bezek),  king  or  lord 
of  Bezek,  a  town  which  Eusebius  places  1 7  miles 
east  of  Neapolis  or  Shechera.  The  small  extent 
of  the  kingdoms  in  and  around  Palestine  at  the 
time  of  its  invasion  by  the  Hebrews  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  this  petty  king  had  subdued  no 
less  than  seventy  of  them ;  and  the  barbarity  of 
the  v.'ar-usages  in  those  early  times  is  painfully 
shown  by  his  cutting  off  all  the  thumbs  and  great 
toes  of  his  prisoners,  and  allowing  them  no  food 
but  that  which  they  gathered  uiKier  his  table. 
These  conquests  made  Adonibezek  '  a  triton 
among  the  minnows;'  and  we  find  him  at  the 
head  of  the  confederated  Canaanites  and  Periz- 
zites,  against  whom  the  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Simeon  marched  after  the  death  of  Joshua.  His 
army  was  routed  and  himself  taken  prisoner. 
The  victors  failed  not  to  express  their  indigna- 
tion at  the  mode  in  which  he  had  treated  his 
captives,  by  dealing  with  him  in  the  same 
manner. 

ADONFJ  AH  {Jehovah  \is]  my  Lord),  the  fourth 
son  of  David,  by  Haggith.  He  was  born  after 
his  father  became  king,  but  when  he  reigned 
over  Judah  only  (2  Sam.  iii.  4).  According  to 
the  Oriental  notion  developed  in  the  article 
Absajlom,  Adonijah  might  have  considered  his 
claim  superior  to  that  of  his  eldest  brother 
Amnon,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  born 
while  his  father  was  in  a  private  station ;  but 
not  to  that  of  Absalom,  who  was  not  only  his 
elder  brother,  and  born  while  his  father  was  a 
king,  but  was  of  royal  descent  on  the  side  of  his 
mother.  When,  however,  Amnon  and  Absalom 
were  both  dead,  he  became,  by  order  of  birth, 
the  heir-apparent  to  the  throne.  But  this  order 
had  been  set  aside  in  favour  of  Solomon,  who 
was  bora  while  his  father  was  king  of  all  Israel. 
Absalom  perished  in  attempting  to  assert  his 
claim  of  primogeniture,  in  opposition  to  this  ar- 
rangement. Unawed  by  this  example,  Adonijah 
assumed  the  state  of  an  heir-apparent,  who,  from 
the  advanced  age  of  David,  must  soon  be  king. 
But  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  his  wish  to 
trouble  his  father  as  Absalom  had  done ;  for  he 
waited  tiU  David  appeared  at  the  point  of  death, 
when  he  called  around  him  a  number  of  influ- 
ential men,  whom  he  had  previously  gained  over, 
and  caused  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king.  This 
was  a  formidable  attempt  to  subvert  the  appoint- 
ment made  by  the  Divine  king  of  Israel;  for 
Adonijah  was  supported  by  such  men  as  joab, 
the  general-in-chief,  and  Abiathar,  the  high- 
priest  ;  both  of  whom  had  followed  David  in  all 
his  fortunes.  But  his  plot  was,  notwithstanding, 
defeated  by  the  prompt  measure  taken  by  David, 
who  directed  Solomon  to  be  at  once  proclaimed, 
and  crowned,  and  admitted  to  the  real  exercise 
of  the  sovereign  power.  Adonijah  then  saw  that 
all  was  lost,  and  fled  to  the  altar,  which  he  re- 
fused to  leave  without  a  promise  of  pardon  from 
King  Solomon.  This  he  received,  but  was  warned 
that  any  fiirther  attempt  of  the  came  kind  would 
be  fatal  to  him.    Accordingly,  when,  some  time 


ADONIZEDEK 


33 


after  the  death  of  David,  Adonijah  covertly  en- 
deavoured to  reproduce  his  claim  through  a 
marriage  with  Abishag,  the  virgin  widow  of  his 
father  [Abishag],  his  design  was  at  once  pene- 
trated by  the  king,  by  whose  order  he  was  in- 
stantly put  to  death  (1  Kings  i.-ii.  13-25). 

ADONl'EAM  {lord  of  height,  that  is,  high  lord) 
(1  Kings  iv.  6).  This  name  is  exhibited  in  the 
contracted  form  of  Adoram  in  2  Sam.  xx.  24 ; 
1  Kings  xii.  18;  and  of  Hadoram  in  2  Chron. 
X.  18. 

1.  ADONIRAM,  or  Hadoram,  son  of  Toi, 
king  of  Hamath,  who  was  sent  by  his  father  to 
congratulate  David  on  his  victory  over  their  com- 
mon enemy  Hadarezer,  king  of  Syi'ia  (1  Chron. 
xviii.  10).  This  prince  is  called  Joram  in  2  Sam. 
viii.  10. 

2.  ADONIRAM.  A  person  of  this  name  is 
mentioned  as  receiver-general  of  the  imposts  in 
the  reigns  of  David,  Solomon,  and  Rehoboam. 
Only  one  incident  is  recorded  in  connection  with 
this  person.  When  the  ten  tribes  seceded  from 
the  house  of  David,  and  made  Jeroboam  king, 
Rehoboam  sent  Adouiram  among  them,  for  the 
purpose,  we  may  presume,  of  collecting  the  usual 
imposts,  which  had  become  very  heavy.  Per- 
haps he  had  been  rigid  in  his  invidious  office 
under  Solomon :  at  all  events  the  collector  of  the 
imposts  which  had  occasioned  the  revolt  was  not 
the  person  whose  presence  was  the  most  likely 
to  soothe  the  exasperated  passions  of  the  people. 
They  rose  upon  him,  and  stoned  him  till  he  died 
(1  Kings  xii.  18). 

ADONIZE'DEK.  The  name  denotes  lord  of 
justice,  i.  e.  just  lord,  but  some  would  rather 
have  it  to  mean  king  of  Zedek.  He  was  the 
Canaanitish  king  of  Jerusalem  when  the  Israelites 
invaded  Palestine;  and  the  similarity  of  the 
name  to  that  of  a  more  ancient  king  of  (as  is 
supposed)  the  same  place,  Jlelchi-zedek  {king  of 
justice,  or  king  of  Zedek),  has  suggested  that 
Zedek  was  one  of  the  ancient  names  of  Jeru.sa-. 
lem.  Be  that  as  it  may,  this  Adonizedek  was 
the  first  of  the  native  princes  that  attempted  to 
make  head  against  the  invaders.  After  Jericho 
and  Ai  were  taken,  and  the  Gibeonites  had  suc- 
ceeded in  foi-ming  a  treaty  with  the  Israelites, 
Adonizedek  was  the  first  to  rouse  himself  from 
the  stupor  which  had  fallen  on  the  Canaanites 
(Josh.  X.  1,  3),  and  he  induced  the  other  Amo- 
ritish  kings  of  Hebron,  Jarmutli,  Lachish,  and 
Eglon,  to  join  him  in  a  confederacy  against  the 
enemy.  They  did  not,  however,  march  directly 
against  the  invaders,  but  went  and  besieged  the 
Gibeonites,  to  punish  them  for  the  discouraging 
example  which  their  secession  from  the  common 
cause  had  afforded.  Joshua  no  sooner  heard  of 
this  than  he  marched  all  night  from  Gilgal  to- 
the  relief  of  his  allies ;  and  falling  unexpectedly 
upon  the  besiegers,  soon  put  tliem  to  utter  rout. 
The  pursuit  was  long,  and  was  signalized  by 
Joshua's  famous  command  to  the  sun  and  moon, 
as  well  as  by  a  tremendous  hail-storm,  which 
greatly  distressed  the  fugitive  Amorites  [Joshua]. 
The  five  kings  took  refuge  in  a  cave ;  but  were 
observed,  and  by  Joshuas  order  the  mouth  of  it 
was  closed  with  large  stones,  and  a  guard  set 
over  it,  until  the  pursuit  was  over.  When  the 
pursuers  returned,  the  cave  was  opened,  and  the 
five  kings  brought  out.  The  Hebrew  chiefs  then 
set  tlieir  feet  upon  the  necks  of  the  prostrate 


34 


ADOPTION 


TOonarchs — an  ancient  mark  of  triumph,  of  which 
the  monuments  of  Persia  and  Egypt  still  afford 
illustrations.  They  Avere  then  slain,  and  their 
bodies  hanged  on  trees  until  the  evening,  when, 
as  the  law  forbade  a  longer  exposure  of  the 
dead  (Deut.  xxi.  23),  they  were  taken  down,  and 
cast  into  the  cave,  the  mouth  of  which  was  filled 
up  with  large  stones,  which  remained  long  after 
(Josh.  X.  1-27).  The  severe  treatment  of  these 
kings  by  Joshua  has  been  censured  and  defended 
with  equal  disregard  of  the  real  circumstances, 
which  are,  that  the  war  was  avowedly  one  of  ex- 
termination, no  quarter  being  given  or  expected 
on  either  side :  and  that  the  war-usages  of  the 
Jews  wsre  neither  worse  nor  better  than  those  of 
the  people  with  whom  they  fought,  who  would 
most  certainly  have  treated  Joshua  and  the  other 
Hebrew  chiefs  in  the  same  manner,  had  they 
fallen  into  their  hands. 

ADOPTION.  The  Old  Testament  does  not 
contain  any  word  equivalent  to  this ;  but  the  act 
occurs  in  various  forms.  The  New  Testament 
has  the  word  often  (Rom.  viii.  15,  23;  ix.  4; 
Gal.  iv.  5  ;  Eph.  i.  ."5) ;  but  no  example  of  the 
act  occurs.  The  term  signifies  the  placing  as  a 
son  of  one  who  is  not  so  by  birth. 

The  practice  of  adoption  had  its  origin  in  the 
desire  for  male  offspring  among  those  who  have, 
in  the  ordinary  course,  been  denied  that  blessing, 
or  have  been  deprived  of  it  by  circumstances. 
This  feeling  is  common  to  our  nature ;  but  its 
operation  is  less  marked  in  those  countries  where 
the  equalizing  influences  of  high  civilization 
lessen  the  peculiar  privileges  of  the  paternal 
character,  and  where  the  security  and  the  well- 
observed  laws  by  which  estates  descend  and  pro- 
perty is  transmitted.withdraw  one  of  the  principal 
inducements  to  the  practice.  And  thus  most  of 
the  instances  in  the  Bible  occur  in  the  patriarchal 
period.  The  law  of  Moses,  by  settling  the  rela- 
tions of  families  and  the  rules  of  descent,  and  by 
formally  establishing  the  Levirate  law,  which  in 
some  sort  secured  a  representative  posterity  even 
to  a  man  who  died  without  children,  appears  to 
have  put  some  check  upon  this  custom.  The 
allusions  in  the  New  Testament  are  mostly  to 
practices  of  adoption  which  then  existed  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  rather  to  the  latter 
than  to  the  former  ;  for  among  the  more  highly 
civilized  Greeks  adoption  was  less  frequent  than 
among  the  Romans.  In  the  East  the  practice 
has  always  been  common,  especially  among  the 
Semitic  races,  in  whom  the  love  of  offspring  has 
at  all  times  been  strongly  manifested. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  adoption 
was  confined  to  sons.  The  whole  Bible  history 
affords  no  example  of  the  adoption  of  a  female. 

The  first  instances  of  adoption  which  occur  in 
Scripture  are  less  the  acts  of  men  than  of  women, 
who,  being  themselves  barren,  gave  their  female 
slaves  to  their  husbands,  with  the  view  of  adopt- 
ing the  children  they  might  bear.  Thus  Sarah 
gave  her  handmaid  Hagar  to  Abraham ;  and  the 
son  that  was  born,  Ishmael,  appears  to  have 
been  considered  as  her  son  as  well  as  Abraham's, 
until  Isaac  was  born.  In  like  manner  Rachel, 
having  no  children,  gave  her  haiidmaid  Bilhah 
to  her  husband,  who  had  by  her  Dan  and  Naph- 
tali  (Gen.  xxx.  5-9) ;  on  which  his  other  wife, 
Leah,  although  she  had  sons  of  her  own,  yet 
fearing  that  she  had  left  off  bearing,  claimed  the 


ADOPTION 

right  of  giving  her  handmaid  Zilpah  tc  Jacob, 
that  she  might  thus  increase  their  number ;  and 
by  this  means  she  had  Gad  and  Asher  (Gen. 
xxx.  9-13).  In  this  way  the  greatest  possible 
approximation  to  a  natural  relation  was  pro- 
duced. The  child  was  the  son  of  the  husband, 
and,  the  mother  being  the  property  of  the  wife, 
the  progeny  must  be  her  property  also ;  and  the 
act  of  more  particular  appropriation  seems  to 
have  been  that,  at  the  time  of  birth,  the  hand- 
maid brought  forth  her  child  '  upon  the  knees  of 
the  adoptive  mother '  (Gen.  xxx.  3).  A  curious 
fact  is  elicited  by  the  peculiar  circumstances  in 
Sarah's  case,  which  were  almost  the  only  circum- 
stances that  could  have  arisen  to  try  the  ques- 
tion, whether  a  mistress  retained  her  power,  as 
such,  over  a  female  slave  whom  she  had  thus 
vicariously  employed,  and  over  the  progeny  of 
that  slave,  even  though  by  her  own  husband. 
The  answer  is  given,  rather  startlingly,  in  the 
affirmative  in  the  words  of  Sarah,  who,  when  the 
birth  of  Isaac  had  wholly  changed  her  feelings 
and  position,  and  when  she  was  exasperated  by 
the  offensive  conduct  of  Hagar  and  her  son,  ad- 
dressed her  husband  thus,  '  Cast  forth  this  bond- 
woman and  her  son;  for  the  son  of  this  bond- 
u-oman  shall  not  be  heir  with  my  son,  even  with 
Isaac'  (Gen.  xxi.  10). 

A  previous  instance  of  adoption  in  the  history 
of  Abraham,  when  as  yet  he  had  no  children, 
appears  to  be  discoverable  in  his  saying,  '  One 
bom  in  my  house  is  mine  heir.'  This  unques- 
tionably denotes  a  house-born  slave,  as  distin- 
guished from  one  bought  with  money.  Abraham' 
had  several  such ;  and  the  one  to  whom  he  is 
supposed  here  to  refer  is  his  faithful  and  devoted 
steward  Eliezer.  This,  therefore,  is  a  case  in 
which  a  slave  was  adopted  as  a  son — a  practice 
still  very  common  in  the  East.  A  boy  is  often 
purchased  young,  adopted  by  his  master,  brought 
up  in  his  faith,  and  educated  as  his  son ;  or  if  the 
owner  has  a  daughter,  he  adopts  him  through  a 
marriage  with  that  daughter,  and  the  family 
which  springs  from  this  union  is  counted  as 
descended  from  him.  But  house-born  slaves  are 
usually  preferred,  as  these  have  never  had  any 
home  but  their  master's  house,  are  considered 
members  of  his  family,  and  are  generally  the 
most  faithful  of  his  adherents.  This  practice  of 
slave  adoption  was  very  common  among  the 
Romans  ;  and,  as  such,  is  more  than  once  re- 
ferred to  by  St.  Paul  (Rom.  viii.  15;  Gal.  iv. 
5-6),  the  transition  from  the  condition  of  a  slave 
to  that  of  a  son,  and  the  privilege  of  applying 
the  tender  name  of  '  Father '  to  the  former 
'  Master,'  affording  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the 
change  which  takes  place  from  the  bondage  of 
the  law  to  the  freedom  and  privileges  of  the 
Christian  state. 

As  in  most  cases  the  adopted  son  was  to  be 
considered  dead  to  the  family  from  which  he 
sprung,  the  separation  of  natural  ties  and  con- 
nections was  avoided  by  this  preference  of  slaves, 
who  were  mostly  foreigners  or  of  foreign  descent. 
For  the  same  reason  the  Chinese  make  their 
adoptions  from  children  in  the  hospitals,  who 
have  been  abandoned  by  their  parents.  The 
Tartars  are  the  only  people  we  know  who  pre- 
fer to  adopt  their  near  relatives — nephews  or 
cousins,  or,  failing  them,  a  Tartar  of  their  own 
I  banner.    "The  only   Scriptural  example  of  this 


ADORATION 

kind  is  that,  hi  which  Jacob  adopted  his  own 
grandsons  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  to  be  counted 
as  his  sons  (Gen.  xlviii.  6).  The  object  of  this 
remarkable  adoption  was,  that  whereas  Joseph 
himself  could  only  have  one  share  of  his  father's 
heritage  along  with  his  brothers,  the  adoption  of 
his  two  sons  enabled  Jacob,  through  them,  to 
bestow  two  portions  upon  his  favourite  son. 
The  adoption  of  Moses  by  Pharaoh's  daughter 
(Exod.  ii.  1-10)  is  an  incident  rather  than  a  prac- 
tice ;  but  it  recalls  what  has  just  been  stated  re- 
specting tlie  adoption  of  outcast  children  by  the 
Chinese.  In  1  Chron.  ii.  34,  &c.,  there  is  an 
instance  recorded  of  a  daughter  being  married  to 
a  free  slave,  and  the  children  being  counted  as 
those  of  the  woman's  father.  The  same  chapter 
gives  another  instance.  Machir  (grandson  of 
Joseph)  gives  his  daughter  in  marriage  to 
Hezron,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  She  gave  birth 
to  Segub,  who  was  the  father  of  Jair.  Jair  pos- 
sessed twenty-three  cities  in  the  land  of  Gilead, 
which  came  to  him  in  right  of  his  grandmother, 
the  daughter  of  Machir ;  and  he  acquired  other 
towns  in  the  same  quarter,  which  made  up  his 
possessions  to  three-score  towns  or  villages 
(1  Chron.  ii.  21-24;  Josh.  xiii.  30;  1  Kings  iv. 
13).  Now  this  Jair,  though  of  the  tribe  of  Judah 
by  his  grandfather,  is,  in  Num.  xxxii.  41,  counted 
as  of  Manasseh,  for  the  obvious  reason  which  the 
comparison  of  these  texts  suggests,  that,  through 
his  grandmother,  he  inherited  the  property,  and 
was  the  lineal  representative  of  Machir,  the  son 
of  Manasseh. 

ADORA'IM,  a  town  in  the  south  of  Judah, 
enumerated  along  with  Hebron  and  Mareshah, 
as  one  of  the  cities  fortified  by  Rehoboam  (2 
Chron.  xi.  9).  This  town  does  not  occur  in  any 
writer  after  Josephus,  until  the  recent  researches 
of  Dr.  Robinson,  who  discovered  it  under  the 
name  of  Dura,  the  first  feeble  letter  having  been 
dropped.  It  is  situated  five  miles  W.  by  S.  from 
Hebron,  and  is  a  large  village,  seated  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  a  cultivated  hill,  with  olive- 
groves  and  fields  of  grain  all  around.  There 
are  no  ruins. 

ADORATION.  This  word  is  compounded  of 
ad  'to,'  and  os,  oris,  'the  mouth,'  and  literally 
signifies  to  apply  the  hand  to  the  mouth,'  that  is, 
'  to  kiss  the  hand.'  The  act  is  described  in 
Scripture  as  one  of  worship  (Job  xxxi.  26,  27). 
And  this  very  clearly  intimates  that  kissing  the 
hand  was  considered  an  overt  act  of  worship  in 
the  East. 


The  same  act  was  used  as  a  mark  of  respect 
in  the  presence  of  kings  and  persons  high  in 
office  or  station.  Or  rather,  peihaps,  the  hand 
was  not  merely  kissed  and  then  withdrawn  from 
the  mouth,  but  held  contmnously  before  or  upon 


ADULLAM  35 

the  mouth,  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  such 
texts  as  Judg.  xviii.  19;  Job  xxi.  5;  xxix.  9- 
xl.  4;  Ps.  xxxix.  9.  In  one  of  the  sculptures  at 
Persepolis  a  king  is  seated  on  his  throne,  and 
before  him  a  person  standing  in  a  bent  posmre, 
with  his  hand  laid  upon  his  mouth  as  he  ad- 
dresses the  sovereign  (fig.  1).  Exactly  the  same 
attitude  is  observed  in  the  sculptures 'at  Thebes, 
where  one  person,  among  several  (in  various  pos- 
tures of  respect)  who  appear  before  the  scribes 
to  be  registered,  has  his  hand  placed  thus  sub- 
missively upon  his  mouth  (fig.  2). 

ADRAM'MELECH  is  mentioned,  together 
with  Anammelech,  in  2  Kings  xvii.  31,  as  one 
of  the  idols  whose  worship  the  inhabitants  of 
Sepharvaim  established  in  Samaria,  when  they 
were  transferred  thither  by  the  king  of  Assyria, 
and  whom  they  worshipped  by  the  sacrifice  of 
their  children  by  fire.  This  constitutes  the 
whole  of  our  certain  knowledge  of  this  idol 

2.  ADRAMMELECH,  one  of  the  sons  and 
murderers  of  Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria  (2 
Kings  xix.  37  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  38). 

ADRAMYT'TIUM,  a  sea-port  town  in  the 
province  of  Mysia  in  Asia  Minor,  opposite  the 
isle  of  Lesbos,  and  an  Athenian  colony.  It  is 
mentioned  in  Scripture  only,  from  the  fact  that 
the  ship  in  which  Paul  embarked  at  Cresarea  as 
a  prisoner  on  his  way  to  Italy,  belonged  to  Adra- 
myttium  (Acts  xxvii.  2).  It  was  rare  to  find  a 
vessel  going  direct  from  Palestine  to  Italy.  The 
usual  course,  therefore,  was  to  embark  in  some 
ship  bound  to  one  of  the  ports  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  there  go  on  board  a  vessel  sailing  for  Italy. 
This  was  the  course  taken  by  the  centurion  who 
had  charge  of  Paul.  The  ship  of  Adramyttium 
took  them  to  Myra  in  Lycia,  and  here  they  em- 
barked in  an  Alexandrian  vessel  bound  for  Italy, 
Adramyttium  is  still  called  Adramyt.  It  is 
built  on  a  hill,  contains  about  1000  houses,,  and 
is  still  a  place  of  some  commerce. 

ADRIATIC  SEA  (Acts  xxvii.  27).  This 
name  is  now  confined  to  the  gulf  lying  between 
Italy  on  one  side,  and  the  coasts  of  Dalmatia  and 
Albania  on  the  other.  But  in  St.  Paul's  time 
it  extended  to  all  that  part  of  the  Mediterranean 
between  Crete  and  Sicily.  This  fact  is  of  im- 
portance, as  relieving  us  from  the  necessity  of 
finding  the  island  of  Melita  on  which  Paul  was 
shipwrecked,  in  the  present  Adriatic  gulf;  and 
consequently  removing  the  chief  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  the  identification  of  that  island  with  the 
present  Malta. 

A'DRIEL  (the  flock  of  God\  the  person  to 
whom  Saul  gave  in  marriage  his  daughter  Merab, 
who  had  been  originally  promised  to  David  (1 
Sam.  xviii.  19).  Five  sons  sprung  from  this 
union,  who  were  taken  to  make  up  the  number 
of  Saul's  descendants,  whose  lives,  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  blood-revenge,  were  required  by  the 
Gibeonites  to  avenge  the  cruelties  which  Saul 
had  exercised  towards  their  race  [Gibeonites]. 

ADUL'LAM,  an  old  city  (Gen.  xxxviii.  1,12, 
20)  in  the  plain  country  of  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  35),  and  one  of  the  royal  cities  of  the 
Canaanites  (Josh.  xii.  15).  It  was  one  of  the 
towns  which  Rehoboam  fortified  (2  Chron.  xi.  7 ; 
Micah  i.  15),  and  is  mentioned  after  the  Cap- 
tivity (Neh.  xi.  30;  2  Mace.  12,  38).  It  is 
evident  that  Adullam  was  one  of  the  cities  of 
•  the  valley,'  or  plain  between  the  hUl  country 

D  2 


36  ADULTERY 

of  Judali  and  the  sea;  and  from  its  place  in  the 
lists  of  names  (especially  2  Chron.  xi.  7),  it 
appears  not  to  have  been  far  from  the  Philistine 
city  of  Gath.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
'cave  of  Adullam'  (1  Sam.  xxii.  1)  was  not  in 
ihe  vicinity  of  the  city,  where  no  such  cave  has 
been  found,  but  in  the  mountainous  wilderness 
in  the  west  of  .Tudah  towards  the  Dead  Sea. 
This  conjecture  is  favoured  by  the  fact  that  the 
usual  haunts  of  David  were  in  this  quarter; 
whence  he  moved  into  the  land  of  Moab,  which 
■was  quite  contiguous,  whereas  he  must  have 
crossed  the  whole  breadth  of  the  land,  if  the 
cave  of  Adullam  had  been  near  the  city  of  that 
name.  The  particular  cave,  usually  pointed  out 
as  '  the  cave  of  Adullam,'  is  about  six  miles 
south-west  of  Bethlehem,  iu  the  side  of  a  deep 
ravine  which  passes  below  the  Frank's  mountain 
on  the  south.  It  is  an  immense  natural  cavern, 
with  numerous  passages,  the  mouth  of  which 
can  be  approached  only  on  foot  along  the  side 
of  the  cliff.  It  seems  probable  that  David,  as  a 
native  of  Bethlehem,  must  have  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  this  remarkable  spot,  and  had  pro- 
bably often  availed  himself  of  its  shelter  when 
out  with  his  father's  flocks.  It  would  therefore 
naturally  occur  to  him  as  a  place  of  refuge  when 
he  fled  from  Gath ;  and  his  purpose  of  forming 
a  band  of  followers  was  much  more  liltely  to  be 
realized  here,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  native 
place,  than  in  the  westward  plain,  where  the  city 
of  Adullam  lay. 

ADULTERY.  In  the  common  acceptation 
of  the  Avord,  adultery  denotes  the  sexual  inter- 
course of  a  man-ied  woman  with  any  other  man 
than  her  husband,  or  of  a  married  man  with  any 
other  woman  than  his  wife.  But  the  crime  is 
not  understood  in  this  extent  among  Eastern 
nations,  nor  was  it  so  understood  b)'  the  Jews. 
With  them,  adultery  was  tlie  act  whereby  any 
married  man  was  exposed  to  the  risk  of  having 
a  spurious  offspring  imposed  upon  him.  An 
adulterer  was,  therefore,  any  man  who  had  illicit 
intercourse  with  a  married  or  betrothed  woman  ; 
and  an  adulteress  was  a  betrothed  or  married 
woman  who  had  intercourse  with  any  other  man 
than  her  husband.  An  intercourse  between  a 
married  man  and  an  unmarried  woman  was  not, 
as  with  us,  deemed  adultery,  but  fornication ;  a 
great  sin,  but  not,  like  adultery,  involving  the 
contingency  of  polluting  a  descent,  of  turning 
aside  an  inheritance,  or  of  imposing  upon  a  man 
a  charge  which  did  not  belong  to  him.  Adultery 
was  thus  considered  a  great  social  wrong,  against 
which  society-  protected  itself  by  much  severer 
penalties  than  attended  an  unchaste  act  not  in- 
volving the  same  contingencies. 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  Oriental  limitation  of 
adultery  is  intimately  connected  with  the  exist- 
ence of  polygamy.  If  adultery  be  defined  as  a 
breach  of  the  marriage  covenant,  then,  where  the 
•contract  is  between  one  man  and  one  woman,  as 
in  Christian  countries,  the  man  as  much  as  the 
<woman  infringes  the  covenant,  or  commits  adul- 
tery, by  ever;/  act  of  intercourse  with  any  other 
•woman :  but  where  polygamy  is  allowed,  where 
the  husband  may  marry  other  wives,  and  take 
to  himself  concubines  and  slaves,  the  marriage 
contract  cannot  and  does  not  convey  to  the 
woman  a  legal  title  that  the  man  should  belong 
to  her  alone.    If,  therefore,  a  Jew  associated 


ADULTERY,  TRIAL  OF 

with  a  woman  who  was  not  his  wife,  his  concu- 
bine, or  his  slave,  he  was  guilty  of  unchastity, 
but  committed  no  offence  which  gave  a  wife 
reason  to  complain  that  her  legal  rights  had  been 
infringed.  If,  however,  the  woman  with  whom 
he  associated  was  the  wife  of  another,  he  was 
guilty  of  adultery,  not  by  infringing  his  own 
marriage  covenant,  but  by  causing  a  breach  of 
that  which  existed  between  that  woman  and  her 
husband.  By  thus  excluding  from  the  name 
and  punishment  of  adultery  the  offence  which 
did  7iot  involve  the  enormous  wrong  of  imposing 
upon  a  man  a  supposititious  offspring,  in  a  nation 
where  the  succession  to  landed  prope;ty  went 
entirely  by  birth,  so  that  a  father  could  not  by 
his  testament  alienate  it  from  any  one  who  was 
regarded  as  his  son — the  law  was  enabled,  with 
less  severity  than  if  the  inferior  offence  had  been 
included,  to  punish  the  crime  with  death.  It  is 
still  so  punished  wherever  the  practice  of  po- 
lygamy has  similarly  operated  in  limiting  the 
crime — not,  perhaps,  that  the  law  expressly  as- 
signs that  punishment,  but  it  recognises  the  right 
of  the  injured  party  to  inflict  it,  and,  in  fact, 
leaves  it,  in  a  great  degree,  in  his  hands.  Now 
death  Avas  the  punishment  of  adultery  before  the 
time  of  Moses ;  and  if  he  had  assigned  a  less 
punishment,  his  law  would  have  been  inoperative, 
for  private  vengeance,  sanctioned  by  usage,  would 
still  have  inflicted  death.  But  by  adopting  it 
into  the  law,  those  restrictions  were  imposed 
upon  its  operation  which  necessarily  arise  when 
the  calm  inquiry  of  public  justice  is  substituted 
for  the  impulsive  action  of  excited  hands.  Thus, 
death  would  be  less  frequently  inflicted ;  and 
that  this  effect  followed  seems  to  be  implied  in 
the  fact  that  the  whole  biblical  history  offers  no 
example  of  capital  punishment  for  the  crime. 
Eventualljs  divorce  superseded  all  other  punish- 
ment. 

It  seems  that  the  Roman  law  made  the  same 
important  distinction  with  the  Hebrew,  between 
the  infidelity  of  the  husband  and  of  the  wife. 
'  Adultery'  was  defined  by  the  civilians  to  be  the 
violation  of  another  man's  bed,  so  that  the  in- 
fidelity of  the  husband  to  his  own  wife  could 
not  alone  constitute  the  offence. 

It  is  understood  that  the  -crime  was  punished 
among  the  Assyrians  and  Chaldeans  by  cutting 
off  the  nose  and  the  ears ;  and  this  brings  to 
mind  the  passage  in  which  the  prophet  Ezekiel 
(xxiii.  25),  after,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  re- 
proving Israel  and  Judah  for  their  adulteries 
(i.e.  idolatries)  with  the  Assyrians  and  Chal- 
deans, threatens  the  punishment, '  they  shall  take 
away  thy  nose  and  thy  ears.'  One  or  both  of 
these  mutilations,  most  generally  that  of  the 
nose,  were  also  inflicted  by  other  nations,  as  the 
Persians  and  Egyptians,  and  even  the  Romans; 
but  we  suspect  that  among  the  former,  as  with 
the  latter,  it  was  less  a  judicial  punishment  than 
a  summary  infliction  by  the  aggrieved  party.  It 
would  also  seem  that  these  mutilations  were 
more  usually  inflicted  on  the  male  than  the 
female  adulterer.  In  Egypt,  however,  cutting 
off  the  nose  was  the  female  punishment,  and  the 
man  was  beaten  terribly  with  rods.  The  respect 
with  which  the  conjugal  union  was  treated  in 
that  country  in  the  earliest  times  is  manifested 
in  the  history  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xii.  19). 

ADULTERY,   TRIAL   OF.     It   would   be 


ADULTERY,  TRIAL  OF 


^GYPT 


37 


I   tinjust  to  the  spirit  of  the  Mosaical  legislation 
i   to  suppose  that  the  trial  of  the  suspected  wife 
!   by  the  bitter  water,  called  the    Water  of  Jeal- 
\   oust/,  was  by  it  first  produced.     It  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  attempt  to  mitigate  the   evils  of, 
and  to  bring  under  legal  control,  an  old  custom 
which  could  not  be  entirely  abrogated. 

The  original  usage,  which  it  was  designed  to 
mitigate,  was  probably  of  the  kind  which  we 
still  find  in  Western  Africa,  where,  when  a  party 
is  accused  of  murder,  adultery,  or  witchcraft,  if 
he  deuies  the  crime,  he  is  required  to  drink  the 
red  water,  and  on  refusing  is  deemed  guilty  of 
the  offence.  But  in  Africa  the  drink  is  highly 
poisonous  in  itself,  and,  if  rightly  prepared,  the 
only  chance  of  escape  is  the  rejection  of  it  by 
the  stomach,  whereas,  among  the  Hebrews,  the 
'  water  of  jealousy,'  however  unpleasant,  was 
prepared  in  a  prescribed  manner  with  ingre- 
dients known  to  all  to  be  perfectly  innocent. 
It  could  not  therefore  injure  the  innocent,  and 
its  action  upon  the  guilty  must  have  resulted,  not 
from  the  effects  of  the  drink  itself,  but  from  the 
consciousness  of  having  committed  a  horrible 
perjury.  As  regulated,  then,  by  the  law  of 
Moses,  the  trial  for  suspected  adultery  by  the 
bitter  water  amounted  to  this,  that  a  woman 
suspected  of  adultery  by  her  husband  was  allowed 
to  repel  the  charge  by  a  public  oath  of  purgation, 
which  oath  was  designedly  made  so  solemn  in 
itself,  and  was  attended  by  such  awfiil  circum- 
stances, that  it  was  in  the  highest  degree  unlikely 
that  it  would  be  dared  by  any  woman  not  sup- 
ported by  the  consciousness  of  innocence.  And 
the  fact  that  no  instance  of  the  actual  appli- 
cation of  the  ordeal  occurs  in  Scripture,  affords 
some  countenance  to  the  assertion  of  the  Jewish 
writers,  that  the  trial  was  so  much  dreaded  by 
the  women,  that  those  who  were  really  guilty 
generally  avoided  it  by  confession ;  and  that  thus 
the  trial  itself  early  fell  into  disuse.  And  if,  as 
we  have  supposed,  this  mode  of  trial  was  only 
tolerated  by  Moses,  the  ultimate  neglect  of  it 
must  have  been  desired  and  intended  by  him. 
In  later  times,  indeed,  it  was  disputed  in  the 
Jewish  schools,  whether  the  husband  was  bound 
to  prosecute  his  wife  to  this  extremity,  or  whether 
it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  connive  at  and 
pardon  her  act,  if  he  were  so  inclined.  There 
were  some  who  held  that  he  was  bound  by  his 
duty  to  prosecute,  while  others  maintained  that 
it  was  left  to  his  pleasure. 

From  the  same  source  we  learn  that  this  form 
of  trial  was  finally  abrogated  about  forty  years 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  The  reason 
assigned  is,  that  the  men  themselves  were  at  that 
time  generally  adulterous ;  and  that  God  would 
not  fulfil  the  imprecations  of  the  ordeal  oath 
upon  the  wife  while  the  husband  was  guilty  of 
the  same  crime  (John  viii.  1-8). 

Adultery,  in  the  symbolical  language  of  the 
Old  Testament,  means  idolatry  and  apostacy  from 
the  worship  of  the  true  God  (Jer.  iii.  8,  9 ;  Ezek. 
xvi.  32  ;  xxiii.  37  ;  also  Rev.  ii.  22).  Hence  an 
Adulteress  meant  an  apostate  church  or  city,  par- 
ticularly 'the  daughter  of  Jerusalem,'  or  the 
Jewish  church  and  people  (Isa.  i.  21 ;  Jer.  iii.  6, 
8,  9;  Ezek.  xvi.  22  ;  xxiii.  7).  This  figure  re- 
sulted from  the  primary  one,  which  describes 
the  connection  between  God  and  his  separated 
people  as  a  marriage  between  him  and  them. 


By  an  application  of  the  same  figure,  '  An  adul- 
terous generation '  (Matt.  xii.  39 ;  xvi.  4 ;  Mark 
vii.  38)  means  a  faithless  and  impious  genera- 
tion. 

ADUM'MIM,  a  place  which  is  only  twice 
named  in  Scripture.  Once  (Josh.  xv.  7), 
where,  from  the  context,  it  seems  to  indicate  the 
border  between  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  that 
it  was  an  ascending  road  between  Gilgal  (and 
also  Jericho)  and  Jei-usalem.  The  second  notice 
(Josh,  xviii.  17)  adds  no  further  information, 
but  repeats  '  the  ascent  to  Adummim.'  Most  com- 
mentators take  the  name  to  mean  the  place  of 
blood,  and  follow  Jerome,  who  finds  the  place  in 
the  dangerous  or  mountainous  part  of  the  road 
between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho,  and  supposes 
that  it  was  so  called  from  the  frequent  efiusion 
of  blood  by  the  robbers,  by  whom  it  was  much 
infested.  These  are  curious  interpretations  of 
the  original  word,  which  merely  denotes  the 
redness  of  the  soil  or  rock.  However,  as  a  diffi- 
cult pass  in  a  desolate  rocky  region,  between 
important  cities,  the  part  of  the  road  indicated 
by  Jerome,  and  all  after  him,  was  as  likely  to 
be  infested  by  robbers  in  earlier  times  as  in  those 
of  Jerome  and  at  the  present  day.  Indeed,  the 
character  of  the  road  was  so  notorious,  that 
Christ  lays  the  scene  of  the  parable  of  the  good 
Samaritan  (Luke  x.)  upon  it;  and  Jerome  in- 
forms us  that  Adummim  or  Adommim  was  be- 
lieved to  be  the  place  where  the  traveller  (taken 
as  a  real  person)  '  fell  among  thieves.'  He  adds 
that  a  fort  and  garrison  was  maintained  here  for 
the  safeguard  of  travellers.  The  travellers  of 
the  present  century  mention  the  spot  and  neigh- 
bourhood nearly  in  the  same  terms  as  those  of 
older  date.  They  all  represent  the  road  as  still 
infested  by  robbers,  from  whom  some  of  them 
have  not  escaped  without  danger.  The  place 
thus  indicated  is  about  eight  miles  from  Jerusa- 
lem, and  four  from  Jericho. 

ADVOCATE,  one  who  pleads  the  cause  of 
another;  also  one  who  exhorts,  defends,  com- 
forts, prays  for  another.  It  is  an  appellation 
given  to  the  Holy  Spirit  by  Christ  (John  xiv. 
16;  XV.  26;  xvi.  7),  and  to  Christ  himself  by  an 
apostle  (1  John  ii.  1 ;  see  also  Rom,  viii."  34 ; 
Heb.  vii.  25). 

In  the  forensic  sense,  advocates  or  pleaders 
were  not  known  to  the  Jews  until  they  came 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans,  and  were 
obliged  to  transact  their  law  affairs  after  the 
Roman  manner.  Being  then  little  conversant 
with  the  Roman  laws,  and  with  the  forms  of  the 
jurists,  it  was  necessary  for  them,  in  pleading  a 
cause  before  the  Roman  magistrates,  to  obtain 
the  assistance  of  a  Roman  lawyer  or  advocate, 
who  was  well  versed  in  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages.  In  all  the  Roman  provinces  such 
men  were  found,  who  devoted  their  time  and 
labour  to  the  pleading  of  causes  and  the  trans- 
acting of  other  legal  business  in  the  provincial 
courts.  It  also  appears  that  many  Roman  youths 
who  had  devoted  themselves  to  forensic  business 
used  to  repair  to  the  provinces  with  the  consuls 
and  praetors,  in  ordei-,  by  managing  the  causes 
of  the  provincials,  to  fit  themselves  for  more  im- 
portant ones  at  Rome.  Such  an  advocate  was 
Tertxdlus,  whom  the  Jews  employed  to  accuse 
Paul  before  Felix  (Acts  xxiv.  1)  [Accuser]. 

iE'GYPT.     [Egypt.] 


38  AFFINITY 

M''SON,  fountain;  the  name  of  a  place  near 
Salem,  where  John  baptized  (John  iii.  23) ;  the 
reason  given,  'because  there  was  much  water 
there,'  would  suggest  that  he  baptized  at  the 
springs  from  which  the  place  took  its  name. 
jETHIO'PIA.  [Ethiopia.] 
AFFINITY  is  relationship  by  marriage,  as 
distinguished  from  consanguiidti/,  which  is  rela- 
tionship by  blood.  Marriages  between  persons 
thus  related,  in  various  degrees,  were  forbidden 
by  the  law  of  Moses,  which  previous  usage,  in 
different  conditions  of  society,  had  allowed. 
These  degrees  are  enumerated  in  Lev.  xviii.  7, 
sq.  The  examples  before  the  law  are  those  of 
Cain  and  Abel,  who,  as  the  necessity  of  the  case 
required,  married  their  own  sisters.  Abraham 
married  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  his  father  by 
another  wife,  or  else,  as  some  suppose,  the 
daughter  of  his  elder  brother  by  a  former  wife  of 
his  father.  Jacob  also  married  the  two  sisters 
Leah  and  Kachel.  In  the  first  iustonce,  and 
even  in  the  second,  there  was  an  obvious  consan- 
guinity, and  only  the  last  offered  a  previous  re- 
lationship of  affinity  merely.  So  also,  in  the 
prohibition  of  the  law,  a  consanguinity  can  be 
traced  in  what  are  usually  set  down  as  degrees 
of  affinity  merely.  The  degrees  of  real  affinity 
interdicted  are,  that  a  man  shall  not  (nor  a 
woman  in  the  corresponding  relations)  mafry 
his— 1.  Father's  widow  (not  his  own  mother); 
2.  The  daughter  of  his  father's  wife  by  another 
husband ;  3.  The  widow  of  his  paternal  uncle ; 
4.  Nof  his  brother's  widow  if  he  has  left  chil- 
dren by  her ;  but,  if  not,  he  was  bound  to  marry 
her  to  raise  up  children  to  his  deceased  brother. 
The  other  prohibitions  are  connected  with  the 
condition  of  polygamy,  and  they  prohibited  a 
man  from  having — 1.  a  mother  and  her  daugh- 
ter for  wives  at  the  same  time;  2.  or  two 
sisters  for  wives  at  the  same  time.  These  pro- 
hibitions, although  founded  in  Oriental  notions, 
I  adapted  to  a  particular  condition  of  society,  and 
I  connected  with  the  peculiarities  of  the  Levitical 
marriage  law,  have  been  imported  wholesale 
into  our  canon  law.  The  fitness  of  this  is  doubted 
by  many :  but  as,  apart  from  any  moral  ques- 
tions, the  prohibited  marriages  are  such  as  few 
would,  in  the  present  condition  of  European 
society,  desire  to  contract,  and  such  as  would 
be  deemed  repugnant  to  good  taste  and  correct 
manners,  there  is  little  real  matter  of  regret  in 
this  adoption  of  the  Levitical  law.  Indeed,  the 
objections  to  this  adoption  have  rested  chiefly 
upon  one  point ;  and  that  happens  to  be  a  point 
in  which  the  law  itself  appears  to  have  been 
egregiously  misunderstood.  This  is  in  the  in- 
junction which,  under  permitted  polygamy,  for- 
bade a  man  to  have  two  sisters  at  once ;  an  in- 
junction which  has  been  construed,  under  the 
Christian  law,  which  allows  but  one  wife,  to 
apply  equally  to  the  case  of  a  man  marrying  the 
sister  of  a  deceased  wife.  The  law  itself  is, 
however,  so  plain,  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive 
how  its  true  object— concerning  which  nearly  all 
commentators  are  agreed — could  have  been  thus 
interpreted.  It  is  rendered  in  our  version, 
•  Neither  shalt  thou  take  a  wife  to  her  sister,  to 
vex  her  (or  rather,  perhaps,  to  rival  her),  to  un- 
cover her  nakedness,  beside  the  other  in  Iter  life- 
time.' And  the  design  seems  evidently  to  be  to 
prevent  the  occurrence  of  such  unseemly  jea- 


AGABUS 

lousies  and  contentions  between  sister-wives  as 
embittered  the  life  of  Jacob — the  father  of  the 
twelve  tribes.  The  more  recondite  sense  has 
been  extracted,  with  rather  ungentle  violence  to 
the  principles  of  Hebrew  construction,  by  making 
'  vex  her '  the  antecedent  of  '  in  her  lifetime,' 
instead  of  '  take  her  sister  to  her,  in  her  lifetime.' 
And  it  is  explained,  under  this  view,  that  the 
married  sister  should  not  be  '  vexed '  in  her  life- 
time by  the  prospect  that  her  sister  might  suc- 
ceed her.  It  may  be  safely  said  that  such  an 
idea  would  never  have  occurred  in  the  East,, 
where  unmarried  sisters  are  far  more  rarely  than 
in  Europe  brought  into  such  acquaintance  with 
the  husband  of  the  married  sister  as  to  give 
occasion  for  such  '  vexation '  or  '  rivalry '  as  this. 
This  view  of  the  matter,  though  completely  ex- 
ploded among  real  biblical  critics,  is  perhaps  not 
calculated  to  do  much  harm,  except  under  pecu- 
liar circumstances,  and  except  as  it  may  prove  a 
snare  to  som.e  sincere  but  weak  consciences. 

AFFIRMATIVES.  Among  the  Jews  the  for- 
mula of  assent  or  affirmation  was  thou  hast  said, 
or  thou  hast  rightly  said.  It  is  stated  by  Aryda 
and  others  that  this  is  the  prevailing  mode  in 
which  a  person  expresses  his  assent,  at  this  day, 
in  Lebanon,  especially  when  he  does  not  wisk 
to  assert  anything  in  express  terms.  This  ex- 
plains the  answer  of  our  Saviour  to  the  high- 
priest  Caiaphas  (Matt.  xxvi.  64),  when  he  was 
asked  whether  he  was  the  Christ,  the  son  of  God, 
and  replied,  thou  hast  said  (see  also  Matt.  xxvi. 
25).  All  readers  of  even  translations  are  fa- 
miliar with  a  frequent  elegancy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  rather  of  the  Hebrew  language,  in 
using  an  affirmative  and  negative  together,  by 
which  the  sense  is  rendered  more  emphatic: 
sometimes  the  negative  first,  as  Ps.  cxviii.  1 7,  '  1 
shall  not  die,  but  live,'  &c. ;  sometimes  the  ne- 
gative first,  as  Isa.  xxxviii.  1,  '  Thou  shalt  die, 
and  not  live.'  In  John  i.  20,  there  is  a  remark- 
able instance  of  emphasis  produced  by  a  nega- 
tive being  placed  between  two  affirmatives — 
'  And  he  confessed,  and  denied  not,  but  confessed, 
I  am  not  the  Christ.' 

AFRICA.  This  '  quarter  of  the  world '  is  not 
mentioned  as  such  by  any  general  name  in 
Scripture,  although  some  of  its  regions  are  indi- 
cated. It  is  thought  by  some,  however,  that 
Africa,  or  as  much  of  it  as  was  then  known,  is 
denoted  by  '  the  land  of  Ham,'  in  several  of  the 
Psalms.  But  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  the 
context  ratlier  restricts  this  designation  of  Egypt. 
Whether  Africa  was  really  '  the  land  of  Ham,' 
that  is,  was  peopled  by  the  descendants  of  Ham, 
is  quite  another  question  [HamJ. 

AG'ABUS,  tlie  name  of '  a  prophet,'  supposed 
to  have  been  one  of  the  seventy  disciples  of 
Christ.  He,  with  others,  came  from  Judaa  to 
Antioch,  while  Paul  and  Barnabas  (a.d.  43) 
were  there,  and  announced  an  approaching  fa- 
mine, which  actually  occurred  the  following 
year.  Some  writers  suppose  that  the  famine  was 
general;  but  most  modern  commentators  unite 
in  understanding  that  the  terms  of  the  original 
apply  not  to  the  whole  world,  nor  even  to  all  the 
Roman  empire,  but,  as  in  Luke  ii.  1,  to  Judaa 
only,  and  that  the  reference  is  to  that  famine 
which,  in  the  fourth  year  of  Claudius,  overspread 
Palestine.  The  poor  Jews,  in  general,  were  then 
relieved  by  the  Queen  of  Adiabene,  who  sent  to 


AGE 

purchase  com  in  Egypt  for  them ;  and  for  the 
relief  of  the  Chi-istians  in  that  country  contribu- 
tions were  raised  by  the  brethren  at  Antioch, 
and  conveyed  to  Jerasalem  by  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas (Acts  xi.  27-30).  Many  years  after,  this 
same  Agabus  met  Paul  at  Ccesarea,  and  warned 
him  of  the  sufferings  which  awaited  him  if  he 
prosecuted  his  journey  to  Jerusalem. 

A'GAG,  the  name  of  two  kings  of  the  Ama- 
lekites,  and  perhaps  a  common  name  of  all  their 
kings,  like  Pharaoh  in  Egypt  (comp.  Num. 
xxiv.  7 ;  1  Sam.  xv.  8,  9,  20,  32).  The  first  of 
these  passages  would  imply  that  the  king  of  the 
Amalekites  was,  then  at  least,  a  greater  monarch, 
and  his  people  a  greater  people,  than  is  com- 
monly imagined  [Amalekites].  The  latter  re- 
ferences are  to  that  king  of  the  Amalekites  who 
was  spared  by  Saul,  contrary  to  that  solemn  vow 
of  devotementto  desti-uction,  whereby  the  nation, 
as  such,  had  of  old  precluded  itself  from  giving 
any  quarter  to  that  people  (Exod.  xvii.  14 ;  Deut. 
XXV.  17-19).  Hence,  when  Samuel  arrived  in  the 
camp  of  Saul,  he  ordered  Agag  to  be  brought 
forth.  He  came  '  pleasantly,'  deeming  secure 
the  life  which  the  king  had  spared.  But  the 
prophet  ordered  him  to  be  cut  in  pieces ;  and  the 
expression  which  he  employed—'  As  thy  sword 
hath  made  women  childless,  so  shall  thy  mother 
be  childless  among  women ' — indicates  that,  apart 
from  the  obligations  of  the  vow,  some  such  ex- 
ample of  retributive  justice  was  intended  as  had 
been  exercised  in  the  case  of  Adonibezek ;  or,  in 
other  words,  that  Agag  had  made  himself  infamous 
by  the  same  treatment  of  some  prisoners  of  distinc- 
tion (probably  Israelites)  as  he  now  received  from 
Samuel.  The  unusual  mode  in  which  his  death 
was  inflicted  strongly  supports  this  conclusion. 

AGAGITE,  used  as  a  Gentile  name  for  Ama- 
lekite  in  Est.  iii.  1,10;  viii.  3,  5. 

AGATE,  a  precious  or  rather  ornamental 
stone,  which  was  one  of  those  in  the  breast-plate 
of  the  high-priest  (Exod.  xxviii.  19,  xxxix.  12). 
This  stone  is  popularly  known  in  this  country 
under  the  name  of  Scotch  pebble.  There  are  few 
countries  in  which  agates  of  some  quality  or 
other  are  not  produced.  The  finest  are  those  of 
India  ;  they  are  plentiful,  and  sometimes  fine,  in 
Italy,  Spain,  and  Germany  ;  but  those  found  in 
this  country  are  seldom  good. 

Agate  is  one  of  the  numerous  modifications  of 
form  under  which  silica  presents  itself,  almost  in 
a  state  of  purity,  forming  98  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  mineral.  The  siliceous  particles  are  not 
so  arranged  as  to  produce  the  transparency  of 
rock  crystal,  but  a  semi-pellucid,  sometimes  al- 
most opaque  substance,  with  a  resinous  or  waxy 
fracture  ;  and  various  shades  of  colour  are  pro- 
duced by  minute  quantities  of  iron.  The  same 
stone  sometimes  contains  parts  of  different  de- 
grees of  translucency,  and  of  various  shades  of 
colour ;  and  the  endless  combinations  of  these 
produce  the  beautiful  and  singular  internal 
forms,  for  which,  together  with  the  high  polish 
they  are  capable  of  receiving,  agates  obtain  their 
value  as  precious  stones.  The  Scripture  text 
shows  the  early  use  of  this  stone  for  engraving  ; 
and  several  antique  agates,  engraved  with  ex- 
quisite beauty,  are  still  preserved  in  the  cabinets 
of  the  curious. 

AGE.     [Chrokology ;   Generation;    Lon- 

GETITY.] 


AGONY  39 

AGE,  OLD.  The  strong  desire  of  a  pro- 
tracted life,  and  the  marked  respect  with  which 
aged  persons  were  treated  among  the  Jews,  are 
very  often  indicated  in  the  Scriptures.  The  most 
striking  instance  which  Job  can  give  of  the 
respect  in  which  he  was  once  held,  is  that  even 
old  men  stood  up  as  he  passed  them  in  the  sti-eets 
(Job  xxix.  8),  the  force  of  which  is  illustrated 
by  the  injunction  in  the  law,  '  Before  the  hoary 
head  thou  shalt  stand  up,  and  shalt  reverence  the 
aged'  (Lev.  xix.  32).  Similar  injunctions  are 
repeated  in  the  Apocrypha,  so  as  to  show  the 
deportment  expected  from  young  men  towards 
their  seniors  in  company.  Thus,  in  describing 
a  feast,  the  author  of  Ecclesiasticus  (xxxii.  3,  7) 
says,  '  Speak  thou  that  art  the  elder,  for  it  be- 
cometh  thee.  Speak,  young  man,  if  there  be 
need  of  thee,  and  yet  scarcely,  when  thou  art 
twice  asked.' 

Thus  the  attainment  of  old  age  is  constantly 
promised  or  described  as  a  blessing  (Gen.  xv. 
15;  Job  V.  2G),  and  communities  as  highly  fa- 
voured in  which  old  people  abound  (Isa.  Ixv. 
20;  Zech.  viii.  4),  while  premature  death  is 
the  greatest  of  calamities  upon  individuals,  and 
to  the  families  to  which  they  belong  (1  Sam.  ii. 
32)  ;  the  aged  are  constantly  supposed  to  excel 
in  understanding  and  judgment  (Job.  xii.  20 ; 
XV.  10  ;  xxxii.  9  ;  1  Kings  xii.  6,  8),  and  the 
mercilessness  of  the  Chaldeans  is  expressed  by 
their  having  '  no  compassion '  upon  the  '  old 
man,  or  him  who  stooped  for  age '  (2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  17). 

The  strong  desire  to  attain  old  age  was  neces- 
sarily in  some  degree  connected  with  or  re- 
sembled the  respect  paid  to  aged  persons;  for 
people  would  scarcely  desire  to  be  old,  were  the 
aged  neglected  or  regarded  with  mere  suffer- 
ance. 

Attention  to  age  was  very  general  in  ancient 
times  ;  and  is  still  observed  in  all  such  conditions 
of  society  as  those  through  which  the  Israelites 
passed.  Among  the  Egyptians,  the  young  men 
rose  before  the  aged,  and  always  yielded  to  them 
the  first  place.  The  youth  of  Sparta  did  the 
same,  and  were  silent — or,  as  the  Hebrews  would 
say,  laid  their  hand  upon  their  mouth — when- 
ever their  elders  spoke.  At  Athens,  and  in 
other  Greek  states,  old  men  were  treated  with 
corresponding  respect.  In  China  the  deference 
for  the  aged,  and  the  honours  and  distinctions 
awarded  to  them,  form  a  capital  point  in  the  go- 
vernment, and  among  the  Moslems  of  Western 
Asia,  whose  usages  offer  so  many  analogies  to 
those  of  the  Hebrews,  the  same  regard  for  se- 
niority is  strongly  shown.  Among  the  Arabs  it 
is  very  seldom  that  a  youth  can  be  permitted  to 
eat  with  men.  With  the  Turks,  age,  even  be- 
tween brothers,  is  the  object  of  marked  de- 
ference. 

AGONY,  a  word  directly  meaning  contest, 
and  especially  the  contests  by  wrestling,  &c.  in 
the  public  games ;  whence  it  is  applied  meta- 
phorically to  a  severe  struygle  or  conflict  with 
pain  and  suffering.  Agomj  is  the  actual  struggle 
with  present  evil,  and  is  thus  distinguished  from 
anguish,  which  arises  from  the  reflection  on  evil 
that  is  past.  In  the  New  Testament  the  word  is 
only  used  by  Luke  (xx.  44),  and  is  employed  by 
him  with  terrible  significance  to  describe  the 
fearful  struggle  which  our  Lord  sustained  in  the 


AGONY 


AGRARIAN  LAW 


garden  of  Gethsemane.  The  ch-cumstaiices  of 
this  mysterious  transaction  are  recorded,  in  Matt, 
xxvi.  36-46  ;  Mark  xiv.  32-42 ;  Luke  xx.  39-48  ; 
Heb.  V.  7,  8.  None  of  these  passages,  taken  sepa- 
rately, contains  a  full  history  of  our  Saviour's 
agony.  Each  of  the  three  Evangelists  has  omitted 
some  things  which  the  others  have  recorded,  and 
all  are  very  brief.  The  passage  in  Hebrews  is  only 
an  incidental  notice.  The  three  Evangelists  ap- 
pear to  have  had  the  same  design,  namely,  to  con- 
vey to  their  readers  an  idea  of  the  intensity  of  the 
Lord's  distress  ;  but  they  compass  it  in  different 
ways.  Luke  alone  notices  the  agony,  the  bloody 
sweat,  and  the  appearance  of  an  angel  from 
heaven  strengthening  him.  Matthew  and  Mark 
alone  record  the  change  which  appeared  in  his 
countenance  and  manner,  the  complaint  Vi^hich 
he  uttered  of  the  overpowering  sorrows  of  his 
soul,  and  the  repetition  of  the  same  prayer.  All 
agree  that  he  prayed  for  the  removal  of  what  he 
called  '  this  cup,'  and  are  careful  to  note  that  he 
qualified  this  earnest  petition  by  a  preference  of 
his  Father's  will  to  his  own. 

With  regard  to  the  cause  of  his  overwhelming 
distress,  Jesus  himself  points  it  out  in  the  prayer, 
'  If  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  vie  ;'  the 
cup  which  his  Father  had  appointed  for  him ; 
and  the  question  is,  what  does  he  mean  by  '  this 
cup.'  Doddridge  and  others  think  that  he  means 
the  instant  agony,  the  trouble  that  he  then  ac- 
tually endured.  But  this  is  satisfactorily  an- 
swered by  Dr.  Mayer,  who  shows  by  reference 
to  John  xviii.  18,  that  the  cup  respecting  which 
he  prayed  was  one  that  was  then  before  him, 
which  he  had  not  yet  taken  up  to  drink,  and 
which  he  desired,  if  possible,  that  the  Father 
sTiould  remove.  It  could,  therefore,  be  no  other 
than  the  scene  of  suffering  upon  which  he  was 
about  to  enter.  It  was  th&  death  which  the  Fa- 
ther had  appointed  for  him — the  death  of  the 
cross — with  all  the  attending  circumstances 
which  aggravated  its  horror ;  that  scene  of  woe 
which  began  with  his  arrest  in  the  garden,  and 
was  consummated  by  his  death  on  Calvary. 
Jesus  had  long  been  familiar  with  this  prospect, 
and  had  looked  to  it  as  the  appointed  termina- 
tion of  his  ministry  (Matt.  xvi.  21  ;  xvii.  9-12  ; 
XX.  17,  19,  28;  Mark  x.  32-34;  John  x.  18; 
xii.  32,  33).  But  when  he  looked  forward  to 
this  destination,  as  the  hour  approached,  a  chill 
of  horror  sometimes  came  over  him,  and  found 
expression  in  external  signs  of  distress  (John  xii. 
27  ;  comp.  Luke  xii.  49,  50).  It  is  manifest, 
therefore,  that  something  more  than  the  cross 
was  now  before  him,  and  that  he  was  now  placed 
in  a  new  and  hitherto  untried  situation.  Dr. 
Mayer  says  :  '  I  have  no  hesitation  in  believing 
that  he  was  here  put  upon  the  trial  of  his  obe- 
dience. It  was  the  purpose  of  God  to  subject 
the  obedience  of  Jesus  to  a  severe  ordeal,  in  order 
that,  like  gold  tried  in  the  ftirnace,  it  might  be 
an  act  of  more  perfect  and  illustrious  virtue  ; 
and  for  this  end  he  permitted  him  to  be  assailed 
by  the  fiercest  temptation  to  disobey  his  will  and 
to  refuse  the  appointed  cup.  In  pursuance  of 
this  purpose,  the  mind  of  Jesus  was  left  to  pass 
under  a  dark  cloud,  his  views  lost  their  clear- 
ness, the  Father's  will  was  shrouded  in  obscurity, 
the  cross  appeared  in  ten-fold  horror,  and  nature 
was  left  to  indulge  her  feelings,  and  to  put  forth 
her  reluctance.' 


Under  another  head  [Bloody  Sweat]  will  be 
found  the  considerations  suggested  by  one  of  the 
remarkable  circumstances  of  this  event. 

AGRARIAN  LAW.  To  this,  or  some  such 
heading,  belongs  the  consideration  of  the  peculiar 
laws  by  which  the  distribution  and  tenure  of 
land  were  regulated  among  the  Hebrew  people  ; 
while  the  modes  and  forms  in  which  the  land 
was  cultivated  belong  to  Agkicolture. 

The  Hebrews  were  for  the  most  part  a  pastoral 
people  until  they  were  settled  in  Palestine,  and 
their  pastoral  habits  were  mainly  instrumental  in 
keeping  them  distinct  and  separate  from  tlie 
Egyptians,  who  were  agriculturists,  and  had  a 
strong  dislike  to  a  shepherd  life  (Gen.  xlvi.  34). 
But  when  they  became  an  independent  and  so- 
vereign nation,  the  same  result  of  separation 
from  other  nations  was  to  be  aided  by  inducing 
them  to  devote  their  chief  attention  to  the  culture 
of  the  soil. 

It  was,  doubtless,  in  subservience  to  this  object, 
and  to  facilitate  the  change,  that  the  Israelites 
were  put  in  possession  of  a  country  already  in 
a  state  of  high  cultivation  (Dent.  vi.  11).  And 
it  was  in  order  to  retain  them  in  this  condition, 
to  give  them  a  vital  interest  in  it,  and  to  make  it 
a  source  of  happiness  to  them,  that  a  very  pe- 
culiar agrarian  law  was  given  to  them.  An 
equal  distribtition  of  the  soil  (Num.  xxvi.  53-54) 
was  the  basis  of  the  agrarian  law.  By  it  provi- 
sion was  made  for  the  support  of  600,000  yeo- 
manry, with  (according  to  different  calculations) 
from  sixteen  to  twenty-five  acres  of  land  each. 
This  land  they  held  independent  of  all  temporal 
superiors,  by  direct  tenure  from  Jehovah  their 
sovereign,  by  whose  power  they  were  to  acquire 
the  territory,  and  under  whose  protection  they 
were  to  enjoy  and  retain  it.  But  this  law  was 
guarded  by  other  provisions  equally  wise  and 
salutary.  The  accumulation  of  debt  was  yi-<t- 
vented,  first,  by  prohibiting  every  Hebrew  from 
accepting  of  interest  (Lev.  xxv.  35,  36)  from  any 
of  his  fellow-citizens ;  next,  by  establishing  a 
regular  release  of  debts  every  seventh  year  ;  and, 
finally,  by  ordering  that  no  lands  could  be 
alienated  for  ever,  but  must,  on  each  year  of 
Jubilee,  or  every  seventh  Sabbatic  year,  revert 
to  the  families  which  originally  possessed  them. 
Thus,  without  absolutely  depriving  individuals 
of  all  temporary  dominion  over  their  landed  pro- 
perty, it  re-established,  every  fiftieth  year,  that 
original  and  equal  distribution  of  it,  which  was 
the  foundation  of  the  national  polity ;  and  as  the 
period  of  such  reversion  was  fixed  and  regular, 
all  parties  had  due  notice  of  the  terms  on  which 
they  negotiated  ;  so  that  there  was  no  ground 
for  public  commotion  or  private  complaint. 

This  law,  by  which  landed  property  was  re- 
leased in  the  year  of  Jubilee  from  all  previous 
obligations,  did  not  extend  to  houses  in  towns, 
which,  if  not  redeemed  within  one  year  after 
being  sold,  were  alienated  for  ever  (Lev.  xxv.  29, 
30).  This  must  have  given  to  property  in  the 
country  a  decided  preference  over  property  in 
cities,  and  must  have  greatly  contributed  to  the 
essential  object  of  all  those  regulations,  by  afford- 
ing an  inducement  to  every  Hebrew  to  reside  on 
and  cultivate  his  land.  Further,  the  original  dis- 
tribution of  the  land  was  to  the  several  tribes 
according  to  their  families,  so  that  each  tribe 
was,  so  to  speak,  settled  in  the  same  county, 


AGRICULTURE 

and  each  family  in  the  same  barony  or  hundred. 
Nor  was  the  estate  of  any  family  in  one  tribe 
permitted  to  pass  into  another,  even  by  the  mar- 
riage of  an  heiress  (Num.  xxvii.) ;  so  that  not 
only  was  the  original  balance  of  property  pre- 
served, but  the  closest  and  dearest  connections  of 
affinity  attached  to  each  other  the  inhabitants  of 
every  vicinage. 

For  this  land  a  kind  of  quit-rent  was  payable 
to  the  sovereign  proprietor,  in  the  form  of  a  tenth 
or  tithe  of  the  produce,  which  was  assigned  to 
the  priesthood  [Tithes].  The  condition  of  mili- 
tary service  was  also  attached  to  the  land :  as  it 
appears  that  every  freeholder  (Deut.  xx.  5)  was 
obliged  to  attend  at  the  general  muster  of  the 
national  army,  and  to  serve  in  it,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense (often  more  than  repaid  by  the  plunder), 
as  long  as  the  occasion  required.  In  this  direc- 
tion, therefore,  the  agrarian  law  operated  in  se- 
curing a  body  of  600,000  men,  inured  to  labour 
and  industry,  always  assumed  to  be  ready,  as 
they  were  bound,  to  come  forward  at  their  coun- 
try's call.  This  great  body  of  national  yeomanry, 
eveiy  one  of  whom  had  an  important  stake  in 
the  national  independence,  was  officered  by  its 
own  hereditary  chiefs,  heads  of  tribes  and  families 
(comp.  Exod.  xviii.  and  Num.  xxxi.  14);  and 
must  have  presented  an  insuperable  obstacle  to 
treacherous  ambition  and  political  intrigue,  and 
to  every  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Hebrew  com- 
monwealth and  establish  despotic  power.  Nor 
were  these  institutions  less  wisely  adapted  to  se- 
cure the  state  against  foreign  violence,  and  at 
the  same  time  prevent  offensive  wars  and  re- 
mote conquests.  For  while  this  vast  body  of 
hardy  yeomanry  were  always  ready  to  defend 
their  country,  when  assailed  by  foreign  foes,  yet, 
being  constantly  employed  in  agriculture,  at- 
tached to  domestic  life,  and  enjoying  at  home  the 
society  of  the  numerous  relatives  who  peopled 
their  neighbourhood,  war  must  have  been  in  a 
high  degree  averse  to  their  tastes  and  habits. 
Religion  also  took  part  in  preventing  them  from 
being  captivated  by  the  splendour  of  military 
glory.  On  returning  from  battle,  even  if  vic- 
torious, in  order  to  bring  them  back  to  more 
peaceful  feelings  after  the  rage  of  war,  the  law 
required  them  to  consider  themselves  as  polluted 
by  the  slaughter,  and  unworthy  of  appearing  in 
the  camp  of  Jehovah  until  they  had  employed  an 
entire  day  in  the  rites  of  purification  (Num.  xix. 
13-16  ;  xxxi.  19).  Besides,  the  force  was  en- 
tirely infantry ;  the  law  forbidding  even  the 
kings  to  multiply  horses  in  their  train  (Deut. 
xvii.  16) ;  and  this,  with  the  ordinance  requiring 
the  attendance  of  all  the  males  three  times  every 
year  at  Jerusalem,  proved  the  intention  of  the 
legislator  to  confine  the  natives  within  the  limits 
of  the  Promised  Land,  and  rendered  long  and 
distant  wars  and  conquests  impossible  without 
the  virtual  renunciation  of  that  religion  which 
was  incorporated  with  their  whole  civil  polity, 
and  which  was,  in  fact,  the  charter  by  which  they 
held  their  property  and  enjoyed  all  their  rights. 

AGRICULTURE.  The  antiquity  of  agricul- 
tiire  is  intimated  in  the  brief  history  of  Cain  and 
Abel  (Gen.  iv.  2,  3).  But  of  the  actual  state  of 
agriculture  before  the  deluge  we  know  nothing. 
Whatever  knowledge  was  possessed  by  the  old 
world  was  doubtless  transmitted  to  the  new  by 
Noah  and  his  eons ;  and  that  this  knowledge  was 


AGRICULTURE 


41 


considerable  is  implied  in  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
operations  of  Noah,  when  he  '  began  to  be  a 
husbandman,'  was  to  plant  a  vineyard,  and  to 
make  wine  with  the  fruit  (Gen.  ix.  20).  There 
are  few  agricultural  notices  belonging  to  the 
patriarchal  period,  but  they  suffice  to  show  that 
the  land  of  Canaan  was  in  a  state  of  cultivation, 
and  that  the  inhabitants  possessed  what  were  at 
a  later  date  the  principal  products  of  the  soil  in 
the  same  country.  In  giving  to  the  Israelites 
possession  of  a  country  already  under  cultivation, 
it  was  the  Divine  intention  that  they  should  keep 
up  that  cultivation,  and  become  themselves  an 
agricultural  people ;  and  in  doing  this  they  doubt- 
less adopted  the  practices  of  agi-iculture  which 
they  found  already  established  in  the  country. 

As  the  condition  of  the  seasons  lies  at  the  root 
of  all  agricultural  operations,  it  should  be  noticed 
that  the  variations  of  sunshine  and  rain,  which 
with  us  extend  throughout  the  year,  are  in  Pales- 
tine confined  chiefly  to  the  latter  part  of  autumn 
and  the  winter.  During  all  the  rest  of  the  year 
the  sky  is  almost  uninterruptedly  cloudless,  and 
rain  very  rarely  falls.  The  autumnal  rains  usu- 
ally commence  at  the  latter  end  of  October  or 
the  beginning  of  November,  not  suddenly,  but 
by  degrees,  which  gives  opportunity  to  the  hus- 
bandman to  sow  his  wheat  and  barley.  The 
rains  continue  during  November  and  December, 
but  afterwards  they  occur  at  longer  intervals ; 
and  rain  is  rare  after  March,  and  almost  never 
occurs  as  late  as  May.  The  cold  of  winter  is  not 
severe ;  and  as  the  ground  is  never  frozen,  the 
labours  of  the  husbandman  are  not  entirely  in- 
terrupted. Snow  falls  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  but  never  lies  long  on  the  ground.  In 
the  plains  and  valleys  the  heat  of  summer  is  op- 
pressive, but  not  in  the  more  elevated  tracts.  In 
such  high  grounds  the  nights  are  cool,  often  with 
heavy  dew.  The  total  absence  of  rain  in  sum- 
mer soon  destroys  the  verdure  of  the  fields,  and 
gives  to  the  general  landscape,  even  in  the  high 
country,  an  aspect  of  drought  and  barrenness. 
No  green  thing  remains  but  the  foliage  of  the 
scattered  fruit-trees,  and  occasional  vineyards 
and  fields  of  millet.  In  autumn  the  whole  land 
becomes  dry  and  parched ;  the  cisterns  are  nearly 
empty ;  and  all  nature,  animate  and  inanimate, 
looks  forward  with  longing  for  the  return  of 
the  rainy  season.  In  the  hill  country  the  time 
of  harvest  is  later  than  in  the  plains  of  the  Jordan 
and  of  the  sea-coast.  The  barley  harvest  is  about 
a  fortnight  earlier  than  that  of  wheat.  In  the 
plain  of  the  Jordan  the  wheat  harvest  is  early  in 
May ;  in  the  plains  of  the  coast  and  of  Esdraelon 
it  is  towards  the  latter  end  of  that  month ;  and  in 
the  hills,  not  until  June.  The  general  vintage  is 
in  September,  but  the  first  grapes  ripen  in  July  ; 
and  from  that  time  the  towns  are  well  supplied 
with  this  fruit. 

Soil,  &c.— The  geological  characters  of  the 
soil  in  Palestine  have  never  been  satisfactorily 
stated ;  but  the  different  epithets  of  description 
which  travellers  employ  enable  us  to  know  tha 
it  diifers  considerably,  both  in  its  appearance  and 
character,  in  different  parts  of  the  land;  but 
wherever  soil  of  any  kind  exists,  even  to  a  very 
slight  depth,  it  is  found  to  be  highly  fertile.  As 
parts  of  Palestine  are  hilly,  and  hills  have  seldom 
much  depth  of  soil,  the  mode  of  cultivating  them 
in  terraces  \^as  anciently,  and  is  now,  much  em- 


42  AGRICULTURE 

ployed.  A  series  of  low  stone  walls,  one  above 
another,  across  the  face  of  the  hill,  arrested  the 
soil  brought  down  by  the  rains,  and  afforded  a 
series  of  levels  for  the  operations  of  the  husband- 
man. This  mode  of  cultivation  is  usual  in  Le- 
banon, and  is  not  unfrequent  in  Palestine,  where 
the  remains  of  terraces  across  the  hills,  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  attest  the  extent  to  which 
it  was  anciently  carried. 

In  such  a  climate  as  that  of  Palestine,  water 
is  the  great  fertilizing  agent.  The  rains  of  au- 
tumn and  winter,  and  the  dews  of  spring,  suffice 
for  the  ordinary  objects  of  agriculture  ;  but  the 
ancient  inhabitants  were  able,  in  some  parts,  to 
avert  even  the  aridity  which  the  summer  droughts 
occasioned,  and  to  keep  up  a  garden-like  vei-dure, 
by  means  of  aqueducts  communicating  with  the 
brooks  and  rivers  (Ps.  i.  3;  Ixv.  10  ;  Prov.  xxi. 
1;  Isa.  XXX.  25;  xxxii.  2,  20;  Hos.  xii.  11). 
Hence  springs,  fountoins,  and  rivulets  were  as 
much  esteemed  by  husbandmen  as  by  shepherds 
(Josh.  XV.  19  ;  Judg.  i.  15).  The  soil  was  also 
cleared  of  stones,  and  carefully  cultivated ;  and 
its  fertility  was  increased  by  the  ashes  to  which 
the  dry  stubble  and  herbage  were  occasionally 
reduced  by  burning  over  the  surface  of  the 
ground  (Prov.  xxiv.  31;  Isa.  vii.  23;  x.  17; 
xxxii.  13;  xlvii.  14  ;  Matt.  iii.  12  ;  Lake  iii.  17). 
The  dung,  and,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jeru- 
salem, the  blood  of  animals,  were  also  used  to 
enrich  the  soil  (2  Kings  ix.  37  ;  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  10 ; 
Isa.  XXV.  10 ;  Jer.  ix.  22 ;  Luke  xiv.  34,  35). 

That  the  soil  might  not  be  exhausted,  it  was 
ordered  that  every  seventh  year  should  be  a 
sabbath  of  rest  to  the  land.  There  was  to  be  no 
sowing  or  reaping,  no  pruning  of  vines  or  olives, 
no  vintage  or  gathering  of  fruits  ;  and  whatever 
grew  of  itself  was  to  be  left  to  the  poor,  the 
stranger,  and  the  beast  of  the  field  (Lev.  xxv. 
1-7).  But  such  an  obsei-vance  required  more 
faith  than  the  Israelites  were  prepared  to  exer- 
cise. It  was  for  a  long  time  utterly  neglected 
(Lev.  xxvi.  34,  35;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21),  but 
after  the  Captivity  it  was  more  observed.  By 
this  remarkable  institution  the  Hebrews  were 
also  trained  to  habits  of  economy  and  foresight, 
and  invited  to  exercise  a  large  degree  of  trust  in 
the  bountiful  providence  of  their  Divine  King. 

Fields. — Syria,  including  Palestine,  was  re- 
garded by  the  ancients  as  one  of  the  first  coun- 
tries for  corn.  Wheat  was  abundant  and  ex- 
cellent ;  and  there  is  still  one  bearded  sort,  the 
ear  of  which  is  three  times  as  heavy,  and  con- 
tains twice  as  many  grains,  as  our  common 
English  wheat.  Barley  was  also  much  culti- 
vated, not  only  for  bread,  but  because  it  was  the 
only  kind  of  corn  which  was  given  to  beasts  ;  for 
oats  and  rye  do  not  grow  in  warm  climates. 
Hay  was  not  in  use ;  and  therefore  the  barley 
was  mixed  with  chopped  straw  to  form  the  food 
of  cattle  (Gen.  xxiv.  25,  32  ;  Judg.  xix.  19,  &c.). 
Other  Objects  of  field  culture  were  millet,  spelt, 
various  kinds  of  beans  and  peas,  pepperwort, 
cummin,  cucumbers,  melons,  flax,  and,  perhaps, 
cotton.  Many  other  articles  might  be  mentioned 
as  being  now  cultivated  in  Palestine ;  but,  as 
their  names  do  not  occur  in  Scripture,  we  cannot 
with  certainty  know  which  of  them  were  grown 
there  in  the  ancient  times. 

Anciently,  as  now,  in  Palestine  and  the  East 
the  arable  lands  were  not  divided  by  hedges  into 


AGRICULTURE 

fields,  as  in  this  countiy.  The  ripening  products 
therefore  presented  an  expanse  of  culture  un- 
broken, although  perhaps  variegated,  in  a  large 
view,  by  the  difference  of  the  products  grown. 
The  boundaries  of  lands  were  therefore  marked 
by  stones  as  landmarks,  which,  even  in  pa- 
triarchal times,  it  was  deemed  a  heinous  wrong 
to  remove  (Job.  xxiv.  2) ;  and  the  law  pro- 
nounced a  curse  upon  those  who,  without  au- 
thority, displaced  them  (Deut.  xix.  14 ;  xxvii. 
17).  The  walls  and  hedges  which  are  occa- 
sionally mentioned  in  Scripture  belonged  to 
orchards,  gardens,  and  vineyards. 


8.  Modern  Syrian  Plough. 

Agricultural  Operatioks. — Of  late  years 
much  light  has  been  thrown  upon  the  agricul- 
tural operations  and  implements  of  ancient 
times,  by  the  discovery  of  various  representa- 
tions on  the  sculptured  monuments  and  painted 
tombs  of  Egjpt.  As  these  agree  surprisingly 
with  the  notices  in  the  Bible,  and,  indeed,  differ 
little  from  what  is  still  employed  in  Syria  and 
Egypt,  it  is  very  safe  to  receive  the  instruction 
which  they  offer. 

Ploiighwg.— This  has  always  been  a  light  and 
superficial  operation  in  the  East.  At  first,  the 
ground  wa.s  opened  with  pointed  sticks  ;  then,  a 
kind  of  hoe  was  employed ;  and  this,  in  many 
pai-ts  of  the  world,  is  still  the  substitute  for  a 
plough.  But  the  plough  was  known  in  Egjpt 
and  Syria  before  the  Hebrews  became  cultivators 
(Job  i.  14).  In  the  East,  however,  it  has  always 
been  a  light  and  inartificial  implement.  At  first, 
it  was  little  more  than  a  stout  branch  of  a  tree, 
from  which  projected  another  limb,  shortened 
and  pointed.  This,  being  turned  into  the  ground, 
made  the  furrows ;  while  at  the  farther  end  of 
the  larger  branch  was  fastened  a  transverse  yoke, 
to  which  the  oxen  were  harnessed.  Afterwards  a 
handle  to  guide  the  plough  was  added.  Thus 
the  plough  consisted  of — 1.  the  pole  ;  2.  the  point 
or  share ;  3.  the  handle ;  4.  the  yoke.  The 
Syrian  plough  is,  and  doubtless  was,  light  enough 
for  a  man  to  carry  in  his  hand.  We  annex  a 
figure  of  the  ancient  Egjptian  plough,  which 


9.  Ancient  Egyptian  Plough. 

had  the  most  resemblance  to  the  one  now  used 
(as  figured  in  No.  8),  and  the  comparison  be- 
tween them  will  probably  suggest  a  fair  idea  of 
the  plough  which  was  in  use  among  the  Hebrews* 


AGRICULTURE 

The  following  cut  (from  Sir  Charles  FelloW 
work  on  Asia  Minor)  shows  the  parts  of  a  still 
lighter  plough  used  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria, 
with  but  a  single  handle,  and  with  different 
shares  according  to  the  work  it  has  to  execute. 


AGRICULTURE 


43 


1.  Tlie  plough.      2,  The  pole 
4.  Handle.  5.  Yokes. 


Shares  (various). 
Ox-goad. 


The  plough  wa,s  drawn  by  oxen,  which  were 
sometimes  impelled  by  a  scourge  (Isa.  x.  26  ; 
Nahum  iii.  2) ;  but  oftener  by  a  long  staff,  fur- 
nished at  one  end  with  a  flat  piece  of  metal  for 
clearing  the  plough,  and  at  the  other  with  a  spike 
for  goading  the  oxen.  This  ox-goad  might  be 
easily  used  as  a  spear  (Judg.  iii.  31  ;  1  Sam. 
xiii.  21).  Sometimes  men  followed  the  plough 
with  hoes  to  break  the  clods  (Isa.  xxviii.  24) ; 
but  in  later  times  a  kind  of  hammer  was  em- 
ployed, which  appears  to  have  been  then,  as  now, 
merely  a  thick  block  of  wood,  pressed  down  by 
a  weight,  or  by  a  man  sitting  on  it,  and  drawn 
over  the  ploughed  field. 


Sowing. — The  ground,  having  been  ploughed 
as  soon  as  the  autumnal  rains  had  mollified  the 
soil,  was  fit,  by  the  end  of  October,  to  receive  the 
seed  ;  and  the  sowing  of  wheat  continued,  in  dif- 
ferent situations,  through  November  into  De- 
cember. Barley  was  not  generally  sown  till 
January  and  February.  The  seed  appears  to 
have  been  sown  and  harrowed  at  the  same  time ; 
although  sometimes  it  was  ploughed  in  by  a  cross 
furrow. 


U.  Sowing.    Ancient  Egyptian. 

Ploughing  in  the  Seed. — The  Egyptian  paint- 
ings illustrate  the  Scriptures  by  showing  that  in 
those  soils  which  needed  no  previous  preparation 


12.  Ploughing  and  Sowing.      Ancient  Egyptian. 


by  the  hoe  (for  breaking  the  clods)  the  sower 
followed  the  plough,  holding  in  the  left  hacd  a 
basket  of  seed,  which  he  scattered  with  the  right 
hand,  while  another  person  filled  a  fresh  basket. 
We  also  see  that  the  mode  of  sowing  was  what 
we  call  '  broad-cast,'  in  which  the  seed  is  thrown 
loosely  over  the  field  (Matt.  xiii.  3-8).  In  Egypt, 
when  the  levels  were  low,  and  the  water  had 
continued  long  upon  the  land,  they  often  dis- 
pensed with  the  plough  altogether ;  and  probably, 
like  the  present  inhabitants,  broke  up  the  ground 
with  hoes,  or  simply  dragged  the  moist  mud  with 
bushes  after  the  seed  had  been  thrown  upon  the 
surface.  To  this  cultivation  without  ploughing 
Moses  probably  alludes  (Deut.  xi.  10),  when  he 
tells  the  Hebrews  that  the  land  to  which  they 
were  going  was  not  like  the  land  of  Egypt,  where 
they  '  sowed  their  seed  ar.d  watered  it  with  their 
foot  as  a  garden  of  herbs.'  It  does  not  seem  that 
any  instrument  resembling  our  harrow  was 
known  ;  the  word  rendered  to  harrow,  in  Job 
xxxix.  10,  means  literally  to  break  the  clods,  and 
is  so  rendered  in  Isa.  xxviii.  24;  IIos.  x.  11  : 
and  for  this  purpose  the  means  used  have  be€n 
already  indicated.  The  passage  in  Job  is,  how- 
ever, important.  It  shows  that  this  breaking  of 
clods  was  not  always  by  hand,  but  that  some 


kind  of  instrument  was  drawn  by  an  animal  over 
the  ploughed  field,  most  probably  the  rough  log 
which  is  still  in  use. 

Harvest.— It  has  been  already  indicated  that 
the  time  of  the  wheat  hai-vest  in  Palestine  varies, 
in  diftereut  situations,  from  early  in  May  to  late 
in  June  ;  and  that  the  barley  harvest  is  about  a 
fortnight  earlier  than  that  of  wheat.  Among  the 
Israelites,  as  with  all  other  people,  the  harvest 
was  a  season  of  joy,  and  as  such  is  more  than 
once  alluded  to  in  Scripture  (Ps.  xxvi.  5  ;  Isa. 
ix.  3). 

Beapiiig. — Different  modes  of  reaping  are  in- 
dicated in  Scripture,  and  illustrated  by  the  Egyp- 


tian moi.nmcnts. 


Reaping. 
In  the  most  ancient  times,  the 


44  AGRICULTURE 

corn  -was  plu  ked  up  by  the  roots,  which  con- 
tinued to  be  the  practice  with  particular  kinds  of 
grain  after  the  sickle  was  known.  In  Egypt,  at 
this  day,  barley  and  dhurah  (maize)  are  pulled 
up  by  the  roots.  '  Wheat,  as  well  as  barley 
in  general,'  says  Russell,  '  does  not  grow  half  as 
higH  as  in  Britain ;  and  is  therefore,  like  other 
grain,  not  reaped  with  the  sickle,  but  plucked 
up  by  the  roots  with  the  hand.  In  other  parts 
of  the  couutr,',  where  the  corn  grows  ranker,  the 
sickle  is  used.'  When  the  sickle  was  used,  the 
wheat  was  either  cropped  off  under  the  ear  or 
cut  close  to  the  ground.  In  the  former  case,  the 
straw  was  afterwards  plucked  up  for  use  ;  in  the 
latter,  the  stubble  was  left  and  burnt  on  the 
ground  for  manure.  As  the  Egyptians  needed 
not  such  manure,  and  were  economical  of  straw, 
they  generally  followed  the  former  method; 
while  the  Israelites,  whose  lands  derived  benefit 
from  the  burnt  stubble,  used  the  latter ;  although 
the   practice   of  cutting  off  the  ears  was  also 


4.  Binding  Sheaves. 


known  to  them  (Job  xxiv.  24).  Cropping  the 
ears  short,  the  Egyptians  did  not  generally  bind 
them  into  sheaves,  but  removed  them  in  baskets. 
Sometimes,  however,  they  bound  them  into  double 
sheaves ;  and  such  as  they  plucked  up  were  bound 
into  single  long  sheaves.  The  Israelites  appear 
generally  to  have  made  up  their  corn  into  sheaves 
(Gen.  xxxvii.  7;  Lev.  xxiii.  10-15;  Ruth  ii.  7, 
15;  Job  xxiv.  10;  Jer.  ix.  22;  Mich.  iv.  12), 
which  were  collected  in'io  a  heap,  or  removed  in 
a  cart  (Amos  ii.  13)  to  the  threshing-floor.  The 
carts  were  probably  similar  to  those  which  are 
still  employed  for  the  same  purpose. 

With  regard  to  the  sickles,  there  appear  to 
have  been  two  kinds  in  use  as  among  the  Egyp- 
tians. The  figures  of  these  Egyptian  sickles  pro- 
bably mark  the  difference  between  them.     One 


was  very  much  like  our  common  reaping-^ooA, 
while  the  other  had  more  resemblance  in  its 
shape  to  a  scythe,  and  in  the  Egyptian  examples 
appears  to  have  been  toothed.  The  reapers  were 
the  owners  and  their  children,  men-servants  and 
women-servants,  and  day-labourers  (Ruth  ii.  4, 


AGRICULTURi; 

6,  21,  23 ;  John  iv,  36  ;  James  v.  4).  Refresh- 
ments were  provided  for  them,  especially  drink, 
of  which  the  gleaners  were  allowed  to  partake 
(Ruth  ii.  9).  So  in  the  Egyptian  hai-vest-scenes, 
we  perceive  a  provision  of  water  in  skins,  hung 
against  trees,  or  in  jars  upon  stands,  with  the 
reapers  drinking,  and  gleaners  applying  to  share 
the  draught.    Among  the   Israelites,   gleaning 


Egyptian  Harvest  Scene. 


was  one  of  the  stated  provisions  for  the  poor : 
and  for  tlieir  benefit  the  corners  of  the  field  were 
left  unreaped,  and  the  reapers  might  not  return 
for  a  forgotten  sheaf.  The  gleaners  were  how- 
ever to  obtain  in  the  first  place  the  express  per- 
mission of  the  proprietor  or  his  steward  (Lev. 
xix.  9,  10  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  19  ;  Ruth  ii.  2,  7). 


17.  Threshing  by  Cattle. 

Threshing. — The  ancient  mode  of  threshing, 
as  described  in  Scripture  and  figured  on  the 
Egyptian  monuments,  is  still  preserved  in  Pa- 
lestine. Formerly  the  sheaves  were  conveyed 
from  the  field  to  the  threshing-floor  in  carts; 
but  now  they  are  borne,  generally,  on  the  backs 
of  camels  and  asses.  The  threshing-floor  is  a 
level  plot  of  ground,  of  a  circular  shape,  gene- 
rally about  fifty  feet  in  diameter,  prepared  for 
use  by  beating  down  the  earth  till  a  hard  floor 
is  formed  (Gen.  1.  10 ;  Judg.  vi.  37  ;  2  Sam. 
xxiv.  16,  24).  Sometimes  several  of  these  floors 
are  contiguous  to  each  other.  The  sheaves  are 
spread  out  upon  them ;  and  the  grain  is  trodden 
out  by  oxen,  cows,  and  young  cattle,  arranged 
five  abreast,  and  driven  in  a  circle,  or  rather  in 
all  directions,  over  the  floor.  This  was  the 
common  mode  in  the  Bible  times ;  and  Moses 
forbade  that  the  oxen  thus  emplojed  should  be 
muzzled  to  prevent  them  from  tasting  the  com 
(Deut.  XXV.  4;  Isa.  xxviii.  28).  Pluils,  or 
sticks,  were  only  used  in  threshing  small  quan- 
tities, or  for  the  lighter  kinds  of  grain  (Ruth 
ii.  17  ;  Isa.  xxviii.  27\  There  were,  however, 
some  kinds  of  threshing-machines,  which  are 
still  used  in  Palestine  and  Egypt.  One  of  them, 
represented  in  the  annexed  figure,  is  very  nmch 
used  in  Palestine.  It  is  composed  of  two  thick 
planks,  fastened  together  side  by  side,  and  bent 
upwards  in  front.  Sharp  fragments  of  stone  are 
fixed  into  holes  bored  in  the  bottom.  Tliis  ma- 
chine is  drawn  over  the  corn  by  oxen,  a  man  oi 
boy  sometimes  sitting  on  it  to  increase  the 
weight.     It  not  only  separates  the  grain,  but 


AGRICtTLTURE 


AHAB 


cuts  the  straw  and  makes  it  fit  for  fodder  (2 
Kings  xiii.   7).     This  is,   most  probably,   the 


Syrian  Ccft-n-Drag. 


'  corn-drag,'  which  is  mentioned  in  Scripture 
(Isa.  xxviii.  27 ;  xli.  15  ;  Amos  i.  3,  rendered 
'  threshing  instrument"),  and  would  seem  to  have 
been  sometimes  furnished  with  iron  points  in- 
stead of  stones.  The  Bible  also  notices  a  ma- 
chine called  a  Moreg  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  22  ;  1  Chron. 
xxi.  23;  Isa.  xli.  15),  which  is  unquestionably 
the  same  which  bears  in  Arabic  the  name  of 
Noreg.  This  machine  is  not  now  often  seen  in 
Palestine ;  but  is  more  used  in  some  parts  of 
Syria,  and  is  common  in  Egypt.     It  is  a  sort  of 


19.  Tlireshing  by  the  Noreg. 

frame  of  wood,  in  which  are  inserted  three 
wooden  rollers,  armed  with  iron  teeth,  &c.  It 
bears  a  sort  of  seat  or  chair,  in  which  the  driver 
sits  to  give  the  benefit  of  his  weight.  It  is  gene- 
rally drawn  over  the  corn  by  two  oxen,  and 
separates  the  grain,  and  breaks  up  the  straw 
even  more  effectually  than  the  drag.  In  all 
these  processes,  the  corn  is  occasionally  turned 
by  a  fork ;  and,  when  sufficiently  threshed,  is 
thrown  up  by  the  same  fork  against  the  wind  to 
separate  the  grain,  which  is  then  gathered  up 
and  winnowed. 

Winnowing.  —  This  was  generally  accom- 
plished by  repeating  the  process  of  tossing  up 
the  grain  against  the  wind  with  a  fork  (Jer.  iv. 
11,  12),  by  which  the  broken  straw  and  chaff 
■were  dispersed,  and  the  grain  fell  to  the  ground. 


.  Winnowing. 


The  grain  afterwards  passed  through  a  sieve  to 
separate  the  bits  of  earth  and  other  impurities. 
After  this,  it  underwent  a  still  further  purifi- 
cation, by  being  tossed  up  with  wooden  scoops 
or  short-handled  shovels,  such  as  we  see  in 
Egyptian  paintings. 

AGRIP'PA  [Herodian  Family].  Although 
of  the  two  Herods,  father  and  son,  who  also  bore 
the  name  of  Agrippa,  the  latter  is  best  known 
by  his  Roman  name,  it  seems  best  to  include  him 
with  the  other  members  of  the  Herodian  dynasty, 
under  the  name  which  he  bore  among  his  own 
people. 

A'GUR,  the  author  of  the  sayings  contained 
in  Prov.  xxx.,  which  the  inscription  describes  as 
composed  of  the  precepts  delivered  by  '  Agur, 
the  son  of  Jakeh,'  to  his  friends  '  Ithiel  and 
Ucal.'  Beyond  this  everything  that  has  been 
stated  of  him,  and  of  the  time  in  which  he  lived, 
is  pure  conjecture. 

A'HAB  (father's  brother),  son  of  Omri,  and 
the  sixth  king  of  Israel,  who  reigned  twenty-two 
years,  beginning  in  B.C.  918  and  ending  in  897. 
Ahab  was,  upon  the  whole,  the  weakest  of  all 
the  Israelitish  monarchs ;  and  although  there 
are  occasional  traits  of  character  which  show 
that  he  was  not  without  good  feelings  and  dis- 
positions, the  history  of  his  reign  shows  that 
weakness  of  character  in  a  king  may  sometimes 
be  as  injurious  in  its  effects  as  wickedness. 
Many  of  the  evils  of  his  reign  may  be  ascribed 
to  the  close  connection  which  he  formed  with 
the  Phoenicians.  The  wife  of  Ahab  was  Je- 
zebel, the  daughter  of  Ethbaal,  or  Ithobaal,  king 
of  Tyre.  She  was  a  woman  of  a  decided  and 
energetic  character,  and,  as  such,  soon  esta- 
blished that  influence  over  her  husband  which 
such  women  always  acquire  over  weak,  and  not 
unfrequently  also  over  strong,  men.  Ahab, 
being  entirely  under  the  control  of  Jezebel,  sanc- 
tioned the  introduction,  and  eventually  esta- 
blished the  worship  of  the  Phoenician  idols,  and 
especially  of  the  sun-god  Baal.  Hitherto  the 
golden  calves  in  Dan  and  Bethel  had  been  the 
only  objects  of  idolatrous  worship  in  Israel,  and 
they  were  intended  as  symbols  of  Jehovah. 
But  all  resei-ve  and  limitation  were  now  aban- 
doned. The  king  built  a  temple  at  Samaria, 
and  erected  an  image,  and  consecrated  a  grove 
to  Baal.  A  multitude  of  the  priests  and  pro- 
phets of  Baal  were  maintained.  Idolatry  be- 
came the  predominant  religion ;  and  Jehovah, 
with  the  golden  calves  as  symbolical  representa- 
tions of  him,  were  viewed  with  no  more  reve- 
rence than  Baal  and  his  image.  At  length  the 
judgment  of  God  on  Ahab  and  on  his  house  was 
pronounced  by  Elijah,  that,  during  the  reign  of 
his  son,  his  whole  race  should  be  exterminated. 
Ahab  died  of  the  wounds  which  he  received  in 
a  battle  with  the  Syrians,  according  to  a  pre- 
diction of  Micaiah,  which  the  king  disbelieved, 
but  yet  endeavoured  to  avert  by  disguising  him- 
self in  the  action  (1  Kings  xvi.  29  ;  xxii.  40). 

2.  AHAB  and  ZEDEKIAH.  The  names  of 
two  false  prophets,  who  deceived  the  Israelites  at 
Babylon.  For  this  they  were  threatened  by  Je- 
remiah, who  foretold  that  they  should  be  put  to 
death  by  the  king  of  Babylon  in  the  presence  of 
those  whom  they  had  beguiled  ;  and  that  in  fol- 
lowing times  it  should  become  a  common  male- 
diction to  say,  '  The  Lord  make  thee  like  Ahab 


46 


AHASUERUS 


and  Zedekiah,  ■whom  the  king  of  Babylon 
roasted  in  the  fire'  (Jer.  xxix.  21,  22). 

AHASUE'RUS,  or  Achashverosh,  is  the 
name,  or  rather  the  title,  of  four  Median  and 
Persian  monarchs  mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

The  first  Ahasuerus  is  incidentally  mentioned, 
in  Dan.  ix.  1,  as  the  father  of  Darius  the  Mede. 
It  is  generally  agreed  that  the  person  here  re- 
ferred to  is  the  Astyages  of  profane  history.  See 
the  article  Dakius. 

The  second  Ahasuerus  occurs  in  Ezra  iv.  6, 
where  it  is  said  that  in  the  beginning  of  his 
reign  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  wrote  an  accu- 
sation against  them,  the  result  of  which  is  not 
1  mentioned.  The  Persian  king  here  meant  seems 
to  be  the  immediate  successor  of  Cyrus,  the 
frantic  tyrant  Cambyses,  who  came  to  the  throne 
B.C.  529,  and  died  after  a  reign  of  seven  years 
and  five  months. 

The  third  Ahasuerus  is  the  Persian  king  of 
the  book  of  Esther.  The  chief  facts  recorded  of 
him  there,  and  the  dates  of  their  occurrence, 
which  are  important  in  the  subsequent  inquiry, 
are  these :  In  the  tJiii-d  year  of  his  reign  he 
made  a  sumptuous  banquet  for  all  his  nobility, 
and  prolonged  the  feast  for  180  days.  Being  on 
one  occasion  merry  with  wine,  he  ordered  his 
queen  Vashti  to  be  brought  out,  to  show  the 
people  her  beauty.  On  her  refusal  to  violate 
the  decorum  of  her  sex,  he  not  only  indignantly 
divorced  her,  but  published  an  edict  concerning 
her  disobedience,  in  order  to  insure  to  every 
husband  in  his  dominions  the  rule  in  his  own 
house.  In  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign  he 
*  married  Esther,  a  Jewess,  who,  however,  con- 
cealed her  parentage.  In  the  twelfth  year  of  his 
reign,  his  minister  Haman,  who  had  received 
some  slights  from  Mordecai  the  Jew,  offered  him 
10,000  talents  of  silver  for  the  privilege  of  or- 
dering a  massacre  of  the  Jews  in  all  parts  of  the 
empire  on  an  appointed  day.  The  king  refused 
this  immense  sum,  but  acceded  to  his  request ; 
and  couriers  were  despatched  to  the  most  distant 
provinces  to  enjoin  the  execution  of  this  decree. 
Before  it  was  accomplished,  however,  Mordecai 
and  Esther  obtained  such  an  influence  over  him, 
that  he  so  far  annulled  his  recent  enactment  as 
to  despatch  other  couriers  to  empower  the  Jews 
to  defend  themselves  manfully  against  their 
enemies  on  that  day  ;  the  result  of  which  was, 
that  they  slew  800  of  his  native  subjects  in 
Shushan,  and  7.5,000  of  them  in  the  provinces. 

Although  almost  every  Medo-Persian  king, 
from  Cyaxares  I.  down  to  Artaxerxes  III. 
(Ochus),  has  in  his  turn  found  some  champion 
to  assert  his  title  to  be  the  Ahasuerus  of  Esther, 
some  have  contended  on  very  plausible  grounds 
that  Darius  Hystaspes  is  the  monarch  referred 
to.  But  in  the  first  place,  it  is  impossible  to 
find  the  name  of  Darius  in  Achashverosh  ;  and, 
in  the  second,  the  moral  evidence  is  against  him. 
The  mild  and  just  character  ascribed  to  Darius 
renders  it  highly  improbable  that,  after  favour- 
ing the  Jews  from  the  second  to  the  sixth  year 
of  his  reign,  he  should  become  a  senseless  tool 
in  the  hands  of  Haman,  and  consent  to  their 
extirpation.  Lastly,  we  read  of  his  marrying 
two  daughters  and  a  grand-daughter  of  Cyrus, 
and  a  daughter  of  Otanes— and  these  only ; 
would  Darius  have  repudiated  one  of  these  for 
such  a  trifle,  when  his  peculiar  position,  as  the 


AHASUERUS 

first  king  of  his  race,  must  have  rendered  sudi 
alliances  indispensable  ? 

The  whole  question,  therefore,  lies  between 
Xerxes  and  his  successor,  Artaxerxes  Longi- 
manus.  As  Artaxerxes  allowed  Ezra  to  go  to 
Jerusalem  with  a  colony  of  exiles  in  the  seventh 
year  of  his  reign  (Ezra  vii.  1-7)  ;  and  as  he 
issued  a  decree  in  terms  so  exceedingly  favour- 
able to  the  religious  as  well  as  civil  interests  of 
the  Jews  (Ezra  vii.  1 1-26),  how  could  Haman, 
five  years  afterwards,  venture  to  describe  the 
Jews  to  him  as  a  people  whom,  on  the  very 
account  of  their  law,  it  was  not  for  the  king's 
profit  to  sufi'er  ?  And  how  could  Haman  so  di-  ' 
rectly  propose  their  extermination,  in  the  face  of 
a  decree  so  signally  in  their  favour,  and  so 
recently  issued  by  the  same  king  ?  especially  as 
the  laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians  might  not 
be  altered !  Again,  as  Artaxerxes  (assuming 
always  that  he  is  the  Artachshast  of  Ezra  vii.  1, 
and  not  Xerxes)  was  capable  of  such  liberality 
to  the  Jews  in  the  seventh  year  of  his  reign,  let 
us  not  forget  that,  if  he  is  the  Ahasuerus  of  the 
book  of  Esther,  it  was  in  that  same  year  that  he 
married  the  Jewess.  Now,  if— by  taking  the 
first  and  tenth  months  in  the  seventh  year  of  the 
king  (the  dates  of  the  departure  of  Ezra,  and  of 
the  marriage  of  Esther)  to  be  the  first  and  tenth 
months  of  the  Hebrew  year  (as  is  the  usual  mode 
of  notation),  and  not  the  first  and  tenth  from 
the  period  of  his  accession — we  assume  that  the 
departure  of  Ezra  took  place  after  his  marriage 
with  her,  his  clemency  might  be  the  effect  of  her 
influence  on  his  mind.  Then  we  have  to  explain 
how  he  could  be  induced  to  consent  to  the  extir- 
pation of  the  Jews  in  the  twelfth  year  of  his 
reign,  notwithstanding  that  her  influence  still 
continued,  for  we  find  it  evidently  at  work  in 
the  twelfth  year.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  his 
indulgence  to  Ezra  was  before  his  marriage,  then  j 
we  have  even  a  greater  difficulty  to  encounter. 
For  then  Artaxerxes  must  have  acted  from  his 
own  unbiassed  lenity,  and  his  purposed  cruelty 
in  the  twelfth  year  would  place  him  in  an  in- 
congruous opposition  with  himself  As  we, 
moreover,  find  Artaxerxes  again  propitious  to 
their  interests,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign 
—when  he  allowed  Nehemiah  to  return  to  Jeru- 
salem—it is  much  easier  to  believe  that  he  was 
also  favourably  disposed  to  them  in  the  twelfth. 
At  any  rate,  it  would  be  allowing  Esther  a  long 
time  to  exercise  an  influence  on  his  disposition, 
if  his  clemency  in  the  twentieth  year  was  due 
to  her,  and  not  to  his  own  inclination.  Besides,  ! 
the  fact  that  neither  Ezra  nor  Nehemiah  gives  [ 
the  least  hint  that  the  liberal  policy  of  Artaxerxes  i 
towards  them  was  owing  to  the  influence  of  their  ] 
countrywoman,  is  an  iniporiaut  negative  point  \ 
in  the  scale  of  prooabilities.  In  this  case  also  ! 
there  is  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  name.  As  | 
Artaxerxes  is  called  Artachshast  in  Ezra  and  [ 
Nehemiah,  we  certainly  might  expect  the  author  i 
of  the  book  of  Esther  to  agree  with  them  in  the 
name  of  a  king  whom  they  all  had  had  such 
occasion  to  know.  Nor  is  it  perhaps  unim- 
portant to  add,  that  Norberg  asserts,  on  the 
authority  of  native  Persian  historians,  that  the 
mother  of  Bahman,  i.  e.  Artaxerxes  Longimanus, 
was  a  Jewess.  This  statement  would  agree  ex- 
cellently with  the  theory  that  Xerxes  was  Aha- 
suerus.    Lastly,  the  joint  testimony  borne  to  hia 


AHAZ 

clemency  and  magnanimity  by  the  acts  recorded 
of  him  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  and  by  the  ac- 
cordant voice  of  profane  writers,  prevents  us 
from  recognising  Artaxerxes  in  the  debauched, 
imbecile,  and  cniel  tyrant  of  the  book  of  Esther. 

On  the  ground  of  moral  resemblance  to  that 
tyrant,  however,  every  trait  leads  us  to  Xerxes. 
The  king  who  scourged  and  fettered  the  sea ; 
who  beheaded  his  engineers  because  the  elements 
destroyed  their  bridge  over  the  Hellespont ;  who 
so  ruthlessly  slew  the  eldest  son  of  Pythius  be- 
cause his  father  besought  him  to  leave  him  one 
sole  support  of  his  declining  years ;  who  dis- 
honoured the  remains  of  the  valiant  Leonidas  ; 
and  who  beguiled  the  shame  of  his  defeat  by 
such  a  course  of  sensuality,  that  he  publicly 
offered  a  reward  for  the  inventor  of  a  new  plea- 
sure— is  just  the  despot  to  divorce  his  queen  be- 
cause she  would  not  expose  herself  to  the  gaze 
of  drunken  revellers  ;  is  just  the  despot  to  devote 
a  whole  people,  his  subjects,  to  an  indiscriminate 
massacre  ;  and,  by  way  of  preventing  that  evil, 
to  restore  them  the  right  of  self-defence  (which 
it  is  hard  to  conceive  how  the  first  edict  ever 
could  have  taken  away),  and  thus  to  sanction 
their  slaughtering  thousands  of  his  other  sub- 
jects. 

There  are  also  remarkable  coincidences  of 
date  between  the  history  of  Xerxes  and  that  of 
Ahasuerus.  In  the  third  year  of  his  reign  the 
latter  gave  a  grand  feast  to  his  nobles,  which 
lasted  180  days  (Esth.  i.  S)  ;  the  former,  in  liis 
third  year,  also  assembled  his  chief  officers  to 
deliberate  on  the  invasion  of  Greece.  Again, 
Ahasuerus  married  Esther  at  Shushan,  in  the 
seventh  year  of  his  reign  :  in  the  same  year  of 
his  reign,  Xerxes  returned  to  Susa  with  the 
mortification  of  his  defeat,  and  sought  to  forget 
himself  in  pleasure  ; — not  an  unlikely  occasion 
for  that  quest  for  fair  virgins  for  the  harem 
(Esth.  ii.  2).  Lastly,  the  tribute  imposed  on  the 
land  and  isles  of  the  sea  also  accords  with  the 
state  of  his  revenue  exhausted  by  his  insane 
attempt  against  Greece.  In  fine,  these  argu- 
ments, negative  and  afiirmative,  render  it  so 
highly  probable  that  Xerxes  is  the  Ahasuerus  of 
the  book  of  Esther,  that  to  demand  more  con- 
clusive evidence,  would  be  to  mistake  the  very 
nature  of  the  question. 

The  fourth  Ahasuerus  is  mentioned  in  Tobit 
xiv.  15,  in  connection  with  the  destruction  of 
Nineveh.  That  circumstance  points  out  Cyax- 
ares  I.  as  the  person  intended. 

AHA'VA,  Ezra  viii.  21,  31,  the  river  by  which 
the  Jewish  exiles  assembled  their  second  caravan 
under  Ezra,  when  returning  to  Jerusalem.  It 
would  seem  from  ch.  viii.  15,  that  it  was  desig- 
nated from  a  town  of  the  same  name  :  '  I  assem- 
bled them  at  the  river  that  flows  towards  Ahava.' 
In  that  case,  it  could  not  have  been  of  much  im- 
portance in  itself ;  and  probably  it  was  no  other 
than  one  of  the  numerous  streams  or  canals  of 
Mesopotamia  communicating  with  the  Euphrates, 
somewhere  in  the  north-west  of  Babylonia. 

A'HAZ  (possessor),  son  of  Jotham,  and  eleventh 
king  of  Judah,  who  reigned  sixteen  years,  be- 
ginning in  B.C.  741,  and  ending  in  726.  Ahaz 
was  the  most  corrupt  monarch  that  had  hitherto 
appeared  in  Judah.  He  respected  neither  Je- 
hovah, the  law,  nor  the  prophets;  he  broke 
through  all  the  restraints  which  law  and  custom 


AHAZIAH 


47 


had  imposed  upon  the  Hebrew  kings,  and  had 
regard  only  to  his  own  depraved  inclinations. 
He  introduced  the  religion  of  the  Syrians  into 
Jerusalem,  erected  altars  to  the  Syrian  gods,  al- 
tered the  temple  in  many  respects  after  the 
Syrian  model,  and  at  length  ventured  to  shut  it 
up  altogether.  Such  a  man  could  not  exercise 
that  faith  in  Jehovah,  as  the  political  head  of 
the  nation,  which  formed  the  courage  of  a  Hebrew 
king.  Hence,  after  he  had  sustained  a  few 
repulses  from  Pekah  and  Eezin,  his  allied  foes, 
when  the  Edomites  had  revolted  from  him,  and 
the  Philistines  were  making  incursions  into  his 
country,  notwithstanding  a  sure  promise  of 
divine  deliverance,  he  called  Pul,  the  king  of 
Assyria,  to  his  aid  [Assyria].  He  even  became 
tributary  to  that  monarch,  on  condition  of  his 
obliging  Syria  and  Israel  to  abandon  their  de- 
sign of  destroying  the  kingdom  of  Judah  ;  and 
thus  afforded  to  Tiglath-pilezer,  the  successor  of 
Pul,  an  opportunity  of  conquering  Syria,  Israel 
beyond  Jordan,  and  Galilee.  The  Assyrians 
aftbrded  Ahaz  no  real  assistance ;  on  the  con- 
trary, they  drove  him  to  such  extremities  that 
he  was  scarcely  able,  with  all  the  riches  of  the 
temple,  of  the  nobility,  and  of  the  royal  treasury, 
to  purchase  release  from  his  troublesome  pro- 
tectors. He  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-six  (2  Kings 
xvi. ;  2  Chron.  xxviii. ;  Isa.  vii.). 

1.  AHAZI'AH  {whom  Jehovah  sustains)  ;  son 
and  successor  of  Ahab,  and  seventh  king  of 
Israel.  He  reigned  two  years,  b.c,  897,  896.  It 
seems  that  Jezebel  exercised  over  her  son  the 
same  influence  which  had  guided  her  husband  ; 
and  Ahaziah  pursued  the  evil  courses  of  his 
father.  The  most  signal  public  event  of  his 
reign  was  the  revolt  of  the  Moabites,  who  took 
the  opportunity  of  the  defeat  and  death  of  Ahab 
to  discontinue  the  ti-ibute  which  they  had  paid 
to  the  Israelites.  Ahaziah  became  a  party  in 
the  attempt  of  Jehoshaphat,  king  of  Judah,  to 
revive  the  maritime  trafBc  by  the  Red  Sea ;  in 
consequence  of  which  the  enterprise  was  blasted, 
and  came  to  nothing  (2  Chron.  xx.  35-37).  Soon 
after,  Ahaziah,  having  been  much  injured  by  a 
fall  from  the  roof-gallery  of  his  palace,  had  the 
infatuation  to  send  to  consult  the  oracle  of  Baal- 
zebub,  the  god  of  Ekron,  respecting  his  recovery. 
But  the  messengers  were  met  and  sent  back  by 
Elijah,  who  himself  announced  to  the  king  that 
he  should  rise  no  more  from  the  bed  on  which 
he  lay  (1  Kings  xxii.  51,  to  2  Kings  i.  18). 

2.  AHAZIAH,  otherwise  Jehoahaz,  son  of 
Jehoram  by  Athaliah,  daughter  of  Ahab  and 
Jezebel,  and  sixth  king  of  Judah.  He  reigned 
but  one  year  (b.c.  885),  and  that  wickedly,  suf- 
fering himself  in  all  things  to  be  guided  by  the 
wicked  counsels  of  his  idolatrous  mother,  Atha- 
liah. He  cultivated  the  connections  which  had 
unhappily  grown  up  between  the  two  dynasties, 
and  which  had  now  been  cemented  by  marriage. 
Hence  he  joined  his  uncle  Jehoram  of  Israel  in 
an  expedition  against  Hazael,  king  of  Damacene- 
Syria,  for  the  recovery  of  Ramoth-Gilead  ;  and 
aftei-wards  paid  him  a  visit  while  he  lay  wounded 
in  his  summer  palace  of  Jezreel.  The  two  kings 
rode  out  in  their  several  chariots  to  meet  Jehu ; 
and  when  Jehoram  was  shot  thi-ough  the  heart, 
Ahaziah  attempted  to  escape,  but  was  pursued, 
and  being  mortally  wounded,  had  only  strength 
to  reach  Megiddo,  where  he  died.    His  body  was 


AHIMAAZ 


AHIO 


conveyed  by  his  servants  in  a  chariot  to  Jeru- 
salem for  interment  (2  Kings  ix.  28). 

1.  AHI'AH  {friend  of  Jehovah)  ;  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
3),  son  of  Ahitub,  and  high-priest  in  the  reign  of 
Saul,  and  brother  and  predecessor  of  the  Abime- 
lech  whom  Saul  slew  for  assisting  David.  Seeing 
that  Abimelech  was  also  high-priest  in  the  same 
reign,  and  was  also  the  son  of  Ahitub  (1  Sam. 
xxii.  11),  some  have  thought  that  both  names 
belonged  to  the  same  person  ;  but  this  seems  less 
likely  than  the  explanation  which  has  just  been 
given. 

2.  AH  I  AH,  one  of  the  two  secretaries  of  So- 
lomon (1  Kings  iv.  3).  Two  other  persons  of 
this  name  occur  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  3 ;  1  Chron. 
viii.  7. 

AHI'AM,  one  of  David's  thirty  heroes  (2  Sam. 
xxiii.  33). 

AHIE'ZER  (brother  of  help),  the  hereditary 
chief  or  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Dan  at  the  time 
that  the  Israelites  quitted  Egypt  (Num.  i.  12). 

AHI'HUD  {brother,  i.  e.  friend  of  the  Jews), 
the  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  who,  with  the 
other  chiefs  of  tribes,  acted  with  Joshua  and 
Eleazer  in  dividing  the  Promised  Land  (Num. 
xxxiv.  27). 

AHI'JAH  (same  name  as  Ahiah),  a  prophet 
residing  in  Shiloh  in  the  times  of  Solomon  and 
Jeroboam.  He  appears  to  have  put  on  record 
some  of  the  transactions  of  the  former  reign 
(2  Chron.  ix.  29).  It  devolved  on  him  to  an- 
nounce and  sanction  the  separation  of  the  ten 
tribes  from  the  house  of  David,  as  well  as  the 
foundation  (1  Kings  xi.  29-39),  and,  after  many 
years,  the  subversion  of  the  dynasty  of  Jeroboam 
(1  Kings  xiv.  7-11)  [Jeroboam]. 

AHI'KAM  (brother  of  the  enemy),  one  of  the 
four  persons  of  distinction  whom  Josiah  sent  to 
consult  Huldah,  tne  prophetess  (2  Kings  xxii. 
12-14).  Ahikam  and  his  family  are  honourably 
distinguished  for  their  protection  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (Jer.  xxvi.  24  ;  xxxix.  14). 

AHIM'AAZ  (brother  of  anger,  i.  e.  irascible), 
son  and  successor  of  Zadok,  who  was  joint  high- 
priest  in  the  reign  of  David,  and  sole  high-priest 
in  that  of  Solomon.  His  history  belongs  to  the 
time  of  David,  to  whom  he  rendered  an  import- 
ant service  during  the  revolt  of  Absalom.  David 
having  refused  to  allow  the  ark  of  God  to  be 
taken  from  Jerusalem  when  he  fled  thence,  the 
high-priests,  Zadok  and  Abiathar,  necessarily 
remained  in  attendance  upon  it ;  but  their  sons, 
Ahimaaz  and  Jonathan,  concealed  themselves 
outside  the  city,  to  be  in  readiness  to  bear  off  to 
David  any  important  information,  respecting  the 
movements  and  designs  of  Absalom,  which  they 
might  receive  from  within.  Accordingly,  Hushai 
having  communicated  to  the  priests  the  result  of 
the  council  of  war,  in  which  his  own  advice  was 
preferred  to  that  of  Ahithophel  [Absalom],  they 
instantly  sent  a  girl  (probably  to  avoid  suspicion) 
to  direct  Ahimaaz  and  Jonathan  to  speed  away 
with  the  intelligence.  The  transaction  was, 
however,  witnessed  and  betrayed  by  a  lad,  and 
the  messengers  were  so  hotly  pursued  that  they 
took  refuge  in  a  dry  cistern,  over  which  the 
woman  of  the  house  placed  a  covering,  and 
spread  thereon  parched  com.  She  told  the  pur- 
suers that  the  messengers  had  passed  on  in  haste ; 
and  when  all  was  safe,  she  released  them,  on 
wliich  they  made  their  way  to  David  (2  Sam. 


XV.  24-37;  xvii.  15-21;.  As  may  be  inferred 
from  his  being  chosen  for  this  service,  Ahimaaz 
was  swift  of  foot.  Of  this  we  have  a  notable 
example  soon  after,  when,  on  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Absalom,  he  prevailed  on  Joab  to  allow 
him  to  carry  the  tidings  to  David.  Another 
messenger,  Cushi,  had  previously  been  de- 
spatched, but  Ahimaaz  outstripped  him,  and  first 
came  in  with  the  news.  He  was  known  afar  off 
by  the  manner  of  his  running,  and  the  king  said, 
'  He  is  a  good  man,  and  cometh  with  good  tid- 
ings ;'  and  this  favourable  character  is  justified 
by  the  delicacy  with  which  he  waived  that  part 
of  his  intelligence  concerning  the  death  of  Ab- 
salom, which  he  knew  would  greatly  distress  so 
fond  a  father  as  David  (2  Sam.  xviii.  19-33). 

AHIM'AN  {brother  of  a  gift),  one  of  three 
famous  giants,  of  the  race  of  Anak,  who  dwelt 
at  Hebron  when  the  Hebrew  spies  explored  the 
land  (Num.  xiii.  22). 

AHIM'ELECH  (brother  of  the  king,  i.  e.  the 
king's  friend) ;  he  was  son  of  Ahitub,  and  bi'o- 
ther  of  Ahiah,  who  was  most  probably  his  pre- 
decessor in  the  high-priesthood  [Ahiah].  When 
David  fled  from  Saul,  he  went  to  Nob,  a  city  of 
the  priests  in  Benjamin,  where  the  tabernacle 
then  was;  and  by  representing  himself  as  on 
pressing  business  from  the  king,  he  obtained 
from  Ahimelech,  who  had  no  other,  some  of  the 
sacred  bread  which  had  been  removed  from  the 
presence-table.  He  was  also  furnished  with  tht> 
sword  which  he  had  himself  taken  from  Goliah, 
and  which  had  been  laid  up  as  a  trophy  in  the 
tabernacle  (1  Sam.  xxi.  1-9).  These  circum- 
stances were  witnessed  by  Doeg,  an  Edomite  in 
the  service  of  Saul,  and  were  so  reported  by  him 
to  the  jealous  king  as  to  appear  acts  of  con- 
nivance at,  and  support  to,  David's  imagined 
disloyal  designs.  Saul  immediately  sent  for 
Ahimelech  and  the  other  priests  then  at  Nob, 
and  laid  this  crime  to  their  charge,  which  they 
repelled  by  declaring  their  ignorance  of  any 
hostile  designs  on  the  part  of  David  towards 
Saul  or  his  kingdom.  This,  however,  availed 
them  not ;  for  the  king  commanded  his  guard  to 
slay  them.  Their  refosal  to  fall  upon  persons 
invested  with  so  sacred  a  character  might  have 
brought  even  Saul  to  reason;  but  he  repeated 
the  order  to  Doeg  himself,  and  was  too  readily 
obeyed  by  that  malignant  person,  who,  with  the 
men  under  his  orders,  not  only  slew  the  priests 
then  present,  eighty-six  in  number,  but  marched 
to  Nob,  and  put  to  the  sword  every  living  crea- 
ture it  contained.  The  only  one  of  the  priests 
that  escaped  was  Abiathar,  son  of  Ahimelech, 
who  fled  to  David,  and  afterwards  became  high 
priest  (1  Sam.  xxii.)  [Abiathar]. 

AHIN'ADAB  (liberal,  or,  noble  brother),  one 
of  the  twelve  oflicers  who,  in  as  many  districts 
into  which  the  country  was  divided,  raised  sup- 
plies of  provisions  in  monthly  rotation  for  the 
royal  household.  Ahinadab's  district  was  the 
southern  half  of  the  region  beyond  the  Jordan 
(1  Kings  iv.  14). 

AHIN'OAM  (brother  of  pleasantness),  a  woman 
of  Jezreel,  one  of  the  wives  of  David,  and  mother 
of  Amnon.  She  was  taken  captive  by  the  Ama- 
lekites  when  they  plundered  Ziklag,  but  was  re- 
covered by  David  (1  Sam.  xxv.  43 ;  xxvii.  3 ; 
XXX.  5 ;  2  Sam.  ii.  2  ;  iii,  2). 

AHI'O  (brotherli/),  one  of  the  sons  of  Abin- 


AHITUB 

adab,  Tvho,  with  his  brother  Uzzah,  drove  the 
new  cart  on  which  the  ark  was  placed  when 
Dayid  first  attempted  to  remove  it  to  Jerusalem. 
Ahio  went  before  to  guide  the  oxen,  while  Uzzah 
walked  by  the  cart  (2  Sam.  vi.  3,  4)  [Uzzah]. 

AHI'RA  (brother  of  evil),  chief  of  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali  when  the  Israelites  quitted  Egypt 
(Num.  i.  15). 

AHI'SHAR-  (brother  of  the  datvii),  the  officer 
who  was  '  over  the  household '  of  King  Solomon 
(1  Kings  iv.  6).  This  has  always  been  a  place 
of  high  importance  and  great  influence  in  the 
East. 

AHITH'OPHEL  (brother  of  foolishness),  the 
very  singular ,  name  of  a  man  who,  in  the  time 
of  David,  was  renowned  throughout  all  Israel 
for  his  worldly  wisdom.  He  is,  in  fact,  the  only 
man  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  as  having  ac- 
quired a  reputation  for  political  sagacity  among 
the  Jews;  and  they  regarded  his  counsels  as 
oracles  (2  Sam.  xvi.  23).  He  was  of  the  council 
of  David ;  but  was  at  Giloh,  his  native  place,  at 
the  time  of  Absalom's  revolt,  whence  he  was 
summoned  to  Jerusalem ;  and  it  shows  the 
strength  of  Absalom's  cause  in  Israel  that  a  man 
so  capable  of  foreseeing  results,  and  of  estimating 
the  probabilities  of  success,  took  his  side  in  so 
daring  an  attempt  (2  Sam.  xv.  12).  The  news 
of  this  defection  appears  to  have  occasioned 
David  more  alarm  than  any  other  single  in- 
cident in  the  rebellion.  He  earnestly  prayed 
God  to  turn  the  sage  counsel  of  Ahithophel  '  to 
foolishness'  (probably  alluding  to  his  name); 
and  being  immediately  after  joined  by  his  old 
friend  Hushai,  he  induced  him  to  go  over  to 
Absalom  with  the  express  view  that  he  might  be 
instrumental  in  defeating  the  counsels  of  this 
dangerous  person  (xv.  31-37).  Psalm  Iv.  is 
supposed  to  contain  (12-14)  a  further  expression 
of  David's  feelings  at  this  treachery  of  one 
whom  he  had  so  completely  trusted,  and  whom 
he  calls,  '  My  companion,  my  guide,  and  my 
familiar  friend.'  The  detestable  advice  which 
Ahithophel  gave  Absalom  to  appropriate  his 
father's  harem,  committed  him  absolutely  to  the 
cause  of  the  young  prince,  since  after  that  he 
could  hope  for  no  reconcilement  with  David 
(2  Sara.  xvi.  20-23).  His  proposal  as  to  the 
conduct  of  the  war  undoubtedly  indicated  the 
best  course  that  could  have  been  taken  under  the 
circumstances ;  and  so  it  seemed  to  the  council, 
until  Hushai  interposed  with  his  plausible  ad- 
vice, the  object  of  which  was  to  gain  time  to 
enable  David  to  collect  his  resources  [Ab- 
salom]. When  Ahithophel  saw  that  his  counsel 
was  rejected  for  that  of  Hushai,  the  far-seeing 
man  gave  up  the  cause  of  Absalom  for  lost ;  and 
he  forthwith  saddled  his  ass,  returned  to  his 
home  at  Giloh,  deliberately  settled  his  affairs, 
and  then  hanged  himself,  and  was  buried  in  the 
sepulchre  of  his  fathers,  B.C.  1023  (ch.  xvii.). 
This  is  the  only  case  of  suicide  which  the  Old 
Testament  records,  unless  the  last  acts  of  Samson 
and  Saul  may  be  regarded  as  such. 

1.  AHI'TUB  {brother  of  goodness),  son  of  Phi- 
nehas,  and  grandson  of  the  high-priest  Eli.  His 
father  Phinehas  having  been  slain  when  the  ark 
of  God  was  taken  by  the  Philistines,  he  suc- 
ceeded his  grandfather  Eli  B.C.  1141,  and  was 
himself  succeeded  by  his  son  Ahiab  about  B.C. 
1093. 


AJALON 


49 


2.  AHITUB  was  also  the  name  of  the  father 
of  Zadok,  who  was  made  high-priest  by  Saul 
after  the  death  of  Ahimelech  (2  Sam.  viii.  1 7  ; 
1  Chron.  vi.  8).  There  is  not  the  slightest 
ground  for  the  notion  that  this  Ahitub  was  ever 
high-priest  himself— indeed,  it  is  historically 
impossible. 

AHO'LAH  (Jier  tent)  and  AHOLIBAH  {wji 
tent  is  in  her),  two  fictitious  or  symbolical  names 
adopted  by  Ezekiel  (xxiii.  4)  to  denote  the  two 
kingdoms  of  Samaria  (Israel)  and  Judah.  They 
are  both  symbolically  described  as  lewd  women, 
adulteresses,  prostituting  themselves  to  the  Egyp- 
tians and  the  Assyrians,  in  imitating  their  abo- 
minations and  idolatries ;  wherefore  Jehovah 
abandoned  tliem  to  those  very  people  for  whom 
they  showed  such  inordinate  and  impure  af- 
fection. They  were  carried  into  captivity,  and 
reduced  to  the  severest  servitude.  The  allegory 
is  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  Jewish 
church. 

AHO'LIAB  (tent  of  his  father),  of  the  tribe  of 
Dan,  a  skilful  artificer  appointed  along  with 
Bezaleel  to  construct  the  Tabernacle  (Exod. 
XXXV.  34). 

AHUZ'ZATH  (possession),  the  'friend'  of 
Abimelech  II.,  king  of  Gerar,  who  attended  him 
on  his  visit  to  Isaac  (Gen.  xxvi.  26).  In  him 
occurs  the  first  instance  of  that  unofficial  but 
important  personage  in  ancient  Oriental  courts, 
called  '  the  king's  friend,'  or  favourite. 

AI  (Josh.  vii.  2 ;  Gen.  xii.  8 ;  Neh.  xi.  31  ; 
Isa.  X.  28),  a  royal  city  of  the  Canaanites,  which 
lay  east  of  Bethel.  It  existed  in  the  time  of 
Abraham,  who  pitched  his  tent  between  the  two 
cities  (Gen.  xii.  8;  xiii.  3);  but  it  is  chiefly 
noted  for  its  capture  and  destruction  by  Joshua 
(vii.  2-5;  viii.  1-29).  This,  as  a  military  trans- 
action, is  noticed  elsewhere  [Ambuscade].  At  a 
later  pe-riod  Ai  was  rebuilt,  and  is  mentioned  by 
Isaiah  (x.  28),  and  also  after  the  Captivity.  The 
site  was  known,  and  some  scanty  ruins  still 
existed  in  the  time  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  but 
Dr.  Eobinson  was  unable  to  discover  any  certain 
traces  of  either. 

AIR,  the  atmosphere,  as  opposed  to  the  ether, 
or  higher  and  purer  region  (Acts  xxii.  24 ;  1 
Thess.  iv.  17  ;  Rev.  ii.  2  ;  xvi.  17).  The  phrase 
to  speak  into  the  air  (1  Cor.  xiv.  9)  is  a  pro- 
verbial expression  to  denote  speaking  in  vain, 
and  to  beat  the  air  (1  Cor.  ix.  26),  denotes  acting 
in  vain,  and  is  a  proverbial  allusion  to  an  abor- 
tive stroke  into  the  an-  in  pugilistic  contests. 
The  later  .lews,  in  common  with  the  Gentiles, 
especially  the  Pythagoreans,  believed  the  air  to 
be  peopled  with  spirits,  vmder  the  government  of 
a  chief,  who  there  held  his  seat  of  empire. 
These  spirits  were  supposed  to  be  powerful,  but 
malignant,  and  to  incite  men  to  evil.  The  early 
Christian  fathers  entertained  the  same  belief, 
which  has  indeed  come  down  to  our  own  times. 

AJ'ALON,  a  town  and  valley  in  the  tribe  of 
Dan  (Josh.  xix.  42),  which  was  given  to  the 
Lcvites  (Josh.  xxi.  24 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  69).  It  was 
not  far  from  Bethshemesh  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  18)  ; 
it  was  one  of  the  places  which  Rehoboam  forti- 
fied (2  Chron.  xi.  10),  and  among  the  strong- 
holds which  the  Philistines  took  from  Ahaz 
(2  Chron.  xxviii.  18).  But  the  town,  or  rather 
the  valley  to  which  the  town  gave  name,  derives 
its  chief  renown  from    the  circumstance  that 


50 


ALEXANDER 


ALEXANDER 


when  Joshua,  in  pursuit  of  the  five  kings,  arrived 
at  some  point  near  Upper  Beth-horon,  looking 
back  upon  Gibeon  and  down  upon  the  noble 
valley  before  him,  he  uttered  the  celebrated 
command :  '  Sun,  stand  thou  still  on  Gibeon,  and 
thou  moon,  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon  '  (Josh.  x.  12). 
The  site  of  the  town  has  been  identified  with  the 
small  village  of  Yalo  near  Beit  Ur  (Beth-horon), 
and  a  broad  wady  to  the  north  of  it  appears  to 
be  the  valley  of  the  same  name. 

AKRAB'BIM  (Scorpion-heiyht).  an  ascent, hill, 
or  chain  of  hills,  which,  froni  the  name,  would 
appear  to  have  been  much  infested  by  scorpions 
and  serpents,  as  some  districts  in  that  quarter 
certainly  were  (Deut.  viii.  15).  It  was  one  of 
the  points  which  are  only  mentioned  in  describ- 
ing the  frontier-line  of  the  Promised  Land 
southward  (Judg.  i.  36),  and  has  been  conjectured 
to  be  the  same  with  the  mountains  of  Akabah, 
which  bound  the  great  valley  of  Arabah  on  the 
east. 

ALABASTER.  This  word  occurs  in  the 
I !  New  Testament  only  in  the  notice  of  the  ♦  ala- 
j  I    baster   box,'  or  rather  vessel,   of   '  ointment   of 

I  spikenard,  very  precious,'  which  a  Woman  broke, 

I I  and  with  its  valuable  contents  anointed  the  head 
I ;    of  Jesus,  as  he  sat  at  supper  in  Bethany  in  the 

■  house  of  Simon  the  leper  (Matt.  xxvi.  7 ;  Mark 
i  i  xiv.  3).  At  Alabastron,  in  Egj-pt,  there  was  a 
{ '  manufactory  of  small  pots  and  vessels  for  hold- 
I  ■  ing  perfumes,  which  were  made  from  a  stone 
I '  found  in  the  neighbouring  mountains.  The 
i     Greeks  gave  to  these  vessels  the  name  of  the 


;  city  from  wliich  they  came.  This  name  was 
i  eventually  extended  to  the  stone  of  which  they 
;  were  formed ;  and  at  length  it  was  applied  with- 
out distinction  to  all  perfume  vessels,  of  what- 
!  ever  materials  they  consisted.  It  does  not,  there- 
i  fore,  by  any  means  follow  that  the  alabastron 
•  which  the  woman  used  at  Bethany  was  really  of 
'  alabaster:  but  a  probability  that  it  was  such 
j  arises  from  the  fact,  that  vessels  made  of  this 
stone  were  deemed  peculiarly  suitable  for  the 
j    most  costly  and  powerful  perfumes. 

ALEXAN'DER  THE  GREAT.  This  mighty 

I    king  is  named  in  the  opening  of  the  first  book  of 

Maccabees,  and  is  alluded  to  in  the  prophecies  of 


Daniel.  These,  however,  are  not  the  best  reasons 
for  giving  his  name  a  plac«  in  this  work :  he  is 
chiefly  entitled  to  notice  here  because  his  mili- 
tary career  permanently  afi'ected  the  political 
state  of  the  Jewish  people,  as  well  as  their  phi- 
losophy and  literature.  It  is  not  our  part,  there- 
fore, to  detail  even  the  outlines  of  his  history, 
but  to  point  out  the  causes  and  nature  of  this 
great  revolution,  and  the  influence  which,  for- 
mally through  Alexander,  Greece  has  exerted 
over  the  religious  history  of  the  West. 

The  conquest  of  Western  Asia  by  Greeks  was 
so  thoroughly  provided  for  by  predisposing 
causes,  as  to  be  no  mere  accident  ascribable  to 
Alexander  as  an  individual.     The  pei-sonal  ge- 


nius of  the  Macedonian  liero,  however,  deter- 
mined the  form  and  the  suddenness  of  the  con- 
quest ;  and,  in  spite  of  his  premature  death,  the 
policy  which  he  pursued  seems  to  have  left  some 
permanent  efl'ects. 

His  respectftxl  behaviour  to  the  Jewish  high- 
priest  has  been  much  dwelt  on  by  Josephus 
{Antiq.  xi.  8.  4-0),  a  writer  whose  trustworthi- 
ness has  been  much  overrated.  The  story  has 
been  questioned  on  several  grounds.  Some  of 
the  results,  however,  can  hardly  be  erroneous, 
such  as,  that  Alexander  guaranteed  to  the  Jews, 
not  in  Judaea  only,  but  in  Babylonia  and  Media, 
the  free  observance  of  their  hereditary  laws,  and 
on  this  ground  exempted  them  from  tribute 
every  seventh  (or  sabbatical)  year.  It  is  then 
far  from  improbable  that  the  politic  invader 
affected  to  have  seen  and  heard  the  high-priest 
in  a  dream  (as  Josephus  relates),  and  showed 
him  great  reverence,  as  to  one  who  had  declared 
'  that  he  would  go  before  him  and  give  the  em- 
pire of  Persia  into  his  hand.' 

Immediately  after,  Alexander  invaded  and 
conquered  Egj-pt,  and  showed  to  its  gods  the 
same  respect  as  to  those  of  Greece.  Almost 
without  a  pause  he  founded  the  celebrated  city 
of  Alexandria  (b.c.  332),  an  event  which,  perhaps 
more  than  any  other  cause,  permanently  altered 
the  state  of  the  East,  and  brought  about  a  direct 
interchange  of  mind  between  Greece,  Egypt, 
and  Judaa  [Alexandria]. 

The  great  founder  of  Alexandria  died  in  his 
thirty-second  year,  B.C.  323.  The  empire  which 
he  then  left  to  be  quarrelled  for  by  his  generals 
comprised  the  whole  dominions  of  Persia,  with 
the  homage  and  obedience  of  Greece  superadded. 
But  on  the  final  settlement  which  took  place 
after  the  battle  of  Ipsus  (b.c.  301),  Seleucus,  the 


ALEXANDER 

Greek  representative  of  Persian  majesty,  reigned 
over  a  less  extended  district  than  the  last  Da- 
rius. Not  only  were  Egypt  and  Cyprus  severed 
from  the  Eastern  empire,  but  Palestine  and 
Ccelosyria  also  fell  to  their  niler,  placing  Jeru- 
salem for  nearly  a  century  beneath  an  Egyptian 
monarch.  On  this  subject,  see  further  under 
Antiochus. 


ALEXANDRIA 


51 


2.  ALEXANDER,  surnamed  BALAS,  from 
his  mother  Bala,  a  personage  who  figures  in  the 
history  of  the  Maccabees  and  in  Josephus.  His 
extraction  is  doubtful ;  but  he  professed  to  be 
the  natural  son  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  and  in 
that  capacitj',  out  of  opposition  to  Demetrius 
Soter,  he  was  recognised  as  king  of  Syria  by  the 
king  of  Egypt,  by  the  Romans,  and  eventually 
by  Jonathan  Alaccabseus,  on  the  part  of  the  Jews 
(1  Mace.  X.  IS).  Demetrius  was  not  long  after 
slain  in  battle,  and  Balas  obtained  possession  o^' 
the  kingdom.  He  then  sought  to  strengthen 
himself  by  a  marriage  with  the  king  of  Egypt's 
daughter.  Prosperity  ruined  Alexander ;  his 
voluptuousness,  debauchery,  and  niisgovernment 
rendered  his  reign  odious,  and  encouraged  De- 
metrius Nicator,  the  eldest  son  of  the  late  Deme- 
trius Soter,  to  appear  in  arms,  and  claim  his 
fatlier's  crown.  Alexander  took  the  field  against 
him;  but  the  defection  of  his  father-in-law 
Ptolemy  proved  fatal  to  his  cause ;  he  was  de- 
feated in  a  pitched  battle,  and  fled  with  500 
cavalry  to  Abse  in  Arabia,  and  sought  refuge 
with  the  emir  Zabdiel.  This  Arabian  murdered 
his  confiding  guest  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign 
over  Syria,  and  sent  his  head  to  Ptolemy,  who 
himself  died  the  same  year,  B.C.  145.  Balas  left 
a  young  son,  who  was  eventually  made  king  of 
Syria  by  Tryphon,  under  the  name  of  Antiochus 
fheos. 

3.  ALEXANDER  JANNiEUS,  the  first 
prince  of  the  Maccabsean  dynasty  who  assumed 
the  name  of  king  [Maccabees]. 

4.  ALEXANDER,  son  of  Herod  the  Great 
and  Mariamne  [Hebodian  Family]. 

5.  ALEXANDER,  a  Jew  of  Ephesus,  known 
only  from  the  part  he  took  in  the  uproar  about 
Diana,  which  was  raised  there  by  the  preaching 
of  Paul.  As  the  inhabitants  confounded  the 
Jews  and  Jewish  Christians,  the  former  put  for- 
ward Alexander  to  speak  on  their  behalf,  but  he 
was  unable  in  the  tumult  to  obtain  a  hearing 
(Acts  xix.  33). 

6.  ALEXANDER,  a  coppersmith  or  brazier 
(mentioned  in  1  Tim.  i.  20  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  14),  who 
with  Hymenaeus  and  others  broached  certain  he- 
resies touching  the  resurrection,  for  which  they 
were  excommunicated  by  St.  Paul.    These  per- 


sons, and  especially  Alexander,  appear  to  have 
maligned  the  faith  they  had  forsaken,  as  well  as 
the  character  of  the  apostle. 

ALEXANT)RIA  (Acts  vi.  9  ;  xviii.  24 ;  xxvii. 
6),  the  chief  maritime  city  and  long  the  me- 
tropolis of  Lower  Egypt.  It  is  situated  on  the 
Mediterranean,  twelve  miles  west  of  the  Canopic 
mouth  of  the  Nile,  in  31°  13'  N.  lat.  and  25^  53' 
E.  long.  It  owes  its  origin  to  the  comprehensive 
policy  of  Alexander,  who  perceived  that  the 
usual  channels  of  commerce  might  be  advanta- 
geously altered  ;  and  that  a  city  occupying  this 
site  could  not  fail  to  become  the  common  em- 
porium for  the  traffic  of  the  eastern  and  western 
worlds,  by  means  of  the  river  Nile,  and  the  two 
adjacent  seas,  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean :  and  the  high  prosperity  which,  as  such, 
Alexandria  very  rapidly  attained,  proved  the 
soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  exceeded  any  ex- 
pectations which  even  he  could  have  entertained. 
For  a  long  period  Alexandria  was  the  greatest 
of  known  cities ;  for  Nineveh  and  Babylon  had 
fallen,  and  Rome  had  not  yet  risen  to  pre-emi- 
nence :  and  even  when  Rome  became  the  mistress 
of  the  world,  and  Alexandria  only  the  metro- 
polis of  a  province,  the  latter  was  second  only  to 
the  former  in  wealth,  extent,  and  importance ; 
and  was  honoured  with  the  magnificent  titles  of 
the  second  metropolis  of  the  world,  the  city  of 
cities,  the  queen  of  the  East,  a  second  Rome. 

The  city  was  founded  in  b.c.  332,  and  was 
built  under  the  superintendence  of  the  same 
architect  (Dinocrates)  who  had  rebuilt  the 
Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus.  The  ancient  city 
appears  to  have  been  of  seven  times  the  extent 
of  the  modern.  If  we  may  judge  from  the 
length  of  the  two  main  streets  (crossing  each 
other  at  right  angles)  by  which  it  Avas  intei"- 
sected,  the  city  was  about  four  miles  long  by  one 
and  a  half  wide  :  and  in  the  time  of  Diodorus  it 
contained  a  free  population  of  3t)0,000  persons, 
or  probably  600,000,  if  we  double  the  former 
number,  as  Mannert  suggests,  in  order  to  include 
the  slaves.  The  port  of  Alexandria  was  secure, 
but  difficult  of  access  ;  in  consequence  of  which, 
a  magnificent  pharos,  or  lighthouse,  was  erected 
upon  an  islet  at  the  entrance,  which  was  con- 
nected with  the  mainland  by  a  dyke.  This 
pharos  was  accounted  one  of  the  '  seven  '  wonders 
of  the  world.  It  was  begun  by  Ptolemy  Soter, 
and  completed  under  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  by 
Sostratus  of  Cnidus,  b.c.  283.  It  was  a  square 
stJTicture  of  white  marble,  on  the  top  of  Avhich 
fires  were  kept  constantly  burning  for  the  direc- 
tion of  mariners.  It  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
800  talents,  which,  if  Attic,  would  amount  to 
165,000/.,  if  Alexandrian,  to  twice  that  sum.  It 
was  a  wonder  in  those  times,  when  such  erections 
were  almost  unknown ;  but,  in  itself,  the  Eddy- 
stone  lighthouse  is,  in  all  probability,  ten  times 
more  wonderful. 

The  business  of  working  out  the  great  design 
of  Alexander  could  not  have  devolved  on  a  more 
fitting  person  than  Ptolemy  Soter.  From  his 
first  arrival  in  Pigypt,  he  made  Alexandria  his 
residence :  and  no  sooner  had  he  some  respite 
from  war,  then  he  bent  all  the  resources  of  his 
mind  to  draw  to  his  kingdom  the  whole  trade  of 
the  East,  which  the  Tyrians  had,  up  to  his  time, 
carried  on  by  sea  to  Llath,  and  from  thence,  by 
the  way  of  Rhinocorura,  to  Tyre.  He  built  a 
E  2 


ALEXANDRIA 


ALEXANDRIA 


city  on  the  -west  side  of  the  Red  Sea,  whence  he 
sent  out  fleets  to  ail  those  countries  to  which  the 
Phoenicians  traded  from  Elath.  But,  observing 
that  the  Red  Sea,  by  reason  of  rocks  and  shoals, 
■was  very  dangerous  towards  its  northern  ex- 
tremity, he  transferred  tlie  trade  to  another  city, 
which  he  founded  at  the  greatest  practicable  dis- 
ance  southward.  This  port,  v.-hich  was  almost 
on  the  borders  of  Ethiopia,  he  called,  from  his 
mother,  Berenice  ;  but  the  harbour  being  found 
inconvenient,  the  neighbouring  citj-  of  Myos 
Hormos  was  preferred.  Thither  the  products  of 
the  East  and  South  were  conveyed  by  sea ;  and 
were  from  thence  taken  on  camels  to  Coptus,  on 
the  Nile,  where  they  were  again  shipped  for 
Alexandria,  and  from  that  city  were  dispersed 
to  all  the  nations  of  the  west,  in  exchange  for 
merchandise  which  was  afterwards  exported  to 
the  East.  By  these  means,  the  whole  trade  was 
fixed  at  Alexandria,  which  thus  became  the  chief 
mart  of  all  the  traffic  between  the  East  and 
West,  and  which  continued  to  be  the  greatest 
emporium  in  the  world  for  above  seventeen  cen- 
turies, until  the  discovery  of  the  passage  by  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  opened  another  channel  for 
the  commerce  of  the  East. 

Alexandria  became  not  only  the  seat  of  com- 
merce, but  of  learning  and  the  liberal  sciences. 
This  distinction  also  it  owed  to  Ptolemy  Soter, 
himself  a  man  of  education,  who  founded  an  aca- 
demy, or  society  of  learned  men,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  the  study  of  philosophy,  literature, 
•and  science.  For  their  use  he  made  a  collection 
of  choice  books,  which,  by  degrees,  increased 
•under  his  successors  until  it  became  the  finest 
library  in  the  world,  and  numbered  700,000 
volumes.  It  sustained  repeated  losses,  by  fire 
and  otherwise,  but  these  losses  were  as  repeatedly 
repaired^  and  it  continued  to  be  of  great  fame 


and  use  in  those  parts,  until  it  was  at  length 
burnt  by  the  Saracens  when  they  made  them- 
selves masters  of  Alexandria  in  a.d.  642.  Un- 
doubtedly the  Jews  at  Alexandria  shared  in  the 
benefit  of  these  institutions,  as  the  Christians  did 
afterwards ;  for  the  city  was  not  only  a  seat  of 
heathen,  but  of  Jewish,  and  subsequently  of 
Christian  learning.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  celebrated  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures into  Greek  [Septuagint]  was  made,  under 
every  encouragement  from  Ptolemy  Phila- 
delphus,  principally  for  the  use  of  the  Jews  in 
Alexandria,  who  knew  only  the  Greek  lan- 
guage. 

At  its  foundation  Alexandria  was  peopled  less 
by  Egyptians  than  by  colonies  of  Greeks,  Jews, 
and  other  foreigners.  The  Jews,  however  much 
their  religion  was  disliked,  were  valued  as 
citizens ;  and  every  encouragement  was  held  out 
by  Alexander  himself  and  by  his  successors  in 
Egypt,  to  induce  them  to  settle  in  the  new  city. 
The  same  privileges  as  those  of  the  first  class  of 
inhabitants  (the  Greeks)  were  accorded  to  them, 
as  well  as  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  and 
peculiar  usages :  and  this,  with  the  protection 
and  peace  which  a  powerful  state  afforded  against 
the  perpetual  conflicts  and  troubles  of  Palestine, 
and  with  the  inclination  to  trafiic,  whicli  had 
been  acquired  during  the  Captivity,  gradually 
drew  such  immense  numbers  of  Jews  to  Alex- 
andria, that  they  eventually  formed  a  verj-  large 
portion  of  its  vast  population,  and  at  the  same 
time  constituted  a  most  thriving  and  important 
section  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The  Jewish  in- 
habitants of  Alexandria  are  therefore  often  men- 
tioned ill  the  later  history  of  the  nation;  and 
Ihoir  importance  as  a  section  of  that  nation 
would  doubtless  have  been  more  frequently  ind,- 
catcd,  had  not  the  Jews  of  Egypt  thrown  off 


ALEXANDRIA 

their  ecclesiastical  dependence  upon  Jerusalem 
and  its  temple,  and  formed  a  separate  establish- 
ment of  their  own,  in  imitation  of  it,  at  a  place 
about  twelve  miles  north  of  Heliopolis,  and 
called  Onion,  from  Onias,  the  expelled  high- 
priest,  by  whom  it  was  founded. 

The  inhabitants  of  Alexandria  were  divided 
into  three  classes:  1.  The  Macedonians,  the  ori- 
ginal founders  of  the  city ;  2.  the  mercenaries 
who  had  served  under  Alexander ;  3.  the  native 
Egyptians.  Through  the  favour  of  Alexander 
and  Ptolemy  Soter,  the  Jews  were  admitted  into 
the  first  of  these  classes,  and  this  privilege  was 
so  important  that  it  had  great  effect  in  drawing 
them  to  the  new  city. 

The  dreadful  persecution  which  the  Jews  of 
Alexandria  underwent  in  A.D.  39,  shows  that, 
notwithstanding  their  long  establishment  there, 
no  relations  of  friendliness  had  arisen  between 
them  and  the  other  inhabitants,  by  whom  in  fact 
they  were  intensely  hated.  This  feeling  was  so 
weh  known,  that  at  the  date  indicated,  the 
Roman  governor  Avillius  Flaccus,  who  was 
anxious  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  citizens, 
was  persuaded  that  the  surest  Avay  of  winning 
their  affections  was  to  withdraw  his  protection 
from  the  Jews,  against  whom  the  emperor  was 
already  exasperated  by  their  refusal  to  acknow- 
ledge his  right  to  divine  honours,  which  he  in- 
sanely claimed,  or  to  admit  his  images  into  their 
synagogues.  In  consequence  of  the  connivance 
of  Flaccus,  the  unfortunate  Jews  were  treated 
with  every  species  of  outrage  and  insult.  Their 
synagogues  were  levelled  with  the  ground,  con- 
sumed by  fire,  or  profaned  by  the  emperor's 
statues.  They  were  deprived  of  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  and  declared  aliens.  Their  houses, 
shops,  and  warehouses  were  plundered  of  their 
effects,  and  they  themselves  were  pent  up  in  one 
narrow  corner  of  the  city,  where  the  greater 
part  were  obliged  to  lie  in  the  open  air,  and 
where  the  supplies  of  food  being  cut  off,  many 
of  them  died  of  hardship  and  hunger ;  and  who- 
ever was  found  beyond  the  boundary,  whether  he 
had  escaped  from  the  assigned  limits,  or  had 
come  in  from  the  country,  was  seized  and  put  to 
death  with  horrid  tortures. 

At  length  king  Herod  Agrippa,  who  stayed 
long  enough  in  Alexandria  to  see  the  beginning 
of  these  atrocities,  transmitted  to  the  emperor 
such  a  report  of  the  real  state  of  affairs  as  in- 
duced him  to  send  a  centurion  to  arrest  Flaccus, 
and  bring  him  a  prisoner  to  Rome.  This  put 
the  rioters  in  a  false  position,  and  brought  some 
relief  to  the  Jews;  but  the  tumult  still  con- 
tinued, and  as  the  magistrates  refused  to  acknow- 
ledge the  citizenship  of  the  Jews,  it  was  at 
length  agreed  that  both  parties  should  send  dele- 
gates, five  on  each  side,  to  Rome,  and  refer  the 
decision  of  the  controversy  to  the  emperor.  At 
the  head  of  the  Jewish  delegation  was  the  cele- 
brated Philo,  to  whom  we  owe  the  account  of 
these  transactions ;  and  at  the  head  of  the  Alex- 
andrians was  the  noted  Apion.  The  latter  chiefly 
rested  their  case  upon  the  fact  that  the  Jews 
were  the  only  people  who  refused  to  consecrate 
images  to  the  emperor,  or  to  swear  by  his  name. 
But  on  this  point  the  Jewish  delegates  defended 
themselves  so  well,  that  Caligula  himself  said, 
•  These  men  are  not  so  wicked  as  ignorant  and 
unhappy,  in  not  believing  me  to  be  a  god !'    The 


ALEXANDRIA 


53 


ultimate  result  of  this  appeal  is  not  known,  but 
the  Jews  of  Alexandria  continued  to  be  harassed 
during  the  remainder  of  Caligula's  reign ;  and 
their  alabarch  Alexander  Lysimachus  (brother 
of  Philo)  was  thrown  into  prison,  where  he 
remained  till  he  was  discharged  by  Claudius, 
upon  whose  accession  to  the  empire  the  Alexan- 
drian Jews  betook  themselves  to  arms.  This 
occasioned  such  disturbances  that  they  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  emperor,  who,  at  the  joint 
entreaty  of  Herod  and  Agrippa,  issued  an  edict 
conferring  on  the  Jews  of  Egypt  all  their  an- 
cient privileges.  The  state  of  feeling  in  Alex- 
andria which  these  facts  indicate,  was  very  far 
from  being  allayed  when  the  revolt  of  the  Jews 
in  Palestine  caused  even  those  of  the  nation  who 
dwelt  in  foreign  parts  to  be  regarded  as  enemies, 
both  by  the  populace  and  the  government  In 
Alexandria,  on  a  public  occasion,  they  were  atr 
tacked,  and  those  whp  could  not  save  themselves 
by  flight  were  put  to  the  sword.  Only  three 
were  taken  alive,  and  they  were  dragged  through 
the  city  to  be  consigned  to  the  flames.  The  in- 
dignation of  the  Jews  rose  beyond  all  bounds  at 
this  spectacle.  They  first  assailed  the  Greek 
citizens  with  stones,  and  then  rushed  with  lighted 
torches  to  the  amphitheatre,  to  set  it  on  fire  and 
burn  all  the  people  who  were  there  assembled. 
The  Roman  prefect  Tibei'ius  Alexander,  finding 
that  milder  measures  were  of  no  avail,  sent  out 
a  body  of  17,000  soldiers,  who  slew  about  50,000 
of  the  Jews,  and  plundered  and  burned  their 
dwellings. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  in  Palestine,  new 
disturbances  were  excited  in  Egypt  by  the  Si- 
carii,  many  of  whom  had  fled  thither.  They 
endeavoured  to  persuade  the  Jews  to  acknow- 
ledge no  king  but  God,  and  to  throw  off  the 
Roman  yoke.  Such  persons  as  opposed  their 
designs  and  tendered  wiser  counsels  to  their 
brethren,  they  secretly  assassinated,  according  to 
their  custom.  But  the  principal  Jews  in  Alex- 
andria having  in  a  general  assembly  earnestly 
warned  the  people  against  these  fanatics,  who 
had  been  the  authors  of  all  the  troubles  iu  Pa- 
lestine, about  600  of  them  were  delivered  up  to 
the  Romans.  Several  fled  into  the  Thebaid,  but 
were  apprehended  and  brought  back.  The  most 
cruel  tortures  which  could  be  devised  had  no 
efl'ect  in  compelling  them  to  acknowledge  the 
emperor  for  their  sovereign;  and  even  their 
children  seemed  endowed  with  souls  fearless  of 
death,  and  bodies  incapable  of  pain.  Vespasian, 
when  informed  of  these  transactions,  sent  orders 
that  the  Jewish  temple  in  Egypt  should  be  de- 
stroyed. Lupus  the  prefect,  however,  only  shut 
it  up,  after  having  taken  out  the  consecrated 
gifts :  but  his  successor  Paulinus  stripped  it  com- 
pletely,  and  excluded  the  Jews  entirely  from  it. 
This  was  in  a.d.  75,  being  the  343rd  year  from 
thf  building  of  the  temple  by  Onias. 

St.  Mark  is  said  to  have  introduced  the 
Christian  religion  into  Alexandria,  which  early 
became  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  true  faith. 
The  Jews  continued  to  form  a  principal  portion 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  remained  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  their  civil  rights  till  a.d.  415,  when  they 
incurred  the  hatred  of  Cyril  the  patriarch,  at 
whose  instance  they  were  expelled,  to  the  number 
of  40,000,  and  their  synagogues  destroyed. 
However,   when  Amrou,  in  a.d.  640,  took  the 


54 


ALGUM 


ALLEGOKY 


place  for  the  caliph  Omar,  he  wrote  to  his  master 
in  these  terms :  '  I  have  taken  the  great  city  of 
the  west,  which  contains  4000  palaces,  4000 
baths,  400  theatres,  12,000  shops  for  the  sale  of 
vegetable  food,  and 40,000  tributari/  Jews'  From 
that  time  the  prosperity  of  Alexandria  very 
rapidly  declined ;  and  when,  in  969,  the  Fatemite 
caliphs  seized  on  Egypt  and  built  New  Cairo,  it 
was  speedily  reduced  to  the  rank  of  a  secondary 
Egyptian  city.  The  discovery  of  the  passage  to 
the  East  by  the  Cape,  in  1497,  almost  annihi- 
lated its  remaining  commercial  importance ;  and 
although  the  commercial  and  maritime  enter- 
prises of  Mehemet  All  have  again  raised  it  to 
some  distinction,  Alexandria  must  still  be  ac- 
counted as  one  of  those  great  ancient  cities 
whose  glory  has  departed.  The  number  of  Jews 
does  not  now  exceed  500.  The  whole  population 
at  the  present  time  (1843)  is  between  36,000  and 
40,000,  of  whom  4876  are  foreigners. 

AL'GUM,  or  Al'mug  Trees  (1  Kings  x.  11 ; 
2  Chron.  ix.  10,  11).  With  regard  to  Ophir,  the 
place  from  which  these  trees  were  brought  to 
us,  there  appears  no  doubt  that  it  was  to  the 
southward  of  the  Ked  Sea,  and  was  most  pro- 
bably in  some  part  of  India.  Various  trees  have 
been  attempted  to  be  identified  with  the  almug, 
but  the  balance  of  evidence  seems  to  be  in 
favour  of  the  sandal-wood,  which  is  known  and 
highly  esteemed  in  India.  The  tree  which  pro- 
duces it  is  a  native  of  the  mountainous  parts  of 
the  coast  of  Malabar,  where  large  quantities  are 
cut  for  export  to  China,  to  different  parts  of 
India,  and  to  the  Persian  and  Arabian  gulfs. 
The  outer  parts  of  this  tree  are  white  and  with- 
out odour  ;  the  parts  near  the  root  are  most  fra- 
grant, especially  of  such  trees  as  grow  in  hilly 
situations  and  stony  ground.  The  trees  vary  in 
diameter  from  9  inches  to  a  foot,  and  are  about 
25  or  30  feet  in  height,  but  the  stems  soon  begin 
to  branch.  This  wood  is  white,  fine-grained,  and 
agreeably  fragrant,  and  is  much  employed  for 
making  rosaries,  fans,  elegant  boxes,  and  cabinets. 


[Santalum  album.] 


As  sandal-wood  has  been  famed  in  the  East 
from  very  early  times,  it  is  more  likely  than  any 
other  to  have  attracted  the  notice  of,  and  been 
desired  by,  more  northern  nations. 


That  it,  therefore,  might  have  attained  cele- 
brity, even  in  very  early  ages,  is  not  at  all  un- 
likely ;  that  it  should  have  attracted  the  notice 
of  Phoenician  merchants  visiting  the  west  coast 
of  India  is  highly  probable ;  and  also  that  they 
should  have  thought  it  worthy  of  being  taken  as 
a  part  of  their  cargo  on  their  return  from  Ophir. 
That  it  is  well  calculated  for  musical  instru- 
ments is  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  Professor 
Wheatstone,  who  says,  '  I  know  no  reason  why 
sandal-wood  should  not  have  been  employed  in 
ancient  days  for  constructing  musical  instru- 
ments. It  is  not  so  employed  at  present,  because 
there  are  many  much  cheaper  woods  which  pre- 
sent a  far  handsomer  appearance.  Musical  in- 
struments would  appear  very  unfinished  to  mo- 
dern taste  unless  varnished  or  French-polished, 
and  it  would  be  worse  than  useless  to  treat  fra- 
grant woods  in  this  way.  Formerly  perhaps  it 
might  have  been  more  the  fashion  to  delight  the 
senses  of  smell  and  hearing  simultaneously  than 
it  is  with  us,  in  which  case  odoriferous  woods 
would  be  preferred  for  things  so  much  handled 
as  musical  instruments  are.' 

ALLEGORY.  This  word  is  found  in  the 
Authorized  Version  of  Gal.  iv.  24,  but  it  does 
not  actually  exist  as  a  noun  in  the  Greek  Tes- 
tament, nor  even  in  the  Septuagint.  In  the 
passage  in  question  Saint  Paul  cites  the  history 
of  the  free-born  Isaac  and  the  slave-born  Ish- 
mael,  and  in  proceeding  to  apply  it  spiritually, 
he  says,  not  as  in  our  version,  '  which  things  are 
an  allegory,'  but '  which  things  are  allegorized.' 
This  is  of  some  importance ;  for  in  the  one  case 
the  Apostle  is  made  to  declare  a  portion  of  Old 
Testament  history  an  allegory,  whereas  in  truth 
he  only  speaks  of  it  as  allegorically  applied. 
Allegories  themselves  are,  however,  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  Scripture,  although  that  name  is 
not  there  applied  to  them. 

An  AxLEGORY  has  been  sometimes  considered 
as  only  a  lengthened  metaphor  ;  at  other  times, 
as  a  continuation  of  metaphors.  But  the  nature 
of  allegory  itself,  and  the  character  of  allegorical 
interpretation,  will  be  best  understood  by  attend- 
ing to  the  origin  of  the  term  which  denotes  it. 
Now  the  term  '  Allegory,'  according  to  its  ori- 
ginal and  proper  meaning,  denotes  a  representa- 
tion of  one  thing  which  is  intended  to  excite 
the  representation  of  another  thing.  Every  alle- 
gory must  therefore  be  subjected  to  a  twofold 
examination  :  we  must  first  examine  the  irnvw 
diate  representation,  and  then  consider  what 
other  representation  it  is  intended  to  excite.  In 
most  allegories  the  immediate  representation  is 
made  in  the  form  of  a  narrative ;  and,  since  it 
is  the  object  of  the  allegoiy  itself  to  convey 
a  moral,  not  an  historic  truth,  the  narrative 
is  commonly  fictitious.  The  immediate  repre- 
sentation is  of  no  further  value  than  as  it  leads 
to  the  ultimate  representation.  It  is  the  appli- 
cation or  the  moral  of  the  allegory  which  con- 
stitutes its  worth. 

Every  parable  is  a  kind  of  allegory  ;  and  as 
an  example,  especially  clear  and  correct,  we  may 
refer  to  the  parable  of  the  sower  (Luke  viii.  5- 
15).  In  this  we  have  a  plain  narrative,  a  state- 
ment of  a  few  simple  and  intelligible  facts,  such, 
probably,  as  had  fallen  within  the  observation  of 
the  persons  to  whom  our  Saviour  addressed  him- 
self.    When  he  had  finished  the  narrative,  or 


ALLIANCES 

the  immediate  representation  of  the  allegory,  he 
then  gave  the  explanation  or  ultimate  represen- 
tation of  it ;  that  is,  he  gave  the  allegorical  in- 
terpretation of  it.  And  that  the  interpretation 
was  an  interpretation,  not  of  the  -words,  but  of 
the  things  signified  by  the  words,  is  evident  from 
the  explanation  itself:  '  The  seed  is  the  word  of 
God ;  those  by  the  wayside  are  they  that  hear,' 
&c.  (ver.  11,  &c.).  The  impressive  and  pathetic 
allegory  addressed  by  Nathan  to  David  aifords 
a  similar  instance  of  an  allegorical  narrative 
accompanied  with  its  explanation  (2  Sam.  xii. 
1-14). 

But  allegorical  narratives  are  frequently  left 
to  explain  themselves,  especially  when  the  re- 
semblance between  the  immediate  and  ultimate 
representation  is  sufficiently  apparent  to  make 
an  explanation  unnecessary.  Of  this  kind  we 
oannot  have  a  more  striking  example  than  that 
beautiful  one  contained  in  the  80th  Psalm : 
'  Thou  broughtest  a  vine  out  of  Egypt,'  &c. 

The  use  of  allegorical  interpretation  is  not, 
however,  confined  to  mere  allegory,  or  fictitious 
narratives,  but  is  extended  also  to  history,  or  real 
narratives.  And  in  this  case  the  grammatical 
meaning  of  a  passage  is  called  its  historical 
meaning,  in  contradistinction  to  its  allegorical 
meaning.  There  are  two  difierent  modes  in 
which  Scripture  history  has  been  thus  allego- 
rized. According  to  one  mode,  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances, especially  those  recorded  in  the  Old 
Testament,  have  been  applied  to  other  facts  and 
circumstances,  of  which  they  have  been  described 
as  representative.  According  to  the  other  mode, 
these  facts  and  circumstances  have  been  described 
as  mere  emblems.  The  former  mode  is  war- 
ranted by  the  practice  of  the  sacred  writers 
themselves ;  for  when  facts  and  circumstances 
are  so  applied,  they  are  applied  as  ttjpes  of 
those  things  to  which  the  application  is  made : 
but  no  such  authority  in  favour  of  the  latter  mode 
of  allegorical  intei-pretation  can  be  produced. 

ALLELU'IA.     [Hallelujah.] 

ALLIANCES.  From  a  dread  lest  the  ex- 
ample of  foreign  nations  should  draw  the  Israel- 
ites into  the  worship  of  idols,  they  were  made  a 
peculiar  and  separate  people,  and  intercourse  and 
alliance  with  such  nations  were  strongly  inter- 
dicted (Lev.  xviii.  3,  4 ;  xx.  22,  23).  The  ten- 
dency to  idolatry  was  in  those  times  so  strong, 
that  the  safety  of  the  Israelites  lay  in  the  most 
complete  isolation  that  could  be  realized ;  and  it 
was  to  assist  this  object  that  a  country  more  than 
usually  separated  from  others  by  its  natural 
bou'.idaries  was  assigned  to  them.  It  was  shut 
in  l)y  the  sea  on  the  west,  by  deserts  on  the  south 
and  east,  and  by  mountains  and  forests  on  the 
north.  Among  a  people  so  situated  we  should 
not  expect  to  hear  much  of  alliances  with  other 
nations. 

By  far  the  most  remarkable  alliance  in  the 
political  history  of  the  Hebrews  is  that  between 
Solomon  and  Hiram  king  of  Tyre,  which  may 
primarily  be  referred  to  the  affection  which  the 
latter  entertained  for  David  (1  Kings  v.  2).  He 
'  sent  carpenters  and  masons '  to  build  David  an 
house  (2  Sam.  v.  11),  and  wishing  to  cultivate 
the  friendly  intercourse  thus  opened  with  the 
Hebrew  nation,  on  the  death  of  David  he  sent  an 
embassy  to  condole  with  Solomon  on  the  death 
of  his  father,  and  to  congratulate  him  on  his  ac- 


ALLIANCES  55 

cession  (1  Kings  v.  1).  The  plans  of  the  young 
king  rendered  the  friendship  of  Hiram  a  matter 
of  importance,  and  accordingly  '  a  league'  was 
formed  (1  Kings  v.  12)  between  them  :  and  that 
this  league  had  a  reference  not  merely  to  the 
special  matter  then  in  view,  but  was  a  general 
league  of  amity,  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  more 
than  250  years  after,  a  prophet  denounces  the 
Lord's  vengeance  upon  Tyre,  because  she  '  re- 
membered not  the  brotherly  covenant'  (Amos 
i.  9).  Under  this  league  large  bodies  of  Jews 
and  Phoenicians  were  associated,  first  in  prepar- 
ing the  materials  for  the  Temple  ( 1  Kings  v. 
6-18),  and  afterwards  in  navigating  the  Red  Sea 
and  the  Indian  Ocean  (1  Kings  ix.  26-28).  The 
disastrous  consequences  of  even  the  seemingly 
least  objectionable  alliances  may  be  seen  in  the 
long  train  of  evils,  both  to  the  kingdom  of  Is- 
rael and  of  Judah,  which  ensued  from  the  mar- 
riage of  Ahab  with  Jezebel,  the  king  of  Tyre's 
daughter  [Ahab;  Jezebel].  These  conse- 
quences had  been  manifested  even  in  the  time 
of  Solomon ;  for  he  formed  matrimonial  alli- 
ances with  most  of  the  neighbouring  kingdoms, 
and  to  the  influence  of  his  idolatrous  wives  are 
ascribed  the  abominations  which  darkened  the 
latter  days  of  the  wise  king  (I  Kings  xi.  1-8). 

The  prophets,  who  were  alive  to  these  conse- 
quences, often  raised  their  voices  against  such 
dangerous  connections  (1  Kings  xi.  11  ;  2  Chron. 
xvi.  7;  xix.  2;  xxv.  7,  &c. ;  Isa.  vii.  17),  with- 
out effect.  The  Jewish  history,  after  Solomon, 
affords  examples  of  several  treaties  with  differ- 
ent kings  of  Syria,  and  with  the  kings  of  Assyria 
and  Babylon  (see  1  Kings  xv.  1 6-20 ;  2  Kings 
xvi.  5,  &c. ;  2  Chron.  xviii.  16,  &c.).  In  later 
times,  the  Maccabees  appear  to  have  considered 
themselves  unrestrained  by  any  but  the  ordinary 
prudential  considerations  in  contracting  alli- 
ances. The  most  remarkable  alliance  of  thi» 
kind  was  the  treaty  made  with  the  Romans  by 
Judas  Maccabseus,  which,  having  been  concluded 
at  Rome,  was  graven  upon  brass  and  deposited 
in  the  Capitol  (1  Mace.  viii.  22-28 ;  Josephus, 
Antiq.  xii.  10). 

Anterior  to  the  IMosaical  institutions,  such  al- 
liances with  foreigners  were  permitted,  or  at 
least  tolerated.  Abraham  was  in  alliance  with 
some  of  the  Canaanitish  princes  (Gen.  xiv.  13) ; 
he  also  entered  into  a  regular  treaty  of  alliance, 
being  the  first  on  record,  with  the  Philistine 
king  Abimelech  (xxi.  22,  sq.'),  which  was  re- 
newed by  their  sons  (xxvi.  26-30).  Even  after 
the  law,  it  appears,  from  some  of  the  instances 
already  adduced,  that  such  alliances  with  dis- 
tant nations  as  could  not  be  supposed  to  have 
any  dangerous  effect  upon  the  religion  or  morals 
of  the  people,  were  not  deemed  to  be  interdicted. 
The  treaty  with  the  Gibeonites  is  a  remarkable 
proof  of  this.  Believing  that  the  ambassadors 
came  from  a  great  distance,  Joshua  and  the 
elders  readily  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
them ;  and  are  condemned  for  it  only  on  the 
ground  that  the  Gibeonites  were  in  fact  their 
near  neighbours  (Josh.  ix.  3-27). 

From  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  a  covenant  of 
alliance  was  sealed  by  the  blood  of  some  victim. 
A  heifer,  a  goat,  a  ram,  a  turtle  dove,  and  a 
young  pigeon,  were  immolated  in  confirmation  of 
the  covenant  between  the  Lord  and  Abraham 
(Gen.  XV.  9).     The  iiuinial  or  animals  sacrificed 


5G 


ALMOND  TREE 


ALMS 


were  cut  in  two  (except  birds,  ver.  10),  to  typify 
the  doom  of  perjurers.  For  allusions  to  this 
usage  see  Jer.  xxxiv.  18;  Sus,  55,  59;  Matt. 
xxiv.  5 1 ;  Luke  xii.  46.  The  perpetuity  of  co- 
venants of  alliance  thus  contracted  is  expressed 
by  calling  them  '  covenants  of  salt'  (Num.  xviii. 
19  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  5),  salt  being  the  symbol  of 
ineorruption.  The  case  of  the  Gibeonites  affords 
an  exemplary  instance,  scarcely  equalled  in  the 
annals  of  any  nation,  of  scnipulous  adherence  to 
such  engagements.  The  Israelites  had  been 
absolutely  cheated  into  the  alliance  ;  but,  having 
been  confirmed  by  oaths,  it  was  deemed  to  be 
inviolable  (Josh.  ix.  19).  The  prophet  Ezekiel 
(xvii.  13-16)  pours  terrible  denunciations  upon 
king  Zedekiah,  for  acting  contrary  to  his  sworn 
covenant  with  the  king  of  Babylon.  In  this 
respect  the  Jews  were  certainly  most  favourably 
distinguished  among  the  ancient  nations ;  and, 
from  numerous  intimations  in  Josephus,  it  ap- 
pears that  their  character  for  fidelity  to  their 
engagements  was  so  generally  recognised  after 
the  Captivity,  as  often  to  procure  for  them  highly 
favourable  consideration  from  the  rulers  of 
Western  Asia  and  of  Egypt. 

AL'LON-BAC'HUTH  (the  oak  of  weeping),  a 
place  in  Bethel,  where  Rebekah's  nurse  was 
buried  (Gen,  xxxv.  8). 

AL'MON,  one  of  the  three  cities  which  be- 
longed to  the  priests  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin 
(Josh.  xxi.  18).  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  same 
as  the  Alemeth  of  1  Chron.  vi.  GO. 

AL'MON-DIB'LATHAIM,  one  of  the  stations 
of  the  Israelites  on  their  way  from  Mount  Hor 
to  the  plains  of  Moab,  round  by  Mount  Seir 
(Num.  xxxiii.  46). 

ALMOND  TREE  (Gen.  xliii.  11;  Num. 
xvii.  8;  Eccles.  xii.  5;  Jer.  i.  11).  This  tree  is 
a  native  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  is  highly 
ornamental  from  the   beauty   of  its   blossoms. 


26.    [Almond  Tree.] 

The  form  of  the  almond  would  lead  to  its  selec- 
tion  for  ornamental  carved  work  (Exod.  xxv. 
33,  34;  xxxvii.  19),  independently  of  its  form- 


ing an  esteemed  esculent,  as  well  as  probably 
yielding  a  useful  oil.  In  Eccles.  xii.  5,  it  is 
said,  '  The  almond  tree  shall  flourish,  and  the 
fruit  of  the  caper  droop,  because  man  goeth  to 
his  long  home.'  This  evidently  refers  to  the 
profuse  flowering  and  white  appearance  of  the 
almond  tree  when  in  full  bloom,  and  before  its 
leaves  appear.  It  is  hence  adduced  as  illustrative 
of  the  hoary  hairs  of  age,  in  the  same  way  as 
the  drooping  of  the  fruit  of  the  caper  seems  to 
refer  to  the  hanging  down  of  the  head.  Dr. 
Kitto  mentions  the  almond  among  the  first  trees 
that  flower  in  January.  '  There  are  two  species 
of  Amygdalus  in  Palestine :  the  common  almond 
tree,  and  the  peach  tree,  and  both  are  this  month 
in  blossom  in  every  part  of  Palestine,  on  both 
sides  of  the  Jordan.  It  was  doubtless  from 
this  winter  blossoming  of  the  almond  tree,  not 
less  than  from  the  snowy  whiteness  of  the  blos- 
soms, that  the  hoary  head  of  the  aged  man  is, 
by  a  beautiful  metaphor,  said  in  Scripture  to 
flourish  like  the  almond  tree'  (Phi/sic.  Hist.  </ 
Palestine). 

ALMS.  The  regulations  of  the  Mosaic  law- 
respecting  property,  and  its  benign  spirit  towards 
the  poor,  went  far  to  prevent  the  existence  of 
penury  as  a  permanent  condition  in  society,  and, 
consequently,  by  precluding  beggary,  to  render 
the  need  of  almsgiving  unnecessary.  Poverty, 
however,  considered  as  a  state  of  comparative 
want,  Moses  seems  to  have  contemplated  as  a 
probable  event  in  the  social  frame  which  he  had 
established;  and  accordingly,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  specific  regulations,  and  the  enjoining 
of  a  general  spirit  of  tender-heartedness,  he 
sought  to  prevent  destitution  and  its  evil  conse- 
quences (Lev.  xxv.  35 ;  Deut.  xv.  7,  &c.).  The 
great  antiquity  of  the  practice  of  benevolence 
towards  the  poor  is  shown  in  the  very  beautiful 
passage  which  is  found  in  Job  xxix.  \3  et  scq. 
How  high  the  esteem  was  in  which  this  virtue 
continued  to  be  held  in  the  time  of  the  Hebrew 
monarchy  may  be  learnt  from  Ps.  xii.  1  ;  see 
also  Ps.  cxii.  9  ;  Prov.  xiv.  31.  The  progress  of 
social  corruption,  however,  led  to  the  oppression 
of  the  poor,  which  the  prophets,  after  their  man- 
ner, faithfully  reprobated  (Isa.  Iviii.  7);  where, 
among  other  neglected  duties,  the  Israelites  are 
required  to  deal  their  bread  to  the  hungry,  and 
to  bring  the  outcast  poor  to  their  house.  See 
also  Isa.  X.  2 ;  Amos  ii.  7 ;  Jer.  v.  28 ;  Ezek. 
xxii.  29. 

However  favourable  to  the  poor  the  Mosaic 
institutions  were,  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
wholly  prevented  beggary ;  for  the  imprecation 
found  in  Psalm  cix.  10,  '  Let  his  children  be 
vagabonds  and  beg,'  implies  the  existence  of 
beggary  as  a  known  social  condition.  Begging 
naturally  led  to  almsgiving,  though  the  language 
of  the  Bible  does  not  present  us  with  a  term  for 
'  alms '  till  the  period  of  the  Babylonish  cai>- 
tivity,  during  the  calamities  attendant  on  which 
the  need  probably  introduced  the  practice.  From 
Dan.  iv.  27  it  would  appear  that  almsgiving  had 
come  to  be  regarded  as  a  means  of  conciliating 
God's  favour  and  of  warding  off  evil.  At  a  still 
later  period  this  idea  took  a  firm  seat  in  the 
national  mind,  and  alms-deeds  were  regarded  as 
a  mark  of  distinguished  virtue.  That  begging 
was  customary  in  the  time  of  the  Saviour  is 
clear  from  Mark  x.  46.     And  that  it  was  usual 


ALOl^S 

for  the  worshippers,  as  they  entered  the  temple, 
to  give  relief,  appears  from  the  context,  and 
particularly  from  the  fine  answer  to  the  lame 
man's  entreaty,  made  by  the  apostle  Peter.  The 
general  spirit  of  Christianity,  iu  regard  to  suc- 
couring the  needy,  is  nowhere  better  seen  than 
in  1  John  iii.  17:  'Whoso  hath  this  world's 
good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shut- 
teth  up  his  bowels  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the 
love  of  God  in  him?'  With  the  faithful  and  con- 
scientious observance  of  the  '  royal  law '  of  love, 
particular  manifestations  of  mercy  to  the  poor 
seem  to  be  left  by  Christianity  to  be  determined 
by  time,  place,  and  circumstances ;  and  it  cannot 
be  supposed  that  a  religion,  one  of  whose  prin- 
ciples is  '  that,  if  any  would  not  work,  neither 
should  he  eat'  (2  Thess.  iii.  10),  can  give  any 
sanction  to  indiscriminate  almsgiving,  or  intend 
to  encourage  the  crowd  of  Avandering,  idle  beg- 
gars with  which  some  parts  of  the  Avorld  are  still 
infested.  The  emphatic  language  employed  by 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  others  (Luke  iii.  1 1 ; 
vi.  30 ;  xi.  41 ;  xii.  33 ;  Matt.  vi.  1 ;  Acts  ix.  36 ; 
X.  2,  4)  is  designed  to  enforce  the  general  duty 
of  a  merciftil  and  practical  regard  to  the  dis- 
tresses of  the  indigent;  -while  the  absence  of 
ostentation,  and  even  secrecy,  which  the  Saviour 
enjoined  in  connection  with  almsgiving,  was  in- 
tended to  correct  actual  abuses,  and  bring  the 
practice  into  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel.  In  the  remarkable  reflections  of  Jesus 
on  the  widow's  mite  (Mark  xii.  42)  is  found  a 
principle  of  great  value,  to  the  effect  that  the 
magnitude  of  men's  offerings  to  God  is  to  be 
measured  by  the  disposition  of  mind  whence 
they  proceed  ;  a  principle  which  cuts  up  by  the 
ve;y  roots  the  idea  that  merit  attaches  itself  to 
almsgiving  as  such,  and  increases  in  proportion 
to  the  number  and  costliness  of  our  alms-deeds. 

One  of  the  earliest  effects  of  the  working  of 
Christianity  in  the  hearts  of  its  professors  was 
the  care  which  it  led  them  to  take  of  the  poor 
and  indigent  in  the  '  household  of  faith.'  Neg- 
lected and  despised  by  the  Avorld,  cut  off  from 
its  sympathies,  and  denied  any  succour  it  might 
have  given,  the  members  of  the  early  churches 
were  careful  not  only  to  make  provision  in  each 
case  for  its  own  poor,  but  to  contribute  to  the 
necessities  of  other  though  distant  communities 
(Acts  xi.  29;  xxiv.  17;  2  Cor.  ix.  12).  This 
commendable  practice  seems  to  have  had  its 
Christian  origin  in  the  deeply  interesting  fact 
(which  appears  from  John  xiii.  29)  that  the 
Saviour  and  his  attendants  were  wont,  notwith- 
standing their  own  comparative  poverty,  to  con- 
tribute out  of  their  small  resources  something 
for  the  relief  of  the  needy. 

ALOES,  the  two  words  which  are  so  ren- 
dered occur  in  several  passages  of  the  Old 
Testament,  as  in  Psalm  xlv.  8;  Prov.  vii.  17  ; 
Canticles  iv.  14,  and  evidently  mean  some  odo- 
riferous substance  which  ought  not  to  be  con- 
founded with  the  bitter  and  nauseous  aloes  famed 
only  as  a  medicine,  and  which  is  usually  dis- 
agi-eeable  in  odour  and  nauseous  in  taste,  and 
could  never  have  been  employed  as  a  perfume. 
The  words  referred  to  seem  to  indicate  a  kind  of 
fragrant  wood  called  Ai;aIlocJinin,  whicli  was 
brought  from  India  and  Arabia.  There  can,be 
little  or  no  doubt  that  the  same  odoriferous  wood 
is  intended  in  John  xix.  39,  where  we  are  told 


ALTAR 


57 


that  when  the  body  of  our  Saviour  was  taken 
down  from  the  cross,  Nicodemus  brought  myrrh 
and  aloes  for  the  purpose  of  winding  up  the  body 
in  linen  clothes  with  these  spices. 

AL'PHA  (A),  the  first  letter  of  the  Greek  al- 
phabet, corresponding  to  the  Hebrew  Aleph. 
Both  the  Hebrews  and  the  Greeks  employed  the 
letters  of  their  alphabets  as  numerals,  and  A 
(Alpha  or  Aleph)  therefore  denoted  one  or  the 
Jirst.  Hence  our  Lord  says  of  himself,  that  he 
is  Alpha  and  Omega,  i.  e.  the  first  and  the  last, 
the  beginning  and  the  ending,  as  he  himself  ex- 
plains it  (Rev.  i.  8,  11 ;  xxi.  6  ;  xxii.  13). 

1.  ALPHiE'US,  father  of  James  the  Less 
(Matt.  X.  3  ;  Luke  vi.  1 5),  and  husband  of  Mary, 
the  sister  of  our  Lord's  mother  (John  xix.  25); 
for  which  reason  James  is  called  '  the  Lord's 
brother '  [Brother].  By  comparing  John  xix. 
25,  with  Luke  xxiv.  10,  and  Matt.  x.  3,  it  ap- 
pears that  Alphseus  is  the  same  person  as  Cleo- 
phas ;  Alphceus  being  his  Greek,  and  Cleophas 
his  Hebrew  or  Syriac  name  [Names]. 

2.  ALPH^US,  the  father  of  the  evangelist 
Levi  or  Matthew  (Mark  ii.  14). 

ALTAR.  The  first  altar  we  read  of  in  the 
Bible  was  that  erected  by  Noah  on  leaving  the 
ark.  Mention  is  made  of  altars  erected  by 
Abraham  (Gen.  xii.  7  ;  xiii.  4 ;  xxii.  9) ;  by 
Isaac  (xxvi.  25) ;  by  Jacob  (xxxiii.  20 ;  xxxv. 
1,  3);  by  Moses  (Exod.  xvii.  15).  After  the 
giving  of  the  law,  the  Israelites  were  commanded 
to  make  an  altar  of  earth ;  they  were  also  pei*- 
mitted  to  employ  stones,  but  no  iron  tool  was  to 
be  applied  to  them.  This  has  been  generally 
understood  as  an  interdiction  of  sculpture,  in 
order  to  guard  against  a  violation  of  the  second 
commandment.  Altars  were  frequently  built 
on  high  places.  Thus  Solomon  built  an  high 
place  for  Chemosh  ( 1  Kings  xi.  7),  and  Josiah 
brake  down  and  burnt  the  high  place,  and 
stamped  it  small  to  powder  (2  Kings  xxiii.  15). 
This  practice,  however,  was  forbidden  by  the 
Mosaic  law  (Deut.  xii.  i;j;  xvi.  5),  except  in 
particular  instances,  such  as  those  of  Gideon 
(Judg.  vi.  26)  and  David  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  18). 
It  is  said  of  Solomon  *  that  he  loved  the  Lord, 
walking  in  the  statutes  of  David,  his  father,  only 
he  sacrificed  the  burnt  incense  on  the  high 
places'  (1  Kings  iii.  3).  Altars  were  sometimes 
built  on  the  roofs  of  houses :  in  2  Kings  xxiii. 
12,  we  read  of  the  altars  that  were  on  the  top  of 
the  upper  chamber  of  Ahaz.  In  the  tabernacle, 
and  afterwards  in  the  temple,  two  altars  were 
erected,  one  for  sacrifices,  the  other  for  incense  : 
the  table  for  the  shew-bread  is  also  sometimes 
called  an  altar. 

1.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering  belonging  to 
the  tabernacle  was  a  hollow  square,  five  cubits 
in  length  and  breadth,  and  three  cubits  in 
height ;  it  was  made  of  Shittim-wood  [Shittim], 
and  overlaid  with  plates  of  brass.  In  the  middle 
there  was  a  ledge  or  projection,  on  which  the 
priest  stood  while  oflBciating ;  immediately  below 
this,  a  brass  grating  was  let  down  into  the  altar 
to  support  the  fire,  with  four  rings  attached, 
through  which  poles  were  passed,  when  the 
altar  was  removed.  As  the  priests  were  for- 
bidden to  go  up  by  steps  to  the  altar  (Exod.  xx. 
26),  a  slope  of  earth  was  probably  made  rising  to 
a  level  with  the  ledge. 

In  Exod.  xxvii.  3,  the  following  utensils  are 


ALTAR 


ALTARS 


mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  altar,  all  of  which 
were  to  be  made  of  brass.  (1)  pans  or  dishes  to 
receive  the  ashes  that  fell  through  the  grating. 
(2)  shovels  for  cleaning  the  altar.  (3)  vessels 
for  receiving  the  blood  and  sprinkling  it  on  the 
altar.  (4)  large  forks  to  turn  the  pieces  of  flesh 
or  to  take  them  off  the  fire  (see  1  Sam.  ii.  13). 
(o)  \fire-pans;'  the  same  word  is  elsewhere 
translated  censers,  Num.  xvi.  17;  but  in  Exod. 
XXV.  38,  '  snuff-dishes.' 

2.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  Solomon's 
tfemple  was  of  much  larger  dimensions,  '  twenty 
cubits  in  length  and  breadth,  and  ten  in  height ' 
(2  Chron.  iv.  1 ),  and  was  made  entirely  of  brass. 
It  is  said  of  Asa  that  he  renewed,  that  is,  either 
repaired  (in  which  sense  the  word  is  evidently 
used  in  2  Chron.  xxiv.  4)  or  reconsecrated  the 
altar  of  the  Lord  that  was  before  the  porch  of 
the  Lord  (2  Chron.  xv.  8).  This  altar  was  re- 
moved by  king  Ahaz  (2  Kings  xvi.  14) ;  it  was 
'  cleansed '  by  Hezekiah ;  and  in  the  latter  part 
of  Manasseh's  reign  was  rebuilt. 

3.  Of  the  altar  of  burnt-offering  in  the  second 
temple,  the  canonical  scriptures  give  us  no  in- 
formation excepting  that  it  was  erected  before 
the  foundations  of  the  temple  were  laid  (Ezra 
iii.  3,  C)  on  the  same  place  where  it  had  formerly 
been  built.  From  the  Apocrypha,  however,  we 
may  infer  that  it  was  made,  not  of  brass,  but  of 
unhewn  stone. 

4.  The  altar  of  burnt-offering  erocted  by 
Herod  is  thus  described  by  Josephus :  '  Before 
this  temple  stood  the  altar,  fifteen  cubits  high, 
and  equal  both  in  length  and  breadth,  each  of 
which  dimensions  was  fifty  cubits.  The  figure 
it  was  built  in  was  a  square,  and  it  had  corners 
like  horns,  and  the  passage  up  to  it  was  by  an 
insensible  acclivity  from  the  south.  It  was 
formed  without  any  iron  tool,  nor  did  any  iron 
tool  so  much  as  touch  it  at  any  time.'  The  di- 
mensions of  this  altar,  however,  are  ditt'erently 
stated  in  the  Mishua.  On  the  south  side  Avas 
an  inclined  plane,  32^ubits  long  and  16  cubits 
broad,  made  likewise  of  unhewn  stones.  A  pipe 
■vvas  connected  with  the  south-west  horn,  through 
which  the  blood  of  the  victims  was  discharged 
by  a  subterraneous  passage  into  the  brook 
Kedron  Under  the  altar  was  a  cavity  to  receive 
the  drink-  oiFerings,  which  was  covered  with  *a 
marble  slab,  and  cleansed  from  time  to  time. 
On  the  north  side  of  the  altar  several  iron  rings 
were  fixed  to  fasten  the  victims.  Lastly,  a  red 
line  was  drawn  round  the  middle  of  the  altar  to 
distiniiuish  between  the  blood  that  was  to  be 
sprinkled  above  and  below  it. 

II.  The  second  altar  belonging  to  the  Jewish 
worship  was  the  altar  of  incense,  called  also  the  ! 
golden  altar  (Num.  iv.  11).  It  was  placed 
between  the  table  of  shew-bread  and  the  golden 
candlestick,  in  the  most  holy  place. 

1 .  This  altar  in  the  tabernacle  was  made  of 
Shittim-wood  overlaid  with  gold  plates,  one 
cubit  in  length  and  breadth,  and  two  cubits  in 
height.  It  had  horns  (Lev.  iv.  7)  of  the  same 
materials;  and  round  the  flat  surface  was  a 
border  of  gold,  underneath  which  were  the  rings 
to  receive  '  the  staves  made  of  .■>hittim-wood,  over- 
laid with  gold  to  bear  it  withal '  (Exod.  xxx.  1-.5). 

2.  The  altar  in  Solomon's  Temple  was  similar, 
but  made  of  cedar  (1  Kings  vi.  20;  vii.  48; 
1  Chron.  xxviii.  18)  overlaid  -with  gold. 


3.  The  altar  in  the  second  temple  was  taken 
away  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (1  Mace.  i.  21), 
and  restored  by  Judas  Maccabaeus  (1  Mace.  iv. 
49).  On  the  arch  of  Titus  there  appears  no 
altar  of  incense. 

ALTARS,  FORMS  OF.  In  the  preceding 
article  the  reader  is  fiirnished  with  all  the  posi- 
tive information  which  we  possess  respecting  the 
altars  mentioned  in  Scripture;  but  as,  with 
regard  to  material  objects  so  frequently  named 
as  altars,  we  feel  a  desire  to  have  distinct  images 
in  the  mind,  some  further  remarks  respecting 
the  forms  which  they  probably  bore,  may  not  be 
unacceptable. 

The  direction  to  the  Israelites,  at  the  time  of 
their  leaving  Egypt,  to  construct  their  altars 
of  unhewn  stones  or  of  earth,  is  doubtless  to  be 
understood  as  an  injunction  to  follow  the  usage 
of  their  patriarchal  ancestors ;  and  not  to  adopt 
the  customs,  full  of  idolatrous  associations,  which 
they  had  seen  in  Egypt,  or  might  see  in  the  land 
of  Canaan.  As  they  were  also  strictly  enjoined 
to  destroy  the  altars  of  the  Canaanites,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  direction  was  levelled 
against  such  usages  as  those  into  which  that 
people  had  fallen.  The  conclusion  deducible 
from  this,  that  the  patriarchal  altars  were  of 
unhewn  stones  or  of  earth,  is  confirmed  by  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  were  erected, 
and  by  the  fact  that  they  are  always  described 
as  being  '  built.'  The  provision  that  they  migftt 
be  made  of  earth,  applies  doubtless  to  situations 
in  which  stones  could  not  be  easily  obtained,  as 
in  the  open  plains  and  wildernesses.  Familiar 
analogies  lead  to  the  inference  that  the  largest 
stones  that  could  be  found  in  the  neighbourhood 
would  be  employed  to  form  the  altar ;  but  where 
no  large  stones  could  be  had,  that  heaps  of 
smaller  ones  might  be  made  to  serve. 

As  these  altars  were  erected  in  the  open  air, 
and  were  very  carefiilly  preserved,  there  is  at 
least  a  strong  probability  that  some  of  those 
ancient  monuments  of  unhewn  stone,  usually 
called  Druidical  remains,  which  are  found  in  all 
parts  of  the  world,  were  derived  from  the  altars 
of  primitive  times.  These  are  diversified  in 
their  forms  ;  and  their  peculiar  uses  have  been 
very  much  disputed.  It  is  admitted,  however, 
that  some  of  them  must  have  been  altars ;  but 
the  difficulty  is,  to  determine  whether  these  altars 
are  to  be  sought  in  the  Cromlechs  or  the 
Kistvaens.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  arguments 
preponderate  in  favour  of  the  opinion  that  the 
Cromlechs  are  the  representatives  of  the  primi- 
tive altars,  and  that  the  Kistvaens  (stones  dis- 
posed in  a  chest-like  form)  are  analogous  to  the 
arks  of  the  Jewish  ritual  and  of  some  of  the 
pagan  religions  [Ark]. 

Cromlechs,  as  is  well  known,  are  somewhat  in 
the  form  of  a  table,  one  large  stone  being  sup- 
ported, in  a  horizontal  or  slightly  inclined  posi- 
tion, upon  three  or  more,  but  usually  three 
stones,  set  upright.  That  they  were  used  as 
altars  is  almost  instinctively  suggested  to  every 
one  that  views  them;  and  this  conclusion  is 
strengthened  when,  as  is  often  the  case,  we  ob- 
serve a  small  circular  hole  through  which  pro- 
bably the  rope  was  run  by  which  the  victims, 
when  slaughtered,  were  bound  to  the  altar,  as 
they  were  to  the  angular  projections  or  '  horns ' 
of  the   Jewish   altar   (Ps.  cxviii.  27).     It  was 


ALTARS 


ALTARS 


59 


natural  that  where  a  sufficiency  of  large  stones 
could  njot  be  found,  heaps  of  smaller  ones  should 
be  employed ;  and  that,  when  practicable,  a 
large  flat  stone  would  be  placed  on  the  top,  to 
give  a  proper  level  for  the  fire  and  the  sacrifice. 
Such  are  the  cairn-altars,  of  which  many  still 
remain;  but  as  they  are  sometimes  found  in 
places  where  stones  of  large  size  might  have 
been  obtained,  it  seems  that  in  later  times  such 
altars  had  a  special  appropriation  ;  and  that  the 
sacred  fires  were  burned  on  them,  and  sacrifices 
offered  to  Bel,  Baal,  or  the  Sun. 


The  injunction  that  there  should  be  no  ascent 
by  steps  to  the  altar  appears  to  have  been  im- 
perfectly understood.  There  are  no  accounts  or 
figures  of  altars  so  elevated  in  their  fabric  as  to 
require  such  steps  for  the  officiating  priests ; 
but  when  altars  are  found  on  rocks  or  hills,  the 
ascent  to  them  is  sometimes  fecilitated  by  steps 
cut  in  the  rock.  This,  therefore,  may  have  been 
an  indirect  way  of  preventing  that  erection  of 
altars  in  high  places  which  the  Scriptures  so 
often  reprobate. 

It  is  usually  supposed,  however,  that  the  effect 
of  this  prohibition  was,  that  the  tabernacle  altar, 
like  most  ancient  altars,  was  so  low  as  to  need 
no  ascent ;  or  else  that  some  other  kind  of  ascent 
was  provided.  Th-e  former  is  probably  right, 
for  the  altar  was  but  three  cubits  high,  and  was 
designed  to  be  portable.  There  is  one  error  in 
these  and  other  figures  of  the  Jewish  altars  com- 
posed from  the  descriptions ;  namely,  with  re- 
gard to  the  *  horns,'  which  were  placed  at  the 
corners,  called  '  the  horns  of  the  altar '  (Exod. 
xxvii.  2 ;  xxix.  12 ;  1  Kings  ii.  28),  and  to 
wl)ich  the  victims  were  tied  at  the  time  of  sacri- 
fice. The  word  horn  was  applied  by  the  Jews 
as  an  epithet  descriptive  of  any  point  projecting 
in  any  direction  after  the  manner  of  a  horn  (not 
necessarily  like  a  horn  in  shape) ;  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  the  horns  of  the  succes- 
sive altars  of  burnt-offerings  resembled  those 
corners  projecting  upwards  which  are  seen  in 
many  ancient  altars.  These  are  shown  in  the 
view  depicting  the  probable  form  of  the  Jewish 
altar  of  burnt-offerings. 

By  the  time  of  Solomon  it  appears  to  have 


been  understood  that  the  interdiction  of  steps  of 
ascent  did  not  imply  that  the  altar  was  to  be 
low,  but  rather  that  it  was  to  be  high,  and  that 
only  a  particular  mode  of  ascend  was  forbidden. 
The  altar  of  the  temple  was  not  less  than  ten 
cubits  high,  and  some  means  of  ascent  must 
have  been  provided.  The  usual  representations 
of  Solomon's  altar  are  formed  chiefly  from  the 
descriptions  of  that  in  Herod's  temple  gjven  by 
Josephus  and  the  Rabbins;  and  although  this 
last  was  almost  one-third  higher  and  larger  than 
the  other,  it  was  doubtless  upon  the  same  model. 
The  altar  of  the  first  temple  had  been  seen,  and 
could  be  described,  by  many  of  those  who  were 
present  when  that  of  the  second  temple  was 
erected ;  and  the  latter  was  known  to  those  by 
whom  Herod's  altar  was  built.  Very  different 
figures,  however,  have  been  formed  from  these 
descriptions,  and  that  which  we  here  introduce 
is  perhaps  the  best  and  most  probable  of  them. 


The  altar  of  incense,  being  very  simple  in 
its  parts  and  uses,  has  been  represented  with  so 
little  difference,  except  in  some  ornamental  de- 
tails, that  one  of  the  figures  designed  from  the 
descriptions  may  suffice. 

It  is  not  our  object  to  describe  the  altars  of 
other  nations ;  but,  to  supply  materials  for  com- 
parison and  illustration,  a  group  of  the  altars  of 
the  principal  nations  of  Oriental  and  classical 
antiquity  is  here  introduced.  One  obvious  re- 
mark occurs,  namely,  that  all  the  Oriental  altars 
are  square  or  oblong,  M-hereas  those  of  Greece 


'    60 


ALTARS 


and  Rome  are  more  usually  round;  and  that, 
upon  the  whole,  the  Hebrew  altars  were  in 
accordance  with  the  general  Oriental  type.  In 
all  of  them  we  observe  bases  with  corresponding 
projections  at  the  top ;  and  in  some  we  find  the 
true  model  of  the  '  horns,'  or  prominent  and 
pointed  angles. 


32.     [1,  2,  3.  Greek.     4.  Egyptian.     5.  Babylonian. 
6.  Roman.     7,  8.  Persian.'' 

Altar  at  Athens.  St.  Paul,  in  his  admired 
address  before  the  judges  of  the  Areopagus  at 
Athens,  declares  that  he  perceived  that  the  Athe- 
nians were  in  all  things  too  superstitious,  for 
that,  as  he  was  passing  by  and  beholding  their 
devotions,  he  found  an  altar,  inscribed,  '  To  the 
Unknown  God;'  and  adds,  with  unexpected 
force,  '  Hivi  whom  ye  worship  without  knowing, 
I  set  forth  unto  you '  (Acts  xvii.  22,  23).  The 
questions  suggested  by  the  mention  of  an  altar 
at  Athens,  thus  inscribed  '  to  the  unknown  God,' 
have  engaged  much  attention.  Different  opi- 
nions have  been  entertained  on  the  subject,  and 
various  conjectures  made  regarding  it.  No  cer- 
tain information,  however,  can  now  be  obtained 
resnecting  the  orecise  reference  of  the  apostle, 


AMALEKITES 

and  we  are  content  to  rest  in  the  conclosion  of 
Professor  Robinson :  '  So  much  at  least  is  cer- 
tain, that  altars  to  an  unknown  god  or  gods  ex- 
isted at  Athens.  But  the  attempt  to  ascertain 
definitively  whom  the  Athenians  worshipped 
under  this  appellation  must  ever  remain  fruitless 
for  want  of  sufficient  data.  The  inscription 
afforded  to  Paul  a  happy  occasion  of  proclaiming 
the  Gospel ;  and  those  who  embraced  it  found 
indeed  that  the  being  whom  they  had  thus  "  ig- 
norantly  worshipped,"  was  the  one  only  living 
and  true  God.' 

A'LUSH,  one  of  the  places  at  which  the  He- 
brews rested  on  their  way  to  Mount  Sinai  (Num. 
xxxiii.  13).  It  was  between  Dophkah  and  Re- 
phidim.  The  Jewish  Chronology  makes  it 
twelve  miles  from  the  former  and  eight  from  the 
latter  station. 

AM'ALEK,  a  son  of  Eliphaz  (the  first-born  of 
Esau)  by  his  concubine  Timna:  he  was  the 
chieftain,  or  Emir,  of  an  Idumaean  tribe  (Gen. 
xxxvi.  16). 

AM'ALEKITES,  the  name  of  a  nation  inha- 
biting the  country  to  the  south  of  Palestine  be- 
tween Idumaa  and  Egypt,  and  to  the  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea  and  Mount  Seir.  'The  Amalekites 
dwell  in  the  land  of  the  south'  (Num.  xiii.  29). 
'  Saul  smote  the  Amalekites  from  Havilah  until 
thou  comest  to  Shur,  that  is  over  against  Egypt ' 
(1  Sam.  XV.  7).  'David  went  up  and  invaded 
the  Geshurites,  and  Gezrites,  and  the  Amalekites, 
for  those  nations  were  of  old  the  inhabitants  of 
the  land  as  thou  goest  to  Shur,  even  unto  the 
land  of  Egypt'  (1  Sam.  xxvii.  8).  In  1  Chron. 
iv.  42,  it  is  said  that  the  sons  of  Simeou  went  to 
Mount  Seir  and  smote  the  rest  of  the  Amalekites 
that  were  escaped.  According  to  Josephus  the 
Amalekites  inhabited  Gobolitis  and  Petra,  and 
were  the  most  warlike  of  the  nations  in  those 
parts:  and  elsewhere  he  speaks  of  them  as 
'  reaching  from  Pelusium  of  Egypt  to  the  Red 
Sea.'  We  find,  also,  that  they  had  a  settlement 
in  that  part  of  Palestine  which  was  allotted  to 
the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  The  first  mention  of  the 
Amalekites  in  the  Bible  is  Gen.  xiv.  7  ;  Chedor- 
laomer  and  his  confederates  returned  and  came 
to  En-Mishpat,  which  is  Kadesh,  and  smote  all 
the  country  of  the  Amalekites,  and  also  the 
Amorites  that  dwelt  in  Hazezon-tamar.  I'he 
Amalekites  Avere  the  first  assailants  of  the  Israel- 
ites after  their  passage  through  the  Red  Sea  , , 
(Exod.  xvii.).  It  has  been  thought  improbable  | 
that  in  so  short  a  period  the  descendants  of  Esau's 
grandson  could  have  been  sufficiently  numerous 
and  powerful  to  attack  the  host  of  Israel ;  but 
within  nearly  the  same  period  the  tribe  of 
Ephraim  had  increased  so  that  it  could  muster 
40,500  men  able  to  bear  arms,  and  Manasseh 
32,200  :  and  admitting  in  the  case  of  the  Israel- 
ites an  extraordinary  rate  of  increase  (Exod.  i. 
12,  20),  still,  if  we  consider  the  prostrating  in- 
fluence of  slavery  on  the  national  character,  and 
the  absence  of  warlike  habits,  it  is  easy  to  con- 
ceive that  a  comparatively  small  band  of  marau- 
ders would  be  a  very  formidable  foe  to  an  un- 
disciplined multitude,  circumstanced  as  the 
Israelites  were,  in  a  locality  so  adapted  to  irre- 
gular warfare.  It  appears  too  that  the  attack 
was  made  on  the  most  defenceless  portion  of  the 
host.  '  Remember  (said  Moses)  what  Amalek 
did  unto  thee  by  the  way  when  ye  were  come 


AMARIAH 

forth  out  of  Egj-pt :  how  he  met  thee  by  the  way 
and  smote  the  hindmost  of  thee,  even  all  that 
were  feeble  Itehind  thee,  when  thou  wast  faint  and 
weary'  (Deut.  xxt.  17,  18).  In  the  Pentateuch 
the  Amalekites  arc  frequently  mentioned  in  con- 
nection witli  the  Canaanites  (Num.  xiv.  25,  43, 
45),  and,  in  the  book  of  Judges,  Avith  the  Moab- 
ites  and  Ammonites  (Judg.  iii.  13);  with  the 
Midianites  (Judg.  vi.  3 ;  vii.  12:  'The  Midian- 
ites,  and  the  Amalekites,  and  all  the  children  of 
the  East  lay  along  in  the  valley  like  grasshop- 
pers for  multitude  ;  and  their  camels  were  with- 
out number,  as  the  sand  by  the  sea-side  for  mul- 
titude'); with  the  Kenites  (1  Sam.  xv.  6).  By 
divine  command,  as  a  retribution  for  their  hosti- 
lity to  the  Israelites  on  leaving  Egypt  (1  Sam. 
XV.  2),  Saul  invaded  their  country  with  an  army 
of  210,000  men,  and  '  iitterli/  destroi/ed  all  the 
people  with  the  edge  of  the  sword ,'  but  he  pre- 
served their  king  Agag  alive,  and  the  best  of 
the  cattle,  and  by  this  act  of  disobedience  for- 
I  feited  the  regal  authority  over  Israel.  About 
twenty  years  later  they  were  attacked  by  David 
during  his  residence  among  the  Philistines  (1 
Sam.  xxvii.).  It  is  said  '  that  he  smote  the  land 
and  left  neither  man  nor  woman  alive:'  this 
language  must  be  taken  with  some  limitation, 
for  shortly  after  the  Amalekites  were  sufficiently 
recovered  from  their  defeat  to  make  reprisals, 
and  burnt  Ziklag  with  fire  (1  Sam.  xxx.).  Da- 
vid, on  his  return  from  the  camp  of  Achish,  sur- 
prised them  while  celebrating  their  success, 
'  eating,  and  drinking,  and  dancing,'  and  '  smote 
them  from  twilight  even  unto  the  evening  of  the 
next  day,  and  there  escaped  not  a  man  of  them 
save  400  young  men  which  rode  upon  camels, 
and  fled'  (1  Sam.  xxx.  17).  At  a  later  period, 
we  find  that  David  dedicated  to  the  Lord  the 
silver  and  gold  of  Amalek  and  other  conquered 
nations  (2  Sam.  viii.  12).  The  last  notice  of  the 
Amalekites  as  a  nation  is  in  1  Chron.  iv.  43, 
from  which  we  learn  that  in  the  days  of  Heze- 
kiah,  king  of  Judah,  500  men  of  the  sons  of 
Simeon  '  went  to  Mount  Seir,  and  smote  the  rest 
of  the  Amalekites  that  were  escaped.' 

In  the  book  of  Esther,  Haman  is  called  the 
Agagite,  and  was  probably  a  descendant  of  the 
royal  line  (Num.  xxiv.  7  ;  1  Sam.  xv.  8).  Jo- 
sephus  says  that  he  was  by  birth  an  Amalekite. 

AMA'NA,  a  mountain  mentioned  in  Cant.  iv. 
8.  Some  have  supposed  it  to  be  Mount  Amanus 
in  Cilicia,  to  which  the  dominion  of  Solomon  is 
alleged  to  have  extended  northward.  But  the 
context,  with  other  circumstances,  leaves  little 
doubt  that  this  Mount  Amana  was  rather  the 
fouthern  part  or  summit  of  Anti-Libanus,  and 
was  so  called  perhaps  from  containing  the  sources 
of  the  river  Amana  [Abana]. 

1.  AMARI'AH  (whom  Jehovah  said,  i.e.  pro- 
mised, equivalent  to  the  Greek  name  Theophras- 
tus),  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  vi.  7,  in  the  list  of 
the  descendants  of  Aaron  by  his  eldest  son  Elea- 
zer.  He  was  the  son  of  Meraioth  and  the  father 
of  Ahitub,  who  was  (not  the  grandson  and  suc- 
I  cessor  of  Eli  of  the  same  name,  but)  the  father 
of  that  Zadok  in  whose  person  Saul  restored  the 
high-priesthood  to  the  line  of  Eleazer.  The 
years  during  which  the  younger  line  of  Ithamar 
enjoyed  the  pontificate  in  the  persons  of  Eli, 
Ahitub,  and  Abimelech  (who  was  slain  by  king 
Saul  at  Nob)  doubtless  more  than  cover  the  time 


AMASA 


61 


of  Amariah  and  his  son  Ahitub ;  and  it  is  there- 
fore sufficiently  certain  that  they  never  were 
high-priests  in  fact,  although  their  names  are 
given  to  carry  on  the  direct  line  of  succession  to 
Zadok. 

2.  AMARIAH,  high-priest  at  a  later  period, 
the  son  of  Azariah,  and  also  father  of  a  second 
Ahitub  (1  Chron.  vi.  11).  In  like  manner,  in 
the  same  list,  tliere  are  three  high-priests  bearing 
the  name  of  Azariah. 

3.  AMARIAH,  great-grandfather  of  the  pro- 
phet Zephaniah  (Zeph.  i.  1). 

1.  AMA'SA  (burden),  son  of  Abigail,  a  sister 
of  king  David.  As  his  name  does  not  occur 
prior  to  Absalom's  rebellion  (2  Sam.  xvii.  25), 
he  must  have  been  neglected  by  David  in  com- 
parison with  Joab  and  Abishai,  the  sons  of  his 
other  sister  Zeruiah,  who  had  before  then  been 
raised  to  great  power  and  influence.  This  appa- 
rent estrangement  may  perhaps  be  connected 
with  the  fact  that  Abigail  had  married  an  Ish- 
maelite  called  Jether,  who  was  the  father  of 
Amasa.  This  is  the  more  likely,  as  the  fact  is 
pointedly  mentioned  (1  Chron.  ii.  17),  or  covertly 
indicated  (2  Sam.  xvii.  25)  whenever  the  name 
of  Abigail  occurs,  whereas  we  are  quite  ignorant 
who  was  the  husband  of  the  other  sister,  Zeruiah, 
and  father  of  her  distinguished  sons.  We  may 
thus  form  a  conjecture  of  the  grounds  on  which 
Amasa  joined  Absalom,  and  obtained  the  com' 
mand  of  the  rebel  army.  He  was  defeated  by 
his  cousin  Joab,  who  commanded  the  army  of 
David.  This  transaction  appears  to  have  made 
David  sensible  of  the  neglect  with  which  Amasa 
had  been  treated ;  and  he  eventually  off"ered  him 
not  only  pardon,  but  the  command  of  the  army 
in  the  room  of  Joab  (2  Sam.  xix.  13),  whose 
overbearing  conduct  had  become  intolerable  to 
him,  and  to  whom  he  could  not  entirely  forgive 
the  death  of  Absalom.  David,  however,  was  too 
good  a  soldier  himself  to  have  made  this  oifer, 
had  not  Amasa,  notwithstanding  his  defeat,  dis- 
played high  military  qualities  during  his  com- 
mand of  Absalom's  army.  But  on  the  breaking 
out  of  Sheba's  rebellion,  Amasa  was.  so  tardy  in 
his  movements  (probably  from  the  reluctance  of 
the  troops  to  follow  him),  that  David  despatched 
Abishai  with  the  household  troops  in  pursuit  of 
Sheba,  and  Joab  joined  his  brother  as  a  volun- 
teer. When  they  reached  'the  great  stone  of 
Gibeon,'  they  were  overtaken  by  Amasa  with  the 
force  he  had  been  able  to  collect.  Joab  thought 
this  a  favourable  opportunity  of  getting  rid  of 
so  dafigerous  a  rival,  and  immediately  executed 
the  treacherous  purpose  he  had  formed.  He 
saluted  Amasa,  asked  him  of  his  health,  and 
took  his  beard  in  his  right  hand  to  kiss  him, 
while  with  the  unheeded  left  hand  he  smote  him 
dead  with  his  sword.  Joab  then  put  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  troops,  and  continued  the  pur- 
suit of  Sheba ;  and  such  was  his  popularity  with 
the  army,  that  David  was  unable  to  remove  him 
from  the  command,  or  to  call  him  to  account  for 
this  bloody  deed:  B.C.  1022  [Abner;  Absalom; 
Joab]. 

2.  AMASA,  a  chief  of  Ephraim,  who,  with 
others,  vehemently  resisted  the  retention  as  pri- 
soners of  the  persons  whom  Pekah,  king  of  Israel, 
had  taken  captive  in  a  successful  campaign 
against  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah  (2  Chron.  xxviii. 
12). 


I    62  AMAZIAH 

I  AMASA'I,  the  principal  leader  of  a  consider- 
j  able  body  of  men  from  the  tribes  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  who  joined  David  at  Ziklag.  The 
I  words  with  which  David  received  them  indicate 
!  some  apprehension,  which  was  instantly  dissi- 
j  pated  by  a  fervent  declaration  of  attachment  from 
j  Amasai  (1  Chron.  xii.  lG-18). 
j  1.  AMAZI'AH  {whom  Jehovah  strengthens,  i.  e. 
God-streiigtJiened),  son  of  Joash,  and  eighth  king 
of  Judah.  He  was  25  years  old  when  he  began 
to  reign,  asid  he  reigned  29  years — from  B.C. 
838  to  B.C.  809.  He  commenced  his  sovereignty 
by  punishing  the  murderers  of  his  father ;  and 
it  is  mentioned  that  he  respected  the  law  of 
Moses,  by  not  including  the  children  in  the  doom 
of  their  parents,  which  seems  to  sliow  that  a  con- 
trary practice  had  p7-eviously  existed.  In  tlie 
twelfth  year  of  his  reign  Amaziah  attempted  to 
re-impose  upon  the  Edomites  the  yoke  of  Judah, 
which  they  had  cast  off  in  the  time  of  Jehoram. 
The  strength  of  Edom  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that 
Amaziah  considered  the  unaided  strength  of  his 
own  kingdom  unequal  to  this  undertaking,  and 
therefore  hired  an  auxiliary  force  of  100,000 
men  from  the  king  of  Israel  for  100,000  talents 
of  silver.  This  is  the  first  example  of  a  merce- 
nary army  that  occurs  in  the  history  of  the  Jews. 
It  did  not,  however,  render  any  other  sei-vice 
than  that  of  giving  Amaziah  an  opportunity  of 
manifesting  that  he  knew  his  trae  place  in  the 
Hebrew  constitution,  as  the  viceroy  and  vassal 
of  the  king  Jehovah  [King].  A  prophet  com- 
manded him,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  send 
back  the  auxiliaries,  on  the  ground  that  the 
state  of  alienation  from  God  in  which  the  king- 
dom of  Israel  lay,  rendered  such  assistance  not 
only  useless  but  dangerous.  The  king  obeyed 
this  seemingly  hard  command,  and  sent  the  men 
home,  although  by  doing  so  he  lost  not  only 
their  services  and  the  100,000  talents,  which  had 
been  already  paid,  but  incurred  the  resentment 
of  the  Israelites,  who  were  naturally  exasperated 
at  the  indignity  shown  to  them. 

But  the  obedience  of  Amaziah  was  rewarded 
by  a  great  victory  over  the  Edomites,  ten  thou- 
I     sand  of  whom  were  slain  in  battle,  and  ten  thou- 
I     sand  more  were  savagely  destroyed  by  being 
!     hurled  down  from  the  high  cliffs  of  their  native 
mountains.    But  the  Edomites  afterwards  were 
avenged;  for  among  the  goods  which  fell  to  the 
I     conqueror  were  some  of  their  idols,  which,  al- 
!     though  impotent  to  deliver  their  own  worship- 
i     pers,  Amaziah  betook  himself  to  worship.     This 
I     proved  his  ruin.     Puffed  up  by  his  late  victories, 
he  thought  also  of  reducing  the  ten  tribes  under 
his  dominion.     In  this  attempt  he  was  defeated 
by  king  Joash  of  Israel,  who  carried  him  a  pri- 
soner to  Jerusalem.      Joash  broke  down  great 
part  of  the  city  wall,  plundered  the  city,  and 
j     even  laid  his  hands  upon  the  sacred  things  of 
the  temple.     He,  however,  left  Amaziah  on  the 
throne,  but  not  without  taking  hostages  for  his 
good  behaviour.    The  disasters  which  Amaziah's 
infatuation  had  brought  upon  Judah  probably 
occasioned  the  conspiracy  in  which  he  lost  his 
life.    On  receiving  intelligence  of  this  conspiracy 
he  hastened  to  throw  himself  into  the  fortress  of 
Lachish ;  but  he  was  pursued  and  slain  by  the 
conspirators,  who  brought  back  his  body  '  upon 
^    horses'  to  Jerusalem  for  interment  in  tlie  royal 
sepulchre  (2  Kings  xiv. ;  2  Chron.  xxv.). 


AMEN 

2.  AMAZIAH,  the  priest  of  the  golden  calves 
at  Bethel,  in  the  time  of  Jeroboam  II.  He  com- 
plained to  the  king  of  Amos's  prophecies  of 
coming  evil,  and  urged  the  prophet  himself  to 
withdraw  into  the  kingdom  of  Judah  and  pro- 
phesy there  (Amos  vii.  10-17). 

AMBER.  The  substance  thus  designated  in 
the  Authorized  Version  is  in  Hebrew  called 
Chasmil,  and  was  probably  a  composition  of 
several  sorts  of  metal,  since  even  the  term  by 
which  the  word  is  rendered  by  the  Greeks  fre- 
quently signifies  a  composition  of  gold  and  silver. 
The  ancients  were  acquainted  with  the  art  of 
amalgamating  various  species  of  metal ;  and  the 
Latin  miriclialcum  is  said  to  have  possessed  the 
brightness  of  gold  and  the  hardness  of  copper,  and 
might  not  improbably  have  been"  our  present 
platina,  which  has  been  re-discovered  in  the 
Ural  mountains,  after  having  long  been  known  as 
an  American  fossil.  It  is  not  improbable  that  this 
was  the  metal  termed  '  fine  copper"  (Ezra  viii.  27). 

AMBIDEXTER,  one  who  can  use  the  left 
hand  as  well  as  the  right,  or,  more  literally,  one 
whose  hands  are  both  right  hands.  It  was  long 
supposed  that  both  hands  are  naturally  equal, 
and  that  the  preference  of  the  right  hand,  and 
comparative  incapacity  of  the  left,  are  the  result 
of  education  and  habit.  But  it  is  now  known 
that  the  difference  is  really  physical,  and  that 
the  ambidexterous  condition  of  the  hands  is  not 
a  natural  development. 

The  capacity  of  equal  action  with  both  hands 
was  highly  prized  in  ancient  times,  especially  in 
war.  Among  the  Hebrews  this  quality  seems  to 
have  been  most  common  in  the  tribe  of  Benja- 
min, as  all  the  persons  noticed  as  being  endued 
with  it  were  of  that  tribe.  By  comparing  Judg. 
iii.  15,  XX.  16,  with  1  Chron.  xii.  2,  we  may 
gather  that  the  persons  mentioned  in  the  two 
former  texts  as  '  left-handed,'  were  really  ambi- 
dexters. In  the  latter  text  we  learn  that  the 
Benjamites  who  joined  David  at  Ziklag  were 
'  mighty  men,  helpers  of  the  war.  They  were 
armed  with  bows,  and  could  use  both  the  right 
hand  and  the  left  in  hurling  [slinging]  and 
shooting  arrows  out  of  a  bow.'  There  were 
thirty  of  them  ;  and  as  they  appear  to  have  been 
all  of  one  family,  it  might  almost  seem  as  if  the 
greater  commonness  of  this  power  among  the 
Benjamites  arose  from  its  being  an  hereditary 
peculiarity  of  certain  families  in  that  tribe.  It 
may  also  partly  have  been  the  result  of  cultiva- 
tion ;  for  although  the  left  hand  is  not  naturally 
an  equally  strong  and  ready  instrument  as  the 
right  hand,  it  may  doubtless  be  often  rendered 
such  by  early  and  suitable  training. 

AMEN.  This  word  is  strictly  an  adjective, 
signifying  '■firing  and,  metaphorically,  '■faithful! 
Thus  in  Rev.  iii.  14,  our  Lord  is  called  'the 
amen,  the  faithful  and  true  witness.'  In  Isa.  Ixv. 
16,  the  Heb.  has  'the  God  of  amen,'  which  our 
version  renders  '  the  God  of  truth,'  i.  e.  of  fide- 
lity. In  its  adverbial  sense  Amen  means  cer- 
tainly, tridy,  surely.  It  is  used  in  the  beginning 
of  a  sentence  by  way  of  emphasis— rarely  in  the 
Old  Test.  (Jer.  xxviii.  6),  but  often  by  our  Sa- 
viour in  the  New,  where  it  is  commonly  trans- 
lated '  Verily.'  In  John's  gospel  alone  it  is  often 
used  by  him  in  this  way  double,  i.  e.  '  verily, 
verily.'  In  the  end  of  a  sentence  it  often  occurs 
singly  or  repeated,   especially    at  the  end  of 


AMMAN 

hymns  or  prayers,  as  '  amen  and  amen '  (Ps.  xli. 
13;  Ixxii.  19;  Ixxxix.  52).  The  proper  signi- 
fication of  it  in  this  position  is  to  confirm  the 
words  which  have  preceded,  and  invoke  the  ful- 
filment of  them:  'so  be  it'  Hence  in  oaths, 
after  the  priest  has  repeated  the  words  of  the 
covenant  or  imprecation,  all  those  who  pro- 
nounced the  amen  hound  themselves  by  the  oath 
(Num.  V.  22;  Deut.  xxvii.  15,  20;  Neh.  v.  13; 
viii.  6  ;  1  Chron.  xvi.  3(3 ;  comp.  Ps.  cvi.  48). 

AMETHYST.  The  word  thus  translated  in 
the  common  version  is  in  Hebrew  Achlamah, 
and  is  the  name  of  the  precious  stone  mentioned 
in  Scripture  as  tlie  ninth  in  the  breastplate  of 
the  high-priest  (Exod.  xxviii.  19;  xxxix.  12): 
in  the  New  Testament  the  precise  word  aviethijst 
(which  is  Greek)  designates  the  twelfth  stone 
in  the  foundations  of  the  New  Jerusalem  (Rev. 
xxi.  20). 

The  transparent  gems  called  amethysts  are  of 
a  colour  which  seems  composed  of  a  strong  blue 
and  deep  red ;  and  according  as  either  of  these 
prevails,  exhibit  different  tinges  of  purple,  some- 
times approaching  to  violet,  and  sometimes  de- 
clining even  to  a  rose  colour.  All  the  varieties 
of  it  are  comprehended  under  two  species,  the 
Oriental  Amethyst  and  the  Occidental  Amethyst. 
The  Oriental  amethyst  is  very  scarce,  and  of 
great  hardness,  lustre,  and  beauty.  It  is  in  fact 
a  rare  variety  of  the  adamantine  spar,  or  co- 
rundum. Next  to  the  diamond,  it  is  the  hardest 
substance  known.  It  contains  about  90  per 
cent,  of  alumine,  a  little  iron,  and  a  little  silica. 
Of  this  species,  emery,  used  in-  cutting  and 
polishing  glass,  &c.,  is  a  granular  variety.  To 
this  species  also  belongs  the  sapphire,  the  most 
valuable  of  gems  next  to  the  diamond ;  and  of 
which  the  Oriental  amethyst  is  merely  a  violet 
Tariety.  Like  other  sapphires,  it  loses  its  colour 
in  the  fire,  and  comes  out  with  so  much  of  the 
lustre  and  colour  of  the  diamond,  that  the  most 
experienced  jeweller  may  be  deceived  by  it. 

'J'he  more  common,  or  Occidental  amethyst, 
is  a  variety  of  quartz,  or  rock  crystal,  and  is 
found  in  various  forms  in  many  parts  of  the 
world,  as  India,  Siberia,  Sweden,  Germany, 
Spain ;  and  even  in  England  very  beautiful 
specimens  of  tolerable  hardness  have  been  dis- 
covered.   This  also  loses  its  colour  in  the  fire. 

Amethysts  were  much  used  by  the  ancients 
for  rings  and  cameos  ;  and  the  reason  given  by 
Pliny— because  they  were  easily  cut— shows 
that  the  Occidental  species  is  to  be  understood. 
The  ancients  believed  .that  the  amethyst  pos- 
sessed the  power  of  dispelling  drunkenness  in 
those  who  wore  or  touched  it,  and  hence  its 
Greek  name.  In  like  manner,  the  Rabbins 
derive  its  Jewish  name  from  its  supposed  power 
of  procuring  dreams  to  the  wearer. 

1.  AMIN'ADAB  {kindred  of  the  prince),  one 
of  the  ancestors  of  David  and  of  Christ  (Matt, 
i.  4).  He  was  the  son  of  Aram,  and  the  father 
of  Naasson,  and  of  Elisheba,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Aaron  (Exod.  vi.  23). 

2.  AMINADAB,  in  Cant.  vi.  12,  The  cha- 
riots of  this  Amiuadab  are  mentioned  as  pro- 
verbial for  their  swiftness.  Of  himself  we  know 
nothing  more  than  what  is  here  glanced  at,  from 
which  he  appears  to  have  been,  like  Jehu,  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  charioteers  of  his  day. 

AM'MAN.    [Kabbah.] 


AMMONITES 


69 


AM'MON.     [No  Ammon.] 

AM'MONITES,  the  descendants  of  the  younger 
son  of  Let  (Gen.  xix.  38).  They  originally 
occupied  a  tract  of  country  east  of  the  Amorites, 
and  separated  from  the  Moabites  by  the  river 
Arnon.  It  was  previously  in  the  possession  of  a 
gigantic  race  called  Zamzummims  (Deut.  ii.  20), 
'  but  the  Lord  destroyed  them  before  the  Am- 
monites, and  they  succeeded  them  and  dwelt  in 
their  stead.'  The  Israelites  on  reaching  the 
borders  of  the  Promised  Land,  Avere  commanded 
not  to  molest  the  children  of  Anmion,  for  the 
sake  of  their  progenitor  Lot.  But,  though  thus 
preserved  from  the  annoyance  which  the  passage 
of  such  an  immense  host  through  their  country 
might  have  occasioned,  they  showed  them  no 
hospitality  or  kindness;  they  were  therefore 
prohibited  from  'entering  the  congregation  of 
the  Lord '  (i.  e.  from  being  admitted  into  the 
civil  community  of  the  Israelites)  '  to  the  tenth 
generation  for  ever'  (Deut.  xxiii.  3).  This  is 
evidently  intended  to  be  a  perpetual  prohibition, 
and  was  so  understood  by  Nehemiah  (Neh.  xiii. 
1).  The  first  mention  of  their  active  hostility 
against  Israel  occurs  in  Judges  iii.  IS.  About 
140  years  later  we  are  informed  that  the  children 
of  Israel  forsook  Jehovah  and  served  the  gods  of 
various  nations,  including  those  of  the  children 
of  Ammon,  and  the  anger  of  Jehovah  was 
kindled  against  them,  and  he  sold  them  into  the 
hands  of  the  Philistines  and  of  the  children  of 
Ammon.  The  Ammonites  crossed  over  the 
Jordan,  and  fought  with  Judah,  Benjamin,  and 
Ephraim,  so  that  '  Israel  was  sore  distressed.' 
In  answer  to  Jephthah's  messengers  (Judg.  xi. 
12),  the  king  of  Ammon  charged  the  Israelites 
with  having  taken  away  that  part  of  his  terri- 
tories which  lay  between  the  rivers  Arnon  and 
Jabbok,  which,  in  Joshua  xiii.  25,  is  called 
'  half  the  land  of  the  children  of  Ammon,'  but 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  Amorites  when  the 
Israelites  invaded  it ;  and  this  fact  was  urged  by 
Jephthah,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  charge  was 
ill-founded.  Jephthah  '  smote  them  from  Aroer 
to  Minnith,  even  twenty  cities,  with  a  very  great 
slaughter '  (Judg.  xi.  33).  The  Ammonites  were 
again  signally  defeated  by  Saul  (b.c.  1095) 
(1  Sam.  xi.  11),  and,  according  to  Josephus, 
their  king  Nahash  was  slain.  His  successor, 
who  bore  the  same  name,  was  a  friend  of  David, 
and  died  some  years  after  his  accession  to  the 
throne.  In  consequence  of  the  gross  insult 
oftered  to  David's  ambassadors  by  his  son 
Hanun  (2  Sam.  x.  4),  a  war  ensued,  in  which 
the  Ammonites  were  defeated,  and  their  allies 
the  Syrians  were  so  daunted  '  that  they  feared 
to  help  the  children  of  Ammon  any  more' 
(2  Sam.  X.  19).  In  the  following  year  David 
took  their  metropolis,  Rabbah,  and  great  abund- 
ance of  spoil,  which  is  probably  mentioned  by 
anticipation  in  2  Sam.  viii.  12(2  Sam.  x.  14; 
xii.  26-31).  In  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  (b.c. 
896)  the  Ammonites  joined  with  the  Moabites 
and  other  tribes  belonging  to  Mount  Seir,  to 
invade  Judah;  but,  by  the  divine  intervention, 
were  led  to  destroy  one  another.  Jehoshaphat 
and  his  people  were  three  days  in  gathering  the 
spoil  (2  Chron.  xx.  25).  The  Ammonites  •  gave 
gifts '  to  Uzziah  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  8),  and  paid  a 
tribute  to  his  son  Jotham  for  three  successive 
years,  consisting  of  100  talents  of  silver,  1000 


64 


AMON 


measures  of  wheat,  and  as  man)'  of  barley. 
When  the  two  and  a  half  tribes  were  carried 
j  away  captive,  the  Ammonites  took  possession  of 
the  towns  belonging  to  the  tribe  of  Gad  (Jerem. 
xlix.  1).  'Bauds  of  the  children  of  Ammon' 
and  of  other  nations  came  up  with  Nebuchad- 
nezzar against  Jerusalem  (b.c.  607),  and  joined 
in  exulting  over  its  fall  (Ezek.  xxv.  3,  6).  Yet 
they  allowed  some  of  the  fugitive  Jews  to  take 
refuge  among  them,  and  even  to  intermarry 
( Jer.  xl.  11;  Neh.  xiii.  23).  On  the  return  of 
the  Jews  from  Babylon  the  Ammonites  mani- 
fested their  ancient  hostility  by  deriding  and 
opposing  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  (Neh.  iv. 
3,  7,  8).  Both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  expressed 
vehement  indignation  against  those  Jews  who 
had  intermarried  with  the  heathen,  and  thus 
transgressed  the  divine  command  (Deut.  vii.  3  ; 
Ezra  X.;  Neh.  xiii.  25).  Judas  Maccabseus 
(B.C.  164)  fought  many  battles  with  the  Ammo- 
nites, and  took  Jazer  with  the  towns  belonging 
to  it.  Justin  Martyr  affirms  that  in  his  time  the 
Ammonites  were  still  numerous. 

The  national  idol  of  the  Ammonites  was 
Molech  or  Milcom,  whose  worship  was  intro- 
duced among  the  Israelites  by  the  Ammonitish 
wives  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  xi.  5,  7)  ;  and  the 
high  places  built  by  that  sovereign  for  this 
*  abomination '  were  not  destroj'ed  till  the  reign 
of  Josiah  (B.C.  610)  (2  Kings  xxiii.  13). 

Besides  Nahash  and  Hanun,  an  Ammonitish 
king  Baalis  is  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  (xl.  14). 
In  the  writings  of  the  prophets  terrible  denun- 
ciations are  uttered  against  the  Ammonites  on 
account  of  their  rancorous  hostility  to  the  people 
of  Israel ;  and  the  destruction  of  their  metro- 
polis, Eabbah,  is  distinctly  foretold  (Zeph.  ii. 
8;  Jer.  xlix.  1-6;  Ezek.  xxv.  1-5,  10;  Amos  i. 
13-15). 

AM'NON  {faithful),  the  eldest  son  of  David, 
by  Ahinoam  of  Jezreel.  He  was  born  at 
Hebron,  about  B.C.  1056.  He  is  only  known  for 
his  atrocious  conduct  towards  his  half-sister 
Tamar,  which  her  fiill-brother  Absalom  reveuged 
two  years  after,  by  causing  him  to  be  assas- 
sinated while  a  guest  at  his  table,  in  b.c.  1032 
(2  Sam.  xiii.)     [Absalom]. 

A'MON  (Jer.  xlvi.  25)  is  the  name  of  an 
Egyptian  god,  in  whom  the  classical  writers 
unanimously  recognise  their  own  Zeus  and  Ju- 
piter.    His  chief  temple  and  oracle  in  Egypt 


AMOEITES 

were  at  Thebes,  a  city  peculiarly  consecrated  to 
him,  and  which  is  probably  meant  by  the  No 
and  No  Amon  of  the  prophets.  He  is  generally 
represented  on  Egyptian  monuments  by  the 
seated  figure  of  a  man  with  a  ram's  head,  or  by 
that  of  an  entire  ram,  and  of  a  blue  colour.  In 
honour  of  him,  the  inhabitants  of  the  Thebaid 
abstained  from  the  flesh  of  sheep,  but  they  an- 
nually sacrificed  a  ram  to  him  and  dressed  his 
image  in  the  hide. 

As  for  the  power  which  was  worshipped  under 
the  form  of  Amon,  it  has  been  asserted  that  the 
Libyans  adored  the  setting  sun  under  that  of 
their  Ammon  ;  others  have  endeavoured  to  prove 
that  Amon  represented  the  sun  at  the  vernal 
equinox.  But  nothing  very  definite  is  known 
upon  the  subject,  though  the  fact  seems  placed 
beyond  a  doubt  that  Amon  bears  some  relation 
to  the  sun. 

AMON  (artificer),  son  of  Manasseh,  and  four- 
teenth king  of  Judah,  who  began  to  reign  B.C. 
641,  and  reigned  two  years.  He  appears  to 
have  derived  little  benefit  from  the  instructive 
example  which  the  sin,  punishment,  and  repent- 
ance of  his  father  offered ;  for  he  restored  ido- 
latry, and  again  set  up  the  images  which  Ma- 
nasseh had  cast  down.  He  was  assassinated  in 
a  court  conspiracy :  but  the  people  put  the 
regicides  to  death,  and  raised  to  the  throne  his 
son  Josiah,  then  but  eight  years  old  (2  Kings 
xxi.  19-26;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  21-25). 

AM'ORITES,  the  descendants  of  one  of  the 
sons  of  Canaan.  They  were  the  most  powerful 
and  distinguished  of  the  Canaanitish  nations. 
We  find  them  first  noticed  in  Gen.  xiv.  7.  In 
the  promise  to  Abraham  (Gen.  xv.  21),  the 
Amorites  are  specified  as  one  of  the  nations 
whose  country  would  be  given  to  his  posterity. 
But  at  that  time  three  confederates  of  the 
patriarch  belonged  to  this  tribe ;  Mamre,  Aner, 
and  Eshcol  (Gen.  xiv.  13,  24).  When  the 
Israelites  were  about  to  enter  the  promised  land, 
the  Amoi-ites  occupied  a  tract  on  both  sides  of 
the  Jordan.  Tliat  part  of  their  territories  which 
lay  to  the  east  of  the  Jordan  was  allotted  to  the 
tribes  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  half  the  tribe  of 
Manasseh.  They  were  under  two  kings — Sihon, 
king  of  Heshbon,  and  Og,  king  of  Bashan  (Deut. 
i.  4;  Josh.  xii.  4 ;  xiii.  12).  Before  hostilities 
commenced  messengers  were  sent  to  Sihon,  re- 
questing permission  to  pass  through  his  land; 
but  Sihon  refused,  and  came  to  Jahaz  and 
fought  with  Israel ;  and  Israel  smote  him  with 
the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  possessed  his  land 
from  Amon  (Modjeb)  unto  Jabbok  (Zerka) 
(Num.  xxi.  24).  Og  also  gave  battle  to  the 
Israelites  at  Edrei,  and  was  totally  defeated. 
After  the  capture  of  Ai,  five  kings  of  the  Amo- 
rites, whose  dominions  lay  within  the  allotment 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  leagued  together  to  wreak 
vengeance  on  the  Gibeouites  for  having  made  a 
separate  peace  with  the  invaders.  Joshua,  on 
being  apprised  of  their  design,  marched  to 
Gibeon  and  defeated  them  with  great  slaughter 
(Josh.  X.  10).  Another  confederacy  was  shortly 
after  formed  on  a  still  larger  scale;  the  asso- 
ciated forces  are  described  as  'much  people, 
even  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore  in  multitude, 
with  horses  and  chariots  very  many '  (Josh.  xi.  4). 
Joshua  came  suddenly  upon  them  by  the  waters 
of  Merom  (the  modern  lake  Huleh),  and  Israel 


AMOS 

Bmote  them  until  they  left  none  remaining 
(Josh.  xi.  8).  Still,  after  their  severe  defeats, 
the  Amorites,  by  means  of  their  war-chariots 
and  cavalry,  confined  the  Danites  to  the  hills, 
and  would  not  suffer  them  to  settle  in  the 
plains :  they  even  succeeded  in  retaining  pos- 
session of  some  of  the  mountainous  parts  ( Judg. 
i.  34-36).  It  is  mentioned  as  an  extraordinary 
circumstance  that  in  the  days  of  Samuel  there 
was  peace  between  Israel  and  the  Amorites 
(1  Sam.  vii.  14).  In  Solomon's  reign  a  tribute 
of  bond-service  was  levied  on  the  remnant  of 
the  Amorites  and  other  Canaanitish  nations 
(1  Kings  ix.  21  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  8). 

A'MOS  (borne),  one  of  the  twelve  minor 
prophets,  and  a  contemporary  of  Isaiah  and 
Hosea.  He  was  a  native  of  Tekoah,  about  six 
miles  south  of  Bethlehem,  inhabited  chiefly  by 
shepherds,  to  which  class  he  belonged,  being 
also  a  dresser  of  sycamore-trees.  The  period 
during  which  he  filled  the  prophetic  office  was 
of  short  duration,  unless  we  suppose  that  he 
uttered  other  predictions  which  are  not  recorded. 
It  is  stated  expressly  that  he  prophesied  in  the 
days  of  Uzziah,  king  of  Judah,  and  in  the  days 
of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of  Joash,  king  of  Israel, 
two  years  before  the  earthquake  (Amos  i.  1). 
As  Uzziah  and  Jeroboam  were  contemporaries 
for  about  fourteen  years,  from  b.c,  798  to  784, 
the  latter  of  these  dates  will  mark  the  period 
when  Amos  prophesied. 

When  Amos  received  his  commission,  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  which  had  been  '  cut  short ' 
by  Hazael  (2  Kings  x.  32)  towards  the  close  of 
Jehu's  reign,  was  restored  to  its  ancient  limits 
and  splendour  by  Jeroboam  the  Second  (2  Kings 
xiv.  25).  But  the  restoration  of  national  pros- 
perity was  followed  by  the  prevalence  of  luxury, 
licentiousness,  and  oppression,  to  an  extent  that 
again  provoked  the  divine  displeasure,  and 
Amos  was  called  from  the  sheep-folds  to  be  the 
harbinger  of  the  coming  judgments.  Not  that 
his  commission  was  limited  entirely  to  Israel. 
The  thunder-storm  (as  Ruckert  poetically  ex- 
presses it)  rolls  over  all  the  surrounding  king- 
doms, touches  Judah  in  its  progress,  and  at 
length  settles  upon  Israel.  Chap.  i. ;  ii.  1-5, 
form  a  solemn  prelude  to  the  main  subject ; 
nation  after  nation  is  summoned  to  judgment. 
Israel  is  then  addressed  in  the  same  style,  and 
in  chap.  iii.  (after  a  brief  rebuke  of  the  twelve 
tribes  collectively)  its  degenerate  state  is  strik- 
ingly portrayed,  and  the  denunciations  of  divine 
justice  are  intermingled,  like  repeated  thunder- 
claps, to  the  end  of  chap.  vi.  The  seventh  and 
eighth  chapters  contain  various  symbolical 
visions,  with  a  brief  historical  ppisode  (vii. 
10-17).  In  the  ninth  chapter  the  majesty  of 
Jehovah  and  the  terrors  of  his  justice  are  set 
forth  with  a  sublimity  of  diction  which  rivals 
and  partly  copies  that  of  the  royal  Psalmist 
(comp.  vers.  2,  3,  with  Ps.  cix.,  and  ver.  6  with 
Ps.  civ.).  Towards  the  close  the  scene  brightens, 
and  from  the  eleventh  verse  to  the  end  the  pro- 
mises of  the  divine  mercy  and  returning  favour 
to  the  chosen  race  are  exhibited  in  imagery  of 
great  beauty  taken  from  rural  life. 

The  writings  of  this  prophet  afford  clear 
evidence  that  the  existing  religious  institutions 
both  of  Judah  and  Israel  (with  the  exception  of 
the  corruptions  introduced  by  Jeroboam)  were 


AMULET 


65 


framed  according  fo  the  rules  prescribed  in  the    ] 
Pentateuch,  a  fact  which  furnishes  a  conclusive    ' 
argument  for  the  genuineness  of  the  Mosaic  re- 
cords. 

The  canonicity  of  the  book  of  Amos  is  amply 
supported  both  by  Jewish  and  Christian  autho- 
rities. Philo,  Josephus,  and  the  Talmud  include 
it  among  the  minor  prophets.  It  is  also  in  the 
catalogues  of  Melito,  Jerome,  and  the  fiOth  canon 
of  the  Council  of  Laodicea.  Justin  Martyr, 
quotes  a  considerable  part  of  the  5th  and  Kth 
chapters,  which  he  introduces  by  saying, — 
*  Hear  how  he  speaks  concerning  these  by  Amos, 
one  of  the  twelve.'  There  are  two  quotations 
from  it  in  the  New  Testament :  the  first  (v.  25, 
2())  by  the  proto-martyr  Stephen,  Acts  vii.  42 ; 
the  second  (ix.  11)  by  the  apostle  James,  Acts 
XV.  16. 

A'MOSIS,  an  Egyptian  monarch,  the  founder 
of  the  eighteenth  dynasty,  who  ascended  the 
throne  in  B.C.  1575.  The  period  of  his  accession, 
and  the  change  which  then  took  place  in  the 
reigning  family,  strongly  confirm  the  opinion  of 
his  being  the  '  new  king  who  knew  not  Joseph ' 
(Exod.  i.  8) ;  and  if  it  be  considered  that  he  was 
from  the  distant  province  of.  Thebes,  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  expect  that  the  Hebrews  would  be 
strangers  to  him,  and  that  he  would  be  likely 
to  look  upon  them  with  the  same  distrust  and 
contempt  with  which  the  Egyptians  usually  re- 
garded foreigners. 

AMPHIP'OLIS,  a  city  of  Greece,  through 
which  Paul  and  Silas  passed  on  their  way  from 
Philippi  to  Thessalonica  (Acts  xvii.  1).  It  was 
situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  Strymon 
just  below  its  egress  from  the  lake  Kerkine  (now 
Takino),  and  about  three  miles  above  its  influx 
into  the  sea.  This  situation  upon  the  banks  of 
a  navigable  river,  a  short  distance  from  the  sea, 
with  the  vicinity  of  the  woods  of  Kerkine,  and 
the  gold-mines  of  Mount  Panga;us,  rendered 
Amphipolis  a  place  of  much  importance,  and  an 
object  of  contest  between  the  Thracians,  Athe- 
nians, Lacedaemonians,  and  Macedonians,  to 
whom  it  successively  belonged.  It  has  long  been 
in  ruins ;  and  a  village  of  about  one  hundred 
houses,  called  Jeni-keui,  now  occupies  part  of  its 
site. 

AM'R  AM,  son  of  Kohath,  of  the  tribe  of  Levi. 
He  married  his  father's  sister  Jochebed,  by 
whom  he  had  Aaron,  IMiriam,  and  Moses.  He 
died  in  Egypt,  at  the  age  of  137  years  (Exod.  vi.). 

AM'RAPHEL,  king  of  Shinar,  one  of  the  four 
kings  who  invaded  Palestine  in  the  time  of 
Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  1,  2,  sq.)  [Abraham; 
Chedorlaomer]. 

AMULET  (Isa.  iii.  20).  From  the  earliest 
ages  the  Orientals  have  believed  in  the  influences 
of  the  stars,  in  spells,  witchcraft,  and  the  malign 
power  of  the  evil  eye ;  and  to  protect  themselves 
against  the  maladies  and  other  evils  which  such 
influences  were  supposed  to  occasion,  almost  all 
the  ancient  nations  wore  amulets.  These  amu- 
lets consisted,  and  still  consist,  chiefly  of  tickets 
inscribed  with  sacred  sentences,  and  of  certain 
stones  or  pieces  of  metal.  Not  only  were  per- 
sons thus  protected,  but  even  houses  were,  as 
they  still  are,  guarded  from  supposed  malign 
influences  by  certain  holy  inscriptions  upon  the 
doors. 

The  previous  existence  of  these  customs    is 


66 


AMULET 


AN  AM  AS 


implied  in  the  attempt  of  Moses  to  turn  them 
to  becoming  uses,  by  directing  that  certain  pas- 
sages extracted  from  the  law  should  be  employed 
(Exod.  xiii.  9,  16;  Deut.  vi.  8;  xi.  18).  the 
door-schedules  being  noticed  elsewhere,  we  here 
limit  our  attention  to  personal  amulets.  By 
this  religious  appropriation  the  then  all-pervading 
tendency  to  idolatry  was  in  this  matter  obviated, 
although  in  later  times,  when  the  tendency  to 
idolatry  had  passed  away,  such  written  scrolls 
degenerated  ii.to  instruments  of  superstition. 


34.  [1.  Modern  Oriental.    2,  3,  4,  5.  Ancient  Egyptian.] 

The  ear-rings  (Auth.  Vers.)  of  Isa.  iii.  20,  it  is 
now  allowed,  denote  amulets,  although  they 
served  also  the  purpose  of  ornament.  They  were 
probably  precious  stones,  or  small  plates  of  gold 
or  silver,  with  sentences  of  the  law  or  magic 
formulae  inscribed  on  them,  and  worn  in  the 
ears,  or  suspended  by  a  chain  round  the  neck. 
It  is  certain  that  earrings  were  sometimes  used 
in  this  way  as  instruments  of  superstition,  and 
that  at  a  very  early  period  (Gen.  xxxv.  4),  and 
they  are  still  used  as  charms  in  the  East.  Au- 
gustin  speaks  sti-ongly  against  ear-rings  that 
■were  worn  as  amulets  in  his  time. 

Some  have  supposed  that  these  amulets  were 
charms  inscribed  on  silver  and  gold  similar 
to  those  ornamental  little  cases  for  written 
charms  which  are  still  used  by  Arab  women. 
This  is  represented  in  the  first  figure  of  the  cut 
No.  34.  The  writing  is  covered  with  waxed 
cloth,  and  enclosed  in  a  case  of  thin  embossed 
gold  or  silver,  which  is  attached  to  a  silk  string, 
or  a  chain,  and  generally  hung  on  the  right  side, 
above  the  girdle,  the  string  or  chain  being  passed 
over  the  left  shoulder.  Amulets  of  this  shape, 
or  of  a  triangular  form,  are  worn  by  women  and 
children  ;  and  those  of  the  latter  shape  are  often 
attached  to  children's  head-dress. 

The  superstitions  connected  with  amulets  grew 
to  a  great  height  in  the  later  periods  of  the 
Jewish  history.  '  There  was  hardly  any  people 
in  the  whole  world,'  says  Lightfoot,  '  that  more 
used  or  were  more  fond  of  amulets,  charms, 
mutterings,  exorcisms,  and  all  kinds  of  enchant- 
ments. .  .  .  The  amulets  were  eHher  little  roots 
hang  about  the  neck  of  sick  persons,  or,  what 
was  more  common,  bits  of  paper  (and  parch- 


ment), with  words  written  on  them,  whereby  it 
was  supposed  that  diseases  were  either  driven 
away  or  cured.  They  wore  such  amulets  all  the 
week,  but  were  forbidden  to  go  abroad  with 
them  on  the  Sabbath,  unless  they  were  "  approved 
amulets,"  that  is,  were  prescribed  by  a  person 
who  knew  that  at  least  three  persons  had  been 


cured  by  the  same  means.  In  these  amulets 
mysterious  names  and  characters  were  occasion- 
ally employed,  in  lieu  of  extracts  from  the  law. 
One  of  the  most  usual  of  these  was  the  cabalistic 
hexagonal  figure  known  as  the  "  shield  of  David" 
and  "  the  seal  of  Solomon."  ' 

A'NAB,  one  of  the  cities  in  the  mountains  of 
Jndah,  from  which  Joshua  expelled  the  Anakim 
(Josh.  xi.  21  ;  XV.  50). 

A'NAH  {responder),  son  of  Zibeon  the  Hivite, 
and  father  of  Esau's  wife  Aholibamah  (Gen. 
xxxvi.  24).  While  feeding  asses  in  the  desert 
he  discovered  '  warm  springs,'  as  the  original  is 
rendered  by  Jerome.  Gesenius  and  most 
modern  critics  think  this  interpretation  correct, 
supporti?d  as  it  is  by  the  fact  that  warm  springs 
are  still  found  in  the  region  east  of  the  Dead 
Sea. 

AN'AKIM,  orBENE-ANAK  and  Bene-Anakim, 
a  wandering  nation  of  southern  Canaan,  de- 
scended from  Anak,  whose  name  it  bore  (Josh, 
xi.  21).  It  was  composed  of  three  tribes,  de- 
scended from  and  named  after  the  three  sons  of 
Anak — Ahiman,  Sesai,  and  Talmai.  When  the 
Israelites  invaded  Canaan,  the  Anakim  were  in 
possession  of  Hebron,  Debir,  Anak,  and  other 
towns  in  the  country  of  the  south.  'Their  formi- 
dable stature  and  appearance  alarmed  the  He- 
brew spies ;  but  they  were  eventually  overcome 
and  expelled  by  Caleb,  when  the  remnant  of  the 
race  took  refiige  among  the  Philistines  (Num. 
xiii.  33;  Deut.  ix.  2;  Josh.  xi.  21;  xiv.  12; 
Judg.  i.  20). 

ANAM'MELECH  (2  Kings  xvii.  31)  is  men- 
tioned, together  with  Adrammelech,  as  a  god  of 
the  people  of  Sepharvaim,  who  colonized  Samaria. 
He  was  also  worshipped  by  the  sacrifice  of  chil- 
dren by  fire.  No  satisfactory  etymology  of  the 
name  has  been  discovered.  The  same  obscurity 
prevails  as  to  the  form  under  which  the  god  was 
worshipped. 

1.  ANANI'AS  (same  name  as  Hananiah,  tohom 
Jehovah  hath  gracioiisli/  given),  son  of  Nebedffius, 
was  made  high-priest  in  the  time  of  the  procu- 
rator Tiberius  Alexander,  about  a.d.  47,  by 
Herod,  king  of  Chalcis,  who  for  this  purpose  re- 
moved Joseph,  son  of  Camydus,  from  the  high- 
priesthood.  He  held  the  office  with  credit,  until 
Agrippa  gave  it  to  Ismael,  the  son  of  Tali,  who 
succeeded  a  short  time  before  the  departure  of 


ANANIAS 

the  procurator  Felix,  and  occupied  the  station 
also  under  his  successor  Festus.  Ananias,  af^e^ 
retiring  from  his  high-priesthood,  '  increased  in 
glory  every  day,'  and  obtained  favour  with  the 
citizens,  and  with  Albinus,  the  Roman  procura- 
tor, by  a  lavish  use  of  the  great  wealth  he  had 
hoarded.  His  prosperity  met  with  a  dark  and 
painftil  termination.  The  assassins,  who  played 
so  fearful  a  part  in  the  Jewish  war,  set  fire  to 
his  house  in  the  commencement  of  it,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  seek  refuge  by  concealment ;  but 
being  discovered  in  an  aqueduct,  he  was  captured 
and  slain. 

It  was  this  Ananias  before  whom  Paul  was 
brought,  in  the  procuratorship  of  Felix  (Acts 
xxiii.).  After  this  hearing  Paul  was  sent  to 
Ca;sarea,  whither  Ananias  repaired,  in  order  to 
lay  a  formal  charge  against  him  before  Felix, 
who  postponed  the  matter,  detaining  the  apostle 
meanwhile,  and  placing  him  under  the  super- 
vision of  a  Roman  centurion  (Acts  xxiv.). 

2.  ANANIAS,  a  Christian  belonging  to  the  in- 
fant church  at  Jerusalem,  who,  conspiring  with 
his  wife  Sapphira  to  deceive  and  defraud  the 
brethren,  was  overtaken  by  sudden  death,  and 
immediately  buried.  The  Christian  community 
at  Jerusalem  appear  to  have  entered  into  a 
solemn  agreement,  that  each  and  all  should  de- 
vote their  property  to  the  great  work  of  further- 
ing the  Gospel  and  giving  succour  to  the  needy. 
Accordingly  they  proceeded  to  sell  their  posses- 
sionSj  and  brought  the  proceeds  into  the  com- 
mon stock  of  the  church.  Thus  Barnabas  (Acts 
iv.  36,  .37)  'having  land,  sold  it, and  brought  the 
money,  and  laid  it  at  the  apostles'  feet.'  The 
apostles  then  had  the  general  disposal,  if  they 
liad  not  also  the  immediate  distribution,  of  the 
common  funds.  The  contributions,  therefore, 
were  designed  for  the  sacred  purposes  of  religion 
(Acts  V.  I-ll). 

.\s  all  the  members  of  the  Jerusalem  church 
liad  thus  agreed  to  hold  their  property  in  com- 
mon, for  the  furtherance  of  the  holy  work  in 
which  they  were  engaged,  if  any  one  of  them 
withheld  a  part,  and  offered  the  remainder  as 
a  whole,  he  committed  two  offences— he  de- 
frauded the  church,  and  was  guilty  of  falsehood : 
and  as  his  act  related  not  to  secular  but  to  re- 
ligious affairs,  and  had  an  injurious  bearing, 
both  as  an  example,  and  as  a  positive  transgi-es- 
sion  against  the  Gospel  while  it  was  yet  strug- 
gling into  existence,  Ananias  lied  not  unto  man, 
but  unto  God,  and  was  guilty  of  a  sin  of  the 
deepest  dye.  Had  Ananias  chosen  to  keep  his 
property  for  his  ovni  worldly  purposes,  he  was 
at  liberty,  as  Peter  intimates,  so  to  do;  but  he 
had  in  fact  alienated  it  to  pious  purposes,  and  it 
was  therefore  no  longer  his  own.  Yet  he  wished 
to  deal  with  it  in  part  as  if  it  were  so,  showing 
at  the  same  time  that  he  was  conscious  of  his 
misdeed,  by  presenting  the  residue  to  the  com- 
mon treasury  as  if  it  had  been  his  entire  property. 
He  wished  to  satisfy  his  selfish  cravings,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  enjoy  the  reputation  of  being 
purely  disinterested,  like  the  rest  of  the  church. 
He  attempted  to  serve  God  and  Mammon. 

With  strange  inconsistency  on  the  part  of  those 
who  deny  miracles  altogether,  unbelievers  have 
accused  Peter  of  cruelly  smiting  Ananias  and  his 
wife  with  instant  death.  The  sacred  narrative, 
ho-wever,  ascribes  to  Peter  nothing  more  than  a 


ANATHEMA 


67 


spirited  exposure  of  their  aggravated  offence. 
Their  death,  the  reader  is  left  to  iufer,  was  by 
the  hand  of  God ;  nor  is  any  ground  afforded  in 
the  narrative  (Acts  v.  1-11)  for  holding  that 
Peter  was  in  any  way  employed  as  an  immediate 
instrument  of  the  miracle. 

3.  ANANIAS,  a  Christian  of  Damascus  (Acts 
ix.  10 ;  xxii.  12),  held  in  high  repute,  to  whom  the 
Lord  appeared  in  a  vision,  and  bade  him  pro- 
ceed to  '  the  street  which  is  called  Straight,  and 
inquire  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  called 
Saul  of  Tarsus :  for,  behold,  he  prayeth.'  Ana- 
nias had  difficulty  in  giving  credence  to  the  mes- 
sage, remembering  how  much  evil  Paul  had  done 
to  the  saints  at  Jerusalem,  and  knowing  that  he 
had  come  to  Damascus  with  authority  to  lay 
waste  the  church  of  Christ  there.  Receiving, 
however,  an  assurance  that  the  persecutor  had 
been  converted,  and  called  to  the  work  of  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  Ananias  went  to 
Paul,  and,  putting  his  hands  on  him,  bade  him 
receive  his  sight,  when  immediately  there  fell 
from  his  eyes  as  it  had  been  scales ;  and,  re- 
covering the  sight  which  he  had  lost  when  the 
Lord  appeared  to  him  on  his  way  to  Damascus, 
Paul,  the  new  convert,  arose,  and  was  baptized, 
and  preached  Jesus  Christ. 

Tradition  represents  Ananias  as  the  first  that 
published  the  Gospel  in  Damascus,  over  which 
place  he  was  subsequently  made  bishop ;  but 
having  roused,  by  his  zeal,  the  hatred  of  the 
Jews,  he  was  seized  by  them,  scourged,  and 
finally  stoned  to  death  in  his  own  church. 

ANATH'EMA,  literally  anything  laid  up  or 
suspended,  and  hence  anything  laid  up  in  a  tem- 
ple, set  apart  as  sacred. 

The  corresponding  Hebrew  word  means  a 
person  or  thing  consecrated  or  devoted  irrevoca- 
bly to  God  (Lev.  xxvii.  21,  28) :  hence,  in  refer- 
ence to  living  creatures,  the  devoted  thing,  whe- 
ther man  or  beast,  must  be  put  to  death  (Lev. 
xxvii.  29).  The  prominent  idea,  therefore,  which 
the  word  conveyed  was  that  of  a  person  or  thing 
devoted  to  destruction,  or  accursed.  Thus  the 
cities  of  the  Canaanites  were  anathematized 
(Num.  xxi.  2,  3).  Thus,  again,  the  city  of  Jeri- 
cho was  made  an  anathema  to  the  Lord  (Josh, 
vi.  17),  that  is,  every  living  thing  in  it  (except 
Rahab  and  her  family)  was  devoted  to  death ; 
that  which  could  be  destroyed  by  fire  was  burnt, 
and  all  that  could  not  be  thus  consumed  (as  gold 
and  silver)  was  for  ever  alienated  from  man  and 
devoted  to  the  use  of  the  sanctuarj'  (Josh.  vi.  24). 
The  prominence  thus  given  to  the  idea  of  a  thing 
accursed  led  naturally  to  the  use  of  the  word  in 
cases  where  there  was  no  reference  whatever  to 
consecration  to  the  service  of  God,  as  in  Deut. 
vii.  2(3 ;  it  is  sometimes  used  to  designate  the  curse 
itself  (e.  g.  Deut.  xx.  1 7). 

In  this  sense,  also,  the  Jews  of  later  times  use 
the  Hebrew  term,  though  with  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent meaning  as  to  the  curse  intended,  employ- 
ing it  to  signify  excommunication  or  exclusion 
from  the  Jewish  church.  The  more  recent  Rab- 
binical writers  reckon  three  kinds  or  degrees  of 
excommunication.  The  first  of  these  is  merely 
a  temporary  separation  or  suspension  from  eccle- 
siastical privileges,  involving,  however,  various 
civil  inconveniences,  particularly  seclusion  from 
society  to  the  distance  of  four  cubits.  The  per- 
son thus  excommunicated  was  not  debarred  enter- 
f2 


C8 


ANATHEMA 


ing  the  temple,  but  instead  of  going  in  on  the 
right  hand,  as  was  customary,  he  was  obliged  to 
enter  on  the  left,  the  usual  way  of  departure  ;  if 
he  died  -whilst  iu  this  condition  there  was  no 
mourning  for  him,  but  a  stone  was  thrown  on 
his  coffin  to  indicate  that  he  was  separated  from 
the  people  and  had  deserved  stoning.  This  kind 
of  excommunication  lasted  thirty  days,  and  was 
pronounced  without  a  curse.  If  the  individual 
did  not  repent  at  the  expiration  of  the  term,  the 
second  kind  of  excommunication  was  resorted  to. 
This  could  only  be  pronounced  by  an  assembly 
of  at  least  ten  persons,  and  was  always  accom- 
panied with  curses.  A  person  thus  excommuni- 
cated -was  cut  off  from  all  religious  and  social 
privileges  :  and  it  was  unlawful  either  to  eat  or 
drink  with  him  (compare  1  Cor.  v.  11).  _  If  the 
excommunicated  person  still  continued  impeni- 
tent, a  yet  more  severe  sentence  was  pronounced 
against'him,  -which  is  described  as  a  complete 
excision  from  the  church  and  the  giving  up  of 
the  individual  to  the  judgment  of  God  and  to 
final  perdition.  There  is,  however,  reason  to 
believe  that  these  three  grades  are  of  compara- 
tively recent  origin. 

As  it  is  on  all  hands  admitted  that  the  Hebrew 
term  which  is  the  equivalent  of  ana<^enia  properly 
denotes,  in  its  Rabbinical  use,  an  excommunica- 
tion accompanied  with  the  most  severe  curses 
and  denunciations  of  evil,  we  are  prepared  to 
find  that  the  anathema  of  the  New  Testament 
always  implies  execration  ;  but  it  is  very  doubt- 
ful whether  it  is  ever  used  to  designate  a  judicial 
act  of  excommunication.  The  phrase  '  to  call 
Jesus  anathema'  (1  Cor.  xii.  3)  refers  not  to  a 
judicial  sentence  pronounced  by  the  Jewish  au- 
thorities, but  to  the  act  of  any  private  individual 
who  execrated  him  and  pronounced  him  accursed. 
The  term,  as  it  is  used  in  reference  to  any  who 
should  preach  another  gospel,  '  Let  him  be  ana- 
thema' (Gal.  i.  8,  9\  has  the  same  meaning  as, 
let  him  be  accounted  execrable  and  accursed. 
There  is  very  great  diversity  of  opinion  respect- 
ing the  meaning  of  the  word  in  Rom.  ix.  3 ; 
some  understand  it  to  signify  excommunication 
from  the  Christian  church,  whilst  most  of  the 
fathers,  together  with  a  great  number  of  modern 
interpreters,  explain  the  term  as  referring  to  the 
Jewish  practice  of  excommunication.  On  the 
other  hand,  many  adopt  the  more  general  mean- 
ing of  accursed.  The  great  difficulty  is  to  ascer- 
tain the  extent  of  the  evil  which  Paul  expresses 
his  willingness  to  undergo;  Chrysostom,  Calvin, 
and  many  others  understand  it  to  include  final 
separation,  not  indeed  from  the  love,  but  from 
the  presence  of  Christ;  others  limit  it  to  a 
violent  death;  and  others,  again,  explain  it  as 
meauing  the  same  kind  of  curse  as  that  under 
which  the  Jews  then  were,  from  which  they 
might  be  delivered  by  repentance  and  the  re- 
ception of  the  Gospel.  There  seems,  however, 
little  reason  to  suppose  that  a  judicial  act  of  the 
Christian  Church  is  intended,  and  we  may  re- 
mark that  much  of  the  difficulty  which  com- 
mentators have  felt  seems  to  have  arisen  from 
their  not  keeping  in  mind  that  the  Apostle  does 
not  speak  of  his  wish  a.s  a  possible  thing,  and 
their  consequently  pursuing  to  all  its  results  what 
should  be  regarded  simply  as  an  expression  of 
the  most  intense  desire. 

The  phrase  '  let  him  be  anathema  maran-atha,' 


ANDRONICUS 

seems  to  be  intended  as  simply  an  expression  of 
detestation.  Though,  however,  we  find  little  or 
no  evidence  of  the  use  of  the  word  anathema 
in  the  New  Testament  as  the  technical  term  for 
excommunication,  it  is  certain  that  it  obtained 
this  meaning  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church. 

AN'ATHOTH,  one  of  the  towns  belonging  to 
the  priests  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  and  as  such 
a  city  of  refuge  (Josh.  xxi.  18;  Jer.  i.  1).  It 
occurs  also  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  27;  Ezra  ii.  23; 
Neh.  vii.  27 ;  but  is  chiefly  memorable  as  the 
birthplace  and  usual  residence  of  the  prophet 
Jeremiah  (Jer.  i.  1  ;  xi.  21-23;  xxix.  27).  Dr. 
Robinson  appears  to  have  discovered  this  place 
in  the  present  village  of  Anata,  at  the  distance 
of  an  hour  and  a  quarter  from  Jerusalem.  It  is 
seated  on  a  broad  ridge  of  hills,  and  commands 
an  extensive  view  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
mountainous  tract  of  Benjamin  ;  including  also 
the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  northern  part 
of  the  Dead  Sea.  It  seems  to  have  been  once 
a  walled  town  and  a  place  of  strength.  Portions 
of  the  -nail  still  remain,  built  of  large  hewn 
stones,  and  apparently  ancient,  as  are  also  the 
foundations  of  some  of  the  houses.  It  is  now 
a  small  and  very  poor  village.  From  the  vici- 
nity a  favourite  kind  of  building-stone  is  carried 
to  Jerusalem. 

ANCHOR.    [Ship.] 

AN'DREW,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles.  He 
was  a  native  of  the  city  of  Bethsaida  in  Galilee, 
and  brother  of  Simon  Peter.  He  was  at  first  a 
disciple  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  was  led  to  re- 
ceive Jesus  as  the  Messiah  in  consequence  of 
John's  expressly  pointing  him  out  as  '  the  Lamb 
of  God '  (John  i.  36).  His  first  care,  after  he 
had  satisfied  himself  as  to  the  validity  of  the 
claims  of  Jesus,  was  to  bring  to  him  his  brother 
Simon.  Neither  of  them,  however,  became  at 
that  time  stated  attendants  on  our  Lord  ;  for  -we 
find  that  they  were  still  pursuing  their  occupa- 
tion of  fishermen  on  the  sea  of  Galilee  when 
Jesus,  after  John's  imprisonment,  called  them  to 
follow  him  (Mark  i.  14,  18).  Very  little  is  re- 
lated of  Andrew  by  any  of  the  evangelists  :  the 
principal  incidents  in  which  his  name  occurs 
during  the  life  of  Christ  are,  the  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand  (John  vi.  8)  ;  his  introducing  to 
our  Lord  certain  Greeks  who  desired  to  see  him 
(John  xii.  22) ;  and  his  asking,  along  with  his 
brother  Simon  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee,  for 
a  further  explanation  of  what  our  Lord  had  said 
in  reference  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple 
(Mark  xiii.  3).  Of  his  subsequent  history  and 
labours  we  have  no  authentic  record.  Tradition 
assigns  Scythia,  Greece,  and  Thrace  as  the 
scenes  of  his  ministry :  and  he  is  said  to  have 
suffered  crucifixion  at  Patrse  in  Achaia,  on  a 
cross  of  the  form  (  X  ),  commonly  known  as  '  St. 
Andrew's  cross.' 

1.  ANDRON'ICUS,  the  regent-governor  of 
Autioch  in  the  absence  of  Autiochus  Epiphanes, 
who,  at  the  instigation  of  Menelaus,  put  to  death 
the  deposed  high-priest  Ouias;  for  which  deed 
he  was  himself  ignominiously  slain  on  the  return 
of  Antiochus  (2  Mace,  iv.)  b.c.  1(^9  [Onias]. 

2.  ANDRONICUS,  a  Jewish  Christian,  the 
kinsman    and   fellow-prisoner   of  Paul    (Rom. 

\'.  A'NER,  ESH'COL,  and  MAM'RE,  three 
Canaanitish  chiefs  in  the  neighbourhood  of  He- 


ANGFXS 

bron,  who  joined  their  forces  with  those  of  Abra- 
ham in  pursuit  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies, 
who  had  pillaged  Sodom  and  carried  Lot  away 
captive  (Gen.  xiv.  24).  These  chiefs  did  not, 
however,  imitate  the  disinterested  conduct  of  the 
patriarch,  but  retained  their  portion  of  the  spoil 
[Abraham]. 

2.  ANER,  a  city  of  Manasseh,  given  to  the 
Levites  of  Kohath's  family  (1  Chron.  vi.  70). 

ANGELS,  a  word  signifying,  both  in  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  messengers,  and  therefore  used  to  de- 
note whatever  God  employs  to  execute  his  pur- 
poses, or  to  manifest  his  presence  or  his  power. 
In  some  passages  it  occurs  in  the  sense  of  an 
ordinary  messenger  (Job.  i.  14 ;  1  Sam.  xi.  3 ; 
Luke  vii.  24 ;  ix.  .52)  :  in  others  it  is  applied  to 
prophets  (Isa.  xlii.  19;  Hag.  i.  13;  Mai.  iii.)  :  to 
priests  (Eccl.  v.  6;  Mai.  ii.  7):  to  ministers  of 
the  New  Testament  (Rev.  i.  20).  It  is  also  ap- 
plied to  impersonal  agents ;  as  to  the  pillar  of 
cloud  (Exod.  xiv.  19):  to  the  pestilence  (2  Sam. 
xxiv.  10,  17  ;  2  Kings  xix.  35)  :  to  the  winds 
('  who  maketh  the  winds  his  angels,'  Ps.  civ.  4)  : 
so  likewise,  plagues  generally,  are  called  '  evil 
angels'  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  49),  and  Paul  calls  his 
thorn  in  the  flesh  an  '  angel  of  Satan '  (2  Cor. 
xii.  7). 

But  this  name  is  more  eminently  and  distinc- 
tively applied  to  certain  spiritual  beings  or 
heavenly  intelligences,  employed  by  God  as  the 
ministers  of  His  will,  and  usually  distinguished 
as  angels  of  God  or  angels  of  Jehovah.  In  this 
case  the  name  has  respect  to  their  official  capa- 
city as  '  messengers,'  and  not  to  their  nature  or 
condition.  In  the  Scriptures  we  have  frequent 
notices  of  spiritual  intelligences,  existing  in 
another  state  of  being,  and  constituting  a  celestial 
family,  or  hierarchy,  over  which  Jehovah  pre- 
sides. The  practice  of  the  Jews,  of  referring  to 
the  agency  of  angels  every  manifestation  of  the 
greatness  and  power  of  God,  has  led  some  to 
contend  that  angels  have  no  real  existence,  but 
are  mere  personifications  of  unknown  powers  of 
nature :  but  there  are  numerous  passages  in  the 
Scriptures  which  are  wholly  inconsistent  with 
this  notion,  and  if  Matt.  xxii.  30,  stood  alone  in 
its  testimony,  it  ought  to  settle  the  question.  So 
likewise,  the  passage  in  which  the  high  dignity 
of  Christ  is  established,  by  arguing  that  he  is 
superior  to  the  angels  (Heb.  i.  4.  sqq.),  would  be 
without  force  or  meaning  if  angels  had  no  real 
existence. 

That  these  superior  beings  are  very  numerous 
is  evident  from  the  following  expressions,  Dan. 
vii.  10,  'thousands  of  thousands,'  and  'ten  thou- 
sand times  ten  thousand ;'  Matt.  xxvi.  53,  '  more 
than  twelve  legions  of  angels ;'  Luke  ii.  13, 
'  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host ;'  Heb.  xii.  22, 
23,  'myriads  of  angels.'  It  is  probable,  from 
the  nature  of  the  case,  that  among  so  great  a 
multitude  there  may  be  different  grades  and 
classes,  and  even  natures — ascending  from  man 
towards  God,  and  forming  a  chain  of  being  to 
fill  up  the  vast  space  between  the  Creator  and 
man— the  lowest  of  his  intellectual  creatures. 
This  may  be  inferred  from  the  analogies  which 
pervade  the  chain  of  being  on  the  earth  whereon 
we  live,  which  is  as  much  the  divine  creation  as 
the  world  of  spirits.  Accordingly  the  Scriptures 
describe  angels  as  existing  in  a  society  com- 
posed of  members  of  unequal  dignity,  power, 


ANGELS 


69 


and  excellence,  and  as  having  chiefs  and  rulers 
(Zech.  i.  11  ;  iii.  7  ;  Dan.  x.  13  ;  Jude  9  ;  1  Thess. 
iv.  16). 

In  the  Scriptures  angels  appear  with  bodies, 
and  in  the  human  form ;  and  no  intimation  is 
anywhere  given  that  these  bodies  are  not  real, 
or  that  they  are  only  assumed  for  the  time  and 
then  laid  aside.  The  fact  that  angels  always 
appeared  in  the  human  form,  does  not,  indeed, 
prove  that  this  form  naturally  belongs  to  them. 
But  thj,t  which  is  not  pure  spirit  must  have  some 
form  or  other :  and  angels  rnai/  have  the  human 
form ;  but  other  forms  are  possible.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  the  food  of  angels  has  been  very  much 
discussed.  If  they  do  eat,  we  can  know  nothing 
of  their  actual  food ;  for  the  manna  is  mani- 
festly called  'angels'  food'  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  25), 
merely  by  way  of  expressing  its  excellence. 
The  only  real  question,  therefore,  is  whether 
they  feed  at  all  or  not.  We  sometimes  find 
angels,  in  their  terrene  manifestations,  eating 
and  drinking  (Gen.  xviii.  8 ;  xix.  3) ;  but  in 
Judg.  xiii.  15,  16,  the  angel  who  appeared  to 
Manoah  declined,  in  a  very  pointed  manner,  to 
accept  his  hospitality. 

The  passage  already  referred  to  in  Matt.  xxii. 
30,  teaches  by  implication  that  there  is  no  dis- 
tinction of  sex  among  the  angels.  In  the  Scrip- 
tures indeed  the  angels  are  all  males :  but  they 
appear  to  be  so  represented,  not  to  mark  any 
distinction  of  sex,  but  because  the  masculine  is 
the  more  honourable  gender.  Angels  are  never 
described  with  marks  of  age,  but  sometimes  with 
those  of  youth  (Mark  xvi.  5).  The  constant  ab- 
sence of  the  features  of  age  indicates  the  con- 
tinual vigour  and  freshness  of  immortality. 
The  angels  never  die  (Luke  xx.  36).  But  no 
being  besides  God  himself  has  essential  immor- 
tality (1  Tim.  vj.  16) :  every  other  being  there- 
fore is  mortal  in  itself,  and  can  be  immortal  only 
by  the  will  of  God.  Angels,  consequently,  are 
not  eternal,  but  had  a  beginning,  although  there 
is  no  record  of  their  creation. 

The  preceding  considerations  apply  chiefly  to 
the  existence  and  nature  of  angels.  Some  of 
their  attributes  may  be  collected  from  other  pas- 
sages of  Scripture.  That  they  are  of  superhuman 
intelligence  is  implied  in  Mark  xiii.  32  :  '  But  of 
that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  man,  not  even  the 
angels  in  heaven.'  That  their  power  is  great, 
may  be  gathered  from  such  expressions  as 
'  mighty  angels '  (2  Thess.  i.  7) ;  '  angels,  power- 
ful in  strength '  (Ps.  ciii.  20) ;  '  angels  who  are 
greater  [than  man]  in  power  and  might.'  The 
moral  perfection  of  angels  is  shown  by  such 
phrases  as  '  holy  angels '  (Luke  ix.  26) ;  '  the 
elect  angels'  (1  Tim.  v.  21).  Their  felicity  is 
beyond  question  in  itself,  but  is  evinced  by  the 
passage  (Luke  xx.  36)  in  which  the  blessed  in 
the  future  world  are  said  to  be  '  like  unto  the 
angels,  and  sons  of  God.' 

The  ministry  of  angels,  or  that  they  are  em- 
ployed by  God  as  the  instruments  of  His  will,  is 
very  clearly  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  The  very 
name,  as  already  explained,  shows  that  God  eni- 
ploys  their  agency  in  the  dispensations  of  His 
Providence.  And  it  is  further  evident,  from 
certain  actions  which  are  ascribed  wholly  to 
them  (Matt.  xiii.  41,  49;  xxiv.  31;  Luke  xvi. 
22) ;  and  from  the  Scriptural  narratives  of  other 
events,  in  the   accomplishment  of  which   they 


70 


ANGLING 


acted  a  visible  part  (Luke  i.  11,  26;  ii.  9,  sq.; 
Acts,  V.  19,  20;  x.  3,  19;  xii.  7;  xxvii.  23), 
that  their  agency  is  employed  principally  in  the 
guidance  of  the  destinies  of  man.  In  those  cases 
also  in  which  the  agency  is  concealed  from  our 
view,  we  may  admit  the  probability  of  its  exist- 
ence ;  because  we  are  told  that  God  sends  them 
forth  •  to  minister  to  those  who  shall  be  heirs  of 
salvation '  (Heb.  i.  14  ;  also  Ps.  xxxiv.  7  ;  xci.  11 ; 
Matt,  xviii.  10).  But  the  angels,  when  em- 
ployed for  our  welfare,  do  not  act  independently, 
but  as  the  instruments  of  God,  and  by  His  com- 
mand (Ps.  ciii.  20;  civ.  4;  Heb.  i.  13,  14):  not 
unto  them,  therefore,  are  our  confidence  and 
adoration  due,  but  only  unto  him  (Kev.  xix.  10  ; 
xxii.  9)  whom  the  angels  themselves  reverently 
worship. 

It  was  a  favourite  opinion  of  the  Christian 
fathers  that  every  individual  is  under  the  care  of 
a  particular  angel,  who  is  assigned  to  him  as  a 
guardian.  They  spoke  also  of  two  angels,  the 
one  good,  the  other  evil,  whom  they  conceived 
to  be  attendant  on  each  individual;  the  good 
angel  prompting  to  all  good,  and  averting  ill ; 
and  the  evil  angel  prompting  to  all  ill,  and 
averting  good.  The  Jews  (excepting  the  Sad- 
ducees)  entertained  this  belief  There  is,  how- 
ever, nothing  to  authorise  this  notion  in  the 
Bible.  The  passages  (Ps.  xxxiv.  7  ;  Matt,  xviii. 
10)  usually  referred  to  in  support  of  it,  have 
assuredly  no  such  meaning.  The  former,  di- 
vested of  its  poetical  shape,  simply  denotes  that 
God  employs  the  ministry  of  angels  to  deliver 
his  people  from  affliction  and  danger ;  and  the 
celebrated  passage  in  Matthew  cannot  well  mean 
anything  more  than  that  the  infant  cliildren  of 
believers,  or,  if  preferable,  the  least  among  the 
disciples  of  Christ,  whom  the  ministers  of  the 
church  might  be  disposed  to  neglect  from  their 
apparent  insignificance,  are  in  such  estimation 
elsewhere,  that  the  angels  do  not  think  it  below 
their  dignity  to  minister  to  them  [S^^tan]  . 

ANGLING.  The  Scripture  contains  several 
allusions  to  this  mode  of  taking  fish.  The  first 
of  these  occurs  as  early  as  the  time  of  Job  : — 
'  Canst  thou  draw  out  leviathan  with  an  hook ; 
or  his  tongue  {^palate,  which  is  usually  pierced 
by  the  hook]  with  a  cord  [line],  which  thou 
lettest  down  ?    Canst  thou  put  a  hook  into  his 


ANISE 

nose,  or  bore  his  jaw  through  with  a  thorn?* 
(Job  xli.  1,  2).  This  last  phrase  obviously  refers 
to  the  thorns  which  were  sometimes  used  as 
hooks,  and  which  are  long  after  mentioned 
(Amos  iv.  2),  in  the  Aiith.  Vers.  '  fish-hooks,' 
literally,  the  thorns  of  fishing. 

Of  the  various  passages  relating  to  this  subject, 
the  most  remarkable  is  that  which  records,  as  an 
important  part  of  the  'burden  of  Egypt,'  that 
'  the  fishers  also  shall  mourn  ;  and  all  they  that 
cast  angle  [the  hook]  into  the  brooks  shall 
lament,  and  they  that  spread  nets  upon  the 
waters  shall  langiiish'  (Isa.  xix.  8).  In  this 
poetical  description  of  a  part  of  the  calamities 
which  were  to  befal  Egypt,  we  are  fiirnished 
with  an  account  of  the  various  modes  of  fishing 
practised  in  that  country,  which  is  in  exact  con- 
formity with  the  scenes  depicted  in  the  old  tombs 
of  Egypt.  Angling  appears  to  have  been  re- 
garded chiefly  as  an  amusement,  in  which  the 
Egyptians  of  all  ranks  found  much  enjoyment. 
Not  content  with  the  abundance  aflForded  by  the 
Nile,  they  constructed  within  their  ground  spa- 
cious sluices  or  ponds  for  fish  (Isa.  xix.  10), 
where  they  fed  them  for  the  table,  where  they 
amused  themselves  by  angling,  and  by  the  dex- 
terous use  of  the  bident.  These  favourite  occu- 
pations were  not  confined  to  young  persons,  nor 
thought  unworthy  of  men  of  serious  habits ;  and 
an  Egyptian  of  consequence  is  frequently  repre- 
sented in  the  sculptures  catching  fish  in  a  canal 
or  lake,  with  the  line,  or  spearing  them  as  they 
glided  past  the  bank.  Sometimes  the  angler 
posted  himself  in  a  shady  spot  at  the  water's 
edge,  and  having  ordered  his  servant  to  spread 
a  mat  upon  the  ground,  he  sat  upon  it  as  he 
threw  the  line  ;  and  some,  with  higher  notions 
of  comfort,  used  a  chair  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  rod  was  short,  and  apparently  of  one  piece  : 
the  line  usually  single,  though  instances  occur  of 
a  double  line,  each  furnished  with  its  own  hook. 
The  fishermen  generally  used  the  net  in  prefer- 
ence to  the  line,  but  on  some  occasions  they  used 
the  latter,  seated  or  standing  on  the  bank.  It  is, 
however,  probable  that  there  were  people  who 
could  not  afford  the  expense  of  nets ;  and  the  use 
of  the  line  is  generally  confined  in  like  manner 
at  the  present  day  to  the  poorer  classes,  who  de- 
nend  upon  skill  or  good  fortune  for  their  sub- 
sistence. 

This  last  was  doubtless  the  state  of  many  in 
ancient  Palestine,  and  probably  furnished  the 
only  case  in  which  angling  was  there  practised, 
as  we  find  no  instance  of  it  for  mere  amusement. 
The  fish  caught  in  the  lake  of  Tiberias  we;e, 
some  time  since,  taken  exclusively  with  the  rod 
and  line,  in  the  abseuce  of  boats  upon  that  water ; 
and  probably  this  is  the  case  still.  The  Egyp- 
tian hooks  were  of  bronze,  as  appears  from  the 
specimens  that  have  been  found.  Insects,  na- 
tural or  artificial,  were  not  used  in  angling, 
ground  bait  being  exclusively  employed:  and 
the  float  does  not  appear  to  have  been  known. 

ANISE.  The  original  Greek  word  Anethon, 
which  occurs  in  Matt,  xxiii.  23,  was  commonly 
employed  by  the  Greek  and  Roman  writers  to 
designate  a  plant  used  both  medicinally  and  as 
an  article  of  diet.  In  Europe  the  word  has 
always  been  used  to  denote  a  similar  plant, 
which  is  familiarly  known  by  the  name  of  Dill, 
and  there  is  v.o  doubt  that  in  the  above  passage 


ANKLETS 


ANOINTING 


it  should  have  been  so  rendered.  The  common 
dill  is  an  annual  plant,  growing  wild  among  the 
com  in  Spain  and  Portugal ;  and  on  the  coast  of 
Italy,  in  Egypt,  and  about  Astracan.  It  resem- 
bles fennel,  but  is  smaller,  has  more  glaucous 
leaves,  and  a  less  pleasant  smell :  the  fruit  or 
seeds,  which  are  finely  divided  by  capillary  seg- 
ments, are  elliptical,  broader,  flatter,  and  sur- 
rounded with  a  membraneous  disk.  They  have 
a  warm  and  aromatic  taste,  owing  to  the  pre- 
sence of  a  pale  yellow  volatile  oil,  which  itself 
has  a  hot  taste  and  a  peculiar  penetrating  odour. 


[Anethum  graveolens.] 


The  error  in  translation  here  pointed  oat  is 
not  of  very  great  consequence,  as  both  the  anise 
and  the  dill  are  umbelliferous  plants,  which  are 
found  cultivated  in  the  south  of  Europe.  The 
seeds  of  both  are  employed  as  condiments  and 
carminatives,  and  have  been  so  from  very  early 
times  ;  but  the  anethon  is  more  especially  a  genus 
of  Eastern  cultivation,  since  either  the  dill  or 
another  species  is  reared  in  all  the  countries 
from  Syria  to  India.  Jewish  authorities  state 
that  the  seed,  the  leaves,  and  the  stem  of  dill 
were  '  subject  to  tithe,'  which  indicates  that  the 
herb  was  eaten,  as  is  indeed  the  case  with  the 
Eastern  species  in  the  present  day. 

ANKLETS.  This  word  does  not  occur  in 
Scripture,  but  the  ornament  which  it  denotes  is 
clearly  indicated  by  '  the  tinkling  (or  jingling) 
ornaments  about  the  feet,'  mentioned  in  the 
curious  description  of  female  attire  which  we 
find  in  Isa.  iii.  Even  in  the  absence  of  special 
notice,  we  might  very  safely  conclude  that  an 
ornament  to  which  the  Oriental  women  have 
always  been  so  partial  was  not  unknown  to  the 
Jewish  ladies.  In  Egypt  anklets  of  gold  have 
been  found,  which  are  generally  in  the  shape  of 
simple  rings,  often  however  in  that  of  snakes, 
and  sometimes  inlaid  with  enamel  or  even  pre- 
cious stones.  The  sculptures  show  that  they 
were  worn  by  men  as  well  as  women.  Their 
present  use  among  the  women  of  Arabia  and 
Egypt  sufiiciently  illustrates  the  Scriptural  allu- 
sion. The  Koran  (xxiv.  31)  forbids  women  '  to 
make  a  noise  with  their  feet,'  which,  says  Mr. 
Lane, '  alludes  to  the  practice  of  knocking  to- 
gether the  anklets,  which  the  Arab  women  in 
the  time  of  the  prophet  used  to  wear,  and  which 
are  still  worn  by  many  women  in  Egypt.'  The 
same  writer  states  that  '  Anklets  of  solid  gold 
and  silver,  and  of  the  form  here  sketched  (like 
fig.  3),  are  worn  by  some  ladies,  but  are  more 


uncommon  than  they  formerly  were.  They  are 
of  course  very  heavy,  and,  knocking  together  as 
the  woman  walks,  make  a  ringing  noise.'  He 
thinks  that  in  the  text  referred  to  (Isa.  iii.  16) 
the  prophet  alludes  to  this  kind  of  anklet,  but 
admits  that  the  description  may  apply  to  another 
kind,  which  he  describes  as  '  Anklets  of  solid 
silver,  worn  by  the  wives  of  some  of  the  richer 
peasants,  and  of  the  sheykhs  of  villages.  Small 
ones  of  iron  are  worn  by  many  children.  It 
was  also  a  common  custom  among  the  Arabs  for 
gri-ls  or  young  women  to  wear  a  string  of  bells 
on  their  feet.  I  have  seen  many  little  girls  in 
Cairo  with  small  round  bells  attached  to  their 
anklets.  Perhaps  it  is  to  the  sound  of  ornaments 
of  this  kind,  rather  than  of  the  more  common 
anklet,  that  Isaiah  alludes.'     The  anklets  in  use 


3,  4,  8.  Modern  Oriental.] 


among  the  Arab  women  in  the  country  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  are  not  usually  solid,  but 
hollow,  so  that,  in  striking  against  each  other, 
they  emit  a  much  more  sharp  and  sonorous 
sound  than  solid  ones. 

1.  AN'NA,  wife  of  Tobit,  whose  history  is 
contained  in  the  apocryphal  book  named  after 
him  (Tob.  i.  9,  &c.). 

2.  ANNA,  an  aged  widow,  daughter  of  Pha- 
nuel,  of  the  tribe  of  Asher.  She  had  married 
early,  but  after  seven  years  her  husband  died, 
and  during  her  long  widowhood  she  daily  at- 
tended the  morning  and  evening  services  of  the 
Temple.  Anna  was  eighty-four  years  old  when 
the  infant  Jesus  was  brought  to  the  Temple  by 
his  mother,  and  entering  as  Simeon  pronounced 
his  thanksgiving,  she  also  broke  forth  in  praise 
to  God  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  ancient  promises 
(Luke  ii.  36,  37). 

ANOINTING.  The  practice  of  anointing 
with  perfumed  oils  or  ointments  appears  to  have 
been  very  common  among  the  Hebrews,  as  it 
was  among  the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  prac- 
tice, as  to  its  essential  meaning,  still  remains  in 
the  East ;  but  perfumed  waters  are  now  far  more 
commonly  employed  than  oils  or  ointments. 

In  the  Scriptures  three  kinds  of  anointing  are 
distinguishable:—!.  For  consecration  and  inau- 
guration; 2.  For  guests  and  strangers;  3.  For 
health  and  cleanliness.     Of  these  in  order. 

1.  Consecration  and  Inauguration. — The  act  of 
anointing  appears  to  have  been  viewed  as  emble- 
matical of  a  particular  sanctification ;  of  a  de- 
signation to  the  sei-vlce  of  God ;  or  to  a  holy  and 
sacred  use.    Hence  the  anointing  of  the  high- 


;   72  ANOINTING 

priests  (Exod.  xxix.  29  ;  Lev.  iv.  3),  and  even  of 
I  the  sacred  vessels  of  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xxx. 
I  26,  &c.) ;  and  hence  also,  probably,  the  anointing 
i  of  the  king,  -who,  as  '  the  Lord's  anointed,'  and, 
I  under  the  Hebrew  constitution,  the  viceroy  of 
I  Jehovah,  was  undoubtedly  invested  with  a  sacred 
I    character. 

j        The   first   instance   of    anointing   which   the 

I    Scriptures  record  is  that  of  Aaron,  when  he  was 

I    solemnly  set  apart  to  the  high-priesthood.  Being 

j    first  invested  with  the  rich  robes  of   his  high 

I    office,  the   sacred  oil  was  poured  in  much  profu- 

i    sion  upon  his  head.      It  is  from  this  that  the 

1    high-priest,  as  well  as  the  king,  is  called  '  the 

t    Anointed'  (Lev.  iv.  3,  5, 16  ;  vi.  20;  Ps.  cxxxiii. 

i    2).     In  fact,  anointing  being  the  principal  cere- 

(    mony  of  regal  inauguration  among  the  Jews,  as 

crowning  is  with  us,   '  anointed,'  as  applied  to 

a   king,   has  much    the    same   signification   as 

•  crowned.' 

As  the  custom  of  inaugural  anointing  first  oc- 
curs among  the  Israelites  immediately  after  they 
left  Egypt,  and  no  example  of  the  same  kind  is 
met  with  previously,  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that 
the  practice  and  the  notions  connected  with  it 
were  acquired  in  that  country.  With  the  Egyp- 
tians, as  with  the  Jews,  the  investiture  to  any 
sacred  office,  as  that  of  king  or  priest,  was  con- 
firmed by  this  external  sign  ;  and  as  the  Je-wish 
lawgiver  mentions  the  ceremony  of  pouring  oil 
upon  the  head  of  the  high-priest  ajter  he  had 
put  on  his  entire  dress,  with  the  mitre  and  crown, 
the  Egyptians  represent  the  anointing  of  their 
priests  and  kings  after  they  were  attired  in  their 
full  robes,  with  the  cap  and  crown  upon  their 
heads.  Some  of  the  sculptures  introduce  a  priest 
pouring  oil  over  the  monarch. 


2.  The  anointing  of  our  Saviour's  feet  by  '  the 
•woman  who  was  a  sinner '  (Luke  vii.  38),  led  to 
the  remark  that  the  host  himself  had  neglected 
to  anoint  his  head  (vii.  46) ;  whence  we  learn 
that  this  was  a  mark  of  attention  which  those 
who  gave  entertainments  paid  to  their  guests. 
Among  the  Egyptians  anointing  was  the  ordi- 
nary token  of  welcome  to  guests  in  eveiy  party 
at  the  house  of  a  friend ;  and  in  Egypt,  no  less 
than  iu  Judsea,  the  metaphorical  expression 
♦anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness'  was  fully 
understood,  and  applied  to  the  ordinary  occur- 
lences  of  life.     It  was  customary  for  a  servant 


ANT 

to  attend  every  guest  as  he  seated  himself,  and 
to  anoint  his  head. 

3.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  Egyptians, 
as  well  as  the  Greeks  and  Jews,  anointed  them- 
selves at  home,  before  going  abroad,  although 
they  expected  the  observance  of  this  etiquette  on 
the  part  of  their  entertainer.  That  the  Jews 
thus  anointed  themselves,  not  only  when  paying 
a  visit,  but  on  ordinary  occasions,  is  shown  by 
many  passages,  especially  those  which  describe 
the  omission  of  it  as  a  sign  of  mourning  (Deut. 
xxviii.  40  ;  Ruth  iii.  3  ;  2  Sam.  xiv.  2  ;  Dan.  x. 
3 ;  Amos  vi.  6 ;  Mic.  vi.  15  ;  Esth.  ii.  12  ;  Ps.  civ. 
15;  Isa.  Ixi.  3;  Ecclcs.  ix.  8;  Cant.  i.  3;  iv.  10; 
also  Judith  x.  3;  Sus.  17;  Ecclus.  xxxix.  26; 
Wisd.  ii.  7).  One  of  these  passages  (Ps.  civ.  15, 
'  oil  that  maketh  the  face  to  shine ')  shows  very 
clearly  that  not  only  the  hair  but  the  skin  was 
anointed. 

Anointing  the  Sick. — The  Orientals  are  indeed 
strongly  persuaded  of  the  sanative  properties  of 
oil ;  and  it  ^vas  under  this  impression  that  the 
Jews  anointed  the  sick,  and  applied  oil  to 
wounds  (Ps.  cix.  18;  Isa.  i.  6 ;  Mark  vi.  13; 
Luke  X.  34  ;  James  v.  14).  Anointing  was  used 
in  sundi-y  disorders,  as  well  as  to  promote  the 
general  health  of  the  body.  It  was  hence,  as  a 
salutary  and  approved  medicament,  that  the 
seventy  disciples  were  directed  to  'anoint  the 
sick'  (Mark  vi.  13);  and  hence  also  the  sick 
man  is  directed  by  St.  James  to  send  for  the 
elders  of  the  church,  who  were  '  to  pray  for  him, 
anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.' 

Anointing  the  Dead. — The  practice  of  anoint- 
ing the  bodies  of  the  dead  is  intimated  in  Mark 
xiv.  8,  and  Luke  xxiii.  56.  This  ceremony  was 
performed  after  the  body  was  washed,  and  was 
designed  to  check  the  progress  of  corruption. 
Although,  from  the  mode  of  application,  it  is 
called  anointing,  the  substance  employed  appears 
to  have  been  a  solution  of  odoriferous  drugs. 
This  (together  with  the  laying  of  the  body  In 
spices)  was  the  only  kind  of  embalmeut  in  use 
among  the  Jews  [Burial]. 

ANT,  fifth  order  of  insects,  occurs  Prov.  vi. 
6 ;  xxx.  25.  Ants  have  only  latterly  become 
the  subjects  of  accurate  observation,  and  the  re- 
sult has  dissipated  many  erroneous  notions  re- 
specting them,  and  revealed  much  interesting 
information  concerning  their  domestic  polity, 
language,  migrations,  affections,  passions,  vir- 
tues, wars,  diversions,  &c.  The  following  facts 
are  selected  as  relevant  to  Scriptural  illustration. 
Ants  dwell  together  in  societies ;  and  although 
they  have  '  no  guide,  overseer,  or  ruler,'  yet 
they  have  all  one  soul,  and  are  animated  by  one 
object — their  own  Avelfare  and  the  welfare  of 
each  other.  Each  individual  strenuously  pur- 
sues his  own  peculiar  duties ;  and  regards  (ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  females,),  and  is  regarded  by, 
every  other  member  of  the  republic  with  equal 
respect  and  affection.  They  devote  the  utmost 
attention  to  their  young.  The  egg  is  cleaned 
and  licked,  and  gradually  expands  under  this 
treatment,  till  the  worm  is  hatched,  which  is 
then  tended  and  fed  with  the  most  affectionate 
care.  They  continue  their  assiduity  to  the  pupa, 
or  chrysalis,  which  is  the  third  transformation. 
They  heap  up  the  pupa;,  which  greatly  resemble 
so  many  grains  of  wheat,  or  rather  rice,  by  hun- 
dreds in  their  spacious  lodges,  watch  them  ia 


i  ANT 

i  an  attitude  of  defence,  carry  them  out  to  enjoy 
the  radiance  of  the  sun,  and  remove  them  to 
I  different  situations  in  the  nest,  according  to  the 
j  required  degree  of  temperature ;  open  the  pupa, 
I  and  at  the  precise  moment  of  the  transforma- 
j  tion,  disenthral  the  new-born  insect  of  its  habi- 
i   liments. 

'       The  most  prevalent  and  inexcusable   error, 
J   however,  respecting    ants,  has  been   the  belief 
I    that  they  hoard  up  grains  of  corn,  chiefly  wheat, 
;    for    their   supply    during  -winter,    having   first 
bitten  out  the  germ  to  prevent  it  from  growing 
!    in  their  nests.      This  notion,  however,  is  now 
I    completely  exploded  with  regard  to  European 
I    ants.      The   mistake  has  no  doubt  arisen  from 
!   the  great   similarity,  both  in   shape,  size,  and 
I    colour,  before  mentioned,  of  the  pupa  or  chry- 
!    salis  of  the  ant  to  a  grain  of  corn,  and  from  the 
'   ants  being  obsei'ved  to  carry  them  about,  and 
j   to  open  the  cuticle  to  let  out  the  enclosed  insect. 
1   It  is  now  also  ascertained  beyond  a  doubt  that 
I   no  European  ants,  hitherto  properly  examined, 
I    feed  on  corn,  or  any  other  kind  of  grain.     Nor 
!    has  any  species  of  ant  been  yet  found  of  any 
!    hind  laid  up  in  its  nest.     The  truth  is,  that  ants 
are  chiefly  carnivorous,  preying  indiscriminately 
on  all  the  soft  parts  of  other  insects,  and  espe- 
cially the  viscera;    also  upon  worms,  whether 
dead  or  alive,  and  small  birds  or  animals.     If 
unable  to  drag  their  booty  to  the  nest,  they  make 
an  abundant  meal  upon  it,  and,  like  the  bee,  dis- 
'    gorge  it,  upon  their  return  home,  for  the  use  of 
I    their  companions ;  and  they  appear  able  to  re- 
tain at  pleasure  the  nutritious  juices  unchanged 
I    for  a  considerable  time.    Ants  are  also  extremely 
I    fond  of  saccharine  matter,  which  they  obtain 
j    from  the  exudation  of  trees,  or  from  ripe  fruits, 
1    &c. ;  but  their  favourite  food  is  the  saccharine 
j    exudation  from  the  body  of  the  aphides,  or  plant- 
lice.     These  insects  insert  their  tube  or  sucker 
between  the  fibres   of  vegetables,  where   they 
find  a  most  substantial  nutriment.     This  nutri- 
ment they  retain  a  considerable  time,  if  no  ant 
approaches  them.      The  ant  has  the  talent  of 
procuring  it  from  the  aphides  at  pleasure.     It 
j    approaches  the  aphis,  strikes  it  gently  and  re- 
!    peatedly  with  its  antenna;,  when  it  instantly  dis- 
I    charges  the  juice  by  two  tubes,  easily  discerned 
to  be  standing  out  from  its  body.     These  crea- 
tures are  the  milch  hine  of  the  ants.     By  a  re- 
markable coincidence,  which    M.  Huber  justly 
I    considers  too  much  to  be  ascribed  to  chance,  the 
aphides  and  the  ants  become  torpid  at  the  same 
degree  of  cold  (27°  Fahr.),  and  revive  together 
at  the  same  degi-ee  of  warmth.    He  says,  '  I  am 
not  acquainted  with  any  ants  to  whom  the  art 
of  obtaining  from  the  pucerons  (aphides)  their 
subsistence  is  unknown.     We  might  even  ven- 
ture to  affirm  that  these  insects  are  made  for 
their  use '  (Huber,  Natural  History  of  Ants,  p. 
210,  &c.). 

It  is  highly  probable  that  the  exotic  ants  sub- 
sist by  similar  means.  The  accounts  given  us 
of  the  termites,  or  ants,  inhabiting  the  hottest 
climates,  clearly  show  that  they  are  carnivorous. 
Bosnian,  in  his  description  of  Guinea,  says  that 
they  will  devour  a  sheep  in  one  night,  and  that 
a  fowl  is  amusement  to  them  only  for  an  hour. 
In  these  situations  living  animals  often  become 
their  victims.  An  Italian  missionary  at  Congo 
relates  that  a  cow  in  a  stall  had  been  known  to 


ANTEDILUVIANS  73 

be  devoured  by  these  devastators.  We  have 
therefore  every  reason  to  conclude  that  the  ants 
of  Palestine,  like  those  of  Europe,  are  carnivo- 
rous, become  torpid  in  winter,  and  need  no 
magazine  of  provisions.  The  words  of  Solomon 
(Prov.  vi.  6,  &c.),  properly  considered,  give  no 
countenance  to  the  ancient  error  respecting  ants. 
He  does  not  af&rm  that  the  ant,  which  he  pro- 
poses to  the  sluggard  as  an  example,  laid  up  in 
her  magazine  stores  of  grain  against  winter,  but 
that,  with  considerable  prudence  and  foresight, 
she  makes  use  of  proper  seasons  to  collect  a  sup- 
ply of  provisions  sufficient  for  her  purposes. 
There  is  not  a  word  in  them  implying  that  she 
stores  up  grain  or  other  piovisions.  She  pre- 
pares her  bread  and  gathers  her  food  (namely, 
such  food  as  is  suited  to  her)  in  summer  and 
harvest  (that  is,  when  it  is  most  plentiftd),  and 
thus  shows  her  wisdom  and  prudence  by  using 
the  advantages  offered  to  her.  The  sense  is  thus 
ably  given  by  Dr.  Hammond :  '  As  in  the  matter 
jiist  mentioned  the  least  delay  is  pernicious,  so 
in  all  things  else  sluygishness,  or  negligence  of 
those  things  which  concern  vs  ynost  nearly,  should 
ever  be  avoided ;  and  if  we  need  any  instructor 
on  this  head^  we  may  go  to  one  of  the  least  and 
meanest  of  creatures.'  The  moral,  then,  in- 
tended in  Solomon's  allusion  to  the  ant,  is  simply 
to  avail  one's  self  of  the  favourable  time  without 
delay. 

ANTEDILUVIANS,  the  name  given  col- 
lectively to  the  people  who  lived  before  the 
Deluge.  The  interval  from  the  Creation  to  that 
event  is  not  less,  even  according  to  the  Hebrew 
text,  than  1657  years,  being  not  more  than  691 
years  shorter  than  that  between  the  Deluge  and 
the  birth  of  Christ,  and  only  167  years  less  than 
from  the  birth  of  Christ  to  the  present  time,  and 
equal  to  about  two-sevenths  of  the  whole  period 
from  the  Creation.  By  the  Samaritan  and 
Septuagint  texts  (as  adjusted  by  Hales)  a  much 
greater  duration  is  assigned  to  the  antediluvian 
period — namely,  2256  years,  which  nearly  equals 
the  Hebrew  interval  from  the  Deluge  to  the  birth 
of  Christ,  and  much  exceeds  the  interval  from 
the  birth  of  Christ  to  the  present  time. 

In  the  ai-ticle  'Adam'  it  has  been  shown 
that  the  father  of  men  was  something  more  than 
'  the  noble  savage,'  or  rather  the  grown-up 
infant,  which  some  have  represented  him.  He 
was  an  instructed  man ; — and  the  immediate 
descendants  of  a  man  so  instructed  could  not  be 
an  ignorant  or  uncultivated  people.  Their  pur- 
suits from  the  first  were  agricultural  and  pas- 
toral ;  for  it  is  remarkable  that  of  the  strictly 
savage  or  hunting  condition  of  life  there  is  not 
the  slightest  trace  before  the  Deluge.  In  fact, 
savageism  is  not  discoverable  before  the  Con- 
fiision  of  Tongues,  and  was  in  all  likelihood  a 
degeneracy  from  a  state  of  cultivation,  eventually 
produced  in  particular  communities  by  that 
great  social  convulsion.  All  that  was  peculiar 
in  the  circumstances  of  the  antediluvian  period 
was  eminently  favourable  to  civilization. 

By  reason  of  their  length  of  life,  the  antedi- 
luvians had  ample  opportunities  of  acquiring 
the  highest  skill  in  the  mechanical  arts.  They 
had  also  more  encouragement  in  protracted 
undertakings,  and  stronger  inducements  to  the 
erection  of  superior,  more  costly,  more  durable, 
and  more   capacious '  edifices  and  monuments. 


A.NTEDILUVIANS 


ANTICHRIST 


public  and  private,  than  exist  at  present.  They 
might  reasonably  calculate  on  reaping  the  benefit 
of  their  labour  and  expenditure.  The  earth 
itself  was  probably  more  equally  fertile,  and  its 
climate  more  uniformly  healthful,  and  more 
auspicious  to  longevity,  and  consequently  to  every 
kind  of  mental  and  corporeal  exertion  and  enter- 
prise, than  has  been  the  case  since  the  great 
convulsion  which  took  place  at  the  Deluge. 

But  probably  the  greatest  advantage  enjoyed 
by  the  antediluvians,  and  which  must  have  been 
in  the  highest  degree  favourable  to  their  ad- 
vancement in  the  arts  of  life,  was  the  uniformity 
of  language.  Nothing  could  have  tended  more 
powerfully  to  maintain,  equalize,  and  promote 
whatever  advantages  were  enjoyed,  and  to  pre- 
vent any  portion  of  the  human  race  from  de- 
generating into  savage  life. 

The  opinion  that  the  old  world  was  acquainted 
with  astronomy,  is  chiefly  founded  on  the  ages  of 
Seth  and  his  descendants  being  particularly  set 
down  (Gen.  v.  6,  sqq.),  and  the  precise  year, 
month,  and  day  being  stated  in  which  Noah  and 
his  family,  &c.  entered  the  ark,  and  made  their 
egress  from  it  (Gen.  vii.  11;  viii.  13).  The 
knowledge  of  zoology,  which  Adam  possessed, 
was  doubtless  imparted  to  his  children ;  and  we 
find  that  Noah  was  so  minutely  informed  on  the 
subject  as  to  distinguish  between  clean  and  un- 
clean beasts,  and  that  his  instructions  extended 
to  birds  of  every  kind  (Gen.  vii.  2-4).  A  know- 
ledge of  some  essential  principles  in  botany  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Adam  knew  how  to  dis- 
tinguish '  seed-bearing  herb "  and  '  tree  in  which 
is  a  seed-bearing  fruit,'  with  '  every  green  herb  ' 
(Gen.  i.  29,  30).  With  mineralogy  the  antedilu- 
vians were  at  least  so  far  acquainted  as  to  dis- 
tinguish metals ;  and  in  the  description  of  the 
garden  of  Eden  gold  and  precious  stones  are  no- 
ticed (Gen.  ii.  12).  That  the  antediluvians  were 
acquainted  with  music  is  certain ;  for  it  is  ex- 
pressly said  that  Jubal  (while  Adam  was  still 
alive)  became  '  the  father  of  those  who  handle 
the  kinmir  and  hugab '  (Gen.  iv.  21).  The  kinmir 
was  evidently  a  stringed  instrument  resembling 
a  lyre;  and  the  hiigab  was  without  doubt  the 
pandsean  pipe,  composed  of  reeds  of  ditferent 
lengths  joined  together.  This  clearly  intimates 
considerable  progress  in  the  science. 

Our  materials  are  too  scanty  to  allow  us  to 
affirm  that  the  antediluvians  possessed  the  means 
of  communicating  their  ideas  by  writing  or  by 
hieroglyphics,  although  tradition,  and  a  hint  or 
two  in  the  Scriptures,  might  support  the  asser- 
tion. With  regard  to  architecture,  it  is  a  singular 
and  important  fact  that  Cain,  when  he  was 
driven  from  his  first  abode,  built  a  city  in  the 
land  to  which  he  went,  and  called  it  Enoch, 
after  his  son.  This  shows  that  the  descendants 
of  Adam  lived  in  houses  and  towns  from  the  first, 
and  consequently  affords  another  confirmation 
of  the  argument  for  the  original  cultivation  of 
the  human  family.  The  metallurgy  of  the  ante- 
diluvians has  been  noticed  in  '  Adam  :'  and  to 
what  is  there  said  of  agriculture  we  shall  only 
add  a  reference  to  the  case  of  Noah,  who,  im- 
mediatelj'  after  the  Flood,  became  a  husband- 
man, and  planted  a  vineyard.  He  also  knew 
the  method  of  fermenting  the  juice  of  the  grape ; 
for  it  is  said  he  drank  of  the  wine,  which 
produced  inebriation  (Gen.  ix.  20,  21).     This 


knowledge  he  doubtless  obtained  from  his  pro- 
genitors anterior  to  the  destruction  of  the  old 
world. 

Pasturage  appears  to  have  been  coeval  with 
husbandry.  Abel  was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  while 
his  brother  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground  (Gen. 
iv.  2) ;  but  there  is  no  necessity  for  supposing 
that  Cain's  husbandry  excluded  the  care  of 
cattle.  The  class  of  tent-dwelling  pastors— that 
is,  of  those  who  live  in  tents  that  they  may  move 
with  their  flocks  and  herds  from  one  pasture- 
gi-ound  to  another — did  not  originate  till  com- 
paratively late  after  the  Fall ;  for  Jabal,  the 
seventh  from  Adam  in  the  line  of  Cain,  is  said 
to  have  been  the  'father'  or  founder  of  that 
mode  of  life  (Gen.  iv.  20). 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  with  any  decision 
respecting  the  form  or  forms  of  government 
which  prevailed  before  the  Deluge.  The  slight 
intimations  to  be  found  on  the  subject  seem  to 
favour  the  notion  that  the  particular  govern- 
ments were  patriarchal,  subject  to  a  general 
theocratical  control.  The  right  of  property  was 
recognised,  for  Abel  and  Jabal  possessed  flocks, 
and  Cain  built  a  city.  From  Noah's  familiarity 
with  the  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean  beasts 
(Gen.  vii.  2),  it  would  seem  that  the  Levitical 
rules  on  this  subject  were  by  no  means  new  when 
laid  down  in  the  code  of  Moses. 

Marriage,  and  all  the  relations  springing 
from  it,  existed  from  the  beginning  (Gen.  ii. 
23-25) ;  and  although  polygamj'  was  known 
among  the  antediluvians  (Gen.  iv.  19),  it  was 
most  probably  unlawful ;  for  it  must  have  been 
obvious  that,  if  more  than  one  wife  had  been 
necessary  for  a  man,  the  Lord  would  not  have 
confined  the  first  man  to  one  woman.  The 
marriage  of  the  sons  of  Seth  with  the  daughters 
of  Cain  appears  to  have  been  prohibited,  since 
the  consequence  of  it  was  that  uuivereal  depra- 
vity in  the  family  of  Seth  so  forcibly  expressed 
in  this  short  passage,  ^  All  flesh  had  corrupted 
its  way  upon  the  earth'  (Gen.  vi.  12). 

It  is  probable  that  even  the  longevity  of  the 
antediluvians  may  have  contributed  to  the 
general  corruption  of  manners.  As  there  was 
probably  a  good  deal  of  time  upon  their  hands, 
the  temptations  to  idleness  were  likely  to  be 
very  strong;  and  the  next  step  would  be  to 
licentious  habits  and  selfish  violence.  The 
ample  leisure  possessed  by  the  children  of  Adam 
might  have  been  employed  for  many  excellent 
purposes  of  social  life  and  religious  obedience, 
and  undoubtedly  it  was  so  employed  by  many  ; 
but  to  the  larger  part  it  became  a  snare  and  the 
occasion  of  temptations,  so  that  '  the  wickedness 
of  man  became  great,  the  earth  was  corrupt 
before  God,  and  was  filled  with  violence.' 

AN'TICHRIST.  The  meaning  attached  to 
this  word  has  been  gi-eatly  modified  by  the  con 
troversies  of  various  churches  and  sects.  In 
Scripture,  however,  and  the  early  Christian 
writers,  it  has  an  application  sufficiently  distinct 
from  partial  interpretations.  Antichrist,  ac- 
cording to  St.  John,  is  the  ruling  spirit  of  error, 
the  enemy  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  as  it  is 
displayed  in  the  divinity  and  holiness  of  Christ 
This  is  the  primary  meaning  of  the  term,  and 
we  are  led  at  once  to  consider  it  as  the  proper 
title  of  Satan.  But  the  same  apostle  speaks  of 
the  existence  of  many  antichrists;  whence  we 


ANTIOCH 

learn  that  it  is  applicable  to  any  being  who 
opposes  Christ  in  the  high  places  of  spiritual 
wickedness. 

ANTI-LIB'ANUS.    [Lebanon.] 

AN'TIOCH.  Two  places  of  this  name  are 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  1.  A  city 
on  the  banks  of  the  Orontes,  300  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem,  and  about  30  from  the  Mediterranean. 
It  was  situated  in  the  province  of  Seleucis,  called 
Tetrapolis.     It  was  the  metropolis  of  Syria,  the 


ANTIOCH 


75 


-:^<) 


residence  of  the  Syrian  kings,  and  afterwards 
became  the  capital  of  the  Roman  provinces  in 
Asia.  It  ranked  third,  after  Eome  and  Alex- 
andria, among  the  cities  of  the  empire,  and  was 
little  inferior  in  size  and  splendour  to  the  latter. 
Its  suburb  Daphne  was  celebrated  for  its  grove 
and  fountains,  its  asylum  and  temple  were  dedi- 
cated to  Apollo  and  Diana.  It  was  very  popu- 
lous; within  150  years  after  its  erection  the 
Jews  slew  100,000  persons  in  it  in  one  day.  In 
the  time  of  Chrysostom  the  population  was  com- 
puted at  200,000,  of  whom  one-half,  or  even  a 
greater  proportion,  were  professors  of  Christi- 
anity. Cicero  speaks  of  the  city  as  distinguished 
by  men  of  learning  and  the  cultivation  of  the 
arts.  A  multitude  of  Jews  resided  in  it.  Se- 
leucus  Nicator  granted  them  the  rights  of 
citizenship,  and  placed  them  on  a  perfect  equality 
with  the  other  inhabitants.  These  privileges 
were  continued  to  them  by  Vespasian  and  Titus. 
Antioch  is  called  libera  by  Pliny,  having  ob- 
tained from  Pompey  the  privilege  of  being 
governed  by  its  own  laws. 

The  Christian  faith  was  introduced  at  an  early 
period  into  Antioch,  and  with  great  success  (Acts 
xi.  19.  21,  24).  The  name  'Christians'  was 
here  first  applied  to  its  professors  (Acts  xi.  26) 
Antioch  soon  became  a  central  point  for  the  dif- 
fusion of  Christianity  among  the  Gentiles,  and 
maintained  for  several  centuries  a  high  rank  in 
the  Christian  world.  A  controversy  which  arose 
between  certain  Jewish  believers  from  Jerusalem 
and  the  Gentile  converts  at  Antioch  respecting 
the  permanent  obligation  of  the  right  of  circum- 
cision was  the  occasion  of  the  first  apostolic 
council  or  convention  (Acts  xv.).  Antioch  was 
the  scene  of  the  early  labours  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
and  the  place  whence  he  set  forth  on  his  first 
missionarY  labours  (Acts  xi.  •^f, ;  xiii.  2).  Ignatius 


was  the  second  bishop  or  overseer  of  the  church, 
for  about  forty  years,  till  his  martyrdom  in 
A.D.  107, 

As  the  ecclesiastical  system  became  gradually 
assimilated  to  the  political,  the  churches  in  those 
cities  which  held  the  highest  civil  rank  assumed 
a  corresponding  superiority  in  relation  to  other 
Christian  communities.  Such  was  the  case  at 
Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch,  and,  in  the 
course  of  time,  at  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem, 
where  the  term  Exarch  was  applied  to  the  resi- 
dent bishop,  but  shortly  exchanged  for  that  of 
Patriarch.  At  the  present  time  there  are  three 
prelates  in  Syria  who  claim  the  title  of  patri- 
archs of  Antioch,  namely  :  (1)  the  patriarch  of 
the  Greek  church ;  (2)  of  the  Syrian  Mono- 
physites ;  (3)  of  the  Maronites. 

Few  cities  have  undergone  and  survived  greater 
vicissitudes  and  disasters  than  Antioch.  In  a.d. 
260  Sapor,  the  Persian  king,  surprised  and  pil- 
laged it,  and  multitudes  of  the  inhabitants  were 
slain  or  sold  as  slaves.  It  has  been  frequently 
brought  to  the  verge  of  utter  ruin  by  earthquakes  ; 
by  that  of  a.d.  526  no  le«s  than  250,000  persons 
were  destroyed,  the  population  being  swelled  by 
an  influx  of  strangers  to  the  festival  of  the  As- 
cension. The  emperor  Justinian  gave  forty-five 
centenaries  of  gold  (180,000/.)  to  restore  the  city. 
Scarcely  had  it  resumed  its  ancient  splendour 
(a.d.  540)  when  it  was  again  taken  and  delivered 
to  the  flames  by  Chosroes.  In  a.d.  658  it  was 
captured  by  the  Saracens.  In  a.d.  975  it  was 
retaken  by  Nicephoras  Phocas.  In  a.d.  1080 
the  son  of  the  governor  Philaretus  betrayed  it 
into  the  hands  of  Soliman.  Seventeen  years 
after  the  Duke  of  Normandy  entered  it  at  the 
head  of  300,000  Crusaders ;  but  as  the  citadel 
still  held  out,  the  victors  were  in  their  turn  be- 
sieged by  a  fresh  host  under  Kerboga  and  twenty- 
eight  emirs,  which  at  last  gave  way  to  their  des- 
perate valour.  In  a.d.  1268  Antioch  was  occu- 
pied and  ruined  by  Boadocbar  or  Bibars,  sultan 
of  Egypt  and  Syria;  this  first  seat  of  the 
Christian  name  being  dispeopled  by  the  slaughter 
of  17,000  persons,  and  the  captivity  of  100,000. 
About  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
three  patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Je- 
rusalem convoked  a  synod,  and  renounced  all 
connection  with  the  Latin  church. 

Antioch  at  present  belongs  to  the  Pashalic  of 
Haleb  (Aleppo),  and  bears  the  name  o?  Antakia. 
The  inhabitants  are  said  to  have  amounted  to 
twenty  thousand  before  the  earthquake  of  1822, 
which  destroyed  four  or  five  thousand.  The 
present  town  stands  on  scarcely  one-third  of  the 
area  enclosed  by  the  ancient  wall,  of  which  the 
line  may  be  easily  traced. 

2.  Antioch  in  (or  near)  Pisidia,  being  a  bor- 
der city,  was  considered  at  different  times  as 
belonging  to  different  provinces.  It  was  founded 
by  Seleucus  Nicanor,  and  its  first  inhabitants 
were  from  Magnesia  on  the  Maeander.  After  the 
defeat  of  Antiochus  (III.)  the  Great^  by  the 
Romans,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Eumenes, 
king  of  Pergamus,  and  was  afterwards  trans- 
ferred to  Amyntas.  On  his  death  the  Romans 
made  it  the  seat  of  a  proconsular  government, 
and  invested  it  with  the  privileges  of  imnmnity 
from  taxes  and  a  municipal  constitution  similar 
to  that  of  the  Italian  towns.  When  Paul  and 
Barnabas  visited  this   city  (Acts  xiii.  14),  they 


76 


ANTIOCHUS 


ANTIOCHUS 


found  a  Jewish  synagogue  and  a  considerable 
immber  of  proselytes,  and  met  with  great  success 
among  the  Gentiles  (v.  48),  but,  through  the  vio- 
lent opposition  of  the  Jews,  were  obliged  to  leave 
the  place,  which  they  did  in  strict  accordance 
with  thtir  Lord's  injunction  (v.  51,  compared 
with  Matt.  X.  l-l ;  Luke  ix.  5). 

Till  within  a  very  recent  period  Antioch  was 
supposed  to  have  been  situated  where  the  town 
of  Ak-Sheker  now  stands  ;  but  later  investigations 
have  determined  its  site  to  be  adjoining  the  town 
of  Yalobatch ;  and  Mr.  Arundell  observed  there 
I  the  remains  of  several  temples  and  churches, 
besides  a  theatre  and  a  magnificent  aqueduct ;  of 
the  latter  twenty-one  arches  still  remained  in  a 
perfect  state. 

ANTI'OCHUS,  a  name  which  may  be  inter- 
preted lie  who  ivitlistands,  or  lasts  out ;  and  denotes 
military  prowess,  as  do  many  other  of  the  Greek 
names.  It  was  borne  by  one  of  the  generals  of 
Philip,  whose  son,  Seleucus,  by  the  help  of  the  first 
Ptolemy,  established  himself  (b.c.  312)  as  ruler  of 
Babylon.  For  eleven  years  more  the  contest  in 
Asia  continued,  while  Antigonus  was  grasping 
at  universal  supremacy.  At  length,  in  301,  he 
was  defeated  and  slain  in  the  decisive  battle 
of  Ipsus,  in  Phrygia.  Ptolemy,  son  of  Lagos, 
had  meanwhile  become  master  of  southern  Syria ; 
and  Seleucus  was  too  much  indebted  to  him  to 
I  be  disposed  to  eject  him  by  force  from  this  pos- 
!  session.  In  fact,  the  three  first  Ptolemies  (b.c. 
323-222)  looked  on  their  extra-Egyptian  posses- 
sions as  their  sole  guarantee  for  the  safety  of 
Egypt  itself  against  their  formidable  neighbour, 
and  succeeded  in  keeping  the  mastery,  not  only 
of  Palestine  and  Ccele-Syria,  and  of  many  towns 
on  that  coast,  but  ol  Cyrene  and  otlier  parts  of 
Libya,  of  Cyprus,  and  other  islands,  with  nume- 
rous maritime  posts  all  round  Asia  Minor.  A 
permanent  fleet  was  probably  kept  up  at  Samos, 
so  that  their  arms  reached  to  the  Hellespont; 
and  for  some  time  they  ruled  over  Thrace.  Thus 
Syria  was  divided  bet^i  ceu  two  great  powers,  the 
voTthern  half  falling  to  Seleucus  and  his  suc- 
cessors, the  southern  to  the  Ptolemies ;  and  this 
explains  the  titles  '  king  of  the  north '  and '  king 
of  the  south,'  in  the  11th  chapter  of  Daniel. 
The  line  dividing  them  was  drawn  somewhat 
to  the  north  of  Damascus,  the  capital  of  Coele- 
Syria. 

The  first  Seleucus  built  a  prodigious  number 
of  cities  with  Greek  institutions,  not,  like  Alex- 
ander, from  military  or  commercial  policy,  but 
to  gratify  ostentation,  or  his  love  for  Greece. 
To  people  his  new  cities  was  often  a  difficult 
matter  ;  and  this  led  to  the  bestowal  of  premiums 
on  those  who  were  willing  to  become  citizens. 
Hence  we  may  account  for  the  extraordinary 
privileges  which  the  Jews  enjoyed  in  them  all, 
having  equal  rights  with  Macedonians.  But 
there  was  still  another  cause  which  recom- 
mended the  Jews  to  the  Syrian  kings.  A  nation 
thus  difiused  through  their  ill-compacted  empire, 
formed  a  band  most  useful  to  gird  its  parts  to- 
gether. To  win  the  hearts  of  the  Jews,  was  to 
■win  the  allegiance  of  a  brave  brotherhood,  who 
would  be  devoted  to  their  protector,  and  who 
could  never  make  common  cause  with  any  spirit 
of  local  independence.  For  this  reason  An- 
tiochus  the  Great,  and  doubtless  his  predecessors 
also,  put  peculiar  trust  in  Jewish  garrisons. 


Again  :  through  the  great  revolution  of  Asia, 
the  Hebrews  of  Palestine  were  now  placed  nearly 
on  the  frontier  of  two  mighty  monarchies ;  and 
it  would  seem  that  the  rival  powers  bid  against 
one  another  for  their  good  will— so  great  were 
the  benefits  showered  upon  them  by  the  second 
Ptolemy.  Even  when  a  war  broke  out  for  the 
possession  of  Coele-Syria,  under  Antiochus  the 
Great,  and  the  fourth  Ptolemy  (b.c.  218,217), 
though  the  people  of  Judaea,  as  pari  of  the  battle- 
field and  contested  possession,  were  exposed  io 
severe  suffering,  it  was  not  the  worse  for  their 
ultimate  prospects.  Antiochus  at  least,  when  at 
a  later  period  (b.c.  198)  left  master  of  southern 
Syria,  did  but  take  occasion  to  heap  on  the  Jews 
and  Jerusalem  new  honours  and  exemptions. 

The  Syrian  empire,  as  left  by  Antiochus  the 
Great  to  his  son,  was  greatly  weaker  than  that 
which  the  first  Seleucus  founded.  Scarcely,  in- 
deed, had  the  second  of  the  line  begun  to  reign 
(b.c.  280)  when  four  sovereigns  in  Asia  Minor 
established  their  complete  independence : — the 
kings  of  Pontus,  Bithynia,  Cappadocia,  and  Per- 
gamus.  In  the  next  reign — that  of  Antiochus 
Theos — the  revolt  of  the  Parthians  under  Arsaces 
(b.c.  250)  was  followed  speedily  by  that  of  the 
distant  province  of  Bactriana.  For  thirty  years 
together  the  Parthians  continued  to  grow  at  the 
expense  of  the  Syrian  monarchy.  The  great 
Antiochus  passed  a  life  of  war  (b.c.  223-187). 
In  his  youth  he  had  to  contend  against  his  re- 
volted satrap  of  Media,  and  afterwards  against 
his  kinsman  Achseus,  in  Asia  Minor.  Besides 
this,  he  was  seven  years  engaged  in  successful 
campaigns  against  the  Parthians  and  the  king  of 
Bactriana ;  and,  finally,  met  unexpected  and 
staggering  reverses  in  war  with  the  Romans,  so 
that  his  last  days  were  inglorious  and  his  re- 
sources thoroughly  broken.  Respecting  the 
reign  of  his  son,  Seleucus  Philopator  (b.c.  187- 
176),  we  know  little,  except  that  he  left  his  king- 
dom tributary  to  the  Romans  [see  also  Seleucus 
Philopator].  In  Daniel,  xi.  20,  he  is  named 
a  raiser  of  taxes,  which  shows  what  was  the  chief 
direction  of  policy  in  his  reign.  Seleucus 
having  been  assassinated  by  one  of  his  courtiers, 
his  brother  Antiochus  Epiphanes  hastened  to 
occupy  the  vacant  throne,  although  the  natural 
heir,  Demetrius,  son  of  Seleucus,  was  alive,  but  a 
hostage  at  Rome.  In  Daniel  xi.  21  it  is  indi- 
cated that  he  gained  the  kingdom  hy  flatteries  ; 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  most  lavish 
bribery  was  his  chief  instrument.  According  to 
the  description  in  Livy  (xli.  20),  the  magnifi- 
cence of  his  largesses  had  almost  the  appearance 
of  insanity. 

A  prince  of  such  a  temper  and  in  such  a  po- 
sition, whose  nominal  empire  was  still  extensive, 


ANTIOCHUS 

though  its  real  strength  and  wealth  were  depart- 
ing, may  naturally  have  conceived,  the  first  mo- 
ment that  he  felt  pecuniary  need,  the  design  of 
plundering  the  Jewish  temple.  At  such  a  crisis, 
the  advantage  of  the  deed  might  seem  to  over- 
balance the  odium  incurred :  yet,  as  he  would 
convert  every  Jew  in  his  empire  into  a  deadly 
enemy,  a  second  step  would  become  necessary — 


42.     [Antiochus  Epiphanes.] 

to  crush  the  power  of  the  Jews,  and  destroy  their 
national  organization.  The  desigii,  therefore,  of 
prohibiting  circumcision  and  their  whole  cere- 
monial, would  naturally  ally  itself  to  the  plan  of 
spoliation,  without  supposing  any  previous  en- 
mitj'  against  the  nation  on  his  part.  We  have 
written  enough  to  show  how  surprising  to  the 
Jews  must  have  been  the  sudden  and  almost  in- 
credible change  of  policy  on  the  part  of  the 
rulers  of  Syria ;  and  how  peculiarly  aggravated 
the  enmity  Antiochus  Epiphanes  must  in  any 
case  have  drawn  on  himself.  Instead  of  crushing 
his  apparently  puny  foes,  he  raised  up  heroes 
against  himself  [Maccabees],  who,  helped  by  the 
civil  wars  of  his  successors,  at  length  achieved 
the  deliverance  of  their  people ;  so  that  in  the 
170th  year  of  the  Seleucidse  (b.c.  143)  their  in- 
dependence was  formally  acknowledged,  and 
they  began  to  date  from  this  period  as  a  new 
birth  of  their  nation. 

The   change  of  policy,  from  conciliation  to 
cruel   persecution,   which  makes  the  reign    of 
Epiphanes  an  era  in  the  relation  of  the  Jews  to 
the   Syrian  monarchy,   has  perhaps  had  great 
permanent  moral  results.     It  is  not  impossible 
tiiat  perseverance  in  the  conciliating  plan  might 
have  sapped  the  energy  of  Jewish  national  faith : 
while  it  is  certain  that  persecution  kindled  their 
zeal  and  cemented  their  unity.     Jerusalem,  by 
its  sufferings,  became  only  the  more  sacred  in 
the  eyes  of  its  absent  citizens  ;  who  vied  in  re- 
placing the  wealth  which  the  sacrilegious  Epi- 
phanes had  ravished.     According  to  1  Maccab. 
vi.  1-16,  this  king  died  shortly  after  an  attempt 
to  plunder  a  temple  at  Elymais ;  and  Josephus 
follows  that  account. 
:       An  outline  of  the  deeds  of  the  kings  of  Syria 
,    in  war  and  peace,  down  to  Antiochus  Epiphanes, 
',   is  presented  in  the  II th  chapter  of  Daniel;  in 
i    which  Epiphanes   and  his   fkther  are  the  two 
I   principal  figures.     The  wars  and  treaties  of  the 
{   kings  of  Syria  and  Egypt  ffom  b.c.  280  to  B.C. 
'    165  are  described  so  minutely  and  so  truly,  in 
;   w.  6-36,  as  to  force  all  reasonable  and  well-in- 
I   formed  men  to  choose  between  the  alternatives, — 
either  that  it  is  a  most  signal  and  luminous  pre- 
,   diction,  or  that  it  was  written  after  the  event. 
!       Besides  Antiochus  Epiphanes,   the    book    of 
Maccabees  mentions  his  son,  called  Antiochus 


APE  77 

Eupator,  and  another  young  Antiochus,  son  of 
Alexander  Balas,  the  usurper ;  both  of  whom 
were  murdered  at  a  tender  age.  In  the  two  last 
chapters  of  the  book  a  fourth  Antiochus  appears, 
called  by  the  Greeks  Sidetes,  from  the  town  of 
Sida,  in  Pamphylia.  This  is  the  last  king  of 
that  house,  whose  reputation  and  power  were 
not  unworthy  of  the  great  name  of  Seleucus. 
In  the  year  B.C.  134  he  besieged  Jerusalem,  and 
having  taken  it  next  year,  alter  a  severe  siege, 
he  pulled  down  the  walls,  and  reduced  the 
nation  once  more  to  subjection,  after  only  ten 
years'  independence. 

AN'TIPAS,  a  person  named  as  '  a  faithful 
witness,'  or  martyr,  in  Rev.  ii.  13. 

2.  ANTIPAS,   or  Herod-Antipas.      [Hero- 

DIAN  FAMrLY.l 

ANTIPA'TER.    [Herodian  Famhy.] 

ANTIPA'TRIS,  a  city  built  by  Herod  the 
Great,  on  the  site  of  a  former  place  called 
Caphar-saba.  The  spot  was  well  watered,  and 
fertile ;  a  stream  flowed  round  the  city,  and  in 
its  neighbourhood  were  groves  of  large  trees. 
Caphar-saba  was  120  stadia  from  Joppa;  and 
between  the  two  places  Alexander  Balas  drew  a 
trench,  with  a  wall  and  wooden  towers,  as  a 
defence  against  the  approach  of  Antiochus.  Anti- 
patris  also  lay  between  Caesarea  and  Lydia,  its 
distance  from  the  former  place  being  twenty-six 
Roman  miles.  On  the  road  from  Ramlah  to 
Nazareth,  north  of  Ras-el  Ain,  there  is  a  village 
called  Kaffr  Saba ;  and  as  its  position  is  almost 
in  exact  agreement  with  the  position  assigned 
to  Antipatris,  it  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  place, 
this  Kaffr  Saba  being  no  other  than  the  repro- 
duced name  of  Caphar-saba,  which,  as  in  manj;- 
other  instances,  has  again  supplanted  the  foreign, 
arbitrary,  and  later  name  of  Antipatris.  St. 
Paul  was  brought  from  Jerusalem  to  Antipa- 
tris by  night,  on  his  route  to  Caesarea  (Acts 
xxiii.  31). 

ANTO'NIA,  a  fortress  in  Jerusalem,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  area  of  the  temple,  often  men- 
tioned by  Josephus  in  his  account  of  the  later 
wars  of  the  Jews.  It  was  originally  built  by  the 
Maccabees,  under  the  name  of  Baris,  and  was 
afterwards  rebuilt  with  great  strength  and  splen- 
dour by  the  first  Herod.  This  fortress  is  the 
'  castle '  into  which  Paul  was  carried  from  the 
temple  by  the  soldiers :  from  the  stairs  of  which 
he  addressed  the  people  collected  in  the  ad- 
jacent court  (Acts  xxi.  31-40). 

APE.  The  word  is  in  the  Hebrew  Koph, 
and  it  occurs  only  in  1  Kings  x.  22  and  2  Chron. 
ix.  21,  as  among  the  curiosities  in  natural  his- 
tory brought  back  by  Solomon's  ships  from  their 
distant  voyages  to  Ophir.  The  name  seems  to 
have  been  introduced  along  with  the  animals, 
for  in  Sanscrit  and  Malabaric  kapi  is  the  name 
for  an  ape.  We  cannot  of  course  attempt  to 
determine  the  species  brought  into  Palestine  on 
the  occasion  indicated;  and  the  probability 
indeed  is,  that  the  name  is  a  general  one  for  all 
or  any  of  the  quadrumana  of  which  the  Hebrews 
had  any  knowledge.  When  we  consider  the 
mode  in  which  these  animals  were  introduced, 
it  is  curious  to  compare  this  with  the  scene  in 
the  tomb  of  Thothmes  III.  at  Thebes,  where  the 
presents  and  tributes  of  various  distant  nations 
are  represented  as  being  brought  to  the  king. 
Among  these  are  several  living  animals,  includ- 


78 


APHEK 


APOCRYPHA 


43.     [Apes  from  Egyptian  Monuments.] 

ing  six  quadrumanous  animals.  The  smallest 
and  most  effaced  may  be  apes ;  but  the  others, 
and  in  particular  the  three  here  copied,  are  un- 
doubtedly Macaci  or  Cynocephali,  that  is,  a 
species  of  the  genus  baboon,  or  baboon-like  apes. 
The  association  renders  these  figures  interesting ; 
but  it  is  impossible  to  say  that  the  animals 
brought  to  Solomon  were  of  these  kinds,  or  in- 
deed to  say  to  what  species  they  should  be  re- 
ferred [Satyr]. 

APEL'LES,  a  Christian  at  Rome,  whom  Paul 
salutes  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Church  there  (Rom. 
xvi.  10),  and  calls  '  approved  in  Christ,'  i.  e. 
an  approved  Christian.  According  to  the  old 
church  traditions  Apelles  was  one  of  the 
seventy  disciples,  and  bishop  either  of  Smyrna 
or  Heracleia. 

APHAR'SACHITES  or  Apharsathchites, 
the  name  of  the  nation  to  which  belonged  one 
portion  of  the  colonists  whom  the  Assyrian  king 
planted  in  Samaria  (Ezra  iv.  9  ;  v.  6). 

A'PHEK :  the  name  signifies  strength  ;  hence 
a  citadel  or  fortified  town.  There  were  at  least 
three  places  so  called,  viz. : — 

\.  APHEK,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Asher 
(Josh.  xiii.  4 ;  xix.  30),  called  Aphik  in  Judg. 
i.  31,  where  we  also  learn  that  the  tribe  was 
unable  to  gain  possession  of  it.  A  village  called 
Afka  is  still  found  in  Lebanon,  situated  at  the 
bottom  of  a  valley,  and  may  possibly  mark  the 
site  of  this  Aphek. 

2.  APHEK,  a  tovm  near  which  Benhadad 
was  defeated  by  the  Israelites  (1  Kings  xx. 
26,  sq.),  which  seems  to  correspond  to  the 
Aphaca  of  Eusebius,  situated  to  the  east  of  the 
Sea  of  Galilee,  and  which  is  mentioned  by 
Burckhardt,  Seetzen,  and  others  under  the  name 
of  Feik. 

3.  APHEK,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Issachar, 
not  far  from  Jezreel,  where  the  Philistines  twice 
encamped  before  battles  with  the  Israelites  (1 
Sam.  iv.  1 ;  xxix.  1 ;  comp.  xxviii.  4).    Either 


this  or  the  first  Aphek,  but  most  probably  this, 
was  the  Aphek  mentioned  in  Josh.  xii.  18,  as  a 
royal  city  of  the  Canaauites. 

APHE'KAH,  a  town  in  the  mountains  of 
Judah  ( Josh.  xv.  23). 

APHKK'EMA,  one  of  the  three  toparchies 
added  to  Judaa  by  the  kings  of  Syria  (1  Mace, 
xi.  34).  This  is  perhaps  the  Ephraem  or 
Ephraira  mentioned  in  John  xi.  54. 

APH'Sl'^S,  head  of  the  eighteenth  sacerdotal 
family  of  the  twenty-four  into  which  the  priests 
were  divided  by  David  for  the  service  of  the 
temple  (1  Chron.  xxiv.  1.5). 

APOCRYPHA  {hidden,  secreted,  mi/steriotts), 
a  term  in  theology,  applied  in  various  senses 
to  denote  certain  books  claiming  a  sacred  cha- 
racter. 

In  the  Bibliotheque  Sacre'e,  by  the  Rev.  Domi- 
nican Fathers  Richard  and  Giraud  (Paris,  1822), 
the  term  is  defined  to  signify— (1)  anonymous 
or  pseudepigraphal  books ;  (2)  those  which  are 
not  publicly  read,  although  they  may  be  read 
with  edification  in  private ;  (3)  those  which  do 
not  pass  for  authentic  and  of  divine  authority, 
although  they  pass  for  being  composed  by  a 
sacred  author  or  an  apostle,  as  the  Epistle  of 
Barnabas ;  and  (4)  dangerous  books  composed 
by  ancient  heretics  to  favour  their  opinions. 
They  also  apply  the  name  *to  books  which, 
after  having  been  contested,  are  put  into  the 
canon  by  consent  of  the  churches,  as  Tobit,'  &c. 
And  Jahn  applies  it  in  its  most  strict  sense,  and 
that  which  it  has  borne  since  the  fourth  century, 
to  books  which,  from  their  inscription  or  the 
author's  name,  or  the  subject,  might  easily  be 
taken  for  inspired  books,  but  are  not  so  in 
reality. 

The  apocryphal  books,  such  as  the  3d  and  4th 
books  of  Esdras,  the  Book  of  Enoch,  &c.,  which 
were  all  known  to  the  ancient  Fathers,  have  de- 
scended to  our  times  ;  and,  although  incontestably 
spurious,  are  of  considerable  value  from  their 
antiquity,  as  throwing  light  upon  the  religious 
and  theological  opinions  of  the  first  centuries. 
The  most  curious  are  the  3rd  and  4th  books  of 
Esdras,  and  the  Book  of  Enoch,  which  has  been 
but  recently  discovered,  and  has  acquired  pecu- 
liar interest  from  its  containing  the  passage  cited 
by  the  apostle  Jude  [Enoch].  Nor  are  the  apo- 
cryphal books  of  the  New  Testament  destitute  of 
interest.  Although  the  spurious  Acts  extant 
have  no  longer  any  defenders  of  their  genuine- 
ness, they  are  not  without  their  value  to  the 
Biblical  student,  and  have  been  applied  with 
success  to  illustrate  the  style  and  language  of  the 
genuine  books,  to  which  they  bear  a  close 
analogy.  Some  of  the  apocryphal  books  have 
not  been  without  their  defenders  in  modern 
times.  They  are,  however,  regarded  by  most  as 
originally  not  of  an  earlier  date  than  the  second 
century,  and  as  containing  interpolations  which 
betray  the  fourth  or  fifth :  they  can,  therefore, 
only  be  considered  as  evidence  of  the  practice 
of  the  Church  at  the  period  when  they  were 
written. 

Most  of  the  apocryphal  Gospels  and  Acts  no- 
ticed by  the  fathers,  and  which  are  generally 
thought  to  havp  been  the  fictions  of  heretics 
in  the  second  century,  have  long  since  fallen  into 
oblivion.  Of  those  which  remain,  although 
some  have  been  considered  by  learned  men  as 


APOLLOS 

genuine  works  of  the  apostolic  age,  yet  the 
greater  part  are  universally  rejected  as  spurious, 
and  as  written  in  the  second  and  third  centuries. 
Whatever  authority  is  to  be  ascribed  to  these  do- 
cuments, it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  early 
Church  evinced  a  high  degree  of  discrimination 
in  the  difficult  task  of  distinguishing  the  genuine 
from  the  spurious  books.  '  It  is  not  so  easy  a 
matter,'  says  Jones,  '  as  is  commonly  imagined, 
rightly  to  settle  the  canon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. For  my  own  part,  I  declare,  with  many 
learned  men,  that  in  the  whole  compass  of  learn- 
ing 1  know  no  question  involved  with  more  in- 
tricacies and  perplexing  difficulties  than  this' 
{New  and  Full  Method,  i.  15).  This  writer  con- 
ceives that  testimony  and  tradition  are  the  prin- 
cipal means  of  ascertaining  whether  a  book  be 
canonical  or  apocryphal.  Inquiries  of  this  kind, 
however,  must  of  necessity  be  confined  to  the 
few.  The  mass  of  Christians,  who  have  neither 
time  nor  other  means  of  satisfying  themselves, 
must  confide,  in  questions  of  this  kind,  either  in 
the  judgment  of  the  learned,  or  the  testimony  at 
least,  if  not  the  authority,  of  the  Church ;  and  it 
ought  to  be  a  matter  of  much  thankfulness  to  the 
private  Christian,  that  the  researches  of  the  most 
learned  and  diligent  inquirers  have  conspired,  in 
respect  to  the  chief  books  of  Scripture,  in  adding 
the  weight  of  their  evidence  to  the  testimony  of 
the  Church  Universal. 

APOLLO'NIA,  a  city  of  Macedonia,  in  the 
province  of  Mygdonia,  situated  between  Amphi- 
polis  and  Thessalonica,  thirty  Koman  miles  from 
the  former,  and  thirty- six  from  the  latter.  St. 
Paul  passed  through  Amphipolis  and  Apollonia 
in  his  way  to  Thessalonica  (Acts  xvii.  1). 

APOL'LOS,  a  Jew  of  Alexandria,  is  described 
as  a  learned,  or,  as  some  understand  it,  an 
eloquent  man,  well  versed  in  the  Scriptures  and 
the  Jewish  religion  (Acts  xviii.  24).  About  a.d. 
56  he  came  to  Ephesus,  where,  in  the  synagogues, 
'  he  spake  boldly  the  things  of  the  Lord,  know- 
ing only  the  baptism  of  John'  (ver.  25);  by 
which  we  are  probably  to  understand  that  he 
knew  and  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  Messiah,  whose 
coming  John  had  announced,  but  knew  not  that 
Jesus  was  the  Christ.  His  fervour,  however,  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  whom 
Paul  liad  left  at  Ephesus;  and  they  instructed 
him  in  this  higher  doctrine,  which  he  thenceforth 
taught  openly,  with  great  zeal  and  power  (ver. 
26).  Having  heard  from  his  new  friends,  who 
were  much  attached  to  Paul,  of  that  apostle's 
proceedings  in  Achaia,  and  especially  at  Corinth, 
he  resolved  to  go  thither,  and  was  encouraged  in 
this  design  by  the  brethren  at  Ephesus,  who  fur- 
nished him  with  letters  of  introduction.  On  his 
arrival  there  he  was  very  useful  in  watering  the 
seed  which  Paul  had  sown,  and  was  instrumental 
in  gaining  many  new  converts  from  Judaism. 
There  was  perhaps  no  apostle  or  apostolical  man 
who  so  much  resembled  Paul  in  attainments  and 
(character  as  A  polios.  His  immediate  disciples 
became  so  much  attached  to  him,  as  well  nigh 
lo  have  produced  a  schism  in  the  Church,  some 
saying,  '  I  am  of  Paul ;'  others, '  I  am  of  ApoUos ;' 
others,  'I  am  of  Cephas'  (1  Cor.  iii.  4-7,  22). 
There  must,  probably,  have  been  some  difference 
in  their  mode  of  teaching  to  occasion  this ;  and 
from  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  it  would 
appear  that  ApoUos  was  not  prepared  to  go  so  far 


APOSTLE 


79 


as  Paul  in  abandoning  the  figments  of  Judaism, 
and  insisted  less  on  the  (to  the  Jews)  obnoxious 
position  that  the  Gospel  was  open  to  the  Gentiles. 
There  was  nothing,  however,  to  prevent  these  two 
eminent  men  from  being  perfectly  united  in  the 
bonds  of  Christian  affection  and  brotherhood. 
When  Apollos  heard  that  Paul  was  again  at 
Ephesus,  he  went  thither  to  see  him  ;  and  as  he 
was  there  when  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians was  written  (a.d.  59),  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  apostle  received  from  him  his  in- 
formation concerning  the  divisions  in  that  church, 
which  he  so  forcibly  reproves.  It  strongly  illus- 
trates the  character  of  Apollos  and  Paul,  that 
the  former,  doubtless  in  disgust  at  those  divisions 
with  which  his  name  had  been  associated,  de- 
clined to  return  to  Corinth;  while  the  latter, 
with  generous  confidence,  urged  him  to  do  so 
(1  Cor.  xvi.  12).  Paul  Rgain  mentions  Apollos 
kindly  in  Tit.  iii.  13,  and  recommends  him  and 
Zenas  the  lawyer  to  the  attention  of  Titus,  know- 
ing that  they  designed  to  visit  Crete,  where  Titus 
then  was. 

APOSTLE,  a  person  sent  by  another ;  a  mes- 
senger. 

The  term  is  generally  employed  in  the  New 
Testament  as  the  descriptive  appellation  of  a 
comparatively  small  class  of  men,  to  whom  Jesus 
Christ  entrusted  the  organization  of  his  church 
and  the  dissemination  of  his  religion  among 
mankind.  At  an  early  period  of  his  ministry 
'  he  ordained  twelve '  of  his  disciples  '  that  they 
should  be  with  him.'  '  These  he  named  apostles.' 
Some  time  afterwards  '  he  gave  to  them  power 
against  unclean  spirits  to  cast  them  out,  and  to 
heal  all  manner  of  disease ;'  '  and  he  sent  them  to 
preach  the  kingdom  of  God '  (Mark  iii.  14 ;  Matt. 
X.  1-5;  Mark  vi.  7;  Luke  vi.  IS;  ix.  1).  To 
them  he  gave  '  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  God,' 
and  constituted  them  princes  over  the  spiritual 
Israel,  that '  people  whom  God  was  to  take  from 
among  the  Gentiles,  for  his  name '  (Matt.  xvi. 
19 ;  xviii.  18 ;  xix.  28 ;  Luke  xxii.  30).  Previously 
to  his  death  he  promised  to  them  the  Holy  Spirit, 
to  fit  them  to  be  the  founders  and  governors  of 
the  Christian  church  (John  xiv.  16,  17,  26;  xv. 
26,  27;  xvi.  7-15).  After  his  resurrection  he 
solemnly  confirmed  their  call,  saying,  '  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me,  so  send  I  you ;'  and  gaA'e 
them  a  commission  to '  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature'  (John  xx.  21-23;  Matt,  xviii.  18-20). 
After  his  ascension  he,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
communicated  to  them  those  supernatural  gifts 
which  were  necessary  to  the  performance  of  the 
high  functions  he  had  commissioned  them  to  ex- 
ercise ;  and  in  the  exercise  of  these  gifts,  they,  in 
the  Gospel  history  and  in  their  epistles,  with  the 
Apocalypse,  gave  a  complete  view  of  the  will  of 
their  Master  in  reference  to  that  new  order  of 
things  of  which  he  was  the  author.  They  '  had 
the  mind  of  Christ.'  They  spoke  '  the  wisdom  of 
God  in  a  mystery.'  That  mystery  '  God  revealed 
to  them  by  his  Spirit,'  and  they  spoke  it  '  not  in 
words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  M^hich 
the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth.'  They  were  '  ambassa- 
dors for  Christ,'  and  besought  men,  '  in  Christ's 
stead,  to  be  reconciled  to  God.'  They  authorita- 
tively taught  the  doctrine  and  the  law  of  their 
Lord;  they  organized  churches,  and  required 
them  to  '  keep  the  traditions,'  i.  e.  the  doctrines 
and   •ordinances   delivered  to  them'   (Acts  ii. 


80  APOSTLE 

1  Cor.  ii.  16;  ii.  7,  10,  13;  2  Cor.  v.  20;  1  Cor. 
xi.  2).  Of  the  twelve  originally  ordained  to 
the  apostleship,  one,  Judas  Iscariot,  '  fell  from  it 
by  transgression,'  and  Matthias,  '  -who  had  com- 
panied'  with  the  other  Apostles  'all  the  time 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  out  and  in  among 
them,'  was  by  lot  substituted  in  his  place  (Acts  i. 
17-26).  Saul  of  Tarsus,  afterwards  termed  Paul, 
was  also  miraculously  added  to  the  number  of 
these  permanent  rulers  of  the  Christian  society 
(Acts  ix.;  xxii. ;  xxvi.  15-18;  1  Tim.  i.  12;  ii. 
7;  2Tim.  j.  11). 

The  characteristic  features  of  this  highest 
office  in  the  Christian  church  have  been  very 
accurately  delineated  by  M'Lean,  in  his  Apostolic 
Commission.  '  It  was  essential  to  their  office — 
1.  That  they  should  have  seen  the  Lord,  and 
been  eye  and  ear  witnesses  of  what  they  testified 
to  the  world  (John  xv.  27).  This  is  laid  down 
as  an  essential  requisite  in  the  choice  of  one  to 
succeed  Judas  (Acts  i.  21,  22)  Paul  is  no  ex- 
ception here;  for,  speaking  of  those  who  saw 
Christ  after  his  resurrection,  he  adds,  '  and  last 
of  all  he  was  seen  of  me'  (1  Cor.  xv.  8).  And 
this  he  elsewhere  mentions  as  one  of  his  apcstolic 
qualifications :  '  Am  I  not  an  apostle  ?  have  I 
not  seen  the  Lord  ?'  (1  Cor.  ix.  1).  So  that  his 
'  seeing  that  Just  One  and  liearing  tlic  word  of 
his  mouth'  was  necessary  to  his  being  ' a  witness 
of  what  he  thus  saw  and  heard'  (Acts  xxii.  14, 
15).  2.  They  must  have  been  immediately 
called  and  chosen  to  that  office  by  Christ  liimself 
This  was  the  case  with  every  one  of  them  (Luke 
vi.  13  ;  Gal.  i.  1),  Matthias  not  excepted ;  for,  as 
he  had  been  a  chosen  disciple  of  Christ  before,  so 
the  Lord,  by  determining  the  lot,  declared  his 
choice,  and  immediately  called  him  to  the  office 
of  an  apostle  (Acts  i.  24-26).  3.  Infallible  in- 
spiration was  also  essentially  necessary  to  that 
office  (John  xvi.  13;  1  Cor.  ii.  10;  Gal.  i.  11, 
12).  They  had  not  only  to  explain  the  true  sense 
and  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament  (Luke  xxiv.  27  ; 
Acts  xxvi.  22,  23 ;  xxviii.  23),  which  were  hid 
from  the  Jewish  doctors,  but  also  to  give  forth 
the  New  Testament  revelation  to  the  world, 
■which  was  to  be  the  unalterable  standard  of  faith 
and  practice  in  all  succeeding  generations  (1  Pet. 
i.  25  ;  1  John  iv.  6).  4.  Another  apostolic  qua- 
lification was  the  power  of  working  miracles 
(Mark  xvi.  20 ;  Acts  ii.  43),  such  as  speaking 
with  divers  tongues,  curing  the  lame,  healing  the 
sick,  raising  the  dead,  discerning  of  spirits,  con- 
ferring these  gifts  upon  others,  &c.  (1  Cor.  xii. 
8-1 1).  These  were  the  credentials  of  their  divine 
mission  (2  Cor.  xii.  12).  Miracles  were  necessary 
to  confirm  their  doctrine  at  its  first  publication, 
and  to  gain  credit  to  it  in  the  world  as  a  revela- 
tion from  God,  and  by  these  '  God  bare  them 
witness '  (Heb.  ii.  4).  5.  To  these  characteristics 
may  be  added  the  universaliti/  of  their  mission. 
Their  charge  was  not  confined  to  any  particular 
visible  church,  like  that  of  ordinary  pastors,  but, 
being  the  oracles  of  God  to  men,  they  had  '  the 
care  of  all  the  churches '  (2  Cor.  xi.  28).  They 
had  a  power  to  settle  their  faith  and  order  as  a 
model  to  fixture  ages,  to  determine  all  controver- 
sies (Acts  xvi.  4),  and  to  exercise  the  rod  of  dis- 
cipline upon  all  offenders,  whether  pastors  or 
flock  (1  Cor.  V.  3-6;  2  Cor.  x.  8  ;  xiii.  10). 

It  must  be  obvious,  from  this  scriptural  ac- 
count of  the  apostolical  office,  that  the  Apostles 


APPEAL 

had,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  t«rm,  no  successors. 
Their  qualifications  were  supernatural,  and  their 
work,  once  performed,  remains  in  the  infallible 
record  of  the  New  Testament,  for  the  advantage 
of  the  Church  and  the  world  in  all  future  ages. 
They  are  the  only  authoritative  teachers  of 
Christian  doctrine  and  law.  All  official  men  in 
Christian  churches  can  legitimately  claim  no 
higher  place  than  expounders  of  the  doctrines 
and  administrators  of  the  laws  found  in  their 
writings. 

The  word  '  apostle '  occurs  once  in  the  New 
Testament  (Heb.  iii.  1)  as  a  descriptive  designa- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ :  '  The  apostle  of  our  pro- 
fession,' i.  e.  the  apostle  whom  we  profess  or  ac- 
knowledge. The  Jews  were  in  the  habit  of 
applying  the  corresponding  Hebrew  term  to 
the  person  who  presided  over  the  synagogue, 
and  directed  all  its  officers  and  affairs.  The 
Church  is  represented  as  '  the  house  or  family  of 
God,'  over  which  he  had  placed,  during  the 
Jewish  economy,  Moses,  as  the  superintendent, 
— over  which  he  has  placed,  under  the  Christian 
economy,  Christ  Jesus.  The  import  of  the  term 
apostle,  is — divinel5'-commissioned  superintend- 
ent ;  and  of  the  whole  phrase^  '  the  apostle  cf  out 
profession'  the  divinel)'-commissioned  superin- 
tendent, whom  WE  Christians  acknowledge,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  divinely-iippointed  su- 
perintendent Moses,  whom  the  Jews  acknow- 
ledged. 

It  is  scarcely  worth  while  to  remark  that  the 
Creed,  commonly  called  The  Apostles',  though 
very  ancient,  has  no  claim  to  the  name,  except 
as  it  contains  apostolical  doctrine. 

APPE.VL.  The  right  of  appeal  to  superior 
tribunals  has  generally  been  considered  an  es- 
sential concomitant  of  inferior  judicatories. 
When,  from  the  paucity  of  the  population  or  any 
other  cause,  the  subjects  of  litigation  are  few, 
justice  is  usually  administered  by  the  first  au- 
thority in  the  state,  from  whose  award  no  appeal 
can  lie.  But  when  the  multiplication  of  causes 
precludes  the  continuance  of  this  practice,  and 
one  or  more  inferior  courts  take  cognizance  of 
the  less  important  matters,  the  right  of  appeal  to 
the  superior  tribunal  is  allowed,  with  increasing 
restrictions  as,  in  the  course  of  time,  subjects  of 
litigation  multiply,  and  as  the  people  become 
weaned  from  the  notion  that  the  administration 
of  justice  is  the  proper  function  of  the  chief  civil 
magistrate. 

In  the  desert  Moses  at  first  judged  all  causes 
himself;  and  when,  finding  his  time  and  strength 
unequal  to  his  duty,  he,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Jethro,  established  a  series  of  judicatories  in  a 
numerically  ascending  scale  (Exod.  xviii.  13-26), 
he  arranged  that  cases  of  difficulty  should  be  re- 
ferred from  the  inferior  to  the  superior  tribunals, 
aud  in  the  last  instance  to  himself.  Although 
not  distinctly  stated,  it  appears  from  various  cir- 
cumstances that  the  clients  had  a  right  of  appeal, 
similar  to  that  which  the  courts  had  of  reference. 
When  the  prospective  distribution  into  towns,  of 
the  population  which  had  hitherto  remained  in 
one  compact  body,  made  other  arrangements  ne- 
cessary, it  was  directed  that  there  should  be  a 
similar  reference  of  difficult  cases  to  the  metro- 
politan court  or  chief  magistrate  ('  the  judge  that 
shall  be  in  those  days')  for  the  time  being  (Dent, 
xvi.  18;  xvii.  8-12).     That  there  was  a  concur- 


APPII-FORUM 

rent  right  of  appeal,  appears  from  the  use  Absa- 
lom made  of  the  delay  of  justice,  -which  arose 
from  the  great  number  of  cases  that  came  before 
the  king  his  father  (2  Sam.  xv.  2-4).  These  were 
doubtless  appeal  cases  according  to  the  above 
direction. 

Of  the  later  practice,  before  and  after  the  time 
of  Christ,  we  have  some  clearer  knowledge  from 
Josephus  and  the  Talmudists.  It  seems  that  a 
man  could  carry  his  case  by  appeal  through  all 
the  inferior  courts  to  the  Grand  Sanhedrim  at 
Jerusalem,  whose  decision  was  in  the  highest  de- 
gree absolute  and  final.  The  Jews  themselves 
trace  the  origin  of  these  later  usages  up  to  the 
time  of  Moses :  they  were  at  all  events  based 
on  early  principles,  and  therefore  reflect  back 
some  light  upon  the  intimations  respecting 
the  right  of  appeal  which  we  find  in  the  sacred 
books. 

The  most  remarkable  case  of  appeal  in  the 
New  Testament  belongs  to  another  class.  It  is 
the  celebrated  appeal  of  St.  Paul  from  the  tri- 
bunal of  the  Roman  procurator  Festus  to  that  of 
the  emperor ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was 
sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome  (Acts  xxv.  10,11). 
Such  an  appeal  having  been  once  lodged,  the 
gcvernor  had  nothing  more  to  do  with  the  case  : 
he  could  not  even  dismiss  it,  although  he  might 
be  satisfied  that  the  matter  was  frivolous,  and 
not  worth  forwarding  to  Rome.  Accordingly, 
when  Paul  was  again  heard  by  Festus  and  king 
Agrippa  (merely  to  obtain  materials  for  a  report 
to  the  emperor),  it  was  admitted  that  the  apostle 
might  have  been  liberated  if  he  had  not  appealed 
to  Ca.'sar  (Acts  xxvi.  32). 

It  may  easily  be  seen  that  a  right  of  appeal 
which,  like  this,  involved  a  long  and  expensive 
journey,  Avas  by  no  means  frequently  resorted  to. 
In  lodging  his  appeal  Paul  exercised  one  of  the 
high  privileges  of  Roman  citizenship  which  be- 
longed to  him  by  birth  (Acts  xxii.  28).  [Citj- 
ZKNSHtP.]  The  right  of  appeal  connected  with 
that  privilege  originated  in  the  Valerian,  Porcian, 
and  Sempronian  laws,  by  which  it  was  enacted 
that  if  any  magistrate  should  order  flagellation 
or  death  to  be  inflicted  upon  a  Roman  citizen, 
the  accused  person  might  appeal  to  the  judgment 
of  the  people.  But  what  was  originally  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  people  had  in  Paul's  time  be- 
come that  of  the  emperor,  and  appeal  therefore 
was  made  to  him.  Hence  Pliny  mentions  that 
he  had  sent  to  Rome  some  Christians,  who  were 
Roman  citizens,  and  had  appealed  unto  Caesar. 
This  privilege  could  not  be  disallov/ed  by  any 
magistrate  to  any  person  whom  the  law  entitled 
to  it.  Indeed,  very  heavy  penalties  were  attached 
to  anj^  refusal  to  grant  it,  or  to  furnish  the  party 
with  facilities  for  going  to  Rome. 

AP'PHIA,  the  name  of  a  woman  (^Philemon  2) 
who  is  supposed  by  Chrysostoro  and  Theodoret 
to  have  been  the  wife  of  Philemon. 

AP'PII-FO'RUM,  a  market  town  in  luly,  43 
Roman  miles  from  Rome,  on  the  great  road  from 
Rome  to  Brundusium,  constructed  by  Appius 
Claudius.  The  remains  of  an  ancient  town,  sup- 
posed to  be  Appii-Forum,  are  still  observed  at  a 
place  called  Casarillo  di  Santa  Maria,  on  the 
border  of  the  Pontine  marshes.  When  Saint 
Paul  was  taken  to  Italy,  some  of  the  Christians 
of  Rome,  being  apprised  of  his  approach,  jour- 
neyed t(.'  meet  him  as  far  as  '  Appii-Forum  and 


AQUILA 


8l 


the  Three  Taverns '  (Acts  xxviii.  1 5),  a  town 
eight  or  ten  miles  nearer  to  Rome  than  Appii- 
Forum.  The  '  Three  Taverns '  was  certainly  a 
place  of  rest  and  refreshment,  probably  on  ac- 
count of  the  badness  of  the  water  at  Appii-Forum, 
and  the  probability  is  that  some  of  the  Christians 
remained  at  the  '  Three  Taverns,'  whei-e  it  was 
known  the  advancing  party  would  rest,  while 
some  others  went  on  as  far  as  Appii-Forum  to 
meet  Paul  on  the  road. 

APPLE.  The  word  Tappuach  is  thus  ren- 
dered in  the  Authorized  Version.  Most  authors 
on  Biblical  Botany  admit  that  apple  is  not  the 
correct  translation,  for  that  fruit  is  indifferent  in 
Palestine,  being  produced  of  good  quality  only 
on  Mount  Lebanon,  and  in  Damascus.  Many 
contend  that '  quince '  is  the  correct  translation 
of  Tappuach.  Though  somewhat  more  suitable 
than  the  apple,  we  think  that  neither  the  quince 
tree  nor  fruit  is  so  superior  to  others  as  to  be 
selected  for  notice  in  the  passages  of  Scripture 
where  tappuach  occurs.  The  citron,  we  think, 
has  the  best  claim  to  be  considered  the  Tappuach 
of  Scripture,  as  it  was  esteemed  by  the  ancients, 
and  known  to  the  Hebrews,  and  conspicuously 
diflTerent,  both  as  a  fruit  and  a  tree,  from  the 
ordinarj-^  vegetation  of  Syria,  and  the  only  one 
of  the  orange  tribe  which  was  known  to  the 
ancients.  The  orange,  lemon,  and  lime,  were 
introduced  to  the  knov/ledge  of  Europeans  at  a 
much  later  period,  probably  by  the  Arabs  from 
India.  That  the  citron  was  well  known  to  the 
Hebrews  we  have  the  assurance  in  the  fact  men- 
tioned by  Josephus,  that  at  the  Feast  of  Taber- 
nacles king  Alexander  Jannseus  was  pelted  with 
citrons,  which  the  Jews  had  in  their  hands  ;  for, 
as  he  says,  '  the  law  required  that  at  that  feast 
every  one  should  have  branches  of  the  palm-tree 
and  citron-tree.  There  is  nothing  improbable  in 
the  Hebrews  having  made  use  of  boughs  of  the 
citron,  as  it  was  a  native  of  Media,  and  well 
known  to  the  Greeks  at  a  very  early  period; 
and  indeed  on  some  old  coins  of  Samaria,  the 
citron  may  be  seen,  as  well  as  the  palnvtree ; 
and  it  is  not  an  unimportant  confirmation  that 
the  Jews  still  continue  to  make  ofiferiugs  of 
citrons  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  Citrons, 
accordingly,  are  imported  in  considerable  quan- 
tities for  this  purpose,  and  are  afterwards  sold, 
being  more  highly  esteemed  after  having  been 
so  offered. 

The  tappuach,  or  citron-tree,  is  mentioned 
chiefly  in  the  Canticles,  ch.  ii.  3,  '  as  the  citron 
tree  among  the  trees  of  the  wood ;'  ver.  5, 
'  Comfort  me  with  citrons,  for  I  am  sick  of  love ;' 
vii.  8,  '  The  smell  of  thy  nose  like  citrons ;'  so 
in  viii.  5.  Again,  in  Prov.  xxv.  11, 'A  word 
fitly  spoken  is  like  apples  of  gold  (or  rather 
golden  citrons)  in  baskets  of  silver.'  In  Joel  i. 
12,  it  is  enumerated  Avith  the  vine,  the  fig-tree,, 
the  palm,  and  pomegranate,  as  among  the  most 
valuable  trees  of  Palestine.  The  rich  colour, 
fragrant  odour,  and  handsome  appearance  of  the 
tree,  whether  in  flower  or  in  fruit,  are  particu- 
larly suited  to  all  the  above  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

AQ'UILA,  a  Jew  with  whom  Paul  became  ac- 
quainted on  his  first  visit  to  Corinth  ;  a  native 
of  Pontus,  and  by  occupation  a  tent-maker.  He 
and  his  wife  Priscilla  had  been  obliged  to  leave 
Rome  in  consequence  of  an  edict  issued  by  the 


82 


ARABIA 


Kmpei'or  Claudius,  by  -which  all  Jews  were 
banished  from  Rome.  Whether  Aquila  and 
PriscUla  were  at  that  time  converts  to  the 
Christian  faith  cannot  be  positively  determined  ; 
but  at  all  events,  they  had  embraced  Christianity 
before  Paul  left  Corinth ;  for  we  are  informed 
that  they  accompanied  him  to  Ephesus,  and  meet- 
ing there  with  Apollos,  who  '  knew  only  the 
baptism  of  John,'  they  '  instructed  him  in  t'le 
way  of  God  more  perfectly '  (Acts  xviii.  25,  2i;)- 
From  that  time  they  appear  to  have  been  zealous 
promoters  of  the  Christian  cause.  Paul  styles 
them  his  '  helpers  in  Christ  Jesus,'  and  intimates 
that  they  had  exposed  themselves  to  imminent 
danger  on  his  account  (Rom.  xvi.  .3,  4).  When 
Paul  wrote  his  epistle  to  the  Romans  they  were 
at  Rome ;  but  some  years  after  they  returned  to 
Ephesus,  for  Paul  sends  salutations  to  them  in 
his  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  (2  Tim.  iv.  19). 
Their  occupation  as  tent-makers  probably  ren- 
dered it  necessary  for  them  to  keep  a  number  of 
workmen  constantly  resident  in  their  family, 
and  to  these  (to  such  of  them  at  least  as  had 
embraced  the  Christian  faith)  may  refer  the  re- 
markable expression,  '  the  Church  that  is  in  their 
house.' 

AR,  the  capital  city  of  the  Moabites  (Num. 
xxi.  28 ;  Deut.  ii.  9,  18,  29),  near  the  river  Arnon 
(Deut.  ii.  18,  24;  Num.  xxi.  13-15).  It  appears 
to  have  been  burnt  by  King  Sihon  (Num.  xxi. 
28),  and  Isaiah,  in  describing  the  future  calami- 
ties of  the  IMoabites,  says,  '  In  the  night,  Ar  of 
Moab  is  laid  waste  and  brought  to  silence'  (Isa. 
XV.  1 ).  In  his  comment  on  this  passage,  Jerome 
states  that  in  his  youth  there  was  a  great  earth- 
quake, by  which  Ar  was  destroyed  in  the  night- 
time. 

This  city  was  also  called  Rabbah  or  Rabbath, 
and,  to  distinguish  it  from  Rabbath  of  Amnion, 
Rabbath-Moab.  The  site  still  bears  the  name  of 
Rabbah.  It  is  about  1 7  miles  east  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  1 0  miles  south  of  the  Arnon  (Modjeb),  and 
about  the  same  distance  north  of  Kerek.  The 
ruins  of  Rabbah  are  situated  on  a  low  liill, 
which  commands  the  whole  plain.  They  pre- 
sent nothing  of  interest  except  two  old  Roman 
temples  and  some  tanks. 

ARA'BIA,  an  extensive  region  occupying  the 
south-western  extremity  of  Asia,  between  12°  45' 
and  344°  N.  lat.,  and  32  i°  and  60°  E.  long,  from 
Greenwich ;  having  on  the  W.  the  Isthmus  of 
Suez  and  the  Red  Sea  (called  from  it  the  Arabian 
Gulf),  which  separate  it  from  Africa ;  on  the  S. 
the  Indian  Ocean ;  and  on  the  E.  the  Persian 
Gulf  and  the  Euphrates.  The  boundary  to  the 
north  has  never  been  well  defined.  It  is  one  of 
the  few  countries  of  the  south  where  the  descend- 
ants of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  have  neither 
been  extirpated  nor  expelled  by  northern  in- 
vaders. They  have  not  only  retained  posses- 
sion of  their  ancestral  homes,  but  have  sent 
forth  colonies  to  all  the  adjacent  regions,  and 
even  to  more  distant  lands,  both  in  Africa  and 
Asia. 

With  the  history  of  no  country  save  that  of 
Palestine  are  there  connected  so  many  hallowed 
and  impressive  associations  as  with  that  of 
Arabia.  Here  lived  and  suffered  the  holy  pa- 
triarch Job ;  here  Moses,  when  '  a  stranger  and 
a  shepherd,'  saw  the  burning,  unconsuming 
bush;  here  Elijah  found  shelter  from  the  rage 


ARABIA 

of  persecution;  here  was  the  scene  of  all  the 
marvellous  displays  of  divine  power  and  mercy 
that  followed  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  the 
Egyptian  yoke,  and  accompanied  their  journey- 
ings  to  the  Promised  Land ;  and  here  Jehovah 
manifested  himself  in  visible  glory  to  his  people. 
From  the  influence  of  these  associations,  com- 
bined with  its  proximity  to  Palestine,  and  the 
close  affinity  in  blood,  manners,  and  customs 
between  the  northern  portion  of  its  inhabitants 
and  the  Jews,  Arabia  is  a  region  of  peculiar 
interest  to  the  student  of  the  Bible;  and  it  is 
chiefly  in  its  relation  to  subjects  of  Bible  study 
that  we  are  now  to  consider  it. 

In  early  times  the  Hebrews  included  a  part  of 
what  v/e  call  Arabia  among  the  countries  they 
vaguely  designated  as  '  the  East,'  the  inha- 
bitants being  numbered  among  the  '  Sons  of  the 
East,'  i.  e.  Orientals.  But  there  is  no  evidence 
to  show  that  these  phrases  are  ever  applied  to 
the  ivhule  of  the  country  known  to  us  as  Arabia. 
They  appear  to  have  been  commonly  used  in 
speaking  of  those  parts  which  lay  due  east  of 
Palestine,  or  on  the  north-east  and  south-east; 
though  occasionally  they  do  seem  to  point  to 
tracts  which  lay  indeed  to  the  south  and  south- 
west of  that  country,  but  to  the  east  and  south- 
cast  of  Egypt. 


44,  [Bedouin  Arabs.] 

We  find  the  name  Arab  first  beginning  to 
occur  about  the  time  of  Solomon.  It  designated 
a  portion  of  the  country,  an  inhabitant  being 
called  Arabi,  an  Arabian  (Isa.  xiii.  20),  or  in 
later  Hebrew,  Arbi  (Neh.  ii.  19),  the  plural  of 
which  was  Arbim  (2  Chr.  xxi.  IG),  or  Arbiim 
(Arabians)  (2  Chr.  xvii.  11).  In  some  places 
these  names  seem  to  be  given  to  the  Nomadic 
tribes  generally  (Isa.  xiii.  20 ;  Jer.  iii.  2)  and 
their   country    (Isa.  xxi.    13).     The    kings    of 


ARABIA 

Arabia  from  -whom  Solomon  (2  Chr.  ix.  14)  and 
Jehosaphat  (2  Chr.  xvii.  1 1 )  received  gifts  were, 
probably.  Bedouin  chiefs ;  though  in  the  place 
parallel  to  the  former  text  (1  Kings  x.  15),  in- 
stead of  Arab  we  find  Ereb,  rendered  in  Jer. 
XXV.  20,  24,  '  mingled  people,'  but  which  Gese- 
nius,  following  the  Chaldee,  understands  to 
mean  '  foreign  allies.'  It  is  to  be  remarked, 
however,  that  in  all  the  passages  where  the 
word  Arab  occurs  it  designates  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  territory  known  to  us  as  Arabia. 
Thus  in  the  account  given  by  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  21) 
of  the  Arabian  tribes  that  traded  with  Tyre, 
mention  is  specially  made  of  Arab  (comp.  Jer. 
XXV.  24).  In  2  Chr.  xxi.  16 ;  xxii.  1 ;  xxvi.  7 ; 
Neh.  iv.  7,  we  find  the  Arabians  classed  with  the 
Philistines,  the  Ethiopians  (i.  e.  the  Asiatic 
Cushites,  of  whom  they  are  said  to  have  been 
neighbours),  the  Mehunims,  the  Ammonites,  and 
Ashdodites.  At  what  period  this  name  Arab 
was  extended  to  the  whole  region  it  is  impos- 
sible to  ascertain.  From  it  tlie  Greeks  formed 
the  word  Arabia,  which  occurs  twice  in  the  New 
Testament;  in  Gal.  i.  17,  in  reference  probably 
to  the  tract  adjacent  to  Damascene  Syria,  and 
in  Gal.  iv.  25,  in  reference  to  the  peninsula  of 
Mount  Sinai.  Arabs  are  mentioned  among  the 
strangers  assembled  at  Jerusalem  at  the  Pente- 
cost (Acts  ii.  11). 

The  early  Greek  geogi-aphers  mention  only 
two  divisions  of  this  vast  region,  Happy  and 
Desert  Arabia.  But  after  the  city  of  Petra,  in 
Idumsea,  had  become  celebrated  as  the  metro- 
polis of  a  commercial  people,  the  Nabathseans, 
it  gave  name  to  a  third  division,  viz.  Arabia 
Petraa  (improperly  translated  Stony  Arabia); 
and  this  threefold  division  has  obtained  through- 
out Europe  ever  since. 

1.  Arabia  Felix,  i.  e.  Happy  Arabia.  This 
part  of  Arabia  lies  between  the  Red  Sea  on  the 
we;t  and  the  Persian  Gulf  on  the  east,  the 
boundary  to  the  north  being  an  imaginary  line 
drawn  between  their  respective  northern  extre 
mities,  Akaba  and  Basra  or  Bussora.  It  thus 
embraces  by  far  the  gi-eater  portion  of  the 
country  known  to  us  as  Arabia. 

Arabia  may  be  described  generally  as  an  ele- 
vated table-land,  the  mountain  ranges  of  which 
are  by  some  regarded  as  a  continuation  of  those 
of  Syria.  In  Arabia  Felix  the  ridges,  which  are 
very  high  in  the  interior,  slope  gently  on  the 
east  towards  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  on  the  north- 
east towards  the  vast  plains  of  the  desert-  Ou 
the  west  the  declivities  are  steeper,  apd  on  tlie 
north-west  the  chains  are  connected  with  those 
of  Arabia  Petrsea.  Commencing  our  survey  at 
the  north  end  of  the  Red  Sea.  the  first  province 
which  lies  along  its  shore  is  the  Hedjaz.  This 
was  the  cradle  of  Mohammedan  superstition, 
containing  both  Mecca,  where  the  prophet  was 
born,  and  Bledina,  where  he  was  buried;  and 
hence  it  became  the  Holy  Land  of  the  Moslem, 
whither  they  resort  in  pilgrimage  from  all  parts  j 
of  the  East'  It  is  on  the  whole  a  barren  tract, 
consisting  chiefly  of  rugged  mountains  and 
sandy  plains.  Still  more  unproductive,  however, 
is  the  long,  flat,  dreary  belt,  of  vai-ying  width, 
called  Tehama,  which  runs  along  the  coast  to 
the  south  of  Hedjaz,  and  was  at  no  distant  period 
covered  by  the  sea.  But  next  to  this  comes 
Yemen,  the  true  Arabia  Felix  of  the  ancients, 


ARABIA  83 

'Araby  the  Blest'  of  modern  poets,  and  doubt- 
les.i  the  finest  portion  of  the  peninsula.  Yet  if 
it  be  distinguished  for  fertility  and  beauty,  it  is 
chiefly  in  the  way  of  contrast,  for  it  is  far  from 
coming  up  to  the  expectations  which  travellers 
had  fomied  of  it.  Turning  from  the  west  to  the  j  I 
south  coast  of  the  peninsula,  we  next  come  to 
the  extensive  province  of  Hhadramaut  (the 
Hazarmaveth  of  the  Bible),  a  region  not  unlike 
Yemen  in  its  general  features,  witli  the  excep- 
tion of  the  tracts  called  Mahhrah  and  Sahar, 
which  ai-e  dreary  deserts.  The  south-east  corner 
of  the  peninsula,  between  Hhadramaut  and  the 
Persian  Gulf,  is  occupied  by  the  important  dis- 
trict of  Oman,  which  has  been  in  all  ages  famous 
for  its  trade,  which  has  been  greatly  extended 
by  the  present  imaum  of  Muscat.  Along  the 
Persian  Gulf  northward  stretches  the  province 
of  Lahsa,  or  rather  El  Hassa,  to  which  belong 
the  Bahrein  Islands,  famous  for  their  pearls. 
The  districts  we  have  enumerated  all  lie  along 
the  coasts,  but  beyond  them  in  the  south 
stretches  the  vast  desert  of  Akhaf,  or  Roba-el- 
Khali,  i.e.  'the  empty  abode,'  a  desolate  and 
dreary  unexplored  waste  of  sand.  To  the  north 
of  this  extends  the  great  central  province  of 
Nedched  or  Nejd.  It  may  be  described  as  » 
having  been  the  great  officina  gentium  of  the 
south,  as  were  Scandinavia  and  Tartary  of  the 
north ;  for  it  is  the  region  whence  there  issued 
at  different  periods  those  countless  hordes  of 
Arabs  which  overran  a  great  part  of  Asia  and 
Africa.  Here  too  was  the  origin  and  the  seat  of 
the  Wahabees  (so  formidable  until  subdued  in 
1818  by  Mehemet  Ali,  pasha  of  Egypt),  their 
chief  town  being  Dereyeh. 

The  geological  structure  and  mineralogical 
productions  of  this  part  of  Arabia  are  in  a  great 
measure  unknown.  In  the  mountains  about 
Mecca  and  Medina  the  predominant  rocks  are  of 
grey  and  red  granite,  porphyry,  and  limestone. 
This  is  also  the  case  in  the  great  chain  that  runs 
southward  towards  Maskat ;  only  that  in  the 
ridge  that  rises  behind  the  Tehama  there  is 
found  schistus  and  basalt  instead  of  granite. 
Traces  of  volcanic  action  may  be  perceived 
around  Medina,  as  also  at  Aden -and  in  many 
other  parts  of  the  peninsula.  Hot-springs  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  on  the  Hadjee  or  pilgrim 
road  to  Mecca.  The  ancients  believed  that 
Arabia  yielded  both  gold  and  precious  stones, 
but  Niebuhr  doubts  if  this  ever  was  the  case. 
The  most  valuable  ore  found  now  is  the  lead  of 
Oman :  what  is  called  the  Mocha  stone  is  a 
species  of  agate  that  comes  from  India.  The 
native  iron  is  coarse  and  brittle  ;  at  Loheia  and 
elsewhere  there  are  hills  of  fossil  salt.  Arabia 
Felix  has  always  been  famous  for  frankincense, 
myrrh,  aloes,  balsam,  gums,  cassia,  &c. ;  but  it 
is  doubtful  whether  the  last-mentioned  and  other 
articles  supposed  to  be  indigenous  were  not  im- 
ported from  India.  Here  are  found  all  the 
fruits  of  temperate  and  warm  climates,  among 
which  the  date,  the  fruit  of  the  palm  ti'ee,  is  the 
most  common,  and  is,  along  with  the  species  of 
grain  called  dhourra,  the  staple  article  of  food. 
But  the  most  valuable  vegetable  production  is 
coffee ;  for  Yemen,  if  not  its  native  country,  is 
the  habitat  where  it  has  reached  the  greatest 
state  of  perfection.  In  the  animal  kingdom 
Arabia  possesses,  in  common  with  the  adjacent 
G  2 


S'l 


akabia 


regions,  the  camel,  panthers,  Ij'nxes,  hyssnas, 
jackals,  gazelles,  asses  (wild  and  tame),  monkeys, 
&c.  But  the  gloi-y  of  Arabia  is  its  horse.  As  in 
no  other  country  is  that  animal  so  much  es- 
teemed, so  in  no  other  are  its  noble  qualities  of 
swiftness,  endurance,  temper,  attachment  to  man, 
so  finely  developed.  Of  the  insect  tribes,  the 
locust,  both  from  its  numbers  and  its  destructive- 
ness,  is  the  most  formidable  scourge  to  vegeta- 
tion. The  Arabian  seas  swarm  with  fish,  sea- 
fowl,  and  shells ;  coral  abounds  in  the  Bed  Sea, 
and  pearls  in  the  Persian  Gulf. 

2.  Arabia  Deserta.  This  takes  in  that 
portion  of  the  country  which  lies  north  of 
Arabia  Felix,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north-east 
hy  the  Euphrates,  on  the  north-west  by  Syria, 
and  on  the  west  by  Palestine  and  Arabia 
Petrsca.  So  far  as  it  has  yet  been  explored, 
Desert  Arabia  appears  to  be  one  continuous, 
elevated,  interminable  steppe,  occasionally  inter- 
sected by  ranges  of  hills.  Sand  and  salt  are  the 
chief  elements  of  the  soil,  which  in  many  places 
is  entirely  bare,  but  elsewhere  yields  stunted  and 
thorny  shiiibs  or  thinly-scattered  saline  plants. 
That  part  of  the  wilderness  called  El  Hhammad 
lies  on  the  Syrian  frontier,  extending  from  the 

•♦  Hauran  to  the  Euphrates,  and  is  one  immense 
dead  and  dreary  level,  very  scantily  supplied 
with  water,  except  near  the  banks  of  the  river, 
where  the  fields  are  irrigated  by  wheels  and 
other  artificial  contrivances. 

The  sky  in  these  deserts  is  generally  cloudless, 
but  the  burning  heat  of  the  sun  is  moderated  by 
cooling  winds,  which,  however,  raise  fearful 
tempests  of  sand  and  dust.  Here,  too,  as  in 
other  regions  of  the  East,  occasionally  prevails 
the  burning,  suffocating  south-east  wind,  called 
by  the  Arabs  El  Hharur  (the  Hot),  but  more 
commonly  Samum,  and  by  the  Turks  Samt/eli 
(both  words  meaning  'the  Poisonous'),  the'  ef- 
fects of  which,  however,  have  by  some  travellers 
been  greatly  exaggerated.  This  is  probably  '  the 
east  wind'  and  the  'wind  from  the  desert' 
spoken  of  in  Scripture.  Another  phenomenon, 
which  is  not  peculiar,  indeed,  to  Desert  Arabia, 
but  is  seen  there  in  greatest  frequency  and  per- 
fection, is  what  the  French  call  the  mirage,  the 
delusive  appearance  of  an  expanse  of  water, 
created  by  the  tremulous,  undulatory  movement 
of  the  vapours  raised  by  the  excessive  heat  of 
a  meridian  sun.  It  is  called  in  Arabic  serab, 
and  is  no  doubt  the  Hebrew  sarab  of  Isa.  xxxv. 
7,  which  our  translators  have  rendered  'the 
parched  ground.' 

3.  Arabia  PETRiEA  appears  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  its  chief  town  Petra  (i.  e.  a  rock), 
although  (as  is  remarked  by  Burckhardt)  the 
epithet  is  also  appropriate  on  account  of  the 
rocky  mountains  and  stony  plains  which  com- 
pose its  surface.  It  embraces  all  the  north- 
western portion  of  the  country ;  being  bounded 
on  the  east  by  Desert  and  Happy  Arabia,  ou  the 
north  by  Palestine  and  the  Mediterranean,  on 
the  west  by  Egypt,  and  on  the  south  by  the  Red 
Sea.  This  division  of  Arabia  has  been  of  late 
years  visited  by  a  great  many  travellers  from 
Europe,  and  is  consequently  much  better  known 
than  the  other  portions  of  the  country.  Con- 
fining ourselves  at  present  to  a  general  outline, 
we  refer  for  details  to  the  articles  Sinai,  Exodus, 
Edom,  Moab,  &c.    Beginning  at  the  northern 


ARABIA 

frontier,  there  mL'ets  the  elevated  plain  of  Belka, 
to  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  district  of  Kera'k 
(Kir),  the  ancient  territory  of  the  Moabites,  their 
kinsmen  of  Ammon  having  settled  to  the  north 
of  this,  in  Arabia  Deserta.  The  north  border  of 
Moab  was  the  brook  Arnon,  now  the  Wady-el- 
Modjeb ;  to  the  south  of  Moab,  separated  from 
it  by  the  Wady-el-Ahsy,  lay  Mount  Seir,  the  do- 
minion of  the  Edomites,  or  Idumaa,  reaching  as 
far  as  to  Elath  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  great  val- 
ley which  runs  from  the  Dead  Sea  to  that  point 
consists,  first,  of  el-Ghor,  which  is  comparatively 
low,  but  gradually  rises  by  a  succession  of  lime- 
stone cliffs  into  the  more  elevated  plain  of 
elArabah,  formerly  mentioned.  *  We  were  now,' 
says  Professor  Robinson  {Biblical  Researches, 
vol.  ii.  p.  502),  'upon  the  plain  or  rather  the 
rolling  desert,  of  the  Arabah  ;  the  surface  was 
in  general  loose  gravel  and  stones,  everywhere 
furrowed  and  torn  with  the  beds  of  torrents.  A 
more  frightful  desert  it  had  hardly  been  our  lot 
to  behold.  The  mountains  beyond  presented  a 
most  uninviting  and  hideous  aspect ;  precipices 
and  naked  conical  peaks  of  chalky  and  gravelly 
formation  rising  one  above  another  without  a 
sign  of  life  or  vegetation.'  The  character  of  the 
mountains  on  the  east  of  Arabah  is  quite  dif- 
ferent from  those  on  the  west.  The  latter,  which 
seemed  to  be  not  more  than  two-thirds  as  high, 
are  wholly  desert  and  sterile ;  while  these  on 
the  east  appear  to  enjoy  a  sufficiency  of  rain, 
and  are  covered  with  tufts  of  herbs  and  oc- 
casional trees.  This  mountainous  region  is 
divided  into  two  districts :  that  to  the  north  is 
called  Jebal  (i.  e.  mountains,  the  Gebal  of  Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  7)  ;  that  to  the  south  EsIi-SlieraJi.  To 
the  district  of  Esh-Sherah  belongs  Mount  Hor, 
the  burial-place  of  Aaron,  towering  above  the 
Wady  Mousa  (valley  of  Moses),  wnere  are  the 
celebrated  ruins  of  Petra  (the  ancient  capital  of 
the  Nabatha!o-IdumtEans),  the  mountainous  tract 
immediately  west  of  the  Arabah,  is  a  desert  lime- 
stone region,  full  of  precipitous  ridges,  through 
which  no  travelled  road  has  ever  passed. 

To  the  west  of  Idumsea  extends  the  '  gi'eat 
and  terrible  wilderness'  of  et-Tih,  i.  e.  'the 
Wandering,'  so  called  from  being  the  scene  of 
the  wanderings  of  the  children  of  Israel.  It 
consists  of  vast  interminable  plains,  a  hard  gra- 
velly soil,  and  irregular  ridges  of  limestone  hills. 
It  appears  that  the  middle  of  this  desert  is  occu- 
pied by  a  long  central  basin,  extending  from 
Jebel-et-Tih  (i.  e.  the  mountain  of  the  wander- 
ing, a  cbain  pretty  far  south)  to  the  shores  of 
the  Mediterranean.  This  basin  descends  towards 
the  north  with  a  rapid  slope,  and  is  drained 
through  all  its  length  by  Wady-el-Arish,  which 
enters  the  sea  near  the  place  of  the  same  name, 
on  the  borders  of  Egypt. 

This  description  of  the  formation  of  the  north- 
ern desert  will  enable  us  to  form  a  more  distinct 
conception  of  the  general  features  of  the  penin- 
sula of  Sinai,  which  lies  south  of  it,  being  formed 
by  the  two  arms  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Gulfs  of 
Akaba  and  Suez.  If  the  parallel  of  the  north 
coast  of  Egypt  be  extended  eastward  to  the  great 
Wady-el- Arabah,  it  appears  that  the  desert,  south 
of  this  parallel,  rises  gradually  towards  the 
south,  until  on  the  summit  of  the  ridge  Et-Tih, 
between  the  two  gulfs,  it  attains  the  elevation  of 
4322  feet.     The  waters   cf  all  this  great  tract 


ARABIA 

flow  off  northward  either  to  the  Mediterranean 
or  the  Dead  Sea.  Tlie  Tih  forms  a  sort  of  offset, 
and  along  its  southern  base  the  surface  sinks  at 
once  to  the  height  of  only  about  3000  feet,  form- 
ing the  sandy  plain  which  extends  nearly  across 
the  peninsula.  After  this  the  mountains  of  the 
peninsula  proper  commence,  and  rise  rapidly 
through  the  formations  of  sandstone,  griinstein, 
porphyry,  and  granite,  into  the  lofty  masses  of 
St.  Catherine  and  Um  Shaumer,  the  former  of 
which  has  an  elevation  of  81(8  Paris  feet,  or 
nearly  double  that  of  the  Tih.  Here  the  waters 
all  run  eastwaiii  or  westward  to  the  Gulfs  of 
Akaba  and  Suez. 

The  soil  of  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  is  in  general 
very  unproductive,  yielding  only  palm-trees,  aca- 
cias, tamarisks,  coloquintida,  and  dwarfish, 
thorny  shrubs.  Among  the  animals  may  be 
mentioned  the  mountain-goat,  gazelles,  leopards, 
a  kind  of  marmot  called  wabbtr  [ConeyJ,  the 
sheeb,  supposed  by  Col.  C.  Hamilton  Smith  to  be 
a  species  of  wild  wolf-dog,  &c. :  of  birds  there 
are  eagles,  partridges,  pigeons,  the  katta,  a 
species  of  quail,  &c.  There  are  serpents,  as  in 
ancient  times  (Num.  xxi.  4,  6),  and  travellers 
speak  of  a  large  lizard  called  dhoh,  common  in 
the  desert,  but  of  unusually  frequent  occurrence 
here.  The  peninsula  is  inhabited  by  Bedouin 
Arabs,  and  its  entire  population  was  estimated 
by  Burckhardt  at  not  more  than  4000  souls. 

Though  this  part  of  Arabia  must  ever  be  me- 
morable as  the  scene  of  the  journeying  of  the 
Israelites  from  Egypt  to  the  Promised  Land,  yet 
very  few  of  the  spots  mentioned  in  Scripture  can 
now  be  identified ;  nor,  after  the  lapse  of  so  many 
centuries,  ought  that  to  be  occasion  of  surprise. 
According  to  Niebuhr,  Robinson,  &c.  they  crossed 
the  Red  Sea  near  Suez,  but  the  tradition  of  the 
country  fixes  the  point  of  transit  eight  or  ten 
miles  south  of  Suez,  opposite  the  place  called 
Ayoun  Mousa,  i.  e.  the  Fountains  of  MosBS,  where 
Robinson  recently  found  seven  wells,  some  of 
which,  however,  were  mere  excavations  in  the 
sand.  About  IS^  hours  (33  geographical  miles) 
south-east  of  that  is  the  Well  of  Hawarah,  the 
Marah  of  Scripture,  whose  bitter  water  is  pro- 
nounced by  the  Arabs  to  be  the  worst  in  these 
regions.  Two  or  three  hours  south  of  HawArah 
the  traveller  comes  to  the  Wady  Ghurundel,  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Elim  of  Moses.  From  the  plain 
of  El-kaa,  which  Robinson  takes  to  be  the  desert 
of  Sin  (not  to  be  confounded  with  that  of  Zin, 
which  belonged  to  the  great  desert  of  Kadesh), 
they  would  enter  the  Sinaitic  range,  probably 
along  the  upper  part  of  Wady  Feiran  and 
through  the  Wady-esh-Sheikh,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal valleys  of  the  peninsula.  The  Arabs  call 
this  Avhole  cluster  of  mountains  Jebel-et-Tur ; 
the  Christians  generally  designate  it  as  '  Sinai,' 
and  give  the  name  oilloreb  to  a  particular  moun- 
tain, whereas  in  Scripture  the  names  are  used 
interchangeably.  [Sinai.] 

Having  now  taken  a  rapid  survey  of  this  ex- 
tensive region  in  its  three  divisions,  let  us  advert 
to  the  people  by  whom  it  was  at  first  settled,  and 
by  whose  descendants  it  is  still  inhabited.  There 
is  a  prevalent  notion  that  the  Arabs,  both  of  the 
south  and  north,  are  descended  from  Ishmael ; 
but  the  idea  of  the  southern  Arabs  being  of  the 
posterity  of  Ishmael  is  entirely  without  founda- 
tion, and  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  tra- 


ARABIA 


85 


dition  invented  by  Arab  vanity,  that  they,  as 
well  as  the  Jews,  are  of  the  seed  of  Abraham — 
a  vanity  which,  besides  disfiguring  and  falsifying 
the  whole  history  of  the  patriarch  and  his  son 
Ishmael,  has  transferred  the  scene  of  it  from 
Palestine  to  Mecca.  If  we  go  to  the  most  au- 
thentic source  of  ancient  ethnography,  the  book 
of  Genesis,  we  there  find  that  the  vast  tracts  of 
country  known  to  us  under  the  name  of  Arabia 
gradually  became  peopled  by  a  variety  of  tribes 
of  different  lineage,  though  it  is  now  impossible 
to  determine  the  precise  limits  within  which  they 
fixed  their  permanent  or  nomadic  abode.  We 
shall  here  exhibit  a  tabular  view  of  these  races 
in  chronological  order,  i.  e.  according  to  the 
successive  aeras  of  their  respective  progenitors : — 

I.  Hamites,  i.  e.  the  posterity  of  Cush,  Ham's 
eldest  son,  whose  descendants  appear  to  have 
settled  in  the  south  of  Arabia,  and  t«  have  sent  co- 
lonies across  the  Red  Sea  to  the  opposite  coast  of 
Africa ;  and  hence  Cush  became  a  general  name 
for  '  the  south,'  and  specially  for  Arabian  and 
African  Ethiopia.  The  sons  of  Cush  (Gen.  x. 
7)  were  Seba,  Havilah,  Sabtah,  Raamah  or 
Ragma  (his  sons,  Sheba  and  Dedan),  and  Sab- 
theca. 

II.  Shemites,  including  the  following: 

A.  Joktanites,  i.  e.  the  descendants  of  Joktan, 
the  second  son  of  Eber,  Shem's  great-grandson  I 
(Gen.  X.  25,  26).  According  to  Arab  tradition 
Joktan,  after  the  confusion  of  tongues  and  dis- 
persion at  Babel,  settled  in  Yemen,  where  he 
reigned  as  king.  Joktan  had  thirteen  sons,  some 
of  whose  names  may  be  obscurely  traced  in  the 
designations  of  certain  districts  in  Arabia  Felix. 
Their  names  were  Almodad,  Shaleph,  Hhazar- 
maveth  (preserved  in  the  name  of  the  province 
of  Hhadramaut),  Jarach,  Hadoram,  Uzal  (be- 
lieved by  the  Arabs  to  have  been  the  founder  of 
Sanaa  in  Yemen),  Dikla,  Obal,  Abimael,  Sheba, 
Ophir,  Havilah,  and  Jobab. 

B.  Abrahamites,  divided  into — 

(a)  Hagarenes  or  Hagarites,  so  called  from 
Hagar  the  mother ;  otherwise  termed  Ishviaeliles 
from  her  son.  The  twelve  sons  of  Ishmael  {Gea. 
XXV.  13-15),  who  gave  names  to  separate  tribes, 
were  Nebaioth  (the  NabathiEans  in  Arabia  Pe- 
trsea),  Kedar,  Abdeel,  Mibsam,  Mishma,  Dumah, 
Massa,  Hadad  or  Hadar,  Thema,  Jetur,  Naphish 
(the  Iturseans  and  Naphishseans  near  the  tribe 
of  Gad:  1  Chron.  v.  19,  20),  and  Kedmah. 
They  appear  to  have  been  for  the  most  part 
located  near  to  Palestine  on  the  east  and  south- 
east. 

(6)  Keturahites,  i.  e.  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham and  his  second  wife  Keturah,  by  whom  he 
had  six  sons  (Gen.  xxv.  2) :  Simram,  Jokshan 
(who,  like  Raamah,  son  of  Cush,  was  also  the 
father  of  two  sons,  Sheba  and  Dedan),  Medan, 
Midian,  Jishbak,  and  Shuach.  Among  these,  the 
posterity  of  Midian  became  the  best  known. 

(c)  Edomites,  i.  e.  the  descendants  of  Esau,  who 
possessed  Mount  Seir  and  the  adjacent  region, 
called  from  them  Idumsea.     They  and  the  Na- 
bathseans  formed  in  later  times  a  flourishing    I 
commercial  state,  the  capital  of  which  was  the    j 
remarkable  city  called  Petra.  | 

C.  Nuliorites,    the    descendants    of    Nahor,    | 
Abraham's  brother,  who  seem  to  have  peopled    I 
the  land  of  Uz,  the  country  of  Job,  and  of  Buz, 
the  country  of  his  friend  Elihu  the  Buzite,  these 


86  ARABIA 

being  the  names  of  Nahor's  sons  (Gen.  xxii. 
21). 

D.  Lotites,  viz. : 

(a)  Moabites,  who  occupied  the  northern  por- 
tion of  Arabia  Petrrea,  as  above  described ;  and 
their  kinsmen,  the — 

(b)  Ammonites,  who  lived  north  of  them,  in 
Arabia  Deserta. 

Besides  these,  the  Bible  mentions  various  other 
tribes  who  resided  within  the  bounds  of  Arabia, 
but  whose  descent  is  unknown,  e.  g.  the  Amale- 
kites,  the  Kenites,  the  Horites,  the  inhabitants  of 
Maon,  Hazor,  Vedan,  and  Javan-Meusal  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  19). 

In  process  of  time  some  of  these  tribes  were 
perhaps  wholly  extirpated  (as  seems  to  have  been 
the  case  with  the  Amalekites),  but  the  rest  were 
more  or  less  mingled  together  by  inter-marriages, 
by  military  conquests,  political  revolutions,  and 
other  causes  of  which  history  has  preserved  no 
record;  and  thus  amalgamated,  they  became 
known  to  the  rest  of  the  world  as  the  '  Arabs,'  a 
people  whose  physical  and  mental  characteristics 
are  very  strongly  and  distinctly  marked.  In 
both  respects  they  rank  very  high  among  the 
nations ;  so  much  so,  that  some  have  regarded 
them  as  furnishing  the  prototi/pe — the  primitive 
model  form — the  standard  figure  of  the  human 
species. 

The  inhabitants  of  Arabia  have,  from  remote 
antiquity,  been  divided  into  two  great  classes, 
viz.  the  townsmen  (including  villagers),  and  the 
men  of  the  desert,  such  being  the  meaning  of  the 
word  '  Bedawees '  or  Bedouins,  the  designation 
given  to  the  '  dwellers  in  the  wilderness.'  From 
the  nature  of  their  country,  the  latter  are  neces- 
sitated to  lead  the  life  of  nomades,  or  wandering 
shepherds ;  and  since  the  days  of  the  patriarchs 
(who  were  themselves  of  that  occupation)  the  ex- 
tensive steppes  which  form  so  large  a  portion  of 
Arabia,  have  been  traversed  by  a  pastoral  but 
warlike  people,  who,  in  their  mode  of  life,  their 
food,  their  dress,  their  dwellings,  their  manners, 
customs,  and  government,  have  always  continued, 
and  still  continue,  almost  unalterably  the  same. 
They  consist  of  a  great  many  separate  tribes, 
■who  are  collected  into  diifereut  encampments 
dispersed  through  the  territory  which  they  claim 
as  their  own ;  and  they  move  from  one  spot  to 
another  (commonly  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
pools  or  wells)  as  soon  as  the  stinted  pasture  is 
exhausted  by  their  cattle.  It  is  only  here  and 
there  that  the  ground  is  susceptible  of  cultiva- 
tion, and  the  tillage  of  it  is  commonly  left  to 
peasants,  who  are  often  the  vassals  of  the  Be- 
dawees, and  whom  (as  well  as  all  '  townsmen ') 
they  regard  with  contempt  as  an  inferior  race. 
Having  constantly  to  shift  their  residence,  they 
live  in  movable  tents  (comp.  Isa.  xiii.  20  ;  Jer. 
xlix.  29),  from  which  circumstance  they  re- 
ceived from  the  Greeks  the  name  of  Scenites, 
dwellers  in  tents  [Tents].  The  heads  of  tribes 
are  called  sheikhs,  a  word  of  various  import,  but 
used  in  this  case  as  a  title  of  honour ;  the  govern- 
ment is  hereditary  in  the  family  of  each  sheikh, 
but  elective  as  to  the  particular  individual  ap- 
pointed. Their  allegiance,  however,  consists 
more  in  following  his  example  as  a  leader  than 
in  obeying  his  commands;  and,  if  dissatisfied 
with  his  government,  they  will  depose  or  abandon 
him.     As  the  independent  lords  of  their  own 


ARABIA 

deserts,  the  Bedawees  have  from  time  immemo- 
rial demanded  tribute  or  presents  from  all  tra- 
vellers or  caravans  (Isa.  xxi.  13)  passing  through 
their  country  ;  the  transition  from  which  to  rob- 
bery is  so  natural,  that  they  attach  to  the  latter 
no  disgrace,  plundering  without  mercy  all  who 
are  unable  to  resist  them,  or  who  have  not 
secured  the  protection  of  their  tribe.  Their 
watching  for  travellers  '  in  the  ways,'  i.  e.  the 
frequented  routes  through  the  desert,  is  alluded 
to  Jer.  iii.  2  ;  Ezra  viii.  31 ;  and  the  fleetness  of 
their  horses  in  carrying  them  into  the  '  depths  of 
the  wilderness,'  beyond  the  reach  of  their  pur- 
suers, seems  what  is  referred  to  in  Isa.  Ixiii.  13, 
14.  Their  warlike  incursions  into  more  settled 
districts  are  often  noticed  (c.  g.  Job  i.  15 ;  2  Chron. 
xxi.  16;  xxvi.  7).  The  acuteness  of  their  bodily 
senses  is  very  remarkable,  and  is  exemplified  in 
their  astonishing  sagacity  in  tracing  and  distin- 
guishing the  footsteps  of  men  and  cattle.  The 
law  of  blood-revenge  sows  the  seeds  of  perpetual 
feuds;  and  what  was  predicted  (Gen.  xvi.  12)  of 
the  posterity  of  Islmiael,  the  '  wild-ass  man '  (a 
term  most  graphically  descriptive  of  a  Bedawee), 
holds  true  of  the  whole  people  [Blood-Revenge]. 
They  show  bravery  in  repelling  a  public  enemy, 
but  when  they  fight  for  plunder,  they  behave 
like  cowards.  Their  bodily  frame  is  spare,  but 
athletic  and  active,  inured  to  fatigue  and  capable 
of  undergoing  great  privations  :  their  minds  are 
acute  and  inquisitive ;  and  though  their  manners 
are  somewhat  grave  and  formal,  thej'  are  of  a 
lively  and  social  disposition.  Of  their  moral 
virtues  it  is  necessary  to  speak  with  caution. 
They  were  long  held  up  as  models  of  good  faith, 
incormptible  integrity,  and  the  most  generous 
hospitality  to  strangers ;  but  many  recent  travel- 
lers deny  them  the  possession  of  these  qualities ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  whatever  they  may  have 
been  once,  the  Bedawees,  like  all  the  unsophis- 
ticated '  children  of  nature,'  have  been  much  cor- 
rupted by  the  influx  of  foreigners,  and  the  na- 
tional character  is  in  every  point  of  view  lowest 
where  they  are  most  exposed  to  the  continual 
passage  of  strangers. 

In  the  language  of  the  Arabians  we  find  the 
full  and  adult  development  of  the  genius  of  that 
group  of  languages  of  Western  Asia  which  is  now 
usually  distinguished  as  the  Syro-Arabian.  In 
the  abundance  of  its  roots,  in  the  manifold  va- 
riety of  its  formations,  in  the  syntactical  deli- 
cacies of  its  construction,  it  stands  pre-eminent 
as  a  language  among  all  its  sisters.  Every  class 
of  composition  also:  the  wild  and  yet  noble 
lyrics  of  the  son  of  the  desert,  who  had  '  nothing 
to  glory  in  but  his  sword,  his  guest,  and  his  fer- 
vid tongue ; '  the  impassioned  and  often  sublime 
appeals  of  the  Koran ;  the  sentimental  poetry  of 
a  Mutauabbi ;  the  artless  simplicity  of  their  usual 
narrative  style,  and  the  philosophic  disquisition 
of  an  Ibn  Chaldun  ;  the  subtleties  of  the  gram- 
marian and  scholiast ;  medicine,  natural  history, 
and  the  metaphysical  speculations  of  the  Aris- 
totelian school — all  have  found  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage a  fitting  exponent  of  their  feeling  and 
thought.  And,  although  confined  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Peninsula  by  circumstances  to 
which  we  owe  the  preservation  of  its  pure  antique 
form,  yet  Islam  made  it  the  written  and  spoken 
language  of  the  whole  of  Western  Asia,  of 
Eastern  and  Northern  Africa,  of  Spain,  and  of 


AEABIA 

some  of  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean ;  and 
the  ecclesiastical  language  of  Persia,  Turkey, 
and  all  other  lauds  which  receive  the  Moham- 
medan faith ;  in  all  which  places  it  has  left  sen- 
sible traces  of  its  former  occupancy,  and  in  many 
of  which  it  is  still  the  living  or  the  learned 
idiom.  The  close  affinity,  and  consequently  the 
incalculable  philological  use,  of  the  Arabic  with 
regard  to  the  Hebrew  language  and  its  other 
sisters,  may  be  considered  partly  as  a  question  of 
theory,  and  partly  as  one  of  fact  The  former 
would  regard  the  concurrent  records  which  the 
Old  Testament  and  their  own  traditions  have 
preserved  of  the  several  links  by  which  the  Arabs 
were  connected  with  different  generations  of  the 
Hebrew  line,  and  the  evidences  which  Scripture 
offers  of  persons  speaking  Arabic  being  intelli- 
gible to  the  Hebrews ;  the  latter  would  observe 
the  demonstrable  identity  between  them  in  the 
main  features  of  a  language,  and  the  more  subtle, 
but  no  less  convincing  traces  of  resemblance  even 
in  the  points  in  which  their  diversity  is  most  ap- 
parent. Thus  springing  from  the  same  root  as 
the  Hebrew,  and  possessing  such  traces  of  affinity 
to  a  late  period  of  Scripture  history,  this  dialect 
was  further  enabled,  by  several  circumstances  in 
the  social  state  of  the  nation,  to  retain  its  native 
resemblance  of  type  until  the  date  of  the  earliest 
extant  written  documents.  These  circumstances 
were,  the  almost  insular  position  of  the  country, 
which  prevented  conquest  or  commerce  from 
debasing  the  language  of  its  inhabitants  ;  the  fact 
that  so  large  a  portion  of  the  nation  adhered  to  a 
mode  of  life  in  which  every  impression  was,  as 
it  were,  stereotyped,  and  knew  no  variation  for 
ages ;  and  the  great  and  just  pride  which  they 
felt  in  the  purity  of  their  language,  which  is  still 
a  characteristic  of  the  Bedouins. 

The  principal  source  of  the  wealth  of  ancient 
Arabia  was  its  commerce.  So  early  as  the  days 
or  Jacob  (Gen.  xxxvii.  28)  we  read  of  a  mixed 
cai'avau  of  Arab  merchants  (Ishmaelites  and 
Midianites)  who  were  engaged  in  the  conveyance 
of  various  foreign  articles  to  Egypt,  and  made 
no  scruple  to  add  Joseph, '  a  slave,'  to  their  other 
purchases.  The  Arabs  were,  doubtless,  the  first 
navigators  of  their  own  seas,  and  the  great  car- 
riers of  the  produce  of  India,  Abyssinia,  and 
other  remote  countries  to  Western  Asia  and 
Egypt.  Various  Indian  productions  thus  ob- 
tained were  common  among  the  Hebrews  at  an 
early  period  of  their  history  (Exod.  xxx.  23,  25). 
The  traffic  of  the  Red  Sea  was  to  Solomon  a 
source  of  great  profit ;  and  the  extensive  com- 
merce of  Sabcra  (Sheba,  now  Yemen)  is  men- 
tioned by  profane  writers  as  well  as  alluded  to 
in  Scripture  (1  Kings  x.  10-15).  In  the  de- 
scription of  the  foreign  trade  of  Tyre  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  19-24)  various  Arab  tribes  are  introduced 
(comp.  Isa.  Ix.  6;  Jer.  vi.  20;  2  Chron.  ix.  14). 
The  Nabathseo-Idumasans  became  a  great  trading 
people,  their  capital  being  Petra.  The  transit- 
trade  from  India  continued  to  enrich  Arabia 
until  the  discovery  of  the  passage  to  India  by 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope ;  but  the  invention  of 
steam-navigation  has  now  restored  the  ancient 
route  for  travellers  by  the  Red  Sea. 

Arabia,  in  ancient  times,  generally  preserved 
its  independence,  unaffected  by  those  great  events 
which  changed  the  destiny  of  the  surrounding 
nations ;  and  in  the  sixth  century  of  cur  ara,  j 


ARAM 


87 


the  decline  of  the  Roman  empire  and  the  cor- 
ruptions and  distractions  of  the  Eastern  church 
favoured  the  impulse  given  bj'  a  wild  and  warlike 
fanaticism.  Mahomet  arose,  and  succeeded  in 
gathering  around  his  standard  the  nomadic  tribes 
of  central  Arabia ;  and  in  less  than  fifty  years 
that  standard  waved  triumphant  'from  the 
straits  of  Gibraltar  to  the  hitherto  unconquered 
regions  beyond  the  Oxus.'  The  khalifs  trans- 
ferred the  seat  of  government  successively  to 
Damascus,  Kufa,  and  Bagdad ;  but  amid  the  dis- 
tractions of  their  foreign  wars,  the  chiefs  of  the 
interior  of  Arabia  gradually  shook  off  their 
feeble  allegiance,  and  resumed  their  ancient 
habits  of  independence,  which,  notwithstanding 
the  revolutions  that  have  since  occurred,  they  for 
the  most  part  retain.  At  present,  indeed,  the 
authority  of  Mehemet  Ali,  the  Pasha  of  Egypt, 
is  acknowledged  over  a  great  portion  of  the 
northern  part  of  Arabia,  while  in  the  south  the 
Imam  of  Maskat  exercises  dominion  over  a  much 
greater  extent  of  country  than  did  any  of  his 
predecessors. 

A  RAD,  an  ancient  city  on  the  southernmost 
borders  of  Palestine,  whose  inhabitants  drove 
back  the  Israelites  as  they  attempted  to  penetrate 
from  Kadesh  into  Canaan  (Num.  xxi.  1),  but 
were  eventually  subdued  by  Joshua,  along  with 
the  other  southern  Canaanites  (Josh.  xii.  14, 
comp.  X.  41;  also  Judg.  i.  16).  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  place  Arad  twenty  Roman  miles  from 
Hebron.  This  accords  well  with  the  situation 
of  a  hill  called  Tell  'Arad,  which  Dr.  Robinson 
observed  on  the  road  from  Petra  to  Hebron. 
He  describes  it  as  'a  barren-looking  eminence 
rising  above  the  country  around.'  He  did  not 
examine  the  spot,  but  the  Arabs  said  there  were 
no  ruins  upon  or  near  it,  but  only  a  cavern.  The 
name  alone  is,  however,  too  decisive  to  admit  a 
doubt  that  the  hill  marks  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Arad. 

A'RAM,  the  name  given  by  the  Hebrews  to 
the  tract  of  country  lying  between  Phoenicia  on 
the  west,  Palestine  on  the  south,  Arabia  Deserta 
and  the  river  Tigris  on  the  east,  and  the  moun- 
tain range  of  Taurus  on  the  north.  Many  parts 
of  this  extensive  territory  have  a  much  lower 
level  than  Palestine,  but  it  might  receive  the 
designation  of  '  the  highlands,'  because  it  does 
rise  to  a  greater  elevation  than  that  country  at 
most  points  of  immediate  contact,  and  especially 
on  the  side  of  Lebanon.  Aram,  or  Arama;a, 
seems  to  have  corresponded  generally  to  the 
Si/ria  and  Mesopotamia  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans (see  those  articles).  We  find  the  following 
divisions  expressly  noticed  in  Scripture: — 1. 
Aram-Dammesek,  the  '  Syria  of  Damascus '  con- 
quered by  David,  2  Sam.  viii.  5,  G,  where  it  de- 
notes only  the  territory  around  Damascus ;  but 
elsewhere  '  Aram,'  in  connection  with  its  capital 
'  Damascus,'  appears  to  be  used  in  a  wider  sense 
for  Syria  Proper  (Isa.  vii.  1,8;  xvii.  3 ;  Amos  i. 
5).  To  this  part  of  Aram  the  '  land  of  Hadrach ' 
seems  to  have  belonged  (Zech.  ix.  1).  2.  Aram- 
Maachah  (1  Chron.  xix.  6),  or  simply  Maachah 
(2  Sam.  X.  6,  8),  was  not  far  from  the  northern 
border  of  the  Israelites  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan 
(comp.   Dcut.  iii.  14,  with   Josh.  xiii.   11,   13). 

3.  Aram-beth-Rechob,  the  precise  locality  of 
which   cannot    with    certainty   be    determined. 

4.  AEAai-ZoRAii  /-  Sam.  x.  6).     Jewish  tradition 


68 


ARAM 


ARARAT 


has  placed  Zobah  at.  Aleppo,  whereas  Syrian  tra- 
dition identifies  it  witli  Nisibis,  a  city  in  the 
north-east  of  Mesopotamia.  The  former  seems 
a  much  nearer  approximation  to  the  truth.  We 
may  gather  from  2  Sam.  ^'m.  3,  x.  16,  that  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Aram«  Zobah  was  the  Eu- 
phrates, but  Nisibis  was  far  .-pyond  that  river. 
The  people  of  Zobah  are  uiiitormly  spoken  of 
as  near  neighbours  of  the  Israelites,  the  Damas- 
cenes, and  other  Syrians;  and  in  one  place  (2 
Chron.  viii.  3)  Hamath  is  called  Hamath-Zobah, 
as  pertaining  to  that  district.  We,  therefore, 
conclude  that  Aram-Zobah  extended  from  the 
Euphrates  westward,  perhaps  as  far  north  as  to 
Aleppo.  It  was  long  the  most  powerful  of  the 
petty  kingdoms  of  Aramaa,  its  princes  com- 
monly bearing  the  name  of  Hadadez-er  or  Hada- 
rezer.  5.  Aram-Naharaim,  i.  e.  yJram  of  the 
Two  Elvers,  or  Mesopotamia.  The  rivers  which 
enclose  Mesopotamia  are  the  Euphrates  on  the 
west  and  the  Tigris  on  the  east ;  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful wliether  the  Aram-Naharaim  of  Scripture 
embraces  the  whole  of  that  tract  or  only  the 
northern  portion  of  it  (comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  10; 
Deut.  xxiii.  4 ;  Judg.  iii.  8).  A  part  of  this  re- 
gion of  Aram  is  also  called  Padan-Aram,  the 
plain  of  Aram  (Gen.  xxv.  20 ;  xxviii.  2,  C,  7 ; 
xxxi.  18;  xxxiii.  18),  and  once  simply  Padaji 
(Gen.  xlviii.  7),  also  Sedch-Aram,  the  field  of 
Aram  (Hos.  xii.  13).  • 

But  though  the  districts  now  enumerated  be 
the  only  ones  erpressli/  named  in  the  Bible  as  be- 
longing to  Aram,  there  is  no  doubt  that  many 
more  territories  were  included  in  that  extensive 
region,  c.  g.  Geshur,  Hul,  Arpad,  Riblah,  Tad- 
mor,  Hauran,  Abilsue,  &c.,  though  some  of  them 
may  have  formed  part  of  the  divisions  already 
specified.  It  appears  from  the  ethnographic 
table  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Genesis  (vers.  22, 
23)  that  Aram  was  a  son  of  Shem,  and  that  his 
own  sons  were  Uz,  Hul,  Gather,  and  Mash. 
Another  Aram  is  mentioned  (Gen.  xxii.  21)  as 
the  grandson  of  Nahor  and  son  of  Kemuel,  but 
he  is  not  to  be  thought  of  here.  The  descent  of 
the  Aramajans  from  a  son  of  Shem  is  confirmed 
by  their  language,  which  was  one  of  the  branches 
of  the  Semitic  family,  and  nearly  allied  to  the 
Hebrew. 

The  Aramaic  language — that  whole,  of  which 
the  Chaldee  and  Syriac  dialects  form  the  parts — 
constitutes  the  northern  and  least  developed 
Dranch  of  the  Syro-Arabian  familj'  of  tongues. 
Its  cradle  was  probably  on  the  banks  of  the 
Cyrus,  according  to  the  best  interpretation  of 
Amos  ix.  7 ;  but  Mesopotamia,  Babylonia,  and 
Syria  form  what  may  be  considered  its  home 
and  proper  domain.  Political  events,  however, 
subsequently  caused  it  to  supplant  Hebrew  in 
Palestine ;  and  then  it  became  the  prevailing 
form  of  speech  from  the  Tigris  to  the  shore  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and,  in  a  contrary  direction, 
from  Armenia  down  to  the  confines  of  Arabia. 
After  obtaining  such  a  wide  dominion,  it  was 
forced,  from  the  ninth  century  onwards,  to  give 
way  before  the  encroaching  ascendency  of 
Arabic ;  and  it  now  only  survives,  as  a  living 
tongue,  among  the  Syrian  Christians  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mosul.  According  to  his- 
torical records,  and  also  according  to  the  com- 
paratively ruder  form  of  the  Aramaic  language 
Itself,  we  might  suppose  that  it  represents,  even 


in  the  state  in  which  we  have  it,  some  image  of 
that  aboriginal  type  which  the  Hebrews  and 
Arabians,  under  more  favourable  social  and  cli- 
matical  influences,  subsequently  developed  into 
fulness  of  sound  and  structure.  But  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  us  now  to  discern  the  particular  vestiges 
of  this  archaic  form ;  for,  not  only  did  the  Ara- 
maic not  Avork  out  its  own  development  of  the 
original  elements  common  to  the  whole  Syro- 
Arabian  sisterhood  of  languages,  but  it  was  pre- 
eminently exposed,  both  by  neighbourhood  and 
by  conquest,  to  harsh  collision  with  languages  of 
an  utterly  different  family.  Moreover,  it  is  the 
only  one  of  the  three  great  Syro-Arabian  branches 
which  has  no  fruits  of  a  purely  national  litera- 
ture to  boast  of.  We  possess  no  monument  what- 
ever of  its  own  genius;  not  any  work  Avhich 
may  be  considered  the  product  of  the  political 
and  religious  culture  of  the  nation,  and  charac- 
teristic of  it — as  is  so  emphatically  the  case 
both  with  the  Hebrews  and  the  Arabs.  The  first 
time  we  see  the  language,  it  is  used  by  Jews  as 
the  vehicle  of  Jewish  thought ;  and  although, 
when  -we  next  meet  it,  it  is  employed  by  native 
authors,  yet  they  write  under  the  literary  im- 
pulses of  Christianity,  and  under  the  Greek  in- 
fluence on  thought  and  language  which  neces- 
sarily accompanied  that  religion.  These  two 
modifications,  which  constitute  and  define  the 
so-called  Chaldee  and  Syriac  dialects,  are  the 
only  forms  in  which  the  normal  and  standard 
Aramaic  has  been  preserved  to  us. 

AR'ARAT  occurs  nowhere  in  Scripture  as  the 
name  of  1  mountain,  but  only  as  the  name  of 
a  country,  upon  the  '  mountains '  of  which  the 
ark  rested  during  the  subsidence  of  the  flood 
(Gen.  viii.  4). 

The  only  other  passages  where  '  Ararat '  oc- 
curs are  2  Kings  xix.  37  (Isa.  xxxvii.  38)  and 
Jer.  li.  27.  In  the  former  it  is  spoken  of  as  the 
country  whither  the  sons  ot  Sennacherib,  king 
of  Assyria,  fled,  after  they  had  murdered  their 
father.  This  points  to  a  territory  which  did  not 
form  part  of  the  immediate  dominion  of  Assyria, 
and  yet  might  not  be  far  off  from  it.  The  de- 
scription is  quite  applicable  to  Armenia,  and  is 
supported  by  the  tradition  of  that  country.  The 
other  Scripture  text  (Jer.  li.  27)  mentions  Ararat, 
along  with  Minni  and  Ashkenaz,  as  kingdoms 
summoned  to  arm  themselves  against  Babylon. 
In  the  parallel  place  in  Isa.  xiii.  2-4,  the  in- 
vaders of  Babylonia  are  described  as  '  issuing 
from  the  mountains;'  and  if  by  Minni  we  un- 
derstand the  Minyas  in  Armenia,  and  by  Ash- 
kenaz some  country  on  the  Euxine  Sea,  which 
may  have  had  its  original  name,  Axenos,  from 
Ashkenaz,  a  son  of  Gomer,  the  progenitor  of  the 
Cimmerians  (Gen.  x.  2,  3)— then  we  arrive  at 
the  same  conclusion,  viz.,  that  Ararat  was  a 
mountainous  region  north  of  Assyria,  and  in  all 
probability  in  Armenia.  In  Ezek.  xxxviii.  6, 
we  find  Togarmah,  another  part  of  Armenia, 
connected  with  Gomer,  and  in  Ezek.  xxvii,  14, 
with  Meshech  and  Tubal,  all  tribes  of  the  north. 
With  this  agree  the  traditions  of  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  churches,  and  likewise  the  accounts 
of  the  native  Armenian  writers. 

But  though  it  may  be  concluded  with  tolerable 
certainty  that  the  land  of  Ararat  is  to  be  identi- 
fied with  a  portion  of  Armenia,  we  possess  no 
historical  data  for  fixing  on  any  one  mountain 


ARAEAT 

in    that    country    as   the   resting-place   of  the 
ark. 

The  earliest  tradition  fixed  on  one  of  the  chain 
cf  mountains  which  separate  Armenia  on  the 
south  from  Mesopotamia,  and  which,  as  they 
also  inclose  Kurdistan,  the  land  of  the  Kurds, 
obtained  the  name  of  the  Kardu,  or  Carduchian 
range,  corrupted  into  Gordisean  and  Cordyaan. 
This  was  at  one  time  the  prevalent  opinion 
among  the  Eastern  churches,  but  it  has  now  de- 
clined in  credit  and  given  place  (at  least  among 
the  Christians  of  the  West)  to  that  which  now 
obtains,  and  according  to  which  the  ark  rested 
on  a  great  mountain  in  the  north  of  Armenia — 
to  which  (so  strongly  did  the  idea  take  hold  of 
the  popular  belief)  was,  in  course  of  time,  given 
the  very  name  of  .Irarat,  as  if  no  doubt  could 
be  entertained  that  it  was  the  Ararat  of  Scrip- 
ture.    We  liave  seen,  however,  that  in  the  Bible 


ARARAT  89 

Ararat  is  nowhere  the  name  of  a  mountain,  and 
by  the  native  Armenians  the  mountain  in  ques- 
tion ^7as  never  so  designated.  Still  there  is  no 
doubt  of  the  antiquity  of  the  tradition  of  this 
being  (as  it  is  sometimes  termed)  the  '  Mother  of 
the  World.'.  The  Persians  call  it  Kuhi  Nuch, 
'  Noah's  Mountain,' 

The  mountain  thus  known  to  Europeans  as 
Ararat  consists  of  two  immense  conical  eleva- 
tions (one  peak  considerably  lower  than  the 
other),  towering  in  massive  and  majestic  gran- 
deur from  the  valley  of  the  Aras,  the  ancient 
Araxes.  Smith  and  D wight  give  its  position  N. 
57°  W.  of  Nakhchevan,  and  S.  25°  W.  of  Erivan  '; 
and  remark,  in  describing  it  before  the  recent 
earthquake,  tliat  in  no  part  of  the  world  had 
they  seen  any  mountain  whose  imposing  appear- 
ance could  plead  half  so  powerfully  as  this  a 
claim  to  the   honour  of  having  once  been  the 


stepping-iTtone  between  the  old  world  and  the 
new.  '  It  appeared,'  says  Ker  Porter,  '  as  if  the 
hugest  mountains  of  the  world  had  been  piled 
upon  each  other  to  form  this  one  sublime  im- 
mensity of  earth  and  rooks  and  snow.  The  icy 
peaks  of  its  double  heads  rose  majestically  into 
the  clear  and  cloudless  heavens ;  the  sun  blazed 
bright  upon  them,  and  the  reflection  sent  forth 
a  dazzling  radiance  equal  to  other  suns.  My 
eye,  not  able  to  rest  for  any  length  of  time  upon 
the  blinding  glory  of  its  summits,  wandered 
down  the  apparently  interminable  sides,  till  I 
could  no  longer  trace  their  vast  lines  in  the  mists 
of  the  horizon ;  when  an  irrepressible  impulse 
immediately  carrying  my  eye  upwards,  again 
refixed  my  gaze  upon  the  awful  glare  of  Ararat.' 
To  the  same  efl'ect  Morier  writes :  —  ' Nothing 
can  be  more  beautiful  than  its  .chape,  more  awful 
than  its  height.     All  the  surrcui.ding  mcuntains 


sink  into  insignificance  when  compared  to  it.  It 
is  perfect  in  all  its  parts ;  no  hard  rugged  fea- 
ture, no  unnatural  prominences,  everything  is 
in  harmony,  and  all  combines  to  render  it  one 
of  the  sublimest  objects  in  nature.' 

Several  attempts  had  been  made  to  reach  the 
top  of  Ararat,  but  few  persons  had  got  beyond 
the  limit  of  perpetual  snow.  The  honour  was 
reserved  to  a  German,  Dr.  Parrot,  in  the  em- 
ployment of  Russia,  Wiio,  in  his  Journey  to 
Ararat,  gives  the  following  particulars : — '  The 
summit  of  the  Great  Ararat  is  in  39°  42'  N.  lat., 
and  61°  55' E.  long,  from  Ferro.  Its  perpen- 
dicular height  is  16,254  Paris  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  13,350  above  the  plain  of 
the  Araxes.  The  Little  Ararat  is  12,-284  Paris 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  9561  above  the  plain  of 
the  Araxes.'  After  he  and  his  party  had  failed 
in  two  attempts  to  ascend,  the  third  was   sue- 


90 


ARCHITECTURE 


cessful,  ami  on  the  27th  September  (o.  s.),  1829, 
they  stood  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Ararat.  It 
■was  a  slightly  convex,  almost  circular  platform, 
about  200  Paris  feet  iu  diameter,  composed  of 
eternal  ice,  unbroken  by  a  rock  or  stone :  on  ac- 
count of  the  immense  distances,  nothing  could 
be  seen  distinctly. 

Since  the  memorable  ascent  of  Dr.  Parrot, 
Ararat  has  been  the  scene  of  a  fearful  calamity. 
An  earthquake,  which  in  a  few  moments  changed 
the  entire  aspect  of  the  country,  commenced  on 
the  20th  of  June  (o.  s.),  1840,  and  continued,  at 
intervals,  until  the  1st  of  September.  _  The  de- 
struction of  houses  and  other  property  iu  a  wide 
tract  of  country  around  was  very  great ;  fortu- 
nately, the  earthquake  having  happened  during 
the  day,  the  loss  of  lives  did  not  exceed  fifty. 
The  scene  of  greatest  devastation  was  in  the 
narrow  valley  of  Akorhi,  where  the  masses  of 
rock,  ice,  and  sn.ow,  detached  from  the  summit 
of  Ararat  and  its  lateral  points,  were  thrown  at 
one  single  bound  from  a  height  of  6000  feet  to 
the  bottom  of  the  valley,  where  they  lay  scat- 
tered over  an  extent  of  several  miles. 

ARAU'NAH,  or  Ornan,  a  man  of  the  Jebu- 
site  nation,  which  possessed  Jerusalem  before  it 
was  taken  by  the  Israelites.  His  threshing-floor 
was  on  Mount  Moriah ;  and  when  he  understood 
that  it  was  required  for  the  site  of  the  Temple, 
•  he  liberally  otfered  the  ground  to  David  as  a 
free  gift ;  but  the  king  insisted  on  paying  the 
full  value  for  it  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  18  ;  1  Chron.  xxi. 
18). 

AR'BA.    [Hebron.] 

ARCHELA'US,  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  and 
his  successor  in  Idumaea,  Judoea,  and  Samaria 
(Matt.  ii.  22)  [Herodian  Family]. 

ARCHERY.    [Arms.] 

ARCHIP'PUS,  a  Christian  minister,  whom 
St.  Paul  calls  his  '  fellow-soldier,'  in  Philem.  2, 
and  whom  he  exhorts  to  renewed  activity  in 
Col.  iv.  17.  From  the  latter  reference  it  would 
seem  that  Archippus  had  exercised  the  office  of 
Evangelista  sometimes  at  Ephesus,  sometimes 
elsewhere;  and  that  he  finally  resided  at  Co- 
losse,  and  there  discharged  the  office  of  presiding 
presbyter  or  l.iishop  when  St.  Paul  wrote  to  the 
Colossian  church. 

ARCHITECTURE.  It  was  fornierly  com- 
mon to  claim  for  the  Hebrews  the  invention  of 
scientific  architecture,  and  to  allege  that  classic 
antiquity  was  indebted  to  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
for  the  principles  and  many  of  the  details  of  the 
art.  This  statement,  however,  is  totally  without 
foundation. 

There  has  never  in  fact  been  any  people  for 
whom  a  peculiar  style  of  architecture  could  with 
less  probability  be  claimed  than  for  the  Israelites. 
On  leaving  Egypt  they  could  only  be  acquainted 
with  Egyptian  art.  On  entering  Canaan  they 
necessarily  occupied  the  buildings  of  which  they 
had  dispossessed  the  previous  inhabitants;  and 
the  succeeding  generations  would  naturally  erect 
such  buildings  as  the  country  previously  con- 
tained. The  architecture  of  Palestine,  and,  as 
such,  eventually  that  of  the  Jews,  had  doubtless 
its  own  characteristics,  by  which  it  was  suited  to 
the  climate  and  condition  of  the  country ;  and  in 
the  course  of  time  many  improvements  would 
no  doubt  arise  from  the  causes  which  usually 
operate  in  producing  change  in  any  practical  art. 


AREOPAGUS 

From  the  want  of  historical  data  and  from  the 
total  absence  of  architectural  remains,  the  de- 
gree in  which  these  causes  operated  in  imparting 
a  peculiar  character  to  the  Jewish  architecture 
cannot  now  be  determined  ;  for  the  oldest  ruins 
in  the  country  do  not  ascend  beyond  the  period 
of  the  Roman  domination.  It  does,  however, 
seem  probable  that  among  the  Hebrews  archi- 
tecture was  always  kept  within  the  limits  of  a 
mechanical  craft,  and  never  rose  to  the  rank  of 
a  fine  art.  Tlieir  usual  dwelling-houses  differed 
little  from  those  of  other  Eastern  nations,  and 
we  nowhere  find  anything  indicative  of  exterior 
embellishment.  Splendid  edifices,  such  as  the 
palace  of  David  and  the  temple  of  Solomon,  were 
completed  by  the  assistance  of  Phoenician  artists 
(2  Sam.  V.  11  ;  1  Kings  v.  C,  18;  1  Chron.  xiv. 
1).  After  the  Babylonish  exile,  the  assistance  of 
such  foreigners  was  likewise  resorted  to  for  the 
restoration  of  the  Temple  (Ezra  iii.  7).  From 
the  time  of  the  Maccabsean  dynasty,  the  Greek 
taste  began  to  gain  ground,  especially  under  the 
Herodian  princes,  and  was  shown  in  the  struc- 
ture and  embellishment  of  many  towns,  baths, 
colonnades,  theatres  and  castles.  The  Phcenician 
style,  which  seems  to  have  had  some  affinity  Avith 
the  Egyptian,  was  not,  however,  superseded  by 
the  Grecian;  and  even  as  late  as  the  Mishna,  we 
read  of  Tyrian  windows,  Tyrian  porches,  &c. 
[House]. 

With  regard  to  the  instruments  used  by  build- 
ers— besides  the  more  common,  such  as  the  axe, 
saw,  &c.,  we  find  incidental  mention  of  the 
compass,  the  plumb-line  (Amos  vii.  7),  and  the 
measuring-line. 

AREOP'AGUS,  an  Anglicized  form  of  the 
original  words,  signifying  in  reference  to  place. 
Mars  Hill,  but  in  reference  to  persons,  the 
Council,  which  was  held  on  the  hill.  The 
Council  was  also  termed  the  Council  on  Mars 
Hill;  sometimes  the  Upper  Council,  from  the 
elevated  position  v;here  it  was  held  ;  and  some- 
times simply,  but  emphatically,  the  Council : 
but  it  retained,  till  a  late  period,  the  original 
designation  of  Mars  Hill.  The  place  and  the 
Council  are  topics  of  interest  to  the  Biblical 
student,  chiefly  from  their  being  the  scene  of 
the  interesting  narrative  and  sublime  discourse 
found  in  Acts  xvii.,  where  it  appears  that  the 
apostle  Paul,  feeling  himself  moved,  by  the 
evidences  of  idolatry  with  which  the  city  of 
Athens  was  crowded,  to  preach  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,  both  iu  the  Jewish  synagogues  and 
in  the  maiket-place,  was  set  upon  by  certain 
Epicurean  and  Stoic  philosophers,  and  led  to  the 
Areopagus,  in  order  that  they  might  learn  from 
him  the  meaning  and  design  of  his  new  doctrine. 
Whether  or  not  the  Apostle  was  criminally  ar- 
raigned, as  a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods,  before 
the  tribunal  which  held  its  sittings  on  the  hill, 
may  be  considered  as  undetermined,  though  the 
balance  of  evidence  seems  to  incline  to  the 
aflarmative.  Whichever  view  on  this  point  is 
adopted,  the  dignified,  temperate,  and  high- 
minded  bearing  of  Paul  under  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances in  which  he  was  placed  are  worthy 
of  high  admiration,  and  will  appear  the  more 
striking  the  more  the  associations  are  known  and 
weighed  which  covered  and  surrounded  the  spot 
where  he  stood.  Nor  does  his  eloquent  discourse 
appear  to  have  been  without  good  effect;   for 


AREOPAGUS 

though  some  mocked,  and  some  procrastinated, 
yet  others  believed,  among  whom  was  a  member 
of  the  Council,  '  Diouysius,  the  Areopagite.' 

The  court  of  Areopagus  was  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  honoured,  not  only  in  Athens,  but  in 
the  whole  of  Greece,  and,  indeed,  in  the  ancient 
world.  Through  a  long  succession  of  centuries, 
it  preserved  its  existence  amid  changes  corre- 
sponding with  those  which  the  state  underwent, 
till  at  least  the  age  of  the  Caesars. 

Its  origin  ascends  back  into  the  darkest  my- 
thical period.  From  the  first  its  constitution 
was  essentially  aristocratic ;  a  character  which 
to  some  extent  it  retained  even  after  the  demo- 
cratic reforms  which  Solon  introduced  into  the 
Athenian  constitution.  Following  the  political 
tendencies  of  the  state,  the  Areopagus  became 
in  process  of  time  less  and  less  aristocratical,  and 
parted  piecemeal  with  most  of  its  important 
functions.  First  its  political  power  was  taken 
away,  then  its  jurisdiction  in  cases  of  murder, 
and  even  its  moral  influence  gradually  departed. 
During  the  sway  ot  the  Thirty  Tyrants  its 
power,  or  ratlier  its  political  existence,  was  de- 
stroyed. Oa  their  overthrow  it  recovered  some 
consideration,  and  the  oversight  of  the  execution 
of  the  laws  was  restored  to  it  by  an  express 
decree.  The  precise  time  when  it  ceased  to 
exist  cannot  be  determined ;  but  evidence  is  not 
wanting  to  show  that  in  later  periods  its  members 
ceased  to  be  uniformly  characterized  by  blame- 
less morals. 

It  is  not  easy  to  give  a  correct  summary  of 
its  several  functions,  as  the  classic  writers  are 
not  agreed  in  their  statements,  and  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  court  varied,  as  has  been  seen,  with 
times  and  circumstances.  They  have,  however, 
been  divided  into  six  general  classes:— I.  Its 
judicial  function  ;  II.  Its  political ;  III.  Its  police 
function ;  IV.  Its  religious ;  V.  Its  educational ; 
and  VI.  (only  partially)  Its  financial. 

Passing  by  certain  ftmctions,  such  as  acting 
as  a  court  of  appeal,  and  of  general  supervision, 
which  under  special  circumstances,  and  when 
empowered  by  the  people,  the  Areopagus  from 
time  to  time  discharged,  we  will  say  a  few  words 
in  explanation  of  the  points  already  named, 
giving  a  less  restricted  space  to  those  which  con- 
cern its  moral  and  religious  influence.  Its  judi- 
cial function  embraced  trials  for  murder  and 
manslaughter,  and  was  the  oldest  and  most  pecu- 
liar sphere  of  its  activity.  The  indictment  was 
brought  by  the  second  or  king-archon,  whose 
duties  were  for  the  most  part  of  a  religious 
nature.  Then  followed  the  oath  of  both  parties, 
accompanied  by  solemn  appeals  to  the  gods. 
After  this  the  accuser  and  the  accused  had  the 
option  of  making  a  speech,  which,  however, 
they  were  obliged  to  keep  free  from  all  extra- 
neous matter,  as  well  as  from  mere  I'hetorical 
ornaments.  After  the  first  speech,  the  accused 
was  permitted  to  go  into  voluntary  banishment, 
if  he  had  no  reason  to  expect  a  favourable  issue. 
Theft,  poisonin.g,  wounding,  incendiarism,  and 
treason,  belonged  also  to  this  department  of 
jurisdiction  in  the  court  of  the  Areopagus. 

Its  political  function  consisted  in  the  constant 
watch  which  it  kept  over  the  legal  condition  of 
the  state,  acting  as  overseer  and  guardian  of  the 
laws. 

Its   police   function  also  made   it  a  protector 


AKETAS 


91 


and  upholder  of  the  institutions  and  laws.  In 
this  character  the  Areopagus  had  jurisdiction 
over  novelties  in  religion,  in  worship,  in  cus- 
toms, in  everything  that  departed  from  the  tra- 
ditionary and  established  usages  and  modes  of 
thought,  which  a  regard  to  their  ancestors  i 
endeared  to  the  nation.  The  members  of  tlie  ! 
court  had  a  right  to  take  oversight  of  festive 
meetings  in  private  houses.  In  ancient  times 
they  fixed  the  number  of  the  guests,  and  deter- 
mined the  style  of  the  entertainment.  If  a 
person  had  no  obvious  means  of  subsisting,  or 
was  known  to  live  in  idleness,  he  was  liable  to 
an  action  before  the  Areopagus ;  if  condemned 
three  times,  he  was  punished  with  the  loss  of 
his  civil  rights.  In  later  times  the  court  pos- 
sessed the  right  of  giving  permission  to  teachers 
(philosophers  and  rhetoricians)  to  establish  them- 
selves and  pursue  their  profession  in  the  city. 

Its  strictly  religious  jurisdiction  extended 
itself  over  the  public  creed,  worship,  and  sacri- 
fices, embracing  generally  everything  which 
could  come  under  the  denomination  of  sacred 
things*  It  was  its  special  duty  to  see  that  the 
religion  of  the  state  was  kept  pure  fiom  all 
foreign  elements.  The  accusation  of  impiety — 
the  vagueness  of  which  admitted  almost  any 
charge  connected  with  religious  innovations — 
belonged  in  a  special  manner  to  this  tribunal. 
The  freethinking  poet  Euripides  stood  in  fear  of, 
and  was  restrained  by,  the  Areopagus.  Its  pro- 
ceeding in  such  cases  was  sometimes  rather  of 
an  admonitory  than  punitive  character. 

Not  less  influential  was  its  moral  and  educa- 
tional power.  Isocrates  speaks  of  the  care  which 
it  took  of  good  manners  and  good  order.  Quin- 
tilian  relates  that  the  Areopagus  condemned  a 
boy  for  plucking  out  the  eyes  of  a  quail— a  pro- 
ceeding which  has  been  both  misunderstood  and 
misrepresented,  but  which  its  original  narrator 
approved,  assigning  no  insufficient  reason,  namely, 
that  the  act  was  a  sign  of  a  cruel  disposition, 
likely  in  advanced  life  to  lead  to  baneful  actions. 
The  court  exercised  a  salutary  influence  in  gene- 
ral over  the  Athenian  youth,  their  educators  and 
their  education. 

Its  financial  position  is  not  well  understood ; 
most  probably  it  varied  more  than  any  other 
part  of  its  administration  with  the  changes 
which  the  constitution  of  the  city  underwent.  It 
may  suffice  to  mention,  that  ui  the  Persian  war 
the  Areopagus  had  the  merit  of  completing  the 
number  of  men  required  for  the  fleet,  by  paying 
eight  drachmae  to  each. 

ARE'TAS,  the  common  name  of  several 
Arabian  kings.  1 .  The  first  of  whom  we  have 
any  notice  was  a  contemporary  of  the  Jewish 
high-priest  Jason  and  of  Antiochus  Epiphaues 
about  B.C.  170  (2  Mace.  v.  8).  2.  Josephus  men- 
tions an  Aretas,  king  of  the  Arabians  contem- 
porary with  Alexander  Jannaeus  (died  B.C.  79) 
and  his  sons.  After  defeating  Antiochus  Dio- 
nysus, he  reigned  over  Ccele-Syria,  '  being  called 
to  the  government  by  those  that  held  Damascus 
by  reason  of  the  hatred  they  bore  to  Ptolemy 
Menna;us.'  He  took  part  with  Hyrcanus  in  his 
contest  for  the  sovereignty  with  his  brother 
Aristobulus,  and  laid  siege  to  Jerusalem,  but,  on 
the  approach  of  the  Roman  general  Scaurus,  he 
retreated  to  Philadelphia.  Hyrcanus  and  Aretas 
were  pursued  and  defeated  by  Aristobulus,  at 


92 


ARIMATHEA 


a  place  called  Papyron,  and  lost  above  GOOD 
men.  Three  or  four  years  after,  Scaurus,  to 
whom  Pompey  had  committed  the  government 
of  Ccele-Syria,  invaded  Petraja,  but  findmg  it 
difficult  to  obtain  provisions  for  his  army,  he 
consented  to  withdraw  on  the  otFer  of  3U0  talents 
from  Aretas.  3.  Aretas,  whose  name  was  ori- 
ginally iEneas,  succeeded  Obodas.  He  M-as  the 
father-in-law  of  Herod  Antipas.  The  latter 
made  proposals  of  marriage  to  the  wife  ot  his 
half-brother  Herod-Philip,  Herodias,  the  daughter 
of  Aristobulus  their  brother,  and  the  sister  ot 
Agrippa  the  Great.  In  consequence  of  this,  the 
dauRhter  of  Aretas  returned  to  her  lather,  and  a 
war  (which  had  been  fomented  by  previous  dis- 
putes about  the  limits  of  their  respective  countries) 
ensued  between  Aretas  and  Herod.    The  army 


of  the  latter  was  totally  destroyed,  and  on  his 
sending  an  account  of  his  disaster  to  Rome,  the 
emperor  immediately  ordered  Vitellius  to  bring 
Aretas  prisoner  alive,  or,  if  dead,  to  send  his 
head.  But  while  Vitellius  was  on  his  march  to 
Petra,  news  arrived  of  the  death  of  Tiberius, 
upon  which,  after  administering  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  his  troops,  he  dismissed  them  to  winter- 
quarters  and  returned  to  Rome.  It  must  have 
been  at  this  juncture  that  Aretas  took  possession 
of  Damascus,  and  placed  a  governor  in  it  with  a 
garrison.  For  a  knowledge  of  this  fact  we  are 
indebted  to  the  apostle  Paul. 

AR'GOB,  a  district  in  Bashan,  east  of  the  Lake 
of  Gennesareth,  which  was  given  to  the  half- 
t."ibe  of  Manasseh  (Deut.  iii.  4,  13 ;  1  Kings  iv. 
13.^ 

1 .  A'RIEL,  a  word  meaning '  lion  of  God,'  and 
correctly  enough  rendered  by  'lion-like,'  in 
•2  Sara,  xxiii.  20  ;  1  Chron.  xi.  22.  It  was  ap- 
plied as  an  epithet  of  distinction  to  bold  and  war- 
like persons,  as  among  the  Arabians,  who  sur- 
named  Ali '  The  Lion  of  God.' 

2.  ARIEL.  The  same  word  is  used  as  a  local 
proper  name  in  Isa.  xxix.  1,  2,  applied  to  Jeru- 
salem—' as  victorious  under  God ' — says  Dr.  Lee ; 
and  in  Ezek.  xliii.  15,  IG,  to  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offerings. 

ARIM  ATHE'A,  the  birth-place  of  the  wealthy 
Joseph,  in  whose  sepulchre  our  Lord  was  laid 
(Matt,  xxvii.  57  ;  John  xix.  38).  The  Arimathea 
of  Joseph  is  generally  regarded  as  the  same  place 
as  the  Kamathaim  of  Samuel,  which  stood  near 
Lydda  or  Diospolis.  Hence  it  has  by  some  been 
identified  with  the  existing  Ramleh. 

Ramleh  is  in  N.  lat.  3P  59',  and  E.  long, 
35°  28',  8  miles  S.E.  from  Joppa,  and  24  miles 
N.W.  by  W.  from  Jerusalem.  It  lies  in  the  fine 
undulating  plain  of  Sharon,  upon  the  eastern 
side  of  a  broad  low  swell  rising  from  a  fertile 
though  sandy  plain.  Like  Gaza  and  Jaffa,  this 
town  is  surrounded  by  olive-groves  and  gardens 
of  vegetables  and  delicious  fruits.     Occasional 


ARIMATHEA 

palm-trees  are  also  seen,  as  well  as  the  kharob 
and  the  sycamore.  The  streets  arc  few;  tlio 
houses  are  of  stone,  and  many  of  them  large  and 
well  built.  There  are  five  mosques,  two  or 
more  of  which  are  said  to  have  once  been 
Christian  churches  ;  and  there  is  here  one  of  the 
largest  Latin  convents  in  Palestine.  The  place 
is  supposed  to  contain  about  3000  inhabitants,  of 
whom  two-thirds  are  Moslems,  and  the  rest 
Christians,  chiefly  of  the  Greek  church,  with  a 


few  Armenians.  The  inhabitants  carry  on  some 
trade  in  cotton  and  soap.  The  great  caravan- 
road  between  Egypt  and  Damascus,  Smyrna, 
and  Constantinople  passes  through  Ramleh.  as 
well  as  the  most  frequented  road  for  Euroyrean 
pilgrims  and  travellers  between  Joppa  and  Jeru- 
salem. The  isolated  tower,  of  which  a  figure  is 
here  given,  is  the  most  conspicuous  object  m  or 
about  the  city.     It  is  about  120  feet  in  height, 


ARITHMETIC 

of  Saracenic  architecture,  square,  and  built  ■with 
well-hewn  stone.  According  to  the  Moslem  ac- 
count it  belonged  to  a  ruined  mosque.  It  bears 
the  date  718  a.h.  (a.d.  1310),  and  an  Arabian 
author  reports  the  completion  at  Eamleh,  in  that 
year,  of  a  minaret  unique  for  its  loftiness  and 
grandeur,  by  the  sultan  of  Egypt,  Nazir  Mo- 
hammed ibn  Kelawan.  Among  tlie  plantations 
!  which  surround  the  town  occur,  at  every  step, 
dry  wells,  cisterns  fallen  in,  and  vast  vaulted 
reservoirs,  which  show  that  the  city  must  in 
former  times  have  been  upwards  of  a  league 
and  a  half  in  extent. 

ARISTAR'CHUS,  a  faithful  adherent  of  St. 
Paul,  whose  name  repeatedly  occurs  in  the  Acts 
and  Epistles  (Acts  xix.  29  ;  xx.  4  ;  xxvii.  2  ; 
Col.  iv.  10;  Philem.  24).  He  was  a  native  of 
Thcssalonica,  and  became  the  companion  of  St. 
Paul,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Ephesus,  where 
he  was  seized  and  nearly  killed  in  the  tumult 
raised  by  the  silversmiths.  He  left  that  city 
with  the  Apostle,  and  accompanied  him  in  his 
subsequent  journeys,  even  when  taken  as  a  pri- 
soner to  Rome :  indeed,  Aristarchus  ■yas  himself 
sent  thither  as  a  prisoner,  or  became  ouch  while 
there,  for  Paul  calls  him  his  '  fellow-prisoner ' 
(Col.  iv.  10).  The  traditions  of  the  Greek  church 
represent  Aristarchus  as  bishop  of  Apamea  in 
Phrygia. 

AlilSTOBU'LUS,  a  person  named  by  Paul  in 
Rom.  xvi.  10,  where  he  sends  salutations  to  his 
household.  He  is  not  himself  saluted ;  hence  he 
may  not  have  been  a  believer,  or  he  may  have 
been  absent  or  dead.  Nothing  certain  is  known 
respecting  him. 

Aristobulus  is  a  Greek  name,  adopted  by  the 
Romans,  and  in  very  common  use  among  them. 
It  was  also  adopted  by  the  Jews,  and  was  borne 
by  several  persons  in  the  Maccabsean  and  Hero- 
dian  families  mentioned  by  Josephus  and  in  the 
books  of  Maccabees. 

ARITHMETIC,  the  science  of  numbers  or 
reckoning,  was  unquestionably  practised  as  an 
art  in  the  dawn  of  civilization.  In  the  absence 
of  positive  information  we  seem  authorized  in 
referring  the  first  knowledge  of  arithmetic  to 
the  East.  From  India,  Chaldaa,  Phoenicia,  and 
Egypt,  the  science  passed  to  the  Greeks,  who  ex- 
tended its  laws,  improved  its  processes,  and 
widened  its  sphere.  To  what  extent  the  Ori- 
entals carried  their  acquaintance  with  arithmetic 
cannot  be  determined.  The  greatest  discovery 
in  this  department  of  the  mathematics,  namely, 
the  establishment  of  our  system  of  ciphers,  be- 
longs undoubtedly  not  to  Arabia,  as  is  generally 
supposed,  but  to  the  remote  East,  probably  India. 
Our  numerals  were  made  known  to  these  western 
parts  by  the  Arabians,  who,  though  they  were 
nothing  more  than  the  medium  of  transmis- 
sion, have  enjoyed  the  honour  of  giving  them 
their  name. 

The  Hebrews  were  not  a  scientific,  but  a  reli- 
gious and  practical  nation.  What  they  borrowed 
from  others  of  the  arts  of  life  thoy  used  without 
.surrounding  it  with  theory  or  expanding  and 
framing  it  into  a  system.  Of  their  knowledge 
of  arithmetic  little  is  known  beyond  what  may 
be  fairly  inferred  from  the  pursuits  and  trades 
which  they  carried  on,  for  the  successful  prose- 
cution of  which  some  skill  at  least  in  its  simpler 
processes  must  have  been  absolutely  necessary ; 


ARK,  NOAH'S 


93 


and  the  large  amounts  which  appear  here  and 
there  in  the  sacred  books  serve  to  show  that  their 
acquaintance  with  the  art  of  reckoning  was  con- 
siderable. Even  in  fractions  they  were  not  in- 
experienced. For  figures,  the  Jews,  after  the 
Babylonish  exile,  made  use  of  the  letters  of  the 
alphabet ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  the  ancient 
Hebrews  did  the  same. 

ARK,  NOAH'S  (Gen.  vi.  14).  Vast  labour 
and  much  ingenuity  have  been  employed  by 
various  writers,  in  the  attempt  to  determine  tlie 
form  of  Noah's  ark  and  the  arrangement  of  its 
parts.  The  success  has  not  been  equal  to  the 
exertion ;  for)  on  comparing  the  few  simple  facts 
in  the  Scripture  narrative,  every  one  feels  how 
slight  positive  data  there  are  for  the  minute  de- 
scriptions and  elaborate  representations  whicli 
such  writers  have  given.  That  form  of  the  ark 
which  repeated  pictorial  representations  have 
rendered  familiar — a  kind  of  house  in  a  kind  of 
boat — lias  not  only  no  foundation  in  Scripture, 
but  is  contrary  to  reason.  The  form  thus  given 
to  it  is  fitted  for  progression  and  for  cutting  tiie 
waves ;  whereas  the  ark  of  Noali  was  really  des- 
tined to  float  idly  upon  the  waters,  without  any 
other  motion  than  that  which  it  received  from 
them.  If  we  examine  the  passage  in  Gen.  vi. 
14-16,  we  can  only  draw  from  it  the  conclusion 
that  the  ark  was  not  a  boat  or  ship,  but  a  build- 
ing in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  300  cubits 
long,  50  cubits  broad,  and  30  cubits  high.  So 
far  as  the  name  affords  any  evidence,  it  also  goes 
to  show  that  the  ark  of  Noah  was  not  a  regu- 
larly-built vessel,  but  merely  intended  to  float  at 
large  upon  the  Avaters.  We  may,  therefore,  pro- 
bably with  justice,  regard  it  as  a  large,  oblong, 
floating  house,  with  a  roof  either  flat  or  only 
slightly  inclined.  It  was  constructed  with  three 
stories,  and  had  a  door  in  the  side.  There  is  no 
mention  of  windows  in  the  side,  but  above,  i.  e. 
probably  in  the  flat  roof,  where  Noah  was  com- 
manded to  make  them  of  a  cubit  in  size  (Gen. 
vi.  16). 

The  purpose  of  this  ark  was,  to  preserve  cer- 
tain persons  and  animals  from  the  Deluge  with 
which  God  intended  to  overwhelm  the  land,  in 
punishment  for  man's  iniquities.  The  persons 
were  eight — Noah  and  his  wife,  with  his  three 
sons  and  their  wives  (Gen.  vii.  7  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5). 
The  animals  were,  one  pair  of  every  '  unclean  ' 
animal,  and  seven  pairs  of  all  that  were  '  clean.' 
By  '  clean,'  we  understand  fit,  and  by  '  unclean,' 
unfit  for  food  or  for  sacrifice.  Of  birds  there 
were  seven  pairs  (Gen.  vii.  2,  3).  Those  who 
have  written  professedly  and  largely  on  the  sub- 
ject, have  been  at  great  pains  to  provide  for  all 
the  existing  species  of  animals  in  the  ark  of 
Noah,  showing  how  they  might  be  disti'ibuted, 
fed,  and  otherwise  provided  for.  But  they  are 
very  far  from  having  cleared  the  matter  of  all 
its  difficulties ;  which  are  much  greater  than 
they,  in  their  general  ignorance  of  natural  his- 
tory, were  aware  of.  These  difficulties,  how- 
ever, chiefly  arise  from  the  assumption  that  the 
species  of  all  the  earth  were  collected  in  the  ark. 
The  number  of  such  species  has  been  vastly 
under-rated  by  these  writers — partly  from  igno- 
rance, and  partly  from  the  desire  to  limit  the 
number  for  which  they  imagined  they  required 
to  provide.  They  have  usually  satisfied  them- 
selves with  a  provision  for  three  or  four  hundred 


94 


ARK,  NOVH'S 


species  at  most  '  But  of  the  existing  mam- 
malia,' says  Dr.  J.  Pye  Smith,  'considerably 
more  than  one  thousand  species  are  known ;  of 
birds,  fully  five  thousand  ;  of  reptiles,  very  few 
kinds  of  which  can  live  in  water,  two  thousand  ; 
and  the  researches  of  travellers  and  naturalists 
are  making  frequent  and  most  interesting  addi- 
tions to  the  number  of  these  and  all  other  classes. 
Of  insects  (using  the  word  in  the  popular  sense) 
the  number  of  species  is  immense ;  to  say  one 
hundred  thousand  would  be  moderate  :  each  has 
its  appropriate  habitation  and  food,  and  these 
are  necessary  to  its  life  ;  and  the  larger  number 
could  not  live  in  water.  Also  the  innumerable 
millions  upon  millions  of  animalcules  must  be 
provided  for ;  for  they  have  all  their  appropriate 
and  diversified  places  and  circumstancfis  of  ex- 
istence.' Nor  do  these  numbers  form  the  only 
difficulty ;  for,  as  the  same  writer  observes : — 
'  All  land  animals  have  their  geographical  re- 
gions, to  wliich  their  constitutional  natures  are 
congenial,  and  many  could  not  live  in  any  other 
situation.  We  cannot  represent  to  ourselves 
the  idea  of  their  being  brought  into  one  small 
spot,  from  the  polar  regions,  the  torrid  zone,  and 
all  the  other  climates  of  Asia,  Africa,  Europe, 
America,  Australia,  and  the  thousands  of  islands, 
their  preservation  and  provision,  and  the  final 
disposal  of  them,  without  bringing  up  the  idea  of 
miracles  more  stupendous  than  any  which  are 
recorded  in  Scripture.' 

The  difficulty  of  assembling  in  one  spot,  and 
of  providing  for  in  the  ark,  the  various  mam- 
malia and  birds  alone,  even  without  including 
the  otherwise  essential  provision  for  reptiles, 
insects,  and  fishes,  is  quite  sufiicient  to  suggest 
some  error  in  the  current  belief.  We  are  to 
consider  the  difi'erent  kinds  of  accommodation 
and  food  which  would  be  required  for  animals 
of  such  different  habits  and  climates,  and  the 
necessary  provision  for  ventilation  and  for 
cleansing  the  stables  or  dens.  And  if  so  much 
ingenuity  has  been  required  in  devising  an-ange- 
ments  for  the  comparatively  small  number  of 
species  which  the  writers  on  the  ark  have  been 
willing  to  admit  into  it ;  what  provision  can  be 
made  for  the  immensely  larger  number  which, 
under  the  supposed  conditions,  would  really 
have  required  its  shelter  ? 

There  seems  no  way  of  meeting  these  diffi- 
culties but  by  adopting  the  suggestion  of  Bishop 
Stillingfleet,  approved  by  Matthew  Poole,  Dr.  J. 
Pye  Smith,  Lie  Clerc,  Rosenmiiller,  and  others, 
namely,  that  as  the  object  of  the  Deluge  was  to 
sweep  man  from  the  earth,  it  did  not  extend 
beyond  that  region  of  the  earth  which  man  then 
inhabited,  and  that  only  the  animals  of  that 
region  were  preserved  in  the  ark.  The  bishop 
expresses  his  belief  that  the  Flood  was  universal 
as  to  mankind,  and  that  all  men,  except  those 
preserved  in  the  ark,  were  destroyed;  but  he 
sees  no  evidence  from  Scripture  that  the  whole 
earth  was  then  inhabited ;  he  does  not  think  that 
it  can  ever  be  proved  to  have  been  so ;  and  he 
asks,  what  reason  there  can  be  to  extend  the 
Flood  beyond  the  occasion  of  it  ?  [Deluge.] 

As  Noah  was  the  progenitor  of  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  and  as  the  ark  was  the  second  cradle 
of  the  human  race,  we  might  expect  to  find  in 
all  nations  traditions  and  reports  more  or  less 
distinct  respecting  him,  the  ark  in  which  he  was  i 


ARK,  NOAH'S 

saved,  and  the  Deluge  in  general.  Accordingly 
no  nation  is  known  in  which  such  traditions 
have  not  been  found.  Our  present  concern, 
however,  is  only  with  the  ark.  And  as  it  ap- 
pears that  an  ark,  that  is,  a  boat  or  chest,  was 
carried  about  with  great  ceremony  in  most  of  the 
ancient  mysteries,  and  occupied  an  eminent  sta- 
tion in  the  holy  places,  it  has  with  much  reason 
been  concluded  that  this  was  originally  intended 
to  represent  the  ark  of  Noah,  which  eventually 
came  to  be  regarded  with  superstitious  reverence. 
On  this  point  the  historical  and  mythological 
testimonies  are  very  clear  and  conclusive.  The 
tradition  of  a  deluge,  by  which  the  race  of  man 
was  swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  has  been 
traced  among  the  Chaldseans,  Egyptians,  Phoe- 
nicians, Assyrians,  Persians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
Goths,    Druids,    Chinese,    Hindoos,    Burmese, 


Mexicans,  Peruvians,  Brazilians,  Nicaraguans, 
the  inhabitants  of  Western  Caledonia,  and  the 
islanders  of  the  Pacific ;  and  among  most  of 
them  also  the  belief  has  prevailed  that  certain 
individuals  were  preserved  in  an  ark,  ship,  boat, 
or  raft,  to  replenish  the  desolated  earth  with  in- 
habitants. These  traditions,  moreover,  are  cor- 
roborated by  coins  and  monuments  of  stone.  Of 
the  latter  there  are  the  sculptures  of  Egypt  and 
of  India  ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  those  of  the 
monuments  called  Druidical,  which  bear  the 
name  of  kist-vaens,  and  in  which  the  stones  are 
disposed  in  the  form  of  a  chest  or  house,  were  in- 
tended as  memorials  of  the  ark. 


ARK  OF  THE  COVENANT 

With  regard  to  the  evidence  furnished  by 
coins,  we  shall  confine  our  illustrations  to  the 
two  famous  medals  of  Apamea.  These  medals 
belong,  the  one  to  the  elder  Philip,  and  the  other 
to  Pertinax.  In  the  former  it  is  extremely  in- 
teresting to  observe  that  on  the  front  of  the  ark 
is  the  name  of  Noah,  in  Greek  characters.  The 
designs  on  these  medals  correspond  remarkably, 
although  the  legends  somewhat  vary.  In  both 
we  perceive  the  ark  floating  on  the  water,  con- 
taining the  patriarch  and  his  wife,  the  dove  on 
wing,  the  olive-branch,  and  the  raven  perched  on 
the  ark.  These  medals  also  represent  Noah  and 
his  wife  on  terra  firma,  in  the  attitude  of  render- 
ing thanks  for  their  safety.  The  genuineness  of 
these  medals  has  been  established  beyond  all 
question,  and  the  coincidences  which  they  offer 
are  at  least  exceedingly  curious. 

ARK  OF  THE  COVENANT.  The  word 
here  used  for  ark  is,  as  already  explained,  dif- 
ferent ft-om  that  which  is  applied  to  the  ark  of 
Noah.  It  is  the  common  name  for  a  chest  or 
coffer,  whether  applied  to  the  ark  in  the  taber- 
nacle, to  a  coffin,  to  a  mummy-chest  (Gen.  1.  26), 
or  to  a  chest  for  money  (2  Kings  xii.  9, 10).  Our 
word  ark  has  the  same  meaning,  being  derived 
from  the  Latin  area,  a  chest.  The  distinction 
between  aron  and  the  present  word  has  already 
been  suggested.  The  sacred  chest  is  distinguished 
ii-om  others  as  the  'ark  of  God'  (1  Sam.  iii.  3) ; 
'  ark  of  the  covenant '  (Josh.  iii.  6)  ;  and  '  ark  of 
the  law '  (Exod.  xxv.  22).  This  ark  was  a  kind 
of  chest,  of  an  oblong  shape,  made  of  shittim 
(acacia)  wood,  a  cubit  and  a  half  broad  and  high, 
two  cubits  long,  and  covered  on  all  sides  with 
the  purest  gold.  It  was  ornamented  on  its  upper 
surface  with  a  border  or  rim  of  gold;  and  on 
each  of  the  two  sides,  at  equal  distances  from 
the  top,  were  two  gold  rings,  in  which  were 
placed  (to  remain  there  perpetually)  the  gold- 
covered  poles  by  which  the  ark  was  carried,  and 
which  continued  with  it  after  it  was  deposited  in 
the  tabernacle.  The  lid  or  cover  of  the  ark  was 
of  the  same  length  and  breadth,  and  made  of 
the  purest  gold.  Over  it,  at  the  two  extremities, 
were  two  cherubim,  with  their  faces  turned 
towards  each  other,  and  inclined  a  little  towards 
the  lid  (otherwise  called  the  merer/seat).  Their 
wings,  which  were  spread  out  over  the  top  of  the 
ark,  formed  the  throne  of  God,  the  King  of  Israel, 
while  the  ark  itself  was  his  footstool  (Exod.  xxv. 
lU-22  ;  xxxvii.  1-9). 

This  ark  was  the  most  sacred  object  among 
the  Israelites  :  it  was  deposited  in  the  innermost 
and  holiest  part  of  the  tabernacle,  called  '  the 
holy  of  holies '  (and  afterwards  in  the  correspond- 
ing apartment  of  the  Temple),  where  it  stood  so 
that  one  end  of  each  of  the  poles  by  which  it  was 
carried  (which  were  drawn  out  so  tar  as  to  allow 
the  ark  to  be  placed  against  the  back  wall), 
touched  the  veil  which  separated  the  two  apart- 
ments of  the  tabernacle  (1  Kings  viii.  8).  In 
the  ark  were  deposited  the  tal)les  of  the  law 
(Exod.  xxv.  16).  A  quantity  of  manna  was  laid 
up  beside  the  ark  in  a  vase  of  gold  (Exod.  xvi. 
32,  36  ;  1  Kings  viii.  9) ;  as  were  also  the  rod  of 
Aaron  (Num.  xvii.  10),  and  a  copy  of  the  book 
of  the  law  (Dent.  xxxi.  26). 

Nothing  is  more  appai-ent  throughout  the  his- 
torical Scriptures  than  the  extren'e  sanctity 
which  attached  to  the  ark,  as  the  material  sym- 


ARKITES 


35 


bol  of  the  Divine  presence.  During  the  marches 
of  the  Israelites  it  was  covered  with  a  purple 
pall,  and  borne  by  tlie  priests,  with  great  reve- 
rence and  care,  in  advance  of  the  host  (Num.  iv. 
5,  6  ;  X.  33).  It  was  before  the  ark,  thus  in  ad- 
vance, that  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  separated  ; 
and  it  remained  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  with  the 
attendant  priests,  until  the  whole  host  had  passed 
over  ;  and  no  sooner  was  it  also  brought  up  than 
the  waters  resumed  their  course  (Josh.  iii. ;  iv. 
7,  10,  11,  17,  18).  The  ark  Avas  similarly  con- 
spicuous in  the  grard  procession  round  Jericho 
(Josh.  vi.  4,  6,  8,  11,  12).  It  is  not  wonderful 
therefore  that  the  neighbouring  nations,  who  had 
no  notion  of  spiritual  worship,  looked  upon  it  as 
the  God  of  the  Israelites  (I  Sam.  iv.  H,  7),  a  de- 
lusion which  may  have  been  strengthened  by 
the  figures  of  the  cherubim  on  it.  After  the  set- 
tlement of  tlie  Jews  in  Palestine,  the  ark  re- 
mained in  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh,  until,  in  the 
time  of  Eli,  it  was  carried  along  with  the  army 
in  the  war  against  the  Philistines,  under  the 
superstitious  notion  that  it  would  secure  the  vic- 
tory to  the  Hebrews.  They  were,  however,  not 
only  beaten,  but  the  ark  itself  was  taken  by  the 
Philistines  (1  Sam.  iv.  3-11),  whose  triumph  was, 
however,  very  short  lived,  as  they  were  so  op- 
pressed hy  the  hand  of  God,  that,  after  seven 
months,  they  were  glad  to  send  it  back  again  ( 1 
Sam.  V.  7).  After  that  it  remained  apart  from 
the  tabernacle,  at  Kirjath-jearim  (vii.  1,  2), 
where  it  continued  until  the  time  of  David,  who 
purposed  to  remove  it  to  Jerusalem  ;  but  the  old 
prescribed  mode  of  removing  it  from  place  to 
place  was  so  much  neglected  as  to  cause  the 
death  of  Uzzah,  in  consequence  of  which  it  was 
left  in  the  house  of  Obededom  (2  Sam.  vi.  1-11); 
but  after  three  months  David  took  courage,  and 
succeeded  in  effecting  its  safe  removal,  in  grand 
procession,  to  Mount  Zion  (ver.  12-19).  When 
the  Temple  of  Solomon  was  completed,  the  ark 
was  deposited  in  the  sanctiiary  (1  Kings  viii.  6-9). 
The  passage  in  2  Chron.  xxxv.  3,  in  which  Josiah 
directs  the  Levites  to  restore  the  ark  to  the  holy 
place,  is  understood  by  some  to  imply  that  it  had 
either  been  removed  by  Anion,  who  put  an  idol 
in  its  place,  Avhich  is  assumed  to  have  been  the 
'  trespass  '  of  Avhich  he  is  said  to  have  been 
guilty  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  23)  ;  or  that  the  priests 
themselves  had  withdrawn  it  during  idolatrous 
times,  and  preserved  it  in  some  secret  place,  or  had 
removed  it  from  one  place  to  another.  But  it 
seems  more  likely  that  it  had  been  taken  from 
the  holy  of  holies  during  the  purification  and  re- 
pairs of  the  temple  by  this  same  Josiah,  and  that 
he,  in  this  passage,  merely  directs  it  to  be  again 
set  in  its  place.  What  became  of  the  ark  when 
the  Temple  was  plundered  and  destroyed  by  tlie 
Babylonians  is  not  known,  and  all  conjecture  is 
useless.  It  is  certain,  however,  from  the  con- 
sent of  all  the  Jewish  writers,  that  the  old  ark 
was  not  contained  in  the  second  temple,  and 
there  is  no  evidence  that  any  new  one  was  made. 
Indeed  the  absence  of  the  ark  is  one  of  the  im- 
portant particulars  in  which  this  temple  was  held 
to  be  inferior  to  that  of  Solomon.  The  most 
holy  place  is  therefore  generally  considered  to 
have  been  empty  in  the  second  temple. 

A  RK'ITES,  tlie  inhabitants  of  Arka,  mentioned 
in  Gen.  x.  17  ;  1  Chron.  i.  1.5,  as  descended  from 
the  PhoEuician  or  Sidonian  branch  of  the  great 


96 


ARMENIA 


ARMENIA 


family  of  Canaan.  This,  in  fact,  as  well  as  the 
other  small  northern  states  of  Phoenicia,  was  a 
colony  from  the  great  parent  state  of  Sidon. 
Arka,  or  Acra,  their  chief  town,  lay  between 
Tripolis  and  Antaradus,  at  the  western  base  of 
Lebanon,  32  R.  miles  from  Antaradus,  and  18 
miles  from  Tripoli.  Burckhardt,  in  travelling 
from  the  north-east  of  Lebanon  to  Tripoli,  at  the 
distance  of  about  four  miles  south  of  the  Nahr- 
el-keber  (Eleutherus),  came  to  a  hill  called  Tel- 
Arka,  which,  from  its  regularly  flattened  conical 
form  and  smooth  sides,  appeared  to  be  artificial. 
Upon  an  elevation  on  its  east  and  south  sides, 
which  commands  a  beautiful  view  over  the  plain, 
the  sea,  and  the  Anzeyry  mountains,  are  large 
and  extensive  heaps  of  rubbish,  traces  of  ancient 
dwellings,  blocks  of  hewn  stone,  remains  of  walls, 
and  fragments  of  granite  columns.  These  are 
no  doubt  the  remains  of  Arka ;  and  the  hill  was 
probably  the  acropolis  or  citadel,  or  the  site  of 
a  temple. 

ARM.  This  word  is  frequently  used  in  Scrip- 
ture in  a  metaphorical  sense  to  denote  power. 
Hence,  to  '  break  the  arm '  is  to  diminish  or 
destroy  the  power  (Ps.  x.  15;  Ezek.  xxx.  21; 
Jer.  xlviii.  2.5).  It  is  also  employed  to  denote 
the  infinite  power  of  God  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  13 ;  xlviii. 
2;  Isa.  liii.  1  ;  John  xii.  38).  In  a  few  places 
the  metaphor  is,  with  great  force,  extended  to 
the  action  of  the  arm,  as :— '  I  will  redeem  you 
with  a  stretched  out  arm '  (Exod.  vi.  5),  that  is, 
with  a  power  fully  exerted.  The  figure  is  here 
taken  from  the  attitude  of  ancient  warriors 
baring  and  outstretching  the  arm  for  fight.  Thus 
in  Isa.  lii.  10,  '  Jehovah  hath  made  bare  his  holy 
arm  in  the  sight  of  all  the  nations.' 

ARMAGED'DON,  properly  '  the  mountain  of 
•  Megiddo,'  a  city  on  the  west  of  the  river  Jordan, 
rebuilt  by  Solomon  (1  Kings  ix.  15).  Both 
Ahaziah  and  Josias  died  there.  In  the  mystical 
language  of  prophecy,  the  word  mountain  repre- 
sents the  Church,  and  the  events  which  took 
place  at  Megiddo  are  supposed  to  have  had  a 
typical  reference  to  the  sorrows  and  triumphs  of 
the  people  of  God  under  the  Gospel.  '  In  that 
day,'  says  Zechariah,  xii.  11,  'shall  there  be  a 
great  mourning  in  Jerusalem,  as  the  mourning 
of  Hadadrimmon  in  the  valley  of  Megiddon;' 
referring  to  the  death  of  Josias.  But  the  same 
spot  witnessed,  at  an  earlier  period,  the  greatest 
triumph  of  Israel,  when  '  fought  the  kings  of 
Canaan  in  Taanach  by  the  waters  of  Megiddo ' 
(Judg.  V.  19).  '  He  gathered  them  together  into 
a  place  called  in  the  Hebrew  tongue  Armaged- 
don,' is  the  langiiage  of  the  Apocalypse ;  and  the 
word  has  been  translated  by  some  as  '  the  moun- 
tain of  destruction,'  by  others  as  '  the  mountain 
of  the  gospel;'  many  ingenious  speculations 
having  been  employed  on  the  passage  in  which 
it  occurs,  but  with  little  satisfaction  to  the  more 
sober  readers  of  divine  revelation. 

ARME'NIA,  a  country  of  Western  Asia,  is  not 
mentioned  in  Scripture  Under  that  name,  but  is 
supposed  to  be  alluded  to  in  the  three  following 
Hebrew  designations,  which  seem  to  refer  either 
to  the  country  as  a  whole,  or  to  particular  dis- 
tricts. I.  Ararat,  the  land  upon  (or  over)  the 
mountains  of  which  the  ark  rested  at  the  Deluge 
(Gen.  viii.  4) ;  whither  tlie  sons  of  Sennacherib 
fled  after  murdering  their  father  (2  Kings  xix. 
37 ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  38) ;  and  one  of  the  '  kingdoms ' 


summoned,  along  with  Minni  and  Ashkenaz,  to 
arm  against  Babylon  (Jer.  li.  27).  II.  Minni  is 
mentioned  in  Jer.  li.  27,  along  with  Ararat  and 
Ashkenaz,  as  a  kingdom  called  to  arm  itself 
against  Babylon.  The  name  is  by  some  taken 
for  a  contraction  of  '  Armenia.'  III.  Tliogarmah, 
mentioned  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel  xxvii.  14; 
xxxviii.  6. 

The  boundaries  of  Armenia  may  be  described 
generally  as  the  southern  range  of  the  Caucasus 
on  the  north,  and  a  branch  of  the  Taurus  on  the 
south.  It  forms  an  elevated  table-land,  whence 
rise  mountains  which  (with  the  exception  of  the 
gigantic  Ararat)  are  of  moderate  height.  The 
climate  is  generally  cold,  but  salubrious.  The 
country  abounds  in  romantic  forest  and  moun- 
tain scenerj-,  and  rich  pasture-land,  especially  in 
the  districts  which  border  upon  Persia.  Ancient 
writers  notice  the  wealth  of  Armenia  in  metals 
and  precious  stones.  The  great  rivers  Euphrates 
and  Tigris  both  take  their  rise  in  this  region,  as 
also  the  Araxes,  and  the  Kur  or  Cyrus.  Armenia 
is  commonly  divided  into  Greater  and  Lesser, 
the  line  of  separation  being  the  Euphrates;  but 
the  former  constitutes  by  far  the  larger  portion, 
and  indeed  the  other  is  often  regarded  as  per- 
taining rather  to  Asia  Minor.  'There  was  an- 
ciently a  kingdom  of  Armenia,  with  its  metropolis 
Artaxata:  it  was  sometimes  an  independent  state, 
but  most  commonly  tributary  to  some  more  pow- 
erful neighbour.  Indeed  at  no  period  was  the 
whole  of  this  region  ever  comprised  under  one 
government,  but  Assyria,  Media,  Syria,  and  Cap- 
padocia  shared  the  dominion  or  allegiance  of 
some  portion  of  it,  just  as  it  is  now  divided 
among  the  Persians,  Russians,  Turks,  and  Kurds. 
In  later  times  Armenia  was  the  border-country 
where  the  Romans  and  Parthians  fruitlessly 
strove  for  the  mastery;  and  since  then  it  has 
been  the  frequent  battle-field  of  the  neighbouring 
states.  Towards  the  end  of  the  last  war  between 
Russia  and  Turkey,  large  bodies  of  native  Ar- 
menians emigrated  into  the  Russian  dominions, 
so  that  their  number  in  what  is  termed  Turkish 
Armenia  is  now  considerably  reduced.  By  the 
treaty  of  Turkomanshee  (2 1st  Feb.  1828)  Persia 
ceded  to  Russia  the  Khauats  of  Erivan  and 
Nakhshivan.  The  boundary-line  (drawn  from 
the  Turkish  dominions)  passes  over  the  Little 
Ararat ;  the  line  of  separation  between  Persian 
and  Turkish  Armenia  also  begins  at  Ararat ;  so 
that  this  famous  mountain  is  now  the  central 
boundary -stone  of  these  three  empires. 

Christianity  was  first  established  in  Armenia 
in  the  fourth  century  ;  the  Armenian  church  has 
a  close  affinity  to  the  Greek  church  in  its  forms 
and  polity  ;  it  is  described  by  the  American  mis- 
sionaries who  are  settled  in  the  country  as  in  a 
state  of  great  corruption  and  debasement.  The 
total  number  of  the  Armenian  nation  throughout 
the  world  is  supposed  not  to  exceed  2,000,000. 
Their  favourite  pursuit  is  commerce,  and  their 
merchants  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  East. 

The  Armenian  or  Haikan  language,  notwith- 
standing the  great  antiquity  of  the  nation  to 
which  it  belongs,  possesses  no  literary  documents 
prior  to  the  fifth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 
The  translation  of  the  Bible,  begun  by  Miesrob 
in  the  year  410,  is  the  earliest  monument  of  the 
language  that  has  come  down  to  us.  The  dialect 
in  which  this  version  is  written,  and  in  which  it 


ARMS,  ARMOUR 

is  still  publicly  read  in  their  churches,  is  called 
the  old  Armenian.  The  dialect  now  in  use 
the  modern  Armenian — in  which  they  preach 
and  carry  on  the  intercourse  of  daily  life,  not 
only  departs  from  the  elder  form  by  dialectual 
changes  in  the  native  elements  of  the  language 
itsr^lf,  but  also  by  the  great  intermixture  of 
Persian  and  Turkish  words  which  has  resulted 
from  the  conquest  and  subjection  of  the  country. 
It  is,  perhaps,  this  diversity  of  the  ancient  and 
modern  idioms  which  has  given  rise  to  the  many 
conflicting  opinions  that  exist  as  to  the  relation 
in  whicJi  the  Armenian  stands  to  other  languages. 
As  to  form,  it  is  said  to  be  rough  and  full  of 
consonants ;  to  possess  ten.  cases  in  the  noun — a 
number  Avhich  is  only  exceeded  by  the  Finnish ; 
to  have  no  dual ;  to  have  no  mode  of  denoting 
gender  in  the  noun  by  change  of  form ;  to  bear 
a  remarkable  resemblance  to  Greek  in  the  use 
of  the  participle,  and  in  the  whole  syntactical 
structure;  and  to  have  adopted  the  Arabian 
system  of  metre. 

ARMLET.  Although  this  word  has  the  same 
meaning  as  bracelet,  yet  the  latter  is  practically 
so  exclusively  used  to  denote  the  ornament  of 
the  wrist,  that  it  seems  proper  to  distinguish  by 
armlet  the  similar  ornament  which  is  worn  on 
the  upper  arm.  There  is  also  this  difference 
between  them,  that  in  the  East  bracelets  are 
generally  worn  by  women,  and  armlets  only  by 


men.  The  ai-mlet,  however,  is  in  u 
men  only  as  one  of  the  insignia  of  sovereign 
power.  The  Egyptian  kings  are  represented 
with  armlets,  which  were  also  worn  by  the 
Egyptian  women.  These,  however,  are  not 
jewelled,  but  of  plain  or  enamelled  metal,  as  was 
iu  all  likelihood  the  case  among  the  Hebrews. 

ARMS,  ARMOUR.  In  order  to  give  a  clear 
view  of  this  subject,  we  shall  endeavour  to  show 
succinctly,  and  from  the  best  authorities  now 
available,  what  were  the  weapons,  both  offensive 
and  defensive,  used  by  the  ancient  Asiatics. 

The  instruments  at  first  employed  in  the  chace, 
or  to  repel  wild  beasts,  but  converted  by  the 
wicked  to  the  destruction  of  their  fellow-men,  or 
used  by  the  peaceable  to  oppose  aggression,  were 
naturally  the  most  simple.  Amou^  these  were 
the  club  and  the  throwing-bat.  The  first  con- 
sisted originally  of  a  heavy  piece  of  wood, 
variously  shaped,  made  to  strike  with,  and,  ac- 
cording to  its  form,  denominated  a  mace,  a  bar, 
a  harjiuer,  or  a  maul.  This  weapon  was  in  use 
among  the  Hebrews ;  for,  in  the  time  of  the 
sings,  wood  had  already  been  superseded  by 
metal ;  and  the  rod  of  iron  (Ps.  ii.  9)  is  supposed 
to  mean  a  mace,  or  gavelock,  or  crowbar.  It  is 
an  insti'ument  of  great  power  when  used  by  a 


ARMS,  ARMOUR  97 

strong  arm.     The   throwstick,   made  of  thorn- 
wood,   is    the  same   instrument  which  we  see 


A-^\-6-iU^ 


2,  3.  Clubs. 

5.  Crooked    Billets,    or 

throwing-bats. 
Mace. 


8.  Hardwood  Sword. 

9.  Sharks-teeth  Sword. 
10    Flint  .Sword. 

1 1 .  Saw-fish  Sword. 

1?,  13.  Egyptian  Battle-axes. 


figured  on  Egyptian  monuments.     By  the  native 
Arabs  it  is  still  called  lissan,  and  was  anciently 
known  among  us  by  the  name  of  crooked  billet. 
These  instruments,  supplied  with  a  sharp  edge,    | 
would  naturally  constitute  a   battle-axe,   and  a    | 
kind  of  sword ;  and  such  in  the  rudest  ages  we    ' 
find  them,  made  with  flints  set  into  a  groove,  or 
with  sharks'  teeth  firmly  secured  to  the  staff  with 
twisted  sinews.     On  the  earliest  monuments  of 
Egypt,  for  these  ruder   instruments  is  already 
seen  substituted  a  piece  of  metal  with  a  steel  or 
bronze  blade  fastened  into  a  globe,  thus  forming 
a  falchion-axe ;  and  also  a  lunate-blade,  riveted 
in  three  places  to  the  handle,  forming  a  true    I 
battle-axe ;  and  there  were,  besides,  true  bills  or 
axes  in  form  like  our  own. 

Next  came  the  dirk  or  poniard,  the  Hebrew 
name  of  which  may  possibly  retain  some  allusion 
to  the  original  instrument  made  of  the  antelope's 
horn,  merely  sharpened,  which  is  still  used  in 
every  part  of  the  East  where  the  material  can  be 
procured.  From  existing  figures,  the  dirk  ap- 
pears to  have  been  early  made  of  metal  in 
Egypt,  and  worn  stuck  in  a  girdle ;  but,  from 
several  texts  (1  Sam  xvii.  39;  2  Sam.  xx.  8; 
and  1  Kings  xx.  11),  it  is  evident  that  the  real 


ARMS,  AllMOUU 


ARMS,  ARMOUR 


sword  was  slung  in  a  belt,  and  that  '  girding ' 
and  '  loosing  the  sword '  were  synonymous  terms 


1.  Horn  Bairger.  4,5.  Tulwar  Swords. 

2,  3.  Swords.  6.  Quarter-pike. 

for  commencing  and  ending  a  war.  The  blades 
were,  it  seems,  always  short;  and  the  dirk- 
sword,  at  least,  was  always  double-edged.  The 
sheath  was  ornamented  and  polished.  In  Egypt 
there  were  larger  and  heavier  swords,  more 
nearly  like  modern  tulwars,  and  of  the  form  of 
an  English  round-pointed  table-knife.  But  while 
inctal  was  scarce,  there  were  also  swords  which 
might  be  called  quarter-pikes,  being  composed 
of  a  very  short  wooden  handle,  surmounted  by  a 
spear-head.  In  Nubia,  swords  of  heavy  wood 
are  still  in  use. 


r^ 


^^ 


54. 

1,  2.  Spear-heads.  3,  4.  Darts. 

5.  Oryx  horn  spear-liead. 

The  spear  was  another  offensive  weapon 
common  to  all  the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  was 
of  various  size,  weight,  and  length.  Probably 
the  shepherd  Hebrews,  like  nations  similarly 
situated  in  northern  Africa,  anciently  made  use 
of  the  horn  of  an  oryx,  or  a  leucoryx,  above 
three  feet  long,  straightened  in  water,  and 
sheathed  upon  a  thorn-wood  staff.  When  sharp- 
ened, this  instrument  would  penetrate  the  hide 
of  a  bull,  and,  according  to  Strabo,  even  of  an 
elephant:  it  was  light,  very  difficult  to  break, 
resisted  the  blow  of  a  battle-axe,  and  the  animals 
which  furnished  it  were  abundant  in  Arabia  and 


in  the  desert  east  of  Palestine.  At  a  later  period, 
the  head  was  of  brass,  and  afterwards  of  iron. 
Very  ponderous  weapons  of  this  kind  were  often 
used  in  Egypt  by  the  heavy  infanti-y  ;  and,  from 
various  circumstances,  it  may  be  inferred  that 
among  the  Hebrews  and  their  immediate  neigh- 
bours, commanders  in  particular  were  distin- 
guished by  heavy  spears.  Among  these  were 
generally  ranked  the  most  valiant  in  fight  and 
the  largest  in  stature ;  such  as  Goliath,  '  whose 
spear  was  like  a  weaver's  beam '  (1  Sam.  xvii.  7), 
and  whose  spear's  head  weighed  six  hundred 
shekels  of  iron ;  which  by  some  is  asserted  to  be 
equal  to  twenty-five  pounds  weight.  The  si)ear 
had  a  point  of  metal  at  the  but-end  to  fix  it  iu 
the  ground,  perhaps  with  the  same  massy  globe 
above  it,  which  is  still  in  use,  intended  to  counter- 
balance the  point.  It  was  with  this  fcrrel  that 
Abner  slew  Asahel  (2  Sam.  ii.  22,  23). 

The  javelins  appear  to  have  had  different 
forms.  In  most  nations  of  antiquity  the  infantry, 
not  bearing  a  spear,  carried  two  darts,  those 
lightly  armed  using  both  for  long  casts,  and  the 
heavy-armed  only  one  for  that  purpose ;  the 
second,  more  ponderous  than  the  other,  being  re- 
served for  throwing  when  close  to  the  enemy,  or 
for  handling  in  the  manner  of  a  spear.  While 
on  the  subject  of  the  javelin,  it  may  be  remarked 
that,  by  the  act  of  casting  one  at  David  (1  Sam. 
xix.  9,  10),  Saul  virtually  absolved  him  from  his 
allegiance ;  for  by  the  customs  of  ancient  Asia, 
preserved  in  the  usages  of  the  Teutonic  and 
other  nations,  the  custom  of  the  East  Franks, 
&c.,  to  throw  a  dart  at  a  freedman,  who  escaped 
from  it  by  flight,  was  the  demonstrative  token  of 
manumission  given  by  his  lord  or  master;  he 
was  thereby  sent  out  of  hand,  manumissus,  well 
expressed  in  the  old  English  phrase  '  scot-free.' 
But  for  this  act  of  Saul,  David  might  have  been 
viewed  as  a  rebel. 


^...Mmmw^ . 


1,  2,  3,  4.  Bows. 


,  G.  Quivers. 


But  the  chief  offensive  weapon  in  Egypt,  and, 
from  the  nature  of  the  country,  it  may  be  in- 
ferred, in  Palestine  also,  was  the  war-bow.  From 
the  simple  implements  used  by  the  first  hunters, 
consisting  merely  of  an  elastic  reed,  a  branch  of 
a  tree,  or  rib  of  palm,  the  bow  became  in  th? 


ARMS,  AEMOUR 

30urse  of  time  ver^'  strong  and  tall,  was  made  of 
brass,  of  wood  backed  with  horn,  or  of  horn 
entirely,  and  even  of  ivory  ;  some  being  shaped 
like  the  common  English  bow,  and  others,  par- 
ticularly those  used  by  riding  nations,  like  the 
buftiilo  horn.  There  were  various  modes  of 
bending  this  instrument,  by  pressure  of  the  knee, 
or  by  the  foot  treading  the  bow,  or  by  setting 
one  end  against  the  foot,  drawing  the  middle 
with  the  hand  of  the  same  side  towards  the  hip, 
and  pushing  the  upper  point  forAvard  with  the 
second  hand,  till  the  thumb  passed  the  loop  of 
the  string  beyond  the  nock.  The  horned  bows 
of  the  cavalry,  shaped  like  those  of  the  Chinese, 
occur  on  monuments  of  antiquity.  This  was  the 
Parthian  bow,  as  is  proved  by  several  Persian 
bas-reliefs,  and  may  have  been  in  use  in  the 
time  of  the  Elamites,  who  were  a  mounted 
people.  These  bows  were  carried  in  cases  to 
protect  the  string,  which  was  composed  of  deer 
sinews,  from  injury,  and  were  slung  on  the 
right  hip  of  the  rider,  except  when  on  the  point 
of  engaging.  Then  the  string  was  often  cast 
over  the  head,  and  the  bow  hung  upon  the 
breast,  with  the  two  nocks  above  each  shoulder, 
like  a  pair  of  horns.  The  arrows  were  likewise 
enclosed  in  a  case  or  quiver,  hung  sometimes  on 
the  shoulder,  and  at  other  times  on  the  left  side ; 
and  six  or  eight  flight-arrows  were  commonly 
stuck  in  the  edge  of  the  cap,  ready  to  be  pulled 
out  and  put  to  the  string.  The  infantry  always 
carried  the  arrows  in  a  quiver  on  the  right 
shoulder,  and  the  bow  was  kept  unbent  until  the 
moment  of  action.  On  a  march  it  Avas  carried 
on  the  shield  arm,  where  there  was  frequently 
also  a  horn  bracer  secured  below  the  elbow  to 
receive  the  shock  from  the  string  when  au  an-ow 
was  discharged.  The  flight  or  long-range  arrows 
were  commonly  of  reed,  not  always  feathered, 
and  mostly  tipped  with  flint  poiuts ;_  but  the  shot 
or  aimed  arrows,  used  for  nearer  purposes,  were 
of  wood  tipped  with  metal,  about  30  inches  long, 
and  winged  with  three  lines  of  feathers,  like 
*hose  in  modern  use :  they  varied  in  length  at 
different  periods,  and  according  to  the  substance 
of  the  bows. 

The  last  missile  instrument  to  be  mentioned 
»  the  sling  (Job  xli.  28),  an  improvement  upon 


[Egyptian  Slingers  and  Sling.] 

the  simple  act  of  throwing  stones.  It  was  the 
favourite  weapon  of  the  Benjamites,  a  small 
tribe,  not  making  a  great  mass  in  an  order  of 


ARMS,  ARMOUR  99 

battle,  but  well  composed  for  light  troops.  They 
could  also  boast  of  using  the  sling  equally  Avell 
with  the  left  hand  as  Avith  the  right.  The  sling 
was  niade  of  plaited  thongs,  somewhat  broad  in 
the  middle,  to  lodge  the  stone  or  leaden  missile, 
and  was  twirled  tAvo  or  three  times  round  before 
the  stone  Avas  alloAved  to  take  flight.  Stones 
could  not  be  cast  above  400  feet,  but  leaden 
bullets  could  be  thrown  as  far  as  fiOO  feet.  The 
force  as  Avell  as  precision  of  aim  Avhich  might  be 
attained  in  the  use  of  this  instrument  was  re- 
markably shown  in  the  case  of  David;  and 
several  nations  of  antiquity  boasted  of  great 
skill  in  the  practice  of  the  sling. 

All  these  hand-weapons  were  in  use  at  different 
periods,  not  only  among  the  Hebrews  and  Egyp- 
tians, but  likewise  in  Assyria,  Persia,  Greece,  and 
Macedonia.  The  Roman  pilum  Avas  a  kind  of 
dart,  distinguished  from  those  of  other  nations 
chiefly  by  its  weight,  and  the  great  proportional 
length  of  the  metal  or  iron  part,  which  consti- 
tuted one  half  of  the  whole,  or  from  two  and  a 
half  to  three  feet.  Much  of  this  length  was  hol- 
low, and  received  nearly  tAventy  inches  of  the 
shaft  within  it :  the  point  was  never  hooked  like 
that  of  common  darts. 

Defensive  Arms. — The  most  ancient  defen- 
sive piece  was  the  shield,  buckler,  roundel,  or 
target,  composed  of  a  great  variety  of  materials, 


1.  The  Tzenna,  or  Great  Shield.     2.  Common  Egyptian 
Shield.     3.  Target.    4,  5.  Ancient  Shields  of  unitnown 


very  different  in  form  and  size.  The  Hebrews 
had  the  word  tsemia,  a  great  shield  for  defence 
and  protection  (Gen.  xv.  1  ;  Ps.  xlvii.  9 ;  Prov. 
XXX.  5),  which  is  commonly  found  in  connection 
with  spear,  and  was  the  shelter  of  heavily-armed 
infantry ;  and  the  ma{iin,  a  buckler,  or  smaller 
shield,  which,  from  a  "similar  juxtaposition  with 
sword,  bow,  and  arrows,  appears  to  have  been 
the  defence  of  other-armed  infantry  and  of  chiefs : 
a  third  called  sohairah  or  roundel,  may  hav(!  been 
appropriated  to  archers  and  slingers ;  and  there 
were  others  called  shelatim,  appareutlv  similar  to 
the  magin,  and  only  diflering  from  it  in  orna- 
ment. In  the  more  advanced  eras  of  civilization 
shields  were  made  of  liglit  wood  not  liable  to 
split,  covered  with  bull-hide  of  two  or  more 
thicknesses  and  bordered  with  metal :  the  lighter 
h2 


100 


AKMS,  AUMOUK 


kinds  were  made  of  wicker-work  or  osier,  simi- 
larly, but  less  solidly  covered  ;  of  double  ox-hide 
cut  into  a  round  form.  There  were  others  of  a 
single  hide,  extremely  thick  from  having  been 
boiled  ;  their  surface  presented  an  appearance  of 
many  folds,  like  round  waves  up  and  down,  which 
yielded,  but  could  rarely  be  penetrated.  We  may 
infer  that  at  first  the  Hebrews  borrowed  the  forms 
in  use  in  Egypt,  and  had  their  common  shields,  a 
kind  of  parallelogram,  broadest  and  arched  at  the 
top,  and  cut  square  beneath,  bordered  with  metal, 
the  surface  being  covered  with  raw  hide  with  the 
hair  on.  The  lighter  shields  may  have  been 
soaked  in  oil  and  dried  in  the  shade  to  make 
them  hard.  During  the  Assyrian  and  Persian 
supremacy  the  Hebrews  may  have  used  the 
square,  oblong,  and  round  shields  of  these  na- 
tions, and  may  have  subsequently  copied  those 
of  Greece  and  Rome.  The  princes  of  Israel  had 
shields  of  precious  metals  :  all  were  managed  by 
a  wooden  or  leathern  handle,  and  often  slung  by 
a  thong  over  the  neck.  The  tsenna  was  most 
likely  what  in  the  feudal  ages  would  have  been 
called  a  pavise,  for  such  occurs  on  the  Egyptian 
monuments.  This  was  about  five  feet  high,  with 
a  pointed  arch  above  and  square  below,  resem- 
bling the  feudal  knight's  shield,  but  that  the 
point  was  reversed.  Shields  were  hung  upon  the 
battlements  of  walls,  and,  as  still  occurs,  chiefly 
above  gates  of  cities  by  the  watch  and  ward.  In 
time  of  peace  they  were  covered  to  preserve  them 
from  the  sun,  and  in  war  uncovered ;  this  sign 
was  poetically  used  to  denote  coming  hostilities, 
as  in  Isa.  xxii.  6,  &c. 

The  Helmet  was  next  in  consideration,  and  in 
the  earliest  ages  was  made  of  osier,  or  rushes,  in 
the  form  of  a  beehive,  or  of  a  skull-cap.  The 
skins  of  the  heads  of  animals — of  lions,  bears,  wild 
loaiG,  bulls,  and  horses — were  likewise  adopted. 


5.  Ciirian. 

6,  7.  Egyptian. 


8.  Assyrian. 

9.  Greek. 

0.  Ionian. 

1.  Partliian. 

12,  13.  Other  Asiatic  tribes. 


and  were  adorned  with  rows  of  teeth,  manes,  and 
bristles.  Wood,  linen  cloth  in  many  folds,  and 
a  kind  of  felt,  were  also  in  early  use,  and  some 
of  them  may  be  observed  worn  by  the  nations  of 
Asia  at  war  with  the  conqueror  kings  of  Egypt, 
even  before  the  departure  of  Israel.  At  that 
time  also  these  kings  had  helmets  of  metal,  of 
rounded  or  pointed  forms.  The  nations  of  far- 
ther Asia  used  the  woollen  or  braided  caps,  still 
retained,  and  now  called  kaouk  and  fez,  around 


ARMS,  ARMOUR 

which  the  turban  is  usually  wound;  but  these 
were  almost  invariably  supplied  with  long  lap- 
pets to  cover  the  ears  and  the  back  of  the  head, 
and  princes  usually  wore  a  radiated  crown  ou 
the  summit.  This  was  the  form  of  the  Syrian, 
proba])ly  of  the  Assyrian  helmets,  excepting  that 
the  last  mentioned  were  of  brass,  though  they 
still  retained  the  low  cylindrical  shape.  Some 
helmet  of  this  kind  was  worn  by  the  trained  in- 
fantry, who  were  spearmen  among  tiie  Hebrews ; 
but  archers  and  slingers  had  round  skull-caps  of 
skins,  felts,  or  quilted  stufi's,  such  as  are  still  in 
use  among  the  Arabs. 

Bodij  Armour. — The  most  ancient  Persian  idols 
are  clad  in  shagged  skius.  In  Egypt  cuirasses 
Avere  manufactured  of  leather,  of  brass,  and  of  a 
succession  of  iron  hoops,  chiefly  covering  the 
abdomen  and  the  shoulders ;  but  a  more  aucient 
national  form  was  a  kind  of  thorax,  tippet,  or 
square,  with  an  opening  for  the  head  in  it,  the 
four  points  covering  the  breast,  back,  and  both 
upper  arms.  This  was  afiected  in  particular  by 
the  royal  band  of  relatives  who  surrounded  the 
Pharaoh,  were  his  subordinate  commanders,  mes- 
sengers, and  body-guards,  bearing  liis  standards, 
ensign-fans,  and  sun-screens,  his  portable  throne, 
his  bow  and  arrows.  Beneath  this  square  was 
another  piece,  protecting  the  trunk  of  the  body, 
and  both  were  in  general  covered  with  a  red- 
coloured  cloth  or  stuff.  On  the  oldest  fictile 
vases  a  shoulder-piece  likewise  occurs,  worn  by 
Greek  and  Etruscan  warriors.  It  covers  the 
upper  edge  of  the  body  armour,  is  perforated  in 
the  middle  for  the  head  to  pass,  but  hangs  equal 
on  the  breast  and  back,  square  on  the  shoulders, 
and  is  evidently  of  leather.  By  the  use  of  metal 
lor  defensive  armour,  the  Carians  appear  to  have 
created  astonishment  among  the  Egyptians,  and 
therefore  to  have  been  the  first  nation  so  pro- 


VtfrV 

■ytirrtiTJTiiMAV 

:f,rt-|rrr^rHrrl 


^jrtrJ-rlrrrtit'itl 


1.  Egyptian  tigulated.       2.  Sleeve  of  ring-mail,  Ionian. 

tectcd  in  Western  Asia;  nevertheless,  in  the 
tombs  of  the  kings  near  Thebes,  a  tigulated 
hauberk  is  represented,  composed  of  small  three- 
coloured  pieces  of  metal ;  one  golden,  the  others 
reddish  and  green.  It  is  this  kind  of  armour 
which  may  be  meant  by  the  Hebrew  word 
tecliera,  the  closest  interpretation  of  which  ap- 
pears to  be  a  tiling.  In  2  Chron.  xviii,  33, 
Ahab  may  have  been  struck  in  one  of  the  grooves 


ARMS,  ARMOUR 

or  slits  in  the  squares  of  his  techera,  or  hctween 
t-n-o  of  them  where  they  do  not  overlap ;  or  per- 
haps, with  more  probability,  between  the  metal 
hoops  of  the  trunk  of  the  tippet  before  mentioned, 
where  the  thorax  overlaps  the  abdomen.  The 
term  '  scales,'  in  the  case  of  Goliath's  armour, 
denotes  squamous  armour,  most  likely  where 
the  pieces  were  sewed  upon  a  cloth,  and  not 
hinged  to  each  other,  as  in  the  techera.  The 
techera  could  not  well  be  worn  without  an 
u-nder-garment  of  some  density  to  resist  the 
friction  of  metal;  and  this  was  probably  the 
dress  which  Saul  put  upon  David  before  he  as- 
sumed the  breastplate  and  girdle. 

The  Cuirass  and  Corslet  were,  strictly  speak- 
ing, of  prepared  leather,  but  often  composed  of 
quilted  cloths  :  the  former  in  general  denotes,  in 
antiquity,  a  suit  with  leathern  appendages  at  the 
bottom  and  at  the  shoulder,  as  used  by  the 
Romans ;  the  latter,  one  in  which  the  barrel  did 
not  come  down  below  the  hips.     In  later  ages  it 


always  designates  a  breast  and  back  piece  of 
steel.  It  is,  however,  requisi'.«  to  observe,  that 
in  estimating  the  meaning  of  Hebrew  names  for 
armour  of  all  kinds,  they  are  liable  to  the  same 
laxity  of  use  which  all  other  languages  have 
manifested. 

The  Girdle,  or  more  properly  the  baldric  or 
belt,  was  of  leather,  studded  with  metal  plates  or 
bullx' ;  broad  when  the  armour  was  slight,  and 
then  might  be  girt  upon  the  hips;  otherwise 
it  supported  the  sword  scarf-wise  from  the 
shoulder. 

Greaves  were  likewise  known,  even  so  early 
as  the  time  of  David,  for  Goliath  wore  them. 
They  consisted  of  a  pair  of  shin-covers  of  brass 
or  strong  leatlier,  bound  by  thongs  round  the 
calves  and  above  the  ankles.  They  reached 
only  to  the  knees,  excepting  among  the  Greeks, 
■whose  greaves,  elastic  behind,  caught  nearly  the 


ARROW  101 

whole  leg,  and  were  raised  in  front  above  the 
knees. 

AR'NON,  a  river  forming  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  trans-Jordanic  Palestine,  and  separating 
it  from  the  land  of  Moab  (Num.  xxi.  13,  26; 
Deut.  ii.  24;  iii.  8,  16  ;  Josh.  xii.  1  ;  Isa.  xvi.  2  • 
Jer.  xlviii.  20).  It  now  bears  the  name  of  Wady 
Modjeb,  and  rises  in  the  mountains  of  Gilead. 
near  Katrane,  whence  it  pursues  a  circuitous 
course  of  about  eighty  miles  to  the  Dead  Sea. 
It  flows  in  a  rocky  bed,  and,  at  the  part  visited 
by  Burckhardt,  in  a  channel  so  deep  and  precipi- 
tous as  to  appear  inaccessible;  yet  along  this, 
winding  among  huge  fragments  of  rock,  lies  the 
most  frequented  road,  and,  not  being  far  from 
Dibon,  probably  that  taken  by  the  Israelites. 
The  stream  is  almost  dried  up  in  summer  ;  but 
huge  masses  of  rock,  torn  from  the  banks-,  and 
deposited  high  above  the  usual  channel,  evince 
its  fulness  and  impetuosity  in  the  rainy  season. 

ARO'ER,  a  town  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
Arnon,  and  therefore  on  the  southern  border  of 
the  territory  conquered  from  the  Amorites,  which 
was  assigned  to  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad 
(Deut.  ii.  36 ;  Josh.  xii.  2  ;  xiii.  9).  The  Amo- 
rites had  previously  dispossessed  the  Ammonites 
of  this  territory ;  and  although  in  the  texts  cited 
the  town  seems  to  be  given  to  Reuben,  it  is  men- 
tioned as  a  Moabitish  city  by  Jeremiah  (xlviii. 
19).  Burckhardt  found  the  ruins  of  this  town 
under  the  name  of  Araayr,  on  the  edge  of  a 
precipice  overlooking  the  river.  Aroer  is  always 
named  in  conjunction  with  '  the  city  thiit  is  in 
the  midst  of  the  river ;'  whence  it  has  been  con- 
jectured that,  like  Rabbath  Ammon  [which  tee], 
it  consisted  of  two  parts,  or  distinct  cities ;  the 
one  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  the  other  iu  the 
valley  beneath,  surrounded,  either  naturally  or 
artificially,  by  the  waters  of  the  river. 

2.  AROER,  one  of  the  towns  '  built,'  or  pro- 
bably rebuilt,  by  the  tribe  of  Gad  (Num.  xxxii. 
34).  Burckhardt,  in  journeying  from  Szalt 
towards  Rabbath  Ammon,  notices  a  ruined  site, 
called  Ayra,  as  '  one  of  the  towns  built  by  the 
tribe  of  Gad.'  It  is  about  seven  miles  south-west 
from  Szalt.  Aroer  of  Gad  is  also  mentioned  in 
Judg.  xi.  33,  and  2  Sam.  xxiv.  5. 

3.  AROER,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (1 
Sam.  XXX.  28). 

4.  AROER,  a  city  in  the  south  of  Judah,  to 
which  David  sent  presents  after  recovering  the 
spoil  of  Ziklag  (1  Sam.  xxx.  26,  28).  At  the 
distance  of  twenty  geographical  miles  S.  by  W. 
from  Hebron,  there  is  a  broad  valley  called 
Ararah,  in  which  are  evident  traces  of  an  ancient 
village  or  town.  The  identity  of  name  shows 
that  this  was  the  Aroer  of  Judah. 

AR'PHAD,  or  Arpad,  a  Syrian  city,  having 
its  own  king,  and  always  associated  in  Scripture 
with  Hamath,  the  Epiphauia  of  the  Greeks  (2 
Kings  xviii.  34;  xix.  34;  Isa.  x.  9  ;  xxxvi.  19). 
But  all  the  explanations  given  respecting  it  are 
purely  conjectural,  and  Arphad  must  still  be 
numbered  among  unascertained  Scriptural  sites. 

ARPHAX'AD,  the  son  of  Shem,  and  father  of 
Salah ;  born  one  year  after  the  Deluge,  and  died 
B.C.  1904,  aged  438  years  (Gen.  xi.  12,  &c.). 

ARROW.  This  word  is  frequently  used  as 
the  symbol  of  calamities  or  diseases  inflicted  by 
God  (Job  vi.  4 ;  xxxiv.  6 ;  Ps.  xxxviii.  2  ;  Deut 
xxxii.  23;  comp.  Ezek.  v.   16;    Zech-  ix.   14). 


102 


ARVAD 


ASA 


Lightnings  are,  by  a  very  fine  figure,  described 
as  the  an-ows  of  God  (Ps.  xviii.  14 ;  cxliv.  6  ; 
Habak.  iii.  11  ;  comp.  Wisd.  v.  21  ;  2  Sam.  xxii. 
15).  'Arrow'  is  occasionally  used  to  denote 
some  sudden  or  inevitable  danger;  as  in  Ps. 
xci.  5  : — '  The  arrow  that  flieth  by  day.'  It  is 
also  figurative  of  anything  injurious,  as  a  deceit- 
ful tongue  (Ps.  cxxix.  4 ;  Jer.  ix.  7) ;  a  bitter 
word  (Ps.  Ixiv.  3) :  a  false  testimony  (Prov.  xxv. 
18).  The  arrow  is,  however,  not  always  sym- 
bolical of  evil.  In  Ps.  cxxvii.  4,  5,  well-con- 
ditioned children  are  compared  to  '  arrows  in  the 
hands  of  a  mighty  man ;'  i.  e.  instruments  of 
power  and  action.  The  arrow  is  also  used  in  a 
good  sense  to  denote  the  efficient  and  irresistible 
energy  of  the  word  of  God  in  the  hands  of  the 
Messiah  (Ps.  xlv.  6  ;  Isa.  xliv.  2). 

ARROWS.     [Arms.] 

ARROWS,  DIVINATION  BY.  [Divina- 
tion.] 

ARTAXERX'ES,  Artachshast.  The  word, 
which  is  supposed  to  mean  great  king,  is  the  title 
under  which  more  than  one  Persian  king  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Old  Testament. 

The  first  Artachshast  is  mentioned  in  Ezra 
iv.  7-24,  as  the  Persian  king  who,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  the  adversaries  of  the  Jews,  obstructed 
the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple,  from  his  time  to 
that  of  Darius,  king  of  Persia.  According  to  the 
arguments  adduced  in  the  article  Ahaslerus,  this 
king  is  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Darius 
Hystaspis,  and  can  be  no  other  than  the  Magian 
impostor,  Smerdis,  who  seized  on  the  throne  B.C. 
521,  and  was  murdered  after  a  usurpation  of  less 
than  eight  months  (Herod,  iii.  61-78j. 

As  to  the  second  Artachshast,  in  the  seventh 
year  of  whose  reign  Ezra  led  a  second  colony  of 
the  Jewish  exiles  back  to  Jerusalem  (Ezra  vii. 
1,  sq.'),  the  opinions  are  divided  between  Xerxes 
and  his  son  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  and  it  is 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  arrive  at  any  cer- 
tain conclusion  on  the  subject. 

The  third  Artachshast  is  the  Persian  king 
who,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  his  reign,  consi- 
derately allowed  Nehemiah  to  go  to  Jerusalem 
for  the  furtherance  of  purely  national  objects, 
invested  him  with  the  government  of  his  own 
people,  and  allowed  him  to  remain  there  for 
twelve  years  (Neh.  ii.  1,  sq. ;  v.  14).  It  is  almost 
unanimously  agreed  that  the  king  here  intended 
is  Artaxerxes  Longimanus,  who  reigned  from 
the  year  464  to  42.5  b.c. 

AR'TEMAS.  This  name  (which  is  a  contrac- 
tion for  Artemidorus)  occurs  only  once  (Tit.  iii. 
12),  as  that  of  an  esteemed  disciple  whom  St. 
Paul  designed  to  send  into  Crete  to  supply  the 
place  of  Titus,  whom  lie  invited  to  visit  him  at 
Nicopolis.  When  the  Epistle  was  written,  the 
Apostle  seems  not  to  have  decided  whether  he 
should  send  Artemas  or  Tychicus  for  this  pur- 
pose. 

AR'VAD,  or,  as  it  might  be  spelt,  Aruad, 
whence  the  present  name  Ruad,  a  small  island 
and  city  on  the  coast  of  Syria,  called  by  the 
Greeks  Aradus,  by  which  name  it  is  mentioned 
in  1  Mace.  xv.  23.  It  is  a  small  rocky  island, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  the  river  Eleutherus,  to  the 
north  of  Tripolis,  about  one  mile  in  circum- 
ference and  two  miles  from  the  shore.  Strabo 
describes  it  as  a  rock  rising  in  the  midst  of  the 
waves,   and  modern  travellers  state  that  it  is 


steep  on  every  side.  Strabo  also  describes  the 
houses  as  exceedingly  lofty,  and  were  doubtless 
so  built,  on  account  of  the  scantiness  of  the 
site :  hence,  for  its  size,  it  was  exceedingly 
populous. 

AR'VADITES  (Gen.  x.  18;  1  Chron.  i.  16), 
the  inhabitants  of  the  island  Aradus  [Akvad], 
and  doubtless  also  of  the  neighbouring  coast. 
The  Arvadites  were  descended  from  Arvad,  one 
of  the  sons  of  Canaan  (Gen.  x.  18).  Strabo  de- 
scribes tlie  Arvadites  as  a  colony  from  Sidon. 
They  were  noted  mariners  (Ezek.  xxvii.  8,  11), 
and  formed  a  distinct  state,  with  a  king  of  their 
own ;  yet  they  appear  to  have  been  in  some  de- 
pendence upon  Tyre,  for  the  prophet  represents 
them  as  furnishing  their  contingent  of  mariners 
to  that  city  (Ezek.  xxvii.  8,  11).  The  Arvadites 
took  their  full  share  in  the  maritime  traffic  for 
which  the  Phoenician  nation  was  celebrated, 
particularly  after  Tyre  and  Sidon  had  fallen 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Graco-Syrian  kings. 

ARU'MAH,  otherwise  Rdimah,  a  city  near 
Shechem,  where  Abimelech  encamped  (Judg.  ix. 

A'SA  (healing  or  phi/sician),  son  of  Abijah, 
grandson  of  Rehoboam,  and  third  king  of  Judah. 
He  began  to  reign  two  years  before  the  death  of 
Jeroboam,  in  Israel,  and  he  reigned  forty-one 
years,  from  b.c.  955  to  914.  As  Asa  was  very 
young  at  his  accession,  the  affairs  of  the  govern- 
ment were  administered  by  his  mother,  or,  ac- 
cording to  some  (comp.  1  Kings  xv.  1,  10),  his 
grandmother  Maachah,  who  is  understood  to  have 
been  a  granddaughter  of  Absolom  [Maachah]. 
She  gave  much  encouragement  to  idolatry ;  but 
the  young  king,  on  assuming  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment, zealously  rooted  out  the  idolatrous  prac- 
tices which  had  grown  up  during  his  minority 
and  under  the  preceding  reigns ;  and  only  the 
altars  in  the  '  high  places '  were  suffered  to  remain 
(1  Kings  XV.  11-13;  2  Chron.  xiv.  2-5).  He 
neglected  no  human  means  of  putting  his  kingdom 
in  the  best  possible  military  condition,  for  which 
ample  opportunity  was  afforded  by  the  peace 
which  he  enjoyed  in  the  ten  first  years  of  his 
reign.  And  his  resources  were  so  well  organized, 
and  the  population  had  so  increased,  that  he  was 
eventually  in  a  condition  to  count  on  the  military 
services  of  580,000  men  (2  Chron.  xiv.  6-8).  In 
the  eleventh  year  of  his  reign,  relying  upon  the 
Divine  aid,  Asa  attacked  and  defeated  the  nume- 
rous host  of  the  Cushite  king  Zerah,  who  had 
penetrated  through  Arabia  Petrsea  into  the  vale 
of  Zephathah,  with  an  immense  host  (2  Chron. 
xiv.  9-15.)  As  the  triumphant  Judahites  were  re- 
turning, laden  with  spoil,  to  Jerusalem,  they  were 
met  by  the  prophet  Azariah,  who  declared  this 
splendid  victory  to  be  a  consequence  of  Asa's  con- 
fidence in  Jehovah,  and  exhorted  him  to  perse- 
verance. Thus  encouraged,  the  king  exerted 
himself  to  extirpate  the  remnants  of  idolatry, 
and  caused  the  people  to  renew  their  covenant 
with  Jehovah  (2  Chron.  xv.  1-15).  It  was  this 
clear  knowledge  of  his  dependent  |  olitical  posi- 
tion, as  the  vice-gerent  of  Jehovah,  which  won 
for  Asa  the  highest  prais«  that  could  be  given 
to  a  Jewish  king — that  he  walked  in  the  steps  of 
his  ancestor  David  (1  Kings  xv.  11). 

Nevertheless,  the  king  failed  towards  the  latter 
end  of  his  reign  to  maintain  the  character  he  had 
thus  acquired.     When  Baasha,  king  of  Israel, 


ASCENSION 

had  renewed  the  -war  between  the  two  kingdoms, 
and  had  taken  Ramah,  which  he  was  proceeding 
to  fortify  as  a  frontier  barriei-,  Asa,  the  conqueror 
of  Zerah,  was  so  far  wanting  to  his  kingdom  and 
his  God  as  to  employ  the  wealth  of  the  Temple 
and  of  the  royal  treasures  to  induce  the  king  of 
Syria  (Damascus)  to  make   a  diversion  in  his 
favour  by  invading  the  domjnions   of  Baasha. 
By  this  means  he  recovered  Ramah,  indeed  ;  but 
his  treasures  were  squandered,  and  he  incurred 
the  rebuke  of  the  prophet  Hanani,  whom  he  cast 
into  prison,  being,  as  it  seems,  both  alarmed  and 
enraged  at  the  effect  his  address  was  calculated 
to  produce  upon  the  people.     Other  persons  (who 
had  probably   manifested  their  disapprobation) 
also  suffered  from  his  anger  (1  Kings  xv.  lG-22  ; 
2  Chron.  xvi.  1-10).     In  the  three  last  years  of  | 
his  life  Asa  was  afflicted  with  a  grievous  '  disease  | 
in  his  feet ;'  and  it  is  mentioned  to  his  reproach  1 
that  he  placed  too  much  confidence  in  his  physi-  j 
cians.     At  his  death,  however,  it  appeared  that  ! 
his  popularity   had  not   been  substantially  im-  | 
paired ;  for  he  was  honoured  with  a  funeral  of 
unusual  cost  and  magnificence  (2   Chron.  xvi. 
11-14). 

AS'AHEL  (God-created),  son  of  David's  sister 
Zeruiah,  and  brother  of  Joab  and  Abishai.  He 
was  noted  for  his  swiftness  of  foot ;  and  after  the 
battle  at  Gibeon  he  pursued  and  overtook  Abner, 
who,  with  gi-eat  reluctance,  and  to  preserve  his 
own  life,  slew  him  with  a  backthrust  of  his  spear, 
B.C.  1055  [AbnebI  (2  Sam.  ii.  16-23). 

A'SAPH  (assembler),  a  Levite,  son  of  Barachias 
(1  Chron.  vi.  39  ;  xv.  17),  eminent  as  a  musician, 
and  appointed  by  David  to  preside  over  the  sacred 
choral  services  which  he  organized.     The  '  sons 
of  Asaph '  are  afterwards  mentioned  as  choristers 
of  the  temple  (1  Chron.  xxv.  1,  2 ;  2  Chron.  xx. 
14;  xxix.  13;  Ezra  ii.  41 :  iii.  10;  Neh.  vii.  44; 
xi.  22):    and  this  office  appears  to  have   been 
made  hereditary  in  his  family  (1  Chron.  xxv.  1, 
2).     Asaph  was  celebrated  in  after  times  as  a 
prophet  and  poet  (2  Chron.  xxix.  30 ;  Neh.  xii. 
16),  and  the  titles  of  twelve  of  the  Psalms  (Ixxiii. 
to  Ixxxiii.)  bear  his  name.     The  merits  of  this  : 
appropriation  are  elsewhere  examined  [Psalms],  j 
—There  were  two  other  persons  named  Asaph  :  \ 
one  who  occupied  the  distinguished  post  of  '  re-  | 
corder'  to  kingHezekiah  (2  Kings  xviii.  18  ;  Isa.  i 
xxxvi.  3) ;  another  who  was  keeper  of  the  royal  j 
forests  under  Artaxerxes  (Neh.  ii.  8).  | 

ASCENSION.    The  event  spoken  of  under  ' 
this  title  is  among  those  which  Christians  of 
every  age  have  contemplated  with  the  most  pro- 
found satisfaction.      It    was    in    his   ascension 
that  Christ  exhibited    the  perfect  triumph  of 
humanity   over    every   antagonist,  whether    in  ! 
itself,  or  in  the  circumstances  under  which  it  \ 
may  be  supposed  to  exist.    The  contemplation  of  j 
this,  the  entrance  of  the  Redeemer  into  glory,  ; 
inspired  the   prophets  of  old  with  the  noblest  i 
views  of  his  kingdom.     '  Thou  hast  ascended  on 
high  ;  thou  hast  led  captivity  captive  ;  thou  hast  | 
received  gifts  for  men ;  yea,  for  the  rebellious  | 
also,  that  the   Lord  God  might  dwell   among 
them'  (Ps.  Ixviii.  18)  ;  and  '  Lift  up  your  heads,  i 
0  ye  gates ;  and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye  everlasting  ! 
doors,  and  the  king  of  glory  shall  come  in '  (Ps. 
xxiv.  9).     That  something  of  vast  importance,  in 
respect  to  the  completion  of  the  great  scheme  of 
salvation,  was  involved  in  this  event,  appears 


ASHDOD  103 

from  the  words  of  our  Lord  himself,  '  Touch  me 
not,  for  I  am  not  yet  ascended  to  my  Father : 
but  go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  I  as- 
cend unto  my  Father,  and  your  Father  ;  and  to 
my  God  and  your  God'  (John  xx.  17).  Nor 
was  it  till  this  had  taken  place  that  he  poured 
out  the  grace  of  the  Spirit  upon  his  church,  or 
began  the  higher  exercises  of  his  office  as  a  me- 
diating priest.  In  the  primitive  church,  the 
feast  of  the  Ascension,  called  also  by  St.  Chry- 
sostom  the  Assumption  of  Christ,  was  considered, 
like  the  solemn  days  of  the  Nativity  and  the 
Passion,  as  of  apostolic  origin.  St.  Chrysostom, 
in  his  homily  on  the  subject,  calls  it  an  illustrious 
and  refulgent  day,  and  describes  the  exaltation  of 
Christ  as  the  grand  proof  of  God's  reconciliation 
to  mankind. 

AS'ENATH,  the  daughter  of  Potipherah,  priest 
of  On,  whom  the  king  of  Egypt  bestowed  in  mar- 
riage upon  Joseph,  with  the  view  probably  of 
strengthening  his  position  in  Egypt  by  this  high 
connection.  The  considerations  suggested  by 
this  marriage  belong  to  another  place  [Joseph]  ; 
and  attention  is  here  only  required  to  the  name, 
which,  in  common  with  other  words  of  foreign 
origin,  has  attracted  considerable  notice.  The 
most  probable  interpretation  is  that  it  means 
worshipper  of  IVeith — the  titular  goddess  of  Sais, 
the  Athene  of  the  Greeks. 

ASH.  The  wbrd  thus  translated  occurs  only 
once  in  Scripture  (Isa.  xliv.  14),  and  is  variously 
translated.  Some  consider  pine-tree  to  be  the 
correct  translation,  others  the  rubus  or  bramble. 
Celsius  quotes  from  the  Arab  author,  'Abu  1  Fadli, 
the  description  of  a  tree  called  aran,  which  ap- 
pears well  suited  to  the  passage,  though  it  has 
not  yet  been  ascertained  what  tree  is  intended. 
The  aran  is  saiil  to  be  a  tree  of  Arabia  Petrrca, 
of  a  thorny  nature,  inhabiting  the  valleys,  but 
found  also  in  tlie  mountains,  where  it  is  however 
less  thorny.  The  wood  is  said  to  be  much  valued 
for  cleaning  the  teeth.  The  fruit  is  in  bunches 
like  small  grapes.  The  berry  is  noxious  while 
green,  and  bitter  like  galls ;  as  it  ripens  it 
becomes  red,  then  black  and  somewhat  sweetish, 
and  when  eaten  is  grateful  to  the  stomach,  &c., 
and  seems  to  act  as  a  stimulant  medicine. 
Sprengel  supposes  this  to  be  the  caper  plant  To 
us  it  appears  to  agree  in  some  respects  with  Sal- 
vadora  persica,  but  not  in  all  points,  and  there- 
fore it  is  preferable  to  leave  it  as  one  of  those 
still  requiring  investigation  by  some  traveller  in 
Syria  conversant  both  with  plants  and  their  Ori- 
ental names  and  uses. 

ASH'DOD,  th«  AzoTUS  of  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, and  so  called  in  1  Mace.  iv.  1 5 ;  Acts  viii.  40 ; 
a  city  on  the  summit  of  a  grassy  hill,  near  the 
Mediterranean  coast,  nearly  mid-way  between 
Gaza  and  Joppa,  being  18  geog.  miles  N.  by  E. 
from  the  former,  and  21  S.  from  the  latter;  and  it 
is  more  exactly  mid-way  between  Askelon  and 
Ekron,  being  lO  geog.  miles  N.  by  E.  from  the 
former,  and  S.  by  W.  from  the  latter.  Ashdod  was 
a  city  of  the  Philistines,  and  the  chief  town  of  one 
of  their  five  states  (Josh.  xiii.  3;  1  Sam.  vi. 
17).  It  was  the  seat  of  the  worship  of  Dagon 
(1  Sam.  V.  5 ;  1  Mace.  xi.  4) ;  and  it  was  before 
its  shrine  in  this  city  that  the  captured  ark  was 
deposited  and  triumphed  over  the  idol  (1  Sam.  v. 
1-9).  Ashdod  was  assigned  to  Judah  ;  but  manjr 
centuries  passed  before  this  and  the  other  Phi- 


104  ASHER 

listine  tOTms  vere  subdued  [Philistines]  ;  and 
it  appears  never  to  have  been  permanently  in 
possession  of  the  Judahites,  although  it  was  dis- 
mantled by  Uzziah,  who  built  towns  in  the  terri- 
tory of  Ashdod  (1  Chron.  xxvi.  C).  It  is  men- 
tioned to  the  reproach  of  the  Jews  returned  from 
captivitj',  that  they  married  wives  of  Ashdod, 
with  the  result  that  the  children  of  these  mar- 
riages spoke  a  mongrel  dialect,  half  Hebrew  and 
half  in  the  speech  of  Ashdod  (Neh.  xiii.  23,  24). 
These  facts  indicate  the  ancient  importance  of 
Ashdod.  It  was  indeed  a  place  of  great  strength  ; 
and  being  on  the  usual  military  route  between 
Syria  and  Egypt,  the  possession  of  it  became  an 
object  of  importance  in  the  wars  between  Egypt 
and  the  great  northern  powers.  Hence  it  was 
secured  by  the  Assyrians  before  invading  Egypt 
(Isa.  i.  1,  sq.) ;  and  at  a  later  date  it  was  taken 
by  Psammetichus,  after  a  siege  of  twenty-nine 
years,  being  the  longest  siege  on  record.  The 
destruction  of  Ashdod  was  foretold  by  the  pro- 
phets (Jer.  XXV.  20  ;  Amos  i.  8  ;  iii.  9  ;  Zeph.  ii. 
4 ;  Zach.  ix.  6) ;  and  was  accomplished  by  the 
Maccabees  (1  Mace.  v.  68:  x.  77-84;  xi.  4).  It 
was,  however,  rebuilt,  and  was  included  in  the 
dominion  of  Herod  the  Great,  who  bequeathed  it, 
with  two  other  towns,  to  his  sister  Salome.  The 
evangelist  Philip  was  found  at  Ashdod  after  he 
had  baptized  the  Ethiopian  eunuch  (Acts  viii. 
40).  Azotus  early  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop- 
ric ;  and  we  find  a  bishop  of  Azotus  present  at 
the  councils  of  Nice,  of  Chalcedon,  a.d.  359,  of 
Seleucia,  and  of  Jerusalem,  a.d.  53G. 

Ashdod  exists  at  present  as  an  inconsiderable 
village.  The  site  is  marked  by  ancient  ruins, 
such  as  broken  arches,  and  partly  buried  frag- 
ments of  marble  columns ;  there  is  also  what 
has  the  appearance  of  a  very  ancient  khan,  the 
principal  chamber  of  which  had  obviously,  at 
some  former  period,  been  used  as  a  Christian 
chapel.    The  place  is  still  called  Esdud. 

ASH'ER  (happy),  one  of  the  sons  of  Jacob  by 
Zilpah,  the  handmaid  of  Leah  (Gen.  xxx.  13; 
XXXV.  26),  and  founder  of  one  of  the  twelve 
tribes  (Num.  xxvi.  44-47).  Asher  had  four  sons 
and  one  daughter  (Gen.  xlix.  20  ;  Dent,  xxxiii. 
24).  On  quitting  Egypt  the  number  of  adult 
males  in  the  tribe  of  Asher  was  41,.')00,  which 
made  it  the  ninth  of  the  tribes  (excluding  Levi) 
in  numbers— Ephraim,  Manasseh,  and  Benjamin 
only  being  below  it.  But  before  entering  Canaan 
an  increase  of  11,900 — an  increase  exceeded 
only  by  Manasseh — raised  the  number  to  .53,400, 
and  made  it  the  fifth  of  the  tribes  in  population 
(oomp.  Num.  i.  40,  41;  xxvi.  47).  The  inhe- 
ritance of  this  tribe  lay  in  a  very  fruitful 
couutrj-,  on  the  sea-coast,  with  Lebanon  north, 
Carmel  and  the  tribe  of  Issachar  south,  and 
Zebulon  and  Naphtali  east.  It  is  usually  stated 
tliat  the  whole  of  the  PhcBuician  territories,  in- 
cluding Sidon,  were  assigned  to  this  tribe.  But 
there  are  various  considerations  which  militate 
against  this  conclusion.  The  Asherites  were 
unable  to  gain  possession  for  a  long  time  of  the 
territories  actually  assigned  them,  but  '  dwelt 
among  the  Canaanites,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
land'  (Judg.  i.  32) ;  and,  '  as  it  is  not  usual  to 
say  of  a  larger  number  that  it  dwells  among  the 
smaller,  the  inference  is,  that  they  expelled  but 
comparatively  few  of  the  Canaanites,  leaving 
them,  in  fact,  a  majority  of  the  population.' 


ASHTORETH 

ASHES,  in  the  symbolical  language  of  Scrip- 
ture, denote  human  frailty  (Gen.  xviii.  27),  deep 
humiliation  (Esth.  iv.  1  ;  Jonah  iii.  6  ;  Matt.  xi. 
21 ;  Luke  x.  13;  Job  xlii.  6  ;  Dan.  ix.  3).  To 
sit  in  ashes  was  a  token  of  grief  and  mourning 
(Job  ii.  8;  Lam.  iii.  16;  Ezek.  xxvii.  30),  as 
was  also  strewing  them  upon  the  head  (2  Sam. 
xiii.  10 ;  Isa.  xli.  3)  [Mourning].  '  Feeding  on 
ashes,'  in  Ps.  cii.  9,  appears  to  express  grief,  as 
of  one  with  whose  food  the  ashes  with  which  he 
is  covered  mingle.  But  in  Isa.  xliv.  20,  '  feed- 
ing on  ashes,'  which  afford  no  nourishment,  is 
judged  to  denote  ineffectual  means,  labour  to  no 
purpose.     Compare  Hos.  xii.  1. 

ASH'IMA  (2  Kings  xvii.  30),  only  once  men- 
tioned in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  god  of  the 
people  of  Hamath.  The  Babylonian  Talmud, 
and  the  majority  of  Jewish  writers,  assert  that 
Ashima  was  Avorshipped  under  the  fonn  of  a  goat 
ivithout  wool ;  the  Talmud  of  Jerusalem  says, 
under  that  of  a  lamb.  Elias  Levita,  a  learned 
Kabbi  of  the  sixteenth  century,  assigr.s  the  word 
the  sense  of  ape.  Jurieu  and  Calmet  have  pro- 
posed other  fanciful  conjectures.  The  opinion 
that  this  idol  had  the  form  of  a  goat,  however, 
appears  to  be  the  one  best  supported  .by  argu- 
ments as  well  as  by  authorities. 

ASH'KENAZ  (Gen.  x.  3),  and  Ashchenaz 
(Jer.  Ii.  27),  the  name  of  a  son  of  Gomer,  son  of 
Japhet,  and  of  a  tribe  of  his  descendants.  In 
Jeremiah  it  is  placed  with  Ararat  and  Minni, 
provinces  of  Armenia;  whence  it  is  probable 
that  Ashkenaz  was  a  province  of  Armenia ;  or 
at  least  that  it  lay  not  far  from  it,  near  the  Cau- 
casus, or  towards  the  Black  Sea. 

ASH'PENAZ,  chief  of  the  eunuchs  of  king 
Nebuchadnezzar,  to  whose  care  Daniel  and  his 
companions  were  consigned,  and  who  changed 
their  names  (Dan.  i.  3,  7). 

ASH'TAROTH  and  Ashtakoth-Carnaim,  a 
town  of  Bashan  (Deut.  i.  4 ;  Josh.  ix.  10)  which 
was  included  in  the  territory  of  the  half-tribe  of 
Manasseh  (Josh.  xiii.  31),  and  was  assigned  to 
the  Levites  (1  Chron.  vi.  71).  It  is  placed  by 
Eusebius  6  miles  from  Edrei,  the  other  principal 
town  of  Bashan,  and  2.5  miles  fiom  Bostra. 
The  town  existed  in  the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen. 
xiv.  .5)  ;  and  as  its  name  of  Ashtaroth  appears  to 
be  derived  from  the  worship  of  the  moon  under 
that  name  [see  the  following  article],  there  is 
little  need  to  look  farther  than  the  crescent  of 
that  luminary  and  its  symbolical  image  for  an 
explanation  of  the  addition  Carnaim,  or  rather 
Karnaiji,  '  horned.'  Asta roth-Car naim  is  now 
usually  identified  with  Mezareib,  the  situation  of 
which  corresponds  accurately  enough  with  the 
distances  given  by  Eusebius.  Here  is  the  first 
castle  on  the  great  pilgrim  road  from  Damascus 
to  Mecca,  which  was  built  about  .340  years  ago 
by  the  Sultan  Selim.  There  are  no  dwellings 
beyond  the  castle,  and  within  it  only  a  few  mud 
huts  upon  the  flat  roofs  of  the  warehouses,  occu- 
pied by  the  peasants  who  cultivate  the  neigh- 
bouring grounds. 

ASH'tORETH  (1  Kings  xi.  5)  is  the  name 
of  a  goddess  of  the  Sidonians  (1  Kings  xi.  5,  33), 
but  also  of  the  Philistines  (I  Sam.  xxxi.  10), 
whose  worship  was  introduced  among  the  Israel- 
ites during  the  period  of  the  judges  (Jud.  ii.  13; 
1  Sam.  vii.  4),  was  celebrated  by  Solomon  him- 
self (1  Kings  xi.  5),  and  was  finally  put  down 


ASHTORETII 

by  Josiah  (2  Kings  xxiii.  13).  She  is  frequently 
mentioned  in  connection  with  Baal,  as  the  cor- 
responding female  divinity  (Jud.  ii.  13);  and, 
from  the  addition  of  the  words,  'and  all  the 
host  of  heaven,'  in  2  Kings  xxiii.  4,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  she  represented  one  of  the  celestial 
bodies.  There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  she 
is  meant  by  the  '  queen  of  heaven,'  in  Jer.  vii. 
I  18;  xliv.  17;  whose  worship  is  there  said  to 
have  been  solemnised  by  burning  incense,  pour- 
ing libations,  and  offering  cakes. 

According  to  the  testimonies  of  profane  writers, 
the  worship  of  this  goddess,  under  different 
names,  existed  in  all  countries  and  colonies  of 
the  Syro-Arabian  nations.  She  was  e.<;pecially 
the  chief  female  divinity  of  the  Phoenicians  and 
Syrians,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  was  wor- 
shipped also  at  ancient  Carthage.  The  classical 
writers,  who  usually  endeavoured  to  identify  the 
gods  of  other  nations  with  their  own,  rather  than 
to  discriminate  between  them,  have  recognised 
several  of  their  own  divinities  in  Ashtoreth. 
Thus  she  was  considered  to  be  Juno  or  Venus, 
especially  Venus  Urania. 

As  for  the  power  of  nature,  which  Avas  wor- 
shipped under  the  name  of  Ashtoreth,  Creuzer 
and  Miinter  assert  that  it  was  the  principle  of 
conception  and  parturition — that  subordinate 
power  which  is  fecundated  by  a  superior  in- 
fluence, but  which  is  the  agent  of  all  births 
throughout  the  vmiverse.  As  such,  ISIiinter 
maintains  that  the  original  form  under  which 
Ashtoreth  was  worshipped  was  the  moon;  and 
that  the  transition  from  that  to  the  planet  Venus 
was  unquestionably  an  innovation  of  a  later  date. 
It  is  evident  that  the  moon  alone  can  be  pro- 
perly called  the  queen  of  heaven ;  as  also  that 
the  dependent  relation  of  the  moon  to  the  gun 
makes  it  a  more  appropriate  symbol  of  that  sex, 
whose  functions  as  female  and  mother,  through- 
out the  whole  extent  of  animated  nature,  were 
embodied  in  Ashtoreth  [Baal]. 

The  rites  of  her  worship,  if  we  may  assume 
their  resembling  those  which  profane  authors 
describe  as  paid  to  the  cognate  goddesses,  in 
part  agree  with  the  few  indications  in  the  Old 
Test.,  in  part  complete  the  brief  notices  there 
into  an  accordant  picture.  The  cakes  mentioned 
in  Jer.  vii.  18,  were  also  known  to  the  Greeks, 
and  were  by  them  made  in  the  shape  of  a  sickle, 
in  reference  to  the  new  moon.  Among  animals, 
the  dove,  the  crab,  and,  in  later  times,  the  lion, 
wore  sacred  to  her ;  and  among  fruits,  the  pome- 
granate. No  blood  was  shed  on  her  altar ;  but 
male  animals,  and  chiefly  hids,  were  sacrificed 
to  her.  The  most  prominent  part  of  her  wor- 
ship, however,  consisted  of  those  libidinous 
orgies,  which  Augustine,  who  was  an  eye-witness 
of  their  horrors  in  Carthage,  describes  with 
such  indignation.  Her  priests  were  eunuchs  in 
women's  attire  (1  Kings  xiv.  24),  and  women 
(Hos.  iv.  14),  who,  like  the  Bayaderes  of  India, 
prostituted  themselves  to  enrich  the  temple  of 
this  goddess.  The  prohibition  i;i  Deut.  xxiii.  18 
appears  to  allude  to  the  dedication  of  such  funds 
to  such  a  purpose.  As  for  the  places  consecrated 
to  her  Avorship,  although  the  numerous  passages 
in  which  the  authorized  version  erroneously 
speaks  of  groves,  are  to  be  deducted  (as  is  ex- 
plained below),  there  are  yet  several  occasions 
on  whioh  gardens  and  shadi/  trees  are  mentioned 


ASHTORETH 


105 


as  peculiar  seats  of  (probably,  her)  lascivious 
rites  (Isa.  i.  29  ;  Ixv.  3  ;  1  Kings  xiv.  23  ;  Hos. 
iv.  13;  Jer.  ii.  20;  iii.  13).  She  also  had  cele- 
brated temples  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  10). 

As  to  the  form  and  attributes  with  which  Ash- 
toreth was  represented,  the  oldest  known  image, 
that  in  Paphos,  was  a  white  conical  stone.  In 
Canaan  she  was  probably  represented  as  a  cow. 
In  Phoenicia,  she  had  the  head  of  a  cow  or  bull, 
as  she  is  seen  on  coins.  Sanchoniathon  states 
that  '  Astarte  adopted  the  head  of  a  bull  as  a 
symbol  of  her  sovereignty ;'  he  also  accounts  for 
the  star  which  is  her  most  usual  emblem,  by 
saying  that  '  when  she  passed  through  the  earth, 
she  found  a  fallen  star,  which  she  conseciated  in 
Tyre.  At  length,  she  was  figured  with  the 
human  form,  as  Lucian  expressly  testifies  of  the 
Syrian  goddess— which  is  substantially  the  same 


as  Ashtoreth;  and  she  is  so  found  on  coins  of 
Severus,  with  her  head  surrounded  with  rays, 
sitting  on  a  lion,  and  holding  a  thunderbolt  and 
a  sceptre  in  either  hand. 

To  come  now  to  Asherah  (Judg.  vi.  25). 
Selden  was  the  first  who  endeavoured  to  show 
that  this  word — which  in  the  LXX.  and  Vulgate 
is  generally  rendered  grove,  in  which  our  autho- 
rized version  has  followed  them— must  in  some 
places,  for  the  sake  of  the  sense,  be  taken  to 
mean  a  wooden  image  of  Ashtoreth ;  and  it  may 
now  be  regarded  as  a  settled  point  that  Asherah 
is  a  Hame,  and  also  denotes  an  image  of  this 
goddess. 

Some  of  the  arguments  which  support  this 
opinion  are  briefly  as  follows.  It  is  argued  that 
Asherah  almost  always  occurs  with  words  which 
denote  idols  and  statues  of  idrls ;  that  the  verbs 
which  are  employed  to  express  the  making  an 
Asherah,  are  incompatible  with  the  idea  of  a 
grove,  as  they  are  such  as  to  build,  to  shape,  to 
erect ;  that  the  words  used  to  denote  the  destruc- 
tion of  an  Asherah  are  those  of  breaking  to  pieces, 
subverting  ;  that  the  image  of  Asherah  is  placed  in 
the  Temple  (2  Kings  xxi.  7);  and  that  Asherah 
is  coupled  with  Baal  in  precisely  the  same  way 
as  Ashtoreth  is :  comp.  Judg.  ii.  13 ;  x.  fi  ;  1  Kings 
xviii.  19;  2  Kings  xxiii.  4;  and  particularly 
Judges  iii.  7,  and  ii.  IS,  where  the  plural  form  of 
both  words  is  explained  as  of  itself  denoting 
images  of  this  goddess.  Besides,  Selden  objects 
that  the  signification  grove  is  even  incongruous 
in  2  Kings  xvii.  10,  wheie  we  read  of  'setting  up 
groves  U7tder  every  green  tree.'  On  the  strength 
of  these  arguments  most  modern  scholars  assume 
that  Asherah  is  a  name  for  Ashtoreth,  and  that 
it  denotes  more  especially  the  relation  of  that 
goddess  to  the  planet  Venus,  as  the  lesser  star  of 


106 


ASKELON 


good  fortune.  It  appears,  namely,  to  be  an  in- 
disputable fact  that  both  Baal  and  Ashtoreth, 
although  their  primary  relation  was  to  the  sun 
and  moon,  came  in  process  of  time  to  be  con- 
nected, in  the  religious  conceptions  of  the  Syro- 
Arabians,  with  the  planets  Jupiter  and  Venus, 
as  the  two  stars  of  good  fortune  [See  the  article 
Meni]. 

ASIA.  The  ancients  had  no  divisions  of  the 
world  into  parts  or  quarters;  and  hence  the 
word  Asia,  in  the  modern  large  sense,  does  not 
occur  in  Scripture.  Indeed  it  does  not  at  all 
occur,  in  any  sense,  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
but  is  fouud  in  the  books  of  the  Maccabees  and 
in  the  New  Testament.  It  there  applies,  in  the 
largest  sense,  to  that  peninsular  portion  of  Asia 
which,  since  the  fifth  century,  has  been  known 
by  the  name  of  Asia  Minor ;  and,  in  a  narrower 
sense,  to  a  certain  portion  thereof  which  was 
known  as  Asia  Proper.  Thus,  it  is  now  gene- 
rally agreed, — 1.  That  '  Asia'  denotes  the  whole 
of  Asia  Minor,  in  the  texts  Acts  xix.  26,  27 ; 
XX.  4,  10,  18;  xxvii.  2.  &c. :  but,  2.  That  only 
Asia  Proper,  the  Eoman  or  Proconsular  Asia, 
is  denoted  in  Acts  ii.  9  ;  vi.  9  ;  xix.  10,  22 ; 
2  Tim.  i.  15;  1  Pet.  i.  G;  Kev.  i.  4,  ll.  Asia 
jMinor  comprehended  Bitliynia,  Pontus,  Galatia, 
Cappadocia,  Cicilia,  Pamphylia,  Pisidia,  Ly- 
caonia,  Phrygia,  Mysia,  Troas  (all  of  which  are 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament),  Lydia,.Ionia, 
.^olis  (which  are  sometimes  included  under 
Lydia),  Caria,  Doris,  and  Lycia.  Asia  Proper, 
or  Proconsular  Asia,  comprehended  the  pro- 
vinces of  Phrygia,  Mysia,  Caria,  and  Lydia. 
But  it  is  evident  that  St.  Luke  uses  the  term 
Asia  in  a  sense  still  more  restricted,  for  in  one 
place  he  counts  Phrygia  (Acts  ii.  9,  10),  and  in 
another  Mysia  (xvi.  6,  7),  as  provinces  distinct 
from  Asia.  Hence  it  is  probable  that  in  many, 
if  not  all,  of  the  second  set  of  references  the 
word  Asia  denotes  only  Ionia,  or  the  entire 
western  coast,  of  which  Ephesus  was  the  capital, 
and  in  which  the  seven  churches  were  situated. 
This  is  called  Asia  also  by  Strabo. 

ASIAR'CH.E  (Acts  xix.  31 ;  Auth.  Vers. 
*  certain  of  the  chief  of  Asia').  These  asiarchaj, 
who  derived  their  appellation  from  the  name  of 
the  province  over  which  they  presided  (as  Sy- 
riarcha?,  2  Mace.  xii.  2,  Lyciarch,  Cariarch,  &c.), 
were  in  Proconsular  Asia  the  chief  presidents  of 
the  religious  rites,  whose  office  it  was  to  exhibit 
every  year,  in  honour  of  the  gods  and  of  the 
Koman  emperor,  solemn  games  in  the  'theatre. 
This  they  did  at  their  own  expense,  whence  none 
but  the  most  opulent  persons  could  bear  the 
office,  although  only  of  one  year's  continuance. 
The  appointment  was  much  as  follows:  at  the 
beginning  of  every  year  (i.  e.  about  the  autumnal 
equinox)  each  of  the  cities  of  Asia  held  a  public 
assembly,  in  order  to  nominate  one  of  their  citi- 
zens as  asiarch.  A  person  was  then  sent  to  the 
general  council  of  the  province,  at  some  one  of 
the  principal  cities,  as  Ephesus,  Smyrna,  Sardis, 
&c.,  to  announce  the  name  of  the  individual  who 
had  been  selected.  Of  the  persons  thus  nomi- 
nated by  the  cities  the  council  designated  ten, 
and  it  is  probable  that  one  chosen  by  the  pro- 
consul was  pre-eminently  the  asiarch,  but  that 
the  other  nine  acted  as  his  assessors  and  also 
bore  that  title. 

AS'KELON,  a  city  of  the  Philistines,  and  seat 


ASPALATHUS 

of  one  of  thoir  five  states  ( Judg.  xiv.  1 9  ;  1  Sam. 
vi.  17;  2  Sam.  i.  20).  It  was  situated  on  the 
Mediterranean  coast,  between  Gaza  and  Ashdod, 
twelve  geog.  miles  north  of  the  former,  and  ten 
S.  by  W.  from  the  latter,  and  thirty-seven 
S.W.W.  from  Jerusalem.  It  was  the  only  one 
of  the  five  great  Philistine  towns  that  was  a 
maritime  port,  and  stood  out  close  to  tlie  shore. 
Askelon  was  assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  xiii.  13;  comp.  Judg.  i.  18)  ;  but  it  was 
never  for  any  length  of  time  in  possession  of  the 
Israelites.  The  part  of  the  country  in  which  it 
stood  abounded  in  aromatic  plants,  onions,  and 
vines.  It  was  well  fortified,  and  early  became 
the  seat  of  the  worship  of  Decerto.  After  the 
time  of  Alexander  it  shared  the  lot  of  Phoenicia, 
and  also  of  Juda'a,  being  tributary  sometimes  to 
Egypt,  and  at  other  times  to  Syria.  The  mag- 
nificent Herod  was  born  at  Askelon,  and  although 
the  city  did  not  belong  to  his  dominion,  he 
adorned  it  with  fountains,  baths,  and  colonnades ; 
and  after  his  death  Salome,  his  sister,  resided 
there  in  a  palace  which  Caesar  bestowed  upon 
her.  It  suffered  much  in  the  Jewish  war  with 
the  Romans,  but  afterwards  it  again  revived, 
and  in  the  middle  ages  was  noted  not  only  as  a 
stronghold,  but  as  a  wealthy  and  important  town. 
The  town  bears  a  prominent  part  in  the  history 
of  the  Crusades.  After  being  several  times  dis- 
mantled and  re-fortified  in  the  times  of  Saladin 
and  Richard,  its  fortifications  were  at  length 
totally  destroyed  by  the  Sultan  Bibars  in  a.d. 
1270,  and  the  port  filled  up  with  stories,  for  fear 
of  future  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Crusaders. 
Its  desolation  has  long  been  complete,  and  little 
now  remains  of  it  but  the  walls,  wiih  numerous 
fragments  of  granite  pillars.  The  situation  is 
described  as  strong;  the  thick  walls,  flanked 
with  towers,  were  built  on  the  top  of  a  ridge  of 
rock  that  encircles  the  town,  and  terminates  at 
each  end  in  the  sea.  The  place  still  bears  the 
name  of  Askulan. 

ASMODE'US  (Tob.  iii.  8),  a  demon  or  evil 
spirit,  mentioned  in  the  Apocryphal  book  of 
Tobit  as  having  beset  Sarah,  the  daughter  of 
Raguel,  and  killed  the  seven  husbands  whom 
she  had  married  before  Tobit.  The  Rabbins 
call  Asmodeus,  as  well  as  Beelzebub,  •  the  prince 
of  devils,'  whence  the  two  names  have  been  sup- 
posed to  refer  to  the  same  demon.  But  this 
title  they  also  give  to  '  the  angel  of  death,'  as 
the  destroyer  of  all  mankind.  Thus  the  story 
in  Tobit  means  no  more  than  that  the  seven 
husbands  died  successively  on  their  marriage 
with  Sarah. 

ASMONE'ANS.  [Maccabees.] 
ASNAP'PER,  the  name  of  the  king,  or  pos- 
sibly Assyrian  satrap,  who  sent  the  Cuthean 
colonies  into  Palestine  (Ezra  iv.  10).  Taking 
him  for  king  of  Assyria,  he  is  generally  iden- 
tified with  Esar-haddon,  although  some  believe 
the  name  to  denote  Salmanezer.  The  title 
('most  noble')  which  is  given  to  him  belonged 
to  the  satraps. 

ASPA'LATHUS,  a  name  which  occurs  only 
in  the  Apocrypha  (Ecclus.  xxiv.  15),  where  the 
substance  which  it  indicates  is  enumerated  with 
the  other  spices  and  perfumes  to  which  wisdom 
is  compared.  Though  this  drug  is  not  men- 
tioned in  the  canonical  Scriptures,  it  is  probable 
that  it  may  have  been  one  of  the  substances 


ASS 

comprehended  under  the  general  name  of  spices. 
It  ■was  no  doubt  one  of  the  substances  employed 
by  the  ancients  as  a  perfume  and  incense,  as  it 
forms  onje  of  the  ingredients  of  the  cyphi,  or 
compound  incense  made  use  of  by  the  Egyptian 
priests.  The  substance  which  was  called  aspala- 
thus  has  not  been  very  clearly  ascertained. 

ASPHAL'TUM  (Auth.  Vers.  '  pitch')  doubt- 
less derives  its  name  from  the  Lake  Asphaltites 
(Dead  Sea),  whence  it  was  abundantly  obtained. 
Usually  asphaltum  is  of  a  shining  black  colour ; 
it  is  solid  and  brittle,  with  a  conchoidal  fracture, 
altogether  not  unlike  common  pitch.  Its  spe- 
cific gravity  is  from  1  to  16,  and  it  consists 
chiefly  of  bituminous  oil,  hydrogen  gas,  and 
charcoal.  It  is  found  partly  as  a  solid  dry  fossil, 
intermixed  in  layers  of  plaster,  marl,  or  slate, 
and  partly  as  liquid  tar  flowing  fi-om  cavities  in 
rocks  or  in  the  earth,  or  swimming  upon  the 
surface  of  lakes  or  natural  wells.  To  judge 
from  Gen.  xiv.  10,  mines  of  asphaltum  must 
have  existed  formerly  on  the  spot  where  sub- 
sequently the  Dead  Sea,  or  Lake  Asphaltites, 
was  formed.  The  Palestine  earth-pitch  seems, 
however,  to  have  had  the  preference  over  all 
the  odier  sorts.  It  was  used  among  the  ancients 
partly  for  covering  boats,  paying  the  bottoms  of 
vessels  (Gen.  vi.  14 :  Exod.  ii.  3),  and  partly  as 
a  substitute  for  mortar  in  buildings;  and  it  is 
thought  that  the  bricks  of  which  the  walls  of 
Babylon  were  built  (Gen.  xi.  3)  had  been  ce- 
mentc-d  with  hot  bitumen,  which  imparted  to 
tliem  great  solidity.  In  ancient  Babylon  as- 
phaltum was  made  use  of  also  as  fuel,  as  the 
environs  have  from  the  earliest  times  been  re- 
nowned for  the  abundance  of  asphalt-iuines. 
Neither  were  the  ancient  Jews  unacquainted 
with  the  medicinal  properties  of  that  mineral. 

The  asphaltum  was  also  used  among  the  an- 
cient Egjptians  for  embalming  the  dead.  This 
operation  was  performed  in  three  different  ways : 
the  fii-st  with  slaggy  mineral  pitch  alone;  the 
second  with  a  mixture  of  this  bitumen  and  a 
liquor  extracted  from  the  cedar ;  and  the  third 
with  a  similar  mixture,  to  which  resinous  and 
aromatic  substances  were  added. 

Asphaltum  is  found  in  masses  on  the  shore  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  or  floating  on  the  surface  of  its 
waters.  The  local  Arabs  aflirm  that  the  bitumen 
only  appears  after  earthquakes.  They  allege 
tliat  after  the  earthquake  of  1834  huge  quan- 
tities of  it  were  cast  upon  the  shore,  of  which 
the  Jehalin  Arabs  alone  took  about  60  kuntars 
(each  of  98  lbs.)  to  market.  There  was  another 
earthquake  on  January  1,  1837,  and  soon  after  a 
large  mass  of  asphaltum  (compared  by  one 
person  to  an  island,  and  by  another  to  a  house) 
was  discovered  floating  on  the  sea,  and  was 
driven  aground  on  the  western  side,  near  Usdum. 
The  neighbouring  Arabs  assembled,  cut  it  up 
with  axes,  removed  it  by  camels'  loads,  and  sold 
it  at  the  rate  of  four  piastres  the  rutl,  or  pound ; 
the  product  is  said  to  have  been  about  3000 
dollars.  Except  during  these  two  years,  the 
Sheik  of  the  Jehalin,  a  man  fifty  years  old,  had 
never  known  bitumen  appear  in  the  sea,  nor 
heard  of  it  from  his  fathers. 

ASS.  1.  The  common  working  ass  of  Western 
Asia  (called  in  the  Hebrew  Chamor),  is  an 
animal  of  small  stature,  frequently  represented 
on  Egyptian  monuments  with  panniers  on  the 


107 


back,  usually  of  a  reddish  colour.  It  appears  to 
be  a  domesticated  race  of  the  wild  ass  of  Arabia, 
Mesopotamia,  and  Southern  Persia. 

In  its  natural  state  it  never  seeks  woody,  bui 
upland  pasture,  mountainous  and  rocky  retreats  ; 
and  it  is  habituated  to  stand  on  the  brink  of  pre- 
cipices (a  practice  not  entirely  obliterated  in 
our  own  domestic  races),  whence,  with  pro- 
truded ears,  it  surveys  the  scene  below,  blowing 
and  at  length  braying  in  extreme  excitement. 
This  habit  is  beautifully  depicted  by  Jeremiah 
(xvii.  G  ;  -xlviii.  6). 

The  Auth.  Vers,  translates  the  Hebrew  words 
Oir,  Oirim,  'young  ass,'  '  colt;'  but  this  render- 
ing does  not  appear  on  all  occasions  to  be  correct, 
the  word  being  sometimes  used  where  the  Oirim 
or  Ourim  carry  loads  and  till  the  ground,  which 
seems  to  afibrd  evidence  of,  at  least,  full  growth 
(Isa.  XXX.  6,  24).  The  word  Aton,  Atunuth,  is 
unsatisfactorily  rendered  '  she-ass,'  unless  we 
suppose  it  to  refer  to  a  breed  of  greater  beauty 
and  importance  than  the  common,  namely,  the 
silver  grey  of  Africa ;  which  being  large  and 
indocile,  the  females  were  anciently  selected  in 
preference  for  riding,  and  on  that  account  formed 


62.    [Domestic  A.ss  of  Western  Asia.] 

a  valuable  kind  of  property.  It  is  now  the 
fashion,  as  it  was  during  the  Parthian  empire, 
and  probably  in  the  time  of  the  Judges,  to  dapple 
this  breed  with  spots  of  orange  or  crimson,  or  of 
both  coloui'S  together ;  and  although  the  taste  may 
be  puerile,  we  conceive  that  it  is  the  record  of 
remote  conquest  achieved  by  a  nation  of  Central 
Asia  mounted  on  spotted  or  clouded  horses,  and 
revived  by  the  Parthians,  who  were  similarly 
equipped. 

As  this  animal  was  most  serviceable  to  man, 
its  name  was  held  in  respect  rather  than  con- 
tempt. It  is  alleged,  indeed,  that  the  ass  was 
held  in  contempt  in  Egj'pt ;  but  among  the  Arabs 
and  Jews  we  have  '  the  voice  of  one  crying  in 
the  wilderness,'  a  solemn  allusion  derived  from 
the  wild  ass,  almost  the  only  voice  in  the  desert ; 
and  in  the  distinguishing  epithet  of  Mirv'an  II., 
last  Ommiad  caliph,  who  was  called  the  wild 
ass  of  :Mesopotamia— proofs  that  no  idea  of  con- 
tempt was  associated  with  the  prophet's  meta- 
phor, and  that,  by  such  a  designation,  no  insult 
was  intended  to  the  person  or  dignity  of  the 
prince. 

2.  Wlld  Ass.  By  this  term  the  Scripture  seems 


108 


ASSID^ANS 


to  intend  the  horse-ass,  or  wild  mule.  The  species 
is  first  noticed  by  Aristotle,  who  mentions  nine 
of  these  animals  as  being  brought  to  Phrygia  by 
Pharnaces  the  satiap,  whereof  three  were  living 
in  the  time  of  his  son  Pharnabazus.  The  allu- 
sion of  Jeremiah,  in  speaking  of  the  wild  ass 
(xiv.  6),  most  forcibly  depicts  the  scarcity  of 
food  when  this  species,  inured  to  the  desert  and 
to  want  of  water,  are  made  the  prominent  ex- 
ample of  suffering.  They  were  most  likely  used 
in  traces  to  draw  chariots  (Isa.  xxi.  7).  The 
wild  ass  is  little  inferior  to  the  wild  horse ;  in 
shape  it  resembles  a  mule,  in  gracefulness  a 
horse,  and  in  colour  it  is  silvery,  with  broad 
spaces  of  flaxen  or  bright  bay  on  the  thigh,  flank, 
shoulder,  neck,  and  head  ;  the  ears  are  wide  like 
the  zebra's,  and  the  neck  is  clothed  with  a  ver- 
tical dark  mane  prolonged  in  a  stripe  to  the  tuft 
of  the  tail.  The  company  of  this  animal  is 
liked  by  horses,  and,  when  domesticated,  it  is 
gentle :  it  is  now  found  wild  from  the  deserts  of 


03.    [WadAas.] 

the  Oxus  and  Jaxartes  to  China  and  Central 
India.  In  Cutch  it  is  never  known  to  drink, 
and  in  whole  districts  which  it  frequents  water 
is  not  to  be  found.  Though  the  natives  talk 
of  the  fine  flavour  of  the  flesh,  and  the  Gour  in 
Persia  is  the  food  of  heroes,  to  an  European  its 
smell  is  abominable. 

McLE  occurs  in  2  Sam.  xiii.  29;  1  Kings  i. 
33;  X.  25;  and  in  other  places.  This  animal  is 
sufficiently  well  known  to  require  no  particular 
description.  Where,  or  at  what  period,  breeding 
mules  was  first  commenced  is  totally  unknown, 
although,  from  several  circumstances.  Western 
Asia  may  be  regarded  as  the  locality ;  and  the 
era  as  coinciding  with  that  of  the  first  kings  of 
Israel.  In  the  time  of  David,  to  be  allowed  to 
ride  on  the  king's  own  mule  was  an  understood 
concession  of  great,  if  not  sovereign  authority, 
and  several  years  before  the  mention  of  this 
event  all  the  king's  sons  already  rode  upon 
mules.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Hebrew 
people,  at  this  early  period  at  least,  bred  mules  ; 
they  received  them  from  Armenia  ;  but  the  most 
beautiful  were  no  doubt  brought  from  the 
vicinity  of  Bassora. 

ASSH'UR,  a  son  of  Shem,  who  gave  his  name 
to  Assyria  (Gen.  x.  11-22)  [Assyria]. 

ASSlDiE'ANS  {the  pious  or  righteous ;  1  Mace. 
vii.  IS).  As  a  description  of  a  particular  body 
of  men  this  word  does  not  occur  in  the  canonical 


ASSYRIA 

Scriptures,  nor  in  Josephus ;  but  in  the  First 
Book  of  Maccabetjs  it  is  applied  to  the  body  of 
zealous  and  devoted  men  who  rose  at  the  signal 
for  armed  resistance  given  by  Mattathias,  the 
father  of  the  Maccabees,  and  who,  under  him 
and  his  successors,  upheld  with  the  sword  the 
great  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God,  and  stemmed 
the  advancing  tide  of  Grecian  manners  and 
idolatries. 

In  the  entire  absence  of  collateral  information, 
it  seems  the  safest  course  to  conclude  that  the 
Assidseans  were  a  body  of  eminently  zealous 
men,  devoted  to  the  Law,  who  joined  Mattatliias 
very  early,  and  remained  the  constant  adherents 
of  him  and  his  son  Judas— not,  like  the  mass  of 
their  supporters,  rising  occasionally  and  then 
relapsing  into  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life.  It 
is  possible  that,  as  Jennings  conjectures,  the 
name  came  to  be  applied  to  them  by  their 
enemies  as  a  term  of  reproach,  like  '  Puritans ' 
formerly  in  this  country,  and  '  saints '  very  often 
in  the  present  day. 

AS'SOS,  a  town  of  Lesser  Mysia,  or  of  Adra- 
myttium,  opposite  the  island  of  Lesbos,  or  Mitj- 
lene.  Paul  came  hither  on  foot  from  Troas,  to 
meet  with  his  friends,  in  order  to  take  shipping 
for  Mitylene  (Acts  xx.  13,  14).  It  is  now  a 
miserable  village,  called  Beiram,  built  high  upon 
the  rocks  on  the  side  towards  the  land. 

ASSYR'IA.  We  must  here  distinguish  be- 
tween the  country  of  Assyria,  and  the  Assyrian 
empire.  They  are  both  designated  in  Hebrew 
by  Asshur.  The  Asshurim  of  Gen.  xxv.  S,  were, 
however,  an  Arab  tribe ;  and  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  6, 
the  -word  a  shir  1711  (in  our  version  '  Ashuritcs')  is 
only  an  abbreviated  form  of  teashur,  box-wood. 

1.  AssfRiA  Proper  was  a  region  east  of  the 
Tigris,  the  capital  of  which  was  Nineveh.  It 
derived  its  name  from  the  progenitor  of  the  abo- 
riginal inhabitants — Asshur,  the  second  son  of 
Shem  (Gen.  x.  22  ;  1  Chron.  i.  17).  Its  limits 
in  early  times  are  unknown ;  but  when  its  mo- 
narchs  enlarged  their  dominions  by  conquest, 
the  name  of  this  metropolitan  province  was  ex- 
tended to  the  whole  empire. 

According  to  Ptolemy,  Assyria  was  in  his  day 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Armenia,  the  Gor- 
disean  or  Carduchian  mountains,  especially  by 
Mount  Niphates ;  on  the  west  by  the  river  Tigris 
and  Mesopotamia ;  on  the  south  by  Susiana,  or 
Chuzistan,  in  Persia,  and  by  Babylonia ;  and  on 
the  east  by  a  part  of  Media,  and  mounts  Choa- 
thras  and  Zagros.  It  corresponded  to  the  mo- 
dern Kurdistan,  or  country  of  the  Kurds  (at 
least  to  its  larger  and  western  portion),  with  a 
part  of  the  pashalik  of  Mosul.  '  Assyria,'  says 
Mr.  Ainsworth  {Researches  in  Assyria,  Baby- 
lonia, and  Chaldaa,  Lond.  1838),'  '  including 
Taurus,  is  distinguished  into  three  districts :  by 
its  structure,  into  a  district  of  plutonic  and  rae- 
tamoi-phic  rocks,  a  district  of  sedentary  forma- 
tions, and  a  district  of  alluvial  deposits  ;  by  con- 
figuration, into  a  district  of  mountains,  a  district 
of  stony  or  sandy  plains,  and  a  district  of  low 
watery  plains:  by  natural  productions,  into  a 
country  of  forests  and  fruit-trees,  of  olives,  wine, 
corn,  and  pasturage,  or  of  barren  rocks ;  a 
country  of  mulberry,  cotton,  maize,  tobacco,  or 
of  barren  clay,  sand,  pebbly  or  rocky  plains ; 
and  into  a  country  of  date-trees,  rice,  and  pas- 
turage, or  a  land  of  saline  plants.'  The  northern 


ASSYRIA 

part  is  little  else  then  a  mass  of  mountains, 
■vehich,  near  Julamerk,  rise  to  a  very  great 
height,  Mount  Jewar  being  supposed  to  have  an 
elevation  of  15,000  feet ;  in  the  south  it  is  more 
level,  but  the  plains  are  often  burnt  up  with 
scorching  heat,  while  the  traveller,  .looking 
northward,  sees  a  snowy  alpine  ridge  hanging 
like  a  cloud  in  mid  air.  On  the  west  this 
country  is  skirted  by  the  great  river  Tigris,  the 
Hiddekel  of  the  Hebrews  (Gen.  ii.  14 ;  Dan.  x. 
4),  noted  for  the  impetuosity  of  its  current 
[Tigris]. 

The  most  remarkable  feature,  says  Ainsworth, 
in  the  vegetation  of  Taurus,  is  the  abundance  of 
trees,  shrubs,  and  plants  in  the  northern,  and 
their  comparative  absence  in  the  southern  dis- 
trict. Besides  the  productions  above  enume- 
rated, Kurdistan  yields  gall-nuts,  gum-arabic, 
mastich,  manna  (used  as  sugar),  madder,  castor- 
oil,  and  various  kinds  of  grain,  pulse,  and  fruit. 
Eich  informs  us  that  a  great  quantity  of  honey, 
of  the  finest  quality,  is  produced;  the  bees 
(comp.  Isa.  vii.  18,  'the  bee  in  the  land  of  As- 
syria') are  kept  in  hives  of  mud.  The  naphtha 
springs,  on  the  east  of  the  Tigris,  are  less  pro- 
ductive than  those  in  Mesopotamia,  but  they  are 
much  more  numerous.  The  zoology  of  the 
mountain  district  includes  bears  (black  and 
brown),  panthers,  lynxes,  wolves,  foxes,  mar- 
mots, dormice,  fallow  and  red  deer,  roebucks, 
antelopes,  &c.,  and  likewise  goats,  but  not  (as 
was  once  supposed)  of  the  Angora  breed.  In 
the  plains  are  found  lions,  tigers,  hysenas,  bea- 
vers, jertfoas,  wild  boars,  camels,  &:c. 

Ptolemy  divides  Assyria  into  six  provinces. 
Farthest  north  lay  Arrapachitis,  south  of  it  was 
Calakine,  perhaps  the  Chalach  of  2  Kings  xvii. 
6;  xviii.  11.  Next  came  Adiabene,  so  called 
from  the  above-mentioned  rivers  Dhab  or  Diab ; 
it  was  so  important  a  district  of  Assyria,  as 
sometimes  to  give  name  to  the  whole  country 
[Adiabene].  North-east  of  it  lay  Arbelitis,  in 
which  was  Arbela,  famous  for  the  battle  in  which 
Alexander  triumphed  over  Darius.  South  of 
this  lay  the  two  provinces  of  Apolloniatis  and 
SittaJtene.  The  capital  of  the  whole  country 
was  Nineveh,  the  Ninos  of  the  Greeks,  the  He- 
brew name  being  supposed  to  denote  '  the  abode 
of  Ninos,'  the  founder  of  the  empire.  Its  site  is 
believed  to  have  been  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Tigris,  opposite  the  modern  town  of  Mosul, 
where  there  is  now  a  small  town  called  Nebbi 
Yunus  (i.  e.  the  prophet  Jonah)  [Nineveh].  At 
the  town  of  Al  Kosh,  N.  of  Mosul,  tradition  places 
the  birth  and  burial  of  the  prophet  Nahum,  and 
the  Jews  resort  thither  in  pilgrimage  to  his 
tomb. 

The  greater  part  of  the  country  which  formed 
Assyria  Proper  is  under  the  nominal  sway  of 
the  Turks,  who  compose  a  considerable  propor- 
tion of  the  population  of  the  towns  and  larger 
villages,  filling  nearly  all  public  offices,  and  dif- 
fering in  nothing  from  other  Osmanlis.  But  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  of  the 
whole  mountain-tract  that  here  divides  Turkey 
from  Persia,  are  theKitrds,  from  whom  the  country 
is  now  designated  Kurdistan.  They  are  still,  as  of 
old,  a  barbarous  and  warlike  race,  occasionally 
J  ielding  a  formal  allegiance,  on  the  west,  to  the 
Turks,  and,  on  the  east,  to  the  Persians,  but 
never  wholly  subdued;  indeed,  some  Of  the  more 


powerful  tribes,  such  as  the  Ilakkary,  liave  main- 
tained an  entire  independence.  Some  of  them 
are  stationary  in  villages,  while  others  roam  far 
and  wide,  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own  country, 
as  nomadic  shepherds  ;  but  they  are  all,  more  or 
less,  addicted  to  predatory  habits,  and  are  re- 
garded with  great  dread  by  their  more  peaceful 
neighbours.  They  profess  the  faith  of  Islam, 
and  are  of  the  Soonee  sect.  All  travellers  have 
remarked  many  points  of  resemblance  between 
them  and  the  ancient  Highlanders  of  Scotland. 

The  Christian  population  is  scattered  over  the 
whole  region,  but  is  found  chiefly  in  the  north. 
It  includes  Chalda^ans,  who  form  that  branch  of 
the  Nestorians  that  adlieres  to  the  church  of 
Rome,  a  few  Jacobites,  or  monophysite  Syrians, 
Armenians,  &c.  But  the  most  interesting  por- 
tion is  the  ancient  church  of  tiie  primitive  j^es- 
toriaiis,  a  lively  interest  in  which  has  lately  been 
excited  in  the  religious  world  by  the  publications 
of  the  American  missionaries,  especially  by  a 
work  entitled  The  A'cstorians,  by  Asahel  Grant, 
M,D.  Lond.  1841.  Besides  the  settlements  of 
this  people  in  the  plain  of  Ooroomiah  to  the  east, 
and  in  various  parts  of  Kurdistan,  where  they 
are  in  a  state  of  vassalage,  there  has  been  for 
ages  an  independent  community  of  Nestorians  in 
the  wildest  and  most  inaccessible  part  of  the 
country.  It  lies  at  nearly  equal  distances  from 
the  lakes  of  Van  and  Ooroomiah,  and  the  Tigris, 
and  is  hemmed  in  on  every  side  by  tribes  of 
ferocious  Kurds;  but,  entrenched  in  their  fast- 
nesses, the  Nestorians  have  defied  the  storms  of 
revolution  and  desolation  that  have  so  often 
swept  over  the  adjacent  regions;  and  in  their 
character  of  bold  and  intrepid,  though  rude  and 
fierce  mountaineers,  have  so  entirely  maintained 
their  independence  unto  the  present  day,  as  to 
bear  among  the  neighbours  the  proud  title  of 
Ashiret,  '  the  tributeless.'  The  attempts  lately 
made  by  Dr.  Grant  and  others  to  prove  that  this 
interesting  people  are  the  descendants  of  the  ten 
'  lost '  tribes  of  Israel,  cannot  be  regarded  as  suc- 
cessful, and  will  not  bear  the  test  of  rigid  ex- 
amination. Another  peculiar  race  that  is  met 
with  in  this  and  the  neighbouring  countries  is 
that  of  the  Yezidees,  whom  Grant  and  Ainsworth 
would  likewise  connect  with  the  ten  tribes ;  but 
it  seems  much  more  probable  that  they  are  an 
offshoot  from  the  ancient  Manichees,  their  al- 
leged worship  of  the  Evil  Principle  amounting 
to  no  more  than  a  reverence  which  keeps  them 
from  speaking  of  him  with  disrespect.  Besides 
the  dwellers  in  towns,  and  the  agricultural  popu- 
lation, there  are  a  vast  number  of  wandering 
tribes,  not  only  of  Kurds,  but  of  Arabs,  Turko- 
mans, and  other  classes  of  robbers,  who,  by  keep- 
ing the  settled  inhabitants  in  constant  dread  of 
property  and  life,  check  every  effort  at  improve- 
ment ;  and,  in  consequence  of  this,  and  the  influ- 
ence of  bad  government,  many  of  the  finest 
portions  of  the  country  are  little  better  than  un- 
productive wastes. 

2.  The  Assyrian  Empire.  No  portion  of 
ancient  history  is  involved  in  greater  obscurity 
than  that  of  the  empire  of  Assyria.  In  attempt- 
ing to  arrange  even  the  facts  deducible  from 
Scripture,  a  difficulty  presents  itself  at  the  outset, 
arising  from  the  ambiguity  of  the  accoimt  given 
of  the  origin  of  the  earliest  Assyrian  state  in 
Gen.  X.  11.    After  describing  Nimrod,  son  of 


no  ASSYRIA 

Cush, '  as  a  mighty  one  in  the  earth,'  the  historian 
adds  (ver.  10),  '  And  the  beginning  of  his  king- 
dom (or  rather,  the  first  theatre  of  his  dominion) 
was  Babel,  and  Erech,  and  Accad,  and  Calueh, 
I  in  the  land  ofShinar,'  i.e.  Babylonia.  Then 
!  follow  the  words  :— '  Out  of  that  land  went  forth 
Asshur  and  builded  Nineveh,'  or  fas  it  is  in  the 
margin)  <  out  of  that  land  he  (i.  e.  Nimrod)  went 
out  into  Assyria  and  builded  Nineveh.'  Looking 
at  the  entire  context,  and  following  the  natural 
current  of  the  writer's  thoughts,  we  shall  find 
that  the  second  translation  yields  the  most  con- 
gruous sense.  It  likewise  agrees  with  the  native 
tradition,  that  the  founder  of  the  Assyrian  mo- 
narchy and  the  builder  of  Nineveh  was  one  and 
the  same  person,  viz.  Ninus,  from  whom  it  de- 
rived its  name,  and  in  that  case  the  designation 
of  Nimrod  (the  Rebel)  was  not  his  proper  name, 
but  an  opprobrious  appellation  imposed  on  him 
by  his  enemies.  Modern  local  tradition  likewise 
connects  Nimrod  with  Assyria. 

But  though  Nimrod's  '  kingdom '  embraced  the 
lands  both  of  Shinar  and  Asshur,  we  are  left  in 
the  dark  as  to  whether  Babylon  or  Nineveh  be- 
came the  permanent  seat  of  government,  and 
consequently,  whether  his  empire  should  be 
designated  that  of  Babylonia  or  that  of  Assyria. 
No  certain  traces  of  it,  indeed,  are  to  be  found 
in  Scripture  for  ages  after  its  erection.  In  the 
days  of  Abraham,  we  hear  of  a  king  of  Elara 
(i.e.  Elymais,  in  the  south  of  Persia)  named 
Chedorlaomer,  who  had  held  in  subjection  for 
twelve  years  five  petty  princes  of  Palestine  (Gen. 
xiv.  4),  and  who,  in  consequence  of  their  rebel- 
lion, invaded  that  country  along  with  three  other 
kings,  one  of  whom  was  '  Amraphel,  king  of 
Shinar.'  It  is  possible  that  Chedorlaomer  was 
ail  Assyrian  viceroy,  and  the  others  his  deputies ; 
for  at  a  later  period  the  Assyrian  boasted,  '  Are 
not  my  princes  altogether  kings  ? '  (Isa.  x.  8). 
Yet  some  have  rather  concluded  from  the  narra- 
tive, that  by  this  time  the  monarchy  of  Nimrod 
had  been  broken  up,  or  that  at  least  the  seat  of 
government  had  been  transferred  to  Elam.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  the  name  of  Assyria  as  an  inde- 
pendent state  does  not  again  appear  in  Scripture 
till  the  closing  period  of  the  age  of  jNToses.  Ba- 
laam, a  seer  from  the  northern  part  of  Mesopo- 
tamia, in  the  neighbourhood  of  Assyria,  address- 
ing the  Kenites,  a  mountain  tribe  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Jordan,  '  took  up  his  parable,'  i.  e. 
raised  his  oracular,  prophetic  chant,  and  said, 
'  Durable  is  thy  dwelling-place  !  Yea  in  a  rock 
puttest  thou  thy  nest :  nevertheless,  wasted  shall 
be  the  Kenite,  until  Asshur  shall  lead  them  cap- 
tive.' The  prediction  found  its  fulfilment  in  the 
Kenites  being  gradually  reduced  in  strength 
(comp.  I  Sam.  xv.  C),  till  they  finally  shared  the 
fate  of  the  trans-.Tordanite  tribes,  and  were  swept 
away  into  captivity  by  the  Assyrians  (1  Chron.  v. 
26  ;  2  Kings  xvi,  9  ;  xix.  12,  13;  1  Chron.  ii.  55). 
But  as  a  counterpart  to  this,  Balaam  next  sees  a 
vision  of  retaliatory  vengeance  on  their  oppres- 
sors, and  the  awful  piospect  of  the  threatened 
devastations,  though  beheld  in  far  distant  times, 
extoi-ts  from  him  the  exclamation,  'Ah!  who 
shall  live  when  God  doeth  this  ?  For  ships  shall 
come  from  the  coast  of  Chittim,  and  shall  afflict 
AssHim,  and  shall  afflict  Eber,  but  he  also  [the 
invader]  shall  perish  for  ever.'  This  is  not  with- 
out obscurity ;  but  it  has  commonly  been  sup- 


ASSYRIA 

posed  to  point  to  the  conquest  of  the  regions  that 
once  formed  the  Assyrian  empire,  first  by  the 
Jlacedonians  from  Greece,  and  then  by  the  Ro- 
mans, both  of  whose  empires  were  in  their  turn 
overthrown. 

In  the  time  of  the  Judges,  the  people  of  Israel 
became  subject  to  a  king  of  Mesopotamia,  Chu- 
shanrishathaim  ( Judg.  iii.  8),  who  is  by  Josephus 
styled  King  of  the  Assyrians;  but  we  are  left  in 
the  same  ignorance  as  in  the  case  of  Chedor- 
laomer, as  to  whether  he  was  an  independent 
sovereign  or  only  a  vicegerent  for  another.  The 
first  king  of  Assyria  alluded  to  in  the  Bible,  is 
he  who  reigned  at  Nineveh  when  the  prophet 
Jonah  was  sent  thither  (Jon.  iii.  6).  Hales  sup- 
poses him  to  have  been  the  father  of  Pul,  the  first 
Assyrian  monarch  named  in  Scripture,  and  dates 
the  commencement  of  his  reign  B.C.  821.  By 
that  time  the  metropolis  of  the  empire  had  be- 
come '  an  exceeding  great '  and  populous  city, 
but  one  pre-eminent  in  wickedness  (Jon.  i.  2 ; 
iii.  3;  iv.  11). 

The  first  expressly  recorded  appearance  of  the 
Assyrian  power  in  the  countries  west  of  the  Eu- 
phrates is  in  the  reign  of  Menahem,  king  of 
Israel,  against  whom  '  the  God  of  Israel  stirred 
up  the  spirit  of  Pul  (or  P/iul),  king  of  Assyria' 
(1  Chron.  v.  2G),  Avho  invaded  the  country,  and 
exacted  a  tribute  of  a  thousand  talents  of  silver 
'  that  his  hand  '  i.  e.  his  favour,  '  might  be  with 
him  to  confirm  the  kingdom  in  his  hand'  (2 
Kings  XV.  1 9,  20).  Newton  places  this  event  in 
the  year  b.c.  770,  in  tlie  twentieth  year  of  Pul's 
reign,  the  commencement  of  which  he  fixi'S  in 
the  year  b.c.  790.  About  this  period  we  find  the 
prophet  Hosea  making  frequent  allusions  to  the 
practice  both  of  Israel  and  Judica,  to  throw 
themselves  for  support  on  the  kings  of  Assyria. 
The  supposition  of  Newton  is  adopted  by  Hales, 
that  at  Pul's  death  his  dominions  were  divided 
between  his  two  sons,  Tiglath-pileser  and  Nabo- 
nassar,  the  latter  being  made  ruler  at  Babylon, 
from  the  date  of  whose  government  or  reign  the 
celebrated  era  of  A'aboiiassar  took  its  rise,  corre- 
sponding to  B.C.  747.  When  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah, 
was  hard  pressed  by  the  combined  forces  of  Pe- 
kah,  king  of  Israel,  and  Rezin,  king  of  Dama- 
scene-Syria, he  purchased  Tiglath-pileser's  as- 
sistance with  a  large  sum,  taken  out  of  his  own 
and  the  Temple  treasury.  The  Assyrian  king 
accordingly  invaded  the  territories  of  both  the 
confederated  kings,  and  annexed  a  portion  of 
them  to  his  own  dominions,  carrying  captive  a 
number  of  their  subjects  (2  Kings  xv.  29 ;  xvi. 
5-10;  1  Chron.  v.  26  :  2  Chron.  xxviii,  16  ;  Isa. 
vii.  1-11 ;  comp.  Amos  i.  5;  ix.  7).  His  succes- 
sor was  Slialman  (Hos.  x.  4),  Shalmaneser  or 
Salmanasser.  the  Enemessar  of  the  apocryphal 
book  Tobit  (ch.  i.  2).  He  made  Hoshea,  king 
of  Israel,  his  ti-ibutary  vassal  (2  Kings  xvii.  3); 
but  finding  him  secretly  negotiating  with  So  or 
Sobaco  (the  Sabakoph  of  the  monuments),  king 
of  Egypt,  he  laid  siege  to  the  Israelitish  capital, 
Samaria,  took  it  after  an  investment  of  three 
years  (b.c  719),  and  then  reduced  the  country 
of  the  ten  tribes  to  a  province  of  his  empire, 
carrying  into  captivity  the  king  and  his  people, 
and  settling  Cuthxans  from  Babylonia  in  their 
room  (2  Kings  xvii.  3-6;  xviii.  9-11).  Heze- 
kiah,  king  of  Judah,  seems  to  have  been  for  a 
time  his  vassal  (2  Kings  xviii.  7).    The  empire 


ASSYRIA 

of  Assyria  seems  now  to  have  reached  its 
greatest  extent,  having  had  the  Mediterranean 
for  its  boundary  on  the  west,  and  including 
within  its  limits  Media  and  Kir  on  the  north,  as 
well  as  Elam  on  the  south  (2  Kings  xvi.  9 ;  xvii. 
6;  Isa.  XX.  6).  In  the  twentieth  chapter  of 
Isaiah  (ver.  1),  there  is  mention  of  a  king  of 
Assyria,  Sargon,  in  whose  reigh  Tartan  besieged 
and  took  Ashdod  in  Philistia.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  been  the  successor  of  Shalmaneser,  and 
to  have  had  a  short  reign  of  two  or  three  years. 
His  attack  on  Egypt  may  have  arisen  from  the 
jealousy  which  the  Assyrians  entertained  of  that 
nation's  influence  over  Palestine  ever  since  the 
negotiation  between  its  king  So,  and  Hoshea, 
king  of  Israel.  From  many  incidental  expres- 
sions in  the  book  of  Isaiah  we  can  infer  tha*, 
there  was  at  this  time  a  strong  Egyptian  party 
among  the  Jews,  for  that  people  are  often 
warned  against  relying  for  help  on  Egypt, 
instead  of  simply  confiding  in  Jehovah  (Isa. 
XXX.  2 ;  xxxi.  1 ;  comp.  xx.  5,  6).  The  result 
of  Tartan's  expedition  against  Egypt  and  Ethio- 
pia was  predicted  by  Isaiah  while  that  general 
was  yet  on  the  Egyptian  frontier  at  Ashdod 
(Isa.  XX.  1-4);  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  it 
ij  to  this  Assyrian  invasion  that  the  prophet 
Nalmm  refers  when  he  speaks  (iii.  8-10)  of  the 
subjugation  of  No,  i.  e.  No-Ammun,  or  Thebes, 
the  capital  of  Upper  Egypt,  and  the  captivity  of 
its  inhabitants.  The  occupation  of  the  country 
by  the  Assyrians,  however,  must  have  been  very 
transient,  for  in  the  reign  of  Sargon's  successor, 
Sennacherib,  or  Sancherib,  we  find  Hezekiah, 
king  of  Judah,  throwing  ofP  the  Assyrian  yoke, 
and  allying  himself  with  Egypt  (2  Kings  xviii. 
7,  21).  This  brought  against  him  Sennacherib 
with  a  mighty  host,  which,  without  difficulty, 
subdued  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah,  and  com- 
pelled him  to  purchase  peace  by  the  payment  of 
a  large  tribute.  But  'the  treacherous  dealer 
dealt  very  treacherously'  (Isa.  xxxiii.  1);  and, 
notwithstanding  the  agreement,  proceeded  to 
invest  Jerusalem.  In  answei",  however,  to  the 
prayers  of  the  '  good  king '  of  Judah,  the  Assy- 
rian was  diverted  from  his  purpose,  partly  by 
the  '  rumour '  (Isa.  xxxvii.  6)  of  the  approach 
of  Tirhakah,  king  of  Ethiopia,  and  partly  by  the 
sudden  and  miraculous  destruction  of  a  great 
part  of  his  army  (2  Kings  xviii.  13-37;  xix. ; 
Isa.  xxxvi.  and  xxxvii.).  He  himself  fled  to 
Nineveh,  where,  in  course  of  time,  when  wor- 
shipping in  the  temple  of  his  god  Nisroch,  he 
was  slain  by  his  sons  Adrammelech  and  Sharezer, 
the  parricides  escaping  into  the  land  of  Armenia 
—a  fact  which  is  preserved  in  that  country's 
traditionary  history  [Ararat]. 

Sennacherib  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Esar- 
haddon,  or  Assarhaddon,  who  had  been  his 
father's  viceroy  at  Babylon  (2  Kings  xix.  37 ; 
Isa.  xxxvii.  38).  Hales  regards  him  as  the  first 
Sardanapalus.  The  only  notice  taken  of  him  in 
Scripture  is  that  he  settled  some  colonists  in  Sa- 
maria (Ezra  iv.  2),  and  as  (at  ver.  10)  that  colo- 
nization is  ascribed  to  the  '  great  and  noble  As- 
napper,'  it  is  supposed  that  that  was  another 
name  for  Esarhaddon,  but  it  may  have  been  one 
of  the  great  officers  of  his  empire.  It  seems  to 
have  been  in  his  reign  that  the  captains  of  the 
Assyrian  host  invaded  and  ravaged  Judah,  carry- 
ing Manasseh,  the   king,  captive   to  Babylon. 


ASTRONOMY  m 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  empire  is  involved 
in  almost  as  much  obscurity  as  that  of  its  origin 
and  rise.  The  Medes  had  already  shaken  off 
the  yoke,  and  the  Chaldteans  soon  appear  on  the 
scene  as  the  dominant  nation  of  Western  Asia ; 
yet  Assyria,  though  much  reduced  in  extent, 
existed  as  an  independent  state  for  a  considerable 
period  after  Esarhaddon.  The  last  monarch 
was  Sarac,  or  Sardanapalus  II.  (b.c.  636),  in 
whose  reign  Cyaxares,  king  of  Media,  and  Na- 
bopolassar,  viceroy  of  Babylon,  combined  against 
Assyria,  took  Nineveh,  and,  dividing  what  re- 
mained of  the  empire  between  them,  reduced 
Assyria  Proper  to  a  province  of  Media  (b.c. 
G06). 

In  this  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  As- 
syrian empire,  we  have  mainly  followed  the 
writers  of  the  Old  Testament,  from  whom  alone 
any  consistent  account  can  be  derived. 

The  political  constitution  of  the  Assyrian  em- 
pire was  no  doubt  similar  to  that  of  other  ancient 
states  of  the  East,  such  as  ChaldiBa  and  Persia. 
The  monarch,  called  '  the  great  king '  (2  Kings 
xviii.  1 9 ;  Isa.  xxxvi.  4),  ruled  as  a  despot,  sur- 
rounded with  his  gTiards,  and  only  accessible  to 
those  who  were  near  his  person.  Under  him 
there  were  provincial  satraps,  called  in  Isa.  x.  8, 
'  princes '  of  the  rank  and  power  of  ordinary 
kings.  The  great  officers  of  the  household  were 
commonly  eunuchs.  The  religion  of  the  As- 
syrians was,  in  its  leading  features,  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Chalda;ans,  viz.  the  symbolical  wor- 
ship of  the  heavenly  bodies,  especially  the  planets. 
In  Scripture  there  is  mention  of  Nisroch,  Adram- 
melech. Anammelech,  Nebchaz,  Tartak,  &c.,  as 
the  names  of  idols  worshipped  by  the  natives 
either  of  Assyria  Proper  or  of  the  adjacent  coun- 
tries which  they  had  subdued. 

ASTRONOMY,  that  science  which  treats  of 
the  laws  of  the  stars,  or  heavenly  bodies,  con- 
sidered in  reference  to  their  magnitude,  move- 
ments, and  respective  influence  one  upon  another. 
Astronomy  may  be  divided  into  empirical  and 
scientific;  the  first  being  founded  on  the  appa- 
rent phenomena  and  movements  of  the  heavenlj' 
bodies,  the  second  upon  their  real  phenomena 
and  movements.  The  knowledge  of  the  ancients 
was  limited  to  the  first;  or  if  they  possessed  any 
truths  connected  with  the  second,  they  were  no- 
thing more  than  bold  or  fortunate  guesses,  which 
were  not  followed  out  to  their  legitimate  conse- 
quences, nor  formed  into  a  systematic  whole. 

The  cradle  of  astronomy  is  to  be  found  in 
Asia.  The  few  and  imperfect  notices  which 
have  come  down  to  these  times  give  a  concurrent 
testimony  in  favour  of  this  statement,  and  there- 
with agrees  the  fact  that  the  climate,  the  mode 
of  life,  and  the  occupations  of  the  Oriental  na- 
tions that  were  first  civilized,  prompted  them  to 
watch  and  observe  the  starry  heavens.  The 
Chaldaeans  are  accounted  to  have  excelled  in 
astronomical  knowledge. 

Pliny,  in  his  celebrated  enumeration  of  the  in- 
ventors of  the  arts,  sciences,  and  conveniences  of 
life,  ascribes  the  discovery  of  astronomy  to  Phoe- 
nician mariners;  and  in  the  samt  chapter  he 
speaks  of  astronomical  observations  found  on 
burnt  bricks  among  the  Babylonians,  which 
ascend  to  above  2200  years  b.c.  Alexander  sent 
to  Aristotle  from  Babylon  a  series  of  astrono- 
mical   observations,    extending    through    1900 


112 


ASTRONOMY 


ATAD 


years.  The  astronomical  knowledge  of  the  i 
Chinese  and  Indians  goes  up  to  a  still  earlier 
period.  From  the  remote  East  astronomy  tra- 
velled in  a  westerly  direction.  The  Egyptians 
at  a  very  early  period  had  some  acquaintance 
•with  it.  To  them  is  to  be  ascribed  a  pretty  near 
determination  of  the  length  of  the  year,  as  con- 
sisting of  365  days  6  hours.  The  Egyptians 
were  the  teachers  of  the  Greeks. 

Some  portion  of  the  knowledge  which  prevailed 
on  the  subject  would  no  doubt  penetrate  to  and 
become  the  inheritance  of  the  Hebrews,  who  do 
not,  however,  appear  to  have  possessed  any 
views  of  astronomy  which  raised  their  knowledge 
to  the  rank  of  a  science,  or  made  it  approach  to 
a  more  correct  theory  of  the  mechanism  of  the 
heavens  than  that  which  was  generally  held. 
Nor,  if  the  Bible  is  taken  as  the  witness,  do  the 
ancient  Israelites  appear  to  have  had  extensive 
knowledge  in  the  matter.  They  possessed  such 
an  acquaintance  with  it  as  tillers  of  the  ground 
and  herdsmen  might  be  expected  to  form  while 
pursuing  their  business,  having,  as  was  natural, 
their  minds  directed  to  those  regions  of  the  hea- 
vens which  night  after  night  brought  before  their 
eyes:  accordingly,  the  peculiar  Oriental  names 
of  the  constellations  are  derived  from  circum- 
stances connected  with  a  nomade  people.  A  pe- 
culiarity of  the  greatest  importance  belongs  to 
the  knowledge  which  the  Israelites  display  of  the 
heavens,  namely,  that  it  is  thoroughly  imbued 
with  a  religious  character ;  nor  is  it  possible  to 
find  in  any  other  writings,  even  at  this  day,  so 
much  pure  and  elevated  piety,  in  connection  with 
observations  on  the  starry  firmament,  as  may  be 
gathered  even  in  single  books  of  the  Bible  (Amos 
V.  8 ;  Psalm  xix.). 

As  early  as  the  days  of  the  patriarchs  the 
minds  of  pious  men  were  attracted  and  enrap- 
tured by  the  splendour  of  the  skies  (Gen.  xxxvii. 
9) ;  and  imagery  borrowed  fiom  the  starry  world 
soon  fixed  itself  firmly  in  human  speech.  The 
sun  and  moon  were  distinguished  from,  other 
heavenly  bodies,  in  consequence  of  their  magni- 
tude and  their  brilliancy,  as  being  the  lights  of 
heaven  and  earth  (Gen.  i.  16);  and  from  the 
course  of  the  moon  time  was  divided  into  parts, 
or  months,  of  which  the  oldest  form  of  the  year, 
the  lunar,  was  made  up.  Every  new  moon  was 
greeted  with  religious  festivities.  While,  how- 
ever, the  sun  in  his  power,  the  moon  walking  in 
brightness,  and  all  the  stars  of  light  conspired  to 
excite  devotion,  their  influence  on  the  hearts  of 
the  ancient  Israelites,  who  were  happily  in- 
structed in  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God,  the  one 
Jehovah,  the  sole  Creator  of  the  world,  stopped 
short  of  that  idolatrous  feeling,  and  was  free 
from  those  idolatrous  practices  to  which,  among 
nations  of  less  religious  knowledge — and  espe- 
cially among  their  own  neighbours,  the  Babylo- 
nians, for  instance — it  is  unhappily  known  to 
have  led. 

As  early  as  the  time  of  the  composition  of  per- 
haps the  oldest  book  in  the  Bible,  namely,  that  of 
Job,  the  constellations  were  distinguished  one 
from  another,  and  designated  by  peculiar  and  ap- 
propriate names  (Job  ix.  9;  xxxviii.  31).  In 
the  Bible  are  found — 1.  the  morning  star,  the 
planet  Venus  (Isa.  xiv.  12;  Rev.  ii.  28);  2.  (Job 
ix.  9;  xxxviii.  3.5;  Amos  v.  8),  the  Pleiades; 
3.   Orion,  a  large  and   brilliant  constellation, 


which  stands  in  a  line  with  the  Pleiades.  The 
Orientals  seemed  to  liave  conceived  of  Orion  as 
a  huge  giant  who  had  warred  against  God,  and 
as  bound  in  chains  to  the  firmament  of  heaven 
(Job  xxxviii.  31);  and  it  has  been  conjectured 
that  this  notion  is  the  foundation  of  the  history 
of  Nimrod;  4.  Arcturus  (Job  ix.  9),  the  Great 
Bear;  5.  (Job  xxvi.  13,  '  the  crooked  serpent'), 
Draco,  between  the  Great  and  the  Little  Bear ; 
a  constellation  which  spreads  itself  in  windings 
across  the  heavens ;  6.  Castor  and  Pollux  (Acts 
xxviii.  11),  Gemini,  or  the  Twins,  on  the  belt  of 
the  Zodiac,  which  is  mentioned  in  2  Kings  xxiii. 
5,  under  the  general  name  of '  the  planets.'  The 
entire  body  of  the  stars  was  called  '  the  liost  of 
heaven'  (Isa.  xl.  26;  Jer.  xxxiii.  22). 

No  trace  is  found  in  the  Old  Testament  of  ^ 
division  of  the  heavenly  bodies  into  planets, 
fixed  stars,  and  comets;  but  in  Jud.-  13,  the 
phrase  'wandering  stars'  is  employed  figura- 
tively. 

After  the  Babylonish  exile  the  Jews  were  com- 
pelled, even  for  the  sake  of  their  calendar,  to 
attend  at  least  to  the  course  of  the  moon,  which 
became  an  object  of  study,  and  delineations  were 
made  of  the  shapes  that  she  assumes. 

At  an  early  period  of  the  world  the  worship  of 
the  stars  arose  from  that  contemplation  of  them 
which  in  every  part  of  the  globe,  and  particularly 
in  the  East,  has  been  found  a  source  of  deep  and 
tranquil  pleasure.  'Men  by  nature'  'deemed 
either  fire  or  wind,  or  the  swift  air,  or  the  circle 
of  the  stars,  or  the  violent  water,  or  the  lights  of 
heaven,  to  be  the  gods  which  govern  the  world  ;' 
'  with  whose  beauty  being  delighted,  they  took 
them  to  be  gods '  (Wisdom  xiii.  2).  Accordingly, 
the  religion  of  the  Egyptians,  of  the  Clialdees, 
Assyrians,  and  the  ancient  Arabians,  was  nothing 
else  than  star-worship,  although  in  the  case  of 
the  first  its  origin  is  more  thickly  veiled.  The 
sun,  moon,  and  seven  planets  excited  most  atten- 
tion, and  won  the  greatest  observance.  We  thus 
find  among  the  Babylonians  Jupiter  (Belus,  Isa. 
Ixv.  11),  Venus  (Isa.  Ixv.  11,  where  the  first  is 
rendered  in  the  common  version  '  that  troop,'  the 
second 'that  number').  Both  these  were  con- 
sidered good  principles.  Mercury,  honoured  as 
the  secretary  of  heaven,  is  also  found  in  Isa.  xlvi. 
1,  '  Nebo  stoopeth  ;'  Saturn  (Amos,  v.  20)  ;  Mars 
(2  Kings,  xvii.  30):  the  two  last  were  worshipped 
as  principles  of  evil.  The  character  of  this  wor- 
ship was  formed  from  the  notions  which  were 
entertained  of  the  good  or  ill  which  certain 
stars  occasioned.  Astrology  found  its  sphere 
principally  in  stars  connected  with  the  birth  of 
individuals.  It  concerned  itself  also  with  the 
determination  of  lucky  and  unlucky  days :  so 
in  Job.  iii.  3,  '  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I 
was  born;'  and  Gal.  iv.  10,  'Ye  observe  days, 
and  months,  and  times,  and  years.'  The  Chal- 
deans, who  studied  the  stars  at  a  very  early 
period,  were  much  given  to  astrology,  and  were 
celebrated  for  their  skill  in  that  pretended 
science  (Isa.  xlvii.  13).  In  Daniel  ii.  27  ;  v.  11, 
the  calculators  of  nativities  are  named.  Comets 
were  for  the  most  part  considered  heralds  of  evil 
tidings.  The  Orientals  of  the  present  day  hold 
astrology  in  honour,  and  stipendiary  astrologers 
form  a  part  of  their  court. 

AT'AD,  the  perfjoji  ou  whose  threshing-floor 
the  sous  of  Jacob  ai.d  the  Egyptians  who  accom- 


ATHALIAH 

panied  them  performed  their  final  act  of  solemn 
mourning  for  Jacob  (Gen.  1.  11);  on  which  ao- 
contit  the  place  was  afterwards  called  Abel-Miz- 
raim,  '  the  mourning  of  the  Egyptians.' 

AT'AROTH.  Several  places  of  this  name 
(which  means  crowns)  occm"  in  the  Scriptures. 
1.  Ataroth-beth-Joah,  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (1 
Chron.  ii.  ,54).  2.  Ataroth,  on  the  borders  of 
Ephraim  (Josh.  xvi.  2,  7),  which  some  identify 
with,  and  others  distinguish  from,  the  Ataruth- 
Addar  of  the  same  tribe  mentioned  in  Josh.  xvi. 
5 ;  xviii.  13.  3.  Ataroth,  in  the  tribe  of  Gad, 
beyond  the  Jordan  (Num.  xxxii.  3,  34).  4.  Ata- 
roth-Shophan,  in  the  same  tribe  (Num.  xxxii.  35), 
which  some  identify  with  the  preceding ;  but  it 
appears  more  likely  that  the  addition  was  used 
to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other. 

ATERGA'TIS  is  the  name  of  a  Syrian  god- 
dess, whose  temple  is  mentioned  in  2  Mace.  xii. 
26.  That  temple  appears,  by  comparing  1  Mace, 
v.  43,  to  have  been  situated  at  Ashteroth-Kar- 
naim.  Her  worship  also  flourished  at  Mabug 
({.  e.  Bambyce),  afterwards  called  Hierapolis  ac- 
cording to  Pliny. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  Atergatis  is  the  same 
divinity  as  Derketo,  which  was  worshipped  in 
Phoenicia  and  at  Ascalon  under  the  form  of  a 
woman  with  a  fish's  tail,  or  with  a  woman's  face 
only  and  the  entire  body  of  a  fish ;  that  fishes 
were  sacred  to  her,  and  that  the  inhabitants 
abstained  from  eating  them  in  honour  of  her. 


ATHENS 


118 


Atergatis  is  thus  a  name  under  which  the  ancients 
worshipped  some  modification  of  the  same  power 
which  was  adored  under  that  of  Ashtoreth.  The 
fish-form  shows  that  Atergatis  bears  some  rela- 
tion, perhaps  that  of  a  female  counterpart,  to 
Dagon. 

ATHALI'AH  {ivhom  Jehovah  afflicts),  daughter 
of  Ahab,  king  of  Israel,  doubtless  by  his  idola- 
trous wife  Jezebel.  She  is  also '  called  the 
daughter  of  Omri  (2  Chron.  xxii.  2),  who  was 
the  father  of  Ahab  ;  but  by  a  comparison  of  texts 
it  would  appear  that  she  is  so  called  only  as 
being  his  grand-daughter.  Athaliah  became  the 
wife  of  Jehoram,  the  son  of  Jehoshaphat,  king  of 
Judah.  This  marriage  may  fairly  be  considered 
the  act  of  the  parents ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  few 
stains  upon  the  character  of  the  good  Jehoshaphat 
that  he  was  so  ready,  if  not  anxious,  to  connect 
himself  with  the  idolatrous  house  of  Ahab.  Had 
he  not  married  the  heir  of  his  crown  to  Athaliah, 
many  evils  and  much  bloodshed  might  have 
been  spared  to  the  royal  family  and  to  the  king- 
dom. When  Jehoram  came  to  the  crown,  he,  as 
might  be  expected,  '  walked  in  the  ways  of  the 
house  of  Ahab,'  which  the  sacred  writer  obviously 
attributes  to  this  marriage,  by  adding,  '  for  he 
had  the  daughter  of  Ahab  to  wife'  (2  Chron. 
XXI.  6).  This  king  died  B.C.  885,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  youngest  son  Ahaziah,  who  reigned 
but  one  year,  and  whose  death  arose  from  his 
being,  by  blood  and  by  circumstances,  involved 
in  the  doom  of  Ahab's  house  [Ahaziah].    Before 


this  Athaliah  had  acquired  much  influence  in 
public  affairs,  and  had  used  that  influence  for 
evil ;  and  when  the  tidings  of  her  son's  untimely 
death  reached  Jerusalem,  she  resolved  to  seat  her- 
self upon  the  throne  of  David,  at  whatever  cost. 
To  this  end  she  caused  all  the  male  branches  of 
the  royal  family  to  be  massacred  (2  Kings  xi.  1 ) ; 
and  by  thus  shedding  the  blood  of  her  own  grand- 
children, she  undesignedly  became  the  instru- 
ment of  giving  completion  to  the  doom  on  her 
father's  house,  which  Jehu  had  partially  accom- 
plished, B.C.  884.  One  infant  son  of  Ahaziah, 
however,  was  saved  by  his  aunt  Jehosheba,  wife 
of  the  high-priest  Jehoiada,  and  was  concealed 
within  the  walls  of  the  temple,  and  there  brought 
up  so  secretly  that  his  existence  was  unsuspected 
by  Athaliah.  But  in  the  seventh  year  (b.c.  878) 
of  her  blood-stained  and  evil  reign,  the  sounds  of 
unwonted  commotion  and  exulting  shouts  within 
the  temple  courts  drew  her  thither,  where  she 
beheld  the  young  Joash  standing  as  a  crowned 
king  by  the  pillar  of  inauguration,  and  acknow- 
ledged as  sovereign  by  the  acclamations  of  th(' 
assembled  multitude.  Her  cries  of  '  Treason  ! ' 
failed  to  excite  any  movement  in  her  favour, 
and  Jehoiada,  the  high-priest,  who  had  organized 
this  bold  and  successful  attempt,  without  allow- 
ing time  for  pause,  ordered  the  Levitical  guards 
to  remove  her  from  the  sacred  precincts  to  instant 
death  (2  Kings  xi. ;  2  Chron.  xxi.  6  ;  xxii.  10-12  ; 
xxiii.). 

A'THENS.  This  celebrated  city,  as  the  birth- 
place of  Plato,  and  through  him  so  widely  in- 
fluential on  Judaism  and  Christianity,  deserves 
something  else  than  a  geographical  notice  here. 
We  shall  briefly  allude  to  the  stages  of  her  his- 
tory, and  remark  on  some  of  the  causes  of  her 
pre-eminent  greatness  in  arms,  arts,  and  intellec- 
tual subtlety. 

The  earlier  and  more  obscure  period  of  the 
Grecian  province  named  Attica  reaches  down 
nearly  to  the  final  establishment  of  democracy  in 
it.  Yet  we  know  enough  to  see  that  the  foun- 
dations of  her  greatness  were  then  already  laid. 
To  a  king  named  Theseus  (whose  deeds  are  too 
much  mixed  with  fable  to  be  narrated  as  history) 
is  ascribed  the  credit  of  uniting  all  the  countjy- 
towns  of  Attica  into  a  single  state,  the  capital  of 
which  was  Athens.  This  is  the  first  political 
event  that  we  can  trust  as  historical,  although 
its  date  and  circumstances  are  by  no  means  free 
from  obscurity. 

The  population  of  this  province  was  variously 
called  Pelasgian,  Achaian,  and  Ionian,  and  pro- 
bably corresponds  most  nearly  to  what  was  after- 
wards called  iEolian.  The  first  name  carries 
the  mind  back  to  an  extremely  primitive  period. 
When  the  Dorians,  another  tribe  of  Greeks  of 
very  different  temperament,  invaded  and  occu- 
pied the  southern  peninsula,  great  numbers  of 
its  Achaian  inhabitants  took  refuge  in  Attica. 
Shortly  after,  the  Dorians  were  repulsed  in  an 
inroad  against  Athens,  an  event  which  has  trans- 
mitted to  legendary  renown  the  name  of  King 
Codrus ;  and  thenceforward  Athens  was  looked 
upon  as  the  bulwark  of  the  Ionian  tribes  against 
the  barbarous  Dorians.  Overloaded  with  popu- 
lation, Attica  now  poured  forth  colonies  into 
Asia;  some  of  which,  as  Miletus,  soon  rose  to 
great  eminence,  and  sent  out  numerous  colonies  j 
themselves ;  so  that  Athens  was  reverenced  as  a  ' 
I 


lU 


ATHENS 


mother  of  nations,  hj  powerful  children  scat- 
tered along  the  western  and  northern  coasts  of 
Anatolia. 

Dim  tradition  shows  us  isolated  priesthoods  and 
elective  kings  in  the  earliest  times  of  Attica; 
these  however  gradually  gave  way  to  an  aris- 
tocracy, which  in  a  series  of  years  established 
themselves  as  a  hereditary  ruling  caste.  But  a 
country  '  ever  unravaged '  (and  such  was  their 
boast)  could  not  fail  to  increase  in  wealth  and 
numbers  ;  and  after  two  or  three  centuries,  while 
the  highest  commoners  pressed  on  the  nobles,  the 
lowest  be.came  overwhelmed  wifli  debt.  The 
disorders  caused  by  the  strife  of  the  former  were 
vainly  sought  to  be  stayed  by  the  institutions  of 
Draco ;  the  sufferings  of  the  latter  were  ended, 
and  the  sources  of  violence  dried  up,  by  the 
enactments  of  Solon.  Henceforth  the  Athenians 
revered  the  laws  rf  Solon  as  the  groundwork  of 


ATHENS 

their  whole  civil  polity  ;  yet  they  retained  by  the 
side  of  them  the  ordinances  cf  Draco  in  many 
matters  pertaining  to  religion.  The  date  of 
Solon's  reforms  was  probably  B.C.  594. 

The  usurpation  of  Pisistratus  and  his  sons 
made  a  partial  breach  in  the  constitution  ;  but 
upon  their  expulsion,  a  more  serious  change  was 
effected  by  Cleisthenes,  head  of  the  nobk" house 
of  the  Alcmaeonidse  (b.c.  508),  almost  in  the 
same  year  in  which  Tarquin  was  expelled  from 
Home.  An  entirely  new  organization  of  the 
Attic  tribes  was  framed,  which  destroyed  what- 
ever remained  of  the  power  of  the  nobles  as  an 
order,  and  established  among  the  freemen  a 
democracy,  in  fact,  as  well  as  in  form.  Out  of 
this  proceeded  all  the  good  and  all  the  evil  with 
which  the  name  of  Athens  is  associated ;  and 
though  greatness  which  shot  up  so  suddenly 
could  not  be  permanent,  there  can  be  no  diffi- 


culty in  deciding  that  the  good  greatly  prepon- 
derated. 

Veiy  soon  after  this  commenced  hostilities 
with  Persia ;  and  the  self-denying,  romantic,  suc- 
cessful bravery  of  Athens,  with  the  generous 
affability  and  great  talents  of  her  statesmen,  soon 
raised  her  to  the  head  of  the  whole  Ionian  con- 
federacy. As  long  as  Persia  was  to  be  feared, 
Athens  was  loved ;  but  after  tasting  the  sweets  of 
power,  her  sway  degenerated  into  a  despotism, 
and  created  at  length,  in  the  war  called  the  Pelo- 
ponnesiau,  a  coalition  of  all  Dorian  and  vEolian 
Greece  against  her  (b.c.  431).  In  spite  of  a  fatal 
pestilence  and  the  revolt  of  her  Ionian  subjects, 
the  naval  skill  of  Athenian  seamen  and  tlie  enter- 
prise of  Athenian  commanders  proved  more  tlian 
a  match  for  the  hostile  confederacy ;  and  when 
Athens  at  last  fell  (n.c.  404),  she  fell  by  the 
effects  of  internal  sedition  more  truly  than  by 
Spartan  lances  or  Persian  gold,  or  even  by  her 
own  rash  and  ovcrgrasping  ambition.  The  de- 
moralizing effects  of  this  war  on  all  Greece  were 


infinitely  the  worst  result  of  it,  and  they  were 
transmitted  to  succeeding  generations.  It  wiis 
substantially  a  civil  war  in  every  province ;  and, 
as  all  the  inhabitants  of  Attica  were  every  siun- 
mer  forced  to  take  refuge  in  the  few  fortresses 
they  possessed,  or  in  Athens  itself,  the  simple 
countrymen  became  transformed  into  a  hu::grv 
and  profligate  town  rabble. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  lonians  loved  tlie 
lyre  and  the  song,  and  the  hymns  of  poets  firmed 
the  staple  of  Athenian  education.  The  constitu- 
tion of  Solon  admitted  and  demanded  in  the 
people  a  great  knowledge  of  law,  with  a  large 
share  in  its  daily  administration.  Thus  the  acute- 
ness  of  the  lawyer  was  grafted  on  tlie  imagination 
of  tlie  poet.  These  are  the  two  intellectual  ele- 
ments out  of  which  Athenian  wisdom  was  de- 
veloped ;  but  it  was  stimulated  and  enriched  by 
extended  political  action  and  political  experience. 
History  and  Philosophy,  as  the  words  are  under- 
stood in  modern  Europe,  had  their  birth  in  Athens 
about  the  time  of  the  Peloponnesian  war.    Then 


ATONEMENT,  DAY  OF 

first,  also,  the  Oratory  of  the  bar  and  of  the  popu- 
lar assembly  was  systematically  cultivated,  and  the 
elements  of  mathematical  science  were  admitted 
into  the  education  of  an  accomplished  man. 

In  the  imitative  arts  of  Sculpture  and  Painting, 
as  well  as  in  Architecture,  it  need  hardly  be  said 
that  Athens  carried  off  the  palm  in  Greece:  yet, 
in  all  these,  the  Asiatic  colonies  vied  with  her. 
Miletus  took  the  start  of  her  in  literary  com- 
position ;  and,  under  slight  conceivable  changes, 
might  have  become  the  Athens  of  the  world. 
But  all  details  on  these  subjects  would  be  here 
out  of  place. 

That  Athens  after  the  Peloponnesian  war  never 
recovered  the  political  place  which  she  previously 
held,  can  excite  no  surprise — that  she  ros.e  so 
high  towards  it  was  truly  wonderful.  Sparta  and 
Thebes,  which  successively  aspired  to  the  '  leader- 
ship '  of  Greece,  abused  their  power  as  flagrantly 
as  Athens  had  done,  and,  at  the  same  time,  more 
coarsely.  The  never-ending  cabals,  the  treaties 
made  and  violated,  the  coalitions  and  breaches, 
the  alliances  and  wars,  recurring  every  few 
years,  destroyed  all  mutual  confidence,  and  all 
possibility  of  again  uniting  Greece  in  any  per- 
manent form  of  independence ;  and,  in  conse- 
quence, the  whole  country  was  soon  swallowed 
up  in  the  kingdom  of  INIacedonia.  With  the  loss 
of  ci'V'il  liberty,  Athens  lost  her  genius,  her  manlj' 
mind,  and  whatever  remained  of  her  virtue  :  she 
lofig  continued  to  produce  talents,  which  were 
too  often  made  tools  of  iniquity,  panders  to 
power,  and  petty  artificers  of  false  philosophy. 

A  Christian  church  existed  in  Athens  soon 
after  the  apostolic  times  ;  but  as  the  city  had  no 
political  importance,  the  church  never  assumed 
anv  eminent  position. 

ATONEMENT  (See  Rom.  xi.  15  ;  2  Cor.  v. 
18,  19).  In  ecclesiastical  writers,  and  in  the 
canons  of  Councils,  the  word  rendered  atonement 
is  employed  to  signify  the  reconciliation  of 
offenders  to  the  Church  after  a  due  course  of 
penitence.  Of  this  there  are  said  to  have  been 
two  kinds :  the  one  consisting  merely  in  the  re- 
mission of  punishment ;  the  other,  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  penitent  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  communion.  For  the  doctrine  of  Atonement, 
see  articles  Sacrifice,  Redemption. 

ATONEMENT,  DAY  OF  {day  of  pardon, 
Lev.  xxiii.  27 ;  xxv.  9).  Though  perhaps  ori- 
ginally meant  as  a  temporary  day  of  expiation 
for  the  sin  of  the  golden  calf  (as  some  would  infer 
from  Exod.  xxxiii.),  yet  it  was  permanently  insti- 
tuted by  Moses  as  a  day  of  atonement  for  sins  in 
general ;  and  this  day — the  10th  of  Tishri  (our 
September) — is  indeed  the  only  fast  ordained  by 
Moses.  This  great  fast  commenced  at  sunset  of 
the  previous  day,  and  lasted  twenty-four  hours, 
that  is,  from  sunset  to  sunset.  The  ceremonies 
observed  on  this  occasion  are  minutely  described 
in  Leviticus  xvi.,  and  were  of  a  very  laborious 
character,  especially  for  the  high-priest,  who  had 
to  prepare  himself  during  the  previous  seven 
days  in  nearly  solitary  confinement  for  the  pecu- 
liar services  that  awaited  him,  and  abstain  during 
that  period  from  all  that  could  render  him  un- 
clean, or  disturb  his  devotions.  The  most  re- 
markable ceremony  of  the  day  was  the  entrance 
of  the  high-priest  into  the  Sanctuary,  a  thing  not 
allowed  on  any  other  day,  and  to  which  Paul 
alludes,  Heb.  ix.  7. 


ATTITUDES  115 

The  other  duties  of  the  higli-priest  on  that 
day  consisted  in  frequent  washings,  changing 
his  clothes,  lighting  the  lamps,  burning  incens", 
&c. ;  which  operations  commenced  soon  after  mid- 
night of  the  10th  of  the  seventh  mouth  (Tishri). 
The  ceremonies  of  worship  peculiar  to  this  day 
alone  (besides  those  which  were  common  to  it 
with  all  other  days)  were:  1.  That  the  high- 
priest,  in  his  pontifical  dress,  confessed  his  own 
sins  and  those  of  his  family,  for  the  expiation  of 
which  he  offered  a  bullock,  on  which  he  laid 
them ;  2.  That  two  goats  were  set  aside,  one  of 
which  was  by  lot  sacrificed  to  .Jehovah,  while 
the  other  (Azazel),  Avhich  Avas  determined  by  lot 
to  be  set  at  liberty,  was  sent  to  the  desert  bur- 
dened with  the  sins  of  the  people  (Lev.  xvi.). 

On  this  day  also  the  high-priest  gave  his 
blessing  to  the  whole  nation ;  and  the  remainder 
of  the  day  was  spent  in  prayers  and  other  works 
of  penance. 

Among  the  present  orthodox  Jews,  for  the 
scape-goat  of  old,  a  cock  seems  to  have  been  sub- 
stituted, which  they  call  pardon,  atonement,  and 
which,  on  the  eve  of  the  day  of  Atonement,  they 
turn  three  times  round  their  head,  each  time 
saying  (in  Hebrew)  that  the  cock  is  to  be  sacri- 
ficed mstead  of  them,  after  which  it  is  slaughtered 
and  eaten.  Towards  evening  of  the  9th  of 
Tishri,  and  before  they  take  the  last  meal  for 
the  next  twenty-four  hours,  they  repair  to  the 
synagogue,  and  each  inflicts  upon  his  neighbour 
thirty-nine  blows  with  a  piece  of  leather.  Most 
of  the  Jews  on  that  day  (of  atonement)  wear  a 
white  gown— the  same  shrouds  in  which  they 
are  buried;  while  all  of  thera  are  obliged  to 
stand  the  whole  day  without  shoes,  or  even 
slippers. 

ATTALI'A,  a  maritime  city  of  Paraphylia, 
in  Asia  Minor,  near  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Catarrhactes.  It  derived  its  name  from  its 
founder.  Attains  Philadelphus,  king  of  Pergamos. 
It  was  visited  by  Paul  and  Barnabas,  a.d.  4.5 
(Acts  xiv.  25).  It  still  exists  under  the  name 
of  Adalia,  and  extensive  and  important  ruins 
attest  the  former  consequence  of  the  city. 

ATTITUDES.  The  allusions  in  Scripture  to 
attitudes  and  postures  expressive  of  adoration, 
supplication,  and  respect,  are  very  numerous. 
From  these  we  learn  enough  to  perceive  that  the 
usages  of  the  Hebrews  in  this  respect  were  very 
nearly,  if  not  altogether,  the  same  as  those  which 
are  still  practised  in  the  East,  and  which  the 
paintings  and  sculptures  of  Egypt  show  to  have 
been  of  old  employed  in  that  country.  These 
sources  supply  ample  materials  for  illustration, 
which  it  may  be  well  to  arrange  under  those 
heads  into  which  such  acts  naturally  divide 
themselves. 

Adoration  and  Homage.— The  Moslems  in 
their  prayers  throw  themselves  successively,  and 
according  to  an  established  routine,  into  the 
various  postures  (nine  in  number)  which  they 
deem  the  most  appropriate  to  the  several  parts 
of  the  service.  For  the  sake  of  reference  and 
comparison,  we  have  introduced  them  all  at  the 
head  of  this  article ;  as  we  have  no  doubt  that 
the  Hebrews  employed  on  one  occasion  or  an- 
other nearly  all  the  various  postures  which  the 
Moslems  exhibit  on  one  occasion.  This  is  the 
chief  difierence.  In  public  and  common  worship 
the  Hebrews  prayed  standing ;  but  in  their  sepa- 
12 


116 


ATTITUDES 


ATTITUDES 


rate  and  private  acts  of  worship  they  assumed 
the  position  which,  according  to  their  modes  of 
doing  homage  or  showing  respect,  seemed  to 
them  the  most  suitable  to  their  present  feelings 
or  objects.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  some 
form  of  kneeling  was  most  usual  in  private 
devotions  (1  Kings  viii.  54 ;  Ezra  ix.  5 ;  Dan.  vi. 
10  ;  2  Chron.  vi.  13). 

Standikq  in  public  prayer  is  still  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Jews.  This  posture  was  adopted  from 
the  synagogue  by  the  primitive  Christians  ;  and 
is  still  maintained  by  the  Oriental  Churches. 
This  appears,  from  their  monuments,  to  have 
been  the  custom  also  among  the  ancient  Persians 


and  Egyptians,  although  the  latter  certainly 
sometimes  kneeled  before  their  gods.  In  the 
Moslem  worship,  four  of  the  nine  positions 
(cut  66,  figs.  1,  2,  4,  8)  are  standing  ones;  and 
that  posture  which  is  repeated  in  three  out  of 
these  four  (2,  4,  8),  may  be  pointed  out  as  the 
proper  Oriental  posture  of  reverential  standing, 
with  folded  hands.  It  is  the  posture  in  which 
people  stand  before  kings  and  great  men. 

While  in  this  attitude  of  worship,  the  hands 
were  sometimes  stretched  forth  towards  heaven 
in  supplication  or  invocation  (1  Kings  viii.  22 ; 
2  Chron.  vi.  12,  29;  Isa.  i.  15).     This  was  per- 


haps not  so  much  the  conventional  posture  (1  in 
the  Moslem  series),  as  the  more  natural  posture 
of  standing  adoration  with  outspread  hands, 
which  we  observe  on  the  Egyptian  monuments. 
The  uplifting  of  one  hand  (the  right)  only  in 
taking  an  oath  was  so  common,  that  to  say,  '  I 
have  lifted  up  my  hand,'  was  equivalent  to  '  I 


have  sworn'  (Gen.  xiv.  22;  comp.  xli.  44;  Deut 
xxxii.  40).  This  posture  was  also  common 
among  other  ancient  nations ;  and  we  find  ex- 
amples of  it  in  the  sculptures  of  Persia  (fig.  1) 
and  Eome  (fig.  2). 

Kneeling  is  very  often  described  as  a  posture 
of  worship  (1  Kings  viii.  54;  Ezra  ix.  5 ;  Dan. 
vi.  10;  2  Chron.  vi.  1.3;  comp.  1  Kings  xix.  18 ; 
Luke  xxii.  41  ;  Acts  vii.  60).  This  is  still  an 
Oriental  custom,  and  three  forms  of  it  occur  (5, 
6,  9)  in  the  Moslem  devotions.  It  was  also  in 
use,  although  not  very  frequent,  among  the  an- 
cient Egyptians;  who  likewise,  as  well  as  the 
Hebrews  (Exod.  xxxiv.  8  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  29  ; 
Isa.  i.  15),  sometimes  prostrated  themselves  upon 
the  ground.  The  usual  mode  of  prostration 
among  the  Hebrews  by  which  they  expressed 
the  most  intense  humiliation,  was  by  bringing 
not  only  the  body  but  the  head  to  the  ground. 


The  ordinary  mode  of  prostration  at  the  present 
time,  and  probably  anciently,  is  that  shown  in 
one  of  the  postures  of  Moslem  worship  (5),  in 
which  the  body  is  not  thrown  flat  upon  the 
ground,  but  rests  upon  the  knees,  arms,  and 
head.  In  order  to  express  devotion,  sorrow, 
compunction,  or  humiliation,  the  Israelites  threw 
dust  upon  their  heads  (Josh.  vii.  6;  Job  ii.  12; 
Lam.  ii.  10;  Ezek.  xxiv.  7;  Rev.  xviii.  19),  as 
was  done  also  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  is 
still  done  by  the  modem  Orientals.  Under 
similar  circumstances  it  was  usual  to  smite  the 
breast  (Luke  xviii.  13).    This  was  also  a  prac- 


tice among  the  Egyptians,  and  the  monuments 
at  Thebes  exhibit  persons  engaged  in  this  apt 
while  they  kneel  upon  one  knee. 

In  1  Chron.  xvii.  16  we  are  told  that  'David 
the  king  came  and  sat  before  the  Lord,'  and  in 
that  posture  gave  utterance  to  eloquent  prayer, 


ATTITUDES 

or  rather  thanksgiving,  -which  the  sequel  of 
the  chapter  contains.  Those  unacquainted  with 
Eastern  manners  are  surprised  at  this.  But 
there  is  a  mode  of  sitting  in  the  East  which  is 
highly  respectful  and  even  reverential.  It  is 
that  which  occurs  in  the  Moslem  forms  of  wor- 
ship (9).  The  person  first  kneels,  and  then  sits 
back  upon  his  heels.  Attention  is  also  paid  to 
the  position  of  the  hands,  which  they  cross,  fold, 
or  hide  in  the  opposite  sleeves.  The  variety  of 
this  formal  sitting,  which  the  following  figure 


AVEN 


117 


represents,  is  highly  respectfiil.  The  prophet 
Elijah  must  have  been  in  this  or  some  other 
similar  posture  when  he  inclined  himself  so 
much  forward  in  prayer  that  his  head  almost 
touched  his  knees  (1  Kings  xviii.  42). 

Sdpplication,  when  addressed  externally  to 
man,  cannot  possibly  be  exhibited  in  any  other 
forms  than  those  which  are  used  in  supplication 
to  God.  Uplifted  hands,  kneeling,  prostration, 
are  common  to  both.  On  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments, suppliant  captives,  of  different  nations, 
are  represented  as  kneeling  or  standing  with  out- 
spread hands.  Prostration,  or  falling  at  the  feet 
of  a  person,  is  often  mentioned  in  Scripture  as 


an  act  of  supplication  or  of  reverence,'  or  of  both 
(1  Sam.  XXV.  24 ;  2  Kings  iv.  37  ;  Esth.  viii.  3 ; 
Matt,  xviii.  29 ;  xxviii.  9 ;  Mark  v.  22 ;  Luke 
viii.  41 ;  John  xi.  32 ;  Acts  x.  25).  Sometimes 
in  this  posture,  or  with  the  knees  bent  as  before 
indicated,  the  Orientals  bring  their  forehead  to 
the  ground,  and  before  resuming  an  erect  posi- 
tion either  kiss  the  earth,  or  the  feet,  or  border 
of  the  garment  of  the  king  or  prince  before 
whom  they  are  allowed  to  appear.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  a  similar  practice  existed  among  the 
Jews  (Matt.  ix.  20  ;  Luke  vii.  38,  45).  Kissing 
the  hand  of  another  as  a  mark  of  affectionate 
respect,  we  do  not  remember  as  distinctly  men- 
tioned in  Scripture.  But  as  the  Jews  had  the 
other  forms  of  Oriental  salutation,  we  may  con- 
clude that  they  had  this  also,  although  it  does 
not  happen  to  have  been  specially  noticed. 
Kissing  one's  own  hand  is  mentioned  as  early  as 
the  time  of  Job  (xxxi.  27),  as  an  act  of  homage 
to  the  heavenly  bodies.  It  was  properly  a  salu- 
tation, and  as  such  an  act  of  adoration  to  them. 
The  Romans  in  like  manner  kissed  their  hands 


as  they  passed  the  temples  or  statues  of  their 
gods  [Adoration]. 

It  appears  from  1  Sam.  x.  1  ;  1  Kings  xix.  18  ; 
Ps.  ii.  1 2  ;  that  there  was  a  peculiar  kiss  of  ho- 
mage, the  character  of  which  is  not  indicated. 
It  was  probably  that  kiss  upon  the  ftjrehead  ex- 
pressive of  high  respect  which  was  formerly,  if 
not  now,  in  use  among  the  Bedouins. 

Bowing. — In  the  Scriptures  there  are  different 
words  descriptive  of  various  postures  of  re- 
spectful bowing;  as  fo  incline  or  how  down  the 
head,  to  bend  down  the  hody  very  low,  to  bend  the 
hnee,  also  to  bless.  These  teitns  indicate  a  con- 
formity with  the  existing  usages  of  the  East,  in 
which  the  modes  of  bowing  are  equally  diver- 
sified, and,  in  all  likelihood,  the  same.  These 
are — 1.  touching  the  lips  and  the  forehead  with 


the  right  hand,  with  or  without  an  inclination 
of  the  head  or  of  the  body,  and  with  or  with- 
out previously  touching  the  ground ;  2.  placing 
the  right  hand  upon  the  breast,  with  or  without 
an  inclination  of  the  head  or  of  the  body;  3. 
bending  the  body  very  low,  with  folded  arms ; 
4.  bending  the  body  and  resting  the  hands  on 
the  knees :  this  is  one  of  the  postures  of  prayer, 
and  is  indicative  of  the  highest  respect  in  the 
presence  of  kings  and  princes. 

It  appears  to  have  been  usual  for  a  person  to 
receive  a  blessing  in  a  kneeling  posture.  We 
know  also  that  the  person  who  gave  the  blessing 
laid  his  hands  upon  the  head  of  the  person 
blessed  (Gen.  xlviii.  14).  This  is  exactly  the 
case  at  the  present  day  in  the  East,  and  a  picture 
of  the  existing  custom  would  furnish  a  perfect 
ilfustration  of  the  patriarchal  form  of  blessing. 
This  may  be  perceived  from  the  annexed  en- 
graving. 


AVA  (2  Kings  xvii.  24),  also  Ivah  (2  Kings 
xviii.  34;  xix.  13;  Isa.  xxxvii.  13),  the  capital 
of  a  small  monarchical  state  conquered  by  the 
Assyrians,  and  from  which  king  Shalmaneser 
sent  colonies  into  Samaria.  It  is  most  probable 
that  Ava  was  a  Syrian  or  Mesopotamian  town, 
of  which  no  trace  can  now  be  found  either  in 
ancient  writers  or  in  the  Oriental  topographers, 

AVEN,  a  plain,  '  the  plain  of  the  sun,'  of  Da- 
mascene Syria  (Amos  i.  5).  It  is  usually  sup- 
posed to  be  the  Same  as  the  plain  of  Baalbec,  or 


118 


AXE 


valley  of  Baal,  where  there  was  a  magnificent 
temple  dedicated  to  the  sun. 

AUGUS'TUS  {venerable),  the  title  assuined 
by  Octavius,  who,  after  his  adoption  by  Julius 
Cffisar,  took  the  name  of  Octavianus  (i.  e.  Ex- 
Octavius),  according  to  the  Koman  fashion;  and 
was  the  first  peacefully  acknowledged  emperor  of 
Kome.  He  was  emperor  at  the  birth  and  during 
half  the  lifetime  of  our  Lord  ;  but  his  name  has 
no  connection  with  Scriptural  events,  and  occurs 
onty  once  (Luke  ii.  1)  in  the  New  Testament, 

A'VIM,  called  also  Avites  and  Hivites,  a 
people  descended  from  Canaan  (Gen.  x.  17), 
who  originally  occupied  the  southernmost  portion 
of  that  territory  in  Palestine  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean coast,  which  the  Caphtorim  or  Philistmes 
afterwards  possessed  (Deut.  ii.  23).  As  the  terri- 
tory of  the  Avim  is  mentioned  in  Josh.  xiu.  3,  in 
addition  to  the  five  Philistine  states,  it  would  ap- 
pear that  it  was  not  included  in  theirs,  and  that 
the  expulsion  of  the  Avim  was  by  a  Philistine 
invasion  prior  to  that  by  which  the  five  principa- 
lities were  founded.  The  territory  began  at 
Gaza,  and  extended  southward  to  '  the  river  of 
Egypt'  (Deut.  ii.  23),  forming  what  was  the  sole 
Philistine  kingdom  of  Gerar  in  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham, when  we  do  not  hear  of  any  other  Phi- 
listine states.  There  were  then  Avim,  or  Hivites, 
at  Shechem  (Gen.  xxxiv.  2),  and  we  afterwards 
find  them  also  at  Gibeon  (Josh.  ix.  7),  and  beyond 
the  Jordan,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon  (Josh, 
xi.  3) ;  but  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  whether 
these  were  original  settlements  of  the  Avim,  or 
were  formed  out  of  the  fragments  of  the  nation 
which  the  Philistines  expelled  from  southern 
Palestine.  The  original  country  of  the  Avim  is 
called  Hazerim  in  Deut.  ii.  23  [Gerar  ;  Philis- 
tines]. 

AWL.  The  Hebrew  word  which  denotes  an 
awl  or  other  instrument  for  boring  a  small  hole, 
occurs  in  Exod.  xxi.  6 ;  Deut.  xv.  17.  Consider- 
ing that  the  Israelites  had  at  that  time  recently 
withdrawn  from  their  long  sojourn  in   Egypt, 


HZJ) 


4ZARIAH 

that  in  1  Kings  v.  7  it  denotes  the  axe  of  a  stone- 
mason, is  by  no  means  conclusive.  The  first 
text  supposes  a  case  of  the  head  slipping  from 
the  helve  in  felling  a  tree.  This  would  suggest 
that  it  was  shaped  like  fig.  3,  which  is  just  the 
same  instrument  as  our  common  hatchet,  and 
appears  to  have  been  applied  by  the  ancient 
Egyptians  to  the  same  general  use  as  with  us. 
2.  maatzad,  which  occur  only  in  Isa.  xliv.  12  ; 
and  Jer.  x.  3.  From  these  passages  it  appears 
to  have  been  a  lighter  implement  than  the  former, 
or  a  kind  of  adze,  used  for  fashioning  or  carving 
wood  into  shape  ;  it  was  probably,  therefore,  like 
figs.  4  to  7,  which  the  Egyptians  employed  for 
tliis  purpose.  The  differences  of  form  and  size, 
as  indicated  in  the  figures,  appecir  to  have  been 
determined  with  reference  to  light  or  heavy 
work :  fig.  3  is  a  finer  carving-tool.  3.  qardom ; 
this  is  the  commonest  name  for  an  axe  or  hatchet. 
It  is  this  of  which  we  read  in  Judg.  ix.  48  ;  Ps. 
Ixxiv.  5;  1  Sam.  xiii.  20,  21 ;  Jer.  xlvi.  22.  It 
appears  to  have  been  more  exclusively  employed 
than  the  garzen  for  felling  trees,  and  had  there- 
fore probably  a  heavier  head.    In  one  of  the 


^^^ 


there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  instruments  were 
the  same  as  those  of  that  country,  the  fornis  of 
which,  from  actual  specimens  in  the  British 
Museum,  are  shown  in  the  annexed  cut.  They 
are  such  as  were  used  by  the  sandal-makers  and 
other  workers  in  leather. 

AXE.  Several  instruments  of  this  description 
are  so  discriminated  in  Scripture  as  to  show  that 
the  Hebrews  had  them  of  difierent  forms  and  for 
various  uses.  1.  garzen,  which  occurs  in  Deut. 
xix.  5 ;  XX.  19 ;  l'  Kings  vi.  7 ;  Isa.  x.  15.  From 
these  passages  it  appears  that  this  kind  was  em- 
ployed in  felling  trees,  and  in  hewing  large 
timber  for  building.    The  conjecture  of  Gesenius, 


x;ii3I?^^^ 


Egyptian  sculptures  the  inhabitants  of  Lebanon 
are  represented  as  felling  pine-trees  with  axes 
like  fig.  1.  As  the  one  used  by  the  Egyptians 
for  the  same  purpose  was  also  of  this  shape,  there 
is  little  doubt  that  it  was  also  in  use  among  the 
Hebrews. 

The  word  rendered  '  axe '  in  2  Kings  vi.  5  is 
literally  '  iron ;'  but  as  an  axe  is  certainly  in- 
tended, the  passage  is  valuable  as  showing  that 
the  axe-heads  among  the  Hebrews  were  of  iron. 
Those  which  have  been  found  in  Egypt  are  of 
bronze,  which  was  very  anciently  and  generally 
used  for  the  purpose. 

AZARI'AH  {ivhom  Jehovah  aids),  a  very  com- 
mon name  among  the  Hebrews,  and  hence  borne 
by  a  considerable  number  of  persons  mentioned 
in  Scripture. 

1.  AzARiAH,  a  high-priest  (1  Chron.  vi.  9), 
perhaps  the  same  with  Amariah,  who  lived  under 
Jehoshaphat  king  of  Judah  (2  Chron.  xix.  11), 
about  B.C.  896. 

2.  AzARiAH,  son  of  Johanan,  a  high-priest 
(1  Chron.  vi.  10),  whom  some  suppose  the  same 


BAAL 

as  Zechsiriah,  son  of  Jehoiada,  who  was  killed 
B.C.  840  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  20-22). 

3.  AzARiAH,  the  high-priest  who  opposed  king 
Uzziah  in  offering  incense  to  Jehovah  (2  Chron. 
xxvi.  17). 

4.  AzARiAH,  a  high-priest  in  the  time  of  Heze- 
kiah  (2  Chron.  xxxi.  10). 

5.  AzARiAH,  the  father  of  Seraiah,  who  was 
the  last  high-priest  before  the  Captivity  (I  Chron. 
vi.  14). 

6.  AzARiAH,  son  of  the  high-priest  Zadok; 
but  it  is  uncertain  if  he  succeeded  his  father  ( 1 
Kings  iv.  2). 

7.  AzAiiiAH,  captain  of  King  Solomon's  guards 
(1  Kings  iv.  5). 

8.  AzARiAH,  otherwise  called  Uzziah,  king 
of  Judah  [Uzziah]. 

9.  Azariah,  a  prophet  who  met  king  Asa  on 
his  return  from  a  great  victory  over  the  Cushite 
king  Zerah  (2  Chron.  xxiii.  1)  [Asa]. 

10.  AzARiAH,  a  person  to  whom  the  high- 
priest  Jehoiada  made  known  the  secret  of  the 
existence  of  the  young  prince  Joash,  and  who 
assisted  in  placing  him  on  the  throne  (2  Chron. 
XV.  1), 

11.  AzARiAH,  one  of  the  two  sons  of  king 
Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xxi.  2). 

12.  AzARiAH,  one  of  the  'proud  men'  who 
rebuked  Jeremiah  for  advising  the  people  that 
remained  in  Palestine,  after  the  expatriation  to 
Babylon,  not  to  retire  into  Egypt ;  and  who  took 
the  prophet  himself  and  Baruch  along  with  them 
to  that  country  (Jer.  xliii.  2-7). 

13.  AzARiAH,  the  Chaldffian  name  of  Abed- 
nego,  one  of  Daniel's  three  friends  who  were 
cast  into  the  fiery  furnace  (Dan.  i.  7 ;  iii.  9). 

AZ'ZAH,  a  mode  of  spelling  the  Hebrew  name 
which  is  elsewhere  rendered  Gaza.  The  name 
occurs  in  this  form  in  Deut.  ii,  23 ;  Jer.  xxv.  20 ; 
which  last  clearly  shows  that  Gaza  is  intended. 


B. 


BA'AL  (lord,  master).  As  the  idolatrous  na- 
tions of  the  Syro- Arabian  race  had  several  gods, 
this  word,  by  means  of  some  accessory  distinc- 
tion, became  applicable  as  a  name  to  many  dif- 
ferent deities. 

1.  Baal  (with  the  definite  article,  Judg.  ii.  13 ; 
Jer.  xix.  5 ;  xxxix.  35 ;  Eom.  xi.  4)  is  appro- 
priated to  the  chief  male  divinity  of  the  Phoe- 
nicians, the  principal  seat  of  whose  worship  was 
at  Tyre.  The  idolatrous  Israelites  adopted  the 
worship  of  this  god  (almost  always  in  conjunc- 
tion with  that  of  Ashtoreth)  in  the  period  of  the 
Judges  (Judg.  ii.  13);  they  continued  it  in  the 
reigns  of  Ahaz  and  Manasseh,  kings  of  Judah 
(2  Chron.  xxviii.  2  ;  2  Kings  xxi.  3) ;  and,  among 
the  kings  of  Israel,  especially  in  the  reign  of 
Ahab,  who,  partly  through  the  influence  of  his 
wife,  the  daughter  of  the  Sidonian  king  Ethbaal, 
appears  to  have  made  a  systematic  attempt  to 
suppress  the  worship  of  God  altogether,  and  to 
substitute  that  of  Baal  in  its  stead  (I  Kings  xvi. 
31);  and  in  that  of  Hosea  (2  Kings  xvii.  16), 
although  Jehu  and  Jehoiada  once  severally  de- 
stroyed the  temples  and  priesthood  of  the  idol 
(2  Kings  X.  18,  sq. ;  xi.  18). 

We    read    of  altars,    images,    and    temples 


BAAL 


119 


erected  to  Baal  (1  Kings  xvi.  32 ;  2  Kings  iii.  2). 
The  altars  were  generally  on  heights,  as  the 
summits  of  hills  or  the  roofs  of  houses  (Jer.  xix. 
5 ;  xxxii.  29).  His  priesthood  were  a  very 
numerous  body  (1  Kings  xviii.  19),  and  were 
divided  into  the  two  classes  of  prophets  and  of 
priests  (2  Kings  x.  19).  As  to  the  rites  by  which 
he  was  worshipped,  there  is  most  frequent  men- 
tion of  incense  being  offered  to  him  (2  Kings 
xxiii.  5),  but  also  of  bullocks  being  sacrificed 
(1  Kings  xviii.  2C),  and  even  of  children,  as  to 
Moloch  (Jer.  xix.  5).  According  to  the  descrip- 
tion in  1  Kings  xviii.,  the  priests,  during  the 
sacrifice,  danced  about  the  altar,  and,  when  their 
prayers  were  not  answered,  cut  themselves  with 
knives  until  the  blood  flowed.  We  also  read  of 
homage  paid  to  him  by  bowing  the  knee,  and  by 
kissing  his  image  (1  Kings  xix.  18),  and  that  his 
worshippers  used  to  swear  by  his  name  (Jer.  xii. 
16). 

As  to  the  power  of  nature  which  was  adored 
under  the  form  of  the  Tyrian  Baal,  many  of  the 
passages  above  cited  show  evidently  that  it  was 
one  of  the  heavenly  bodies ;  or,  if  we  admit  tliat 
resemblance  between  the  Babylonian  and  Per- 
sian religions  which  Munter  assumes,  not  one  of 
the  heavenly  bodies  really,  but  the  astral  spirit 
residing  in  one  of  them ;  and  the  same  line  of 
induction  as  that  which  is  pursued  in  the  case  of 
Ashtoreth,  his  female  counterpart,  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  the  sun. 

2.  Ba'al  Be'rith,  covenant-lord  (Judg.  ix.  4), 
is  the  name  of  a  god  worshipped  by  the  people  of 
Shechem  (Judg.  viii.  33 ;  ix.  4,  46). 

3.  Baa'l  Pe'or  appears  to  have  been  properly 
the  idol  of  the  Moabites  (Num.  xxv.  1-9  ;  Deut. 
iv.  3;  Jos.  xxii.  17;  Ps.  cvi.  28;  Hos.  ix.  10); 
but  also  of  the  Midianites  (Num.  xxxi.  15,  10). 

It  is  the  common  opinion  that  this  god  was 
worshipped  by  obscene  rites.  The  utmost,  how- 
ever, that  the  passages  in  which  this  god  is 
named  express,  is  the  fact  that  the  Israelites  re- 
ceived this  idolatry  from  the  women  of  Moab, 
and  were  led  away  to  eat  of  their  sacrifices  (cf. 
Ps.  cvi.  28) ;  but  it  is  very  possible  for  that  sex 
to  have  been  the  means  of  seducing  them  into 
the  adoption  of  their  worship,  without  the  idol- 
atry itself  being  of  an  obscene  kind.  It  is  also 
remarkable  that  so  few  authors  are  agreed  even 
as  to  the  general  character  of  these  rites.  ]Most 
Jewish  authorities  represent  his  worship  to  have 
consisted  of  rites  which  are  filthy  in  the  extreme, 
but  not  lascivious.  With  regard  to  the  origin  of 
the  term  Peor,  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
original  name  of  the  mountain ;  and  Baal  Peor 
to  be  the  designation  of  the  god  worshipped  there. 
Some  identify  this  god  with  Chemosh. 

4.  Ba'alze'bub  {flij-lord)  occurs  in  2  Kings  i. 
2-16,  as  the  god  of  the  Philistines  at  Ekron, 
whose  oracle  Ahaziah  sent  to  consult.  There 
is  much  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  sig- 
nification of  this  name,  according  as  authors  con- 
sider the  title  to  be  one  of  honour,  as  used  by  his 
worshippers,  or  one  of  contempt. 

The  analogy  of  classical  idolatry  would  lead 
us  to  conclude  that  all  these  Baals  are  only  the 
same  god  under  various  modifications  of  attri- 
butes and  emblems:  but  the  scanty  notices  to 
which  we  owe  all  our  knoAvledge  of  Syro-Arabian 
idolatry  do  not  furnish  data  for  any  decided  opi- 
nion on  this  subject. 


120 


BAAL-GAD 


BAAL  is  often  found  as  the  first  element  of 
compound  names  of  places.  In  this  case,  Gese- 
nius  thinks  that  it  seldom,  if  ever,  has  any 
reference  to  the  god  of  that  name ;  but  that  it 
denotes  the  place  which  possesses,  which  is  the 
abode  of  the  thing  signified  by  the  latter  half  of 
the  compound. 

BA'ALAH,  Baale-Jcdah,  Kirjath-Baai- 
TKiKJATH  Jearim]. 

BAALAH  (Josh.  xv.  29),  Balah  (Josh.  xix. 
3),  BiLHAH  (1  Chron.  iv.  29),  a  town  in  the  tribe 
of  Simeon,  usually  confounded  with  Baalath  ; 
but,  as  the  latter  was  in  Dan  and  this  in  Simeon, 
they  would  appear  to  have  been  distinct. 

BA'ALATH,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Dan  (Josh. 
xix.  44),  apparently  the  same  that  was  afterwards 
rebuilt  by  Solomon  (I  Kings  ix.  18). 

BA'ALATH-BE'ER,  probably  the  same  as  the 
Baal  of  1   Clu-on.  iv.  33— a  city  of    Simeon; 


BAAL  GAD 

called  also  Kamath-Negeb,  or  Southern  Ramath 
(Josh.  xix.  8 ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxx.  27). 

BA'AL-GAD,  a  city  '  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon 
under  Mount  Hei-mon '(Josh.  xi.  17  ;  xii.  7).  We 
are  also  infonued  that  among  those  parts  of  Pa- 
lestine which  were  unsubdued  by  the  Hebrews 
at  the  death  of  Joshua,  was  '  all  Lebanon  towards 
the  sun-rising,  from  Baal-gad,  under  Mount  Her- 
mon,  unto  the  entering  into  Hamath'  (Josh.  xiii. 
.5).  This  position  of  Baal-Gad  is  nOt  unfavour- 
able to  the  conclusion  which  some  have  reached, 
that  it  is  no  other  than  the  place  which,  from  a 
temple  consecrated  to  the  sun,  that  stood  there, 
was  called  by  the  Greeks  Heliopolis,  i.  e-  city  of 
the  sun  ;  and  which  the  natives  called  and  still  call 
Baarbek,  a  word  apparently  of  the  same  meaning. 

Baalbek  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  lowest 
declivity  of  Anti-Libanus,  at  the  opening  of  a 
small  valley  into  the  plain  El-Bekaa.    Through 


Ihis  valley  runs  a  small  stream,  divided  into 
numberless  I'ills  for  irrigation.  The  place  is  in 
N.  lat.  34=^  1'  30",  and  E.  long.  36°  U",  distant 
109  geogr.  miles  from  Palmyra,  and  38f  from 
Tripoli. 

Its  origin  appears  to  be  lost  in  the  most  remote 
antiquity,  and  the  historical  notices  of  it  are 
very  scanty.  In  the  absence  of  more  positive 
information  we  can  only  conjecture  that  its  situ- 
ation on  the  high-road  of  commerce  between 
Tyre,  Palmyra,  and  the  farther  East,  must  have 
contributed  largely  to  the  wealth  and  magnifi- 
cence which  it  manifestly  attained.  It  is  men- 
tioned under  the  name  of  Heliopolis  by  Josephus, 
and  also  by  Pliny.  From  the  reverses  of  Roman 
coins  we  learn  that  Heliopolis  was  constituted  a 
colony  by  Julius  Csesar  ;  that  it  was  the  seat  of 
a  Roman  garrison  in  the  time  of  Augustus. 
Some  of  the  coins  of  later  date  contain  curious 
representations  of  the  temple. 


After  the  age  of  Constantine  the  splendid 
temples  of  Baalbek  were  probably  consigned  to 
neglect  and  decay,  unless  indeed,  as  some  ap- 
pearances indicate,  they  were  then  consecrated 
to  Christian  worship.  From  the  accounts  of 
Oriental  writers  Baalbek  seems  to  have  con- 
tinued a  place  of  importance  down  to  the  time 
of  the  Moslem  invasion  of  Syria.  They  describe 
it  as  one  of  the  most  splendid  of  Syrian  cities,  en- 
riched with  stately  palaces,  adorned  with  monu- 
ments of  ancient  times,  and  abounding  with  trees, 
fountains,  and  whatever  contributes  to  luxurious 
enjoyment.  On  the  advance  of  the  Moslems,  it 
was  reported  to  the  emperor  Heraclius  as  pro- 
tected by  a  citadel  of  great  strength,  and  well 
able  to  sustain  a  siege.  After  the  capture  of 
Damascus  it  was  regularl}-  invested  by  the 
Moslems,  and — containing  an  overflowing  popu- 
lation, amply  supplied  with  provisions  and  mili- 
tary stores— it  made  a  courageous  defence,  but 


BAAL-GAD 

at  length  capitulated.  Its  importance  at  that 
period  is  attested  by  the  ransom  exacted  by  the 
conquerors,  consisting  of  2000  ounces  of  gold, 
4000  ounces  of  silver,  2000  silk  vests,  and  1000 
swords,  together  M-ith  the  arms  of  the  garrison. 
It  afterwards  became  the  mart  for  the  rich  pil- 
lage of  Syria  :  but  its  prosperity  soon  received  a 
fatal  blow  from  the  khalif  of  Damascus,  by 
whom  it  was  sacked  and  dismantled,  and  the 
principal  inhabitants  put  to  the  sword  (a.d.  748). 
During  the  Crusades,  being  incapable  of  making 
any  resistance,  it  seems  to  have  quietly  sub- 
mitted to  the  strongest.  In  the  year  1400  it  was 
pillaged  by  Timour  Beg,  in  his  progress  to  Da- 
mascus, after  he  had  taken  Aleppo.  Afterwards 
it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Metaweli— a  bar- 
barous predatory  tribe,  who  were  nearly  exter- 
minated when  Djezzar  Pasha  permanently  sub- 
jected the  whole  district  to  Turkish  supremacy. 

The  ruins  of  Heliopolis  lie  on  an  eastern 
branch  of  the  mountain,  and  are  called,  by  way 
of  eminence,  the  Castle.  The  most  prominent 
objects  visible  from  the  plain  are  a  lofty  portico 
of  six  columns,  part  of  the  gi-eat  temple,  and  the 
walls  and  columns  of  another  smaller  temple  a 
little  below,  surrounded  by  green  trees.  There 
is  also  a  singular  and  unique  circular  temple,  if 
it  may  be  so  called,  of  which  we  give  a  figure. 
These,  with  a  curious  column  on  the  highest 
point  within  the  walls,  form  the  only  erect  por- 
tions of  the  ruins.  The  ruins  at  Baalbek  in  the 
mass  are  apparently  of  three  successive  eras  : 
first,  the  gigantic  hewn  stones,  in  the  face  of  the 
platform  or  basement  on  which  the  temple 
stands,  and  which  appear  to  be  remains  of  older 
buildings,  perhaps  of  the  more  ancient  temple 
which  occupied  the  site.  These  celebrated 
blocks,  which  in  fact  form  the  great  wonder  of 
the  place,  vary  from  30  to  40  feet  in  length  ;  but 
there  are  three,  forming  an  upper  course  20  feet 
from  the  ground,  which  together  measure  190 
feet,  being  severally  of  the  enormous  dimensions 
of  63  and  64  feet  in  length,  by  12  in  breadth 
and  thickness.  '  They  are,'  says  Richter,  '  the 
largest  stones  I  have  ever  seen,  and  might  of 
themselves  have  easily  given  rise  to  the  popular 
opinion  that  Baalbek  was  built  by  angels  at  the 
command  of  Solomon.  The  whole  wall,  indeed, 
is  composed  of  immense  stones,  and  its  resem- 
blance to  the  remains  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon, 
which  are  still  shown  in  the  foundations  of  the 
mosque  Es-Sakkara  on  Mount  Moriah,  cannot 
fail  to  be  observed.'  In  the  neighbouring 
quarries,  from  which  they  were  cut,  one  stone, 
hewn  out  but  not  carried  away,  is  of  much 
larger  dimensions  than  any  of  those  which  have 
been  mentioned.  To  the  second  and  third  eras 
belong  the  Roman  temples,  which,  being  of  and 
about  the  time  of  Antoninus  Pius,  present  some 
of  the  finest  specimens  of  Corinthian  architecture 
in  existence,  and  possess  a  wonderful  grandeur 
and  majesty  from  their  lofty  and  imposing  situ- 
ation (Addison,  ii.  57). 

The  present  Baalbek  is  a  small  village  to  the 
east  of  the  ruins,  in  a  sad  state  of  wretchedness 
and  decay.  It  is  little  more  than  a  heap  of 
rubbish,  the  houses  being  built  of  mud  and  sun- 
dried  bricks.  The  population  of  5000,  which 
the  place  is  said  to  have  contained  in  1751,  is 
now  reduced  to  barely  2000  persons ;  the  two 
handsome  mosques  and  fine  serai  of  the  Emir, 


BABEL,  TOWER  OF 


ISl 


mentioned  by  Burckhardt,  are  no  longer  distin- 
guishable ;  and  travellers  may  now  inquire  in 
vain  for  the  grapes,  the  pomegranates,  and  the 
fruits  which  were  formerly  so  abundant. 

BA'AL-GUR,  or  Guk-Baal.  We  read  in  2 
Chron.  xxvi.  7,  that  '  the  Lord  assisted  Uzziah 
against  the  Philistines,  and  against  the  Arabians 
that  dwelt  in  Gur-Baal.'  It  was  doubtless  some 
town  of  Arabia-Petrsea. 

BA'AL-HAM'ON,  a  place  where  Solomon  is 
said  to  have  had  a  vineyard  (Cant.  viii.  11). 
There  was  a  place  called  Hamon,  in  the  tribe  of 
Asher  (Josh.  xix.  28),  which  Ewald  thinks  was 
the  same  as  Baal-Hamon.  The  book  of  Judith 
(viii.  3)  places  a  Balamon  or  Belamon  in  central 
Palestine,  which  suggests  another  alternative, 

BA'AL-HA'ZOR,  the  place  where  Absalom 
kept  his  flocks,  and  held  his  sheep-shearing  feast 
(2  Sam.  xiii.  23).  It  is  said  to  have  been  '  beside 
Ephraim,'  not  in  the  tribe  of  that  name,  but  near 
the  city  called  Ephraim  which  was  in  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  and  is  mentioned  in  2  Chron.  xiii.  19, 
John  xi.  54.  This  Ephraim  is  placed  by  Euse- 
hius  eight  miles  from  Jerusalem  on  the  road  to 
Jericho ;  and  is  supposed  by  Reland  to  have  been 
between  Bethel  and  Jericho. 

BA'AL-HER'MON  (I  Chron.  v.  23;  Judg. 
iii.  3).  It  seems  to  have  been  a  place  in  or  near 
Mount  Hermon,  and  not  far  from  Baal-gad,  if  it 
was  not,  as  some  suppose,  the  same  place. 

BA'AL-ME'ON  (Num.  xxxii.  38 ;  1  Chron. 
V.  8 ;  otherwise  Beth-Meon,  Jer.  xlviii.  23,  and 
Beth-Baal-Meon,  Josh.  xiii.  17),  a  town  in  the 
tribe  of  Reuben  beyond  the  Jordan,  but  which 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  Moabites  in  the  time 
of  Ezekiel  (xxv.  9).  At  the  distance  of  two 
ailes  south-east  of  Heshbon,  Burckhardt  found 
the  ruins  of  a  place  called  Mtfoun,  or  (as  Dr. 
Robinson  corrects  it)  Mai'n,  which  is  doubtless 
the  same. 

BA'AL-PER'AZIM.  This  name,  meaning 
'  place  of  breaches,'  was  imposed  by  David  upon 
a  place  in  or  near  the  valley  of  Rephaim,  where 
he  defeated  the  Philistines  (2  Sam.  v.  20  ;  comp. 
1  Chron.  xiv.  11  ;  Isa.  xxviii.  21). 

BA'AL-SHAL'ISHA  (2  Kings  iy.  42),  a  place 
in  the  district  of  Shalisha  (1  Sam.  ix.  4).  Ense- 
bius  and  Jerome  describe  it  as  a  city  fifteen 
Roman  miles  north  from  Diospolis,  near  Mount 
Ephraim. 

BA'AL-TA'MAR,  a  place  near  Gibeah,  in  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  where  the  other  tribes  fought 
with  the  Benjamites  (Judg.  xx.  33). 

BA'AL-ZE'PHON,  a  town  belonging  to  Egypt, 
on  the  border  of  the  Red  Sea  (Exod.  xiv.  2 ; 
Num.  xxxiii.  7).  Nothing  is  known  of  its  situ- 
ation. 

BA'BEL,  TOWER  OF.  From  the  account 
given  in  Genesis  xi.  1-9,  it  appears  that  the  pri- 
mitive fathers  of  mankind  having,  from  the  time 
of  the  Deluge,  wandered  without  fixed  abode, 
settled  at  length  in  the  land  of  Shinar,  where 
they  took  up  a  permanent  residence.  As  yet 
they  had  remained  together  without  experiencing 
those  vicissitudes  and  changes  in  their  outward 
lot  which  encourage  the  formation  of  different 
modes  of  speech,  and  were,  therefore,  of  one 
language.  Arrived  however  in  the  land  of 
Shinar,  and  finding  materials  suitable  for  the 
construction  of  edifices,  they  proceeded  to  make 
and  burn  bricks,  and  using  the  bitumen,  in  which 


122 


BAliEL,  TUV\  EK  OF 


parts  of  the  country  abound,  for  cement,  they 
built  a  city  and  a  tower  of  great  elevation.  A 
divine  interference,  however,  is  related  to  have 
taken  place.  In  consequence,  the  language  of 
the  builders  was  confounded,  so  that  they  were 
no  longer  able  to  understand  each  other.  They 
therefore  '  left  off  to  build  the  citj ,'  and  were 
scattered  '  abroad  upon  the  face  of  all  the  earth. 
The  narrative  adds  that  the  place  took  its  name 
of  Babel  (confusion)  from  this  confusion  ot 
tongues.  That  the  work  was  subsequently  re- 
sumed, and  in  process  of  time  completed,  is  known 
on  the  best  historical  vouchers. 

The  sacred  narrative  (Gen.  xi.  4)  assigns  as 
the  reason  which  prompted  men  to  the  under- 
taking, a  desire  to  possess  a  building  so  large 
and  high  as  might  be  a  mark  and  rallying  point 
in  the  vast  plains  where  they  had  settled,  m 
order  to  prevent  their  being  scattered  abroad, 
and  thus  the  ties  of  kindred  be  rudely  sundered, 
individuals  be  involved  in  peril,  and  their 
numbers  be  prematurely  thinned  at  a  time  when 
population  was  weak  and  insufficient.  Such  an 
attempt  agrees  with  the  circumstances  in  which 
the  sons  of  Noah  were  placed,  and  is  m  itselt  ot 
a  commendable  nature.  But  that  some  ambitious 
and  unworthy  motives  were  blended  with  these 
feelings  is  clearly  implied  in  the  sacred  record. 

After  the  lapse  of  so  many  centuries,  and  the 
occurrence  in  'the  land  of  Shinar '  of  so  many 
revolutions,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
identification  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  with  any 
actual  ruin  should  be  easy,  or  lead  to  any  very 
certain  result.  The  majority  of  opinions,  how- 
ever, among  the  learned,  make  it  the  same  as 
the  temple  of  Belus  described  by  Herodotus, 
which  is  found  iu  the  dilapidated  remains  of  the 
Birs  >''''"nid 


From  the  Holy  Scriptures  it  appears  that  when 
Nebuchadnezzar  conquered  Jerusalem  and  le- 
velled most  of  the  city  with  the  ground,  'he 
brought  away  the  treasures  of  the  temple,  and 
the  treasures  of  the  king's  house,  and  put  them 
all  into  the  temple  of  Bel  at  Babylon.'  The 
brazen  and  other  vessels  which  Solomon  had 
caused  to  be  made  for  the  service  of  Jehovah  arc- 
said  to  have  been  broken  up  by  order  of  the 
Assvrian  monarch,  and  formed  into  the  famous 


BABYLOM 

gates  of  brass  which  so  long  adorned  the  superb 
entrances  into  the  great  area  of  the  temple  of 
Belus.  The  purposes  to  which  this  splendid 
edifice  was  appropriated  varied  in  some  degree 
with  the  changes  in  opinions  and  manners 
which  successive  ages  brought.  Consecrated  at 
the  first,  as  it  probably  was,  to  the  immoderate 
ambition  of  the  monotheistic  children  of  the 
Deluge,  it  passed  to  the  Sabian  religion,  and  thus 
falling  one  degree  from  purity  of  worship,  be- 
came a  temple  of  the  sun  and  the  rest  of  the  host 
of  heaven,  till,  in  the  natural  progress  of  corrup- 
tion, it  sank  into  gross  idolatry ;  and  was  polluted 
by  the  vices  which  generally  accompanied  the 
observances  of  heathen  superstition.  In  one 
purpose  it  undoubtedly  proved  of  service  to 
mankind.  The  Babylonians  were  given  to  the 
study  of  astronomy.  This  ennobling  pursuit  was 
one  of  the  peculiar  functions  of  the  learned 
men,  denominated  by  Herodotus,  Chaldaians,  the 
priests  of  Belus  ;  and  the  temple  was  crowned  by 
an  astronomical  observatory,  from  the  elevation 
of  which  the  starry  heavens  could  be  most  ad- 
vantageously studied  over  plains  so  open  and 
wide,  and  in  an  atmosphere  so  clear  and  bright, 
as  those  of  Babylonia. 

The  present  appearance  of  the  tower  as  pre- 
sei-ved  in  the  Birs  Nimrud  is  deeply  impressive, 
rising  suddenly  as  it  does  out  of  a  wide  desert 
plain,  with  its  rent,  fragmentary,  and  fire-blasted 
pile,  masses  of  vitrified  matter  lying  around,  and 
the  whole  hill  itself  on  which  it  stands  caked  and 
hardened  out  of  the  materials  with  which  the 
temple  had  been  built.  A  very  considerable 
space  round  the  tower,  forming  a  vast  court  or 
area,  is  covered  with  mins,  aSbrding  abundant 
vestiges  of  former  buildings  ;  exhibiting  uneven 
heaps  of  various  sizes,  covered  with  masses  of 
broken  brick,  tiles,  and  vitrified  fragments — all 
bespeaking  some  signal  overthrow  in  former  days. 
The  towerlike  ruin  on  the  summit  is  a  solid  mass 
28  feet  broad,  constructed  of  the  most  beautiful 
brick  masonry.  It  is  rent  from  the  top  nearly 
halfway  to  the  bottom.  It  is  perforated  in 
ranges  of  square  openings.  At  its  base  lie 
several  immense  uushapen  masses  of  fine  brick- 
work—some changed  to  a  state  of  the  hardest 
vitrification,  affording  evidence  of  the  action  of 
fire  which  seems  to  have  been  the  lightning  of 
heaven.  The  base  of  the  tower,  at  present, 
measures  2082  feet  in  circumference.  Hardly 
half  of  its  former  altitude  remains.  From  its 
summit,  the  view  in  the  distance  presents  to  the 
south  an  arid  desert  plain  ;  to  the  west  the  same 
trackless  waste;  towards  the  north-east  marks 
of  buried  ruins  are  visible  to  a  vast  distance. 

BAB'YLON;  the  name  in  Hebrew  is  Babel, 
from  the  confusion  of  tongues  (Gen.  xi.  1-9). 
In  Daniel  iv.  27  the  place  is  appropriately  termed 
'  Babylon  the  Great.'  This  famous  city  was  the 
metropolis  of  the  province  of  Babylon  and  of  the 
Babylonio-Chalda;an  empire.  It  was  situated  in 
a  wide  plain  on  the  Euphrates,  which  divided  it 
into  two  nearly  equal  parts.  According  to  the 
book  of  Genesis,  its  foundations  were  laid  at  the 
same  time  with  those  of  the  tower  of  Babel.  Iu 
the  revolutions  of  centuries  it  underwent  many 
changes,  and  received  successive  reparations  and 
additions.  Semiramis  and  Nebuchadnezzar  are 
tliose  to  whom  the  city  was  indebted  for  its 
greatest  augmentations  and  its  chief  splendour. 


BABYLON 

Its  site  has  been  ascertained  to  be  near  Hillah, 
about  forty  miles  from  Bagdad. 

According  to  Herodotus,  the  walls  of  Babylon 
were  sixty  miles  in  circumference,  built  of  large 
bricks  cemented  together  with  bitumen,  and 
raised  round  the  city  in  the  form  of  an  exact 
square  ;  hence  they  measured  fifteen  miles  along 
each  face.  They  were  87  feet  thick  and  350 
feet  high  protected  on  the  outside  by  a  vast  ditch 
lined  with  the  same  material,  and  proportioned 
in  depth  and  width  to  the  elevation  of  the  walls. 
The  city  was  entered  by  twenty-five  gates  on 
each  side,  made  of  solid  brass,  and  additionally 
strengthened  by  250  towers,  so  placed  tha/i 
between  every  two  gates  were  four  towers,  and 
four  additional  ones  at  the  four  corners.  The 
whole  city  contained  67C  squares,  each  two  miles 
and  a  quarter  in  circumference.  The  river  ran 
through  the  city  from  north  to  south ;  and  on 
each  side  was  a  quay  of  the  same  thickness  as 
the  walls  of  the  city,  and  100  stadia  in  length. 
In  these  quays  were  gates  of  brass,  and  from 
each  of  them  steps  descending  into  the  river.  A 
bridge  was  thrown  across  the  river,  of  great 
beauty  and  admirable  contrivance,  a  furlong  in 
length  and  30  feet  in  breadth.  The  greatest  cir- 
cumference ascribed  by  the  ancients  to  the  city 
walls  is  480  stadia,  the  most  moderate  360.  The 
smallest  computation  supposes  an  area  for  the 
city  of  which  we  can  now  scarcely  form  an  idea. 
Its  population  however  may  not  have  been  in 
proportion  to  its  extent.  The  place  was  pro- 
bably what  in  these  days  would  be  considered 
an  enclosed  district  rather  than  a  compact  city. 

One  or  two  additional  facts  may  aid  in  con- 
veying a  full  idea  of  this  great  and  magnificent- 
city.  When  Cyrus  took  Babylon  by  turning 
the  Euphrates  into  a  neighbouring  lake,  the 
dwellers  in  the  middle  of  the  place  were  not  for 
some  time  aware  that  their  fellow-townsmen  who 
were  near  the  walls  had  been  captured.  From 
the  fallen  towers  of  Babylon  have  arisen  not 
only  all  the  present  cities  in  its  vicinity,  but 
others  which,  like  itself,  have  long  since  gone 
down  into  the  dust.  Since  the  days  of  Alexander 
four  capitals,  at  least,  have  been  built  out  of  its 
remains— Seleucia  by  the  Greeks,  Ctesiphon  by 
the  Parthians,  Al  Maidan  by  the  Persians,  and 
Kufa  l>y  the  Caliphs ;  with  towns,  villages,  and 
caravansaries  without  number.  The  necessary- 
fragments  and  materials  were  transported  along 
the  rivers  and  the  canals.  The  new  palace  built 
by  Nebuchadnezzar  was  prodigious  in  size  and 
superb  in  embellishments.  Its  outer  wall  em- 
braced six  miles;  within  that  circumference 
were  two  other  embattled  walls,  besides  a  great 
tower.  Three  brazen  gates  led  into  the  grand 
area,  and  every  gate  of  consequence  throughout 
the  city  was  of  brass. 

The  palace  was  splendidly  decorated  with  sta- 
tues of  men  and  animals,  with  vessels  of  gold  and 
silver,  and  furnished  with  luxuries  of  all  kinds 
brought  thither  from  conquests  in  Egypt,  Pales- 
tine, and  Tyre.  Its  greatest  boast  were  the 
hanging  gardens.  They  are  attributed  to  the 
gallantry  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  constructed 
them  in  compliance  with  a  wish  of  his  queen 
Amytis  to  possess  elevated  groves  such  as  she 
had  enjoyed  on  the  hills  around  her  native  Ecba- 


BABYLON 


123 


was  reared,  400  feet  on  each  side,  while  terraces 
one  above  another  rose  to  a  height  that  over- 
topped the  walls  of  the  city,  that  is,  above  300 
feet  in  elevation.  The  ascent  from  terrace  to 
terrace  was  made  by  corresponding  flights  of 
steps.  The  level  of  each  terrace  or  garden  was 
then  formed  in  the  following  manner :  the  top  of 
the  piers  was  first  laid  over  with  flat  stones,  16 
feet  in  length  and  4  feet  in  width ;  on  these  stones 
were  spread  beds  of  matting,  then  a  thick  layer 
of  bitumen;  after  which  came  two  courses  of 
bricks,  which  were  covered  with  sheets  of  solid 
lead.  The  earth  was  heaped  on  this  platform ; 
and  in  order  to  admit  the  roots  of  large  trees, 
prodigious  hollow  piers  were  built  and  filled  with 
mould.  From  the  Euphrates,  which  flowed  close 
to  the  foundation,  water  was  drawn  up  by  ma- 
chinery. The  whole  had,  to  those  who  saw  it 
from  a  distance,  the  appearance  of  woods  over- 
hanging mountains.  Such  was  the  completion 
of  Nebuchadnezzar's  work,  when  he  found  him- 
self at  rest  in  his  house,  and  flourished  in  his 
palace.  The  king  spoke  and  said,  '  Is  not  this 
great  Babylon  that  I  have  built  for  the  house  of 
3ie  kingdom  by  the  might  of  my  power,  and  the 
honour  of  my  majesty'  (Dan.  iv.).  Nowhere 
could  the  king  have  taken  so  comprehensive  a 
view  of  the  city  he  had  so  magnificently  con- 
structed and  adorned  as  when  walking  on  the 
highest  terrace  of  the  gardens  of  his  palace. 

The  remains  of  this  palace  are  supposed  to  be 
found  in  the  vast  mound  or  hill  called  by  the 
natives  Kasr.  It  is  of  irregular  form,  800  yards 
in  length  and  600  yards  in  breadth.     Its  appear- 


tana.     Babylon  was  all  flat ;  and  to  accomplish 
so  extravagant  a  desire  an  artificial  mountain 


ance  is  constantly  undergoing  change  from  Ihe 
continual  digging  which  takes  place  in  its  inex- 
haustible quarries  for  brick  of  the  strongest  and 
finest  material.  Hence  the  mass  is  furrowed  into 
deep  ravines,  crossing  and  recrossing  each  other 
in  every  direction.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
Kasr,  amongst  the  mouldering  fragments,  and 
elevated  on  a  sort  of  ridge,  stands  the  famous 
solitary  tree,  called  by  the  Arabs  Atheleh;  it 
bears  every  mark  of  antiquity  in  appearance, 
situation,  and  tradition.  Its  trunk  was  originally 
enormous ;  but,  worn  away  by  the  lapse  of  ages, 
it  is  now  but  a  ruin  amid  ruins :  nevertheless  it 


124  BABYLONIA 

bears  spreading  and  ever-green  branches.  This 
tree  is  revered  by  the  Arabs  as  holy,  from  a  tra- 
dition current  among  them,  that  the  Almighty 
himself  preserved  it  here  from  the  earliest  time, 
to  form  a  refuge  for  the  Caliph  Ali,  who,  fainting 
-with  fatigue  from  the  battle  of  Hillah,  found  se- 
cure repose  under  its  shade. 

In  digging  in  the  extensive  mounds  which 
constitute  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  an  endless  suc- 
cession of  curious  objects  is  found  from  time  to 
time. 

Babylon,  as  the  centre  of  a  great  kingdom,  was 
the  seat  of  boundless  luxury,  and  its  inhabitants 
were  notorious  for  their  addiction  to  self-indul- 
gence and  effeminacy.  On  the  ground  of  their 
awful  wickedness  the  Babylonians  were  threat- 
ened with  condign  punishment,  through  the 
mouths  of  the  prophets ;  and  the  tyranny  with 
Avhich  the  rulers  of  the  city  exercised  their 
sway  was  not  without  a  decided  effect  in  bring- 
ing on  them  the  terrific  consequences  of  the 
Divine  vengeance.  Nor  in  the  whole  range  of 
literature  is  there  anything  to  be  found  approach- 
ing to  the  sublimity,  force,  and  terror  with  which 
Isaiah  and  others  speak  on  this  painfiil  subject 
(Isa.  xiv.  11 ;  xlvii.  1 ;  Jer.  li.  39 ;  Dan.  v.  1). 

Under  Nabonnidus,  the  last  king,  B.C.  538  or 
539,  Babylon  was  taken  by  Cyrus,  after  a  siege 
of  two  years.  An  insurrection,  under  Darius 
Hystaspis  (b.c.  500),  the  object  of  which  was  to 
gain  emancipation  from  Persian  bondage,  led 
that  prince  to  punish  the  Babylonians  by  throw- 
ing down  the  walls  and  gates  which  had  been  left 
by  Cyrus,  and  by  expelling  them  from  their 
homes.  Xerxes  plundered  and  destroyed  the 
temple  of  Belus,  which  Alexander  the  Great 
would  probably,  but  for  his  death,  have  restored. 
Under  Seleucus  Nicator  the  city  began  to  sink 
speedily,  after  that  monarch  built  Seleucia  on  the 
Tigris,  and  made  it  his  place  of  abode.  In  the 
time  of  Strabo  and  Diodorus  Siculus  the  place 
lay  in  ruins.  Jerome,  in  the  fourth  century  of 
the  Christian  era,  learnt  that  the  site  of  Babylon 
had  been  converted  into  a  park  or  hunting-ground 
for  the  recreation  of  the  Persian  monarchs,  and 
that,  in  order  to  preserve  the  game,  the  walls  had 
been  from  time  to  time  repaired. 

More  thorough  destruction  than  that  which  has 
overtaken  Babylon  cannot  well  be  conceived. 
Eich  was  unable  to  discover  any  traces  of  its 
vast  walls,  and  even  its  site  has  been  a  subject  of 
dispute.  '  On  its  ruins,'  says  he,  '  there  is  not 
a  single  tree  growing,  except  the  old  one,'  which 
only  serves  to  make  the  desolation  more  apparent 
Ruins  like  those  of  Babylon,  composed  of  rub- 
bish impregnated  with  nitre,  cannot  be  cultivated. 
The  ruins  of  Babylon  and  its  vicinity  consist  in 
general  of  mounds  of  earth  formed  by  the  decom- 
position of  buildings,  channelled  and  furrowed  by 
the  weather,  and  having  the  surface  strewed  with 
pieces  of  brick,  bitumen,  and  pottery. 

Neither  the  ancient  nor  the  modern  authorities 
are  in  exact  agreement  respecting  particular 
places  and  localities,  and  any  attempt  to  fijx  them 
now  can  be  nothing  more  than  an  approach  to 
the  reality. 

BABYLO'NIA  (so  called  from  the  name  of  its 
chief  city,  termed  also  Chalda;a,  from  those  who 
at  a  later  period  inhabited  it),  a  province  of 
Middle  Asia,  bordered  on  the  north  by  Mesopo- 
tamia, on  the  east  by  the  Tigris,  on  the  south  by 


BABYLONIA 

the  Persian  Gulf,  and  on  the  west  by  the  Arabian 
Desert.  On  the  north  it  begins  at  the  point  where 
the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  approach  each  other, 
and  extends  to  their  common  outlet  in  the  Per- 
sian Gulf,  pretty  nearly  comprising  the  country 
now  designated  Irak  Arabi.  The  climate  is  tem- 
perate and  salubrious.  The  country  in  ancient 
times  was  very  prolific,  especially  in  corn  and 
palms.  Timber-trees  it  did  not  produce.  Many 
parts  had  springs  of  naphtha.  As  rain  is  infre- 
quent, even  in  the  winter  months,  the  country 
owes  its  fruitfulness  to  the  annual  overflow  of 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris,  whose  waters  are 
conveyed  over  the  land  by  means  of  canals. 

The  alluvial  plains  of  Babylonia,  Chaldaea, 
and  Susiana,  including  all  the  river,  lake,  and 
newer  marine  deposits  at  the  head  of  the  Persian 
Gulf,  occupy  an  extent  of  about  32,400  square 
geographic  miles.  The  rivers  are  the  Euphrates 
and  its  tributaries,  the  Tigris  and  its  tributaries, 
the  Kerah,  the  Karun  and  its  tributaries,  the  Je- 
rahi,  and  the  Idiyan ;  constituting,  altogether,  a 
vast  hydrographical  basin  of  1 89,200  geographic 
square  miles ;  containing,  within  itself,  a  central 
deposit  of  32,400  miles  of  alluvium,  almost  en- 
tirely brought  down  by  the  waters  of  the  various 
rivers,  and  which  have  been  accumulating  from 
periods  long  antecedent  to  all  historical  records. 
The  modern  accumulation  of  soil  in  Babylonia 
from  annual  inundations  is  still  very  great.  Se- 
veral canals  convey  water  at  certain  sezisons  of 
the  year  from  one  river  and  part  of  the  country 
to  another.  In  general,  the  alluvium  that  is 
brought  down  by  canals  and  rivulets,  and  depo- 
sited at  their  mouths,  is  a  fine  clay.  The  great 
extent  of  the  plam  of  Babylonia  is  everywhere 
altered  by  artificial  works.  There  is  still  some 
cultivation  and  some  irrigation.  Flocks  pasture 
in  meadows  of  coarse  grasses ;  the  Arabs'  dusky 
encampments  are  met  with  here  and  there ;  but, 
except  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  there  are 
feyr  remains  of  the  date-groves,  the  vineyards, 
and  the  gardens  which  adorned  the  same  land  in 
the  days  of  Artaxerxes ;  and  still  less  of  the  po- 
pulation and  labour  which  must  have  made  a 
garden  of  such  soil  in  the  time  of  Nebuchadnez- 
zar. The  vegetation  of  these  tracts  is  charac- 
terized by  the  usual  saline  plants,  the  river  banks 
being  fringed  by  shrubberies  of  tamarisk  and 
acacia,  and  occasional  groves  of  a  poplar  which 
has  been  mistaken  for  a  willow. 

The  Euphrates  is  still  a  majestic  stream,  but 
wanders  through  a  dreary  solitude.  Its  banks 
are  hoary  with  reeds,  and  the  grey  osier-willows 
are  yet  there  on  which  the  captives  of  Israel 
hung  up  their  harps,  and,  while  Jerusalem  was 
not,  refused  to  be  comforted.  According  to  Een- 
nel  its  breadth  at  Babylon  is  about  491  English 
feet.  Rich  ascertained  its  depth  to  be  2^  fathoms, 
and  that  the  current  runs  gently  at  the  medium 
rate  of  about  two  knots  an  hour.  The  Euphrates 
is  far  less  rapid  than  the  Tigris,  and  rises  at  an 
earlier  period.  When  at  its  height — from  the 
latter  end  of  April  to  the  latter  end  of  June — it 
overflows  the  surrounding  country.  The  ruins 
of  Babylon  are  then  so  inundated  as  to  render 
many  parts  of  them  inaccessible.  The  course  of 
the  river  through  the  site  of  Babylon  is  north 
and  south.  During  the  three  great  empires  of 
the  East,  no  tract  of  the  whole  appears  to  have 
been  so  reputed  for  fertility  and  riches  as  the  dis- 


BABYLONIA 

trict  of  Babylonia,  •which  arose  in  the  main  from 
the  proper  management  of  the  mighty  river  which 
flowed  through  "it.  But  the  abundance  of  the 
country  has  vanished  as  clean  away  as  if  '  the 
besom  of  desolation'  had  swept  it  from  north  to 
south ;  the  whole  land,  from  the  outskirts  of 
Bagdad  to  the  farthest  reach  of  sight,  lying  a 
melancholy  waste. 

In  order  to  defend  the  country  against  hostile 
attacks  from  its  neighbours,  northward  from  Ba- 
bylon, between  the  two  rivers,  a  wall  was  built, 
which  is  known  under  the  name  of  the  jNIedian 
Wall.  The  Babylonians  were  famous  for  the 
manufacture  of  cloth  and  carpets :  they  also  ex- 
celled in  making  perfumes,  in  carving  in  wood, 
and  in  working  in  precious  stones.  They  were  a 
commercial  as  well  as  a  manufacturing  people, 
and  carried  on  a  very  extensive  trade  alike 
by  land  and  by  sea.  Babylon  was  indeed  a 
commercial  depot  between  the  Eastern  and  the 
Western  worlds  (Ezek.  xvii.  4 ;  Isa.  xliii.  14). 
Thus  favoured  by  nature  and  aided  by  art,  Ba- 
bylonia became  the  first  abode  of  social  order 
and  the  cradle  of  civilization. 

The  original  inhabitants  were  without*  doubt 
of  the  Shemitic  family  ;  and  their  language  be- 
longed to  the  class  of  tongues  spoken  by  that 
race,  particularly  to  the  Aramaic  branch,  and 
was  indeed  a  dialect  similar  to  that  which  is  now 
called  Chaldee. 

From  the  account  which  is  found  in  Gen.  x.  8, 
Nimrod,  the  son  of  Cush,  appears  to  have  founded 
the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  and  to  have  been  its  first 
sovereign.  In  the  14th  chap,  of  the  same  book, 
AmrapJiel  is  cursorily  mentioned  as  king  of 
Shinar.  In  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (a.c.  713) — 
2  Kings  XX.  12 — '  Berodach-baladan,  the  son  of 
Baladan,'  was  '  king  of  Babylon,'  and '  sent  letters 
and  a  present  unto  Hezekiah,  for  he  had  heard 
that  Hezekiah  had  been  sick.'  About  a  hundred 
years  later,  Jeremiah  and  Habakkuk  speak  of  the 
invasion  of  the  Babylonians  under  the  name  of 
the  Chaldaeans;  and  now  Nebuchadnezzar  ap- 
pears in  the  historical  books  (2  Bangs  xxiv.  1,  sq. ; 
Jer.  xxxvi.  9,  27)  as  head  of  the  all-subduing 
empire  of  Babylon.  Evilmerodach  (2  Kings  xxv. 
27;  Jer.  lii.  31),  son  of  the  preceding,  is  also 
mentioned  as  '  king  of  Babylon ;'  and  with  Bel- 
shazzar  (Dan.  v.  1,  30)  the  line  of  the  Chaldaean 
kings  was  closed  :  he  perished  in  the  conquest  of 
Babylon  by  the  Medo-Persians  (Dan.  v.  31), '  and 
Darius,  the  Median,  took  the  kingdom.' 

The  domination  of  the  Chaldaeans  in  Babylon 
has  given  historians  some  trouble  to  explain. 
The  Chaldaeans  appear  to  have  originally  been 
a  nomadic  tribe  in  the  mountains  of  Armenia, 
numbers  of  whom  are  thought  to  have  settled  in 
Babj'lon  as  subjects,  where,  having  been  civilized 
and  grown  powerful,  they  seized  the  supreme 
power  and  founded  a  Chaldaeo-Babylonian  em- 
pire. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  Chaldaeans 
were  a  distinct  nation.  In  connection  with  Ba- 
bylonia they  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  conquering 
nation  as  well  as  a  learned  people :  they  intro- 
duced a  correct  method  of  i*eckoning  time,  and 
began  their  reign  with  Nabonassar,  B.C.  747.  The 
brilliant  period  of  the  Chaldaeo-Babylonian  em- 
pire extended  to  b.c.  538,  when  the  great  city, 
in  accordance  with  the  prophecy  of  Daniel,  was 
sacked  and  destroyed.    Babylonia,  during  this 


BADGER 


125 


period,  was  'the  land  of  the  Chalda;ans,'  the 
same  as  that  into  which  the  children  of  Judah 
were  carried  away  captive  (Jer.  xxiv.  5) ;  which 
contained  Babylon  (Jer.  1.  1  ;  Ezek.  xii.  13) ; 
was  the  seat  of  the  king  of  Babylon  (Jer.  xxv.' 
12),  and  contained  the  house  of  the  god  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar (Dan.  i.  1,  2). 

BA'CA  and  BECAIM  occur,  the  first  in  Ps. 
Ixxxiv.  6,  '  Who  passing  through  the  valley  of 
Baca  make  it  a  well ;  the  rain  also  filleth  the 
pools ;'  the  second  in  2  Sam.  v.  23,  24,  and  in 
1  Chron.  xiv.  14,  15,  'And  let  it  be,  when  thou 
hearest  the  sound  of  a  going  in  the  tops  of  the 
mulberry  trees,  that  thou  shalt  bestir  thyself." 
Neither  the  mulbernj  nor  the  pear-tree,  considered 
by  some  to  be  the  baca  of  the  Scriptures,  satisfies 
translators  and  commentators,  because  they  do 
not  possess  any  characters  particularly  suitable 
to  the  above  passages. 

It  is  evident  that  the  tree  alluded  to,  whatever 
it  is,  must  be  common  in  Palestine,  must  grow 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  water,  have  its  leaves 
easily  moved,  and  have  a  name  in  some  of  the 
cognate  languages  similar  to  the  Hebrew  Baca. 
The  only  one  with  which  we  are  acquainted 
answering  to  these  conditions  is  that  called  bak 
by  the  Arabs,  or  rather  shajratal-ba/i—tha.t  is, 
the  Jfj/  or  gnat  tree. 

As  it  appears  to  us  sufliciently  clear  that  the 
bak-tree  is  a  kind  of  poplar,  and  as  the  Arabic 
'  bak '  is  very  similar  to  the  Hebrew  '  Baca,'  so 
it  is  probable  that  one  of  the  kinds  of  poplar  may 
be  intended  in  the  above  passages  of  Scripture. 
And  it  must  be  noted  that  the  poplar  is  as  appro- 
priate as  any  tree  can  be  for  the  elucidation  of 
the  passages  in  which  baca  occurs.  For  the 
poplar  is  well  known  to  delight  in  moist  situa- 
tions, and  Bishop  Home,  in  his  Comm.  on  Psalm 
Ixxxiv.,  has  inferred  that  in  the  valley  of  Baca 
the  Israelites,  on  their  way  \o  Jerusalem,  were 
refreshed  by  plenty  of  water.  It  is  not  less  ap- 
propriate in  the  passages  in  2  Samuel  and  1 
Chronicles,  as  no  tree  is  more  remarkable  than 
the  poplar  for  the  ease  with  which  its  leaves  are 
rustled  by  the  slightest  movement  of  the  air ;  an 
efiect  which  might  be  caused  in  a  still  night  even 
by  the  movement  of  a  body  of  men  on  the 
ground,  when  attacked  in  flank  or  when  unpre- 
pared. That  poplars  are  common  in  Palestine 
may  be  proved  fi-om  Kitto's  Palestine,  i.  114: 
'Of  poplars  we  only  know,  with  certainty,  that 
the  black  poplar,  the  aspen,  and  the  Lombardy 
poplar  grow  in  Palestine.  The  aspen,  whose 
long  leaf-stalks  cause  the  leaves  to  tremble  with 
every  breath  of  wind,  unites  with  the  willow 
and  the  oak  to  overshadow  the  watercourses  of 
the  Lower  Lebanon,  and,  with  the  oleander  and 
the  acacia,  to  adorn  the  ravines  of  southern  Pales- 
tine :  we  do  not  know  that  the  Lombardy  poplar 
has  been  noticed  but  by  Lord  Lindsay,  who  de- 
scribes it  as  growing  with  the  walnut-tree  and 
weeping-willow  under  the  deep  torrents  of  the 
Upper  Lebanon.' 

BADGER.  This  is  unquestionably  a  wrong 
interpretation  of  the  word  tachash,  since  the 
badger  is  not  found  in  Southern  Asia,  and  has 
not  as  yet  been  noticed  out  of  Europe.  The  word 
occurs  in  the  plural  form  in  Exod.  xxv.  5  ;  xxvi. 
14;  XXXV.  7,  23;  xxxvi.  19;  xxxix.  34;  Num. 
iv.  6,  8,  10,  11,  12,  14,  25;  and  Ezek.  xvL  10; 
and  in  connectioa  with  oroth,  skins,  is  used  to 


126 


BAHURIM 


denote  the  covering  of  the  Tabernacle.  Negro- 
land  and  Central  and  Eastern  Africa  contain  a 
number  of  ruminating  animals  of  the  great  ante- 
lope family ;  -vrhich  are  known  to  the  natives 
under  various  names,  such  as  pacasse,  empacasse, 
thacasse,  facasse,  and  tachaitze,  all  more  or  less 
varieties  of  the  word  tachash :  they  are  of  con- 
siderable size ;  often  of  slaty  and  purple  grey 
colours,  and  might  be  termed  stag-goats  and  ox- 
goats.  Of  these  one  or  more  occur  in  the  hunt- 
ing-scenes on  Egj'ptian  monuments,  and  there- 
fore we  may  conclude  that  the  skins  were  acces- 
sible in  abundance,  and  may  have  been  dressed 
•with  the  hair  on  for  coverings  of  baggage,  and 
for  boots,  such  as  we  see  worn  by  the  human 
figures  in  the  same  processions.  Thus  we  have 
the  greater  number  of  the  conditions  of  the  ques- 
tion sufficiently  realized  to  enable  us  to  draw  the 
inference  that  tachash  refers  to  a  ruminant  of 
the  Aigocerine  or  Damaline  groups,  most  likely 
of  an  iron-grey  or  slaty-coloured  species. 

BAG,  a  purse  or  pouch  (Deut.  xxv.  13;  Job 
xiv.  17;  1  Sam.  xvii.  40;  Luke  xii.  33).  The 
money  deposited  in  the  treasuries  of  Eastern 
princes,  or  intended  for  large  payments,  or  to  be 
sent  to  a  government  as  taxes  or  tribute,  is  col- 
lected in  long  narrow  bags  or  purses,  each  con- 
taining a  certain  amount  of  money,  and  sealed 
with  the  official  seal.  As  the  money  is  counted 
for  this  purpose,  and  sealed  with  great  care  by 
officers  properly  appointed,  the  bag,  or  purse, 
passes  current,  as  long  as  the  seal  remains  un- 
broken, for  the  amount  marked  thereon.  In  the 
receipt  and  payment  of  large  sums,  this  is  a  great 
and  important  convenience  in  countries  where 
the  management  of  large  transactions  by  paper 
is  unknown,  or  where  a  currency  is  chiefly  or 
■wholly  of  silver :  it  saves  the  great  trouble  of 
counting  or  weighing  loose  money.  This  usage 
is  so  well  established,  that,  at  this  day,  in  the 
Levant,  '  a  purse '  is  the  very  name  for  a  certain 
amount  of  money  (now  five  pounds  sterling),  and 
all  large  payments  are  stated  in  '  purses.'  The 
antiquity  of  this  custom  is  attested  by  the  monu- 


ments of  Egj'pt,  in  which  the  ambassadors  of 
distant  nations  are  represented  as  bringing  their 
tributes  in  sealed  bags  of  money  to  Thothmes 
IIL  ;  and  we  see  the  same  bags  deposited  intact 
in  the  royal  treasury.  When  coined  money  was 
not  used,'  the  seal  must  have  been  considered  a 
voucher  not  only  for  the  amount,  but  for  the 
purity  of  the  metal.  The  money  collected  in 
the  Temple,  in  the  time  of  Joash,  seems  to  have 
been  made  up  into  bags  of  equal  value  after  this 
fashion ;  vvhich  were  probably  delivered,  sealed, 
to  those  who  paid  the  workmen  (2  Kings  xii.  10  ; 
comp.  also  2  Kings  v.  23 ;  Tobit  ix.  5 ;  xi.  16). 

BAIIU'RIM,  a  place  not  far  from  Jerusalem, 
beyond  the  Mount  of  Olives,  on  the  road  to  the 


BALAAM 

Jordan,  where  Shimei  cursed  and  threw  stones  at 
David  (2  Sam.  xvi.  5). 

BA'LAA^I  is  supposed  by  some  to  mean  lord 
of  the  people  ;  but  by  others  destruction  of  the 
people — an  allusion  to  his  supposed  supernatural 
powers.  The  first  mention  of  this  remarkable 
person  is  in  Numbers  xxii.  5,  where  we  are  in- 
formed that  Balak  '  sent  messengers  unto  Balaam 
the  son  of  Beor  to  Pethor,  which  is  by  the  river 
of  the  land  of  the  children  of  his  people.  Of 
the  numerous  paradoxes  which  we  find  in  '  this 
strange  mixture  of  a  man,'  as  Bishop  Newton 
terms  him,  not  the  least  striking  is  that  with  the 
practice  of  an  art  expressly  forbidden  to  the 
Israelites  (Deut.  xviii.  10),  he  united  the  know- 
ledge and  worship  of  Jehovah,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  receiving  intimations  of  his  will  (Num. 
xxii.  8).  The  inquiry  naturally  arises,  by  what 
means  did  he  become  acquainted  with  the  true 
religion  ?  Dr.  Hengstenberg  suggests  that  he 
was  led  to  renounce  idolatry  by  the  reports  that 
reached  him  of  the  miracles  attending  the 
Exodus  ;  and  that  having  experienced  the  decep- 
tive nature  of  the  soothsaying  art,  he  hoped  by 
becoming  a  worshipper  of  the  God  of  the  He- 
brews, to  acquire  fresh  power  over  nature,  and  a 
clearer  insight  into  futurity.  Yet  the  sacred 
narrative  gives  us  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
had  any  previous  knowledge  of  the  Israelites. 
In  Num.  xxii.  11,  he  merely  repeats  Balak's 
message,  '  Behold  there  is  a  people  come  out  of 
Egypt,'  &c.,  without  intimating  that  he  had 
heard  of  the  miracles  wrought  on  their  behalf. 
The  allusion  in  Num.  xxiii.  22  might  be 
prompted  by  the  Divine  aflJatus  which  he  then 
felt.  And  had  he  be£n  actuated,  in  the  first 
instance,  by  motives  of  personal  aggrandizement, 
it  seems  hardly  probable  that  he  would  have 
been  favoured  with  those  divine  communications 
■with  which  his  language  in  Num.  xxii.  8  implies  a 
familiarity.  Since,  in  the  case  of  Simon  Magus, 
the  offer  to  '  purchase  the  gift  of  God  with  money' 
(Acts  viii.  20)  called  forth  an  immediate  and 
awful  rebuke  from  the  Apostles,  would  not 
Balaam's  attempt  to  obtain  a  similar  gift  with  a 
direct  view  to  personal  emolument  and  fame  have 
met  with  a  similar  repulse  ?  In  the  absence  of 
more  copious  and  precise  information,  may  we 
not  reasonably  conjecture  that  Jacob's  residence 
for  twenty  years  in  Mesopotamia  contributed  to 
maintain  some  just  ideas  of  religion,  though  min- 
gled -with  much  superstition*  To  this  source 
and  the  existing  remains  of  Patriarchal  religion, 
Balaam  was  probably  indebted  for  that  truth 
which  he  unhappily  '  held  in  unrighteousness ' 
(Rom.  i.  18). 

On  the  narrative  contained  in  Numbers  xxii. 
22-35  a  difference  of  opinion  has  long  existed, 
even  among  tliose  ■who  fully  admit  its  authen- 
ticity. The  advocates  for  a  literal  interpretation 
urge,  that  in  a  historical  work  and  a  narrative 
bearing  the  same  character,  it  would  be  unnatural 
to  regard  any  of  the  occurrences  as  taking  place 
in  vision,  unless  expressly  so  stated; — that  it 
would  be  difficult  to  determine  where  the  vision 
begins,  and  where  it  ends; — that  Jehovah's 
'  opening  the  mouth  of  the  ass'  (Num.  xxii.  28) 
must  have  been  an  external  act ;  and,  finally,  that 
Peter's  language  is  decidedly  in  favour  of  the 
literal  sense : — '  The  dumb  ass,  speaking  with  a 
man's  voice,  reproved  the  madness  of  the  Pro- 


liALSAM-TREE 

phet'  (2  Peter  ii.  IG).  Those  who  conceive  that 
the  speaking  of  the  ass  and  the  appearance  of  the 
Angel  occurred  iu  vision  to  Balaam  insist  upon 
the  fact  that  dreams  and  visions  were  the  ordinary 
methods  by  which  God  made  himself  known  to 
the  Prophets  (Num.  xii.  6);  they  remark  that 
Balaam,  in  the  introduction  to  his  third  and 
fourth  prophecies  (xxiv.  3,  4, 15),  speaks  of  him- 
self as  '  the  man  who  had  his  eyes  shut'  (v.  Lam. 
iii.  8),  and  who,  on  falling  down  iu  prophetic 
exstasy,  had  his  eyes  opened  ; — that  he  expressed 
no  surprise  on  hearing  the  ass  speak ;  and  that 
neither  his  servants  nor  the  Moabitish  princes 
who  accompanied  him  appear  to  have  been  cog- 
nizant of  any  supernatural  appearance. 

BAL'ADAN.     [Merodach-Baladan.] 

BA'LAK  (emptier,  spoiler),  son  of  Zippor, 
and  king  of  the  Moabites  (Num.  xxii.  2,  4), 
who  was  so  terrified  at  the  approach  of  the 
victorious  army  of  the  Israelites,  who  in  their 
passage  through  the  desert  had  encamped  near 
the  confines  of  his  territory,  that  he  applied 
to  Balaam,  who  was  then  reputed  to  possess 
great  influence  with  the  higher  spirits,  to  curse 
them.  From  Judg.  xiv.  25,  it  is  clear  that  Balak 
was  so  certain  of  the  fulfilment  of  Balaam's 
blessing,  '  blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee,  and 
cursed  is  he  that  curseth  thee'  (Num.  xxiv.  9), 
that  he  never  afterwards  made  the  least  military 
attempt  to  oppose  the  Israelites  (comp.  Mic  vi. 
5;  Rev.  ii.  14). 

BALANCE.    [Weighing.] 

BALDNESS  may  be  artificial  or  natural. 
Artificial  baldness,  caused  by  cutting  or  shaving 
off  the  hair  of  the  head,  a  custom  among  all  the 
ancient  and  Eastern  nations,  in  token  of  mourn- 
ing for  the  death  of  a  near  relative  (Jer.  xvi.  6  ; 
Amos  viii.  10;  Micah  i.  16),  Moses  forbade  to 
the  Israelites  (Deut.  xiv.  1),  probably  for  the 
very  reason  of  its  being  a  heathen  custom ;  for  a 
leading  object  of  his  policy  was  to  remove  the 
Jews  as  far  as  possible  from  the  ways  and  cus- 
toms of  the  surrounding  nations.  Natural  bald- 
ness was  always  treated  among  the  Israelites 
with  contempt  (Lev.  xiii.  40,  &c.),  and  a  bald 
man  was  not  unfrequently  exposed  to  the  ridi- 
cule of  the  mob  (2  Kings  ii.  23;  Isa.  iii.  I")- 
perhaps  from  the  suspicion  of  being  under  some 
leprous  taint.  The  public  prejudice  thus  enter- 
tained against  a  bald-headed  man  was  perhaps 
the  main  reason  why  he  was  declared  unfit  for 
the  priestly  office  (Lev.  xxi.  20). 

BALM.  This  substance  is  mentioned  in  Gen. 
xxxviii.  2.'j ;  xliii.  11;  Jer.  viii.  22;  xli.  8;  xlvi. 
1 1 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  17,  as  a  medicinal  aromatic. 
It  is  shown  in  the  following  article  that  this 
'  balm  ■  could  not  have  been  the  product  of  the 
so  called  balsam-tree,  or  balm  of  Gilead  tree ; 
and  the  product  actually  denoted  by  the  word  is 
iji  fact  unknown. 

BALSAM-TEEE.  The  balsam-tree  was  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  and  highly  esteemed  among 
the  ancients.  It  is  supposed  to  be  referred  to 
under  the  Hebrew  names  Basaji  and  Baal-she- 
men,  translated  '  spices,'  iu  Exod.  xxxv.  28 ; 
1  Kings  X.  10;  Sol.  Song,  v.  1,  13.  It  would 
appear,  however,  from  ancient  authors  that  the 
plant  yielding  balsam  was  never  very  common 
in  Palestine — in  fact,  that  it  was  confined  to  one 
locality,  where  it  was  found  only  as  a  plant  in 
cultivation,  though  it  may  have  been,  and  pro- 


BALSAM-TREE  127 

bably  was,  introduced  at  a  very  early  period. 
That  it  has  long  disappeared  from  thence  is 
evident  from  the  testimony  of  all  travellers  in 
Palestine.  That  it  was  a  southern  plant  we  may 
believe  from  its  being  cultivated  in  the  warm 
southern  valley  of  Jericho,  and  that  it  was  intro- 
duced into  that  locality  we  have  the  testimony  of 
Josephus,  who  says  that  it  was  brought  thither 
by  the  Queen  of  Sheba. 

The  balsam-tree,  or  balm  of  Gilead  tree,  as  it 
is  also  very  generally  called,  is  not  a  native  of 
that  region,  nor  indeed  does  it  appear  ever  to 
have  been  cultivated  there.  The  true  balsam, 
we  have  seen,  was  cultivated  near  Jericho,  and 
at  a  later  age  in  Egypt.  From  that  country  it 
has  been  traced  to  Arabia. 

The  balsam-tree,  having  been  described  by 
various  travellers,  is  now  pretty  well  known. 
It  forms  a  middle-sized  tree,  with  spreading 
branches  and  a  smooth  ash-coloured  bark,  but 
which  is  no  doubt  rough  in  the  older  parts.  The 
ultimate  branches  are  short,  and  thorn-like,  with 
small  very  short  abortive  branchlets,  bearing  at 
their  extremities  the  leaves  and  flowers.  The 
fruit  is  pointed,  fleshy,  with  a  viscid  pulp. 

This  species  is  now  considered  to  be  identical 
with  the  Amyris  opobalsamum  of  Forskal,  found 
by  him  in  Arabia,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
caravanserai  of  Oude,  not  far  from  Has,  and  the 
wounded  bark  of  which  yields  opobalsamum,  or 
balsam  of  Mecca.  It  is  as  highly  esteemed  by 
all  Orientals  in  the  present  day  as  it  was  by  the 
civilized  nations  of  antiquity.  Another  species 
was  discovered  by  Forskal,  and  called  by  him 
Amyris  Kiifal.  It  is  a  tree  with  reddish-coloured 
wood,  and  with  branches  rather  spinous.  The 
younger  leaflets  are  described  as  being  villous 
and  acute,  the  old  ones  smooth,  often  obtuse ;  the 
berry  compressed,  with  an  elevated  ridge  on  each 
side,  the  apex  forming  a  black  prominent  point. 
The  wood  he  describes  as  forming  an  article 


of  considerable  commerce,  especially  to  Egj'pt, 
where  water-vessels  are  impregnated  with  its 
smoke.  It  is  probably  the  twigs  of  this  species 
which  are  taken  to  India,  and  there  sold  under 
the  name  of  aod-i  balessan ;  that  is,  the  wood  of 
the  balsam-tree.  Carpobalsamum  was  probably 
only  the  fruit  of  one  of  these  species.     Opobal- 


128 


BANQUETS 


samum,  or  juice  of  the  balsam,  is  generally  de- 
scribed as  the  finest  kind,  of  a  greenish  colour, 
and  found  in  the  kernel  of  the  fruit.  Carpobal- 
samum  is  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  expres- 
sion of  the  fruit  when  in  maturity,  and  xylobal- 
samum,  by  the  expression  or  decoction  of  the 
small  new  twigs,  which  are  of  a  reddish  colour. 
But  the  ancients  probably  employed  both  the 
fruit  and  the  wood  for  macerating  in  oil,  which 
would  extract  the  odour.  The  greatest  quantity 
of  balsam,  and  the  best  in  quality,  must  in  all 
times  have  be^n  produced  by  an  incision  into  the 
bark  when  the  juice  is  in  its  strongest  circula- 
tion, in  July,  August,  and  the  beginning  of  Sep- 
tember. It  is  then  received  into  a  small  earthen 
bottle,  and  every  day's  produce  is  poured  into  a 
larger,  which  is  kept  closely  corked.  The  whole 
quantity  collected  is  but  small.  When  Sultan 
Selim  conquered  Egypt  and  Arabia  in  1516, 
three  pounds  were  ordered  to  be  sent  yearly  as 
a  tribute  to  Constantinople. 

BANQUETS.  Festive  meetings  among  the 
Jews  were  held  only  towards  the  close  of  the 
day,  as  it  was  not  till  business  was  over  that  the 
Jews  freely  indulged  in  the  pleasures  of  the 
table  ;  and  although  in  the  days  of  Christ  these 
meals  were,  after  the  Roman  fashion,  called 
suppers,  they  corresponded  exactly  to  the  dinners 
of  modern  times,  the  hour  fixed  for  them  vary- 
ing from  five  to  six  o'clock  p.m.,  or  sometimes 
later. 

On  occasions  of  ceremony  the  company  were 
invited  a  considerable  time  previous  to  the  cele- 
bration of  the  feast ;  and  on  the  day  and  at  the 
liour  appointed,  an  express  by  one  or  more  ser- 
vants, according  to  the  number  and  distance  of 
the  expected  guests,  was  despatched  to  announce 
that  the  preparations  were  completed,  and  that 
their  presence  was  looked  for  immediately  (Matt. 
xxii.  8;  Luke  xiv.  17).  This  custom  obtains  in 
the  East  at  the  present  day  ;  and  the  second  in- 
vitation, which  is  sent  to  none  but  such  as  have 
been  already  invited,  and  have  declared  their 
acceptance,  is  always  verbal,  and  is  delivered  by 
the  messenger  in  his  master's  name,  and  fre- 
quently in  the  very  language  of  Scripture. 

At  the  small  entrance  door  a  servant  was  sta- 
tioned to  receive  the  tablets  or  cards  of  those  who 
were  expected ;  and  as  curiosity  usually  collected 
a  crowd  of  troublesome  spectators,  anxious  to 
press  forward  into  the  scene  of  gaiety,  the  gate 
Avas  opened  only  so  far  as  was  necessary  for  the 
admission  of  a  single  person  at  a  time,  who,  on 
presenting  his  invitation  ticket,  was  conducted 
through  a  long  and  narrow  passage  into  the  re- 
ceiving-room ;  and  then,  after  the  whole  company 
were  assembled,  the  master  of  the  house  shut  the 
door  with  his  own  hands — a  signal  to  the  ser- 
vant to  allow  himself  to  be  prevailed  on  neither 
by  noise  nor  by  importunities,  however  loud  and 
long  continued,  to  admit  the  bystanders.  To 
this  custom  there  is  a  manifest  reference  in  Luke 
xiii.  24,  and  Matt.  xxv.  10. 

One  of  the  first  marks  of  courtesy  shown  to 
the  guests,  after  saluting  the  host,  was  the  refresh- 
ment of  water  and  fragrant  oil  or  perfumes ;  and 
hence  we  find  our  Lord  complaining  of  Simon's 
omission  of  these  customary  civilities  (Luke  vii. 
44 ;  see  also  Mark  vii.  4)  [Anointing].  But  a 
far  higher,  though  necessarily  less  frequent  at- 
tention paid  to  their  friends  by  the  great,  was  the 


BANQUETS 

custom  of  furnishing  each  of  the  company  with  a 
magnificent  habit  of  a  light  and  showy  colour, 
and  richly  embroidered,  to  be  worn  during  the 
festivity  (Eccles.  ix.  8  ;  Rev.  iii.  4,  5).  The  loose 
and  flowing  style  of  this  gorgeous  mantle  made 
it  equally  suitable  for  all ;  and  it  is  almost  in- 
credible what  a  variety  of  such  sumptuous  gar- 
ments the  wardrobes  of  some  great  men  could 
supply  to  equip  a  numerous  party.  In  a  large 
company,  even  of  respectable  persons,  some  might 
appear  in  a  plainer  and  humbler  garb  than  ac- 
corded with  the  taste  of  the  entertainer;  and 
where  this  arose  from  necessity  or  limited  means, 
it  would  have  been  harsh  and  unreasonable  in 
the  extreme  to  attach  blame,  or  to  command  the 
instant  and  ignominious  expulsion  of  the  guest 
from  the  banquet-room.  But  where  a  well-ap- 
pointed and  sumptuous  wardrobe  Avas  opened  for 
the  use  of  every  guest, — to  refuse  the  gay  and 
splendid  costume  which  the  munificence  of  the 
host  provided,  and  to  persist  in  appearing  in  one's 
own  habiliments,  implied  a  contempt  both  for  the 
master  of  the  house  and  his  entertainment,  which 
could  not  fail  to  provoke  resentment — and  our 
Lord  therefore  spoke  in  accordance  with  a  well- 
known  custom  of  his  country,  when,  in  the  parable 
of  the  marriage  of  the  king's  son,  he  describes  the 
stern  displeasure  of  the  king  on  discovering  one 
of  the  guests  without  a  wedding-garment,  and  his 
instant  command  to  thrust  him  out  (Matt.  xxii. 
11).  At  private  banquets  the  master  of  the 
house  of  course  presided,  and  did  the  honours  of 
the  occasion ;  but  in  large  and  mixed  companies 
it  was  anciently  customary  to  elect  a  governor  of 
the  feast  (John  ii.  8  ;  see  also  Ecclus.  xxxii.  1), 
who  should  not  merely  perform  the  office  of 
chairman,  in  preserving  order  and  decorum,  but 
take  upon  himself  the  general  management  of 
the  festivities.  As  this  office  was  considered  a 
post  of  great  responsibility  and  delicacy,  as  well 
as  honour,  the  choice  which  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  was  left  to  the  decision  of  dice,  was 
more  wisely  made  by  the  Jews  to  fall  upon  him 
who  was  known  to  be  possessed  of  the  requisite 
qualities — a  ready  wit  and  convivial  turn,  and 
at  the  same  time  firmness  of  character  and  habits 
of  temperance.  The  guests  were  scrupulously 
arranged  according  to  their  respective  ranks. 
This  was  done  either  by  the  host  or  governor, 
who,  in  the  case  of  a  family,  placed  them  accord- 
ing to  seniority  (Gen.  xliii.  33),  and  in  the  case 
of  others,  assigned  the  most  honourable  a  place 
near  his  own  person ;  or  it  was  done  by  the  party 
themselves,  on  their  successive  arrivals,  and  after 
surveying  the  company,  taking  up  tlie  position 
which  it  appeared  fittest  for  each  according  to 
their  respective  claims  to  occupy.  It  might  be 
expected  that  among  the  Orientals,  by  whom  the 
laws  of  etiquette  in  these  matters  are  strictly  ob- 
served, many  absurd  and  ludicrous  contests  for 
precedence  must  take  place,  from  the  arrogance 
of  some  and  the  determined  perseverance  of 
others  to  wedge  themselves  into  the  seat  they 
deem  themselves  entitled  to.  Accordingly  Mo- 
rier  informs  us,  that,  in  Persia,  '  it  is  easy  to  ob- 
serve by  the  countenances  of  those  present,  when 
any  one  has  taken  a  higher  place  than  he  ought.' 
'  On  one  occasion,'  he  adds,  '  when  an  assembly 
was  nearly  full,  the  governor  of  Kashan,  a  man 
of  Immble  mien,  came  in,  and  had  seated  himself 
at  the  lowest  place,  when  the  host,  after  having 


BANQUETS 

testified  his  particular  attentions  to  him  by  nu- 
merous expressions  of  welcome,  pointed  with  his 
hand  to  an  upper  seat,  which  he  desired  him  to 
take'  (Second  Jour  lie;/).  As  a  counterpart  to 
this,  Dr.  Clarke  states  that '  at  a  wedding  feast 
he  attended  in  the  house  of  a  rich  merchant  at 
St.  Jean  d'Acre,  two  persons  who  had  seated 
themselves  at  tlie  top  were  noticed  by  tlie  master 
of  ceremonies,  and  obliged  to  move  lower  down.' 
The  knowledge  of  these  peculiarities  serves  to  il- 
lustrate several  passages  of  Scripture  (Prov.  xxv. 
6,  7 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  6 ;  and  especially  Luke  xlv.  7, 
M'here  we  find  Jesus  making  the  unseemly  ambi- 
tion of  the  Pharisees  the  subject  of  severe  and 
merited  animadversion). 

It  would  be  difficult  within  a  short  compass  to 
describe  the  form  and  arrangements  of  the  table, 
as  tlie  entertainments  spoken  of  in  Scripture  were 
not  all  conducted  in  a  uniform  style.  In  ancient 
Egypt,  as  in  Persia,  the  tables  Avere  ranged  along 
the  sides  of  the  room,  and  the  guests  were  placed 
with  their  faces  towards  the  walls.  Persons  of 
high  oflScial  station  were  honoured  with  a  table 
apart  for  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  room ;  and 
in  these  particulars  every  reader  of  the  Bible  will 
trace  an  exact  correspondence  to  the  arrangements 
of  Joseph's  entertainment  to  his  brethren.  Ac- 
cording to  Lightfoot,  the  tables  of  the  Jews  were 
either  wholly  uncovered,  or  two-thirds  were 
spread  with  a  cloth,  while  the  remaining  third 
was  left  bare  for  the  dishes  and  vegetables.  In 
tlie  days  of  our  Lord  the  prevailing  form  was 
the  triclinium,  the  mode  of  reclining  at  which  is 
described  elsewhere  [Accubation].  This  effe- 
minate practice  was  not  introduced  until  near 
the  close  of  the  Old  Testament  history,  for  the 
ancient  Israelites  sat  round  a  low  table,  cioss- 
legged,  like  the  Orientals  of  the  present  day. 

The  convenience  of  knives  and  forks  being 
unknown  in  the  East,  or,  where  known,  being  a 
modern  innovation,  the  hand  is  the  only  instru- 
ment used  in  conveying  food  to  the  mouth,  and 
tlie  common  practice,  their  food  being  chiefly 
prepared  in  a  liquid  form,  is  to  dip  their  thin 
wafer-like  bread  into  the  dish,  and  folding  it 
between  their  thumb  and  two  fingers,  enclose  a 
portion  of  the  contents.  It  is  not  uncommon 
to  see  several  hands  plunged  into  one  dish  at 
the  same  time.  But  where  the  party  is  nu- 
merous, the  two  persons  near  or  opposite  are 
commonly  joined  in  one  dish ;  and  accordingly, 
at  the  last  Passover,  Judas,  being  close  to  his 
roaster,  was  pointed  out  as  the  traitor  by  being 
designated  as  the  person  '  dipping  his  hand  with 
Jesus  in  the  dish.'  The  Apostle  John,  whose 
advantageous  situation  enabled  him  to  hear  tha 
minutest  parts  of  the  conversation,  has  recorded 
the  fact  of  our  Lord,  in  reply  to  the  question 
'  Who  is  it  ?'  answering  it  by  '  giving  a  sop  to 
Judas  when  he  had  dipped'  (John  xiii.  26);  and 
this  leads  us  to  mention  it  as  not  the  least  among 
the  peculiarities  of  Oriental  manners,  that  a  hoot 
often  dips  his  hand  into  a  dish,  and  lifting  a 
handful  of  what  he  considers  a  dainty,  offers  tlie 
sop  to  one  of  his  friends.  In  earlier  ages,  a 
double  or  a  more  liberal  portion,  or  a  choice 
piece  of  cookery,  was  the  form  in  which  a  land- 
lord showed  his  respect  for  the  individual  he 
delighted  to  honour  (Gen,  xliii.  34;  1  Sam.  i.  4; 
ix.  23;  Prov.  xxxi.  15j. 

In  the  course  of  the  entertainment  servants  are 

VOL.  I. 


BANQUETS 


129 


frequently  employed  in  sprinkling  the  head  and 
person  of  the  guests  with  odoriferous  perfumes, 
which,  probably  to  counteract  the  effects  of  too 
copious  perspiration,  they  use  in  great  profusion, 
and  the  fragrance  of  which,  tliough  generally  too 
strong  for  Europeans,  is  deemed  an  agreeable  re- 
freshment (see  Ps.  xlv.  8 ;  xxiii.  5  ;  cxxxiii.  2). 

The  various  items  of  which  ^n  Oriental  enter- 
tainment consists,  bread,  flesh,  fish,  fowls,  melted 
butter,  honey,  and  fruits,  are  in  manj'  places 
set  on  the  table  at  once,  in  defiance  of  all 
taste.  They  are  brought  in  upon  trays— one, 
containing  several  dishes,  being  assigned  to  a 
group  of  two  or  at  most  three  persons,  and  the 
number  and  quality  of  the  dishes  being  regulated 
according  to  the  rank  and  consideration  of  the 
party  seated  before  it.  In  ordinary  cases  four  or 
five  dishes  constitute  the  portion  allotted  to  a 
guest ;  but  if  lie  be  a  person  of  consequence,  or 
one  to  whom  the  host  is  desirous  of  showing 
more  than  ordinary  marks  of  attention,  otlier 
viands  are  successively  brought  in,  until,  if  every 
vacant  corner  of  the  tray  is  occupied,  the  bowls 
are  piled  one  above  another.  The  object  of  this 
rude  but  liberal  hospitality  is,  not  that  the  indi- 
vidual thus  honoured  is  expected  to  surfeit  him- 
self by  an  excess  of  indulgence  in  order  to  testify 
his  sense  of  the  entertainer's  kindness,  but  that 
he  may  enjoy  the  means  of  gratifying  his  palate 
with  greater  variety ;  and  hence  we  read  of 
Joseph's  displaying  his  partiality  for  Benjamin 
by  making  his  '  mess  five  times  so  much  as  any 
of  theirs '  (Gen.  xliii.  34).  The  shoulder  of  a 
lamb,  roasted,  and  plentifully  besmeared  with 
butter  and  milk,  is  regarded  as  a  great  delicacy 
still,  as  it  was  ak^o  in  the  days  of  Samuel.  But 
according  to  the  favourite  cookery  of  the  Ori- 
entals, their  animal  food  is  for  the  most  part  cut 
into  small  pieces,  stewed,  or  prepzyed  in  a  liquid 
state,  such  as  seems  to  have  been  the  'broth' 
presented  by  Gideon  to  the  angel  (Judg.  vi.  19). 
The  made-up  dishes  are  '  savoury  meat,'  being 
highly  seasoned,  and  bring  to  remembrance  the 
marrow  and  fatness  which  were  esteemed  as  the 
most  choice  morsels  in  ancient  times.  As  to 
drink,  when  particular  attention  was  intended  to 
be  shown  to  a  guest,  his  cup  was  filled  with  wine 
till  it  ran  over  (Ps.  xxiii.  .5),  and  it  is  said  that 
the  ancient  Persians  began  their  feasts  with  wine, 
whence  it  was  called  'a  banquet  of  wine'  (Esther 
V.  C). 

The  hands,  for  occasionally  both  were  required, 
besmeared  with  grease  during  the  process  of  eat- 
ing, were  anciently  cleaned  by  rubbing  them  witli 
the  soft  part  of  the  bread,  the  crumbs  of  which, 
being  allowed  to  fall,  became  the  portion  of  dogs 
(Matt.  XV.  27;  Luke  xvi.  21).  But  the  most 
common  way  now  at  the  conclusion  of  a  feast  is 
for  a  servant  to  go  round  to  each  guest  with 
water  to  wash,  a  service  which  is  performed  by 
the  menial  pouring  a  stream  over  their  hands, 
which  is  received  into  a  strainer  at  the  bottom  of 
the  basin.  This  humble  office  Elisha  performed 
to  his  master  (2  Kings  iii.  11). 

People  of  rank  and  opulence  in  the  East  fre- 
quently give  public  entertainments  to  the  poor. 
I'he  rich  man  in  the  parable,  whose  guests  dis- 
appointed him,  despatched  his  servants  on  the 
instant  to  invite  those  that  might  be  found  sit- 
ting by  the  hedges  and  tlie  highways— a  measure 
which;  in  the  circumstances,  was  absolutely  neces- 


130  BAPTIS.M 

sary,  as  the  heat  of  the  climate  ■would  spoil  the 
meats  long  before  they  could  be  consumed  by 
the  members  of  his  own  household.  But  many 
of  the  great,  from  benevolence  or  ostentation,  are 
in  the  habit  of  proclaiming  set  days  for  giving 
feasts  to  the  poor ;  and  then,  at  the  time  ap- 
pointed, may  be  seen  crowds  of  the  blind,  the 
halt,  and  the  mair  \ed  bending  their  steps  to  the 
scene  of  entertainment.  This  species  of  charity 
claims  a  venerable  antiquity.  Our  Lord  recom- 
mended his  wealthy  hearers  to  practise  it  rather 
than  spend  their  fortunes,  as  they  did,  on  luxu- 
rious living  (Luke  xiv.  12);  and  as  such  invi- 
tations to  the  poor  are  of  necessity  given  by  pub- 
lic proclamation,  and  female  messengers  are  em- 
ployed to  publish  them,  it  is  probably  to  the 
same  venerable  practice  that  Solomon  alludes  in 
Prov.  ix.  3.  ' 

BAPTISM.  A  conviction  of  the  holiness  of 
God  excites  in  man  the  notion  that  he  cannot 
possibly  come  into  any  amicable  relation  -with 
him  before  he  is  cleansed  of  sin,  which  separates 
him  from  God.  This  sentiment  found  a  very 
widely  extended  symbolic  expression  in  the  lus- 
trations which  formed  an  essential  part  of  the 
ceremonial  creeds  of  the  ancient  nations.  In  the 
language  of  the  prophets,  cleansing  with  water 
is  used  as  an  emblem  of  the  purification  of  the 
lieart,  which  in  the  Messianic  age  is  to  glorify 
the  soul  in  her  innermost  recesses,  and  to  em- 
brace the  whole  of  the  theocratic  nation  (Ezek. 
xxxvi.  25,  sq. ;  Zech.  xiii.  1).  Such  declarations 
gave  rise  to  or  nourished  the  expectation  that  the 
advent  of  the  Messiah  would  manifest  itself  by  a 
preparatory  lustration,  by  M^hich  Elijah  or  some 
other  great  prophet  would  pave  the  way  for  him. 
This  supposition  lies  evidently  at  the  bottom  of 
the  questions  which  the  Jews  put  to  John  the 
Baptist  (John  i.  2.5;  comp.  Matt,  and  Luke,  iii. 
7),  whether  h^  was  the  Messiah,  or  Elijah,  or 
some  other  prophet?  and  if  not,  why  he  under- 
took to  baptize  ?  Thus  we  can  cr  mpletely  clear 
up  the  historical  derivation  of  the  rite,  as  used 
by  John  and  Christ,  from  the  geneial  and  natural 
symbol  of  baptism,  fi-om  the  Jewish  custom  in 
particular,  and  from  the  expectation  of  a  Mes- 
siaiiic  consecration.  Dans,  Ziegler,  and  others 
have,  nevertheless,  supposed  it  to  be  derived  from 
the  Jewish  ceremonial  of  baptizing  proselijtes : 
aud  Wetstein  has  traced  that  rite  up  to  a  date 
earlier  than  Christianity.  But  this  opinion  is 
rjot  at  all  tenable :  for,  as  an  act  which  strictly 
gives  validity  to  the  admission  of  a  proselyte,  and 
is  no  mere  accompaniment  to  his  admission,  bap- 
tism certainly  is  not  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  while,  as  to  the  passages  quoted  in  proof 
from  the  classical  (profane)  writers  of  that  period, 
they  are  all  open  to  the  most  fundamental  objec- 
tions. Nor  is  the  utter  silence  of  Josephus  and 
Philo  on  the  subject,  notvrithstanding  their  various 
opportunities  of  touching  on  it,  a  less  weighty  ar- 
gument against  this  view.  It  is  true  that  men- 
tion is  made  in  the  Talmud  of  that  regulation  as 
already  existing  in  the  first  century  a.d.  ;  but 
such  statements  belong  only  to  the  traditions  of 
the  Gemara,  and  require  careful  investigation 
before  they  can  serve  as  proper  authority.  This 
Jewish  rite  was  probably  originally  only  a  puri- 
fying ceremony ;  and  it  was  raised  to  the  cha- 
racter of  an  initiating  and  indispensable  rite  co- 
ordinate with  that  of  sacrifice  and  circumcision, 


BAPTISM 

only  ajler  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  when 
sacrifices  had  ceased,  and  the  circumcision  of 
proselytes  had,  by  reason  of  public  edicts,  become 
more  and  more  rrapracticable. 

Baptism  of  John.— It  was  the  principal  object 
of  John  the  Baptist  to  combat  the  prevailing 
opinion,  that  the  performance  of  external  cere- 
monies was  sufiicient  to  secure  participation  in 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  promises  ;  he  re- 
quired repentance,  therefore,  as  a  preparation 
for  the  approaching  kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 
That  he  may  possibly  have  baptized  heathens 
also,  seems  to  follow  from  his  censuring  the 
Pharisees  for  confiding  in  their  descent  from 
Abraham,  while  they  had  no  share  in  his  spirit : 
yet  it  should  not  be  overlooked  that  this  remark 
was  drawn  from  him  by  the  course  of  the  argu- 
ment (Matt.  iii.  8,  9  ;  Luke  iii.  7,  8).  We  must, 
on  the  whole,  assume  that  John  considered  the 
existing  Judaism  as  a  stepping-stone  by  which 
the  Gentiles  were  to  arrive  at  the  kingdom  of 
God  in  its  Messianic  form.  The  general  point 
of  view  from  which  John  contemplated  the  Mes- 
siah and  his  kingdom  was  that  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, though  closely  bordering  on  Christianity. 
He  regards,  it  is  true,  an  alteration  in  the  mind 
and  spirit  as  an  indispensable  condition  for  par- 
taking in  tlie  kingdom  of  the  Messiah ;  still  he 
looked  for  its  establishment  by  means  of  conflict 
and  external  force,  with  which  the  Messiah  was 
to  be  endowed ;  and  he  expected  in  him  a  Judge 
and  Avenger,  who  was  to  set  up  outward  and 
visible  distinctions.  It  is,  therefore,  by  no  means 
a  matter  of  indifference  whether  baptism  be  ad- 
ministered in  the  name  of  that  Christ  who  floated 
before  the  mind  of  John,  or  of  the  suffering  and 
glorified  One,  such  as  the  apostles  knew  hira ; 
aud  whether  it  was  considered  a  preparation  for 
a  political,  or  a  consecration  into  a  spiritual  theo- 
cracy. John  was  so  far  from  this  latter  view, 
eo  far  from  contemplating  a  purely  spiritual  de- 
velopment of  the  kingdom  of  God,  that  he  even 
began  subsequently  to  entertain  doubts  concern- 
ing Christ  (Matt.  xi.  2).  John's  baptism  had 
not  the  character  of  an  immediate,  but  merely  of 
a  preparatory  consecration  for  the  glorified  theo- 
cracy (John  i.  31).  The  Apostles,  therefore, 
found  it  necessary  to  re-baptize  the  disciples  of 
John,  who  had  still  adhered  to  the  notions  of 
their  master  on  that  head  (Acts  xix.).  To  this 
apostolic  judgment  Tertullian  appeals,  and  in  his 
opinion  coincide  the  most  eminent  teachers  of 
the  ancient  church,  both  of  the  East  aud  the 
West. 

The  Baptism  of  Jesus  by  John  (Matt.  iii. 
13,  sq. ;  Mark  i.  9,  sq. ;  Luke  iii.  21,  sq. ;  comp. 
John  i.  19,  sq. ;  the  latter  passage  refers  to  a 
time  after  the  baptism,  and  describes,  ver.  32,  the 
incidental  facts  attending  it). — The  baptism  of 
Jesus,  as  the  first  act  of  his  public  career,  is  one 
of  the  most  important  events  recorded  in  evan- 
gelical history  :  great  difficulty  is  also  involved 
in  reconciling  the  various  accounts  given  by  the 
Evangelists  of  that  transaction,  and  the  several 
points  connected  with  it.  To  question  the  fact 
itself,  not  even  the  neyative  criticism  of  Dr. 
Strauss  has  dared.  This  is,  however,  all  that 
has  been  conceded  by  that  criticism,  viz.,  the 
mere  and  bare  fact  '  that  Christ  was  baptized  by 
John,'  Avhile  all  the  circumstances  of  the  event 
are  placed  in  the  region  of  mythology  or  fiction. 


BAPTISM 

Critical  inquiry  suggests  the  following  ques- 
tions : — 

1.  In  -what  relation  did  Jesus  stand  to  John 
before  the  baptism  ? 

2.  What  object  did  Jesus  intend  to  obtain  by 
that  baptism  ? 

3.  In  what  sense  are  we  to  take  the  miraculous 
incidents  attending  that  act  ? 

With  regard  to  the  first  point,  we  might  be 
apt  to  infer,  from  Luke  and  Matthew,  that  there 
had  been  an  acquaintance  between  Christ  and 
John  even  prior  to  the  baptism  ;  and  that  hence 
John  declines  (Matt.  iii.  14)  to  baptize  Jesus, 
arguing  that  he  needed  to  be  baptized  by  him. 
This,  however,  seems  to  be  at  variance  with  John 
i.  31,  33.  Liicke  {Comment,  i.  p.  416,  sq.  3rd 
edit.)  takes  the  words  '  I  knew  him  not '  in  their 
strict  and  exclusive  sense.  John,  he  says,  could 
not  have  spoken  in  this  manner  if  he  had  at  all 
knovra  Jesus ;  and  had  he  known  him,  he  could 
not,  as  a  prophet,  have  failed  to  discover,  even  at 
an  earlier  period,  the  but  too  evident '  glory '  of 
the  Messiah.  In  fact,  the  narrative  of  the  first 
three  Gospels  presupposes  the  same,  since,  as  the 
herald  of  the  Messiah,  he  oould  give  that  refusal 
(Matt.  iii.  14)  to  the  Messiah  alone. 

With  regard  to  the  second  point  at  issue,  as  to 
the  object  of  Christ  in  undergoing  baptism,  we 
find,  in  the  first  instance,  that  he  ranked  this 
action  among  those  of  his  Messianic  calling. 
This  object  is  still  more  defined  by  John  the 
Baptist  (John  i.  31),  which  Liicke  interprets  in 
the  following  words :  '  Only  by  entering  into 
that  community  which  was  to  be  introductory  to 
the  Messianic,  by  attaching  himself  to  the  Bap- 
tist like  any  other  man,  was  it  possible  for  Christ 
to  reveal  himself  to  the  Baptist,  and  through  him 
to  others.'  Christ,  with  his  never-failing  reliance 
on  God,  never  for  a  moment  could  doubt  of  his 
own  mission,  or  of  the  right  period  when  his 
character  was  to  be  made  manifest  by  God  ;  but 
John  needed  to  receive  that  assurance,  in  order 
to  be  the  herald  of  the  Messiah  who  was  actually 
come.  For  all  others  whom  John  baptized,  either 
before  or  after  Christ,  this  act  was  a  mere  pre- 
paratory consecration  to  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah;  while  for  Jesus  it  was  a  direct  and 
immediate  consecration,  by  means  of  which  he 
manifested  the  commencement  of  his  career  as 
the  founder  of  the  new  theocracy,  which  began 
at  the  very  moment  of  his  baptism,  the  initiatory 
character  of  >chich  constituted  its  general  prin- 
ciple and  tendency. 

With  respect  to  the  miraculous  incidents  which 
accompanied  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  if  we  take  for 
our  starting-point  the  narration  of  the  three  first 
Gospels,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  really  and  visibly 
descended  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  and  proclaimed 
Jesus,  in  an  audible  voice,  to  be  the  Son  of  God, 
there  can  be  no  difficulty  in  bringing  it  to  har- 
monize with  the  statement  in  the  Gospel  of  John. 
This  literal  sense  of  the  text  has,  indeed,  for  a 
long  time  been  the  prevailing  interpretation, 
though  many  doubts  respecting  it  had  very 
early  forced  themselves  on  the  minds  of  sober 
inquirers,  traces  of  which  are  to  be  found  in 
Origen,  and  which  Strauss  has  more  elaborately 
renewed.  To  the  natural  explanations  belong 
that  of  Paulus,  that  the  dove  was  a  real  one, 
which  had  by  chance  flown  near  the  spot  at  that 
moment ;  that  of  Meyer,  that  it  was  the  figure 


BAPTISM 


131 


of  a  meteor  which  was  just  then  visible  in  the 
sky ;  and  that  of  Kuinoel  (ad  Matth.  iii.),  who 
considers  the  dove  as  a  figure  for  lightning,  and 
the  voice  for  that  of  thunder,  which  the  eye- 
witnesses, in  their  extatic  feelings,  considered  as 
a  divine  voice,  such  as  the  Jews  called  a  Bath-kol 
(Meyer).  Such  interpretations  are  not  only  irre- 
concilable with  the  evangelical  text,  but  even 
presuppose  a  violation  of  the  common  order  of 
nature,  in  favour  of  adherence  to  which  these  in- 
terpretations are  advanced. 

A  more  close  investigation  of  the  subject,  how- 
ever, induces  us  to  take  as  a  starting-point  the 
account  of  the  Apostle  St.  John.  It  is  John  the 
Baptist  himself  who  speaks.  He  was  an  eye- 
witness, nay,  to  judge  from  Matthew  and  John, 
the  only  one  present  with  Jesus,  and  is  conse- 
quently the  only  source — with  or  without  Christ 
—of  information.  Indeed,  if  there  were  more 
people  present,  as  we  are  almost  inclined  to 
infer  from  Luke,  they  cannot  have  perceived  the 
miracles  attending  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  or  John 
and  Christ  would  no  doubt  have  appealed  to 
their  testimony  in  verification  of  them. 

In  thus  taking  the  statement  in  St.  John  for 
the  authentic  basis  of  the  whole  history,  a  few 
slight  hints  in  it  may  afford  us  the  means  of 
solving  the  difficulties  attending  the  literal  con- 
ception of  the  text.  John  the  Baptist  knows 
nothing  of  an  external  and  audible  voice,  and 
Avhen  he  assures  us  (i.  33)  that  he  had  in  the 
Spirit  received  the  promise,  that  the  Messiah 
would  be  made  manifest  by  the  Spirit  descending 
upon  him,  and  remaining — be  it  upon  or  in  him — 
there;  this  very  re??iai/u"7i5f  assuredly  precludes 
any  material  appearance  in  the  shape  of  a  bird. 
The  internal  probability  of  the  text,  therefore, 
speaks  in  favour  of  a  spiritual  vision  in  the  mind 
of  the  Baptist ;  this  view  is  still  more  strength- 
ened by  the  fact,  that  Luke  supposes  there  were 
many  more  present,  who  notwithstanding  per- 
ceived nothing  at  all  of  the  miraculous  incidents. 
The  reason  that  the  Spirit  in  the  vision  assumed 
the  figure  of  a  dove,  we  would  rather  seek  in 
the  peculiar  flight  and  movement  of  that  bird, 
than  in  its  form  and  shape.  This  interpretation 
moreover  has  the  advantage  of  exhibiting  the 
philosophic  connection  of  the  incidents,  since  the 
Baptist  appears  more  conspicuously  as  the  im- 
mediate end  of  the  divine  dispensation.  Christ 
had  thus  the  intention  of  being  introduced  by 
him  into  the  Messianic  sphereof  operation,  while 
the  Baptist  recognises  this  to  be  his  own  peculiar 
calling :  the  signs  by  which  he  was  to  know  the 
Messiah  had  been  intimated  to  him,  and  now 
that  they  had  come  to  pass,  the  prophecy  and  his 
mission  Avere  fulfilled. 

None  of  the  Evangelists  give  any  authority 
for  the  ooinirion  tradition  that  the  descent  of  the 
Spirit  upon  Christ  was  sensibly  witnessed  by  the 
multitude,  Matthew  simply  states  that  the  vision 
appeared  to  Christ ;  Mai^  adds  that  the  Spirit 
appeared  to  him  '  as  a  dove  descending  upon 
him ;'  Luke,  more  generally,  states  only  the  fact 
of  the  Spirit's  descent  in  a  sensible  form ;  and 
John  informs  us  that  besides  Christ  this  vision 
was  witnessed  also  by  the  Baptist. 

Chkistian  Baptism.— Jesus,   having  under- 
gone baptism  as  the  founder  of  the  new  kingdom, 
ordained  it  as  a  legal  act  by  which  individuals 
were  to  obtain  the  rights  of  citizens  therein. 
K  2 


132 


BAPTISM 


Though  he  caused  many  to  be  baptized  by  his 
disciples  (John  iv.  1,  2),  yet  all  were  not  bap- 
tized who  were  converted  to  him ;  neither  was  it 
even  necessary  after  they  had  obtained  partici- 
pation in  him  by  his  personal  choice  and  for- 
giving of  sin.  But  when  he  could  no  longer 
personally  and  immediately  choose  and  receive 
members  of  his  kingdom,  when  at  the  same  time 
all  had  been  accomplished  which  the  founder 
thought  necessary  for  its  completion,  he  gave 
power  to  the  spiritual  community  to  receive,  in 
his  stead,  members  by  baptism  (Matt,  xxviii.  19  ; 
Mark  xvi.  16).  Baptism  essentially  denotes  the 
regenerating  of  him  who  receives  it,  his  partici- 
pation both  in  the  divine  life  of  Christ  and  the 
promises  rested  on  it,  as  well  as  his  reception  as 
a  member  of  the  Christian  community. 

Each  of  these  momentous  points  implies  all 
the  rest ;  and  the  germ  of  all  is  contained  in  the 
words  of  Christ  (Matt,  xxviii.  19).  The  details 
are  variously  digested  by  the  Apostles  according 
to  their  peculiar  modes  of  thinking.  John 
dwells — in  like  manner  as  he  does  on  the  holy 
communion — almost  exclusively  on  the  internal 
nature  of  baptism,  the  immediate  mystical  union 
of  the  Spirit  with  Christ ;  baptism  is  with  him 
equivalent  to  'being  born  again'  (John  iii.  .5,  7). 
Paul  gives  more  explicitly  and  completely  the 
other  points  also.  He  understands  by  it  not 
only  the  union  of  the  individual  with  the  Head, 
by  the  giving  one's  self  up  to  ihe  Kedeemer  and 
the  receiving  of  Ins  life  (Gal.  iii.  27),  but  also 
the  union  with  the  other  members  (i6.  28;  1 
Cor.  xii.  13  ;  Ephes.  iv.  5 ;  v.  28).  He  expresses 
a  spiritual  purport  by  saying  that  it  intimates  on 
the  part  of  those  who  have  received  it,  their 
being  joined  with  Christ  in  his  death  and  raised 
with  him  in  his  resurrection. 

As  regards  the  design  of  Christian  Baptism, 
different  views  have  been  adopted  by  different 
parties.     The  principal  are  the  following  :— ' 

1.  That  it  is  a  direct  instrument  of  grace ;  the 
application  of  water  to  the  person  by  a.  properly 
qualified  functionary  being  regarded  as  the  ap- 
pointed vehicle  by  which  God  bestows  regene- 
rating grace  upon  men.  This  is  the  Romanist 
and  Anglo-Catholic  view. 

2.  That  though  not  an  instrument  it  is  a  seal  of 
grace  ;  divine  blessings  being  thereby  confirmed 
and  obsignated  to  the  individual.  This  is  the 
doctrine  of  the  Confessions  of  the  majority  -of 
the  Reformed  Churches. 

3.  Tliat  it  is  neither  an  instrument  nor  a  seal 
of  grace,  but  simply  a  ceremony  of  initiation  into 
Church  membership.  This  is  the  Socinian  view 
of  the  ordinance. 

4.  That  it  is  a  tolien  of  regeneration  ;  to  be  re- 
I  ceived  only  by  those  who  give  evidence  of  being 
i  really  regenerated.  This  is  the  view  adopted  by 
1    the  Baptists. 

]        5.    TTiat  it  is  a  symbol  of  purification  ;  the  use 
I    of  which  simply  announces  that  the  religion  of 
Christ  is  a  purifying  religion,  and  intimates  that 
I    the  partj'  receiving  the  rite  assumes  the  profes- 
I    sion,  and  is  to  be  instructed  in  the  principles,  of 
that  religion.     This  opinion  is  extensively  en- 
tertained amongst  the  Congi-egationalists  of  Eng- 
land. 

Differences  of  opinion  have  also  been  intro- 
duced respecting  the  proper  7node  of  baptism. 
Some   contend  tiiat  it   should  be  by  immersion 


BAPTISM 

alone ;  others,  that  it  should  be  only  by  affusion 
or  sprinkling ;  and  others,  that  it  matters  not  in 
which  way  it  be  done,  the  only  thing  required 
being  the  ritual  application  of  water  to  the 
person.  The  first  class  appeal  to  the  use  of 
baptizo  by  the  classical  authors,  with  whom 
they  affirm  it  is  always  used  in  the  sense  of  dip- 
ping or  immersing ;  and  to  such  expressions  as 
'  being  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism,'  &c.,  where 
they  understand  an  allusion  to  a  typical  burial, 
by  submersion  in  Avater.  The  second  class  rely 
upon  the  usage  of  baptizo  by  the  sacred  writers, 
who,  they  allege,  employ  it  frequently  where 
immersion  is  not  to  be  supposed,  as  when  they 
speak  of  '  baptism  with  fire,'  and  '  baptism 
with  the  Spirit ;'  upon  the  alleged  impossibility 
of  immersing  such  multitudes  as  we  learn  were 
baptized  at  once  in  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost;  upon  the  supposed  improbability  of 
an  Eastern  female  like  Lydia  allowing  herself 
to  be  publicly  immersed  by  a  man  whom  she 
had  never  seen  before  ;  upon  the  language  used 
by  Paul  at  Philippi,  when  he  commanded  water 
to  be  brought  into  the  room,  that  he  might  bap- 
tize the  jailor  and  his  family,  language  which,  it 
is  said,  cannot  be  understood  of  such  a  quantity 
of  water  as  would  be  required  to  immerse  in  suc- 
cession a  whole  household ;  and  upon  the  use  of 
the  term  baptism,  to  designate  what  is  elsewhere 
spoken  of  as  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  The 
third  class  maintain,  that  according  to  universal 
usage  baptizo  signifies  simply  to  wet,  and  that 
the  following  preposition  determines  whether  it 
is  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  of  wetting  by  immer- 
sion or  not ;  they  urge  especially  that  the  word 
I's  used  in  the  New  Testament  possesses  so  much 
of  a  technical  character,  that  it  is  not  possible 
from  it  to  deduce  any  correct  inference  as  to  the 
mode  of  baptizing;  and  they  adduce  historical 
evidence  to  show  that  baptism  was  performed  in- 
differently by  immersion  or  affusion  as  conve- 
nience dictated. 

In  fine,  differences  of  opinion  have  arisen  re- 
specting the  proper  subjects  of  baptism.  Here 
also  we  have  three  classes. 

1 .  Those  who  maintain  that  baptism  is  to  be 
administered  only  to  tliose  who  believe  and  give 
evidence  of  being  r  ^generated.  This  opinion  is 
grounded  chiefly  upon  the  positions  that.  Re- 
pentance and  Faith  are  distinctly  prescribed  in 
the  New  Testament  as  conditions  of  baptism,  and 
the  alleged  fact  that  the  Apostles  did  not  baptize 
any,  until  satisfied  that  they  sincerely  believed. 
It  is  urged  also  by  the  advocates  of  this  opinion, 
against  the  practice  of  infant  baptism,  that  not 
only  are  infants  excluded  from  baptism  by  their 
inability  to  comply  with  the  required  terms,  but 
that  they  are  virtually  excluded  by  their  baptism 
not  being  expressly  enjoined  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. It  is  also  alleged  that  infant  baptism 
was  unknown  to  the  Early  Church,  and  was  a 
corrupt  invention  of  the  patristic  age. 

2.  Those  who  contend  that  baptism  is  to  be 
administered  not  only  to  believers  who  have  not 
been  before  baptized,  but  to  the  infant  offspring 
of  believers.  This  opinion  is  chiefiy  based  on 
the  covenant  established  by  God  with  Abraham. 
This  covenant  it  is  maintained  was  the  everlast- 
ing covenant,  the  covenant  of  grace ;  under  it  a 
connection  of  a  spiritual  kind  was  recognised  as 
existing  between  parents  and  their  children ;  in  i 


BAPTISM 

virtue  of  this  the  latter  received  the  sign  of  the 
covenanted  blessings;  no  evidence  can  be  ad- 
duced that  this  divinely-appointed  connection 
has  been  abrogated,  though  the  sign  of  the  cove- 
nant has  been  changed ;  on  the  contrary,  there 
is  abundant  evidence  to  show  that  the  Apostles 
administered  to  the  children  of  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity the  same  rite,  that  of  baptism,  -which  they 
administered  to  the  converts  themselves.  It  is 
also  affirmed  by  this  party  that  the  requiring  of 
faith  and  repentance  as  a  condition  of  baptism  in 
the  case  of  adults  cannot  be  fairly  held  as  in- 
cluding children,  inasmuch  as  by  the  same  reason- 
ing children  dying  in  infancy  would  be  excluded 
from  salvation.  It  is  denied  that  the  absence  of 
anj"  express  injunction  to  baptize  children  virtu- 
ally prohibits  their  baptism  ;  and  the  assertion 
that  infant  baptism  was  unknown  in  the  primi- 
tive age  is  rebutted  by  historical  evidence. 

3.  Those  who  assert  that  baptism  is  to  be  ad- 
ministered to  all  who  either  will  place  them- 
selves under  Christian  instruction,  such  as  adults 
who  have  grown  up  as  heathens,  Jews,  or  in- 
fidels ;  or  who  may  be  thuS  placed  by  their 
parents  or  guardians,  such  as  infants.  In  sup- 
port of  this  view,  stress  is  laid  upon  our  Lord's 
words  when  he  commanded  his  Apostles  to  go 
and  teach  and  baptize  all  nations ;  the  '  bap- 
tizing' being  regarded  as  associated  with  the 
'  teaching'  and  commensurate  Avith  it,  whilst 
what  is  said  about  'believing'  is  regarded  as  re- 
lating to  something  which  may  or  may  not  follow 
the  teaching  and  baptizing,  but  which  is  declared 
to  be  essential  to  salvation.  It  is  argued  that  the 
Apostolic  practice  was  altogether  in  accordance 
■with  this  vicAV  of  our  Lord's  commission,  inas- 
nmch  as  the  multitudes  frequently  baptized  by 
tho  Apostles  were  such,  that  to  obtain  satisfactory 
evidence  of  the  knowledge  and  piety  of  each  in- 
dividual was  impossible  in  the  time  which  elapsed 
between  the  Apostles'  preaching  and  the  bap- 
tising to  which  it  led ;  whilst  such  cases  as  those 
of  Simon  Magus  and  the  Philippian  Jailor  show 
that  even  very  ignorant  men,  and  men  who 
could  not  possibly  give  what  any  person  would 
receive  as  credible  evidence  of  piety,  were  at 
once  baptized.  The  practice  of  the  Apostles  also 
in  baptizing  whole  households,  including  children 
and  servants,  without  asking  any  questions  as  to 
their  knowledge  and  belief,  is  urged  in  favour  of 
this  opinion,  as  well  as  the  corresponding  prac- 
tice of  the  Church. 

Baptism  for  the  Dead. — Paul  (1  Cor.  xv. 
29)  uses  this  phrase.  Few  passages  have  under- 
gone more  numerous  and  arbitrary  emendations 
than  this  text.     We  shall  examine  first — 

A.  Those  interpretations  which  lake  it  to  be  some 
particular  application  of  baptism. 

1 .  Some  imagine  that  Paul  speaks  of  a  baptism 
which  a  living  man  receives  in  the  place  of  a 
dead  one. 

Various  passages  have  been  quoted  from  the 
fathers  in  support  of  this  opinion  ;  but  all  we  can 
infer  from  their  statements  is,  that  baptism  by 
substitution  had  taken  place  among  the  Mar- 
cionites,  and  perhaps  also  among  the  Cerinthians 
and  other  smaller  sects  towards  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century  ;  but  that  it  existed  between  that 
period  and  the  time  when  Paul  wj-ote  the  above 
passage  is  wholly  unsubstantiated. 

The  idea,  then,  that  such  a  superstitious  custom 


EAPTISM 


13'J 


existed  in  the  Corinthian  community  is  devoid 
of  all  historical  evidence. 

The  difficulties  will  still  more  increase,  if  we 
were  to  admit,  with  Olhausen,  lliickert,  and  De 
Wette,  that  the  Apostle  approved  of  the  absurd 
practice  in  question,  since  he  would  thus  be 
brought  into  contradiction  with  his  own  prin- 
ciples on  the  importance  of  faith  and  external 
works,  which  he  developes  in  his  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians.  In  the  words  of  Paul  we  discover  no 
opinion  of  his  own  concerning  the  justice  or  in- 
justice of  the  rite ;  it  is  merely  brought  in  as  an 
argimieiitum  ex  concesso  in  favour  of  the  object 
which  he  pursues  through  tlie  whole  chapter 
(comp.  1  Cor.  ii.  B).  Hov^ever  much  may  be 
objected  against  this  interpretation,  it  is  by  far 
more  reasonable  than  the  explanations  given  by 
other  critics.  The  Corinthian  community  was 
certainly  of  a  mixed  character,  consisting  of  indi- 
viduals of  various  views,  ways  of  thinking,  and 
different  stages  of  education  :  so  that  there  might 
still  have  existed  a  small  number  among  them 
capable  of  such  absurdities.  We  are  not  suffi- 
ciently acquainted  with  all  the  particulars  of  the 
case  to  maintain  the  contrary,  while  the  simple 
grammatical  sense  of  the  passage  is  decidedly  in 
favour  of  the  proposed  interpi-etation. 

2.  Origen,  Luther,  Chemnitz,  and  Joh.  Ger- 
hard, interpret  the  words  as  relating  to  baptism 
over  the  graves  of  the  members  of  the  commu- 
nity, a  favourite  rendezvons  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. Luther  says  that  in  order  to  strengthen 
their  faith  in  the  resurrection,  the  Christians  bap- 
tised over  the  tombs  of  the  dead.  But  the  custom 
alluded  to  dates  from  a  much  later  period. 

3.  Epiphanius  mentions  also  a  view,  according 
to  which  the  word  rendered  '■dead'  i?  to  he 
translated  mortally  ill  persons  whose  baptism 
was  expedited  by  sprinkling  water  upon  them  on 
their  death-bed,  instead  of  immersing  them  in 
the  usual  way ;  the  rite  is  known  under  the  name 
of  baptismus  clinicus,  lectualis.  But  few  of  the 
modern  theologians  (among  whom,  however,  are 
Calvin  and  Estius)  advocate  this  view,  which 
transgresses  not  less  against  the  words  of  the 
text  than  against  all  historical  knowledge  of 
the  subject. 

B.  The  interpretations  which  suppose  that  the 
text  speaks  of  general  church  baptism.  To  these 
belongs  the  oldest  opinion  we  know  of,  given  in 
Tertullian,  according  to  which  the  Greek  word 
rendered  'for '  is  here  taken  in  the  sense  of  on 
account  of  and  the  word  rendered  '  the  dead '  in 
that  of  dmd  bodies,  they  themselves,  the  baptized, 
as  dead  persons.  The  notion  which  lies  at  the 
bottom  of  this  version  is,  that  the  body  possesses 
a  guarantee  for  resurrection  in  the  act  of  bap- 
tism, in  which  it  also  shares.  The  sinking  under 
and  rising  np  is  with  them  a  symbol  of  burying 
and  resurrection. 

2.  A  later  view,  expressed  by  Chrysostom, 
adopts  the  same  meaning  as  regards  '  the  dead,' 
but  construes  the  whole  clause  '  in  behalf  of  the 
dead,'  to  signify  '  in  the  belief  of  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead.'  This  ungrammatical  version  is 
adopted  by  Theophylact :  '  Why  are  men  baptized 
at  all  in  behalf  of  resurrection,  that  is,  in  expect- 
ation of  resurrection,  if  the  dead  rise  not  ?' 

3.  Pelagius,  Olearius,  Fabricius,areof  opmion 
that  the  phrase  '  on  account  of  the  dead,'  or  '  of 
those  who  are  dead,'  although  strictly  plural. 


134 


BARAK 


BARNABAS 


here  alludes  to  an  individual,  namely,  to  Christ, 
'  on  account  of  whom '  we  are  baptized,  alluding 
to  Rom.  vi.  3. 

4.  Among  the  best  interpretations  is  that  of 
Spanheim  and  Joh.  Christ.  Wolf.  They  consider 
'the  dead'  to  be  martyrs  and  other  believers, 
■who,  by  firmness  and  cheerful  hope  of  resurrec- 
tion, have  given  in  death  a  worthy  example,  by 
which  others  were  also  animated  to  receive  bap- 
tism. Still  this  meaning  would  be  almost  too 
briefly  and  enigmatically  expressed,  when  no 
particular  reason  for  it  is  known,  while  also  the 
allusion  to  the  exemplary  death  of  many  Chris- 
tians could  chiefly  apply  to  the  martyrs  alone,  of 
whom  there  were  as  yet  none  at  Corinth. 

5.  Olhausen's  interpretation  is  of  a  rather 
doubtful  character.  The  meaning  of  the  passage 
betakes  to  be,  that  '  all  who  are  converted  to 
the  church  are  baptized— /or  the  good  of  the  dead, 
as  it  requires  a  certain  number  (Rom.  xi.  12-25), 
a  "  fullness  "  of  believers,  before  the  resurrection 
can  take  place.  Every  one  therefore  who  is  bap- 
tized is  so  for  the  good  of  believers  collectively, 
and  of  those  who  have  already  died  in  the  Lord.' 
Olhausen  is  himself  aware  that  the  Apostle  could 
not  have  expected  that  such  a  difficult  and  remote 
idea,  which  he  himself  calls  '  a  mystery,'  would 
be  understood  by  his  readers  without  a  further 
explanation  and  development  of  his  doctrine. 
He  therefore  proposes  an  explanation,  in  which 
it  is  argued  that  the  miseries  and  hardships 
Christians  have  to  struggle  against  in  this  life 
can  only  be  compensated  by  resurrection.  Death 
causes',  as  it  were,  vacancies  in  the  full  ranks  of 
the  believers,  which  are  again  filled  up  by  other 
individuals.  '  What  would  it  profit  those  who 
are  baptized  in  the  place  of  the  dead  (to  fill  up 
their  place  in  the  community)  if  there  be  no  re- 
surrection ? ' 

BAR,  a  Hebrew  word  meaning  son,  but  used 
only  poetically  in  that  language  (Ps.  ii.  12; 
Prov.  xxxl  2j.  In  Syriac.  however.  Bar  an- 
swered to  the  more  common  Hebrew  word  for 
son,  i.  e.  hen ;  and  hence  in  later  times,  in  the 
New  Testament,  it  takes  the  same  place  in  the 
formation  of  proper  names  which  Ben  had  for- 
merly occupied  in  the  Old  Testament. 
_  BARAB'BAS,  a  person  who  had  forfeited  his 
lifefor  sedition  and  murder  (Mark  xv.  7  ;  Luke 
xxiii.  25).  As  a  rebel,  he  was  subject  to  the 
punishment  laid  down  by  the  Roman  law  for 
such  political  offences ;  while,  as  a  murderer,  he 
could  not  escape  death  even  by  the  civil  code  of 
the  Jews.  But  the  latter  were  so  bent  on  the  death 
of  Jesus,  that,  of  the  two,  they  preferred  pardoning 
this  double  criminal  (Matt,  xxvii.  lG-26;  Mark 
XT.  7-15;  Luke  xxiii.  18-25;  John  xviii.  40). 

BARACHI'AS,  father  of  the  Zechariah  (Zecha- 
rias)  mentioned  in  Matt,  xxiii.  35  [Zechahiah]. 

BA'RAK,  lightning;  son  of  Abinoam  of  Ke- 
desh-Naphtali,  a  Galilean  city  of  refuge  in  the 
tribe  of  Naphthali  (Judg.  iv.  C ;  comp.  Josh.  xix. 
37 ;  xxi.  32).  He  was  summoned  by  the  pro- 
phetess Deborah  to  take  the  field  against  the 
hostile  army  of  the  Canaanitish  king  Jabin, 
commanded  by  Sisera,  with  10,000  men  from 
the  tribes  of  Naphthali  and  Zebulon,  and  to  en- 
camp on  Mount  Tabor,  probably  because  the  900 
chariots  of  iron  (Judg.  iv.  3),  in  which  the  main 
force  of  Sisera  consisted,  could  not  so  easily 
manoeuvre  on  uneven  ground.    After  some  hesi- 


tation, he  resolved  to  do  her  bidding,  on  con- 
dition that  she  would  go  with  him,  which  she 
readily  promised.  Confiding,  therefore,  in  the 
God  of  Israel,  he  attacked  the  hostile  army  by 
surprise,  put  them  to  flight,  and  routed  them  to 
the  last  man.  In  conjunction  with  Deborah,  he 
afterwards  composed  a  song  of  victory  in  com- 
memoration of  that  event  (Judg.  v.  14,  15,  16). 

BARBARIAN.  This  term  is  used  in  the  New 
Testament,  as  in  classical  writers,  to  denote  other 
nations  of  the  earth  in  distinction  from  the 
Greeks.  '  I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and 
Barbarians.'  InColoss.iii.il,  '  Greek  nor  Jew — 
Barbarian,  Scythian ' — Barbarian  seems  to  refer 
to  those  nations  of  the  Roman  empire  who  did  not 
speak  Greek,  and  Sci/thian  to  nations  not  under 
the  Romau  dominion.  In  1  Cor.  xiv.  11  the 
term  is  applied  to  a  difference  of  language  :  '  If 
I  know  not  the  meaning  of  the  voice,  I  shall  be 
unto  him  that  speaketh  a  barbarian  ('as  of 
another  language,'  Geneva  Vers.),  and  he  that 
speaketh  shall  be  a  barbarian  ('as  of  another 
language,'  Geneva  Vers.)  unto  me.'  Strabo 
(xiv.  2)  suggests  that  the  word  Bar-bar-os  was 
originally  an  imitative  sound,  designed  to  express 
a  harsh  dissonant  language,  or  sometimes  the  in- 
distinct articulation  of  the  Greek  by  foreigners. 

BAR-JE'SUS.     [Elymas.] 

BAR-JCyNA  (son  of  Jonas),  the  patronymic 
appellation  of  the  Apostle  Peter  (Matt.  xvi.'l7). 

BARLEY.  This  grain  is  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture as  cultivated  and  used  in  Egypt  (Exod.  ix. 
31),  and  in  Palestine  (Lev.  xxvii.  16;  Deut.  viii. 
8  ;  2  Chrou.  ii.  10  ;  Ruth  ii.  17  ;  2  Sam.  xiv.  30 ; 
Isa.  xxviii.  25;  Jer.  xli.  8;  Joel  i.  11).  Barley 
was  given  to  cattle,  especially  horses  (1  Kings  iv. 
28),  and  was  mdeed  the  only  corn  grain  given 
to  them,  as  oats  and  rye  were  unknown  to  the 
Hebrews,  and  are  not  now  grown  in  Palestine. 
This  is  still  the  chief  use  of  barley  in  Western 
Asia.  Bread  made  of  barley  was,  however,  used 
by  the  poorer  classes  (Judg.  vii.  13 ;  2  Kings  iv. 
42;  John  vi.  9,  13;  comp.  Ezek.  iv.  9).  In 
Palestine  barley  was  for  the  most  part  sown  at  the 
time  of  the  autumnal  rains,  October— November, 
and  again  in  early  spring,  or  rather  as  soon  as  the 
depth  of  winter  bad  passed.  The  barley  of  the 
first  crop  was  ready  by  the  time  of  the  Pass- 
over>  in  the  month  Abib,  March — April  (Ruth 
i.  22 ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  9 ;  Judith  viii.  2) ;  April  is 
the  month  in  which  the  barley-harvest  is  chiefly 
gathered  in,  although  it  begins  earlier  in  some 
parts  and  later  in  others. 

In  Exod.  ix.  31,  we  are  told  that  the  plague  of 
hail,  some  time  before  the  Passover,  destroyed 
the  barley,  which  was  then  in  the  green  ear; 
but  not  the  wheat  or  the  rye,  which  were  only 
in  the  blade.  This  is  minutely  corroborated  by 
the  fact  that  the  barley  sown  after  the  inundation 
is  reaped,  some  after  ninety  days,  some  in  the 
fourth  month,  and  that  it  there  ripens  a  month 
earlier  than  the  wheat. 

B.\R'N  ABAS.  His  name  was  originally  Joses, 
or  Joseph  (Acts  iv.  36),  but  he  received  from  the 
Apostles  the  surname  of  Barnabas,  which  signi- 
fies the  Son  of  Prophecy.  Luke  interprets  it  by 
Son  of  Exhortation.  It  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  this  name  was  given  to  Joses  to  denote  his 
eminence  as  a  Christian  teacher.  He  is  described 
by  Luke  as  '  a  good  man,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  of  faith '  (Acts  xi.  24).    He  was  a  natiTe  of 


BARNABAS 


BARUCH 


Cyprus,  but  the  son  of  Jewish  parents  of  tho  tribe 
of  Levi.  From  Acts  iv.  36,  37,  it  appears  that 
he  was  possessed  of  land,  but  whether  in  Judsea 
or  Cyprus  is  not  stated.  He  generously  disposed 
of  the  whole  for  the  benefit  of  the  Christian  com- 
munity, and  'laid  the  money  at  the  Apostles' 
feet.'  As  this  transaction  occurred  soon  after  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  he  must  have  been  an  early 
convert  to  the  Christian  faith. 

When  Paul  made  his  first  appearance  in  Jeru- 
salem after  his  conversion,  Barnabas  introduced 
him  to  the  Apostles,  and  attested  his  sincerity 
(Acts  ix.  27).  Though  the  conversion  of  Corne- 
lius and  his  household,  with  its  attendant  circum- 
stances, had  given  the  Jewish  Christians  clearer 
views  of  the  comprehensive  character  of  the  new 
dispensation,  yet  the  accession  of  a  large  number 
of  Gentiles  to  the  church  at  Autioch  was  an  event 
so  extraordinary,  that  the  Apostles  and  brethren 
at  Jerusalem  resolved  on  deputing  one  of  their 
number  to  investigate  it.  Their  choice  was  fixed 
on  Barnabas.  After  witnessing  the  flourishing 
condition  of  the  church,  and  adding  fresh  con- 
verts by  his  personal  exertions,  he  visited  Tarsus 
to  obtain  the  assistance  of  Saul,  who  returned 
with  him  to  Antioch,  where  they  laboured  for  a 
whole  year  (Acts  xi.  23-20).  In  anticipation  of 
the  famine  predicted  by  Agabus,  the  Antiochian 
Christians  made  a  contribution  for  their  poorer 
brethren  at  Jerusalem,  and  sent  it  by  the  hands 
of  Barnabas  and  Saul  (Acts  xi.  28-30),  who 
speedily  returned,  bringing  with  them  John 
Mark,  a  nephew  of  the  former.  By  divine  di- 
rection (Acts  xiii.  2)  they  were  separated  to  the 
office  of  missionaries,  and  as  such  visited  Cyprus 
and  some  of  the  principal  cities  in  Asia  Minor 
(Acts  xiii.  1 4).  Soon  after  their  return  to  An- 
tioch, the  peace  of  the  church  was  disturbed  by 
certain  zealots  from  Judasa,  who  insisted  on  the 
observance  of  the  rite  of  circumcision  by  the 
Gentile  converts.  To  settle  the  controversy, 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  deputed  to  consult  the 
Apostles  and  elders  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  xv.  1,2); 
they  returned  to  communicate  the  result  of  their 
conference  (ver.  22),  accompanied  bj'  Judas  Bar- 
sabas  and  Silas,  or  Silvanus.  On  preparing  for  a 
second  missionary  tour,  a  dispute  arose  between 
them  on  account  of  John  Mark,  which  ended  in 
their  taking  different  routes ;  Paul  and  Silas  went 
through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  while  Barnabas  and 
his  nephew  revisited  his  native  island  (Acts  xv. 
3G-41).  At  this  point  Barnabas  disappears  from 
Luke's  narrative,  which  to  its  close  is  occupied 
solely  with  the  labours  and  sufferings  of  Paul. 
From  the  Epistles  of  the  latter  a  few  hints  (the 
only  authentic  sources  of  information)  may  be 
gleaned  relative  to  his  early  friend  and  associate. 
From  1  Cor.  ix.  .5,  6,  it  would  appear  that  Barna- 
bas was  unmarried,  and  supported  himself,  like 
Paul,  by  some  manual  occupation.  In  Gal.  ii.  1, 
we  have  an  account  of  the  reception  given  to 
Paul  and  Barnabas  by  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem, 
probably  on  the  occasion  mentioned  in  Acts  xv. 
In  the  same  chapter  (ver.  13)  we  are  informed 
that  Barnabas  so  far  yielded  to  the  Judaizing 
zealots  at  Antioch,  as  to  separate  himself  for  a 
time  from  communion  with  the  Gentile  converts. 
Respecting  the  later  years  of  Barnabas  we  have 
no  authentic  information.  The  year  when  he 
died  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty ;  if  his 
nenhew,  as  some  have  supposed,  joined   Paul 


after  that  event,  it  must  have  taken  place  not 
later  than  a.d.  63  or  64. 

BARRENNESS  is,  in  the  East,  the  hardest 
lot  that  can  befal  a  woman,  and  was  considered 
among  the  Israelites  as  the  heaviest  punishment 
with  which  the  Lord  could  visit  a  female  (Gen. 
xvi.  2;  XXX.  1-23;  1  Sam.  i.  6,  29  ;  Isa.  xlvii.  9  ; 
xlix.  21 ;  Luke  i.  25).  This  general  notion  of 
the  disgrace  of  barrenness  in  a  woman  may  early 
have  given  rise,  in  the  patriarchal  age,  to  the  cus- 
tom among  barren  wives  of  introducing  to  their 
husbands  their  maid-servants,  and  of  regarding 
the  children  born  in  that  concubinage  as  their 
own,  by  which  they  thought  to  cover  their  own 
disgrace  of  barrenness  (Gen.  xvi.  2  ;  xxx.  3). 

BAR'SABAS.  [Joseph  Bausabas;  Judas 
Barsabas.] 

BARTHOLOMEW  (^the  son  of  Tolmai,  2 
Sam.  xiii.  37)  was  one  of  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles, and  is  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
the  same  individual  who  in  John's  Gospel  is 
called  Nathanael.  The  reason  of  this  opinion  is, 
that  in  the  three  first  Gospels  Philip  and  Bartho- 
lomew are  constantly  named  together,  while  Na- 
thanael is  nowhere  mentioned ;  on  the  contrary, 
in  the  fourth  Gospel  the  names  of  Philip  and  Na- 
thanael are  similarly  combined,  but  nothing  is 
said  of  Bartholomew.  Nathanael  therefore  must 
be  considered  as  his  real  name,  while  Bartholo- 
mew merely  expresses  his  filial  relation.  He 
was  a  native  of  Cana  in  Galilee  (John  xxi.  2 ). 
He  v.as  introduced  by  Philip  to  Jesus,  who,  on 
seeing  him  approach,  at  once  pronounced  that 
eulogy  on  his  character  which  has  made  his 
name  almost  synonymous  v/ith  sincerity  :  '  Be- 
hold an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  there  is  no 
guile '  (John  i.  47).  He  was  one  of  the  disciples 
to  whom  our  Lord  appeared  after  his  resurrec- 
tion, at  the  Sea  of  Tiberias  (John  xxi.  2);  he 
was  also  a  witness  of  the  Ascension,  and  returned 
with  the  other  Apostles  to  Jerusalem  (Acts  i.  4, 
12, 13).  Of  his  subsequent  history  we  have  little 
more  than  vague  traditions. 

BARTIME'US,  son  of  Timeus,  the  blind  beggar 
of  Jericho  whom  Christ  restored  to  sight  (Mark 
X.  46). 

BA'RUCH,  blessed;  the  faithful  friend  and 
amanuensis  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah,  was  of  a 
noble  family  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  generally 
considered  to  be  the  brother  of  the  prophet  Se- 
raiah,  both  being  represented  as  sons  of  Neriah ; 
and  to  Baruch  the  prophet  Jeremiah  dictated  all 
his  oracles.  During  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  Ba- 
ruch was  selected  as  the  depositary  of  the  deed 
of  purchase  which  Jeremiah  had  made  of  the 
territory  of  Hanameel,  to  which  deed  he  had 
been  a  witness.  In  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign 
of  Jehoiachim,  king  of  Judah  (b.c.  605),  Baruch 
was  directed  to  write  all  the  prophecies  delivered 
by  Jeremiah  up  to  that  period,  and  to  read  them 
to  the  people,  which  he  did  from  a  window  in 
the  Temple  upon  two  solemn  occasions.  He 
afterwards  read  them  before  the  counsellors  of 
the  king  at  a  private  interview,  when  Baruch 
being  asked  to  give  an  account  of  the  manner  iu 
which  the  prophecy  had  been  composed,  gave  an  j 
exact  description  of  the  mode  in  which  he  had 
taken  it  down  from  the  prophet's  dictation.  Upon 
this  they  ordered  him  to  leave  the  roll,  advising 
that  he  and  Jeremiah  should  conceal  themselves. 
They  then  informed  the  king  of  Avhat  had  taken 


13G  BASHAN 

place,  upon  which  he  had  the  roll  read  to  him  ; 
but,  after  hearing  a  part  of  it,  he  cut  it  with  a 
penknife,  and,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances 
of  his  counsellors,  threw  it  into  the  fire  of  his 
winter  parlour,  where  he  was  sitting.  He  then 
ordered  Jeremiah  and  Baruch  to  be  seized,  but 
they  could  not  be  found.  The  Jews  to  this  day 
commemorate  the  burning  of  this  roll  by  an  an- 
nual fast.  Another  roll  was  now  written  by 
Baruch  from  the  prophet's  dictation,  containing 
all  that  was  in  the  former,  with  some  additions, 
the  most  remarkable  of  which  is  the  prophecy 
respecting  the  ruin  of  Jehoiachim  and  his  house, 
as  the  punishment  of  his  impious  act.  This  roll 
is  the  prophecy  of  Jeremiah  which  we  now  pos- 
sess. Baruch,  being  himself  terrified  at  the 
threats  contained  in  the  prophetic  roll,  received 
the  comforting  assurance  that  he  would  himself 
be  delivered  from  the  calamities  which  should 
befal  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  After  the  capture 
of  Jerusalem,  in  the  eleventh  year  of  the  reign 
of  king  Zedekiah,  when  the  Jews,  after  their  re- 
turn from  Babylon,  obstinately  persisted  in  their 
determination  to  migrate  to  Egypt,  against  the 
remonstrances  of  the  prophet,  both  Baruch  and 
Jeremiah  accompanied  them  to  that  country, 
where  they  remained  until  the  death  of  Jeremiah. 
There  is  no  account  in  Scripture  of  Baruch's  re- 
turn from  Egypt,  but  the  Kabbius  allege  that  he 
died  in  Babylon,  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  exile. 
Josephus  asserts  that  he  was  well  skilled  in  the 
Hebrew  lansjuage ;  and  that,  after  the  taking  of 
Jerusalem,  "Nebuzaradan  treated  Baruch  with 
consideration,  from  respect  to  Jeremiah,  whose 
misfortunes  he  had  shared,  and  whom  he  had 
accompanied  to  prison  and  exile  (Antiq.  x.  11). 

BARUCH,  BOOK  OF  (Apocrypha),  follows 
next  after  the  book  of  Jeremiah  in  the  Septuagint 
Version.  Several  learned  writers  strongly  con- 
tend for  its  canonicity  ;  but  the  weight  of  evidence 
is  generally  believed  to  preponderate  against  it. 

The  subject  of  the  book  is  (1)  an  exhortation 
to  wisdom  and  a  due  observ-ance  of  the  law. 
(2)  It  then  introduces  Jerusalem  as  a  widow, 
comforting  her  children  with  the  hope  of  a  re- 
turn. (3)  An  answer  follows  in  confirmation  of 
*.his  hope.  A  prologue  is  prefixed,  stating  that 
Baruch  had  read  his  book  to  Jeremiah  and  the 
people  in  Babylon  by  the  river  Sud  (Euphrates), 
by  which  the  people  were  brought  to  repentance, 
and  sent  the  book  with  a  letter  and  presents  to 
Jerusalem. 

BARZIL'LAI,  a  wealthy  old  Gileadite  of  Ro- 
gelim,  who  distinguished  himself  by  his  loyalty 
when  David  fled  beyond  the  Jordan  from  his 
son  Absalom.  He  sent  in  a  liberal  supply  of 
provisions,  beds,  and  other  conveniences  for  the 
use  of  the  king's  followers  (2  Sam.  xvii.  27  ; 
xix.  32).  On  the  king's  triumphant  return,  Bar- 
zillai  attended  him  as  far  as  the  Jordan,  but  de- 
clined, by  reason  of  his  advanced  age,  to  proceed 
to  Jerusalem  and  receive  the  favours  to  which 
he  had  entitled  himself. 

BA'SHAN,  a  name  which  probably  denotes  the 
peculiar  fertility  of  the  soil.  The  sacred  writers  in- 
clude in  Bashan  that  part  of  the  country  eastward 
of  the  Jordan  which  was  given  to  half  the  tribe 
of  Manasseh,  situated  to  the  north  of  Gilead.  The 
first  notice  of  this  country  is  in  Gen.  xiv.  5 ; 
compare  with  Josh.  xii.  4.  When  the  Israelites 
invaded  the  Promised  Land,  Argob,  a  province  of 


BASKET 

Bashan,  contained '  sixty  fenced  cities,  with  walls 
and  gates  and  brazen  bars,  besides  unwalled  towns 
a  great  many'  (Deut.  iii.  4,  .'i ;  1  Kings  iv.  13). 
These  were  all  taken  by  the  Israelites,  and  Og 
and  his  people  utterly  destroyed.  Golan,  one  of 
the  cities  of  refuge,  was  situated  in  this  country 
(Deut.  iv.  43  ;  Josh.  xx.  8  ;  xxi.  27).  Solomon 
appointed  twelve  officers  to  furnish  the  monthly 
supplies  for  the  royal  household,  and  allotted  the 
region  of  Argob  to  the  son  of  Geber  ( 1  Kings  iv. 
13).  Towards  the  close  of  Jehu's  reign  Hazael  in- 
vaded the  land  of  Israel,  and  smote  the  whole  east- 
ern territory, '  even  Gilead  and  Bashan '  (2  Kings 
X.  33)  ;  but  after  his  death  the  cities  he  had  taken 
were  recovered  by  Jehoash  (Joash)  (2  Kings  xiii. 
25),  who  defeated  the  Syrians  in  three  battles,  as 
Elisha  had  predicted  (2  Kings  xiii.  19).  After 
the  captivity  the  name  Batana?a  was  applied^  to 
only  a  part  of  the  ancient  Bashan  ;  the  rest  being 
called  Trachonitis,  Auranitis,  and  Gaulanitis. 
All  these  provinces  were  granted  by  Augustus  to 
Herod  the  Great,  and  on  his  death  Batanaea 
formed  a  part  of  Philip's  tetrarchy.  At  his 
decease,  a.d.  34,  it  was  annexed,  by  Tiberius,  to 
the  province  of  Syria ;  but  in  a.d.  37  it  was  given 
by  Caligula  to  Herod  Agrippa,  the  son  of  Aris- 
tobulus,  with  the  title  of  king  (Acts  xii.  1).  From 
the  time  of  Agrippa's  death,  in  a.d.  44,  to  a.d.  53, 
the  government  again  reverted  to  the  Romans, 
but  it  was  then  restored  by  Claudius  to  Agrippa  1 1. 
(Acts  XXV.  13).  The  richness  of  the  pasture-land 
of  Bashan,  and  the  consequent  superiority  of  its 
breed  of  cattle,  are  frequently  alluded  to  in  the 
Scripturt«.  We  read  in  Deut.  xxxii.  14,  of '  rams 
of  the  breed  of  Bashan'  (Ezek.  xxxix.  18). 
'  Rams,  lambs,  bulls,  goats,  all  of  them  fatlings  of 
Bashan.'  The  oaks  of  Bashan  are  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  cedars  of  Lebanon  (Isa.  ii. 
13  ;  Zech.  xi.  2).  In  Ezekiel's  description  of  the 
wealth  and  magnificence  of  Tyre  it  is  said,  '  Of 
the  oaks  of  Bashan  have  they  made  their  oars ' 
(xxvii.  6).  The  ancient  commentators  on  Amos 
iv.  1,  '  the  kine  of  Bashan,'  Jerome,  Theodoret, 
and  Cyril,  speak  in  the  strongest  terms  of  the 
exuberant  fertility  of  Bashan,  and  modem  tra- 
vellers corroborate  their  assertions. 

BASKET.  There  are  several  words  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  by  which  different  kinds  of 
baskets  appear  to  be  indicated  : — 

1.  Dud,  which  occurs  in  2  Kings  x.  7,  where 
the  heads  of  Ahab's  sons  are  sent  from  Samaria 
to  Jezreel  in  baskets  ;  Jer.  xxiv.  2,  as  contain- 
ing figs ;  and  Ps.  Ixxxi.  6  (rendered  pots),  also 
as  containing  figs  ;  where,  therefore,  deliverance 
from  the  baskets  means  deliverance  from  the 


BASKET 

bondage  of  carrying  burdens  in  baskets.  In  fact, 
very  heavy  burdens  were  thus  carried  in  Egypt, 
as  corn  iu  very  large  baskets  from  the  field  to 
the  threshing-floor,  and  from  the  threshing-floor 
to  the  granaries.  They  were  carried  between 
two  men  by  a  pole  resting  on  their  shoulders ; 
which  agrees  with  the  previous  clause  of  the  cited 
text,  '  1  removed  his  shoulder  from  the  burden.' 
This  labour  and  form  of  the  basket  are  often 
shown  iu  the  Egyptian  sculptures. 

2.  TiiBA,  Avhich  occurs  in  connection  with 
agricultural  objects,  '  the  basket  and  the  store ' 
(Deut.  xxvi.  2-4;  xxviii.  5-17),  and  would  there- 
fore appear  to  have  been  somewhat  similar  to 
the  above ;  and,  in  fact,  the  Egyptian  sculptures 
show  different  baskets  applied  to  this  use. 

3.  Kelub.  From  the  etymology,  this  appears 
to  have  been  an  interwoven  basket,  made  of 
leaves  or  rushes.  In  Lev.  v.  27,  however,  it  is 
used  for  a  bird-cage,  which  must  have  been  of 
open  work,  and  probably  not  unlike  our  own 
wicker  bird-cages.  The  name  is  also  applied  to 
fruit-baskets  (Amos  viii.  1,  2),  Egyptian  ex- 
amples of  which  are  presented  in  figs.  2  and  4 
(which  contain  pomegi-anates)  of  the  annexed  cut. 


BATH-SHEBA 


137 


83.     [Ancient  Egyptian.] 

4.  Salsilloth,  occurs  only  in  Jer.  vi.  9, 
where  it  obviously  denotes  baskets  in  which 
grapes  were  deposited  as  they  were  gathered. 
The  form  of  the  baskets  used  for  this  purpose 
is  often  shown  on  the  Plgyptian  monuments,  a,nd 
is  similar  to  that  represented  in  fig.  4,  cut  83. 

5.  In  all  the  other  places  where  the  word 
basket  occurs,  we  are  doubtless  to  understand  a 
basket  made  of  rushes,  similar  both  in  form  and 
material  to  those  used  by  carpenters  for  carrying 
their  tools.  This  is  still  the  common  kind  of 
basket  throughout  Western  Asia ;  and  its  use  in 
ancient  Egypt  is  shown  by  an  actual  specimen 
which  was  found  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes,  and 
which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum.  It  was, 
in  fact,  a  carpenter's  basket,  and  contained  his 
tools  (fig.  1,  cut  83). 

The  specimens  of  Egyptian  baskets  in  the 
British  Museum,  represented  in  our  cut,  convey 
a  favourable  idea  of  the  basket-work  of  ancient 
times.  Some  of  these  are  worked  ornamentally 
with  colours  (figs.  3,  5,  cut  83).  And  besides 
these  the  monuments  exhibit  a  large  variety  of 
hand-baskets,  of  different  shapes,  and  so  exten- 
sively employed  as  to  show  the  numerous  appli- 
cations of  basket-work  in  the  remote  times  to 
which  these  representations  extend.  They  are 
mostly  manufactured,  the  stronger  and  larger 


sorts  of  the  fibres,  and  the  finer  of  the  leaves  of 
the  palm-tree,  and  not  unfrequently  of  rushes, 
but  more  seldom  of  reeds. 

BASTARD  (Deut.  xxiii.  2,  and  Zech.  ix.  G). 
Some  understand  by  this  word  the  offspring  of 
prostitutes,  but  they  forget  that  prostitutes  were 
expressly  forbidden  to  be  tolerated  by  the  law  of 
Moses  (Lev.  xix.  29;  Deut.  xxiii.  17).  The 
most  probable  conjecture  is  that  which  applies 
the  term  to  the  offspring  of  heathen  prostitutes 
iu  the  neighbourhood  of  Palestine  ;  since  no  pro- 
vision was  made  by  Moses  against  their  tolera- 
tion, and  who  were  a  sort  of  priestesses  to  the 
Syrian  goddess  Astarte  (corap.  Num.  xxv.  1,  sq.  ,- 
Hos.  iv.  14 ;  1  Kings  xiv.  24  ;  xv.  12  ;  xxii.  47  ; 
2  Kings  xxiii.  7). 

That  there  existed  such  bastard  offspring 
among  the  Jews,  is  proved  by  the  history  of 
Jephthah  (Judg.  xi.  1-7),  who  on  this  account  was 
expelled,  and  deprived  of  his  patrimony. 

BAT  occurs  in  Lev.  xi.  1 9 ;  Deut.  xiv.  1 8 ; 
Isa.  ii.  20 ;  and  Baruch  vi.  22.  In  Hebrew  the 
word  implies  flying  in  the  dark ;  which,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  sentence  '  moreover  the 
othelaph  and  every  creeping  thing  that  Jlieth  is 
unclean  unto  you ;  they  shall  not  be  eaten,'  is  so 
clear,  that  there  cannot  be  a  mistake  respecting 
the  order  of  animals  meant.  At  first  sight,  ani- 
mals so  diminutive,  lean,  and  repugnant  to  the 
senses,  must  appear  scarcely  to  have  required  the 
legislator's  attention ;  but  the  fact  evidently  shows 
that  there  were  at  the  time  men  or  tribes  who 
ate  animals  classed  with  bats,  a  practice  still  in 
vogue  in  the  great  Australasian  islands,  where  the 
frugivorous  Pteropi  of  the  harpi  or  goblin  family, 
by  our  seamen  denominated  flying-dogs,  and 
erroneously  vampyres,  are  caught  and  eaten ;  but 
where  the  insectivorous  true  bats,  such  as  the 
genera  common  in  Europe,  are  rejected.  Some 
of  the  species  of  harpies  are  of  the  bulk  of  a  rat, 
with  from  three  to  four  feet  of  expanse  between 
the  tips  of  the  wings ;  they  have  a  fierce  dog- 
like head,  and  are  nearly  all  marked  with  a  space 
of  rufous  hair  from  the  forehead  over  the  neck 
and  along  part  of  the  back.  They  reside  in  the 
most  dense  foliage  of  large  trees,  whence  they 
fly  out  at  night  and  do  considerable  damage  to 
the  plantations  of  fruit-tre^s.  It  was  to  one  or 
more  species  of  this  section  of  Cheiroptera  that 
the  Mosaic  prohibition  was  perhaps  directed  ; 
and  it  is  likewise  to  them  that  may  be  referred 
the  foundation  of  the  ancient  legends  concerning 
harpies,  which,  however  much  they  may  be  dis- 
torted, have  a  basis  of  truth.  Indeed,  when  we 
consider  their  voice,  the  faculty  they  have  of 
feeding  with  their  thumbs,  their  formidable  teeth, 
their  habit  of  flying  in  the  day  during  dark  wea- 
ther, and  their  willingness,  though  they  are  fru- 
givorous, to  devour  not  only  insects,  but  also  the 
blood  and  flesh  of  small  animals,  we  may  admit 
that  originally  they  were  more  daring  in  the  pre- 
sence of  man ;  that  their  true  characters  are  but 
moderately  amplified  by  poetical  fancy  ;  and  that 
the  Mosaic  injunction  was  strikingly  appropriate. 

In  the  text  of  Scripture  where  allusion  is  made 
to  caverns  and  dark  places,  true  Vespertilionida;, 
or  insect-eating  bats,  similaf  to  the  European, 
are  clearly  designated. 

BATH-SHE'BA,  also  Bath-shua,  daughter  of 
Eliam,  grand-daughter  of  Ahitophel,  and  wife  of 
Uriah ;  she  was  seduced  and  became  pregnant 


138 


BATTLE,  SYSTEM  OF 


JJAY-TIiEE 


by  King  David  dviring  the  absence  of  her  hus- 
band, -who  was  then  engaged  at  the  siege  of 
Kabbah  (2  Sam.  xi.  4,  5 ;  Ps.  li.  2).  The  child 
thus  bom  in  adultery  became  ill  and  died  (2 
Sam.  xii.  15-18).  After  the  lapse  of  the  period 
of  mourning  for  her  husband,  who  was  slain  by 
the  contrivance  of  David  (xi.  15),  she  was  le- 
gally married  to  the  king  (xi.  27),  and  bore  him 
Solomon  (xii.  24;  1  Kings  i.  11  ;  ii.  13).  In 
1  Chron.  iii.  5,  she  is  called  Bath-shua  instead  of 
Bath-sheba;  and  her  father  Ammiel,  instead  of 
Eliam  (comp.  Matt.  i.  6).  The  other  children 
of  Bath-sheba  are  named  in  2  Sam.  v.  14;  1 
Chron.  iii.  5.  She  is  afterwards  mentioned  only 
in  consequence  of  her  good-natured  intercession 
for  Adonijah,  which  incidentally  displays  the 
respect  with  which  she  was  treated  by  king 
Solomon,  her  son  (1   Kings  ii.  19).      [David  ; 

ADONTJAIi.] 

BATTLE,  SYSTEM  OF.  Though  the  He- 
brews in  their  mode  of  conducting  warlike  ope- 
rations varied  somewhat  in  the  course  of  ages, 
and  are  elsewhere  shown  to  have  been  swayed 
by  the  practice  of  greater  and  more  military  na- 
tions, still,  from  the  period  when  the  institution 
of  royalty  gave  rise  to  an  organized  system,  it 
was  a  maxim  to  spare  the  soldiers  all  unneces- 
sary fatigue  before  an  engagement,  and  to  supply 
them  liberally  with  food.  Their  arms  were  en- 
joined to  be  in  the  best  order,  and  Avhen  drawn 
up  for  battle  they  formed  a  line  of  solid  squares 
of  a  hundred  men,  each  square  being  ten  deep, 
and  with  sufficient  interval  between  them  to 
allow  of  facility  in  movements,  and  for  the 
slingers  to  pass  through.  The  archers  may  have 
occupied  the  two  flanks,  or  formed  in  the  rear, 
according  to  the  intentions  of  the  commander  on 
the  occasion;  but  the  slingers  were  always  sta- 
tioned in  the  rear  until  they  were  ordered  for- 
ward to  impede  a  hostile  approach,  or  to  com- 
mence an  engagement  somewhat  in  the  manner 
of  modern  skirmishers.  Meantime,  while  the 
tnimpets  waited  to  sound  the  last  signal,  the 
king,  or  his  representative,  appeared  in  his  sacred 
dress,  except  when  he  wished  to  remain  un- 
known, as  at  Megiddo  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  22),  and 
proceeded  ^o  make  the  final  dispositions,  in  the 
middle  of  his  chosen  braves,  attended  by  priests 
who,  by  their  exhortations,  animated  the  ranks 
within  hearing.  It  was  now,  we  may  suppose, 
when  the  enemy  was  at  hand,  that  the  slingers 
would  be  ordered  to  pass  between  the  intervals 
of  the  line  of  solid  squares,  open  their  order,  and 
with  shouts,  let  fly  their  stone  or  leaden  missiles, 
until  by  the  gradual  approach  of  the  opposing 
fronts  they  would  be  hemmed  in,  and  be  recalled 
to  the  rear,  or  to  cover  a  fiank.  Then  would 
come  the  signal  to  charge,  and  the  great  shout  of 
battle  ;  the  heavy  infantry,  receiving  the  order  to 
attack,  would  press  direct  upon  the  front  of  the 
enemy,  under  cover  of  their  shields  and  levelled 
spears ;  the  rear  ranks  might  then,  if  so  armed, 
cast  their  second  darts,  and  archers  from  their 
rear  shoot  high,  so  as  to  pitch  the  arrows  over 
their  own  mam  line  of  spearmen  into  the  dense 
masses  beyond  thera.  If  the  enemy  broke 
through  the  intervals,  we  may  imagine  that  a 
line  of  charioteers  in  reserve,  breaking  from 
their  position,  might  in  part  charge  among  the 
disordered  ranks  of  the  foe,  drive  them  back,  and 
facilitate  the  restoration  of  the  oppressed  masses, 


or  wheeling  round  a  flank,  fall  npon  the  enemy, 
or  be  encountered  by  a  similar  manoeuvre,  and 
perhaps  repulsed.  The  king,  meanwhile,  sur- 
rounded by  his  princes,  posted  close  to  the  rear 
of  his  line  of  battle,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
showered  missiles,  would  watch  the  enemy  and 
remedy  every  disorder.  Thus  it  was  that  several 
of  the  sovereigns  of  Judah  were  slain  (2  Chron. 
xviii.  33,  and  xxxv.  23),  and  that  such  an  enor- 
mous waste  of  human  life  took  place :  for  the 
shock  of  two  hostile  lines  of  masses  at  least  ten 
in  depth,  advancing  under  the  confidence  of 
breastplate  and  shield,  when  once  engaged  hand 
to  hand,  had  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  nature  to 
retreat ;  because  the  hindermost  ranks  not  feel- 
ing personally  the  first  slaughter,  would  not,  and 
the  foremost  could  not,  fall  back  ;  neither  could 
the  commanders  disengage  the  line  without  a 
certainty  of  being  defeated.  The  fate  of  the  day 
was  therefore  no  longer  within  the  control  of  the 
chief,  and  nothing  but  obstinate  valour  was  left 
to  decide  the  victory.  Under  such  circumstances 
defeat  led  to  irretrievable  confusion  ;  and  where 
either  party  possessed  superiority  in  cavalry  and 
chariots  of  war,  it  would  be  materially  increased : 
but  where  the  infantry  alone  had  principally  to 
pursue  a  broken  enemy,  that  force,  laden  with 
shields,  and  preserving  order,  could  overtake 
very  few  who  chose  to  abandon  their  defensive 
armour,  unless  they  were  hemmed  in  by  the 
locality.  Sometimes  a  part  of  the  army  was 
posted  in  ambush,  but  this  manoeuvre  was  most 
commonly  practised  against  the  garrisons  of 
cities  (Josh.  viii.  12  ;  Judg.  xx.  38).  In  the  case 
of  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  16),  when  he  led  a  small 
body  of  his  own  people  suddenly  collected,  and 
fell  upon  the  guard  of  the  captives,  released 
them,  and  recovered  the  booty,  it  was  a  surprise, 
not  an  ambush ;  nor  is  it  necessary  that  he 
should  have  fallen  in  with  the  main  army  of  the 
enemy.  At  a  later  period,  there  is  no  doubt  the 
Hebrew  armies,  in  imitation  of  the  Romans, 
formed  into  more  than  one  line  of  masses ;  but, 
it  may  be  added,  there  is  ample  evidence  that 
they  always  possessed  more  stubborn  valour  than 
discipline. 

BATTLEMENT.     [Hocse.] 

BAY-TREE,  or  LAUREL.  This  word  occurs 
only  once  in  Scripture,  namely  in  Ps.  xxxvii. 
35 :  '  I  have  seen  the  wicked  in  great  power, 
spreading  himself  like  a  green  bay-tree.'  Com- 
mentators and  translators  have  differed  respect- 
ing the  meaning  of  this  word,  some  supposing  it 
to  indicate  a  specific  tree,  as  the  laurel ;  and 
others,  supported  by  the  Septuagint  and  Vulgate, 
the  cedar  of  Lebanon.  It  is  by  some  considered 
to  mean  an  evergreen  tree,  and  by  others,  a  green 
tree  that  grows  in  its  native  soil,  or  that  has  not 
suffered  by  transplanting,  as  such  a  tree  spreads 
itself  luxuriantly.  It  appears  to  us  that  the 
Hebrew  word  would  indicate  some  tree  resem- 
bling the  bay-tree,  rather  than  the  bay-tree  it- 
self; but  until  that  can  be  discovered,  the  latter 
is,  upon  the  whole,  well  suited  to  stand  as  its  re- 
presentative. 

The  laurel,  or  bay-tree,  laiirus  nohilis  of  bo- 
tanists, is  well  known  to  the  Asiatics  by  its 
Arabic  name  of  fihar,  under  which  it  is  men- 
tioned by  Serapion  and  Avicenna,  who  quote 
chiefly  Dioscorides  and  Galen,  thus  indicating 
that  they  had  not  much  original  mlbi-mation  of 


BDELLIUM 

their  own  respecting  a  tree  which  is  probably 
not  indigenous  in  the  countries  in  which  they 
wrote.  The  leaves  and  berries  of  the  laurel,  as 
well  as  the  bark  and  the  root,  were  employed  in 
medicine :  the  berries  continue,  even  in  the  pre- 
sent day,  to  be  exported  to  India,  where  we 
found  them  in  the  bazaars,  under  the  name  of 


84.    [Bay-tree.    Laurus  nobilis,] 

hithal-ghar,  being  still  esteemed  as  a  stimulant 
medicinal,  though  not  possessed  of  any  proper- 
ties superior  to  those  of  the  laurels  of  more 
southern  latitudes.  The  bay-tree  is  well  known 
to  be  common  in  the  south  of  Europe,  as  in 
Spain,  Italy,  Greece,  and  the  Levant.  It  is  usu- 
ally from  20  to  30  feet  in  height,  often  having  a 
bushy  appearance,  from  throwing  up  so  many 
suckers  ;  but  in  England  it  has  attained  a  height 
of  60  feet,  which  is  not  unusual  in  warmer  cli- 
mates. It  is  unnecessary  to  allude  further  to  the 
celebrity  which  it  attained  among  the  ancients — a 
celebrity  which  has  not  yet  passed  away,  the 
laurel-wreath  being  still  the  symbolical  crown  as 
well  of  warriors  as  of  poets.  Its  ever  green  grate- 
ful appearance,  its  thick  shade,  and  the  agreeable 
spicy  odour  of  its  leaves,  point  it  out  as  that 
which  was  most  likely  in  the  eye  of  the  Psalmist. 

BDEL'LIUM.  This  word  occurs  but  twice  in 
the  Scriptures:  in  Gen.  ii.  12,  as  a  product  of 
the  land  of  Havilah ;  and  Num.  xi.  7,  where  the 
manna  is  likened  to  it.  It  has  been  much  dis- 
puted among  critics,  both  ancient  and  modern. 
Some  consider  it  as  a  precious  stone,  and  the 
Jewish  Rabbins,  together  with  some  modem 
commentators,  translate  it  by  pearl.  But  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  the  pearl  was  as  yet  un- 
known in  the  time  of  Moses ;  and  it  is  nowhere 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  under  its  proper 
name  except  in  Esth.  i.  6. 

It  is,  therefore,  most  probable  that  the  Hebrew 
bedolach  is  the  aromatic  gum  bdellium,  which 
issues  from  a  tree  growing  in  Arabia,  Media,  and 
the  Indies.  Pliny's  description  of  the  tree  from 
which  the  bdellium  is  taken  makes  Ksempfer's 
assertion  highly  probable,  that  it  is  the  sort  of 
palm-tree  so  frequently  met  with  on  the  Persian 


BEANS  139 

coast  and  in  Arabia  Felix.  The  term  bdellium, 
however,  is  applied  to  two  gummy  resinous  sub- 
stances. One  of  them  is  the  Indian  bdellium,  or 
false  myrrh  (perhaps  the  bdellium  of  the  Scrip- 
tures), which  is  obtained  from  Amyris  (balsamo- 
dendron  ?)  Commiphora.  The  trunk  of  the  tree 
is  covered  with  a  light-coloured  pellicle,  as  in  tlie 
common  birch,  which  peels  off  from  time  to 
time,  exposing  to  view  a  smooth  green  coat, 
which  in  succession  supplies  other  similar  ex- 
foliations. This  tree  diffuses  a  grateful  fra- 
grance, like  that  of  the  finest  myrrh,  to  a 
considerable  distance  around.  Dr.  Royle  was 
informed  that  this  species  yielded  bdellium ; 
and  in  confirmation  of  this  statement,  we  may 
add  that  many  of  the  specimens  of  this  bdellium 
in  the  British  Museum  have  a  yellow  pellicle 
adhering  to  them,  precisely  like  that  of  the  com- 
mon birch,  and  that  some  of  the  pieces  are  per- 
forated by  spiny  branches — another  character 
serving  to  recognise  the  origin  of  the  bdellium. 
Indian  bdellium  has  considerable  resemblance 
to  myrrh.  Many  of  the  pieces  have  hairs  ad- 
hering to  them. 

The  other  kind  of  bdellium  is  called  African 
bdellium.  It  is  a  natural  production  of  Senegal, 
and  is  called  by  the  natives,  who  make  tooth- 
picks of  its  spines,  niottout.  It  consists  of 
rounded  or  oval  tears,  from  one  to  two  inches 
in  diameter,  of  a  dull  and  waxy  fracture,  which 
in  the  course  of  time  become  opaque,  and  are  co- 
vered externally  by  a  white  or  yellowish  dust.  It 
has  a  feeble  but  peculiar  odour,  and  a  bitter  taste. 

BEANS.  This  word  occurs  twice  in  Scrip- 
ture. The  first  occasion  is  in  2  Sam.  xvii.  28, 
where  beans  are  described  as  being  brought  to 
David,  as  well  as  wheat,  barley,  lentils,  &c.,  as  is 
the  custom  at  the  present  day  in  many  parts  of 
the  East  when  a  traveller  arrives  at  a  village. 
So  in  Ezekiel  iv.  9,  the  prophet  is  directed  to  take 
wheat,  barley,  beans,  lentils,  &c.,  and  make 
bread  thereof.  The  common  beans,  or  at  least 
one  of  its  varieties,  has  been  employed  as  an  ar- 
ticle of  diet  from  the  most  ancient  times.  Beans 
were  employed  as  articles  of  diet  by  the  ancients, 
as  they  are  by  the  moderns ;  and  are  considered 
to  give  rise  to  flatulence,  but  otherwise  to  be 
wholesome  and  nutritious.  They  are  cultivated 
over  a  great  part  of  the  old  world,  from  the 
north  of  Europe  to  the  south  of  India ;  in  the 
latter,  however,  forming  the  cold  weather  cul- 
tivation, with  wheat,  peas,  &c.  They  are  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  Egypt  and  Arabia.  Dr. 
Kitto  states  that  the  extent  of  their  cultivation 
in  Palestine  he  had  no  means  of  knowing.  In 
Egypt  they  are  sown  in  November,  and  reaped 
in  the  middle  of  February  (three  and  a  half 
months  in  the  ground) ;  but  in  Syria  they  may 
be  had  throughout  the  spring.  'i"he  stalks  are 
cut  down  with  the  scythe,  and  these  are  after- 
wards cut  and  crushed,  to  fit  them  for  the  food  of 
camels,  oxen,  and  goats.  The  beans  themselves, 
when  sent  to  a  market,  are  often  deprived  of 
their  skins.  Basnage  reports  it  as  the  sentiment 
of  some  of  the  Rabbins,  that  beans  were  not  law- 
ful to  the  priests,  on  account  of  their  being  con- 
sidered the  appropriate  food  of  mourning  and 
affliction :  but  he  does  not  refer  to  the  authority ; 
and  neither  in  the  sacred  books  nor  in  the 
Mishna  can  be  found  any  traces  of  the  notion  to 
which  he  alludes.    So  far  frcm  attaching  any 


140  BEARD 

sort  of  impurity  to  this  legume,  it  is  described  as 
among  the  first-fruit  offerings ;  and  several  other 
articles  in  the  latter  collection  prove  that  the 
Hebrews  had  beans  largely  in  use,  after  they  had 
passed  them  through  the  mill. 

BEAR  is  noticed  in  1  Sam.  xvii.  34,  36,  37 ; 
2  Sam.  xvii.  8  ;  2  Kings  ii.  24 ;  Prov.  xvii.  12  ; 
xxviii.  15  ;  Isa.  xi.  7  ;  Lam.  iii.  10;  Hos.  xiii.  8  ; 
Amos  V.  19,  &c.  The  genus  Ursus  is  the  largest 
of  all  the  plantigrade  carnassiers,  and  with  the 
faculty  of  subsisting  on  fruit  or  honey  unites  a 
greater  or  less  propensity,  according  to  the  spe- 
cies, to  slaughter  and  animal  food.  To  a  sullen 
and  ferocious  disposition  it  joins  immense  strength, 
little  vulnerability,  considerable  sagacity,  and  the 
power  of  climbing  trees.  The  brown  bear,  Ursus 
arctos,  is  the  most  sanguinary  of  the  species  of 
the  Old  Continent,  and  Ursus  Syriacus,  or  the 


85.     [Syrian  Bear.] 

bear  of  Palestine,  is  one  very  nearly  allied  to  it, 
differing  only  in  the  stature  being  proportion- 
ably  lower  and  longer,  the  head  and  tail  more 
prolonged,  and  the  colour  a  dull  buff  or  light 
bay,  often  clouded,  like  the  Pyrensean  variety, 
with  darker  brown.  On  the  back  there  is  a  ridge 
of  long  semi-erect  hairs  running  from  the  neck 
to  the  tail.  It  is  still  found  in  the  elevated 
woody  parts  of  Lebanon. 

BEARD  (THE).  Ancient  nations  in  general 
agreed  with  the  modern  inhabitants  of  the  East 
in  attaching  a  great  value  to  the  possession  of  a 
beard.  The  total  absence  of  it,  or  a  spare  and 
stinted  sprinkling  of  hair  upon  the  chin,  is 
thought  by  the  Orientals  to  be  as  great  a  de- 
formity to  the  features  as  the  want  of  a  nose 
would  appear  to  us ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  a 
long  and  bushy  beard,  flowing  down  in  luxuriant 
profusion  to  the  breast,  is  considered  not  only  a 
most  igraceful  ornament  to  the  person,  but  as 
contributing  in  no  small  degree  to  respectability 
and  dignity  of  character.  With  this  knowledge 
of  the  extraordinary  respect  and  value  which 
have  in  all  ages  been  attached  to  the  beard  in  the 
East,  we  are  prepared  to  expect  that  a  corre- 
sponding care  would  be  taken  to  preserve  and 
improve  its  appearance;  and,  accordingly,  to 
dress  and  anoint  it  with  oil  and  perfume  was, 
with  the  better  classes  at  least,  an  indispensable 
part  of  their  daily  toilet  (Ps.  cxxxiii.  2).  In 
many  cases  it  was  dyed  with  variegated  colours, 
by  a  tedious  and  troublesome  operation.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  allowing  the  beard  to  remain  in 
a  foul  and  dishevelled  state,  or  to  cut  it  off,  was 
one  of  the  most  striking  outward  indications  of  | 


BEARD 

deep  and  overwhelming  sorrow  (2  Sam.  xix.  24 ; 
Ezra  ix.  13  ;  Isa.  xv.  2  ;  Jer.  xli.  5. 

Nor  was  less  jealousy  shown  in  guarding  the 
honour  of,  than  in  setting  off  to  advantage,  this 
attribute  of  manhood.  The  slightest  exhibition 
of  contempt,  by  sneering,  spitting  at,  pulling,  or 
even  pressing  against  it  in  a  rude  and  careless 
manner,  was  resented  as  an  insult,  such  as  would 
now,  among  men  of  the  world,  be  deemed  expi- 
able  only  by  a  duel.  No  one  was  permitted  to 
touch  it  except  in  the  way  of  respectful  and 
affectionate  salutation,  which  was  done  by  gently 
taking  hold  of  its  extremity  with  the  right  hand 
and  kissing  it;  but  even  in  that  case  it  was  only 
wives  in  approaching  their  husbands,  children 
their  parents,  or  the  nearest  and  most  attached 
friends,  to  whom  this  unusual  liberty  was  granted. 
The  act  itself  being  an  expression  of  kind  and 
cordial  familiarity,  its  performance  by  Joab 
shows  in  a  flagrant  light  the  base  and  unprin- 
cipled conduct  of  that  ruthless  veteran,  when  he 
took  Amasa  by  the  beard  with  his  right  hand  to 
kiss  him  (rather  it),  and  then  having  assumed 
this  attitude  under  the  mask  of  the  most  friendly 
feelings,  smote  his  unsuspecting  victim  under  the 
fifth  rib  (2  Sam.  xx.  9). 

To  be  deprived  of  a  beard  was,  and  still  is,  in 
some  places  of  the  East,  the  badge  of  servitude 
— a  mark  of  infamy,  that  degraded  a  person  from 
the  ranks  of  men  to  those  of  slaves  and  women. 
Among  people  influenced  by  such  ideas,  we  can 
easily  conceive  how  deep  and  intolerable  was  the 
affront  which  the  king  of  the  Ammonites  put 
upon  the  ambassadors  of  David,  when,  among 
other  acts  of  insolence,  he  shaved  off  one-half  of 
their  beards,  and  sent  them  home  in  that  gro- 
tesque condition,  exposed  to  the  derision  of  their 
countrymen  (2  Sam.  x.).  Persons  of  their  high 
rank,  who,  in  all  probability,  Avere  fastidious 
about  the  orderly  state  and  graceful  appearance 
of  their  beards,  would  be  even  more  sensitive  as 
to  this  ignominious  treatment  than  those  of  an 
humbler  condition ;  and,  as  the  shaving  off  one- 
half  of  the  beard  was  among  some  ancient  nations 
the  punishment  of  cowardice,  these  circumstances 
united  will  help  to  account  for  the  spirit  of  de- 
termined revenge  which  the  king  and  the  whole 
nation  of  Israel  breathed,  on  intelligence  of  the 
national  outrage. 

From  the  above  facts  it  is  clear  that  the  Israel- 
ites maintained  their  beard  and  the  ideas  con- 
nected with  it,  during  their  abode  among  the 
Egyptians,  who  were  a  shaven  people.  This  is 
not  unimportant  among  the  indications  which 
evince  that,  whatever  they  learned  of  good  or 
evil  in  that  country,  they  preserved  the  appear- 
ance and  habits  of  a  separate  people.  As  the 
Egyptians  shaved  their  beards  off  entirely,  the 
injunction  in  Lev.  xix.  27  against  shaving  '  the 
corners  of  the  beard '  must  have  been  levelled 
against  the  practice  of  some  other  and  bearded 
nation.  The  prohibition  is  usually  understood 
to  apply  against  rounding  the  corners  of  the 
beard  where  it  joins  the  hair  ;  and  the  reason  is 
supposed  to  have  been  to  preclude  a  superstition 
of  certain  Arabian  tribes,  who,  by  shaving  off  or 
rounding  away  the  beard  where  it  joined  the 
hair  of  the  head,  devoted  themselves  to  a  certain 
deity  who  held  among  them  the  place  which 
Bacchus  did  among  the  Greeks  (comp.  Jer.  ix. 
26 ;    XXV.  23 ;    xlix.  32).      The  ultimate   effect 


BEASTS 

seems  to  have  been  altogether  to  prevent  the 
Jews  from  shaving  oft"  the  edges  of  their  beards. 
The  elfect  of  this  prohibition  in  establishing  a 
distinction  of  the  Jews  from  other  nations  can- 
not be  understood,  unless  we  contemplate  the 
extravagant  diversity  in  which  the  beard  was 
and  is  treated  by  the  nations  of  the  East.  The 
cut  is  very  interesting,  being  a  collection  of 
bearded  heads  of  foreigners  obtained  from  the 


BEASTS 


141 


Egyptian  monuments,  and,  without  doubt,  in- 
cluding the  beards,  head-dresses,  and  physiogno- 
mies of  most  of  the  nations  bordering  on  Egypt 
and  Palestine.  In  nearly  all  of  them  we  see 
that  the  upper  edges  of  the  beard  were  shaven 
oft',  and  apparently  the  hair  of  the  upper  lip. 

The  ancient  Egyptians,  although  they  shaved 
their  beards,  had  the  singular  custom  of  tying  a 
false  beard  upon  the  chin.  This  was  probably  in 
the  way  of  a  compromise  between  their  love  of 
cleanliness  and  their  desire  to  preserve  some 
trace  of  the  distinguishing  sign  of  manhood. 
They  were  made  of  plaited  hair,  and  had  a  pe- 
culiar form  according  to  the  rank  of  the  persons 
by  whom  they  were  worn.  Private  individuals 
had  a  small  beard,  scarcely  two  inches  long ; 
that  of  a  king  was  of  considerable  length,  and 
square  at  the  bottom ;  and  the  figures  of  gods 
were  distinguished  by  its  turning  up  at  the 
end. 


ST.  [2,  3,  5,  11.  Guds.  1,  4,  6,  9,  10.   Kings. 

7,  8.  Private  persons.] 

BE  A  STS.  In  the  Bible,  this  word,  when  used 
in  contradistinction  to  man  (Ps.  xxxvi.  6),  de- 
notes a  brute  creature  generally  ;  when  in  con- 
tradistinction to  creeping  things  (Rev.  xi.  2-7; 
xxvii.  2(i),  it  has  reference  to  four-footed  ani- 
mals ;  and  when  to  wild  mammalia,  as  in  Gen.  i. 
25,  means  domesticated  cattle. 

The  zoology  of  Scripture  may,  in  a  general 
sense,  be  said  to  embrace  the  whole  range  of  ani- 


mated nature ;  but  after  the  first  brief  notice  of 
the  creation  of  animals  recorded  in  Genesis,  it  is 
limited  more  particularly  to  the  animals  found  in 
Egypt,  Arabia,  Palestine,  Syria,  and  the  coun- 
tries eastward,  in  some  cases,  to  beyond  the 
Euphrates.  It  comprehends  mammalia,  birds, 
reptiles,  fishes,  and  invertebrate  animals  :  but  in 
a  work  like  the  Bible,  written  for  a  far  different 
purpose,  we  might  naturally  expect  that  only  a 
small  part  of  these  would  be  found  described, 
and  that  geuerical  indications  would  more  fre- 
quently occur  than  specific  characteristics.  As 
the  intention  of  Scripture,  in  its  allusions  to  ani- 
mate or  inanimate  objects,  was  not  scientific  de- 
scription, but  the  illustration  of  arguments  and 
precepts  by  images  drawn  from  objects  familiar 
to  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  zoology  or  botany  should  be  treated 
systematically,  or  in  terms  such  as  modern  sci- 
ence has  adopted;  yet  where  we  can  now  fully 
ascertain  the  true  meaning  of  the  text,  the  ima- 
gery drawn  from  natural  history  is  always 
forcible,  correct,  and  effective,  even  where  it 
treats  the  subject  under  the  conditions  of  the 
contemporary  popular  belief;  for,  had  the  in- 
spired wi-iters  entered  into  explanations  on  mat- 
ters of  science  not  then  commonly  understood, 
the  poetical  force  of  the  imagery,  and  conse- 
quently its  intended  effect,  must  necessarily  have 
been  greatly  diminished ;  yet,  where  system  is 
appropriate,  we  find  a  classified  general  distri- 
bution of  the  creation,  simple  indeed,  but  suf- 
ficiently applicable  to  all  the  purposes  for  which 
it  was  introduced.  It  resembles  other  parts  of 
the  philosophy  of  the  earliest  nations,  in  which 
the  physical  distribution  of  matter,  excepting  so 
far  as  man  is  concerned,  proceeds  by  triads. 
Botany  is  treated  under  the  heads  of  grass, 
shrubs,  and  trees :  in  animated  nature,  beginning 
with  the  lowest  organized  in  the  watery  element, 
we  have  first '  the  moving  creature  that  hath  life,' 
animalcula,  Crustacea,  insecta,  &c. ;  second,  fishes 
and  amphibia,  including  the  huge  tenants  of  the 
waters,  whether  or  not  they  also  frequent  the 
land,  crocodiles,  python  serpents,  and  perhaps 
even  those  which  are  now  considered  as  of  a 
more  ancient  zoology  than  the  present  system, 
the  great  Saurians  of  geology ;  and  third,  it  ap- 
pears, birds, '  flying  creatures '  (Gen.  i.  20)  ;  and 
still  advancing  (cetaceans,  pinnatipeds,  whales 
and  seals  being  excluded),  we  have  quadrupeds, 
forming  three  other  divisions  or  orders :  1st, 
cattle,  embracing  the  ruminant  herbivora,  ge- 
nerally gregarious,  and  capable  of  domesticity  ; 
2nd,  wild  beasts,  caruivora,  including  all  beasts 
of  prey;  and  3rd,  reptiles,  minor  quadrupeds, 
such  as  creep  by  means  of  many'  feet,  or  glide 
along  the  surface  of  the  soil,  serpents,  annelides, 
&c. ;  finally,  we  have  man,  standing  alone  in 
intellectual  supi-emacy.  The  classificatiou  of 
Moses,  as  it  may  be  drawn  from  Deuteronomy, 
appears  to  be  confined  to  Vertebrata  alone,  or 
animals  having  a  spine  and  ribs,  although  the 
fourth  class  might  include  others :  taking  man 
as  one,  it  forms  five  classes — 1st,  Man;  2nd, 
Beasts ;  Srd,  Birds ;  4th,  Reptiles ;  Stli,  Fishes.  It 
is  the  same  as  that  in  Leviticus  xi.,  where  beasts 
are  further  distinguished  into  those  with  solid 
hoofs  and  those  with  cloven  feet.  But  the  passage 
specially  refers  to  animals  that  might  be  law- 
fully eaten  because  they  were  clean,  and  others 


142 


BEDS 


prohibited  because  they  were  declared  unclean, 
although  some  of  them,  according  to  the  common 
belief  of  the  time,  might  ruminate ;  for  it  may 
be  repeated  that  the  Scriptures  were  not  in- 
tended to  embrace  anatomical  disquisitions  aim- 
ing at  the  advancement  of  human  science,  but  to 
convey  moral  and  religious  truth,  without  dis- 
turbing the  received  opinions  of  the  time  on 
questions  having  little  or  no  relation  to  their 
main  object.  In  like  manner,  fishes  and  birds 
are  divided  into  clean  and  unclean ;  and,  taken 
altogether,  the  classification  now  described  forms 
an  excellent  series  of  distinctions,  which,  even  at 
the  present  day,  and  in  countries  far  distant  from 
the  scene  where  it  was  ordained,  still  remains 
applicable,  with  little  exception,  and  from  its 
intrinsic  propriety  will  remain  in  force,  notwith- 
standing our  present  knowledge  of  the  manners 
and  opinions  of  the  East  and  of  Egypt  has  ren- 
dered many  of  the  earlier  comments  upon  it  in  a 
great  measure  useless. 

BEDS.  The  manner  of  sleeping  in  warm 
Eastern  climates  was,  and  is,  necessarily  very 
different  from  that  which  is  followed  in  our 
colder  regions.  The  present  usages  appear  to  be 
the  same  as  those  of  the  ancient  Jews,  and  suf- 
ficiently explain  the  passages  of  Scripture  which 
bear  on  the  subject.  Beds  of  feathers  are  alto- 
gether unknown,  and  the  Orientals  lie  exceed- 
ingly hard.  Poor  people  who  have  no  certain 
home,  or  when  on  a  journey,  or  employed  dis- 
tant from  their  homes,  sleep  on  mats  or  wrapped 
in  their  outer  garment,  which  from  its  importance 
in  this  respect  was  forbidden  to  be  retained  in 
pledge  over  night  from  the  owner  (Gen.  ix.  21, 
23;  Exod.  xxii.  27;  Deut.  xxv.  13).  Under 
such  circumstances  a  stone  covered  with  some 
folded  cloth  or  piece  of  dress  is  often  used  for  a 
pillow  (Gen.  xxviii.  11).  The  more  Avealthy 
classes  sleep  on  mattresses  stuifed  with  -wool  or 
cotton,  and  which  are  often  no  other  than  a 
quilt  thickly  padded,  either  used  singly  or  one 
or  more  placed  upon  each  other.  A  similar 
quilt  of  finer  materials  forms  the  coverlet  in 
winter,  and  in  summer  a  thin  blanket  suflices ; 
but  sometimes  the  convenient  outer  garment  is 
used  for  the  latter  purpose,  and  Mas  so  among 
the  Jews,  as  we  see  from  1  Sam.  xix.  3.  The 
difference  of  use  here  is,  that  the  poor  wrap 
themselves  up  in  it,  and  it  forms  all  their  bed  ; 
whereas  when  used  by  the  rich  it  is  as  a  covering 
only.  A  pillow  is  placed  upon  the  mattress,  and 
over  both,  in  good  houses,  is  laid  a  sheet.  The 
bolsters  are  more  valuable  than  the  mattresses, 
both  for  their  coverings  and  material :  they  are 
usually  stuffed  with  cotton  or  other  soft  sub- 
stance (Ezek.  xviii.  20);  but  instead  of  these, 
skins  of  goats  or  sheep  appear  to  have  been  for- 
merly used  by  the  poorer  classes  and  in  the 
hardier  ages.  These  skins  were  probably  sewed 
up  in  the  natural  shape,  like  Avater-skins,  and 
stuffed  with  chaff  or  avooI  (1  Sam.  xix.  13). 

It  has  been  doubted  whether  different  Hebrew 
words  translated  '  couch,'  and  '  bed,'  and  '  bed- 
stead '  in  the  authorized  version  were  actuallj' 
bedsteads  of  different  sorts,  or  simply  the  stand- 
ing and  fixed  divans,  such  as  those  on  which  the 
Western  Asiatics  commonly  make  their  beds  at 
night.  It  ha.s  been  usually  thought  that  the 
choice  lay  between  these  altornatives,  because 
it  has  not  been  understood  that  in  the  East  there 


BEDS 

is,  in  fact,  a  varied  arrangement  in  this  matter: 
and  there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  different 
Hebrew  words  answer  to  and  describe  simi- 
larly different  arrangements,  although  we  may 
be  unable  now  to  give  to  the  several  Hebrew 
wordi:  the  distinctive  applications  to  still  subsist- 
ing things. 

The  divan,  or  dais,  is  a  slightly  elevated  plat- 
form at  the  upper  end,  and  often  along  the  sides 
of  the  room.  On  this  are  laid  the  mattresses  on 
Avhich  the  Western  Asiatics  sit  cross-legged  in 
the  day-time,  with  large  cushions  agamst  the 
wall  to  support  the  back.  At  night  the  light 
bedding  is  usually  laid  out  upon  this  divan,  and 
beds  for  many  persons  are  easily  formed.  The 
bedding  is  removed  in  the  morning,  and  depo- 
sited in  recesses  in  the  room,  made  for  the  pur- 
pose. This  is,  however,  a  sort  of  general  sleep- 
ing-room for  the  males  of  the  family  and  for 
guests,  none  but  the  master  having  access  to  the 
inner  parts  of  the  house,  where  alone  there  are 
proper  and  distinct  bed-chambers,  where  the 
bedding  is  either  laid  on  the  carpeted  floor  or 
placed  on  a  low  frame  or  bedstead. 

The  most  common  bedstead  in  Egypt  and 
Arabia  is  of  this  shape,  framed  rudely  of  palm- 


sticks.  It  was  used  in  ancient  Egypt,  and  is 
figured  in  the  mural  paintings.  In  Palestine, 
Syria,  Persia,  where  the  palm-tree  is  not  common, 
and  where  timber  is  more  plentiful,  a  bed-frame 
of  similar  shape  is  made  of  boards.  This  kind  of 
bedstead  is  also  used  upon  the  house-tops  during 
the  season  in  which  people  sleep  there.  It  is  more 
than  likely  that  Og's  bedstead  was  of  this  descrip- 
tion (Deut.  iii.  11).  In  the  times  in  which  he 
lived  the  palm-tree  was  more  common  in  Pales- 
tine than  at  present,  and  those  in  ordinary  use 
were  probably  formed  of  palm-sticks.  Thus 
formed,  they  are  incapable  of  sustaining  any  un- 
due weight  without  being  disjointed  and  bent 
awry;  and  this  would  dictate  the  necessity  of 
making  the  bedstead  destined  to  sustain  the  vast 
bulk  of  Og  rather  with  rods  of  iron  than  with  the 
mid-ribs  of  the  palm-fronds.  These  bedsteads  are 
also  of  a  length  seldom  more  than  a  few  inches 
beyond  the  average  human  stature  (commonly 
6  feet  3  inches),  and  hence  the  propriety  with 
which  the  length  of  Og's  bedstead  is  stated  to  con- 
vey an  idea  of  his  stature. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  the  bedsteads 
were  all  of  this  sort.  There  are  traces  of  a  sort  of 
portable  couch  (1  Sam.  xix.  1.5),  which  appears  to 
have  served  as  a  sofa  for  sitting  on  in  the  day-time 
( 1  Sam.  xxviii.  23 ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  41 ;  Amos  vi.  4) ; 
and  there  is  now  the  less  reason  to  doubt  that  the 
ancient  Hebrews  had  a  convenience  of  this  sort,  as 
we  find  such  couches  in  use  among  the  neighbour- 
ing nations,  and  figured  on  their  monuments. 
The  subjoined  example  is  from  ancient  Egypt. 

A  bed  with  a  tester  is  mentioned  in  Judith  xvi. 
23,  which,  with  other  indications  and  the  frequent 
mention  of  rich  tapestries  hung  upon  and  about  a 


BEE 

bed  for  luxuriousness  and  ornament,  proves  that 
such  beds  as  are  still  used  by  royal  aud  distin- 


guished personages  were  not  unknown  Tinder  the 
Hebrew  monarchies  (comp.  Esth.  i.  6  ;  Prov.  vii. 
16,  sq. ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  41). 

It  is  evident  that  the  ancient  Jews,  like  the  mo- 
dern inhabitants  of  their  land,  seldom  or  never 
changed  their  dress  on  going  to  bed.  Most  people 
only  divest  themselves  of  their  outer  garment,  and 
loosen  the  ligature  of  the  waist,  excepting  during 
the  hottest  part  of  the  summer,  when  they  sleep 
almost  entirely  unclad. 

BEE  (occurs  in  Deut.  i.  44 ;  Judg.  xlv.  8 ;  Ps. 
cxviii.  12;  Isa.  vii.  18).  This  insect  belongs  to 
the  family  apidce,  order  hymenoptera,  species  apis 
mellijica,  commonly  called  the  honey-bee,  because 
this  species  has  often  yielded  honey  to  man. 

In  proceeding  to  notice  the  principal  passages 
of  Scripture  in  which  the  bee  is  mentioned,  we 
first  pause  at  Deut.  i.  44,  M'heie  Moses  alludes  to 
the  irresistible  vengeance  with  which  bees  pursue 
their  enemies :  '  The  Amorites  came  out  against 
jou  and  chased  you  as  bees  do,  and  destroyed  you 
in  Seir  unto  Hormah.'  The  powerlessness  of  man 
under  the  united  attacks  of  these  insects  is  well 
attested.  Pliny  relates  that  bees  were  so  trouble- 
some in  some  parts  of  Crete,  that  the  inhabitants 
were  compelled  to  forsake  their  homes  ;  and 
iElian  records  that  some  places  in  Scythia  were 
formerly  inaccessible  on  account  of  the  swarms  of 
bees  with  which  they  were  infested.  Park  relates 
that  at  Doofi-oo,  some  of  the  people  being  in  search 
of  honey,  unfortunately  disturbed  a  swarm  of  bees, 
which  came  out  in  great  numbers,  attacked  both 
men  and  beasts,  obliged  them  to  fly  in  all  direc- 
tions, so  that  he  feared  an  end  had  been  put  to  his 
journey,  and  that  one  ass  died  the  same  night,  and 
another  the  next  morning.  Even  in  this  country 
the  stings  of  two  exasperated  hives  have  been 
known  to  kill  a  horse  in  a  few  minutes. 

The  reference  to  the  bee  contained  in  Judg.  xiv. 
8,  has  attracted  the  notice  of  most  readers.  It  is 
related  in  the  .5th  and  6th  verses  that  Samson, 
aided  by  supernatural  strength,  rent  a  young  lion, 
that  warred  against  him,  as  he  would  have  rent  a 
kid,  and  that '  after  a  time,'  as  he  returned  to  take 
his  wife,  he  turned  aside  to  see  the  carcass  of  the 
lion,  and,  behold,  there  was  a  swarm  of  bees  and 
honey  in  the  carcass  of  the  lion.  It  has  been 
hastily  concluded  that  this  narrative  favours  the 
mistaken  notion  of  the  ancients,  possibly  derived 
from  misunderstanding  this  very  account,  that 
bees  might  be  engendered  in  the  dead  bodies  of 
animals ;  and  ancient  authors  are  quoted  to  testify 
to  the  aversion  of  .bees  to  flesh,  unpleasant  smells, 


BEELZEBUL  143 

and  filthy  places.  But  it  may  readily  be  per- 
ceived that  it  is  not  said  that  the  bees  were  bred 
in  the  body  of  the  lion.  Again,  the  frequently  re- 
curring phrase,  'after  a  time,'  literally  'after 
days,'  introduced  into  the  text,  proves  that  at  least 
sufficient  time  had  elapsed  for  all  the  flesh  of  the 
animal  to  have  been  removed  by  birds  and  beasts 
of  prey,  the  ants,  &c.  The  Syriac  version  trans- 
lates '  the  bony  carcass.'  The  learned  Bochart 
remarks  that  the  Hebrew  phrase  sometimes  signi- 
fies a  whole  year,  and  in  this  passage  it  would  seem 
likely  to  have  this  meaning,  because  such  was  the 
length  of  time  which  usually  elapsed  between 
espousal  and  marriage  (see  ver.  7).  The  circum- 
stance that  '  honey '  was  found  in  the  carcass  as 
well  as  bees,  shows  that  sufficient  time  had  elapsed 
since  their  possession  of  it,  for  all  the  flesh  to  be 
removed.  Nor  is  such  an  abode  for  bees,  probably 
in  the  skull  or  thorax,  more  unsuitable  than  a 
hollow  in  a  rock,  or  in  a  tree,  or  in  the  ground,  in 
which  we  know  they  often  reside,  or  those  clay 
nests  which  they  build  for  themselves  in  Brazil. 
Nor  is  the  fact  without  parallel.  Herodotus  re- 
lates that  a  swarm  of  bees  took  up  their  abode  in 
the  skull  of  one  Silius,  an  ancient  invader  of  Cy- 
prus, which  they  filled  with  honeycombs,  after  the 
inhabitants  had  suspended  it  over  the  gate  of  their 
city.  A  similar  story  is  told  by  Aldrovandus  of 
some  bees  that  inhabited  and  built  their  combs  in 
a  human  skeleton  in  a  tomb  in  a  church  at  Ve- 
rona. 

The  phrase Jn  Ps.  cxviii.  12,  'They  compassed 
me  about  like  tees,'  is  easily  understood  by  all 
who  know  the  manner  in  which  bees  attack  the 
object  of  their  fury. 

The  only  remaining  passage  has  been  strangely 
misunderstood  (Isa.  vii.  18):  'The  Lord  shall 
hiss  for  the  fly  that  is  in  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  river  of  Egypt,  and  for  the  bee  that  is  in  the 
land  of  Assyria.'  Here  the  fly  and  the  bee  are 
no  doubt  personifications  of  those  inveterate  ene- 
mies of  Israel,  the  Egjptians  and  Assyrians, 
whom  the  Lord  threatened  to  excite  against  his 
disobedient  people.  But  the  hissing  for  them  has 
been  interpreted,  even  by  modern  writers  of  emi- 
nence, as  involving  '  an  allusion  to  the  practice  of 
calling  out  the  bees  from  their  hives,  by  a  hissing 
or  whistling  sound,  to  their  labour  in  the  fields, 
and  summoning  them  to  return  when  the  heavens 
begin  to  lower,  or  the  shadows  of  evening  to  fiill.' 
No  one  has  ofi'ered  any  proof  of  the  existence  of 
such  a  custom,  and  the  idea  will  itself  seem  suffi- 
ciently strange  to  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
habits  of  bees.  The  true  reference  is,  no  doubt, 
to  the  custom  of  the  people  of  the  East,  and  even 
of  many  parts  of  Europe,  of  calling  the  atten- 
tion of  any  one  in  the  street,  &c.  by  a  significant 
Am  or  rather  hist,  as  Bishop  Lowth  translates  the 
word  both  here  and  in  Isa.  v.  20.  Hissing,  or 
rather  histing,  is  in  use  among  us  for  setting  a  dog 
on  any  object.  Hence  the  sense  of  the  threaten- 
ing is,  I  will  direct  the  hostile  attention  of  the 
Egyptians  and  Assyrians  against  you. 

BEEL'ZEBUL,  the  name  assigned  (Matt.  xii. 
24)  to  the  prince  of  the  daemons.  There  is  no 
doubt  that  the  reading  Beelzebul  is  the  one  which 
has  the  support  of  almost  every  critical  authority ; 
and  the  Beelzebub  of  the  Peshito  (if  indeed  it  is 
not  a  corruption,  as  Michaelis  thinks),  aud  of  the 
Vulgate,  and  of  some  modern  versions,  has  pro- 
bably been  accommodated  to  the  name  of  the 


144 


BEER-SHEBA 


Philistine  god  Baalzehub.  Some  of  those  -who 
consider  the  latter  to  have  been  a  reverential  title 
for  that  god,  believe  that  Beelzebul  is  a  wilful 
corruption  of  it,  in  order  to  make  it  contemptible. 
[Baal.] 

BEER,  a  well ;  a  local  proper  name,  denoting, 
■whether  by  itself  or  in  composition,  the  presence 
of  a  well  of  water.  There  were  two  places  so 
called. — 1.  A  place  in  the  land  of  Moab,  which  was 
one  of  the  encampments  of  the  Israelites  (Num. 
xxi.  IC). — 2.  A  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah.  It  is 
mentioned  only  once  in  Scripture  (Judg.  ix.  21), 
as  the  place  to  which  Jotham  fled.  It  is  supposed 
to  be  the  same  with  the  modern  Bireh,  a  large 
village  situated  o;i  the  ridge,  running  from  east 
to  west,  which  bounds  the  northern  prospect,  as 
beheld  from  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity,  and  may 
be  seen  from  a  great  distance  north  and  south. 
It  contains  a  population  of  700  Moslems.  The 
houses  are  low,  and  many  of  th'em  half  under- 
ground. Many  large  stones  and  various  substruc- 
tions evince  the  antiquity  of  the  site ;  nnd  there 
are  remains  of  a  fine  old  church  of  the  time  of  the 
Crusades. 

BEE'ROTH,  the  plural  of  Beer,  and  by  many 
taken  for  the  same  place.  It  is  mentioned  as  a 
city  of  the  Gibeonites  (Josh.  ix.  17),  and  -was 
reckoned  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (2  Sam.  iv.  2 ; 
Ezra  ii.  25). 

BE'ER-SHE'BA,  well  of  the  oath;  a  place  in 
the  southernmost  part  of  Canaan,  celebrated  for 
the  sojourn  of  the  patriarchs.  It  took  its  name 
fiom  the  well  which  was  dug  there  by  Abraham, 
and  the  oath  which  confirmed  his  treaty  with 
Abimelech  (Gen.  xxi.  31 ).  It  seems  to  have  been 
a  favourite  station  of  that  patriarch,  and  here  he 
planted  one  of  those  '  groves '  Avhich  formed  the 
temples  of  those  remote  times  (Gen.  xxi.  33).  A 
town  of  some  consequence  afterwards  arose  on  the 
spot,  and  retained  the  same  name.  It  was  first 
assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  28),  and 
afterwards  transferred  to  Simeon  (Josh.  xix.  2), 
but  was  still  popularly  ascribed  to  Judah  (2  Sam. 
xxiv.  7).  Being  the  southernmost  city  of  the 
land,  its  name  is  of  frequent  occurreuce  as  being 
proverbially  used  in  describing  the  extent  of  the 
land,  in  the  phrase  '  from  Dan  (in  the  north)  to 
Beersheba '  (in  the  south),  and  reversely,  '  from 
Beersheba  unto  Dan  '  (Judg.  xx.  1 ;  2  Sam.  xvii. 
11 ;  1  Chron.  xxi.  2 ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  .5).  It  v/as 
at  Beersheba  that  Samuel  established  his  sons  as 
judges  for  the  southernmost  districts  (1  Sam.  viii. 
2) :  it  -was  from  thence  that  Elijah  wandered  out 
into  the  southern  desert  (1  Kings  xix.  3):  here 
was  one  of  the  chief  seats  of  idolatrous  worship  in 
the  time  of  Uzziah  (Amos  v.  .5;  viii.  14) ;  and  to 
this  place,  among  others,  the  Jews  returned  after 
the  Captivity  (Neh.  xi.  27,  30).  This  is  the  last 
time  its  name  occurs  in  the  Old  Testament.  In 
the  New  Testament  it  is  not  once  mentioned ;  and 
for  many  centuries  it  seems  to  have  been  in  a 
great  measure  forgotten.  Its  site  was  recently 
visited  by  Dr.  Robinson,  who,  on  converging 
from  the  desert  and  entering  the  borders  of  Pa- 
lestine, came  upon  two  deep  wells  still  called 
Bir-es-Leba,  situate  on  the  northern  side  of  a  wide 
Avatercourse  called  Wady  ir-Leba.  These  wells 
are  55  rods  apart.  They  are  circular,  and  stoned 
up  very  neatly  with  masonry,  apparently  very 
ancient.  The  water  in  both  was  pure  and  sweet, 
and   in   great    abundance;   the    finest,   indeed, 


BEGGARS 

the  travellers  had  found  since  leaving  Sinai. 
Both  wells  were  surrounded  with  drinking- 
troughs  of  stone  for  camels  and  flocks,  such  as 
were  doubtless  used  of  old  by  the  flocks  which 
were  fed  on  the  adjacent  hills.  No  riiins  were  at 
first  visible ;  but,  on  examination,  foundations  of 
former  dwellings  were  traced,  dispersed  loosely 
over  the  low  hills  to  the  north  of  the  wells,  and 
in  the  hollows  between.  They  seem  to  have  been 
built  chiefly  of  round  stones,  although  some  of  the 
stones  are  squared  and  some  hewn;  suggesting 
the  idea  of  a  small  straggling  city.  The  site  of 
the  wells  is  nearly  midway  between  the  southern 
end  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  jNlediterranean  at 
Rapha;a,  or  twenty-seven  miles  south-east  from 
Gaza,  and  about  the  same  distance  south-by-west 
from  Hebron. 

BEEVES.  The  rearing  of  horned  cattle  was 
encouraged  by  the  people  of  Israel.  These  ani- 
mals were  protected  in  some  cases  by  express 
provisions  of  the  lax;  they  were  held  clean, 
being  the  usual  sacrifice  of  consideration,  and 
the  chief  article  of  flesh  diet  of  the  population. 
Judging  from  Egyptian  remains,  there  were  two 
great  breeds  of  straight-backed  cattle,  the  long- 
bcrned  and  the  short-horned;  and  in  Upper 
Egypt  at  least,  there  was  one  without  horns. 
Another  hunched  species  existed,  which  served 
to  draw  chariots,  yoked  in  the  c-ame  manner  as 
the  Brahminee  bulls  of  India  are  at  present. 

In  Egjpt  the  straight-backed  or  common  cattle 
appear  to  have  formed  a  very  handsome  breed 
with  lunate  horns.  They  were  generally  spotted 
black  or  red  upon  a  white  ground,  and  there 
were,  besides,  others  white,  red,  or  black.  They 
all  served  for  common  use,  but  those  without  red 
were  selected  when  new  sacred  bulls  were  to  be 
supplied ;  for  they  alone  had  the  colours  which 
could  show  the  marks  made  by  chance  or  by  art, 
and  required  to  fit  the  animal  for  the  purpose  in- 
tended. There  was,  besides,  a  sacred  cow ;  and 
a  black  bull  was  worshipped  at  Hermonthis. 

In  Palestine  the  breed  of  cattle  was  most  likely 
in  ancient  times,  «s  it  still  is,  inferior  in  sue  to 
the  Egyptian. 

Unless  the  name  be  taken  synonymously  witli 
that  of  other  species,  there  is  not  in  the  Bible 
any  indication  of  the  bufialo.  The  Asiatic  spe- 
cies was  not  known  in  Greece  till  the  time  of 
Aristotle.  The  indigenous  buffaloes  of  Africa, 
amounting  at  least  to  two  very  distinct  species, 
appear  to  have  belonged  to  the  south  and  west 
of  that  continent,  and  only  at  a  later  period  to 
have  approached  Egypt  as  far  as  the  present 
Bornou ;  for  none  are  figured  on  any  known  mo- 
nument in  either  Upper  or  Lower  Egypt.  With 
regard,  however,  to  wild  oxen  of.  the  true  Tau- 
rine genus,  some  may,  at  a  very  remote  period, 
have  been  found  in  Bashan,  evidently  the  origin 
of  the  name,— a  region  where  mountain,  wood, 
and  water,  all  connecting  the  Syrian  Libanus 
with  Taurus,  were  favourable  to  their  existence  ; 
but  the  wild  bulls  of  the  district,  mentioned  in 
Ps.  xxii.  1 2,  and  in  various  other  passages,  ap- 
pear, nevertheless,  to  refer  to  domestic  species, 
probably  left  to  propagate  without  much  human 
superintendence,  except  annually  marking  the 
increase,  and  selecting  a  portion  for  consumption, 
in  the  same  manner  as  is  still  practised  in  some 
parts  of  Europe. 

BEGGARS.     [Alms.] 


BEHEMOTH 

BE'HEMOTH  (Job  xl.  15)  is  regarded  as  the 
plural  of  behemali,  but  commentators  are  by  no 
means  agreed  as  to  its  true  meaning.  A  number 
of  learned  men,  with  Bochart  and  Calmet  at 
their  head,  understand  the  word  in  the  singular 
number  as  a  specific  name,  denoting  the  hippo- 
potamus, seeking  to  prove,  by  somewhat  forced 


90.    [Hippopotamus.] 

interpretations  of  the  beautiful  poetical  allusions 
in  Job  xl.  1.5-24,  the  exactness  of  the  description 
when  compared  with  the  species,  which,  how- 
ever, in  some  respects  is  more  applicable  to  the 
elephant,  while  in  others  it  is  equally  so  to  both 
animals.  Hence  the  term  behemoth,  taken  in- 
tensely (for  in  some  places  it  is  admitted  to 
designate  cattle  in  general),  may  be  assumed  to 
be  a  poetical  personification  of  the  great  Pachy- 
dermata,  or  even  Herbivora.  wherein  the  idea  of 
hippopotamus  is  predominant.  This  view  ac- 
counts for  the  ascription  to  it  of  characters  not 
truly  applicable  to  one  species ;  for  instance,  the 
tail  is  likened  to  a  cedar,  which  is  only  admis- 
sible in  the  case  of  the  elephant;  again,  'the 
mountains  bring  him  forth  food;'  'he  trusteth 
that  he  can  draw  up  Jordan,'  a  river  which  ele- 
phants alone  could  reach ;  '  his  nose  pierceth 
through  snares/  certainly  more  indicative  of  that 
animal's  proboscis  with  its  exti-aordinary  deli- 
cacy of  scent  and  touch,  ever  cautiously  applied, 
than  of  the  obtuse  perceptions  of  the  river-horse. 
Finally,  the  elephant  is  far  more  dangerous  as 
an  enemy  than  the  hippopotamus,  which  nume- 
rous pictorial  sculptures  on  the  monuments  of 
Egypt  represent  as  fearlessly  speared  by  a.  single 
hunter  standing  on  his  float  of  log  and  reeds. 
Yet  although  the  elephant  is  scarcely  less  fond 
of  water,  the  description  referring  to  manners, 
such  as  lying  under  the  shade  of  willows  among 
reeds,  in  fens,  &c.,  is  more  directly  characteristic 
of  the  hippopotamus.  The  book  of  Job  appears, 
from  many  internal  indications,  to  have  been 
written  in  Asia,  and  is  full  of  knowledge,  although 
that  knowledge  is  not  expressed  according  to  the 
precise  technicalities  of  modern  science :  it  offers 
pictures  in  magnificent  outline,  without  conde- 
scending to  minute  and  laboured  details.  Con- 
sidered in  this  light,  the  expression  in  Ps.  1.10, 
'  For  every  beast  of  the  forest  is  mine,  and  the 
cattle  (behemoth)  upon  a  thousand  hills,'  acquires 
a  grandeur  and  force  far  surpassing  the  mere 
idea  of  cattle  of  various  kinds.  If,  therefore,  we 
take  this  plural  noun  to  bear  the  meaning  here 
briefly  indicated,  we  may  likewise  consider  the 
leviathan,  its  counterpart,  a  similarly  generalized 
term  with  the  idea  of  the  crocodile  most  pro- 
minent; but  from  the  vei-y  namf.  indicating  a 
twisting  animal,  and  which  from  various  texts 


BELL  145 

evidently  include  the  great  pythons,  cetacea,  arid 
sharks  of  the  surrounding  seas  and  deserts,  it 
conveys  a  more  sublime  allusion  than  if  limited 
to  the  crocodile,  an  animal  familiar  to  everv 
Egyptian,  and  well  known  even  in  Palestine. 

BE'KAH,  half  a  shekel.     [Weights.] 

BEL  is  the  name  under  which  the  national  god 
of  the  Babylonians  is  cursorily  mentioned  in  Isa. 
xlvi.  1  ;  Jer.  1.  2 ;  li.  44.  This  deity  is  also  no- 
ticed in  Bar.  vi.  40,  and  the  apocryphal  addition 
to  the  book  of  Daniel,  where  we  read  of  meat  and 
drink  being  daily  off"ered  to  him,  according  to  a 
usage  occurring  in  classical  idolatry.  A  particu- 
lar account  of  the  pyramidal  temple  of  Bel,  at 
Babylon,  is  given  by  Herodotus,  who  also  states 
that  the  sacrifices  of  this  god  consisted  of  adult 
cattle,  of  their  young,  when  sucking,  and  of  in- 
cense. 

The  question  whether  the  sun  or  the  planet 
Jupiter  was  the  power  of  nature  adored  under 
the  name  of  Bel,  is  discussed  under  the  article 
Baal. 

BEL  and  DRAGON.  [Daniel,  Apocryphal 
Additions  to.] 

BE'LA.    [ZoAR.] 

BF^LL.  The  first  bells  known  in  history  are 
those  small  golden  bells  which  were  attached  to 
the  lower  part  of  the  blue  robe  (the  robe  o^  the 
ephod)  which  formed  part  of  the  dress  of  the 
high-priest  in  his  sacerdotal  ministrations  (Exod. 
xxviii.  33,34;  comp.  Ecclus.  xlv.  11).  They 
were  there  placed  alternately  with  the  pomegra- 
nate-shaped knobs,  one  of  these  being  between 
every  two  of  the  bells.  The  number  of  these 
bells  is  not  mentioned  in  Scripture ;  but  tradition 
st3,tes  that  there  were  sixty-six.  We  need  not 
seek  any  other  reason  for  this  rather  singular  use 
of  bells  than  that  which  is  assigned :  '  His  sound 
shall  be  heard  w  hen  he  goeth  into  the  holy  place 
before  the  Lord,  and  when  he  cometh  out,  that 
he  die  not'  (Exod.  xxviii.  35);  by  which  we  may 
understand  that  the  sound  of  the  bells  manifested 
that  he  was  properly  arrayed  in  the  robes  of  cere- 
mony which  he  was  required  to  wear  when  he 
entered  the  presence-chamber  of  the  Great  King ; 
and  that  as  no  minister  can  enter  the  presence  of 
an  earthly  potentate  abruptly  and  unannounced, 
so  he  (whom  no  human  being  could  introduce) 
was  to  have  his  entrance  harbingered  by  the 
sound  of  the  bells  he  wore.  This  sound,  heard, 
outside,  also  notified  to  the  people  the  time  in 
which  he  was  engaged  in  his  sacred  ministra- 
tions, and  during  which  they  remained  in  prayer 
(Luke  i.  9,  10). 

'  Bells  of  the  Horses'  are  mentioned  ia 
Zedi.  xiv.  20,  which  were  probably  such  as  were 
hung  to  the  bridles  or  foreheads,  or  to  belts 
around  the  necks,  of  horses  trained  for  war,  that 
they  might  thereby  be  accustomed  to  noise  and 
tumult,  and  not  by  their  alarm  expose  the  riders 
to  danger  in  actual  warfiire.  We  incline  to 
think,  however,  that  the  use  of  horse-bells  with 
which  the  Jews  were  most  familiar,  and  which 
the  prophet  had  in  view,  was  that  which  at  pre- 
sent exists  in  the  East,  and  in  oi.her  countries 
where  carriage  by  pack-horses  and  mules  is 
common.  The  laden  animals,  being  without 
riders,  have  bells  hung  from  their  necks,  that 
they  may  be  kept  together,  in  traversmg  by 
night  the  open  plains  and  deserts,  by  paths  and  j 
roads  unconfined  by  fences  or  boundaries ;  that     , 


146 


BEN 


they  may  be  cheered  by  the  sound  of  the  bells ; 
and  that  if  any  horse  strays,  its  place  may  be 
known  by  the  sound  of  its  bell,  while  the  general 
sound  from  the  caravan  enables  the  traveller 
who  has  strayed  or  lingered,  to  find  and  regain 
his  party,  even  in  the  night. 

That  the  same  motto,  Holiness  to  the  Lord, 
which  was  upon  the  mitre  of  the  high-priest, 
should,  in  the  happy  days  foretold  by  the  pro- 
phet, be  inscribed  even  upon  the  bells  of  the 
horses,  manifestly  signifies  that  all  things,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest,  should  in  those  days  be 
sanctified  to  God. 

It  is  remarkable  that  there  is  no  appearance 
of  bells  of  any  kind  in  the  Egyptian  monu- 
ments. 

BELLOWS.  This  word  only  occurs  in  Jer. 
vi.  29,  and  is  there  used  with  reference  to  the 
casting  of  metal.  As  fires  in  the  East  are 
always  of  wood  or  charcoal,  a  sufficient  heat  for 
ordinary  purposes  is  soon  raised  by  the  help  of 
fans,  and  the  use  of  bellows  is  confined  to  the 
Avorkers  in  metal.  Such  was  the  case  anciently  ; 
and  in  the  mural  paintings  of  Egypt  we  observe 
no  bellows  but  such  as  are  used  for  the  forge  or 
furnace.  They  thus  occur  as  early  as  the  time 
of  Moses,  being  represented  in  a  tomb  at  Thebes 
which  bears  the  name  of  Thothmes  IIL     They 


consisted  of  a  leathern  bag,  secured  and  fitted 
into  a  frame,  from  which  a  long  pipe  extended 
for  carrying  the  wind  to  the  fire.  They  were 
worked  by  the  feet,  the  operator  standing  upon 
them  with  one  under  each  foot  and  pressing  them 
alternately,  while  he  pulled  up  each  exhausted 
skin  with  a  string  he  held  in  his  hand.  In  one 
instance  it  is  observed  from  the  painting,  that 
when  the  man  left  the  bellows  they  were  raised 
as  if  filled  with  air,  and  ibis  would  imply  a 
knowledge  of  the  valve. 

BELLY.  Among  the  Hebrews,  and  with 
most  ancient  nations,  the  belly  was  regarded  as 
the  seat  of  the  carnal  affections,  as  being,  ac- 
cording to  the  notions  of  antiquity,  that  which 
first  partakes  of  sensual  pleasures  (Tit.  i.  12 ; 
Phil.  iii.  19  ;  Eom.  xvi.  18).  It  is  used  likewise 
symbolically  for  the  heart,  the  innermost  recesses 
of  the  soul  (Prov.  xviii.  8;  xx.  27;  xxii.  18). 
The  embittering  of  the  belly  signifies  all  the  train 
of  evils  which  may  come  upon  a  man  (Jer.  iv. 
19  ;  ix.  15  ;  comp.  Numb.  v.  27). 

BELSHAZ'ZAR  is  the  name  given  in  the 
book  of  Daniel  to  the  last  king  of  the  Chaldees, 
under  Avhom  Babylon  was  taken  by  the  Medes 
and  Persians.  Nothing  is  really  known  of  this 
king  except  from  the  book  of  Daniel. 

BELTESHAZ'ZAR.     [Daniel.] 

BEN  (son),  is  often  found  as  the  first  element 
of  proper  names ;  in  which  case  the  word  which 


BENHADAD 

follows  it  is  always  to  be  considered  dependent 
on  it.  in  the  relation  of  our  genitive.  The  word 
which  follows  Be7i  may  either  be  of  itself  a 
proper  name,  or  be  an  appellative  or  abstract, 
the  principle  of  the  connection  being  essentially 
the  same  in  both  cases.    [Bar.] 

BENAI'AH,  son  of  Jehoiada,  and  commander 
of  David's  guard  (the  Cherethites  and  Pelethites, 
2  Sam.  viii.  18).  His  exploits  were  celebrated 
in  Israel.  He  overcame  two  Moabitish  cham- 
pions ('  lions  of  God'),  slew  an  Egyptian  giant 
with  his  own  spear,  and  went  down  into  an  ex- 
hausted cistern  and  destroyed  a  lion  which  had 
fallen  into  it  when  covered  with  snow  (2  Sam. 
xxiii.  21).  Benaiah  (doubtless  with  the  guard 
he  commanded)  adhered  to  Solomon  when  Joab 
and  others  attempted  to  set  up  Adonijah ;  and 
when  that  attempt  failed,  he,  as  belonged  to  his 
office,  was  sent  to  put  .loab  to  death,  after  which 
he  was  appointed  commander  in  chief  in  his 
place  (1  Kings  i.  36 ;  ii.  29).  Some  persons 
named  Benaiah  returned  from  the  exile  with 
Ezra  (x.  25,  SO,  35,  43). 

BENHA'DAD  (son  of  Hadad),  the  name  of 
three  kings  of  Damascene-Syria.  As  to  the 
latter  part  of  this  name,  Hadad,  there  is  little 
doubt  that  it  is  the  name  of  the  Syrian  god 
Adad. 

1.  Benhadad,  the  king  of  Syria  who  was 
subsidised  by  Asa  king  of  Judah  to  invade 
Israel,  and  thereby  compel  Baasha  (who  had  in- 
vaded Judah)  to  return  to  defend  his  own  king- 
dom (1  Kings  XV.  18).  [Asa.]  This  Benhadad 
has,  with  some  reason,  been  supposed  to  be  Hadad 
the  Edomite  who  rebelled  against  Solomon  (1 
Kings  xi.  25). 

2.  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria,  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding. His  earlier  history  is  much  involved 
in  that  of  Ahab,  with  whom  he  was  constantly  at 
war  [Ahab].  He  owed  the  signal  defeat  in 
which  that  war  terminated  to  the  vain  notion 
that  assimilated  Jehovah  to  the  local  deities 
which  the  nations  of  Syria  worshipped,  deeming 
Him  '  a  God  of  the  hills,'  but  impotent  to 
defend  his  votaries  in  '  the  plains'  (1  Kings  xx. 
1-30).  Instead  of  pursuing  his  victory,  Ahab 
concluded  a  peace  with  the  defeated  Benhadad, 
which  was  observed  for  about  twelve  years, 
when  the  Syrian  king  declared  war  against  Je- 
horam  the  son  of  Ahab,  and  invaded  Israel  -.  but 
all  his  plans  and  operations  were  frustrated  by 
being  made  known  to  Jehoram  by  the  prophet 
Elisha  (2  Kings  vi.  8,  ad  Jin.).  After  some  years 
he  however  renewed  the  war,  and  besieged 
Jehoram  in  his  capital,  Samaria,  until  the  inha- 
bitants were  reduced  to  the  last  extremities  and 
most  revolting  resources  by  famine.  The  siege 
was  then  unexpectedly  raised,  according  to  a 
prediction  of  Elisha,  through  a  panic  infused 
into  the  besiegers,  who  concluding  that  a  noise 
which  they  seemed  to  hear  portended  the  a<i- 
vance  upon  them  of  a  foreign  host  procured  by 
Jehoram,  thought  only  of  saving  themselves  by 
flight.  The  next  year  Benhadad,  learning  that 
Elisha,  through  whom  so  many  of  his  designs 
had  been  brought  to  nought,  had  arrived  at 
Damascus,  sent  an  officer  of  distinction  named 
Hazael  with  presents,  to  consult  him  as  to  his 
recovery  from  an  illness  under  which  he  then 
suffered.  The  prophet  answered,  that  his  disease 
was  not  mortal,  but  that  he  would  nevertheless 


BENJAMIN 


BERYL 


die.  This  was  accomplished  a  few  days  after 
by  this  very  Hazael,  who  smothered  the  sick 
monarch  in  his  bed,  and  mounted  the  throne  in 
his  stead,  n.c.  884  (2  Kings  viii.  7-1 5).  [Eli- 
sha;  Hazael:  Jehoram.] 

3.  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria,  son  of  the 
Hazael  just  mentioned.  He  was  thrice  defeated 
by  Jehoash,  king  of  Israel,  who  recovered  from 
him  all  the  territories  beyond  Jordan  which  Ha- 
zael had  rent  from  the  dominion  of  Israel  (2 
Kings  xiii.  3,  24,  25). 

BEN'JAMIN,  youngest  son  of  Jacob,  by 
Eachel  (Gen.  xxxv.  18).  His  mother  died  im- 
mediately after  he  was  bom,  and  with  her  last 
breath  named  him  Ben-Oni,  '  Son  of  viy  pain,' 
which  the  father  changed  into  Benjamin,  a  word 
of  nearly  the  same  sound,  but  portending  comfort 
and  consolation,  '  Son  of  my  right  hand,'  pro- 
bably alluding  to  the  support  and  protection  he 
promised  himself  from  this,  his  last  child,  in  his 
old  age. 

The  tribe  of  Benjamin,  though  the  least  nu- 
merous of  Israel,  became  nevertheless  a  consi- 
derable race  in  process  of  time.  In  the  desert  it 
counted  35,400  warriors,  all  above  twenty  years 
of  age  (Num.  i.  36 ;  ii.  22) ;  and,  at  the  entrance 
of  Israel  into  Canaan,  even  as  many  as  45,600. 
The  portion  allotted  to  this  tribe  was  in  pro- 
portion to  its  small  number,  and  was  encom- 
passed by  the  districts  of  Ephraim,  Dan,  and 
Judah,  in  central  Palestine.  The  territory, 
though  rather  small,  was  highly-cultivated  and 
naturally  fertile,  and  contained  thirtj--six  towns 
(with  the  villages  appertaining  to  them),  which 
are  named  in  Josh,  xviii.  21-28 ;  and  the  prin- 
cipal of  which  were  Jericho,  Bethagla,  Bethel, 
Gibeon,  Eamah,  and  Jebus  or  Jerusalem.  This 
latter  place  subsequently  hecame  the  capital  of 
the  whole  Jewish  empire ;  but  was,  after  the 
division  of  the  land,  still  in  possession  of  the 
Jebusites.  The  lower  or  less  fortified  part  had 
been  taken  by  Judah  (Judg.  i.  8),  who  in  this 
matter  had  almost  a  common  interest  with  Ben- 
jamin ;  but  Zion,  the  upper  part,  was  not  finally 
wrested  from  the  Jebusites  till  the  time  of  David 
(2  Sam.  V.  6,  sq.').  In  the  time  of  the  Judges, 
the  tribe  of  Benjamin  became  involved  in  a  civil 
war  with  the  other  eleven  tribes,  for  having  re- 
fused to  give  up  to  justice  the  miscreants  of 
Gibeon  who  had  publicly  violated  and  caused 
the  death  of  a  concubine  of  a  man  of  Ephraim, 
who  had  passed  with  her  through  Gibeon.  This 
war  terminated  in  the  almost  utter  extinction  of 
the  tribe ;  leaving  no  hope  for  its  regeneration 
from  the  circumstance,  that,  not  only  had  nearly 
all  the  women  of  that  tribe  been  previously  slain 
by  their  foes,  but  the  eleven  other  tribes  had  en- 
gaged themselves  by  a  solemn  oath  not  to  marry 
their  daughters  to  any  man  belonging  to  Ben- 
jamin. When  the  thirst  of  revenge,  however, 
had  abated,  they  found  means  to  evade  the  letter 
of  the  oath,  and  to  revive  the  tribe  again  by  an 
alliance  with  them  (Judg.  xxi.  20,  21).  This 
revival  was  so  rapid,  that  in  the  time  of  David 
it  already  numbered  59,434  able  warriors  (1 
Chron.  vii.  6-12)  ;  in  that  of  Asa,  280,000  (2 
Chron.  xiv.  8);  and  in  that  of  Jehoshaphat, 
200,000  (2  Chron.  xvii.  17). 

This  tribe  had  also  the  honour  of  giving  the 
first  king  to  the  Jews,  Saul  being  a  Benjamite 
(1  Sam.  ix.  1,  2).    After  his  death,  the  Ben- 


jamites,  as  might  have  been  expected,  declared 
themselves  for  his  son  Ishbosheth  (2  Sam.  ii, 
8,  sq.);  until,  after  the  assassination  of  that 
prince,  David  became  king  of  all  Israel.  David 
having  at  last  expelled  the  Jebusites  from  Zion, 
and  made  it  his  own  residence,  the  close  alliance 
that  seems  previously  to  have  existed  between 
the  tribes  of  Benjamin  and  Judah  (Judg.  i.  8) 
was  cemented  by  the  circumstance  that,  while 
Jerusalem  actually  belonged  to  the  district  of 
Benjamin,  that  of  Judah  was  immediately  con- 
tiguous to  it.  Thus  it  happened,  that,  at  the 
division  of  the  kingdom  after  the  death  of  Solo- 
mon, Benjamin  espoused  the  cause  of  Judah,  and 
formed,  together  with  it,  a  kingdom  by  them- 
selves. Indeed,  the  two  tribes  stood  always  in 
such  a  close  connection,  as  often  to  be  included 
under  the  single  term  Judah  (1  Kings  xi.  13; 
xii.  20).  After  the  exile,  also,  these  two  tribes 
constituted  the  flower  of  the  new  Jewish  colony 
in  Palestine  (comp.  Ezr.  xi.  1 ;  x.  9). 

BERE'A  (Acts  xvii.  10),  a  city  of  Macedonia, 
situate  on  the  river  Astraeus,  not  far  from  Pelia, 
towards  the  south-west,  and  near  Mount  Ber- 
mius.  It  was  afterwards  called  Irenopolis,  and 
is  now  known  by  the  name  of  Boor.  Paul  and 
Silas  withdrew  to  this  place  from  Thessalonica ; 
and  the  Jewish  residents  are  described  as  more 
ingenuous,  and  of  a  better  disposition  (not '  more 
noble,'  as  in  the  Authorized  Version)  '  than 
those  of  Thessalonica,'  in  that  they  diligently 
searched  the  Scriptures  to  ascertain  the  truth  of 
the  doctrines  taught  by  the  Apostles. 

BEKNI'CE,  eldest  daughter  of  Herod 
Agrippa  I.,  and  sister  of  the  younger  Agrippa 
(Acts  XXV.  13,  23  ;  xxvi.  30).  She  was  married 
to  her  uncle  Herod,  king  of  Chalcis  ;  and  after 
his  death,  in  order  to  avoid  the  merited  suspicion 
of  incest  with  her  brother  Agrippa,  she  became 
the  wife  of  Polemon,  king  of  Cilicia.  This  con- 
nection being  soon  dissolved,  she  returned  to  her 
brother,  and  afterwards  became  the  mistress  of 
Vespasian  and  Titus. 

BER'YL.  This  is  supposed  by  some  to  be 
the  precious  stone  intended  by  the  word  ahoham, 
which  occurs  in  Gen.  ii.  12;  Exod.  xxviii.  9; 
xxxv.  9-27;  Job  xxviii.  16;  Ezek.  xxviii.  13. 
Whether  the  beryl  be  the  shoham  or  not,  it  is  a 
Scriptural  stone  by  virtue  of  the  mention  of  it  iu 
Rev.  xxL  20.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  stone 
which  we  call  beryl  is  the  substance  to  which  the 
ancients  gave  the  same  name.  It  is  of  a  pale 
sea-green  colour,  inclining  sometimes  to  water 
blue,  and  sometimes  to  yellow.  In  its  crystal- 
lized form  it  exhibits  sexagonal  columns  striped 
longitudinally.  The  shoham  furnished  the 
shoulder-pieces  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high- 
priest,  on  each  of  which  six  names  were  en- 
graven, and  for  this  purpose  the  stalky  beryl, 
consisting  of  long,  stout,  hexagonal  pieces,  was 
peculiarly  suited.  Beryls  are  found,  but  not 
often,  in  collections  of  ancient  gems.  In  Gen. 
ii.  12,  the  shoham  is  named  as  the  product  of 
Havilah ;  in  Job  xxviii.  16,  it  is  mentioned  as  a 
stone  of  great  value,  being  classed  with  the  sap- 
phire and  the  gold  of  Ophir ;  in  Ezek.  xxviii.  13, 
it  appears  as  a  valuable  article  of  commerce. 

Luther,  relying  upon  the  authority  of  some 

ancient  versions,  makes  the  shoham  to  have  been 

the   onyx.     This   indeed   is    the   stone   usually 

given  for  the  shoham  in  Hebrew  lexicons,  and 

l2 


Hd 


BETH-A1I«EL 


is  the  one  which  the  Authorized  Version  has  also 
adopted. 

BE'SOR,  a  brook  mentioned  in  1  Sara.  xxx.  9. 
It  is  without  doubt  the  same  that  Richardson 
crossed  on  approaching  Gaza  from  the  south,  and 
which  he  calls  Oa  di  Gaza  (Wady  Gaza).  The 
bed  was  thirty  yards  wide,  and  its  stream  was, 
early  in  April,  already  exhausted,  although  some 
stagnant  water  remained. 

BETH  {house)  is  often  found  as  the  first  ele- 
ment of  proper  names  of  places  in  the  Bible.  It 
is  only  necessary  to  observe  that,  in  all  such  com- 
pounds, as  Bethel,  &c.,  the  latter  part  of  the  word 
must  be  considered,  according  to  our  Occidental 
languages,  to  depend  on  the  former  in  the  rela- 
tion of  the  genitive;  so  that  Bethel  can  only 
mean  '  houseof  God.'  The  notion  of  house  is,  of 
course,  capable  of  a  wide  application,  and  js  used 
to  mean  temple,  habitation,  place,  according  to 
the  sense  of  the  word  with  which  it  is  combined. 
BETHAB' AllA  or  Bethbarah.  This  name 
means  place  oftheford,  i.  e.  of  or  over  the  Jordan  ; 
and  is  mentioned  in  John  i.  28,  as  the  place  where 
John  baptized.  The  best  manuscripts  and  recent 
editions,  however,  have  Bethany :  the  reading 
Bethabara  appears  to  have  arisen  from  the  con- 
jecture of  Origen,  who  in  his  day  found  no  such 
place  on  the  Jordan  as  Bethany,  but  knew  a 
town  called  Bethabara,  where  John  was  said  to 
have  baptized,  and  therefore  took  the  unwarrant- 
able liberty  of  changing  the  reading. 

BETH' ANY  (jplace  of  date:;).  1.  The  place 
near  the  Jordan  where  John  baptized,  the  exact 
situation  of  which  is  unknown.  Some  copies 
here  read  Bethabara,  as  stated  in  the  preceding 
article.  2.  Bethany,  a  town  or  village  about 
fifteen  furlongs  east-south-east  from  Jerusalem, 
beyond  the  Momit  of  Olives  (John  xi.  18),  so 
called,  probably,  from  the  number  of  palm-trees 
that  grew  around.  It  was  the  residence  of 
Lazarus  and  his  sisters  Mary  and  Martha,  and 
Jesus  often  went  out  from  Jerusalem  to  lodge 
there  (Matt.  xxi.  17;  xxvi.  6;  Mark  xi.  1,  11, 
12;  xiv.  3;  Luke  xix.  29;  xxiv.  50;  John  xi. 
1,  18;  xii.  1).  The  place  still  subsists  in  a 
shallow  wady  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  Dr.  Robinson  reached  Bethany  in 
three-quarters  of  an  hour  from  the  Damascus 
gate  of  Jerusalem  ;  which  gives  a  distance  cor- 
responding to  the  fifteen  furlongs  (stadia)  of 
the  Evangelist.  It  is  a  poor  village  of  about 
twenty  families.  The  only  marks  of  antiquity 
are  some  hewn  stones  from  more  ancient  build- 
ings, found  in  the  walls  of  some  of  the  houses. 
The  monks,  indeed,  show  the  house  of  Mary  and 
Martha,  and  of  Simon  the  leper,  and  also  the 
sepulchre  of  Lazarus,  all  of  which  are  constantly 
mentioned  in  the  narratives  of  pilgrims  and  tra- 
vellers. The  sepulchre  is  a  deep  vault,  like  a 
cellar,  excavated  in  the  limestone  rock  in  the 
middle  of  the  village,  to  which  there  is  a  descent 
by  twenty-six  steps.  Dr.  Robinson  alleges  that 
there  is  not  the  slightest  probability  of  its  ever 
having  been  the  tomb  of  Lazarus.  The  form  is 
not  that  of  the  ancient  sepulchres,  nor  does  its 
situation  accord  with  the  narrative  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  implies  that  the  tomb  was  not 
in  the  town  (John  xvi.  31,  38). 

BETH-AR'BEL,  a  place  mentioned  only  in 
Hos.  X.  14  ;  and  as  it  there  seems  to  be  implied 
that  it  was  an  impregnable  fortress,  the  probabi- 


BETHEL 

lity  is  strengthened  of  its  being  the  same  as  the 
Arbela  of  Josephus.  This  was  a  village  in  Gali- 
lee, near  which  were  certain  fortified  caverns. 
They  are  first  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
march  of  Bacchides  into  Judsea,  at  which  time 
they  were  occupied  by  many  fugitives,  and  the 
Syrian  general  encamped  there  long  enough  to 
subdue  them.  At  a  later  period  these  caverns 
formed  the  retreats  of  banded  robbers,  who  greatly 
distressed  the  inhabitants  throughout  that  quarter, 
and  were  at  length  extirpated  by  Herod.  These 
same  caverns  were  afterwards  fortified  by  Jose- 
phus himself  against  the  Romans  during  his 
command  in  Galilee.  There  is  little  doubt  that 
Arbela  of  Galilee,  with  its  fortified  caverns,  may 
be  identified  with  the  present  Kulat  ibn  Maan 
and  the  adjacent  ruins  now  known  as  Irbid. 

BETH-A'VEN  {house  of  idols),  a  nickname  for 
the  town  of  Bethel,  applied  to  it  after  it  became  the 
seat  of  the  worship  of  the  golden  calves  [Bethel]. 
There  was,  however,  a  town  of  this  name  not  far 
from  Bethel  eastward  (Josh.  vii.  2 ;  1  Sam.  xiii. 
5),  the  existence  of  which,  perhaps,  occasioned 
the  transfer  of  the  name  to  Bethel.  There  was 
also  a  desert  of  the  same  name  (Josh,  xviii.  12). 
BETH'EL,  originally  Luz,  an  ancient  town 
which  Eusebius  places  12  R.  miles  north  of  Jeru- 
salem, on  the  right  hand  of  the  road  to  Shechem. 
Jacob  rested  here  one  night  on  his  way  to  Padan- 
Aram,  and  commemorated  the  vision  with  which 
he  was  favoured  by  erecting  and  pouring  oil 
upon  the  stone  which  had  served  him  for  a  pillow, 
and  giving  to  the  place  the  name  of  Bethel  {place 
or  house  of  God),  which  eventually  superseded 
the  more  ancient  designation  of  Luz  (Gen.  xxviii. 
11-19).  Under  that  name  it  is  mentioned  pro- 
leptically  with  reference  to  the  earlier  time  of 
Abraham  (Gen.  xii.  8  ;  xiii.  3).  After  his  pros- 
perous return.  Bethel  became  a  favourite  station 
with  Jacob :  here  he  built  an  altar,  buried  Debo- 
rah, received  the  name  of  Israel  (for  the  second 
time),  and  promises  of  blessing ;  and  here  also  he 
accomplished  the  vow  which  he  had  made  on  his 
going  forth  (Gen.  xxxv.  1-15;  comp.  xxxii.  28, 
and  xxviii.  20-22).  It  seems  not  to  have  been  a 
town  in  those  early  times ;  but  at  the  conquest  of 
the  land,  Bethel  is  mentioned  as  the  royal  city  of 
the  Canaanites  (Jo»h.  xii.  16).  It  became  a 
boundary  town  of  Benjamin  towards  Ephraim 
(Josh,  xviii.  22),  and  was  actually  conquered  by 
the  latter  tribe  from  the  Canaanites  (Judg.  i. 
22-26).  At  this  place,  already  consecrated  in  the 
time  of  the  patriarchs,  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
was,  apparently  for  a  long  while,  deposited  [Ark], 
and  probably  the  tabernacle  also  (Judg.  xx.  26  ; 
comp.  1  Sam.  x.  3).  It  was  also  one  of  the  places 
at  which  Samuel  held  in  rotation  his  court  of  jus- 
tice (1  Sam.  vii.  IG).  After  the  separation  of  the 
kingdoms  Bethel  was  included  in  that  of  Israel, 
which  seems  to  show,  that  although  originally  in 
the  formal  distribution  assigned  to  Benjamin,  it 
had  been  actually  possessed  by  Ephraim  in  right 
of  conquest  from  the  Canaanites — which  might 
have  been  held  by  that  somewhat  unscrupulous 
tribe  to  determine  the  right  of  possession  to  a 
place  of  importance  close  on  their  own  frontier. 
Jeroboam  made  it  the  southern  seat  (Dan  being 
the  northern)  of  the  worship  of  the  golden  calves  ; 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  the  chief  seat  of  that 
worship  (1  Kings  xii.  28-33;  xiii.  1).  This  ap- 
propriation,   however,     completely     desecrated 


]>ETIIESDA 

Bethel  in  the  estimation  of  the  orthodox  Jews ; 
and  the  prophets  name  it  with  abhorrence  and 
contempt — even  applying  to  it  the  name  of  Beth- 
aven  {house  of'  idols)  instead  Bethel  (house  of  God) 
(Amos  i.  5;  Hos.  iv.  15;  v.  8;  x.  5,  8).  The 
town  was  taken  from  Jeroboam  by  Abijah,  king 
of  Judah  (2  Chron.  xiii.  19)  ;  but  it  again  re- 
verted to  Israel  (2  Kings  x.  28).  After  the 
Israelites  were  carried  away  captive  by  the  Assy- 
rians, all  traces  of  this  illegal  worship  were  extir- 
pated by  Josiah,  king  of  Judah,  who  thus  ful- 
filled a  prophecy  made  to  Jeroboam  350  years 
before  (2  Kings  xiii.  1,  2;  xxiii.  15-18).  The 
place  was  still  in  existence  after  the  Captivity, 
and  was  iti  the  possession  of  the  Benjamites 
(E.-5ra  ii.  28  ;  Neh.  vii.  32).  In  the  time  of  the 
Maccabees  Bethel  was  fortified  by  iiacchides  for 
the  king  of  Syria.  It  is  not  named  in  the  New 
Testament ;  but  it  still  existed,  and  was  taken  by 
Vespasian.  It  is  described  by  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  as  a  small  village ;  and  this  is  the  last 
notice  of  it  as  an  inhabited  place.  Bethel  and  its 
name  were  believed  to  have  perished  until  within 
these  few  years ;  M'hen  it  has  been  identified 
with  Beitin,  the  situation  of  which  corresponds 
very  exactly  with  the  position  assigned  to  the 
ancient  Bethel.  The  ruins,  which  are  consider- 
able, lie  upon  the  point  of  a  low  hill,  between  the 
heads  of  two  shallow  wadys  which  unite  below, 
and  run  off  into  a  deep  and  rugged  valley.  The 
spot  is  shut  in  by  higher  land  on  every  side. 

BE'THER.  The  Mountains  of  Bether  are 
only  mentioned  in  Cant.  ii.  17;  viii.  14;  and  no 
place  called  Bether  occnrs  elsewhere.  The  word 
means,  properly,  dissection.  The  mountains  of 
Bether  may  therefore  be  mountains  of  disjunction, 
of  separation,  etc.,  that  is,  mountains  cut  up,  di- 
vided by  ravines,  etc. 

BETHE'SDA  {house  or  place  of  mercy'),  a  pool 
at  the  Sheep-gate  of  Jerusalem,  built  round  with 
porches  for  the  accommodation  of  the  sick  who 
sought  benefit  from  the  healing  virtues  of  the 
water,  and  upon  one  of  whom  Christ  performed 
the  healing  miracle  recorded  by  St.  John  (v.  2-9). 
That  which  is  now,  and  has  long  been  pointed  out 
as  the  Pool  of  Bethesda,  is  a  dry  basin  or  reser- 
voir outside  the  northern  wall  of  the  enclosure 
around  the  Temple  Mount,  of  which  wall  its 
southern  side  may  be  said  to  form  a  part.  The 
east  end  of  it  is  close  to  the  present  gate  of  St. 
Stephen.     The  pool  measures  300  feet  in  length, 


92,    [Pool  of  Bethesda.] 


BETHLEHEM  149 

130  feet  in  breadth,  and  75  in  depth  from  the 
bottom,  besides  the  rubbish  which  has  been  accu- 
mulated in  it  for  ages.  Dr.  Robinson  is  of 
opinion  that  this  excavation  is  not  entitled  to  the 
designation  it  bears ;  but  his  arguments  have 
been  so  forcibly  met  by  more  recent  and  not  less 
useful  inquirei-s,  that  until  some  better  alterna- 
tive is  offered,  it  will  be  well  to  acquiesce  in  the 
local  conclusion. 

BETH-HO'KON :  two  places  of  this  name  are 
distinguished  in  Scripture  as  the  Upper  and 
Nether  Beth-horon  (Josh.  xvi.  3,  5;  xviii.  13; 
1  Chron.  vii.  24).  The  Nether  Beth-horon  lay 
in  the  N.W.  corner  of  Benjamin ;  and  between 
the  two  places  was  a  pass  called  both  the  ascent 
and  descent  of  Beth-horon,  leading  from  the 
region  of  Gibeon  (el-Jib)  down  to  the  western 
plain  (Josh,  xviii.  13, 14  ;  x.  10, 11).  Down  this 
pass  the  five  kings  of  the  Amorites  were  driven 
by  Joshua  (Josh.  x.  11).  The  upper  and  lower 
towns  were  both  fortified  by  Solomon  (1  Kings 
ix.  17  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  5).  Cestius  Callus,  the 
Roman  pro-consul  of  Syria,  in  his  march  from 
Cffisarea  to  Jerusalem,  aftef  having  burned 
Lydda,  ascended  the  mountain  by  Beth-horon 
and  encamped  near  Gibeon.  From  these  intima- 
tions it  would  appear  that  ki  ancient  times,  as  at 
the  present  day,  the  great  road  of  communication 
and  of  heavy  transport  between  Jerusalem  and 
the  sea-coast  was  by  the  pass  of  Beth-horon. 

The  two  Beth-horons  still  exist  under  the  name 
of  Beit-Ur.  The  Lower  Beit-Ui'  is  upon  the  top 
of  a  low  ridge,  which  is  separated  by  a  wady,  or 
narrow  valley,  from  the  foot  of  the  mountain 
upon  which  the  Upper  Beit-Ur  stands.  Both  are 
now  inhabited  villages.  The  lower  is  very  small, 
but  foundations  of  large  stones  indicate  an  ancient 
site — doubtless  that  of  the  Nether  Beth-horon. 
The  Upper  Belt-Ur  is  likewise  small,  but  also 
exhibits  traces  of  ancient  walls  and  foundations. 
In  the  steep  ascent  to  it  the  rock  is  in  some  parts 
cut  away,  and  the  path  formed  into  steps,  indi- 
cating an  ancient  road.  On  the  first  offset  or  step 
of  the  ascent  are  foundations  of  huge  stones,  the 
remains  perhaps  of  a  castle  that  once  guarded  the 
pass. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  places  are  still  distin- 
guished as  Beit-Ur  el-Foka  (the  Upper),  and  Beit- 
Ur  el-Tahta  (the  Lower). 

BETH'LEHEM,  {house  or  place  of  bread,  i.  q. 
Bread-town;)  a  city  of  Judah  (Judg.  xvii.  7),  six 
miles  southward  from  Jerusalem,  on  the  road  to 
Hebron.  It  was  generally  called  Bethlehem- 
Judah,  to  distinguish  it  from  another  Bethlehem 
in  Zebulun  (Josh.  xix.  15;  Judg.  xii.  10).  It 
is  also  called  Ephratah  (the  fruitful),  and  its 
inhabitants  Ephratites  (Gen.  xlviii.  7  ;  Mic.  v.  2). 
Bethlehem  is  chiefly  celebrated  as  the  birth- 
place of  David  and  of  Christ,  and  as  the  scene 
of  the  Book  of  Ruth.  It  was  fortified  by  Reho- 
boam  (2  Chron.  xi.  6)  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  a  place  of  much  importance ;  for 
Micah,  extolling  the  moi'al  pre-eminence  of  Beth- 
lehem, says,  '  Thou  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though 
thou  be  little  among  the  thousands  of  Judah,'  &c. 
(Mic.  V.  2).  There  never  has  been  any  dispute 
or  doubt  about  the  site  of  Bethlehem,  which  has 
always  been  an  inhabited  place,  and,  from  its 
sacred  associations,  has  been  visited  by  an  un- 
broken series  of  pilgrims  and  travellers.  It  is 
now  a  large  straggling  village,  beautifully  sitop 


150 


BETHLEHEM 


ated  on  the  brow  of  a  high  hill,  and  consisting 
chiefly  of  one  broad  and  principal  street.  The 
houses  are  built  for  the  most  part  of  clay  and 
bricks ;  and  every  house  is  provided  with  an 
apiary,  the  beehives  of  which  are  constructed 
of  a  series  of  earthen  pots,  ranged  on  the  house- 
tops. The  inhabitants  are  said  to  be  3000,  and 
were  all  native  Christians  at  tlie  time  of  the  most 
recent  visits  ;  for  Ibrahim  Pasha,#finding  that 
the  Moslem  and  Christian  inhabitants  were 
always  at  strife,  caused  the  former  to  withdraw, 
and  left  the  village  in  quiet  possession  of  the 
latter,  whose  numbers  had  always  greatly  pre- 
dominated. The  chief  trade  and  manufacture  of 
the  inhabitants  consist  of  beads,  crosses,  and 
other  relics,  which  are  sold  at  a  great  profit. 
Some  of  the  articles,  wrought  in  mother-of-pearl, 
are  carved  with  more  skill  than  one  would 
expect  to  find  in  that  remote  quarter ;  and  the 
workmanship  in  some  instances  would  not  dis- 
credit the  artists  of  Britain.  The  people  are 
said  to  be  remarkable  for  their  ferocity  and  rude- 
ness, which  is  indeed  the  common  character  of 
the  inhabitants  of  most  of  the  places  accounted 
holy  in  the  East. 

At  the  farthest  extremity  of  the  town  _is  the 
Latin  convent,  connected  witli  which  is  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity,  said  to  have  been  built 
by  the  empress  Helena.  It  has  suffered  much 
from  time,  but  still  bears  manifest  traces  of  its 
Grecian  origin  ;  and  is  alleged  to  be  the  most 
chaste  architectural  building  now  remaining  in 
Palestine.  Two  spiral  staircases  lead  to  the  cave 
called  the  '  Grotto  of  the  Nativity,'  which  is 
about  20  feet  below  the  level  of  the  church. 
This  cave  is  lined  with  Italian  marbles,  and 
lighted  by  numerous  lamps.  Here  the  pilgrim 
is'conducted  with  due  solemnity  to  a  star  inlaid 
in  the  marble,  marking  the  exact  spot  where  tie 
Saviour  was  born,  and  corresponding  to  that  in 
tlie  firmament  occupied  by  the  meteor  which 
intimated  that  great  event ;  he  is  then  led  to  one 
of  tlie  sides,  where,  in  a  kind  of  recess,  a  little 
below  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the  floor,  is  a  block 
of  white  marble,  hollowed  out  in  the  form  of  a 
manger,  and  said  to  mark  the  place  of  the  one  in 
which  the  infant  Jesus  was  laid.  His  attention 
is  afterwards  directed  to  the  '  Sepulchre  of  the 
Innocents ;'  to  the  grotto  in  wliich  St.  Jerome 
passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  life  ;  and  to  the 
chapels  dedicated  to  Joseph  and  other  saints. 
There  has  been  much  controversy  respecting  the 
claims  of  this  grotto  to  be  regarded  as  the  place 
in  which  our  Lord  was  born.  Tradition  is  in  its 
favour,  but  facts  and  probabilities  are  against  it. 
It  is  useless  to  deny  that  there  is  much  force 
in  a  tradition  regarding  a  locality,  which  can 
be  traced  up  to  a  period  not  remote  from  that 
of  the  event  commemorated  ;  and  this  event  was 
sx)  important  as  to  make  the  scene  of  it  a  point  of 
such  unremitting  attention,  that  the  knowledge 
of  the  spot  was  not  likely  to  be  lost.  This  vieAv 
would  be  greatly  strengthened  if  it  could  be 
satisfactorily  proved  that  Hadrian,  to  cast  odium 
upon  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  not 
only  erected  statues  of  Jupiter  and  Venus  over 
the  holy  Sepulchre  and  on  Calvary,  but  placed 
one  of  Adonis  over  the  spot  of  (he  Nativity  at 
Bethlehem.  This  part  of  the  evidence  is  exa- 
mined under  another  head  [Golgotha].  Agamst 
tradition,  whatever  may  be  its  value  in  the  pre- 


BETHSAIDA 

sent  case,  we  have  to  place  the  utter  improbability 
that  a  subterranean  cavern  like  this,  with  a  steep 
descent,  should  ever  have  been  used  as  a  stable 
for  cattle,  and,  what  is  more,  for  the  stable  of  a 
khan  or  caravanserai,  which  doubtless  the  '  inn' 
of  Luke  ii.  7  was.  Although  therefore  it  is  true 
that  cattle  are,  and  always  have  been,  stabled  in 
caverns  in  the  East ;  yet  certainly  not  in  such 
caverns  as  this,  which  appears  to  have  been  ori- 
ginally a  tomb.  Old  empty  tombs  often,  it  is 
argued,  afford  shelter  to  man  and  cattle  ;  but 
such  was  not  the  case  among  the  Jews,  who  held 
themselves  ceremonially  defiled  by  contact  with 
sepulchres.  Besides,  the  circumstance  of  Christ's 
having  been  born  in  a  cave  would  not  have  been 
less  remarkable  than  his  being  laid  in  a  manger, 
and  was  more  likely  to  have  been  noticed  by  the 
Evangelist,  if  it  had  occurred :  and  it  is  also  to 
be  observed  that  the  present  grotto  is  at  some 
distance  from  the  town,  whereas  Christ  appears 
to  have  been  born  in  the  town,  and  whatever 
may  be  the  case  in  the  open  country,  it  has  never 
been  usual  in  towns  to  employ  caverns  as  stables 
for  cattle. 

On  the  north-east  side  of  the  town  is  a  deep 
valley,  alleged  to  be  that  in  which  the  angels 
appeared  to  the  shepherds  announcing  the  birth 
of  the  Saviour  (Luke  ii.  8).  In  the  same  valley  is 
a  fountain  of  delicious  water,  said  with  reasonable 
probability  to  be  that  for  which  David  longed,  and 
which  three  of  his  mighty  men  procured  for  him 
at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  15-18\ 
BETH-NIM'RA,  or  simply  Nimra,  a  town  in 
the  tribe  of  Gad  (Num.  xxxii.  3,  36  ;  Josh.  xiii. 
27),  which  Eusebius  places  five  Roman  miles 
north  of  Livias.  This  leaves  no  doubt  of  its 
being  the  same  ruined  city  called  Nimrin,  south 
of  Szalt,  which  Burckhardt  mentions  as  situated 
near  the  point  where  the  Wady  Shoeb  joins  the 
Jordan, 

BETHPHA'GE  {house  ^f  Jigs),— comp.  Cant, 
ii.  13),  a  small  village,  which  our  Lord,  coming 
from  Jericho,  appears  to  have  entered  before 
reaching  Bethany  (Matt.  xxi.  1  ;  Luke  xix.  29)  ; 
it  probably,  therefore,  lay  near  the  latter  place, 
a  little  below  it  to  the  east.  No  trace  of  it  now 
exists. 

BETH-RE'HOB.  [REnoB.] 
BETHSA'IDA  (JisJting-town),  a  town  (Johni. 
45;  Mark  viii.  23)  in  Galilee  (John  xii.  21),  on 
the  western  side  of  the  sea  of  Tiberias,  towards 
the  middle,  and  not  far  from  Capernaum  (Mark 
vi.  45;  viii.  22).  It  was  the  native  place  of 
Peter,  Andrew,  and  Philip,  and  the  frequent 
residence  of  Jesus.  This  gives  some  notion  of 
the  neighbourhood  in  which  it  lay ;  but  the  pre- 
cise site  is  utterly  unknown,  and  the  very  name 
has  long  eluded  the  search  of  travellers, 

2.  BETHSAIDA.  Christ  fed  the  5000  '  near 
to  a  city  called  Bethsaida'  (Lulce  ix.  10);  but 
it  is  evident  from  the  parallel  passages  (Matt. 
xiv.  13;  Mark  vi.  32-45),  that  this  event  took 
place,  not  in  Galilee,  but  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  lake.  This  was  held  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
difficulties  in  sacred  geography,  till  the  ingenious 
Reland  afforded  materials  for  a  satisfactory  solu- 
tion of  it,  by  distinguishing  two  Bethsaida.s ;  one 
on  the  western,  and  the  other  on  the  north-eastern 
border  of  the  lake.  The  former  was  undoubt- 
edly 'the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter;'  and,  it 
is  in  perfect  agreement  with  the  sacred  text  to 


BETHSHEMESH 

concluile  that  it  was  the  Bethsaida  near  which 
Christ  fed  the  five  thousand,  and  also,  probably, 
where  the  blind  maa  was  restored  to  sight.  It 
was  originally  only  a  village,  called  Bethsaida, 
but  was  rebuilt  and  enlarged  by  Philip  the 
Tetrarch  not  long  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  and 
received  the  name  of  Julias  in  honour  of  Julia 
the  daughter  of  Augustus  (Luke  iii.  1).  Philip 
seems  to  have  made  it  his  occasional  residence  ; 
and  here  he  died,  and  was  buried  in  a  costly 
tomb. 

BETH-SHA'N  (Jwuse  of  rest,  or  Eest-town), 
a  city  belonging  to  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh, 
west  of  the  Jordan,  and  situated  in  a  valley  of 
that  river,  where  it  is  bounded  westward  by  a 
low  chain  of  the  Gilboa  mountains.  It  is  on  the 
road  from  JeAisalem  to  Damascus,  and  is  about 
two  miles  from  the  Jordan,  eighteen  from  the 
southern  end  of  Lake  Gennesareth,  and  twenty- 
three  from  Nazareth.  It  also  bore  the  name  of 
Scythopolis,  perhaps  because  Scythians  had  set- 
tled there  in  the  time  of  Josiah  (b.c.  631),  in 
their  passage  through  Palestine  towards  Egypt. 

Although  Bethshan  was  assigned  to  Manasseh 
(Josh.  xvii.  11),  it  was  not  conquered  by  that 
tribe  (Judg.  i.  17).  The  body  of  Saul  was  fas- 
tened to  the  wall  of  Bethshan  by  the  Philistines 
(1  Sam.  xxxi.  10).  The  ancient  native  name,  as 
well  as  the  town  itself,  still  exists  in  the  Beisan 
of  the  present  day.  It  stands  on  a  rising  ground 
somewhat  above  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  or 
in  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  where  it  opens  into  the 
Jordan  valley.  It  is  a  poor  place,  containing 
not  more  than  sixty  or  seventy  houses,  inha- 
bited by  Moslems.  The  ruins  of  the  ancient 
city  are  of  considerable  extent.  It  was  built 
along  the  banks  of  the  rivulet'  which  waters  the 
town  and  in  the  valleys  formed  by  its  several 
branches,  and  must  have  been  nearly  three  miles 
in  circumference.  The  chief  remains  are  large 
heaps  of  black  hewn  stones,  with  many  found- 
ations of  houses  and  fragments  of  a  few 
columns. 

BETH-SHE'MESH  {house  ofthemn,  i.q.  Sun- 
towit ;)  a  sacerdotal  city  (Josh.  xxi.  16  ;  1  Sam. 
vi.  15;  1  Chron.  vi.  59)  in  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
on  the  south-east  border  of  Dan  (Josh.  xv.  10), 
and  the  land  of  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  vi.  12), 
probably  in  a  lowland  plain  (2  Kings  xiv.  1); 
and  placed  by  Eusebius  ten  Roman  miles  from 
Elcutheropolis,  in  the  direction  of  the  road  to 
Nicopolis.  It  belonged  at  an  early  date  to  the 
Philistines,  and  they  had  again  obtained  posses- 
sion of  it  in  the  time  of  Ahaz  (1  Kings  iv.  9  ; 
^  Chron.  xxviii.  18).  It  was  to  this  place  that 
the  ark  was  taken  by  the  milch  kine  from  the 
land  of  the  Philistines,  and  it  was  here  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  text,  '  fifty  thousand  and 
threescore  and  ten  men '  were  miraculously  slain 
for  irreverently  exploring  the  sacred  shrine  (1 
Sam.  vi.  19).  This  number  has  occasioned  much 
discussion.  It  appears  likely  that  the  text  has 
been  corrupted  in  transcription  by  an  erroneous 
solution  of  an  arithmetical  sign.  The  Syriac  and 
Arabic  have  5070  instead  of  50070.  At  the  dis- 
tance, and  in  the  vicinity  indicated  by  Eusebius 
and  Jerome,  a  place  called  Ain  Shems  was  found 
by  Dr.  Robinson,  and,  with  great  probability, 
identified  with  Beth-Shemesh.  The  name  is 
applied  to  the  ruins  of  an  Arab  village  constructed 
of  ancient  materials.     To  the  west  of  the  village. 


BIBLE 


151 


upon  and  around  the  plateau  of  a  low  swell  or 
mound,  are  the  vestiges  of  a  former  extensive 
city,  consisting  of  many  foundations  and  the 
remains  of  ancient  walls  of  hewn  stone. 

BETHU'EL,  son  of  Abraham's  brother  Nahor, 
and  father  of  Laban  and  of  Rebecca,  whom  Isaac 
married  (Gen.  xxii.  22,  2.3). 

BETHULI'A,  a  place  mentioned  only  in  the 
Apocryphal  book  of  Judith  (iv.  5:  vii.  1,  3), 
and  which  appears  to  have  lain  near  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon  on  the  south,  not  far  from  Dothaim, 
and  to  have  guarded  one  of  the  passes  towards 
Jerusalem.     Its  site  is  still  undetermined. 

BETH'-ZUR,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  58),  twenty  Roman  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem, on  the  road  to  Hebron,  and  consequently 
two  miles  from  the  latter  city.  It  was  fortified 
by  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.  7).  The  inhabitants 
assisted  in  building  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  (Neh. 
iii.  16).  Lysias  was  defeated  in  the  neighbour- 
hood by  Judas  Maccaba;us,  who  fortified  the 
place  as  n  stronghold  against  Idumsea..  It  was 
besieged  and  taken  by  Antiochus  Eupator,  and 
fortified  by  Bacchides,  whose  garrison  defended 
themselves  against  Jonathan  Maccabaius ;  but  it 
was  taken  and  fortified  by  liis  brother  Simon. 
Josephus  calls  Beth-zur  the  strongest  fortress  in 
Judaea.     Its  site  has  not  been  ascertained. 

BETROTHING.     [Marriage.] 

BE'ZEK,  a  city  over  which  Adoni-bezek  was 
king  (Judg.  i.  4,  sq.),  and  where  Saul  mustered 
his  army  to  march  to  the  relief  of  Jabesh-Gilead 
(1  Sam.  xi.  8).  Eusebius  and  Jerome  mention 
two  towns  of  this  name  close  together,  seventeen 
miles  from  Neapolis  in  Shechem,  on  the  road  to 
Bethshan. 

BE'ZER,  a  city  beyond  the  Jordan,  in  the 
tribe  of  Reuben,  and  one  of  the  six  cities  of  refuge 
(Deut.  iv.  43 ;  Josh.  xx.  8).    The  site  is  unknown. 

BIBLE,  a  name  supposed  to  have  been  first 
applied  in  the  fifth  century  to  denote  the  collec- 
tive volume  of  the  sacred  writings.  The  word 
occurs  in  the  Prologue  to  Ecclesiasticus,  'the 
Law,  the  Prophets,  and  the  rest  of  the  books,' 
and  2  Tim.  iv.  13,  '  and  the  books.'  Before  the 
adoption  of  this  name  the  more  usual  terms  in 
the  Christian  Church  by  which  the  sacred  books 
were  denominated  were,  the  Scripture  or  Writing, 
the  Scriptures,  the  Sacred  Writings,  and  the  <Sa- 
cred  Letters.  The  term  in  question  was  first 
applied  to  the  entire  collection  of  sacred  writings 
by  St.  Chrysostom.  In  the  course  of  time  it 
superseded  all  others  both  in  the  Eastern  and 
Western  Church,  and  is  now  everywhere  the 
popular  appellation. 

The  Bible  is  divided  into  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  The  name  Old  Testament  is  ap- 
plied to  the  books  of  Moses  by  St.  Paul  (2  Cor. 
iii.  14),  inasmuch  as  the  former  covenant  com- 
prised the  whole  scheme  of  the  Mosaic  revela- 
tion, and  the  history  of  this  is  contained  in  thera. 
The  names  given  to  the  Old  Testament  were, 
the  Scriptures  (Matt.  xxi.  42)  ;  Scripture  (2  Pet. 
i.  20) ;  the  Holy  Scriptures  (Rom.  i.  2) ;  the  sa- 
cred letters  (2  Tim.  iii.  15);  the  holy  books,  the 
law  (John  xii.  34) ;  the  law,  the  prophets,  and 
the  psalms  (Luke  xxiv.  44);  the  law  and  the 
prophets  (Matt.  v.  17);  the  law,  the  prophets, 
and  the  other  books  (Prol.  Ecclus.) ;  the  books 
of  the  old  covenant  (Neh.  viii.  8) ;  the  book  of 
the  covenant  (1  Mace.  i.  57 ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  2). 


152 


BIRDS-NESTS 


The  other  books  (not  in  the  canon)  -were  called 
apocryphal,  ecclesiastical,  and  deuterocanonical. 
The  term  New  Testament  has  been  in  common 
use  since  the  third  centuiy,  and  is  employed  by 
Eusebius  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it  is  now 
commonly  applied.  Tertullian  employs  the 
same  phrase,  and  also  that  of '  the  Divine  Instru- 
ment' in  the  same  signification.  For  detailed 
information  on  subjects  connected  with  Bible, 
see  Scripture,  Holy. 

BIER.     [Burial.] 

BIG'THAN,  an  eunuch  in  the  court  of  king 
Ahasuerus,  whose  conspiracy  against  that  mo- 
narch was  frustrated  through  the  disclosures  of 
Mordecai  (Esth.  ii.  21). 

BIL'DAD  the  Shuhite,  one  of  the  friends  of 
Job,  and  the  second  of  his  opponents  in  the  dis- 
putation (Job  ii.  11;  viii.  1;  xviii.  1;  xxv.  1). 
The  Shuah  of  which  the  Sepiuagint  makes  Bil- 
dad  the  prince,  or  patriarch,  was  probably  the 
district  assigned  to  Shuah,  the  sixth  son  of  Abra- 
ham by  Keturah,  and  called  by  his  name.  This 
was  doubtless  in  Arabia  Petra;a,  if  Shuah  settled 
in  the  same  quarter  as  his  brothers,  of  which 
there  can  be  little  doubt ;  and  to  this  region  we 
are  to  refer  the  town  and  district  to  which  he 
gave  his  name,  and  in  which  Bildad  was  doubt- 
less a  person  of  consequence,  if  not  the  chief 
[Shuah]. 

BIL'HAH,  the  handmaid  whom  the  childless 
Rachel  bestowed  upon  her  husband  Jacob,  that 
through  her  she  might  have  children.  Bilhah 
became  the  mother  of  Dan  and  Naphtali  (Gen. 
XXX.  1-8). 

BIRD-CAGES  are  named  in  Jer.  v.  27  ;  Rev. 
xviii.  2  ;  and  are  perhaps  implied  in  Job  xli.  5, 
where  '  playing  with  a  bird '  is  mentioned.  This 
just  suffices  to  show  that  the  ancient  Israelites 
kept  birds  in  cages ;  but  we  have  no  further  in- 
formation on  the  subject,  nor  any  allusions  to 
the  singing  of  bii'ds  so  kept.     The  cages  were 


probably  of  the  some  forms  which  we  still  ob- 
serve in  the  East,  and  which  are  shown  in  the 
annexed  engraving.  It  is  remarkable  that  there 
is  no  appearance  of  bird-cages  in  any  of  the 
domestic  scenes  which  are  portrayed  on  the 
mural  tablets  of  the  Egyptians. 

BIRDS  may  be  defined  oviparous  vertebrated 
animals,  organized  for  flight. 

In  the  Mosaic  law,  birds  were  distinguished 
as  clean  and  unclean  :  the  first  being  allowed  for 
the  table,  because  they  fed  on  grain,  seeds,  and 
vegetables;  and  the  second  forbidden,  because 
they  subsisted  on  flesh  and  carrion.  The  birds 
most  anciently  used  in  sacrifice  were,  it  seems, 
turtle-doves  and  pigeons.  In  Kitto's  Physical 
History  of  Palestine  there  is  a  more  complete 
notice  than  exists  elsewhere  of  the  actual  orni- 
thology of  the  Holy  Land. 

BIRDS'-NESTS.  The  law  in  Deut.  xxii.  G, 
7,  directs  that  if  one  falls  in  with  a  bird's-nest 
with  eggs  or  young,  he  shall  allow  the  dam  to 


BIRTH-DAYS 

escape,  and  not  take  her  as  well  as  the  nest. 
The  reason  Maimonides  gives  for  this  is,  '  The 
eggs  on  which  the  dam  is  sitting,  or  the  young 
ones  which  have  need  of  her,  are  not,  in  general, 
permitted  to  be  eaten ;  and  when  the  dam  is  al- 
lowed to  escape,  she  is  not  distressed  by  seeing 
her  young  ones  carried  off.  It  thus  frequently 
happens  that  all  are  untouched,  because  that 
which  might  be  taken  may  not  be  lawfully  eaten.' 

BIRTH.  In  Eastern  countries  child-birth  is 
usually  attended  with  much  less  pain  and  diffi- 
culty than  in  our  northern  regions ;  although 
Oriental  females  are  not  to  be  regarded  as 
exempt  from  the  common  doom  of  woman,  '  in 
sorrow  shalt  thou  bring  forth  children'  (Gen. 
iii.  IG).  It  is  however  uncertain  whether  the 
difference  arise  from  the  effect 'of  climate  or 
from  the  circumstances  attending  advanced  civi- 
lization ;  perhaps  both  causes  operate,  to  a  cer- 
tain degree,  in  producing  the  effect.  Climate 
must  have  some  effect ;  but  it  is  observed  that  the 
difficulty  of  childbirth,  under  any  climate,  in- 
creases with  the  advance  of  civilization,  and  that 
in  any  climate  the  class  on  which  the  advanced 
condition  of  society  most  operates  finds  the  pangs 
of  childbirth  the  most  severe.  Such  considera- 
tion may  probably  account  for  the  fact  that  the 
Hebrew  women,  after  they  had  long  been  under 
the  influence  of  the  Egyptian  climate,  passed 
through  the  childbirth  pangs  with  much  more 
facility  than  the  women  of  Egypt,  whose  habits 
of  life  were  more  refined  and  self-indulgent 
(Exod.  i.  19).  The  child  was  no  sooner  born 
than  it  was  washed  in  a  bath  and  rubbed  with 
salt  (Exek.  xvi.  4) ;  it  was  then  tightly  swathed 
o..  bandaged  to  prevent  those  distortions  to  which 
the  tender  frame  of  an  infant  is  so  much  ex- 
posed durrig  the  first  days  of  life  (Job  xxxviii. 
9  ;  Ezek.  xvi.  4;  Luke  ii.  7,  11). 

It  was  the  custom  at  a  very  ancient  period  for 
the  father,  while  music  celebrated  the  event,  to 
clasp  the  new-born  child  to  his  bosom,  and  by 
this  ceremony  he  was  understood  to  declare  it 
to  be  his  own  (Gen.  1.  23 ;  Job  iii.  3 ;  Ps.  xxii. 
10).  This  practice  was  imitated  by  those  wives 
who  adopted  the  children  of  their  handmaids 
(Gen.  xvi.  2 ;  xxx.  3-5).  The  messenger  who 
brought  to  the  father  the  first  news  that  a  son 
was  born  unto  him  was  received  with  pleasure 
and  rewarded  with  presents  (Job  iii.  3;  Jer.  xx. 
15),  as  is  still  the  custom  in  Persia  and  other 
Eastern  countries.  The  birth  of  a  daughter  was 
less  noticed,  the  disappointment  at  its  not  being 
a  son  subduing  for  the  time  the  satisfaction 
which  the  birth  of  any  child  naturally  occasions. 
Among  the  Israelites,  the  mother,  after  the  birth 
of  a  son,  continued  unclean  seven  days ;  and  she 
remained  at  home  during  the  thirty-three  days 
succeeding  the  seven  of  uncleanness,  foi-ming 
altogether  forty  days  of  seclusion.  After  the 
birth  of  a  daughter  the  number  of  the  days  of 
uncleanness  and  seclusion  at  home  was  doubled. 
At  the  expiration  of  this  period  she  went  into 
the  tabernacle  or  temple,  and  presented  a  year- 
ling lamb,  or,  if  she  was  poor,  two  turtle-doves 
and  two  young  pigeons,  as  a  sacrifice  of  purifi- 
cation (Lev.  xii.  1-S;  Luke  ii.  22)  [Children]. 

BIRTH-DAYS.  The  observance  of  birth- 
days may  be  traced  to  a  very  ancient  date ;  and 
the  birth-day  of  the  first-born  son  seems  in  par- 
ticular to  have  been  celebrated  with  a  degree  of 


BIRTH-KIGHT 

festivity  proportioned  to  the  joy  which  the  event 
of  his  actual  birth  occasioned  (Job  i.  4,  13,  18). 
The  birth-days  of  the  Egyptian  kings  were  cele- 
brated -with  great  pomp  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Joseph  (Gen.  xl.  20).  These  days  were  in  Egypt 
looked  upon  as  holy  ;  no  business  was  done  upon 
them,  and  all  parties  indulged  in  festivities  suit- 
able to  the  occasion.  Every  Egyptian  attached 
much  importance  to  the  day,  and  even  to  the 
hour  of  his  birth ;  and  it  is  probable  that,  as  in 
Persia,  each  individual  kept  his  birth-day  witli 
gi-eat  rejoicings,  welcoming  his  friends  with 
all  the  amusements  of  society,  and  a  more  than 
usual  profusion  of  delicacies  of  the  table.  In  the 
Bible  there  is  no  instance  of  birth-day  celebra- 
tions among  the  Jews  themselves.  The  example 
of  Herod  the  tetrarch  (Matt.  xiv.  G),  the  cele- 
bration of  whose  birth-day  cost  John  the  Baptist 
liis  life,  can  scarcely  be  regarded  as  such,  the 
family  to  which  he  belonged  being  notorious  for 
its  adoption  of  heathen  customs.  In  fact,  the 
later  Jews  at  least  regarded  birth-day  celebra- 
tions as  parts  of  idolatrous  worship ;  and  this 
probably  on  account  of  the  idolatrous  rites  with 
which  they  were  observed  in  honour  of  those  who 
were  regarded  as  the  patron  gods  of  the  day  on 
which  the  party  was  born. 

BIRTH-RIGHT.  This  term  denotes  the  rights 
or  privileges  belonging  to  the  first-born  among 
the  Hebrews.  The  particular  advantages  which 
these  conferred  were  the  following : — 

1.  A  right  to  the  priesthood.  The  first-born 
became  the  priest  in  virtue  of  his  priority  of 
descent,  provided  no  blemish  or  defect  attached 
to  him.  Reuben  was  the  first-born  of  the  twelve 
patriai'chs,  and  therefore  the  honour  of  the 
priesthood  belonged  to  his  tribe.  God,  however, 
transferred  it  from  the  tribe  of  Reuben  to  that  of 
Levi  (Num.  iii.  12,  13;  viii.  18).  Hence  the 
first-born  of  the  other  tribes  were  redeemed  from 
serving  God  as  priests,  by  a  sum  not  exceeding 
five  shekels.  Being  presented  before  the  Lord 
in  the  temple,  they  were  redeemed  immediately 
after  the  thirtieth  day  from  their  birth  (Num. 
xviii.  15,  16 ;  Luke  ii.  22).  It  is  to  be  observed, 
that  only  the  first-boi'n  who  were  Jit  for  the 
priesthood  (i.  e.  such  as  had  no  defect,  spot,  or 
blemish)  were  thus  presented  to  the  priest. 

2.  The  first-born  received  a  double  portion  of 
his  father's  property.  There  is  some  difficulty 
in  determining  precisely  what  is  meant  by  a 
double  portion.  Some  suppose  that  half  the  in- 
heritance was  received  by  the  elder  brother,  and 
that  the  other  half  was  equally  divided  among 
the  remaining  brethren.  This  is  not  probable. 
The  Rabbins  believe  that  the  elder  brother  re- 
ceived twice  as  much  as  any  of  the  rest :  and 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  correctness  of 
this  opinion.  When  the  first-born  died  before 
his  father's  property  was  divided,  and  left  chil- 
dren, the  right  of  the  father  descended  to  the 
children,  and  not  to  the  brother  next  of  age. 

3.  He  succeeded  to  the  official  authority  pos- 
sessed by  his  father.  If  the  latter  was  a  king, 
the  former  was  regarded  as  his  legitimate  suc- 
cessor, unless  some  unusual  event  or  arrange- 
ment interfered. 

After  the  law  was  given  through  Moses,  the 
right  of  primogeniture  could  not  be  transferred 
from  the  first-born  to  a  younger  child  at  the 
father's  option.     In  the  patriarchal  age,  however, 


BISHOP  153 

it  was  in  the  power  of  the  parent  thus  to  convey 
it  from  the  eldest  to  another  child  (Deut.  xxi. 
15-17;  Gen.  xxv.  31,  32). 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  reason  why 
the  first-born  enjoyed  greater  privileges  than  the 
rest  of  the  children.  The  peculiar  honour  at- 
taching to  them  is  easily  accounted  for.  They 
are  to  be  viewed  as  having  reference  to  the  Re- 
deemer, the  first-born  of  the  Virgin.  Hence  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (viii.  29),  it  is  written 
concerning  the  Son,  '  that  he  might  be  the  Jirst- 
bojn  among  many  brethren;'  and  in  Col.  i.  18, 
'  who  is  the  beginning,  the  first-born  from  the 
dead ;  that  in  all  things  h'e  might  have  the  pre- 
eminence '  (see  also  Heb.  i.  4,  5,  ti).  As  the  first- 
born had  a  double  portion,  so  the  Lord  Jesus,  as 
Mediator,  has  an  inheritance  superior  to  his 
brethren ;  he  is  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majestj'  on  high,  where  he  reigns  until  all  his 
enemies  shall  be  subdued.  The  universe  is  his 
rightful  dominion  in  his  mediatorial  character. 
Again,  he  alone  is  a  true  priest :  he  fulfilled  all 
the  functions  of  the  sacerdotal  office ;  and  the 
Levites,  to  whom,  under  the  law,  the  priesthood 
was  transferred  from  all  the  first-born  of  Israel, 
derived  the  efficacy  of  their  ministrations  from 
their  connection  with  the  great  high-priest. 

BISHOP.  The  active  controversy  in  which 
the  subject  of  episcopacy  has  been  involved, 
although  it  has  not  reconciled  conflicting  opinions, 
has  brought  out  the  historical  facts  in  their  fullest 
clea.rness.  The  able  and  candid  on  opposite  sides 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  differ  as  to  the  facts 
themselves ;  but  they  differ  in  their  estimate  of 
them. 

The  Apostles  originally  appointed  men  to  su- 
perintend the  spiritual,  and  occasionally  even  the 
secular  wants  of  the  churches  (Acts  xiv.  23 ;  xi. 
30 ;  see  also  2  Tim.  ii.  2),  who  were  ordinarily 
called  elders,  from  their  age,  sometimes  overseers 
(bishops),  from  their  office.  They  are  also  said 
to  preside  (1  Thess.  v.  12;  1  Tim.  v.  17),  never 
to  rule,  which  has  far  too  despotic  a  sound.  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (xiii.  7,  17,  24)  they 
are  named  leading  men  (comp.  Acts  xv.  22)  ;  and, 
figuratively,  shepherds  (Ephes.  iv.  11).  '  But  that 
they  did  not  always  teach  is  clear  from  1  Tim.  v. 
17  ;  and  the  name  Elders  proves  that  originally 
age,  experience,  and  character  were  their  most 
necessary  qualifications.  They  were  to  be  mar- 
ried men  ■«  i*h  families  (1  Tim.  iii.  4),  and  with 
converted  children  (Tit.  i.  6)  In  the  beginning 
there  had  been  no  time  to  train  teachers,  and 
teaching  was  regarded  far  more  in  the  light  of  a 
gift  than  an  office ;  yet  St.  Paul  places  '  ability  to 
teach'  among  episcopal  qualifications  (1  Tim.  iii. 
2  ;  Titus  i.  'J  ;  the  latter  of  which  passages  should 
be  translated,  '  that  he  may  be  able  both  to  exhort 
men  by  sound  teaching,  and  also  to  refute  op- 
posers').  That  teachers  had  obtained  in  St.  Paul's 
day  a  fixed  official  position,  is  manifest  from  Gal. 
vi.  6,  and  1  Cor.  ix.  14,  where  he  claims  for  them 
a  right  to  worldly  maintenance  :  in  fact,  that  the 
shepherds  ordered  to  '  feed  the  flock,'  and  be  its 
*  overseers'  (1  Pet.  v.  2),  were  to  feed  them  with 
knowledge  and  instruction,  will  never  be  dis- 
puted, except  to  support  a  hypothesis.  The 
leaders  also,  in  Heb.  xiii.  7,  are  described  as 
'  speaking  unto  you  the  word  of  God.'  Ecclesias- 
tical history  joins  in  proving  that  the  two  offices 
of  teaching  and  superintending  were,  with  few 


154 


BISHOP 


exceptions,  combined  in  the  same  persons,  as,  in- 
deed, the  nature  of  things  dictated. 

That  during  St.  Paul's  lifetime  no  difference 
between  elders  and  bishops  yet  existed  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  church,  is  manifest  from  the 
entire  absence  of  distinctive  names  (Acts  xx. 
17-28;  1  Pet.  v.  1,  2).  The  mention  of  bishops 
and  deacons  in  Phil.  i.  1,  and  1  Tim.  iii.,  without 
any  notice  of  elders,  proves  that  at  that  time  no 
difference  of  order  subsisted  between  bisliops  and 
elders.  A  formal  ceremony,  it  is  generally 
believed,  Avas  employed  in  appointing  elders, 
although  it  does  not  appear  that  as  yet  any  fixed 
name  was  appropriated  to  the  idea  of  ordination. 
In  1  Cor.  xvi.  15  we  find  the  house  of  Stephanas 
to  have  volunteered  the  task  of '  ministering  to 
the  saints ;'  and  that  this  Avas  a  ministry  '  of  the 
•word,'  is  evident  from  the  Apostle's  urging  the 
church  '  to  submit  themselves  to  such.'  It  would 
appear  then  that  a  formal  investiture  into  the  office 
was  not  as  yet  regarded  essential.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  no  one  doubts  that  an  ordination  by  laying 
on  of  hands  soon  became  general  or  universal. 
Hands  Avere  first  laid  on  not  to  bestow  an  office, 
but  to  solicit  a  spiritual  gift  (1  Tim.  iv.  14;  2 
Tim.  i.  6 ;  Acts  xiii.  3 ;  xiv.  26  ;  xv.  40).  To  the 
same  effect  Acts  viii.  17 ;  xix.  6 ;— passages  which 
explain  Heb.  vi.  2.  On  the  other  hand,  the  abso- 
lute silence  of  the  Scriptures,  eveu  if  it  were  not 
confirmed,  as  it  is,  by  positive  testimony,  "vould 
prove  that  no  idea  of  consecration,  as  distinct  from 
ordination,  at  that  time  existed  at  all ;  and,  con- 
sequently, although  individual  elders  may  have 
really  discharged  functions  A^hich  would  after- 
wards have  been  called  episcopal,  it  was  not  by 
virtue  of  a  second  ordination,  nor,  therefore,  of 
episcopal  rank. 

The  Apostles  themselves,  it  is  held  by  some, 
were  the  real  bishops  of  that  day,  and  it  is  quite 
evident  that  they  performed  many  episcopal  func- 
tions. It  may  Avell  be  true,  that  the  only  reason 
why  no  bishops  (in  the  modern  sense)  were  then 
Avanting  was,  because  the  Apostles  were  living ; 
but  it  cannot  be  inferred  that  in  any  strict 
sense  prelates  are  co-ordinate  in  rank  with  the 
Apostles,  and  can  claim  to  exercise  their  powers,  j 
The  later  '  bishop '  did  not  come  forward  as  a  suc- 
cessor to  the  Apostles,  but  was  developed  out  of  the 
presbyter ;  much  less  can  it  l>e  proved,  or  alleged  ! 
with  plausibility,  that  the  Apostles  took  any  mea-  j 
sures  for  securing  substitutes  for  themselves  (in  the  ! 
high  character  of  Apostles)  after  their  decease.  It  i 
has  been  Avith  many  a  favourite  notion  that  Ti- 
mothy and  Titus  exhibit  the  episcopal  type  even 
during  the  life  of  Paul ;  but  this  is  an  obvious 
misconception.  They  Avere  attached  to  the  person 
of  the  Apostle,  and  not  to  any  one  church.  In 
the  last  Epistle  written  by  him  (2  Tim.  iv.  9)  he 
calls  Timothy  suddenly  to  Home,  in  words  which 
prove  that  the  latter  was  not,  at  least  as  yet,  bishop, 
either  of  Ephesus  or  of  any  other  church.  That 
Timothy  was  an  evangelist  is  distinctly  stated  (2 
Tim.  iv.  5),  and  that  he  had  received  spiritual 
gifts  (i.  6,  &c.) ;  there  is  then  no  difficulty  in  ac- 
counting for  the  authority  vested  in  him  (1  Tim. 
v.  1 ;  xix.  22),  without  imagining  him  to  have 
been  a  bishop  ;  which  is  in  fact  disproved  even  by 
the  same  Epistle  (i.  3).  That  Titus,  moreover, 
had  no  local  attachment  to  Crete,  is  plain  from 
Titus  iii.  13,  to  say  nothing  of  the  earlier  Epistle, 
2  Cor.  passim.    Nor  is  it  true  that  the  episcopal 


3ITHYNIA 

power  developed  itself  out  of  wandering  Evan- 
gelists any  more  than  out  of  the  Apostles. 

On  the  other  hand  it  Avould  seem  that  the 
bishop  began  to  elevate  himself  above  the  pres- 
byter while  the  Apostle  John  was  yet  aliA'e,  and 
in  churches  to  which  he  is  believed  to  have  pecu- 
liarly devoted  himself.  The  meaning  of  the  title 
angel,  in  the  opening  chapters  of  the  Apocalypse, 
has  been  mystic;illy  explained  by  some ;  but  its 
true  meaning  is  clear  from  the  nomenclature  of 
the  Jewish  synagogues.  In  them,  we  aie  told,  the 
minister  Avho  ordinarily  read  the  prayers  of  the 
congregation,  besides  acting  as  their  chief  func- 
tionary in  matters  of  business,  was  entitled  mes- 
senger of  the  church.  The  term  '  angel  of  the 
church'  appears  therefore  to  be  nothing  but  a 
harsh  Hebraism  for  '  minister  of  the  church.'  We 
therefore  here  see  a  single  officer,  in  these  rather 
large  Christian  communities,  elevated  into  a  pecu- 
liar prominence,  which  has  been  justly  regarded 
as  episcopal. 

Episcopalians.  Presbyterians,  and  Congrega- 
tionalists  agree  in  one  point,  viz.  that  (because  of 
its  utility  and  general  convenience)  it  is  lawful 
for  Christians  to  take  a  step  for  which  they  have 
no  clear  precedent  in  the  Scripture,  that  of  break- 
ing up  a  church,  Avhen  it  becomes  of  unwieldy 
magnitude,  into  fixed  divisions,  whether  parishes, 
or  congregations.  The  question  then  arises,  whe- 
ther the  organic  union  is  to  be  still  retained  at  all. 
To  this  (1)  Congregationalists  reply  in  the  nega- 
tive, saying  that  the  congregations  in  different 
parts  of  a  great  city  no  more  need  to  be  in  organic 
union,  than  those  of  two  different  cities ;  (2)  Pres- 
byterians would  keep  up  the  union  by  means  of 
a  synod  of  the  elders ;  (3)  Episcopalians  desire 
to  unite  the  separate  churches  by  retaining  them 
under  the  supervision  of  a  single  head  —  the 
bishop.  It  seems  impossible  to  refer  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  Apostles  as  deciding  in  favour  of  ant/ 
one  of  these  methods ;  for  the  case  had  not  yet 
arisen  which  could  have  led  to  the  discussion. 
The  citj'  churches  had  not  yet  become  so  large  as 
to  make  subdivision  positively  necessary;  and,  as 
a  fact,  it  did  not  take  place.  To  organize  distant 
churches  into  a  fixed  and  formal  connection  by 
synods  of  tlieu-  bishops,  Avas,  of  course,  quite  a 
later  process  ;  but  such  unions  are  by  no  means 
rejected,  even  by  Congregationalists,  as  long  as 
they  are  used  for  deliberation  and  advice,  not  as 
assemblies  for  ruling  and  commanding.  The 
spirit  of  Episcopacy  depends  far  less  on  the  epis- 
copal form  itself,  than  on  the  size  and  wealth  of 
dioceses,  and  on  the  union  of  bishops  into  synods, 
whose  decisions  are  to  be  authorative  on  the  whole 
church:  to  say  nothing  of  territorial  establish- 
ment and  the  support  of  the  civil  government. 
If,  under  any  ecclesiastical  form,  either  oppression 
or  disorder  should  arise,  it  cannot  be  defended  : 
but  no  form  is  a  security  against  such  evils.  Our 
experience  may,  in  these  later  times,  possibly 
show  us  Avhich  of  these  systems  is  on  the  whole 
preferable  ;  but  the  discussion  must  belong  to 
ecclesiastical  history,  and  would  be  quite  out  of 
place  here. 

BITH'RON  (2  Sam.  ii.  29).  This  name  has 
the  same  meaning  as  Bother.  It  probably  denotes 
a  region  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  not  any  definite 
place. 

BITHYN'IA,  a  province  of  Asia  Minor,  on 
the  Euxine  Sea  and    the  Propontis;    bounded 


BLASTUS 


155 


on  the  west  by  Mysia,  on  the  south  and  east 
by  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  and  on  the  east  by 
Paphlagonia.  The  Bithynians  were  a  rude  and 
uncivilized  people,  Thracians  who  had  colonized 
this  part  of  Asia,  and  occupied  no  towns,  but 
lived  in  villages.  That  Christian  congregations 
were  formed  at  an  early  period  in  Bithynia,  is 
evident  from  the  Apostle  Peter  having  addressed 
the  first  of  his  Epistles  to  them  (1  Pet.  i.  1).  The 
Apostle  Paul  was  at  one  time  inclined  to  go  into 
Bithynia  with  his  assistants  Silas  and  Timothy, 
'  but  the  Spirit  suffered  him  not '  (Acts  xvi.  7). 

BITTER,  BITTERNESS.  Bitterness  (Exod. 
i.  14;  Ruth  i.  20;  Jer.  ix.  15)  is  symbolical  of 
affliction,  misery,  and  servitude.  It  was  for  this 
reason  that,  in  the  celebration  of  the  Passover,  the 
servitude  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  was  typically 
represented  by  bitter  herbs. 

The  gall  of  bitterness  (Acts  vlii.  23)  describes  a 
state  of  extreme  wickedness,  highly  offensive  to 
God,  and  hurtful  to  others. 

A  root  of  bitterness  (Heb.  xiii.  15)  expresses  a 
wicked  or  scandalous  person,  or  any  dangerous  sin 
leading  to  apostacy. 

BITTER  HERBS,  literally  bitters.  There  has 
been  much  difference  of  opinion  respecting  the 
kind  of  herbs  denoted  by  this  word. 

It  however  seems  very  doubtful  whether  any 
particular  herbs  were  intended  by  so  general  a 
term  as  bitters ;  it  is  far  more  probable  that  it  de- 
notes  whatever  bitter  herbs,  obtainable  in  the 
place  where  the  Passover  was  eaten,  might  be 
fitly  used  with  meat. 

BITTERN.  The  word  thus  rendered  occurs 
but  three  times  in  Scripture  (Isa.  xiv.  23  ;  xxxiv. 
11 ;  and  Zeph.  ii.  14),  and  has  been  variously  in- 
terpreted— owl,  osprey,  tortoise,  porcupine,  otter, 
and  in  the  Arabic,  bustard.  Bochart,  Shaw, 
Lowth.  and  other  great  authorities,  have  supported 
the  opinion  that  it  refers  to  the  porcupine ;  but 
this  is  in  the  highest  degree  improbable,  for  the 
texts  above  quoted  make  it  clear  that  the  animal 
referred  to  must  from  its  habits  be  not  a  hedge- 
hog, nor  even  a  mammal,  but  a  bird.  We  think 
the  term  most  applicable  to  the  heron  tribes, 
whose  beaks  are  formidable  spikes  that  often  kill 
hawks;  a  fact  well  known  to  Eastern  hunters. 
Of  these,  the  common  night-heron,  with  its  pencil 
of  white  feathers  in  the  crest,  is  a  species  not  un- 
common in  the  marshes  of  Western  Asia  ;  and  of 
several  species  of  bittern,  Ardea  (botaurus)  stel- 
lar is  has  pointed  long  feathers  on  the  neck  and 
breast,  freckled  with  black,  and  a  strong  pointed 
bill.  After  the  breeding-season  it  migrates  and 
passes  the  winter  in  the  south,  frequenting  the 
marshes  and  rivers  of  Asia  and  Europe,  where  it 
then  roosts  high  above  ground,  uttering  a  curious 
note  before  and  after  its  evening  flight,  very  dis- 
tinct from  the  booming  sound  produced  by  it  in 
the  breeding-season,  and  while  it  remains  in  the 
marshes.  Though  not  building,  like  the  stork,  on 
the  tops  of  houses,  it  resorts,  like  the  heron,  to 
ruined  structures,  and  we  have  been  informed 
that  it  has  been  seen  on  the  summit  of  Tauk 
Kesra  at  Ctesiphon. 

BITUl^EN.      [ASPHALTUM.] 

BLACK.  Although  the  Orientals  do  not  wear 
black  in  mourning,  they,  as  did  the  ancient  Jews, 
regard  the  colour  as  a  symbol  of  affliction,  dis- 
aster, and  privation.  In  fact,  the  custom  of 
wearing  black  in  mourning  is  a  sort  of  visible  ex- 


pression of  what  is  in  the  East  a  figure  of  speech. 
In  Scripture  blackness  is  used  as  symbolical  of 
afflictions  occasioned  by  drought  and  famine  (Job 
XXX.  30  ;  Jer.  xiv.  2  ;  Lam.  iv.  8 ;  v.  10). 

In  connection  with  this  subject  it  may  be  re- 
marked that  black  is  studiously  avoided  in  dress 
by  all  Orientals,  except  in  certain  garments  of 
hair  or  wool,  which  are  naturally  of  that  colour. 
Black  is  also  sometimes  imposed  as  a  mark  of 
humiliating  distinction  by  dominant  nations  upon 
subject  or  tributary  tribes,  the  most  familiar  in- 
stance of  which  is  the  obligation  laid  upon  the 
Jews  in  Turkey  of  wearing  black  turbans. 

BLASPHEMY  signifies  a  false,  irreverent, 
injurious  use  of  God's  names,  attributes,  words, 
and  works.  Whenever  men  intentionally  and 
directly  attack  the  perfections  of  Jehovah,  and 
thus  lessen  the  reverence  which  others  entertain 
for  him,  they  are  blasphemers. 

By  the  Mosaic  law  blasphemy  was  punished 
with  death  (Lev.  xxiv.  10-lG);  and  the  laws  of 
some  countries  still  visit  it  with  the  same  punish- 
ment. Fines,  imprisonment,  and  various  cor- 
poral inflictions  are  annexed  to  the  crime  by 
the  laws  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  matter,  how- 
ever, of  sincere  satisfaction,  that  there  are  very 
few  instances  in  which  these  enactments  require 
to  be  enforced. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  respecting  the 
blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  usually  but 
improperly  denominated  the  unpardonable  sin 
against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Some  refer  it  to  con- 
tinued opposition  to  the  Gospel,  i.  e.  obstinate 
impenitence  or  final  unbelief. 

But  we  object  to  this  opinion,  because  it  gene- 
ralizes the  nature  of  the  sin  in  question.  On 
the  contrary,  the  Scripture  account  narrows  it  to 
a  particular  sin  of  a  special  kind,  discountenanc- 
ing the  idea  that  it  is  of  frequent  occurrence, 
and  marked  by  no  circumstances  of  unwonted 
aggravation.  Besides,  all  the  notices  which  we 
have  refer  it  not  so  much  to  a  state  of  mind,  as 
to  the  outward  manifestation  of  a  singularly 
malignant  disposition  by  the  utterance  of  the 
lips. 

The  occasion  on  which  Christ  introduced  his 
mention  of  it  (Matt.  xii.  31,  &c. ;  Mark  iii.  28, 
&c.),  the  subsequent  context,  and,  above  all,  the 
words  of  Mark  iii.  30  ('  because  they  said,  He 
hath  an  unclean  spirit ')  indicate,  with  tolerable 
plainness,  that  the  sin  in  question  consisted  in 
attributing  the  miracles  wrought  by  Christ,  or 
his  Apostles  in  His  name,  to  the  agency  of  Satan. 
It  was  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  given 
to  the  Redeemer  without  measure,  that  he  cast 
out  devils  :  and  whoever  maligned  the  Saviour 
by  affirming  that  an  unclean  spirit  actuated  and 
enabled  him  to  expel  other  spirits,  maligned  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

It  is  difficult  to  discover  the  '  sin  unto  death,' 
noticed  by  the  Apostle  John  (1  John  v.  16),  al- 
though it  has  been  generally  thought  to  coincide 
with  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but 
the  language  of  John  does  not  afford  data  for 
pronouncing  them  one  and  the  same.  The  first 
three  Gospels  alone  describe  the  blasphemy  which 
shall  not  be  forgiven:  from  it  the  'sin  unto 
death '  stands  apart. 

BLAS'TUS,  a  man  who  was  cuhicularius  to 
king  Herod  Agrippa,  or  who  had  the  charge  of 
his  bedchamber  (Acts  xii.  20).     Such  persons 


ir,G 


BLOOD 


had  usually  great  influence  with  their  masters, 
and  hence  the  importance  attached  to  Blastus's 
favouring  the  peace  with  Tyre  and  Sidon. 

BLESSING.  The  terms  '  blessing'  and  '  to 
bless '  occur  very  often  in  the  Scriptures,  and  in 
applications  too  obvious  to  require  explanation 
or  comment.  The  patriarchal  blessings  of  sons 
form  the  exception,  these  being,  in  fact,  pro- 
phecies rather  than  blessings,  or  blessings  only  in 
so  far  as  they  for  the  most  part  involved  the 
invocation  and  the  promise  of  good  things  to 
come  upon  the  parties  concerned.  The  most  re- 
markable instances  are  those  of  Isaac'  blessing' 
Jacob  and  Esau  (Gen.  xxvii.);  of  Jacob  '  bless- 
ing'  his  twelve  sons  (Gen.  xlix.);  and  of  Moses 
'  blessing  the  twelve  tribes  (Deut.  xxxii.). 

BLESSING,  VALLEY  OF,  a  translation  of 
the  name  Valley  of  Berachali  (benediction), 
which  was  borne  by  the  valley  in  which  Jeho- 
shaphat  celebrated  the  miraculous  overthrow  of 
the  Moalntes  and  Ammonites.  It  was  from  this 
circumstance  it  derived  its  name  ;  and  from  the 
indications  in  the  text,  it  must  have  been  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  near  the  Dead  Sea  and  Engedi, 
and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Tekoa  (2  Chron. 
XX.  23-26). 

BLINDING.     [Punishments.] 

BLINDNESS.  The  frequent  occurrence  of 
blindness  in  the  East  has  always  excited  the 
astonishment  of  travellers.  Volney  says  that, 
out  of  a  hundred  persons  in  Cairo,  he  has  met 
twenty  quite  blind,  ten  wanting  one  eye,  and 
twenty  others  having  their  eyes  red,  purulent, 
or  blemished.  This  is  principally  -owing  to  the 
Egyptian  ophthalmia,  which  is  endemic  in  that 
country  and  on  the  coast  of  Syria.  This  disease 
is  contagious ;  but  it  is  not  often  communicated 
from  one  individual  to  another.  It  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  East,  but  appears  here  and  there 
throughout  Europe.  The  French  and  English 
suffered  greatly  from  it  while  they  were  In 
Egypt,  and  subsequently. 

Small  pox  is  another  great  cause  of  blindness 
in  the  East. 

In  the  New  Testament,  blind  mendicants  are 
frequently  mentioned  (Matt.  ix.  27  ;  xii.  22 ; 
XX.  30;  xxi.  14;  John  v.  3).  The  blindness  of 
Bar  Jesus  (Acts  xiii.  6)  was  miraculously  pro- 
duced, and  of  its  nature  we  know  nothing.  Ex- 
amples of  blindness  from  old  age  occur  in  Gen. 
xxvii.  1  ;  1  Kings  xiv.  4;  1  Sam.  iv.  15.  The 
Syrian  army  that  came  to  apprehend  Elisha  was 
suddenly  smitten  with  blindness  in  a  miraculous 
manner  (2  Kings  vi.  18);  and  so  also  was  St. 
Paul  (Acts  ix.  9).  The  Mosaic  law  has  not 
neglected  to  inculcate  humane  feelings  towards 
the  blind  (Lev.  xix.  14 ;  Deut.  xxvii.  18). 
Blindness  is  sometimes  threatened  in  the  Old 
Testament  as  a  punishment  for  disobedience 
(Deut.  xxviii.  28;  Lev.  xxvi.  16;  Zeph.  i.  17). 

BLOOD.  There  are  two  respects  in  which 
the  ordinances  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
concerning  blood  deserve  notice  here — the  pro- 
hibition of  its  use  as  an  article  of  food,  and  the 
appointment  and  significance  of  its  use  in  the 
ritual  of  sacrifice ;  both  of  which  appear  to  rest 
on  a  common  ground. 

In  Gen.  ix.  4,  where  the  use  of  animal  food  is 
allowed,  it  is  first  absolutely  forbidden  to  eat 
'  flesh  with  its  soul,  its  blood ;'  which  expression, 
were  it  otherwise  obscure,  is  explained  by  the 


BLOOD-REVENGE 

mode  in  which  the  same  terms  are  employed  in 
Deut.  xii.  23.  In  the  Mosaic  law  the  prohibi- 
tion is  repeated  with  frequency  and  emphasis ; 
although  it  is  generally  introduced  in  connection 
with  sacrifices,  as  in  Lev.  iii.  17;  vii.  26; 
xvii.  10-14;  xix.  26  ;  Deut.  xii.  16-23;  xv.  23. 
In  cases  where  the  prohibition  is  introduced  in 
connection  with  the  lawful  and  unlawful  articles 
of  diet,  the  reason  which  is  generally  assigned 
in  the  text  is,  that  '  the  blood  is  the  soul ;'  and 
it  is  ordered  that  it  be  poured  on  the  ground  like 
water.  But  where  it  is  introduced  in  reference 
to  the  portions  of  the  victim  which  were  to  be 
offered  to  the  Lord,  then  the  text,  in  addition  to 
the  former  reason,  insists  that  '  the  blood  ex- 
piates by  the  soul'  (Lev.  xvii.  11,  12).  This 
strict  injunction  not  only  applied  to  the  Israel- 
ites, but  even  to  the  strangers  residing  among 
them.  The  penalty  assigned  to  its  transgression 
was  the  being  '  cut  oft'  from  the  people ;'  by 
which  the  punishment  of  death  appears  to  be 
intended  (cf  Heb.  x.  28),  although  it  is  diflicult 
to  ascertain  Avhether  it  was  inflicted  by  the 
sword  or  by  stoning.  To  this  is  to  be  added, 
that  the  Apostles  and  elders,  assembled  in  council 
at  Jerusalem,  when  desirous  of  settling  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  ceremonial  observances  were 
binding  upon  the  converts  to  Christianity,  re- 
newed the  injunction  to  abstam  from  blood,  and 
coupled  it  with  things  offered  to  idols  (Acts  xv. 
29). 

In  direct  opposition  to  this  emphatic  prohibi- 
tion of  blood  in  the  Mosaic  law,  the  customs  of 
Uncivilized  heathens  sanctioned  the  cutting  of 
slices  from  the  living  animal,  and  the  eating  of 
the  flesh  while  quivering  with  life  and  dripping 
with  blood.  Even  Saul's  army  committed  this 
barbarity,  as  we  read  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  32 ;  and 
the  prophet  also  lays  it  to  the  charge  of  the 
Jews  in  Ezek.  xxxiii.  25.  This  practice,  ac- 
cording to  Bruce's  testimony,  exists  at  present 
among  the  Abyssinians.  Moreover,  pagan  reli- 
gions, and  that  of  the  Phcenicians  among  the 
rest,  appointed  the  eating  and  drinking  of  blood, 
mixed  with  wine,  as  a  rite  of  idolatrous  wor- 
ship, and  especially  in  the  ceremonial  of 
swearing.  To  this  the  passage  in  Ps.  xvi.  4,  ap- 
pears to  allude. 

The  appointment  and  significance  of  the  use 
of  blood  in  the  ritua!  of  sacrifice  belongs  indeed 
to  this  head ;  but  their  further  notice  will  be 
more  appropriately  pursued  in  the  art.  Sacrifice. 

BLOOD-REVENGE,  or  revenge  for  blood- 
shed, was  regarded  among  the  Jews,  as  among 
all  the  ancient  and  Asiatic  nations,  not  only  as 
a  right,  but  even  as  a  duty,  which  devolved 
upon  the  nearest  relative  of  the  murdered 
person. 

The  Mosaical  law  (Num.  xxxv.  31)  expressly 
forbids  the  acceptance  of  a  ransom  for  the  for- 
feited life  of  the  murderer,  although  it  might  be 
saved  by  his  seeking  an  asylum  at  the  altar 
of  the  Tabernacle,  in  case  the  homicide  was 
accidentally  committed  (Exod.  xxi.  13  ;  1  Kings 
i.  50 ;  ii.  28).  If,  however,  after  Judaism  had 
been  fully  developed,  no  other  sanctuary  had 
been  tolerated  but  that  of  the  Temple  at  Jeru- 
salem, the  chances  of  escape  of  such  an  homicide 
from  the  hands  of  the  avenger,  ere  he  reached 
the  gates  of  the  Temple,  must  have  become  less  in 
proportion  to  the  distance  of  the  spot  where  the 


ELOODY  SWE.IT 

murder  was  committed  from  Jerusalem :  six 
cities  of  refuge  were  therefore  appointed  for  the 
momentary  safety  of  the  murderer,  in  various 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  the  roads  to  which  were 
kept  in  good  order  to  facilitate  his  escape  (Deut. 
xix.  3).  Thither  the  avenger  durst  not  follow 
him,  and  there  he  lived  in  safety  until  a  proper 
examination  had  taken  place  before  the  autho- 
rities of  the  place  (Jos.  xx.  6,  9),  in  order  to 
ascertain  whether  the  murder  was  a  wilful  act 
or  not.  In  the  former  case  he  was  instantly 
delivered  up  to  the  Goel,  or  avenger  of  blood, 
against  whom  not  even  the  altar  could  protect 
him  (Kxod.  xxi.  14;  1  Kings  ii.  29);  in  the 
latter  case,  though  he  was  not  actually  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  the  Goiil,  he  was  notwithstand- 
ing not  allowed  to  quit  the  precincts  of  the  town, 
but  was  obliged  to  remain  there  all  his  lifetime, 
or  until  the  death  of  the  high-priest  (Num.  xxxv. 
(i;  Deut.  xix.  3;  Josh.  xx.  1-6),  if  he  would  not 
run  the  risk  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 
avenger,  and  be  slain  by  him  with  impunity 
(N-im.  xxxv.  26;  Deut.  xix.  C).  That  such  a 
voluntary  exile  was  considered  more  in  the  light 
of  a  punishment  for  manslaughter  than  a  pro- 
vision for  the  safe  retreat  of  the  homicide  is 
evident  from  Num.  xxxv.  32,  where  it  is  ex- 
pressly forbidden  to  release  him  from  his  con- 
finement on  any  condition  whatever.  That  the 
decease  of  the  high-priest  should  have  been  the 
means  of  restoring  him  to  liberty  was  probably 
owing  to  the  general  custom  among  the  ancients, 
of  granting  free  pardon  to  certain  prisoners  at 
the  demise  of  their  legitimate  prince  or  so- 
vereign, whom  the  high-priest  represented,  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  among  the  Jews.  These  wise 
'.vegulations  of  the  Mosaical  law,  as  far  as  the 
spirit  of  the  age  allowed  it,  prevented  all  family 
hatred,  persecution,  and  war  from  ever  taking 
place,  as  was  inevitably  the  case  among  the 
other  nations,  where  any  bloodshed  whatever, 
whether  wilful  or  accidental,  laid  the  homicide 
open  to  the  duteous  revenge  of  the  relatives  and 
family  of  the  slain  person,  who  again  in  their 
turn  were  then  similarly  watched  and  hunted 
by  the  opposite  party,  until  a  family-war  of  ex- 
termination had  legaUij  settled  itself  from  gene- 
ration to  generation,  without  the  least  prospect 
of  ever  being  brought  to  a  peaceful  termination. 
Nor  do  we  indeed  find  in -the  Scriptures  the 
least  trace  of  any  abuse  or  mischief  ever  having 
arisen  from  these  regulations  (comp.  2  Sam.  ii. 
19,  sq. ;  iii.  21,  sq.). 

That  such  institutions  are  altogether  at  va- 
riance with  the  spirit  of  Christianity  may  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  revenge,  so  far  from 
being  counted  a  right  or  duty,  was  condemned 
by  Christ  and  his  apostles  as  a  vice  and  passion 
to  be  shunned  (Acts  vii.  GO ;  Matt.  v.  44  ;  Luke 
vi.  28;  Rom.  xii.  14,  sq.;  comp.  Rom.  xiii., 
where  the  power  of  executing  revenge  is  vested 
in  the  authorities  alone). 

BLOODY  SWEAT.  According  to  Luke  xxii. 
44,  our  Lord's  sweat  was  '  as  great  drops  of 
blood  falling  to  the  ground.'  Michaelis  takes 
the  passage  to  mean  nothing  more  than  that  the 
drops  were  as  large  as  falling  drops  of  blood. 
This,  which  also  appears  to  be  a  common  ex- 
planation, is  liable  to  some  objection.  For,  if  an 
ordinary  observer  compares  a  fluid  which  he  is 
accustomed  to  see  colourless,  to  blood,  which  is 


BOAR 


157 


so  well  known  and  so  well  characterised  by  its 
colour,  and  does  not  specify  any  particular  point 
of  resemblance,  he  would  more  naturally  be  un- 
derstood to  allude  to  the  colour,  since  it  is  the 
most  prominent  and  characteristic  quality. 

There  are  several  cases  recorded  by  the  older 
medical  writers,  under  the  title  of  bloody  sweat. 
With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  instances,  not 
above  suspicion  of  fraud,  they  have,  however,  all 
been  cases  of  general  hremorrhagic  disease,  in 
which  blood  has  flowed  from  different  parts  of 
the  body,  such  as  the  nose,  eyes,  ears,  lungs, 
stomach,  and  bowels,  and,  lastly,  from  various 
parts  of  the  skin.  When  blood  oozes  from  the 
skin,  it  must  reach  the  external  surface  through 
orifices  in  the  epidermis,  which  have  been  pro- 
duced by  rupture,  or  we  must  suppose  that  it  has 
been  cxtravasated  into  the  sweat-ducts.  But, 
even  in  this  latter  case,  we  must  no  more  con- 
sider liiEmorrhape  of  the  skin  to  be  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  function  of  sweating,  than  bleeding 
from  the  nose  to  be  a  modification  of  tlie  secre- 
tion of  mucus.  The  blood  is  simply  mixed  with 
the  sweat,  precisely  in  the  same  way  as,  when 
spit  up  from  the  lungs,  it  is  mixed  with  mucus 
and  saliva  in  passing  through  the  air-tubes  and 
mouth.  It  is,  therefore,  incorrect  to  suppose 
that  hEcmori'hage  from  the  skin  indicates  a  state 
of  body  at  all  analogous  to  that  which  occasions 
sweating. 

But  while  experience  teaches  that  cutaneous 
haemorrhage,  when  it  does  occur,  is  the  result  of 
disease,  or,  at  any  rate,  of  a  very  peculiar  idio- 
syncrasy, and  is  in  no  way  indicative  of  the  state 
of  the  mind,  daily  experience  and  the  accu- 
mulated testimony  of  ages  prove  that  intense 
mental  emotion  and  pain  produce  on  the  body 
effects  even  severer  in  degree,  but  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent nature.  It  is  familiar  to  all  that  terror 
will  blanch  the  hair,  occasion  momentary  pa- 
ralysis, fainting,  convulsions,  melancholy,  im- 
becility, and  even  sudden  death.  Excessive 
grief  and  joy  will  produce  some  of  the  worst 
of  these.  Sweat  is  caused  by  fear,  and  by 
bodily  pain ;  but  not  by  sorrow,  which  excites  no 
secretion  except  tears.  I 

It  is  very  evident,  then,  that  medical  expe-  i 
rience  does  not  bear  at  all  upon  the  words  of  St.  j 
Luke.  The  circumstances  connected  with  our  \ 
Lord's  sufferings  in  the  garden  must  be  consi-  | 
dered  by  themselves,  without  any  reference  to  i 
actual  observation ;  otherwise,  we  shall  be  in  | 
danger  of  rendering  a  statement,  which  may  be 
easily  received  on  its  own  grounds,  obscure  and  | 
contradictory.  | 

BOANER'GES  {som  of  thunder,  Mark  iii.  17),  I 
a  surname  given  by  Christ  to  James  and  John,  ; 
probably  on  account  of  their  fervid,  impetuous  i 
spirit.  I 

BOAR  occurs  in  Lev.  xi.  7 ;  Deut.  xiv.  8 ;  | 
Ps.  Ixxx.  13  ;  Prov.  xi.  22 ;  Isa.  Ixv.  4 ;  Ixvi.  j 
3,  17.  I 

The  Hebrew,  Egyptian,  Arabian,  Phoenician, 
and  other  neighbouring  nations  abstained  from  j 
hog's  flesh,  and  consequently,  excepting  in 
Egypt,  and  (at  a  later  period)  beyond  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  no  domesticated  swine  were  reared. 
Although  in  Palestine,  Syria,  and  Phoenicia  hogs 
were  rarely  domesticated,  wild  boars  are  often 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures,  and  they  were  fre- 
quent in  the  time  of  the  Crusades.     At  present 


158  BOOK  OF  LIFE 

■wild  boars  frequent  the  marshes  of  the  Delta,  1 
and  are  not  uncommon  on  Mount  Carmel  and  in 
the  valley  of  Ajalah.  They  are  abundant  about 
the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  and  lower  down  Avhere 
the  river  enters  the  Dead  Sea.  The  wild  boar  of 
the  East,  though  commonly  smaller  than  the  old 
breeds  of  domestic  swine,  grows  occasionally  to 
a  very  large  size.  It  is  passive  while  unmolested, 
but  vindictive  and  fierce  when  rouseil.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  species  is  the  same  as  that 
of  Europe,  for  the  farrow  are  not  striped :  most 
likely  it  is  identical  with  the  wild  hog  of  India. 

1.  BO'AZ,  a  wealthy  Bethlehemite,  and  near 
kinsman  of  the  first  husband  of  Ruth,  whom  he 
eventually  espoused  under  the  obligations  of  the 
Levirate  law,  which  he  willingly  incurred.  The 
conduct  of  Boaz— his  fine  spirit,  just  feeling, 
piety,  and  amenity  of  manners—  appears  to  great 
advantage  in  the  book  of  Ruth,  and  forms  an  in- 
teresting portraiture  of  the  condition  and  deport- 
ment of  what  was  in  his  time  the  upper  class  of 
Israelites.  By  his  marriage  with  Ruth  he  be- 
came the  father  of  Obed,  from  whom  came  Jesse, 
the  father  of  David.  He  was  thus  one  of  the 
direct  ancestors  of  Christ,  and  as  such  his  name 
occurs  in  Matt.  i.  5  [Ruth  ;  Genealogy]. 

2.  BOAZ,  the  name  given  to  one  of  the  two 
brazen  pillars  which  Solomon  erected  in  the 
court  of  the  Temple  [Jachin  and  Boaz]. 

BO'CHIM  {weepings),  the  name  given  to  a 
place  (probably  near  Shiloh,  where  the  tabernacle 
then  was),  where  an  'angel  of  the  Lord'  re- 
proved the  assembled  Israelites  for  their  dis- 
obedience in  making  leagues  with  the  inhabitants 
of  the  land,  and  for  their  remissness  in  taking 
possession  of  their  heritage.  This  caused  the 
bitter  weeping  among  the  people  for  which  the 
place  took  its  name  (Judg.  iii.  1). 

BO'HAN  (a  thumb),  a  Reubenite,  in  whose 
honour  a  stone  was  erected  which  afterwards 
served  as  a  boundary-mark  on  the  frontier  be- 
tween Judah  and  Benjamin  (Josh.  xv.  6 ;  xviii. 
1 7).  It  does  not  appear  from  the  text  whether 
this  stone  was  a  sepulchral  monument,  or  set  up 
to  commemorate  some  great  exploit  performed  by 
this  Bohan  in  the  conquest  of  Canaan. 

BOND,  BONDAGE.     [Slavery.] 

BOOK.     [Writing.] 

BOOK  OF  LIFE.  In  Phil.  iv.  3,  Paul 
speaks  of  Clement  and  other  of  his  fellow- 
labourers,  '  whose  names  are  written  in  the  book 
of  life.'  On  this  Heinrichs  observes  that  as  the 
lliture  life  is  represented  under  the  image  of  a 
citizenship,  community,  political  society,  just  be- 
fore (iii.  20),  it  is  in  agreement  with  this  to  sup- 
pose (as  usual)  a  catalogue  of  the  citizens'  names, 
both  natural  and  adopted  (Luke  x.  20 ;  Rev.  xx. 
15  ;  xxi.  27),  and  from  which  the  unworthy  are 
erased  ( Rev.  iii.  5).  Thus  the  names  of  the  good 
are  often  represented  as  registered  in  heaven 
(Luke  X.  20).  But  this  by  no  means  implies  a 
certainty  of  salvation,  but  only  that  at  that  time 
the  persons  were  on  the  list,  from  which  (as  in 
Rev.  iii.  5)  the  names  of  unworthy  members 
might  be  erased.  This  explanation  is  sufficient 
and  satisfactory  for  the  other  important  passage 
iu  Rev.  iii.  5,  where  the  glorified  Christ  promises 
to  'him  that  overcometh,'  that  he  will  not  blot 
his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life.  When  God 
threatened  to  destroy  the  Israelites  altogether,  and 
make  of  Moses  a  great  nation— the  legislator  im- 


BORROWING 

plored  forgiveness  for  them,  and  added — '  if  not, 
blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  the  book  which  thou 
hast  written'  (Exod.  xxxii.  34).  By  this  he  meant 
nothing  so  foolish  or  absurd  as  to  otler  to  forfeit 
eternal  life  in  the  world  to  come — but  only  that 
he,  and  not  they,  should  be  cutoff  from  the  world 
and  brought  to  an  untimely  end. 

A  sealed  book  (Isa.  xxix.  11  ;  Rev.  v.  1-3)  is 
a  book  whose  contents  are  secret,  and  have  for  a 
very  long  time  been  so,  and  are  not  to  be  pu'i- 
lished  till  the  seal  is  removed. 

A  honk  or  roll  written  within  and  without,  i.  e. 
on  the  back  side  (Rev.  v.  1),  may  be  a  book 
containing  a  long  series  of  events;  it  not  being 
the  custom  of  the  ancients  to  write  on  the 
back  side  of  the  roll,  unless  when  the  in- 
side would  not  contain  the  whole  of  the 
writing. 

To  eat  a  book  signifies  to  consider  it  carefully, 
and  digest  it  well  in  the  mind  (Jer.  xv.  16 ;  Rev. 
X.  9). 

BOOTH,  a  hut  made  of  branches  of  trees, 
and  thus  distinguished  from  a  tent  properly  so 
called.  Such  were  the  booths  in  which  Jacob 
sojourned  for  a  while  on  his  return  to  the  bor- 
ders of  Canaan,  whence  the  place  obtained  the 
name  of  Succoth  (Gen.  xxxiii.  17);  and  such 
were  the  temporary  green  sheds  in  which  the 
Israelites  were  directed  to  celebrate  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  (Lev.  xxiii.  42,  43).  As  this  ob- 
servance was  to  commemorate  the  abode  of  the 
Israelites  in  the  wilderness,  it  has  been  rather 
unwisely  concluded  by  some  that  they  there 
lived  in  such  booths.  But  it  is  evident  from  the 
narrative,  that,  during  their  wanderings,  they 
dwelt  in  tents ;  and,  indeed,  where,  in  that  tree- 
less region,  could  they  have  found  branches 
with  which  to  construct  their  booths?  Such 
structures  are  only  available  in  well-wooded 
regions  ;  and  it  is  obvious  that  the  direction  to 
celebrate  the  feast  in  booths,  rather  than  in 
tents,  was  given  because,  when  the  Israelite'- 
became  a  settled  people  in  Palestine,  and  ceased 
to  have  a  general  use  of  tents,  it  was  easier  for 
them  to  erect  a  temporary  shed  of  green  branches 
than  to  provide  a  tent  for  the  occasion. 

BORROWING.  On  the  general  subject,  as  a 
matter  of  law  or  precept,  see  Loan. 

In  Exod.  xii.  35,  we  are  told  that  the  Israel- 
ites, when  on  the  point  of  their  departure  from 
Egypt,  '  borrowed  of  the  Egyptians  jewels  of 
silver,  and  jewels  of  gold,  and  raiment ;'  and  it 
is  added,  that  '  the  Lord  gave,  the  people  favour 
in  the  sight  of  the  Egyptians,  so  that  they  lent 
unto  them  such  things  as  they  required.  And 
they  spoiled  the  Egyptians.'  This  was  in  pur- 
suance of  a  Divine  command  which  had  been 
given  to  them  through  IMoses  (Exod.  iii.  22  ;  xi. 
2).  This  has  suggested  a  difficulty,  seeing  that 
the  Israelites  had  certainly  no  intention  to  leturn 
to  Egypt,  or  to  restore  the  valuables  which  tliey 
thus  obtained  from  their  Egyptian  •  neighbours.' 
The  general  acceptation  of  the  word  rendered 
borrow  is  to  request  or  demand,  and  some  have 
afiirmed  that  it  should  be  so  rendered  here— that 
the  Israelites  did  not  hoiToio  the  valuables,  but 
demanded  them  of  their  Egyptian  neighbours,  as 
an  indemnity  for  their  services,  and  for  the  hard 
and  bitter  bondage  which  they  had  endured.  To 
this  it  has  been  objected,  that  the  Israelites  had 
been  public  sei-vants,  rendering  certain  onerous 


BOTTLE 

services  to  the  state,  but  not  in  personal  bondage 
to  individual  Egyptians,  whom,  nevertheless, 
they,  according  to  this  account,  mulcted  of  much 
valuable  property  in  compensation  for  MTongs 
committed  by  the  state.  And  that  this  mode  of 
extorting  private  and  partial  compensation  for 
public  -wrong  will  not  stand  the  test  of  our  rules 
of  public  morality,  any  more  than  that  of  bor- 
rowing without  the  intention  to  restore.  Others 
are  inclined  to  adhere  to  the  old  interpretation, 
that  the  Israelites  actually  did  borrow  the  valu- 
ables of  the  Egyptians,  with  the  understanding, 
on  the  part  of  the  latter,  that  they  were  to  be 
restored.  Turn  which  way  we  will  in  this  matter, 
there  is  but  a  choice  of  difficulties ;  and  this  leads 
us  to  suspect  that  we  are  not  acquainted  with  all 
the  facts  bearing  on  the  case,  in  the  absence  of 
which  we  spend  our  strength  for  uouglit  in 
labouring  to  explain  it.  One  of  the  difficulties 
is  somewhat  softened  by  the  conjecture  of  Pro- 
fessor Bush,  who,  in  his  Note  on  Exod.  xi.  2,  ob- 
serves, '  We  are  by  no  means  satisfied  that  Moses 
was  required  to  command  the  people  to  practise 
the  device  here  mentioned.  We  regard  it  rather, 
as  far  as  theu  were  concerned,  as  the  mere  pre- 
diction of  a  fact  that  should  occur.' 

BOSOM.  It  is  usual  with  the  Western  Asia- 
tics to  carry  various  sorts  of  things  in  the  bosom 
of  their  dress,  which  forms  a  somewhat  spacious 
depository,  being  wide  above  the  girdle,  which 
confines  it  so  tightly  around  the  waist  as  to  pre- 
vent anything  from  slipping  through. 

2b  have  one  in  our  bosom  implies  kindness, 
secrecy,  intimacy  (Gen.  xvi.  5 ;  2  Sam.  xii.  8), 
Christ  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  ;  that  is,  pos- 
sesses the  closest  intimacy  with,  and  most  perfect 
knowledge  of,  the  Father  (John  i.  IS).  Our 
Saviour  is  said  to  carry  his  lambs  in  his  bosom, 
which  touchingly  represents  his  tender  care  and 
watchfulness  over  them. 

BOSSES,  the  thickest  and  strongest  parts,  the 
prominent  points  of  a  buckler  [Arms,  Armodr]. 

BOl'TLE.  Natural  objects,  it  is  obvious, 
would  be  the  earliest  things  employed  for  hold- 
ing and  preserving  liquids ;  and  of  natural 
ol>jcct3  those  would  be  preferred  which  either 


BOTTLE 


159 


presented  themselves  nearly  or  quite  ready  for 
use,  or  such  as  could  speedily  be  wrought  into 
the  requisite  shape.  The  skins  of  animals  afford 
in  themselves  more  conveniences  for  the  purpose 


than  any  other  natural  product.  The  first  bottles 
therefore  were  probably  made  of  the  skins  of 
animals.  Accordingly  we  learn  from  Herodotus 
that  it  was  customary  among  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians to  use  bottles  made  of  skins  ;  and  this  is 
confirmed  by  the  monuments,  on  which  such 
various  forms  as  the  above  occur.  Fig.  1  is 
curious  as  showing  the  mode  in  which  they  wei-e 
carried  by  a  yoke ;  and  as  it  balances  a  large 
bottle  in  a  case,  this  skin  may  be  presumed  to 
have  contained  wine.  Fig.  7  is  such  a  skin  of 
water  as  in  the  agricu'ltural  scenes  is  suspended 
from  the  bough  of  a  trc-e,  and  from  which  the 
labourers  occasionally  drink.  Figs.  2  and  3  re- 
present two  men  with  skins  at  their  backs,  belong- 
ing to  a  party  of  nomades  entering  Egypt.  This 
party  has  been  with  some  plausibility  supposed 
to  represent  the  sons  of  Jacob. 

Skin-bottles  doubtless  existed  among  the  He- 
brews even  in  patriarchal  times;  but  the  first 
clear  notice  of  them  does  not  occur  till  Joshua  ix. 
4,  where  it  is  said  that  the  Gibeonites,  wishing  to 
impose  upon  Joshua  as  if  they  had  come  from  a 
long  distance,  took  '  old  sacks  upon  their  asses, 
and  wine-bottles  old  and  rent  and  bound  up.'  Age, 
then,  had  the  effect  of  wearing  and  tearing  the 
bottles  in  question,  which  must  consequently  have 
been  of  skin.  Our  Saviour's  language  (Matt.  ix. 
17  ;  Luke  v.  37,  38  ;  Mark  ii.  22)  is  thus  clearly 


explained :  '  Men  do  not  put  new  wine  into  old 
bottles,  else  the  bottles  break  and  the  wine  run- 
neth out,  and  the  bottles  perish  ;'  '  New  wine 
must  be  put  in  new  bottles,  and  both  are  pre- 
served.' To  the  conception  of  an  English  reader 
who  knows  of  no  bottles  but  such  as  are  made  of 
clay  or  glass,  the  idea  of  bottles  breaking  through 
age  presents  an  insuperable  difiiculty ;  but  skins 
may  become  '  old,  rent,  and  bound  up  ;'  they  also 
prove,  in  time,  hard  and  inelastic,  and  would  in 
such  a  condition  be  very  unfit  to  hold  new  wine, 
probably  in  a  state  of  active  fermentation.  Even 
new  skins  might  he  unable  to  resist  the  internal 
pressure  caused  by  fermentation. 

As  the  drinking  of  wine  is  illegal  among  the 
Moslems  who  are  now  in  possession  of  Western 
Asia,  little  is  seen  of  the  ancient  use  of  skin- 
bottles  for  wine,  unless  among  the  Christians  of 
Georgia,  Armenia,  and  Lebanon,  where  they  are 
still  thus  employed.  In  Georgia  the  wine  is 
stowed  in  large  ox-skins,  and  is  moved  or  kept  at 
hand  for  use  in  smaller  skins  of  goats  or  kids. 
But  skins  are  still  most  extensively  used  through- 
out Western  Asia  for  water.  Their  most  usual 
forms  are  shown  in  the  above  cut  (95),  which 
also  displays  the  manner  in  which  they  are  car- 
ried. The  water-carriers  bear  water  in  such 
skins  and  in  this  manner. 


160 


BOW 


It  is  an  error  to  represent  bottles  as  being 
made  exclusively  of  dressed  or  undressed  skins 
among  the  ancient  Hebrews.  Among  the  Egj'p- 
tians  ornamental  vases  were  of  hard  stone,  ala- 
baster, glass,  ivory,  bone,  porcelain,  bronze, 
silver,  or  gold ;  and  also  for  the  use  of  the  people 
generally,  of  glazed  pottery  or  common  earthen- 
ware. As  early  as  Thothmes  III.,  assumed  to 
be  the  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus,  e.g.  1490,  vases 
are  known  to  have  existed  of  a  shape  so  elegant 
and  of  workmanship  so  superior,  as  to  show  that 
the  art  was  not,  even  then,  in  its  infancy. 

Many  of  the  bronze  vases  found  at  Thebes  and 
in  other  parts  of  Egypt  are  of  a  quality  which 
cannot  fail  to  excite  admiration,  and  which 
proves  the  skill  possessed  by  the  Egyptians  in 
the  art  of  working  and  compounding  metals. 
Their  shapes  are  most  various — some  neat,  some 
plain,  some  grotesque  ;  some  in  form  not  unlike 
our  cream-jugs,  others  as  devoid  of  taste  as  the 
wine-bottles  of  our  cellars  or  the  fiower-pots  of 
our  conservatories.  They  had  also  bottles,  small 
vases,  and  pots,  used  for  holding  ointment  or  for 
other  purposes  connected  with  the  toilet,  which 
were  made  of  alabaster,  glass,  porcelain,  and 
hard  stone. 


Earthenware  ;    2,  5,  6.  7,  Green  <jlass  ;    4,  Blue  glass  : 
8,  11,  Alabaster  ;  9, 10,  Porcelain. 


The  perishable  nature  of  skin-bottles  led,  at  an 
early  period,  to  the  employment  of  instruments 
of  a  more  durable  kind ;  and  it  is  to  be  presumed 
that  the  children  of  Israel  would,  during  their 
sojourn  in  Egypt,  learn,  among  other  arts  prac- 
tised by  their  masters,  that  of  working  in  pottery 
ware.  Thus,  as  early  as  the  days  of  the  Judges 
(iv.  19;  V.  25),  bottles  or  vases  composed  of  some 
earthy  material,  and  apparently  of  a  superior 
make,  were  in  use;  for  what  in  the  fourth 
chapter  is  termed  '  a  bottle,'  is  in  the  fifth  desig- 
nated '  a  lordly  dish.'  Isaiah  (xxx.  14)  ex- 
pressly mentions  '  the  bottle  of  the  potters,'  as 
the  reading  in  the  margin  gives  it,  being  a  literal 
translation  from  the  Hebrew,  while  the  terms 
which  the  prophet  employs  show  that  he  could 
not  have  intended  any  thing  made  of  skin — '  he 
shall  break  it  as  the  breaking  of  the  potter's  ves- 
sel that  is  broken  in  pieces,  so  that  there  shall 
not  be  found  in  the  bursting  of  it  a  sherd  to  take 
fire  from  the  hearth,  or  to  take  water  out  of  the 
pit.'  (See  also  Jerem.  xi.x.  1-10,  II,  and  chap, 
xiii.  12-14.)  Metaphorically  the  word  bottle  is 
used,  especially  in  poetrj',  for  the  clouds  con- 
sidered as  pouring  out  and  pouring  down  water 
(Job  xxxviii.  37). 

BOW.     [Arms.]    The  bow  is  frequently  men- 


BOZRAH 

tioned  symbolically  in  Scripture.  In  Ps.  vii.  12, 
it  implies  victory,  signifying  judgments  laid  up  in 
store  against  offenders.  It  is  sometimes  used  to 
denote  lying  and  falsehood  (Ps.  Ixiv.  4  ;  cxx.  4  ; 
Jer.  ix.  3),  probably  from  the  many  circum- 
stances which  tend  to  render  a  bow  inoperative, 
especially  in  unskilful  hands.  Hence  also  '  a 
deceitful  bow'  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  57;  Hos.  vii.  Ifi). 
The  bow  also  signifies  any  kind  of  arms.  The 
bow  and  spear  are  the  most  frequently  men- 
tioned, because  the  ancients  used  these  most  (Ps. 
xliv.  C;  xlvi.  9;  Zech.  x.  4;  Josh.  xxiv.  12). 
In  Habakk.  iii.  9  '  thy  bow  was  made  bare,' 
means  that  it  was  drawn  out  of  its  case.  The 
Orientals  used  to  carry  their  bows  in  a  case  hung 
on  their  girdles. 

BOWELS  are  often  put  by  the  Hebrew  writers 
for  the  internal  parts  generally,  the  inner  man, 
and  so  also  for  heart,  as  we  use  that  term. 
Hence  the  bowels  are  made  the  seat  of  tender- 
ness, mercy,  and  compassion;  and  thus  the 
Scriptural  expressions  of  the  bowels  being  moved, 
bowels  of  mercy,  straitened  in  the  bowels,  &c.  By 
a  similar  association  of  ideas,  the  bowels  are  also 
sometimes  made  the  seat  of  wisdom  and  under- 
standing (Job  xxxviii.  36;  Ps.  li.  10;  Isa.  xvi.  11). 

BOWING.     [Attitudes.] 

BOX-TREE  (Isa.  Ix.  13;  xli.  19).  It  is  not 
very  certain  that  the  box-tree  is  really  denoted 
by  the  Hebrew  and  so  translated :  but  nothing 
more  probable  has  been  suggested,  and  it  agrees 
well  enough  with  the  indications  afforded  by  the 
texts  in  which  the  name  occurs. 

The  box  is  a  native  of  most  pai-ts  of  Europe. 
It  grows  well  in  England,  as  at  Boxhill,  &c., 
while  that  from  the  Levant  is  most  valued  in 
commerce,  in  consequence  of  its  being  highly 
esteemed  by  wood-engravers.  Turkey  box  is 
yielded  by  Buxiis  Balearica,  a  species  which  is 
found  in  Minorca,  Sardinia,  and  Corsica,  and 
also  in  both  European  and  Asiatic  Turkey,  and 
is  imported  from  Constantinople,  Smyrna,  and 
the  Black  Sea.  Box  is  also  found  on  Mount 
Caucasus,  and  a  species  extends  even  to  the 
Himalaya  mountains.  It  is  mucli  employed  in 
the  present  day  by  the  wood-engraver,  the  turner, 
carver,  mathematical  instrument  maker,  and  the 
comb  and  flute  maker. 

The  box-tree,  being  a  native  of  mountainous 
regions,  was  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  calcareous 
formations  of  iMount  Lebanon,  and  therefore 
likely  to  be  brought  from  thence  with  the  coni- 
ferous woods  for  the  building  of  the  temple,  and 
was  as  well  suited  as  the  fir  and  the  pine  trees  for 
changing  the  face  of  the  desert. 

BOZ'RAH,  an  ancient  city,  known  also  to  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  by  the  name  of  Bostra.  In 
most  of  the  passages  of  the  Old  Testament  where 
it  is  mentioned,  it  appears  as  a  chief  city  of  the 
Edomites  (Isa.  xxxiv.  6;  Ixiii.  1;  Amos  i.  12; 
Jer.  xlix.  13,  22);  but  it  appears  to  have  been 
afterwards  taken  from  them  by  the  Moabites, 
who  for  a  time  retained  it  in  their  possession. 

Bozrah  lay  southward  from  Edrei,  one  of  the 
capitals  of  IJashan,  and,  according  to  Eusebius, 
24  Roman  miles  distant  from  it.  Alexander 
Severus  made  it  the  seat  of  a  Roman  colony.  In 
the  acts  of  the  Nicene,  Ephesian,  and  Chalcedo- 
nian  councils  mention  is  made  of  bishops  of 
Bozrah,  and  at  a  later  period  it  became  an  im- 
portant scat  of  the  Nestorians.    Abulfeda  makes 


BRACELET 

it  the  capital  of  the  Hauran,  in  which,  according 
to  Uurckhardt,  it  is  still  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant towns.  It  has  recently  been  visited  by 
various^  travellers,  who  give  a  very  ample  de- 
scription of  its  ruins,  the  extent  and  importance 
of  which  are  alone  sufficient  to  evince  the  ancient 
consequence  of  the  place.  They  are  of  various 
kinds,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Saracenic,  with  traces 
of  the  native  works  in  the  private  dwellings. 

These  monuments  of  ancient  grandeur  serve 
but  to  heighten  the  impression  -nhich is  created 
by  the  present  desolation  and  decay.  '  Bozrah,' 
says  Lord  Lindsay,  '  is  now  for  the  most  part  a 
heap  of  ruins,  a  most  dreary  spectacle  :  here  and 
tiiert!  the  direction  of  a  street  or  alley  is  discern- 
ible, but  that  is  all.  The  modern  inhabitants — 
a  mere  handful — arc  almost  lost  in  the  maze  of 
ruins.  Olive-trees  grew  here  within  a  few  years, 
they  told  us — all  extinct  now,  like  the  vines  for 


BREAD 


161      I 


97.     [Bozrali.] 


which  the  Bostra  of  the  Romans  was  famous. 
And  such,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  under 
Moslem  rule,  is  the  condition  of  a  city  which 
even  in  the  seventh  century,  at  the  time  of  its 
capture  by  the  Saracens,  was  called  by  Caled 
"  the  market-place  of  Syria,  Irak,  and  the  Hed- 
jaz."  "  I  have  sworn  by  myself,  saith  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  that  Bozrah  shall  become  a  desolation 
and  reproach,  a  waste  and  a  curse ;  and  all  the 
cities  thereof  shall  be  perpetual  v/astes  !"  (Jer. 
xiix.  13.)     And  it  is  so.' 

BRACELET.  This  name,  in  strict  propriety, 
is  as  applicable  to  circlets  worn  on  the  upper  part 
of  the  arm  as  to  those  worn  on  the  wrist ;  but  as 
it  has  been  found  convenient  to  distinguish  the 
former  as  Armlets,  the  term  bracelet  must  be 
restricted  to  the  latter.  These  are,  and  always 
have  been,  much  in  use  among  Eastern  females. 
Many  of  them  are  of  the  same  shapes  and  pat- 
terns as  the  armlets,  and  are  often  of  such  consi- 
derable weight  and  bulk  as  to  appear  more  like 
manacles  than  ornaments.  Many  are  often  worn 
one  above  another  on  the  same  arm,  so  as  to  oc- 
cupy the  greater  part  of  the  space  between  the 
wrist  and  the  elbow.  The  materials  vary  ac- 
cording to  the  condition  of  the  wearer.  Among 
the  higher  classes  they  arc  of  mother-of-pearl,  of 
fine  flexible  gold,  and  of  silver,  the  last  being 
the  most  common.  The  poorer  women  use 
l>hited  steel,  horn,  brass,  copper,  beads,  and  other 
materials  of  a  cheap  description.   Some  notion  of 


the  size  and  value  of  the  bracelets  used  both  now 
and  in  ancient  times  may  be  formed  from  the 
fact  that  those  which  were  presented  by  Eleazer 
to  Rebecca  weighed  ten  shekels  (Gen.  xxiv.  22 ). 
The  bracelets  are  sometimes  flat,  but  more  fre- 
quently round  or  semicircular,  except  at  the 
point  where  they  open  to  admit  the  hand,  where 
they  are  flattened.  They  are  frequently  hollow, 
giving  the  show  of  bulk  (which  is  much  desired) 
without  the  inconvenience.  Bracelets  of  gold 
twisted  rope-wise  are  tliose  now  most  used  in 
Western  Asia :  but  we  cannot  determine  to  what 
extent  this  fashion  may  have  existed  in  ancient 
times. 

BRAMBLE.    [Thorn.] 

BRANCH.  As  trees,  in  Scripture,  denote 
great  men  and  princes,  so  branches,  boughs, 
sprouts,  or  plants  denote  their  offspring.  In  con- 
formity with  this  way  of  speaking,  Christ,  in 
respect  of  his  human  nature,  is  styled  a  rod  f lom 
the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch  out  of  his  roots 
(Isa.  xi.  1),  tliat  is,  a  prince  arising  from  the 
family  of  David. 

A  branch  is  the  symbol  of  kings  descended 
from  royal  ancestors,  as  branches  from  the  root 
(Ezek.  xvii.  .3,  10 ;  Dan.  xi.  7).  As  only  a  vigo- 
rous tree  can  send  forth  vigorous  branches,  a 
branch  is  used  as  a  general  symbol  of  prosperity 
(Job  viii.  16).  From  these  explanations  it  is 
easy  to  see  how  a  branch  becomes  the  symbol  of 
the  Messiah  (Isa.  xi.  1  :  iv.  2  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  15  ; 
Zech.  iii.  8  ;  vi.  12;  and  elsewhei-e).  Branch 
is  also  used  as  the  symbol  of  idolatrous  worship 
(Ezek.  viii.  17),  probably  in  allusion  to  the  ge- 
neral custom  of  carrying  branches  as  a  sign  of 
honour.  An  abominable  branch  (Isa,  xiv.  19) 
means  a  tree  on  which  a  malefactor  has  been 
hanged.  In  Ezek.  xvii.  3  Jehoiachim  is  called 
the  highest  branch  of  the  cedar,  as  being  a  king. 

BRASS.  This  word  occurs  in  the  Authorized 
Version.  But  brass  is  a  factitious  metal,  not 
known  to  the  early  Hebrews,  and  wherever  it 
occurs,  copper  is  to  be  understood  [Coppek]. 
That  copper  is  meant  is  shown  by  the  text, '  Out 
of  whose  hills  thou  mayest  dig  brass '  (Deut. 
viii.  9),  it  being  of  course  impossible  to  dig  a 
factitious  metal,  whether  brass  or  bronze,  out  of 
mines. 

Brass  (to  retain  the  word)  is  in  Scripture  the 
symbol  of  insensibility,  baseness,  and  presump- 
tion or  obstinacy  in  sin  (Isa.  xlviii.  4 ;  Jer.  vi. 
28;  Ezek.  xxii.  18).  Brass  is  also  a  symbol  of 
strength  (Ps.  cvii.  16;  Isa.  xlviii.  4;  Mic.  iv. 
13).  So  in  Jer.  i.  18  and  xv.  20,  brazen  walls 
signify  a  strong  and  lasting  adversary  or  oppo- 
nent. 

BREAD.  The  word  '  bread '  was  of  far  more 
extensive  meaning  among  the  Hebrews  than  with 
us.  There  are  passages  in  which  it  appears  to  b"? 
applied  to  all  kinds  of  victuals  (Luke  xi.  3) ;  but 
it  more  generally  denotes  all  kinds  of  baked  and 
pastry  articles  of  food.  It  is  also  used,  however, 
in  the  more  limited  sense  of  bread  made  fron; 
wheat  or  barley,  for  rye  is  little  cultivated  in  tlie 
East.  Barley  being  used  chiefly  by  the  poor, 
and  for  feeding  horses  [Barley],  bread,  in  the 
more  limited  sense,  chiefly  denotes  the  various 
kinds  of  cake-like  bread  prepared  from  wheutea 
flour. 

Com  is  ground  daily  in  the  East.  After  the 
wheaten  fllour  is  taken  from  the  hand-mill,  it  is 


)62 


BREAD 


made  into  a  dough  or  paste  in  a  small  wooden 
trough.  It  is  next  leavened ;  after  which  it  is 
made  into  thin  cakes  or  flaps,  round  or  oval,  and 
then  baked. 

The  kneading-tvoughs,  in  which  the  dough  is 
prepared,  have  no  resemblance  to  ours  in  size 
or  shape,  but  are  small  wooden  bowls  in  which 
only  a  comparatively  small  quantity  of  dough  is 
prepared.  The  Bedouin  Arabs,  indeed,  use  for 
this  purpose  a  leather,  which  can  be  drawn 
up  into  a  bag  by  a  running  cord  along  the 
border,  and  in  which  they  prepare  and  often 
carry  their  dough.  It  is  clear,  from  the  history 
of  the  departure  from  E^pt,  that  the  flour  had 
first  been  made  into  a  dough  by  water  only,  in 
which  state  it  had  been  kept  some  little  time  be- 
fore it  was  leavened;  for  when  the  Israelites 
were  unexpectedly  (as  to  the  moment)  compelled 
in  all  haste  to  withdraw,  it  was  found  that,  al- 
though the  dough  had  been  prepared  in  the 
kneading-trough,  it  was  still  unleavened  (Exod. 
xii.  34  ;  comp.  Hos.  vii.  4) ;  and  it  was  in  com- 
memoration of  this  circumstance  that  they  and 
their  descendants  in  all  ages  were  enjoined  to  eat 
only  unleavened  bread  at  the  feast  of  the  Pass- 
over. The  dough  thus  prepared  is  not  always 
baked  at  home.  In  towns  there  are  public  ovens 
and  bakers  by  trade ;  and  although  the  general 
rule  in  large  and  respectable  families  is  to  bake 
the  bread  at  home,  much  bread  is  bought  of  the 
bakers  by  unsettled  individuals  and  poor  per- 
sons; and  many  small  households  send  their 
dough  to  be  baked  at  the  public  oven,  the  baker 
receiving  for  his  trouble  a  portion  of  the  baked 
bread,  which  he  adds  to  his  day's  stock  of  bread 
for  sale.  Such  public  ovens  and  bakers  by  trade 
must  have  existed  anciently  in  Palestine,  and  in 
the  East  generally,  as  is  evident  from  Hos.  vii. 
4  and  Jer.  xxxvii.  21. 

For  their  larger  operations  the  bakers  have 
ovens  of  brick,  not  altogether  unlike  our  own; 
and  in  large  houses  there  are  similar  ovens.  The 
ovens  used  in  domestic  balcing  are,  however, 
usually  of  a  portable  description,  and  are  large 
vessels  of  stone,  earthenware,  or  copper,  inside  of 
which,  when  properl}'  heated,  small  loaves  and 
cakes  are  baked,  and  on  the  outer  surface  of 
which  thin  flaps  of  bread,  or  else  a  large  wafer- 
like  biscuit,  may  be  prepared. 

Another  mode  of  baking  bread  is  much  used, 
especially  in  the  villages.  A  pit  is  sunk  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor  of  the  principal  room,  about 
four  or  five  feet  deep  by  three  in  diameter,  well 
lined  with  compost  or  cement.  When  sufficiently 
heated  by  a  fire  kindled  at  the  bottom,  the  bread 
is  made  by  the  thin  pancake-like  flaps  of  dough 
being,  by  a  peculiar  knack  of  hand  in  the 
women,  striick  against  the  oven,  to  which  they 
adhere  for  a  few  moments,  till  they  are  suf- 
ficiently dressed. 

Another  sort  of  oven,  or  rather  mode  of 
baking,  is  much  in  use  among  the  pastoral  tribes. 
A  shallow  hole,  about  six  inches  deep  by  three 
or  four  feet  in  diameter,  is  made  in  the  ground  : 
this  is  filled  up  with  dry  brushwood,  upon  which, 
when  kindled,  pebbles  are  thrown  to  concentrate 
and  retain  the  heat.  IMeanwhile  the  dough  is 
prepared ;  and  when  the  oven  is  sufficiently 
heated,  the  ashes  and  pebbles  are  removed,  and 
the  snot  well  cleaned  out.  The  dough  is  then 
deposited  in  the  hollow,  and  is  left  there  over 


BRICKS 

night.  The  cakes  thus  baked  are  about  two 
fingers  thick,  and  are  very  palatable.  There 
can  be  little  doubt  that  this  kind  of  oven  and 
mode  of  baking  bread  were  common  among  the 
Jews. 

There  is  a  baking  utensil  called  in  Arabic 
tajeu,  which  appears  to  have  been  in  use  among 
the  ancient  Hebrews.  It  is  a  sort  of  pan  of 
earthenware  or  iron  (usually  the  latter),  flat,  or 
slightly  convex,  which  is  put  over  a  slow  fire, 
and  on  which  the  thin  flaps  of  dough  are  laid 
and  baked  with  considerable  expedition,  although 
only  one  cake  can  be  baked  in  this  way  at  a 
time.  This  is  not  a  household  mode  of  preparing 
bread,  but  is  one  of  the  simple  and  primitive 
processes  employed  by  the  wandering  and  semi- 
wandering  tribes,  shepherds,  husbandmen  and 
others,  who  have  occasion  to  prepare  a  small 
quantity  of  daily  bread  in  an  easy  off-hand  man- 
ner. Bread  is  also  baked  in  a  manner  which, 
although  apparently  very  different,  is  but  a  mo- 
dification of  the  principle  of  the  tajen,  and  is 
used  chiefly  in  the  houses  of  the  peasantry. 
There  is  a  cavity  in  the  fire-hearth,  in  which, 
when  required  for  baking,  a  fire  is  kindled  and 
burnt  down  to  hot  embers.  A  plate  of  iron,  or 
sometimes  copper,  is  placed  over  the  hole,  and  on 
this  the  bread  is  baked. 

Another  mode  of  baking  is  in  use  chiefly 
among  the  pastoral  tribes,  and  by  travellers  in 
the  open  country,  but  is  not  unknown  in  the  vil- 
lages. A  smooth  clear  spot  is  chosen  in  the 
loose  ground,  a  sandy  soil — so  common  in  the 
Eastern  deserts  and  harder  lands— being  pre- 
ferred. On  this  a  fire  is  kindled,  and,  when  the 
ground  is  sufficiently  heated,  the  embers  and 
ashes  are  raked  aside,  and  the  dough  is  laid  on 
the  heated  spot,  and  then  covered  over  with  the 
glowing  embers  and  ashes  which  had  just  been 
removed.  The  bread  is  several  times  turned,  and 
in  less  than  half  an  hour  is  sufficiently  baked. 
Bread  thus  baked  is  referred  to  in  Gen.  xviii. 
6;  1  Kings  xviii.  13;  xix.  G:  Ezek.  iv.  12. 
This  is  the  kind  of  as/j-bread  which  Sarah,  on 
the  arrival  of  the  three  strangers,  was  required 
to  bake  '  quickly '  for  the  hospitable  entertain- 
ment of  the  unknown  travellers. 

BREASTPLATE,  a  piece  of  defensive  ar- 
mour.    [Arms,  Armouk.] 

BREASTPLATE  of  the  High-Priest,  a 
splendid  ornament  covering  the  breast  of  the 
high-priest.  It  was  composed  of  richly  em- 
broidered cloth,  in  which  were  set,  in  four  rows, 
twelve  precious  stones,  on  each  of  which  was  en- 
graven the  name  of  one  of  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel  (Exod.  xxviii.  15-29;  xxxix.  8-21). 
[Priests.]  ' 

BRICKS.  Bricks  compacted  with  straw  and 
dried  in  the  sun,  are  those  which  are  chiefly 
mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  Of  such  bricks  the 
tower  of  Babel  was  doubtless  composed  ("Babel, 
Babylon],  and  the  making  of  such  formed  the 
chief  labour  of  the  Israelites  when  bondsmen  in 
Egypt  (Exod.  i.  13,  14). 

The  use  of  crude  brick,  baked  in  the  sun,  was 
universal  in  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt,  both  for 
public  and  private  buildings;  and  the  brick- 
field gave  abundant  occupation  to  numerous 
labourers  throughout  the  country.  We  find  that, 
independent  of  native  labourers,  a  great  many 
foreigners  were  constantly  engaged  in  the  brick- 


BROOK 

fields  at  Thebes  and  other  parts  of  Egj-pt.  The 
Jews,  of  course,  were  not  excluded  from  this 
drudgery ;  and,  like  the  captives  detained  in  the 
Thebaid,  they  were  condemned  to  the  same  la- 
bour in  Lower  Egyp*..  They  erected  granaries, 
ti-easure-cities,  and  other  public  buildings  for  the 
Egyptian  monarch.  It  has  been  supposed  by 
some  that  the  captive  foreigners  represented  on 
the  monuments  as  engaged  in  brick-making  were 
Jews,  and  that  the  scenes  represented  were  those 
of  their  actual  operations  in  Egypt.  Whether 
this  supposition  is  correct  or  not,  it  is  curious  to 
discover  other  foreign  captives  occupied  in  the 
same  manner,  and  overlooked  by  similar  '  task- 
masters,' and  performing  the  very  same  labours 
as  the  Israelites  described  in  the  Bible  ;  and  it  is 
worthy  of  remark,  as  noticed  by  Wilkinson,  that 
wore  bricks  bearing  the  name  of  Thothmes  III. 
{who  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  kinp  at  the  time 
of  the  Exode)  have  been  discovered  than  at  any 
other  period. 


BURIAL 


163 


[98.     Egyptian  Brickmaking.] 

The  process  of  manufacture  indicated  by  the 
representations  in  cut  1>8,  does  not  materially 
differ  from  that  which  is  still  followed  in  the 
same  country.  The  clay  was  brought  in  baskets 
from  the  Nile,  thrown  into  a  heap,  thoroughly 
saturated  with  water,  and  worked  up  to  a  proper 
temper  by  the  feet  of  the  labourers.  This  part 
of  the  labour  in  such  a  climate  must  have  been 
very  fatiguing  and  unwholesome,  and  it  conse- 
quently appears  to  have  been  shunned  by  the 
native  Egyptians.  There  is  an  allusion  to  the 
severity  of  this  labour  in  Nahum  iii.  14,  15. 
The  clay,  when  tempered,  was  cut  by  an  instru- 
ment somewhat  resembling  the  agricultural  hoe, 
and  moulded  in  an  oblong  trough ;  the  bricks 
were  then  dried  in  the  sun,  and  some  from  their 
colour  appear  to  have  been  baked  or  burned, 
but  no  trace  of  this  operation  has  yet  been  dis- 
covered in  the  monuments. 

BRIDE,  BRIDEGROOM.     [Marriage.] 

BRIERS.     [Thorns.] 

BROOK.  The  original  word  (Nahal)  thus 
translated  might  better  be  rendered  by  torrent. 
It  is  applied,  1.  to  small  streams  arising  from  a 
subterraneous  spring,  and  flowing  through  a  deep 
valley,  such  as  the  Arnon,  Jabbok,  Kidron, 
Sorek,  &c. ;  and  also  the  brook  of  the  willows, 
mentioned  in  Isa.  xv.  7  ;  2.  to  winter-torrents, 
arising  from  rains,  and  which  are  soon  dried  up 
in  the  warm  season  (Job  vi.  15,  19).  Such  is 
the  noted  river  (brook)  of  Egj'pt,  so  often  men- 
tioned as  at  the  southernmost  border  of  Canaan 
(Num.  xxxiv.  5 ;  Josh.  xv.  4,  47),  and,  in  fact, 
such  are  most  of  the  brooks  and  streams  of  Pales- 


I  tine,  which  are  numerous  in  winter  and  early 
spring,  but  of  which  very  few  survive  the  begin- 
ning of  the  summer. 

BROTHER.  This  term  is  so  variously  and 
extensively  applied  in  Scripture,  that  it  becomes 
important  carefully  to  distinguish  the  different 
acceptations  in  which  it  is  used. 

1.  It  denotes  a  brother  in  the  natural  sense, 
whether  the  offspring  of  the  same  father  only 
(Matt.  i.  2  ;  Luke  iii.  1, 19),  or  of  the  same  father 
and  mother  (Luke  vi.  14,  &c.). — 2.  A  near  rela- 
tive or  kinsman  by  blood,  cousin  (Gen.  xiii.  8 ; 
xiv.  16;  Matt.  xii.  46;  John  vii.  3;  Acts  i.  14; 
Gal.  i.  19). — .3.  One  who  is  connected  with 
another  bjr  any  tie  of  intimacy  or  fellowship  •. 
hence — 4.  One  born  in  the  same  country,  de- 
scended from  the  same  stock,  a  fellow  country- 
man (Matt.  V.  47 ;  Acts  iii.  22 ;  Heb.  vii.  5  : 
Exod.  ii.  11  ;  iv.  18).— 5.  One  of  equal  rank  and 
dignity  (Job  xxx.  29;  Prov.  xviii.  9;  Matt, 
xxiii.  8).— 6.  Disciples,  followers,  &c.  (MaU. 
XXV.  40;  Heb.  ii.  11,  12).— 7.  One  of  the  same 
faith  (Amos  i.  9  ;  Acts  ix.  30  ;  xi.  29  ;  1  Cor.  v. 
xi.)  ;  from  which  and  other  texts  it  appears  that 
the  first  converts  to  the  faith  of  Jesus  were  known 
to  each  other  by  the  title  of  Brethren,  till  the 
name  of  Christians  was  given  to  them  at  Antioch 
(Acts  xi.  26).— 8.  An  associate,  colleague  in 
office  or  dignity,  &c.  (Ezra  iii.  2  ;  1  Cor.  i.  1 ; 
2  Cor.  i.  1  ;  &c.) — 9.  One  of  the  same  nature,  a 
fellow  man  (Gen.  xiii.  8  ;  xxvi.  31 ;  Matt.  v.  22, 
?3,  24;  viL  5;  Heb.  ii.  17;  viii.  11).— 10.  One 
beloved,  i.e.  as  a  brother,  in  a  direct  address 
(Acts  ii.  29  ;  vi.  3  ;  1  Thess.  v.  1^. 

BURIAL  and  SEPULCHRES.  Throughout 
the  whole  of  their  national  history  the  Israelites 
observed  the  practice  of  burial.  Amongst  them, 
it  was  deemed  not  only  an  act  of  humanity,  but 
a  sacred  duty  ol  religion  to  pay  the  last  honours 
to  the  departed ;  while,  to  be  deprived  of  these, 
as  was  frequently  the  fate  of  enemies  at  the 
hands  of  ruthless  conquerors  (2  Sam.  xxi.  9-14; 
2  Kings  ix.  28,  34 ;  Ps.  Ixxix.  2  ;  Eccles.  vi.  3), 
was  considered  the  greatest  calamity  and  dis- 
grace which  a  person  could  suffer. 

On  the  death  of  any  member  of  a  family,  pre- 
parations were  forthwith  made  for  the  burial, 
which  among  the  Jews,  were  in  many  respects 
similar  to  those  which  are  common  in  the  East 
at  the  present  day,  and  were  more  or  less  ex- 
pensive  according  to  circumstances.  After  the 
solemn  ceremony  of  the  last  kiss  and  closing  the 
eyes,  the  corpse,  which  was  perfumed  b}'  the 
nearest  relative,  having  been  laid  out  and  the 
head  covered  with  a  napkin,  was  subjected  to 
entire  ablution  in  warm  water  (Acts  ix.  37),  a 
precaution  probably  adopted  to  guard  against 
premature  interment.  But,  besides  this  first  and 
indispensable  attention,  other  cares  of  a  more 
elaborate  and  costly  description  were  amongst 
certain  classes  bestowed  on  the  remains  of  de- 
ceased friends,  and  all  of  which  may  be  included 
under  the  general  head  of  embalming.  Nowhere 
was  this  operation  performed  with  such  religious 
care  and  in  so  scientific  a  manner  as  in  ancient 
Egypt,  which  could  boast  of  a  class  of  profes- 
sional men  trained  to  the  business;  and  such 
adepts  had  these  '  physicians '  become  in  the  art 
of  preserving  dead  bodies,  that  there  are  mummies 
still  found,  which  must  have  existed  for  many 
thousand  years.  The  bodies  of  Jacob  and 
m2 


164 


BURIAL 


Joseph  underwent  this  eminently  Egyptian  pre- 
paration for  burial,  which  on  both  occasions  was 
doubtless  executed  in  a  style  of  the  greatest  mag- 
nificence (Gen.  1.  2,  26).  Whether  this  expen- 
sive method  of  embalming  was  imitated  by  the 
earlier  Hebrews,  we  have  no  distinct  accounts ; 
but  we  learn  from  their  practice  in  later  ages 
that  they  had  some  observance  of  the  kind,  only 


BURIAL 

they  substituted  a  simpler  and  more  expeditious, 
though  it  must  have  been  a  less  efficient  process, 
which  consisted  in  merely  swathing  the  corpse 
round  with  numerous  folds  of  linen,  and  some- 
times a  variety  of  stuffs,  and  anointing  it  with  a 
mixture  of  aromatic  substances,  of  which  aloes 
and  myrrh  were  the  chief  ingredients  (John  xix. 
39-40). 


99.     [Ancient  Jewish  Funeral :  Costume,  Modern  Syrian.] 


The  corpse,  after  receiving  the  preliromary 
attentions,  was  enveloped  in  the  grave-clothes, 
vhich  were  sometimes  nothing  more  than  the 
ordinary  dress,  or  folds  of  linen  cloth  wrapped 
round  the  body,  and  a  napkin  about  the  head ; 


But  the  most  common  mode  of  carrying  a 
corpse  to  the  grave  was  on  a  bier  or  bed  (2  Sam. 
iii.  31),  which  in  some  cases  must  have  been 
furnished  in  a  costly  and  elegant  style.  The 
bier,  however,  in  use  among  the  common  and 
meaner  sort  of  people  was  nothing  but  a  plain 
wooden  board,  on  which,  supported  by  two  poles, 
the  body  lay  concealed  only  by  a  slight  coverlet 
from  the  view  of  the  attendants.  On  such  a 
humble  vehicle  was  the  widow's  son  of  Nain 
carried  (Luke  vii.  14),  and  '  this  mode  of  per- 
forming funeral  obsequies,'  says  an  intelligeiit 


though  in  other  cases  a  shroud  was  used.  The 
body  thus  dressed  was  deposited  in  an  upper 
chamber  in  solemn  state,  open  to  the  view  of  all 
visitors  (Acts  ix.  37).  From  the  moment  the 
vital  spark  was  extinguished,  the  members  of  the 
family,  especially  the  females,  in  the  violent 
style  of  Oriental  grief,  burst  out  into  shrill,  loud, 
and  dolpful  lamentations,  and  were  soon  joined  by 
their  friends  and  neighbours,  who,  on  hearing  of 
the  event,  crowded  to  the  house  in  great  numbers 
(Mark  v.  38).  By  the  better  classes,  this  duty  of 
sympathizing  with  the  bereaved  family  was,  and 
still  is,  performed  by  a  class  of  females  who 
engaged  themselves  as  professional  mourners, 
and  who,  seated  amid  the  mourning  circle, 
studied,  by  vehement  sobs  and  gesticulations,  and 
by  singing  dirges  in  which  they  eulogized  the 
personal  qualities  or  virtuous  and  benevolent 
actions  of  the  deceased  (Acts  ix.  39),  to  stir  the 
source  of  tears,  and  give  fresh  impulse  to  the 
grief  of  the  afflicted  relatives.  Numbers  of  these 
singing  men  and  women  lamented  the  death  of 
Josiah  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  25).  The  period  between 
the  death  and  the  burial  was  much  shorter  than 
custom  sanctions  in  our  country ;  for  a  long 
delay  in  the  removal  of  a  corpse  would  have 
been  attended  with  much  inconvenience,  from 
the  heat  of  the  climate  generally,  and,  among  the 
Jews  in  particular,  from  the  circumstance  that 
every  one  that  came  near  the  chamber  was  unclean 
for  a  week.  Interment,  therefore,  where  there  was 
no  embalming,  was  never  postponed  beyond 
twenty-four  hours  after  death,  and  generally  it 
took  place  much  earlier.  There  are  two  instances 
in  sacred  history  where  consignment  to  the  grave 
followed  immediately  after  decease  (Acts  v.  6, 
10). 
Persons  of  distiactioQ  were  deposited  in  coffins. 


tz^^zi'^^^- 


101.    [Ancient  Sarcophagi  in  Palestine.] 

traveller,  'obtains  equally  in  the  present  day 
among  the  Jews,  Mohammedans,  and  Christians 
of  the  East.'  The  nearest  relatives  kept  close  by 
the  bier,  and  performed  the  office  of  bearers,  in 
which,  however,  they  were  assisted  bj'  the  com- 
pany in  succession.  In  cases  where  the  expense 
could  be  afforded,  hired  mourners  accompanied 
the  procession,  and,  by  every  now  and  then  lift- 
ing the  covering  and  exposing  the  corpse,  gave 
the  signal  to  the  company  to  renew  their  shouts 
of  lamentation. 

Sepulchres  were,  as  they  still  are  in  the  East, 
— by  a  prudential  arrangement  sadly  neglected 
in  our  country — situated  without  the  precincts  of 
cities.  Among  the  Jews,  in  the  case  of  Levitical 
cities,  the  distance  required  to  be  2000  cubits,  and 
in  all  it  was  considerable.  Nobody  was  allowed 
to  be  buried  within  the  walls,  Jerusalem  forming 
the  only  exception,  and  even  there  the  privilege 


15URIAL 

was  reserved  for  the  royal  family  of  David  and 
a  few  persons  of  exalted  character  (1  Kings  ii. 
10;  2  Kings  xiv.  20).  In  the  vicinity  of  this 
capital  were  public  cemeteries  for  the  general 
accommodation  of  the  inhabitants,  besides  a  field 
appropriated  to  the  burial  of  strangers. 

The  style  of  the  public  cemeteries  around  the 
cities  of  ancient  Palestine  in  all  probabilitj'  re- 
sembled that  of  the  present  burying-places  of  the 
East,  of  which  Dr.  Shaw  gives  the  following 
description : — '  They  occupy  a  large  space,  a 
great  extent  of  ground  being  allotted  for  the 
purpose.  Each  family  has  a  portion  of  it  walled 
in  like  a  garden,  where  the  bones  of  its  ancestors 
have  remained  undisturbed  for  many  genera- 
tions. For  in  these  inclosures  the  graves  are  all 
distinct  and  separate ;  each  of  them  having  a  stone 
placed  upright,  both  at  the  head  and  feet,  in- 
scribed with  the  name  or  title  of  the  deceased ; 
whilst  the  intermediate  space  is  either  planted 
with  flowers,  bordered  round  with  stone,  or  paved 
with  tiles.' 

There  were  other  sepulchres  which  were  pri- 
vate property,  erected  at  the  expense  and  for  the 
use  of  several  families  in  a  neighbourhood,  or 
provided  by  individuals  as  a  separate  burying- 
place  for  themselves.  These  were  situated  either 
in  some  conspicuous  place,  as  IJachel's  on  the 
highway  to  Bethlehem  (Gen.  xxxv.  19),  or  in 
some  lonely  and  sequestered  spot,  under  a  wide- 
spreading  tree  (Gen.  xxxv.  8)  in  a  field  or  a 
garden.  In  common  cases,  sepulchres  were 
formed  by  digging  a  small  depth  into  the 
ground.  Over  these,  which  were  considered  an 
humble  kind  of  tomb,  the  wealthy  and  great 


BURIAL 


165 


102.     [Sepulcliral  Cupola.] 


often  erected  small  stone  buildings,  in  the  form 
of  a  house  or  cupola,  to  serve  as  their  family 
sepulchre.  'This  custom,'  says  Carne,  'which 
is  of  great  antiquity,  and  particularly  prevails 
in  the  lonely  parts  of  Lebanon,  may  serve  to 
explain  some  passages  of  Scripture.  The  pro- 
phet Samuel  was  buried  in  his  own  house  at 
Kamah,  and  Joab  was  buried  in  his  house  in 
the  wilderness.  These,  it  is  evident,  were  not 
their  dwelling-houses,  but  mansions  for  the  dead, 
or   family  vaults  which  they  had   built  within 


their  own  policies.'  Not  unfrequently,  however, 
the  richer  classes  purchased,  like  Abraham,  some 
of  the  natural  caverns  with  which  Palestine 
abounded,  and  converted  them  by  some  suitable 
alterations  into  family  sepulchres;  while  others 
with  vast  paius  and  expense  made  excavations  in 
the  solid  rock  (Matt,  xxvii.  CO).  Many  sepulchres 
of  this  description  are  still  found  in  Palestine. 
Along  the  sides  of  those  vast  caverns  niches  were 
cut,  or  sometimes  shelves  ranged  one  above  an- 
other, on  which  were  deposited  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  while  in  others  the  ground-floor  of  the  tomb 
was  raised  so  as  to  make  different  compartments, 
the  lowest  place  in  the  family  vaults  being  re- 
served for  the  servants.  These  interior  arrange- 
ments may  be  the  better  understood  by  the  help 
of  the  annexed  engravings.  No.  103  is  the  inte- 
rior of  the  celebrated  Tomb  of  the  Kings  (so 


[Interior  of  Tomb  of  the  Kings.] 


called),  near  Jerusalem.     In  it  are  some  further 
specimens  of  the  stone  sarcophagi  already  noticed. 


104.    [Ground-plans  of  Sepulchres.] 

No.  104  contains  two  grovmd-plans  showing  the 
general  character  of  the  interior  arrangements  of 
the  more  extensive  crypts.  Some  of  those  found 
near  Tyre,  and  at  Alexandria,  are  of  the  round 
form  shown  in  fig.  1,  but  these  seem  exceptions  ; 
for  the  tombs  at  Jerusalem,  in  Asia  Minor,  and 
generally,  in  Egypt  and  the  East,  offer  the  ar- 
rangement shown  in  fig.  2. 

The  mouth  of  the  sepulchre  was  secured  by  a 
huge  stone  (Matt,  xxvii.  60 ;  John  xi.  38).  But 
the  entrance-porch,  to  which  the  removal  of  this 
rude  door  gave  admittance,  was  so  large  that 
several  persons  could  stand  in  it  and  view  the  in- 
terior ;  and  hence  we  read  that  the  women  who 
visited  the  sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  '  entering  in, 
saw  a  young  man  sitting,  clothed  in  a  long  white 
garment'  (Mark  xvi.  5);  and  in  like  manner,  in 
reference  to  the  flight  of  steps,  that  Peter  « stoop- 


166  BURNT-OFFERINGS 

ing  down,  and  looking  in,  saw  the  linen  clothes 
lying '  (John  xx.  5).  Some  of  the  more  splendid 
of  these  tombs,  however,  instead  of  the  block  of 
Stone,  have  the  porches  surmounted  with  tasteful 
mason-work,  and  supported  by  well-finished  colon- 
nades ;  and  as  they  stand  open  and  exposed,  do 
now,  as  they  did  formerly,  afford  retreats  to  num- 
bers of  vagrants  and  lawless  characters.  The 
rocky  valleys  around  Jerusalem  exhibit  number- 
less specimens  of  these  sepulchral  excavations. 
Monuments  of  this  elegant  description  were 
erected  to  many  of  the  prophets  and  other  holy 
men  who  figured  as  prominent  characters  in  the 
early  history  of  Israel,  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
considered,  in  the  degenerate  age  of  our  Lord,  an 
act  of  great  piety  to  repair  and  ornament  with 


105.     [Exterior  of  Sepulchre  :  Jerusalem.] 

fresh  devices  the  sepulchres  of  those  ancient  wor- 
thies (Matt,  xxiii.  29).  All  the  tombs,  however, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem  were  at  certain 
seasons  whitewashed  (Matt,  xxiii.  27).  The 
origin  of  this  prevailing  custom  is  to  be  traced  to 
a  desire  of  making  the  sepulchres  easily  dis- 
cernible, and  so  preventing  the  risk  of  contract- 
ing ceremonial  defilement  through  accident  or 
ignorance.  To  paint  them  with  white  was  obvi- 
ously the  best  preservative  against  the  appre- 
hended danger;  and  the  season  chosen  for  this 
garniture  of  the  sepulchres  was  on  the  return  of 
spring,  a  little  before  the  Passover,  when,  the 
winter  rains  being  over,  a  long  unbroken  tract  of 
dry  weather  usually  ensued.  The  words  of  Christ 
referred  to  were  spoken  but  a  few  days  before  the 
Passover,  when  the  fresh  coating  of  white  paint 
would  be  conspicuous  on  all  the  adjoining  hills 
and  valleys ;  and  when  we  consider  the  striking 
contrast  that  must  have  been  presented  between 
the  graceful  architecture  and  carefully  dressed 
appearance  of  these  tombs  without,  and  the  dis- 
gusting relics  of  mortality  that  were  mouldering 
within,  we  cannot  fail  to  perceive  the  emphatic 
energy  of  the  language  in  which  our  Lord  re- 
buked the  hupocrisij  of  the  Pharisees. 

It  remains  only  to  notice  that,  during  the  first 
few  weeks  after  a  burial,  members  of  a  family, 
especially  the  females,  paid  frequent  visits  to  the 
tomb  (John  xi.  31).  This  affecting  custom  still 
continues  in  the  East. 

BURNT-OFFERINGS,  sacrifices  which  owed 
their  Hebrew  name  (olah,  literally,  '  what  goes 
up,'  from  alah,  '  to  ascend '),  to  the  circumstance 
that  the  whole  of  the  offering  was  to  be  consumed 
by  fire  upon  the  altar,  and  to  rise,  as  it  were,  in 
smoke  towards  heaven. 


BURNT-OFFERINGS 

Such  burnt-offerings  are  among  the  most  an- 
cient, if  not  the  earliest,  on  Scriptural  record. 
We  find  them  already  in  use  in  the  patriarchal 
times;  hence  the  opinion  of  some,  that  Abel's 
offering  (Gen.  iv.  4)  was  a  burnt-offering  as  re- 
garded the  firstlings  of  his  flock,  while  the  pieces 
of  fat  which  he  offered  was  a  thank-offering,  just 
in  the  manner  that  Moses  afterwards  ordained,  or 
rather  confirmed  from  ancient  custom  (Lev.  i.  sq.'). 
It  was  a  burnt-offering  that  Noah  offered  to  the 
Lord  after  the  Deluge  (Gen.  viii.  20). 

Only  oxen,  male  sheep  or  goats,  or  turtle-doves 
and  young  pigeons,  all  without  blemish,  were  fit 
for  burnt-offerings.  The  offerer,  in  person,  was 
obliged  to  carry  this  sacrifice  first  of  all  into  the 
fore-court,  as  far  as  the  gate  of  the  tabernacle  or 
temple,  where  the  animal  was  examined  by  the 
ofiiciating  priest  to  ascertain  that  it  was  without 
blemish.  The  offerer  then  laid  his  hand  upon 
the  victim,  confessing  his  sins,  and  dedicated  it  as 
his  sacrifice  to  propitiate  the  Almighty.  The 
animal  was  then  killed  (which  might  be  done  by 
the  offerer  himself)  towards  the  north  of  the  altar 
(Lev.  i.  11),  in  allusion,  as  the  Talmud  alleges, 
to  the  coming  of  inclement  weather  (typical  of 
the  Divine  wrath)  from  the  northern  quarter  of 
the  heavens.  After  this  began  the  ceremony  of 
taking  up  the  blood  and  sprinkling  it  around  the 
altar,  that  is,  upon  the  lower  part  of  the  altar,  not 
immediately  upon  it,  lest  it  should  extinguish  the 
fire  thereon  (Lev.  iii.  2  ;  Deut.  xii.  27  ;  2  (jhron. 
xxix.  22). 

The  next  act  was  the  skinning  or  flaying  of  the 
animal,  and  the  cutting  of  it  into  pieces,  actions 
which  the  offerer  himself  was  allowed  to  perform 
(Lev.  i.  6).  The  skin  alone  belonged  to  the  offi- 
ciating priest  (Lev.  vii.  8).  The  dissection  of  the 
animal  began  with  the  head,  legs,  &c,  and  it  was 
divided  into  twelve  pieces.  The  priest  then  took 
the  right  shoulder,  breast,  and  entrails,  and 
placing  them  in  the  hands  of  the  offerer,  he  put 
his  own  hands  beneath  those  of  the  fonner,  and 
thus  waved  the  sacrifice  up  and  down  several 
times  in  acknowledgment  of  the  all-powerful  pre- 
sence of  God.  The  officiating  priest  then  retraced 
his  steps  to  the  altar,  placed  the  wood  upon  it  in 
the  form  of  a  cross,  and  lighted  the  fire.  The 
entrails  and  legs  being  cleansed  with  water,  the 
separated  pieces  were  placed  together  upon  the 
altar  in  the  form  of  a  slain  animal.  Poor  people 
were  allowed  to  bring  a  turtle-dove  or  a  young 
pigeon  as  a  burnt-offering,  these  birds  being  very 
common  and  cheap  in  Palestine.  The  mode  of 
killing  them  was  by  nipping  off  the  head  with  the 
nails  of  the  hand. 

Standing  public  burnt-offerings  were  those  used 
daily  morning  and  evening  (Num.  xxviii.  3 ; 
Exod.  xxix.  38),  and  on  the  three  great  festivals 
(Lev.  xxiii.  37  ;  Num.  xxviii.  11-27  ;  xxix.  2-22 ; 
Lev.  xvi.  3 ;  comp.  2  Chron.  xxxv.  12-16). 

Private  and  occasional  burnt-offerings  were 
those  brought  by  women  rising  from  childbed 
(Lev.  xii.  G) ;  those  brought  bj'  persons  cured  ot 
leprosy  {ib.  xiv.  19-22)  ;  those  brought  by  persons 
cleansed  from  issue  (fi.  xv.  14,  sq.);  and  those 
brought  by  the  Nazarites  when  rendered  unclean 
by  having  come  in  contact  with  a  dead  body 
(Num.  vi.  9),  or  after  the  days  of  their  separation 
were  fulfilled  {ib.  vi.  14). 

Nor  were  the  burnt-offerings  confined  to  these 
cases  alone :  we  find  them  in  use  ahnost  on  all 


CiESAREA 

important  occasions,  events,  and  solemnities,  whe- 
ther private  or  public,  and  often  in  very  large 
numbers  (comp.  Judg.  xjc.  20  ;  1  Sam.  vii.  9 ;  2 
Chron.  xxxi.  2 ;  1  Kings  iii.  4 ;  1  Chron.  xxix. 
21 ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  21  ;  Ezra  vi.  17  ;  viii.  35). 
Heathens  also  were  allowed  to  offer  burnt-offer- 
ings in  the  temple,  and  Augustus  gave  orders  to 
sacrifice  for  him  every  day  in  the  temple  at  Jeru- 
salem a  burnt-offering,  consisting  of  two  lambs 
and  one  ox. 

BUSHEL  is  used  in  the  Auth.  Vers,  to  express 
a  measure  of  about  a  peck. 

BUTTER.     [Milk.] 

BUZ,  son  of  Nahor  and  Milcah,  and  brother  of 
Huz  (Gen.  xxii.  21).  Elihu,  one  of  Job's  friends, 
who  is  distinguished  as  an  Aramoean  or  Syrian 
(Job  xxxii.  2),  was  doubtless  descended  from  this 
Buz.  Judgments  ai'c  denounced  upon  the  tribe  of 
Buz  by  Jeremiah  (xxv.  23) ;  and  from  the  context 
this  tribe  appears  to  have  been  located  in  Arabia 
Deserta. 


c. 


CAB,  a  measure  mentioned  in  2  Kings  vi.  25. 
The  Kabbins  make  it  the  sixth  part  of  a  seah  or 
satum,  and  the  eighteenth  part  of  a-n  ephah.  In 
that  case  a  cab  contained  3j  pints  of  our  wine 
measure,  or  2|  pints  of  our  corn  measure. 

CA'BUL,  a  district  given  to  Hiram,  king  of 
Tyre,  by  Solomon,  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
important  services  which  he  had  rendered  to- 
wards the  building  of  the  Temple  (1  Kings  ix. 
13).  Hiram  was  by  no  means  pleased  with  the 
gift,  and  the  district  received  the  name  of  Cabul 
{wipleasiitfj)  from  this  circumstance.  The  situ- 
ation of  Cabal  has  been  disputed;  but  we  are 
content  to  accept  the  information  of  Josephus, 
who  seems  to  place  it  in  the  north-west  part  of 
Galilee,  adjacent  to  Tyre. 

CiE'S-lR,  a  name  assumed  by,  or  conferred 
upon,  all  the  Roman  emperors  after  Julius 
Caesar.  In  this  way  it  became  a  sort  of  title  like 
Pharaoh,  and,  as  such,  is  usually  applied  to  the 
emperors  in  the  New  Testament,  without  their 
distinctive  proper  names  (Augustus).  The 
CiEsars  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  are 
Augustus  (Luke  ii.  1);  Tiberius  (Luke  iii.  1; 
XX.  22).  Claudius  (Acts  xi.  28);  Nero  (Acts 
xxv.  8) ;  Caligula,  who  succeeded  Tiberius,  is 
not  mentioned. 

C^SARE'A.  There  were  two  importan-; 
towns  in  Palestine  thus  named  in  compliment  to 
Roman  emperors. 

1.  C^SAKEA  Palestina,  or  Ca2sarea  of  Pales- 
tine, so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other 
("jtsarea,  from  its  eminence  as  the  Roman  me- 
tropolis of  Palestine,  and  the  residence  of  the 
procurator.  It  was  built  by  Herod  the  Great, 
with  much  of  beauty  and  convenience,  twenty- 
two  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  Here  he 
erected  one  of  the  most  stupendous  works  of 
antiquity— a  semicircular  mole,  which  protected 
the  port  of  Cffisarea  on  the  south  and  west, 
leaving  only  a  sufficient  opening  for  vessels  to 
enter  from  the  north;  so  that,  within  the  en- 
closed space,  a  fleet  might  ride  at  all  weathers  in 
perfect  security.    The  mole  was  constructed  of 


C^SAREA  167 

immense  blocks  of  stone  brought  from  a  great 
distance,  and  sunk  to  the  depth  of  20  fathoms 
m  the  sea.  Besides  this,  Herod  added  many 
splendid  buildings  to  the  city:  and  when  the 
whole  was  finished,  which  was  within  twelve 
years  from  the  commencement  of  the  under- 
taking, he  fixed  his  residence  there,  and  tlms 
elevated  the  city  to  the  rank  of  the  civil  and 
military  capital  of  Juda;a,  which  rank  it  con- 
tinued to  enjoy  as  long  as  the  country  remained 
a  province  of  the  Roman  empire.  Vespasian 
raised  Caesarea  to  the  rank  of  a  Roman  colony 
granting  it  first,  exemption  from  the  capitation 
tax,  and  afterwards,  from  the  ground  taxes. 
The  place  was,  however,  inhabited  chiefly  by 
Gentiles,  though  some  thousands  of  Jews  lived 
in  it. 

Caesarea  is  the  scene  of  several  interesting  cir- 
cumstances described  in  the  New  Testament 
such  as  the  conversion  of  Cornelius,  tlie  first- 
fruits  of  the  Gentiles  (Acts  x.) ;  the  residence  of 
Philip  the  Evangelist  (Acts  xxi.  8);  the  journey 
thither  of  St.  Paul;  his  pleading  there  before 
Felix ;  his  imprisonment  for  two  years  ;  and  his 
final  pleading  before  Festus  and  King  Agrippa 
(Acts  xxiv.).  It  was  here  also,  in  tlie  amphi- 
theatre built  by  his  father,  that  Herod  Agrippa 
was  smitten  of  God  and  died  (Acts  xii.  21-23). 

On  the  commencement  of  the  war  v/ith  the 
Romans,  all  the  Jewish  inhabitants  of  Ctesarea, 
to  the  number  of  20,()UO,  were  massacred  by  the 
Gentiles,  who  had  long  held  them  at  feud. 

_  In  later  times,  CiEsarea  is  chiefly  noted  as  the 
birth-place  and  episcopate  of  Eusebius,  the  cele- 
brated Church  historian,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
4th  century. 

Cffisarea  is  almost  thirty-five  miles  north  of 
Joppa  or  Jaffa,  and  fifty-five  miles  from  Jeru- 
salem. It  still  retains  the  ancient  name  in  the 
form  of  Kaiseraih ;  but  has  long  been  desolate. 
The  most  conspicuous  ruin  is  that  of  an  old 
castle,  at  the  extremity  of  the  ancient  mole.  A 
great  extent  of  ground  is  covered  by  the  remains 
of  the  city.  The  water  is  abundant  and  of  ex- 
cellent quality ;  and  the  small  vessels  of  the 
country  often  put  in  here  to  take  in  their  sup- 
plies. Ca'sarea  is,  apparently,  never  frequented 
for  any  other  purpose  ;  even  the  high-road  leaves 
it  wide  ;  and  it  has  been  visited  by  very  few  of 
the  numerous  travellers  in  Palestine.  The  pre- 
sent tenants  of  the  ruins  are  snakes,  scorpions, 
lizards,  wild  boars,  and  jackals. 

2.  CiESAUEA  Philippi.  Towards  tlie  springs 
of  the  Jordan,  and  near  the  foot  of  Isbel  Shrik, 
or  the  Prince's  Mount,  a  lofty  branch  of  Le- 
banon, forming  in  that  direction  the  boundary 
between  Palestine  and  Syria  Proper,  stands  a 
city  originally  called  Banias,  which  was  in 
later  times  much  enlarged  and  beautified  by 
Philip  the  tetrarch,  who  called  it  Caesarea  in 
honour  of  Tiberius  the  emperor,  adding  tlie  cog- 
nomen of  Philippi  to  distinguish  it  from  Caisarea 
of  Palestine.  It  lay  about  120  miles  north  from 
Jerusalem,  and  a  day  and  a  half  s  journey  from 
Damascus  (Matt.  xvi.  13 ;  Mark  viii.  27).  Herod 
Agi'ippa  also  still  f\irther  extended  and  embel- 
lished it.  In  compliment  to  the  emperor  Nero, 
its  name  was  afterwards  changed  to  Neronias ; 
and  Titus,  after  the  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  ex- 
hibited some  public  games  here,  in  which  the 
Jewish  prisoners  were  compelled    to  fight   like 


1C8 


CAIN 


gladiators.  Under  the  Christians  it  was  erected 
into  a  bishopric  of  Phoenicia.  It  has  now  re- 
sumed its  original  name  of  Banias,  and  has 
dwindled  into  a  paltry  and  insignificant  Tillage, 
whose  mean  and  destitute  condition  contrasts 
strikingly  with  the  rich  and  luxuriant  character 
of  the  surrounding  country.  It  is  said  that  many 
remains  of  ancient  architecture  are  found  in  the 
neighbourhood.  The  ruins  of  the  castle  of 
Banias,  which  appears  to  have  been  a  work  of 
the  Saracens,  crown  the  summit  of  the  adjoining 
tnountain,  and  display  a  wall  10  feet  in  thickness, 
by  which  the  fortress  was  defended.  The  ruins 
of  another  fortified  castle  are  visible  on  the  south 
of  the  village,  and  a  substantial  bridge  which 
conducts  to  it,  inscribed  with  an  Arabic  legend, 
its  date  being  of  the  age  of  the  Crusades. 

CAI'APHAS,  whom  Josephus  calls  Joseph 
Caiaphas,  was  high-priest  of  the  Jews  in  the  reign 
of  Tiberius  Cffisar  (Luke  ill.  2).  We  learn  from 
Josephus  that  he  succeeded  Simon  the  son  of 
Camith  (about  a.d.  27  or  28),  and  held  the  office 
nine  years,  when  he  was  deposed.  His  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  Annas,  or  Ananus,  who  had  for- 
merly been  high-priest,  and  who  still  po.«sessed 
great  influence  and  control  in  sacerdotal  matters, 
several  of  his  family  successively  holding  the 
high-priesthood.  The  names  of  Annas  and  Caia- 
phas are  coupled  by  Luke—'  Annas  and  Caiaphas 
being  the  high-priests  ;'  and  this  has  given  occa- 
sion to  no  small  amount  of  discussion.  The 
most  probable  opinion  is  that  Caiaphas  was  the 
high-priest,  and  that  Annas  was  his  vicar  or 
deputy.  Caiaphas  is  the  high-priest  who  rent  his 
clothes,  and  declared  Jesus  to  be  worthy  of 
death.  When  Judas  had  betrayed  him,  our 
Lord  was  first  taken  to  Annas,  who  sent  him  to 
Caiaphas  (John  xviii.  13),  who  perhaps  abode  in 
another  part  of  the  same  palace.  What  became 
of  Caiaphas  after  his  deposition  in  a.d.  38,  is  not 
known. 

CAIN.  The  derivation  of  this  word  is  dis- 
puted; but  it  probably  signifies  an  acquisi- 
tion or  possession.  Some  degree  of  mystery 
attends  the  immediate  origin  of  the  horrible  crime 
of  Cain.  Abel,  it  appears,  brought  two  offerings, 
the  one  an  oblation,  the  other  a  sacrifice.  Cain 
brought  but  the  former — a  mere  acknowledg- 
ment, it  is  supposed,  of  the  sovereignty  of  God ; 
negkcting  to  offer  the  sacrifice  which  would  have 
been  a  confession  of  fallen  nature,  and,  typically, 
an  atonement  for  sin.  It  was  not,  therefore,  the 
mere  difference  of  feeling  with  which  the  two 
offerings  were  brought  which  constituted  the 
virtue  of  the  one,  or  the  g-uilt  of  the  other  brother. 
God's  righteous  indignation  against  sin  had  been 
plainly  revealed ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  means  of  safety,  of  reconciliation  and  atone- 
ment, were  as  plainly  made  known  to  Adam  and 
his  offspring.  The  refusal,  therefore,  of  the 
sacrifice  was  a  virtual  denial  of  God's  right  to 
condemn  the  sinner,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
proud  rejection  of  the  proffered  means  of  grace. 

The  punishment  which  attended  the  crime  was 
such  as  could  only  be  inflicted  by  an  Almighty 
avenger.  It  admitted  of  no  escape,  scarcely  of  any 
conceivable  alleviation.  Cursed  from  the  earth 
himself,  the  earth  was  doomed  to  a  double  barren- 
ness wherever  the  offender  should  set  his  foot. 
Physical  want  and  hardship,  therefore,  were 
among  the  first  of  the  miseries  heaped  upon  his 


CALEB 

head.  Next  came  those  of  mind  and  conscience : 
'  The  voice  of  thy  brother's  blood  crieth  unto  me 
from  the  ground,'  was  the  announcement  of  his 
discovered  guilt.  He  could  now  hear  that  same 
voice  himself;  nor  did  any  retreat  remain  to 
him  from  the  terrors  of  his  own  soul  or  those  of 
Divine  vengeance.  By  the  statement  that '  Cain 
went  out  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,'  proba- 
bility is  given  to  the  conjecture  which  represents 
him  as  abiding,  till  thus  exiled,  in  some  favoured 
spot  Avhere  the  Almighty  still,  by  visible  signs, 
manifested  himself  to  his  fallen  creatures.  The 
expression  of  dread  lest,  as  he  wandered  over  the 
face  of  the  earth,  he  might  be  recognised  and 
slain,  has  an  awful  sound  when  falling  from  the 
mouth  of  a  murderer.  But  he  was  to  be  pro- 
tected against  the  wrath  of  his  fellow-men  ;  and 
of  this  God  gave  him  assurance,  not  by  setting  a 
mark  upon  him,  which  is  a  false  translation,  but 
by  appointing  a  sign  or  token  which  he  himself 
might  understand  as  a  proof  that  he  should  not 
perish  by  the  hand  of  another,  as  Abel  had 
perished  by  his. 

It  may  be  worthy  of  observation,  that  especial 
mention  is  made  of  the  fact,  that  Cain  having 
travelled  into  the  land  of  Nod  there  built  a  city  ; 
and  further,  that  his  descendants  were  chiefly 
celebrated  for  their  skill  in  the  arts  of  social  life. 
In  both  accounts  may  probably  be  discovered  the 
powerful  struggles  with  which  Cain  strove  to 
overcome  the  difficulties  which  attended  his  posi- 
tion as  one  to  whom  the  tillage  of  the  ground 
was  virtually  prohibited. 

CAI'NAN  (possessor).  1.  Son  of  Enos,  and 
father  of  Mahaleel  (Gen.  v.  9 ;  1  Chron.  i.  2). 
2.  Son  of  Arphaxad,  the  son  of  Shem,  and  father 
of  Salah.  His  name  is  wanting  in  the  present 
copies  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures;  but  is  found  in 
the  Septuagint  version  of  Gen.  x.  24 ;  xi.  12  ;  and 
in  Luke  iii.  36.  It  is  supposed,  however,  on 
good  grounds,  that  his  name  was  not  originally 
in  the  Hebrew  text  and  the  Septuagint  versions 
derived  from  it,  and  that  it  was  inserted  in  the 
text  of  Luke  by  some  inadvertent  transcribers, 
who,  remarking  it  in  some  copies  of  the  Septua- 
gint, added  it. 

CAKES.    [Bread]. 

CA'LAH,  or  rather  Calach,  a  city  of  Assyria, 
built  by  Ashur  or  Nimrod.  It  was  at  some  dis- 
tance from  Nineveh,  the  city  of  Resen  lying 
between  them.  Most  writers  concur  in  placing 
it  on  the  Great  Zab  (the  ancient  Lycus)  not  far 
from  its  junction  with  the  Tigris. 

CA'LEB  (dor;),  son  of  Jephunneh,  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah.  He  was  sent  with  Joshua  and  others 
to  explore  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  his  joining  with  Joshua  in  opposing 
the  discouraging  accounts  brought  back  by  the 
other  spies,  they  Avere  both  specially  exempted 
from  the  decree  of  death  which  was  pronounced 
on  the  generation  to  Avhich  they  belonged  (Num. 
xiii.  (5 ;  xiv.  fi,  24,  38).  When  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan had  been  invaded  and  partly  conquered, 
Caleb  was  privileged  to  choose  Kirjatharba,  or 
Hebron,  and  its  neighbourhood,  for  his  possession 
(Josh.  xiv.  G-15).  He  accordingly  went  and 
wrested  it  from  the  native  inhabitants,  and 
thence  proceeded  to  Debir,  which  was  taken  for 
him  by  his  nephew  Othniel,  who,  as  his  reward, 
received  in  marriage  the  hand  of  Caleb's  daughter 
[Achsah],   -with  a  valuable  dower  (Josh.  xv. 


CALNEII 

13-19).     Caleb  is  usually  supposed  to  have  out- 
lived Joshua. 

CALF  is  mentioned  in  several  places,  but 
not  requiring  a  zoological  explanation,  it  may- 
be sufficient  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  the 
■worship  of  calves  and  other  superstitious  prac- 
tices connected  with  them.  The  most  ancient  and 
remarkable  notice  in  the  Scriptures  on  this  head, 
is  that  of  the  golden  calf  Avhich  was  cast  by 
Aaron  from  the  earrings  of  the  people,  while  the 
Israelites  were  encamped  at  the  foot  of  Sinai  and 
Moses  was  absent  on  the  Mount.  The  next 
notice  refers  to  an  event  which  occurred  ages 
after,  when  Jeroboam,  king  of  Israel,  set  up  two 
idols  in  the  form  of  a  calf,  the  one  in  Dan  and 
the  other  in  Bethel.  This  almost  incomprehen- 
sible degradation  of  human  reason  was,  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  first  instance,  no  doubt  the  result 
of  the  debasing  influences  which  operated  on  the 
minds  of  the  Israelites  during  their  sojourn  in 
Egypt,  where,  amid  the  daily  practice  of  the 
most  degrading  and  revolting  religious  cere- 
monies, they  were  accustomed  to  see  the  image 
of  a  sacred  calf,  surrounded  by  other  symbols, 
carried  in  solemn  pomp  at  the  head  of  marching 
armies ;  such  as  may  be  still  seen  depicted  in  the 
processions  of  Eameses  the  Great  or  Sesostris. 


CAMEL 


1G9 


106.    [Egyptian  Calf-Idol.] 

A  similar  divinity  belonged  to  the  earliest  Indian, 
Greek,  and  even  Scandinavian  mythologies ;  and 
therefore  it  may  be  conceived  that  the  symbol, 
enduring  even  to  this  day,  "was  at  that  period 
generally  understood  by  the  multitude,  and  con- 
sequently that  it  was  afterwards  revived  by  Jero- 
boam •without  popular  opposition.  With  regard 
to  Jer.  xxxiv.  18,  19,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  men- 
tion that  many  nations  of  antiquity  had  a  prac- 
tice of  binding  themselves  to  certain  resolutions 
by  the  ceremony  of  cutting  a  calf  or  other  victim 
into  two  halves  or  sides,  laying  them  on  the 
ground,  and  passing  between  the  severed  parts. 
This  was  considered  as  constituting  a  peculiarly 
binding  obligation  (comp.  Gen.  xv.  10,  17). 

CAL'NEH,  or  rather  Chalneh,  the  fourth  of 
Nimrod's  cities  (Gen.  x.  10),  and  probably  not 
different  from  the  Calno  of  Isa.  x.  9,  or  the 
Canneh  of  Ezek.  xxvii.  23.  According  to  the 
Chaldee  translation,  with  which  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  agree,  this  is  the  same  place  that  was 
subsequently  called  Ctesiphon.  It  lay  on  the 
Tigris,  opposite  Celeucia,  and  was  for  a  time  the 
capital  of  the  Parthians.  In  the  time  of  the 
prophet  Amos,  Calneh  appears  to  have  consti- 
tuted an  independent  principality  (Amos  vi.  1,  2)  : 
but  not  long  after  it  became,  with  the  rest  of 


Western  Asia,  a  prey  to  the  Assyrians  (Isa.  x.  9). 
About  150  years  later,  Calneh  was  still  a  con- 
siderable town,  as  may  he  inferred  from  its  being 
mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  23)  among  the 
places  which  traded  with  TjTe.  The  site  of 
Ctesiphon,  or  Calneh,  was  afterwards  occupied 
by  El-Madain,  i.  e.  the  two  cities,  of  which  the 
only  remains  are  the  ruins  of  a  remarkable 
palace  called  Teuk-kesra,  some  mounds  of 
rubbish,  and  a  considerable  extent  of  massive 
wall  towards  the  river. 

CAL'VARY,  the  place  where  Christ  was  cru- 
cified.    See  Golgotha. 

CAMBY'SES.     [Ahasuerus.] 

CAMEL.  The  genus  Camelus,  as  constituted 
by  _  modern  naturalists,  comprises  two  species 
positively  distinct,  but  still  possessing  the  common 
characters  of  being  ruminants  without  horns, 
without  muzzle,  with  nostrils  forming  oblique 
slits,  the  upper  lid  divided,  and  separately  mo"- 
able  and  extensile,  the  soles  of  the  feet  horny, 
with  two  toes  covered  by  unguiculated  claws,  the 
limbs  long,  the  abdomen  drawn  up,  and  the  neck, 
long  and  slender,  is  bent  down  and  up,  the 
reverse  of  that  of  a  horse,  which  is  arched.  Ca- 
mels have  thirty-six  teeth  in  all.  They  have 
callosities  on  the  breast-l)one  and  on  the  flexures 
of  the  joints.  Of  the  four  stomachs,  which  they 
have  in  common  with  other  animals  chewing  the 
cud,  the  paunch  is  provided  with  membranous 
cells  to  contain  an  extra  provision  of  water,  ena- 
bling the  species  to  subsist  for  four  or  more  days 
without  drinking.  But  when  in  the  desert,  the 
camel  has  the  faculty  of  smelling  it  afar  off,  and 
then,  breaking  through  all  control,  he  rushes  on- 
wards to  drink,  stirring  the  element  previously 
with  a  fore-foot  until  quite  muddy.  Camels  are 
temperate  animals,  being  fed  on  a  march  only 
once  in  twenty-four  hours,  with  about  a  pound 
weight  of  dates,  beans,  or  bai'ley,  and  are  enabled 
in  the  wilderness,  by  means  of  their  long  flexible 
necks  and  strong  cuspidate  teeth,  to  snap  as  they 
pass  at  thistles  and  thorny  plants.  They  are 
emphatically  called  the  ships  of  the  desert; 
having  to  cross  regions  where  no  vegetation  what- 
ever is  met  with,  and  where  they  could  not  be 
enabled  to  continue  their  march  but  for  the  aid  of 
the  double  or  single  hunch  on  the  back,  which, 
being  composed  of  muscular  fibre,  and  cellular 
substance  highly  adapted  for  the  accumulation  of 
fat,  swells  in  proportion  as  the  animal  is  healthy 
and  well  fed,  or  sinks  by  absorption  as  it  supplies 
the  want  of  sustenance  under  fatigue  and  scarcity. 
Now,  when  to  these  endowments  are  added  a 
lofty  stature  and  great  agility ;  eyes  that  discover 
minute  objects  at  a  distance ;  a  sense  of  smelling 
of  prodigious  acuteness — ever  kept  in  a  state  of 
sensibility  by  the  animal's  power  of  closing  the 
nostrils  to  exclude  the  acrid  particles  of  the  sandy 
deserts ;  a  spirit,  moreover,  of  patience,  not  the 
result  of  fear,  but  of  forbearance,  carried  to  the 
length  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  practice  of  obedience, 
so  often  exemplified  by  the  camel's  bones  in  great 
numbers  strewing  the  surface  of  the  desert; 
when  we  perceive  it  furnished  with  a  dense  wool, 
to  avert  the  solar  heat  and  nightly  cold,  while  on 
th%  animal,  and  to  clothe  and  lodge  his  master 
when  manufactured,  and  know  that  the  female 
carries  milk  to  feed  him, — we  have  one  of  the 
most  incontrovertible  examples  of  Almighty 
power   and   beneficence   in   the    adaptation    of 


170 


CAMEL 


CAMPHIKE 


to  a  direct  purpose,  that  can  well  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  apprehension  of  man  ;  for,  -without 
the  existence  of  the  camel,  immense  portions  of 
the  surface  of  the  earth  would  be  uninhabitable, 
and  even  impassable.  Surely  the  Arabs  are 
right,  '  Job's  beast  is  a  monument  of  God's 
mercy!'  The  two  species  are — 1.  The  Bactrian 
camel,  which  is  large  and  robust ;  naturally 
with  two  hunches,  and  originally  a  native  of  the 
highest  table-lands  of  Central  Asia,  where  even 
now,  wild  individuals  may  be  found.  The  species 
extends  tlirough  China,  Tartary,  and  Russia,  and 
is  principally  imported  across  the  mountains  into 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Persia. 


2.  The  Arabian  camel  or  dromedary,  which 
has  naturally  but  one  hunch,  and  may  be  con- 
sidered as  of  Western-Asiatic  or  of  African  origin, 
although  no  kind  of  camel  is  figured  on  any  mo- 
nument of  Egypt.  We  find,  however,  camels 
mentioned  in  Genesis  xii. ;  but  being  placed  last 
among  the  cattle  given  by  Pharaoh  to  Abraham, 
the  fact  seems  to  show  that  they  were  not  con- 
sidered as  the  most  important  part  of  his  donation. 
This  can  be  true  only  upon  the  supposition  that 
only  a  few  of  these  animals  were  delivered  to 
him,  and  therefore  that  they  were  still  rare  in 
the  valley  of  the  Nile  ;  though  soon  after  there 
is  abundant  evidence  of  the  nations  of  Syria 
and  Palestine  having  whole  herds  of  them  fully 
domesticated. 


.    [Arabian  Camel :  saddle.] 


Of  the  Arabian  species  two  very  distinct  races 
are  noticed ;  those  of  stronger  frame  but  slower 


pace  used  to  carry  burdens,  varying  from  500  to 
700  weight,  and  travelling  little  more  than 
twenty-four  miles  per  day ;  and  those  of  lighter 
form  bred  for  the  saddle  with  single  riders, 
whereof  the  fleetest  serve  to  convey  intelligence, 
&c.,  and  travel  at  the  rate  of  200  miles  in  twenty- 
four  hours. 

All  camels,  from  their  very  birth,  are  taught 
to  bend  tlieir  limbs  and  lie  down  to  receive  a 
load  or  a  rider.  They  are  often  placed  circu- 
larly in  a  recumbent  posture,  and  together  with 
their  loads  form  a  sufficient  rampart  of  defence 
against  robbers  on  horseback.  The  milk  of  she- 
camels  is  still  considered  a  very  nutritive  cooling 
drink,  and  vfhen  turned  it  becomes  intoxicating. 
Their  dung  supplies  fuel  in  the  desert,  and  in 
sandjf  regions  where  wood  is  scarce ;  and  occa- 
sionally it  is  a  kind  of  resource  for  horses  when 
other  food  is  wanting  in  the  wilderness.  Their 
flesh,  particularly  the  liunch,  is  in  request  among 
the  Arabs,  but  was  forbidden  to  the  Hebrews, 
more  perhaps  from  motives  of  economy,  and  to 
keep  the  people  from  again  becoming  wanderers, 
than  from  any  real  uncleanness.  Camels  were 
early  a  source  of  riches  to  the  patriarchs,  and 
from  that  period  became  an  increasing  object  of 
rural  importance  to  the  several  tribes  of  Israel, 
who  inhabited  the  grazing  and  border  districts, 
but  still  they  never  equalled  the  numbers  pos- 
sessed by  the  Arabs  of  the  desert.  On  swift 
dromedaries  the  trotting  motion  is  so  hard  that 
to  endure  it  the  rider  requires  a  severe  appren- 
ticeship ;  but  riding  upon  slow  camels  is  not  dis- 
agreeable, on  account  of  the  measured  step  of 
their  walk ;  ladies  and  women  in  general  are 
conveyed  upon  them  in  a  kind  of  wickerwork 
sedan. 

With  regard  to  the  passage  in  Matt.  xix.  24, 
'  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye 
of  a  needle,'  &c.,  and  that  in  Matt,  xxiii.  24, 
'  Ye  strain  at  a  gnat,  and  swallow  a  camel,'  it 
may  be  sufficient  to  observe,  that  both  are  pro- 
verbial expressions,  similarly  applied  in  the 
kindred  languages  of  Asia. 

CAM'PHIRE  occurs  twice  in  the  Song  of 
Solomon  (i.  14  ;  iv.  13).  The  Hebrew  word  is 
Kopher,  and  has  been  supposed  by  some  to  de- 
note in  these  places  a  bunch  of  grapes,  and  by 
others  camphor.  The  word  camphire  is  the  old 
mode  of  spelling  camphor ;  but  this  substance  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  known  to  ancient  com- 
merce. The  word  Kopher  is  certainly  very  like 
Kafoor,  the  Eastern  name  for  camphor,  but  it 
also  closely  resembles  the  Greek  Kiipros,  usually 
written  Cypros.  Indeed,  as  has  been  observed, 
it  is  the  same  word,  with  the  Greek  pronuncia- 
tion and  termination.  The  Kiipros  of  the 
Gre-eks  is,  no  doubt,  the  Lawsonia  inermis  of 
botanists.  If  we  examine  the  works  of  Oriental 
travellers  and  naturalists,  we  shall  find  that  this 
plant  is  universally  esteemed  in  Eastern  coun- 
tries, and  appears  to  have  been  so  from  the 
earliest  times,  both  on  account  of  the  fragrance 
of  its  flowers,  and  the  colouring  properties  of  its 
leaves. 

Thus  Rauwolff,  when  at  Tripoli,  '  found  there 
another  treje,  not  unlike  unto  our  privet,  by  the 
Arabians  called  Alcana,  or  Henna,  and  by  the 
Grecians,  in  their  vulgar  tongue,  Schenna,  which 
they  have  from  Egypt,  where,  but  above  all  in 
Cayre,  they  grow  in  abundance.     The  Turks 


CANA 

and  Moors  nurse  these  up  with  great  care  and 
diligence,  because  of  their  sweet-smelling  flowers. 
They  also,  as  I  am  informed,  keep  their  leaves 
all  winter,  which  leaves  they  powder  and  mix 
with  the  juice  of  citrons,  and  stain  therewith 
against  great  holidays  the  hair  and  nails  of  their 
children  of  a  red  colour,  which  colour  may  per- 
haps be  seen  with  us  on  the  manes  and  tails  of 
Turkish  horses.'  This  custom  of  dyeing  the 
nails  and  the  palms  of  the  hands  and  soles  of  the 
feet,  of  an  iron-rust  colour,  with  henna,  exists 
throughout  the  East,  from  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  Ganges,  as  well  as  in  Northern  Africa.  In 
some  parts  the  practice  is  not  confined  to  women 
and  children,  but  is  also  followed  by  men,  espe- 
cially in  Persia.  In  dyeing  the  beard,  the  h?.ir 
is  turned  to  red  by  this  application,  which  is 


CANAANITES 


171 


109.     [Lawsonia 


then  changed  to  black  by  a  preparation  of  indigo. 
In  dyeing  the  hair  of  children,  and  the  tails  and 
manes  of  horses  and  asses,  the  process  is  allowed 
to  stop  at  the  red  colour  which  the  henna  pro- 
duces. In  reference  to  this  universal  practice  of 
the  East,  Dr.  Harris  observes  that  '  the  expres- 
sion in  Deut.  xxi.  12,  "pare  her  nails,"  may 
perhaps  rather  mean  "  adorn  her  nails,"  and 
imply  the  antiquity  of  this  practice.  This  is  a 
universal  custom  in  Egypt,  and  not  to  conform 
to  it  would  be  considered  indecent.  It  seems  to 
have  been  practised  by  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
for  the  nails  of  the  mummies  are  most  commonly 
of  a  reddish  hue.' 

CA'NA,  a  town  in  Galilee,  not  far  from  Ca- 
pernaum, where  Christ  performed  his  first  mi- 
racle by  turning  water  into  wine  (John  iv.  46). 
ll)is  Cana  is  not  named  in  the  Old  Testament, 
but  is  mentioned  by  .Tosephus  as  a  village  of 
Galilee.  The  site  has  long  been  identified  with 
the  present  Kefr  Kenna,  a  small  place  about  four 
miles  north-east  from  Nazareth,  on  one  of  the 
roads  to  Tiberias. 


There  is  a  ruined  place  called  Kana  el-Jelil, 
about  eight  miles  N.  5  E.  from  Nazareth,  which 
Ur.  Robinson  is  inclined  to  regard  as  the  more 
probable  site  of  Cana.  His  reasons  are  certainly 
of  considerable  weight. 

CA'NA  AN,  son  of  Ham  and  grandson  of  Noah. 
The  transgression  of  his  father  Ham  (Gen.  ix. 
22-27),  to  which  some  suppose  Canaan  to  have 
been  in  some  way  a  party,  gave  occasion  to  Noah 
to  pronounce  that  doom  on  the  descendants  of 
Canaan  which  was,  perhaps,  at  that  moment 
made  known  to  him  by  one  of  those  extempora- 
neous inspirations  with  which  the  patriarchal 
fathers  appear  in  other  instances  to  have  been 
favoured. 

CA'NAAN,  Land  of,  the  ancient  name  of 
that  portion  of  Palestine  which  lay  to  the  west  of 
the  Jordan  (Gen.  xiii.  12;  Num.  xxxiii.  51; 
Deut.  xi.  30;  Judg.  xxi.  12),  the  part  beyond 
the  Jordan  eastward  being  distinguished  by  the 
general  name  of  Gilead  (comp.  Judg.  xxi.  12). 
The  denomination  Canaan  included  Philistia 
and  Phoenicia  (comp.  Isa.  xxiii.  11  ;  Ezek.  xvi. 
29;  Zeph.  ii.  5).  The  name  occurs  on  Phoeni- 
cian coins,  and  was  not  even  unknown  to  the 
Carthaginians.  For  an  account  of  the  geography, 
&c.  of  the  country,  see  Palestine. 

CA'NAANITES,  the  descendants  of  Canaan, 
the  son  of  Ham  and  grandson  of  Noah,  inha- 
bitants of  the  land  of  Canaan  and  the  adjoining 
districts.  A  general  account  of  the  different 
nations  included  in  the  term  is  given  in  the  pre- 
sent article,  and  a  more  detailed  account  of  each 
will  be  found  under  their  respective  names. 

The  Israelites  were  delivered  from  Egypt  by 
Moses,  in  order  that  they  might  take  possession 
of  the  land  which  God  had  promised  to  their 
fathers.  This  country  was  then  inhabited  by  the 
descendants  of  Canaan,  who  were  divided  into 
seven  distinct  nations,  viz.,  the  Hittites,  Gir- 
gashites,  Amorites,  Canaanites,  Perizzites,  Hi- 
vites,  and  Jebusites.  All  these  tribes  are  in- 
cluded in  the  most  general  acceptation  of  the 
term  Canaanites  ;  but  the  word,  in  its  more  re- 
stricted sense,  as  applied  to  one  tribe,  designated 
those  '  who  dwelt  by  the  sea,  and  by  the  coasts 
of  Jordan '  (Num.  xiii.  29).  Besides  these 
'  seven  nations,'  there  were  several  tribes  of  the 
Canaanites  who  lived  beyond  the  borders  of  the 
Promised  Land,  northward.  These  were  the 
Arkites,  Sinites,  Arvadites,  Zemarites,  and  Ha- 
mathites  (Gen.  x.  17,  18),  with  whom,  of  course, 
the  Israelites  had  no  concern.  There  were  also 
other  tribes  of  Canaanitish  origin  (or  possibly 
other  names  given  to  some  of  those  already  men- 
tioned), who  were  dispossessed  by  the  Israelites. 
The  chief  of  these  were  the  Amalekites,  the 
Anakites,  and  the  Kephaira  (or  '  giants,'  as  they 
are  frequently  called  in  our  translation).  These 
nations,  and  especially  the  six  or  seven  so  fre- 
quently mentioned  by  name,  the  Israelites  were 
commanded  to  dispossess  and  utterly  to  destroy 
(Exod.  xxiii.  23;  Num.  xxxiii.  53;  Deut.  xx. 
16,  17).  The  destruction,  however,  was  not  to 
be  accomplished  at  once.  The  promise  on  the 
part  of  God  was  that  he  would  •  put  out  those 
nations  by  little  and  little,'  and  the  command  to 
the  Israelites  corresponded  with  it ;  the  reason 
given  being,  '  lest  the  beasts  of  the  field  increase 
upon  thee '  (Exod.  xxiii.  29  ;  Deut.  vii.  22). 
The  destructive    war    commenced    with    an 


172 


CANAANITES 


attack  on  the  Israelites,  by  Arad,  king  of  the 
Canaanites,  which  issued  in  the  destruction  of 
several  cities  in  the  extreme  south  of  Palestine, 
to  which  the  name  of  Hormah  was  given  (Num. 
xxi.  1-3).  The  Israelites,  however,  did  not 
follow  up  this  victory,  which  was  simply  the 
consequence  of  an  unprovoked  assault  on  them  ; 
but  turning  back,  and  compassing  the  land  of 
Edom,  they  attempted  to  pass  through  the  coun- 
try on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  inhabited  by 
a  tribe  of  the  Amorites.  Theu-  passage  being  re- 
fused, and  an  attack  made  on  them  by  Sihon, 
king  of  the  Amorites,  they  not  only  forced  their 
way  through  his  land,  but  destroyed  its  inha- 
bitants, and  proceeding  onwards  towards  the 
adjoining  kingdom  of  Bashan,  they  in  like 
manner  destroyed  the  inhabitants  of  that  district, 
and  slew  Og,  their  king,  who  was  the  last  of  the 
Eephaim,  or  giants  (Deut.  iii.  11).  The  tract  of 
which  they  thus  became  possessed  was  subse- 
quently allotted  to  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad, 
and  the  half  tribe  of  Manasseh. 

After  the  death  of  Moses  the  Israelites  crossed 
the  Jordan,  and,  under  the  conduct  of  Joshua, 
took  possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Pro- 
mised Land,  and  destroyed  its  inhabitants.  Se- 
veral cities,  however,  still  held  out,  particularly 
Jebus,  afterwards  Jerusalem,  which  was  not 
taken  till  the  time  of  David  (2  Sam.  v.  6),  and 
Sidon,  which  seems  never  to  have  yielded  to  the 
tribe  of  Asher,  to  whom  it  was  allotted  (Judg.  i. 
31).  Scattered  portions  also  of  the  Canaanitish 
nations  escaped,  and  -were  frequently  strong 
enough  to  harass,  though  not  to  dispossess,  the 
Israelites.  The  inhabitants  of  Gibeon,  a  tribe  of 
the  Hivites,  made  peace  by  stratagem,  and  thus 
escaped  the  destruction  of  their  fellow-country- 
men. Individuals  from  amongst  the  Canaanites 
seem,  in  later  times,  to  have  united  themselves, 
in  some  way,  to  the  Israelites,  and  not  only  to 
have  lived  in  peace,  but  to  have  been  capable  of 
holding  places  of  honour  and  power ;  thus  Uriah, 
one  of  David's  captains,  was  a  Hittite  (1  Chron. 
xi.  41).  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  when  the 
kingdom  had  attained  its  highest  glory  and 
greatest  power,  all  the  remnants  of  these  nations 
were  made  tributary,  and  bond-service  was  ex- 
acted from  them  (1  Kings  ix.  20).  The  Gir- 
gashites  seem  to  have  been  either  wholly  de- 
stroyed or  absorbed  in  other  tribes.  We  find  no 
mention  of  them  subsequent  to  the  book  of 
Joshua.  The  Anakites  were  completely  destroyed 
by  Joshua,  except  in  three  cities,  Gaza,  Gath, 
and  Ashdod  (Josh.  xi.  21-2.3)  ;  and  the  powerful 
nation  of  the  Amalekites,  many  times  defeated 
and  continually  harassing  the  Israelites,  were  at 
last  totally  destroyed  by  the  tribe  of  Simeon  (1 
Chron.  iv.  43).  Even  after  the  return  of  the 
Jews  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  there  were 
survivors  of  five  of  the  Canaanitish  nati-ons,  with 
whom  alliances  had  been  made  by  the  Jews,  con- 
trary to  the  commands  wliich  had  been  given 
them.  Some  of  the  Canaanites,  according  to 
ancient  tradition,  left  the  land  of  Canaan  on  the 
approach  of  Joshua,  and  emigrated  to  the  coast 
of  Africa.  Procopius  relates  that  there  were  in 
Numidia,  at  Tigisis  (Tingis),  two  columns  on 
which  were  inscribed,  in  Phoenician  characters, 
•  We  are  those  who  fled  from  the  face  of  Joshua, 
the  robber,  the  son  of  Naue.' 

The  manner  in  which  the  Israelites  became 


CANAANITES 

possessed  of  the  Promised  Land  has  been  so  fre- 
quently brought  as  an  objection  to  the  inspired 
character  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  indeed  is  so 
far  removed  from  the  ordinary  providential  go- 
vernment of  God,  that  it  will  be  proper,  in  closing 
this  account,  to  notice  the  difficulty  which  has 
been  felt,  and  to  advert  to  some  of  the  hypo- 
theses by  which  it  is  sought  to  be  removed. 
Many  have  asserted,  in  order  to  alleviate  the 
difficulty,  that  an  allotment  of  the  world  was 
made  by  Noah  to  his  three  sons,  and  that  by 
this  allotment  the  Land  of  Promise  fell  to  the 
share  of  Shem — that  the  descendants  of  Ham 
were  therefore  usurpers  and  interlopers,  and  that 
on  this  ground  the  Israelites,  as  the  descendants 
of  Shem,  had  the  right  to  dispossess  them.  Others 
justify  the  war  on  the  ground  that  the  Canaanites 
were  the  first  aggressors — a  justification  which 
applies  only  to  the  territory  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Jordan.  Michaelis  asserts  that  the  Israelites 
had  a  right  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  as  tlie  common 
pasture  land  of  their  herdsmen,  in  consequence 
of  the  undisturbed  possession  and  appropriation 
of  it  from  the  time  of  Abraham  till  the  departure 
of  Jacob  into  Egypt — that  this  claim  had  never 
been  relinquished,  and  was  well  known  to  the 
Canaanites,  and  that  therefore  the  Israelites  only 
took  possession  of  that  which  belonged  to  them. 
The  same  hypothesis  is  maintained  by  Jahn. 
Another  ground  of  justification  has  been  sought 
in  the  supposed  identity  of  race  of  the  Egj-ptian 
dyniisty  under  which  the  Israelites  were  op- 
pressed, with  the  tribes  that  overran  Canaan — so 
that  the  destruction  of  the  latter  was  merely  an 
act  of  retributive  justice  for  the  injuries  which 
their  compatriots  in  Egypt  had  inflicted  on  the 
Israelites.  To  all  these  and  similar  attempts  to 
justify,  on  the  ground  of  legal  right,  the  forcible 
occupation  of  the  land  by  the  Israelites,  and  the 
extermination  (at  least  to  a  great  extent)  of  the 
existing  occupants,  it  is  to  be  objected,  that  no 
such  reason  as  any  of  these  is  hinted  at  in  the 
sacred  record.  The  right  to  carry  on  a  war  of 
extermination  is  there  rested  simply  on  the 
divine  command  to  do  so.  That  the  Israelites 
were  instruments  in  God's  hand  is  a  lesson  not 
only  continually  impressed  on  their  minds  by  the 
teaching  of  Mo'ses,  but  enforced  by  their  defeat 
whenever  they  relied  on  their  own  strength. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  is  only  shifting  the 
difficulty,  and  that  just  in  proportion  as  we  excul- 
pate the  Israelites  from  the  charges  of  robbery 
and  murder,  in  their  making  war  without  legal 
ground,  we  lower  the  character  of  the  Being 
whose  commands  they  obeyed,  and  throw  doubt 
on  those  commands  being  really  given  by  God. 
This  has  indeed  been  a  favourite  objection  of  in- 
fidels to  the  divine  authority  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Such  objectors  would  do  well  to  consider 
whether  God  has  not  an  absolute  right  to  dispose 
of  men  as  he  sees  fit,  and  whether  an  exterminat- 
ing war,  from  which  there  was  at  least  the  op- 
portunity of  escape  by  flight,  is  at  all  more 
opposed  to  our  notions  of  justice  than  a  destro}'- 
ing  flood,  or  earthquake,  or  pestilence.  Again, 
whether  the  fact  of  making  a  chosen  nation  of 
His  worshippers  the  instruments  of  punishing 
those  whose  wickedness  was  notoriously  great, 
did  not  much  more  impressively  vindicate  his 
character  as  the  only  God,  who  '  will  not  give 
his   glory  to  another,  nor  his  praise  to  graven 


CANDACE 

images,'  than  if  the  punishment  had  been  brought 
about  by  natural  causes.  Such  considerations  as 
these  must,  we  apprehend,  silence  those  ■who 
complain  of  injustice  done  to  the  Canaanites. 
But  then  it  is  objected  further,  that  such  an 
arrangement  is  fraught  with  evil  to  those  who 
are  made  the  instruments  of  punishment,  and, 
as  an  example,  is  peculiarly  liable  to  be  abused 
by  all  who  have  the  power  to  persecute.  As 
to  the  first  of  these  objections,  it  must  be  re- 
membered, that  the  conduct  of  the  war  was  never 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  Israelites — that  they 
■Nvcre  continually  reminded  that  it  was  for  the 
wickedness  of  those  nations  that  they  were  driven 
out,  and,  above  all,  that  they  themselves  would 
be  exposed  to  similar  punishment  if  they  were 
seduced  into  idolatry — an  evil  to  which  they 
were  especially  prone.  As  to  the  example,  it  can 
apply  to  no  case  where  there  is  not  an  equally 
clear  expression  of  God's  will. 

CANDA'CE,  or,  more  correctly,  Kandake, 
was  the  name  of  that  queen  of  the  Ethiopians 
whose  high  treasurer  was  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity under  the  preaching  of  Philip  the  Evan- 
gelist (Acts  viii.  27).  The  country  over  which 
she  ruled  was  not,  as  some  writers  allege, 
what  is  known  to  us  as  Abyssinia ;  it  was  that 
region  in  Upper  Nubia  which  was  called  by  the 
Greeks  Meroe,  and  is  supposed  to  correspond  to 
the  present  province  of  Atbara,  lying  between 
IS^*  and  18°  north  latitude.  The  city  of  Meroe 
stood  near  the  present  Assour,  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  Shendy ;  and  the  extensive  and 
magnificent  ruins  found  not  only  there,  but 
along  the  upper  valley  of  the  Nile,  attest  the  art 
and  civilization  of  the  ancient  Ethiopians.  Meroii, 
from  being  long  the  centre  of  commercial  inter- 
course between  Africa  and  the  south  of  Asia, 
became  one  of  the  richest  countries  upon  earth  ; 
the  '  merchandise '  and  wealth  of  Ethiopia  (Isa. 
xlv.  14)  was  the  theme  of  the  poets  both  of  Pales- 
tine and  Greece ;  and  since  much  of  that  afflu- 
ence would  find  its  way  into  the  royal  cofiers,  the 
circumstance  gives  emphasis  to  the  phrase — '  all 
the  treasure '  of  Queen  Candace.  It  is  further 
interesting  to  know,  from  the  testimonies  of 
various  profane  authors,  that  for  some  time  both 
before  and  after  the  Christian  era,  Ethiopia 
Proper  was  under  the  rule  of  female  sovereigns, 
who  all  bore  the  appellation  of '  Candace,'  which 
was  not  so  much  a  proper  name  as  a  distinctive 
title,  common  to  every  successive  queen,  like 
'  Pharaoh'  and  '  Ptolemy'  to  the  kings  of  Egj'pt, 
and  '  Cffisar '  to  the  emperors  of  Kome. 

A  curious  confirmation  of  the  fact  of  female 
sovei'eignty  having  prevailed  in  Ethiopia  has 
been  remarked  on  the  existing  monumei.ts  ot  the 
country.  Thus,  on  the  largest  sepulchral  pyra- 
mid near  Assour,  the  ancient  Meroe,  a  female 
warrior,  with  the  royal  ensigns  on  her  head, 
drags  forward  a  number  of  captives  as  offerings 
to  the  gods  ;  on  another  compartment  she  is  in  a 
warlike  habit,  about  to  destroy  the  same  group. 
Heeren,  after  describing  the  monuments  at  Naga, 
or  Naka,  south-east  of  Shendy,  says,  '  It  is 
evident  that  these  representations  possess  many 
peculiarities,  and  that  they  are  not  pure  Egyptian. 
The  most  remarkable  difference  appears  in  the 
persons  offering.  The  queens  appear  with  the 
kings ;  and  not  merely  as  presenting  ofFerings, 
but  as  heroines  and  conquerors.     Js^othing  of  this 


CANDLESTICK 


173 


kind  has  yet  been  discovered  on  the  Egyptian 
reliefs,  either  in  Egypt  or  Nubia.  It  may  there- 
fore with  certainty  be  concluded,  that  they  are  ! 
subjects  peculiar  to  Ethiopia.  It  is  singular 
enough,  that  when  Bruce  was  at  Shendy,  the  j 
government  of  the  district  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
female  called  Sittina,  i.  e.  the  lady  or  mistress. 
Irenseus  and  Eusebius  ascribe  to  Candace's  mi- 
nister her  own  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  the 
promulgation  of  the  Gospel  throughout  her  king- 
dom :  and  with  this  agrees  the  Abyssinian  tradi- 
tion, that  he  was  likewise  the  apostle  of  Tagre, 
that  part  of  Abyssinia  which  lay  nearest  to 
Meroe ;  it  is  added  that  he  afterwards  preached 
the  Gospel  in  Arabia  Felix,  and  also  in  the 
island  of  Ceylon,  where  he  suffered  martyrdom. 
CANDLESTICK.  The  candelabrum  which 
]Moses  was  commanded  to  make  for  the  taber- 
nacle, after  the  model  shown  him  in  the  Mount, 
is  chiefly  known  to  us  by  the  passages  in  Exod. 
XXV.  -31-40;  xxxvii.  17-'i4;  on  which  some  addi- 
tional light  is  thrown  by  the  Jewish  writers,  and  | 
by  the  representation  of  the  spoils  of  the  Temple 
on  the  arch  of  Titus. 


The  material  of  which  it  was  made  was  fine 
gold,  of  which  an  entire  talent  was  expended 
on  the  candelabrum  itself  and  its  appendages. 
The  mode  in  which  the  metal  was  to  be  worked 
is  described  by  a  term  which  appears  to  mean 
wrought  with  the  hammer,  as  opposed  to  cast  by 
fusion.  The  stmcture  of  the  candelabrum,  as  far 
as  it  is  defined  in  the  passages  referred  to,  con- 
sisted of  a  base ;  of  a  shaft  rising  out  of  it ;  of  six 
arms,  which  came  out  by  threes  from  two  oppo- 
site sides  of  the  shaft ;  of  seven  lamps,  which 
were  supported  on  the  summits  of  the  central 
shaft  and  the  six  arms;  and  of  three  different 
kinds  of  ornaments  belonging  to  the  shafl  and 
arms.  These  ornaments  are  called  by  names 
which  mean  cups,  globes,  and  blossoms. 

This  candelabrum  was  placed  in  the  Holy 
Place,  on  the  south  side  (t.  e.  to  the  left  of  a  person 
entering  the  tabernacle),  opposite  the  table  of 
shew-bread  (Exod.  xxvi.'  35).    Its  lamps,  which 


174 


CANON 


■were  supplied  with  pure  olive  oil  only,  -were 
lighted  every  evening,  and  extinguished  (as  it 
seems)  every  morning  (Exod.  xxvii.  21 ;  xxx. 
7,  8  ;  Lev.  xxiv.  3  ;  1  Sam.  iii.  3  ;  2  Chron.  xiii. 
11).  Although  the  tabernacle  had  no  windows, 
there  is  no  good  ground  for  believing  that  the 
lamps  burnt  by  day  in  it,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  usage  of  the  second  temple. 

In  the  first  temple,  instead  of  this  single  can- 
delabrum, there  were  ten  candelabra  of  pure 
gold,  one  half  of  which  stood  on  the  north  and 
the  other  on  the  south  side  of  the  Holy  Place. 
These  were  carried  away  to  Babylon  (Jer.  Iii. 
19).  In  the  temple  of  Zerubbabel  there  appears 
to  have  been  only  one  candelabrum  again  (1  Mac. 
i.  21 ;  iv.  49,  50).  It  is  probable  that  it  also  had 
only  seven  lamps.  At  least,  that  was  the  case  in 
the  cadelabrura  of  the  Herodian  temple.  This 
candelabrum  is  the  one  which,  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  was  carried  with  other  spoils 
to  Rome;  then,  a.d.  455,  became  part  of  the 
plunder  which  Genseric  transported  to  Africa ; 
was  again,  about  a.d.  533,  recaptured  from  the 
Vandals  by  Belisarius,  and  carried  to  Constanti- 
nople, and  was  thence  sent  off  to  Jerusalem,  and 
from  that  time  has  disappeared  altogether.  It 
is  to  this  candelabrum  that  the  representation 
on  the  arch  of  Titus  at  Rome  was  intended  to 
apply  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  on  the 
whole,  it  may  be  relied  upon  as  a  reasonably  cor- 
rect representation  of  the  Herodian  candelabrum. 

CANE  (or  Calamus),  Sweet,  an  aromatic 
reed,  mentioned  among  the  drugs  with  which 
sacred  perfumes  were  compounded  (Ezek.  xxvii. 
19).     [Reed.] 

CANKER-WORM.     [Locust.] 

CAN'NEH  (Ezek.  xxvii.  23),  probably  the 
same  as  Calneh  (Gen.  x.  10),  which  see. 

CA'NON.  This  word  was  frequently  em- 
ployed to  denote  a  rule  or  standard,  by  a  refer- 
ence to  which  the  rectitude  of  opinions  or  actions 
may  be  determined  ;  and  as  the  great  standard  in 
all  matters  of  faith  and  duty  was  the  revealed 
will  of  God  contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  the  term  came  insensibly 
to  be  applied  to  the  collective  body  of  those 
writings  which  were  designated  the  Canon  or 
Rule. 

The  Canon  then  may  be  defined  to  be  '  The 
Authoritative  Standard  of  Religion  and  Morals, 
composed  of  those  writings  which  have  been 
given  for  this  purpose  by  God  to  men.' 

According  to  this  definition,  in  order  to  esta- 
blish the  Canon  of  Scripture,  it  is  necessary  to 
show  that  all  the  books  of  which  it  is  composed 
are  of  divine  authority  ;  that  they  are  entire  and 
incorrupt;  that,  having  them,  it  is  complete 
without  any  addition  from  any  other  source  ;  and 
that  it  comprises  the  whole  of  those  books  for 
which  divine  authority  can  be  proved.  It  is  ob- 
vious that,  if  any  of  these  four  particulars  be  not 
true,  Scripture  cannot  be  the  sole  and  supreme 
sta,ndard  of  religions  truth  and  duty. 

Respecting  the  evidence  by  which  the  Canon 
is  thus  to  be  established,  there  exists  considerable 
difference  of  opinion  amongst  Christians.  Some 
contend,  with  the  Catholics,  that  the  authorita-  j 
tive  decision  of  the  Church  is  alone  competent  to 
determine  the  Canon ;  others  appeal  to  the  con- 
current testimony  of  the  Jewish  and  early  Chris- 
tian writers ;    and  others    rest  their  strongest  I 


CANON 

reliance  on  the  internal  evidence  furnished  by  the 
books  of  Scripture  themselves.  We  cannot  say 
that  we  are  satisfied  with  any  of  these  sources  of 
evidence  exclusively.  As  Michaelis  remarks, 
the  first  is  one  to  which  no  consistent  Protestant 
can  appeal,  for  the  matter  to  be  determined  is  of 
such  a  kind,  that,  unless  we  grant  the  Church  to 
be  infallible,  it  is  quite  possible  that  she  may  at 
any  given  period  of  her  existence  determine 
erroneously  ;  and  one  sees  not  why  the  question 
may  not  be  as  successfully  investigated  by  a  pri- 
vate individual  as  by  the  Church.  The  con- 
current testimony  of  the  ancient  witnesses  is  in- 
valuable so  far  as  it  goes ;  but  it  may  be  doubted 
if  it  be  sufficient  of  itself  to  settle  this  question, 
for  the  question  is  not  entirely  one  of  facts,  and 
testimony  is  good  proof  only  for  facts.  As  for 
the  internal  evidence,  one  needs  only  look  at  the 
havoc  which  Semler  and  his  school  have  made 
of  the  Canon,  to  be  satisfied  that  where  doctrinal 
considerations  are  allowed  to  determine  exclu- 
sively such  questions,  each  man  will  extend  or 
extruncate  the  Canon  so  as  to  adjust  it  to  the 
Procrustean  couch  of  his  own  preconceived 
notions.  As  the  question  is  one  partly  of  fact 
and  partly  of  opinion,  the  appropriate  grounds  of 
decision  will  be  best  secured  by  a  combination 
of  authentic  testimony  with  the  evidence  supplied 
by  the  books  themselves.  We  want  to  know 
that  these  books  were  really  written  by  the 
persons  whose  names  they  bear ;  we  want  to  be 
satisfied  that  these  persons  were  commonly  re- 
puted and  held  by  their  contemporaries  to  be 
assisted  by  the  divine  spirit  in  what  they  wrote ; 
and  we  want  to  be  sure  that  care  was  taken  by 
those  to  whom  their  writings  were  first  ad- 
dressed, that  these  should  be  preserved  entire 
and  uncorrupt.  For  all  this  we  must  appeal  to 
the  testimony  of  competent  witnesses,  as  the  only 
suitable  evidence  for  such  matters.  But  after  we 
have  ascertained  these  points  affirmatively,  we 
still  require  to  be  satisfied  that  the  books  them- 
selves contain  nothing  obviously  incompatible 
with  the  ascription  to  their  authors  of  the  divine 
assistance,  but,  on  the  contrary,  are  in  all  respects 
favourable  to  this  supposition.  We  want  to  see 
that  they  are  in  harmony  with  each  other  ;  that 
the  statements  they  contain  are  credible ;  that 
the  doctrines  they  teach  are  not  foolish,  immoral, 
or  self-contradictory;  that  their  authors  really 
assumed  to  be  under  the  divine  direction  in  what 
they  wrote,  and  afforded  competent  proofs  of  this 
to  those  around  them ;  and  that  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case,  such  as  the  style  of  the 
writers,  the  allusions  made  by  them  to  places  and 
events,  &c.,  are  in  keeping  with  the  conclusion  to 
which  the  external  evidence  has  already  led.  In 
this  way  we  advance  to  a  complete  moral  proof 
of  the  divine  authority  and  canonical  claims  of 
the  sacred  writings. 

The  books  specified  as  canonical  in  the  6th 
Article  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the  1st  of 
the  Confession  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  are  re- 
ceived as  such  by  the  majority  of  Protestants. 
To  these  the  Church  of  Rome  adds,  as  part  of  the 
Old  Testament,  ten  other  books,  or  parts  of  books, 
which  Protestants  reject  as  Apocryphal  [Apo- 
crypha]. For  the  evidence  in  support  of  the 
genuineness  and  divine  authority  of  those  books 
universally  regarded  by  Christians  as  canonical, 
taken  individually,  we  may  refer  to  the  articles 


CANTICLES 

in   this  -work  under  the  titles  of  these  books 
respectively. 

CAN'TICLES,  Solomon's  Song,  or  Song  of 
Songs  as  it  is  designated  in  the  inscription,  is 
generally  believed  to  have  been  so  denominated 
to  denote  the  superior  beauty  and  excellence  of 
this  poem. 

In  favour  of  the  canonical  authority  of  this 
book  (which  has  been  questioned  in  ancient  and 
modern  times)  -we  may  observe,  that  it  is  found 
in  all  the  copies  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  which  have 
descended  to  our  times,  as  well  as  in  the  version 
of  the  Seventy,  which  was  finished  some  time  in 
the  second  century  before  the  Christian  era.  It 
is  also  found  in  all  the  ancient  catalogues  which 
have  come  down  to  us  from  the  early  Christian 
church.  It  has  consequently  all  the  external 
marks  of  canonicity  possessed  by  any  other  book 
of  the  Old  Testament  not  expressly  cited  in  the 
New.  Those  who  have  questioned  its  right  to 
a  place  in  the  sacred  voUinie  have  proceeded 
more  on  dogmatical  than  on  historico-critical 
grounds. 

The  subject  of  this  book  is  confessedly  Love. 
But  it  has  been  a  matter  of  much  controversy, 
especially  in  modern  times,  what  kind  of  love  is 
here  celebrated.  It  is  equally  a  matter  of  dis- 
pute among  divines  whether  the  interpretation  of 
the  poem  is  limited  to  its  obvious  and  primary 
meaning,  or  whether  it  does  not  also  include  a 
latent  mystical  and  allegorical  sense.  We  shall 
speak  of  these  subjects  in  order.  And,  first,  as 
to  the  literal  and  primary  meaning,  the  earliest 
information  which  we  have  is  contained  in  the 
preface  of  Origen  to  his  commentary  on  this 
book.  This  eminent  scholar  holds  it  to  be  an 
epithalamium,  or  marriage-song,  in  the  form  of 
a  drama.  This  idea  has  been,  in  modern  times, 
improved  by  Lowth,  Bossuet,  Michaelis,  and 
other  commentators.  '  The  Song  of  Songs,'  says 
Bishop  Lowth,  '  for  so  it  is  entitled,  either  on 
account  of  the  excellence  of  the  subject  or  of  the 
composition,  is  an  epithalamium,  or  nuptial  dia- 
logue, or  rather,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to  give  it 
a  title  more  agreeable  to  the  genius  of  the  He- 
brews, a  Song  of  Loves.  Such  is  the  title  of 
Psalm  xlv.  It  is  expressive  of  the  utmost  fer- 
voilr  as  well  as  delicacy  of  passion  :  it  is  instinct 
with  all  the  spirit  and  sweetness  of  affection. 
The  principal  characters  are  Solomon  himself 
and  his  bride,  who  are  represented  speaking  both 
in  dialogue,  and  in  soliloquy,  when  accidentally 
separated.  Virgins,  also,  the  companions  of  the 
bride,  are  introduced,  who  seem  to  be  constantly 
on  the  stage,  and  bear  a  part  of  the  dialogue. 
Mention  is  also  made  of  young  men,  friends  of 
the  bridegroom,  but  they  are  mute  persons.  This 
is  exactly  conformable  to  the  manners  of  the 
Hebrews,  who  had  always  a  number  of  compa- 
nions to  the  bridegroom,  thirty  of  whom  were 
present  in  honour  of  Samson  at  his  nuptial  feast 
(Judg.  xiv.  11).  In  the  New  Testament,  accord- 
ing to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  they  are  called  child- 
ren, or  sons  of  the  bridechamber,  and  friends  of 
the  bridegroom.  There,  too,  we  find  mention  of 
ten  virgins  who  -vent  forth  to  meet  the  bride- 
groom and  conduct  him  home ;  which  circum- 
stances indicate  that  this  poem  is  founded  on  the 
nuptial  rites  of  the  Hebrews,  and  is  expressive  of 
the  forms  or  ceremonial  of  their  marriage.' 
Bossuet's  idea  of  this  poem  was,  that  it  is  a 


CANTICLES  175 

regular  drama,  or  pastoral  eclogue,  consisting  of 
seven  acts,  each  act  filling  a  day,  concluding 
with  the  Sabbath,  inasmuch  as  the  bridegroom 
on  this  day  does  not,  as  usual,  go  forth  to  his 
rural  employments,  but  proceeds  from  the  mar- 
riage chamber  into  public  with  his  bride.  Lowth 
so  far  differs  from  Bossuet  as  to  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  a  regular  drama,  inasmuch  as  there  is  no 
termination  to  the  plot.  Michaelis,  in  his  notes 
to  his  German  translation  of  Lowth's  Prelections, 
endeavours  to  overturn  the  views  of  Bossuet  and 
Lowth,  and  to  show  that  this  poem  can  have  no 
relation  to  the  celebration  of  a  marriage,  inas- 
much as  the  bridegroom  is  compelled  in  his  nup- 
tial week  to  quit  his  spouse  and  friends  for  whole 
days,  in  order  to  attend  to  his  cattle  in  the  pas- 
tures. His  opinion  is,  that  this  poem  has  no 
reference  to  a  future  marriage,  but  that  the  chaste 
loves  of  conjugal  and  domestic  life  are  described. 
This  state,  he  conceives,  in  the  East,  admits  of 
more  of  the  perplexities,  jealousies,  plots,  and 
artifices  of  love  than  it  does  with  us ;  the  scene 
is  more  varied,  and  there  is  consequently  greater 
scope  for  invention. 

But  the  idea  that  the  conjugal  state,  or  the 
loves  of  married  persons,  are  here  referred  to, 
has  been  strongly  opposed  by  some  of  the  ablest 
modern  writers,  who  maintain  that  the  chaste 
mutual  loves  of  two  young  persons  antecedent  to 
marriage  are  here  celebrated. 

Here  it  may  be  necessary  to  state,  that  the 
learned  are  divided  on  the  point  whether  the 
Canticles  consist  of  one  continued  and  connected 
poem,  or  of  a  number  of  detached  songs  or  amo- 
rets.  The  first  person  who  maintained  the  latter 
opinion  was  Father  Simon,  who  was  on  this  ac- 
count unjustly  accused  of  denying  the  canonicity 
of  the  book.  This  opinion  has  been  subsequently 
defended  by  Eichhorn,  Jahn,  Pareau,  and  many 
others.  A  very  general  opinion  is,  that  it  is  an 
idyl,  or  rather,  a  number  of  idyls,  all  forming  a 
collective  whole.  Such  is  the  opinion  held, 
among  others,  by  Sir  William  Jones  and  Dr.  J. 
Mason  Good,  in  his  beautiful  translation  of  tho 
Song  of  Songs.  Ewald  considers  the  poem  to 
consist  of  a  drama  in  four  parts.  The  heroine  of 
the  poem,  according  to  this  writer,  is  a  country 
maiden,  a  native  of  Engedi,  who,  while  ram- 
bling in  the  plains,  fell  in  with  the  chariots 
of  Solomon,  and  was  can-ied  by  him  into  his 
palace. 

It  has  been  in  all  ages  a  matter  of  dispute, 
whether  we  are  to  seek  fir  any  hidden  or  occult 
meaning  imder  the  envelope  of  the  literal  and 
obvious  sense.  While  several  eminent  men  have 
maintained  that  the  object  of  these  poems  is  con- 
fined to  the  celebration  of  the  mutual  love  of  the 
sexes,  or  that  its  main  design,  in  so  far  as  its 
sacred  character  is  considered,  is  the  inculcation 
of  marriage,  and  especially  of  monogamy,  the 
majority  of  Christian  interpreters,  at  least  since 
the  days  of  Origen  (who  wrote  ten  bonks  of 
commentaries  on  this  poem),  have  believed  that  a 
divine  allegory  is  contained  under  the  garb  of 
an  epithalamium,  founded  on  the  historical  fact 
of  the  marriage  of  Solomon  with  the  daughter  of 
Pharaoh:  others  have  held  it  to  be  a  simple 
allegory,  having  no  historical  truth  for  its 
basis. 

As,  however,  the  Scriptures  give  no  intimation 
that  this  book  contains  a  mystical  or  allegorical 


176 


CANTICLES 


CAPPADOCIA 


sense,  recourse  has  been  had  to  the  analogy  of 
some  of  the  Messianic  Psalms,  -whose  application 
to  spiritual  objects  is  recognised  in  the  New 
Testament.  Especially  a  great  i-esemblance  has 
been  observed  between  the  character  of  the  Can- 
ticles and  the  45th  Psalm ;  and  it  will  suffice  for 
our  present  purpose  to  cite  the  opinion  of  Rosen- 
miiller,  one  of  the  ablest  commentators  on  the 
Messianic  Psalms,  in  reference  to  this  subject. 
Professing  to  follow  the  opinion  of  the  ancient 
Hebrews,  communicated  by  the  Chaldee  para- 
phrast,  and  the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews—namely, that  the  45th  Psalm  celebrated 
the  excellences  and  praises  of  the  great  Messiah  ; 
he  observes, '  Throughout  the  latter  part  of  the 
psalm  this  allegory,  in  which  the  Hebrew  poets 
particularly  deligiited,  is  maintained.  They  were 
accustomed  to  represent  God  as  entertaining,  to- 
wards his  clioscn  people,  feelings  which  they 
compared  to  conjugal  affections  ;  and  which  they 
deduced,  under  this  figure,  into  all  the  various 
and  even  minute  expressions.  In  the  illustrating 
and  beautifying  of  this  allegory,  the  whole  of  the 
Song  of  Songs  is  occupied :  that  the  subject  of 
that  poem,  and  that  of  the  psalm  before  us,  is  the 
same,  there  is  no  doubt  among  sound  interpre- 
ters.' The  reader  may  also  refer,  in  illustration 
of  this  subject,  to  the  many  passages  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testament  in  which  this  figure  is  re- 
tained by  the  sacred  writers :  such  as  Isaiah  liv. 
6;  Ixii.  5;  Jerem.  iii.  1,  &c. ;  Ezek.  xvi.  and 
xxiii. ;  Matt.  ix.  15  ;  John  iii.  29  ;  2  Cor.  xi.  2 ; 
Ephes.  V.  23,  &c. ;  Rev.  xix.  7  ;  xxi.  2  ;  xxii.  1 7. 
The  tradition  of  the  Jews  as  preserved  by  the 
ancient  Chaldee  paraphrast  is  that  the  poem 
embodies  a  figurative  description  of  the  gracious 
conduct  of  Jehovah  towards  his  people,  in  deli- 
vering them  from  the  Egyptian  bondage,  con- 
ferring great  benefits  on  them  during  their  pro- 
gress through  the  wilderness,  and  conveying 
them  in  safety  to  the  promised  land.  Aben  Ezra 
considered  that  the  Canticles  represented  tlie 
history  of  the  Jews  from  Abraham  to  the  Mes- 
siah. Others  have  conceived  the  bride  to  be 
Wisdom,  with  whom  Solomon  was  acquainted 
from  his  childhood,  and  with  whose  beauty  he 
was  captivated.  Luther,  in  his  Commentary  on 
Canticles,  maintained  the  allegorical  interpreta- 
tion, conceiving  Jehovah  to  be  the  bridegroom, 
the  bride  the  Jewish  nation,  and  the  poem  itself 
a  figurative  description  of  Solomon's  civil  govern- 
ment. In  his  Commentary  on  1  Peter,  however, 
he  explains  the  bride  to  be  the  New  Testament 
church. 

The  modern  writers  of  the  Roman  church 
have,  in  general,  followed  Origen  and  Jerome  in 
their  allegorical  interpretations. 

The  opinion  of  those  who  have  acknowledged 
no  other  than  the  literal  interpretation  of  the 
Canticles  has  had  a  considerable  influence  in  the 
question  of  the  canonicity  of  the  book.  Nor  is 
it  at  all  surprising  that  those  who  were  in  the 
habit  of  attaching  a  spiritual  meaning  to  it  should 
find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  a  book  treating  of 
human  love  should  have  a  place  in  the  inspired 
volumra. 

The  author  and  age  of  Canticles  have  been 
also  much  disputed.  The  inscription  ascribes  it 
to  Solomon ;  and  this  is  confirmed  by  the  uni- 
versal voice  of  antiquity,  although  some  of  the 
Jews  have  attributed  it  to  Hezekiah. 


CAPER'NAUM,  a  city  on  the  north  wrestem 
side  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  and  on  the 
border  of  the  tribes  of  Zebulun  and  Naphtali. 
The  infidelity  and  impenitence  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  place,  after  the  evidence  given  to  theui  by 
our  Saviour  himself  of  the  truth  of  his  mission, 
brought  upon  them  this  heavy  denunciation  :  — 
'  And  thou,  Capernaum,  which  art  exalted  unto 
heaven,  shalt  be  brought  down  to  hell :  for  if  the 
mighty  works  which  have  been  done  in  thee  had 
been  done  in  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  unto 
this  day,'  &c.  (Matt.  xi.  23.)  This  seems  to  have 
been  more  than  any  other  place  the  residence  of 
Christ  after  he  commenced  his  great  mission  ; 
and  hence  the  force  of  the  denunciation,  which 
has  been  so  completely  accomplished,  that  even 
the  site  of  Capernaum  is  quite  uncertain.  Dr. 
Robinson  is  inclined  to  look  for  the  site  in  a  place 
marked  only  by  a  mound  of  ruins,  called  by  the 
Arabs,  Khan  Minyeh.  This  is  situated  in  the 
fertile  plain  on  the  western  border  of  the  Lake  of 
Gennesareth,  to  which  the  name  of '  the  land  of 
Gennesareth '  is  given  by  Josephus.  Tliis  plain 
is  a  sort  of  triangular  hollow,  formed  by  the  re- 
treat of  the  mountains  about  the  middle  of  the 
western  shore.  In  this  plain  there  are  now  two 
fountains,  one  called  'Ain  el  Madauwarah,  the 
'  Round  Fountain'— another  called 'Ain  et-Tin, 
near  the  northern  extremity  of  the  plain,  and  not 
far  from  the  lake.  This  is  the  fountain  which 
Dr.  Robinson  inclines  to  regard  as  that  which 
Josephus  mentions  under  tlie  name  of  Caphar- 
naum ;  and  which  we  may  conclude  was  not  far 
from  the  town,  and  took  its  name  from  it.  Near 
this  fountain  is  a  low  mound  of  ruins,  occupying 
a  considerable  circumference,  which  certainly 
offer  the  best  probability  that  has  yet  been 
produced  of  being  the  remains  of  the  doomed 
city:  and  if  these  be  all  its  remains,  it  has, 
according  to  that  doom,  been  brought  low  in- 
deed. 

CAPH'TOR  (Deut.  ii.  23 ;  Jer.  xlvii.  4 ;  Amos 
ix.  7)  was  the  real  and  proper  country  of  the 
Philistines.  There  has  been  a  great  diversity  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  the  exact  situation  of  that 
country.  The  general  opinion  that  Caphtor  was 
Cappadocia  is  not  founded  on  any  sound  argu- 
ment. Others,  again,  have  tried  to  prove  that  the 
Philistines  derived  their  origin  from  the  island  of 
Crete.  By  far  more  probable  is  the  opinion,  that 
Caphtor  is  the  island  of  Cyprus.  From  the  geo- 
graphical situation  of  that  island,  it  may  have 
been  known  to  the  Egyptians  at  a  very  early 
period,  and  they  may  have  sent  colonies  thither, 
who  afterwards  removed,  from  some  reason  or 
other,  to  the  southern  coast  of  Palestine  border- 
ing on  Egypt. 

CAPPADO'CI A,  an  ancient  province  of  Asia 
Minor,  bounded  on  the  north  by  Pontus,  on  the 
east  by  the  Euphrates  and  Armenia  Minor,  on 
the  south  by  Mount  Taurus  (beyond  which  are 
Cilicia  and  Syria),  and  on  the  east  by  Phrygia 
and  Galatia.  The  country  is  mountainous  and 
abounds  in  water,  and  was  celebrated  for  the  pro- 
duction of  wheat,  for  its  fine  pastures,  and  for  its 
excellent  breed  of  horses,  asses,  and  sheep.  The 
inhabitants  were  notorious  for  their  dulness  and 
vice.  Cappadocia  was  subjugated  by  the  Per- 
sians under  Cyrus  ;  but  after  the  time  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  it  had  kings  of  its  own,  who  be."'-. 
the  common  name  of  Ariarathes.     It  continued 


CAPTIVITIES 

to  be  governed  by  tributary  kings  under  the  Ro- 
mans till  A. D.  17,  when  Tiberius  made  it  a  Ro- 
man province.  Christianity  was  very  early 
propagated  in  Cappadocia,  for  St.  Peter  names 
it  in  addressing  the  Christian  churches  in  Asia 
Minor  (1  Pet.  i.  1).  Cappadocians  were  pre- 
sent at  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts 
ii.  9). 

CAPTIVITIES.  The  word  Captivitij,  as 
applied  to  the  people  of  Israel,  has  been  appro- 
priated, contrary  to  the  analogy  of  our  language, 
to  mean  Expatriation.  The  violent  removal  of 
the  entire  population  of  a  city,  or  sometimes  even 
of  a  district,  is  not  au  uncommon  event  in  ancient 
history.  As  a  measure  of  policy,  no  objection  to 
it  on  the  ground  of  humanity  was  felt  by  any 
one ;  since,  in  fact,  it  was  a  very  mild  proceeding, 
in  comparison  with  that  of  selling  a  tribe  or  na- 
tion into  slavery.  Every  such  destruction  of 
national  existence,  even  in  modern  times,  is  apt 
to  be  embittered  by  the  simultaneous  disruption 
of  religious  bonds ;  but  in  the  ancient  world,  the 
positive  sanctity  attributed  to  special  places,  and 
the  local  attachment  of  Deity,  made  expatriation 
doubly  severe.  The  Hebrew  people,  for  instan-ce, 
in  many  most  vital  points,  could  no  longer  obey 
their  sacred  law  at  all,  when  personally  removed 
from  Jerusalem  ;  and  in  many  others  they  were 
forced  to  modify  it  by  reason  of  their  change  of 
circumstances. 

Two  principal  motives  impelled  conquering 
powers  thus  to  transport  families  in  the  mass; 
first,  the  desire  of  rapidly  filling  with  a  valuable 
population  new  cities,  built  for  pride  or  for 
policy ;  next,  the  determination  to  break  up  hos- 
tile organizations,  or  dangerous  reminiscences  of 
past  greatness.  Both  might  sometimes  be  com- 
bined in  the  same  act.  To  attain  the  former 
object,  the  skilled  artisans  would  in  particular  be 
carried  off;  while  the  latter  was  better  effected 
by  transporting  all  the  families  of  the  highest 
birth,  and  all  the  well-trained  soldiery. 

The  expatriation  of  the  Jewish  people  belongs 
to  two  great  eras,  commonly  called  the  first  and 
second  Captivity ;  yet  differing  exceedingly  in 
character.  It  is  to  the  former  that  the  above  re- 
marks chiefly  applj'.  In  it,  the  prime  of  the  na- 
tion were  carried  eastward  by  the  monarch s  of 
Assyria  and  Babylon,  and  were  treated  with  no 
unnecessary  harKhncss,  even  under  the  dynasty 
that  captured  them.  That  which  we  name  the 
first  Captivity,  was  by  no  meai>s  brought  about 
by  a  single  removal  of  the  population.  In  fact, 
from  beginning  to  end,  the  period  of  deportation 
occupied  full  l.'iO  years;  as  the  period  of  return 
reaches  probably  through  100.  The  first  blow 
fell  upon  the  more  distant  tribes  of  Israel,  about 
T-tl  B.C.;  when  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria 
(2  Kings  XV.  23),  carried  off  the  pastoral  popu- 
lation which  lived  beyond  the  Jordan,  with  Ze- 
hulon  and  Naphtali.  (To  this  event  allusion  is 
made  in  Isaiah  ix.  1  ;  a  passage  very  ill  trans- 
lated in  our  received  version.)  In  the  time  of 
this  conquering  monarch,  Assyria  was  rapidly 
rising  into  power,  and  to  aggrandize  Nineveh 
was  probably  a  great  object  of  policy.  It  is 
therefore  credible,  as  he  bad  received  no  parti- 
cular provocation  from  the  Israelites,  that  he 
carried  off  these  masses  of  population  to  stock  his 
huge  city  with.  His  successor  Shalmanezer  made 
the  Israelitish  king  Hoshea,  tributary.    When  the 


CAPTIVITIES 


177 


tribute  was  withheld,  he  attacked  and  reduced 
Samaria  (b.c.  721),  and,  by  way  of  punishment 
and  of  prevention,  transported  into  Assyria  and 
Media  its  king  and  all  the  most  valuable  popula- 
tion remaining  to  the  ten  tribes  (2  Kings  xvii.  0). 
The  families  thus  removed  were,  in  great  mea- 
sure, settled  in  very  distant  cities  ;  many  of  them 
probably  not  far  from  the  Caspian  Sea ;  and  their 
place  was  supplied  by  colonies  from  Babylon  and 
Susis  (2  Kings  xvii.  24).  Such  was  the  end  of 
Israel  as  a  kingdom.— An  interval  of  more  than  a 
century  followed  before  Judah  was  to  suffer  a 
similar  fate.  Two  separate  deportations  are  nar- 
rated in  the  book  of  Kings,  three  in  that  of  Jere- 
miah, while  a  fourth  and  earlier  one  appears  in 
the  book  of  Daniel  i.  1-3.  But  it  is  pretty  clear 
that  the  people  of  Judah,  as  of  Israel,  were  car- 
ried out  of  their  land  by  two  principal  removals. 
The  former,  B.C.  598,  was  directed  to  swell  the 
armies  and  strengthen  the  towns  of  the  con- 
queror; for  of  the  18,000  then  carried  away, 
1000  were  'craftsmen  and  smiths,  all  strong  and 
apt  for  war,'  and  the  rest  are  called  '  mighty 
men  of  valour.'  It  was  not  until  the  rebellion 
of  Zcdekiah  that  Nebuchadnezzar  proceeded  to 
the  extremity  of  breaking  up  the  national  ex- 
istence, B.C.  588.  As  the  temple  was  then  burnt, 
with  all  the  palaces  and  the  city  walls,  and  no 
government  was  left  but  that  of  the  Babylonian 
satrap,  this  latter  date  is  evidently  the  true  era  of 
the  captivity.  Previously  Zedekiah  was  tribu- 
tary ;  but  so  were  Josiah  and  Ahaz  long  before ; 
the  national  existence  was  still  saved. 

Details  concerning  the  Return  from  the  capti- 
vity are  preserved  in  the  books  denominated 
after  Ezra  and  Nehemiah ;  and  in  the  prophe- 
cies of  two  contemporaries,  Haggai  and  Zecha- 
riah.  The  first  great  event  is  the  decree  of  Cyrus, 
B.C.  536,  in  consequence  of  Avhich  42,360  Jews  of 
Babylon  returned  under  Sheshbazzar,  with  7337 
slaves,  besides  cattle.  This  ended  in  their  build- 
ing the  altar,  and  laying  the  foundation  of  the 
second  temple,  53  years  after  the  destruction  of 
the  first.  The  progress  of  the  work  was,  how- 
ever, almost  immediately  stopped:  for  Zerub- 
babel,  Jeshua,  and  the  rest  abruptly  refused  all 
help  from  the  half-heathen  inhabitants  of  Sama- 
ria, and  soon  felt  the  effects  of  the  enmity  thus 
induced.  That  the  mind  of  Cyrus  was  changed 
by  their  intrigues,  we  are  not  informed ;  but  he 
was  probably  absent  in  distant  parts,  througli 
continual  war.  When  Darius  (Hystaspis),  an 
able  and  generous  monarch,  ascended  the  thi-one, 
the  Jews  soon  obtained  his  favour.  At  this 
crisis,  Zerubbabel  was  in  chief  authority  (Shesh- 
bazzar pes-haps  being  dead),  and  under  him  the 
temple  was  begun  in  the  second  and  ended  in. 
the  sixth  year  of  Darius,  B.C.  520-516.  Although 
this  must  be  reckoned  an  era  in  the  history,  it  is 
not  said  to  have  been  accompanied  with  any 
new  immigration  of  Jews.  We  pass  on  to  '  the 
seventh  year  of  king  Artaxerxes'(Longimanus), 
Ezra  vii.  7,  that  is,  B.C.  458,  when  Ezra  comes 
up  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem,  with  the  king's 
commendatory  letters,  accompanied  by  a  large 
body  of  his  nation.  The  enumeration  in  Ezra 
viii.  makes  them  under  1 800  males,  with  their 
families;  perhaps  amounting  to  5000  persons, 
young  and  old :  of  whom  1 1 3  are  recounted  as 
having  heathen  wives  (Ezra  X,  18-43).  In  the 
twentieth  year  of  the  same  king,  or  B.C.  445, 
N 


178  CAPTIVITIES 

Nehemiah,  his  cupbearer,  gains  his  permission 
to  restore  '  his  fathers'  sepulchres,'  and  the  walls 
of  his  native  city  ;  and  is  sent  to  Jerusalem  with 
large  powers.  This  is  the  crisis  which  decided 
the  national  restoration  of  the  Jewish  people: 
for  before  their  city  was  fortified,  they  had  no 
defence  against  the  now  confirmed  enmity  of 
their  Samaritan  neighbours  ;  and,  in  fact,  before 
the  walls  could  be  built,  several  princes  around 
were  able  to  offer  great  opposition  (  Sanballat]. 
The  Jewish  population  was  overwhelmed  with 
debt,  and  had  generally  mortgaged  their  little 
estates  to  the  rich;  but  Nehemiah's  influence 
succeeded  in  bringing  about  a  general  forfeiture 
of  debts,  or  at  least  of  the  interest :  after  which 
we  may  regard  the  new  order  of  things  to  have 
been  finally  established  in  Judaea  [Nehemiah]. 
From  this  time  forth  it  is  probable  that  nume- 
rous families  returned  in  small  parties,  as  to  a 
secure  home,  until  all  the  waste  land  in  the 
neighbourhood  was  re-occupied. 

There  has  been  great  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  how  the  70  years  of  captivity  spoken  of  by 
Jeremiah  (xxv.  12;  xxix.  10)  are  to  be  esti- 
mated. A  plausible  opinion  would  make  them 
last  from  the  destruction  of  the  first  temple,  B.C. 
.583,  to  the  finishing  of  the  second,  B.C.  516 :  but 
the  words  of  the  text  so  specify  '  the  punishing  of 
the  king  of  Babylon '  as  the  end  of  the  70  years— 
which  gives  us  the  date  B.C.  538— that  many  cling 
to  the  belief  that  a  first  captivity  took  place  in  the 
third  year  of  Jehoiakim,  B.C.  G05.  But,  in  fact,  if 
we  read  Jeremiah  himself,  it  may  appear  that  in 
ch.  xxv.  he  intends  to  compute  the  70  years  from 
the  time  at  which  he  speaks  (ver.  1, '  in  the  fourth 
year  of  Jehoiakim,'  i.  e.  B.C.  604) ;  and  that  in 
XXIX.  10,  the  number  '  seventy  years'  is  still  kept 
up,  in  remembrance  of  the  former  prophecy,  al- 
though the  language  there  used  is  very  lax. 

The  great  mass  of  the  Israelitish  race  never- 
theless remained  in  dispersion.  Previous  to  the 
captivity,  many  Israelites  had  settled  iu  Egypt 
(Zech.  X.  11  ;  Isa.  xix.  18),  and  many  Jews  after- 
wards fled  thither  from  Nebuzaradan  ( Jer.  xli.  17). 
j  Others  appear  to  have  established  themselves  in 
Sheha,  where  Jewish  influence  became  very  power- 
ful [Sheba]. 

It  is  maintained  by  some  that  the  ten  tribes  in- 
termarried so  freely  with  the  surrounding  popu- 
lation as  to  have  become  completely  absorbed; 
and  it  appears  to  be  a  universal  opinion  that  no 
one  now  knows  where  their  descendants  are.  But 
it  is  a  harsh  assumption  that  such  intermarriages 
were  commoner  with  the  ten  tribes  than  with  the 
two;  and  certainly,  in  the  apostolic  days,  the 
twelve  tribes  are  referred  to  as  a  well-known 
people,  sharply  defined  from  the  heathen  (James 
i.  1 ;  Acts  xxiv.  7).  Not  a  trace  appears  that  any 
repulsive  principle  existed  at  that  time  between 
t!ie  Ten  and  the  Two.  '  Ephraim  no  longer  en- 
vied Judah,  nor  Judah  vexed  Ephraim  ;'  but  they 
had  become  '  one  nation ;'  though  only  partially 
'  on  the  mountains  of  Israel'  (Isa.  xi.  13;  Ezek. 
i  xxxvii.  22).  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  one 
result  of  the  captivity  was  to  blend  all  the  tribes 
together,  and  produce  a  national  union  which  had 
never  been  effected  in  their  own  land.  If  ever 
there  was  a  difference  between  them  as  to  the 
books  counted  sacred,  that  difference  entirely 
vanished;  at  least  no  evidence  appears  of  the 
contrary  fact.     When,  moreover,  the  laws    of 


CAPTIVITIES 

landed  inheritance  no  longer  enforced  the  main- 
tenance of  separate  tribes  and  put  a  difficulty  in 
the  way  of  their  intermarriage,  an  almost  inevit- 
able result  in  course  of  time  was  the  entire  oblite- 
ration of  this  distinction ;  and  as  a  fact,  no  modern 
Jews  know  to  what  tribe  they  belong,  although 
vanity  always  makes  them  choose  to  say  that  they 
are  of  the  two  or  three,  and  not  of  the  ten  tribes. 
That  all  Jews  now  living  have  in  them  the  blood 
of  all  the  ten  tribes,  ought  (it  seems)  to  be  be- 
lieved, until  some  better  reason  than  mere  asser- 
tion is  advanced  against  it. 

When  Cyrus  gave  permission  to  the  Israelites 
to  return  to  their  own  country,  and  restored  their 
sacred  vessels,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  few  per- 
sons of  the  ten  tribes  were  eager  to  take  advantage 
of  it.  In  two  centuries  they  had  become  thoroughly 
naturalized  in  their  eastern  settlements  ;  nor  had 
Jerusalem  ever  been  the  centre  of  proud  aspira- 
tions to  them.  It  was  therefore  to  be  expected 
that  only  those  would  return  to  Jerusalem  whose 
expatriation  was  very  recent;  and  principally 
those  whose  parents  had  dwelt  in  the  Holy  City 
or  its  immediate  neighbourhood.  The  century 
which  followed  their  return  was.  On  the  whole, 
one  of  great  religious  activity  and  important  per- 
manent results  on  the  moral  character  of  the 
nation.  Even  the  prophetic  spirit  by  no  means 
disappeared  for  a  century  and  a  half;  although 
at  length  both  the  true  and  the  false  prophet  were 
supplanted  among  them  by  the  learned  and  dili- 
gent scribe,  the  anxious  commentator,  and  the 
over-literal  or  over-figurative  critic.  In  place  of 
a  people  prone  to  go  astray  after  sensible  objects 
of  adoration,  and  readily  admitting  heathen  cus- 
toms ;  attached  to  monarchical  power,  but  inat- 
tentive to  a  hierarchy ;  careless  of  a  written  law, 
and  movable  by  alternate  impulses  of  apostacy 
and  repentance ;  we  henceforth  find  in  them  a 
deep  and  permanent  reverence  for  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  an  aversion  to  foreigners  and  foreign 
customs,  and  a  profound  hatred  of  idolatry.  Now 
first,  as  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  were  the  syna- 
gogues and  houses  of  prayer  instituted,  and  the 
law  periodically  read  aloud.  Now  began  the  close 
observance  of  the  Passover,  the  Sabbath,  and  the 
Sabbatical  year.  From  this  era  the  civil  power 
was  absorbed  in  that  of  the  priesthood,  and  the 
Jewish  people  affords  the  singular  spectacle  of  a 
nation  in  which  the  priestly  rule  came  later  in 
time  than  that  of  hereditary  kings. 

In  their  habits  of  life  also,  the  Jewish  nation 
was  permanently  affected  by  the  first  captivity. 
The  love  of  agriculture,  which  the  institutions  of 
Moses  had  so  vigorously  inspired,  had  necessarily 
declined  iu  a  foreign  land ;  and  they  returned  with 
a  taste  for  commerce,  banking,  and  retail  trade, 
which  was  probably  kept  up  by  con.stant  inter- 
course with  their  brethren  who  remained  in  dis- 
persion. The  same  intercourse  in  turn  propagated 
towards  the  rest  the  moral  spirit  which  reigned 
at  Jerusalem.  The  Egyptian  Jews,  it  would 
seem,  had  gained  little  good  from  the  contact  of 
idolatry  (Jer.  xliv.  8)  ;  but  those  who  had  fallen 
iu  with  the  Persian  religion,  probably  about  the 
time  of  its  great  reform  by  Zoroaster,  had  been 
preserved  from  such  temptations,  and  returned 
purer  than  they  went.  Thenceforward  it  was  the 
honourable  function  of  Jerusalem  to  act  as  a  re- 
ligious metropolis  to  the  whole  dispersed  nation; 
and  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  ten  tribes,  as 


CARAVAJS 

well  as  the  two,  learned  to  be  proud  of  the  Holy 
City,  as  the  great  and  free  centre  of  their  name 
and  iheir  faith.  The  same  religious  influences 
thus  diifused  themselves  through  all  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel. 

Thus  in  Egypt  and  Arabia,  in  Babylonia,  As- 
syria, Media,  masses  of  the  nation  were  planted, 
who,  living  by  traffic  and  by  banking,  were  neces- 
sitated to  spread  in  all  directions  as  their  numbers 
increased.  By  this  natural  progress  they  moved 
westward  as  well  as  eastward,  and,  in  the  time  of 
St.  Paul,  were  abundant  in  Asia  Minor,  Greece, 
and  the  chief  cities  of  Italy. 

The  extermination  suffered  by  the  Jewish  in- 
habitants of  Palestine,  under  the  Romans,  for 
better  deserves  the  name  of  captivity  :  for  after 
the  massacre  of  countless  thousands,  the  captives 
were  reduced  to  a  real  bondage.  According  to 
Josephus,  1,100,000  men  fell  in  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem by  Titus,  and  97,000  were  captured  in  the 
whole  war.  Of  the  latter  number  the  greatest 
part  was  distributed  among  the  provinces,  to  be 
butchered  in  the  amphitheatres  or  cast  there  to 
wild  beasts ;  others  were  doomed  to  work  as  pub- 
lic slaves  in  Egypt :  only  those  under  the  age  of 
seventeen  were  sold  into  private  bondage.  An 
equally  dreadful  destruction  fell  upon  the  remains 
of  the  nation,  which  had  once  more  assembled  in 
Judaea,  under  the  reign  of  Hadrian  (a.d.  1^3); 
and  by  these  two  savage  -wars  the  Jewish  popula- 
tion must  have  been  effectually  extirpated  from 
the  Holy  Land  itself,  a  result  which  did  not  fol- 
low from  the  Babylonian  captivity.  Afterwards, 
a  dreary  period  of  fifteen  hundred  years'  oppres- 
sion crushed  in  Europe  all  who  bore  the  name  of 
Israel,  and  Christian  nations  have  visited  on  their 
head  a  crime  perpetrated  by  a  few  thousand  inha- 
bitants of  Jerusalem,  who  were  not  the  real  fore- 
fathers of  the  European  Jews.  Nor  in  the  East 
has  their  lot  been  much  more  cheering.  With 
few  and  partial  exceptions,  they  have  ever  since 
been  a  despised,  an  oppressed,  and  naturally  a  de- 
graded people ;  though  from  them  have  spread 
light  and  truth  to  the  distant  nations  of  the  earth. 
CAR  A  VAN  is  the  name  given  to  a  body  of 
merchants  or  pilgrims  as  they  travel  in  the  East. 
A  multitude  of  people,  of  all  ages  and  conditions, 
assembling  to  undertake  a  journey,  and  prosecuting 
it  en  masse  for  days  and  weeks  together,  is  a  thing 
unknown  in  Europe,  where,  from  the  many  facili- 
ties for  travelling,  and  a  well  organized  system  of 
police,  travellers  can  go  alone  and  unprotected 
along  the  highways  to  any  distance  with  the  most 
perfect  security.  But  in  Eastern  countries  the 
dangers  arising  from  the  vast  deserts  that  intersect 
these  regions,  as  well  as  from  wild  beasts  and 
bands  of  marauding  Arabs,  are  too  numerous  and 
imminent  for  single  traders  or  solitary  travellers 
to  encounter  ;  and  hence  merchants  and  pilgrims 
are  accustomed  to  unite  for  mutual  protection  in 
traversing  these  wild  and  inhospitable  parts,  as 
well  as  for  offering  a  more  effectual  resistance  to 
the  attacks  of  robbers.  Through  this  kind  of 
intercourse,  which  principally  obtains  in  Turkey, 
Persia,  and  Arabia,  most  of  the  inland  commerce 
of  the  East  is  carried  on.  Any  person  can,  under 
certain  regulations,  form  a  caravan  at  any  time. 
But  generally  there  are  stated  periods,  which  are 
well  known  as  the  regular  starting-times  for  the 
mercantile  journeys ;  and  the  merchants  belonging 
to  the  company,  or  those  travellers  who  are  de- 


CARAVAN 


179 


sirous  of  accompanying  it  for  the  benefit  of  a  safe 
conduct,  repair  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  where 
the  caravan  is  to  be  formed,  exhibiting,  as  their 
goods  and  camels  successively  arrive,  a  motley 
group — a  busy  and  tumultuous  scene  of  prepara- 
tion,  which  can  be  more  easily  conceived  than 
described.  As  in  the  hot  season  the  travelling  is 
performed  under  night,  the  previous  part  of  the 
day  on  which  the  caravan  leaves  is  consumed  in 
the  preparatory  labours  of  packing — an  indispens- 
able arrangement,  which  has  been  observed  with 
unbroken  uniformity  since  the  days  of  Ezekiel 
(xii.  3)  ;  and  then,  about  eight  o'clock,  the  usual 
starting-time,  the  whole  party  put  themselves  in 
motion,  and  continue  their  journey  without  inter- 
ruption till  midnight  (Luke  xi.  5,  6)  or  later.  At 
other  seasons  they  travel  all  day,  only  halting  for 
rest  and  refreshment  during  the  heat  of  noon. 
The  average  rate  of  travel  is  from  1 7  to  20  miles 
per  day. 

The  earliest  caravan  of  merchants  we  read  of  is 
the  itinerant  company  to  whom  Joseph  was  sold 
by  his  brethren  (Gen.  xxxvii.).  The  date  of  this 
transaction  is  more  than  seventeen  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  and  notwithstanding  its  anti- 
quity, it  has  all  the  genuine  features  of  a  caravan 
crossing  the  desert  at  the  present  hour.  This 
caravan  was  a  mixed  one,  consisting  of  three 
classes,  Ishmaelites  (ver.  25),  Midianites  (ver.  28), 
and  Medanites,  as  the  Hebrew  calls  the  last  (ver. 
36),  who,  belonging  to  the  mountainous  region  of 
Gilead,  would  seem,  like  the  nomade  tribes  of 
Africa  in  the  present  day,  to  have  engaged  them- 
selves as  commercial  travellers,  and  were  then,  in 
passing  over  the  plain  of  Dothan,  on  the  high 
caravan-road  for  the  market  of  Egypt. 

Besides  these  communities  of  travelling  mer- 
chants in  the  East,  there  are  caravans  of  pilgrims, 
i.  e.  of  those  who  go  for  religious  purposes  to 
Mecca,  comprising  vastly  greater  multitudes  of 
people.  Four  of  these  start  regularly  every  year : 
one  from  Cairo,  consisting  of  Mahommedans  from 
Barbary ;  a  second  from  Damascus,  conveying  the 
Turks ;  a  third  from  Babylon,  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  Persians  ;  and  a  fourth  fi-om  Zibith, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea,  which  is  the  rendez- 
vous for  those  coming  from  Arabia  and  India. 
The  organization  of  the  immense  hordes  which, 
on  such  occasions,  assemble  to  undertake  a  dis- 
tant expedition,  strangers  to  each  other,  and  un- 
accustomed to  the  strict  discipline  which  is  indis- 
pensable for  their  comfort  and  security  during 
the  march,  though,  as  might  be  expected,  a  work 
of  no  small  difficulty,  is  accomplished  in  the  East 
by  a  few  simple  arrangements  which  are  the  result 
of  long  experience.  One  obvious  borxl  of  union 
to  the  main  body,  when  travelling  by  night  and 
through  extensive  deserts,  is  the  music  of  the  Arab 
servants,  who  by  alternate  songs  in  their  national 
manner  beguile  the  tedium  of  the  way  :  while  the 
incessant  jingling  of  innumerable  bells  fastened 
to  the  necks  of  the  camels  enlivens  the  patient 
beasts,  frightens  animals  of  prey,  and  keeps  the 
party  together.  To  meet  all  the  exigencies  of  the 
journey,  however,  the  caravan  is  placed  under  the 
charge  of  a  caravan  bashe,  the  chief  who  presides 
over  all,  and  under  whom  there  are  five  leading 
officers  appointed  to  different  departments  : — one 
who  regulates  the  march ;  a  second,  whose  duties 
only  commence  at  halting  time;  a  third  who 
superintends  the  servants  and  cattle;  a  fourth 
sr  2 


180 


cakava: 


■who  takes  charge  of  tlie  baggage ;  a  fifch  who 
acts  as  paymaster,  &c. ;  and  besides  these,  there 
are  the  officers  of  the  inilitai-y  escort  that  always 
accompanies  it.  Anotlier  functionary  of  the 
highest  importance  is  the  hj/heer,  or  guide,  whose 
services  are  indispensable  in  crossing  the  great 
deserts,  such  as  that  along  the  coast  of  the  Red 
Sea  or  on  the  western  extremities  of  Africa.  He 
is  commonly  a  person  of  influence,  belonging  to 
some  powerful  tribe,  whose  personal  qualifications 
must  embrace  an  extensive  and  accurate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  whole  features  of  the  land.  It  is 
absohitely  necessary  that  he  understand  the  pro- 
gnostics of  the  weather,  the  time  and  places  where 
the  terrible  simoom  or  hot  wind  blows,  and  the 
tracts  occupied  by  shifting  sands;  and  that  he 
know  the  exact  locality  and  qualities  of  the  wells, 
the  oases  that  afford  the  refreshments  of  shade  for 
the  men  and  grass  for  the  cattle,  the  situation  of 
hostile  or  treacherous  tribes,  and  the  means  of 
escaping  those  threatened  dangers. 

There  is  a  close  and  very  striking  resemblance 
between  the  arrangements  of  these  caravans  and 
the  order  adopted  by  the  Israelites  during  their 
journey  through  almost  the  same  extensive  deserts. 
The  arrangement  of  those  vast  travelling  bodies 
seems  to  have  undergone  no  material  alteration 
for  nearly  four  thousand  years,  and  therefore 
affords  the  best  possible  commentary  illustrative 
of  the  Mosaic  narrative  of  the  Exodus.  Like 
them,  the  immense  body  of  Israelitish  emigrants, 
while  the  chief  burden  devolved  on  Moses,  was 
divided  into  companies,  each  company  being  under 
the  charge  of  a  suhordinate  officer,  called  a  prince 
(Num.  vii.).  Like  them,  the  Hebrews  made  their 
first  stage  in  a  hurried  manner  and  in  tumultuous 
disorder  (Exod.  xiL  11);  and,  like  them,  each 
tribe  had  its  respective  standard  [Standards]  ; 
which  was  pitched  at  the  different  stages,  or  thrust 
perpendicularly  into  the  ground,  and  thus  formed 
a  central  point," around  which  the  straggling  party 
spread  themselves  during  their  hours  of  rest  and 
leisure  (Num.  iL  2).  Like  them,  the  signal  for 
starting  was  given  by  the  blast  of  a  trumpet,  or 
rather  tnimpets  (Num.  x.  2,  5) ;  and  the  time  of 
march  and  halting  was  regulated  by  the  same 
rules  that  have  been  observed  by  all  travellers 
from  time  immemorial  during  the  hot  season. 
Like  theirs,  too,  the  elevation  of  the  standard,  as 
it  was  borne  forward  in  the  van  of  each  company, 
formed  a  prominent  object  to  prevent  dispersion, 
or  enable  wanderers  to  recover  their  place  within 
the  line  or  division  to  which  they  belonged.  Nor 
was  there  any  difference  here,  except  that,  while 
the  Israelites  in  like  manner  prosecuted  their 
journey  occasionally  by  night  as  well  as  by  day, 
they  did  not,  like  the  caravans  of  pilgrims,  re- 
quire the  aid  of  fires  in  their  standards,  as  the 
friendly  presence  of  the  fiery  pillar  superseded 
the  necessity  of  any  artificial  lights.  One  other 
point  of  analogy  remains  to  be  traced  in  the  cir- 
cumstance of  Hobab  being  enlisted  in  the  service 
of  tlie  Hebrew  caravan  as  its  guide  through  the 
great  Arabian  desert.  The  extreme  solicitude  of 
Moses. to  secure  the  services  of  his  brother-in-law 
iu  that  capacity  will  be  accounted  for  if  it  is 
borne  in  mind,  that  although  the  pillar  of  cloud 
by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  sufiEced  to  regulate 
the  main  stages  cf  the  Hebrews,  foraging  parties 
would  at  short  intervals  require  to  be  sent  out, 
and  scouts  to  reconnoitre  tb:"  country  for  fuel,  or 


CARBUNCLE 

to  negotiate  with  the  native  tribes  for  provender 
and  water.  And  who  so  well  qualified  to  assist 
in  these  important  services  as  Hobab,  from  his 
intimate  acquaintance  with  the  localities,  his  in- 
fluence as  a  Sheikh,  and  his  family  connection 
with  the  leader  of  Israel  ? 

The  nature  and  economy  of  the  modern  Hadj 
caravans  might  be  applied  also  to  illustrate  the 
return  of  the  Hebrew  exiles  under  Ezra  from  the 
land  of  their  captivity. 

The  bands  of  Jewish  pilgrims  that  annually 
repaired  from  every  corner  of  Judfea  to  attend 
the  three  great  festivals  in  Jerusalem,  wanted 
this  government  and  distribution  into  distinct 
companies,  and  seem  to  have  resembled  less  the 
character  of  the  great  Mecca  caravans  than  the 
irregular  processions  of  the  Hindoos  to  and  from 
the  scene  of  some  of  their  religious  pageants.  On 
such  occasions  multitudes  of  men,  women,  and 
children,  amounting  to  ten  or  twenty  thousand, 
may  be  seen  bending  their  way  to  the  place  of 
ceremonial,  with  their  beds,  cooking  implements, 
and  other  luggage  on  their  heads,  prosecuting 
their  journey  in  this  manner  from  day  to  day, 
by  long  or  shorter  stages,  as  custom  or  physical 
strength  may  dictate.  As  in  a  crowd  of  this 
motley  description  not  the  slightest  regard  is  paid 
to  regularity  or  order,  and  every  one  of  course 
takes  the  place  or  mingles  with  the  group  that 
pleases  him,  the  separation  of  the  nearest  friends 
for  a  whole  day  must,  in  &uch  circumstances,  be 
a  common  and  unavoidable  occurrence  ;  and  yet 
anxiety  is  never  felt,  unless  the  missing  one  fail 
to  appear  at  the  appointed  rendezvous  of  the 
family.  In  like  manner  among  the  ancient 
Jews,  the  inhabitants  of  the  same  village  or 
district  would  naturally  form  themselves  into 
travelling  parties,  for  mutual  security  as  well 
as  for  enjoying  the  society  of  acquaintance.  The 
poorer  sort  would  have  to  travel  on  foot,  while 
females  and  those  of  the  better  class  might  ride 
on  asses  and  camels.  But  as  their  country  was 
divided  into  tribes,  and  those  who  lived  in  the 
same  hamlet  or  canton  would  be  more  or  less 
connected  by  family  ties,  the  j^oung,  the  volatile, 
and  active  among  the  Jewish  pilgrims  had  far 
more  inducements  to  disperse  themselves  amongst 
the  crowd  than  those  of  the  modern  processions, 
numbers  of  whom  are  necessarily  strangers  to 
each  other.  In  these  circumstances  it  is  easy  to 
understand  how  the  young  Jesus  might  mingle 
successively  with  groups  of  his  kindred  and  ac- 
quaintance, who,  captivated  with  his  precocious 
wisdom  and  piety,  might  be  fond  to  detain  him 
in  their  circle,  while  his  mother,  together  with 
Joseph,  felt  no  anxiety  at  his  absence,  knowing 
the  grave  and  sober  character  of  their  companions 
in  travel ;  and  the  incident  is  the  more  natural 
that  his  parents  are  said  to  have  gone  '  one  day's 
journey  from  Jerusalem  before  they  missed  him ;' 
since,  according  to  the  present,  and  probably  the 
ancient,  practice  of  the  East,  the  first  stage  is 
always  a  short  one,  seldom  exceeding  two  or 
three'  hours.  Beer— the  modern  el-Bireh,  where 
Mary's  discovery  is  reputed  to  have  been  made — 
is  scarcely  three  miles  from  Jerusalem,  where  the 
caravan  of  Galilaean  pilgrims  halted. 
CARAVANSERAI.  [Inn.] 
CAR'B UNCLE.  There  are  two  Hebrew  words 
rendered  by  '  Carbuncle '  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion.   One  of  them,  Nophech,  which  occurs  in 


CARMEL 

Exod.  xxviii.  18;  xxxix.  11;  Ezck.  xxviii.  13, 
appears  to  have  been  a  kind  of  ruby  or  garnet. 
perhaps  the  noble  Oriental  garnet,  which  is  a 
transparent  red  stone,  with  a  violet  shade,  and 
strong  glossy  lustre.  The  other  word  is  Ek- 
DACH,  which  occurs  in  Isa.  liv.  12,  where  the 
gates  of  the  new  Jerusalem  are  described  as 
being  composed  of  it.  It  seems  to  denote  some 
stone  of  a  fiery  lustre,  but  the  particular  kind 
cannot  well  be  determined. 

CAR'CHEMISH  is  mentioned  in  Isa.  x.  9 
among  other  places  in  Syria  which  had  been  sub- 
dued by  an  Assyrian  king,  probably  Tiglath-pi- 
leser.  It  appears  to  have  been  a  frontier  town 
and  a  stronghold  on  the  Euphrates  (Jer.  xlvi.  2  ; 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  20),  and  is  probably  therefore 
the  city  which  the  Greeks  called  Kirkesion,  the 
Latins  Cercusium,  and  the  Arabs,  Kerkesiyeh ; 
for  this  too  lay  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Eu- 
phrates, where  it  is  joined  by  the  Chaboras.  It 
was  a  large  city,  and  surrounded  by  strong  walls, 
which,  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  were  occa- 
sionally renewed,  as  this  was  the  remotest  out- 
post of  their  empire,  towards  the  Euphrates,  in 
the  direction  of  Persia.  It  is  unknown  whether 
any  traces  of  it  still  exist ;  for,  as  it  lies  off  the 
usual  route  of  caravans,  it  has  not  been  noticed 
by  modem  travellers. 

CARTA,  a  country  lying  at  the  south-western 
extremity  of  Asia  Minor,  to  which,  among  others, 
the  Romans  wrote  in  favour  of  the  Jews(l  Mace. 
XV.  22,  33).  Its  principal  towns  were  Halicar- 
nassus,  Cnidus,  and  Myndus,  which  are  all  men- 
tioned in  the  rescript  of  the  Roman  senate,  to 
which  we  refer.  Halicarnassus  was  the  birth- 
place of  Herodotus ;  Cnidus  is  mentioned  in  Acts 
xxvii.  7,  as  having  been  passed  by  St.  Paul  on 
his  voyage  to  Rome. 

CAR'MEL,  a  range  of  hills  extending  north- 
west from  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  and  ending  in 
a  promontory',  or  cape,  which  forms  the  Bay  of 
Acre.  The  extent  of  this  range  of  hills  is  about 
six  miles,  not  in  a  direct  line ;  but  the  two  extre- 
mities (on  the  western  side  towards  the  sea)  jot 


CARMEL 


ISl 


out,  and  stand  over  against  each  other,  forming  a 
bow  in  the  middle.  The  height  is  about  1 500 
feet ;  and  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  on  the 
north-east,  runs  the  brook  Kishon,  and  a  little 
further  north,  the  river  Belus.     Mount  Carmel 


consists  rather  of  several  connected  hills  than  of 
one  ridge;  the  north  and  eastern  parts  being 
somewhat  higher  than  the  soiithern  and  western. 
The  foot  of  the  northern  portion  approaches  the 
water_  very  cloiely,  but  further  south  it  retires 
more  inland,  so  as  to  leave  between  tlie  mountain 
and  the  sea  an  extensive  and  very  furtile  plain. 

Mount  Carmel  forms  the  only  great  promon- 
tory upon  the  coast  of  Palestine.  According  to 
the  reports  of  most  travellers,  the  mountain  well 
deserves  its  Hebrew  name  {Carmel— country  of 
vinei/ards  and  gardens).  It  is  entirely  covered 
with  verdure.  On  its  summit  are  pines  and  oaks, 
and  further  down  olives  and  laurel  trees,  every- 
where plentifully  watered.  It  gives  rise  to  a 
multitude  of  crystal  brooks,  the  largest  of  which 
issues  from  the  so-called  Fountain  of  Elijah ;  and 
they  all  hurry  along,  between  banks  thickly 
overgrown  with  bushes,  to  the  Kishon.  Every 
species  of  tillage  succeeds  here  admirably,  under 
this  mild  and  cheerful  sky.  The  prospect  from 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  over  the  gulf  of 
Acre  and  its  fertile  shores,  and  over  the  Hue 
heights  of  Lebanon  and  the  White  Cape,  is  en- 
chanting. 

The  mountain  is  of  compact  limestone,  and, 
as  often  happens  where  that  is  the  case  [Caves], 
there  are  in  it  very  many  caverns — it  is  said, 
more  than  a  thousand.  In  one  tract,  called  the 
Monk's  Cavern,  there  are  as  many  as  four  hun- 
dred adjacent  to  each  other,  furnished  with  win- 
dows and  with  places  for  sleeping  hewn  in  the 
rock.  That  the  gi-ottoes  and  caves  of  IMount 
Carmel  were  already,  in  very  ancient  times,  the 
abode  of  prophets  and  other  religious  persons  is 
well  known.  The  prophets  Elijah  and  Elisha 
often  resorted  thither  (1  Kings  xviii.  19,  sq.  42; 
2  Kings  ii.  25 ;  iv.  25  ;  and  comp.  perhaps  1  Kings 
xviii.  4,  13).  At  the  present  day  is  shown  a 
cavern  called  the  cave  of  Elijah,  a  little  below 
the  Monks'  Cavern  already  mentioned,  and  which 
is  now  a  Moslem  sanctuary.  Upon  the  summit 
is  an  ancient  establishment  of  Carmelite  monks, 
which  order,  indeed,  derived  its  name  from  this 
mountain.  The  old  convent  was  destroyed  by 
Abdallah  Pasha,  who  converted  the  materials  to 
his  own  use  ;  but  it  has  of  late  years  been  rebuilt 
on  a  somewhat  imposing  scale  by  the  aid  of  con- 
tributions from  Europe. 

2.  CARMEL.  Another  Carmel,  among  the 
mountains  of  Judah,  is  named  in  Josh.  xv.  o.i. 
It  was  here  that  Saul  set  up  the  trophy  of  his 
victory  over  Amalek  (1  Sam.  xv.  12),  and  where 
Nabal  was  shearing  his  sheep  when  the  afl'air 
took  place  between  him  and  David  in  which 
Abigail  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part  ( 1  Sam.  xxv. 
2,  sq.).  This  Carmel  is  described  by  Eusebius 
and  Jerome  as,  in  their  day,  a  village,  with  a 
Roman  garrison,  ten  miles  from  Hebron,  verging 
towards  the  east.  From  the  time  of  the  Crusades 
till  the  present  century  its  name  seems  to  have 
been  forgotten.  But  it  has  been  recently  recog- 
nised by  travellers  under  the  name  of  Kurmul. 
The  place  is  now  utterly  desolate,  but  the  ruins 
indicate  a  town  of  considerable  extent  and  im- 
portance. The  most  remarkable  ruin  is  that  of 
a  castle,  quadrangular,  standing  on  a  swell  of 
ground  in  the  midst  of  the  town.  The  distance 
of  this  place  from  Hebron  is  nearer  eight  Roman 
miles  than  ten,  as  assigned  by  Eusebius  and  Je- 
rome. 


182 


CASSIA 


CARPENTEE.    [Handicraft.] 

CAR'PUS,  a  disciple  of  Paul,  who  dwelt  at 
Troas  (2  Tim.  iv.  13). 

CART.  The  Hebrew  word  rendered  by  our 
translators  in  some  places  by  '  waggon,'  and  in 
others  by  '  cart,'  denotes  any  vehicle  moving  on 
wheels  and  usually  drawn  by  oxen ;  and  their 
particular  character  must  be  determined  by  the 
context  indicating  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  employed.  First,  we  have  the  carts  which 
the  king  of  Egypt  sent  to  assist  in  transporting 
Jacob's  family  from  Canaan  (Gen.  xlv.  19,  27). 
From  their  being  so  sent  it  is  manifest  that  they 
were  not  used  in  the  latter  country ;  and  that 
they  were  known  there  as  being  peculiar  to 
Egypt  is  shown  by  the  confirmation  which  they 
attbrded  to  Jacob  of  the  truth  of  the  strange  story 
told  by  his  sons.     The  carts  or  wains  represented 


in  the  Egyptian  sculptures  are  the  following, 
which,  however,  appear  to  belong  to  a  foreign 
people.  But  that  the  Egyptians  had  something 
like  them  of  their  own  appears  from  figs,  1,  2,  in 
cut  113. 

Elsewhere  (Num.  vii.  3,  G ;  1  Sam.  vi.  7)  we 
read  of  carts  used  for  the  removal  of  the  sacred 
arks  and  utensils.  These  also  were  drawn  by 
two  oxen.     In  Eosellini  we  have  found  a  very 


2,  S»,&^%i 


curious  representation  of  the  vehicle  used  for 
such  purposes  by  the  Egyptians  (No.  113,  fig.  3). 
It  is  little  more  than  a  platform  on  wheels  ;  and 
the  apprehension  which  induced  Uzzah  to  put 
forth  his  hand  to  stay  the  ark  when  shaken  by 
the  oxen  (2  Sam.  vi.  G),  may  suggest  that  the 
cart  employed  on  that  occasion  was  not  unlike 
this,  as  it  would  be  easy  for  a  jerk  to  displace 
whatever  might  be  upon  it. 

CASLU'HIM,  properly  Casluchim,  a  people 
whose  progenitor  was  a  son  of  Mizraim  (Gen. 
X.  14;  1  Chron.  i.  12).  He,  or  they,  for  the 
word  applies  rather  to  a  people  than  to  an  indi- 
vidual, are  supposed  by  Bochart  and  others  to 
have  carried  a  colony  from  Egypt,  which  settled 
in  the  district  between  Pelusium  and  Gaza,  or,  in 
other  words,  between  the  Egyptians  and  the 
Philistines.  There  are  some  grounds  for  this 
conjecture ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  any 
certainty  on  so  obscure  a  subject. 

CASSIA.  Our  translators  have  rendered  two 
distinct  Hebrew  words  by  this  term.  One  of 
these  (Ketzioth)  is  mentioned  in  three  places 


CAT 

(Exod.  XXX.  24:  Ezek.  xxvii.  19;  and  in  Ps. 
xlv.  8),  in  conjunction  with  myrrh,  cinnamon, 
sweet  calamus,  and  ahalim,  or  eagle-wood.  All 
these  are  aromatic  substances,  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  myrrh,  which  is  obtained  from  Africa, 
are  products  of  India  and  its  islands.  It  is  pro- 
bable, therefore,  that  ketzioth  is  of  a  similar 
nature,  and  obtained  from  the  same  countries.  It 
is  supposed,  however,  that  the  substance  referred 
to  is  not  cassia;  but  it  will  be  preferable  to  treat 
of  the  whole  subject  in  connection  with  cinnamon. 

[KiNNAMON.] 

The  other  word  rendered  cassia  in  our  Autho^ 
rized  Version  is  kiddah.  It  occurs  first  in  Exod. 
XXX.  24,  where  cassia  (kiddah)  is  mentioned  in 
connection  with  olive  oil,  pure  myrrh,  sweet  cin- 
namon, and  sweet  calamus ;  secondly,  in  Ezek. 
xxviii.  1 9,  where  Dan  and  Javan  are  described  as 
bringing  bright  iron,  cassia  (kiddah),  and  calamus 
to  the  markets  of  Tyre.  There  is  no  reason  why 
the  substance  now  called  cassia  might  not  hare 
been  imported  from  the  shores  of  India  into  Egypt 
and  Palestine.  The  Arabian  Koost  (Auchlandia 
Costus\,  known  in  Calcutta  by  the  name  of 
Puchiik,  an  aromatic  substance  exported  in  large 
quantities  from  Cashmere  into  the  Punjab, 
whence  it  finds  its  way  to  Bombay  and  Calcutta, 
for  export  to  China,  where  it  is  highly  valued  as 
one  of  the  ingredients  in  the  incense  which  the 
Chinese  burn  in  their  temples  and  private  houses. 

CASTLE.     [Fortifications.] 

CASTOR  AND  POL'LUX,  in  heathen  mytho- 
logy, the  twin  sons  of  Jupiter  by  Leda.  They 
had  the  special  province  of  assisting  persons  in 
danger  of  shipwreck ;  and  hence  their  figures 
were  often  adopted  for  '  the  sign,'  from  which  a 
ship  derived  its  name,  as  was  the  case  with  that 
'  ship  of  Alexandria '  in  which  St.  Paul  sailed  on 
his  journey  for  Rome  (Acts  xxviii.  11). 

CAT.  It  might  be  assumed  that  the  cat  was 
an  useful,  if  not  a  necessary,  domestic  animal 
to  the  Hebrew  people  in  Palestine,  where  corn 
was  grown  for  exportation,  as  well  as  for  con- 
sumption of  the  resident  population,  twenty  or 
thirty-fold  more  than  at  present,  and  where, 
moreover,  the  conditions  of  the  climate  required 
the  precaution  of  a  plentiful  store  being  kept  in 
reserve  to  meet  the  chances  of  scarcity.  The  ani- 
mal could  not  be  unknown  to  the  people,  for  their 
ancestors  had  witnessed  the  Egyptians  treating  it 


as  a  divinity.  Yet  we  find  the  cat  nowhere  men^ 
tioned  in  the  canonical  books  as  a  domestic  ani- 
mal. And  in  Baruch  it  is  noticed  only  as  a  tenant 
of  Pagan  temples,  where  no  doubt  the  fragments 
of  sacrificed  animals  and  vegetables  attracted 
vermin,  and  rendered  the  presence  of  cats  neces- 
sary.    This  singular  circumstance,  perhaps,  re- 


CAVES 

suited  from  the  auimal  being  deemed  unclean, 
and  being  thereby  excluded  domestic  familiarity, 
though  the  Hebrews  may  still  liave  encouraged 
it,  in  common  with  other  vermin-hunters,  about 
the  outhouses  and  farms,  and  corn-stores,  at  the 
risk  of  some  loss  among  the  broods  of  pigeons 
which,  in  Palestine,  were  a  substitute  for  poultry. 

With  regard  to  the  neighbouring  nations  just 
named,  they  all  had  domestic  cats,  it  is  presumed, 
derived  from  a  wild  species  found  in  Nubia,  and 
first  described  by  Ruppel  under  the  name  of  Felis 
Maniculata.  The  typical  animal  is  smaller, 
more  slender,  and  more  delicately  limbed  than 
the  European.  The  fur  is  pale  yellowish  grey, 
with  some  dark  streaks  across  the  paws,  an'd  at 
the  tip  of  the  tail.  In  the  domesticated  state  it 
varies  in  colours  and  markings,  for  the  ancient 
monuments  of  Egypt  contain  many  painted 
figures,  which  show  them  cross-barred  like  our 
wild  species  in  Europe.  Two  specimens  are  here 
given  from  these  paintings;  one  clearly  a  cat; 
the  other,  which  is  not  apparently  a  cat  but  a 
species  of  gennet  or  paradoxurus,  is,  in  the  ori- 
ginal, figured  as  catching  birds,  acting  like  a  re- 
triever for  his  master,  who  is  fowling  in  a  boat. 

CATERPILLAR  occurs  in  the  Auth.  Vers. 
1  Kings  viii.  37;  2  Chron.  vi.  28;  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
46;  cv.  34;  Isa.  xxxiii.  4;  Jer.  li.  14,  27  ;  Joel 
i.  4  ;  ii.  25.  But  it  is  more  than  doubtful  whether 
any  species  of  caterpillar  is  here  intended.  The 
name  in  the  original  indicates  a  creature  whose 
chief  characteristic  is  voracity,  and  which  also 
attaches  to  all  the  species  of  locusts.  The  ancients, 
indeed,  concur  in  referring  the  word  to  the  locust 
tribe  of  insects,  but  are  not  agreed  whether  it 
signifies  any  particular  species  of  locust,  or  is  the 
name  for  any  of  those  states  or  transformations 
through  which  the  locust  passes  fi'om  the  egg  to 
the  perfect  insect.  The  Latin  Fathers  take  it  to 
mean  the  larva  of  the  locust,  and  the  Greek  un- 
derstand it  as  the  name  of  an  adult  locust.  On 
the  whole  it  seems  probable  that  the  Hebrew  word 
means  a  locust,  but  of  which  species  it  is  impos- 
sible to  determine. 

CATTLE.     [Beasts;  Bull.] 

CAVES.  The  geological  formation  of  Syria  is 
highly  favourable  to  the  production  of  caves.  It 
consists  chiefly  of  limestone,  in  different  degrees 
of  oensity,  and  abounds  with  subterranean  rivu- 
lels.  The  springs  issuing  from  limes-tone  gene- 
rally contain  carbonate  of  lime,  and  most  of  them 
yield  a  large  quantity  of  free  carbonic  acid  upon 
exposure  to  the  air.  To  the  erosive  effect  upon 
limestone  rocks,  of  water  charged  with  this  acid, 
the  formation  of  caves  is  chiefly  to  be  ascribed. 
The  subordinate  strata  of  Syria,  sandstone,  chalk, 
basalt,  natron,  &c.  favour  the  formation  of  caves. 
Consequently  the  Avhole  region  abounds  with  sub- 
terranean hollows  of  different  dimensions.  Some 
of  theui  are  of  immense  extent,  such  as  those 
noticed  by  Strabo,  who  speaks  of  a  cavern  near 
Damascus  capable  of  holding  4000  men.  The 
first  mention  of  a  cave  in  Scripture  relates  to  that 
into  which  Lot  and  his  two  daughters  retired  from 
Zoar,  after  the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  Gomor- 
rah (Gen.  xix.  30).  The  next  is  the  Cave  of 
Machpelah,  in  the  field  of  Ephron, which  Abraham 
purchased  of  the  sons  of  Heth  (Gen.  xxv.  3,  10). 
There  Abraham  buried  Sarah,  and  Was  himself 
afterwards  buried;  there  also  Isaac,  Rebecca, 
L«ah,  and  Jacob,  were  buried  (Gen.  xlix.  31 ; 


CAVES  183 

1.  13).  The  cave  of  Machpelah  is  said  to  be  under 
a  Mahometan  mosque,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall 
called  the  Haram  ;  but  even  the  Moslems  are  not 
allowed  to  descend  into  the  cavern.  The  tradi- 
tion that  this  is  the  burial-place  of  the  patriarchs 
is  supported  by  an  immense  array  of  evidence. 

The  situation  of  the  Cave  at  Makhedah,  into 
which  the  five  kings  of  tlie  Amorites  retired  upon 
their  defeat  by  Joshua,  and  into  which  their  car- 
cases were  ultimately  cast,  is  not  known  (Josh. 
X.  16,  27).  Some  of  the  c;ives  mentioned  in  the 
Scriptures  were  artificial,  or  consisted  of  natural 
fissures  enlarged  or  modified  for  the  purposes  in- 
tended. It  is  recorded  (Judg.  vi.  2)  that  '  be- 
cause of  the  Midiauites,  the  children  of  Israel 
made  them  the  dens  which  are  in  the  mountains, 
and  caves,  and  strongholds.'  Caves  made  by  art 
are  met  with  in  various  quarters.  An  innumer- 
able multitude  of  excavations  are  found  in  the 
rocks  and  valleys  round  Wady  Musa,  which  were 
probably  formed  at  first  as  sepulchres,  but  after- 
wards inhabited,  like  the  tombs  of  Thebes.  Caves 
were  used  as  dwelling-places  by  the  early  inha- 
bitants of  Syria.  The  Horites,  the  ancient  inha- 
bitants of  Idumtca  Proper,  were  Troglodytes  or 
dwellers  in  caves,  as  their  name  imports.  Jerome 
records  that  in  his  time  Iduma?a  was  full  of  ha- 
bitations in  caves,  the  inhabitants  using  subter- 
ranean dwellings  on  account  of  the  great  heat. 
The  Scriptures  abound  with  references  to  ha- 
bitations in  rocks  ;  among  others,  see  Num.  xxiv. 
21;  Cant.  ii.  14;  Jer.  xlix.  10;  Obad.  3.  Even 
at  the  present  time  many  persons  live  in  caves. 
Caves  afibrd  excellent  refuge  in  the  time  of  war. 
Thus  the  Israelites  (1  Sam.  xiii.  G)  are  said  to 
have  hid  themselvts  in  caves,  and  in  thickets,  and 
in  rocks,  and  in  high  places,  and  in  pits.  See 
also  Jer.  xli.  9.  H^uce,  then,  to  '  enter  into  the 
rock,  to  go  into  the  holes  of  the  rocks,  and  into  the 
caves  of  the  earth'  (Isa.  ii.  19),  would,  to  the 
Israelites,  be  a  very  proper  and  familiar  way  to 
express  terror  and  consternation.  The  pits  spoken 
of  seem  to  have  consisted  of  large  wells,  in  '  the 
sides '  of  which  excavations  were  made,  leading 
into  various  chambei's.  Such  pits  were  sometimes 
used  as  prisons  (Isa.  xxiv.  •>•!■,  li.  14;  Zech.  ix. 
11);  and  vr\ih.  niches  in  the  sides,  for  buryiug- 
places  (Ezek.  xxxii.  23).  Many  of  these  vaulted 
pits  remain  to  this  day.  The  strongholds  of  En- 
yedi,  which  affcrded  a  retreat  to  David  and  his 
followers  (1  Sam.  xxiii.  29;  xxiv.  1),  can  be 
clearly  identified.  They  are  now  called  Ain 
Tidy  by  the  Arabs,  which  means  the  same  as  the 
Hebrew,  namely,  '  The  Fountain  of  the  Kid.' 
'  On  all  sides  the  country  is  full  of  caverns,  which 
might  serve  as  lurking-plates  for  David  and  his 
men,  as  they  do  for  outlaws  at  the  present  day. 
The  whole  scene  is  drawn  to  the  life.'  The  Care 
of'  Adullam,  to  which  David  retired  to  avoid  tlie 
persecutions  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxii.  1,  2),  and  in 
which  he  cut  off  the  skirt  of  Saul's  robe  ( 1  Sam. 
xxiv.  4),  is  an  immense  natural  cavern  at  the 
Wady  Khureitun,  which  passes  below  the  Frank 
mountain.  Such  is  the  extent  of  the  cavern,  that 
it  is  quite  conceivable  how  David  and  his  men 
might '  remain  in  the  sides  of  the  cave,'  and  not 
be  noticed  by  Saul  {Travels,  vol.  ii.  p.  41). 
Caverns  were  also  frequently  fortified  and  occu- 
pied by  soldiers.  Josephus  relates  also  that  Herod 
sent  horsemen  and  footmen  to  destroy  the  robbers 
that  dwelt  in  caves,  and  did  much  mischief  iu  the 


CEDAR 


CEDAR 


country.  They  were  very  near  to  a  village  called 
Arbela  (dow  called  Kolut  Ibn  Ma'an).  The  oc- 
cupants were  not  subdued  without  great  difficulty. 
Herod  then  laid  siege  to  certain  other  caverns 
containing  robbers,  but  found  operations  against 
them  very  difficult.  These  were  situated  on  the 
middle  of  abrupt  and  precipitous  mountains,  and 
could  not  be  come  at  from  any  side,  since  they 
had  ordy  some  winding  pathways,  very  narrow, 
by  which  they  got  up  to  them.  The  rock  that 
lay  on  their  front  overhung  valleys  of  immense 
depth,  and  of  an  almost  perpendicular  declivity. 
To  meet  these  difficulties  Herod  caused  large 
boxes  filled  with  armed  men  to  be  lowered  from 
the  top  of  the  mountain.  These  men  had  long 
hooks  in  their  hinds  with  which  they  might  pull 
out  those  who  resisted  them,  and  tumble  them 
down  the  mountains.  From  these  boxes  they  at 
length  slipped  into  the  caverns,  destroyed  the 
robbers,  and  set  fire  to  their  goods.  Certain 
caves  were  afterwards  fortified  by  Josephus  him- 
self during  his  command  in  Galilee  under  the 
Romans.  A  fortified  cavern  existed  in  the  time 
of  the  Crusades.  It  is  mentioned  by  William  of 
Tyre,  as  situate  in  the  country  beyond  the  Jordan, 
sixteen  Roman  miles  from  Tiberias.  The  cave  of 
Elijah  is  pretended  to  be  shown,  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Sinai,  in  a  chapel  dedicated  to  him  ;  and  a 
hole  near  the  altar  is  pointed  out  as  the  place 
where  he  lay. 

CEDAR.  There  is  a  difference  of  opinion 
among  authors  whether  the  original  term  thus 
translated  in  the  numerous  passages  of  Scripture 
where  it  occurs  is  always  used  in  the  same  signi- 
fication ;  that  is,  whether  it  is  always  intended 
to  specify  only  one  particular  kind  of  the  pine 
tribe,  or  whether  it  is  not  sometimes  used  gene- 
rically.    In  this  latter  opinion  we  are  disposed 


115.    [Cedar  of  Lebanon.] 

to  concur,  for  if  we  proceed  to  compare  the 
several  passages  of  Scripture  in  which  the  word 
occurs,  we  shall  equally  find  that  one  plant  is  not 
strictly  applicable  to  them  all.  The  earliest  no- 
tice of  the  cedar  is  in  Lev.  xiv,  4,  6,  where  we 
are  toM  that  Moses  commanded  the  leper  that 


was  to  be  cleansed  to  make  an  offermg  of  two 
sparrows,  cedar-wood,  wool  dyed  in  scarlet,  and 
hyssop;  and  in  ver.  49,  51,  .52,  the  houses  in 
which  the  lepers  dwell  are  directed  to  be  purified 
with  the  same  materials.  Again,  in  Num.  xix. 
6,  Moses  and  Aaron  are  commanded  to  sacrifice 
a  red  heifer :  '  And  the  priest  shall  take  cedar- 
wood  and  hyssop  and  scarlet.'  As  remarked  by 
Lady  Callcott  (Script.  Herbal,  p.  92),  'The cedar 
was  not  a  native  of  Egypt,  nor  could  it  have 
been  procured  in  the  desert  without  great  diffi- 
culty ;  but  the  juniper  is  most  plentiful  there, 
and  takes  deep  root  in  the  crevices  of  the  rocks 
of  Mount  Sinai.'  That  some,  at  least,  of  the 
cedars  of  the  ancients  were  a  species  of  juniper 
is  evident  from  the  passages  we  have  quoted ;  the 
wood  of  most  of  them  is  more  or  less  aromatic. 
The  ancients,  it  may  be  remarked,  threw  the 
berries  of  the  juniper  on  funeral  piles,  to  pro- 
tect the  departing  spirit  from  evil  infiueuces,  and 
offered  its  wood  in  sacrifice  to  the  infernal  gods, 
because  they  believed  its  presence  was  acceptable 
to  them.  They  also  burned  it  in  their  dwelling- 
houses  to  keep  away  demons.  It  is  curious  that, 
in  the  remote  parts  of  the  Himalayan  Mountains, 
another  species  of  this  genus  is  similarly  em- 
ployed. 

At  a  later  period  we  have  notices  of  the  various 
uses  to  which  the  wood  of  the  cedar  was  applied, 
as  2  Sam.  v.  11 ;  vii.  2-7;  1  Kings  v.  6,  8,  10;  vi. 
9,  10,  15,  16,  18,  20;  vii.  2,  3,  7,  11.  12;  ix.  11  ; 
X.  27 ;  1  Chrou.  xvii.  6 ;  2  Chron.  ii.  8 ;  ix.  27  ; 
XXV,  18.  In  these  passages  we  are  informed  of 
the  negotiations  with  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  for 
the  supply  of  cedar-trees  out  of  Lebanon,  and 
of  the  uses  to  which  the  timber  was  applied  in 
the  construction  of  the  Temple,  and  of  the  king's 
palace :  he  '  covered  the  houss  with  beams  and 
boards  of  cedar ;'  '  the  walls  of  the  house  within 
were  covered  with  boards  of  cedar ;'  there  were 
'  cedar  pillars,'  and  '  beams  of  cedar ;'  and  the 
altar  was  of  cedar.  In  all  these  passages  there 
is  nothing  distinctive  stated  respecting  the  cha- 
racter of  the  wood,  from  which  we  might  draw 
any  certain  conclusion,  further  than  that,  from 
the  selection  made  and  the  constant  mention  of 
the  material  used,  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  that 
it  must  have  been  considered  as  well  fitted,  or 
rather  of  a  superior  quality,  for  the  purpose  of 
building  the  Temple  and  palace.  From  this, 
however,  proceeds  the  difficulty  in  admitting  that 
what  we  call  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  was  the  only 
tree  intended.  For  modern  experience  has  ascer- 
tained that  its  wood  is  not  of  a  superior  quality. 
To  determine  this  point,  we  must  not  refer  to  the 
statements  of  those  who  take  their  descriptions 
from  writers  who,  indeed,  describe  cedar-wood, 
but  do  not  prove  that  it  was  derived  from  the 
cedar  of  Lebanon.  The  term  '  cedar '  seems  to 
have  been  as  indefinite  in  ancient  as  in  modern 
times,  when  we  find  it  applied  to  the  wood  of  tlie 
red  or  pencil  cedar,  to  that  of  the  Bermuda  cedar, 
and  to  many  other  woods,  as  to  white  cedar,  and 
Indian  cedar. 

Mr.  Loudon,  in  his  Arboretum  (p.  241 7),  de- 
scribes it  thus :  '  The  wood  of  the  cedar  is  of  a 
reddish  white,  light  and  spongy,  easily  worked, 
but  very  apt  to  shrink  and  warp,  .and  by  no 
means  durable.'  But  when  the  tree  is  grown  on 
mountains,  the  annual  layers  of  wood  are  much 
narrower  and  the  fibre  much  finer  than  when  it 


CEDAR 

is  grown  on  plains  ;  so  much  so  that  a  piece  of 
cedar-wood  brought  from  Mount  Lebanon  by  Dr. 
I    Parisel,  in   1829,  and  which  he  had  made  into  a 
'   small  piece  of  furniture,  presented  a  surface  com- 
i    pact,   agreeably   veined,    and   variously  shaded, 
I   and  which,  on   the    whole,  may   bo    considered 
handsome.     But  Dr.  Pococke,  who  brought  away 
!   a  piece  of  one   of  the  large  cedars  which  had 
I   been  blown  down  by  the  wind,  says  that  the  wood 
does   not  dift'er  in"  appearance  from  white  deal, 
'   and  that  it  does  not  appear  to  be  harder.     Mr. 
'    Loadon  says  that  a  table  which  Sir  J.  Banks  had 
j   made  out  of  the  Hillingdon  cedar  was  soft,  with- 
I    out    scent  (except   that  of   common  deal),   and 
I    possessed  little  variety  of  veining.     Though  we 
liave  seen  both  temples  and  palaces  built  entirely 
with  one  kind   of  cedar,  we  think  it  more  pro- 
bable that,  as  the  timber  had  to  be  brought  from 
a  distance,  where  all  the  kinds  of  cedar  grew, 
I   the  common  pine-tree  and  the  cedar  of  Lebanon 
I    -Would  both  furnish  some  of  the  timber  required 
'    for  the  building  of  the  Temple,  together  with 
j   juniper  cedar.     Celsius  was  of  opinion  that  the 
1   cedar  indicated  the  Pinus   sylvestris  or  Scotch 
!   pine,  which  yields  the  red  and  yellow  deals  of 
I   Norway,  and  which  is  likewise  found  on  Mount 
Lebanon.     This  opinion   seems  to  be  confirmed 
I   by  Ezekiel  xxvii.  5,  '  They  have  made  all  thy 
ship  boards  of  fir-trees  of  Senir,  they  have  taken 
I   cedar  from  Lebanon  to  make   masts   for  thee.' 
'   For  it  is  not  probable  that  any  other  tree  than 
the  common  pine  would  be  taken  for  masts. 
Though  Celsius  appears  to  us  to  be  quite  right 
j   in  concluding  that  the  cedar,  in  some  of  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  refers  to  the  pine-tree,  yet  it 
j   seems  equally  clear  that  there  are  other  passages 
;    to  which  this  tree  will  not  answer,   and  if  we 
j    consider  some  of  the  remaining  passages  of  Scrip- 
!    t\ire,  Ave  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  they  forcibly 
I    apply  to  the  cedar  of  Lebanon  and  to  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon  only.      Thus,   in  Ps.  xcii.   12,  it  is 
said,  '  The  righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm- 
1    tree,  and  spread  abroad  like  a  cedar  of  Lebanon.' 
\    It  has  been  well  remai-ked, '  that  the  flourishing 
I    head  of  the  palm   and  the  spreading  abroad  of 
J    the   cedar  are  equally  characteristic'     But  the 
I    prophet  Ezekiel  (ch.  xxxi.)  is  justly  adduced  as 
giving  the  most  magnificent,  and   at  the   same 
!    time  the  most  graphic,  description  of  this  cele- 
j    brated  tree :  (ver.  3)  '  Behold,  the  Assyrian  was 
I    a  cedar  in  Lebanon  with  fair  branches,  and  with 
;    a  shadowy  shroud,  and  of  an  high  stature  ;  and 
his  top  was  among  the  thick  boughs :'  (ver.  o) 
j    '  Therefore  his  height  was  exalted  above  all  the 
trees  of  the  field,  and  his  boughs  were  multiplied, 
and  his  branches   became  long  because  of  the 
I    multitude  of  waters  :'  (ver.  6)  '  All  the  fowls  of 
!    heaven  made  their  nests  in  his  boughs,  and  under 
I    his  branches  did  all  the  beasts  of  the  field  bring 
forth    their   young.'       In   this   description,    Mr. 
,    Gilpin  has  well  observed,  '  the  principal  charac- 
■    teristics  of  the  cedar  are  marked  :  first,  the  mul- 
'    tiplicity  and  kngth  of  its  branches.     Few  trees 
j    divide  so  many   fair  branches  from    the    main 
'    stem,    or    spread    over  so    large   a  compass  of 
ground.     '  His  boughs  are  multiplied,'  as  Ezekiel 
,    says,  '  and    his    branches    become    long,'  which 
I    David  calls  spreading  abroad.     His  very  boughs 
are  equal  to  the  stem  of  a  fir  or  a  chestnut.     The 
I    second  characteristic  is  what  Ezekiel,  with  great 
I    beauty  and  aptness,  calls  his  shadowy  shroud. 


CEILING 


185 


No  tree  in  the  forest  is  moi-e  remarkable  than  the 
cedar  for  its  close-woven  leafy  canopy.  Ezekiel's 
cedar  is  marked  as  a  tree  of  fuU'and  perfect 
growth,  from  the  circumstance  of  its  top  being 
among  the  thick  boughs.  The  other  principal 
passages  in  which  the  cedar  is  mentioned  are 
1  Kings  iv.  33;  2  Kings  xix.  23;  Job  xl.  17  ;  Ps. 
xxix.  5;  Ixxx.  10;  xcii.  12;  civ.  16;  cxlviii.  9; 
Cant.  i.  17  ;  v.  1.5;  viii.  9  ;  Isa.  ii.  13;  ix.  8,  10; 
xiv.  8;  xxxvii.  2-1;  xli.  19;  xliv.  14;  Jer.  xxii. 
7,  14,  23;  Ezek.  xvii.  3,  22,  23;  Amos  ii.  9; 
Zeph.  ii.  14;  Zech.  xi.  1,  2;  and  in  the  Apo- 
crypha, 1  Esdras  iv.  48  ;  v.  .55  ;  Ecclus.  xxiv.  13  ; 
1.  12;  but  it  would  occupy  too  much  space  to 
adduce  further  illustrations  from  them  of  what 
indeed  is  the  usually  admitted  opinion. 

It  is,  however,  necessary  before  concluding  to 
give  some  account  of  this  celebrated  tree,  as  no- 
ticed by  travellers  in  the  East,  all  of  whom  make 
a  pilgrimage  to  its  native  sites.  The  cedar  of 
Lebanon  is  well  known  to  be  a  widely-spreading 
tree,  generally  from  50  to  80  feet  high,  and  when 
standing  singly,  often  covering  a  space  with  its 
branches,  the  diameter  of  which  is  much  greater 
than  its  height.  The  horizontal  branches,  when 
the  tree  is  exposed  on  all  sides,  are  very  large  in 
proportion  to  the  trunk,  being  disposed  in  dis- 
tinct layers  or  stages,  and  the  distance  to  which 
they  extend  diminishes  as  they  approach  the  top, 
where  they  form  a  pyramidal  head,  broad  in  pro- 
portion to  its  height.  The  branchlets  are  dis- 
posed in  a  flat  fan-like  manner  on  the  branches. 
The  leaves,  produced  in  tufts,  are  straight,  abcut 
one  inch  long,  slender,  nearly  cylindrical,  taper- 
ing to  a  point,  and  are  on  short  footstalks.  The 
cones,  when  they  approach  maturity,  become 
from  2j  inches  to  5  inches  long.  Every  part  of 
the  cone  abounds  with  resin,  which  sometimes 
exudes  from  between  the  scales.  Speaking  of 
the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  M.  Lamartine,  in  1832, 
says, '  These  trees  diminish  in  every  succeeding 
age.  Travellers  formerly  counted  30  or  40 ; 
more  recently,  17;  more  recently  still,  only  12. 
There  are  now  but  7.  These,  however,  from 
their  size  and  general  appearance,  may  be  fairly 
presumed  to  have  existed  in  biblical  times. 
Around  these  ancient  witnesses  of  ages  long  since 
past,  there  still  remains  a  little  grove  of  yellow 
cedars,  appearing  to  me  to  form  a  group  of  from 
400  to  500  trees  or  shrubs.  Every  year,  in  the 
month  of  June,  the  inhabitants  of  Beschierai,  of 
Eden,  of  Kandbin,  and  the  other  neighbouring 
valleys  and  villages,  climb  up  to  these  cedars,  and 
celebrate  mass  at  their  feet.  How  many  prayers 
have  resounded  under  these  branches,  and  what 
more  beautiful  canopy  for  worship  can  exist  ?' 

CEILING.  The  Orientals  bestow  much  at- 
tention upon  the  ceilings  of  their  principal  rooms. 
Where  wood  is  not  scarce,  they  are  usually  com- 
posed of  one  curious  piece  of  joinery,  framed 
entire,  and  then  raised  and  nailed  to  the  joists. 
These  ceilings  are  often  divided  into  small  square 
compartments;  but  are  sometimes  of  more  com- 
plicated patterns.  Wood  of  a  naturally  dark 
colour  is  commonly  chosen,  and  it  is  never 
painted.  In  places  where  wood  is  scarce,  and 
sometimes  where  it  is  not  particularly  so,  the 
ceilings  are  formed  of  fine  plaster,  with  tasteful 
mouldings  and  ornaments,  coloured  and  relieved 
with  gilding,  and  with  pieces  of  mirror  inserted 
in  the  hollows  formed  by  the  involutions  of  the 


186 


CENSER 


CHAIN 


raised  mouldings  of  the  arabesques,  which  enclose 
them  as  in  a  frame.  The  antiquity  of  this  taste 
can  be  clearly  traced  by  actual  examples  up  to 
the  times  of  the  Old  Testament,  through  the 
Egyptian  monuments,  which  display  ceilings 
painted  with  rich  colours  in  such  patterns  as  are 
shown  in  the  annexed  cut.    The  explanation  thus 


obtained  satisfactorily  illustrates  the  peculiar  em- 
phasis with  which  '  ceiled  houses '  and  '  ceiled 
chambers'  are  mentioned  by  Jeremiah  (xxii.  14) 
and  Haggai  (i.  4). 

CENCHRE'A,  one  of  the  ports  of  Corinth, 
whence  Paul  sailed  for  Ephesus  (Acts  xviii.  18). 
It  was  situated  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  isthmus, 
about  seventy  stadia  from  the  city:  the  other 
port  on  the  western  side  of  the  isthmus  was  called 
Lecha;iim.     [Corinth.] 

CEN.SER,  the  vessel  in  which  incense  was 
presented  in  the  temple  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  1 9 ;  Ezek. 
viii.  11  ;  Ecclus.  1.  9).  Censers  were  used  in  the 
daily  offering  of  incense,  and  j'cai'ly  on  the  day 
of  atonement,  when  the  high-priest  entered  the 
Holy  of  Holies.  On  the  latter  occasion  the  priest 
filled  the  censer  with  live  coals  from  the  sacred 
fire  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offering,  and  bore  it 
into  the  sanctuary,  where  he  threw  upon  the 
burning  coals  the  '  sweet  incense  beaten  small ' 
which  he  had  brought  in  his  hand  (Lev.  xvi.  12, 
13).  In  this  case  the  incense  was  burnt  while 
the  high-priest  held  the  censer  in  his  hand ;  but 
in  the  daily  offering  the  censer  in  which  the  live 
coals  were  brought  from  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering  was  set  do-vi  upon  the  altar  of  incense. 
This  alone  would  suggest  the  probability  of  some 
difference  of  shape  between  the  censers  used  on 
these  occasions.  The  daily  censers  must  have 
had  a  base  or  stand  to  admit  of  their  being 
placed  on  the  golden  altar,  while  those  employed 
on  the  day  of  atonement  were  probably  furnished 
with  a  handle.     In  fact,  there  are  different  names 


for  these  vessels.  We  learn  also  that  the  daily 
censers  were  of  brass  (Num.  xvi.  39),  whereas 
the  yearly  one  was  of  gold.  The  form  of  the 
daily  censer  we  have  no  means  of  determining 
beyond  the  fact  that  it  was  a  pan  or  vase,  with 
a  stand  whereon  it  might  rest  on  the  golden 
altar.     The  numerous  figures  of  Egyptian  ceu- 


53=— «=<tjB 


sers,  consisting  of  a  small  cup  at  the  end  of  a 
long  shaft  or  handle  (often  in  the  shape  of  a 
hand),  probably  offer  adequate  illustration  of 
those  employed  by  the  Jews  on  the  day  of  atone- 
ment. There  was,  however,  another  kind  of 
censer  (Fig.  1),  less  frequently  seen  on  the  Egyp- 
tian monuments,  and  likewise  furnished  with  a 
handle,  which  will  probably  be  regarded  by  many 
as  offering  a  more  probable  resemblance. 

CENSUS.    [Population.] 

CENTU'RION,  a  Roman  military  officer  in 
command  of  a  hundred  men,  as  the  title  implies. 
Cornelius,  the  first  Gentile  convert  to  Christianity, 
held  this  rank  (Acts  x.  1,  22).  Other  Centurions 
are  mentioned  in  Matt.  viii.  5,8,  13;  xxvii.  54; 
Luke  vii.  2,  6  ;  Acts  xxi.  32  ;  xxii.  25,  26 ;  xxiii. 
17,  23;  xxiV.23;  xxvii.  1,  6,  11,  31,43;  xxviii.  16. 

CE'PHAS,  a  surname  which  Christ  bestowed 
upon  Simon  (John  i.  42),  and  which  corresponds 
with  Peter,  both  words  meaning  a  *  rock,'  which 
is  the  signification  of  the  original  [Peter]. 

CHAFF,  the  refuse  of  winnowed  corn.  It  is 
used  as  a  symbol  for  unprofitable  and  worthless 
characters  (Ps.  i.  4  ;  Matt.  iii.  12). 

CHAIN.  Chains  of  gold  appear  to  have  been 
as  much  used  among  the  Hebrews,  for  ornament 
or  official  distinction,  as  they  ai-e  among  ourselves 
at  the  present  day.  The  earliest  mention  of  them 
occurs  in  Gen.  xli.  42,  where  we  ^re  told  that  a 
chain  of  gold  formed  a  part  of  the  investiture  of 
Joseph  in  the  high  office  to  which  he  M'as  raised 
in  Egypt ;  a  later  instance  occurs  in  Dan.  v.  20, 
from  which  we  learn  that  a  golden  chain  was 
part  of  a  dress  of  honour  at  Babylon.  In  Egypt 
I  the  judges  wore  chains  of  gold,  to  which  was 
attached  a  jewelled  figure  of  Thmei,  or  Truth ; 
I  andiu  that  country  similar  chains  were  alsoTToru 


CHALDEANS 

as  ornaments  by  the  women.  It  is  not,  however, 
necessary  to  suppose  that  the  Hebrews  derived 
this  custom  from  the  Egyptians ;  for  the  fact  that 
chains  are  mentioned  among  the  spoil  of  the 
Midianites  shows  that  they  were  in  use  among 
people  whose  condition  of  life  more  nearly  re- 
sembled that  of  the  Israelites  before  they  obtained 
possession  of  Canaan.  It  would  seem  that  chains 
were  worn  both  by  men  and  women  (Prov.  i.  9  ; 
Ezek.  xvi.  11),  and  we  find  them  enumerated 
among  the  ornaments  of  brides  (Cant.  i.  10 ;  iv.  9). 

It  was  a  custom  among  the  Komans  to  fasten 
a  prisoner  with  a  light  chain  to  the  soldier  who 
was  appointed  to  guard  him.  One  end  of  it  was 
attached  to  the  right  hand  of  the  prisoner,  and 
the  other  to  the  left  hand  of  the  soldier.  This  is 
the  chain  by  which  Paul  was  so  often  bound,  and 
to  which  he  repeatedly  alludes  (Acts  xxviii.  20 ; 
Eph.  vi.  20;  2  Tim.  i.  16).  When  the  utmost 
security  was  desired,  the  prisoner  was  attached 
by  two  chains  to  two  soldiers,  as  was  the  case 
with  Peter  (Acts  xii.  6). 

CHAL'CEDONY  (Rev.  xxi.  19),  a  precious 
stone,  forming  a  variety  of  amorphous  quartz. 
It  is  harder  than  flint  (specific  gravity  2-04), 
commonly  semi-transparent,  and  is  generally  of 
one  uniform  colour  throughout,  usually  a  light 
brown  and  often  nearly  white  ;  but  other  shades 
of  colour  are  not  infrequent,  such  as  grey,  yellow, 
green,  and  blue.  Chalcedony  occurs  in  irregular 
masses,  commonly  forming  grotesque  cavities,  in 
trap  rocks  and  even  granite.  It  is  found  in  most 
parts  of  the  world;  and  in  the  East  is  employed 
in  the  fabrication  of  cups  and  plates,  and  articles 
of  taste,  which  are  wrought  with  great  skill  and 
labour,  and  treasured  among  precious  things.  In 
Europe  it  is  made  into  snufi-boxes,  buttons,  knife- 
handles,  and  other  minor  articles. 

CHALD/E'ANS  is  the  name  which  is  found 
appropriated  in  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  to  in- 
habitants of  Babylon  and  subjects  of  the  Baby- 
lonian kingdom.  In  2  Kings  xxv.,  where  an 
account  is  given  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
reign  of  Zedekiah,  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  latter 
monarch  is  expressly  designated  '  King  of  Ba- 
bylon,' while  his  troops  in  general  are  spoken  of 
as  '  Chaldees,'  '  the  army  of  the  Chaldees.'  In 
Isaiah  xiii.  19,  Babylon  is  called  'the  glory  of 
kingdoms,  the  beauty  of  the  Chaldees'  excel- 
lency;' and  in  xxiii.  1.3  of  the  same  book,  the 
country  is  termed  '  the  land  of  the  Chaldseans.' 
So  in  Daniel  ix.  1,  '  In  the  first  year  of  Darius, 
of  the  seed  of  the  Medes,  which  was  made  king 
over  the  realm  of  the  Chaldoeans.'  The  origin 
and  condition  of  the  people  who  gave  this  name 
to  the  Babylonians,  have  been  subjects  of  dispute 
among  the  learned.  Probably,  however,  they 
were  the  same  people  that  are  described  in  Greek 
writers  as  having  originally  been  an  uncultivated 
tribe  of  mountaineers,  placed  on  the  Carduchian 
mountains,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Armenia, 
whom  Xenophon  describes  as  brave  and  fond  of 
freedom.  In  Habakkuk  i.  6-10  the  Chaldaeans 
are  spoken  of  in  corresponding  terms :  '  Lo,  I 
raise  up  the  Chaldasans,  that  bitter  and  hasty 
nation,  which  shall  march  through  the  breadth 
of  tlie  land  to  possess  the  dwelling-places  that  are 
not  theirs ;  they  are  terrible  and  dreadful ;  their 
horses  are  swifter  than  leopards  and  more  fierce 
than  evening  wolves ;  their  horsemen  shall  spread 
themselves;    they  shall   fly  as   the  eagle  that 


CHALDiEANS 


187 


hasteth  to  eat.'  They  are  also  mentioned  in  Job 
i.  17  .  '  Chaldasans  fell  upon  the  camels  (of  Job) 
and  carried  them  away.'  These  passages  show 
not  only  their  warlike  and  predatory  habits,  but, 
especially  that  in  Job,  the  early  period  in  history 
at  which  they  were  known. 

As  in  all  periods  of  history  hardy  and  brave 
tribes  of  mountaineers  have  come  down  into  the 
plains  and  conquered  their  comparatively  civil- 
ized and  efieminate  inhabitants,  so  these  Arme- 
nian Chaldseans  appear  to  have  descended  on 
Babylon,  made  themselves  masters  of  the  city 
and  the  government,  and  eventually  founded  a 
dominion,  to  which  they  gave  their  name,  as  well 
as  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  and  the  country 
tributary  to  it,  infusing  at  the  same  time  young 
blood  and  fresh  vigour  into  all  the  veins  and 
members  of  the  social  frame.  What  length  of 
time  the  changes  herein  implied  may  have  taken 
cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

Of  the  kingdom  of  Babylon,  Nimrod  (Gen.  x. 
8,  sqq.)  was  the  founder  and  first  sovereign.  The 
next  name  of  a  Babylonian  monarch  is  found  in 
Gen.  xiv.  1,  w-here  '  Amraphel,  king  of  Shinar,' 
is  cursorily  mentioned.  A  long  interval  occurs, 
till  at  last,  in  2  Kings  xx.  12,  13,  the  name  of 
another  is  given  :  '  Berodach-baladan,  the  son  of 
Baladan,  king  of  Babylon,'  it  appears  '  sent  letters 
and  a  present  unto  Hezekiah  ;  tor  he  had  heard 
that  Hezekiah  had  been  sick.  And  Hezekiah 
hearkened  unto  them,  and  showed  them  all  the 
house  of  his  precious  things  :  there  was  nothing 
in  his  house,  nor  in  his  dominion,  that  Hezekiah 
showed  them  not.'  On  becoming  acquainted  with 
this  fact,  the  prophet  Isaiah  announced  that  the 
treasures  of  the  kingdom  would  be  plundered  and 
taken  to  Babylon  along  with  the  descendants  of 
Hezekiah,  who  were  to  become  eunuchs  in  the 
palace  of  the  king  of  Babylon.  The  friendly  act 
which  passed  between  these  two  kings  took  place 
in  the  year  B.C.  713.  About  a  hundred  years 
later,  the  prophets  Jeremiah  and  Habakkuk  speak 
of  the  invasion  of  the  Chalda;an  army.  Nebu- 
chadnezzar now  appears  in  the  historical  books, 
and,  in  Ezra  v.  12,  is  described  as  '  the  king  of 
Babylon,  the  Chaldaean,  who  destroyed  this  house 
(the  temple),  and  carried  the  people  away  into 
Babylon.'  How  extensive  and  powerful  his  em- 
pire was,  may  be  gathered  from  the  words  of 
Jeremiah  xxxiv.  1 — '  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of 
Babylon,  and  all  his  army,  and  all  the  kingdoms 
of  the  earth  of  his  dominion,  and  all  the  people, 
fought  against  Jerusalem.'  "1116  result  was,  that 
the  city  was  surrendered,  and  the  men  of  war 
fled,  together  with  king  Zedekiah,  but  were  over- 
taken in  the  plains  of  Jericho  and  completely 
routed.  The  Israelitish  monarch  was  carried 
before  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  ordered  his  eyes  to 
be  put  out,  after  he  had  been  compelled  to  wit- 
ness the  slaughter  of  his  sons :  he  was  then  bound 
in  fetters  of  brass  and  conveyed  a  captive  to  Ba- 
bylon. The  next  Chaldee-Babylonian  monarch 
given  in  the  Scriptures  is  the  son  of  the  preceding, 
Evil-merodach,  who  (2  Kings  xxv.  27)  began  his 
reign  (b.c.  562)  by  delivering  Jehoiachin,  king 
of  Judah,  after  the  unfortunate  sovereign  had 
endured  captivity,  if  not  incarceration,  for  a 
period  of  more  than  six  and  thirty  years.  Cir- 
cumstances incidentally  recorded  in  connection 
with  this  event  serve  to  display  the  magnitude 
and  grandeur  of  the  empire ;  for  it  appears  (ver. 


188 


CHALDiEANS 


28)  that  there  were  other  captive  kings  in  Baby- 
lon besides  Jehoiachiu,  and  that  each  one  of  them 
■was  indulged  with  the  distinction  of  having  his 
own  throne.  With  Belshazzar  (b.c.  538),  the  son 
of  Nebuchadnezzar,  closes  the  line  of  Chaldaean 
monarchs.  In  the  seventeenth  year  of  his  reign, 
this  sovereign  was  put  to  death,  while  engaged 
with  all  his  court  in  high  revelry,  by  Cyrus, 
when  he  took  the  city  of  Babylon  in  the  night 
season  (Dan.  v.  30),  and  established  in  the  city 
and  its  dependencies  the  rule  of  the  Medo-Per- 
sians  [Belshazzar]. 

It  has  been  seen,  from  the  foregoing  statements, 
that  the  history  of  Babylon  supplied  by  the  Scrip- 
tures is  brief,  imperfect,  and  fragmentary.  Little 
additional  light  can  be  borrowed  from  other  quar- 
ters, in  relation  to  the  period  comprised  within  the 
Biblical  accounts. 

Authentic  history  affords  no  information  as  to 
the  time  when  the  Chaldjcan  immigration  took 
place. 

The  kingdom  of  the  Chaldees  is  found  among 
the  four  '  thrones '  spoken  of  by  Daniel  (vii.  3, 
sqq.),  and  is  set  forth  under  the  symbol  of  a  lion 
having  eagles'  wings.  The  government  was  de- 
spotic, and  the  will  of  the  monarch,  who  bore  the 
title  of  '  King  of  Kings '  (Dan.  ii.  37),  was  su- 
preme law,  as  may  be  seen  in  Dan.  iii.  12;  v.  19. 
The  kings  lived  inaccessible  to  their  subjects  in  a 
well-guarded  palace.  The  number  of  court  and 
state  servants  was  not  small ;  in  Dan.  vi.  1,  Darius 
is  said  to  have  set  over  the  whole  kingdom  no 
feVver  than  '  an  hundred  and  twenty  princes.'  The 
chief  officers  appear  to  have  been  a  sort  of '  mayor 
of  the  palace,'  or  prime  minister,  to  which  high 
office  Daniel  was  appointed  (Dan.  ii.  49), '  a  master 
of  the  eunuchs'  (Dan.  i.  3), 'a  captain  of  the  king's 
guard  '  (Dan.  ii.  14),  and  '  a  master  of  the  magi- 
cians,' or  president  of  the  Magi  (Dan.  iv.  9).  Dis- 
tinct probably  from  the  foregoing  was  the  class 
termed  (Dan.  iii.  24,  27)  'the  king's  counsellors,' 
who  seem  to  have  formed  a  kind  of  '  privy 
council '  or  even  '  cabinet '  for  advising  the  mo- 
narch and  governing  the  kingdom.  The  entire 
empire  was  divided  into  several  provinces  (Dan. 
ii.  4S  ;  iii.  1),  presided  over  by  officers  of  various 
ranks.  An  enumeration  of  several  kinds  may  be 
found  in  Dan.  iii.  2,  3.  The  head  officers,  who 
united  in  themselves  the  highest  civil  and  military 
power,  were  denominated  'presidents'  (Dan.  vi. 
2) ;  those  who  presided  over  single  provinces  or 
districts  bore  the  title  of '  governor.'  The  admi- 
nistration of  criminal  justice  was  rigorous  and 
cruel,  will  being  substituted  for  law,  and  human 
life  and  human  suffering  being  totally  disregarded. 
Nebuchadnezzar  (Dan.  ii.  5)  declares  to  the  col- 
lege of  the  Magi — 'If  ye  will  not  make  known 
unto  me  the  dream  with  the  interpretation  thereof, 
ye  shall  be  cut  in  pieces,  and  your  houses  shall 
be  made  a  dunghill '  (see  also  Dan.  iii.  19  ;  vi.  8  ; 
Jer.  xxix.  22).  The  religion  of  the  Chaldees  was, 
as  with  the  ancient  Arabians  and  Syrians,  the 
worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  ;  the  planets  Ju- 
piter, Mercury,  and  Venus  were  honoured  as  Bel, 
Nebo,  and  Meni,  besides  Saturn  and  Mars.  As- 
trology was  naturally  connected  with  this  worship 
of  the  stars,  and  the  astronomical  observations 
■which  have  made  the  Chaldaean  name  famous 
were  thereby  guided  and  advanced.  The  lan- 
guage spoken  in  Babylon  was  what  is  designated 
Chaldee,  which  is  Shemitic  in  its  origin,  belong- 


CHAMBEES  OF  IMAGERY 

ing  to  the  Aramaic  branch.  The  immigrating 
Chaldeans  spoke  probably  a  quite  different 
tongue,  which  the  geographical  position  of  their 
native  country  shows"  to  have  belonged  to  the 
Medo-Persian  stock. 

The  term  Chaldajans  represents  also  a  branch 
of  the  order  of  Babylonian  Magi.  In  Dan.  ii.  2 
they  appear  among  '  the  magicians,  and  the  astro- 
logers, and  the  sorcerers,'  who  were  '  called  for 
to  shew  the  king  his  dream.'  In  the  10th  verse 
of  the  same  chapter  they  are  represented  as  speak- 
ing in  the  name  of  the  rest ;  or  otherwise  theirs 
was  a  general  designation  which  comprised  the 
entire  class  (Dan.  iv.  7 ;  v.  7)  :  a  general  descrip- 
tion of  these  different  orders  is  found  in  Dan.  v. 
8,  as  '  the  king's  wise  men.' 

CHAMBERS  OF  IMAGERY.  These  are 
mentioned  in  Ezek.  viii.  12,  as  among  the  abomi- 
nations within  the  precincts  of  the  holy  place  at 
Jerusalem,  which  were  disclosed  to  the  prophet 
in  vision  where  he  was  among  the  captives  on  the 
banks  of  the  Chebar,  with  the  design  of  justifying 
and  explaining  the  judgments  which  had  been 
brought  and  were  still  to  be  brought  upon  the 
chosen  people.  A  heavenly  guide  conducts  the 
prophet  to  view  in  succession  the  various  idolatries 
of  alienated  Judah.  After  having  shown  him 
enough  to  excite  his  horror  and  indignation,  the 
angel  bade  him  turn  another  way,  and  he  would 
see  greater  abominations.  Leading  him  to  that 
side  of  the  court  along  which  were  ranged  the 
houses  of  the  priests,  his  conductor  pointed  to  a 
mud-wall  (ver.  7),  which,  to  screen  themselves 
from  observation,  the  apostate  servants  of  the  true 
God  had  raised ;  and  in  that  wall  was  a  small 
chink,  by  widening  which  he  discovered  a  passage 
into  a  secret  chamber,  which  was  completely  im- 
pei"vious  to  the  rays  of  the  sun,  but  which  he 
found,  on  entering  it,  lighted  up  by  a  profusion 
of  brilliant  lamps.  The  sides  of  it  were  covered 
with  numerous  paintings  of  beasts  and  reptiles — 
the  favourite  deities  of  Egypt ;  and,  with  their 
eyes  intently  fixed  on  these  decorations,  was  a 
conclave  of  seventy  persons,  in  the  garb  of  priests 
— the  exact  number,  and,  in  all  probability,  the 
individual  members  of  the  Sanhedrim,  who  stood 
in  the  attitude  of  adoration,  holding  in  their  hands 
each  a  golden  censer,  containing  all  the  costly 
and  odoriferous  materials  which  the  pomp  and 
magnificence  of  the  Egyptian  ritual  required. 
'  There  was  every  form  of  creeping  things  and 
abominable  beasts,  and  all  the  idols  of  the  house 
of  Israel  portrayed  round  about.'  The  scene  de- 
scribed was  wholly  formed  on  the  model  of 
Egyptian  worship ;  and  every  one  who  has  read 
the  works  of  Wilkinson,  Belzoni,  Richardson,  and 
others,  will  perceive  the  close  resemblance  that  it 
bears  to  the  outer  walls,  the  sanctuaries,  and  the 
hieroglyphical  figures  that  distinguished  the  an- 
cient mythology  of  Egypt. 

In  order  to  show  the  reader  still  further  how 
exactly  this  inner  chamber  that  Ezekiel  saw  was 
constructed  after  the  Egyptian  fashion,  we  sub- 
join an  extract  from  the  work  of  Mr.  Madden, 
descriptive  of  the  great  Temple  of  Edfou,  one  of 
the  admired  relics  of  antiquity ;  from  which  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  degenerate  priests  of  Jeru- 
salem had  borrowed  the  whole  style  of  the  edifice, 
in  which  they  were  celebrating  their  hidden  rites 
— its  form,  its  entrance,  as  well  as  its  pictorial 
ornaments  on  the  walls — from  their  idolatrous 


CHAMOIS 

neiglibonrs  of  Egypt :— '  Considerably  below  the 
surface  of  the  adjoining  building,'  says  he,  '  my 
conductor  pointed  out  to  me  a  cliink  in  an  old 
wall,  which,  he  told  me,  I  should  creep  through 
on  my  hands  and  feet ;  the  aperture  was  not  two 
feet  and  a  half  high,  and  scarcely  three  feet  and 
a  half  broad.  My  companion  had  the  courage  to 
go  first,  thrusting  in  a  lamp  before  him  :  I  fol- 
lowed. The  passage  was  so  narrow  that  my 
mouth  and  nose  were  almost  buried  in  the  dust, 
and  I  was  nearly  suffocated.  After  proceeding 
about  ten  yards  in  utter  darkness,  the  heat  be- 
came excessive,  the  breathing  was  laborious,  the 
perspiration  poured  down  my  face,  and  I  would 
have  given  the  world  to  have  got  out ;  but  my 
companion,  whose  person  I  could  not  distinguish, 
though  his  voice  was  audible,  called  out  to  me  to 
crawl  a  few  feet  farther,  and  that  I  should  find 
plenty  of  room.  I  joined  him  at  length,  and  had 
the  inexpressible  satisfaction  of  standing  once 
more  upon  my  feet.  We  found  ourselves  in  a 
splendid  apartment  of  great  magnitude,  adorned 
with  an  incredible  profusion  of  sacred  paintings 
ami  hieroglijpnics.' 

CHAMELEON,  a  small  species  of  lizard,  cele- 
brated for  the  faculty  it  has  of  changing  the 
colour  of  its  skin.  This  property,  however,  has 
no  reference  to  the  substance  it  may  be  placed  on, 
as  generally  asserted,  but  is  solely  derived  from 
the  bulk  of  its  respiratory  organs  acting  upon  a 
transparent  skin,  and  on  the  blood  of  the  animal. 
The  chameleons  form  a  small  genus  of  Saurians, 
easily  distinguished  by  the  shagreened  character 
of  the  skin,  and  the  five  toes  on  the  feet,  divided 
differently  from  those  of  most  other  animals, 
there  being,  if  the  expression  may  be  allowed, 
two  thumbs  opposed  to  three  fingers.  Their  eyes 
are  telescopic,  move  separately,  and  can  be  di- 
rected backwards  or  forwards.  Chameleons  are 
slow,  inoffensive,  and  capable  of  considerable 
abstinence  from  food;  which  consists  solely  of 
flies,  caught  by  the  rapid  protrusion  of  a  long 
and  viscous  tongue.     Among  themselves  they  are 


CHAOS 


189 


S^^ 


118.     [Chameleon  Africanus.] 

irascible,  and  are  then  liable  to  change  their 
colours  rapidly;  dark  yellow  or  grey  is  pre- 
dominant when  they  are  in  a  quiescent  state,  but, 
while  the  emotions  are  in  activity,  it  passes  into 
green,  purplj,  and  even  ashy  black.  The  species 
found  in  Palestine  and  all  Northern  Africa,  is 
the  common  African  chameleon,  and  is  that  re- 
ferred to  in  Lev.  xi.  30,  where  unclean  animals 
are  mentioned. 

CHAMOIS  (Deut.  xiv.  .5).  Some  suppose 
that  the  animal  meant  is  the  Camelopard,  others 
the  Elk.  But  it  is  plain  that  the  Mosaical 
enameration  of  clean  animals  would  not  include 


I 

such  as  were  totally  out  of  the  reach  of  the 
Hebrew  people,  and  at  best  only  known  to  them    ! 
from  specimens  seen  in  Egypt,  consisting  of  pre-    j 
sents   sent   from   Nubia,  or  in   pictures   on   the 
walls  of  temples.     The  Camelopard  or  Girafi"e  is 
exclusively  an  inhabitant  of  Southern  Africa,  and    I 
therefore  could  not  come  in  the  way  of  the  people    j 
of  Israel.     The  same  objection  applies  to  the  Elk,    ! 
because  that  species  of  deer  never  appears  further   ^ 
to  the  south  than  Northern  Germany  and  Poland ;    ' 
and  with  regard  to  the  Chamois,  which  has  been 
adopted  in  our  version,  though  it  did    exist  in    ! 
the  mountains  of  Greece,   and  is  still  found  in    i 
Central  Asia,  there  is  no  vestige  of  its  having  at   i 
any  time   frequented  Libanus  or  any  other  part    ' 
of  Syria.     We  may,  therefore,  with  more  pro-   i 
priety  refer  to  the  ruminants  indigenous  in  the    i 
regions  which  were  in  the  contemplation  of  the   i 
sacred  legislator,  and  the  only  species  that  seems    i 
to  answer  to  the  conditions  required  is  a  wild    | 
sheep,  still  not  uncommon  in  the  Mokattam  rocks 
near  Cairo,  found  in  Sinai,  and  eastward  in  the    i 
broken  ridges  of  Stony  Arabia,  where  it  is  known   ! 
under  the  name  of  Kebsch.  ! 


119.    [Kebsch.     Ovis  Tragelaphus.] 

CHA'OS,  a  term  taken  from  the  Greek  mytho- 
logy, and  employed  to  denote  the  unformed  con- 
dition of  the  world.  Our  present  object  is  to 
inquire  what  the  Chaos  was  of  which  Moses 
speaks  (Gen.  i.  2).  Was  it  the  first  form  in 
which  matter  was  created  ?  and  do  the  succeed- 
ing operations  described  relate  to  the  very  be- 
ginning of  material  order  and  animal  life  ?  Or 
was  it  merely  a  condition  preparatory  to  the  re- 
organization of  the  world,  which  had  already 
been  the  abode  of  living  beings  ? — in  other  words, 
is  the  first  verse  of  the  inspired  record  to  be  dis- 
sociated from  the  succeeding,  and  to  be  under- 
stood only  as  a  declaration  of  the  important  truth, 
that  the  visible  universe  was  not  made  from  any- 
thing already  existing  (Heb.  xi.  3);  whilst  the 
confusion  and  darkness  which  are  described  in 
the  succeeding  verse,  relate  to  a  state  long  subse- 
quent to  the  '  beginning,'  and  were  introductory 
to  a  new  order  of  material  existence,  of  which 
man  is  the  chief  and  lord  ?  The  first  of  these 
opinions  is  not  only  in  accordance  with  the  an- 
cient notions  of  chaos  to  which  we  have  referred, 
but  is  that  which  would  be  naturally  maintained. 


190 


CHAOS 


CHARIOTS 


unless  cause  be  shown  to  the  contrary.  No  one 
■would  gratuitously  assume  a  long  interval,  where 
it  must  be  admitted  there  is  no  intimation  of 
such  an  interval  having  occurred.  Accordingly, 
most  interpreters,  who  have  been  ignorant  of 
geological  phenomena,  have  at  once  decided  that 
the  chaos  of  which  Moses  speaks  was  the  form  in 
which  matter  was  first  created.  Some  have  even 
declared  that  there  cannot  have  been  any  such 
interval  as  we  have  spoken  of.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  world  gives  intimations,  in  the  rocks 
which  compose  its  crust,  of  various  and  long-con- 
tinued changes  both  of  condition  and  of  inha- 
bitants. Those  who  have  carefully  examined 
these  different  forms  of  being,  and  have  attentively 
studied  the  circumstances  in  which  their  remains 
are  now  found,  have  been  forced  to  the  convic- 
tion, that  in  many  cases  the  rocks  have  been  gra- 
dually formed  by  deposition  at  the  bottom  of  an 
ocean,  which  has  been  successively  the  habitation 
of  races  differing  alike  from  each  other  and  from 
those  now  existing ;  that  the  coeval  land  likewise 
has  had  its  distinct  races  of  inhabitants,  and  that 
the  land  and  water  have  changed  places  many 
times  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  do  more  than  barely  glance  at  these 
geological  facts ;  but  it  will  be  seen  that  they 
lead  to  these  three  conclisions — (1)  That  the 
world  has  existed  during  some  long  period  before 
the  Mosaic  record  of  creation  in  six  days — (2) 
That,  during  that  period,  it  was  the  abode  of  ani- 
mals differing  in  organization  and  structure  from 
those  now  found  on  its  surface — and  (3)  That  it 
has  been  exposed  to  various  convulsions  and  re- 
organizations, more  or  less  general.  In  the  face 
of  these  facts  it  appears  impossible  to  hold  the 
ordinarily  received  opinion  that  the  universe  was 
created  only  just  before  the  creation  of  man  ;  and 
the  question  then  is,  how  are  these  facts  to  be 
reconciled  with  the  Mosaic  narrative  ?  Not  by 
denying  the  evidence  of  our  senses,  nor,  on  the 
other  hand,  by  treating  the  Mosaic  account  as  an 
allegorical  representation,  but  surely  by  re- 
examining the  interpretation  we  have  put  on  the 
words  of  Scripture,  and  by  seeking  to  ascertain 
whether  the  discrepancy  does  not  arise  from  our 
view  of  the  narrative.  A  favourite  mode  of  ex- 
plaining the  Mosaic  account,  a  few  years  back, 
was  to  take  the  six  days  of  creation  for  unlimited 
periods,  during  which  the  changes  we  are  speak- 
ing of  took  place.  This  ground  has,  however, 
been  almost  completely  abandoned,  both  because 
the  account  so  understood  does  not  agree  with  the 
physical  phenomena,  and  because  such  an  inter- 
pretation is,  to  say  the  least,  hardly  admissible 
on  exegetical  principles.  If  we  keep  in  mind 
that  the  revelation  of  God  to  man  is  not  intended 
to  teach  physical  science — that  it  never  speaks 
the  language  of  philosophy,  but  of  appearances — 
and  that  it  tells  of  these  only  so  far  as  they  relate 
to  the  human  race,  we  obtain  a  clue  by  which 
we  may  be  safely  guided  through  these  difii- 
culties.  We  shall  not  then  wonder  that  no  notice 
should  be  taken  of  previous  conditions  and  in- 
habitants of  this  earth,  supposing  such  to  have 
existed.  The  first  sentence  of  the  inspired  record 
will  then  be  regarded  as  the  majestic  declaration 
of  a  fact,  which  the  world  had  lost  sight  of,  but 
which  it  deeply  concerned  men  to  know.  What 
occuiTcd  subsequently,  until  the  earth  was  to  be 
furnished  for  the  abode  of  man,  is  to  be  gathered 


not  from  the  written  word,  but  from  the  memo- 
rials engraven  on  the  tablets  of  the  world  itself. 
The  succeeding  verse  of  the  Mosaic  account  then 
relates  to  a  state  of  chaos,  or  confusion,  into 
which  the  world  was  thrown  immediately  before 
the  last  reorganization  of  it.  Geologists  are  not 
indeed  at  present  (if  ever  they  may  be)  in  a  con- 
dition to  identify  the  disruption  and  confusion  of 
which  we  suppose  Mosts  to  speak  with  any  one 
of  these  violent  convulsions,  of  which  geological 
phenomena  plainly  tell ;  but  that  events  which 
might  be  described  in  his  language  have  taken 
place  in  the  world's  history,  over  considerable 
portions  of  its  surface,  seems  to  be  fully  esta- 
blished. Whether  the  chaos  of  which  we  are 
now  speaking  was  universal,  or  was  confined  to 
those  regions  which  formed  the  cradle  of  the 
human  race,  is  a  question  on  which  we  do  not 
feel  it  needfid  to  enter.  We  do  not  regard  the 
evidence  which  geology  furnishes  as  complete 
enough  to  decide  such  a  point. 

CHARIOTS.  The  Scriptures  employ  dif- 
ferent words  to  denote  carriages  of  different  sorts, 
but  it  is  not  in  every  case  easy  to  distinguish  the 
kind  of  vehicle  which  these  words  severally 
denote.  We  are  now,  however,  through  the  dis- 
covery of  ancient  sculptures  and  paintings,  in 
possession  of  such  information  respecting  the  cha- 
riots of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylon,  and  Persia,  as 
gives  advantages  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject 
which  were  not  possessed  by  earlier  writers. 
The  chariots  of  these  nations  are,  in  fact,  men- 
tioned in  the  Scriptures  ;  and  by  connecting  the 
known  with  the  unknown,  we  may  arrive  at 
more  determinate  conclusions  than  have  hitherto 
been  attainable. 

The  first  chariots  mentioned  in  Scripture  are 
those  of  the  Egj-ptians ;  and  by  close  attention  to 
the  various  notices  which  occur  respecting  them, 
we  may  be  able  to  discriminate  the  different 
kinds  which  were  in  use  among  that  people. 

The  earliest  notice  of  chariots  in  Scripture 
occurs  in  Gen.  xli.  43,  where  the  king  of  Egypt 
honours  Joseph  by  commanding  that  he  should 
ride  in  the  second  of  the  royal  chariots.  This 
was  doubtless  a  state-chariot,  and  the  state-cha- 
riots of  the  Egj-ptians  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
different  from  their  war-chariots,  the  splendid 
military  appointments  of  which  rendered  them 
fit  for  purposes  of  royal  pomp.     We  also  observe 


120.   [Egyptian  Curricle.] 

that  where  private  carriages  were  known,  as  in 
Egypt,  they  were  of  the  same  shape  as  those  used 
in  war,  and  only  differed  from  them  by  having 
less  complete  military  accoutrements,  although 
even  in  these  the  case  for  arrows  is  not  wanting. 
One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  Egyptian 
paintings  represents  a  person  of  quality  arriving 


CHARIOTS 


CHARITY 


late  at  an  entertainment  in  his  curricle,  drawn 
(like  all  the  Egyptian  chariots)  by  two  horses. 
He  is  attended  by  a  number  of  running  footmen, 
one  of  whom  hastens  forward  to  knock  at  the 
door  of  the  house,  another  advances  to  take  the 
reins,  a  third  bears  a  stool  to  assist  his  master  in 
alighting,  and  most  of  them  carry  their  sandals 
in  their  hands  that  they  may  run  with  the  more 
ease.  This  conveys  a  lively  illustration  of  such 
passages  as  1  Sam.  viii.  1 1 ;  2  Sam.  xv.  1 .  The 
principal  distinction  between  these  private  cha- 
riots and  those  actually  used  in  war  was,  as 
appears  from  the  monuments,  that  in  the  former 
the  party  drove  himself,  whereas  in  war  the  cha- 
riot, as  among  the  Greeks,  often  contained  a 
second  person  to  drive  it,  that  the  warrior  miglit 
be  at  liberty  to  employ  his  Accapons  with  the 
more  effect.  But  this  was  not  always  the  case  ; 
for  in  the  Egyptian  monuments  we  often  see  even 
royal  personages  alone  in  their  chariots,  warring 
furiously,  with  the  reins  lashed  round  their  waist 
(No.  121).  So  it  appears  that  Jehu  (who  cer- 
tainly rode  in  a  war-chariot)  drove  himself;  for 
his  peculiar  stj'le  of  driving  was  recognised  at  a 
considerable  distance  (2  Kings  ix.  20). 

In  the  prophecy  of  Nahum,  who  was  of  the 
first  captivity,  and  resident  (if  not  born)  at  Elkosh 
in  Assyria,  there  is  much  allusion  to  chariots, 
suggested  doubtless  by  their  frequency  before  his 
eyes  in  the  streets  of  Nineveh  and  throughout 
the  Assyrian  empire.  In  fact,  when  prophesying 
the  downfal  of  Nineveh,  he  gives  a  particular  and 
animated  description  of  their  action  in  the  streets 
of  the  great  city : — 

'  The  shield  of  his  mighties  is  made  red : 
The  valiant  men  are  clothed  in  scarlet : 
The  chariots  are  as  the  fire  of  lamps,  in  the 

day  when  he  prepareth  them. 
And  the  horsemen  spread  fear 
In  the  streets,  the  chariots  madden : 
They  run  to  and  fro  in  the  broad  places  : 
Their  appearance  is  as  lamps,  they  run 

as  lightning.'  Nahum  ii.  3,  4. 

These  allusions  to  the  horsemen  and  chariots 
of  Nineveh  give  much  interest  to  some  recent 
discoveries  on  the  site  of  that  very  ancient  city,  of 
various  inscriptions  and  sculptures,  which  seem 
to  show  that  the  work  was  earlier  than  the  age  of 
Cyrus,  and  may  be  referred  to  the  times  of  the 
Assyrian  empire.  Some  of  the  sculptures  repre- 
sent horsemen  completely  armed  and  at  full 
gallop.  But  the  matter  of  greatest  interest  is  the 
discovery  of  a  curious  bas-relief,  representing  a 
ohariot  drawn  by  two  horses,  and  containing 
three  persons.  The  principal  of  these  appears  to 
he  a  bearded  man,  lifting  his  right  arm,  and 
holding  in  his  left  hand  a  bow.  He  wears  a 
tiara  painted  red  ('  the  valiant  men  are  clothed 
in  scarlet ') ;  behind  him  is  a  beardless  slave,  car- 
rying a  fringed  parasol,  and  at  his  left  is  the 
charioteer  holding  the  reins  and  the  whip.  The 
principal  person  and  the  charioteer  wear  ear- 
rings. The  chariot-wheels  have  eight  spokes  :  the 
chariot  itself  has  been  covered  with  carving  now 
impossible  to  be  made  out.  The  horses  are  admi- 
rably drawn,  and  afford  indications  of  pure 
Arabian  blood.  Their  harness  is  very  rich,  and 
still  bears  evident  traces  of  colouring,  among 
which  blue  and  red  only  can  be  distinguished, 
the  rest  having  turned  black.    Behind  the  chariot 


rides  a  cavalier,  bearing  a  lance,  with  a  sword  at 
his  belt,  and  a  quiver  over  his  shoulder. 

CHARIOTS  OF  WAR.  The  Egyptians  used 
horses  in  the  equipment  of  an  armed  force  before 
Jacob  and  his  sons  had  settled  in  Goshen ;  they 
had  chariots  of  war,  and  mounted  asses  and 
mules,  and  therefore  could  not  be  ignorant  of  the 
art  of  riding ;  but  for  ages  after  that  period  Arab 
nations  rode  on  the  bare  back,  and  guided  the 
animals  with  a  wand.  Others,  and  probably  the 
shepherd  invaders,  noosed  a  single  rope  in  a  slip- 
knot round  the  lower  jaw,  forming  an  imperfect 
bridle,  with  only  one  rein;  a  practice  still  in 
vogue  among  the  Bedouins.  Thus  cavalry  M-ere 
but  little  formidable  compared  with  chariots, 
until  a  complete  command  over  the  horse  was 
obtained  by  the  discovery  of  a  true  bridle.  This 
seems  to  have  been  first  introduced  by  chariot- 
drivers,  and  there  are  figures  of  well-constructed 
harness,  reins,  and  mouth- pieces,  in  very  early 
Egyptian  monuments,  representing  both  native 
and  foreign  chariots  of  war.  These  differed  little 
from  each  othei*,  both  consisting  of  a  light  pole, 
suspended  between  and  on  the  withers  of  a  pair 
of  horses,  the  after-end  resting  on  a  light  axle- 
tree,  with  two  low  wheels.  Upon  the  axle  stood  a 
light  frame,  open  behind  and  floored  for  the 
warrior  and  his  charioteer,  who  both  stood  within : 
on  the  sides  of  the  frame  hung  the  war-bow,  in 
its  case :  a  large  quiver  with  arrows,  and  darts 
had  commonly  a  particular  sheath.  In  Persia, 
the  chariots,  elevated  upon  wheels  of  consider- 
able diameter,  had  four  horses  abreast ;  and,  in 
early  ages,  there  were  occasionally  hooks  or 
scythes  attached  to  the  axles.  In  fighting  from 
chariots  great  dexterity  was  shown  by  the  warrior, 
not  only  in  handling  his  weapons,  but  also  in 
stepping  out  upon  the  pole  to  the  horses'  shoul- 
ders, in  order  the  better  to  reach  his  enemies,  and 
the  chariotee.r  was  an  important  person,  sometimes 
equal  in  rank  to  the  warrior  himself.  Both  the 
kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel  had  war-chariots, 
and,  from  the  case  of  king  Josiah  at  the  battle  of 


.-^^ 


121.     [Egyptian  War  Chaiiot.] 

Megiddo,  it  is  clear  they  had  also  travelling- 
vehicles,  for  being  wounded  he  quitted  his  fight- 
ing-chariot, and  in  a  second,  evidently  more  com- 
modious, he  was  brought  to  Jerusalem  (2  Chron. 
XXXV.  24).  Chariots  of  war  continued  to  be  used 
in  Syria  in  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  (2  Mac. 
xiii.  .5),  and  in  Britain  when  Caesar  invaded  the 
island. 

CHARITY.  The  Greek  word  agape  frequently 
thus  rendered  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the 


192  CHKMOSH 

I  New  Testament  (e.  f/.  1  Cor,  xiii.  throughout),  is 
i  that  -which  is  more  usually  translated  '  love '  in 
the  same  version  (e.  g.  John  xv.  throughout).  The 
I  translation  of  the  word  by  '  love '  is  the  more 
proper,  seeing  that  '  charitj' '  has  acquired  a  sig- 
nification in  our  language  which  limits  it  to  overt 
acts  of  beneficence.  The  Greek  word  denotes  that 
kindly  state  of  mind  or  feeling  which  renders  a 
person  full  of  such  goodwill  or  affectionate  regard 
towards  others  as  is  always  ready  to  evince  itself 
in  word  or  action.  In  short,  it  describes  that 
state  of  feeling  which  the  apostle  enjoined  the 
Romans  (xii,  10)  to  entertain  :  '  Be  ye  kindly  af- 
ffctioned  one  to  another.'  This  extended  meaning 
of  the  word  explains  the  pre-eminence  which  the 
Apostle  assigns  to  the  virtue  which  it  implies  over 
every  other  Christian  grace  f  1  Cor.  xiii,). 

CHARMING  OF  SERPENTS.  _  [Adder.] 

CHE'BAR,  a  river  of  Mesopotamia,  upon  the 
banks  of  which  king  Nebuchadnezzar  planted  a 
colony  of  Jews,  among  whom  was  the  prophet 
Ezekiel  (2  Kings  xxiv.  15  ;  Ezek.  i.  1,  3  ;  iii.  15, 
23  ;  X.  15,  22).  This  is  without  doubt  the  same 
river  that  was  known  among  the  Greeks  as  the 
Chaboras,  and  which  noAV  bears  the  name  of 
Khabour.  It  flows  to  the  Euphrates  through 
Mesopotamia,  and  is  the  only  considerable  stream 
which  enters  that  river.  It  is  formed  by  the 
junction  of  a  number  of  small  brooks,  which 
rise  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  ruined  town 
called  Ras-el-Ain,  13  furlongs  south-west  of 
Merdin.  It  takes  a  southerly  direction  till  it  re- 
ceives the  waters  of  another  stream  equal  to 
itself,  when  it  bends  westward  to  the  Euphrates, 
which  it  enters  at  Kerkesia,  the  Carchemish  of 
Scripture.     [Carchemish.] 

CHEDORLAO'MER,  King  of  Elam,  and 
leader  of  the  five  kings  who  invaded  Canaan  in 
the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.).  [Abraham  ; 
Assyria;  Elam] 

CHEESE.  There  is  much  reason  to  conclude 
that  the  cheese  used  by  the  Jews  differed  in  no 
respect  from  that  still  common  in  the  East; 
which  is  usually  exhibited  in  small  cakes  about 
the  size  of  a  tea  saucer,  white  in  colour,  and  ex- 
cessively salt.  It  has  no  rind,  and  soon  becomes 
exceedingly  hard  and  dry — being,  indeed,  not 
made  for  long  keeping.  It  is  best  when  new 
and  comparatively  soft ;  and,  in  this  state,  large 
quantities  are  consumed  in  lumps  or  crumbs  not 
made  up  into  cakes.  All  cheese  in  the  East  is  of 
very  indifferent  quality ;  and  it  is  within  the 
vrriter's  own  knowledge  that  the  natives  in- 
finitely prefer  English  or  Dutch  cheese  when 
they  can  obtain  it.  In  making  cheese,  the  com- 
mon rennet  is  either  butter-milk  or  a  decoction 
of  the  gi-eat-headed  thistle,  or  wild  artichoke. 
The  curds  are  afterwards  put  into  small  baskets 
made  of  rushes  or  palm  leaves,  which  are  then 
tied  up  close,  and  the  necessary  pressure  ap- 
plied. 

CHE'MOSH  is  the  name  of  a  national  god  of 
the  Moabites  (1  Kings  xi.  7  ;  2  Kings  xxiii.  13; 
Jer.  xlviii.  7  ;  who  are  for  this  reason  called  the 
'  people  of  Chemosh,'  in  Num.  xxi.  29),  and  of 
the  Ammonites  (Judg.  xi.  24),  whose  worship 
was  introduced  among  the  Israelites  by  Solomon 
(1  Kings  xi.  7).  No  attempt  which  has  been 
made  to  identify  this  god  with  others  whose  at- 
tributes are  better  known,  are  sufficiently  plau- 
sible  to  deserve  particular  notice.      The  only 


CHERUBIM 

theory  which  rests  on  any  probability  is  that 
which  assumes  a  resemblance  between  Chemosh 
and  Arabian  idolatry.  Jewish  tradition  affirms 
that  he  was  worshipped  under  the  symbol  of  a 
black  star ;  and  Maimonides  states  that  his  wor- 
shippers went  bare-headed,  and  abstained  from 
the  use  of  garments  sewn  together  by  the  needle. 
The  black  star,  the  connection  with  Arabian 
idolatry,  and  the  fact  that  Chemosh  is  coupled 
with  Moloch,  favour  the  theory  that  he  had  some 
analogy  with  the  planet  Saturn. 

CHENANI'AII,  God's  goodness;  a  master  of 
the  temple  nmsic,  who  conducted  the  grand  mu- 
sical services  when  the  ark  was  removed  from 
the  house  of  Obed-edora  to  Jerusalem  (1  Chron. 
XV.  22). 

CHER'ETHITES  and  PEL'ETHITES, 
names  borne  by  the  royal  life-guards  in  the  time 
of  David  (2  Sam.  viii.  18;  1  Chron.  xviii.  17). 
Prevailing  opinion  translates  their  names, 
'  Headsmen  and  Foot-runners.'  In  the  later 
years  of  David,  their  captain,  Benaiah,  rose  to  a 
more  commanding  importance  than  the  generals 
of  the  regular  troops ;  just  as  in  imperial  Rome 
the  prffifect  of  the  pratorian  guards  became  the 
second  person  in  the  empire.  It  is  evident  that, 
to  perpetrate  anj'  summary  deed,  Benaiah  and 
the  guards  were  chiefly  relied  on.  That  they 
were  strictly  a  body-guard  is  distinctly  stated  in 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  23.  In  1  Sam.  xxx.  14,  the  Che- 
rethites  are  named  as  a  nation  of  the  south,  and 
in  2  Sam.  xv.  15,  the  Cherethites  and  Pelethites 
are  mentioned  along  with  the  Gittites,  who  were 
undoubtedly  foreigners.  It  has  therefore  been 
supposed,  with  some  probability,  that  David 
entrusted  the  care  of  his  person  to  foreign 
guards. 

CHE'RITH,  a  river  in  Palestine,  on  the  banks 
of  which  the  prophet  Elijah  found  refuge  (1 
Kings  xvii.  3-7).  Local  traditions  have  uni- 
formly placed  the  Cherith  on  this  side  the  Jor- 
dan ;  and  this  agrees  with  the  history  and  with 
Josephus.  Dr.  Robinson  drops  a  suggestion  that 
it  may  be  the  Wady  Kelt,  which  is  formed  by 
the  union  of  many  streams  in  the  mountains  west 
of  Jericho,  issuing  from  a  deep  gorge,  in  which  it 
passes  by  that  village  and  then  across  the  plain 
to  the  Jordan.     It  is  dry  in  summer. 

CHER'UBIM  (C^er«/;,  pi.  Cherubim)  is  ftie 
name  of  certaiu  symbolical  figures  frequently 
mentioned  in  Scripture.  The  derivation  and 
meaning  of  the  term  cannot  now  be  known  with 
certainty. 

Figures  of  the  cherubim  were  conspicuous  im- 
plements in  the  Levitical  tabernacle.  Two  of 
them  were  placed  at  each  end  of  the  mercy-seat, 
standing  in  a  stooping  attitude,  as  if  looking 
down  towards  it,  while  they  overshadowed  it 
with  their  expanded  wings — and,  indeed,  they 
were  component  parts  of  it,  formed  out  of  the 
same  mass  of  pure  gold  as  the  mercy-seat  itself 
(Exod.  XXV.  19). 

These  figures  were  afterwards  transferred  to 
the  most  holy  place  in  Solomon's  temple,  and  it 
has  been  supposed  from  1  Chron.  xxviii.  18,  that 
that  prince  constructed  two  additional  ones  after 
the  same  pattern,  and  of  the  same  solid  and 
costly  material ;  but  whether  it  was  with  a  view 
to  increase  their  number  in  accordance  with  the 
more  spacious  and  magnificent  edifice  to  which 
they  were  removed,  or  merely'  to  supply  the 


CHERUBIM 

place  of  those  made  by  Moses,  which  in  the 
many  vicissitudes  that  befel  the  ark  might  have 
beea  mutilated  or  entirely  separated  from  the 
mercy-seat  to  which  they  were  attached— is  not 
ascertained.  This  much,  however,  is  known, 
that  Solomon  erected  two  of  colossal  dimensions, 
in  an  erect  posture  with  their  faces  towards  the 
•walls  (2  Chron.  iii.  13),  covering  with  their  out- 
stretched wings  the  entire  breadth  of  the  most 
holy  place.  These  sacred  hieroglyphics  were 
profusely  embroidered  on  the  tapestry  of  the 
tabernacle,  on  the  curtains  and  tlie  great  vail 
that  separated  the  holy  from  the  most  holy  place 
(Exod.  xxvi.  1,  31),  as  well  as  carved  in  several 
places  (,1  Kings  viii.  6-8)  on  the  walls,  doors, 
and  sacred  utensils  of  the  temple.  The  position 
occupied  by  these  singular  images  at  each  ex- 
tremity of  the  mercy-seat— while  the  Shechinah, 
or  sacred  fiarae  that  symbolized  the  divine  pre- 
sence, and  the  awful  name  of  Jehovah  in  written 
characters  were  in  the  intei-vening  space — gave 
rise  to  the  well-known  phraseology  of  the  sacred 
writers,  which  represents  the  Deity  dwelling  be- 
tween or  inhabiting  the  cherubim;  and,  in  fact, 
so  intimately  associated  were  they  with  the  ma- 
nifestation of  the  divine  glory,  that  whether  the 
Lord  is  described  as  at  rest  or  in  motion,  as 
seated  on  a  throne,  or  riding  in  a  triumphal  cha- 
riot, these  symbolic  figures  were  essential  ele- 
ments in  the  description  (Numb.  vii.  89  ;  Ps. 
xviii,  10  ;  Ixxx.  1 ;  xcix.  1-9  ;  Isa.  vi.  2  ;  xxxvii. 
10). 

The  first  occasion  on  which  the  Cherubim  are 
mentioned  in  Scripture  is  on  the  expulsion  of  our 
first  parents  from  Eden,  when  the  Lord  placed 
clierubim  on  the  east  of  the  garden ;  or  as  it  may 
lie  rendered, '  before  or  on  the  edge  of  the  garden.' 
The  word  in  the  original  translated  '  0!i  the  east,* 
may  signify  as  well  '  before  or  on  the  edge  of;' 
and  tlie  historian  does  not  say  that  the  Lord 
placed  there  '  cherubim,' but '  the  cherubim.'  The 
word  readei-ed  by  our  translators  '  placed,'  sig- 
nifies properly  '  to  place  in  a  tabernacle,'  an  ex- 
pression which,  viewed  in  connection  with  some 
i-.icidents  in  the  after  history  of  the  primseval 
family  (Gen.  iv.  14-1 G),  seems  a  conclusive  esta- 
blishment of  the  opinion  that  this  was  a  local 
tabernacle,  in  which  the  symbols  of  the  Divine 
]ireseuce  were  manifested,  suitably  to  the  altered 
circumstances  in  which  man  after  the  Fall  came 
before  God,  and  to  the  acceptable  mode  of  wor- 
ship he  was  taught  to  observe.  That  consecrated 
place,  with  its  striking  symbols,  called  '  the  pre- 
sence of  the  Lord,'  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
continued  till  the  time  of  the  Deluge,  otherwise 
there  would  have  been  nothing  to  guard  the  way 
to  the  tree  of  life :  and  thus  the  knowledge  of 
their  form,  from  the  longevity  of  the  antedilu- 
vians, could  have  been  easily  transmitted  to  the 
time  of  Abraham.  Moreover,  it  is  an  approved 
opinion  that,  when  those  emblems  were  removed 
at  the  close  of  the  patriarchal  dispensation  from 
the  place  of  public  worship,  the  ancestors  of 
that  patriarch  formed  small  models  of  them 
for  domestic  use,  under  the  name  of  Sera- 
phim or  Teraphim.  The  next  occasion  in  the 
coupe  of  the  sacred  history  on  which  the  che- 
rubim are  noticed  is  when  IMoses  was  com- 
manded to  provide  the  furniture  of  the  taber- 
nacle ;  and,  although  he  received  instructions  to 
make  all  things  according  to  the  pattern  shown 


CHERUBIM 


193 


him  in  the  Mount,  and  although  it  is  natural  to 
suppose  that  he  saw  a  figure  of  the  cherubim,  yet 
we  find  no  minute  and  special  description  of  them, 
as  is  given  of  everything  else,  for  the  direction 
of  the  artificers  (Exod.  xxvi.  31).  The  simple 
mention  which  the  sacred  historian  makes,  in 
both  these  passages,  of  the  cherubim,  conveys  the 
impression  that  the  symbolic  figures  which  had 
been  introduced  into  the  Levitical  tabernacle 
were  substantially  the  same  with  those  established 
in  the  primfcval  place  of  worship  on  the  outskirts 
of  Eden,  and  that  by  traditional  information,  or 
some  other  means,  their  form  was  so  well  known, 
both  to  Bezaleel  and  the  whole  congregation  of 
Israel,  as  to  render  superfluous  all  further  de- 
scription of  them.  On  no  other  ground  can  we 
account  for  the  total  silence  as  to  their  configura- 
tion, unless  we  embrace  the  groundless  and  un- 
worthy opinion  of  those  who  impute  to  the  author 
of  the  Pentateuch  a  studied  concealment  of  some 
parts  of  his  ritual,  after  the  manner  of  the  Mystics. 
But  there  was  no  mystery  as  to  those  remarkable 
figures,  for  Ezekiel  knew  at  once  (x.  20)  the 
living  creatures  which  appeared  in  his  vision 
supporting  the  throne  of  God,  and  bearing  it  in 
majesty  from  place  to  place,  to  be  cherubim,  from 
having  frequently  seen  them,  in  common  with  all 
other  Avorshippers,  in  the  carved  work  of  the  outer 
sanctuary.  Moreover,  as  is  the  opinion  of  many 
eminent  divines,  the  visionary  scene  with  which 
this  prophet  was  favoured,  exhibited  a  transcript 
of  the  Temple,  which  was  shown  in  pattern  to 
David,  and  afterwards  erected  by  his  son  and 
successor :  and,  as  the  chief  design  of  that  later 
vision  was  to  inspire  the  Hebrew  exiles  in  Ba- 
bylon with  the  hope  of  seeing,  on  their  return  to 
Judaea,  another  temple,  more  glorious  than  the 


122.  [Babylonian.]  j 

one  then  in  ruins,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that,     i 
as  the  whole  style  and  apparatus  of  this  mystic     [ 
temple  bore  an  exact  resemblance  (1  Kings  vi.     i 
20)  to  that  of  Solomon's  magnificent  edifice,  so     j 
the  cherubs  also  that  appeared  to  his  fancy  por-     ' 
trayed  on  the  walls  would  be  fac-similes  of  tliose     I 
that  belonged  to  its  ancient  prototype.     Taking 
then  his  description  of  them  to  be  the  proper  ap- 
pearance that   belonged   in   common  to  all  his 
cherubic  creatures  (chaps,  i.  x.  xli.),  we  are  led 
to   conclude   that  they  were  compound  figures,     i 
unlike  any  living  animals  or  real  object  in  nature,      ! 
but  rather  a  combination,  in  one  nondescript  ar- 
tificial image,  of  the  distinguishing  features  and 
properties  of  several.     The  ox,  as  chief  among 


194 


CHERUBIM 


the  tame  and  useful  animals,  the  lion  among  the 
wild  ones,  the  eagle  among  the  feathery  tribes, 
and  man,  as  head  over  all — were  the  animals 
which,  or  rather  parts  of  which,  composed  the 
symbolical  figures.  Each  cherub  had  four  dis- 
tinct faces  on  one  neck — that  of  a  man  in  front, 
that  of  a  lion  on  the  right  side,  and  of  an  ox  on 
the  left;  while  behind  was  the  face  of  an  eagle. 
Each  had  four  wings,  the  two  under  ones  cover- 
ing the  lower  extremities  (Heb.  the  feet),  in  token 
of  decency  and  humility,  while  the  upper  ones, 
spread  out  on  a  level  with  the  head  and  shoulders, 
were  so  joined  together,  to  the  edge  of  his  neigh- 
boars',  as  to  form  a  canopy ;  and  in  this  manner 
r.hey  soared  rather  than  flew,  without  any  vi- 
bratory motion  with  their  wings,  through  the  air. 
Each  had  straight  feet.  The  Hebrew  version 
renders  it  '  a  straight  foot ;'  and  the  probability  is, 
that  the  legs  were  destitute  of  any  flexible  joint 
at  the  knee,  and  so  joined  together  that  its  loco- 
motions must  have  been  performed  in  some  other 
way  than  by  the  ordinary  process  of  walking,  or 
lifting  one  foot  after  another.  The  ideal  picture, 
then,  which  Ezekiel's  description  would  lead  us 
to  form  of  the  cherub,  is  that  of  a  winged  man,  or 
winged  ox,  according  to  the  particular  phase  it 
exhibited  or  the  particular  direction  from  which 


123.  [P< 


it  was  seen.  To  use  the  wor.ls  of  Dr.  Watts, 
'  That  figure  which  would  have  had  all  four 
faces  visible  if  it  had  stood  forth  as  a  real  animal 
or  a  statue,  could  have  had  but  two  faces,  or  at 
most  three,  visible  when  figured  on  a  wall  or 
curtain,  the  other  being  hid  behind;  and  thus 
the  cherubs  may  be  in  all  places  of  Scripture  the 
same  four-faced  animals,  and  yet  only  two  or 
three  of  their  faces  appear,  according  to  their  de- 
signed situation  and  the  art  of  perspective. 


124.     [Egyptian.] 


Whether  the  golden  calf  constructed  by  Aaron 
might,  be— not  the  Apis  of  Egypt— but  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  antediluvian  Cherubim — as  some 
suppose,  from  its  being  made  on  '  a  feast  to  the 
Lord,'  and  called  '  the  gods  of  Israel  '  (Exod. 


CHERUBIM 

xxxii.  .5),  and  whether  Jeroboam,  in  the  erection 
of  his  two  calves,  intended  a  schismatic  imitation 
of  the  sacred  symbols  in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem 
rather  than  the  introduction  of  a  new  species  of 
idolatry  (1  Kings  xii.  28),  we  shall  not  stop  to 
inquire.  But,  as  paganism  is  a  corruption  of 
patriarchal  worship— each  nation  having  added 
something  according  to  its  own  taste  and  fancy- 
perhaps  we  may  find  a  confirmation  of  the  views 
given  above  of  the  compound  form  of  the  che- 
rubim in  the  strangely  compounded  figures  under 
which  some  of  the  heathen  deities  are  repre- 
sented, or  which  symbolised  their  attributes,  as 
shown  in  the  preceding  engravings.  Many  of 
these  have  outspread  or  lowering  wings,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Hebrew  cherubim ;  and  there  are 
perhaps  few  subjects  which  admit  of  more  ample 
illustration  from  ancient  monuments. 

The  opinions  concerning  the  design  of  the 
cherubim  are  as  diversified  as  those  relative  to 
their  form.  All  are  agreed  that  they  had  a  sym- 
bolical meaning,  although  it  is  not  easy  to  ascer- 
tain it.  The  ancients,  as  well  as  the  fathers, 
considered  that  they  had  both  a  physical  and  a 
metaphysical  object.  The  opinions  of  the  mo- 
derns may  be  reduced  to  three  systems.  Hutch- 
inson and  his  followers  consider  the  cherubim  as 
emblems  of  the  Trinity,  with  man  incoi-porated 
into  the  divine  essence.  But  the  grand  objection 
to  this  theory,  where  it  is  at  all  intelligible,  is, 
that  not  only  are  the  cherubim,  in  all  the  places 
of  Scripture  where  they  are  introduced,  described 
as  distinct  from  God,  and  no  more  than  his  at- 
tendants, but  that  it  represents  the  divine  Being, 
who  is  a  pure  spirit,  without  parts,  passions,  or 
anything  material,  making  a  visible  picture  of 
himself,  when  in  all  ages,  from  the  beginning  of 
time,  he  has  expressly  prohibited  '  the  likeness 
of  anything  in  heaven  above.'  Another  sy.'tem 
regards  the  cherubim  as  symbolical  of  the  chief 
ruling  powers  by  which  God  carries  on  the 
operations  of  nature.  As  the  heaven  of  heavens 
was  typified  by  the  holy  of  holies  in  the  Levi- 
tical  tabernacle  (Heb.  ix.  3-12,  24-28),  this  system 
considers  that  the  visible  heavens  may  be  typified 
by  the  holy  place  or  the  outer  sanctuary,  and 
accordingly  finding,  as  its  supporters  imagine 
they  do,  the  cherubim  identified  with  the  aerial 
firmament  and  its  elements  in  such  passages  as 
the  following :  Ps.  xviii.  10;  Deut.  xxxiii.  2(>; 
Ps.  Ixviii.  4  ;  he  is  said  to  descend  in  fire 
(Exod.  xix.  18),  and  between  which  he  dwelt  in 
light  (1  Tim.  vi.  16);  and  it  was  in  this  very 
manner  he  manifested  his  divine, glory  in  the 
tabernacle  and  temple — they  interpret  the  cheru- 
bim, on  which  the  Lord  is  described  as  riding, 
to  be  symbolical  of  the  wind,  the  clouds,  the  fire, 
the  light ;  in  short,  the  heavens,  the  atmosphere, 
the  great  physical  powers  by  which  the  Creator 
and  preserver  of  the  universe  carries  on  the 
operations  of  nature. 

A  third  system  considers  the  cherubim,  from 
their  being  instituted  immediately  after  the  Fall, 
as  having  particular  reference  to  the  redemption 
of  man,  and  as  symbolical  of  the  great  and  active 
rulers  or  ministers  of  the  church.  Those  who 
adopt  this  theory  as  the  true  explanation  of  their 
emblematical  meaning,  are  accustomed  to  refer 
to  the  living  creatures,  or  cherubim,  mentioned 
in  the  Apocalyptic  vision  (Rev.  iv.  6),  impro- 
perly   rendered    in    our    English    translation 


CHESTNUT-TREE 


CHILDREN 


'  beasts,'  and  -which,  it  is  clear,  were  not  angels, 
but  redeemed  men  connected  with  the  church, 
and  deeply  interested  in  the  blessings  and  glory 
procured  by  the  Lamb.  The  same  character 
may  be  ascribed  to  the  living  creatures  in 
Ezekiel's  visions,  and  to  the  cherubim,  which 
stood  over  and  looked  into  the  mercy-seat, 
sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the  atonement,  and 
on  the  Shechinah,  or  divine  glory  arising  from 
it,  as  well  as  the  cherubic  figures  which  were 
placed  on  the  edge  of  Eden  ;  and  thvis  the  cheru- 
bim, which  are  prominently  introduced  in  all  the 
three  successive  dispensations  of  the  covenant  of 
grace,  appear  to  be  symbols  of  those  who,  in 
every  age,  should  officially  study  and  proclaim 
the  glory  and  manifold  wisdom  of  God. 

CHESTNUT-TREE,  a  tree  which  is  named 
thrice  in  the  Scriptures.  It  occurs  among  the 
'  speckled  rods '  which  Jacob  placed  in  the  wa- 
tering-troughs before  the  sheep  (Gen.  xxx.  37) : 
its  grandeur  is  indicated  in  Ezek.  xxxi.  8,  as  well 
as  in  Ecclus.  xxiv.  19  :  it  is  noted  for  its  magni- 
fioence,   shooting  its  high  boughs  aloft.      This 


125.     [Plane-tree— Platanus  Orientalis.] 

description  agrees  well  with  the  plane-tree,  which 
is  adopted  by  all  the  ancient  translators,  and 
scarcely  any  one  now  doubts  that  this  is  the  tree 
which  is  meant. 

The  Oriental  plane-tree  is  a  native  of  Western- 
most Asia,  although,  according  to  Professor 
h'oyle,  it  extends  as  far  eastward  as  Cashmere. 
The  stem  is  tall,  erect,  and  covered  with  a 
smooth  bark  which  annually  falls  off.  The 
flowers  are  small  and  scarcely  distinguishable  : 
they  come  out  a  little  before  the  leaves.  The 
wood  of  the  plane-tree  is  fine-grained,  hard,  and 
rather  brittle  than  tough ;  when  old,  it  is  said  to 
acquire  dark  veins,  and  to  take  the  appearance  of 
walnut  wood. 

In  those  situations  which  are  favourable  to  its 
growth,  huge  branches  spread  out  in  all  directions 
from  the  massive  trunk,  invested  with  broad, 
deeply-divided,  and  glossy  green  leaves.  This 
body  of  rich  foliage,  joined  to  the  smoothness  of 
the  stem,  and  the  symmetry  of  the  general 
growth,  renders  the  plane-tree  one  of  the  noblest 


objects  in  the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  has  now, 
and  had  also  of  old,  the  reputation  of  being  the 
tree  which  most  effectually  excludes  the  sun's 
beams  in  summer,  and  most  readily  admits  them 
in  winter — thus  affording  the  best  shelter  from 
the  extremes  of  both  seasons. 

For  this  reason  it  was  planted  near  public 
buildings  and  palaces,  a  practice  which  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  adopted ;  and  the  former 
delighted  to  adorn  with  it  tneir  academic  walks 
and  places  of  public  exercise.  In  the  East,  the 
plane  seems  to  have  been  considered  sacred,  as 
the  oak  was  formerly  in  Britain.  This  distinc- 
tion is  in  most  countries  awarded  to  the  most 
magnificent  species  of  tree  which  it  produces. 
In  Palestine,  for  instance,  where  the  plane  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  very  common,  the  tere- 
binth seems  to  have  possessed  pre-eminence.  No 
one  is  ignorant  of  the  celebrated  story  of  Xerxes 
arresting  the  march  of  his  grand  army  before  a 
noble  plane-tree  in  Lydia,  that  he  might  render 
honour  to  it,  and  adorn  its  boughs  with  golden 
chains,  bracelets,  and  other  rich  ornaments. 

The  Oriental  plane  endures  our  own  climate 
well,  and  grows  to  a  fine  tree ;  but  not  to  the 
enormous  size  which  it  sometimes  attains  in  the 
East.  Evelyn  (in  his  S;/lva)  seems  to  ascribe 
the  introduction  of  the  plane-tree  into  England 
to  the  great  Lord  Bacon,  who  planted  some 
which  were  still  flourishing  at  Verulam  in  1706. 
This  was,  perhaps,  the  first  plantation  of  any 
note ;  but  it  appears  from  Turner's  Herbal  (pub- 
lished in  1.551),  that  the  tree  was  known  and 
cultivated  in  this  country  before  the  chancellor 
was  born. 

CHILDREN.  The  more  children— especially 
male  children — a  person  had  among  the  Hebrews, 
the  more  was  he  honoured,  it  being  considered 
as  a  mark  of  divine  favour,  while  sterile  people 
were,  on  the  contrary,  held  in  contempt  (comp. 
Gen.  xi.  30  ;  xxx.  1 ;  1  Sam.  ii.  5 ;  2  Sam.  vi.  23 ; 
Ps.  cxxvii.  3,  sq. ;  cxxviii.  3  ;  Luke  i.  7  ;  ii.  5). 
That  children  were  often  taken  as  bondsmen  by 
a  creditor  for  debts  contracted  by  the  father,  is 
evident  from  2  Kings  iv.  1 ;  Isa.  1.  1 ;  Neh.  v.  5. 
Among  the  Hebrews,  a  father  had  almost  unli- 
mited power  over  his  children,  nor  do  we  find 
any  law  in  the  Pentateuch  restricting  that  power 
to  a  certain  age ;  it  was  indeed  the  parents  who 
even  selected  wives  for  their  sons  (Gen.  xxi.  21 ; 
Exod.  xxi.  9,  10,  11 ;  Judg.  xiv.  2,  5).  It  would 
appear,  however,  that  a  father's  power  over  his 
daughters  was  still  greater  than  that  over  his 
sons,  since  he  might  even  annul  a  sacred  vow 
made  by  a  daughter,  but  not  one  made  by  a  son 
(Num.  xxx.  4, 16).  Children  cursing  or  assault- 
ing their  parents  were  punished  by  the  Mosaical 
Law  with  death  (Exod.  xxi.  15,  17  ;  Lev.  xx.9). 
Before  the  time  of  Moses  a  father  had  the  right 
to  choose  among  his  male  children,  and  declare 
one  of  them  (usually  the  child  of  his  favourite 
wife)  as  his  first-born,  though  he  was  perhaps 
only  the  youngest.  Properly  speaking,  the  '  first- 
born' was  he  who  was  first  begotten  by  the 
father,  since  polygamy  excluded  all  regard  in 
that  respect  to  the  mother.  Thus  Jacob  had 
sons  by  all  his  four  wives,  while  only  one  of 
them  was  called  the  first-born  (Gen.  xlix.  3) ; 
we  find,  however,  instances  where  that  name  is 
applied  also  to  the  first-born  on  the  mother's 
side(l  Chron.  ii.  50;  comp.  v.  42;  Gen.  xxii. 
O  2 


196 


CHITTIM 


21).     The  privileges  of  the  first-born  were  con- 
siderable, as  shown  in  Birthright. 

The  first-born  son,  if  not  expressly  deprived 
by  the  father  of  his  peculiar  rights,  as  was  the 
case  with  Reuben  (Gen.  xlix.),  was  at  liberty  to 
sell  them  to  a  younger  brother,  as  happened  in 
the  case  of  Esau  and  Jacob  (Gen.  xxv.  31,  sq.). 
Considering  the  many  privileges  attached  to  first- 
birth,  we  do  not  wonder  that  the  Apostle  called 
Esau  a,  thoughtless perso7i  (Ueb.  xii.  16).  There 
are  some  allusions  in  Scripture  to  the  modes  in 
which  children  were  carried.  These  appear  to 
be  adequately  represented  by  the  existing  usages, 
as  represented  in  the  following  cut  (No.  126),  in 
which  fig.  1  represents  a  Nestorian  woman  bear- 
ing her  child  bundled  at  her  back,  and  fig.  2,  an 
Egyptian  female  bearing  her  child  on  her  shoul- 
der.   The  former  mode  appears  to  be  alluded  to 


in  several  places,  and  the  latter  in  Isa.  xlix.  22. 
For  other  matters  regarding  children,  see  Adop- 
tion, Birth,  Birthright,  Education. 

CHI'OS,  one  of  the  principal  islands  of  the 
Ionian  Archipelago,  mentioned  in  Acts  xx.  15. 
It  belonged  to  Ionia,  and  lay  between  the  islands 
Lesbos  and  Samos,  and  distant  eight  miles  from 
the  nearest  promontory  of  Asia  Minor.  It  is 
thirty  miles  long  from  N.  to  S.,  and  its  greatest 
breadth  ten  miles.  It  is  very  fertile  in  cotton, 
silk,  and  fruit,  and  was  anciently  celebrated  for 
its  wine.  The  principal  town  was  also  called 
Chios,  and  had  the  advantage  of  a  good  harbour. 
The  island  is  now  called  by  the  Greeks  Khio, 
and  by  the  Italians  Scio.  The  wholesale  mas- 
sacre and  enslavement  of  the  inhabitants  by  the 
Turks  in  1822  forms  one  of  the  most  shocking 
incidents  of  the  Greek  war. 

CHIS'LEV  (1  Mace.  L  54)  is  the  name  of  that 
ii\onth  Avhich  is  the  third  of  the  civil,  and  the 
ninth  of  the  ecclesiastical  year  of  the  Jews,  and 
which  commences  with  the  new  moon  of  our  De- 
cember. 

The  memorable  days  which  were  observed  in 
this  month  were : — The  feast  of  the  dedication 
of  the  Temple,  in  commemoration  of  its  being 
purified  from  the  heathen  abominations  of  the 
Syrians,  which  was  celebrated  by  illuminations 
and  great  demonstrations  of  joy  for  eight  days, 
beginning  from  the  25th  of  this  month  (1  Mace. 
iv.  59) :  and  a  fast  on  account  of  Jehoiakim  hav- 
ing, in  this  month,  bui-ut  the  roll  containing  Jere- 
miah's prophecy  (Jer.  xxxvi.  22,  23).  There  is 
some  dispute  whether  this  fast  was  observed  on 
the  6th  or  on  the  28th  of  the  month.  It  is  an 
argument  in  favour  of  the  earlier  day  that  the 
other  would  fall  in  the  middle  of  the  eight  days' 
festival  of  the  dedication. 

CHIPTIM,  or  KiTTiM,  a  branch  of  the  de- 


CHRONICLES 

scendaats  of  Javan,  the  son  of  Japheth  (Gen,  x. 
4).  On  the  authority  of  Josephus,  who  is  followed 
by  Epiphanius  and  Jerome,  it  has  been  generally 
admitted  that  the  Chittim  migrated  from  Phoenicia 
to  Cyprus,  and  founded  there  the  town  of  Citium, 
the  modern  Chitti.  '  Chethimus  possessed  the 
island  of  Chethima,  which  is  now  called  Cyprus, 
and  from  this,  all  islands  and  maritime  places  are 
called  Chethim  by  the  Hebrews.'  Cicero,  it  may 
be  remarked,  speaks  of  the  Citians  as  a  Phoenician 
colony.  Some  passages  in  the  prophets  (Ezek, 
xxvii.  6  ;  Isa.  xxiii.  1, 12)  imply  an  intimate  con- 
nection between  Chittim  and  Tyre.  At  a  later 
period  the  name  was  applied  to  the  Macedonians. 
Hengstenberg  has  lately  endeavoured  to  prove 
that  in  every  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  where 
the  word  occurs,  it  means  Cyprus,  or  the  Cy 
prians. 

After  a  careful  examination  of  the  works  in 
which  this  point  is  discussed,  the  writer  is  dis- 
posed to  acquiesce  in  the  opinion  expressed  by 
the  editor  of  the  Pictorial  Bible :  '  Chittim  seems 
to  be  a  name  of  large  signification  (such  as  our 
Levant),  applied  to  the  islands  and  coasts  of  the 
Mediterranean,  in  a  loose  sense,  without  fixing  the 
particular  part,  though  particular  and  difiFerent 
parts  of  the  whole  are  probably  in  most  cases  to 
be  understood'  (v,  notes  on  Ezek.  xxvii.  6). 

CHI'UN,     [Rejiphan.] 

CHLO'E,  a  Christian  woman  at  Corinth,  some 
members  of  whose  family  afforded  Paul  intelli- 
gence concerning  the  divisions  which  reigned  in 
the  church  at  that  place  (1  Cor.  i.  11). 

CHORA'ZIN,  a  town  mentioned  in  Matt,  xi. 
21 ;  lyuke  x.  13,  in  connection  with  Bethsaidaand 
Capernaum,  not  far  from  which,  in  Galilee,  it 
appears  to  have  been  situated,  Jerome  makes  it 
a  village  of  Galilee,  on  the  shore  of  the  lake  Tibe- 
rias, two  miles  from  Capernaum.  But  no  place 
of  the  name  has  been  historically  noticed  since  his 
days ;  and  not  only  the  town,  but  its  very  name 
appears  to  have  long  since  perished,  [Bethesda  ; 
Capernaum.] 

CHRIST.     [Jesds,] 

CHRON'ICLES.  This  name  seems  to  have 
been  first  given  to  two  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  by  Jerome,  The  Hebrews  call  them 
words  cfdays,  diaries,  or  journals,  and  reckon  them 
but  one  book. 

In  1  Chron.  i.-ix.  is  given  a  series  of  genealo- 
gical tables  interspersed  with  historical  notices. 
These  genealogies  are  not  complete. 

1  Chron.  x.-xxix.  contains  the  history  of  David, 
partly  agreeing  with  the  account  given  of  him  in 
the  books  of  Samuel,  though  with  several  import- 
ant additions  relating  to  the  Levites. 

2  Chron,  i.-ix,  contains  the  history  of  Solo- 
mon. 

2  Chron.  x.-xxviii.  furnishes  a  succinct  account 
of  the  kingdom  of  Judah  while  Israel  still  re- 
mained, but  separate  from  the  history  of  the 
latter. 

2  Chron.  xxix.-xxxvi.  describes  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  after  the  downMl  of  Israel,  especially  with 
reference  to  the  worship  of  God. 

From  this  analysis  it  appears  that  the  Chro- 
nicles contain  an  epitome  of  sacred  history,  parti- 
cularly from  the  origin  of  the  Jewish  nation  to 
the  end  of  the  first  captivity. 

The  diction  of  the  Chronicles  is  such  as  suits 
the  time  immediately  subsequent  to  tlie  captivity 


CHRONICLES 

It  is  substantially  the  same  witli  that  of  Ezra, 
Nehemiah,  and  Esther,  which  were  all  written 
shortly  after  the  Babylonish  exile.  It  is  mixed 
with  Aiamceisms,  marking  at  once  the  decline  of 
the  Jews  in  power,  and  the  corruption  of  their 
native  tongue.  The  pure  Hebrew  had  been  then 
laid  aside.  It  was  lost  during  their  sojourn  in 
Babylon. 

Internal  evidence  sufficiently  demonstrates  that 
the  Chronicles  were  written  after  the  captivity. 
Thus  the  history  is  brought  down  to  the  end  of  the 
exile,  and  mention  is  made  of  the  restoration  by 
Cyrus  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21,  22).  It  is  certain 
that  they  were  compiled  after  the  time  of  Jeremiah 
(2  Chrou.  XXXV.  25),  who  lived  to  see  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  by  the  Chaldeans.  The  gene- 
alogy of  Zerubbabel  is  even  continued  to  the  time 
of  Alexander  (1  Chron.  iii.  19-24).  The  same 
opinion  is  supported  by  the  character  of  the  ortho- 
yraphi/  and  the  nature  of  the  language  employed, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  both  which  are  Aramaean 
in  complexion,  and  harmonize  with  the  books 
confessedly  written  after  the  exile.  The  Jews 
generally  ascribe  the  Chronicles  to  Ezra,  and  it 
is  extremely  probable  that  they  were  really  writ- 
ten by  him. 

The  principal  design  of  the  writer  seems  to 
have  been  to  maintain  the  proper  distinctions  be- 
tween the  tribes  and  families  of  the  returning 
Hebrews,  that  the  Messiah's  descent  out  of  the 
tribe  and  family  whence  he  was  to  spring  accord- 
ing to  prophecy,  might  be  made  manifest.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  family  of  David  is  specially  noticed 
and  prominently  portrayed.  The  author  also 
shows  how  the  lands  had  been  distributed  before 
the  captivity,  that  the  people  might  obtain  the 
ancient  inhex-itance  of  their  fathers.  In  doing  so 
he  goes  back  to  the  most  ancient  times,  and  pre- 
sents to  his  countrymen  their  earliest  history,  lest, 
during  their  exile,  they  might  have  forgotten 
their  original  and  lost  the  traces  of  their  real 
ancestry.  In  addition  to  this  object  it  was  also 
intended  to  show  how  the  worship  of  God  should 
be  properly  resumed  and  orderly  re-established. 
In  accordance  with  such  a  purpose  he  gives  the 
genealogy  of  the  priests  and  Levites  more  fully 
than  any  other  writer,  records  their  functions 
and  rank,  and  enters  with  particularity  into  the 
arrangements  established  among  them  by  David 
aud  Solomon.  These  two  purposes,  which  are 
closely  allied,  will  serve  to  demonstrate  the  per- 
fect congruity  of  all  that  is  peculiar  in  the  Chro- 
nicles. They  account  for  the  genealogical  tables, 
the  specifications  of  tribes  and  families  with  their 
situation,  as  also  for  a  variety  of  references  to  the 
priests  and  Levites,  to  the  preparations  made  by 
David  for  building  the  temple,  the  reformations 
which  took  place  at  diflFerent  periods,  the  pros- 
perity of  such  kings  as  feared  Jehovah  and  walked 
in  his  ways,  to  the  marvellous  interpositions  of 
Heaven  on  behalf  of  those  who  trusted  in  Him 
alone,  to  the  idolatry  of  Israel  and  their  conse- 
quent misfortunes. 

The  books  of  Chronicles  as  compared  with 
those  of  Kings  are  more  didactic  than  historical. 
The  historical  tendency  is  subordinated  to  the 
didact  ic.  Indeed,  the  purely  historic  form  appears 
to  be  preserved  only  in  so  far  as  it  presented  an 
appropriate  medium  for  those  religious  and  moral 
observations  which  the  author  was  directed  to  ad- 
duce;   Samuel  and  Kings  are  more  occupied  with 


CIIKOMCLES 


197 


the  relation  o(  political  occurrences;  while  the 
Chronieli-s  f'.iniibh  detailed  accc5unts  of  ecclesias- 
tical institutions. 

A  thorough  examination  of  these  books  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  Samuel  and  Kings  will  satisfy 
the  inquirer  tliat  the  latter  were  known  to  Ezra 
and  extensively  used  by  him  in  the  composition  of 
Chronicles. 

But  these  books  are  not  the  only  source  from 
which  the  Chronicles  have  been  taken.  Public 
documents  formed  the  common  groundwork  of  the 
three  histories.  The  Pentateuch  has  also  been 
used  in  their  compilation.  A  comparison  of  the 
first  nine  chapters  of  1  Chron.  Mith  the  JMosaic 
books  will  show  the  parallelism  existing  between 
them;  and  it  should  be  especially  noticed  that 
1  Chron.  i.  43-54  agrees  verbatim  with  Genesis 
xxxvi.  31-43.  Perhaps,  however,  this  passage  in 
both  has  been  drawn  from  the  same  source. 

As  the  Almighty  does  nothing  superfluously, 
and  puts  forth  no  exertion  of  his  power  where  his 
infinite  wisdom  does  not  perceive  a  fitting  neces- 
sity, it  would  have  been  unnecessary,  as  far  as 
we  can  perceive,  to  suggest  anew  to  the  mind  of 
the  writer  fiicts  with  which  he  must  have  been 
partially  acquainted  by  tradition,  and  which  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  knowing  from  the  sacred 
records.  It  is  evident  that  the  Chronicles  were 
compiled  not  only  from  former  inspired  writings, 
but,  for  the  most  part,  from  public  records,  regis- 
ters, and  genealogies  belonging  to  the  Jews. 
That  national  aimals  existed  there  can  be  no 
doubt.      They  are  expressly  mentioned,   as  in 

1  Chron.  xxvii.  24.  They  contained  an  account 
of  the  most  important  events  in  the  history  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  were  generally  lodged  in  the  taber- 
nacle or  temple,  where  they  could  be  most  conve- 
niently consulted. 

The  histories  of  kings  appear  to  Lave  been 
usually  written  by  prophets  (1  Chron.  xxix.  29; 

2  Chron.  ix.  29  ;  xii.  15  ;  xiii.  22).  Hence  they 
constantly  refer  to  the  divine  rewards  and  punish- 
ments characterizing  the  theocracy.  These  his- 
torical writings  of  the  prophets  were,  for  the  most 
part,  inserted  in  the  public  annals,  as  is  evident 
from  2  Chron.  xx.  34;  xxxii.  32;  xii.  15;  xxiv. 
27.  Whether  they  were  alwaijs  so  inserted  is 
questionable,  for  they  seem  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  annals  of  the  kingdom  in  2  Chron. 
xxxiii.  19.  From  such  sources  Ezra  extracted 
the  accounts  which  he  was  prompted  to  write  for 
the  use  of  mankind  in  all  ages.  We  cannot 
believe  that  his  selection  was  indiscriminate  or 
careless.  His  inspiration  eftectually  secured  him 
against  everything  that  was  inaccurate  or  unsuit- 
able to  the  purposes  for  which  he  was  superna- 
turally  enlightened.  That  he  committed  mistakes 
cannot  for  a  moment  be  admitted,  else  his  history 
is  impugned  and  its  position  in  the  canon  inexpli- 
cable. His  veracity,  integrity,  and  scrupulous 
exactness  must  be  held  fast  by  every  right-minded 
believer. 

From  an  inspection  of  1  Chron.  xvi.  4-41  ; 
1  Chron.  xxii.-xxvi.  28;  xxviii.  x.xix. ;  2  Chron. 
XV.  1-15:  2  Chron.  xvii.  7.  &c. ;  xxvi.  16-21; 
XXX.;  xxxi.,  it  will  be  manifest,  that  it  was  one 
design  of  Ezra  to  notice  with  particularity  the 
order  of  the  divine  worship  as  established  by 
David  and  Solomon,  with  various  reformations  in 
the  theocracy  that  took  place  at  difl'erent  times. 
The  Levitical  priesthood,  and  the  public  service 


198 


CHRYSOLITE 


of  God,  are  specially  noticed  and  prominently 
brought  into  view.  From.  2  Chron.  xiii. ;  xx. 
21,  &c. ;  xix.  2,  &c. ;  xxv.  7,  &c.,  it  is  evident 
that  God's  miraculous  interference  on  behalf  of 
Judah,  and  his  displeasure  with  idolatrous  Israel, 
were  also  intended  to  be  depicted.  In  accordance 
■with  the  same  object,  pious  kings  evincing  appro- 
priate zeal  for  the  glory  of  Jehovah  are  com- 
mended, and  their  efforts  marked  with  approval 
(comp.  2  Chron.  xiv.  6-15;  xvii.  10,  &c. ;  xx.  ; 
xxvi.  5,  &c. ;  xxvii.  4-6,  &c.),  while  the  ruin  of 
idolatrous  practices  is  forcibly  adduced  (2  Chron. 
xxi.  ll,&c.;  xxviii.  5,  &c. ;  xxxiii.  11,  &c. ;  xxv. 
14,  &c.;  xxxvi.  6). 

Such  are  the  characteristic  peculiarities  of  these 
books;  and  we  now  ask  the  impartial  reader 
to  consider  if  they  be  not  worthy  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  under  whose  guidance  the  Chronicles  were 
written.  Are  they  not  admirably  in  unison  with 
the  character  of  Ezra  the  high-priest  and  re- 
former ?  What  more  natural,  or  more  accordant 
with  the  solicitudes  of  this  holy  man,  than  to  dwell 
upon  such  matters  as  relate  to  the  worship  of 
Jehovah,  to  the  priests,  and  Levites  ?  Surely  he 
was  appropriately  directed  to  record  the  reforma- 
tions effected  by  godly  kings,  and  the  disastrous 
consequences  of  forsaking  the  true  God,  whose 
zeal  was  abundantly  manifested  in  reform,  and  to 
whom  idolatry  was  peculiarly  offensive.  And  yet 
upon  these  very  chapters  and  paragraphs  charges 
the  most  flagrant  have  been  founded.  The  author 
of  them  has  beeu  accused  of  hatred  to  Israel,  pre- 
dilection for  the  Levites,  love  of  the  marvellous, 
design  to  magnify  pious  kings  and  to  heighten  the 
mistakes  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  It  is  unne- 
cessary to  enter  into  any  refutation  of  these  mon- 
strous accusations.  They  bear  with  them  their 
own  condemnation.  They  are  the  ofispring  of 
that  Rationalism  which  resolves  to  see  nothing 
but  what  it  relishes.  On  every  page  of  these  his- 
torical books  are  impressed  genuineness  and  ho- 
nest ij.  The  writer  candidly  refers  to  the  sources 
whence  liis  information  was  derived ;  and  con- 
temporary readers,  placing  implicit  reliance  on 
his  statements,  allowed  the  original  documents  to 
perish.  He  relates  many  things  disgraceful  to 
Judah  and  its  kings,  while  he  evinces  no  desire  to 
palliate  or  conceal  sin.  He  even  retains,  as  we 
have  seen  before,  expressions  incongruous  with 
his  own  age,  and  therefore  exactly  copied  from 
the  ancient  records.  Surely  a  writer  guilty  of 
falsification  would  have  been  careful  to  alter 
these  into  exact  correspondence  with  his  own 
times.  Transparent  simplicity  of  character  needs 
not  such  minutise. 

CHRYS'OLITE.  This  word  occurs  only  in 
Rev.  xxi.  20  in  the  enumeration  of  the  stones  which 
formed  the  foundation  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 
This  stone  is  found  solid,  and  in  grains,  or  in  an- 
gular pieces.  The  prevailing  colour  is  yellowish 
green,  and  pistachio  green  of  every  variety  and 
degree  of  shade,  but  always  with  a  yellow  and 
gold  lustre.  Although  this  stone  is  not  mentioned 
in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Old  Testament, 
it  is  supposed  to  be  intended  by  the  Hebrew  word 
Tliarshish,  which  occurs  in  Exod.  xxviii.  20  ; 
xxxix.  13;  Ezek.  i.  6  ;  x.  9;  xxviii.  13;  Cant. 
V.  4 ;  Dan.  x.  6,  and  is  in  all  these  places  trans- 
lated '  beryl.'  The  name  Tharshish  stone  seems 
to  intimate  that  it  was  known  to  the  Hebrews  as  I 
brought  from  the  part  so  called.    [Tharshish.]   | 


CILICIA 

CHRYSOP'RASUS.  This  occurs  only  in  Rev. 
xxi.  20.  The  name  literally  signifies  '  leek-green 
stone,'  and  it  is,  as  that  name  imports,  of  a  green- 
ish golden  colour  like  a  leek,  that  is  usually 
apple-green  passing  into  grass-green. 

CHURCH.  The  original  Greek  word  which 
is  thus  rendered,  in  its  larger  signification  denotes  a 
number  of  persons  called  together  for  any  purpose, 
an  assembly  of  any  kind,  civil  or  religious.  As, 
however,  it  is  usually  applied  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  religious  assemblages,  it  is  very  properly 
translated  by  '  assembly,'  in  the  few  instances  in 
which  it  occurs  in  the  civil  sense  (Acts  xix.  32, 
39,  41).  It  is,  however,  well  to  note  that  the 
word  rendered  '  assembly '  in  these  verses  is  the 
same  which  is  rendered  '  church '  everywhere 
else. 

In  a  few  places  the  word  occurs  in  the  Jewish 
sense,  of  a  congregation,  an  assembly  of  the  people 
for  worship,  either  in  a  synagogue  (Matt,  xviii. 
17)  or  generally  of  the  Jews  regarded  as  a  reli- 
gious body  (Acts  vii.  38  ;  Heb.  ii,  12). 

But  the  word  most  frequently  occurs  in  the 
Christian  sense  of  an  assemblage  (of  Christians) 
generally  (1  Cor.  xi.  18).  Hence  it  denotes  a 
church,  the  Christian  church;  in  which,  how- 
ever, we  distinguish  certain  shades  of  meaning, 
viz. — 1.  A  particular  church,  a  church  in  a 
certain  place,  as  in  Jerusalem  (Acts  viii.  1 ;  xi. 
22,  &G.),  in  Antioch  (Acts  xi.  26;  xiii.  1,  &c.), 
in  Corinth  (1  Cor.  i.  2  ;  2  Cor.  i.  1),  &c.  &c.  2. 
Churches  of  (Gentile)  Christians,  without  dis- 
tinguishing place  (Rom.  xvi.  4).  3.  An  assembly 
of  Christians  which  meets  anywhere,  as  in  the 
house  of  any  one  (Rom.  xvi.  5  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  19  : 
Philem.  2).  The  Church  universal — the  whole 
body  of  Christian  believers  (Matt.  xvi.  18;  1 
Cor.  xii.  28:  Gal.  i.  13;  Eph.  i.  22;  iii.  10; 
Heb.  xii.  23,  &c.). 

CHU'SHAN-RISH  ATHA'IM,  a  king  of  Meso- 
potamia, by  whom  the  Israelites  were  oppressed 
for  eight  years  (b.c.  1394  to  B.C.  1402),  until 
delivered  by  Othniel  (Judg.  iii.  8-10). 

CHU'ZA,  steward  of  Herod  Antipas,  whoso 
wife  Joanna  was  one  of  those  who  employed 
their  means  in  contributing  to  the  wants  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  (Luke  viii.  3). 

CILICIA,  the  south-eastern  part  of  Asia 
Minor,  bounded  on  the  W.  by  Pamphylia ;  sepa- 
rated on  the  N.  from  Cappadocia  by  the  'Taurus 
range,  and  on  the  E.  by  Amanus  from  Syria ; 
and  having  the  gulf  of  Issus  (Iskenderoon)  and 
the  Cilician  Sea  (Acts  xxvii.  5)  on  the  South. 
By  the  ancients  the  eastern  part  was  called 
Cilicia  Proper,  or  the  level  Cilicia;  and  the 
western,  the  rough,  or  mountainous.  The  former 
was  well-watered,  and  abounded  in  various  kinds 
of  grain  and  fruits.  The  chief  towns  in  this 
division  were  Issus,  at  the  south-eastern  cxti-e- 
mity,  celebrated  for  the  victory  of  Alexander 
over  Darius  Codomanus  (b.c.  333),  and  not  far 
from  the  passes  of  Amanus ;  Solce,  originally  a 
colony  of  Argives  and  Rhodians ;  and  Tarsus, 
the  birth-place  of  the  Apostle  Paul  [Tarsus]. 
Cilicia  Trachea  furnished  an  inexhaustible  supply 
of  cedars  and  firs  for  ship-building ;  it  was  also 
noted  for  a  species  of  goat,  of  whose  skins  cloaks 
and  tents  were  manufactured.  Its  breed  of 
horses  was  so  superior,  that  360  (one  for  each 
day  of  the  year)  formed  part  of  the  annual  tribute 
to  the  king  of  Persia.     The  neighbourhood  of 


CINNAMON 

Corycus  produced  large  quantities  of  saffron. 
Though  partially  subjected  to  the  Assyrians, 
Medes,  Persians,  Syrians,  and  Romans,  the  Eleu- 
thero-  (or  free)  Cilicians,  as  the  inhabitants  of 
the  mountainous  districts  were  called,  were 
governed  by  their  own  kings,  till  the  time  of 
Vespasian.  The  sea-coast  was  for  a  long  time 
occupied  by  pirates,  who  carried  on  the  appro- 
priate vocation  of  slave-merchants,  and  found 
ample  encouragement  for  that  nefarious  traffic 
among  the  opulent  Romans ;  but  at  last  their  de- 
predations became  so  formidable,  that  Pompey 
was  invested  with  extraordinary  powers  for  their 
suppression,  which  he  accomplished  in  forty  days. 
He  settled  the  surviving  freebooters  at  Solae, 
which  he  rebuilt  and  named  Pompeiopolis.  Ci- 
cero was  proconsul  of  Cilicia  (a.u.c.  702),  and 
gained  sdme  successes  over  the  mountaineers  of 
Amanus,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  with  a 
triumph.  Many  Jews  were  settled  in  Cilicia 
(Acts  vi.  9). 

According  to  the  modern  Turkish  divisions  of 
Asia  Minor,  Cilicia  Proper  belongs  to  the  Pasha- 
licofAdana;  and  Cilicia  Trachea  to  the  Liwah 
of  Itchil  in  the  Mousselimlik  of  Cyprus. 

CIN'NAMON  occurs  in  three  places  of  Scrip- 
ture ;  first,  about  1 600  years  before  the  Christian 
era,  in  Exod.  xxx.  23,  where  it  is  enumerated  as 
one  of  the  ingredients  employed  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  holy  anointing  oil :  '  Take  thou  also 
unto  thee  powerful  spices,  myrrh,  and  of  sweet 
cinnamon  (kinnamon  besem)  half  as  much  (i.  e. 
250  shekels),  together  with  sweet  calamus  and 
cassia.'  It  is  next  mentioned  in  Prov.  vii.  1 7, 
and  again  in  Cant.  iv.  14 ;  while  in  Rev.  xxiii. 
1 3,  among  the  merchandise  of  Babylon,  we  have 
'cinnamon,  and  odours,  and  ointments,  and 
frankincense.' 

Many  writers  have  doubted  whether  the  kin- 
navioH  of  the  Hebrews  is  the  same  article  that 
we  now  call  cinnamon.  Others  have  doubted 
whether  our  cinnamon  was  at  all  known  to  the 
ancients.  But  the  same  thing  has  been  said  of 
almost  every  other  drug  which  is  noticed  by 
them.  If  we  were  to  put  faith  in  all  these 
doubts,  we  should  be  left  without  any  substances 
possessed  of  sufficiently  remarkable  properties  to 
have  been  articles  of  ancient  commerce. 

Cinnamon  of  the  best  quality  is  imported  in 
the  present  day  from  Ceylon,  and  also  from  the 
Malabar  coast,  in  consequence  of  the  cinnamon 
plant  having  been  introduced  there  from  Ceylon. 
An  inferior  kind  is  also  exported  from  the  pen- 
insula of  India.  From  these  countries  the  cin- 
namon and  cassia  of  the  ancients  must  most 
likely  have  been  obtained,  though  both  are  also 
produced  in  the  islands  of  Sumatra  and  Borneo, 
in  China,  and  in  Cochinchina.  Cinnamon  is  im- 
ported in  bales  and  chests — the  bundles  weighing 
about  one  pound  each.  The  pieces  consist  of 
compound  quills,  are  about  three  feet  long, 
slender,  and  inclose  within  them  several  smaller 
quills.  These  are  thin,  smooth,  of  a  brownish 
colour,  of  a  warm,  sweetish,  and  agreeable  taste, 
and  fragrant  odour ;  but  several  kinds  are  known 
in  modern  markets,  as  they  were  in  ancient 
times. 

In  Ceylon  cinnamon  is  carefully  cultivated, 
the  best  cinnamon  gardens  being  on  the  south- 
western coast,  where  the  soil  is  light  and  sandy, 
and  the  atmosphere  moist  from  the  prevalent 


CINNAMON  199 

southern  winds.  The  plants  begin  to  yield  cin- 
namon when  about  six  or  seven  years  old,  after 
which  the  shoots  may  be  cut  every  three  or  four 
years.  The  best  kind?  of  cinnamon  are  obtained 
from  twigs  and  shoots ;  less  than  half,  or  more 
than  two  or  three  inches  in  diameter,  are  not 
peeled.  '  The  peeling  is  effected  by  making  two 
opposite,  or  when  the  branch  is  thick,  three  or  | 
four  longitudinal  incisions,  and  then  elevating  ' 
the  bark  by  introducing  the  peeling  knife  be-  1 
neath  it.  In  twenty-four  hours  the  epidermis  and  j 
greenish  pulpy  matter  are  carefully  scraped  off. 
In  a  few  hours  the  smaller  quills  are  introduced  \ 
into  the  larger  ones,  and  in  this  way  congeries  of 
quills  are  formed,  often  measuring  forty  inches 
in  length.  The  bark  is  then  dried  in  the  sun, 
and  afterwards  made  into  bundles,  with  pieces  of 
split  bamboo  twigs.'  Besides  cinnamon,  an  oil 
of  cinnamon  is  obtained  in  Ceylon,  by  macerating 
the  coarser  pieces  of  the  bark,  after  being  re- 
duced to  a  coarse  powder,  in  sea-water,  for  two 
days,  when  both  are  submitted  to  distillation.  A 
fatty  substance  is  also  obtained  by  bruising  and 
boiling  the  riper  fruit,  when  an  oily  body  tioats 
on  the  surface,  which  on  cooling  concretes  into  a 
dirty  whitish,  rather  hard,  fatty  matter.  Some 
camphor  may  be  procured  from  the  roots. 


127.    [Kinnamomum  cassia.] 

Cassia  bark  was  distinguished  with  difficulty 
from  cinnamon  by  the  ancients.     In  the  present 
day  it  is  often  sold  for  cinnamon ;  indeed,  unless 
a  purchaser  specify  true  cinnamon,  he  will  pro- 
bably be  supplied  with  nothing  but  cassia.     It  is 
made  up  into  similar  bundles  with  cinnamon, 
has   the  same   general   appearance,   smell,   and 
taste ;  but  its  substance  is  thicker  and  coarser,  its   j 
colour  darker,  its  flavour  much  less  sweet  and   i 
fine  than  that  of  Ceylon  cinnamon,  while  it  is   | 
more  pungent,  and  is  followed  by  a  bitter  taste ; 
it  is  also  less  closely  quilled,  and  breaks  shoi-ter 
than  genuine  cinnamon.     Dr.  Pereira,  whose  de-   j 
scription  we  have  adopted,  has  ascertained  that   I 
cassia  is  imported  into  the  London  market  from   j 
Bombay  (the  produce  of  the  Malabar  coast),  and 
alsa  from  the  Mauritius,  Calcutta,  Batavia,  Sin- 
gapore, the  Philippine  Islands,  and  Canton.     Mr. 
Reeves  says,  '  Vast  quantities  both  of  cassia  seeds 
(buds)  and  cassia  lignea  are  annually  brought  to 


200  CIRCUMCISION 

Canton  from  the  province  of  Kwangse,  wliose 
principal  city  {Kweihin,  literally  '  cassia  forest') 
derives  its  name  from  the  forests  of  cassia  around 
it.  The  Chinese  themselves  use  a  much  thicker 
bark,  unfit  for  the  European  market.'  The 
Malabar  cassia  lignea  is  thicker  and  coarser  than 
that  of  China.  From  the  various  sources,  inde- 
pendently of  the  different  qualities,  it  is  evident, 
as  in  the  case  of  cinnamon,  that  the  ancients 
might  have  been,  as  no  doubt  they  were,  ac- 
quainted with  several  varieties  of  cassia.  These, 
we  have  no  doubt,  are  yielded  by  more  than  one 
species.  Mr.  Marshall,  from  information  ob- 
tained while  he  was  staff-surgeon  in  Ceylon, 
maintained  that  cassia,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it, 
was  the  coarser  bark  of  the  true  cinnamon.  Dr. 
Wight  has  ascertained  that  more  than  one  species 
yields  the  cassia  of  Malabar,  often  called  cin- 
namon. Besides  cassia  bark,  there  is  also  a 
cassia  oil,  and  cassia  buds,  supposed  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  same  tree.  There  can  be  no  reason- 
able doubt,  as  cinnamon  and  cassia  were  known 
to  the  Greeks,  that  they  must  have  been  known 
to  the  Hebrews  also,  as  the  commerce  with  India 
can  be  proved  to  have  been  much  more  ancient 
than  is  generally  supposed. 

CIN'NERETH,  or  Cinneroth,  one  of  the 
'fenced  cities'  of  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  (Josh, 
xix.  3.5;  Deut.  iii.  17;  Josh.  xi.  2).  In  the  last 
of  the  texts  cited  it  seems  to  indicate  a  district. 
It  is  also  the  earlier  name  of  the  lake  Gen- 
nesareth  (which  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption 
of  Cinnereth),  from  which  we  may  collect  that 
tlie  town  lay  on  the  western  border  of  the  lake, 
and  was  of  sufficient  consequence  to  give  its  own 
name  to  it.  It  is  even  supposed  that  Cinnereth, 
afterwards  Gennesareth,  was  the  earlier  name  of 
tlie  town  of  Tiberias,  and  under  tlie  latter  change 
still  extended  its  own  denomination  to  the  lake ; 
nor  is  there  anything  improbable  in  this  con- 
jecture. 

CIRCUMCI'SION.  The  history  of  Jewish 
Circumcision  lies  on  the  surface  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Abraham  received  the  rite  from  Jehovah, 
Moses  established  it  as  a  national  ordinance,  and 
Joshua  carried  it  into  effect  before  the  Israelites 
entered  the  land  of  Canaan.  Males  only  were 
subjected  to  the  operation,  and  it  was  to  be  per- 
formed on  the  eighth  day  of  the  child's  life : 
foreign  slaves  also  were  forced  to  submit  to  it,  on 
entering  an  Israelite's  family.  Those  who  are 
unacquainted  with  other  sources  of  information 
on  tbe  subject  besides  the  Scriptures  might  easily 
suppose  that  the  rite  was  original  with  Abraham, 
characteristic  of  his  seed,  and  practised  among 
those  nations  only  Avho  had  learned  it  from  them. 
This,  however,  appears  not  to  have  been  the 
case. 

First  of  all,  the  Eyyptians  were  a  circumcised 
people.  It  has  been  alleged  by  some  writers  that 
this  was  not  true  of  the  Avhole  nation,  but  of  the 
priests  only.  A  great  preponderance  of  argu- 
ment, however,  appears  to  us  to  prove  that  the 
rite  was  universal  among  the  old  Egyptians,  as 
long  as  their  native  institutions  flourished;  al- 
though there  is  no  question  that,  under  Persian 
and  Greek  rule,  it  gradually  fell  into  disuse,  and 
was  retained  chiefly  by  the  priests  and  by  those 
who  desired  to  cultivate  ancient  wisdom. 

The  Colchians,  who,  according  to  Herodotus, 
were  a  colony  from  Egypt,  learnt  the  practice 


CIRCUMCISION 

from  the  Egyptians,  as  Also  did  the  savage  Tro- 
glodytes of  Africa.  Herodotus,  moreover,  tells 
us  that  the  Ethiopians  were  also  circumcised ;  and 
he  was  in  doubt  whether  they  had  learned  the 
rite  from  the  Egyptians,  or  the  Egyptians  from 
them.  By  the  Ethiopians  we  must  understanc 
him  to  mean  the  inhabitants  of  Meroe  or  Sen- 
naar.  In  the  present  day  the  Coptic  Church 
continues  to  practise  it ;  the  Abyssinian  Christians 
do  the  same;  and  that  it  was  not  introduced 
among  the  latter  with  a  Judaical  Christianity 
appears  from  their  performing  it  upon  both  sexes. 
Oldendorp  describes  the  rite  as  widely  spread 
through  Western  Africa — 16°  on  each  side  of  the 
Line— even  among  natives  that  are  not  Moham- 
medan. In  later  times  it  has  been  ascertained 
that  it  is  practised  by  the  Kafir  nations  in  South 
Africa,  M-hom  Prichard  supposes  to  form  '  a  great 
part  of  the  native  population  of  Africa  to  the 
southward  of  the  Equator.' 

How  far  the  rite  was  extended  thi"ough  the 
Syro-Arabian  races  is  uncertain,  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  it  was  widely  diffused  among  them. 
The  Philistines,  in  the  days  of  Saul,  were  how- 
ever uncircumcised ;  so  also,  says  Herodotus, 
were  all  the  Phoenicians  who  had  intercourse 
with  the  Greeks.  That  the  Canaanites,  in  the 
days  of  Jacob,  were  not  all  circumcised,  is  plain 
from  the  affair  of  Dinah  and  Shechem.  The 
story  of  Zipporah  (Exod.  iv.  25),  who  did  not 
circumcise  her  son  until  fear  came  over  her,  that 
Jehovah  would  slay  her  husband  Moses,  proves 
that  the  family  of  Jethi-o,  the  Midianite,  had  no 
fixed  rule  about  it,  although  the  Midianites  are 
generally  regarded  as  children  of  Abraham  by 
Keturah.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  dis- 
tinct testimony  of  Josephus,  that  the  Ishmaelite 
Arabs,  inhabiting  the  district  of  Nabathaca,  were 
circumcised  after  their  thirteenth  year.  TJie  fact 
that  the  books  of  Moses,  of  Joshua,  and  of  Judges, 
never  bestow  the  epithet  tmcirciimcised  as  a  re- 
proach on  any  of  the  seven  nations  of  Canaan, 
any  more  than  on  the  Moabites  or  Ammonites, 
the  Amalekites,  the  Midianites,  or  other  inland 
tribes  with  whom  they  came  into  conflict,  taken 
in  connection  -with  the  circumstance,  that  as  soon 
as  the  Pliilistines  became  prominent  in  the  nar- 
rative, after  the  birth  of  Samson,  this  epithet  is  of 
rather  conmion  occurrence,  and  that  the  bringing 
back,  as  a  trophy,  the  foreskins  of  slain  enemies, 
never  occurs  except  against  the  Philistines  (1  Sam. 
xviii.),  would  lead  us  to  conclude,  that  while  the 
Philistines,  like  the  Sidonians  and  the  other  mari- 
time Syrian  nations  known  to  the  Greeks,  were 
wholly  strangers  to  the  practice,  it  was  common 
among  the  Canaanites  and  all  the  more  inland 
tribes. 

How  far  the  rite  of  circumcision  spread  over 
the  south-west  of  Arabia  no  definite  record  sub- 
sists. The  silence  of  the  Koran  confirms  the 
statement  of  Abulfeda,  that  the  custom  is  older 
than  Mohammed,  who,  it  would  appear,  in  no 
respect  regarded  it  as  a  religious  rite.  Nevei-- 
theless  it  has  extended  itself  with  the  Moham- 
medan faith,  as  though  it  were  a  positive  ordi- 
nance. Pocock  cites  a  tradition,  which  ascribes 
to  Mohammed  the  words — '  Circumcision  is  an  or- 
dinance for  men,  and  honourable  in  women.'  This 
extension  of  the  rite  to  the  other  sex  might,  in 
itself,  satisfy  us  that  it  did  not  come  to  those 
nations  from  Abraham  and  Ishmael.    We  have 


CISTERN 

already  seer  that  Abyssinian  circumcision  has 
the  same  peculiarity:  so  that  it  is  everyway  pro- 
bable that  Southern  Arabia  had  the  rite  from  the 
same  source  or  influence  as  Ethiopia.  In  fact, 
the  very  closest  relations  are  known  to  have  sub- 
sisted between  the  nations  on  the  opposite  coasts 
of  the  lied  Sea. 

The  moral  meaning  of  the  word  '  uncircum- 
cised'  was  a  natural  result  of  its  having  been 
made  legally  essential  to  Hebrew  faith.  '  Uncir- 
cumcised  in  heart  and  ears '  was  a  metaphor  to 
which  a  prophet  would  be  carried,  as  necessarily 
as  a  Christian  teacher  to  such  phrases  as  '  unbap- 
tized  in  soul,'  or  '  washed  by  regeneration.'  If, 
however,  we  try  to  take  a  step  farther  back  still, 
and  ask  why  this  ordinance  in  particular  was 
selected,  as  so  eminently  essential  to  the  seed  of 
Abraham,  we  probably  find  that  we  have  reached 
a  point  at  which  we  must  be  satisfied  with  know- 
ing the  fact  without  the  reason.  Every  external 
ordinance,  as  for  instance  baptism,  must  have 
more  or  less  that  is  arbitrary  in  it.  It  is,  how- 
ever, abundantly  plain  that  circumcision  was  not 
intended  to  separate  the  Jews  from  other  nations 
generally,  for  it  could  not  do  so :  and,  least  of 
all,  from  the  Egyptians,  as  the  words  in  Joshua 
(v.  9)  show,  liather,  it  was  a  well  known  and 
already  understood  symbol  of  purity. 

CISTERN.  In  a  country  which  has  scarcely 
more  than  one  perennial  stream,  where  fountains 
are  not  abundant,  and  where  the  months  of  sum- 
mer pass  without  rain,  the  preservation  of  the 
rain-water  in  cisterns  must  always  have  been  a 
matter  of  vast  importance,  not  only  in  the  pas- 
ture-grounds, but  in  gardens,  and,  above  all,  in 
towns.  Hence  the  frequent  mention  of  cisterns 
in  Scripture,  and  more  especially  of  those  which 
are  found  in  the  open  country.  These  were,  it 
seems,  the  property  of  those  by  whom  they  were 
formed  (Num.  xxi.  22).  They  are  usually  little 
more  than  large  pits,  but  sometimes  take  the 
character  of  extensive  subterraneous  vaults,  open 
only  by  a  small  mouth,  like  that  of  a  well. 
They  are  filled  with  rain-water,  and  (where  the 
climate  allows)  with  snow  during  winter,  and  are 
then  closed  at  the  mouth  with  large  flat  stones, 
over  which  sand  is  spread  in  such  a  way  as  to 
prevent  their  being  easily  discovered.  If  by  any 
chance  the  waters  which  the  shepherd  has  thus 
treasured  up  are  lost  by  means  of  an  earthquake 
or  some  other  casualty,  or  are  stolen,  both  he 
and  his  flocks  are  exposed  to  great  and  imminent 
I  danger  ;  as  are  also  travellers  who  hasten  to  a 
I  cistern  and  find  its  waters  gone.  For  this  reason 
a  failure  of  water  is  used  as  the  image  of  any 
great  calamity  (Isa.  xli.  17,  18;  xliv.  .3).  There 
is  usually  a  large  deposit  of  mud  at  the  bottom 
of  these  cisterns,  so  that  he  who  falls  into  them, 
even  when  they  are  without  water,  is  liable  to 
perish  miserably  (Gen.  xxxvii.  22,  sq.;  Jer. 
xxxviii.  6;  Lam.  iii.  53;  Ps.  xl.  2;  Ixix.  15). 
Cisterns  were  sometimes  used,  when  empty,  as 
prisons,  and  indeed  prisons  which  were  con- 
structed under  ground  received  the  same  name 
(Gen.  xxxix.  20;  xl.  1.5). 

In  cities  the  cisterns  were  works  of  much  la- 
bour, for  they  were  either  hewn  in  the  rocks  or 
surrounded  with  subterraneous  walls,  and  lined 
with  a  fine  incrustation.  The  system  which  in 
this  respect  formerly  prevailed  in  Palestine  is, 
doabtless,  the  same  that  exists  at  present;  and 


CITIES  OF  REFUGE  201 

indeed  there  is  every  probability  that  most  of 
the  cisterns  now  in  use  were  constructed  in  very 
ancient  times.  Professor  Robinson  assures  us, 
that  '  the  main  dependence  of  Jerusalem  at  the 
present  day  is  on  its  cisterns ;  and  this  has  pro- 
bably always  been  the  case.'  He  then  mentions 
the  immense  cisterns  now  and  anciently  existing 
within  the  area  of  the  Temple ;  supplied  partly 
by  rain  water,  and  partly  by  an  aqueduct  from 
Solomon's  Pools,  and  which,  of  themselves, 
would  furnish  a  tolerable  supply  in  case  of  a 
siege.  But,  in  addition  to  these,  almost  every 
private  house  in  Jerusalem,  of  any  size,  is  un- 
derstood to  have  at  least  one  or  more  cisterns, 
excavated  in  the  soft  limestone  rock  on  which 
the  city  is  built.  The  cisterns  have  usually 
merely  a  round  opening  at  the  top,  sometimes 
built  up  with  stonework  above,  and  furnished 
with  a  curb  and  a  wheel  for  the  bucket ;  so  that 
they  have  externally  mucli  the  appearance  of  an 
ordinary  well.  The  water  is  conducted  into 
them  from  the  roofs  of  the  houses  during  the 
rainy  season ;  and,  with  proper  care,  remains 
pure  and  sweet  during  the  whole  summer  and 
autumn.  In  this  manner  most  of  the  larger 
houses  and  the  public  buildings  are  supplied. 
The  Latin  convent,  in  particular,  is  said  to  be 
amply  furnished ;  and  in  seasons  of  drought  is 
able  to  deal  out  a  sufiiciency  for  all  the  Christian 
inhabitants  of  the  city. 

Most  of  these  cisterns  have  undoubtedly  come 
down  from  ancient  times ;  and  their  immense 
extent  furnishes  a  full  solution  of  the  question 
as  to  the  supply  of  water  for  the  city.  Under 
the  disadvantages  of  its  position  in  this  respect, 
Jerusalem  must  necessarily  have  always  been 
dependent  on  its  cisterns ;  and  a  city  which  thus 
annually  laid  in  its  supply  for  seven  or  eight 
months  could  never  be  overtaken  by  a  want  of 
water  during  a  siege.  Nor  is  this  a  trait  pecu- 
liar to  the  Holy  City ;  for  the  case  is  the  same 
throughout  all  the  hill  country  of  Judah  and 
Benjamin.  Fountains  and  streams  are  few,  as 
compared  with  Europe  and  America ;  and  the 
inhabitants,  therefore,  collect  water  during  ihe 
rainy  season  in  tanks  and  cisterns  in  the  cities, 
in  the  fields,  and  along  the  high  roads,  for  the 
sustenance  of  themselves  and  of  their  flocks  and 
herds,  and  for  the  comfort  of  the  passing  tra- 
veller. Many,  if  not  the  most,  of  these  are 
obviously  antique;  and  they  exist  not  unfre- 
quently  along  the  ancient  roads  which  are  now 
deserted.  Thus,  on  the  long-forgotten  Avay  from 
Jericho  to  Bethel,  '  broken  cisterns '  of  high  an- 
tiquity are  found  at  regular  intervals.  That 
Jerusalem  was  thus  actually  supplied  of  old  with 
water  is  apparent  also  from  the  numerous  re- 
mains of  ancient  cisterns  still  existing  in  the 
tract  north  of  the  city,  which  was  once  enclosed 
within  the  walls. 

CITIES  OF  REFUGE.  Places  of  refuge 
where,  under  the  cover  of  religion,  the  guilty 
and  the  unfortunate  might  find  shelter  and  pro- 
tection were  not  unknown  among  the  ancient 
heathen.  The  right  of  shelter  and  impunity  was 
enjoyed  by  certain  places  reputed  sacred,  such  as 
groves,  temples,  and  altars.  This  protective 
power  commonly  spread  itself  over  a  considerable 
district  round  the  holy  spot,  and  was  watched 
over  and  preserved  by  severe  penalties.  Among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  the  number  of  these 


202 


CITIES  OF  REFUGE 


places  of  asylum  became  in  process  of  time  very 
great,  and  led,  by  abuse,  to  a  fresh  increase  of 
criminals.  Tiberius,  in  consequence,  caused  a 
solemn  inquiry  into  their  efi'ects  to  be  made, 
■which  resulted  in  a  diminution  of  their  number 
and  a  limitation  of  their  privileges. 

This  pagan  custom  passed  into  Christianity. 
As  early  as  Constantine  the  Great,  Christian 
churches  were  asylums  for  the  unfortunate  per- 
sons whom  an  outraged  law  or  powerful  enemies 
pursued.  Theodosius,  in  431,  extended  this  pri- 
vilege to  the  houses,  gardens,  and  other  places 
which  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  churches, 
and  the  synod  of  Toledo,  in  681,  widened  the 
right  of  asylum  to  thirty  paces  from  every 
church.  Since  then  this  ecclesiastical  privilege 
prevailed  in  the  whole  of  Catholic  Christendom, 
and  was  preserved  undiminished,  at  least  in 
Italy,  so  long  as  the  papal  independence  re- 
mained. The  right  acted  beneficially  in  ages 
when  violence  and  revenge  predominated,  and 
fixed  habitations  were  less  common  than  now; 
but  its  tendency  to  transfer  power  from  the  ma- 
gistrate to  the  priesthood  was  injurious  to  the 
inviolability  of  law  and  the  steady  administration 
of  justice.  It  has  accordingly  in  recent  times 
been  abrogated  by  most  governments. 

Among  the  Jews  the  '  cities  of  refuge '  bore 
some  resemblance  to  the  asylum  of  the  classic 
nations,  but  were  happily  exempt  from  the  evil 
consequences  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
and  afford,  even  to  the  present  day,  no  mean 
proof  of  the  superior  wisdom  and  benignant 
spirit  of  the  Jewish  laws. 

The  institution  was  framed  with  a  view  to 
abate  the  evils  which  ensued  from  the  old  esta- 
blished rights  of  the  blood-avenger  [Blood- 
Kevenge],  and  thereby  to  further  the  prevalence 
in  the  nation  of  a  mild,  gentle,  and  forgiving 
spirit. 

From  the  laws  on  this  point  (Exod.  xxi.  13 ; 
Num.  XXXV.  9-34;  Deut.  xix.  1-13)  it  appears 
that  Moses  set  apart  out  of  the  sacerdotal  cities 
six  as  '  cities  of  refuge.'  There  were,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Jordan,  three,  namely,  '  Bezer 
in  the  wilderness,  in  the  plain  country  of  the 
Reubenites,  and  Ramoth  in  Gilead  of  the  Gadites, 
and  Golan  in  Bashan  of  the  Manassites '  (Deut. 
iv.  43) ;  on  the  western  side  three,  namely,  '  Ke- 
desh  in  Galilee  in  Mount  Naphtali,  and  Shechem 
in  Mount  Ephraim,  and  Kirjath-arba,  which  is 
Hebron,  in  the  mountain  of  Judah'  (Josh.  xx. 
7).  If  found  desirable,  then  other  cities  might 
be  added.  An  inspection  of  the  map  will  show 
how  wisely  these  places  were  chosen  so  as  to 
make  a  city  of  refuge  easy  of  access  from  all 
parts  of  the  land.  To  any  one  of  these  cities  a 
person  who  had  unawares  and  unintentionally 
slain  any  one  might  flee,  and  if  he  reached  it 
before  he  was  overtaken  by  the  avenger  of  blood, 
he  was  safe  within  its  shelter,  provided  he  did 
not  remove  more  than  a  thousa/id  yards  from  its 
circuit,  nor  quit  the  refuge  till  the  decease  of  the 
high-priest  under  whom  the  homicide  had  taken 
place.  If,  however,  he  transgressed  these  provi- 
sions, the  avenger  might  lawfully  put  him  to 
death.  The  roads  leading  to  the  cities  of  refuge 
were  to  be  kept  in  good  repair.  Before,  how- 
ever, the  fugitive  could  avail  himself  of  the 
shelter  conceded  by  the  laws,  he  was  to  undergo 
u  solema  trial„  &ai  make  it  appear  to  the  satis- 


CITIES  OF  REFUGE 

faction  of  the  magistrates  of  the  place  where  the 
homicide  was  committed  that  it  was  purely  acci- 
dental. Should  he,  however,  be  found  to  have 
been  guilty  of  murder,  he  was  delivered  '  into 
the  hand  of  the  avenger  of  blood,  that  he  might 
die.'  And  the  Israelites  were  strictly  forbidden  to 
spare  him  either  from  considerations  of  pity  or 
in  consequence  of  any  pecuniary  ransom.  This 
disallowal  of  a  compensation  by  money  in  the 
case  of  murder  shows  a  just  regard  for  human 
life,  and  appears  much  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Hebrew  legislation  when  compared  with  the 
practice  of  other  countries  (Athens,  for  instance, 
and  Islam),  in  which  pecuniary  atonements 
were  allowed,  if  not  encouraged,  and  where,  in 
consequence,  the  life  of  the  poor  must  have  been 
iu  as  great  jeopardy  as  the  character  of  the 
wealthy. 

The  asylum  afforded  by  Moses  displays  the 
same  benign  regard  to  human  life  in  respect  of 
the  homicide  himself.  Had  no  obstacle  been  put 
in  the  way  of  the  Goel,  instant  death  would  have 
awaited  any  one  who  had  the  misfortune  to  occa- 
sion the  death  of  another.  By  his  wise  arrange- 
ments, however,  Moses  interposed  a  seasonable 
delay,  and  enabled  the  manslayer  to  appeal  to 
the  laws  and  justice  of  his  country.  Momentary 
wrath  could  hardly  execute  its  fell  purposes,  and 
a  suitable  refuge  was  provided  for  the  guiltless 
and  unfortunate. 

Yet  as  there  is  a  wide  space  between  the  inno- 
cence of  mere  homicide  and  the  guilt  of  actual 
murder,  in  which  various  degrees  of  blame  might 
easily  exist,  so  the  legislator  took  means  to  make 
the  condition  of  the  manslayer  less  happy  than 
it  was  before  the  act  or  the  mischance,  lest  entire 
impunity  might  lead  to  the  neglect  of  necessary 
precaution  and  care.  With  great  propriety,  there- 
fore, was  the  homicide  made  to  feel  some  legal 
inconvenience.  Accordingly  he  was  removed 
from  his  patrimony,  restricted  in  his  sphere  of 
locomotion,  affected  indirectly  in  his  pecuniary 
interests,  and  probably  reduced  from  an  aflBuent 
or  an  easy  station  to  one  of  service  and  labour. 
The  benefit  of  the  protection  afforded  was  com- 
mon to  strangers  and  sojourners  with  native 
Israelites. 

What  ensues  rests  on  the  authority  of  the  Rab- 
bins. In  order  to  give  the  fugitive  all  possible 
advantage  in  his  flight,  it  was  the  business  of  the 
Sanhedrim  to  make  the  roads  that  led  to  the 
cities  of  refuge  convenient  by  enlarging  them 
and  removing  every  obstruction  that  might  hurt 
his  foot  or  hinder  his  speed.  No  hillock  was 
left,  no  river  was  allowed  over  which  there  was 
not  a  bridge,  and  the  road  was  at  least  two  and 
thirty  cubits  broad.  At  every  turning  there  Mere 
posts  erected  bearing  the  words  Refuge,  Erfiuje, 
to  guide  the  unhappy  man  in  his  flight;  and  two 
students  in  the  law  were  appointed  to  accompany 
him,  that,  if  the  avenger  should  overtake  him 
before  he  reached  the  city,  they  might  attempt 
to  pacify  him  till  the  legal  investigation  could 
take  place. 

When  once  settled  in  the  city  of  refiige,  the 
manslayer  had  a  convenient  habitation  assigned 
him  gratuitously,  and  the  citizens  were  to  teach 
him  some  trade  whereby  he  might  support  him- 
self. To  render  his  confinement  more  easy,  the 
mothers  of  the  high-priests  used  to  feed  and 
clothe  these  unfortunate  fugitives,  that  they  might 


CITIZENSHIP 

not  be  impatient  and  pray  for  the  death  of  their 
sons,  on  whose  decease  they  were  restored  to 
their  liberty  and  their  property.  If  the  slayer 
died  in  the  city  of  refuge  before  he  was  released, 
his  bones  were  delivered  to  his  relations,  after 
the  death  of  the  high-priest,  to  be  buried  in  the 
sepulchre  of  his  fathers. 

In  addition  to  this  right  of  asylum,  a  custom 
appears  to  have  prevailed  from  very  early  times, 
both  among  the  chosen  people  and  the  nations  of 
the  world,  of  fleeing,  in  case  of  personal  danger, 
to  the  altar.  With  the  Jews  it  was  customary 
for  the  fugitive  to  lay  hold  of  the  horns  of  the 
altar,  whether  in  the  tabernacle  or  temple ;  by 
which,  however,  shelter  and  security  were  ob- 
tained only  for  those  who  had  committed  sins  of 
ignorance  or  inadvertence  (Exod.  xxi.  14 ;  1  Kings 
i.  50;  ii.  28).  From  the  two  last  passages  it 
seems  that  state-criminals  also  sought  the  protec- 
tion of  the  altar,  probably  more  from  the  force 
of  custom  than  any  express  law.  Their  safety, 
however,  depended  on  the  will  of  the  king ;  for 
in  the  passages  referred  to  it  appears  that  in  one 
case  (that  of  Adonijah)  life  was  spared,  but  in  the 
other  (that  of  Joab)  it  was  taken  away  even  '  by 
the  altar.'     Compare  Matt,  xxiii.  35. 

CITIZENSHIP.  Strict  isolation  did  by  no 
means,  as  some  suppose,  form  the  leading  prin- 
ciple in  the  system  of  theocracy  as  laid  down  by 
Moses,  since  even  non-Israelites  not  only  were 
allowed  to  reside  in  Palestine,  but  had  the  fullest 
protection  of  the  law,  equally  with  the  descendants 
of  Abraham  (Exod.  xii.  19;  Lev.  xxiv.  22; 
Num.  XV,  15;  xxxv.  15;  Dent.  i.  10;  xxiv.  17; 
the  law  of  usury,  Deut.  xxiii.  20,  made,  how- 
ever, an  exception),  and  were  besides  recom- 
mended in  general  terms  by  Moses  to  humanity 
and  charity  (Exod.  xxii.  21 ;  xxiii.  9  ;  Lev,  xix. 
33,  34  ;  Deut.  x.  18 ;  comp,  Jer.  vii.  6  ;  Mai.  iii. 
5),  as  well  as  to  a  participation  in  certain  prero- 
gatives granted  to  the  poor  of  the  land,  such  as  a 
share  in  the  tithe  and  feast-offering,  and  the  har- 
vest in  the  Jubilee-year  (Deut.  xiv.  29  ;  xvi.  10, 
14;  xxvi.  11  ;  Lev.  xxv.  6).  In  return,  it  was 
required  on  the  part  of  non- Israelites  not  to  com- 
mit acts  by  which  the  religious  feelings  of  the 
people  might  be  hurt  (Exod.  xx.  10  ;  Lev.  xvii. 
10 ;  xviii.  26  ;  xx.  2  ;  xxiv.  15  ;  Deut.  v.  14.  The 
eating  of  an  animal  which  had  died  a  natural 
death,  Deut.  xiv.  21,  seems  to  have  been  the  sole 
exception).  The  advantage  the  Jew  had  over 
the  Gentile  was  thus  strictly  spiritual,  in  his 
being  a  citizen,  a  member  of  the  theocracy,  of 
the  community  of  God,  on  whom  positive  laws 
were  enjoined.  But  even  to  this  spiritual  privi 
lege  Gentiles  were  admitted  under  certain  restric 
tions  (Deut.  xxiii.  1-9).  The  only  nations  that 
were  altogether  excluded  from  the  citizenship  of 
the  theocracy  by  especial  command  of  the  Lord 
were  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites,  from  a  feeling 
of  vengeance  against  them :  and  in  the  same  situ- 
ation were  all  castrated  persons,  and  bastards, 
from  a  feeling  of  disgrace  and  shame  (Deut. 
xxiii.  1-G).  In  the  time  of  Solomon,  no  less  than 
153,600  strangers  were  resident  in  Palestine  (2 
Chron.  ii.  17). 

Roman  citizenship  (Acts  xxii.  28),  was  granted 
in  the  times  of  the  Emperors  to  whole  provinces 
and  cities,  as  also  to  single  individuals,  for  some 
service  rendered  to  the  state  or  the  imperial 
family,  or  even  for  a  certain  sum  of  money  (Acts 


CLOUD 


203 


xxii.  28).  The  Apostle  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen 
by  family  (Acts,  I.  c),  and  hence  his  protesting 
against  corporal  or  capital  punishment. 

CLAU'DA,  a  small  island  off  the  S.W.  coast 
of  Crete,  mentioned  in  Acts  xxvii.  16.  It  now 
bears  the  name  of  Gozzo. 

CLAU'DIA,  a  Christian  female  of  Rome,  men- 
tioned in  2  Tim.  iv.  21. 

CLAU'DIUS,  the  fifth  Roman  emperor,  and 
successor  of  Caligula,  a.d.  41-54  (Acts  xi.  28 ; 
xviii.  2).  His  full  name  was  Tiberius  Claudius 
Nero  Germanicus.  Previously  to  his  accession 
he  led  rather  a  dissolute  life,  and  the  throne  was 
in  a  great  measure  secured  to  him  through  the 
address  and  solicitations  of  Herod  Agrippa.  This 
obligation  he  returned  by  great  and  peculiar 
favours  to  that  personage ;  and  the  Jews  were 
generally  treated  with  indulgence  till  the  ninth 
year  of  his  reign,  when  those  who  abode  at  Rome 
were  all  banished  thence  (Acts  xviii.  2).  Several 
famines  occurred  under  Claudius,  one  of  which, 
in  the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  extended  to  Pa- 
lestine and  Syria,  and  appears  to  be  that  which 
was  foretold  by  Agabus  (Acts  xi.  28). 

CLAUDIUS  LYSIAS.    [Lysias.] 

CLAUDIUS  FELIX.     [Felix.] 

CLAY,  a  substance  frequently  mentioned  in 
Scripture,  chiefly  with  reference  to  its  employ- 
ment by  the  potter,  the  elegant  and  useful  forms 
assumed  by  the  rude  material  under  his  hands 
supplying  a  significant  emblem  of  the  Divine 
power  over  the  destinies  of  man  (Isa.  Ixiv.  8; 
Rom.  ix.  21).  A  remarkable  allusion  to  the  use 
of  clay  in  sealing  occurs  in  Job  xxxviii.  14,  '  He 
turneth  it  as  clay  to  the  seal.'  This  may  be  ex- 
plained by  reference  to  the  ancient  practice  of 
impressing  unburnt  bricks  with  certain  marks 
and  inscriptions  which  were  obviously  made  by 
means  of  a  large  seal  or  stamp.  We  trace  this 
in  the  bricks  of  Egypt  and  Babylon  [Bricks]. 
Modern  Oriental  usages  supply  another  illustra- 
tion. Travellers,  when  entering  the  khans  in 
towns,  often  observe  the  rooms  in  which  goods 
have  been  left  in  charge  of  th€  khanjee  sealed  on 
the  outside  with  clay.  A  piece  of  clay  is  placed 
over  the  lock,  and  impressed  by  a  large  wooden 
stamp  or  seal, 

CLE'MENT,  a  person  mentioned  by  Paul 
(Phil.  iv.  3),  as  one  whose  name  was  in  the  book 
of  life.  For  the  meaning  of  this  phrase,  see  Book 
OF  Life.  This  Clement  was,  by  the  ancient 
church,  identified  with  the  bishop  of  Rome  of  the 
same  name ;  and  that  opinion  has  naturally  been 
followed  by  Roman  Catholic  expositors.  It  can- 
not now  be  proved  incorrect ;  but  the  suspicion 
exists  that  the  case  here  may  be  as  with  many 
other  names  in  the  New  Testament,  which  have 
been  assigned  to  celebrated  persons  of  a  later 
period.  Clement  is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  third 
year  of  the  emperor  Trajan  (a.d.  100),  when  he 
suffered  martyrdom. 

1.  CLEOPAS,  one  of  the  two  disciples  to  whom 
Jesus  appeared  in  the  way  to  Emmaus  (Luke  xxiv. 
18).  He  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  other 
Cleophas,  who  was  also  called  Alpha;us. 

2.  CLEOPHAS,  or  rather  Clopas,  who  was 
also  called  Alphajus,  which  see. 

CLIMATE.     [Palestine.] 

CLOUD.  The  allusions  to  clouds  in  Scripture, 
as  well  as  their  use  in  symbolical  language,  must 
be  understood  with  reference  to  the  nature  of  the 


204 


COAL 


climate,  where  the  sky  scarcely  exhibits  the  trace 
of  a  cloud  from  the  beginning  of  May  to  the  end 
of  September,  during  which  period  clouds  so 
rarely  appear,  and  rains  so  seldom  fall,  as  to  be 
considered  phenomena — as  was  the  case  with  the 
harvest  rain  which  Samuel  invoked  (1  Sam.  xii. 
17,  18),  and  with  the  little  cloud,  not  larger  than 
a  man's  hand,  the  appearance  of  which  in  the 
west  was  immediately  noticed  as  something  re- 
markable not  only  in  itself,  but  as  a  sure  har- 
binger of  rain  (1  Kings  xviii.  44). 

As  in  such  climates  clouds  refreshingly  veil  the 
oppressive  glories  of  the  sun,  clouds  often  symbo- 
lize the  Divine  presence,  as  indicating  the  splen- 
dour, insupportable  to  man,  of  that  glory  which 
they  wholly  or  partially  conceal  (Exod.  xvi.  10  ; 
xxxiii.  9;  xxxiv.  5;  xl.  34,  35;  Num.  xi.  25; 
xxi.  5  ;  Job  xxii.  14;  Ps.  xviii.  11, 12  ;  xcvii.  2  ; 
civ.  3  ;  Isa.  xix.  1 ;  Matt.  xvii.  5  ;  xxiv.  30,  &c. ; 
Acts  i.  9 ;  Rev.  i.  7  ;  xiv.  14,  16).  Somewhat 
allied  to  this  use  is  that  which  makes  clouds  the 
symbols  of  the  Divine  power  (2  Sam.  xxii.  12  ; 
Ps.  Ixviii.  34  ;  Ixxxix.  6  ;  civ.  3 ;  Nahum  i.  3). 

Clouds  are  also  the  symbol  of  armies  and  mul- 
titudes of  people  (Jer.  iv.  13 ;  Isa.  Ix.  8 ;  Heb. 
xii.  1). 

There  are  many  other  dispersed  symbolical  al- 
lusions to  clouds  in  Scripture  not  coming  under 
these  descriptions ;  but  their  purport  is  in  every 
case  too  obvious  to  need  explanation  (see  particu- 
larly Prov.  xvi.  16 ;  Eccles.  xii.  2  ;  Isa.  iv.  5 ; 
xliv.  22  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  17  :  Jude  12). 

CNI'DUS,  otherwise  Gnidds,  a  town  and  pe- 
ninsula of  Doris  in  Caria,  jutting  out  from  the 
south-west  part  of  Asia  Minor,  between  the  islands 
of  Rhodes  and  Cos.  It  was  celebrated  for  the 
worship  of  Venus.  The  Romans  wrote  to  this 
city  in  favour  of  the  Jews  (1  Mace.  xv.  23),  and 
St.  Paul  passed  it  in  his  way  to  Rome  (Acts  xxvii. 
7). 

COAL.  It  is  generally  assumed  that,  in  those 
numerous  passages  of  our  version  in  which  the 
word  coal  occurs,  charcoal,  or  some  other  kind  of 
artificial  fuel,  is  to  be  understood  ;  at  all  events, 
that  the  word  has  not  its  English  meaning.  The 
idea  is  founded  upon  the  supposition  that  fossil 
coal  was  not  known  to  the  ancients  as  an  article 
of  fuel,  and  especially  to  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  Syria,  whose  country  it  is  generally  imagined 
did  not  produce  it.  But  the  existence  of  coal  in 
Si/ria  is  now  placed  beyond  a  doubt.  Many  in- 
dications of  coal  occur  in  the  Lebanon  mountains ; 
the  seams  of  this  mineral  even  protrude  through 
the  superincumbent  strata  in  various  directions. 
At  Cornale,  eight  hours  from  Beirout,  at  2500 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  where  the  coal- 
seams  are  three  feet  in  thickness,  a  mine  is  ac- 
tually being  worked  by  order  of  Mohammed  Ali, 
in  which  more  than  100  men  are  employed.  The 
coal  is  of  good  quality,  and  mixed  with  iron  py- 
rites. In  1837  the  quantity  of  coal  extracted  was 
14,700  cantars  of  217  okes,  each  making  about 
4000  tons.  A  furnace  for  smelting  the  ore  and  a 
railroad  to  convey  the  coals  to  Beirout  were  then 
in  contemplation. 

It  appears  from  the  testimony  of  Theophrastus 
that  pit-coal  was  used  by  artificers  in  Greece, 
nearly  300  years  B.C.,  and  the  well-ascertained 
existence  of  coal  in  Syria,  emerging  to  the  very 
surface,  may,  in  conjunction  with  some  particulars 
respecting  the  mention  of  coal  in  the  Scriptures, 


COCKLE 

tend  to  show  the  possibility  that  coal,  in  the  pnv 
per  sense,  was  not  wholly  unknown  or  unem- 
ployed by  the  ancient  Hebrews,  &c. 

COCK.  It  is  somewhat  singular  that  this  bird 
and  poultry  in  general  should  not  be  distinctly 
noticed  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  They  were, 
it  may  be  surmised,  unknown  in  Egypt  when  the 
Mosaic  law  was  promulgated,  and,  though  im- 
ported soon  after,  they  always  remained  in  an 
undetermined  condition,  neither  clean  nor  un- 
clean, but  liable  to  be  declared  either,  by  decisions 
swayed  by  prejudice,  or  by  fanciful  analogies ; 
perhaps  chiefly  the  latter;  because  poultry  are 
devourers  of  unclean  animals,  scorpions,  scolo- 
pendra,  small  lizards,  and  young  serpents  of  every 
kind. 

But  although  rearing  of  common  fowls  was  not 
encouraged  by  the  Hebrew  population,  it  is  evi- 
dently drawing  inferences  beyond  their  proper 
bounds,  when  it  is  asserted  that  they  were  un- 
known in  Jerusalem,  where  civil  wars,  and  Greek 
and  Roman  dominion,  had  greatly  affected  the 
national  manners.  In  the  denials  of  Peter,  de- 
scribed in  the  four  Gospels,  where  the  cock-crow- 
ing is  mentioned  by  our  Lord,  the  words  are 
plain  and  direct,  not  we  think  admitting  of  cavU, 
or  of  being  taken  to  signify  anything  but  the  real 
voice  of  the  bird,  in  its  literal  acceptation,  and 
not  as  denoting  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  so  called, 
because  it  proclaimed  a  watch  in  the  night ;  for, 
to  what  else  than  a  real  hen  and  her  brood  does 
our  Saviour  allude  in  Luke  xiii.  34,  where  the 
text  is  proof  that  the  image  of  poultry  was  familiar 
to  the  disciples,  and  consequently  that  they  were 
not  rarein  Judea?  To  the  present  time  in  the 
East,  and  on  the  Continent  of  Europe,  this  bird 
is  still  often  kept,  as  amongst  the  Celta;,  not  so 
much  for  food  as  for  the  purpose  of  announcing 
the  approach  and  dawn  of  day. 

COCKATRICE.    [Serpent.] 

COCKCROWING.  The  cock  usually  crows 
several  times  about  midnight,  and  again  about 
break  of  day.  The  latter  time,  because  he  then 
crows  loudest,  and  his  '  shrill  clarion '  is  most  use- 
ful by  summoning  man  to  his  labours,  obtained 
the  appellation  of  the  cockcrowing  emphatically, 
and  by  way  of  eminence  ;  though  sometimes  the 
distinctions  of  the  Jirst  and  second  cockcrowing 
are  met  with  in  Jewish  and  heathen  writers. 
These  times,  and  these  names  for  them,  were,  no 
doubt,  some  of  the  most  ancient  divisions  of  the 
night  adopted  in  the  East,  where  'the  bird  of 
dawning '  is  most  probably  indigenous.  In  our 
Lord's  time  the  Jews  had  evidently  adopted  the 
Greek  and  Roman  division  of  the  night  into  four 
periods,  or  watches;  each  consisting  of  three 
hours  ;  the  first  beginning  at  six  in  the  evening 
(Luke  xii.  38 ;  Matt.  xiv.  25  ;  Mark  vi.  48  ;  viii. 
35). 

It  has  been  considered  a  contradiction  that 
Matthew  (xxvi.  34)  records  our  Lord  to  have 
said  to  Peter,  '  Before  the  cock  crow  thou  shalt 
deny  me  thrice ;'  whereas  St.  Mark  (xiv.  30)  says, 
'  Before  the  cock  crow  thrice.'  But  Matthew, 
giving  only  the  general  sense  of  the  admonition 
(as  also  Luke  xx'ii.  34 ;  John  xiii.  38),  evidently 
alludes  to  that  only  which  was  customarili/  called 
the  cockcrowing,  but  Mark,  who  wrote  under 
Peter's  inspection,  more  accurately  recording  the 
verij  ivords,  mentions  the  tivo  cockcrowings. 

COCKLE.    This  word  occurs  in  the  singular 


COLOSSI 

form  in  Job  xxxi.  40,  and  in  the  plural  form  in 
Isaiah  v.  2  and  4,  where,  however,  it  is  rendered 
'  -wild  gi-apes.'  It  is  probable  that  the  same  plant 
is  referred  to  in  these  two  passages ;  but  difficul- 
ties have  here,  as  elsewhere,  been  experienced  in 
ascertaining  the  precise  plant  intended.  All, 
however,  are  agreed  that  some  useless,  if  not 
noxious,  herb  must  be  understood  in  both  cases. 
The  probability  is  in  favour  of  its  being  the  ox's 
grape  or  wolf-grape,  either  of  which  somewhat 
resembles  the  grape  in  the  form  of  its  berried 
fruit,  but  is  very  different  in  its  properties,  being 
narcotic  and  poisonous.  Hasselquist,  in  reference 
to  the  passage  of  Isaiah,  says,  '  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  that  the  prophet  here  means  the  hoary 
nightshade,  because  it  is  common  in  Egypt  and 
Palestine,  and  the  Arabian  name  agrees  well  with 
it.  The  Arabs  call  it  anib-el-dih,  i.  e.  wolf-grape. 
The  prophet  could  not  have  found  a  plant  more 
opposite  to  the  vine  than  this,  for  it  grows  much 
in  the  vineyards,  and  is  very  pernicious  to  them, 
Avherefore  they  root  it  out :  it  likewise  resembles 
a  vine  by  its  shrubby  stalk.' 

CCELESY'EIA,  the  hollow  Syria.  This  name, 
which  is  evidently  of  Grecian  origin  in  the  times 
of  the  Seleucida;,  was  originally  applied  to  the 
valley  lying  between  the  mountain-ranges  of  Li- 
banus  and  Anti-Libanus.  It  was  also  used  to 
denote  the  whole  tract  of  country  (with  the  ex- 
ception of  Judsea  and  Phoenicia)  reaching  from 
Seleucis  to  Arabia  and  the  confines  of  Egypt.  In 
the  time  of  David,  Coelesyria  was  probably  in- 
cluded in  '  Syria  of  Damascus,'  which  was  con- 
quered by  that  monarch  (2  Sam.  viii.  6),  but  re- 
covered from  Solomon  by  Rezon  the  son  of  Elia- 
dah  (1  Kings  xi.  24).  The  possession  of  it  was 
an  object  of  many  struggles  between  the  Seleu- 
cida;  and  the  kings  of  Egypt.  Bochart  supposes 
that  Syrophcenicia  is  the  same  as  Coelesyria. 
Scythopolis  and  Gadara  are  mentioned  by  Jose- 
phus  as  cities  of  Coelesyria.  Under  the  Emperor 
Dioclesian,  Phoenice  and  Coelesyria  formed  one 
province,  called  Phoenicia  Libanica.  Under  the 
present  Turkish  government  the  western  part  of 
Coelesyria  is  in  the  Pashalic  of  Saide,  and  the 
eastern  in  the  Pashalic  of  Damascus. 

COFFER.  The  name  given  in  the  Authorized 
Version  to  the  receptacle  (1  Sam.  vi.  8,  11,  15) 
which  the  Philistines  placed  beside  the  ark  when 
they  sent  it  home,  and  in  which  they  deposited 
the  golden  mice  and  emerods  that  foi-med  their 
trespass-otfering.  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  same, 
or  nearly  the  same  thing,  as  the  Arabian  rijaza, 
which  is  a  kind  of  wallet,  into  which  stones  are 
put :  it  is  hung  to  one  of  the  two  sides  of  the 
liaudaj  [a  litter  borne  by  a  camel  or  mule]  when 
it  inclines  towards  the  other. 
COFFIN.     [Burial.] 

COLONY.  This  distinction  is  applied  to  Phi- 
lippi  in  Macedonia  (Acts  xvi.  12).  Augustus 
Ca;sar  had  deported  to  Macedonia  most  of  the 
Italian  communities  which  had  espoused  the 
cause  of  Antony  ;  by  which  means  the  towns  of 
Philippi,  Dyrracbium,  &c.,  acquired  the  rank  of 
Roman  colonies,  which  possessed  the  privilege  of 
a  tree  municipal  constitution,  such  as  was  cus- 
tomary in  Italy,  in  exemption  from  personal  and 
land  taxes,  and  in  the  comraerce  of  the  soil,  or 
the  right  of  selling  the  land. 

COLOS'SiE,  a  city  of  Phrygia,  on  the  river 
Lycus  (now  Gorduk),  not  far  from  its  confluence 


COLOSSIANS  205 

with  the  Meander,  and  near  the  towns  of  Lao- 
dicea,  Apamea,  and  Hieropolis  (Col.  ii.  1 ;  iv.  13, 
15).  A  Christian  church  was  formed  here  very 
early,  probably  by  Epaphras  (Col.  i.  7;  iv.  12, 
sq.),  consisting  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  to  whom 
Paul,  who  does  not  appear  to  have  ever  visited 
ColossjE  in  person  (Col.  ii.  1),  addressed  an  Epistle 
from  Rome.  Not  long  after,  the  town  was,  to- 
gether with  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis,  destroyed 
by  an  earthquake.  This,  according  to  Eusebius, 
was  in  the  ninth  year  of  Nero ;  but  the  town 
must  have  been  immediately  rebuilt,  for  in  his 
twel  fth  year  it  continued  to  be  named  as  a  flou- 
rishing place.    It  still  subsists  as  a  village  named 


Khonas.  The  huge  range  of  Mount  Cadmus 
rises  immediately  behind  the  village,  close  to 
which  there  is  in  the  mountain  an  immense  per- 
pendicular chasm,  affording  an  outlet  for  a  wide 
mountain  torrent.  The  ruins  of  an  old  castle 
Stand  on  the  summit  of  the  rock  forming  the  left 
side  of  this  chasm.  There  are  some  traces  of 
ruins  and  fragments  of  stone  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, but  barely  more  than  sufiicient  to  attest  the 
existence  of  an  ancient  site ;  and  that  this  site 
was  that  of  Colossa;  is  satisfactorily  established 
by  the  Rev.  F.  V.  J.  Arundell,  whose  book  {Dis- 
coveries in  Asia  Minor)  contains  an  ample  de- 
scription of  the  place. 

COLOS'SIANS,  Epistle  to  the.  That  this 
Epistle  is  the  genuine  production  of  the  Apostle 
Paul  is  proved  by  the  most  satisfactory  evidence, 
and  has  never  indeed  been  seriously  called  in 
question.  It  is  less  certain,  however,  when  and 
where  it  was  composed  by  him.  The  common 
opinion  is  that  he  wrote  it  at  Rome  during  his 
imprisonment  in  that  city  (Acts  xxviii.  IG,  30), 
and  although  it  has  been  controverted,  the  ba- 
lance of  evidence  is  decidedly  in  its  favour.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  and  to  Philemon  are 
supposed  to  have  been  written  about  the  same 
time. 

In  what  order  these  three  epistles  were  written, 
it  is  not  possible  clearly  to  determine.  Between 
that  to  the  Colossians  and  that  to  the  Ephesians 
the  coincidences  are  so  close  and  numerous  that 


206 


COLOSSIAN; 


the  one  must  have  been  written  immediately- 
after  the  other,  whilst  the  mind  of  the  Apostle 
was  occupied  with  the  same  leading  train  of 
thought.  By  the  greater  part  the  priority  is 
assigned  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians.  The 
Epistle  to  Philemon  being  a  mere  friendly  letter, 
intended  chiefly  to  facilitate  the  reconciliation  of 
Onesimus  to  his  master,  was  probably  written 
immediately  before  the  departure  of  the  party  by 
whom  it  was  to  be  carried. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians  was  written,  ap- 
parently, in  consequence  of  information  received 
by  Paul  through  Epaphras  concerning  the  in- 
ternal state  of  their  church  (i.  6,  8).  Whether 
the  Apostle  had  ever  himself  before  this  time 
visited  Colossse  is  matter  of  uncertainty  and  dis- 
pute. From  ch.  ii.  I,  where  he  says,  '  I  would 
that  ye  knew  what  great  conflict  1  have  for  you 
and  for  them  at  Laodicea,  and  for  as  many  as 
have  not  seen  my  face  in  the  flesh,'  &c.,  it  has 
by  some  been  very  confidently  concluded  that  he 
had  not.  To  this  it  is  replied  by  Theodoret, 
Lardner,  and  others,  that  Paul  does  not  intend  to 
include  the  Colossians  and  Laodiceans  among 
those  who  had  not  seen  his  face,  but  specifies  the 
latter  as  a  distinct  class ;  as  is  evident,  they 
think,  from  his  using  the  third  person  in  ver.  2. 
This  latter  consideration,  however,  is  of  no 
weight,  for  the  use  of  the  third  person  here  is 
easily  accounted  for  on  the  principle  that  the 
pronoun  takes  the  person  of  the  nearer  noun 
rather  than  that  of  the  more  remote  (cf.  Gal.  i. 
8) ;  and  it  certainly  would  be  absurd  to  maintain 
that  all  contained  in  the  second  verse  has  no  re- 
lation to  the  Colossians  and  Laodiceans,  not- 
withstanding the  reference  to  them  in  ver.  1,  and 
again  in  ver.  4.  As  respects  the  words  in  ver.  1 , 
they  will,  in  a  mere  philological  point  of  view, 
bear  to  be  understood  in  either  way.  It  has  been 
urged,  however,  that  when,  in  ver.  5,  the  Apostle 
says,  '  though  I  am  absent  in  the  flesh,  yet  am  I 
with  you  in  the  spirit,'  &c.,  his  language  is 
strongly  indicative  of  his  having  formerly  been 
amongst  the  Colossians,  for  the  verb  rendered  '  I 
am  absent '  is  used  properly  only  of  such  absence 
as  arises  from  the  person's  having  gone  away  from 
the  place  of  which  his  absence  is  predicted.  In 
support  of  the  same  view  have  been  adduced 
Paul's  having  twice  visited  and  gone  through 
Phrygia  (Acts  xvi.  6 ;  xviii.  23),  in  which  Co- 
lossse  was  a  chief  city ;  his  familiar  acquaintance 
with  so  many  of  the  Colossian  Christians,  Epa- 
phras, Archippus,  Philemon  (who  was  one  of 
his  own  converts,  Phil.  13,  19),  and  Apphia,  pro- 
bably the  wife  of  Philemon  [Apphia]  :  his  appa- 
rent acquaintance  with  Onesimus,  the  servant  of 
Philemon,  so  that  he  recognised  him  again  at 
Rome ;  the  cordiality  of  friendship  and  interest 
subsisting  between  the  Apostle  and  the  Colossians 
as  a  body  (Col.  i.  24,  25;  ii.  1 ;  iv.  7,  &c.);  the 
Apostle's  familiar  acquaintance  with  their  state 
and  relations  (i.  6  ;  ii.  G,  7,  &c.)  ;  and  their  know- 
ledge of  so  many  of  his  companions,  and  especially 
of  Timothy,  whose  name  the  Apostle  associates 
with  his  own  at  the  commencement  of  the  Epistle, 
a  circumstance  which  is  worthy  of  consideration 
from  this,  that  Timothy  was  the  companion  of  Paul 
during  his  first  tour  through  Phrygia,  when  pro- 
bably the  Gospel  was  first  preached  at  Colossse. 
Of  these  considerations  it  must  be  allowed  that 
the  cumulative  force  is  yery  strong  in  favour  of 


COLOSSIANS 

the  opinion  that  the  Christians  at  Colossse  had 
been  privileged  to  enjoy  the  personal  ministra- 
tions of  Paul.  At  the  same  time,  if  the  Colos- 
sians and  Laodiceans  are  not  to  be  included 
among  those  of  whom  Paul  says  they  had  not 
seen  his  face,  it  seems  unaccountable  that,  in 
writing  to  the  Colossians,  he  should  have  referred 
to  this  class  at  all.  If,  moreover,  he  had  visited 
the  Colossians,  was  it  not  strange  that  he  should 
have  no  deeper  feeling  towards  them  than  he  had 
for  the  multitudes  of  Christians  scattered  over 
the  world  whose  faces  he  had  never  seen  ?  In 
fine,  as  it  is  quite  possible  that  Paul  may  have 
been  twice  in  Phrygia  without  being  once  in 
Colossffi,  is  it  not  easy  also  to  account  for  his  in- 
terest in  the  church  at  Colossse,  his  knowledge  of 
their  afi'airs,  and  his  acquaintance  with  indivi- 
duals among  them,  by  supposing  that  members 
of  that  church  had  frequently  visited  him  in  dif- 
ferent places,  though  he  had  never  visited  Co- 
lossse ? 

A  great  part  of  this  Epistle  is  directed  against 
certain  false  teachers  who  had  crept  into  the 
church  at  Colossse.  To  what  class  these  teachers 
belonged  has  not  been  fully  determined.  Some 
contend  that  they  were  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist ;  others,  with  more  show  of  reason,  con- 
clude that  they  were  Essenes.  The  most  pro- 
bable opinion  is  that  they  were  a  party  of  specu- 
latists  who  endeavoured  to  combine  the  doctrines 
of  Oriental  theosophy  and  asceticism  with  Chris- 
tianity, and  promised  thereby  to  their  disciples 
a  deeper  insight  into  the  spiritual  world,  and  a 
fuller  approximation  to  heavenly  purity  and  in- 
telligence, than  simple  Christianity  could  yield. 
Against  this  party  the  Apostle  argues  by  re- 
minding the  Colossians  that  in  Jesus  Christ,  as 
set  before  them  in  the  Gospel,  they  had  all  that 
they  required — that  he  was  the  image  of  the  in- 
visible God,  that  he  was  before  all  things,  that  by 
him  all  things  consist,  that  they  were  complete 
in  him,  and  that  he  would  present  them  to  God 
holy,  unblamable,  and  unreprovable,  provided 
they  continued  stcdfast  in  the  faith.  He  then 
shows  that  the  prescriptions  of  a  mere  carnal 
asceticism  are  not  worthy  of  being  submitted  to 
by  Christians ;  and  concludes  by  directing  their 
attention  to  the  elevated  principles  which  should 
regulate  the  conscience  and  conduct  of  such,  and 
the  duties  of  social  and  domestic  life  to  which 
these  would  prompt. 

In  the  conclusion  of  the  Epistle,  the  Apostle, 
after  sending  to  the  Colossians  the  salutations 
of  himself  and  others  who  were  with  him,  en- 
joins the  Colossians  to  send  this  Epistle  to  the 
Laodiceans,  and  that  they  likewise  should  read 
'  that  from  Laodicea.'  It  is  disputed  whether  by 
these  concluding  words  Paul  intends  an  Epistle 
from  him  to  the  Laodiceans  or  one  from  the 
Laodiceans  to  him.  The  former  seems  the  more 
probable  interpretation  of  the  Apostle's  words  ; 
for  supposing  him  to  refer  to  a  letter  from  the 
Laodiceans  to  him,  the  questions  arise,  How 
were  the  Colossians  to  procure  this  unless  he 
himself  sent  it  to  them  ?  And  of  what  use  would 
such  a  document  be  to  them?  To  this  latter 
question  it  has  been  replied  that  probably  the 
letter  from  the  Laodiceans  contained  some  state- 
ments which  influenced  the  Apostle  in  writing  to 
the  Colossians,  and  which  required  to  be  known 
before  his  letter  in  reply  could  be  perfectly  un 


COMMERCE 

derstood.  But  this  is  said  without  the  slightest 
shadow  of  reason  from  the  Epistle  before  us; 
and  it  is  opposed  by  the  fact  that  the  Laodicean 
epistle  was  to  be  used  by  the  Colossiaus  after 
they  had  read  that  to  themselves.  It  seems,  upon 
the  whole,  most  likely  that  Paul  in  this  passage 
refers  to  an  epistle  sent  by  him  to  the  church  in 
Laodicea  at  the  same  time  with  that  to  the  church 
at  Colossse.  It  is  probable  also  that  this  Epistle 
is  now  lost,  though  the  suggestion  of  Grotius  that 
it  was  the  same  with  the  Canonical  Epistle  to  the 
Ephesians  has  found  some  advocates  [Ephesi- 
ANS,  Epistle  to  the].  The  extant  Epistle  to 
tlie  Laodiceans  is  on  ail  hands  allowed  to  be  a 
clumsy  forgery. 

COMFORTER  (Paracfetus).  The  word  thus 
rendered  is  applied  to  Christ  in  1  John  ii.  1. 
Indeed,  in  that  famous  passage  in  which  Christ 
promises  the  Holy  Spirit  as  a  paraclete  to  his  sor- 
rowing disciples,  he  takes  the  title  himself:  •  I 
will  send  you  another  paracFete'  (John  xiv.  16), 
implying  that  he  was  himself  one,  and  that  oia 
his  departure  he  would  send  another.  The  ques- 
tion then  is.  In  wliat  sense  does  Christ  denomi- 
nate himself  and  the  Spirit  sent  from  him  and 
the  Father,  paraclete  ?  Origen  explains  the  term 
where  it  is  applied  to  the  Holy  Spirit  by  '  Con- 
solator,'  M'hile  in  1  John  ii.  1,  he  adopts  the  sig- 
nification of '  Deprecator.'  Others  would  trans- 
late it  'teacher.'  But  as  both  of  these  renderings 
are  open  to  serious  objections,  the  balance  is  in 
favour  of  a  third  sense,  which  is  that  of '  assist- 
ant,' '  helper,'  '  advocate '  (intercessor).  This 
view  is  supported  by  Rom.  viii.  26,  and,  which  is 
still  more  to  the  purpose,  is  appropriate  to  all  the 
passages  in  the  New  Testament  where  the  word 
occurs.  The  Authorized  Version  renders  the 
word  by  ' advocate'  in  1  John  ii.  1,  but  in  other 
places  (John  xiv.  16,  26;  xv.  26;  xvi.  7)  by 
'comforter.'  How  much  better,  however,  the 
more  extensive  term  '  helper '  (including  teacher, 
monitor,  advocate)  agrees  with  these  passages 
than  the  narrow  term  '  comforter,'  may  be  shown 
by  a  single  instance.  Jesus  says  to  his  disciples, 
'  I  will  send  you  another  paraclete'  (John  xiv. 
l6),  implying  that  he  himself  had  been  such  to 
Ihem.  But  he  had  not  been  in  any  distinguish- 
ing sense  a  '  comforter '  or  '  consoler,'  because, 
having  Him  present  with  them,  they  had  not 
mourned  (Matt.  ix.  1,5).  But  he  had  been  emi- 
nently a  helper,  in  the  extensive  sense  which  has 
been  indicated;  and  such  as  he  had  been  to 
them — to  teach,  to  guide,  and  to  uphold — the  Holy 
Spirit  would  become  to  them  after  his  removal. 

COMMERCE.  The  idea  conveyed  by  this 
word  is  represented  in  the  Sacred  Writings  by 
the  word  trade. 

Commerce,  in  its  usual  acceptation,  means 
the  exchange  of  one  thing  for  another — the  ex- 
change of  what  we  have  to  spare  for  what  we 
want,  in  whatever  country  it  is  produced.  The 
origin  of  commerce  must  have  been  nearly  co- 
eval with  the  world.  As  pasturage  and  agricul- 
ture were  the  only  employments  of  the  first  in- 
habitants, so  cattle,  flocks,  and  the  fruits  of  the 
earth  were  the  only  objects  of  the  first  com- 
merce, or  that  species  of  it  called  barter.  It 
would  appear  that  some  progress  had  been  made 
in  manufactures  in  the  ages  before  the  flood.  The 
building  of  a  city  or  village  by  Cain,  however 
insignificant    the   houses    may  have  been,  sup- 


COMMERCE 


207 


poses  the  existence  of  some  mechanical  know- 
ledge. The  musical  instruments,  such  as  harps 
and  organs,  the  works  in  brass  and  in  iron  exhi- 
bited by  the  succeeding  generations,  confirm  the 
belief  that  the  arts  were  considerably  advanced. 
The  construction  of  Noah's  ark,  a  ship  of  three 
decks,  covered  over  with  pitch,  and  much  larger 
than  any  modern  effort  of  architecture,  proves 
that  many  separate  trades  were  at  that  period 
carried  on.  There  must  have  been  parties  who 
supplied  Noah  and  his  three  sons  with  the  great 
quantity  and  variety  of  materials  which  they  re- 
quired, and  this  they  would  do  in  exchange  for 
other  commodities,  and  perhaps  money.  That 
enormous  pile  of  building,  the  tower  of  Babel, 
was  constructed  of  bricks,  the  process  of  making 
which,  appears  to  have  been  well  understood. 

Such  of  the  descendants  of  Noah  as  lived  near 
the  water  may  be  presumed  to  have  made  use  of 
vessels  built  in  imitation  of  the  ark — if,  as  some 
think,  that  was  the  first  floating  vessel  ever  seen 
in  the  world— but  on  a  smaller  scale,  for  the 
purpose  of  crossing  rivers.  In  the  course  of 
time  the  descendants  of  his  son  Japhet  settled  in 
'  the  isles  of  the  Gentiles,'  by  which  are  under- 
stood the  islands  at  the  east  end  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean sea,  and  those  between  Asia  Minor  and 
Greece,  whence  their  colonies  spread  into  Greece, 
Italy,  and  other  western  lands. 

Sidon,  which  afterwards  became  so  celebrated 
for  the  wonderful  mercantile  exertions  of  its  in- 
habitants, was  founded  about  2200  years  before 
the  Christian  era.  The  neighbouring  moun- 
tains, being  covered  with  excellent  cedar-trees, 
furnished  the  best  and  most  durable  timber  for 
ship-building.  The  inhabitants  of  Sidon  accord- 
ingly built  numerous  ships,  and  exported  the 
produce  of  the  adjoining  country,  and  the  various 
articles  of  their  own  manufacture,  such  as  fine 
linen,  embroidery,  tapestry,  metals,  glass,  both 
coloured  and  figured,  cut,  or  carved,  and  even 
mirrors.  They  were  unrivalled  by  the  inha- 
bitants of  the  Mediterranean  coasts  in  works  of 
taste,  elegance,  and  luxury.  Their  great  and 
universally  acknowledged  pre-eminence  in  the 
arts  procured  for  the  Phoenicians,  whose  principal 
seaport  was  Sidon,  the  honour  of  being  esteemed, 
among  the  Greeks  and  other  nations,  as  the  in- 
ventors of  commerce,  ship-building,  navigation, 
the  application  of  astronomy  to  nautical  pur- 
poses, and  particularly  as  the  discoverers  of 
several  stars  nearer  to  the  north  pole  than  any 
that  were  known  to  other  nations ;  of  naval  war, 
writing,  arithmetic,  book-keeping,  measures  and 
weights ;  to  which  it  is  probable  they  might 
have  added  money. 

Egypt  appears  to  have  excelled  all  the  neigh- 
bouring countries  in  agriculture,  and  particularly 
in  its  abundant  crops  of  corn.  The  fame  of  its 
fertility  induced  Abraham  to  remove  thither  with 
his  numerous  family  (Gen.  xii.  10). 

The  earliest  accounts  of  bargain  and  sale  reach 
no  higher  than  the  time  of  Abraham,  and  his 
transaction  with  Ephron.  He  is  said  to  have 
weighed  unto  him  '  400  shekels  of  silver,  current 
money  with  the  merchant'  (Gen.  xxiii.  16).  The 
word  merchant  implies  that  the  standard  of 
money  was  fixed  by  usage  among  merchants,  j 
who  comprised  a  numerous  and  respectable  class 
of  the  community.  Manufactures  were  by  this 
time  so  far  advanced,  that  not  only  those  more 


208  COMMERCE 

immediately  connected  with  agriculture,  such  as 
flour  ground  from  corn,  -wine,  oil,  butter,  and  also 
I  the  most  necessary  articles  of  clothing  and  fur- 
niture, but  even  those  of  luxury  and  magnificence, 
■were  much  in  use,  as  appears  by  the  ear-rings, 
bracelets  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and  other  precious 
things  presented  by  Abraham's  steward  to  Ee- 
bekah  (Gen.  xxiv.  '_'2,  53). 

In  the  book  of  Job,  whose  author,  in  the  opi- 
nion of  the  most  learned  commentators,  resided 
in  Arabia,  and  was  contemporary  with  the  earlier 
portion  of  Biblical  history,  much  light  is  thrown 
upon  the  commerce,  manufactures,  and  science  of 
the  age  and  country  in  Avhich  he  lived.  There  is 
mention  of  gold,  iron,  brass,  lead,  crystal,  jewels, 
the  art  of  weaving,  merchants,  gold  brought  from 
Ophir,  which  implies  commerce  with  a  remote 
country,  and  topazes  from  Ethiopia ;  ship-build- 
ing, so  far  improved  that  some  ships  were  distin- 
guished for  the  velocity  of  their  motion  ;  writing 
in  a  book,  and  engraving  letters  or  writing  on 
plates  of  lead  and  on  stone  with  iron  pens,  and 
also  seal-engraving ;  fishing  with  hooks,  and  nets, 
and  Spears ;  musical  instruments,  the  harp,  and 
organ  ;  astrouomj%  and  names  given  to  particular 
stars.  These  notices  tend  to  prove  that,  although 
the  patriarchal  system  of  making  pasturage  the 
chief  object  of  attention  was  still  maintained  by 
many  of  the  greatest  inhabitants  where  the  author 
of  the  book  of  Job  resided,  the  sciences  were 
actively  cultivated,  the  useful  and  ornamental 
arts  in  an  advanced  state,  and  commerce  pro- 
secuted with  diligence  and  success. 

The  inhabitants  of  Arabia  appear  to  have 
availed  themselves,  at  a  very  early  period,  of 
their  advantageous  situation  between  the  two 
fertile  and  opulent  countries  of  India  and  Egj'pt, 
and  to  have  obtained  the  exclusive  monopoly  of 
a  very  profitable  carrying  trade  between  those 
countries.  They  were  a  class  of  people  who  gave 
their  whole  attention  to  merchandise  as  a  regular 
and  established  profession,  and  travelled  with 
caravans  between  Arabia  and  Egypt,  carrying 
upon  the  backs  of  camels  the  spiceries  of  India, 
the  balm  of  Canaan,  and  the  myrrh  produced  in 
their  own  country,  or  of  a  superior  quality  from 
the  opposite  coast  of  Abyssinia — all  of  which 
were  in  great  demand  among  the  Egyptians  for 
embalming  the  dead,  in  their  religious  cere- 
monies, and  for  ministering  to  the  pleasures  of 
that  superstitious  and  luxurious  people.  The 
merchants  of  one  of  these  caravans  bought  Joseph 
from  his  brothers  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver,  and 
carried  him  into  Egypt.  The  southern  Arabs 
were  eminent  traders,  and  enjoyed  a  large  pro- 
portion, and  in  general  the  entire  monopoly,  of 
the  trade  between  India  and  the  western  world, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  until  the  system  of  that 
important  commerce  was  totally  overturned  when 
the  inhabitants  of  Europe  discovered  a  direct 
route  to  India  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

At  the  period  when  Joseph's  brethren  visited 
Egj'pt, '  inns '  or  caravanserais  were  established 
for  the  accommodation  of  travellers  in  that 
country  and  in  the  northern  parts  of  Arabia. 
The  more  civilized  southern  parts  of  the  penin- 
sula would  no  doubt  be  furnished  with  caravan- 
serais still  more  commodious. 

During  the  residence  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt 
manufactures  of  almost  every  description  were 
carried  to  great  perfection.    Flax,  fine  linen,  gar- 


COMMERCE 

ments  of  cotton,  rings  and  jewels  of  gold  and 
silver,  works  in  all  kinds  of  materials,  chariots 
for  pleasure  and  chariots  for  war,  are  all  men- 
tioned by  Moses.  They  had  extensive  manufac- 
tories of  bricks.  Literature  was  in  a  flourishing 
state ;  and,  in  order  to  give  an  enlarged  idea  of 
the  accomplishments  of  Moses,  it  is  said  he  was 
'  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians ' 
(Acts  xii.  22). 

The  expulsion  of  the  Canaanites  from  a  great 
part  of  their  territories  by  the  Israelites  under 
Joshua,  led  to  the  gradual  establishment  of  colo- 
nies in  Cyprus,  Rhodes,  and  several  islands  in  the 
iEgean  Sea ;  they  penetrated  into  the  Euxine  or 
Black  Sea,  and  spreading  along  the  shores  of 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  Gaul,  Spain,  and  Africa,  esta- 
blished numerous  trading  places,  which  gra- 
dually rose  into  more  or  less  importance.  At 
this  period  mention  is  first  made  of  Tyre  as  a 
strong  or  fortified  city,  whilst  Sidon  is  dignified 
with  the  title  of  Great. 

During  the  reign  of  David,  king  of  Israel,  that 
powerful  monarch  disposed  of  a  part  of  the  wealth 
obtained  by  his  conquests  in  purchasing  cedar- 
timber  from  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  with  whom  he 
kept  up  a  friendly  correspondence  while  he  lived. 
He  also  hired  Tyrian  masons  and  carpenters  for 
carrying  on  his  works.  Solomon,  the  son  of 
David,  cultivated  the  arts  of  peace,  and  indulged 
his  taste  for  magnificence  and  luxury  to  a  great 
extent.  He  employed  the  wealth  collected  by 
his  father  in  works  of  architecture,  and  in 
strengthening  and  improving  his  kingdom.  He 
built  the  famous  Temple  and  fortifications  of 
Jerusalem,  and  many  cities,  among  which  was 
the  celebrated  Tadmor  or  Palmyra.  From  the 
king  of  Tyre  he  obtained  cedar  and  fir,  or  cypress- 
timbers,  and  large  stones  cut  and  prepared  for 
building,  which  the  Tyrians  conveyed  by  •water 
to  the  most  convenient  landing-place  in  Solomon's 
dominions.  Hiram  also  sent  a  vast  number  of 
workmen  to  assist  and  instruct  Solomon's  people, 
none  of  whom  had  skill  '  to  hew  timber  like  the 
Sidonians.'  Solomon,  in  exchange,  furnished  the 
Tyrians  with  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  and  received  a 
balance  in  gold.  Solomon  and  Hiram  appear  to 
have  subsequently  entered  into  a  trading  specula- 
tion or  adventure  upon  a  large  scale.  Tyrian 
shipwrights  were  accordingly  sent  to  build  vessels 
for  both  kings  at  Eziongeber,  Solomon's  port  on 
the  Red  Sea,  whither  he  himself  went  to  animate 
them  with  his  presence  (2  Chron.  viii.  17).  These 
ships,  conducted  by  Tyrian  navigators,  sailed  in 
company  to  some  rich  countries  called  Ophir  and 
Tarshish.  The  voyage  occupied  three  years,  yet 
the  returns  in  this  new  found  trade  were  very- 
great  and  profitable.  This  fleet  took  in  apes, 
ebony,  and  parrots  on  the  coasts  of  Ethiopia,  gold 
at  Ophir,  or  the  place  of  traffic  whither  the  pt-ople 
of  Ophir  resorted ;  it  traded  on  both  sides  of  the 
Red  Sea,  on  the  coasts  of  Arabia  and  Ethiopia, 
in  all  parts  of  Ethiopia  beyond  the  straits  when  it 
had  entered  the  oceau :  thence  it  passed  up  the 
Persian  Gulf,  and  might  visit  the  places  of  trade 
upon  both  its  shores,  and  run  up  the  Tigris  or  the 
Euphrates  as  far  as  these  rivers  were  navigable. 

After  the  reign  of  Solomon  the  commerce  of  the 
Israelites  seems  to  have  very  materially  declined. 
An  attempt  was  made  by  Jehoshaphat,  king  of 
Judah,  and  Ahaziah,  king  of  Israel,  to  efiect  its 
revival ;  but  the  ships  which  they  built  at  Ezion- 


CONCORDANCE 

geber  having  been  -nrecked  in  the  harbour,  the 
ondertaking  was  abandoned.  It  does  not  appear 
that  they  had  any  assistance  from  tlic;  Phoenicians 
in  fitting  out  this  fleet.  Great,  efforts  were  made 
by  the  Egyptians  to  extend  the  commerce  of  their 
country,  among  which  not  the  least  considerable 
was  the  unsuccessful  attempt  to  construct  a  canal 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Arabian  Gulf 

The  rising  prosperity  of  Tyre  soon  eclipsed  the 
ancient  and  long-liourishing  commercial  city  of 
Sidon.  About  GOO  years  before  Christ  her  com- 
mercial splendour  appears  to  have  been  at  its 
height,  and  is  graphically  described  by  Ezekiel 
xxvii).  The  imports  into  Tyre  were  fine  linen 
from  Egypt;  blue  and  purple  from  the  isles  of 
Elisha ;  silver,  iron,  tin,  and  lead  from  Tarshish 
— the  south  part  of  Spain ;  slaves  and  brazen 
vessels  from  Javan  or  Greece,  Tubal  and  Mesh- 
ech ;  horses,  slaves  bred  to  horsemanship,  and 
mules  from  Togarmah;  emeralds,  purple,  em- 
broidery, fine  linen,  corals,  and  agates  from 
Syria ;  corn,  balm,  honey,  oil,  and  gums  from  the 
Israelites;  wine  and  wool  from  Damascus,  po- 
lished ironware,  precious  oils,  and  cinnamon  from 
Dan,  Javan,  and  Mezo ;  magnificent  carpets  from 
Dedan ;  sheep  and  goats  from  the  pastoral  tribes 
of  Arabia ;  costly  spices,  some  the  produce  of 
India,  precious  stones,  and  gold  from  the  mer- 
chants of  Sheba  or  Sabtea,  and  Ramah  or  Eegma, 
countries  in  the  south  part  of  Arabia  ;  blue  cloths, 
embroidered  works,  ricK  apparel  in  corded  cedar- 
chests,  supposed  to  be  original  India  packages, 
and  otlier  goods  from  Sheba,  Ashur,  and  Chilmad, 
and  from  Harau,  Canneh,  and  Eden,  trading 
ports  on  the  south  coast  of  Arabia.  The  vast 
wealth  that  thus  flowed  into  Tyre  from  all  quar- 
ters brought  with  it  its  too  general  concomitants 
—  extravagance,  dissipation,  and  relaxation  of 
morals. 

The  subjection  of  Tyre,  '  the  renowned  city 
which  was  strong  in  the  sea,  whose  merchants 
were  princes,  whose  traffickers  were  the  honour- 
able of  the  earth,'  by  Cyrus,  and  its  subsequent 
overthrow  by  Alexander,  after  a  determined  and 
most  formidable  resistance,  terminated  alike  the 
grandeur  of  that  city  and  the  history  of  ancient 
commerce,  as  far  as  they  are  alluded  to  in  Scrip- 
ture. 

COMMON.  The  Greek  term  properly  sig- 
nifies what  helonys  to  all  (as  in  Wisd.  vii.  3),  but 
the  Hellenists  applied  it  to  what  was  profane, 
J.  e.  not  holy,  and  therefore  of  common  or  promis- 
cuous use  (Acts  X.  14).  They  also  applied  the 
term  to  what  was  impure,  whether  naturally  or 
legally  (as  i.n  Mark  vii.  2,  compared  with  Mace. 
i.  17,  <i2).  And,  finally,  it  Avas  used  of  meats 
forbidden,  or  such  as  had  been  partaken  of  by 
idolaters,  and  which,  as  they  rendered  the  par- 
takers thereof  impure,  were  themselves  called 
common  and  unclean. 

COMMUNION,  a  fellowship  or  agreement, 
when  several  persons  join  and  partake  together 
of  one  thing  (2  Cor.  vi.  14;  ]  John  i.  3);  hence 
its  application  to  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's 
supper  as  an  act  of  fellowship  among  Christians 
(1  Cor.  X.  IG)  ;  and  it  is  to  this  act  of  participa- 
tion or  fellowship  that  the  word  '  commt.nion  '  is 
now  restricted  in  the  English  language,  the  more 
familiar  application  of  it  having  fallen  into  dis- 
use. 

CONCORDANCE,  the  name  assigned  to  a 


CONCUBINAGE 


209    !| 


book  which  gives  the  words  contained  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  alphabetical  order,  with  a  re- 
ference to  the  place  where  each  may  be  found. 

CONCUBINAGE,  in  a  Scriptural  sense,  means 
the  state  of  cohabiting  lawfully  with  a  wife  of 
second  rank,  who  enjoj  ed  no  other  conjugal  right 
but  that  of  cohabitation,  and  whom  the  husband 
could  repudiate,  and  send  away  with  a  small  pre- 
sent (Gen.  xxi.  14).  In  like  manner,  he  could, 
by  means  of  presents,  exclude  his  children  by 
her  from  the  heritage  (Gen.  xxv.  (;).  Such  con- 
cubines had  Nahor  (Gen.  xxii.  24),  Abraham 
(xxv.  6),  Jacob  (xxxv.  22),  Eliphas  (xxxvi.  12), 
Gideon  (Judg.  viii.  3),  Saul  (2  Sam.  iii.  7),  David 
(1  Sam.  V.  13 ;  xv.  16  ;  xvi.  21),  Solomon  (1  Kings 
xi.  3),  Caleb  (1  Chron.  ii.  4G),  jManasseh  {ih.  vii. 
14),  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.  21),  Abiah  (2  Chr. 
xiii.  21),  and  Belshazzar  (Dan.  v.  2).  To  judge 
from  the  conjugal  histories  of  Abraham  and 
Jacob  (Gen.  xvi.  and  xxx.),  the  immediate  cause 
of  concubinage  was  the  barrenness  of  the  lawful 
wife,  who  in  that  case  introduced  her  maid-ser- 
vant, of  her  own  accord,  to  her  husband,  for  the 
sake  of  having  children.  Accordingly  we  do  not 
read  that  Isaac,  sou  of  Abraham,  had  any  con- 
cubine, Eebekah,  his  wife,  not  being  barren.  In 
process  of  time,  however,  concubinage  appears  to 
have  degenerated  into  a  regular  custom  among 
the  Jews,  and  the  institutions  of  Moses  were  di- 
rected to  prevent  excess  and  abuse  in  that  respect, 
by  wholesome  laws  and  regulations  (Exod.  xxi. 
7-9  ;  Deut.  xxi.  10-14).  It  would  seem  that  the 
unfaithfulness  of  a  concubine  was  not  regarded  as 
an  act  of  real  adultery  (Lev.  xix.  20).  When  a 
son  had  intercourse  with  the  concubine  of  his 
father,  a  sort  of  family  punishment,  we  are  in- 
formed, was  inflicted  on  him  (Gen.  xxxv.  22; 
1  Chron.  v.  1). 

In  the  Talmud,  the  Rabbins  differ  as  to  what 
constitutes  concubinage;  some  regarding  as  its 
distinguishing  feature  the  absence  of  the  betroth- 
ing ceremonies,  and  of  the  portion  of  property 
allotted  to  a  woman  by  special  engagement,  and 
to  which  she  was  entitled  on  the  marriage  day, 
after  the  decease  of  the  husband,  or  in  case  of  re- 
pudiation ;  others,  again,  the  absence  of  the  latter 
alone. 

The  Roman  law  calls  concubinage  an  allowed 
custom.  ^Vhen  this  expression  occurs  in  the  con- 
stitutions of  the  Christian  emperors,  it  signifies  ■ 
what  we  now  sometimes  call  a  marriage  cf  con- 
science. The  concubinage  tolerated  among  the 
Romans,  in  the  time  of  the  Republic  and  of  the 
heathen  emperors,  was  that  between  persons  not 
capable  of  contracting  legal  marriage.  Inherit- 
ances might  descend  to  children  that  sprung  from 
such  a  tolerated  cohabitance.  Concubinage  be- 
tween such  persons  they  looked  on  as  a  kind  of 
marriage,  and  even  allowed  it  several  privileges  ; 
but  then  it  was  confined  to  a  single  person,  "and 
was  of  perpetual  obligation,  as  much  as  marriage 
itself  Concubinage  is  also  used  to  signify  a  mar- 
riage with  a  woman  of  inferior  condition,  to 
whom  the  husband  does  not  convey  his  rank. 
Dajos  (Paratilla)  observes,  that  the  ancient  laws 
allowed  a  man  to  espouse,  under  the  title  of  con- 
cubine, certain  persons  who  were  esteemed  un- 
equal to  him,  on  account  of  the  want  of  some  , 
qualities  requisite  to  sustain  the  full  honour  of 
marriage ;  and  he  adds,  that  thougli  such  con- 
cubinage was  beneath  marriage  both  as  to  dignity     , 


210 


CONY 


and  civil  rights,  yet  was  concuhine  a  reputable 
title,  and  very  different  from  that  of*  mistress' 
among  us.  The  connection  was  considered  so 
lawful  that  the  concubine  might  be  accused  of 
adultery  in  the  same  manner  as  a  wife. 

This  kind  of  concubinage  is  still  in  use  in  some 
countries,  particularly  in  Germany,  under  the 
title  of  halb-ehe  (haif-marriage),  or  left-hand 
marriage,  in  allusion  to  the  manner  of  its  being 
contracted,  namely,  by  the  man  giving  the 
woman  his  left  hand  instead  of  the  right.  This 
is  a  real  marriage,  though  without  the  usual 
solemnity,  and  the  parties  are  both  bound  to  each 
I  other  for  ever,  though  the  female  cannot  bear  the 
I    husband's  name  and  title. 

!        CONY,   in  the  original   Shaphan,  occurs  in 
j    Lev.   xl.    5;  DeuL   xiv.  7;    Ps.  civ.  18;  Prov. 
1    XXX.  26.     Commentators  in   general   now   con- 
I    elude,  on  the  most  satisfactory  grounds,  that  those 
1    versions  which  give  Cony  for  the  Hebrew  Sha- 
]     phan   are   incorrect      The   Shaphan  in  scientific 
j    zoology  is  one  of  the  small  genus  Hyrax,  distin- 
guished   by  the   specific   name  of  Syrian.     Ex- 
ternally it  is  somewhat  of  the  size,  form,  and 
brownish  colour  of  a  rabbit,  and,  though  it  has 
short  round  ears,  sufficiently  like  for  inexact  ob- 
servers to  mistake  the  one  for  the  other.     Navi- 
gators and  colonists  often  carry  the  local  names 
of  their  native  land  to  other  countries,  and  bestow 
them  upon  new  objects  with  little  propriety  :  this 
seems  to  have  been  done  in  the  instance  before  us, 
there  being  reason  to  believe  that  the  Phoenicians 
on  visiting  the  western  shores   of  the  European 
side  of  the  Mediterranean,  found  the  country,  as 
other   authorities   likewise  assert,   infested  -nith 
rabbits  or  conies,  and  that  without  attending  to 
the  difference  they  bestowed  upon  them  the  He- 
brew or  Phcenician  name  of  Shaphan. 


129.    [Hyrax  Sj-riacus.] 

The  hyrax  is  of  clumsier  structure  than  the 
rabbit,  without  tail,  having  long,  bristly  hairs 
scattered  through  the  general  fur ;  the  feet  are 
naked  below,  and  all  the  nails  are  flat  and 
rounded,  save  those  on  each  inner  toe  of  the  hind 
feet,  which  are  long  and  awl-shaped ;  therefore 
the  species  cannot  dig,  and  is  by  nature  intended 
to  reside,  not,  like  rabbits,  in  burrows,  but  in  the 
clefts  of  rocks.  This  character  is  correctly  ap- 
plied to  the  Shaphan  by  David. 

Their  timid  gregarious  habits,  and  the  tender- 
ness of  their  paws,  make  them  truly  ♦  the  wise 
and  feeble  folk '  of  Solomon  ;  for  the  genus  lives 
in  colonies  in  the  crevices  of  stony  places  in 
Syria,  Palestine,  Arabia,  Eastern  Egjpt,  Abys- 
sinia, and  even  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  where 
one  or  two  additional  species  exist.  In  every 
locality  they  are  quiet,  gentle  creatures,  loving 
to  bask  in  the  sun,  never  stirring  far  from  their 
retreats,  moving  with  caution,  and  shrinking  from 


COOS 

the  shadow  of  a  passing  bird,  for  they  are  often 
the  prey  of  eagles  and  hawks ;  their  habits  are 
strictly  diurnal,  and  they  feed  on  vegetables  and 
seeds. 

CONFLAGR.iTION,  GENERAL.  The 
opinion  that  the  end  of  the  world  is  to  be  effected 
by  the  agency  of  fire  is  very  ancient,  and  was 
common  amongst  heathen  philosophers.  It  is  not 
easy  to  discover  the  origin  of  this  opinion  ;  it  can 
scarcely  be  traced  to  tradition  derived  from  re- 
velation, since  there  is  no  distinct  reference  to 
such  a  catastrophe  in  the  Old  Testament.  It  is, 
moreover,  remarkable,  considering  how  universal 
and  definite  is  the  ordinary  belief  on  the  subject, 
that  there  is  only  one  passage  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, viz.  2  Pet.  iii.  7-10,  which  can  be  adduced 
as  speaking  distinctly  of  this  event.  This  pas- 
sage is,  indeed,  very  explicit,  but  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  some  learned  and  able  expositors 
have  referred  it  altogether  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  of  the  Jewish  polity.  If,  however, 
withthemajority  of  interpreters,  we  refer  the  pre- 
diction to  the  end  of  the  world,  to  which  it  seeTiis 
most  naturally  to  apply,  we  could  not  have  a  more 
distinct  statement  of  the  fact  that  the  present  order 
of  things  is  to  be  terminated  by  the  world  we  in- 
habit and  all  the  works  of  man  it  contains  being 
'  burnt  up.'  There  is  no  reason  for  assuming 
that  the  whole  material  universe  is  to  be  involved 
in  this  catastrophe ;  the  mention  of  the  heavens 
leads  our  thoughts  no  further  than  the  atmosphe-e 
and  vapours  surrounding  this  planet.  Nor  shouhi 
we  regard  this  conflagration  as  involving  the  ab- 
solute destruction  or  annihilation  of  the  world;  it 
is  more  consistent  with  the  narrative  itself,  as 
well  as  with  physical  science,  to  consider  it  as  in- 
troductory to  a  new  and  better  state  of  things — 
'  new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth 
righteousness'  (v.  11).  By  what  means  the  con- 
flagration is  to  be  effected  we  are  not  informed, 
and  all  attempts  to  explain  how  this  is  to  be  ac- 
complished must  be  mere  speculation,  into  which 
we  do  not  think  it  necessary  or  advantageous  to 
enter.  We  have  only  at  present  to  remark  that 
such  an  event  is  not  inconsistent  with  physical 
facts.  We  know  that  the  temperature  of  the 
earth  increases  gradually  and  with  considerable 
regularity  as  we  descend  below  the  surface,  and 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  central  mass 
is  intensely  hot.  We  know,  moreover,  that  there 
are  subterranean  fires  of  great  extent,  if  not  form- 
ing part  of  this  heated  central  mass.  The  means, 
therefore,  of  combustion  are  near  at  hand.  But 
even  if  there  were  no  such  central  heat,  chemistry 
points  out  very  easy  means  by  which  the  con- 
flagration may  be  effected  through  the  agency  of 
various  elementary  substances.  We  find  evidence 
also  in  the  pyrogenous  rocks  which  form  so  large 
a  part  of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  that  the  world  has 
already  been  subjected,  if  not  to  conflagration,  yet 
to  a  more  intense  and  general  action  of  heat  than 
any  which  is  now  observed  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth ;  and  it  is  clearly  not  impossible  that  the 
action  may  he  yet  more  intense  and  more  ge- 
neral. 
CONI'AH.  [Jeconfah.] 
CO'OS,  Cos  or  Co  (now  Stan-Co  or  Stanchio), 
a  small  and  fertile  islard  in  the  JEgean  Sea,  near 
the  coast  of  Caria,  in  Asia  Minor,  almost  between 
the  promontories  on  which  the  cities  Cnidus  and 
Halicarnassus  were  situated.     It  was  celebrated 


COHBAN 

for  its  wine,  silks,  and  cotton  of  a  beautiful  tex- 
ture. The  island  is  mentioned  in  1  Mace.  xv.  23 ; 
Acts  xxi.  1. 

COPPER.  Tubal-cain  is  recorded  as  the  first 
artifia^r  in  brass  and  iron  Gen.  iv.  22).  In  the 
time  of  Solomon,  Hiram  of  Tyre  was  celebrated 
as  a  worker  in  brass  (1  Kings  vii.  14;  comp. 
2  Chron.  ii.  14).  To  judge  from  Hesiod  and 
Lucretius,  the  art  of  working  in  copper  was  even 
prior  to  that  in  iron,  probably  from  its  being 
found  in  larger  masses,  and  from  its  requiring 
less  labour  in  the  process  of  manufacture.  Pales- 
tine abounded  in  copper  (Dent.  viii.  9),  and  David 
left  behind  him  an  immense  quantity  of  it  to  be 
employed  in  building  the  Temple  (1  Chron.  xxii. 
3-14).  Of  copper  were  made  all  sorts  of  vessels 
in  the  Tabernacle  and  Temple  (Lev.  vi.  28; 
Num.  xvi.  39;  2  Chron.  iv.  16;  Ezra  viii.  27), 
WL-apons,  and  more  especially  helmets,  armour, 
shields,  spears  (1  Sam.  xvii.  5,  6,  38;  2  Sam. 
xxi.  16),  also  chains  (Judg.  xvi.  21),  and  mirrors 
(Exod.'xxxviii.  8).  The  larger  vessels  were 
moulded  in  founderies,  as  also  the  pillars  for 
architectural  ornaments  (1  Kings  vii.).  It  would 
however  appear  (1  Kings  vii.  14)  that  the  art  of 
copper-founding  was,  even  in  the  time  of  Solo- 
nioij,  but  little  known  among  the  Jews,  and  was 
peculiar  to  foreigners,  particularly  the  Phceui- 
cians.  Michaelis  observes,  that  Moses  seems  to 
have  given  to  copper  vessels  the  preference 
over  earthen,  and  on  that  ground  endeavours  to 
remove  the  common  prejudice  against  their  use 
for  culinary  purposes.  From  copper,  also,  money 
was  coined  (Matt.  x.  9). 

CORAL  (Jobxxviii.  18;  Ezek.  xxvii.  16),  a 
hard,  cretaceous  marine  production  arising  from 
the  deposit  of  calcareous  matter  by  a  minute  po- 
lypous animal,  in  order  to  form  the  cell  or  poly- 
pidom  into  whose  hollows  the  tenant  can  wholly 
or  partially  retire.  The  corals  thus  produced  are 
of  various  shapes,  most  usually  branched  like  a 
tree.  The  masses  are  often  enormous  in  the 
tropical  seas,  where  they  toptlie  reefs  and  cap  the 
submarine  mountains,  frequently  rising  to  or  near 
the  surface  so  as  to  form  what  are  called  coral 
islands  and  coral  reefs.  These  abound  in  the 
Red  Sea ;  from  which,  most  probably,  was  derived 
the  coral  with  which  the  Hebrews  were  ac- 
(I'.iuinted ;  but  coral  is  also  found  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean. It  is  of  different  colours,  white,  black, 
red.  The  red  kind  was  anciently,  as  at  present, 
tlie  most  valued,  and  was  worked  into  various 
ornaments. 

COR'BAN,  a  Hebrew  word  employed  in  the 
Hellenistic  Greek,  to  designate  an  oblation  of  any 
kind  to  God.  It  occurs  only  once  in  the  New 
Testament  (Mark  vii.  11).  There  is  some  diffi- 
culty in  the  exact  meaning  of  this  passage  and 
the  corresponding  one.  Matt.  xv.  5.  Many  inter- 
preters, at  the  head  of  whom  stands  Beza,  suppose 
that  a  gift  of  the  property  of  the  son  had  actually 
been  made  to  the  service  of  God.  The  sense  is 
then,  '  Whatever  of  mine  might  benefit  thee  is 
corban,  is  already  dedicated  to  God,  and  I  have 
therefore  no  power  over  it.'  Others,  more  cor- 
rectly as  we  think,  translate  the  sentence,  *  Be  it 
corban  (that  is,  devoted)  whatever  of  mine  shall 
profit  thee.'  Lightfoot  notices  a  formula  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  the  Talmud  which  seems  to 
be  exactly  that  quoted  by  our  Lord,  '  [Be  it]  cor- 
ban, [as  to]  which  I  may  be  profitable  to  thee.' 


CORIANDER 


211 


He,  as  well  ?s  Grotius,  shows  that  this  and  similar 
formula;  were  not  used  to  signify  that  tiie  thing 
was  actually  devoted,  but  was  simply  intended 
to  prohibit  the  use  of  it  from  the  party  to  whom  it 
was  thus  made  corban,  as  though  it  were  said,  If 
I  give  you  anything  or  do  anything  for  you,  may 
it  be  as  though  I  gave  you  that  which  is  devoted 
to  God,  and  may  I  be  accounted  perjured  and  sa- 
crilegious. This  view  of  the  passage  certainly 
gives  much  greater  force  to  the  charge  made  by 
our  Lord  that  the  command  '  Whoso  curseth 
father  or  mother  let  him  die  the  death '  was  nul- 
lified by  the  tradition.  It  would,  indeed,  seem 
surprising  that  such  a  vow  as  this  (closely  analo- 
gous to  the  modern  profanity  of  imprecating 
curses  on  one's  self  if  certain  conditions  be  not 
fidfilled)  should  be  considered  to  involve  a  reli- 
jjious  obligation  from  which  the  party  could  not 
be  freed  even  if  afterwards  he  repented  of  his 
rashness  and  sin.  It  appeai-s,  however,  from 
Rabbinical  authority  that  anything  thus  devoted 
was  irreclaimable,  and  that  even  the  hasty  utter- 
ance of  a  word  implying  a  vow  was  equivalent  t» 
a  vow  formally  made.  This,  indeed,  seems  to  be 
the  force  of  the  expression  used  in  ]Mark,  'ye 
suffer  him  no  more  to  do  aught  for  his  father  or 
his  mother.'  A  more  striking  instance  of  the 
subversion  of  a  command  of  God  by  the  tradition 
of  men  can  hardly  be  conceived. 

CORIANDER  occurs  in  two  places  in  Scrip- 
ture, viz.  Exod.  xvi.  31,  'And  it  (manna)  was 
like  coriander  seed,  white ;  and  the  taste  of  it  was 
like  wafers  made  of  honey ;'  Num.  xi.  7,  '  And 
the  manna  was  as  coriander  seed,  and  the  colour 
thereof  as  the  colour  of  bdellium.'  The  coriander 
is  known  throughout  Ai-abia,  Persia,  and  India, 


130.    [Coriandram  sativum. 

in  all  of  which  it  is  cultivated,  being  universally 
employed  as  a  grateflil  spice,  and  as  one  of  the 
ingredients  of  currie-powder.  It  is  also  common 
in  Egypt.  It  is  now  very  common  in  the  south 
of  Europe,  and  also  in  this  country,  being  culti- 
vated, especially  in  Essex,  on  account  of  its  seeds, 
p  2 


212 


COKINTH 


■which  are  required  by  confectioners,  druggists, 
and  distillers,  in  large  quantities  :  in  gardens  it  is 
reared  on  account  of  its  leaves,  which  are  used  in 
soups  and  salads.  The  coriander  is  an  umbelli- 
ferous plant,  the  Coriandrum  sativum  of  botanists. 
The  fruit,  coiumonly  called  seeds,  is  globular, 
greyish-coloured,  about  the  size  of  peppercorn, 
having  its  surface  marked  with  fine  stritc.  Both 
its  taste  and  smell  are  agreeable,  depending  on 
the  presence  of  a  volatile  oil,  which  is  separated 
by  distillation. 

CO'RINTH,  a  Grecian  city,  placed  on  the 
isthmus  which  joins  Peloponnesus  (now  called  the 
Morea)  to  the  continent  of  Greece.  A  lofty  rock 
rises  above  it,  on  which  was  the  citadel,  or  the 
Acrocoriuthus.  It  had  two  harbours :  Cenchreffi, 
on  the  eastern  side,  about  70  stadia  distant;  and 
Lechffium,  on  the  modern  Gulf  of  Lepanto,  only 
12  stadia  from  the  city.     Its  earliest   name,  as 

fiveu  by  Homer,  is  Ephi/re.  Owing  to  the  great 
iiSculty  of  weathering  Malea,  the  southern  pro- 
montory of  Greece,  merchandise  passed  through 
Corinth  from  sea  to  sea ;  the  city  becoming  an 
entrepot  for  the  goods  of  Asia  and  Italy  (Strabo, 
viii.  6).  At  the  same  time  it  commanded  the 
traffic  by  land  from  north  to  south.  An  attempt 
made  to  dig  through  the  isthmus  was  frustrated 
by  the  rocky  nature  of  the  soil ;  at  one  period, 
however,  they  had  an  invention  for  drawing 
i  galleys  across  from  sea  to  sea  on  trucks.  With 
such  advantages  of  position,  Corinth  Was  very 
early  renowned  for  riches,  and  seems  to  have 
been  made  by  nature  for  the  capital  of  Greece. 
The  numerous  colonies  which  she  sent  forth, 
chiefly  to  the  west  and  to  Sicily,  gave  her  points 
of  attachment  in  many  parts  ;  and  the  good  will, 
which,  as  a  mercantile  state,  she  carefully  main- 
tained, made  her  a  valuable  link  between  the  va- 
rious Greek  tribes.  The  public  and  foreign  policy 
of  Corinth  appears  to  have  been  generally  i-emark- 
able  for  honour  and  justice  ;  and  the  Isthmian 
games,  which  were  celebrated  there  every  other 
year,  might  have  been  converted  into  a  national 
congress,  if  the  Corinthians  had  been  less  peace- 
ful and  more  ambitious. 

When  the  Acha;an  league  was  rallying  the  chief 
powers  of  southern  Greece,  Corinth  became  its 
militaiy  centre  ;  and  as  the  spirit  of  freedom  was 
active  in  that  confederacy,  they  were  certain, 
sooner  or  later,  to  give  the  Ivomans  a  pretence  for 
attacking  them.  The  fatal  blow  fell  on  Corinth 
(B.C.  14iJ),  when  L.  Mummius,  by  order  of  the 
Roman  Senate,  barbarously  destroyed  that  beau- 
tiful town,  eminent  even  in  Greece  for  painting, 
sculpture,  and  all  working  in  metal  and  potterj- ; 
and  as  the  territory  was  given  over  to  the  Sicyo- 
nians,  we  must  infer  that  the  whole  population 
was  sold  into  slavery. 

The  Corinth  of  which  we  read  in  the  New 
Testament  was  quite  a  new  city,  having  been 
rebuilt  and  established  as  a  Roman  colonj',  and 
peopled  with  freedmen  from  Home  by  the  dictator 
Caesar,  a  little  before  his  assassination.  Although 
the  soil  was  too  rocky  to  be  fertile,  and  the  terri- 
tory very  limited,  Corinth  again  became  a  great 
and  wealthy  city  in  a  short  time,  especially  as  the 
Roman  proconsuls  made  it  the  seat  of  governmerit 
(Acts  xviii.)  for  southern  Greece,  Mhich  was  now 
called  the  province  of  Achaia.  In  earlier  times 
Corinth  had  been  celebrated  for  the  great  wealth 
of  its  Temple  of  Venus,  which  had  a  'gainful 


CORINTHIANS 

traffic  of  a  most  dishonourable  kind  with  the 
numerous  merchants  resident  there.  The  same 
phenomena,  no  doubt,  reappeared  in  the  later  and 
Christian  age.  The  little  which  is  said  in  the 
New  Testament  seems  to  indicate  a  wealthy  and 
luxurious  community,  prone  to  impurity  of  mo- 
rals ;'  nevertheless,  all  Greece  was  so  contami- 
nated, that  we  may  easily  overcharge  the  accusa- 
tion against  Corinth. 

The  Corinthian  Church  is  remarkable  in  the 
Epistles  of  the  Apostle  Paul  by  the  variety  of  its 
spiritual  gifts,  which  seem  for  the  time  to  have 
eclipsed  or  superseded  the  office  of  the  elder  or 
bishop,  which  in  most  churches  became  from  the 
beginning  so  prominent.  Very  soon,  however, 
this  peculiarity  was  lost,  and  the  bishops  of  Corinth 
take  a  place  co-ordinate  to  those  of  other  capital 
cities.  One  of  them,  Dionysius,  appears  to  have 
exercised  a  great  influence  over  many  and  dis- 
tant churches,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century. 

CORINTHIANS,  EPISTLES  TO  THE— 
First  Epistle.  The  testimony  of  Christian 
antiquity  is  unanimous  in  ascribing  this  in- 
spired production  to  the  pen  of  the  Apostle  Paul, 
and  with  this  the  internal  evidence  arising  from 
allusions,  undesigned  coincidences,  style,  and  tone 
of  thought,  fully  accords.  The  epistle  seems  to 
have  been  occasioned  partly  by  some  intelligence 
received  by  the  Apostle  concerning  the  Corinthian 
church  from  the  domestics  of  Chloe,  a  pious 
female  connected  with  that  church  (i.  11),  and, 
probably,  also  from  common  report ;  and  partly 
by  an  epistle  which  the  Corinthians  themselves 
had  addressed  to  the  Apostle,  asking  advice  and 
instruction  on  several  points  (vii.  1),  and  which 
probably  was  conveyed  to  him  by  Stephanas, 
Fortunatus,  and  Achaicus  (xvi.  17).  Apollos, 
also,  who  succeeded  the  Apostle  at  Corinth,  but 
who  seems  to  have  been  with  him  at  the  tirae  this 
epistle  was  written  (xvi.  12),  may  have  given 
him  information  of  the  state  of  things  among  the 
Christians  in  that  city.  From  these  sources  the 
Apostle  had  become  acquainted  with  the  painful 
fact  that  since  he  had  left  Corinth  (Acts  xviii. 
18)  the  church  in  that  place  had  sunk  into  a 
state  of  great  corruption  and  error.  One  prime 
source  of  this  evil  state  of  things,  and  in  itself  an 
evil  of  no  inferior  magnitude,  was  the  existence 
of  schisms  or  party  divisions  in  the  church. 
•  Every  one  of  you,'  Paul  tells  them,  '  saith  I  am 
of  Paul,  and  I  of  Apollos,  and  I  of  Cephas,  and  I 
of  Christ'  (i.  12).  This  has  led  to  the  conclusion 
that  four  great  parties  had  arisen  in  the  church, 
which  boasted  of  Paul,  Apollos,  Peter,  and  Clirist, 
as  their  respective  heads,  and  various  conjectures 
have  been  made  respecting  the  peculiarities  of 
sentiment  by  which  these  parties  may  be  supposed 
to  have  been  distinguished  from  each  other.  But 
serious  doubts  may  be  entertained  whether  there 
really  were  in  the  Corinthian  church  sects  or 
parties  specifically  distinguished  from  each  other 
by  peculiarities  of  doctrinal  sentiment.  That 
erroneous  doctrines  were  entertained  by  indi- 
viduals in  the  church,  and  that  a  schismatical 
spirit  pervaded  it,  cannot  be  questioned;  but  that 
these  two  stood  formally  connected  with  each 
other  may  fairly  admit  of  doubt.  Schisms  often 
arise  in  churches  from  causes  which  have  little 
or  nothing  to  do  with  diversities  of  doctrinal  sen- 
timent among  the  members ;  and  that  such  were 


CORINTHIANS 

the  schisms  -n-hich  disturbed  the  church  at  Corinth 
appears  to  us  probable,  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  existence  of  these  is  condemned  by  the 
Apostle,  without  reference  to  any  doctrinal  errors 
out  of  which  they  might  arise ;  whilst,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  doctrinal  errors  condemned  by 
him  are  denounced  without  reference  to  their 
having  led  to  party  strifes.  From  this  we  are 
inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  schisms  arose 
merely  from  quarrels  among  the  Corinthians  as 
to  the  comparative  excellence  of  their  respective 
teachers — those  who  had  learned  of  Paul  boasting 
that  he  excelled  all  others,  and  the  converts  of 
Apollos  and  Peter  advancing  a  similar  claim  for 
them,  whilst  a  fourth  party  haughtily  repudiated 
all  subordinate  teaching,  and  pretended  that  they 
derived  all  their  religious  knowledge  from  the  di- 
rect teaching  of  Christ.  The  language  of  theApostle 
in  the  first  four  chapters,  where  alone  he  speaks 
directly  of  these  schisms,  and  where  he  resolves 
their  criminality  not  into  their  relation  to  false 
doctrine,  but  into  their  having  their  source  in  a 
disposition  to  glory  in  men,  must  be  regarded  as 
greatly  favouring  this  view.  Comp.  also  2  Cor. 
V.  16. 

Besides  the  schisms  and  the  erroneous  opinions 
which  had  invaded  the  church  at  Corinth,  the 
Apostle  had  learned  that  many  immoral  and  dis- 
orderly practices  were  tolerated  among  them,  and 
were  in  some  cases  defended  by  them.  A  con- 
nection of  a  grossly  incestuous  character  had 
been  formed  by  one  of  the  members,  and  gloried 
in  by  his  brethren  (v.  1,  2);  law-suits  before 
heathen  judges  were  instituted  by  one  Christian 
against  another  (vi.  1)  ;  licentious  indulgence 
was  not  so  firmly  denounced  and  so  carefully 
avoided  as  the  purity  of  Christianity  required 
(vi.  9-20) ;  the  public  meetings  of  the  brethren 
were  brought  into  disrepute  by  the  women  ap- 
pearing in  them  unveiled  (xi.  3-10),  and  were 
disturbed  by  the  confused  and  disorderly  manner 
in  which  the  persons  possessing  spiritual  gifts 
chose  to  exercise  them  (xii.-xiv.)  ;  and  in  fine  the 
*  love  feasts,'  which  were  designed  to  be  scenes  of 
love  and  union,  became  occasions  for  greater  con- 
tention through  the  selfishness  of  the  wealthier 
members,  who,  instead  of  sharing  in  a  common 
meal  with  the  poorer,  brought  each  his  own 
repast,  and  partook  of  it  by  himself,  often  to  ex- 
cess, while  his  needy  brother  was  left  to  fast  (xi. 
20-34).  The  judgment  of  the  Apostle  had  also 
been  solicited  by  the  Corinthians  concerning  the 
comparative  advantages  of  the  married  and  the 
celibate  state  (vii.  1-40),  as  well  as,  apparently, 
the  duty  of  Christians  in  relation  to  the  use  for 
food  of  meat  which  had  been  offered  to  idols 
(viii.  1-13).  For  the  correction  of  these  errors, 
the  remedying  of  these  disorders,  and  the  solu- 
tion of  these  doubts,  this  epistle  was  written  by 
the  Apostle.  It  consists  of  four  parts.  The  first 
(i.-iv.)  is  designed  to  reclaim  the  Corinthians 
from  schismatic  contentions ;  the  second  (v.-vi.) 
is  directed  against  the  immoralities  of  the  Co- 
rinthians ;  the  third  (vii.-xiv.)  contains  replies  to 
the  queries  addressed  to  Paul  by  the  Corinthians, 
and  strictures  upon  the  disorders  which  prevailed 
in  their  worship  ;  and  the  fourth  (xv.-xvi.)  con- 
tains an  elaborate  defence  of  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  the  resurrection,  followed  in  the  close  of 
the  epistle  by  some  general  instructions,  intima- 
tions, and  greetings. 


COKINTIIIANS  213 

From  2  Cor.  xii.  14,  and  xiii.  1,  compared 
with  2  Cor.  ii.  ) ,  ar.d  xiii.  2,  it  appears  that 
before  the  writing  of  that  epistle  Paul  had  twice 
visited  Corinth,  and  tliat  one  of  these  visits  had 
been  after  the  Church  had  fallen  into  an  evil 
state.  Did  this  second  visit  to  Corinth  precede 
also  the  writing  of  the  first  epistle?  On  this 
point  the  Acts  give  us  no  help,  as  the  writer  is 
totully  silent  concerning  this  second  visit  of  Paul 
to  Corinth.  But  we  may  safely  infer  from  2 
Cor.  i.  15,  16,  23,  that  Paul  had  not  been  at 
Corinth  between  the  writing  of  the  first  and 
second  epistles,  so  that  we  must  place  his  second 
visit  before  the  writing  of  the  first  epistle.  When 
this  second  visit  took  place  we  can  only  conjee* 
ture  ;  but  Billroth's  suggestion  that  it  was  made 
some  time  during  the  period  of  Paul's  residence 
of  three  years  at  Ephesus  (Acts  xx.  31),  perhiips 
on  the  first  reception  of  unpleasant  news  from 
Corinth,  is  extremely  probable.  Supposing  the 
Apostle  to  have  made  this  short  visit  and  to  have 
returned  to  Ephesus,  this  first  epistle  may  have 
been  written  either  in  that  city  or  in  Macedonia, 
through  which  Paul  probably  journeyed  on  his 
way  from  Corinth  to  Ephesus.  This  latter  is  the 
traditional  opinion,  and  is  greatly  favoured  by 
the  way  in  which  Paul  speaks  of  Ephesus  (1  Cor. 
XV.  32)  as  a  place  in  which  he  had  been  rather 
than  one  in  which  he  was  when  writing  this 
epistle.  From  the  allusion  to  the  Passover  in 
ch.  V.  7,  8,  most  have  inferred  that  the  epistle 
was  written  at  the  time  of  Easter  ;  but  this  does 
not  necessarily  follow  from  the  Apostle's  allusion. 
As  to  the  year,  great  diversity  of  opinion  pre- 
vails, but  most  are  agreed  that  it  was  not  earlier 
than  56  nor  later  than  59. 

The  subscription  above  referred  to  intimates 
that  this  epistle  W£is  conveyed  to  Corinth  by 
Stephanas,  Fortunatus,  Achaicus,  and  Timothy. 
As  respects  the  last  named  there  is  evidently  a 
mistake,  for  from  ch.  xvi.  10  it  appears  that 
Timothy's  visiting  Corinth  was  a  thing  not  cer- 
tain when  this  letter  was  finished,  and  from  2 
Cor.  viii.  17,  18,  it  appears  that  Timothy  did  not 
visit  Corinth  till  afterwards.  Cowp.  also  Acts 
xix.  22.  As  respects  the  others,  this  tradition  is 
probably  correct. 

Second  Epistle.  Not  long  after  the  trans- 
mission of  the  first  epistle,  the  Apostle  left 
Ephesus  in  consequence  of  the  uproar  excited 
against  him  by  Demetrius  the  silversmith,  and 
betook  himself  to  Troas  ( .\cts  xix.  23,  sq.).  Here 
he  expected  to  meet  Titus  with  intelligence  from 
Corinth  of  the  state  of  things  in  that  church.  In 
this  expectation,  Paul  was  disappointed.  He  ac- 
cordingly went  into  Macedonia,  where,  at  length, 
his  desire  was  gratified,  and  the  wished-for  in- 
formation obtained  (2  Cor.  ii.  13;  vii.  15,  sq.). 

The  intelligence  brought  by  Titus  concerning 
the  church  at  Corinth  was  on  the  whole  favour- 
able. The  censures  of  the  former  epistle  had 
produced  in  their  minds  a  godly  sorrow,  had 
awakened  in  them  a  regard  to  the  proper  dis- 
cipline of  the  church,  and  had  led  to  the  ex- 
clusion from  their  fellowship  of  the  incestuous 
person.  This  had  so  wrought  on  the  mind  of 
the  latter  that  he  had  repented  of  his  evil  courses, 
and  showed  such  contrition  that  the  Apostle  now 
pities  him,  and  exhorts  the  church  to  rebtore  him 
to  their  communion  (2  Cor.  ii.  6-11 ;  vii.  8,  sq.). 
A  cordial  response  had  also  been  given, to  the 


214 


CORMORANT 


CORNELIUS 


appeal  that  had  been  made  on  behalf  of  the  saints 
in  Palestine  (ix.  2).  But  with  all  these  pleasing 
symptoms  there  were  some  of  a  painful  kind. 
The  anti-Pauline  influence  in  the  church  had  in- 
creased, or  at  least  had  become  more  active  ;  and 
those  who  were  actuated  by  it  had  been  seeking 
by  all  means  to  overturn  the  authority  of  the 
Apostle,  and  discredit  his  claims  as  an  ambas- 
sador of  Christ. 

This  intelligence  led  the  Apostle  to  compose 
his  second  epistle,  in  which  the  language  of  com- 
mendation and  love  is  mingled  with  that  of  cen- 
sure, and  even  of  threatening.  This  epistle  may 
be  divided  into  three  sections.  In  the  first  (i.-iii.) 
the  Apostle  chiefly  dwells  on  the  effects  produced 
by  his  first  epistle  and  the  matters  therewith  con- 
nected. In  the  second  (iv.-ix.)  he  discourses  on 
the  substance  and  eff'ects  of  the  religion  which  he 
proclaimed,  and  turns  from  this  to  an  appeal  on 
behalf  of  the  claims  of  the  poor  saints  on  their 
liberality.  And  in  the  third  (x.-xiii.)  he  vindi- 
cates his  own  dignity  and  authority  as  an  apostle 
against  the  parties  by  whom  these  were  opposed. 

CORMORANT  (Hebrew  Salach)  occurs  Lev. 
xi,  1 7  ;  Deut.  xiv.  1 7.  The  name  is  considered 
to  have  reference  to  darting,  rushing,  or  stooping 
like  a  falcon.  Nothing  is  known  of  it  but  that  it 
was  an  unclean  bird.  Cuvier  considers  Gesner 
to  be  right  in  considering  it  to  denote  a  gull,  and 
it  might  certainly  be  applied  with  propriety  to 
the  black-backed  gull ;  but  although  birds  of  such 
powerful  wing  and  marine  habitat  are  spread 
over  a  great  part  of  the  world,  it  does  not  appear 
that,  if  known  at  the  extremity  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, they  were  sufficiently  common  to  have 
been  clearly  indicated  by  either  the  Hebrew  or 
Greek  names,  or  to  have  merited  being  noticed 
in  the  Mosaic  prohibition.  Both  the  above  are 
in  general  northern  residents,  being  rarely  seen 
even  so  low  as  the  Bay  of  Biscay.    With  regard 


to  the  cormorant,  birds  of  that  genus  are  no  doubt 
found  on  the  coasts  of  Palestine,  where  high  cliffs 
extend  to  the  sea-shore  ;  but  all  the  species  dive, 
and  none  of  them  rush  flying  upon  their  prey. 
We  therefore  conclude  the  salach  to  have  been  a 
species  of  '  tern,'  considered  to  be  identical  with 
the  '  Sterna  Caspica,'  so  called  because  it  is 
found  about  the  Caspian  Sea ;  but  it  is  equally 
common  to  the  Polar,  Baltic,  and  Black  Seas,  and 
if  truly  the  same,  is  not  only  abundant  for 
several  months  in  the  year  on  the  coast  of  Pales- 
tine, but  frequents  the  lakes  and  pools  far  inland ; 
flying  across  the  deserts  to  the  Euphrates,  and  to 
the  Persian  and  Red  Seas,  and  proceeding  up  the 
Nile.  It  is  the  largest  of  the  tern  or  sea-swallow 
genus,  being  about  the  weight  of  a  pigeon,  and 
near  two  feet  in  length,  having  a  large  black 


naped  head ;  powerful,  pointed  crimson  bill ;  a 
white  and  grey  body,  with  forked  tail,  and  wings 
greatly  exceeding  the  tips  of  the  tail :  the  feet 
are  very  small,  weak,  and  but  slightly  webbed, 
so  that  it  swims  perhaps  only  accidentally,  but 
with  sufficient  power  on  land  to  spring  up  and 
to  rise  from  level  ground.  It  flies  with  immense 
velocity,  darting  along  the  surface  of  the  sea  to 
snap  at  mollusca  or  small  fishes,  or  wheeling 
through  the  air  in  pursuit  of  insects;  and  in 
calm  weather,  after  rising  to  a  great  height,  it 
drops  perpendicularly  down  to  near  the  surface 
of  the  water,  but  never  alights  except  on  land; 
and  it  is  at  all  times  disposed  to  utter  a  kind  of 
laughing  scream.  This  tern  nestles  in  high 
clift's,  sometimes  at  a  very  considerable  distance 
from  the  sea.  We  figure  one  that  was  shot 
among  a  flight  of  these  birds,  some  distance  up 
the  river  Orontes. 

CORN.  The  word  dagan,  which  is  rendered 
'  grain,'  '  corn,'  and  sometimes  '  wheat'  in  the 
Authorized  Version,  is  the  most  general  of  the 
Hebrew  terms  representing  '  corn,'  and  is  more 
comprehensive  than  any  word  in  our  language, 
seeing  that  it  probably  includes  not  only  all  the 
proper  corn-grains,  but  also  various  kinds  of 
pulse  and  seeds  of  plants,  which  we  never  com- 
prehend under  the  name  of  '  corn '  or  even  of 
'  grain.'  It  may,  therefore,  be  taken  to  represent 
all  the  commodities  which  we  describe  by  the 
different  words  corn,  grain,  seeds,  peas,  beans. 
Among  other  places  in  which  this  word  occurs, 
see  Gen.  xxvii.  28-37;  Num.  xviii.  27;  Deut. 
xxviii.  51 ;  Lam.  ii.  12,  &c. 

The  different  products  coming  under  the  de- 
nomination of  corn,  are  noticed  under  the  usual 
heads,  as  Barley,  Wheat,  &c.  ;  their  culture, 
under  Agriculture;  their  preparation,  under 
Buf.ad,  Food,  Mill,  &c. 

CORNE'LIUS.  The  centurion  of  this  name, 
whose  history  occurs  in  Acts  x.,  most  probably 
belonged  to  the  Cornelii,  a  noble  and  distin- 
guished family  at  Rome.  He  is  reckoned  by 
Julian  the  Apostate  as  one  of  the  few  persons  of 
distinction  who  embraced  Christianity.  His  sta- 
tion in  society  will  appear  upon  considering  that 
the  Roman  soldiers  were  divided  into  legions, 
each  legion  into  ten  cohorts,  each  cohort  into 
three  bands,  and  each  band  into  two  centuries  or 
hundreds  ;  and  that  Cornelius  was  a  commander 
of  one  of  these  centuries,  belonging  to  the  Italic 
band;  so  called  from  its  consisting  chiefly  of 
Italian  soldiers,  formed  out  of  one  of  the  six 
cohorts  granted  to  the  procurators  of  Juda-a,  five 
of  which  cohorts  were  stationed  at  Cajsarea,  the 
usual  residence  of  the  procurators.  The  religious 
position  of  Cornelius,  before  his  interview  with 
Peter,  has  been  the  subject  of  much  debate.  It 
is  contended  by  some  that  he  was  what  is  called 
a  proseli/te  of  the  gate,  or  a  Gentile,  who,  having 
renounced  idolatrj-  and  worshipping  the  true  God, 
frequented  the  synagogue,  and  offered  sacrifices 
by  the  hands  of  the  priests  ;  but,  not  having  re- 
ceived circumcision,  was  not  reckoned  among  the 
Jews.  But,  on  the  whole,  it  is  more  probable  that 
he  belonged  to  the  class  of  pious  Gentiles  who 
had  so  far  benefited  by  their  contact  with  the 
Jewish  people  as  to  have  become  convinced  that 
theirs  was  the  true  religion,  who  consequently 
worshipped  the  true  God,  were  acquainted  with 
the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament,  most  pro- 


CORNELIUS 


COTTON 


215 


bably  in  the  Greek  translation,  and  observed 
several  Jewish  customs,  as,  for  instance,  their 
houi-s  of  prayer,  or  anything  else  that  did  not  in- 
volve an  act  of  special  profession.  This  class  of 
persons  seems  referred  to  in  Acts  xiii.  16,  where 
they  are  plainly  distinguished  from  the  Jews, 
though  certainly  mingled  with  them.  To  the 
same  class  is  to  be  referred  Candac«'s  treasurer 
(Acts  viii.  27,  &c.) :  and  in  earlier  times,  the 
midwives  of  l^gypt  (Exod.  i.  17),  Kahab  (Josh. 
vi.  25),  Ruth,  Araunah  the  Jebusite  (2  Sam.  xxiv. 
18,  &c.),  the  persons  mentioned  1  Kings  viii.  41, 
42,  43,  Naanian  (2  Kings  v.  16,  17).  We  regard 
Cornelius,  therefore,  as  having  been  selected  of 
God  to  become  Uie  Jirstfruits  of  the  Gentiles. 
His  character  appears  suited,  as  much  as  possible, 
to  abate  the  prejudices  of  the  Jewish  converts 
against  what  appeared  to  them  so  great  an  in- 
novation. It  is  well  observed  by  Theophylact, 
that  Cornelius,  though  neither  a  Jew  nor  a  Chris- 
tian, lived  the  life  of  a  good  Christian.  He  was 
influenced  by  spontaneous  reverence  to  God. 
He  practically  obeyed  the  restraints  of  religion, 
for  he  feared  God,  and  this  latter  part  of  the 
description  is  extended  to  all  his  family  or  house- 
hold (ver.  2).  He  was  liberal  in  alms  to  the 
Jewish  people,  which  showed  his  respect  for 
them ;  and  he  '  prayed  to  God  always,'  at  all  the 
hours  of  prayer  observed  by  the  Jewish  nation. 
Such  piety,  obedience,  faith,  and  charity,  pre- 
i;ared  him  for  superior  attainments  and  benefits, 
and  secured  to  him  their  bestowment  (Ps.  xxv. 
9;  1.  2.3;  Matt.  xiii.  12;  Luke  viii  1.5;  John 
"ii.  17). 

The  remarkable  circumstances  under  which 
these  benefits  were  conferred  upon  him  are  too 
plainly  and  forcibly  related  in  Acts  x.  to  require 
much  comment.  While  in  prayer,  at  the  ninth 
hour  of  the  day,  he  beheld,  in  waking  vision,  an 
angel  of  God,  who  declared  that  '  his  prayers  and 
alms  had  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God,' 
and  directed  him  to  send  to  Joppa  for  Peter,  who 
was  then  abiding  '  at  the  house  of  one  Simon,  a 
tanner.'  Cornelius  sent  accordingly  ;  and  when 
his  messenger  had  nearly  reached  that  place, 
Peter  was  prepared  by  the  symbolical  revelations 
of  a  noonday  ecstacy,  or  trance,  to  understand 
tliat  nothing  which  God  had  cleansed  was  to  be 
regarded  as  common  or  unclean. 

It  is  well  remarked  by  Paley,  that  the  circum- 
stances of  the  two  visions  are  such  as  to  take 
them  entirely  out  of  the  case  of  momentary  mi- 
racles, or  of  such  as  may  be  accounted  for  by  a 
false  perception.  '  The  vision  might  be  a  dream  ; 
the  message  could  not.  Either  communication 
taken  separately  might  be  a  delusion ;  the  con- 
currence of  the  two  was  impossible  to  happen 
without  a  supernatural  cause.'  (Evidences,  prop, 
i.  chap.  2).  The  inquiries  of  the  messengers 
from  Cornelius  suggested  to  Peter  the  application 
of  his  vision,  and  he  readily  accompanied  them 
to  Joppa,  attended  by  six  Jewish  brethren,  and 
hesitated  not  to  enter  the  house  of  one  whom  he, 
as  a  Jew,  would  regard  as  unclean.  The  Apostle 
waived  the  too  fervent  reverence  of  Cornelius, 
which,  although  usual  in  the  East,  was  rendered 
by  Romans  only  to  their  gods ;  and  mutual  ex- 
planations then  took  place  between  him  and  the 
centurion.  After  this  the  Apostle  proceeded  to 
address  Cornelius  and  his  assembled  friends,  and 
expressed  his  conviction  that  the  Gentiles  were 


no  longer  to  be  called  unclean,  and  stated  thb 
leading  evidence  and  chief  doctrines  of  the  Gospel. 
While  he  was  discoursing,  the  miraculous  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  contrary  to  the  order  hitherto 
observed  of  being  preceded  by  baptism  and  im- 
position of  hands,  fell  on  his  Gentile  auditors. 
Of  this  fact  Peter  and  his  companions  were  con- 
vinced, for  they  heard  them  speak  with  tongues, 
foreign  and  before  unknown  to  them,  and  which 
Peter  and  his  companions  knew  to  be  such  by 
the  aid  of  their  own  miraculous  gifts,  and,  under 
divine  impulse,  glorify  God  as  the  author  of  the 
Gospel.  The  Jewish  brethren  who  accompanied 
Peter  were  astonished  upon  perceiving,  by  these 
indubitable  indications,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
poured  out  upon  the  Gentiles,  as  upon  themselves 
at  the  beginning  (x.  45).  Peter,  already  pre- 
pared by  his  vision  for  the  event,  and  remember- 
ing that  baptism  was  by  the  command  of  Jesus, 
associated  with  these  miraculous  endowments, 
said,  'Can  any  man  forbid  water  that  these 
should  be  baptized,  who  have  received  the  Holy 
Ghost  as  well  as  we  ?'  and  yet,  agreeably  to  the 
apostolic  rule  of  committing  the  administration 
of  baptism  to  others,  and,  considering  that  the 
consent  of  the  Jewish  brethren  vrould  be  more 
explicit  if  they  performed  the  duty,  he  ordered 
them  to  baptize  Cornelius  and  his  friends,  his 
household,  whose  acceptance  as  members  of  the 
Christian  church  had  been  so  abundantly  tes- 
tified. 

CORNER-STO^TE.  The  symbolical  title  of 
'  chief  corner  stone '  is  applied  to  Christ  in  Eph. 
ii.  20,  and  1  Pet.  ii.  8,  16,  which  last  passage  is  a 
quotation  from  Isa.  xxviii.  16.  There  seems  no 
valid  reason  for  distinguishing  this  from  the 
stone  called  '  the  head  of  the  corner'  (Matt.  xxi. 
42),  although  some  contend  that  the  latter  is  the 
top-stone  or  coping.  The  '  corner-stone '  was  a 
large  and  massive  stone  so  formed  as,  when  placed 
at  a  corner,  to  bind  together  two  outer  walls  of 
an  edifice.  This  properly  makes  no  part  of  tho 
foundation,  from  which  it  is  distinguished  in  Jer. 
Ii.  56  ;  though,  as  the  edifice  rests  thereon,  it  may 
be  so  called.  Sometimes  it  denotes  those  massive 
slabs  which,  being  placed  towards  the  bottom  of 
any  wall,  serve  to  bind  the  work  together,  as  in 
Isa.  xxviii.  1 G.  Of  these  there  were  often  two 
layers,  without  cement  or  mortar.  This  ex- 
planation will  sufficiently  indicate  the  sense  in 
which  the  title  of '  chief  corner-stone '  is  applied 
to  Christ. 

COTTON.  Cotton  is  well  known  to  be  a 
wool-like  substance  which  envelopes  the  seeds, 
and  is  contained  within  the  roundish-pointed 
capsule  or  fruit  of  the  cotton-shrub.  Every  one 
also  knows  that  cotton  has,  from  the  earliest 
ages,  been  characteristic  of  India.  But  in  the 
present  day  cotton,  by  the  aid  of  machinery,  has 
been  manufactured  in  this  country  on  so  exten- 
sive a  scale,  and  sold  at  so  cheap  a  rate,  as  to 
have  driven  the  manufacture  of  India  almost 
entirely  out  of  the  market.  Still,  however,  until 
a  very  recent  period,  the  calicoes  and  chintzes  of 
India  formed  very  extensive  articles  of  commerce 
from  that  country  to  Europe.  India  possesses 
two  very  distinct  species  of  plants  from  which 
cotton  is  obtained:  1.  K.  Gossipium  herbuceum 
of  botanists,  of  which  there  are  several  varieties, 
some  of  which  have  spread  north,  and  also  into 
the  south  of  Europe,  and  into  Africa.    2.  Gossi- 


216 


C0VEXA^•T3 


pium  arlorcmii,  or  cotton  tree,  which  is  little  cul- 
tivated on  account  of  its  small  produce,  but 
•which  yields  a  fine  kind  of  cotton.  This  must 
not  be  confounded,  as  it  often  is,  with  the  silk- 
cotton  treb,  or  Bombtjx  licptaphyllum,  which  does 
not  yield  a  cotton  fit  for  spinning.  Cotton  is 
now  chiefly  cultivated  in  Central  India,  from 
whence  it  is  carried  to  and  exported  from  Broach. 
It  is  also  largely  cultivated  in  the  districts  of  the 
Bombay  Presidency,  as  also  in  that  of  Madras, 
but  less  in  Bengal,  except  for  home  manufacture, 
which  of  course  requires  a  large  supply,  where 
so  large  a  population  are  all  clothed  in  cotton. 
The  supplies  of  cotton  which  we  derive  from 
America  are  obtained  from  two  entirely  distinct 
species — Gossipium  Barbxidense,  of  which  dif- 
ferent varieties  yield  the  Sea  Island,  Upland, 
Georgian,  and  the  New  Orleans  cottons ;  while 
O.  PeTuvianum  yields  the  Brazil,  Pernambuco, 
and  other  South  American  cottons.  These 
species  are  original  natives  of  America.  It  is 
probable  that  cotton  was  imported  into  Egypt  and 
known  to  the  Hebrews,  but  it  is  extremely  diffi-  * 
cult  to  prove  the  fact :  the  subject  has  been  ex- 
tensively investigated,  but  the  point  is  still  unde- 
termined. 

COUCH.     [Bed.] 

COVENANTS.  Among  other  instances  of 
anthropomorphic  forms  of  speech  employed  in 
Scripture  is  the  use  of  the  term  covenant,  to  de- 
signate the  divine  dealings  with  mankind,  or 
with  individuals  of  the  race.  In  all  such  cases, 
th^  proper  idea  of  a  covenant  or  mutual  contract 
between  parties,  each  of  which  is  bound  to  render 
certain  benefits  to  the  other,  is  obviously  ex- 
cluded, and  one  of  a  merely  analogical  nature 
substituted  in  its  place.  Where  God  is  one  of 
the  parties,  and  man  the  other,  in  a  covenant,  all 
the  benefits  conferred  must  be  on  the  part  of  the 
former,  and  all  the  obligations  sustained  on  the 
part  of  the  latter.  Such  a  definition,  therefore, 
of  a  divine  covenant  as  would  imply  that  both 
parties  are  under  conditions  to  each  other  is  ob- 
viously incorrect,  and  incompatible  with  the 
relative  position  of  the  parties.  We  should  pre- 
fer defining  God's  covenant  with  man  as  a 
gracious  engagement  on  the  part  of  God  to  com- 
municate certain  unmerited  favours  to  men,  in 
connection  with  a  particular  constitution  or  sys- 
tem, through  means  of  which  these  favours  are 
to  be  enjoyed.  Hence  in  Scripture  the  covenant 
of  God  is  called  his  '  counsel,'  his '  oath,'  his  '  pro- 
mise '  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  3,  4 ;  cv.  8-11 ;  Heb.  vi.  1 3-20  ; 
Luke  i.  68-75;  Gal.  iii.  15-18,  &c.);  and  it  is 
described  as  consisting  wholly  in  the  gracious 
bestowal  of  blessing  on  men  (Isa.  lix.  21 ;  Jer. 
xxxi.  33,  34).  Hence  also  the  application  of  the 
term  covenant  to  designate  such  fixed  arrange- 
ments, or  laws  of  nature,  as  the  regular  succession 
of  day  and  night  (Jer.  xxxiii.  20 ),  and  such  re- 
ligious institutions  as  the  Sabbath  (Exod.  xxxi. 
IC);  circumcision  (Gen.  xvii.  9,  10);  the  Levi- 
tical  institute  (Lev.  xxvi.  1.5);  and  in  general 
any  precept  or  ordinance  of  God  (Jer.  xxxiv.  13, 
14)  ;  all  such  appointments  forming  part  of  that 
system  or  arrangement  in  connection  with  which 
the  blessings  of  God's  grace  were  to  be  enjoyed. 
The  divine  covenants  were  ratified  with  the 
sacrifice  of  a  piacular  victim,  the  design  of  which 
was  to  show  that  without  an  atonement  there 
could  be  no  communication  of  blessing  from 


COVENANTS 

God  to  man.  Thus  when  God  made  a  covenant 
with  Abraham  certain  victims  were  slain  and 
divided  into  halves,  between  which  a  smoking 
furnace  and  a  burning  lamp,  the  symbols  of  the 
divine  presence,  passed,  to  indicate  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  promises  conveyed  in  that  covenant 
to  Abraham ;  and  here  it  is  deserving  of  notice, 
as  illustrating  the  definition  of  a  divine  covenant 
above  given,  that  the  divine  glory  alone  passed  be- 
tween the  pieces  ;  whereas  had  the  covenant  been 
one  of  mutual  stipulation,  Abraham  also  would 
have  performed  the  same  ceremony  (Gen.  xv. 
1-18).  In  like  manner,  the  Levitical  covenant 
was  ratified  by  sacrifice  (Exod.  xxiv.  6-8) ;  and 
the  Apostle  expressly  affirms,  on  this  ground,  the 
necessity  of  the  death  of  Christ,  as  the  mediator 
of  the  new  covenant ;  declaring  that  where  a 
covenant  is,  there  also  of  necessity  must  be  the 
death  of  the  appointed  victim  (Heb.  ix.  16). 

Of  the  divine  covenants  mentioned  in  Scripture 
the  first  place  is  due  to  that  which  is  emphatically 
styled  by  Jehovah  '  Mij  covenant.'  This  is  God  s 
gracious  engagement  to  confer  salvation  and 
eternal  glory  on  all  who  come  to  him  through 
Jesus  Christ.  It  is  called  sometimes  '  the  ever- 
lasting covenant '  (Isa.  Iv.  3 ;  Heb.  xiii.  20),  to 
distinguish  it  from  those  more  temporary  arrange- 
ments which  were  confined  to  particular  indivi- 
duals or  classes ;  and  the  second,  or  new,  or  belter 
covenant,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Levitical 
covenant,  which  was  first  in  order  of  time,  be- 
cause first  ratified  by  sacrifice,  and  became  old, 
and  was  shown  to  be  inferior,  because  on  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Christian  dispensation  it  was 
superseded,  and  passed  away  (Jer.  xxxi.  31 ; 
Gal.  iv.  24  ;  Heb.  vii.  22;  viii.  6-13  ;  ix.  15-23; 
xii.  24).  Though  this  covenant  was  not,  strictly 
speaking,  ratified  before  the  death  of  Christ,  the 
great  sacrificial  victim  (Heb.  xiii.  20),  yet  it  was 
revealed  to  the  saints  who  lived  before  his  advent, 
and  who  enjoyed  salvation  through  the  retro- 
spective power  of  his  death  (Hom.  iii.  25 ;  Heb. 
ix.  15).  To  the  more  highly  favoured  of  these, 
God  gave  specific  assurances  of  his  gracious  pur- 
pose, and  on  such  occasions  he  was  said  to  esta- 
blish or  make  his  covenant  with  them.  Thus  he 
established  his  covenant  with  Noah  (Gen.  ix.  8, 
fi);  with  Abraham  (Gen.  xvii.  4,  5);  and  with 
David  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  3,  4).  These  were  not  dis- 
tinct covenants,  so  much  as  renewals  of  the  pro- 
mises of  the  everlasting  covenant,  coupled  with 
certain  temporal  favours,  as  type.?  and  pledges  of 
the  fulfilment  of  these  promises. 

The  old  or  Sinaitic  covenant  was  that  given  by 
God  to  the  Israelites  through  Moses.  It  respected 
especially  the  inheritance  of  the  land  of  Canaan, 
and  the  temporal  blessings  therewith  connected ; 
but  it  stood  related  to  the  new  covenant,  as  em- 
bodying a  typical  representation  of  those  great 
truths  and  blessings  which  the  Christian  dispen- 
sation unfolds  and  conveys. 

In  the  system  of  a  certain  class  of  theologians 
great  importance  is  attached  to  what  they  have 
technically  called  '  the  covenant  of  works.'  By 
this  they  intend  the  constitution  established  by 
God  with  Adam,  during  the  period  of  his  inno- 
cence. So  far  as  this  phraseology  is  not  under- 
stood to  imply  that  man,  even  in  his  sinless 
state,  was  competent  to  I  ind  Jehovah  by  any 
conditions,  it  cannot  be  objected  to.  It  seems 
also  to  have  the  sanction  of  one  passage  of  Scrip- 


CRANE 

tare,  viz.  Hos.  vi.  7,  which  almost  all  the  l>est 
interpreters  agi'ee  in  rendering  thus:  '  I'-iit  they 
like  Adam  have  transgressed  the  covenant.' 

Theologians  have  also  spoken  of  '  the  covenant 
of  redemption,'  by  which  they  mean  an  engage- 
ment entered  into  between  God  the  Father  and 
God  the  Sou  from  all  eternity,  whereby  the  former 
secured  to  the  latter  a  certain  number  of  ran- 
somed sinners,  as  his  church  or  elect  body,  and 
the  latter  engaged  to  become  their  sui'ety  and 
substitute.  By  many  the  propriety  of  this  doc- 
trine has  been  doubted;  but  the  references  to  it 
in  Scripture  are  of  such  a  kind  that  it  seems  un- 
reasonable to  refuse  to  admit  it.  With  it  stand 
connected  the  subjects  of  election,  predestination, 
the  special  love  of  Christ  to  his  people,  and  the 
i  certain  salvation  of  all  that  the  Father  hath  given 
;   him. 

j       Sometimes  a  mere  human  contract  is  called 
God's  covenant,  in  the  sense  of  involving  an  ap- 
peal to  the  Almighty,  who,  as  the  Judge  of  the 
1    whole  earth,  will  hold  both  parties  bound  to  fulfil 
i    their  engagment.     Compare  1  Sam.  xx.  8 ;  Jer. 
xxxiv.  18,  19;  Ezek.  xvii.  18,  19. 

CRANE  (Isa.  xxxviii.  14;  Jer.  viii.  7).    The 
correctness  of  the  translation  in  these  passages 
I   has  however  been  called  in  question,  for  if  the 
j    '  crane '  of  Europe  had  been  meant  by  either  de- 
i    nomination,  the  clamorous  habits  of  the  species 
j    would  not  have  been  expressed  as  '  chattering ;' 
i    and  it  is  most  probable  that  the  striking  charac- 
teristics of  tliat  bird,  which  are  so  elegantly  and 
j   forcibly  displayed  in  Hesiod  and  Aristophanes, 
t    would  have  supplied   the  lofty  diction  of  pro- 
!   phetical  inspiration  with  associations  of  a  cha- 
j   racter  still  more  exalted.     It  is  supposed,  there- 
I    fore,  that  the  '  Ardea  virgo'  of  Linn,  the  '  Grus 
virgo '  of  later  writers,  and  '  Anthropoides  virgo' 


^  --<»- 


13?.     [Numidian  Crane  :  Grus  Virgo.] 

of  some,  is  the  bird  really  meant,  though  not 
coming  from  the  north,  but  from  Central  Africa, 
down  the  Nile,  and  in  the  spring  arriving  in 
Palestine,  while  troops  of  them  proceed  to  Asia 
Minor,  and  some  as  far  north  as  the  Caspian. 
They  are  frequently  found  portrayed  on  Egyi> 
tian  monument?,  and  Hasselquist,  who  saw  them 
on  the  Nile,  afterwards  shot  one  near  Smyrna: 
they  visit  the  swamp  above  that  city,  and  the 
lake  of  Tiberias,  and  depart  in  the  fall,  but  do 
not  utter  the  clangor  of  the  crane,  nor  adopt  its 
flight  in  two  columns,  forming  an  acute  angle, 
the  better  to  cleave  the  air.  This  bird  is  not 
more  than  three  feet  in  length ;  it  is  of  a  beau- 
tiful bluish  grey,  with  the  cheeks,  throat,  breast, 
and  tips  of  the  long  hinder  feathers  and  quills 
black,  and  a  tuft  of  delicate  white  plumes  behind 


CUISPUS  217 

each  eye.  It  has  a  peculiar  dancing  walk, 
which  gave  rise  to  its  French  denomination  of 
'  demoiselle.' 

CRES'CENS,  an  assistant  of  St.  Paul,  and  ge- 
nerally supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the  seventy 
disciples  of  Christ.  It  is  alleged  in  the  Aposto- 
lical Constituiioiis  (vii.  46),  and  by  the  fathers 
of  the  church,  that  he  preached  the  Gospel  in 
Galatia,  a  fact  probably  deduced  conjecturally 
from  the  only  text  (2  Tim.  iv.  10)  in  which  his 
name  occurs. 

CRETE,  one  of  the  largest  islands  in  tlie  Me- 
diterranean, now  called  Candia,  and  by  the 
Turks,  Kirid.  It  is  ICO  miles  long,  but  of  very 
unequal  width — varying  from  thirty-five  to  six 
miles.  It  is  situated  at  the  entrance  of  the  Archi- 
pelago, having  the  coast  of  the  Morea  to  the 
south-west,  that  of  Asia  Minor  to  the  north-east, 
and  that  of  Libya  to  the  south.  Great  antiquity 
was  aifected  by  the  inhabitants,  and  it  has  been 
supposed  by  some  that  the  island  was  originally 
peopled  from  Egypt;  but  this  is  founded  on  the 
conclusion  that  Crete  was  the  Caphtor  of  Deut. 
ii.  23,  &c.,  and  the  country  of  the  Philistines, 
which  seems  more  than  doubtful.  Surrounded 
on  all  sides  by  the  sea,  the  Cretans  were  excel- 
lent sailors,  and  their  vessels  visited  all  the 
neighbouring  coasts.  The  island  was  highly 
prosperous  and  full  of  people  in  very  ancient 
times.  The  chief  glory  of  the  island,  however, 
lay  in  its  having  produced  the  legislator  Minos, 
whose  institutions  had  such  important  influence 
in  softening  the  manners  of  a  bai-barous  age,  not 
in  Crete  only,  but  also  in  Greece,  where  these 
institutions  were  imitated.  The  natives  were 
celebrated  as  archers.  Their  character  was  not 
of  the  most  favourable  description  ;  the  Cretans 
or  Kretans  being,  in  fact,  one  of  the  three  K's 
against  whose  unfaithfulness  the  Greek  proverb 
was  intended  as  a  caution — Kappadokia,  Krete, 
and  Kilikia.  In  short,  the  ancient  notices  of 
their  character  fully  agree  with  the  quotation 
which  St.  Paul  produces  from  '  one  of  their  own 
poets,'  in  his  Epistle  to  Titus  (i.  12),  who  had 
been  left  in  charge  of  the  Christian  church  i:»  the 
island: — 'The  Cretans  are  always  liars  (eternal 
liars),  evil  beasts  (literally  "  brutes  "),  slow  bel- 
lies '  (gorbellies,  bellies  which  take  long  to  fill  i. 

Crete  is  named  in  1  Maec.  x.  t7.  13ut  it  de- 
rives its  strongest  Scriptural  interest  from  the 
circumstances  connected  with  St.  Paul's  voyage 
to  Italy.  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed,  being 
forced  out  of  her  course  by  contrary  winds,  was 
driven  round  the  island,  instead  of  keeping  the 
direct  course  to  the  north  of  it.  In  doing  this, 
the  ship  first  made  the  promontory  of  Salmone 
on  the  eastern  siie  of  the  island,  which  they 
passed  with  difficulty,  and  took  shelter  at  a  place 
called  Fair-Havens,  near  to  which  was  the  city 
Lasea.  But  after  spending  some  time  at  this 
place,  and  not  finding  it,  as  they  supposed,  suf- 
ficiently secure  to  winter  in,  they  resolved,  con- 
trary to  the  advice  of  St  Paul  (the  season  being 
far  advanced),  to  make  for  Phcenice,  a  more 
commodious  harbour  on  the  western  part  of  the 
island  ;  in  attempting  which  they  were  driven  far 
out  of  their  course  by  a  furious  east  wind  called 
Euroclydon,  and  wrecked  on  the  island  of  Me- 
lita  (Acts  xxvii.). 

CRIMSON.     [PuKPLE.] 

CRIS'PUS,  chief  of  the  Jewish  Synagogiw  at 


218 


CROCODILE 


Corinth  (Acts  xviii.  8),  converted  by  St.  Paul 
(1  Cor.  i.  14).  According  to  tradition  he  was 
afterwards  bishop  of  Mgina. 

CROCODILE.  We  shall  in  this  place  con- 
fine ourselves  to  some  notice  of  crocodiles  strictly 
so  called,  and  shall  point  out  some  leading  cha- 
racters in  the  animal  coinciding  with  allusions  to 
it  in  the  Scriptures,  which  could  not  be  properly 
noticed  elsewhere. 


The  crocodiles  which  we  have  to  notice  at 
present  consist  of  three  varieties,  or  perhaps  spe- 
cies, all  natives  of  the  Nile,  distinguishable  by 
tlie  different  arrangement  of  the  scutse  or  bony 
studs  on  the  neck,  and  the  number  of  rows  of  the 
same  processes  along  the  back.  Their  general 
lizard  form  is  too  well  known  to  need  particular 
description ;  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  of  the 
whole  family  of  crocodiles,  comprehending  the 
sharp-beaked  gavials  of  India,  the  alligators  of 
the  west,  and  the  crocodiles  properly  so  called, 
the  last  are  supplied  with  the  most  vigorous  in- 
struments for  swimming,  both  from  the  strength 
and  vertical  breadth  of  their  tails,  and  from  the 
fingers  of  their  paws  having  deeper  webs.  Al- 
though all  have  from  thirty  to  forty  teeth  in  each 
jaw,  shaped  like  spikes,  without  breadth  so  as  to 
cut,  or  surfiice  so  as  to  admit  of  grinding,  the 
true  crocodile  alone  has  one  or  more  teeth  on 
each  side  in  both  jaws,  exserted,  that  is,  not 
closing  within  but  outside  the  jaw.  They  have 
no  external  ear  beyond  a  follicle  of  skin,  and  the 
eyes  have  a  position  above  the  plane  of  the 
head,  the  pupils  being  contractile,  like  those  of  a 
cat,  and  in  some  having  a  luminous  greenish 
tinge,  which  may  have  suggested  the  allusion  to 
'the  lids  of  the  morning'  (Job  xli.  18).  The 
upper  jaw  is  not  movable,  but,  as  well  as  the 
forehead,  is  extremely  dense  and  bony ;  the  rest 
of  the  upper  surface  being  covered  with  several 
rows  of  bosses,  or  plated  ridges,  which  on  the 
tail  are  at  last  reduced  from  two  to  one,  each 
scale  having  a  high  horny  crest,  which  acts  as 
part  of  a  great  fin.  Although  destitute  of  a  real 
voice,  crocodiles  when  angry  produce  a  snorting 
sound,  something  like  a  deep  growl ;  and  occa- 
sionally they  open  the  mouth  very  wide,  remain 
for  a  time  thus  exposed  facing  the  breeze,  and, 
closing  the  jaws  with  a  sudden  snap,  cause  a  re- 
port like  the  fall  of  a  trap-door.  The  gullet  of 
the  crocodile  is  very  wide,  the  tongue  being  com- 
pletely tied  to  the  lower  jaw ;  and  beneath  it  are 


CROSS 

glands  exuding  a  musky  substance.  On  land  the 
crocodile,  next  to  the  gavial,  is  the  most  active, 
and  in  the  water  it  is  also  the  species  that  most 
readily  frequents  the  open  sea.  Of  the  immense 
number  of  genera  which  we  have  seen  or  exa- 
mined, none  reached  to  25  feet  in  length,  and 
we  believe  the  specimen  in  the  vaults  of  the 
British  Museum  to  be  one  of  the  largest.  Sheep 
are  observed  to  be  unmolested  by  these  animals  ; 
but  where  they  abound,  no  pigs  can  be  kept,  per- 
haps from  their  frequenting  the  muddy  shores ; 
for  we  have  known  only  one  instance  of  croco- 
diles being  encountered  in  woods  not  immediately 
close  to  the  water's  side  :  usually  they  bask  on 
sandy  islands.  As  their  teeth  are  long,  but  not 
fitted  for  cutting,  they  seize  their  prey,  which 
they  cannot  masticate,  and  swallow  it  nearly  en- 
tire, or  bury  it  beneath  the  waves  to  macerate 
Having  very  small  excretory  organs,  their  diges- 
tion requires,  and  accordingly  they  are  found  to 
possess,  au  immense  apparatus.  They  are  ovi 
parous,  burying  their  eggs  in  the  sand ;  and  the 
female  remains  in  the  vicinity  to  dig  them  out 
on  the  day  the  young  have  broken  the  shell. 
Crocodiles  are  caught  with  hooks,  and  they  sel- 
dom succeed  in  cutting  the  rope  when  properlj' 
prepared.  Though  a  ball  fired  point  blank  will 
penetrate  between  the  scales  which  cover  the 
body,  they  may  be  regarded  as  furnishing  an  all 
but  unfailing  protection  against  such  injuries  and 
wounds  as  occasion  death  to  other  animals. 

That  crocodiles  and  alligators  take  the  sea, 
and  are  found  on  islands  many  leagues  distant 
from  other  land,  we  have  ourselves  witnessed ; 
and  the  fact  is  particularly  notorious  at  the 
Grand  Caymanas  in  the  sea  of  Mexico,  which  is 
almost  destitute  of  fresh  water.  It  is  indeed 
owing  to  this  circumstance  that  the  same  species 
may  frequent  all  the  rivers  of  a  great  extent  of 
coast,  as  is  the  case  with  some  found  in  Africa, 
whence  they  spread  to  India  and  the  Malayan 
islands. 

CROSS.  In  its  simplest  form,  consisting  of 
two  pieces  of  wood,  one  standing  erect,  the  otlier 
crossing  it  at  right  angles,  the  cross  was  known 
at  an  early  age  in  the  history  of  the  world.  Its 
use  as  an  instrument  of  punishment  was  probably 
suggested  by  the  shape  so  often  taken  by  branches 
of  trees,  M'hich  seem  to  have  been  the  first  crosses 
that  were  employed.  Trees  are  known  to  have 
been  used  as  crosses,  and  to  every  kind  of  hang- 
ing which  bore  a  resemblance  to  crucifixion,  such 
as  that  of  Prometheus,  Andromeda,  &c.,  the  name 
was  commonly  applied.  Among  the  Scythians, 
Persians,  Carthaginians,  Greeks,  Romans,  and 
the  ancient  Germans,  traces  are  found  of  the 
cross  as  an  instrument  of  punishment.  The  sign 
of  the  cross  is  found  as  a  holy  symbol  among 
several  ancient  nations.  Among  the  Indians  and 
Egyptians  the  cross  often  appears  in  their  cere- 
monies, sometimes  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  T, 
at  others  in  this  shape  ►f'-  At  Susa,  Ker  Porter 
saw  a  stone  cut  with  hieroglyphics  and  cuneiform 
inscriptions,  on  which  in  one  corner  was  a  figure 
of  a  cross,  thus  t^.  The  cross,  he  says,  is  gene- 
rally understood  to  be  symbolical  of  the  divinity 
or  eternal  life ;  and  certainly  a  cross  was  to  be 
seen  in  the  temple  of  Serapis  as  the  Egyptian 
emblem  of  the  future  life.  Porter  also  states 
that  the  Egyptian  priests  urged  its  being  fuund 
on  the  walls  of  their  temple  of  Serapis,  as  an 


CROSS 

arguir.ent  with  the  victorious  army  of  Theodosius 
to  save  it  fioiu  destruction. 

According  to  Lipsius,  there  were  in  general 
two  kinds  of  crosses ; — 1 ,  the  simple  cross ;  2,  the 
compound  cross.  The  first  consisted  of  a  stake 
on  which  the  criminal  was  fastened  or  by  which 
he  was  impaled.  For  the  first  kind  of  punish- 
ment a  tree  or  a  specially  prepared  stake  was 
used,  on  which  the  criminal  was  bound,  and 
either  left  to  perish,  or  immediately  put  to  death. 
For  impaling  a  long  and  sharpened  piece  of  wood 
(pale)  was  employed,  on  which  the  crinainalwas 
put  as  on  a  spit.  This  cruel  mode  of  execution 
was  formerly  very  customary  in  Russia,  China, 
Turkej',  and  other  countries,  and  is  not  yet  uni- 
versally abolished  by  law. 

Of  the  compound  cross  there  were  three  sorts  : 
1,  one  shaped  like  the  letter  X,  also  called  An- 
drew's cross,  because  tradition  reports  that  on  a 
cross  of  this  kind  the  Apostle  Andrew  suffered 
death.  2.  Another  sort  was  formed  by  putting  a 
cross  piece  of  wood  on  a  perpendicular  one,  so 
that  no  part  of  the  latter  may  stand  above  the 
former.  This  form  is  found  in  the  figure  y. 
3.  The  third  sort  is  described  as  '  a  cross  in  which 
the  longer  piece  of  wood  or  pale  stands  above 
the  shorter  piece  which  runs  across  it  near  the 
top.'  It  is  distinguished  from  the  preceding  by 
the  part  of  the  longer  beam  which  is  above  the 

shorter  or  transverse,  thus  i.      This    form    is 

found  in  paintings  more  frequently  than  any 
other,  and  on  a  cross  of  this  kind  our  Saviour  is 
believed  to  have  suffered  death. 

According  to  the  statement  of  certain  eccle- 
siastical historians,  the  cross  on  which  our  Lord 
was  crucified  was  found  in  the  year  326  by  the 
Empress  Helena,  mother  of  Constantino  the 
Great.  Having  built  a  church  over  the  sacred 
spot  where  it  was  discovered,  Helena  deposited 
within  it  the  chief  part  of  the  real  cross.  The 
remainder  she  conveyed  to  Constantinople,  a 
part  of  which  Constantine  inserted  in  the  head 
of  a  statue  of  himself,  and  the  other  part  was 
sent  to  Rome,  and  placed  in  the  church  of  Sta. 
Croee  in  Gerusalemme,  which  was  built  expressly 
to  receive  the  precious  relic.  When  subsequently 
a  festival  to  commemorate  the  discovery  had  been 
established,  the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  on  Easter 
Sunday,  exhibited  to  the  grateful  eyes  of  eager 
pilgrims  the  object  to  see  which  they  had  tra- 
velled so  far  and  endured  so  much.  Those  who 
were  persons  of  substance  were  further  gratified 
by  obtaining,  at  their  full  price,  small  pieces  of 
the  cross  set  in  gold  and  gems  ;  and  that  wonder 
might  not  pass  into  incredulity,  the  proper  autho- 
rities gave  the  world  an  assurance  that  the  holy 
wood  possessed  the  power  of  self-multiplication, 
and,  notwithstanding  the  innumerable  pieces 
which  had  been  taken  from  it  for  the  pleasure 
and  service  of  the  faithful,  remained  intact  and 
entire  as  at  the  first. 

The  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Persians, 
A.D.  614,  placed  the  remains  of  the  cross  in  the 
hands  of  Chosroes  II.,  who  mockingly  conveyed 
them  to  his  capital.  Fourteen  years  afterwards, 
Heraclius  recovered  them,  and  had  them  carried 
first  to  Constantinople,  and  then  to  Jerusalem,  in 
such  pomp,  that  on  his  arrival  before  the  latter 
city,  he  found  the  gate  barred,  and  entrance  for- 
bidden.    Instructed  as  to  the  cause  of  this  hin- 


CROWNS 


219 


derance,  the  Emperor  laid  aside  the  trappings 
of  his  greatness,  and,  barefooted,  bore  on  his  own 
shoulders  the  sacred  relic  up  to  the  gate,  which 
then  opened  of  itself,  and  allowed  him  to  enter, 
and  thus  place  his  charge  beneath  the  dome  of 
the  sepulchre. 

From  this  time  no  more  is  heard  of  the  true 
cross,  which  may  have  been  destroyed  by  the 
Saracens  on  their  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  a.d.  637. 

CROWNS  are  often  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  in  most  cases  to  indi- 
cate the  circumstances  under  which,  and  the  per- 
sons by  whom,  they  were  worn ;  ibr  crowns  were 
less  exclusively  worn  by  sovereigns  than  among 
modern  nations.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  to 
say  that  the  term  '  crowns '  was  applied  to  other 
ornaments  for  the  head  than  those  exclusively 
worn  by  royal  personages,  and  to  which  modern 
usage  would  give  such  distinctive  names  as  coro- 
net, band,  mitre,  tiara,  garland,  &c. 

The  royal  crown  originated  in  the  diadem, 
which  was  a  simple  fillet  fastened  round  the  head, 
and  tied  behind.  This  obviously  took  its  rise 
among  a  people  who  wore  long  hair,  and  used  a 
band  to  prevent  it  from  falling  over  the  face. 
The  idea  occurred  of  distinguishing  kings  by  a 
fillet  of  different  colour  from  that  usually  worn ; 
and  being  thus  established  as  a  regal  distinction, 
it  continued  to  be  used  as  such  even  among  na- 
tions who  did  not  wear  the  hair  long,  or  was 
employed  to  confine  the  head-dress.    We  some- 


13-1.    [Ancient  Asiatic  Crowns, 


times  see  this  diadem  as  a  simple  fillet,  about 
two  inches  broad,  fastened  round  the  otherwise 
bare  head:  we  then  find  it  as  a  band  of  gold 
(No.  134,  figs.  2,  5).  In  this  shape  it  sometimes 
forms  the  basis  of  raised  ornamental  work  (figs. 
6,  7,  8,  10),  in  which  case  it  becomes  what  we 
should  consider  a  crown  ;  and  indeed  the  original 
diadem  may  be  traced  in  most  ancient  crowns. 
Fig.  10  is  curious,  not  only  from  the  simplicity 
of  its  form,  but  on  account  of  the  metallic  loop 
to  be  passed  under  the  chin — a  mode  of  securing 
the  crown  probably  adopted  in  war  or  in  the 
chace.  Then  we  find  the  diadem  surrounding 
the  head-dress  or  cap  (figs.  3,  9,  10),  and  when 
this  also  is  ornamented,  the  diadem  may  be  con- 


220 


CROWNS 


sidcred  as  having  become  a  crown.     The  word 
vezer  is  supposed  to  denote  a  diadem.     It  is  ap- 
plied to  the  inscribed  plate  of  gold  in  front  of 
I    the  high-priest's  mitre,  which  was  tied  behind  by 
I    a  ribbon  (Exod.  xxix.  6  ;  xxxix.  30),  and  which 
j    was  doubtless  something  of  the  same  kind  that 
!    we  see  in  figs.  8,11.     This  word  is  also  employed 
j    to  denote  the  diadem  which  Saul  wore  in  battle, 
j    and  which  was  brought  to  David  (2  Sam.  i.  10), 
I    and  also  that  which  was  used  at  the  coronation 
I    of  the  young  Joash  (2  Kings  xi.    12):  and,  as 
I    another  word  is  applied  elsewhere  to  the  crown 
!    used  in  this  ceremonial,  the  probability  is  that  the 
I    Hebrew   kings  wore    sometimes   a  diadem  and 
I    sometimes  a  crown,  and  that  the  diadem  only 
j    was  accessible  to  the  high-priest,  by  whom  Joash 
[    was  crowned,  the  crown  itself  being  most  likely 
!    in  the  possession  of  Athaliah.     As  Psalm  Ixxxix. 
I    was  certainly  composed  by  David,  the  regal  use 
i    of  the  diadem  is  further  indicated  in  verse  39. 
I        The  more  general  word  for  a  crown  is  atarah ; 
I    and  it  is  applied  to  crowns  and  head  ornaments 
!    of  different   sorts,   including  those  used  by  the 
I    kings.     When  applied  to  their  crowns,  it  appears 
I    to  denote  the  state  crown  as  distinguished  from 
the  diadem.      This,  the  Rabbins  allege,  was  of 
gold  set  with  jewels  ;  such  was  the  crown  which 
j    David  took  from  the  king  of  the  Amorites  (2  Sam. 
I    xii.  30),  and  afterwards  wore  himself,  as  did  pro- 
bably his  successors.     Of  its  shape  it  is  impos- 
sible to  form  any  notion,  unless  by  reference  to 
the  examples  of  ancient  crowns  contained  in  the 
preceding  cut.      These  figures",   however,  being 
taken  mostly  from  coins,  are  not  of  that  very  re- 
mote antiquity  which  we  should  desire  to  illus- 
trate matters  pertaining  to  the  period   of    the 
Hebrew  monarchies.     In  Egypt  and  Persia  there 
are  sculptures  of  earlier  date,  representing  royal 
crowns  in  the  shape  of  a  distinguishing   tiara, 
cap,  or  helmet,  of  metal,  and  of  cloth,  or  partly 
cloth  and  partly  metal.    Such  are  the  Egyptian 


135.    [Ancient  Egyptian  Crowns.] 


orowns  as  represented  in  the  above  engraving 
(No.  135).  Fig.  1  is  the  crown  of  Lower,  and 
fig.  2  that  of  Upper  Egypt ;  and  when  both  king- 
doms were  under  one  sovereign,  the  two  crowns 
were  united,  as  in  fig.  3.  Such  union  of  the 
crowns  of  different  countries  upon  one  head  is 
matter  of  historical  record.  Thus  when  Ptolemy 
Philometer  entered  Antioch  as  a  conqueror,  he 
placed  on  his  head  the  crowns  of  Egypt  and  of 
Asia.  This  would,  in  fact,  form  three  crowns,  as 
his  previous  one  was  doubtless  the  double  crown 
of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt.     The  diadem  of 


CROWNS 

two  or  three  fillets  (figs.  3,  4,  No.  134)  may  have 
been  similarly  significant  of  dominion  over  two 
or  three  countries.  There  are  allusions  to  this 
custom  in  Scripture  (Rev.  xii.  3 ;  xix.  12).  These 
Egyptian  tiaras  were  worn  in  war,  and  on  occa- 
sions of  state  ;  but  on  ordinary  occasions  a  fillet 
or  diadem  was  used,  affording  corroboration  of  a 
previous  remark. 


136.    [Modem  Asiatic  Crowns 


It  is  important  to  observe  that  the  mitre  of  the 
high-priest,  which  is  also  called  a  crown  (Exod. 
xxxix.  30),  was  of  similar  construction,  if  not 
shape,  with  the  addition  of  the  golden  fillet  or 
diadem.  Similar  also  in  construction  and  mate- 
rial, though  not  in  form,  was  the  ancient  Persian 
crown.  From  the  descriptions  given  of  it,  this 
seems  to  have  been  a  somewhat  conical  cap,  sur- 
rounded by  a  wreath  or  fold;  and  this  M-ould 
suggest  a  resemblance  to  fig.  12,  No.  134;  which 
is  in  fact  copied  from  a  Parthian  or  later  Persian 
coin.  This  one  is  worthy  of  very  particular 
attention,  because  it  forms  a  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  ancient  and  modern  Oriental  crowns, 
the  latter  consisting  either  of  a  cap,  with  a  fold 
or  turban,  variously  enriched  with  aigrettes,  as 
this  is ;  or  of  a  stiff  cap  of  cloth,  studded  with 
precious  stones.  It  must  often  occur  to  the  stu- 
dent of  Biblical  antiquities  that  the  modern 
usages  of  the  East  have  more  resemblance  to 
the  most  ancient,  than  have  those  which  pre- 
vailed during  that  intermediate  or  classical 
period  in  which  its  peculiar  manners  and  insti- 
tutions were  subject  to  much  extraneous  influence 
from  the  domination  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
So,  in  the  present  instance,  we  are  strongly  of 
opinion  that  such  head  tires  and  caps  as  those 
represented  in  Nos.  135  and  136,  more  correctly 
represent  the  regal  '  crowns '  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, than  those  figured  in  No.  1 34  (with  the 


CRUCIFIXION 

exception  of  fig.  12,  and  the  simple  diadems) ;  ! 
■which  however  may  be  taken  to  represent  the 
style  of  tlic  crowns  which  prevailed  in  and  be- 
fore the  time  of  the  New  Testament. 

Crowns  were  so  often  used  symbolically  to 
express  lionour  and  power,  that  it  is  not  always 
safe  to  infer  national  usages  from  the  passages  in 
which  they  occur.  Hence  we  would  scarcely 
conclude  from  Ezek.  xxiii.  42,  that  crowns  were 
worn  by  Jewish  females,  although  that  they  wore 
some  ornament  which  might  be  so  called  is  pro- 
bable from  other  sources.  Mr.  Lane  (Arabian 
Niylits,  i.  424)  mentions  that,  until  about  two 
centuries  ago,  a  kind  of  crown  was  worn  by 
Arabian  females  of  wealth  and  distinction.  It 
was  generally  a  circle  of  jewelled  gold  (the  lower 
edge  of  which  Avas  straight,  and  the  upper  fan- 
cifully heightened  to  a  mere  point),  surmounting 
the  lower  part  of  a  dome-shaped  cap,  with  a 
jewel  or  some  other  ornament  at  the  summit. 

It  is  certain  that  'crowns'  of  this  or  some 
similar  kind  were  worn  at  marriages  (Cant.  iii. 
1 1  ;  Isa.  Ixi.  10) ;  and  it  would  appear  that  at 
feasts  and  public  festivals  '  crowns  of  rejoicing ' 
were  customary.  These  were  probably  garlands 
(Wisd.  ii.  8  ;  iv.  2  ;  Ecclus.  i.  11).  The  'crowns' 
or  garlands  which  were  given  to  the  victors  in 
the  public  games  are  more  than  once  alluded  to 
in  the  Epistles  (1  Cor.  ix.  25 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  5 ;  iv. 
8 ;  1  Pet.  V.  4). 
CROWN  OF  THORNS.  [Thorns.] 
CRUCIFIXION.  Crucifixion  was  a  most 
cruel  and  disgraceful  punishment;  the  terms 
applied  to  it  by  ancient  writers  are,  '  the  most 
cruel  and  disgraceful,'  'the  worst  possible  punish- 
ment,' '  the  worst  punishment  in  the  world.'  It 
was  the  punishment  chiefly  of  slaves;  accord- 
ingly the  word  'cross-bearer'  was  a  term  of  re- 
proach for  slaves,  and  the  punishment  is  termed 
'a  slave's  punishment.'  Free-born  persons  also 
suffered  crucifixion,  but  only  those  of  low  con- 
dition and  provincials.  Citizens  could  not  be 
crucified.  This  punishment  was  reserved  for  the 
greatest  crimes,  as  robbery,  piracy,  assassination, 
perjury,  sodition,  treason,  and  (in  the  case  of 
soldiers)  desertion.  Its  origin  is  ancient.  In 
Thuc-ydides  we  read  of  Inarus,  an  African  king, 
who  was  crucified  by  the  Egyptians.  The  simi- 
lar fate  of  Polycrates,  who  suffered  under  the 
Persians,  is  detailed  by  Herodotus,  who  adds,  in 
the  same  book,  that  no  less  than  300  persons 
were  condemned  to  the  cross  by  Darius,  after  his 
successful  siege  of  Babylon.  Valerius  Maximus 
makes  crucifixion  the  common  military  punish- 
ment of  the  Carthaginians.  That  the  Greeks 
adopted  it  is  plain  from  the  cruel  executions 
which  Alexander  ordered  after  the  capture  of 
Tyre,  when  2000  captives  were  nailed  to  crosses 
along  the  sea-shore.  With  the  Romans  it  was 
used  under  their  early  monarchical  government, 
and  was  the  death  to  which  Horatius  was  ad- 
I  judged  for  the  stern  and  savage  murder  of  his 
'  sister,  where  the  terms  employed  show  that  the 
punishment  was  not  at  that  time  limited  to  any 
ranli  or  condition.  It  appears  also  from  the 
passage  that  scourging  then  preceded  crucifixion, 
I  as  undoubtedly  Avas  customary  in  later  times. 
The  column  to  which  Jesus  was  fastened  during 
this  cruel  infliction  is  stated  by  Jerome  to  have 
existed  in  his  time  in  the  portico  of  the  holy 
sepulchre,  and  to  have  retained  marks  of  his 


CRUCIFIXION 


221 


blood.  The  Jews  received  the  punishment  of 
crucifixion  from  the  Romans.  Though  it  has 
been  a  matter  of  debate,  yet  it  appears  clear  that 
crucifixion,  properly  so  called,  was  not  originally 
a  Hebrew  punishment.  The  condemned,  after 
having  been  scourged,  had  to  bear  their  cross, 
or  at  least  the  transverse  beam,  to  the  place  of 
execution,  which  was  generally  in  some  fre- 
quented place  without  the  city.  The  cross  itself, 
or  the  upright  beam,  was  fixed  in  the  ground. 
Arrived  at  the  spot  the  delinquent  was  supplied 
with  an  intoxicating  drink,  made  of  myrrh  and 
other  bitter  herbs,  and  having  been  stripped  of 
his  clothing,  was  raised  and  affixed  to  the  cross, 
by  nails  driven  into  his  hands,  and  more  rarely 
into  his  feet;  sometimes  the  feet  were  fastened 
by  one  nail  driven  through  both.  The  feet  were 
occasionally  bound  to  the  cross  by  cords,  and 
Xenophon  asserts  that  it  was  usual  among  the 
Egyptians  to  bind  in  this  manner  not  only  the 
feet  but  the  hands.  A  small  tablet,  declaring 
the  crime,  was  placed  on  the  top  of  the  cross. 
The  body  of  the  crucified  person  rested  on  a 
sort  of  seat.  The  criminal  died  under  the  most 
frightful  sufferings— so  gi-eat  that  even  amid  the 

I  raging  passions  of  war,  pity  was  sometimes  ex- 
cited. Sometimes  the  suffering  Avas  shortened 
and  abated  by  breaking  the  legs  of  the  criminal. 

i  After  death,  among  the  heathens,  the  bodies  com- 
monly remained  on  the  cross  till  they  wasted 
away,  or  Avere  devoured  by  birds  of  prey.  A 
military  guard  was  set  near  the  cross,  to  prevent 
the  corpse  from  being  taken  away  for  burial ; 
but  among  the  Jews  the  dead  body  Avas  cus- 
tomarily taken  down  and  buried.  The  execution 
took  place  at  the  hands  of  the  hangman,  attended 
by  a  band  of  soldiers,  and  in  Rome,  under  the 
supervision  of  the  Triumviri  Capitales.  The 
accounts  given  in  the  Gospels  of  the  execution  of 
Jesus  Christ  are  in  entire  agreement  with  the 
customs  and  practices  of  the  Romans  in  this  par- 
ticular. The  punishment  continued  in  the  Roman 
empire  till  the  time  of  Constantine,  when  it  was 
abolished  through  the  influence  of  the  Christian 
religion.  E.xamples  of  it  are  found  in  the  early 
part  of  the  emperor's  reign,  but  the  rcA-erence 
which,  at  a  later  period,  he  Avas  led  to  feel  for 
the  cross,  induced  liim  to  put  an  end  to  the  inhu- 
man practice. 

Death  by  crucifixion  (physically  considered) 
is  to  be  attributed  to  the  sympathetic  fever  Avhich 
is  excited  by  the  wounds,  and  aggravated  by  ex- 
posure to  the  weather,  privation  of  water,  and 
the  painfully  constrained  position  of  the  body. 
Traumatic  fever  corresponds,  in  intensity  and  in 
character,  to  the  local  inflammation  of  the 
wound.  In  the  first  stage,  Avhile  the  inflamma- 
tion of  the  wound  is  characterized  by  heat, 
swelling,  and  great  pain,  the  fever  is  highly  in- 
flammatory ;  and  the  sufferer  complains  of  heat, 
throbbing  headache,  intense  thirst,  restlessness, 
and  anxiety.  As  soon  as  suppuration  sets  ft, 
the  fever  somewhat  abates,  and  gradually  ceases 
as  suppuration  diminishes  and  the  stage  of  cica- 
trisation approaches.  But  if  the  wound  be  pre- 
vented from  healing,  and  suppuration  continue, 
the  fever  assumes  a  hectic  character,  and  v/ill 
sooner  or  later  exhaust  the  powers  of  life. 
W^hen,  however,  the  inflammation  of  the  Avound 
is  so  intense  as  to  produce  mortification,  nervous 
depression   is  the  immediate  consequence;   and 


CRUCIFIXION 


222 


if  the  cause  of  this  excessive  inflammation  of 
the  wound  still  continues,  as  is  the  case  in  cruci- 
fixion, the  sufferer  rapidly  sinks.  He  is  no  longer 
sensible  of  pain,  but  his  anxiety  and  sense  of 
prostration  are  excessive  ;  hiccup  supervenes,  his 
skin  is  moistened  with  a  cold  clammy  sweat,  and 
death  ensues.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  death 
on  the  cross  must  have  taken  place,  in  an  ordi- 
narily healthy  constitution.  The  wounds  in 
themselves  were  not  fatal ;  but,  as  long  as  the 
nails  remained  in  them,  the  intlammation  must 
have  increased  in  intensity  until  it  produced 
gangrene.  De  la  Condamine  witnessed  the  cru- 
cifixion of  two  women  of  those  fanatic  Jansenists 
called  Convulsionnaires.  One  of  them,  who  had 
been  crucified  thrice  before,  remained  on  the 
cross  for  three  hours.  They  suffered  most  pain 
from  the  operation  of  extracting  the  nails  ;  and 
it  was  not  until  then  that  they  lost  more  than  a 
few  drops  of  blood  from  their  wounds.  After 
they  were  taken  down,  they  seemed  to  sufifer 
little,  and  speedily  recovered.  The  probabilities 
of  recovery  after  crucifixion  would  of  course  de- 
pend on  the  degree  of  constitutional  irritation 
that  had  been  already  excited.  Josephus  relates 
that  of  three  of  his  friends,  for  whom  he  had  ob- 
tained a  release  from  the  cross,  only  one  survived. 
The  period  at  which  death  occurred  was  very 
variable,  as  it  depended  on  the  constitution  of 
the  sufferer,  as  well  as  on  the  degree  of  exposure 
and  the  state  of  the  weather.  It  may,  however, 
be  asserted  that  death  would  not  take  place  until 
the  local  inflammation  had  run  its  course ;  and 
though  this  process  may  be  much  hastened  by 
fatigue  and  the  alternate  exposure  to  the  rays  of 
the  sun  and  the  cold  night  air,  it  is  not  com- 
pleted before  forty-eight  hours,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  and  in  healthy  constitutions ;  so 
that  we  may  consider  thirty-six  hours  to  be  the 
earliest  period  at  which  crucifixion  would  occa- 
sion death  in  a  healthy  adult.  Many  of  the 
"wounded  at  Waterloo  were  brought  into  the  hos- 
pitals after  having  lain  three  days  on  the  field, 
and  even  then  sometimes  recovered  from  severe 
operations.  It  cannot  be  objected  that  the  heat 
of  an  Eastern  climate  may  not  have  been  duly 
considered  in  the  above  estimate ;  for  many 
cases  are  recorded  of  persons  having  sui'vived  a 
much  longer  time  than  is  here  mentioned,  even 
as  long  as  eight  or  nine  days.  Eusebius  says 
that  many  of  the  martyrs  in  Egypt,  who  were 
crucified  with  their  heads  downwards,  perished 
by  hunger.  This  assertion,  however,  must  not 
be  misunderstood.  It  was  very  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  hunger  was  the  cause  of  death,  when 
it  was  known  that  no  food  had  been  taken,  and 
when,  as  must  have  happened  in  lingering  cases 
of  crucifixion,  the  body  was  seen  to  be  emaciated. 
But  it  has  been  shown  above  that  the  nails  in 
the  hands  and  feet  must  inevitably  have  given 
rise  to  such  a  degree  of  inflammation  as  to  pro- 
duce mortification,  and  ultimately  death ;  and  it 
is  equally  certain  that  food  would  not,  under 
such  circumstances,  have  contributed  to  support 
life.  Moreover,  it  may  be  added  that  after  the 
first  few  hours,  as  soon  as  fever  had  been  fully 
excited,  the  sufi"erer  would  lose  all  desire  for 
food.  The  want  of  water  was  a  much  more  im- 
portant privation.  It  must  have  caused  the  suf- 
ferer inexpressible  anguish,  and  have  contributed 
in  no  slight  degree  to  hasten  death.    As-Sujuti, 


CUBIT 

a  celebrated  Arabic  writer,  gives  an  interesting 
account  of  a  young  Turk  who  was  crucified  at 
Damascus  a.d.  1247.  It  is  particularly  men- 
tioned that  his  hands  and  feet  were  nailed,  and 
even  his  arms  (but  not  as  if  it  was  in  any  way 
remarkable).  He  complained  of  intense  thirst 
on  the  first  day,  and  his  sufferings  were  greatly 
increased  by  his  continually  seeing  before  him 
the  waters  of  the  Barada,  on  the  banks  of 
which  he  was  crucified.  He  survived  two  days, 
from  the  noon  of  Friday  to  the  noon  of  Sun- 
day. 

CRUSE  (1  Sam.  xxvi.  11 ;  1  Kings  xiv.  3;  2 
Kings  ii.  20).  This  now  obsolete  English  word 
denotes  a  small  vessel  for  holding  water  or  other 
liquids.  Such  are  noticed  under  Bottle,  Dish, 
Pitcher. 

CRYSTAL.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that 
crystal  is  intended  by  the  Greek  word  in  Rev. 
xxi.  11,  as  indeed  the  phrase  of  comparison  '  clear 
as  crystal '  would  seem  naturally  to  suggest.  In 
Ezek.  i.  22  the  Hebrew  word  kerach,  which  lite- 
rally denotes  ice,  is  employed  with  a  similar  sig- 
nification. This  is  the  more  apparent  when  we 
recollect  that  crystal  was  anciently  held  to  be 
only  pure  water,  congealed  by  great  length  of 
time  into  ice  harder  than  the  common,  and  henca 
the  Greek  word  for  it,  in  its  more  proper  signi- 
fication, also  signifies  ice.  From  this  it  neces- 
sarily followed  that  crystal  could  only  be  pro- 
duced in  the  regions  of  perpetual  ice :  and  this 
was  accordingly  the  ancient  belief ;  but  we  now 
know  that  it  is  found  in  the  warmest  regions. 
Theophrastus  (54)  reckons  crystal  among  the  pel- 
lucid stones  used  for  engraved  seals.  In  common 
parlance  we  apply  the  term  crystal  (as  the  ancients 
apparently  did)  to  a  glass-like  transparent  stone, 
commonly  of  a  hexagonal  form,  which,  from 
being  found  in  rocks,  is  called  by  mineralogists 
rock-crystal.  It  is  a  stone  of  the  flint  family,  the 
most  refined  kind  of  quartz. 

CUBIT  is  a  word  derived  immediately  from 
the  Latin  cubitus,  the  lower  arm.  The  length  of 
the  cubit  has  varied  in  different  nations,  and  at 
different  times.  Derived  as  the  measure  is  from 
a  part  of  the  human  body,  and  as  the  human 
stature  has  been  of  very  dissimilar  length,  the 
cubit  must  of  necessity  have  been  various.  That 
the  cubit  among  the  Hebrews  was  derived  as  a 
measure  from  the  human  body  is  clear  from  Deut. 
iii.  11 — '  after  the  cubit  of  a  man.'  But  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  determine  whether  this  cubit  was  under- 
stood as  extending  to  the  wrist  or  the  end  of  the 
third  finger.  As,  however,  the  latter  seems  most 
natural,  since  men,  when  ignorant  of  anatomy, 
and  seeking  in  their  own  frames  standards  of 
measure,  were  likely  to  take  both  the  entire  foot 
and  the  entire  fore-arm,  the  probability  is  that 
the  longer  was  the  original  cubit,  namely,  the 
length  from  the  elbow  to  the  extremity  of  the 
longest  finger. 

The  hand-breadth  is  found  as  a  measure  in 
1  Kings  vii.  26,  comp.  Jer.  Iii.  21.  In  the  latter 
passage  the  finger-breadth  is  another  measure. 
The  span  also  occurs  Exod.  xxviiL  IG.  So  that, 
it  appears,  measures  of  length  were,  for  the  most 
part,  borrowed  by  the  Hebrews  from  members  of 
the  human  body.  Still  no  absolute  and  invariable 
standard  presents  itself  If  the  question.  What  is 
a  hand  or  a  finger-breadth  ?  be  asked,  the  answer 
can  be  only  an  approximation  to  fact.     If,  hov- 


CUxMMIN 


CUMMIN 


223 


ever,  the  palm  or  hand-breadth  is  taken  at  3J 
inches,  then  the  cubit  will  amount  to  21  inches. 

In  addition  to  the  common  cubit,  the  Egyp- 
tians had  a  longer  one  of  6  palms  4  inches.  The 
Hebrews  also  have  been  thought  to  have  had  a 
longer  cubit ;  for,  in  Ezek.  xl.  5,  we  read  of  a 
cubit  which  seems  to  be  an  ordinary  '  cubit  and 
an  hand-breadth  ;'  see  also  Ezek.  xliii.  13,  where 
it  is  expressly  said  '  the  cubit  is  a  cubit  and  an 
hand-breadth.'  The  prophet  has  been  supposed 
to  refer  here  to  the  then  current  Babylonian  cubit 
— a  measure  which  it  is  thought  the  Jews  bor- 
rowed during  the  period  of  their  captivity.  In 
the  New  Testament  our  Lord  characteristically 
employs  the  term  cubit  (Matt,  xxvii.  6 ;  Luke 
xii.  2.5)  for  the  enforcement  of  a  moral  and  spi- 
ritual lesson.  The  term  also  occurs  in  John  xxi. 
8,  and  in  Rev.  xxi.  17.  In  Lev.  xix.  35  justice 
in  measures,  as  well  as  in  weights,  is  strictly 
enjoined. 

CUCKOW  occurs  only  in  Lev.  xi.  16,  among 
birds  of  prey  not  clearly  identified,  but  declared 
to  be  unclean.  The  accuracy  of  the  translation 
has  been  called  in  question,  but  great  obscurity 
hangs  over  the  subject,  and  in  the  present  state  of 
our  knowledge  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  what 
kind  of  bird  was  really  meant. 

CUCUMBER  first  occurs  in  Num.  xi.  5,  in  the 
verse  where  the  Israelites,  when  in  the  desert, 
express  their  longings  for  the  melons  and  the 
cucumbers  of  Egypt.  All  travellers  in  the  East 
notice  the  extensive  cultivation  and  consumption 
of  cucumbers  and  other  herbs  of  the  same  tribe, 
especially  where  there  is  any  moisture  of  soil,  or 
the  possibility  of  irrigation.  Thus  even  in  the 
driest  parts,  the  neighbourhood  of  a  well  is  often 
occupied  by  a  field  of  cucurbitaceous  plants, 
generally  with  a  man  or  boy  set  to  guard  it  from 
plunder,  perched  up  on  a  temporary  scatfolding, 
with  a  slight  protection  from  the  sun,  where  he 
may  himself  be  safe  from  the  attacks  of  the  more 
powerful  wild  animals.  That  such  plants  appear 
lo  have  been  similarly  cultivated  among  the  He- 
'^'■ews  is  evident  from  Isa.  i.  8,  '  The  daughter  of 
Zion  is  left  like  a  cottage  in  a  vineyard,  like  a 
lodge  in  a  garden  of  cucumbers ;'  as  well  as  from 
Baruch  vi.  70,  '  As  a  scarecrow  in  a  garden  of 
cucumbers  keepeth  nothing,  so  are  their  gods  of 
wood.' 

CUMMIN,  or  Kammon,  is  an  umbelliferous 
plant,  mentioned  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, and  which,  like  the  dill  and  the  coriander, 
continues  to  be  cultivated  in  modern,  as  it  was  in 
ancient  times,  in  Eastern  countries.  These  are 
similar  to,  and  used  for  many  of  the  same  pur- 
poses as  the  anise  and  caraway,  which  supply 
their  place,  and  are  more  common  in  Europe. 
All  these  plants  produce  fruits,  commonly  called 
seeds,  which  abound  in  essential  oil  of  a  more  or 
less  grateful  flavour,  and  warm  stimulating  na- 
ture ;  hence  they  were  employed  in  ancient  as  in 
modern  times,  both  as  condiments  and  as  medi- 
cines. 

Cummin  is  first  mentioned  in  Isaiah  (xxviii. 
2.")) :  '  When  he  (the  ploughman)  hath  made  plain 
the  face  thereof,  doth  he  not  cast  abroad  the  fitches, 
and  scatter  the  cummin  ?'  showing  that  it  was 
extensively  cultivated,  as  it  is  in  the  present  day, 
in  Eastern  countries,  as  far  even  as  India.  In 
the  south  of  Europe  it  is  also  cultivated  to  some 
extent.    England  is  chiefly  supplied  from  Malta 


and  Sicily  ;  .53  cwt.  having  been  imported  in  the 
year  1839  from  these  islands.  In  the  above 
chapter  of  Isaiah  (ver.  27)  cummin  is  again  men- 
tioned :  '  For  the  fitches  are  not  threshed  with 
a  threshing  instrument,  neither  is  a  cart-wheel 
turned  about  upon  the  cummin  ;  but  the  fitches 
are  beaten  out  with  a  staft',  and  the  cummin  with 
a  rod.'  This  is  most  applicable  to  the  fruit  of 
the  common  cummin,  which,  when  ripe,  may  be 
separated  from  the  stalk  with  the  slightest  stroke, 
and  would  be  completely  destroyed  by  the  turn- 
ing round  of  a  wheel,  which,  bruising  the  seed, 
would  press  out  the  oil  on  which  its  virtues  de- 
pend. 


In  the  New  Testament  cummin  is  mentioned 
in  Matt,  xxiii.  23,  where  our  Saviour  denounces 
the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  paid  their  '  tithe 
of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cummin,'  but  neglected 
the  weightier  matters  of  the  law. 

CUSH,  the  eldest  son  of  Ham  (Gen.  x.  C ;  1 
Chron.  i.  8),  from  whom  seems  to  have  been  de- 
rived the  name  of  the  land  of  Cush. 

The  locality  of  the  land  of  Cush  is  a  question 
upon  which  eminent  authorities  have  been  di- 
vided ;  for  while  Bochart  maintained  that  it  was 
exclusively  in  Arabia,  Gesenius  held  with  no  less 
pertinacity  that  it  is  to  be  sought  for  nowhere  but 
in  Africa.  Others  again,  such  as  Michaelis  and 
Rosenmiiller,  have  supposed  that  the  name  Cush 
was  applied  to  tracts  of  country  both  in  Arabia 
and  Africa — a  circumstance  which  would  easily 
be  accounted  for,  on  the  very  probable  supposi- 
tion that  the  descendants  of  the  primitive  Cushite 
tribes,  who  had  settled  in  the  former  country, 
emigrated  across  the  Red  Sea  to  the  latter  region 
of  the  earth,  carrying  with  them  the  name  of 
Cush,  their  remote  progenitor. 

The  existence  of  an  African  Cush  cannot  rea- 
sonably be  questioned,  though  the  term  is  em- 
ployed in  Scripture  with  great  latitude,  sometimes 
denoting  an  extensive  but  undefined  country 
(Ethiopia),  and  at  other  times  one  particular 
kingdom  (Meroe).  It  is  expressly  described  by 
Ezekiel  as  lying  to  the  south  of  Egypt  beyor.d 
Syene  (xxix.  10 ;  ccmp.  xxx.  4-f;).  Hence  we 
find  Mizraim  and  Cush  (i.  e.  Egypt  and  Etliiopia) 
so  often  classed  together  by  the  prophets,  e.r/.  Vs. 
Ixviii.  31  ;  Isa.  xi.  11 ;  xx.  4;  xliii.  3  ;  xlv.  14; 


224         CUTTINGS  IN  THE  FLESH 


CUTTINGS  IN  THE  FLESH 


Nahum  iii.  9.  The  inhabitants  are  elsewhere 
spoken  of  in  connection  -with  the  Lubim  and 
.Sukkiim  (2  Chron.  xii.  3;  xvi.  8;  Jer.  xlvi.  7; 
Dan.  xi.  43),  supposed  to  be  the  Libyans  and 
Ethiopic  Troglodytes,  and  certainly  nations  of 
Africa,  for  they  belonged  to  the  vast  army  with 
which  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  'came  out'  of 
that  country,  against  Rehoboam,  king  of  Judah. 
In  these,  and  indeed  in  most  other  passages  where 
'  Cush'  occurs,  Arabia  is  not  to  be  thought  of; 
the  Ethiopia  of  Africa  is  beyond  all  doubt  exclu- 
sively intended,  and  to  the  article  Ethiopia 
we  refer  tlie  reader  for  the  Scriptural  notices  re- 
garding it. 

Though  there  is  a  great  lack  of  evidence  to 
show  that  the  name  of  Cush  was  ever  applied  to 
any  part  of  Arabia,  there  seems  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  a  portion  of  the  Cushite  race  did  early 
settle  there.  By  referring  to  the  relative  geogra- 
phical positions  of  the  south-west  coast  of  Arabia 
and  the  east  coast  of  Africa,  it  will  be  seen  that 
nothing  separates  them  but  the  Red  Sea,  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  while  a  part  of  the  Cushite 
population  immigrated  to  Africa,  others  remained 
behind,  and  were  occasionally  called  by  the  same 
name.  Thus  in  2  Chron.  xxi.  16,  among  those 
who  were  stirred  up  against  the  Hebrews  are 
mentioned  the  Philistines,  and  '  the  Arabs  that 
were  near  the  Cushites,'  and  the  expression  '  near ' 
in  this  connection  can  scarcely  apply  to  any  but 
dwellers  in  the  Arabian  peninsula. 

CUTH'AH,  a  district  in  Asia,  whence  Shal- 
maneser  transplanted  certain  colonists  into  the 
land  of  Israel,  which  he  had  desolated  (2  Kings 
xvii.  24-30).  From  the  intermixture  of  these 
colonists  with  the  remaining  natives  sprung  the 
Samaritans.  The  situation  of  the  Cuthah  from 
which  these  colonists  came  is  altogether  unknown. 
Josephus  places  it  in  central  Persia,  and  finds 
there  a  river  of  the  same  name.  Rosenmiiller 
and  others  incline  to  seek  it  in  the  Arabian  Irak, 
wh;re  Abulfeda  and  other  Arabic  and  Persian 
writers  place  a  town  of  this  name,  in  the  tract 
near  the  Nahr-Malca,  or  royal  canal,  which  con- 
nected the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  to  the  south  of 
the  present  Bagdad.  Winer  seems  to  prefer  the 
conjecture  of  Stephen  ISIorin  and  Le  Clerc,  which 
identifies  the  Cuthites  with  the  Cossaei  in  Susiana. 
All  these  conjectures  refer  essentially  to  the  same 
quarter,  and  any  of  them  is  preferable  to  the  one 
suggested  by  Michaelis,  that  the  Cuthites  were 
Phoenicians  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Sidon. 

CUTTINGS  IN  THE  FLESH.  Among.st  the 
prohibitory  laws  which  God  gave  the  Israelites 
'.here  was  one  that  expressly  forbad  the  practice 
embraced  in  those  words,  viz.  '  Ye  shall  not  make 
any  cuttings  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead'  (Lev. 
xix.  28).  it  is  evident  from  this  law  that  such  a 
species  of  self-inflicted  torture  obtained  amongst 
the  nations  of  Canaan ;  and  it  was,  doubtless,  to 
guard  His  people  against  the  adoption  of  so  bar- 
barous a  habit,  in  its  idolatrous  form,  that  God 
led  Moses  to  reiterate  the  prohibition :  '  They 
shall  not  make  baldness  upon  their  heads,  neither 
shall  they  shave  off  the  corner  of  their  beards, 
nor  make  any  cuttings  in  their  flesh'  (Lev.  xxi. 
5;  Deut.  xiv.  1). 

Investing  his  imaginary  deities  with  the  attri- 
butes of  cruelty,  man  has,  at  all  times  and  in  all 
countries,  instituted  a  form  of  religion  consisting 
in  cruel  rites  and  bloody  ceremonies.    If  then  we 


look  to  the  practices  of  the  heathen  world,  whe- 
ther of  ancient  or  modern  times,  we  shall  find 
that  almost  the  entire  of  their  religion  consisted 
of  rites  of  deprecation.  Fear  of  the  Divine  dis- 
pleasure would  seem  to  have  been  the  leading 
feature  in  their  religious  impressions.  The  uni- 
versal prevalence  of  human  sacrifices  throughout 
the  Gentile  world  is,  in  itself,  a  decisive  proof  of 
the  light  in  which  the  human  mind,  unaided  by 
revelation,  is  disposed  to  view  the  Divinity. 

It  was  doubtless  such  mistaken  views  of  the 
character  of  God  that  led  the  prophets  of  Baal 
(1  Kings  xviii.  28)  to  cut  their  bodies  with  lancets, 
supposing  that,  by  mingling  their  own  blood  with 
that  of  the  offered  sacrifice,  their  god  must  be- 
come more  attentive  to  the  voice  of  entreaty.  In 
fact  it  was  a  current  opinion  amongst  the  ancient 
heathen  that  the  gods  were  jealous  of  human  hap- 
piness ;  and  in  no  part  of  the  heathen  world  did 
this  opinion  more  prevail,  according  to  Sanchoni- 
athon's  account,  than  amongst  the  inhabitants  of 
those  very  countries  which  surrounded  that  land 
where  God  designed  to  place  his  people  Israel. 
Hence  we  see  why  God  would  lay  them  under  the 
wholesome  influence  of  such  a  prohibitory  law  as 
that  under  consideration :  '  Ye  shall  not  make  any 
cutting  in  your  flesh  for  the  dead.'  The  ancients 
were  very  violent  in  their  expression  of  sorrow. 
Virgil  represents  the  sister  of  Dido  as  tearing  her 
face  with  her  nails,  and  beating  her  breasts  with 
her  fists. 

The  present  writer  has  seen  in  India  the  same 
wild  exhibition  of  grief  for  the  departed  rela- 
tive or  friend.  Some  of  the  learned  think  that 
that  law  of  Solon's,  which  was  transferred  by  the 
Romans  into  the  Twelve  Tables,  that  women  in 
mourning  should  not  scratch  their  cheehs,  derived 
its  origin  from  this  law  of  Moses  (Lev.  xix.  28). 
But,  however  this  opinion  may  be  questioned,  it 
would  appear  that  the  simple  tearing  of  their  flesh 
out  of  grief  and  anguish  of  spirit  is  taken,  in  other 
parts  of  Scripture,  as  a  mark  of  affection  :  thus 
(Jer.  xlviii.  37), '  Every  head  shall  be  bald,  every 
beard  clipped,  and  upon  all  cuttings'  Again 
(ch.  xvi.  (j) :  '  Both  the  great  and  the  small  shall 
die  in  the  land :  they  shall  not  be  buried,  neither 
shall  men  lament  for  them,  nor  cut  themselces.' 
So  (ch.  xli.  5) .  '  There  came  from  Samaria  four- 
score men  having  their  heads  shaven  and  their 
clothes  rent,  and  having  cut  themselves,  with 
offerings  to  the  house  of  the  Lord.' 

The  spirit  of  Islam  is  less  favourable  than  that 
of  heathenism  to  displays  of  this  kind :  yet  ex- 
amples of  them  are  not  of  rare  occurrence  even 
in  the  iMoslem  countries  of  "Western  Asia,  includ- 
ing Palestine  itself.    The  annexed  figure  is  copied 


CYPRUS 

from  one  -which  is  represented  in  many  of  the 
books  of  travel  in  Egypt  and  Palestine  which 
were  printed  in  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is 
described  by  the  missionary  Eugene  Roger  as 
representing  '  one  of  those  calenders  or  devotees 
whom  the  Arabs  name  Balhoaua,'  and  whom  the 
simple  people  honour  as  holy  martyrs.  He  ap- 
pears in  public  with  a  scimitar  stuck  through  the 
fleshy  part  of  his  side,  Avith  three  heavy  iron 
spikes  thrust  through  the  muscles  of  his  arm,  and 
with  a  feather  inserted  into  a  cut  in  his  forehead. 
He  moves  about  with  great  composure,  and  en- 
dures all  these  sufferings,  hoping  for  recompense 
in  the  Paradise  of  Mohammed. 

From  the  examples  which  have  been  produced, 
we  may  very  safely  conclude  that  the  expression 
*  cuttings  in  the  flesh,'  in  these  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, was  designed,  as  already  intimated,  to 
declare  the  feeling  of  strong  affection  ;  as  though 
the  living  would  say,  '  See  how  little  we  regard 
the  pleasures  of  life,  since  now  the  object  of  our 
affection  is  removed  from  us !'  We  must  there- 
fore come  back  to  our  former  position,  that  it  was 
against  those  self-inflicted  tortures,  by  which  the 
unhappy  devotees  vainly  thought  to  deprecate  the 
wrath  of  their  angry  gods  towards  their  deceased 
relatives  and  friends,  this  law  of  Moses  was  espe- 
ciallif  aimed.' 

CYMBALS.    [Music] 

CY  PRUS,  the  modem  Kehris,  one  of  the 
largest  islands  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  next  to 
Sicily  in  importance.  It  is  about  140  miles  in 
length,  and  varies  in  breadth  from  50  to  .5  miles. 
From  its  numerous  headlands  and  promontories, 
it  was  called  Kerastis,  or  the  Horned ;  and  from 
its  exuberant  fertility,  Macaria,  or  the  blessed. 
Its  proximity  to  Asia  Minor,  Phoenicia,  and 
Egypt,  and  its  numerous  havens,  made  it  a  general 
rendezvous  for  merchants.  '  Corn,  wine,  and  oil,' 
which  are  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  the  choicest  productions  of  Palestine 
(Deut.  xii.  17;  1  Chron.  ix.  29;  Neh.  x.  39; 
Jfer.  xxxj.  12),  were  found  here  in  the  highest 
perfection.  The  forests  also  furnished  large  sup- 
plies of  timber  for  ship-building,  which  rendered 
the  conquest  of  the  island  a  favourite  project  of 
the  Egyptian  kings.  It  was  the  boast  of  the 
Cyprians  that  they  could  build  and  complete  their 
vessels  without  any  aid  from  foreign  countries. 
Among  the  mineral  products  were  diamonds, 
emeralds,  and  other  precious  stones,  alum,  and 
asbestos ;  besides  iron,  lead,  zinc,  with  a  portion 
of  silver,  and,  above  all,  copper. 

Cyprus  was  originally  peopled  from  Phoenicia 
[Chittim].  Amasis  1.,  king  of  Egj'pt,  subdued 
the  whole  island.  In  the  time  of  Herodotus  the 
population  consisted  of  Athenians,  Arcadians, 
Phoenicians,  and  Ethiopians.  Under  the  Persians 
and  Macedonians  the  whole  island  was  divided 
into  nine  petty  sovereignties.  After  the  death  of 
Alexander  the  Great  U  fell  to  the  share  of  Pto- 
lemy, the  son  of  Lagus.  It  was  brought  under 
the  Roman  dominion  by  Cato.  Under  the  Em- 
peror Augustus  it  was  at  first  an  imperial  pro- 
vince, and  afterwards,  with  Gallia  Narbonensis, 
made  over  to  the  senate.  When  the  empire  was 
divided  it  fell  to  the  share  of  the  Byzantine  empe- 
rors. Richard  I.  of  England  conquered  it  in 
1191,  and  gave  it  to  Guy  Liisignan,  by  whose 
family  it  was  retained  for  nearly  three  centuries. 
In  1473  the  republic  of  Venice  obtained  possession 


CVRENIUS 


225 


of  it ;  but  in  1.571  it  was  taken  by  Selim  II.,  and 
ever  since  has  been  under  the  dominion  of  the 
Turks.  The  majority  of  the  population  belong  to 
the  Greek  church;  the  archbishop  resides  at 
Leikosia.  Cyprus  was  one  of  the  first  places  out 
of  Palestine  in  which  Christianity  was  promul- 
gated, though  at  first  to  Jews  only  (Acts  xi.  19), 
by  '  those  who  were  scattered  abroad '  after  Ste- 
phen's martyrdom.  It  was  visited  by  Barnabas 
and  Paul  on  their  first  missionary  tour  (Acts 
xiii.  4),  and  subsequently  by  Barnabas  and  John 
Mark  (Acts  xv.  39).  Paul  sailed  to  the  south  of 
the  island  on  his  voyage  to  Rome  (Acts  xxvii. 
4).  [Elymas  ;  Paphos  ;  Sergius  Paclus  ; 
Salamis.] 

CYRE'NE,  a  city  in  Upper  Libya,  founded 
about  the  year  b.c.  632,  by  a  colony  of  Greeks 
from  Thera  (Santorini),  a  small  island  in  the 
JEgean  sea.  Its  name  is  generally  supposed  to 
be  derived  from  a  fountain  called  Cyre,  near  its 
site.  It  was  built  on  a  table-land,  1800  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  in  a  region  of  extraordinary 
fertility  and  beauty.  It  was  the  capital  of  a  dis- 
trict, called  from  it  Cyrenaica  (Barca),  which 
extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Platea  (Bomba)  to  the 
Great  Syrtis  (Gulf  of  Sidra).  With  its  port 
Apollonia  (Musa  Soosa),  about  10  miles  distant, 
and  the  cities  Barca,  Teuchira,  and  Hesperis, 
which  at  a  later  period  were  named  Ptolemais, 
Arsinoe,  and  Berenice,  it  formed  the  Cyrenaic 
Pentapolis.  For  above  180  years  the  form  of 
government  was  monarchical ;  it  then  became 
republican ;  and  at  last,  the  country  became  tri- 
butary to  Egypt,  under  Ptolemy  Soter.  It  was 
bequeathed  to  the  Romans  by  Apion,  the  natural 
son  of  Ptolemy  Physcon,  about  97  B.C.,  and  was 
then  formed  into  a  province  with  Crete.  Strabo 
says,  that  in  Cyrene  there  were  four  classes  of 
persons,  namely — citizens,  husbandmen,  foreign- 
ers, and  Jews,  and  that  the  latter  enjoyed  their 
own  customs  and  laws.  At  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era,  the  Jews  of  Cyrene  were  so 
numerous  in  Jerusalem  that  they  had  a  synagogue 
of  their  own  (Acts  ii.  10 ;  vi.  9).  Some  of  the 
first  Christian  teachers  were  natives  of  Cyrene 
(Acts  xi.  20;  xiii.  1).  Simeon,  who  was  com- 
pelled to  assist  in  bearing  the  cross  of  the  Saviour. 
was  a  Cyrenian  (Matt,  xxvii.  32;  Mark  xv.  21 ; 
Luke  xxiii.  26). 

CYRE'NIUS,  or,  according  to  his  Latin  ap- 
pellation, P.  SuLPiTius  QuiRiNUS,  govemor  of 
Syria  (Luke  ii.  1,  2).  The  mention  of  his  name 
ill  connection  with  the  census  which  was  in  pro- 
gress at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  birth,  presents 
very  serious  difficulties,  of  which,  from  the  want 
of  adequate  data,  historical  and  critical  inquiry 
has  not  yet  attained  a  satisfactory  solution.  The 
passage  is  thus  translated  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion :  '  Now  this  taxing  was  first  made  when 
Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria.'  Instead  of 
'  taxing '  it  is  now  agreed  that  the  rendering 
should  be  '  enrolment,'  or  '  registration,'  as  it  is 
clear  from  Josephus  that  no  taxing  did  take  place 
till  many  years  after  this  period.  The  whole 
passage,  as  it  now  stands,  may  be  properly  read, 
'  This  enrolment  was  the  first  while  Cyrenius  was 
governor  of  Syria.' 

This  appears  very  plain,  and  would  suggest  no 

difficulty,  were  it  not  for  the  knowledge  which  we 

obtain  from  other  quarters,  which  is  to  the  effect, 

1.  that  there  is  no  historical  notice  of  any  enrol- 

Q 


226 


CYRENIUS 


ment  at  or  near  the  time  of  our  Lord's  birth ; 
;ind,  2.  that  the  enrolment  which  actually  did 
take  place  under  Cyrenius  was  not  until  ten  years 
after  that  event. 

With  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  enrolment, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  words '  the  whole 
world '  in  our  common  version  should  be  ren- 
dered '  the  whole  land,'  as  it  is  clear  Judeea  only 
is  meant. 

As  for  the  difficulties  ju.st  mentioned,  various 
attempts  have  been  made  to  remove  them,  but 
perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  solution  is  that 
which  is  sanctioned  by  the  names  of  Calvin,  Va- 
lesius,  Wetstein,  Hales,  and  others,  who  render 
the  passage  thus :  In  those  days  there  went  forth  a 
decree  from  Augustus,  that  the  whole  land  should 
be  enrolled ;  but  the  e.uTolment  itself  was  first 
made  when  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria.' 
The  supposition  here  is,  that  the  census  was 
commenced  under  Saturninus,  but  was  not  com- 
pleted till  two  years  after,  under  Quirinus. 

In  support  of  this  view  Hales  reminds  us  that 
a  little  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  Herod  had 
marched  an  army  into  Arabia  to  redress  certain 
wrongs  which  he  had  received ;  and  this  proceed- 
ing had  been  so  misrepresented  to  Augustus  that 
he  wrote  a  very  harsh  letter  to  Herod,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  was,  that  '■having  hitherto  treated 
him  as  a  friend,  he  would  noiv  treat  him  as  a  sub- 
ject.' And  when  Herod  sent  an  embassy  to  clear 
himself,  the  emperor  repeatedly  refused  to  hear 
them,  and  so  Herod  was  forced  to  submit  to  all 
the  injuries  offered  to  him.  Now  it  may  be  col- 
lected that  the  chief  of  these  injuries  was  the  per- 
formance of  his  threat  of  treating  him  as  a  subject, 
by  the  degradation  of  his  kingdom  to  a  Roman 
province.  For  soon  after  Josephus  incidentally 
mentions  that  '  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews  took 
an  oath  of  fidelity  to  Coesar  and  the  king  jointly, 
except  6000  of  the  Pharisees,  who,  througli  their 
hostility  to  the  regal  government,  i-efused  to  take 
it.'  The  date  of  this  transaction  is  determined  by 
its  having  been  shortly  before  the  death  of  Phe- 
roras,  and  coincides  with  the  time  of  this  decree 
of  enrolment  and  of  the  birth  of  Christ.  The 
oath  which  Josephus  mentions  would  be  adminis- 
tered at  the  same  time,  according  to  the  usage  of 
the  Roman  census,  in  which  a  return  of  persons, 
ages,  and  properties,  was  required  to  be  made 
upon  oath,  under  penalty  of  confiscation  of  goods, 
as  we  learn  from  Ulpian.  That  Cyrenius,  a 
Roman  senator  and  procurator,  was  employed  to 
make  this  enrolment,  we  learn  not  only  from  St. 
Luke,  but  by  the  joint  testimony  of  Justin  Martyr, 
Julian  the  Apostate,  and  Eusebius  ;  and  it  was 
made  while  Saturninus  was  president  of  Syria  (to 
whom  it  was  attributed  by  Tertullian)  in  the 
thirty-third  year  of  Herod's  reign,  corresponding 
to  the  date  of  Christ's  birth.  Cyrenius,  who  is 
described  by  Tacitus  as  '  an  active  soldier  and 
rigid  commissioner,'  was  well  qualified  for  an 
employment  so  odious  to  Herod  and  his  subjects  ; 
and  probably  came  to  execute  the  decree  with  an 
armed  force.  The  enrolment  of  the  inhabitants, 
'  each  in  his  own  city,'  was  in  conformity  with 
the  wary  policy  of  the  Roman  jurisprudence,  to 
prevent  insurrections  and  to  expedite  the  busi- 
ness ;  and  if  this  precaution  was  judged  prudent 
even  in  Italy,  much  more  must  it  have  appeared 
necessary  in  turbulent  provinces  like  Judaea  ; 
Galilee. 


CYRUS 

At  the  present  juncture,  however,  it  appears 
that  the  census  proceeded  no  further  than  the  first 
act,  namely,  of  the  enrolment  of  persons  in  the 
Roman  register.  For  Herod  sent  his  trusty  mi- 
nister, Nicolas  of  Damascus,  to  Rome  ;  who,  by 
his  address  and  presents,  found  means  to  mollify 
and  undeceive  the  emperor,  so  that  he  proceeded 
no  further  in  the  design  which  he  had  entertained. 
The  census  was  consequently  at  this  time  sus- 
pended ;  but  it  was  afterwards  carried  into  effect 
upon  the  deposal  and  banishment  of  Archelaus, 
and  the  settlement  of  Judsea  as  a  Roman  pro- 
vince. On  this  occasion  the  trusty  Cyrenius  was 
sent  again,  as  president  of  Syria,  with  an  armed 
force,  to  confiscate  the  property  of  Archelaus,  and 
to  complete  the  census  for  the  purposes  of  taxa- 
tion. This  taxation  was  a  poll-tax  of  two  drachmae 
a-head  upon  males  from  fourteen,  and  females 
from  twelve  to  sixty-five  years  of  age  —  equal  to 
about  fifteen  pence  of  our  money.  This  was  the 
'  tribute-money  '  mentioned  in  Matt.  xvii.  24-27. 
The  payment  of  it  became  very  obnoxious  to  the 
Jews,  and  the  imposition  of  it  occasioned  the  in- 
surrection under  Judas  of  Galilee,  which  Luke 
himself  describes  as  having  occurred  '  in  the  days 
of  the  taxing  '  (Acts  v.  37). 

By  this  statement  Hales  considers  that  '  the 
Evangelist  is  critically  reconciled  with  the  vary- 
ing accounts  of  Josephus,  Justin  Martyr,  and 
Tertullian;  and  an  historical  difficulty  satisfac- 
torily solved,  which  has  hitherto  set  criticism  at 
defiance.'  'This  is  perhaps  saying  too  much ;  but 
the  explanation  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  best 
that  has  yet  been  given. 

CY'RUS,  the  celebrated  Persian  conqueror  of 
Babylon,  who  promulgated  the  first  edict  for  the 
restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  own  land  (Ezra 
i.  1,  &c.).  We  are  informed  by  Strabo  that  his 
original  name  was  Agradates;  but  he  assumed 
that  of  Kouros,  or  Khouresh  (which  means  the 
Sun),  doubtless  on  ascending  the  throne. 

Herodotus  and  Xenophon  agree  that  Cyrus  was 
son  of  Cambyses  prince  of  Persia,  and  of  Mandane 
daughter  of  .\styages,  king  of  the  Median  empire. 
Ctesias  denies  that  there  was  any  relationship  at 
all  between  Cyrus  and  Astyages.  According  tj 
him,  when  Cyrus  had  defeated  and  captured 
Astyages,  he  adopted  him  as  a  grandfather,  and 
invested  Amytis,  or  Amyntis,  the  daughter  of 
Astyages  (whose  name  is  in  all  probability  only 
another  form  of  Mandane),  with  all  the  honours 
of  queen  dowager.  His  object  in  so  doing  was  to 
facilitate  the  submission  of  the  more  distant  parts 
of  the  empire,  which  were  not  yet  conquered; 
and  he  reaped  excellent  fruit  of  his  policy  in 
winning  the  homage  of  the  ancient,  rich,  and  re- 
mote province  of  Bactria.  Ctesias  adds,  that 
Cyrus  afterwards  married  Amytis.  It  is  easy  to 
see  that  the  latter  account  is  by  far  the  more  his- 
torical, and  that  the  story  followed  by  Herodotus 
and  Xenophon  is  that  which  the  courtiers  pub- 
lished in  aid  of  the  Persian  prince's  designs.  Yet 
there  is  no  reason  for  doubting  that,  on  the  father's 
side,  Cyrus  belonged  to  the  AchsemenidDe,  the 
royal  clan  of  the  military  tribe  of  the  Per- 
sians. 

It  was  the  frequent  practice  of  the  Persian 
monarcl>s,  and  probably  therefore  of  the  Medes 
before  them,  to  choose  the  provincial  viceroys 
from  the  royal  families  of  the  subject  nations,  and 
thereby  to  leave  to  the  vanquished  much  both  of 


CYRUS 

the  semblance  and  of  the  reality  of  freedom.  This 
will  be  sufficient  to  account  for  the  first  steps  of 
Cyrus  towards  eminence.  But  as  the  Persian 
armies  were  at  that  time  composed  of  ruder  and 
braver  men  than  the  Medes — (indeed,  to  this  day, 
the  men  of  Shiraz  are  proverbially  braver  than 
those  of  Isfahan)— the  account  of  Xeoophon  is  cre- 
dible, that  in  the  general  wars  of  the  empire,  Cyrus 
won  the  attachment  of  the  whole  army  by  his 
bravery ;  while,  as  Herodotus  tells,  the  atrocious 
cruelties  of  Astyages  may  have  revolted  the  hearts 
of  the  Median  nobility. 

Xenophon's  romance  omits  the  fact  that  the 
transference  of  the  empire  was  effected  by  a 
oivil  war;  nevertheless,  the  same  writer  in  his 
Anabasis  confesses  it.  Herodotus,  Ctesias,  Iso- 
crates,  Strabo,  and,  in  fact,  all  who  allude  to  the 
matter  at  all,  agree  that  it  was  so.  In  Xeuophon 
we  find  the  Upper  Tigris  to  have  been  the  seat  of 
one  campaign,  where  the  cities  of  Larissa  and 
Mespila  were  besieged  and  taken  by  Cyrus. 
From  Strabo  we  learn  that  the  decisive  battle  was 
fought  on  the  spot  where  Cyrus  afterwards  built 
Pasargadse,  in  Persis,  for  his  native  capital.  Yet 
Ctesias  represents  Astyages  as  finally  captured  in 
the  palace  of  Ecbataua.  Cyrus  (says  Herodotus) 
did  Astyages  no  harm,  but  kept  him  by  his  side 
to  the  end  of  his  life.  This  is  like  the  generosity 
of  the  Persian  kings  to  vanquished  foreigners,  but 
very  unlike  the  conduct  of  fortunate  usurpers, 
east  or  west,  towards  a  fallen  superior.  The  tale 
in  Ctesias  is  more  like  the  current  imperial  craft. 
There  we  read  that  Cyrus  at  first  made  Astyages 
ruler  of  the  Barcanians,  and  afterwards  sent  for 
him  by  the  eunuch  Petisacas  to  visit  his  daughter 
and  son-in-law,  who  were  longing  to  see  him. 
The  eunuch,  however,  put  him  to  death  ou  the 
road  ;  and  Cyrus,  indignant  at  the  deed,  gave  up 
the  murderer  to  the  cruel  vengeance  of  the  queen. 
Astyages  had  certainly  lived  long  enough  for  the 
policy  of  Cyrus ;  who,  by  the  Koman  Cassius's 
test  of '  Who  gained  by  it  ? '  cannot  be  accounted 
innocent. 

The  Medes  were  by  no  means  made  subject  to 
the  Persians  at  first.  It  is  highly  probable  that, 
as  Herodotus  and  Xenophon  represent,  many  of 
the  noblest  Medes  sided  with  Cyrus,  and  during 
his  reign  the  most  trusted  generals  of  the  armies 
were  Medes.  Yet  even  this  hardly  explains  the 
phenomenon  of  a  Darius  the  Mede,  who,  in  the 
book  of  Daniel,  for  two  years  holds  the  govern- 
ment in  Babylon,  after  the  capture  of  the  city  by 
the  Medes  and  Persians.  Indeed,  the  language 
used  concerning  the  kingdom  of  Darius  might  be 
explained  as  Oriental  hyperbole,  and  Darius  be 
supposed  a  mere  satrap  of  Babylon,  only  that 
Cyras  is  clearly  put  forward  as  a  successor  to 
Darius  the  Mede.  Many  have  been  the  attempts 
to'  reconcile  this  with  the  current  Grecian  ac- 
counts ;  but  there  is  one  only  that  has  the  least 
plausibility,  viz.,  that  which,  with  Xenophon, 
teaches  that  Astyages  had  a  son  still  living 
(whom  Xenophon  calls  Cyaxares).  and  that  this 
son  is  no  other  than  Darius  the  Mede ;  to  whom 
Cyrus,  by  a  sort  of  nephew's  piety,  conceded  a 
nominal  supremacy  at  Babylon.  Objections  to 
this  likewise  are  evident,  but  they  must  be  dis- 
cussed under  Darius  the  Mede,  or  the  book  of 
Daniel. 

In  the  reign  of  the  son  of  Cyrus  the  depression 
of  the  Medes  probably  commenced.    At  his  death 


CYRUS 


227 


the  Magian  conspiracy  took  place ,  after  the  de- 
feat of  which  the  Medes  doubtless  sunk  lower 
still.  At  a  later  time  they  made  a  general  insur- 
rection against  the  Persian  power,  and  its  sup- 
pression seems  to  have  brought  them  to  a  level 
with  Hyrcanians,  Bactrians,  and  other  vassal  na- 
tions, which  spoke  the  tongue  of  Persia. 

The  descriptions  given  us  in  Ctesias,  and  in 
Plutarch's  Artaxerxes,  concerning  the  Persian 
mode  of  fighting,  are  quite  Homeric  in  their  cha- 
racter. No  skill  seems  to  be  needed  by  the  gene- 
ral ;  no  tactics  are  thought  of :  he  does  his  duty 
best  by  behaving  as  the  bravest  of  common  sol- 
diers, and  by  acting  the  part  of  champion,  like  a 
knight  in  the  days  of  chivalry.  We  cannot  sup- 
pose that  there  was  any  greater  advance  of  the 
military  art  in  the  days  of  Cyrus.  It  is  agreed 
by  all  that  he  subdued  the  Lydians,  the  GrcL-ks  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  the  Babylonians :  we  may  doubt- 
less add  Susiana,  which  must  have  been  incorpo- 
rated with  his  empire  before  he  commenced  his 
war  with  Babylon;  where  also  he  fixed  his  mili- 
tary capital  (^^Susa,  or  Shushan),  as  more  central 
for  the  necessities  of  his  administration  than 
Pasargadse.  Yet  the  latter  city  continued  to  be 
the  more  sacred  and  beloved  home  of  the  Persian 
court,  the  place  of  coronation  and  of  sepulture. 
All  Syria  and  Phoenicia  appear  to  have  come  over 
to  Cyrus  peaceably. 

In  regard  to  the  Persian  wars,  the  few  facts 
from  Ctesias,  which  the  epitomator  has  extracted 
as  differing  from  Herodotus,  carry  with  them 
high  probability.  He  states  that,  after  receiving 
the  submission  of  the  Bactrians,  Cyrus  made  war 
on  the  Saciaus,  a  Scythian  (i.  e.  a  Sclavonic) 
people,  who  seem  to  have  dwelt,  or  perhaps 
rather  roved,  along  the  Oxus,  from  Bokhara  to 
Khiva  ;  and,  that,  after  alternate  successes  in 
battle,  he  attached  the  whole  nation  to  himself  in 
faithful  allegiance.  Their  king  is  called  Amorges 
by  Ctesias.  They  are  undoubtedly  the  same 
people  that  Herodotus  calls  Amyrgian  Saoians ; 
and  it  is  highly  probable  that  they  gave  to  the 
district  of  Margiana  its  name.  Their  women 
fought  in  ranks,  as  systematically  as  the  men. 
Strabo  has  cursorily  told  us  of  a  tradition  that 
Cyrus  escaped  with  but  seven  men  through  the 
deserts  of  Getrosia,  fleeing  from  the  '  Indians'  — 
which  might  denote  an  unsuccessful  war  against 
Candahar,  &c.,  a  country  which  certainly  was 
not  reduced  to  the  Persian  empire  until  the  reign 
of  Darius  Hystaspis. 

The  closing  scene  of  the  career  of  Cyrus  was 
in  battle  with  a  people  living  on  one  or  both 
banks  of  the  river  laxartes,  now  the  Syr-deria. 
Two  battles  were  fought  on  successive  days,  in 
the  former  of  which  Cyrus  was  mortally  wounded, 
but  was  carried  off  by  his  people.  In  the  next, 
the  Sacian  cavalry  and  the  faithful  Amorges  came 
to  support  him,  and  the  enemy  sustained  a  total 
and  bloody  defeat.  Cyrus  died  the  third  day 
after  his  wound :  his  body  was  conveyed  to 
Pasargadse,  and  buried  in  the  celebrated  monu- 
ment, which  was  broken  open  by  the  Macedonians 
two  centuries  afterwards.  The  inscription,  re- 
ported by  Aristobulus,  an  eye-witness,  is  this : — 
'  O  maa,  I  am  Cyrus,  who  acquired  the  empire 
for  the  Persians,  and  was  king  of  Asia.  Grudge 
me  not  then  this  monument.' 

The  kings  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  had  carried 
the  Jews  into  captivity,  both  to  remove  a  disaf- 
Q  2 


1   828  DAG  ON 

I  fected  nation  from  the  frontier,  and  to  people 
I  their  new  cities.  By  ((wdoing  this  work,  Cyrus 
I  attached  the  Jews  to  himself  as  a  garrison  at  an 
,  important  post.  But  we  may  believe  that  a 
nobler  motive  conspired  with  this.  The  Persian 
religion  was  primitively  monotheistic,  and  strik- 
I  ingly  free  from  idolatry ;  so  little  Pagan  in  its 
!  spirit,  that,  whatever  of  the  mystical  and  obscure 
I  it  may  contain,  not  a  single  impure,  cruel,  or 
[  otherwise  immoral  practice  was  united  to  any  of 
I  its  ceremonies.  It  is  credible,  therefore,  that  a 
sincere  admiration  of  the  Jewish  faith  actuated 
j  the  noble  Persian  when  he  exclaimed,  in  the 
j  words  of  the  book  of  Ezra,  '  Go  ye  up,  and  build 
I  in  Jerusalem  the  house  of  Jehovah,  God  of  Israel ; 
i  He  is  God !' — and  forced  the  Babylonian  temples 
j  to  disgorge  their  ill-gotten  spoil.  It  is  the  more 
remarkable,  since  the  Persians  disapproved  the 
!  confinement  of  temples.  Nevertheless,  impedi- 
!  ments  to  the  fortification  of  J  erusalem  afterwards 
'  arose,  even  during  the  reign  of  Cyrus  (Ezi-a 
i    iv.  5). 

i  Perhaps  no  great  conqueror  ever  left  behind 
him.  a  fairer  fame  than  Cyrus  the  Great.  His 
mighty  achievements  have  been  borne  down  to  us 
on  the  voice  of  the  nation  which  he  elevated ;  his 
evil  deeds  had  no  historian  to  record  them.  What 
i  is  more,  it  was  his  singular  honour  and  privilege 
to  be  the  first  Gentile  friend  to  the  people  of 
Jehovah  in  the  time  of  their  sorest  trouble,  and 
to  restore  them  to  the  land  whence  light  was  to 
break  forth  for  the  illumination  of  all  nations. 
To  this  high  duty  he  is  called  by  the  prophet  (Isa. 
xliv.  28;  xlv.  1),  and  for  performing  it  he  seems 
to  be  entitled  '  The  righteous  man '  (xli.  2 ; 
xlv.  13>. 


D. 


DAB'ERATH,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Issachar, 
assigned  to  the  Levites  (Josh.  xix.  12 ;  xxi.  28 ; 
1  Chron.  vi.  72).  It  is  recognised  in  the  present 
DebCirieh,  a  small  village  lying  on  the  side  of  a 
ledge  of  rocks,  just  at  the  base  of  Taboon  on  the 
north-west. 

DA'GON  is  the  name  of  a  national  god  of  the 
Philistines  at  Gaza  and  Ashdod  (Judg.  xvi.  21, 
li3  ;  1  Sam.  V.  1  sq. ;  1  Chron.  x.  10).  As  to  the 
meaning  of  the  name,  it  is  probably  derived  from 
a  word  signifying  Jisfi,  and  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  it  had  the  body  of  a  fish  with  the 
head  and  hands  of  a  man.  That  such  was  the 
figure  of  the  idol  is  asserted  by  Kimchi,  and  is 
admitted  by  most  modern  scholars.  It  is  also 
supported  by  the  analogies  of  other  fish  deities 
among  the  Syro-Arabians.  Besides  the  Ater- 
GATis  of  the  Syrians,  the  Babylonians  h.ad  a  tra- 
dition, according  to  Berosus,  that  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  their  history  an  extraordinary  being, 
called  Cannes,  having  the  entire  body  of  a  fish, 
but  the  head,  hands,  feet,  and  voice  of  a  man, 
emerged  from  the  Erythra;an  sea,  appeared  in 
Babylonia,  and  taught  the  rude  inhabitants  the 
use  of  letters,  arts,  religion,  law,  and  agriculture ; 
that,  after  long  intervals  between,  other  similar 
beings  appeared  and  communicated  the  same  pre- 
cious lore  in  detail,  and  that  the  last  of  these  was 


DAMASCUS 

called  Odakon.  Selden  is  persuaded  that  this 
Odakon  is  the  Philistine  god  Dagon.  The  temple 
of  Dagon  at  Ashdod  was  destroyed  by  Jonathan 
the  brother  of  Judas  the  Maccabee,  about  the 
year  b.c.  148  (1  Mac.  x.  84). 

DALMANU'THA,  a  village  near  Magdala 
(Mark  viii.  10 ;  comp.  Matt.  xv.  39) ;  probably 
on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  of  Genuesareth, 
a  little  to  the  north  of  Tiberias. 

DALMA'TIA,  a  province  of  Europe  on  the 
east  of  the  Adriatic  Sea,  forming  part  of  lUyri- 
cum,  and  contiguous  to  Macedonia.  Titus  was 
sent  into  this  region  by  Paul  to  spread  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Gospel. 

DAM'ARIS,  a  woman  of  Athens,  who  was  led 
to  embrace  Christianity  by  the  preaching  of  St. 
Paul  (Acts  xvii.  34).  Some  suppose  she  was  the 
wife  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  who  is  men- 
tioned before  her ;  but  the  construction  in  the 
Greek  will  not  sanction  this  conclusion. 

DAMAS'CUS,  called  by  the  natives  Es-Sham, 
a  city  of  Syria,  capital  of  an  important  pashalic 
of  the  same  name,  and  indeed  the  chief  or  capital 
city  of  Syria,  lies  in  a  plain  at  the  eastern  foot  of 
Anti'Libanus.  The  plain  is  about  400  stadia 
from  the  Mediterranean,  and  from  six  to  eight 
days'  journey  from  Jerusalem. 

Damascus — by  some  held  to  be  the  most  an- 
cient city  in  the  world — is  called  by  the  Orientals 
'  a  pearl  surrounded  by  emeralds.'  Nothing  can 
be  more  beautiful  than  its  position,  whether  ap- 
proached from  the  side  of  Mount  Lebanon,  from 
the  Desert  to  the  east,  or  by  the  high-road  from 
the  north  from  Aleppo  and  Hamah.  For  many 
miles  the  city  is  girdled  by  fertile  fields,  or  gar- 
dens, as  they  are  called,  which,  being  watered  by 
rivers  and  sparkling  streams,  give  to  the  vege- 
tation, consisting  principally  of  olive-trees,  a 
remarkable  freshness  and  beauty.  The  plain  of 
Damascus  owes  its  fertility  and  loveliness  to  the 
river  Barrada,  which  is  supposed  to  be  either  the 
Abana  or  Pharpar  of  2  Kings  v.  [AbanaI. 

The  view  of  Damascus,  when  the  traveller 
emerges  from  Anti-Libanus,  is  of  the  most  en- 
chanting kind,  and  the  surrounding  country  pre- 
sents the  appearance  of  a  vast  superficies  of  rich 
j  luxuriant  foliage.  But  the  interior  of  the  city 
does  not  correspond  with  the  exquisite  beauty  of 
its  environs.  In  the  Armenian  quarter  the  houses 
!  are  built  with  mud,  and  pierced  towards  the 
street  by  a  very  few  small  grated  windows  witli 
red  painted  shutters.  They  are  low,  and  the  flat 
I  arched  doors  resemble  those  of  stables.  A  filthy 
'  dunghill  and  a  pool  of  stinking  water  are  almost 
invariably  before  the  doors.  In  some  of  these 
dwellings,  belonging  to  the  principal  Armenian 
merchants,  there  is  great  internal  richness  and 
elegance.  There  is  a  fine  wide  street,  formed 
by  the  palaces  of  the  agas  of  Damascus,  who  are 
the  nobility  of  the  land.  The  fronts  of  these  pa- 
laces, however,  towards  the  street,  are  like  long 
prison  or  hospital  walls,  mere  grey  mud  walls, 
with  few  or  no  windows,  whilst  at  intervals  is  a 
great  gate  opening  on  a  court.  But  the  interior 
is  magnificent ;  the  saloons  being  ornamented  in 
the  costliest  style  of  Eastern  art.  The  bazaars  are 
very  striking.  The  great  bazaar  is  about  half  a 
league  long.  They  are  long  streets  covered  in 
with  high  wood-work,  and  lined  with  shops,  stalls, 
magazines,  and  cafes.  The  shops,  as  in  other 
j  Eastern  towns,  nre  narrow,  and  go  only  a  short 


;  DAMASCUS 

I  way  hack.  The  magazines  are  stored  with  mer- 
i  chandise  of  all  sorts,  and  particularly  with  Indian 
mauafactures,  which  are  brought  in  great  profu- 
'  siou  by  the  caravans  from  Bagdad.  In  the  midst 
:  of  the  bazaars  stands  the  finest  khan  in  the  East, 
!  that  of  Hassan  Pasha,  built  about  fifty  years 
i  since.  It  is  an  immense  cupola,  whose  bold 
j  springing  arch  recalls  that  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome ; 
i  it  is  in  like  manner  borne  on  gi-anite  pillars. 
;  Not  far  distant  is  the  principal  mosque,  formerly 
I  a  church  consecrated  to  St.  John,  whose  skull  and 
!  sepulchre,  found  in  this  holy  place,  give  it  such  a 
j  sanctity  that  it  is  death  for  even  a  Mohammedan 
I  to  enter  the  room  where  the  relics  are  kept. 
j  Situated  at  the  edge  of  the  desert,  at  the  mouth 
I  of  the  plains  of  Ccele-Syria  and  the  valleys  of 
I  Galilee,  of  Idumsea,  and  of  the  coasts  of  the  Sea 
'  of  Syria,  Damascus  was  needed  as  a  resting-place 
j  for  the  caravans  to  India.  It  is  essentially  a  com- 
'  mercial  town.     Two  hundred  merchants  are  per- 


DAMASCUS  229 

manently  settled  in  it.  Foreign  trade  is  carried 
on  by  the  Great  Mecca  caravan,  the  Bagdad  cara- 
van, the  Aleppo,  and  by  several  small  ones  to 
Beirout  (its  sea-port),  Tripoli,  Acre,  &c.  La- 
martine  makes  its  population  to  be  some  .300,000, 
of  whom  30,000  are  Christians.  Another  esti- 
mate gives  only  from  120,000  to  1.50,000  in- 
habitants, comprising  12,000  Christians,  and  as 
many  Jews ;  and  our  own  information  leads  us  to 
suspect  that  €ven  this  estimate  is  too  high. 

Political  changes  and  social  influences  have 
lessened  and  mitigated  the  proverbial  bigotry  of 
the  Damascenes.  The  lower  classes,  indeed,  are 
still  fanatical,  but  a  better  feeling  on  religion 
prevails  in  the  higher. 

Mr.  Addison  was  conducted  to  the  spot  where, 
according  to  tradition  among  the  Christians,  Saul 
saw  the  light  from  heaven.  Winding  round  the 
walls  on  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  he  and  his  com- 
panions came  to  a  point  where  they  were  broken 


at  the  top,  at  which  Paul  is  said  to  have  been  let 
down  in  a  basket,  to  escape  the  indignation  of  the 
Jews,  when  (Acts  ix.)  '  the  disciples  took  him  by 
night,  and  let  him  down  by  the  wall  in  a  basket.' 
From  hence,  passing  on  through  some  pretty 
lanes,  they  came  to  an  open  green  spot,  surrounded 
by  trees,  over  the  tops  of  which  were  seen  the 
distant  summits  of  Mount  Hermon.  At  this  place 
they  were '  informed  Saul  had  arrived  when  (Acts 
ix.  3)  as  he  journeyed  he  came  near  Damascus, 
and  suddenly  there  shined  round  about  him  a 
great  light  from  heaven.'  These  localities  are 
pointed  out  with  the  greatest  confidence  by  the 
Damascene  Christians  of  all  sects,  and  are  held 
in  great  veneration  ;  nor  is  it  difficult  to  suppose 
that  the  true  spots  have  been  handed  down  by 
tradition  among  the  followers  of  the  cross.  '  The 
street  which  is  called  Straight '  (Acts  ix.  1 1 )  is  still 
found  in  Damascus,  or  at  any  rate  a  street  bear- 
ing that  name.     Addison  says  it  is  '  a  mile  in 


length,'  and  *  so  called  because  it  leads  direct 
from  the  gate  to  the  castle  or  palace  of  the  Pasha.' 
The  house  of  Judas,  also,  to  which  Ananias  went, 
is  still  pointed  out,  as  well  as  that  of  Ananias 
himself.  How  much  credulity  may  have  had  to 
do  in  fixing  on  and  perpetuating  the  recollection 
of  these  localities,  it  is  probably  easier  to  suspect 
than  to  ascertain. 

Of  the  origin  of  Damascus  nothing  certain  is 
known.  That  the  city  existed  as  early  as  the 
days  of  Abraham  is  clear  from  Gen.  xiv.  15; 
XV.  2 ;  but  the  way  in  which  it  is  spoken  of  in 
these  passages  shows  that  even  at  the  time  to 
which  they  refer  it  was  not  a  new  nor  an  un- 
known place ;  for  Abraham's  steward  is  charac- 
terized as  being  of  Damascus,  and  the  locality  of 
another  town  (Hobah)  is  fixed  by  stating  that  it 
lay  'on  the  left  hand  of  Damascus.'  How  long 
it  may  have  retained  its  independence  cannot  be 
determined ;  but  it  appears  (2  Sam.  viii.  5,  6  ; 


230 


DAMASCUS 


1  Chron.  xix.  4)  that  its  monarch  having  unad- 
visedly attacked  the  victorious  David,  the  Hebrew 
sovereign  defeated  the  Syrians,  making  a  great 
slaughter  of  them,  and,  in  his  turn,  subdued  Da- 
mascus, and  exacted  tribute  from  its  inhabitants. 
This  subjection  was  not  of  long  duration,  for 
under  his  successor  (1  Kings  xi.  24)  one  Eezon, 
a  servant  of  Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  made 
himself  master  of  Damascus,  and,  ruling  over 
Syria,  '  was  an  adversary  to  Israel  all  the  days 
of  Solomon.'  After  Rezon,  Hezion  occupied  the 
throne ;  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Tabrimon 
(1  Kings  XV.  18,  19),  who  was  in  alliance  with 
Asa,  king  of  Judah.  Preserving  the  same  direct 
line,  the  crown  then  fell  to  Benhadad,  who, 
having  been  in  a  league  with  Baasha,  king  of 
Israel,  was  bribed  by  Asa  to  desert  his  ally,  and 
join  himself  in  attacking  Baasha,  on  whom  the 
united  forces  inflicted  great  injury  (1  Kings  xv. 
19,  20).  In  the  time  of  Benhadad,  son  of  the 
preceding  monarch,  Damascus  was  the  head  of  a 
very  powerful  empire,  since  it  appears  (1  Kings 
XX.  1)  that 'thirty  and  two  kings'  (doubtless 
petty  princes  or  pashas,  governors  of  provinces) 
accompanied  him  in  a  campaign  which  he  un- 
dertook against  Samaria.  The  insolent  demands 
of  the  Syrian  king  having  roused  the  spirit  of 
Ahab,  who  was  at  first  disposed  to  succumb  to 
the  great  power  which  he'  saw  arrayed  against 
him,  a  battle  took  place,  in  which  the  Syrians 
were  defeated,  and  their  king  effected  his  retreat 
with  difficulty.  The  subsequent  operations  of  the 
Damascenes,  under  their  king,  have  already  been 
stated  [Benhadad].  Hazael,  the  successor  of 
Benhadad,  unwilling  to  give  up  hope  of  being 
master  of  IJamoth-Gilead,  was  attacked  by  the 
united  forces  of  Judah  and  Israel,  whom  he  van- 
quished, wounding  Joram  (2  Kings  viii.  28)  ;  and, 
at  a  later  period,  under  Jehu  (2  Kings  x,  .32),  laid 
waste  a  large  portion  of  the  Israelitish  kingdom, 
and  '  threshed  Gilead  with  threshing  instruments 
of  iron '  (Amos  i.  3).  Determined  on  revenge 
(2  Kings  xii.  17),  Hazael  marched  to  Jerusalem, 
and  was  bought  off  by  king  Jehoash  by  a  most 
costly  sacrifice.  He,  however,  took  the  kingdom 
of  Israel  (2  Kings  xiii.  3),  and,  though  he  treated 
the  people  oppressively,  he  was  able  to  hand  them 
over  in  subjection  to  his  son,  Benhadad  III.,  who 
was  thrice  beaten  (2  Kings  xiii.  24)  by  the  Israel- 
itish king  Jehoash,  and  deprived  of  all  his  con- 
quests. Jeroboam  II.  (2  Kings  xiv.  28)  pursued 
these  advantages,  and  captured  Damascus  itself. 
Subsequently  a  junction  took  place  between  Israel 
and  Damascus,  when  (2  Kings  xv.  37)  Rezin,  king 
of  the  latter,  and  Pekah,  king  of  the  former,  en- 
tered into  a  confederacy,  and  undertook  an  expe- 
dition against  Ahaz,  king  of  Judah  (Isa.  vii.  1). 
They  succeeded  in  '  recovering  Elath  to  Syria,' 
but  could  not  prevail  against  Jerusalem  (2  Kings 
xvi.  6).  Ahaz,  however,  urged  by  necessity,  ap- 
plied for  aid  to  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria, 
who,  being  bribed  by  a  munificent  present,  fell 
on  Damascus,  took  it,  carried  the  people  of  it 
captive  to  Kir  (on  the  river  Kur),  slew  Rezin, 
and  united  the  Damascene  territory  with  his  own 
kingdom  (2  Kings  xvi.  9  ;  Isa.  viii.  4  ;  x.  9 ; 
xvii.  I).  Damascus  after  this  fell  under  the 
power  of  the  Babylonians  and  Persians,  from 
■whom  it  was  taken  by  Alexander  the  Great,  as 
one  consequence  of  his  victory  at  Issus.  Then  it 
made  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Seleucidse, 


DAN 

from  whom  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Ro- 
mans. In  the  time  of  the  Apostle  Paul  it  be- 
longed to  the  dependent  kingdom  of  the  Arabian 
prince  Aretas.  At  a  Inter  period  it  was  reckoned 
among  the  cities  of  Decapolis ;  then  it  was  added 
to  the  province  of  Phoenice;  and  at  last  made 
a  part  of  the  province  of  Phoenicia  Libanesia. 
From  the  time  of  Hadrian  it  bore  the  honorary 
title  of  Metropolis,  without  enjoying  the  rights  of 
a  metropolis.  Under  the  Greek  emperors  of  Con- 
stantinople Damascus  was  the  most  celebrated 
city  of  the  East,  remarkable  for  its  wealth,  luxury, 
magnificence,  and  its  numerous  Christian  popu- 
lation. A  great  era  in  its  history  is  its  conquest 
by  the  Saracens.  The  war  was  begun  about  a.d. 
63.3,  by  the  celebrated  Abubekr,  the  successor  of 
Mohammed ;  and  ended  in  the  capture  of  the  city, 
and  the  substitution  of  Islamism  for  Christianity. 
It  then  became  the  capital  of  the  whole  Mussul- 
man world,  till  the  Caliphate  was  removed  from  it 
to  Bagdad.  The  city  continued  under  the  sway  of 
the  caliphs  of  Bagdad,  till  it  came  into  the  hands 
of  the  Turks,  and  was  held  and  rendered  famous 
by  Noureddin  and  Saladin.  In  1301  Timour  the 
Tartar  captured  the  city  and  barbarously  treated 
its  inhabitants.  From  Josephus  it  appears  that 
its  population  contained  great  numbers  of  Jews. 

Damascus  is  famous  in  the  first  age  of  Chris- 
tianity for  the  conversion  and  first  preaching  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  (Acts  ix.  3,  20;  Gal.  i.  12), 
The  consequences  might  have  been  fatal  to  the 
Apostle,  for  his  life  was  endangered  in  this  fana- 
tical city.  '  In  Damascus  the  governor  under 
Aretas,  the  king,  kept  the  city  of  the  Damascenes 
with  a  garrison,  desirous  to  apprehend  me  ;  and 
through  a  window  in  a  basket  was  I  let  down 
by  the  wall,  and  escaped  his  hands'  (2  Cor.  xi. 
32-3). 

DAN,  son  of  Jacob  by  the  concubine  Bilhah 
(Gen.  XXX.  3 ;  xxxv.  25),  and  founder  of  one  of 
the  tribes  of  Israel.  Dan  had  but  one  son,  called 
Hushim  (Gen.  xlvi.  23)  :  notwithstanding  which, 
when  the  Israelites  came  out  of  Egypt,  this  tribe 
contained  62,700  adult  males  (Num.  i.  39),  which 
made  it  the  second  of  the  tribes  in  number,  Ju- 
dah only  being  above  it.  Its  numbers  were  less 
afl'ected  in  the  desert  than  those  of  many  other 
tribes  ;  for  at  the  census,  before  entering  Canaan, 
it  mustered  04,400  (Num.  xxvi.  43),  being  an  in- 
crease of  1 700,  which  gave  it  still  the  second  rank 
in  population.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  history 
of  the  tribe  corresponding  to  this  eminence  in 
population :  the  most  remarkable  circumstance 
in  its  history,  however,  is  connected  with  this 
fact.  The  original  settlement  assigned  to  the 
tribe  in  south-western  Palestine  being  too  small 
for  its  large  population,  a  body  of  them  went  forth 
to  seek  a  settlement  in  the  remote  north,  and 
seized  and  remained  in  permanent  occupation  of 
the  town  and  district  of  Laish,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  dwelt  in  greater  security  and  were  more 
easily  conquered  than  the  neighbours  of  the  tribe 
in  its  own  proper  territory  (Josh.  xix.  4  7  ;  Judg. 
i.  34  ;  xviii.).  The  district  regularly  allotted  to 
the  tribe,  although  contracted,  was  very  fertile. 
It  had  the  country  of  the  Philistines  on  the  west, 
part  of  Judah  with  Benjamin  on  the  east,  Ephraim 
on  the  north,  and  Simeon  on  the  south.  The  ter- 
ritory proved  inadequate  chiefly  from  the  inability 
of  the  Danites  to  expel  the  Philistines  and  Amor- 
ites,  who  occupied  parts  of  the  land  assigned  to 


DANCE 

them.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  territory  as 
allotted,  but  not  possessed,  extended  to  the  Medi- 
terranean through  the  country  of  the  Philistines. 
Samson  was  of  this  tribe,  and  its  proximity  to  the 
Philistines  explains  many  circumstances  in  the 
history  of  that  hero.  It  appears  from  tliat  history 
that  there  was  an  under-current  of  private  and 
social  intercourse  between  the  Philistines  and  the 
Danites,  notwithstanding  the  public  enmity  be- 
tween Israel  ard  the  former  (Judg.  xiii. — xvi.). 
DAN,  the  town,  anciently  called  Laish,  or 
Leshem,  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article  as 
having  been  conquered  by  a  warlike  colony  of 
Danites,  who  named  it  after  their  tribe.  The 
terms  in  which  the  condition  of  Laish  is  de- 
scribed, previously  to  the  conquest,  indicate  that 
the  place  belonged  to  the  Sidonians,  and  that  the 
inhabitants  lived  quiet  and  secure,  'after  the 
manner  of  the  Sidonians,'  enjoying  abundance  of 
all  things  (Judg.  xviii,  7).  They  seem  to  have 
derived  their  security  from  the  absence  of  any- 
adverse  powers  in  their  neighbourhood,  and  from 
confidence  in  the  protection  of  Sidon,  which  was, 
however,  too  fa-r  off  to  render  aid  in  the  case  of 
such  a  sudden  assault  as  that  by  which  they  were 
overpowered.  This  distance  of  Sidon  was  Care- 
fully noted  by  the  Danite  spies  as  a  circumstance 
favourable  to  the  enterprise  ;  and  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  Sidon  ever  made  any  effort  to  dispossess 
the  intruders.  Dan  afterwards  became  a  chief 
seat  of  Jeroboam's  idolatry,  and  one  of  the  golden 
calves  was  set  up  there  (1  Kings  xii.  28,  29).  It 
was  conquered,  along  with  other  towns,  by  the 
Syrians  (1  Kings  xv.  20)  ;  and  the  name  is  fami- 
liar from  the  recurrence  of  the  proverbial  expres- 
sion, '  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,'  to  denote  the  ex- 
tent of  the  Promised  Land  (Judg.  xx.  1  ;  1  Sam. 
iii.  20  ;  xvii.  11).  [Bkersheba.J  In  the  days  of 
Eusebius,  Dan  was  still  a  small  village,  which  is 
placed  by  him  four  miles  from  Paneas,  towards 
Tyre.  As  this  distance  corresponds  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  fountain  at  Tel  el-Kadi,  which  forms 
one  of  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  and  is  doubtless 
that  which  is  called  Dan  by  Joscphus  {Antiq.  i. 
10.  2),  the  situation  of  the  city  of  Dan  could  not 
therefore  have  been  that  of  Paneas  itself,  with 
M-hich  it  has  been  in  later  times  confounded. 
[CiESAREA  Philippi.]  There  are  no  longer  any 
ruins  near  the  spring  at  Tel  elKadi,  bat  at  about 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  north,  Burckhardt  noticed 
ruins  of  ancient  habitations  ;  and  the  hill  which 
overhangs  the  fountains  appears  to  have  been 
built  upon,  though  nothing  is  now  visible. 

DANCE.  The  character  of  the  ancient  dance 
was  very  different  from  that  of  ours,  as  appears 
from  the  conduct  of  Miriam,  who  'took  a  timbrel 
in  her  hand,  and  all  the  women  went  out  after 
her  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.'  Precisely 
similar  is  the  Oriental  dance  of  the  present  day, 
which,  accompanied  of  course  with  music,  is  led 
by  the  principal  person  of  the  company,  the  rest 
imitating  the  steps.  The  evolutions,  as  well  as 
the  songs,  are  extemporaneous — not  confined  to  a 
fixed  rule,  but  varied  at  the  pleasure  of  the  lead- 
ing dancer  ;  and  yet  they  are  generally  executed 
with  so  much  gi-ace,  and  the  time  so  well  kept 
with  the  simple  notes  of  the  music,  that  the  group 
of  attendants  show  wonderful  address  and  pro- 
priety in  following  the  variations  of  the  leader's 
feet. 

At  a  very  early  period  dancing  was  enlisted 


DANCE 


281 


into  the  service  of  religion  among  the  heathen  ; 
the  dance,  enlivened  by  vocal  and  instrumental 
music,  was  a  usual  accompaniment  in  all  the  pro- 
cessions and  festivals  of  the  gods  ;  and,  indeed,  so 
indispensable  was  this  species  of  violent  merri- 
ment, that  no  ceremonial  was  considered  duly  ac- 
complished— no  triumph  rightly  celebrated,  with- 
out the  aid  of  dancing.  The  Hebrews,  in  common 
with  other  nations,  had  their  sacred  dances,  which 
were  performed  on  their  solemn  anniversaries,  and 
other  occasions  of  commemorating  some  special 
token  of  the  divine  goodness  and  favour,  as  means 
of  drawing  forth,  in  the  liveliest  manner,  their 
expressions  of  joy  and  thanksgiving.  The  per- 
formers were  usually  a  band  of  females,  who,  in 
cases  of  public  rejoicing,  volunteered  their  ser- 
vices (Exod.  XV.  20 ;  Sam.  xviii.  G),  and  who,  in 
the  case  of  religious  observances,  composed  the 
regular  chorus  of  the  temple  (Ps.  cxlix.  3  ;  cl.  4), 
although  there  are  not  wanting  instances  of  men 
also  joining  in  the  dance  on  these  seasons  of  re- 
ligious festivity.  Thus  David  deemed  it  no  way 
derogatory  to  his  royal  dignity  to  dance  on  the 
auspicious  occasion  of  the  ark  being  brought  up 
to  Jerusalem.  His  conduct  was  imitated  by  the 
later  Jews,  and  the  dance  incorporated  among 
their  favourite  usages  as  an  appropriate  close  of 
the  joyous  occasion  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 

From  being  exclusively,  or  at  least  principally, 
reserved  for  occasions  of  religious  worship  and 
festivity,  dancing  came  gradually  to  be  practised 
in  common  life  on  any  remarkable  seasons  of 
mirth  and  rejoicing  (Jer.  xxxi.  4  ;  Ps.  xxx.  11). 
In  early  times,  indeed,  those  who  perverted  the 
exercise  from  a  sacred  use  to  purposes  of  amuse- 
ment were  considered  profane  and  infamous ; 
and  hence  Job  introduces  it  as  a  distinguishing 
feature  in  the  character  of  the  ungodly  rich,  that 
they  encouraged  a  taste  for  dancing  m  their  fa- 
milies (Job  xxi.  11).  During  the  classic  ages  of 
Greece  and  Rome  society  underwent  a  complete 
revolution  of  sentiment  on  this  subject ;  insomuch 
that  not  only  at  Eome,  but  through  all  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  empire,  it  was  a  favourite  pastime, 
resorted  to  not  only  to  enliven  feasts,  but  in  the 
celebration  of  domestic  joy  (Luke  xv.  25 ;  Matt, 
xiv.  6).  Notwithstanding,  however,  the  strong 
partiality  cherished  for  this  inspiriting  amuse- 
ment, it  was  considered  beneath  the  dignity  of 
persons  of  rank  and  character  to  practise  it.  The 
well-known  words  of  Cicero,  that  '  no  one  dances 
unless  he  is  either  drunk  or  mad,'  express  the 
prevailing  sense  as  to  the  impropriety  of  re- 
spectable individuals  taking  part  in  it ;  and  hence 
the  gay  circles  of  Rome  and  its  provinces  derived 
all  their  entertainment,  as  is  done  in  the  East  to 
this  day,  from  the  exhibitions  of  professional 
dancers. 

Amateur  dancing  in  high  life  was  by  no  means 
uncommon  in  the  voluptuous  times  of  the  later 
emperors.  But  in  the  age  of  Herod  it  was  ex- 
ceedingly rare  and  almost  unheard  of;  and  there- 
fore the  condescension  of  Salome,  who  volun- 
teered, in  honour  of  the  anniversary  of  that 
monarch's  birthday,  to  exhibit  her  handsome 
person  as  she  led  the  mazy  dance  in  the  saloons 
of  Machserus— for  though  she  was  a  child  at  this 
time,  as  some  suppose,  she  was  still  a  princess — 
was  felt  to  be  a  compliment  that  merited  the 
highest  reward.  The  folly  and  rashness  of 
Herod  in  giving  her  an  unlimited  promise,  great 


2.32 


DANIEL 


they  were,  have  been  equalled  and  even  sur- 
by  the  munificence  -which  many  other 
Eastern  monarchs  have  lavished  upon  favourite 
dancers. 

It  remains  to  notice  further  that  the  Jewish 
dance  was  performed  by  the  sexes  separately. 
I  There  is  no  evidence  from  sacred  history  that  the 
diversion  was  promiscuously  enjoyed,  except  it 
might  be  at  the  erection  of  the  deified  calf,  when, 
in  unitation  of  the  Egyptian  festival  of  Apis,  all 
classes  of  the  Hebrews  intermingled  in  the 
frantic  revelry.  In  the  sacred  dances,  although 
both  sexes  seem  to  have  frequently  borne  a  part 
in  the  procession  or  chorus,  they  remained  in 
distinct  and  separate  companies  (Ps.  Ixviii.  25 ; 
Jerem.  xxxi.  13). 

DAN'IEL  (Judge  of  God),  a  celebrated  prophet 
in  the  Chaldteau  and  Persian  period.  There  are 
in  the  Bible  two  other  persons  of  the  same  name  : 
a  son  of  David  (1  Chron.  iii.  1),  and  a  Levite  of 
the  race  of  Ithamar  (Ezra  viii.  2  ;  Neh.  x.  6). 

Daniel  was  descended  from  one  of  the  highest 
families  in  Judah,  if  not  even  of  royal  blood 
(Dan.  i.  3).  Jerusalem  was  thus  probably  his 
birth-place. 

We  find  him  at  the  age  of  twelve  or  sixteen 
years,  already  in  Babylon,  whither  he  had  been 
carried  together  with  three  other  Hebrew  youths 
of  rank,  Ananiah,  Mishael,  and  Azariah,  at  the 
first  deportation  of  the  people  of  Judah  in  the 
fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim.  He  and  his  com- 
panions were  obliged  to  enter  the  service  of  the 
royal  court  of  Babylon,  on  which  occasion  he 
received  the  Chalda;an  name  of  Belshatzar,  ac- 
cording to  Eastern  custom  when  a  change  takes 
place  in  one's  condition  of  life,  and  more  espe- 
cially if  his  personal  liberty  is  thereby  affected 
j  (comp.  2  Kings  xxiii.  34  ;  xxiv.  17  ;  Esth.  ii.  7  ; 
j    Ezra  V.  14). 

j        In  this  his  new  career,  Daniel  received  that 
I    thorough  polish  of  education  which  Oriental  eti- 
'    quette  renders  indispensable  in  a  courtier,  and 
j    was  more  especially  instructed  '  in  the  writing 
I    and  speaking  Chaldajan'  (Dan.  i.  4).     Already 
;    at  an  early  period  he  had  acquired  renown  for 
i    high  wisdom,  piety,  and  sti'ict  observance  of  the 
j    Mosaic  law  (comp.  Ezek.  xiv.  14,  20  ;  xxviii.  3  ; 
Dan.  i.  8-16).     A  proper  oppoi-tunity  of  evincing 
I    both  the  acuteness  of  his  mind,  and  his  religious 
notions,  soon  presented  itself  in  the  custom  of  the 
Eastern  courts  to  entertain  the  officers  attached 
to  them  from  the  royal  table.     Daniel  was  thus 
exposed  to  the  temptation  of  partaking  of  unclean 
food,  and  of  participating  in  the  idolatrous  cere- 
monies   attendant    on   heathen   banquets.     His 
prudent  proceedings,  wise  bearing,  and  absolute 
refusal    to    comply    with    such  customs,    were 
crowned  with  the  Divine  blessing,  and  had  the 
most  splendid  results. 

After  the  lapse  of  the  three  years  fixed  for  his 
j  education,  Daniel  was  attached  to  the  court  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  where,  by  the  Divine  aid,  he 
succeeded  in  interpreting  a  dream  of  that  prince 
to  his  satisfaction,  by  which  means — as  Joseph 
of  old  in  Egypt— he  rose  into  high  favour  with 
the  king,  and  was  entrusted  with  two  important 
offices— the  governorship  of  the  province  of  Ba- 
bylon, and  the  head-inspectorship  of  the  sacer- 
dotal caste  (Dan.  ii.). 

Considerably  later,  in  the  reign  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar,  we    fiiid    Daniel    interpreting   another 


DANIEL 

dream  of  the  kings,  to  the  effect  that,  in  panisli 
ment  of  his  pride,  he  was  to  lose,  for  a  time,  his 
throne,  but  to  be  again  restored  to  it  after  his 
humiliation  had  been  completed  (Dan.  iv.).  Here 
he  displays  not  only  the  most  touching  anxiety, 
love,  loyalty,  and  concern  for  his  princely  bene- 
factor, but  also  the  energy  and  solemnity  becom- 
ing his  position,  pointing  out  with  vigour  and  I 
power  the  only  course  left  for  the  monarch  to 
pursue  for  his  peace  and  welfare. 

Under  the  unworthy  successors  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, Daniel  and  his  deservings  seem  to  have    i 
been   forgotten,  and  he   was   removed    from  his    '. 
high  posts.    His  situation  at  court  appears  to  have    | 
been  confined    to  a  very  inferior   office  (comp.    l 
Dan.  viii.  27)  ;  neither  is  it  likely  that  he  should 
have  retained  his  rank  as  head  inspector  of  the 
order  of  the  Magians  in  a  country   where  these 
were  the  principal  actors  in  efifecting  changes  in 
the  administration  whenever  a  new  succession  to 
the  throne  took  place. 

We  thus  lose  sight  of  Daniel  until  the  first 
and  third  year  of  king  Belshazzar  (Dan.  v.  7,  8), 
generally  understood  to  have  been  the  last  king 
of  Babylon  (called  by  profane  writers  Nebon- 
nedus),  but  who — to  judge  from  Dan.  v.  11,  13, 
18,  22 — was,  more  probably,  the  son  and  suc- 
cessor of  Nebuchadnezzar,  usually  called  Evil- 
Merodach,  though  passing  in  Daniel  by  his 
Chaldaean  title  and  rank.  After  a  reign  of  two 
years,  this  monarch  was  assassinated  by  his 
brother-in-law  Neriglissar.  Shortly  before  this 
event  Daniel  was  again  restored  to  the  royal 
favour,  and  became  moral  preacher  to  the  king, 
who  overwhelmed  him  with  honours  and  titles  in 
consequence  of  his  being  able  to  read  and  solve 
the  meaning  of  a  sentence  miraculously  dis- 
played, which  tended  to  rouse  the  conscience  of 
the  wicked  prince. 

Under  the  same  king  we  see  Daniel  both 
alarmed  and  comforted  by  two  remarkable  vi- 
sions (Dan.  vii.  viii.),  which  disclosed  to  him 
the  future  course  of  events,  and  the  ultimate  fate 
of  the  most  powerful  empires  of  the  world,  but 
in  particular  their  relations  to  the  kingdom  of 
God,  and  its  development  to  the  great  consum- 
mation. 

After  the  conquest  of  Babylon  by  the  united 
powers  of  Media  and  Persia,  Daniel  seriously 
busied  himself  under  the  short  reign  (two  years) 
of  Darius  the  Mede  or  Cyaxares  II.  with  the 
affairs  of  his  people  and  their  possible  return 
from  exile,  the  term  of  which  was  fast  approach- 
ing, according  to  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah.  In 
deep  humility  and  prostration  of  spirit,  he  then 
prayed  to  the  Almighty,  in  the  name  of  his  peo- 
ple, for  forgiveness  of  their  sins,  and  for  the 
Divine  mercy  in  their  behalf:  and  the  answer- 
ing promises  he  received  far  exceeded  the  tenor 
of  his  prayer,  for  the  visions  of  the  Seer  were 
extended  to  the  end  of  time  (Dan.  ix.). 

In  a  practical  point  of  view  also  Daniel  ap- 
peared at  that  time  a  highly-favoured  instrument 
of  Jehovah.  Occupying,  as  he  did,  one  of  the 
highest  posts  of  honour  in  the  state,  the  strict^ 
ness  and  scrupulousness  with  which  he  fulfilled 
his  official  duties  could  not  fail  to  rouse  envy 
and  jealousy  in  the  breasts  of  his  colleagues,  who 
well  knew  how  to  win  the  weak  monarch,  whom 
they  at  last  induced  to  issue  a  decree  imposing 
certain  acts,  the  performance  of  which,  they  well 


DANIEL,  BOOK  OF 

knev,  was  nl  together  at  variance  with  the  creed 
of  which  Dantel  was  a  zealous  professor.  For 
his  disobedience  the  prophet  sutfered  the  penalty- 
specified  in  the  decree :  he  was  thrown  into  a 
den  of  lions,  but  was  miraculously  saved  by  the 
mercy  of  God — a  circumstance  which  enhanced 
his  reputation,  and  again  raised  him  to  the 
highest  posts  of  honour  under  Darius  and  Cyrus 
(Dan.  vi.). 

He  had,  at  last,  the  happiness  to  see  his  most 
ardent  wishes  accomplished — to  behold  his  peo- 
ple restored  to  their  own  land.  Though  his  ad- 
vanced age  would  not  allow  him  to  be  among 
those  who  returned  to  Palestine,  yet  did  he  never 
for  a  moment  cease  to  occupy  his  mind  and 
heart  with  his  people  and  their  concerns  (Dan. 
X.  12). 

In  the  third  year  of  Cyras,  he  had  a  series  of 
visions,  in  which  he  was  informed  of  the  mi- 
nutest details  respecting  the  future  history  and 
sufferings  of  his  nation,  to  the  period  of  their 
true  redemption  through  Christ,  as  also  a  conso- 
latory notice  to  himself  to  proceed  calmly  and 
peaceably  to  the  end  of  his  days,  and  then  await 
patiently  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  at  the  end 
of  time. 

J'rom  that  period  the  accounts  respecting  him 
are  vague,  sometimes  confiised,  and  even  strange; 
and  we  hardly  need  mention  the  various  fables 
which  report  his  death  to  have  taken  place  in 
Palestine,  Babylon,  or  Susa. 

DANIEL,  BOOK  OF.  This  important  and 
in  many  respects  remarkable  book  takes  its  name 
not  only  from  the  principal  person  in  it,  but  also 
and  chiefly  from  him  as  its  real  author ;  there 
being  no  doubt  whatever  that,  as  the  book  itself 
testifies,  it  was  composed  by  Daniel  (comp.  vii. 
1,  28;  viii.  2;  ix.  2). 

The  book  of  Daniel  divides  itself  into  two 
parts,  historical  (ch.  i.-vi.)  and  prophetic  (ch. 
vii.-xii.),  arranged  respectively  in  chronological 
order.  Its  object  is  by  no  means  to  give  a  sum- 
mary historical  account  of  the  period  of  the 
exile,  or  of  the  life  of  Daniel  himself,  since  it 
contains  only  a  few  isolated  points  both  as  to 
historical  facts  and  prophetic  revelations.  But 
the  plan  or  tendency  which  so  consistently  runs 
through  the  whole  book,  is  of  a  far  different  cha- 
racter; it  is  to  show  the  extraordinary  and  won- 
derful means  which  the  Lord  made  use  of,  in  a 
period  of  the  deepest  misery,  when  the  theocracy 
seemed  dissolved  and  fast  approaching  its  extinc- 
tion, to  afford  assistance  to  his  people,  proving  to 
them  that  he  had  not  entirely  forsaken  them, 
and  making  them  sensible  of  the  fact,  that  His 
merciful  presence  still  continued  to  dwell  with 
them,  even  without  the  Temple  and  beyond  the 
Land  of  Promise. 

The  wonders  related  in  Daniel  (ch.  i.-vi.)  are 
thus  mostly  of  a  peculiar,  prominent,  and  strik- 
ing character,  and  resemble  in  many  respects 
those  performed  of  old  time  in  Egypt.  Their 
divine  tendency  was,  on  the  one  hand,  to  lead 
the  heathen  power,  which  proudly  fancied  itself 
to  be  the  conqueror  of  the  theocracy,  to  the  ac- 
knowledgment that  there  was  an  essential  dif- 
ference between  the  world  and  the  kiiigdom  of 
God;  and,  on  the  other,  to  impress  degenerate 
and  callous  Israel  with  the  full  conviction,  that 
the  power  of  God  was  still  the  same  as  it  was  of 
old  in  Egypt. 


DANIEL,  BOOK  OF  i'83 

The  following  are  the  essential  features  of  the 
prophetic  tenor  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  while  the 
visions  in  ch.  ii.  and  vii.,  together  with  their  dif. 
ferent  symbols,  may  be  considered  as  embodying 
the  leading  notion  of  the  whole.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  of  the  heathen  power,  until 
the  completion  and  glorification  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  appeared  to  the  prophet  in  the  shape  of 
four  powers  of  the  world,  each  successive  power 
always  surpassing  the  preceding  in  might  and 
strength,  namely,  the  Babylonian,  Medo- Persian, 
Greek,  and  Roman.  The  kingdom  of  God  proves 
itself  conqueror  of  them  all  :  a  power  which 
alone  is  everlasting,  and  showing  itself  in  its 
utmost  glorification  in  the  appearance  of  the 
Messiah,  as  Judge  and  Lord  of  the  world.  Until 
the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  the  people  of  God 
have  yet  to  go  through  a  period  of  heavy  trials. 
That  period  is  particularly  described,  ch.  viii. 
and  xi.,  in  the  struggles  of  the  IMaccabisan  time, 
illustrative  of  the  last  and  heaviest  combats 
which  the  kingdom  of  God  would  have  to  endure. 
The  period  until  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah 
is  a  fixed  and  sacred  number  :  seventy  weeks  of 
years  (ch.  ix.).  After  the  lapse  of  that  period 
ensues  the  death  of  the  Messiah  ;  the  expiation 
of  the  people  is  realised ;  true  justice  is  revealed, 
but  Jerusalem  and  the  Temple  are  in  punish- 
ment given  up  to  destruction.  The  true  rise 
from  this  fall  and  corruption  ensues  only  at  the 
end  of  time,  in  the  general  resurrection  (ch.  xii.). 

The  authenticity  of  the  book  has  frequently 
been  called  in  question.  The  oldest  known  op- 
ponent of  it  is  the  heathen  philosopher  Porphyry, 
in  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era.  He 
found  no  successor  in  his  views  until  the  time  of 
the  English  Deists,  when  Collins  attempted  to 
attack  the  authenticity  of  Daniel,  as  was  done  by 
Semler  in  Germany.  In  later  times  its  authen- 
ticity has  been  disputed  by  a  number  of  German 
critics,  who  have  made  the  most  elaborate  attacks 
against  it. 

The  objections  of  these  writers  have  been  fully 
met  and  confuted.  They  rest,  to  a  great  extent, 
partly  on  historical  errors,  partly  on  the  want  of 
a  sound  exegesis,  and,  lastly,  on  the  perversion  of 
a  few  passages  in  the  text.  Thus  it  has  turned 
out  that  several  of  the  arguments  have  led  to  a 
far  different  and  even  opposite  result  from  what 
was  originally  meant,  namely,  to  the  defence  of 
the  authenticity  of  the  book.  The  existence, 
ex.  gr.,  of  a  king  Darius  of  the  Medians,  men- 
tioned in  ch.  vi.,  is  a  thorough  historical  fact ; 
and  the  very  circumstance  that  such  an  insigni- 
ficant prince,  eclipsed  as  his  name  was  by  the 
splendour  of  Cyrus,  and  therefore  unnoticed  in 
the  fabulous  and  historical  chronicles  of  Persia, 
should  be  known  and  mentioned  in  this  book,  is 
in  itself  a  proof  of  the  high  historical  authority 
of  Daniel. 

The  following  are  the  more  important  of  the 
arguments  which  evidence  the  genuineness  of  the 
book. 

1.  The  existence  and  authority  of  the  book  are 
most  decidedly  testified  by  the  New  Testament. 
Qhrist  himself  refers  to  it  (Matt.  xxiv.  15),  and 
gives  himself  (in  virtue  of  tlie  expression  in  Dan. 
vii.  13)  the  name  of  Son  of  Alan ;  while  the 
Apostles  repeatedly  appeal  to  it  as  an  authority 
(ex.  gr.,  1  Cor.  vi.  2 ;  2  Thess.  ii.  3 ;  Heb.  xi. 
33,  sq.). 


234 


DAMEL,  ADDENDA  TO 


2.  The  period  of  the  exile  would  be  altogether 
incomprehensihle  without  the  existence  of  a  man 
like  Daniel,  exercising  great  influence  upon  his 
own  people,  and  whose  return  to  Palestine  was 
efifected  by  means  of  his  high  station  in  the  state, 
as  well  as  through  the  peculiar  assistance  of  God 
with  which  he  was  favoured.  Without  this  as- 
sumption, it  is  impossible  to  explain  the  con- 
tinued state  of  independence  of  the  people  of  God 
during  that  period,  or  to  account  for  the  interest 
which  Cyrus  took  in  their  affairs.  The  exile 
and  its  termination  are  indicative  of  uncommon 
acts  of  God  towards  highly-gifted  and  favoured 
men;  and  the  appearance  of  such  a  man  as 
Daniel  is  described  in  that  book  to  have  been,  is 
an  indispensable  requisite  for  the  right  under- 
standing of  this  portion  of  the  Jewish  history. 

3.  An  important  hint  of  the  existence  of  the 
book  in  the  time  of  Alexander  is  found  in  Jose- 
phus,  Antiq..  xi.  8,  4,  according  to  which  the 
prophecies  of  Daniel  had  been  pointed  out  to  that 
king  on  his  entrance  into  Jerusalem. 

4.  The  first  book  of  the  Maccabees,  which  is 
almost  contemporary  with  the  events  related  in  it, 
not  only  pre-supposes  the  existence  of  the  book  of 
Daniel,  but  actually  betrays  acquaintance  with 
the  Alexandrian  version  of  the  same  (I  Mace.  i. 
54;  comp.  Dan.  ix.  27  ;  ii.  59  ;  comp.  Dan.  iii.) 
— a  proof  that  the  book  must  have  been  written 
long  before  that  period. 

5.  The  reception  of  the  book  into  the  canon  is 
also  an  evidence  of  its  authenticity.  In  the 
Maccaba;an  age  the  canon  had  long  been  com- 
pleted and  closed  ;  but  even  doubting  that  point, 
it  is  not  likely  that,  at  a  time  when  so  much 
scrupulous  adherence  was  shown  towards  all  that 
was  hallowed  by  time  and  old  usage,  and  when 
Scriptural  literature  was  already  flourishing — it 
is  not  probable,  we  say,  that  a  production  then 
recent  should  have  been  raised  to,the  rank  of  a 
canonical  book. 

6.  We  have  an  important  testimony  for  the 
authenticity  of  the  book  in  Ezekiel  xiv.  14,  20  ; 
xxviii.  .3.  Daniel  is  there  represented  as  an 
unusual  character,  as  a  model  of  justice  and 
wisdom,  to  whom  had  been  allotted  superior 
divine  insight  and  revelation.  This  sketch  per- 
fectly agrees  with  that  contained  in  our  book. 

7.  The  book  betrays  such  an  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  Chaldsen  manners,  customs,  history, 
and  religion,  as  none  but  a  contemporary  writer 
could  fairly  be  supposed  to  possess.  Thus,  ex.  gr., 
the  description  of  the  Chaldean  Magians  and  their 
regulations  perfectly  agrees  with  the  accounts  of 
the  cla.ssies  respecting  them.  The  account  of  the 
illness  and  insanity  of  Nebuchadnezzar  is  con- 
firmed by  Berosus.  The  edict  of  Darius  the 
Mede  (Dan.  v.)  may  be  satisfactorily  explained 
from  the  notions  peculiar  to  the  Medo- Persian 
religion,  and  the  importance  attached  in  it  to  the 
king,  who  was  considered  as  a  sort  of  incarnate 
deity. 

8.  The  religious  views,  the  ardent  belief  in  the 
Messiah,  the  purity  of  that  belief,  the  absence  of 
all  the  notions  and  ceremonial  practices  of  later 
Judaism,  &c.,  the  agreement  of  the  book  in  these 
respects  with  the  genuine  prophetic  books,  and 
more  especially  with  the  prophets  in  and  after  the 
exile,— all  this  testifies  to  the  genuineness  of 
Daniel. 

DANIEL,  Apocryphal  Addenda  to.     In   the 


DANIEL,  ADDENDA  TO 

version  of  the  Seventy,  and  that  of  Theodotion, 
are  found  some  considerable  additions  to  the  book 
of  Daniel  which  are  wanting  in  the  Hebrew 
canon.     These  are, 

1.  The  Prayer  of  Azarias,  &c.  (Dan.  iii.  24- 
51). 

2.  The  Song  of  the  Three  Children  (Dan.  iii. 
52-90). 

3.  The  History  of  Susanna  (Dan.  xiii.). 

4.  The  Narrative  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon  (Dan. 
xiv.). 

St.  Jerom'e,  who  translated  these  together  with 
the  canonical  parts  of  the  book  of  Daniel  from  the 
Greek  version  of  Theodotion,  observes  :  '  Daniel, 
as  received  among  the  Hebrews,  contains  neither 
the  History  of  Susanna,  nor  the  Hymn  of  the 
Three  Children,  nor  the  Fables  of  Bel  and  the 
Dragon,  all  of  which,  as  they  are  dispersed 
throughout  the  world,  we  have  added,  lest  to  the 
ignorant  we  should  seem  to  have  cut  off"  a  con- 
siderable part  of  the  book,  transfixing  them  at 
the  same  time  with  a  dagger.' 

Jerome  further  observes  that  the  history  of 
Susanna  is  considered  by  nearly  all  the  Hebrews 
as  a  fable ;  and  that  it  is  not  read  in  the  syna- 
gogues :  for  who,  say  they,  could  believe  that 
captives  had  the  power  of  starving  their  princes 
and  judges? 

The  subject  of  the  Prayer  of  Azarias,  and  of 
the  Song  of  the  three  youths,  Azarias,  Ananias, 
and  ]\Iisael  (the  Hebrew  names  of  Shadracli, 
Meshach,  and  Abed-nego),  consists  in  a  petition 
for  deliverance  from  the  furnace,  and  a  hymn  of 
thanksgiving,  on  the  part  of  the  young  men,  for 
their  preservation  in  the  midst  of  the  flames.  De 
Wette  conceives  that  the  Prayer  and  the  Hymn 
betray  marks  of  two  different  authors,  and  that 
the  latter  has  the  appearance  of  being  written 
with  a  liturgical  object.  Certain  it  is  that,  from 
a  very  early  period,  it  formed  part  of  the  church 
service,  and  it  is  one  of  the  canticles  still  sung  on 
all  festivals  in  the  Roman,  and  retained  in  the 
daily  service  of  the  Anglican  church. 

The  Hiatory  of  Si(saiiiia  is  probably  a  moral 
parable,  founded  perhaps  on  some  fact,  and  af- 
fording a  beautiful  lesson  of  chastity. 

The  object  of  the  Jewish  author  of  the  history 
of  the  destruction  of  Hel  and  the  Dragon  was, 
according  to  Jahn,  '  to  warn  against  the  sin  of 
idolatry  some  of  his  brethren,  who  had  embraced 
Egyptian  superstitions.  The  book  was,  there- 
fore, well  adapted  to  the  time,  and  shows  that 
philosophy  was  not  sufficient  to  keep  men  from 
apostatising  into  the  most  absurd  and  degrading 
superstitions.'  The  time  of  the  writing  Jahu 
ascribes  to  the  age  of  the  Ptolemies,  when  ser- 
pents were  still  worshipped  at  'I'hebes. 

Bel  and  the  Dragon  is  read  in  the  Konian  office 
on  Ash- Wednesday,  and  in  the  church  of  Eng- 
land on  the  23rd  of  November.  Susanna  is  read 
in  the  Anglican  Church  on  the  22nd  of  November, 
and  in  the  Roman  on  the  vigil  of  the  fourth  Sun- 
day in  Lent. 

W'e  shall  conclude  with  the  following  observa- 
tion of  Erasmus.  '  It  is  astonishing  that  what 
Jerome  stabbed  with  his  dagger  is  now  every- 
where read  and  sung  in  the  churches ;  nay,  we 
read,  without  any  mark  of  distinction,  what  Je- 
rome did  not  fear  to  call  a  fable,  the  history  of 
Bel  and  the  Dragon,  and  which  he  would  not 
have   added,   had  he  not  been  apprehensive  of 


DARKNESS 

seeming  to  have  cut  off  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  sacred  volume.  But  to  whom  did  he  fear  to 
seem  to  do  so  ?  To  the  ignorant,  as  he  himself 
observes.  Of  so  much  more  weight  to  the  ignorant 
multitude  is  custom,  than  the  judgment  of  the 
learned !' 

DARIUS,  or  rather  Darjavesh,  is  the  name 
under  which  three  Medo-Persian  kings  are  men- 
tioned in  the  Old  Testament. 

The  first  Darius  is  '  Darjavesh,  the  son  of 
Achashverosh,  of  the  seed  of  the  Medes,'  in  the 
book  of  Daniel  (ix.  1).  Much  difference  of  opi- 
nion has  prevailed  as  to  thfi  person  here  intended ; 
but  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  is 
Cjaxares  the  Second,  the  son  and  successor  of 
Astyages  [Ahasuerus],  and  the  immediate  pre- 
decessor of  Cyrus. 

The  second  '  Darjavesh  king  of  Persia '  is 
mentioned  in  the  book  of  Ezra  (iv.-vii.),  in 
Haggai,  and  in  Zechariah,  as  the  king  who,  in 
the  second  year  of  his  reign,  effected  the  execu- 
tion of  those  decrees  of  Cyrus  which  granted  the 
Jews  the  liberty  to  rebuild  the  temple,  the  fulfil- 
ment of  which  had  been  obstructed  by  the  ma- 
licious representations  which  their  enemies  had 
made  to  the  immediate  successors  of  Cyrus.  It 
is  agreed  that  this  prince  was  Darius  Hystaspis, 
who  succeeded  the  usurper  Smerdis  b.c.  521,  and 
reigned  thirty-six  years. 

The  third  '  Darjavesh  the  Persian,'  occurs  in 
Neh.  xii.  22,  in  a  passage  which  merely  states 
that  the  succession  of  priests  was  registered  up  to 
his  reign.  It  is  commonly  believed  that  this 
king  was  Darius  Nothus,  who  came  to  the  throne 
(B.c   42.3),  and  reigned  nineteen  years. 

Darius  Codomannus  is  evidently  the  Persian 
king  alluded  to  in  1  Mace.  i.  1. 

DARKNESS.  In  the  Gospels  of  Matthew 
(xxvii.  4.5)  and  Luke  (xxiii.  44)  we  read  that, 
while  .lesus  hung  upon  the  cross,  '  from  the  sixth 
hour  there  was  darkness  over  all  the  land  unto 
the  ninth  hour.'  That  this  darkness  could  not 
have  proceeded  from  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  is 
placed  beyond  all  doubt  by  the  fact  that,  it  being 
then  the  time  of  the  Passover,  the  moon  was  at 
the  full.  This  darkness  may  therefore  be  ascribed 
to  an  extraordinary  and  preternatural  obscura- 
tion of  the  solar  light,  which  might  precede  and 
accompany  the  earthquake  which  took  place  on 
tlie  same  occasion.  For  it  has  been  noticed  that 
often  before  an  earthquake  such  a  mist  arises 
from  sulphureous  vapours  as  to  occasion  a  dark- 
ness almost  nocturnal.  Such  a  darkness  might 
extend  over  Judaea,  or  that  division  of  Palestine 
in  which  Jerusalem  stood,  to  which  the  best 
authorities  agree  that  here,  as  in  some  other 
places,  it  is  necessary  to  limit  the  phrase  rendered 
'  all  the  land.' 

Darkness  is  often  used  symbolically  in  the 
Scriptures  as  opposed  to  light,  which  is  the 
symbol  of  joy  and  safety,  to  express  misery  and 
advei-sity  (Job  xviii,  6;  Ps.  cvii.  10;  cxliii.  3; 
Isa.  viii.  22;  ix.  1  ;  lix.  9,  10;  Ezek.  xxx.  18; 
xxxii.  7,  8;  xxxiv.  12).  Darkness  of  the  sun, 
moon,  and  stars  is  used  figuratively  to  denote  a 
general  darkness  or  deficiency  in  the  government 
or  body  politic  (Isa.  xiii.  10;  Ezek.  xxxii.  7; 
Joel  ii.  10-31).  in  Eph.  v.  H,  the  expression 
'  works  of  darkness '  is  applied  to  the  heathen 
mysteries,  on  account  of  the  impure  actions 
which  the  initiated  performed  in  them.     '  Outer 


DAVID 


235 


darkness'  in  Matt.  viii.  12,  and  elsewhere,  refers 
to  the  darkness  outside,  in  the  streets  or  open 
country,  as  contrasted  with  the  blaze  of  cheerful 
light  in  the  house,  especially  when  a  convivial 
party  is  held  in  the  night  time.  And  it  may  be 
observed  that  the  streets  in  the  East  are  utterly 
dark  after  nightfall,  there  being  no  shops  with 
lighted  windows,  nor  even  public  or  private 
lamps  to  impart  to  them  the  light  and  cheerful- 
ness to  which  we  are  accustomed.  This  gives 
the  more  force  to  the  contrast  of  the  '  outer  dark- 
ness '  with  the  inner  light. 

Darkness  is  used  to  represent  the  state  of  the 
dead  t^Job  x.  21  ;  xvii.  13).  It  is  also  employed 
as  the  proper  and  significant  emblem  of  ignorance 
(Isa.  ix.  2;  Ix.  2;  Matt.  vi.  23;  John  iii.  9; 
2  Cor.  iv.  1-6). 

DATES.    [Palm  Tree.] 

DA'THAN,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  Reuben  who 
joined  Korah  in  the  revolt  against  the  authority 
of  Moses  and  Aaron  (Num.  xvi.  1)  [Aaron]. 

DAUGHTER.  In  the  Scriptures  the  word 
daughter  is  used  in  a  variety  of  senses,  some  of 
which  are  unknown  to  our  own  language,  or  have 
only  become  known  through  familiarity  with 
Scriptural  forms  of  speech.  Besides  its  usual 
and  proper  sense  of — 1.  A  daughter  sent  or 
adopted,  we  find  it  used  to  designate — 2.  A  uterine 
sister,  niece,  or  any  female  descendant  (Gen.  xx. 
12  ;  xxiv.  48  ;  xxviii.  6  ;  xxxvi.  2 ;  Num.  xxv.  1 ; 
Deut.  xxiii.  17).— 3.  Women,  as  natives,  re- 
sidents, or  professing  the  religion  of  certain 
places,  as  'the  daughter  of  Zion'  (I^a.  iii.  16); 
'daughters  of  the  Philistines'  ^2  Sam.  i.  20); 
•daughter  of  a  strange  God'  (Mai.  ii.  11). — 
4.  Metaphorically,  small  towns  are  called 
daughters  of  neighbouring  large  cities,  to  which 
they  belonged,  or  from  which  they  were  derived, 
as  '  Heshbon  and  all  the  daughters  [Auth.  Vers. 
villages]  thereof  (Num.  xxi.  25);  so  Tyre  is 
called  the  daughter  of  Sidon  (Isa.  xxii.  12),  as 
having  been  originally  a  colony  from  thence ; 
and  hence  also  the  town  of  Abel  is  called  '  a 
mother  in  Israel'  (2  Sam.  xx.  19);  and  Gath  is 
in  one  place  (comp.  2  Sam.  vii.  1  ;  1  Chron. 
xviii.  1)  called  Gath-Ammah,  or  Gath  the  mother 
town,  to  distinguish  it  from  its  own  dependencies, 
or  from  another  place  called  Gath.  See  other 
instances  in  Num.  xxi.  32 ;  Judg.  xi.  26  ;  Josh. 
XV.  45,  &c.— 5.  The  people  collectively  of  any 
place,  the  name  of  which  is  given ;  as  '  the 
daughter  (t.  e.  the  people)  of  Jerusalem  hath 
shaken  her  head  at  thee'  (Isa.  xxxvii.  22  ;  see  also 
Ps.  xlv.  13;  cxxxvii.  8;  Isa.  x.  30;  Jer.  xlvi. 
19  ;  Lam.  iv.  22  ;  Zech.  ix.  9). 

Respecting  the  condition  of  daughters  in  fa- 
milies, see  art.  Women  and  Marriage. 

DA'VID.  The  word  probably  means  beloved. 
The  reign  of  David  is  the  great  critical  era  in  the 
history  of  the  Hebrews.  It  decided  that  they 
vere  to  have  for  nearly  five  centuries  a  national 
monarchy,  a  fixed  line  of  priesthood,  and  a 
solemn  religious  worship  by  music  and  psalms 
of  exquisite  beauty  ;  it  finally  separated  Israel 
from  the  surrounding  heathen,  and  gave  room  for 
producing  those  noble  monuments  of  sacred  writ, 
to  the  influence  of  which  over  the  whole  world 
no  end  can  be  seen.  His  predecessor.  Saul,  had 
many  successes  against  the  Philistines,  but  it  is 
clear  that  he  made  little  impression  on  their  real 
power;  for  he  died  fighting  against  them,  not  on 


236  DAVID 

their  own  border,  but  on  tbe  opposite  side  of  his 
kingdom,  in  Mount  Gilboa.  As  for  all  the  other 
'  enemies  on  every  side  ' — Moabites,  Ammonites, 
Edomites,  and  the  kings  of  Zobah,— however 
much  he  may  have  '  vexed  them  '  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
47),  they,  as  well  as  the  Amalekites,  remained 
unsubdued,  if  weakened.  The  real  work  of 
establishing  Israel  as  lord  over  the  whole  soil  of 
Canaan  was  left  for  David. 

The  life  of  David  naturally  divides  itself  mto 
three  portions:—!.  The  time  which  he  lived 
under  Saul.  II.  His  reign  over  Judah  in  Hebron. 
III.  His  reign  over  all  Israel.  _   _ 

I.  In  the  first  period  we  may  trace  the  origin 
of  all  his  greatness.  His  susceptible  tempera- 
ment, joined  to  his  devotional  tendencies,  must,  at 
a  very  early  age,  have  made  him  a  favourite 
pupil  of  the  prophets,  whose  peculiar  mark  was 
the  harp  and  the  psalm  (1  Sam.  x.  1-12  and  xix. 
20-2-1 ;  see  also  2  Kings  iii.  15).  His  hospitable 
reception,  when  in  distress,  by  Ahimelech  the 
priest,  and  the  atrocious  massacre  innocently 
brought  by  him  on  Nob,  the  city  of  the  priests 
(1  Sam.  xxi.  and  xxii.  9-19),  must  have  deeply 
affected  his  generous  nature,  and  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  his  cordial  affection  for  the  whole  priestly 
order,  whose  ministrations  he  himself  helped  to 
elevate  by  his  devotional  melodies.  At  an  early 
period  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Samuel ;  and  if 
we  are  to  arrange  events  acccording  to  their  pro- 
bable connection,  we  may  believe  that  afler 
David  had  been  driven  away  from  Saul  and  his 
life  several  times  attempted,  Samuel  ventured  on 
the  solemn  step  of  anointing  him  king.  When- 
ever this  took  place,  it  must  have  produced  on 
David  a  profound  impression,  and  prepared  him 
to  do  that  in  which  Saul  had  so  eminently  failed, 
viz.  to  reconcile  his  own  military  government 
with  a  filial  respect  for  the  prophets  and  an 
honourable  patronage  of  the  priesthood.  Besides 
this,  he  became  knit  into  a  bond  of  brotherhood 
with  his  heroic  comrades,  to  whom  he  was  emi- 
nently endeared  by  his  personal  self-denial  and 
liberality  (1  Sam.  xxx.  21-31 ;  1  Chron.  xi.  18). 
This,  indeed,  drew  after  it  one  most  painful  re- 
sult, viz.  the  necessity  of  enduring  the  turbulence 
of  his  violent  but  able  nephew  Joab ;  nor  could 
Ave  expect  that  of  a  band  of  freebooters  many 
should  be  like  David.  Again,  during  his  outlawry- 
David  became  acquainted  in  turn  not  only  with 
all  the  wild  country  in  the  land,  but  with  the 
strongholds  of  the  enemy  all  round.  By  his  re- 
sidence among  the  Philistines  he  must  have 
learned  all  their  arts  and  weapons  of  war,  in 
which  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  the  Israelites 
previously  inferior  (1  Sam.  xiii.  19-23).  With 
Nahash  the  Ammonite  he  was  in  intimate  friend- 
ship (2  Sam.  X.  2) ;  to  the  king  of  Moab  he  en- 
trusted the  care  of  his  parents  (1  Sam.  xxii.  3) ; 
from  Achish  of  Gath  he  received  the  important 
present  of  the  town  of  Ziklag  (1  Sam.  xxvii.  6). 
That  Ziklag  was  a  strong  place  may  be  inferred 
from  1  Chron.  xii.  1,  20.  The  celebrity  acquired 
in  successful  guerilla  warfare,  even  in  modern 
days,  turns  the  eyes  of  whole  nations  on  a  chief- 
tain; and  in  an  age  which  regarded  personal 
heroism  as  the  first  qualification  of  a  general 
(1  Chron.  xi.  G)  and  of  a  king,  to  triumph  over 
the  persecutions  of  Saul  gave  David  the  fairest 
prospects  of  a  kingdom. 
The  account  transmitted  to  us  of  David's  dan- 


DAVID 

gers  and  escapes  in  the  first  period  is  too  frag- 
mentary to  work  up  into  a  liistory :  nevertheless, 
it  seems  to  be  divisible  into  two  parts,  differing  in 
character.  During  the  former  he  is  a  fugitive 
and  outlaw  in  the  land  of  Saul,  hiding  in  caves, 
pitching  in  the  wilderness,  or  occasionally  with 
great  risk  entering  walled  cities  (1  Sam.  xxiii.  7) : 
in  the  latter  he  abandons  his  native  soil  entirely, 
and  lives  among  the  Philistines  as  one  of  their 
chieftains  (xxvii.  1).  While  a  rover  in  the  land 
of  Judah,  his  position  (to  our  eyes)  is  anything 
but  honourable ;  being  a  focus  to  which  '  all  who 
were  in  distress,  in  debt,  or  discontented,  gathered 
themselves '  (xxii.  2).  Yet  as  the  number  of  his 
followers  became  large  (six  hundred,  we  read, 
xxiii.  13),  and  David  knew  how  to  conciliate  the 
neighbouring  sheep-masters  by  his  urbanity  and 
kind  services,  he  gradually  felt  himself  to  be  their 
protector  and  to  have  a  right  of  maintenance  and 
tribute  for  them.  Hence  he  resents  the  refusal 
of  Nabal  to  supply  his  demands,  as  a  clear  in- 
justice ;  and,  after  David's  anger  has  been  turned 
away  by  the  prudent  policy  of  Abigail,  in  bless- 
ing her  for  saving  him  from  slaying  Nabal  and 
every  male  of  his  family,  the  thought  seems  not 
to  have  entered  his  mind  that  the  intention  of 
such  a  massacre  was  more  guilty  than  Nabal's 
refusal  to  pay  him  tribute  (xxv.  34).  This  whole 
narrative  is  characteristic  and  instructive.  By 
his  marriage  with  Abigail  he  afterwards  pro- 
bably became  rich  (for  she  seems  to  have  been  a 
widow  at  her  own  disposal),  and  on  passing  im- 
mediately after  into  the  land  of  the  Philistines, 
he  was  enabled  to  assume  a  more  dignified  place. 
Becoming  possessed  of  the  stronghold  of  Ziklag, 
he  now  appeared  like  a  legitimate  chieftain  with 
fixed  possessions,  and  no  longer  a  mere  vagabond 
and  freebooter.  This  was  accordingly  a  transi- 
tion-state in  which  David  was  prepared  for 
assuming  the  kingdom  over  Judah.  In  Ziklag 
he  was  joined,  not,  as  before,  by  mere  outcasts 
from  Israelitish  life,  but  by  men  of  consideration 
and  tried  warriors  (1  Chron.  xii.  1-22),  not  only 
of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  but  from  Gad,  Manasseh, 
and  even  '  from  Saul's  brethren  of  Benjamin.' 

II.  Immediately  upon  the  death  of  Saul  the 
tribe  of  Judah  invited  David  to  become  their 
prince. 

His  first  step,  after  his  election,  was  to  fix  on 
Hebron  as  the  centre  of  his  administration — an 
ancient  city,  honourable  by  its  association  with 
the  name  of  Abraham,  and  in  the  middle  of  his 
own  tribe.  He  then  strengthened  himself  by  a 
marriage  with  Maacah,  daughter  of  Talmai,  king 
of  Geshur  (2  Sam.  iii.  3) ;  a  petty  monarch  whose 
dominions  were  near  the  sources  of  the  Jordan, 
and  whose  influence  at  the  opposite  end  of  the 
land  must  have  added  a  great  weight  into  David's 
scale.  From  Abigail,  widow  of  the  churlish 
Nabal,  David,  as  we  have  already  observed, 
seems  to  have  received  a  large  private  fortune. 
Concerning  his  other  wives  we  know  nothing  in 
particular ;  only  it  is  mentioned  that  he  had  six 
sons  by  six  different  mothers  in  Hebron.  The 
chief  jealousy  was  between  the  two  tribes  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Judah,  as  Saul  had  belonged  to  the 
former  ;  and  a  tournament  was  turned  by  mutual 
ill-will  into  a  battle,  in  which  Abner  unwillingly 
slew  young  Asahel,  brother  of  Joab.  '  Long 
war,'  after  this,  was  carried  on  between  '  the 
house  of  Saul  and  the  house  of  David.'    We  may 


DAVID 


DAVID 


237 


infer  that  the  rest  of  Israel  took  little  part  in  the 
contest ;  and  although  the  nominal  possession  of 
the  kingdom  enabled  the  little  tribe  of  Benjamin 
to  struggle  for  some  time  against  Judah,  the  skill 
and  age  of  Abner  could  not  prevail  against  the 
vigour  and  popular  fame  of  David.  A  quarrel 
between  Abner  and  Ishbosheth  decided  the  former 
1  j  to  bring  the  kingdom  over  to  David.  The  latter 
refused  to  treat  unless,  as  a  preliminary  proof  of 
Abner's  sincerity,  Michal,  daughter  of  Saul,  was 
1  restored  to  David.  The  possession  of  such  a  wife 
was  valuable  to  one  who  was  aspiring  to  the 
kingdom.  His  denand  was  immediately  com- 
plied with.  After  giving  her  back,  Abner  pro- 
ceeded to  win  the  elders  of  Israel  over  to  David ; 
but  Joab  discerned  that  if  this  should  be  so 
brought  about,  Abner  of  necessity  would  displace 
him  from  his  post  of  chief  captain.  He,  there- 
fore, seized  the  opportunity  of  murdering  him 
when  he  was  come  on  a  peaceful  embassy,  and 
covered  the  atrocity  by  pleading  the  duty  of  re- 
venging his  brother's  blood.  This  deed  was  per- 
haps David's  first  taste  of  the  miseries  of  royal 
power.  He  dared  not  proceed  actively  against 
his  ruthless  nephew,  but  he  vented  his  abhorrence 
in  a  solemn  curse  on  Joab  and  liis  posterity,  and 
followed  Abner  to  the  grave  with  weeping. 
Anxious  to  purge  himself  of  the  guilt,  he  ordered 
a  public  -wearing  of  sackcloth,  and  refused  to 
touch  food  all  the  day.  The  feeble  Ishbosheth, 
left  alone,  was  unequal  to  the  government,  and 
shortly  suffered  the  same  fate  of  assassination. 
David,  following  the  universal  policy  of  sove- 
reigns, and  his  own  profound  sense  of  the  sacred- 
ness  of  royalty,  took  vengeance  on  the  murderers, 
and  buried  Ishbosheth  in  Abner's  tomb  at  Hebron. 
III.  The  death  of  Ishbosheth  gave  to  David  su- 
premacy over  all  Israel.  The  kingdom  was  not 
at  first  a  despotic,  but  a  constitutional  one ;  for  it 
is  stated, '  David  made  a  league  with  the  elders  of 
Israel  in  Hebron  before  Jehovah  ;  and  they 
anointed  David  king  over  Israel '  (2  Sam.  v.  .3). 
This  is  marked  out  as  the  era  which  determined 
the  Philistines  to  hostility  (ver.  17),  and  may 
confirm  our  idea,  that  their  policy  was  to  hinder 
Israel  from  becoming  united  under  a  single  king. 
Two  victories  of  David  over  them  follow,  both 
near  the  valley  of  Rephaim ;  and  these  were  pro- 
bably the  first  battles  fought  by  David  after 
becoming  king  of  all  Israel. 

Perceiving  that  Hebron  was  no  longer  a  suit- 
able capital,  he  resolved  to  fix  his  residence  far- 
ther to  the  north.  On  the  very  border  of  the 
tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  lay  the  town  of 
Jebus,  which  with  its  neighbourhood  was  occupied 
by  Jebusites,  a  remnant  of  the  old  Canaanitish 
nation  so  called.  In  spite  of  the  great  strength 
of  the  fort  of  Zion,  it  was  captured,  and  the  Jebu- 
sites were  entirely  expelled  or  subdued;  after 
which  David  adopted  the  city  as  his  new  capital, 
greatly  enlarged  the  fortifications,  and  gave  or 
restored  the  name  of  Jerusalem  [Jerusaleji]. 
After  becoming  master  of  Jerusalem,  David  made 
a  league  with  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  who  supplied 
him  with  skilful  artificers  to  build  a  splendid 
palace  at  the  new  capital.  That  the  mechanical 
arts  should  have  been  in  a  very  low  state  among 
the  Israelites,  was  to  be  expected ;  since,  before 
the  reign  of  Saul  even  smiths'  forges  were  not 
allowed  among  them  by  the  Philistines.  Nothing, 
however,  could  have  been  more  profitable  for  the 


Phoenicians  than  the  security  of  curltivation  en- 
joyed by  the  Israelites  in  the  reigns  of  David  and 
Solomon.  The  trade  between  Tyi-e  and  Israel 
became  at  once  extremely  lucrative  to  both,  and 
the  league  between  the  two  states  was  quickly 
very  intimate. 

Once  settled  in  Jerusalem,  David  proceeded  to 
increase  the  number  of  his  wives,  perhaps  in  part 
from  the  same  political  motive  that  actuates  other 
Oriental  monarchs,  viz.  in  order  to  take  hostages 
from  the  chieftains  round  in  the  least  offensive 
mode.  We  know  nothing  further  concerning  his 
family  relations,  than  the  names  of  eleven  sons 
born  in  Jerusalem  (2  Sam.  v.  14,  l.")),  of  whom 
four  were  children  of  Bathsheba  (1  Chron.  iii.  5), 
and  therefore  much  younger  than  the  elder  sous. 

Jerusalem,  now  become  the  civil  metropolis  of 
the  nation,  was  next  to  be  made  its  religious 
centre  ;  and  the  king  applied  himself  to  elevate 
the  priestly  order,  to  swell  the  ranks  of  attending 
Levites  and  sinjjers,  and  to  bring  the  ark  to  Jeru- 
salem. The  bringing  of  the  ark  from  Kirjath- 
jearim  to  Jerusalem  established  the  line  of  high- 
priests  in  direct  service  before  it ;  and  from  this 
time  we  may  presume  that  the  ceremonies  of  the 
great  day  of  Atonement  began  to  be  observed. 

When  the  ark  entered  Jerusalem  in  triumph, 
David  put  on  a  priest's  ephod  and  danced  before 
it.  This  proved  the  occasion  of  the  rupture  be- 
tween him  and  his  royal  spouse,  Michal  (2  Sam. 
vi.  21).  After  this  event,  the  king,  contrasting 
his  cedar  palace  with  the  curtains  of  the  taber- 
nacle, was  desirous  of  building  a  temple  for  the 
ark ;  such  a  step,  moreover,  was  likely  to  prevent 
any  future  change  of  its  abode.  The  prophet 
Nathan,  however,  forbade  it,  on  pious  and  intel- 
ligible grounds. 

David's  further  victories  are  narrated  in  the 
following  order  —  Philistines,  Moab,  Zobah, 
Edom,  Northern  League  stirred  up  by  the  Am- 
monites, Ammon.  1.  The  short  notice  concern- 
ing the  Philistines  just  gives  us  to  understand  that 
this  is  the  era  of  their  decisive,  though  not  final, 
subjugation.  Their  towns  were  despoiled  of  their 
wealth  (2  Sam.  viii.  12),  and  doubtless  all  their 
arms  and  munitions  of  war  passed  over  into  the 
service  of  the  conqueror.  2.  The  Moabites  were 
a  pastoral  people,  whose  general  relations  with 
Israel  appear  to  have  been  peaceful.  The  slight 
notice  of  Saul's  hostilities  with  them  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
47)  is  the  only  breach  recorded  since  the  time  of 
Eglon  and  Ehud.  In  the  book  of  Ruth  we  see 
them  as  friendly  neighbours,  and  much  more  re- 
cently (1  Sam.  xxii.  3,  4)  David  committed  his 
parents  to  the  care  of  the  king  of  Moab.  We 
know  no  cause,  except  David's  strength,  which 
now  drew  his  arms  upon  them.  A  people  long 
accustomed  to  peace,  in  conflict  with  a  veteran 
army,  was  struck  down  at  once,  but  the  fierceness 
of  his  triumph  may  surprise  us.  Two-thirds  of 
the  population  (if  we  rightly  interpret  the  words, 
2  Sam.  viii.  2)  were  put  to  the  sword ;  the  rest 
became  tributary.  3.  Who  are  meant  by  the 
Syrians  of  Zobah,  is  still  a  problem  [Zobah]. 
We  here  follow  the  belief  that  it  was  a  power  of 
northern  Syria,  then  aiming  at  extensive  empire, 
which  had  not  only  defeated  and  Imnibled  the 
king  of  Hamath,  but  had  obtained  homage  beyonc' 
the  Euphrates.  The  trans-Jordanic  tribes  in  the 
time  of  Saul  had  founded  a  little  empire  for  them- 
selves by  conquering  their  eastern  neighbours. 


238  DAVID 

the  Hagarenes ;  and,  perhaps,  occasional!)'  over- 
ran the  district  on  the  side  of  the  Euphrates, 
which  Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  considered  as 
his  own.  His  efforts  '  to  recover  his  border  at  the 
river  Euphrates '  first  brought  him  into  collision 
■with  David,  perhaps  by  an  attack  which  he  made 
on  the  roaming  Eastern  tribes.  David  defeated 
not  merely  his  army,  but  tnat  of  Damascus  too, 
which  came,  too  late,  with  succour;  and  put 
Israelite  garrisons  into  the  towns  of  the  Damas- 
cenes. 4.  Another  victory,  gained  '  in  the  valley 
of  salt,'  ought,  perhaps,  to  be  read,  as  in  1  Chron. 
xviii.  12,  and  in  the  superscription  of  Ps.  Ix., 
'over  the  Edomites,'  not  'over  the  Syrians' 
5.  After  David  had  become  master  of  all  Israel, 
of  the  Philistine  towns,  of  Edom,  and  of  Moab, 
while  the  Eastern  tribes,  having  conquered  the 
Hagarenes,  threatened  the  Ammonites  on  the 
north,  as  did  Moab  on  the  south,  the  Ammonites 
were  naturally  alarmed,  and  called  in  the  powers 
of  Syria  to  their  help  against  a  foe  who  was 
growing  dangerous  even  to  them.  The  coalition 
against  David  is  described  as  consisting  of  the 
Syrians  of  Bethrehob  and  of  Maacah,  of  Zobah 
and  of  Tob.  The  last  country  appears  to  have 
Leen  in  the  district  of  Trachonitis,  the  two  first 
immediately  on  the  north  of  Israel.  In  this  war, 
we  may  believe  that  David  enjoyed  the  important 
alliance  of  Toi,  king  of  Hamath,  who,  having 
suffered  from  Hadadezer's  hostility,  courted  the 
friendship  of  the  Israelitish  monarch  (2  Sam.  viii. 
9,  10).  We  are  barely  informed  that  one  division 
of  the  Israelites  under  Abishai  was  posted  against 
ttie  Ammonites;  a  second  under  Joab  met  the 
confederates  from  the  north,  30,000  strong,  and 
prevented  their  junction  with  the  Ammonites. 
In  both  places  the  enemy  was  repelled,  though,  it 
would  seem,  with  no  decisive  result.  A  second 
campaign  took  place.  The  king  of  Zobah  brought 
in  an  army  of  Mesopotamians,  in  addition  to  his 
former  troops,  and  David  found  it  necessary  to 
make  a  levy  of  all  Israel  to  meet  the  pressing 
danger.  A  pitched  battle  on  a  great  scale  was 
then  fought  at  Helam — far  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  twelve  tribes — in  which  David  was  victorious. 
The  Syrians  henceforth  left  the  Ammonites  to 
their  fate,  and  the  petty  chiefs  who  had  been  in 
allegiance  to  Hadadezer  hastened  to  do  homage 
lo  David.  6.  Early  in  the  next  season  Joab  was 
sent  to  take  vengeance  on  the  Ammonites  in  their 
own  home,  by  attacking  their  chief  city,  or  Rabbah 
of  Ammon.  The  natural  strength  of  their  border 
could  not  keep  out  veteran  troops  and  an  experi- 
enced leader ;  and  though  the  siege  of  the  city 
occupied  many  months  (if,  indeed,  it  was  not 
I  prolonged  into  the  next  year),  it  was  at  last  taken. 
It  is  characteristic  of  Oriental  despotism,  that 
Joab,  when  the  city  was  nearly  reduced,  sent  to 
invite  David  to  command  the  final  assault  in 
I  person.  David  gathered  a  large  force,  easily  cap- 
i  tared  the  royal  town,  and  despoiled  it  of  all  its 
I  wealth.  His  vengeance  was  as  much  more  dread- 
ful on  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  than  formerly 
on  the  Moabites,  as  the  danger  in  which  the  Am- 
,  raonites  hiid  involved  Israel  had  been  more  im- 
minent (2  Sam.  xii.  31 ;  1  Chron.  xx.  3). 
I  During  the  campaign  against  Rabbah  of  Am- 
mon the  painful  and  never-to-be-forgotten  outrage 
'  of  David  against  Bathsheba  and  her  husband 
;  Uriah  the  Hittite  took  place.  It  is  principally 
I  through  this  narrative  that  we  know  the  tedious- 


DAVID 

ness  of  that  siege ;  since  the  adultery  with  Bath- 
sheba and  the  birth  of  at  least  one  child  took 
place  during  the  course  of  it. 

The  latter  years  of  David's  reign  were  afflicted 
by  the  inevitable  results  of  polygamy  and  despot- 
ism, viz.  the  quarrels  of  the  sons  of  different  mo- 
thers, and  their  eagerness  to  seize  the  kingdom 
before  their  father's  death.  Of  all  his  sons,  Absa- 
lom had  naturally  the  greatest  pretensions,  being, 
by  his  mother's  side,  grandson  of  Talmai,  king  of 
Geshur;  while  through  his  personal  beauty  and 
winning  manners  he  was  high  in  popular  favour. 
It  is  evident,  moreover,  that  he  was  the  darling 
son  of  his  father.  When  his  own  sister  Tamar 
had  been  dishonoured  by  her  half-brother  Amnon, 
the  eldest  son  of  David,  Absalom  slew  him  in 
vengeance,  but,  in  fear  of  his  father,  then  fled  to 
his  grandfather  at  Geshur.  Joab,  discerning 
David's  longings  for  his  son,  effected  his  return 
after  three  years ;  but  the  conflict  in  the  king's 
mind  is  strikingly  shown  by  his  allowing  Absalom 
to  dwell  two  full  years  in  Jerusalem  before  he 
would  see  his  face. 

The  insurrection  .of  Absalom  against  the  king 
was  the  next  important  event ;  in  the  course  of 
which  there  was  shown  the  general  tendency  of 
men  to  look  favourably  on  young  and  untried 
princes,  rather  than  on  those  whom  they  know  for 
better  and  for  worse.  Absalom  erected  his  royal 
standard  at  Hebron  first,  and  was  fully  prepared 
to  slay  his  father  outright,  which  might  probably 
have  been  done,  if  the  energetic  advice  of  Ahitho- 
phel  had  been  followed.  While  they  delayed, 
David  escaped  beyond  the  Jordan,  and  with  all 
his  troop  met  a  most  fi-iendly  reception,  not  only 
from  Barzillai  and  Machir,  wealthy  chiefs  of  pas- 
toral Gilead,  but  from  Shobi,  the  son  of  the  Am- 
monite king  Nahash,  whose  power  he  had  de- 
stroyed, and  whose  people  he  had  hewed  in  pieces. 
We  likewise  learn  on  this  occasion  that  the  for- 
tunes of  David  had  been  all  along  attended  by 
600  men  of  Gath,  who  now,  under  the  command 
of  Ittai  the  Gittite,  crossed  the  Jordan  with  all 
their  households,  in  spite  of  David's  generous 
advice  that  they  would  return  to  their  own  coun- 
try. Strengthened  by  the  warlike  eastern  tribes, 
and  surrounded  by  his  experienced  captains,  the 
king  no  longer  hesitated  to  meet  Absalom  in  the 
field.  A  decisive  victory  was  won  at  the  wood  of 
Ephraim,  and  Absalom  was  slain  by  Joab  in  the 
retreat.  The  old  king  was  heart-stricken  at  this 
result,  and,  ignorant  of  his  own  weakness,  super- 
seded Joab  in  the  command  of  the  host  by  Amasa, 
Absalom's  captain.  Perhaps  Joab  on  the  former 
occasion,  when  he  murdered  Abner,  had  blinded 
the  king  by  pleading  revenge  for  the  blood  of 
Asahel ;  but  no  such  pretence  could  here  avail. 
The  king  was  now  probably  brought  to  his  deter- 
mination, partly  by  his  disgust  at  Joab,  partly  by 
his  desire  to  give  the  insurgents  confidence  in  his 
amnesty.  If  Amasa  is  the  same  as  Amasai,  David 
may  likewise  have  retained  a  grateful  renit-m- 
brance  of  the  cordial  greeting  with  which  he  had 
led  a  strong  band  to  his  assistance  at  the  critical 
period  of  his  abode  in  Ziklag  (1  Chron.  xii.  18) ; 
moreover,  Amasa,  equally  with  Joab,  was  David's 
nephew,  their  two  mothers,  Abigail  and  Zeruiah, 
being  sisters  to  David  by  at  least  one  parent 
(2  Sam.  xvii.  25;  1  Chron.  ii.  13,  16).  The  un- 
scrupulous Joab,  however,  was  not  so  to  be  set 
aside.     Before  long,  catching  an  opportunity,  he 


DAVID 

assassinated  his  unsuspecting  cousin  with  his  own 
hand ;  and  David,  who  had  used  the  instrumenta- 
lity of  Joab  to  murder  Uriah,  did  not  dare  to 
resent  the  deed. 

A  quarrel  which  took  place  between  the  men  of 
Judah  and  those  of  the  other  tribes  in  bringing 
the  king  back,  had  encouraged  a  Benjamite  named 
Sheba  to  raise  a  new  insurrection,  which  spread 
with  wonderful  rapidity.  Amasa  was  collecting 
troops  as  David's  general  at  the  time  when  he 
was  treacherously  assassinated  by  his  cousin,  who 
then,  with  his  usual  energy,  pursued  Sheba,  and 
blockaded  him  in  Bethmaachah  before  he  could 
collect  his  partisans.  Sheba's  head  was  cut  oflP, 
and  thrown  over  the  wall ;  and  so  ended  the  new 
rising.  Yet  this  was  not  the  end  of  trouble ;  for 
the  intestine  war  seems  to  have  inspired  the  Phi- 
listines with  the  hope  of  throwing  off  the  yoke. 
Four  successive  battles  are  recorded  (2  Sam.  xxi. 
15-22),  in  the  first  of  which  the  aged  David  was 
nigh  to  being  slain.  His  faithful  officers  kept 
him  away  from  all  future  risks,  and  Philistia  was 
once  more,  and  finally,  subdued. 

The  last  commotion  recorded  took  place  when 
David's  end  seemed  nigh,  and  Adonijah,  one  of 
his  elder  sons,  feared  that  the  influence  of  Bath- 
sheba  might  gain  the  kingdom  for  her  own  son 
Solomon.  Adonijah's  conspiracy  was  joined  by 
Abiathar,  one  of  the  two  chief  priests,  and  by  the 
redoubted  Joab;  upon  which  David  took  the  de- 
cisive measure  of  raising  Solomon  at  once  to  the 
throne.  Of  two  young  monarchs,  the  younger 
and  the  less  known  was  easily  preferred,  when  the 
sanction  of  the  existing  government  was  thrown 
into  his  scale ;  and  the  cause  of  Adonijah  imme- 
diately fell  to  the  ground.  Amnesty  was  pro- 
mised to  the  conspirators,  yet  it  was  not  very 
faithfully  observed  [Solomon]. 

Numerous  indications  remain  to  us  that,  how- 
ever eminently  David  was  embued  with  faith  in 
Jehovah  as  the  national  God  of  Israel,  and  how- 
ever he  strove  to  unite  all  Israel  in  common 
worship,  he  still  had  no  sympathy  with  the  later 
spirit  which  repelled  all  foreigners  from  co-ope- 
ration with  Jews.  In  his  early  years  necessity 
made  him  intimate  with  Philistines,  Moabites, 
and  Ammonites :  policy  led  him  into  league  with 
the  Tyrians.  He  himself  took  in  marriage  a 
daughter  of  the  king  of  Geshur :  it  is  the  less 
wonderful  that  we  find  Uriah  the  Hittite  (2  Sam. 
xi.),  Gether  the  Ishmaelite  (1  Chron.  ii.  17),  and 
others,  married  to  Israelitish  wives.  The  fidelity 
of  Ittai  the  Gittite,  and  his  six  hundred  men,  has 
been  already  alluded  to.  It  would  appear,  on  the 
whole,  that  in  tolerating  foreigners  Solomon  did 
not  go  beyond  the  principles  established  by  his 
father,  though  circumstances  gave  them  a  fuller 
development. 

No  attempt  seems  to  have  been  made  in  David's 
reign  to  maintain  horses  or  chariots  for  military 
purposes.  Even  chieftains  in  battle,  as  Absalom 
on  his  fatal  day,  appear  mounted  only  on  mules. 
Yet  horses  were  already  used  in  state  equipages, 
apparently  as  a  symbol  of  royalty  (2  Sam.  xv.  I). 

That  in  the  opening  of  Saul's  reign  the  Philis- 
tines had  deprived  the  Israelites  of  all  the  most 
formidable  arms,  is  well  known.  It  is  probable 
that  this  may  have  led  to  a  more  careful  practice 
of  the  sling  and  of  the  bow,  especially  among  the 
southern  tribes,  who  were  more  immediately 
pressed  by  the  power  of  the  Philistines.     Such 


DAY 


239 


weapons  cannot  be  kept  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
rustics,  and  must  have  been  essential  against  wild 
beasts.  But,  from  causes  unknown,  the  Benja- 
mites  were  peculiarly  celebrated  as  archers  and 
slingers  (Judg.  xx.  16;  1  Chron.  viii.  40;  xii.  2  ; 
2  Chron.  xiv.  8;  xvii.  17),  while  the  pastoral 
tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  were  naturally  able  to 
escape  all  attempts  of  the  Philistines  to  deprive 
them  of  shield,  spear,  and  sword.  Hence  the 
Gadites,  who  came  to  David  at  Ziklag,  are  de- 
scribed as  formidable  and  full-armed  warriors, 
'  with  faces  like  lions,  and  swift  as  mountain  roes' 
(1  Chron.  xii.  8). 

The  standing  army  which  Saul  had  begun  to 
maintain  was  greatly  enlarged  by  David.  An 
account  of  this  is  given  in  1  Chron.  xxvii. ;  from 
which  it  would  seem  that  24,000  men  were  con- 
stantly maintained  on  service,  though  there  was  a 
relieving  of  guard  every  month.  Hence,  twelve 
times  this  number,  or  288,000,  were  under  a  per- 
manent military  organization,  with  a  general  for 
each  division  in  his  month.  Besides  this  host, 
the  register  proceeds  to  recount  twelve  princes 
over  the  tribes  of  Israel,  who  may  perhaps  be 
compared  to  the  lord-lieutenants  of  English 
counties. 

The  cabinet  of  David  (if  we  may  use  a  modern 
name)  is  thus  given  (1  Chron.  xxvii.  32-.34)  with 
reference  to  a  time  which  preceded  Absalom's  re- 
volt:— 1,  Jonathan,  David's  uncle,  a  counsellor, 
wise  man,  and  scribe ;  2,  Jehiel,  son  of  Hach- 
moni,  tutor  (?)  to  the  king's  sons;  3,  Ahithophel, 
the  king's  counsellor  ;  4,  Hushai,  the  king's  com- 
panion ;  5,  after  Ahithopel,  Jehoiada,  the  son  of 
Benaiah;  6,  Abiathar  the  priest.  It  is  added, 
'  and  the  general  of  the  king's  army  was  Joab.' 

Twelve  royal  bailifiTs  are  recited  as  a  part  of 
David's  establishment  (1  Chron.  xxvii.  25,  31), 
having  the  following  departments  under  their 
charge:  1,  The  treasures  of  gold,  silver,  &c. ; 
2,  the  magazines;  3,  the  tillage  (wheat,  &c.?); 
4,  the  vineyards ;  5,  the  wine-cellars ;  6,  the  olive 
and  sycamore  trees ;  7,  the  oil-cellars ;  8,  the 
herds  in  Sharon;  9,  the  herds  in  the  valleys; 
10,  the  camels;  11,  the  asses;  12,  the  flocks. 
The  eminently  prosperous  state  in  which  David 
left  his  kingdom  to  Solomon  appears  to  prove 
that  he  was  on  the  whole  faithfully  served,  arid 
that  his  own  excellent  intentions,  patriotic  spirit, 
and  devout  piety  (measured,  as  it  must  be  mea- 
sured, by  the  standard  of  those  ages),  made  his 
reign  beneficial  to  his  subjects. 

DAY.  The  earliest  measure  of  time  on  record 
is  the  day : — '  The  evening  and  the  morning  were 
the  first  daj/ '  (Gen.  i.  5).  Here  the  word  '  day  ' 
denotes  the  civil  or  calendar  day  of  twenty-four 
hours,  including  '  the  evening,'  or  natural  night, 
and  the  '  morning,'  or  natural  day.  It  is  re- 
markable that  in  this  account  '  the  evening,'  or 
natural  night,  precedes  '  the  morning,'  or  natural 
day.  Hence  the  Hebrew  compound  '  evening- 
morning,'  which  is  used  by  Daniel  (viii.  14)  to 
denote  a  civil  day.  In  fact,  the  Jewish  civil  day 
began,  as  it  still  does,  not  with  the  morning,  but 
the  evening — thus  the  Sabbath  commences  with 
the  sunset  of  Friday,  and  ends  with  the  sunset  of 
Saturday. 

The  inconveniences  resulting  from  a  variable 
commencement  of  the  civil  day,  earlier  or  later, 
according  to  the  different  seasons  of  the  year,  as 
well  as  the  equally  var3'ing  duration  of  the  na- 


240 


DAY 


tural  day  and  night,  must  have  been  very  con- 
siderable, and  are  sensibly  felt  by  Europeans 
when  travelling  in  the  East,  -where  the  ancient 
custom  in  this  matter  is  still  observed.  These 
inconveniences  must  be  less  obvious  to  the  people 
themselves,  who  know  no  better  system  ;  yet  they 
were  apparent  to  sevei-al  ancient  nations — the 
Egyptians,  the  Ausonians,  and  others — and  in- 
duced them  to  reckon  their  civil  day  from  mid- 
night to  midnight,  as  from  a  fixed  invariable 
point ;  and  this  usage  has  been  adopted  by  most 
of  the  modern  nations  of  Europe.  We  thus 
realize  the  advantage  of  having  our  divisions  of 
the  day,  the  houi-s,  of  equal  duration,  day  and 
night,  at  all  times  of  the  year ;  whereas  among  the 
Orientals  the  hours,  and  all  other  divisions  of  the 
natural  day  and  night,  are  of  constantly  varying 
duration,  and  the  divisions  of  the  day  vary  from 
those  of  the  night,  excepting  at  the  equinoxes. 

The  natural  day  was  at  first  divided  into  three 
parts,  morning,  noon,  and  evening,  which  are 
mentioned  by  David  as  hours  or  times  of  prayer 
(Ps.  Iv.  17). 

The  natural  night  was  also  originally  divided 
into  three  parts,  or  watches  (Ps.  Ixiii.  6  ;  xc.  4). 
The  first,  or  beginning  of  the  watches,  is  men- 
tioned in  Lam.  ii.  19  ;  the  middle  watch,  in  Judg. 
vii.  19  ;  and  the  morning  watch,  in  Exod.  xiv.  24. 
Afterwards  the  strictness  of  military  discipline 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  introduced  an 
additional  night-watch.  The  second  and  third 
watches  of  the  night  are  mentioned  in  Luke  xii. 
38,  and  the  fourth  in  Matt.  xiv.  25.  The  four 
are  mentioned  together  by  our  Lord,  in  Mark  xiii. 
35,  and  described  by  the  terms  '  the  late  watch ;' 
'  the  midnight ;'  '  the  cock-crowing  ;'  and  '  the 
morning.'  The  precise  beginning  and  ending  of 
each  of  the  four  watches  is  thus  determined : 

1.  '  The  late '  began  at  sunset  and  ended  with 
the  third  hour  of  the  night,  including  the  evening 
dawn,  or  twilight.  It  was  also  called  'even- 
tide '  (Mark  xi.  11),  or  simply  '  evening'  (John 
XX.  19). 

2.  '  The  midnight '  lasted  from  the  third  hour 
till  midnight. 

3.  '  The  cock-crowing'  lasted  from  midnight 
till  the  third  hour  after,  or  to  the  ninth  hour  of 
the  night.  It  included  the  two  cock-crowings, 
with  the  second  of  which  it  ended. 

4.  '  Earhf  lasted  from  the  ninth  to  the  twelfth 
hour  of  the' night,  or  sunrise,  including  the  morn- 
ing dawn,  or  twilight.  It  was  also  called '  morn- 
ing,' or  '  morning-tide '  (John  xviii.  28). 

The  division  of  the  day  into  twelve  hours  was 
common  among  the  Jews  after  the  captivity  in 
Babylon.     The  word  hour  first  occurs  in  the 
book  of  Daniel  (iv.  19);  and  it  is  admitted  by 
the  Jewish  writers  that  this  division  of  the  day 
was  borrowed  by  them  from  the  Babylonians. 
I    Our  Lord  appeals  to  this  ancient,  and  then  long- 
established,  division,  as  a  matter  of  public  noto- 
j    riety :  '  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day  ?' 
j    (John  xi.  9). 

i  This,  however,  was  the  division  of  the  natural 
j  day  into  twelve  hours,  which  were  therefore  vari- 
able according  to  the  seasons  of  the  year,  at  all 
!  places  except  the  equator ;  and  equal,  or  of  the 
I  mean  length,  only  at  the  vernal  and  autumnal 
I  equinoxes  ;  being  longer  in  the  summer  half-year, 
'  and  shorter  in  the  winter.  The  inconvenience  of 
[   this  has  already  been  intimated. 


DEACON 

Thii  first  hour  of  the  day  began  at  sunrise  ;  the 
sixth  hour  ended  at  mid-day,  or  noon ;  the  seventh 
hour  began  at  noon ;  and  the  twelfth  hour  ended 
at  sunset. 

The  da3-s  of  the  week  had  no  proper  names 
among  the  Hebrews,  but  were  distinguished  only 
by  their  numeral  order  [Week]. 

DEACON.  This  word  in  its  more  extended 
sense  is  used,  both  in  Scripture  and  in  ecclesi- 
astical writers,  to  designate  ani)  person  who  mi- 
nisters in  God's  service.  In  2  Cor.  vi.  4,  the 
Apostle  says,  '  But  in  all  things  approving  our- 
selves as  the  ministers  (deacons)  of  God.'  Again, 
Eph.  iii.  7,  '  Whereof  I  was  made  a  minister' 
(deacon)  ;  and  in  Col.  i.  23,  he  employs  the  same 
epithet  to  express  the  character  of  his  office.  In 
Rom.  XV.  8,  St.  Paul  calls  our  Lord  '  minister  of 
the  circumcision,'  literally  deacon  of  the  circum- 
cision ;  and,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  he 
addresses  himself  to  the  bishops  and  deacons  (Phil, 
i.  1). 

But  it  is  in  its  more  confined  sense,  as  it  ex- 
presses the  third  order  of  the  ministry  of  the  pri- 
mitive Church,  that  we  are  to  examine  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  Deacon. 

In  Acts  vi.  we  have  an  account  of  the  election 
of  seven  persons  to  the  office  of  deaconship  for  the 
purpose  of  superintending  the  distribution  of  the 
church's  bounty.  That  their  duties,  however, 
were  not  of  an  "exclusively  secular  character  is 
clear  from  the  fact  that  both  Philip  and  Stephen 
preached,  and  that  one  of  them  also  baptized. 
Ignatius,  a  martyr-disciple  of  St.  John,  and  bishop 
of  Antioch,  a.d.  68,  styles  them  at  once '  ministers 
of  the  mysteries  of  Christ ;'  adding,  that  they  are 
not  ministers  of  meats  and  drinks,  but  of  the 
Church  of  God. 

Cyprian,  bishop  of  Carthage,  a.d.  250  (whilst 
referring  their  origin  to  Acts  vi.),  styles  them 
ministers  of  episcopacy  and  of  the  church  :  at  the 
same  time  he  asserts  that  they  were  called  to  the 
ministry  of  the  altar. 

Tertullian,  a  celebrated  Father  of  the  second 
century,  classes  them  with  bishops  and  presbyters 
as  guides  and  leaders  to  the  laity. 

The  fourth  Coimcil  of  Carthage  expressly  for- 
bids the  deacon  to  assume  any  one  function  pe- 
culiar to  the  priesthood,  by  declaring  the  deacon 
as  consecrated  not  to  the  priesthood  but  to  the 
ministry. 

His  ordination,  moreover,  differed  from  that  of 
presbyter  both  in  its  form  and  in  the  powers 
which  it  conferred.  For  in  the  ordination  of  a 
presbyter,  the  presbyters  who  were  present  were 
required  to  join  in  the  imposition  of  hands  with 
the  bishop:  but  the  ordination  of  a  deacon  might 
be  performed  by  the  bishop  alone,  because,  as  the 
4th  Can.  of  the  4th  Council  of  Carthage  declares, 
he  was  ordained  not  to  the  priesthood,  but  to  the 
inferior  services  of  the  Church.  We  now  proceed 
to  notice  what  these  services  specifically  were. 

1.  The  deacon's  more  ordinary  duty  was  to  as- 
sist the  bishop  and  presbyter  in  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary  ;  especially  was  he  charged  with  the 
care  of  the  utensils  and  ornaments  appertaining 
to  the  holy  table. 

2.  In  the  administration  of  the  Eucharist,  it 
was  theirs  to  hand  the  consecrated  elements  to 
the  people. 

3.  Deacons  had  power  to  administer  the  sacrap 
ment  of  baptism. 


DEACON 

4.  The  office  of  the  deacon  was  not  to  preach, 
so  much  as  to  instruct  and  catechise  the  cate- 
chumens. His  part  was,  when  the  bishop  or 
presbyter  did  not  preach,  to  read  a  homily  from 
one  of  the  Fathers.  St.  Ambrose,  Bishop  of 
Milan,  a.d.  380,  says  expressly  that  deacons,  in 
his  time,  did  not  preach,  though  he  thinks  that 
they  were  all  originally  Evangelists,  as  were 
Philip  and  Stephen. 

5.  It  was  the  deacon's  business  to  receive  the 
offerings  of  the  people;  and  having  presented 
them  to  the  bishop  or  presbyter,  to  give  expression 
in  a  loud  voice  to  the  names  of  the  offerers. 

6.  Deacons  were  sometimes  authorised,  as  the 
bishops'  special  delegates,  to  give  to  penitents  the 
solemn  imposition  of  hands,  which  was  the  sign 
of  reconciliation. 

7.  Deacons  had  power  to  suspend  the  inferior 
clergy ;  this,  however,  was  done  only  when  the 
bishop  and  presbyter  were  absent,  and  the  case 
urgent. 

8.  The  ordinary  duty  of  deacons,  with  regard 
to  general  Councils,  was  to  act  as  scribes  and  dis- 
putants according  as  they  were  directed  by  their 
bishops.  In  some  instances  they  voted  as  proxies 
for  bishops  who  could  not  attend  in  person ;  but 
in  no  instance  do  we  find  them  voting  in  a 
general  Council  by  virtue  of  their  office.  But  in 
provincial  synods  the  deacons  were  sometimes 
allowed  to  give  their  voice,  as  well  as  the  pres- 
byters, in  their  own  name. 

9.  But,  besides  the  above,  there  were  some 
other  offices  which  the  deacon  was  called  upon  to 
fill  abroad.  One  of  these  was  to  take  care  of  the 
necessitous,  orphans,  widows,  martyrs  in  prison, 
and  all  the  poor  and  sick  who  had  any  claim 
upon  the  public  resources  of  the  church.  It  was 
also  his  especial  duty  to  notice  the  spiritual,  as 
well  as  the  bodily,  wants  of  the  people ;  and 
wherever  he  detected  evils  which  he  could  not  by 
his  own  power  and  authority  cure,  it  was  for  him 
to  refer  them  for  redress  to  the  bishop. 

In  general  the  number  of  deacons  varied  with 
the  wants  of  a  particular  church.  Sozomen  (vii. 
19,  p.  100)  informs  us  that  the  church  of  Rome, 
after  the  apostolic  model,  never  had  more  than 
seven  deacons. 

It  was  not  till  the  close  of  the  third  century 
that  deacons  were  forbidden  to  marry.  The 
Council  of  Ancyra,  a.d.  344,  in  its  10th  Can., 
ordains  that  if  a  deacon  declared  at  the  time  of 
his  ordination  that  he  would  marry,  he  should 
not  be  deprived  of  his  function  if  he  did  marry  ; 
but  that  if  he  married  without  having  made  such 
a  declaration,  'he  must  fall  into  the  rank  of 
laicks !' 

The  qualifications  required  in  deacons  by  the 
primitive  church  were  the  same  that  were  re- 
quired in  bishops  and  presbyters;  and  the  cha- 
racteristics of  a  deacon,  given  by  St.  Paul  in  his 
Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  were  the  rule  by 
which  a  candidate  was  judged  fit  for  such  an 
office.  The  second  Council  of  Carthage,  4th  Can., 
forbids  the  ordination  of  a  deacon  before  the  age 
of  twent3-five  ;  and  both  the  Civil  and  Canon 
Law  fixed  his  age  to  the  same  period. 

The  primitive  church  had  its  archdeacon, 
though  when  the  office  was  first  instituted  is  a 
matter  of  dispute  with  learned  men.  He  was 
not  in  priests'  orders ;  but  was  selected  from  the 
deacons  by  the  bishop,  and  had   considerable 


DEATH 


341 


authority  over  the  other  deacons  and  inferior 
orders. 

DEACONESS.  That  the  order  of  Deaconess 
existed  in  the  Christian  church,  even  in  apostolic 
days,  is  evident  from  Kom.  xvi.  1  :  '  I  commend 
unto  you  Phebe,  our  sister,  which  is  a  servant 
(a  deaconess)  of  the  church  which  is  at  Cenchrea.' 
The  earliest  Fathers  of  the  church,  moreover, 
speak  of  the  same  order  of  persons. 

Certain  qualifications  were  necessary  in  those 
who  were  taken  into  this  order. 

1.  It  was  necessary  that  she  should  be  a 
widow. 

2.  No  widow,  unless  she  had  borne  children, 
could  become  a  deaconess.  This  rule  arose  out 
of  a  belief  that  no  person  but  a  mother  can  possess 
those  sympathizing  and  tender  feelings  which 
ought  to  animate  the  deaconess  in  the  discharge 
of  her  peculiar  duties. 

3.  The  early  church  was  very  strict  in  exact- 
ing the  rule  which  prohibits  the  election  of  anj' 
to  be  deaconesses  who  had  been  twice  married, 
though  lawfully,  and  successively  to  two  hus- 
bands, one  after  the  other. 

It  is  a  disputed  point  with  some  learned  men 
whether  deaconesses  were  ordained  hy  imposition 
of  hands.  However,  the  fifteenth  Can.  of  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  expressly  declares  that 
deaconesses  were  so  ordained,  and  this  is  fully 
confirmed  by  the  author  of  the  Apost.  Constitu- 
tions, viii.  19.  Still,  deaconesses  were  not  con- 
secrated to  anjpriestli/  function.  Some  heretics, 
indeed,  allowed  women  to  teach,  exorcise,  and  to 
administer  baptism;  but  all  this  he  sharply  re- 
bukes as  being  contrary  to  the  apostolic  rule. 

5.  One  of  the  peculiar  duties  of  the  deaconesses 
was  to  assist  at  the  baptism  of  women. 

6.  Another  duty  the  deaconesses  had  to  perform 
was  to  instruct  and  prepare  the  catechumens  for 
baptism. 

7.  In  times  of  danger  and  persecution  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  deaconesses  to  visit  the  martyrs  in 
prison,  because  they  could  more  easily  gain  access 
to  them,  and  with  less  suspicion  and  hazard  than 
the  deacons. 

8.  The  deaconesses  stood  at  the  entrance  of 
the  church  in  order  to  direct  the  women  as  to  the 
place  each  one  should  occupy  during  divine  ser- 
vice. 

How  long  this  order  continued  in  the  Christian  ' 
church  is  not  quite  certain.  It  was  not  however  ' 
discontinued  everywhere  at  once,  and  it  was  not  | 
till  the  tenth  century  that  it  was  wholly  abro-  I 
gated. 
DEAD  SEA.    [Sea.]  { 

DEATH.     Since  death  can   be   regarded  in    j 
various  points  of  view,  the  descriptions  of  it  must    | 
necessarily  vary.     If  we  consider  the  state  of  a 
dead  man,  as  it  strikes  the  senses,  death  is  the    j 
cessation  of  natural  life.     If  we   consider  the    [ 
cause  of  death,  we  may  place  it  in  that  permanent    ; 
and  entire  cessation  of  the  feeling  and  motion  of    j 
the  body  which  results  from  the  destruction  of 
the  body.    Among  theologians,   death  is  com-    ! 
monly  said  to  consist  in  the  separation  of  soul     | 
and   body,  implying  that  the  soul   still   exists 
when  the  body  perishes.     Death  does  not  con- 
sist   in   this   separation,  but  this   separation   is 
the  consequence  of  death.    As  soon  as  the  body 
loses  feeling  and  motion,  it  is  henceforth  useless 
to  the  soul,  which  is  therefore  separated  from  it. 


242  DEBIR 

Scriptural  representations,  names,  and  modes 
of  speech  respecting  death: — 

(a.)  One  of  the  most  common  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament is,  to  return  to  the  dust,  or  to  the  earth. 
Hence  the  phrase,  the  dust  of  death.  It  is  founded 
on  the  description  Gen.  ii.  7,  and  iii.  19,  and 
denotes  the  dissolution  and  destruction  of  the 
bndi/.  Hence  the  sentiment  in  Eccles.  xii.  7, — 
'  The  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  the 
spirit  unto  God  who  gave  it' 

{b.)  A  withdrawing,  exhalation,  or  removal  of 
the  breath  of  life  (Ps.  civ.  29). 

(c.)  A  removal  from  the  body,  a  being  absent 
from  the  body,  a  departure  from  it,  &c.  Thia 
description  is  founded  on  the  comparison  of  the 
body  with  a  tent  or  lodgment  in  which  the  soul 
dwells  during  this  life.  Death  destroys  this  tent 
or  house,  and  commands  us  to  travel  on  (Job  iv. 
21;  Isa.  xxxviii.  12;  Ps.  liii.  7;  2  Cor.  v.  1; 
2  Peter  i.  13,  14). 

((/.)  Paul  likewise  uses  the  term  to  be  un- 
clothed, in  reference  to  death  (2  Cor.  v.  3,  4) ; 
because  the  body  is  represented  as  the  garment 
of  the  soul,  as  Plato  calls  it.  The  soul,  there- 
fore, as  long  as  it  is  in  the  body,  is  clothed ;  and 
as  soon  as  it  is  disembodied,  is  naked. 

(e.)  The  terms  which  denote  sleep  are  applied 
frequently  in  the  Bible,  as  everywhere  else,  to 
death  (Ps.  Ixxvi.  5;  Jer.  li.  39;  John  xi. 
13,  sqq.). 

(/.)  Death  is  frequently  compared  with  and 
named  from  a  departure,  a  goiny  away  (Job  x. 
I  21;  Ps.  xxxix.  4;  Matt.  xxvi.  24;  Phil.  i.  23; 
2  Tim.  iv.  C). 

Death,  when  personified,  is  described  as  a  ruler 
and  tyrant,  having  vast  power  and  a  great  king- 
dom, over  which  he  reigns.  15ut  the  ancients 
also  represented  it  under  some  figures  which  are 
not  common  among  us.  We  represent  it  as  a 
man  with  a  scythe,  or  as  a  skeleton,  &c. ;  but  the 
Jews,  before  the  exile,  frequently  represented 
death  as  a  hunter,  who  lays  snares  for  men  (Ps. 
xviii.  5,  6 ;  xci.  3).  After  the  exile,  they  re- 
pres'ented  him  as  a  man,  or  sometimes  as  an 
angel  (the  angel  of  Death),  with  a  cup  of  poison, 
which  he  reaches  to  men.  From  this  represen- 
tation appears  to  have  arisen  the  phrase,  which 
occurs  in  the  New  Testament,  to  taste  death 
(Matt.  xvi.  28 ;  Heb.  ii.  9),  which,  however,  in 
common  speech,  signifies  merely  to  die,  without 
reminding  one  of  the  origin  of  the  phrase.  The 
case  is  the  same  with  the  phrase  to  see  death  (Ps. 
Ixxxix.  48  ;  Luke  ii.  26). 

DE'BIR,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  about 
thirty  miles  south-west  from  Jerusalem,  and  ten 
miles  west  of  Hebron.  It  was  also  called  Kirjath- 
sepher  (Josh.  xv.  15),  and  Kirjath-sannah  (xv. 
49).  The  name  Debir  means  '  a  word'  or  '  oracle,' 
and  is  applied  to  that  most  secret  and  separated 
part  of  the  Temple,  or  of  the  most  holy  place,  in 
which  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  placed,  and 
in  which  responses  were  given  from  above  the 
cherubim.  From  this,  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
Kirjath-sepher  means  'book-city,'  it  has  been 
conjectured  that  Debir  was  some  particularly 
sacred  place  or  seat  of  learning  among  the  Ca- 
naanites,  and  a  repository  of  their  records.  '  It  is 
not  indeed  probable,'  as  Professor  Bush  remarks, 
'  that  writing  and  books,  in  our  sense  of  the  words, 
were  very  common  among  the  Canaanites;  but 
some  method  of  recording  events,  and  a  sort  of 


DEBORAH 

learning,  was  doubtless  cultivated  in  those  re- 
gions.' Debir  was  taken  by  Joshua  (xi.  38^) ; 
but  it  being  afterwards  retaken  by  the  Canaanites, 
Caleb,  to  Avhom  it  was  assigned,  gave  his  daughter 
Achsah  in  marriage  to  his  nephew  Othniel  for 
his  bravery  in  carrying  it  by  storm  (Josh,  xv. 
16).  The  town  was  afterwards  given  to  the 
priests  (xxi.  1 .5).  No  trace  of  it  is  to  be  found 
at  the  present  time. 

There  were  two  other  places  called  Debir:  one 
belonging  to  Gad,  beyond  Jordan  (Josh.  xiii. 
26) ;  the  other  to  Benjamin,  though  originally  in 
.Judah. 

DEB'ORAH  (a  bee),  a  prophetess,  wife  of  La- 
pidoth.  She  dwelt,  probably,  in  a  tent,  under  a 
well-known  palm-tree  between  Ramah  and  Bethel, 
where  she  judged  Israel  (Judg.  iv.  4,  .5).  This 
in  all  likelihood  means  that  she  was  the  organ  of 
communication  between  God  and  his  people,  and 
probably,  on  account  of  the  influence  and  autho- 
rity of  her  character,  was  accounted  in  some  sort 
as  the  head  of  the  nation,  to  whom  questions  of 
doubt  and  difficulty  were  referred  for  decision. 
In  her  triumphal  song  she  says — 
'  In  the  days  of  Shamgar,  son  of  Anath, 

In  the  days  of  Jael,  the  ways  lay  desert, 

And  high-way  travellers  went  in  winding  by- 
paths. 

Leaders  failed  in  Israel,  they  failed, 

Until  that  I  Deborah  arose. 

That  I  arose,  a  mother  in  Israel.' 

From  the  further  intimations  which  that  song 
contains,  and  from  other  circumstances,  the  peo- 
ple would  appear  to  have  sunk  into  a  state  of 
total  discouragement  under  the  oppression  of  the 
Canaanites  ;  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  rouse  them 
from  their  despondency  and  to  induce  them  to 
make  any  exertion  to  burst  the  fetters  of  their 
bondage.  From  the  gratitude  which  Deborah 
expresses  towards  the  people  for  the  eifort  which 
they  finally  made,  we  are  warranted  in  drawing 
the  conclusion  that  she  had  long  endeavoured  to 
instigate  them  to  this  step  in  vain.  At  length 
she  summoned  Barak,  the  son  of  Abinoam,  from 
Kedesh,  a  city  of  Naphtali,  on  a  mountain  not 
far  from  Hazor,  and  made  known  to  him  the  will 
of  God  that  he  should  undertake  an  enterprise  for 
the  deliverance  of  his  country.  But  such  was  his 
disheartened  state  of  feeling,  and  at  the  same 
time  such  his  confidence  in  the  superior  character 
and  authority  of  Deborah,  that  he  assented  to  go 
only  on  the  condition  that  she  would  accompany 
him.  To  this  slie  at  length  consented.  'They 
then  repaired  together  to  Kedesh,  and  collected 
there— in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Hazor,  the 
capital  of  the  dominant  power — ten  thousand  men, 
with  whom  they  marched  southward,  and  en- 
camped on  Mount  Tabor.  Sisera,  the  general  of 
Jabin,  king  of  Hazor,  who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
Canaanitish  confederacy,  immediately  collected 
an  army,  pursued  them,  and  encamped  in  face  of 
them  in  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon.  Encou- 
raged by  Deborah,  Barak  boldly  descended  from 
Tabor  into  the  plain  with  his  ten  thousand  men 
to  give  battle  to  the  far  superior  host  of  Sisera, 
which  was  rendered  the  more  formidable  to  the 
Israelites  by  nine  hundred  chariots  of  iron.  The 
Canaanites  were  beaten  ;  and  Barak  pursued  them 
northward  to  Harosheth.  Sisera  himself,  being 
hotly  pursued,  alighted  from  his  chariot  and 
escaped  on  foot  to  the  tent  of  Heber  the  Kenite, 


DECALOGUE 

by  whose  wife  he  was  slain.  This  great  victory 
(dated  about  B.C.  129G),  which  seems  to  havo 
been  followed  up,  broke  the  power  of  the  native 
princes,  and  secured  to  the  Israelites  a  repose  of 
forty  years'  duration.  During  part  of  this  time 
Deborah  probably  continued  to  exercise  her  for- 
mer authority  ;  but  nothing  more  of  her  history 
is  l^nown. 

The  song  of  triumph,  which  was  composed  in 
consequence  of  the  great  victory  over  Sisera,  is 
said  to  have  been  '  sung  by  Deborah  and  Barak.' 
It  is  usually  regarded  as  the  composition  of 
Deborah  ;  and  was  probably  indited  by  her  to  be 
sung  on  the  return  of  Barak  and  his  warriors 
from  the  pursuit.  It  is  a  peculiarly  fine  specimen 
of  the  earlier  poetry  of  the  Hebrews. 

2.  DEBORAH.  The  nurse  of  Rebekah,  whom 
she  accompanied  to  the  land  of  Canaan  ;  she 
died  near  Beth-el,  and  was  buried  under  an  oak, 
which  for  that  reason  was  thenceforth  called 
AUon-bachuth — '  the  oak  of  weeping'  (Gen.  xxxv, 
8). 

DECALOGUE,  the  ten  words  (Exod.  xxxiv. 
28 ;  Dent.  iv.  13;  x.  4).  This  is  the  name  most 
usually  given  by  the  Greek  Fathers  to  the  law 
of  the  two  tables,  given  by  God  to  Moses  on 
Mount  Sinai.  The  Decalogue  was  written  on 
two  stone  slabs  (Exod.  xxxi.  18),  which,  having 
been  broken  by  Moses  (xxxii.  1 9),  were  renewed 
by  God  (xxxiv.  1,  &c.).  They  are  said  (Deut. 
ix.  10)  to  have  been  written  by  the  finger  of  God, 
an  expression  which  always  implies  an  imme- 
diate act  of  the  Deity.  The  decalogue  is  five 
times  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament,  there 
called  commandments,  but  only  the  latter  precepts 
are  specifically  cited,  which  refer  to'our  duties  to 
each  other  (Matt.  xvii.  18,  19,  &c.;  Mark  x.  19; 
Luke  xviii.  20  ;  Rom.  xiii.  9  ;  vii.  7,  8  ;  Matt.  v. ; 
1  Tim.  i.  9,  10).     [Law.] 

The  circumstance  of  these  precepts  being  called 
the  ten  words  has  doubtless  led  to  the -belief  that 
the  two  tables  contained  ten  distinct  precepts,  five 
in  each  table;  while  some  have  supposed  that 
they  were  called  by  this  name  to  denote  their 
perfection,  ten  being  considered  the  most  per- 
lect  of  numbers.  Philo-Judaeus  divides  them 
into  two  pentads,  the  first  pentad  ending  with 
Exod.  XX.  12,  '  Honour  thy  father  and  thy 
mother,'  &c.,  or  the  Jifth  commandment  of  the 
Greek,  Reformed,  and  Anglican  churches  ;  while 
the  more  general  opinion  among  Christians 
is  that  the  first  table  contained  our  duty  to  God, 
ending  with  the  law  to  keep  the  sabbath  holy, 
and  the  second,  our  duty  to  our  neighbour.  As 
they  are  not  numerically  divided  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, so  that  we  cannot  positively  say  which  is 
the  first,  which  the  second,  &c.,  it  may  not  prove 
uninteresting  to  the  student  in  Biblical  literature, 
if  we  here  give  a  brief  account  of  the  different 
modes  of  dividing  them  which  have  prevailed 
among  Jews  and  Christians.  These  may  be 
classed  as  the  Talmudical,  the  Origenian,  and  the 
two  Masoretic  divisions. 

According  to  the  division  contained  in  the  Tal- 
mud, the  first  commandment  consists  of  the  words 
'  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  who  brought  thee  out 
of  the  land  of  Egjpt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage' 
(E.xod.  XX.  2  ;  Deut.  v.  6)  ;  the  second  (Exod.  iii. 
4),  '  Thou  shalt  have  none  other  gods  beside  me  ; 
thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  graven  image,' 
&c.  to  ver.  6 :  the  third,  '  Thou  shalt  not  take 


DECALOGUE 


243 


God's  name  in  vain,'  &c. ;  the  fourth,  '  Remem- 
ber to  keep  holy  the  sabbath  day,'  &c. ;  the  fifth, 
'  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,'  &c. ;  the 
sixth,  'Thou  .shalt  not  kill ;'  the  seventh,  'Thou 
shalt  not  commit  adultery  ;'  the  eighth,  '  Thou 
shalt  not  steal ;'  the  ninth,  '  Thou  shalt  not  bear 
felse  witness,'  &c. ;  and  the  tenth,  '  Thou  shalt 
not  covet,'  &c.  to  the  end. 

The  next  division  is  that  approved  by  Origen, 
and  is  the  one  in  use  in  the  Greek  and  in  all  the 
Reformed  Churches,  except  the  Lutheran. 

Although  Origen  was  acquainted  with  the  dif- 
fering opinions  which  existed  in  his  time  in  regard 
to  this  subject,  it  is  evident  from  his  own  words 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  that  division  by  which 
the  number  ten  is  completed  by  making  the  pro- 
hibition against  coveting  either  the  house  or  the 
wife  a  distinct  commandment.  In  his  eighth 
Homily  on  Genesis,  after  citing  the  words,  '  I  ara 
the  Lord  thy  God,  who  brought  thee  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,'  he  adds,  '  this  is  not  a  part  of  the 
commandment.'  The  first  commandment  is, 
'Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  but  me,'  and 
then  follows,  'Thou  shalt  not  make  an  idol.' 
These  together  are  thought  by  some  to  make  one 
commandment ;  but  in  this  case  the  number  tc-n 
will  not  be  complete — where  then  will  be  the 
truth  of  the  decalogue  ?  But  if  it  be  divided  as 
we  have  done  in  the  last  sentence,  the  full  num- 
ber will  be  evident.  The  first  commandment 
therefore  is,  '  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  but 
me,'  and  the  second,  'Thou  shalt  not  make  to 
thyself  an  idol,  nor  a  likeness,'  &c.  Gregory 
Nazianzen  and  Jerome  take  the  same  view  with 
Origen.  It  is  also  supported  by  the  learned  Jews 
Philo  and  Josephus,  who  speak  of  it  as  the  re- 
ceived division  of  the  Jewish  Church. 

It  appears  to  have  been  forgotten  in  the  Western 
Church,  but  was  revived  by  Calvin  in  1.536,  and 
is  also  received  by  that  section  of  the  Lutherans 
who  followed  Bucer,  called  the  Tetrapolitans.  It 
is  adopted  by  Calmet,  and  is  that  followed  in  the 
present  Russian  Church,  as  well  as  by  the  Greeks 
in  general.  It  appeared  in  the  Bishopp "  Book  in 
1537,  and  was  adopted  by  the  Anglican  Church 
at  the  Reformation  (154S),  substituting  seventh 
for  sabbath-day  in  her  formularies.  The  same 
division  was  published  with  approbation  by  Bon- 
ner in  his  Homilies  in  1555. 

We  shall  next  proceed  to  describe  the  two 
Masoretic  divisions.  The  first  is  that  in  Exodus. 
According  to  this  arrangement,  the  two  first  com- 
mandments (according  to  the  Origenian  or  Greek 
division),  that  is,  the  commandment  concerning 
the  worship  of  one  God,  and  that  concerning 
images,  make  but  one ;  the  second  is,  '  Thou  .shalt 
not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain,' 
and  so  on  until  we  arrive  at  the  two  last,  the  for- 
mer of  which  is,  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neigh- 
bour's house,'  and  the  last  or  tenth,  '  Thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbour's  wife,  nor  his  servant,' 
&c.,  to  the  end.  This  was  the  division  approved 
by  Luther,  and  it  has  been  ever  since  his  time 
received  by  the  Lutheran  Church.  This  division 
is  also  followed  in  the  Trent  catechism,  and  may 
therefore  be  called  the  Roman  Catholic  divi- 
sion. 

Those  who  follow  this  division  have  been  ac- 
customed to  give  the  decalogue  very  generally  in 
an  abridged  form  :  thus  the  first  commandment 
in  the  Lutheran  shorter  catechism  is  simply. '  Thou 
R  2 


244 


DEDAN 


DEGREES,  PSALMS  OF 


shalt  have  no  other  gods  but  me ;'  the  second, 
'  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  -name  of  thy  God  in 
vain  ;'  the  third,  '  Thou  shalt  sanctify  the  sabbath- 
day.'  A  similar  practice  is  followed  by  the 
Koman  Catholics,  although  they,  as  well  as  the 
Lutherans,  in  their  larger  catechisms  (as  the 
Douay)  give  them  at  full  length.  This  practice 
has  given  rise  to  the  charge  made  against  those 
denominations  of  leaving  out  the  second  com- 
mandment, whereas  it  would  have  been  more  cor- 
rect to  say  that  they  had  mutilated  the  first,  or  at 
least  that  the  form  in  which  they  give  it  has  the 
effect  of  concealing  a  most  important  part  of  it 
from  such  as  had  only  access  to  their  shorter 
catechisms. 

The  last  division  is  the  second  Masoretic,  or 
that  of  Deuteronomy,  sometimes  called  the  Au- 
gustinian.  This  division  differs  from  the  former 
simply  in  placing  the  precept '  Thou  shalt  not 
covet  thy  neighbour's  wife'  before  '  Thou  shalt 
not  covet  thy  neighbour's  house,'  &c. ;  and  for  this 
transposition  it  has  the  authority  of  Deut.  v.  21. 
The  authority  of  the  Masoretes  cannot,  however, 
he  of  sufficient  force  to  supersede  the  earlier  tra- 
ditions of  Philo  and  Josephus. 

DECAP'OLIS.  This  appears  to  denote  not, 
as  is  frequently  stated,  a  particular  province  or 
district,  but  certain  Ten  Cities,  including  the  ad- 
jacent villages,  which  resembled  each  other  in 
being  inhabited  mostly  by  Gentiles,  and  in  their 
civic  institutions  and  privileges.  In  Matt.  iv.  25,  it 
is  said, '  Multitudes  followed  Jesus  from  Galilee, 
and  from  Decapolis,  and  from  Jerusalem,  and 
from  Judaea,  and  from  beyond  Jordan.'  This 
must  be  considered  as  a  popular  mode  of  expres- 
sion, just  as,  in  describing  a  public  meeting  in 
this  country,  it  might  be  said  '  numbers  attended 
it  from  Kent  and  Sussex,  and  from  the  Cinque 
Ports.'  We,  therefore,  cannot  agree  with  Dr. 
Lightfoot  in  thinking  it '  absurd  to  reckon  the 
most  famed  cities  of  Galilee  for  cities  of  Deca- 
polis, when,  both  in  sacred  and  profane  authors, 
Galilee  is  plainly  distinguished  from  Decapolis.' 
One  at  least  of  the  Decapolitan  towns  (Scytho- 
polis,  formerly  Bethshan)  was  in  Galilee,  and 
several,  if  not  all  the  rest,  were  in  the  country 
beyond  Jordan.  Pliny  gives  the  following  list, 
but  allows  that  a  difference  of  opinion  existed  as 
to  its  correctness.  1.  Damascus;  2.  Philadelphia; 
3.  Raphana;  4.  Scythopolis;  5.  Gadara;  6. 
Hippos;  7.  Dion;  8.  Pella;  9.  Galasa;  10. 
Cauatha.  Josephus  speaks  of  Gadara  and  Hippos 
as  Grecian  cities,  and  calls  Scythopolis  the 
greatest  city  of  the  Decapolis,  from  which  it  may 
be  inferred  that  he  excluded  Damascus  from  the 
number.  For  Damascus  and  Raphana,  Cellarius 
substitutes  Ca;sarea  Philippi  and  Gergesa,  and 
Ptolemy  Capitolias.  The  name  Decapolis  was  in 
course  of  time  applied  to  more  than  ten  towns,  a 
circumstance  which  may  in  part  account  for  the 
discrepancies  in  the  lists  given  by  various  writers. 
The  Decapolitan  towns  referred  to  in  the  Gospels 
were  evidently  situated  not  far  from  the  sea  of 
Galilee  (Mark  v.  20;  vii.  31). 

DE'DAN.  Two  persons  of  this  name  are  men- 
tioned in  Scripture  ;  one  the  son  of  Cush  (Gen. 
X.  7),  and  the  other  the  second  son  of  Jokshan, 
Abraham's  son  by  Keturah  (Gen.  xxv.  3).  Both 
were  founders  of  tribes,  afterwards  repeatedly 
named  in  Scripture. 

Of  the  descendants  of  the  Cushite  Dedan,  very 


little  is  known.  It  is  supposed  that  they  settled 
in  southern  Arabia,  near  the  Persian  Gulf;  but 
the  existence  in  this  quarter  of  a  place  called 
Dadan  or  Dadena,  is  the  chief  ground  for  this 
conclusion. 

The  descendants  of  the  Abrahamite  Jokshan 
seem  to  have  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Idu- 
maea;  for  the  prophet  Jeremiah  (xlix.  8)  calls  on 
them  to  consult  their  safety,  because  the  calamity 
of  the  sons  of  Esau,  i.  e.  the  Idumseans,  was  at 
hand.  The  same  prophet  (xxv.  23)  connects 
them  with  Thema  and  Buz,  two  other  tribes  of 
Arabia  Petrsea,  or  Arabia  Deserta,  as  does  Ezekiel 
(xxv.  13)  with  Theman,  a  district  of  Edom.  It 
is  not  always  clear  when  the  name  occurs  which 
of  the  two  Dedans  is  intended ;  but  it  is  probably 
the  Cushite  tribe,  which  is  described  as  addicted 
to  commerce,  or  rather,  perhaps,  engaged  in  the 
carrying-trade.  Its  'travelling  companies,'  or 
caravans,  are  mentioned  by  Isaiah  (xxi.  13) ;  in 
Ezekiel  (xxvii.  20),  the  Dedanites  are  described 
as  supplying  the  markets  of  Tyre  with  flowing 
riding-cloths:  and  elsewhere  (xxxviii.  13)  the 
same  prophet  names  them  along  with  the  mer- 
chants of  Tarshish. 

DEDICATION,  a  religious  ceremony,  where- 
by anything  is  dedicated  or  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  God;  and  it  appears  to  have  originated 
in  the  desire  to  commence,  with  peculiar  solemnity, 
the  practical  use  and  application  of  whatever  had 
been  set  apart  to  the  divine  service.  Thus  Moses 
dedicated  the  Tabernacle  in  the  Wilderness 
(Exod.  xl. ;  Num.  vii.);  Solomon  his  temple  (1 
Kings  viii.) ;  the  returned  exiles  theirs  (Ezra  vi. 
16,  17);  Herod  his.  The  Maccabees,  having 
cleansed  the  temple  from  its  pollutions  under 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  again  dedicated  the  altar 
(1  Mace.  iv.  52-9),  and  an  annual  festival  was 
established  in  commemoration  of  the  event.  This 
feast  was  celebrated  not  only  at  Jerusalem,  but 
everywhere  throughout  the  country ;  in  which 
respect  it  differed  from  the  feasts  of  the  Passover, 
Pentecost,  and  Tabernacles,  which  could  only  be 
observed  at  Jerusalem. 

In  John  X.  22,  23,  we  are  told  that  Jesus  was 
at  Jerusalem,  walking  in  Solomon's  porch  at  the 
time  of '  the  feast  of  the  dedication,  and  it  was 
winter.'  This  is  usually  supposed  to  have  been 
the  feast  commemorating  the  dedication  by  Judas 
Maccabseus,  which  was  celebrated  in  the  month 
Cislev,  about  the  winter  solstice  (answering  to 
the  15th  of  December).  There  seems  no  reason 
to  disturb  this  conclusion  ;  for  the  dedication  of 
Solomon's  temple  was  in  the  seventh  month,  or 
autumn  ;  that  of  Zerubbabel's  temple  in  the 
month  Adar,  in  the  spring ;  and,  although  that  of 
Herod's  temple  was  in  the  winter,  we  know  not 
that  it  was  celebrated  by  an  annual  feast,  while 
the  Maccabaean  dedication  was  a  festival  much 
observed  in  the  time  of  Christ. 

Not  only  were  sacred  places  thus  dedicated ; 
but  some  kind  of  dedicatory  solemnity  was  ob- 
served with  respect  to  cities,  walls,  gates,  and 
even  private  houses  (Deut.  xx.  5 ;  Ps.  xxx.  title ; 
Neh.  xii.  27).  We  may  trace  the  continuance  of 
these  usages  in  the  custom  of  consecrating  or 
dedicating  churches  and  chapels  ;  and  in  the 
ceremonies  connected  with  the  '  opening '  of  roads, 
markets,  bridges,  &c.,  and  with  the  launching  of 
ships. 

DEGREES,  PSALMS  OF.    [Psalms.] 


DELUGE 

DEL'ILAH,  the  -woman  whom  Samson  loved, 
and  who  betrayed  him  to  his  enemies  (Judg.  xvi.) 
[Sajison]. 

DELUGE.  The  narrative  of  a  flood,  given  in 
the  book  of  Genesis  (vii.  and  viii.),  by  which, 
according  to  the  literal  sense  of  the  description, 
the  whole  world  was  overwhelmed  and  every  ter- 
restrial creature  destroyed,  with  the  exception  of 
one  liunian  family  and  the  representatives  of  each 
species  of  animal,  supernaturally  preserved  in  an 
ark,  constructed  by  divine  appointment  for  the 
purpose,  need  not  here  be  followed  in  detail.  The 
account  furnished  by  the  sacred  historian  is  cir- 
cumstantially distinct;  and  the  whole  is  expressly 
ascribed  to  divine  agency :  but,  in  several  of  the 
lesser  particulars,  secondary  causes,  as  rain,  '  the 
opening  of  the  windows  of  Heaven '  (vii.  1 1 ),  and 
the  '  breaking  up  of  the  fountains  of  the  great 
deep,'  are  mentioned,  and  again  the  effect  of  wind 
in  drying  up  the  waters  (viii.  1).  It  is  chiefly  to 
be  remarked  that  the  whole  event  is  represented 
as  both  commencing  and  terminating  in  the  most 
gradual  and  quiet  manner,  without  anything  at 
all  resembling  the  catastrophes  and  convulsions 
often  pictured  in  vulgar  imagination  as  accompa- 
nying it.  When  the  waters  subsided,  so  little  was 
the  surface  of  the  earth  changed  that  the  vegeta- 
tion continued  uninjured ;  the  olive-trees  remained 
from  which  the  dove  brought  its  token. 

We  allude  particularly  to  these  circumstances 
in  the  narrative  as  being  those  which  bear  most 
upon  the  probable  nature  and  extent  of  the  event, 
which  it  is  our  main  object  in  the  present  article 
to  examine,  according  to  the  tenor  of  what  little 
evidence  can  be  collected  on  the  subject,  whether 
from  the  terms  of  the  narrative  or  from  other 
sources  of  information  which  may  be  opened  to  us 
by  the  researches  of  science. 

Much,  indeed,  might  be  said  on  the  subject  in 
other  points  of  view ;  and  especially  in  a  more 
properly  theological  sense,  it  may  be  dwelt  upon 
as  a  part  of  the  great  series  of  divine  interpositions 
and  dispensations  which  the  sacred  history  dis- 
closes. But  our  present  object,  as  well  as  limits, 
will  restrict  us  from  enlarging  on  these  topics ; 
or,  again,  upon  the  various  ideas  which  have  pre- 
vailed on  the  subject  apart  from  Scripture  on  the 
one  hand,  or  science  on  the  other.  Thus,  we  need 
merely  allude  to  the  fact  that  in  almost  all  nations, 
from  the  remotest  periods,  there  have  prevailed 
certain  mythological  narratives  and  legendary 
tales  of  similar  catastrophes.  Such  narratives 
have  formed  a  part  of  the  rude  belief  of  the 
Egyptians,  Chaldaeans,  Greeks,  Scythians,  and 
Celtic  tribes.  They  have  also  been  discovered 
umong  the  Peruvians  and  Mexicans,  and  the 
South  Sea  Islanders.  For  details  on  these  points 
we  refer  our  readers  to  the  work  of  Bryant 
{Ancient  Mythology),  and  more  especially  to  the 
treatise  of  the  Eev.  L.  V.  Harcourt  on  the  Deluge, 
who  appears  to  have  collected  everything  of  this 
kind  bearing  on  the  subject. 

With  reference  to  our  present  design  the  most 
material  question  is  that  of  the  existence  of  those 
traces  which  it  might  be  supposed  would  be  dis- 
covered of  the  action  of  such  a  deluge  on  the 
existing  surface  of  the  globe;  and  the  consequent 
views  which  we  must  adopt  according  to  the  de- 
gree of  accordance  or  discordance  which  such 
evidences  may  offer,  as  compared  with  the  written 
uarrative. 


DELUGE 


245 


The  evidence  which  geology  may  disclose  and 
which  can  in  any  degree  bear  on  our  present  sub- 
ject must,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  be  confined 
to  indications  of  superficial  action  attributable  to 
the  agency  of  water,  subsequent  to  the  latest 
period  of  the  regular  geological  formations,  and, 
corresponding  in  character  to  a  temporary  inun- 
dation of  a  quiet  and  tranquil  nature,  of  a  depth 
sufficient  to  cover  the  highest  mountains,  and, 
lastly  (as  indeed  this  condition  implies'),  extend- 
ing over  the  whole  globe ;  or,  if  these  conditions 
should  not  be  fulfilled,  then,  indications  of  at 
least  something  approaching  to  this,  or  with  which 
the  terms  of  the  description  may  be  fairly  under- 
stood and  interpreted  to  correspond. 

The  general  result  of  the  geological  researches 
into  this  subject  is  briefly  this :  the  traces  of  cur- 
rents, and  the  like,  which  the  surface  of  the  eai-th 
does  exhibit,  and  which  might  be  ascribed  to  dilu- 
vial action  of  some  kind,  are  certainly  not  the 
results  of  one  universal  simultaneous  submergence, 
but  of  many  distinct,  local,  aqueous  forces,  for  the 
most  part  continued  in  action  for  long  periods, 
and  of  a  kind  precisely  analogous  to  such  agency 
as  is  now  at  work.  While,  further,  many  parts 
of  the  existing  surface  show  no  traces  of  such 
operations ;  and  the  phenomena  of  the  volcanic 
districts  prove  distinctly  that  during  the  enor- 
mous periods  which  have  elapsed  since  the  craters 
were  active,  no  deluge  could  possibly  have  passed 
over  them  without  removing  all  those  lighter 
portions  of  their  exuviae  which  have  evidently 
remained  wholly  untouched  since  they  were 
ejected. 

Upon  the  whole  it  is  thus  apparent,  that  we 
have  no  evidence  whatever  of  any  great  aqueous 
revolution  at  any  comparatively  recent  period 
having  affected  the  earth's  surface  over  any  con- 
siderable tract:  changes,  doubtless,  may  have 
been  produced  on  a  small  scale  in  isolated  dis- 
tricts. The  phenomena  presented  by  caves  con- 
taining bones,  as  at  Kirkdale  and  other  localities, 
are  not  of  a  kind  forming  any  breach  in  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  analogies  by  which  all  the  changes 
in  the  surface  are  more  and  more  seen  to  have 
been  carried  on.  But  a  recent  simultaneous  in- 
flux of  water  covering  the  globe,  and  ascending 
above  the  level  of  the  mountains,  must  have  left 
indisputable  traces  of  its  influence,  which  not 
only  is  not  the  case,  but  against  which  we  have 
positive  facts  standing  out.  Apart  from  the  tes- 
timonies of  geology  there  are  other  sciences  which 
must  be  interrogated  on  such  a  subject.  These 
are,  chiefly,  terrestrial  physics,  to  assign  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  supply  of  water  to  stand  all  over  the 
globe  five  miles  in  depth  above  the  level  of  the 
ordinary  sea ; — natural  history,  to  count  the  my- 
riads of  species  of  living  creatures  to  be  preserved 
and  continued  in  the  ark; — mechanics,  to  con- 
struct such  a  vessel;— with  some  others  not  less 
necessary  to  the  case.  But  we  have  no  dispo- 
sition to  enter  more  minutely  on  such  points  :  the 
reader  will  find  them  most  clearly  and  candidly 
stated  in  Dr.  Pye  Smith's  Geoloqy  and  Scripture, 
&c.  p.  130,  2nd  edit. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  the  nature  and  possible 
solutions  of  the  difficulty  thus  presented.  We 
believe  only  two  main  solutions  have  been  at- 
tempted. One  is  that  proposed  by  Dr.  Pye  Smith 
(ib.  p.  294),  who  expressly  contends  that  there  is 
I  no  real  contradiction  between  these  facts  and  the 


246 


DELUGE 


DEMETKIUS  SOTER 


description  in  the  Mosaic  record,  when  the  latter 
is  correctly  interpreted.  This  more  correct  inter- 
pretation then  refers,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the 
proper  import  of  the  Scripture  terms  commonly 
taken  to  imply  the  universality  of  the  deluge. 
These  the  author  shows,  by  a  large  comparison  of 
similar  passages,  are  only  to  be  understood  as 
expressing  a  great  extent ;  often,  indeed,  the  very 
same  phrase  is  applied  to  a  very  limited  region 
or  country,  as  in  Gen.  xli.  56;  Deut.  ii.  25; 
Acts  ii.  5,  &c.  Thus,  so  far  as  these  expressions 
are  concerned,  the  description  may  apply  to  a  local 
deluge. 

Next,  the  destruction  of  the  whole  existing 
human  race  does  not  by  any  means  imply  this 
universality,  since,  by  ingenious  considerations  as 
to  the  multiplication  of  mankind  at  the  alleged 
era  of  the  deluge,  the  author  has  shown  that  they 
probably  had  not  extended  beyond  a  compara- 
tively limited  district  of  the  East. 

A  local  destruction  of  animal  life  would  also 
allow  of  such  a  reduction  of  the  numbers  to  be 
included  in  the  ark,  as  might  obviate  objections 
on  that  score ;  and  here  again  the  Oriental  idiom 
may  save  the  necessity  of  the  literal  supposition 
of  evei-y  actual  species  being  included. 

Again,  certain  peculiar  difficulties  connected 
with  the  resting  of  the  ark  on  Mount  Ararat  are 
combated  by  supposing  the  name  incorrectly  ap- 
plied to  the  mountain  now  so  designated,  and 
really  to  belong  to  one  of  much  lower  elevation. 

Lastly,  this  author  suggests  considerations 
tending  to  fix  the  region  which  may  have  been 
the  scene  of  the  actual  inundation  described  by 
Moses,  in  about  that  part  of  Western  Asia  where 
there  is  a  large  district  now  considerably  de- 
pressed below  the  level  of  the  sea:  this  might 
have  been  submerged  by  the  joint  action  of  rain, 
and  an  elevation  of  the  bed  of  the  Persian  and 
Indian  Seas.  And,  finally,  he  quotes  the  opinions 
of  several  approved  divines  in  confirmation  of 
such  a  view,  especially  as  bearing  upon  all  the 
essential  religious  instruction  which  the  narrative 
is  calculated  to  convey. 

Other  attempts  have  been  made  with  more  or 
less  probability  to  assign  particular  localities  as 
the  scene  of  the  Mosaic  deluge,  if  understood  to 
have  been  partial.  Some  diluvial  beds  posterior 
to  the  tertiary  formations  have  been  occasionally 
pointed  out  as  offering  some  probability  of  such 
an  origin.  Thus,  e.  g.  Mr.  W.  J.  Hamilton, 
secretary  to  the  Geological  Society,  in  his  Tour 
in  Asia  Minor  (vol.  ii.  p.  386),  found  in  the 
plains  of  Armenia,  especially  in  some  localities 
near  Khorassan  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Arpachai 
or  Araxes,  a  remarkable  thin  bed  of  marl  con- 
taining shells  of  tertiary  {qu.  recent  ?)  species : 
these  he  attributes  to  a  local  deluge  occurring  (as 
the  position  of  the  bed  indicates)  after  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  volcanic  action  which  has  taken  place 
in  that  district.  He  expressly  adds  that  he 
regards  this  deluge  as  probably  coincident  with  the 
Mosaic ;  understanding  the  latter  in  a  restricted 
or  partial  sense,  and  imagining  it  explained  by 
physical  causes  which  might  have  followed  the 
volcanic  action. 

The  only  other  mode  of  viewing  the  subject  is 
that  which,  accepting  the  letter  of  the  Scriptural 
narrative,  makes  the  deluge  strictly  universal ; 
and  allowing  (as  they  must  be  allowed)  all  the 
difficulties,  not  to  say  contradictions,  in  a  natural 


sense,  involved  in  it,  accounts  for  them  all  by  su- 
pernatural agency.  In  fact,  the  terms  of  the 
narrative,  strictly  taken,  may  perhaps  be  iinder- 
stood  throughout  as  representing  the  whole  event, 
from  beginning  to  end,  as  entirely  of  a  miracu- 
lous nature.  If  so,  it  may  be  said,  there  is  an 
end  to  all  difficulties  or  question,  since  there  are 
no  limits  to  omnipotence ;  and  one  miracle  is  not 
greater  than  another.  Thus,  Mr.  Lyell  {Princi- 
ples of  Geol.  iv.  219.  4th  ed.),  after  ably  recapitu- 
lating the  main  points  of  evidence,  as  far  as  phy- 
sical causes  are  concerned,  remarks, '  If  we  believe 
the  flood  to  have  been  a  temporary  suspension  of 
the  ordinary  laws  of  the  natural  world,  requiring 
a  miraculous  intervention  of  the  divine  power, 
then  it  is  evident  that  the  credibility  of  such  an 
event  cannot  be  enhanced  by  any  series  of  inun- 
dations, however  analogous,  of  which  the  geologist 
may  imagine  he  has  discovered  the  proofs.  For 
my  own  part,  I  have  always  considered  the  flood, 
when  its  universality,  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
term,  is  insisted  on,  as  a  preternatural  event  far 
beyond  the  reach  of  philosophical  inquiry,  whe- 
ther as  to  the  causes  employed  to  produce  it,  or 
the  effects  most  likely  to  result  from  it.' 

In  a  word,  if  we  suppose  the  flood  to  have  been 
miraculously  produced,  and  all  the  difficulties 
thus  overcome,  we  must  also  suppose  that  it  was 
not  only  miraculously  terminated  also,  but  every 
trace  and  mark  of  it  supernaturally  effaced  and 
destroyed. 

Now,  considering  the  immense  amount  of  su- 
pernatural agency  thus  rendered  necessary,  this 
hypothesis  has  appeared  to  some  quite  untenable. 
Dr.  Pj'e  Smith,  in  particular  (whom  no  one  will 
suspect  of  any  leaning  to  scepticism),  enlarges  on 
the  difficulty  (p.  157,  and  note),  and  off'ers  some 
excellent  remarks  on  the  general  question  of  mi- 
racles (p.  84-89) ;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that, 
however  plausible  may  be  the  assertion  that  all 
miracles  are  alike,  yet  the  idea  of  supernatural 
agency  to  so  enormous  an  amount  as  in  the  pre- 
sent instance  is,  to  many  minds  at  least,  very 
staggering,  if  not  wholly  inadmissible.  In  fact, 
in  stretching  the  argument  to  such  an  extent,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  we  may  be  trenching 
upon  difficulties  in  another  quarter,  and  not  suffi- 
ciently regarding  the  force  of  the  evidence  on 
which  any  miracles  are  supported  [Miracle]. 

In  any  point  of  view,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  subject  involves  difficulties  of  no  inconsider- 
able amount;  and  if,  after  due  consideration  of 
the  suggestions  offered  for  their  solution,  we 
should  still  feel  it  necessary  to  retain  a  cautious 
suspense  of  judgment  on  the  subject,  it  may  be 
also  borne  in  mind  that  such  hesitation  will  not 
involve  the  dereliction  of  any  material  religious 
doctrine. 

DE'MAS,  a  Thessalonian  Christian  who  was 
for  a  time  associated  with  St.  Paul,  but  who  after- 
wards abandoned  him  at  Rome,  either  from  being 
discouraged  by  the  hardships  and  perils  of  the 
service,  or  in  pursuit  of  temporal  advantages  (Col. 
iv.  14  ;  Philem.  24  ;  2  Tim.  iv.  10). 

DEME'TRIUS,  a  man's  name,  denoting  a 
votary  of  Ceres,  and  very  common  among  the 
Greeks.  The  persons  of  this  name  mentioned 
in  the  history  of  the  Maccabees,  and  in  the  New 
Testament,  are — 

1.  DEME'TRIUS  SOTER,  king  of  Syria. 
He  was  son  of  Seleucus  IV.,  sur named  Philopar 


DEMETRIUS 

tor ;  but,  being  an  hostage  at  Rome  at  the  time 
of  his  father's  death,  his  ancle,  the  notorious 
Antiochus  Epiphanes,  assumed  the  crown  of  Syria, 
and  retained  it  eleven  years.  After  him  it  was 
held  two  years  by  his  son  Antiochus  Eupator, 
who  was  put  to  death  in  B.C.  162  by  Demetrius, 
who  then  arrived  in  Syria  and  secured  the  royal 
heritage  from  which  he  had  so  long  been  ex- 
cluded. He  reigned  twelve  years,"  B.C.  1G2-150. 
The  points  in  which  his  history  connects  him 
with  the  Jews  are  alone  of  interest  in  this  work, 
and  these  points  belong  to  the  history  of  the 
Maccabees  [see  art.  Maccabees].  To  his  time 
belong  the  latter  end  of  the  government  of  Judas 
in  Israel  and  the  beginning  of  that  of  Jonathan. 
He  acted  oppressively  and  unjustlytowards  them ; 
but,  when  a  rival  arose  in  the  person  of  Alex- 
ander Balas,  he  bade  so  high  for  the  support  of 
Jonathan  as  to  create  a  doubt  of  his  sincerity ; 
for  which  cause,  as  well  as  from  resentment  at 
the  injuries  he  had  inflicted  on  them,  the  Jews 
espoused  the  cause  of  Balas,  to  whose  success 
they  in  no  slight  degree  contributed  [Alexander 
BalasJ. 

2.  DEMETRIUS  NICATOR,  or  NICA- 
NOR,  son  of  the  preceding,  but  who  was  ex- 
cluded from  the  throne  till  B.C.  146,  by  the  suc- 
cess of  Alexander  Balas,  and  then  recovered  it 
chiefly  by  the  assistance  of  his  father-in-law 
Ptolemy  Philometor.  He  at  first  treated  the 
Jews  well,  but  eventually  gave  them  so  much 
cause  for  dissatisfaction  that  they  readily  espoused 
the  cause  of  Antiochus  Theos,  son  of  Alexander 
Balas.  Demetrius  underwent  many  vicissitudes, 
and  passed  several  years  (b.c.  141-135)  in  cap- 
tivity among  the  Parthians,  from  which  he  even- 
tually returned  and  recovered  his  throne,  which 
he  continued  to  occupy  till  B.C.  126,  when  he  was 
defeated  in  battle  by  the  pretender  Alexander 
Zebina,  and  afterwards  slain  at  Tyre,  whither  he 
had  fled  [Maccabees]. 

3.  DEMETRIUS,  a  silversmith  at  Ephesus, 
who,  being  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
under  the  preaching  of  Paul,  assembled  his 
fellow-craftsmen,  and  excited  a  tumult  by  ha- 
ranguing them  on  the  danger  that  threatened  the 
worship  of  the  great  goddess  Diana,  and  conse- 
quently their  own  craft  as  silversmiths  Their 
employment  was  to  make  '  silver  shrines  for 
Diana'  (Acts  xix.  24") ;  and  it  is  now  generally 
agreed  that  these  '  shrines '  were  silver  models 
of  the  temple,  or  of  its  adytum  or  chapel,  in  which 
perhaps  a  little  image  of  the  goddess  was  placed. 
These,  it  seems,  were  purchased  by  foreigners, 
who  either  could  not  perform  their  devotions  at 
the  temple  itself,  or  who,  after  having  done  so, 
carried  them  away  as  memorials  or  for  purposes 
of  worship.  The  continual  resort  of  foreigners 
to  Ephesus  from  all  parts,  on  account  of  the 
singular  veneration  in  which  the  image  of  the 
goddess  was  held,  must  have  rendered  this  manu- 
facture very  profitable,  and  sufficiently  explains 
the  anxiety  of  Demetrius  and  his  fellow-craftsmen. 

4.  DEMETRIUS,  a  Christian,  mentioned  with 
commendation  in  3  John  12.  From  the  con- 
nexion of  St.  John  with  Ephesus  at  the  time  the 
Epistle  was  written,  some  have  supposed  that  this 
Demetrius  is  the  same  as  the  preceding,  and  that 
he  had  been  converted  to  Christianity.  But  this 
is  a  mere  conjecture,  rendered  the  more  uncertain 
by  the  commonness  of  the  name. 


DEMON 


247 


DEMON.  This  word  is  used  by  heathen 
writers  with  great  latitude,  being  applied  by  them, 
1.  to  every  order  of  beings  superior  to  man,  in- 
cluding even  the  Highest;  2.  it  is  applied  to  any 
particular  divinity ;  3.  to  the  inferior  divinities ; 
4.  to  a  class  of  beings  between  gods  and  men. 
Of  these  latter  some  were  habitually  benevolent, 
and  others  malignant.  To  the  former  class  be- 
long the  tutelary  genii  of  cities,  and  the  guar- 
dian spirits  of  individuals,  as  the  demon  of 
Socrates.  5.  By  an  easy  metonymy  it  is  used  to 
denote  fortune,  chance,  fate.  Since  no  distinct 
ideas  of  the  ancient  Jewish  doctrines  concerning 
demons  can  be  obtained  from  the  Septuagint,  we 
next  have  recourse  to  the  heathens,  and  from  their 
writings,  owing  to  the  universal  prevalence  of 
belief  in  demons,  ample  information  may  be  ob- 
tained. The  following  is  off"ered  as  a  summary 
of  their  opinions. 

1 .  Demons,  in  the  theology  of  the  Gentiles,  are 
middle  beings,  between  gods  and  mortals.  This 
is  the  judgment  of  Plato,  which  will  be  considered 
decisive  : — '  Every  demon  is  a  middle  being  be- 
tween God  and  mortal.' 

2  Demons  were  of  two  kinds ;  the  one  were 
the  souls  of  good  men,  which  upon  their  de- 
parture from  the  body  were  called  heroes,  were 
afterwards  raised  to  the  dignity  of  demons,  and 
subsequently  to  that  of  gods.  It  was  also  be- 
lieved that  the  souls  of  bad  men  became  evil 
demons.  The  other  kind  of  demons  were  of 
more  noble  origin  than  the  human  race,  having 
never  inhabited  human  bodies. 

3.  Those  demons  who  had  once  been  souls  of 
men  were  the  objects  of  immediate  worship  among 
the  heathens  (Deut.  xxvi.  14;  Ps.  cvi.  28;  Isa. 
viii,  19),  and  it  is  in  contradistinction  to  these  that 
Jehovah  is  so  frequently  called  '  the  living  God' 
(Deut.  V.  6,  &c.  &c.). 

4.  The  heathens  held  that  some  demons  were 
malignant  by  nature,  and  not  merely  so  when 
provoked  and  offended.  Plutarch  says,  '  It  is  a 
very  ancient  opinion  that  there  are  certain  wicked 
and  malignant  demons,  who  envy  good  men,  and 
endeavour  to  hinder  them  in  the  pursuit  of  virtue, 
lest  they  should  be  partakers  of  greater  happiness 
than  they  enjoy.'  Pythagoras  held  that  certain 
demons  sent  diseases  to  men  and  cattle. 

In  later  times  Josephus  uses  the  word  demon 
always  in  a  bad  sense,  as  do  the  M'riters  of  the 
New  Testament,  when  using  it  as  frotn  them- 
selves, and  in  their  own  sense  of  it.  *  Demons 
are  no  other  than  the  spirits  of  the  wicked,  that 
enter  into  men  and  kill  them,  unless  they  can 
obtain  some  help  against  them.' 

It  is  frequently  supposed  that  the  demons  of 
the  New  Testament  are  fallen  angels ;  on  the 
contrary  it  is  maintained  by  Farmer,  that  the 
word  is  never  applied  to  the  Devil  and  his  angels, 
and  that  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  restricting 
the  term  to  spirits  of  a  higher  order  than  man- 
kind. They  who  uphold  the  former  opinion  urge 
that  our  Lord,  when  accused  of  casting  out 
demons  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  demons,  re- 
plies, How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan  (Mark  iii. 
23,  &c.)  ?  It  is  further  urged,  that  it  is  but  fair 
and  natural  to  suppose  that  the  writers  of  the 
New  Testament  use  the  word  demons  in  the  same 
sense  in  which  it  was  understood  by  their  con- 
temporaries, which,  as  it  appears  from  Josephus 
and  other  authorities,  was,  that  of  the  spirits  of 


S48 


DEMONIACS 


the  ■wicked ;  and  that  if  these  writers  had  meant 
anjthing  else  they  would  have  given  notice  of  so 
wide  a  deviation  from  popular  usage. 

DEMONIACS,  demonized  persons,  in  the 
New  Testament,  are  those  who  were  supposed  to 
have  a  demon  or  demons  occupying  them,  sus- 
pending the  faculties  of  their  minds,  and  govern- 
ing the  members  of  their  bodies,  so  that  what 
■was  said  and  done  by  the  demoniacs  was  ascribed 
to  the  in-dwelling  demon. 

The  correctness  of  the  opinion  respecting  those 
■who  are  called  demoniacs  in  the  New  Testament 
■which  prevailed    among    the   Jews    and   other 
nations  in  the  time  of  our  Lord  and  his  Apostles, 
has  been  called  in  question.     On  the  one  hand  it 
is  urged  that  the  details  of  the  evangelical  his- 
torj-  aSbrd  decisive  e-vidence  of  the  truth  and 
reaJit\-  of  demoniacal  possessions   in  the  sense 
already  explained,  at  least  during  the  commence- 
ment  of  Christianity- ;  on  the  other  hand  it  is 
contended  that  the  accounts  in  question  may  all 
I     be  understood  as  the  phenomena  of  certain  dis- 
I    eases,  particularly  hypochondria,  insanity,  and 
!     epilepsy ;  that  the  sacred  writers  used  the  popular 
'      language  in  reference  to  the  subject,  but  that  they 
themselves   understood  no  more  than  that  the 
persons  were  the  subjects  of  ordinary  diseases. 
Here  issue  is  joined — and  it  is  to  the  evidence 
in  this  cause  that  our  attention  will  now  be 
i     directed. 

Those  who  contend  that  the  demoniacs  -were 
really  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  urge  the  fol- 
lowing considerations  : — 

1.  The  demoniacs  express  themselves  in  a  way 
unusual  for  hypochondriacal,  insane,  or  epileptic 
persons  i^Matt.  viii.  29 ;  Mark  i.  24) ;  they  pos- 
sessed supernatural  strength  (^Mark  v.  4)';  they 
adjure  Jesus  not  to  torment  them  ;  they  answer 
the  questions  proposed  to  them  in  a' rational 
manner;  they  are  distinctly  said  to  have  'come 
out  of  men  and  to  have  '  entered  into  swine,'  and 
that  consequently  the  whole  herd,  amounting  to 
about  two  thousand,  ran  ■violently  down  a  pre- 
cipice into  the  sea  (Matt.  ■viii.  32*:  Mark  v.  13). 
The  supposition  which  has  been  maintained  by 
Lardner  among  others,  that  the  s-wine  were  driven 
into  the  sea  by  the  demoniacs,  is  irreconcilable  -with 
the  language  of  the  narrative,  being  also  highly 
improbable  in  itself:  madmen  do  not  act  in  con- 
cert, and  rarely  pursue  the  same  train  of  maniacal 
reasoning. 

2.  No  mental  diseases  are  predicated  of  the 
dumb  (Matt.  ix.  32),  or  of  the  blind  and  dumb 

j     (Matt.  xii.  22).    Do  such  diseases  ever  produce 

;     blindness  ? 

1         3.  It  b  admitted  that  the  symptoms  of  the  youth 

described  Matt.  xvii.  15;  Mark  ix.  17;  Luke  ix. 
I     39,  coincide  precisely  with  those  of  epilepsy,  but 

they  are  attributed  to  the  agency  of  the  demon  in 
;     that  very  account. 

I  4.  The  damsel  at  Philippi  is  said  to  have  been 
I  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  divination,  which  was 
;  the  means  of  obtaining  much  gain  to  her  masters, 
j  and  to  have  understood  the  di-vine  commission 
I  of  Paul  and  his  companions  (Acts  xvi.  17).  Is  this 
i  to  be  ascribed  merely  to  an  aberration  of  mind  ? 
5.  The  demoniacs  themselves  confess  that  they 
j  ■were  possessed  with  demons  (Mark  v.  9) :  the 
j  same  is  asserted  of  them  by  their  relatives  (Matt. 
I  XT.  22).  The  Apostles  and  Evangelists  assert 
I    that  persons  possessed  with  demons  were  brought 


DEMONIACS 

unto  Jesus  (Matt.  iv.  24 ;  Mark  i.  32\  or  met  him 
(Luke  viii.  27).  Jesus  commands  them  not  to 
make  him  known  as  the  Messiah  (Mark  i.  34. 
margin);  rebuked  them  (Matt.  xvii.  1S\  Tlie 
Evangelists  declare  that  the  demons  departed  from 
their  victims  at  his  command  (Matt.  xvii.  18; 
Mark  ix.  25,  26 ;  Luke  iv.  35  ;  xi.  14)  ;  and  Jesus 


j  himself  asserts  it  (Luke  xiii.  32), 
!  6.  The  writers  of  the  New  Testament  make 
I  distinctions  between  the  diseased  and  the  de- 
moniacs (Mark  i.  32;  Luke  vi.  17,  18);  and 
Jesus  himself  does  so  (Matt.  x.  S,  &c.). 

7.  The  demoniacs  knew  Jesus  to  be  the  son  of 
God  (Matt.  ■viii.  29  ;  Mark  i.  24  ;  v.  7),  and  the 
Christ  (Luke  iv.  41). 

8.  Jesus  addresses  the  demons  (Matt.  viii.  32 ; 
Mark  v.  IS ;  ix.  25  ;  Luke  iv.  35):  so  does  Paul 
(Acts  xvi.  IS).  Jesus  bids  them  be  silent  (Mark 
i.  25) ;  to  depart,  and  enter  no  more  into  the 
person  (Mark  ix.  25). 

9.  In  Luke  x.  the  seventy  are  related  to  have 
returned  to  Jesus,  saying,  '  Lord,  even  the  demons 
are  subject  to  us  through  thy  name ;'  and  Jesus 
replies,  ver.  1 S,  '  I  beheld  Satan,  as  lightning, 
fall  from  heaven.' 

10.  When  Jesus  was  accused  by  the  Pharisees 
of  casting  out  demons  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince 
of  the  demons,  he  argued  that  there  could  be  no 
discord  among  demoniacal  beings  (Matt.  xii.  25, 
&c.\ 

11.  Jesus  makes  certain  grata  ito  us  observations 
respecting  demons  (see  Matt.  xii.  43,  44) ;  which 
seem  like  facts  in  their  natural  history.  In  re- 
gard to  the  demon  cast  out  of  the  youth,  -which 
the  disciples  could  not  cast  out,  he  says,  '  this 
kind  {i.  e.  demons)  goeth  not  out  but  by  prayer 
and  fasting.'  Can  these  words  be  understood 
otherwise  than  as  revealing  a  real  and  particular 
fact  respecting  the  nature  of  demons  (Matt.  xvii. 
21)? 

12.  The  woman  which  had  a  spirit  of  infir- 
mity, and  was  bowed  together  (Luke  xiii.  1 1 ),  is, 
by  our  Lord  himself,  said  to  have  been  bound  by 
Satan  (v.  16).  In  the  same  way  St.  Peter  speaks 
of  all  the  persons  who  were  healed  by  Jesus,  as 
being  '  oppressed  of  the  devil'  (Acts  x.  3S\ 

13"  It  is  further  pleaded,  that  it  sinks  the 
importance  and  dignity  of  our  Saviour's  miracles, 
to  suppose  that  when  he  is  said  to  have  cast  out 
devils,  all  that  is  meant  is,  that  he  healed  dis- 
eases. 

To  these  arguments  the  opponents  of  the  theory 
of  real  demoniacal  possessions  reply,  generally, 
that  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  the 
general  belief  of  the  Jewish  nation,  with  the 
exception  of  the  Sadducees,  and  of  most  other 
nations,  that  the  spirits  of  dead  men,  especially  of 
those  who  had  lived  evil  lives,  and  died  by  vio- 
lent deaths,  were  permitted  to  enter  the  bodies  of 
men,  and  to  produce  the  effects  ascribed  to  them  j 
in  the  popular  creed  ;  but  the  fact  and  real  state  1 
of  the  case  was,  that  those  who  were  considered  > 
to  be  possessed  were  afflicted  -with  some  peculiar 
diseases  of  mind  or  body,  which,  their  true 
causes  not  being  generally  understood,  were,  as 
is  usual  in  such  cases,  ascribed  to  supernatural 
powers ;  and  that  Jesus  and  his  apostles,  wishing 
of  course  to  be  imderstood  by  their  contempora- 
ries, and  owing  to  other  rea.sons  which  can  be 
pointed  out,  were  under  the  necessity  of  express- 
ing   themselves    in  popular  language,   and   of 


DEMONIACS 


DEMONIACS 


219 


^  to  admit,  or  at  least  of  not  denying,  its 
correctness.  They  further  plead  that  the  fact, 
admitted  on  all  hands,  that  the  demon  so  actu- 
ated the  possessed,  as  that  whatever  theij  did,  was 
not  to  be  distinguished  from  his  agency,  reduces 
the  question,  so  far  as  phenomena  are  concerned, 
to  one  simple  inquiry,  namely,  whether  these 
phenomena  are  such  as  can  be  accounted  for  with- 
out resorting  to  supernatural  agency.  They  assert 
that  the  symptoms  predicated  of  demoniacs  cor- 
respond with  the  ordinary  symptoms  of  disease, 
and  especially  of  hypochondria,  insanity,  and 
epilepsy ;  that  the  sacred  writers  themselves  give 
intimations,  as  plain  as  could  be  expected  under 
their  circumstances,  that  they  employed  popular 
language  ;  that  consequently  they  are  not  to 
be  considered  as  teaching  doctrines  or  asserting 
facts  when  they  use  such  language ;  and  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  agency  of  departed  spii-its  on  the 
bodies  of  men  is  inconsistent  with  certain  pe- 
culiar and  express  doctrines  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles. 

With  regard  to  the  symptoms  related  of  the 
demoniacs,  it  is  urged  that  such  persons  as  were 
called  demoniacs  in  other  countries,  and  who 
seem  to  have  laboured  under  precisely  the  same 
symptoms,  are  recorded  to  have  been  cured  by  the 
use  of  medicines.  Josephus  and  the  Jewish  phy- 
sicians speak  of  medicines  composed  of  stones, 
roots,  and  herbs,  being  useful  to  demoniacs.  The 
cure  of  diseases  by  such  methods  is  intelligible ; 
but  is  it  rational  to  believe  that  the  spirits  of  dead 
men  were  dislodged  from  human  bodies  by  medical 
prescriptions  ? 

1 .  With  regard  to  the  two  demoniacs  at  Ga- 
dara  (or  one,  according  to  Mark  and  Luke),  it  is 
concluded  that  they  were  madmen,  who  fancied 
that  there  were  within  them  innumerable  spirits 
of  dead  men.  Accordingly  they  dwelt  among  the 
tombs,  about  which  the  souls  of  the  dead  were  be- 
lieved to  hover,  went  naked,  were  ungovernable, 
cried  aloud,  attacked  passengers,  beat  themselves, 
and  had  in  their  phrensy  broken  every  chain  by 
which  they  had  been  bound.  Strength  almost 
superhuman  is  a  common  attendant  on  insanity. 
Their  question,  '  Art  thou  come  to  torment  us  ?' 
refers  to  the  cruel  treatment  of  the  insane  in  those 
times,  and  which  they  had  no  doubt  shared,  in 
the  endeavours  of  men  to  '  tame '  them.  Both 
Mark  and  Luke  the  phi/sician  describe  the  demo- 
niac as  in  '  his  right  mind,'  when  healed,  which 
implies  previous  insanity  (see  also  Matt.  xii.  22  ; 
XV.  28:  xvii.  18;  Luke  vii.  21  ;  viii.  2;  ix.  42). 
It  is  true  that  these  demoniacs  address  Jesus  as 
the  Son  of  God,  but  they  might  have  heard  in 
their  lucid  intervals  that  Jesus,  whose  fame  was 
already  diffused  throughout  Syria,  was  regarded 
by  the  people  as  the  Messiah.  They  show  their 
insanity,  "their  shaping  fancies,'  by  imagining 
tliey  were  demons  without  number,  and  by  re- 
questing permission  to  enter  the  swine.  Would 
actual  demons  choose  such  an  habitation  ?  They 
speak  and  answer,  indeed,  in  a  rational  manner, 
but  agreeably  to  Locke's  definition  of  madmen, 
they  reason  right  on  false  principles,  and,  taking 
fancies  for  realities,  make  right  deductions  from 
them.  Thus  you  shall  find  a  distracted  man 
fancying  himself  a  ki^g,  and  with  a  right  infer- 
ence require  suitable  attendance.  Others,  who 
have  thought  themselves  glass,  take  the  needful 
care  to  preserve  such  brittle  bodies.     It  is  true 


that  Jesus  commands  the  unclean  spirit  (so  called 
because  believed  to  be  the  spirit  of  a  dead  man  i, 
but  he  does  this  merely  to  excite  the  attention  of 
the  people,  and  to  give  them  full  opportunity  to 
observe  the  miracle.  It  is  not  necessary  to  sup- 
pose that  the  madmen  drove  the  swine,  but  merely 
that,  in  keeping  viith  all  the  circumstances,  the 
insanity  of  the  demoniacs  was  transferred  to 
them,  as  the  leprosy  of  Naaman  was  transferred 
to  Gehazi,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the 
miraculous  power  of  Christ ;  and  though  this  was 
a  punitive  miracle,  it  might  ser\-e  the  good  pur- 
pose of  discouraging  the  expectation  of  temporal 
benefits  from  him.  If  the  demoniac  is  represented 
as  worshipping  Jesus,  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  insane  often  show  great  respect  to  parti- 
cular persons. 

2.  The  men  who  were  dumb,  and  both  blind 
and  dumb,  are  not  said  to  have  been  disordered  in 
their  intellects,  any  more  than  the  blind  man  in 
John  V.  The  disease  in  their  organs  was  popu- 
larly ascribed  to  the  influence  of  demons.  It  is 
observable  that  in  the  parallel  passage  ( Matt.  ix. 
32),  the  evangelist  says  the  man  was  dumb. 

3.  The  symptoms  of  epilepsy  in  the  youth  de- 
scribed Matt.  xvii.  1 5,  are  too  evident  not  to  l)e 
acknowledged.  If  the  opinion  of  relatives  is  to 
be  pressed,  it  should  be  noticed  that  in  this  case 
the  father  says  his  '  son  is  lunatic'  It  was  most 
probably  a  case  of  combined  epilepsy  and  lunacy, 
which  has  been  common  in  all  ages.  Epilepsy 
was  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  moon  in 
those  times.  The  literal  interpretation  of  popu- 
lar language  would  therefore  require  us  to  be- 
lieve that  he  was  'moonstruck,'  as  well  as  a 
demoniac. 

4.  The  damsel  at  Philippi  is  said  by  Luke  to 
have  been  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  ^po//o.  It 
was  her  fixed  idea.  The  gift  of  divination  is  said 
by  Cicero  to  have  been  ascribed  to  Apollo.     In- 

1  sane  persons,  pretending  to  prophesy  under  the 
!  influence  of  Apollo,  would  be  likely  to  gain 
money  from  the  credulous.  A  belief  among  the 
common  people  that  the  ravings  of  insanity  were 
sacred,  was  not  confined  to  Egypt.  The  apostle, 
who  taught  that  an  'idol  is  nothing  in  the 
world,'  did  not  believe  in  the  reality  of  her 
soothsaying.  Many  demoniacs  are  mentioned, 
the  peculiar  symptoms  of  whose  diseases  are  not 
stated,  as  Mary  Magdalene  (Mark  xvi.  9),  out  of 
whom  Jesus  cast  seven  demons,  i.  e.  restored  from 
an  inveterate  insanity  (seven  being  the  Jewish 
number  of  perfection),  supposed  to  be  caused  by 
the  united  agency  of  seven  spirits  of  the  dead. 
Yet  she  is  said  to  have  been  healed  (Luke  viii.  2). 

5.  If  Jesus  forbade  the  demoniacs  to  say  he 
was  the  Christ,  it  was  because  the  declaration  of 
such  persons  on  the  subject  would  do  more  harm 
than  good.  If  he  rebuked  them  he  also  rebuked 
the  wind  (Matt.  viii.  26"),  and  the  fever  (Luke  iy. 
39).  If  it  be  said  of  them,  they  departed,  so  it 
is  also  said  of  the  leprosy  (Mark  i.  42). 

6.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  the  writers  of 
the  New  Testament  Tjtsike  a  distinction  between 
the  diseased  and  those  possessed  of  demons,  or 
whether  they  specity-  the  demoniacs  by  them- 
selves, as  they  specify  the  lunatics  (Matt.  iv.  24), 
merely  as  a  distinct  and  peculiar  class  of  the  sick. 
It  is,  however,  most  important  to  observe  that  St. 
Peter  includes  '  all '  who  were  healed  by  Jesus, 
under  the  phrase  them  that  were  oppressed  of  the 


250 


DEMONIACS 


DENARIUS 


devil,  many  of  whom  were  not  described  by  the 
Evangelists  as  subjects  of  demoniacal  possession. 
Sometimes  the  specification  of  the  demoniacs  is 
omitted  in  the  general  recitals  of  miraculous 
cures  (Matt.  xi.  5),  and  this,  too,  on  the  important 
occasion  of  our  Lord  sending  to  John  the  Baptist 
an  account  of  the  miraculous  evidence  attending 
his  preaching  (Matt.  xi.  5).  Does  not  this  look 
as  if  they  were  considered  as  included  under  the 
sick  ? 

7.  It  cannot  be  proved  that  all  the  demoniacs 
knew  Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah. 

8.  It  is  admitted  that  Jesus  addresses  the  de- 
mons, but  then  it  may  be  said  that  his  doing  so 
has  reference  partly  to  the  persons  themselves  in 
whom  demons  were  supposed  to  be,  and  partly 
to  the  bystanders ;  for  the  same  reason  that  he 
rebuked  the  winds  in  an  audible  voice,  as  also 
the  fever. 

9.  With  regard  to  our  Lord's  reply  to  the 
seventy,  it  will  not  be  urged  that  it  was  intended 
of  a  local  fall  of  Satan  from  heaven,  unless  it 
may  be  supposed  to  allude  to  his  primeval  expul- 
sion ;  but  this  sense  is  scarcely  relevant  to  the 
occasion.  If,  then,  the  literal  sense  be  neces- 
sarily departed  from,  a  choice  must  be  made  out 
of  the  various  figurative  interpretations  of  which 
the  words  admit ;  and  taking  the  word  Satan  here 
in  its  generic  sense,  of  whatever  is  inimical  or 
opposed  to  the  Gospel,  Jesus  may  be  understood 
to  say,  I  foresaw  the  glorious  results  of  your 
mission  in  the  triumphs  which  would  attend  it 
over  the  most  formidable  obstacles.  Heaven  is 
often  used  in  the  sense  of  political  horizon  (Isa. 
xiv.  12,  13;  Matt.  xxiv.  29).  To  be  cast  from 
heaven  to  hell  is  a  phrase  for  total  downfall 
(Luke  X.  15  ;  Rev.  xii.  7-9).  Cicero  says  to  Mark 
Antony,  You  have  hurled  your  colleagues  down 
from  heaven.  Satan  is  here  used  tropically. 
Our  Lord  does  not,  therefore,  assert  the  real 
operation  of  demons. 

10.  In  the  refutation  of  the  charge  that  he  cast 
out  demons  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  de- 
mons, he  simply  argues  with  the  Pharisees  upon 
their  otim  piinciples,  and  'judges  them  out  of 
■"heir  own  mouth,'  without  assuming  the  truth  of 
those  principles. 

11.  The  facts  he  seems  to  assert  respecting  the 
wandering  of  demons  through  dry  places  (Matt. 
xii.  45),  were  already  admitted  in  the  popular 
creed  of  the  Jews.  They  believed  that  demons 
wandered  in  desolate  places  (Baruch  iv.  35). 
Upon  these  ideas  he  founds  a  parable  or  simili- 
tude, without  involving  an  opinion  of  their  ac- 
curacy, to  describe  '  the  end  of  this  generation.' 
The  observations  respecting  prayer  and  fosting 
seem  to  have  relation  to  that  faith  in  God  which 
he  exhorts  his  apostles  to  obtain.  Prayer  and 
fasting  would  serve  to  enable  them  to  perceive 
the  divine  suggestion  which  accompanied  every 
miracle,  and  which  the  apostles  had  not  jxrceived 
upon  this  occasion,  though  given  them,  because 
their  animal  nature  had  not  been  sufficiently  sub- 
dued. 

12.  The  application  of  the  term  Satan  to  the 
case  of  the  woman  who  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity, 
is  plainly  an  arguing  with  the  Jews  on  their  own 
principles.  It  is  intended  to  heighten  the  an- 
tithesis between  the  loosing  of  an  ox  from  his 
stall,  and  loosing  the  daughter  of  Abraham  whom 
Satan,  as  they  believed,  had  bound  eighteen  years. 


13.  The  objection  taken  from  the  supposed 
consequence  of  explaining  the  casting  out  of  de- 
mons to  signify  no  more  than  the  cure  of  diseases, 
that  it  tends  to  lower  the  dignity  of  the  Saviour's 
miracles,  depends  upon  the  reader's  complexion 
of  mind,  our  prior  knowledge  of  the  relative 
dignity  of  miracles,  and  some  other  things,  per- 
haps, of  which  we  are  not  competent  judges. 

It  has  further  been  observed,  that  the  theory  of 
demoniacal  possessions  is  opposed  to  the  known 
and  express  doctrines  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles. 
They  teach  us  that  the  spirits  of  the  dead  enter 
a  state  corresponding  to  their  character,  no  more 
to  return  to  this  world  (Luke  xvi.  22,  &c. ;  xxiii. 
43;  2  Cor.  v.  1  ;  Phil.  i.  21).  With  regard  to 
the  fallen  angels,  the  representations  of  their 
confinement  are  totally  opposed  to  the  notion  of 
their  wandering  about  the  world  and  tormenting 
its  inhabitants  (2  Pet.  ii.  4 ;  Jude,  ver.  6).  If  it 
be  said  that  Jesus  did  not  correct  the  popular 
opinion,  still  he  nowhere  denies  that  the  pheno- 
mena in  question  arose  from  diseases  only.  He 
took  no  side ;  it  was  not  his  province.  It  was 
not  necessary  to  attack  the  misconception  in  a 
formal  manner  ;  it  would  be  supplanted  whenever 
his  doctrine  respecting  the  state  of  the  dead  was 
embraced.  To  have  done  so  would  have  engaged 
our  Lord  in  prolix  arguments  with  a  people  in 
whom  the  notion  was  so  deeply  rooted,  and  have 
led  him  away  too  much  from  the  purposes  of  his 
ministry.  '  It  was  one  of  the  many  things  he 
had  to  say,  but  they  could  not  then  bear  them.' 
It  is  finally  urged  that  the  antidemoniacal  theory 
does  not  detract  from  the  divine  authority  of  the 
Saviour,  the  reality  of  his  miracles,  or  the  inte- 
grity of  the  historians. 

DENA'RIUS,  the  principal  silver  coin  of  the 
Romans,  which  took  its  name  from  having  been 
originally  equal  to  ten  ases.  It  was  in  later  times 
(after  B.C.  217)  current  also  among  the  Jews, 
and  is  the  coin  which  is  called  '  a  penny '  in  the 
Auth.  Vers.  The  denarii  were  first  coined  in 
B.C.  2C9,  or  four  years  after  the  first  Punic  war, 
and  the  more  ancient  specimens  are  much  heavier 
than  those  of  later  date.  Those  coined  in  the 
early  period  of  the  commonwealth  have  the  ave- 
rage weight  of  60  grains,  and  those  coined  under 
the  empire  of  52*5  grains.  With  some  allow- 
ance for  alloy,  the  former  would  be  worth  8^., 
and  the  latter  l^d.    It  has  been  supposed,  how- 


ever, that  the  reduction  of  weight  did  not  take 
place  till  the  time  of  Nero  ;  and  in  that  case  the 
denarii  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  must  have  been 
of  the  former  weight  and  value,  although  l^d.  is 
the  usual  computation.  A  denarius  was  the  day- 
wages  of  a  labourer  in  Palestine  (Matt.  xx.  2,  9, 
13);  and  the  daily  pay  of  a  Roman  soldier  was 
less.  In  the  time  of  Christ  the  denarius  bore  the 
image  of  the  emperor  (Matt.  xxii.  19  ;  Mark  xii. 


DEUTERONOMY 

16),  but  formerly  it  was  impressed  with  the  sym- 
bols of  the  republie. 

DER'BE,  :i  small  town  of  Lycaonia,  in  Asia 
Minor,  at  tiie  foot  of  the  Taurian  mountains,  60 
miles  south  by  east  from  Iconium,  and  1 8  miles 
east  of  Lyslra.  It  was  the  birthplace  of  Gains, 
the  friend  and  fudlow-traveller  of  Paul  (Acts  xx. 
4) ;  and  it  was  to  this  place  that  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas fled  when  expelled  from  Iconium,  a.d.  41 
(Acts  xiv.  6\ 

DESERTS.  In  the  East,  wide,  extended  plains 
are  usually  liable  to  drought,  and  consequently 
to  barrenness.  Hence  the  Hebrew  language  de- 
scribes a  plain,  a  desert,  and  an  unfruitful  waste, 
by  the  same  word.  The  term  which  is  in  general 
rendered  '  wilderness,'  means,  properly,  a  ^ra^tHfjr 
tract,  uncultivated  and  destitute  of  wood,  but  fit 
for  pasture — a  heath  or  steppe.  The  pastures  of 
the  trildei-ness  are  mentioned  in  Ps.  Ixv.  13;  Joel 
i.  19;  Luke  xv.  4;  and  may  be  very  well  ex- 
plained by  Inference  to  the  fact,  that  even  the 
Desert  of  Arabia,  which  is  utterly  burnt  up  with 
excessive  drought  in  summer,  is  in  winter  and 
spring  covered  with  rich  and  tender  herbage. 
Whence  it  is  that  the  Arabian  tribes  retreat  into 
their  deserts  on  the  approach  of  the  autumnal 
rains,  and  when  spring  has  ended  q,nd  the 
droughts  commence,  return  to  the  lands  of  rivers 
and  mountains,  in  search  of  the  pastures  which 
the  deserts  no  longer  afford.  The  same  word 
may  therefore  denote  a  region  which  is  desert, 
and  also  one  which,  at  stated  seasons,  contains 
rich  and  abundant  pastures.  But  in  fact  the 
word  translated  in  our  Bibles  by  'desert'  or 
'  wilderness '  often  means  no  more  than  the  com- 
mon, uncultivated  grounds  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  towns  on  which  the  inhabitants  grazed  their 
domestic  cattle. 

The  term  a  great  desert  or  wilderness  is  espe- 
cially applied  to  that  desert  of  Stony  Arabia  in 
which  the  Israelites  sojourned  under  Moses 
(Num.  xxi.  20 ;  xxiii.  28 ;  Ps.  Ixviii.  7  ;  Ixxviii. 
40,  &c.).  This  was  the  most  terrible  of  the  de- 
serts with  which  the  Israelites  were  acquainted, 
and  the  only  real  desert  in  their  immediate 
neighbourhood.  It  is  described  under  Arabia  ; 
as  is  also  that  Eastern  desert  extending  from  the 
eastern  border  of  the  country  beyond  Judxa  to 
the  Euphrates.  It  is  emphatically  called  '  the 
Desert,'  without  any  proper  name,  in  Exod.  xxiii. 
31 ;  Deut.  xi.  24. 

The  several  deserts  or  wildernesses  mentioned 
ki  Scripture  are  the  following,  which  will  be 
found  under  their  respective  names :  the  deserts 
of  Edom,  Etham,  Judah,  Kadesh,  Maon,  Paran, 
Shur.  Sin,  Sinai. 

DEVIL.     [Demon;  Satan.] 

DEUTERON'OMY,  the  Greek  name  given  by 
the  Alexandrian  Jews  to  the  fifth  book  of  Moses. 
It  comprises  that  series  of  addresses  which  the 
Lawgiver  delivered  (orally  and  by  writing,  i.  5 ; 
xxviii.  58,  &c.)  to  assembled  Israel  in  the  second 
month  of  the  fortieth  year  of  their  wandering 
through  the  desert,  when  the  second  generation 
was  about  to  cross  the  Jordan,  and  when  the 
parting  hour  of  Moses  had  nearly  arrived. 

The  speeches  begin  with  the  enumeration  of 
the  wonderful  dealings  of  God  with  the  chosen 
people  in  the  early  period  of  their  existence. 
Moses  clearly  proves  to  them  the  punishment  of 
unbelief,  the  obduracy  of  Israel,  and  the  faithful- 


DEUTERONOMY 


261 


ness  of  Jehovah  with  regard  to  his  promises, 
which  were  now  on  the  point  of  being  accom- 
plished. Fully  aware  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
people,  and  foreseeing  their  alienations,  Moses 
conjures  them  most  impressively  to  hold  fast  the 
commands  of  the  Lord,  and  not  to  forget  his  re- 
velations, lest  curses  should  befall  them  instead 
of  blessings  (ch.  i.-iv.).  The  Lawgiver  then  ex- 
patiates on  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  its  reception 
into  the  hearts  of  men,  both  in  a  positive  and 
negative  way.  Fear,  he  says,  is  the  primary 
effect  of  the  law,  as  also  its  aim.  As  Israel  had 
once  listened  to  the  announcement  of  the  funda- 
mental laws  of  the  theocracy  with  a  sacred  fear, 
in  like  manner  should  man  also  receive,  through 
the  whole  system  of  the  law,  a  lively  and  awful 
impression  of  the  holiness  and  majesty  of  God 
(ch.  v.).  But  as  the  essence  and  sum  of  the  law 
is  love  to  Jehovah,  the  only  and  true  God,  man 
shall  by  the  law  be  reminded  of  the  Divine 
mercy,  so  variously  manifested  in  deeds;  and 
this  reflection  is  calculated  to  rouse  in  man's 
heart  love  for  God.  This  love  is  the  only  and 
true  source  from  which  proper  respect  and  obe- 
dience to  the  law  can  proceed  (ch.  vi.). 

There  were,  however,  two  tempting  deviations, 
in  following  which  the  people  were  sure  to  be  led 
astray.  The  law,  in  its  strict  rigour,  was  but  too 
apt  to  tempt  them  to  desert  Jehovah,  and  to  yield 
to  idolatry  (the  very  approval  of  which  even  in 
thought  polluted  the  heart),  by  discontinuing  to 
bear  the  heavy  yoke  of  the  law.  Hence  the  most 
impressive  warnings  against  Canaan's  inhabitants 
and  idols ;  and  hence  the  declarations  that  Israel,  j 
in  placing  themselves  on  a  par  with  the  heathens, 
should  have  to  endure  an  equal  fate  with  them, 
and  be  repulsed  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah 
(ch.  vii.  viii.). 

The  other,  not  less  dangerous,  deviation  is  that 
of  self-righteousness — the  proud  fancy  that  all 
the  favours  Jehovah  had  shown  to  his  people  were 
merely  in  consequence  of  their  own  deservings. 
Therefore  Jehovah  tells  them  that  it  was  not 
through  their  own  worthiness  and  purity  of  heart 
that  they  inherited  the  laud  of  the  heathens.  It 
was  only  through  his  fi-ee  favour ;  for  their  sins 
bore  too  strong  and  constant  testimony  how  little 
they  ought  to  take  credit  to  themselves  for  it 
(ch.  ix.). 

The  history  of  the  people,  before  and  after  the 
exile,  shows  these  two  deviations  in  their  fullest 
bearings.  Idolatry  we  find  to  have  been  the 
besetting  sin  before  that  period,  and  presumptuous 
pride  of  heart  after  it;  a  proof  how  intimately 
acquainted  the  Lawgiver  was  with  the  character 
and  disposition  of  his  people,  and  how  necessary 
therefore  those  warnings  had  been. 

Therefore,  adds  Moses,  turn  to  that  which  Je- 
hovah, in  giving  you  the  tables  of  the  law,  and 
establishing  the  Tabernacle  and  priesthood,  has 
intimated  as  a  significant  symbol,  '  to  circumcise 
the  foreskin  of  your  heart,'  and  to  cherish  love 
in  your  inwai-d  soul.  Think  of  Jehovah,  the  just 
and  merciful,  whose  blessings  and  curses  shall 
be  set  before  your  eyes  as  a  lasting  monument 
upon  the  mounts  Ebal  and  Gerizim  (ch.  x.  xi.). 

The  mention  of  that  fact  leads  the  Lawgiver 
to  the  domestic  and  practical  life  of  the  people 
when  domesticated  in  their  true  home,  the  Land 
of  Promise ;  which  he  further  regulates  by_  a 
fixed  and  solid  rule,  by  new  laws,  which  for  this, 


252 


DEUTERONOMY 


tlieir  new  design  and  purport,  form  a  sort  of 
complement  to  the  laws  alieady  given.  There, 
in  the  land  of  their  forefathers,  Jehovah  will  ap- 
point one  fixed  place  for  his  lasting  sanctuary, 
when  every  other  place  dedicated  to  the  worship 
of  idols  is  to  be  destroyed.  At  that  chosen  spot 
alone  are  the  sacrifices  to  be  killed,  while  cattle 
in  general,  which  are  not  destined  for  sacred 
purposes,  but  merely  for  food,  may  be  slaughtered 
at  all  phices  according  to  convenience — a  regula- 
tion which  still  leaves  in  full  force  the  previous 
laws  concerning  the  eating  of  blood,  and  the 
share  of  Jehovah  in  slaughtered  cattle.  This 
sanctuary  was  to  be  considered  as  the  central 
point  for  all  sacred  objects.  The  whole  land  was, 
by  means  of  the  sanctuary  established  in  the 
midst  of  it,  consecrated  and  dedicated  to  Je- 
hovah. This  consecration  was  incompatible  with 
any  defilement  whatsoever.  On  that  account 
the  Canaanites  must  be  exterminated,  and  all 
idolatrous  abominations  destroyed,  since  nothing 
ought  to  be  added  to  or  taken  from  the  laws 
of  God  (ch.  xii.).  For  the  same  reason  (t.  e. 
for  the  sake  of  the  holiness  of  the  land,  diffused 
from  the  sacred  centre),  no  false  prophets  or  sooth- 
sayers are  to  he  tolerated,  as  they  may  turn  the 
minds  of  the  people  from  the  law,  by  establish- 
ing a  different  one,  and  therefore  even  a  whole 
town  given  to  the  worship  of  idols  must  be  de- 
molished by  force  of  arms  (ch.  xiii.).  Neither, 
ia  like  manner,  must  the  heathen  customs  of 
mourning  be  imitated,  or  unclean  beasts  eaten ; 
but  the  people  must  always  remain  true  to  the 
previous  laws  concerning  food,  &c.,  and  show 
their  real  attachment  to  Jehovah  and  his  religion 
by  willingly  paying  the  tithe  as  ordained  by  the 
law  (ch.  xiv.).  To  the  same  end  likewise  shall 
the  regulations  concerning  the  years  of  release 
and  the  festivals  of  Jehovah  (to  be  solemnized  in 
the  place  of  the  new-chosen  Sanctuary)  be  most 
scrupulously  observed  (ch.  xv.  xvi.).  Only  un- 
blemished sacrifices  shall  be  offered,  for  all  idol- 
worshippers  must  irrevocably  be  put  to  death  by 
stoning.  For  the  execution  of  due  punishment, 
honest  judges  must  govern  the  nation,  while  the 
highest  tribunal  shall  exist  in  the  place  chosen 
for  the  Sanctuary,  consisting  of  the  priests  and 
judges  of  the  land.  If  a  king  be  given  by  God 
to  the  people,  he  shall  first  of  all  accommodate 
himself  to  the  laws  of  God,  and  not  lead  a 
heathen  life.  Next  to  the  regal  and  judicial 
dignities,  the  ecclesiastical  power  shall  exist  in 
its  full  right ;  and  again,  next  to  it,  the  prophetic 
order  (ch.  xvii.  xviii.).  Of  all  these  institutions, 
the  duties  of  the  judicial  power  are  most  clearly 
defined ;  for  Jehovah  does  as  little  suffer  that  in 
his  land  the  right  of  the  innocent  shall  be  turned 
aside,  as  that  indulgence  shall  be  shown  to  the 
evil-doer  (ch.  xix.).  The  exposition  of  the  civil 
law  is  followed  by  that  of  the  martial  law,  which 
has  some  bearing  upon  the  then  impending  war 
with  Canaan,  as  the  most  important  war  and 
representing  that  with  the  heathen  nations  in 
general  (ch.  xx.).  These  are  again  followed  by 
a  series  of  laws  in  reference  to  the  preceding,  and 
referring  chiefly  to  hard  cases  in  the  judicial 
courts,  by  which  Moses  obviously  designed  to 
exhibit  the  whole  of  the  civil  life  of  his  people  in 
its  strict  application  to  the  theocratic  system  of 
law  and  right.  Therefore  the  form  of  prayer  to 
be  spoken  at  the  offering  up  of  the  firstlings  and 


DEUTERONOMY 

tithe — the  theocratic  confession  oj  faith — by  which 
every  Israelite  acknowledges  in  person  that  he  is 
what  God  has  enjoined  and  called  him  to  be, 
forms  a  beautiful  conclusion  of  the  whole  legis- 
lation (ch.  xxi.-xxvi.). 

The  blessings  and  curses  of  Jehovah,  the  two 
opposite  extremes  which  were  to  be  impressed 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people  at  their  entrance 
into  Canaan,  and  which  have  hitherto  been  spoken 
of  only  in  general  terms,  are  now  set  forth  in  their 
fullest  detail,  picturing  in  the  most  lively  colours 
the  delightful  abundance  of  rich  blessings  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  awful  visitations  of  Heaven's 
wrath  on  the  other.  The  prophetic  speeches 
visibly  and  gradually  increase  in  energy  and 
enthusiasm,  until  the  perspective  of  the  remotest 
future  of  the  people  of  God  lies  open  to  the  eye 
of  the  inspired  Lawgiver  in  all  its  chequered 
details,  when  his  words  resolve  themselves  into  a 
flight  of  poetical  extacy,  into  the  strains  of  a 
splendid  triumphal  song  in  which  the  tone  of 
grief  and  lamentation  is  as  heart-rending  as  the 
announcement  of  divine  salvation  therein  is  jubi- 
lant (ch.  xxvii.  xxviii.).  The  history  of  the  law 
concludes  with  a  supplement  concerning  him 
who  was  deemed  worthy  by  the  Lord  to  transmit 
his  law  to  Israel  (ch.  xxxiv.). 

Thus  much  regarding  the  contents  and  connec- 
tion of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy. 

The  date,  however,  of  the  composition  of  the 
book,  as  well  as  its  authenticity,  has  given  rise  to 
a  great  variety  of  opinion,  more  especially  among 
those  who  are  opposed  to  the  authorship  of  Moses. 
The  older  critics  considered  Deuteronomy  as  the 
latest  production  of  all  the  books  of  the  Penta- 
teuch ;  while  the  more  recent  critics  have  come 
to  just  the  contrary  opinion,  and  declare  it  to  be 
the  earliest  of  the  Mosaic  writings. 

A  very  strong  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
book  lies  in  its  relation  to  the  later  writings  of  the 
prophets.  Of  all  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch, 
Deuteronomy  has  been  made  most  use  of  by  the 
prophets,  simply  because  it  is  best  calculated  to 
serve  as  a  model  for  prophetic  declarations,  as  also 
because  of  the  inward  harmony  that  existe  be- 
tween the  prophecies  and  the  laws  upon  which 
they  are  based. 

Among  the  arguments  advanced  against  the 
authenticity  of  Deuteronomy,  are : 

1.  The  contradictions  said  to  exist  between  this 
and  the  other  books  of  Moses ; 

2.  Certain  anachronisms  committed  by  the 
author. 

These  contradictions  are  more  especially  al- 
leged to  exist  in  the  festival  laws,  where  but 
arbiti-ary  and  unwarranted  views  are  mostly 
entertained  by  such  critics  with  regard  to  the 
nature  and  original  meaning  of  the  festivals,  which 
they  identify  altogether  with  natural  or  season 
festivals,  and  without  lending  to  them  a  more 
spiritual  character  and  signification. 

3.  That  the  Sinai  of  the  other  books  is  always 
called  Horeb  in  Deuteronomy. — They  forget,  how- 
ever, that  Horeb  is  the  general  name  of  the  whole 
mountain,  while  Sinai  is  the  special  name  of  a 
particular  part  of  it.  This  distinction  is,  indeed, 
most  scrupulously  observed  everywhere  in  the 
Pentateuch. 

4.  That  in  Deuteronomy  i.  44  are  mentioned 
the  Amorites,  instead  of  the  Amalekites,  as  in  Num. 
xiv.  45. — Here  also  they  have  forgotten  to  notice 


DEUTERONOMY 

that,  in  the  sequel  of  the  very  passage  alluded  to 
in  Deuteronomy,  both  the  Jmorites  and  Amalek- 
ites  are  mentioned. 

5.  That  the  cause  of  the  punishment  of  Moses 
is  difi'erently  stated  in  Num.  xxvii.  14,  and 
Deuteronomy  iii.  26. — To  this  objection  we  reply, 
that  both  the  guilt  and  punishment  of  Moses  are 
described  in  both  books  as  originating  with  the 
people ;  comp.  also  Deut.  xxxii.  5 1 ,  etc. 

Among  the  anachronisms  in  Deuteronomy  are 
reckoned  the  allusions  made  in  it  to  the  Temple 
(xii.  xvi.  1,  sqq.),  to  the  royal  and  prophetic 
powers  (xiii.  xvii.  xviii.),  to  the  different  modes 
of  idol-worship  (iv.  19  ;  xvii.  3),  and  to  the  exile 
(xxviii.  sq.).  In  suggesting  these  critical  points, 
however,  they  do  not  consider  that  all  these  sub- 
jects are  most  closely  and  intimately  connected 
■with  the  spirit  and  principles  of  the  law  itself, 
and  that  all  these  regulations  and  prophecies 
appear  here  in  Deuteronomy,  as  necessary  finish- 
ing-points to  the  Law,  so  indispensable  for  the 
better  consolidation  of  the  subsequent  and  later 
relations  of  the  theocracy. 

More  anachronisms  are  said  to  be, 

1.  The  sixty  dwelling-places  of  Jair  mentioned 
Deut.  iii.  14,  sq.  (comp.  Judg.  x.  3,  sq.).  We 
consider,  however,  that  the  men  mentioned  in  the 
two  passages  are  evidently  different  persons, 
though  of  the  same  name.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to 
prove  from  other  sources,  that  there  really  existed 
at  the  time  of  Moses  a  man  by  name  Jair. 

2.  The  notice  (iii.  11)  concerning  king  Og, 
which  looks  more  like  a  note  of  a  subsequent 
writer  in  corroboration  of  the  story  told  in  the 
chapter.  But  this  hypothesis  falls  to  the  ground 
when  we  consider  that  Moses  did  not  write  for  his 
contemporaries  merely,  but  also  for  late  posterity. 

The  book  contains,  moreover,  not  a  small  num- 
ber of  plain,  though  indirect  traces,  indicative  of 
its  Mosaic  origin.     We  thus  find  in  it : 

1.  Numerous  notices  concerning  nations  with 
whom  the  Israelites  had  then  come  in  contact, 
but  who,  after  the  Mosaic  period,  entirely  dis- 
appeared from  the  pages  of  history :  such  are  the 
accounts  of  the  residences  of  the  kings  of  Bashan 
(i.  4). 

2.  The  appellation  of  '  mountain  of  the  Amo- 
rites,'  used  throughout  the  whole  book  (i.  7,  19, 
20,  44),  while  even  in  the  book-of  Joshua,  soon 
after  the  conquest  of  the  land,  the  name  is  already 
exchanged  for  '  mountains  of  Judah '  (Josh.  xi. 
16,  21). 

3.  The  observation  (ii.  10),  that  the  Eviim  had 
formerly  dwelt  in  the  plain  of  Moab :  they  were 
a  great  people,  equal  to  the  Anakim.  This  ob- 
servation quite  accords  with  Genesis  xiv.  5. 

4.  A  detailed  account  (ii.  11)  concerning  the 
Horim  and  their  relations  to  the  Edomites. 

.5.  An  account  of  the  Zamzummim  (ii.  20,  21), 
one  of  the  earliest  races  of  Canaan,  though  men- 
tioned nowhere  else. 

G.  A  very  circumstantial  account  of  the  Re- 
phaim  (iii.  3,  sq.),  with  whose  concerns  the  author 
seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted. 

The  standing-point  also  of  the  author  of  Deute- 
ronomy is  altogether  in  the  Mosaic  time,  and  had 
it  been  assumed  and  fictitious,  there  must  neces- 
sarily have  been  moments  when  the  spurious 
author  would  have  been  off  his  guard,  and  un- 
mindful of  the  part  he  had  to  play.  But  no  dis- 
crepancies of  this  kind  can  be  traced ;  and  this 


DEUTERONOMY  2SS 

is  in  itself  an  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
book. 

A  great  number  of  other  passages  force  us 
likewise  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  whole  of 
Deuteronomy  originated  in  the  time  of  Moses. 
Such  are  the  passages  where 

1.  A  comparison  is  drawn  between  Canaan  and 
Egypt  (xi.  10,  sq.),  with  the  latter  of  Avhich  the 
author  seems  thoroughly  acquainted. 

2.  Detailed  descriptions  are  given  of  the  fer- 
tility and  productions  of  Egypt  (viii.  7,  sq.). 

3.  Regulations  are  given  relating  to  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan  (xii.  1,  sq. ;  xx.  1,  sq.),  which 
cannot  be  understood  otherwise  than  by  assuming 
that  they  had  been  framed  in  the  Mosaic  time, 
since  they  could  be  of  no  use  after  that  period. 

Besides,  whole  pieces  and  chapters  in  Deutero- 
nomy, such  as  xxxii.,  xxxiii.,  betray  in  form,  lan- 
guage, and  tenor,  a  very  early  period  in  Hebrew 
literature.  Nor  are  the  laws  and  regulations  in 
Deuteronomy  less  decisive  of  the  aiithenticity  of 
the  book.  We  are  struck  with  the  most  remark- 
able phenomenon,  that  many  laws  from  the  pre- 
vious books  are  here  partly  repeated  and  im- 
pressed with  more  energy,  partly  modified,  and 
partly  altogether  abolished,  according  to  the  con- 
tingencies of  the  time,  or  as  the  new  aspect  of 
circumstances  among  the  Jews  rendered  such 
steps  necessary  (comp.  e.  g.  Deut.  xv.  17  with 
Exod.  xxi.  7  ;  Deut.  xii.  with  Lev.  xvii.).  Such 
pretensions  to  raise,  or  even  to  oppose  his  own 
private  opinions  to  the  authority  of  divine  law, 
are  found  in  no  author  of  the  subsequent  periods, 
since  the  whole  of  the  sacred  literature  of  the 
later  times  is,  on  the  contrary,  rather  the  echo 
than  otherwise  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  is  alto- 
gether founded  on  it.  Add  to  this  the  fact,  that 
the  law  itself  forbids  most  impressively  to  add  to, 
or  take  anything  from  it,  a  prohibition  which  is 
repeated  even  in  Deuteronomy  (comp.  iv.  2  ;  xiii. 
1);  and  it  is  but  too  evident,  that,  if  the  opinion 
of  the  critics  be  correct,  that  this  book  contains 
nothing  more  than  a  gradual  development  of  the 
law — it  clashes  too  often  with  its  own  principles, 
and  pronounces  thus  its  own  sentence  of  con- 
demnation. 

The  part  of  Deuteronomy  (xxxiv.)  respecting 
the  death  of  Moses  requires  a  particular  explana- 
tion. That  the  whole  of  this  section  is  to  be 
regarded  as  a  piece  altogether  apart  from  what 
precedes  it,  or  as  a  supplement  from  another 
writer,  has  already  been  maintained  by  the  elder 
theologians;  and  this  opinion  is  confirmed  not 
only  by  the  contents  of  the  chapter,  but  also  by 
the  express  declaration  of  the  book  itself  on  that 
event  and  its  relations ;  for  chapter  xxxi.  contains 
the  conclusion  of  the  work,  where  Moses  describes 
himself  as  the  author  of  the  previous  contents,  as 
also  of  the  Song  (ch.  xxxii.),  and  the  blessings 
(ch.  xxxiii.)  belonghig  to  it.  All  that  follows  is, 
consequently,  not  from  Moses,  the  work  being 
completed  and  concluded  with  chapter  xxxiii. 
There  is  another  circumstance  which  favours  this 
opinion,  namely,  the  close  connection  that  exists 
between  the  last  section  of  Deuteronomy  and  the 
beginning  of  Joshua  (comp.  Deut.  xxxiv.  9  with 
Josh.  i.  1),  plainly  shows  that  chapter  xxxiv.  of 
Deuteronomy  is  intended  to  serve  as  a  point  of 
transition  to  the  book  of  Joshua,  and  that  it  was 
written  by  the  same  author  as  the  latter.  The 
correct  view  of  this  chapter,  therefore,  is  to  con- 


254 


DIAL 


sider  it  as  a  real  supplement,  but  by  no  means  as 
an  interpolation. 

On  the  literature  of  Deuteronomy,  compare  the 
article  Pentateuch. 

DEW.  The  various  passages  of  Scripture  in 
■which  dew  is  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  statements 
of  travellers,  might,  unless  carefully  considered, 
convey  the  impression  that  in  Palestine  the  dews 
fall  copiously  at  night  during  the  height  of 
summer,  and  supply  in  some  degree  the  lack  of 
I'ain.  But  we  find  that  those  who  mention  dews 
travelled  in  spring  and  autumn,  while  those  who 
travelled  in  summer  make  no  mention  of  them. 
In  fact,  scarcely  any  dew  does  fall  during  the 
summer  months — from  the  middle  of  May  to  the 
middle  of  August ;  but  as  it  continues  to  fall  for 
some  time  after  the  rains  of  spring  have  ceased, 
and  begins  to  fall  before  the  rains  of  autumn 
commence,  we  may  from  this  gather  the  sense  in 
which  the  Scriptural  references  to  dew  are  to  be 
understood.  Without  the  dews  continuing  to  fall 
after  the  rains  have  ceased,  and  commencing  be- 
fore the  rains  return,  the  season  of  actual  drought, 
and  the  parched  appearance  of  the  country,  would 
be  of  much  longer  duration  than  they  really  are. 
The  partial  refreshment  thus  afforded  to  the 
ground  at  the  end  of  a  summer  without  dews  or 
rains,  is  of  great  value  in  Western  Asia,  and  would 
alone  explain  all  the  Oriental  references  to  the 
effects  of  dew.  This  explanation  is  of  further 
interest  as  indicating  the  times  of  the  year  to 
which  the  Scriptural  notices  of  dew  refer  ;  for  as 
it  does  not,  in  any  perceptible  degree,  fall  in 
summer,  and  as  few  would  think  of  mentioning 
it  in  the  season  of  rain,  we  may  take  all  such 
notices  to  refer  to  the  months  of  April,  May,  part 
of  August,  and  September. 

DIADEM.     [Crown.] 

DIAL.  The  invention  of  the  sun-dial  belongs 
most  probably  to  the  Babylonians.  The  first 
mention  in  Scripture  of  the  '  hour,'  is  made  by 
Daniel,  at  Babylon  (ch.  iii.  6).  The  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  dial  of  Ahaz  (2  Kings 
XX.  1 1  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  8),  which  is  perhaps  the 
earliest  of  which  we  have  any  clear  mention,  en- 
tirely concur  with  the  derivation  of  gnomonics 
from  the  Babylonians.  Ahaz  had  formed  an 
alliance  with  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria  (2 
Kings  xvi.  7,  9),  and  that  he  was  ready  to  adopt 
foreign  improvements,  appears  from  his  admira- 
tion of  the  altar  at  Damascus,  and  his  introduc- 
tion of  a  copy  of  it  into  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xvi. 
10).  '  The  princes  of  Babylon  sent  unto  him  to 
inquire  of  the  wonder  that  was  done  in  the  land' 
(2  Chron.  xxxii.  31).  Hence  the  dial  also,  which 
was  called  after  his  name,  was  probably  an  im- 
portation from  Babylon.  Different  conjectures 
have  been  formed  respecting  the  construction  of 
this  instrument.  On  the  whole  it  seems  to  have 
been  a  distinct  contrivance,  rather  than  any  part 
of  a  house.  It  would  also  seem  probable,  from 
the  circumstances,  that  it  was  of  such  a  size,  and 
so  placed,  that  Hezekiah,  now  convalescent  (Isa. 
xxxviii.  21,  22),  but  not  perfectly  recovered, 
could  witness  the  miracle  from  his  chamber  or 
pavilion.  May  it  not  have  been  situate  '  in  the 
middle  court "  mentioned  2  Kings  xx.  4  ?  The 
cut  given  below  (No.  141)  presents  a  dial  dis- 
covered in  Hindostan,  near  Delhi,  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  Mogul  empire,  whose  construction 
would  well  suit  the  circumstances  recorded  of  the 


DIAL 

dial  of  Ahaz.  It  seems  to  have  answered  the 
double  purpose  of  an  observatory  and  a  dial — a 
rectangled  hexangle,  whose  hypothenuse  is  a 
steircase,  apparently  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the 
earth,  and  bisects  a  zone  or  coping  of  a  wall, 
which  wall  connects  the  two  terminating  towers 


right  and  left.  The  coping  itself  is  of  a  circular 
form,  and  accurately  graduated  to  mark,  by  the 
shadow  of  the  gnomon  above,  the  sun's  progress 
before  and  after  noon ;  for  when  the  suu  is  in 
the  zenith,  he  shines  directly  on  the  staircase,  and 
the  shadow  falls  beyond  the  coping.  AJfat  surface 
on  the  top  of  the  staircase,  and  a  gnomon,  fitted  the 
building  for  the  purpose  of  an  oliservatory.  Ac- 
cording to  the  known  laws  of  refraction,  a  cloud  or 
body  of  air  of  different  density  from  the  common 
atmosphere,  interposed  between  the  gnomon  and 
the  coping  of  the  dial-plate  below,  would,  if  the 
cloud  were  denser  than  the  atmosphere,  cause  the 
shadow  to  recede  from  the  p;irpendicular  height 
of  the  staircase,  and  of  course  to  re-ascend  the 
steps  on  the  coping,  by  which  it  had  before  noon 
gone  down ;  and  if  the  cloud  were  rarer,  a  con- 
trary effect  would  take  place.  The  phenomenon 
on  the  dial  of  Ahaz,  however,  was  doubtless  of  a 
miraculous  nature,  even  should  such  a  medium  of 
the  miracle  be  admitted :  nothing  less  than  a 
divine  communication  could  have  enabled  Isaiah 
to  predict  its  occurrence  at  that  time  and  place  : 
besides,  he  gave  the  king  his  own  choice  whether 
the  shadow  should  advance  or  retire  ten  degrees. 
There  seems,  however,  to  be  no  necessity  for 
seeking  any  medium  for  this  miracle,  and  cer- 
tainly no  necessity  for  supposing  any  actual  inter- 
ference with  the  revolution  of  the  earth,  or  the 
position  of  the  suu.  The  miracle,  from  all  the 
accounts  of  it,  might  consist  only  of  the  retro- 
gression of  the  shadow  ten  degrees,  by  a  simple 
act  of  Almighty  power,  without  any  medium,  or, 
at  most,  by  that  of  refracting  those  rays  only 
which  fell  upon  the  dial.  It  is  not  said  that  any 
time  was  lost  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  world  at 
large  :  it  was  not  even  observed  by  the  astronomers 
of  Babylon,  for  the  deputation  came  to  inquire 
concerning  the  wonder  that  was  done  in  the  land. 
It  was  temporary,  local,  and  confined  to  the  ob- 
servation of  Hezekiah  and  his  court,  being  de- 
signed chiefly  for  the  satisfaction  of  that  monarch. 
It  is  remarkable  that  no  instrument  for  keeping 
time  is  mentioned  in  the  Scripture  before  the  dial 
of  Ahaz,  B.C.  700;  nor  does  it  appear  that  the 
Jews  generally,  even  after  this  period,  divided 
their  day  into  hours.     The  dial  of  Ahaz  was  pro- 


DIANA 


DIKLAH 


bably  an  object  only  of  curious  recreation,  or 
served  at  most  to  regulate  the  occupations  of  the 
palace. 

DIAMOND.  The  diamond  is  named  in  the 
Authorized  Version  as  one  of  the  stones  in  the 
breastplate  of  the  high-priest  (Exod.  xxviii.  18  ; 
xxxix.  11).  But  as  these  stones  were  engraved, 
it  is  by  no  means  likely  that  the  original  word 
{yahalom)  really  denotes  the  diamond;  and  it 
is  generally  understood  that  the  onyx  is  intended. 
The  diamond  again  occurs  in  the  Authorized 
Version  of  Jer.  xvii  .1  ;  Ezek.  iii.  9  ;  Zech.  -vii.  12 ; 
and  in  these  places  the  word  (s/iamir)  is  different 
from  the  above,  and  its  signification,  'a  sharp 
point,'  countenances  this  interpretation,  the  dia- 
mond being  for  its  hardness  used  in  perforating 
and  cutting  other  minerals.  Indeed,  this  use  of 
the  shamir  is  distinctly  alluded  to  in  Jer.  xvii.  1, 
where  the  stilus  pointed  with  it  is  distinguished 
from  one  of  iron  (comp.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvii. 
15).  The  two  other  passages  also  favour  this 
view  by  using  it  figuratively  to  express  the 
hardness  and  obduracy  of  the  Israelites.  Our 
Authorized  Version  has  '  diamond '  in  Jer.  xvii.  1, 
and  '  adamant '  in  the  other  texts :  but  in  the 
original  the  word  is  the  same  in  all. 

DIANA  (Acts  xix.  24).  Artemis,  the  Diana  of 
the  Romans,  is  a  goddess  known  under  various 


supported  by  a  staff  on  each  side.     There  is  some 
dispute  as  to  the  material  of  which  her  image 


modifications,  and  with  almost  incompatible 
attributes.  As  the  tutelary  divinity  of  Ephesus, 
in  which  character  alone  she  concerns  us  here, 
she  was  undoubtedly  a  representative  of  the  same 
power  presiding  over  conception  and  birth  which 
was  adored  in  Palestine  under  the  name  of  Ash- 

TORETH. 

Her  earliest  image,  which  was  said  to  have 
fallen  from  heaven,  was  probably  very  rude,  and, 
to  judge  fropi  its  representation  on  ancient  coins, 
little  more  than  a  head  with  a  shapeless  trunk, 


was  made.  Most  authorities  say  it  was  of  ebony. 
The  later  image  with  the  full  development  of 
attributes,  of  which  we  give  a  representation,  is 
a  Pantheon  of  Asiatic  and  Egyptian  deities. 
Even  in  it,  however,  we  see  how  little  influence 
Greek  art  had  in  modifying  its  antique  rudeness. 
It  is  still  more  like  a  mummy  than  a  Greek 
statue.  Her  priests  were  called  Megabyzi,  and 
were  eunu^chs. 

Dl'BON,  or  DIMON  (Isa.  xv.  9),  called  also 
Dibon-Gad,  from  its  having  been  rebuilt  by  the 
tribe  of  that  name  (Num.  xxxii.  .'34),  a  city  on 
the  northern  bank  of  the  Arnon,  at  the  point 
where  the  Israelites  crossed  that  river  on  their 
journey  to  the  Jordan,  and  where  their  first  en- 
campment was  made  after  having  passed  it.  In 
later  times  we  find  it,  with  other  towns  in  this 
quarter,  in  the  hands  of  the  Moabites  (Jer.  xlviii. 
22).  The  site  has  been  recognised  by  Seetzen, 
Burckhardt,  and  Irby  and  Mangles,  at  a  place 
which  bears  the  name  of  Diban,  in  a  low  tract 
of  the  district  called  the  Koura,  about  three 
miles  north  of  the  Arnon  (Modjeb).  The  ruins 
are  here  extensive,  but  offer  nothing  of  interest. 
There  was  another  place  called  Dibon  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah  (Neh.  xi.  25),  perhaps  the  same 
that  is  called  Dimonah  in  Josh.  xiii.  26. 

DI'DRACHMON  (a  double  drachma),  a  silver 
coin  equal  to  two  Attic  drachmae,  and  also  to  the 
Jewish  half-shekel  (Joseph.  Antiq.  iii.  8.  2).  It 
was  therefore  equivalent  to  about  Is.  Ad.  of  our 
money.  By  the  law  every  Jew  was  required  to 
pay  half  a  shekel  to  the  Temple  (Exod.  xxx. 
13,  sq.),  and  this  amount  is  represented  by  the 
didrachma  in  Matt.  xvii.  24,  where  it  is  used  for 
the  '  tribute-money '  demanded  of  Christ. 

DID'YMUS  (a  twin),  a  surname  of  the 
Apostle  Thomas,  denoting  that  he  was  a  twin ; 
and  if  translated,  he  would  be  called  '  Thomas 
the  Twin'  (John  xi.  16).     [Thomas.] 

DI'KE,  the  heathen  Goddess  of  Justice ;  de- 
scribed as  the  daughter  of  Zeus  and  Themis. 
The  punishment  of  murderers  is  particularly 
ascribed  to  her ;  and  therefore,,  besides  being  the 
goddess  of  punishment  in  a  general  .sense,  she  is 
often  to  be  considered  the  same  as  Nemesis  or 
Vengeance.  The  word  occurs  in  Acts  xxviii.  4, 
and  is  there  rendered  'vengeance,'  appellatively. 

DIK'LAH,  a  tribe  descended  from  Joktan 
(Gen.  X.  27).  As  the  name  in  Aramaic  and 
Arabic  means  a  palm-tree,  it  has  been  judged 
necessary  to  seek  the  seat  of  the  tribe  in  some 


5  DIOTREPHES 

I  territory  rich  in  palm-trees.  Bochart  finds  it  in 
' '  Southern  Arabia,  Michaelis  in  the  region  of  the 
Tigris  (from  the  analogy  of  the  name  Diglath)  ; 
but  where  the  ground  of  search  is  so  uncertain, 
it  is  impossible  to  obtain  any  satisfactory  result. 
Dl'NAH,  a  daughter  of  Jacob  by  Leah  (Gen. 
XXX.  21),  and  therefore  full  sister  of  Simeon  and 
Levi.  While  Jacob's  camp  was  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Shechem,  Dinah  was  seduced  by 
Shechem,  the  son  of  Hamor,  the  Hivite  chief  or 
head-man  of  the  town.  Partly  from  dread  of 
the  consequences  of  his  misconduct,  and  partly, 
it  would  seem,  out  of  love  for  the  damsel,  he 
solicited  a  marriage  with  her,  leaving  the  '  mar- 
riage price '  (see  Marriage)  to  be  fixed  by  her 
family.  To  this  Dinah's  brothers  would  only 
consent  on  the  further  condition  that  all  the  in- 
habitants of  the  place  should  be  circumcised. 
Even  this  was  yielded;  and  Simeon  and  Levi 
took  a  most  barbarous  advantage  of  the  com- 
pliance by  falling  upon  the  town  on  the  third 
day,  when  the  people  were  disabled  by  the  effects 
of  the  operation,  and  slew  them  all  (Gen.  xxxiv.). 
For  this  act  of  truly  Oriental  vindictiveness  no 
excuse  can  be  offered,  and  Jacob  himself  re- 
peatedly alludes  to  it  with  abhorrence  and  regret 
(_Gen.  xxxiv.  30;  xlix.  5-7).  To  understand  the 
act  at  all,  however,  it  is  necessary  to  remember, 
that  any  stain  upon  the  honour  of  a  sister,  and 
especially  of  an  only  sister,  is  even  at  this  day 
considered  as  an  insupportable  disgrace  and  in- 
expiable offence  among  all  the  nomade  tribes  of 
Western  Asia.  If  the  woman  be  single,  her 
brothers  more  than  her  father,  if  she  be  married, 
her  brothers  more  than  her  husband,  are  ag- 
grieved, and  are  considered  bound  to  avenge  the 
wrong.  Hence  the  active  vengeance  of  Dinah's 
full  brothers,  and  the  comparative  passiveness  of 
her  father  in  these  transactions.  Of  Dinah's  sub- 
sequent lot  nothing  is  known. 

DIONYS'IUS  THE  AREOPAGITE.  The 
name  of  '  Dionysius  the  Areopagite '  enlivens 
the  scanty  account  of  success  which  attended  the 
visit  of  Paul  to  Athens  (Acts  xvii.  34).  Nothing 
further  is  related  of  him  in  the  New  Testament ; 
but  ecclesiastical  historians  record  some  parti- 
culars concerning  his  career,  both  before  and 
after  his  conversion.  Suidas  recounts  that  he 
was  an  Athenian  by  birth,  and  eminent  for  his 
literary  attainments;  that  he  studied  first  at 
Athens  and  afterwards  at  Heliopolis  in  Egypt; 
and  that,  while  in  the  latter  city,  he  beheld  that 
remarkable  eclipse  of  the  sun,  as  he  terms  it, 
which  took  place  at  the  death  of  Christ,  and  ex- 
claimed to  his  friend  Apollophanes,  '  Either  the 
Divinity  suffers,  or  sympathises  with  some 
sufferer.'  He  futher  details,  that  after  Dionysius 
returned  to  Athens,  he  was  admitted  into  the 
Areopagus;  and,  having  embraced  Christianity 
about  A.D.  50,  was  constituted  Bishop  of  Athens 
by  the  Apostle  Paul  himself.  Syncellus  and 
Nicephorus  both  record  the  last  particular.  Aris- 
tides,  an  Athenian  philosopher,  asserts  that  he 
suflFered  martyrdom — a  fact  generally  admitted 
by  historians  ;  but  the  precise  period  of  his  death, 
whether  under  Trajan  or  Adrian,  or,  which  is 
most  likely,  under  Domitian,  they  do  not  de- 
termine. It  is  impossible  now  to  determine  what 
credit  is  to  be  given  to  these  traditions. 

DIOT'KEPHES  {Jove-nourished),  a  person 
who  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  false  teachers 


DISEASES 

condemned  by  St.  John  in  his  third  epistle.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  presbyter  or  deacon  — 
probably  the  former.  He  refused  to  receive  the 
letter  sent  by  John,  thereby  declining  to  submit 
to  his  directions  or  acknowledge  his  authority 
(3  John  9). 

DISCERNING  OF  SPIRITS.  This  is  now 
usually  understood  to  mean  a  high  faculty,  en- 
joyed by  certain  persons  in  the  apostolic  age,  of 
diving  into  the  heart  and  discerning  the  secret 
dispositions  of  men.  It  appears  to  have  been 
one  of  the  gifts  peculiar  to  that  age,  and  was 
especially  necessary  at  a  time  when  the  standards 
of  doctrine  were  not  well  established  or  generally 
understood,  and  when  many  deceivers  were 
abroad  (2  John  ii.  7).  This  faculty  seems  to 
have  been  exercised  chiefly  upon  those  who  came 
forward  as  teachers  of  others,  and  with  whose  real 
character  and  designs  it  was  important  that  the 
infant  churches  should  be  acquainted. 

DISCIPLE,  a  scholar  or  follower  of  any 
teacher,  in  the  general  sense.  It  is  hence  applied 
in  the  Gospels  not  only  to  the  followers  of  Christ, 
but  to  those  of  John  the  Baptist  (Matt  ix.  14, 
&c.),  and  of  the  Pharisees  (Matt.  xxii.  16).  Al- 
though used  of  the  followers  of  Christ  generally, 
it  is  applied  in  a  special  manner  to  the  twelve 
apostles  (Matt.  x.  1 ;  xi.  1 ;  xx.  17  ;  Luke  ix.  1). 
After  the  death  of  Christ  the  word  took  the 
wider  sense  of  a  believer,  or  Christian ;  i.  e.  a 
follower  of  Jesus  Christ. 

DISEASES  OF  THE  JEWS.  The  most 
prevalent  diseases  of  the  East  are  cutaneous  dis- 
eases, malignant  fevers,  dysentery,  and  ophthal- 
mia. Of  the  first  of  these  the  most  remarkable 
are  leprosy  and  elephantiasis  [Lepkosy].  To 
the  same  class  also  belongs  the  singular  disease 
called  the  mal  d' Aleppo,  which  is  confined  to 
Aleppo,  Bagdad,  Aintab,  and  the  villages  on  the 
Segour  and  Kowick.  It  consists  in  an  eruption 
of  one  or  more  small  red  tubercles,  which  give 
no  uneasiness  at  first,  but,  after  a  few  weeks, 
become  prurient,  discharge  a  little  moisture,  and 
sometimes  ulcerate.  Its  duration  is  from  a  few 
months  to  a  year.  It  does  not  affect  the  general 
health  at  all,  and  is  only  dreaded  on  account  of 
the  scars  it  leaves.  Foreigners  who  have  visited 
Aleppo  have  sometimes  been  affected  by  it 
several  years  after  their  return  to  their  own 
country.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  dogs  and 
cats  are  likewise  attacked  by  it.  The  Egyptians 
are  subject  to  an  eruption  of  red  spots  and 
pimples,  which  cause  a  troublesome  smarting. 
The  eruption  returns  every  year  towards  the  end 
of  June  or  beginning  of  July,  and  is  on  that 
account  attributed  to  the  rising  of  the  Nile. 
Malignant  fevers  are  very  frequent,  and  of  this 
class  is  the  great  scourge  of  the  East,  the  plague, 
which  surpasses  all  others  in  virulence  and  con- 
tagiousness [Pestilence].  The  Egyptian  oph- 
thalmia is  prevalent  throughout  Egypt  and  Syria, 
and  is  the  cause  of  blindness  being  so  frequent  in 
those  countries  [Blindness].  Of  inflammatory 
diseases  in  general.  Dr.  Russell  says  that  at 
Aleppo  he  has  not  found  them  more  frequent,  nor 
more  rapid  in  their  course,  than  in  Great  Britain. 
Epilepsy  and  diseases  of  the  mind  are  commonly 
met  with.  Melancholy  monomaniacs  are  re- 
garded as  sacred  persons  in  Egypt,  and  are  held 
in  the  highest  veneration  by  all  Mahopetans. 

Diseases  are  not  unfrequently  alluded  to  in  the 


DISH 

01(1  Testament ;  but,  as  no  description  is  gixen 
of  them,  except  in  one  or  two  instances,  it  is  for 
the  most  part  impossible  even  to  hazard  a  con- 
jecture concerning  their  nature. 

Hezekiah  suffered,  according  to  our  version, 
from  a  boil.  The  term  liere  used  means  literally 
inflammation ;  but  we  have  no  means  of  identi- 
fying it  with  what  we  call  boil.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  plague  of  boils  and  blains  [Blains], 
and  of  the  names  of  diseases  mentioned  in  the 
28th  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  such  as  pestilence, 
consumption,  fever,  botch  of  Egypt,  itch,  scab. 
The  case  of  Job,  in  which  the  term  translated 
hoil  also  occurs,  demands  a  separate  notice  [Job]. 
Nebuchadnezzar's  disease  was  a  species  of  me- 
lancholy monomania,  called  by  authors  zoan- 
thropia,  or  more  commonly  lycanthropia,  be- 
cause the  transformation  into  a  wolf  was  the  most 
ordinary  illusion.  Esquirol  considers  it  to  have 
originated  in  the  ancient  custom  of  sacrificing 
animals.  But,  whatever  effect  this  practice  might 
have  had  at  the  time,  the  cases  recorded  are  in- 
dependent of  any  such  influence ;  and  it  really 
does  not  seem  necessary  to  trace  this  particular 
hallucination  to  a  remote  historical  cause,  when 
we  remember  that  the  imaginary  transformations 
into  inanimate  objects,  such  as  glass,  butter,  &c., 
which  are  of  every-day  occurrence,  are  equally 
irreconcilable  with  the  natural  instincts  of  the 
mind.  The  same  author  relates  that  a  nobleman 
of  the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  was  in  the  habit  of 
frequently  putting  his  head  out  of  a  window,  in 
order  to  satisfy  the  urgent  desire  he  had  to  bark. 
Calmet  informs  us  that  the  nuns  of  a  German 
convent  were  transformed  into  cats,  and  went 
mewing  over  the  whole  house  at  a  fixed  hour  of 
the  day.  Antiochus  and  Herod  died,  like  Sylla, 
from  phthiriasis,  a  disease  which  was  well  known 
to  the  ancients.  Nothing  is  known  respecting  the 
immediate  causes  of  this  malady ;  but  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  depends  on  the  general  state  of  the 
constitution,  and  must  not  be  attributed  to  un- 
cleanliness.  Alibert  mentions  the  case  of  a  per- 
son who,  as  soon  as  these  animals  had  been 
destroyed,  fell  into  a  typhoid  state,  and  shortly 
after  died.  The  question  of  alleged  demoniacal 
possession,  so  often  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, has  been  considered  under  another  head 
[Demoniacs],  and  need  not  be  re-opened  in  this 
place. 

DISH.  Various  kinds  of  dishes  are  mentioned 
in  Scripture ;  but  it  is  impossible  to  form  any 
other  idea  of  their  particular  forms  than  may  be 
suggested  by  those  of  ancient  Egypt  and  of  the 


DIVINATION 


257 


modem  East,  which  have  much  resemblance  to 
each  other.  The  sites  of  such  ancient  towns  as 
were  built  of  sun-dried  bricks  are  usually  covered 
■with  broken    potsherds,    some    of  them    large 


enough  to  indicate  the  form  of  the  entire  vessel. 
These  are  remarkably  similar  to  those  in  modern 
use,  and  are  for  the  most  part  made  of  a  rather 
coarse  earthenware,  covered  with  a  compact  and 
strong  glaze,  with  bright  colours,  mostly  green, 
blue,  or  yellow.  Dishes  and  other  vessels  of 
copper,  coarsely  but  thickly  tinned,  are  now 
much  used  in  the  East ;  but  how  far  this  may 
have  been  anciently  the  case  we  have  not  the 
means  of  knowing.  The  cut  (No.  144)  re- 
presents a  slave  bringing  dishes  to  table;  the 
dishes  have  covers,  and  the  manner  in  which  they 
are  carried  on  the  reverted  hand  is  the  mode  still 
used  by  Eastern  servants. 

DIVINATION  is  a  general  term  descriptive 
of  the  various  illusory  arts  anciently  practised 
for  the  discovery  of  things  secret  or  future.  The 
human  mind  has  always  shown  a  strong  curiosity 
to  ascertain  the  course  of  fortune,  and  the  issue  of 
present  or  contemplated  schemes ;  and  in  those 
countries  and  ages  where  ignorance  of  physical 
laws  has  combined  with  superstition  to  debase  it, 
it  has  sought  to  gratify  this  innate  disposition  to 
pry  into  futurity,  by  looking  for  presages  in  things 
between  which  and  the  object  of  its  anxiety  no 
connection  existed  but  in  the  diviner's  imagina- 
tion. Scarcely  a  single  department  of  nature  but 
was  appealed  to,  as  furnishing,  on  certain  con- 
ditions, good  or  bad  omens  of  human  destiny ; 
and  the  aspect  of  things,  which,  perhaps  by  the 
most  casual  coincidence,  marked  some  event  or 
crisis  in  the  life  of  one  or  two  individuals,  came 
to  be  regarded,  by  blind  credulity,  as  the  fixed 
and  invariable  precursor  of  a  similar  result  in  the 
affairs  of  mankind  in  general.  By  such  childish 
and  irrational  notions  was  the  conduct  of  the 
heathen  guided  in  the  most  important,  no  less 
than  in  the  most  ordinary  occurrences  of  life  ;  and 
hence  arose  the  profession  of  augurs,  soothsayers, 
et  hoc  genus  omne  of  impostors,  who,  ingrafting 
vulgar  traditions  on  a  small  stock  of  natural 
knowledge,  established  their  claims  to  the  posses- 
sion of  an  occult  science,  the  importance  and  in- 
fluence of  which  they  dexterously  increased  by 
associating  it  with  all  that  was  pompous  and  im- 
posing in  the  ceremonies  of  their  religion. 

This  science,  if  that  can  be  called  science 
which  was  the  product  of  ignorance  and  fraud 
united,  was  divided  into  various  branches,  each 
of  which  had  its  separate  professors.  In  a  general 
view,  divination  may  be  considered  as  either  na- 
tural or  artificial :  the  first  being  founded  on  the 
notion  that  the  soul  possesses,  from  its  spiritual 
nature,  some  prescience  of  futurity,  which  it  ex- 
emplifies particularly  in  dreams,  and  at  the  ap- 
proach of  death :  the  second,  resting  on  a  peculiar 
interpretation  of  the  course  of  nature,  as  well  as 
on  such  arbitrary  observations  and  experiments 
as  superstition  introduced.  The  different  systems 
and  methods  that  were  anciently  in  vogue  are 
almost  incredible :  as,  for  instance,  Aeromancy, 
divining  by  the  air ;  Arithmomancy,  by  means  of 
numbers ;  Capnomancy,  by  the  smoke  of  sacri- 
fices ;  Chiromancy,  by  the  lines  on  the  palms  of 
the  hands ;  Hydromancy,  by  water  ;  Pyromancy, 
by  fire,  &c.  But  without  attempting  an  enumera- 
tion and  explanation  of  all  the  arts  of  divination 
that  were  anciently  practised,  let  us  confine  our- 
selves to  the  mention  of  those  which  occur  in 
sacred  history.  1.  Wise  men  (Exod.  vii.  11; 
Isa.  xliv.  25;  Jer.  1.  35  ;  Dan.  ii.  12,  &c.),  a  term 


258 


DIVINATION 


applied  generally  to  magicians,  or  men  who  -were 
skilled   in   natural   science.      2.    'Wizards'    or 
■wise  men,   and  '  a  -witch,'   from  an  Arabic  verb 
signifying  '  to  reveal,'  both  practising  divination 
by  the  same  arts,  i.  e.  pretending  to  reveal  secrets, 
to  discover  things  lost,  find  hidden  treasure,  and 
interpret   dreams.      3.    One  who   foretold  what 
was  to  happen  by  the  flight  of  birds,  or  the  use 
of  lots  [Lots].     4.  One  who,  though  rendered  by 
our  translators  '  an  observer  of  times,'  foretold 
political  or  physical  changes  by  the  motion  of  the 
clouds,  along  with  whom  Isaiah  conjoins  those 
who  made  the  same  predictions  from  eclipses,  and 
the  conjunction  of  the  stars  (xlvii.  13).     5.  'An 
enchanter'    was    probably    one    who    practised 
Ophiomancy,  or   the  art  of  charming  serpents, 
■which  was,  and  still  is,  a  favourite  trick  of  jug- 
glery in   the   East.     6.  'A  charmer,'  one  who 
placed  words  and  things  in  a  certain  arrange- 
ment, or  muttered  them,  as  a  kind  of  spell.  7.  _'  A 
oonsulter  with  familiar  spirits,'  or  '  a  ventrilo- 
quist,' was  a  wizard  who  asked  counsel  of  his 
familiar,  and  gave  the  responses  received  from 
him  to  others— the  name  being  applied  in  refer- 
ence to  the  spirit  or  demon  that  animated  the 
person,  and  inflated  the  belly,  so  that  it  protu- 
berated  like  the  side  of  a  bottle  (see  Levit.  xx. 
27;  1  Sam.  xxviii.  8;  also  Acts  xvi.  16).    8.  '  A 
necromancer,'  one  who,  by  frequenting  tombs,  by 
inspecting  corpses,  &c.,  like  the  witch  of  Endor, 
pretended  to  evoke  the  dead,  and  bring  secrets 
from  the  invisible  world  (Gen.  xli.  8  ;  Exod.  vii. 
11;  Lev.  xix.  2G ;  Deut.  xviii.   10-12).     9.  Be- 
lomancy,  as  it  is  called,  a  form  of  divination  by 
means  of  arrows  (Ezek.  xxi.  21 ;  see  also  2  Kings 
xiii.  14-19),  a  notable  example  of  which  occurs 
in  the  history  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  who,  being  un- 
decided whether  to  march  first  against  Jerusalem 
or   Kabbah,  allowed  neither   his  policy  nor  re- 
sentment to  decide  the  course  of  his  expedition, 
but  was  determined  wholly  by  the  result  of  super- 
stitious rites.     The  way  of  divining  by  arrows 
was,  having  first  made  them  bright '  in  order  the 
better  to  follow  them  with  the  eye,'  to  shoot  them, 
and  to  prosecute  the  march  according  to  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  greatest  number  of  arrows  fell ; 
or,  having  '  mixed  together '  some  arrows  with 
the  names  of  the  devoted  cities  marked  on  them, 
to  attack  that  first  which  was  first  drawn  ont ;  or 
to  put  in  a  bag  three  arrows,  as  is  the  practice  of 
the  Arabs,  one  of  which  is  inscribed  with  the 
words  '  Command  me.  Lord,'   the   second  with 
'  PVbid  me,  Lord,'  while  the  third  is  left  blank  ; 
so  that  if  the  first  is  taken  out,  he  was  to  go  ;  if 
the  second,  he  was  to  desist ;  if  the  third  is  drawn, 
no  decision  being  given,  the  experiment  is  to  be 
repeated.      10.  Rhabdomancy,  or   divination  by 
rods  (Hos.  iv.  12).     This  has  been  confounded 
■with  the  preceding.     But  the  instruments  of  di- 
vination  which    Hosea   alludes   to    are   entirely 
different  from  those  described  by  Ezekiel,  arrows 
being  used   by  the   latter,   whereas  the  former 
speaks  of  '  staff.'     The  form  of  divination  by  the 
staff  was,  after  placing  it  upright,  to  let  it  fall, 
and  decide  by  the  direction  in  which  it  fell,  or, 
according  to  others,  by  measuring  tlie  staff  with 
the  finger,  saying  at  each  span,  '  I  will  go,'  or  '  I 
will  not  go,'  and  determining  the  course,  accord- 
ing as  it  happened  to  be  the  one  or  the  other  at 
the  last  measurement.     Both  of  these,  as  Jerome 
informs  us,  were    frequently  practised  by   the 


DIVINATION 

Assyrians  and  Babylonians.  Herodotus  (vi.)  de- 
scribes the  Alani  women  as  gathering  and  search- 
ing anxiousl)'  for  very  smooth  and  straight 
wands  to  be  used  in  this  superstitious  manner. 

11.  Another  way  of  divining  was  by  '  images' 
(Ezek.  xxi.  21),  which  are  generally  considered 
talismans,  but  which  the  Persian  and  other  ver- 
sions render  astrological  instraments  or  tables. 

12.  Another  form  of  divination  was,  '  by  looking 
into  the  liver '  of  a  newly  killed  sacrifice,  and  by 
observing  its  state  and  colour  according  to  certain 
rules,  to  draw  a  favourable  or  unfavourable  omen. 
The  last  form  which  it  is  of  consequence  to  notice 
as  alluded  to  in  Scripture  was  by  '  the  cup.'  But 
in  what  manner  it  was  practised ;  whether  it  was 
by  observing  the  appearance  of  some  magical 
ingredients  that  were  infused  into  the  vessel ;  or 
whether  allusion  is  made  to  a  famous  cup  which 
the  immemorial  tradition  of  the  East  says  has 
been  in  the  possession  of  some  great  personages, 
and  represents  the  whole  world ;  or,  finally, 
whether  the  original  word  rendered  '  divineth,' 
should  be  rendered  by  '  searching'  or  '  inquiring 
earnestly,'  as  many  learned  writers,  anxious  to 
save  the  character  of  Joseph  from  the  imputation 
of  sorcery  (Gen.  xliv.  5),  have  laboured  to  prove, 
it  is  absolutely  impossible,  and  we  shall  not  at- 
tempt, to  determine. 

Egypt,  the  cradle  of  arts  and  sciences,  if  she 
did  not  give  it  birth,  seem  to  have  encouraged 
the  practice  of  divination  at  an  early  age,  and 
whether  any  of  its  forms  had  become  objects  of 
popular  superstition,  or  were  resorted  to  for  the 
purposes  of  gain  in  the  days  of  Joseph,  it  is  well 
known  that  at  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  Exodus 
there  were  magicians  in  that  country  whose  know- 
ledge of  the  arcana  of  nature,  and  whose  dexterity 
in  the  practice  of  their  art,  enabled  them,  to  a  cer- 
tain extent,  to  equal  the  miracles  of  Moses.  By 
what  extraordinary  powers  they  achieved  those 
feats,  how  they  changed  their  rods  into  serpents, 
the  river  water  into  blood,  and  introduced  frogs 
in  unprecedented  numbers,  is  an  inquiry  that  has 
occasioned  great  perplexity  to  many  men  of  learn- 
ing and  piety.  Some  have  imagined  that  the 
only  way  of  accounting  for  the  phenomena  is  to 
ascribe  them  to  jugglery  and  legerdemain ;  the 
serpents,  the  frogs,  and  the  other  materials  re- 
quisite having  been  secretly  provided  and  dex- 
terously produced  at  the  moment  their  perform- 
ances were  to  be  exhibited.  Others  contend  that 
these  conjurors  were  aided  by  familiar  spirits  or 
infernal  agents,  with  the  Divine  permission,  in 
the  performance  of  their  wonderful  feats.  '  Earth, 
air,  and  ocean,'  says  a  sensible  writer,  '  may  con- 
tain many  things  of  which  our  philosophy  has 
never  dreamt.  If  this  consideration  tend  to 
humble  the  pride  of  learning,  it  may  remind  the 
Christian  that  secret  things  belong  not  to  him,  but 
to  a  higher  power.' 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  as  Moses  never 
had  been  in  any  other  civilized  country,  all  the 
allusions  contained  in  his  writings  to  the  various 
forms  of  divination  were  those  which  were  prac- 
tised in  Egypt ;  and.  indeed,  so  strong  a  taste  had 
his  countrymen  imbibed  there  for  this  species  of 
1  superstition,  tliat  throughout  the  whole  course  of 
their  history  it  seems  to  have  infected  the  na- 
tional character  and  habits.  The  diviners,  who 
abounded  both  amongst  the  aborigines  of  Canaan 
I  and  their  Pliiliotine  neighbours  (Is3„  ii.  6),  proved 


DOiyANIM, 

a  great  snare  to  the  Israelites  after  their  settle- 
ment in  the  promised  land  ;  and  yet,  notwith- 
standing the  stern  prohibitions  of  the  law,  no 
vigorous  efforts  were  made  to  put  an  end  to  the 
crime  by  extirpating  the  practitioners  of  the  un- 
hallowed art,  until  the  days  of  Saul,  who  himself, 
however,  violated  the  statute  on  the  night  pre- 
vious to  his  disastrous  fall  (1  Sam.  xxviii.).  But 
it  was  ChakUea  to  which  the  distinction  belongs 
(if  being  the  mother  country  of  diviners.  Such  a 
degree  of  power  and  influence  had  they  attained 
ill  that  country,  that  they  formed  the  highest 
oaste  and  enjoyed  a  place  at  court ;  nay,  so  indis- 
pensable were  they  in  Chaldasau  society  that  no 
step  could  be  taken,  not  a  relation  could  be 
i'ornied,  a  house  built,  a  journey  undertaken,  a 
cmnpaign  begun,  until  the  diviners  had  ascer- 
tained the  lucky  day  and  promised  a  happy  issue. 
A  great  influx  of  these  impostors  had,  at  various 
times,  poured  from  Chaldsca  and  Arabia  into  the 
land  of  Israel  to  pursue  their  gainful  occupation, 
more  especially  during  the  reign  of  the  later 
kings  (Isa.  viii.  19),  and  we  find  Manasseh  not 
only  their  liberal  patron,  but  zealous  to  appear  as 
cne  of  their  most  expert  accomplices  (2  Kings 
xxi.  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  6).  The  long  captivities 
in  Babylon  spread  more  widely  than  ever  among 
the  Jews  a  devoted  attachment  to  this  supersti- 
tion ;  for  after  their  return  to  their  own  country, 
having  entirely  renounced  idolatry,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  no  longer  enjoying  the  gift  of  pro- 
phecy or  access  to  the  sacred  oracles,  they  gra- 
dually abandoned  themselves,  as  Lightfoot  has 
satisfactorily  shown,  before  the  advent  of  Christ, 
to  all  the  prevailing  forms  of  divination  {^Com- 
ment, on  Matt.). 

Against  every  species  and  degree  of  tl^s  super- 
stition the  sternest  denunciations  of  the  Mosaic 
law  were  directed  (Exod.  xxii.  18  ;  Lev.  xix.  26, 
31  ;  XX.  27;  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11),  as  fostering  a 
love  for  unlawful  knowledge  and  withdrawing 
the  mind  from  God  only  wise ;  while,  at  the  same 
time,  repeated  and  distinct  promises  were  given 
that,  in  place  of  diviners  and  all  who  used  en- 
chantments, God  would  send  them  prophets,  mes- 
sengers of  truth,  who  would  declare  the  divine 
will,  reveal  futurity,  and  afford  them  all  the  use- 
ful knowledge  which  was  vainly  sought  for  from 
those  pretended  oi-acles  of  wisdom.  Much  dis- 
cussion, however,  has  been  carried  on  by  learned 
men  to  determine  the  question  whether  the  an- 
cient tribe  of  diviners  merely  pretended  to  the 
powers  they  exercised,  or  were  actually  assisted 
by  demoniacal  agency.  The  latter  opinion  is 
embraced  by  almost  all  the  fathers  of  the  primi- 
tive church.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been, 
with  great  ability  and  erudition,  maintained  that 
the  whole  arts  of  divination  were  a  system  of  im- 
posture, and  that  Scripture  itself  frequently  ridi- 
cules those  who  practised  them  as  utterly  helpless 
and  incapable  of  accomplishing  anything  beyond 
the  ordinary  powers  of  nature  (Isa.  xliv.  25; 
xlvii.  11-1.3;  Jer.  xiv.  14;  Jonah  ii.  8). 

DIVORCE.     [Marriage.] 

DOD'ANIM,  the  descendants  of  the  fourth  son 
of  Javan  (Gen.  x.  4).  Bochart  and  other  com- 
mentators on  the  ethnographical  sketch  in  Gen. 
x.  suppose  that  the  first  settlements  of  the  Doda- 
nim  were  in  the  south-west  part  of  Asia  Minor; 
and  that  settlers  of  this  family  may  be  traced  in 
Tbessaly  and  Epirus,  where  the  name  is  traced 


DOG. 


2.59 


in  the  city  of  Dodona  and  in  the  country  of 
Doris.  But  there  seems  much  of  uncertainty  in 
all  these  speculations. 

DO'EG,  an  Edomite,  and  chief  overseer  of 
king  Saul's  flocks,  which  is  an  important  trust  in 
Oriental  courts.  At  Nob  he  was  witness  of  the 
assistance  which  the  high-priest  Ahimelech 
seemed  to  afford  to  the  fugitive  David,  by  fur- 
nishing him  with  the  sword  of  Goliath,  and  by 
supplying  him  with  bread  even  from  the  sacred 
table  (1  Sam.  xxi.  7).  Of  this  he  failed  not  to 
inform  the  king,  who,  regardless  of  the  explana- 
tion offered  by  Ahimelech,  and  finding  that  the 
chiefs  censured  him,  and  hesitated  to  lay  their 
hands  upon  a  person  so  sacred,  commanded  Doeg 
to  slay  him  and  his  priests^a  task  which  was 
executed  with  equal  readiness  and  cruelty  by  the 
Edomite  (1  Sam.  xxii.  18,  sqq.). 

DOG  occurs  in  many  places  of  Scripture 
(Exod.  xxii.  31;  1  Sam.  xvii.  43;  xxiv.  14; 
2  Sam.  ix.  8;  2  Kings  viii.  13;  Ps.  lix.  6,  "14, 
1 5 ;  Prov.  xxvi.  11,17,  &c.).  An  animal  so  well 
known,  whose  numerous  varieties  come  under 
daily  observation,  requires  no  detailed  description. 
There  is,  however,  in  Asia  still  extant  one,  per- 
haps more  than  one,  species,  that  never  have  been 
the  companions  of  man,  and  there  are  races  of 
uncertain  origin,  that  may  have  been  formerly 
domesticated,  but  which  are  now  feral,  and  as 
fierce  as  wolves ;  while,  from  the  particular 
opinions  of  Oriental  nations,  there  are  others, 
exceedingly  numerous,  neither  wild  nor  domesti- 
cated, but  existing  in  all  the  cities  and  towns  of 
the  Levant,  without  owners ;  feeding  on  carrion 
and  off'als,  and  still  having  the  true  instinct  of 
protecting  property,  guarding  the  inhabitants  of 
the  district  or  quarter  where  they  are  tolerated  ; 
and  so  far  cherished,  that  water  and  some  food 
are  not  unusually  placed  within  their  reach. 


The  true  wild  species  of  Upper  and  Eastern 
Asia  is  a  low,  sharp-nosed,  reddish  cur-dog,  not 
unlike  a  fox,  but  with  less  tail.  In  Persia  and 
Turkey  there  exists  a  larger  dog  resembling  a 
wolf,  exceedingly  savage.  Both  are  gregarious, 
hunt  in  packs,  but  are  occasionally  seen  alone. 
They  are  readily  distinguished  from  a  wolf  by 
their  shorter  unfurnished  tails.  In  the  time  of 
the  sojourning  of  Israel  in  Egypt,  there  were 
already  in  existence  domestic  dogs  of  the  prin- 
cipal races  now  extant— the  cur-dog  or  fox-dog. 
the  hound,  the  greyhound,  and  even  a  kind  of 
low-legged  turnspit.  All  the  above,  both  wild 
and  reclaimed,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe, 
were  known  to  the  Hebrews,  and,  notwithstand- 
ing the  presumed  Mosaic  prohibition,  anterior 
habits,  and,  in  some  measure,  the  necessity  of 
their  condition,  must  have  caused  cattle-dogs  to 
a  2 


260  DOVE 

be  retained  as  property  (Deut.  xxiii.  18) ;  for  we 
find  one  of  that  race,  or  a  house-dog,  actually  at- 
i    tending  on  travellers  (Tobit  v.  16;  xi.  4).     It  is 
.    to  be  presumed  that  practically  the  street-dogs 
I    alone  were    considered   as    absolutely   unclean; 
'     though  all,  as  is  the  case  among  Mohammedans, 
;     were  excluded  from  familiarity. 
I         Beside  the  cattle-dog,  the  Egyptian  hound  and 
j     one  or   two  varieties   of  greyhound  were  most 
j     likely   used   for    hunting — a  pastime,   however, 
I     which  the  Hebrews  mostly  pursued  on  foot. 
I         The  street-dog,  without  master,  apparently  de- 
rived from  the  rufous  cur,  and  in  Egypt  partaking 
of  the  mongrel  greyhound,   often  more  or  less 
bare,  with   a   mangy  unctuous   skin,  frequently 
with  several  teeth  wanting,  was,  as  it  now  is,  con- 
sidered a  defiling  animal.      It  is  to  animals  of 
this  class,  which  no  doubt  followed  the  camp  of 
Israel,  and  hung  on  its  skirts,   that  allusion  is 
more  particularly  made  in  Exod.  xxii.  31 ;  for 
the  same  custom  exists  at  this  day,  and  the  race 
of  street-dogs  still  retains  their   ancient  habits. 
But  with  regard  to  the  dogs  that  devoured  Jeze- 
bel, and  licked  up  Ahab's  blood  (1  Kings  xxi. 
23),  they  may  have  been  of  the  wild  races,  a 
species  of  which  is  reported  to  have  particularly 
infested  the  banks  of  the  Kishon  and  the  district 
of  Jezreel. 

The  cities  of  the  East  are  still  greatly  disturbed 
in  the  night  by  the  howlings  of  street-dogs,  who, 
it  seems,  were  similarly  noisy  in  ancient  times, 
the  fact  being  noticed  in  Ps.lix.  6,  14;  and  dumb 
or  silent  dogs  are  not  unfrequently  seen,  such  as 
Isaiah  alludes  to  (Ivi.  10). 
DOORS.    [Gates.] 

DOPH'KAH,  an  encampment  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  Wilderness  [Wandering,  the]. 

DOR,  a  town  on  the  border  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, which  Jerome  places  nine  Roman  miles 
north  of  Ccesarea.  It  was  one  of  the  royal  towns 
of  the  Canaanites  (Josh.  xi.  2  ;  xii.  23),  and  was 
included  in  the  heritage  of  Manasseh  (Josh.  xvii. 
11).  The  place,  or  rather  the  region  to  which  it 
gave  name,  occurs  again  in  1  Kings  iv.  11.  A 
place  still  exists,  at  the  distance  indicated  by  Je- 
rome, under  the  name  of  Tortura,  which  Buck- 
ingham describes  as  a  small  village  with  about 
forty  or  fifty  houses  and  five  hundred  inhabitants. 
It  has  a  small  port,  formed  by  a  narrow  range  of 
rocky  islets,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  sandy 

DOTHAN  or  DOTHAIM,  the  place  where 
Joseph  found  his  brethren,  who  had  wandered 
thither  with  their  flocks  from  Shechem,  and  where 
he  was  treacherously  sold  by  them  to  the  Ish- 
maelites  (Gen.  xxxvii.  17).  It  was  here  also  that 
the  Syrians  were  smitten  with  blindness  at  the 
word  of  Elisha  (2  Kings  vi.  13).  Dothan  is 
placed  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  twelve  Roman 
miles  north  of  Sebaste  or  Samaria,  and  it  was  ob- 
viously on  the  caravan  track  from  Syria  to  Egypt. 
The  well  into  which  Joseph  was  cast  by  his 
brothers,  and  consequently  the  site  of  Dothan, 
has,  however,  been  placed  by  tradition  in  a  very 
distant  quarter,  namely,  about  three  miles  south- 
east from  Safed,  where  there  is  a  khan  called 
Khan  Jubb  Yusuf,  the  Khan  of  Joseph's  Pit,  be- 
cause the  well  connected  with  it  has  long  passed 
among  Christians  and  Moslems  for  the  well  in 
question. 

DOVE.    There  are  probably  several  species  of 


DOVES'  DUNG 

I  doves  or  pigeons  included  in  the  Hebrew  name 
joneh.  It  may  contain  all  those  that  inhabit  Pa- 
lestine, exclusive  of  the  turtle-doves  properly  so 
called.  Thus  generalized,  the  dove  is,  figura- 
tively, next  to  man,  the  most  exalted  of  animals, 
symbolizing  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  meekness,  purity, 
and  splendour  of  righteousness.  By  the  Hebrew 
law  doves  and  turtle-doves  were  the  only  birds 
that  could  be  oflfered  in  sacrifice,  and  they  were 
usually  selected  for  that  purpose  by  the  less 
wealthy  (Gen.  xv.  9  ;  Lev.  v.  7  ;  xii.  6  ;  Luke  ii. 
24) ;  and  to  supply  the  demand  for  them,  dealers 
in  these  birds  sat  about  the  precincts  of  the 
Temple  (Matt.  xxi.  12,  &c.). 


^% 


All  pigeons  in  their  true  wild  plumage  have 
iridescent  colours  about  the  neck,  and  often  re- 
flected flashes  of  the  same  colours  on  the  shoul- 
ders, which  are  the  source  of  the  silver  and  gold 
feathers  ascribed  to  them  in  poetical  diction  ;  and 
thence  the  epithet  of  purple  bestowed  upon  them 
all,  though  most  applicable  to  the  vinous  and 
slaty-coloured  species.  The  coasts  and  territory 
of  Syria  are  noted  for  the  great  number  of  doves 
frequenting  them,  though  they  are  not  so  abundant 
there  as  in  the  Coh-i  Suleiman  chain  near  the 
Indus.  Syria  possesses  several  species  of  pigeon; 
the  stock-dove,  ring-dove,  the  common  pigeon  in 
several  varieties,  such  as  the  Barbary,  Turkish  or 
Persian  carrier,  crisp,  and  shaker.  These  are 
still  watched  in  their  flight  in  the  same  manner 
as  anciently  their  number,  gyrations,  and  other 
manoeuvres  were  observed  by  soothsayers.  The 
wild  species,  as  well  as  the  turtle-doves,  migrate 
from  Palestine  to  the  south ;  but  stock  and  ring 
doves  are  not  long  absent. 

The  figure  we  give  is  that  of  the  more  rare 
species  of  white  and  pink  carrier,  and  the  Phoe- 
nician sacred  ensign  of  the  dove. 

DOVES'  DUNG.  This  expression  is  by  many 
considered  to  signify  literally  the  dung  of  pigeons, 
as  in  the  passage  of  2  Kings  vi.  2.5.  DiS'erent 
opinions,  however,  have  been  entertained  respect- 
ing the  meaning  of  the  words  v/hich  are  the  sub- 
ject of  this  artide,  namely,  whether  they  should 
be  taken  literally,  or  as  a  figurative  name  of  some 
vegetable  substance.  The  strongest  point  in  fa- 
vour of  the  former  view  is  that  all  ancient  Jewish 
writers  have  understood  the  term  literally. 
Taking  it,  however,  in  this  sense,  various  expla- 
nations have  been  given  of  the  use  to  which  the 
doves'  dung  was  applied.  Some  of  the  rabbins 
were  of  opinion,  that  the  doves'  dung  was  used 
for  fuel,  and  Josephus,  that  it  was  purchased  for 
its  salt.     Mr.  Harmer  has  suggested  that  it  might 


DRAGON 


DREAMS 


261 


have  been  a  valuable  article,  as  being  of  great 
use  for  quickening  the  growth  of  esculent  plants, 
particularly  melons.  Mr.  Edwards  is  disposed  to 
understand  it  as  meaning  the  ofials  or  refuse  of 
all  sorts  of  grain,  which  was  wout  to  be  given  to 
pigeons,  &c.  Dr.  Harris,  however,  observes  that 
the  stress  of  the  famine  might  have  been  so  great 
as  to  have  compelled  the  poor  among  the  besieged 
in  Samaria  to  devour  either  the  intestines  of  the 
doves,  after  the  more  wealthy  had  eaten  the 
bodies,  or,  as  it  might  perhaps  be  rendered,  the 
crops. 

13ochart,  however,  has  shown  that  the  term 
'pigeons'  dung'  was  applied  by  the  Arabs  to 
different  vegetable  substances,  and  supposes  that 
it  was  one  of  the  pulses  used  in  ancient  times, 
as  at  the  present  day,  as  an  article  of  diet.  With 
reference  to  this  grain  it  has  been  observed  that 
'  large  quantities  of  it  are  parched  and  dried,  and 
stored  in  magazines  at  Cairo  and  Damascus.  It 
is  much  used  during  journeys,  and  particularly 
by  the  great  pilgrim-caravan  to  Mecca ;  and  if 
this  conjecture  be  correct  it  may  be  supposed  to 
have  been  among  the  provisions  stored  up  in  the 
besieged  city,  and  sold  at  the  extravagant  price 
mentioned  in  the  text'  (Pict.  Bible).  The  late 
Lady  Callcott,  in  her  Scripture  Herbal,  1842, 
adduces  the  common  Star  of  Bethlehem  as  the 
'  doves'  dung '  of  Scripture,  and  assigns  this,  as 
well  as  '  birds'  milk,'  as  two  of  its  vernacular 
names.  It  is  a  native  of  this  country,  and  also 
of  Taurus,  Caucasus,  and  Northern  Africa. 
Dioscorides  states  that  its  bulbs  were  sometimes 
cooked  with  bread,  in  the  same  way  as  the  me- 
lanthium,  and  also  that  it  was  eaten  both  raw 
and  roasted.  The  roots  were  also  commonly 
eaten  in  Italy  and  other  southern  countries  at  an 
early  period. 

DRACH'MA,  a  coin  of  silver,  the  most  com- 
mon among  the  Greeks,  and  which  after  the 
Exile  became  also  current  among  the  Jews  (2 
Mace.  iv.  19;  x.  20;  xji.  43;  Luke  xv.  8,  9). 
The  earlier  Attic  drachmae  were  of  the  average 
weight  of  66  "5  grains,  and  in  a  comparison  with 
the  shilling  would  be  equal  to  9jc?.  But  the 
specimens  of  later  times  are  of  the  average 
weight  of  only  6 1  grains,  and  some  of  less.  In 
this  state  the  drachma  was  counted  equal  to  the 
denarius,  which  was  at  first  worth  8^d.,  and 
afterwards  only  7^d.  The  value  of  the  drachma 
of  the  New  Testament  may  therefore  have  been 
about  8c?.  The  woman's  '  ten  pieces  of  silver ' 
{drachmce)  in  Luke  xv.  8,  would  hence  be  equal 
to  6s.  %d.  of  our  money — that  is,  in  nominal 
value,  for  the  real  value  of  money  was  far 
greater  in  the  time  of  Christ  than  at  present. 

DRAGON  occurs  principally  in  the  plural 
form  (Job  xxx.  29;  Ps.  xliv.  19,  20;  Isa.  xiii. 
22  ;  xxxiv.  13  ;  xxxv.  7  ;  Jer.  ix.  11  :  xiv.  6  : 
xlix.  33;  and  Micah  i.  8).  These  texts,  in 
general,  present  pictures  of  ruined  cities  and  of 
desolation  in  the  wilderness.  Where  dragons 
are  associated  with  birds  of  the  desert,  they 
clearly  indicate  serpents  of  various  species,  both 
small  and  large,  as  already  noticed  in  the  article 
Adder.  In  Jer.  xiv.  6,  where  wild  asses  snuif- 
ing  up  the  wind  are  compared  to  dragons,  the 
image  will  appear  in  its  full  strength,  if  we 
understand  by  dragons,  great  boas  and  python- 
serpents,  such  as  are  figured  in  the  Praenestine 
mosaics.    They  were  common  in  ancient  times. 


and  are  still  far  from  rare  in  the  tropics  of  both 
continents.  Several  of  the  species  grow  to  an 
enormous  size,  and,  during  their  periods  of 
activity,  are  in  the  habit  of  raising  a  considerable 
portion  of  their  length  into  a  vertical  position, 
like  pillars,  10  or  12  feet  high,  in  order  to 
survey  the  vicinity  above  the  surrounding  bushes, 
while  with  open  jaws  they  drink  in  a  quantity 
of  the  current  air.  The  same  character  exists 
in  smaller  serpents  ;  but  it  is  not  obvious,  unless 
when,  threatening  to  strike,  they  stand  on  end 
nearly  three-fourths  of  their  length.  Most,  if 
not  all,  of  these  species  are  mute,  or  can  utter 
only  a  hissing  sound ;  and  although  the  malli- 
pambu,  the  great  rock-snake  of  Southern  Asia, 
is  said  to  wail  in  the  night,  we  have  never  wit- 
nessed such  a  phenomenon,  nor  heard  it  asserted 
that  any  other  boa,  python,  or  erpeton  had  a 
real  voice ;  but  they  hiss,  and,  like  crocodiles, 
may  utter  sounds  somewhat  akin  to  howling. 

DRAM.  Gesenius  and  most  others  are  of 
opinion  that  the  word  which  occurs  in  I  Chron. 
xxix.  7  ;  Ezra  viii.  27  ;  ii.  69  ;  Neh.  vii.  70-72 ; 
denotes  the  Persian  Doric,  a  gold  coin,  which 
must  have  been  in  circulation  among  the  Jews 
during  their  subjection  to  the  Persians.  This 
coin  is  of  interest,  not  only  as  the  most  ancient 
gold  coin  of  which  any  specimens  have  been 
preserved  to  the  present  day,  but  as  the  earliest 
coined  money  which,  we  can  be  sure,  was  known 
to  and  used  by  the  Jews.  The  distinguishing 
mark  of  the  coin  was  a  crowned  archer,  who 
appears  with  some  slight  variations  on  different 


specimens.  His  garb  is  the  same  which  is  seen 
in  the  sculptures  at  Persepolis,  and  the  figure 
on  the  coin  is  called,  in  numismatics,  Sagit- 
tarius. The  specimens  weighed  by  Dr.  Bernard 
were  fifteen  grains  heavier  than  an  English 
guinea,  and  their  intrinsic  value  may,  therefore, 
be  reckoned  at  twenty-five  shillings. 

DREAMS.  Of  all  the  subjects  upon  which 
the  mind  of  man  has  speculated,  there  is  per- 
haps none  which  has  more  perplexed  than  that 
of  dreaming. 

Whatever  may  be  the  difficulties  attending  the 
subject,  still  we  know  that  it  has  formed  a  chan- 
nel through  which  Jehovah  was  pleased  in 
former  times  to  reveal  his  character  and  dis- 
pensations to  his  people. 

In  regard  to  the  immediate  cause  of  dreaming, 
the  opinions  of  the  ancients  were  very  various. 

We  believe  that  dreams  are  ordinarily  the  re- 
embodiment  of  thoughts  which  have  before,  in 
some  shape  or  other,  occupied  our  minds.  They 
are  broken  fragments  of  our  former  conceptions 
revived,  and  heterogeneously  brought  together. 
If  they  break  off"  from  their  connecting  chain,  and 
become  loosely  associated,  they  exhibit  ofttimes 
absurd  combinations,  but  the  elements  still  sub- 


262 


DREAMS. 


sist.  If,  for  instance,  any  irritation,  such  as 
pain,  fever,  &c.,  should  excite  the  perceptive 
organs,  while  the  reflective  ones  are  under  the 
influence  of  sleep,  we  have  a  consciousness  of 
objects,  colours,  or  sounds  being  presented  to  us, 
just  as  if  the  former  organs  were  actually  stimu- 
lated by  having  such  impressions  communicated 
to  them  by  the  external  senses ;  whilst,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  repose  of  the  reflecting  power,  we 

are  unable  to  rectify  the  illusion,  and  conceive 

that  the  scenes  passing  before  us,  or  the  sounds 

that  we  hear,  have  a  real  existence.     This  want 

of  mutual  co-operation  between  the  different  fa- 
culties of  the  mind  may  account  for  the  disjointed 

character   of  dreams.     This   position   might  be 

fully  substantiated  by  an  appeal  to  the  evidence 

of  fact.     Dr.  Beattie  speaks  of  a  man  who  could 

be  made  to  dream  anything  by  whispering  in  his 

ear.     Dr.  Gregory  relates  of  himself  that,  having 

once  had  occasion  to  apply  a  bottle  of  hot  water 

to  his  own  feet  when  he  retired  to  bed,  he  dreamed 

that  he  was  ascending  the  side  of  Mount  iEtna, 

and  that  he  found  the  heat  of  the  ground  almost 

insufferable.     Persons  who  have  had   a  blister 

applied  to  their  head  have  been  known  to  dream 

of  being  scalped  by  a  party  of  North  American 

Indians.     Sleeping  in  a  smoky  room,  we   may 

dream  of  a  house  or  city  being  in  flames.     The 

smell  of  a  flower  applied  to  the  nostrils  may  call 

fortii  the  idea  of  walking  in  a  garden ;  and  the 

sound  of  a  flute  may  excite  in  us  the  most  plea- 
surable associations. 

The  only  one  of  our  mental  powers  which  is 

not  suspended  while  dreaming  is  fancy,  or  ima- 
gination.    We  often  find  memory  and  judgment 

alternately  suspended  and  exercised.     Sometimes 

we  fancy  ourselves  contemporaneous  with  persons 

who  have  lived  ages  before  :  here  memory  is  at 

work,  but  judgment  is  set  aside.     We  dream  of 

carrying  on  a  very  connected  discourse  with 

deceased  friend,  and  are  not  conscious  that  he  is 

no  more :  here  judgment  is  awake,  but  memory 

suspended.  These  irregularities,  or  want  of  mu- 
tual co-operation  in  the  different  faculties  of  the 
mind  may  form,  for  aught  we  know,  the  plan  by 
which  God  gives  health  and  vigour  to  the  whole 
soul. 

How  God  revealed  himself  by  dreams,  and 
raised  up  persons  to  interpret  them,  the  Scriptures 
abundantly  testify.  Under  the  three  successive 
dispensations  we  find  this  channel  of  communi- 
cation with  man  adopted.  It  was  doubtless  in 
this  way  that  God  appeared  to  the  father  of  the 
faithful,  ordering  him  to  forsake  country,  kindred, 
and  his  father's  house,  and  to  go  into  the  laud 
that  he  would  show  him.  To  this  divine  com- 
mand, Abraham  paid  a  ready  obedience.  It  was 
by  a  similar  prompt  obedience  to  the  admonition 
conveyed  to  him  in  a  dream,  that  Abimelech 
(Gen.  XX.  3)  himself  and  Abraham,  too,  were 
saved  from  the  evil  consequences  of  his  meditated 
act.  To  Jacob,  also,  God  appeared  frequently  in 
a  dream  (Gen.  xxviii.  19;  xxxi.  10);  and  his 
son  Joseph,  while  yet  a  child,  had  dreams  predic- 
tive of  his   future   advancement  (Gen.  xxxvii. 

6-11).  , ^  . 

Such  were  some  of  the  dreams  by  which  God  away,  because  he  perceived  her  to  be  with  child, 
revealed  himself  under  the  patriarchal  dispensa-  he  was  turned  from  his  purpose  by  a  dream,  in 
tion,  and  that  the  same  divine  mode  of  commu-  !  which  an  angel  made  the  truth  of  the  matter 
eating  with  man  was  continued  under  that  of  I  known  to  him  (Matt.  i.  20).  And  in  the  follow- 
Moses  is  evident  from  an  express  word  of  pro-  |  ing  chapter  it  is  stated,  that  God,  iu  a  dream, 


DREAMS. 

raise  (Num.  xii.  6).  That  dreams  were  one  of 
the  ways  whereby  God  was  wont  to  signify  his 
pleasure,  and  from  the  complaint  of  Saul  to  the 
spirit  of  Samuel  (whom  the  witch  pretended  to 
raise  up),  when  he  asked  him,  '  Why  hast  thou 
disquieted  me  to  bring  me  up  ?'  Saul  answered, 
'  I  am  sore  distressed ;  for  the  Philistines  make 
war  against  nie,  and  God  is  departed  from  me, 
and  answers  me  no  more ;  neither  by  prophets, 
nor  by  drmms :  th(;refore  I  have  called  thee  that 
thou  mayest  make  known  to  me  what  I  shall  do.' 
And,  in  order  to  guard  against  imposition,  Moses 
pronounced  a  penalty  against  dreams  which 
were  invented  and  wickedly  made  use  of,  for  the 
promotion  of  idolatry  (Dent.  xiii.  1-5).  Thus 
Zechariah  (x.  2)  complains:  'The  idols  have 
spoken  vanity,  and  the  diviners  have  spoken  a 
lie,  and  have  told  fuhe  dreams  ;  they  comfort  in 
vain.'  And  so  Jeremiah  (xxiii.  25),  'I  have 
heard  what  the  prophets  said  that  prophesy  lies 
in  my  name,  saying,  I  have  dreamed,  I  have 
dreamed,'  &c.  Yet  this  abuse  did  not  alter 
God's  plan  in  the  right  use  of  them ;  for  in  the 
28th  verse  of  the  same  chapter,  it  is  said,  '  the 
prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  and  he  that  hath  my 
word,  let  him  speak  my  word  faithfully.  What 
is  the  chaff  to  the  wheat  ?  saith  the  Lord.' 

When  Gideon  warred  with  the  Amalekites, 
and  was  alarmed  at  their  vast  multitudes,  he  was 
encouraged  to  do  God's  will  by  overhearing  one 
of  them  relate  his  dream,  and  another  giving  the 
interpi-etation  (Judg.  vii.).  Again,  it  was  in  a 
dream  that  God  was  pleased  to  grant  Solomon  a 
promise  of  wisdom  and  understanding  ( 1  Kings 
iii.  5,  &c.).  Here  we  may  perceive  what  converse 
the  Lord  Avas  pleased  to  hold  with  Solomon  in  a 
dream;  and  the  sacred  record  informs  us  how 
punctually  everything  herein  promised  was  ful- 
filled. 

The  knowledge  of  visions  and  dreams  is  reck- 
oned amongst  the  principal  gifts  and  graces 
sometimes  bestowed  by  God  upon  them  that  fear 
him  ;  so  it  is  said  of  Daniel  and  his  companion, 
that  '  God  gave  them  knowledge  and  skill  in  all 
learning  and  wisdom:  and  Daniel  had  under- 
standing in  all  visions  and  dreams  (Dan.  i.  17). 
And  the  God  who  had  imparted  this  spirit  unto 
his  servant  Daniel  soon,  in  the  arrangement  of 
his  providence,  gave  the  signal  occasion  for  its 
exercise  recorded  in  the  second  chapter  of  his 
book.  In  the  dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar  a  great 
variety  of  ends  were  attained  in  refc>rence  to 
Babylon,  Israel,  and  indeed  the  world — all  of 
which  were  worthy  of  God's  miraculous  inter- 
ference. 

That  this  method  of  God's  revealing  himself 
was  not  confined  to  tlie  legal  dispensation,  but 
was  to  be  extended  to  the*  Christian,  is  evident 
from  Joel  (ii.  28),  'And  afterwards  (saith  the 
Lord)  I  v/ill  pour  out  my  spirit  upon  all  flesh ; 
and  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  prophesy ; 
your  young  men  shall  see  visions,  and  your  old 
men  shall  dream  dreams'  In  Acts  ii.  17,  we 
find  the  Apostle  Peter  applying  this  to  the  illu- 
mination of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Accordingly,  we 
read  that  when  Joseph  designed  to   put  Mary 


DRESS 

warned  the  wise  men  uot  to  return  to  Herod. 
Moreover,  iu  verses  13  and  19,  Joseph  is  in- 
structed to  tiee  into  and  return  from  Egypt  with 
the  child  Jesus. 

We  inquire  not  liow  far  God  may  have  revealed 
himself  to  man  beyond  what  Holy  Scripture 
records.  Some  of  the  dreams  both  of  ancient 
and  modern  times,  which  lay  claim  to  a  divine 
character,  are  certainly  sti'iking,  and  may,  for 
aught  we  know,  have  had,  and  may  still  have,  a 
collateral  bearing  on  the  development  of  God's 
purposes. 

DRESS.  The  subject  of  the  costume  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews  is  involved  iu  much  obscurity 
and  doubt.  The  allusions  to  dress  in  the  Scrip- 
tures form  the  only  source  of  our  positive  in- 
formation. They  are  often,  indeed,  obscure,  and 
of  uncertain  interpretation ;  but  they  are  invalu- 
able iu  so  far  as  they  enable  us  to  compare  and 
verify  the  information  derivable  from  other 
sources.    These  sources  are— 

1.  The  costume  of  neighbouring  ancient  nations, 
as  represented  in  their  monuments. 

2.  The  alleged  costume  of  Jews  as  represented 
in  the  same  monuments. 

3.  The  present  costnines  (which  are  known  to 
be  ancient)  of  Syria  and  Arabia. 

4.  Tradition, 

1.  The  range  of  inquiry  into  monumental 
costume  is  very  limited.  Syria,  Arabia,  and 
Egypt,  are  the  only  countries  where  monuments 
would  be  likely  to  afford  any  useful  information : 
but  Arabia  has  left  no  monumental  figures,  and 
Syria  none  of  sufficiently  ancient  date ;  and  it  is 
left  for  Egypt  to  supply  all  the  information  likely 
to  be  of  use.  The  extent  and  value  of  this  in- 
formation,^ for  the  particular  purpose,  we  believe 
to  be  far  less  than  is  usually  represented.  That 
we  are  not  disposed  to  undervalue  the  informa- 
tion derivable  from  the  Egyptian  monuments  for 
the  purpose  of  illustrating  Biblical  history  and 
antiquities,  the  pages  of  the  present  work  will 
sufficiently  evince;  and  its  editor  may  indeed 
claim  to  have  been  the  first  in  this  country  to 
work  this  mine  of  materials  for  Biblical  illustra- 
tion. But  the  rage  for  this  kind  of  illustration 
has  been  carried  to  such  preposterous  lengths, 
that  it  may  not  be  an  unwholesome  caution  to 
remind  our  readers  that  the  Egj-ptiaus  and  the 
Hebrews  were  an  exceedingly  different  people — 
as  different  in  every  respect  as  can  well  be  con- 
ceived ;  and  that  the  climates  which  they  inha- 
bited were  so  very  different  as  to  necessitate  a 
greater  difference  of  food  and  dress  than  might 
be  pre-supposed  of  countries  so  near  to  each 
other.  It  is  true  that  the  Jewish  nation  was 
cradled  in  Egypt:  and  this  circumstance  may 
have  had  some  influence  on  ceremonial  dresses, 
and  the  ornaments  of  women ;  but  we  do  not  find 
that  nations  circumstanced  as  the  Jews  were 
ready  to  adopt  the  costumes  of  other  nations,  es- 
pecially when  their  residence  in  Egypt  was 
always  regarded  by  thera  as  temporary,  and  when 
their  raiment  was  of  home  manufacture— spun 
and  woven  by  the  women  from  the  produce  of 
their  flocks  (Exod.  xxxv.  25).  We  find  also  that, 
immediately  after  leaving  Egypt,  the  principal 
article  of  dress  among  the  Hebrews  was  some 
ample  woollen  garment,  fit  to  sleep  in  (Exod. 
xxii.  27),  to  which  nothing  similar  is  to  be  seen 
among  the  costumes  of  Egypt. 


DRESS 


263 


2.  With  respect  to  the  supposed  representation 
of  Jews  in  ancient  monuments,  if  any  authentic 
examples  could  be  found,  even  of  a  single  figure, 
in  the  ancient  costume,  it  would  aSbrd  much  sa- 
tisfaction as  tending  to  elucidate  many  passages 
of  Scripture  which  cannot  at  present  be  with  cer- 
tainty explained.  The  sculptures  and  paintings 
supposed  to  represent  ancient  Hebrews  are  con- 
tained in — 

(a)  A  painting  at  Beni  Hassan,  representing  the 
arrival  of  some  foreigners  iu  Egypt,  and  supposed 
to  figure  the  arrival  of  Joseph's  brethren  in  that 
country.  The  accessories  of  the  scene,  the  phy- 
siognomies of  the  persons,  and  the  time  to  yhich 
the  picture  relates,  are  certainly  in  unison  with 
that  event;  and,  though  we  must  speak  with 
hesitation  on  the  subject,  the  conjecture  is  pro- 
bably  correct.    The    annexed   cut    shows    the 


variety  of  costume  which  this  scene  displays. 
All  the  men  wear  sandals.  Some  of  them  are 
clad  only  in  a  short  tunic  or  shirt,  with  close 
sleeves  (fig.  3)  ;  others  wear  over  this  a  kind  of 
sleeveless  plaid  or  mantle,  thrown  over  the  left 
shoulder,  and  passing  under  the  right  arm 
(fig.  2).  It  is  of  a  striped  and  curiously  figured 
pattern,  and  looks  exceedingly  like  the  fine  grass 
woven  cloth  of  the  South  Sea.  Others  have,  in- 
stead of  this,  a.  fringed  skirt  of  the  same  material 
(fig.  I).  All  the  figures  are  bare-headed,  and 
wear  beards,  which  are  circumstances  favourable 
to  the  identification.  The  fringed  skirt  of  fig.  1 
is  certainly  a  remarkable  circumstance.  Moses 
directed  that  the  people  should  wear  a  fringe  at 
the  hem  of  their  garments  (Num.  xv.  38);  and 
the  probability  is  that  this  command  merely  per- 
petuated a  more  ancient  usage. 

{h)  This  fringe  re-appears,  much  enlarged,  in 
the  other  Egyptian  sculpture  in  which  Jews  are 
supposed  to  be  represented.  These  are  in  a  tomb 
discovered  by  Belzoni,  in  the  valley  of  Bab-el 
Melook,  near  Thebes.     There  are  captives  of 


different  nations,  and  among  them  four  figures, 
supposed  to  represent  Jews.    The  scene  is  im»- 


264 


DKESS 


gined  to  commemorate  the  triumphs  of  Pharaoh- 
Necho  in  that  war  in  which  the  Jews  were  de- 
i  feated  at  Megiddo,  and  their  king  JosiaL  slain 
(2  Chron.  xxxv.  xxxvi.).  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  dress  of  these  figures  differs  little,  excepting 
in  the  length  of  the  fringe,  from  that  of  the 
skirted  figure  in  the  earlier  painting ;  and  so  far 
this  is  a  corroborative  circumstance  in  favour  of 
both. 

There  is  no  reason   to  think  that   the  dress 
of  the  Jews  was  in  any  important  respect  dif- 
ferent  from   that   of  the    other   inhabitants  _  of 
the  same  and  immediately  bordering  countries. 
It  is  therefore  fortunate  that  the  Egyptian  monu- 
1    raents  offer  such  representations  of  the  Canaan- 
i    itish  and  neighbouring  nations,  as  enable  us  to 
I   see   that   the   prevailing  style   of  dress   was   a 
i    close  tunic  under  a  loose  outer  robe,  the  place 
I   of  the  latter  being  sometimes  supplied  by  a  large 
'   cape,  as  shown  in  the  annexed  engraving  (No. 
1   150),  which  appears  to  represent  inhabitants  of 


Syria  and  Lebanon.  The  evidence  for  the  latter 
(fig.  2)  is  as  conclusive  as  can  be  obtained,  for 
not  only  is  there  the  name  Lemauon,  but  the 
persons  thus  attired  are  represented  as  inhabiting 
a  mountainous  country,  and  felling  ^r-trees  to 
impede  the  chariots  of  the  Egyptian  invaders. 
The  dresses  are  similar  to  each  other,  and  this 
similarity  strengthens  the  probability  that  the 
dress  of  the  Jews  was  not  very  different.  The 
figures  are  bearded,  and  the  cap,  or  head-dress, 
is  bound  round  with  a  fillet.  The  figures  are 
arrayed  in  a  long  gown  reaching  to  the  ankles, 
and  confined  around  the  waist  by  a  girdle  and 
the  shoulders  are  covered  by  the  cape  which 
appears  to  have  been  common  to  several  nations. 


DRESS 

perhaps  as  an  occasional  or  a  summer  substitute 
for  the  loose  mantle  which  some  other  figures 
exhibit.  The  dresses  are  often  of  brilliant  co- 
lours, sometimes  in  variegated  patterns ;  and 
the  outer  mantle  is  seen  to  be  sometimes  lined, 
by  the  inside  aud  outside  being  of  difi'erent  co- 
lours, such  as  yellovf  luied  with  blue,  etc.  The 
military  dress  was  more  compact  than  that  in 
civil  use;  and  among  the  accoutrements  we 
readily  recognise  the  helmet,  and  the  military 
girdle  so  often  mentioned  in  the  Sacred  Book. 

Such  is  the  amount  of  the  information  to  be 
derived  from  ancient  monuments. 


That  to  be  obtained  from  tradition  is  embodied 
— 1.  In  the  dresses  of  monks  and  pilgrims,  which 
may  be  traced  to  an  ancient  date,  and  which  are 
an  intended  imitation  of  the  dresses  supposed  to 
have  been  worn  by  the  first  disciples  and  apostles 
of  Christ.  2.  The  garb  conventionally  assigned 
by  painters  to  Scriptural  characters,  which  were 
equally  intended  to  embody  the  dress  of  the 
apostolical  period,  and  is  corrected  in  some  degree 
by  the  notions  of  Oriental  costume  which  were 
collected  during  the  Crusades. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  modern  sources  of 
illustration.  With  the  exceptions  of  the  foreign 
Turkish  costume,  and  the  modifications  thereof, 
and  with  certain  local  exceptions,  chiefly  in 
mountainous  regions,  it  may  be  said  that  there  is 
one  prevailing  costume  in  all  the  countries  of 
Asia  between  the  Tigris  and  Mediterranean,  and 
throughout  Northern  Africa,  from  the  Nile  to 
Morocco  and  the  banks  of  the  Senegal.  This 
costume  is  substantially  Arabian,  and  owes  its 
extension  to  the  wide  conquests  of  the  Arabians 
under  the  first  caliphs ;  and  it  is  through  the 
Arabians — the  least  changed  of  ancient  nations, 
and  almost  the  only  one  which  has  remained  as  a 
nation  from  ancient  times — that  the  antiquity  of 
this  costume  may  be  proved.  This  is  undoubtedly 
the  most  ancient  costume  of  Western  Asia,  and 
while  one  set  of  proofs  would  carry  it  up  to  Scrip- 
tural times,  another  set  of  strong  probabilities 
and  satisfactory  analogies  will  take  it  back  to  the 
most  remote  periods  of  Scriptural  history,  and 
will  suggest  that  the  dress  of  the  Jews  themselves 
was  very  similar,  without  being  strictly  identical. 
It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  there  are 
two  very  different  sorts  of  dresses  among  the 
Arabians.  One  is  that  of  the  Bedouin  tribes,  and 
the  other  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  towns.    The 


DRESS 

I  distinction  between  these  is  seldom  clearly  un- 
!  derstood,  or  correctly  stated  ;  but  it  is  of  the 
j  utmost  importance  for  the  purpose  of  the  present 
i  notice.  Instead  therefore  of  speaking  of  the 
'  Arabian  costume  as  one  thing,  we  must  regard 
I    it  as   two   things — the  desert  costume,  and  the 

town  costume. 
I        If,  then,  our  views  of  Hebrew  costume  were 
based  on  the  actual  costume  of  the  Arabians,  we 
should  be  led  to  conclude  that  the  desert  costume 
I    represented   that  ,  which   was   worn    during   the 
]    patriarchal  period,  and  until  the   Israelites  had 
;    been  some  time  settled  in  Canaan ;  and  the  town 
j    costume  that  which  was  adopted  from  their  neigh- 
I    hours  when  they  became  a  settled  people. 
j        I'his  is  a  subject  which,  more  than  any  other, 
I    requires  the  aid  of  pictorial  illustration  to  render 
j    the   details   intelligible.     Having   provided   our- 
;    selves  with  these,  our  further  observations  will 
most  advantageously  take  the  form  of  explana- 
tions of  them,  and  of  comments  upon  them. 

Under  the  notion  that  the  desert  costume  be- 
longs to  the  patriarchal  period,  the  precedence  is 
here  given  to  it.  Only  the  outer  articles  of  dress 
are  distinctive,  those  which  are  worn  underneath 
being  similar  to  other  articles  worn  by  the  town 
and  peasant  classes,  and  which  as  such  will  be 
hereafter  noticed. 

The  annexed  cut  (No.  153)  represents,  in  fig. 
2,  a  Bedouin,  or  desert  Arab,  in  the  dress  usually 


DRESS 


265 


worn  in  Asia ;  and  in  fig.  1  represents  a  towns- 
man in  a  cloak  of  the  same  kind,  adopted  from 
the  Arabs,  and  worn  very  extensively  as  an  outer- 
most covering  in  all  the  countries  from  the  Oxus 
(for  even  the  Persians  use  it)  to  the  Mediterra- 
j    nean.    The  distinctive  head-dress  of  the  Bedouin, 
i    and  which  has  not  been  adopted  by  any  other 
i    nation,   or  even  by  the  Arabian  townsmen,  is  a 
!    kerchief  folded  triangularly,  and  thrown  over  the 
i    head  so  as  to  fall  down  over  the  neck  and  shoul- 
ders, and  bound  to  the  head  by  a  band  of  twisted 
wool  or  camel's  hair.     We  forbear  at  the  moment 
from  inquiring  whether  this  was  or  was  not  in 
use  among  the  ancient  Hebrews.     The  cloak  is 
called  an  abba.     It  is  made  of  wool  and  hair,  and 
of  various  degrees  of  fineness.     It  is  sometimes 
entirely  black,  or   entirely  white,  but    is    more 
usually  marked  with  broad  stripes,  the  colours  of 
which  (never  more  than  two,  one  of  which  is 
always  white)  are  distinctive  of  the  tribe  by  which 


it  is  worn.  The  cloak  is  altogether  shapeless, 
being  like  a  square  sack,  with  an  opening  in  front, 
and  with  slits  at  the  sides  to  let  out  the  arms. 
The  Arab  who  wears  it  by  day,  sleeps  in  it  by 
night,  as  does  often  the  peasant  by  whom  it  has 
been  adopted ;  and  in  all  probability  this  was  the 
garment  similarly  Uacd  by  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
and  which  a  benevolent  law,  delivered  while 
Israel  was  still  in  the  desert,  forbade  to  be  kept 
in  pledge  beyond  the  day,  that  the  poor  might 
not  be  without  a  covering  at  night  (Exod.  xxii. 
27).  This  article  of  dress  appears  to  have  been 
little  known  to  Biblical  illustrators,  although  it  is 
the  principal  and  most  common  outemiost  gar- 
ment in  Western  Asia.  This  singular  neglect 
has  arisen  from  their  information  being  chiefly 
derived  from  Shaw  and  others,  who  describe  the 
costume  of  the  Arab  tribes  or  Moors  of  Northern 
Africa,  where  the  outer  garment  is  more  generally 
the  bournoos  (No.  153,  fig.  3),  a  woollen  cloak, 
not  unlike  the  abba,  but  furnished  with  a  hood, 
and  which  is  sometimes  strangely  confounded 
even  by  well-informed  persons  with  a  totally  dif- 
ferent outer  garment  worn  in  the  same  regions, 
usually  called  the  hyhe,  but  which  is  also,  accord- 
ing to  its  materials,  quality,  or  colour,  distin- 
guished by  various  other  names.  Regardless  of 
these  minute  distinctions,  this  part  of  dress  may 
be  described  as  a  large  woollen  blanket,  either 
white  or  brown,  and  in  summer  a  cotton  sheet 
(usually  blue  or  white,  or  both  colours  together). 
Putting  one  corner  before  over  the  left  shoulder, 
the  wearer  brings  it  behind,  and  then  under  the 
right  arm,  and  so  over  the  body,  throwing  it  be- 
hind over  the  left  shoulder,  and  leaving  the  right 
arm  free  for  action.  This  very  picturesque  mode 
of  wearing  the  hyke  is  shown  in  fig.  2  (No.  154), 


Another  mode  of  wearing  it  is  shown  in  fig.  3. 
It  is  sometimes  thrown  over  the  head  as  a  pro- 
tection from  the  sun  or  wind  (fig.  1 ),  and  calls 
to  mind  the  various  passages  of  Scripture  in 
which  persons  are  described  as  cover.ng  their 
heads  with  their  mantles  (2  Sam.xv.  30;  1  Kings 
xix.  13;  Esther  vi.  12).  This  article  of  dress, 
originally  borrowed  from  the  nomadcs,  is  known 
in  Arabia,  and  extends  westward  to  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic,  being  most  extensively  used  by  all 
classes  of  the  population.  The  seat  of  this  dress, 
and  of  the  abba  respectively,  is  indicated  by  the 
direction  of  their  importation  into  Egypt.  The 
hykes  are  imported  from    the    west  {i.e.  from 


2G6 


DRESS 


DRESS 


North  Afi-ica),  and  the  abbas  from  Syria.  The 
close  resemblance  of  the  above  group  of  real 
costume  to  those  in  which  the  traditionary  eccle- 
siastical and  traditionary  artistical  costumes  are 
displayed,  must  be  obvious  to  the  most  cursory 
observer.  It  may  also  be  noticed  that  the  hyke 
is  not  without  some  resemblance,  as  to  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  worn,  to  the  outer  garment 
of  one  of  the  figures  in  the  Egyptian  family, 
supposed  to  represent  the  arrival  of  Joseph's 
brethren  in  Egypt  (No.  148,  fig.  1). 

We  now  turn  to  the  costumes  which  are  seen 
in  the  towns  and  villages  of  south-western  Asia. 

In  the  Scriptures  drawers  are  only  mentioned 
in  the  injunction  that  the  high-priest  should  wear 
them  (Exod.  xxviii.  42),  which  seems  to  show 
that  they  were  not  generally  in  use ;  nor  have 
we  any  evidence  that  they  ever  became  common. 
Drawers  descending  to  the  middle  of  the  thighs 
were  worn  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  work- 
men often  laid  aside  all  the  rest  of  their  dress 
when  occupied  in  their  labours.  As  far  as  this 
part  of  dress  was  used  at  all  b"  the  Hebrews,  it 
was  doubtless  either  like  this,  cr  similar  to  those 
which  are  now  worn  in  Western  Asia  by  all,  ex- 
cept some  among  the  poorer  peasantry,  and  by 
many  of  the  Bedouin  Arabs.  They  are  of  linen 
or  cotton,  of  ample  breadth,  tied  around  the  body 
by  a  running  string,  or  band,  and  always  worn 
next  the  skin,  not  over  the  shirt  as  in  Europe. 

It  will  be  asked,  when  the  poor  Israelite  had 
pawned  his  outer  garment  '  wh£rein  he  slept,' 
M'hat  dress  was  left  to  him?  The  answer  is  pro- 
bably supplied  by  the  annexed  engraving  (No. 
l.'iS),  which  represents  slightly  different  garments 
of  cotton,  or  woollen  frocks  or  shirts,  wliich  often, 
in  warm  weather,  form  the  sole  dress  of  the  Be- 
douin peasants,  and  the  lower  class  of  towns- 
people. To  this  the  abba  or  hyke  is  the  proper 
outer  robe  (as  in  fig.  1,  No.  1.54),  but  is  usually, 
in  summer,  dispensed  with  in  the  day-time,  and 
in  the  ordinary  pursuits  and  occupations  of  life. 
It  is  sometimes  (as  in  No.  155,  fig.  2)  worn  with- 


out, but  more  usually  with,  a  girdle  :  and  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  shorter  specimens  are  not  unlike 
the  dress  of  one  of  the  figures  (fig.  3,  No.  148)  in 
the  earliest  of  the  Egyptiun  subjects  which  have 
been  produced.  The  shirt  worn  by  tlie  superior 
classes  is  of  the  same  shape,  but  of  finer  mate- 
rials.    This   is  shown   in  the   following  figure 


(No.  156),  which  represents  a  gentleman  as  just 
risen  from  bed.  If  we  call  this  a  shirt,  the  He- 
brews doubtless  had  it — the  sole  dress  (excepting 
the  cloak)  of  the  poor,  and  the  inner  robe  of  the 
rich.  Such,  probably,  were  the  '  sheets  '  (trans- 
lated '  shirts'  in  some  versions),  of  which  Sam- 
son despoiled  thirty  Philistines  to  pay  the  forfeit 
of  his  riddle  (Judg.  iv.  13,  19).  It  is  shown  from 
the  Talmud,  indeed,  that  the  Hebrews  of  later 
days  had  a  shirt  called  chaluk,  which  it  would 
appear  was  often  of  wool,  and  which  is  described 
as  the  ordinary  inner  garment,  the  outer  being 
the  cloak  or  mantle.  This  shows  that  the  shirt 
or  frock  was,  as  in  modern  usage,  the  ordinary 
dress  of  the  Jews,  to  which  a  mantle  (abba,  hyke, 
or  bournoos)  was  the  outer  covering. 

In  all  the  annexed  figures  (No.  157),  represent- 
ing persons  of  the  superior  class,  we  observe  the 


shirt  covered  by  a  striped  (sometimes  figured) 
gowu  or  caftan,  of  mingled  silk  and  cotton.  It 
descends  to  the  ankles,  with  long  sleeves,  ex- 
tending a  few  inches  beyond  the  fingers'  ends, 
but  divided  from  a  point  a  little  above  the  wrist, 
so  that  the  hand  is  generally  exposed,  though  it 
may  be  concealed  by  the  sleeve  when  necessary ; 
for  it  is  customary  to  cover  the  hands  in  the  pre- 
sence of  a  person  of  high  rank.  It  is  very  com- 
mon, especially  in  winter,  for  persons  to  sleep 
without  removing  this  gown,  but  only  unloosing 


DRESS 

the  girdle  by  -which  it  is  bound.  It  is  not  un- 
usual within  doors  to  see  persons  without  any 
article  of  dress  outside  this  ;  but  it  is  considered 
decidedly  as  an  undress,  and  no  respectable  per- 
son is  beheld  out  of  doors,  or  receives  or  pays 
visits,  without  an  outer  covering.  Hence  persons 
clad  in  this  alone  are  said  to  be  '  naked '  in  Scrip- 
ture— that  is,  not  in  the  usual  complete  dress; 
for  there  can  be  no  manner  of  doubt  that  this,  or 
something  like  this,  is  referred  to  in  Exod.  xxviii. 
40;  Job  XXX.  18;  Isa.  xxii.  21,  &c.  A  similar 
robe  is  worn  by  the  women,  as  was  also  the  case 
among  the  Israelites  (2  Sam.  xiii.  18,  19;  Cant. 
V.  3).  It  is  in  the  bosom  of  this  robe  that  various 
articles  are  carried,  and  hence  the  Scriptural  ex- 
pression of  giving  things  '  into  the  bosom.' 

The  girdle  worn  over  this,  around  the  waist,  is 
usually  a  coloured  shawl,  or  long  piece  of  figured 
white  muslin.  The  girdle  of  the  poorer  classes 
is  of  coarse  stuff,  and  often  of  leather,  with  clasps. 
This  leathern  girdle  is  also  much  used  by  the 
Arabs,  and  by  persons  of  condition  when  equipped 
for  a  journey.  It  is  sometimes  ornamented  with 
workings  in  coloured  worsted,  or  silk,  or  with 
metal  studs,  shells,  beads,  &c.  Both  kinds  of 
girdles  were  certainly  in  use  among  the  Hebrews 
(2  Kings  i.  8;  Matt.  iii.  4;  Mark  i.  6;  comp. 
Jer.  xiii.  1).  It  is  known  to  all  readers  of  Scrip- 
ture how  often  the  '  girdle '  and  the  act  of '  gird- 
ing the  loins'  is  mentioned.  It  seems  from  2 
Sam.  XX.  8  (comp.  also  the  Syrian  figure,  No. 
151,  fig.  1),  that  it  was  usual  to  wear  a  knife  or 
poniard  in  the  girdle.  This  custom  is  still  gene- 
ral, and  denotes  not  any  deadly  disposition,  but 
the  want  of  clasp-knives.  Men  of  literary  voca- 
tions replace  it  by  an  inkhorn,  as  was  also  the  case 
among  the  Israelites  (Ezek.  ix.  2). 

Over  the  gown  is  worn  either  the  short-sleeved 
gibbch  (fig.  3),  which  is  a  long  coat  of  woollen 
cloth ;  or  the  long-sleeved  benish  (fig.  2),  which 
is  also  of  woollen  cloth,  and  may  be  worn  either 
over  or  instead  of  the  other.  The  benish  is,  by 
reason  of  its  long  sleeves  (with  which  the  hands 
may  be  covered),  the  robe  of  ceremony,  and  is 
worn  in  the  presence  of  superiors  and  persons  of 
ranks.  Over  one  or  both  of  these  robes  may  be 
worn  the  abba,  bournoos,  or  hyke,  in  any  of  the 
modes  already  indicated.  Aged  persons  often 
wrap  up  the  head  and  shoulders  with  the  latter,  in 
the  manner  shown  in  fig.  4. 

This  hyke  or  wrapper  is  usually  taken  by  per- 
sons going  on  a  journey,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
used  in  the  same  manner  as  a  protection  from  the 
sun  or  wind.  This  is  shown  in  the  annexed  cut, 
representing  a  group  of  persons  equipped  for 
travel.  The  robe  is  here  more  succinct  and  com- 
pact, and  tlie  firm  manner  in  which  the  whole 
dress  is  girded  up  about  the  loins  calls  to  mind  the 
passages  of  Scripture  in  which  the  action  of '  gird- 
ing up  the  loins '  for  a  journey  is  mentioned. 

From  this  it  is  also  seen  that  travellers  usually 
wear  a  sword,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  worn 
is  correctly  shown.  It  would  also  appear  that  the 
Jinvs  had  swords  for  such  occasional  uses  (Matt, 
x.wi.  51 ;  Luke  xxii.  36). 

The  necessity  of  baring  the  arm  for  any  kind 
of  exertion,  must  be  evident  from  the  manner  in 
which  it  is  encumbered  in  all  the  dresses  we  have 
produced.  This  action  is  often  mentioned  in 
Scripture,  which  alone  proves  that  the  arm  was 
in  ordinary  circumstances  similarly  encumbered 


DRINK,  STRONG 


by  the  dress.  For  ordinary  purposes  a  hasty 
tucking  up  of  the  sleeve  of  the  right  arm  suffices  ; 
but  for  a  continued  action  special  contrivances  are 
necessary.  These  are  curious,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  cut  (No.  159).  The  full  sleeves  of  the  shirt 
are  sometimes  drawn  up  by  means  of  cords,  which 
pass  round  each  shoulder,  and  cross  behind,  where 
they  are  tied  in  a  knot.  This  custom  is  particu- 
larly affected  by  servants  and  workmen,  who  have 
constant  occasion  for  baring  the  arm  ;  but  others, 
whose  occasions  are  more  incidental,  and  who  are, 
therefore,  unprovided  with  the  necessary  cords, 
draw  up  the  sleeves  and  tie  them  together  behind 
between  the  shoulders  (fig.  2). 


For  the  dress  of  females  we  must  refer  to  the 
article  Women.     See  also  the  article  Sandal. 

DRINK,  STRONG.  The  Hebrew  thus  ren- 
dered seems  to  demand  a  more  particular  eliicida- 
tion  than  it  has  yet  received,  inasmuch  as  it  had 
in  all  probability  a  much  wider  signification  than 
is  now  conveyed  by  the  phrase  'strong  drink.' 
We  shall  class  the  various  senses  of  the  word  under 
three  heads,  in  the  order  in  which  we  conceive 
them  to  have  been  developed. 

1.  Shechar.  luscious,  saccharine  drink,  or  sweet 
SYRUP,  especially  sugar  or  honey  of  dates,  or  of  the 


268 


DEINK,  STRONG 


DUMAH 


palm-tree  ;  also,  by  accommodation,  occasionally 
the  sweet  fruit  itself.  By  sugar  or  honey  the  Jews 
understood  not  only  honey  of  bees,  but  also  syrups 
made  from  the  fruit  or  juice  of  the  palm  and  other 
trees.  '  In  Solomon's  time,  and  afterwards,'  says 
Dr.  Harris,  '  the  wine  and  sweet  cordials  seem 
generally  to  have  been  used  separately.'  It  seems 
more  probable,  however,  that  the  pabn  syrup  or 
honey  was  used  both  as  a  sweetmeat  or  article  of 
food,  and  cs  a  drink,  diluted  with  water,  as  with 
the  modern  grape  and  honey  syrups  or  sherbets 
(Prov.  ix.  2,  5).  The  derivatives  of  shechar,  ex- 
pressive of  its  first  signification,  are  numerous. 
Eastward  and  southward,  following  the  Arabian 
channel  and  the  Saracenic  conquests,  we  meet  with 
the  most  obvious  forms  of  the  Hebrew  words  still 
expressive  of  sugar.  Thus  we  have  the  Arabic 
sakar ;  Persic  and  Bengali,  shukkur  (whence  our 
word  for  sugar-candy,  shukur-kund, '  rock-sugar ') ; 
common  Indian,  jaggree  or  zhaggery ;  Moresque, 
sekkour ;  Spanish,  azucar ;  and  Portuguese,  as- 
sucar  (molasses  being  mel-de-assucar,  '  honey  of 
sugar,'  abbreviated).  The  wave  of  population  has 
also  carried  the  original  sense  and  form  north- 
wards, embodying  the  word  in  the  Grecian  and 
Teutonic  languages.  Hence  Greek,  sakhar ; 
Latin,  saccharum ;  Italian,  zucchero ;  German, 
sucher  and  juderig ;  Dutch,  suiker ;  Russian, 
sachar ;  Danish,  sukker ;  Swedish,  socker ;  Welsh, 
siwgwr ;  French,  sucre ;  and  our  own  common 
words  sukkar  (sweetmeat),  sugar,  and  saccharine. 
2.  Date  or  Palm  Wine  in  its  fresh  and  unfer- 
mented  state.  Bishop  Lowtli  translates  Isa.  xxiv. 
9  thus  :— 
'  With  songs  they  shall  no  more  drink  wine 

[i.  e.  of  grapes]  ; 
The  palm  wine  shall  be  bitter  to  them  that 
drink  it.' — 
Herodotus,  in  his  account  of  Assyria,  remarks 
that '  the  palm  is  very  common  in  this  country,' 
and  that  '  it  produces  them  bread,  wine,  and 
honey.' 

The  Mohammedan  traveller  (a.d.  850)  says 
that  '  palm  wine,  if  drunk  fresh,  is  siveet  like 
honey ;  but  if  kept,  it  turns  to  vinegar.' 

Mandelslo  (1640),  speaking  of  the  village  of 
Damre  near  Surat,  records  thus :  —  '  Ter  ry  or 
Palm  Wine.  In  this  village  we  found  some  terry, 
which  is  a  liquor  drawn  out  of  the  palm-trees,  and 
drank  of  it  in  cups  made  of  the  leaves  of  the  same 
tree.  To  get  out  the  juice,  they  go  up  to  the  top 
of  the  tree,  where  they  make  an  incision  in  the 
bark,  and  fasten  under  it  an  earthen  pot,  which 
they  leave  there  all  night,  in  which  time  it  is  fill'd 
with  a  certain  sweet  liquor  very'  pleasant  to  the 
taste.  They  get  out  some  also  in  the  day-time, 
but  that  [owing  to  the  great  heat]  corrupts  imme- 
diately, and  is  good  only  for  vinegar,  which  is  all 
the  use  they  make  of  it.' 

Adam  Fabroni,  an  Italian  writer  of  celebrity, 
informs  us  that '  the  palm-trees,  which  particu- 
larly abounded  in  the  vicinity  of  Jericho  and 
Engaddi,  also  served  to  make  a  very  sweet  wine, 
which  is  made  all  over  the  East,  being  called  palm 
wine  by  the  Latins,  and  syra  in  India,  from  the 
Persian  shir,  which  means  luscious  liquor  or 
drink.' 

Dr.  Shaw  thus  describes  the  unfermented  palm 
wine: — 'This  liquor,  which  has  a  more  luscious 
sweetness  than  honey,  is  of  the  consistence  of  a 
thin  syrup,  but  quickly  grows  tart  and  ropy,  ac- 


quiring an  intoxicating  quality.'  Sir  G.  T. 
Temple  sajs,  '  We  were  daily  supplied  with  the 
sap  of  the  date-tree,  which  is  a  delicious  and 
wholesome  beverage  when  drunk  quite  fresh  :  but 
if  allowed  to  remain  for  some  liours,  it  acquires  a 
sharp  taste  not  unlike  cider.  The  Landers  in- 
form us  that  '  Palm  ivine  is  the  common  and 
favourite  drink  of  the  natives '  of  Africa— that 
'  the  juice  is  called  wine,'  and  that '  it  is  either 
used  in  this  state,  or  preserved  till  it  acquires 
rather  a  bitter  flavour.'  With  these  facts  before 
us,  the  language  employed  by  the  prophet  in  the 
sublime  chapter  from  which  we  quoted  above,  be- 
comes beautifully  apposite.  His  prediction  is  that 
'  the  land  shall  be  utterly  spoiled,'  that  the  light 
of  joy  shall  be  turned  into  the  gloom  of  sorrow, 
even  as  the  sweet  drink  which  corrupts,  grows  sour 
and  bitter  to  those  who  drink  it.  The  passage 
clearly  indicates  the  nature  of  the  drink  to  have 
been  sweet  in  what  the  Jews  esteemed  its  most 
valuable  condition,  but  bitter  in  its  fermented 
state.  Hence  the  drunkard  is  represented  in  ch. 
V.  20-22,  as  one  who  '  puts  bitter  for  sweet,  and 
sweet  for  bitter.'  This  palm  wine,  like  the  honey 
of  dates  and  sugar,  was  much  valued  as  a  medi- 
cine and  cordial. 

3.  Sakak,  in  its  third  sense  as  a  noun,  denotes 
both  in  the  Hebrew  and  the  Arabic,  fermented  or 
INTOXICATING  PALM  WINE.  Various  forms  of  the 
noun  in  process  of  time  became  applied  to  other 
kinds  of  intoxicating  drink,  whether  made  from 
fruit  or  from  grain.  Arrack  has  been  commonly, 
but  erroneously,  derived  from  sakar,  and  some 
have  confounded  the  anack  with  the  palm  wine, 
forgetting  that  the  original  wine  existed  long  prior 
to  the  discovery  of  arrack  distillation.  The  true 
palm  wine,  also,  is  exclusively  the  juice  of  the 
palm-tree  or  fruit,  whereas  arrack  is  applied  to  the 
spirit  obtained  from  fermented  rice  and  other 
things,  and  is,  as  Dr.  Shaw  remarks,  '  the  general 
name  for  all  hot  liquors  extracted  by  the  alembick.' 
The  palm  wine  of  the  East,  as  we  have  e.x- 
plained,  is  made  intoxicating  either  by  allowing 
it  to  corrupt  and  ferment,  thereby  losing  the  sweet 
luscious  character  for  which  the  Orientals  esteem 
it,  and  becoming  ropy,  tart,  and  bitter ;  or,  in  its 
fresh  or  boiled  state,  by  an  admixture  of  stimu- 
lating or  stupefying  ingredients,  of  which  there  is 
an  abundance.  Such  a  practice  seems  to  have 
existed  amongst  the  ancient  Jews,  and  to  have 
called  down  severe  reprobation  (comp.  Prov. 
xxiii.  30;  Isa.  i.  22;  v.  11,  22). 
DROMEDARY.  [Camel.] 
DRUSIL'LA,  youngest  daughter  of  Herod 
Agrippa  I.  She  was  much  celebrated  for  her 
beauty,  and  was  betrothed  to  Epiphanes,  prince  of 
Commagene;  but  was  afterwards  married  to 
Azizas,  king  of  Emesa,  whom  the  procurator 
Felix  induced  her  to  abandon,  in  order  to  live  with 
him.  She  is  mentioned  in  Acts  xxiv.  24. 
DULCIMER.  [Music] 
DU'MAH,  a  tribe  and  country  of  the  Ishmael- 
ites  in  Arabia  (Gen.  xxv.  14;  Isa.  xxi.  11).  It 
is  doubtless  the  same  that  is  still  called  by  the 
Arabs  Duma  the  Stony,  and  the  Syrian  Duma, 
situated  on  the  confines  of  the  Arabian  and  Syrian 
deserts,  with  a  fortress. 

DUMAH  was  also  the  name  of  a  town  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  52),  which  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  place  seventeen  R.  miles  from  Eleuthero- 
polis,  in  Daroma. 


EAGLE 

DUNG.  Among  the  Israelites,  as  -with  the 
modern  Orientals,  dung  -was  used  both  for  manure 
and  for  fuel.  In  a  district  where  wood  is  scarce, 
dung  is  so  valuable  for  the  latter  purpose,  that 
little  of  it  is  spared  for  the  former. 

The  use  of  dung  for  manure  is  indicated  in  Isa. 
XXV.  10,  from  which  we  also  learn  that  its  bulk 
was  increased  by  the  addition  of  straw,  which  was 
of  course,  as  with  us,  left  to  rot  in  the  dunghill. 
Some  of  the  regulations  connected  with  this  use  of 
dung  we  learn  from  the  Talmud.  The  heaping 
up  of  a  dunghill  in  a  public  place  exposed  the 
owner  to  the  repair  of  any  damage  it  might  occa- 
sion, and  any  one  was  at  liberty  to  take  it  away. 
Another  regulation  forbade  the  accumulation  of 
the  dunghill  to  be  removed,  in  the  seventh  or  sab- 
batic year,  to  the  vicinity  of  any  ground  under 
culture,  which  was  equivalent  to  an  interdiction  of 
the  use  of  manure  in  that  year ;  and  this  must 
have  occasioned  some  increase  of  labour  in  the 
year  ensuing. 

The  use  of  cow-dung  for  fuel  is  known  to  our 
own  villagers,  who,  at  least  in  the  west  of  Eng- 
land, prefer  it  in  baking  their  bi-ead  '  under  the 
crock,'  on  account  of  the  long-continued  and 
equable  heat  which  it  maintains.  It  is  there  also 
not  unusual  in  a  summer  evening  to  see  aged 
people  traversing  the  green  lanes  with  baskets  to 
collect  the  cakes  of  cow-dung  which  have  dried 
upon  the  road.  This  helps  out  the  ordinary  fire 
of  wood,  and  makes  it  burn  longer.  In  many 
thinly-wooded  parts  of  south-western  Asia  the 
dung  of  cows,  camels,  horses,  asses,  whichever 
may  happen  to  be  the  most  common,  is  collected 
with  great  zeal  and  diligence  from  the  streets  and 
highways,  chiefly  by  young  girls.  They  also 
hover  on  the  skirts  of  the  encampments  of  travel- 
lers, and  there  are  often  amusing  scrambles  among 
them  for  the  droppings  of  the  cattle.  The  dung 
is  mixed  up  with  chopped  straw,  and  made  into 
cakes,  which  are  stuck  up  by  their  own  adhesive- 
ness against  the  walls  of  the  cottages,  or  are  laid 
upon  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  until  sufficiently  dried. 
It  is  not  unusual  to  see  a  whole  village  with  its 
walls  thus  garnished,  which  has  a  singular  and 
not  very  agreeable  appearance  to  a  European  tra- 
veller. Towards  the  end  of  autumn,  the  result  of 
the  summer  collection  of  fuel  for  winter  is  shown 
in  large  conical  heaps  or  stacks  of  dried  dung 
upon  the  top  of  every  cottage.  The  usages  of  the 
Jews  in  this  matter  were  probably  similar  in  kind, 
although  the  extent  to  which  they  prevailed  can- 
not now  be  estimated. 

DU'RA,  the  plain  in  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
set  up  his  golden  image  (Dan.  iii.  1).  It  is  clear 
from  the  context  that '  the  plain  of  Dura '  could  be 
no  other  than  that  plain  (or  some  part  of  it)  in 
which  Babylon  itself  was  situated. 

DUST.  For  storms  of  dust,  &c.,  see  Storm  ; 
for  throwing  dust  on  the  head,  see  Moukning. 


E. 


EAGLE  (Exod.  xix.  4;  Lev.  xi.  13,  &c). 
The  Eagle,  in  zoology,  forms  a  family  of  several 
genera  of  birds  of  prey,  mostly  distinguished  for 
tlieir  size,  courage,  powers  of  flight,  and  arms  for 
attack.    The  bill  is  strong  and  bent  into  a  plain 


EAGLE 


269 


pointed  hook,  without  the  notch  in  the  inner  curve 
which  characterizes  falcons  ;  the  nostrils  are  co- 
vered with  a  naked  cere  or  skin,  of  a  yellow  or  a 
blue  colour ;  the  eyes  are  lateral,  sunken,  or  placed 
beneath  an  overhanging  brow  ;  the  head  and  neck 
covered  with  abundance  cf  longish,  narrow- 
pointed  feathers ;  the  chest  broad,  the  legs  and 
thighs  exceedingly  stout  and  sinewy,  and  fea- 
thered down  to  the  toes ;  the  feathers  in  general 
are  brownish  and  rust-coloured,  and  the  tail  is 
black,  grey,  or  deep  brown.  Sea-eagles  have  the 
legs  half  bare  and  covered  with  horny  scales ;  not 
unusually  the  head,  back,  and  tail  more  or  less 
white.  The  larger  species  of  both  measure,  from 
head  to  tip  of  tail,  3  feet  6  inches  or  more,  and  spread 
their  wings  above  7  feet  6  inches.  The  claws  of 
the  fore  and  hind  toe  are  particularly  strong  and 
sharp  ;  in  the  sea-eagles  they  form  more  than  half 
a  circle,  and  in  length  measure  from  ]i  to  1§  of 
an  inch.  These  majestic  birds  have  their  abode 
in  Europe,  on  the  shores  of  the  ^Mediterranean, 
in  Syria  and  Arabia,  wherever  there  are  vast 
woody  mountains  and  lofty  cliffs :  they  occupy 
each  a  single  district,  always  by  pairs,  except'iig 
on  the  coasts,  where  the  sea  eagle  and  the  osprey 
may  be  found  not  remote  from  the  region  pos- 
sessed by  the  rough-legged  eagles.  It  is  in  this 
last  genus,  most  generally  represented  by  the 
golden  eagle,  that  the  most  powerful  and  largest 
birds  are  found.  That  species  in  its  more  juve- 
nile plumage,  known  as  the  ring-tailed  eagle,  the 
Imperial  eagle,  and  the  booted  eagle,  is  found  in 
Syria ;  and  at  least  one  species  of  the  sea-eagles 
frequents  the  coasts,  and  is  even  of  stronger  wing 


160.     [Aquila  heliaca.l 

than  the  others.  These  build  usually  in  the  cliffs 
of  Phoenicia,  while  the  others  are  more  com- 
monly domiciliated  within  the  mountains.  Ac- 
cording to  their  strength  and  habits  the  fonner 
subsist  on  antelopes,  hares,  hjTax,  bustard,  stork, 
tortoises,  and  serpents ;  and  the  latter  usually  on 
fish ;  both  pursue  the  catta,  partridge,  and  lizard. 
The  osprey  alone  being  migratory  retires  to 
Southern  Arabia  in  winter.  None,  excepting  the 
last-mentioned,  are  so  exclusively  averse  to  car- 
rion as  is  commonly  asserted;    from  choice  or 


270 


EAIMIINGS 


necessity  they  all,  but  in  particular  the  sea-eagles, 
occasionally  feed  upon  carcases  of  horses,  &c.; 
and  it  is  well  known  in  the  East  that  they  follow 
armies  for  that  purpose.  Hence  the  allusions  i 
Job  and  Matt.  xxiv.  28,  though  vultures  may  be 
included,  are  perfectly  correct.  So  again  are 
those  wiiich  refer  to  the  eagle's  eyrie,  fixed  in 
the  most  elevated  cliffs.  The  swiftness  of  this 
bird,  stooping  among  a  flock  of  wild  geese,  with 
the  rushing  sound  of  a  whirlwind,  we  have  wit- 
nessed; and  all  know  its  towering  flight,  sus- 
pended on  its  broad  wings  among  the  clouds  with 
little  motion  or  effort.  Thus  the  predictions,  in 
which  terrible  nations  coming  from  afar  are  assi- 
milated to  eagles,  have  a  poetical  and  absolute 
truth,  since  there  are  species  like  the  golden, 
which  really  inhabit  the  whole  circumference  of 
the  earth,  and  the  nations  alluded  to  bore  eagles' 
wings  for  standards,  and  for  ornaments  on  their 
shields,  helmets,  and  shoulders.  The  species 
here  figured  is  the  one  most  common  in  Syria, 
and  is  distinguished  from  the  others  by  a  spot  of 
white  feathers  on  each  shoulder. 

EARING.  This  word,  which  occurs  in  the 
Authorized  Version  (Gen.  xlv.  6),  is  very  often 
supposed  to  mean  '  collecting  the  ears  of  corn,' 
which  would  confound  it  with  harvest,  from 
which  it  is  distinguished  in  this  very  passage. 
But  the  word  is  radically  the  same  with  harrow, 
and  denotes  ploughing,  from  the  Anglo-Saxon 
erian,  '  to  plough.' 

EARNEST,  a  pledge,  given  and  received,  to 
assure  the  fulfilment  of  an  engagement.  Hesy- 
chius  explains  it  as  somewhat  given  beforehand. 
This  idea  attaches  to  all  the  particular  applica- 
tions of  the  word,  as  anything  given  by  way  of 
warrant  or  security  for  the  performance  of  a 
promise ;  part  of  a  debt  paid  as  an  assurance  of 
paying  the  remainder  ;  part  of  the  price  of  any- 
thing paid  beforehand  to  confirm  the  bargain 
between  buyer  and  seller;  part  of  a  servant's 
wages  paid  at  the  time  of  hiring,  for  the  purpose 
of  ratifying  the  engagement  on  both  sides.  The 
idea  that  the  earnest  is  either  to  be  returned 
upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  engagement,  or  to  be 
considered  as  part  of  the  stipulation,  is  also  in- 
cluded. The  word  is  used  three  times  in  the 
New  Testament,  but  always  in  a  figurative  sense : 
in  the  first  (2  Cor.  i.  22),  it  is  applied  to  the  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  God  bestowed  upon 
the  apostles,  and  by  which  he  might  be  said  to 
have  hired  them  to  be  the  servants  of  his  son ; 
and  which  were  the  earnest,  assurance,  and  com- 
mencement of  those  far  superior  blessings  which 
He  would  bestow  on  them  in  the  life  to  come,  as 
the  wages  of  their  faithful  services : — in  the  two 
latter  (2  Cor.  v.  5  ;  Eph.  i.  13,  14),  it  is  applied 
to  the  gifts  bestowed  on  Christiana  generally  upon 
whom,  after  baptism,  the  Apostles  had  laid  tlieir 
hands,  and  which  were  to  them  an  earnest  of  ob- 
taining an  heavenly  habitation  and  inheritance, 
upon  the  supposition  of  their  fidelity.  This  use 
of  the  term  finely  illustrates  the  augmented 
powers  and  additional  capacities  promised  in  a 
future  state. 

EAR-RINGS.  No  custom  is  more  ancient  or 
universal  than  that  of  wearing  ear-rings,  from 
which  it  would  appear  to  be  a  very  natural  idea 
to  attach  such  an  ornament  to  the  pendulous  lobe 
of  the  ear.  Of  the  two  words  in  Hebrew  de- 
noting ear-rings,  one  (Num.  xxxi.  50 ;  Ezek.  xvi. 


EARTHQUAKE 

12)  implies  roundness,  and  it  is  a  fact  that  nearly 
all  the  ancient  ear-rings  exhibited  in  the  sculp- 
tures of  Egypt  and  Persepolis  are  of  a  circular 
shape.  The  other  word  is  also  applied  to  a  nose- 
jewel,  from  which  we  may  suppose  that  it  was  a 
kind  of  ear-ring,  different  from  the  other  and 
more  similar  to  the  nose-jewel.  Ear-rings  of 
certain  kinds  were  anciently,  and  are  still,  in  the 
East,  instruments  or  appendages  of  idolatry  and 
superstition,  being  regarded  as  talismans  and 
amulets.  Such  probably  were  the  ear-rings  of 
Jacob's  family,  which  he  buried  with  the  strange 
gods  at  Beth-el  (Gen.  xxxv.  4). 

No  conclusion  can  be  formed  as  to  the  shape 
of  the  Hebrew  ear-rings  except  from  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  words  employed,  and  from  the  ana- 
logy of  similar  ornaments  in  ancient  sculpture. 
Those  worn  by  the  Egyptian  ladies  were  large, 
round,  single  hoops  of  gold,  from  one  inch  and  a 
half  to  two  inches  and  one-third  in  diameter,  and 
frequently  of  still  greater  size,  or  made  of  six 
single  rings  soldered  together.  Such  probably 
was  the  round  '  agil '  of  the  Hebrews.  Among 
persons  of  high  or  royal  rank  the  ornament  was 
sometimes  in  the  shape  of  an  asp,  whose  body 
was  of  gold  set  with  precious  stones  [Amulets]. 
Silver  ear-rings  have  also  been  found  at  Thebes, 
either  plain  hoops  like  the  ear-rings  of  gold,  or 
simple  studs.  The  modern  Oriental  ear-rings  are 
more  usually  jewelled  drops  or  pendants  than 
circlets  of  gold.  But  the  writer  has  seen  a  small 
round  plate  of  silver  or  gold  suspended  from  a 
small  ring  inserted  into  the  ear.  This  circular 
plate  (about  the  size  of  a  halfpenny)  is  either 
marked  with  fanciful  figures  or  set  with  small 
stones.  It  is  the  same  kind  of  thing  which,  in 
that  country  (Mesopotamia),  is  worn  as  a  nose- 
jewel,  and  in  it  we  perhaps  find  the  Hebrew  ear- 
ring which  is  denoted  by  the  same  word  that 
describes  a  nose-jewel. 

The  use  of  ear-rings  appears  to  have  been  con- 
fined to  the  women  among  the  Hebrews.  Tluit 
they  were  not  worn  by  men  is  implied  in  Judg. 
xiv.  24,  where  gold  ear-rings  are  mentioned  as 
distinctive  of  the  Ishmaelite  tribes. 

EARTH.  Besides  the  ordinary  senses  of  the 
word  or  words  rendered  *  earth '  in  our  translation 
— namely,  as  denoting  mould,  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  and  the  terrestrial  globe — there  are  others 
in  Scripture  which  require  to  be  discriminated. 
1.  'The  earth'  denotes  ^  the  inhabitants  of  the 
earth'  (Gen.  vi.  11  ;  xi.  I).  2.  Heathen  cou>ilrie>t, 
as  distinguished  from  the  land  of  Israel,  especially 
during  the  theocracy,  i.e.  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
excepting  Israel  (2  Kings  xviii.  25 ;  2  Chron. 
xiii.  9,  &c.).  3.  In  the  New  Testament  espe- 
cially, '  the  earth  '  appears  in  our  translation  as 
applied  to  the  land  of  Judsca.  As  in  many  of 
these  passages  it  might  seem  as  if  the  habitable 
globe  were  intended,  the  use  of  so  ambiguous  a 
term  as  '  the  earth '  should  have  been  avoided, 
and  the  original  rendered  by  '  the  land,'  as  in 
Lev.  XXV.  23 ;  Isa.  x.  23 ;  and  elsewhere.  This 
is  the  sense  which  the  original  bears  in  Matt. 
xxiii.  35  ;  xxvii.  45  ;  Mark  xv.  33  ;  Luke  iv,  25  ; 
xxi.  23;  Rom.  ix.  28;  James  v.  17.  For  the 
cosmological  uses  of  the  term,  see  Geography. 

EARTHENWARE.    [Potter.] 

EARTHQUAKE.  The  proximate  cause  of 
earthquakes,  though  by  no  means  accurately  de- 
fined, seems  referable  to  the  action  of  internal 


EARTHQUAKE 

heat  or  fire.  That  the  earth  was  once  subject  to 
the  action  of  a  vast  internal  power  springing 
probably  from  the  development  of  subterranean 
or  central  heat,  the  elevations  and  depressions, 
and  the  generally  scarred  and  torn  character  of 
its  exterior,  make  sufficiently  evident  A  power 
similar  in  kind,  but  more  restricted  in  degree,  is 
still  at  work  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  oc- 
casionally breaks  down  all  barriers  and  devastates 
certain  parts  of  the  world. 

The  manifestation  of  these  awful  phenomena 
is  restricted  in  its  range.  Accordingly  geologists 
have  laid  down  certain  volcanic  regions  or  bands 
■within  which  this  manifestation  takes  place.  Over 
these  regions  various  traces  of  volcanic  agency 
are  found,  such  as  either  gaseous  vapours  or  hot 
springs,  or  bituminous  substances,  and  in  some 
instances  (occasionally)  active  volcanoes.  Several 
sources  of  bitumen  are  found  on  the  Tigris,  in 
the  Persian  mountains,  near  the  Kharoon,  and  at 
Bushire,  as  well  as  along  the  Euphrates.  At 
Hit,  especially,  on  the  last-mentioned  river,  it 
exists  on  a  very  large  scale,  and,  having  been 
much  used  from  the  earliest  times,  seems  inex- 
haustible. Abundant  traces  of  it  are  also  to  be 
seen  amid  the  ruins  and  over  the  entire  vicinity 
of  Hillah — the  ancient  Babylon.  Syria  and  Pa- 
lestine abound  in  volcanic  appearances.  Between 
the  river  Jordan  and  Damascus  lies  a  volcanic 
tract.  The  entire  country  about  the  Dead  Sea 
presents  indubitable  tokens  of  volcanic  agency. 

Accordingly  Ihese  places  come  within  one  of 
the  volcanic  regions.  The  chief  of  these  are — 
1.  that  which  extends  from  the  Caspian  Sea  to 
the  Azores;  2.  from  the  Aleutian  Isles  to  the 
Moluccas ;  3.  that  of  the  Andes ;  4.  the  African ; 
5.  the  Icelandic.  Syria  and  Palestine  are  em- 
braced within  the  first  band  ;  and  these  countries 
have  not  unfrequently  been  subject  to  earth- 
quakes. The  first  visitation  of  the  kind,  recorded 
to  have  happened  to  Palestine,  was  in  the  reign 
of  Ahab  (B.C.  918-897;  1  Kings  xix.  11,  12).  A 
terrible  earthquake  took  place  '  in  the  days  of 
Uzziah,  king  of  Judah'  (b.c.  811-709).  Its 
awful  character  may  be  learnt  from  the  fact  that 
Zechariah  (xiv.  .5)  thus  speaks  respecting  it — 
'  Ye  shall  flee  as  ye  fled  from  before  the  earth- 
quake in  the  days  of  Uzziah,  king  of  Judah  :' 
and  also  that  it  appears  from  Amos  (i.  1 )  that 
the  event  was  so  striking,  and  left  such  deep  im- 
pressions on  men's  minds,  that  it  became  a  sort 
of  epoch  from  which  to  date  and  reckon ;  the 
prophet's  words  are,  '  two  years  before  the  earth- 
quake.' 

That  earthquakes  were  among  the  extraordi- 
nary phenomena  of  Palestine  in  ancient  times  is 
shown  in  their  being  an  element  in  the  poetical 
imagery  of  the  Hebrews,  and  a  source  of  religious 
admonition  and  devout  emotion  (see  Ps.  xviii.  7 ; 
Hab.  iii.  6 ;  Nah.  i.  5 ;  Isa.  v.  25).  The  only 
earthquake  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  is 
that  which  happened  at  the  crucifixion  of  the 
Saviour  of  mankind  (Matt,  xxvii.  .50-1  ;  Luke 
xxiii.  44-5 ;  Mark  xv.  33).  This  darkness  has 
been  misunderstood,  and  then  turned  to  the  pre- 
judice of  Christianity  [Darkness].  The  obscura- 
tion was  obviously  an  attendant  on  the  earth- 
quake. Earthquakes  are  not  seldom  attended 
by  accompaniments  which  obscure  the  light  of 
day  during  (as  in  this  case,  from  the  sixth  to  the 


EBAL  AND  GER'IZIM 


271 


o'clock  P.M.)  several  hours.  If  this  is  the  fact, 
then  the  record  is  consistent  with  natural  pheno- 
mena, and  the  darkness  which  sceptics  have 
pleaded  against  speaks  actually  in  favour  of  the 
credibility  of  the  Gospel.  Now  it  is  well  known 
to  naturalists  that  such  obscurations  are  by  no 
means  uncommon. 

An  earthquake  devastated  Judsea  some  years 
(31)  before  the  birth  of  our  Lord,  at  the  time  of 
ihe  battle  of  Actium,  which  Josephus  reports  was 
such  '  as  had  not  happened  at  any  other  time, 
which  brought  great  destruction  upon  the  cattle 
in  that  country.  About  ten  thousand  men  also 
perished  by  the  fall  of  houses.'  Jerome  writes 
of  an  earthquake  which,  in  the  time  of  his  child- 
hood (about  A.D.  315).  destroyed  Eabbath  Moab. 
The  writers  of  the  middle  ages  also  speak  of 
earthquakes  in  Palestine,  stating  that  they  were 
not  only  formidable,  but  frequent.  In  1834  an 
earthquake  shook  Jerusalem,  and  injured  the 
chapel  of  the  nativity  at  Bethlehem.  As  late  as 
the  year  183.'j  (Jan.  1)  Jerusalem  and  its  vicinity 
were  visited  by  severe  shocks  of  earthquake,  yet 
the  city  remains  without  serious  injury  from  these 
subterranean  causes. 

EAST.  This  word,  which  is  used  by  English 
writers  in  only  two  senses,  viz.  to  denote  either 
the  quarter  of  the  heavens  where  the  sun  rises, 
or  the  regions  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  world, 
has  frequently  three  senses  in  the  Authorized 
Version  of  the  Bible.  Thus,  it  is  sometimes  used 
to  mean  the  sun-rising  (Ps.  ciii.  12),  '  as  far  as 
the  east  is  from  the  west;'  and  very  freqiieiitly  it 
corresponds  to  kedem,  the  name  given  by  the 
ancient  Hebrews  to  a  certain  region,  without  any 
regard  to  its  relation  to  the  eastern  part  of  the 
heavens,  con)prehending  not  only  Arabia  Deserta 
and  the  lands  of  Moab  and  Ammon,  which  really 
lay  to  the  east  of  Palestine,  but  also  Armenia, 
Assyria,  Mesopotamia,  Babylonia,  and  Chalda-a, 
which  were  situated  rather  to  the  north  than  the 
east  of  Judaea.  Its  geographical  boundaries  in- 
clude Syria,  the  countries  beyond  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates,  the  shores  of  the  Indian  ocean  and  of 
the  Arabian  gulf.  The  name  given  to  this  entire 
region  by  the  Hebrews  was  the  land  of  Kedem  or 
East,  and  its  miscellaneous  population  were 
called  by  them  Sons  of  the  East,  or  Orientals.  It 
seems  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  region  were 
distinguished  for  their  proficiency  in  the  arts  and 
sciences  (comp.  1  Kings  i.  4,  30),  and  were  ad- 
dicted in  the  time  of  Isaiah  to  superstition  (Isa. 
xxvi.).  The  wise  men,  who  came  from  the  East 
to  Jerusalem  at  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  no  doubt 
belonged  to  this  tract  of  country,  '  saying.  We 
have  seen  his  star  in  the  East.'  Campbell  re- 
marks that '  to  see  either  star  or  meteor  in  the 
east,'  means,  in  English,  to  see  it  in  the  East- 
quarter  of  the  heavens,  or  looking  eastward.  But 
this  cannot  be  the  Evangelist's  meaning.  The 
meaning  manifestly  is,  that  when  the  magians 
themselves  were  in  the  East,  they  saw  the  star. 
So  far  were  they  from  seeing  the  star  in  the  East, 
according  to  the  English  acceptation  of  the  phrase, 
that  they  must  have  seen  it  in  the  West,  as  they 
were  by  its  guidance  brought  out  of  the  East 
country  westwards  to  Jerusalem. 
EAST  WIND.  [Wind.] 
E'BAL  and  GER'IZIM,  two  mountains  of 
Samaria,  forming  the  opposite  sides  of  the  valley 


liinth  hour,  that  is,  from  12  o'clock  at  noon  to  3    which  contained  the  ancient  town  of  Shechcm, 


272 


EBONY 


EBONY 


the  present  Nabulus.  From  this  connection  it  is 
best  to  notice  them  together.  The  valley  -which 
these  mountains  enclose  is  about  200  or  300  paces 
wide,  by  above  3  miles  in  length ;  and  Mount 
Ebal  rises  on  the  right  hand  and  Gerizim  on  the 
left  hand  of  the  valley  (which  extends  west- 
north-west)  as  a  person  approaches  Shechem  from 
Jerusalem.  It  was  on  Mount  Ebal  that  God 
commanded  to  be  reared  up  an  altar,  and  a  pillar 
inscribed  with  the  law ;  and  the  tribes  were  to  be 
assembled,  half  on  Ebal  and  half  on  Gerizim,  to 
hear  the  fearful  maledictions  pronounced  by  the 
Levites  upon  all  who  should  violate  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  sacred  code,  and  the  blessings  pro- 
mised to  those  who  should  observe  them.  The 
tribes  which  responded  with  simultaneous '  Amens' 
to  the  curses  were  to  be  stationed  on  Mount  Ebal, 
and  those  who  answered  to  the  blessings,  on 
Mount  Gerizim.  This  grand  ceremony — per- 
haps the  most  grand  in  the  history  of  nations — 
could  not  have  found  a  more  fitting  scene ;  and 
it  was  duly  performed  by  Joshua  as  soon  as  he 
gained  possession  of  the  Promised  Land  (Dent, 
xxvii.;  Josh.  viii.  30-35).  Dr.  Eobinson  {Bib. 
Researches,  iii.  96)  says—'  Mounts  Gerizim  and 
Ebal  rise  in  steep,  rocky  precipices,  immediately 
from  the  valley  on  each  side,  apparently  some 
800  feet  in  height.  The  sides  of  both  these  moun- 
tains as  here  seen  (i.  e.  from  Nabulus)  were,  to 
our  eyes,  equally  naked  and  sterile,  although 
some  travellers  have  chosen  to  describe  Gerizim 
as  fertile,  and  confine  the  sterility  to  Ebal.  The 
only  exception  in  favour  of  the  former,  as  far  as 
we  could  perceive,  is  a  small  ravine  coming- 
down  opposite  to  the  west  end  of  the  town,  which 
indeed  is  full  of  fountains  and  trees ;  in  other 
respects  both  mountains,  as  here  seen,  are  deso- 
late, except  that  a  few  olive-trees  are  scattered 
upon  them.  The  side  of  the  northern  mountain, 
Ebal,  along  the  foot,  is  full  of  ancient  excavated 
sepulchres.  The  southern  mountain  is  now  called 
by  the  inhabitants  Jebel-et-Tur,  though  the  name 
Gerizim  is  known,  at  least,  to  the  Samaritans. 
The  modern  appellation  of  Ebal  we  did  not 
learn.' 

EBEN-E'ZEL  {stove  of  departure),  an  old 
stone  of  testimonial,  mentioned  in  1  Sam.  xx.  19. 
The  circumstance  which  it  commemorated  is  not 
known. 

EBEN-E'ZER  {Hone  of  help),  the  name  given 
to  a  stone  which  Samuel  set  up  between  Mizpeh 
and  Shen,  in  witness  of  the  divine  assistance 
sbtained  against  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  vii.  12). 

EBONY  occurs  only  in  one  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture, where  the  prophet  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  15),  refer- 
ring to  the  commerce  of  Tyre,  says,  '  The  men  of 
Dedan  were  thy  merchants ;  many  isles  were  the 
merchandise  of  thine  hand:  they  brought  thee 
for  a  present  horns  of  ivory  and  ebony.'' 

Ebony  wood  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  an- 
cients, and  employed  by  them  for  a  variety  of 
purposes.  It  is  very  appropriately  placed  in 
juxtaposition  with  ivory,  because  both  were 
obtained  from  the  same  countries — Ethiopia  and 
India ;  and,  among  the  comparatively  few  arti- 
cles of  ancient  commerce,  must,  from  this  cause, 
always  have  been  associated  together,  while  their 
contrast  of  colour  and  joint  employment  in  inlaid 
work,  would  contribute  as  additional  reasons  for 
their  being  adduced  as  articles  characteristic  of 
a  distinct  commerce. 


161.    [Diospyros  Ebenum.] 


But  it  is  not  in  Ezekiel  only  that  ebony  and 
ivorj'  are  mentioned  together.  For  Diodorus,  as 
quoted  by  Bochart,  tells  us  that  an  ancient  king 
of  Egypt  imposed  on  the  Ethiopians  the  payment 
of  a  tribute  of  ebony,  gold,  and  elephants'  teeth. 
So  Herodotus  (iii.  97),  as  translated  by  Bochart, 
says,  '  iEthiopes  Persis  pro  triennali  tributo  ve- 
hunt  duos  choenices  auri  apyri  {id  est,  ignem 
nondum  cxpei'ti),  et  ducentas  ebeni  phalangas,  et 
magnos  elephanti  dentes  viginti.'  Pliny,  reftr- 
ring  to  this  passage,  remarks,  '  But  Herodotus 
assigneth  it  rather  to  Ethiopia,  and  saith,  that 
every  three  years  the  Ethiopians  were  wont  to 
pay,  by  way  of  tribute,  unto  the  kings  of  Persia, 
100  billets  of  the  timber  of  that  tree  (that  is 
Ebene),  together  with  gold  and  yvorie;'  and, 
again,  '  From  Syene  (which  confineth  and 
boundeth  the  lands  of  our  empire  and  dominion") 
as  farre  as  to  the  island  Meroe,  for  the  space  of 
990  miles,  there  is  little  ebene  found:  and  that 
in  all  those  parts  betweene  there  be  few  other 
trees  to  be  found  but  date-trees,  which  peradven  ■ 
ture  may  be  a  cause  that  Ebene  was  counted  a 
rich  tribute,  and  deserved  the  third  place,  after 
gold  and  ivorie '  (Holland's  Pliny,  xii.  4).  This 
however  is  a  mistake,  for  several  of  the  ancients 
mention  both  Indian  and  Ethiopian  ebony. 

If  we  look  to  the  modern  history  of  ebony,  we 
shall  find  that  it  is  still  derived  from  more  than 
one  source.  Thus,  Mr.  Holtzappfel,  in  his  recent 
work  on  Turning,  describes  three  kinds  of  ebony. 
1.  One  from  the  Mauritius,  in  round  sticks  like 
scaffold  poles,  seldom  exceeding  fourteen  inches 
in  diameter,  the  blackest  and  finest  in  the  grain, 
the  hardest  and  most  beautiful.  2.  The  East 
Indian,  which  is  grown  in  Ceylon  and  the  Penin- 
sula of  India,  and  exported  from  Madras  and 
Bombay  in  logs  from  six  to  twenty,  and  some- 
times even  twenty-eight  inches  in  diameter,  and 
also  in  planks.  This  is  less  wasteful,  but  of  an 
inferior  grain  and  colour  to  the  above.  3.  The 
African,  shipped  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  in 
billets,  the  general  size  of  which  is  from  three  to 
six  feet  long,  three  to  six  inches  broad,  and  two 


ECCLESIASTES 


ECCLESIASTES 


273 


to  four  inches  thick.  This  is  the  least  wasteful, 
as  all  the  refuse  is  left  behind ;  but  it  is  the  most 
porous,  and  the  ■worst  in  point  of  colour.  No 
Abyssinian  ebony  is  at  present  imported  :  this, 
however,  is  more  likely  to  be  owing  to  the  dif- 
ferent routes  which  commerce  has  taken,  but 
which  is  again  returning  to  its  ancient  channels, 
than  to  the  want  of  ebony  in  the  ancient  Ethiopia. 
From  the  nature  of  tlie  climate,  and  the  existence 
of  forests  in  which  the  elephant  abounds,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  well  suited  to  the 
group  of  plants  which  have  been  found  to  yield 
the  ebony  of  Mauritius,  Ceylon,  and  India, 
namely,  the  genus  Diospyros  of  botanists. 

E'BER.     [Heber.] 

ECBAT'ANA.     [Achmetha.] 

ECCLESIASTES.  This  book  has  obtained  its 
Hebrew  name  Koheleth  from  the  designation  of 
the  principal  person  mentioned  in  it,  who  is  thus 
styled  in  several  passages.  Some  have  supposed 
that  Koheleth  means  a  body  or  academy  of  sages, 
whose  dicta  are  contained  in  this  book  ;  but  this 
opinion  is  contradicted  by  the  heading  of  the  book 
itself,  which  thus  commences  :  Words  of  Koheleth, 
the  son  of  David,  the  king  in  Jerusalem.  Hence  it 
appears  that  Koheleth  is  intended  for  an  epithet 
of  Solomon.  Various  interpretations  have  been 
given  of  its  meaning,  but  in  all  probability  it 
means  assembler,  preacher,  or  teacher. 

The  circumstance  that  Solomon  is  introduced 
as  the  speaker  in  this  book  has  induced  most  of 
the  ancient  interpi-eters  to  consider  him  as  its 
author.  Others,  however,  are  of  opinion  thai 
words  are  used  in  it  which  show  that  it  must  have 
been  written  at  a  later  period  than  the  time  of 
Solomon, 

The  diversity  of  sentiment  as  to  the  authorship 
has  of  course  led  also  to  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  the  date  of  the  book.  But  one  thing  is  clear, — 
that  whoever  may  have  been  the  author,  the  book 
cannot  have  been  written  after  the  times  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah,  under  whom  the  canon  was  com- 
pleted. 

Those  who  maintain  that  Ecclesiastes  was  not 
written  by  Solomon  are  of  opinion  that  it  was  not 
composed  during  the  latter  period  of  the  first,  but 
rather  during  the  time  of  the  second  temple,  since 
idolatry  does  not  occur  amongst  the  deviations 
combated  by  the  author.  The  whole  book  seems 
to  presuppose  that  the  people  were  externally 
devoted  to  the  Lord.  The  admonitions  of  the 
author  to  a  serene  enjoyment  of  life,  and  against 
murmuring;  exhortations  to  be  contented  with 
Divine  Providence,  and  the  attacks  upon  a  selfish 
righteousness  of  works,  may  best  be  explained  by 
supposing  the  author  to  have  lived  in  a  period 
like  that  of  Malachi,  in  which  there  prevailed 
a  Pharisaical  self-righteousness,  and  melan- 
choly murmurings  because  God  would  not  recog- 
nise the  alleged  rights  which  they  produced 
before  him,  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
claims  they  made  upon  him. 

The  author  places  the  fundamental  idea  of  the 
nothingness  of  all  earthly  things  both  at  the  be- 
ginning and  at  the  end  of  his  book,  and  during 
its  coui-se  repeatedly  returns  to  the  same.  This 
has  induced  many  interpreters  to  suppose  that 
the  purpose  of  the  author  was  to  demonstrate  this 
one  idea ;  an  opinion  which,  down  to  the  most 
recent  times,  has  been  unfavourable  to  the  true 
interpretation  of  the  book,  because  every  thing, 


however  reluctant,  has  been  forced  into  an  ima- 
ginary connection.  The  following  is  the  correct 
view.  The  object  of  the  author  is  not  to  teach 
an  especial  tendency  of  wisdom,  but  wisdom  in 
general.  Consequently  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
if  the  connection  suddenly  ceases,  and  a  new  sub- 
ject commences.  That  the  idea  of  the  nothing- 
ness of  earthly  matters  should  strongly  predomi- 
nate may  easily  be  explained,  since  according  to 
our  author  it  forms  a  very  important  part  of  wis- 
dom. He  never,  however,  intended  to  confine 
himself  to  this  one  idea,  although  he  likes  fre- 
quently to  point  it  out  in  passing,  even  when  he 
is  considering  a  matter  from  another  point  of 
view.  '  The  plan  of  this  book,'  says  Herder,  '  has 
been  the  subject  of  much  investigation.  It  is  best 
to  consider  this  plan  as  free  as  possible,  and  to 
employ  its  separate  parts  for  its  support.  The 
commencement  and  the  conclusion  show  the  unity 
of  the  whole.  The  greater  part  consists  of  isolated 
observations  concerning  the  course  of  the  world, 
and  the  experience  of  his  life.  These  are  con- 
nected with  general  sentences  ;  and,  finally,  a 
very  simple  conclusion  is  deduced  from  the 
whole.  It  seems  to  me  that  a,  more  artificial 
texture  ought  not  to  be  sought  for.' 

With  regard  to  the  contents  and  objects  of  the 
book,  we  have  to  consider  only  the  fundamental 
idea,  omitting  isolated  sentences  of  wisdom,  and 
rules  for  the  conduct  of  life.  Nobody  can  enter- 
tain any  doubt  concerning  this  fundamental  idea. 
It  is  contained  in  the  sentence  :  '  Vanity  of 
vanities  ;  all  is  vanity.'  It  is,  however,  very  im- 
portant that  this  should  be  rightly  understood. 
The  question  is.  What  is  that  all  which  is  vanity  ? 
The  author  does  not  mean  all  in  genera],  but 
only  ALL  of  a  certain  genus.  He  himself  explains 
this,  by  defining  this  all  in  numerous  passages ; 
as,  'all  that  is  under  the  sun;'  that  is,  earthly 
things  in  their  separation  from  the  heavenly. 
To  this  leads  also  the  enumeration  of  the  all,  in 
which  occur  only  tliose  things  which  belong  to 
the  earth — riches,  sensual  pleasure,  honour,  sphere 
of  activity,  human  wisdom  apart  from  God,  self- 
righteousness.  From  many  passages  it  appears 
that  the  author  was  far  from  comprehending  the 
fear  of  God  and  active  obedience  to  his  laws 
among  that  all  which  was  vanity.  This  appears 
most  strikingly  from  the  conclusion,  which,  as 
such,  is  of  the  highest  importance,  and  furnishes 
the  undoubted  measure  for  the  correctness  of  the 
whole  interpretation.  '  Let  us  hear  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  whole  matter  :  Fear  God  and  keep 
his  commandments :  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of 
man  [t.  e.  in  this  consists  all  that  is  incumbent 
upon  him ;  and  his  whole  salvation  depends  upon 
it].  For  God  shall  bring  every  work  into  judg- 
ment, with  every  secret  thing,  whether  good,  or 
whether  evil.'  (Compare  ch.  xii,  1 :  '  Eemeni- 
ber  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth ;' 
ch.  V.  .5-7,  'Fear  thou  God;'  ch.  vii.  18,  and 
many  other  passages.)  A  deep  religious  sense 
pervades  the  whole  book.  In  reference  to  the 
prevailing  idea,  Ewald  strikingly  remarks,  p.  18i, 
'  There  blows  throughout  this  book  a  piercing 
chill  against  every  earthly  aim,  and  every  vain 
endeavour ;  a  contempt  which  changes  into  a 
bitter  sneer  against  every  thing  which  in  the 
usual  proceedings  of  men  is  onesided  and  per- 
verse ;  an  indefatigable  penetration  in  the  dis- 
covery of  all  human  vanities  and  fooleries.     In 


274 


EGLON 


no  earlier  -writing  has  all  cause  of  pride  and  vain 
imagination  so  decidedly  and  so  comprehensively 
been  taken  from  man ;  and  no  book  is  pervaded 
by  such  an  outcry  of  noble  indignation  against 
all  that  is  vain  in  this  world.' 

From  the  contents  of  the  book  results  its  ob- 
ject. The  author  had  received  the  mission  to 
treat  professedly  and  in  a  concentrated  manner 
the  highly  important  sentence,  '  Vanity  of  vani- 
ties ;  all  is  vanity,'  which  pervades  the  whole  of 
Holy  Writ ;  but  he  is  not  content  with  the  mere 
theoretical  demonstration,  so  as  to  leave  to  another 
teacher  its  practical  application,  but  places  before 
us  these  practical  results  themselves:  What  is 
incumbent  upon  man,  since  every  thing  else  is 
nought  ?  What  real  good  remains  for  us,  after 
the  appearance  in  every  seeming  good  has  been 
destroyed  ?  The  answer  is,  Man  shall  not  gain  by 
cunning  and  grasping;  shall  not  consume  himself 
in  vain  meditations,  nor  in  a  hurried  activity ; 
he  shall  not  murmur  about  the  loss  of  that  which 
is  naught ;  he  shall  not  by  means  of  a  self-made 
righteousness  constrain  God  to  grant  him  salva- 
tion; but  he  shall  instead  fear  God  (ch.  xii.  13; 
V.  6,  7),  and  be  mindful  of  his  Creator  (ch.  xii. 
1);  he  shall  do  good  as  much  as  he  is  able  (ch. 
iii.  12);  and  in  other  passages.  And  all  this,  as 
it  is  constantly  inculcated  by  the  author,  with  a 
contented  and  grateful  heart,  freed  from  care  and 
avarice  ;  living  for  the  present  moment,  joyfully 
taking  from  the  hand  of  the  Lord  what  he  oifers 
in  a  friendly  manner.  Man  shall  not  be  of  a 
sorrowful  countenance,  but  in  quiet  serenity  enjoy 
the  gifts  of  God.  What  would  avail  him  all  his 
cares  and  all  his  avarice  ?  By  them  he  cannot 
turn  any  thing  aside  from  him,  or  obtain  any 
thing,  since  every  thing  happens  as  it  shall  happen. 
ECCLESIAS'TICUS.  [Wisdom  of  Sirach.] 
ECDIP'PA.  [AcHziB] 
E'UEN,  [Paradise.] 
E'DOM.  [Esau.] 
E'DOMITES.  [1dum.i:a.] 
ED'REI,  one  of  the  metropolitan  towns  (Ash- 
taroth  being  the  other)  of  the  kingdom  of  Bashan, 
beyond  the  Jordan.  It  was  here  that  Og,  the 
gigantic  king  of  Bashan,  was  defeated  by  the 
Israelites,  and  lost  his  kingdom  (Num.  xxi.  33-35 : 
Deut.  i.  4;  iii.  1-3).  Edrei  afterwards  belonged 
'o  eastern  Manasseh  (Josh.  xiii.  81).  It  was  the 
seat  of  a  bishop  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity. 
The  place  now  bears  the  name  of  Draa,  and  has 
been  visited  in  the  present  century  by  most  of  the 
travellers  who  have  explored  the  country  beyond 
the  Jordan.  It  is  situated  in  a  deep  valley,  two 
hours  south-east  from  Mezareib;  and  the  ruins 
cover  an  extent  of  about  two  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence, the  principal  being  an  immense  rectangular 
building,  with  a  double  covered  colonnade  all 
around,  and  a  cistern  in  the  middle.  This  seems 
to  have  been  originally  a  Christian  church,  and 
afterwards  a  mosque.  Near  the  town,  in  the  hol- 
low of  the  mountains,  is  a  large  reservoir  cased 
■with  stone,  near  which  are  the  ruins  of  a  large 
building,  with  a  cupola  of  light  materials. 

EG'LON,  a  king  of  Moab,  who,  assisted  by 
the  Ammonites  and  Amalekites,  subdued  the 
Israelites  beyond  the  Jordan,  and  the  southern 
tribes  on  this  side  the  river,  and  made  Jericho  the 
seat,  or  one  of  the  seats,  of  his  government.  This 
subjection  to  a  power  always  present  must  have 
been  more  galling  to  the  Israelites  than  any  they 


EGYPT 

had  previously  suffered.  It  lasted  eighteen  years, 
when  (B.C.  1428)  they  were  delivered,  through 
the  instrumentality  of  Ehud,  who  slew  the  Moab- 
itish  king  (Judg.  iii.  12-33). 

E'GYPT,  the  land  of  Ham,  a  son  of  Noah, 
from  whom  was  derived  the  ancient  native  appel- 
lation of  the  country,  Chemi.  From  Mizraim, 
the  second  son  of  Ham,  comes  the  ordinary 
Biblical  name,  Mizraim,  a  word  which  properly 
denotes  Lower  Egypt,  as  being  that  part  of  the 
country  with  which  the  Israelites  were  nearest 
and  best,  if  not  (in  the  earlier  periods  of  their 
history)  solely,  acquainted.  This  designation, 
however,  is  sometimes  used  for  Egypt  indis- 
criminately, and  was  by  the  later  Arabs  extended 
to  the  entire  country. 

Egypt  is  the  land  of  the  Nile,  the  country 
through  which  that  river  flows  from  the  Island 
of  Philse,  situated  just  above  the  Cataracts  of 
Syeue,  in  lat.  24°  l'  36",  to  Damietta,  in  31°  35' 
N.,  where  its  principal  stream  pours  itself  into  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  On  the  east  it  is  bounded  by 
Palestine,  Idumcea,  Arabia  Petrsea,  and  the  Ara- 
bian Gulf.  On  the  west,  the  moving  sands  of 
the  wide  Libyan  desert  obliterate  the  traces  of  all 
political  or  physical  limits.  Inhabited  Egypt, 
however,  is  restricted  to  the  valley  of  the  Nile, 
which,  having  a  breadth  of  from  two  to  three 
miles,  is  enclosed  on  both  sides  by  a  range  of 
hills :  the  chain  on  the  eastern  side  disappears  at 
Mocattam  ;  that  on  the  west  extends  to  the  sea. 
In  lat.  30°  10',  the  Nile  divides  into  two  principal 
streams,  which,  in  conjunction  with  a  third  that 
springs  somewhat  higlier  up,  forms  the  Delta,  to 
called  from  its  resemblance  to  the  Greek  letter  A. 
These  mountains  are  interesting,  if  for  no  other 
reason  than  that  they  served  as  the  bed  whence  j 
the  materials  were  obtained  out  of  which  were  I 
constructed  the  wonderful  buildings  for  which 
Egypt  is  justly  distinguished.  The  superficial 
extent  of  Egypt  has  been  estimated  at  about 
11,000  square  miles.  The  soil,  which  is  produc- 
tive, consists  almost  exclusively  of  mud  brought 
down  and  deposited  by  the  river,  whose  waters 
are  indispensable  every  year  for  the  purposes  of 
agriculture  to  such  an  extent  that  the  limits  of 
their  flow  are  the  limits  of  vegetation.  The 
Delta  owes  its  very  existence  to  the  deposits  of 
the  Nile,  and  but  for  the  waters  of  this  stream, 
carried  over  its  surface  by  natural  or  artificial 
means,  would  soon  be  a  desert :  it  was  therefore 
with  propriety,  as  indeed  was  the  entire  country, 
termed  '  the  gift  of  the  Nile.'  The  agency  of  the 
stream  is  the  more  necessary  because  rain  very 
seldom  falls  in  Lower  Egypt.  The  land,  placed 
as  it  is  on  the  confines  of  Africa  and  Asia,  yet  so 
adjacent  and  accessible  to  Europe,  in  itself  a  gar- 
den and  a  store-house,  may  well  have  held  an 
important  position  in  the  ancient  world,  and  can 
hardly  fail,  unless  political  influences  are  very 
adverse,  to  rise  to  a  commanding  attitude  in 
modern  times.  As  to  the  number  of  its  inhabiti 
ants,  nothing  very  definite  is  known.  Its  fertility 
would  doubtless  give  birth  to,  and  support,  a 
teeming  population.  In  very  remote  times  as 
many  as  8,000,000  of  souls  are  said  to  have  lived 
on  its  soil.  In  the  days  of  Diodcrus  Siculus  they 
were  estimated  at  3,000,000.  Volney  made  the 
number  2,300,000.  "The  present  government  esti- 
mate is  3,200,000,  which  seems  to  be  somewhat 
beyond  the  fact. 


EGYPT 


EGYPT 


275 


Egypt  naturally  divides  itself  into  two  great 
sections  at  the  apex  of  the  Delta,  the  country 
lying  south  of  that  point  being  designaVd  Upper 
Egypt,  that  north  of  it  Lower  Egypt.  Lnder  the 
Ptolemies,  and  probably  at  a  very  early  period,  the 
■whole  country  was  divided  into  thirty-six  cantons 
or  provinces,  which  division  was  maintained  till 
the  invasion  of  the  Saracens.  It  is  now  com- 
posed of  24  departments,  which,  according  to  the 
French  system  of  geographical  arrangement,  are 
subdivided  into  arrondissements  and  cantons. 

The  Nile  is  never  mentioned  by  name  in  our 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament ;  it  is  always 
called  the  river  of  Egypt,  although  the  word  Nile 
occurs  in  the  original  (Isa.  xxvii.  12;  Josh.  xv. 
4  ;  2  Kings  xxiv.  7). 

Till  within  a  few  years  the  sources  of  the  Nile 
and  the  termination  of  the  Niger  were  hid  iu 
alike  mysterious  obscurity.  The  latter  has  been 
discovered,  but  the  former,  notwithstanding  many 
strenuous  eflforts  and  some  pretence,  remain  to 
reward  the  enterprise  of  some  more  fortunate  tra- 
veller. The  various  branches  of  the  Nile  have 
their  rise  in  the  highlands  north  of  the  equator. 
The  three  principal  branches  of  the  Nile  are — 1, 
the  Bahr  el  Abiad,  or  White  Eiver,  to  the  west, 
which  is  now  known  to  be  the  largest  and 
longest ;  2,  the  Bahr  el  Azrek,  or  Blue  River,  in 
the  centre ;  3,  the  Tacazze',  or  Abara,  which  is 
the  eastern  branch.  The  Nile,  from  its  confluence 
with  the  Tacazze  (17"  45'  north  lat.)  down  to  its 
entrance  into  the  Mediterranean  (1200  geogra- 
phical miles),  receives  no  permanent  streams : 
but  in  the  rainy  season  it  receives  wadys,  or  tor- 
rents, from  the  mountains.  The  annual  overflow 
of  the  river,  on  which  the  ancients  wrote  so  ob- 
scurely, is  known  to  arise  from  the  periodical 
rains  which  fall  within  the  tropics.  The  rich 
alluvial  deposits  which  the  Nile  spreads  over 
Nubia  and  Egypt  are  mainly  derived  through  the 
Blue  River  ;  the  White  River,  or  longest  stream, 
bringing  nothing  of  the  kind.  Owing  to  the 
yearly  deposit  of  alluvial  matter,  both  the  bed  of 
the  Nile  and  the  land  of  Egypt  are  being  gra- 
dually raised.  The  river  proceeds  in  its  current 
uniformly  and  quietly  at  the  rate  of  two  and  a 
half  or  three  miles  an  hour,  always  deep  enough 
for  navigation.  Its  water  is  usually  blue,  but  it 
becomes  of  a  deep  brick-red  during  the  period  of 
its  overflow.  It  is  salubrious  when  drunk,  me- 
riting the  encomiums  which  it  has  so  abundantly 
received.  On  the  river  the  land  is  wholly  de- 
pendent. If  the  Nile  does  not  rise  a  sufficient 
height,  sterility  and  dearth,  if  not  famine,  ensue. 
An  elevation  of  sixteen  cubits  is  essential  to  secure 
the  prosperity  of  the  country.  Such,  however,  is 
the  regularity  of  nature,  and  such  the  faithfulness 
of  God,  that  for  thousands  of  years,  with  but  few 
and  partial  exceptions,  these  inundations  have  in 
essential  particulars  been  the  same.  The  waters 
of  the  stream  are  conveyed  over  the  surface  of 
the  country  by  canals  when  natural  channels  fail. 
During  the  overflow  the  land  is  naturally  inun- 
dated, and  has  the  appearance  of  a  sea  dotted 
with  islands.  Wherever  the  waters  reach,  abun- 
dance springs  forth.  The  cultivator  has  scarcely 
more  to  do  than  to  scatter  the  seed.  No  wonder 
that  a  river  whose  waters  are  so  grateful,  salu- 
brious, and  beneficial,  should  in  days  of  ignorance 
have  been  regarded  as  an  object  of  worship,  and 
that  it  is  still  revered  and  beloved. 


Well  may  Egypt  have  been  visited  as  a  granary 
by  the  needy  iu  ancient  times  (Gen.  xii.  10 ; 
Exod.  xvi,  3).  Besides  corn,  the  country  pro- 
duced onions,  garlic,  beans,  pumpkins,  cucumbers, 
melons,  flax,  cotton,  and  wine.  The  acacia,  syca- 
more, palm,  and  fig-tree  adorned  the  land ;  but 
there  was  a  want  of  timber.-  The  Nile  produced 
the  useful  papyrus,  and  abounded  iu  fish.  On  its 
banks  lurked  the  crocodile  and  hippopotamus. 
The  Egyptian  oxen  were  celebrated  in  the  ancient 
world.  Horses  abounded  (1  Kings  x.  28) ;  hence 
the  use  of  war-chariots  in  fight  (Isa.  xxxi.  1  ; 
Diod.  Sic.  i.  45),  and  the  celebrity  of  Egyptian 
charioteers  (Jer.  xlvi.  4;  Ezek.  xvii.  l.'ij.  The 
land  was  not  destitute  of  mineral  treasures.  Gold 
mines  were  wrought  in  Upper  Egypt. 

The  climate  is  very  regular  and  exceedingly 
hot ;  the  atmosphere  clear  and  shining ;  a  shade 
is  not  easily  found.  Though  rain  falls  even  in 
the  winter  months  very  rarely,  it  is  not  altogether 
wanting,  as  was  once  believed.  Thunder  and 
lightning  are  still  more  uufrequent,  and  are  so 
completely  divested  of  their  terrific  qualities  that 
the  Egyptians  never  associate  with  them  the  idea 
of  destructive  force.  Showers  of  hail  descending 
from  the  hills  of  Syria  are  sometimes  known  to 
reach  the  confines  of  Egypt :  the  formation  of  ice 
is  very  uncommon.  Dew  is  produced  in  great 
abundance.  The  wind  blows  from  the  north  from 
May  to  September,  when  it  veers  round  to  the 
east,  assumes  a  southerly  direction,  and  fluctuates 
till  the  close  of  April.  The  southerly  vernal 
winds,  traversing  the  arid  sands  of  Africa,  are 
most  changeable  as  well  as  most  unhealthy :  they 
form  the  simoom  or  samiel,and  have  proved  fatal 
to  caravans  and  even  to  armies.  Musquitos, 
locusts,  frogs,  together  with  the  plague,  the  small 
pox,  and  leprosy,  are  the  great  evils  of  the 
country. 


162.     1.  Egypto-Ethiopian  (the  Tirhakah  of  Scripture) ; 
2,  4.  Ethiopian  ;  3.  Egyptian. 

The  most  recent  inquiries  have  shown  that  the 
extreme  limit  at  Phila;  was  only  of  a  political 
nature ;  for  the  natives  of  the  country  below  it 
were  of  the  same  race  as  those  who  lived  above 
that  spot — a  tribe  which  passed  down  into  the 
fertile  valley  of  the  Nile  from  its  origmal  abode 
T  2 


276 


EGYPT 


in  the  south.  These  Ethiopians  and  the  Egyp- 
tians -were  not  negroes,  but  a  branch  of  the  great 
Caucasian  family.  Their  colour — at  least  the 
colour  of  the  higher  castes — was  brown  ;  their 
frame  slender,  but  of  great  strength.  The  women 
were  very  fruitful. 

The  mode  of  life  of  the  Egyptians  was  influ- 
enced by  their  locality:  those  who  dwelt  on  high 
lands  on  the  east,  as  well  as  those  who  dwelt  on 
the  marshy  fiat  country  in  the  Delta,  were  shep- 
herds, as  their  land  did  not  admit  cultivation. 
The  people  who  lived  along  the  Nile  became 
fishermen  and  sailors.  The  cultivated  part  of  the 
natives  who  lived  on  the  plains  and  over  the  surface 
of  the  country  diligently  and  most  successfully 
practised  all  the  arts  of  life,  and  have  left  ever- 
during  memorials  of  their  proficiency  and  skill. 

On  this  natural  diversity  of  pursuits,  as  well  as 
on  a  diversity  of  blood,  was  founded  the  institu- 
tion of  castes,  which  Egypt  had  in  common  with 
India,  and  which  pervaded  the  entire  life  of  the 
nation.  These,  according  to  Herodotus,  were 
seven  in  number  :  the  priestly  caste  was  the  most 
honoured  and  influential :  it  had  in  every  large 
city  a  temple  dedicated  to  the  deity  of  the  place, 
together  with  a  high-priest,  who  stood  next  to  the 
king  and  restricted  his  power.  The  priesthood 
possessed  the  finest  portions  of  the  country :  they 
were  the  judges,  physicians,  astrologers,  archi- 
tects,— in  a  word,  they  united  in  themselves  all 
the  highest  culture  and  most  distinguished  oflSces 
of  the  land,  while  with  them  alone  lay  tradition, 
literature,  and  the  sacred  writings.  This  class 
exerted  the  most  decided  and  extensive  influence 
on  the  culture  not  only  of  their  own  country,  but 
of  the  world  ;  for  during  the  brightest  periods  of 
Greci'an  history  the  love  of  knowledge  carried 
into  Egypt  men  who  have  done  much  to  form  the 
character  of  after-ages,  such  as  Solon,  Pytha- 
goras, Archytas,  Thales,  Herodotus,  Plato,  and 
others  (comp.  Gen.  xli.  8 ;  Exod.  vii.  1 1  :  viii. 
ll;xiii.  7). 

The  peculiarities  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  of 
the  lower  castes  seem  to  have  survived  best,  and 
to  be  represented,  at  least  in  some  particulars,  by 
the  Fellahs  of  the  present  day.  These  Fellahs 
discharge  all  the  duties  of  tilling  the  country  and 
gathering  its  rich  abundance :  their  attachment  to 
it  is  very  strong,  and  their  love  to  the  Nile 
almost  a  passion.  They  are  a  quiet,  contented, 
submissive  race,  always  living,  through  an  unjust 
government,  on  the  edge  of  starvation,  yet  always 
happy,  with  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  no  care 
for,  no  interest  in,  political  change. 

The  only  other  tribe  we  have  room  to  notice  is 
that  of  the  Copts,  equally  with  the  preceding,  in- 
digenous. They  are  Christians  by  hereditary 
transmission,  and  have  suffered  centuries  of  cruel 
persecutions  and  humiliations,  though  now  they 
seem  to  be  rising  in  importance,  and  promise  to 
fill  an  important  page  in  the  future  history  of 
Egypt.  In  character  they  are  amiable,  pacific, 
and  intelligent,  having  of  course  the  faults  and 
vices  of  dissimulation,  falsehood,  and  meanness, 
which  slavery  never  fails  to  engender.  In  office 
they  are  the  scribes,  the  arithmeticians,  the  mea- 
surers, the  clerks — in  a  word,  the  learned  men  of 
the  country.  The  Copts  have  been  under-esti- 
mated at  150,000  souls,  divided  into  twelve  epis- 
copal districts,  the  bishops  of  which  unite  to  elect 
a  patriarch. 


EGYPT 

'The  wisdom  of  Egypt'  was  a  phrase  which, 
at  an  eariy  period,  passed  into  a  proverb,  so  high 
was  the  opinion  entertained  by  antiquity  of  the 
knowledge  and  skill  of  the  ancient  Egyptians  (1 
Kings  iv.  .30;  Herod,  ii.  160;  Joseph.  Antiq. 
viii.  25  ;  Acts  vii.  22).  It  was  long  thought  that 
the  hieroglyphical  inscriptions  on  the  monumental 
remains  of  Egypt  contained  treasures  of  wisdom 
no  less  boundless  than  hidden ;  and,  indeed, 
hieroglyphics  were,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  in- 
vented by  the  priests  of  the  land,  if  not  expressly 
to  conceal  their  knowledge  from  the  profane 
vulgar,  yet  as  a  safe  receptacle  and  convenient 
storehouse  for  their  mysterious  but  invaluable 
docti-ines.  Great,  consequently,  was  the  expecta- 
tion of  the  public  when  it  was  announced  that  a 
key  had  been  discovered  which  opened  the  portal 
to  these  long-concealed  treasures.  Men  of  pro- 
found learning,  great  acuteness  of  mind,  and  dis- 
tinguished reputation,  have  engaged  and  per- 
severed in  the  inquiry;  but,  after  all,  the  con- 
clusions and  positions  which  have  been  drawn 
and  set  forth  are  only  in  a  few  cases  (compara- 
tively) definite  and  unimpeachable. 

The  difficulties  that  oppose  the  formation  of  a 
satisfactory  Egyptian  chronology  are  great  and 
numerous.  The  most  distinguished  writers  difi'er 
egregiously  in  their  statements. 

Various  efforts,  however,  have  been  made  to 
remove  difficulties,  reconcile  contradictions,  and 
harmonize  dissonances ;  but  the  success  has  been 
far  from  distinguished. 

What,  however,  we  know  to  be  definite,  and 
believe  to  be  accurate  in  its  disclosures,  and  what 
we  judge  to  be  far  more  important  in  an  historical 
relation,  is  to  be  found  in  the  paintings  and 
sculptures  with  which  the  Egyptians  left  the 
walls  of  their  tombs  and  temples  decorated  in 
forms  and  colours  which  have  not  yet  faded  from 
the  sight.  It  is  true  that  these  instances  of  real 
picture-writing  may  do  little  for  fixing  the  epoch 
of  the  accession  of  a  king  or  the  termination  of  a 
dynasty.     Yet  in  this  they  are  not  entirely  mute. 


163.     Interior  of  Pictured  Tomb. 

Among  the  innumerable  mural  sculptures  in  the 
temple  at  Karnak,  Champollion  discovered  one 
in  which  a  king,  Sheshonk  (Shishak),  is  present- 
ing captives  of  various  nations  to  his  God  as  tro- 
phies of  victory.  One  of  these,  distinguished  by 
a  long  beard  and  Jewish  physiognomy,  bears  the 
hieroglyphical  title  Youdah  Malek,  king  of 
Judah.  But  for  any  practical  purpose,  the  de- 
termination of  a  date,  or  the  identification  of  an 
event,  is  of  small  comparative  moment ;  and  far 
too  much  importance  has  been  attached  to  mere 
chronological  details.  To  learn  when  an  Egyptiaa 
or  Chinese  king  ascended  the  throne,  or  departed 
this  life,  may  gratify  the  antiquary,  or  even  re- 
ward much  learned  toil,  but  the  world  at  large 


EGYPT 


EGYPT 


has  an  interest  in  history  in  the  main,  if  not  ex- 
clusively, so  far  as  it  discloses  what  men  thought, 
felt,  did  ;  what  they  hoped,  feared,  and  achieved 
in  the  days  of  old ;  thereby  affording  to  posterity 
warnings,  encouragement,  light,  and  impulse. 
Now  for  these  highly  important  purposes  the 
most  abundant  materials  are  presented  in  Egypt, 
and  may  be  found  described  in  the  works  of 
ChampolHon,  Wilkinson,  and  others.  Let  any 
one  visit  the  Egyptian  gallery  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  he  will  be  surprised  and  delighted 
to  find  Egypt  almost  resuscitated.  The  tombs 
have  given  up  their  dead.  Buried  treasures,  over 
whose  silence  centuries  had  rolled  before  our  era 
began,  crowd  on  the  sight  and  gratify  the  mind. 
And  paintings,  too,  strike  the  eye,  which  may  not 
indeed  conform  very  exactly  to  the  laws  of  per- 
spective, but  which  lay  open,  and  set  before  the 
spectator,  the  Egyptian,  as  he  was  in  the  days  of 
his  glory  and  pride.  Indeed,  from  the  paintings 
and  sculptures  which  have  been  discovered  and 
described,  we  are  enabled  to  follow  this  most  sin- 
gular and  deeply  interesting  people  through  all 
the  classes  of  society,  through  all  the  operations 
of  science  and  husbandry,  into  the  transactions  of 
public  life,  the  details  of  house-keeping,  the 
achievements  of  war,  the  amusements  of  hunting, 
fishing,  feasting,  and  the  solemn  rites  of  a  most 
august  and  imposing  religious  ceremonial. 

Amid  the  various  profane  authors  who  have 
written  more  or  less  in  detail  on  Egypt,  the  Bible 
remains  our  best  and  fullest  authority  for  the 
early  history  of  the  country.  This  history,  it  is 
true,  is  not  presented  in  a  chronological  series  of 
events,  nor  supplied  respecting  any  period  with 
nice  exactitude  and  minute  details.  The  dis- 
closures made  by  inscriptions  on  public  build- 
ings, of  kings,  wars,  and  conquests,  may,  when 
verified  as  to  age,  and  placed  in  their  probable 
order  by  the  aid  of  learning  and  criticism,  reveal 
more  as  to  the  dynasties  and  individual  sove- 
reigns ;  but  on  such  information,  even  when  free 
from  doubt,  and  most  accurate,  little  real  value 
can  be  set;  while  the  Bible  supplies,  either  by 
express  statement  or  obvious  implication,  facts 
and  principles  which  constitute  genuine  history, 
and  go  far  to  give  the  past  all  the  value  which  it 
can  possess  for  the  men  of  these  times.  And 
what  makes  these  disclosures  the  more  valuable 
is  not  only  that  they  wear  the  character  of 
genuine  and  uncorrupted  history — free  from  the 
false,  deep,  and  unnatural  colourings  of  myth- 
ology ;  but  that  they  relate  to  the  earliest  forms 
of  civilized  life,  and  to  ages  over  which  profane 
historians  have  left  the  thickest  darkness.  Nar- 
rations and  implications,  such  as  the  Bible  affords 
in  regard  to  the  early  historj-  of  Egypt,  want  no 
corroboration ;  they  wear  in  their  naturalness, 
simplicity,  and  correspondence  with  what  would 
be  expected  in  the  ages  to  which  they  refer,  evi- 
dence that  they  represent  actual  realities,  which 
none  can  resist  who  have  studied  either  human 
nature  or  human  society.  Still  it  may  not  be 
supererogatory  to  remark  that  the  little  which 
learning  and  industry  have  succeeded  in  extract- 
ing from  the  monumental  inscriptions,  and  the 
very  great  deal  which  funereal  and  religious 
paintings  have  of  late  made  known  ;  and  indeed 
all,  from  whatever  source  gathered,  that  we 
known  of  the  country  and  its  institutions  and 
usages,  are  in  entire  harmony  with  what  the 


Scriptures  directly  or  indirectly  teach  respecting 
Egjpt.  And  it  is  certainly  a  very  great  point  to 
have  ascertained  beyond  doubt  that  the  Egypt  of 
the  Bible  is  Egypt  indeed,  not  a  fiction,  nor  an 
imposture,  nor  a  blunder— as  writers  of  the  Vol- 
taire school  would  persuade  the  world — but  a 
reality,  so  far  as  it  goes,  a  picture  copied  from 
actual  life. 

We  learn  from  the  Old  Testament  that  while 
the  Jews,  the  earliest  nation  that  has  handed 
down  to  us  the  history  of  its  rise  and  civilization, 
were  yet  a  tribe  of  wandering  shepherds,  under 
Abraham,  depending  solely  upon  the  unbought 
gifts  of  nature,  who,  when  they  had  exhausted 
one  district,  instead  of  cultivating  it,  drove  off 
their  flocks  in  search  of  a  new  pasture-ground, 
after  the  manner  of  the  American  Indians ;  the 
Egyptians  were  acquainted  with  agriculture  and 
all  those  arts  of  civilization  and  government 
which  indicate  a  social  existence,  extending 
backwards  for  at  least  several  ages.  This  is 
confirmed  in  a  striking  manner  by  architectural 
remains  that  have  survived  the  ravages  of  above 
thirty  centuries ;  for  while  the  Israelites,  under 
the  immediate  successors  of  Joshua,  were  still 
warring  with  the  Canaanites  for  the  possession 
of  the  land  of  promise,  or  yet  earlier,  while  they 
were  yet  slaves  in  Egypt,  that  most  interesting 
land  was  distinguished  for  palaces,  temples,  por- 
ticos, obelisks,  statues,  and  canals,  which  declare 
that  they  had  been  preceded  by  a  long  period  of 
civilization,  and  which  still  remain  the  admira- 
tion of  the  world.  The  pyramids  of  Lower 
Egypt,  requiring  for  their  erection  the  least 
quantity  of  architectural  knowledge,  no  elegance 
of  design,  no  taste  in  detail,  might  possibly  have 
been  the  work  of  men  driven  by  task-masters  to 
their  daily  labour ;  but  that  the  palaces,  tombs, 
and  temples  of  Upper  Egypt,  which  present  to  us 
the  earliest  known  instances  of  architecture,  sculp- 
ture, and  painting ;  the  colossal  statues  of  Ame- 
noph  and  Eameses,  requiring  considerable  ana- 
tomical knowledge  for  the  original  design,  and  a 
mechanical  skill  in  the  execution,  exceeding 
perhaps  even  that  of  the  Greeks  themselves ;  the 
vast  works  for  irrigation ;  and  the  correct  divi- 
sion of  the  calendar,  implying  great  knowledge 
of  mathematics— that  these  should  have  been  the 
works  of  a  people  suff'ering  under  political  dis- 
advantages, and  not  far  advanced  in  all  the  arts 
and  refinements  of  social  life,  would  contradict 
all  that  observation  or  historj'  has  made  known. 
Some  considerable  degree  therefore  of  political 
freedom,  as  well  as  a  high  cultivation,  must  at  an 
early  period  have  been  enjoyed  by  the  Egyptians. 

In  Gen.  x.  we  find  the  colonization  of  Egypt 
traced  up  to  the  immediate  children  of  Noah,  for 
it  is  there  stated  that  Mizraim  was  the  second 
son  of  Ham,  who  was  himself  the  second  son  of 
Noah.  Immediately  after  these  genealogical 
statements  the  sacred  narrative  (Gen.  xii.)  in- 
forms us  that  the  patriarch  Abraham,  pressed  by 
famine,  went  down  (about  B.C.  1920)  into  Egypt, 
where  it  appears  he  found  a  monarch,  a  court, 
princes  and  servants,  and  where  he  found  also 
those  supplies  of  food  which  the  well-known  fer- 
tility of  the  country  had  led  him  to  seek  there  ; 
for  it  is  expressly  stated  that  the  favour  which 
his  wife  had  won  in  the  reigning  Pharaoh's  eyes 
procured  him  sheep  and  oxen,  as  well  as  he-asses, 
and  men-servants,  and  maid-servants,  and  she- 


278 


EGYPT 


asses  and  camt-ls.  In  Gen.  xxi.  9,  mention  is 
made  in  the  case  of  Ishmael,  the  son  of  Hagar 
the  Egyptian,  whose  mother  took  him  a  wife  out 
of  the  laud  of  Egypt,  of  a  mixed  race  between 
the  Egyptians  and  the  Chaldseans,  a  race  which 
in  after  times  became  a  great  nation.  In  Gen. 
xxxix.  begins  the  interesting  story  of  Joseph's 
being  carried  down  to  Egypt,  with  all  its  im- 
portant consequences  for  the  great-grandchildren 
of  Abraham.  The  productiveness  of  the  country 
is  the  allurement,  famine  the  impulse.  Attendant 
circumstances  show  that  Egypt  was  then  famous 
also  for  its  commercial  pursuits  ;  and  the  entire 
narrative  gives  the  idea  of  a  complex  system  of 
society  (about  b.c.  1720),  and  a  well-constituted 
yet  arbitrary  form  of  government.  As  in  eastern 
courts  at  later  periods  of  history,  elevation  to 
high  offices  was  marked  and  sudden.  The  slave 
Joseph  is  taken  from  prison  and  from  impending 
death,  and  raised  to  the  dignity  of  prime  vizier, 
and  is  entrusted  with  making  provision  for  an 
approaching  dearth  of  food,  which  he  had  him- 
self foretold,  during  which  he  effects  in  favoui  of 
the  ruling  sovereign  one  of  the  greatest  revolu- 
tions of  property  which  history  has  recorded. 
The  high  consideration  in  which  the  priestly 
caste  was  held  is  apparent.  Joseph  himself 
marries  a  daughter  of  the  priest  of  On.  Out  of 
respect  towards,  as  well  as  by  the  direct  influence 
of,  Joseph,  the  Hebrews  were  well  treated.  The 
Scriptural  record,  however,  distinctly  states  (xlvi. 
o-i)  that  before  the  descent  of  Israel  and  his  sons 
'  every  shepherd '  was  '  an  abomination  unto  the 
Egyptians.'  The  Hebrews,  whose  '  trade  had 
been  about  cattle,'  must  have  been  odious  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Egyptians,  yet  are  they  expressly- 
permitted  to  dwell  '  in  the  best  of  the  land ' 
(xlvii.  6),  which  is  identified  with  the  land  of 
Goshen,  the  place  which  the  Israelites  had 
prayed  might  be  assigned  to  them,  and  M'hich 
they  obviously  desired  on  account  of  the  adapt- 
ation of  its  soil  to  their  way  of  life  as  herdsmen. 
Having  settled  his  father  and  family  satisfactorily 
in  the  land,  Joseph  proceeded  to  supply  the 
urgent  wants  of  a  hungry  nation,  and  at  the  same 
time  converted  the  tenure  of  all  property  from 
freehold  into  tenancy-at-will,  with  a  rent-charge 
of  one-fifth  of  the  produce,  leaving  their  lands, 
however,  in  the  hands  of  the  priests ;  and  thus  he 
gave  another  evidence  of  the  greatness  of  their 
power. 

The  richness  of  Goshen  was  favourable,  and 
the  Israelites  '  grew  and  multiplied  exceedingly,' 
so  that  the  land  was  filled  with  them.  But 
Joseph  was  now  dead  ;  time  had  passed  on,  and 
there  rose  up  a  new  king  (probably  one  of  a  new 
dynasty)  which  knew  (Exod.  i.  8)  not  Joseph, 
having  no  personal  knowledge,  and  it  may  be  no 
definite  information  of  his  services:  who,  be- 
coming jealous  of  the  increase  of  the  Hebrews, 
set  about  persecuting  them  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  diminishing  their  numbers  and  crip- 
pling their  power.  Severe  task-masters  are 
therefore  set  over  them;  heavy  tasks  are  im- 
posed ;  the  Hebrews  are  compelled  to  build  '  trea- 
sure cities,  Pithom  and  liaamses.'  It  is  found, 
however,  that  they  only  increase  the  more.  In 
consequence,  their  burdens  are  doubled  and  their 
lives  made  bitter  with  hard  bondage  (Exod.  i. 
14),  '  in  mortar  and  in  brick,  and  in  all  manner 
of  service  in  the  field.'    Their  fi^s^bo^n  males, 


EGYPT 

moreover,  are  doomed  to  destruction  the  moment 
they  come  into  being.  The  deepest  heart-burn- 
ings ensue ;  hatred  arises  between  the  oppressor 
and  the  oppressed ;  the  Israelites  seek  revenge  in 
private  and  by  stealth  (Exod.  ii.  12).  At  last  a 
higher  power  interferes,  and  the  afflicted  race  is 
permitted  to  quit  Egypt.  At  this  time  Egypt 
appears  to  have  been  a  well-peopled  and  well- 
cultivated  country,  with  numerous  cities,  under  a 
despotic  monarch,  surrounded  by  officers  of  his 
court  and  a  life-guard.  There  was  a  ceremonial 
at  audience,  a  distinction  of  ranks,  a  state-prison, 
and  a  prime  minister.  Great  buildings  were 
carried  on.  There  was  set  apart  from  the  rest  of 
the  people  an  order  of  priests  who  probably  filled 
offices  in  the  civil  government;  the  priest  of 
Midian  and  the  priest  of  On  seem  to  have  ruled 
over  the  cities  so  named.  There  was  in  the 
general  class  of  priests  an  order — wise  men,  sor- 
cerers, and  magicians — who  had  charge  of  a 
certain  secret  knowledge :  there  were  physicians 
or  embalmers  of  the  dead ;  the  royal  army  con- 
tained choser  captains  and  horsemen  and  chariots. 
The  attention  which  the  people  at  large  paid  to 
agriculture,  and  the  fixed  notions  of  property 
which  they  in  consequence  had,  made  them  hold 
the  shepherd  or  nomade  tribes  in  abhorrence,  as 
freebooters  only  less  dangerous  than  hunting 
tribes. 

The  ill  feelings  which  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances connected  with  the  exode  from  Egypt 
had  occasioned  served  to  keep  the  Israelites  and  j 
the  Egyptians  strangers,  if  not  enemies,  one  to 
another  during  the  lapse  of  centuries,  till  the 
days  of  David  and  Solomon,  when  (1  Kings  iii., 
vii.,  ix.,  xi.)  friendly  relations  again  spring  up 
between  the  two  countries.  Solomon  marries  the 
daughter  of  a  Pharaoh,  who  burns  the  city  of 
Gezer,  and  who  in  consequence  must  have  been 
master  of  Lower  Egypt.  '  And  Solomon  had 
horses  brought  out  of  Egypt,  and  linen  yarn  :' 
six  hundred  shekels  of  silver  was  the  price  of  a 
chariot,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  the  price  of  a 
horse.  Jeroboam,  however,  who  '  had  lifted  up 
his  hand  against  the  king,'  and  become  subse- 
quently monarch  of  the  revolted  ten  tribes,  found 
refuge  and  protection  in  Egypt,  which  was  then 
(about  B.C.  975)  governed  by  Shisliak.  From 
2  Chron.  xii.  it  appears  that  in  the  fifth  year  of 
Solomon's  successor,  Rehoboam,  this  same  Shi- 
shak  '  came  against  Jerusalem '  with  a  very  large 
army,  consisting  of  chariots,  horse  and  foot  sol- 
diers, besides  auxiliary  foreigners;  and  having 
captured  the  fortified  cities  which  lay  on  his 
march,  he  entered  and  plundered  the  metropolis. 
The  language  which  is  employed  in  Joel  (iii.  19) 
shows  that,  in  the  ninth  century  before  Christ, 
Egypt  had,  in  conjunction  with  Edom,  displayed 
both  its  power  and  its  cruelty  towards  the  king- 
dom of  Judah.  The  rise  and  oppressiveness  of 
the  Assyrian  power  soon,  however,  inclined  the 
Egyptians  and  the  Israelites,  from  a  sense  of 
common  danger,  to  cultivate  friendly  relations 
with  one  another.  In  2  Kings  xvii.  we  find  that 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  Ahaz  king  of  Judah  (b.c.  i 
730)  Hoshea  king  of  Israel  desisted  from  paying 
his  usual  tribute  to  the  king  of  Assyria,  and 
courted  the  alliance  of  So,  king  of  Egypt,  who 
must  have  been  a  very  powerful  monarch  to  have 
been  thought  able  to  give  assistance  in  opposition 
to  Assyria.    Against  this  mere  human  resource 


EGYPT 

the  prophet  Isaiah  (xxxi.)  warmly  protested,  de- 
claring its  utter  inefficiency,  and  striving  to  lead 
his  countrymen  to  the  practice  of  that  righteous- 
ness and  piety  by  neglecting  which  they  had 
been  forsaken  of  God.  Upon  this  act  of  king 
Hoshea,  however,  the  Assyrians  overran  Samaria 
and  carried  (2  Kings  xvii.  6)  Israel  away  into 
Assyria.  In  the  reign  of  Hezekiah  (b.c.  726)  it 
appears  (2  Kings  xviii.  21)  that  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  still  '  trusted  upon  the  staff  of  this  bruised 
reed,  even  Egypt,  on  which  if  a  man  lean,  it  will 
go  into  his  hand  and  pierce  it:  so  is  Pharaoh 
king  of  Egypt  unto  all  that  trust  on  him.'  In 
the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Josiah  (b.c.  609) 
Egypt  seems  to  have  attempted  to  increase  its 
influence  in  Palestine,  when  Pharaoh- Nechoh 
(2  Kings  xxiii.  29)  '  went  up  against  the  king  of 
Assyria  to  the  river  Euphrates,'  and  Josiah  going 
against  him  was  slain  in  battle.  His  successor, 
Jchoahaz,  was  dethroned  after  a  brief  reign  of 
three  months,  and  imprisoned  at  Riblah  by  the 
Egyptian  monarch,  who  imposed  on  the  country 
a  heavy  tribute.  Pharaoh-Nechoh  then  made  his 
elder  brother  Eliakim  king,  having  changed  his 
name  to  Jehoiakim.  Jehoahaz  afterwards  died 
in  Egypt.  But  the  Egyptian  influence  over 
Judah  soon  ended ;  for  in  the  fourth  year  of 
Jehoiakim  (b.c.  604)  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of 
Babylon  marched  against  (Jer.  xlvi. ;  2  Kings 
xxiv.)  Juda;a  and  its  allies,  defeated  Pharaoh- 
Nechoh,  and  retook  from  the  Egyptians  Arabia 
Petra-a  and  all  that  belonged  to  them  between 
the  Euphrates  "ind  the  Nile.  Zedekiah,  the  next 
king  of  Judah,  rebe'Ung  againstNebuchadnezzar, 
made  an  alliance  with  Pharaoh-Hophra  (Jer. 
xliv.)  :  and  when  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged  Jeru- 
salem, on  the  march  of  the  Egyptian  army,  the 
Chaldees  raised  the  siege  (Jer.  xxxvii.  .5)  and 
withdrew  the  army.  But  this  was  the  last  time 
that  the  Egyptian  power  was  able  to  serve  the 
Jews.  The  Assyrian  pai'ty  in  the  state,  indeed, 
was  in  the  minority,  though  assisted  by  the  in- 
fluence of  Jeremiah  aud  Ezekiel  (Ezek.  xxix. ; 
Jer.  XXV.)  ;  yet  it  predominated :  the  Jews  were 
carried  captive  to  Babylon,  and  in  less  than  a 
century  afterwards  Egypt  was  made  a  province 
of  the  same  empire. 

After  the  time  of  the  exile  the  Egyptian 
Ptolemies  were  for  a  long  while  (from  b.c.  301 
to  about  180)  masters  of  Palestine,  and  during 
til  is  period  Egypt  became  as  of  old  a  place  of 
refuge  to  the  Jews,  to  whom  many  favours  and 
privileges  were  conceded.  This  shelter  seems 
not  to  have  been  for  ages  withdrawn  (Matt.  ii. 
13).  Yet  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  Jews  were 
held  in  esteem  by  the  Egyptians.  Indeed  it  was 
from  an  Egyptian,  Mauetho  (b.c.  300),  that  the 
most  defamatory  mi.srepresentations  of  Jewish 
history  were  given  to  the  world  ;  and,  in  the 
days  of  Augustus,  Chseremon  took  special  pains 
to  make  the  Jewish  people  appear  despicable. 

In  the  reign  of  Ptolemy  Philometor,  Onias, 
whose  father,  the  third  high-priest  of  that  name, 
had  been  murdered,  fled  into  Egypt,  and  rose 
into  high  favour  with  the  king  and  Cleopatra  his 
queen.  The  high-priesthood  of  the  temple  of 
Jerusalem,  which  belonged  of  right  to  his  family, 
having  passed  from  it  to  the  family  of  the  Mac- 
cabees, by  the  nomination  of  Jonathan  to  this 
office  (B.C.  1.53),  Onias  used  his  influence  with 
the  court  to  procure  the  establishment  of  a  temple 


EGYPT 


279 


and  ritual   in   Egypt  which   should  detach  the 
Jews  who  lived  there  from  their  connection  with 
the  temple   at  Jerusalem.     The   king   complied 
with  the   request.     To  reconcile   the   Egyptian 
Jews  to  a  second  temple,  Onias  alleged  Isa.  xix. 
18,    19.     He   chose    for   the    purpo.se   a   ruined 
temple  of  Bubastis,  at  Lcontopolis,  in  the  Helio- 
politan  nome,  one  hundred  and  fifty  stadia  from 
Memphis,  which  place  he  converted,  into  a  sort     j 
of  miniature  Jerusalem,  erecting  an  altar  in  imi-     I 
tation  of  that  in  the   temple,  and   constituting     , 
himself  high-priest.    The  king  granted  a  tract  of 
land  around  the  temple  for  the  maintenance  of 
the  worship,  and  it  remained  iu  existence  till  de-     ' 
stroyed   by   Vespasian.     The   district  iu   which     | 
this  temple  stood  appears   to   have   been,   after     < 
Alexandria,  the  chief  seat  of  the  Jews  iu  Egypt. 

The  most  brilliant  periods  of  Egyptian  art 
were  the  reigns  of  the  secoud  and  third  Rameses.  i 
Most  of  the  obelisks  and  colossal  statues  were  ', 
wrought  before  or  during  the  reign  of  Eameses 
II.,  the  Sesostris  of  the  Greek  writers.  Under 
this  enterprising  monarch,  the  ancient  Theban 
empire  attained  its  highest  pinnacle  of  prosperity 
and  power.  Rameses  III.  undertook  distant  mili- 
tary expeditions,  roused  the  energies  of  the 
country,  encouraged  art,  and  erected  the  splendid 
temple'  of  Medinet  Abu.  At  a  later  age  the 
sceptre  of  Egypt  was  swayed  by  powerful 
monarchs,  who  built  on  a  grand  scale ;  but  the 
seat  of  the  government  was  then  in  the  Delta, 
and  there  remain  only  a  few  obelisks. 

The  valley  of  the  Nile  is  all  along  at  intervals 
strewed   with   wrecks   of   ancient    monumental 
grandeur ;  ^t  Thebes,  however,  they  are  found 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  iu  greatest  profusion. 
Next  to  the  pyramids,  the  most  wonderful  relic 
of  Egyptian  art  is  the  great  hall  of  the  temple  of 
Karnak,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Nile.    Its  super- 
ficial area  is  314  feet  by  104.    The  massive  stoue 
roof  is  supported  by  134  columns  ranged  in  six- 
teen rows,  most  of  which  are  9  feet  in  diameter, 
and  nearly  43  feet  high  :  those  of  the   central      i 
avenue  are  not  less  than  1 1  feet  6  inches  in  dia-      j 
meter,  and  72  feet,  high;  the  diameter  of  their      | 
capitals  at  their  widest  spread  is  22  feet.    The      ; 
walls,  columns,  architraves,  ceilings,  every  s«r-      ; 
face  exposed  to  the  eye,  is  overspread  with  in-      \ 
taglio  sculptures — gods,  heroes,  and  hieroglyphics,      j 
painted  in  once  vivid  colours.     But   the  hall  of 
columns  was  but  a  part  of  this  wonderful  fabric.      j 
Immense  pylons,   half-buried  quadrangles  and      i 
halls,   granite  obelisks,  and  tremendous  piles  of      i 
fallen  masonry,  once  formed  a  range  of  buildings      { 
upwards  of  1200  feet  in  length.     An  avenue  of      i 
colossal  sphinxes  led  from  the  temple  to  Luxor,      | 
forming  a  vista  which  extended  nearly  a  mile      | 
and  a  half,  and  was  admirably  adapted  for  the 
pageantry  of  religious   processions.     All  these      j 
buildings  formed  parts  of  one  magnificent  whole ;      j 
all  were  constructed  of  gigantic  blocks,  and  most      I 
were  covered  with  sculpture.     '  Such   was   the      I 
imperial  palace  of  the  Pharaohs  when  Europe      | 
was   yet    in    primaeval   barbarism,   ages   before      I 
Romulus   took  his  omen  on  the  Palatine  hill.'      | 
Now  the  ruins  are  strewn  in  chaotic  confusion       | 
over  a  sandy  plain,  broken  into  shapeless  mounds. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  Avorks  of  the 
Egyptians  must  be  ranked  the  vast  sepulchres 
excavated  in  the  seclusion  of  the  Theban  moun- 
tains to  receive  their  dead  monarchs.     '  It  was,' 


280  EGYPT 

says  WatheD, '  about  an  hour  before  sunset  one 
evening  that  I  set  out  to  visit  this  Necropolis, 
intending  to  pass  the  night  in  one  of  the  roj'al 
sepulchres.  On  approaching  the  gorge,  the  first 
thing  that  struck  me  was  the  quantity  of  bones, 
fragments  of  mvimmies,  rolls  of  mummy  cloth, 
and  other  relics  of  rifled  (Egyptian")  tombs  that 
strewed  the  ground.  Princes,  priests,  and  war- 
riors, after  reposing  thousands  of  years,  are  now 
dragged  forth  by  poor  peasants,  and  their  bones 
lie  scattered  before  the  doors  of  their  sepulchres. 
Candles  were  lighted:  I  passed  the  threshold, 
and  looked  round  with  silent  wonder  on  the 
scene  within.  A  large  corridor  or  gallery  ran 
back  hundreds  of  feet  into  the  heart  of  the  moun- 
tain, divided  by  lateral  projections  into  lengthen- 
ing vistas  of  apartments.  The  walls  were  ele- 
gantly adorned  with  columns  of  blue  hierogly- 
phics on  a  white  ground,  3000  years  old,  yet  re- 
taining almost  the  freshness  of  yesterday.  In  a 
large  chamber  at  the  end  of  the  gallery  was  a 
massive  sarcophagus.  Here  once  lay  the  royal 
mummy,  but  it  had  long  been  open,  and  was 
empty.  There  are  eight  or  nine  of  these  large 
painted  tombs  in  a  group,  besides  others  of  less 
interest.  They  vary  in  length  from  100  to  up- 
wards of  400  feet.  In  most,  you  find  on  entering 
a  long  descending  corridor  or  gallery,  running  off 
in  a  straight  line  into  the  heart  of  the  mountain. 
At  its  farther  end  the  corridor  expands  into  one 
or  more  large  apartments,  whose  roofs  are  sup- 
ported by  massive  piers  of  the  living  rock.  The 
walls  and  piers  throughout  are  generally  deco- 
rated with  paintings  still  wonderfully  retaining 
their  freshness :  the  subjects  are  chiefly  proces- 
sions, religious  rites,  and  allegoric  and  enigma- 
tical devices.'  The  object  seems  to  have  been  to 
enshrine  the  corpse  deep  within  the  earth  in  a 
mass  of  masonry,  far  from  the  stir  of  the  living 
world.  For  these  royal  sepulchres  of  Thebes  they 
first  selected  the  loneliest  ravine ;  for  each  tomb 
they  carried  a  gallery  deep  into  the  hill,  and  then 
placed  the  corpse  in  the  i-emotest  part.  But  the 
tombs  of  the  kings  form  only  a  part  of  this  great 
city  of  the  dead.  The  sides  of  the  hills  overlook- 
ing the  plain  and  the  ravines  intersecting  them, 
contain  innumerable  sepulchral  excavations.  One 
valley  was  appropriated  to  the  queens,  and  in  a 
remote  corner  the  apes  had  a  cemetery.  The 
priests  seized  the  best  spots. 

The  purpose  for  which  the  pyramids  were 
erected  was  once  as  little  known  as  were  most 
other  things  connected  with  Egypt.  It  now  ap- 
pears satisfactorily  ascertained  that  they  were 
designed  to  be  mausoleums;  and  what  an  idea 
does  it  give  us  of  the  grandeur  of  conception,  the 
splendour  in  every  respect  of  the  monarchs  to 
whom  they  owe  their  origin,  that  they  should 
have  devised  and  executed  tombs  so  stupendous  ! 
'  On  leaving  the  village  of  Gizeh,  on  the  river 
bank  opposite  old  Cairo  (Memphis),  the  pyramids 
rise  before  you  glittering  white  against  the  blue 
sky ;  but  the  flatness  of  the  plain  and  the  purity 
of  the  atmosphere  effectually  deceive  the  eye  as 
to  their  distance  and  consequently  their  size  :  you 
almost  appear  at  their  base  while  several  miles 
really  intervene.  As  you  advance  gradually  they 
unfold  their  gigantic  dimensions ;  but  you  must 
have  been  some  time  on  the  spot,  your  eye  must 
have  repeatedly  travelled  along  the  great  pyra- 
mid's 740  feet  of  base,  and  up  its  steep  towering 


EGYPT 

angles,  before  you  can  fully  understand  its  im- 
mensity, and  the  actual  amount  of  labour  involved 
in  its  erection'   (Wathen).     According  to  Pliny 


IGJ.     [P; 


d  of  Cheops.] 


.366,000  men  were  employed  for  20  years  in  erect- 
ing the  great  pyramid,  and  Herodotus  reports 
from  an  inscription  which  it  bore,  that  the  ex- 
pense of  providing  the  workmen  with  onions  and 
other  roots  amounted  to  16C0  talents.  Whole 
mosques  have  probably  been  built  out  of  spoils 
from  it  alone.  Yet  the  integrity  of  its  form 
remains  substantially  unimpah-ed,  and  from  a 
distance  scarcely  a  trace  of  violence  or  decay  can 
be  seen.  The  existing  masonry  has  been  esti- 
mated at  above  six  millions  of  tons,  which  was 
raised  over  an  area  of  thirteen  English  acres  and 
a  half;  and,  supposing  the  cost  of  the  structure  to 
have  been  one  shilling  a  cubic  foot,  including 
carriage,  materials,  and  ^workmanship,  the  erection 
required  an  outlay  of  nearly  five  millions  sterling. 
The  original  perpendicular  height  was  480  feet, 
exceeding  that  of  St.  Peter's  by  43  feet,  and  that 
of  St.  Paul's  by  110. 

The  relation  in  which  the  religion  of  Egypt 
stands  to  that  of  Moses  is  one  of  very  consider- 
able interest  and  importance,  and  one  which  has 
not  yet  received  the  kind  and  degree  of  attention 
which  it  merits.  Michaelis,  and  others  of  the 
same  school,  have  given  valuable  aid,  but  they 
wrote  with,  compared  with  what  is  now  known, 
insufficient  knowledge,  if  not  with  somewhat  too 
much  of  a  foregone  conclusion.  Other  learned 
men,  influenced  by  their  philosophical  notions,  or 
prejudiced  against  the  Hebrew  religion,  have 
made  Moses  a  mere  copyist  of  institutions  and 
retailer  of  ideas  which  he  found  in  Egypt.  As  a 
basis  for  such  a  view  it  was  necessarily  assumed 
I  that  a  purer  system  of  religion  was  found  in  Egypt 
in  the  days  of  Moses  than  existed  in  anj'  other 
part  of  the  world.  In  particular,  the  Egyptian 
mysteries  were  set  forth  as  the  depositories  of 
high  and  valuable  religious  doctrines  Scripture 
and  history  (the  Acts  of  the  Apostles;  Josephus, 
Philo)  were  adduced  to  show  that  Moses  had 
been  instructed  in  this  priceless  lore,  and  initiated 
into  these  mysteries;  whence  he  was  declared  to 
have  drawn  his  system  of  Monotheism.  These 
views,  however,  rest  on  no  solid  foundation  what- 
ever, if,  indeed,  they  may  not  be  to  some  extent 
considered  as  the  illusory  and  almost  posthumous 
offspring  of  the  old  and  exploded  notion  which 
ascribed  boundless  knowledge  to  the  ancient 
Egyptians.     Nor  can  they  for  a  moment  be  held 


ELAH 


ELATH 


281 


in  these  days  after  the  light  thrown  on  early 
Egypt  by  the  moniiuieiital  disclosures.  The  brief 
notion  given  above  of  the  general  characteristics 
of  the  earliest  religion  of  the  country,  shows  how 
utterly  baseless  such  a  theory  is.  In  truth,  the 
inhabitants  of  Palestine,  so  far  back  as  we  have 
been  able  to  learn  anything  of  them,  seem  to  have 
possessed  far  better  and  purer  religious  opinions 
than  those  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  and  in  all 
probability  did  something  to  improve  and  elevate 
the  religious  system  of  the  latter. 

E'HUD,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  one  of  the 
'  Judges '  of  Israel,  or  rather  of  that  part  of  Israel 
which  he  delivered  from  the  dominion  of  the 
Moabites  by  the  ass-asination  of  their  king  Eglon. 
These  were  the  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan,  and  the 
southern  tribes  on  this  side  the  river.  Ehud  ob- 
tained access  to  Eglon  as  the  bearer  of  tribute 
from  the  subjugated  tribes,  and  being  left-handed, 
or  rather  ambidextrous,  he  was  enabled  to  use 
with  a  sure  and  fatal  aim  a  dagger  concealed 
under  a  part  of  his  dress,  where  it  was  unsus- 
pected, because  it  would  there  have  been  useless 
to  a  person  employing  his  right  hand.  The 
Israelites  continued  to  enjoy  for  eighty  years  the 
independence  obtained  through  this  deed  of  Ehud 
(Jndg.  iii.  1.5-30). 

•  EK'RON,  the  chief  of  the  five  Philistine  states 
(Josh.  xiii.  3),  and  the  northernmost  of  the  five. 
In  the  general  distribution  of  territory  (uncon- 
quered  as  well  as  conquered)  Ekron  was  assigned 
to  Judah,  as  being  upon  its  border  (Josh.  xiii.  3; 
XV.  U,  45)  :  but  was  afterwards  apparently  given 
to  Dan,  although  conquered  by  Judah  (Josh.  xv. 
11 ,  45 ;  xix.  43  ;  Judg.  i.  1 8).  In  Scripture  Ekron 
is  chiefly  remarkable  from  the  ark  having  been 
sent  home  from  thence,  iipon  a  new  cart  drawn 
by  two  milch  kine  (1  Sam.  v.  10;  vi.  1-8).  In 
later  days  it  is  named  with  the  other  cities  of  the 
Philistines  in  the  denunciations  of  the  prophets 
against  that  people  (Jer.  xxv.  20 ;  Amos  i.  8 ; 
Zeph.  ii.  4  ;  Zech.  ix.  5).  The  name  of  Ekron, 
or  rather  Accaron,  occurs  incidentally  in  the  his- 
tories of  the  Crusades  ;  and  it  has  lately  been  re- 
cognised by  Dr.  Robinson  in  that  of  Akri,  in  a 
situation  corresponding  to  all  we  know  of  Ekron. 
Akri  is  a  small  Moslem  village,  five  miles  south 
of  Ramleh.  It  is  built  of  unburnt  bricks,  and,  as 
there  are  no  apparent  ruins,  the  ancient  town  was 
probably  of  the  same  materials.  It  is  alleged, 
however,  that  cisterns  and  the  stones  of  hand- 
mills  are  often  found  at  Akri  and  in  the  adjacent 
fields. 

E'LAH,  son  of  Baasha  king  of  Israel.  After 
a  reign  of  two  years  (b.c.  930-929)  he  was  assas- 
sinated while  drunk,  and  all  his  kinsfolk  and 
friends  cut  off,  by  Zimri,  '  the  captain  of  half  his 
chariots.'  He  was  the  last  king  of  Baasha's  line, 
and  by  this  catastrophe  the  predictions  of  the  pro- 
phet Jehu  were  accomplished  (1  Kings  xvi.  C-14). 

E'LAH,  a  valley  in  which  the  Israelites  were 
encamped  when  David  fought  Goliath  (1  Sam. 
xvii.  19).  It  doubtless  received  this  name  from 
the  terebinth  trees,  or  from  some  remarkable 
terebinth  tree,  growing  in  it.  Ecclesiastical  tra- 
ditions identify  it  with  the  present  valley  of  Beit 
Hanina,  about  eight  miles  north-west  from  Jeru- 
salem. In  this  valley  olive  trees  and  carob  trees 
now  prevail,  and  terebinth  trees  are  few  ;  but 
the  brook  is  still  indicated  whence  the  youthful 
champion  selected  the  '  smooth  stones '  where- 


with he  smote  the  Philistine.  The  brook  is  dry 
in  summer,  but  in  winter  it  becomes  a  mighty- 
torrent,  which  inundates  the  vale.  Dr.  Robin- 
son, however,  disputes  this  ancient  tradition,  and 
finds  that  the  conditions  of  the  history  require 
him  to  identify  the  valley  of  Elah  with  the  Wady 
es-Sumt  (acacia  valley),  which  he  crossed  on  the 
road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza,  about  eleven  miles 
south-west  from  the  former  city.  His  reasons 
are  given  in  Biblical  Researches,  iii.  350 ;  and 
he  remarks  that  the  largest  specimen  of  the  tere- 
binth tree  which  he  saw  in  Palestine  still  stands 
in  the  vicinity. 

E'LAM,  which  is  mentioned  in  Gen.  x.  22,  as 
a  tribe  descended  from  Shem,  is,  in  ch.  xiv.  1, 
introduced  along  with  the  kingdom  of  Shinar  in 
Babylon,  and  in  Isa.  xxi.  2,  and  Jer.  xxv.  25,  is 
connected  with  Media.  In  Ezra  iv.  9,  the  Elam- 
ites  are  described  among  the  nations  of  the  Per- 
sian empire ;  and  in  Dan.  viii.  2,  Susa  is  said  to 
lie  on  the  river  Ulai  (Eulaeus  or  Choaspes)  in 
the  province  of  Elam.  These  accounts  lead  to 
the  conclusion  that  Elam  was  the  same  land 
which  was  designated  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
by  the  name  of  Elymais,  and  which  formed  a 
part  of  the  ancient  Susiana,  the  modern  Khu- 
sistan.  Elam  was  inhabited  by  various  tribes  of 
people.  The  Elymsei  or  Elamaei,  together  with 
the  Kissi,  seem  to  have  been  the  oldest  inha- 
bitants not  only  of  Susiana  Proper  but  also  of 
Persia  ;  whence  the  sacred  writers,  under  the 
name  of  Elam,  comprehended  the  country  of  the 
Persians  in  general.  They  were  celebrated  for 
their  skill  in  archery ;  hence  the  historical  pro- 
priety of  the  Scriptural  allusion  to  the  quiver 
and  the  bow  of  the  Elamites  (Isa.  xxii.  6 ;  Jer. 
xlix.  34). 

It  would  seem  that  Elam  was  very  early  a 
separate  state  with  its  own  kings:  for  in  the 
time  of  Abraham  we  find  that  Chedorlaomer 
king  of  Elam  extended  his  conquests  west  of  the 
Euphrates  as  far  as  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead 
Sea  (Gen.  xiv.)  ;  but  whether  he  acted  for  him- 
self, or  only  as  the  viceroy  or  general  of  the 
Assyrians,  must  remain  a  matter  of  doubt. 
Ezekiel  (xxxii.  24)  mentions  Elam  among  the 
mighty  uncircumcised  nations  which  had  been 
the  terror  of  the  world ;  and  about  the  same 
period  (b.c.  590)  Jeremiah  threatened  it  with 
conquest  and  destruction  by  the  Chaldaeans  (Jer. 
xlix.  30,  34,  sqq.).  This  was  accomplished  pro- 
bably by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  subjected  Western 
Asia  to  his  dominion ;  for  we  find  his  successor 
Belshazzar  residing  at  Susa,  the  capital  of  Elam, 
a  province  then  subject  to  that  monarch  (Dan. 
viii.  1,  2).  With  this  the  Scriptural  notices  of 
Elam  end,  unless  we  add  that  Elamites  are  found 
among  those  who  were  at  Jerusalem  at  the  feast 
of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  9)  ;  which  implies  that 
Jews  descended  from  the  exiles  were  settled  in 
that  country. 

E'LATH,  now  called  Ailah.  It  was  a  city 
of  Idumaea,  having  a  port  on  the  eastern  arm  or 
gulf  of  the  Red  Sea,  which  thence  received  the 
name  of  Sinus  Elaniticus  (Gulf  of  Akaba).  Ac- 
cording to  Eusebius,  it  -was  ten  miles  east  from 
Petra.  It  lies  at  the  extremity  of  the  valley  of 
Elghor,  wliich  runs  at  the  bottom  of  two  parallel 
ranges  of  hills,  north  and  south,  through  Arabia 
Petraa,  from  the  Dead  Sea  to  the  northern  parts 
of  the  Elanitic  Gulf. 


282 


ELATII 


liLDEK 


The  first  time  tliat  it  is  mentioned  in  the 
Scriptures  is  in  Deut.  ii.  8,  where,  in  speaking  of 
the  journey  of  th'.-  Israelites  towards  the  Promised 
Land,  these  words  occur—'  When  we  passed  by 
from  our  brethren  the  children  of  Esau,  whicli 
dwelt  in  Seir,  through  the  way  of  the  plain  from 
Elath,  and  from  Eziongeber.'  These  two  places 
are  mentioned  together  again  in  1  Kings  ix.  26, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  Elath  was 
more  ancient  than  Eziongeber,  and  was  of  so 
much  repute  as  to  be  used  for  indicating  the 
locality  of  other  places :  the  passage  also  fixes 
the  spot  where  Elath  itself  was  to  be  found: 
'  and  King  Solomon  made  a  navy  of  ships  in 
Eziongeber,  which  is  beside  Elath,  on  the  shore 
(Num.  xxxiii.  35)  of  the  Ked  Sea,  in  the  laud  of 
Edom.'  The  use  which  David  made  of  the 
vicinity  of  Elath  shows  that  the  country  was  at 
that  time  in  his  possession.  Accordingly,  in  2 
Sam.  viii.  14,  we  learn  that  he  had  previously 
made  himself  master  of  Idumasa,  and  garrisoned 
its  strong-holds  witli  his  own  troops.  Under  his 
successor,  Joram  (2  Kings  viii.  20),  the  Idumseans 
revolted  from  Judah,  and  elected  a  king  over 
themselves.  Joram  thereupon  assembled  his 
forces,  '  and  all  the  chariots  with  him,'  and, 
falling  on  the  Iduma;aiis  by  night,  succeeded  in 
defeating  and  scattering  their  army.  The 
Hebrews,  however,  could  not  prevail,  but  '  Edom 
revolted  from  under  the  hand  of  Judah  unto  this 
day ;'  thus  exemplifying  the  striking  language 
employed  (Gen.  xxvii.  40)  by  Isaac — '  by  thy 
sword  shalt  thou  live,  and  shalt  serve  thy 
brother:  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  thou 
shalt  have  the  dominion,  that  thou  shalt  break 
his  yoke  from  off  thy  neck.'  From  2  Kings  xiv. 
22,  however,  it  appears  that  Uzziah  recovered 
Elath,  and,  having  so  repaired  and  adorned  the 
city  as  to  be  said  to  have  built,  that  is  rebuilt, 
it,  he  made  it  a  part  of  his  dominions.  This 
connection  was  not  of  long  continuance ;  for  in 
ch.  xvi.  ver.  6  of  the  same  book,  we  find  the 
Syrian  king  Keziu  interposing,  who  captured 
Elath,  drove  out  the  Jews,  and  annexed  the 
place  to  his  Syrian  kingdom,  and  '  the  Syrians 
came  to  Elath,  and  dwelt  there  unto  this  day.' 
.\t  a  later  period  it  fell  under  the  power  of  the 
Romans,  and  was  for  a  time  guarded  by  the 
tenth  legion,  forming  part  of  Pala.'stina  Tertia. 
It  subsequently  became  the  residence  of  a  Chris- 
tian bishop.  In  the  days  of  its  prosperity  it  was 
much  distinguished  for  commerce,  which  con- 
tinued to  flourish  under  the  auspices  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  the  sixth  century  it  is  spoken  of  by 
Procopius  as  being  inhabited  by  Jews  subject  to 
the  Koraan  dominion.  In  a.d.  630,  the  Christian 
communities  of  Arabia  Petrsea  found  it  expedient 
to  submit  to  Mohammed,  when  John,  the  Chris- 
tian governor  of  Ailah,  became  bound  to  pay  an 
annual  tribute  of  300  gold-pieces.  Henceforward, 
till  the  present  century,  Ailah  lay  in  the  dark- 
ness of  Islamism.  Mounds  of  rubbish  alone  mark 
the  site  of  the  town,  while  a  fortress,  occupied  by 
a  governor  and  a  small  garrison  under  the  Pasha 
of  Egypt,  serves  to  keep  the  neighbouring  tribes 
of  the  desert  in  awe,  and  to  minister  to  the  wants 
and  protection  of  the  annual  Egyptian  Haj,  or 
pilgrun  caravan.  This  place  has  always  been 
an  important  station  upon  the  route  of  the 
Egyptian  Haj.  Such  is  the  importance  of  this 
caravan  of  pilgrims  from  Cairo  to  Mecca,  both 


in  a  religions  and  political  point  of  view,  that 
the  rulers  of  F^gypt  from  the  earliest  period  have 
given  it  convoy  and  protection.  For  this  purpose 
a  line  of  fortresses  similar  to  that  of  Akaba  has 
been  established  at  intervals  along  the  route, 
with  wells  of  water  and  supplies  of  provisions. 

EL'DAD  and  ME'DAD,  two  of  the  seventy 
elders  appointed  by  Moses  to  assist  him  in  the 
government  of  the  people.  Although  not  present 
with  the  others  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle, 
they  were  equallj'  filled  with  the  divine  spirit, 
and  began  to  '  prophesy'  in  the  camp.  Joshua, 
thinking  this  irregular,  requested  Moses  to  forbid 
them,  and  received  an  answer  eminently  cha- 
racteristic of  the  great  lawgiver  : — '  Enviest  thou 
for  my  sake  ?  Would  to  God  that  all  the  Lord's 
people  were  prophets,  and  that  the  Lord  would 
put  his  spirit  upon  them'  (Num.  xi.  24-29). 

ELDER,  literally,  one  of  the  older  men,  and 
because,  in  ancient  times,  older  persons  would 
naturally  jpe  selected  to  hold  public  oflfices,  out 
of  regard  to  their  presumed  superiority  in  know- 
ledge and  experience,  the  term  came  to  be  used 
as  the  designation  for  the  office  itself,  borne  by 
an  individual,  of  whatever  age.  But  the  term 
'elder'  appears  to  be  also  expressive  of  respect 
and  reverence  in  general.  The  word  occurs  in 
this  sense  in  Gen.  1.  7,  '  Joseph  Avent  up  to  bury 
his  father,  and  with  him  went  up  all  the  servants 
of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house,  and  all  the 
elders  of  the  land  of  Egjpt.'  These  elders  of 
Egypt  were,  probably,  the  various  state-officers. 
The  elders  of  Israel,  of  whom  such  frequent 
mention  is  made,  may  have  been,  in  early  times, 
the  lineal  descendants  of  the  patriarchs  (Exod. 
xii.  21).  To  the  elders  Moses  was  directed  to 
open  his  commission  (Exod.  iii.  16).  They  ac- 
companied Moses  in  his  first  interview  with 
Pharaoh,  as  the  representatives  of  the  Hebrew 
nation  (ver.  18)  ;  through  them  Moses  issued  his 
communications  and  commands  to  the  whole 
people  (Exod.  xix.  7  ;  Deut.  xxxi.  9)  ;  they  were 
his  immediate  attendants  in  all  the  great  trans- 
actions in  the  wilderness  (Exod.  xvii.  5) ;  seventy 
of  their  number  were  selected  to  attend  Moses, 
Aaron,  Nadab,  and  Abihu,  at  the  giving  of  the 
law  (Exod.  xxiv.  1),  on  which  occasion  they  are 
called  the  nobles  of  the  children  of  Israel,  who 
did  eat  and  drink  before  God,  in  ratification  of 
the  covenant,  as  representatives  of  the  nation. 
In  Num.  xi.  10,  17,  we  meet  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  seventy  elders  to  bear  the  burden  of  the 
people  along  with  Moses  ;  these  were  selected  by 
Moses  out  of  the  whole  number  of  the  elders,  and 
are  described  as  being,  already,  officers  over  the 
children  of  Israel.  It  is  the  opinion  of  Michaelis, 
that  this  council,  chosen  to  assist  Moses,  should 
not  be  confounded  with  the  Sanhedrim,  which, 
he  thinks,  was  not  instituted  till  after  the  return 
from  the  Babylonish  captivity  [Sanhedrim]. 
After  the  settlement  in  Canaan  the  elders  seem 
to  have  been  the  administrators  of  the  laws  in 
all  the  cities  (Deut.  xix.  12;  xxi.  3,  6,  19  ;  xxii. 
15,  25).  The  continuance  of  the  office  may  be 
traced  during  the  time  of  the  judges  (Judg.  ii. 
7)  ;  during  that  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  xvi.  4) ; 
under  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxx.  2G) ;  and  David  (1 
Chron.  xxi.  16).  The  elders  of  Israel  are  men- 
tioned during  the  captivity  (Ezra  x.  14),  consist- 
ing either  of  those  who  had  sustained  that  office 
in  their  own  land,  or  were  permitted  by  the  Baby- 


ELEAZAK 

lonians  to  exercise  it  still  among  their  country- 
men. We  meet  with  them  again  at  the  resto- 
ration (Ezra  V.  5),  and  by  them  the  temple  was 
rebuilt  (vi.  14).  After  the  restoration  and  during 
the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  the  Sanhedrim,  ac- 
cording to  Michaelis,  was  instituted,  being  first 
mentioned  under  Hyrcanus  II. ;  but  elders  are 
still  referred  to  in  1  Mace.  vii.  33.  Among  the 
members  of  the  Sanhedrim  were  the  'elders.' 
Like  the  scribes,  they  obtained  their  seat  in  the 
Sanhedrim  l)y  election,  or  nomination  from  the 
executive  authority.  The  word  elder,  with 
many  other  Jewish  terms,  was  introduced  into 
the  Christian  church.  In  the  latter  it  is  the 
title  of  inferior  ministers,  who  were  appointed 
overseers  ainoiiy  not  over  the  flock  (Acts  xx.  17, 
28;  Tit.  i.  5,  7;  1  Pet.  v.  1-5).  The  term  is 
applied  even  to  the  apostles  (2  John;  3  John). 
So  also  '  the  Presbytery'  certainly  includes  even 
St  Paul  himself  (comp.  1  Tim.  iv.  14  and  2  Tim. 
i.  6).  Still  the  apostles  are  distinguished  from 
the  elders  elsewhere  (Acts  xv.  6).  The  elder 
was  constituted  by  an  apostle  or  some  one  in- 
vested with  apostolic  authority  (Acts  xiv.  23  ; 
see  also  the  epistles  to  Timothy  and  John).  The 
elders  preached,  confuted  gainsayers  (Tit.  i.  9), 
and  visited  the  sick  (James  v.  14).  The  word 
eiders  is  sometimes  used  in  the  sense  of  ancients, 
ancestors,  predecessors  (Matt.  v.  21 ;  Heb.  xi.  2). 

ELEA'LEH,  a  town  of  the  Reubenites  east  of 
the  Jordan  (Num.  xxxii.  3,  37);  but  which  is 
named  by  the  prophets  as  a  city  of  the  Moabites 
(Isa.  XV.  4  ;  xvi.  9  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  34).  It  is  usually 
mentioned  along  with  Heshbon  ;  and  accordingly 
travellers  find  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  city 
a  ruined  place,  bearing  the  name  of  El  Aal,  which 
doubtless  represents  Elealeh.  It  stands  upon  the 
summit  of  a  hill,  and  takes  its  name  from  its 
situation,  Aal  meaning  '  high.'  It  commands  the 
whole  plain,  and  the  view  from  it  is  very  exten- 
sive. It  is  about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  north-east 
of  Heshbon. 

ELEA'ZAR  (God-helped).  This  was  an  ex- 
ceedingly common  name  among  the  Hebrews, 
being  borne  by  a  considerable  number  of  persons 
in  Scripture  (as  well  as  in  the  Apocrypha  and 
Josephus),  of  whom  the  principal  are  the  fol- 
lowing. 

1.  KLEAZAR,  eldest  son  of  Aaron  (Exod.  vi. 
23,  25),  who  acted  in  his  father's  lifetime  as  chief 


ELEPHANT  283 

'  the  men  of  Israel  had  pone  away.'  He  was  also 
one  of  the  same  three  when  they  broke  through 
the  Philistine  host,  to  gratify  David's  longing  for 
a  drink  of  water  from  the  well  of  his  native  Beth- 
lehem (2  Sam.  xxiii.  9,  10,  13). 

4.  ELEAZAK,  the  fourth  of  the  Maccabscan 
brothers,  sous  of  the  priest  Mattathias  (1  Mace, 
ii.  5).  He  was  crushed  to  death  by  the  fall  of 
an  elephant  which  he  stabbed  under  the  belly  in 
the  belief  that  it  bore  the  king,  Antiochus  Eu- 
pator  (1  Mace.  vi.  43-4G). 

5.  ELEAZAK,  an  aged  and  venerable  scribe 
who,  '  as  became  his  age,  and  the  excellency  ot 
his  ancient  years,  and  the  honour  of  his  grey 
head,'  chose  rather  to  submit  to  the  most  cruel 
torments  than  conform  to  the  polluting  enact- 
ments of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (2  Mace.  vii.  18- 
31). 

ELEPHANT  occurs  only  in  1  Mace.  vi.  34. 
The  animals  of  this  genus  consist  at  present  of 
two  very  distinct  species,  one  a  native  of  Southern 


165.    [Asiatic  Elepliant.] 

Asia,  once  spread  considerably  to  the  westward 
of  the  Upper  Indus,  and  the  other  occupying 
southern  and  middle  Africa  to  the  edge  of  the 
great  Sahara.  In  a  fossil  state  there  are  besides 
six  more  species  clearly  distinguished.  The  ele- 
phant is  the  largest  of  all  terrestrial  animals, 
sometimes  reaching  to  above  eleven  feet  of  ver- 


of  the  tribe  of  Levi  (Nvmi.  iii.  32),  and  at  his  |  tical  height  at  the  shoulders,  and  weighing  from 


death  succeeded  him  in  the  high-priesthood 
(Num.  XX.  35,  sq.).  His  pontificate  was  contem- 
porary with  the  military  government  of  Joshua, 
whom  he  appears  to  have  survived.  A  perfectly 
good  understanding  seems  at  all  times  to  have 
subsisted  between  Eleazar  and  Joshua,  as  we  con- 
stantly trace  that  co-operation  and  mutual  sup- 
port which  the  circumstances  of  the  time  and  of 
the  nation  rendered  so  necessary.  Eleazar  is 
supposed  to  have  lived  twenty-five  years  after 
the  passage  of  the  Jordan,  and  the  book  of 
Joshua  concludes  with  a  notice  of  his  death  and 
burial. 

2.  ELEAZAR,  who  was  set  apart  to  attend 
upon  the  ark  while  it  remained  under  the  roof  of 
his  father  Abinadab  (1  Sam.  vii.  1). 

3.  ELEAZAR,  one  of  the  three  most  eminent 
of  David's  heroes,  who  '  fought  till  his  hand  was 
weary  '  in  maintaining  with  David  and  the  other 
two  a  daring  stand  against  the  Philistines  after 


five  to  seven  thousand  pounds  :  he  is  of  a  black 
or  slaty-ash  colour,  and  almost  destitute  of  hair. 
The  head,  which  is  proportiouably  large,  is  pro- 
vided with  two  broad  pendulous  ears,  particularly 
in  those  of  the  African  species,  which  are  occa- 
sionally six  feet  in  length.  The  eyes  are  com- 
paratively small,  with  a  malevolent  expression, 
and  on  the  temples  are  pores  which  exude  a  vis- 
cous humour ;  the  tail  is  long,  hanging  nearly  to 
the  heels,  and  distichous  at  the  end.  But  the 
most  remarkable  organ  of  the  elephant,  that 
which  equally  enables  the  animal  to  reach  the 
ground  and  to  grasp  branches  of  trees  at  a  con- 
siderable height,  is  the  proboscis  or  trunk ;  a 
cylindrical  elastic  instrument,  in  ordinary  condi- 
tion reaching  nearly  down  to  the  ground,  but 
contractile  to  two-thirds  of  its  usual  length,  and 
extensile  to  one-third  beyond  it ;  provided  with 
nearly  4000  muscles  crossing  each  other  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  proboscis  is  flexible  in  every 


284 


ELEUTHEROPOLIS 


direction,  and  so  abundantly  supplied  with  nerves 
as  to  render  the  organ  one  of  the  most  delicate  in 
nature.  Within  is  the  double  canal  of  the  nos- 
trils, and  at  the  terminal  opening  a  finger-like 
process,  with  which  the  animal  can  take  up  very 
minute  objects  and  grasp  others,  even  to  a  writing 
pen,  and  mark  paper  with  it.  By  means  of  the 
proboscis  the  elephant  has  a  power  of  suction 
capable  of  raising  nearly  200  pounds  weight; 
and  with  this  instrument  he  gathers  food  from 
trees  and  from  the  earth,  draws  up  drink  to  squirt 
it  down  his  throat,  draws  corks,  unties  small 
knots,  and  performs  numberless  other  minute 
operations ;  and,  if  necessary,  tears  down  branches 
of  trees  more  than  five  inches  in  diameter  with 
no  less  dexterity  than  strength.  The  gait  of  an 
elephant  is  an  enormous  stride,  performed  with 
his  high  and  ponderous  legs,  and  sufficiently  rapid 
to  require  smart  galloping  on  horseback  to  out- 
strip him. 

Elephants  are  peaceable  towards  all  iuoflFensive 
animals ;  sociable  among  themselves,  and  ready 
j  to  help  each  other ;  gregarious  in  grassy  plains, 
but  more  inclined  to  frequent  densely-wooded 
mountain  glens :  at  times  not  unwilling  to  visit 
the  more  arid  wastes,  but  fond  of  rivers  and 
pools,  where  they  wallow  in  mud  and  water 
among  reeds  and  under  the  shade  of  trees. 

The  Asiatic  species,  carrying  the  head  higher, 
has  more  dignity  of  appearance,  and  is  believed 
to  have  more  sagacity  and  courage  than  the 
African ;  which,  however,  is  not  inferior  in 
weight  or  bulk,  and  has  never  been  in  the  hands 
of  such  experienced  managers  as  the  Indian  mo- 
j  hauts  are,  who  have  acquired  such  deep  know- 
!  ledge  of  the  character  of  these  beasts  that  they 
i  make  them  submit  to  almost  incredible  opera- 
I  tions;  such,  for  example,  as  suffering  patiently 
j  the  extraction  of  a  decayed  part  of  a  tooth,  a 
kind  of  chisel  and  mallet  being  the  instruments 
I  used  for  the  purpose.  Elephants  walk  under 
water  as  long  as  the  end  of  the  proboscis  can  re- 
main above  the  surface ;  but  when  in  greater 
depth,  they  float  with  the  head  and  back  only 
about  a  foot  beneath  it.  They  are  steady,  assi- 
duous workmen  in  many  laborious  tasks,  often 
using  discretion  when  they  require  some  dexterity 
and  attention  in  the  performance.  Good  will  is 
all  man  can  trust  to  in  directing  them,  for  cor- 
rection cannot  be  enforced  beyond  their  patience  ; 
but  flattery,  good  treatment,  kind  words,  pro- 
mises, and  rewards,  even  to  the  wear  of  finery, 
have  the  desired  effect.  In  history  they  appear 
most  conspicuous  as  formidable  elements  of 
battle.  From  the  remotest  ages  they  were  trained 
for  war  by  the  nations  of  India,  and  by  their  aid 
they  no  doubt  acquired  and  long  held  possession 
of  several  regions  of  High  Asia  westward  of  the 
Indus. 

ELEUTHEROPOLIS,  a  place  not  named 
in  Scripture,  but  which  was  an  episcopal  city  of 
such  importance  in  the  time  of  Eusebius  and 
Jerome,  that  they  assumed  it  as  the  point  whence 
to  estimate  the  distances  and  positions  of  other 
cities  in  Southern  Palestine.  It  continued  to  be 
a  great  city  until  the  sixth  century :  but  after 
that  all  traces  of  it  were  lost.  In  recent  times, 
however,  Professor  Robinson  has  identified  it 
with  Keit-Jibriii,  a  village  of  moderate  size,  the 
capital  of  a  district  in  the  province  of  Gaza.  In 
and  around  this  village  are  ruins  of  diflFereut  ages, 


ELI 

more  extensive  and  massy  than  any  which  had 
been  seen  in  Palestine,  excepting  the  substruc- 
tions of  the  ancient  temple  at  Jerusalem  and  thd 
Haram  at  Hebron.  These  ruins  consist  princi- 
pally of  the  remains  of  a  fortress  of  immense 
strength,  in  the  midst  of  an  irregular  rounded 
enclosure,  encompassed  by  a  very  ancient  and 
strong  wall.  This  outer  wall  is  built  of  large 
squared  stones,  uncemented.  Along  this  wall  on 
the  inside,  towards  the  west  and  north-west,  is  a 
row  of  ancient  massive  vaults  with  fine  round 
arches,  apparently  of  the  same  age  as  the  wall 
I  itself,  and  both  undoubtedly  of  Roman  origin. 
In  the  midst  of  the  area  stands  an  irregular  castle, 
the  lower  parts  of  which  seem  to  be  as  ancient 
{  as  the  exterior  wall,  but  it  has  obviously  been 
]  built  up  again  in  modern  times.  An  inscription 
over  the  gate  shows  that  it  was  last  repaired  by 
the  Turks  a.h.  958  (a.d.  15.51),  nearly  two  years 
after  the  present  walls  of  Jerusalem  were  built. 
Remains  of  ancient  walls  and  dwellings  extend 
up  the  valley;  and  at  the  distance  of  twenty 
minutes  from  the  present  village  are  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient  church,  bearing  the  name  of  Santa 
Hanneh  (St.  Anne).  Only  the  eastern  end  is 
now  standing,  including  the  niche  of  the  great 
altar  and  that  of  a  side  chapel,  built  of  large 
hewn  stones  of  strong  and  beautifiil  masonry. 
Beit-Jibrin  is  twenty  miles  east  of  Askelon,  and 
thirteen  miles  east-north-east  from  Hebron. 

E'LI  {the  highest),  high-priest  of  the  Jews 
when  the  ark  was  in  Shiloh  (1  Sam.  i.  3,  9).  He 
was  the  first  high-priest  of  the  line  of  Ithamar, 
Aaron's  youngest  son.  This  is  deduced  from  1 
Chron.  xxiv.  3,  6.  It  also  appears  from  the 
omission  of  the  names  of  Eli  and  his  immediate 
successors  in  the  enumeration  of  the  high-priests 
of  Eleazar's  line  in  1  Chron.  vi.  4-C.  What 
occasioned  this  remarkable  transfer  is  not  known 
— most  probably  the  incapacity  or  minority  of 
the  then  sole  representative  of  the  elder  line ;  for 
it  is  very  evident  that  it  was  no  unauthorized 
usurpation  on  the  part  of  Eli  (1  Sam.  ii.  27,  28). 
Eli  also  acted  as  regent  or  civil  judge  of  Israel 
after  the  death  of  Samson.  This  function,  in- 
deed, seems  to  have  been  intended,  by  the  theo- 
cratical  constitution,  to  devolve  upon  the  high- 
priest,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  in  the  absence  of 
any  person  specially  appointed  by  the  Divine 
King,  to  deliver  and  govern  Israel.  He  is  said 
to  have  judged  Israel  forty  years  (1  Sam.  iv.  IS. 
As  Eli  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-eight  ( 1  Sam. 
iv.  15),  the  forty  years  must  have  commenced 
when  he  was  fifty-eight  years  old. 

Eli  seems  to  have  been  a  religious  man ;  and 
the  only  fault  recorded  of  him  was  an  excessive 
easiness  of  temper,  most  unbefitting  the  high  re- 
sponsibilities of  his  official  character.  His  sons, 
Hophni  and  Phinehas,  whom  he  invested  with 
authority,  misconducted  themselves  so  outrage- 
ously as  to  excite  deep  disgust  among  the  people, 
and  render  the  services  of  the  tabernacle  odious 
in  their  eyes.  Of  this  misconduct  Eli  was  aware, 
but  contented  himself  with  mild  and  ineffectual 
remonstrances,  where  his  station  required  severe 
and  vigorous  action.  For  this  neglect  the  judg- 
ment of  God  was  at  length  denounced  upon  his 
house,  through  the  young  Samuel,  who,  under 
peculiar  circumstances  [Samuel],  had  been  at- 
tached from  childhood  to  his  person  (1  Sam.  ii. 
29;  iii.  18).    Some  years  passed  without  any 


ELIEZER 

apparent  fulfilment  of  this  denunciation — but  it 
came  at  length  in  one  terrible  crasii,  by  which 
the  old  man's  heart  was  broken.  The  Philistines 
had  gained  the  upper  hand  over  Israel,  and  the 
ark  of  God  was  taken  to  the  field,  in  the  confi- 
dence of  victory  and  safety  from  its  presence. 
But  in  the  battle  which  followed,  the  ark  itself 
was  taken  by  the  Philisti;ies,  and  the  two  sons  of 
Eli,  wlio  were  in  attendance  upon  it,  were  slain. 
The  high-priest,  then  blind  with  age,  sat  by  the 
way-side  at  Shiloh,  awaiting  tidings  from  the 
war,  '  for  his  heart  trembled  for  the  ark  of  God.' 
A  man  of  Benjamin,  with  his  clothes  rent,  and 
with  earth  upon  his  head,  brought  the  fatal  news : 
and  Eli  heard  that  Israel  was  defeated — that  his 
sons  were  slain — that  the  ark  of  God  was  taken 
— at  which  last  word  he  f?ll  heavily  from  his 
seat,  and  died  (1  Sam.  iv). 

The  ultimate  doom  upon  Eli's  house  was  ac- 
complished when  Solomon  removed  Abiathar  (the 
last  high-priest  of  this  line)  from  his  office,  and 
restored  the  line  of  Eleazar  in  the  person  of  Za- 
dok  [Abiathar]. 

ELI'AKIM.     [Jehoiakim.] 

ELl'AS.     [Elijah.] 

ELIE'ZER.  This  is  the  same  name  as  Elea- 
zar— whence  came  the  abbreviated  Lazar  or  La- 
zarus of  the  New  Testament.  Mention  is  made 
(Gen.  XV.  2,  3)  of  Eliezer,  whom  before  the  birth 
of  Ishmael  and  Isaac  Abraham  regarded  as  his 
heir.  Abraham,  being  promised  a  son,  says  : — 
'  I  go  childless,  and  the  steward  of  my  house  is 

this  Eliezer  of  Damascus Behold,  to  me 

thou  hast  given  no  seed :  and,  lo,  one  born  in 
mine  house  is  mine  heir'  (Gen.  xv.  2,  3).  The 
common  notion  is  that  Eliezer  was  Abraham's 
house-born  slave,  adopted  as  his  heir,  and  mean- 
while his  chief  and  confidential  servant,  and  the 
same  who  was  afterwards  sent  into  Mesopotamia 
to  seek  a  wife  for  Isaac.  This  last  point  we  may 
dismiss  with  the  remark,  that  there  is  not  the 
least  evidence  that  '  the  elder  servant  of  his  house' 
(Gen.  xxiv.  2),  whom  Abraliam  charged  with 
this  mission,  was  the  same  as  Eliezer :  and  our 
attention  may  therefore  be  confined  to  the  verses 
which  have  been  quoted. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  third  verse  is  not  pro- 
perly a  sequel  to  the  second,  but  a  repetition  of 
the  statement  contained  in  the  second  ;  and,  being 
thus  regarded  as  parallel  passages,  the  two  may 
be  used  to  explain  each  other. 

'  Eliezer  of  Damascus,'  or  '  Daraascene-Eliezer,' 
is  the  subject  of  both  verses.  The  obvious  mean- 
ing is,  that  Eliezer  was  born  in  Damascus :  and 
how  is  this  compatible  with  the  notion  of  his 
being  Abraham's  hou.se-born  slave,  seeing  that 
Abraham's  household  never  was  at  Damascus  ? 

The  expression,  '  the  steward  of  mine  house,' 
in  ver.  2,  will  explain  the  sense  of  '  one  born  in 
mine  house  is  mine  heir,'  in  ver.  3.  The  first 
phrase,  literally  translated,  is  '  the  son  of  posses- 
sion of  my  house,"  i.  e.  one  who  shall  possess  my 
house,  my  property,  after  my  death ;  and  is 
therefore  exactly  the  same  as  the  phrase  in  the 
next  verse,  'the  son  of  my  house  (paraphrased 
by  •  one  born  in  mine  house')  is  mine  heir.'  This 
removes  the  whole  difiiculty  ;  for  it  is  no  longer 
necessary  to  suppose  that  Eliezer  was  a  house- 
born  slave,  or  a  servant  at  all ;  and  leaves  it  more 
probable  that  he  was  some  near  relative  whom 
Abraham  regarded  as  his   heir-at-law.     In  this 


ELIJAH 


285 


case  Abraham  obviously  means  to  say,  '  Behold, 
to  me  thou  hast  given  no  cliildren,  and  not  the 
son  of  my  loins,  but  the  sou  of  my  house  (t.  e. 
of  my  family — the  son  whom  my  house  gives  me 
— the  heirat-law)  is  mine  heir.'  It  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  '  this  Eliezer'  was  present  in 
Abraham's  camp  at  all :  and  we,  of  course,  can- 
not know  in  what  degree  he  stood  related  to 
Abraham,  or  under  what  circumstances  he  was 
born  at,  or  belonged  to  Damascus.  It  is  possible 
that  he  lived  there  at  the  very  time  when  Abra- 
ham thus  spoke  of  him,  and  that  he  is  hence 
called  '  Eliezer  of  Damascus.' 

2.  ELIEZER.  The  second  of  the  two  sons 
born  to  Moses  while  an  exile  in  the  land  of 
Midian  (Exod.  xviii.  4).  Eliezer  had  a  son 
called  Rebadiah  (1  Chron.  viii.  17). 

ELI'HU  (Jehovah  is  God).  One  of  Job's 
friends,  described  as  '  the  son  of  Barachel,  a 
Buzite,  of  the  kindred  of  Ram'  (Job  xxxii.  2). 
This  is  usually  understood  to  imply  that  he  was 
descended  from  Buz,  the  son  of  Abraham's  bro- 
ther Nahor,  from  whose  family  the  city  called 
Buz  (Jer.  xxv.  23)  also  took  its  name.  Elihu's 
name  does  not  appear  among  those  of  the  friends 
who  came  in  the  first  instance  to  condole  with 
Job,  nor  is  his  presence  indicated  till  the  debate 
between  the  afflicted  man  and  his  three  friends 
had  been  brought  to  a  conclusion.  Then,  finding 
there  was  no  answer  to  Job's  last  speech,  he  comes 
forward  with  considerable  modesty,  which  he 
loses  as  he  proceeds,  to  remark  on  the  debate, 
and  to  deliver  his  own  opinion  on  the  points  at 
issue.  The  character  and  scope  of  his  orations 
are  described  elsewhere  [Job,  Book  of].  It  ap- 
pears, from  the  manner  in  which  Elihu  introduces 
himself,  that  he  was  by  much  the  youngest  of 
the  party;  and  it  is  evident  that  he  had  been 
present  from  the  commencement  of  the  discussion, 
to  which  he  had  paid  very  close  attention.  This 
would  suggest  that  the  debate  between  Job  and 
his  friends  was  carried  on  in  the  presence  of  a 
deeply-interested  auditory,  among  which  was 
this  Elihu,  who  could  not  forbear  from  interfering 
v/hen  the  controversy  appeared  to  have  reached 
an  unsatisfactory  conclusion. 

ELI'JAH  {Jehovah  is  God).  This  wonder- 
working prophet  is  introduced  to  our  notice  like 
another  Melchizedek  (Gen.  xiv.  18;  Heb.  vii.  3), 
without  any  mention  of  his  father  or  mother,  or 
of  the  beginning  of  his  days.  From  this  silence 
of  Scripture  as  to  his  parentage  and  birth,  much 
vain  speculation  has  arisen.  Some  suppose  that 
Elijah  is  called  a  Tishbite  from  Tishbeh,  a  city 
beyond  the  Jordan.  The  very  first  sentence  that 
the  prophet  utters  is  a  direful  denunciation  against 
Ahab ;  and  this  he  supports  by  a  solemn  oath  : 
'  As  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  liveth,  before  whom 
I  stand,  there  shall  not  be  dew  or  rain  these 
years  (i.  e.  three  and  a  half  years,  Luke  iv.  25  ; 
James  v.  17),  but  according  to  my  word'  (1  Kings 
xvii.  1).  Before,  however,  he  spoke  thus,  it 
would  seem  that  he  had  been  warning  this  most 
wicked  king  as  to  the  fatal  consequences  which 
must  result  both  to  himself  and  his  people,  from 
the  iniquitous  course  he  was  then  pursuing :  and 
this  may  account  for  the  apparent  abruptness  with 
which  he  opens  his  commission. 

We  can  imagine  Ahab  and  Jezebel  being  greatly 
incensed  against  Elijah  for  having  foretold  and 
prayed  that  such  calamities  might  befall  them. 


ELIJAH 


ELIJAH 


For  some  time  they  might  attribute  the  drought 
utiiler  which  the  nation  suiferecl  to  natural  causes, 
and  not  to  the  interposition  of  the  prophet. 
When,  however,  they  saw  the  denunciation  of 
Elijah  taking  effect  far  more  extensively  than 
had  been  anticipated,  they  would  naturally  seek 
to  wreak  their  vengeance  upon  him  as  the  cause 
of  their  sufferings.  But  we  do  not  find  him 
taking  one  step  for  his  own  preservation,  till  the 
God  whom  he  served  said.  '  Get  thee  hence,  and 
turn  thee  eastward,  and  hide  thyself  by  the  brook 
Cherith,  that  is  before  Jordan :  and  it  shall  be 
that  thou  shalt  drink  of  the  brook ;  and  I  have 
commanded  the  ravens  to  feed  thee  there'  (1 
Kings  xvii.  3,  4).  Other  and  better  means  of 
protection  from  the  impending  danger  might 
seem  open  to  him ;  but,  regardless  of  these,  he 
hastened  to  obey  the  divine  mandate,  and  '  went 
and  dwelt  by  the  brook  Cherith  that  is  before 
Jordan'  (1  Kings  xvii.  5). 

A  fresh  trial  now  awaits  this  servant  of  God 
(b.c.  909),  and  in  the  manner  in  which  he  bears 
it,  we  see  the  strength  of  his  faith.  For  one  year, 
as  some  suppose,  God  had  miraculouslj-  provided 
for  his  bodily  wants  at  Cherith ;  but  the  brook 
which,  heretofore,  had  afforded  him  the  needful 
refreshment  there,  became  dried  up.  Encouraged 
by  past  experience  of  his  heavenly  Father's  care 
of  him,  the  prophet  still  waited  patiently  till  He 
said,  'Arise  (1  Kings  xvii.  9),  get  thee  to  Zare- 
phath,  which  belongeth  to  Zidon,  and  dwell  there : 
behold,  I  have  commanded  a  widow  woman  there 
to  sustain  thee.'  He  then,  at  once,  set  out  on  the 
journey,  and  now  arrived  at  Zarephath,  he,  in 
the  arrangement  of  God's  providence,  met,  as  he 
entered  its  gate,  the  very  woman  who  was  de- 
puted to  give  him  immediate  support.  But  his 
faith  is  again  put  to  a  sore  test,  for  he  found  her 
engaged  in  a  way  which  was  well  calculated  to 
discourage  all  his  hopes;  she  was  gathering 
sticks  for  the  purpose,  as  she  assured  him,  of 
cooking  her  last  meal,  and  now  that  the  famine 
prevailed  there,  as  it  did  in  Israel,  she  saw  nothing 
before  her  and  her  only  son  but  starvation  and 
death.  How  then  could  the  prophet  ask  for,  and 
how  could  she  think  of  giving,  a  part  of  her  last 
morsel  ?  The  same  Divine  Spirit  inspired  him 
to  assure  her  that  she  and  her  child  should  be 
even  miraculously  provided  for  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  famine  :  and  also  influenced  her 
heart  to  receive,  without  doubting,  the  assurance  ! 
The  kindness  of  this  widow  in  baking  the  first 
cake  for  Elijah  was  well  requited  with  a  pro- 
phet's reward  (Matt.x.  41,  42);  she  afforded  one 
meal  to  him,  and  God  afforded  many  to  her  (see 
1  Kings  XV.  IG).  While  residing  here  God  ac- 
cordingly saw  fit  to  visit  the  family  with  a  tem- 
porary calamity.  '  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
son  of  the  woman,  the  mistress  of  the  house,  fell 
sick  :  and  his  sickness  was  so  sore  that  there  was 
no  life  left  in  him'  (1  Kings  .xvii.  17).  Verse  18 
contains  the  expostulation  with  the  prophet  of 
this  bereaved  widow;  she  rashly  imputes  the 
death  to  his  presence.  Elijah  retaliates  not,  but 
calmly  takes  the  dead  child  out  of  the  mother's 
bosom,  and  lays  it  on  his  own  bed  (verse  19),  that 
there  he  may,  in  private,  pray  the  more  fervently 
for  its  restoration.  His  prayer  was  heard,  and 
answered  by  the  lestoration  of  life  to  the  child, 
and  of  gladness  to  the  widow's  heart. 

Since    now,     however,     the    long-protracted 


famine,  with  all  its  attendant  horrors,  failed  to 
detach  Ahab  and  his  guilty  people  from  their 
abominable  idolatries,  God  mercifully  gave  them 
another  opportunity  of  repenting  and  turning  to 
Himself.  For  three  years  and  si.x  months  (James 
V.  17)  the  destructive  famine  had  spread  its 
deadly  influence  over  the  whole  nation  of  Israel. 
The  prophet  was  then  called  by  the  word  of  the 
Lord  to  return  to  Israel.  Wishing  not  to  tempt 
God  by  going  unnecessarily  into  danger,  he  first 
presented  hiinself  to  good  Obadiah  (1  Kings 
xviii.  7).  This  principal  servant  of  Ahab  was 
also  a  true  servant  of  God  ;  and  on  recognising 
the  propliet  he  treated  him  with  honour  and  re- 
spect. Elijah  requested  him  to  announce  to 
Ahab  that  he  had  returned.  Obadiah,  appa- 
rently stung  by  the  unkindness  of  this  request, 
replied,  '  What  have  I  sinned,  that  thou  shouldest 
thus  expose  me  to  Ahab's  rage,  who  will  certainly 
slay  me  for  not  apprehending  thee,  for  whom  he 
has  so  long  and  so  anxiously  sought  in  all  lands 
and  in  confederate  countries,  that  they  should  not 
harbour  a  traitor  whom  he  looks  upon  as  the 
author  of  the  famine,'  &c.  Moreover,  he  would 
delicately  intimate  to  Elijah  how  he  had  actually 
jeoparded  his  own  life  in  securing  that  of  one 
hundred  of  the  Lord's  prophets,  and  whom  he 
had  fed  at  his  own  expense.  Satisfied  with  Eli- 
jah's reply  to  this  touching  appeal,  wherein  he 
removed  all  his  fears  about  the  Spirit's  carrying 
himself  away  (as  2  Kings  ii.  11-16  ;  Ezek.  viii.  3 ; 
Acts  viii.  39),  he  resolves  to  be  the  prophet's 
messenger  to  Ahab.  Intending  to  be  revenged  on 
him,  or  to  inquire  when  rain  might  be  expected, 
Ahab  now  came  forth  to  meet  Elijah.  He  at 
once  charged  him  with  being  the  main  cause  of 
all  the  calamities  which  he  and  the  nation  had 
suffered.  But  Elijah  flung  back  the  charge  upon 
himself,  assigning  the  real  cause  to  be  his  own 
sin  of  idolatry.  Regarding,  however,  his  ma- 
gisterial position,  while  he  reproved  his  sin,  he 
requests  him  to  exercise  his  authority  in  sum- 
moning an  assembly  to  Mount  Carmel,  that  the 
controversy  between  them  might  be  decided, 
whether  the  king  or  the  prophet  was  the  troubler 
of  Israel.  Whatever  were  the  secret  motives 
which  induced  Ahab  to  comply  with  this  pro- 
posal, God  directed  the  result.  Elijah  offered  to 
decide  this  controversy  between  God  and  Baal  by 
a  miracle  from  Heaven.  As  fire  was  the  element 
over  which  Baal  was  supposed  to  preside,  the 
prophet  proposes  (wishing  to  give  them  every 
advantage)  that,  two  bullocks  being  slain,  and 
laid  each  upon  a  distinct  altar,  the  one  for  Baal, 
the  other  for  Jehovah,  whichever  should  lie  con- 
sumed by  fire  must  proclaim  whose  the  people  of 
Israel  were,  and  whom  it  was  their  duty  to 
serve.  The  people  consent  to  this  proposal. 
Elijah  will  have  summoned  not  only  al)  the 
elders  of  Israel,  but  also  the  four  hundred  priests 
of  Baal  belonging  to  Jezebel's  court,  and  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty  who  were  dispersed  over  the 
kingdom.  Confident  of  success,  because  doubt- 
less God  had  revealed  the  whole  matter  to  him, 
he  enters  the  lists  of  contest  with  the  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  priests  of  Baal.  Having  recon- 
structed an  altar  which  had  once  belonged  to 
God,  with  twelve  stones — as  if  to  dec^are  that  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel  should  again  be  united  in 
the  service  of  Jehovah — and  having  laid  thereon 
his  bullock,  and  filled  the  trench  by  which  it  was 


ELIJAH 

surrounded  •with  large  quantities  of  water,  lest 
any  suspicion  of  deceit  might  occur  to  any  mind, 
the  prophet  gives  place  to  the  Baalitcs — allows 
them  to  make  trial  first.  In  vain  did  these  de- 
ceived and  deceiving  men  call,  from  mornmg  till 
evening,  upon  Baal — in  vain  did  they  now  mingle 
their  own  blood  with  that  of  the  sacrifice :  no 
answer  was  given — no  fire  descended. 

Elijah  having  rebuked  their  folly  and  wicked- 
ness with  the  sharpest  irony,  and  it  being  at  last 
evident  to  all  that  their  efforts  to  obtain  the 
wished-for  fire  were  vain,  now,  at  the  time  of  the 
evening  sacrifice,  offered  up  his  prayer.  The 
prayer  of  the  Baalites  was  long,  that  of  the  prophet 
was  short — charging  God  with  the  care  of  His 
covenant,  of  His  truth,  and  of  His  glory — when, 
behold,  '  the  fire  came  down,  licked  up  the  water, 
and  consumed  not  only  the  bullock,  but  the  very 
stones  of  the  altar  also.'  The  effect  of  this  on  the 
mind  of  the  people  was  what  the  prophet  desired : 
acknowledging  the  awful  presence  of  the  God- 
head, they  exclaim,  as  with  one  voice,  '  Jehovah 
He  is  the  God!  Jehovah  He  is  the  God!' 
Seizing  the  opportunity  whilst  the  people's  hearts 
were  warm  with  the  fresh  conviction  of  this 
miracle,  he  bade  them  take  those  juggling  priests 
and  destroy  them ;  and  this  he  might  lawfully  do 
at  God's  direction,  and  under  the  sanction  of  His 
law  (Dent.  xiii.  5  ;  xviii.  20).  Ahab  having  now 
publicly  vindicated  God's  violated  law  by  giving 
his  royal  sanction  to  the  execution  of  Baal's 
priests,  Elijah  informed  him  that  he  may  go  up 
to  his  tent  on  Carmel  to  take  refreshment,  for 
God  will  send  the  desired  rain.  In  the  meantime 
he  prayed  earnestly  (James  v.  17,  18)  for  this 
blessing :  God  heard  and  answered :  a  little  cloud 
arose  out  of  the  Mediterranean  sea,  in  sight  of 
which  the  prophet  now  was,  dififused  itself  gra- 
dually over  the  entire  face  of  the  heavens,  and 
then  emptied  its  refreshing  waters  upon  the  whole 
land  of  Israel.  Here  was  another  proof  of  the 
Divine  mission  of  the  prophet,  from  which,  we 
should  imagine,  the  whole  nation  must  have  pro- 
fited ;  but  subsequent  events  would  seem  to  prove 
that  the  impression  produced  by  these  dealings  of 
God  was  of  a  very  partial  and  temporary  cha- 
racter. Impressed  with  the  hope  that  the  report 
of  God's  miraculous  actings  at  Carmel  might  not 
only  reach  the  ear,  but  also  penetrate  and  soften 
the  hard  heart  of  Jezebel ;  and  anxious  that  the 
reformation  of  his  country  should  spread  in  and 
about  Jezreel  also,  Elijah,  strengthened,  as  we  are 
told,  from  on  high,  now  accompanies  Ahab  thither 
on  foot.  How  ill-founded  the  prophet's  expecta- 
tion was,  subsequent  events  too  painfully  proved. 
Jezebel,  instead  of  receiving  Elijah  obviously  as 
the  messenger  of  God  for  good  to  her  nation,  now 
secretly  conceived  and  openly  declared  her  fixed 
purpose  to  put  him  to  death.  Dreading  the  vile 
woman's  design,  and  probably  thinking  that  there 
■was  no  hope  of  producing  any  reformation  among 
the  people,  he  fled  into  the  wilderness,  and  there 
longed  for  death.  But  God  is  still  gracious  to 
him,  and  at  once  touches  his  heart  and  corrects 
his  petulancy  by  the  ministration  of  His  angel, 
and  by  an  awful  exhibition  of  His  Divine  power. 
And  having  done  this,  revealing  Himself  in  the 
gentle  accents  of  a  still  voice,  He  announces  to 
him  that  he  must  go  and  anoiut  Hazael  king  over 
Syria,  Jehu  king  over  Israel,  and  Elisha  prophet 
in  his  own  place,  ere  death  can  put  a  period  to 


ELIJAH 


287 


his  labours.  When  God  had  comforted  His  pro- 
phet by  telling  him  of  these  tliree  instruments  he 
had  in  store  to  vindicate  his  own  insulted  honour, 
then  he  convinced  him  of  his  mistake  in  saying 
'  I  only  am  left  alone,'  &c.,  by  the  assurance  that 
there  were  seven  thousand  in  Israel  who  had  not 
bowed  the  knee  to  Baal. 

Leaving  the  cave  of  Horeb  (b.c.  906),  Elijah 
now  proceeded  to  the  field  where  he  found  Elisha 
in  the  act  of  ploughing,  and  he  cast  his  prophet's 
mantle  over  him,  as  a  symbol  of  his  being  clothed 
with  God's  spirit.  The  Divine  impression  pro- 
duced upon  the  mind  of  Elisha  by  this  act  of 
Elijah  made  him  willing  to  leave  all  things  and 
follow  him. 

For  about  six  years  from  this  calling  of  Elisha 
we  find  no  notice  in  the  sacred  history  of  Elijah, 
till  God  sent  him  once  again  to  pronounce  sore 
judgments  upon  Ahab  and  Jezebel  for  the  murder 
of  unoffending  Naboth  (1  Kings  xxi.  17,  &c.). 
How  he  and  his  associate  in  the  prophetic  office 
employed  themselves  during  this  time  we  are  not 
told.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  complicated 
character  of  Ahab's  wickedness  (1  Kings  xxi.),  in 
winking  at  the  murderous  means  whereby  Jezebel 
procured  for  him  the  inalienable  property  of 
Naboth  [Ahab  ;  Naboth].  When  he  seemed  to 
be  triumphing  in  the  possession  of  his  ill-obtained 
gain,  Elijah  stood  before  him,  and  threatened 
him,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  (2  Kings  ix.  21-26 
inclusive),  that  God  would  retaliate  blood  for 
blood,  and  that  not  on  himself  only — '  his  seventy 
sons  shall  die,  and  (2  Kings  x.  6)  Jezebel  shall 
become  meat  for  dogs.'  Fearing  that  these  pi-e- 
dictions  would  prove  true,  as  those  about  the  rain 
and  fire  had  done,  Ahab  now  assumed  the  manner 
of  a  penitent ;  and,  though  subsequent  acts  proved 
that  his  repentance  was  not  permanent,  yet  God 
rewards  his  temporary  abasement  by  a  temporary 
arrest  of  judgment.  We  see,  however,  in  after 
parts  of  this  sacred  history,  how  the  judgments 
denounced  against  him,  his  abandoned  consort, 
and  children,  took  effect  to  the  very  letter. 

Elijah  again  retired  from  the  history  till  an 
act  of  blasphemy  on  the  part  of  Ahaziah,  the  son 
and  successor  of  Ahab,  causes  God  to  call  him 
forth.  Ahaziah  met  with  an  injury,  and,  fearing 
that  it  might  be  unto  death,  he,  as  if  to  prove 
himself  worthy  of  being  the  son  of  idolatrous 
Ahab  and  Jezebel,  sent  to  consult  Baalzebub,  the 
idol-god  of  Ekron ;  but  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
told  Elijah  to  go  forth  and  meet  the  messengers 
of  the  king  (2  Kings  i.  3,  4),  and  assure  them 
that  he  should  not  recover.  Suddenly  reappear- 
ing before  their  master,  he  said  unto  them,  '  Why 
are  ye  now  turned  back  ?'  when  they  answered, 
'  There  came  a  man  up  to  meet  us,  and  said  unto 
us,  Go,  turn  again  unto  the  king  that  sent  you, 
and  say  unto  him.  Thus  saith  the  Lord  :  Is  it  not 
because  there  is  no  God  in  Israel  that  thou 
sendest  to  inquire  of  Baalzebub,  the  god  of 
Ekron?  Wherefore  thou  shalt  rot  come  down 
from  that  bed  on  which  thou  art  gone  up,  but 
shalt  surely  die.'  Conscience  seems  to  have  at 
once  whispered  to  him  that  the  man  wlio  dared 
to  arrest  his  messengers  with  such  a  communi- 
cation must  be  Elijah,  the  bold  but  unsuccessful 
reprover  of  his  parents.  Detennined  to  chastise 
him  for  such  an  insult,  he  sent  a  captain  and  fifty 
armed  men  to  bring  him  into  his  presence  ;  but 
at  Elijah's  Mord  fire  descended  from  Heaven  and 


288  ELIPHAZ 

consumed  the  whole  band.  Attributing  this  de- 
struction of  his  men  to  some  natural  cause,  he 
sent  forth  another  company,  on  whom  though  the 
same  judgment  fell,  this  impious  king  is  not 
satisfied  till  another  and  a  similar  effort  is  made 
to  capture  the  prophet.  The  captain  of  the  third 
band  implored  and  found  mercy  at  the  hands  of 
the  prophet,  who  at  once  descended  from  Carmel 
and  accompanied  him  to  Ahaziah.  Fearless  of 
his  wrath,  Elijah  now  repeats  to  the  king  himself 
what  he  had  before  said  to  his  messengers,  and 
agreeably  thereto,  the  sacred  narrative  informs 
us  that  Ahaziah  died. 

The  above  was  the  last  more  public  effort 
which  the  prophet  made  to  reform  Israel.  His 
warfare  being  now  accomplished  on  earth,  God, 
whom  he  had  so  long  and  so  faithfully  .served, 
will  translate  him  in  a  chariot  of  fire  to  Heaven. 
Conscious  of  this,  he  determines  to  spend  his  last 
moments  in  imparting  divine  instruction  to,  and 
pronouncing  his  last  benediction  upon,  the  stu- 
dents in  the  colleges  of  Beth-el  and  Jericho ; 
accordingly,  he  made  a  circuit  from  Gilgal,  near 
the  Jordan,  to  Beth-el,  and  from  thence  to  Jeri- 
cho. Wishing  either  to  be  alone  at  the  moment 
of  being  caught  up  to  Heaven  ;  or,  what  is  more 
probable,  anxious  to  test  the  affection  of  Elisha 
(as  Christ  did  that  of  Peter),  he  delicately  inti- 
mates to  him  not  to  accompany  him  in  this  tour. 
But  the  faithful  Elisha,  to  whom,  as  also  to  the 
schools  of  the  prophets,  God  had  revealed  his 
purpose  to  remove  Elijah,  declares  his  fixed  de- 
termination not  to  forsake  his  master  now  at  the 
close  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage.  Ere  yet,  how- 
ever, the  chariot  of  God  descended  for  him,  he 
asks  what  he  should  do  for  Elisha.  The  latter, 
conscious  of  the  complicated  and  difficult  duties 
which  now  awaited  him,  asks  for  a  double  por- 
tion of  Elijah's  spirit.  Elijah,  acknowledging 
the  magnitude  of  the  request,  yet  promises  to 
grant  it  on  the  contingency  of  Elisha  seeing  liim 
at  the  moment  of  his  rapture.  Possibly  this  con- 
tingency was  placed  before  him  in  order  to  make 
him  more  on  the  watch,  that  the  glorious  depar- 
ture of  Elijah  sliould  not  take  place  without  his 
actually  seeing  it.  Whilst  standing  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Jordan,  whose  waters  were  miracu- 
lously parted  for  them  to  pass  over  on  dry  ground, 
angels  descended,  as  in  a  fiery  chariot,  and,  in 
the  sight  of  fifty  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  and 
Elisha,  carried  Elijah  into  Heaven.  Elisha,  at 
this  wonderful  sight,  cried  out,  like  a  bereaved 
child,  'My  Father,  my  Father,  the  chariot  of 
Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof:'  as  if  he  had 
said,  Alas !  the  strength  and  saviour  of  Israel  is 
now  departed  !  But  it  was  not  so  ;  for  God  de- 
signed that  the  mantle  which  fell  from  Elijah  as 
he  ascended  should  now  remain  with  Elisha  as  a 
pledge  that  the  office  and  spirit  of  the  former 
had  now  fallen  upon  himself. 

E'LIM,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Israelites  in 
the  route  to  Mount  Sinai  [Sinai]. 

ELIM'ELECH  {God  the  king),  a  native  of 
Bethlehem,  husband  of  Naomi,  and  father  by  her 
of  two  sons,  Mahlon  and  Chilion.  In  a  time  of 
scarcity  he  withdrew  with  his  family  into  the 
land  of  Moab,  where  he  died  (Ruth  i.  1-3). 
[Naomi;  Ruth.] 

1.  ELI'PHAZ  {God  the  strong),  a  son  of 
Esau  and  Adah  (Gen.  xxxvi.  10). 

2.  ELI'PHAZ,  one  of  the  three  friends  who 


ELISHA 

came  to  condole  with  Job  in  his  afHiction,  and 
who  took  part  in  that  remarkable  disca;sion 
which  occupies  the  book  of  Job.  He  was  of 
Teman  in  Idumsea ;  and  as  Eliphaz  the  S3n  of 
Esau  had  a  son  called  Teraan,  from  whom  the 
place  took  its  name,  there  is  reason  to  conclude 
that  this  Eliphaz  was  a  descendant  of  the  former 
Eliphaz.  Some,  indeed,  even  go  so  far  as  to  sup- 
pose that  the  Eliphaz  of  Job  was  no  other  than 
the  son  of  Esau.  This  view  is  of  course  confined 
to  those  who  refer  the  age  of  Job  to  the  time  of 
the  patriarchs. 

Eliphaz  is  the  first  of  the  friends  to  take  up  the 
debate,  in  reply  to  Job's  passionate  complaints. 
The  scope  of  his  argument  and  the  character  of 
his  oratory  are  described  under  another  head 
[Job,  Book  of].  He  appears  to  have  been  the 
oldest  of  the  speakers,  from  which  circumstance, 
or  from  natural  disposition,  his  language  is  more 
mild  and  sedate  than  that  of  any  of  the  other 
speakers.  He  begins  his  orations  with  delicacy, 
and  conducts  his  part  of  the  argument  with  con- 
siderable address.  His  share  in  the  controversy 
occupies  chapters  iv.  v.  xv.  xxii. 

ELIS'ABETH,  wife  of  Zacharias,  and  mother 
of  John  the  Baptist  (Luke  i.  b).  "rhe  name  in 
this  precise  shape  does  not  occur  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, where  the  names  of  few  females  are 
given.  But  it  is  a  Hebrew  name,  the  same  in 
fact  as  Elisheba,  which  see. 

ELI'SHA  {God  the  deliverer).  The  man- 
ner, and  the  circumstances  in  which  Elisha 
was  called  to  the  prophetic  office  have  been 
noticed  in  the  article  Elijah.  I 

Anxious  to  enter  at  once  upon  the  duties  of 
his  sacred  oflice,  Elisha  determined  to  visit  the 
schools  of  the  prophets  which  were  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Jordan.  Accordingly,  returning  to 
this  river,  and  wishing  that  sensible  evidence 
should  be  afforded,  both  to  himself  and  others,  of 
the  spirit  and  power  of  his  departed  master  rest- 
ing upon  him,  he  struck  its  waters  with  Elijah's 
mantle,  when  they  parted  asunder  and  opened  a 
way  for  him  to  pass  over  on  dry  land.  Witness- 
ing this  miraculous  transaction,  the  fifty  sons  of 
the  prophets,  who  had  seen  from  the  opposite  side 
Elijah's  ascension,  and  who  were  awaiting  Eli- 
sha's  return,  now,  with  becoming  reverence,  ac- 
knowledged him  their  spiritual  head. 

The  divine  authority  by  which  Elisha  became 
the  successor  of  Elijah  received  further  confirma- 
tion from  the  miracle  whereby  the  bitter  waters 
of  Jericho  were  made  sweet,  and  the  place  thereby 
rendered  fit  for  the  habitation  of  man  (2  Kings 
ii.  19-22). 

As  the  general  visitor  of  the  schools  of  the  pro- 
phets, Elisha  now  passes  on  from  Jericho  to  the 
college  which  was  at  Beth-el.  Ere,  however,  he 
entered  Beth- el,  there  met  him  from  thence  (2 
Kings  ii.  2.'5,  24)  little  children,  who,  no  doubt 
instigated  by  their  idolatrous  parents,  tauntingly 
told  him  to  ascend  into  heaven,  as  did  his  master, 
Elijah.  There  was  in  their  expressions  an  ad- 
mixture of  rudeness,  infidelity,  and  impiety.  But 
the  inhabitants  of  Beth-el  were  to  know,  from 
bitter  experience,  that  to  dishonour  God's  pro- 
phets was  to  dishonour  Himself;  for  Elisha  was 
at  the  moment  inspired  to  pronounce  the  judg- 
ment which  at  once  took  effect :  God,  who  never 
wants  for  instruments  to  accomplish  his  purposes, 
caused  two  she-bears  to  emerge  from  a  neigh- 


ELISHA 


ELISHA 


bouring  wood,  and  destroy  the  young  delin- 
quents. 

Jehoram,  who  reigned  over  Israel  at  this  time, 
though  not  a  Baalite,  was  yet  addicted  to  the 
sin  of  Jeroboam :  still  he  inherits  the  friendship 
of  Jehoshaphat,  the  good  King  of  Judaea,  whose 
counsel,  possibly,  under  God,  had  detached  him 
from  the  more  gross  idolatry  of  his  father  Ahab. 
Wishing  to  see  the  now  (b.c.  895)  revolted  king  of 
Moab  reduced  to  his  wonted  allegiance  to  Israel, 
Jehoshaphat  determined  to  go  up  to  battle  against 
him,  together  with  Jehoram,  and  his  own  tribu- 
tary the  king  of  Edom.  These  combined  armies 
met  together  on  the  plains  of  Edom.  Confident 
in  their  own  powers  they  press  onward  against  the 
enemy  ;  but,  not  meeting  him,  another  of  a  more 
formidable  character  started  up  before  them.  In 
the  midst  of  the  arid  plains  of  Arabia  Petrsea  they 
could  find  no  water.  Jehoram  deplored  the  cala- 
mity into  which  they  had  fallen,  but  Jehoshaphat 
inquired  for  a  prophet.  On  this,  one  of  his  cour- 
tiers said  to  Jehoram,  '  Here  is  Elisha,  the  son  of 
Shaphat,  who  poured  water  on  the  hands  of  Eli- 
jah.' No  sooner  were  they  made  acquainted  with 
the  fact  that  Elisha  was  at  hand  than  tlie  three 
kings  waited  upon  him.  Elisha,  feeling  that  it 
was  nought  but  superstitious  fear,  joined  to  the 
influence  of  Jehoshaphat,  which  led  Jehoram  thus 
to  consult  him,  now  indignantly  and  tauntingly- 
advised  him  to  go  for  succour  to  the  gods  of  his 
father  Ahab  and  of  his  mother  Jezebel.  The  re- 
proved monarch  was  then  led  to  acknowledge  the 
inipotency  of  those  gods  in  whom  he  had  trusted, 
and  the  power  of  that  God  whom  he  had  neglected. 
Still  the  man  of  God,  seeing  the  hollowness  of 
Jehoram's  humiliation,  continues  :  '  As  the  Lord 
liveth,  before  whom  I  stand,  surely  were  it  not 
that  I  regard  the  presence  of  Jehoshaphat,  the 
king  of  Judah,  I  would  not  look  toward  thee.' 
Having  thus  addressed  Jehoram,  Elisha  desired 
a  minstrel  to  be  brought  before  him;  and  now 
when  his  spirit  was  calmed  by,  perhaps,  one  of 
the  songs  of  Zion,  '  The  hand  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  him.'  The  minstrel  ceased,  and  P^lisha 
made  known  the  joyful  intelligence  that  not  only 
should  water  be  miraculously  supplied,  but  also 
that  Moab  should  be  overcome.  Accordingly  the 
next  morning  they  realized  the  truth  of  this  pre- 
diction. But  the  same  water  which  preserves 
their  lives  becomes  the  source  of  destruction  to 
their  enemies.  The  Moabites.  who  had  received 
intelligence  of  the  advance  of  the  allied  army, 
were  now  assembled  upon  their  frontiers.  When 
the  sun  was  up,  and  its  rosy  light  first  fell  upon 
the  water,  their  van-guard,  beholding  it  at  a 
distance,  supposed  it  to  be  blood.  Thus  the 
notion  was  rapidly  spread  from  one  end  to 
another  that  the  kings  were  surely  slain,  having 
fallen  out  amongst  themselves.  Hence  there  was 
a  universal  shout,  *  Moab,  to  the  spoil ! '  and  they 
went  forward  confident  of  victory.  But  behold- 
ing the  Israelitish  squadrons  advancing  to  meet 
them,  they  fled  in  the  utmost  panic  and  confusion 
(•i  Kings  iii.  ?.0,  &c.). 

The  war  having  terminated  in  the  signal  over- 
throw of  the  revolters,  Elisha,  who  had  returned 
home,  is  again  employed  in  ministering  blessings. 
The  widow  of  a  pious  prophet  presented  herself 
before  him  (2  Kings  iv.),  informed  him  that  her 
husband  having  died  in  debt,  his  creditors  were 
about  to  sell  her  two  only  sons,  which,  by  an  ex- 


tension of  the  law  (Exod.  xxi.  7,  and  Lev.  xxv. 

39),  and  by  virtue  of  another  (Exod.  xxii.  3), 
they  had  the  power  to  do ;  and  against  this  hard- 
hearted act  she  implores  the  prophet's  assistance. 
Elisha  then  inquired  how  far  she  herself  had  the 
power  to  avert  the  threatened  calamity.  She  re- 
plied that  the  only  thing  of  which  she  was  pos- 
sessed was  one  pot  of  oil.  By  multiplying  this, 
as  did  his  predecessor  Elijah  in  the  case  of  the 
widow  of  Zarephath,  he  enabled  her  at  once  to  pay 
off  her  debts  and  thereby  to  preserve  the  liberty 
of  her  children  (2  Kings  iv.  1-7). 

It  is  next  related  that  in  his  visitations  to  the 
schools  of  the  prophets  his  journey  lay  through 
the  city  of  Shunem,  where  lived  a  rich  and  godly 
woman.  W^ishing  that  he  should  take  up,  more 
than  occasionally,  his  abode  under  her  roof,  she 
proposed  to  her  husband  to  construct  a  chamber 
for  his  reception.  The  husband  at  once  consented, 
and,  the  apartment  being  completed  and  fitted  up 
in  a  way  that  showed  their  proper  conception  of 
his  feeling,  the  prophet  becomes  its  occupant. 
The  woman  was  childless ;  and  the  gratitude  of 
the  prophet  for  her  disinterested  kindness  was 
evinced  by  the  gift  of  a  son,  which  the  Lord,  at 
his  prayer,  bestowed  upon  her.  This  new  pledge 
of  their  att'ection  grows  up  till  he  is  able  to  visit 
his  fon-d  father  in  the  harvest-field,  when  all  the 
hopes  they  had  built  up  in  him  were  overthrown 
by  his  being  suddenly  laid  prostrate  in  death. 
The  bereaved  mother,  out  of  tenderness  towards 
the  feelings  of  tlie  father,  concealed  the  fact  that 
the  child  was  no  more  till  she  should  see  if  it 
might  please  God,  through  Elisha,  to  restore  him 
to  life.  She  therefore  hastened  to  Carmel,  where 
she  found  the  prophet,  and  informed  him  what 
had  taken  place.  Conceiving  probably  that  it 
was  a  case  of  mere  suspended  animation  or  a 
swoon,  the  prophet  sent  Gehazi,  his  servant,  to 
place  his  staff  on  the  face  of  the  child,  in  the  hope 
that  it  might  act  as  a  stimulus  to  excite  the  ani- 
mal motions.  L'ut  the  mother,  conscious  that  he 
was  actually  departed,  continued  to  entreat  that 
he  himself  v/ould  come  to  the  chamber  of  the 
dead.  He  did  so,  and  found  that  the  soul  of  the 
child  had  indeed  fled  from  the  earthly  tenement. 
Natural  means  belong  to  man ;  those  that  are 
supernatural  belong  to  God :  we  should  do  our 
part,  and  beg  of  God  to  do  his.  On  this  prin- 
ciple the  prophet  on  this  occasion  acted.  God 
blessed  the  means  used,  and  answered  the  prayer 
presented  by  Elisha.  The  child  is  raised  up  and 
restored  to  the  fond  embrace  of  its  grateful  and 
rejoicing  parents. 

The  next  remarkable  event  in  the  history  of 
Elisha  was  the  miraculous  healing  of  the  incurable 
leprosy  of  the  Syrian  general,  Naaman,  whereby 
the  neighbouring  nation  had  the  opportunity  of 
learning  the  beneficence  of  that  God  of  Israel, 
whose  judgments  had  often  brought  them  very 
low.  The  particulars  are  given  under  another 
head  [Naaman]. 

Soon  after  this  transaction  we  find  this  man 
of  God  in  Gilgal,  miraculoiisly  neutralizing  the 
poison  which  had,  t)y  mistake,  been  mixed  with 
the  food  of  the  prophets,  and  also  feeding  one 
hundred  of  them  with  twenty  small  loaves  which 
had  been  sent  for  his  own  consumption  (2  Kings 
iv.  38,  &c.). 

Notwithstanding  the  general  profligacy  of  Is- 
rael, the  schools  of  the  prophets  increased,  B.C. 
u 


290 


ELISHA 


890.  This  was,  doubtless,  owing  to  the  influence 
of  Elisha.  Accompanied  by  their  master,  a  party 
of  these  young  prophets,  or  theological  students, 
came  to  the  Jordan,  and  whilst  one  of  them  was 
'  felling  a  beam  (for  the  purpose  of  constructing 
there  a  house)  the  axe-head  fell  into  the  water.' 
This  accident  was  the  more  distressing  because 
the  axe  was  borrowed  property.  Elisha,  how- 
ever, soon  relieved  him  by  causing  it  miraculously 
to  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  river. 

The  sacred  record  again  leads  us  to  contemplate 
the  prophet's  usefulness,  in  reference  to  his 
country  at  large.  Does  the  king  of  Syria  devise 
well-concerted  schemes  for  the  destruction  of 
Israel  ?  God  inspires  Elisha  to  detect  and  lay 
them  open  to  Jehoram.  Benhadad,  on  hearing 
that  it  was  he  that  thus  caused  his  hostile  move- 
ments to  be  frustrated,  sent  an  armed  band  to 
Dothan  in  order  to  bring  him  bound  to  Damascus. 
The  prophet's  servant,  on  seeing  the  host  of  the 
enemy  which  invested  Dothan,  was  much  alarmed, 
but  by  the  prayer  of  Elisha,  God  reveals  to  him 
the  mighty  company  of  angels  which  were  set  for 
their  defence.  Regardless  of  consequences,  the 
prophet  went  forth  to  meet  the  hostile  band  :  and 
having  again  prayed,  God  so  blinded  them  that 
they  could  not  recognize  the  object  of  their  search. 
The  prophet  then  promised  to  lead  them  to  where 
they  might  see  him  with  the  natural  eye.  Trust- 
ing to  his  guidance,  th-ey  followed  on  till  they 
reached  the  centre  of  Samaria,  when,  the  optical 
illusion  being  removed,  Elisha  stood  in  his  recog- 
nized form  before  them.  The  king  was  for  put- 
ting them  all  to  death  ;  but,  through  the  interpo- 
sition of  him  whom  they  had  just  before  sought 
to  destroy,  they  were  honourably  dismissed  to 
their  own  country  (b.c.  892).  But  a  year  had 
scarcely  elapsed  from  this  time  when  Benhadad, 
unmindful  of  Israel's  kindness  and  forbearanco, 
invested  Samaria  and  reduced  its  inhabitants  to 
a  state  of  the  most  cruel  famine.  Yet  the  king  of 
Israel  plunged  still  deeper  into  sin,  for  he  ordered 
Elisha  to  be  put  to  death,  conceiving  that  it  was 
his  prayer  which  brought  these  sutFerings  upon 
himself  and  nation.  But  God  forewarned  the 
prophet  of  his  danger,  and  inspired  him  to  pre- 
dict to  the  wicked  king  that  by  to-morrow  '  a 
measure  of  fine  flour  should  be  sold  for  a  shekel, 
and  two  measures  of  barley  for  a  shekel,  in  the 
gate  of  Samaria.'  This  assurance  was  not  more 
comfortable  than  incredible ;  but  when  the  lord 
on  whose  hand  the  king  leaned  expressed  his  dis- 
belief, he  was  awfully  rebuked  by  the  assurance 
that  he  should  see  but  not  enjoy  the  benefit.  The 
next  night  God  caused  the  Syrians  to  hear  the 
noise  of  chariots  and  horses ;  and  conceiving  that 
Jehoram  had  hired  against  them  the  kings  of  the 
Hittites  and  the  king  of  Egypt,  they  fled  from 
before  the  walls  of  Samaria — leaving  their  tents 
filled  with  gold  and  provisions — in  the  utmost 
panic  and  confusion.  In  this  way  did  God,  ac- 
cording to  the  word  of  Elisha,  miraculously  de- 
liver the  inhabitants  of  Samaria  from  a  deadly 
enemy  without,  and  from  sore  famine  within,  its 
walls  :  another  prediction,  moreover,  was  accom- 
plished ;  for  the  distrustful  lord  was  trampled  to 
death  by  the  famished  people  in  rushing  through 
the  gate  of  the  city  to  the  forsaken  tents  of  the 
Syrians  (2  Kings  vii.). 

We  next  find  the  prophet  in  Damascus,  but 
are  not  told  what  led  him  thither  (b.c.  885). 


ELKOSH 

Benhadad,  the  king,  whose  counsels  he  had  so 
often  frustrated,  rejoiced  to  hear  of  his  presence ; 
and  now,  as  if  he  had  forgotten  the  attempt  he 
once  made  upon  his  life,  dispatches  a  noble  mes- 
senger with  a  costly  present,  to  consult  him  con- 
cerning his  sickness  and  recovery.  The  prophet 
replied  that  he  should  then  die,  though  his  in- 
disposition was  not  of  a  deadly  character.  Seeing 
moreover,  in  prophetic  vision,  that  the  man 
Hazael,  who  now  stood  before  him,  should  be 
king  in  Benhadad's  stead  ;  and  that,  as  such,  he 
would  commit  unheard-of  cruelties  upon  his 
country,  the  pi'ophet  was  moved  to  tears.  How 
these  painful  anticipations  of  Elisha  were  realized 
the  subsequent  history  of  this  man  proved. 

For  a  considerable  time  after  Elisha  had  sent 
to  anoint  Jehu  king  over  Israel  we  find  no  men- 
tion of  him  in  the  sacred  record.  We  have  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  was  utterly  neglected  b}'  Jehu, 
Jehoahaz,  and  Joash,  who  reigned  in  succession. 
Neither  the  sanctity  of  his  life  nor  the  stupendous 
miracles  he  wrought  had  the  effect  of  reforming 
the  nation  at  large :  much  of  the  time  of  his 
latter  years  was,  doubtless,  spent  in  the  schools  of 
the  prophets.  At  length,  worn  out  by  his  public 
and  private  labours,  and  at  the  age  of  90— during 
60  of  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  prophesied — 
he  is  called  into  eternity.  Nor  was  the  manner 
of  his  death  inglorious ;  though  he  did  not  enter 
into  rest  as  did  Elijah  (2  Kings  xiii.  14,  &c.). 
Amongst  his  weeping  attendants  was  Joash,  the 
king  of  Israel.  He  was  probably  stung  with 
remorse  for  having  so  neglected  to  acknowledge 
his  national  worth ;  yet,  though  late,  God  does 
not  suflTer  this  public  recognition  of  his  aged  and 
faithful  servant  to  go  unrequited.  The  spirit  of 
prophecy  again  entering  the  dying  Elisha,  he 
informed  Joash  that  he  should  prevail  against 
the  Syrians.  Even  after  death  God  would  put 
honour  upon  Elisha :  a  dead  body  having  touched 
his  bones  came  to  life  again.     (2  Kings  xiii.  21.) 

Elisha  was  not  less  eminent  than  his  predeces- 
sor Elijah.  His  miracles  are  various  and  stu- 
pendous, and,  like  those  which  were  wrought  by 
Christ,  were  on  the  whole  of  a  merciful  character. 
In  this  they  were  remarkably  distinguished,  in 
many  instances,  from  the  miracles  of  Elijah. 

ELIS'HAII,  a  son  of  Javan  (Gen.  x.  4),  who 
seems  to  have  given  name  to  'the  isles  of  Elishah,' 
which  are  described  as  exporting  fabrics  of  pur- 
ple and  scarlet  to  the  markets  of  Tyre  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  7).  If  the  descendants  of  Javan  peopled 
Greece,  we  may  expect  to  find  Elishah  in  some 
province  of  that  country ;  but  no  certainty  can  be 
arrived  at  on  the  subject. 

ELISH'EBA,  covenant-God:  wife  of  Aaron, 
and  hence  the  mother  of  the  priestly  family 
(Exod.  vi.  23). 

EL'KANAH,  God  the  Creator.  Several  persons 
of  this  name  are  mentioned  in  Scripture,  as  a  son 
of  Korah  (Exod.  vi.  24 ;  1  Chrou.  vi.  23) ;  the 
father  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  i.  1,  seq. ;  ii.  11-20; 
1  Chron.  vi.  27);  a  friend  of  king  Ahab  (2  Chron. 
xxviii.  7);  one  of  David's  heroes  (1  Chron.  xii. 
G)  ;  Levites  (1  Chron.  vi.  23,  25,  2G,  27  ;  xv.  23). 

EL'KOSH.  The  prophet  Nahum  is  called  an 
Elkoshite,  that  is  a  native  of  some  place  called 
Elkosh  (Nahum  i.  1).  There  was  a  village  of 
thi;s  name  in  Galilee  in  the  time  of  Jerome ;  but 
the  prophet  was  more  probably  born  of  Jewish 
exiles  at    Elkosh  or  Alkush   in   Assyria,  near 


EMIM 

Mosul.  The  Jews  themselves  believe  that  he 
was  born  and  buried  there ;  and  Jewish  pilgrims 
from  all  parts  still  visit  his  alleged  tomb.  Al- 
kosh  is  thirty-four  miles  north  of  Mosul  (Nine- 
veh), and  is  situated  a  little  way  up  the  side  of  a 
mountain,  in  the  range  to  which  it  gives  its  name. 
It  is  entirely  inhabited  by  Chaldee  Christians, 
who  have  a  convent  higher  up  the  mountains. 

ELLA'SAR,  a  territory  in  Asia,  whose  king, 
Arioch,  was  one  of  the  four  who  invaded  Canaan 
in  the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  1).  The  as- 
sociation of  this  king  with  those  of  Elam  and 
Shinar,  indicates  the  region  in  which  the  king- 
dom should  be  sought;  but  nothing  further  is 
known  of  it,  unless  it  be  the  same  as  Thelassar 
mentioned  in  2  Kings  xix.  12  [Thelassak]. 

E'LON,  of  the  tribe  of  Zebulon,  who  judged 
Israel  ten  years.  He  was  preceded  by  Ibzan 
of  Bethlehem,  and  succeeded  by  Abdon  of 
Ephraim.  The  whole  period  covered  by  their 
administration  was  twenty-five  years  (ffom  B.C. 
1190  to  1174);  but  it  is  probable  that  they  were 
for  a  part  of  this  time  contemporary,  each  exer- 
cising authority  over  a  few  of  the  tribes.  They 
appear  to  have  overawed  the  enemies  of  Israel  by 
their  judicious  administration  ;  for  no  war  is 
mentioned  in  their  time  (Judg.  xii.  8-15). 

E'LUL,  Neh.  vi.  15,  is  the  name  of  that 
month  which  was  the  sixth  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical, and  twelfth  of  the  civil,  year  of  the  Jews, 
and  which  began  with  the  new  moon  of  our 
September.  According  to  the  Megillat  Taanith, 
the  1 7th  day  of  this  month  was  a  public  fast  for 
the  death  of  the  spies  who  brought  back  a  bad 
report  of  the  land  (Num.  xiv.  37). 

EL'YMAS,  an  appellative  supposed  to  mean 
a  wise  man,  applied  to  a  Jew  named  Bar-Jesus, 
mentioned  in  Acts  xiii.  6-11.  Chrysostom  ob- 
serves, in  reference  to  the  blindness  inflicted  by 
the  Apostle  on  Bar-Jesus,  that  the  limiting  clause 
'for  a  season,'  shows  that  it  was  not  intended  so 
much  for  the  punishment  of  the  sorcerer  as  for 
the  conversion  of  the  deputy. 

EMBALMING.     [Bukial.] 

EMERALD,  Nophech,  a  precious  stone,  named 
in  Exod.  xxviii.  18  ;  xxxix.  11  ;  Ezek.xxvii.  16  ; 
xxviii.  13  ;  in  all  of  which  places  it  is  rendered 
Emerald  in  the  Authorized  Version.  The 
Sept.  and  Josephus  render  it  by  Carbuncle.  This 
name,  denoting  a  live  coal,  the  ancients  gave  to 
several  glowing  red  stones  resembling  live  coals, 
particularly  rubies  and  garnets.  The  most  valued 
of  the  carbuncles  seems,  however,  to  have  been 
the  Oriental  garnet,  a  transparent  red  stone,  with 
a  violet  shade,  and  strong  vitreous  lustre.  It  was 
i^ngraved  upon  and  was  probably  not  so  hard  as 
the  ruby,  which,  indeed,  is  the  most  beautiful  and 
costly  of  the  precious  stones  of  a  red  colour,  but 
is  so  hard  that  it  cannot  easily  be  subjected  to 
the  graving-tool.  The  Hebrew  nophech,  in  the 
breastplate  of  the  high-priest,  was  certainly  an 
engraved  stone;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that 
the  ancients  could  engrave  the  ruby,  although 
this  has  in  modern  times  been  accomplished. 
Upon  the  whole,  the  particulai"  kind  of  stone 
denoted  by  the  Hebrew  word  must  be  regarded 
as  uncertain. 

EMERODS,  a  painful  disease  with  which  the 
Philistines  were  afflicted  (1  Sam.  v.  6). 

E'MIM,  a  numerous  and  gigantic  race  of 
people  who,  in  the  time  of  Abraham,  occupied  the 


ENDOR  291 

country  beyond  the  Jordan,  afterwards  possessed 
by  the  Moabites  (Gen.  xiv.  5;  Deut.  ii.  10). 

EMMA'US  {hot  baths),  a  village  60  stadia,  or 
7j  miles,  from  Jerusalem,  noted  for  our  Lord's 
interview  with  two  disciples  on  the  day  of  his 
resurrection  (Luke  xxiv.  13).  The  same  place 
is  mentioned  by  Josephus  {De  Bell.  Jud.  vii.  6. 
6),  and  placed  at  the  same  distance  from  Jerusa- 
lem, in  stating  that  Vespasian  left  800  soldiers  in 
Judaea,  to  whom  he  gave  the  village  of  Emmaus. 
The  site  is  not  now  known.  The  other  Emmaus, 
also  called  Nicopolis,  is  identified  with  Luisun, 
about  midway  between  Jerusalem  and  Ramleh. 
There  was  another  Emmaus,  near  Tiberias,  on 
the  lake  of  the  same  name,  where  the  hot  baths 
which  gave  name  to  it  are  still  frequented,  and 
have  a  temperature  of  130°  Fahrenheit.  Neither 
of  these  places  is  named  in  Scripture. 

EN,  properly  Ain,  a  word  signifying  '  foun- 
tain ;'  and  hence  entering  into  the  composition 
of  sundry  local  names,  which  are  explained 
under  Ain. 

ENCAMPMENTS.  Of  the  Jewish  system  of 
encampment  the  Mosaic  books  have  left  a  detailed 
description.  From  the  period  of  the  sojourn  in 
the  wilderness  to  the  crossing  of  the  Jordan  the 
twelve  tribes  were  formed  into  four  great  armies, 
encamping  in  as  many  fronts,  or  forming  a  square, 
with  a  great  space  in  the  rear,  where  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  Lord  was  placed,  surrounded  by  the 
tribe  of  Levi  and  the  bodies  of  carriers,  &c.,  by 
the  stalls  of  the  cattle  and  the  baggage  :  the  four 
fronts  faced  the  cardinal  points  while  the  march 
was  eastward,  but  as  Judah  continued  to  lead  the 
van,  it  follows  that  when  the  Jordan  was  to  be 
crossed  the  direction  became  westward,  and  there- 
fore the  general  arrangement,  so  far  as  the  car- 
dinal points  were  concerned,  was  reversed.  It 
does  not  appear  that,  dxiring  this  time,  Israel  ever 
had  lines  of  defence  thrown  up;  but  in  after  ages, 
when  only  single  armies  came  into  the  field,  it  is 
probable  that  the  castral  disposition  was  not  in- 
variably quadrangular ;  and,  from  the  many 
positions  indicated  on  the  crests  of  steep  moun- 
tains, the  fronts  were  clearly  adapted  to  the 
ground  and  to  the  space  which  it  was  necessary 
to  occupy.  The  rear  of  siich  positions,  or  the 
square  camps  in  the  plain,  appear  from  the  mar- 
ginal reading  of  1  Sam.  xvii.  20,  and  xxvi.  5,  to 
have  been  enclosed  with  a  line  of  carts  or 
chariots,  which,  from  the  remotest  period,  was  a 
practice  among  all  the  nomade  nations  of  the 
north.  The  book  of  Numbers  is  so  explicit  on  the 
subject  of  encampment,  and  the  march  of  the 
Israelites,  that  no  particular  explanation  seems 
to  be  necessary. 

ENCHANTMENTS.     [Divination.] 

EN'DOR  (house-fountain) ;  a  town  of  Galilee, 
assigned  to  Mauasseh,  although  lying  beyond  the 
limits  of  that  tribe  (Josh.  xvii.  11).  It  is  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  victory  of  Deborah 
and  Barak  (Ps.  Ixxxiii.  10) ;  but  is  chiefly  me- 
morable as  the  abode  of  the  sorceress  whom  Saul 
consulted  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  in  which  he 
perished  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  7,  sq.).  The  name  is 
not  found  in  the  New  Testament;  but  in  the 
time  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  the  place  still  ex- 
isted as  a  large  village,  four  miles  south  of  Mount 
Tabor.  At  this  distance,  on  the  northern  slope 
of  the  lower  ridge  of  Hennon,  a  village  with  this 
name  still  exists. 

u2 


292 


ENGINES  OF  WAR 


EN-EGLA'IM  (calves'  fountain);  a  town  of 
Moab  (Ezek.  xlvii.  10),  which  Jerome  places  at 
the  Borthera  end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  at  the  influx 
of  the  Jordan. 

EN-GAN'XIM  {gardens'  fountain).  1.  A  to^vn 
of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  34),  which  Jerome  places 
near  Beth-el.  :!.  A  Levitical  city  in  Issachar 
(Josh.  xix.  21 ;  xxi.  29),  probably  the  same  as 
the  Ginaen  of  Josephus  (Antiq.  xx.  6,  1),  and 
which  Biddulph  (in  Purchas,  vol.  ii.  p.  135)  iden- 
tifies with  the  present  Jenin,  a  town  15  miles 
south  of  Mount  Tabor,  and  which  he  and  others 
describe  as  still  a  place  of  gardens  and  abundant 
water.  3.  Jerome  mentions  another  place,  called 
En-gannim,  beyond  the  Jordan,  near  Geraza ; 
and  the  name  seems,  indeed,  to  have  been  very 
common  for  places  where  water,  and  consequently 
gardens,  abounded. 

EN-GE'DI  {kids'  fountain),  a  city  of  Judah, 
which  gave  its  name  to  a  part  of  the  desert  to 
which  David  withdrew  for  fear  of  Saul  (Josh. 
XV.  62;  1  Sam.  xxiv.  1-4).  Its  more  ancient 
Hebrew  name  was  Hazezon-tamar ;  and  by  that 
name  it  is  mentioned  before  the  destruction  of 
Sodom,  as  being  inhabited  by  the  Amorites,  and 
near  the  cities  of  the  plain  (Gen.  xiv.  7).  In 
2  Chron.  xx.  1,  2,  bands  of  the  Moabites  and 
Ammonites  are  described  as  coming  up  against 
king  Jehoshaphat,  apparently  round  the  south 
end  of  the  Dead  Sea,  as  far  as  En-gedi.  And 
this,  as  we  learn  from  Dr.  Robinson,  is  the  route 
taken  by  the  Arabs  in  their  marauding  expedi- 
tions at  the  present  day.  It  has  been  identified 
■with  the  Ain-jidy  of  the  Arabs,  situated  at  a 
point  of  the  western  shore,  nearly  equidistant 
from  both  extremities  of  the  lake.  The  site  lies 
among  the  mountains  which  here  confine  the 
lake,  a  considerable  way  down  the  descent  to  its 
shore.  Here  is  the  beautiful  fountain  of  Ain- 
jidy,  bursting  forth  at  once  in  a  fine  stream  upon 
a  sort  of  narrow  terrace  or  shelf  of  the  mountain, 
above  400  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  The 
whole  of  the  descent  below  appears  to  have  been 
once  terraced  for  tillage  and  gardens ;  and  near 
the  foot  are  the  ruins  of  a  town,  exhibiting 
nothing  of  particular  interest,  and  built  mostly 
of  unhewn  stones.  This  we  may  conclude  to 
have  been  the  town  which  took  its  name  from 
the  fountain. 

The  Wilderness  of  En-gedi  is  doubtless 
the  immediately  neighbouring  part  of  the  wild 
region,  west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  must  be  tra- 
versed to  reach  its  shores.  It  was  here  that 
David  and  his  men  lived  among  the  '  rocks  of 
the  wild  goats,'  and  where  the  former  cut  off  the 
skirts  of  Saul's  robe  in  a  cave  (1  Sam.  xxi.  1-4). 
'  On  all  sides,'  says  Dr.  Robinson,  '  the  country 
is  full  of  caverns,  which  might  then  serve  as 
lurking-places  for  David  and  liis  men,  as  they  do 
for  outlaws  at  the  present  day.' 

ENGINES  OF  WAR  were  certainly  known 
much  earlier  than  the  Greek  writers  appear  to 
admit,  since  figures  of  them  occur  in  Egyptian 
monuments,  where  two  kinds  of  the  testudo,  or 
pent-house,  used  as  shelters  for  the  besiegers,  are 
represented,  and  a  colossal  lance,  worked  by  men 
who,  under  the  cover  of  a  testudo,  drive  the 
point  between  the  stones  of  a  city  wall.  The 
chief  projectiles  were  the  catapulta  for  throwing 
darts,  and  the  balista  for  throwing  stones.  Both 
these  kinds  of  instruments  were  prepared  by 


ENOCH 

Uzziah  for  the  defence  of  Jerusalem  (2  Chron, 
xxvi.  15),  and  battering  the  wall  is  mentioned  in 
the  reign  of  king  David  (2  Sara.  xx.  15):  but 
the  instrument  itself  for  throwing  it  down  may 
have  been  that  above-noticed,  and  not  the  bat- 
tering-ram. The  ram  was,  however,  a  simple 
machine,  and  capable  of  demolishing  the  strongest 
walls,  provided  access  to  the  foot  was  practicable ; 
for  the  mass  of  cast  metal  which  formed  the  head 
could  be  fixed  to  a  beam  lengthened  suflBciently 
to  require  between  one  and  two  hundred  men  to 
lift  and  impel  it ;  and  when  it  was  still  heavier, 
and  hung  in  the  lower  floor  of  a  moveable  tower, 
it  became  a  most  formidable  engine  of  war — one 


£Aflk 


166.  [Battering  Ram.] 

used  in  all  great  sieges  from  the  time  of  Deme- 
trius, about  B.C.  306,  till  long  after  the  invention 
of  gunpowder.  Towers  of  this  kind  were  largely 
used  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  the 
Romans.  Of  the  balistse  and  catapultae  it  may 
be  proper  to  add  that  they  were  of  various 
powers.  For  battering  walls  there  were  some 
that  threw  stones  of  fifty,  others  of  one  hundred, 
and  some  of  three  hundred  weight ;  in  the  field 
of  battle  they  were  of  much  inferior  strength. 
Darts  varied  similarly  from  small  beams  to  large 
arrows,  and  the  range  they  had,  exceeded  a 
quarter  of  a  mile,  or  about  450  yards.  All  these 
engines  were  constructed  upon  the  principle  of 
the  sling,  the  bow,  or  the  spring,  the  last  being 
an  elastic  bar,  bent  back  by  a  screw  or  a  cable  of 


[Balista.] 


sinews,  with  a  trigger  to  set  it  free,  and  con- 
trived either  to  impel  darts  by  its  stroke,  or  to 
throw  stones  from  a  kind  of  spoon  formed  towards 
the  summit  of  the  spring. 

E'NOCH  {initiated).  Four  persons  bearing 
this  name  are  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament, 
the  most  distinguished  of  whom  was  the  son  of 
Jared  and  father  of  Methuselah.    According  to 


ENOCH,  BOOK  OF 

the  Old  Testament,  he  walked  with  God ;  and, 
after  365  years,  he.  was  not,  for  God  took  him 
(Gen.  V.  24).  The  inspired  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  says,  '  By  faith  Enoch  was 
translated  that  he  should  not  see  death,  and  was 
not  found,  because  God  had  translated  him ' 
(xi.  .5).  Walking  with  God  implies  the  closest 
felloM'ship  with  Jehovah  which  it  is  possible  for 
a  human  being  to  enjoy  on  earth.  As  a  reward, 
therefore,  of  his  extraordinary  sanctity,  he  was 
transported  into  heaven  without  the  experience 
of  death.  Elijah  was  in  like  manner  translated  ; 
and  thus  was  the  doctrine  of  immortality  palpabli/ 
taught  under  the  ancient  dispensation. 

ENOCH,  BOOK  OF.  The  interest  that  once 
attached  to  the  apocryphal  book  of  Enoch  has  now 
partly  subsided.  Yet  a  document  quoted,  as  is 
generally  believed,  by  an  inspired  apostle,  can 
never  be  wholly  devoid  of  importance  or  utility 
in  sacred  literature. 

With  regard  to  the  author  of  the  book  and 
the  time  when  it  was  written,  various  conflicting 
opinions  have  been  promulgated.  Without 
entering  into  the  controversy,  we  may  state  that 
it  seems  to  us  to  have  been  composed  a  little 
before  Christ's  appearance,  by  a  Jew  who  had 
studied  well  the  book  of  Daniel.  Several  cir- 
cumstances render  it  apparent  that  it  was  ori- 
ginally composed  in  the  Hebrew  or  Chaldee 
language. 

The  Greek  translation,  in  which  it  was  known 
to  the  fathers,  appears  to  be  irrecoverably  lost. 
There  is  no  trace  of  it  after  the  eighth  century. 

The  leading  object  of  the  writer,  who  was 
manifestly  imbued  with  deep  piety,  was  to  com- 
fort and  strengthen  his  contemporaries.  He 
lived  in  times  of  distress  and  persecution,  when 
the  enemies  of  religion  oppressed  the  righteous. 
The  outward  circumstances  of  the  godly  were 
such  as  to  excite  doubts  of  the  divine  equity  in 
their  minds,  or  at  least  to  prevent  it  from  having 
that  hold  on  their  faith  which  was  necessary  to 
sustain  them  in  the  hour  of  trial.  In  accordance 
with  this,  the  writer  exhibits  the  reward  of  the 
righteous  and  the  punishment  of  the  wicked.  To 
give  greater  authority  to  his  affirmations,  he  puts 
them  into  the  mouth  of  Enoch.  Thus  they  have 
all  the  weight  belonging  to  the  character  of  an 
eminent  prophet  and  saint.  Various  digressions 
are  not  without  their  bearing  on  the  author's 
main  purpose.  The  narrative  of  the  fallen 
angels  and  their  punishment,  as  also  of  the  flood, 
exemplifies  the  retributive  justice  of  Jehovah ; 
while  the  Jewish  history,  continued  down  to  the 
Maccabees,  exhibits  the  final  triumph  of  His 
people,  notwithstanding  all  their  vicissitudes. 
Doubtless  the  author  lived  amid  fiery  trial ;  and, 
looking  abroad  over  the  desolation,  sought  to 
cheer  the  sufferers  by  the  consideration  that  they 
should  be  recompensed  in  another  life.  As  for 
their  wicked  oppressors,  they  were  to  experience 
terrible  judgments.  The  writer  seems  to  delight 
in  uttering  dire  anathemas  against  the  wicked. 
It  is  plain  that  the  book  grew  out  of  the  time 
when  the  author  lived,  and  the  circumstances 
by  which  he  was  surrounded.  It  gives  us  a 
glimpse  not  only  of  the  religious  opinions,  but 
also  of  the  general  features  that  characterized 
the  period. 

The  question.  Did  Jude  really  quote  the  book 
of  Enoch  ?  has  given  rise  to  a  good  deal  of  dis- 


ENOCH,  BOOK  OF 


293 


cusslon.  Some  are  most  unwilling  to  believe 
that  an  inspired  writer  could  cite  an  Apocryphal 
production.  Sucli  an  opinion  destroys,  in  their 
view,  the  character  of  the  writing  said  to  be  in- 
spired, and  reduces  it  to  the  level  of  an  ordinary 
composition.  But  this  is  preposterous.  The 
Apostle  Paul  quotes  several  of  the  heathen  poets  ; 
yet  who  ever  supposed  that  by  such  references 
he  sanctions  the  productions  from  which  his  cita- 
tions are  made,  or  renders  them  of  greater  value  ? 
All  that  can  be  reasonably  inferred  from  such  a 
fact  is,  that  if  the  inspired  writer  cites  a  parti- 
cular sentiment  with  approbation,  it  must  be  re- 
garded as  just  and  right,  irrespective  of  the 
remainder  of  the  book  in  which  it  is  found.  The 
Apostle's  sanction  extends  no  farther  than  the 
passage  to  which  he  alludes.  Other  portions  of 
the  original  document  may  exhibit  the  most 
absurd  and  superstitious  notions. 

Others  suppose  that  Jude  quoted  a  traditional 
prophecy  or  saying  of  Enoch,  and  we  see  no  im- 
probability in  the  assumption.  Others,  again, 
believe  that  the  words  apparently  cited  by  Jude 
were  suggested  to  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  But 
surely  this  hypothesis  is  unnecessary.  Until  it 
can  be  shown  that  the  book  of  Enoch  did  not 
exist  in  the  time  of  Jude,  or  that  his  quoting  it 
is  unworthy  of  an  Apostle,  or  that  such  know- 
ledge was  not  handed  down  traditionally  within 
the  Apostle's  reach,  we  abide  by  the  opinion  that 
Jude  really  quoted  the  book  of  Enoch.  While 
there  are  probable  grounds  for  believing  that 
Jude  might  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
circumstance  independently  of  inspiration,  we 
ought  not  to  have  recourse  to  the  hypothesis  of 
immediate  suggestion.  On  the  whole,  it  is  most 
likely  that  the  book  of  Enoch  existed  before  the 
time  of  Jude,  and  that  the  latter  really  quoted  it 
in  accordance  with  the  current  tradition.  If  so, 
the  prophecy  ascribed  to  Enoch  was  tr^dy  as- 
cribed to  him,  because  it  is  scarcely  credible  that 
Jude  writing  by  inspiration  would  have  sanctioned 
a  false  statement. 

Presuming  that  it  was  written  by  a  Jew,  the 
book  before  us  is  an  important  document  in  the 
history  of  Jewish  opinions.  It  indicates  an 
essential  portion  of  the  Jewish  creed  before  the 
appearance  of  Christ ;  and  assists  us  in  comparing 
the  theological  views  of  the  later  with  those  of 
the  earlier  Jews.  It  also  serves  to  establish  the 
fact  that  some  doctrines  of  great  importance  in 
the  eyes  of  evangelical  Christians  ought  not  to 
be  regarded  as  the  growth  of  an  age  in  which 
Christianity  had  been  corrupted  by  the  inventions 
of  men.  We  would  not  appeal  to  it  as  possessing 
aiithorit'j.  The  place  of  authority  can  be  as- 
signed to  the  Bible  alone.  But  apart  from  all 
ideas  of  authority,  it  may  be  fairly  regarded  as 
an  index  of  the  state  of  opinion  at  the  time  when 
it  was  written.  Hence  it  subserves  the  con- 
firmation of  certain  opinions,  provided  they  can 
be  shown  to  have  a  good  foundation  in  the  word 
of  God.  If  it  be  conceded  that  certain  doctrines 
are  contained  by  express  declaration  or  fair 
inference  in  the  volume  of  inspiration,  it  is 
surely  some  attestation  of  their  truth  that  they 
lie  on  the  surface  of  this  ancient  book.  Let  us 
briefly  allude  to  several  representations  which 
occur  in  its  pages : — 

1.  Respecting  the  nature  of  the  Deity. — There 
are  distinct  allusions  to  a  plurality  in  the  God- 


294 


EPAPHKODITUS 


head.  The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  seems  to 
have  been  received  by  the  writer  and  his  con- 
temporaries. 

lu  accordance  with  this  view  Christ  is  repre- 
sented as  existing  from  eternity:  as  the  object  of 
invocation  and  worship;  and  as  the  supreme 
Judge  of  men  and  angels. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  retribution 
is  implied  in  many  passages,  and  the  eternity  of 
future  punishment  is  also  distinctly  contained 
in  it. 

Whatever  value  may  be  attached  to  the  theo- 
logical opinions  expressed  in  the  book  of  Enoch, 
it  is  apparent  from  these  statements  that  certain 
sentiments  to  which  evangelical  Christians  assign 
a  high  importance,  because,  in  their  view,  they 
are  contained  in  Scripture,  appear  to  have  pre- 
vailed at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era. 
To  the  serious  inquirer  they  can  never  be  of 
trifling  interest. 

E'NON.     [.Enon.] 

EN-EO'GEL.  The  name  means  Foot-fountain, 
and  is  construed  by  the  Targum  into  '  Fuller's 
Fountain,'  because  the  fullers  trod  the  clothes 
there  with  their  feet.  It  was  near  Jerusalem, 
on  the  boundary-line  between  the  tribes  of 
Judah  and  Benjamin  (Josh.  xv.  7  ;  xviii.  6 ; 
2  Sam.  xvii.  1 7 ;  1  Kings  i.  9).  It  has  been 
usually  supposed  the  same  as  the  Fountain  of 
Siloam.  But  Dr.  Robinson  is  more  inclined  to 
find  it  in  what  is  called  by  Frank  Christians  the 
Well  of  Nehemiah,  but  by  the  native  inhabitants 
the  Well  of  Job.  There  are  only  three  sources, 
or  rather  receptacles  of  living  water,  now  acces- 
sible at  Jerusalem,  and  this  is  one  of  them.  It 
is  situated  just  below  the  junction  of  the  Valley 
of  Hinnom  with  that  of  Jehoshaphat.  It  is  a 
very  deep  well,  measuring  125  feet  in  depth;  50 
feet  of  which  were,  at  the  time  of  Dr.  Robinson's 
visit  (in  the  middle  of  April),  nearly  full  of 
water.  The  water  is  sweet,  but  not  very  cold, 
and  at  the  present  day  is  drawn  up  by  the  hand. 

ENSIGNS.     [Standards.] 

EPENE'TUS,  a  Christian  resident  at  Rome 
when  Paul  wrote  his  Epistle  to  the  Church  in 
that  city,  and  one  of  the  persons  to  whom  he  sent 
special  salutations  (Rom.  xvi.  5).  In  the  re- 
ceived text  he  is  spoken  of  as  being  '  the  first 
fruits  of  Achaia ;'  but  '  the  first  fruits  of  Asia ' 
is  the  reading  of  the  best  MSS. 

EP'APHRAS,  an  eminent  teacher  in  the 
church  at  Colossse,  denominated  by  Paul  'his 
dear  fellow-servant,'  and  'a  faithful  minister  of 
Christ'  (Coloss.  i.  7;  iv.  12).  From  Paul's 
Epistle  to  Philemon  it  appears  that  he  suffered 
imprisonment  with  the  Apostle  at  Rome.  It  has 
been  inferred  from  Coloss.  i.  7,  that  he  was  the 
founder  of  the  Colossian  Church,  and  most  pro- 
bably he  was  one  of  its  earliest  and  most  zealous 
instructors. 

EPAPHRODI'TUS,  a  messenger  of  the  church 
at  Philippi  to  the  Apostle  Paul  during  his  im- 
prisonment at  Rome,  who  was  entrusted  with 
their  contributions  for  his  support  (Phil.  ii.  25  ; 
iv.  18).  Paul's  high  estimate  of  his  character  is 
shown  by  an  accumulation  of  honourable  epithets, 
and  by  fervent  expressions  of  gratitude  for  his 
recovery  from  a  dangerous  illness  brought  on  in 
part  by  a  generous  disregard  of  his  personal 
welfare  in  ministering  to  the  Apostle  (Phil.  ii. 
30;.     Epaphroditus,  on  his  return  to  Philippi, 


EPHESIANS 

was  the  bearer  of  the  epistle  which  forms'  part  of 
the  canon. 

EPHAH,  a  dry  measure  of  capacity,  equi- 
valent to  the  bath  for  liquids.  It  contained  three 
pecks  and  three  pints.  [Weights  and  Mea- 
sures.] 

EPHE'SIANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE.  This 
Epistle  expressly  claims  to  be  the  production  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  (i.  1;  iii.  1);  and  this  claim 
the  writer  in  the  latter  of  these  passages  follows 
up  by  speaking  of  himself  in  language  such  as 
that  Apostle  is  accustomed  to  use  in  describing 
his  own  position  as  an  ambassador  of  Christ 
(iii.  1,  .3,  8,  9).  The  justice  of  this  claim  seems 
to  have  been  universally  admitted  by  the  early 
Christians,  and  it  is  expressly  sanctioned  by  se- 
veral of  the  fathers  of  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies. 

The  question  to  whom  was  this  Epistle  ad- 
dressed has  received  different  answers.  Grotius, 
reviving  the  opinion  of  the  ancient  heretic  Mar- 
cion,  maintains  that  the  party  addressed  in  this 
Epistle  was  the  church  at  Laodicea,  and  that  we 
have  in  this  the  Epistle  to  that  church  which  is 
commonly  supposed  to  have  been  lost;  whilst 
others  contend  that  this  was  addressed  to  no 
church  in  particular,  but  was  a  sort  of  circular 
letter,  intended  for  the  use  of  several'churches, 
of  which  Ephesus  may  have  been  the  first  or 
centre. 

Without  entering  into  a  minute  consideration 
of  these  theories,  which  our  limits  will  not  permit, 
we  may  remark  that  both  are  unsupported  by 
satisfactory  evidence,  and  that  we  fully  concur  in 
the  common  opinion  that  the  party  to  whom  this 
Epistle  was  sent  was  the  church  at  Ephesus. 

The  Epistle  is  so  much  the  utterance  of  a 
mind  overflowing  with  thought  and  feeling  that 
it  does  not  present  any  precisely  marked  divi- 
sions under  which  its  different  parts  may  be 
ranked.  After  the  usual  apostolic  salutatioi; 
Paul  breaks  forth  into  an  expression  of  thanks- 
giving to  God  and  Christ  for  the  scheme  of  re- 
demption (i.  3-10),  from  which  he  passes  to 
speak  of  the  privileges  actually  enjoyed  by  him- 
self and  those  to  whom  he  was  writing,  through 
Christ  (i.  11-23).  He  then  reminds  the  Ephe- 
sians  of  their  former  condition  when  they  were 
without  Christ,  and  of  the  great  change  which, 
through  divine  grace,  they  had  experienced  (ii. 
1-22).  An  allusion  to  himself  as  enjoying  by 
divine  revelation  the  knowledge  of  the  mystery 
of  Christ  leads  the  Apostle  to  enlarge  upon  the 
dignity  of  his  office  and  the  blessed  results  that 
were  destined  to  flow  from  the  exercise  of  it  to 
others  (iii.  1-12).  On  this  he  grounds  an  ex- 
hortation to  his  brethren  not  to  faint  on  account 
of  his  sufferings  for  the  Gospel,  and  affectionately 
invokes  on  their  behalf  the  divine  blessing,  con- 
cluding this,  which  may  be  called  the  more 
doctrinal  part  of  his  Epistle,  with  a  doxology  to 
God  (iii.  13-21).  What  follows  is  chiefly  horta- 
tory, and  is  directed  partly  to  the  inculcation  of 
general  consistency,  stedfastness  in  the  faith,  and 
propriety  of  deportment  (iv.  1  ;  v.  21),  and  partly 
to  the  enforcement  of  relative  duties  (v.  22 ; 
vi.  9).  The  Epistle  concludes  with  an  animated 
exhortation  to  fortitude,  watchfulness  and  prayer, 
followed  by  a  reference  to  Tychicus  as  the 
bearer  of  the  Epistle,  and  by  the  usual  apostolic 
benediction  (vi.  10-2-1). 


EPHESUS 

This  Epistle  was  written  during  the  earlier 
part  of  the  Apostle's  imprisonment  at  Rome,  at 
the  same  time  with  that  to  the  Colossians  [CoLOS- 
siANS,  Epistle  to  tbe]. 

EPH'ESUS,  au  old  and  celebrated  city,  capital 
of  Ionia,  one  of  the  twelve  Ionian  cities  in  Asia 
Minor  in  the  Mythic  times.  It  lay  on  the  river 
Cayster,  not  far  from  the  coast  of  the  Icarian 
sea,  between  Smyrna  and  Miletus.  It  was  also 
one  of  the  most  considerable  of  the  Greek  cities 
in  Asia  Minor;  but  while,  about  the  epoch  of  the 
introduction  of  Christianity,  the  other  cities  de- 
clined, Ephesus  rose  more  and  more.  It  owed 
its  prosperity  in  part  to  the  favour  of  its  go- 
vernors, for  Lysimachus  named  the  city  Arsinoe, 
in  honour  of  his  second  wife,  and  Attalus  Phila- 
delphus  furnished  it  with  splendid  wharfs  and 
docks ;  in  part  to  the  favourable  position  of  the 
place,  which  naturally  made  it  the  emporium  of 
Asia  on  this  side  the  Taurus.  Under  the 
Komans  Ephesus  was  the  capital  not  only  of 
Ionia,  but  of  the  entire  province  of  Asia,  and 
bore  the  honourable  title  of  the  first  and  greatest 
metropolis  of  Asia.  In  the  days  of  Paul  Jews 
were  found  settled  in  the  city  in  no  inconsiderable 
number,  and  from  them  the  Apostle  collected  a 
Christian  community  (Acts  xviii.  19 ;  xix.  1 ; 
XX.  16),  which,  being  fostered  and  extended  by 
the  hand  of  Paul  himself,  became  the  centre  of 
Christianity  in  Asia  Minor.  On  leaving  the 
city  the  Apostle  left  Timothy  there  (1  Tim.  i.  3) : 
at  a  later  period,  according  to  a  tradition  which 
prevailed  extensively  in  ancient  times,  we  find 
the  Apostle  John  in  Ephesus,  where  he  employed 
himself  most  diligently  for  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel,  and  where  he  not  only  died,  at  a  very 
old  age,  but  was  buried,  with  Mary  the  mother 
of  the  Lord.  In  the  book  of  Eevelations  (ii.  1) 
a  favourable  testimony  is  borne  to  the  Christian 
churches  at  Ephesus. 

The  classic  celebrity  of  this  city  is  chiefly 
owing  to  its  famous  temple,  and  the  goddess  in 
whose  honour  it  was  built,  namely,  '  Diana  of 
the  Ephesians.'  This  goddess  has  been  already 
noticed,  and  a  figure  given  of  her  famous  image 
at  Ephesus  [Diana]. 

Around  the  image  of  the  goddess  was  after- 
wards erected,  according  to  Callimachus,  a  large 
and  splendid  temple.  This  temple  was  burnt 
down  on  the  night  in  which  Alexander  was  born, 
by  au  obscure  person  of  the  name  of  Eratostratus, 
who  thus  sought  to  transmit  his  name  to  pos- 
terity ;  and,  as  it  seemed  somewhat  unaccountable 
that  the  goddess  should  permit  a  place  which  re- 
dounded so  much  to  her  honour  to  be  thus  reck- 
lessly destroyed,  it  was  given  out  that  Diana  was 
so  engaged  with  Olympias,  in  aiding  to  bring 
Alexander  into  the  world,  that  she  had  no  time 
nor  thought  for  any  other  concern.  At  a  subse- 
quent period,  Alexander  made  an  offer  to  re- 
build the  temple,  provided  he  was  allowed  to 
inscribe  his  name  on  the  front,  which  the  Ephe- 
sians refused.  Aided,  however,  by  the  whole  of 
Asia  Minor,  they  succeeded  in  erecting  a  still 
more  magnificent  temple,  which  the  ancients 
have  lavishly  praised  and  placed  among  the 
seven  wonders  of  the  world.  It  took  two  hundred 
and  twenty  years  to  complete.  It  was  built  of 
cedar,  cypress,  white  marble,  and  even  gold, 
with  which  it  glittered.  Costly  and  magnificent 
offerings    of  various   kinds   were   made   to   the 


EPHESUS 


295 


goddess,  and  treasured  in  the  temple ;  such  as 
paintings,  statues,  &c.,  the  value  of  which  almost 
exceeded  computation.  The  fame  of  the  temple,  | 
of  the  goddess,  and  of  the  city  itself,  was  spread 
not  only  through  Asia  but  the  world,  a  celebrity 
which  was  enhanced  and  diffused  the  more  readily 
because  sacred  games  were  practised  there, 
which  called  competitors  and  spectators  from 
every  country.  Among  his  other  enormities 
Nero  is  said  to  have  despoiled  the  temple  of 
Diana  of  much  of  its  treasure.  It  continued  to 
conciliate  no  small  portion  of  respect,  till  it  was 
finally  burnt  by  the  Goths  in  the  reign  of  Gal- 
lienus.  The  'silver  shrines'  of  the  Ephesian 
Artemis,  mentioned  in  Acts  xix.  24,  have  been 
already  noticed  [Demetrius,  3]. 

Ephesus  was  celebrated  for  the  constant  use  of 
those  arts  which  pretend  to  lay  open  the  secrets 
of  nature,  and  arm  the  hand  of  man  with  super- 
natural powers,  no  less  than  for  the  refinements 
of  a  voluptuous  and  artificial  civilization.  In- 
deed, in  the  age  of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles,  adepts  in 
the  occult  sciences  were  numerous :  they  travelled 
from  couutrj-  to  country,  and  were  found  in  gi-eat 
numbers  in  Asia,  deceiving  the  credulous  multi- 
tude and  profiting  by  their  expectations.  They 
were  sometimes  Jews,  who  referred  their  skill 
and  even  their  forms  of  proceeding  to  Solomon, 
who  is  still  regarded  in  the  Eixst  as  head  or 
prince  of  magicians  (Acts  viii.  9  ;  xiii.  6,  8).  In 
Asia  Minor  Ephesus  had  a  high  reputation  for 
magical  arts. 

The  books  mentioned  Acts  xix.  19,  were 
doubtless  books  of  magic.  How  extensively  they 
were  in  use  may  be  learnt  from  the  fact  that 
'  the  price  of  them '  was  '  fifty  thousand  pieces 
of  silver.'  Very  celebrated  were  the  Ephesian 
letters,  which  appear  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
magical  formulae  written  on  paper  or  parchment, 
designed  to  be  fixed  as  amulets  on  different  parts 
of  the  body,  such  as  the  hands  and  the  head. 
Erasmus  says  that  they  were  certain  signs  or 
marks  which  rendered  their  possessor  victorious 
in  everything. 

The  ruins  of  Ephesus  lie  two  short  dajs' 
journey  from  Smyrna,  in  proceeding  from  which 
towards  the  south-east  the  traveller  passes  the 
pretty  village  of  Sedekuy  ;  and  two  hours  and  a 
half  onwards  he  comes  to  the  ruined  village  of 
Danizzi,  on  a  wide,  solitary,  uncultivated  plain, 
beyond  which  several  burial-grounds  may  be 
observed;  near  one  of  these,  on  an  eminence, 
are  the  supposed  ruins  of  Ephesus,  consisting  of 
shattered  walls,  in  which  some  pillars,  archi-  j 
traves,  and  fragments  of  marble  have  been  built. 
The  soil  of  the  plain  appears  rich.  It  is  covered 
with  a  rank,  burut-up  vegetation,  and  is  every- 
where deserted  and  solitary,  though  bordered  by 
picturesque  mountains.  A  few  corn-fields  are 
scattered  along  the  site  of  the  ancient  city,  which 
is  marked  by  some  large  masses  of  shapeless 
ruins  and  stone  walls.  Towards  the  sea  extends 
the  ancient  port,  a  pestilential  marsh.  Along 
the  slope  of  the  mountain  and  over  the  plain  are 
scattered  fragments  of  ma.sonry  and  detached 
ruins,  but  nothing  can  now  be  fixed  upon  as  the 
great  temple  of  Diana.  There  are  some  broken 
columns  and  capitals  of  the  Corinthian  order  of 
white  marble  :  there  are  also  ruins  of  a  theatre, 
consisting  of  some  circular  seats  and  numerous 
arches,  supposed  to  be  the  one  in  which  Paul  was 


296 


EPHESUS 


EPHESU3 


^ 

fe 


168.     [Eph( 

preaching  when  interrupted  by  shouts  of,  '  Great 
is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.'  A  splendid  circus 
or  stadium  remains  tolerably  entire,  and  there 
are  numerous  piles  of  buildings  seen  alike  at 
Pergamus  and  Troy  as  well  as  here,  by  some 
called  gj'mnasia,  by  others  temples ;  by  others 
again,  with  more  propriety,  palaces.  They  all 
came  with  the  Koman  conquest.  No  one  but  a 
Roman  emperor  could  have  conceived  such 
structures.  In  Italy  they  have  parallels  in 
Adrian's  villa  near  Tivoli,  and  perhaps  in  the 
pile -upon  the  Palatine.  Many  other  walls  re- 
main to  show  the  extent  of  the  buildings  of  the 
city,  but  no  inscription  or  ornament  is  to  be 
found,  cities  having  been  built  out  of  this  quarry 
of  worked  marble.  The  ruins  of  the  adjoining 
town,  which  rose  about  four  hundred  years 
ago,  are  entirely  composed  of  materials  from 
Ephesus.  There  are  a  few  huts  within  these 
ruins  (about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Ephesus), 
which  still  retain  the  name  of  the  parent  city, 
Asalook — a  Turkish  word,  which  is  associated 
with  the  same  idea  as  Ephesus,  meaning  the  City 
of  the  Moon.  A  church  dedicated  to  St.  John  is 
thought  to  have  stood  near,  if  not  on  the  site  of, 
the  present  mosque.  The  tomb  of  St.  John  was 
in  or  under  his  church.  , 

Though  Ephesus  presents  few  traces  of  human 
life,  and  little  but  scattered  and  mutilated  remains 
of  its  ancient  grandeur,  yet  the  environs,  diver- 
sified as  they  are  with  hill  and  dale,  and  not 
scantily  supplied  with  wood  and  water,  present 
many  features  of  great  beauty. 

When  Dr.  Chandler  visited  Ephesus  in  1764, 
'  Its  population  consisted  of  a  few  Greek  pea- 
sants, living  in  extreme  wretchedness,  dependence, 
and  insensibility,  the  representatives  of  an  illus- 
trious people,  and  inhabiting  the  wreck  of  their 


greatness — some  the  substructure  of  the  glorious 
edifices  which  they  raised;  some  beneath  the 
vaults  of  the  stadium,  once  the  crowded  scene  of 
their  diversions  ;  and  some  in  the  abrupt  pre- 
cipice, in  the  sepulchres  which  received  their 
ashes.  Such  are  the  present  citizeus  of  Ephesus, 
and  such  is  the  condition  to  which  that  renowned 
city  has  been  reduced.  However  much  tlie 
Church  at  Ephesus  may  (Rev.  ii.  2),  in  its  ear- 
liest days,  have  merited  pi'aise  for  its  '  works, 
labour,  and  patience,'  yet  it  appears  soon  to  have 
'  left  its  first  love,'  and  to  have  received  in  vain 
the  admonition  —  '  Remember,  therefore,  from 
whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent  and  do  the 
first  works ;  or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee 
quickly,  and  will  remove  thy  candlestick  out  oi 
his  place,  except  thou  i-epent.'  If  any  repentance 
was  produced  by  this  solemn  warning,  its  efi'ects 
were  not  durable,  and  the  place  has  long  since 
afforded  an  evidence  of  the  truth  of  prophecy,  and 
the  certainty  of  the  divine  threatenings,  as  well  as 
a  melancholy  subject  for  thought  to  the  contem- 
plative Christian.  Its  fate  is  that  of  the  once- 
flourishing  seven  churches  of  Asia :  its  fate  is 
that  of  the  entire  country — a  garden  has  become 
a  desert.  Busy  centres  of  civilization,  spots 
where  the  refinements  and  delights  of  the  age 
were  collected,  are  now  a  prey  to  silence,  de- 
struction, and  death.  Consecrated  first  of  all  to 
the  purposes  of  idolatry,  Ephesus  next  had 
Christian  temples  almost  rivalling  the  pagan  in 
splendour,  wherein  the  image  of  the  great  Diana 
lay  prostrate  before  the  cross;  and,  after  the 
lapse  of  some  centuries,  Jesus  gives  place  to 
Mahomed,  and  the  crescent  glittered  on  the  dome 
of  the  recently  Christian  church.  A  few  more 
scores  of  years,  and  Ephesus  has  neither  temple, 
cross,  crescent,  nor  city,  but  is  '  a  desolation,  a 


EPHRAIM 

dry  laud,  and  a  -wilderness.'  Even  the  sea  has 
retired  from  the  scene  of  devastation,  and  a  pes- 
tilential morass,  covered  with  mud  and  rushes, 
has  succeeded  to  the  waters  which  brought  up 
ships  laden  with  merchandise  from  every  part  of 
the  known  world. 

E'PHOD,  an  article  of  dress  worn  by  the  He- 
brew priests.     [Priests.] 

E'PHRAIM  (fruitfulness),  the  younger  son  of 
Joseph,  but  who  received  precedence  over  the 
elder  in  and  from  the  blessing  of  Jacob  (Gen. 
xli.  52  ;  xlviii.  1).  That  blessing  was  an  adop- 
tive act,  whereby  Ephraim  and  his  brother  Ma- 
nasseh  were  counted  as  sons  of  Jacob  in  the  place 
of  their  father ;  the  object  being  to  give  to  Joseph, 
through  his  sons,  a  double  portion  in  the  brilliant 
prospects  of  his  house.  Thus  the  descendants  of 
Josepli  formed  two  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  whereas 
every  other  of  Jacob's  sons  counted  but  as  one. 
!  There  were  thus,  in  fact,  thirteen  tribes  of  Israel ; 
but  the  number  twelve  is  usually  preserved, 
either  by  excluding  that  of  Levi  (which  had  no 
territory),  when  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  are  se- 
parately named,  or  by  counting  these  two  toge- 
ther as  the  tribe  of  Joseph,  when  Levi  is  included 
in  the  account.  The  intentions  of  Jacob  were 
fulfilled,  and  Ephi'aim  and  Manasseh  were 
counted  as  tribes  of  Israel  at  the  departure  from 
Egypt,  and  as  such  shared  in  the  territorial  dis- 
tribution of  the  Promised  Land  (Num.  i.  33 ; 
Josli.  xvii.  14  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  20). 

At  the  departure  from  Egypt  the  population  of 
the  two  tribes  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  toge- 
tlier  amounted  to  72,700  men  capable  of  bearing 
arms,  greatly  exceeding  that  of  any  single  tribe, 
except  Judah,  which  had  somewhat  more.  During 
the  wandering  their  number  increased  to  9.5,200, 
Y.hich  placed  the  two  tribes  much  higher  than 
even  Judah.  At  the  Exode,  Ephraim  singly  had 
40,500,  and  Manasseh  only  32,200  ;  but  a  great 
change  took  place  in  their  relative  numbers 
during  the  wandering.  Ephraim  lost  8000,  and 
Manasseh  gained  20,500 ;  so  that  just  before 
entering  Canaan,  Ephraim  stood  at  32,500,  and 
I    Manasseh  at  52,700. 

One  of  the  finest  and  most  fruitful  parts  of 
Palestine,  occupying  the  very  centre  of  the  land, 
was  assigned  to  this  tribe.  It  extended  from  the 
borders  of  the  Mediterranean  on  the  west  to  the 
Jordan  on  the  east :  on  the  north  it  had  the  half- 
tribe  of  Manasseh,  and  on  the  south  Benjamin 
ami  Dan  (Josh.  xvi.  5,  sq. ;  xvii.  7,  sq.).  This 
fine  country  included  most  of  what  was  after- 
wards called  Samaria,  as  distinguished  from 
Juda:a  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  Galilee  on  the 
other.  The  tabernacle  and  the  ark  were  depo- 
sited within  its  limits,  at  Shiloh;  and  the  pos- 
session of  the  sacerdotal  establishment,  which  was 
a  central  object  of  attraction  to  all  the  other 
tribes,  must  in  no  small  degree  have  enhanced 
its  importance,  and  increased  its  wealth  and  po- 
pulation. The  domineering  and  haughty  spirit 
of  the  Ephraimites  is  more  than  once  indicated 
(Josh.  xvii.  14;  Judg.  viii.  1-3;  xii.  1)  before 
the  establishment  of  the  regal  government ;  but 
the  particular  enmity  of  Ephraim  against  the 
other  great  tribe  of  Judah,  and  the  rivalry  be- 
tween them,  do  not  come  out  distinctly  until  the 
establishment  of  the  monarchy.  In  the  election 
of  Saul  from  the  least  considerable  tribe  in 
Israel,  there  was  nothing  to  excite  the  jealousy  of 


EPISTLES 


297 


Ephraim  ;  and,  after  his  heroic  qualities  had  con- 
ciliated respect,  it  rendered  the  new  king  true 
allegiance  and  support.  But  when  the  great 
tribe  of  Judah  produced  a  king  in  the  person  of 
David,  the  pride  and  jealousy  of  Ephraim  were 
thoroughly  awakened,  and  it  was  doubtless  chiefly 
through  their  means  that  Abner  was  enabled  to 
uphold  for  a  time  the  house  of  Saul ;  for  there  are 
manifest  indications  that  by  this  time  Ephraim 
influenced  the  views  and  feelings  of  all  the  other 
tribes.  They  were  at  length  driven  by  the  force 
of  circumstances  to  acknowledge  David  upon  con- 
ditions ;  and  were  probably  not  without  hope  that, 
as  the  king  of  the  nation  at  large,  he  would  esta- 
blish his  capital  in  their  central  portion  of  the 
land.  But  when  he  not  only  established  his  court 
at  Jerusalem,  but  proceeded  to '  remove  the  ark 
thither,  making  his  native  Judah  the  seat  both 
of  the  theocratical  and  civil  government,  the 
Ephraimites  became  thoroughly  alienated,  and 
longed  to  establish  their  own  ascendancy.  The 
building  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  other 
measures  of  Solomon,  strengthened  this  desire  ; 
and  although  the  minute  organization  and  vigour 
of  his  government  prevented  any  overt  acts  of 
rebellion,  the  train  was  then  laid,  which,  upon 
his  death,  rent  the  ten  ti'ibes  from  the  house  of 
David,  and  gave  to  them  a  king,  a  capital,  and  a 
religion  suitable  to  the  separate  views  and  in- 
terests of  the  tribe.  Thenceforth  the  rivalry  of 
Ephraim  and  Judah  was  merged  in  that  between 
the  two  kingdoms;  although  still  the  predomi- 
nance of  Ephraim  in  the  kingdom  of  Israel  was  so 
conspicuous  as  to  occasion  the  whole  realm  to  be 
called  by  its  name,  especially  when  that  rivalry 
is  mentioned. 

2.  EPHRAIM,  a  city  in  the  wilderness  of 
Jud^a,  to  which  Jesus  withdrew  from  the  per- 
secution which  followed  the  miracle  of  raising 
Lazarus  from  the  dead  (John  xi.  54).  It  is 
placed  by  Eusebius  eight  Roman  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem.  This  indication  would  seem  to  make 
it  the  same  with  the  Ephrain  which  is  men- 
tioned in  2  Chron.  xiii.  19,  along  with  Bethel  and 
Jeshanah,  as  towns  taken  from  Jeroboam  by 
Abijah. 

3.  P^PHRAIM,  a  mountain  or  group  of  moun- 
tains in  central  Palestine,  in  the  tribe  of  the  same 
name,  on  or  towards  the  borders  of  Benjamin 
(Josh.  xvii.  15;  xix.  50;  xx.  7;  Judg.  vii.  24; 
xvii.  1 ;  1  Sam.  ix.  4 ;  1  Kings  iv.  8).  From  a 
comparison  of  these  passages  it  may  be  collected 
that  the  name  of  '  Mount  Ephraim '  was  applied 
to  the  whole  of  the  ranges  and  groups  of  hills 
which  occupy  the  central  part  of  the  southern- 
most border  of  this  tribe,  and  which  are  prolonged 
southward  into  the  tribe  of  Benjamin.  In  the 
time  of  Joshua  these  hills  were  densely  covered 
with  trees  (Josh.  xvii.  18),  which  is  by  no  means 
the  case  at  present. 

4.  EPHRAIM,  THE  FOREST  OF,  in  which 
Absalom  lost  his  life  (2  Sam.  xviii.  6-8),  was  in 
the  country  east  of  the  Jordan,  not  far  from  Ma- 
hanaim.  How  it  came  to  bear  the  name  of  a 
tribe  on  the  other  side  the  river  is  not  known. 

EPH'RATAH,  otherwise  Bethlehem,  which 

E'PHEON,  a  Hittite  residing  in  Hebron,  who 
sold  to  Abraham  the  cave  and  field  of  Machpelah 
as  a  family  sepulchre  (Gen.  xxiii.  6). 

EPISTLES.     In  directing  our  inquiry  first  of 


298 


EPISTLES 


ESAU 


all  towards  the  relation  in  which  the  Epistles 
stand  to  the  other  component  parts  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  find  that  both  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  have  been  arranged  by  divine  wisdom 
after  one  and  the  same  plan.  All  the  revelations 
of  God  to  mankind  rest  upon  history.  Therefore 
in  the  Old,  as  well  as  in  the  New  Testament,  the 
history  of  the  deeds  of  God  stands  first,  as  being 
the  basis  of  Holy  Writ ;  thereupon  follow  the  books 
which  exhibit  the  doctrines  and  internal  life  of 
the  men  of  God — in  the  Old  Testament  the  Psalms, 
the  writings  of  Solomon,  &c.,  and  in  the  New 
Testament  the  Epistles  of  the  Apostles ;  finally, 
there  follow  in  the  Old  Testament  the  writings  of 
the  prophets,  whose  vision  extends  into  the  times 
of  the  New  Testament ;  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  New  Testament  stands  its  only  prophetic 
book,  the  Revelation  of  John. 

In  this  also  we  must  thankfully  adore  divine 
wisdom,  that  the  Epistles,  which  lay  down  the 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion,  originate,  not 
from  one  Apostle  alone,  but  from  all  the  four  prin- 
cipal Apostles ;  so  that  one  and  the  same  divine 
truth  is  presented  to  our  eyes  in  various  forms  as 
it  were  in  various  mirrors,  by  which  its  richness 
and  manifold  character  ar.'  the  better  displayed. 

The  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament  divide 
themselves  into  two  parts — the  Pauline  and  the 
so-called  Catholic. 

The  Pauline  Epistles  are  thirteen  in  number ; 
or  fourteen,  if  we  add  to  them  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  The  very  peculiar  character  of  the 
Pauline  Epistles  is  so  striking  as  to  leave  not 
the  least  doubt  of  their  genuineness.  Depth  of 
thought,  fire  of  speech,  firmness  of  character — 
these  manly  features,  joined  withal  to  the  in- 
dulgence of  feelings  of  the  most  devoted  love  and 
affection,  characterize  these  Epistles.  The  amiable 
personal  character  of  the  Apostle  may  be  most 
beautifully  traced  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Philip- 
pians  and  to  Philemon. 

All  the  Epistles,  except  the  one  to  the  Romans, 
were  called  forth  by  circumstances  and  particular 
occasions  in  the  afiairsof  the  communities  to  which 
they  were  addressed.  Not  all,  liowever,  were 
preserved ;  it  is,  at  least,  evident,  from  1  Cor.  v. 
9,  that  a  letter  to  the  Corinthians  has  been 
lost ;  from  Col.  iv.  16,  it  has  also  been  concluded 
— though  probably  erroneously,  since  there  per- 
haps the  letter  to  the  Ephesians  is  referred  to — 
that  another  letter  to  the  community  of  Laodicea 
has  likewise  been  lost.  Press  of  business  usually 
compelled  Paul — what  was,  besides,  not  uncom- 
mon in  those  times — to  use  his  companions  as 
amanuenses.  He  mentions  (Gal.  vi!  1 1 ),  as  some- 
thing peculiar,  that  he  had  written  this  letter  with 
his  own  hand.  Paul  himself  exhorted  the  com- 
munities mutually  to  impart  to  each  other  his 
letters  to  them,  and  read  them  aloud  in  their  as- 
semblies (Col.  iv.  16).  It  is  therefore  probable 
that  copies  of  these  letters  had  been  early  made 
by  the  several  communities,  and  deposited  in  the 
form  of  collections. 

The  letters  of  Paul  may  be  chronologically 
arranged  into  those  written  before  his  Roman  im- 
prisonment, and  those  written  during  and  after  it ; 
thus  beginning  with  his  first  letter  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians,  and  concluding  with  his  second  to  Timo- 
thy, embracing  an  interval  of  about  ten  years 
(A.u.  54-64).  In  our  Bibles,  however,  the  letters 
are  arranged  according  to  the  pre-eminent  parts 


and  stations  of  the  communities  to  whom  they 
were  addressed,  and  conclude  with  the  Epistles 
to  the  two  bishops  and  a  private  letter  to  Phile- 
mon. 

The  Catholic  Epistles. — There  is,  in  the 
first  instance,  a  diversity  of  opinion  respecting 
their  name  :  some  refer  it  to  their  writers  (let- 
ters from  all  the  other  Apostles  who  had  entered 
the  stage  of  authorship  along  with  Paul) ;  some, 
again,  to  their  contents  (letters  of  no  special  but 
general  Christian  tenor) ;  others,  again,  to  the 
receivers  (letters  addressed  to  no  community  in 
particular).  This  last  opinion  is  most  decidedly 
justified  by  passages  from  the  ancient  writers. 
The  Pauline  Epistles  had  all  their  particular 
directions,  while  the  letters  of  Peter,  James,  1 
John,  and  Jude  were  circular  epistles.  The 
Epistles  2  and  3  John  were  subsequently  added, 
and  included  on  account  of  their  shortness,  and  to 
this  collection  was  given  the  name  Catholic 
Letters,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Pauline. 

ERAS'TUS,  a  Corinthian,  and  one  of  Paul's 
disciples,  whose  salutations  he  sends  from  Corinth 
to  the  Church  at  Rome  as  those  of '  the  chamber- 
lain of  the  city '  (Rom.  xvi.  23).  The  words  so 
rendered  denote  the  city  treasurer  or  steward,  an 
oflBcer  of  great  dignity  in  ancient  times.  We  find 
this  Erastus  with  Paul  at  Ephesus,  whence  he 
was  sent  along  with  Timothy  into  Macedonia 
(Acts  xix.  22).  They  were  both  with  the  Apostle 
at  Corintli  wKen  he  wrote,  as  above,  from  that 
city  to  the  Romans:  at  a  subsequent  period 
Erastus  was  still  at  Corinth  (2  Tim.  iv.  20), 
which  would  seem  to  have  been  the  usual  place 
of  his  abode. 

E'RECH,  one  of  the  cities  which  formed  the 
beginning  of  Nimrod's  kingdom  in  the  plain  of 
Shinar  (Gen.  x.  10).  It  is  not  said  that  he  built 
these  cities,  but  that  he  established  his  power  over 
them;  from  which  we  may  conclude  that  they 
previously  existed.  Bochart  seeks  the  name  in 
the  Aracca  or  Aracha  of  the  old  geographers, 
which  was  on  the  Tigris,  upon  the  borders  of 
Babylonia  and  Susiana.  Rosenmiiller  happily 
conjectures  that  Erech  probably  lay  nearer  to 
Babylon  than  Aracca ;  and  this  has  been  lately 
confirmed  by  Col.  Taylor,  the  British  resident  at 
Bagdad,  who  is  disposed  to  find  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Erech  in  the  great  mounds  of  primitive 
ruins,  indifferently  called  Irak,  Irka,  and  Sen- 
kerah,  by  the  nomade  Arabs :  and  sometimes  El 
Asayiah,  '  the  place  of  pebbles.'  These  mounds, 
which  are  now  surrounded  by  the  almost  per- 
petual marshes  and  inundations  of  the  lower 
Euphrates,  lie  some  miles  east  of  that  stream, 
about  midway  between  the  site  of  Babylon  and 
its  junction  with  the  Tigris. 

E'SAR-HADDON.      [Assyria.] 

E'SAU  {hairy,  rough).  The  origin  and  mean- 
ing of  the  name  are  not  quite  free  from  ambiguity  ; 
Simon  deriving  it  from  a  word  signifying 
covered  with  hair ;  and  some  such  reason  as  this 
implies,  seems  involved  in  the  passage  Gen.  x.kv. 
2.").  Cruden,  however,  explains  the  name  as 
meaning  07ie  who  does,  an  actor  or  agent.  His 
surname  of  Edom  (red)  was  given  him,  it  appears 
(Gen.  XXV.  30),  from  the  red  pottage  which  he 
asked  of  Jacob.  Esau  was  the  eldest  son  of 
'  Isaac,  Abraham's  sou'  (Gen.  xxv.  19)  by  Re- 
bekah,  •  the  daughter  of  Bethuel  the  Syrian  of 
Padan-nram,  the  sister  to  Laban   the  Syrian.' 


ESAU 

The  marriage  remaining  for  some  time  (about  19 
years:  compare  xxv.  20,  26)  unproductive,  Isaac 
entreated  Jehovah,  and  she  became  pregnant. 
Led  by  peculiar  feelings  'to  inquire  of  Jehovah,' 
Rebekah  was  informed  that  she  should  give  birth 
to  twins,  whose  fate  would  be  as  diverse  as  their 
character,  and,  what  in  those  days  was  stranger 
still,  that  the  elder  should  serve  the  youuger.  On 
occasion  of  her  delivery  the  child  that  was  born 
first  was  'red,  all  over  like  an  hairy  garment; 
and  they  called  his  name  Esau.'  Immediately 
afterwards  Jacob  was  born. 

In  process  of  time  the  different  natural  endow- 
ments of  the  two  boys  began  to  display  their 
eftects  in  dissimilar  aptitudes  and  pursuits. 
\Miile  Jacob  was  led  by  his  less  robust  make  and 
quiet  disposition  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  a  shepherd's 
life,  and  pass  his  days  in  and  around  his  tent, 
Esau  was  impelled  by  the  ardour  and  lofty  spirit 
which  agitated  his  bosom,  to  seek  in  the  toils, 
adventures,  and  perils  of  the  chace,  his  occupa- 
tion and  sustenance  :  and,  as  is  generally  the  case 
in  natures  like  his,  he  gained  high  repute  by  his 
skill  and  daring. 

A  hunter's  life  is  of  necessity  one  of  uncertainty 
as  well  as  hardship ;  days  pass  in  which  the 
greatest  vigilance  and  the  most  strenuous  exer- 
tions may  fail  even  to  find,  much  less  capture, 
game.  Esau  had  on  one  occasion  experienced 
such  a  disappointment,  and,  wearied  with  his  un- 
productive efiorts,  exhausted  for  want  of  sus- 
tenance, and  despairing  of  capturing  any  prey, 
he  was  fain  to  turn  his  steps  to  his  father's  house 
for  succour  iu  his  extremity.  On  reaching  home 
he  found  his  brother  enjoying  a  carefully  pre- 
pared dish  of  pottage :  attracted  by  the  odour  of 
which  he  besought  Jacob  to  allow  him  to  share 
in  the  meal.  His  brother  saw  the  exigency  in 
which  Esau  was,  and  determined  not  to  let  it 
pass  unimproved.  Accordingly  he  puts  a  price 
on  the  required  food.  Esau  was  the  elder,  and 
had  in  consequence  immunities  and  privileges 
which  were  of  high  value.  The  surrender  of 
these  to  himself  Jacob  makes  the  condition  of 
his  complying  with  Esau's  petition.  Urged  by 
the  cravings  of  hunger,  alarmed  even  by  the  fear 
of  instant  death,  Esau  sold  his  birth-right  to  his 
youuger  brother,  confirming  the  contract  by  the 
sanction  of  an  oath.  Jacob  having  thus  got  his 
price,  supplied  the  famishing  Esau  with  needful 
refreshments. 

Arrived  now  at  years  of  maturity,  Esau,  when 
40  years  of  age,  married  two  wives,  Judith  and 
Basheuiath.  Some  unhappy  feelings  appear  to 
have  previously  existed  in  the  family  ;  for  while 
Esau  was  a  favourite  with  his  father,  in  conse- 
quence, it  appears,  of  the  presents  of  venison 
which  the  youth  gave  him,  Jacob  was  regarded 
with  special  affecti-on  by  the  mother.  These  par- 
tialities, and  their  natural  consequences  in  un- 
amiable  feelings,  were  increased  and  exaggerated 
by  Esau's  marriage.  Even  his  father's  preference 
of  him  may  have  been  injuriously  affected.  The 
way  was  thus  in  some  measure  smoothed  for  the 
transference  of  the  coveted  birthright  to  the 
younger  son. 

The  time  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  compact 
between  the  brothers  at  length  arrived.  Isaac  is 
'sick  unto  death.'  His  appetite,  as  well  as  his 
strength,  having  failed,  is  only  to  be  gratified  by 
provocatives.     He  desires  some  savoury  venison, 


ESAU 


299 


and  gives  the  requisite  instructions  to  Esau,  who 
accordingly  proceeds  in  quest  of  it.  On  this 
Rebekah  begins  to  feel  that  the  critical  time  has 
come.  If  the  hated  Hittites  are  not  to  enter  with 
her  less  favoured  son  into  possession  of  the  family 
property,  the  sale  of  the  birthright  must  now  in 
some  way  be  confirmed  and  consummated.  One 
essential  particular  remained — the  father's  bless- 
ing. If  this  should  be  given  to  Esau,  all  hope 
was  gone  ;  for  this,  like  our  modern  wills,  would 
hand  the  inheritance  and  the  accompan}  ing  head- 
ship of  the  tribe  to  Esau  and  his  wives. 

Isaac,  however,  had  lost  his  sight — indeed,  all 
his  senses  were  dull  and  feeble.  It  was  therefore 
not  very  difficult  to  pass  oft'  Jacob  upon  him  as 
Esau.  Rebekah  takes  her  measures,  and,  not- 
withstanding Jacob's  fears,  succeeds.  Isaac,  in- 
deed, is  not  without  suspicion,  but  a  falsehood 
comes  to  aid  Jacob  in  his  otherwise  discreditable 
personation  of  Esau.  The  blessing  is  pronounced, 
and  thus  the  coveted  property  and  ascendancy 
are  secured.  The  affectionate  endearments  which 
pass  between  the  deceiver  and  the  abused  old 
blind  father,  stand  in  painful  contrast  with  the 
base  trickery  by  which  mother  and  son  had 
accomplished  their  end. 

Esau,  however,  returns  from  the  field,  ap- 
proaches his  decrepid  and  sightless  father,  de- 
claring who  he  is.  '  And  Isaac  trembled  very 
exceedingly,  and  said.  Who  ?  where  is  he  that 
hath  taken  venison  and  brought  it  me,  and  I 
have  eaten  of  all  before  thou  earnest,  and  have 
blessed  him? — yea,  and  he  shall  be  blessed.' 
On  this  Esau  becomes  agitated,  and  entreats  a 
blessing  for  himself — '  Bless  me,  even  me  also, 
O  my  father.'  Urging  this  entreaty  again  and 
again,  even  with  tears,  Isaac  at  length  said  unto 
him,  '  Behold,  thy  dwelling  shall  be  the  fatness 
of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew  of  heaven  from 
above;  and  by  thy  sword  shalt  thou  live,  and 
shalt  serve  thy  brother ;  and  it  shall  come  to  pass 
when  thou  shalt  have  the  dominion  that  thou 
shalt  break  his  yoke  from  off  thy  neck '  (Gen. 
xxvii.). 

Thus,  deprived  for  ever  of  his  birthright,  in 
virtue  of  the  irrevocable  blessing,  Esau  but  too 
naturally  conceived  and  entertained  a  hatred  of 
Jacob,  and  even  formed  a  resolution  to  seize  the 
opportunity  for  slaying  him,  which  the  days  of 
mourning  consequent  on  the  approaching  decease 
of  their  father  would  be  likely  to  afford.  Words 
to  this  effect,  which  Esau  let  drop,  were  repeated 
to  his  mother,  who  thereupon  prevailed  on  her 
younger  son  to  flee  to  his  uncle  Laban,  who  lived 
in  Haran,  there  to  remain  until  time,  with  its 
usual  effect,  might  have  mitigated  Esau's  wrath 
Meanwhile  Esau  had  grown  powerful  in  Idumsea, 
and  when,  after  many  years,  Jacob  intended  to 
return  within  the  borders  of  the  Jordan,  he  feared 
lest  his  elder  brother  might  intercept  him  on  his 
way,  to  take  revenge  for  former  injuries.  He 
accordingly  sent  messengers  to  Esau,  in  order,  if 
possible,  to  disarm  his  wrath.  Esau  appears  to 
have  announced  in  reply,  that  he  would  proceed 
to  meet  his  returning  brother.  When,  therefore, 
Jacob  was  informed  that  Esau  was  on  his  way 
for  this  purpose  with  a  band  of  four  hundred  men, 
he  was  greatly  distressed,  in  fear  of  that  hostility 
which  his  conscience  told  him  he  had  done  some- 
thing to  deserve.  What  then  must  have  been  his 
surprise  when  he  saw  Esau  running  with  extended 


300 


ESDRAS,  BOOKS  OF 


arms  to  greet  and  embrace  him  ?  and  Esau  '  fell 
on  his  neck,  and  kissed  him,  and  they  wept.' 
Jacob  had  prepared  a  present  for  Esau,  hoping 
thus  to  conciliate  his  favour ;  but  Esau  at  first 
courteously  refused  the  gift — '  I  have  enough,  my 
brother,  keep  that  thou  hast  unto  thyself  (Gen. 
xxxiii.). 

The  whole  of  this  rencontre  serves  to  show 
that  if  Jacob  had  acquired  riches,  Esau  had 
gained  power  and  influence  as  well  as  property ; 
and  the  homage  which  is  paid  to  him  indirectly, 
and  by  implication,  on  the  part  of  Jacob,  and 
directly,  and  in  the  most  marked  and  respectful 
manner,  by  the  females  and  children  of  Jacob's 
family,  leads  to  the  supposition  that  he  had  made 
himself  supreme  in  tiie  surrounding  country  of 
Idumsea. 

Esau  from  this  time  appears  but  very  little  in 
the  sacred  narrative.  He  was  ready  to  accompany 
Jacob,  or  to  send  with  him  an  escort,  probably 
for  protection,  but  Jacob's  fears  and  suspicions 
induced  him  to  decline  these  friendly  offers ;  and 
they  separated  on  the  same  day  that  they  met, 
after  an  interview  in  which  Jacob "s  bearing  is 
rather  that  of  an  inferior  to  his  lord  than  that  of 
a  brother,  and  Esau's  has  all  the  generousness 
which  a  high  nature  feels  in  forgiving  an  injury 
and  aiming  to  do  good  to  the  injurer.  The  latter, 
we  are  merely  told,  '  returned  on  his  way  to  Seir' 
(Gen.  xxxiii.  16). 

Jacob  and  Esau  appear  together  again  at  the 
funeral  rites  which  were  paid  to  their  deceased 
father ;  but  the  book  of  Genesis  furnishes  no  par- 
ticulars of  what  took  place. 

Esau  is  once  more  presented  to  us  (Gen.  xxxvi.) 
in  a  genealogical  table,  in  which  a  long  line  of 
illustrious  descendants  is  referred  to  '  Esau,  the 
father  of  the  Edomites  '  (Gen.  xxxvi.  43). 

ESDRAE'LON,  PLAIN  OF.    [Palestine.] 

ES'DRAS,  BOOKS  OF  (APOCRYPHA). 
In  several  manuscripts  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  as 
well  as  in  all  the  printed  editions  anterior  to  the 
decree  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  in  many  since 
that  period,  there  will  be  found  four  books  follow- 
ing each  other,  entitled  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  and  4th 
books  of  Ezra.  The  two  first  are  the  canonical 
books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  the  3rd  and  4th 
form  the  subject  of  the  present  article.  They  are 
the  same  which  are  called  1st  and  2nd  Esdras  in 
the  English  Authorized  Version. 

The  Third  Book  of  Ezra  is  little  more  than 
a  recapitulation  of  the  history  contained  in  the 
canonical  Ezra,  interspersed  with  some  remark- 
able interpolations,  the  chief  of  which  are  chap, 
i.,  taken  from  2  Chron.  xxxv.  xxxvi.,  part  of  the 
last  chapter,  from  Nehem.  viii.,  and  the  narration 
of  the  themes  or  sentences  of  Zorobabel  and  the 
two  other  young  men  of  Darius's  body-guard  (3 
Esd.  iii.  4).  The  book  is  more  properly  a  version 
than  an  original  work.  It  was  made  use  of  by 
Josephus,  who  cites  it  largely  in  his  Antiquities, 
but  nothing  further  has  been  ascertained  respect- 
ing the  age  either  of  the  original  or  the  transla- 
tion. 

This  book  was  regarded  as  apocryphal  by 
Jerome,  Augustine,  and  others  of  the  Fathers.  It 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  included  in  the 
catalogue  of  any  council,  nor  has  any  portion  of 
it  been  read  in  the  offices  of  the  church.  It  was 
also  rejected  as  apocrynhal  by  the  Council  of 
Trent, 


ESTHER 

The  Fourth  Book  of  Ezra  is  quite  of  a  dif- 
ferent character  from  the  former,  and  it  has  been 
even  doubted  whether  it  more  properly  belongs 
to  the  Apocrypha  of  the  Old  or  the  New  Testa- 
ment ;  but  the  circumstance  of  the  author's  per- 
sonating the  celebrated  scribe  of  that  name  has 
been  supposed  to  have  led  to  its  obtaining  a  place 
in  the  former.  It  consists  of  a  number  of  simili- 
tudes or  visions,  resembling  in  some  passages  the 
Apocalypse.  The  descriptions  are  acknowledged 
to  be  sometimes  most  spirited  and  striking,  occa- 
sionally rising  to  great  sublimity  of  thought, 
energy  of  conception,  and  elegance  of  expression. 

With  regard  to  its  author  and  age,  Jahn  sup- 
poses the  author  to  have  been  a  Jew,  educated  in 
Chaldea,  who  borrowed  his  style  from  Daniel, 
and  who,  having  become  a  Christian,  still  retained 
his  reverence  for  Cabalistic  traditions.  He  places 
him  in  the  first  or  early  in  the  second  century. 
Archbishop  Laurence,  on  the  other  hand,  con- 
ceives that  the  author  was  a  Jew  who  never 
changed  his  creed. 

Dr.  Lee  is  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  author 
of  this  book  was  contemporary  with  the  author 
of  the  book  of  Enoch,  or  rather  that  both  these 
books  were  written  by  one  and  the  same  author. 
It  does  not  appear  that  Josephus  was  aware  of  its 
existence. 

ESH'BAAL.      [ISHBOSHETH.] 

1.  ESH'COL  (a  cluster),  one  of  the  Amoritish 
chiefs  with  whom  Abraham  was  in  alliance  when 
his  camp  was  near  Hebron,  and  who  joined  with 
him  in  the  pursuit  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies, 
for  the  rescue  of  Lot  (Gen.  xiv.  13,  24). 

2.  ESHCOL.  The  name  of  the  valley  in 
which  the  Hebrew  spies  obtained  the  fine  cluster 
of  grapes  which  they  took  back  with  them,  borne 
'  on  a  staff  between  two,'  as  a  specimen  of  the 
fruits  of  the  Promised  Land  (Num.  xiii.  24). 
The  cluster  was  doubtless  large ;  but  the  fact  that 
it  was  carried  in  this  manner  does  not,  as  usually 
understood,  implj'  that  the  bunch  was  as  much 
as  two  men  could  carry,  seeing  that  it  was  pro- 
bably so  carried  to  prevent  its  being  bruised  in 
the  journey.  The  valley  of  Eshcol  probably 
took  its  name  from  the  distinguished  Amorite 
already  mentioned,  and  is  hence  to  be  sought  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Hebron.  Accordingly  the 
valley  through  which  lies  the  commencement  of 
the  road  from  Hebron  to  Jerusalem  is  indicated 
as  that  of  Eshcol.  This  valley  is  now  full  of 
vineyards  and  olive-yards  ;  the  former  chiefly  in 
the  valley  itself,  the  latter  up  the  sides  of  the  en- 
closing hills.  'These  vineyards  are  still  very 
fine,  and  produce  the  finest  and  largest  grapes  in 
all  the  country.' 

ES'THER  (a  star),  a  damsel  of  the  tribe  of 
Benjamin,  born  during  the  Exile,  and  whose 
family  did  not  avail  itself  of  the  permission  to 
return  to  Palestine,  under  the  edict  of  Cyrus. 
Her  parents  being  dead,  Esther  was  brought  up 
by  her  uncle  Mordecai.  The  reigning  king  of 
Persia,  Ahasuerus,  having  divorced  his  queen, 
Vashti,  on  account  of  the  becoming  spirit  with 
which  she  refused  to  submit  to  the  indignity  which 
a  compliance  with  his  drunken  commands  in- 
volved, search  was  made  throughout  the  empire 
for  the  most  beautiful  maiden  to  be  her  successor. 
Those  whom  the  officers  of  the  harem  deemed  the 
most  beautiful  were  removed  thither,  the  eventual 
choice  among  them  remaining  with  the  king  him- 


ESTHER,  BOOK  OF 

self.  That  choice  fell  on  Esther,  who  found 
favour  in  the  eyes  of  Ahasuerus,  and  was  advanced 
to  a  station  enviable  only  by  comparison  with 
that  of  the  less  favoured  inmates  of  the  royal 
harem.  Her  Jewish  origin  was  at  the  time  un- 
known ;  and  hence,  when  she  avowed  it  to  the 
king,  she  seemed  to  be  included  in  the  doom  of 
extirpation  which  a  royal  edict  had  pronounced 
against  all  the  Jews  in  the  empire.  This  circum- 
stance enabled  her  to  turn  the  royal  indignation 
upon  Haman,  the  chief  minister  of  the  king,  whose 
resentment  against  Mordecai  had  led  him  to  ob- 
tain from  the  king  this  monstrous  edict.  The 
laws  of  the  empire  would  not  allow  the  king  to 
recal  a  decree  once  uttered ;  but  the  Jews  were 
authorized  to  stand  on  their  defence ;  and  this, 
witli  the  known  change  in  the  intentions  of  the 
court,  averted  the  worst  consequences  of  the 
decree.  The  Jews  established  a  yearly  feast  in 
memory  of  this  deliverance,  which  is  observed 
among  them  to  this  day  [Pdrim].  Such  is  the 
substance  of  the  history  of  Esther,  as  related  in 
the  book  which  bears  her  name. 

It  should  be  observed  that  Esther  is  the  name 
which  the  damsel  received  upon  her  introduction 
into  the  royal  harem,  her  Hebrew  name  having 
been  Hadassah,  myrtle  (Esth.  ii.  7).  Esther  is 
most  probably  a  Persian  word.  According  to 
the  second  Targum  on  Esther,  '  She  was  called 
Esther  from  the  name  of  the  star  Venus,  which 
in  Greek  is  Aster.' 

The  difficulties  of  the  history  of  the  book  of 
Esther,  especially  as  regards  the  identity  of  the 
king,  have  been  examined  under  Ahasuerus, 
and  are  also  noticed  in  the  following  article. 

ESTHER,  BOOK  OF,  historical  books  of 
Scripture,  called  by  the  Jews  Meyillah  Esther. 
In  the  Christian  Church  it  has  been  also  called 
Ahasuerus. 

The  Jews  hold  this  book  in  veneration  next  to 
the  books  of  Moses,  and  there  appears  to  be  no 
authentic  foundation  for  the  statement  of  Richard 
Baxter  {Saint's  Rest,  part  iv.),  that  the  book  of 
Esther  was  treated  so  ignominiously  by  the  Jews 
that  they  were  in  the  habit  of  throwing  it  on  the 
ground  before  reading  it. 
I  As  the  subject  of  this  book  has  been  treated  of 
under  the  article  Ahasuerus,  it  will  be  sufficient 
to  refer  to  that  head ;  only  we  may  here  observe 
that  the  book  of  Esther  has  this  peculiarity  among 
the  historical  books,  that  although  the  author,  a 
Persian  Jew,  records  a  remarkable  preservation 
from  destruction  of  that  portion  of  his  country- 
men which  remained  in  Persia  after  the  exile, 
he  does  not  refer  their  deliverance  to  the  act  of 
God,  whose  name  is  not  even  once  mentioned. 
This  has  been  explained  by  supposing  that  the 
author  wished  to  avoid  giving  offence  to  the 
Persians,  or  that  the  whole  was  taken  from  the 
Persian  annals,  which  are  appealed  to,  ch.  x.  2. 

The  age  and  authorship  of  Esther  is  a  question 
involved  in  much  difficulty.  Of  the  author  no- 
thing is  known,  nor  have  we  any  data  on  which 
to  form  a  reasonable  conjecture. 

Some  doubts  have  been  thrown  on  the  canonical 
authority  of  this  book,  but  whatever  hesitation 
may  have  been  felt  by  some  of  the  Christian 
fathers  as  to  its  authenticity,  it  does  not  appear 
that  it  was  ever  doubted  by  the  Jews  or  by  the 
Christian  Church  in  its  collective  capacity. 

E'TAM,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  which 


ETHIOPIA 


301 


was  decorated  by  Solomon  with  gardens  and 
streams  of  water,  and  fortified  by  Rehoboam 
along  with  Bethlehem  and  Tekoa  (1  Chron.  iv. 
3,  32  ;  2  Chron.  xi.  6).  From  this  place,  accord- 
ing to  the  Rabbins,  water  was  carried  by  an 
aqueduct  to  Jerusalem.  Dr.  Robinson  inclines 
to  find  Etam  at  a  place  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
south  of  Bethlehem,  where  there  is  a  ruined  vil- 
lage called  Urtas,  at  the  bottom  of  a  pleasant 
valley  of  the  same  name.  Here  there  are  traces 
of  ancient  ruins,  and  also  a  fountain,  sending 
forth  a  copious  supply  of  fine  water,  which  forms 
a  beautiful  purling  rill  along  the  bottom  of  the 
valley.  It  is  usually  supposed  that  'the  rock 
Etam,'  to  which  Samson  withdrew  (Judg.  xv.  8, 
11),  was  near  the  town  of  the  same  name.  Urtas 
seems  too  far  inland  for  this ;  there  is,  however, 
a  little  to  the  east,  the  Frank  mountain,  which 
(this  consideration  apart)  would  have  furnished 
just  such  a  retreat  as  the  hero  seems  to  have 
found. 

E'THAM,  the  third  station  of  the  Israelites 
when  they  quitted  Egypt  [Exodus]  . 

1.  E'TH  AN  {firm),  one  of  four  persons  ('  Ethan 
the  Ezrahite,  and  Heman,  and  Chalcol,  and 
Darda,  the  sons  of  Mahol ')  who  were  so  re- 
nowned for  their  sagacity  that  it  is  mentioned 
to  the  honour  of  Solomon  that  his  wisdom  ex- 
celled theirs.  In  1  Kings  iv.  31,  Ethan  is  dis- 
tinguished as  'the  Ezrahite,'  from  the  others, 
who  are  called  '  sons  of  Mahol ' — unless,  indeed, 
this  word  Mahol  be  taken  not  as  a  proper  name, 
but  appellatively,  for  'sons  of  music,  dancing,' 
&c.,  in  which  case  it  would  apply  to  Ethan  as 
well  as  to  the  others.  This  interpretation  is 
strengthened  by  our  finding  the  other  names  as- 
sociated with  that  of  Ethan  in  1  Chron.  ii.  6,  as 
'  sons  of  Zerah,'  i.  e.  of  Ezra,  the  same  as  Ez- 
rahites.  The  evidence  of  identity  afforded  by 
this  collocation  of  names  is  too  strong  to  be 
resisted ;  and  we  must  therefore  conclude  that 
Ethan  and  the  others,  the  tradition  of  whose 
wisdom  had  descended  to  the  time  of  Solomon, 
are  the  same  who,  in  1  Chron.  ii.  6,  appear  as 
sons  of  Zerah,  who  was  himself  the  son  of  the 
patriarch  Judah.  With  this  agrees  the  Jewish 
chronology,  which  counts  them  as  prophets 
during  the  sojourn  in  Egypt. 

2.  ETHAN,  a  Levite,  the  son  of  Kishi,  and 
one  of  the  masters  of  the  Temple  music  (1  Chron. 
vi.  44  ;  XV.  17),  to  whom  the  89th  Psalm  is  as- 
cribed, and  whom  some  interpreters  suppose  to 
be  the  Ethan  of  1  Kings  iv.  31,  to  whose  wisdom 
that  of  Solomon  is  compared. 

ETH'ANIM.     [TiSRi.] 

ETHIO'PIA  is  the  name  by  which  the  Eng- 
lish and  most  other  versions  render  the  Hebrew 
CusH.  As  used  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
the  word  was  employed,  in  all  the  latitude  of  its 
etymological  meaning,  to  denote  any  of  the 
countries  where  the  people  are  of  a  sable,  sun- 
burnt complexion.  But  we  have  shown  in  the 
article  Cush  (to  which  we  refer  the  reader)  that 
its  use  in  the  language  of  Scripture  is  much 
more  restricted,  and  that  while  it  may  sometimes 
include  part  of  Southern  Arabia,  it  for  the  most 
part  exclusively  designates  the  'Ethiopia  of 
Africa,'  which  is  the  subject  of  the  present 
article. 

By  Ethiopia,  or  African  Cush,  in  the  widest 
acceptation  of  the  name,  the  Hebrews  understood 


302 


ETHIOPIA 


the  whole  of  the  region  lying  south  of  Egypt 
above  Syeue,  the  modern  Assouan  (Ezek.  xxix. 
10 ;  XXX.  G).  Its  limits  on  the  west  and  south 
were  undefined ;  l)ut  they  probably  regarded  it 
as  extending  eastward  as  far  as  the  Red  Sea,  if 
not  as  including  some  of  the  islands  in  that  sea, 
such  as  the  famous  Topaz  Isle  (Job  xxviii.  19). 
It  thus  corresponded,  though  only  in  a  vague  and 
general  sense,  to  the  countries  known  to  us  as 
Nubia  and  Abyssinia,  so  famous  for  the  Nile  and 
other  great  rivers. 

But  that  part  of  the  vast  region  of  Cush  which 
seems  chiefly  intended  in  these  and  most  other 
passages  of  Scripture  is  the  tract  of  country  in 
Upper  Nubia,  which  became  famous  in  anti- 
quity as  the  kingdom  of  Ethiopia,  or  the  state 
of  Meroe.  The  P^thiopian  nations  generally 
ranked  low  in  the  scale  of  civilization ;  never- 
theless (to  use  the  language  of  Heeren),  there  did 
exist  a  better  cultivated,  and,  to  a  certain  degree, 
a  civilized  Ethiopian  people  ;  who  dwelt  in  cities  ; 
who  erected  temples  and  other  edifices ;  who, 
though  without  letters,  had  hieroglyphics ;  who 
had  government  and  laws;  and  the  fame  of  whose 
progress  in  knowledge  and  the  social  arts  spread 
in  the  earliest  ages  over  a  considerable  part  of 
the  earth.'  Meroe  Proper  lay  between  the  river 
Astaboras  (now  the  Atbara  or  Tacazz6)  on  the 
east,  and  the  Nile  on  the  west.  Though  not  com- 
pletely enclosed  with  rivers,  it  was  called  an 
island,  because,  as  Pliny  observes,  the  various 
streams  which  flowed  around  it  were  all  con- 
sidered as  branches  of  the  Nile.  Its  surface  ex- 
ceeded that  of  Sicily  more  than  a  half,  and  it 
corresponded  pretty  nearly  to  the  present  pro- 
vince of  Atbara>  between  13°  and  18°  N.  lat.  In 
modern  times  it  formed  a  great  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Sennaar,  and  the  soutliern  portion 
belongs  to  Abyssinia.  Upon  the  island  of  Meroe 
lay  a  city  of  the  same  name,  the  metropolis  of 
the  kingdom,  the  site  of  which  has  been  dis- 
covered near  a  place  called  Assur,  about  twenty 
miles  N.  of  the  town  of  Shendy,  under  1 7°  N 
lat.  The  splendid  ruins  of  temples,  pyramids, 
and  other  edifices  found  here  and  throughout  the 
district  attest  the  high  degree  of  civilization  and 
art  among  the  ancient  Ethiopians. 

According  to  Josephus,  the  ancient  name  of 
Meroe  was  Seb^.  Now  in  the  Scriptures  this 
country  of  African  Seba  is  classed  with  the 
Arabian  Sheba  as  a  rich  but  far-distant  land  (Ps. 
Ixxii.  10).  In  Isa.  xliii.  .3,  God  says  to  Israel, 
*  I  have  given  Egypt  for  thy  ransom  ;  Cush  and 
Seba  in  thy  stead:'  and  in  Isa.  xlv.  14,  'The 
wealth  of  Egypt,  and  the  merchandise  of  Cush 
and  of  the  Sebai'm,  men  of  stature,  shall  pass  over 
to  thee  and  shall  be  thine.' 

In  the  age  of  Herodotus,  the  countries  known 
to  us  as  Nubia  and  Sennaar  were  occupied  by  two 
different  races,  one  of  whom  he  includes  under 
the  general  appellation  of  Ethiopians,  the  other 
an  immigratory  Arabian  race  leading,  for  the 
most  part,  a  nomadic  life.  This  distinction  has 
continued  down  to  the  present  day.  Among  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  the  first  place  is  due  to 
the  Nubians,  who  are  well-formed,  strong,  and 
muscular,  and  with  nothing  whatever  of  the 
negro  physiognomy.  They  go  armed  with  spear, 
sword;  and  a  shield  of  the  skin  of  the  hippopo- 
tamus. South  of  Dongola  is  the  country  of  the 
Scheygias,  whose  warriors  are  horsemen,  also 


ETHIOPIA 

armed  with  a  double-pointad  spear,  a  sword,  and 
a  large  shield  (comp.  Jer.  xlvi.  9,  the  '  Cushites 
who  handle  the  shield  ').  They  were  completely 
independent  till  subdued  by  Mehemet  All,  pacha 
of  Egypt.  It  is  in  their  country  that  the  pyra- 
midal monuments  which  adorned  the  ancient 
Meroe  are  first  met  with.  Next  comes  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Berbers,  strictly  so  called,  who, 
though  speaking  Arabic,  evidently  belong  to  the 
Nubian  race.  Above  these  regions  beyond  the 
Tacazze  and  along  the  Nile  the  great  mass  of  the 
inhabitants,  though  sometimes  with  a  mixture  of 
other  blood,  may  be  regarded  as  of  Arab  origin. 
But  between  the  valley  of  the  Nile  and  the  Red 
Sea  there  is  still,  as  of  old,  a  variety  of  scattered 
aboriginal  tribes,  among  whom  the  Arabic  is 
much  less  common.  Some  of  them  spread  them- 
selves over  the  plains  of  the  Astaboras,  or  Ta- 
cazze', being  compelled  to  remove  their  encamp- 
ments, sometimes  by  the  inundations  of  the  river, 
at  other  times  by  the  attacks  of  the  dreaded  zimb, 
or  gad-fly,  described  by  Bruce,  and  which  he 
supposes  to  be  the  '  fly  which  is  in  the  utmost 
part  of  the  rivers  of  Egypt'  (Isa.  vii.  IS). 
Another  remarkable  Ethiopic  race  in  ancient 
times  was  the  Macrobians,  so  called  from  their 
supposed  longevity.  They  were  represented  by 
the  ambassadors  of  Cambyses  as  a  very  tall  race, 
who  elected  the  highest  in  stature  as  king :  gold 
was  so  abundant  that  they  bound  their  prisoners 
with  golden  fetters — circumstances  which  again 
remind  us  of  Isaiah's  description  of  Ethiopia  and 
Seba  in  ch.  xlv.  14. 

With  regard  to  the  ancient  civilization  of 
Ethiopia  Proper,  or  the  kingdom  of  Meroe,  it 
was  closely  connected  with  the  religion  of  the 
country,  which  was  the  worship  of  Amnion  and 
his  kindred  deities,  and  the  '  Oracles  of  Ammon ' 
were  its  main  support.  The  government  was  in 
the  hands  of  a  race  or  caste  of  priests,  who  chose 
from  among  themselves  a  king ;  and  this  form 
continued  down  to  the  reign  in  Egypt  of  the 
second  Ptolemy,  when  Ergamenes,  at  that  time 
king,  massacred  the  priests  in  their  sanctuary, 
and  became  absolute  monarch. 

Of  the  history  of  Ethiopia,  previous  to  that 
last  revolution,  only  scanty  information  has  been 
preserved,  but  it  is  enough  to  evince  its  high 
antiquity  and  its  early  aggrandizement.  In  the 
Persian  period  it  was  certainly  an  independent 
and  important  state,  which  Cambyses  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  subdue.  But  its  most  flourishing 
era  was  between  the  years  b.c.  800  and  700,  when 
arose  three  potent  kings,  Sabaco,  Sevechus,  and 
Tarhako,  or  Tirhakah,  who  extended  their  con- 
quests over  a  great  part  of  Egypt.  Sevechus  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  So  or  Sua  king  of 
Egypt,  to  whom  an  embassy  was  sent  by  Hoshea, 
king  of  Israel  (2  Kings  xvii.  4),  whose  reign 
ended  b.c.  722.  He  was  thus  the  contemporary 
of  Salmanassar,  king  of  Assyria,  as  was  Tirhakah 
of  the  next  Assyrian  monarch,  Sennacherib,  who 
(about  the  year  B.C.  714)  was  deterred  from  the 
invasion  of  Egypt  merely  by  the  rumour  thaf 
Tirhakah  was  advancing  against  him  (2  Kings 
xix.  9).  There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
the  remarkable  prophecy  in  the  18th  chapter  of 
Isaiah  was  addressed  to  Tirhakah  and  his  people, 
to  announce  to  them  the  sudden  overthrow  of 
the  Assyrian  host  before  Jerusalem.  In  verse  7 
almost  verbatim,  it  is  intim^ed  that,  struck  at 


ETHIOPIA 


EUNUCH 


303 


tlie  mighty  deeds  of  the  God  of  Judah,  this 
distant  people  should  send  gifts  to  his  dwelling- 
place  at  Zion.  They  were,  no  doubt,  among  the 
'many'  who  are  described  in  2  Chr.  xxxii.  23, 
as  having  '  brought  gifts  unto  Jehovah  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  presents  to  king  Hezekiah,  so  that  he 
was  magnified  in  the  sight  of  all  the  nations.' 
But  it  is  remarked  by  Gesenius  that  the  expec- 
tation of  the  entire  conversion  of  the  Ethiopians 
is  frequently  expressed  by  the  Hebrew  prophets 
(Isa.  xlv.  14;  Zeph.  iii.  10;  Ps.  Ixviii.  32; 
Ixxxvii.  4) ;  and  he  adds,  '  Those  who  take 
pleasure  in  tracing  the  fulfilment  of  such  pre- 
dictions in  subsequent  history  may  find  it  in 
Acts  viii.  27  (the  conversion  both  to  Judaism 
and  Christianity  of  the  treasurer  of  Queen 
Candace),  and  still  more  in  the  circumstance 
that  Abyssinia  is  to  this  day  the  only  great 
Christian  state  in  the  eastern  world.' 

If  we  go  back  about  two  centuries,  to  the 
reign  of  Asa,  king  of  Judah  (b.c.  950),  we  read 
of  Zerah,  or  rather  Zerach,  an  Ethiopian  going 
out  against  him  with  a  host  of  a  thousand 
thousand  men  and  three  hundred  chariots  (2 
Chron.  xiv.  9).  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  was 
an  Ethiopian  monarch  or  commander,  or  only  a 
mere  Cushite  adventurer  ;  but  that  his  army  was 
mainly  of  African  and  not  Arabian  original  is 
evident  from  the  fact  of  its  having  included 
Libyans  as  well  as  Cushites  (2  Chron.  xvi.  8), 
and  from  the  mention  of  war-chariots,  which 
never  were  in  use  in  Arabia.  Farther  back  than 
this  the  records  of  history  are  silent. 

The  state  of  Meroii  appears  to  have  resembled 
the  larger  states  in  the  interior  of  Africa  at  the 
present  day,  comprising  a  number  of  different 
races  or  tribes  united  together  by  no  strong  poli- 
tical bond,  but  by  a  common  form  of  worship, 
which  placed  the  rule  in  the  hands  of  the  priest- 
hood, the  dominant  caste  of  the  country.  There 
is  every  reason  to  conclude  that  the  separate 
colonies  of  the  priest-caste  spread  from  Meroe 
into  Egypt;  and  the  primsval  monuments  in 
Ethiopia  strongly  confirm  the  native  traditions 
reported  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  that  the  worship 
of  Ammon  and  Osiris  originated  in  Meroe,  and 
thus  render  highly  probable  the  opinion  that 
commerce  and  civilization,  science  and  art,  de- 
scended into  Egypt  from  Nubia  and  the  upper 
regions  of  the  Nile.  One  great  cause  of  the 
early  prosperity  and  grandeur  of  Ethiopia  was 
the  carrying-trade,  of  which  it  was  the  centre, 
between  India  and  Arabia  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  interior  of  Africa,  and  especially  Egypt,  on 
the  other. 

Queen  Candace,  who  is  mentioned  in  Acts  viii. 
27,  was  doubtless  the  reigning  sovereign  of  Meroe 
[Candace],  where  it  is  likely  a  form  of  Judaism 
was  at  that  period  professed  by  a  portion  of  the 
inhabitants,  as  seems  to  have  been  the  case  in 
the  adjacent  region  of  Abyssinia.  The  prophets 
{e.g.  Isa.  xi.  11)  sometimes  allude  to  the  Jews 
who  were  scattered  throughout  Cush.  Ebed- 
melech,  the  benevolent  eunuch  of  King  Zede- 
kiah,  who  showed  such  kindness  to  the  prophet 
Jeremiah,  was  an  Ethiopian  (Jer.  xxxviii.  7; 
comp.  Acts  viii.  27).  Josephus  calls  the  queen 
of  Sheba,  who  visited  Solomon,  a  queen  of  Egypt 
and  Ethiopia,  and  with  this  agrees  the  tradition 
of  the  Abyssinians.  But  Sheba  was  undoubtedly 
in  Arabia  Felix,  though  it  is  possible  that,  in 


remote  antiquity,  the  sovereignty  of  its  monarchs 
extended  across  the  Red  Sea  to  the  coast  of 
Ethiopia. 

EVANGELISTS.  This  term  is  applied  in 
the  New  Testament  to  a  certain  class  of  Chris- 
tian teachers  who  were  not  fixed  to  any  parti- 
cular spot,  but  travelled  either  independently,  or 
under  the  direction  of  one  or  other  of  the  Apos- 
tles, for  the  purpose  of  propagating  the  Gospel. 
Philip,  one  of  the  seven  deacons,  is  termed  the 
Evangelist  (Acts  xxi.  8).  St.  Paul  exhorts 
Timothy  '  to  do  the  work  of  an  Evangelist '  (2 
Tim.  iv.  5) ;  and  though  this  name  is  not  given 
to  Titus,  the  injunctions  addressed  to  him,  and 
the  services  he  rendered,  are  so  similar  as  to 
render  the  propriety  of  applying  it  to  him  un- 
questionable. In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians 
(iv.  11)  the  Evangelists  are  expressly  distin- 
guished from  the  pastors  and  teachers.  The 
chief  points  of  difierence  appear  to  be  that  the 
former  were  itinerant,  the  latter  stationary ;  the 
former  were  employed  in  introducing  the  Gospel 
where  it  was  before  unknown;  the  business  of 
the  latter  was  to  confirm  and  instruct  the  con- 
verts statedly  and  permanently. 

EVE  (living),  the  name  of  the  first  woman. 
Her  history  is  contained  in  that  of  Adam,  irhich 

EVENING.     [Day.] 

EVIL-MERO'DACH,  son  and  successor  of 
Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of  Babylon,  who,  on  his 
accession  to  the  throne  (b.c.  562),  released  the 
captive  king  of  Judah,  Jehoiachin,  from  prison, 
treated  him  with  kindness  and  distinction,  and 
set  his  throne  above  the  thrones  of  the  other  con- 
quered kings  who  were  detained  at  Babylon  (2 
Kings  xxv.  27  ;  Jer.  Iii.  31-34)  [Chaldeans]. 
A  Jewish  tradition  (noticed  by  Jerome  on  Isa. 
xiv.  29)  ascribes  this  kindness  to  a  personal 
friendship  which  Evil-merodach  had  contracted 
with  the  Jewish  king,  when  he  was  himself  con- 
signed to  prison  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who,  on 
recovering  from  his  seven  years'  monomania, 
took  offence  at  some  part  of  the  conduct  of  his 
son,  by  whom  the  government  had  in  the  mean- 
time been  administered.  But  this  story  was  pro- 
bably invented  to  account  for  (he  fact. 

EUNI'CE,  the  mother  of  Timothy,  a  Jewess, 
although  married  to  a  Greek  and  bearing  a 
Greek  name,  which  signifies  good  victory.  She 
was  a  believer  in  Christ,  and  even  her  mother 
Lois  lived  in  the  faith  of  the  expected  Messiah, 
if  she  did  not  live  to  know  that  he  had  come  in 
the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  (2  Tim.  i.  5  ; 
Acts  xvi.  1). 

EUNUCH.  This  word,  which  we  have 
adopted  from  the  Greek,  has,  in  its  literal  sense, 
the  harmless  meaning  of  '  bed-keeper,'  i.  e.  one 
who  has  the  charge  of  beds  and  bed-chambers ; 
but  as  only  persons  deprived  of  their  virility 
have,  from  the  most  ancient  times,  been  em- 
ployed in  Oriental  harems,  and  as  such  persons 
are  employed  almost  exclusively  in  this  kind 
of  service,  the  word  'bed-keeper'  became  sy- 
nonymous with  '  casti-atus.'  In  fact  there  are 
few  eastern  languages  in  which  the  condition  of 
those  persons  is  more  directly  expressed  than  by 
the  name  of  some  post  or  station  in  which  they 
are  usually  foimd.  The  admission  to  the  re- 
cesses of  the  harem,  which  is  in  fact  the  domestic 
establishment  of  the  prince,  gives  the  eunuchs 


.W4  EUPHRATES 

such  peculiar  advantages  of  access  to  the  royal 
ear  and  person,  as  often  enables  them  to  exer- 
cise an  important  influence,  and  to  rise  to 
stations  of  great  trust  and  power  in  Eastern 
courts.  Hence  it  would  seem  that,  in  Egypt,  for 
instance,  the  word  which  indicated  an  eunuch 
was  applied  to  any  court  officer,  whether  a  cas- 
tratus  or  not  (Gen.  xxxvii.  36  ;  xxxix.  1). 

Authority  would  be  superfluous  in  proof  of  a 
matter  of  such  common  knowledge  as  the  em- 
ployment of  eunuchs,  and  especially  of  black 
eunuchs,  in  the  courts  and  harems  of  the  ancient 
and  modern  East.  A  noble  law,  which,  how- 
ever, evinces  the  prevalence  of  the  custom  prior 
to  Moses,  made  castration  illegal  among  the 
Jews  (Lev.  xxi.  20  ;  Deut.  xxiii.  1).  But  the 
Hebrew  princes  did  not  choose  to  understand  this 
law  as  interdicting  the  use  of  those  who  had 
been  made  eunuchs  by  others ;  for  that  they  had 
them,  and  that  they  were  sometimes,  if  not 
generally,  blacks,  and  that  the  chief  of  them  was 
regarded  as  holding  an  important  and  influential 
post,  appears  from  I  Kings  xxii.  9 ;  2  Kings 
viii.  6;  ix.  32,  33;  xx.  18;  xxiii.  11;  Jer. 
xxxviii.  7;  xxxix.  IG;  xli.  16.  Samuel  was 
aware  that  eunuchs  would  not  fail  to  be  em- 
ployed in  a  regal  court;  for  he  thus  forewarns 
the  people,  '  He  (the  king)  will  take  the  tenth 
of  your  seed  and  of  your  vineyard,  and  give  to 
his  eunuchs  [A.  V. '  officers ']  and  to  his  servants' 
(1  Sam.  viii.  15). 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  eunuchs  were 
probably  obtained  from  a  great  distance,  and  at 
an  expense  which  must  have  limited  their  em- 
ployment to  the  royal  establishment :  and  this  is 
very  much  the  case  even  at  present. 

In  Matt.  xix.  12,  the  term  'eunuch '  is  applied 
figuratively  to  persons  naturally  impotent.  In 
the  same  verse  mention  is  also  made  of  persons 
'  who  have  made  themselves  eunuchs  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven's  sake  ;'  which  is  a  manifestly 
hyperbolical  description  of  such  as  lived  in 
1  voluntary  abstinence  (comp.  Matt.  v.  29,  30); 
although  painful  examples  have  occurred  (as  in 
'  the  case  of  Origen)  of  a  disposition  to  interpret 
the  phrase  too  literally. 

EUO'DIAS,  a  female  member  of  the  church 
at  Philippi,  who  seems  to  have  been  at  variance 
with  another  female  member  named  Syntyche. 
Paul  describes  them  as  women  who  had  '  la- 
boured much  with  him  in  the  Gospel,'  and  im- 
plores them  to  be  of  one  mind  (Philip,  iv.  2,  3). 

EUPHRATES,  termed  in  Deut.  i.  7,  'the 
great  river,'  where  it  is  mentioned  as  the  eastern 
boundary  of  the  land  which  (ver.  8)  God  gave 
to  the  descendants  of  Abraham.  In  Gen.  ii.  14, 
the  Euphrates  is  stated  to  be  the  fourth  of  the 
rivers  which  flowed  from  a  common  stream  in 
the  garden  of  Eden.  Divines  and  geographers 
have  taken  much  trouble  in  order  to  learn  the 
position  of  Eden  from  the  geographical  parti- 
culars given  in  the  Bible,  without  remembering 
that  probably  nothing  more  than  a  popular  de- 
scription was  intended. 

In  consequence  of  its  magnitude  and  import- 
ance, the  Euphrates  was  designated  and  known 
as  '  the  river,'  being  by  far  the  most  considerable 
stream  in  Western  Asia.  Thus  in  Exod.  xxiii. 
31,  we  read,  'from  the  desert  unto  the  river' 
(comp.  Isa.  viii.  7). 

It  has  two  sources  and  two  arms — a  western 


EUPHRATES 

and  an  eastern — which  rise  in  the  mountains  of 
Armenia.  Of  these  streams  the  western  is  the 
shorter,  and  is  called  Kara  Sou  or  Melas;  the 
eastern  is  itself  made  up  of  several  streams,  the 
longest  of  which  bears  the  name  of  Murad,  or 
Phrat.  The  two  arms  unite  about  three  days' 
journey  from  Erzeroom,  near  which  rise  two  of 
the  tributaries  that  concur  in  forming  the  Phrat. 
Thus  uniting,  they  give  rise  to  the  Euphrates 
strictly  so  called,  which,  flowing  to  the  south, 
divides  Armenia  from  Cappadocia;  but,  being 
driven  westward  by  the  Anti-Taurus  and  Taurus 
mountains,  it  works  its  circuitous  way  through 
narrow  passes  and  over  cataracts,  until,  breaking 
through  a  defile  formed  by  the  eastern  extremity 
of  Mons  Amanus  (Alma  Dagh),  and  the  north- 
western extremity  of  Mons  Taurus,  it  reaches  the 
plain  country  not  far  from  Samosata  (Schemisat), 
then  winds  south  and  south-east,  passing  the  north 
of  Syria,  and  the  north-east  of  Arabia  Deserta, 
and  at  length,  after  many  windings,  unites  with 
the  Tigris,  and  thus  united  finds  its  termination 
in  the  Persian  Gulf.  In  conjunction  with  the 
Tigris,  it  forms  the  rich  alluvial  lands  of  Meso- 
potamia, over  which  it  flows  or  is  carried  by 
canals,  and  thus  diflfuses  abroad  fertility  and 
beauty.  At  Bagdad  and  Hillah  (Babylon),  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris  approach  comparatively 
near  to  each  other,  but  separate  again,  forming  a 
kind  of  ample  basin,  till  they  finally  become  one 
at  Koorma.  Under  the  Caesars  the  Euphrates 
was  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Roman  empire, 
as  under  David  it  was  the  natural  limit  of  the 
Hebrew  monarchy. 

Although  occasionally  much  more,  the  breadth 
of  the  Euphrates  varies  between  200  and  400 
yards  ;  but  for  a  distance  of  60  miles  through  the 
Lemlun  marshes  the  main  stream  narrows  to 
about  80  yards.  The  general  depth  of  the  Upper 
Euphrates  exceeds  8  feet,  but  is  shallow  enough 
in  some  places  for  laden  camels  to  pass  in  autumn, 
the  water  rising  to  their  bellies,  or  about  4^  feet. 
In  point  of  current  it  is  for  the  most  part  a  slug- 
gish stream ;  for,  except  in  the  height  of  the 
flooded  season,  when  it  approaches  5  miles  an 
hour,  it  varies  from  2j  to  3^,  with  a  much  larger 
portion  of  its  cour.se  under  3  than  above.  The 
length  of  the  navigable  part  of  the  river,  reck- 
oning from  Bir  to  Bussora,  is  143  miles;  the 
length  of  the  entire  stream,  1400  miles.  It  is  very 
abundant  in  fish.  The  Avater  is  somewhat  turbid ; 
but,  when  purified,  is  pleasant  and  salubrious. 

"The  river  begins  to  rise  in  March,  and  con- 
tinues rising  till  the  latter  end  of  May.  The 
consequent  increase  of  its  volume  and  rapidity  is 
attributable  to  tlie  early  rains,  which,  falling  in 
the  Armenian  mountains,  swell  its  mountain  tri- 
butaries ;  and  also  in  the  main  to  the  melting  of 
the  winter  snows  in  these  lofty  regions.  About 
the  middle  of  November  the  Euphrates  has 
reached  its  lowest  ebb,  and  ceasing  to  decrease, 
becomes  tranquil  and  sluggish. 

In  ancient  as  well  as  in  modern  times  the  Eu- 
phrates was  used  for  navigation.  Herodotus 
states  that  boats — either  coracles  or  rafts,  floated 
by  inflated  skin.s — brought  the  produce  of  Arme- 
nia down  to  Babylon.  The  trade  thus  carried 
on  was  considerable.  A  great  deal  of  navigation 
is  still  cai-ried  on  from  Bagdad  to  Hillah,  the 
ancient  Babylon  ;  but  the  disturbed  state  of  the 
country  prevents  any  above  the  latter  place. 


EXECRATION 

The  prophets  made  use  of  the  Euphrates  as  a 
figurative  description  of  the  Assyrian  power,  as 
the   Nile    "with    them  represented  the  power  of 
Egypt ;  thus  in   Isa.  viii.  7,  '  The  Lord   bringeth 
up  upon  them  the  waters  of  the  river,  strong  and 
many,  even  the  king  of  Assyria'  (Jer.  ii.  18). 
EUROC'LYDON.     [Winds.] 
EU'TYCHUS,    a  young  man  of  Troas,  who 
sat  in  the  open  window  of  the  third  floor  while 
St.  Paul   was  preaching  late  in   the   night,  and 
who,  being  overcome  by  sleep,  fell  out  into  the 
court  below.     He  was  '  taken  up  dead ;'  but  the 
Apostle,  going  down,  extended  himself  upon  the 
body  and  embraced  it,  like  the  prophets  of  old 
(I  Kings  xvii.  21 ;  2  Kings  iv.34);  and  when  he 
felt  the  signs  of  returning  life,  restored  him  to 
his  friends,  with  the  assurance  that  '  his  life  was 
in  him.'     Before  Paul  departed  in  the   morning 
the  youth  was  brought  to  him  alive  and  well. 
It  is  disputed  whether  Eutychus  was  really  dead, 
or  only  in  a  swoon  ;  and  hence,  whether  a  miracle 
was  performed  or  not.     It  is  admitted  that  the 
circumstances,  and  the  words  of  Paul  himself, 
sanction  the  notion  that  the  young  man  was  not 
actually  dead  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  con- 
tended that  the  words  of  the  narrator,  '  taken  up 
dead,'  are  too    plain  to  justify  us  in  receiving 
them  in  the  modified  sense  of  '  taken  up  for  dead,' 
which  that  interpretation  requires  (Acts  xx.  .5-12). 
EXECRATION.     The   Greek  word  so  ren- 
dered occurs  in  Num.  xxiii.  8  ;  xxiv.   9 ;  Josh. 
vi.  26  ;  1  Sam.  xvii.  43.     It  is  used  also  in  pro- 
fane authors  to  denote  the  imprecations  which  it 
was  customary    among   ancient  nations   to   pro- 
nounce upon  their  enemies   for  the  purpose  of 
calling  down    the  divine   wrath,  branding  them 
with  infamy,  and  exciting  against  them  the  pas- 
sions of  the  multitude.     These  imprecations  were 
chiefly   pronounced   by  priests,    enchanters,   or 
prophets  [Balaam].     The  Athenians  made  use 
of  them  against  Philip  of  Macedon.     They  con- 
vened an  assembly,  in  which  it  was  decreed  that 
all  statues,  inscriptions,  or  festivals  among  them, 
in  any   way   relating   to  him   or  his  ancestors, 
should  be  destroyed,  and  every  other  possible  re- 
miniscence of  him  profaned ;  and  that  the  priests, 
as  often  as  they  prayed  for  the    success  of  the 
Athenian   affairs,   should   pray   for   the    ruin   of 
Philip.     It  was  also  customary,  both  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  after  having  destroyed  cities 
in    war,    the    revival   of   whose  strength  they 
dreaded,  to    pronounce   execrations   upon   those 
who  should  rebuild  them.    The  Romans  pub- 
lished a  decree  full  of  execrations  against  those 
who  should  rebuild  Carthage.    An  incident  some- 
what analogous  is  related  (Josh.  vi.  20)  after  the 
taking  of  Jericho.     From  the  words  '  and  Joshua 
adjured  them  at  that  time,'  it  is  likely  that  he 
acted  under   a  divine  intimation    that  Jericho 
should  continue  in  ruins,  as  a  monument  of  the 
divine  displeasure  and  a  warning  to  posterity. 
The  words  '  cursed  be  the  vian  (the  individual) 
before  the  Lord  that  riseth  up  and  buildeth  this 
city  Jericho,'  although  transformed  into  an  ex- 
ecration by  the  word  supplied  by  the  translators, 
amount   to  no  more  than  a  prediction  that  '  he 
shall  lay  the  foundation  thereof  in  his  first-born, 
and  in  his  youngest  son  shall  he  set  up  the  gates 
of  it,'  that  is,  he  shall  meet  with  so  many  impe- 
diments to  his  undertaking  that  he  shall  out-live 
all  his  children,  dijing  in  the  course  of  nature  be- 


EXODUS 


303 


fore  he  shall  complete  it.  Execrations  were  also 
pronounced  upon  cities  and  their  inhabitants  be- 
fore undertaking  a  siege,  and  before  engaging 
with  enemies  in  war.  The  execrations  in  the 
83rd  Pspim,  probably  written  on  the  occasion  of 
the  confederacy  against  Jehoshaphat,  and  other 
instances  of  a  like  nature,  partake  of  the  execra- 
tions of  the  heathen  in  nothing  but  form,  being 
the  inspired  predictions  or  denunciations  of  divine 
vengeance  against  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  God 
of  Israel,  notwithstanding  the  proofs  they  had 
witnessed  of  his  supremacy ;  and  the  object  of 
these  imprecations,  as  in  many  other  instances, 
is  charitable,  namely,  their  conversion  to  the  true 
religion  (ver.  18  -,  see  also  Ps.  lix.  12). 

EXO'DUS.  The  intention  of  Jehovah  to  de- 
liver the  Israelites  from  Egyptian  bondage  was 
made  known  to  Moses  from  the  burning  bush  at 
Mount  Horeb,  while  he  kept  the  flock  of  Jethro, 
his  father-in-law.  Under  the  divine  direction 
Moses,  in  conjunction  with  Aaron,  assembled  the 
elders  of  the  nation,  and  acquainted  them  with 
the  gracious  design  of  Heaven.  After  this  they 
had  an  interview  with  Pharaoh,  and  requested 
permission  for  the  people  to  go,  in  order  to  hold 
a  feast  unto  God  in  the  wilderness.  The  result 
was,  not  only  refusal,  but  the  doubling  of  all  the 
burdens  which  the  Israelites  had  previously  had 
to  bear.  Moses  hereupon,  suffering  reproach 
from  his  people,  consults  Jehovah,  who  assures 
him  that  he  would  compel  Pharaoh  '  to  drive 
them  out  of  his  land.'  '  I  will  rid  you  out  of  their 
bondage,  and  I  will  redeem  you  with  a  stretched- 
out  arm  and  with  great  judgments '  (Exod.  iii.-vi. 
6).  Then  ensue  a  series  of  miracles,  commonly 
called  the  plagues  of  Egypt  (Exod.  vi.-xii.) 
[Plague].  At  last,  overcome  by  the  calamities 
sent  upon  him,  Pharaoh  yielded  all  that  was  de- 
manded, saying,  '  Rise  up,  and  get  you  forth  from 
among  my  people,  both  ye  and  the  children  of 
Israel ;  and  go  serve  the  Lord  as  ye  have  said ; 
also  take  your  flocks  and  your  herds,  and  be 
gone.'  Thus  driven  out,  the  Israelites,  to  the 
number  of  about  600,000  adults,  besides  children, 
left  the  land,  attended  by  a  mixed  multitude, 
with  their  flocks  and  herds,  even  very  mucli 
cattle  (Exod.  xii.  31,  sq.).  Being  '  thrust  out'  of 
the  country,  they  had  not  time  to  prepare  for 
themselves  suitable  provisions,  and  therefore  they 
baked  unleavened  cakes  of  the  dough  which  they 
brought  forth  out  of  Egypt. 

On  the  night  of  the  self-same  day  which  ter- 
minated a  period  of  430  years,  during  which  they 
had  been  in  Egypt,  were  they  led  forth  from  Ra- 
meses,  or  Goshen  [Goshen].  They  are  not  said 
to  have  crossed  the  river  Nile,  whence  we  may- 
infer  that  Goshen  lay  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river.  Their  first  station  was  at  Succoth  (Exod 
xii.  37).  The  nearest  way  into  the  Land  of  Pro- 
mise was  through  the  land  of  the  Philistines. 
This  route  would  have  required  them  to  keep  on 
in  a  north-east  direction.  It  pleased  their  divine 
conductor,  however,  not  to  take  this  path,  lest, 
being  opposed  by  the  Philistines,  the  Israelites 
should  turn  back  at  the  sight  of  war  into  Egypt. 
If,  then,  Philistia  was  to  be  avoided,  the  course 
would  lie  nearly  direct  east,  or  south-east.  Pur- 
suing this  route,  'the  armies 'come  to  Etham, 
their  next  station,  'in  the  edge  of  the  wilderness* 
(Exod.  xiii.  17,  sq.).  Here  they  encamped.  Dis- 
patch, however,   was  desirable.      They  journey 


EXODUS 


EXODUS 


day  and  night,  not  without  divine  guidance,  for 
*  the  Lord  went  before  them  by  day  in  a  pillar  of 
a  cloud,  to  lead  them  the  way ;  and  by  night  in  a 
pillar  of  fire,  to  give  them  light ;  to  go  by  day 
and  night.'  This  special  guidance  could  not  well 
have  been  meant  merely  to  show  the  way  through 
the  desert ;  for  it  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  in 
so  great  a  multitude  no  persons  knew  the  road 
over  a  country  lying  near  to  that  in  which  they 
and  their  ancestors  had  dwelt,  and  which  did  not 
extend  more  than  some  forty  miles  across.  The 
divine  guides  were  doubtless  intended  to  conduct 
the  Israelites  in  that  way  and  to  that  spot  where 
the  hand  of  God  would  be  most  signally  displayed 
in  their  rescue  and  in  the  destruction  of  Pharaoh. 
'  I  will  be  honoured  upon  Pharaoh  and  upon  all 
his  host,  that  the  Egyptians  may  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord.'  For  this  purpose  Moses  is  directed  of 
God  to  '  speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel  that 
they  turn  and  encamp  before  Pi-hahiroth,  be- 
tween Migdol  and  the  sea,  over  against  Baal- 
zephon ;  before  it  shall  ye  encamp  by  the  sea . 
and  they  did  so'  (Exod.  xiv.  2-4).  We  have 
already  seen  reason  to  think  that  the  direction  of 
the  Israelites  was  to  the  east  or  south-east ;  tnis 
turning  must  have  been  in  the  latter  diiedtion, 
else  they  would  have  been  carried  down  towards 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  which  they  were  to 
avoid.  Let  the  word  '  turn '  be  marked ;  it  is  a 
strong  term,  and  seems  to  imply  that  the  line  of 
the  march  was  bent  considerably  towards  the 
south,  or  the  interior  of  the  land.  The  children 
of  Israel  then  are  now  encamped  before  Pi-hahi- 
roth, between  Migdol  and  the  sea,  also  '  by  the 
sea.'  Their  position  was  such  that  they  were 
'  entangled  in  the  land,  the  wilderness  had  shut 
them  in.' 

A  new  scene  is  now  laid  open.  News  is  carried 
to  Pharaoh  which  leads  him  to  see  that  the  reason 
assigned  (namely,  a  sacrifice  in  the  wilderness) 
is  but  a  pretext ;  that  the  Israelites  had  really 
fled  from  his  yoke ;  and  also  that,  through  some 
(to  him)  unaccountable  error,  they  had  gone  to- 
wards the  south-east,  had  reached  the  sea,  and 
were  hemmed  in  on  all  sides.  He  summons  his 
troops  and  sets  out  in  pursuit — '  all  the  horses 
and  chariots  of  Pharaoh,  and  his  horsemen  and 
his  army ;'  and  he  '  overtook  them  encamping  by 
the  sea,  beside  Pi-hahiroth,  before  Baal-zephon  ' 
(Exod.  xiv.  9).  The  Israelites  see  their  pursuing 
enemy  approach,  and  are  alarmed.  Moses  as- 
sures them  of  divine  aid.  A  promise  was  given 
as  of  God  that  the  Israelites  should  go  on  dry 
ground  through  the  midst  of  the  sea ;  and  that 
the  Egyptians,  attempting  the  same  path,  should 
be  destroyed :  '  and  I  will  get  me  honour  upon 
Pharaoh  and  all  his  host,  upon  his  chariots  and 
his  horsemen'  (ver.  17).  Here  a  very  extraor- 
dinary event  takes  place :  '  The  angel  of  God, 
which  went  before  the  camp  of  Israel,  removed 
and  went  behind  them ;  and  the  pillar  of  the 
cloud  went  from  before  their  face  and  stood  be- 
hind them ;  and  it  came  between  the  camp  of 
the  Egyptians  and  the  camp  of  Israel ;  and  it  was 
a  cloud  and  darkness  to  them,  but  it  gave  light 
by  night  to  these ;  so  that  the  one  came  not  near 
the  other  all  the  night'  (ver.  19,  2t)).  Then 
comes  the  division  of  the  waters,  which  we  give 
in  the  words  of  the  sacred  historian:  'And 
Moses  stretched  out  his  hand  over  the  sea,  and 
the  Lord  caused  the  sea  to  go  back  by  a  strong 


east  wind  all  that  night,  and  made  the  sea  dry 
land,  and  the  waters  were  divided.  And  the 
children  of  Israel  went  into  the  midst  of  the  sea 
upon  the  dry  ground ;  and  the  waters  were  a 
wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and  on  their 
left.  And  the  Egyptians  pursued  and  went  in 
after  them  to  the  midst  of  the  sea,  even  all  Pha- 
raoh's horses,  his  chariots,  and  his  horsemen.' 
Delays  are  now  occasioned  to  the  Egyptians ; 
their  chariot-wheels  are  supernaturally  taken  off, 
so  that  '  in  the  morning-watch  they  drave  them 
heavily.'  The  Egyptians  are  troubled ;  they 
urge  each  other  to  fly  from  the  face  of  Israel. 
'  Then  Moses  stretched  forth  his  hand  over  the 
sea,  and  the  sea  returned  to  his  strength  when 
the  morning  appeared ;  and  the  Egyptians  fled 
againiit  it ;  and  the  Lord  overthrew  the  Egyptians 
in  the  midst  of  the  sea.  And  the  waters  returned 
and  covered  the  chariots  and  the  horsemen  and  all 
the  host  of  Pharaoh  that  came  into  the  sea  after 
them;  there  remained  not  as  much  as  one  of 
them.  But  the  children  of  Israel  walked  upon 
dry  land  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  the  waters 
were  a  wall  unto  them  on  their  right  hand  and 
on  their  left.  And  Israel  saw  the  Egyptians  dead 
upon  the  sea-shore;  and  the  people  feared  the 
Lord,  and  believed  the  Lord  and  his  servant 
Moses'  (ver.  28-31). 

Such  is  the  bearing  and  import  of  the  sacred 
narrative.  If  any  intelligent  reader,  knowing 
nothing  of  the  theories  of  learned  men>  were  to 
peruse  the  account  given  in  Exodus  with  a  map 
before  him,  he  would,  we  doubt  not,  be  led  to 
conclude  that  the  route  of  the  Israelites  lay  to- 
wards the  south-east,  up  the  Red  Sea,  and  that 
the  spot  where  they  crossed  was  at  a  place  encir- 
cled by  mountains  on  the  side  of  the  desert,  and 
fronted  by  deep  and  impassable  waters  ;  he  would 
equally  conclude  that  the  writer  in  Exodus  in- 
tended to  represent  the  rescue  as  from  first  to 
last  the  work  of  God.  Had  the  Israelites  been 
at  a  place  which  was  fordable  under  any  natural 
influences,  Pharaoh's  undertaking  was  absurd. 
He  knew  that  they  were  entangled, — mountains 
behind  and  on  either  hand,  while  the  deep  sea 
was  before  them.  Therefore  he  felt  sure  of  his 
prey,  and  set  out  in  pursuit.  Nothing  but  the 
divine  interposition  foiled  and  punished  him,  at 
the  same  time  redeeming  the  Israelites.  And 
this  view,  which  the  unlearned  but  intelligent 
reader  would  be  led  to  take,  involves,  in  fact,  all 
that  is  important  in  the  case.  But  a  dislike  of 
the  miraculous  has  had  an  influence,  and  erudi- 
tion has  tried  to  fix  the  precise  spot:  whence 
have  arisen  views  and  theories  which  are  more 
or  less  discordant  with  the  Scripture,  or  are  con- 
cerned with  comparative  trifles.  So  far  as  aver- 
sion to  miracle  has  had  an  influence  in  the  hypo- 
theses which  have  been  given,  all  we  shall  remark 
is,  that  in  a  case  which  is  so  evidently  repre- 
sented as  the  sphere  of  miracle,  there  is  but  one 
alternative, — they  who  do  not  admit  the  miracle 
must  reject  the  narrative  ;  and  far  better  would  it 
be  to  do  so  frankly  than  to  construct  hypotheses 
which  are  for  the  most  part,  if  not  altogether, 
purely  arbitrary.  A  narrative  obviously  mira- 
culous (in  the  intention  of  the  writer)  can  be 
explained  satisfactorily  on  no  rationalistic  prin- 
ciples :  this  is  not  to  expound  but  to  '  wrest '  the 
Scriptures ;  a  position  which,  in  our  opinion,  has 
been  folly  established,  in  relation  to  the  Gospels, 


EXODUS 

against  the  whole  of  the  rationalistic  school  of 
interpretation. 

The  account  now  given  must,  as  being  derived 
immediately  from  the  Scripture,  be  in  the  main 
correct.  If  the  authority  is  denied,  this  can  be 
done  effectually  by  no  other  means  than  by  dis- 
proving in  general  the  authority  of  the  books 
whence  it  is  derived  ;  and  it  may  with  truth  be 
affirmed,  that  no  view  opposed  to  that  given  can 
possess  greater  claims  on  our  credit,  while  any 
mere  sceptical  opinion  must  rest  on  its  own  in- 
trinsic probability,  contested,  so  far  as  it  opposes 
the  Scripture,  by  scriptural  authority. 

When,  however,  we  descend  from  generals  to 
particulars,  and  attempt  to  ascertain  precise  loca- 
lities and  determine  details,  diversity  of  opinion 
may  easily  arise,  and  varying  degrees  of  pro- 
bability only  are  likely  to  attend  the  investiga- 
tion. For  instance,  the  immediate  spot  which 
Moses  proposed  to  reach  was,  we  know,  on  the 
Red  Sea ;  but  the  precise  line  which  he  took  de- 
pended of  course  on  the  place  whence  he  set  out 
"With  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  spot  where 
the  Hebrews  had  their  rendezvous,  there  cannot 
be  agreement  as  to  the  route  they  followed. 

The  position  of  Goshen,  where  the  Israelites 
were  settled,  we  shall  endeavour  to  fix  in  another 
article.  It  is  enough  here  to  say,  that  it  was  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Nile,  probably  in  the  pro- 
vince of  Esh-Shurkiyeh.  Rameses  was  the  place 
of  rendezvous.  The  direct  route  thence  to  the  Red 
Sea  was  along  the  valley  of  the  ancient  canal. 
By  this  way  the  distance  was  about  thirty-five 
miles.  From  the  vicinity  of  Cairo,  however,  there 
runs  a  range  of  hills  eastward  to  the  Red  Sea,  the 
western  extremity  of  which,  not  far  from  Cairo, 
is  named  Jebel-  Mokattem ;  the  eastern  extremity 
is  termed  Jebel-Attaka,  which,  with  its  promon- 
tory Ras  Attaka,  runs  into  the  Red  Sea.  Between 
the  two  extremes,  somewhere  about  the  middle  of 
the  range,-  is  an  opening  which  affords  a  road  for 
caravans.  Two  routes  offered  themselves  here. 
Supposing  that  the  actual  starting-point  lay  nearer 
Cairo,  the  Israelites  might  strike  in  from  the 
north  of  the  range  of  hills,  at  the  opening  just 
mentioned,  and  pursue  the  ordinary  caravan  road 
which  leads  from  Cairo  to  Suez ;  or  they  might 
go  southward  from  Mokattem,  through  the 
Wady  el  Tih,  that  is,  the  Valley  of  Wandering, 
through  which  also  a  road,  though  less  used,  runs 
to  Suez.  According  to  Niebuhr,  they  took  the 
first ;  according  to  ancient  tradition,  they  took  the 
last.  Sicard  found  traces  of  the  Israelites  in  the 
valley.  He  held  Rameses  to  be  the  starting- 
point,  and  Rameses  he  placed  about  six  miles 
from  ancient  Cairo,  where  Beza.tin  is  now  found. 
Here  is  a  capacious  sandy  plain,  on  which  Sicard 
thinks  the  Israelites  assembled  on  the  morning 
when  they  began  their  journey.  In  this  vicinity 
ft  plain  is  still  found,  which  the  Arabs  call  the 
Jews'  Cemetery,  and  where,  from  an  indefinite 
period,  the  Jews  have  buried  their  dead.  In  the 
Mokattem  chain  is  a  hill,  a  part  of  which  is  called 
Mejanat  Musa, '  Moses'  Station.'  On  another  hill 
in  the  vicinity  ruins  are  found,  which  the  Arabs 
name  Meravad  Musa,  '  Moses'  Delight.'  Thus 
several  things  seem  to  carry  the  mind  back  to  the 
time  of  the  Hebrew  legislator.  Through  the 
valley  which  leads  from  Bezatin  (the  Valley  of 
Wandering)  to  the  Red  Sea,  Sicard  travelled  in 
three  days.    He  reckons  the  length  to  be  twenty» 


EXODUS 


307 


six  hours,  which,  if  we  give  two  miles  to  each 
hour,  would  make  the  distance  fifty-two  miles. 
The  valley  running  pretty  much  in  a  plain 
surface  would  afford  a  convenient  passage  to 
the  mixed  bands  of  Israelites.  About  eighteen 
miles  from  Bezatin  you  meet  with  Gendelhy,  a 
plain  with  a  fountain.  The  name  signifies  a 
military  station,  and  in  this  Sicard  finds  the  Suc- 
coth  (tents)  of  Exodus,  the  first  station  of  Moses. 
The  haste  with  which  they  left  (were  driven  out) 
would  enable  them  to  reach  this  place  at  night- 
fall of  their  first  day's  march.  Sicard  places  their 
second  station,  Etham,  in  the  plain  Ramliyeh, 
eighteen  miles  from  Gendelhy  and  sixteen  from 
the  sea.  From  this  plain  is  a  pass,  four  miles  in 
length,  so  narrow  that  not  more  than  twenty  men 
can  go  abreast.  To  avoid  this,  which  would  have 
caused  dangerous  delay,  the  order  was  given  to 
turn  (Exod.  xiv.  2).  Etham  is  said  (Exod.  xiii. 
20)  to  be  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness.  Jablonski 
says  the  word  means  terminus  maris,  the  termina- 
tion or  boundary  of  the  sea.  Now,  in  the  plain 
where  Sicard  fixes  Etham  (not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  Eastern  Etham,  through  which  after- 
wards the  Israelites  travelled  three  days  (Num. 
xxxiii.  8),  is  the  spot  where  the  waters  divide 
which  run  to  the  Nile  and  to  the  Gulf  of  Suez, 
and  Etham  is  therefore  truly  the  boundary  of  the 
sea.  Here  the  Israelites  received  command  to 
turn  and  encamp  (Exod.  xiv.  2)  before  Pi- 
hahiroth,  between  Migdol  and  the  sea,  over 
against  Baal-zephon.  Pi-hahiroth  (the  mouth  of 
the  hiding-places)  Sicard  identifies  with  Thuarek 
(small  caves),  which  is  the  name  still  given  to 
three  or  four  salt  springs  of  the  plain  Baideah,  on 
the  south  side  of  mount  Attaka,  which  last  Sicard 
identifies  with  Baal-zephon,  and  which  is  the 
northern  boundary  of  the  plain  Baideah,  while 
Kuiabeh  (Migdol)  is  its  southern  limit.  The  pass 
which  leads  to  Suez,  between  Attaka  and  the  sea, 
is  very  narrow,  and  could  be  ea,sily  stopped  by 
the  Egyptians.  In  this  plain  of  Baideah,  Pharaoh 
had  the  Israelites  hemmed,  in  on  all  sides.  This 
then,  according  to  all  appearance,  is  the  spot 
where  the  passage  through  the  sea  was  effected. 
Such  is  the  judgment  of  Sicard  and  of  Raumer. 
It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  route  satisfies  all 
the  conditions  of  the  case.  Equally  does  the  spot 
correspond  with  the  miraculous  narrative  ftir- 
nished  by  holy  writ. 

It  is  no  small  corroboration  of  the  view  now 
given  from  Sicard  and  Raumer,  that  in  substance 
it  has  the  support  of  Josephus,  of  whose  account 
we  shall,  from  its  importance,  give  an  abridg- 
ment. The  Hebrews,  he  says  (Antiq.  ii.  15),  took 
their  journey  by  Latopolis,  where  Babylon  was 
built  afterwards  when  Cambyses  laid  Egypt 
waste.  As  they  went  in  haste,  on  the  third  day 
they  came  to  a  place  called  Baal-zephon,  on  the 
Red  Sej*.  Moses  led  them  this  way  in  order  that 
the  Egyptians  might  be  punished  should  they  ven- 
ture in  pursuit,  and  also  because  the  Hebrews  had 
a  quarrel  with  the  Philistines.  When  the  Egyp- 
tians had  overtaken  the  Hebrews  they  prepared  to 
fight  them,  and  by  their  multitude  drove  them 
into  a  narrow  place ;  for  the  number  that  went 
in  pursuit  was  600  chariots,  50,000  horsemen,  and 
200,000  infantry,  all  armed.  They  also  seized 
the  passages,  shutting  the  Hebrews  up  between 
inaccessii)le  precipices  and  the  sea  ;  for  there  was 
on  each  side  a  ridge  of  mountains  that  terminated 
X2 


308  EXODUS 

at  the  sea,  -which  were  impassable,  and  obstructed 
their  flight.  Moses,  however,  prayed  to  God,  and 
smote  the  sea  with  his  rod,  when  the  waters 
parted,  and  gave  the  Israelites  free  passage.  The 
Egyptians  at  first  supposed  them  distracted :  but 
when  they  saw  the  Israelites  proceed  in  safety, 
they  followed.  As  soon  as  tha  entire  Egyptian 
army  was  in  the  channel  the  sea  closed,  and  the 
pursuers  perished  amid  torrents  of  rain  and  the 
most  terrific  thunder  and  lightning. 

The  opposition  to  the  scriptural  account  has 
been  of  two  kinds.  Some  writers  (Wolfenb. 
Fragm.  p.  64,  sq.)  have  at  once  declared  the 
whole  fabulous ;  a  course  which  appears  to  have 
been  taken  as  early  as  the  time  of  Josephus 
(Aiitiq.  ii.  16.  .5).  Others  have  striven  to  explain 
the  facts  by  the  aid  of  mere  natural  causes ;  for 
which  see  Winer,  Handivorterbnch,  in  Meer 
Rothes.  A  third  mode  of  explanation  is  pursued 
by  those  who  do  not  deny  miracles  as  such,  and 
yet,  with  no  small  inconsistency,  seek  to  reduce 
this  particular  miracle  to  the  smallest  dimen- 
sions. Writers  who  see  in  the  deliverance  of  the 
Hebrews  the  hand  of  God  and  the  fulfilment  of 
the  divine  purposes,  follow  the  account  in  Scrip- 
ture implicitly,  placing  the  passage  at  Kas  Attaka, 
at  the  termination  of  the  Valley  of  Wandering ; 
others,  who  go  on  rationalistic  principles,  find 
the  sea  here  too  wide  and  too  deep  for  their  pur- 
pose, and  endeavour  to  fix  the  passage  a  little  to 
the  south  or  the  north  of  Suez.  In  answer  to  this 
©pinion,  we  shall  content  ourselves  with  quoting 
the  testimony  of  one  or  two  travellers  who  have 
visited  and  carefully  examined  the  spot. 

The  following  are  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Blum- 
hardt,  who  passed  through  Suez  (October,  1 836), 
in  his  missionary  visit  to  Abyssinia.  '  The  Red 
Sea  at  Suez  is  exceedingly  narrow,  and  in  my 
opinion  it  cannot  be  that  the  Israelites  here  ex- 
perienced the  power  and  love  of  God  in  their 
passage  through  the  Red  Sv-a.  The  breadth  of 
the  sea  is  at  present  scarcely  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
by  Suez.  Now  if  this  be  the  part  which  they 
crossed,  how  is  it  possible  that  all  the  anny  of 
Pharaoh,  with  his  chariots,  could  have  been 
drowned?  I  ara  rather  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  Israelites  experienced  that  wonderful  deli- 
verance about  thirty  miles  lower  down.  This 
opinion  is  also  strengthened  by  most  of  the 
Eastern  churches,  and  the  Arabs,  who  believe 
that  the  Israelites  reached  the  opposite  .shore  at  a 
place  called  Gebel  Pharaon.  which  on  that  ac- 
count has  received  this  name.  If  we  accept  this 
opinion,  it  agrees  very  well  with  the  Scripture.' 
Still  more  important  is  the  evidence  of  Dr.  Olin 
{Travels  in  the  East,  New  York,  1S4.3).  He 
agrees  with  Robinson  in  fixing  Etham  '  on  the 
border  of  the  wilderness  which  stretches  along 
the  eastern  shore  of  the  arm  of  the  sea  which 
runs  up  above  Suez.'  At  this  point  he  says  the 
Hebrews  were  commanded  to  turn.  They  turned 
directly  southward  and  marched  to  an  exposed 
position,  hemmed  in  completely  by  the  s:a,  the 
desert,  and  Mount  Attaka.  A  false  confidence 
was  thus  excited  in  Pharaoh,  and  the  deliverance 
was  made  the  more  signal  and  the  more  impres- 
sive alike  to  the  Israelites  and  toEgjpt.  Ad- 
mitting the  possibility  that  the  sea  at  Suez  may 
have  been  wider  and  deeper  than  it  is  now,  Olin 
rtmarks, '  it  must  still  have  been  very  difficult,  if  I 
not  impossible,  for  the  army  of  Israel,  encum- ) 


EXODUS 

bered  with  infants  and  aged  people,  as  well  as 
with  flocks,  to  pass  over  (near  Suez)  in  face  of 
their  enemies.'  Besides,  the  peculiarities  of  the 
place  must  have  had  a  tendency  to  disguise  the 
character  and  impair  the  effect  of  the  miracle. 
The  passage  made  at  the  intervention  of  Moses 
was  kept  open  all  night.  The  Egyptians  followed 
the  Hebrews  to  the  midst  of  the  sea,  when  the  sea 
engulfed  them.  '  The  entire  night  seems  to 
have  been  consumed  in  the  passage.  It  is  hardly 
credible  that  so  much  time  should  have  been 
consumed  in  crossing  near  Suez,  to  accomplish 
which  one  or  two  hours  would  have  been  suf- 
ficient.' '  Nor  is  it  conceivable  that  the  large 
army  of  the  Egj'ptians  should  have  been  at  once 
within  the  banks  of  so  narrow  a  channel.  The 
more  advanced  troops  would  have  reached  the 
opposite  shore  before  the  rear  had  entered  the 
sea ;  and  yet  we  know  that  all  Pharaoh's  chariots 
and  horsemen  followed  to  the  midst  of  the  sea, 
and,  together  with  all  the  host  that  came  in  after 
them,  were  covered  with  the  returning  waves' 
(i.  348).  Preferring  the  position  at  Ras  Attaka, 
Olin  states  that  the  gulf  is  here  ten  or  twelve 
miles  wide.  '  The  valley  expands  into  a  con- 
siderable plain,  bounded  by  lofty  precipitous 
mountains  on  the  right  and  left,  and  by  the  sea 
in  front,  and  is  sufficiently  ample  to  accommodate 
the  vast  number  of  human  beings  who  composed 
the  two  ai-mies.'  '  An  east  wind  would  act 
almost  directlj'  across  the  gulf  It  would  be 
unable  to  co-operate  with  an  ebb  tide  in  removing 
the  waters — no  objection  certainly  if  we  admit 
the  exercise  of  God's  miraculous  agency  ;'  but  a 
very  great  impediment  in  the  way  of  any  ra- 
tionalistic hypothesis.  '  The  channel  is  wide 
enough  to  allow  of  the  movements  described  by 
Moses,  and  the  time,  which  embraced  an  entire 
night,  was  sufficient  for  the  convenient  march  of 
a  large  army  over  such  a  distance.'  '  The  opinion 
whicihi  fixes  the  point  of  transit  in  the  valley  or 
wady  south  of  Mount  Attaka  derives  confirma- 
tion from  the  names  still  attached  to  the  prin- 
cipal objects  in  this  locality.  Jebel  Attaka  means 
in  the  language  of  the  Arabs  "  The  Mount  of 
Deliverance."  Bai'deah  or  Bedeah,  the  name  of 
this  part  of  the  valley,  means  "  the  ]\Iiraculous," 
while  Wady  el  Tih  means  "  the  Valley  of  Wan- 
derings." Pi-hahiroth,  where  Moses  was  com- 
manded to  encamp,  is  rendered  by  scholars  "  tho 
mouth  of  Hahiroth,"  which  answers  well  'o  the 
deep  gorge  south  of  Attaka,  but  not  at  ali  to  the 
broad  plain  about  Suez.' 

Other  parts  of  the  line  of  march  pursued  by 
the  Israelites  will  be  found  treated  of  under  the 
heads  Manna,  Sinai,  Wandering. 

EXODUS,  the  second  book  of  Moses,  so  called 
from  the  principal  event  recorded  in  it,  namely, 
the  departure  of  tlie  Israelites  from  Egypt.  With 
this  book  begins  the  proper  history  of  that  people, 
continuing  it  until  their  arrival  at  Sinai,  and  the 
erection  of  the  sanctuary  there.  It  transports  us 
in  the  first  instance  to  Egypt,  and  the  quarter  in 
which  the  Israelites  were  domiciled  in  that  coun- 
try. We  do  not  find  in  the  Pentateuch  a  real 
history  of  the  people  of  Israel  during  this  period. 
Such  a  history,  in  the  more  strict  acceptation  of 
the  term,  has  no  place  in  an  historical  sketch  of 
the  kingdom  of  God,  where  the  mere  description 
of  the  situation  and  condition  of  the  people  is  all 
that  is  requisite.    From  that  description  we  learn 


EXODUS 

Batisfactorily  how  the  people  of  the  Lord  were 
negatively  prepared  for  the  great  object  which 
God  hud  decreed  with  regard  to  them.  This  is 
the  important  theme  of  the  historj-  of  the  Penta- 
teuch during  the  whole  long  period  of  four  hun- 
dred years.  Exodus  is  very  circumstantial  in  its 
account  of  the  life  of  Moses,  which,  instead  of 
partaking  of  the  character  of  usual  biography, 
manifests  in  all  its  details  a  decided  aim  of 
evincing  how,  by  the  miraculous  dispensation  of 
the  Lord,  Moses  had  been  even  from  his  earliest 
years  prepared  and  reared  to  become  the  chosen 
instrument  of  God.  In  this  book  is  developed, 
with  particular  clearness,  the  summons  of  Moses 
to  his  sacred  office,  which  concludes  the  first 
important  section  of  his  life  (Exod.  i.-vi.).  No 
human  choice  and  no  self-will,  but  an  immediate 
call  from  Jehovah  alone  could  decide  in  so  im- 
portant an  affair.  Jehovah  reveals  himself  to 
him  by  his  covenant-name,  and  vouchsafes  him 
the  power  to  work  miracles  such  as  no  man  before 
him  had  ever  wrought.  It  was  not  the  natural 
disposition  and  bent  of  his  mind  that  induced 
Moses  to  accept  the  office,  but  solely  his  sub- 
mission to  the  express  will  of  God,  his  obedience 
alone,  that  influenced  him,  the  lawgiver,  to 
undertake  the  mission.  The  external  relation  of 
Moses  to  his  people  is  also  clearly  defined  (comp. 
ex.  gr.  Exod.  vi.  14,  sq.V  This  furnishes  the  firm 
basis  on  which  is  founded  his  own  as  well  as 
Aaron's  personal  authority,  and  the  respect  for 
his  permanent  regulations.  A  new  section  (vii.- 
XV.)  then  gives  a  very  detailed  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  Lord  glorified  himself  in 
Israel,  and  released  the  people  from  the  land  of 
bondage.  This  section  of  the  history  then  con- 
cludes with  a  triumphal  song,  celebrating  the 
victory  of  Israel.  In  ch.  xvi.-xviii.  we  find  the 
introduction  to  the  second  principal  part  of  this 
book,  in  which  is  sketched  the  manifestation  of 
God  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  as  well  as  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  law  itself,  in  its  original  and 
fundamental  features.  Thi§  preparatory  section 
thus  furnishes  us  with  additional  proof  of  the 
special  care  of  God  for  his  people  ;  how  he  pro- 
vided their  food  and  water,  and  how  he  pro- 
tected them  from  the  assaults  of  their  foes.  In 
ch.  XV.  22,  sq.,  not  all,  but  only  the  remarkable 
resting-places  are  mentioned,  where  Jehovah  took 
special  care  of  his  people.  In  the  account  (xviii.) 
of  the  civil  regulations  framed  by  the  advice  of 
Jethro,  a  strong  line  of  demarcation  is  drawn 
between  the  changeable  institutions  of  man  and 
the  divine  legislation  which  began  then  to  be 
established,  and  which  thenceforth  claims  by  far 
the  greatest  part  of  the  work.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  legislation  is  a  brief  summary  of  the 
laws,  with  the  decalogue  at  their  head  (xix.- 
xxiii.).  The  decalogue  is  the  true  fundamental 
law,  bearing  within  itself  the  germ  of  the  entire 
legislation.  The  other  legal  definitions  are  only 
further  developments  of  the  decalogue.  These 
lefiuitions  manifest  the  power  and  extent  of  the 
law  itself,  showing  what  an  abundance  of  new 
regulations  result  from  the  simple  and  few  words 
of  the  decalogue.  Upon  this  basis  the  covenant 
is  concluded  with  the  Israelites,  in  which  God  re- 
veals himself  in  agreement  with  the  understand- 
ing and  the  exigencies  of  the  people.  Not  until 
this  covenant  was  completed  did  it  become  pos- 
sible for  the  Israelites  to  enter  into  a  conununion 


EXODUS 


309 


with  God,  confirmed  and  consecrated  by  laws  and 
ofierings,  and  thereby  to  receive  further  revela- 
tions from  him  (ch.  xxiv.).  Whatsoever  after 
this,  in  the  twenty-fifth  and  in  the  following 
chapters,  is  communicated  to  the  people,  concerns 
the  dwelling  of  God  in  the  midst  of  Israel.  By 
this  dwelling  of  God  among  Israel  it  is  intended 
to  show,  that  the  communion  is  permanent  on  the 
part  of  God,  and  that  on  the  part  of  the  people  it 
is  possible  to  persevere  in  communion  with  God. 
Consequently  there  follows  the  description  of  the 
sanctuary,  the  character  of  which  is  symbolical. 
The  sacred  symbols  are,  however,  not  so  much 
expressed  in  formal  declarations,  as  contained  in 
the  whole  tenor  of  the  descriptions.  The  sym- 
bolics begin  with  the  central  point,  the  holy  of 
holies,  Avhich  unites  in  itself  the  impeaching  law 
and  the  redeeming  symbol  of  divine  mercy,  and 
thus  sets  forth  the  reconciliation  of  God  with  the 
people.  This  is  followed  by  the  description  of 
the  sanctuary,  representing  those  blessings  which 
through  the  holy  of  holies  were  communicated  to 
the  subjects  of  the  theocracy,  and  serving  as  a  per- 
petual monument  of  Israel's  exalted  destiny,  point- 
ing at  the  same  time  to  the  means  of  attaining  it. 
Last  comes  the  description  of  the  fore-court,  sym- 
bolising the  participation  of  the  people  in  those 
blessings,  and  their  sanctified  approach  to  the 
Lord,  The  description  then  proceeds  from  the 
sanctuary  to  the  persons  officiating  in  it,  the 
priests,  characterized  both  by  their  various  cos- 
timies  (xxviii.),  and  the  manner  of  their  inaugura- 
tion (xxix.).  Then  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
the  description  of  the  service  in  that  sanctuary 
and  by  those  priests,  but  merely  in  its  funda- 
mental features,  confining  itself  simply  to  the 
burnt  and  incense  offerings,  indicating  by  the 
former  the  preparatory  inferior  service,  and  by 
the  latter  the  complete  and  higher  office  of  the 
sacerdotal  function.  But,  by  contributing  to  the 
means  of  establishing  public  worship,  the  whole 
nation  shares  in  it ;  and  therefore  the  description 
of  the  officiating  persons  very  properly  concludes 
with  the  people  (xxx.).  As  a  suitable  sequel  to 
the  former  follows  the  description  of  the  use  and 
nature  of  the  implements  requisite  for  the  service 
of  the  priests,  such  as  the  brass  laver  for  sacred 
ablutions,  the  preparation  of  the  perfume  and 
anointing  oil  (xxx.  17-38).  These  regulations 
being  made,  men  endowed  with  the  Spirit  of  God 
were  also  to  be  appointed  for  making  the  sacred 
tabernacle  and  all  its  furniture  (xxxi.  1-2).  The 
description  of  the  sanctuary,  priesthood,  and 
mode  of  worship,  is  next  followed  by  that  of  the 
sacred  times  and  periods  (xxxi.  1 2,  sq.).  Of  the 
sacred  times  there  is  here  only  appointed  the 
Sabbath,  in  which  the  other  regiilations  are  con- 
tained as  in  their  germ.  God  having  delivered 
to  Moses  the  tables  of  the  law,  the  construction 
and  arrangement  of  the  tabernacle  might  thus  at 
once  have  been  begun,  had  its  further  progress 
not  been  interrupted  by  an  act  of  idolatry  on  the 
part  of  the  people,  and  their  punishment  for  that 
offence,  which  form  the  subject  of  the  narrative 
in  ch.  xxxii.-xxxiv.  Contrary  and  in  opposition 
to  all  that  had  been  done  by  Jehovah  for  and  in 
the  presence  of  Israel,  the  formidable  apostacy  of 
the  latter  manifests  itself  in  a  most  melancholy 
manner,  as  an  ominously  significant  prophetic 
fact,  which  is  incessantly  repeated  in  the  histoiy 
of  subsequent  generations.    The  narrative  of  it  u 


SIO 


EXODUS 


therefore  closely  connected  with  the  foregoing 
accounts — Jehovah's  mercy  and  gracious  faithful- 
ness on  the  one  hand,  and  Israel's  barefaced  in- 
gratitude on  the  other,  being  intimately  con- 
nected. This  connection  forms  the  leading  idea 
of  the  whole  history  of  the  theocracy.  It  is  not 
till  after  the  narrative  of  this  momentous  event 
that  the  account  of  the  construction  and  com- 
pletion of  the  tabernacle  can  proceed  (xxxv.-xl.), 
which  account  becomes  more  circumstantial  in 
proportion  as  the  subject  itself  is  of  greater  im- 
portance. Above  all,  it  is  faithfully  shown  that 
all  was  done  according  to  the  commands  of 
Jehovah. 

This  brief  statement  of  the  contents  of  the 
book  of  Exodus  will  show  that  in  the  descriptive 
history  a  fixed  plan,  in  conformity  with  the 
principles  above  stated,  is  consistently  and  visibly 
carried  through  the  whole  of  the  book,  thus  giving 
us  the  surest  guarantee  for  the  unity  6f  both  the 
book  and  its  author. 

For  neological  criticism  it  was  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  stamp  this  book  as  a  later  produc- 
tion, the  miracles  contained  in  its  first  part  but 
too  manifestly  clashing  witli  the  principles  in 
which  that  criticism  takes  its  rise.  Its  votaries 
therefore  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  those 
miracles  were  but  mythological  fictions  which 
had  been  gradually  developed  in  process  of  time, 
so  that  the  very  composition  of  the  book  itself 
must  necessarily  have  been  of  a  later  date.  Nei- 
ther do  we  wonder  at  such  attempts  and  efforts, 
since  the  very  essence  and  central  point  of  the 
accounts  of  the  miracles  given  in  the  book  are 
altogether  at  variance  with  the  principles  and  the 
criticism  of  the  rationalist  system,  which  can  by 
no  means  admit  the  rise  and  formation  of  a  people 
under  such  miraculous  circumstances,  such  pecu- 
liar belief,  and,  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  such 
an  independent  existence.  Indeed,  the  spiritual 
substance  of  the  whole,  the  divine  idea  which  per- 
vades and  combines  all  its  details,  is  in  itself 
such  a  miracle,  such  a  peculiar  and  wondrous 
phenomenon,  as  to  lend  natural  support  and  un- 
deniable confirmation  to  the  isolated  and  physical 
wonders  themselves ;  so  that  it  is  impossible  to 
deny  the  latter  without  creating  a  second  and  new 
wonder,  entirely  adverse  to  the  whole  course  of 
the  Jewish  history.  Nor  is  that  part  of  the  book 
which  contains  the  miracles  deficient  in  numerous 
historical  proofs  in  verification  of  them.  As  the 
events  of  this  history  are  laid  in  Egypt  and  Ara- 
bia, we  have  ample  opportunity  of  testing  the 
accuracy  of  the  Mosaical  accounts,  and  surely 
we  find  nowhere  the  least  transgression  against 
Egyptian  institutions  and  customs ;  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  most  evident  that  th«  author  had  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  Egyptian  institutions 
and  the  spirit  that  pervaded  them.  Exodus  con- 
tains a  mass  of  incidents  and  detailed  descriptions 
which  have  gained  new  force  from  the  modern 
discoveries  and  researches  in  the  field  of  Egyptian 
antiquities.  The  description  of  the  passage  of 
the  Israelites  through  the  desert  also  evinces  such 
a  thorough  familiarity  with  the  localities  as  to 
excite  the  utmost  respect  of  scrupulous  and  sci- 
entific travellers  of  our  own  time  for  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Pentateuch.  Nor  is  the  passover- 
festival,  its  rise  and  nature,  less  confirmatory  of 
the  incidents  connected  with  it.  The  arrange- 
ments of  the  tabernacle,  described  in  the  second 


EXPIATION 

part  of  Exodus,  likewise  throw  a  favourable  light 
on  the  historical  authenticity  of  the  preceding 
events  ;  and  the  least  tenable  of  all  the  objections 
against  it  are,  that  the  architectural  arrangements 
of  the  tabernacle  were  too  artificial,  and  the  ma- 
terials and  richness  too  costly  and  precious,  for 
the  condition  and  position  of  the  Jews  at  that 
early  period,  &c.  But  the  critics  seem  to  have 
overlooked  the  fact  that  the  Israelites  of  that 
period  were  a  people  who  had  come  out  from 
Egypt,  a  people  possessing  wealth,  Egyptian 
culture  and  arts,  which  we  admire  even  now,  in 
the  works  which  have  descended  to  us  from  an- 
cient Egypt ;  so  that  it  cannot  seem  strange  to 
see  the  Hebrews  in  possession  of  the  materials  or 
artistical  knowledge  requisite  for  the  construction 
of  the  tabernacle.  Moreover,  the  establishment 
of  a  TEMT  as  a  sanctuary  for  the  Hebrews  can 
only  be  explained  from  their  abode  in  the  desert, 
being  in  perfect  unison  with  their  then  roving 
and  nomadic  life.  The  extremely  simple  and 
sober  style  and  views  throughout  the  whole  nar- 
rative afford  a  sure  guarantee  for  its  authenticity 
and  originality.  All  the  incidents  related  in  it 
are  described  in  plain  and  clear  terms,  without 
the  least  vestige  of  later  embellishments  and 
false  extolling  of  former  ages.  The  whole  re- 
presentation indicates  the  strictest  impartiality 
and  truth.  On  the  literature  of  Exodus,  see 
Pentateuch. 

EXORCISM  AND  EXORCIST  (Acts  xix.  13). 
The  belief  in  demoniacal  possessions,  which  may 
be  traced  in  almost  every  nation,  has  always  been 
attended  by  the  professed  ability,  on  the  part  of 
some  individuals,  to  release  the  unhappy  victims 
from  their  calamity.  The  allusions  to  the  prac- 
tice of  exorcism  among  the  Jews,  contained  bolh 
in  their  own  authors  and  in  the  New  Testament 
are  too  well  known  to  render  quotations  neces- 
sary. In  some  instances  this  power  was  consi- 
dered a.«  a  divine  gift ;  in  others  it  was  thought 
to  be  acquired  by  investigations  into  the  nature 
of  demons  and  the  qualities  of  natural  produc- 
tions, as  herbs,  stones,  &c.,  and  of  drugs  com- 
pounded of  them  ;  by  the  use  of  certain  forms  of 
adjurations,  invocations,  ceremonies,  and  other 
observances.  Among  all  the  references  to  exor- 
cism, as  practised  by  the  Jews,  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament (Matt.  xii.  27  ;  Mark  ix.  38 ;  Luke  ix. 
49,  50),  we  find  only  one  instance  which  affords 
any  clue  to  the  means  employed  (Acts  xix.  13); 
from  which  passage  it  appears  that  certain  pro- 
fessed exorcists  took  upon  them  to  call  over  a 
demoniac  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  saying, 
'  We  adjure  you  by  Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth.' 
Their  proceeding  seems  to  have  been  in  conform- 
ity with  the  well-known  opinions  of  the  Jews  in 
those  days,  that  miracles  might  be  wrought  by 
invoking  the  names  of  the  Deity,  or  angels,  or 
patriarchs,  &c.  The  epithet  applied  to  these  ex- 
orcists, '  vagabond  Jews,'  indicates  that  they  were 
travelling  mountebanks,  who,  beside  skill  in 
medicine,  pretended  to  the  knowledge  of  magic. 
The  office  of  the  exorcist  is  not  mentioned  by 
Paul  in  his  enumeration  of  the  miraculous  gifts 
(I  Cor.  xii.  9),  though  it  was  a  power  which  he 
possessed  himself,  and  which  the  Saviour  had 
promised  (Mark  xvi.  17;  Matt.  x.  8). 

EXPIATION.     [Atonement;  Sacrifice.] 
EXPIATION,     DAY    OF.      [Atonement, 

DAY  OF.] 


EYE 

EYE.  In  most  languages  this  important  organ 
is  used  by  figurative  application,  as  the  symbol 
of  a  large  number  of  objects  and  ideas.  In  the 
East  such  applications  of  the  word  '  eye '  have 
always  been  uncommonly  numerous;  and  they 
were  so  among  the  Hebrews.  It  may  be  ser- 
viceable to  distinguish  the  following  uses  of  the 
word,  few  of  which  are  common  in  this  country, 
unless  so  far  as  they  have  become  so  through  the 
translation  of  the  Bible. 

1.  Ajountain.  This  use  of  the  word  probably 
originated  from  the  eye  being  regarded  as  the 
fountain  of  tears. 

2.  Colour,  as  in  the  phrase  '  and  the  eye  (colour) 
of  the  woman  was  as  the  eye  (colour)  of  bdel- 
lium '  (Num.  xi.  7).  This  originated  perhaps  in 
the  eye  being  the  part  of  the  body  which  exhibits 
different  colours  in  different  persons. 

3.  The  surface,  as  '  the  surface  (eye)  of  the 
land'  (Exod.  x.  5,  15;  Num.  xxii.  5,  11). 

4.  In  Cant.  iv.  9,  '  eye'  seems  to  be  used  poet- 
ically for  '  look,'  as  is  usual  in  most  languages ; 
'  Thou  hast  stolen  my  heart  with  one  of  thy  looks ' 
(eyes). 

5.  In  Prov.  xxiii.  31,  the  term '  eye '  is  applied 
to  the  beads  or  bubbles  of  wine,  when  poured  out, 
but  our  version  preserves  the  sense  of '  colour.' 

To  these  some  other  phrases,  requiring  notice 
and  explanation,  may  be  added : 

'  Before  the  eyes '  of  any  one,  meaning  in  his 
presence ;  or,  as  we  should  say,  '  before  his  face' 
(Gen.  xxiii.  11,  18;  Exod.  iv.  30). 

'  In  the  eyes '  of  any  one,  means  what  appears 
to  be  so,  or  so  in  his  individual  judgment  or 
opiniou  ;  and  is  equivalent  to  '  seeming  '  or  '  ap- 
pearing '  (Gen.  xix.  8  ;  xxix.  20 ;  margin  2  Sam. 
x.  iii.). 

•  To  set  the  eyes '  upon  any  one,  is  usually  to 
regard  him  with  favour  (Gen.  xliv.  21 ;  Job 
xxiv.  23  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  12) ;  but  it  occurs  in  a  bad 
sense,  as  of  looking  with  anger,  in  Amos  ix.  8. 
But  anger  is  more  usually  expressed  by  the  con- 
trary action  of  turning  the  eyes  away. 

As  many  of  the  passions,  such  as  envy,  pride, 
pity,  desire,  are  expressed  by  the  eye ;  so,  in  the 
Scriptural  style,  they  are  often  ascribed  to  that 
organ.  Hence  such  phrases  as  '  evil  eye  '  (Matt. 
XX.  15) ; '  bountiful  eye '  (Prov.  xxii.  9)  ; '  haughty 
eyes'  (Prov.  vi.  17);  'wanton  eyes'  (Isa.  iii.  16); 
'eyes  full  of  adultery'  (2  Pet.  ii.  14);  'the  lust 
of  the  eyes'  (1  John  ii.  le).  This  last  phrase  is 
applied  by  some  to  lasciviousness,  by  others  to 
covetousness  ;  but  it  is  best  to  take  the  expression 
in  the  most  extensive  sense,  as  denoting  a  craving 
for  the  gay  vanities  of  this  life  (Comp.  Ezek. 
xxiv.  25).  In  the  same  chapter  of  Ezekiel  (Ver. 
16),  '  the  desire  of  thy  eyes'  is  put  not  for  the 
prophet's  wife  directly,  as  often  understood,  but 
for  whatever  is  one's  greatest  solace  and  delight ; 
which  in  this  case  was  the  prophets  wife — but 
which  in  another  case  might  have  been  something 
else. 

In  Zech.  iv.  10,  the  angels  of  the  Lord  are 
called  '  his  eyes,'  as  being  the  executioners  of  his 
judgments,  and  watching  and  attending  for  his 
glory.  From  some  such  association  of  ideas,  the 
favourite  ministers  of  state  in  the  Persian  mo- 
narchy were  called  'the  king's  eyes.'  So,  in 
Num.  X.  31,  '  to  be  instead  of  eyes  '  is  equivalent 
to  being  a  prince,  to  inile  and  guide  the  people. 

The  expression  in  Psalm  cxxiii.  2,  •  As  the 


EZEKIEL 


311 


eyes  of  servants  look  unto  the  hands  of  their 
masters,'  has  suggested  a  number  of  curious  illus- 
trations from  Oriental  history  and  customs,  tend- 
ing to  show  that  masters,  especially  when  in  the 
presence  of  others,  are  in  the  habit  of  communi- 
cating to  their  servants  orders  and  intimations  by 
certain  motions  of  their  hands,  which,  although 
scarcely  noticeable  by  other  persons  present,  are 
clearly  understood  and  promptly  acted  upon  l^ 
the  attendants.  This  custom  keeps  them  with 
their  attention  bent  upon  the  hand  of  their  master, 
watching  its  slightest  motions. 

Respecting  blinding  the  eyes  as  a  punishment, 
or  political  disqualification,  see  Punishment. 

'  Painting  the  eyes,'  or  rather  the  eyelids,     i 
with  a  kind  of  black  powder,  is  more  than  once     i 


alluded  to  in  Scripture,  although  this  scarcely 
appears  in  the  Authorized  Version,  as  our  trans- 
lators, unaware  of  the  custom,  usually  render 
'  eye '  by  '  face,'  although  '  eye  '  is  still  preserved 
in  the  margin.  So  Jezebel  '  painted  her  eyes,' 
literally,  '  put  her  eyes  in  paint,'  before  she 
showed  herself  publicly  (2  Kings  ix.  30).  This 
action  is  forcibly  expressed  by  Jeremiah  (iv.  30), 
'  though  thou  rentest  thine  eyes  with  painting.' 
Ezekiel  (xxiii.  40)  also  represents  this  as  a  part 
of  high  dress — '  For  whom  thou  didst  wash  thy- 
self, paintedst  tJti/  eyes,  and  deckedst  thyself  with 
ornaments.'  The  custom  is  also,  very  possibly, 
alluded  to  in  Prov.  vi.  25 — '  Lust  not  after  her 
beauty  in  thine  heart,  neither  let  her  take  thee 
with  her  eyelids.'  It  certainly  is  the  general  im- 
pression in  Western  Asia  that  this  embellishment 
adds  much  to  the  languishing  expression  and  se- 
ducement  of  the  eyes,  although  Europeans  find 
some  difficulty  in  appreciating  the  beauty  which 
the  Orientals  find  in  this  adornment. 

EZE'KIEL  {God-strengthened),  one  of  the 
greater  prophets,  whose  writings,  both  in  the 
Hebrew  and  Alexandrian  canons,  are  placed  next 
to  those  of  Jeremiah.  He  was  the  son  of  Busi 
the  priest  (ch.  i.  3),  and,  according  to  tradition, 
was  a  native  of  Sarera.  Of  his  early  history  we 
have  no  authentic  information.  We  first  find 
him  in  the  country  of  Mesopotamia,  '  by  the  river 
Chebar  '  (ch.  i.  1),  now  Khabur,  a  stream  of  con- 
siderable length  flowing  into  the  Euphrates  near 
Circesium,  Kirkesia.  On  this  river  Nebuchad- 
nezzar founded  a  Jewish  colony  from  the  captives 
whom  he  brought  from  Jerusalem  when  he  be- 
sieged it  in  the  eighth  year  of  King  Jehoiachini 
(2  Kings  XXV.  14).  This  colony  (or  at  least  a 
part  of  it)  was  settled  at  a  place  called  Tel-Abib, 
and  it  seems  to  have  been  here  that  the  prophet 
fixed  his  residence.  He  received  his  commission 
as  a  prophet  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  captivity 
(b.c.  594).     Ezekiel  is  remarkably  silent  respect- 


812 


EZLKIEL 


iiig  his  persoual  h'lMory  ;  the  only  event  which 
he  records  (and  that  merely  in  its  connection 
with  his  prophetic  office)  is  the  death  of  his  wife 
in  the  ninth  year  of  the  captivity  (ch.  xxiv.  18). 
He  continued  to  exercise  the  prophetic  office 
during  a  period  of  at  least  twenty-two  years,  that 
is,  to  the  27th  year  of  the  captivity  (ch.  xxix.  17) ; 
and  it  appears  probable  that  he  remained  with 
the  captives  by  the  river  Chebar  during  the  whole 
of  his  life.  That  he  exercised  a  very  command- 
ing influence  over  the  people  is  manifest  from 
the  numerous  intimations  we  have  of  the  elders 
coming  to  inquire  of  him  what  message  God  had 
sent  through  him  (ch.  viii.  1 ;  xiv.  1  ;  xx.  1  ; 
xxxiii.  31,  32,  &c.).  Carpzov  relates  several 
traditions  respecting  his  death  and  sepulchre.  It 
is  said  that  he  was  killed  at  Babylon  by  the  chief 
of  the  people,  on  account  of  his  having  reproved 
him  for  idolatry ;  that  he  was  buried  in  the  field 
of  Maur  in  the  tomb  of  Shem  and  Arphaxad,  and 
that  his  sepulchre  was  still  in  existence.  Such 
traditions  are  obviously  of  very  little  value. 

Ezekiel  was  contemporary  with  Jeremiah  and 
Daniel.  The  former  had  sustained  the  prophetic 
office  during  a  period  of  thirty-four  years  before 
Kzekiel's  first  predicti(ms,  and  continued  to  pro- 
phesy for  six  or  seven  years  after.  It  appears 
probable  that  the  call  of  Ezekiel  to  the  prophetic 
office  was  connected  with  the  communication  of 
Jeremiah's  predictions  to  Babylon  (Jer.  li.  59), 
-which  took  place  the  year  preceding  the  first 
revelation  to  Ezekiel.  The  greater  part  of  Da- 
niel's predictions  are  of  a  later  date  than  those  of 
Ezekiel ;  but  it  appears  that  his  piety  and  wisdom 
had  become  proverbial  even  in  the  early  part  of 
Ezekiel's  ministry  (ch.  xiv.  14,  16;  xxviii.  3). 

Most  critics  have  remarked  the  vigour  and  sur- 
prising energy  which  are  manifest  in  the  charac- 
ter of  Ezekiel.  The  whole  of  his  writings  show 
how  admirably  he  was  fitted,  as  well  by  natural 
disposition  as  by  spiritual  endowment,  to  oppose 
the  '  rebellious  house,'  the  '  people  of  stubborn 
front  and  hard  heart,'  to  whom  he  was  sent.  The 
figurative  representations  which  abound  through- 
out his  writings,  whether  drawn  out  into  length- 
ened allegory,  or  expressing  matters  of  fact  by 
means  of  symbols,  or  clothing  truths  in  the  garb 
of  enigma,  all  testify  by  their  defiuiteuess  the 
vigour  of  his  conceptions.  Things  seen  in  vision 
are  described  with  all  the  minuteness  of  detail 
and  sharpness  of  outline  which  belong  to  real 
existences.  But  this  characteristic  is  shown  most 
remarkably  in  the  entire  subordination  of  his 
whole  life  to  the  great  work  to  which  he  was 
called.  We  never  meet  with  him  as  an  ordinary 
man ;  he  always  acts  and  thinks  and  feels  as  a 
prophet.  This  energj'  of  mind  developed  in  the  one 
direction  of  the  prophetic  office  is  strikingly  dis- 
played in  the  account  he  gives  of  the  death  of  his 
wife  (ch.  xxiv.  15-18).  It  is  the  only  raemorable 
event  of  his  personal  history  which  he  records,  and 
it  is  mentioned  merely  in  reference  to  his  soul- 
absorbing  work.  Thei-e  is  something  inexpres- 
sibly touching  as  well  as  characteristic  in  this 
brief  narrative— the  'desire  of  his  eyes'  taken 
away  with  a  stroke — the  command  not  to  mourn, 
and  the  simple  statement,  '  so  I  spake  unto  the 
people  in  the  morning,  and  at  even  my  wife  died  ; 
and  I  did  in  the  morning  as  I  was  commanded.' 
That  he  possessed  the  common  sympathies  and 
affections  of  humanity  is  manifest  from  the  beau- 


EZEKIEL 

tiful  touch  of  tenderness  with  which  the  ;-'arrative 
is  introduced.  We  may  even  judge  that  a  mind 
so  earnest  as  his  would  be  more  than  usually 
alive  to  the  feelings  of  aflFection  when  once  they 
had  obtained  a  place  in  his  heart.  He  then,  who 
could  thus  completely  subordinate  the  strongest 
interests  of  his  individual  life  to  the  great  work 
of  his  prophetic  office,  may  well  command  our 
admiration,  and  be  looked  upon  as  (to  use  Haver- 
nick's  expression)  'a truly  gigantic  phenomenon.' 
It  is  interesting  to  contrast  Ezekiel  in  this  respect 
with  his  contemporary  Jeremiah,  whose  personal 
history  is  continually  presented  to  us  in  the 
course  of  his  writings  ;  and  the  contrast  serves  to 
show  that  the  peculiarity  we  are  noticing  in 
Ezekiel  belongs  to  his  individual  character,  and 
was  not  necessarily  connected  with  the  gift  of 
prophecy.  ^ 

'That  Ezekiel  was  a  poet  of  no  mean  order  is 
acknowledged  by  almost  all  critics.  Michaelis 
remarks  that  Ezekiel  lived  at  a  period  when 
the  Hebrew  language  was  declining  in  purity, 
when  the  silver  age  was  succeeding  to  the  golden 
one.  It  is,  indeed,  to  the  matter  rather  than  the 
language  of  Ezekiel  that  we  are  to  look  for  evi- 
dence of  poetic  genius. 

The  genuineness  of  the  writings  of  Ezekiel 
has  been  the  subject  of  very  little  dispute.  Its 
canonicity  in  general  is  satisfactorily  established 
by  Jewish  and  Christian  authorities.  There  is, 
indeed,  no  explicit  reference  to  it,  or  quotation 
from  it,  in  the  New  Testament.  Eichhorn  {Ein- 
leit.  p.  218)  mentions  the  following  passages  as 
having  apparently  a  reference  to  this  book : 
Kom.  ii.  24  ;  comp.  Ezek.  xxxvi.  21  :  Rom.  x.  5  ; 
Gal.  iii.  12;  coinp.  Ezek.  xx.  11:2  Pet.  iii.  4  ; 
comp.  Ezek.  xii.  22 ;  but  none  of  these  are  quo- 
tations. The  closing  visions  of  Ezekiel  are 
clearly  referred  to,  though  not  quoted,  in  the  last 
chapters  of  the  Apocalyp.<;e. 

The  central  point  of  Ezekiel's  predictions  is 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Previously  to  this 
catastrophe  his  chief  object  is  to  call  to  repentance 
those  who  Mere  living  in  careless  security ;  to 
warn  them  against  indulging  in  blind  confidence, 
that  by  the  help  of  the  Egyptians  (Ezek.  xvii. 
15-17  ;  comp.  Jer.  xxxvii.  7)  the  Babylonian 
yoke  would  be  shaken  oli';  and  to  assure  them 
that  the  destruction  of  their  city  and  temple 
was  inevitable  and  fast  approaching.  After  this 
event  his  principal  care  is  to  console  the  captives 
by  promises  of  future  deliverance  and  return  to 
their  own  land,  and  to  encourage  them  by  as- 
surances of  future  blessings.  His  predictions 
against  foreign  nations  stand  between  these  two 
great  divisions,  and  were  for  the  most  part  ut- 
tered during  the  interval  of  suspense  between  the 
divine  intimation  that  Nebuchadnezzar  Avas  be- 
sieging Jerusalem  (ch.  xxiv.  2),  and  the  arrival 
of  the  news  that  he  had  taken  it  (ch.  xxxiii.  21). 
The  predictions  are  evidently  arranged  on  a  plan 
corresponding  with  these  the  chief  subjects  of 
them,  and  the  time  of  their  utterance  is  so  fre- 
quently noted  that  there  is  little  difficulty  in 
ascertaining  their  chronological  order.  This 
order  is  followed  throughout,  except  in  the 
middle  portion  relating  to  foreign  nations,  where 
it  is  in  some  instances  departed  from  to  secure 
greater  unity  of  subject  (e  g.  ch.  xxix.  17). 

The  whole  book  is  divided  by  Havernick  into 
nine  sections,  as  follows : — 


EZRA 

1.  Ezekiel's  call  to  the  prophetic  office  (ch. 
i.-iii.  15). 

2.  Series  of   symbolical   representations   and 

S articular  predictions  foretelling  the  approaching 
estruction  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  (ch.  iii. 
16-Tii.). 

3.  Series  of  visions  presented  to  the  prophet  a 
year  and  two  months  later  than  the  former,  in 
■which  he  is  shown  the  temple  polluted  by  the 
worship  of  Adonis — the  consequent  judgment  on 
the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  and  on  the  priests, — 
and  closing  with  promises  of  happier  times  and  a 
purer  worship  (ch.  viii.-xi.). 

4.  A  series  of  reproofs  and  warnings  directed 
especially  against  the  particular  errors  and  pre- 
judices then  prevalent  amongst  his  contempo- 
raries (ch.  xii.-xix.). 

5.  Another  series  of  warnings  delivered  about 
a  year  later,  announcing  the  coming  judgments  to 
be  yet  nearer  (ch.  xx.-xxiii.). 

6.  Predictions  uttered  two  years  and  five 
months  later,  when  Jerusalem  was  besieged,  an- 
nouncing to  the  captives  that  very  day  as  the 
commencement  of  the  siege  (comp.  2  Kings  xxv. 
1),  and  assuring  them  of  its  complete  overthrow 
(ch.  xxiv.). 

7.  Predictions  against  foreign  nations  (ch. 
xxv.-xxxii.). 

8.  After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  a  pro- 
phetic representation  of  the  triumph  of  Israel  and 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  (ch.  xxxiii.- 
xxxix.). 

9.  Symbolic  representation  of  Messianic  times, 
and  of  the  establishment  and  prosperity  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  (ch.  xl.-xlviii.), 

E'ZION-GE'BER,  a  very  ancient  city  lying 
not  far  from  Elath,  on  the  eastern  arm  of  the 
Red  Sea.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  Num.  xxxiii. 
3.5,  as  one  of  the  stations  where  the  Hebrews 
halted  in  their  journeyings  through  the  desert 
(Deut.  ii.  8).  From  its  harbour  it  was  that  Solo- 
mon (1  Kings  ix.  26)  sent  the  fleet  which  he  had 
there  built  to  the  land  of  Ophir,  whence  they 
fetched  four  hundred  and  twenty  talents  of  gold. 
Here,  also,  Jehoshaphat  (1  Kings  xxii.  47 ; 
2  Chron.  xx.  35)  built  a  fleet  '  to  go  to  Ophir,' 
but  because  he  had  joined  himself  with  Ahaziah, 
'  king  of  Israel,  who  did  wickedly,'  '  the  ships 
were  broken  that  they  were  not  able  to  go  to 
Tarshish.'  Eziongeber  is  probably  the  same  with 
the  once  populous  city  Assyan.  Robinson  says, 
'  no  trace  of  Eziongeber  se'^ms  now  to  remain, 
unless  it  be  in  the  name  of  a  small  wady  with 
brackish  water,  el-Ghudyan,  opening  into  el- 
Arabah  from  the  western  mountain,  some  distance 
north  of  Akabah. 

EZ'RA  {help).  Ezra  was  a  Jewish  scrib*^  and 
priest,  who,  about  the  year  b.c.  458,  led  the 
second  expedition  of  Jews  back  from  the  Baby- 
lonian exile  in  Palestine.  This  Ezra  ought  to 
be  distinguished  from  the  Ezra  who  went  up  as 
one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  priests  and  Levites  under 
Zerubbabel  (Neh.  xii.  1,  12,  33).  Ezra  was  a 
lineal  descendant  from  Phineas,  the  son  of  Aaron. 
He  is  stated  in  Scripture  to  be  the  sou  of  Seraiah, 
the  son  of  Azariah ;  which  Seraiah  was  slain  at 
Riblah  by  order  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  having  been 
brought  thither  a  captive  by  Nebuzaradan.  But, 
as  13U  years  elapsed  between  the  death  of  Seraiah 
and  the  departure  of  Ezra  from  Babylon,  and  we 
read  that  a  grandson  of  Seraiah  was  the  high 


EZRA 


313 


priest  who  accompanied  Zerubbabel  on  the  first 
return  to  Jerusalem,  seventy  years  before  Ezra 
returned  thither,  we  may  suppose  that  by  the 
term  son  here,  as  in  some  other  places,  the  re- 
lationship of  grandson,  or  of  a  still  more  remote 
direct  descendant,  is  intended.  In  addition  to 
the  information  given  in  the  books  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  that  Ezra  was  a  'scribe,'  a  'ready 
scribe  of  the  law  of  Moses,'  '  a  scribe  of  the  words 
of  the  Commandments  of  the  Lord  and  of  his 
statutes  to  Israel,'  '  a  scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God 
of  Heaven,'  and  '  a  priest,'  we  are  told  by  Josephus 
that  he  was  high-priest  of  the  Jews  who  were  left 
in  Babylon  ;  that  he  was  particularly  conversant 
with  the  laws  of  Moses,  and  was  held  in  univer- 
sal esteem  on  account  of  his  righteousness  and 
virtue. 

The  rebuilding  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem, 
which  had  been  decreed  by  Cyrus  iu  the  year 
B.C.  536,  was,  after  much  powerful  and  Vexatious 
opposition,  completed  in  the  reign  and  by  the  per- 
mission of  Darius  Hystaspis,  in  the  year  B.C.  515. 

In  the  year  B.C.  457  Ezra  was  sent  by  '  Arta- 
xerxes  Longimanus  and  his  counsellors  to  inquire 
concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  according  to 
the  law  of  his  God  which  was  in  his  hand  ;  and 
to  carry  the  silver  and  gold  which  the  king  and 
his  counsellors  freely  ofiered  unto  the  God  of 
Israel.'  Permission  was  also  granted  to  him  to 
take  with  him  all  the  silver  and  the  gold  which 
he  could  find  in  all  the  province  of  Babylon,  to- 
gether with  the  free-will  offerings  which  the 
people  and  priests  offered  for  the  house  of  God  at 
Jerusalem.  Of  this  treasure  he  was  directed  to 
employ  as  much  as  was  requisite  in  the  purchase 
of  offerings  according  to  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
the  surplus  he  was  to  lay  out  according  to  his 
discretion  for  the  maintenance  of  the  externals  of 
religion.  Ezra  was  also  charged  to  convey  vessels 
for  the  house  of  God  iu  Jerusalem  ;  and,  lest  these 
gifts  should  be  insufficient,  he  was  empowered  to 
take  from  the  king^s  treasure-house  as  much  as 
should  be  wanted  to  supply  everything  needful 
for  the  house  of  the  Lord.  At  the  same  time  that 
this  commission  was  given  to  Ezra,  Artaxerxes 
Longimanus  issued  a  decree  to  the  keepers  of  the 
king's  treasure  beyond  the  river,  to  assist  Ezra  iu 
everything  in  which  he  needed  help,  and  to  supply 
him  liberally  with  money,  corn,  wine,  oil,  and 
salt.  It  was  further  enacted  that  it  should  not  be 
lawful  to  impose  tribute  upon  any  priest,  Levite, 
or  other  person  concerned  in  the  ministration 
in  the  house  of  God.  Ezra  was  commissioned  to 
appoint  '  according  to  the  wisdom  of  God  which 
was  in  his  hand,'  magistrates  and  judges  to  judge 
all  the  people  beyond  the  river,  that  knew  the 
laws  of  his  God ;  and  was  enjoined  to  teach  them 
to  those  who  knew  them  not.  The  reason  of  the 
interest  for  the  worship  of  God  at  this  time 
evinced  by  Artaxerxes,  appears  to  have  been  a 
fear  of  the  divine  displeasure,  for  we  read  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  decree  to  the  treasurers  beyond 
the  river,  '  Whatsoever  is  commanded  by  the  God 
of  Heaven,  let  it  be  diligently  done  for  the  house 
of  the  God  of  Heaven  ;  for  why  should  there 

BE   WRATH   AGAINST   THE     REALM    OF   THE    KING 

AND  HIS  SONS?'  We  are  also  told  (Ezra  vii.  6) 
that  the  king  granted  Ezra  all  his  request;  and 
Josephus  informs  us  that  Ezra,  being  desirous  ot 
going  to  Jerusalem,  requested  the  king  to  grant 
him  recommendatory  letters  to  the  governor  of 


314 


EZRA 


EZRA 


Syria.  We  may  \hprefore  suppose  that  the  dread 
which  Artaxerxc'S  entertained  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments was  the  consequence  of  the  exposition  to 
liim  by  Ezra  of  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people. 
Ezra  assembled  the  Jews  who  accompanied 
him  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Ahava,  where  they 
halted  three  days  in  tents.  Here  Ezra  proclaimed 
a  fast,  as  an  act  of  humiliation  before  God  and  a 
season  of  prayer  for  divine  direction  and  safe 
conduct ;  for,  on  setting  out,  he  '  was  ashamed  to 
require  a  band  of  soldiers  and  horsemen  to  help 
them  against  the  enemy  by  the  way,'  because  he 
had  asserted  to  the  king  that  the  hand  of  his  God 
is  upon  all  them  that  seek  him  for  good.  Ezra 
next  committed  the  care  of  the  treasures  which  he 
carried  with  him  to  twelve  of  the  chief  priests, 
assisted  by  ten  of  their  brethren,  appointing  these 
to  take  charge  of  the  treasures  by  the  way,  and 
deliver  them  safely  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  at 
Jerusalem.  On  the  twelfth  day  from  their  first 
setting  out,  Ezra  and  his  companions  left  the 
river  Ahava,  and  arrived  safely  at  Jerusalem  in 
the  fifth  month,  having  been  delivered  from  the 
hand  of  the  enemy  and  of  such  as  lay  in  wait  by 
the  way.  Three  days  after  their  arrival  the 
treasures  were  weighed  and  delivered  into  the 
custody  of  some  Levites.  The  returning  exiles 
offered  burnt-offerings  to  the  Lord.  They  de- 
livered also  the  king's  commissions  to  the  vice- 
roys and  governors,  and  gave  needful  help  to  the 
people  and  the  ministers  of  the  Temple.  When 
Ezra  had  discharged  the  various  trusts  com- 
mitted to  him,  the  princes  of  the  Jews  came  to 
him  and  complamed  that  the  Jewish  people 
generally  who  had  returned  from  the  captivity, 
and  also  the  priests  and  Levites,  but  especially 
the  rulers  and  princes,  had  not  kept  themselves 
separate  fi-om  tlie  people  of  the  laud,  but  had 
done  according  to  the  abominations  of  the  rem- 
nant of  the  nations  whom  their  forefathers  had 
driven  out,  and  married  their  daughters,  and 
allowed  their  children  to  intermarry  with  them. 
Ou  hearing  this  Ezra  was  deeply  afflicted ;  and, 
according  to  the  Jewish  custom,  he  rent  his 
mantle  and  tore  the  hair  of  his  head  and  beard. 
There  gathered  round  him  all  those  who  still 
feared  God,  and  di-eaded  his  wrath  for  the  trans- 
gression of  those  whom  he  had  brought  back 
from  captivity.  Having  waited  till  the  time  of 
the  evening  sacrifice,  E?;ra  rose  up,  and,  having 
again  rent  his  hair  and  his  garments,  made  pub- 
lic prayer  and  confessi<m  of  sin.  The  assembled 
people  wept  bitterly,  and  Shecaniah,  one  of  the 
sons  of  Elam,  came  forward  to  propose  a  general 
covenant  to  put  away  the  foreign  wives  and  their 
children.  Ezra  then  arose  and  administered  an 
oath  to  the  people  that  they  would  do  accord- 
ingly. Proclamation  was  also  made  that  all 
those  who  had  returned  from  captivity  should 
within  three  days  gather  themselves  together 
unto  Jerusalem,  under  pain  of  excommunication 
and  forfeiture  of  their  goods.  The  people  as- 
sembled at  the  time  appointed,  trembling  on 
account  of  their  sin  and  of  the  heavy  rain  that 
fell.  Ezra  addressed  them,  declaring  to  them 
their  sin,  aud  exhorting  them  to  amend  their 
lives  by  dissolving  their  illegal  connections. 
The  people  acknowledged  the  justice  of  his 
rebukes,  and  promised  obedience.  They  then 
requested  that,  as  the  rain  fell  heavily,  and  the 
number  of  transgressors  was  great,  he   would 


appoint  times  at  which  they  might  severally 
come  to  be  examined  respecting  this  matter, 
accompanied  by  the  judges  and  elders  of  every 
city.  A  commission  was  therefore  formed,  con- 
sisting of  Ezra  and  some  others,  to  investigate 
the  extent  of  the  evil.  This  investigation  occu- 
pied three  months. 

In  Neh.  viii.  we  read  that,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  celebration  of  the  feast  of  the  seventh  montli, 
subsequently  to  Nehemiah's  numbering  the  peo- 
ple, Ezra  was  requested  to  bring  the  book  of  the 
law  of  Moses ;  and  that  he  read  therein  standing 
upon  a  pulpit  of  wood,  which  raised  him  above 
all  the  people. 

Contradictory  accounts  are  given  by  the  Jewish 
writers  as  to  the  time  and  place  of  Ezra's  death. 
The  Talmudic  statement  is  that  he  died  at  Zam- 
zumu,  a  town  on  the  Tigris,  while  on  his  road 
from  Jerusalem  to  Susa,  whither  he  was  going 
to  converse  with  Artaxerxes  about  the  affairs  of 
the  Jews.  A  tomb  said  to  be  his,  represented  in 
the  present  engraving,  is  shown  on  the  Tigris, 
about  twenty  miles  above  its  junction  with  the 
Euphrates. 


0.    [Tomb  of  Ezra. 


Ezra  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  author  of 
the  books  of  Chronicles.  But  as  the  reasons  for 
ascribing  the  books  of  Chronicles  to  the  author- 
ship of  Ezra  have  already  been  investigated  in 
the  Article  Chronicles,  we  confine  ourselves 
here  to  the  book  of  Ezra.  Some  authors  have 
ascribed  the  books  of  Nehemiah  and  Esther  like- 
wise to  Ezra,  although  they  differ  in  style. 
[Esther;  Nehemiah.] 

Ezra,  Eook  of.— The  book  of  Ezra  contains 
records  of  events  occurring  about  the  termination 
of  the  Babylonian  exile.  It  comprises  accounts 
of  the  favours  bestowed  upon  the  Jews  by  Per- 
sian kings ;  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple ; 
of  the  mission  of  Ezra  to  Jerusalem,  and  his 
regulations  and  reforms.  Such  records  forming 
the  subject  of  the  book  of  Ezra,  we  must  not  be 
surprised  that  its  parts  are  not  so  intimately  con- 
nected with  each  other  as  we  might  have  ex- 
pected if  the  author  had  set  forth  his  intention  to 
furnish  a  complete  history  of  his  times. 

The  events  narrated  in  the  book  of  Ezra  are 
spread  over  a  period  of  about  79  years,  under  the 
reigns  of  Cyrus,  Cambyses,  Magus,  or  Pseudo- 
Smerdis,   Darius  Hystaspis,  Xerxes,  Artaxerxes 


FACE 


FALLOW-DEER 


31S 


(in  the  eighth  year  of  -whose  reign  the  records  of 
Ezra  cease). 

The  beginning  of  the  book  of  Ezra  agrees  ver- 
batim with  the  conclusion  of  the  second  book  of 
Chronicles,  and  terminates  abruptly  with  the 
statement  of  the  divorces  effected  by  his  authority, 
by  which  the  marriages  of  Israelites  with  foreign 
women  were  dissolved. 

Since  the  book  of  Ezra  has  no  marked  conclu- 
sion, it  was,  even  in  early  times,  considered  to 
form  part  of  the  book  of  Nehemiah,  the  contents 
of  which  are  of  a  similar  description.  As,  how- 
ever, the  book  of  Ezra  is  a  collection  of  detached 
records  of  remarkable  events  occurring  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  exile  and  in  the  times  imme- 
diately following  it,  attempting  no  display  of  the 
art  of  book-making,  the  mere  want  of  an  artificial 
conclusion  cannot  be  considered  a  sufficient  reason 
for  regarding  it  as  the  first  portion  of  Nehemiah. 
It  is,  however,  likely  that  the  similarity  of  the 
contents  of  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  was 
the  cause  of  their  being  placed  together  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible. 

The  arrangement  of  the  facts  in  the  book  of 
Ezra  is  chronological.  The  book  may  be  divided 
into  two  portions.  The  Jirst  consists  of  chapters 
i.-vi.,  and  contains  the  history  of  the  returning 
exiles  and  of  their  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  and 
comprises  the  period  from  the  first  year  of  Cyrus, 
B.C.  .536,  to  the  sixth  year  of  Darius  Hystaspis, 
B.C.  515. 

The  second  portion  contains  the  personal 
history  of  the  migration  of  Ezra  to  Palestine, 
in  the  seventh  year  of  Artaxerxes.  This  latter 
portion,  embracing  chapters  vii.-x.,  is  an  auto- 
biography of  Ezra  during  about  twelve  or 
thirteen  months,  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  years 
of  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  Longimanus. 

We  have  spoken  thus  far  of  the  canonical  book 
of  Ezra;  there  are,  however,  four  books  that 
have  received  this  name,  viz.  the  book  noticed 
above,  the  only  one  which  was  received  into  the 
Hebrew  canon  under  that  name,  the  book  of 
Nehemiah,  and  the  two  apocryphal  books  of 
Esdras,  concerning  which  see  Esdk.\s. 


F. 


FACE,  in  Scripture,  is  often  used  to  denote 
presence  in  the  general  sense,  and,  whefi  applied 
to  the  Almighty,  denotes  such  a  complete  mani- 
festation of  the  divine  presence,  by  sound  or 
sight,  as  was  equivalent,  in  the  vividness  of  the 
impression,  to  the  seeing  of  a  fellow-creature 
'face  to  face.'  The  'face  of  God'  therefore 
denotes  in  Scripture  any  thing  or  manner  by 
which  God  is  wont  to  manifest  himself  to  man. 

It  was  a  very  ancient  and  common  opinion 
that  our  mortal  frame  could  not  survive  the 
more  sensible  manifestations  of  the  divine  pre- 
sence, or  '  see  God  face  to  face  and  live  "  (Gen. 
xxxii.  30).  Hence,  in  this  passage,  the  gratitude 
and  astonishment  of  Jar-ob,  that  he  still  lived 
after  God  had  manifested  himself  to  him  more 
sensibly  than  by  dreams  and  visions.  This  im- 
pression was  confirmed  to  Moses,  who  was  told, 
'  Thou  canst  not  see  my  face :  no  man  can  see 
my  face  and  live'  (Exod.  xxxiii.  20);  which 
clearly  signifies  that  no  one  can,  in  this  present 


state  of  being,  endure  the  view  of  that  glory  which 
belongs  to  Him  (1  Cor.  xiii.  12;  1  John  iii. 
2 ;  Rev.  xxii.  4). 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  God  is  usually 
represented  to  us  in  Scripture  under  a  human 
form ;  and  it  is  indeed  difficult  for  even  more 
spiritualized  minds  than  those  of  the  Hebrews  to 
conceive  of  Him  apart  from  the  form  and  attri- 
butes of  the  highest  nature  actually  known  to 
us.  The  Scripture  sanctions  this  concession  to 
the  weakness  of  our  intellect,  and  hence  arise 
the  anthropomorphous  phrases  which  speak  of 
the  face,  the  eyes,  the  arm  of  God.  The  appear- 
ances of  the  angels  in  the  Old  Testament  times 
were  generally  in  the  human  form  (Judg.  xiii. 
6,  &c.) ;  and  from  this  cause  alone  it  would  have 
been  natural,  in  the  imagination,  to  transfer  the 
form  of  the  messengers  to  Him  by  whom  they 
were  sent. 

FAIR  HAVENS,  a  harbour  or  roadstead  of 
Crete,  the  unsafeness  of  which  to  winter  in, 
occasioned  that  attempt  to  make  for  Phenice,  on 
the  other  side  of  the  island,  which  led  to  the 
eventual  loss  of  the  vessel  in  which  Paul  sailed 
for  Rome  (Acts  xxvii.  8).  As  the  name  is  still 
preserved,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  fixing  the 
situation  to  a  small  bay  a  little  to  the  north-east 
of  Cape  Leon,  the  present  Cape  Matala. 

FALLOW-DEER.  The  original  terms  Ajal 
and  Ajalah  are  rendered  in  our  common  version 
by  the  names  hart  and  hind  (Dent.  xii.  15; 
Ps.  xiii.  1 ;  Isa.  xxxv.  6  ;  Gen.  xlix.  21 ;  2  Sam. 
xxii.  34 ;  Job  xxxix.  1 ;  Ps.  xviii.  31 ;  Prov.  v. 
19 ;  Cant.  ii.  7 ;  Jer.  xiv.  5 ;  Habak.  iii.  19). 


171.    [Cervus  barbarus.] 

Sir  J.  G.  Wilkinson  believes  Ajal  to  be  the 
Ethiopian  oryx,  with  nearly  straight  horns.  But 
an  Ethiopian  species  could  not  well  be  meant 
where  the  clean  animals  fit  for  the  food  of 
Hebrews  are  pointed  out,  nor  where  allusion 
is  made  to  suffering  from  thirst,  and  to  high  and 
rocky  places  as  the  refuge  of  females,  or  of  both, 
since  all  the  species  of  oryx  inhabit  the  open 
plains,  and  are  not  remarkable  for  the  desire  of 
drinking ;  nor  can  either  of  these  propensities  be 
properly  ascribed  to  the  true  antelopes, or  gazellsc, 
of  Arabia  and  Syria,  all  being  residents  of  the 
plain  and  the  desert ;  like  the  oryges,  often  seen 
at  immense  distances  from  water,  and  unwilling 


31G 


FASTS 


FASTS 


to  venture  into  forests,  -where  their  velocity  of 
flight  and  delicacy  of  structure  impede  and 
destroy  them.  Animals  of  the  stag  kind  prefer 
the  security  of  forests,  are  always  most  robust 
in  rocky  mountain  covers,  and  seek  water  with 
considerable  anxiety ;  for  of  all  the  lightfooted 
ruminants,  they  alone  protrude  the  tongue  when 
hard  pressed  in  the  chace.  Now,  comparing  these 
qualities  with  several  texts,  we  find  them  perfectly 
appropriate  to  the  species  of  these  genera  alone. 

The  first  species  here  referred  to  is  now  known 
by  the  name  of  Cervus  Barbarus,  or  Barbary 
stag,  in  size  between  our  red  and  fallow  deer, 
distinguished  by  the  want  of  a  bisantler,  or 
second  branch  on  the  horns,  reckoning  from 
below,  and  a  spotted  livery,  which  is  effaced  only 
in  the  third  or  fourth  year.  This  species  is 
figured  on  Egyptian  monuments,  is  still  occa- 
sionally seen  about  the  Natron  lakes  west  of  the 
Nile,  and,  it  seems,  was  observed  by  a  reverend 
friend  in  the  desert  east  of  the  Dead  Sea  on  his 
route  from  Cairo  towards  Damascus.  We  take 
this  to  be  the  Igial  or  Ajal  of  the  Arabs,  the  same 
which  they  accuse  of  eating  fish — that  is,  the 
neps,  lizards,  and  snakes,  a  propensity  common  to 
other  species,  and  similarly  ascribed  to  the  Vir- 
ginian and  Mexican  deer. 

The  other  is  the  Persian  stag,  or  Maral  of  the 
Tahtar  nations,  and  Gewazen  of  Armenia,  larger 
than  the  stag  of  Europe,  clothed  with  a  heavy 
mane,  and  likewise  destitute  of  bisantlers.  We 
believe  this  species  to  be  the  Soegur  of  Asiatic 
Turkey,  and  many  of  the  Arabs,  therefore,  resi- 
ding on  the  borders  of  the  mountain  forests  of 
Syria  and  Palestine.  One  or  both  of  these  species 
were  dedicated  to  the  local  bona  dea  on  Mount 
Libanus — a  kind  of  proof  that  deer  were  found  in 
the  vicinity. 

Of  the  hind  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  more  than 
that  slie  is  the  female  of  stag,  or  hart,  and  that  in 
the  manners  of  these  animals  the  males  always 
are  the  last  to  hurry  into  cover. 

FASTS.  The  observance  of  religious  fasts 
established  itself  in  the  world  at  a  very  early 
period,  and  is  found  to  have  prevailed  in  most  of 
the  nations  of  antiquity.  In  such  a  religion  as 
Moses  was  commissioned  by  the  creator  of  the 
world  to  offer  to  the  chosen  people,  it  was  not 
likely  that  an  observance  which,  such  as  fasts, 
seems  to  have  had  its  origin  in  false  and  heathen 
conceptions,  should  hold  a  very  prominent  posi- 
tion, or  be  invested  with  much  importance.  There 
is  but  one  fast  enjoined  by  the  great  Hebrew  law- 
giver. And  this  injunction  we  are  disposed  to 
place  among  those  things  which  Mcses  allowed 
rather  than  originated,  bore  with  rather  than 
approved,  in  consideration  of  the  force  of  esta- 
blished custom,  and  from  a  wise  fear  of  defeating 
his  own  good  ends  by  attempting  too  much.  The 
manner  in  which  this  observance  is  spoken  of  in 
Scripture  (Lev.  xvi.  29;  xxiii.  27)  seems  to  im- 
ply that  it  was  no  new  institution  that  the  law- 
giver was  establishing,  but  merely  an  old  and 
well  known  practice,  to  which  he  gave  a  modified 
sanction.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  had  the  law 
been  a  new  one,  details  would  have  been  both 
needed  and  given,  as  is  customary  with  Moses  in 
his  injunctions.  Instead  of  that,  the  children  of 
Israel  are  required  in  general  terms  to  'afflict 
their  soul^.'  But  this  language  is  not  only  vague, 
it  is  figurative,  and  could  have  no  definite  mean- 


ing unless  to  persons  vrith  whom  afflicting  the 
soul  was  in  general  use.  There  seems,  however, 
no  reason  to  doubt  that  '  to  afflict  the  soul,'  bore 
with  it  the  meaning  of  fasting.  To  a  mere  Eug- 
lish  reader  the  phrase  seems  to  comprise  all  kinds 
of  voluntary  mortifications,  but  '  soul '  in  Hebrew 
not  seldom  denotes  the  '  appetite '  (Prov.  xxvii. 
7).  Accordingly  the  words  regard  immediately 
abstinence  from  food,  and  most  probably  (so  far 
as  they  go)  nothing  more. 

The  sole  fast  required  by  Moses  was  on  the 
great  day  of  annual  atonement.  This  observance 
seems  always  to  have  retained  some  prominence 
as  '  the  fast'  (Acts  xxvii.  9).  But  what  the  ob- 
servance of  the  enjoined  duty  involved  we  are 
nowhere  expressly  informed.  Other  general  fasts, 
however,  were  in  course  of  ages  introduced, 
which  were  celebrated  at  fixed  times  every  suc- 
cessive year.  In  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  Nebu- 
chadnezzar besieged  and  captured  Jerusalem, 
which  calamity  led  to  the  establishment  of  a  fast 
on  the  seventeenth  day  of  the  fourth  month 
(Thammuz,  July),  (Jer.  lii.  6,  7  ;  Zech.  viii.  19). 
In  the  last  passage  other  fasts  are  enumerated, 
namely,  '  the  fast  of  the  fifth,  and  the  fast  of  the 
seventh,  and  the  fast  of  the  tenth.'  That  of  the 
fifth  month  (Ab,  August)  was  held  on  the  ninth 
day,  in  mournful  commemoration  of  the  burning 
of  the  city  b>-  '  Nebuzar-adan,  a  servant  of  the 
king  of  Babylon,'  who  '  burnt  the  house  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  king's  house,  and  all  the  houses 
of  Jerusalem,  and  every  great  man's  house '  (2 
Kings  XXV.  8,  sq. ;  Jer.  lii.  12;  Zech.  vii.  3-5; 
viii.  19).  The  fast  of  the  seventh  month  (Tishri, 
October)  was  established  to  bewail  the  murder  of 
Gedaliah  at  Mizpah  (Jer.  xli.  1,  sq. ;  2  Kings 
XXV.  25).  That  of  the  tenth  month  (Tebeth, 
January)  was  held  on  the  tenth  day  to  comme- 
morate the  commencement  of  the  siege  of  Jerusa- 
lem on  the  part  of  Nebuchadnezzar  (2  Kings  xxv. 
1 ;  Zech.  viii.  19). 

On  particular  and  signal  occasions  extraordi- 
nary fasts  were  appointed  (Judges  xx.  26 ;  1  Sam. 
xxxi.  11-13 ;  Baruch  i.  5  ;  1  Kings  xxi.  9  ;  comp. 
Jer.  xxxvi.  9  ;  2  Chron.  xx.  3).  In  Joel  i.  ii.  a  fast 
is  enjoined  with  a  view  to  turn  away  the  wrath  of 
God  as  displayed  in  the  terrible  consequences  of  the 
invasion  of  the  land  of  Judaea  by  an  army  of  de- 
vastating locusts.  The  notion  also  prevailed  that 
a  special  fast  might  have  the  effect  of  averting  the 
divine  displeasure  and  securing  the  divine  co-ope- 
ration in*  any  great  undertaking  (Jonah  iii.  5  ; 

1  Sam.  vii.   5,  6,   8,   10,  12  ;  1   Mace.  iii.  47 ; 

2  Mace.  xiii.  12  ;  Judith  iv.  11 ;  vi.  19).  Local 
fasts  were  at  a  later  period  sometimes  held  in 
order  to  avert  calamity  or  procure  a  favour  from 
heaven ;  and  the  Sanhedrim  ordered  general  fasts 
when  the  nation  was  threatened  with  any  great 
evil,  such  as  drought  or  famine. 

There  were  also  private  fasts,  though  the  Mo- 
saic law  did  not  require  them.  They  were  held 
in  connection  with  individual  or  family  incidents, 
and  agreed  in  aim  and  tendency  with  fasts  of  a 
general  and  public  nature.  Examples  may  be 
found  in  1  Sam.  i.  7 ;  xx.  34;  1  Kings  xxi.  9  ; 
Ez.  X.  6  ;  Neh.  i.  4.  After  the  exile  private  fasts 
became  very  frequent,  awaiting  the  call  of  no 
special  occasion,  but  entering  as  a  regular  part  of 
the  current  religious  worship.  The  parable  of 
the  Pharisee  and  Publican  (Luke  xviii.  9  ;  comp. 
Matt.  ix.  14)  shows  how  much  the  Pharisees 


FASTS 

were  given  to  voluntary  and  private  fasts — '  I 
fast  twice  in  the  week.'  The  first  was  on  the  fifth 
day  of  the  week,  on  which  Moses  ascended  to  the 
top  of  Mount  Sinai ;  the  second  was  on  the  se- 
cond day,  on  which  he  came  down.  The  Essenes 
and  the  Therapeutse  also  were  much  given  to 
such  observances.  Fasts  were  considered  as  a 
useful  exercise  in  preparing  the  mind  for  special 
religious  impressions.  Thus  Dan.  x.  2,  sq.,  '  In 
those  days  I  Daniel  was  mourning  three  full 
weeks.  I  ate  no  pleasant  bread,  neither  came 
flesh  nor  wine  in  my  mouth.  Then  I  lifted  up 
my  eyes  and  looked,  and  behold  a  certain  man,' 
&c.  (see  also  Acts  xiii.  3  ;  xiv.  23).  From  Matt. 
xvii.  21,  '  Howbeit  this  kind  (of  demons)  goeth 
not  out  but  by  prayer  and  fasting,'  it  would  ap- 
pear that  the  practice  under  consideration  was 
considered  in  the  days  of  Christ  to  act  in  certain 
special  cases  as  an  exorcism.  Fasting  was  ac- 
companied by  the  ordinary  signs  of  grief  among 
the  Israelites,  as  may  be  seen  in  1  Mace.  iii.  47, 
'  Then  they  fasted  that  day  and  put  on  sackcloth, 
and  cast  ashes  upon  their  heads  and  rent  their 
clothes.'  The  fast  ordinarily  lasted  from  evening 
to  evening,  but  was  not  observed  on  the  sabbath 
or  on  festival  days.  The  abstinence  was  either 
partial  or  total.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  food 
was  entirely  foregone,  but  this  ordinarily  took 
place  only  in  fasts  of  short  duration  ;  and  absti- 
nence from  food  in  eastern  climes  is  more  easy 
and  less  detrimental  (if  not  in  some  cases  posi- 
tively useful)  than  keeping  from  food  would  be 
with  us  in  these  cold,  damp,  northern  regions 
(Esther  iv.  16).  In  the  case  of  partial  abstinence 
the  time  was  longer,  the  denial  in  degree  less. 
When  Daniel  (x.  2)  was  '  mourning  three  full 
weeks,'  he  ate  no  'pleasant  bread,  neither  came 
Jlesk  nor  u'tne  in  my  mouth.'  There  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  any  fixed  and  recognized 
periods  during  which  these  fasts  endured.  From 
one  day  to  forty  days  fasts  were  observed.  The 
latter  period  appears  to  have  been  regarded  with 
feelings  of  peculiar  sanctity,  owing  doubtless  to 
certain  events  in  Jewish  history.  Thus  Moses 
'  was  with  the  Lord  on  Mount  Sinai  forty  days 
and  forty  nights,  he  did  neither  eat  bread  nor 
drink  water'  (Exod.  xxxiv.  28).  So  Elijah 
(1  Kings  xix.  8)  '  arose  and  did  eat  and  drink,  and 
went  in  the  strength  of  that  meat  forty  days  and 
forty  nights  unto  Horeb  the  mount  of  God.'  The 
same  was  the  number  of  days  that  our  Lord  fasted 
in  the  desert  in  connection  with  his  temptation 
(Matt.  iv.  1-11  ;  Marki.  12,  13  ;  Luke  iv.  1-13). 
We  have  already  seen  how  qualified  the  sanc- 
tion was  which  Moses  gave  to  the  observance  of 
fasting  as  a  religious  duty.  In  the  same  spirit 
which  actuated  him,  the  prophets  bore  testimony 
against  the  lamentable  abuses  to  which  the  prac- 
tice was  turned  in  the  lapse  of  time  and  with  the 
increase  of  social  corruption  (Isa.  Iviii.  4,  sq. ; 
Jer.  xiv.  12  ;  Zech.  vii.  5).  Continuing  the  same 
species  of  influence  and  perfecting  that  spirit- 
uality in  religion  which  Moses  began,  our  Lord 
rebuked  the  Pharisees  sternly  for  their  outward 
and  hypocritical  pretences  in  the  fasts  which  they 
observed  (Matt.  vi.  16,  sq.),  and  actually  ab- 
stained from  appointing  any  fast  whatever  as  a 
part  of  his  own  religion  (Matt.  ix.  14).  From 
the  passage  referred  to  this  at  least  is  clear, 
that  Jesus  ascribed  to  fasts  no  essential  worth, 
nor  required  any  such  observance  from  his  fol- 


FAT 


317 


lowers.  Whether  and  how  far  he  allowed  fast- 
ing as  a  means  of  religious  improvement,  is  a 
question  which  our  space  does  not  permit  us  to 
discuss.  That  the  early  Christians  observed  the 
ordinary  fasts  which  the  public  practice  of  their 
day  sanctioned,  is  clear  from  more  than  one  pas- 
sage in  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  (Acts  xiii. 
2  ;  xiv.  23  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  5)  ;  but  in  this  they  pro- 
bably did  nothing  more  than  yield  obedience,  as 
in  general  they  thought  themselves  bound  to  do, 
to  the  law  of  their  fathers  so  long  as  the  Mosaic 
institutions  remained  entire.  And  though  the 
great  body  of  the  Christian  Church  held  them- 
selves free  from  all  ritual  and  ceremonial  observ- 
ances when  God  in  his  providence  had  brought 
Judaism  to  a  termination  in  the  rasure  of  the 
holy  city  and  the  closing  of  the  temple,  yet  the 
practice  of  fasting  thus  originated  might  have 
easily  and  unobservedly  been  transmitted  from 
year  to  year  and  from  age  to  age,  and  that  the 
rather  because  so  large  a  portion  of  the  disciples 
being  Jews  (to  say  nothing  of  the  influence  of 
the  Ebionites  in  the  primitive  church),  thousands 
must  have  been  accustomed  to  fasting  from  the 
earliest  days  of  their  existence,  either  in  their 
own  practice  Or  the  practice  of  their  fathers,  re-  j 
latives,  and  associates.  , 

FAT.  In  Lev.  iii.  there  are  minute  details  i 
of  the  parts  of  victims  which  were  to  be  spe- 
cially appropriated  to  the  altar.  Among  these  all  | 
the  internal_^a<  is  minutely  specified,  particularly 
the  lat  of  the  kidneys  ;  and  of  external  parts  the 
tail  of  the  sheep,  which,  in  the  common  species  of 
Western  Asia,  is  a  mass  of  fat  (iii.  4,  9,  10,  15)  : 
and  the  whole  concludes  with  '  All  the  fat  is  the 
Lord's;  ye  shall  eat  neither  fat  nor  blood'  (iii. 
17).  The  reason  assigned,  namely,  that  the  fat 
was  consecrated  to  the  altar,  could  only  apply 
with  respect  to  that  of  animals  used  in  sacrifice, 
which  were  also  usually  employed  for  food. 
One  point  seems  to  have  been  very  generally 
overlooked,  which  is,  that  not  fat  absolutely,  but 
particular  fat  parts  only  are  interdicted.  They 
might  eat  the  fat  involved  in  the  muscular  tissue 
—in  short,  fat  meat ;  and  we  know  that  animals 
were  actually  fattened  for  food  (I  Kings  iv.  23  ; 
Jer.  xlvi.  21  ;  Luke  xv.  23).  This  was,  however, 
not  a  usual  practice ;  and  even  at  this  day  in  the 
East,  domestic  cattle  seldom  undergo  any  pre- 
paratory feeding  or  fattening  before  being  killed. 
Hence  there  is  little  fat  in  the  carcass,  except  that 
belonging  to  the  parts  specified  in  the  prohibition, 
which  is  all  more  or  less  of  the  nature  of  suet. 

Various  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  this 
somewhat  remarkable  restriction.  The  secondary 
cause,  that  the  fat  was  consecrated  to  the  altar, 
and  therefore  was  to  be  abstained  from,  is  not  all ; 
for  it  is  usually  considered  that  it  was  thus  conse- 
crated to  give  a  religious  sanction  to  a  prohibition 
expedient  on  other  grounds.  The  true  reason 
probably  is,  that  this  suet  or  suet-like  fat  is  not 
particularly  wholesome  or  digestible  in  warm 
climates,  if  anywhere,  and  is  particularly  unsuit- 
able for  persons  subject  to  cutaneous  diseases,  as 
the  Israelites  appear  to  have  been  at  the  time  of 
their  leaving  Egj  pt. 

'  Fatness,'  in  Scripture,  expresses  plumpness  or 
exuberance,  whether  in  men,  animals,  or  vege- 
tables ;  and  is  hence  often  applied  metaphorically 
to  any  kind  of  abundance,  as  to  large  possessions, 
or  to  excessive  fertility  in  the  earth. 


318 


FATHER 


FATHER.  This  word,  besides  its  obrious  and 
primary  sense,  bears,  in  Scripture,  a  number  of 
other  applications,  most  of  which  have,  through 
the  use  of  the  Bible,  become  more  or  less  common 
in  all  Christian  countries. 

1.  The  term  Father  is  very  often  applied  to 
God  himself  (Exod.  iv.  22;  Dent,  xxxii.  6; 
2  Sam.  vii.  14;  Ps.lxxxix.  27,  28;  Isa.  Ixiii.  16; 
Ixiv.  8).  In  some  of  these  passages  he  is  set  be- 
fore us  as  the  Father  of  all  men,  in  the  general 
sense  of  creator  and  preserver  of  all  men,  but 
more  especially  of  believers,  whether  Jews  or 
Christians. 

Without  doubt,  however,  God  is  in  a  more 
especial  and  intimate  manner,  even  as  by  cove- 
nant, the  Father  of  the  Jews  ( Jer.  xxxi.  9  ;  Isa. 
Ixiii.  16  ;  Ixiv.  8  ;  John  viii.  41  ;  v.  45  ;  2  Cor. 
vi.  18);  and  also  of  Christians,  or  rather  of  all 
pious  and  believing  persons,  who  are  called  '  sons 
of  God'  (John  i.  12  ;  Rom.  viii.  16,  etc.).  Thus 
Jesus,  in  speaking  to  his  disciples,  calls  God  their 
Father  (Matt.  vi.  4,  8,  1.5,  18;  x.  20,  29;  xiii. 
43,  etc.).  The  Apostles,  also,  for  themselves  and 
other  Christians,  call  him  '  Father '  (Rom.  i.  7  ; 
1  Cor.  i.  3 ;  2  Cor.  i.  2 ;  Gal.  i.  4 ;  and  many 
other  places). 

2.  Father  is  applied  to  any  ancestor  near  or 
remote,  or  to  ancestors  ('fathers')  in  general. 
The  progenitor,  or  founder,  or  patriarch  of  a  tribe 
or  nation,  was  also  pre-eminently  its  father,  as 
Abraham  of  the  Jews.  Examples  of  this  abound. 
See,  for  instance,  Deut.  i.  11 ;  1  Kings  viii.  21 ; 
Matt.  iii.  9  ;  xxiii.  30 ;  Mark  xi.  10 ;  Luke  i.  32, 
73  ;  vi.  23,  26  ;  John  vii.  22,  &c. 

3.  Father  is  also  applied  as  a  title  of  respect  to 
any  head,  chief,  ruler,  or  elder,  and  especially  to 
kings,  prophets,  and  priests  (Judg.  xvii.  10 ;  xviii. 
19 ;  1  Sam.  x.  12 ;  2  Kings  ii.  12  ;  v.  13  ;  vi.  21 ; 
xiii.  14  ;  Prov.  iv.  1 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  9  ;  Acts  vii,  2 ; 
xxii.  1  ;  1  Cor.  iv.  15,  etc.). 

4.  The  author,  source,  or  beginner  of  anything 
is  also  called  the  Father  of  the  same,  or  of  those 
who  follow  him.  Thus  Jabal  is  called  *  the 
father  of  those  who  dwell  in  tents,  and  have 
cattle;'  and  Jubal,  'the  father  of  all  such  as 
handle  the  harp  and  the  organ'  (Gen.  iv.  20,  21 ; 
comp.  Job  xxxviii.  28 ;  John  viii.  44 ;  Eom. 
iv.  12). 

The  authority  of  a  father  was  rery  great  in 
patriarchal  times ;  and  although  the  power  of  life 
and  death  was  virtually  taken  from  the  parent  by 
the  law  of  Moses,  which  required  him  to  bring  his 
cause  of  complaint  to  the  public  tribunals  (Deut. 
xxi.  18-21),  all  the  more  real  powers  of  the  pa- 
ternal character  were  not  only  left  unimpaired, 
but  were  made  in  a  great  degree  the  basis  of  the 
judicial  polity  which  that  law  established.  The 
children  and  even  the  grandchildren  continued 
under  the  roof  of  the  father  and  grandfather ; 
they  laboured  on  his  account,  and  were  the  most 
submissive  of  his  servants.  The  property  of  the 
soil,  the  power  of  judgment,  the  civil  rights,  be- 
longed to  him  only,  and  his  sons  were  merely  his 
instruments  and  assistants. 

Filial  duty  and  obedience  were,  indeed,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Jewish  legislator,  of  such  high  im- 
portance, that  great  care  was  taken  that  the  pa- 
ternal authority  should  not  be  weakened  by  the 
withdrawal  of  a  power  so  liable  to  fatal  and  bar- 
barous abuse  as  that  of  capital  punishment.  Any 
outrage  against  a  parent— a  blow,  a  curse,  or 


FEASTS 

incorrigible  profligacy — was  made  a  capital  crime 
(Exod.  xxi.  15,  17  ;  Lev.  xx.  9).  It  the  offence 
was  public,  it  was  taken  up  by  the  witnesses  as 
a  crime  against  Jehovah,  and  the  culprit  was 
brought  before  the  magistrates  whether  the  parent 
consented  or  not ;  and  if  the  offence  was  hidden 
within  the  paternal  walls,  it  devolved  on  the 
parents  to  denounce  him  and  to  require  his  punish- 
ment. 

It  is  a  beautiful  circumstance  in  the  law  of 
Moses  that  this  filial  respect  is  exacted  for  the 
mother  as  well  as  for  the  father.  The  threats  and 
promises  of  the  legislator  distinguish  not  the  one 
from  the  other  ;  and  the  fifth  commandment  asso- 
ciates the  father  and  mother  in  a  precisely  equal 
claim  to  honour  from  their  children.  The  de- 
velopment of  this  interesting  feature  of  the  Mo- 
saical  law  belongs,  however,  to  another  head 
[Women]. 

FEASTS.  The  root-idea  of  the  word  is  to  be 
found  in  what  we  should  term  the  pleasures  of 
the  table,  the  exercise  of  hospitality. 

To  what  an  early  date  the  practices  of  hospi- 
tality are  referable  may  be  seen  in  Gen.  xLx.  3. 
It  was  usual  not  only  to  receive  persons  with 
choice  viands,  but  also  to  dismiss  them  in  a  simi- 
lar manner;  accordingly  Laban,  when  he  had 
overtaken  the  fleeing  Jacob,  complains  (Gen. 
xxxi.  27), '  Wherefore  didst  thou  steal  away  from 
me  and  didst  not  tell  me,  that  I  might  have  sent 
thee  away  with  mirth,  and  with  songs,  and  with 
tabret,  and  with  harp  ?'  See  also  2  Sam.  iii.  20  ; 
2  Kings  vi.  23;  Job.  viii.  20  ;  1  Mace.  xvi.  15. 
This  practice  explains  the  reason  why  the  prodi- 
gal, on  his  return,  was  welcomed  by  a  feast  (Luke 
XV.  23).  Occasions  of  domestic  joy  were  hailed 
with  feasting;  thus,  in  Gen.  xxi.  8,  Abraham 
'  made  a  great  feast  the  same  day  that  Isaac  was 
weaned.'  Birth-days  were  thus  celebrated  (Gen. 
xl.  20), '  Pharaoh,  on  his  birth-day  made  a  feast 
unto  all  his  servants'  (Job.  i.  4;  Matt.  xiv.  6  ; 
comp.  Herod,  i.  133).  Marriage-feasts  were  also 
common.  Samson  (Judg.  xiv.  10)  on  such  an 
occasion  '  made  a  feast,'  and  it  is  added, '  for  so 
used  the  young  men  to  do.'  So  Laban,  when  he 
gave  his  daughter  Leah  to  Jacob  (Gen.  xxix. 
22),  '  gathered  together  all  the  men  of  the  place, 
and  made  a  feast.'  These  festive  occasions  seem 
originally  to  have  answered  the  important  pur- 
pose of  serving  as  evidence  and  attestation  of  the 
events  which  they  celebrated,  on  which  account 
relatives  and  neighbours  were  invited  to  be  pre- 
sent (Ruth  iv.  10;  John  ii.  1).  Those  processes 
in  rural  occupations  by  which  the  Divine  bounties 
are  gathered  into  the  hands  of  man,  have  in  all 
ages  been  made  seasons  of  festivity  ;  accordingly 
in  2  Sam.  xiii.  23,  Absalom  invites  all  the  king's 
sons,  and  even  David  himself,  to  a  sheep-shearing 
feast,  on  which  occasion  the  guests  became  '  merry 
with  wine'  (1  Sam.  xxv.  2,  sq.).  The  vintage 
was  also  celebrated  with  festive  eating  and  drink- 
ing (Judg.  ix.  27).  Feasting  at  funerals  existed 
among  the  Jews  (2  Sam.  iii.  33).  In  Jer.  xvi.  7, 
among  other  funeral  customs  mention  is  made  of 
'  the  cup  of  consolation,  to  drink  for  their  father 
or  their  mother,'  which  brings  to  mind  the  indul- 
gence in  spirituous  liquors  to  which  our  anci-stors 
were  given,  at  interments,  and  which  lias  not  yet 
entirely  disappeared.  To  what  an  extent  ex- 
pense was  sometimes  carried  on  these  occasions. 
may  be  learned  from  Josephus,  who,  having  re- 


FELIX 


■ELIX 


319 


marked  that  Archelaus  '  mourned  for  his  father 
seven  days,  and  had  given  a  very  expensive  fu- 
neral feast  to  the  multitude,'  states, '  -which  cus- 
tom is  the  occasion  of  poverty  to  many  of  the 
Jews,'  adding,  '  because  they  are  forced  to  feast 
the  multitude,  for  if  any  one  omits  it  he  is  not 
esteemed  a  holy  person.' 

As  among  heathen  nations,  so  also  among  the 
Hebrews,  feasting  made  a  part  of  the  observances 
which  took  place  on  occasion  of  animal  sacrifices 
(Deut.  xii.  6,  7  ;  1  Sam.  ix.  19  ;  xvi.  3,  5  ;  2  Sam. 
vi.  19).  These  sacrificial  meals  were  enjoyed  in 
connection  with  peace-ofFerings,  whether  eucha- 
ristic  or  votive.  To  the  feast  at  the  second  tithe 
of  the  produce  of  the  land,  which  was  to  be  made 
every  year  and  eaten  at  the  annual  festivals  be- 
fore Jehovah,  not  only  friends,  but  strangers, 
widows,  orphans,  and  Levites,  were  to  be  invited, 
as  well  as  the  slaves.  If  the  tabernacles  were  so 
distant  as  to  make  it  inconvenient  to  carry  thither 
the  tithe,  it  was  to  be  turned  into  money,  which 
was  to  be  spent  at  the  place  at  which  the  fes- 
tivals were  held  in  providing  feasts  (Deut.  xiv. 
22-27 ;  xii.  14  ;  Tobit  i.  G).  Charitable  enter- 
tainments were  also  provided,  at  the  end  of  three 
years,  from  the  tithe  of  the  increase.  The  Levite, 
the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow,  were 
to  be  present  (Deut.  xii.  17-19;  xiv.  28,  29; 
xxvi.  1 2-1 5).  At  the  feast  of  Pentecost  the  com- 
mand is  very  express  (Deut.  xvi.  11),  'Thoushalt 
rejoice  before  the  Lord  thy  God,  thou,  and  thy 
son,  and  thy  daughter,  and  thy  man-servant,  and 
thy  maidservant,  and  the  Levite  that  is  within 
thy  gates,  and  the  stranger,  and  the  fatherless, 
and  the  widow,  that  are  among  you.'  The  Israel- 
ites were  forbidden  to  partake  of  food  offered 
in  sacrifice  to  idols  (Exod.  xxxiv.  15),  lest  they 
should  be  thereby  enticed  into  idolatry  or  appear 
to  give  a  sanction  to  idolatrous  observances 
(1  Cor.  X.  28). 

FE'LIX,  a  Roman  procurator  of  Judsea,  before 
whom  Paul  so  '  reasoned  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come,'  that  the  judge 
trembled,  saying,  '  Go  thy  way  for  this  time ; 
when  I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for 
thee '  (Acts  xxiv.  25).  The  context  states  that 
Felix  had  expected  a  bribe  from  Paul ;  and,  in 
order  to  procure  this  bribe,  he  appears  to  have 
had  several  interviews  with  the  Apostle.  The 
depravity  which  such  an  expectation  implies  is 
in  agreement  with  the  idea  which  the  historical 
fragments  preserved  respecting  Felix  would  lead 
the  student  to  form  of  the  man. 

The  year  in  which  Felix  entered  on  his  office 
cannot  be  strictly  determined.  From  the  words 
of  Josephus  it  appears  that  his  appointment  took 
place  before  the  twelfth  year  of  the  Emperor 
Claudius. 

Felix  was  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  elevation 
to  distinguished  station  of  persons  born  and  bred 
in  the  lowest  condition.  Originally  a  slave,  he 
rose  to  little  less  than  kingly  power.  For  some 
unknown,  but  probably  not  very  creditable  ser- 
vices, he  was  manumitted  by  Claudius  Caesar 
(Sueton.  Claud.  28  ;  Tacit.  Hist.v.  9);  on  which 
account  he  is  said  to  have  taken  the  pranomen  of 
Claudius. 

The  character  which  the  ancients  have  left  of 
Felix  is  of  a  very  dark  complexion.  Suetonius 
speaks  of  the  military  honours  which  the  emperor 
loaded  him  with,  and  specifies  his  appointment  as 


governor  of  the  province  of  Judcea  ;  adding  an 
inuendo,  which  loses  iiothing  by  its  brevity, 
namely,  that  he  was  the  husband  of  three  queens 
or  royal  ladies.  Tacitus,  in  his  Histonj  (v.  9), 
declares  that,  during  his  governorship  in  Judaea, 
he  indulged  in  all  kinds  of  cruelty  and  lust,  ex- 
ercising regal  power  with  the  disposition  of  a 
slave  ;  and,  in  his  Annals  (xii.  54)  he  represents 
Felix  as  considering  himself  licensed  to  commit 
any  crime,  relying  on  the  influence  which  he 
possessed  at  court.  The  country  was  ready  for 
rebellion,  and  the  unsuitable  remedies  which 
Felix  applied  served  only  to  inflame  the  passions 
and  to  incite  to  crime.  Under  his  sway  the  affairs 
of  the  country  grew  worse  and  worse.  The  land 
was  filled  with  robbers  and  impostors  who  de- 
luded the  multitude.  Felix  used  his  power  to 
repress  these  disorders  to  little  purpose,  since  his 
own  example  gave  no  sanction  to  justice.  Having 
a  grudge  against  Jonathan,  the  high-priest,  who 
had  expostulated  with  him  on  his  misrule,  he 
made  use  of  Doras,  an  intimate  friend  of  Jonathan, 
in  order  to  get  him  assassinated  by  a  gang  of  vil- 
lains, who  joined  the  crowds  that  were  going  up 
to  the  temple  to  worship, — a  crime  which  led  sub- 
sequ'ently  to  countless  evils,  by  the  encourage- 
ment which  it  gave  to  the  Sicarii,  or  leagued 
assassins  of  the  day,  to  whose  excesses  Josephus 
ascribes,  under  Providence,  the  overthrow  of  the 
Jewish  state.  Among  other  crimes,  some  of  these 
villains  misled  the  people  under  the  promise  of 
performing  miracles,  and  were  punished  by 
Felix.  An  Egyptian  impostor,  who  escaped 
himself,  was  the  occasion  of  the  loss  of  life  to 
four  hundred  followers,  and  of  the  loss  of  liberty 
to  two  hundred  more,  thus  severely  dealt  with  by 
Felix. 

While  in  his  office,  being  inflamed  by  a  passion 
for  the  beautiful  Dnisilla,  a  daughter  of  King 
Herod  Agrippa,  who  was  married  to  Azizus,  king 
of  Emesa,  he  employed  one  Simon,  a  magician, 
to  use  his  arts  in  order  to  persuade  her  to  forsake 
her  husband  and  marry  him,  promising  that  if 
she  would  comply  with  his  suit  he  would  make 
her  a  happy  woman.  Drusilla,  partly  impelled 
by  a  desire  to  avoid  the  envy  of  her  sister,  Bere- 
nice, was  prevailed  on  to  transgress  the  laws  of 
her  forefathers,  and  consented  to  a  union  with 
Felix.  In  this  marriage  a  son  was  bom,  who 
was  named  Agrippa :  both  mother  and  son  pe- 
rished in  an  eruption  of  Mount  Vesuvius,  which 
took  place  in  the  days  of  Titus  Caesar.  With 
this  adulteress  was  Felix  seated  when  Paul  rea- 
soned before  the  judge,  as  already  stated  (Acts 
xxiv.  24). 

Paul,  being  apprehended  in  Jerusalem,  was 
sent  by  a  letter  from  Claudius  Lysias  to  Felix  at 
Caesarea,  where  he  was  at  first  confined  in  Herod's 
judgment-hall  till  his  accusers  came.  They  ar- 
rived. Tertullus  appeared  as  their  spokesman, 
and  had  the  audacity,  in  order  to  conciliate  the 
good  will  of  Felix,  to  express  gratitude  on  the 
part  of  the  Jews,  *  seeing  that  by  thee  we  enjoy 
great  quietness,  and  that  very  worthy  deeds  are 
done  unto  this  nation  by  thy  providence  '  (Acts 
xxiii.  xxiv.).  Paul  pleaded  his  cause  in  a  worthy 
speech ;  and  Felix,  consigning  the  Apostle  to  the 
custody  of  a  centurion,  ordered  that  he  should 
have  such  liberty  as  the  circumstances  admitted, 
with  permission  that  his  acquaintance  might  see 
him  and  minister  to  his  wants.    This  imprison- 


320 


FESTIVALS 


FESTIVALS 


ment  the  Apostle  suffered  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  being  left  bound  when  Felix  gave  place  to 
Festus,  as  that  unjust  judge  '  was  -willing,'  not  to 
do  what  was  right,  but  '  to  show  the  Jews  a 
pleasure.' 

FERRET.    [Lizard.] 

FESTIVALS.  The  Hebrew  festivals  were 
occasions  of  public  religious  observances,  re- 
curring at  certain  set  and  somewhat  distant  in- 
tervals. In  general  they  may  be  divided  into 
two  kinds: — I.  Those  of  divine  institution;  2. 
Those  of  human  origin.  Those  which  owe  their 
existence  to  the  authority  of  God  are,  the  seventh 
day  of  the  week,  or  the  Sabbath ;  the  Passover  ; 
Pentecost ;  the  Feast  of  Trumpets  :  the  Day  of 
Atonement ;  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  ;  the  New 
Moon.  Festivals  which  arose  under  purely  hu- 
man influences  are,  the  Feast  of  Lots  or  Purim  ; 
the  death  of  Holofenies;  the  Dedication;  the 
Sacred  Fire  ;  the  death  of  Nicanor. 

Reserving  details  for  separate  articles  on  such 
of  these  as  shall  seem  to  require  and  justify  a  dis- 
tinct treatment,  we  confine  ourselves  here  to  a 
general  outline,  with  some  remarks  on  the  origin 
and  tendency  of  the  chief  festivals. 

We  have  inserted  the  Sabbath  for  the  sake  of 
completeness,  and,  with  the  same  view,  we  pro- 
ceed to  set  down  a  few  brief  particulars  respect- 
ing the  daily  service,  so  that  we  may  at  once 
present  a  general  outline  of  the  temple  worship. 

At  the  daily  service  two  lambs  of  the  first  year 
were  to  be  offered  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle ; 
one  in  the  morning,  the  other  in  the  evening,  a 
continual  burnt-offering.  With  each  lamb  was 
to  be  offered  one-tenth  of  an  ephah  of  flour,  min- 
gled with  one-fourth  of  a  bin  of  fi«sh  oil,  for  a 
meat-offering,  and  one-fourth  of  a  hin  of  wine  for 
a  drink-offering.  Frankincense  was  to  be  placed 
on  the  meat-offering,  a  handful  of  which,  with 
the  frankincense,  was  to  be  burnt,  and  the  re- 
mainder was  to  be  eaten  by  the  priest  in  the  holy 
place,  without  leaven.  The  priests  were  to  offer 
daily  the  tenth  of  an  ephah  of  fine  flour,  half  in 
the  morning  and  half  in  the  evening,  for  them- 
selves. The  high-priest  was  to  dress  the  lamps 
in  the  tabernacle  every  morning,  and  light  them 
every  evening;  and  at  the  same  time  burn  in- 
cense on  the  altar  of  incense.  The  people  pro- 
vided oil  for  the  lamps  which  were  to  burn  from 
evening  to  morning :  the  ashes  were  removed  by 
a  priest,  dressed  in  his  linen  garment  and  his 
linen  drawers,  and  then  carried  by  him  out  of 
the  carap,  in  his  common  dress.  Great  stress 
was  laid  on  the  regular  observance  of  these  re- 
quirements (Num.  xxviii.  1-8 ;  Exod.  xxix.  .38- 
42  ;  Lev.  vi.  8-23  ;  Exod.  xxx.  7-9  ;  xxvii.  20  ; 
Lev.  xxiv.  1-4;  Num.  viii.  2). 

Labour  was  to  last  not  longer  than  six  days. 
The  seventh  was  a  Sabbath,  a  day  of  rest,  of  holy 
convocation,  on  which  no  one,  not  even  strangers 
or  cattle,  was  allowed  to  do  any  servile  work. 
The  offender  was  liable  to  stoning. 

On  the  Sabbath  two  lambs  of  the  first  year, 
without  blemish,  were  to  be  offered  for  a  burnt- 
offering,  morning  and  evening,  with  two-tenths 
of  an  ephah  of  flour,  mingled  with  oil,  for  a  meat- 
offering, and  one-half  of  a  hin  of  wine  for  a  drink- 
offering,  thus  doubling  the  offering  for  ordinary 
days.  Twelve  cakes  of  fine  flour  were  to  be  placed 
every  Sabbath  upon  the  table  in  the  tabernacle, 
m  two  piles,  and  pure  frankincense  laid  on  the 


uppermost  of  each  pile.  These  were  to  be  fur- 
nished by  the  people ;  two  were  offered  to  Jehovah, 
the  rest  were  eaten  by  the  priests  in  the  holy  place 
(Exod.  xxxi.  12;  Lev.  xxiii.  1 ;  xxvi.  2;  Exod. 
xix.  3,  30;  xx.  8-11;  xxiii.  12;  Deut.  v.  12- 
1 5  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  3 ;  xxiv.  5-9  ;  Num.  xv.  35 ; 
xxviii.  9). 

At  the  New  Moon  festival,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  month,  in  addition  to  the  daily  sacrifice,  two 
heifers,  one  ram,  and  seven  lambs  of  the  first 
year,  were  to  be  offered  as  burnt-offerings,  with 
three-tenths  of  an  ephah  of  flour,  mingled  with 
oil,  for  each  heifer ;  two-tenths  of  an  ephah  of 
flour,  mingled  with  oil,  for  the  ram  ;  and  one- 
tenth  of  an  ephah  of  flour,  mingled  with  oil,  for 
every  lamb  ;  and  a  drink-offering  of  half  a  hin 
of  wine  for  a  heifer,  one-third  of  a  hin  for  the 
ram,  and  one-fourth  of  a  hin  for  every  lamb. 
One  kid  of  the  goats  was  also  to  be  offered  as  a 
sin-offering. 

The  first  day  of  the  seventh  month  was  to  be 
a  Sabbath,  a  holy  convocation,  accompanied  by 
the  blowing  of  trumpets.  In  addition  to  the  daily 
and  monthly  sacrifices,  one  ram  and  seven  lambs 
were  to  be  offered  as  burnt-offeringS,  with  their 
respective  meat-offerings,  as  at  the  usual  New 
Moon  festival  (Num.  xxviii.  11-15;  xxix.  1-6; 
Lev.  xxiii.  23-25). 

Three  times  in  the  year — at  the  Feast  of  Un- 
leavened Bread,  in  the  month  Abib ;  at  the 
Feast  of  Harvest,  or  of  Weeks ;  and  at  the  Feast 
of  Ingathering,  or  of  Tabernacles — all  the  males 
were  to  appear  before  Jehovah,  at  the  place  which 
he  should  choose.  None  were  to  come  empty- 
handed,  but  every  one  was  to  give  according  as 
Jehovah  had  blessed  him ;  and  there  before  Je- 
hovah was  every  one  to  rejoice  with  his  family, 
the  Levite,  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the 
widow  (Exod.  xxiii.  14-17  ;  xxxiv.  22-24  ;  Deut. 
xvi.  le,  17). 

The  first  of  these  three  great  festivals,  that  of 
Unleavened  Bread,  called  also  the  Passover,  was 
kept  in  the  Month  Abib,  in  commemoration  of  the 
rescue  of  the  Israelites  by  Jehovah  out  of  Egypt, 
which  took  place  in  that  month.  The  ceremonies 
that  were  also  connected  with  it  will  be  detailed  un- 
der the  head  Passover.  In  order  to  make  the  sea- 
son more  remarkable,  it  was  ordained  that  hence- 
forward the  month  in  which  it  took  place  should 
be  reckoned  the  first  of  the  national  religious 
year  (Exod.  xii.  2).  From  this  time,  accordingly, 
the  year  began  in  the  month  Abib,  or  Nisan 
(March — April),  while  the  civil  year  continued 
to  be  reckoned  from  Tishri  (September — October) 
(Exod.  xii.  3,  14,  27,  43-49  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  5  ;  Num. 
xxviii.  16;  Deut.  xvi.  1-7).  The  Passover  lasted 
one  week,  including  two  Sabbaths.  The  first 
day  and  the  last  were  holy,  that  is,  devoted  to 
the  observances  in  the  public  temple,  and  to  rest 
from  all  labour  (Exod.  xii.  16;  Lev.  xxiii,  6; 
Num.  xxviii.  18  ;  Deut.  xvi.  8). 

On  the  day  after  the  Sabbath,  on  the  Feast  of 
Passover,  a  sheaf  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  barley- 
harvest  was  to  be  brought  to  the  priest  to  be 
waved  before  Jehovah,  accompanied  by  a  bumt- 
offeriug.  Till  this  sheaf  was  presented,  neither 
bread  nor  parched  corn,  nor  full  ripe  ears  of  the 
harvest,  could  be  eaten  (Exod.  xii.  1 5-20 ;  xiii. 
6-10 ;  Lev.  xxiii.  6-8 ;  Deut.  xvi.  2-8 ;  Num. 
xxviii.  17-25). 

The  Feast  of  Pentecost  or  of  Weeks  was  kept 


FESTIVALS 

to  Jehovah  at  the  end  of  seven  woeks  from  the 
day  of  the  Festival  of  Unleavened  Bread,  on 
which  the  sheaf  was  presented.  On  the  morrow 
after  the  seventh  complete  week,  or  on  the  fiftieth 
day,  two  wave  loaves  Avere  presented  as  first  fruits 
of  the  wheat  harvest,  together  with  a  burnt- 
offering,  a  sin-ofi'ering,  and  a  peace-offering,  &c. 
The  day  was  a  holy  convocation,  in  which  no 
servile  work  was  done.  The  festival  lasted  but 
one  day.  It  is  said  to  have  been  designed  to 
commemorate  the  giving  of  the  law  on  Mount 
Sinai  (Deut.  xvi.  9-11 ;  Lev.  xiii.  15-21 ;  Num. 
xxviii.  26-31 ;  xv.  17-21). 

The  Feast  of  In-gathering  or  of  Tabernacles 
began  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  seventh  month, 
and  continued  eight  days,  the  first  and  last  being 
Sabbaths.  During  the  feast  all  native  Israelites 
dwelt  in  booths  made  of  the  shoots  of  beautiful 
trees,  palm-branches,  boughs  of  thick-leaved  trees, 
and  of  the  willows  of  the  brook,  when  they  re- 
joiced with  their  families,  with  the  Levite,  the 
stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow,  before 
Jehovah.  Various  offerings  were  made.  At  the 
end  of  every  seven  years,  in  the  year  of  release, 
at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  law  was  required 
to  be  read  by  the  priests  in  the  hearing  of  all  the 
Israelites  (Deut.  xvi.  13-15;  xxxi.  10-13;  Lev. 
xxiii.  39-43;  3.3-36;  Num.  xxix.  12-38,  40). 

The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  appointed  partly 
to  be  an  occasion  of  annual  thanksgiving  after 
the  in-gathering  of  the  harvest  (Exod.  xxxiv.  22  ; 
Lev.  xxiii.  39;  Deut.  xvi.  13),  and  partly  to 
remind  the  Israelites  that  their  fathers  had  lived 
in  tents  in  the  wilderness  (Lev.  xxiii.  40-43). 
This  feast  took  place  in  the  end  of  the  year, 
September  or  October. 

The  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month  was  the 
Day  of  Atonement — a  day  of  abstinence,  a  day 
of  holy  convocation,  in  which  all  were  to  afflict 
themselves.  Special  offerings  were  made  [Atone- 
ment] (Lev.  xxiii.  26-32 ;  xvi.  1,  34 ;  Num. 
xxix.  7-11 ;  Exod.  xxx.  10). 

Brown,  in  his  Antiquities  (vol.  i.  p.  520),  re- 
marks that  the  time  of  the  year  in  which  the 
three  great  festivals  were  observed  was  during 
the  dry  season  of  Judaea.  The  latter  rains  fell 
before  the  Passover,  the  former  rains  after  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles;  so  that  the  country  was 
in  the  best  state  for  travelling  at  the  time  of  these 
festivals. 

On  these  solemn  occasions  food  came  partly 
from  hospitality  (a  splendid  instance  of  which 
may  be  found  in  2  Chron.  xxxv.  7-9),  partly 
from  the  feasts  which  accompanied  the  sacrifices 
in  the  temple,  and  partly  also  from  provision 
expressly  made  by  the  travellers  themselves. 
Lodging,  too,  was  afforded  by  friends,  or  found 
in  tents  erected  for  the  purpose  in  and  around 
Jerusalem. 

The  three  great  festivals  have  corresponding 
events  (but  of  far  greater  importance)  in  the  new 
dispensation.  The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was  the 
time  when  our  Saviour  was  born ;  he  was  cru- 
cified at  the  Passover;  while  at  Pentecost  the 
effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  took  place. 

The  rest  and  recreation  enjoyed  during  these 
festivals  would  be  the  more  pleasant,  salutary, 
and  beneficial,  because  of  the  joyous  nature  of 
the  religious  services  in  which  they  were,  for 
the  greater  part,  engaged.  These  solemn  festi- 
vals were  not  only  commemorations  of  great 


FESTIVALS 


321 


national  events,  but  they  were  occasions  for  the 
reunion  of  friends,  for  the  enjoyment  of  hospi- 
tality, and  for  the  interchange  of  kindness.  The 
feasts  which  accompanied  the  sacrifices  opened 
the  heart  of  the  entire  family  to  joy,  and  gave  a 
welcome  which  bore  a  religious  sanction  even  tt 
the  stranger,  tlie  fatherless,  and  the  widow. 

How  much,  too,  would  these  gatherings  tend 
to  foster  and  sustain  a  spirit  of  nationality  !  By 
intercourse  the  feelings  of  tribe  and  clan  would 
be  worn  away  ;  men  from  different  parts  became 
acquainted  with  and  attached  to  each  other ;  par- 
tial interests  were  found  to  be  more  imaginary 
than  real ;  while  the  predominant  idea  of  a  com- 
mon faith  and  a  common  rallying-place  at  Jeru- 
salem could  not  fail  to  fuse  into  one  strong  and 
overpowering  emotion  of  national  and  brotherly 
love,  all  the  higher,  nay,  even  the  lower  feelings, 
of  each  Hebrew  heart. 

Another  effect  of  these  festivals  Michaelis  has 
found  in  the  furtherance  of  internal  commerce. 
They  would  give  rise  to  something  resembling 
our  modern  fairs.  Among  the  Mahometane 
similar  festivals  have  had  this  effect. 

Tliese  festivals,  in  their  origin,  had  an  obvious 
connection  with  agriculture.  Passover  saw  the 
harvest  upon  the  soil ;  at  Pentecost  it  was  ripe ; 
and  Tabernacles  was  the  festival  of  gratitude  for 
the  fruitage  and  vintage  (Michaelis,  art.  197). 
The  first  was  a  natural  pause  after  the  labours  of 
the  field  were  completed ;  the  second,  after  the 
first-fruits  were  gathered ;  and  the  third,  a  time 
of  rejoicing  in  the  feeling  that  the  Divine  bounty 
had  crowned  the  year  with  its  goodness.  Spring, 
summer,  and  autumn,  which  have  moved  all 
nations  of  men  with  peculiar  and  characteristic 
emotions,  had  each  its  natural  language  and 
symbols  in  the  great  Israelitish  festivals,  a  re- 
gard to  which  may  well  be  supposed  to  have  had 
an  influence  in  the  mind  of  the  legislator,  as  well 
as  in  the  consuetudinary  practices  of  the  people. 

The  Feast  of  Purim  or  of  Lots  originated  in 
the  gratitude  of  the  Jews  in  escaping  the  plot  of 
Haman,  designed  for  their  destruction.  It  took 
its  name  from  the  lots  which  were  cast  before 
Haman  by  the  astrologers,  who  knew  his  hatred 
against  Mordecai  and  his  wish  to  destroy  his 
family  and  nation  (Esther  iii.  7  :  ix.  2,  5).  The 
feast  was  suggested  by  Esther  and  Mordecai,  and 
was  celebrated  on  the  13th,  14th,  and  15th  days 
of  the  twelfth  month  (Adar).  The  13th  was  a 
fast,  being  the  day  on  which  the  Jews  were  to 
have  been  destroyed ;  and  the  14th  and  15th  were 
a  feast  held  in  commemoration  of  their  deliver- 
ance. The  fast  is  called  the  Fast  of  Esther,  and 
the  feast  still  holds  the  name  of  Purim. 

The  slaughter  of  Holofernes  by  the  hand  of 
Judith,  the  consequent  defeat  of  the  Assyrians,  and 
the  liberation  of  the  Jews,  were  commemorated 
by  the  institution  of  a  festival  (Judith  xiv.  xv). 

The  Feast  of  Dedication  was  appointed  by 
Judas  Maccabaeus,  on  occasion  of  the  purification 
of  the  temple,  and  reconstruction  of  the  altar, 
after  they  had  been  polluted  by  Antiochus 
Epiphanes. 

The  new  dedication  took  place  on  the  25th  day 
of  the  ninth  month,  called  Chisleu,  in  the  year 
before  Christ  170.  This  would  be  in  December. 
The  day  was  chosen  as  being  that  on  which  An- 
tiochus, three  years  before,  had  polluted  the  altar 
by  heathen  sacrifices. 


322  FESTUS 

The  joy  of  the  Israelites  mnst  have  been  great 
on  the  occasion,  and  well  may  they  have  pro- 
longed the  observance  of  it  for  eight  days.  A 
general  illumination  formed  a  part  of  the  fes- 
tival, whence  it  obtained  the  name  of  the  Feast 
of  Lights. 

In  John  X.  22  this  festival  is  alluded  to  when 
our  Lord  is  said  to  have  been  present  at  the 
Feast  of  Dedication.  The  historian  marks  the 
time  by  stating  '  it  was  winter.' 

The  festival  '  of  the  Fire '  was  instituted  by 
Nehemiah  to  commemorate  the  miraculous  re- 
kindling of  the  altar-lire.  The  circumstances  are 
narrated  in  2  Mace.  i.  18. 

The  defeat  by  Judas  Maccabscus  of  the  Greeks, 
when  the  Jews  '  smote  off  Nicanor's  head  and 
his  right  hand  which  he  stretched  out  so  proudly,' 
caused  the  people  to  '  rejoice  greatly,  and  they 
kept  that  day  a  day  of  great  gladness ;  moreover, 
they  ordained  to  keep  yearly  this  day,  being  the 
thirteenth  day  of  Adar '—February  or  March 
(1  Mace.  vii.  47). 

FESTUS.  Porcius  Festus  was  the  successor 
of  Felix  as  the  Roman  governor  of  Judasa,  to  the 
duties  of  which  office  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Emperor  Nero  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign.  One 
of  his  first  official  acts  was  hearing  the  case  of 
the  Apostle  Paul,  who  had  been  left  in  prison  by 
his  predecessor.  He  was  at  least  not  a  thoroughly 
corrupt  judge ;  for  when  the  Jewish  hierarchy 
begged  him  to  send  for  Paul  to  Jerusalem,  and 
thus  afford  an  opportunity  for  his  being  assassin- 
ated on  the  road,  he  gave  a  refusal,  promising  to 
investigate  the  facts  at  Cfcsarea,  where  Paul  was 
in  custody,  alleging  to  them,  '  it  is  not  the  man- 
ner of  the  Romans  to  deliver  any  man  to  die 
before  that  he  which  is  accused  have  the  accusers 
face  to  face,  and  have  licence  to  answer  for  him- 
self concerning  the  crime  laid  against  him'  (Acts 
XXV.  16).  On  reaching  Ctcsarea  he  sent  for 
Paul,  heard  what  he  had  to  say,  and,  finding  that 
the  matters  which  '  his  accusers  had  against  him ' 
were  '  questions  of  their  own  superstition,  and  of 
one  Jesus  which  was  dead,  whom  Paul  affirmed 
to  be  alive,'  he  asked  the  Apostle  whether  he  was 
willing  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  be  tried, 
since  Festus  did  not  feel  himself  skilled  in  such 
an  affair.  Paul,  doubtless  because  he  was  un- 
willing to  put  himself  into  the  hands  of  his  im- 
placable enemies,  requested  '  to  be  reserved  unto 
the  hearing  of  Augustus,'  and  was  in  consequence 
kept  in  custody  till  Festus  had  an  opportunity  to 
send  him  to  Caesar.  Agrippa,  however,  with  his 
wife  Bernice,  having  come  to  salute  Festus  on 
his  new  appointment,  expressed  a  desire  to  see 
and  '  hear  the  man.'  Accordingly  Paul  was 
brought  before  Festus,  Agrippa,  and  Bernice, 
made  a  famous  speech,  and  was  declared  inno- 
cent. But  having  appealed  to  Coesar,  he  was 
sent  to  Rome. 

Festus  on  coming  into  Judsea.  found  the 
country  infested  with  robbers,  who  plundered 
the  villages  and  set  them  on  fire;  the  Sicarii 
also  were  numerous.  Many  of  both  classes  were 
captured,  and  put  to  death  by  Festus.  He  also 
sent  forces,  both  of  horse  and  foot,  to  fall  upon 
those  that  had  been  seduced  by  a  certain  impos- 
tor, who  promised  them  deliverance  and  freedom 
from  the  miseries  they  were  under  if  they  would 
but  follow  him  as  far  as  the  wilderness.  These 
troops  destroyed  both  the  impostor  and  his  dupes 


FIG-TREE 

King  Agrippa  had  built  himself  a  splendid 
dining-room,  which  was  so  placed,  that,  as  he 
reclined  at  his  meals,  he  commanded  a  view  of 
what  was  done  in  the  Temple.  The  priests, 
being  displeased,  erected  a  wall  so  as  to  exclude 
the  monarch's  eye.  On  which  T'estus  took  part 
with  Agrippa  against  the  priests,  and  ordered  the 
wall  to  be  pulled  down.  The  priests  appealed  to 
Nero,  who  suffered  the  wall  to  remain,  being  in- 
fluenced by  his  wife  Poppcea,  '  who  was  a  reli- 
gious woman.'  Festus  died  shortly  afterwards. 
The  manner  in  which  Josephus  speaks  is  favour- 
able to  his  character  as  a  governor. 

FIGS.     [Fruits.] 

FIG-TREE.  The  fig-tree  has  frdm  the  earliest 
times  been  a  highly  esteemed  fruit  in  the  East, 
and  its  present,  as  well  as  ancient  Arabic  name, 
is  teen.  Though  now  successfully  cultivated  in 
a  great  part  of  Europe,  even  as  far  north  as  the 
southern  parts  of  England,  it  is  yet  a  native  of 
the  East,  and  probably  of  the  Persian  region, 
where  it  is  most  extensively  cultivated.  The 
climate  there  is  such  that  the  tree  must  neces- 
sarily be  able  to  bear  some  degree  of  cold,  and 
thus  be  fitted  to  travel  northwards,  and  ripen  its 
fruit  where  there  is  a  sufficient  amount  and  con- 
tinuance of  summer  heat.  The  fig  is  still  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  the  East,  and  in  a  dried  state, 
stning  upon  cords,  it  forms  an  extensive  article 
of  commerce  from  Persia  to  India. 

The  fig  is  mentioned  in  so  many  passages  of 
Scripture,  that  our  space  will  not  allow  us  to 
emimerate  them.  The  first  notice  of  it,  however, 
occurs  in  Gen.  iii.  7,  where  Adam  and  Eve  are 
described  as  sewing  fig-leaves  together  to  make 
themselves  aprons.    The  common  fig-leaf  is  not 


172.    [Ficus  carica.J 

SO  well  suited,  from  its  lobed  nature,  for  this 
purpose ;  but  the  practice  of  sewing  or  pinning 
leaves  together  is  very  common  in  the  East  even 
in  the  present  day,  and  baskets,  dishes,  and  um- 
brellas, are  made  of  leaves  so  pinned  or  sewn 
together.  The  fig-tree  is  enumerated  (Deut. 
viii.  8)  as  one  of  the  valuable  products  of  Pales- 
tine, '  a  land  of  wheat,  and  barley,  and  vines,  and 


FIK 

fig-trees,  and  pomegranates/  The  spies,  who 
■were  sent  from  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  brought 
back  from  the  brook  of  Eshcol,  clusters  of  grapes, 
pomegranates,  and  figs.  The  fig-tree  is  referred 
to  as  one  of  the  signs  of  prosperity  (1  Kings  iv. 
25),  '  And  Judah  and  Israel  dwelt  safely,  every 
man  under  his  vine  and  under  his  fig-tree.'  And 
its  failure  is  noted  as  a  sign  of  afiiiction  (Ps.  cv. 
33),  '  He  smote  their  fig-trees,  and  broke  the 
trees  of  their  coasts.'  The  very  frequent  refer- 
ences which  are  made  in  the  Old  Testament  to 
the  fig  and  other  fruit  trees,  are  in  consequence 
of  fruits  forming  a  much  more  important  article 
of  diet  in  the  warm  and  dry  countries  of  the 
East,  than  they  can  ever  do  in  the  cold  and  moist 
regions  of  the  north.  Figs  are  also  used  medi- 
cinally, and  we  have  a  notice  in  2  Kings  xx.  7, 
of  their  employment  as  a  poultice. 

FIGUKES.     [Types.] 

FIR  occurs  in  several  passages  of  Scripture, 
as  in  2  Sam.  vi.  5 ;  1  Kings  v.  8  ;  vi.  15  and  34; 
ix.  1 1  ;  2  Kings  ix.  23 ;  2  Chron.  ii.  8  ;  iii.  5 ; 
Ps.  civ.  17;  Isa.  xiv.  8 ;  xxxvii.  24;  xli.  19  ;  Iv. 
13  ;  Ix.  13  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  5  ;  xxxi.  8  ;  Hos.  xiv.  8  ; 
Nah.  ii.  3  ;  Zech.  xi.  2.  There  is  great  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  the  precise  tree  referred  to  in 
these  passages.  Some  suppose  it  to  be  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon,  others  the  box,  ash,  jimiper,  &c.  In 
Scripture  the  terms  Eres  and  Berosh,  the  one 
rendered  '  cedar '  and  the  other  '  fir,'  are  very 
frequently  associated  together,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  former  may  indicate  the  cedar  with  the 
wild  pine-tree,  while  the  latter  may  comprehend 
the  juniper  and  cypress  tribe. 


173.    [Cypress.    Cupressas  sempervirens.] 

The  different  species  of  juniper  have  by  some 
botanists  been  ranked  under  Cedar.  Of  juniper 
there  are  several  species  in  Syria.  Of  these  the 
only  species  which  could  have  been  the  Berosh  of 
Scripture  are  the  prickly  or  brown-berried  juni- 
per, an  evergreen  shrub  from  10  to  12  feet 
high,  and  the  Phoenician  juniper,  a  native  of  the 
south  of  Kurope,  Russia,  and  Syria.  Some  are  of 
opinion  that  the  wood  of  the  prickly  juniper, 
rather  than  that  of  the  so-called  cedar  of  Leba- 
non, is  the  cedar-wood  so  famed  in  ancient  times 
for  its  durability,  and  which  was  therefore  em- 


FIRE  328 

ployed  in  making  statues.  It  is  to  the  wood  of 
certain  species  of  juniper  that  the  name  of  cedir- 
wood  is  now  specially  applied. 

The  evergreen  cypress  of  botanists  is  a  tree 
well  known  as  being  tapering  in  form,  in  conse- 
quence of  its  branches  growing  upright  and  close 
to  the  stem.  In  its  general  appearance  it  re- 
sembles the  Lombardy  poplar,  so  that  the  one  is 
often  mistaken  for  the  other  when  seen  in  Ori- 
ental drawings.  In  southern  latitudes  it  usually 
grows  to  a  height  of  50  or  60  feet.  Its  branch- 
lets  are  closely  covered  with  very  small  imbri- 
cated leaves,  which  remain  on  the  tree  for  five  or 
six  years.  Du  Hamel  states  that  he  has  observed 
on  the  bark  of  young  cypresses  small  particles  of 
a  substance  resembling  gum  tragacanth,  and  that 
he  has  seen  bees  taking  great  pains  to  detach 
these  particles,  probably  to  supply  some  of  the 
matter  required  for  forming  their  combs.  This 
cypress  is  a  native  of  the  Grecian  Archipelago, 
particularly  of  Candia  (the  ancient  Crete)  and 
Cyprus,  and  also  of  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and 
Persia.  It  may  be  seen  on  the  coast  of  Palestine 
as  well  as  in  the  interior,  as  the  Mahomedans 
plant  it  in  their  cemeteries.  It  is  also  found  on 
the  mountains  of  Syria.  '  The  wood  of  the 
cypress  is  hard,  fragrant,  and  of  a  remarkably 
fine  close  grain,  very  durable,  and  of  a  beautiful 
reddish  hue,  which  Pliny  says  it  never  loses.' 
As  to  the  opinion  respecting  the  durability  of  the 
cypress-wood  entertained  by  the  ancients,  it  may 
be  sufficient  to  adduce  the  authority  of  Pliny, 
who  says  '  that  the  statue  of  Jupiter  in  the  Capi- 
tol, which  was  formed  of  cypress,  had  existed 
above  600  years  without  showing  the  slightest 
symptom  of  decay,  and  that  the  doors  of  the 
Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus,  which  were  also  of 
cypress,  and  were  400  years  old,  had  the  appear- 
ance of  being  quite  new.'  This  wood  was  used 
for  a  variety  of  purposes,  as  for  wine-presses, 
poles,  rafters,  and  joists.  In  all  the  passages  of 
Scripture,  therefore,  the  cypress  will  be  found  to 
answer  completely  to  the  descriptions  and  uses  of 
the  Berosh ;  for  it  is  well  adapted  for  building,  is 
not  subject  to  destruction,  and  was  therefore  very 
likely  to  be  employed  in  the  erection  of  the 
Temple,  and  also  for  its  gates  and  flooring ;  for 
the  decks  of  ships,  and  even  for  musical  instru- 
ments and  lances. 

FIRE.  Besides  the  ordinary  senses  of  the 
word  '  fire,'  which  need  no  explanation,  there 
are  other  uses  of  it  in  Scripture  which  require  to 
be  discriminated.  The  destructive  energies  of 
this  element  and  the  torment  which  it  inflicts, 
rendered  it  a  fit  symbol  of— 1.  Whatever  does 
damage  and  consumes  (Prov.  xvi.  27  ;  Isa.  ix. 
18);— 2.  Of  severe  trials,  vexations,  and  misfor- 
tunes (Zech.  xii.  9  ;  iCor.iii.  13, 15;  1  Pet  i.  7)  ; 
—-3.  Of  the  punishments  beyond  the  grave  (Matt. 
V.  22  ;  Mark  ix.  44  ;  Rev.  xiv.  1 0  ;  xxi.  8)  [Hell]  . 

'  Fire  from  heaven,' '  fire  of  the  Lord,'  usually 
denotes  lightning  in  the  Old  Testament;  but, 
when  connected  with  sacrifices,  the  '  fire  of  the 
Lord '  is  often  to  be  understood  as  the  fire  of  the 
altar,  and  sometimes  the  holocaust  itself  (Exod. 
xxix.  18;  Lev.  i.  9 ;  ii.  3;  iii.  5,  9;  Num. 
xxviii.  6 ;  1  Sam.  ii.  28 ;  Isa.  xx.  16 ;  Mai.  1. 10). 

The  uses  of  fire  among  the  Hebrews  were 
I  various: —  .  , 

1.  The  domestic  use,  for  cooking,  roastmg,  and 

1  baking  [Bread  ;  Food]. 


S24 


FIRE 


FIRST-FRUITS 


2,  la  winter  they  wanned  themselves  and  their 
apartments  by  '  a  fire  of  coals '  (Jer.  xxxvi.  22, 
23  ;  Luke  xxii.  30). 

3.  The  religious  use  of  fire  was  for  consuming 
the  victims  on  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings,  and  in 
burning  the  incense  on  the  golden  altar ;  hence 
the  remarkable  phrase  in  Isa.  xxxi.  9, '  the  Lord, 
whose  fire  is  in  Zion,  and  his  furnace  in  Jeru- 


4.  In  time  of  war  torches  were  often  carried 
by  the  soldiers,  which  explains  the  use  of  torches 
in  the  attack  of  Gideon  upon  the  camp  of  the 
Midianites  (Judg.  vii.  6). 

5.  Burning  criminals  alive  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  known  to  the  Hebrews  ;  but  as  an 
additional  disgrace  the  bodies  were  in  particular 
cases  burnt  after  death  had  been  inflicted  (Josh. 
vii.  25;  compare  verse  15);  and  it  is  in  this 
sense  that  the  allusions  to  burning  as  a  punish- 
ment are  to  be  understood,  except  when  the 
reference  is  to  a  foreign  usage,  as  in  Dan.  iii.  22, 
24,  sq. 

6.  In  time  of  war  towns  were  often  destroyed 
by  fire.  This,  as  a  war  usage,  belongs  to  all 
times  and  nations ;  but  among  the  Hebrews  there 
■were  some  particular  notions  connected  with  it, 
as  an  act  of  strong  abhorrence,  or  of  devotement 
to  abiding  desolation.  The  principal  instances 
historically  commemorated  are  the  destruction  by 
fire  of  Jericho  (Josh.  vi.  24) ;  Ai  (Josh.  viii.  19) ; 
Hazor  (Josh.  xi.  11);  Laish  (Judg.  xviii.  27); 
the  towns  of  the  Benjamites  (Judg.  xx.  48) ;  Zik- 
lag,  by  the  Amalekites  (1  Sam.  xxx.  1);  jazer, 
by  Pharaoh  (1  Kings  ix.  18);  and  the  temple 
and  palaces  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
(2  Kings  XXV.  9).  Even  the  war-chariots  of  the 
Canaanites  were  burnt  by  the  Israelites,  probably 
on  the  principle  of  precluding  the  possibility  of 
recovery,  by  the  enemy,  of  instruments  of  strength 
for  which  they  had  themselves  no  use.  The  fre- 
quency with  which  towns  were  fired  in  ancient 
warfare  is  shown  by  the  very  numerous  threats 
by  the  prophets  that  the  towns  of  Israel  should  be 
burned  by  their  foreign  enemies.  Some  great 
towns,  not  of  Israel,  are  particularly  named  ;  and 
it  would  be  an  interesting  task  to  trace,  so  far  as 
the  materials  exist,  the  fulfilment  of  these  pro- 
phecies in  those  more  marked  examples.  Among 
the  places  thus  threatened  we  find  Damascus  (Isa. 
xliii.  12,  13),  Gaza,  Tyre,  Teman  (Amos  i.  7,  in, 
11).  The  temples  and  idols  of  a  conquered  town 
or  people  were  very  often  burned  by  the  victors, 
and  this  was  enjoined  as  a  duty  to  the  Israelites 
(Deut.  vii.  5,  2.5  ;  xii.  13  ;  xiii.  G ;   Isa.  liii.  12, 13). 

There  were  some  special  regulations  respecting 
the  use  of  fire  among  the  Israelites.  The  most 
remarkable  of  these  was  the  prohibition  to  light 
a  fire  on  the  Sabbath  (Exod.  xxxiiL  3).  As  the 
primary  design  of  this  law  appears  to  have  been 
to  prevent  the  proper  privileges  of  the  Sabbath- 
day  from  being  lost  to  any  one  through  the  care 
and  time  required  in  cooking  victuals  (Exod.  xvi. 
23),  it  is  doubted  whether  the  use  of  fire  for 
warmth  on  the  Sabbath-day  was  included  in  this 
interdiction.  In  practice,  it  would  appear  that 
the  fire  was  never  lighted  or  kept  up  for  cooking 
on  the  S:ibbath-day,  and  that  consequently  there 
were  no  fires  in  the  houses  during  the  Sabbaths 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  year ;  but  it  may  be 
collected  that,  in  winter,  fires  for  warming  apart- 
ments were  kept  up  from  the  previous  day. 


Another  law  rpquired  the  damage  done  by  a 
conflagration  in  the  fields  to  be  made  good  by 
the  party  through  whose  incaution  it  had  been 
kindled  (Exod.  xxii.  6).  This  was  a  most  useful 
and  necessary  law  in  a  country  where  the  warmth 
and  drought  of  summer  soon  render  the  herbage 
and  underwood  highly  combustible,  so  that  a  fire 
once  kindled  often  spreads  most  extensively,  and 
produces  disastrous  consequences  (Judg.  ix.  15; 
XV.  5). 

In  the  sacerdotal  services  no  fire  but  that  of  the 
altar  of  burnt-offerings  could  lawfully  be  used. 
That  fire  was  originally  kindled  supernaturally, 
and  was  ever  after  kept  up.  From  it  the  fire 
used  in  the  censers  for  burning  incense  was  al- 
ways taken ;  and  for  neglecting  this  and  using 
common  fire,  Nadab  and  Abihu  were  struck  dead 
by  '  fire  from  heaven '  (Lev.  x.  8,  sq. ;  Num.  iii. 
4,  26,  61). 

Respecting  '  passing  through  the  fire,'  see  Mo- 
loch ;  and  for  the  '  pillar  of  fire,'  see  Exodus. 

FIRMAMENT  (Gen.  i.  6,  14,  15,  17),  that 
which  is  distended,  expanded — the  expanse  of 
heaven,  i.  e.  the  visible  arch  or  vault  of  heaven 
resting  on  the  earth. 

With  some  old  astronomers  the  firmament  is 
the  orb  of  the  fixed  stars,  or  the  highest  of  all  the 
heavens.  But  in  Scripture  and  in  common  lan- 
guage it  is  used  for  the  middle  regions,  the  space 
or  expanse  appearing  like  an  arch  immediately 
above  us  in  the  heavens.  Many  of  the  ancients, 
and  of  the  moderns  also,  account  the  firmament 
a  fluid  substance ;  but  those  who  gave  it  the  name 
of '  firmament'  must  have  regarded  it  as  solid,  and 
so  we  would  infer  from  Gen.  i.  6,  where  it  forms 
the  division  between  water  and  water. 

The  Hebrews  seem  to  have  considered  the 
firmament  as  transparent,  like  a  crystal  or  sap- 
phire (Ezek.  i.  22  ;  Dan.  xii.  3  ;  Exod.  xxiv.  10  ; 
Rev.  iv.  C). 

FIRST-BORN.  The  privileges  of  the  first- 
born son,  among  the  Hebrews,  are  indicated 
under  Birthright. 

FIRST-FRUITS.  There  are  various  regula- 
tions in  the  law  of  Moses  respecting  first-fruits, 
Avhich  would  be  of  much  interest  to  us,  could  we 
in  every  case  discern  the  precise  object  in  view. 
No  doubt  the  leading  object,  as  far  as  regards  the 
offering  of  the  first-fruits  to  God,  was,  that  all  the 
after-fruits  and  after-gatherings  might  be  conse- 
crated in  and  through  them  ;  and  it  was  not  less 
the  dictate  of  a  natural  impulse  that  the  first- 
fruits  should  be  offered  to  God  in  testimony  of 
thankfulness  for  his  bounties.  Hence  we  find 
some  analogous  custom  among  most  nations  in 
which  material  offerings  were  used.  There  are, 
however,  sr,me  particulars  in  the  Mosaical  regu- 
lations which  these  considerations  do  not  ade- 
quately explain.  , 

1.  First-Fruits  of  FruiivTrees.  It  was 
directed  that  the  first-fruits  of  every  tree  whose 
fruit  was  used  for  food,  should,  for  the  first  three 
years  of  bearing,  be  counted  '  uncircumcised,'  and 
regarded  as  unclean  (Lev.  xix.  23,  24).  It  was 
unlawful  to  sell  them,  to  eat  them,  or  to  make 
any  benefit  of  them.  It  was  only  in  the  fourth 
year  of  bearing  that  they  were  accounted  '  holy,' 
and  the  truit  of  that  year  was  made  an  offering 
of  first-fruits,  and  was  either  given  to  the  priests 
(Num.  xviii.  12, 13),  or,  as  the  Jews  themselves 
imderstand,  was    eaten  by    the    owners    of   it 


FISH 


FISH 


before  the  Lord,  at  Jerusalem,'  as  was  the  case 
with  second  tithe.  After  the  fourth  year  all 
fruits  of  trees  were  available  for  use  by  the 
owner.  As  the  general  principle  of  the  law  was, 
that  only  that  which  was  perfect  should  be  used 
in  offerings,  it  is  au  obvious  inference  that  the 
fruits  of  trees  were  considered  imperfect  until  the 
fourth  year ;  and  if  so,  the  law  may  have  had  the 
ulterior  object  of  excluding  from  use  crude,  im- 
mature, and  therefore  unwholesome  fruits.  Mi- 
chaelis  (iii.  267-8),  indeed,  finds  a  benefit  to  the 
irees  themselves  in  this  regulation. 

2.  First-Fruits  of  the  Yearly  Increase. 
Of  these  there  were  two  kinds — 1.  The  first-fruits 
in  the  sheaf  (Lev.  xxiii.  10).  2.  The  first-fruits 
in  the  two  ivave-loaves  (Lev.  xxiii.  17).  These 
two  bounded  the  harvest,  that  in  the  sheaf  being 
olfered  at  the  beginning  of  the  harvest,  upon  the 
1  nth  of  the  month  Nisan  ;  the  other  at  the  end  of 
the  harvest,  on  the  Feast  of  Pentecost.  3.  The 
first  of  the  dough,  being  the  twentj'-fourth  part 
thereof,  which  was  given  to  the  priests  (Num.  xv. 
20) ;  and  this  kind  of  offering  was  not  neglected 
even  after  the  return  from  Babylon  (Neh.  x.  37). 
4.    The  first  fruits  cf  the  threshing-floor. 

The  oblation  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  threshing- 
floor  was  distinguished  by  the  Jewish  writers 
into  two  sorts.  The  first  of  these  was  the  first- 
fruits  of  seven  things  only,  namely,  wheat,  barley, 
grapes,  figs,  pomegranates,  olives^  and  dates. 
The  second  sort  consisted  of  corn,  wine,  oil,  and 
whatever  other  produce  was  fit  for  the  support  of 
human  life.  Under  this  class  of  first-fruits  was 
included  the  first  of  the  fleece,  by  which  the 
priests  were  provided  with  clothes,  as  by  the 
other  offerings  with  food.  The  hair  of  goats, 
which  are  shoni  in  the  East,  was  included  under 
this  denomination- 

FISH  (Gen.  ix.  2  ;  Num.  xi.  22;  Jonah  ii.  1, 
10;  Matt.  vii.  10;  xiv.  17;  xv.  34;  Luke  v.  6; 
John  xxi.  6,  8,  11).  Fishes,  strictly  so  called, 
that  is,  oviparous,  vertebrated,  cold-blooded  ani- 
mals, breathing  water  by  means  of  gills  or 
branchia?,  and  generally  provided  with  fins,  are 
not  unfrequently  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  but 
never  specifically.  In  the  Mosaic  law  (Lev.  xi. 
9-12),  the  species  proper  for  food  are  distin- 
guished by  naving  scales  and  fins,  while  those 
without  scales  are  held  to  be  unclean,  and  there- 
fore rejected.  The  law  may  have  given  rise  to 
some  casuistry,  as  many  fisher,  have  scales,  which, 
though  imperceptible  when  first  caught,  are  very 
apparent  after  the  skin  is  in  the  least  dried.  The 
species  which  were  known  to  the  Hebrews,  or  at 
least  to  those  who  dwelt  on  the  coast,  may  have 
been  very  numerous,  because  the  usual  current 
of  the  Mediterranean  sets  in,  with  a  great  depth 
of  water,  at  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  and  passes 
eastward  on  the  African  side  until  the  shoals  of 
the  Delta  of  the  Nile  begin  to  turn  it  towards  the 
north ;  it-  continues  in  that  direction  along  the 
Syrian  shores,  and  falls  into  a  broken  course  only 
when  tui-ning  westward  on  the  Cyprian  and 
Cretan  coasts.  Every  spring,  with  the  sun's  re- 
turn towards  the  north,  innumerable  troops  of 
littoral  species,  having  passed  the  winter  in  the 
offings  of  Western  Africa,  return  northward  for 
spawning,  or  are  impelled  in  that  direction  by 
other  unknown  laws.  A  small  part  only  ascends 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
toward  the  British  Channel,  while  the  main  bodies 


pass  chiefly  into  the  Mediterranean,  follow  the 
general  current,  and  do  not  break  into  more  scat- 
tered families  until  they  have  swept  rourKl  the 
shores  of  Palestine.  The  Pelagian,  or  truly  deep 
sea  fishes,  in  common  with  the  indigenous  species, 
remain  the  whole  year,  or  come  about  midsummer, 
and  follow  an  imcertaiu  course  more  in  the  centre 
and  towards  the  deepest  waters.  Off  Nice  alone 
Risso  found  and  described  31.5  species ;  and  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  coasts  of  Tyre 
and  Sidou  would  produce  at  least  as  great  a 
number.  The  name  of  the  latter  place,  indeed, 
is  derived  from  the  Phoenician  word  fish,  and  it 
is  the  oldest  fishing  establishment  for  commercial 
purposes  known  in  history.  IndCistry  and  secu- 
rity alone  are  wanting  to  make  the  same  locality 
again  a  flourishing  place  in  this  respect.  The 
Hebrews  had  a  more  imperfect  acquaintance  with 
the  species  found  in  the  Red  Sea,  whither,  to  a 
certain  extent,  the  majority  of  fishes  found  in  the 
Indian  Ocean  resort.  Beside  these,  in  Egypt 
they  had  anciently  eaten  those  of  the  Nile  ;  sub- 
sequently those  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias  and  of  the 
rivers  falling  into  the  Jordan  ;  and  they  may 
have  been  acquainted  with  species  of  other  lakes, 
of  the  Orontes,  and  even  of  the  Euphrates.  The 
supply,  however,  of  this  article  of  food,  which  the 
Jewish  people  appear  to  have  consiuned  largely, 
came  chiefly  from  the  Mediterranean ;  and  we 
have  the  authority  of  Neh.  xiii.  16,  for  the  fact, 
that  Phoenicians  of  Tyre  actually  resided  in 
Jerusalem  as  dealers  in  fish,  which  must  have 
led  to  an  exchange  of  that  commodity  for  corn 
and  cattle.  Those  which  might  be  eaten,  because 
they  had  scales  and  fins,  were  among  the  most 
nutritious  and  common,  probably  such  as  still 
abound  on  the  coast.  It  is  difficult  to  select  the 
most  interesting  of  these,  and  to  point  them  out 
with  other  names  than  are  absolutely  scientific, 
because  many  are  unknown  on  our  coasts,  ancl 
others  have  names  indeed,  but  nearly  all  repeti- 
tions of  such  as  occur  in  England,  without  being 
of  the  same  species. 

Though  the  Egyptian  priesthood  abstain-ed 
from  their  use,  all  the  other  castes  dwelling  in 
the  valley  of  the  Nile  chiefly  subsisted  on  the  fish 
of  the  river,  while  they  capriciously  abhorred 
those  of  the  sea.  There  was  a  caste  of  fishermen ; 
and  allusion  to  the  artificial  reservoirs  and  fish- 
ponds of  Egypt  occurs  in  the  Prophets  (Isa.  xix. 
8-10). 

But  the  Hebrews  could  draw  only  a  small 
supply  from  the  lake  of  Tiberias  and  the  affluents 
of  the  Jordan.  On  the  coast  the  great  sea- 
fisheries  were  in  the  slack  waters,  within  the 
dominion  of  the  Phoenicians,  who  must  have  sent 
the  supply  into  the  interior  in  a  cured  or  salted 
state ;  ahJiough  the  fact  involves  the  question 
how  far  in  that  condition,  coming  out  of  pagan 
hands,  consumption  by  a  Hebrew  was  strictly 
lawful :  perhaps  it  may  be  presumed  that  national 
wants  had  sufficient  influence  to  modify  the  law. 
The  art  of  curing  fish  was  well  understood  in 
Egypt,  and  unquestionably  in  Phoenicia,  since 
that  industrious  nation  had  early  establishments 
for  the  purpose  at  the  Golden  Horn  or  Byzan- 
tium, at  Portus  Symbolorum  in  Tauric  Cherso- 
nesus,  and  even  at  Calpe  (Bisepharat  ?),  in  the 
present  bay  of  Gibraltar.  With  regard  to  the 
controversy  respecting  the  prophet  Jonah  having 
been  swallowed  by  a  huge  sea-monster  [Whai^], 


326 


FLAG 


it  may  be  observed  that  great  cetaceans  occur  in 
the  ilediterranean,  as  well  as  great  sharks,  and 
that,  in  a  case  where  the  miraculous  iuterveution 
of  Almighty  power  is  manifest,  learned  trifling 
about  the  presence  of  a  mysticete,  or  the  dimen- 
sions of  its  gullet,  is  out  of  place. 

FITCHES.  This  word  occurs  only  in  Isa. 
xxviii.  25,  27.  It  is  no  doubt  from  the  difficulty 
of  proving  the  precise  meaning  of  the  original 
term  hetzach,  that  different  plants  have  been 
assigned  as  its  representative.  But  if  we  refer 
to  the  context,  we  learn  some  particulars  which 
at  least  restrict  it  to  a  certain  group,  namely,  to 
such  as  are  cultivated.  Thus,  ver.  25,  '  When 
he  (the  ploughman)  hath  made  plain  the  face 
thereof,  doth  he  not  cast  abroad  the  fitches  ?'  And 
again,  ver.  27,  '  For  the  fitches  are  not  threshed 
with  a  threshing  instrument,  neither  is  a  cart- 
wheel turned  about  upon  the  cummin ;  but 
fitches  are  beaten  out  with  a  staff,  and  the  cum- 
min with  a  rod.'  From  which  we  learn  that  this 
grain  was  easily  separated  from  its  capsule,  and 
therefore  beaten  out  with  a  stick. 

Interpreters  have  had  great  difficulty  in  deter- 
mining the  particular  kind  of  seed  intended, 
some  translating  it  peas,  others,  as  Luther  and 
the  English  Version,  vetches,  but  without  any 
proof.  Meibomius  considers  it  to  be  the  white 
poppy,  and  others,  a  black  seed.  This  last  inter- 
pretation has  the  most  numerous,  as  well  as  the 
oldest,  authorities  in  its  support.  Of  these  a  few 
are  in  favour  of  the  black  poppy-seed,  but  the 
majority,  of  a  very  black-coloured  and  aromatic 
seed,  still  cultivated  and  in  daily  employment  as 
a  condiment  in  the  East.  The  plant  is  called 
Nigella  by  botanists,  and  continues  in  the  pre- 
sent day,  as  in  the  most  ancient  times,  to  be  used 
both  as  a  condiment  and  as  a  medicine.  The 
various  species  of  nigella  are  herbaceous  (several 
of  them  being  indigenous  in  Europe,  others 
cultivated  in  most  parts  of  Asia),  with  their  leaves 
deeply  cut  and  linear,  their  flowers  terminal, 
most  of  them  having  under  the  calyx  leafy  in- 
volucres which  often  half  surround  the  flower. 
The  fruit  is  composed  of  five  or  six  capsules, 
which  are  compressed,  oblong,  pointed,  sometimes 
said  to  be  hornlike,  united  below,  and  divided 
into  several  cells,  and  enclosing  numerous,  angu- 
lar, scabrous,  black-coloured  seeds.  From  the 
nature  of  the  capsules,  it  is  evident,  that  when 
they  are  ripe,  the  seeds  might  easily  be  shaken 
out  by  moderate  blows  of  a  stick,  as  is  related  to 
have  been  the  case  with  the  hetzach  of  the  text. 

FLAG.  This  word  (in  the  original  achu) 
occurs  in  Job  viii.  1 1 ,  where  it  is  said,  '  Can  the 
rush  grow  up  without  mire  ?  can  the  flag  grow 
without  water  ?  '  Achu  occurs  also  twice  in  Gen. 
xli.  2, 18  :  '  And,  behold,  there  came  up*ut  of  the 
river  seven  well-favoured  kine  and  fat-fleshed, 
and  they  fed  in  a  vieadow ;'  here  it  is  rendered 
meadow,  and  must,  therefore,  have  been  considered 
by  our  translators  as  a  general,  and  not  a  specific 
term. 

From  the  context  of  the  few  passages  in  which 
achu  occurs,  it  is  evident  that  it  indicates  a  plant 
or  plants  which  grew  in  or  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  water,  and  also  that  it  or  they  were  suitable  as 
pasturage  for  cattle.  Now  it  is  generally  well 
known  that  most  of  the  plants  which  grow  in  water, 
as  well  as  many  of  those  which  grow  in  its  vici- 
nity, are  not  well  suited  as  food  for  cattle ;  some 


FLAX 

being  very  watery,  others  very  coarse  in  texture, 
and  some  possessed  of  acrid  and  even  poisonous 
properties.  Some  species  of  scirpus,  or  club-rush, 
however,  serve  as  food  for  cattle :  S.  cespitosus,  for 
instance,  is  the  principal  food  of  cattle  and  sheep 
in  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  from  the  beginning 
of  March  till  the  end  of  May.  Varieties  of  S.  mari- 
tinius,  found  in  different  countries,  and  a  few  of 
the  numerous  kinds  of  Cyperaceae  common  in 
Indian  pastures,  as  Cyperus  dubius  and  hexa- 
stachyus,  are  also  eaten  by  cattle.  Therefore,  if 
any  specific  plant  is  intended,  as  seems  implied 
in  what  goes  before,  it  is  perhaps  one  of  the  edible 
species  of  scirpus  or  cyperus,  perhaps  C.  esculeiitus, 
which,  however,  has  distinct  Arabic  names :  or 
it  may  be  a  true  grass;  some  species  ofpanicum, 
for  instance,  which  form  excellent  pasture  in 
warm  countries,  and  several  of  which  grow  lux- 
uriantly in  the  neighbourhood  of  water. 


174.     [Cyperus  esculentus.] 


But  it  is  well  known  to  all  acquainted  with 
warm  countries  subject  to  excessive  drought,  that 
the  only  pasturage  to  which  cattle  can  resort 
is  a  green  strip  of  different  grasses,  with  some 
sedges,  which  runs  along  the  banks  of  rivers  or  of 
pieces  of  water,  varying  more  or  less  in  breadth 
according  to  the  height  of  the  bank,  that  is,  the 
distance  of  water  from  the  surface.  Cattle  emerg- 
ing from  rivers,  which  they  may  often  be  seen 
doing  in  hot  countries,  as  has  been  well  re- 
marked in  the  '  Pictorial  Bible '  on  Gen.  xli.  2, 
would  naturally  go  to  such  green  herbage  as  in- 
timated in  this  passage  of  Genesis,  and  which,  as 
indicated  in  Job  xviii.  2,  could  not  grow  without 
water  in  a  warm  dry  country  and  climate. 

FLAGON.  The  word  thus  rendered  in  the 
English  Bibles  (2  Sam.  vi.  19  ;  1  Chron.  xvi.  3; 
Hos.  iii.  I  ;  Cant.  ii.  5)  means  rather  a  cake, 
especially  of  dried  figs  or  raisins,  pressed  into 
a  particular  form  [Fruits]. 

FLAX.  From  the  numerous  references  to 
flax  and  linen,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
plant  was  extensively  cultivated,  not  only  in 
Egypt,  but  also  in  Palestine.  As  to  Egypt 
we  have  proof  in  the  mummy  cloth  being 
made  of  linen,  and  also  in  the  representations 
of  the  flax  cultivation  in  the  paintings  of  the 
Grotto  of  el  Kab,  which  represent  the  whole 
process  with  the  utmost  clearness;  and  numerous 
testimonies  might  be  adduced  from  ancient 
authors,  of  the  esteem  in  which  the  linen  of 


FLESH 

Egypt  was  held.  Flax  continues  to  be  exten- 
sively cultivated  in  the  present  day.  That  it  was 
also  much  cultivated  in  Palestine,  and  well 
known  to  the  Hebrews,  we  have  proofs  in  the 
number  of  times  it  is  mentioned  ;  as  in  josh.  xi. 
6,  where  Rahab  is  described  as  concealing  the 
two  Hebrew  spies  with  the  stalks  of  flax  which  1 
she  had  laid  in  order  upon  the  roof.  In  several 
passages,  as  Lev.  xiii.  47,  48,  52,  59;  Deut.  xxii. 
11;  Jer.  xiii.  1;  Ezek.  xl.  3;  xliv.  17,  18,  we 
find  It  mentioned  as  forming  different  articles  of 
clothing,  as  girdles,  cords,  and  bands.  In  Prov. 
xxxi.  13,  the  careful  housewife  '  seeketh  wool  and 
flax,  and  worketh  it  willingly  with  her  hands.' 

FLEA  occurs  only  1  Sam.  xxiv.  14 ;  xxvi. 
20,  where  David  thus  addresses  his  persecutor 
Saul  at  the  cave  of  AduUam :  '  After  wliom  is 
the  king  of  Israel  come  out  ?  after  whom  dost 
thou  pursue  ? — after  a  flea ;'  '  The  king  of  Israel 
is  come  out  to  seek  a  flea !'  In  both  these 
passages  the  Hebrew  means  to  pursue  after,  to 
seek  one  or  a  single  flea.  David's  allusion  to 
the  flea  displays  great  address.  It  is  an  appeal 
founded  upon  the  immense  disparity  between 
Saul  as  the  king  of  Israel,  and  himself  as  the 
poor  contemptible  object  of  the  monarch's  la- 
borious pursuit.  Hunting  a  flea  is  a  comparison, 
iu  other  ancient  writings,  for  much  labour  ex- 
pended to  secure  a  worthless  result. 

Although  this  insect  has  been  used  as  apopular 
emblem  for  insignificance,  yet,  when  considered 
by  itself,  it  has  high  claims  upon  the  attention  of 
the  naturalist.  Even  to  the  naked  eye  there  is 
something  pleasing  in  its  appearance,  and  elegant 
in  its  postures ;  but  it  is  indebted  to  the  micro- 
scope for  our  acquaintance  with  the  flexible, 
highly  polished,  and  ever  clean  suit  of  armour 
in  which  it  is  encased  cap-a-pie,  its  finely-arched 
neck,  large  beautiful  eye,  antenna;,  muscular 
jointed  legs,  its  piercer  and  sucker — forming  one 
most  complicated  instrument — the  two  long, 
hooked,  sharp  claws,  in  which  its  legs  severally 
terminate.  The  agility  of  the  flea  places  it  at 
the  head  of  all  the  leaping  insects,  when  its 
strength  is  considered  iu  relation  to  its  size,  it 
being  able  to  leap,  unaided  by  wings,  200  times 
its  own  length.  Owing  to  the  habits  of  the 
lower  orders,  fleas  abound  so  profusely  in  Syria, 
especially  during  the  spring,  m  the  streets  and 
dusty  bazaars,  that  persons  of  condition  always 
change  their  long  dresses  upon  returning  home. 
There  is  a  popular  saying  iu  Palestine  that '  the 
king  of  the  fleas  keeps  his  court  at  Tiberias ;' 
though  many  other  places  in  that  regit>n  might 
dispute  the  distinction  with  that  town  (Kitto's 
riii/sical  History  of  Palestine,  p.  421). 

FLESH.  This  word  bears  a  variety  of  signi- 
fications in  Scripture : — 

1.  It  is  applied,  generally,  to  the  whole  ani- 
mated creation,  wliether  man  or  beast ;  or,  to  all 
beings  whose  material  substance  is  flesh  (Gen. 
vi.  13,  17,  19;  vii.  15,  &c.). 

2.  But  it  is  more  particularly  applied  to  '  man- 
kind;' and  is,  in  fact,  the  only  Hebrew  word 
which  answers  to  that  term  (Gen.  vi.  12  ;  Ps. 
xlv.  3  ;  cxlv.  21 ;  Isa.  xl.  5,  6).  In  this  sense  it 
is  used  somewhat  figuratively  to  denote  that  evil 
principle  which  is  opposed  to  the  spirit,  and  to 
God,  and  which  it  is  necessary  to  correct  and 
subdue  (Gen.  vi.  5 ;  Job  x.  4 ;  Isa.  xxxi.  3 ;  Matt. 
xvi.  17;  Gal.i.  16,  &c,). 


FOOD 


327 


3.  The  word  '  flesh '  is  opposed  to  '  soul,'  or 
'  spirit,'  just  as  we  oppose  body  and  soul  (Job  xiv. 
22;  Prov.  xiv.  30;  Isa.  x.  18). 

4.  The  ordinary  senses  of  the  word,  namely, 
the  flesh  of  men  or  beasts  (Gen.  xli.  2,  19  ;  Job 
xxxi.  23-25),  and  flesh  as  used  for  food  (Exod. 
xvi.  12;  Lev.  viii.  19),  are  both  sufficiently  ob- 
vious ;  and  with  respect  to  the  latter  see  Food. 

5.  'The  word  '  flesh '  is  also  used  as  a  modest 
general  term  for  the  secret  parts,  in  such  passages 
as  Gen.  xvii.  11 ;  Exod.  xxviii.  42  ;  Lev.  xx.  2  ; 
Ezek.  xxiii.  20;  2  Pet.  ii.  7,  8,  10 ;  Jude  7.  In 
Prov.  V.  11,  the  'flesh  of  the  intemperate'  is  de- 
scribed as  being  consumed  by  infamous  diseases. 

FLOCKS.     [Pasturage.] 

FLOOD.     [Deluge.] 

FLOUR.     [Bread;  Mill;  Offerings.] 

FLUTE.     [Music] 

FLY.  This  word  occurs  Exod.  viii.  21,  22, 
24,  29,  31 ;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  45,  and  cv.  21  ;  all  which 
passages  relate  to  the  plague  of  flies  inflicted 
upon  Pharaoh  and  his  people.  Some  suppose 
that  the  dog-fly  is  meant.  Philo,  in  his  Life  of 
Moses,  expressly  describes  this  insect  as  a  biting 
insidious  creature,  which  comes  like  a  dart,  with 
great  noise,  and  rushing  with  great  impetuosity 
on  the  skin,  sticks  to  it  most  tenaciously.  All 
the  ancient  translators  understand  by  the  original 
word  a  mixture  of  noxious  creatures.  More  mo- 
dern writers  are  of  opinion  that  a  single  species 
only  is  intended,  and  have  proposed  several  dif- 
ferent insects.  Thus,  one  of  the  meanings  of  the 
original  word  is  'to  darken,'  and  Mouffet  ob- 
serves that  the  name  agrees  with  no  kind  of  flies 
better  than  with  those  black,  large,  compressed 
flies,  which  boldly  beset  cattle,  and  not  only  ob- 
tain ichor,  as  other  flies,  but  also  suck  out  blood 
from  beneath,  and  occasion  great  pain.  He  ob- 
serves that  they  have  no  proboscis,  but,  instead 
of  it,  have  double  sets  of  teeth,  like  wasps,  which 
they  infix  deeply  in  the  skin  ;  arid  adds  that  they 
greatly  infest  the  ears  of  days.  Others  have  pro- 
posed the  blatta  Orieiitalis  or  .iEgyptia  of  Lin- 
naeus, as  answering  considerably  to  the  charac- 
teristics  of  voracity,  intrusion  into  houses,  &c.  &C. 
The  miracle  involved  in  the  plague  of  flies  con- 
sisted, partly  at  least,  in  the  creature  being 
brought  against  the  Egyptians  in  so  great  an 
abundance  during  winter.  The  particular  species 
is,  however,  at  present  undetermined. 

FOLD.    [Pasturage.] 

FOOD.  The  productions  of  a  country,  at  an 
early  period  of  the  world,  necessarily  determined 
its  food.  Palestine  abounded  with  grain  and 
various  kinds  of  vegetables,  as  well  as  with  ani- 
mals of  different  species.  Such,  accordingly,  in 
general,  was  the  sustenance  which  its  inhabitants 
took. 

The  ttse  of  fire,  and  the  state  of  the  arts  of  life 
in  a  country,  must  also  have  important  influence 
on  its  cookery  ;  in  other  words,  will  go  far  to  de- 
termine the  state  in  which  the  natural  productions 
of  the  eerth  will  be  eaten.  If  the  grain  is  to  be- 
come bread,  a  long  and  by  no  means  easy  pro- 
cess has  to  be  gone  through.  Skill  in  preparing 
food  is  therefore  held  in  high  repute. 

Bread  formed  '  the  staff  of  life '  to  the  ancient 
Hebrews  even  more  than  to  ourselves ;  but  the 
I  modes  of  preparing  it  have  been   noticed  under 
other  heads  [Fread:  Mill]. 
I      On  a  remarkable  occasion  a  calf,  tender  and 


328 


FOOD 


FOOD 


good,  is  taken,  slain,  dressed  (roasted,  most  pro- 
bably, Judg.  vi.  1 9 ;  Gen.  xxvii.  7 ;  1  Sam.  ii. 
13  ;  Exod.  xii.  8,  9  ;  boiling  was  not  known  till 
long  afterwards),  and  set  before  the  guests,  while 
the  entertainer  (Abraham)  respectfully  stood  at 
their  side,  doubtless  to  render  any  desirable  ser- 
vice. The  sauce  or  accortipaninients  on  this 
occasion  were  butter  and  milk.  From  ch.  xix. 
3,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  bread  was  unlea- 
vened. 

The  cases,  however,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  were  of  a  special  nature ;  and  from 
them,  as  well  as  from  what  is  recorded  touching 
Isaac  and  Esau  and  Jacob,  it  appears  that  flesh  i 
meat  was  reserved  as  food  for  guests,  or  as  a 
dainty  for  the  sick  ;  lentils,  jmlse,  onions,  grain,  ; 
honey,  and  milk  being  the  ordinary  fare.  ' 

The  agreeable,  and  perhaps  in  part  the  salu-  [ 
brious  qualities  of  salt,  were  very  early  known 
and  recognised :  in  Lev.   ii.  1 3,  it  is  expressly  i 
enjoined,  '  Every  oblation  of  thy  meat-ofiFering 
shalt  thou  season  with  salt ;  with  all  thine  offer- 
ifiigs  shalt  thou  offer  salt.' 

Locusts  were  a  permitted  (Lev.  xi.  22)  and  a  i 
very  common  food.     At  the  present  day  tliey  are 
gathered  by  the  Bedouins   at  the  beginning  of  j 
April,  and  being   roasted  on  plates  of  iron,  or 
dried  in  the  sun,  are  kept  in  large  bags,  and, 
when  needed,  eaten  strewed  with  salt  by  handfuls. 

Of  four-footed  animals  and  birds,  the  favourite 
food  were  sheep,  goats,  oxen,  and  doves.  There 
are  few  traces  of  the  eating  of  fish,  at  least  in 
Palestine  (Num.  xi,  5  ;  Lev.  xi.  9-22).  In  the 
last  passage  a  distinction  is  made  between  certain 
fish  which  might  be  eaten,  and  others  which  were 
forbidden.  '  These  shall  ye  eat  pf  all  that  are  in 
the  waters :  whatsoever  hath  fins  and  scales  in 
the  waters,  in  the  seas,  and  in  the  rivers,  them 
shall  ye  eat ;  and  all  that  have  not  fins  and  scales, 
they  shall  be  an  abomination  unto  you.' 

The  distinction  of  clean  and  unclean  animals, 
and  of  animals  which  might  and  those  which 
might  not  be  eaten,  is  found  to  have  existed  to  a 
great  extent  in  ancient  Egypt.  Among  fish  the 
oxyriuchus,  the  phagrus,  and  the  lepidotns,  were 
sacred,  and  might  not  even  be  touched.  The  in- 
habitants of  Oxyrinchus  objected  to  eat  any  fish 
caught  by  a  hook,  lest  it  should  have  been  defiled 
by  the  blood  of  one  they  held  so  sacred.  The 
phagrus  was  the  eel ;  and  the  reason  of  its  sanctity, 
like  that  of  the  oxyrinchus,  was  probably  owing 
to  its  unwholesome  qualities  ;  the  most  effectual 
method  of  forbidding  its  use  being  to  assign  it 
a  place  among  the  sacred  animals  of  the  country. 

Neither  the  hippopotamus  nor  the  crocodile 
appears  to  have  been  eaten  by  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians. Some  of  the  Egyptians  considered  the 
crocodile  sacred,  while  others  made  war  upon  it 
(Herod,  ii.  69).  In  some  places  it  was  treated 
with  the  most  marked  respect,  fed,  attended, 
adorned,  and  after  death  embalmed.  But  *he 
peiiple  of  ApoUinopolis,  Tentyris,  Heracleopolis, 
and  other  places,  held  the  animal  in  abhorrence. 

Cats  as  well  as  dogs  were  held  in  high  esteem 
by  the  ancient  Egyptians.  The  former  especially 
were  objects  of  superstitious  regard.  When  a  cat 
died  in  a  house  a  natural  death,  a  general  mourn- 
ing throughout  the  family  ensued ;  and  to  kill 
one  of  these  revered  animals  was  a  capital  offence. 

Though  it  appears  that  swine  frequently  formed 
part  of  the  stock  of  an  Egyptian  farm-yard,  yet 


was  the  avimal  unclean  and  an  abomination  iu 
the  estimation  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  Mosaic  laws  \\  hich  regulated  the  use  of 
animal  food  may  be  found  in  Lev.  xi.  and  Deut. 
xiv.  The  grounds  of  many  of  these  regulations 
may  be  ascertained  with  a  greater  or  less  degree 
of  probability,  provided  the  student  is  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  mind  and  spirit  of  Hebrew 
antiquity.  Considerations  drawn  from  idolatrous 
usages,  regard  to  health,  the  furtherance  of  agri- 
culture, and  established  customs  and  tastes,  had 
in  each  case  an  influence  in  the  promulgation  of 
these  laws. 

In  the  earliest  times  water  was  tlie  common 
drink.  That  wine  of  an  intoxicating  tendency 
was  drunk  at  a  very  early  period  appears  from 
what  happened  to  Noah  (Gen.  ix.  20),  who  seems 
to  have  made  as  well  as  drunk  wine.  Bread  and 
wine  are  spoken  of  in  Gen.  xiv.  18,  as  ofiFered 
for  refreshment  to  Abraham  by  Melchizedek, 
king  of  Salem.  Water  was  sometimes  put  to  the 
wine;  at  others  a  strong  drink  was  made  by  mix- 
ing with  the  wine  aromatic  herbs  (Ps.  Ixxv.  9 ; 
Isa.  V.  22),  or  a  decoction  derived  from  them ; 
myrrh  was  used  for  this  purpose.  Date-wine 
was  in  use,  and  probably  the  Egyptian  or  malt- 
wine.  'The  common  people'  (Mark  xii.  37) 
drank  an  acrid  sort  of  wine,  which  is  rendered 
vinegar  in  our  English  version  (Ruth  ii.  14 ; 
Matt,  xxvii.  48).  The  Orientals  frequently  used 
wine  in  excess,  so  as  to  occasion  intoxication, 
whence  are  drawn  many  striking  figures  in  Holy 
Writ  (Isa.  v.  1 1  ;  xxviii.  1  ;  xlix.  26 ;  Jer.  viii. 
14;  ix.  14;  xvi.  48;  Deut.  xxxii.  42;  Ps. 
Ixxviii.  6.5).  That  indulgence  in  wine  was  prac- 
tised in  very  ancient  days  is  manifest  from  there 
being  in  the  court  of  Pharaoh,  at  the  time  of  J07 
seph,  state-ofl[icers,  who  had  charge  of  the  wine, 
and  served  the  monarch  with  it  when  he  drank 
(Gen.  xl.  1,  11 ;  comp.  Neh.  i.  11  ;  1  Kings  x.  5  ; 
2  Chron.  ix.  4). 

For  drinking-vessels  there  were  used  the  cup 
and  the  bowl  (Jer.  xxxv.  5 ;  Amos  vi.  6  ;  Exod. 
XXV.  33  ;  Niun.  vii.  1.3,  84).  The  cup  was  gene- 
rally of  brass  covered  with  tin,  in  form  resem- 
bling a  lily,  sometimes  circular.  It  is  still  used 
by  travellers,  and  may  be  seen  in  both  shapes  in 
the  ruins  of  Persepolis  (1  Kings  vii.  26).  The 
bowl  (Exod.  XXV.  33)  assumed  a  variety  of  shapes, 
and  bears  many  names.  Some  of  these  '  chargers' 
appear,  from  the  presents  made  by  the  princes  of 
Israel  (Num.  vii.),  to  have  been  of  large  size  and 
great  splendour ;  some  were  silver,  some  gold 
(1  Kings  X.  21). 

In  eastern  climes  the  chief  meal,  or  what  we 


175.     [Egyptian  Table  with  Dishes.] 

term  dinner,  is,  in  consequence  of  the  heat  of  the 
middle  period  of  the  day,  deferred  till  towards 


FOOD 

evening,  a  slight  repast  being  taken  before  noon. 
But  from  Gen.  xliii.  16,  25,  it  appears  to  have 
been  the  custom  to  dine  at  noon  in  the  days  of 
the  patriarchs.  The  same  seems  to  have  been 
the  case  in  Palestine  at  a  later  period  (1  Kings 
XX.  16;  comp.  Acts  x.  10;  Luke  xi.  37).  Con- 
vivialities, however,  were  postponed  till  evening, 
and  sometimes  protracted  to  the  following  morn- 
ing (Isa.  V.  11;  Mark  vi.  21;  Luke  xiv.  24). 
The  meal  was  preceded  by  washing  of  hands 
(Luke  xi.  38;  Mark  vii.  2),  which  the  mode  of 
eating  rendered  necessary ;  and  by  an  invocation 
of  the  divine  blessing  (1  Sam.  ix.  13 ;  Luke  ix, 
16;  John  vi.  11). 


FOOT 


329 


176.     [Modern  Syrians  at  Meat.] 

The  Hebrews,  liie  the  Greeks  and  Romans  in 
their  earlier  history,  ate  sitting  (Gen.  xxvii.  19; 
Judg.  xix.  6;  1  Sam.  xx.  25).  A  carpet  was 
spread,  on  -which  the  meal  was  partaken.  At  a 
later  period,  however,  particularly  when  Pales- 
tine came  under  the  influence  of  Roman  manners, 
the  Jews  reclined  on  cushions  or  couches  (Esth. 
i.  6  ;  Amos  vi.  4  ;  Luke  vii.  37  ;  not '  sat,'  as  in 
the  common  translation,  but  'reclined').  The 
custom  of  giving  preference  in  point  of  seat  or 
position  to  guests  of  high  consideration  appears 
from  1  Sam.  ix.  22,  to  have  been  of  ancient  date 
(Amos  iii.  12).  In  the  time  of  Christ  (Luke 
xiv.  8)  the  Pharisees,  always  eager  for  distinc- 
tion, coveted  the  place  of  honour  at  meals  and 
feasts.  Women  were  not  admitted  to  eat  with 
the  men,  but  had  their  meals  supplied  in  their 
own  private  apartment  (Esth.  i.  6-9).  In  Babylon 
and  Persia,  however,  females  mingled  with  males 
on  festive  occasions  (Dan.  v.  2).  In  general  the 
manner  of  eating  was  similar  to  what  it  is  in  the 
East  at  the  present  day.  Special  care  was  taken 
of  favoured  persons  (Gen.  xliii.  34  ;  1  Sam.  i.  4 ; 
ix.  22 ;  John  xiii.  26).  Neither  knives,  forks, 
nor  spoons  were  employed  for  eating.  The  food 
was  conveyed  from  the  dish  to  the  mouth  by  the 
right  hand.  The  parties  sat  with  their  legs  bent 
under  them  round  a  dish  placed  in  the  centre, 
and  either  took  the  flesh  meat  with  their  fingers 
from  the  dish,  or  dipped  bits  of  their  bread  into 
the  savoury  mess,  and  conveyed  them  to  their 
mouths.  In  Ruth  ii.  14,  Boaz  says  to  Ruth, 
'  Dip  thy  morsel  in  the  vinegar  ;'  which  explains 
the  language  of  our  Lord,  John  xiii.  26,  '  He  it 
is  to  whom  I  shall  give  a  sop  when  I  have 
dipped  it.'     This  presenting  of  food  to  a  person 


is  still  customary,  and  was  designed  originally 
as  a  mark  of  distinction,  the  choice  morsels  being 
selected  by  the  head  of  the  family  for  the  pur- 
pose. Drink  was  handed  to  each  one  of  the 
guests  in  cups  or  goblets,  and,  at  a  very  ancient 
period,  in  a  separate  cup  to  each  person.  Hence 
the  word  cup  is  used  as  equivalent  to  what  we 
term  a  man's  lot  or  destiny  (Ps.  xi.  6  ;  Ixxv.  8  ; 
Isa.  li.  22 ;  Matt.  xxvi.  39). 

FOOL.  The  fool  of  Scripture  is  not  an  idiot, 
but  an  absurd  person  ;  not  one  who  does  not 
reason  at  all,  but  one  who  reasons  wrong ;  also 
any  one  whose  conduct  is  not  regulated  by  the 
dictates  of  reason  and  religion.  Foolishness, 
therefore,  is  not  a  private  condition,  but  a  con- 
dition of  wrong  action  in  the  intellectual  or  sen- 
tient being,  or  in  both  (2  Sam.  xiii.  12,  13;  Ps. 
xxxviii.  5).  In  the  Proverbs,  however,  '  foolish- 
ness '  appears  to  be  sometimes  used  for  lack  of 
understanding,  although  more  generally  for  per- 
verseness  of  will. 

FOOT.  Of  the  various  senses  in  which  the 
word  '  foot'  is  used  in  Scripture,  the  following  are 
the  most  remarkable.  Such  phrases  as  the  '  slip- 
ping' of  the  foot,  the  'stumbling'  of  the  foot, 
'  from  head  to  foot '  (to  express  the  entire  body), 
and  '  foot-steps '  (to  express  tendencies,  as  when 
we  say  of  one  that  he  walks  in  another's  foot- 
steps), require  no  explanation,  being  common  to 
most  languages.  The  extreme  modesty  of  the 
Hebrew  language,  which  has  perhaps  seldom 
been  sufficiently  appreciated,  dictated  the  use  of 
the  word  'feet,'  to  express  the  parts  and  the  acts 
AThich  it  is  not  allowed  to  name.  Hence  such 
phrases  as  the  '  hair  of  the  feet,'  the  '  water  of 
the  feet,'  '  between  the  feet,'  '  to  open  the  feet,' 
'  to  cover  the  feet,'  all  of  which  are  sufficiently- 
intelligible,  except  perhaps  the  last,  which  cer- 
tainly does  not  mean  '  going  to  sleep '  as  some 
interpreters  suggest,  but  '  to  dismiss  the  refuse  of 
nature.' 

'  To  be  under  any  one's  feet'  denotes  the  sub- 
jection of  a  subject  to  his  sovereign,  or  of  a  ser- 
vant to  his  master  (Ps.  viii.  6  ;  comp.  Heb.  ii.  8 ; 
1  Cor.  XV.  25) ;  and  was,  doubtless,  derived  from 
the  symbolical  action  of  conquerors,  who  set 
their  feet  upon  the  neck  or  body  of  the  chiefs 
whom  they  had  vanquished,  in  token  of  their 
triumph.  This  custom  is  expressly  mentioned 
in  Scripture  (Josh.  x.  24),  and  is  figured  on  the 
monuments  of  Egypt,  Persia,  and  Rome. 

In  like  manner,  '  to  be  at  any  one's  feet,'  is 
used  for  being  at  the  service  of  any  one,  follow- 
ing him,  or  willingly  receiving  his  instructions 
(Judg.  iv.  10).  The  passage  (Acts  xxii.  3)  where 
Paul  is  described  as  being  brought  up  '  at^  the 
feet  of  Gamaliel,'  will  appear  still  clearer,  if  we 
understand  that,  as  the  Jewish  writers  allege, 
pupils  actually  did  sit  on  the  floor  before,  and 
therefore  at  the  feet  of,  the  doctors  of  the  law, 
who  themselves  were  raised  on  an  elevated  seat. 
'  Lameness  of  feet '  generally  denotes  affliction 
or  calamity,  as  in  Ps.  xxxv.  15;  xxxviii.  18; 
Jer.  XX.  10  ;  Micah  iv.  6,  7  ;  Zech.  iii.  9. 

'To  set  one's  foot '  in  a  place  signifies  to  take 
possession  of  it,  as  in  Deut.  i.  36 ;  xi.  34,  and 
elsewhere.  ^  ..      ,. 

'  To  water  with  the  feet '  (Deut.  xi.  10)  miplies 
that  the  soil  was  watered  with  as  much  ease  as  a 
garden,  in  which  the  small  channels  for  irriga- 
tion may  be  turned,  &c.  with  the  foot  [Garden]. 


330 


FOREST 


An  elegant  phrase,  borrowed  from  the  feet, 
occurs  in  Gal.  ii.  14,  where  St.  Paul  says,  '  When 
I  saw  that  they  walked  not  uprightly  ' — literally, 
'not  with  a  straight  foot,'  or  'did  not  foot  it 
straightly.' 

Nakedness  of  feet  expressed  mourning  (Ezek. 
xxiv.  17).  This  must  mean  appearing  abroad 
with  naked  feet ;  for  there  is  reason  to  think  that 
the  Jews  never  used  their  sandals  or  shoes  within 
doors.  The  modern  Orientals  consider  it  dis- 
respectful to  enter  a  room  without  taking  off  the 
outer  covering  of  their  feet.  It  is  with  them 
equivalent  to  uncovering  the  head  among  Eu- 
ropeans. The  practice  of  feet-washing  implies  a 
similar  usage  among  the  Hebrews  [Washing  of 
Feet].  Uncovering  the  feet  was  also  a  mark  of 
adoration.  Moses  put  off  his  sandals  to  approach 
the  burning  where  the  presence  of  God  was  mani- 
fested ( Kxod.  iii.  5 ).  Among  the  modern  Orientals 
it  would  be  regarded  the  height  of  profanation 
to  enter  a  place  of  worship  with  covered  feet. 
The  Egyptian  priests  officiated  barefoot ;  and 
most  commentators  are  of  opinion  that  the 
Aaronite  priests  served  with  bare  feet  in  the 
tabernacle,  as,  according  to  all  the  Jewish 
writers,  they  did  afterwards  in  the  temple,  and 
as  the  frequent  washings  of  their  feet  enjoined  by 
the  law  seem  to  imply  [Sandals]. 

Respecting  the  '  washing  of  feet,'  see  Ablu- 
tion and  Washing. 

FOREHEAD.  Marks  upon  the  forehead,  for 
the  purpose  of  distinguishing  the  holy  from  the 
profane,  are  mentioned  in  Ezek.  ix.  4,  and  again 
in  Rev.  vii.  3. 

The  classical  idolaters  used  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  particular  deities  on  the  same  principle. 
The  marks  used  on  these  occasions  were  various. 
Sometimes  they  contained  the  name  of  the  god  ^ 
sometimes  his  particular  ensign,  or  else  they 
marked  themselves  with  some  mystical  number 
whereby  the  god  was  described. 

If  this  analogy  be  admitted,  the  mark  on  the 
forehead  may  be  taken  to  be  derived  from  the 
analogous  custom  among  the  heathen  of  bearing 
on  their  forehead  the  mark  of  the  gods  whose 
votaries  they  were.  Some,  however,  would  rather 
understand  the  allusion  to  refer  to  the  custom  of 
marking  cattle,  and  even  slaves,  with  the  sign  of 
ownership  [Stigmata]. 

FORESKIN,  the  prepuce,  which  was  taken  off 
in  circumcision  [Circumcision]. 

FOREST.  Tracts  of  wood-land  are  men- 
tioned by  travellers  in  Palestine,  but  rarely 
what  we  should  call  a  forest.  The  word  trans- 
lated by  '  forest'  does  not  necessarily  mean  more 
tlian  '  wood-laud.'  There  are,  how'ever,  abund- 
ant intimations  in  Scripture  that  the  country 
was  in  ancient  times  much  more  wooded  than  at 
present,  and  in  parts  densely  so.  The  localities 
more  particularly  mentioned  as  woods  or  forests 
are — 

1.  The  forest  of  cedars  on  Mount  Lebanon 
(1  Kings  vii.  2  ;  2  Kings  xix.  2.3  ;  Hos.  xiv.  5,  6), 
which  must  have  been  much  more  extensive  for- 
merly than  at  present. 

The  name  of  '  House  of  the  Forest  of  Lebanon' 
is  given  in  Scripture  (1  Kings  vii.  2  ;  x.  27)  to  a 
palace  which  was  built  by  Solomon  in,  or  not  far 
from,  Jerusalem,  and  which  is  supposed  to  have 
been  so  called  on  account  of  the  quantity  of 
cedar-trees  employed  in  its  construction ;  or,  per- 


FORTIFICATIONS 

haps,  because  the  numerous  pillars  of  cedar-wood 
suggested  the  idea  of  a  forest  of  cedar-trees. 

2.  The  forest  (f  oaks,  on  the  mountains  of 
Bashan.  The  trees  of  this  region  have  been  al- 
ready noticed  under  Bashan. 

3.  The  forest  or  wood  of  Ephraim,  already 
noticed  under  Ephraim,  4. 

4.  The  forest  of  Hareth,  in  the  south  of  Judah, 
to  which  David  withdrew  to  avoid  the  fury  of 
Saul  (1  Sam.  xxii.  5).  The  precise  situation  is 
unknown. 

Forest  is  used  symbolically  to  denote  a  city, 
kingdom,  polity,  or  the  like  (Ezek.  xiv.  26). 
Devoted  kingdoms  are  also  represented  under 
the  image  of  a  forest,  which  God  threatens  to 
burn  or  cut  down.  See  Isa.  x.  17,  18,  19,  34, 
where  the  briers  and  thorns  denote  the  common 
people ;  '  the  glory  of  the  forest '  are  the  nobles 
and  those  of  highest  rank  and  importance.  See 
also  Isa.  xxxii.  19;  xxxvii.  24;  Jer.  xxi.  14; 
xxii.  7  ;  xlvi.  23 ;  Zech.  xi.  2. 

FORNICATION,  In  Scripture  this  word 
occurs  more  frequently  in  its  symbolical  than  in 
its  ordinary  sense. 

In  the  Prophets  woman  is  often  made  the  sym- 
bol of  the  church  or  nation  of  the  Jews,  which  is 
regarded  as  affianced  to  Jehovah  by  the  covenant 
on  Mount  Sinai.  Therefore  when  the  Israelites 
acted  contrary  to  that  covenant,  by  forsaking 
God  and  following  idols,  they  were  very  pro- 
perly i-epresented  by  the  symbol  of  a  harlot  or 
adulteress,  offering  herself  to  all  comers  (Isa.  i. 
21  ;  Jer.  ii.  20  ;  Ezek.  xvi. ;  Hos.  i.  2;  iii.  11). 
And  thus  fornication,  or  adultery  (which  is  forni- 
cation in  a  married  state),  became,  and  is  used  as, 
the  symbol  of  idolatry  itself  (Jer,  iii.  8,  9 ;  Ezek. 
xvi.  26,29  ;  xxiii.  37). 

FORTIFICATIONS,  '  FENCED  CITIES.' 
Inventions  for  the  defence  of  men  in  social  life 
are  older  than  history.  The  walls,  towers,  and 
gates  represented  on  Egyptian  monuments,  though 
dating  back  to  a  period  of  fifteen  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  bear  evidence  of  an  advanced 
state  of  fortifications — of  walls  built  of  squared 
stones,  or  of  squared  timber  judiciously  placed 
on  the  summit  of  scarped  rocks,  or  within  the 
circumference  of  one  or  two  wet  ditches,  and  fur- 
nished on  the  summit  with  regular  battlements  to 
protect  the  defenders.  All  these  are  of  later 
invention  than  the  accumulation  of  unhewn  or 
rudely  chipped  uncemented  stones,  piled  on  each 
other  in  the  form  of  walls,  in  the  so-called  Cyclo- 
pean, Pelasgian,  Etruscan,  and  Celtic  styles, 
where  there  are  no  ditches,  or  towers,  or  other 
gateways  than  mere  openings  occasionally  left 
between  the  enormous  blocks  employed  in  the 
work.  As  the  three  first  styles  occur  in  Etruria 
they  show  the  progressive  advance  of  military 
architecture,  and  may  be  considered  as  more  pri- 
mitive, though  perhaps  posterior  to  the  era  when 
the  progress  of  Israel,  under  the  guidance  of 
Joshua,  expelled  several  Canaanitish  tribes, 
whose  system  of  civilization,  in  common  with  that 
of  the  rest  of  Western  Asia,  bore  an  E.:yptian 
type,  and  whose  towers  and  battlements  were  re- 
markably high,  or  laiher  were  erected  in  very 
elevated  situations.  When,  thereforisthe  Israelites 
entered  Palestine,  we  may  assume  that  tlie  •  fenced 
cities 'they  had  to  attack  were,  according  to  their 
degree  of  antiquity,  fortified  with  more  or  less  of 
art,  but  all  with  huge  stones  in  the  lower  walls. 


FORTIFICATIONS 

like  the  Etruscan.  Indeed,  Asia  Minor,  Armenia, 
Syria,  and  even  Jerusalem,  still  bear  marks  of 
this  most  ancient  system.  Stones  from  six  to 
fifty  feet  in  length,  with  suitable  proportions,  can 
still  be  detected  in  many  walls  of  the  cities  of 
those  regions,  wherever  quarries  existed,  from 


FOUNTAIN 


331 


177. 


Nineyeh,  where  beneath  the  surface  there  still 
remain  ruins  and  walls  of  huge  stones,  sculptured 
with  bas-relieft,  originally  painted,  to  Babylon, 
and  Bassorah,  where  bricks,  sun-dried  or  baked, 
and  stamped  with  letters,  are  yet  found,  as  well 
as  in  all  the  plains  of  the  rivers  where  that  ma- 
terial alone  could  be  easily  procured.  The  wall 
was  sometimes  double  or  triple  (2  Chron.  xxxii. 
5),  successively  girding  a  rocky  elevation :  and 
'  building  a  city  '  originally  meant  the  construc- 
tion of  the  wall. 

Before  wall-towers  were  introduced,  the  gate  of 
a  city,  originally  single,  formed  a  kind  of  citadel, 
and  was  the  strongest  part  of  all  the  defences :  it 
was  the  armoury  of  the  community,  and  the 
council-house  of  the  authorities.  '  Sitting  in  the 
gate '  was,  and  still  is,  synonymous  with  the  pos- 
session of  power,  and  even  now  there  is  com- 
monly in  the  fortified  gate  of  a  royal  palace  in 
the  East,  on  the  floor  above  the  door-way,  a 
council-room  with  a  kind  of  balcony,  whence  the 
sovereign  sometimes  sees  his  people,  and  where 
he  may  sit  in  judgment.  The  tower  was  another 
fortification  of  the  earliest  date,  being  often  the 
citadel  or  last  retreat  when  a  city  was  taken  ;  or, 
standing  alone  in  some  naturally  strong  position, 
was  intended  to  protect  a  frontier,  command  a 
pass,  or  to  be  a  place  of  refuge  and  deposit  of 


4  ^    i^      .^ 


treasure  in  the  mountains,  wlen  the  plain  should 
be  no  longer  defensible.  Watch-to.vers  used  by 
shepherds  all  over  Asia,  and  even  i  ow  built  on 
eminences  above  some  city  in  the  plain,  in  order 


to  keep  a  look-out  upon  the  distant  country,  were 
already  in  use  and  occasionally  converted  into 
places  of  defence  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  10;  xxvii.  4). 
The  gateways  were  closed  by  ponderous  folding 
doors,  the  valves  or  folds  being  secured  by 
wooden  bars :  both  the  doors  and  bars  were  in 
after  times  plated  with  metal.  A  ditch,  where 
the  nature  of  the  locality  required  it,  was  dilg  in 
front  of  the  rampart,  and  sometimes  there  was  an 
inner  wall,  with  a  second  ditch  before  it.  As 
the  experience  of  ages  increased,  huge  '  counter 
forts,'  double  buttresses,  or  masses  of  solid  stone 
and  masonry  were  built  in  particular  parts  to 
sustain  the  outer  wall,  and  afford  space  on  the 
summit  to  place  military  engines  (2  Chron.  xxvi. 
15). 

In  the  cut,  No.  179,  taken  from  another 
Egyptian  work,  we  have  a  series  of  to^^'ers,  that 
in  the  middle  being  evidently  the  citadel  or  keep, 
and  a  gateway  indicating  that  the  wall  is  omitted, 
or  is  intended  by  the  lines  of  the  oval  surround- 
ing the  whole.  Here  also  we  see  a  regular  laba- 
rum,  the  most  ancient  example  extant  of  this 
form  of  ensign,  and  the  towers  are  manned  with 
armed  soldiers.  No.  177  is  taken  from  a  seal, 
and  is  a  symbol  of  Babylon,  where  the  city,  sus- 
tained by  two  lions,  is  shown  standing  on  both 
sides  of  the  Euphrates,  having  an  outer  wall ;  the 
inner  rampart  is  flanked  by  numerous  elevated 
and  embattled  towers.  There  is  another,  but  less 
antique  representation  of  Babylon,  with  its  lions 
and  towers,  &c. ;  but  the  battlements  are  squared, 
not  pointed,  as  in  the  first.  The  towers  are 
here  crowded  with  soldiers,  some  of  whom,  from 
the  form  of  their  shields,  are  obviously  Egyptians. 


These  are  sufficient  to  give  a  general  idea  of 
cities  fenced  entirely  by  art. 

FOETUNA'TUS,  a  disciple  of  Corinth,  of 
Roman  birth  or  origin,  as  his  name  indicates, 
who  visited  Paul  at  Ephesus,  and  returned,  along 
with  Stephanus  and  Achaicus,  in  charge  of  that 
Apostle's  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthian  church, 
B.C.  59  (1  Cor.  xvi.  17). 

FOUNTAIN,  a  stream  of  '  living '  or  con- 
stantly running  water,  in  opposition  to  standing 
or  stagnant  pools,  whether  it  issues  immediately 
from  the  ground  or  from  the  bottom  of  a  well. 

From  the  value  of  such  supplies  of  water  in 
arid  countries,  fountains  figure  much  in  the 
poetry  of  the  East  as  the  natural  images  of  peren- 
nial blessings  of  various  kinds.  In  the  Scriptures 
fountains  are  made  the  symbols  of  refreshment  to 
the  weary,  and  also  denote  the  perpetuity  and 
inexhaustible  nature  of  the  spiritual  comforts 
which  God  imparts  to  his  people,  whether  by  the 
influences  of  the  Spirit,  or  through  the  ordinances 
of  public  worship.  There  are  also  various  texts 
in  which  children,  or  an  extended  posterity,  are, 
by  a  beautifully  apt  image,  described  as  a  fouu- 


332 


FOX 


tain,  and  the  father  or  progenitor  as  the  source 
or  spring  from  which  that  fountain  flows  (Deut. 
xxxiii.  28;  Ps.  Ixviii.  20  ;  Prov.  v.  16,  18;  xiii. 
14,  &c.). 

FOWL.    [Bird  ;  Cock.] 

FOX.  Two  distinct  terms  are  in  our  version 
rendered  by  the  word  '  fox,'  although  that  deno- 
mination is  not  uniformly  employed  in  different 
texts  (Judg.  XV.  4;  Neh.  iv.  3  ;  xi.  27  ;  Ps.  Ixiii. 
10;  Cant.  ii.  15;  Lam.  v.  18;  Ezek.  xiii.  4). 
Fox  is  thus  applied  to  two  or  more  species, 
though  only  strictly  applicable  in  a  systematic 
view  to  Taaleb,  which  is  the  Arabic  name  of  a 
wild  canine,  probably  the  Syrian  fox,  Vulpes 
Thaleb  or  Taaleb  of  modern  zoologists,  and  the 
only  genuine  species  indigenous  in  _  Palestine, 
There  is  in  the  language  of  the  ancients,  how- 


180.    [Syrian  Fox 


ever,  a  vague  and  often  an  indiscriminatiug  use 
of  zoological  names  :  the  name  may  therefore  be 
employed  as  a  general  denomination ;  for,  of 
vulpine  animals,  though  the  taaleb  alone  is  con- 
sidered indigenous,  there  is  the  so-called  Turkish 
fox  of  Asia  Minor,  not  unknown  to  the  south  as 
far  as  the  Orontes,  and  therefore  likely  to  be  an 
occasional  visitant  at  least  of  the  woods  of  Liba- 
nus.  There  is,  besides,  one  of  a  third  group, 
namely,  Thotis  anthus,  or  deeb  of  the  Arabs, 
occasionally  held  to  be  the  wolf  of  Scripture,  be- 
cause it  resembles  the  species  in  general  appear- 
ance, though  so  far  inferior  in  weight,  size,  and 
powers,  as  not  to  be  in  the  least  dangerous,  or 
likely  to  be  the  wolf  of  the  Bible.  The  two  first 
do  not  howl,  and  the  third  is  solitary  and  howls 
seldom ;  but  there  is  a  fourth  (  Canis  Syriacus) 
which  howls,  is  lower  and  smaller  than  a  fox, 
has  a  long  ill-furnished  tail,  small  ears,  and  a 
rufous-grey  livery.  This  may  be  the  jackal  of 
Palestine.  The  German  naturalists  seem  not  to 
have  considered  it  identical  with  the  common 
jackal,  which  is  sufficiently  common  along  the 
coast,  is  eminently  gregarious,  offensive  in  smell ; 
howls  intolerably  in  complete  concert  with  all 
others  within  hearing  ;  burrows  ;  is  crepuscular 
and  nocturnal,  impudent,  thievish ;  penetrates 
into  outhouses;  ravages  poultry -yards  more 
ruinously  than  the  fox;  feeds  on  game,  lizards, 
locusts,  insects,  garbage,  grapes  ;  and  leaves  not 
even  the  graves  of  man  himself  undisturbed.  It 
may  ultimately  turn  out  that  Canis  Syriacus  is 
not  a  jackal,  but  a  chryseus,  or  wild-dog,  belong- 
ing to  the  group  of  Dholes,  well  known  in  India, 
and,  though  closely  allied  to,  distinct  from  the 
jackal. 

Vulpes  Taaleb,  or  Taleb,  the  Syrian  fox,  is  of 
the  size  of  an  English  cur  fox,  and  similarly 
formed ;  but  the  ears  are  wider  and  longer,  the 
fur  in  gsneral  ochry-rufous  above,  and  whitish 
beneath ;  there  is  a  faint  black  ring  towards  the 


FKANKINCENSE 

tip  of  the  tail,  and  the  back  of  the  ears  are  sooty, 
with  bright  fulvous  edges.  The  species  burrows, 
is  silent  and  solitary,  extends  eastward  into 
Southern  Persia,  and  is  said  to  be  found  in  Na- 
tolia.  It  is  reputed  to  be  very  destructive  in  the 
vineyards,  or  rather  a  plunderer  of  ripe  grapes  ; 
but  he  is  certainly  less  so  than  the  jackal,  whose 
ravages  are  carried  on  in  troops  and  with  less 
fear  of  man. 

None  of  the  explanations  which  we  have  seen 
of  the  controverted  passage  in  Judg.  xv.  4,  5,  re- 
lative to  the  foxes,  jackals,  or  other  canines, 
which  Samson  employed  to  set  fire  to  the  corn  of 
the  Philistines,  is  altogether  satisfactory  to  our 
mind. 

Commentators,  following  the  reading  of  the 
Sept.,  have  with  common  consent  adopted  the  in- 
terpretation, that  two  foxes  were  tied  together  by 
their  tails  with  a  firebrand  between  them.  We 
consider  this  highly  improbable,  and  therefore 
understand  the  text  to  mean  that  each  fox  had  a 
separate  brand;  and  most  naturally  so,  for  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  two  united  would 
run  in  the  same  direction.  They  would  assuredly 
pull  counter  to  each  other,  and  ultimately  fight 
most  fiercely;  whereas  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  every  canine  would  run,  with  fire  attached 
to  its  tail,  not  from  choice  but  necessity,  through 
standing  corn,  if  the  field  lay  in  the  direction  of 
the  animal's  burrow ;  for  foxes  and  jackals,  when 
chased,  run  direct  to  their  holes,  and  sportsmen 
well  know  the  necessity  of  stopping  up  those  of 
the  fox  while  the  animal  is  abroad,  or  there  is  no 
chance  of  a  chace.  We  therefore  submit  that  by 
the  words  rendered  '  tail  to  tail '  we  should  un- 
derstand the  end  of  the  firebrand  attached  to  the 
extremity  of  the  tail.  Finally,  as  the  operation 
of  tying  300  brands  to  as  many  fierce  and  iras- 
cible animals  could  not  be  effected  in  one  day  by 
a  single  man,  nor  produce  the  result  intended  if 
done  in  one  place,  it  seems  more  probable  that 
the  name  of  Samson,  as  the  chief  director  of  the 
act,  is  employed  to  represent  the  whole  party 
who  effected  his  intentions  in  different  places  at 
the  same  time,  and  thereby  insured  that  general 
conflagration  of  the  harvest  which  was  the 
signal  of  open  resistance  on  the  part  of  Israel 
to  the  long-endured  oppression  of  the  Philistine 
people. 

FRANKINCENSE.  The  original  -^ord  is 
lebonah,  which  first  occurs  here,  and  is  afterwards 
constantly  mentioned  among  the  ingredients  of 
the  perfume  to  be  consumed  upon  the  incense 
altar  (Lev.  ii.  1,  2.  1. 5,  16  ;  v.  11  ;  vi.  15;  xxiv.  7 ; 
Num.  V.  15;  1  Chron.  ix.  29;  Neh.  xiii.  5).  In 
some  other  passages  it  is  used  in  a  figurative 
sense  (Sol.  Song,  iii.  6 ;  iv.  6 ;  Isa.  xliii.  23  ; 
Ixvi.  3).  In  other  passages,  as  an  article  of  dis- 
tant commerce,  it  is  described  as  being  brought 
by  caravans  from  Sheba,  &c.  (Isa.  Ix.  6  ;  Jer.  vi, 
20).  From  all  which  texts  we  learn  that  it  was 
an  article  of  foreign  and  distant  connnerce,  that 
it  was  known  very  early,  and  that  it  was  pro- 
bably of  a  resinous  nature,  and  very  fragrant. 
In  the  New  Testament  the  same  word  is  em- 
ployed in  the  Greek  form  of  libanos,  also  rendered 
by  '  frankincense.'  The  original  is  supposed  to 
be  found  in  the  Hebrew  laban,  '  white  ;'  but  it  is 
equally  similar  to  the  Arabic  laban,  signifying 
'  milk ;'  and,  in  a  secondary  sense,  a  gummy  or 
resinous  exudation  from  a  tree,  especially  yVawA- 


FROG 

incense.  Tliere  are  other  words  in  the  Arabic 
■which  have  a  similar  meaning,  and  which  it  is 
most  probable  were  all  originally  derived  from 
the' same  root  as  the  Hebrew  lebonah,  and  the 
Arabic  lahan,  applied  in  both  languages  to  the 
same  substance.  This  was  called  by  the  Greeks 
libanos,  and  by  the  Romans  thus,  and  now  com- 
monly as  olibanum,  from  the  addition  of  the 
letter  o  to  the  original  name.  Several  kinds  of 
resinous  substances  have  at  different  times  been 
confounded  together  under  the  names  of  '  in- 
cense' and  'frankincense,'  as  well  as  under  the 
Latin  thus,  which  is  derived  from  thuo,  '  to  sa- 
crifice.' 

The  ancient  writers  seem  to  state  that  there 
were  two  sorts  of  frankincense,  one  from  the 
coasts  of  Arabia,  and  the  other  from  India,  but 
they  more  generally  speak  of  it  as  derived  from 
the  former  quarter,  specially  indicating  the 
region  of  Saba  or  Sheba,  from  whence  the  Scrip- 
ture also  describes  it  as  being  brought.  The 
Pcriplus,  however,  refers  it  to  Africa.  There  is, 
however,  no  direct  evidence  for  the  existence  of 
the  tree  or  shrub  producing  frankincense  in  the 
soutjiern  coasts  of  Arabia.  Wellsted  could  not 
see  it  when  travelling  in  the  quarter  where  it 
should  be  sought ;  and  although  Niebuhr  affirms 
that  it  is  cultivated,  he  adds  that  it  was  intro- 
duced from  Abyssinia,  a  fact  which  would  not  have 
passed  out  of  memory  had  it  been  anciently  pro- 
duced in  the  country.  That  it  might  be  described 
as  coming  from  or  produced  in  Arabia,  even 
though  grown  in  another  country,  is  common  to 
other  products  which  the  regions  west  and  north 
of  Arabia  received  through  Arabian  merchants. 
A  number  of  circumstances  render  it  probable 
that  it  was  obtained  by  the  Arabians  from  the 
coast  of  Africa,  to  which  it  was  brought  from  the 
interior.  Mr.  Johnson,  in  his  Travels  in  Southern 
Abi/ssinia,  states  that  frankincense,  called  attar, 
is  exported  in  large  quantities  from  Berbera,  ou 
the  Soumalee  coast  of  Africa;  that  it  is  brought 
thither  from  the  interior,  and  that  a  camel  load 
of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  is  sold  for  three 
dollars.  In  conformity  with  this  is  the  statement 
of  Cosmo  Indicopleuestes,  who  describes  the  land 
of  frankincense  as  lying  '  at  the  furthest  end  of 
Ethiopia,  fifty  days'  journey  from  Axum,  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  ocean.  The  inhabitants 
of  the  neighbouiing  Barbaria,  or  the  country  of 
Sozee,  fetch  from  thence  frankincense  and  other 
costly  spices,  which  they  transport  by  water  to 
Arabia  Felix  and  India.'  The  substance  thus 
indicated,  called  on  the  Continent  African  or 
Arabian  olib,  is  rarely  met  with  in  this  country. 
Dr.  Pereira  states  it  consists  of  smaller  tears  than 
that  of  the  Indian  variety,  and  is  intermixed  with 
crystals  of  carbonate  of  lime.  Even  the  country 
which  produces  the  olibanum  being  itself  uncer- 
tain, the  cautious  naturalist  will  hesitate  to  indi- 
cate with  decisiveness  the  species  of  tree  by  which 
it  is  afforded.  More  distinct  information  on  the 
subject  is  still  needed. 

FROG  (Exod.  liii.  2).  Although  the  common 
frog  is  so  well  known  that  no  description  is 
needed  to  satisfy  the  reader,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  mention  that  the  only  species  recorded  as  ex- 
isting in  Palestine  is  the  green  (Rana  esculenta), 
and  that  of  all  the  authorities  we  have  been  able 
to  consult,  Dr.  Richardson  alone  refers  the  species 
of  Egypt  to  the  green  speckled  grey  frog  (Jtana 


FROG 


333 


punctata).  But  considering  the  immense  extent 
of  the  Nile  from  south  to  north,  and  the  amazing 
abundance  of  these  animals  which  it  contains  in 
the  state  of  spawn,  tadpole,  and  complete  frog,  it 
is  likely  that  the  speckled  is  not  the  only  species 
found  in  its  waters,  and  that  different  species,  if 
they  do  not  occur  in  the  same  locality,  are  at 
least  to  be  met  with  in  different  latitudes.  The 
speckled  species  is  found  westward  even  to  the 
north  of  France,  but  is  not  common  in  Europe. 
It  is  lively,  but  no  strong  swimmer,  the  webs  on 
the  hinder  toes  extending  only  half  their  length  ; 
hence,  perhaps,  it  is  more  a  terrestrial  animal 
than  the  common  green  frog,  and,  like  the  brown 
species,  is  given  to  roam  on  land  in  moist 
weather. 

Although  it  is  veiy  hazardous,  in  transactions 
of  an  absolutely  miraculous  nature,  to  attempt  to 
point  out  the  instruments  that  may  have  served 
to  work  out  the  purposes  of  the  Almighty,  we 
may  conjecture  that,  in  the  plague  of  frogs,  a 
species,  the  one  perhaps  we  have  just  mentioned, 
was  selected  for  its  agility  on  land,  and  that, 
although  the  fact  is  not  expressly  mentioned,  the 
awful  visitation  was  rendered  still  more  ominous 
by  the  presence  of  dark  and  rainy  weather — an 
atmospheric  condition  never  of  long  duration  on 
the  coast  of  Egypt,  and  gradually  more  and  more 
rare  up  the  course  of  the  river.  We  have  our- 
selves witnessed,  during  a  storm  of  rain,  frogs 
crowding  into  our  cabin,  in  the  low  lands  of 
Guiana,  till  they  were  packed  up  in  the  comers 
of  the  apartment,  and  continually  falling  back  in 
their  attempts  to  ascend  above  their  fellows ;  and 
the  door  could  not  be  opened  without  others  en- 
tering more  rapidly  than  those  within  could  be 
expelled.  Now,  as  the  temples,  palaces,  and 
cities  of  Egypt  stood,  in  general,  on  the  edge  of 
the  ever  dry  desert,  and  always  above  the  level 
of  the  highest  inundations,  to  be  there  visited  by 
a  continuation  of  immense  number  of  frogs  was 
assuredly  a  most  distre?sing  calamity  ;  and  as 
this  phenomenon,  in  its  ordinary  occurrence 
within  the  tropics,  is  always  accompanied  by  the 
storms  of  the  monsoon  or  of  the  setting  in  of  the 
rainy  season,  the  dismay  it  must  have  caused 
may  be  judged  of  when  we  reflect  that  the  plague 
occurred  where  rain  seldom  or  never  falls,  where 
none  of  the  houses  are  fitted  to  lead  off  the  water, 
and  that  the  animals  appeared  in  localities  where 
they  had  never  before  been  found,  and  where,  at 
all  other  times,  the  scorching  sun  would  have 
destroyed  them  in  a  few  minutes.  Nor  was  the 
selection  of  the  frog  as  an  instrument  of  God's 
displeasure  without  portentous  meaning  in  the 
minds  of  the  idolatrous  Egyptians,  who  consi- 
dered that  animal  a  type  of  their  creative  power, 
and  also  an  indication  of  man  in  embryo.  The 
magicians,  indeed,  appeared  to  make  frogs  come 
up  out  of  the  waters ;  but  we  must  not  understand 
that  to  them  was  given  also  the  power  of  pro- 
ducing the  animals.  The  effect  which  they 
claimed  as  their  own  was  a  simple  result  of  the 
continuation  of  the  prodij^y  effected  by  Moses 
and  Aaron ;  for  that  they  had  no  real  power  is 
evident,  not  only  from  their  inability  to  stop  the 
present  plague,  the  control  which  even  Pharaoh 
discovered  to  be  solely  in  the  hands  of  Moses, 
but  also  the  utter  failure  of  their  enchantments 
in  that  of  lice,  where  their  artifices  were  incom- 
petent to  impose  upon  the  king  and  his  people. 


334 


FRUITS 


GAAL 


FRONTLETS.  [Phylacterihs.] 
FRUITS.  Under  this  head  may  perhaps  be 
most  appropriately  noticed  a  classification  of  pro- 
duce of  great  importance  to  a  right  undei'standing 
of  the  Bible.  We  propose  to  show  that  the  He- 
brews had  three  generic  terms  designating  three 
great  classes  of  the  fruits  of  the  land,  closely 
corresponding  to  what  may  be  expressed  in 
English  as,  1.  Corn-fruit,  or  field  produce;  2. 
Vintage  fruit, ;  3.  Orchard  fruit. 

The  term  '  summer-fruits '  appears  to  denote 
those  less  important  species  of  fruit  -which  were 
adapted  only  to  immediate  consumption,  or  could 
not  be  easily  or  conveniently  conserved  for  winter 
use  (Jer.  xl.  10,  12).  It  would  seem  to  indicate 
either  the  existence  of  some  contrasted  term,  as 
'  winter-fruits,'  or  to  imply  that  the  products  of 
the  class  under  which  it  ranked  as  a  species  were 
generally  distinguished  by  their  capability  of 
being  preserved  throughout  the  year.  The  three 
terms  spoken  of  as  being  so  frequently  associated 
in  the  Scriptures,  and  expressive  of  a  most  com- 
prehensive triad  of  blessings,  are  Dagan,  Ti- 
ROSH,  and  Yitzhak. 

1.  Daguv, 'frmt  of  the  field,'  or  agricultural 
produce.  Under  this  term  the  Hebrews  classed 
almost  every  object  of  f  eld  culture  [Agricult 
ture].  Dr.  Jahn  says,  'the  word  is  of  general 
signification,  and  comprehends  in  itself  different 
kinds  of  grain  and  pulse,  such  as  wheat,  millet, 
spelt,  wall-barley,  barley,  beans,  lentils,  meadow- 
cumin,  pepper-wort,  flax,  cotton,  various  species 
of  the  cucumber,  and  perhaps  rice.'  There  is 
now  no  doubt  among  scholars  that  dagan  com- 
prehends the  largest  and  most  valuable  species  of 
vegetable  produce;  and  therefore  it  will  be  al- 
lowed that  the  rendering  of  the  word  in  the  com- 
mon version  by  '  corn,'  and  sometimes  by  '  wheat,' 
instead  of '  every  species  of  corn'  or  field  produce, 
tends  to  limit  our  conceptions  of  the  Divine 
bounty,  as  well  as  to  impair  the  beauty  of  the 
passages  where  it  occurs. 

2.  Tirosh, '  the  fruit  of  the  vine '  in  its  natural 
or  its  solid  state,  comprehending  grapes,  moist  or 
dried,  and  the  fruit  in  general,  whether  in  the 
early  cluster  or  the  mature  and  ripened  condition 
(1  Sam.  XXV.  18;  2  Sam.  xvi.  1;  1  Chron.  xii. 
40 ;  Hos.  iii.  1 ;  Isa.  Ixv.  8).  In  the  Authorized 
Version  it  is  usually  rendered  '  wine,*  which  is 
an  improper  restriction  of  its  meaning. 

It  is  also  distinctly  referred  to  as  the  yielder  of 
wine,  and  therefore  was  not  wine  itself,  but  the 
raw  material  from  which  it  was  expressed  or 
prepared.  Dr.  Conquest's  amended  translation 
of  Micah  vi.  1 5,  is,  '  Thou  shalt  sow,  but  thou 
shalt  not  reap.' 

3.  Yitzhar,  '  orchard-fruits,'  especially  winter 
or  keeping  fruits,  as  dates,  figs,  olives,  pomegra- 
nates, citrons,  nuts,  &c. 

Thus  the  triad  of  terms  we  have  been  consider- 
ing would  comprehend  every  vegetable  substance 
of  necessity  and  luxury  commonly  consumed  by 
the  Hebrews,  of  which  first-fruits  were  presented 
or  tithes  paid  ;  and  this  view  of  their  meaning 
will  also  explain  why  the  injunctions  concerning 
offerings  and  tithes  were  sufficiently  expressed 
by  these  terms  alone  (Num.  xviii.  12  ;  Deut.  xiv. 
23).  Had  dagan  in  these  texts  been  restricted  to 
wheat,  no  obligation  would  thereby  have  been 
imposed  to  present  the  first-fruits  or  the  tithes  of 
barley  and  other    grain  •    had  tirosh  signified 


grape-juice,  then  this  law  could  have  been  easily 
evaded  by  drying  the  fruit  as  raisins,  or  pre- 
serving it  in  other  ways  ;  and  had  yitzhar  signi- 
fied oil,  it  would  have  been  difficult  at  all,  and 
from  these  texts  impossible,  to  educe  the  obliga- 
tion to  pay  tithes  or  present  first-fruits  of  a  large 
and  most  valuable  class  of  products,  as  dates, 
citrons,  pomegranates,  &c.  But  these  texts  are 
the  most  definite  we  can  find  in  relation  to  the 
subject,  and  are  evidently  designed  to  be  very 
comprehensive  ;  and,  consequently,  as  tithes  were 
paid  of  all  those  fruits,  the  practice  must  inter- 
pret these  expressions  as  including,  1st.  Fruits  of 
the  field  or  land  ;  2nd.  Fruits  of  the  vintage ; 
and,  3rd.  Fruits  of  the  orchard,  including  both 
summer  and  preserving  fruits. 

FULLER.  At  the  transfiguration  our  Saviour's 
robes  are  said  to  have  been  white,  '  so  as  no  fuller 
on  earth  could  white  them '  (Mark  ix.  3).  Else- 
where we  read  of  '  fullers'  soap '  (Mai.  iii.  2). 
and  of  'the  fullers'  field'  (2  Kings  xviii.  17). 
Of  the  processes  followed  in  the  art  of  cleaning 
cloth  and  the  various  kinds  of  stuff  among  the 
Jews  we  have  no  direct  knowledge.  In  an  early 
part  of  the  operation  they  seem  to  have  trod  the 
cloths  with  their  feet,  as  the  Hebrew  Ain  Rogel, 
or  En-rogel,  literally  Foot-fountain,  has  been 
rendered,  on  Rabbinical  authority, '  Fullers'  foun- 
tain,' on  the  gronnd  that  the  fullers  trod  the  cloths 
there  with  their  feet.  A  subsequent  operation 
was  probably  that  of  rubbing  the  cloth  on  an 
inclined  plane,  in  a  mode  which  is  figured  in  the 
Egyptian  paintings,  and  still  preserved  in  the 
East. 

FULLERS'  FOUNTAIN.    [En-Rogel.] 

FULLERS'  SOAP.  The  word  thus  rendered 
occurs  in  two  passages  of  Scripture — first,  in 
Jerem.  ii.  22  ;  and  again  in  Malachi  iii.  2.  From 
neither  of  these  passages  does  it  distinctly  appear 
whether  the  substance  referred  to  was  obtaine  1 
from  the  mineral  or  from  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
But  it  is  evident  that  it  was  possessed  of  cleansing 
properties.  It  is  probable  that  the  ashes  of  plants 
may  be  alluded  to,  as  there  is  no  proof  that  soap 
is  intended,  though  it  may  have  been  known  to 
the  same  people  at  very  early  periods.  Usually 
the  ashes  only  of  plants  growing  on  the  sea-shore 
have  been  thought  to  be  intended.  All  these 
would  yield  barilla,  or  carbonate  of  soda.  Many 
of  them  have  been  burnt,  for  the  soda  they  yield, 
on  the  coasts  of  India,  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

FUNERALS.     [Burial;  Mocrning.] 


GA'AL  {miscarriage),  son  of  Ebed.  He  went 
to  Shechem  with  his  brothers  when  the  inhabit- 
ants became  discontented  with  Abimelech,  and 
so  engaged  their  confidence  that  they  placed  him 
at  their  head.  At  the  festival  at  which  the  She- 
chemites  offered  the  first-fruits  of  their  vintage  in 
the  temple  of  Baal,  Gaal,  by  apparently  drunken 
bravadoes,  roused  the  valour  of  the  people,  and 
strove  yet  more  to  kindle  their  wrath  against 
the  absent  Abimelech.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
natives  had  been  in  some  way  intimately  con- 
nected with,  or  descended  from,  the  original 
inhabitants;    for  Gaal  endeavoured  to  awaken 


GABRIEL 

their  attachment  to  the  ancient  family  of  Hamor, 
the  father  of  Shechem,  which  ruled  the  place  in 
the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xxxiv.  2,  6),  and 
which  seems  to  have  been  at  this  time  represented 
by  Gaal  and  his  brothers.  Although  deprived  of 
Shechem,  the  family  appears  to  have  maintained 
itself  in  some  power  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  which 
induced  the  Shechemites  to  look  to  Gaal  when 
they  became  tired  of  Abimelech.  Whether  he 
succeeded  in  awakening  among  them  a  kind  feel- 
ing towards  the  descendants  of  the  ancient  masters 
of  the  place  does  not  appear ;  but  eventually  they 
went  out  under  his  command,  and  assisted  doubt- 
less by  his  men,  to  intercept  and  give  battle  to 
Abimelech,  when  he  appeared  before  the  town. 
He,  however,  fled  before  Abimelech,  and  his 
retreat  into  Shechem  being  cut  off  by  Zebul,  the 
commandant  of  that  place,  he  went  to  his  home, 
and  we  hear  of  him  no  more.  The  account  of 
this  attempt  is  interesting,  Chiefly  from  the  slight 
glimpse  it  affords  of  the  position,  at  this  period, 
of  what  had  been  one  of  the  reigning  families  of 
the  laud  before  its  invasion  by  the  Israelites 
(Judg.  ix.  26-48)  B.C.  1026. 

GAB'BATHA  occurs  John  xix.  13,  where  the 
Evangelist  states  that  Pontius  Pilate,  alarmed  at 
last  in  his  attempts  to  save  Jesus,  by  the  artful 
insinuation  of  the  Jews,  '  If  thou  let  this  man  go 
thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend,'  went  into  the  pra- 
torium  again,  and  brought  Jesus  out  to  them, 
and  sat  down  once  more  upon  the  tribunal,  in  a 
place  called  in  Greek  Lithostratos>  but  in  the 
Hebrew  Gabbatha.  The  Greek  word  signifies 
literally  stone-paved,  and  is  frequently  used  to 
denote  a  pavement  formed  of  ornamental  stones 
of  various  colours,  commonly  called  a  tesselated 
or  mosaic  pavement.  The  partiality  of  the  Ro- 
mans for  this  kind  of  pavement  is  well  known. 
From  this  fact  it  has  been  inferred  by  many 
eminent  writers,  that  the  place  where  Pilate's 
tribunal  was  set  on  this  occasion,  was  covered  by 
a  tesselated  pavement,  which,  as  a  piece  of  Ro- 
man magnificence,  was  appended  to  the  prsetorium 
at  Jerusalem.  The  emphatic  manner  in  which 
St.  John  speaks  of  it  agrees  with  this  conjecture. 
It  further  appears  from  his  narrative  that  it  was 
outside  the  prsetorium ;  for  Pilate  is  said  to  have 
'  come  out '  to  the  Jews,  who,  for  ceremonial 
reasons,  did  not  go  into  it,  on  this  as  well  as  on 
other  occasions  (John  xviii.  28,  29,  38 ;  xix.  4, 
13).  Besides  which,  the  Roman  governors, 
although  they  tried  causes,  and  conferred  with 
their  council  (Acts  xxv.  12),  within  the  prseto- 
rium, always  pronounced  sentence  in  the  open 
air.  May  not  then  this  tesselated  pavement,  on 
which  the  tribunal  was  now  placed,  have  been 
inlaid  on  some  part  of  the  terrace,  &c.  running 
along  one  side  of  the  prsetorium,  and  overlooking 
the  area  where  the  Jews  were  assembled,  or  upon 
a  landing-place  of  the  stairs  immediately  before 
the  grand  entrance  ? 

The  word  Gabbatha  is  probably  synonymous 
with  Lithostratos. 

GA'BRIEL  {the  mighty  one  [or  hero]  of  God), 
the  heavenly  messenger  who  was  sent  to  Daniel 
to  explain  the  vision  of  the  ram  and  the  he-goat 
(Dan.  viii.),  and  to  communicate  the  prediction  of 
the  Seventy  Weeks  (Dan.  ix.  21-27).  Under  the 
new  dispensation  he  was  employed  to  announce 
the  birth  of  John  the  Baptist  to  his  father  Zecha- 
riah  (Luke  i.  11),  and  that  of  the  Messiah  to  the 


GADARA 


335 


Virgin  Mary  (Luke  i.  26).  Both  by  Jewish  and 
Christian  writers,  Gabriel  has  been  denominated 
an  archangel.  The  Scriptures,  however,  affirm 
nothing  positively  respecting  his  rank,  though  the 
importance  of  the  commissions  on  which  he  was 
employed,  and  his  own  words  '  I  am  Gabriel,  that 
stand  in  the  presence  of  God'  (Luke  i.  19),  are 
rather  in  favour  of  the  notion  of  his  superior  dig- 
nity. But  the  reserve  of  the  Inspired  Volume  on 
such  points  strikingly  distinguishes  its  angelology 
from  that  of  the  Jews  and  Mohammedans,  and 
we  may  add,  of  the  Fathers  and  some  later 
Christian  writers.  In  all  the  solemn  glimpses  of 
the  other  world  which  it  gives,  a  great  moral  pur- 
pose is  kept  in  view.  Whatever  is  divulged  tends 
to  elevate  and  refine :  nothing  is  said  to  gratify  a 
prurient  curiosity. 

GAD  (a  troop,  or  fortttnate).  1.  A  son  of 
Jacob  by  his  concubine  Zilpah  (Gen.  xxx.  10, 
sq.),  and  who  became  the  progenitor  of  one  of  the 
twelve  tribes.  The  sons  of  Gad  are  enumerated 
in  Gen.  xlvi.  15,  sq.,  and  Num.  xxvi.  1.5,  sq.  At 
the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  the  tribe  of 
Gad  counted  45,650  warriors  (Num.  i.  24,  25)  : 
the  position  of  their  camp  in  the  desert  is  given 
Num.  ii.  14,  and  the  names  of  their  chiefs,  i.  14 ; 
ii.  14;  vii.  42,  sq. 

As  a  reward  for  their  having  formed  the  van- 
guard in  war  of  the  army  of  the  tribes  collectively, 
they  were  allowed  to  appropriate  to  their  exclu- 
sive use  some  pastoral  districts  beyond  the  Jordan 
(Num.xxxii.  17,  sq.). 

The  rnheritance  of  this  tribe,  called  the  land  of 
Gad  (1  Sam.  xiii.  7  ;  Jer.  xlix.  1),  was  situated 
beyond  the  Jordan  in  Gilead,  north  of  Reuben, 
and  separated  on  the  east  from  Ammon  by  the 
river  Jabbok.  According  to  1  Chron.  v.  11,  the 
Gadites  had  extended  their  possessions  on  the 
east  as  far  as  Salcah,  though  the  latter  had  been 
allotted  by  Moses  to  Manasseh  (Deut.  iii.  10, 
13)  :  a  proof  how  difficult  it  is  to  draw  a  strong 
line  of  demarcation  between  the  possessions  of 
pastoral  tribes.  The  territory  of  Gad  forms  a 
part  of  the  present  Belka. 

In  Josh.  xiii.  25,  the  land  of  Gad  is  called 
'  half  the  land  of  the  children  of  Ammon ;.'  not 
because  the  latter  were  then  in  possession  of  it, 
but  probably  because  the  part  west  of  the  Jabbok 
had  formerly  borne  that  name  (comp.  Judg.  xi. 
13). 

The  principal  cities  of  Gad  pass  by  the  general 
appellation  of  the  Cities  of  Gilead  (Josh.  xiii. 
25). 

The  Gadites  were;  a  warlike  people,  and  were 
compelled  to  be  continually  armed  and  on  the 
alert  against  the  inroads  of  the  surrounding  Ara- 
bian hordes  (comp.  Gen.  xlix.  19 ;  Deut.  xxxiii. 
20;  1  Chron.  V.  19,  sq.). 

2.  GAD,  a  prophet  contemporary  with  David, 
and  probably  a  pupil  of  Samuel,  who  early  at- 
tached himself  to  the  son  of  Jesse  (1  Sam.  xxii. 
5).  Instances  of  his  prophetic  intercourse  with 
David  occur  in  2  Sam.  xxiv.  11,  sq.;  1  Chron. 
xxi.  9,  sq. ;  xxix.  25.  Gad  wrote  a  history  of 
the  reign  of  David,  to  which  the  author  of  the 
2nd  book  of  Samuel  seems  to  refer  for  further 
information  respecting  that  reign  (1  Chron.  xxix. 
29),  B.C.  1062-1017. 

GAiyARA  was  the  chief  city  or  metropolis  of 
Persea,  lying  in  the  district  termed  Gadaritis 
some  small  distance  from  the  southern  extremitj 


336 


GALATIA 


GALATIANS 


of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  sixty  stadia  from  Tiberias, 
to  the  south  of  the  river  Hieromax,  and  also  of 
the  Scheriat-al-Mandhur.  It  -was  fortified,  and 
stood  on  a  hill  of  limestone.  Its  inhabitants  were 
mostly  heathens.  After  the  place  had  been  de- 
stroyed in  the  domestic  quarrels  of  the  Jews,  it 
was  rebuilt  by  Pompey,  in  order  to  gratify  De- 
metrius of  Gadara,  one  of  his  freedmen.  Augus- 
tus added  Gadara,  with  other  places,  to  the  king- 
dom of  Herod  ;  from  which,  on  the  death  of  that 
prince,  it  was  sundered,  and  joined  to  the  province 
of  Syria  (Joseph.  De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  6.  S).  At  a 
later  period  it  was  the  seat  of  an  episcopal  see. 

Most  modern  authorities  find  Gadara  in  the 
present  village  of  Om-keis.  The  hill  on  which 
it  stood  was  full  of  caverns,  which  were  used  for 
tombs.  The  summit  of  the  hill  commands  a  very 
line  view. 

The  city  formed  nearly  a  square.  The  upper 
part  of  it  stood  on  a  level  spot,  and  appears  to 
have  been  walled  all  round,  the  acclivities  of  the 
hill  being  on  all  sides  exceedingly  steep.  The 
eastern  gate  of  entrance  has  its  portals  still  re- 
maining. Among  the  ruins  Buckingham  found 
a  theatre,  an  Ionic  temple,  a  second  theatre,  be- 
sides traces  and  remnants  of  streets  and  houses. 
The  prevalent  orders  of  architecture  are  the  Ionic 
and  the  Corinthian. 

Burckhardt  also  found  near  Gadara  warm  sul- 
phurous springs.  According  to  Epiphanius,  a 
yearly  festival  was  held  at  these  baths. 

Gadara  is  the  scene  of  the  miracle  recorded  in 
Matt.  viii.  28  ;  Mark  v.  1 ;  Luke  viii.  26:  Buck- 
ingham's remarks  on  this  event  are  well  worth 
quoting  : — '  The  accounts  given  of  the  habitation 
of  the  demoniac  from  whom  the  legion  of  devils 
was  cast  out  here  struck  us  very  forcibly,  while 
we  ourselves  were  wandering  among  rugged 
mountains,  and  surrounded  by  tombs  still  used 
as  dwellings  by  individuals  and  whole  families. 
A  finer  subject  for  a  masterly  expression  of  the 
passions  of  madness  in  all  their  violence,  con- 
trasted with  the  serenity  of  virtue  and  benevo- 
lence in  him  who  went  about  doing  good,  could 
hardly  be  chosen  for  the  pencil  of  an  artist ;  and 
a  faithful  delineation  of  the  rugged  and  wild 
majesty  of  the  mountain  scenery  here  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  still  calm  of  the  waters  of  the  lake 
on  the  other,  would  give  an  additional  charm  to 
the  picture.'  One  of  the  ancient  tombs  was,  when 
our  traveller  saw  it,  used  as  a  carpenter's  shop, 
the  occupier  of  it  being  employed  in  constructing 
a  rude  plough.  A  perfect  sarcophagus  remamed 
within,  which  was  used  by  the  family  as  a  pro- 
vision-chest 

GALA'TIA,  a  province  of  Asia  Minor,  bounded 
on  the  north  by  Bithynia  and  Paphlagonia,  on 
the  south  by  Lycaonia,  oa  the  east  by  Pontus  and 
Cappadocia,  and  on  the  west  by  Phrygia  and 
Bithynia.  It  derived  its  name  from  the  Gallic 
or  Keltic  tribes  who,  about  280  years  B.C.,  made 
an  irruption  into  Macedonia  and  Thrace.  At  the 
invitation  of  Nicomedes,  king  of  Bithj-nia,  they 
passed  over  the  Hellespont  to  assist  that  prince 
against  his  brother  Ziboeta.  Having  accomplished 
this  object,  they  were  unwilling  to  retrace  their 
steps ;  and,  strengthened  by  the  accession  of  fresh 
hordes  from  Europe,  they  overran  Bithynia  and 
the  neighbouring  countries,  and  supported  them- 
selves by  predatory  excursions,  or  by  imposts 
exacted  from  the  native  chiefs.    After  the  lapse 


of  forty  years.  Attains  I.,  king  of  Pergamus,  suc- 
ceeded in  checking  their  nomadic  habits,  and 
confined  them  to  a  fixed  territory.  Of  the  three 
principal  tribes,  the  Trocmi  settled  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Galatia,  near  the  banks  of  the  Halys ;  the 
Tectosages  in  the  country  round  Ancyra ;  and 
the  ITolistobogii  in  the  south-western  parts,  near 
Pessinns.  They  retained  their  independence  till 
the  year  B.C.  189,  when  they  were  brought  under 
the  power  of  Rome  by  the  consul  Cn.  Manlius, 
though  still  governed  by  their  own  princes.  In 
the  year  B.C.  25  Galatia  became  a  Roman  pro- 
vince. Under  the  successors  of  Augustus  the 
boundaries  of  Galatia  were  so  much  enlarged, 
that  it  reached  from  the  shores  of  the  Euxine  to 
the  Pisidian  Taurus.  In  the  time  of  Constantine 
a  new  division  was  made,  which  reduced  it  to  its 
ancient  limits  ;  and  by  Theodosius  I.  or  Valens 
it  was  separated  into  Galatia  Prima,  the  northern 
part,  occupied  by  the  Trocmi  and  Tectosages, 
and  Galatia  Secimda  or  Salutaris :  Ancyra  was 
the  capital  of  the  former,  and  Pessinus  of  the 
latter. 

From  the  intermixture  of  Gauls  and  Greeks, 
Galatia  was  also  called  Gallo-Graecia,  and  its 
inhabitants  Gallo-Grseci.  But  even  in  Jerome's 
time  they  had  not  lost  their  native  language. 

The  Gospel  was  introduced  into  this  province 
by  the  Apostle  Paul.  His  first  visit  is  recorded 
in  Acts  xvi.  6,  and  his  second  in  Acts  xviii.  23. 

GALA'TIANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE.  The 
Pauline  origin  of  this  epistle  is  attested  not  only 
by  the  superscription  which  it  bears  (i.  1),  but 
also  by  frequent  allusions  in  the  course  of  it  to 
the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  (comp.  i.  13-23  ; 
ii.  1-14),  and  by  the  unanimous  testimony  of  the 
ancient  church.  It  is  corroborated  also  by  the 
style,  tone,  and  contents  of  the  epistle,  which  are 
perfectly  in  keeping  with  those  of  the  Apostle's 
other  writings. 

The  parties  to  whom  this  epistle  was  addressed 
are  described  in  the  epistle  itself  as  '  the  churches 
of  Galatia'  (i.  2  ;  corap.  iii.  1).  Into  this  district 
the  Gospel  was  first  introduced  by  Paul  himself 
(Acts  xvi.  6;  Gal.  i.  8 ;  iv.  13,  19).  Churches 
were  then  also  probably  formed  ;  for  on  revisiting 
this  district  some  time  after  his  first  visit,  it  is 
mentioned  that  he  '  strengthened  the  disciples ' 
(Acts  xviii.  23).  These  churches  seem  to  have 
been  composed  principally  of  converts  directly 
from  heathenism,  but  partly,  also,  of  Jewish  con- 
verts, both  pure  Jews  and  proselytes.  Unhappily, 
the  latter,  not  thoroughly  emancipated  from  early 
opinions  and  prepossessions,  or  probably  influ- 
enced by  Judaizing  teachers  who  had  visited 
these  churches,  had  been  seized  with  a  zealous 
desire  to  incorporate  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of 
Judaism  with  the  spiritual  truths  and  simple 
ordinances  of  Christianity.  So  active  had  this 
partj-  been  in  disseminating  their  views  on  this 
head  through  the  churches  of  Galatia,  that  the 
majority  at  least  of  the  members  had  been  se- 
duced to  adopt  them  (i.  6;  iii.  1,  &c.).  From 
some  passages  in  this  epistle  (e.  gr.  i.  11-24;  ii. 
1-21)  it  would  appear  also  that  insinuations  had 
been  disseminated  among  the  Galatian  churches 
to  the  effect  that  Paul  was  not  a  divinely-com- 
missioned Apostle,  but  only  a  messenger  of  the 
church  at  Jerusalem  ;  that  Peter  and  he  were  at 
variance  upon  the  subject  of  the  relation  of  the 
Jewish  rites  to  Christianity ;  and  that  Paul  him- 


GALATIANS 

self  was  not  at  all  times  so  strenuously  opposed  i 
to  those  rites  as  he  had  chosen  to  be  among  the 
Galatians.  Of  this  state  of  things  intelligence 
having  been  conveyed  to  the  Apostle,  he  wrote 
this  epistle  for  the  purpose  of  vindicating  his  own 
pretensions  and  conduct,  of  counteracting  the  in- 
fluence of  these  false  views,  and  of  recalling  the 
Galatians  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel  which 
they  had  received.  The  importance  of  the  case 
was  probably  the  reason  why  the  Apostle  put 
himself  to  the  great  labour  of  writing  this  epistle 
■with  his  own  hand  (vi.  11). 

The  epistle  consists  of  three  parts.  In  theirs* 
part  (i.-ii.),  after  his  usual  salutations,  Paul  vin- 
dicates his  own  Apostolic  authority  and  indepen- 
dence as  a  directly-commissioned  ambassador  of 
Christ  to  men,  and  especially  to  the  Gentile  por- 
tion of  the  race,  asserting  that  the  Gospel  which 
he  preached  was  the  only  Gospel  of  Christ, — ex- 
pressing his  surprise  that  the  Galatians  had 
allowed  themselves  to  be  so  soon  turned  from 
him  who  had  called  them,  to  a  different  Gospel, — 
denouncing  all  who  bad  thus  seduced  them  as 
troublers  of  the  church,  perverters  of  the  doctrine 
of  Christ,  and  deserving,  even  had  they  been 
angels  from  heaven,  to  be  placed  under  an  ana- 
thema instead  of  being  followed, — maintaining 
the  divine  origin  of  his  Apostolic  commission, 
which  he  illustrates  by  the  history  of  his  conver- 
sion and  early  conduct  in  the  service  of  Christ,— 
and  declaring  that,  so  far  from  being  inferior  to 
the  other  Apostles,  he  had  ever  treated  with  them 
on  equal  terms,  and  been  welcomed  by  them  as 
an  equal.  Having  in  the  close  of  this  part  of  the 
epistle  been  led  to  refer  to  his  zeal  for  the  great 
doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  grace  of  God  through 
faith  in  Christ,  he  enters  at  large,  in  the  second 
part  (iii.-iv.),  upon  the  illustration  and  defence  of 
this  cardinal  truth  of  Christianity.  He  appeals 
to  the  former  experience  of  the  Galatians  as  to 
the  way  in  which  they  had  received  the  Spirit, 
to  the  case  of  Abraham,  and  to  the  testimony  of 
Scripture  in  support  of  his  position  that  it  is  by 
faith  and  not  by  the  works  of  the  law  that  men 
are  accepted  of  God  (iii.  1-9).  He  proceeds  to 
remind  them  that  the  law  has  brought  a  curse 
upon  men  because  of  sin,  a  curse  which  it  has  no 
power  to  remove,  and  from  which  the  sinner  can 
be  redeemed  only  through  the  substitutionary 
work  of  Christ,  by  whose  means  the  blessing  of 
Abraham  comes  upon  the  Gentiles.  And  lest  any 
should  object  that  the  law  being  of  more  recent 
origin  than  the  covenant  must  supersede  it,  he 
shows  that  this  cannot  be  the  case,  but  that  the 
covenant  must  be  perpetual,  whilst  the  law  is  to 
be  regarded  only  in  the  light  of  a  temporaiy  and 
intercalary  arrangement,  the  design  of  which  was 
to  forward  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  in  Christ 
(10-29).  The  relation  of  the  Jewish  church  to 
the  Christian  is  then  illustrated  by  the  case  of  an 
heir  under  tutors  and  governors  as  contrasted 
with  the  case  of  the  same  person  when  he  is  of 
age  and  has  become  master  of  all ;  and  the  Gala- 
tians are  exhorted  not  willingly  to  descend  from 
the  important  and  dignified  position  of  sons  to 
that  of  mere  servants  in  God's  house — an  exhort- 
ation which  is  illustrated  and  enforced  by  an 
allegorical  comparison  of  the  Jewish  church  to 
Ishmael,  the  son  of  Hagar,  and  of  the  Christian 
to  Isaac,  the  son  of  Sarah,  and  the  Child  of  Pro- 
mise (iv.  1-31).    The  third  part  of  the  Epistle 


GALILEE  337 

(v.-vi.)  is  chiefly  hortatory  and  admonitory.  It 
sets  forth  thr!  necessity  of  steadfast  adherence  to 
the  liberty  of  the  Gospel  in  connection  with  obe- 
dience to  the  moral  law  as  a  rule  of  duty,  the 
importance  of  mutual  forbearance  and  love  among 
Christians,  and  the  desirableness  of  maintaining 
a  firm  adherence  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and 
Him  crucified.  The  epistle  concludes  with  bene- 
dictions and  prayers. 

Respecting  the  time  when  and  the  place  where 
this  epistle  was  written,  great  diversity  of  opinion 
prevails.  But  the  majority  of  writers  on  this 
subject  concur  in  the  opinion  that  the  Apostle 
wrote  and  despatched  this  epistle  not  long  after 
he  had  left  Galatia  for  the  second  time,  and,  per- 
haps, whilst  he  was  residing  at  Ephesus  (comp. 
Acts  xviii.  23;  xix.  l,sqq.). 

GALBANUM  is  mentioned  in  Exod.  xxx. 
34,  as  one  of  the  substances  from  which  the 
incense  for  the  sanctuary  was  to  be  prepared: 
'  Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte  and  onycha 
and  galbanum.'  The  substance  itself  is  well 
known,  but  the  plant  which  yields  it  is  yet  to  be 
ascertained. 

Galbanum  is  in  the  present  day  imported  into 
this  country  both  from  the  Levant  and  from  In- 
dia. That  from  the  latter  country  is  exported 
from  Bombay,  having  been  first  imported  thither, 
probably  from  the  Persian  Gulf.  It  is  therefore 
probable  that  it  may  be  produced  in  the  countries 
at  the  head  of  that  gulf,  that  is,  in  the  northern 
parts  of  Arabia  or  in  Persia,  (portions  of  which, 
as  is  well  known,  were  included  in  the  Syria  of 
the  ancients;)  perhaps  in  Kurdistan,  which 
nearly  corresponds  with  ancient  Assyria. 

Galbanum,  then,  is  either  a  natural  exudation, 
or  obtained  by  incisions  from  some  umbelliferous 
plant.  It  occurs  in  commerce  in  the  form  either 
of  tears  or  masses,  commonly  called  lump-gal- 
banum.  The  latter  is  of  the  consistence  of  wax, 
tenacious,  of  a  brownish  or  brownish  yellow 
colour,  with  white  spots  in  the  interior,  which  are 
the  agglutinated  tears.  Its  odour  is  strong  and 
balsamic,  but  disagreeable,  and  its  taste  warm 
and  bitter.  It  is  composed  of  66  per  cent,  of 
resin,  and  6  of  volatile  oil,  with  gum,  &c.,  and 
impurities.  It  was  formerly  held  in  high  esteem 
as  a  stimulant  and  anti-spasmodic  medicine,  and 
is  still  employed  as  such,  and  for  ex.ternal  appli- 
cation to  discuss  indolent  tumours.  It  was  the 
practice  of  the  ancients  to  mix  galbanum  with  the 
most  fragrant  substances  with  which  they  were 
acquainted.  The  effect  of  such  mixture  must 
depend  upon  the  proportion  in  which  it  or  any 
other  strong-smelling  substance  is  intermixed, 
more  than  upon  what  is  its  peculiar  odour  when 
in  a  concentrated  state.  We  need  not,  therefore, 
inquire  into  the  reasons  which  have  been  assigned 
to  account  for  galbanum  being  intermixed  with 
stacte  and  onycha  as  sweet  spices.  We  see  it  was 
the  custom  so  to  do  both  in  other  ancient  nations, 
as  the  Greeks  and  the  Egyptians. 

GAL'ILEE,  the  name  given  to  one  of  the 
three  principal  divisions  of  Palestine,  the  other 
two  being  Judaea  and  Samaria.  This  name  of 
the  region  was  very  ancient.  It  occurs  in  the 
Hebrew  forms  of  Galil  and  Galilah,  Josh.  xx. 
7  ;  xxi.  3  ;  1  Kings  ix.  11 ;  2  Kings  xv.  29  ;  and 
in  Isa.  viii.  2.3  we  have  '  Galilee  of  the  nations ;' 
1  Mace.  V.  15;  Matt.  iv.  1.0. 

Galilee  was  the  northernmost  of  the  three  divi 


338 


GALL 


sions,  and  was  divided  into  Upper  and  Lower. 
The  former  district  had  Mount  Lebanon  and  the 
countries  of  Tyre  and  Sidon  on  the  north ;  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  on  the  west ;  Abilene,  Itureea, 
and  the  country  of  Decapolis  on  the  east ;  and 
Lower  Galilee  on  the  south.  This  was  the  por- 
tion of  Galilee  which  was  distinctively  called 
'  Galilee  of  the  nations,'  or  of  the  '  Gentiles,'  from 
its  having  a  more  mixed  population,  i.  e.  less 
purely  Jewish  than  the  others.  Csesarea  Philippi 
was  its  principal  city.  Lower  Galilee  had  Upper 
Galilee  on  the  north,  the  Mediterranean  on  the 
west,  the  Sea  of  Galilee  or  Lake  of  Gennesareth 
on  the  east,  and  Samaria  on  the  south.  Its  prin- 
cipal towns  were  Tiberias,  Chorazin,  Bethsaida, 
Nazareth,  Cana,  Capernaum,  Nam,  Caesarea  of 
Palestine,  and  Ptolemais.  This  is  the  district 
which  was  of  all  others  the  most  honoured  with 
the  presence  of  our  Saviour.  Here  he  lived 
entirely  until  he  was  thirty  years  of  age ;  and 
although,  after  the  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
he  frequently  visited  the  other  provinces,  it  was 
here  that  he  chiefly  resided.  Here  also  he  made 
his  first  appearance  to  the  Apostles  after  bis 
resurrection  ;  for  they  were  all  of  them  natives 
of  this  region,  and  had  returned  hither  after  the 
sad  events  at  Jerusalem  (Matt,  xxviii.  7). 

Hence  the  disciples  of  Christ  were  called  '  Ga- 
lileans.' They  were  easily  recognised  as  such-, 
for  the  Galileans  spoke  a  dialect  of  the  vernacular 
Syriac  different  from  that  of  Judsea,  and  which 
was  of  course  accounted  rude  and  impure,  as  all 
provincial  dialects  are  considered  to  be,  in  com- 
parison with  that  of  the  metropolis.  It  was  this 
which  occasioned  the  detection  of  St.  Peter  as  one 
of  Christ's  disciples  (Mark  xiv.  70).  The  Gali- 
lean dialect  was  of  a  broad  and  rustic  tone,  which 
affected  the  pronunciation  not  only  of  letters  but 
of  words. 

The  Galileans  are  mentioned  by  Josephus  as  a 
turbulent  and  rebellious  people,  ready  on  all  oc- 
casions to  rise  against  the  Roman  authority.  This 
character  of  them  explains  what  is  said  in  Luke 
xiii.  1,  with  regard  to  '  the  Galileans  whose  blood 
Pilate  had  mingled  with  their  sacrifices.'  Jose- 
phus, indeed,  does  not  mention  any  Galileans 
slain  in  the  Temple  by  Pilate  ;  but  the  character 
wliich  he  gives  that  people  sufiiciently  corrobo- 
rates the  statement.  The  tumults  to  which  he 
alludes  were,  as  we  know,  chiefly  raised  at  the 
great  festivals,  when  sacrifices  were  slain  in  great 
abundance ;  and  on  all  such  occasions  the  Gali- 
leans were  much  more  active  than  the  men  of 
Judaea  and  Jerusalem,  as  is  proved  by  the  history 
of  Archelaus,  which  case,  indeed,  furnishes  an 
answer  to  those  who  deny  that  the  Galileans 
attended  the  feasts  with  the  rest  of  the  Jews. 

This  seditious  character  of  the  Galileans  also 
explains  why  Pilate,  when  sitting  in  judgment 
upon  Jesus,  caught  at  the  word  Galilee  when  used 
by  the  chief  priests,  and  asked  if  he  were  a  Gali- 
lean (Luke  xxiii.  6).  To  be  known  to  belong  to 
that  country  was  of  itself  sufficient  to  prejudice 
Pilate  against  him,  and  to  give  some  countenance 
to  the  charces,  unsupported  by  impartial  evidence, 
which  were  preferred  against  him,  and  which 
Pilate  himself  had,  just  before,  virtually  declared 
to  be  false. 

GALILEE,  SEA  OF.    [Sea] 

GALL  occurs  in  its  primary  and  proper  mean- 
ing, as  denoting  the  substance  secreted   in  the 


GALL 

gall-bladder  of  animals,  commonly  called  bile,  in 
the  following  passages ;  Job.  xvi.  13,  '  He  poureth 
out  my  gall.'  The  metaphors  in  this  verse  are 
taken  from  the  practice  of  huntsmen,  who  first 
surround  the  beast,  then  shoot  it,  and  next  take 
out  the  entrails.  The  meaning,  as  given  by  Bp. 
Heath,  is,  '  he  entirely  destroyeth  me.'  Job  xx. 
14  (describing  the  remorse  of  a  wicked  man), 
'  the  gall  of  adders '  (which  according  to  the 
ancients  is  the  seat  of  their  poisou).  Job  xx. 
25,  where,  to  describe  the  certainty  of  a  wicked 
man's  destruction,  it  is  said,  'the  glittering  sword 
cometh  out  of  his  gall.'  In  the  sti.r\  of  Tobitthe 
gall  of  a  fish  is  said  to  have  been  used  to  cure  his 
"father's  blindness  (Tobit  \L  8  -.xi.  10, 13).  Plicy 
refers  to  the  use  of  the-ame  substance  for  diseases 
of  the  eye.  Galen  and  other  writers  praise  the 
use  of  the  liver  of  the  silurus  in  cases  of  dimness 
of  sight. 

G.VLL  is  also  employed  in  the  Authorized  Ver- 
sion as  the  meaning  of  the  word  Eosh,  which  is 
generally  considered  to  signify  some  plant.  This 
we  may  infer  from  its  being  frequently  men- 
tioned along  with  'wormwood,'  as  in  Deut.  xxix. 
18,  'lest  there  should  be  among  you  a  root  that 
heareth  gall  {rosh)  and  ivormwood ;  so  also  in  Jer. 
ix.  1.5;  xxiii.  15;  and  in  Lament,  iii.  19,  '  Ee- 
membering  mine  aflBiction  and  my  misery,  the 
wormwood  and  the  gall.'  That  it  was  a  berry- 
bearing  plant,  has  been  inferred  from  Deut. 
xxxii.  32,  'For  their  vine  is  of  the  vine  of 
Sodom,  and  their  grapes  are  grapes  of  gall  {rosh), 
their  clusters  are  bitter.'  In  Jer.  viii.  14,  'water 
of  gall'  {rosh),  is  mentioned;  which  may  be 
either  the  expressed  juice  of  the  fruit  or  of  the 
plant,  or  a  bitter  infusion  made  from  it.  That  it 
was  a  plant  is  veiy  evident  from  Hosea  x.  4, 
where  it  is  said  '  their  judgment  springeth  up  as 
hemlcck  (rosh)  in  the  furrows  of  the  field.' 

Though  roJi  is  generally  acknowledged  to 
indicate  some  plant,  yet  a  variety  of  opinions 
have  been  entertained  respecting  its  ideatifica- 
tion  :  some,  as  the  Auth.  Vers,  in  Hosea  x.  4, 
and  Amos  vi.  12,  consider  cic»<a  or  hemlock  to  be 
the  plant  intended,  but  there  is  little  or  no  proof 
adduced  that  this  is  the  case. 

Some  have  concluded  that  it  must  be  darnel, 
which  is  remarkable  among  grasses  for  its 
poisonous  and  intoxicating  properties.  It  is, 
however,  rather  sweetish  in  taste,  and  its  seeds 
being  intermixed  with  corn,  are  sometimes  made 
into  bread.  It  is  well  knowu  to  grow  in  corn- 
fields, and  would  therefore  suit  tlie  passage  of 
Hosea;  but  it  has  not  a  berry-like  fruit,  nor 
would  it  yield  any  juice  :  the  infusion  in  water, 
however,  might  be  so  understood,  though  it  would 
not  be  verj'  bitter  or  disagreeable  in  taste.  Hiller 
adduces  the  centaury  as  a  bitter  plant,  which  cor- 
responds with  much  of  what  is  required.  Two 
kinds  of  centaury,  the  larger  and  smaller,  and 
both  conspicuous  for  their  bitterness,  were  known 
to  the  ancients.  The  latter  is  one  of  the  family 
of  gentians,  and  still  continues  to  be  employed  as 
a  medicine  on  account  of  its  bitter  and  tonic  pro- 
perties. From  the  extreme  bitterness  of  taste, 
from  growing  in  fields,  and  being  a  native  of 
warm  countries,  some  plant  like  centaury,  and  of 
the  tribe  of  gentians,  might  answer  all  the  pas- 
sages in  which  rosh  is  mentioned,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  that  (Deut.  xxxii.  32)  where  it  is  supposed 
to  have  a  berried  fruit.     Dr.   Karris,   quoting 


GAMALIEL 

Blaney  on  Jerem.  viii.  14,  says,  ♦  In  Ps.  Ixix.  21, 
•which  is  justly  considered  as  a  prophecy  of  our 
Saviour's  sufl'erings,  it  is  said,  "they  gave  me 
gaU  to  eat."  And  accordingly  it  is  recorded  in 
the  history,  Matt,  xxvii.  34,  "  They  gave  him 
vinegar  to  drink,  mingled  -with  gall."  But  in 
the  parallel  passage  (Mark  xv.  23)  it  is  said  to 
be  "  wine  mingled  with  myrrh,"  a  very  bitter  in- 
gredient From  whence  I  am  induced  to  think 
that  perhaps  rosh  may  be  used  as  a  general  name 
for  whatever  is  exceedingly  bitter;  and  conse- 
quently, when  the  sense  requires,  it  may  be  put 
specially  for  any  bitter  herb  or  plant.' 

GAL'LIO.  Junius  Annseus  Gallio,  elder 
brother  of  Seneca  the  philosopher.  His  name  was 
originally  M.  Ann.  Novatus,  but  changed  to  Jun. 
Ann.  Gallio  in  consequence  of  his  adoption  by  Jun. 
Gallio  the  rhetorician.  Seneca  dedicated  to  him 
his  treatise  De  Vita  Beata,  and  in  the  preface  to 
the  fourth  book  of  his  Naturales  Qucestiones 
describes  him  as  a  man  universally  beloved  ;  and 
who,  while  exempt  from  all  other  vices,  especially 
abhorred  flattery.  According  to  Eusebius,  he 
committed  suicide  before  the  death  of  Seneca ; 
but  Tacitus  speaks  of  him  as  alive  after  that  event, 
and  Dion  Cassias  states  that  he  was  put  to  death 
by  order  of  Nero.  He  was  Proconsul  of  Achaia, 
(Acts  xviii.  12)  under  the  Emperor  Claudius, 
when  Paul  first  visited  Corinth,  and  nobly  refused 
to  abet  the  persecution  raised  by  the  Jews  against 
the  Apostle.  Dr.  Lardner  has  noticed  the  strict 
accuracy  of  Luke  in  giving  him  this  designation, 
which  is  obscured  in  the  Auth.  Vers,  by  the  use 
of  the  term  deputy. 

GAMA'LIEL  {God is  my  reicarder),  a  member 
of  the  Sanhedrim  in  the '  early  times  of  Chris- 
tianity, who,  by  his  favourable  interference,  saved 
the  Apostles  from  an  ignominious  death  (Acts  v. 
34).  He  was  the  teacher  of  the  Apostle  Paul 
before  the  conversion  of  the  latter  (Acts  xxii.  3). 
He  bears  in  the  Talmud  the  surname  of  '  the  old 
man,'  and  is  represented  as  the  son  of  Rabbi 
Simeon,  and  grandson  of  the  famous  Hillel :  he 
is  said  to  have  occupied  a  seat,  if  not  the  presi- 
dency, in  the  Sanhedrim  during  the  reigns  of 
Tiberius,  Caligula,  and  Claudius,  and  to  have  died 
eighteen  years  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

There  are  idle  traditions  about  his  having  been 
converted  *o  Christianity  by  Peter  and  John ; 
but  they  are  altogether  irreconcilable  with  the 
esteem  and  respect  in  which  he  was  held  even  in 
later  times  by  the  Jewish  Rabbins,  by  whom  his 
opinions  are  frequently  quoted  as  an  all-silencing 
authority  on  points  of  religious  law.  Neither 
does  his  interference  in  behalf  of  the  Apostles  at 
all  prove — as  some  would  have  it — that  he 
secretly  approved  their  doctrines.  He  was  a 
dispassionate  judge,  and  reasoned  in  that  affair 
with  the  tact  of  worldly  wisdom  and  experience, 
urging  that  religious  opinions  usually  gain 
strength  by  opposition  and  persecution  (Acts  v. 
3ii,  37),  while,  if  not  noticed  at  all,  they  are  sure 
not  to  leave  any  lasting  impression  on  the  minds  of 
the  people,  if  devoid  of  truth  (ver.  38) ;  and  that  it 
is  vain  to  contend  against  them,  if  true  (ver.  39). 
That  he  was  more  enlightened  and  tolerant  than 
his  colleagues  and  contemporaries,  is  evident  from 
the  very  fact  that  he  allowed  his  zealous  pupil  Saul 
to  turn  his  mind  to  Greek  literature,  which,  in  a 
great  measure,  qualified  him  afterwards  to  become 
the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles ;  while  by  the  Jewish 


GAMES 


339 


Palestine  laws,  after  the  Maccabsean  wars,  even 
the  Greek  language  was  prohibited  to  be  taught  to 
the  Hebrew  youth. 

Another  proof  of  the  high  respect  in  which 
Gamaliel  stood  with  the  Jews  long  after  his  death, 
is  aflTorded  by  an  anecdote  told  in  the  Talmud 
respecting  his  tomb,  to  the  effect  that  Oukelos 
(the  celebrated  Chaldaean  translator  of  the  Old 
Testament)  spent  seventy  pounds  of  incense  at 
his  grave  in  honour  of  his  memory. 

GAMES.  If  by  the  word  are  intended  mere 
secular  amusements,  which  are  the  natural  ex- 
pression of  vigorous  health  and  joyous  feeling, 
fitted,  if  not  designed,  to  promote  health,  hilarity, 
and  friendly  feeling,  as  well  as  to  aid  in  the 
development  of  the  corporeal  frame,  we  must 
look  to  other  quarters  of  the  globe,  rather  than 
to  Palestine,  for  their  origin  and  encouragement. 
The  Hebrew  temperament  was  too  deep,  too 
earnest,  too  full  of  religious  emotion,  to  give  rise 
to  games  having  a  national  and  permanent  cha- 
racter. Whatever  of  amusement,  or  rather  of  re- 
creation, the  descendants  of  Abraham  possessed, 
partook  of  that  religious  complexion  which  was 
natural  to  them ;  or  rather  the  predominant  re- 
ligiousness of  their  souls  gave  its  own  hue,  as  to 
all  their  engagements,  so  to  their  recreations. 
The  influence  of  religion  pervaded  their  entire 
being ;  so  that  whatever  of  recreation  they  needed 
or  enjoyed  is  for  the  most  part  found  blended  with 
religious  exercises.  Hence  their  great  national 
festivals  served  at  once  for  the  devout  service  of 
Almighty  God,  and  the  recreation  and  refresh- 
ment of  their  own  minds  and  bodies. 

Games,  however,  are  so  natural  to  man,  espe- 
cially in  the  period  of  childhood,  that  no  nation 
has  been  or  can  be  entirely  without  them.  Ac- 
cordingly a  few  traces  are  found  in  the  early 
Hebrew  history  of  at  least  private  and  childish 
diversions.  The  heat  of  the  climate  too  in 
Syria  would  indispose  the  mature  to  more  bodily 
exertion  than  the  duties  of  life  imposed,  while 
the  gravity  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Oriental 
character  might  seem  compromised  by  anything 
so  light  as  sports.  Dignified  ease  therefore  cor- 
responds with  the  idea  which  we  form  of  Oriental 
recreation.  The  father  of  the  family  sits  at  the 
door  of  his  tent,  or  reclines  on  the  housetop,  or 
appears  at  the  city  gate,  and  there  tranquilly 
enjoys  repose,  broken  by  conversation,  under  the 
light  and  amid  the  warmth  of  the  bright  and 
breezy  heavens,  in  the  cool  of  the  retiring  day,  or 
before  the  sun  has  assumed  his  burning  ardours 
(Deut.  xvi.  14;  Lam.  v.  14).  Even  among  the 
active  Egyptians,  whose  games  have  been  figured 
on  their  mural  tablets,  we  find  little  which  sug- 
gests a  comparison  with  the  vigorous  contests  of 
the  Grecian  games.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
is  the  following  (No.  181),  showing  what  appears 
to  be  play  with  the  single-stick. 

Zechariah  (viii.  .5)  alludes  to  the  sportiveness 
of  children  in  the  streets  as  a  sign  and  conse- 
quence of  that  peace  and  prosperity  which  are  so 
free  from  alarm  that  the  young  take  their  usual 
games,  and  are  allowed  entire  liberty  by  their 
parents : — '  and  the  streets  of  the  city  shall  be 
full  of  boys  and  girls  playing  in  the  streets 
thereof  (comp.  Jer.  xxx.  19).  An  interesting 
passage  illustrative  of  these  street-amusements  is 
found  in  Matt.  xi.  16:— 'This  generation  is  like 
unto  children  sitting  in  the  markets  and  calling 
z  2 


840 


GAMES 


GAMES 


uuto  their  fellows,  We  have  piped  unto  you  and 
ye  have  not  danced,  we  have  mourned  unto  you, 
and  ye  have  not  lamented,' 


That  the  elegant  amusement  of  playing  with 
tamed  and  trained  birds  was  not  unusual  may  be 
learnt  from  Job  xli.  5  : — '  Wilt  thou  play  with 
him  (leviathan)  as  with  a  bird  ? '  Commenting 
on  Zeeh.  xii.  3,  Jerome  mentions  an  amusement 
of  the  young,  which  we  have  seen  practised  in 
more  than  one  part  of  the  north  of  England.  '  It 
is  customary,'  he  says,  '  in  the  cities  of  Palestine, 
and  has  been  so  from  ancient  times,  to  place  up 
and  down  large  stones  to  serve  for  exercise  for 
the  young,  Avho,  according  in  each  case  to  their 
degree  of  strength,  lift  these  stones,  some  as  high 
as  their  knees,  others  to  their  middle,  others 
above  their  heads,  the  hands  being  kept  hori- 
zontal and  joined  under  the  stone.' 

Music,  song,  and  dancing,  were  recreations  re- 
served mostly  for  the  young  or  for  festive  occa- 
sions. From  Lam.  V.  16,  'the  crown  is  fallen 
from  our  head'  (see  the  entire  passage  on  the 
subject  of  games),  it  might  be  inferred  that,  as 
among  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  chaplets  of  flowers 
were  sometimes  worn  during  festivity.  To  the 
amusements  just  mentioned  frequent  allusions  are 
found  in  holy  writ,  among  which  may  be  given 
Ps.  XXX.  11;  Jer.  xxxi.  13;  Luke  xv.  25.  In 
Isaiah  xxx.  29,  a  passage  is  found  which  serves 
to  show  how  much  of  festivity  and  mirth  was 
mingled  with  religious  observances  ;  the  journey 
on  festival  occasions  up  to  Jerusalem  was  enli- 
vened by  music,  if  not  by  dancing : — '  Ye  shall 
have  a  song  as  in  the  night  when  a  holy  so- 
lemnity is  kept ;  and  gladness  of  heart,  as  when 
one  goeth  wiih  a  pipe  to  come  into  the  mountain 
of  the  Lord,  to  the  Mighty  One  of  Israel.'  A 
passage  occurs  in  2  Sam.  ii.  14,  which  may  indi- 
cate the  practice  among  the  ancient  Israelites  of 
games  somewhat  similar  to  the  jousts  and  tourna- 
ments of  the  middle  ages.  No  trace  is  found  in 
Hebrew  antiquity  of  any  of  the  ordinary  games 
of  skill  or  hazard  which  are  so  numerous  in  the 
western  world. 

The  Grecian  influence  which  made  itself  felt 
after  the  Exile,  led  to  a  great  change  in  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  Hebrew  nation.  Tbey 
were  soon  an  almost  different  people  from  what 
we  find  them  in  the  days  of  their  national  inde- 
pendence and  primitive  simplicity.  In  Mace.  i. 
14,  we  find  evidence  that  the  Grecian  games  were 
introduced,  and  that  a  gymnasium  was  built 
under  Antiochus  Epiphanes  :  — '  They  built  a 
place  of  exercise  at  Jerusalem,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  heathen.'    Compare  2  Mace.  iv.  12, 


13,  14,  where  special  mention  is  made  of  the  pre- 
valence of  '  Greek  fashions,'  and  '  the  game  of 
discus  ;'  though,  as  appears  clearly  from  the  last 
passage  (v.  17),  these  practices  were  considered 
contrary  to  the  Mosaic  institutions,  and  were 
hateful  to  pious  Israelites.  The  Herodian  princes 
had  theatres  and  amphitheatres  built  in  Jerusalem 
and  other  cities  of  Palestine,  in  which  were  held 
splendid  games,  sometimes  in  honour  of  their 
Roman  masters.  The  drama  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  introduced,  but  Jews  were  in  foreign 
countries  actors  of  plays. 

These  facts  make  it  the  less  surprising  that 
allusions  should  be  found  in  the  New  Testament 
writings  to  the  Grecian  games,  on  which  we 
think  it  desirable  to  supply  somewhat  detailed 
information,  in  order  to  serve  as  illustrations  of 
Scriptural  language. 

The  fact  that,  as  we  have  seen,  the  games  of 
the  amphitheatre  were  celebrated  even  in  Jeru- 
salem, serves  to  make  it  very  likely  that  Paul,  in 
1  Cor.  XV.  32 ;  iv.  9,  alludes  to  these  detestable 
practices,  though  it  is  not  probable  that  the 
Apostle  was  himself  actually  exposed  to  the  fury 
of  the  raging  animals.  Contrary  to  the  opinion 
of  some  writers,  the  reference  to  these  combats 
appears  to  us  Very  clear,  though  it  was  only 
metaphorically  that  Paul '  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus.' 

The  word  which  the  Apostle  (I  Cor.  xv.  32) 
uses  is  emphatic  and  descriptive.  The  beast-fight 
constituted  among  the  Romans  a  part  of  the 
amusements  of  the  circus  or  amphitheatre.  It 
consisted  in  the  combat  of  human  beings  with 
animals.  The  persons  destined  to  this  barbarous 
kind  of  amusement  were  generally  of  two  classes 
— 1.  Voluntary,  that  is,  persons  who  fought  either 
for  amusement  or  for  pay:  these  were  clothed 
and  provided  with  offensive  and  defensive 
weapons.     2.   Condemned    persons,    who    were 


mostly  exposed  to  the  fury  of  the  animals  un- 
clothed, unarmed,  and  sometimes  bound.  As 
none  but  the  vilest  of  men  were  in  general  de- 
voted to  these  beast-fights,  no  punishment  could 
be  more  condign  and  cruel  than  what  was  fre- 
quently inflicted  on  the  primitive  Christians,  when 
they  were  hurried  away  '  to  the  lions'  (as  the 
phrase  was),  merely  for  their  fidelity  to  conscience 
and  to  Christ,  its  Lord.  Ephesus  appears  to  have 
had  some  unenviable  distinction  in  these  brutal 
exhibitions,  so  that  there  is  a  peculiar  proprietj' 
in  the  language  of  the  Apostle. 

The  New  Testament,  in  several  places,  con- 
tains references  to  the  celebrated  Grecian  Games, 
though  it  may  be  allowed  that  some  commentators 
have  imagined  allusions  where  none  were  de- 
signed. As  might,  from  his  heathen  learning,  be 
expected,  it  is   Paul  who  chiefly  supplies  the 


GAMES 


GAMES 


passages  in  question  (see  Gal.  ii.  2 ;  v.  7 ;  Phil, 
ii.  16  ;  Heb.  xii.  1,  4  ;  Phil.  iii.  14 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  5). 
The  most  signal  passage,  however,  is  found  in 
1  Cor.  ix.  24-27,  '  Know  ye  not  that  they  which 
run  in  a  race  run  all,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize? 
So  run  that  ye  may  obtain.  And  every  man  that 
striveth  for  the  mastery  is  temperate  in  all  things. 
Now  they  do  it  to  obtain  a  corruptible  crown ; 
but  we  an  incorruptible.  I  therefore  so  run,  not 
as  uncertainly ;  so  fight  I,  not  as  one  that  beateth 
the  air ;  but  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it 
into  subjection,  lest  that  by  any  means,  when  I 
have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a 
castaway.'  In  the  Old  Testament  two  passages 
contain  a  clear  reference  to  games ;  Ps.  xix.  5 ; 
Eccl,  ix.  11. 

Four  of  these  games  stood  far  above  tlie  rest, 
bearing  the  appellation  of  '  sacred,'  and  deriving 
their  support  from  the  great  Hellenic  family  at 
large,  though  each  one  had  special  honour  in  its 
own  locality  :  these  four  were  the  Olympic,  Py- 
thian, Nemean,  and  Isthmian.  The  first  were 
held  in  the  highest  honour.  The  victors  at  the 
Olympic  games  were  accounted  the  noblest  and 
happiest  of  mortals,  and  every  means  was  taken 
that  could  show  the  respect  in  which  they  were 
held.  These  games  were  celebrated  every  five 
years  at  Olympia,  in  Elis,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Peloponnesus.  Hence  the  epoch  called  the 
Olympiads. 

The^ymnastic  exercises  were  laid  down  in  a 
well-planned  systematic  series,  heginning  with 
the  easier,  and  proceeding  on  to  the  more  difficult. 


Some  of  these  were  specially  fitted  to  give 
strength,  others  agility ;  some  educated  the 
hands,  others  the  feet.  Among  the  lighter  exer- 
cises was  reckoned  running,  leaping,  quoiting, 
hurling  the  javelin.  When  skill  had  been  ob- 
tained in  these,  and  the  consequent  strength,  then 
followed  a  severer  course  of  discipline.  This  was 
two-fold— 1,  simple ;  2,  compound.  The  simple 
consisted  of  wrestling,  boxing;  the  compound 


we  find  in  the  Pentathlon  (the  five  contests),  and 
the  Pankration   (or  general  trial  of  strength). 


The  Pentathlon  was  made  up  of  the  union  of 
leaping,  running,  quoiting,  wrestling,  and  hurling 


the  spear ;  the  Pankration  consisted  of  wrestling 
and  boxing. 

Racing  may  be  traced  back  to  the  earliest 
periods  of  Grecian  antiquity,  and  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  first  friendly  contest  in  which  men 
engaged.  Accordingly  the  Olympic  and  Py- 
thian, probably  also  the  other  games,  opened 
with  foot-races.  Foot-racing,  perfected  by  sys- 
tematic practice,  was  divided  into  different  kinds. 
If  you  ran  merely  to  the  end  of  the  course,  it  was 
called  stadium ;  if  you  went  thither  and  back, 
you  ran  the  double  course.     The  long  course  re- 


quired extraordinary  speed  and  power  of  endur- 
ance. What  it  involved  the  ancients  have  left  in 
no  small  uncertainty.  It  is  sometimes  given  as 
seven  times  over  the  stadium ;  at  others,  twelve 
times;  at  others  again,  twenty;  and  even  the 
number  of  four  and  twenty  times  is  mentioned. 
These  lengths  will  give  some  idea  of  the  severity 
of  the  trial,  and  serve  to  illustrate  the  meaning 
of  the  Apostle  when  he  speaks  of  running  with 
patience  (sustained  effort)  the  race  set  before  him 
(Heb.  xii.  1).  Indeed,  one  Ladas,  a  victor  at  the 
Olympic  games,  in  the  '  long  race,'  was  so  ex- 
hausted by  his  efforts,  that,  immediately  on  gain- 
ing the  honour  and  being  crowned,  he  yielded 
up  his  breath, — a  fact  which  also  serves  to  throw 
light  on  Scriptural  language,  as  showing  with 
what  intense  eagerness  these  aspirants  strove  for 
perishing  chaplets.  In  the  preparatory  discipline 
everything  was  done  which  could  conduce  to 
swiftness  and  strength.  The  exercises  were  per- 
formed with  the  body  naked  and  well  oiled. 
Minute  directions  were  established  in  order  to 
prevent  foul  play  of  any  kind,  so  that  all  the 
competitors  might  stait  and  run  on  terms  of 
entire  equality,  "illustrating  the  words  of  Paul  on 
the  necessity  of  running  lawfully  (2  Tim.  ii.  5). 
The  contest  was  generally  most  severe  ;  to  reach 
the  goal  sooner  by  one  foot  was  enough  to  decide 


342  GAMES 

the  victory.  How  true  and  graphic  then  the  de- 
scriptions given  by  Paul ;  it  was,  as  the  Apostle 
states,  in  the  race-course  that  the  contests  took 
place:  every  one  striving  for  the  victory  was 
temperate  in  all  things ;  nay  more,  he  kept  under 
his  body,  and  brought  it  into  subjection.  A 
passage  is  found  in  the  Enchiridion  of  Epictetus, 
which  shows  with  what  propriety  the  terms 
which  the  Apostle  employs  were  chosen  by  him : 
'  You  wish  to  conquer  at  the  Olympic  games  ?  so 
also  do  I;  for  it  is  honourable;  but  bethink 
yourself  what  this  attempt  implies,  and  then 
begin  the  undertaking.  You  must  subject  your- 
self to  a  determinate  course;  must  submit  to 
dietetic  discipline;  must  pursue  the  established 
exercises  at  fixed  hours  in  heat  and  cold ;  must 
abstain  from  all  delicacies  in  meat  and  drink; 
yield  yourself  unreservedly  to  the  control  of  the 
presiding  physician,  and  even  endure  flogging.' 

It  may  well  be  supposed  that  the  competitors 
employed  all  their  ability,  and  displayed  the 
greatest  eagerness  to  gain  the  prize.  The  nearer, 
too,  they  approached  to  the  goal,  the  more  did 
they  increase  their  efforts.  Sometimes  the  vic- 
tory depended  on  a  final  spring ;  happy  he  that 
retained  power  enough  to  leap  first  to  the  goal. 
The  spectators  also  used  every  encouragement 
in  their  power,  these  favouring  one  competitor, 
those  another. 

All  these  remarks  go  to  show  how  wisely  Paul 
acted  in  selecting  the  figure,  and  how  carefully 
he  has  preserved  the  imagery  which  belongs  to 
it.  A  word  employed  in  the  Common  Version, 
1  Cor.  ix.  27,  '  Lest  when  I  have  preached  to 
others  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway  ' — namely, 
preached,  mars  the  figure.  The  original  means 
'  acted  the  part  of  herald,'  whose  business  it  was 
to  call  the  competitors  to  the  contest  and  proclaim 
their  victory,  functions  which  Paul  spent  his  life 
in  performing. 

Paul  speaks  in  the  same  connection  of  running 
not  as  uncertainly,  of  fighting  not  as  one  who 
beateth  the  air ;  alluding  to  the  preludial  exer- 
cises, trials  of  individual  and  of  comparative 
strength,  which  took  place  in  the  course  of  train- 
ing. These  runnings  and  boxings  had  no  imme- 
diate aim  nor  result,  and  implied  no  real  com- 
petitor ;  hence  the  propriety  of  the  terms  which 
the  sacred  writer  employs. 

In  writing  to  the  Christians  at  Corinth  there 
was  a  special  propriety,  on  the  part  of  the  Apos- 
tle, in  making  allusions  to  the  public  games. 
Corinth  was  the  place  where  one  of  the  four  Greek 
national  games  was  celebrated,  namely,  the  Isth- 
mian. These  games  were  so  called  from  being 
held  on  the  isthmus  which  joins  noithern  with 
southern  Greece,  a  spot  of  land  most  celebrated 
in  Grecian  history,  alike  in  martial  and  commer- 
cial matters.  The  Corinthians  appear  to  have 
been  inordinately  fond  of  these  amusements. 
They  were  held  every  three  years.  They  com- 
prised three  leading  divisions— musical,  gymnas- 
tical,  and  equestrian  contests.  In  the  first  the 
tyrant  Nero  carried  off  a  crown,  by  destroying 
his  too  highly-gifted  antagonist.  The  gymuastic 
contests  were  the  same  as  those  of  which  we 
have  already  spoken.  A  few  words,  however, 
may  here  be  introduced  as  to  the  horse-racing, 
which  has  not  been  hitherto  described.  Generally 
the  same  kinds  prevailed  as  at  the  Olympic  and 
Pythian  games.    Chariot-races  seem  to  have  been 


GAMES 

practised  in  the  earliest  heroic  times,  since  cha- 
riots were  as  early  as  this  used  in  battle,  and  the 
notices  which  have  come  down  to  us  refer  this 
kind  of  sport  to  the  early  period  now  indicated. 
It  stood  pre-eminently  befoi-e  other  games.  The 
skill  and  outlay  which  it  required  prevented  any 
but  persons  of  distinction  —  the  wealthy,  go- 
vernors, princes,  and  kings — from  engaging  in 
its  enjoyments.    The  number  of  chariots  that 


might  appear  on  the  course  at  once  cannot  be 
accurately  determined.  Pindar  praises  Arkesilas 
of  Cyrene  for  liaving  calmly  brought  off  his  cha- 
riot uninjured,  in  a  contest  where  no  fewer  than 
forty  took  part.  The  course  had  to  be  gone  over 
twelve  times.  The  urgency  of  the  drivers,  the 
speed  and  exhaustion  of  the  horses,  may  easily 
be  imagmed.  The  greatest  skill  was  ne&ded  in 
turning  the  pillar  which  marked  the  extremity  of 
the  course,  especially  when  the  contending  cha- 
riots were  immerous. 

At  the  Olympic  games  the  prize  was  simply  a 
chaplet  made  of  wild  olive.  The  crowns  were 
laid  on  a  tripod,  and  placed  in  the  middle  of  the 
course,  so  as  to  be  seen  of  all.  On  the  same  table 
there  were  also  exposed  to  view  palm-branches, 
one  of  which  was  given  into  the  hand  of  each 
conqueror  at  the  same  time  with  the  chaplet. 
The  victors,  having  been  summoned  by  proclama- 
tion, were  presented  with  the  ensigns  of  victory, 
and  conducted  along  the  stadium,  preceded  by  a 
herald,  who  proclaimed  their  honours,  and  an- 
nounced their  name,  parentage,  and  country. 

The  real  reward,  however,  was  in  the  fame 
which  ensued.  A  chaplet  won  in  the  chariot- 
races  at  Olympia  was  the  highest  of  earthly 
honours.  What  congratulations  from  friends  ; 
how  was  the  public  eye  directed  to  the  fortunate 
conqueror ;  what  honour  had  he  conferred  on  his 
native  city,  and  for  what  ofiice  was  such  an  one 
unfit !  What  intense  and  deep  delight  must  his 
bosom  hav3  been  filled  with  when  the  full  acclaim 
of  assembled  Greece  fell  upon  his  ear,  coming  in 
loud  salutations  and  applauses  from  every  part  of 
the  crowded  course  !  Then  came  the  more  pri- 
vate attentions  of  individual  friends.  One  brought 
a  chaplet  of  flowers ;  another  bound  his  head  with 
ribbons.  Afterwards  came  the  triumphal  sacri- 
fice made  to  the  twelve  gods,  accompanied  by 
sumptuous  feasting.  The  poet  now  began  his 
office,  gaining,  in  some  cases,  both  for  himself 
and  the  happy  victor,  an  unexpected  immortality. 
Music  also  lent  her  aid,  and  his  name  was  sung 
wherever  the  noble  accents  of  the  Greek  tongue 
asserted  their  supremacy.  In  order  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  these  great  men,  their  names  and 
achievements  were  entered  into  a  public  register, 
which  was  under  the  care  of  suitable  officers.    A 


GAMES 

no  less  privilege  was  that  of  having  a  statue  of 
themselves  placed  either  at  tne  expense  of  their 
country  or  their  friends,  in  the  sacred  grove  of 
Jupiter.  A  perhaps  still  greater  honour  awaited 
the  victor  on  his  return  home.  The  conquerors 
at  the  Isthmian  games  were  wont  to  be  received 
in  their  chariots,  superbly  attired,  amid  thronging 
and  jubilant  multitudes. 

One  or  two  other  privileges  belonged  to  these 
victors,  such  as  immunity  from  public  offices, 
and  a  certain  yearly  stipend.  If  to  all  this  be 
added  the  strict  scrutiny  which  competitors  were 
obliged  to  undergo  (in  the  best  ages),  so  that  none 
could  enter  tlie  lists  but  such  as  were  of  pure 
Greek  blood,  and  incorrupt  in  life,  none  but  such 
as  had  undergone  the  required  disciplinary  train- 
ing, and  (in  the  case  of  the  chariot  and  horse- 
races) none  but  those  who  could  afford  to  possess 
and  train  horses  in  a  country  in  which,  as  in 
Greece,  horses,  particularly  in  the  earlier  ages, 
M-ere  very  scarce  and  dear ;  it  will  be  seen  that 
the  distinction  of  the  prize  was  not  over- rated, 
when  it  was  compared  with  a  Eoman  triumph. 

At  the  Isthmian  games  the  prize  was  parsley 
during  the  mythic  periods.  In  later  ages  the 
victor  was  crowned  with  a  chaplet  of  pine  leaves. 
Parsley,  however,  appears  to  have  been  also  em- 
ployed. If  the  conqueror  had  come  off  victorious 
in  the  three  great  divisions — music,  gymnastics, 
and  racing — he  was  in  the  Pythian,  as  well  as  in 
the  other  sacred  games,  presented  also  with  a 
palm-branch. 

GARDEN.  Several  gardens  are  mentioned  in 
the  Scriptures,  as  the  garden  of  Eden  (Gen.  ii. 
8,  9,  10,  15),  Ahab's  garden  of  herbs  (1  Kings 
xxi.  2),  tlie  royal  garden  near  the  fortress  of  Zion 
(2  Kings  xxi.  18 ;  xxv.  4),  the  royal  garden  of 
the  Persian  kings  at  Susa  (Esther  i.  5  ;  vii.  7,  8), 
the  garden  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  (John  xix. 
41),  and  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  (John  xviii.  1). 
It  is  clear,  from  Josh.  v.  2,  and  Lam.  ii.  6,  that 
gardens  were  generally  hedged  or  walled,  as  in- 
deed Josephus  expressly  states  respecting  the 
gardens  near  Jerusalem.  In  Neh.  ii.  5,  and  John 
XX.  13,  gardeners  and  keepers  of  gardens  by 
occupation  are  indicated. 

Gardens  were  planted  not  only  with  fragrant 
and  beautiful  plants,  but  with  various  fruit- 
bearing  and  other  trees  (Gen.  ii.  9;  Jer.  xxix.  5; 
Amos  ix.  14).  Thus  we  find  mention  of  nut- 
gardens  (Cant.  vi.  14),  pomegranate  -  gardens 
(Cant.  iv.  13),  olive-gardens  (Deut.  viii.  8; 
1  Chron.  xxvii.  28),  vine-gardens  (Cam.  iv.  2  ; 
viii.  8).  Here,  however,  we  are  not  to  suppose 
that  the  gardens  were  exclusively  occupied  by 
these  fruits,  but  that  they  were  severally  pre- 
dominant in  the  gardens  to  which  they  gave 
name.  The  distinction,  for  instance,  between  a 
vine-garden  and  a  vineyard  would  be,  that,  in 
the  latter,  the  vine  was  cultivated  solely  for  use, 
whereas  in  the  former  it  was  planted  for  solace 
and  ornament,  to  cover  walls,  and  to  be  trained 
in  arbours  and  on  trellises. 

Gardens  were,  when  possible,  planted  near 
streams,  which  afforded  the  means  of  easy  irri- 
gation. This  explains  such  passages  as  Gen.  ii.  9, 
sq.,  and  Isa.  i.  30.  But  streams  were  few  in  Pa- 
lestine, at  least  such  as  afforded  water  in  summer, 
when  alone  water  was  wanted  for  irrigation ; 
hence  rain-water,  or  water  from  the  streams 
'Which  dried  up  in  summer,  was  in  winter  stored 


GAUDEN 


343 


up  in  reservoirs,  spacious  enough  to  contain  all 
the  water  likely  to  be  needed  during  the  dry 
season.  In  fact  many  of  our  own  large  nurseries 
are  watered  in  the  same  manner  from  reservoirs 
of  rain-water.  The  water  was  distributed  through 
the  garden  in  numerous  small  rills,  which  tra- 
versed it  in  all  directions,  and  which  were  sup- 
plied either  by  a  continued  stream  from  the 
reservoir,  or  had  water  poured  into  them  by  the 
gardeners,  in  the  manner  shown  in  the  Egyptian 
monuments.  These  rills  being  turned  and  di- 
rected by  the  foot,  gave  rise  to  the  phrase  '  water- 
ing by  the  foot,'  as  indicative  of  garden  irrigation 
(Deut.  xi.  10).  The  following  representation 
(No.  188)  very  clearly  shows  the  way  in  which 
water  was  raised,  by  a  balanced  lever,  from  the 
stream  or  reservoir,  and  poured  into  a  ti-ough, 
whence  it  flowed  into  the  various  canals  for  irri- 
gation.    This  method  is  still  in  use. 


[Watering  Garden] 


Gardens  were  dedicated  to  various  uses  among 
the  Hebrews,  such  as  we  still  find  prevailing  in 
the  East.  One  most  essential  difference  between 
them  and  our  own  is  that  they  are  not  attached 
to  or  in  any  way  connected  with  the  residence 
but  are  situated  in  the  suburbs.  We  have  knowi> 
gardens  from  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  distant  from 
the  houses  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  belonged 
It  is  manifest  that  all  the  gardens  mentioned  in 
Scripture  were  outside  the  several  towns.  This 
is,  however,  to  be  understood  of  regular  gardens, 
for  shrubs  and  flowers  were  often  planted  in  the 
open  courts  of  the  dwelling-houses. 

People  repair  to  their  suburban  gardens  to  take 
the  air,  to  walk,  and  to  refresh  and  solace  them- 
selves in  various  ways.  For  their  use  there  is 
mostly  in  each  garden  a  kind  of  summer-house 
or  pavilion,  fitted  up  with  much  neatness,  gaily 
painted,  and  furnisned  with  seats,  where  the 
visitants  may  sit  and  enjoy  themselves.  Here 
sometimes  banquets  were  and  are  still  given, 
attended  by  singing  and  music  (Isa.  li.3;  l.w.  3). 
The  custom  of  burying  the  dead  in  gardens  is 
indicated  in  Gen.  xxiii.  19,  20;  2  Kings  xxi.  4; 
1  Sam.  xxv.  1  ;  Mark  xv.  46 ;  and  still  occurs 
sometimes  in  the  East,  but  is  not  very  prevalent. 


344  GARDEN 

We  find  it  also  among    the    Greeks  and  the 
Romans. 


I  189.    [Garden-houses.] 

i  It  is  evident  that  the  gardens  of  the  Hebrews 
j  were  in  a  very  considerable  degree  devoted  to  the 
I  culture  of  medicinal  herbs,  the  preparation  of 
I  "which  in  various  ways  was  a  matter  of  much 
:  solicitude  with  them  (Jer.  viii.  22).  This  is  still 
'  the  case  in  the  East,  where  vegetable  simples  are 
!  as  much  employed  in  medicine  as  they  were  in 
i  this  country  in  the  times  of  Gerarde'and  Cul- 
pepper. 

It  would  seem  that  the  Jews  were  much  in  the 
habit  of  performing  their  devotions  in  gardens 
(Gen,  xxiv.  63;  Matt.  xvi.  30;  John  ii.  48; 
xviii.  1,  2).  This  interesting  practice,  however, 
was  idolatrously  abused  ;  for  the  worship  of  idols 
in  these  shady  seclusions  was  not  of  unfrequent 
occurrence,  and  is  often  mentioned  in  Scripture 
(I  Kings  xir.  23;  2  Kings  xvi.  4;  xvii.  10 
2  Chron.  xviii.  4  ;  Isa.  Ixv.  3;  Ixvi.  17  ;  Jer.  ii, 
20 ;  iii.  6 ;  Ezek.  xx.  28). 

Such  are  the  principal  points  of  information 
concerning  gardens  which  may  be  collected  from 
Scripture,  or  which  may  be  connected  with  the 
Scriptural  intimations. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  gardens 
of  the  ancient  Jews  differed  in  any  material  re- 
spect from  those  which  are  still  found  in  Pales- 
tine. Such  difference  as  did  exist  was  doubtless 
occasioned  chiefly  by  the  minute  rules  which 
were  founded  upon  the  law  forbidding  the  inter- 
mixture of  diverse  plants  and  seeds.  The  gar- 
dens of  the  Holy  Land  have  been  mentioned  by 
travellers  in  terms  too  vague  and  general  to 
afford  the  basis  of  a  satisfactory  description. 
Dr.  Olin  seems  to  have  paid  most  attention  to 
them.  Of  the  gardens  near  Shechem  he  says, 
*  I^poD  turning  an  angle  in  »he  steep  gorge  we 
fouiid  ourselves,  as  if  by  enchantment,  in  the 
midst  of  fruitful  gardens  filled  with  vegetables, 
flowers,  and  fruit-trees,  and  all  in  the  highest 
perfection  of  luxuriance  and  beauty.  Olives, 
vines,  acacias,  pomegranates,  figs,  mulberries,  and 
}  several  species  of  trees  which  I  did  not  recognise, 


GATE 

are  crowded  together  in  small  enclosures,  forming 
an  impervious  shade  as  well  as  an  impenetrable 
thicket ;  and  yet  the  capabilities  of  the  soil  seem 
not  to  be  overburdened.  Each  separate  tree  and 
plant  thrives  to  admiration,  and  seems  rather  to 
profit  than  suffer  from  the  thick  dark  canopy  of 
branches  and  foliage,  which  entirely  excludes  the 
sun's  rays  from  the  tangled  huddle  of  trunks  and 
roots.  A  beautiful  mountain  stream  runs  through 
the  midst  of  this  forest  of  gardens,  in  a  channel 
mostly  artificial  and  sometimes  covered;  but  the 
water  often  rises  into  small  fountains,  and  forms 
several  cascades.'  The  orange  and  citron  trees 
which  abound  in  these  gardens  near  Shechem 
were  probably  those  not  recognised  by  Dr.  Olin, 
from  their  not  being  in  fruit  at  the  time  of  his 
visit. 

GARLIC  occurs  only  once  in  Scripture,  and 
that  in  the  passage  (Num.  xi.  5)  in  which  the 
Israelites  are  described  as  murmuring,  among 
other  things,  for  the  leeks,  the  onions,  and  the 
garlic  (shumim)  of  Egypt.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  its  being  correctly  so  translated,  as  the 
corresponding  Arabic  word  still  signifies  a  species 
of  garlic,  which  is  cultivated  and  esteemed 
througliout  Eastern  countries.  Ancient  authors 
mention  that  garlic  was  cultivated  in  Egypt  and 
highly  esteemed  there.  Herodotus  enumerates  it 
as  one  of  the  substances  upon  which  a  large  sum 
(1600  talents)  was  spent  for  feeding  labourers 
employed  in  building  the  Pyramids.  The  species 
considered  to  have  been  thus  cultivated  in  Egypt, 
is  Allium  Ascalonicmn,  which  is  the  most  com- 
mon in  Eastern  countries,,  and  obtains  its  specific 
name  from  having  been  brought  into  Europe 
from  Ascalon.  It  is  now  usually  known  in  the 
kitchen  garden  by  the  name  of  '  eschalot'  or 
'  shallot,'  and  is  too  common  to  require  a  fuller 
notice. 

GATE,  DOOR,  the  entrance  to  enclosed 
grounds,  buildings,  dwelling-houses,  towns,  &c. 
Thus  we  find  mentioned — 1.  Gates  of  cities,  as 
of  Jerusalem,  its  sheep-gate,  fish-gate,  &c.  (Jer. 
xxxvii.  13 ;  Neh.  i.  3 ;  ii.  3 ;  vii.  3) ;  of  Sodom 
(Gen.  xix.  1);  of  Gaza  (Judg.  xvi.  3).  2.  Gates 
of  royal  palaces  (Neh.  ii.  8).  3.  Gates  of  the 
Temple.  The  temple  of  Ezekiel  had  two  gates, 
one  towards  the  north,  the  other  towards  the 
east ;  the  latter  closed  (Ezek.  xliv.  1 ,  2),  the  other 
must  have  been  open.  4.  Gates  of  tombs  (Matt. 
xxvii.  60).  5.  Gates  of  prisons.  In  Acts  xii.  10, 
mention  is  made  of  the  iron-gate  of  Peter's  prison 
(xvi.  27).  Prudentius  speaks  of  gatekeepers  of 
prisons.  6.  Gates  of  caverns  (1  Kings  xix.  13). 
7.  Gates  of  camps  (Exod.  xxxii.  26,  27  ;  see  Heb. 
xiii.  12).  The  camps  of  the  Romans  had  gene- 
rally four  gates.  The  camp  of  the  Trojans  is 
also  described  as  having  had  gates. 

We  do  not  know  of  what  materials  the  enclo- 
sures and  gates  of  the  temporary  camps  of  the 
Hebrews  were  formed.  In  Egj'ptian  monuments 
such  enclosures  are  indicated  by  lines  of  upright 
shields,  witli  gates  apparently  of  wicker,  defended 
by  a  strong  guard. 

Gates  of  Towns. — As  the  gates  of  towns 
served  the  ancients  as  places  of  security  [Forti- 
fications], a  durable  material  was  required  for 
them,  and  accordingly  we  find  mentioned — 
1.  Gates  of  iron  and  brass  (Ps.  evii.  16;  Isa. 
xlv.  2  ;  Acts  xii.  10).  It  is  probable  that  gates 
thus  described  were,  in  fact,  only  sheeted  with 


GATE 


GATE 


345 


plates  of  copper  or  iron ;  and  it  is  probably  in 
j  this  sense  we  are  to  interpret  the  hundred  brazen 
gates  ascribed  to  the  ancient  Babylon,  Thevenot 
describes  the  six  gates  of  Jerusalem  as  covered 
■with  iron,  which  is  probably  still  the  case  with 
the  four  gates  now  open.  Other  iron-covered 
gates  are  mentioned  by  travellers,  such  as  some 
of  the  town  gates  of  Algiers,  and  of  the  towers  of 
j  the  so-called  iron-bridge  at  Antioch.  The  prin- 
cipal gates  of  the  great  mosque  at  Damascus  are 
covered  with  brass.  Gates  of  iron  are  also  men- 
tioned by  Hesiod  and  by  Ovid. 


[Egyptian  Camp-gate.] 


2.  Gates  of  stone  and  of  pearls  are  mentioned 
in  Isa.  liv.  \2,  and  Rev.  xxi.  21,  which,  it  has 
justly  been  supposed,  refer  to  such  doors,  cut  out 
of  a  single  slab,  as  are  occasionally  discovered  in 
ancient  countries.  At  Essouan  (Syene),  in  Upper 
Egypt,  there  is  a  granite  gateway  bearing  the 
name  of  Alexander,  the  son  of  Alexander  the 
Great  (Wilkinson,  iii.  403).  The  doors  leading 
to  the  several  chambers  of  the  so-called  '  Tombs 
of  the  Kings  '  near  Jerusalem,  were  each  formed 
of  a  single  stnne  seven  incbes  thick,  sculptured 
so  as  to  resemble  four  panels :  the  styles,  muntins, 
and  other  parts  were  cut  with  great  art,  and  ex- 
actly resembled  those  of  a  door  made  by  a  car- 
penter at  the  present  day,  the  whole  being  com- 
pletely smooth  and  polished,  and  most  accurate 
in  their  proportions.  The  doors  turned  on  pivots, 
of  the  same  stone  of  which  the  rest  of  them  were 
composed,  which  were  inserted  in  corresponding 
sockets  above  and  below,  the  lower  tenon  being 
of  course  short.  This  .is  one  of  the  modes  in 
which  heavy  doors  of  wood  are  now  hung  in  the 
East.  One  of  these  doors  was  still  hanging  in 
Maundrell's  time,  and  '  did  not  touch  its  lintel  by 
at  least  three  inches.'  But  all  these  doors  are 
now  thrown  down  and  broken.  Similar  doors 
are  described  by  Dr.  Clarke  in  the  remarkable 
excavated  sepulchres  at  Telmessus,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Asia  Minor ;  and  others  were 
noticed  by  Irby  and  Mangles  in  the  sepulchres 
near  Beisan  (Bethshan).  There  are  stone  doors 
to  the  houses  in  the  Haouran  beyond  the  Jordan ; 
and  the  present  writer  has  repeatedly  seen  in  the 
north  of  Persia  the  street-doors  of  superior  houses 
composed  of  a  single  slab  of  a  kind  of  slate. 

3.  Gates  of  wood.  Of  this  kind  were  probably 
the  gates  of  Gaza  (Judg.  xvi..3).  They  had 
generally  two  valves,  which,  according  to  Faber's 
description,  had  sometimes  smaller  doors,  or 
■wickets,  to  afford  a  passage  when  the  principal 
gate  was  closed,  a  fact  which  he  applies  to  the 
illustration  of  Matt.  vii.  13. 

Gates  were  generally  protected  by  some  works 
against  the  surprises  of  enemies  (Jer.  xxxix.  4). 
Sometimes  two  gates  were  constructed,  one  be- 


hind another,  an  outer  and  inner  one ;  or  there 
were  turrets  on  both  sides  (2  Sam.  xviii.  24,  33) 
The  gates  of  the  ancients  were  generally  secured 
with  strong  heavy  bolts  and  locks  of  brass  or  iron 
(Deut.  iii.  .5;  1  Sam.  xxiii.  7;  1  Kings  iv.  13j 
2  Chron.  viii.  5 ;  Jer.  xiv.  2 ;  xlix.  31  ;  Ps. 
cxlvii.  13).  This  was  probably  done  with  a  view 
to  the  safety  of  the  town,  and  to  prevent  hostile 
inroads.  The  keys  of  gates,  as  well  as  of  doors, 
were  generally  of  wood  ;  and  Thevenot  observes 
that  gates  might  be  opened  even  with  the  finger 
put  into  the  key-hole,  from  which  Harmer  eluci- 
dates the  passage  in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  v.  4. 

The  gates  of  towns  M'ere  kept  open  or  shut  ac- 
cording to  circumstances :  in  time  of  war  they 
were  closed  against  the  inroads  of  the  enemy 
(Josh.  ii.  5),  but  they  were  opened  when  the 
enemy  had  been  conquered.  On  festive  occasions 
they  were  also  thrown  wide  open,  to  which  Ps. 
xxiv.  7  alludes.  This  opening  of  the  gates,  as 
well  as  closing  them,  was  done  by  means  of  keys. 
That  near  the  gates  towers  were  often  constructed, 
serving  for  defence  against  attacks  of  the  enemy, 
may  be  inferred  from  Deut.  iii.  5 ;  2  Sam.  xviii. 
24 ;  Judg.  ix.  3.5,  comp.  with  52.  Enemies,  there- 
fore, in  besieging  towns  were  most  anxious  to 
obtain  possession  of  the  gates  as  quickly  as  pos- 
sible (Deut.  xxviii.  52;  Judg.  ix.  40;  2  Sam. 
x.  8 ;  xi.  23 ;  1  Kings  viii.  37 ;  Job  v.  4 ;  Isa. 
xxii.  7 ;  xxviii.  6) ;  and  generally  the  town  was 


191.    [Gate  of  Koiiieh.] 

conquered  when  its  gates  were  occupied  by  the 
invading  troops  (Deut.  xxviii.  57  ;  Judg.  v.  8). 
In  or  near  the  gates,  therefore,  they  placed  watch- 
men, and  a  sufficiently  strong  guard,  to  keep  an 
eye  on  the  movements  of  the  enemy,  and  to  de- 
fend the  works  in  case  of  need  (Judg.  xviii.  16  ; 
2  Kings  vii.  3  ;  Neh.  xiii.  22). 

We  read  that  some  portions  of  the  law  were  to 
be  written  on  the  gates  of  towns,  as  well  as  on  the 
doors  of  houses  (Deut.  vi.  9;  xi.  20  );  and  if  this 
is  to  be  literally  understood,  it  receives  illustra- 
tion from  the  practice  of  the  Moslems  in  painting 
passages  of  the  Koran  ou  their  public  and  private 


346 


GAl-E 


gates.  Various  artificial  figures  and  inscriptions 
•were  engraved  on  their  gates  by  tlie  Romans. 

Criminals  were  punished  without  the  gates 
(1  Kings  xxi.  13;  Acts  vii.  59),  which  explains 
the  passage  in  Heb.  xiii.  12.  The  same  custom 
existed  among  the  Romans.  As  to  the  gate 
through  which  Christ  was  led,  before  his  cruci- 
fixion, opinions  differ ;  some  taking  it  to  have 
been  the  dung-gate ;  others  understand  it  of  the 
gate  of  judgment.  But  for  all  that  concerns  the 
gates  of  Jerusalem,  we  must  refer  to  the  article 
Jerusalem. 

Gates  are  often  mentioned  in  Scripture  as  places 
at  which  were  holden  courts  of  justice,  to  admi- 
nister the  law  and  determine  points  in  dispute : 
hence  judges  in  the  gate  are  spoken  of  (Gen. 
xix.  1;  xxiii.  10,  18;  xxxiv.  20;  Deut.  xvi.  18; 
xvii.  8  ;  xxi.  19  ;  xxv.  6,  7  ;  Josh.  xx.  4  ;  Ruth  iv. 
1;  1  Sam.  iv.  18;  2  Sam.  xviii.  24;  xix.  8; 
1  Kings  xxii.  10  ;  Job  xxix.  7;  Prov.  xxii.  22  ; 
xxiv.  7  ;  Lament,  v.  14  ;  Amos  v.  12;  Zech.  viii. 
1 6).  The  reason  of  this  custom  is  apparent ;  for 
the  gates  being  places  of  great  concourse  and  re- 
sort, the  courts  held  at  them  were  of  easy  access 
to  all  the  people ;  witnesses  and  auditors  to  all 
transactions  were  easily  secured  (a  matter  of  much 
importance  in  the  absence  or  scanty  use  of  written 
documents)  ;  and  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  the 
magistrate  was  ensured  by  the  publicity  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. There  was  within  the  gate  a  particular 
place,  where  the  judges  sat  on  chairs,  and  this 
custom  must  be  understood  as  referred  to  when 
we  read  that  courts  were  held  under  the  gates,  as 
uay  be  proved  from  1  Kings  xxii.  10 ;  2  Chron. 
x/iii.  9.  Apart  from  the  noldiug  of  courts  of 
justice,  the  gate  served  for  reading  the  law,  and 
for  proclaiming  ordinances,  &c.  (2  Chron.  xxxii. 
6  ;  Neh.  viii.  1,  3).  We  see  from  Prov.  xxxi.  23 ; 
Lam.  V.  14,  that  the  inferior  magistrates  held  a 
court  in  the  gates,  as  well  as  the  superior  judges 
(Jer.  xxxvi.  JO);  and  even  kings,  at  least  occa- 
sionally, did  the  same  (1  Kings  xxii.  10,  comp. 
with  Ps.  cxxvii.  5).  The  gates  at  Jerusalem 
served  the  same  purpose ;  but  for  the  great  num- 
ber of  its  inhabitants,  many  places  of  justice  were 
required.  Thus  we  find  that  Neliemiah  (iii.  32) 
calls  a  particular  gate  of  this  city  the  counsel- 
gate,  or  justice-gate;  which  seems  to  have  had  a 
preference,  though  not  exclusive,  since  courts 
must  have  been  holden  in  the  other  gates  also. 
The  same  custom  prevails  to  the  present  day 
among  other  Oriental  nations,  as  in  the  kingdom 
of  Marocco,  where  courts  of  justice  were  holden 
in  the  gate  of  the  capital  town.  Respecting  the 
Abyssiuians  and  inhabitants  of  Hindostan,  we  are 
likewise  assured  that  they  employed  their  gates 
for  courts  of  justice.  Homer  states  of  the  Trojans 
that  their  elders  assembled  in  the  gates  of  the  town 
to  determine  causes,  and  Virgil  says  the  sam*. 
From  Juvenal  it  appears  that  with  the  Romans 
the  Porta  Capeua  was  used  for  this  purpose. 

In  Palestine  gates  were,  moreover,  the  places 
where,  sometimes  at  least,  the  priests  delivered 
their  sacred  addresses  and  discourses  to  the 
people  ;  and  we  find  that  the  prophets  often  pro- 
claimed their  warnings  and  prophecies  in  the 
gates  (Prov.  i.  21;  viii.  3;  Isa.  xxix.  21  Jer. 
xvii.  19,  20;  xxvi.  10;  xxxvi.  10). 

Among  the  heathen  gates  were  connected  with 
sacrifices,  which  were  offered  in  their  immediate 
vicinity ;  in  which  respect  the  hills  near  the  gates 


GATE 

are  mentioned  (2  Kings  xxiii.  8).  In  Acts  xiv. 
1 3,  the  gates  of  Lystra  are  referred  to,  near  which 
sacrifice  was  offered. 

The  gate  was,  further,  a  public  place  of  meeting 
and  conversation,  where  the  people  assembled  in 
large  numbers  to  learn  the  news  of  the  day,  and 
by  various  talk  to  while  away  the  too  tedious  hours 
(Ps.  Ixix.  12).  It  was  probably  with  this  view  that 
Lot  sat  under  the  gate  of  Sodom  (Gen.  xix.  1); 
which  is  more  probable  than  the  Jewish  notion 
that  he  sat  there  as  one  of  the  judges  of  the  city. 

Under  the  gates  they  used  to  sell  various  mer- 
chandises, provisions,  victuals,  e.  g.  at  Samaria 
(2  Kings  vii.  1)  ;  and  for  this  purpose  there  were 
generally  recesses  in  the  space  under  them.  The 
same  is  stated  by  Aristophanes  of  the  gates  of  the 
Greeks.  But  with  respect  to  the  markets  at  gates, 
the  present  writer  would  note  what  has  often  oc- 
curred to  his  own  notice  in  different  parts  of  the 
East,  which  is,  that  the  commodities  sold  at  the 
gates  are  almost  exclusively  country  produce, 
animal  or  vegetable,  for  the  supply  of  the  city, 
and  not  manufactured  goods,  which  are  invariably 
sold  in  the  bazaars  in  the  heart  of  the  town.  The 
gate-markets  also  are  only  held  for  a  few  hours 
early  in  the  morning. 

On  an  uproar  having  broken  out  at  Jerusalem, 
the  heads  of  the  people  met  under  the  New-gate 
(Jer.  xxix.  26),  where  they  were  sure  to  find  in- 
surgents. The  town-gates  were  to  the  ancient 
Orientals  what  the  coffee-houses,  exchanges,  mar- 
kets, and  courts  of  law,  are  in  our  large  towns : 
and  such  is  still  the  case  in  a  great  degree,  al- 
though the  introduction  of  coffee-houses  has  in 
this,  and  other  respects,  caused  some  alteration  of 
Eastern  manners. 


Gates  are  put  figuratively  for  public  places  of 
towns  and  palaces.  The  gates  of  a  town  are  also 
put  instead  of  the  town  itself  (Gen.  xii.  17  ;  xxiv, 
60  ;  Deut.  xii.  12  ;  Ps.  Ixxxvii.  2). 

The  gates  of  death,  and  of  hell,  occur  in  Job 
xxxviii.  17  ;  Ps.  ix.  14  ;  Micah  ii.  13.  Doors  and 
gates  of  hell  are  chiefly  introduced,  Prov.  v.  5 ; 
Isa.  xxxviii.  10 ;  Matt.  xvi.  19 ;  and  the  Jews  go 


GATE 

so  far  in  their  writings  as  to  ascribe  real  gates  to 
hell.  The  origin  of  this  metaphorical  expression 
is  not  difficult  to  explain  ;  for  it  was  very  com- 
mon to  use  the  word  gates  as  an  image  of  large 
empires  (Ps.  xxiv.  7)  ;  and  in  pagan  authors  the 
abode  of  departed  souls  is  represented  as  the  re 
sideuce  of  Pluto.  In  the  passage,  then,  Matt.  xvi. 
19,  by  '  gates  of  hell '  must  be  understood  all  ag- 
gressions by  the  infernal  empire  upon  the  Chris- 
tian church. 

Among  tlie  ancient  Egyptians,  doors  were  fre- 
quently stained  so  as  to  imitate  foreign  wood. 
They  were  either  of  one  or  two  valves,  turning 
on  pins  of  metal,  and  were  secured  within  by  bars 
and  bolts.  Some  of  the  bronze  pins  have  been 
discovered  in  the  tombs  of  Thebes,  and  two  of 
them,  after  Wilkinson,  are  figured  in  No.  192, 
figs.  2,  3.  They  were  fastened  to  the  wood  with 
nails  of  the  same  metal.  The  stone  lintels  and 
floor  behind  the  threshold  of  the  tombs  and 
temples  still  exhibit  the  holes  in  which  the  pins 
turned,  as  well  as  those  of  the  bolts  and  bars,  and 
the  recess  for  receiving  the  opening  valves.  The 
folding-doors  had  bolts  in  the  centre,  sometimes 
above  as  well  as  below ;  a  bar  was  placed  across 
from  one  wall  to  the  other ;  and  in  many  cases 
they  were  secured  by  wooden  locks  passing  over 
the  centre  (No.  193,  fig.  4)  at  the  junction  of  the 

J 


GATE 


347 


'H 

I 

i>^^l  p-^ 

a 

yj 

two  folds.  For  greater  security  they  are  also 
occasionally  sealed  with  a  mass  of  clay.  This 
was  also  a  custom  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  as 
appears  from  Herodotus  (ii.  121);  from  tombs 
actually  so  closed  at  Thebes  ;  and  from  the  sculp- 
tures, a.s  in  No.  193,  fig.  3,  where  the  door  is  thus 
closed  and  sealed.  To  this  custom  there  is  an 
allusion  in  Job  [Clay].  At  a  later  period,  when 
iron  came  into  general  use,  keys  were  made  of 
that  metal,  of  the  shape  shown  in  No.  192,  fig.  4. 
Of  the  kind  thus  indicated  were  prol)ably  the 
lock  and  key  which  fastened  the  summer-parlour 
of  King  Eglon  (Judg.  iii.  23,  25).  In  this  case 
Ehud  locked  the  door  and  took  away  the  key  ; 
but  when  the  servants  became  alarmed,  they 
easily  opened  it  with  another  key ;  which  suggests 
that  the  lock,  as  in  ancient  Egypt  or  the  modern 


East,  was  nothing  more  than  a  peculiarly  con- 
structed open  bolt  of  wood,  which  tlie  wooden  or 
metal  key  was  adapted  to  raise  and  thrust  back. 
The  forms  of  the  Egyptian  doors  may  be  seen 
from  the  cuts.  Fig.  1,  No.  192,  is  from  a  curious 
ancient  model  in  the  British  Museum,  of  a  small 
ancient  Egyptian  house,  and  may  serve  to  show 
very  clearly  how  the  doors  of  small  houses  were 
formed,  hung,  and  secured.  The  elegant  cornice 
of  the  door,  fig.  2,  No.  193,  will  not  escape  observ- 
ation ;  fig.  1  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  a  fold- 
ing-door. 


A  comparison  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  doors 
with  those  now  used  in  the  East  will  probably 
suggest  no  incorrect  notion  of  the  provision  among 
the  ancient  Hebrews  in  this  respect.  A  sort  of 
intermediate  idea  arising  from  this  comparison 
will  be  found  to  furnish  very  satisfactory  illus- 
trations of  most  of  the  passages  of  Scripture  which 
relate  to  the  subject.  No.  194  is  a  very  usual 
form  of  the  street  door  of  a  private  house.  The 
inscription  on  the  central  compartment  is  usually 
painted  in  white  or  black.  It  means,  '  He  (i.  e. 
God)  is  the  Creator,  the  Everlasting,'  and  brings 
strongly  to  mind  the  Hebrew  custom  to  which  we 
have  more  than  once  alluded.  Doors  are  gene- 
rally unpainted  throughout  Western  Asia  and  in 
Egypt.  The  other  doors  shown  in  the  cuts 
belong  to  the  internal  front  of  the  houses,  and  not 
to  the  external  frontage  or  screen.  Fig.  2,  No. 
193,  has  an  open  lattice  over  the  door,  and  the 
elegant  proportion  of  the  whole  entrance  claims 
attention.      No.   195    shows  different  forms  of 


common  doors,  and  the  whole  piece  affords  an 
interesting  illustration  of  the  basement  of  an 
Eastern  house,  with  the  stone  steps  leading  to  the 
gallery,  into  which  all  the  state  rooms  and  family 
rooms  open. 

In  the  interior  of  houses  it  is  not  unusual  to  see 
curtains  instead  of  doors,  especially  in  summer. 
This  helps  to  keep  the  apartment  cool,  and  also 


348 


GATH 


enables  servants  to  enter  without  noise.  This 
custom  originated  in  the  use  of  tents.  Accord- 
ingly we  find  that  all  the  entrances  of  the  taber- 
nacle had  curtains,  although  the  framework  was 
of  wood  (Exod.  xxvi.  31-3;3,  36,37) ;  and  even  iu 
the  temple  a  curtain  or  '  vail'  formed  the  separa- 
tion between  the  Holy  and  the  Most  Holy  place. 

GATH,  one  of  the  five  princely  cities  of  the 
Philistines,  of  which  mention  is  made  in  Josh, 
xiii.  o.  It  was  one  of  the  cities  upon  which  the 
ark  is  said  to  have  brought  calamity  (1  Sam.  v. 
8,  9),  and  which  offered  in  connection  therewith 
a  ti-espass-offering,  each  one  a  golden  emerod  (1 
Sam.  vi.  17).  Goliath,  of  the  family  of  giants 
which  Joshua  spared  (Josh.  xi.  22),  of  which  other 
members  may  be  found  mentioned  in  Scripture  (1 
Chron.  xxi.  5-8  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  19-22),  has  rendered 
Gath  a  word  familiar  from  our  childhood  ;  but  it 
is  not  certain  whether  Goliath  was  a  native  or 
merely  a  resident  of  Gath  (1  Sam.  xvii.  4).  To 
Achish,  king  of  Gath,  David  fled  for  fear  of  Saul 
(]  Sam.  xxi.  10;  xxvii.  2-7,-  Ps.  Ivi.).  At  his 
own  entreaty  David  received  from  Achish  the  city 
of  Ziklag.  David  dwelt  in  the  country  of  the 
Philistines  '  a  full  year  and  four  months.'  It  was 
conquered  by  David,  and  fortified  both  by  him 
and  by  Rehoboam  (2  Sam.  viii.  1 ;  1  Chron.  xviii. 
1 ;  2  Chron.  xi.  8).  From  2  Sam.  xv.  18,  it  ap- 
pears that  David  had  a  band  (tiOO  men)  of  Gittites 
iu  his  service  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion  of  Absa- 
lom. Their  devotedness  to  him  under  Ittai  their 
leader  forms  a  beautiful  episode  in  the  history  of 
David's  varied  fortune  (2  Sam.  xv.  19,  sq.). 
Shimei's  visit  to  Gath  aud  its  fatal  consequences 
to  himself  may  be  read  in  1  Kings  ii.  39-46.  In 
the  reign  of  Solomon  mention  is  made  of  a  king 
of  Gath  (1  Kings  iv.  24),  who  was  doubtless  a 
tributary  prince,  but  powerful  enough  to  cause 
apprehension  to  Solomon,  as  appears  from  the 
punishment  he  inflicted  on  Shimei.  Under  Je- 
hoash,  Hazael,  king  of  Syria,  took  Gath  (2  Kings 
xii.  1 7) ;  from  his  successor,  Benhadad,  the  place 
was  recovered  (2  Kings  xiii.  24).  It  must,  how- 
ever, have  soon  revolted ;  for  Uzziah  (2  Chron. 
xxvi.  6),  finding  it  necessary  to  war  against  the 
Philistines,  '  broke  down  the  wall  of  Gath.'  Pro- 
bably the  conquest  was  not  of  long  duration. 
This  constant  withstanding  of  the  power  of  Jeru- 
salem shows  that  Gath  was  a  place  of  great  re- 
sources and  high  eminence — a  conclusion  which 
is  confirmed  by  the  language  employed  by  the 
prophets  (Amos  vi.  2 ;  Micah  i.  10).  '  Gath,' 
says  Jerome,  {on  Micah  i.),  •  is  one  of  the  five 
Philistine  cities  lying  near  the  confines  of  Judah, 
on  the  road  from  Eleutheropolis  to  Gaza ;  now  it 
is  a  very  large  village.'  Ou  Jerera.  xxv.  the  same 
authority  declares  that  Gath  was  not  far  from 
Azotus.  Modern  travellers  give  no  description  of 
the  place. 

There  was  a  Gath-hepher  belonging  to  the  chil- 
dren of  Zebulun  (Josh.  xix.  10,  sq.),  the  birth- 
place of  the  prophet  Jonah  (2  Kings  xiv.  25), 
lying  not  far  from  Sepphoris  on  the  road  to  Tibe- 
rias. Another  Gath  (Gathrimmon,  Josh.  xix. 
45)  lay  in  the  territory  of  Dan.  It  was  a  Levite 
city  (Josh.  xxi.  24 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  69).  In  the 
time  of  Eusebius  it  was  a  very  large  village, 
'  twelve  miles  from  Diospolis,  as  you  go  hence  to 
Eleutheropolis.' 
GAULONITIS.  [Golan.] 
GA'ZA  lies  on  the  road  leading  from  Akabah 


GAZA 

to  Hebron,  which  passes  along  nearlv  the  whole 
length  of  the  great  Wady-el-Arabah.  'it  is  on  the 
sea-coast,  in  lat.  31°  29',  long.  34°  29'  in  the 
country  of  the  Philistines  (Josh.  xv.  47).  It  is  a 
very  ancient  place,  as  we  find  it  mentioned  in 
Gen.  X.  19,  where  it  is  given  as  one  of  the  border- 
cities  of  the  Canaanites.  In  Deut.  ii.  23,  it  is  found 
a    ■'     I'-ieu  -  \  1  „a 


smote  the  Canaanites  as  far  as  Gaza  (Josh.  x.  41), 
but  spared  the  Anakim  (giants)  that  dwelt  there 
(Josh.  xi.  21,  22).  In  the  division  of  the  land, 
Gaza  fell  to  the  lot  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  47),  and 
was  taken  by  him  with  the  coast  thereof  (Judg. 
i.  18),  but  its  inhabitants  were  not  exterminated 
(Judg.  iii.  3).  Gaza  was  one  of  the  five  Philistine 
cities  which  gave  each  a  golden  emerod  as  a  tres- 
pass-offering to  the  Lord  (1  Sam.  vi.  17).  Solo- 
mon's kingdom  extended  as  far  as  Gaza  (1  Kings 
iv.  24).  But  the  place  appears  always  as  a  Phi- 
listine city  in  Scripture  (Judg.  iii.  3 ;  xvi.  1  ;  1 
Sam.  vi.  17  ;  2  Kings  xviii.  8).  Hezekiah  smote 
the  Philistines  as  far  as  Gaza  (2  Kings  xviii.  8). 
Gaza  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Egyptians,  pro- 
bably Pharaoh-Necho  ( Jer.  xlvii.  1 ;  comp.  Herod, 
ii.  159).  The  prophets  speak  in  severe  terms 
against  it  (Jer.  xxv.  20 ;  xlvii.  5  ;  Amos  i.  6,  7  ; 
Zeph.  ii.  4 ;  Zech.  ix.  5).  After  the  destruction 
of  Tyre  it  sustained  a  siege  of  two  months  against 
Alexander  the  Great.  Jonathan  Maccabaius  de- 
stroyed its  suburbs  ;  Simon  Maccabaeus  took  the 
city  itseif,  though  not  without  extraordinary 
efforts.  Alexander  Jannseus  spent  a  year  in  be- 
sieging it  and  punishing  its  inhabitants.  The 
place  was  rebuilt  by  Gabinius.  It  was  among  the 
cities  given  by  Augustus  to  Herod,  after  whose 
death  it  was  united  to  the  province  of  Syria. 

Gaza  is  celebrated  for  the  exploit  recorded  of 
Samson  (Judg.  xvi.  1-3),  who  '  took  the  doors  of 
the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the  two  posts,  and  went 
away  with  them,  bar  and  all,  and  put  them  on  his 
shoulders,  and  carried  them  up  to  the  top  of  a  hill 
that  is  before  Hebron.'  The  Philistines  after- 
wards took  Samson,  and  put  out  his  eyes,  aud 
brought  him  to  Gaza,  aud  bound  him  with  fetters 
of  brass,  and  he  did  grind  in  the  prison-house  :  he, 
however,  pulled  down  the  temple  of  Dagon,  god 
of  the  Philistines,  and  slew,  together  with  himself, 
'  all  the  lords  of  the  Philistines,'  besides  men  and 
women  (Judg.  xvi.  21-30).     It  was  near  Gaza — 


GEDALIAH 

on  the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  that  place — that 
Philip  baptized  the  eunuch  '  of  great  authority 
under  Candace,  queen  of  the  Ethiopians '  (Acts 
viii.  2G,  sq.)- 

Gaza  lay  some  distance  from  the  sea,  though  it 
had  a  port  on  the  sea,'  called  '  Gaza  on  the  sea,' 
called  also  Majuma,  which  Constantine  called 
Constantia,  from  the  name  of  his  son,  giving  it, 
at  the  same  time,  municipal  rights.  Julian  took 
away  this  name  and  ordered  it  to  be  called  the 
port  of  Gaza.  Subsequent  emperors  restored  the 
name  and  the  privileges  of  the  place.  It  was  after- 
wards called  the  sea-coast  of  Gaza. 

GE'BA.  It  is  often  stated  that  Geba  and 
Gibeah  were  names  of  the  same  place.  The  two 
names  are  indeed  only  masculine  and  feminine 
forms  of  the  same  word,  signifying  '  hill ;'  but 
tliat  they  were  two  different  places  is  evident  from 
Josh,  xviii.  24 ;  comp.  28 ;  1  Sam.  xiii.  2,  comp. 
;>;  Isa.  X.  29.  Geba  belonged  to  the  tribe  of 
Benjamin  (Josh,  xviii.  24),  and  was  assigned  to 
flic  priests  (Josh.  xxi.  17  ;  1  Chron.  vii.  40).  The 
Philistines  were  smitten  from  Geba  unto  Gazer 
by  David  (2  Sam.  v.  25) ;  Asa  rebuilt  Geba  and 
Mizpeh  with  the  stones  of  Kamah  (1  Kings  xv. 
•1-2 ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  6).  '  From  Geba  (in  the  north) 
to  Beersheba '  (in  the  south)  (2  Kings  xxiii.  8), 
e.xpressed  the  whole  extent  of  the  separate  king- 
dom of  Judah,  just  as  '  from  Dan  to  Beersheba ' 
expressed  the  whole  length  of  Palestine.  It 
would  seem,  from  the  manner  in  which  Geba 
(Gaba)  and  Kamah  are  coupled  in  Neh.  vii.  30, 
that  they  were  very  near  each  other;  but  the  site 
of  Geba  is  now  unknown. 

1.  GE'BAL,  a  district,  or  perhaps  sovereignty, 
south  of  Judaea,  in  the  land  of  Edom.  Gebal  sig- 
nifies a  mountain,  and  apparently  belongs  not  to 
the  most  ancient  times,  as  it  does  not  occur  when 
the  Israelites  were  actually  in  this  quarter,  but  is 
first  found  in  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  8,  which  was  probably 
written  in  the  time  of  Jehoshaphat.  The  country 
south  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  on  the  east  of  the  Ghor, 
or  great  valley,  bears  the  same  name  (Jebal  or 
Djebal)  at  the  present  day,  and  is  doubtless  the 
same  as  the  Gebal  of  Scripture.  We  may  therefore 
take  Gebal  as  the  name  of  the  northernmost  portion 
of  Idumxa,  which  was  nearest  to  Palestine. 

2.  GEBAL.     [GiBLiTES.] 
GEDALI'AH  {God-greatened)  ;    son  of  Ahi- 

kam,  and  appointed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  governor 
of  Judipa  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  He 
was  probably  of  the  number  of  those  who  quitted 
the  city  at  the  instance  of  the  prophet,  justly  de- 
spairing of  the  successful  defence  of  a  place  which 
God  had  abandoned.  Gedaliah  had  inherited  his 
father's  respect  for  Jeremiah  (Jer.  xl.  5,  sq.),  and 
was  moreover  enjoined  by  Nebuzaradan  to  look  to 
his  safety  and  welfare.  Gedaliah  was  in  every  way 
•worthy  of  the  difficult  post  he  had  to  fill;  and  he 
adopted  as  the  principle  of  his  conduct  that  sub-  i 
mission  to  existing  cir-cumstances  which  was  requi-  \ 
site  in  one  who  believed  that  Judah  had,  according 
to  the  declared  will  of  God,  been  justly  doomed 
and  punished  for  her  iniquities,  and  who  yet  be- 
lieved that  His  loving  kindness  had  not  utterly 
departed  from  her.  He  established  the  seat  of  his 
melancholy  government  at  Mizpeh  in  the  tribe  of 
Benjamin :  and  there  the  Jews,  who  had  fled  at 
the  advance  of  the  Chaldaan  armies,  or  when  the 
troops  of  Zedekiah  were  dispersed  in  the  plains  of 
Jericho,  quitting  their  retreats,  began  to  gather 


GEHAZI 


349 


around  him.     Gedaliah  wisely  counselled  them 
to  submission  and  quietness ;  and  he  promised  on 
that  condition  to  ensure  them  the  undisturbed  en- 
joyment of  their  possessions,  and  of  the  produce  of 
the  ground.     In  this  hope  the  labours  of  the  field 
were  resumed,  and  the  extraordinary  returns  of 
that  season  secured  as  if  specially  given  to  repair   I 
the  recent  injuries  of  war.     But  this  calm  was  of 
short  duration.     Among  those  who  returned  was 
a  member  of  the  royal  family,  named  Ishmael, 
who  had  taken  refuge  with  Baalis,  king  of  the 
Ammonites.    He  appears  to  have  been  irritated  at 
seeing  one  who  was  not  of  the  house  of  David  ; 
seated  upon  even  the  shadow  of  David's  throne  ;    j 
and  some  of  the  friends  of  Gedaliah  believed  him    I 
to  be  in  a  plot  with  Baalis  to  take  away  his  life. 
But  the  noble-minded  governor  refused  to  enter-    i 
tain  such  a  suspicion,  and  rejected  with  horror  the    i 
proposal  of  an  over-zealous  friend,  who  offered  to   j 
assassinate    Ishmael.     The    suspicion  which  he    I 
thus  generously  repelled  was,  however,  correct.   \ 
He  was  murdered  in  the  midst  of  a  repast  by  this    [ 
very  Ishmael,  whom  he  had  received  as  a  friend,    i 
This  event  happened  about  two  months  after  the    i 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  by  it  the  present  ruin    '■ 
of  Judaea  seemed  to  be  consummated,  b.c.  .588  (2    i 
Kings  XXV.  22-26;  Jer.  xxxix.  14;  xl.  5;  xli.  18).     ; 

GE'DEE.     This  word  signifies  a  wall,  enclo-    '< 
sure,  OT  fortified  place,  and  must  be  understood  in 
this  sense  in  the  ensuing  names.    Geder  itself  was 
the  name  of  an  ancient  town  of  the  Canaauites,  in    i 
the  plain  country  of  Judah  (Josh.  xii.  13),  and  was    ' 
perhaps  the  same  as  Gederah. 

G  EDE'RAII,  a  city  in  the  plain  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XV.  36),  probably  the  same  with  the  preceding    ' 
Geder,  and  with  Bethgader  of  1  Chron.  ii.  51.    ; 
It  seems  to  have  belonged  to  the  family  of  Caleb. 

GEDE'ROTH,  a  city  in  the  plain  country  of 
Judah  (Josh.  xv.  41),  and  one  of  those  which  the 
Philistines  took  from  king  Ahaz  (2  Chron.  xxviii. 
18). 

GE'DOE,  an  ancient  city  in  the  mountains  of 
Judah  (Josh.  xv.  58),  some  of  whose  inhabitants  i 
joined  David  at  Ziklag  (1  Chron.  xii.  7).  It  is 
doubtful  whether  this  be  the  same  Gedor  in  whose  ' 
fertile  valley  the  Simeonites  found  good  pasture  i 
for  their  Hocks  (1  Chron.  iv.  39).  Dr.  Pvobinson,  I 
travelling  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza,  came  in  sight  1 
of  a  place  called  Jedur,  with  ruins,  on  the  brow  of  ■ 
a  mountain  ridge,  which  he  identities  with  Gedor. 

GE'HAZI  (fisi'ort  valley),  a  servant  of  Elisha, 
whose  entire  confidence  he  enjoyed.     His  history    i 
is  involved  in  that  of  his  master  [Elisha].     He    '• 
personally  appears  in  reminding  his  master  of  the 
best  mode  of  rewarding  the  kindness  of  the  Shu- 
namite  (2  Kings  iv.  14).     He  was  present  at  the 
interview  in  which  the  Siiunamite  made  known 
to  the  prophet  that  her  son  was  dead,  and  was  sent    : 
forward  to  lay  Elisha's  staff  on  the  child's  face,    ; 
which  he  did  without  effect  (2  Kings  iv.  31).    The 
most  remarkable  incident  in  his  career  is  that 
which  caused   his   ruin.     When  Elisha,  with  a 
noble  disinterestedness,  declined  the   rich   gifts 
pressed  upon  him  by  the  illustrious  leper  whom    ■ 
he   had   healed,    Gehazi   felt  distressed   that  so   ' 
favourable   an   opportunity  of  profiting   by  the   , 
gratitude  of  Naamau  had  been  so  wilfully  thrown   i 
away.  He  therefore  ran  after  the  retiring  chariots,   ; 
and  requested,  in  his  master's  name,  a  portion  of  | 
the  gifts  which  had  before  been  refused,  on  the  ' 
ground  that  visitors  had  just  arrived  for  whom  , 


350 


GENEALOGY 


he  was  unable  to  provide.  He  asked  a  talent  of 
silver  and  two  dresses;  and  the  grateful  Syrian 
made  him  take  two  talents  instead  of  one.  Having 
deposited  this  spoil  in  a  place  of  safety,  he  again 
appeared  before  Elisha,  whos«  honour  he  had  so 
seriously  compromised.  His  master  asked  him 
where  he  hud  been  ?  and  on  his  answering,  '  Thy 
servant  went  no  whither,'  the  prophet  put  on  the 
severities  of  a  judge,  and  having  denounced  his 
crime,  passed  upon  him  the  terrible  doom,  that 
the  leprosy  of  which  Naaman  had  been  cured, 
should  ckave  to  him  and  his  for  ever.  '  And  he 
went  forth  from  his  presence  a  leper  as  white  as 
snow  '  (2  Kings  v.  20-27).     b.o.  894. 

We  afterwards  find  Gehazi  recounting  to  king 
Joram  the  great  deeds  of  Elisha.  and,  in  the  pro- 
vidence of  God,  it  so  happened  that  when  he  was 
relating  the  restoration  to  life  of  the  Shunamite's 
son,  the  very  woman  with  her  son  appeared  before 
the  king  to  claim  her  house  and  lauds,  which  had 
been  usurped  while  she  had  been  absent  abroad 
during  the  recent  famine.  Struck  by  the  coinci- 
dence, the  king  immediately  granted  her  applica-! 
lion  (2  Kings  viii.  1-6). 

GEM  A  RI' AH  (  God-perfected),  the  soc  of  Sha- 
phan,  and  a  scribe  of  the  temple  in  the  time  of 
Jehoiakim.  Baruch  read  aloud  the  prophecies  of 
Jeremiah  to  the  people  at  the  official  chamber  of 
Gemariah,  which  was  attached  to  the  new  gate  of 
the  temple  built  by  king  Jotham  (Jer.  xxxvi.  10 ; 
comp.  2  Kings  xv.  35).  Gemariah's  son  Michaiah 
having  reported  this  to  his  father,  Baruch  was  in- 
vited to  repeat  the  reading  at  the  scribes'  chamber 
in  the  palace,  before  Gemariah  and  other  scribes 
and  councillors,  who  gave  an  account  of  the  matter 
to  the  king  (Jer.  xxxvi.  10-26).     B.C.  607. 

2.  Gemariah,  son  of  Hilkiah,  who,  with  Elasah, 
son  of  Shaphan,  was  sent  to  Babylon  by  king  Zede- 
kiah  with  his  tribute-money  for  Nebuchadnezzar. 
He  also  took  charge  of  a  letter  from  Jeremiah  to 
the  Jewish  captives  at  Babylon,  warning  them 
against  the  false  prophets  who  deluded  them  by 
promises  of  a  speedy  return  to  their  own  land  (Jer. 
xxix.  3,  4).     B.C.  599. 

GEMS.    [Stones,  PRKCions.] 

GENEALOGY  signifies  a  list  of  ancestors  set 
down  both  in  their  direct  and  collateral  order. 

We  read  of  no  nation  which  was  more  careful 
to  frame  and  preserve  its  genealogical  tables  than 
Israel.  Their  sacred  writings  contain  genealogies 
which  extend  through  a  period  of  more  than  3500 
years,  from  the  creation  of  Adam  to  the  captivity 
of  Judah.  Indeed,  we  find  from  the  books  of  Ezra  j 
and  Nehemiah  that  the  same  carefulness  in  this  I 


GENEALOGY 

matter  was  observed  after  the  captivity ;  for  in 
Ezra  ii.  62  it  is  expressly  stated  that  some  who 
had  come  up  from  Babylon  had  sought  their  re- 
gister among  those  that  were  reckoned  by  gene- 
alogy, but  were  not  found ;  therefore  were  they, 
as  polluted,  removed  from  the  priesthood.  The 
divisioQ  of  the  whole  Hebrew  nation  into  tribes, 
and  the  allotment  to  each  tribe  of  a  specified  por- 
tion of  the  land  of  Canaan  as  an  inalienable  pos- 
session, rendered  it  indispensable  that  they  should 
keep  genealogical  tables.  God  had,  however,  a 
still  higher  object  than  that  of  giving  stability  to 
property  in  Israel,  in  leading  successive  genera- 
tions of  His  people  thus  to  keep  an  accura,te  list 
of  their  ancestry.  That  they  should  do  this  was 
especially  required  from  the  moment  that  the  voice 
of  prophecy  declared  that  the  promised  Messiah 
should  be  of  the  seed  of  Abraham,  of  the  posterity 
of  Isaac,  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
and  of  the  family  of  David. 

The  Rabbins  affirm  that  after  the  Captivity  the 
Jews  were  most  careful  in  keeping  their  pedigrees 
{Bahi/J.  Gemar.  Gloss,  fol.  xiv.  2).  Josephus 
(Z)e  Vita  sua,  p.  998,  D)  states  that  he  traced  his 
own  descent  from  the  tribe  of  Levi  by  public  re- 
gisters. And  he  informs  us  that,  however  disperseri 
and  depressed  his  nation  were,  they  never  neglected 
to  have  exact  genealogical  tables  prepared  from 
the  authentic  documents  which  were  kept  at  Jeru- 
salem ;  and  that  in  all  their  sufferings  they  were 
particularly  careful  to  preserve  those  tables,  and 
to  have  them  renewed  from  time  to  time.  Since, 
however,  the  period  of  their  destruction  as  a  nation 
by  the  Komans,  all  their  tables  of  descent  seem  to 
be  lost,  and  now  they  are  utterly  unable  to  trace 
the  pedigree  of  any  one  Israelite  who  might  lay 
claim  to  be  their  promised,  and  still  expected, 
Messiah.  Hence  Christians  assert,  with  a  force 
that  no  reasonable  and  candid  Jew  can  resist,  that 
Shiloh  must  have  come. 

We  find  traces  of  the  existence  of  the  public 
tables  of  descent,  to  which  Josephus  refers,  in  the 
New  Testament :  the  taxation  spoken  of  by  St. 
Luke  (ii.  2,  3)  would  clearly  indicate  this  ;  for 
how  could  each  one  be  able  to  go  to  his  own  city, 
unless  he  knew  the  specific  tribe  to  which  he  be- 
longed ?  Hence  it  was,  we  think,  that  St.  Paul 
was  able  with  confidence  to  appeal  to  the  He- 
brews concerning  the  lineage  of  Christ ;  '  for  it  is 
evident,'  says  he,  '  that  our  Lord  sprung  out  of 
Judah'  (Heb.  vii.  14  ;  2  Tim.  ii.  8).  To  evince 
this  beyond  reasonable  doubt,  it  pleased  God  to 
give  us  by  his  inspired  servants,  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Luke,  the  following  genealogies : — 


Mat-^hew  i.  2. 


1  Abraham. 

2  Isaac  . 

3  Jacob.     . 

4  Judas.     . 


1  Solomon 

2  Roboam 

3  Abia  . 

4  Asa    . 


5  Phares 5  Josaphat , 


6  Esrom 6  Joram 

7  Aram 7  Ozias. 

8  Aminadab     ....       8  Joatham 

9  Naasson 9  Achaz 

10  Salmon 10  Ezekias 

11  Booz 11  Manasses 

12  Obed 12  Amon 

13  Jesse 13  Josias 13  Joseph. 

14  Jechonias,  i.  e.  Jehoia-) 

kim  or  Eliakim    .     J 


1  Jechonias,  i.  e.  Jehoiachin. 

2  Salathiel. 

3  ZorobabeL 

4  Abiiid. 

5  Eliakim. 

6  A2or. 

7  Sadoc. 

8  Achim. 

9  Eliud. 

10  Eleazar. 

11  Matthan. 

12  Jacob. 


14  David 


14  Jesus. 


GENEALOGY 


GENEALOGY 


351 


God. 

1  Adam 

2  Seth   . 

3  Enos  . 

4  Cainaa 

5  Maleleel 

6  Jared. 

7  Enoch 

8  Mathusala 

9  Lamech 

10  Noe    . 

11  Sem    . 

12  Arphaxad 

13  Cainan 

14  Sala    , 

15  Heber 

16  Phalec 

17  Ragau 

18  Saruch 

19  Nachor 


LcK£  iii.  23. 


1  Thara      . 

2  Abraham. 

3  Isaac  . 

4  Jacob 

5  Juda  .      . 

6  Phares     . 

7  Esrom     . 

8  Aram.     . 

9  Aminadab 

10  Naasson   . 

11  Salmon    . 

12  Booz  .     . 

13  Obed  .     . 

14  Jesse  .     . 

15  David      . 

16  Nathan    . 

17  Mattatha 

18  Menan     . 

19  Melca 


1  Eliakim 


We  do  not  find  that  there  was  any  objection 
made  to  these  genealogies,  either  by  Jew  or  Gen- 
tile, during  the  first  century.  Had  any  difiiculty 
on  this  head  existed,  we  may  reasonably  suppose 
that  the  Jews,  of  all  others,  would  have  been  but 
too  ready  to  detect  and  expose  it.  We  may  there- 
fore fairly  conclude  that,  whatever  diflSculty 
meets  us  now  in  harmonizing  our  Lord's  pedigree 
as  given  by  the  two  Evangelists,  it  could  have 
had  no  place  in  the  first  age  of  the  Christian 
church.  In  subsequent  ages,  however,  objections 
were  and  still  are  made  to  the  genealogies  of 
Matthew  and  Luke. 

The  chief  ground  of  objection  is  the  alleged 
inconsistency  of  the  Evangelists  with  each  other. 
The  first  solution  of  their  apparent  discrepancies 
is  that  of  Africanus,  which,  he  informs  us,  he  re- 
ceived from  the  relatives  of  our  Lord.  It  is  to 
the  effect  that  Matthan,  the  third  in  the  list  from 
Joseph,  in  Matthew's  genealogy,  and  Melchi,  the 
third  in  Luke's  list,  married  successively  the  same 
woman,  by  whom  the  former  begat  Jacob,  and  the 
latter  Heli.  Heli  dying  without  issue,  his  mater- 
nal brother  took  his  widow  to  wife,  by  whom  lie 
had  Joseph,  who,  according  to  law  (Deut.  xxv.  6), 
was  registered  by  Luke  as  the  son  of  Heli,  though 
naturally  the  son  of  Jacob,  as  Matthew  records  him. 
This  is  the  explanation  which  was  generally  ad- 
mitted by  Eusebius,  Nazianzen,  and  others./ora^es. 

Grotius,  however,  availing  himself  of  the  tra- 
dition that  Heli  and  Jacob  were  both  sons  of  the 
same  mother,  but  of  different  fathers  (Matthan 
and  Melchi),  supposes  that  Luke  traces  the  natural 
pedigree  of  Christ,  and  Matthew  the  legal.  This 
he  argues  on  two  grounds.  First,  that  Salathiel 
could  not  have  been  the  natural  son  of  Jechonias, 
who  was  childless — according  to  the  declaration 
of  God  by  Jeremiah  (xxii.) — and  was,  therefore, 
as  Luke  states,  the  son,  properly  so  called,  of 
Neri,  of  Nathan's  line ;  and,  secondly,  that  the 
Levitate  law  imposed  no  necessity  on  Jacob  to 
marry  Heli's  widow,  they  being  only  uterine 
brothers.  But  both  the  reasons  assigned  by  Gro- 
tius for  diffiering  from  the  solution  of  Africanus 
would  seem  to  be  founded  on  a  petitio  principii. 
It  does  not  appear  an  ascertained  fact  that  Sala- 
thiel was  not  the  natural  son  of  Jechouias,  nor  yet 
that  the  law  which  obliged  a  man  to  marry  the 
widow  of  his  deceased  brother  might  be  departed 
ftom  when  they  were  only  maternal  brethren ;  for 


2  Jonan 

3  Joseph     . 

4  Juda  .      . 

5  Simeon    . 

6  Levi  .      . 

7  Matthat  . 

8  Jorim 

9  Eliezer    . 

10  Jose    .     . 

11  Er      .      . 

12  Elmodan . 

13  Cosam 

14  Addi  .      . 

15  Melchi     . 

16  Neri  .     . 

1 7  Salathiel . 

18  Zorobabel 

19  Rhesa      . 


1  Joanna. 

2  Juda. 

3  Joseph. 

4  Semei. 

5  Mattathias. 

6  Maath. 

7  Nagge. 

8  Esli. 

9  Naum. 

10  Amos. 

11  Mattathias. 

12  Joseph. 

13  Janna. 

14  Melchi. 

15  Levi. 

16  Matthat, 

17  Heli. 

18  Joseph. 

19  Jesus. 


even  in  cases  of  distant  relationship  the  law  seemed 
obligatory,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of  Boaz  marrying 
Euth,  the  widow  of  his  distant  kinsman. 

Dr.  Barrett  objects  to  the  above  theory  as  given 
by  Africanus  and  altered  by  Grotius,  on  the 
ground  principally,  that  it  refers  entirely  to  the 
descent  of  Joseph  from  David,  without  attempting 
to  prove  that  the  son  of  Mary  was  the  son  of 
David.  Dr.  Barrett  then  states  his  own  hypothesis, 
viz.,  that  Matthew  relates  the  genealogy  of  Joseph, 
and  Luke  that  of  Mary.  He  supposes  a  sufficient 
reason,  that  after  Matthew  had  given  his  genea- 
logical table  another  should  be  added  by  St.  Luke, 
fully  to  prove  that  Christ,  according  to  the  flesh, 
derived  his  descent  from  David,  not  only  by  his 
supposed  father  Joseph,  but  also  by  his  real 
mother  Mary. 

In  constructing  their  genealogical  tables,  it  is 
well  known  that  the  Jews  reckoned  wholly  by 
males,  rejecting,  where  the  blood  of  the  grand- 
father passed  to  the  grandson  through  a  daughter, 
the  name  of  the  daughter  herself,  and  counting 
that  daughter's  husband  for  the  son  of  the  mater- 
nal grandfather  (Num.  xxvi.  33  ;  xxvii.  4-7).  On 
this  principle  Joseph,  begotten  by  Jacob,  marries 
Marj',  the  daughter  of  Heli ;  and  in  the  genealo- 
gical register  of  his  wife's  family,  is  counted  for 
Heli's  son.  Salathiel,  begotten  by  Jeconiah,  mar- 
ries the  daughter  of  Neri,  and,  in  like  manner,  is 
accounted  his  son  :  in  Zorobabel,  the  offspring  of 
Salathiel  and  Neri's  daughter,  the  lines  of  Solo- 
mon and  Nathan  coalesce ;  Joseph  and  Mary  are 
of  the  same  tribe  and  family ;  they  are  both  de- 
scendants of  David  in  the  line  of  Solomon ;  they 
have  in  them  both  the  blood  of  Nathan,  David's 
son.  Joseph  deduces  his  descent  from  Abiud 
(Matt.  i.  13),  Mary  from  Ehesa  (Luke  iii.  27), 
sons  of  Zorobabel.  The  genealogies  of  Matthew 
and  Luke  are  parts  of  one  perfect  whole,  and  each 
of  them  is  essential  to  the  explanation  of  the  other. 
By  Matthew's  table  we  prove  the  descent  of  Mary, 
as  well  as  Joseph,  from  Solomon ;  by  Luke's  we 
see  the  descent  of  Joseph,  as  well  as  Mary,  from 
Nathan. 

GENERATION.  Considerable  obscuritj^  at- 
tends the  use  of  this  word  in  the  English  Version, 
which  arises  from  the  translators  having  merged 
the  various  meanings  of  the  same  original  word, 
and  even  of  several  different  words,  in  one  com- 
mon term  '  generation.'    The  following  instances 


GENESIS 


GENESIS 


seem  to  require  the  original  words  to  be  under- 
stood in  some  or  other  of  their  derivative  senses 
— Gen.  ii.  4,  '  These  are  the  generations,'  rather 
'  origin,'  '  history,'  &c.  The  same  Greek  words. 
Matt.  i.  1 ,  are  rendered  '  genealogy,'  &c.,  by 
recent  translators :  Campbell  has  'lineage.'  Gen. 
V.  1,  'The  book  of  the  generations'  is  properly 
a  family  register,  a  history  of  Adam.  The 
same  words,  Gen.  xxxvii.  2,  mean  a  history  of 
Jacob  and  his  descendants ;  so  also  Gen.  vi.  9, 
X.  1,  and  elsewhere.  Gen.  vii.  1,  '  In  this  gene- 
ration '  is  evidently  '  in  this  age.'  Gen.  xv.  6, 
'  In  the  fourth  generation '  is  an  instance  of  the 
word  in  the  sense  of  a  certain  assigned  period.  Ps. 
xlix.  19, '  The  generation  of  his  fathers'  Gesenius 
renders  'the  dwelling  of  his  fathers,'  i.  e.  the  grave, 
and  adduces  Isa.  xxxviii.  12.  Ps.  Ixxiii.  15, 
'  The  generation  of  thy  children  *  is  '  class,'  '  or- 
der,' '  description ;'  as  in  Prov.  xxx.  1 1, 12,  13, 14. 
Isa.  liii.  8,  '  Who  shall  declare  his  generation  ?' 
Lowth  renders  'manner  of  life.'  Michaelis  renders 
it  '  Where  was  the  providence  that  cared  for  his 
life?'  Gesenius  and  Rosenmiiller,  '  Who  of  his 
contemporaries  reflected  ?'  Seller,  '  Who  can 
describe  his  length  of  life  ?'  la  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Matt.  i.  17,  it  is  a  series  of  persons,  a  suc- 
cession from  the  same  stock.  Matt.  iii.  7,  is  well 
rendered  by  Doddridge  and  others  '  brood  of 
Tipers.'  Matt.  xxiv.  34,  means  the  generation  or 
persons  then  living  contemporary  ivith  Christ. 
Luke  xvi.  8,  '  in  their  generations,'  &c.,  wiser  in 
regard  to  their  dealings  with  the  men  of  their 
generation.  1  Pet.  ii.  8,  is  'a  chosen  people.' 
The  ancient  Greeks,  and,  if  we  may  credit  Hero- 
dotus and  Diodorus  Siculus,  the  Egyptians  also, 
assigned  a  certain  period  to  a  generation.  The 
Greeks  reckoned  three  generations  for  every 
hundred  years,  i.  e.  33^  years  to  each.  This  is 
nearly  the  present  computation.  The  ancient 
Hebrews  also  reckoned  by  the  generation,  and 
assigned  different  spaces  of  time  to  it  at  different 
periods  of  their  history.  In  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham it  was  one  hundred  years  (comp.  Gen.  xv. 
16,  'in  the  fourth  generation  they  shall  come 
hither').  This  is  explained  in  verse  13,  and  in 
Exod.  xii.  40,  to  be  four  hundred  years.  Caleb 
was  fourth  in  descent  from  Judah,  and  Moses  and 
Aaron  were  fourth  from  Levi.  In  Deut.  i.  3.5, 
ii.  14,  Moses  uses  the  term  for  thirty-eight  years. 
In  later  times  it  clearly  means  tea  years.  In 
Matt.  i.  17,  it  means  a  single  descent  from  father 
to  son  [Genealogy]. 

GEN'ESIS,  the  first  book  of  the  Pentateuch. 
This  venerable  monument,  with  which  the  sacred 
literature  of  the  Hebrews  commences,  and  which 
forms  its  real  basis,  is  divided  into  two  main 
parts ;  one  universal,  and  one  special.  The  most 
ancient  history  of  the  whole  human  race  is  con- 
tained in  chapters  i.-xi.,  and  the  history  of  Israel's 
ancestors,  the  patriarchs,  in  chapters  xii.-l.  These 
two  parts  are,  however,  so  intimately  connected 
with  each  other,  that  it  would  be  erroneous  to 
ascribe  to  the  first  merely  the  aim  of  furnishing 
a  universal  history.  The  chief  aim  which  per 
vades  the  whole  is  to  show  how  the  theocratic 
institution  subsequently  founded  by  Moses  was 
rendered  possible  and  necessary.  The  book,  there 
fore,  takes  its  starting-point  from  the  original 
unity  of  the  human  race,  and  their  original  re- 
lation to  God,  and  proceeds  thence  to  the  inter- 
ruption of  that  relation  by  the  appearance  of  sin, 


which  gradually  and  progressively  wrought  an 
external  and  internal  division  in  the  human  race 
for  want  of  the  principles  of  divine  life  which 
originally  dwelt  in  man  in  general,  but  which 
had  subsequently  been  preserved  only  among  a 
small  and  separate  race — a  race  which  in  pro- 
gress of  time  became  more  and  more  isolated 
from  all  the  other  tribes  of  the  earth,  and  enjoyed 
for  a  series  of  generations  the  special  care,  bless- 
ing, and  guidance  of  the  Lord.  The  mosaical 
theocracy  appears,  therefore,  by  the  general  tenor 
of  Genesis,  partly  as  a  restoration  of  the  original 
relation  to  God,  of  the  communion  of  man  with 
God,  and  partly  as  an  institution  which  had  been 
preparing  by  God  himself  through  a  long  series 
of  manifestations  of  his  power,  justice,  and  love. 
Genesis  thus  furnishes  us  with  the  primary  view 
and  notion  of  the  whole  of  the  theocracy,  and  may 
therefore  be  considered  as  the  historical  founda- 
tion without  which  the  subsequent  history  of  the 
covenant  people  would  be  incomplete  and  unin- 
telligible. 

The  unity  and  composition  of  the  work,  which 
is  a  point  in  dispute  among  the  critics  in  regard 
to  all  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch,  have  been 
particularly  questioned  in  the  case  of  Genesis. 
Some  suppose  that  Genesis  is  founded  on  two 
principal  original  documents,  distinguished  by 
the  terms  Elohim  and  Jehovah,  the  names  which 
they  respectively  give  to  God.  That  of  Elohim. 
is  closely  connected  in  its  parts,  and  forms  a 
whole,  while  that  of  Jehovah  is  a  mere  comple- 
mentary document,  supplying  details  at  those 
points  where  the  former  is  abrupt  and  deficient, 
&c.  These  two  documents  are  said  to  have  been 
subsequently  combined  by  the  hand  of  an  editor, 
so  able  as  often  to  i-ender  their  separation  diffi- 
cult, if  not  altogether  impossible.  Others  main- 
tain that  Genesis  is  a  book  closely  connected  in 
all  its  parts,  and  composed  by  only  one  author, 
while  the  use  of  the  two  different  names  of  God 
is  not  owing  to  two  different  sources  on  which 
Genesis  is  founded,  but  solely  to  the  different 
significations  of  these  two  names.  The  use  of 
each  of  the  two  names,  Jehovah  and  Elohim,  is 
everywhere  in  Genesis  adapted  to  the  sense  of 
the  passages  in  which  the  writer  has  purposely 
inserted  the  one  name  or  the  other.  This  point 
of  view  is  the  more  to  be  considered,  as  it  is  the 
peculiar  object  of  the  author  to  point  out  in 
Genesis  the  gradual  and  progressive  development 
of  the  divine  revelations.  The  opponents  have 
in  vain  attempted  to  discover  in  Genesis  a  few 
contradictions  indicative  of  different  documents 
in  it ;  their  very  admission,  that  a  fixed  plan  and 
able  compilation  visibly  pervade  the  whole  of 
the  book,  is  in  itself  a  refutation  of  such  supposed 
contradictions,  since  it  is  hardly  to  be  conceived, 
that  an  editor  or  compiler  who  has  shown  so  much 
skill  and  anxiety  to  give  unity  to  the  book  should 
have  cared  so  little  about  the  removal  of  those 
contradictions.  The  whole  of  Genesis  is  per- 
vaded by  such  a  freedom  in  the  selection  and 
treatment  of  the  existing  traditions,  such  an  ab- 
sence of  £jll  trace  of  any  previous  source  or  docu- 
ments which  might  in  some  measure  have  con- 
fined the  writer  within  certain  limits  of  views  and 
expressions,  as  to  render  it  quite  impracticable 
to  separate  and  fix  upon  them  specifically,  even  if 
there  were  portions  in  Genesis  (frawn  from  earlier 
written  documents. 


GENESIS 

That  first  question  concerning  the  unity  of  the 
book  is  closely  connected  with  another  question, 
respecting  its  authenticity,  or  whether  Moses  was 
the  author  of  Genesis.  We  confine  ourselves  here 
to  only  a  few  remarks  on  the  authenticity  of 
Genesis  in  particular,  and  refer  the  reader  for 
further  information  to  the  article  Pentateuch. 
Some  critics  have  attempted  to  ascertain  the  period 
when  Genesis  was  composed,  from  a  few  passages 
in  it,  which  they  say  must  be  anachronisms,  if 
Moses  was  really  the  author  of  the  book.  Among 
such  passages  are,  in  particular,  Gen.  xii.  6; 
xiii.  7 ;  '  And  the  Canaanite  was  then  in  the 
land.'  This  remark,  they  say,  could  only  have 
been  made  by  a  writer  who  lived  in  Palestine 
after  the  extirpation  of  the  Canaanitefj.  But  the 
sense  of  the  passage  is  not  that  the  Canaanites 
had  not  as  yet  been  extirpated,  but  merely  that 
Abraham,  on  his  arrival  in  Canaan,  had  already 
found  there  the  Canaanites.  This  notice  was 
necessary,  since  the  author  subsequently  describes 
the  intercourse  between  Abraham  and  the  Ca- 
naanites, the  lords  of  the  country.  According  to 
the  explanation  given  to  the  passage  by  the  op- 
ponents, such  an  observation  would  be  quite  a 
superfluous  triviality.  Also  the  name  Hebron 
fGen.  xiii.  18  ;  xxiii.  2),  they  say,  was  not  intro- 
duced till  after  the  time  of  Moses  (Josh.  xiv.  15; 
XV.  13).  This,  however,  does  not  prove  anything, 
since  Hebron  was  the  original  Hebrew  name  for 
the  place,  which  was  subsequently  changed  into 
Aria  (by  a  man  of  that  name),  but  was  restored 
by  the  Israelites  on  their  entrance  into  Canaan. 
The  opponents  also  maintain  that  the  name  of  the 
place  Dan  (Gen.  adv.  14)  was  given  only  in  the 
post-Mosaical  period  (Josh.  xix.  47  ;  Judg.  xviii. 
29).  Bat  the  two  last  passages  speak  of  quite  a 
difierent  place.  There  were  two  places  called 
Dan ;  Dan-Jaan  (2  Sam.  xxiv.  6),  and  Dan- 
Luisfi,  or  Leshem.  In  Genesis,  they  further 
add,  frequently  occurs  the  name  Bethel  (xii.  8 ; 
xxviii.  19;  xxxv.  15);  while  even  in  the  time 
of  Joshua  the  place  was  as  yet  called  Luz  (Josh, 
xviii.  13).  But  the  name  Bethel  was  not  first 
given  to  the  place  by  the  Israelites  in  the  time 
of  Joshua,  there  being  no  occasion  for  it,  since 
Bethel  was  the  old  patriarchal  name,  which  the 
Israelites  restored  in  the  place  of  Luz,  a  name 
given  by  the  Canaanites.  Another  passage  in 
Genesis  (xxxvi.  31),  '  Before  there  reigned  any 
king  over  the  children  of  Israel,'  is  likewise  sup- 
posed to  have  been  written  at  a  period  when  the 
Jews  had  already  a  king  over  them.  But  the 
broachers  of  these  objections  forget  that  this  pas- 
sage refers  to  those  promises  contained  in  the 
Pentateuch  in  geueral,  and  in  Genesis  in  par- 
ticular (comp.  Gen.  xxxv.  li),  that  there  should 
hereafter  be  kings  among  the  Israelites  as  an  in- 
dependent nation.  In  comparing  Israel  with 
Edom  (Gen.  xxxvi.),  the  sacred  writer  cannot 
refrain  from  observing  that  Edom,  though  left 
withoutdivinepromisesof  possessing  kings,  never- 
theless possessed  them,  and  obtained  the  glory  of 
an  independent  kingdom,  long  before  Israel  could 
think  of  such  an  independence  ;  and  a  little  atten- 
tion ^  to  the  sense  of  the  passage  will  show  how 
admirably  the  observation  suits  a  writer  in  the 
Mosaical  period.  The  passage  (Gen.  xv.  18) 
where  the  land  of  Israel  is  described  as  extending 
from  the  river  of  Egypt  (the  Nile)  to  the  great 
river  (^Euphrates),  it  is  alleged,  could  only  have 


GENESIS 


353 


been  penned  during  the  splendid  period  of  the 
Jews,  the  times  of  David  and  Solomon.  Lite- 
rally taken,  however,  the  remark  is  inapplicable 
to  any  period,  since  the  kingdom  of  the  Jews  at 
no  period  of  their  history  extended  so  far.  That 
promise,  must,  therefore,  be  taken  in  a  rhetorical 
sense,  describing  the  central  point  of  the  proper 
country  as  situated  between  the  two  rivers. 

With  regard  to  the  historical  character  of  the 
book,  Genesis  consists  of  two  contrasting  parts : 
the  first  part  introduces  us  into  the  greatest  pro- 
blems of  the  human  mind,  such  as  the  Creation 
and  the  fall  of  man ;  and  the  second,  into  the  quiet 
solitude  of  a  small  defined  circle  of  families.  In 
the  former,  the  most  sublime  and  wonderful  events 
are  described  with  childlike  simplicity ;  while, 
in  the  latter,  on  the  contrary,  the  most  simple 
and  common  occurrences  are  interwoven  with 
the  sublimest  thoughts  and  reflections,  rendering 
the  small  family  circle  a  whole  world  in  history, 
and  the  principal  actors  in  it  prototypes  for  a 
whole  nation,  and  for  all  times.  The  contents 
in  general  are  strictly  religious.  Not  the  least 
trace  of  mythology  appears  in  it.  It  is  true  that 
the  narrations  are  fraught  with  wonders.  But 
primeval  wonders,  the  marvellous  deeds  of  God, 
are  the  very  subject  of  Genesis.  None  of  these 
wondei-s,  however,  bear  a  fantastical  impress,  and 
there  is  no  useless  prodigality  of  them.  They 
are  all  penetrated  and  connected  by  one  common 
leading  idea,  and  are  all  related  to  the  counsel 
of  God  for  the  salvation  of  man.  This  principle 
sheds  its  lustrous  beams  through  the  whole  of 
Genesis;  therefore  the  wonders  therein  related 
are  as  little  to  be  ascribed  to  the  invention  and 
imagination  of  man  as  the  whole  plan  of  God  for 
human  salvation.  The  foundation  of  the  divine 
thcocratical  institution  throws  a  strong  light  upon 
the  early  patriarchal  times ;  the  reality  of  the 
one  proves  the  reality  of  the  other,  as  described 
in  Genesis. 

The  separate  accounts  in  Genesis  also  manifest 
great  internal  evidence  of  truth  if  we  closely  ex- 
amine them.  They  bear  on  their  front  the  most 
beautiful  impress  of  truth.  The  cosmogony  m 
Genesis  stands  unequalled  among  all  others 
known  in  the  ancient  world.  No  mythology,  no 
ancient  philosophy,  has  ever  come  up  to  the  idea 
of  a  creation  out  of  nothing.  All  the  ancient 
systems  end  in  Pantheism,  Materialism,  emana- 
tion-theory, &c.  But  the  Biblical  cosmogony 
occupies  a  place  of  its  own,  and  therefore  must 
not  be  ranked  among,  or  confounded  with,  any 
of  the  ancient  systems  of  mythologj'  or  philo- 
sophy. The  mythological  and  philosophical 
cosmogonies  may  have  Ijeen  derived  from  the 
Biblical,  as  being  later  depravations  and  misrepre- 
sentations of  Biblical  truth ;  but  the  contents  of 
Genesis  cannot,  vice  versa,  have  been  derived 
from  mythology  or  philosophy.  The  historical 
delineation  also  of  the  Creation  and  of  the  fall  of 
man  does  not  bear  the  least  national  interest  or 
colouring,  but  is  of  a  truly  universal  nature, 
while  every  mythns  bears  the  stamp  of  the 
national  features  of  the  nation  and  country  where 
it  originated  and  found  development.  All  mythi 
are  subject  to  continual  development  and  varia- 
tions, but  among  the  Hebrews  the  accounts  in 
Genesis  stand  firm  and  immutable  for  all  times, 
without  the  least  thing  being  added  or  altered  in 
them  for  the  purpose  of  further  development, 


354 


GENESIS 


even  by  the  New  Testament.  What  a  solid 
guarantee  must  there  be  in  this  foundation  of  all 
subsequent  revelations,  since  it  has  been  admitted 
and  maintained  by  all  generations  with  such 
immovable  firmness  !  The  ancient  heathen  tradi- 
tions coincide  in  many  points  with  the  Biblical 
accounts,  and  serve  to  illustrate  and  confirm  them. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  the  ancient  tradi- 
tions concerning  the  Deluge  (Gen.  vi.  9),  and  in 
the  list  of  nations  in  the  tenth  chapter  ;  for 
instance  (Gen.  x.  4),  Tarshish  is  called  the  son  of 
Javan.  This  indicates  that  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  Tarshish  or  Tartessus  in  Spain  were 
erroneously  considered  to  be  a  Phoenician  colony 
like  those  of  other  towns  in  its  neighbourhood, 
and  that  they  sprang  from  Javan,  that  is,  Greece. 
That  they  were  of  Greek  origin  is  clear  from  the 
account  of  Herodotus.  Also  (ver.  8),  Nimrod, 
the  ruler  of  Babel,  is  called  the  son  of  Ciish, 
which  is  in  remarkable  unison  with  the  mytho- 
logical tales  concerning  Bel  and  his  Egyptian 
descent.  Sidun  alone  is  mentioned  (ver.  1.5),  but 
not  Tyrits  (comp.  xlix.  13),  which  arose  only  in 
the  time  of  Joshua  (Josh.  xix.  29)  ;  and  that 
Sidon  was  an  older  town  than  Tt^rus,  by  which 
it  was  afterwards  eclipsed,  is  certified  by  a  num- 
ber of  ancient  reports. 

With  the  patriarchal  history  (xii.  sqq.)  begins 
an  historical  sketch  of  a  peculiar  character.  The 
circumstantial  details  in  it  allow  us  to  examine 
more  closely  the  historical  character  of  these 
accounts.  The  numerous  descriptions  of  the 
mode  of  life  in  those  days  furnish  us  with  a  very 
vivid  picture.  We  meet  everywhere  a  sublime 
simplicity  quite  worthy  of  patriarchal  life,  and 
never  to  be  found  again  in  later  history.  One 
cannot  suppose  that  it  would  have  been  possible 
in  a  later  period,  estranged  from  ancient  simpli- 
city, to  invent  such  a  picture. 

The  fidelity  of  the  author  everywhere  exhibits 
itself.  Neither  the  blemishes  in  the  history  of 
Abraham,  nor  the  gross  sins  of  the  sons  of  Jacob, 
among  whom  even  Levi,  the  progenitor  of  the 
sacerdotal  race,  forms  no  exception,  are  con- 
cealed. 

The  same  author,  whose  moral  principles  are 
so  much  blamed  by  the  opponents  of  Genesis,  on 
accoul^t  of  the  description  given  of  the  life  of 
Jacob,  produces,  in  the  history  of  Abraham,  a 
picture  of  moral  greatness  which  could  have 
originated  only  in  facts. 

The  faithfulness  of  the  author  manifests  itself 
also  especially  in  the  description  of  the  expe- 
dition of  the  kings  from  Upper  to  Western  Asia ; 
in  his  statements  concerning  the  person  of  Mel- 
cliizedek  (Gen.  xiv.) ;  in  the  circumstantial  de- 
tails given  of  the  incidents  occurring  at  the  pur- 
chase of  the  hereditary  burial-place  (ch.  xxiii.)  ; 
in  the  genealogies  of  Arabian  tribes  (ch.  xxv.) ; 
in  the  genealogy  of  Edom  (ch.  xxxvi.) ;  and  in 
many  remarkable  detiiils  which  are  interwoven 
with  the  general  accounts.  In  the  history  of 
Joseph  the  patriarchal  history  comes  into  contact 
with  Egypt,  and  here  the  accounts  given  by 
ancient  classical  writers,  as  well  as  the  monu- 
ments of  Egypt,  frequently  furnish  some  splendid 
confirmations.  For  instance,  the  account  given 
(xlvii.  13-26)  of  the  manner  in  which  the  Pha- 
raohs became  proprietors  of  all  the  lands,  with 
the  exception  of  those  belonging  to  the  priests,  is 
confirmed  by  Herodotus,  and  by  Diodorus  Sicu- 


GERASA 

lus.  The  manner  of  embalming  described  in 
Gen.  1.  entirely  agrees  with  the  description  of 
Herodotus,  ii.  84,  &c. 

For  the  important  commentaries  and  writings 
on  Genesis,  see  the  article  Pentateuch. 

GENNESARETH.     [Cinnereth.] 

GENNESARETH,  LAKE  OF.     [Sea.] 

GENTILES,  a  word  which  means  literally, 
'  the  nations.'  It  was  applied  by  the  Hebrews  to 
all  individuals  or  communities  not  under  the 
law— that  is,  all  the  nations  of  the  world  except- 
ing the  Jews.  But  in  later  times  some  small 
states,  and  many  individuals,  embraced  the  law : 
and  they  were  distinguished  from  the  Gentiles, 
as  well  as  from  the  Jews,  by  the  name  of  Prose- 
lytes. In  some  places  our  authorized  version 
has  the  word  •  Gentiles '  where  the  original 
should  properly  be  rendered  '  Greeks.' 

GE'RAH,  the  smallest  piece  of  money  among 
the  Hebrews.  Twenty  made  a  shekel ;  one  of 
them  would  therefore  be  worth  three  halfpence, 
according  to  the  present  value  of  silver  (Exod. 
XXX.  13). 

GE'KAR,  a  town  and  district  on  the  southern- 
most borders  of  Palestine,  in  the  country  of  the 
Philistines,  and  not  far  from  Gaza.  It  was  visited 
by  Abraham  after  the  destruction  of  Sodom  (Gen. 
XX.  1),  and  by  Isaac  when  there  was  a  dearth  in 
the  rest  of  Canaan  (Gen.  xxvi.  1).  The  incidents 
of  their  sojourn  show  that  the  district  was  very 
fertile.  It  was  the  seat  of  the  first  Philistine 
kingdom  we  read  of,  and  gave  name  to  it.  The 
intercour.se,  differences,  and  alliances  of  the  He- 
brew fathers  with  the  king  and  people  of  Gerav 
form  a  very  curious  and  interesting  portion  of 
patriarchal  history.  It  wiis  still  an  important 
place  in  later  times,  as  we  may  gather  from  1 
Chron.  xiv.  13,  14.  According  to  the  ancient 
accounts  Gerar  lay  in  or  near  a  valley,  which  ap- 
pears to  be  no  other  than  the  great  Wady  Sheriah 
(or  one  of  the  branches  of  it),  that  comes  down 
from  Beersheba ;  besides  we  know  that  it  was  in 
the  land  of  the  Philistines,  and  that  it  was  not  fiir 
from  Beersheba  when  Isaac  resided  there  (Gen. 
xxvi.  1,  20,  23;  26-33  ;  comp.  xx.  1).  The  name 
continued  to  exist  (perhaps  as  a  matter  of  tradi- 
I  tion)  for  several  centuries  after  the  Christian  era, 
but  no  traces  of  it  can  now  be  found. 

GER'ASA,  not  Jerash  (not  named  in  the 
Bible),  was  in  the  Decapolis,  and  formed  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Pera;a.  It  lay  on  elevated 
ground,  according  to  Ptolemy,  in  68"  1.5'  =  31° 
45'.  Its  inhabitants  were  mostly  heathen.  After 
the  Roman  conquests  in  tlie  East,  the  country 
in  which  Gerasa  lies  became  one  of  their  fa- 
vourite colonies,  and  ten  principal  cities  were 
built  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  giving  the  name 
of  Decapolis  to  the  land  in  which  they  stood. 
Gerasa  was  one,  but  not  the  greatest  of  these.  The 
place  was  taken  by  storm  by  Alexander  Janna^us, 
who  was  actuated  by  a  desire  of  gaining  a  large 
treasure.  Alexander  died  near  it  M-hile  besieging 
Regaba.  Before  the  place  had  time  to  recover 
from  this  calamity,  it  was  included  among  the 
number  of  those  cities  which  were  burnt  by  the 
enraged  Jews  in  their  vengeance  on  the  Syrians, 
and  on  the  Roman  power  generally,  for  the  mas- 
sacre of  a  number  of  their  nation  at  Csesarea.  A 
terrible  revenge  was  taken  by  other  cities,  but 
Gerasa  is  honourably  excepted.  Annius,  gene- 
ral under  Vespasian,  took  the  city ;  '  after  which 


GESHUR 

he  set  fire  to  their  houses,'  '  and  what  was  remain- 
ing -was  all  burnt  down.'  Its  ruins  were  first  dis- 
covered by  Seetzen  and  have  often  been  subse- 


quently visited.     They  have  been    pronounced 
superior  "^^o  those  of  Palmyra. 

GERGESENES'.     [Gadara.] 

GER'IZIM,  MOUNT.      [Ebal   and  Geri- 

ZIM.] 

GE'RSHOM  (a  stranger  here),  one  of  the  two 
sons  (the  other  was  Eliezer)  who  were  bom  to 
Moses  in  the  land  of  Midian  by  Zipporah  (Exod. 
ii.  22 ;  xviii.  3).  These  sons  of  the  great  law- 
giver held  no  other  rank  than  that  of  simple  Le- 
vltes,  while  the  sons  of  their  uncle  Aaron  enjoyed 
all  the  privileges  of  the  priesthood  (1  Chron. 
xxiii.  14).  The  glory  of  being  the  children  of 
such  a  father  doubtless  availed  them  more  than 
the  highest  dignities ;  but  we  must  nevertheless 
admire  the  rare  disinterestedness  of  Moses  in 
making  no  public  provision — as  he  might  so  easily 
have  done — for  his  own  children. 

GER'SHON  {same  as  Gershom),  eldest  son  of  the 
patriarch  Levi,  born  in  Canaan  before  the  going 
down  into  Egypt.  He  is  only  known  from  his 
name  having  been  given  to  one  of  the  three  great 
branches  of  the  Levitical  tribe.  The  office  of  the 
Gershonites,  during  the  marches  in  the  wilderness, 
was  to  carry  the  veils  and  curtains  of  the  taber- 
nacle, and  their  place  in  the  camp  was  west  of  the 
tiibernacle  fGen.  xlvi.  11  ;  Exod.  vi.  16  ;  Num. 
iii.  17). 

GE'SHEM  (rain),  one  of  the  enemies  of  the 
Jews  under  Nehemiah  (Neh.  vi.  6).  He  was  pro- 
bably a  Samaritan,  although  on  some  account  or 
other  designated  an  Arabian  (Neh.  ii.  19),  and 
seems  to  have  been  a  subaltern  officer  at  Jeru- 
salem. He  opposed  the  designs  of  the  Jewish 
governor,  talking  of  them  as  seditious,  and  turning 
them  into  ridicule.  Eventually  he  took  part  in 
the  plots  of  Tobiah  against  the  life  of  Nehemiah 
(Neh.  ii.  19;  vi.  2-9),  about  B.C.  445. 

GE'SHUR,  a  district  of  Syria  (2  Sam.  xv.  8 ; 
1  Chron.  ii.  23),  which  adjoined,  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Jordan,  the  northern  border  of  the  Hebrew 
territory,  and  lay  between  Mount  Hermon,  Maa- 
chah,  and  Bashan  (Deut.  iii.  13,  14;  Josh.  xii.  5). 
According  to  the  boundaries  of  the  Holy  Land,  as 
defined  by  Moses,  Geshur  would  have  formed  part 
of  it;  but  in  Josh.  xiii.  2,  13,  it  is  stated  that  the 
Israelites  had  expelled  neither  the  Geshurites  nor 


the  Maachathites,  but  dwelt  together  with  them. 
That  the  Hebrews  did  not  afterwards  permanently 
subdue  Geshur  appears  from  the  circumstance 
that,  in  David's  time,  this  district  had  a  king  of 
its  own,  called  Talmai,  whose  daughter,  Maacah, 
was  one  of  the  wives  of  David  (2  Sam.  iii.  3). 
She  was  the  mother  of  Absalom,  who  took  refuge 
with  his  grandfather  after  the  murder  of  Amnon, 
and  remained  three  years  in  Geshur  (2  Sam.  xiii. 
37  ;  XV.  8).  The  word  Geshur  signifies  a  bridge, 
and  corresponds  with  the  Arabic  Jisr ;  and  in  the 
same  region  where,  according  to  the  above  data, 
we  must  fix  Geshur,  between  Mount  Hermon  and 
the  lake  of  Tiberias,  there  still  exists  an  ancient 
stone  bridge  over  the  upper  Jordan,  called  Jisr- 
Beni-Jakub,  or  'the  bridge  of  the  children  of 
Jacob,'  i.  e.  the  Israelites. 

GESH'URITES,  GESHURI ;  1.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  the  above  region  [Geshur].  2.  A  people 
in  the  south  of  Palestine,  near  the  Philistines 
(Josh.  xiii.  2  ;  1  Sam.  xxvii.  8). 

GETHSEM'ANE  (seemingly  from  oil-press), 
the  name  of  a  small  field,  or  garden,  just  out  of 
Jerusalem,  over  the  brook  Kidron,  and  at  the  foot 
of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  That  which  is  now 
pointed  out  as  the  garden  in  which  our  Lord  un- 
derwent his  agony,  occupies  part  of  a  level  space 
between  the  brook  and  the  foot  of  the  Mount,  and 
corresponds  well  enough  in  situation  and  distance 
with  all  the  conditions  which  the  narrative  re- 
quires. It  is  about  fifty  paces  square,  and  is 
enclosed  by  a  wall  of  no  great  height,  formed  of 
rough  loose  stones.  Eight  very  ancient  olive- 
trees  now  occupy  this  enclosure,  some  of  which 
are  of  very  large  size,  and  all  exhibit  symptoms 
of  decay  clearly  denoting  their  great  age.  The 
garden  belongs  to  one  of  the  monastic  establish- 
ments, and  much  care  has  been  taken  to  preserve 
the  old  trees  from  destruction.  Dr.  Robinson 
admits  the  probability  that  this  is  the  site  which 
Eusebius  and  Jerome  had  in  view ;  and,  as  no 
other  site  is  suggested  as  preferable,  we  may  be 
content  to  receive  the  traditional  indication. 

GE'ZER,  formerly  a  royal  city  of  the  Canaaa- 
ites,  and  situated  in  what  became  the  western  part 
of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim.  The  Canaanites  were 
not  expelled  from  it  at  the  conquest  (Josh.  x.  33 ; 
xvi.  ."),  10  ;  Judg.  i.  29).  It  was,  nevertheless, 
assigned  to  the  Levites  (Josh.  xxi.  21).  In  after 
times,  having  been,  on  some  occasion,  destroyed 
by  the  Egyptians,  it  was  rebuilt  by  Solomon. 

GIANTS.  These  beings  of  unusual  height  are 
found  in  the  early  history  of  all  nations,  some- 
times of  a  purely  human  origin,  but  more  fre- 
quently supposed  to  have  partaken  also,  in  some 
way,  of  the  supernatural  and  the  divine. 

1.  In  Gen.  vi.  4,  we  have  the  first  mention  of 
giants — '  There  were  giants  in  the  earth  in  those 
days ;  and  also  after  that,  when  the  sons  of  God 
came  in  unto  the  daughters  of  men,  and  they 
bare  children  to  them,  the  same  became  taighty 
men  which  were  of  old,  men  of  renown.'  In  our 
judgment  the  bearing  of  this  passage  obviously 
favours  the  common  notion  of  giants,  and  that  the 
rather  because  their  origin  is  traced  to  some  un- 
explained connection  with  '  the  sons  of  God,'  that 
is,  with  beings  of  high  endowments,  if  not  of  a 
superior  nature. 

2.  In  Gen.  xiv.  .5,  we  meet  with  a  race  termed 
Rephaim,  as  settled  on  the  other  side  of  the  Jor- 
dan, in  Ashteroth-Kamaim,  whom  Chedorlaomer 

2  a2 


356 


GIANTS 


GIBE  AH 


defeated.  Of  this  race  was  Og,  king  of  Bashan, 
•who  alone  remained,  in  the  days  of  Moses 
(Dent.  iii.  10),  of  the  remnant  of  the  Kephaim. 
This  race  gave  their  name  to  a  valley  near  Jeru- 
salem. 

3.  The  Anakim.  In  Num.  xiii.,  the  spies  sent 
by  Moses  before  his  army  to  survey  the  promised 
land,  report  among  other  things—'  The  people  be 
strong  that  dwell  in  the  land ;  and,  moreover,  we 
saw  the  children  of  Anak '  (ver.  28).  This  in- 
direct mention  of  the  children  of  Auak  shows  that 
they  were  a  well-known  gigantic  race.  In  the 
32nd  and  33rd  verses  the  statement  is  enhanced, 
— '  It  is  a  land  that  eateth  up  the  inhabitants  ; 
and  all  the  people  that  we  saw  in  it  are  men  of 
great  stature.  And  there  we  saw  the  giants,  the 
sons  of  Anak  which  came  of  the  giants ;  and  we 
■were  in  our  own  sight  as  grasshoppers,  and  so  we 
■were  in  their  sight.'  However  much  of  exagge- 
ration fear  may  have  given  to  the  description,  the 
passage  seems  beyond  a  doubt  to  show  the  writer's 
belief  in  a  race  of  giants  (Deut.  ix.  2).  From 
Deut.  ii.  10  it  appears  that  the  size  of  the  Anakim 
became  proverbial,  and  was  used  as  a  standard 
with  which  to  compare  others.  In  the  time  of 
Moses  they  dwelt  in  the  environs  of  Hebron  (Josh. 
xi.  22).  They  consisted  of  three  branches  or 
clans — '  Ahlman,  Sheshai,  and  Talmai — the  chil- 
dren of  Anak '  (Num.  xiii.  22).  They  were  de- 
stroyed by  Joshua  (Josh,  xi,  21 ;  xiv.  12 ;  Judg. 
i.  20). 

4.  From  the  remnant  of  the  Anakim  left  in 
Gath  of  the  Philistines  (Judg.  i.  20 ;  Josh.  xiv. 
12)  proceeded  the  famous  Goliath  (1  Sam.  xvii.  4). 
This  giant  is  said  to  have  been  in  height  six 
cubits  and  a  span.  Other  giants  of  the  Philis- 
tines are  mentioned  in  the  passage  before  cited, 
2  Sam.  xxi.  IG,  sq.,  namely  : — 1.  '  Ishbi-benob, 
which  was  of  the  sons  of  the  giant,  the  weight  of 
whose  spear  weighed  three  hundred  shekels  of 
brass,  he  being  girded  with  a  new  sword,  thought 
to  have  slain  David ;  but  Abishai,  the  son  of  Ze- 
ruiah,  succoured  him,  and  smote  the  Philistine 
and  killed  him.'  2.  Saph,  which  was  of  the  sons 
of  the  giant  who  was  slain  by  Sibbechai.  3.  '  A 
man  of  great  stature,  that  had  on  every  hand  six 
fingers  and  on  every  foot  six  toes,  four  and  twenty 
in  number,  and  he  also  was  born  to  the  giant ; 
and  when  he  defied  Israel,  Jonathan,  the  son  of 
Shimeah,  the  brother  of  David,  slew  him.'  These 
four  were  sons  of  the  giant  in  Gath,  that  is,  pro- 
bably of  the  Goliath  of  Gath  whom  David  slew 
(1  Kings  XX.  8  ;  2  Sam.  xx.  22  ;  1  Sam.  xvii.  4). 

5.  Another  race  is  mentioned  in  Deut.  ii.  10, 
the  Emim,  who  dwelt  in  the  country  of  the 
Moabites.  They  are  described  as  a  people  '  great 
and  many,  and  tall  as  the  Anakims,  which  were 
also  accounted  giants'  (Gen.  xiv.  5). 

6.  The  Zamzummim  also  (Deut.  xxi.  20), 
■whose  home  was  in  the  land  of  Amnion — '  that 
also  was  accounted  a  land  of  giants  :  giants  dwelt 
therein  of  old  time,  and  the  Ammonites  called 
them  Zamzummims,  a  people  great  and  many, 
and  tall  as  the  Anakims ;  but  the  Lord  destroyed 
them  before  them,  and  they  (the  Israelites)  suc- 
ceeded them,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead.' 

From  this  enumeration  it  is  clear  that  the 
Scriptures  tell  of  giants  in  the  olden  time,  and  of 
races  of  giants  ;  and  that,  though  giants  are  men-' 
tioned  as  something  singular,  and  consequently 
as  comparatively  rare,  they  appear  to  have  been. 


relatively  to  the  numbers  of  the  population,  of 
frequent  occurrence. 

That  the  primitive  races  of  men  greatly  sur- 
passed others  in  stature  is  an  opinion  which  finds 
ample  support  in  ancient  authors  generally  ;  and 
at  an  early  period  and  under  favourable  circum- 
stances, individuals  and  even  tribes  may  have 
reached  an  unusual  height  and  been  of  extraor- 
dinary strength.  But  many  things  concur  to 
show  that  the  size  of  the  race  did  not  differ  ma- 
terially from  what  it  is  at  present.  This  is  seen 
in  the  remains  of  human  beings  found  in  tombs ; 
especially  among  the  mummies  of  Egypt.  To 
the  same  effect  is  the  size  of  ancient  armour,  as 
well  as  architectural  dimensions,  and  the  mea- 
sures of  length  which  have  been  received  from 
antiquity.  Ancient  writers  who  are  free  from 
the  influence  of  fable,  are  found  to  give  a  con- 
current testimony. 

That  great  diversity  as  to  height  and  &ize  pre- 
vails in  the  human  family,  is  well  known.  What 
the  precise  limits  may  be  within  which  nature 
has  worked  in  the  formation  of  man,  it  would  be 
diflBcult  to  determine.  But  the  inhabitants  of 
northern  latitudes  are  well  known  to  be  below 
the  ordinary  standard,  many  of  them  scarcely 
exceeding  four  feet ;  while  in  temperate  climates 
the  height  of  the  human  race  averages  from  four 
feet  and  a  half  to  six  feet ;  and  instances  are  not 
wanting  of  persons  who  measured  eight  or  niu« 
feet. 

The  possibility  of  a  race  of  giants  cannot  well 
be  denied.  There  is  a  known  tendency  in  tlie 
human  frame  to  perpetuate  peculiarities  which 
have  been  once  evolved.  Why  not  extraordinary 
'  procerity'  as  well  as  any  other?  In  fact,  the 
propagation  of  stature,  whether  high  or  low,  is  a 
phenomenon  which  we  all  see  presented  daily 
before  our  own  eyes.  Tall  parents  give  birth  to 
tall  children.  The  tallness  is  found  to  remain  in 
families;  and,  doubtless,  did  not  circumstances 
intervene  to  reduce  the  stature  by  intermarriage 
with  short  persons,  th.i  unusual  height  would  be 
perpetuated  in  any  given  line.  The  inhabitants 
of  Potsdam,  descended  to  a  great  extent  from  the 
famous  regiment  of  tall  grenadiers  which  Fre- 
derick of  Prussia  took  so  much  pains  to  bring 
together,  are  said  to  be  still  remarkable  for  ex- 
ceeding the  average  height.  The  family  of  Sca- 
ligers  appears  to  have  been  unusually  tall. 

GIB'BETHON,  a  city  of  the  Philistines,  which 
was  included  in  the  territories  of  the  tribe  of  Dan 
(Josh.  xix.  44),  and  was  assigned  to  the  Levites 
(Josh.  xxi.  23).  It  was  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
Philistines  in  the  time  of  Nadab,  king  of  Israel, 
who  besieged  it,  and  was  slain  under  its  walls  by 
Baasha,  one  of  his  own  officers  ( 1  Kings  xx.  27  ; 
xvi.  15).     Nothing  is  known  of  its  site. 

GIB'EAH.  There  were  several  places  of  this 
name,  which,  as  before  remarked  [Geba],  is  the 
feminine  form  of  the  word  Gibeah,  and  signifies 
a  hill.  Without  doubt  all  the  places  so  named 
were  situated  upon  hills. 

1.  GiBEAH  OF  Benjamin  is  historically  the 
most  important  of  the  places  bearing  this  name. 
It  is  often  mentioned  in  Scripture.  It  was  the 
scene  of  that  abominable  transaction  which  in- 
volved in  its  consequences  almost  the  entire 
extirpation  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (Judg.  xix. 
14,  sq.).  It  was  the  birth-place  of  Saul,  and 
continued  to  be  his  residence  after  he  became 


GIBEON 

king  (1   Sam.  x.  26;  xi.  4;  xv.  33;  xxiii.  19; 
xxvi.  1);  and  here  was  the  scene  of  Jonathan's 
romantic  exploit  against  the  Philistines  (1  Sam. 
xiv.).     It  was  doubtless  on   account  of  this  its 
intimate  connection  with  Saul,  that  the  Gibeonites 
hanged  up  here  his  seven  descendants  (2  Sam. 
xxi.  6).    Jerome  speaks  of  Gibeah  as,  in  his  time, 
level  with  the  ground,  and  since  then  it  does  not 
appear  to  have  been   visited   by   travellers   till 
recently.     Dr.  Kobinson,  who  made  many  valu- 
able observations  in  this  neighbourhood,  detected 
i     Gibeah  in  the  small  and  half-ruined  village  of 
.  I     Jeba,  which  lies  upon  a  low,  conical,  or  rather 
[     round  eminence,  on  the  broad  ridge  which  shelves 
I     down  towards  the  Jordan  valley,  and  spreads  out 
'  I     below  the  village  in  a  fine  sloping  plain.     The 
views  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan,  and  of 
the  Eastern  mountains,  are  here  very  extensive. 
Among  the  ruins  some  large  hewn  stones,  indica 
ting    antiquity,    are    occasionally   seen.      This 
place  is  about  five  miles  north  by  east  from  Jeru- 
salem. 

2.  Gibeah  in  the  mountains  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XV.  57),  which,  under  the  name  of  Gabaatha,  Euse- 
bius  and  Jerome  place  twelve  Roman  miles  from 
Eleutheropolis,  and  state  that  the  grave  of  the 
prophet  Habakkuk  was  there  to  be  seen.  Dr. 
Kobinson  identifies  it  with  the  village  of  Jebah, 
which  stands  upon  an  isolated  hill,  in  the  midst 
of  Wady-el-Musurr,  about  ten  miles  south-west  of 
Jerusalem. 

3.  Gibeah  in  Mount  Ephraim,  called  Gibeah 
of  Phineas,  where  the  higli-priest  Eleazar,  son  of 
Aaron,  was  buried  by  his  son  Phineas  (Josh. 
xxiv.  33).  Dr.  Robinson  finds  it  in  a  narrow 
valley  called  Wady-el-Jib,  theGeebof  Maundrell, 
lying  just  midway  on  the  road  between  Jerusa- 
lem and  Shechem. 

GIB'EON,  a  town  celebrated  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, but  not  mentioned  in  the  New.  It  was 
'  a  great  city,'  as  one  of  the  royal  cities  ;  and  to 
its  jurisdiction  originally  belonged  Beeroth, 
Chephirah,  and  Kirjath-jearim  (Josh.  ix.  17;  x. 
2).  It  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  witli  the 
deception  practised  by  the  inhabitants  upon 
Joshua,  by  which,  although  Canaanites  (Hivites), 
they  induced  the  Jewish  leader  not  only  to  make 
a  league  with  them,  and  to  spare  their  lives  and 
cities,  but  also,  in  their  defence,  to  make  war 
upon  the  five  kings  by  whom  they  were  besieged. 
It  was  in  the  great  battle  which  followed,  that  '  the 
sun  stood  still  upon  Gibeon'  (Josh.  x.  12,  1-14). 
The  place  afterwards  fell  to  the  lot  of  Benjamin, 
and  became  a  Levitical  city  (Josh,  xviii.  25; 
xxi.  1 7),  where  the  tabernacle  was  set  up  for 
many  years  under  David  and  Solomon  ;^1  Chron. 
xvi.  39 ;  xxi,  29 ;  2  Chron.  i.  3),  the  ark  being 
at  the  same  time  at  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  i.  4). 
It  was  here,  as  being  the  place  of  the  altar,  that 
the  young  Solomon  ofiFered  a  thousand  burnt- 
offerings,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  vision  which 
left  him  the  vnsest  of  men  (I  Kings  iii.  4-15; 
2  Chron.  i.  3-13).  This  was  the  place  where 
Abner's  challenge  to  Joab  brought  defeat  upon 
himself,  and  death  upon  his  brother  Ashael  (2 
Sam.  ii.  12-32),  and  where  Amasa  was  afterwards 
slain  by  Joab  (2  Sam.  xx.  8-12).  None  of  these 
passages  mark  the  site  of  Gibeon;  but  there  are 
indications  of  it  in  Josephus,  who  places  it  fifty 
stadia  north-west  from  Jerusalem ;  and  in  Jerome : 
•which  leave  little  doubt  that  Gibeon  is  to  be  iden- 


GIDEON 


357 


tified  with  the  place  which  still  bears  the  name  of 
El-Jib. 

El-Jib  is  a  moderately  sized  village,  seated  on 
the  summit  of  a  hill,  five  miles  north  by  west 
from  Jerusalem.  The  houses  stand  very  irregu- 
larly and  unevenly,  sometimes  almost  above  one 
another.  They  seem  to  be  chiefly  rooms  in  old 
massive  ruins,  which  have  fallen  down  in  every 
direction.  One  large  building  still  remains,  pro- 
bably a  former  castle  or  tower  of  strength. 
Towards  the  east  the  ridge  of  the  hill  sinks  a 
little,  and  here,  a  few  rods  from  the  village,  just 
below  the  top  of  the  ridge  towards  the  north,  is  a 
fine  fountain  of  water.  It  is  in  a  cave,  excavated 
in  and  under  the  high  rock,  so  as  to  form  a  large 
subterranean  reservoir.  Not  far  below  it,  among 
olive-trees,  are  the  remains  of  an  open  reservoir, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  length  by 
one  hundred  in  breadth.  It  was  doubtless 
designed  to  receive  the  superfluous  waters  of  the 
cavern,  and  there  can  be  little  question  but  that 
this  was  'the  Pool  of  Gibeon'  mentioned  in 
2  Sam.  ii.  13 ;  and,  in  the  whole,  we  find  the 
'  Great  [or  many]  waters  of  Gibeon '  of  Jer.  xli. 
12. 

GIB'LITES,  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  and 
district  of  Gebal  in  Phoenicia,  34°  7'  N.  lat.,  35° 
42'  E.  long.,  on  the  shore  of  the  Mediterranean, 
under  Mount  Lebanon.  '  The  land  of  the  Gib- 
lites,'  with  '  all  Lebanon,'  was  assigned  to  the 
Israelites  by  the  original  appointment  (Josh.  xiii. 
5) ;  but  it  does  not  seem  that  they  ever  possessed 
themselves  of  it.  The  Giblites  are  denoted  by 
the  word  rendered  '  stone-squarers '  in  1  Kings  v. 
18;  from  which  it  would  seem  that  they  were 
then  subject  to,  or  in  close  connection  with  Tyre. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  this  Gebal,  or  the  one  in 
Edom,  is  that  mentioned  in  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  7.  But 
in  Ezek.  xxvij.  9,  the  Phoenician  Giblites  are  dis- 
tinctly mentioned  as  such,  and  preferably  em- 
ployed upon  the  shipping  which  formed  the  glory 
and  strength  of  Tyre. 

Gebal  was  an  important  place,  and  celebrated 
for  the  birth  and  worship  of  Adonis,  the  Syrian 
Thammuz.  The  town  still  subsists  under  the 
name  of  Jebail.  It  is  seated  on  a  rising  ground 
near  the  sea,  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon,  which  here 
approaches  close  to  the  coast.  It  is  walled  on  the 
tiiree  sides  towards  tlie  land,  and  open  on  the 
West  towards  the  sea,  being  perhaps  about  half  a 
mile  in  circuit.  Within  the  wall,  which  seems  of 
the  age  of  the  Crusades,  the  chief  building  is  an 
old  castle,  which  has  received  modern  repairs, 
and  is  now  used  as  the  abode  of  the  agha  or  com- 
mandant. There  are  three  or  four  open  and  lofty 
buildings  belonging  to  the  chief  people  of  the 
place,  a  mosque  with  a  low  minaret,  and  an  old 
Maronite  church  of  good  masonry ;  but  the 
houses  generally  are  of  poor  construction,  and 
nearly  half  the  space  within  the  walls  is  occupied 
with  the  gardens  of  the  inhabitants.  The  popu- 
lation is  estimated  at  2000. 

GID'EON  {destroyer),  surnamed  Jerubbaal 
or  Jerdbbesheth,  fifth  Judge  in  Israel,  and  the 
first  of  them  whose  history  is  circumstantially 
narrated.  He  was  the  son  of  Joash,  of  the  tribe 
of  Manasseh,  and  resided  at  Ophrah  in  Gilead 
beyond  the  Jordan. 

The  Midianites,  in  conjunction  with  the  Ama- 
lekites  and  other  nomade  tribes,  invaded  the 
country  every  year,  at  the  season  of  produce,  in 


358 


GIDEON 


GIDEON 


great  numbers,  with  their  flocks  and  herds. 
They  plundered  and  trampled  down  the  fields, 
the  vineyards,  and  the  gardens  ;  they  seized  the 
cattle,  and  plundered  man  and  house,  rioting  in 
the  country,  after  the  manner  which  the  Bedouin 
Arabs  practise  at  this  day.  After  Israel  had 
been  humbled  by  seven  years  of  this  treatment, 
the  Lord  raised  up  a  deliverer  in  the  person  of 
Gideon.  He  was  threshing  corn  by  stealth,  for 
fear  of  its  being  taken  away  by  the  Midianites, 
when  an  angel  of  God  appeared  befwe  him,  and 
thus  saluted  him:— 'the  Lord  is  with  thee,  thou 
mighty  man  of  valour.'  Gideon  expressed  some 
doubt  whether  God  was  still  with  a  people  sub- 
ject to  such  afHiction,  and  was  answered  by  the 
most  unexpected  commission — '  Go  in  this  thy 
might,  and  thou  shalt  save  Israel  from  the  hand 
of  the  Midianites  :  have  not  I  sent  thee  ?'  Gideon 
still  urged,  '  Wherewith  shall  1  save  Israel  ?  Be- 
hold my  family  is  poor  in  Manasseh,  and  I  am 
the  least  in  my  father's  house.'  The  'Where- 
with '  was  answered  by  '  Surely  I  will  be  with 
thee.'  He  then  demurred  no  more,  but  pressed 
his  hospitality  upon  the  heavenly  stranger,  who, 
however,  ate  not  of  what  was  set  before  him,  but 
directing  Gideon  to  lay  it  out  upon  the  rock  as 
upon  an  altar,  it  was  consumed  by  a  super- 
natural fire,  and  the  angel  disappeared.  Assured 
by  this  of  his  commission,  Gideon  proceeded  at 
once  to  cast  down  the  local  i:nage  and  altar  of 
Baal ;  and,  when  the  people  would  have  avenged 
this  insult  to  their  false  god,  their  anger  was 
averted  through  the  address  of  his  father,  who, 
by  dwelling  on  the  inability  of  Baal  to  avenge 
himself,  more  than  insinuated  a  doubt  of  his  com- 
petency to  proiect  his  followers.  This  was  a 
favourite  argument  among  the  Hebrews  against 
idolatry.  It  occurs  often  in  the  prophets,  and 
was  seldom  urged  upon  idolatrous  Israelites  with- 
out some  effect  upon  their  consciences. 

Gideon  soon  found  occasion  to  act  upon  his 
high  commission.  The  allied  invaders  were  en- 
camped in  the  great  plain  of  Jezreel  or  Esdraelon, 
when  he  blew  the  trumpet,  and  thus  gathered 
round  him  a  daily  increasing  host,  the  summons 
to  arms  which  it  implied  having  been  transmitted 
through  the  northern  tribes  by  special  messengers. 
The  inquietude  connected  with  great  enterprises 
is  more  sensibly  felt  some  days  before  than  at  the 
moment  of  action ;  and  hence  the  two  miraculous 
signs  which,  on  the  two  nights  preceding  the 
march,  were  required  and  given  as  tokens  of  vic- 
tory. The  first  night  a  fleece  was  laid  out  in  the 
middle  of  an  open  threshing-floor,  and  in  the 
morning  it  was  quite  wet,  while  the  soil  was  dry 
all  around.  The  next  night  the  wonder  was  re- 
versed, the  soil  being  wet  and  the  fleece  perfectly 
dry  (Judg.  vii.). 

Encouraged  by  these  divine  testimonies,  Gideon 
comm.enced  his  march,  and  advanced  to  the  brook 
Harod,  in  the  valley  of  Jezreel.  He  was  here  at 
the  head  of  32,000  men  ;  but,  lest  so  large  a  host 
should  assume  the  glory  of  the  coming  deliver- 
ance, which  of  right  belonged  to  God  only,  two 
operations,  remarkable  both  in  motive  and  pro- 
cedure, reduced  this  large  host  to  a  mere  handful 
of  men.  First,  by  divine  direction,  proclamation 
was  made  that  all  the  faint-hearted  might  with- 
draw ;  and  no  fewer  than  22,000  availed  them- 
selves of  the  indulgence.  The  remaining  10,000 
were  still  declared  too  numerous  :    they  were 


therefore  all  taken  down  to  the  brook,  when  only 
those  who  lapped  the  water  from  their  hands, 
like  active  men  in  haste,  were  reserved  for  the 
enterprise,  while  all  those  who  lay  down  leisurely 
to  drink  were  excluded.  The  former  numbered 
no  more  than  300,  and  these  were  the  appointed 
vanquishers  of  the  huge  host  which  covered  the 
great  plain  (Judg.  vii.  1-8). 

The  overheard  relation  of  a  dream,  by  which 
Gideon  was  encouraged  (Judg.  vii.  9-14),  and  the 
remarkable  stratagem,  with  pitchers  and  torches, 
by  which  he  overcame  (ver,  15-23),  are  well 
known. 

The  routed  Midianites  fled  towards  the  Jordan, 
but  were  pursued  with  great  slaughter,  the  coun- 
try being  now  roused  in  pursuit  of  the  flying 
oppressor.  The  Ephraimites  rendered  good  ser- 
vice by  seizing  the  lower  fords  of  the  Jordan, 
and  cutting  off'  all  who  attempted  escape  in  that 
direction,  while  Gideon  himself  pursued  beyond 
the  river  those  who  escaped  by  the  upper  fords. 
Gideon  crossed  the  Jordan  a  little  below  where 
it  leaves  the  lake  of  Gennesareth,  in  pursuit  of 
the  Midianitish  princes  Zeba  and  Zalmunna.  On 
that  side  the  river,  however,  his  victory  was  not 
believed  or  understood,  and  the  people  still  trem- 
bled at  the  very  name  of  the  Midianites.  Hence 
he  could  obtain  no  succour  from  the  places  which 
he  passed,  and  town  after  town  refused  to  supply 
even  victuals  to  his  fatigued  and  hungry,  but 
still  stout-hearted  troop.  He  denounced  ven- 
geance upon  them,  but  postponed  its  execution 
till  his  return  ;  and  when  he  did  return,  with 
the  two  princes  as  his  prisoners,  he  by  no  means 
spared  those  towns  which,  like  Succoth  and 
Penuel,  had  added  insult  to  injury  (Judg.  viii. 
4-17). 

In  his  days  captives  of  distinction  taken  in  war 
were  almost  invariably  slain.  Zeba  and  Zal- 
munna had  made  up  their  minds  to  this  fate ; 
and  yet  it  was  Gideon's  intention  to  have  spared 
them,  till  he  learned  that  they  had  put  to  death 
his  own  brothers  under  the  same  circumstances : 
upon  which,  as  the  avenger  of  their  blood,  he 
slew  the  captives  with  his  own  hand  (Judg.  viii. 
18-21). 

Among  the  fugitives  taken  by  the  Ephraimites 
were  two  distinguished  emirs  of  Midian,  named 
Oreb  and  Zeeb,  whom  they  put  to  death.  They 
took  their  heads  over  to  Gideon,  which  amounted 
to  an  acknowledgmem  of  his  leadership ;  but  still 
the  always  haughty  and  jealous  Ephraimites  were 
greatly  annoyed  that  they  had  not  in  the  first  in- 
stance been  summoned  to  the  field  ;  and  serious 
consequences  might  have  followed,  but  for  the 
tact  of  Gideon  in  speaking  in  a  lowly  spirit  of 
his  own  doings  in  comparison  with  theirs  (Judg. 
vii.  14  ;  viii.  1,  sq.). 

Gideon  having  thus  delivered  Israel  from  the 
most  afflictive  tyranny  to  which  they  had  been 
subject  since  they  quitted  Egypt,  the  grateful 
people,  and  pTirticularly  the  northern  tribes,  made 
him  an  offer  of  the  crown  for  himself  and  his  sons. 
But  the  hero  was  too  well  acquainted  with  his 
true  position,  and  with  the  principles  of  the  theo- 
cratical  government,  to  accept  this  unnuarded 
offer :  '  I  will  not  rule  over  you,'  he  said, '  neither 
shall  my  son  rule  over  you :  Jehovah,  he  shall 
rule  over  you.'  He  would  only  accept  the  golden 
ear-rings  which  the  victors  had  taken  from  the 
ears  of  their  slaughtered  foes  [Ear-rings]  ;  and  a 


GIHON 


GILEAD 


cloth  being  spread  out  to  receive  them,  the  admir- 
ing Israelites  threw  in,  not  only  the  ear-rings, 
but  other  ornaments  of  gold,  including  the  chains 
of  the  royal  camels,  and  added  the  purple  robes 
•which  the  slain  mouarchs  had  worn,  being  the 
first  indication  of  purple  as  a  royal  colour.  The 
ear-rings  alone  weighed  1700  shekels,  equal  to  74 
pounds  4  ounces,  aud  worth,  at  the  present  value 
of  gold,  about  3300/.  With  this  '  Gideon  made 
an  ephod,  and  put  it  in  his  city,  even  iu  Ophrah ; 
and  all  Israel  went  thither  a  whoring  after  it; 
which  thing  became  a  snare  unto  Gideon  and  to 
his  house.'  An  ephod,  at  least  that  of  the  high- 
priest,  was  an  outer  garment  like  a  sleeveless 
tunic,  to  which  was  attached  the  oracular  breast- 
plate>  composed  of  twelve  precious  stones  set  in 
gold,  and  graven  with  the  names  of  the  twelve 
tribes.  Another  plainer  description  of  ephod  was 
worn  by  the  common  priests.  The  object  of 
Gideon  in  making  an  ephod  with  his  treasure  is 
not  very  clear.  Some  suppose  that  it  was  merely 
designed  as  a  trophy  of  Israel's  deliverance :  if 
so,  it  was  a  very  strange  one.  It  is  more  pro- 
bable that  as  Gideon  had,  on  his  being  first  called 
to  his  high  mission,  been  instructed  to  build  an 
altar  and  offer  sacrifice  at  this  very  place,  he  con- 
ceived himself  authorized,  if  not  required,  to  have 
there  a  sacerdotal  establishment — for  at  least  the 
tribes  beyond  the  river— where  sacrifices  might 
be  regularly  offered.  In  this  case  the  worship 
rendered  there  was  doubtless  in  honour  of  Jeho- 
vah, but  was  still,  however  well  intended,  highly 
schismatical  and  irregular.  Even  in  his  lifetime 
it  must  have  had  the  effect  of  withdrawing  the 
attention  of  the  people  east  of  the  Jordan  from 
the  Tabernacle  at  Shiloh,  and  thus  so  far  tended 
to  facilitate  the  step  into  actual  idolatry,  which 
was  taken  soon  after  Gideon's  death.  The  proba- 
bility of  this  explanation  is  strengthened  when  we 
recollect  the  schismatical  sacerdotal  establish- 
ments which  were  formed  by  Micah  on  Mount 
Ephraim,  and  by  the  Danites  at  Laish  (Judg. 
xvii.  5-13;  xviii.  29-31). 

The  remainder  of  Gideon's  life  was  peaceable. 
He  had  seventy  sons  by  many  wives,  and  died  at 
an  advanced  age,  after  he  had  '  ruled  Israel ' 
(principally  the  northern  tribes  and  those  beyond 
the  river)  for  forty  years:  B.C.  1249  to  1209.  He 
is  mentioned  in  the  discourse  of  Samuel  (1  Sam. 
xii.  11),  and  his  name  occurs  in  Heb.  xi.  32, 
among  those  of  the  heroes  of  the  faith. 

1.  GI'HON,  a  fountain  near  Jerusalem.  The 
place  outside  the  city  to  which  the  young  Solo- 
mon was  taken  to  be  anointed  king,  was  called 
Gihon,  but  its  direction  is  not  indicated  (1  Kings 
i.  33,  38).  Subsequently  king  Hezekiah  '  stopped 
the  upper  water-course  [or  upper  out-flow  of  the 
waters]  of  Gihon,  and  brought  it  straight  down 
to  the  west  side  of  the  city  of  David  (2  Chron. 
xxxii.  30;  xxxiii.  14).  This  was,  perhaps,  on 
occasion  of  the  approach  of  the  Assyrian  army 
under  Sennacherib,  when,  to  prevent  the  besiegers 
from  finding  water,  great  numbers  of  the  people 
laboured  with  much  diligence  in  stopping  the 
water  of  the  fountains  without  the  city,  and  in 
particular  of  '  the  brook  that  ran  through  the 
midst  of  the  land  "  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  3,  4).  The 
author  of  the  book  of  Sirach  (xlviii.  17)  also 
states,  that  'Hezekiah  brought  water  into  the 
midst  of  the  city  ;  he  dug  with  iron  into  the  rock, 
and  built  fountains  for  the  waters.'    The  foun- 


tain of  Gihon  is  also  mentioned  by  Josephus. 
From  a  comparison  of  these  passages  the  editor  of 
the  Pictorial  Bible  (on  2  Chron.  xxxii.)  arrived 
at  the  conclusion,  since  confirmed  by  Dr.  Eobin- 
son,  that  there  existed  anciently  a  fountain  of 
Gihon,  on  the  west  side  of  the  city,  which  was 
'  stopped '  or  covered  over  by  Hezekiah,  and  its 
waters  brought  by  subterraneous  channels  into 
the  city.  Before  that  time  it  would  naturally 
have  flowed  down  through  the  valley  of  Gihon, 
and  probably  formed  the  brook  which  was  stopped 
at  the  same  time.  '  The  fountain  may  have  been 
stopped,  and  its  waters  thus  secured  very  easily 
by  digging  deep  and  erecting  over  it  one  or  more 
vaulted  subterranean  chambers.' 

2.  GIHON;  the  name  of  one  of  the  rivers  of 
Paradise.     [Paradise.] 

GIL'BOA,  a  mountain  memorable  for  the  de- 
feat of  Saul  by  the  Philistines,  where  his  three 
sons  were  slain,  aud  where  he  himself  died  by  his 
own  hand  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  4;  xxxi.  1-8  ;  2  Sam. 
i.  6-21).  The  circumstances  of  the  narrative 
would  alone  suffice  to  direct  our  attention  to  the 
mountains  which  bound  the  great  plain  of  Esdra- 
elon  on  the  south-east,  and  are  interposed  between 
it  and  the  Jordan  valley.  Here  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  ridges  with  a  general  direction  from  north- 
west to  south-east,  separated  by  valleys  running 
in  the  same  direction.  The  largest  of  these  valleys 
is  the  southernmost :  it  is  a  broad  deep  plain  about 
two  miles  and  a  half  wide,  and  leading  direct  into 
the  Jordan  valley.  This  is  supposed  to  be  dis- 
tinctively (for  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  is  some- 
times so  called)  the  Valley  of  Jezreel.  The 
mountains  which  bound  it  on  the  north  appear  to 
be  those  of  Little  Hermon  ;  and  the  higher  moun- 
tains which  bound  it  on  the  south  undoubtedly 
form  Mount  Gilbaa.  There  is  still,  indeed,  an 
inhabited  village,  in  whose  name  of  Jelbon  that 
of  Gilboa  may  be  recognised. 

GIL'EAD.  1.  A  group  of  mountains  connected 
with  Lebanon  by  means  of  Mount  Hermon.  It 
begins  not  far  from  the  latter,  and  extends  south- 
ward to  the  sources  of  the  brooks  Jabbok  and 
Arnon,  thus  enclosing  the  whole  eastern  part  of 
the  land  be}  ond  the  Jordan  (Gen.  xxxi.  21 ;  Cant, 
iv.  1).  According  to  Michaelis,  this  mountain, 
which  gave  its  name  to  the  country  so  called,  must 
be  situated  beyond  the  region  sketched  in  our 
maps,  and  somewhere  about  the  Euphrates. 

2.  (a)  The  name  of  a  large  district  beyond  the 
Jordan,  continually  mentioned  iu  the  Scriptures 
in  contradistinction  to,  or  apart  from,  Bashan 
(Deut.  iii.  13;  Josh.  xii.  5;  xiii.  11  ;  xvii.  I  ;  2 
Kings  x.  S3;  1  Chron.  v.  16;  Mic.  vii.  14); 
though,  to  judge  from  its  geographical  position  (as 
given  Num.  xxxii.  26;  Deut.  iii.  12),  it  must 
have  comprised  the  entire  possessions  of  the  two 
tribes  of  Gad  and  Reuben,  and  even  the  southern 
part  of  Manasseh  (Deut.  iii.  13  ;  Num.  xxxii.  40; 
Josh.  xvii.  1-6).  The  cities  Ramoth,  Jabosh, 
and  Jazer,  are  usually  designated  as  lying  in 
Gilead. 

This  region  was  distinguished  for  its  rich  pas- 
tures (Num.  xxxii.  1)  and  aromatic  simples; 
from  which  latter  difierent  sorts  of  balsam  were 
prepared — facts  confirmed  bj-  modern  travellers, 
with  the  addition  that  the  whole  region  is  covered 
with  groups  of  limestone  mountains,  intersected 
by  fertile  valleys. 

(6)  The  name  of  the  whole  eastern  part  of  the 


GIRDLE 


GLASS 


Jordan  (Deut.  xxxiv.  1  ;  comp.  2  Kings  x.  33 ; 
Judg.  XX.  1). 

The  name  Gilead  continued  to  be  used,  in  a 
general  and  geographical  sense,  even  after  the 
exile. 

L  GIL'GAL,  the  place  -where  the  Israelites 
formed  their  first  encampment  in  Palestine,  and 
which  continued  for  some  time  to  be  their  head- 
quarters while  engaged  in  the  conquest  of  the  land 
(Josh,  iv.  19,  '20;  ix.  0  :  x.  G,  7,  &c.).  It  was 
here  that  they  set  up  the  twelve  stones  which  they 
took  out  of  the  bed  of  the  Jordan  (iv.  19),  which 
another  head  will  bring  under  consideration 
[Stones].  Samuel  used  to  visit  Gilgal  in  his 
annual  circuit  as  a  judge  ;  and  here  there  was  a 
school  of  tlie  prophets  (1  Sam.  vii.  IG  ;  2  Kings 
iv.  38).  There  is  no  notice  of  the  place  after  the 
Captivity.  Indeed,  it  does  not  seem  that  the  name 
belonged  at  first  to  a  town,  although  Gilgal 
eventually  became  an  inhabited  place.  It  appears 
to  have  been  early  abandoned,  and  Josephus  does 
not  seem  to  mention  it  as  existing  in  his  time. 
This  writer  places  it  on  the  east  border  of  Jericho, 
ten  stadia  from  that  city,  and  fifty  from  the 
Jordan.  From  this  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  village  of  the  pseudo- 
Jericho,  Riha,  which  is  about  the  assigned  distance 
from  the  river.  No  trace  of  the  name  or  site  can 
now  be  discovered. 

2.  GILGAL,  a  place  in  the  region  of  Dor, 
whose  king  was  subdued  by  Joshua  (Josh.  xii.  23). 
The  Gilgal  of  Neh.  xii.  29,  and  1  Mace.  ix.  2,  is 
probably  the  same  as  this ;  as  well  as  the  ancient 
Galgala,  which  Eusebius  and  Jerome  place  six 
Konian  miles  north  of  Antipatris.  In  this  neigh- 
bourhood there  is  still  a  village  called  Jiljuleh, 
which  probably  represents  the  ancient  site. 

GIRDLE.  The  original  word  translated  'girdle' 


literally  means  a  band  or  bandage,  and  from  the 


places  in  which  it  occurs  it  appears  to  have  been 
made  of  fine  linen,  variously  wrought  and  used  to 
bind  as  a  girdle  about  the  body  of  persons  in  autho- 
rity, especially  tlie  Jewish  priests  (Exod.  xxix.  9 ; 
xxviii.  39  ;  xxxix.  29;  Lev.  viii.  13;  Isa.  xxii. 
21).  These  girdles  may  be  considered  as  fairly 
represented  by  those  which  we  observe  on  such 
persons  in  the  Egyptian  paintings. 

GIR'GASHITES,  one  ofthe  families  of  Canaan, 
who  are  supposed  to  have  been  settled  in  that  part 
of  the  counti-y  which  lay  to  the  east  of  the  Lake 
of  (Jennesareth. 

The  Girgashites  are  conjectured  to  have  been  a 
part  of  the  large  family  of  the  Hivites,  as  they  are 
omitted  in  nine  out  of  ten  places  in  which  the 
nations  or  families  of  Canaan  are  mentioned,  while 
in  the  tenth  they  are  mentioned,  and  the  Hivites 
omitted.  Josephus  states  that  nothing  but  the 
name  of  the  Girgashites  remained  in  his  time.  In 
the  Jewish  commentaries  of  R.  Nacliraan,  and 
elsewhere,  the  Girgashites  are  described  as  having 
retired  into  Africa,  fearing  the  power  of  God  ; 
and  Procopius,  in  his  History  of  the  Vandals, 
mentions  an  pncicnt  inscription  in  Mauritania 
Tingitana,  stating  that  the  inhabitants  had  lied 
thither  from  the  face  of  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun. 
Th-e  fact  of  such  a  migration  is  not  unlikely  :  but 
we  have  very  serious  doubts  respecting  the  in- 
scription. 

GIT'TITES,  inhabitants  or  natives  of  Gath 
(Josh.  xiii.  3).  Obed-edom,  although  a  Levite, 
is  called  a  Gittite  (2  Sam.  vi.  10),  possibly  be- 
cause he  had  been  with  David  when  at  Gath, 
but  much  more  probably  from  his  being  a  native 
of  Gath-rimmon,  which  was  a  city  of  the  Levites. 
There  seems  no  reason  for  extending  this  inter- 
pretation to  Ittai  (2  Sam.  xv.  19),  seeing  that 
David  expressly  calls  him  'a  stranger'  (fo- 
reigner), and,  what  is  more,  '  an  exile.'  He  was 
at  the  head  of  COO  men,  who  were  also  Gittites, 
for  they  are  called  (ver.  22)  his  '  brethren.' 
They  appear  to  have  formed  a  foreign  troop  of 
experienced  warriors,  chiefly  from  Gath,  in  the 
pay  and  service  of  David ;  which  they  had  per- 
haps entered  in  the  first  instance  for  the  sake  of 
sharing  in  the  booty  obtainable  in  his  wars.  We 
can  conceive  that  the  presence  of  such  a  troop 
must  have  been  useful  to  the  king  in  giving  to 
the  Hebrew  army  that  organization  and  disci- 
pline which  it  did  not  possess  before  his  time. 

GIT'TITH,  a  word  which  occurs  in  the  title 
of  Ps.  viii.,  Ixxxi.,  Ixxxiv.     [Psalms.] 

GLASS,  according  to  Pliny,  was  discovered 
by  what  is  termed  accident.  Some  merchants 
kindled  a  fire  on  that  part  of  the  coast  of  Phoe- 
nicia which  lies  near  Ptolemais,  between  the  foot 
ofCarmel  and  Tyre,  at  a  spot  where  the  river 
Belus  casts  the  fine  sand  which  it  brings  down ; 
but,  as  they  were  without  the  usual  means  of 
suspending  their  cooking  vessels,  they  employed 
for  that  purpose  logs  of  nitre,  their  vessel  being 
laden  with  that  substance;  the  fire  fusing  the 
nitre  and  the  sand  produced  glass.  The  Si- 
donians,  in  whose  vicinity  the  discovery  was 
made,  took  it  up,  and  having  in  process  of  time 
carried  the  art  to  a  high  degree  of  excellence, 
gained  thereby  both  wealth  and  fame.  Other 
nations  became  their  pupils ;  the  Romans  espe- 
cially atcained  to  very  high  skill  in  the  art  of 
fusing,  blowing,  and  colouring  glass.  Even 
glass  mirrors  were  invented  by  the  Sidonians. 


GLASS 

This  account  of  Pliny  is  in  substance  corrobo- 
rated by  Strabo  and  by  Josephus.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing tliis  explicit  statement,  it  was  long  de- 
nied that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with 
glass  properly  so  called ;  nor  did  the  denial  en- 
tirely disappear  even  when  Pompeii  offered 
evidences  of  its  want  of  foundation.  Our  know- 
ledge of  Egypt  has,  however,  set  the  matter  at 
rest — showing  at  the  same  time  how  careful  men 
should  be  in  setting  up  mere  abstract  reasonings 
in  opposition  to  the  direct  testimony  of  history. 
Wilkinson,  in  his  Ancient  Egyptians  (iii.  88,  sq.), 
has  adduced  the  fullest  evidence  that  glass  was 
known  to  and  made  by  that  ingenious  people  at 
a  very  early  period  of  their  national  existence. 
Upward  of  3500  years  ago,  in  the  reign  of  the 
first  Osirtasen,  they  appear  to  have  practised  the 
art  of  blowing  glass.    The  process  is  represented 


GNAT 


361 


in  the  paintings  of  Beni  Hassan,  executed  in  the 
reign  of  that  monarch.  In  the  same  age  images 
of  glazed  pottery  were  common.  Ornaments  of 
glass  were  made  by  them  about  1500  years  B.C.; 
for  a  bead  of  that  date  has  been  found,  being  of 
the  same  specific  gravity  as  that  of  our  crown 
glass.  Many  glass  bottles,  &c.  have  been  met 
with  in  the  tombs,  some  of  very  remote  antiquity. 
Glass  vases  were  used  for  holding  wine  as  early 
as  the  Exodus.  Such  was  the  skill  of  the  Egyp- 
tians in  this  manufacture,  that  they  successfully 
counterfeited  the  amethyst,  and  other  precious 
stones.  It  was  sometimes  used  by  the  Egyptians 
even  for  coffins.  They  also  employed  it,  not  only 
for  drinking  utensils  and  ornaments  of  the  person, 
but  for  mosaic-work,  the  figures  of  deities,  and 
sacred  emblems,  attaining  to  exquisite  workman- 
ship, and  a  surprising  brilliancy  of  colour.  The 
art  too  of  cutting  glass  was  known  to  them  at  the 
most  remote  periods ;  for  -which  purpose,  as  we 
learn  from  Pliny,  the  diamond  was  used.  That 
the  ancients  had  mirrors  of  glass  is  clear  from 
the  above-cited  words  of  Pliny ;  but  the  mirrors 
found  in  Egypt  are  made  of  mixed  metal,  chiefly 
copper.  So  admirably  did  the  skill  of  the  Egyp- 
tians succeed  in  the  composition  of  metals,  that 
their  mirrors  were  susceptible  of  a  polish  which 
has  been  but  partially  revived  at  the  present  day. 
The  mirror  was  nearly  round,  having  a  handle 
of  wood,  stone,  or  metal.  The  form  varied  with 
the  taste  of  the  owner.  The  same  kind  of  metal 
mirror  was  used  by  the  Israelites,  who,  doubtless, 
brought  it  from  Egypt.     In  Exod.  xxxviii.  8,  it 


is  expressly  said  that  Moses  'made  the  laver  of 
brass  of  the  looking-glasses  (brazen  mirrors)  of 
the  women.' 

It  would  be  justifiable  to  suppose  tliat  the  He- 
brews brought  glass,  and  a  knowledge  how  to 
manufacture  it,  with  them  out  of  Egypt,  were  not 
the  evidence  of  history  so  explicit  that  it  was 
actually  discovered  and  wrought  at  their  own 
doors.  Whether  it  was  used  by  them  for  mirrors 
is  another  question.  That  glass,  however,  was 
known  to  the  Hebrews  appears  beyond  a  doubt. 

GLEDE  (Deut.  xiv.  1.3)  is  an  obsolete  name 
for  the  common  kite.  It  is  a  species  that  rises  to 
a  towering  height,  hangs  apparently  motionless 
in  the  sky,  and  darts  down  with  immense  velo- 
city ;  but  the  legs  and  claws  being  weak,  it  is 
cowardly,  and  feeds  upon  carrion,  fish,  insects, 
mice,  and  small  birds.  About  Cairo  kites  are 
particularly  abundant,  mixing  with  the  carrion 
vultures  in  tlieir  wheeling  flight,  and  coming  in 
numbers  to  the  daily  distribution  of  food  awarded 
them.  But  the  question  whether  the  kite  of  Eu- 
rope and  that  of  Egypt  are  the  same  species,  is 
not  decided,  though  there  is  no  want  of  scientific 
names  for  both  species  found  in  the  valley  of  the 
Nile ;  one  of  which  is  certainly  distinct  from  the 
European,  and  the  other,  if  not  so,  is  still  a 
strongly  marked  variety.    The  bill  of  this  species 


200.    [Milvus  Ater.] 

is  dark  ;  head  and  throat  whitish,  with  brown 
streaks ;  body  above  dark  grey  brown,  pale  fer- 
ruginous below;  tail  but  slightly  forked;  legs 
yellow.  It  is  found  in  hieroglyphic  paintings 
coloured  with  sufficient  accuracy  not  to  be  mis- 
taken. The  other  species,  which  we  figure  above 
as  Milvus  ater,  is  the  black  kite.  It  has  the 
head,  neck,  and  back  dark  rusty  grey ;  scapulars 
bordered  with  rusty  ;  wing-coverts  and  primaries 
black,  the  last  mentioned  tipped  with  white ;  tail 
rusty  grey  above,  white  beneath ;  bill  dark ;  legs 
yellow.  The  manners  of  both  species  are  much 
the  same  :  it  is  likely  that  they  are  equally  abun- 
dant at  Cairo,  and  spread  into  Palestine  [Hawk]. 
GNAT.  Our  Saviour's  allusion  to  the  gnat  is 
a  kind  of  proverb,  either  in  use  in  his  time,  or 
invented  by  himself,  '  Blind  guides,  who  stram 
out  a  gnat,  and  swallow  down  [holt,  as  we  say]  a 
camel.'  He  adopts  the  antithesis  of  the  smallest 
insect  to  the  largest  animal,  aud  applies  it  to  those 
who  are  superstitiously  anxious  in  avoiding 
small  faults,  yet  do  not  scruple  to  commit  the 


862  GOAT 

greatest  sins.  The  typographical  error,  '  strain 
at  a  gnat,'  first  found  its  way  into  King  James's 
translation,  1611.  It  is  'strain  out'  in  the  pre- 
vious translations.  The  custom  of  filtering  wine, 
among  the  Jews,  for  this  purpose,  was  founded 
on  the  prohibition  of  '  all  flying,  creeping  things  ' 
being  used  for  food,  excepting  the  saltatorii 
(Lev.  xi.  23).  According  to  the  Talmud,  eating 
a  gnat  incurred  scourging  or  excommunication. 

GOAT.      The    races    of   this   animal   either 
known  to  or  kept   by  the  Hebrew  people  were 


201.    [Syrian  Goat.] 

probably — 1.  The  domestic  Syrian  long-eared 
breed,  with  horns  rather  small  and  variously 
bent;  the  ears  longer  than  the  head,  and  pen- 
dulous ;  hair  long,  often  black ;— 2.  The  Angora, 
or  rather  Anadoli  breed  of  Asia  Minor,  with  long 
hair,  more  or  less  fine  ; — 3.  The  Egyptian  breed, 
with  small  spiral  horns,  long  brown  hair,  very 
long  ears  ; — 4.  A  breed  from  Upper  Egypt  with- 
out horns,  having  the  nasal  bones  singularly 
elevated,  the  nose  contracted,  with  the  lower  jaw 
protruding  the  incisors,  and  the  female  with 
udder  very  low  and  purse-shaped.  This  race, 
the  most  degraded  by  climate  and  treatment  of 
all  the  domestic  varieties,  is  clad  in  long  coarse 
hair,  commonly  of  a  rufous  brown  colour,  and  so 
early  distinct,  that  the  earlier  monuments  of 
Egypt  represent  it  with  obvious  precision. 

The  natural  history  of  the  domestic  goat  re- 
quires no  illustration  in  this  place,  and  its  eco- 
nomic uses  demand  only  a  few  words.  Not- 
withstanding the  offensive  lasciviousness  which 
causes  it  to  be  significantly  separated  from  .sheep, 
the  goat  was  employed  by  the  people  of  Israel  in 
many  respects  as  their  representative.  It  was  a 
pure  animal  for  sacrifice  (Exod.  xii.  5),  and  a 
kid  might  be  substituted  as  equivalent  to  a  lamb  : 
it  formed  a  principal  part  of  the  Hebrew  flocks ; 
and  both  the  milk  and  the  young  kids  were  daily 
articles  of  food.  Among  the  poorer  and  more 
sober  shepherd  families,  the  slaughter  of  a  kid 
was  a  token  of  hospitality  to  strangers,  or  of  un- 
usual festivity ;  and  the  prohibition,  thrice  re- 
peated in  the  Mosaic  law,  '  not  to  seethe  a  kid  in 
its  mother's  milk'  (Exod.  xxiii.  19;  xxxiv.  26; 
and  Deut.  xiv.  21),  may  have  originated  partly 
in  a  desire  to  recommend  abstemiousness,  which 
the  legislators  and  moralists  of  the  East  have 
since  invariably  enforced  with  success,  and  partly 
with  a  view  to  discountenance  a  practice  which 
was  connected  with  idolatrous  festivals,  and  the 
rites  they  involved.  It  is  from  goatskins  that 
the  leathern  bottles  to  contain  wine  and  other 
liquids  are  made  in  the  Levant.  For  this  pur- 
pose, after  the  head  and  feet  are  cut  away,  the 


GOAT,  SCAPE 

case  or  hide  is  drawn  off  the  carcass  over  the 
neck,  without  opening  the  belly ;  and  the  ex- 
tremities being  secured,  it  is  dried  with  the  hair 
in  or  outside,  according  to  the  use  it  is  intended 
for.  The  old  worn-out  skins  are  liable  to  burst : 
hence  the  obvious  propriety  of  putting  new  wine 
into  new  bottles  (Matt.  ix.  17).  Harmer  appears 
to  have  rightly  referred  the  allusion  in  Amos  iii, 
12,  to  the  long-eared  race  of  goats:  'As  the 
shepherd  taketh  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  lion  two 
legs  or  a  piece  of  ear,  so  shall  the  children  of  Israel 
be  taken  out  that  dwell  in  Samaria  and  Damascus.' 
Beside  the  domestic  goats.  Western  Asia  is 
possessed  of  one  or  more  wild  species — all  large 
and  vigorous  mountain  animals,  resembling  the 
ibex  or  bouquetin  of  the  Alps.  Of  these.  Southern 
Syria,  Arabia,  Sinai,  and  the  borders  of  the  Red 
Sea,  contain  at  least  one  species,  known  to  the 
Arabs  by  the  name  of  Beden  or  Beddan,  and 
Taytal.  We  take  this  animal  to  be  that  noticed 
in  1  Sam.  xxiv.  2 ;  Job  xxxix.  1  ;  Ps.  civ.  1 8  ; 
Prov.  V.  19.  The  male  is  considerably  taller 
and  more  robust  than  the  larger  he-goats,  the 
horns  forming  regular  curves  backwards,  and 
with  from  15  to  24  transverse  elevated  cross 
ridges,  being  sometimes  near  three  feet  long,  and 
exceedingly  ponderous:  there  is  a  beard  under 
the  chin,  and  the  fur  is  dark  brown ;  but  the 
limbs  ar6  white,  with  regular  black  marks  down 
the  front  of  the  legs,  with  rings  of  the  same 
colour  above  the  knees  and  on  the  pasterns.  The 
females  are  smaller  than  the  males,  more  slen- 
derly made,  brighter  rufous,  and  with  the  white 


\  \^^ 

202.     [Wild  Goat  of  Sinai.] 

and  black  markings  on  the  legs  not  so  distinctly 
visible.  This  species  live  in  troops  of  1.5  or  20, 
and  plunge  down  precipices  with  the  same  fear- 
less impetuosity  which  distinguishes  the  ibex. 
Their  horns  are  sold  by  the  Arabs  for  knife- 
handles,  &c. ;  but  the  animals  themselves  are  fast 
diminishing  in  number. 

GOAT,  SCAPE.  The  particulars  respecting 
the  two  goats,  one  of  which  was  to  be  offered  in 
sacrifice  and  the  other  suffered  to  escape,  are 
contained  in  Lev.  xvi.  7-10.  The  two  goats 
were  to  be  brought  to  the  door  of  the  tabernacle 
and  the  high-priest  was  to  cast  lots  upon  them, 
'  one  lot  for  the  Lord,  and  the  other/or  the  scape- 
goat,' or  rather  '  for  Azazel.'  The  goat  on  which 
the  lot  of  the  Lord  fell  was  to  be  brought  and 
ofi'ered  up  for  a  sin-offering,  but  the  goat  ou 
which  the  lot  of  Azazel  fell  was  to  be  presentee 
alive  before  the  Lord,  to  make  an  atonemen* 


GOD 


GOD 


with  him,  to  let  him  go  for  a  scape-goat  (or  '  for 
Azazel')  into  the  wilderness.  Of  the  former  the 
blood  was  to  be  carried  within  the  veil  to  be 
sprinkled  upon  the  mercy-seat,  and  before  the 
mercy-seat,  in  order  that  atonement  might  be 
made  for  the  holy  place  because  of  the  unclean- 
ness  of  the  children  of  Israel.  When,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  live  goat  was  brought,  the  high- 
priest  was  to  Tay  both  his  hands  upon  his  head  to 
confess  over  it  all  the  iniquities  of  the  children  of 
Israel ;  after  which  he  was  to  send  it  by  the 
hfftd  of  '  a  fit  man '  that  it  might  bear  upon  it 
all  their  iniquities  into  a  land  not  inhabited. 

The  only  difficulty  here,  and  that  is  a  great 
one,  is  with  respect  to  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Azazel,  which  our  translators,  in  common  with  a 
large  class  of  modern  commentators,  regard  as 
applied  to  the  goat  itself,  and  render  it  by  '  scape- 
goat.' Others  produce  reasons,  not  easily  an- 
swered, for  showing  that  the  word  must  be  taken 
as  a  proper  name.  Then  arises  the  question, 
What  is  the  name  ?  Several  of  the  Rabbinical 
writers  regard  it  as  the  name  of  the  place  to 
which  the  scape-goat  was  conducted;  but  this 
notion  has  obtained  little  attention  among  Bib- 
lical scholars.  Others,  taking  a  hint  from  the 
Septuagint,  which  translates  the  difficult  phrase 
by  '  one  lot  for  the  Apopompeus,'  or  '  the  sender 
away,'  or  '  the  averter,'  hold  it  to  denote  one  of 
that  class  of  demons  or  deities  called  by  the 
Latins  Dii  Averrunci,  or  '  the  deities  who  send 
away  or  avert  evil  from  their  votaries;'  in  which 
case  the  word  would  denote  here  a  demon  dwell- 
ing in  the  wilderness,  and  placated  by  victims. 
It  is  hard  to  suppose  that  a  solemn  ceremony  was 
framed  so  as  to  give  some  sanction  to  the  notion 
supposed  to  be  involved  in  this  statement.  A 
step  further,  however,  brings  it  more  within  the 
range  of  our  recognition — this  is,  that  Azazel  is 
but  a  name  for  Satan,  as  was  the  opinion  of  most 
of  the  Jewish  writers  and  of  the  early  Christian 
church ;  and  that  the  meaning  of  the  ceremony 
is,  that  while  the  remission  of  sin  is  effected  by 
the  sacrificed  goat  (for  without  shedding  of  blood 
there  was  no  remission,  Heb.  ix.  22),  the  other 
wa.s  laden  with  the  sins  already,  through  the 
other  goat,  pardoned,  by  way  of  symbolically 
notifying  the  fact  to  Satan,  and  of  triumphing  in 
his  discomfiture.  That,  in  any  case,  the  liberated 
goat  is  understood  to  bear  away  the  burden  of 
pardoned  sin,  so  that  it  shall  be  seen  no  more, 
and  stands  in  the  place  which  the  victim  goat 
would  have  occupied  could  it  have  been  brought 
to  life  again  after  having  been  offered,  seems  to 
be  shown  by  the  somewhat  parallel  case  of  the 
two  figures  used  in  the  purification  of  the  leprous 
person  (Lev.  i.  4),  one  of  which  is  slain,  and  the 
other  dipped  in  its  blood,  and  then  suffered  to  fly 
away.  There  is  another  more  common  explana- 
tion, which,  if  correct,  forms  a  very  beautiful  in- 
terpretation of  the  typical  rite.  This  view  recog- 
nises the  substantial  typical  identity  of  the  two 
goats,  and  in  the  victim  goat  sees  Christ  dying 
for  our  sins,  and  in  the  liberated  goat  views  him 
as  rising  again  for  our  justification.  But  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  whole  subject  forms  one  of  I 
the  greatest  difficulties  of  Scripture. 

GOD.  The  two  principal  Hebrew  names  of 
the  Supreme  Being  used  in  the  Scriptures  are 
Jehovah  and  Elohim.  Dr.  Havernick  proposes 
the  reading  Jahveh  instead  o{  Jehovah,  meaning 


'  the  Existing  One.'  Both  names,  he  admirably 
proves,  are  used  by  Moses  discrimiuately,  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  theological  idea  he  wished  to 
express  in  the  immediate  context ;  and,  pursuing 
the  Pentateuch  nearly  line  by  line,  it  is  astonish- 
ing to  see  that  Moses  never  uses  any  of  the  names 
at  mere  random  or  arbitrarily,  but  is  throughout 
consistent  in  the  application  of  the  respective 
terms.  Eluhim  is  the  abstract  expression  for  ab- 
solute Deitt/  apart  from  the  special  notions  of 
unity,  holiness,  substance.  &c.  It  is  more  a  phi- 
losophical than  devotional  term,  and  corresponds 
with  our  term  Deitij,  in  the  same  way  as  state  or 
government  is  abstractedly  expressive  of  a  king  or 
monarch.  Jehovah,  however,  he  considers  to  be 
the  revealed  Elohim,  the  Manifest,  Only,  Per- 
sonal, and  Holy  Elohim  :  Elohim  is  the  Creator, 
Jehovah  the  Redeemer,  &c. 

To  Elohim,  in  the  later  writers,  we  usually 
find  affixed  the  adjective  '  the  living'  (Jer. x.  10; 
Dan.  vi.  20,  26  ;  Acts  xiv.  1.5 ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16),  pro- 
bably in  contradistinction  to  idols,  which  might 
be  confounded  in  some  cases  with  the  true  God. 

The  attributes  ascribed  to  God  by  Moses  are 
systematically  enumerated  in  Exod.  xxxiv.  6,  7, 
though  we  find  in  isolated  passages  in  the  Penta- 
teuch and  elsewhere,  additional  properties  speci- 
fied, which  bear  more  directly  upon  the  dogmas 
and  principles  of  religion,  such  as  e.  g.  that  he  is 
not  the  author  of  sin  (Gen.  i.  31),  although  since 
the  fall,  man  is  born  prone  to  sin  (Gen.  vi.  5  ; 
viii,  21,  &c.).  But  as  it  was  the  avowed  design 
of  Moses  to  teach  the  Jews  the  Unity  of  God  in 
opposition  to  the  polytheism  of  the  other  nations 
with  whom  they  were  to  come  in  contact,  he 
dwelt  particularly  and  most  prominently  on  that 
point,  which  he  hai'dly  ever  omitted  when  he  had 
an  opportunity  of  bringing  forward  the  attributes 
of  God  (Deut.  vi.  4  ^  x.  17  ;  iv.  39  ;  ix.  16,  &c.; 
Num.  xvi.  xxii. ;  xxxiii.  19,  &c.  j  Exod.  xv.  11 ; 
xxxiv.  6,  7,  &c.). 

In  the  Prophets  and  other  sacred  writers  of  the 
Old  Testament,  these  attributes  are  still  more 
fully  developed  and  explained  by  the  declara- 
tions that  God  is  the  first  and  the  last  (Isa. 
xliv.  G),  that  He  changes  not  (Hab.  iii.  6),  that 
the  earth  and  heaven  shall  perish,  but  He  shall 
endure  (Ps.  cii.  26) — a  distinct  allusion  to  the 
last  doomsday— and  that  He  is  Omnipresent 
(Prov.  XV.  3  ;  Job  xxxiv.  22,  &c.). 

In  the  New  Testament  also  we  find  the  attri- 
butes of  God  systematically  classified  (Rev.  v.  12, 
and  vii.  12),  while  the  peculiar  tenets  of  Chris- 
tianity embrace,  if  not  a  farther,  still  a  more 
developed  idea,  as  presented  by  the  Apostles  and 
the  primitive  teachers  of  the  church. 

The  expression  'to  see  God'  (Job  xix.  26; 
xlii.  5;  Isa.  xxxviii.  11)  sometimes  signifies 
merely  to  experience  his  help ;  but  in  the  Old 
TestaiTsent  Scriptures  it  more  usually  denotes  the 
approach  of  death  (Gen.  xxxii.  30  ;  Judg.  vi.  23 ; 
Xlii.  22  ;  Isa.  vi.  5). 

The  term  '  son  of  God'  applies  to  kings  (Ps. 
ii.  7  ;  Ixxxii.  6,  27).  The  usual  notion  of  the 
ancients,  that  the  royal  dignity  was  derived  from 
God,  may  here  be  traced  to  its  source.  This 
notion,  entertained  by  the  Oriental  nations  with 
regard  to  kinjis,  made  the  latter  style  themselves 
gods  (  Ps.  Ixxxii.  6). 

'  Sons  of  God,'  in  the  plural,  implies  Inferior 
gods,  angels  i,Gen.  vi.  2  ;  Job  i.  6)  ;  as  also  faith- 


864 


GOLGOTHA 


ful  adherents,  worshippers  of  God  (Deut.  xiv.  1 ; 
Ps.  Ixxiii.  15;  Prov.  xiv.  2»)). 

*  Man  of  God'  is  sometimes  applied  to  an 
angel  (Judg.  xiii.  G,  8) ;  as  also  to  a  prophet 
(1  Sam.  ii.  27  ;  ix.  C  ;  1  Kings  xiii.  1). 

GOG  occurs  Ezek.  xxxviii.  3,  14,  and  xxxix. 
11,  as  a  proper  name— that  of  a  prince  of  Magog, 
a  people  that  were  to  come  from  the  North  to 
invade  the  land  of  Israel,  and  be  there  defeated. 
In  a  different  sense,  but  corresponding  with  the 
assertions  of  other  Oriental  authors,  in  whose  tra- 
ditions this  people  occupy  an  important  place,  Gog 
occurs  in  liev.  xx.  8,  as  the  name  of  a  country. 

Interpreters  have  given  very  different  explana- 
tions of  the  terms  Gog  and  Magog;  but  they 
have  generally  understood  them  as  symbolical 
expressions  for  the  heathen  nations  of  Asia,  or 
more  particularly  for  the  Scythians,  a  vague 
knowledge  of  whom  seems  to  have  reached  the 
Jews  in  Palestine  about  that  period.  As  a  col- 
lective name,  Magog  seems  also  to  indicate  in  the 
Hebrew  the  tribes  about  the  Caucasian  moun- 
tains. According  to  Reinegge,  some  of  the  Cau- 
casian people  call  their  mountains  Gog,  and  the 
highest  northern  points  Magog. 

GO'LAN  or  Gaulon,  a  Levitical  town  of 
Bashan,  in  the  tribe  of  Mauasseh  (Deut.  iv.  43 ; 
Josh.  XX.  8;  xxi.  27;  1  Chron.  vi.  71),  from 
which  the  small  province  of  Gaulonitis  took  its 
name.  The  word  is  recognised  in  the  present 
Jolan  or  Djolan,  meniioned  by  Burckhardt  as 
giving  name  to  a  district  lying  east  of  the  lake  of 
Tiberias,  and  composed  of  the  ancient  Gaulonitis, 
with  part  of  Bashan  and  Argob. 

GOLD  was  known  and  valued  in  very  early 
times.  Abraham  was  rich  in  gold  (Gen.  xiii.  2 ; 
xxiv.  35) ;  and  female  ornaments  were  made  of 
gold  (Gen.  xxiv.  22). 

To  judge  from  1  Chron.  xxii.  14;  xxix.  4,  the 
Jews  must  have  been,  in  their  prosperous  days, 
in  possession  of  enormous  quantities  of  this  metal, 
considering  the  many  tons  of  gold  that  were  spent 
in  the  building  of  the  temple  alone,  though  the 
expression,  plenteous  as  stones  (2  Chron.  i.  15), 
may  be  considered  as  hyperbolical.  It  is,  how- 
ever, confirmed  by  the  history  of  the  other  Asiatic 
nations,  and  more  especially  of  the  Persians,  that 
the  period  referred  to  really  abounded  in  gold, 
which  was  imported  in  vast  masses  from  Africa 
and  the  Indies.  The  queen  of  Sheba  brought 
with  her  (from  Arabia  Felix),  among  other  pre- 
sents, 1 20  talents  of  gold  (2  Chron.  ix.  9). 

GOL'GOTHA.  The  original  word  signifies 
*  a  skull,'  as  does  its  Latin  representative,  Cal- 
varia.  Calvary.  Different  opinions  have  pre- 
vailed as  to  why  the  place  was  so  termed.  Many 
have  held  that  Golgotha  was  the  place  of  public 
execution,  the  Tyburn  of  Jerusalem;  and  that 
hence  it  was  termed  the  '  place  of  a  skull.'  An- 
other opinion  is  that  the  place  took  its  name  from 
its  shape,  being  a  hillock  of  a  form  like  a  human 
skull.  The  last  is  the  opinion  to  which  the  writer 
of  these  remarks  inclines.  That  the  place  was  of 
some  such  shape  seems  to  be  generally  agreed, 
and  the  traditional  term  mount,  applied  to  Cal- 
vary, appears  to  confirm  this  idea.  And  such  a 
shape,  it  must  be  allowed,  is  in  entire  agreement 
with  the  name — that  is,  '  skull.'  To  these  con- 
siderations there  are  added  certain  difficulties 
which  arise  from  the  second  explanation.  So  far 
as  we  know  there  is  no  historical  evidence  to 


GOLGOTHA 

show  that  there  was  a  place  of  public  execation 
where  Golgotha  is  commonly  fixed,  nor  that  any 
such  place,  in  or  near  Jerusalem,  bore  the  name 
Golgotha.  In  truth,  the  context  seems  to  show 
that  the  Roman  guard  hurried  Jesus  away  and 
put  him  tc  death  at  the  first  convenient  spot ;  and 
that  the  rather  because  there  was  no  small  fear 
of  a  popular  insurrection,  especially  as  he  was 
attended  by  a  crowd  of  people.  But  where  was 
the  place  ?  Not  far,  we  may  suppose  from  what 
has  been  said,  from  the  judgment-hall,  which  was 
doubtless  near  the  spot  (Fort  Antonia)  where 
the  Roman  forces  in  Jerusalem  were  concen- 
trated. From  our  plan  of  Jerusalem  it  will  be 
seen  that  Fort  Antonia  lay  on  the  north-west 
angle  of  the  temple.  Was  it  likely,  then,  that  in 
the  highly  excited  state  of  the  public  mind  the 
soldiers  should  take  Jesus  southward,  that  is, 
through  the  whole  breadth  of  the  city  ?  Some- 
where in  the  north,  it  is  clear,  they  would  exe- 
cute him,  as  thus  they  would  most  easily  effect 
their  object.  But  if  they  chose  the  north,  then 
the  road  to  Joppa  or  Damascus  would  be  most 
convenient ;  and  no  spot  in  the  vicinity  would 
probably  be  so  suitable  as  the  slight  rounded  ele- 
vation which  bore  the  name  of  Calvary.  That 
some  hillock  would  be  preferred,  it  is  easy  to 
see,  as  thus  the  exposure  of  the  criminal  and  the 
alleged  cause  of  his  crucifixion  would  be  most 
effectually  secured.  But  the  particulars  detailed 
by  the  sacred  historians  show  that  our  Lord  was 
not  crucified  on  the  spot,  or  very  near  the  spot, 
where  he  was  condemned,  but  was  conducted 
some  distance  through  the  city.  If  so,  this,  as 
appears  from  our  plan,  must  have  been  towards 
the  west.  Two  points  seem  thus  determined :  the 
crucifixion  was  at  the  north-west  of  the  city. 

The  account,  as  given  in  the  Evangelists, 
touching  the  place  of  the  crucifixion  and  burial 
of  our  Lord,  is  as  follows: — Having  been  deli- 
vered by  Pilate  to  be  crucified,  Jesus  was  led 
away,  followed  by  a  great  company  of  people  and 
women,  who  bewailed  his  fate.  On  the  way  the 
soldiers  met  one  Simon,  a  Cyrenian,  coming  out 
of  the  country,  who  is  compelled  to  bear  Jesus' 
cross.  When  they  were  come  to  the  place  which 
is  called  Calvary,  there  they  crucified  him.  This 
place  was  nigh  to  the  city ;  and,  sitting  down, 
they  watched  him  there.  They  that  passed  by 
reviled  him,  wagging  their  heads  and  scoffing. 
Likewise  also  the  chief  priests  mocked  him,  with 
the  scribes  and  elders  ;  and  the  people  stood  be- 
holding. The  soldiers  too  mocked  him.  There 
stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  his  mother,  and  his 
mother's  sister,  and  Mary  Magdalene.  And  all 
his  acquaintance  and  the  women  that  followed 
him  from  Galilee  stood  afar  off,  beholding  these 
things.  In  the  place  where  he  was  crucijied  there 
was  a  garden,  and  in  the  garden  a  new  sepulchre, 
hewn  out  in  the  rock ;  there  laid  they  Jesus,  and 
rolled  a  great  stone  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre. 
The  writer  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  adds, 
that  Jesus  suffered  without  the  gate,  subjoining, 
'  let  us,  therefore,  go  forth  to  him  without  the 
camp  (or  the  city)  bearing  his  reproach '  (Heb. 
xiii.  12,  13;  Matt,  xxvii.;  Mark  xv. ;  Luke 
xxiii. ;  John  xix.). 

We  thus  learn,  as  a  positive  fact,  that  the  cru- 
cifixion and  burial  took  place  out  of  the  city,  and 
yet  nigh  to  the  city ;  and  the  statement  of  the 
writer  to  the  Hebrews  is  confirmed  by  the  in(a« 


GOLGOTHA 

dental  remark  (Mark  xv.  21),  that  the  soldiers 
seized  Simon,  as  he  was  '  coming  out  of  the 
country.'  It  now  appears,  then,  that  Calvary  lay 
at  the  north-west,  and  at  the  outside,  of  the  city. 
The  reader,  on  perusing  the  abstract  just  given  of 
the  evangelical  narrators,  combined  with  previous 
remarks,  will  find  reason  to  think  that  Calvary 
was  only  just  on  the  outer  side  of  the  second  wall. 
It  is  also  clear  that  the  place  was  one  around 
■which  many  persons  could  assemble,  near  which 
wayfarers  were  passing,  and  the  sufferers  in  which 
could  be  seen  or  addressed  by  persons  who  were 
both  near  and  remote  :  all  which  concurs  in  show- 
ing that  the  spot  was  one  of  some  elevation,  and 
equally  proves  that  '  this  thing  was  not  done  in  a 
corner,'  but  at  a  place  and  under  circumstances 
likely  to  make  Calvary  well  known  and  well  re- 
membered alike  by  the  foes  and  the  friends  of 
our  Lord.  Other  events  which  took  place  imme- 
diately after,  in  connection  with  the  resurrection, 
■would  aid  (if  aid  were  needed)  in  fixing  the  re- 
collection of  the  spot  deep  and  ineffaceably  in  the 
minds  of  the  primitive  disciples. 

Was  it  likely  that  this  recollection  would 
perish  ?  Surely  of  all  spots  Calvary  would  be- 
come the  most  sacred,  the  most  endearing,  in  the 
primitive  church.  The  spot  where  Jesus  was 
crucified,  died,  was  buried,  and  rose  again,  must 
have  been  bound  to  the  heart  of  every  disciple  in 
the  strongest  and  most  grateful  bonds.  Perhaps 
no  one  spot  on  earth  had  ever  so  many  to  remem- 
ber it  and  know  its  precise  locality,  as  the  place 
where  Jesus  died  and  rose  again.  First  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  soon  in  all  parts  of  the  earth,  were  there 
hearts  that  held  the  recollection  among  their  most 
valued  treasures. 

The  traditionary  recollection  of  this  remark- 
able spot  must  have  been  greatly  strengthened  by 
the  erection  of  the  Temple  of  Venus  on  the  place, 
after  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  llomans. 
The  temple  thus  takes  up  the  tradition  and 
transmits  it  in  stone  and  marble  to  coming  ages. 
This  continuation  of  the  tradition  is  the  more 
important,  because  it  begins  to  operate  at  a  time 
when  the  Christians  were  driven  from  Jerusalem. 
But  the  absence  of  the  Christians  from  tlie  holy 
city  was  not  of  long  duration,  and  even  early  in 
the  third  century  ■we  find  pilgrimages  from  distant 
places  to  the  Holy  Land  had  already  begun,  for 
the  express  purpose  of  viewing  the  spots  which 
the  presence  and  sufferings  of  the  Saviour  liad 
rendeied  sacred  and  memorable.  A  century  later, 
Eusel)ius  (a.d.  315)  informs  us  that  Christians 
visited  Jerusalem  from  all  regions  of  the  earth 
for  the  same  object.  So  early  and  so  decided  a 
current  towards  the  holy  city  presupposes  a  strong, 
wide-spread,  and  long  pre-eminent  feeling — an 
established  tradition  in  the  chui-ch  touching  the 
most  remarkable  spots ;  a  tradition  of  that  nature 
which  readily  links  itself  with  the  actual  record 
in  Hebrews. 

Early  in  the  fourth  century  Eusebius  and  Je- 
rome write  down  the  tradition  and  fix  the  loca- 
lity of  Calvary  in  their  writings.  Pilgrims  now 
streamed  to  Jerusalem  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
and  that  site  was  fixed  for  Golgotha  which  has 
remained  to  the  present  hour.  This  was  done  not 
merely  by  the  testimony  of  these  two  learned 
fathers,  but  by  the  acts  of  the  Emperor  Constan- 
tine  and  his  mother  Helena.  This  empress,  when 
very  far  advanced  in  life,  visited  Jerusalem  for 


GOLGOTHA  365 

the  express  purpose  of  erecting  a  church  on  the 
spot  where  the  Lord  Jesus  had  been  crucified. 
'  On  her  arrival  at  Jerusalem  she  inquired  dili- 
gently of  the  inhabitants.  Yet  the  search  was 
uncertain  and  difficult,  in  consequence  of  the  ob- 
structions by  which  the  heathen  had  sought  to 
render  the  spot  unknown.  These  being  all  re- 
moved, the  sacred  sepulchre  was  discovered,  and 
by  its  side  three  crosses,  with  the  tablet  bearing 
the  inscription  written  by  Pilate.'  On  the  site 
thus  ascertained  was  erected,  whether  by  Con- 
stantine  or  Helena,  certainly  by  Roman  infiuence 
and  treasure,  a  splendid  and  extensive  Christian 
temple.  This  church  was  completed  and  dedi- 
cated A.D.  335.  It  was  a  great  occasion  for  the 
Christian  world.  In  order  to  give  it  importance 
and  add  to  its  splendour,  a  council  of  bishops  was 
convened,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  from  all  the 
provinces  of  the  empire,  which  assembled  first  at 
Tyre,  and  then  at  Jerusalem.  The  church  of  the 
holy  sepulchre  was  burnt  by  the  Persians  in  a.d. 
614.  It  was  shortly  after  rebuilt  by  Modestus 
with  resources  supplied  by  John  Eleemor,  patriarch 
of  Alexandria.  The  Basilica  or  Martyrion  erected 
under  Constantino  remained  as  before.  The  Mo- 
hammedans next  became  masters  of  Jerusalem. 
At  length  Harun  er  Rashid  made  over  to  Charle- 
magne the  jurisdiction  of  the  holy  sepulchre. 
Palestine  again  became  the  scene  of  battles  and 
bloodshed.  Muez,  of  the  race  of  the  Fatimites, 
transferred  the  scat  of  his  empire  to  Cairo,  when 
Jerusalem  fell  into  the  hands  of  new  masters,  and 
the  holy  sepulchre  is  said  to  have  been  again  set 
on  fire.  It  was  fully  destroyed  at  the  command 
of  the  third  of  the  Fatimite  kalifs  in  Egypt,  the 
building  being  razed  to  the  foundations.  In  the 
reign  of  his  successor  it  was  rebuilt,  being  com- 
pleted A.D.  1048  ;  but  instead  of  the  former  magni- 
ficent Basilica  over  the  place  of  Golgotha,  a  small 
chapel  only  now  graced  the  spot.  The  crusades 
soon  began.  The  crusaders  regarded  the  edifices 
connected  with  the  sepulchre  as  too  contracted, 
and  erected  a  stately  temple,  the  walls  and  general 
form  of  which  are  admitted  to  remain  to  the  pre- 
sent day.  So  recently,  however,  as  a.d.  1808  the 
church  of  the  holy  sepulchre  was  partly  consumed 
by  fire;  but  being  rebuilt  by  the  Greeks,  it  now 
otfers  no  traces  of  its  recent  desolation. 

We  have  thus  traced  down  to  the  present  day  the 
history,  traditional  and  recorded,  of  the  buildings 
erected  on  Golgotha,  and  connected  these  edifices 
with  the  original  events  by  which  they  are  ren- 
dered memorable.  To  affirm  that  the  evidence  is 
irresistible  may  be  going  too  far ;  but  few  anti- 
quarian questions  rest  on  an  equally  solid  basis, 
and  few  points  of  history  would  remain  settled  were 
they  subject  to  the  same  sceptical,  not  to  say  unfair, 
scrutiny  which  Robinson  has  here  applied. 

The  sole  evidence  of  any  weight  in  the  opposite 
balance  is  that  urged  by  Robinson,  that  the  place 
of  the  crucifixion  and  tlie  sepulchre  are  now  found 
in  the  midst  of  the  modern  city.  But  to  render 
this  argument  decisive  it  should  be  proved  that 
the  city  occupies  now  the  same  ground  that  it 
occupied  in  the  days  of  Christ.  It  is,  at  least, 
as  likely  that  the  "city  sliould  have  undergone 
changes  as  that  the  site  of  the  crucifixion  should 
have  been  mistaken.  The  identity  of  such  a  spot 
is  more  likely  to  be  preserved  than  the  site  and 
relative  projKjrtions  of  a  city  which  has  undergone 
more  violent  changes  than  probably  any  other 


366 


GOPHER  WOOD 


GOSHEN 


place  on  earth.  The  present  walls  of  Jerusalem 
were  erected  so  late  as  a.d.  1542  ;  and  Robinson 
himself  remarks,  eu  passnnt,  that  a  part  of  Zion  is 
now  left  out  (p.  67).  If,  then,  the  city  has  been 
contracted  on  the  south,  and  if,  also,  it  was  after 
the  death  of  Christ  expanded  on  the  north,  what 
should  we  expect  but  to  find  Golgotha  in  the 
midst  of  the  modern  city  ? 

Two  or  three  additional  facts  in  confirmation 
of  the  identity  of  the  present  place  may,  finally, 
be  adduced.  Buckingham  says,  '  the  present  rock 
called  Calvary,  and  enclosed  within  the  church  of 
the  holy  sepulchre,  bears  marks  in  every  part  that 
is  naked,  of  its  having  been  a  round  nodule  of  rock 
standing  above  the  comilion  level  of  the  surface.' 
Scholz  states  that  he  traced  the  remains  of  a  wall, 
which  ran  as  the  second  wall  on  the  plan  runs, 
excluding  Golgotha  and  taking  in  the  pool  of 
Hezekiah.  At  most,  a  very  few  hundred  yards 
only  can  the  original  Golgotha  have  lain  from  the 
present  site  ;  and  the  evidence  in  favour  of  its 
identity,  if  not  decisive,  is  far  stronger  than  any 
that  has  been  adduced  against  it. 

GO'MER.  1.  The  eldest  son  of  Japhet,  son  of 
Noah,  whose  descendants  Bochart  supposes  to  have 
settled  in  Phrygia  (Gen.  x.  3 ;  comp.  1  Chron.  i.  5). 
Most  of  the  interpreters  take  him  to  be  the  ancestor 
of  the  Celts;,  and  more  especially  of  the  Cimmerii, 
who  were  already  known  in  the  time  of  Homer. 
To  judge  from  the  ancient  historians,  they  had  in 
early  times  settled  to  the  north  of  the  Black  Sea, 
and  gave  their  name  to  the  Crimea,  the  ancient 
Chersonesus  Taurica.  But  the  greater  part  of 
them  were  driven  from  their  territories  by  the 
Scythians,  when  they  took  refuge  in  Asia  Minor, 
B.C.  7. 

In  the  Scriptures,  however,  the  people  named 
Gomer  imply  rather  an  obscure  and  but  vaguely 
known  nation  of  the  barbarous  north. 

Josephus  says  expressly,  that  the  ancestor  of  the 
Galatians,  a  Celtic  colony,  was  called  Gomer. 

2.  The  name  of  the  daughter  of  Dibl.aim,  wife 
of  the  prophet  Hosea  (Hosea  i.  3). 

GOMORR'AH,  one  of  '  the  cities  of  the  plain,' 
destroyed  along  with  Sodom.  An  account  of  that 
catastrophe  is  given  under  Sodom. 

GOPHER  WOOD  is  mentioned  only  once  in 
Scripture,  as  the  material  of  which  Noah  was 
directed  to  build  the  ark  (Gen.  vi.  14),  'Make 
thee  an  ark  of  gopher  wood ;  rooms  shalt  thou 
make  in  the  ark,  and  shalt  pitch  it  within  and 
without  with  pitch'  (probably  'bitumen').  In 
endeavouring  to  ascertain  the  particular  kind  of 
wood  which  is  mentioned  in  the  above  passage, 
we  can  get  assistance  only  from  the  name,  the 
country  where  the  wood  was  supposed  to  have 
been  procured,  or,  the  traditional  opinions  respect- 
ing it.  That  nothing  very  satisfactory  has  been 
ascertained  is  evident  from  the  various  inter- 
pretations that  have  been  given  of  this  word,  so 
that  some  have  preferred,  as  in  our  Authorized 
Version,  to  retain  the  original  Hebrew.  The 
greatest  number  of  writers  have  been  of  opinion 
that  by  the  gopher  wood  we  are  to  understand 
the  cypress.  Besides  an  argument  attempted  to 
be  drawn  from  the  similarity  of  the  name,  it  is 
argued  that  the  wood  of  the  cypress,  being  almost 
incorruptible,  was  likely  to  be  preferred  ;  that  it 
was  frequently  employed  in  later  ages  in  the 
construction  of  temples,  bridges,  and  even  ships ; 
and  that  it  was  very  abundant  in  the  countries 


where,  according  to  these  authors,  the  ark  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  built,  that  is,  in  Assyria, 
where  other  woods  are  scarce.  But  wherever  the 
ark  was  built,  there  would  be  no  deficiency  of 
timber  if  there  was  a  certain  degree  of  moisture 
with  warmth  of  climate  ;  and  we  know  not  what 
change  of  climate  may  have  taken  place  at  the 
Deluge.  The  pine  tribe,  including  the  cypress, 
appears  as  likely  as  any  other  to  have  been  em- 
ployed, usually  growing  as  they  do  in  extensive 
forests,  and  yielding  straight  and  easily  worked 
timber,  calculated,  from  its  resinous  nature, 
effectually  to  resist  moisture,  especially  if  covered 
with  pitch  and  tar,  which  might  easily  have  been 
prepared  from  the  refuse  branches  and  timber, 
and  used  as  well  as  the  natural  bitumen.  But  the 
whole  of  these  suggestions  amount  only  to  con- 
jectures, and  there  seems  no  possibility  of  arriving 
at  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 

GO'SHEN,  a  province  or  district  of  Egypt  in 
which  Jacob  and  his  family  settled  through  the 
instrumentality  of  his  son  Joseph,  and  in  which 
they  and  their  descendants  remained  for  a  period 
of  430  years  (Gen.  xlv.  10  ;  xlvi.  28  ;  xlvii.  27  ; 
1.  8 ;  Exod.  viii.  22 ;  ix.  26).  The  Bible  does 
not  present  any  definite  information  as  to  the 
precise  locality  of  Goshen,  and  of  course  later 
authorities  possess  onlj'  an  inferior  value.  There 
are,  however,  incidental  expressions,  allusions, 
and  implications  in  the  Scriptures,  which  afibrd 
aid  in  determining  the  spot.  That  Goshen  lay 
on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Nile  may  be  justifiably 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  Jacob  is  not  reported 
to  have  crossed  that  river;  nor  does  it  appear 
that  the  Israelites  did  so  in  their  flight  out  of 
Egypt  With  this  inference  all  the  language 
employed  (see  the  passages  as  given  above),  to 
say  the  least,  agrees,  if  it  does  not  afford  an  in- 
direct evidence  in  its  favour.  By  comparing 
Exod.  xiii.  17  and  1  Chron.  vii.  21,  it  appears 
that  Goshen  bordered  on  Arabia  as  well  as 
Palestine,  and  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  out  of 
Egypt  shows  that  the  land  was  not  far  removed 
from  the  Red  Sea.  It  appears  probable  that  we 
may  fix  the  locality  of  Goshen  in  Lower  Egypt, 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Pelusiac  branch  of  the 
Nile,  in  the  district  around  Heroopolis. 

This  district  was  suitable  for  a  nomadic  people, 
who  would  have  been  misplaced  in  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile.  Children  of 
the  desert,  or  at  least  used  as  they  were  to  wander 
freely  from  one  fertile  plain  to  another  with  their 
flocks  and  herds,  the  sons  of  Jacob  required  a 
spot  where  the  advantages  of  an  advanced  civi- 
lization could  be  united  with  unrestricted  free- 
dom, and  abundance  be  secured  without  the  for- 
feiture of  early  and  cherished  habits.  The  several 
opinions  entertained  on  this  point  substantially 
agree  in  referring  Goshen  to  the  country  inter- 
vening between  the  desert  of  Arabia  and  Pales- 
tine on  the  one  side,  and  the  Pelusiac  arm  of  the 
Nile  on  the  other,  with  the  Mediterranean  at  the 
base.  The  district  assigned  to  Jacob  and  his 
family  was  chosen  for  its  superiority  (Gen.  xlvii. 
6),  '  In  the  best  of  the  land  make  thy  father  and 
brethren  to  dwell,  in  the  land  of  Goshen  let  them 
dwell ;'  and  the  subsequent  increase  of  the  Israel- 
ites themselves,  as  well  as  the  multiplication  of 
their  cattle,  shows  that  the  territory  was  one  of 
extraordinary  fertility.  Time  and  circumstances 
have  doubtless  had  their  effect  on  the  fertility  of 


GOSPEL 

a  country  in  which  the  desert  is  ever  ready  to 
make  encroachments  as  soon  as  the  repelling 
hand  of  man  is  relaxed  or  withdrawn.  But  La- 
borde  represents  the  vicinity  of  Heliopolis  as 
still  covered  with  palm-trees,  and  as  having  an 
enclosure,  comprehending  a  considerable  space 
of  ground,  which  is  covered  every  year  by  the 
inundation  of  the  Nile  to  the  height  df  five  feet. 
We  are  not,  however,  to  expect  evidences  of 
luxuriant  fertility.  The  country  was  chosen  for 
its  pre-eminent  fitness  for  shepherds.  If  a  no- 
madic tribe  had  wide  space  and  good  pasture- 
grounds,  they  would  have  '  the  best  (for  them- 
selves) of  the  land,'  and  these  advantages  the 
district  in  which  we  have  placed  Goshen  abund- 
antly supplied  in  ancient  times,  when  the  waters 
of  the  Nile  were  more  liberally  dispensed  than  at 
present  to  the  eastern  side  of  the  country.  No- 
thing is  needed  but  water  to  make  the  desert 
fertile.  '  The  water  of  the  Nile  soaks  through 
the  earth  for  some  distance  under  the  sandy  tract 
(the  neighbourhood  of  Heliopolis),  and  is  every- 
where found  on  digging  wells  eighteen  or  twenty 
feet  deep.  Such  wells  are  very  frequent  in  parts 
which  the  inundation  does  not  reach.  The  water 
is  raised  from  them  by  wheels  turned  by  oxen 
and  applied  to  the  irrigation  of  the  fields.  When- 
ever this  takes  place  the  desert  is  turned  into  a 
fruitful  field.  In  passing  to  Heliopolis  we  saw 
several  such  fields  in  the  different  stages  of  being 
reclaimed  from  the  desert ;  some  just  laid  out, 
others  already  fertile.  In  returning  by  another 
way  more  eastward,  we  passed  a  succession  of 
beautiful  plantations  wholly  dependent  on  this 
mode  of  irrigation '  (Robmson's  Palestine,  vol.  i. 
p.  36). 

GOSPEL.  The  Greek  word,  which  literally 
signifies  f/lad  tidings,  is  translated  in  the  Enijlish 
Version  by  the  word  Gospel,  viz.,  God's  spell,  or 
the  Word  of  God.  The  central  point  of  Christian 
preachings  was  the  joyful  intelligence  that  the 
Saviour  had  come  into  the  world  (Matt.  iv.  23 ; 
Rom.  X.  15) ;  and  the  first  Christian  preachers, 
who  characterized  their  account  of  the  person 
and  mission  of  Christ  by  the  term  Gospel.  This 
name  was  also  prefixed  to  the  written  accounts 
of  Christ.  We  possess  four  such  accounts  ;  the 
first  by  Matthew,  announcing  the  Redeemer  as 
the  promised  King  of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  the 
second  by  Mark,  declaring  him  '  a  Prophet 
mighty  in  deed  and  word '  (Luke  xxiv.  19) ;  the 
third  by  Luke,  of  whom  it  might  be  said  that  he 
represented  Christ  in  the  special  character  of  the 
Saviour  of  sinners  (Luke  vii.  36,  sq. ;  xv.  18-9, 
sq.)  ;  the  fourth  by  John,  wto  represents  Christ 
as  the  son  of  God,  in  whom  deity  and  humanity 
became  one.  The  ancient  church  gave  to  Matthew 
the  symbol  of  the  lion,  to  Mark  that  of  man,  to 
Luke  that  of  the  ox,  and  to  John  that  of  the 
eagle ;  these  were  the  four  faces  of  the  cherubim. 
The  cloud  m  which  the  Lord  revealed  himself 
was  borne  by  the  cherubim,  and  the  four  Evange- 
lists were  also  the  bearers  of  that  glory  of  God 
wlHch  appeared  in  the  form  of  man. 

Concerning  the  order  which  they  occupy  in  the 
{scriptures,  the  oldest  Latin  and  Gothic  Versions 
place  Matthew  and  John  first,  and  after  them 
Mark  and  Luke,  while  the  other  MSS.  and  the  old 
vereions  follow  the  order  given  to  them  in  our 
Bibles.  As  dogmatical  reasons  render  a  different 
order  more  natural,  there  is  much  in  favour  of  | 


GOSPEL  367 

the  opinion  that  their  usual  position  arose  from 
regard  to  the  chronological  dates  of  the  respective 
composition  of  the  four  gospels:  this  is  the 
opinion  of  Origen,  Iremeus,  and  Eusebius.  All 
ancient  testimonies  agree  that  Matthew  was  the 
earliest,  and  John  the  latesc  Evangelist.  Tlie 
relation  of  the  Gospel  of  John  to  the  other  three 
Gospels,  and  the  relation  of  the  Gospels  of 
Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  to  each  other,  i-  very 
remarkable.  With  the  exception  of  the  history 
of  the  Baptist,  and  that  of  Christ's  passion  and 
resurrection,  we  find  in  John  not  only  narratives 
of  quite  ditferent  events,  but  also  different  state- 
ments even  in  the  above  sections.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  first  three  Evangelists  not  only  toler- 
ably harmonize  in  the  substance  and  order  of  the 
events  they  relate,  but  correspond  even  sentence 
by  sentence  in  their  separate  narratives  (comn. 
ej..  gr.  Mark  i.  21-28  with  Luke  iv.  31-37 ;  Matt, 
viii.  31-34;  Mark  vi.  34  f  v.  17;  Luke  viii.  3:2- 
37,  etc.).  The  thought  that  first  suggests  itself 
on  considering  this  surprising  harmony  is,  that 
they  all  had  mutually  drawn  their  information 
from  one  another.  Some  critics  are  of  opinion 
that  Matthew  was  the  oldest  source,  and  that 
Mark  drew  his  information  both  from  Matthew 
and  Luke ;  again,  according  to  others,  Luke  was 
the  oldest,  and  Matthew  made  use  of  Luke  and 
Mark;  while  most  critics  in  Germany  have 
adopted  the  view  that  Matthew  was  the  oldest, 
and  was  made  use  of  by  Luke,  and  that  Mark 
derived  his  information  both  from  Matthew  and 
Luke.  Some  of  the  most  modern  critics  are,  on 
the  other  hand,  of  opinion  that  Mark  was  the 
original  evangelist,  and  that  Matthew  and  Luke 
derived  their  information  from  him.  The  differ- 
ence of  these  opinions  leads  to  the  suspicion  that 
none  of  them  are  right,  more  especially  when  we 
consider  that,  notwithstanding  the  partial  har- 
mony of  the  three  evangelists  in  the  choice  of 
their  sentepces,  there  is  still  a  surprising  differ- 
ence in  them  as  regards  the  words  of  those  sen- 
tences ;  a  fact  which  compelled  the  critics  who 
suppose  that  the  evangelists  made  use  of  each 
other's  writings,  to  account  everywhere  for  such 
deviations,  and  frequently  to  have  recourse  to  the 
most  trivial  and  pedantic  arguments.  To  us 
these  differences  in  word  and  phrase  would 
appear  inconceivable  were  we  disposed  to  assume  I 
that  the  evangelists  had  copied  one  another.  | 

As  the  three  Evangelists  mutually  supply  and    I 
explain  each  other,  they  were  early  joined  to     ! 
each  other,  by  Tatian,  about  a.d.  170,  and  by     t 
Ammonius,  about  a.d.  230,*  and  the  discrepancies 
among  them  early  led  to  attempts  to  reconcile     ' 
them.f     And  with  this  view  various  elaborate     ' 
treatises  have  been   composed,  both  in  ancient 
and  modem  times.     But  when  we  consider  that     \ 
one  and  the  same  writer,  namely,  Luke,  relates     ' 
the  conversion  of  Paul  (Acts  ix.  22,  26),  with 
different  incidental  circumstances,   after    three 
various  documents,  though  it  would  have  been 
very  easy  for  him  to  have  annulled  the  discre- 
pancies, we  cannot  help  being  convinced  that  the 
Evangelists  attached  but  little  weight  to  minute 
preciseness   in  the  incidents,  since,  indeed,  the 
historical   truth   of  a  narration  consists  less  in 
them,  in  the  relation  of  minute  details,  than  in 


*  Such  putting  together  is  called  synopsis. 
t  Harmonies. 


368 


GOURD 


the  correct  conception  of  the  character  and  spirit 
of  the  event. 

GOURD.  The  word  thus  rendered  {kikayon) 
occurs  only  in  Jonah  iv.,  where  it  is  several  times 
mentioned,  as  in  ver.  6,  7,  9,  10.  In  the  margin 
of  the  English  Bihle,  Palm- Christ  is  given.  In 
the  Vulgate  it  is  translated  '  ivy.'  Neither  the 
gourd  nor  ivy  is  considered  by  modern  writers 
to  indicate  the  plant  intended  ;  which  is  remark- 
able for  having  given  rise  to  some  fierce  contro- 
versies in  the  early  ages  of  the  Church.  The 
difficulties  here,  however,  do  not  appear  to  be  so 
great  as  in  many  other  instances.  But  before 
considering  these,  it  is  desirable  to  ascertain  what 
are  the  characteristics  of  the  plant  as  required  by 
the  text.  We  ai-e  told,  '  The  Lord  God  prepared 
a  gourd  (kikayon),  and  made  it  to  come  over 
Jonah,  that  it  'might  be  a  shadow  over  his  head ' 
(ver.  6).  '  But  God  prepared  a  worm  when  the 
morning  rose  the  next  day,  and  it  smote  the  gourd 
that  it  withered' (ver.  7).  And  in  ver.  10  it  is 
j  said  of  the  gourd  that  it  '  came  up  in  a  night,  and 
perished  in  a  night.'  Hence  it  appears  that  the 
I  growth  of  the  kikayon  was  miraculous,  but  that 
I  it  was  probably  a'  plant  of  the  country,  being 
named  specifically;  also  that  it  was  capable  of 
affording  shade,  and  might  be  easily  destroyed. 
There  does  not  appear  anything  in  this  account  to 
warrant  us  in  considering  it  to  be  the  ivy,  which 
is  a  plant  of  slow  growth,  cannot  support  itself, 
and  is,  moreover,  not  likely  to  be  found  in  the 
hot  and  arid  country  of  ancient  Nineveh,  though 
we  have  ourselves  found  it  in  more  southern  lati- 
tudes, but  only  in  the  temperate  climate  of  the 
Himalayan  Mountains.  '  The  Christians  and 
Jews  of  Mosul  (Nineveh)  say  it  was  not  the  keroa 
whose  shadow  refreshed  Jonah,  but  a  sort  of 
gourd,  el-kera,  which  has  very  large  leaves,  very 
large  fruit,   and  lasts  but  about  four  months' 


203.  [Ricinus  communis.] 

(Niebuhr,  Arabia,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Harris).    So 
Volney:    'Whoever  has  travelled  to  Cuiro  or 


GOZAN 

Rosetta  knows  that  the  species  of  gourd  called 
kerra  will,  in  twenty-four  hours,  send  out  shoots 
near  four  inches  long'  (Trav.  i.  71). 

The  Hebrew  name  kikayon  is  so  similar  to  the 
AiAi  of  Dioscorides,  that  it  was  early  thought  to 
indicate  the  same  plant.  The  kiki  or  croton  cor- 
responds with  the  castor-oil  plant,  of  which  the 
seeds  have  some  resemblance  to  the  insect  com- 
monly called  tick  in  English,  and  which  is  found 
on  dogs  and  other  animals.  It  has  also  been  called 
Penta-dactylus  and  Palma  Christi,  from  the  pal- 
mate division  of  its  leaves.  It  was  known  at  much 
earlier  times,  as  Hippocrates  employed  it  in  me- 
dicine ;  and  Herodotus  mentions,  when  speaking  of 
Egypt : — '  The  inhabitants  of  the  marshy  grounds 
make  use  of  an  oil  which  they  term  kiki,  expressed 
from  the  Sillicyprian  plant.'  That  it  has  been 
known  there  from  the  earliest  times  is  evident 
from  Cailliaud  having  found  castor-oil  seeds  in 
some  very  ancient  sarcophagi.  This  oil  was  not 
only  employed  by  the  Greeks,  but  also  by  the 
Jews,  being  the  hik-oW  of  the  Talmudists,  pre- 
pared from  the  seeds  of  the  ricinus.  Lady  Calcott 
states  that  the  modern  Jews  of  London  use  this 
oil,  by  the  name  of  oil  of  kik,  for  their  Sabbath 
lamps,  it  being  one  of  the  five  kinds  of  oil  which 
their  traditions  allow  them  to  employ. 

Having  ascertained  that  the  kiki  of  the  Greeks 
is  what  is  now  called  Ricinus  communis,  or  castor- 
oil  plant,  we  shall  find  that  its  characters  corre- 
spond with  everything  that  is  required,  except  the 
rapidity  of  growth,  which  must  be  granted  was 
miraculous.  Dr.  Harris  indeed  states  that  the 
passage  means,  '  Son  of  the  night  it  was,  and  as  a 
son  of  the  night  it  died ;'  and  that,  therefore,  we 
are  not  compelled  to  believe  that  it  grew  in  a 
single  night,  but  rather,  by  a  strong  Oriental 
figure,  that  it  was  of  rapid  growth.  'This,  there 
is  no  doubt,  it  is  highly  susceptible  of  in  warm 
countries  where  there  is  some  moisture.  It  attains 
a  considerable  size  in  one  season  ;  and  though  in 
Europe  it  is  only  known  as  a  herb,  in  India  it 
frequently  may  be  seen,  especially  at  the  margins 
of  fields,  the  size  of  a  tree.  So  at  Busra  Niebuhr 
saw  an  ei  keroa  which  had  the  form  and  appear- 
ance of  a  tree.  The  stems  are  erect,  round,  and 
hollow;  the  leaves  broad,  palmate,  5  to  8  or  10 
lobed,  peltate,  supported  on  long  foot-stalks- 
Fronl  the  erect  habit,  and  the  breadth  of  its 
foliage,  this  plant  throws  an  ample  shade,  especi-  j 
ally  when  young.  From  the  softness  and  little 
substance  of  its  stem,  it  may  easily  be  destroyed  j 
by  insects,  which  Eumphius  describes  as  some-  : 
times  being  the  case.  It  would  then  necessarily  I 
dry  up  rapidly.  As  it  is  well  suited  to  the  country,  j 
and  to  the  purpose  indicated  in  the  text,  and  as  ' 
its  name  kiki  is  so  similar  to  kikayon,  it  is  doubt- 
less the  plant  which  the  sacred  penman  had  in 
view. 

GO'ZAN,  a  river  of  Media,  to  the  country 
watered  by  which  Tiglathpileser  first,  and  after- 
wards Shalmaneser,  transported  the  captive 
Israelites  (1  Chron.  v.  26 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  6).  I; 
is  now  almost  universally  admitted  that  the 
Gozan  is  no  other  than  the  present  Ozan,  or,  with 
the  prefix,  Kizzil-Ozan  (Golden  Kiver),  which  is 
the  principal  river  of  that  part  of  Persia  that 
answers  to  the  ancient  Media.  This  river  rises 
eight  or  nine  miles  south-west  of  Sennah,  in 
Kurdistan.  It  runs  along  the  north-west  frontier 
of  Irak,  and  passes  under  the  Kafulan  Koh,  or 


GREECE 

Mountain  of  Tigris,  where  it  is  met  by  the  Ka- 
ranku.  These  two  rivers  combined  force  a  pas- 
sage through  the  great  range  of  Caucasan,  and, 
during  their  course,  form  a  junction  with  the 
Sharood.  The  collective  waters,  under  the  de- 
signation of  Sifeed  Rood  or  White  River,  so 
named  from  the  foam  occasioned  by  the  rapidity 
of  its  current,  flow  in  a  meandering  course 
through  Ghilan  to  the  Caspian  Sea. 

GRAPE.     [Vine.] 

GRASS.  The  original  word  which  is  thus 
translated  in  1  Kings  xviii.  5,  2  Kings  xix.  26, 
Job  xl.  1.5,  Ps.  xxxvii.  2,  &c. ;  is  rendered  herb 
in  Job.  viii.  12 ;  hay,  in  Prov.  xxvii.  2.5,  and  Isa. 
XT.  G  ;  and  court,  in  Isa.  xxxiv.  13 :  but  in  Num. 
xi.  5,  it  is  translated  leeks.  Hebrew  scholars 
state  that  the  word  signifies  '  greens '  or  '  grass ' 
in  general ;  and  it  is  no  doubt  clear,  from  the  con- 
text of  most  of  the  above  passages,  that  this  must 
be  its  meaning.  There  is  therefore  no  reason  why 
it  should  not  be  so  translated  in  all  the  passages 
where  it  occurs,  except  in  the  last.  It  is  evidently 
incorrect  to  translate  it  hay,  as  in  the  above  pas- 
sages of  Proverbs  and  Isaiah,  because  the  people 
of  Eastern  countries,  as  it  has  been  observed,  do 
not  make  hay. 

In  Num.  xL  ,5,  the  word  is  rendered  leeks,  and 
the  name  is  supposed  to  have  been  applied  to 
them  from  the  resemblance  of  their  leaves  to 
grass,  and  from  their  being  conspicuous  for  their 
green  colour.  It  is  probable,  however,  as  sug- 
gested by  Hengstenberg,  that  the  vegetable  really 
meant  is  a  kind  of  grass  called  the  fenu-grec,  an 
annual  plant  known  in  Egypt  under  the  name  of 
Helbeh.  It  very  much  resembles  clover,  except 
that  it  has  more  pointed  leaves  and  whitish 
blossoms,  and  is  eaten  by  the  common  people  in 
Egypt  with  special  relish.  '  Although,'  says 
Sonnini,  '  horses,  oxen,  and  the  buffaloes  eat  this 
helbeh  with  equal  relish,  it  appears  not  to  be 
destined  equally  for  the  sustenance  of  animals. 
The  Egyptians  themselves  eat  the  fenu-grec  so 
much,  that  it  can  properly  be  called  the  food  of 
men.  In  the  month  of  November  they  cry  'Green 
helbeh  for  sale'  in  the  streets  of  the  towns.  It  is 
tied  up  in  large  bunches  which  the  inhabitants 
eagerly  purchase  at  a  low  price,  and  which  they 
eat  with  incredible  greediness,  without  any  species 
of  seasoning.  They  pretend  that  this  singular 
diet  is  an  excellent  stomachic  or  specific  against 
worms  and  dysentery  ;  in  fine,  a  preservative 
against  a  great  number  of  maladies.  After  so 
many  excellent  properties,  real  or  supposed,  it  is 
not  astonishing  that  the  Egyptians  hold  this 
'  grass'  in  so  great  estimation,  that,  according  to 
one  of  their  proverbs,  '  Fortunate  are  the  feet 
which  tread  the  earth  on  which  grows  the  hel- 
beh.' 

,  GRASSHOPPER.  The  creature  denoted  by 
this  Hebrew  word  so  evidently  belongs  to  the 
class  of  '■flying  creeping  things '  (Lev.  xi.  21,  22), 
that  the  grasshopper,  accoiding  to  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  word,  can  scarcely  be  the 
proper  translation.  Other  reasons  render  it  most 
probable  that  a  species  of  locust  is  intended.  It 
is,  therefore,  referred  to  the  general  English  word 
[Locust]. 

GRAVE.    [Burial.] 

GREECE.  The  relations  of  the  Hebrews 
with  the  Greeks  were  always  of  a  distant  kind, 
until  the  Macedonian  conquest  of  the  East :  hence 


GREECE 


369 


in  the  Old  Testament  the  mention  of  the  Greeks 
is  naturally  rare. 

The   few   dealings    of   the   Greeks   with    the     ■ 
Hebrews  seem  to  have  been  rather  unfriendly,    \ 
to  judge  by  the  notice  in  Zech.  ix.  1.3.     In  Joel 
iii.  6,  the  Tyriaus  are  reproached  for  selling  the 
children  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  to  the  Grecians :     I 
but  at  what  time,  and  in  what   circumstances,     : 
must  depend  on  the  date  assigned  to  the  book  of 
Joel  [see  Joel].     With  the  Greeks  of  Cyprus  or    | 
Chittim,  the  Hebrews  were  naturally  better  ac-     1 
quainted  ;  and  this  name,  it  would  seem,  might     i 
easily  have   extended   itself  in   their  tongue  to 
denote  the  whole  Greek  nation.     Such  at  least  is     ' 
the   most  plausible    explanation  of   its    use  in    | 
I  Mace.  i.  1.  and  viii.  1. 

The  Greeks  were  eminent  for  their  appreciation  I 
ofbeauty  in  all  its  varieties:  indeed  their  religious 
creed  owed  its  shape  mainly  to  this  peculiarity  of 
their  mind  ;  for  their  logical  acuteness  was  not 
exercised  on  such  subjects  until  quite  a  later 
period.  The  puerile  or  indecent  fables  of  the 
old  mythology  may  seem  to  a  modern  reader  to 
have  been  the  very  soul  of  their  religion  ;  but  to 
the  Greek  himself  these  were  a  mere  accident,  or 
a  vehicle  for  some  embodiment  of  beauty.  He 
thought  little  whether  a  legend  concerning  Ar 
temis  or  Apollo  was  true,  but  much  whether  the 
dance  and  music  celebrating  the  divinity  were 
solemn,  beautiful,  and  touching.  The  worship 
of  Apollo,  the  god  of  youth  and  beauty,  has  been 
regarded  as  characterizing  the  Hellenic  in  contrast 
with  the  older  Pelasgian  times  ;  nor  is  the  fact 
without  significance,  that  the  ancient  temple  and 
oracle  of  Jupiter  at  Dodona  fell  aftei-wards  into 
the  shade  in  comparison  with  that  of  Apollo  at 
Delphi.  Indeed  the  Dorian  Spartans  and  the 
Ionian  Athenians  alike  regarded  Apollo  as  their 
tutelary  god.  Whatever  the  other  varieties  of 
Greek  religious  ceremonies,  no  violent  or  frenzied 
exhibitions  arose  out  of  the  national  mind ;  but 
all  such  orgies  (as  they  were  called)  were  im- 
ported from  the  East,  and  had  much  difficulty  in 
establishing  themselves  on  Greek  soil.  Quite  at  a 
late  period  the  managers  of  orgies  were  evidently 
regarded  as  mere  jugglers  of  not  a  very  reputable 
kind ;  nor  do  the  Greek  States,  as  such,  appear 
to  have  patronized  them.  On  the  contrary,  the 
solemn  religious  processions,  the  sacred  games 
and  dances,  formed  a  serious  item  in  the  public 
expenditure  ;  and  to  be  permanently  exiled  from  | 
such  spectacles  would  have  been  a  moral  death  to  I 
the  Greeks.  Wherever  they  settled  they  intro- 
duced their  native  institutions,  and  reared  temples, 
gymnasia,  baths,  porticoes,  sepulchres,  of  charac- 
teristic simple  elegance.  The  morality  and  the 
religion  of  such  a  people  naturally  were  alike 
superficial ;  nor  did  the  two  stand  in  any  close 
union.  Bloody  and  cruel  rites  could  find  no  place 
in  their  creed,  because  faith  was  not  earnest 
enough  to  endure  much  self-abandonment.  Reli- 
gion was  with  them  a  sentiment  and  a  taste  rather 
than  a  deep-seated  conviction.  On  the  loss  of 
beloved  relatives  they  felt  a  tender  and  natural 
sorrow,  but  unclouded  with  a  shade  of  anxiety 
concerning  a  future  life.  Through  the  whole  of 
their  later  history,  during  Christian  times,  it  is 
evident  that  they  had  little  power  of  remorse, 
and  little  natural  firmness  of  conscientious  prin- 
ciple :  and,  in  fact,  at  an  earlier  and  critical  time, 
.  when  the  intellect  of  the  nation  was  ripening,  an 
2b 


370 


GREECE 


atrocious  civil  war,  that  lasted  for  twenty-seven 
years,  inflicted  a  political  and  social  demoraliza- 
tion, from  the  effects  of  which  they  could  never 
recover.  Besides  this,  their  very  admiration  of 
beauty,  coupled  with  the  degraded  state  of  the 
female  intellect,  proved  a  frightful  source  of  cor- 
ruption, such  as  no  philosophy  could  have  ade- 
quately checked.  From  such  a  nation  then, 
whatever  its  intellectual  pretensions,  no  healthful 
influence  over  its  neighbours  could  flow,  until 
other  and  higher  inspiration  was  infused  into  its 
sentiment. 

Among  the  Greeks  the  arts  of  war  and  peace 
were  carried  to  greater  perfection  than  among 
any  earlier  people.  In  navigation  they  were  little 
behind  the  Tyrians  and  Carthaginians ;  in  poli- 
tical foresight  they  equalled  them  ;  in  military 
science,  both  by  sea  and  land,  they  were  decidedly 
their  superiors ;  while  in  the  power  of  reconciling 
subject-foreigners  to  the  conquerors  and  to  their 
institutions,  they  perhaps  surpassed  all  nations  of 
the  world.  Their  copious,  cultivated,  and  flexible 
tongue  carried  witti  it  no  small  mental  education 
to  all  who  learned  it  thoroughly ;  and  so  sagacious 
were  the  arrangements  of  the  great  Alexander 
throughout  his  rapidly  acquired  Asiatic  empire, 
that  in  the  twenty  years  of  dreadful  war  between 
his  generals  which  followed  his  death,  no  rising 
of  the  natives  against  Greek  influence  appears  to 
have  been  thought  of.  Without  any  change  of 
population  adequate  under  other  circumstances 
to  effect  it,  the  Greek  tongue  and  Greek  feeling 
spread  far  and  sank  deep  through  the  Macedonian 
dominions.  Half  of  Asia  Minor  became  a  new 
Greece;  and  the  cities  of  Syria,  North  Palestine, 
and  Egypt,  were  deeply  imbued  with  the  same 
influence.  Yet  the  purity  of  the  Hellenic  stream 
varied  in  various  places ;  and  some  account  of  the 
mixture  it  underwent  will  be  given  in  the  Article 
Hellenists. 

When  a  beginning  had  been  made  of  preaching 
Christianity  to  the  Gentiles,  Greece  immediately 
became  a  principal  sphere  for  missionary  exertion. 
The  vernacular  tongue  of  the  Hellcuistic  Chris- 
tians was  understood  over  so  large  an  extent  of 
country,  as  almost  of  itself  to  point  out  in  what 
direction  they  should  exert  themselves.  'I'he 
Grecian  cities,  whether  in  Europe  or  Asia,  were 
the  peculiar  field  for  the  Apostle  Paul ;  for  whose 
labours  a  superintending  Providence  had  long 
before  been  providing,  in  the  large  number  of 
devout  Greeks  who  attended  the  Jewish  syna- 
gogues. Greece  Proper  was  divided  by  the  Ro- 
mans into  two  provinces,  of  which  the  northern 
was  called  Macedonia,  and  the  southern  Achaia 
(as  in  2  Cor.  ix.  2,  &c.)  ;  and  we  learn  inci- 
dentally from  Acts  xviii.  that  the  proconsul  of 
the  latter  resided  at  Corinth.  To  determine  the 
exact  division  between  the  provinces  is  difficult ; 
nor  is  the  question  of  any  importance  to  a  Biblical 
student.  Achaia,  however,  had  probably  very 
nearly  the  same  frontier  as  the  kingdom  of  mo- 
dern Greece,  which  is  limited  by  a  line  reaching 
from  the  gulf  of  Volo  to  that  of  Arta,  in  great 
part  along  the  chain  of  Mount  Othrys.  Of  the 
cities  celebrated  in  Greek  history,  none  are  pro- 
minent in  the  early  Christian  times  except  Corinth. 
Laconia,  and  its  chief  town  Sparta,  had  ceased  to 
be  of  any  importance  :  Athens  was  never  eminent 
as  a  Christian  church.    In  Macedonia  were  the 


HABAKKUK 

two  great  cities  of  Philippi  and  Thessalonica 
(formerly  called  Therme) ;  yet  of  these  the  former 
was  rather  recent,  being  founded  by  Philip  the 
Great ;  the  latter  was  not  distinguished  above  the 
other  Grecian  cities  on  the  same  coast.  Nicopolis, 
on  the  gulf  of  Ambracia  (or  Arta),  had  been  built 
by  Augustus,  in  memory  of  his  victory  at  Actium, 
and  was,  perhaps,  the  limit  of  Achaia  on  the 
western  coast.  It  had  risen  into  some  importance 
in  St.  Paul's  days,  and,  as  many  suppose,  it  is  to 
this  Nicopolis  that  he  alludes  in  his  epistle  to  Titus. 
(See  further  under  Achaia  and  Nicopolis.) 
GRINDING.    [Mill.] 

GUEST.      [HOSPITALITT.] 


HAB'AKKUK  {embrace),  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished Jewish  prophets,  who  flourished  about 
610  B.C.,  the  name  denoting  as  well  a  '  favourite' 
as  a  '  struggler.'  Of  this  prophet's  birth-place, 
parentage,  and  life  we  have  only  apocryphal  and 
conflicting  accounts.  The  Pseudo-Epiphanius 
states  that  he  was  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  and 
born  in  a  place  called  Bedzoker ;  that  he  fled  to 
Ostrariue  when  Nebuchadnezzar  attacked  Jeru- 
salem, but  afterwards  returned  home,  and  died 
two  years  before  the  return  of  his  countrymen. 
But  rabbinical  writers  assert  that  he  was  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  and  name  different  birth-places. 
Eusebius  notices  that  in  his  time  the  tomb  of 
Habakkuk  was  shown  in  the  town  of  Ceila,  in 
Palestine ;  still  there  are  other  writers  who  name 
different  places  where,  according  to  common 
opinion,  he  had  been  buried. 

A  full  and  trustworthy  account  of  the  life  of 
Habakkuk  would  explain  his  imagery,  and  many 
of  the  events  to  which  he  alludes ;  but  since  we 
have  no  information  on  which  we  can  depend, 
nothing  remains  but  to  determine  from  the  book 
itself  its  historical  basis  and  its  age.  Now,  we 
find  that  in  chap.  i.  the  prophet  sets  forth  a  vision, 
in  which  he  discerned  the  injustice,  violence,  and 
oppression  committed  in  his  country  by  the  rapa- 
cious and  teriible  Chaldseans,  whose  oppressions 
he  announces  as  a  divine  retribution  for  sins  com- 
mitted ;  consequently  he  wrote  in  the  Chaldccau 
period,  shortly  before  th*  invasion  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar which  rendered  Jehoiakim  tributary  to 
the  king  of  Babylon  (2  Kings  xxiv.  ]).  When 
he  wrote  the  first  chapter  of  his  prophecies,  the 
Chaldceans  could  not  yet  have  invaded  Palestine, 
otherwise  he  would  not  have  introduced  Jehovah 
saying  (i.  5),  '  I  will  work  a  work  in  your  days, 
which  ye  will  not  believe,  though  it  be  told  you ;' 
(ver.  G)  '  for  I  raise  up  the  Chaldseans,  that  bitter 
and  hasty  nation,  which  shall  march  through  the 
breadth  of  the  land  to  possess  the  dwelling-places 
that  are  not  theirs.'  From  ver.  12  it  is  also 
evident  that  the  ruin  of  the  Jews  had  not  then  | 
been  effected  ;  it  says,  '  the  Lord  ordained  them 
for  judgment,  established  them  for  correction.' 
Agreeably  to  the  general  style  of  the  prophets, 
who  to  lamentations  and  announcements  of  divine 
punishment  add  consolations  and  cheering  hopes 
for  the  future,  Habakkuk  then  proceeds  in  the 
second  chapter  to  foretell  the  future  humiliation 
of  the  conquerors  who  plundered  so  many  nations. 
He  also  there  promulgates  a  vision  of  events 


HABAKKUK 

shortly  to  be  expected ;  (ver.  3)  '  the  vision  is 
yet  for  an  appointed  time,  but  at  the  end  it  shall 
speak,  and  not  lie ;  though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it, 
because  it  tvill  surebj  come;  it  will  not  tarry.' 
This  is  succeeded  in  the  third  chapter  by  an  ode, 
in  which  the  prophet  celebrates  the  deliverances 
wrought  by  the  Almighty  for  his  people  in  times 
past,  and  prays  for  a  similar  interference  now 
to  mitigate  the  coming  distresses  of  the  nation  ; 
which  he  goes  on  to  describe,  representing  the 
laud  as  already  waste  and  desolate,  and  yet 
giving  encouragement  to  hope  for  a  return  of 
better  times.  Some  interpreters  are  of  opinion 
that  ch.  ii.  was  written  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiachin, 
the  son  of  Jehoiakim  (2  Kings  xxiv.  6),  after 
Jerusalem  had  been  besieged  and  conquered  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king  made  a  prisoner,  and, 
with  many  thousands  of  his  subjects,  carried 
away  to  Babylon  ;  none  remaining  in  Jerusalem, 
save  the  poorest  class  of  the  people  (2  Kings  xxiv. 
14).  But  of  all  this  nothing  is  said  in  the  book 
of  Habakkuk,  nor  even  so  much  as  hinted  at; 
and  what  is  stated  of  the  violence  and  injustice 
of  the  Chaldseans  does  not  imply  that  the  Jews 
had  already  experienced  it.  The  prophet  dis- 
tinctly mentions  that  he  sets  forth  what  he  had 
discerned  in  a  vision,  and  he,  therefore,  speaks  of 
events  to  be  expected  and  coming.  It  is  also  a 
supposition  equally  gratuitous,  according  to  which 
some  interpreters  refer  ch.  iii.  to  the  period  of  the 
last  siege  of  Jerusalem,  when  Zedekiah  was  taken, 
his  sons  slain,  his  eyes  put  out,  the  walls  of  the 
city  broken  down,  and  the  temple  burnt  (2  Kings 
XXV.  1-10).  There  is  not  the  slightest  allusion 
to  any  of  these  incidents  in  the  third  chapter  of 
Habakkuk;  and  from  the  16th  verse  it  appears, 
that  the  destroyer  is  only  coming,  and  that  the 
prophet  expresses  fears,  not  of  the  entire  destruc- 
tion of  the  city,  much  less  of  the  downfall  of  the 
State,  but  only  of  the  desolation  of  the  country. 
It  thus  appears  beyond  dispute,  that  Habakkuk 
prophesied  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Jehoiakim,  about  the  year  stated  above.  Carpzov 
and  Jahn  refer  our  prophet  to  the  reign  of  Ma- 
nasseh,  thus  placing  him  thirty  odd  years  earlier ; 
but  at  that  time  the  Chaldfeans  had  not  as  yet 
given  just  ground  for  apprehension,  and  it  would 
have  been  injudicious  in  Habakkuk  prematurely 
to  fill  the  minds  of  the  people  with  fear  of  them. 
Some  additional  support  to  our  statement  of  the 
age  of  this  book  is  derived  from  the  tradition, 
reported  in  the  apocryphal  appendix  to  Daniel 
and  by  the  Pseudo-Epiphanius,  that  Habakkuk 
lived  to  see  the  Babylonian  exile ;  for  if  he  pro- 
phesied under  Manasseh  he  could  not  have  reached 
the  exile  at  an  age  under  90  years ;  but  if  he  held 
forth  early  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim  he  would 
have  been  only  50  odd  years  old  at  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  exile. 
He  was,  then,  a  contemporary  of  Jeremiah,  but 
much  younger,  as  the  latter  made  his  first  ap- 
pearance in  public  as  early  as  B.C.  C29,  in  the 
thirteenth  year  of  Josiah. 

The  style  of  this  prophet  has  been  always  much 
admired.  He  equals  the  most  eminent  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament — Joel,  Amos,  Nahum, 
Isaiah;  and  the  ode  in  ch.  iii.  may  be  placed  in 
competition  with  Ps.  xviii.  and  Ixviii.  for  origi- 
nality and  sublimity.  His  figures  are  all  great, 
happily  chosen,  and  properly  drawn  out.  His 
denunciations  are  terrible,  his  derision  bitter,  his 


HADAD 


371 


consolation  cheoring.  Instances  occur  of  bor- 
rowed ideas  (ch.  iii.  19,  comp.  Ps.  xviii.  34  ;  Ch. 
ii.  6,  comp.  Isa.  xiv.  7  ;  ch.  ii.  14,  comp.  Isa.  xi. 
9) ;  but  he  makes  them  his  own  in  drawing  them 
out  in  his  peculiar  manner.  With  all  the  bold- 
ness and  fervour  of  his  imagination,  his  language 
is  pure  and  his  verse  melodious.  The  ancient 
catalogues  of  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment do  not  mention  Habakkuk  by  name ;  but 
they  must  have  counted  him  in  the  twelve  minor 
prophets,  whose  number  would  otherwise  not  be 
full.  In  the  New  Testament  some  expressions  of 
his  are  introduced,  but  his  name  is  not  added 
(Rom.  i.  17  ;  Gal.  iii.  11 ;  Heb.  x.  38,  comp.  Hab. 
ii.  4 ;  Acts  xiii.  40,  41,  comp.  Hab.  i.  5). 
HABERGEON.  [Arms;  Armour.] 
HA'BOR,  or  rather  Chabor,  a  city  or  country 
of  Media,  to  which  portions  of  the  ten  tribes  were 
transported,  first  by  Tiglathpileser,  and  after- 
wards by  Shalmaneser  (2  Kings  xvii.  6;  xviii. 
11).  It  is  thought  by  some  to  be  the  same  moun- 
tainous region  between  Media  and  Assyria  which 
Ptolemy  calls  Chaboras.  This  notion  has  the 
name,  and  nothing  but  the  name,  in  its  favour 
Habor  was  by  the  river  Gozan  ;  and  as  we  have 
accepted  Major  Rennell's  conclusion,  that  Gozan 
was  the  present  Kizzil-Ozan  [Gozan],  we  are 
bound  to  follow  him  in  fixing  the  position  of 
Habor  at  the  town  of  Abbar,  which  is  situated  ou 
a  branch  of  that  river,  and  has  the  reputation  of 
being  very  ancient.  At  this  place  Mr.  Morier 
found  ruins  composed  of  large  sun-dried  bricks 
compacted  with  straw,  like  some  of  those  found 
at  Babylon.  As  this  kind  of  construction  is  an 
infallible  sign  of  remote  antiquity,  it  so  far  aflfords 
a  most  important  corroboration  of  Major  Rennell's 
conjecture. 

HA'DAD  (sharp)  is  equivalent  to  Adad,  the 
name  of  the  chief  deity  of  the  Syrians  [AuadJ, 
and  borne,  with  or  without  additions,  as  a  proper 
name,  or  more  probably  as  a  title,  like  '  Pharaoh ' 
in  Egypt,  by  several  of  the  kings  of  Southern  Syria. 

1.  Hadac,  king  of  Edom,  who  defeated  the 
Midianites  in  the  intervening  territory  of  Moab 
(Gen.  xxxvi.  35;  1  Chron.  i.  46).  This  is  the 
only  one  of  the  ancient  kings  of  Edom  whose 
exploits  are  recorded  by  Moses.  Another  king 
of  Ediom  of  the  same  name  is  rnentioned  JS 
1  Chron.  i.  51. 

2.  Hadad,  king  of  Syria,  who  reigned  in  Da- 
mascus at  the  time  that  David  attacked  and 
defeated  Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  whom  he 
marched  to  assist,  and  shared  in  his  defeat.  This 
fact  is  recorded  in  2  Sam.viii.  5,  but  the  name 
of  the  king  is  not  given.  It  is  supplied,  however, 
by  Josephus,  who  reports,  after  Nicolas  of  Da- 
mascus, that  he  carried  succours  to  Hadadezer  as 
far  as  the  Euphrates,  where  David  defeated  them 
both. 

3.  Hadad,  a  young  prince  of  the  royal  race  of 
Edom,  who,  when  his  country  was  conquered  by 
David,  contrived,  in  the  heat  of  the  massacre  com- 
mitted by  Joab,  to  escape  with  some  of  his  father's 
servants,  or  rather  was  carried  off  by  them  into 
the  land  of  Midian.  Thence  Hadad  went  into 
the  desert  of  Paran,  and  eventually  proceeded  to 
Egypt.  He  was  there  most  favourably  received 
by  the  king,  who  assigned  him  an  estate  and  esta- 
blishment suited  to  his  rank,  and  even  gave  him  in 
marriage  the  sister  of  his  own  consort,  by  whom 
he  had  a  son,  who  was  brought  up  in  the  palace 

2b2 


372 


HADES 


with  the  sons  of  Pharaoh.  Hadad  remained  in 
Egypt  till  after  the  death  of  David  and  Joab, 
•when  he  returned  to  his  own  country  in  the  hope 
of  recovering  his  father's  throne  (1  Kings  xi. 
14-22).  The  Scripture  does  not  record  the  result 
of  this  attempt  further  than  by  mentioning  him 
as  one  of  the  troublers  of  Solomon's  reign,  which 
implies  some  measure  of  success. 

HADADE'ZER  {Hadad-helped),  or  Hadad- 
KEZER,  king  of  Zobah,  a  powerful  monarch  in  the 
time  of  David,  and  the  only  one  who  seems  to 
have  been  in  a  condition  seriously  to  dispute  with 
him  the  predominancy  in  south-western  Asia. 
He  was  defeated  by  the  Israelite?  in  the  first  cam- 
paign (B.C.  1032)  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Euphrates,  with  a  great  loss  of  men,  war-chariots, 
and  horses,  and  was  despoiled  of  many  of  his 
towns  (2  Sam.  viii.  3  ;  1  Chron.  xviii.  3).  This 
check  not  only  impaired,  but  destroyed  his  power. 
A  diversion  highly  serviceable  to  him  was  made 
by  a  king  of  Damascene-Syria  (whom  the  Scrip- 
ture does  not  name,  but  who  is  the  same  with 
Hadad  3),  who,  coming  to  his  succour,  compelled 
David  to  turn  his  arms  against  him,  and  abstain 
from  reaping  all  the  fruits  of  his  victory  (2  Sam. 
X.  6,  sq. ;  1  Chron.  xix.  6,  sq.).  The  breathing- 
time  thus  afforded  Hadadezer  was  turned  by  him 
to  such  good  account  that  he  was  able  to  accept 
the  subsidies  of  Hanun,  king  of  the  Ammonites, 
and  to  take  a  leading  part  in  the  confederacy 
formed  by  that  monarch  against  David.  The  first 
army  brought  into  the  field  was  beaten  and  put 
to  flight  by  Abishai  and  Joab ;  but  Hadadezer, 
not  yet  discouraged,  went  into  the  countries  east 
of  the  Euphrates,  and  got  together  the  forces  of 
all  his  allies  and  tributaries,  which  he  placed 
under  the  command  of  Shophach,  his  general. 
To  confront  so  formidable  an  adversary,  David 
took  the  field  in  person,  and  in  one  great  victory 
so  completely  broke  the  power  of  Hadadezer,  that 
all  the  small  tributary  princes  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity of  throwing  off  his  yoke,  of  abandoning  the 
Ammonites  to  their  fate,  and  of  submitting  quietly 
to  David,  whose  power  was  thus  extended  to  the 
Euphrates. 

H.A.DES,  a  Greek  word,  which  occurs  fre- 
quently in  the  New  Testament,  where  it  is  usually 
rendered  '  hell '  in  the  English  version.  The 
word  hades  means  literally  that  which  is  in  dark- 
ness. In  the  classical  writers  it  is  used  to  denote 
Orcus,  or  the  infernal  regions.  According  to  the 
notions  of  the  Jews,  sheol  or  hades  was  a  vast 
j  receptacle  where  the  souls  of  the  dead  existed  in 
a  separate  state  until  the  resurrection  of  their 
bodies.  The  region  of  the  blessed  during  this 
interval,  or  the  inferior  paradise,  they  supposed 
to  be  in  the  upper  part  of  this  receptacle ;  while 
beneath  was  the  abyss  or  gehenna  (Tartarus),  in 
which  the  souls  of  the  wicked  were  subjected  to 
punishment. 

The  question  whether  this  is  or  is  not  the 
doctrine  of  the  Scriptures  is  one  of  much  im- 
portance, and  has,  first  and  last,  excited  no  small 
amount  of  discussion.  It  is  a  doctrine  received 
by  a  large  portion  of  the  nominal  Christian  church ; 
and  it  forms  the  foundation  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic doctrine  of  Purgatory,  for  which  there  would 
be  no  ground  but  for  this  interpretation  of  the 
word  hades. 

The  question  therefore  rests  entirely  upon  the 
interpretation  of  this  word,  and  as  the  Septuagint 


HADES 

gives  this  as  the  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  word 
sheol,  the  real  question  is,  what  is  the  meaning 
which  sheol  bears  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
hades  in  the  New  ?  A  careful  examination  of  the 
passages  in  which  these  words  occur  will  probably 
lead  to  the  conclusion,  that  they  afford  no  real 
sanction  to  the  notion  of  an  intermediate  place 
of  the  kind  indicated,  but  are  used  by  the  inspired 
writers  to  denote  the  grave — the  resting-place  of 
the  bodies  both  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked ; 
and  that  they  are  also  used  to  signify  hell,  the 
abode  of  miserable  spirits.  But  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  produce  any  instance  in  which  they  can  be 
shown  to  signify  the  abode  of  the  spirits  of  just 
men  made  perfect,  either  before  or  after  the  re- 
surrection. 

In  the  great  majority  of  instances  sheol  is  in 
the  Old  Testament  used  to  signify  the  grave,  and 
in  most  of  these  cases  is  so  translated  in  the  Au- 
tho-rized  Version.  It  can  have  no  other  meaning 
in  such  texts  as  Gen.xxxvii.  35  ;  xlii.  38  ;  1  Sam. 
ii.  6  ;  1  Kings  ii.  6;  Job  xiv.  13;  xvii.  13,  16; 
and  in  numerous  other  passages  in  the  writings  of 
David,  Solomon,  and  the  prophets.  But  as  the 
grave  is  regarded  by  most  persons,  and  was  more 
especially  so  by  the  ancients,  with  awe  and  dread, 
as  being  the  region  of  gloom  and  darkness,  so  the 
word  denoting  it  soon  came  to  be  applied  to  that 
more  dark  and  gloomy  world  which  was  to  be 
the  abiding  place  of  the  miserable.  Where  our 
translators  supposed  the  word  to  have  this  sense^ 
they  rendered  it  by  '  hell.'  Some  of  the  passages 
in  which  this  has  been  done  may  be  doubtful ; 
but  there  are  others  of  which  a  question  can 
scarcely  be  entertained.  Such  are  those  (as  Job 
xi.  8  ;  Ps.  cxxxix.  8  ;  Amos  ix.  2)  in  which  the 
word  denotes  the  opposite  of  heaven,  which  can- 
not be  the  grave,  nor  the  general  state  or  region 
of  the  dead,  but  hell.  Still  more  decisive  are 
such  passages  as  Ps.  ix.  17  ;  Prov.  xxiii.  14;  in 
which  sheol  cannot  mean  any  place,  in  this  world 
or  the  next,  to  which  the  righteous  as  well  as  the 
wicked  are  sent,  but  the  penal  abode  of  the  wicked 
as  distinguished  from  and  opposed  to  the  right- 
eous. The  only  case  in  which  such  passages 
could  by  any  possibility  be  supposed  to  mean  the 
grave,  would  be  if  the  grave — that  is,  extinction — 
were  the  final  doom  of  the  unrighteous. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  word  hades  is  used 
in  much  the  same  sense  as  sheol  in  the  Old,  ex- 
cept that  in  a  less  proportion  of  cases  can  it  be 
construed  to  signify  '  the  grave.'  There  are  still, 
however,  instances  in  which  it  is  used  in  this 
sense,  as  in  Acts  ii.  31 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  .55  ;  but  in 
general  the  hades  of  the  New  Testament  appears 
to  be  no  other  than  the  world  of  future  punish- 
ments {e.g.  Matt.  xi.  23;  xvi.  18  ;  Luke  xvi.  23). 

The  principal  arguments  for  the  intermediate 
hades,  as  deduced  from  Scripture,  are  founded  on 
those  passages  in  which  things  '  under  the  earth ' 
are  described  as  rendering  homage  to  God  and 
the  Saviour  (Philip,  ii.  10;  Rev.  v.  13,  &c.).  If 
such  passages,  however,  be  compared  with  others 
(as  with  Rom.  xiv.  10,  11,  &.C.),  it  will  appear 
that  they  must  refer  to  the  day  of  judgment,  in 
which  every  creature  will  render  some  sort  of 
homage  to  the  Saviour  ;  but  then  the  bodies  of  the 
saints  will  have  been  already  raised,  and  the  in- 
termediate region,  if  there  be  any,  will  have  been 
deserted. 

One  of  the  seemingly  strongest  arguments  for 


HADES 


373 


the  opinion  under  consideration  is  founded  on 
1  Pet.  iii.  19,  in  which  Christ  is  said  to  have  gone 
and  '  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison.'  These 
spirits  in  prison  are  supposed  to  be  the  holy  dead 
— perhaps  the  virtuous  heathen— imprisoned  in 
the  intermediate  place,  into  which  the  soul  of  the 
Saviour  went  at  death,  that  he  might  preach  to 
them  the  Gospel.  This  passage  must  be  allowed 
to  present  great  difficulties.  The  most  intelligible 
meaning  suggested  by  the  context  is,  however, 
that  Christ  by  his  spirit  preached  to  those  who  in 
the  time  of  Noah,  while  the  ark  was  preparing, 
were  disobedient,  and  whose  spirits  are  7ivw  in 
prison,  abiding  the  general  judgment.  The  prison 
is  doubtless  hades,  but  what  hades  is  must  be  de- 
termined by  other  passages  of  Scripture;  and, 
whether  it  is  the  grave  or  hell,  it  is  still  a  prison 
for  those  who  yet  await  the  judgment-day.  This 
interpretation  is  in  unison  with  other  passages  of 
Scripture,  whereas  the  other  is  conjecturally  de- 
duced from  this  single  text. 

Another  argument  is  deduced  from  Rev.  xx. 
14,  which  describes  '  death  and  hades'  as  '  cast 
into  the  lake  of  fire  '  at  the  close  of  the  general 
judgment — meaning,  according  to  the  advocates 
of  the  doctrine  in  question,  that  hades  should  then 
cease  as  an  intermediate  place.  But  this  is  also 
true  if  understood  of  the  grave,  or  of  the  general 
intermediate  condition  of  the  dead,  or  even  of 
hell,  as  once  more  and  for  ever  reclaiming  what 
it  had  temporarily  yielded  up  for  judgment — ^just 
as  we  every  day  see  criminals  brought  from  prison 
to  judgment,  and  after  judgment  returned  to  the 
prison  from  which  they  came. 

It  is  fiirther  urged,  in  proof  of  Hades  being  an 
intermediate  place  other  than  the  grave,  that  the 
Scriptures  represent  the  happiness  of  the  righteous 
as  incomplete  till  after  the  resurrection.  This 
must  be  admitted ;  but  it  does  not  thence  follow 
that  their  souls  are  previously  imprisoned  in  the 
earth,  or  in  any  other  place  or  region  correspond- 
ing to  the  Tartarus  of  the  heathen.  Although  at 
the  moment  of  death  the  disembodied  spirits  of 
the  redeemed  ascend  to  heaven,  and  continue 
there  till  the  resurrection,  it  is  very  possible  that 
their  happiness  shall  be  incomplete  until  they 
have  received  their  glorified  bodies  from  the 
tomb,  and  entered  upon  the  full  rewards  of 
eternity. 

A  view  supported  by  so  little  force  of  Scrip- 
ture, seems  unequal  to  resist  the  contrary  evidence 
which  may  be  produced  from  the  same  source, 
and  which  it  remains  briefly  to  indicate.  The 
effect  of  this  is  to  show  that  the  souls  of  the  re- 
deemed are  described  as  proceeding,  after  death, 
at  once  to  heaven — the  place  of  final  happiness, 
and  those  of  the  unredeemed  to  the  place  of  final 
wretchedness. 

In  Heb.  vi.  12,  the  righteous  dead  are  de- 
scribed as  being  in  actual  inheritance  of  the  pro- 
mises made  to  the  fathers.  Our  Saviour  repre- 
sents the  deceased  saints  as  already,  before  the 
resurrection  (for  so  the  context  requires),  '  like 
unto  the  angels,'  and  '  equal  to  the  angels '  (Matt, 
xxii.  30  ;  Luke  xx.  36) ;  which  is  not  very  com- 
patible witt  their  imprisonment  even  in  the  hap- 
pier region  of  the  supposed  Hades.  Our  Lord's 
declaration  to  the  dying  thief — '  This  day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise'  (Luke  xxiii.  43), 
has  been  urged  on  both  sides  of  the  argument ; 
but  the  word  is  here  not  Hades,  but  Paradise,  and 


no  instance  can  be  produced  in  which  the  para- 
dise beyond  the  grave  means  anything  else  than 
that  '  third  heaven,'  that  '  paradise  '  into  which 
the  Apostle  was  caught  up,  and  where  he  heard 
'  unutterable  things '  (2  Cor.  xii.  2,  4).  In  the 
midst  of  that  paradise  grows  the  mystic  '  tree  of 
life"  (Kev.  ii.  7),  which  the  same  writer  repre- 
sents as  growing  near  the  throne  of  God  and  the 
Lamb  (xxii.  2).  In  Eph.  iii.  1.5,  the  Apostle  de- 
scribes the  whole  church  of  God  as  being  at  pre- 
sent in  heaven  or  on  earth.  But,  according  to 
the  view  under  consideration,  the  great  body  of 
the  church  would  be  neither  in  heaven  nor  on 
earth,  but  in  Hades — the  intermediate  place.  In 
Heb.  xii.  21-24,  we  are  told  that  in  the  city  of  the 
living  God  dwell  not  only  God  himself,  the  judge 
of  all,  and  Jesus,  the  mediator  of  the  new  cove- 
nant, and  the  innumerable  company  of  angels, 
but  also  '  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect ' — 
all  dwelling  together  in  the  same  holy  and  happy 
place.  To  the  same  effect,  but,  if  possible,  still 
more  conclusive,  are  the  various  passages  in 
which  the  souls  of  the  saints  are  described  as 
being,  when  absent  from  the  body,  present  with 
Christ  in  heaven  (comp.  2  Cor.  v.  1-8  ;  Philip,  i. 
23 ;  1  Thess.  v.  10).  To  this  it  is  scarcely  neces- 
sary to  add  the  various  passages  in  the  Apoca- 
lyptic vision,  in  which  St.  John  beheld,  as  inha- 
bitants of  the  highest  heaven,  around  the  throne 
of  God,  myriads  of  redeemed  souls,  even  before 
the  resurrection  (Rev.  v.  9  ;  vi.  9  ;  vii.  9  ;  xiv.  1, 
3).  Now  the  '  heaven '  of  these  passages  cannot 
be  the  place  to  which  the  term  Hades  is  ever 
applied,  for  that  word  is  never  associated  with 
any  circumstances  or  images  of  enjoyment  or 
happiness  [Heaven]. 

As  these  arguments  seem  calculated  to  dis- 
prove the  existence  of  the  more  favoured  region 
of  the  alleged  intermediate  place,  a  similar  course 
of  evidence  militates  with  equal  force  against  the 
existence  of  the  more  penal  region  of  the  same 
place.  It  is  admitted  by  the  staunchest  advocates 
for  the  doctrine  of  an  intermediate  place,  that  the 
souls  of  the  wicked,  when  they  leave  the  body,  go 
immediately  into  punishment.  Now  the  Scrip- 
ture knows  no  place  of  punishment  after  death 
but  that  which  was  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his 
angels.  This  place  they  now  inhabit ;  and  this  is 
the  place  to  which,  after  judgment,  the  souls  of 
the  condemned  will  be  consigned  (comp.  2  Pet. 
ii.  4 ;  Matt.  xxv.  41).  This  verse  of  Peter  is  the 
only  one  in  Scripture  in  which  any  reference  to 
the  word  Tartarus  occurs :  here  then,  if  any- 
where, we  should  find  that  intermediate  place 
corresponding  to  the  Tartarus  of  the  heathen, 
from  whom  the  word  is  borrowed.  But  from  the 
other  text  we  can  be  quite  certain  that  the  Tar- 
tarus of  Peter  is  no  other  than  the  hell  which  is 
to  be  the  final,  as  it  is,  in  degree,  the  present 
doom  of  the  wicked.  That  this  hell  is  ILides  is 
readily  admitted,  for  the  course  of  the  argument 
has  been  to  show  that  Hades  is  hell,  whenever  it 
is  not  the  grave.  Dr.  Enoch  Pond,  whose  in- 
teresting article  on  the  subject,  in  the  American 
Biblical  Repository,  we  have  chiefly  followed, 
well  remarks :  '  Whether  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked,  after  the  judgment,  will  go  literally  to 
the  same  places  in  which  they  Mere  before  si- 
tuated, it  is  not  material  to  inquire.  But,  both 
before  and  after  the  judgment,  the  righteous  will 
be  in  the  same  place  with  their  glorified  Saviour 


HAGAR 


HAGAR 


and  his  holy  angels ;  and  this  ■will  be  heaven : 
and  before  and  after  the  judgment  the  wicked 
■will  be  in  the  same  place  ■with  the  devil  and  his 
angels ;  and  this  ■will  be  hell. 

HA'GAR  (a  stranger),  a  native  of  Egypt,  and 
servant  of  Abrahana;  but  ho^w  or  when  she 
became  an  inmate  of  his  family  we  are  not  in- 
formed. Whatever  were  her  origin  and  previous 
history,  her  servile  condition  in  the  family  of 
Abraham  must  have  prevented  her  from  being 
ever  known  beyond  the  limits  of  her  4iumble 
sphere,  had  not  her  name,  by  a  spontaneous  act 
of  her  mistress,  become  indissolubly  linked  with 
the  patriarch's  history.  The  long  continued  ste- 
rility of  Sarah  suggested  to  her  the  idea  (not 
uncommon  in  the  East)  of  becoming  a  mother  by 
proxy  through  her  handmaid,  whom,  with  that 
view,  she  gave  to  Abraham  as  as  a  secondary 
wife  [Abraham  :  Adoption;  Concubine]. 

The  honour  of  such  an  alliance  and  elevation 
was  too  great  and  unexpected  for  the  weak  and 
ill-regulated  mind  of  Hagar :  and  no  sooner  did 
she  find  herself  in  a  delicate  situation,  which 
made  her,  in  the  prospect  of  becoming  a  mother, 
an  object  of  increasing  interest  and  importance  to 
Abraham,  than  she  openly  indulged  in  triumph 
over  her  less  favoured  mistress,  and  showed  by  her 
altered  behaviour  a  growing  habit  of  disrespect 
and  insolence.  The  feelings  of  Sarah  were  se- 
verely wounded,  and  she  broke  out  to  her  husband 
in  loud  complaints  of  the  servant's  petulance ;  and 
Abraham,  whose  meek  and  prudent  behaviour  is 
strikingly  contrasted  with  the  violence  of  his 
wife,  leaves  her  with  unfettered  power,  as  mis- 
tress of  his  household,  to  take  what  steps  she 
pleases  to  obtain  the  required  redress. 

Hagar,  though  talcen  into  the  relation  of  con- 
cubine to  Abraham,  continued  still,  being  a  dotal 
maid-servant,  under  the  absolute  power  of  her 
mistress,  who  was  neither  reluctant  nor  sparing 
in  making  the  minion  reap  the  fruits  of  her  in- 
solence. Sarah,  indeed,  not  content  with  the 
simple  exertion  of  her  authority,  seems  to  have 
resorted  even  to  corporal  chastisement.  Sensible, 
at  length,  of  the  hopelessness  of  getting  the  better 
of  her  mistress,  Hagar  determined  on  flight ;  and 
having  seemingly  formed  the  purpose  of  return- 
ing to  her  relations  in  Egypt,  she  took  the  di- 
rection of  that  country  ;  which  led  her  to  what  was 
afterwards  called  Shur,  through  a  long  tract  of 
sandy  uninhabited  country,  lying  on  the  west  of 
Arabia  Petraa,  to  the  extent  of  150  miles  between 
Palestine  and  Egypt.  In  that  lonely  region  she 
was  sitting  by  a  fountain  to  replenish  her  skin- 
bottle  or  recruit  her  wearied  limbs,  when  the 
angel  of  the  Lord,  whose  language  on  this  occa- 
sion bespeaks  him  to  have  been  more  than  a 
created  being,  appeared,  and  in  the  kindliest 
manner  remonstrated  with  her  on  the  course  she 
■was  pursuing,  and  encouraged  her  to  return  by 
the  promise  that  she  would  ere  long  have  a  son, 
whom  Providence  destined  to  become  a  great 
man,  and  whose  wild  and  irregular  features  of 
character  would  be  indelibly  impressed  on  the 
mighty  nation  that  should  spring  from  him. 
Obedient  to  the  heavenly  visitor,  and  having 
distinguished  the  place  by  the  name  of  Beer- 
lahai-roi,  '  the  well  of  the  visible  God,'  Hagar 
retraced  her  steps  to  the  tent  of  Abraham,  where 
in  due  time  she  had  a  son ;  and  having  probably 
narrated  this  remarkable  interview  to  Abraham, 


that  patriarch,  as  directed  by  the  angel,  called 
the  name  of  the  child  Ishmael,  '  God  hath 
heard.' 

Fourteen  years  had  elapsed  after  the  birth  of 
Ishmael  when  an  event  occurred  in  the  family  of 
Abraham,  by  the  appearance  of  the  long-pro- 
mised heir,  which  entirely  changed  the  prospects 
of  that  young  man,  though  nothing  materially 
affecting  him  took  place  till  the  weaning  of  Isaac, 
which,  as  is  generally  thought,  was  at  the  end  of 
his  third  year.  Ishmael  was  then  a  lad  of  seven- 
teen years  of  age ;  and  being  fully  capable  of 
understanding  his  altered  relations  to  the  in- 
heritance, as  well  as  having  felt  perhaps  a  sen- 
sible diminution  of  Sarah's  affection  towards  him, 
it  is  not  wonderful  that  a  disappointed  youth 
should  inconsiderately  give  vent  to  his  feelings 
on  a  festive  occasion,  when  the  newly-weaned 
child,  clad  according  to  custom  with  the  sacred 
symbolic  robe,  which  was  the  badge  of  the  birth- 
right, was  formally  installed  heir  of  the  tribe. 
The  harmony  of  the  weaning  feast  was  disturbed 
by  Ishmael  being  discovered  mocking.  This  con- 
duct gave  mortal  offence  to  Sarah,  who  from 
that  moment  would  be  satisfied  with  nothing 
short  of  his  irrevocable  expulsion  from  the 
family ;  and  as  his  mother  also  was  included  in 
the  same  condemnation,  there  is  ground  to  believe 
that  she  had  been  repeating  her  former  insolence, 
as  well  as  instigating  her  son  to  his  improprieties 
of  behaviour.  So  harsh  a  measure  was  extremely 
painful  to  the  affectionate  heart  of  Abraham  ; 
but  his  scruples  were  removed  by  the  timely 
appearance  of  his  divine  counsellor,  who  said, 
'  Let  it  not  be  grievous  in  thy  sight,  because  of 
the  lad,  and  because  of  thy  bondwoman :  in  all 
that  Sarah  hath  said  unto  thee,  hearken  unto  her 
voice.'  The  incident  affords  a  very  remarkable 
instance  of  an  overruling  Providence  in  making 
this  family  feud  in  the  tent  of  a  pastoral  chief 
4000  years  ago  the  occasion  of  separating  two 
mighty  nations,  who,  according  to  the  prophecy, 
have  ever  since  occupied  an  important  chapter  in 
the  history  of  man.  Hagar  and  Ishmael  departed 
early  on  the  day  fixed  for  their  removal,  Abra- 
ham furnishing  them  with  the  necessary  supply 
of  travelling  provisions. 

In  spite  of  their  instructions  for  threading  the 
desert,  the  two  exiles  missed  their  way.  Over- 
come iDy  fatigue  and  thirst,  increasing  at  every 
step  under  the  unmitigated  rays  of  a  vertical  sun, 
the  strength  of  the  young  Ishmael,  as  was  natural, 
first  gave  way,  and  his  mother  laid  him  down  in 
complete  exhaustion  under  one  of  the  stunted 
shrubs  of  this  arid  region,  in  the  hope  of  his 
obtaining  some  momentary  relief  from  smelling 
the  damp  in  the  shade.  The  burning  fever, 
however,  continued  unabated,  and  the  poor 
woman,  forgetting  her  own  sorrow,  destitute  and 
alone  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness,  and  absorbed 
in  the  fate  of  her  son,  withdrew  to  a  little  dis- 
tance, unable  to  witness  his  lingering  suHerings ; 
and  there  '  she  lifted  up  her  voice  and  wept.'  In 
this  distressing  situation  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
appeared  for  the  purpose  of  eomtbrting  her,  and 
directed  her  to  a  fountain,  which,  concealed  by 
the  brushwood,  had  escaped  her  notice,  and  from 
which  she  drew  a  refreshing  draught,  that  liad 
the  effect  of  reviving  the  almost  lifeless  Ishmael. 

Of  the  subsequent  history  of  Ishmael  we  have 
110  account,  further  than  that  he  established  him- 


HAGGAI 


self  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Sinai,  was  married  by  liis  mother  to  a 
countrywoman  of  her  own,  and  maintained  both 
himself  and  family  by  the  produce  of  his  bow. 

HAGAKENE8'.     [Arabia.] 

HAG'GAI,  one  of  the  twelve  minor  prophets, 
and  the  first  of  the  three  who,  after  the  return  of 
the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian  exile,  prophesied 
in  Palestine.  Of  the  place  and  year  of  his  birth, 
his  descent,  and  the  leading  incidents  of  his  life, 
nothing  is  known  which  can  be  relied  on.  This 
much  appears  from  his  prophecies,  tliat  he 
flourished  during  the  reign  of  the  Persian 
monarch  Darius  Hystaspis,  who  ascended  the 
throne  B.C.  521.  These  prophecies  are  comprised 
in  a  book  of  two  chapters,  and  consist  of  dis- 
courses remarkably  brief  and  summary.  Their 
object  generally  is  to  urge  the  rebuilding  of  the 
Temple,  which  had  indeed  been  commenced  as 
early  as  B.C.  .535  (Ezra  iii.  10),  but  was  after- 
wards discontinued,  the  Samaritans  having  ob- 
tained an  edict  from  tJie  Persian  king,  which  for- 
bade further  procedure,  and  inllueutial  Jews  pre- 
tending that  the  time  for  rebuilding  the  Temple 
had  not  arrived,  since  the  seventy  years  predicted 
by  Jeremiah  applied  to  the  Temple  also,  from 
the  time  of  the  destruction  of  which  it  was  then 
only  the  sixty-eighth  year.  As  on  the  death  of 
Pseudo-Smerdis,  and  the  consequent  termination 
of  his  interdict,  the  Jews  still  continued  to  wait 
for  the  end  of  the  seventy  years,  and  were  only 
engaged  in  building  splendid  houses  for  them- 
selves, Haggai  began  to  prophesy  in  the  second 
year  of  Darius,  B.C.  520. 

His  first  discourse  (ch.  i.),  delivered  ori  the  first 
day  of  the  sixth  month  of  the  year  mentioned, 
foretells  that  a  brighter  era  would  begin  as  soon 
as  Jehovah's  house  was  rebuilt ;  and  a  notice  is 
subjoined,  stating  that  the  address  of  the  prophet 
had  been  effective>  the  people  having  resolved  on 
resuming  the  restoration  of  the  Temple.  The 
second  discourse  (ch.  ii.  1-9),  delivered  on  the 
twenty-first  day  of  the  seventh  mouth,  predicts 
that  the  glory  of  the  new  Temple  would  be 
greater  than  that  of  Solomon's,  and  shows  that  no 
fear  need  be  entertained  of  the  Second  Temple 
not  equalling  the  first  in  splendour,  since,  in 
a  remarkable  political  revolution,  the  gifts  of  the 
Gentiles  would  be  brought  thither.  The  third 
discourse  (ch.  ii.  10-19),  delivered  on  the  twenty- 
fourth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  refers  to  a  period 
when  building  materials  had  been  collected,  and 
the  workmen  had  begun  to  put  them  together ; 
for  Mhich  a  commencement  of  the  Divine  blessing 
is  promised.  The  fourth  and  last  discourse  (ch. 
ii.  20-23),  delivered  also  on  the  twenty-fourth 
day  of  the  ninth  montli,  is  exclusively  addressed 
to  Zerubbabel,  the  political  chief  of  the  new 
Jewish  colony,  who,  it  appears,  had  asked  for  an 
explanation  regarding  the  great  political  revolu- 
tions which  Haggai  had  predicted  in  his  second 
discourse  :  it  comforts  the  governor  by  assuring 
him  they  would  not  take  place  very  soon,  and  not 
in  his  lifetime.  The  style  of  the  discourses  of 
Haggai  is  suitable  to  their  contents :  it  is  pathetic 
when  he  exhorts ;  it  is  vehement  when  he  re- 
proves ;  it  is  somewhat  elevated  when  he  treats 
of  future  events :  and  it  is  not  altogether  destitute 
of  a  poetical  colourir^g,  though  a  prophet  of  a 
higher  order  would  have  depicted  the  splendour 
of  the  Second  Temple  in  brighter  hues.     The 


language  labours  under  a  poverty  of  terms,  as 
may  be  observed  in  the  constant  repetition  of  the 
same  expressions.  The  prophetical  discourses  of 
Haggai  are  referred  to  in  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment (Ezra  V.  1;  vi.  14;  Heb.  xii.  20;  coinp. 
Hag.  ii.  7,  8,  22).  In  most  of  the  ancient  cata- 
logues of  the  canonical  books  of  tlie  Old  Testa- 
ment, Haggai  is  not,  indeed,  mentioned  by  name-, 
but  as  they  specify  the  twelve  minor  prophets, 
he  must  have  been  included  among  them,  as 
otherwise  their  number  would  not  be  full. 

HAIR  is  frequently  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
and  in  scarcely  anything  has  the  caprice  of  fashion 
been  more  strikingly  displayed  than  iu  the  various 
forms  which  the  taste  of  different  countries  and 
ages  has  prescribed  for  disposing  of  this  natural 
covering  of  the  head.  The  Greeks  let  their  hair 
grow  to  a  great  length.  The  early  Egyptians, 
again,  who  were  proverbial  for  their  habits  of 
cleanliness,  removed  the  hair  as  an  incumbrance, 
and  the  almost  unavoidable  occasion  of  sordid 
and  offensive  negligence.  All  classes  amongst 
that  people,  not  excepting  the  slaves  imported 
from  foreign  countries,  were  required  to  subiriit 
to  the  tonsure  (Gen.  xli.  14)  ;  and  yet,  what  was 
remarkable  in  the  inhabitants  of  a  hot  climate, 
while  they  removed  their  natural  hair,  they  were 
accustomed  to  wear  wigs,  which  were  so  con- 
structed that  '  they  far  surpassed,'  says  Wilkinson, 
'  the  comfort  and  coolness  of  the  modern  turban, 
the  reticulated  texture  of  the  groundwork  on 
which  the  hair  was  fastened  allowing  the  heat  of 
the  head  to  escape,  while  the  hair  efiTectually 
protected  it  from  the  sun.'  Different  from  the 
custom  both  of  the  Greeks  and  the  Egyptians, 
that  of  the  Hebrews  was  to  wear  their  hair  gene- 
rally short,  and  to  check  its  growth  by  the  appli- 
cation of  scissors  only.  The  priests  at  their 
inauguration  shaved  otf  all  their  hair,  and  when 
on  actual  duty  at  the  temple,  were  in  the  habit, 
it  is  said,  of  cutting  it  every  fortnight.  The  only 
exceptions  to  this  prevailing  fiishion  are  found  in 
the  case  of  the  Nazarites,  whose  hair,  from  reli- 
gious duty,  was  not  to  be  cropped  during  the  term 
of  their  vow ;  of  young  persons  who,  during 
their  minority,  allowed  their  hair  to  hang  down 
in  luxuriant  ringlets  on  their  shoulders  ;  of  such 
effeminate  persons  as  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xiv.  26) ; 
and  of  Solomon's  horse-guards,  whose  vanity 
affected  a  puerile  extravagance,  and  who  strewed 
their  heads  every  day  with  particles  of  gold-dust. 
Although  the  Hebrews  wore  their  hair  short, 
they  were  great  admirers  of  strong  and  thickset 
locks ;  and  so  high  a  value  did  they  set  on  the 
possession  of  a  good  head  of  hair,  that  they  de- 
precated nothing  so  much  as  baldness.  To  pre- 
vent or  remedy  this  defect  they  seem,  at  an  early 
period,  to  have  availed  themselves  of  the  assist- 
ance of  art,  not  only  for  beautifying  the  hair, 
but  increasing  its  thickness ;  while  the  heads  of 
the  priests  were  anointed  with  an  unguent  of  a 
peculiar  kind,  the  ingredients  of  which,  with 
their  various  proportions,  were  prescribed  by 
divine  authority,  and  the  composition  of  which 
tlie  people  were  prohibited,  under  severe  penal- 
ties, from  attempting  to  imitate  (Exod.  xxx.  32). 
This  custom  spread  till  anointing  the  hair  of  the 
head  became  a  general  mark  of  gentility  and  an 
essential  part  of  the  daily  toilet ;  the  usual  cos- 
metics employed  consisting  of  the  best  oil  of 
olives  mingled  with  spices,  a  decoction  of  parsley- 


!     376 


HAIB 


HAMAN 


seed  in  -wine,  and  more  rarely  of  spikenard  (Ps. 
xxiii.  5;  xlv.  7;  Eccles.  ix.  8;  Mark  xiv.  3). 
The  prevailing  colour  of  hair  among  the  He- 
brews was  dark  ;  '  locks  bushy  and  black  as  a 
raven,'  being  mentioned  in  the  description  of  the 
bridegroom  as  the  perfection  of  beautj-  in  ma- 
ture manhood  (Sol.  Song  v.  1 1 ).  Hence  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  old  man  with  a  snow-white  head 
in  a  company  of  younger  Jews,  all  whose  heads, 
like  those  of  other  Eastern  people,  were  jet  black 
— a  most  conspicuous  object — is  beautifully  com- 
pared to  an  almond-tree,  which  in  the  early  part 
of  the  year  is  in  full  blossom,  while  all  the  others 
are  dark  and  leafless  (Eccles.  xii.  5).  Among 
the  Romans  it  was  customary  to  employ  artificial 
means  for  changing  or  disguising  the  silver  hue 
of  age.  From  Rome  the  fashion  spread  into 
Greece  and  other  provinces,  and  it  appears  that 
the  members  of  the  church  of  Corinth  were,  to  a 
certain  extent,  captivated  by  the  prevailing  taste, 
some  Christians  being  evidently  in  the  eye  of 
the  Apostle,  who  had  attracted  attention  by  the 
cherished  and  womanly  decoration  of  their  hair 
(1  Cor.  xi.  U-16).  To  them  the  letter  of  Paul 
was  intended  to  administer  a  timely  reproof  for 
allowing  themselves  to  fall  in  with  a  style  of 
manners  which,  by  confounding  the  distinctions 
of  the  sexes,  threatened  a  baneful  influence  on 
good  morals:  and  that  not  only  the  Chiistian 
converts  in  that  city,  but  the  primitive  church 
generally,  were  led  by  this  admonition  to  ado|)t 
simpler  habits,  is  evident  from  the  remarkable 
fact  that  a  criminal,  who  came  to  trial  under  the 
assumed  character  of  a  Christian,  was  proved  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  judge  to  be  an  impostor,  by 
the  luxuriant  and  frizzled  appearance  of  his  hair. 

With  regard  to  women,  the  possession  of  long 
and  luxuriant  hair  is  allowed  by  Paul  to  be  an 
essential  attribute  of  the  sex — a  graceful  and 
modest  covering  provided  by  nature ;  and  yet  the 
same  Apostle  elsewhere  (1  Tim.  ii.  9)  concurs 
with  Peter  (1  Pet.  iii.  9)  in  launching  severe  in- 
vectives against  the  ladies  of  his  day  for  the 
pride  and  passionate  fondness  they  displayed  in 
the  elaborate  decorations  of  their  head-dress.  As 
the  hair  was  pre-eminently  the  'instrument  of 
their  pride'  (Ezek.  xvi.  39,  margin),  all  the  re- 
sources of  ingenuity  and  art  were  exhausted  to 
set  it  off  to  advantage  and  load  it  with  the  most 
dazzling  finery  ;  and  m£y:y  when  they  died  caused 
their  longest  locks  to  be  cut  off,  and  placed  sepa- 
rately in  an  urn,  to  be  deposited  in  their  tomb  as 
the  most  precious  and  valued  relics. 

From  the  great  value  attached  to  a  profuse 
head  of  hair  arose  a  variety  of  superstitious  and 
emblematic  observances,  such  as  shaving  parts  of 
the  head,  or  cropping  it  in  a  particular  form ; 
parents  dedicating  the  hair  of  infants  to  the  gods ; 
young  women  theirs  at  their  marriage ;  warriors 
after  a  successful  campaign  ;  sailors  after  deli- 
verance from  a  storm  ;  hanging  it  up  on  conse- 
crated trees,  or  depositing  it  in  temples ;  burying 
it  in  the  tomb  of  friends,  as  Achilles  did  at  the 
funeral  of  Patroclus ;  besides  shaving,  cutting  off, 
or  plucking  if  out,  as  some  people  did ;  or  allow- 
ing it  to  grow  in  sordid  negligence,  as  was  the 
practice  with  others,  according  as  the  calamity 
that  befel  them  was  common  or  extraordinary, 
and  their  grief  was  mild  or  violent. 

Various  metaphorical  allusions  are  made  to 
haij:  by  the  sacred  writers,  especially  the  pro- 


phets. '  Cutting  off  the  hair '  is  a  figure  used  to 
denote  the  entire  destruction  of  a  people  by  the 
righteous  retributions  of  Providence  (Isa.  vii.  20) 
'Gray  hairs  here  and  there  on  Ephraim'  por- 
tended the  decline  and  fall  of  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  (Hos.  vii.  9).  '  Hair  like  women's  '  forms 
part  of  the  description  of  the  Apocalyptic  locusts, 
and  historically  points  to  the  prevailing  head- 
dress of  the  Saracens,  as  well  as  the  voluptuous 
effeminacy  of  the  Antichristian  clergy  (Rev.  ix. 
8).  And,  finally,  'hair  like  fine  wool'  was  a 
prominent  feature  in  the  appearance  of  the  deified 
Redeemer,  emblematic  of  the  majesty  and  wisdom 
that  belong  to  him  (Rev.  i.  14). 

HA'LAH,  or  rather  Chalach,  a  city  or  dis- 
trict of  Media,  upon  the  river  Gozan,  to  which, 
among  other  places,  the  captives  of  Israel  were 
transplanted  by  the  Assyrian  kings.  Many  have 
conceived  this  Halah  or  Chalach  to  be  the  Cala- 
chene  which  Ptolemy  places  in  the  north  of 
Assyria.  But  if  the  river  Gozan  be  the  Kizzil- 
Ozan,  Halah  must  needs  be  sought  elsewliere, 
and  near  that  river.  Accordingly  Major  Ren- 
nell  indicates  as  lying  along  its  banks  a  district 
of  some  extent,  and  of  great  beauty  and  fertility, 
named  Chalchal,  having  within  it  a  remarkably 
strong  position  of  the  same  name,  situated  on  one 
of  the  hills  adjoining  to  the  mountains  which 
separate  it  from  the  province  of  Ghilan. 

HALLELU'JAH,  or  Aixeldia,  a  word  which 
stands  at  the  beginning  of  many  of  the  Psalms. 
From  its  frequent  occurrence  in  this  position  it 
grew  into  a  formula  of  praise,  and  was  chanted 
as  such  on  solemn  days  of  rejoicing.  This  ex- 
pression of  joy  and  praise  was  transferred  from 
the  synagogue  to  the  church,  and  is  still  occa- 
sionally heard  in  devotional  psalmody. 

HAM.  1.  The  youngest  son  of  Noah  (Gen. 
V.  32 ;  comp.  ix.  24).  Having  provoked  the 
wrath  of  his  father  by  an  act  of  indecency  to- 
wards him,  the  latter  cursed  him  and  his  de- 
scendants to  be  slaves  to  his  brothers  and  their 
descendants  (ix.  25).  To  judge,  however,  from 
the  narrative,  Noah  directed  his  curse  only 
against  Canaan  (the  fourth  son  of  Ham)  and  his 
race,  thus  excluding  from  it  the  descendants  of 
Ham's  three  other  sons,  Cush,  Mizraim,  and 
Phut  (Gen.  x.  6).  The  general  opinion  is,  that 
all  the  Southern  nations  derive  their  origin  from 
Ham.  Cush  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  pro- 
genitor of  the  nations  of  East  and  South  Asia, 
more  especially  of  South  Arabia,  and  also  of 
Ethiopia ;  Mizraim,  of  the  African  nations,  in- 
cluding the  Philistines  and  some  other  tribes 
which  Greek  fable  and  tradition  connect  with 
Egypt ;  Phut,  likewise  of  some  African  nations ; 
and  Canaan,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Palestine  and 
Phoenicia. 

2.  A  poetical  name  for  the  land  of  Egypt  (Ps. 
Ixxviii.  51  ;  cv.  23,  27 ;  cvi.  22). 

In  Gen.  xiv.  5  occurs  a  country  or  place  called 
Ham,  belonging  to  the  Zuzim,  but  its  geogra- 
phical situation  is  unknown. 

H A'MAN,  a  name  of  the  planet  Mercury ;  a 
favourite  of  the  king  of  Persia,  whose  history  is 
involved  in  that  of  Esther  and  Mordecai.  He  is 
called  an  Agagite ;  and  as  Agag  was  a  kind  of 
title  of  the  kings  of  the  Amalekites  [Agac],  it  is 
supposed  that  Hamau  was  descended  from  the 
royal  family  of  that  nation.  He  or  his  parents 
probably  found  their  way  to  Persia  as  captives 


HANAMEEL 

or  hostages ;  and  that  the  foreign  origin  of  Ha- 
inan was  no  bar  to  his  advancement  at  court,  is 
a  circumstance  quite  in  union  with  the  most  an- 
cient and  still  subsisting  usages  of  the  East. 
Joseph,  Daniel,  and  MordQcai  afford  other  ex- 
amples of  the  same  kind. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  the  particulars  of  a 
story  so  well  known  as  that  of  Haman.  The  cir- 
cumstantial details  of  the  height  which  he  at- 
tained and  of  his  sudden  downfall,  afford,  like 
all  the  rest  of  the  book  of  Esther,  a  most  faithful 
picture  of  the  customs  of  an  Oriental  court  and 
government,  and  furnish  invaluable  materials  for 
a  comparison  between  the  regal  usages  of  ancient 
and  modern  times.  The  result  of  such  a  com- 
parison will  excite  surprise  by  the  closeness  of 
the  resemblance  ;  for  there  is  not  a  single  fact  in 
the  history  of  Haman  which  might  not  occur  at 
the  present  day,  and  which,  indeed,  is  not  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  different  combinations.  The 
death  of  Haman  appears  to  have  taken  place 
about  the  year  b.c.  510. 

HA'MATH,  one  of  the  smaller  kingdoms  of 
Syria,  having  Zobah  on  the  east  and  Rehob  on 
the  south.  This  last  kingdom,  lying  within  the 
greater  Mount  Hermon,  is  expressly  said  to  have 
been  taken  possession  of  by  the  Israelites,  and, 
like  Dan  or  Laish,  which  is  represented  to  have 
been  in  the  valley  of  Bethrehob  ( Judg.  xviii.  28), 
is  used  to  denote  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
Holy  Land.  The  approach  to  it  from  the  south 
is  by  an  opening  or  mountain-pass,  called  '  the 
entrance  of  Hamath,'  and  'the  entering  in  of 
Hamath,'  which,  being  the  passage  from  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  land  of  Israel  into 
Syria,  is  sometimes  used  to  describe  the  boundary 
of  the  former  in  this  direction,  as  '  from  the  en- 
tering in  of  Hamath  to  the  river  of  Egypt' 
(1  Kings  viii.  65). 

The  kingdom  of  Hamath,  or,  at  least,  the 
southern  or  central  parts  of  it,  appear  to  have 
nearly  corresponded  with  what  was  afterwards 
denominated  Ccele-Syria;  but  northwards,  it 
stretched  as  far  as  the  city  Hamath  on  the  Orontes, 
which  seems  to  have  been  the  capital  of  the  whole 
country.  Toi  was  king  of  Hamath  at  the  time 
when  David  couquered  the  Syrians  of  Zobah; 
and  it  appears  that  he  had  reason  to  rejoice  in 
the  humiliation  of  a  dangerous  neighbour,  as  he 
sent  his  own  son  Joram  to  congi-atulate  the  victor 
(•2  Sam.  viii.  9,  10).  In  the  time  of  Hezekiah  the 
town  along  with  its  territory  was  conquered  by 
the  Assyrians  (2  Kings  xvii.  24;  xviii.  34;  xix. 
13;  Isa.  X.  9;  xi.  11);  and  afterwards  by  the 
Chalda^ans  (Jer.  xxxix.  2,  5).  Hamath  is  still  a 
picturesque  town,  of  considerable  circumference, 
and  with  wide  and  convenient  streets.  In  Burck- 
hardt's  time  the  attached  district  contained  120 
inhabited  villages,  and  70  or  80  that  lay  waste. 
The  western  part  of  this  district  forms  the  gra- 
nary of  Northern  Syria,  though  the  harvest  never 
yields  more  than  a  tenfold  return,  chiefly  on  ac- 
count of  the  immense  numbers  of  mice,  which 
sometimes  completely  destroy  the  crops. 

HANAM'EEL,  a  kinsman  of  Jeremiah,  to 
whom,  before  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  he  sold  a 
field  which  he  possessed  in  Anathoth,  a  town  of 
the  Levites  (Jer.  xxxii.  e-12).  If  this  field  be- 
longed to  Hanameel  as  a  Levite,  the  sale  of  it 
would  imply  that  an  ancient  law  had  fallen  into 
disuse  CLev.  xxv.  34) ;  but  it  is  possible  that  it 


HAND 


377 


may  have  been  the  property  of  Hanameel  in  I 
right  of  his  mother.  The  transaction  was  con-  | 
ducted  with  all  the  forms  of  legal  transfer,  and  | 
was  intended  to  evince  the  certainty  of  restora-  ' 
tion  from  the  approaching  exile,  by  showing  I 
that  possessions  which  could  be  established  by  | 
documents  would  yet  be  of  future  value  to  the  I 
possessor  (b.c.  587). 

1.  HAN'ANI  C^raaoHs),  a  prophet  under  the 
reign  of  Asa,  king  of  Judah,  by  whom  he  was 
seized  and  imprisoned  for  announcing  that  he  had 
lost,  from  want  of  due  trust  in  God,  an  advantage 
which  he  might  have  gained  over  the  king  of 
Syria  (2  Chron.  xvi.  7). 

2.  HANA'NI,  a  brother  of  Nehemiah,  who 
went  from  Jerusalem  to  Shusban,  being  sent  most 
probably  by  Ezra,  and  brought  that  information 
respecting  the  miserable  condition  of  the  returned 
Jews  which  led  to  the  mission  of  Nehemiah. 
Hanani  came  back  to  Judsea,  probably  along  with 
his  brother,  and,  together  with  one  Hananiah, 
was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  gates  of  Je- 
rusalem, and  see  that  they  were  opened  in  the 
morning  and  closed  in  the  evening  at  the  ap- 
pointed time.  The  circumstances  of  the  time 
and  place  rendered  this  an  important  and  respon- 
sible duty,  not  unattended  with  some  danger 
(Neh.  vii.  2,  3).     B.C.  455. 

1.  HANANI'AH  {Jehovah's  goodness),  a  false 
prophet  of  Gibeon,  who,  by  opposing  his  prophe- 
cies to  those  of  Jeremiah,  brought  upon  himself 
the  terrible  sentence,  '  Thou  shalt  die  this  year, 
because  thou  hast  taught  rebellion  against  the 
Lord.'  He  died  accordingly  (Jer.  xxviii.  1,  sq.), 
B.C.  596. 

2.  HANANIAH.    [Shadrach.] 

3.  HANANIAH,  the  person  who  was  asso- 
ciated with  Nehemiah's  brother  Hanani  in  the 
charge  of  the  gates  of  Jerusalem.  The  high 
eulogy  is  bestowed  upon  him,  that  'he  was  a 
faithful  man,  and  feared  God  above  many '  (Neh. 
vii.  2)  [Hanani  2]. 

HAND,  the  organ  of  feeling,  rightly  denomi- 
nated by  Galen  the  instrument  of  instruments, 
since  by  its  position  at  the  end  of  the  fore-arm, 
its  structure  and  its  connection  with  the  mind, 
the  hand  admirably  executes  the  behests  of  the 
human  will,  and  acquires  and  imparts  to  man  in- 
comparable skill  and  power.  By  the  peculiarities 
of  its  conformation — the  inclination  of  the  thumb 
to  the  palm,  the  comparative  length  of  the  thumb 
and  of  the  fingers,  '  the  hollow  of  the  hand,'  and 
the  fleshy  protuberances  by  which  that  hollow  is 
mainly  formed — this  member  is  wonderfully 
adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  designed, 
and  serves  to  illustrate  the  wisdom  and  provi- 
dence of  the  great  Creator.  The  hand  itself 
serves  to  distinguish  man  from  other  terrestrial 
beings.  No  other  animal  has  any  member  com- 
parable with  the  human  hand.  Of  the  two  hands 
the  right  has  a  preference  derived  from  natural 
endowment.  Its  universal  use,  as  the  chief  in- 
strument in  acting,  serves  to  show  that  its  supe- 
riority is  something  more  than  an  accident,  liut 
the  preference  which  it  holds  is  only  a  part  of 
the  general  advantage  which  the  right  side  has 
over  the  left,  not  only  in  muscular  strength,  but 
also  in  its  vital  or  constitutional  properties. 

From  the  properties  already  described,  the 
student  of  Scripture  is  prepared  to  see  the  band 
employed  in  holy  writ  as  a  symbol  of  skill. 


378 


HANDICRAFT 


HANDICRAFT 


strength,  and  efficacy.  As  a  part  of  that  general 
anthropomorphism,  without  whose  aid  men  in  the 
early  ages  could  probably  have  formed  no  con- 
ception of  God,  the  Deity  is  frequently  spoken  of 
in  the  records  of  revelation  as  if  possessed  of 
hands. 

The  phrase  '  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God,* 
as  applied  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  is  derived 
from  the  fact  that  wHh  earthly  princes  a  position 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  thi-one  was  accounted 
the  chief  place  of  honour,  dignity,  and  power : 
— '  upon  thy  right-hand  did  stand  the  queen ' 
(Ps.  .\lv.  9  ;  compare  1  Kings  ii.  19 ;  Ps.  Ixxx.  17). 
The  immediate  passage  out  of  which  sprang  the 
phraseology  employed  by  Jesus  may  be  found  in 
Ps.  ex.  1  :  '  Jehovah  said  unto  my  Lord,  sit  thou 
at  my  right  hand  until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy 
footstool.'  Accordingly  the  Saviour  declares  be- 
fore Caiaphas  (Matt.  xxvi.  64 ;  Mark  xiv.  62), 
'  Ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting  on  the  right 
hand  of  power,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  hea- 
ven ;'  where  the  meaning  obviously  is  that  the 
Jews  of  that  day  should  have  manifest  proofs  that 
Jesus  held  the  most  eminent  place  in  the  divine 
favour,  and  that  his  present  humiliation  would  be 
succeeded  by  glory,  majesty,  and  power  (Luke 
xxiv.  26;  1  Tim.  iii.  l(i).  So  when  it  is  said 
(Mark  xvi.  19  ;  Rom.  viii.  34  ;  Col.  iii.  I ;  1  Pet. 
iii.  22;  Heb.  i.  3;  viii.  1)  that  Jesus  'sits  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,'  '  at  the  -ight  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  high,'  we  are  obviously  to  understand 
the  assertion  to  be  that,  as  his  Father,  so  he 
worketh  always  (John  v.  17)  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  the  salvation 
of  the  world. 

As  the  hand  is  the  great  instrument  of  action, 
so  is  it  eminently  fitted  for  affording  aid  to  the 
mind,  by  the  signs  and  indications  which  it 
makes.  Thus  to  lay  the  iiand  on  any  one  was  a 
means  of  pointing  him  out,  and  consequently  an 
emblem  of  setting  any  one  apart  for  a  particular 
office  or  dignity.  Imposition  of  hands  accordingly 
f()rmed,  at  an  early  period,  a  part  of  the  ceremo- 
nial observed  on  the  appointment  and  consecra- 
tion of  persons  to  high  and  holy  undertakings. 
(See  Num.  xxvii.  19  ;  Acts  viii.  15-17  ;  1  Tim.  iv. 
14;  2  Tim.  i.  6.)  A  corruption  of  this  doctrine 
was,  that  the  laying  on  of  hands  gave  of  itself 
divine  powers ;  and  on  this  account  Simon,  the 
magician  (Acts  viii.  18),  offered  money,  saying, 
'  Give  me  also  this  power,  that  on  whomsoever 
I  lay  hands  he  may  receive  the  Holy  Ghost,' 
intending  probably  to  carry  on  a  gainful  trade 
by  communicating  the  gift  to  others. 

HANDICRAFT.  In  the  early  periods  to 
which  the  Scriptural  history  refers  we  do  not 
meet  with  those  artificial  feelings  and  unreason- 
able prejudices  against  hand-labour  which  prevail 
and  are  so  banefully  influential  in  modern  society. 
The  primitive  history  which  the  Bible  presents  is 
the  history  of  hand-labourers.  Adam  dressed  the 
garden  in  which  God  had  placed  him  (Gen.  ii.  15), 
Abel  was  a  keeper  of  sheep,  Cain  a  tiller  of  the 
ground  (Gen.  iv.  3),  Tubal-cain  a  smith  (Gen.  iv. 
22).  The  general  nature  of  this  article  does  not 
require  any  extensive  or  detailed  inquiry  into  the 
hand-labours  which  the  Israelites  practised  before 
their  descent  into  Egypt;  but  the  high  and  varied 
culture  which  they  found  there  must  have  contri- 
buted greatly  to  increase  their  knowledge  of  the 
practical  arts  of  life,  though  the  herdsman-sort  of 


life  which  the  Hebrews  continued  to  lead  was  not 
favourable  to  their  advancement  in  either  science 
or  art. 

Another  source  of  knowledge  to  the  Hebrews 
of  handicrafts  were  the  maritime  and  commercial 
Phoenicians.  Commerce  and  navigation  imply 
great  skill  in  art  and  science ;  and  the  pursuits  to 
which  they  lead  largely  increase  the  skill  whence 
they  emanate.  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that 
the  origin  of  so  many  arts  has  been  referred  to 
the  north-eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea ; 
nor  is  there  any  difficulty  in  understanding  how 
arts  and  letters  should  be  propagated  from  the 
const  to  the  interior,  conferring  high  advantages 
on  the  inhabitants  of  Syria  in  general,  as  well 
before  as  after  the  settlement  of  the  Hebrew  tribes 
in  the  land  of  promise. 

The  skill  of  the  Hebrews  during  their  wander- 
ings in  the  desert  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
inconsiderable ;  but  the  pursuits  of  war  and  the 
entire  absorption  of  the  energies  of  the  nation  in 
the  one  great  work  of  gaining  the  laud  which 
had  been  given  to  them,  may  have  led  to  their 
falling  off  in  the  arts  of  peace ;  and  from  a  passage 
in  1  Sam.  (xiii.  20)  it  would  appear  that  not  long 
after  they  had  taken  possession  of  the  country 
they  were  in  a  low  condition  as  to  the  instruments 
of  handicraft.  A  comparatively  settled  state  of 
society,  however,  soon  led  to  the  revival  of  skill 
by  the  encouragement  of  industry.  A  more  mi- 
nute division  of  labour  ensued.  Trades,  strictly 
so  called,  arose,  carried  on  by  persons  exclusively 
devoted  to  one  pursuit.  Thus  in  Judg.  xvii.  4 
and  Jer.  x.  14,  '  the  founder '  is  mentioned,  a  trade 
which  implies  a  practical  knowledge  of  metal- 
lurgy ;  the  smelting  and  working  of  metals  were 
well  known  to  the  Hebrews  (Job  xxxvii.  IS) ; 
brass  was  in  use  before  iron ;  arms  and  instru- 
ments of  husbandry  were  made  of  iron.  In 
Exodus  (xxxv.  30-35)  a  passage  occurs  which 
may  serve  to  specify  manj'  arts  that  were  prac- 
tised among  the  Israelites,  though  it  seems  also 
to  intimate  that  at  the  time  to  which  it  refers 
artifi'cers  of  the  description  referred  to  were  not 
numerous.  From  the  ensuing  chapter  (ver.  34) 
it  appears  that  gilding  was  known  before  the 
settlement  in  Canaan.  The  ark  (Exod.  xxxvii.  2) 
was  overlaid  with  pure  gold  within  and  without. 
The  cherubim  were  wrought  ('  beaten,'  Exod. 
xxxvii.  7)  in  gold.  The  candlestick  was  of  beaten 
gold  (verses  17,  22).  Wire-drawing  was  pro- 
bably understood  (Exod.  xxxviii.  4;  xxxix.  3). 
Covering  with  brass  (Exod.  xxxviii.  2)  and  with 
silver  (Prov.  xxvi.  23)  was  practised.  Architec- 
ture and  the  kindred  arts  do  not  appear  to  have 
made  much  progress  till  the  days  of  Solomon, 
who  employed  an  incredible  number  of  persons 
to  procure  timber  (1  Kings  v.  13,  sq.)  ;  but  the 
men  of  skill  for  building  his  temple  he  obtained 
from  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre  (1  Kings  v.  sq. ; 
1  Chron.  xiv.  1 ;  2  Chron.  ii.  7).  The  intercourse 
which  the  Babylonish  captivity  gave  the  Jews 
seems  to  have  greatly  improved  their  knowledge 
and  skill  in  both  the  practical  and  the  fine  arts, 
and  to  have  led  them  to  hold  them  in  very  high 
estimation.  The  arts  were  even  carried  on  by 
persons  of  learning,  who  took  a  title  of  honour 
from  their  trade.  It  was  held  a  sign  of  a  bad 
education  if  a  father  did  not  teach  his  son  some 
handicraft. 

In  the  Apocrypha  and  New  Testament  there 


HANNAH 

are  mentioned  tanners  (Acts  ix.  43),  tent-makers 
(Acts  xviii.  3) ;  in  Josephus,  cheese-makers,  do- 
mestics ;  in  the  Talmud,  with  others  we  find 
tailors,  shoe-makers,  blood-letters,  glaziers,  gold- 
smiths, plasterers.  Certain  handicraftsmen  could 
never  rise  to  the  rank  of  high-priest,  such  as 
weavers,  barbers,  fullers,  perfumers,  cuppers, 
tanners ;  which  pursuits,  especially  the  last,  were 
held  in  disesteem.  In  large  cities  particular 
localities  were  set  apart  for  particular  trades,  as 
is  the  case  iu  the  East  to  the  present  day.  Thus 
in  Jeremiah  (xxxvii.  21)  we  read  of  '  the  bakers' 
street.'  So  in  the  Talmud  mention  is  made  of  a 
flesh-market ;  in  Josephus,  of  a  cheese-market ; 
and  iu  the  New  Testament  (John  v.  2)  we  read 
of  a  sheep-market. 

HANDKERCHIEF,  NAPKIN,  occurs  in 
Luke  xix.  20  ;  John  xi.  44  ;  xx.  7  ;  Acts  xix.  12. 
The  word  is  employed  in  Scripture  in  a  variety 
of  meanings.  In  the  first  instance  (Luke  xix.  20) 
it  means  a  wrapper,  in  which  the  '  wicked  ser- 
vant '  had  laid  up  tlie  pound  intrusted  to  him  by 
his  master.  In  the  second  instance  (John  xi.  44) 
it  appears  as  a  kerchief,  or  cloth  attached  to  the 
head  of  a  corpse.  It  was  perhaps  brought  round 
the  forehead  and  under  the  chin.  In  many 
Egyptian  mummies  it  does  not  cover  the  face. 
In  ancient  times  among  the  Greeks  it  did.  The 
next  instance  is  that  of  the  '  napkin '  which  had 
been  '  about  the  head '  of  our  Lord,  but  which, 
after  his  resurrection,  was  found  rolled  up,  as  if 
deliberately,  and  put  in  a  place  separately  from 
the  linen  clothes.  The  last  instance  of  the  Biblical 
use  of  the  word  occurs  in  the  account  of  '  the 
special  miracles '  wrought  by  the  hands  of  Paul 
(Acts  xix.  11);  'so  that  handkerchiefs,  napkins, 
wrappers,  shawls,  &c.,  were  brought  from  his 
body  to  the  sick ;  and  the  diseases  departed  from 
them,  and  the  evil  spirits  went  out  of  them.' 
The  Ephesians  had  not  unnaturally  inferred  that 
the  apostle's  miraculous  power  could  be  commu- 
nicated by  such  a  mode  of  contact ;  and  certainly 
cures  thus  received  by  parties  at  a  distance, 
among  a  people  famed  for  their  addictedness  to 
'  curious  arts,'  i.  e.  magical  skill,  &c.,  would 
serve  to  convince  them  of  the  tmth  of  the  gospel, 
by  a  mode  well  suited  to  interest  their  minds. 
HANGING.  [Punishments.] 
H AN'NAH,  properly  Channah  (graciousness), 
wife  of  a  Levite  named  Elkanah,  and  mother  of 
Samuel.  She  was  very  dear  to  her  husband,  but 
being  childless  was  much  aggrieved  by  the  in- 
sults of  Elkanah's  other  wife  Peninnah,  who  was 
blessed  with  children.  The  family  lived  at  Ka- 
mathaim-zophim,  and,  as  the  law  required,  there 
was  a  yearly  journey  to  ofiier  sacrifices  at  the  sole 
altar  of  Jehovah,  which  was  then  at  Shiloh. 
Women  were  not  bound  to  attend;  but  pious 
females  free  from  the  cares  of  a  family  often  did 
so,  especially  when  the  husband  was  a  Levite. 
Every  time  that  Hannah  went  there  childless  she 
declined  to  take  part  in  the  festivities  which  fol- 
lowed the  sacrifices,  being  then,  as  it  seems, 
peculiarly  exposed  to  the  taunts  of  her  rival.  At 
length,  on  one  o^ these  visits  to  Shiloh,  while  she 
prayed  before  returning  home,  she  vowed  to 
devote  to  the  Almighty  the  son  which  she  so 
earnestly  desired  (Num.  xxx.  1,  sq.).  It  seems  to 
have  been  the  custom  to  pronounce  all  vows  at 
the  holy  place  in  a  loud  voice,  under  the  imme- 
diate notice  of  the  priest  (Deut.  xxiiL  23 ;  Ps. 


HANUN 


879 


xxvi.  14) :  but  Hannah  prayed  in  a  low  tone,  so 
that  her  lips  only  were  seen  to  move.  This  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  high-priest,  Eli,  who 
suspected  that  she  had  taken  too  much  wine  at 
the  recent  feast.  From  this  suspicion  Hannah 
easily  vindicated  herself,  and  returned  home  with 
a  lightened  heart.  Before  the  end  of  that  year 
Hannah  became  the  rejoicing  mother  of  a  son,  to 
whom  the  name  of  Samuel  was  given,  and  who  j 
was  from  his  birth  placed  under  the  obligations 
of  that  condition  of  Nazariteship  to  which  his 
mother  had  vowed  him.     B.C.  1171. 

Hannah  went  no  more  to  Shiloh  till  her  child 
was  old  enough  to  dispense  with  her  maternal 
services,  when  she  took  him  up  with  her  to  leave 
him  there,  as  it  appears  was  the  custom  when  one 
already  a  Levite  was  placed  under  the  additional 
obligations  of  Nazariteship.  When  he  was  pre- 
sented in  due  form  to  the  high-priest,  the  mother 
took  occasion  to  remind  him  of  the  former  trans- 
action :  '  For  this  child,'  she  said,  '  I  prayed,  and 
the  Lord  hath  given  me  my  petition  which  I 
asked  of  him'  (1  Sam.  i.  27).  Hannah's  gladness 
afterwards  found  vent  in  an  exulting  chant,  which 
furnishes  a  remarkable  specimen  of  the  early 
lyric  poetry  of  the  Hebrews,  and  of  -which  many 
of  the  ideas  and  images  were  in  after  times  re- 
peated by  the  Virgin  Mary  on  a  somewhat  similar 
occasion  (Luke  i.  46,  sq.). 

After  this  Hannah  failed  not  to  visit  Shiloh 
every  year,  bringing  a  new  dress  for  her  son,  who 
remained  under  the  eye  and  near  the  person  of 
the  high-priest  [Samcel].  That  great  personage 
took  kind  notice  of  Hannah  on  these  occasions, 
and  bestowed  his  blessing  upon  her  and  her 
husband.  The  Lord  repaid  her  abundantly  for 
that  which  she  had,  to  use  her  own  expression, 
'  lent  to  him ;'  for  she  had  three  sons  and  two 
daughters  after  Samuel. 

HANUN  (hestower),  son  and  successor  of  Na- 
hash,  king  of  the  Ammonites.  David,  who  had 
in  his  troubles  been  befriended  by  Nahash,  sent, 
with  the  kindest  intentions,  an  embassy  to  con- 
dole with  him  on  the  death  of  his  father,  and  to 
congratulate  him  on  his  own  accession.  The 
rash  young  king,  however,  was  led  to  misappre- 
hend the  motives  of  this  embassy,  and  to  treat 
with  gross  and  inexpiable  indignity  the  honour- 
able personages  whom  David  had  charged  with 
this  mission.  Their  beards  were  half  shaven, 
and  their  robes  cut  short  by  the  middle,  and  they 
were  dismissed  in  this  shameful  trim,  which  can 
be  appreciated  only  by  those  who  consider  how 
reverently  the  beard  has  always  been  regarded 
by  the  Orientals  [Beard]  (b.c.  1038).  When 
the  news  of  this  affront  was  brought  to  David, 
he  sent  word  to  the  ambassadors  to  remain  at 
Jericho  till  the  growth  of  their  beards  enabled 
them  to  appear  with  decency  in  the  metropolis. 
He  vowed  vengeance  upon  Hanun  for  the  insult ; 
and  the  vehemence  with  which  the  matter  was 
taken  up  forms  an  instance,  interesting  from  its 
antiquity,  of  the  respect  expected  to  be  paid  to 
the  person  and  character  of  ambassadors.  Hanun 
himself  looked  for  nothing  less  than  war  as  the 
consequence  of  his  conduct ;  and  he  subsidized 
Hadarezer  and  other  Syrian  princes  to  assist  him 
with  their  armies.  The  power  of  the  Syrians 
was  broken  in  two  campaigns,  and  the  Ammon- 
ites were  left  to  their  fate,  which  was  severe  even 
beyond  the  usual  severities  of  war  in  that  remote 


380  HARE 

age  [Ammonites  ;  David]  (2  Sam.  x. ;  1  Chron. 
xix.5. 

HARA  (mountain).  One  of  the  places  to  which 
the  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  were  carried  away 
by  Tiglath-pileser.  The  word  occurs  only  in  a 
single  passage  (1  Chron.  v.  26).  Bochart  and 
Gesenius  conjecture  that  it  is  a  name  for  the 
northern  part  of  Media. 

HARADAH,  a  camp  or  station  of  the  Israel- 
ites (Num.  xxxiii.  24)  [Wandering]. 

HARAM.     [House.] 

1.  HARAN,  eldest  son  of  Terah,  brother  of 
Abraham  and  Nahor,  and  father  of  Lot,  Milcah, 
and  Iscah.  He  died  before  his  father  Terah, 
which,  from  the  manner  in  which  it  is  mentioned, 
appears  to  have  been  a  much  rarer  case  in  those 
days  than  at  present  (Gen.  xi.  27,  sq.). 

HA'RAN,  or  rather  Charan,  called  by  the 
Greeks  Charran,  and  by  the  Romans  Charra;.  It 
was  situated  in  the  north-western  part  of  Meso- 
potamia, on  a  river  of  the  same  name  running 
into  the  Euphrates.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been 
so  called  from  Haran,  the  father  of  Lot  and  bro- 
ther of  Abraham ;  but  there  appears  no  ground 
for  this  conclusion  except  the  identity  of  names. 
Abraham,  after  he  had  been  called  from  Ur  of 
the  Chaldees,  Urried  here  till  his  father  Terah 
died,  when  he  proceeded  to  the  land  of  Canaan 
(Geu.  xi.  31,  38 ;  Acts  vii.  4).  The  elder  branch 
of  the  family  still  remained  at  Haran,  which  led 
to  the  interesting  journeys  thither  described  in 
the  patriarchal  history— first,  that  of  Abraham's 
servant  to  obtain  a  wife  for  Isaac  (Gen.  xxiv.), 
and  next,  that  of  Jacob  when  he  fled  to  evade  the 
wrath  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxviii.  10).  The  plain 
bordering  on  this  town  is  celebrated  in  history  as 
the  scene  of  a  battle  in  which  the  Roman  army 
was  defeated  by  the  Parthians,  and  the  Triumvir 
Crassus  killed. 

Haran  still  retains  its  ancient  name  in  the 
form  of  Harran,  and  is  only  peopled  by  a  few 
families  of  wandering  Arabs,  who  are  led  thither 
by  a  plentiful  supply  of  water  from  several  small 
streams.  It  is  situated  in  a  flat  and  sandy  plain, 
in  36°  40'  N.  lat.,  39°  2'  45"  E.  long. 

HARE  occurs  in  Lev.  xi.  6,  and  Deut.  xiv.  7, 
and  in  both  instances  it  is  prohibited  from  being 
used  as  food,  because  it  chews  the  cud,  although 


204.     [Syrian  Hare.] 


it  has  not  the  hoof  divided.  The  hare  however 
does  not  actually  chew  the  cud,  but  has  incisor 
teeth  above  and  below,  set  like  chisels,  and  calcu- 
lated for  gnawing,  cutting,  and  nibbling,  and 
when  in  a  state  of  repose  is  engaged  in  working 
the  incisor  teeth  upon  each  other.  This  practice 
is  a  necessary  condition  of  existence,  for  the  fric- 
tion keeps  them  fit  for  the  purpose  of  nibbling,  and 
prevents  their  growing  beyond  a  proper  length. 
As  hares  do  not  subsist  on  hard  substances,  but 


HART 

on  tender  shoots  and  grasses,  they  have  more 
cause,  and  therefore  a  more  constant  craving,  to 
abrade  their  teeth ;  and  this  they  do  in  a  manner 
which,  combined  with  the  slight  trituration  of 
the  occasional  contents  of  the  cheeks,  even  mo- 
dern writers,  not  zoologists,  have  mistaken  for 
real  rumination.  It  follows  therefore  we  should 
understand  the  original  in  the  above  passages, 
rendered  '  chewing  the  cud,'  as  merely  implying 
a  second  mastication,  more  or  less  complete.  The 
act  of '  chewing  the  cud '  and  '  re-chewing'  being 
considered  identical  by  the  Hebrews,  the  sacred 
lawgiver,  not  being  occupied  with  the  doctrines 
of  science,  no  doubt  used  the  expression  in  the 
sense  in  which  it  was  then  understood.  It  may 
be  added,  that  a  similar  opinion,  and  consequent 
rejection  of  the  hare  as  food,  pervaded  many 
nations  of  antiquity. 

There  are  two  distinct  species  of  hare  in  Syria : 
one,  the  Syrian  hare,  nearly  equal  in  size  to  the 
common  European,  having  the  fur  ochry  buff; 
and  the  hare  of  the  desert,  smaller  and  brownish. 
They  reside  in  the  localities  indicated  by  their 
names,  and  are  distinguished  from  the  common 
hare,  by  a  greater  length  of  ears,  and  a  black  tail 
with  white  fringe.  There  is  found  in  Egypt,  and 
higher  up  the  Nile,  a  third  species,  represented 
in  the  outline  paintings  on  ancient  monuments, 
but  not  coloured  with  that  delicacy  of  tint  re- 
quired for  distinguishing  it  from  the  others,  ex- 
cepting that  it  appears  to  be  marked  with  the 
black  speckles  which  characterize  the  existing 
species. 

HARETH,  a  forest  iu  Judah,  to  which  David 
fled  from  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxii.  5)  [Forest]. 

HAROD,  a  brook  not  far  from  Jezreel  and 
Mount  Gilboa.  The  name  means  '  palpitation,' 
and  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  originated  in 
consequence  of  the  alarm  and  terror  of  most  of 
the  men  who  were  here  tested  by  Gideon  (Judg. 
vii.  1-3);  but  this  supposition  seems  very  far- 
fetched, and  the  name  more  probably  arose  from 
some  peculiarity  in  the  outflow  of  the  stream. 

HAR'OSHETH  of  the  Gentiles,  a  city  sup- 
posed to  have  been  situated  near  Hazor,  in  the 
northern  parts  of  Canaan,  called  afterwards  Upper 
Galilee,  or  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  [Galilee]. 
Harosheth  is  said  to  have  been  the  residence  of 
Sisera,  the  general  of  the  armies  of  Jabin,  king 
of  Canaan,  who  reigned  in  Hazor.  To  this  place 
Jabin  himself  was  pursued  and  defeated  by  De- 
borah and  Barak  (Judg.  iv.  2,  13,  16). 

HARP.    [Music] 

HART.  The  word  thus  translated  is  A  J  ail 
(it  occurs  in  Deut.  xii.  15  ;  Ps.  xlii.  1  ;  Isa.  xxxv. 
6),  and  differs  only  by  the  feminine  termination 
from  that  rendered  '  hind'  in  many  other  passages 
of  Scripture.  There  is,  upon  the  whole,  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  the  male  and  female  of  a  species  of 
deer  are  really  intended  by  these  words.  It  is 
indeed  true  that  the  existence  of  animals  of  the 
deer  kind  in  Asia  has  been  denied,  and  Cuvier 
for  some  time  doubted  whether  any  could  be 
found  in  Africa.  Yet,  although  never  abundant 
where  water  is  scarce,  the  existence  of  deer  from 
Morocco  and  the  Nile  has  now  been  satisfactorily 
established,  and  there  are  traces  of  their  presence 
in  Syria,  where  they  were  probably  more  nu- 
merous formerly  than  at  present.  The  Cervus 
Barbatus,  or  Barbary  Stag,  is  the  African  species ; 
and  an  individual  of  this  species  was  obtained  by 


HAWK 

a  friend  of  the  ■writer  in  the  region  east  of  tlie 
Jordan.  This  species  is  in  size  between  our  red 
and  fallow  deer,  distinguished  by  the  -want  of  a 
bis-antler,  or  second  branch  in  the  horns  reckoned 
from  below,  and  for  a  spotted  livery  which  is 
efl'aced  only  in  the  third  or  fourth  year.  There 
is  also  in  Asia  the  Persian  stag,  or  Maral  of  the 
Tartar  natives,  and  Gewaze  of  the  Armenians. 
This  is  larger  than  the  stag  of  Europe,  has  a 
heavy  luaue,  and  is,  like  the  former,  destitute  of 
bis-antlers.  This  species  seems,  under  the  name 
of  Soegur,  to  extend  its  habitat  to  the  northern 
frontier  of  Syria  and  Palestine ;  but  taking  all 
circumstances  into  account,  it  seems  less  prolmble 
that  this  should  be  the  'hart'  of  Scripture  than 
the  Ccnuis  Barhatns. 

HA  V'lLAH.  1.  A  district  in  Arabia  Felix,  de- 
riving its  name  from  the  second  son  of  Cush  (Gen. 
X.  7),  or,  according  to  others,  from  the  second  son 
of  .Toktau  (Gen.  x.  29  ;  conip.  xxv.  18).  There 
can  be  no  doubt,  however,  of  the  existence  of  a 
double  Ilavilah;  one  founded  by  the  descendant 
of  Ham,  and  the  other  by  that  of  Shetn.  From 
Gen.  xxv.  18,  it  would  appear  that  the  land  of 
Havilah  formed  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  Is- 
raelites, and  so  likewise  from  1  Sam.  xv.  7,  where 
it  seems,  moreover,  to  have  been  a  possession 
belonging  to  the  Amalekites.  2.  A  land  rich  in 
gold,  bdellium,  and  shoham,  mentioned  in  Gen.  ii. 
11,  in  the  geographical  description  of  Paradise. 
Some  identify  this  with  the  preceding  ;  but  others 
take  it  to  be  Chwala  on  the  Caspian  Sea ;  and 
others  suppose  it  a  general  name  for  India,  in 
which  case  the  river  Pison,  mentioned  as  sur- 
rounding it,  would  be  identified  with  the  Ganges. 

HA'VOTH-JATR.  Havoth  signifies  '  cabins ' 
or  '  huts,'  such  as  belong  to  the  Arabians,  and 
a  collection  of  which  is  regarded  as  forming  a 
hamlet  or  village.  The  district  of  Havoth-jair 
{Jair's  hamlets),  mentioned  in  Num.  xxxii.  41, 
and  Deut.  iii.  14,  was  beyond  the  Jordan  in  the 
land  of  Gilead,  and  belonged  to  the  half-tribe  of 
Manasseh. 

HAU'RAN,  a  tract  or  region  of  Syria,  south  of 
Damascus,  which  is  twice  mentioned  under  this 
name  in  Scripture  (Ezek.  xlvii.  16,  18).  It  was 
probably  of  small  extent  originally  ;  but  received 
extensive  additions  from  the  Romans  under  the 
name  of  Auranitis.  At  present  it  reaches  from 
about  twenty  miles  south  of  Damascus  to  a  little 
below  Bozra,  including  the  rocky  district  of  cl- 
Ledja,  the  ancient  Trachonitis,  and  the  moun- 
tainous region  of  Jebel-Haouran.  Within  its 
limits  are  also  included,  besides  Trachonitis, 
Iturtca  or  Ittur,  now  called  Jedour,  and  part  of 
lJatana;a  or  Bashan.  It  is  represented  by  Burck- 
hai-dt  as  a  volcanic  region,  composed  of  porous 
tufa,  pumice,  and  basalt,  with  the  remains  of  a 
crater  on  the  Tel  Shoba,  which  is  on  its  eastern 
border.  It  produces,  however,  crops  of  corn,  and 
has  many'patches  of  luxuriant  herbage,  which 
are  frequented  in  summer  by  the  Arab  tribes  for 
pasturage.  It  also  abounds  with  interesting  re- 
mains of  cities,  scattered  over  its  surface,  among 
which  are  found  Greek  inscriptions. 

HAWK,  an  unclean  bird  (Lev.  xi.  IG;  Deut. 
xiv.  1 .5  ;  Job  xxxix.  26).  The  English  name  is  an 
altered  form  of  the  old  word 'fawk'  or  '  falk.' 
Western  Asia  and  Lower  Egypt,  and  consequently 
the  intermediate  territory  of  Syria  and  Palestine, 
are  the  habitafion  or  transitory  residence  of  a  con- 


HAWK 


331 


siderable  number  of  species  of  the  order  Eaptores, 
which,  even  including  the  shortest-winged,  have 
great  powers  of  flight,  are  remarkably  enterprising, 
live  to  a  great  age,  are  migratory,  or  followers  upou 
birds  of  passage,  or  remain  in  a  region  so  abundantly 
stocked  with  pigeon  and  turtle-dove  as  Palestine, 
and  affording  such  a  variety  of  ground  to  hunt 
their  particular  prey — abounding  as  it  docs  in 
mountain  and  forest,  plain,  desert,  marsh,  river 
and  sea-coast.  We  shall  here  enumerate,  so  far 
as  our  information  will  permit,  the  Falconida  of 
this  region,  exclusive  of  those  mentioned  in  other 
articles  [Eagle  ;  Glede  ;  Kite  ;  Ospkhx]. 


205.    [Peregrine  Falcon.] 

Falcons,  or  the  '  noble '  birds  of  prey  used  for 
hawking,  have  for  many  ages  been  objects  of 
great  interest,  and  still  continue  to  be  bought  at 
high  prices.  They  are  consequently  imported 
from  distant  countries,  as  central  Asia,  Iceland, 
Barbary,  &c.  Their  love  of  liberty  often  renders 
them  irreclaimable  when  once  on  the  wing ;  and 
their  powers  and  boldness,  independent  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  the  extent  of  range  which  the 
long-winged  species  in  particular  can  take,  are 
exemplified  by  their  presence  in  every  quarter  of 
the  globe.  The  Peregrine  falcon  is  so  generally 
diffused  as  to  occur  even  in  New  Holland  and 
South  America. 

Next  we  may  place  Falco  Aroeris  of  Sir  J.  G. 
Wilkinson,  the  sacred  hawk  of  Egypt.  This,  if 
it  be  not  in  reality  the  same  as,  or  a  mere  variety 
of  the  Peregrine,  should  have  retained  the  ancient 
epithet  of  Hierax,  and  the  hawker's  name  of 
Sucre.  Innumerable  representations  of  it  occur 
in  Egyptian  monuments. 

The  Hobby  is  no  doubt  a  second  or  third  spe- 
cies of  sacred  hawk,  having  similar  gernonia. 
Both  this  bird  and  the  tractable  Merlin  are  used 
in  the  falconry  of  the  inferior  Moslem  landowners 
of  Asiatic  Turkey. 

Besides  these  the  Kestril  occurs  in  Syria,  and 
the  lesser  Kestril  in  Egypt ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  both  species  visit  these  two  territories  accord- 
ing to  the  seasons. 

To  the  '  noble '  birds  we  may  add  the  Ger- 
falcon, which  is  one-third  larger  than  the  Pere- 
grine :  it  is  imported  from  Tartary  and  sold  at 
Constantinople,  Aleppo,  and  Damascus.  The 
great  birds  fly  at  antelopes,  ijustards,  cranes,  &c. ; 
and  of  the  genus  Astiir,  with  shorter  wings  than 
true  falcons,  the  Goshawk,  and  the  Falcon  Gentil 
are  either  imported,  or  taken  in  their  nests,  and 
used  to  fly  at  lower  and  aquatic  game.  The 
smaller  and  less  powerful  hawks  of  the  genus 


882 


HAZAEL 


Nisus  are  mostly  in  use  ou  account  of  the  sport 
they  afford  being  less  fatiguing,  as  they  are  em- 
ployed to  fly  at  pigeons,  partridges,  quails,  &c. 

HAZAEL  (vision  of  God),  an  officer  of  Benha- 
dad,  king  of  Syria,  whose  eventual  accession  to 
the  throne  of  that  kingdom  was  made  known  to 
Elijah  (1  Kings  xix.  15) ;  and  who,  when  Elisha 
was  at  Damascus,  was  sent  by  his  master,  who 
was  then  ill,  to  consult  the  prophet  respecting  his 
recovery.  He  was  followed  by  forty  camels  bear- 
ing presents  from  the  king.  When  Hazael  ap- 
peared before  the  prophet,  he  said, '  Thy  son  Ben- 
hadad,  king  of  Syria,  hath  sent  me  to  thee  saying. 
Shall  I  recover  of  this  disease  ?'  The  answer 
was,  that  he  miylit  certainly  recover.  '  How- 
beit,'  added  the  prophet,  '  the  Lord  hath  showed 
me  that  he  shall  surely  die.'  He  then  looked 
stedfastly  at  Hazael  till  he  became  confused: 
on  which  the  man  of  God  wept ;  and  when 
Hazael  respectfully  inquired  the  cause  of  this 
outburst,  Elisha  replied  by  describing  the  vivid 
picture  then  present  to  his  mind  of  all  the  evils 
which  the  man  now  before  him  would  inflict  upon 
Israel.  Hazael  exclaimed,  'But  what!  Is  thy 
servant  a  dog  that  he  should  do  this  great  thing  ?' 
The  prophet  exclaimed  that  it  was  as  king  of 
Syria  he  should  do  it.  Hazael  then  returned,  and 
delivered  to  his  master  that  portion  of  the  pro- 
phetic response  which  was  intended  for  him.  But 
the  very  next  day  this  man,  cool  and  calculating 
in  his  cruel  ambition,  took  a  thick  cloth,  and, 
having  dipped  it  in  water,  spread  it  over  the  face 
of  the  king,  who,  in  his  feebleness,  and  probably 
in  his  sleep,  was  smothered  by  its  weight,  and 
died  what  seemed  to  his  people  a  natural  death 
(2  Kings  viii.  8,  &c.),  B.C.  885.  We  are  not  to 
imagine  that  such  a  project  as  this  was  conceived 
and  executed  in  a  day,  or  that  it  was  suggested  by 
the  words  of  Elisha.  His  discomposure  at  the 
earnest  gaze  of  the  prophet,  and  other  circum- 
stances, show  that  Hazael  at  that  moment  re- 
garded Elisha  as  one  to  whom  his  secret  purposes 
were  known.  In  that  case,  his  cry,  'Is  thy  ser- 
vant a  dog,'  &c.,  was  not,  as  some  suppose,  a  cry 
of  joy  at  the  first  view  of  a  throne,  but  of  horror 
at  the  idea  of  the  public  atrocities  which  the  pro- 
phet described.  This  was  likely  to  shock  him 
more  than  it  would  do  after  he  had  committed 
his  first  crime,  and  obtained  possession  of  a  throne 
acquired  at  such  a  cost. 

The  further  information  respecting  Hazael 
which  the  Scriptures  afford  is  limited  to  brief 
notices  of  his  wars  with  Ahaziah  and  Joash, 
kings  of  Judah,  and  with  Jehoram,  Jehu,  and 
Jehoahaz,  kings  of  Israel  (2  Kings  viii.  28  ;  ix. 
14;  X.  32;  xii.  17;  xiii.  3;  2  Chron.  xxii.  5). 
It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the  several  campaigns 
and  victories  involved  in  these  allusions,  and 
spread  over  a  reign  of  forty  years  ;  but  it  is  cer- 
tain that  Hazael  always  had  the  advantage  over 
the  Hebrew  princes.  He  devastated  their  fron- 
tiers, rent  from  them  all  their  territories  beyond 
the  Jordan,  traversed  the  breadth  of  Palestine, 
and  carried  his  arms  into  the  states  of  the  Philis- 
tines ;  he  laid  siege  to  Jerusalem,  and  only  re- 
tired on  receiving  the  treasures  of  the  temple  and 
the  palace.  The  details  of  these  conquests  re- 
deemed to  the  very  letter  the  appalling  predictions 
cf  Elisha.  This  able  and  successful,  but  unprin- 
cipled usurper  left  the  throne  at  his  death  to  his 
son  Benhadad. 


HEAD 

HA'ZAR-MA'VETH,  the  third  son  of  Jokta^ 
(Gen.  X.  20),  whose  name  is  judged  to  have  beei 
preserved  in  the  Arabian  province  of  Hadramau 
[Arabia]. 

HAZEL  occurs  only  once  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, namely,  in  Gen.  xxx.  37,  where  it  indicates 
one  of  the  kinds  of  rod  from  which  Jacob  peeled 
the  bark  and  which  he  placed  in  the  water- 
troughs  of  the  cattle.  Zuz  is  translated  hazel  in 
the  Authorized  Version,  as  well  as  in  several 
others  ;  in  some  it  is  rendered  by  words  equiva- 
lent to  '  walnut,'  but  '  almond '  appears  to  be  its 
true  meaning  ;  for  the  same  word  denotes  that 
tree  in  the  Arabic  language  [Almond]. 

HAZE'ROTH,  the  third  station  of  the  Israel- 
ites after  leaving  Sinai,  and  either  four  or  five 
days'  march  from  that  mountain  (Num.  xi.  35 ; 
xxxiii.  17  ;  comp.  x.  33)  [Wandering]. 

HA'ZEZON-TA'MAE.     [En-gedi.] 

HA'ZOR,  a  city  near  the  waters  of  lake  Me- 
rom  (Huleh),  the  seat  of  Jabin,  a  powerful 
Canaanitish  king,  as  appears  from  the  summon 
sent  by  him  to  all  the  neighbouring  kings  to 
assist  him  against  the  Israelites.  He  and  his 
confederates  were,  however,  defeated  and  slain 
by  Joshua,  and  the  city  burnt  to  the  ground 
(Josh.  xi.  1,  10-13;  Joseph.  Antiq.  v.  5.  1).  But 
by  the  time  of  Deborah  and  Barak  the  Canaan- 
ites  had  recovered  part  of  the  territory  then  lost, 
had  rebuilt  Hazor,  and  were  ruled  by  a  king  with 
the  ancient  royal  name  of  Jabin,  under  whose 
power  the  Israelites  were,  in  punishment  for 
their  sins,  reduced.  From  this  yoke  they  were 
delivered  by  Deborah  and  Barak,  after  which 
Hazor  remained  in  quiet  possession  of  the  Israel- 
ites, and  belonged  to  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  (Josh, 
xix.  36 ;  Judg.  iv.  2).  Hazor  was  one  of  the 
towns  rebuilt  or  much  improved  by  Solomon 
(1  Kings  ix.  15),  and  was  one  of  the  fortified 
places  of  Galilee  which  the  Assyrians  under 
Tiglath-pileser  first  took  on  invading  Palestine 
from  the  north  (2  Kings  xv.  29).  There  is  no 
modern  notice  of  this  town. 

HEAD.  As  the  head  is  the  topmost  part  of 
the  human  body,  it  came  derivatively  to  signify 
that  which  is  highest,  chief,  the  highest  in  posi- 
tion locally  being  regarded  as  highest  in  office, 
rank,  or  dignity :  whence,  as  the  head  is  the 
centre  of  the  nervous  system,  holds  the  brain, 
and  stands  above  all  the  other  parts,  Plato  re- 
garded it  as  the  seat  of  the  deathless  soul ;  and 
it  has  generally  been  considered  as  the  abode  of 
the  intellect  or  intelligence  by  which  man  is  en- 
lightened and  his  walk  in  life  directed ;  while 
the  heart,  or  the  parts  placed  near  it,  have  been 
accounted  the  place  where  the  affections  lie 
(Gen.  iii.  15;  Ps.  iii.  3;  Eccles.  ii.  14).  The 
head  and  the  heart  are  sometimes  taken  for  the 
entire  person  (Isa.  i.  5).  Even  the  head  alone, 
as  being  the  chief  member,  frequently  stands  for 
the  man  (Prov.  x.  G).  The  head  also  denotes 
sovereignty  (1  Cor.  xi.  3).  Covering  the  head, 
and  cutting  off  the  hair,  were  signs  of  mourning 
and  tokens  of  distress,  which  were  enhanced  by 
throwing  ashes  on  the  head,  together  with  sack- 
cloth (Amos  viii.  10;  Job  i.  20;  Lev.  xxi.  5; 
Dent.  xiv.  1;  2  Sam.  xiii.  10;  Esther  iv.  1); 
while  anointing  the  head  was  practised  on  festive 
occasions,  and  considered  an  emblem  of  felici^ 
(Eccles.  ix.  8  ;  Ps.  xxiii.  5 ;  Luke  vii.  46).  It 
was  usual  to  swear  by  the  head  (Matt.  V.  36). 


HEAD 

The  general  character  of  the  human  head  is 
such  as  to  establish  the  identity  of  the  human 
race,  and  to  distinguish  man  from  every  other 
animal.    At  the  same  time  different  families  of 


206.     1.  Ethiopian;    2.  Mongolian;    3.  Caucasian; 
4.  Malay;  5.  American. 

mankind  are  marked  by  peculiarities  of  construc- 
tion in  the  head,  which,  though  in  individual 
cases,  and  when  extremes  are  compared  together, 
they  run  one  into  the  other  to  the  entire  loss  of 
distinctive  lines,  yet  are  in  the  general  broadly 
contrasted  one  with  the  other.  These  peculiari- 
ties in  the  structure  of  the  skull  give  rise  to  and 
are  connected  with  other  peculiarities  of  feature 
and  general  contour  of  face.  In  the  union  of 
cranial  peculiarities  with  those  of  the  face  certain 
clear  marks  are  presented,  by  which  physiologists 
have  been  able  to  range  the  individuals  of  our 
race  into  a  few  great  classes,  and  in  so  doing  to 
afford  an  unintentional  corroboration  of  the  in- 
formation which  the  Scriptures  afford  regarding 
the  origin  and  dispersion  of  mankind.  Physi- 
ologists have  established  five  classes  of  heads, 
corresponding  with  five  great  families.  1 .  The 
Caucasian  family,  comprising  the  nations  of 
Europe,  some  of  the  Western  Asiatics,  &c.,  have 
the  head  of  the  most  symmetrical  shape,  almost 
round,  the  forehead  of  moderate  extent,  the  cheek 
bones  rather  narrow,  without  any  projection,  but 
a  direction  downwards  from  the  molar  process  of 
the  frontal  bone ;  the  alveolar  edge  well  rounded ; 
the  front  teeth  of  each  jaw  placed  perpendicu- 
larly ;  the  face  of  oval  shape,  straight,  features 
moderately  prominent ;  forehead  arched :  nose 
narrow,  slightly  arched ;  mouth  small ;  chin  full 
and  round.  2.  The  second  is  the  Mongolian 
variety.  3.  Ethiopian.  4.  Malay  and  South  Sea 
Islanders.  5.  American.  The  description  of 
their  peculiarities  may  be  found  in  Prichard's 
Researches  into  the  Physical  History  of  Man, 
2nd  edition,  vol.  i.  p,  167,  sq. 


HEAVEN  383 

HEART.  All  the  phrases,  more  or  less  meta- 
phorical, in  which  this  word  occurs,  are  rendered 
intelligible,  without  detailed  examples,  when  we 
are  told  that  the  heart  was,  among  the  Hebrews, 
regarded  poetically  not  only  as  the  seat  of  the 
passions  and  emotions,  as  of  love,  pleasure,  jnid 
gi-ief,  but  also  of  the  intellectual  faculties— the 
mind,  the  understanding.  In  the  original  Scrip- 
tures, as  well  as  in  the  English  and  other  trans- 
lations, the  word  'heart'  therefore,  constantly 
occurs  where  'mind'  is  to  be  understood,  and 
would  be  used  by  a  modern  English  writer. 
We  say  modern,  because  the  ancient  usage  of  the 
English  word  '  heart '  was  more  conformable  than 
the  present  to  that  of  the  Hebrews. 

HEATH.  Oror,  the  word  thus  rendered  oc- 
curs in  two  or  three  places  of  Scripture,  and  has 
been  variously  translated,  as  tamarisk  ;  tamarin, 
which  is  an  Indian  tree,  the  tamarind  ;  retama, 
that  is  the  broom  ;  and  also,  as  in  the  French  and 
English  versions,  heath,  which  is  perhaps  the 
most  incorrectof  all,  though  Hasselquist  mentions 
finding  heath  near  Jericho,  in  Syria.  As  far  as 
the  context  is  concerned,  some  of  these  plants,  as 
the  retam  and  tamarisk,  would  answer  very  well ; 
but  the  Arabic  name  arar,  is  applied  to  a  totally 
different  plant,  a  species  of  juniper. 

Several  species  of  juniper  are  no  doubt  found 
in  Syria  and  Palestine.  Eobinson  met  with  some 
in  proceeding  from  Hebron  to  Wady  Musa,  near 
the  romantic  pass  of  Nemela :  '  On  the  rocks 
above  we  found  the  juniper  tree,  Arabic  arar ; 
its  berries  have  the  appearance  and  taste  of  the 
common  juniper,  except  that  there  is  more  of  the 
aroma  of  the  pine.  These  trees  were  ten  or 
fifteen  feet  in  height,  and  hung  upon  the  rocks 
even  to  the  summits  of  the  cliffs  and  needles.' 
In  a  note  the  author  says:  'This  is  doubtless 
the  Hebrew  aroer  (Jer.  xlvii.  6);  whence  both 
the  English  version  and  Luther  read  incorrectly 
heath  '  {£ibl.  Researches,  ii.  506).  In  proceeding 
S.E.  he  states  :  '  Large  trees  of  the  juniper  become 
quite  common  in  the  Wadys  and  on  the  rocks.' 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  same  situations  by  other 
travellers,  and  is  no  doubt  common  enough, 
particularly  in  wild,  uncultivated,  and  often 
inaccessible  situations,  and  is  thus  suitable  to  Jer. 
xlviii.  6  :  '  Flee,  save  your  lives,  and  be  like  the 
heath  {oror)  in  the  wilderness.' 

HEAVEN,  the  state  and  place  of  blessedness 
in  the  life  to  come. 

As  ^^  >-  can  have  no  distinct  conception  of  those 
joys  which  never  have  been  and  never  will  be 
experienced  by  us  here  in  their  full  extent,  we 
have  of  course  no  words  in  human  language  to 
express  them,  and  cannot  therefore  expect  any 
clear  description  of  them  even  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures. Hence  the  Bible  describes  this  happiness 
sometimes  in  general  terms  designating  its  great- 
ness (as  in  Eom.  viii.  18-22  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  17,  18) ; 
and  sometimes  by  various  figurative  images  and 
modes  of  speech,  borrowed  from  everything  which 
we  know  to  be  attractive  and  desirable. 

The  following  are  the  principal  terms,  both 
literal  and  figurative,  which  are  applied  in  Scrip- 
ture to  the  condition  of  future  happiness. 

Among  the  Literal  appellations  we  find  '  life,' 
'eternal  life,'  and  'life  everlasting,'  literally  'a 
happy  life,'  or  'eternal  well-being'  (Matt.  vii. 
14;  xix.  16,  29;  xxv.  46);  'glory,'  'the  glory 
of  God'  (Rom.  ii.  7,  10;  v.  2);  and  'peace 


384  HEAVEN 

(Rom.  ii.  10).  Also  '  an  eternal  weight  of  glorj- ' 
(2  Cor.  iv.  17);  and  'salvation,'  'eternal  salva- 
tion' (Heb.  V.  9),  &c. 

Among  the  figurative  representations,  we  may 
place  the  word  '  heaven '  itself.  The  abode  of 
departed  spirits,  to  us  who  live  upon  earth,  and 
while  we  remain  here,  is  invisible  and  inac- 
cessible, beyond  the  bounds  of  the  visible  world, 
and  entirely  separated  from  it.  There  they  live 
in  the  highest  well-being,  and  in  a  nearer  con- 
nection wUh  God  and  Christ  than  here  below. 
This  place  and  state  cannot  be  designated  by  any 
more  fit  and  brief  expression  than  that  which  is 
found  in  almost  every  language,  namely, '  heaven,' 
— a  word  in  its  primary  and  material  signification 
denoting  the  region  of  the  skies,  or  the  visible 
heavens.  It  is  there  that  the  highest  sanctuary 
or  temple  of  God  is  situated,  i.  e.,  it  is  there  that 
the  omnipresent  God  most  gloriously  reveals 
himself.  This,  too,  is  the  abode  of  God's  highest 
spiritual  creation.  Thither  Christ  was  trans- 
ported :  he  calls  it  the  house  of  his  Father,  and 
says  that  he  has  therein  prepared  an  abode  for 
h:s  followers  (John  xiv.  2). 

This  place,  this  '  heaven,'  was  never  conceived 
of  in  ancient  times,  as  it  has  been  by  some 
modern  writers,  as  a  particular  planet  or  world, 
but  as  the  wide  expanse  of  heaven,  high  above 
the  atmosphere,  or  starry  heavens ;  hence  it  is 
sometimes  called  the  third  heaven,  as  being 
neither  the  atmosphere  nor  the  starry  heavens. 

Another  figurative  name  is  '  Paradise,'  taken 
from  the  abode  of  our  first  parents  in  their  state 
of  innocence,  and  transferred  to  the  abode  of  the 
blessed  (Luke  xxiii.  43  ;  2  Cor.  xii.  4 ;  Rev.  ii. 
7  ;  xxii.  2). 

Again,  this  place  is  called  '  the  heavenly  Jeru- 
salem' (Gal.  iv.  26  ;  Heb.  xii.  22;  Rev.  iii.  12), 
because  the  earthly  Jerusalem  was  the  capital 
city  of  the  Jews,  the  royal  residence,  and  the 
seat  of  divine  worship ;  '  the  kingdom  of  heaven ' 
(Matt.  XXV.  1;  Jas.  ii.  5);  the  'heavenly  king- 
I    dom'  (2  Tim.  iv.  18);  the  'eternal  kingdom' 
(2  Pet.  i.  11).     It  is  also  called  an  'eternal  in- 
heritance' (1  Pet.  i.  4;  Heb.  ix.    15),  meaning 
the  possession  and  full  enjoyment  of  happiness, 
tj-pified  by  the  residence  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
!    in  Palestine.     The  blessed  are  said  '  to  sit  down 
I    at  table  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,'  that 
I    is,  to  be  a  sharer  with  the  saints  of  old  in  the  joys 
I    of  salvation  ;  '  to  be  in  Abraham's  bosom '  (Luke 
xvi.  22;  Matt.  viii.   11),  that  is,  to  sit  near  or 
next  to  Abraham  [Bosom]  ;  '  to  reign  with  Christ' 
(2  Tim.  ii.  11), i.e.  to  be  distinguished,  honoured, 
and  happy  as  he  is — to  enjoy  regal   felicities : 
to  enjoy  'a  Sabbath,'  or  'rest'  (Heb.  iv.  10,  11), 
indicating  the  happiness  of  pious  Christians,  botli 
in  this  life  and  in  the  life  to  come. 

All  that  we  can  Mith  certainty  know  or  infer 
from  Scripture  or  reason  respecting  the  blessed- 
ness of  the  life  to  come,  may  be  arranged  under 
the  following  particulars: — 1.  We  shall  here- 
after be  entirely  freed  from  the  sufi'erings  and 
I  adversities  of  this  life.  2.  Our  future  blessedness 
will  involve  a  continuance  of  the  real  happiness 
of  this  life. 

I.  The  entire  exemption  from  suffering  and  all 
that  causes  suffering  here,  is  expressed  in  the 
Scripture  by  words  which  denote  rest,  repose,  re- 
freshment, after  performing  labour  and  enduring 
aflBiction.    But  all  the  terms  which  are  employed 


to  express  this  condition,  define  (in  the  originaP 
the  promised  '  rest,'  as  rest  after  labour,  and 
exemption  from  toil  and  grief;  and  not  the  ab- 
sence of  employment,  not  inactivity  or  indolence 
(2  Thess.  i.  7:  Heb.  iv.  9,  11 ;  Rev.  xiv.  13; 
comp.  vii.  17). 

This  deliverance  from  the  evils  of  our  present 
life  includes — 

1.  Deliverance  from  this  earthly  body,  the  seat 
of  the  lower  principles  of  our  nature  and  of  our 
sinful  corruption,  and  the  source  of  so  many  evils 
and  sufferings  (2  Cor.  vi.  1,  2;  1  Cor.  xviii.  15). 

2.  Entire  separation  from  the  society  of  wicked 
and  evil-disposed  persons,  who,  in  various  ways, 
injure  the  righteous  man  and  embitter  his  life  on 
earth  (2  Tim.  iv.  18). 

3.  Upon  this  earth  everything  is  inconstant, 
and  subject  to  perpetual  change ;  and  nothing  is 
capable  of  completely  satisfying  our  expectations 
and  desires.  But  in  the  world  to  come  it  will  be 
different.  The  bliss  of  the  saints  will  continue 
without  interruption  or  change,  without  fear  of 
termination,  and  without  satiety  (Luke  xx.  36  ; 
2  Cor.  iv.  16,  18 ;  1  Pet.  i.  4  ;  v,  10 ;  1  John  iii. 
2,  sq.). 

II.  Besides  being  exempt  from  all  earthly 
trials,  and  having  a  continuance  of  that  happiness 
which  we  had  begun  to  enjoy  even  here,  we  have 
good  reason  to  expect  hereafter  other  rewards  and 
joys,  which  stand  in  no  natural  or  necessary  con- 
nection with  the  present  life.  For  our  entire  fe- 
licity would  be  extremely  defective  and  scanty, 
were  it  to  be  confined  merely  to  that  which  we 
carry  with  us  from  the  present  world,  or  were  we 
compelled  to  stop  short  with  that  meagre  and  ele- 
mentary knowledge  which  we  possess  here.  Be- 
sides the  natural  rewards  of  goodness,  there  must, 
therefore,  be  others,  which  are  positive,  and  de- 
pendent on  the  will  of  the  Supreme  Legislator. 

In  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testament  positive 
rewards  are  considered  most  obviously  as  belong- 
ing to  our  future  felicity,  and  as  constituting  a 
principal  part  of  it.  For  it  always  represents  the 
joys  of  heaven  as  resulting  strictly  from  the  favour 
of  God,  and  as  being  undeserved  by  those  on  whom 
they  are  bestowed.  Hence  there  must  be  some- 
thing more  added  to  the  natural  good  consequences 
of  our  actions,  something  which  cannot  be  con- 
sidered as  the  necessary  and  natural  consequences 
of  the  good  actions  we  may  have  here  performed. 
But,  on  this  subject,  we  know  nothing  more  in 
general  than  this,  that  God  will  so  appoint  and 
order  our  circumstances,  and  make  such  arrange- 
ments, that  the  principal  faculties  of  our  souls — 
reason  and  affection,  will  be  heightened  and  de- 
veloped, so  that  we  shall  continually  obtain  more 
pure  and  distinct  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and 
make  continual  advances  in  holiness. 

Some  theologians  have  supposed  that  the  saints 
in  heaven  may  be  taught  by  immediate  divine  re- 
velations, especially  those  who  may  enter  the 
abodes  of  the  blessed  without  knowledge,  or  with 
only  a  small  measure  of  it ;  e.  g.  children  and 
others  who  have  died  in  ignorance,  for  which  they 
themselves  were  not  to  blame.  On  this  subject 
nothing  is  definitely  taught  in  the  Scriptures; 
but  both  Scripture  and  reason  warrant  us  in  be- 
lieving that  provision  will  be  made  for  all  such 
persons  in  the  world  to  come.  A  principal  part 
of  our  future  happiness  will  consist,  according  to 
the  Christian  doctrine,  in  the  enlarging  and  cor- 


HEBREWS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

recting  of  our  knowledge  respecting  God,  his 
nature,  attributes,  and  works,  and  in  the  salutary- 
application  of  this  knowledge  to  our  own  moral 
benefit,  to  the  increase  of  our  faith,  love,  and 
obedience. 

In  the  Scripture  revelations  respecting  heaven 
Christ  is  always  represented  as  one  who  will  be 
personally  visible  to  us,  and  whose  personal,  fa- 
miliar intercourse  and  guidance  we  shall  enjoy. 
Herein  Christ  himself  places  a  chief  part  of  the 
joy  of  the  saints  (John  xiv.  xvii.,  &c.)  ;  and  the 
apostles  often  describe  the  blessedness  of  the  pious 
by  the  phrase  being  with  Christ.  To  his  guidance 
has  God  intrusted  the  human  race,  in  heaven  and 
on  earth.  And  Paul  says  (2  Cor.  iv.  6),  we  see 
'  the  brightness  of  the  divine  glory  in  the  face  of 
Christ,'  he  is  'the  visible  representative  of  the 
invisible  God'  (Col.  i.  15).  According  to  the 
representation  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
the  saints  will  dwell  together  in  the  future  world, 
and  form,  as  it  were,  a  kingdom  or  state  of  God 
(Luke  xvi. ;  xx.  38  ;  Rom.  viii.  10  ;  Rev.  vii.  9  ; 
Heb.  xii.  22).  They  will  there  partake  of  a  com- 
mon felicity.  Their  enjoyment  will  doubtless  be 
very  much  heightened  by  friendship,  and  by  their 
confiding  intercourse  with  each  other. 

1.  HE'BER  {One  of  the  other  side),  sou  of  Salah, 
who  became  the  father  of  Peleg  at  the  age  of  34 
years,  and  died  at  the  age  of  464  (Gen.  x.  24  ;  xi. 
14 ;  1  Chron.  i.  25).  His  name  occurs  in  the  gene- 
alogy of  Christ  (Luke  iii.  35).  There  is  nothing 
to  constitute  Heber  an  historical  personage ;  but 
there  is  a  degree  of  interest  connected  with  him 
from  the  notion,  which  the  Jews  themselves  enter- 
tain, that  the  name  of  Hebrews,  applied  to  them, 
was  derived  from  this  alleged  ancestor  of  Abra- 
ham. 

2.  HEBER,  a  descendant  of  Hobab,  son  of 
Jethro,  and  brother  of  the  wife  of  Moses.  His 
wife  was  the  Jael  who  slew  Sisera,  and  he  is  called 
Heber  the  Kenite  (Judg.  iv.  11, 17 ;  v.  24),  which 
seems  to  have  been  a  name  for  the  whole  family 
(Judg.  i.  16).  Heber  appears  to  have  lived  sepa- 
rate from  the  rest  of  the  Kenites,  leading  a  patri- 
archal life,  amid  his  tents  and  flocks.  He  must 
have  been  a  person  of  some  consequence,  from  its 
being  stated  that  there  was  peace  between  the 
house  of  Heber  and  the  powerful  king  Jabin.  At 
the  time  the  history  brings  him  under  our  notice 
his  camp  was  in  the  plain  of  Zaanaira,  near  Kedesh 
in  Naphtali  [Jael;  Kenites]. 

HEBREW  OF  THE  HEBREWS,  emphati- 
cally a  Hebrew,  one  who  was  so  by  both  parents, 
and  that  by  a  long  series  of  ancestors,  without  ad- 
mixture of  Gentile  or  even  proselyte  blood. 

HEBREWS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE.  In  the 
received  text  this  composition  appears  as  part  of 
the  Canonical  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  also  as  the  production  of  the  apostle  Paul. 
But  on  no  subject,  perhaps,  in  the  department  of 
the  higher  criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  have 
opinions  been  more  divided  and  more  keenly  dis- 
cussed, than  on  this.  Of  those  who  have  rejected 
the  claims  of  the  apostle  Paul  to  the  authorship 
of  this  epistle,  some  have  advocated  those  of  Bar- 
nabas, others  those  of  Luke,  others  those  of  Cle- 
ment of  Rome,  others  those  of  Silas,  others  those 
of  Apollos,  others  those  of  some  unknown  Chris- 
tian of  Alexandria,  and  others  those  of  some 
*  apostolic  man,'  whose  name  is  no  less  unknown. 
Of  these  hypotheses  some  are  so  purely  conjectural 


HEBREWS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE      385    ; 

and  destitute  of  any  basis  either  historical  or  in- 
ternal, that  the  bare  mention  of  them  as  the  va- 
garies of  learned  men  is  almost  all  the  notice 
they  deserve.  Our  limited  space  -vvill  not  permit 
us  to  enter  upon  an  examination  of  these  theories ; 
we  must  therefore  content  ourselves  with  present- 
ing a  condensed  outline  of  the  evidence  that  the 
epistle  was  written  by  the  Apostle  Paul ;  and  we 
shall  commence  with  the  internal  evidence. 

1.  A  person  familiar  with  the  doctrines  on 
which  Paul  is  fond  of  insisting  in  his  acknow- 
ledged epistles,  will  readily  perceive  that  there  is 
such  a  correspondence  in  this  respect  between 
these  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  as  supplies 
good  ground  for  presuming  that  the  latter  pro- 
ceeded also  from  his  pen.  That  Christianity  as  a 
system  is  superior  to  Judaism  in  respect  of  clear- 
ness, simplicity,  and  moral  eflSciency ;  that  the 
former  is  the  substance  and  reality  of  what  the 
latter  had  presented  only  the  typical  adumbra- 
tion ;  and  that  the  latter  was  to  be  abolished  to 
make  way  for  the  former,  are  points  which,  if 
more  fully  handled  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
are  familiar  to  all  readers  of  the  Epistles  of  Paul 
(comp.  2  Cor.  iii.  6-18;  Gal.  iii.  22;  iv.  1-9,  21- 
31 ;  Col.  ii.  16, 17,  &c.).  The  same  view  is  given 
in  this  epistle  as  in  those  of  Paul,  of  the  divine 
glory  of  the  Mediator,  as  the  *  image  of  God,' 
the  reflection  or  manifestation  of  Deity  to  man 
(comp.  Col.  i.  15-20;  Phil.ii.  6  ;  Heb.  i.  3,  &c.); 
His  condescension  is  described  as  having  consisted 
in  an  impoverishing,  and  lessening,  and  lowering 
of  Himself  for  man's  behalf  (2  Cor.  viii.  9 ;  Phil, 
ii.  7,  8 ;  Heb.  ii.  9) ;  and  His  exaltation  is  set 
forth  as  a  condition  of  royal  dignity,  which  shall 
be  consummated  by  all  His  enemies  being  put 
under  His  footstool  (1  Cor.  xv.  25-27 ;  Heb.  ii.  8 ; 
X.  13  ;  xii.  2).  He  is  represented  as  discharging 
the  office  of  a  mediator,  a  word  which  is  never 
used  except  by  Paul  and  the  writer  of  this  epistle 
(Gal.  iii.  19,  20  ;  Heb.  viii."  6);  His  death  is  re- 
presented as  a  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  man  ;  and 
the  peculiar  idea  is  announced  in  connection  with 
this,  that  He  was  prefigured  by  the  sacrifices  of 
the  Mosaic  dispensation  (Rom.  iii.  22-26;  1  Cor. 
V.  7 ;  Eph.  i.  7  ;  v.  2  ;  Heb.  vii.-x.).  Peculiar  to 
Paul  and  the  author  of  this  epistle  is  the  phrase 
'  the  God  of  peace '  (Rom.  xv.  33,  &c. ;  Heb.  xiii. 
20).  It  is  worthy  of  remark  also  that  the  mo- 
mentous question  of  a  man's  personal  acceptance 
with  God  is  answered  in  this  epistle  in  the  same 
peculiar  way  as  in  the  acknowledged  Epistles  of 
Paul.  All  is  made  to  depend  upon  the  indi- 
vidual's exercising  what  both  Paul  and  the  author 
of  this  epistle  call '  faith,'  and  which  they  both 
represent  as  a  realizing  apprehension  of  the  facts, 
and  truths,  and  promises  of  revelation.  By  both 
also  the  power  of  this  ♦  faith '  is  frequently  referred 
to  and  illustrated  by  the  example  of  those  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  annals  of  the 
Jewish  race  (comp.  Rom.  iii.  4 ;  v.  2  ;  Heb.  iii.  6  ; 
Gal.  iii.  5-14  ;  Heb.  x.  38;  xi.  40).  On  all  these 
points  the  sentiments  of  this  epistle  are  so  ob- 
viously Pauline,  that  even  the  most  decided  op- 
ponents of  its  Pauline  authorship  in  recent  times 
have  laid  it  down  as  undeniable  that  it  niust  have 
been  written  by  some  companion  and  disciple  of 
Paul.  2.  Some  of  the  figures  and  allusions  em- 
ployed in  this  epistle  are  strictly  Pauline.  Thus 
the  word  of  God  is  compared  to  a  sword  (Eph.  vi. 
17:  Heb.  iv.  12);  inexperienced  Christians  are 
2  c 


386      HEBREWS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

children  who  need  milk,  and  must  be  instructed  in 
the  elements,  whilst  those  of  matitrer  attainments 
ZK  full-grown  men  who  require  strong  meat  (1  Cor. 
iii.  1,  2;  xiv.  20;  Gal.  iv.  9  ;  Col.  iii.  14  ;  Heb. 
V.  12,  13;  vi.  1);  redemption  through  Christ  is 
an  introduction  and  an  entrance  ivith  confidence 
unto  God  (Rom.  v.  2  ;  Eph.  ii.  18  ;  iii.  12  ;  Heb. 
X.  19);  afflictions  are  a  contest  or  strife  {VhW. 
i.  30;  Col.  ii.  1;  Heb.  x.  32);  the  Christian 
life  is  a  race  (1  Cor.  ix.  24;  Phil.  iii.  14;  Heb. 
xii.  1);  a  person  under  the  constraint  of  some 
unworthy  feeling  or  principle  is  '  a  subject  of 
bondage'  (Gal.  v.  1  ;  Heb  ii.  1.5),  &c.  The  fact 
that  these  and  other  such  like  figurative  phrases 
occur  only  in  this  epistle  and  in  the  acknowledged 
Epistles  of  Paul,  affords  strong  evidence  that  the 
former  is  his  production,  for  in  nothing  does  a 
writer  more  readily  betray  himself  than  by  the 
use  of  peculiar  and  favourite  figures.  3.  Certain 
marked  characteristics  of  Paul's  style  are  found 
in  this  epistle.  Paley,  in  enumerating  these  {Horce 
Paulince),  has  laid  stress  chiefly  on  the  following : 
A  disposition  to  the  frequent  use  of  a  word,  which 
cleaves  as  it  were  to  the  memory  of  the  writer,  so 
as  to  become  a  sort  of  ca?it  word  in  his  writings  ; 
a  propensity  'to  go  off  at  a  word,'  and  enter  upon 
a  parenthetic  series  of  remarks  suggested  by  that 
word ;  and  a  fondness  for  the  paronomasia,  or  play 
upon  words.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  these 
peculiarities  of  Paul's  style  are  richly  exemplified. 
4.  There  is  a  striking  analogy  between  Paul's 
use  of  the  Old  Testament  and  that  made  by  tbe 
writer  of  this  epistle.  Both  make  frequent  appeals 
to  the  Old  Testament ;  both  are  in  the  habit  of 
accumulating  passages  from  diiferent  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  making  them  bear  on  the 
point  under  discussion  (comp.  Rom.  iii.  10-18  : 
ix,  7-33,  &c. ;  Heb.  i.  5-14;  iii.;  x.  •'3-17);  both 
are  fond  of  linking  quotations  together  by  means 
of  the  expression  'and  again'  (comp.  Rom.  xv. 
9-12;  1  Cor.  iii.  19,  20;  Heb.i.  .5;  ii.  12,  13;  iv. 
4 ;  X.  30) ;  both  make  use  of  the  same  passages, 
and  that  occasionally  in  a  sense  not  naturally 
suggested  by  the  context  whence  they  are  quoted 
(1  Cor.  XV.  27  ;  Eph.  i.  22 ;  Heb.  ii.  8  ;  Rom.  i.  17  ; 
Gal.  iii.  11;  Heb.  x.  38);  and  both,  in  one  in- 
stance, quote  the  same  passage  in  the  same  way, 
but  in  a  form  in  which  it  does  not  agree  with  the 
Sept.,  and  with  an  addition  of  the  words  '  saith 
the  Lord,'  not  found  in  the  Hebrew  ;  thereby  in- 
dicating that  the  passage  is  given  in  both  instances 
as  it  was  present  to  the  memory  of  one  and  the 
same  writer  (comp.  Rom.  xii.  19;  Heb.  x.  30). 
In  fine :  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  contains  some 
personal  allusions  on  the  part  of  the  writer  which 
strongly  favour  the  supposition  that  he  was  Paul. 
These  are  the  mention  of  his  intention  to  pay  those 
to  whom  he  was  writing  a  visit  speedily,  in  com- 
pany with  Timothy,  whom  he  affectiona'telv  styles 
'  our  brother,'  and  whom  he  describes  as  having 
been  set  at  liberty,  and  expected  soon  to  join  the 
writer  (Heb.  xiii.  23)  ;  the  allusion  to  his  being 
in  a  state  of  imprisonment  at  the  time  of  writing, 
as  well  as  of  his  having  partaken  of  their  sym- 
pathy while  formerly  in  a  state  of  bondage  among 
them  (Heb.  xiii.  19  ;  x.  34)  ;  and  the  transmission 
to  them  of  a  salutation  from  the  believers  in  Italy 
(Heb.  xiii.  24)  ;  all  of  which  agree  well  with  the 
supposition  that  Paul  wrote  this  epistle  while  a 
prisoner  at  Rome. 
It  DOW  remains  that  we  should  look  at  the  ex> 


HEBREWS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

ternal  evidence  bearing  on  this  question.  Here 
we  shall  find  the  same  conclusion  still  more  de- 
cisively supported. 

Passing  by,  as  somewhat  unc«?rtain,  the  alleged 
testimony  of  Peter,  who  is  supposed  (2  Pet.  iii. 
1.5,  16)  to  refer  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  as 
the  composition  of  Paul,  and  passing  by,  also, 
the  testimonies  of  the  apostolic  fathers,  which, 
though  very  decisive  as  to  the  antiquity  and  ca- 
nonical authority  of  this  epistle,  yet  say  nothing 
to  guide  us  to  the  author,  we  come  to  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Eastern  church  upon  this  subject. 
Here  we  meet  the  important  fact,  that  of  the 
Greek  fathers  not  one  ascribes  this  epistle  to  any 
but  Paul.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  in  any  part 
of  the  Eastern  church  the  Pauline  origin  of  this 
epistle  was  ever  doubted  or  suspected. 

In  the  Western  church  this  epistle  did  not 
meet  with  the  same  early  and  universal  reception. 
Notwithstanding  the  regard  shown  for  it  by  Cle- 
ment, the  church  at  Rome  seems  to  have  placed 
it  under  a  ban ;  and  hence  Tertullian  ascribed  it 
to  Barnabas,  and  others  to  Luke  and  Clement, 
whilst  no  Latin  writer  is  found  during  the  first 
three  centuries  who  ascribed  it  to  Paul.  In  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Hilary  of  Poictiers 
quotes  it  as  Paul's  ;  and  from  that  time  the  opi- 
nion seems  to  have  gained  ground  till  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fifth  century,  when  it  speedily 
became  as  general  in  the  Western  as  it  had  been 
in  the  Eastern  churches. 

The  result  of  the  previous  inquiry  may  be  thus 
stated.  1.  There  is  no  substantial  evidence  ex- 
ternal or  internal  in  favour  of  any  claimant  to 
the  author.ship  of  this  epistle  except  Paul.  2. 
There  is  nothing  incompatible  with  the  suppo- 
sition that  Paul  was  the  author  of  it.  3.  The 
preponderance  of  the  internal,  and  all  the  direct 
external,  evidence,  go  to  show  that  it  was  written 
by  Paul. 

Assuming  the  Pauline  authorship  of  the  epistle, 
it  is  not  ditficult  to  determine  when  and  where  it 
was  written.  The  allusions  in  ch.  xiii.  19,  21, 
point  to  the  closing  period  of  the  apostle's  two 
years'  imprisonment  at  Rome  as  the  season  during 
'  the  serene  hours '  of  which,  as  Hug  describes 
them,  he  composed  this  noblest  production  of  his 
pen.  In  this  opinion  almost  all  who  receive  the 
epistle  as  Paul's  concur ;  and  even  by  those  who 
do  not  so  receive  it,  nearly  the  same  time  is  fixed 
upon,  in  consequence  of  the  evidence  furnished 
by  the  epistle  itself  of  its  having  been  written  a 
good  while  after  those  to  whom  it  is  addressed 
had  become  Christians,  but  yet  before  the  de- 
struction of  the  Temple. 

That  the  parties  to  whom  this  epistle  was  ad- 
dressed were  converted  Jews,  the  epistle  itself 
plainly  shows.  Ancient  tradition  points  out  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  or  the  Christians  in  Pales- 
tine generally,  as  the  recipients.  Stuart  con- 
tends for  the  church  at  Ctesarea,  not  without 
some  show  of  reason. 

Some  have  doubted  whether  this  composition 
be  justly  termed  an  epistle,  and  have  proposed  to 
regard  it  rather  as  a  treatise.  The  salutations, 
however,  at  the  close,  seem  rather  to  favour  the 
common  opinion ;  though  it  is  of  little  moment 
which  view  we  espouse. 

The  design  of  this  epistle  is  to  dissuade  those  to 
whom  it  is  written  from  relapsing  into  Judaism, 
and  to  exhort  them  to  hold  fast  the  truths  of 


HEBKON 


HEBRON 


Christianity  which  they  had  received.  For  this 
purpose  the  apostle  shows  the  superiority  of  the 
latter  over  the  former,  in  that  it  was  introduced 
by  one  far  greater  than  angels,  or  than  Moses, 
from  whom  the  Jews  received  their  economy 
(i.  iii.),  and  in  that  it  affords  a  more  secure  and 
complete  salvation  to  the  sinner  than  the  former 
(iv.-x.).  In  demonstrating  the  latter  position  the 
apostle  shows  that  in  point  of  dignity,  perpetuity, 
sufficiency,  and  suitableness,  the  Jewish  priest- 
hood and  sacrifices  were  far  inferior  to  those  of 
Christ,  who  was  the  substance  and  reality,  whilst 
these  were  but  the  type  and  shadow.  He  shows, 
also,  that  by  the  appearance  of  the  anti-type  the 
type  is  necessarily  abolished ;  and  adduces  the 
important  truth,  that  now,  through  Christ,  the 
privilege  of  personal  access  to  God  is  free  to  all. 
On  all  this  he  founds  an  exhortation  to  a  life  of 
faith  and  obedience,  and  shows  that  it  has  ever 
been  only  by  a  spiritual  recognition  and  worship 
of  God  that  good  men  have  participated  iu  his 
favour  (xi.).  The  epistle  concludes,  as  is  usual 
with  Paul,  with  a  series  of  practical  exhortations 
and  pious  wishes  (xii.-xiii.). 

HE'BRON,  a  town  in  the  south  of  Palestine 
and  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  18  miles  south  from 
Jerusalem,  in  31°  32'  30"  N.  lat,  35°  8'  20"  E. 
long.,  at  the  height  of  2664  Paris  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
cities  existing,  having,  as  the  sacred  writer  in- 
forms us,  been  built '  seven  years  before  Zoan  in 
Egypt,'  and  being  mentioned  even  prior  to  Da- 
mascus (Num.  xiii.  22;  Gen.  xiii.  18;  comp.  xv. 
2).  Its  most  ancient  name  was  Kirjath-arba, 
that  is,  '  the  city  of  Arba,'  from  Arba,  the  father 
of  Anak  and  of  the  Anakim  who  dwelt  in  and 
around  Hebron  (Gen.  xxiii.  2 ;  Josh.  xiv.  1 5  ; 
XV.  3  ;  xxi.  12  ;  Judg.  i.  10).  It  appears  to  have 
been  also  called  Mamre,  probably  from  the  name 
of  Abraham's  Amovitish  ally  (Gen.  xxiii.  19; 
XXXV.  27  ;  comp.  xiv.  13,  28).  The  ancient  city 
lay  in  a  valley ;  and  the  two  remaining  pools, 
one  of  which  at  least  existed  iu  the  time  of  David, 
serve,  with  other  circumstances,  to  identify  the 
modern  with  the  ancient  site  (Gen.  xxxvii.  14  ;  2 
Sam.  iv.  12).  Much  of  the  life-time  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob  was  spent  in  this  neighbourhood, 
where  they  were  all  entombed ;  and  it  was  from 
hence  that  the  patriarchal  family  departed  for 
Egypt  by  the  way  of  Beersheba  (Gen.  xxxvii. 
14;  xlvi.  1).  After  the  return  of  the  Israelites, 
the  city  was  taken  by  Joshua  and  given  over  to 
Caleb,  who  expelled  the  Anakim  from  its  territo- 
ries (Josh.  X.  36,  37;  xiv.  6-15;  xv.  13,  14; 
Judg.  i.  20).  It  was  afterwards  made  one  of  the 
cities  of  refuge,  and  assigned  to  the  priests  and 
Levites  (Josh.  xx.  7;  xxi.  11,  13).  David,  on 
becoming  king  of  Judah,  made  Hebron  his  royal 
residence.  Here  he  reigned  seven  years  and  a 
half;  here  most  of  his  sons  were  born ;  and  here 
he  was  anointed  king  over  all  Israel  (1  Sam.  ii. 
1-4,  11;  1  Kings  ii.  11;  2  Sam.  v.  1,  3).  On 
this  extension  of  his  kingdom  Hebron  ceased  to 
be  sufficiently  central,  and  Jerusalem  then  be- 
came the  metropolis.  It  is  possible  that  this  step 
excited  a  degree  of  discontent  in  Hebron  which 
afterwards  encouraged  Absalom  to  raise  in  that 
city  the  standard  of  rebellion  against  his  father 
(2  Kings  XV.  9, 10).  Hebron  was  one  of  the  places 
fortified  by  Rehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.  10);  and 
after  the  exile  the  Jews  who  returned  to  Pales- 


tine occupied  Hebron  and  the  surrounding  vil- 
lages (Neh.  xi.  15). 

Hebron  is  not  named  by  the  prophets,  nor  in 
the  New  Testament ;  but  we  learn  from  the  first 
book  of  Maccabees,  and  from  Josephus,  that  it 
came  into  the  power  of  the  Edomites  who  had 
taken  possession  of  the  south  of  Judah,  and  was 
recovered  from  them  by  Judas  Maccabaeus. 
During  the  great  war,  Hebron  was  seized  by  the 
rebel  Simon  Giorides,  but  was  re-captured  and 
burnt  by  Cerealis,  an  officer  of  Vespasian.  Jo- 
sephus  describes  the  tombs  of  the  patriarchs  as 
existing  in  his  day  ;  and  both  Eusebius  and  Je- 
rome, and  all  subsequent  writers  who  mention 
Hebron  down  to  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  speak 
of  the  place  chiefly  as  containing  these  sepulchres. 
Among  the  Moslems  it  is  still  called  el-Khulil, 
from  the  name  which  they  give  to  Abraham, 
meaning  *  the  friend'  (of  God). 

Since  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  Saladin  in 
1187,  Hebron  has  always  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Moslems.  In  the  modern  history 
of  Hebron  the  most  remarkable  circumstance  is 
the  part  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  and 
district  took  in  the  rebellion  of  1834,  and  the 
heavy  retribution  which  it  brought  down  upon 
them.  They  held  out  to  the  last,  and  gave  battle 
to  Ibrahim  Pasha  near  Solomon's  Pools.  They 
were  defeated ;  but  retired  and  entrenched  them- 
selves in  Hebron,  which  Ibrahim  carried  by 
storm,  and  gave  over  to  sack  and  pillage.  The 
town  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the  blow  it  then 
sustained. 

In  the  fourteenth  century  pilgrims  passed  from 
Sinai  to  Jerusalem  direct  through  the  desert  by 
Beersheba  and  Hebron,  and  it  continued  to  be 
occasionally  visited  by  European  travellers  down 
to  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  but 
from  that  time  till  the  present  century  it  appears 
to  have  been  little  frequented  by  them. 

The  town  of  Hebron  lies  low  down  on  the 
sloping  sides  of  a  narrow  valley  (of  Mamre), 
chiefly  on  the  eastern  side,  but  in  the  southern 
part  stretches  across  also  to  the  western  side. 
The  houses  are  all  of  stone,  high  and  well  built, 
with  windows  and  flat  roofs,  and  on  these  roofs 
are  small  domes,  sometimes  two  or  three  to  each 
house.  The  shops  are  well  furnished,  better  in- 
deed than  those  of  towns  of  the  same  class  in 
Egypt,  and  the  commodities  are  of  a  very  similar 
description.  The  only  display  of  local  manufac- 
tures is  the  produce  of  the  glass-works,  for  which 
the  place  has  long  been  celebrated  in  these  parts. 
Gates  are  placed  not  only  at  the  entrance  of  the 
city,  but  in  different  parts  of  the  interior,  and 
are  closed  at  night  for  the  better  preservation  of 
order,  as  well  as  to  prevent  communication  be- 
tween the  different  quarters. 

There  are  nine  mosques  in  Hebron,  none  of 
which  possess  any  architectural  or  other  interest, 
with  the  exception  of  the  massive  structure  which 
is  built  over  the  tombs  of  the  patriarchs.  This 
is  esteemed  by  the  Moslems  one  of  their  holiest 
places,  and  Christians  are  rigorously  excluded 
from  it.  At  the  period,  however,  when  the  Holy 
Land  was  in  the  power  of  the  Christians,  access 
was  not  denied ;  and  BeKJamin  of  Tudela  says 
that  the  sarcophagi  above  ground  were  shown  to 
the  generality  of  pilgrims  as  what  they  desired 
to  see ;  but  if  a  rich  Jew  oifered  an  additional 
fee,  '  an  iron  door  is  opened,  which  dates  from 
2c2 


HELBON 


HELL 


the  time  of  our  forefathers  who  rest  in  peace, 
and  with  a  burning  taper  in  his  hands  the  visitor 
descends  into  a  first  cave,  which  is  empty,  tra- 
verses a  second  in  the  same  state,  and  at  last 
reaches  a  third,  which-  contains  six  sepulchres, 
those  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  of  Sarah, 
Kebekah,  and  Leah,  one  opposite  the  other.  All 
these  sepulchres  bear  inscriptions,  the  letters 
being  engraved ;  thus  upon  that  of  Abraham  : 
"  This  is  the  sepulchre  of  our  father  Abraham, 
upon  whom  be  peace ;"  even  so  upon  that  of  Isaac 
and  all  the  other  sepulchres.*  The  identity  of 
this  place  with  the  cave  of  Machpelah  has  not 
been  called  in  question. 

The  court  in  which  the  mosque  stands  is  sur- 
rounded by  an  extensive  and  lofty  wall,  formed 
of  large  stones,  and  strengthened  by  square  but- 
tresses. This  wall  is  the  greatest  antiquity  in 
Hebron,  and  even  Dr.  Eobinsou  supposes  that  it 
may  be  substantially  the  same  which  is  mentioned 
by  Josephus,  and  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  as  the 
sepulchre  of  Abraham.  Besides  this  venerable 
wall,  there  is  nothing  at  Hebron  bearing  the 
stamp  of  antiquity,  save  two  reservoirs  for  rain 
water  outside  the  town.  As  these  pools  are  doubt- 
less of  high  antiquity,  one  of  them  is  in  all  like- 
lihood the '  pool  of  Hebron '  over  which  David 
hanged  up  the  assassins  of  Ishbosheth  (2  Sam. 
iv.  12). 

The  present  population  of  Hebron  has  not  been 
clearly  ascertained,  but  it  probably  amounts  to 
about  .5000.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  are  Mos- 
lems, of  fierce  and  intolerant  character.  There 
are  no  resident  Christians.  The  Jews  amount  to 
about  one  hundred  families,  mostly  natives  of 
different  countries  of  Europe,  who  have  emi- 
grated to  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  having 
their  bones  laid  near  the  sepulchres  of  their  illus- 
trious ancestors.  They  have  two  synagogues  and 
several  schools. 

The  environs  of  Hebron  are  very  fertile.  Vine- 
yards and  plantations  of  fruit-trees,  chiefly  olive- 
trees,  cover  the  valleys  and  arable  grounds ;  while 
the  tops  and  sides  of  the  hills,  although  stony,  are 
covered  with  rich  pastures,  which  support  a  great 
number  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  goats,  constituting 
an  important  branch  of  the  industry  and  wealth 
of  Hebron.  The  hill  country  of  Judah,  of  which 
it  is  the  capital,  is  indeed  highly  productive,  and 
under  a  paternal  government  would  be  capable  of 
sustaining  a  large  population.  That  it  did  so 
once,  is  manifest  from  the  great  number  and  ex- 
tent of  ruined  terraces  and  dilapidated  towns.  It 
is  at  present  abandoned,  and  cultivation  ceases  at 
the  disUnce  of  two  miles  north  of  the  town.  The 
hills  then  become  covered  with  prickly  and 
other  stunted  trees,  which  furnish  Bethlehem  and 
other  villages  with  wood. 

HEIFER,  RED.     [Sacrifice.] 

HEIR.    [Birthright  ;  Inheritance.] 

HEL'BON,  or  Chelbon,  a  name  which  occurs 
only  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  18,  where  'the  wine  of 
Helbon '  is  named  among  the  commodities  brought 
to  the  great  market  of  Tyre.  Helbon  is  supposed 
to  be  identified  with  Chalybon,  an  old  city  of 
Syria,  famous  for  wine. 

Now,  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  ancient 
Chalybon  is  represented  by  the  modern  Aleppo. 
Aleppo,  styled  by  the  natives  Haleb,  is  situated  in 
N.  )at.  36°  11'  2.5",  E.  long.  37°  9',  and  is  seventy- 
six  miles  from  the  sea  by  way  of  Scanderoon,  in  a 


straight  line,  and  ninety  miles  by  way  of  An- 
tioch.  It  is  one  of  the  few  ancient  cities  of 
these  parts  which  have  retained  their  ancient 
importance;  and  this  it  owes  to  its  happy  posi- 
tion upon  the  line  of  the  commercial  inter- 
course of  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  with  Egypt,  and 
of  Europe  and  Westernmost  Asia  with  the  coun- 
tries beyond  the  Euphrates.  It  has  long  ranked 
as  the  capital  of  Syria,  and  as  the  third,  if  not  the 
second  city  of  the  Ottoman  empire.  It  has  suf- 
fered dreadfully  from  earthquakes  at  different 
times,  and  has  never  recovered  the  terrible  visita- 
tion of  this  kind  which  it  sustained  in  1822 :  the 
population,  which  was  formerly  reckoned  above 
200,000,  is  not  supposed  to  reach  half  that  number 
at  present. 

HELL,  the  name  given  in  our  Authorized 
Version  of  the  Scriptures  to  the  place  of  final 
punishment  for  sinners.  It  is  also  distinctively 
indicated  by  such  phrases  as  '  the  place  of  tor- 
ment '  (Luke  xvi.  28) ;  '  everlasting  fire '  (Matt. 
XXV.  41) ;  '  the  hell  of  fire,  where  the  worm  dieth 
not,  and  the  fire  is  not  quenched  '  (Mark  ix.  44). 
The  dreadful  nature  of  the  abode  of  the  wicked  is 
implied  in  various  figurative  expressions,  such  as 
'  outer  darkness,' '  I  am  tormented  in  this  flame,' 
'  fiirnace  of  fire,'  '  unquenchable  fire,' '  where  the 
worm  dieth  not,'  '  the  blackness  of  darkness,' 
'  torment  in  fire  and  brimstone,' '  the  ascending 
smoke  of  their  torment,' '  the  lake  of  tire  that 
bumeth  with  brimstone'  (Matt.  viii.  12;  xiii. 
42  ;  xxii.  13  ;  xxv.  30  ;  Luke  xvi.  24 ;  comp.  Matt. 
XXV.  41 ;  Mark  ix.  43-48;  Jude  13;  comp.  Rev. 
xiv.  10,  11 ;  xix.  20  ;  xx.  14;  xxi.  8).  The  figure 
by  which  hell  is  represented  as  burning  with  fire 
and  brimstone  is  probably  derived  from  the  fate 
of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  as  well  as  that  which 
describes  the  smoke  as  ascending  from  it  (comp. 
Rev.  xiv.  10,  11,  with  Gen.  xix.  24,  28).  To 
this  coincidence  of  description  Peter  also  most 
probably  alludes  in  2  Pet.  ii.  6. 

The  names  which  in  many  of  the  other  in- 
stances are  given  to  the  punishments  of  hell  are 
doubtless  in  part  figurative,  and  many  of  the 
terms  which  were  commonly  applied  to  the  sub- 
ject by  the  Jews  are  retained  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  images,  it  will  be  seen,  are  generally 
taken  from  death,  capital  punishments,  tortures, 
prisons,  &c.  And  it  is  the  obvious  design  of  the 
sacred  writers,  in  using  such  figures,  to  awaken 
the  idea  of  something  terrible  and  fearful.  They 
mean  to  teach  that  the  punishments  beyond  the 
grave  will  excite  the  same  feelings  of  distress  as 
are  produced  on  earth  by  the  objects  employed  to 
represent  them.  We  are  so  little  acquainted  with 
the  state  in  which  we  shall  be  hereafter,  and  with 
the  nature  of  our  future  body,  that  no  strictly 
literal  representation  of  such  punishments  could 
be  made  intelligible  to  us.  Many  of  the  Jews, 
indeed,  and  many  of  the  Christian  fathers,  took 
the  terms  employed  in  Scripture  in  an  entirely 
literal  sense,  and  supposed  there  would  be  actual 
fire,  &c.  in  hell.  But  from  the  words  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  nothing  more  can  with  certainty 
be  inferred  than  that  they  meant  to  denote  great 
and  unending  miseries. 

The  punishments  of  sin  may  be  distinguished 
into  two  classes— 1.  Natural  punishments,  or 
such  as  necessarily  follow  a  life  of  servitude  to 
sin:  2  Positive  punishments,  or  such  as  God 
shall  see  fit,  by  his  sovereign  will,  to  inflict. 


HELPS 


HERMAS 


1.  Among  the  natural  punishments  we  may 
rank  the  privation  of  eternal  happiness  (Matt.  vii. 
21,  23  ;  xxii.  13  ;  xxv.  41  ;  comp.  2  Thess.  i.  9); 
the  painful  sensations  which  are  tlie  natural  con- 
sequence of  committing  sin,  and  of  an  impenitent 
heart;  the  propensities  to  sin,  the  evil  passions 
and  desires  which  in  this  world  fill  the  human 
heait,  and  which  are  doubtless  carried  into  the 
world  to  come.  The  company  of  fellow-sinners 
and  of  evil  spirits,  as  inevitably  resulting  from 
the  other  conditions,  may  be  accounted  among 
the  natural  punishments,  and  must  prove  not  the 
least  grievous  of  them. 

2.  The  positive  punishments  have  been  already 
indicated.  It  is  to  these  chiefly  that  the  Scrip- 
ture directs  our  attention.  '  There  are  but  few 
men  in  such  a  state  that  the  merely  natural 
punishments  of  sin  will  appear  to  them  terrible 
enough  to  deter  them  from  the  commission  of  it. 
Experience  also  shows  that  to  threaten  positive 
punishment  has  far  more  effect,  as  well  upon  the 
cultivated  as  the  uncultivated,  in  deterring  them 
from  crime,  than  to  announce^  and  lead  men  to 
expect,  the  merely  natural  consequences  of  sin, 
be  they  ever  so  terrible.  Hence  we  may  see  why 
it  is  that  the  New  Testament  says  so  little  of 
natural  punishments  (although  these  beyond 
question  await  the  wicked),  and  makes  mention 
of  them  in  particular  far  less  frequently  than  of 
positive  punishments ;  and  why,  in  those  passages 
which  treat  of  the  punishments  of  hell,  such  ideas 
and  images  are  constantly  employed  as  suggest 
and  confirm  the  idea  of  positive  punishments.' 

As  the  sins  which  shut  out  from  heaven  vary 
so  greatly  in  quality  and  degree,  we  should  ex- 
pect from  the  justice  of  God  a  corresponding 
variety  both  in  th*  natural  and  the  positive 
punishments.  This  is  accordingly  the  uniform 
doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  '  The  ser- 
vant who  knows  his  lord's  will  and  does  it  not, 
deserves  to  be  beaten  with  many  stripes :'  '  To 
whom  much  is  given,  of  him  much  will  be  re- 
quired '  (Matt.  X.  15 ;  xi.  22,  24  ;  xxiii.  15  ;  Luke 
xii.  48).  Hence  St.  Paul  says  that  the  heathen 
who  acted  against  the  law  of  nature  would  in- 
deed be  punished ;  but  that  the  Jews  would  be 
punished  more  than  they,  because  they  had  more 
knowledge  (Rom.  ii.  9-29).  In  this  conviction, 
that  God  will,  even  in  hell,  justly  proportion 
punishment  to  sin,  we  must  rest  satisfied.  We 
cannot  now  know  more;  the  precise  degrees  as 
well  as  the  precise  nature  of  such  punishments 
are  things  belonging  to  another  state  of  being, 
which  in  the  present  we  are  unable  to  understand. 

HELLENIST.  In  the  New  Testament  this 
word  seems  to  be  appropriated  as  the  name  of 
those  persons  who,  being  of  Jewish  extraction, 
nevertheless  talked  Greek  as  their  mother-tongue ; 
which  was  the  case  generally  with  the  Jews  in 
Egypt,  Syria,  Asia  Minor,  and  Greece ;  and  in  fact 
through  the  influence  of  the  Greek  cities  in  north- 
ern Palestine  (Decapolis),  it  would  appear  that  the 
Galilaeans  from  their  childhood  learned  nearly  as 
much  Greek  as  Hebrew.  The  appellation  Hel- 
lenist is  opposed  to  that  of  Hebrew  in  Acts  vi.  1 : 
in  Acts  ix.  29,  the  reading  is  not  so  certain,  yet 
probably  it  shoixld  there  also  be  '  Hellenists,' 
meaning  unconverted  Jews. 

HELMET.    [Arms;  Armour.] 

HELPS.  In  the  New  Testament  it  occurs 
once,  viz.  in  the  enumeration  of  the  several 


orders  or  classes  of  persons  possessing  miraculous 
gifts  among  the  primitive  Christians  (1  Cor.  xii. 
28),  where  it  seems  to  be  used  by  metonymy,  the 
abstract  for  the  concrete,  and  to  mean  helpers ; 
like  the  words  '  miracles,'  i.  e.  workers  of  mi- 
racles ;  '  governments,'  that  is,  governors.  Sec,  in 
the  same  enumeration.  The  Americans,  it  is 
well  known,  by  a  similar  idiom,  call  their  ser- 
vants '  helps.'  Great  difficulty  attends  the  attempt 
to  ascertain  the  nature  of  the  office  so  desig- 
nated among  the  first  Christians.  Many  con- 
jectures have  been  hazarded  regarding  it;  but 
after  all  it  must  be  confessed,  with  Doddridge, 
that  '  we  can  only  guess  at  the  meaning  of  the 
words  in  question,  having  no  principles  on  which 
to  proceed  in  fixing  it  absolutely.' 

1.  HE'MAN,  a  person  of  the  tribe  of  Judah, 
named  with  others  celebrated  for  their  wisdom, 
to  which  that  of  Solomon  is  compared  (1  Kings  iv. 
31 ;  1  Chron.  ii.  6).  The  considerations  stated 
under  Ethan  will  distinguish  this  Heman  from 
the  following,  with  whom  he  is  sometimes  coal- 
founded. 

2.  HEMAN,  a  Kohathite  of  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
and  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  temple- music  as 
organized  by  David  (1  Chron.  vi.  33  ;  xvi.  41,  42). 
This,  doubtless,  is  the  Heman  to  whom  the  88th 
Psalm  is  ascribed, 

HERA'KLES  is  mentioned  in  2  Mace.  iv.  19, 
as  the  Tyrian  god  to  whom  the  Jewish  high- 
priest  Jason  sent  a  religious  embassy,  with  the 
offering  of  300  drachmae  of  silver.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  this  Tyrian  Hercules  is  the  same 
as  the  Tyrian  Baal,  whose  worship  prevailed  in 
the  reign  of  Ahab,  and  was  introduced  directly 
from  Phoenicia  by  Ahab's  marriage  with  the 
Sidonian  princess  Jezebel  (1  Kings  xvi.  31). 

The  power  of  nature,  which  was  worshipped 
under  the  form  of  the  Tyrian  Hercules,  Melkarth, 
Baal,  Adonis,  Moloch,  and  whatever  his  other 
names  are,  was  that  which  originates,  sustains, 
and  destroys  life.  The.'^e  functions  of  the  Deity, 
according  to  the  Phoenicians,  were  represented, 
although  not  exclusively,  by  the  sun,  the  in- 
fluence of  which  both  animates  vegetation  by  its 
genial  warmth,  and  scorches  it  up  by  its  fer- 
vour. 

Almost  all  that  we  know  of  the  worship  of  the 
Tyrian  Hercules  is  preserved  by  the  classical 
writers,  and  relates  chiefly  to  the  Phoenician 
colonies,  and  not  to  the  mother-state.  The  eagle, 
the  lion,  and  the  thunny-fish,  were  sacred  to  him, 
and  are  often  found  on  Phoenician  coins.  Pliny 
expressly  testifies  that  human  sacrifices  were 
offered  up  every  year  to  the  Carthaginian  Her- 
cules; which  coincides  with  what  is  stated  of 
Baal  in  Jer.  xix.  5,  and  with  the  acknowledged 
worship  of  Moloch. 

HER'MAS,  one  of  the  Christians  at  Rome  to 
whom  Paul  addressed  special  salutations  in  his 
Epistle  (Rom.  xvi.  14).  Of  his  history  and  sta- 
tion in  life  nothing  is  known.  By  several  writers, 
ancient  and  modern,  he  has  been  reputed  to  be 
the  author  of  a  work  entitled  7Vje  Shepherd  of 
Hernias,  which,  from  its  high  antiquity  and  the 
supposed  connection  of  the  writer  with  St.  Paul, 
has  been  usually  classed  with  the  epistles  of  the 
so-called  Apostolic  Fathers.  It  was  originally 
written  in  Greek,  but  we  possess  it  only  in  a 
Latin  version  (as  old  as  the  time  of  Tertullian), 
a  few  fragments  excepted,  which  are  found  as 


390 


HERODIAN  FAMILY 


quotations  in  other  ancient  authors.  It  has  been 
divided  by  modern  editors  (for  in  the  manuscript 
copies  there  is  no  such  division)  into  three  books ; 
the  first  consisting  of  four  visions,  the  second  of 
twelve  commands,  and  the  third  of  ten  simili- 
tudes. It  is  called  '  The  Shepherd,'  because  the 
Angel  of  Repentance,  at  whose  dictation  Hermas 
professes  that  he  wrote  the  second  and  third 
books,  appeared  in  the  garb  of  a  shepherd.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  author  really  believed  that 
he  saw  the  visions  he  describes,  or  merely 
adopted  the  fiction  to  render  his  work  more 
attractive.  Impartial  judges  will  probably  agree 
with  Mosheim,  that '  Tfie  Shepherd'  contains  such 
a  mixture  of  folly  and  superstition  with  piety,  of 
egregious  nonsense  with  momentous  truth,  as  to 
render  it  a  matter  of  astonishment  that  men  of 
learning  should  ever  have  thought  of  giving  it  a 
place  among  the  inspired  writings. 

IIER'MES,  the  Mercurius  of  the  Romans,  was 
the  messenger  of  the  gods,  and  was  equally  cha- 
racterized by  adroitness  of  action  and  readiness 
of  speech.  He  was  also  the  customary  attendant 
of  Jupiter  when  he  appeared  on  earth.  These 
circumstances  explain  why  the  inhabitants  of 
Lystra  (Acts  xiv.  12),  as  soon  as  ever  they  were 
disposed  to  believe  that  the  gods  had  visited  them 
in  the  likeness  of  men,  discovered  Hermes  in 
Paul,  as  the  chief  speaker,  and  as  the  attendant 
of  Jupiter. 

HERMOG'ENES  and  PHYGELLUS,  dis- 
ciples of  Asia  Minor,  and  probably  companions 
in  labour  of  St.  Paul.  They  abandoned  him 
during  his  second  imprisonment  at  Rome,  doubt- 
less from  alarm  at  the  perils  of  the  connection 
(2  Tim.  i.  15). 

HER'MON,  a  mountain  which  formed  the 
northernmost  boundary  of  the  country  beyond 
the  Jordan  which  the  Hebrews  conquered  from 
the  Amorites  (Deut.  iii.  8),  and  which,  therefore, 
must  have  belonged  to  Anti-Libanus.  Since 
modern  travellers  have  made  us  acquainted  with 
the  country  beyond  the  Jordan,  no  doubt  has  been 
entertained  that  the  Mount  Hermon  of  those  texts 
is  no  other  than  the  present  Jebel  esh-sheikh,  or 
the  Sheikh's  mountain,  or,  which  is  equivalent, 
Old  Man's  Mountain,  a  name  it  is  said  to  have 
obtained  from  its  fancied  l-esemblance  (being 
topped  with  snow,  which  sometimes  lies  in  length- 
ened streaks  upon  its  sloping  ridges)  to  the  hoary 
head  and  beard  of  a  venerable  sheikh.  This 
Jebel  esh-sheikh  is  a  south-eastern,  and  in  that 
direction  culminating,  branch  of  Anti-Libanus. 
It  IS  probably  the  highest  of  all  the  Lebanon 
mountains,  and  is  thought  to  rival  Mont  Blanc, 
though,  as  Elliot  observes,  the  high  ground  on 
which  it  stands  detracts  considerably  from  its 
apparent  altitude,  and  makes  it  a  less  imposing 
object  than  that  king  of  European  mountains  as 
viewed  from  the  Italian  valley  of  Aosta.  Its  top 
is  covered  with  snow  throughout  the  summer,  and 
must  therefore  rise  above  the  point  of  perpetual 
congelation,  which  in  this  quarter  is  about 
11,000  feet.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  safe  to  add 
another  1000  feet  for  the  height  above  that  point, 
making  in  all  12,000  feet;  but  we  must  wait  the 
result  of  more  accurate  observations  than  have 
yet  been  made. 

HERODIAN  FAMILY.  Josephus  introduces 
ns  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Herodian  family  in 
the  fourteenth  book  of  his  Antiquities.    He  there 


HERODIAN  FAMILY 

tells  us  (c.  i.  §  3)  that  among  the  chief  friends  of 
Hyrcanus,  the  high-priest,  was  an  Idumoean, 
named  Antipater,  distinguished  for  his  riches,  and 
no  less  for  his  turbulent  and  seditious  temper. 
He  also  quotes  an  author  who  represented  him 
as  descended  from  one  of  the  best  of  the  Jewish 
families  which  returned  from  Babylon  after  the 
captivity,  but  adds  that  this  statement  was  founded 
on  no  better  grounds  than  a  desire  to  flatter  the 
pride  and  support  the  pretensions  of  Herod  the 
Great.  The  times  were  favourable  to  men  of 
Antipater's  character ;  and,  while  he  obtained 
sovereign  authority  over  his  native  province  of 
Idumsea,  he  contrived  to  subject  Hyrcanus  com- 
pletely to  his  will,  and  to  induce  him  to  form  an 
alliance  with  Aretas,  from  which  he  trusted  to 
secure  the  best  means  for  his  own  aggrandizement. 
Having  so  far  accomplished  his  designs  as  to 
make  himself  the  favourite  ally  of  Rome,  he  ob- 
tained for  his  son  Phasaelus  the  governorship  of 
Jerusalem,  and  for  Herod,  then  only  fifteen  years 
old,  the  chief  command  in  Galilee. 

Herod  soon  distinguished  himself  by  his  talents 
and  bravery.  The  country  was  at  that  time 
infested  with  numerous  bands  of  robbers.  These 
he  assailed  and  vanquished,  and  his  success  was 
proclaimed,  not  only  throughout  Galilee,  but  in 
Judaea  and  the  neighbouring  countries.  This 
increasing  popularity  of  a  member  of  the  family 
of  Antipater  alarmed  the  ruling  men  at  Jeru- 
salem, and  they  willingly  hearkened  to  the  com- 
plaints made  against  Herod  by  some  of  the  rela- 
tives of  those  whom  he  had  slain.  He  was  accord- 
ingly summoned  to  take  his  trial  before  the 
Sanhedrim  :  nor  did  he  disobey  the  summons ; 
but  on  the  day  of  trial  he  appeared  at  the  tribunal 
gorgeously  clad  in  purple,  and  surrounded  by  a 
numerous  band  of  armed  attendants.  His  acquit- 
tal was  speedily  pronounced.  One  only  of  the 
judges  ventured  to  speak  of  his  guilt,  and  the 
venerable  old  man  prophesied  that,  sooner  or  later, 
this  same  Herod  would  punish  both  them  and 
Hyrcanus  for  their  pusillanimity. 

In  the  events  which  followed  the  death  of 
Ca;sar,  Herod  found  fresh  opportunities  of  accom- 
plishing his  ambitious  designs.  By  collecting  a 
considerable  tribute  for  Cassius  in  Galilee,  he 
obtained  the  friendship  of  that  general,  and  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  army  in  Syria. 
No  less  successful  with  Marc  Antony,  he  over- 
came the  powerful  enemies  who  represented  the 
dangerous  nature  of  his  ambitious  views,  and  was 
exalted,  with  his  brother  Phasselus,  to  the  dignity 
of  tetrarch  of  Judaa.  They  had  not,  however, 
long  enjoyed  their  ofBce  when  the  approach  of 
Antigonus  against  Jerusalem  compelled  them  to 
meditate  immediate  flight.  Phasselus  and  Hyr- 
canus fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  but  Herod, 
making  good  his  escape,  hastened  to  Rome,  where 
he  pleaded  his  cause  and  his  former  merits  with 
so  much  skill,  that  he  was  solemnly  proclaimed 
king  of  the  Jews,  and  endowed  with  the  proper 
ensigns  and  rights  of  royalty.  Augustus,  three 
years  afterwards,  confirmed  this  act  of  the  senate; 
and  Herod  himself  scrupled  not  to  perpetrate  the 
most  horrible  crimes  to  give  further  stability  to 
his  throne.  The  murder  of  his  wife  Mariamne,  a 
daughter  of  Hyrcanus,  and  of  his  two  sons  Alex- 
ander and  Aristobulus,  place  him  in  the  foremost 
rank  of  those  tyrants  whose  names  blacken  the 
page  of  history.    Of  the  massacre  at  Bethlehem 


HERODIAN  FAMILY 

the  Jewish  historian  says  nothing;  but  it  has 
been  well  observed  that  such  an  event,  in  a  reign 
marked  by  so  many  horrible  deeds,  and  occurring 
as  it  did  iu  a  small,  obscure  town,  was  not  likely 
to  obtain  a  place  in  the  national  annals.  The 
reign  of  Herod,  prolonged  through  thirty-seven 
years,  was  in  many  respects  prosperous  ;  and  the 
splendour  of  his  designs  restored  to  Jerusalem,  as 
a  city,  much  of  its  earlier  magnificence. 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  Herod 
made  his  sons  the  heirs  to  his  kingdom  by  a 
formal  testament,  leaving  its  ratification  to  the 
■will  of  the  emperor.  Augustus  assenting  to  its 
main  provisions,  Archelaus  became  tetrarch  of 
Judaea,  Samaria,  and  Idumrea ;  Philip,  of  Tra- 
chonitis  and  Itursca ;  and 

Herod  Antipas,  of  Galilee  and  Persea.  This 
Herod  was  first  married  to  a  daughter  of  King 
Aretas  of  Arabia;  but  forming  an  unholy  attach- 
ment for  Herodias,  the  wife  of  his  brother  Philip, 
he  soon  became  involved  in  a  course  of  guilt 
which  ended  in  his  utter  ruin.  Aretas,  to  avenge 
his  daughter,  sent  a  considerable  army  against 
Herod,  whose  generals  in  vain  attempted  to  oppose 
its  progress.  The  forces  which  they  led  were 
totally  destroyed,  and  instant  ruin  seemed  to 
threaten  both  Herod  and  his  dominions.  An 
appeal  to  the  Romans  afforded  the  only  hope  of 
safety.  Aretas  was  haughtily  ordered  by  the 
emperor  to  desist  from  the  prosecution  of  the 
war ;  and  Herod  accordingly  escaped  the  expected 
overthrow.  But  he  was  not  allowed  to  enjoy  his 
prosperity  long.  His  nephew  Agrippa  having 
obtained  the  title  of  King,  Herodias  urged  him  to 
make  a  journey  to  Italy  and  demand  the  same 
honour.  He  weakly  assented  to  his  wife's  ambi- 
tious representations ;  but  the  project  proved  fetal 
to  them  both.  Agrippa  anticipated  their  designs ; 
and  when  they  appeared  before  Caligula  they 
were  met  by  accusations  of  hostility  to  Rome,  the 
truth  of  which  they  in  vain  attempted  to  disprove. 
Sentence  of  deposition  was  accordingly  passed 
upon  Herod,  and  both  he  and  his  wife  were  sent 
into  banishment,  and  died  at  Lyons  in  Gaul. 

Herod  Agriita,  alluded  to  above,  was  the 
son  of  Aristobulus,  soci'uelly  put  to  death  by  his 
father  Herod  the  Great.  The  earlier  part  of  his 
life  was  spent  at  Rome,  where  the  magnificence 
and  lu.xury  in  which  he  indulged  reduced  him 
to  poverty.  After  a  variety  of  adventures  and 
sufierings  he  was  thrown  into  bonds  by  Tiberius ; 
but  on  the  succession  of  Caligula  was  not  only 
restored  to  liberty,  but  invested  with  royal  dig- 
nity, and  made  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  and  of  the 
districts  formerly  pertaining  to  the  tetrarchy  of 
Philip.  His  influence  at  the  Roman  court  in- 
creasing, he  subsequently  obtained  Galilee  and 
Perasa,  and  at  length  Judaea  and  Samaria,  his 
dominion  being  thus  extended  over  the  whole 
country  of  Palestine. 

To  secure  the  good-will  of  his  subjects,  he 
yielded  to  their  worst  passions  and  caprices. 
Memorable  instances  are  afforded  of  this  in  the 
apostolic  history,  where  we  are  told  that  'He 
stretched  forth  his  hands  to  vex  certain  of  the 
chui-ch,  and  he  killed  James,  the  brother  of  John, 
with  the  sword ;  and  because  he  saw  it  pleased 
the  Jews,  he  proceeded  further  to  take  Peter  also' 
(Acts  xii.  1-3).  His  awful  death,  described  in  the 
same  chapter,  and  by  Josephus  almost  in  the  same 
words,  occurred  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 


HERODIANS 


391 


Herod  Agrippa,  the  son  of  the  above-named, 
was  in  his  seventeenth  year  when  his  father  died. 
The  emperor  Claudius,  at  whose  court  the  young 
Agrippa  was  then  residing,  purposed  conferring 
upon  him  the  dominions  enjoyed  by  his  father. 
From  this  he  was  deterred,  says  Josephus,  by  the 
advice  of  his  ministers,  who  represented  the 
danger  of  trusting  an  important  province  of  the 
empire  to  so  youthful  a  ruler.  Herod  was,  there- 
fore, for  the  time,  obliged  to  content  himself  with 
the  small  prhicipality  of  Chalcis,  but  was  not 
long  after  created  sovereign  of  the  tetrarchies 
formerly  belonging  to  Philip  and  Lysanias;  a 
dominion  increased  at  a  subsequent  period  by 
the  grant  of  a  considerable  portion  of  Pereea. 
The  habits  which  he  had  formed  at  Rome,  and 
his  strong  attachment  to  the  people  to  whose  rulers 
he  was  indebted  for  his  prosperity,  brought  him 
into  frequent  disputes  with  his  own  nation.  He 
died,  at  the  age  of  seventy,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  reign  of  Trajan. 

HERO'DIANS,  a  class  of  Jews  that  existed  in 
the  time  of  Jesus  Christ,  whether  of  a  political  or 
religious  description  it  is  not  easy,  for  want  of 
materials,  to  determine.  The  passages  of  the 
New  Testament  which  refer  to  them  are  the  fol- 
lowing: Mark  iii.  6  ;  xii.  13;  Matt.  xxii.  16; 
Luke  XX.  20.  They  were  associated  with  the 
emissaries  of  the  chief  priests  sent  to  our 
Lord  with  the  express  but  covert  design  of  en- 
snaring him  in  his  speech,  that  thus  they  might 
compass  his  destruction.  The  question  they  put 
to  him  was  one  of  the  most  difficult — '  Is  it  law- 
ful to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar  ? '  The  way  in  which 
Jesus  extricated  himself  from  the  difficulty  and 
discomfited  his  enemies  is  well  known. 

Herod  Antipas,  Tetrarch  of  Galilee,  was  at 
that  time  specially  the  ruler  of  Jesus,  whose  home 
was  in  that  province.  The  Herodians  then  may 
have  been  subjects  of  Herod,  Galilaeans,  whose 
evidence  the  priests  were  wishful  to  procure,  be- 
cause theirs  would  be  the  evidence  of  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  of  .special  force  with  Antipas  as 
being  that  of  his  own  immediate  subjects  (Luke 
xxiii.  7). 

Herod's  relations  with  Rome  were  in  an  imsafi 
condition.  He  was  a  weak  prince,  given  to  ease 
and  luxury,  and  his  wife's  ambition  conspired 
with  his  own  desires  to  make  him  strive  to  obtain 
from  the  Emperor  Caligula  the  title  of  king.  For 
this  purpose  he  took  a  journey  to  Rome,  and  was 
banished  to  Lyons  in  Gaul. 

The  Herodians  may  have  been  favourers  of  his 
pretensions  :  if  so,  they  would  be  partial  hearers, 
and  eager  witnesses  against  Jesus  before  the  Ro- 
man tribunal.  It  would  be  a  great  service  to 
the  Romans  to  be  the  means  of  enabling  them  to 
get  rid  of  one  who  aspired  to  be  king  of  the  Jews. 
It  would  equally  gratify  their  own  lord,  should 
the  Herodians  give  effectual  aid  in  putting  a  pe- 
riod to  the  mysterious  yet  formidable  claims  of 
a  rival  claimant  of  the  crown. 

We  do  not  see  tiat  the  two  characters  here 
ascribed  to  the  Herodians  are  incompatible ;  and 
if  they  were  a  Galilasan  political  party  who  were 
eager  to  procure  from  Rome  the  honour  of  royalty 
for  Herod  (Mark  vi.  14,  the  name  of  king  is 
merely  as  of  courtesy),  they  were  chosen  as  asso- 
ciates by  the  Sanhedrim  with  especial  propriety. 

The  deputation  were  to  '  feign  themselves  just 
men,'  that  is,  men  whose  sympathies  were  entirely 


392 


HESHBON 


Jewish,  and,  as  such,  anti-heatheu :  they  were  to 
intimate  their  dislike  of  paying  tribute,  as  being 
an  acknowledgment  of  a  foreign  yoke ;  and  by 
flattering  Jesus,  as  one  who  loved  truth,  feared  no 
man,  and  would  say  what  he  thought,  they  meant 
to  inveigle  him  into  a  condemnation  of  the  prac- 
tice. In  order  to  carry  these  base  and  hypocri- 
tical designs  into  efiFect,  the  Herodians  were  ap- 
propriately associated  with  the  Pharisees ;  for  as 
the  latter  were  the  recognised  conservators  of  Ju- 
daism, so  the  former  were  friends  of  the  aggran- 
disement of  a  native  as  against  a  foreign  prince. 
HERODIAS.  [Herodian  Family.] 
HERON  (Lev.  xi.  19;  Deut.  xiv.  18).  The 
original  word  anaphah  is  a  disputed  name  of  an 
unclean  bird,  and  which  has  also  been  translated 
kite,  woodcock,  parrot,  and  crane.  For  the  first  of 
these  see  Glede  ;  the  second  is  rare  and  only  a 
momentary  visitor  in  Palestine ;  the  third,  surely, 
required  no  prohibition  where  it  was  not  a  resi- 
dent species,  and  probably  not  imported  till  the 
reign  of  Solomon;  and  as  the  crane,  we  have 
already  shown  it  to  have  been  likewise  exotic, 
making  only  a  momentary  appearance,  and  that 
rarely,  in  Syria.  If  the  Hebrew  name  be  de- 
rived from  a  word  signifying  '  to  breathe  short,' 
or  '  to  sniff  through  the  nostrils  with  an  irritated 
expression,'  the  most  obvious  application  would 
be  to  the  goose,  a  bird  not,  perhaps,  otherwise 
noticed  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  though  it  was 
constantly  eaten  in  Egypt,  was  not  held  unclean 
by  the  Jews,  and,  at  some  seasons,  must  have  fre- 
quented the  lakes  of  Palestine.  The  heron, 
though  not  constantly  hissing,  can  utter  a  similar 
sound  of  displeasure  with  much  more  meaning, 
and  the  common  species  is  found  in  Egypt,  and 
is  also  abundant  in  the  Hauran  of  Palestine, 
where  it  frequents  the  margins  of  lakes  and 
pools,  and  the  reedy  watercourses  in  the  deep  ra- 
vines, striking  apd  devouring  an  immense  quan- 
tity offish. 


207.    [Ardea  cinerea, 


HESH'BON,  a  town  in  the  southern  district  of 

the  Hebrew  territory  beyond  the  Jordan,  parallel 

with,  and   twenty-one  miles   east   of,   the  point 

where  the  Jordan  enters  the  Dead  Sea,  and  nearly 

midway  between  the  rivers  Jabbock  and  Arnon. 

It  originally  belonged  to  the  Moabites ;  but  when 

i   the  Israelites  arrived  from  Egypt,  it  was  found 

j    to  be  in  the  possession  of  the  Amorites,  whose 

I    king,  Sihon,  is  styled  both  king  of  the  Amorites 

and  king  of  Heshbon,  and  is  expressly  said  to 

I    have  'reigned  in  Heshbon  '  (Josh.  iii.  10  ;  comp. 

I    Num.  xxi,  26 ;  Deut.  ii.  9).     It  was  taken   by 

Moses  (Num.  xxi.  23-26),  and  eventually  became 

a  Levitical  city  (Josh.  xxi.  39 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  81) 


HEZEKIAH 

in  the  tribe  of  Reuben  (Num.  xxxii.  37;  Josh. 
xiii.  17);  but  being  on  the  confines  of  Gad,  is 
sometimes  assigned  to  the  latter  tribe  (Josh.  xxi. 
39;  1  Chron.  vi.  81).  After  the  ten  tribes  were 
sent  into  exile,  Heshbon  was  taken  possession  of 
by  the  IMoabites,  and  hence  is  mentioned  by  the 
prophets  in  their  declarations  against  Moab  (Isa. 
XV.  4 ;  Jer.  xlviii.  2,  34,  45).  Under  King  Alex- 
ander Jannaeus  we  find  it  again  reckoned  as  a 
Jewish  city.  At  the  present  day  it  is  known  by 
its  ancient  name  of  Heshbon,  in  the  slightly 
rnodified  form  of  Keshan.  The  ruins  of  a  con- 
siderable town  still  exist,  covering  the  sides 
of  an  insulated  hill,  but  not  a  single  edifice  is  left 
entire.  The  view  from  the  summit  is  very  exten- 
sive, embracing  the  ruins  of  a  vast  number  of 
cities,  the  names  of  some  of  which  bear  a  strong 
resemblance  to  those  mentioned  in  Scripture. 

HEZEKI'AH,  son  of  Ahaz,  and  thirteenth  king 
:)f  Judah,  who  reigned  fromB.c.  725  to  B.C.  096. 

From  the  commencement  of  his  reign  the  efforts 
of  Hezekiah  were  directed  to  the  reparation  of 
the  efiects  of  the  grievous  errors  of  his  predeces- 
sors ;  and  during  his  time  the  true  religion  and 
the  theocratical  policy  flourished  as  they  had  not 
done  since  the  days  of  David.  The  temple  was 
cleared  and  purified ;  the  utensils  and  forms  of 
service  were  restored  to  their  ancient  order  ;  all 
the  changes  introduced  by  Ahaz  were  abolished ; 
all  the  monuments  of  dolatry  were  destroyed,  and 
their  remains  cast  into  the  brook  Kedron.  Among 
the  latter  was  the  brazen  serpent  of  Moses,  which 
had  been  deposited  first  in  the  tabernacle,  and  then 
in  the  temple,  as  a  memorial  of  the  event  in  which 
it  originated:  and  it  is  highly  to  the  credit  of 
Hezekiah,  and  shows  more  clearly  than  any  other 
single  circumstance  the  spirit  of  his  operations, 
that  even  this  interesting  relic  was  not  spared 
when  it  seemed  in  danger  of  being  turned  to 
idolatrous  uses.  Having  succeeded  by  his  acts 
and  words  in  rekindling  the  zeal  of  the  priests 
and  of  the  people,  the  king  appointed  a  high  fes- 
tival, when,  attended  by  his  CQurt  and  people,  he 
proceeded  in  high  state  to  the  temple,  to  present 
sacrifices  of  expiation  for  the  past  irregularities, 
and  to  commence  the  re-organised  services.  A 
vast  number  of  sacrifices  evinced  to  the  people  the 
zeal  of  their  superiors,  and  Judah,  long  sunk  in 
idolatrj-,  was  at  length  reconciled  to  God  (2  Kings 
xviii.  1-8  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.). 

The  revival  of  the  great  annual  festivals  was 
included  in  this  reformation.  The  Passover, 
which  was  the  most  important  of  them  all,  had 
not  for  a  long  time  been  celebrated  according  to 
the  rites  of  the  law;  and  the  day  on  which  it 
regularly  fell,  in  the  first  year  of  Hezekiah,  being 
already  past,  the  king,  nevertheless,  justly  con- 
ceiving the  late  observance  a  less  evil  than  the 
entire  omission  of  the  feast,  directed  that  it  should 
be  kept  on  the  14th  day  of  the  second  month, 
being  one  month  after  its  proper  time.  Couriers 
were  sent  from  town  to  town,  inviting  the  people 
to  attend  the  solemnity;  and  even  the  ten  tribes 
which  formed  the  neighbouring  kingdom  were 
invited  to  share  with  their  brethren  of  Judah  in 
a  dufy  equally  incumbent  on  all  the  children  of 
Abraham.  Of  these  some  received  the  message 
gladly,  and  others  with  disdain  ;  but  a  consider- 
able number  of  persons  belonging  to  the  northern- 
most tribes  (which  had  more  seldom  than  the 
others   been   brought   into   hostile  contact  with 


HEZEKIAH 

Judah)  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  by  their  presence 
imparted  a  new  interest  to  the  solemnity.  A 
profound  and  salutary  impression  appears  to  have 
been  made  on  this  occasion ;  and  so  strong  was 
the  fervour  and  so  great  the  number  of  the 
assembled  people,  that  the  festival  was  prolonged 
to  twice  its  usual  duration  ;  and  during  this  time 
the  multitude  was  fed  abundantly  from  the  count- 
less offerings  presented  by  the  king  and  his 
nobles.  'Never  since  the  time  of  Solomon,  when 
the  whole  of  the  twelve  tribes  were  wont  to 
assemble  at  the  Holy  City,  had  the  Passover 
been  observed  with  such  magnificence  (2  Chron. 

XXX.). 

The  good  effect  of  this  procedure  was  seen 
when  the  people  carried  back  to  their  homes  the 
zeal  for  the  Lord  which  had  thus  been  kindled, 
and  proceeded  to  destroy  and  cast  forth  all  the 
abominations  by  which  their  several  towns  had 
been  defiled ;  thus  performing  again,  on  a  smaller 
scale,  the  doings  of  the  king  in  Jerusalem.  Even 
the  'high  places,'  which  the  pious  kings  of  former 
days  had  spared,  were  on  this  occasion  abolished 
and  overthrown ;  and  even  the  men  of  Israel, 
who  had  attended  the  feast,  were  carried  away  by 
the  same  holy  enthusiasm,  and,  on  returning  to 
their*  homes,  broke  all  their  idols  in  pieces  (2 
Chron.  xxxi.  1). 

The  attention  of  this  pious  and  able  king  was 
extended  to  whatever  concerned  the  interests  of 
religion  in  his  dominions.  He  caused  a  new  col- 
lection of  Solomon's  proverbs  to  be  made,  being 
the  same  which  occupy  chaps,  xxv.  to  xxix.  of 
the  book  which  bears  that  name.  The  sectional 
divisions  of  the  priests  and  Levites  were  re-esta- 
blished ;  the  perpetual  sacrifices  were  recom- 
menced, and  maintained  from  the  royal  treasure ; 
the  stores  of  the  temple  were  once  more  filled  by 
the  offerings  of  the  people,  and  the  times  of  Solo- 
mon and  Jehoshaphat  seemed  to  have  returned 
(2  Chron.  xxxi.). 

This  great  work  having  been  accomplished  and 
consolidated  (2  Kings  xvii.  7,  &c.),  Hezekiah 
applied  himself  to  repair  the  calamities,  as  he 
had  repaired  the  crimes,  of  his  father's  govern- 
ment. He  took  arms,  and  recovered  the  cities  of 
Judah  which  the  Philistines  had  seized.  Encou- 
raged by  this  success,  he  ventured  to  withhold 
the  tribute  which  his  father  had  paid  to  the 
Assyrian  king  ;  and  this  act,  which  the  result 
shows  to  have  been  imprudent,  drew  upon  the 
country  the  greatest  calamities  of  his  reign.  Only 
a  few  years  before,  namely,  in  the  fourth  of  his 
reign,  the  Assyrians  had  put  an  end  to  the  king- 
dom of  Israel  and  sent  the  ten  tribes  into  exile  ; 
but  had  abstained  from  molesting  Hezekiah,  as 
he  was  already  their  tributary.  Seeifcg  his  coun- 
try invaded  on  all  sides  by  the  Assyrian  forces 
under  Sennacherib,  and  Lachish,  a  strong  place 
which  covered  Jerusalem,  on  the  point  of  falling 
into  their  hands,  Hezekiah,  not  daring  to  meet 
them  in  the  field,  occupied  himself  in  all  neces- 
sary preparations  for  a  protracted  defence  of  Jeru- 
salem, in  hope  of  assistance  from  Egypt,  with 
which  country  he  had  contracted  an  alliance  (Isa. 
XXX.  1-7).  Such  alliances  were  not  favoured  by 
the  Divine  sovereign  of  Israel  and  his  prophets, 
and  no  good  ever  came  of  them.  But  this  alli- 
ance did  not  render  the  good  king  unmindful  of 
his  true  source  of  strength ;  for  in  quieting  the 
alarms  of  the  people  he  directed  their  attention  to 


HEZEKIAH 


393 


the  consideration  that  they  in  fact  had  more  of 
power  and  strength  in  tlie  divine  protection  thau 
the  Assyrian  king  possessed  in  all  his  host.  Ne- 
vertheless, Hezekiah  was  himself  distrustful  of 
the  course  he  had  taken,  and  at  length,  to  avert 
the  calamities  of  war,  sent  to  the  Assyrian  king 
offers  of  submission.  Sennacherib,  who  was 
anxious  to  proceed  against  Egypt,  consented  to 
withdraw  his  forces  on  the  payment  of  three 
hundred  talents  of  silver  and  thirty  talents  of 
gold ;  which  the  king  was  not  able  to  raise  with- 
out exhausting  both  his  own  treasury  and  that  of 
the  temple,  and  stripping  off  the  gold  with  which 
the  doors  and  pillars  of  the  Lord's  house  were 
overlaid  (2  Kings  xviii.  7-16). 

But  after  he  had  received  the  silver  and  gold, 
the  Assyrian  king  broke  faith  with  Hezekiah,  and 
continued  to  prosecute  his  warlike  operations. 
While  he  employed  himself  in  taking  the  fort- 
resses of  Judaea,  -which  it  was  important  to  secure 
before  he  marched  against  Egypt,  he  sent  three 
of  his  generals,  Rabshakeh,  Tartan,  and  Rabsaris, 
with  part  of  his  forces,  to  threaten  Jerusalem  with 
a  siege  unless  it  were  surrendered,  and  the  inha- 
bitants submitted  to  be  sent  into  Assyria;  and 
this  summons  was  delivered  in  language  highly 
insulting  not  only  to  the  king  and  people,  hut  to 
the  God  they  worshipped.  When  the  terms  of 
the  summons  were  made  known  to  Hezekiah,  he 
gathered  courage  from  the  conviction  that  God 
would  not  fail  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  his  in- 
sulted name.  In  this  conviction  he  was  con- 
firmed by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who,  in  the  Lords 
name,  promised  the  utter  discomfiture  and  over- 
throw of  the  blasphemous  Assyrian  :  '  Lo,  I  will 
send  a  blast  upon  him,  and  he  shall  hear  a  rumour, 
and  shall  return  to  his  own  land,  and  I  will 
cause  him  to  die  by  the  sword  in  his  own  land  ' 
(2  Kings  xix.  7).  The  rumour  which  Senna- 
cherib heard  was  of  the  advance  of  Tirhakah 
the  Ethiopian  to  the  aid  of  the  Egyptians,  with  a 
force  which  the  Assyrians  did  not  deem  it  pru- 
dent to  meet;  but,  before  withdrawing  to  his  own 
countrj-,  Sennacherib  sent  a  threatening  letter  to 
Hezekiah,  designed  to  check  the  gladness  which 
his  retirement  was  likely  to  produce.  But  that 
very  night  the  predicted  blast — probably  the  hot 
pestilential  south  wind — smote  180,000  men  in  the 
camp  of  the  Assyrians,  and  released  the  men  of 
Judah  from  all  their  fears  (2  Kings  xviii.  17-37  ; 
xix.  1-34;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  1-23;  Isa.  xxxvi. 
37). 

It  was  in  the  same  year,  and  while  Jerusalem 
was  still  threatened  by  the  Assyrians,  that  Heze- 
kiah fell  sick  of  the  plague ;  and  the  aspect  which 
the  plague-boil  assumed  assured  him  that  he  must 
die.  In  this  he  was  confirmed  by  Isaiah,  who 
warned  him  that  his  end  approached.  The  love 
of  life,  the  condition  of  the  country — the  Assy- 
rians being  present  in  it,  and  the  throne  of  David 
without  an  heir — caused  him  to  grieve  at  this 
doom,  and  to  pray  earnestly  that  he  might  be 
spared.  And  his  prayer  was  heard  in  heaven. 
The  prophet  returned  with  the  assurance  that  in 
three  days  he  should  recover,  and  that  fifteen  ad- 
ditional years  of  life  should  be  given  to  him. 
This  communication  was  altogether  so  extraor- 
dinary, that  the  king  required  some  token  by 
which  his  belief  might  be  justified  ;  and  accord- 
ingly the  '  sign '  which  he  required  was  granted 
to  him.    The  shadow  of  the  sun  went  back  upoH 


894  KIEL 

the  dial  of  Ahaz  the  ten  degrees  it  had  gone 
down  [Dial].  This  was  a  marvel  greater  than 
that  of  the  cure  which  the  king  distrusted ;  for 
there  is  no  known  principle  of  astronomy  or 
natural  philosophy  by  which  such  a  result  could 
be  produced.  A  cataplasm  of  figs  was  then  ap- 
plied to  the  plague-boil,  under  the  direction  of  the 
prophet,  and  on  the  third  day,  as  foretold,  the 
king  recovered  (2  Kings  xx.  1-11;  2  Chron. 
xxXii.  24-2G  ;  Isa.  xxxviii.).     [Plague.] 

The  destruction  of  the  Assyrians  drew  the  at- 
tention of  foreign  courts  for  a  time  towards  Ju- 
daea, and  caused  the  facts  connected  with  Heze- 
kiah's  recovery,  and  the  retrogression  of  the 
shadow  on  the  dial,  to  be  widely  known.  Among 
others,  Merodaeh  Baladan,  king  of  Babylon,  sent 
ambassadors  with  presents  to  make  inquiries  into 
those  matters,  and  to  congratulate  the  king  on 
his  recovery.  Since  the  time  of  Solomon  the 
appearance  of  such  embassies  from  distant  parts 
had  been  rare  at  Jerusalem ;  and  the  king,  in  the 
pride  of  his  heart,  made  a  somewhat  ostentatious 
display  to  Baladan's  ambassadors  of  all  his  trea- 
sures, which  he  had  probably  recovered  from  the 
Assyrians,  and  much  increased  with  their  spoil. 
Josephus  {Antiq.  x.  2.  2)  says  that  one  of  the  ob- 
jects of  the  embassy  was  to  form  an  alliance  with 
Hezekiah  against  the  Assyrian  empire  ;  and  if  so, 
his  readiness  to  enter  into  an  alliance  adverse  to 
the  theocratical  policy,  and  his  desire  to  magnify 
his  own  importance  in  the  eyes  of  the  king  of 
Babylon,  probably  furnished  the  ground  of  the 
divine  disapprobation  with  which  his  conduct  in 
this  matter  was  regarded.  He  was  reprimanded 
by  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who  revealed  to  him  the 
mysteries  -of  the  future,  so  far  as  to  apprise  him 
that  all  these  treasures  should  hereafter  be  in  the 
possession  of  the  Babylonians,  and  his  family  and 
people  exiles  in  the  land  from  which  these  am- 
bassadors came.  This  intimation  was  received 
by  the  king  with  his  usual  submission  to  the  will 
of  God  ;  and  he  was  content  to  know  that  these 
evils  were  not  to  be  inflicted  in  his  own  days. 
He  has  sometimes  been  blamed  for  this  seeming 
indifference  to  the  fate  of  his  successors ;  but  it  is 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  at  this  time  he  had  no 
cliildren.  This  was  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  his 
reign,  and  Manasseh,  his  successor,  was  not  bom 
till  three  years  afterwards  (2  Kings  xx.  12-19  ; 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  31  ;  Isa.  xxxix.).  The  rest  of 
Hezekiah's  life  appears  to  have  been  peaceable 
and  prosperous.  No  man  before  or  since  ever 
lived  under  the  certain  knowledge  of  the  precise 
length  of  the  span  of  life  before  him.  When  the 
fifteen  years  had  expired,  Hezekiah  was  gathered 
to  his  fathers,  after  a  reign  of  twenty-nine  years. 
He  died  sincerely  lamented  by  all  his  people,  and 
the  public  respect  for  his  character  and  memory 
was  testified  by  his  corpse  being  placed  in  the 
highest  niche  of  the  royal  sepulchre  (2  Kings  xx. 
20,  21  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  32,  33). 

HI'EL  {God  liveth),  k  native  of  Beth-el,  who 
rebuilt  Jericho,  above  500  years  after  its  destruc- 
tion by  the  Israelites,  and  who,  in  so  doing,  in- 
curred the  effects  of  the  imprecation  pronounced 
by  Joshua  (1  Kings  xvi.  34) : 
Accursed  the  man  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah, 
Who  shall  arise  and  build  this  city,  even  Jericho ; 
With  the  loss  of  his  first-born  shall  he  found  it, 
And  with  the  loss  of  his  youngest  shall  he  fix  its 
gates  (Josh,  vi.  26). 


HIGH  PLACES  AND  GROVES 

HIERAP'OLIS.  a  city  of  Phrygia,  not  far  from 
Colossee  and  Laodicea,  where  there  was  a  Chris- 
tian church  under  the  charge  of  Epaphros,  as  early 
as  the  time  of  St.  Paul,  who  commends  him  for  his 
fidelity  and  zeal  (Colos.  iv.  12,  13).  The  place  is 
visible  from  the  theatre  at  Laodicea,  from  which 
it  is  five  miles  distant  northward. 

The  place  now  bears  the  name  of  Pamluck- 
kale  (Cotton-castle),  from  the  white  appearance 
of  the  cliffs  of  the  mountain  on  the  lower  summit, 
or  rather  an  extended  terrace,  on  which  the  ruins 
are  situated.  It  owed  its  celebrity,  and  probably 
the  sanctity  indicated  by  its  ancient  name  (Holy 
City),  to  its  very  remarkable  springs  of  mineral 
water,  the  singular  effects  of  which,  in  the  forma- 
tion of  stalactites  and  incrustations  by  its  deposits, 
are  shown  in  the  accounts  of  Pococke  and  Chan- 
dler, to  have  been  accurately  described  by  Strabo. 
A  great  number  and  variety  of  sepulchres  are 
found  in  the  different  approaches  to  the  site,  which 
on  one  side  is  sufficiently  defended  by  the  preci- 
pices overlooking  the  valleys  of  the  Lycus  and 
Mseander,  while  on  the  other  sides  the  town  walls 
are  still  observable.  The  magnificent  ruins  clearly  | 
attest  the  ancient  importance  of  the  place. 

HIGH  PLACES  AND  GROVES.  As.  high 
places  and  groves  are  almost  constantly  associated 
in  Scripture,  it  seems  undesirable  to  separate  them 
in  our  consideration. 

By  '  high  places '  we  are  content  to  understand 
natural  or  artificial  eminences,  where  worship  by 
sacrifice  or  offering  was  made,  usually  upon  an 
altar  erected  thereon. 

By  a  '  grove '  we  understand  a  plantation  of 
trees  around  a  spot  in  the  open  air  set  apart  for 
worship  and  other  sacred  services,  and  therefore 
around  or  upon  the  '  high  places '  which  were  set 
apart  for  the  same  purposes. 

We  find  traces  of  the  custom  of  worshipping  in 
groves  and  upon  high  places  so  soon  after  the 
deluge,  that  it  is  probable  they  existed  p)ior  to 
that  event.  It  appears  that  the  first  altar  after 
the  deluge  was  built  bj'  Noah  upon  the  mountain 
on  which  the  ark  rested  (Gen.  viii.  20).  Abraham, 
on  entering  the  Promised  Land,  built  an  altar 
upon  a  mountain  between  Bethel  and  Hai  (xii. 
7,  8).  At  Beersheba  he  planted  a  grove,  and 
called  there  upon  the  name  of  the  everlasting  God 
(Gen.  xxi.  33).  The  same  patriarch  was  required 
to  travel  to  the  mount  Moriah,  and  there  to  offer  j 
up  his  son  Isaac  (xxii.  2,  4).  It  was  upon  a 
mountain  in  Gilead  that  Jacob  and  Laban  ofl'ered 
sacrifices  before  they  parted  in  peace  (xxxi.  54). 
In  fact,  such  seem  to  have  been  the  general  places 
of  worship  in  those  times ;  nor  does  any  notice  of 
a  temple,  or  other  covered  or  enclosed  building 
for  that  purpose,  occur.  Thus  far  all  seems  clear 
and  intelligible.  There  is  no  reason  in  the  mere 
nature  of  things  whj^  a  hill  or  a  grove  should  be 
an  objectionable,  or,  indeed,  why  it  should  not  be 
a  very  suitable,  place  for  worship.  Yet  by  the 
time  the  Israelites  returned  from  Egjpt,  some 
corrupting  change  had  taken  place,  which  caused 
them  to  be  repeatedly  and  strictly  enjoined  to 
overthrow  and  destroy  the  high  places  and  groves 
of  the  Canaanites  wherever  they  found  them 
(Exod.  xxxiv.  13  ;  Deut.  vii.  5  ;  xii.  2,  3\  That 
they  were  not  themselves  to  worship  the  Lord  on 
high  places  or  in  groves  is  implied  in  the  fact 
that  they  were  to  have  but  one  altar  for  regular 
and  constant  sacrifice ;  and  it  was  expressly  en- 


HIGH  PLACES  AND  GROVES 

joined  that  near  this  sole  altar  no  trees  should  be 
planted  (Deut.  xvi.  21). 

It  is  possible  that  the  Canaanites  had  not  yet 
fkllen  into  rank  idolatry  in  the  time  of  Abraham 
— at  least,  not  into  such  idolatries  as  defiled  the 
very  places  in  which  they  worshipped.  We  know, 
at  all  events,  that  their  iniquity  was  not  full  in 
those  earlier  times,  but  that  when  the  Israelites 
invaded  the  land  their  iniquity  was  full  to  over- 
flowing. As  included  in  this,  we  may  with  toler- 
able certainty  infer  that  their  religion  had  become 
so  grossly  erroneous  and  impure,  that  it  was  need- 
ful to  place  under  ban  even  their  places  of  wor- 
ship, which  might  otherwise  bring  the  Israelites 
into  danger  by  the  associations  which  had  become 
connected  with  them. 

The  great  object  of  the  law  was  to  attach  the 
Israelites  to  the  worship  of  the  One  Jehovah,  the 
Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  to  preserve  them 
from  the  polytheism  into  which  the  nations  had 
fallen.  Now  it  is  certain  that  the  Canaanites  had 
become  polytheistic,  and,  consequently,  that  their 
high  places  and  groves  were  dedicated  to  different 
gods.  By  continuing  or  adopting  the  use  of  this 
custom,  the  Israelites  would  infallibly  have  fallen 
into  the  same  notions. 

The  groves  which  ancient  usage  had  esta- 
blished around  the  places  of  sacrifice  for  the  sake 
of  shade  and  seclusion,  idolatry  preserved  not 
only  for  the  same  reasons,  but  because  they  were 
found  convenient  for  the  celebration  of  the  rites 
and  mysteries,  often  obscene  and  abominable, 
which  were  gradually  superadded.  Then  the 
presence  of  a  grove  of  a  particular  species  of  tree 
at  the  principal  seat  of  the  worship  of  a  particular 
god,  would  occasion  trees  of  the  same  kind  to  be 
planted  at  other  seats  of  the  same  worship ;  whence 
that  kind  of  tree  came  to  be  regarded  as  specially 
appropriate  to  the  particular  idol ;  and,  in  pro- 
cess of  thne,  there  was  no  important  tree  which 
had  not  become  the  property  of  some  god  or 
goddess,  so  that  every  stranger  who  passed  by  a 
sacred  grove  could  determine  by  the  species  of 
tree  of  wliich  it  was  composed  to  what  God  the 
high  place,  altar,  or  temple  with  which  it  was  con- 
nected belonged. 

This  statement  of  the  notions  connected  with 
religious  worship  in  high  places  and  in  groves 
seems  amply  to  support  the  view  we  have  taken 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  dangers  which  the  prohi- 
bition of  it  was  designed  to  obviate.  The  expla- 
nation as  to  the  special  appropriation  of  trees  to 
particular  gods  alone  sufBces  to  throw  a  flood  of 
light  upon  the  injunction  to  cut  down  the  sacred 
groves  of  the  Canaanites ;  seeing  that  while  these 
groves  remained,  it  would  be  impossible  to  dis- 
sociate the  idea  of  the  god  to  which  the  trees  had 
been  consecrated ;  and  the  disgraceful  orgies 
which  were  celebrated  under  their  obscure  shade, 
would  alone  sufiice  to  explain  the  same  injunc- 
tion on  the  ground  of  the  holy  abhorrence  with 
which  the  scene  of  such  abominations  must  be  re- 
garded by  One  who  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold 
iniquity. 

The  injunctions,  however,  respecting  the  high 
places  and  groves  were  very  imperfectly  obeyed 
by  the  Israelites  ;  and  their  inveterate  attachment 
to  this  mode  of  worship  was  such  that  even  pious 
kings,  who  opposed  idolatry  by  all  the  means  in 
their  power,  dared  not  abolish  the  high  places  at 
which  the  Lord  was  worshipped.    And  it  appears 


HIRAM  395 

to  us  likely,  that  this  toleration  of  an  acknow- 
ledged irregularity  arose  from  the  indisposition 
of  the  people  living  at  a  distance  from  the  temple 
to  be  confined  to  the  altar  which  existed  there ; 
to  their  determination  to  have  places  nearer  home 
for  the  chief  acts  of  their  religion — sacrifice  and 
ofiFering  ;  and  to  the  apprehension  of  the  kings 
that  if  they  were  prevented  from  having  places 
for  offerings  to  the  Lord  in  their  own  neighbour- 
hood, they  would  make  the  offerings  to  idols. 
This  view  of  the  case  seems  to  be  strongly  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  we  hear  no  more  of  this 
proneness  to  worship  in  high  places  and  in  groves 
after  synagogues  and  regular  religious  services 
had  been  established  in  the  towns  and  gave  suf- 
ficient operation  to  the  disposition  among  men  to 
create  a  local  interest  in  religious  observances. 

HIGH-PRIEST.     [Priests.] 

HILKI'AH.  Several  persons  of  this  name 
occur  in  Scripture,  of  whom  the  following  are  the 
chief:  1.  The  father  of  Jeremiah  (Jer.  i.  1).  2. 
A  high-priest  in  the  reign  of  Josias  (2  Kings  xxii. 
4,  8,  10).  3.  The  father  of  Eliakim  (2  Kings 
xviii.  18,  26  ;  Isa.  xxTi.  20). 

HIN,  a  Hebrew  liquid  measure  [Weights  and 
Measures]. 

HIND  (Gen.  xlix.  21 ;  2  Sam.  xxii.  34;  Job 
xxxix.  1 ;  Ps.  xviii.  33,  &c.),  the  female  of  the 
hart  or  stag,  doe  being  the  female  of  the  fallow- 
deer,  and  roe  being  sometimes  used  for  that  of  the 
roebuck.  All  the  females  of  the  Ctrvida,  with 
the  exception  of  the  reindeer,  are  hornless.  It 
may  be  remarked  that  the  emendation  of  Bochart 
on  the  version  of  Gen.  xlix.  21,  where  for  '  Naph- 
thali  is  a  hind  let  loose,  he  giveth  goodly  words,' 
he,  by  a  small  change  in  the  punctuation  of  the 
original,  proposes  to  read  '  Naphthali  is  a  spread- 
ing tree,  shooting  forth  beautiful  branches,'  re- 
stores the  text  to  a  consistent  meaning,  agi-eeing 
with  the  Sept.,  the  Chaldee  paraphrase,  and  th« 
Arabic  version.     [Hart.] 

HIN'NOM,  or  rather  Ben-Hinnom,  an  unknown 
person,  whose  name  was  given  to  the  valley  which 
bounds  Jerusalem  on  the  north,  below  Mount 
Zion,  and  which  in  Scripture  is  often  mentioned 
in  connection  with  the  horrid  rites  of  Moloch, 
wliich  under  idolatrous  kings  were  there  celebra- 
ted (Josh.  XV.  8 ;  xviii.  16  ;  Neh.  xi.  30 ;  Jer. 
vii.  31  ;  xix.  2).  W^hen  Josiah  overthrew  this 
idolatry,  he  defiled  the  valley  by  casting  into  it 
the  bones  of  the  dead,  the  greatest  of  all  pollu- 
tions among  the  Hebrews  :  and  from  that  time  it 
became  the  common  jakes  of  Jerusalem,  into 
which  all  refuse  of  the  city  was  cast,  and  where 
the  combustible  portions  of  that  refuse  were  con- 
sumed by  fire.  Hence  it  came  to  be  regarded  as 
a  sort  of  type  of  hell,  the  Gehenna  of  the  New 
Testament  being  no  other  than  the  name  of  this 
valley  of  Hinnom  (Ge-Hinnom)  ;  see  Matt.  v. 
22,  sq. ;  Mark  ix.  43  ;  Luke  vii.  5  ;  John  iii.  G. 

1.  HI'EAM,  king  of  Tyre,  at  the  commencement 
of  David's  reign.  He  sent  an  embassy  to  felicitate 
David  on  his  accession,  which  led  to  an  alliance, 
or  strengthened  a  previous  friendship  between 
them.  It  seems  that  the  dominion  of  this  prince 
extended  over  the  western  slopes  of  Lebanon; 
and  when  David  built  himself  a  palace,  Hiram 
materially  assisted  the  work  by  sending  cedar- 
wood  from  Lebanon,  and  able  workmen  to 
Jerusalem  (2  Sam.  v.  11 ;  1  Chron.  xiv.  1), 
B.C.  1055. 


S96 


HITTITES 


2.  HIKAM,  king  of  Tyre,  son  of  Abibaal,  and 
grandson  of  the  Hiram  who  -was  contemporary 
■with  David,  in  the  last  years  of  whose  i-eign  he 
ascended  the  throne  of  Tyre.  Following  his 
grandfather's  example,  he  sent  to  Jerusalem  an 
embassy  of  condolence  and  congratulation  when 
David  died  and  Solomon  succeeded,  and  con- 
tracted with  the  new  king  a  more  intimate 
alliance  than  ever  before  or  after  existed  between 
a  Hebrew  king  and  a  foreign  prince.  The  alliance 
seems  to  have  been  very  substantially  beneficial 
to  both  parties,  and  without  it  Solomon  would 
scarcely  have  been  able  to  realise  all  the  great 
designs  he  had  in  view.  In  consideration  of 
large  quantities  of  corn,  wine,  and  oil,  furnished 
by  Solomon,  the  king  of  Tyre  agreed  to  supply 
from  Lebanon  the  timber  required  for  the  temple, 
to  float  it  along  the  coast,  and  deliver  it  at  Joppa, 
which  was  the  port  of  Jerusalem  (I  Kings  v.  1, 
sq. ;  ix.  10,  sq. ;  1  Chron.  ii.  3,  sq.).  The  vast 
commerce  of  Tyre  made  gold  very  plentiful  there ; 
and  Hiram  supplied  no  less  than  500  talents  to 
Solomon  for  the  ornamental  works  of  the  temple, 
and  received  in  return  twenty  towns  in  Galilee ; 
which,  when  he  came  to  inspect  them,  pleased  him 
so  little,  that  he  applied  to  them  a  name  of  con- 
tempt, and  restored  them  to  the  Jewish  king  (2 
Chron.  viii.  2)  [Cabul].  It  does  not,  however, 
appear  that  the  good  understanding  between  the 
two  kings  was  broken  by  this  unpleasant  circum- 
stance ;  for  it  was  after  this  that  Hiram  suggested, 
or  at  least  took  part  in,  Solomon's  traffic  to  the 
Eastern  seas — which  certainly  could  not  have 
been  undertaken  by  the  Hebrew  king  without  his 
assistance  in  providing  ships  and  experienced 
mariners  (1  Kings  ix.  27  ;  x.  11,  &c.;  2  Chron. 
viii.  18;  ix.  10,  &c.),  B.C.  1007  [Ophir;  Solo- 
mon; Phcenicians]. 

3.  HIKAM,  or  HURAM,  son  of  a  widow  of 
the  tribe  of  Dan,  and  of  a  Tyrian  father.  He  was 
sent  by  the  king  of  the  same  name  to  execute 
the  principal  works  of  the  interior  of  the  temple, 
and  the  various  utensils  required  for  the  sacred 
services.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  selected  for 
this  purpose  by  the  king  from  among  others 
equally  gifted,  in  the  notion  that  his  half  Hebrew 
blood  would  render  him  the  more  acceptable  at 
Jerusalem. 

HIT'TITES,  or  children  of  Heth,  one  of  the 
tribes  of  Canaanites  which  occupied  Palestine 
before  the  Israelites  (Gen.  xv.  20 ;  Exod.  iii.  8  ; 
xxiii.  23).  They  lived  in  and  about  Hebron  ;  and 
Abraham,  when  he  abode  in  that  neighbourhood, 
was  treated  by  them  with  respect  and  considera- 
tion (Gen.  xxiii.  3-7,  11,  12).  This  intimacy  led 
to  Esau's  marriage  with  two  women  of  this  nation, 
to  the  grief  and  annoyance  of  his  parents  (Gen. 
xxyi.  34,  35;  xxxvi.  2).  The  Hittites  are  de- 
scribed in  Num.  xiii.  29,  along  with  the  Amorites, 
as  '  dwelling  in  the  mountains,'  that  is,  in  what 
were  afterwards  called  '  the  mountains  of  Judah,' 
of  which  Hebron  was  the  chief  town.  Uriah, 
who  had  the  high  honour  of  being  one  of  David's 
thirty  '  worthies,'  is  called  a  Hittite  (2  Sam.  xi. 
3,  6  ;  1  Kings  ix.  20).  He  was,  doubtless,  a  pro- 
selyte, and  probably  descended  from  several 
generations  of  proselytes ;  but  the  fact  shows  that 
Canaanitish  blood  was  in  itself  no  bar  to  advance- 
ment in  the  court  and  army  of  David.  Solomon 
subjected  the  remaining  Hittites  to  the  same  tri- 
bute of  bond-service  as  the  other  remnants  of  the 


HOBAB 

Canaanite  nations  (1  Kings  ix.  20).  Of  all  these 
the  Hittites  appear  to  have  been  the  most  impor- 
tant, and  to  have  been  under  a  king  of  their  own  : 
for  '  the  kings  of  the  Hittites '  are,  in  1  Kings 
X.  29,  coupled  with  the  kings  of  Syria  as  pur- 
chasers of  the  chariots  which  Solomon  imported 
from  Egypt.  The  Hittites  were  still  present 
in  Palestine  as  a  distinct  people  after  the  Exile, 
and  are  n.imed  among  the  alien  tribes  with  whom 
the  returned  Israelites  contracted  those  marriages 
which  Ezra  urged,  and  Nehemiah  compelled, 
them  to  dissolve  (Ezra  ix.  1,  &c.  i  comp.  Neh. 
xiii.  23-28).  After  this  we  hear  no  more  of  the 
Hittites,  who  probably  lost  their  national  identity 
by  intermixture  with  the  neighbouring  tribes  or 
nations. 

HI'VITES,  one  of  the  nations  of  Canaan  which 
occupied  Palestine  before  the  Israelites  (Gen.  x. 
17;  Exod.  iii.  8,  17;  xxiii.  23;  Josh.  iii.  10). 
They  occupied  the  northern  and  north-eastern 
part  of  the  country.  In  Judg.  iii.  3,  it  is  stated 
that  'the  Hivites  dwelt  in  Mount  Hermon,  from 
Mount  Baal-hermon  unto  the  entering  in  of  Ha- 
math ;'  and  in  Josh.  xi.  3,  the  Hivites  are  described 
as  living  '  under  Hermon  in  the  land  of  Mizpeh.' 
The  *  cities  of  the  Hivites '  are  mentioned  in  2 
Sam.  xxiv.  7,  and,  from  being  associated  with 
Sidon  and  Tyre,  must  have  been  in  the  north- 
west. A  remnant  of  the  nation  still  existed  in 
the  time  of  Solomon,  who  subjected  them  to  a 
tribute  of  personal  labour,  with  the  remnants  of 
other  Canaanitish  nations  which  the  Israelites 
had  been  unable  to  expel  (1  Kings  ix.  20).  A 
colony  of  this  tribe  was  also  found  in  Northern 
Palestine,  occupying  the  towns  of  Gideon,  Chephi- 
rah,  Beeroth,  and  Kirjath-jearim :  and  these 
obtained  from  Joshua  a  treaty  of  peace  by  strata- 
gem (Josh.  ix.  3-17  ;  xi.  19). 

HO'BAB,  kinsman  of  Moses  and  priest  or 
prince  of  Midian,  a  tract  of  country  in  Arabia 
Petraea,  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  Red  Sea,  at 
no  great  distance  from  Mount  Sinai.  The  family 
of  this  individual  seems  to  have  observed  the 
worship  of  the  true  God  in  common  with  the 
Hebrews  (Exod.  xviii.  11,12). 

Considerable  difficulty  has  been  felt  in  deter- 
mining who  this  person  was,  as  well  as  his  exact 
relation  to  Moses  ;  for  the  word,  which,  in  Exod. 
iii.  1,  Num.  x.  29,  Judg.  iv.  11,  is  translated 
father-in-law,  and  in  Gen.  xix.  14,  son-in-law,  is 
a  term  of  indeterminate  signification,  denoting 
simply  relationship  by  marriage ;  and  besides,  the 
transaction  which  in  one  place  (Exod.  xviii.  27) 
is  related  of  Jethro,  is  in  another  related  of  Hobab. 
The  probability  is,  that  as  forty  years  had  elapsed 
since  Moses'  connection  with  this  family  was 
formed,  his  father-in-law  (Exod.  ii.  18)  Reuel  or 
Raguel  (the  same  word  in  the  original  is  used  in 
both  places)  was  dead,  or  confined  to  his  tent  by 
the  infirmities  of  age,  and  that  the  person  who 
visited  Moses  at  the  foot  of  Sinai  was  his  brother- 
in-law,  called  Hobab  in  Num.  x.  29,  Judg.  iv.  11 ; 
Jethro  in  Exod.  iii.  1 ;  and  the  Kenite  in  Judg. 
i.  16. 

About  a  year  after  the  Exodus  he  paid  a  visit 
to  Moses,  while  the  Hebrew  camp  was  lying  in 
the  environs  of  Sinai,  bringing  with  him  Zipporah, 
Moses'  wife,  who,  together  with  her  two  sons,  had 
been  left  with  her  family  while  her  husband  was 
absent  on  his  embassy  to  Pharaoh.  The  inter- 
view was  on  both  sides  affectionate,  and  was  cele- 


HONEY 


HONEY 


397 


brated  first  by  the  solemn  rites  of  religion,  and 
afterwards  by  festivities,  of  which  Aaron  and  the 
elders  of  Israel  were  invited  to  partake.  On  the 
following  day,  observing  Moses  incessantly  occu- 
pied in  deciding  causes  that  were  submitted  to 
him  for  judgment,  his  experienced  kinsman  re- 
monstrated with  him  on  the  speedy  exhaustion 
which  a  perseverance  in  such  arduous  labours 
would  superinduce  ;  and  in  order  to  relieve  him- 
s.df,  as  well  as  secure  a  due  attention  to  every 
case,  he  urged  Moses  to  appoint  a  number  of 
subordinate  officers  to  divide  with  him  the  duty 
of  the  judicial  tribunals,  with  power  to  decide  in 
all  common  affairs,  while  the  weightier  and  more 
serious  matters  were  reserved  to  himself.  This 
wise  suggestion  the  Hebrew  legislator  adopted 
i^Exod.  xviii.). 

When  the  Hebrews  were  preparing  to  decamp 
from  Sinai,  the  kinsman  of  Moses  announced  his 
intention  to  return  to  his  own  territory  ;  but  if  he 
did  carry  that  purpose  into  execution,  it  was  in 
opposition  to  the  urgent  solicitations  of  the  Jewish 
leader,  who  entreated  him,  for  his  own  advantage, 
to  cast  in  his  lot  with  the  people  of  God  ;  at  all 
events  to  continue  with  them,  and  afford  them 
the  benefit  of  his  thorough  acquaintance  with  the 
wilderness.  '  Leave  us  not,  I  pray  thee,'  said 
Moses,  '  forasmuch  as  thou  knowest  how  we  are 
to  encamp  in  the  wilderness,  and  thou  mayest  be 
to  us  instead  of  eyes ;'  in  other  words,  that  Hobab 
might  perform  the  office  of  a  hybeer  or  guide 
[Caravan] — his  influence  as  an  Arab  chief,  his 
knowledge  of  the  routes,  the  situation  of  the  wells, 
the  places  for  fuel,  the  prognostics  of  the  weather, 
and  the  most  eligible  stations  for  encamping, 
rendering  him  peculiarly  qualified  to  act  in  that 
important  capacity.  It  is  true  that  God  was  their 
leader,  by  the  pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire 
by  night,  the  advancement  or  the  halting  of  which 
regulated  their  journeys  and  fixed  their  encamp- 
ments. But  beyond  these  general  directions  the 
tokens  of  their  heavenly  guide  did  not  extend. 
And  as  smaller  parties  were  frequently  sallying 
forth  from  the  main  body  in  quest  of  forage  and 
other  necessaries,  which  human  observation  or 
enterprise  was  sufficient  to  provide,  so  Moses  dis- 
covered his  wisdom  and  good  sense  in  enlisting 
the  aid  of  a  native  sheik,  who,  from  his  family 
connection  with  himself,  his  powerful  influence, 
and  his  long  experience,  promised  to  render  the 
Israelites  most  important  services. 

HOG.     [Boar;  Swine.] 

HONEY.  In  the  Scripture  there  are  three 
words  denoting  different  sweet  substances,  all  of 
which  are  rendered  by  '  honey'  in  the  Autho- 
rized Version.  These  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish, 

1.  Yaar,  which  only  occurs  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  25, 
27,29;  Cant.  v.  1;  and  denotes  the  honey  of 
bees,  and  that  only. 

'2.  Nopeth,  honey  that  drops,  usually  associated 
with  the  comb,  and  therefore  bee-honey.  This 
occurs  in  Ps.  xix.  10;  Prov.  v.  3;  xxiv.  13; 
xxvii.  7;  Cant.  iv.  11. 

3.  Debesh.  This  is  the  most  frequent  word. 
It  sometimes  denotes  bee-honey,  as  in  Judg.  xiv. 
8,  but  more  commonly  a  vegetable  honey  dis- 
tilled from  trees,  and  called  manna  by  chemists ; 
also  the  synip  of  dates,  and  even  dates  them- 
selves. It  appears  also  sometimes  to  stand  as  a 
general  term  for  all  kinds  of  honey. 

We  shall  here  confine  our  remarks  to  honey  in 


general,  and  that  of  bees  in  particular,  referring 
for  the  vegetable  honey  to  Manna,  and  for  the 
date-honey  to  Drink,  Strong. 

It  is  very  evident  that  the  land  of  Canaan 
abounded  in  honey.  It  is  indeed  described  as  '  a 
land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey '  (Exod.  iii. 
8,  &c.)  ;  which  we  apprehend  to  refer  to  all  the 
sweet  substances  which  the  difierent  Hebrew 
words  indicate,  as  the  phrase  seems  too  large  to 
be  confined  to  the  honey  of.  bees  alone.  Yet  the 
great  number  of  bees  in  Palestine  has  been 
noticed  by  many  travellers  ;  and  they  were  doubt- 
less still  more  common  in  ancient  times  when  the 
soil  was  under  more  general  cultivation  [Bee  ; 
Food]. 

The  '  wild  honey  '  which,  with  locusts,  formed 
the  diet  of  John  the  Baptist,  was  probably  the 
vegetable  honey,  which  we  refer  to  Manna. 

Honey  was  not  permitted  to  be  offered  on  the 
altar  (Lev.  ii.  11).  As  it  is  coupled  with  leaven 
in  this  prohibition,  it  would  seem  to  amount  to 
an  interdiction  of  things  sour  and  sweet.  Aben 
Ezra  and  others  allege  that  it  was  because  honey 
partook  of  the  fermenting  nature  of  leaven,  and 
when  burnt  yielded  an  unpleasant  smell^qua- 
lities  incompatible  with  offerings  made  by  fire  of 
a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord.  But  Maimonides 
and  others  think  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  making 
a  difference  between  the  religious  customs  of  the 
Jews  and  the  heathen,  in  whose  offerings  honey 
was  much  employed.  The  first-fruits  of  honey 
were,  however,  to  be  presented,  as  these  were 
destined  for  the  support  of  the  priests,  and  not  to 
be  offered  upon  the  altar. 

Under  the  different  heads  to  which  we  have 
referred,  the  passages  of  Scripture  relating  to 
honey  are  explained.  The  remarkable  incident 
related  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  24-32,  requires,  however, 
to  be  here  noticed.  Jonathan  and  his  party 
coming  to  the  wood,  find  honey  dropping  from 
the  trees  to  the  ground,  and  the  prince  extends 
his  rod  to  the  honeycomb  to  taste  the  honey.  On 
this  the  present  writer  is  unable  to  add  anything 
to  what  he  has  stated  elsewhere  {Pictorial  Bible, 
in  loc),  which  is  to  the  following  effect : — First, 
we  are  told  that  the  honey  was  on  the  ground, 
then  that  it  dropped,  and  lastly,  that  Jonathan 
put  his  rod  into  the  honeycomb.  From  all  this 
it  is  clear  that  the  honey  was  bee-honey,  and  that 
honeycombs  were  above  in  the  trees,  from  which 
honey  dropped  upon  the  ground  ;  but  it  is  not 
clear  whether  Jonathan  put  his  rod  into  a  honej'- 
comb  that  was  in  the  trees  or  shrubs,  or  into  one 
that  had  fallen  to  the  ground,  or  that  had  been 
formed  there. 

Where  wild  bees  are  abundant  they  form 
their  combs  in  any  convenient  place  that  offers, 
particularly  in  cavities,  or  even  on  the  branches 
of  trees.  In  India  particularly,  and  in  the 
Indian  islands,  the  forests  often  swarm  with 
bees.  We  have  good  reason  to  conclude,  from 
many  allusions  in  Scripture,  that  this  was  also,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  the  case  formerly  in  Pales- 
tine. The  woods  on  the  western  coast  of  Africa, 
between  Cape  Blanco  and  Sierra  Leone,  and  par- 
ticularly near  the  Gambia,  are  full  of  bees,  to 
which  the  negroes  formerly,  if  they  do  not  now, 
paid  considerable  attention  for  the  sake  of  the 
wax.  They  had  bee-hives,  like  baskets,  made  of 
reeds  and  sedge,  and  hung  on  the  out-boughs  of 
the  trees,  which  the  bees  easily  appropriated  for 


t>93  HOOK 

the  purpose  of  forming  their  combs  in  them.  In 
some  parts  these  hives  were  so  thickly  placed 
that  at  a  distance  they  looked  like  fruit.  There 
■was  also  much  wild  honey  in  the  cavities  of  the 
trees.  As  to  the  other  supposition,  that  the 
honeycomb  had  been  formed  on  the  ground,  we 
think  the  context  rather  bears  against  it ;  but  the 
cirenmstance  is  not  in  itself  unlikely,  or  incom- 
patible with  the  habits  of  wild  bees.  For  want 
of  a  better  resource  they  sometimes  form  their 
honey  in  any  tolerably  convenient  spot  they  can 
find  in  the  ground,  such  as  small  hollows,  or  even 
holes  formed  by  animals. 

HOOK,  HOOKS.  Several  Hebrew  words  are 
so  rendered  in  the  English  Version. 

1.  (2  Kings  xix.  28),  '  I  will  put  my  hook  in 
fhy  nose.'  The  parallel  passage  (Isa.  xxxvii. 
29)  the  Sept.  reads  '  I  will  put  my  muzzle,  halter, 
or  noose,'  &c.  Jehovah  here  intimates  his  abso- 
lute control  over  Sennacherib,  by  an  allusion  to 
the  practice  of  leading  butfaloes,  camels,  drome- 
daries, &c.  by  means  of  a  cord,  or  of  a  cord  at- 
tached to  a  ring,  passed  through  the  nostrils.  Job 
xli.  1  [xl.  2.5]  '  Canst  thou  draw  out  Leviathan 
with  a  hook  ?  or  his  tongue  with  a  cord  which 
thou  lettest  down  ?  Canst  thou  place  a  reed-cord 
in  his  nose,  or  bore  through  his  cheek  with  a 
thorn  ?'  (clasp,  or  possibly  bracelet,  &c.).  ♦  Wilt 
thou  draw  out  a  dragon  with  a  hook  ?  Wilt  thou 
bind  a  band  about  his  nose  ?  Wilt  thou  fasten  a 
ring  in  his  nose,  or  bore  his  lip  with  a  bracelet  ?' 
This  passage  in  Job  has  undergone  the  following 
speculations.  It  has  been  assumed,  that  Bochart 
has  completely  proved  the  Leviathan  to  mean  the 
crocodile.  Herodotus  has  then  been  quoted,  where 
he  relates  that  the  Egyptians  near  Lake  Moeris 
select  a  crocodile,  render  him  tame,  and  suspend 
ornaments  to  his  ears,  and  sometimes  gems  of 

freat  value ;  his  fore-feet  being  adorned  with 
racelet.i  (ii.  69)  ;  and  the  mummies  of  crocodiles, 
having  their  ears  thus  bored,  have  been  dis- 
covered. Hence  it  is  concluded  that  this  passage 
in  Job  refers  to  the  facts  mentioned  by  Hero- 
dotus ;  and,  doubtless,  the  terms  employed,  espe- 
cially by  the  Sept.  and  Vulg.,  and  the  third  and 
following  verses,  favour  the  supposition  ;  for  there 
the  captive  is  represented  as  suppliant  and  obse- 
quious, in  a  state  of  security  and  servitude,  and 
the  object  of  diversion,  '  played  with '  as  with  a 
bird,  and  serving  for  the  sport  of  maidens.  He- 
rodotus is  further  quoted  to  show  that  in  his  time 
the  Egyptians  captured  the  crocodile  with  a  hook, 
and  with  which  he  was  drawn  ashore  ;  and  accounts 
are  certainly  given  by  modern  travellers  of  the 
continuance  of  this  practice.  But  does  not  the 
entire  description  go  upon  the  supposition  of  the 
impossibiliti/  of  so  treating  Leviathan?  Sup- 
posing the  allusions  to  be  correctly  interpreted,  is 
it  not  as  much  as  to  say, '  Canst  thou  treat  hijn  as 
thou  canst  treat  the  crocodile  and  other  fierce 
creatures  ? '  Dr.  Lee  has,  indeed,  given  reasons 
which  render  it  doubtful,  at  least,  whether  the 
leviathan  does  mean  the  crocodile  in  this  passage, 
or  whether  it  does  not  mean  some  species  of 
whale,  as  was  formerly  supposed ;  the  common 
grampus,  found  in  the  Mediterranean,  the  Red 
Sea,  and  also  in  the  Nile.  [Leviathan.]  Ezek. 
xxix.  4,  '  I  will  put  my  hooks  in  thy  jaws,'  &c. ; 
'  and  I  will  cause  thee  to  come  up  out  of  the  midst  of 
thy  rivers,'  where  the  prophet  foretells  the  de- 
Btruction  of  Pharaoh,  king  of  Egypt,  by  allusions 


HOPHRA 

to  the  destruction,  possibly,  of  a  crocodile,  the 
symbol  of  Egypt.  Thus  Pliny  states,  that  the  Ten- 
tyritsE  (inhabitants  of  Egypt)  followed  the  croco- 
dile, swimming  after  it  in  the  river,  sprung  upon  its 
back,  thrust  a  bar  into  its  mouth,  which,  being  held 
by  its  two  extremities,  serves  as  a  bit,  and  enables 
them  to  force  it  on  shore  (comp.  Ezek.  xxix.  3.  4). 

2.  (Exod.  xxvi.  32,  37;  xxxviii.  19),  'hooks,' 
where  the  Sept.  and  Jerome  seem  to  have  under- 
stood the  capitals  of  the  pillars ;  and  it  has  been 
urged  that  this  is  more  likely  to  be  the  meaning 
than  hooks,  especially  as  1775  shekels  of  silver 
were  used  in  msking  them  for  the  pillars,  over- 
laying the  chapiters,  and  filleting  them  (ch. 
xxxviii.  28) ;  and  Uiat  the  hooks  are  really  the 
taches  (Exod.  xxvi.  C,  11,  33,  35;  xxxix.  33). 
Yet  the  Sept.  also  renders  the  word  '  rings '  or 
•clasps'  (Exod.  xxvii,  10,  11;  Exod.  xxxviii. 
17,  19);  and  from  a  comparison  of  these  two 
latter  passages  it  would  seem  that  these  hooks, 
or  rather  tenters,  rose  out  of  the  chapiters  or  heads 
of  the  pillars. 

3.  (1  Sam.  ii.  13,  14),  '  flesh-hook.'  This  was 
evidently  a  trident  '  of  three  teeth,'  a  kind  of 
fork,  &c.  for  turning  the  sacrifices  on  the  fire, 
and  for  collecting  fragments,  &c.  (2)  (Is.  ii.  4, 
and  elsewhere)  '  beat  their  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks.'  In  Mic  iv.  3,  weeding-hooks,  or  sho- 
vels, spades,  &c.  Joel  reverses  the  metaphor 
' pruning-hooks  into  spears'  (iii.  10).  (3)  Ezek. 
xl.  43), '  hooks,'  which  Gesenius  explains  stalls 
in  the  courts  of  the  Temple,  where  the  sacri- 
ficial   victims  were    fastened :    our    translators 

five  in  the  margin  '  endirons,  or  the  two 
earth-stones.'  Dr>  Lightfoot,  in  his  chapter  '  on 
the  altar,  the  rings,  and  the  laver,'  observes, '  On 
the  north  side  of  the  altar  were  six  orders  of 
rings,  each  of  which  contained  six,  at  which  they 
killed  the  sacrifices.  Near  by  were  low  pillars 
set  up,  upon  which  were  laid  overthwart  beams  of 
cedar  ;  on  these  were  fastened  rows  of  hooks,  on 
which  the  sacrifices  were  hung ;  and  they  were 
flayed  on  marble  tables,  which  were  between 
these  pillars.' 

HOPH'NI  AND  PHIN'EHAS,  the  sons  of 
Eli,  whose  misconduct  in  the  priesthood  (as  de- 
scribed in  1  Sam.  ii.  12-17)  brought  down  that 
doom  of  ruin  and  degradation  upon  the  house  of 
Eli  which  formed  the  first  divine  communication 
through  the  young  Samuel  (1  Sam.  iii.).  Hophni 
and  Phinehas  were  slain  in  the  battle  in  which 
the  ark  of  God  was  taken  by  the  Philistines,  b.c. 
1141  (1  Sam.  iv.  11).     [Ell] 

HOPH'RA  (or  Pharaoh-hophka),  king  of 
Egypt  in  the  time  of  Zedekiah  king  of  Judah, 
and  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon.  He 
formed  alliance  with  the  former  against  the  latter, 
and  his  advance  with  an  Egyptian  army  con- 
strained the  Chaldffians  to  raise  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem (Jer.  xxxvii.  5)  ;  but  they  soon  returned 
and  took  and  destroyed  the  city.  'This  momentary 
aid,  and  the  danger  of  placing  reliance  on  the 
protection  of  Hophra,  led  Ezekiel  to  compare  the 
Egyptians  to  a  broken  reed,  which  was  to  pierce 
the  hand  of  him  that  leaned  upon  it  (Ezek.  xxix. 
6,  7).  This  alliance  was,  however,  disapproved 
by  God;  and  Jeremiah  was  authorized  to  deliver 
the  prophecy  contained  in  his  44th  chapter,  which 
concludes  with  a  prediction  of  Hophra's  death 
and  the  subjugation  of  his  country  by  the  Chal- 
djcans  [comp.  Egypt], 


HOPHRA 

This  Pharaoh-hophra  is  identified  with  the 
Apries  or  Vaphres  of  ancient  authors,  and  he 
may  be  the  Psamatik  III.  of  the  monuments. 
Under  this  identification  we  may  conclude  that 
his  wars  with  the  Syrians  and  Cyrenaans  pre- 
vented him  from  aflFording  any  great  assistance 
to  Zedekiah.  Apries  is  described  by  Herodotus 
(ii.  IGa)  as  a  monarch  who,  in  the  zenith  of  his 
glory,  felt  persuaded  that  it  was  not  in  the  power 
even  of  a  deity  to  dispossess  him  of  his  kingdom, 
or  to  shake  the  stability  of  his  sway ;  and  this 
account  of  his  arrogance  fully  accords  with  that 
contained  in  the  Bible.  Ezekiel  (xxix.  3)  speaks 
of  this  king  as  '  the  great  dragon  that  lieth  in 
the  midst  of  the  rivers,  which  hath  said,  my 
river  is  mine  own,  and  1  have  made  it  for  my- 
self.' His  overthrow  and  subsequent  captivity 
and  death  are  foretold  with  remarkable  precision 
by  Jeremiah   xliv.  30);  'I  will  give  Pharaoh- 


HOU 


399 


hophra,  king  of  Egypt,  into  the  hands  of  his 
enemies,  and  into  the  hands  of  them  that  seek 
his  life.'  This  was  brought  about  by  a  revolt  of 
the  troops,  who  placed  Amasis  at  their  head,  and 
after  various  conflicts  took  Apries  prisoner.  He 
was  for  a  time  kept  in  easy  captivity  by  Amasis, 
who  wished  to  spare  his  life ;  but  he  was  at  length 
constrained  to  give  him  up  to  the  vengeance  of 
his  enemies,  by  whom  he  was  strangled. 

HOR,  a  mountain  of  Arabia  Petva?a,  on  the 
confines  of  Idumsea,  and  forming  part  of  the 
mountain  of  Seir  or  Edom.  It  is  only  mentioned 
in  Scripture  in  connection  with  the  circumstances 
recorded  in  Num.  xx.  22-29.  The  Israelites 
were  encamped  before  it,  when  Aaron  was  sum- 
moned to  its  top  to  die  there,  in  the  presence  of 
his  brother  and  son,  who  alone  witnessed  his 
final  departure  [Aaron]. 

The  mountain  now  identified  with  Mount  Hor 


208.    [Mount  Hor.] 


is  the  most  conspicnous  in  the  whole  range  of 
Mount  Seir,  and  at  this  day  bears  the  name  of 
Mount  Aaron  (Jebel  Haroun).  It  is  in  N.  lat. 
30°  18',  E.  long.  35°  33',  about  mid-way  between 
the  Dead  Sea  and  the  iElanitic  Gulf.  It  may 
be  open  to  question  if  this  is  really  the  Mount 
Hor  on  which  Aaron  died,  seeing  that  the  M'hole 
range  of  Seir  was  anciently  called  by  that  name ; 
yet,  from  its  height  and  the  conspicuous  manner 
in  which  it  rises  among  the  surrounding  rocks, 
it  seems  not  imlikely  to  have  been  the  chosen 
scene  of  the  high-priest's  death.  To  this  may  be 
added  that  Josephus  aflSrms  Mount  Hor  to  have 
been  near  Petra;  and  near  that  place  there  is 
certainly  no  mountain  which  can  contest  the  dis- 
tinction with  the  one  now  in  view.  The  base  of 
the  highest  pinnacle  of  this  mountain  is  in  fact 
but  a  little  removed  from  the  skirts  of  the  city 
to  the  westward.  The  account  of  it  given  twenty 
years  since  by  Captains  Irby  and  Mangles,  in 


their  then  unpublished  volume  of  Travels,  is  the 
best  we  yet  possess,  and  we  therefore  present  the 
substance  of  their  description  slightly  abridged. 

'The  ascent  of  the  mountain  is  extremely 
steep  and  toilsome.  Much  juniper  grows  on  it, 
almost  to  the  very  summit,  and  many  flowering 
plants  which  we  had  not  observed  elsewhere ; 
some  of  these  are  very  beautiful ;  most  of  them 
are  thorny.  On  the  top  there  is  an  overhanging 
shelf  in  the  rock  which  forms  a  sort  of  cavern. 
The  tomb  itself  is  enclosed  in  a  small  building, 
differing  not  at  all  in  external  form  and  appear- 
ance from  those  of  Mahommedan  saints  common 
throughout  every  province  of  Turkey.  It  has 
probably  been  rebuilt  at  no  remote  period:  some 
small  columns  are  bedded  in  the  walls,  and  some 
fragments  of  granite  and  slabs  of  white  marble 
are  lying  about.  The  door  is  near  the  south-west 
angle,  within  which  a  constructed  tomb,  with  a 
pall  thrown  over  it,  presents  itself  immediately 


400 


HORN 


npon  entering :  it  is  patched  together  out  of  frag- 
ments of  stone  and  marble  that  have  made  part 
of  other  fabrics. 

'  Not  far  from  the  north-west  angle  is  a  passage, 
descending  by  steps  to  a  vault  or  grotto  beneath. 
The  roof  is  covered,  but  the  whole  is  rude,  ill- 
fashioned,  and  quite  dark.  Towards  the  further 
end  of  this  dark  vault  lie  the  two  corresponding 
leaves  of  an  iron  grating,  which  formerly  pre- 
vented all  nearer  approach  to  the  tomb;  they 
have,  however,  been  thrown  down,  and  we  ad- 
vanced so  as  to  touch  it ;  it  was  covered  by  a 
ragged  pall.' 

It  is  highly  interesting  to  know  what  view  it 
was  which  last  greeted  the  eyes  of  the  dying 
high-priest  from  this  lofty  eminence ;  and  it  is 
the  more  so  from  the  fact  that  the  region  over 
which  the  view  extends  is  that  in  which  the 
Israelites  wandered  for  forty  years.  Our  travel- 
lers supply  this  information  •.— 

'  The  view  from  the  summit  of  the  edifice  is 
extremely  extensive  in  every  direction,  and  the 
eye  rests  on  few  objects  which  it  can  clearly  dis- 
tinguish to  give  a  name  to,  although  an  excellent 
idea  is  obtained  of  the  general  face  and  features 
of  the  country.  The  chain  of  Idumaean  moun- 
tains, which  form  the  western  shore  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  seem  to  run  on  to  the  southward,  though 
losing  considerably  in  their  height.  They  appear 
in  this  point  of  view  barren  and  desolate.  Below 
them  is  spread  out  a  white  sandy  plain,  seamed 
with  the  beds  of  occasional  torrents,  and  pre- 
senting much  the  same  features  as  the  most  desert 
parts  of  the  Ghor.  Where  this  desert  expanse 
approaches  the  foot  of  Mount  Hor,  there  arise 
out  of  it,  like  islands,  several  lower  peaks  and 
ridges,  of  a  purple  colour,  probably  composed  of 
the  same  kind  of  sandstone  as  that  of  Mount  Hor 
itself,  which,  variegated  as  it  is  in  its  hues,  pre- 
sents in  the  distance  one  uniform  mass  of  dark 
purple.  Towards  the  Egyptian  side  there  is  an 
expanse  of  countiy  without  features  or  limit,  and 
lost  in  the  distance.  The  lofty  district  which  we 
had  quitted  in  our  descent  to  Wady  Mousa  shuts 
up  the  prospect  on  the  south-east  side ;  but  there 
is  no  part  of  the  landscape  which  the  eye  wanders 
over  with  more  curiosity  and  delight  than  the 
crags  of  Mount  Hor  itself,  which  stand  up  on 
every  side  in  the  most  rugged  and  fantastic 
forms,  sometimes  strangely  piled  one  on  the 
other,  and   sometimes  as  strangely  yawning  in 

clrfts  of  a  frightful  depth An  artist  who 

would  study  rock-scenery  in  all  its  wildest  and 
most  extravagant  forms  would  find  himself  re- 
warded should  he  resort  to  Mount  Hor  for  that 
sole  purpose.' 

HO'REB.    [Sinai.] 

HOR-HAGID'GAD,  an  encampment  of  the 
Israelites  during  their  wandering  (Num.  xxxiii. 
.32,  33~)  FWandering]. 

HO'RITES,  or  HORIM,  the  people  who  inha- 
bited Mount  Seir  before  the  Edomites  [Idum^a]. 

HORN,  frim  its  primary  use  for  defence  in  the 
case  of  horned  animals,  came  to  acquire  several 
derivative  meanings,  some  of  which  are  connected 
with  the  illustration  and  right  understanding  of 
holy  writ.  As  horns  are  hollow  and  easily  po- 
lished, they  have  in  ancient  and  modern  times 
been  used  for  drinking- vessels  and  for  military 
purposes;  and  as  they  are  the  chief  source  of 
strength  for  attack  and  defence  with  the  animals 


HORNET 

to  which  God  has  given  them,  they  serve  in 
Scripture  as  emblems  of  power,  dominion,  glory, 
and  fierceness  (Dan.  viii.  5,  9 ;  1  Sam.  xvi.  1, 13 ; 
1  Kings  i.  39 ;  Josh.  vi.  4,  5 ;  1  Sam.  ii.  1 ;  Ps. 
Ixxv.  5,  10;  Jer.  xlviii.  25;  Ezek.  xxix.  21; 
Amos  vi.  13).  Hence  to  defile  the  horn  in  the 
dust  (Job  xvi.  2),  is  to  lower  and  degrade  oneself, 
and,  on  the  contrary,  to  lift  up,  to  exalt  the  horn 
(Ps.  Ixxv.  4;  Ixxix.  17;  cxlviii.  14),  is  poetically 
to  raise  oneself  to  eminent  honour  or  prosperity, 
to  bear  oneself  proudly.  In  the  East,  at  present, 
horns  are  used  as  an  ornament  for  the  head,  and 
as  a  token  of  eminent  rank.  The  women  among 
the  Druses  on  Mount  Lebanon  wear  on  their 
heads  silver  horns  of  native  make,  'which  are 
the  distinguishing  badge  of  wifehood.' 


By  an  easy  transition,  horn  came  to  denote  an 
elevation  or  hill  (Isa.  v.  1) ;  in  Switzerland 
mountains  still  bear  this  name,  thus,  Schreck- 
horn,  Buchhorn.  The  altar  of  burnt-oflFerings 
(Exod.  xxvii.  2)  and  the  altar  of  incense  (Exod. 
XXX.  2),  had  each  at  the  four  corners  four  horns 
of  shittim-wood,  the  first  being  overlaid  with 
brass,  the  second  with  gold  (Exod.  xxxvii.  25 ; 
xxxviii.  2;  Jer.  xvii.  1;  Amos  iii.  14).  Upon 
the  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  was  to 
be  smeared  with  the  finger  the  blood  of  the  slain 
bullock  (Exod.  xxix.  12  ;  Lev.  iv.  7-18;  viii.  15  ; 
ix.  9 ;  xvi.  18  ;  Ezek.  xliii.  20).  By  laying  hold 
of  these  horns  of  the  altar  of  burnt-ofiering  the 
criminal  found  an  asylum  and  safety  (I  Kings  i. 
50 ;  ii.  28).  These  horns  are  said  to  have  served 
as  a  means  for  binding  the  animal  destined  for 
sacrifice  (Ps.  cxviii.  27);  but  this  use  Wimer 
denies,  asserting  that  they  did  not  and  could  not 
answer  for  such  a  purpose. 

HORNET,  WASP  (Exod.  xxiii.  28;  Deut. 
vii.  20 ;  Josh.  xxiv.  1 2 ;  Wisd.  Sol.  xii.  8, 
'  wasps ').  The  question  has  been  raised  whether 
in  these  passages  of  Scripture  the  word  is  to  be 
taken  as  literally  meaning  this  well-known  and 
terrific  insect,  or  whether  it  is  to  be  understood 
in  a  metaphorical  and  figurative  sense  for  diseases, 
supernatural  terror,  &c.,  by  which  Jehovah '  drove 
out  the  Hivites,  Canaanites,  and  Hittites,  from 
before  Israel.'  Among  the  modems,  Michaelis 
has  defended  the  figurative  sense.  In  addition  to 
other  reasons  for  it,  he  doubts  whether  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Canaanites  could  be  effected  by 
swarms  of  hornets,  and  proposes  to  derive  the 
Hebrew    from    a    root    signifying    *  scourges,' 


HORSE 


HORSE 


401 


'  plagues ;'  but  his  reasons  are  ably  refuted  by 
Rosenmiiller.  In  favour  of  the  possibility  of 
such  an  event,  it  is  observed  that  ^lian  relates 
that  the  Phaselitae  were  actually  driven  from 
their  locality  by  such  means ;  and  Bochart  has 
shown  that  these  Phaselitaj  were  a  Phoenician 
people.  Michaelis's  doubt  of  the  abstract  possi- 
bility seems  very  unreasonable,  when  the  irre- 
sistible power  of  bees  and  wasps,  &c.,  attested  by 
numerous  modern  occurrences,  and  the  thin  and 
partial  clothing  of  the  Canaanites,  are  considered. 
It  is  observable  that  the  event  is  represented  by 
the  author  of  the  book  of  Wisdom  as  a  merciful 
dispensation,  by  which  the  Almighty,  he  says, 
'  spared  as  men  the  old  inhabitants  of  his  holy 
land,'  and  '  gave  them  place  for  repentance.'  If 
the  hornet,  considered  as  a  fly,  was  in  any  way 
connected  with  their  idolatry,  the  visitation  would 
convey  a  practical  refutation  of  their  error  [see 
Baalzebub,  under  Baai.].  It  may  be  remarked 
that  the  hornet,  no  less  than  the  whole  species  of 
wasps,  renders  an  essential  service  in  checking 
the  multiplication  of  flies  and  other  insects,  which 
would  otherwise  become  intolerable  to  man ;  and 
that  in  regard  to  their  architecture,  and  especially 
their  instincts  and  habits,  they  do  not  yield  to 
their  more  popular  congener,  the  bee,  but  even 
in  several  respects  greatly  excel  it. 

HORSE  (Gen.  xlvii.  17 ;  xlix.  17;  Exod.  xiv. 
9,  23,  and  in  many  other  places ;  James  iii.  3 ; 
Rev.  vi.  2,  &c.).  It  appears  to  be  substantiated 
that  the  horse  was  derived  from  High  Asia,  and 
was  not  indigenous  in  Arabia,  Syria,  or  Egypt. 
They  are  not  mentioned  among  the  presents  which 
Pharaoh  bestowed  upon  Abraham,  and  occur  in 
Scripture  for  the  first  time  when  the  patriarch 
Joseph  receives  them  from  the  Egyptians  in  ex- 
change for  bread  (Gen.  xlvii.  17),  evidently  as 
valuable  animals,  disposed  of  singly,  and  not  in 
droves  or  flocks,  like  cattle  and  asses.  They  were 
still  suflBciently  important  to  be  expressly  men- 
tioned in  the  funeral  procession  which  accompa- 
nied the  body  of  Jacob  to  his  sepulchre  in  Canaan 
(Gen.  i.  9) ;  and  for  centuries  after  it  does  not 
appear  that,  under  the  domestic  management  of 
the  Egyptians,  unless  the  murrain  had  greatly 
reduced  them,  horses  had  multiplied  as  they 
would  have  done  in  a  land  more  congenial  to 
their  habits,  since  only  six  hundred  chariots 
appear  to  have  pursued  Israel  (Exod.  xiv.  7) ; 
even  admitting  that  there  were  other  chariots 
and  horsemen  not  included  in  that  number.  In 
the  sculptured  battle-scenes,  which  are  believed 
to  represent  victories  of  Sesostris,  or  of  Thothmes 
II.  and  III.,  over  nations  of  Central  Asia,  it  is 
evident  that  the  enemy's  armies,  as  well  as  the 
foreign  allies  of  Egypt,  are  abundantly  supplied 
with  horses,  both  for  chariots  and  for  riders  ;  and 
in  triumphal  processions  they  are  shown  as  pre- 
sents or  tribute,  proving  that  they  were  portions 
of  the  national  wealth  of  conquered  states  suffi- 
ciently valuable  to  be  prized  in  Egypt.  At  a 
later  period  the  books  of  Deuteronomy  (xvii.  10, 
for  the  future  kings  of  Israel  are  forbidden  to 
possess  many)  and  Joshua  (xi.  4)  furnish  similar 
evidence  of  abundance  of  horses  in  the  plains  of 
Syria;  and  in  Job  occurs  a  description  of  a  per- 
fect war-horse  couched  in  the  bold  figurative 
lang;uage  of  inspiration,  such  as  remains  un- 
equalled by  any  other  poet,  ancient  or  modem. 
Though  the  Israelites  had  chariots  and  horsemen 


opposed  to  them  in  the  plain  country  from  their 
first  entrance  into  the  land  of  promise — as  in 
Judg.  iv.  15,  where  we  find  Sisera  with  his  cha- 
riots of  war  defeated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tabor 
— yet  not  being  intended  to  make  military  con- 
quests beyond  the  mountain  basin  and  the  adja- 
cent territory  assigned  them,  they  long  remained 
without  cavalry  or  chariots  themselves  (Deut.  I 
xvii.  16;  2  Sam.  viii.  4)  :  they  obeyed  the  divine 
injunction  to  abstain  from  possessing  horses,  and, 
to  the  time  of  David,  hamstrung  such  as  they 
captured  from  their  enemies.  It  appears,  how- 
ever, that  a  small  cavalry  force  was  raised  by 
him ;  and  as  in  all  the  military  operations  of 
Western  Asia,  there  was  a  tendency  to  increase  j 
the  mounted  force  and  neglect  the  infantry,  on 
the  full  establishment  of  royalty,  when  the  He- 
brew government  acquired  a  more  political  struc- 
ture, the  reign  of  Solomon  displayed  a  military 
system  which  embraced  a  regular  body  of  horse 
and  of  chariots,  evidently  become  the  more 
necessary,  since  the  limits  of  his  sway  were  ex- 
tended to  the  shores  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  and 
far  into  the  Syrian  desert  (1  Kings  x.  26).  So- 
lomon likewise  acted  with  commercial  views  in 
the  monopolizing  spirit  which  Eastern  sovereigns 
have  been  prone  to  exercise  in  all  ages.  He 
bought  chariots  and  teams  of  horses  in  Egypt, 
and  probably  in  Armenia,  '  in  all  lands,'  and  had 
them  brought  into  his  dominions  in  strings,  in 
the  same  manner  as  horses  are  still  conducted  to 
and  from  fairs :  for  this  interpretation,  as  offered 
by  Mr.  Charles  Taylor,  appears  to  convey  the 
natural  and  true  meaning  of  the  text,  and  not 
'  strings  of  linen  yarn,'  which  here  seem  to  he 
out  of  place  (2  Chron.  i.  16,  17  ;  ix.  25,  28). 

The  Tyrians  purchased  these  objects  from  Solo- 
mon ;  but  in  the  time  of  Ezekiel  they  imported 
horses  themselves  from  Togarmah  or  Armenia. 
On  returning  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  the 
common  possession  of  horses  in  Palestine  was  no 
longer  opposed ;  for  Nehemiah  numbers  seven 
hundred  and  thirty-six  belonging  to  the  liberated 
Hebrews  (Neh.  vii.  68). 

All  the  great  original  varieties  or  races  of 
horses  were  then  known  in  Western  Asia,  and 
the  Hebrew  prophets  themselves  have  not  unfre- 
quented distinguished  the  nations  they  had  in 
view,  by  means  of  the  predominant  colours  of 
their  horses,  and  that  more  correctly  than  com- 
mentators have  surmised.  Taking  Bochart's 
application  of  the  Hebrew  names,  the  bay  race 
emphatically  belonged  to  Egypt  and  Arabia 
Felix ;  the  white  to  the  regions  above  the  Euxine 
Sea,  Asia  Minor,  and  northern  High  Asia ;  the 
dun,  or  cream-coloured,  to  the  Medes ;  the  spotted 
piebald,  or  skewbald,  to  the  Macedonians,  the 
Parthians,  and  later  Tahtars;  and  the  black  to 
the  Romans ;  but  the  chesnuts  do  not  belong  to 
any  known  historical  race  (Zech.  i.  8  ;  vi.  2). 

Bay  or  red  horses  occur  most  frequently  on 
Egyptian  painted  monuments,  this  being  the 
primitive  colour  of  the  Arabian  stock ;  but  white 
horses  are  also  common,  and  in  a  few  instances 
black,  the  la^  probably  only  to  relieve  the  paler 
colour  of  the  one  beside  it  in  the  picture.  There 
is  also,  we  understand,  an  instance  of  a  spotted 
pair,  tending  to  show  that  the  valley  of  the  Nile 
was  originally  supplied  with  horses  from  foreign  , 
sources  and  distinct  regions,  as  indeed  the  tribut« 
pictures  farther  attest.  The  spotted,  if  not  real, 
2d 


402 


HORSE-LEECH 


but  painted  horses,  indicate  the  antiquity  of  a 
practice  still  in  vogue ;  for  staining  the  hair  of 
riding  animals  with  spots  of  various  colours,  and 
dyeing  their  limbs  and  tails  crimson,  is  a  prac- 
tice of  common  occurrence  in  the  East  [Ass]. 

On  the  natural  history  of  the  horse  there  is  no 
occasion  to  enter  in  this  place ;  but  it  may  be 
proper  to  notice  that  the  riding  bridle  was  long 
a  mere  slip-knot,  passed  round  the  under  jaw  into 
the  mouth,  thus  furnishing  only  one  rein  ;  and 
that  a  rod  was  commonly  added  to  guide  the 
animal  with  more  facility.  The  bridle,  however, 
and  the  reins  of  chariot-horses  were,  at  a  very 
early  age,  exceedingly  perfect ;  as  the  monuments 
of  Egypt,  Etruria,  and  Greece,  amply  prove. 
Saddles  were  not  used,  the  rider  sitting  on  the 
bare  back,  or  using  a  cloth  or  mat  girded  on  the 
animal.  The  Romans,  no  doubt  copying  the  Per- 
sian CataphractJB,  first  used  pad-saddles,  and  from 
the  northern  nations  adopted  stimuli  or  spurs. 
Stirrups  were  unknown.  Avicenna  first  men- 
tions the  rikiah,  or  Arabian  stirrup,  perhaps  the 
most  ancient ;  although  in  the  tumuli  of  Central 
Asia,  Tahtar  horse  skeletons,  bridles,  and  stirrup- 
saddles,  have  been  found  along  with  idols ;  which 
proves  the  tombs  to  be  more  ancient  than  the  in- 
troduction of  Islam.  With  regard  to  horse- 
shoeing, Bishop  Lowth  and  Bracy  Clark  were 
mistaken  in  believing  that  the  Roman  horse  or 
mule  shoe  was  fastened  on  without  nails  driven 
through  the  horny  part  of  the  hoof,  as  at  present. 
A  contrary  conclusion  may  be  inferred  from 
several  passages  in  the  poets  :  and  the  figure  of  a 
liorse  in  the  Pompeii  battle  mosaic,  shod  in  the 
same  manner  as  is  now  the  practice,  leaves  little 
doubt  on  the  question. 

HORSE- LEECH  occurs  only  in  Prov.xxx.  \r>. 
The  horse-leech  is  properly  a  species  of  leech,  dis- 
carded for  medical  purposes  on  account  of  the 
coarseness  of  its  bite. 

Although  the  Hebrew  word  is  translated '  leech ' 
in  all  the  versions,  there  has  been  much  dispute 
whether  that  is  its  proper  meaning.  Against  the 
received  translation  it  has  been  urged  that  upon 
an  examination  of  the  context  in  which  it  occurs, 
the  introduction  of  the  leech  seems  strange ;  that 
it  is  impossible  to  understand  what  is  meant  by 
its  '  two  daughters ;'  and  that  instead  of  the  in- 
cessant craving  apparently  attributed  to  it,  the 
leech  drops  off  when  filled :  hence  it  has  been  at- 
tempted to  give  a  different  sense  to  the  Hebrew 
word,  and  to  render  it '  destiny.'  But  there  seems 
no  good  reason  for  altering  the  received  transla- 
tion. In  the  preceding  verse  the  writer  speaks 
of '  a  generation  whose  teeth  are  as  swords,  and 
their  jaw-teeth  as  knives  to  devour  the  poor  from 
off"  the  earth,  and  the  needy  from  among  men  ;' 
and  then,  after  the  abrupt  and  picturesque  style 
of  the  East,  the  leech  is  introduced  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  covetousness  of  such  persons,  and  of 
the  two  distinguishing  vices  of  which  it  is  the 
parent,  avarice  and  cruelty.  May  not  also  the 
'  two  daughters'  of  the  leech '  crying.  Give,  give,  be 
a  figurative  description  of  the  two  lips  of  the  crea- 
ture (for  these  it  has,  and  perfectly  formed)  which 
are  a  part  of  its  very  complicated  mouth?'  It 
certainly  is  agreeable  to  the  Hebrew  style  to  call 
the  offspring  of  inanimate  things  daughters,  for 
so  branches  are  called  daughters  of  trees  (Gen. 
xlix.  22,  margin).  A  similar  use  of  the  word  is 
given  in  Eccks..  xii.  4, — '  All  the  daughters  of 


HOSEA 

musick  shall  be  brought  low,'  meaning  the  lips, 
front  teeth,  and  other  parts  of  the  mouth.  It  is 
well  remarked  by  Professor  Paxton  that  '  this 
figurative  application  of  the  entire  genus  is  suffi- 
cient to  justify  the  interpretation.  The  leech,  as 
a  symbol  in  use  among  rulers  of  every  class  and 
in  all  ages  for  avarice,  rapine,  plunder,  rapacity, 
and  even  assiduity,  is  too  well  known  to  need 
illustration. 

HOSAN'NA,  a  form  of  acclamatory  blessing 
or  wishing  well,  which  signifies.  Save  now! 
Succour  now  !  Be  now  propitious  !  It  occurs  in 
Matt.  xxi.  9  (also  Mark  xi.  9,  10;  John  xii.  13) 
— '  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David ;  Blessed  is  he 
that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord;  Hosanna 
in  the  highest !'  This  was  on  the  occasion  of  our 
Saviour's  public  entry  into  Jerusalem,  and,  fairly 
construed,  would  mean,  '  Lord,  preserve  this  Son 
of  David ;  heap  favours  and  blessings  on  him !' 
It  is  further  to  be  observed  that  Hosanna  was  a 
customary  form  of  acclamation  at  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles.  This  feast  was  celebrated  in  Sep- 
tember, just  before  the  commencement  of  the 
civil  year ;  on  which  occasion  the  people  carried 
in  their  hands  bundles  of  boughs  of  palms,  myrtles, 
&c.  They  then  repeated  the  25th  and  26th  verses 
of  Ps.  cxviii.,  which  commence  with  the  word 
Hosanna  ;  and  from  this  circumstance  they  gave 
the  boughs,  and  the  prayers,  and  the  feast  itself, 
the  name  of  Hosanna.  They  observed  the  same 
forms  also  at  the  Encaenia  (1  Mace.  x.  6,  7;  2 
Mace.  xiii.  51 ;  Rev.  vii.  9)  and  the  Passover. 
And  as  thej'  celebrated  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
with  great  joy  and  gladness,  in  like  manner,  on 
this  occasion,  did  they  hail  the  coming  of  the 
Messiah,  whose  advent  they  believed  to  be  repre- 
sented in  all  the  feasts. 

HOSE'A  (deliverance),  the  first  in  order  of  the 
minor  prophets  in  the  common  editions  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  as  well  as  of  the  Alexandrian 
and  Vulgate  translations.  We  are  not,  however,  to 
suppose  from  this  that  he  flourished  earlier  than 
all  the  other  minor  prophets :  by  the  best  compu- 
tation he  seems  to  have  been  preceded  by  Joel, 
Amos,  and  Jonah. 

The  figments  of  Jewish  writers  regarding 
Hosea's  parentage  need  scarcely  be  mentioned. 
His  father,  Beeri,  has  been  confounded  with 
Beerah,  a  prince  of  the  Reubenites,  1  Chron.  v.  C. 
So,  too,  Beeri  has  been  reckoned  a  prophet  him- 
self, according  to  the  rabbinical  notion  that  the 
mention  of  a  prophet's  father  in  the  introduction 
to  his  prophecies,  is  a  proof  that  sire  as  well  as 
son  was  endowed  with  the  oracular  spirit. 

Whether  Hosea  was  a  citizen  of  Israel  or  Judah 
has  been  disputed.  Various  arguments  have  been 
adduced  to  show  that  he  belonged  to  the  kingdom 
of  Judah;  but  we  accede  to  the  opinion  that  he 
was  an  Israelite,  a  native  of  that  kingdom  with 
whose  sins  and  fates  his  book  is  specially  and 
primarily  occupied. 

The  superscription  of  the  book  determines  the 
length  of  time  during  which  Hosea  prophesied. 
That  period  was  both  long  and  eventful,  com- 
mencing in  the  days  of  Jeroboam,  the  son  of 
Joash,  extending  through  the  lives  of  Uzziah, 
Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  concluding  in  the  reign  of 
Hi'zekiah.  Uzziah  and  Jeroboam  were  contem- 
porary sovereigns  for  a  certain  length  of  time. 
If  we  compute  from  the  first  year  of  Uzziah 
to  the  last  of  Hezekiah,  we  find  a  period  of  1 13 


HOSEA 

years.  Such  a  period  appears  evidently  to  be  too 
long;  and  the  most  probable  calculation  is  to 
reckon  from  the  last  years  of  Jeroboam  to  the  first 
of  Hezekiah. 

We  have  then  at  least  of  Uzziah's  reign  26  years. 
J)  (»  Jotham        „      16     „ 

»  »  Ahaz  „      16     „ 

n  »  Hezekiah    „        2     „ 

60* 
This  long  duration  of  office  is  not  improbable, 
and  the  book  itself  furnishes  strong  presumptive 
evidence  in  support  of  this  chronology.  The  first 
prophecy  of  Hosea  foretells  the  overthrow  of 
Jehu's  house ;  and  the  menace  was  fulfilled 
the  death  of  Jeroboam,  his  great-grandson.  '  This 
was  the  word  of  the  Lord  which  he  spake  unto 
Jehu,  saying.  Thy  sons  shall  sit  on  the  throne  of 
Israel  unto  the  fourth  generation ;  and  so  it  came 
to  pass'  (2  Kings  xv.  12).  A  prediction  of  the 
ruin  which  was  to  overthrow  Jehu's  house  at 
Jeroboam's  death,  must  have  been  uttered  during 
Jeroboam's  life.  This  fact  defines  the  period  of 
Hosea's  commencement  of  his  labours,  and  veri- 
fies the  inscription,  which  states  that  the  word  of 
the  Lord  came  to  him  in  the  reign  of  Jeroboam, 
the  son  of  Joash,  king  of  Israel.  Again,  in  ch. 
X.  14,  allusion  is  made  to  an  expedition  of  Shal- 
manezer  against  Israel ;  and  if  it  was  the  first 
inroad  against  king  Hoshea,  who  began  to  reign 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  Ahaz,  the  event  referred  to 
by  the  prophet  as  past  must  have  happened  close 
upon  the  beginning  of  the  government  of  Heze- 
kiah (2  Kings  xvii.  5).  Data  are  thus  in  like 
manner  afibrded  to  corroborate  the  statement  that 
Hezekiah  had  ascended  the  throne  ere  the  long- 
lived  servant  of  Jehovah  was  released  from  his 
toils.  The  extended  duration  indicated  in  the 
superscription  is  thus  borne  out  by  the  contents 
of  the  prophecy. 

The  years  of  Hosea's  life  were  melancholy  and 
tragic.  The  vials  of  the  wrath  of  heaven  were 
poured  out  on  his  apostate  people.  The  nation 
sufi'ered  under  the  evils  of  that  schism  which  was 
"ffected  by  the  craft  of  him  who  has  been  branded 
with  the  indelible  stigma—'  Jeroboam,  who  made 
Israel  to  sin.'  The  obligations  of  law  had  been 
relaxed,  and  the  claims  of  religion  disregarded  ; 
Baal  became  the  rival  of  Jehovah,  and  in  the 
dark  recessee  of  the  groves  were  practised  the 
impure  and  murderous  rites  of  heathen  deities; 
peace  and  prosperity  fled  the  land,  which  was 
harassed  by  foreign  invasion  and  domestic  broils; 
might  and  murder  became  the  twin  sentinels  of 
the  throne  ;  ajliances  were  formed  with  other 
nations,  which  brought  with  them  seductions  to 
paganism  ;  captivity  and  insult  were  heaped  upon 
Israel  by  the  uncircumcised ;  the  nation  was  tho- 
roughly debased,  and  but  a  fraction  of  its  popu- 
lation maintained  its  spiritual  allegiance  (2  Kiiiffs 
XIX.  18).  The  death  of  Jeroboam  II.  was  followed 
by  an  interregnum  of  ten  years.  At  the  expiry 
of  this  period,  his  son  Zechariah  assumed  the 
sovereignty,  and  was  slain  by  Shallum,  after  the 
short  space  of  six  months  (2  Kings  xv.  10).  In 
four  weeks  Shallum  was  assassinated  by  Mena- 


*  Maurer,  in  the  Comment.  Theol.  p.  284,  and 
more  lately  in  his  Comment.  Gram.  Hist.  Crit. 
m  Proph.  Min.,  Lipsise,  1840. 


HOSEA  403 

hem.  The  assassin,  during  a  disturbed  reign  of 
ten  years,  became  tributary  to  the  Assyrian  Pul. 
His  successor,  Pekahiah,  wore  the  crown  but  two 
years,  when  he  was  murdered  by  Pekah.  Pekah, 
after  swaying  his  bloody  sceptre  for  twenty  years, 
met  a  similar  fate  in  the  conspiracy  of  Hoshea ; 
Hoshea,  the  last  of  the  usurpers,  after  another 
interregnum  of  eight  years,  ascended  the  throne, 
and  his  administration  of  nine  years  ended  in  the 
overthrow  of  his  kingdom  and  the  expatriation  of 
his  people.  'The  Lord  was  very  angry  with 
Israel,  and  removed  them  out  of  his  sight.  So 
was  Israel  carried  out  of  their  own  land  to  Assyria 
unto  this  day'  (2  Kings  xvii.  18,  23). 

The  prophecies  of  Hosea  were  directed  espe- 
cially against  the  country  whose  sin  had  brought 
upon  it  such  disasters — prolonged  anarchy  and 
final  captivity.  Israel,  or  Ephraim,  is  the  people 
especially  addressed.  Their  homicides  and  for- 
nications, their  perjury  and  theft,  their  idolatry 
and  impiety,  are  censured  and  satirised  with  a 
faithful  severity.  Judah  is  sometimes,  indeed, 
introduced,  warned,  and  admonished;  but  the 
oracles  having  relation  to  Israel  are  primary, 
■while  the  references  to  Judah  are  only  incidental. 
The  prophet's  mind  was  intensely  interested  in  the 
destinies  of  his  own  people.  The  nations  around 
him  are  unheeded ;  his  prophetic  eye  beholds  the 
crisis  approaching  his  country,  and  sees  its  can- 
tons ravaged,  its  tribes  murdered  or  enslaved. 
No  wonder  that  his  rebukes  were  so  terrible,  his 
menaces  so  alarming,  that  his  soul  poured  forth 
its  strength  in  an  ecstacy  of  grief  and  affection. 
Invitations,  replete  with  tenderness  and  pathos, 
are  interspersed  with  his  warnings  and  expostu- 
lations. Now  we  are  startled  with  a  vision  of  the 
throne,  at  first  shrouded  in  darkness,  and  sending 
forth  lightnings,  thunders,  and  voices :  but  while 
we  gaze,  it  becomes  encircled  with  a  rainbow, 
which  gradually  expands  till  it  is  lost  in  that 
universal  brilliancy  which  itself  had  originated 
(ch.  xi.  and  xiv.). 

The  peculiar  mode  of  instruction  which  the 
prophet  details  in  the  first  and  third  chapters  of 
his  oracles  has  given  risen  to  many  disputed  theo- 
ries. We  refer  to  the  command  expressed  in  ch. 
i.  2—'  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Hosea,  Go,  take 
unto  thee  a  wife  of  whoredoms  and  children  of 
•whoredoms,'  &c. ;  ch.  iii.  1,  'Then  said  the  Lord 
unto  me.  Go  yet,  love  a  woman  beloved  of  her 
friend,  yet  an  adulteress,'  &c.  What  was  the 
precise  nature  of  the  transactions  here  recorded  ? 
Were  they  real  events,  the  result  of  divine  injunc- 
tions literally  understood,  and  as  literally  ful- 
filled ?  or  were  these  intimations  to  the  prophet 
only  intended  to  be  pictorial  illustrations  of  the 
apostacy  and  spiritual  folly  and  unfaithfulness  of 
Israel  ?  The  former  view,  viz.  that  the  prophet 
actually  and  literally  entered  into  this  impure 
connubial  alliance,  has  found  advocates  both  in 
ancient  and  modern  times.  Fanciful  theories  are 
also  rife  on  this  subject.  Luther  supposed  the 
prophet  to  perform  a  kind  of  drama  in  view  of  the 
people,  giving  his  lawful  wife  and  children  these 
mystical  appellations.  Newcome  thinks  that  a 
wife  of  fornication  means  merely  an  Israelite,  a 
woman  of  apostate  and  adulterous  Israel.  Heng- 
stenberg  supposes  the  prophet  to  relate  actions 
which  happened,  indeed,  actually,  but  not  out- 
wardly. Some,  with  Maimoiiides.  imagine  it  to 
be   a   nocturnal  vision ;    while   others   make   it 


HOSEA 


HOSEA 


-wholly  an  allegory.  The  first  opinion  has  been 
refuted  by  Hengstenberg  at  great  length  and  with 
much  force.  Besides  other  arguments  resting  on 
the  impurity  and  loathsomeness  of  the  supposed 
nuptial  contract,  it  may  be  argued  against  the 
external  reality  of  the  event,  that  it  must  have 
required  several  years  for  its  completion,  and  that 
the  impressiveness  of  the  symbol  would  therefore 
be  weakened  and  obliterated.  "Whichever  way 
this  question  may  be  solved ;  whether  these  oc- 
currences be  regarded  as  a  real  and  external 
transaction,  or  as  a  piece  of  spiritual  scenery,  or 
only,  as  is  most  probable,  an  allegorical  descrip- 
tion ;  it  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  the  actions  are 
typical. 

Expositors  are  not  at  all  agreed  as  to  the  mean- 
ing of  tlie  phrase  rendered  '  wife  of  whoredoms ;' 
whether  the  phrase  refers  to  harlotry  before  mar- 
riage, or  to  unfaithfulness  after  it.  It  may  afford 
an  easy  solution  of  the  difficulty,  if  we  look  at 
the  antitype  in  its  history  and  character.  Adul- 
tery is  the  appellation  of  idolatrous  apostacy.  The 
Jewish  nation  were  espoused  to  God.  The  con- 
tract was  formed  on  Sinai ;  but  the  Jewish  people 
had  prior  to  this  period  gone  a-whoring.  Josh. 
xxiv.  2-14,  '  Your  fathers  dveelt  on  the  other  side 
of  the  flood  in  old  time,  and  they  served  other 
gods.'  Comp.  Lev.  xvii.  7,  in  which  it  is  implied 
that  idolatrous  propensities  had  also  developed 
themselves  during  the  abode  in  Egypt :  so  that 
the  phrase  may  signify  one  devoted  to  lascivious- 
ness  prior  to  her  marriage.  The  marriage  must 
be  supposed  a  real  contract,  or  its  significance 
would  be  lost.  Jer.  ii.  2,  '  I  remember  thee,  the 
kindness  of  thy  youth,  the  love  of  thine  espousals, 
when  thou  wentest  after  me  in  the  wilderness,  in 
a  land  that  was  not  sown.'  Children  of  whore- 
doms refers  most  naturally  to  the  two  sons  and 
daughters  afterwards  to  be  born.  They  were  not 
the  prophet's  own,  as  is  intimated  in  the  allegory, 
and  they  followed  the  pernicious  example  of  the 
mother. 

The  names  of  the  children  being  symbolical, 
the  name  of  the  mother  has  probably  a  similar 
signification,  and  may  have  the  symbolic  sense  of 
'  one  thoroughly  abandoned  to  sensual  delights.' 
The  names  of  the  children  are  Jezreel,  Lo-ruha- 
mah,  and  Lo-ammi.  The  prophet  explains  the 
meaning  of  the  appellations.  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  names  refer  to  three  successive 
generations  of  the  Israelitish  people.  Hengsten- 
berg, on  the  other  hand,  argues  that '  wife  and 
children  both  are  the  people  of  Israel :  the  three 
names  must  not  be  considered  separately,  but 
taken  together.'  But  as  th«  marriage  is  first 
mentioned,  and  the  births  of  the  children  are  de- 
tailed in  order,  some  time  elapsing  between  the 
events,  we  rather  adhere  to  the  ordinary  expo- 
sition. Nor  is  it  without  reason  that  the  second 
child  is  described  as  a  female. 

The  first  child,  Jezreel,  may  refer  to  the  first 
dynasty  of  Jeroboam  I.  and  his  successors,  which 
was  terminated  in  the  blood  of  Ahab's  house 
which  Jehu  shed  at  Jezreel.  The  name  suggests 
also  the  cruel  and  fraudulent  possession  of  the 
vineyard  of  Naboth, '  which  was  in  Jezreel,'  where, 
too.  the  woman  Jezebel  was  slain  so  ignominiously 
(1  Kings  xvi.  I ;  2  Kings  ix.  21).  But  as  Jehu 
and  his  family  had  become  as  corrupt  as  their 
predecessors,  the  scenes  of  Jezreel  were  again  to 
be  enacted,  and  Jehu's  race  must  perish.   Jezreel, 


the  spot  referred  to  by  the  prophet,  is  also,  accord- 
ing to  Jerome,  the  place  where  the  Assyrian  army 
routed  the  Israelites.  The  name  of  this  child 
associates  the  past  and  future,  symbolizes  past  sins, 
intermediate  punishments,  and  final  overthrow. 
The  name  of  the  second  child,  Lo-ruhamah,  '  not- 
pitied,'  the  appellation  of  a  degraded  daughter, 
may  refer  to  the  feeble,  effeminate  period  which 
followed  the  overthrow  of  the  first  dynasty,  when 
Israel  became  weak  and  helpless  as  well  as  sunk 
and  abandoned.  The  favour  of  God  was  not 
exhibited  to  the  nation :  they  were  as  abject  as 
impious.  But  the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.  was 
prosperous  ;  new  energy  was  infused  into  the 
kingdom ;  gleams  of  its  former  prosperity  shone 
upon  it.  This  revival  of  strength  in  that  genera- 
tion may  be  typified  by  the  birth  of  a  third  child, 
a  son,  Lo-ammi, '  not-my-people '  (2  Kings  xiv.  25). 
Yet  prosperity  did  not  bring  with  it  a  revival  of 
piety ;  still,  although  their  vigour  was  recruited, 
they  were  not  God's  people. 

'The  peculiarities  of  Hosea's  style  have  been 
often  remarked.  His  style,  says  De  Wette,  *  is 
abrupt,  unrounded,  and  ebullient ;  his  rhythm 
hard,  leaping,  and  violent.  The  language  is 
peculiar  and  difficult.'  Lowth  speaks  of  him  as 
the  most  difficult  and  perplexed  of  the  prophets. 
Eichhorn's  description  of  his  style  was  probably 
at  the  same  time  meant  as  an  imitation  of  it : — 
'  His  discourse  is  like  a  garland  woven  of  a  multi- 
plicity of  flowers :  images  are  woven  upon  images, 
comparison  wound  upon  comparison,  metaphor 
strung  upon  metaphor.  He  plucks  one  flower, 
and  throws  it  down  that  be  may  directly  break 
oflF  another.  Like  a  bee,  he  flies  from  one  flower- 
bed to  another,  that  he  may  suck  his  honey  from 
the  most  varied  pieces.  It  is  a  natural  conse- 
quence that  his  figures  sometimes  form  strings  of 
pearls.  Often  is  he  prone  to  approach  to  allegory 
— often  he  sinks  down  in  obscurity '  (comp.  ch.  v. 
9;  vi,  3;  vii.  8;  xiii.  3,  7,  8,  16). 

Hosea,  as  a  prophet,  is  expressly  quoted  by 
Matthew  (ii.  1 5).  The  citation  is  from  the  first 
verse  of  ch.  xi.  Hosea  vi.  6  is  quoted  twice  by 
the  same  evangelist  (ix.  13 ;  xii.  7).  Quotations 
from  his  prophecies  are  also  to  be  found  in  Rom. 
ix.  25,  26.  References  to  them  occur  in  1  Cor. 
XV.  55,  and  in  1  Pet.  ii.  10.  Messianic  references 
are  not  clearly  and  prominently  developed.  This 
book,  however,  is  not  without  them  ;  but  they  lie 
more  in  the  spirit  of  its  allusions  than  in  the  letter. 
Hosea's  Christology  appears  written  not  with  ink, 
but  with  the  spirit  of  the  living  God,  on  the  fleshly 
tables  of  his  heart.  The  future  conversion  of  his 
people  to  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their 
king,  their  glorious  privilege  in  becoming  sons  of 
the  living  God,  the  faithfulness  of  the  original  pro- 
mise to  Abraham,  that  the  number  of  his  spiritual 
seed  should  be  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  are  among 
the  oracles  whose  fulfilment  will  take  place  only 
under  the  new  dispensation. 

HOSEA,  son  of  Elah,  and  last  king  of  Israel, 
He  conspired  against  and,  slew  his  predecessor 
Pekah,  and  seized  his  dominions.  '  He  did  evil 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,'  but  not  in  the  same  de- 
gree as  his  predecessors :  and  this,  by  the  Jewish 
commentators,  is  understood  to  mean  that  he  did 
not,  like  former  kings  of  Israel  (2  Kings  xv,  30), 
restrain  his  subjects  from  going  up  to  Jerusalem 
to  worship.  The  intelligence  that  Hosea  had 
entered  into  a  confederacy  with  So,  king  of  Egypt, 


HOSPITALITY 

with  the  view  of  shaking  off  the  Assyrian  yoke, 
caused  Shalmaneser,  the  king  of  Assyria,  to  march 
an  army  into  the  land  of  Israel ;  and  after  a  three 
years'  siege  Samaria  -was  taken  and  destroyed, 
and  the  ten  tribes  were  sent  into  the  countries 
beyond  the  Euphrates,  B.C.  720  (2  Kings  xv.  30 ; 
xvii.  1-6 ;  xviii.  9-12).  The  chronology  of  this 
reign  is  much  perplexed  [see  Chronology, 
Israel]. 

HOSPITALITY.  The  practice  of  receiving 
strangers  into  one's  house  and  giving  them  suit- 
able entertainment,  may  be  traced  back  to  the 
early  origin  of  human  society.  It  is  not,  however, 
confined  to  any  age  or  to  any  country,  but  has 
been  observed  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  wherever 
circumstances  have  been  such  as  to  render  it  de- 
sirable— thus  affording  one  among  many  instances 
of  the  readiness  with  which  human  nature,  in  its 
moral  as  well  as  in  its  physical  properties,  adapts 
itself  to  every  varying  condition.  Hospitality  is 
therefore  not  a  peculiarly  Oriental  virtue.  It  was 
practised,  as  it  still  is,  among  the  least  cultivated 
nations.  It  was  not  less  observed,  in  the  early 
periods  of  their  history,  among  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  With  the  Greeks,  hospitality  was  under 
the  immediate  protection  of  religion.  Jupiter  bore 
a  name  signifying  that  its  rights  were  under  his 
guardianship.  In  the  Odyssey  we  are  told  ex- 
pressly that  all  guests  and  poor  people  are  special 
objects  of  care  to  the  gods.  There  were  both  in 
Gre"ece  and  Italy  two  kinds  of  hospitality,  the  one 
private,  the  other  public.  The  first  existed  between 
individuals,  the  second  was  cultivated  by  one  state 
towards  another.  Hence  arose  a  new  kind  of  social 
relation :  between  those  who  had  exercised  and 
partaken  of  the  rites  of  hospitality  an  intimate 
friendship  ensued, — a  species  of  freemasonry, 
which  was  called  into  play  wherever  the  indi- 
viduals might  afterwards  chance  to  meet,  and  the 
right,  duties,  and  advantages  of  which  passed  from 
father  to  son,  and  were  deservedly  held  in  the 
highest  estimation. 

But  though  not  peculiarly  Oriental,  hospitality 
has  nowhere  been  more  early  or  more  fully  prac- 
tised than  in  the  East  It  is  still  honourably  ob- 
served among  the  Arabs,  especially  at  the  present 
day.  An  Arab,  on  arriving  at  a  village,  dismounts 
at  the  house  of  some  one  who  is  known  to  him, 
saying  to  the  master, '  I  am  your  guest.'  On  this 
the  host  receives  the  traveller,  and  performs  his 
duties,  that  is,  he  sets  before  his  guest  his  supper, 
consisting  of  bread,  milk,  and  borgul,  and,  if  he 
is  rich  and  generous,  he  also  takes  the  necessary 
care  of  his  horse  or  beast  of  burden.  Should  the 
traveller  be  unacquainted  with  any  person,  he 
alights  at  any  house,  as  it  may  happen,  fastens  his 
horse  to  the  same,  and  proceeds  to  smoke  his  pipe 
until  the  master  bids  him  welcome,  and  offers  him 
his  evening  meal.  In  the  morning  the  traveller 
pursues  his  journey,  making  no  other  return  than 
'  God  be  with  you '  (good  bye). 

We  find  hospitality  practised  and  held  in  the 
highest  estimation  at  the  earliest  periods  in  which 
the  Bible  speaks  of  human  society  (Gen.  xviii.  3 ; 
xix.  2  ;  xxiv.  25;  Exod.  ii.  20;  Judg.  xix.  16). 
Express  provision  for  its  exercise  is  made  in  the 
Mosaic  law  (Lev.  xix.  33;  Deut  xiv.  29).  In 
the  New  Testament  also  its  observance  is  enjoined, 
though  in  the  period  to  which  its  books  refer  the 
nature  and  extent  of  hospitality  would  be  changed 
■with  the  change  that    society   had  undergone 


HOURS 


405 


(1  Pet.  iv.  9 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2 ;  Tit.  i.  8  ;  1  Tim.  v. 
10;  Rom.  xii.  13;  Heb.  xiii.  2).  The  disposi- 
tion which  generally  prevailed  in  favour  of  the 
practice  was  enhanced  by  the  fuar  lest  those  who 
neglected  its  rites  should,  after  the  example  of 
impious  men,  be  subjected  by  the  divine  wrath  to 
frightful  punishments.  Even  the  Jews,  in  '  the 
latter  days,'  laid  very  great  stress  on  the  obliga- 
tion :  the  rewards  of  Paradise,  their  doctors  de- 
clared, were  his  who  spontaneously  exercised 
hospitality. 

The  guest,  whoever  he  might  be,  was  on  his 
appearing  invited  into  the  house  or  tent  (Gen. 
xix.  2;  Exod.  ii.  20;  Judg.  xiii.  15;  xix.  21). 
Courtesy  dictated  that  no  improper  questions 
should  be  put  to  him,  and  some  days  elapsed  be- 
fore the  name  of  the  stranger  was  asked,  or  what 
object  he  had  in  view  in  his  journey  (Gen.  xxiv. 
33).  As  soon  as  he  arrived  he  was  furnished 
with  water  to  wash  his  feet  (Gen.  xviii.  4  ;  xix. 
2 ;  1  Tim.  v.  10) ;  received  a  supply  of  needful 
food  for  himself  and  beast  (Gen.  xviii.  5  ;  xix. 
3  ;  xxiv.  25  ;  Exod.  ii.  20 ;  Judg.  xix.  20)  ;  and 
enjoyed  courtesy  and  protection  from  his  host 
(Gen.  xix.  5 ;  Josh.  ii.  2 ;  Judg.  xix.  23).  The 
case  of  Sisera,  decoyed  and  slain  by  Jael  (Judg. 
iv.  18,  sq.),  was  a  gross  infraction  of  the  rights 
and  duties  of  hospitality.  On  his  departure  the 
traveller  was  not  allowed  to  go  alone  or  empty- 
handed  (Judg.  xix.  5).  As  the  free  practice  of 
hospitality  was  held  right  and  honourable,  so  the 
neglect  of  it  was  considered  discreditable  (Job 
xXxi.  32  :  Odyss.  xiv.  56)  ;  and  any  interference 
with  the  comfort  and  protection  which  the  host 
afforded,  was  treated  as  a  wicked  outrage  (Gen. 
xix.  4,  sq.).  Though  the  practice  of  hospitality 
was  general,  and  its  rites  rarely  violated,  yet 
national  or  local  enmities  did  not  fail  sometimes 
to  interfere ;  and  accordingly  travellers  avoided 
those  places  in  which  they  had  reason  to  expect 
an  unfriendly  reception.  So  in  Judg.  xix.  12, 
the  '  certain  Levite'  spoken  of  said, '  We  will  not 
turn  aside  hither  into  the  city  of  a  stranger,  that 
is  not  of  the  children  of  Israel.'  The  quarrel 
which  arose  between  the  Jews  and  Samaritans 
after  the  Ba  bylonish  captivity  destroyed  the  rela- 
tions of  hospitality  between  them.  Regarding 
each  other  as  heretics,  they  sacrificed  every 
better  feeling.  It  was  only  in  the  greatest  ex- 
tremity that  the  Jews  would  partake  of  Samaritan 
food,  and  they  were  accustomed,  in  consequence 
of  their  religious  and  political  hatred,  to  avoid 
passing  through  Samaria  in  journeying  from  one 
extremity  of  the  land  to  the  other.  The  ani- 
mosity of  the  Samaritans  towards  the  Jews  ap- 
pears to  have  been  somewhat  less  bitter ;  but  they 
showed  an  adverse  feeling  towards  those  persons 
who,  in  going  up  to  the  annual  feast  at  Jerusalem, 
had  to  pass  through  their  country  (Luke  ix.  53). 
At  the  great  national  festivals  hospitality  was 
liberally  practised  so  long  as  the  state  retained  its 
identity.  On  these  festive  occasions  no  inhabitant 
of  Jerusalem  considered  his  house  his  own ;  every 
home  swarmed  with  strangers ;  yet  this  unbounded 
hospitality  could  not  find  accommodation  in  the 
houses  for  all  who  stood  in  need  of  it  and  a  large 
proportion  of  visitors  had  to  be  content  with  such 
shelter  as  tents  could  afford. 

HOURS.  The  ancient  Hebrews,  like  the 
Greeks,  were  unacquainted  with  any  other  means 
of  distinguishing  the  times  of  day  than  the  natural 


406 


HOURS 


divisions  of  morning,  midday  or  noon,  twilight, 
and  night  (Gen.  xv.  12;  xviii.  1 ;  xix.  1,  15,  23). 
The  earliest  mention  of  hours  occurs  in  Daniel 
(iii.  15;  iv.  19;  v.  5);  and,  as  the  Chaldaeans 
claimed  the  honour  of  inventing  this  system  of 
notation,  it  is  most  probable  that  it  was  during 
their  residence  in  Babylon  that  the  Jews  became 
familiar  with  their  artificial  distribution  of  the 
day.  At  all  events  no  trace  of  it  occurs  before  the 
captivity  of  that  people ;  while,  subsequently  to 
their  return  to  their  own  land,  we  find  the  prac- 
tice adopted,  and,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  univers- 
ally established,  of  dividing  the  day  and  night 
respectively  into  twelve  equal  portions  (Matt.  xx. 
3-5  ;  John  xi.  9 ;  Acts  v.  7 ;  xix.  34).  The 
Jewish  horology,  however,  in  common  with  that 
of  other  Eastern  nations,  had  this  inherent  defect, 
that  the  hours,  though  always  equal  to  one 
another,  were  unequal  in  regard  to  the  seasons, 
and  that  as  their  day  was  reckoned  from  sunrise 
to  sunset,  and  not  from  the  fixed  period  of  noon, 
as  with  us,  the  twelve  hours  into  which  it  was 
divided  varied,  of  course,  in  duration  according 
to  the  fluctuations  of  summer  and  winter.  The 
mid-day,  which  with  us  is  the  twelfth  hour,  the 
Jews  counted  their  sixth,  while  their  twelfth  hour 
did  not  arrive  till  sunset.  At  the  equinoxes, 
their  hours  were  exactly  of  the  same  length  with 
ours,  and  the  time  from  which  they  began  to 
reckon  their  day  at  tho.se  seasons  corresponded 
precisely  with  our  six  o'clock  a.m.  ;  their  first 
hour  being  our  seven  o'clock,  their  third  (Act5 
ii.  15),  our  nine,  their  ninth  (Acts  iii.  1),  our 
three  o'clock  p.m.,  and  their  eleventh  (Matt.  xx. 
6),  our  five.  This  equality,  however,  in  the 
duration  of  their  hours,  as  well  as  in  their  corre-^ 
spondence  to  ours,  was  disturbed  as  the  season 
approached  towards  the  summer  or  winter  solstice. 
In  midsummer,  when  sunrise  in  Judaea  takes 
place  at  five  o'clock  a.m.,  and  sunset  at  seven  p.m., 
the  Jewish  hours  were  a  little  longer  than  ours ; 
and  the  only  one  of  their  hours  which  answered 
exactly  to  ours  was  the  sixth,  or  twelve  o'clock, 
while  in  all  the  rest  there  was  a  considerable 
difference.  Their  third  hour  was  shortly  before 
our  nine,  and  their  ninth  a  little  after  our  three. 
In  like  manner,  in  winter,  when  the  sun  rises 
at  seven  and  sets  at  five,  the  Jewish  hour  was 
proportionally  shorter  than  ours,  their  third  hour 
not  occurring  till  a  little  qfler  our  nine,  and  their 
ninth  a  little  before  our  three.  Hence  it  is  evident 
that  in  order  to  determine  exactly  the  duration  of 
Daniel's  silence,  for  instance  ('  he  was  astonied 
one  hour,'  Dan.  iv.  19),  or  the  exact  time  when 
the  darkness  at  Chrisf  s  crucifixion  ended,  it  is 
necessary  to  ascertain  the  particular  seasons  when 
these  incidents  occurred. 

In  ancient  times  the  only  way  of  reckoning  the 
progress  of  the  day  was  by  the  length  of  the 
shadow — a  mode  of  reckoning  which  was  both 
contingent  on  the  sunshine,  and  served  only  for 
the  guidance  of  individuals.  By  what  means  the 
Jews  calculated  the  length  of  their  hours— 
•whether  by  dialling,  by  the  clepsydra  or  water- 
clock,  or  by  some  horological  contrivance,  like 
what  was  used  anciently  in  Persia  by  the  Romans, 
and  which  is  still  used  in  India,  a  servant  notify- 
ing the  intervals,  it  is  now  impossible  to  dis- 
cover. 

Besides  these  smaller  hours,  there  was  another 
division  of  tie  day  into  larger  hours,  with  re- 


HOUSE 

ference  to  the  stated  periods  of  prayer,  viz,  the 
third,  sixth,  and  ninth  hours  of  the  day  (Ps.  xlv. 
17). 

The  night  was  divided  into  twelve  equal  por- 
tions or  hours,  in  precisely  the  same  manner  as 
the  day.  The  most  ancient  division,  however, 
was  into  three  watches ;  the  first,  or  beginning 
of  the  watches,  as  it  is  called  (Lament,  ii.  19); 
the  middle-watch  (Judg.  vii.  19) ;  and  the  morn- 
ing-watch (Exod.  xiv.  24).  When  Judtea  became 
a  province  of  Rome,  the  Roman  distribution  of 
the  night  into  four  watches  was  introduced  [see 
CocK-CKOWiNG  and  Day];  to  which  division 
frequent  allusions  occur  in  the  New  Testament 
(Luke  xii.  38 ;  Matt.  xiv.  25 ;  xiii.  35),  as  well 
as  to  that  of  hours  (Matt.  xxv.  13;  xxvi.  40; 
Mark  xiv.  37 ;  Luke  xvii,  59 ;  Acts  xxiii.  23 ; 
Rev.  iii.  3). 

It  remains  only  to  notice  that  the  word  hour  is 
sometimes  used  in  Scripture  to  denote  some  de- 
terminate season,  as  '  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come,' 
'  this  is  your  hour,  and  the  power  of  darkness,' 
'  the  hour  is  coming,'  &c. 

HOUSE.  Houses  are  often  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture, several  important  passages  of  which  cannot 
be  well  understood  without  a  clearer  notion  of 
the  houses  in  which  th6  Hebrews  dwelt,  than  can 
be  realized  by  such  comparisons  as  we  naturally 
make  with  those  in  which  we  ourselves  live. 
But  things  so  different  afford  no  grounds  for 
instructive  comparison.  We  must  therefore  bring 
together  such  facts  as  can  be  collected  from  the 
Scripture  and  from  ancient  writers,  with  such 
details  from  modern  travellers  and  our  own  ob- 
servations, ^s  may  tend  to  illustrate  these  state- 
ments ;  for  there  is  every  reason  K)  conclude  that 
little  substantial  difference  exists  between  the 
ancient  houses  and  those  which  are  at  tliis  day 
found  in  south-western  Asia. 


Our  information  respecting  the  abodes  of  men 
in  the  ages  before  the  Deluge  is,  however,  too 
scanty  to  afford  much  ground  for  notice. 

We  may,  therefore,  pass  over  this  eai-ly  period, 
and  proceed  at  once  to  the  later  times  in  which 
the  Hebrews  flourished. 

The  observations  offered  under  Architecture 
will  preclude  the  expectation  of  finding  among 
this  Eastern  people  an  accomplished  style  of 
building.  The  reason  of  this  is  plain.  Their 
ancestors  had  roved  through  the  country  as  no- 
made  shepherds,  dwelling  in  tents ;  and  if  ever 
they  built  huts  they  were  of  so  light  a  fabric  as 
easily  to  be  taken  down  when  a  change  of  station 
became  necessary.  In  this  mode  of  life  solidity 
in  the  structure  of  any  dwelling  was  by  no  means 
required ;  much  less  were  regular  arrangement 
and  the  other  requisites  of  a  well-ordered  dwell- 
ing matters  of  consideration.     Under  such  cir- 


HOUSE 

cumstances  as  these,  no  improvement  in  the  habi- 
tation takes  place.  The  tents  in  which  the  Arabs 
now  dwell  are  iu  all  probability  the  same  as  those 
in  which  the  Hebrew  patriarchs  spent  their  lives. 

On  entering  Palestine,  the  Israelites  occupied 
the  dwellings  of  the  dispossessed  inhabitants ; 
and  for  a  long  time  no  new  buildings  would  be 
needed.  The  generation  which  began  to  build 
new  houses  must  have  been  born  and  bred  in  the 
country,  and  would  naturally  erect  buildings  like 
those  which  already  existed  in  the  land.  Their 
mode  of  building  was  therefore  that  of  the  Ca- 
naanites  whom  they  had  dispossessed.  Of  their 
style  of  building  we  are  not  required  to  form 
any  exalted  notions.  Iu  all  the  history  of  the 
conquest  of  the  country  by  the  Israelites,  there 
is  no  account  of  any  large  or  conspicuous  build- 
ing being  taken  or  destroyed  by  them.  It  would 
seem  also  as  if  there  had  been  no  temples ;  for 
we  read  not  that  any  were  destroyed  by  the  con- 
querors ;  and  the  command  that  the  monuments 
of  idolatry  should  be  overthrown,  specifies  only 
altars,  groves,  and  high  places — which  seems  to 
lead  to  the  same  conclusion ;  since,  if  there  had 
been  temples  existing  in  the-land  of  Canaan,  they 
would  doubtless  have  been  included.  It  is  also 
manifest  from  the  history  tliat  the  towns  which 
the  Hebrews  found  in  Palestine  were  mostly 
small,  and  that  the  largest  were  distinguished 
rather  by  their  number  than  by  the  size  or  mag- 
nificence of  their  buildings. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  extent  Solomon's 
improvements  in  state  architecture  operated  to 
the  advancement  of  domestic  architecture.  He 
built  difiTerent  palaces,  and  it  is  reasonable  to 
conclude  that  his  nobles  and  great  officers  fol- 
lowed more  or  less  the  models  which  these  palaces 
presented.  In  the  East,  however,  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  bulk  of  the  people  is  little 
affected  by  the  improvements  in  state  buildings. 
Men  go  on  building  from  age  to  age  as  their  fore- 
fathers built ;  and  in  all  probability  the  houses 
which  we  now  see  in  Palestine  are  such  as  those  in 
which  the  Jews,  and  the  Canaanites  before  them, 
dwelt — the  mosques,  the  Christian  churches,  and 
tbe  monasteries  being  the  only  new  features  in 
the  scene. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  many  houses 
in  Palestine  were  constructed  with  wood.  A 
great  part  of  that  country  was  always  very  poor 
in  timber,  and  the  middle  part  of  it  had  scarcely 
any  wood  at  all.  But  of  stone  there  was  no  want ; 
and  it  was  consequently  much  used  in  the  build- 
ing of  houses.  Having  premised  this,  the  prin- 
cipal building  materials  mentioned  in  Scripture 
may  be  enumerated  with  reference  to  their  place 
in  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature. 

I.  Vegetable  Substances  : — 

1.  Shiltim,  or  the  timber  of  the  acacia  tree, 
which  grows  abundantly  in  the  valleys  of  Arabia 
Petrsea,  and  was  therefore  employed  in  the  con- 
struction of  the  tabernacle.  Not  being,  however, 
a  tree  of  Palestine,  the  wood  was  not  subsequently 
used  in  building. 

2.  The  wood  of  the  sycaniorefig-trec,  mentioned 
in  Isa.  ix.  10,  as  a  building  timber  in  more  com- 
mon use  than  cedar,  or  perhaps  than  any  other 
wood  known  in  Palestine. 

3.  Cedar.  As  this  was  a  wood  imported  from 
Lebanon,  it  would  only  be  used  in  the  higher 
class  of  buildings. 


HOUSE  407 

4.  Alffum-wood,  which,  being  imported  from 
the  Eastern  seas,  must  have  been  valued  at  a 
high  price.  It  was  used  by  Solomon  for  pillars 
for  his  own  palace,  and  for  the  temple  (1  Kings 
X.  11,  12). 

5.  Cypress-wood.  Boards  of  this  were  used 
for  the  floor  of  the  Temple,  which  may  suggest 
the  use  to  which  it  was  ordinarily  applied  (1 
Kings  vi.  15;  2  Chron.  iii.  5). 

Particular  accounts  of  all  these  woods,  and  ol 
the  trees  which  afforded  them,  may  be  seen  under 
the  respective  words. 

II,  Mineral  Substances  : — 

1.  Marble.  We  find  the  court  of  the  king  of 
Persia's  palace  covered  with  marble  of  various 
colours  (Esth.  i.  C).  David  is  recorded  to  have 
possessed  abundance  of  marble  (1  Chrou.  xxx. 
[xxix.]  2  ;  comp.  Cant.  v.  13),  and  it  was  used 
by  Solomon  for  his  palace,  as  well  as  for  the 
Temple. 

2.  Porphyry  and  Granite  are  supposed  to  be 
'  the  glistering  stones,  and  stones  of  divers  colours ' 
named  in  1  Chron.  xxix.  2.  If  so,  the  mountains 
of  Arabia  Petrcca  furnished  the  nearest  source  of 
supply,  as  these  stones  do  not  exist  in  Palestine  or 
Lebanon. 

3.  Bricks.  Briclcs  hardened  by  fire  were  em- 
ployed in  the  construction  of  the  tower  of  Babel 
(Gen.  xi.  3),  and  the  hard  bondage  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  Egypt  consisted  in  the  manufacture  of 
sun-dried  bricks  (Exod.  v.  7,  10-13).  This  im- 
portant building-material  has  been  noticed  under 
another  head  [Bricks]  ;  and  it  only  remains  to 
remark  that  no  subsequent  notice  of  bricks  as 
being  used  by  the  Hebrews  occurs  after  they  had 
entered  Palestine.  Yet,  judging  from  existing 
analogies,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  bricks 
were  to  a  considerable  extent  employed  in  their 
buildings. 

3.  Chalk  and  Gi/psttm.  That  the  Hebrews 
were  acquainted  with  these  materials  appears 
from  Deut.  xxvii.  2 ;  and  from  Dap.  v.  5 ;  Acts 
xxiii  3,  it  further  appears  that  walls  were  covered 
with  them. 

4.  Mortar,  a  cement  made  of  lime,  ashes,  and 
chopped  straw,  or  of  gypsum  and  chopped  straw. 
This  is  probably  meant  in  Jer.  xliii.  9;  Ezek. 
xiii.  10,  11,  20. 

5.  Asphaltum,  or  Bitumen,  which  is  mentioned 
as  being  used  tor  a  cement  by  the  builders  of 
Babel.  This  must  have  been  in  the  want  of  lime- 
mortar,  the  country  being  a  stoneless  plain.  But 
the  Israelites,  who  had  no  lack  of  the  usual  ce- 
ments, did  not  employ  asphaltum  [Bitumen]. 

6.  The  metals  also  must  be,  to  a  certain  extent, 
regarded  as  building  materials :  lead,  iron,  and 
copper  are  mentioned  ;  and  even  silver  and  gold 
were  used  in  combination  with  wood,  for  various 
kinds  of  solid,  plated,  and  inlaid  work  (Exod. 
xxxvi.  34,  38). 

III.  Animal  Substances  : — 

Such  substances  can  be  but  iu  a  small  degree 
applicable  to  building.  luory  houses  are  men- 
tioned in  1  Kings  xxii.  39  ;  Amos  iii.  14  ;  most 
likely  from  certain  parts  of  the  wood-work,  pro- 
bably about  the  doors  and  windows,  being  inlaid 
with  this  valuable  substance.  Solomon  obtained 
ivory  in  great  quantities  from  Tyre  (I  Kings  x. 
22;  2  Chron.  ix.  21).     [Ivoby.] 

In  describing  the  houses  of  ancient  Palestine, 
there  is  no  way  of  arriving  at  distinct  notions  but 


408  HOUSE 

!  by  taking  the  texts  of  Scripture  and  illustrating 

i  them  by  the  existing  houses  of  those  parts  of 

!  Western  Asia  which  have  been  the  least  exposed 

I  to  the  changes  of  time,  and  in  which  the  manners 

I  of  ancient  days  have  been  the  best  preserved. 

i  Writers  on  the  subject  have  seen  this,  and  have 

j  brought  together  the  descriptions  of  travellers 

i  bearing  on  the  subject ;   but  these  descriptions 

I  have  generally  been  applied  with  very  little  judg- 

!  ment,  from  the  want  of  that  distinct  knowledge 

I  of  the  matter  which  only  actual  obsei-vation  can 

!  give.     Travellers  have  seldom  been  students  of 

I  Scripture,  and  students  of  Scripture  have  seldom 

j  been  travellers.     The  present  writer,  having  re- 
sided for  a  considerable  time  in  Turkish  Arabia, 

i  where  the  type  of  Scriptural  usages  has  been  better 

j  preserved  than  in  Egypt,  or  even  in  Palestine 

j  itself,  is  enabled  to  speak  on  this  matter  with 

'  somewhat  more  precision.    Of  four  houses  in 

1  which  he  there  resided,  two  were  first-rate,  and 

!  two  were  second-rate.     One  of  the  latter   has 

{  always  seemed  to  him  to  suggest  a  more  satisfac- 

j  tory  idea  of  a  Scriptural  house  than  any  of  the 

j  others,  or  than  any  that  he  ever  saw  in  other 

j  Eastern  countries.    That  one  has  therefore  formed 

I  the  basis  of  all  his  ideas  on  this  subject;   and 

I  where  it  seemed  to  fail,  the  others  have  usually 

I  supplied  the  illustration  he  required.  This  course 

j  he  has  found  so  beneficial  that  he  will  endeavour 

I  to  impart  a  clear  view  of  the  subject  to  the  reader 

I  by  giving  a  general  notion  of  the  house  referred 

j  to,  explaining  any  points  in  which  the  others  dif- 

1  fered  from  it,  and  producing  the  passages  of  Scrip- 

'  ture  which  seem  to  be  illustrated  in  the  process. 


We  may  premise  that  the  houses  present  little 
more  than  a  dead  wall  to  the  street.  The  privacy 
of  Oriental  domestic  habits  would  render  our  plan 
of  throwing  the  front  of  the  houses  towards  the 
street  most  repulsive.  On  coming  to  a  house,  one 
finds  a  lofty  wall,  which  would  be  blank  but  for 
the  low  door  of  entrance  [Gate]  ;  over  which  is 
usually  the  kiosk,  or  latticed  window  (sometimes 
j  projecting  like  the  huge  bay  windows  of  Eliza- 
bethan houses),  or  screened  balcony  of  the  '  sum- 
mer parlour.'  Besides  this,  there  may  be  a  small 
latticed  window  or  two  high  up  the  wall,  giving 
light  and  air  to  upper  chambers.     This  seems, 


HOUSE 

from  the  above  engraving  (No.  211),  to  have 
been  the  character  of  the  fronts  of  ancient  Egyp- 
tian houses. 

The  buildings  which  form  the  house  front 
towards  an  inner  square  or  court.  Small  houses 
have  one  of  these  courts,  but  superior  houses  have 
two,  and  first-rate  houses  three,  communicating 
with  each  other ;  for  the  Orientals  dislike  ascend- 
ing stairs  or  steps,  and  prefer  to  gain  room  rather 
by  the  extent  than  height  of  their  habitations.  It 
is  only  when  the  building-ground  is  confined  by 
nature  or  by  fortifications,  that  they  build  high 
houses.  Not  one  out  of  four  houses  we  ourselves 
inhabited  had  more  than  one  story  ;  but,  from  the 
loftiness  of  the  rooms,  they  were  as  high  as  houses 
of  three  stories  among  ourselves.  If  there  are 
three  or  more  courts,  all  except  the  outer  one  are 
much  alike  in  size  and  appearance ;  but  the  outer 
one,  being  devoted  to  the  more  public  life  of  the 
occupant,  and  to  his  intercourse  with  society,  is 
materially  difi'erent  from  all  the  others.  If  there 
are  more  than  two,  the  second  is  devoted  chiefly 
to  the  use  of  the  master,  who  is  there  attended 
only  bj-  his  eunuchs,  children,  and  females,  and 
sees  only  such  persons  as  he  calls  from  the  third 
or  interior  court  in  which  they  reside.  In  the  his- 
tory- of  Esther,  she  incurs  danger  by  going  from 
her  interior  court  to  that  of  the  king,  to  invite  him 
to  visit  her  part  of  the  palace  ;  but  she  would  not 
on  any  account  have  gone  to  the  outermost  court, 
in  which  the  king  held  his  public  audiences. 
When  there  are  only  two  courts,  the  innermost  is 
the  harem,  in  which  the  women  and  children 
live,  and  which  is  the  true  domicile  of  the  master, 
to  which  he  withdraws  when  the  claims  of  busi- 
ness, of  society,  and  of  friends  have  been  satisfied, 
and  where  no  man  but  himself  ever  enters,  or 
could  be  induced  to  enter,  even  by  strong  per- 
suasions. 

Entering  at  the  street-door,  a  passage,  usually 
sloping  downward,  conducts  to  the  outer  court ; 
the  opening  from  the  passage  to  this  is  not  oppo- 
site the  gate  of  entrance,  but  by  a  side  turn,  to 
preclude  any  view  from  the  street  into  the  court 
when  the  gate  is  opened.  On  entering  the  outer 
court  through  this  passage,  we  find  opposite  to  us 
the  public  room,  in  which  the  master  receives  and 
gives  audience  to  his  friends  and  clients.  This  is 
entirely  open  in  front,  and,  being  richly  fitted  up, 
has  a  splendid  appearance  when  the  first  view  of 
it  is  obtained.  A  refreshing  coolness  is  sometimes 
given  to  this  apartment  by  a  fountain  throwing  up 
a  jet  of  water  in  front  of  it.  Some  idea  of  the 
apartment  may  be  formed  from  the  annexed  cut 
(No.  212).  This  is  the  '  guest-chamber'  of  Luke 
xxii.  11.  A  large  portion  of  the  other  side  of  the 
court  is  occupied  with  a  frontage  of  lattice-work 
filled  with  coloured  glass,  belonging  to  a  room  as 
large  as  the  guest-chamber,  and  which  in  winter 
is  used  for  the  same  purpose,  or  serves  as  the 
apartment  of  any  visitor  of  distinction,  who  can- 
not of  course  be  admitted  into  the  interior  parts 
of  the  house.  The  other  apartments  in  this  outer 
court  are  comparatively  small,  and  are  used  for 
the  accommodation  of  visitors,  retainers,  and  ser- 
vants. These  various  apartments  are  usually  upon 
what  we  should  call  the  first  floor,  or  at  least  upon 
an  elevated  terrace.  The  ground-floor  is  in  that 
case  occupied  by  various  store-rooms  and  servants' 
offices.  In  all  cases  the  upper  floor,  containing 
the  principal  rooms,  is  fronted  by  a  gallery  or 


HOUSE 

terrace,  protected  from  the  sun  by  a  sort  of  pent- 
house roof  supported  by  pillars  of  wood. 


In  houses  having  but  one  court,  the  reception- 
room  is  on  the  ground-floor,  and  the  domestic 
establishment  in  the  upper  part  of  the  house. 
This  arrangement  is  shown  in  the  annexed  en- 
graving (No.  213),  which  is  also  interesting  from 
its  showing  the  use  of  the  '  pillars '  so  often  men- 


tioned in  Scripture,  particularly  '  the  pillars  on 
•which  the  house  stood,  and  by  which  it  was  borne 
up '  ( Judg.  xvi.  29). 

The  kiosk,  which  has  been  mentioned  above  as 


HOUSE  409 

fronting  the  street,  over  the  gateway,  is  connected 
with  one  of  the  larger  rooms  already  described, 
or  forms  a  separate  apartment,  which  is  the  sum- 
mer parlour  of  Scripture.  Here,  in  the  heat  of 
the  afternoon,  the  master  lounges  or  dozes  list- 
lessly, refreshed  by  the  air  which  circulates 
between  the  openings  of  the  lattice-work;  and 
here  he  can,  if  he  pleases,  notice  unobserved  what 
passes  in  the  street.  In  this  we  are  to  seek  the 
summer  parlour  in  which  Ehud  smote  the  king 
of  Moab  (Judg.  iii.  20),  and  the  '  chamber  on  the 
wall,'  which  the  Shunamite  prepared  for  the 
prophet  (2  Kings  iv.  10).  The  projecting  con- 
struction over  the  reception  chamber  in  No.  213 
is,  like  the  kiosk,  towards  the  street  as  a  summer 
parlour;  but  there  it  belongs  to  the  women's 
apartments,  and  looks  into  the  court,  and  not  the 
street. 

It  is  now  time  to  proceed  to  the  inner  court, 
which  we  enter  by  a  passage  and  door  similar 
to  those  by  whicJi  we  entered  from  the  street. 
This  passage  and  door  are  usually  at  one  of  the 
innermost  corners  of  the  outer  court.  Here  a 
much  more  extended  prospect  opens  to  us,  tke 
inner  court  being  generally  much  larger  than  the 
former.  The  annexed  cut  (No.  21 4)  will  convey 
some  notion  of  It ;  but  being  a  Persian  house,  it 
somewhat  differs  from  that  which  we  have  more 
particularly  in  view.  It  is  lower,  the  principal 
apartments  standing  upon  a  terrace  or  bank  of 
earth,  and  not  upon  a  basement  story  of  offices ; 
and  it  also  wants  the  veranda  or  covered  gallery 
in  front,  which  we  find  in  SjTO-Arabian  houses. 
The  court  is  for  the  most  part  paved,  excepting  a 
portion  in  the  middle,  which  is  planted  with  trees 
(usually  two)  and  shrubs,  with  a  basin  of  water  in 
the  midst.  In  our  Arabian  house  the  two  trees 
were  palm-trees,  in  which  a  number  of  wild  doves 
built  their  nests.  In  the  second  cut  (No.  341f), 
showing  an  ancient  Egyptian  house,  we  see  the 
same  arrangement:  two  palm-trees  growing  in 
the  court  extend  their  tops  above,  and,  as  it  were, 
out  of  the  house — a  curious  effect  frequently  no- 
ticed in  the  towns  of  South-western  Asia.  That 
the  Jews  had  the  like  arrangement  of  trees  in  the 
courts  of  their  houses,  and  that  the  birds  nested 


in  them,  appears  from  Psa.  Ixxxiv.  2,  3.  They 
had  also  the  basin  of  water  in  the  inner  court,  or 
haram ;  and  among  them  it  was  used  for  bathing, 
as  is  shown  by  David's  discovering  Bathsheba 
bathing  as  he  walked  on  the  roof  of  his  palace. 
This  use  of  the  reservoir  has  now  been  superseded 
by  the  establishment  of  public  warm  baths  in 
every  town,  and  in  private  mansions.  Cold 
bathing  has  all  but  ceased  iu  Western  Asia. 


410 


HOUSE 


The  arrangement  of  the  inner  court  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  the  outer ;  but  the  whole  is 
more  opeu  and  airy.  The  buildings  usually 
occupy  two  sides  of  the  square,  of  which  the  one 
opposite  the  entrance  contains  the  principal  apart- 
ments. They  are  upon  what  we  should  call  the 
first  floor,  and  open  into  a  wide  gallery  or  ve- 
randa, which  in  good  houses  is  nine  or  ten  feet 
deep,  and  covered  by  a  wooden  penthouse  sup- 
ported by  a  row  of  wooden  columns.  This  ter- 
race, or  gallery,  is  furnished  with  a  strong  wooden 
balustrade,  and  is  usually  paved  with  squared 
stones,  or  else  floored  with  boards.  In  the  centre 
of  the  principal  front  is  the  usual  open  drawing- 
room,  on  which  the  best  art  of  the  Eastern  deco- 
rator is  expended.  Much  of  one  of  the  sides  of 
the  court  front  is  usually  occupied  by  the  large 
sitting-room,  with  the  latticed  front  covered  with 
coloured  glass,  similar  to  that  in  the  outer  court. 
The  other  rooms,  of  smaller  size,  are  the  more 
private  apartments  of  the  mansion.  There  are 
usually  no  doors  to  the  sitting  or  drawing-rooms 
of  Eastern  houses :  they  are  closed  by  curtains, 
at  least  in  summer,  the  opening  and  shutting  of 
doors  being  odious  to  most  Orientals.  The  same 
seems  to  have  been  the  case  among  the  Hebrews, 
as  far  as  we  may  judge  from  the  curtains  which 
served  instead  of  doors  to  the  tabernacle,  and 
■which  separated  the  inner  and  outer  chambers  of 
the  temple.  The  curtained  entrances  to  our 
Westminster  courts  of  law  supply  a  familiar  ex- 
ample of  the  same  practice. 

These  observations  apply  to  the  principal  story. 
The  basement  is  occupied  by  various  offices, 
stores  of  corn  and  fuel,  places  for  the  water-jars 
to  stand  in,  places  for  grinding  corn,  baths, 
kit-chens,  &c.  The  kitchens  are  always  in  this 
inner  court,  as  the  cooking  is  performed  by 
women,  and  the  ladies  of  the  family  superintend 
or  actually  assist  in  the  process.  The  kitchen, 
open  in  front,  is  on  the  same  side  as  the  entrance 
from  the  outer  court ;  and  the  top  of  it  forms  a 
terrace,  which  affords  a  communication  between 
the  first  floor  of  both  courts  by  a  private  door, 
seldom  used  but  by  the  master  of  the  house  and 
attendant  eunuchs. 

The  kitchen  is  surrounded  by  a  bank  of  brick- 
work, on  the  top  of  which  are  the  fireplaces  formed 
in  compartments,  and  separated  by  little  walls  of 
fire-brick  or  tile.  In  these  difi'erent  compartments 
the  various  dishes  of  an  Eastern  feast  may  be  at 
once  prepared  at  charcoal  fires.  This  place  being 
wholly  open  in  front,  the  half-tame  doves,  which 
have  their  nests  in  the  trees  of  the  court,  often 
visit  it,  in  the  absence  of  the  servants,  in  search 
of  crumbs,  &c.  As  they  sometimes  blacken  them- 
selves, this  perhaps  explains  the  obscure  passage 
in  Ps.  Ixviii.  13,  'Though  ye  have  lien  among 
the  pots,  ye  shall  be  as  the  wings  of  a  dove 
covered  with  silver,'  &c.  In  Turkish  Arabia 
most  of  the  houses  have  underground  cellars  or 
vaults,  to  which  the  inhabitants  retreat  during 
the  mid-day  heat  of  summer,  and  there  enjoy  a 
refreshing  coolness.  In  the  rest  of  the  year  these 
cellars,  or  serdaubs,  as  they  are  called,  are 
abandoned  to  the  bats,  which  swarm  in  them  in 
scarcely  credible  numbers  (Isa.  ii.  20). 

From  the  court  a  flight  of  stone  steps,  usually 
at  the  comer,  conducts  to  the  gallery,  from  which 
a  plainer  stair  leads  to  the  house-top.  If  the 
house  be  large,  there  are  two  or  three  sets  of  steps 


HOUSE 

to  the  difi'erent  sides  of  the  quadrangle,  but  seldom 
more  than  one  flight  from  the  terrace  to  the  house- 
top of  any  one  court.  There  is,  however,  a  sepa- 
rate stair  from  the  outer  court  to  the  roof,  and  it 
is  usually  near  the  entrance.  This  will  bring  to 
mind  the  case  of  the  paralytic,  whose  friends, 
finding  they  could  not  get  access  to  Jesus  through 
the  people  who  crowded  the  court  of  the  house  in 
which  he  was  preaching,  took  him  up  to  the  roof, 
and  let  him  down  in  his  bed  through  the  tiling,  to 
the  place  where  Jesus  stood  (Luke  v.  17-26).  If 
the  house  in  which  our  Lord  then  was  had  more 
than  one  court,  he  and  the  auditors  were  certainly 
in  the  outer  one ;  and  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude 
that  he  stood  in  the  veranda  addressing  the  crowd 
below.  The  men  bearing  the  pai-alytic  therefore 
perhaps  went  up  the  steps  near  the  door ;  and 
finding  they  could  not  even  then  get  near  the 
person  of  Jesus,  the  gallery  being  also  crowded, 
continued  their  course  to  the  roof  of  the  house, 
and  removing  the  boards  over  the  covering  of  the 
gallery,  at  the  place  where  Jesus  stood,  lowered 
the  sick  man  to  his  feet.  But  if  they  could  not 
get  access  to  the  steps  near  the  door,  as  is  likely, 
from  the  door  being  much  crowded,  their  alter- 
native was  to  take  him  to  the  roof  of  the  next 
house,  and  there  hoist  him  over  the  parapet 
to  the  roof  of  the  house  which  they  desired  to 
enter. 

The  roof  of  the  house  is,  of  course,  flat.  It  is 
formed  by  layers  of  branches,  twigs,  matting,  and 
earth,  laid  over  the  rafters  and  trodden  down ; 
after  which  it  is  covered  with  a  compost  which 
acquire  considerable  hardness  when  dry.  Such 
roofs  would  not,  however,  endure  the  heavy  and 
continuous  rains  of  our  climate ;  and  in  those 
parts  of  Asia  where  the  climate  is  more  than 
usually  moist,  a  stone  roller  is  usually  kept  on 
every  roof,  and  after  a  shower  a  great  part  of  the 
population  is  engaged  in  drawing  these  rollers 
over  th«  roofs.  It  is  now  very  common,  in  coun- 
tries where  timber  is  scarce,  to  have  domed  roofs  ; 
but  in  that  case  the  flat  roof,  which  is  indis- 
pensable to  Eastern  habits,  is  obtained  by  filling 
up  the  hollow  intervals  between  the  several  domes, 
so  as  to  form  a  flat  surface  at  the  top.  These  flat 
roofs  are  often  alluded  to  in  Scripture ;  and  the 
allusions  show  that  they  were  made  to  serve  the 
same  uses  as  at  present.  In  fine  weather  the  in- 
habitants resorted  much  to  them  to  breathe  the 
fresh  air,  to  enjoy  a  fine  prospect,  or  to  witness 
any  event  that  occurred  in  the  neighbourhood 
(2  Sam.  xi.  2 ;  Isa.  xxii.  1 ;  Matt.  xxiv.  1 7 ; 
Mark  xiii.  15).  The  dryness  of  the  summer 
atmosphere  enabled  them,  without  injury  to 
health,  to  enjoy  the  bracing  coolness  of  the  night- 
air  by  sleeping  on  the  house-tops  ;  and  in  order 
to  have  the  benefit  of  the  air  and  prospect  in  the 
daytime,  without  inconvenience  from  the  sun, 
sheds,  booths,  and  tents,  were  sometimes  erected 
on  the  house-tops  (2  Sam.  xvi.  22). 

The  roofs  of  the  houses  are  well  protected  by 
walls  and  parapets.  Towards  the  street  and 
neighbouring  houses  is  a  high  wall ;  and  towards 
the  interior  court-yard  usually  a  parapet  or 
wooden  rail.  '  Battlements '  of  this  kind,  for 
the  prevention  of  accidents,  are  strictly  enjoined 
in  the  Law  (Deut.  xxii.  8) ;  and  the  form  of  the 
battlements  of  the  Egyptian  houses,  as  shown  in 
the  annexed  engravings,  suggest  some  interesting 
analogies,  when  we  consider  how  recently  the 


HOUSE 

Israelites  had  quitted  Egjpt  Then  that  law  was 
delivered. 


HULDAH 


411 


Of  the  inferior  kinds  of  Oriental  dwellings, 
such  as  are  met  with  in  villages  and  very  small 
towns,  the  subjoined  is  not  an  unfavourable  spe- 
cimen. In  these  there  is  no  central  court,  but 
there  is  generally  a  yard  attached,  either  on  one 
side  or  at  the  rear.  The  shaded  platform  in  front 
is  such  as  is  usually  seen  attached  to  coffee- 
houses, which  is,  in  fact,  the  character  of  the 
house  represented  in  No.  217.  Here  the  cus- 
tomers sit  and  smoke  their  pipes,  and  sip  their 
coffee.  The  village  cabins  and  abodes  of  the 
peasantry  are,  of  course,  of  a  still  inferior  de- 
scription ;  and,  being  the  abodes  of  people  who 
live  much  in  the  open  air,  will  not  bear  com- 
parison with  the  houses  of  the  same  class  in 
Northern  Europe,  where  the  cottage  is  the  home 
of  the  owner. 

No  ancient  houses  had  chimneys.  The  word 
so  translated  in  Hos.  xiii.  3,  means  a  hole  through 
■which  the  smoke  escaped  ;  and  this  existed  only 
in  the  lower  class  of  dwellings,  where  raw  wood 
was  employed  for  fuel  or  cooking,  and  where 
there  was  an  opening  immediately  over  the 
hearth  to  let  out  the  smoke.  In  the  better  sort 
of  houses  the  rooms  were  warmed  in  winter  by 
charcoal  in  braziers,  as  is  still  the  practice  (Jer. 
xxxvi.  22  ;  Mark  xiv.  54;  John  xviii.  18). 

The  windows  had  no  glass.  They  were  only 
latticed,  and  thus  gave  free  passage  to  the  air  and 
admitted  light,  while  birds  and  bats  were  ex- 
cluded.    In  winter  the  cold  air  was  kept  out  by 


veils  over  the  windows,  or  by  shutters  with  holes 
in  them  sufficient  to  admit  light  (1  Kings  vii.  17  ; 
Cant.  ii.  9). 

In  the  East,  where  the  climate  allows  the 
people  to  spend  so  much  of  their  time  out  of 
doors,  the  articles  of  furniture  and  the  domestic 


utensUs  have  always  been  few  and  simple.  They 
are  in  this  work  noticed  under  separate  headis 
[Bed;  Lamps;  Pottery;  Seats;  Tables]. 
The  rooms,  however,  although  comparatively 
vacant  of  moveables,  are  far  from  having  a  naked 
or  unfurnished  appearance.  This  is  owmg  to  the 
high  ornament  given  to  the  walls  and  ceilings. 
The  walls  are  broken  up  into  various  recesses, 
and  the  ceiling  into  compartments.  The  ceiling, 
if  of  wood  and  flat,  is  of  curious  and  complicated 
joinery;  or,  if  vaulted,  is  wrought  into  numerous 
coves,  and  enriched  with  fret-work  in  stucco ;  and 
the  walls  are  adorned  with  arabesques,  mosaics, 
mirrors,  painting,  and  gold ;  which,  as  set  off  by 
the  marble-like  whiteness  of  the  stucco,  has  a 
truly  brilliant  and  rich  effect.  There  is  much 
in  this  to  remind  one  of  such  descriptions  of 
splendid  interiors  as  that  in  Isa.  liv.  11,  12. 

HULDAH,  or  rather  Chuldah,  wife  of  Shal- 
lum,  a  prophetess,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Josiah, 
abode  in  that  part  of  Jerusalem  called  the 
Mishneh,  where  the  book  of  the  Law  was  dis- 
covered by  the  high-priest  Hilkiah.  This  pro- 
phetess was  consulted  respecting  the  denuncia- 
tions which  it  contained.  She  then  delivered  an 
oracular  response  of  mingled  judgment  and 
mercy ;  declaring  the  not  remote  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  but  promising  Josiah  that  he  should 
be  taken  from  the  world  before  these  evil  days 
came;  b.c.  623  (2  Kings  xxii.  14-20;  2  Chron. 
xxxiv.  22-28).  Huldah  is  only  known  for  this 
circumstance.  She  was  probably  at  this  time  the 
widow  of  Shallum,  a  name  too  common  to  sug- 
gest any  information  ;  but  he  is  said  to  have  been 
grandson  of  one  Harhas,  '  keeper  of  the  ward- 
robe,' but  whether  the  priestly  or  the  royal  ward- 
robe is  uncertain.  If  the  former,  he  must  have 
been  a  Levite,  if  not  a  priest.  As  to  her  resi- 
dence, it  is  said  to  have  been  '  in  the  Mishneh,' 
which  the  Auth.  Vers,  renders  '  in  the  college.' 
But  there  is  no  ground  to  conclude  that  any  school 
or  college  of  the  prophets  is  to  be  understood. 
The  name  means  '  second '  or  '  double ;'  and 
many  of  the  Jews  themselves  (as  Jarchi  states) 
understood  it  as  the  name  of  the  suburb  lying 
between  the  inner  and  outer  wall  of  Jerusalem. 
It  is  safest  to  regard  it  as  a  proper  name  denoting 
some  quarter  of  Jerusalem  about  which  we  are 


412 


HUNTING 


not  certain,  and,  accordingly,  to  translate  '  in  the 
Mishneh.' 

HUNTING.  The  pursuit  and  capture  of 
beasts  of  the  field  was  the  first  means  of  sus- 
tenance which  the  human  race  had  recourse  to, 
this  mode  of  gaining  a  livelihood  having  naturally 
preceded  the  engagements  of  agriculture,  as  it 
presented  food  already  provided,  requiring  only  to 
be  taken  and  slaughtered  ;  whereas  tillage  must 
have  been  an  afterthought,  and  a  later  resource, 
since  it  implies  accumulated  knowledge,  skill, 
and  such  provision  aforehand  of  subsistence  as 
would  enable  a  clan  or  a  family  to  wait  till  the 
fruits  of  the  earth  were  matured.  Hunting  was, 
therefore,  a  business  long  ere  it  was  a  sport.  And 
originally,  before  man  had  established  his  em- 
pire on  the  earth,  it  must  have  been  not  only  a 
serious  but  a  dangerous  pursuit.  In  pi-ocess  of 
time,  however,  when  civilization  had  made  some 
progress,  when  cities  were  built  and  lands  cul- 
tivated, hunting  was  carried  on  not  so  much  for 
the  food  which  it  brought  as  for  the  recreation  it 
gave  and  its  conduciveness  to  health. 

The  East — the  cradle  of  civilization — presents 
us  with  hunting  in  both  the  characters  now 
spoken  of,  originally  as  a  means  of  support,  then 
as  a  manly  amusement.  In  the  early  records  of 
history  we  find  hunting  held  in  high  repute, 
partly,  no  doubt,  from  its  costliness,  its  dangers, 
its  similitude  to  war,  its  capability  of  combining 
ihe  energies  of  many,  and  also  from  the  relief 
which  it  afforded  to  the  stagnant  monotony  of  a 
court,  in  the  high  and  bounding  spirits  that  it 
called  forth.  Hunting  has  always  borne  some- 
what of  a  regal  character,  and  down  to  the  pre- 
sent hour  has  worn  an  aristocratic  air.  In 
Babylon  and  Persia  this  attribute  is  presented  in 
bold  relief.  Immense  parks  were  enclosed  for 
nurturing  and  preserving  beasts  of  the  chace.  The 
monarch  himself  led  the  way  to  the  sport,  not 
only  in  these  preserves,  but  also  over  the  wide 
surface  of  the  country,  being  attended  by  his 
nobles,  especially  by  the  younger  aspirants  to 
fame  and  warlike  renown. 

In  the  Bible  we  find  hunting  connected  with 
royalty  so  early  as  in  Gen.  x.  The  great  founder 
of  Babel  was  in  general  repute  as  '  a  mighty 
hunter  before  the  Lord.'  The  patriarchs,  how- 
ever, are  to  be  regarded  rather  as  herdsmen  than 
hunters,  if  respect  is  had  to  their  habitual  mode 
of  life.  The  condition  of  the  herdsman  ensues 
next  to  that  of  the  hunter  in  the  early  stages  of 
civilization  ;  and  so  we  find  that  even  Cain  was 
a  keeper  of  sheep.  This,  and  the  fact  that  Abel 
is  designated  '  a  tiller  of  the  ground,'  would  seem 
to  indicate  a  very  rapid  progress  in  the  arts  and 
pursuits  of  social  life.  The  same  contrast  and 
simi'ar  hostility  we  find  somewhat  later,  in  the 
case  of  Jacob  and  Esau;  the  first,  'a  plain  man 
dwelling  in  tents ;"  the  second, '  a  cunning  hunter, 
a  man  of  the  field  '  (Gen.  xxv.  sq.).  The  account 
given  of  Esau  in  connection  with  his  father  seems 
to  show  that  hunting  was,  conjointly  with  tillage, 
pursued  at  that  time  as  a  means  of  subsistence, 
and  that  hunting  had  not  then  passed  into  its 
secondary  state,  and  become  an  amusement. 

In  Egypt  the  children  of  Israel  would  be  spec- 
tators of  hunting  carried  on  extensively  and  pur- 
sued in  different  manners,  but  chiefly,  as  appears 
probable,  with  a  view  rather  to  recreation  than 
subsistence.   That  the  land  of  promise  into  which 


HUSKS 

the  Hebrews  were  conducted  on  leaving  Egypt 
was  plentifully  supplied  with  beasts  of  the  chace 
appears  clear  from  Exod.  xxii.  29,  '  I  will  not 
drive  them  out  in  one  year,  lest  the  land  become 
desolate  and  the  beast  of  the  field  multiply  against 
thee'  (comp.  Dent.  iii.  22).  And  from  the  re- 
gulation given  in  Lev.  xvii.  15,  it  is  manifest  that 
hunting  was  practised  after  the  settlement  in 
Canaan,  and  was  pursued  with  the  view  of  ob- 
taining food.  Prov.  xii.  27  proves  that  hunting 
animals  for  their  flesh  was  an  established  custom 
among  the  Hebrews,  though  the  turn  of  the  pas- 
sage may  serve  to  show  that,  at  the  time  it  was 
penned,  sport  was  the  chief  aim.  If  hunting  was 
not  forbidden  in  the  '  year  of  rest,'  special  pro- 
vision was  made  that  not  only  the  cattle,  but  '  the 
beast  of  the  field '  should  be  allowed  to  enjoy  and 
flourish  on  the  uncropped  spontaneous  produce  of 
the  land  (Exod.  xxiii.  11;  Lev.  xxv.  7).  That 
the  lion  and  other  ravenous  beasts  of  prey  were 
not  wanting  in  Palestine,  many  passages  of  the 
Bible  make  obvious  (1  Sam.  xvii.  34  ;  2  Sam. 
xxiii.  20  ;  1  Kings  xiii.  24).  The  lion  was  even 
made  use  of  to  catch  other  animals  (Ezek.  xix. 
3),  and  Harmer  long  ago  remarked,  that  as  in  the 
vicinity  of  Gaza,  so  also  in  Judaea,  leopards  were 
trained  and  used  for  the  same  purpose  (Harmer, 
iv.  358 ;  Hab.  i.  8).  That  lions  were  taken  by 
pitfalls  as  well  as  by  nets  appears  from  Ezek. 
xix.  4,  8  (Shaw,  p.  172).  In  the  latter  verse  the 
words  of  the  prophet,  '  and  spread  their  net  over 
him,'  allude  to  the  custom  of  enclosing  a  wide 
extent  of  country  with  nets,  into  which  the  ani- 
mals were  driven  by  hunters.  The  spots  thus 
enclosed  were  usually  in  a  hilly  country  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  water-brooks;  whence  the  pro- 
priety and  force  of  the  language  of  Ps.  xlii.  1, 
'  As  the  (hunted)  hart  panteth  after  the  water- 
brooks.'  These  places  were  selected  because 
they  were  those  to  which  the  animals  were  in  the 
habit  of  repairing  in  the  morning  and  evening. 
Scenes  like  the  one  now  supposed  are  found  por- 
trayed in  the  Egyptian  paintings.  Hounds  were 
used  for  hunting  in  Egypt,  and,  if  the  passage  in 
Josephus  {Antiq.  iv.  8,  9)  may  be  considered  de- 
cisive, in  Palestine  as  well.  From  Gen.  xxvii.  3, 
'  Now  take  thy  weapons,  thy  quiver  and  thy  bow,' 
we  learn  what  arms  were  employed  at  least  in 
capturing  game.  Bulls,  after  being  taken,  were 
kept  at  least  for  a  time  in  a  net  (Is.  li.  20).  Va- 
rious missiles,  pitfalls,  snares,  and  gins  were 
made  use  of  in  hunting  (Ps.  xci.  3 ;  Amos  iii.  5 ; 
2  Sam.  xxiii.  20).  That  hunting  continued  to  be 
followed  till  towards  the  end  of  the  Jewish  state 
appears  from  Josephus,  who  speaks  of  Herod  as 
'  ever  a  most  excellent  hunter,  for  in  one  day  he 
caught  forty  wild  beasts.'  The  same  passage 
makes  it  clear  that  horses  were  employed  in  the 
pursuits  of  the  chace. 

HUSKS.  The  word  which  is  thus  rendered  in 
th-e  Authorized  "Version  (Luke  xv.  10)  is  really 
the  name  of  a  tree  called  in  English  Carob-tree. 
It  is  extremely  common  in  the  south  of  Europe, 
in  Syria,  and  in  Egypt.  Celsius  states  that  no 
tree  is  more  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Tal- 
mud, where  its  fruit  is  stated  to  be  given  as  food 
to  cattle  and  swine :  it  is  now  given  to  horses, 
asses,  and  mules.  During  the  Peninsular  war 
the  horses  of  the  British  cavalry  were  often  fed 
on  the  beans  of  the  Carob-tree.  Both  Pliny  and 
Columella  mention  that  it  was  given  us  food  to 


HYJENA 

swine.  By  some  it  has  been  thought,  but  appa- 
rently witliout  reason,  that  it  was  upon  the  husks 
of  this  tree  that  John  the  Baptist  fed  in  the  wil- 
derness :  from  this  idea,  however,  it  is  often  called 
St  John's  Bread  and  Locust-tree. 


218.    [Ceratonia  Siliqua.] 

The  Carob-tree  grows  in  the  south  of  Europe 
and  north  of  Africa,  usually  to  a  moderate  size, 
but  it  sometimes  becomes  very  large,  with  a 
trunk  of  great  thickness,  and  affords  an  agreeable 
shade.  The  quantity  of  pods  borne  by  each  tree 
is  very  considerable,  being  often  as  much  as  800 
or  900  pounds  weight :  they  are  flat,  brownish- 
coloured,  from  six  to  eight  inches  in  length,  of  a 
Bub-astringent  taste  when  unripe,  but  when  come 
to  maturity  they  secrete,  within  the  husks  and 
round  the  seeds,  a  sweetish-tasted  pulp.  When 
on  the  tree,  the  pods  have  an  unpleasant  odour ; 
but  when  dried  upon  hurdles  they  become  eat- 
able, and  are  valued  by  poor  people,  and  during 
famine  in  the  countries  where  the  tree  is  grown, 
especially  in  Spain  and  Egypt,  and  by  the  Arabs. 
They  are  given  as  food  to  cattle  in  modern,  as 
we  read  they  were  in  ancient,  times  ;  but  at  the 
best  can  only  be  considered  very  poor  fare. 

HY^NA  {Tzehoa),  (Ecclus.  xiii.  18).  Ex- 
cepting in  Ecclesiasticus  just  noted,  the  word  does 
not  occur  in  the  English  Bible,  although  there 
are  several  passages  in  the  Hebrew  canonical 
books,  where  Tzeboa,  '  streaked '  or  '  variegated,' 
is  assumed  to  designate  the  hya-na.  The  most 
noted  of  these  is  Jer.  xii.  9,  where  the  words 
which  the  Septuagint  render  '  the  cave  of  the 
hyscna,'  are  rendered  in  our  version  '  a  speckled 
bird.'  But  Bochart  and  the  continuator  of  Cal- 
met  vindicate  w  hat  we  take  to  be  the  true  reading, 
*  the  striped  rusher,'  i.  e.  the  hysena,  turning 
round  upon  his  lair,  introduced  after  an  allusion 
in  the  previous  verse  to  the  lion  calling  to  the 
beasts  of  the  field  (other  hya;uas  and  jackals)  to 
come  and  devour.  This  allusion,  followed  up  as 
it  is  by  a  natural  association  of  ideas,  with  a  de- 


HYMENEUS  413 

scription  of  the  pastor,  feeder,  or  rather  consumer 
or  devourer  of  the  vineyard,  treading  down  and 
destroying  the  vines,  renders  the  natural  and 
poetical  picture  complete;  for  the  hya?na  seeks 
burrows  and  caverns  for  a  lair ;  like  the  dog  it 
turns  round  to  lie  down  ;  howls,  £.nd  occasionally 
acts,  in  concert;  is  loathsome,  savage,  insatiable 
in  appetite,  offensive  in  smell ;  and  will  in  the 
season,  like  canines,  devour  grapes,  as  the  writer 
has  himself  ascertained  by  actual  experiment. 

Tzeboa,  therefore,  we  consider  proved  to  be. 
generically,  the  hya?na.  The  striped  species  is 
one  of  three  or  four — all,  it  seems,  originally 
African  ;  and,  by  following  armies  and  caravans, 
gradually  spread  over  Southern  Asia  to  beyond 
the  Ganges,  though  not  as  yet  to  the  east  of  the 
Bramapootra.  It  is  now  not  uncommon  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  has  extended  into  Southern  Tartary ; 
but  this  progress  is  comparatively  so  recent,  that 
no  other  than  Semitic  names  are  well  known  to 
belong  to  it.  The  head  and  jaws  of  all  the 
species  are  broad  and  strong  ;  the  muzzle  trun- 
cated ;  the  tongue  like  a  rasp ;  the  teeth  34  in- 
stead of  42,  as  in  the  canidce,  but  robust,  large, 
and  eminently  formed  for  biting,  lacerating,  and 
reducing  the  very  bone ;  the  neck  stiff;  the  body 
short  and  compact;  the  limbs  tall,  with  only  four 
toes  on  each  foot ;  the  fur  coarse,  forming  a  kind 
of  semi-erectile  mane  along  the  back;  the  tail 
rather  short,  with  an  imperfect  brush,  and  with 
a  fetid  pouch  beneath  it.  In  stafUre  the  species 
varies  from  that  of  a  large  wolf  to  much  less. 
Hysenas  are  not  bold  in  comparison  with  wolves, 
or  in  proportion  to  their  powers.  They  do  not 
in  general  act  collectively ;  they  prowl  chiefly  in 
the  night;  attack  asses,  dogs,  and  weaker  ani- 
mals ;  feed  most  willingly  on  corrupt  animal 
offal,  dead   camels,  &c. ;   and  dig   into  human 


graves  that  are  not  well  protected  with  stakes  '• 
and  brambles.  The  striped  species  is  of  a  dirty  ' 
ashy  buff,  with  some  oblique  black  streaks  across  j 
the  shoulders  and  body,  and  numerous  cross-bars  , 
on  the  legs ;  the  muzzle  and  throat  are  black,  : 
and  the  tip  of  the  tail  white. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  deeh,  or 
Scriptural  wolf,  when  represented  as  carrying  off  ; 
a  lamb,  is  no  other  than  the  hya;na,  unless  the 
real  wolf  has   been   extirpated ;    for  zoologists   i 
have  not  found  the  wolf  in  Syria.  j 

HYMENE'US,  a  professor  of  Christianity  at 
Ephesus,  who,  with  Alexander  (1  Tim.  i.  20)   | 
and  Philetus  (2  Tim.  ii.  18),  had  departed  from   ! 
the  truth  both  in  principle  and  practice,  and  led   ; 
others  into  apostacy.    The  chief  doctrinal  error  j 


414  HYSSOP 

of  these  persons  consisted  in  maintaining  that 
'  the  resurrection  was  past  already.'  The  precise 
meaning  of  this  expression  is  by  no  means  clearly 
ascertained :  the  most  general  and  perhaps  best 
founded  opinion  is,  that  they  understood  the  re- 
surrection in  a  figurative  sense  of  the  great 
change  produced  by  the  Gospel  dispensation. 
Most  critics  suppose  that  the  same  person  is  re- 
ferred to  in  both  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  by  the 
name  of  Hymeneus.  Dr.  Mosheim,  however, 
contends  that  there  were  two.  But  his  reasoning 
on  the  subject  is  far  from  satisfactory. 

HYMN.  In  the  only  places  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament where  this  word  occurs,  it  is  connected 
^ith  two  others  of  very  similar  import.  '  Speak- 
ing to  yourselves  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spi- 
ritual songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  your 
heart  to  the  Lord '  (Eph.  v.  19  ;  Col.  iii.  16).  It 
has  been  conjectured  that  by  '  psalms  and  hymns' 
the  poetical  compositions  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  chiefly  to  be  understood,  and  that  the  epithet 
'  spiritual,'  hei-e  applied  to  '  songs,'  is  intended  to 
mark  those  devout  effusions  which  resulted  from 
the  spiritual  gifts  granted  to  the  primitive  church ; 
yet  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  26  a  production  of  the  latter 
class  is  called  '  a  psalm.'  Josephus,  it  may  be 
remarked,  uses  the  terms  '  hymns '  and  '  songs,' 
in  reference  to  the  Psalms  of  David  (Antiq.  vii. 
12.  3).  Our  information  respecting  the  hymno- 
logy  of  the  first  Christians  is  extremely  scanty  ; 
the  most  distinct  notice  we  possess  of  it  is  that 
contained  in  Pliny's  celebrated  Epistle  {Ep.  x. 
97)  :  '  They  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  God.' 

The  hymn  which  our  Lord  sung  with  his  dis- 
ciples at  tbe  Last  Supper  is  generally  supposed 
to  have  been  the  latter  part  of  the  Hallel,  or 
series  of  psalms  which  were  sung  by  the  Jews  on 
the  night  of  the  Passover,  comprehending  Ps. 
cxiii.-cxviii. ;  Ps.  cxiii.  and  cxiv.  being  sung  be- 
fore, and  the  rest  after  the  Passover. 

HYSSOP.  A  great  variety  of  opinions  have 
been  entertained  respecting  the  plant  called  esohh, 
translated  '  hyssop'  in  the  Authorized  Version 
both  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament ;  but  it 
is  difficult  to  fix  with  certainty  on  the  plant  in- 
tended. The  first  notice  of  it  occurs  in  Exod. 
xii.  22,  where  a  bunch  of  hyssop  is  directed  to 
be  dipped  in  blood  and  struck  on  the  lintels  and 
the  two  side-posts  of  the  doors  of  the  houses  in 
which  the  Israelites  resided.  It  is  next  men- 
tioned in  Lev.  xiv.  4,  6,  52,  in  the  ceremony  for 
declaring  lepers  to  be  cleansed;  and  again,  in 
Num.  xix.  6,  18,  in  preparing  the  water  of  sepa- 
ration. To  these  passages  the  apostle  alludes  in 
Heb.  ix.  19  :  '  For  when  Moses  had  spoken  every 
precept  to  all  the  people,  according  to  the  law, 
he  took  the  blood  of  calves,  and  of  goats,  with 
water,  and  scarlet  wool,  and  hyssop,  and  sprinkled 
both  the  book  and  all  the  people.'  From  these 
texts  we  find  that  the  plant  must  have  been  leafy, 
and  large  enough  to  serve  for  the  purposes  of 
spriukling,  and  that  it  must  have  been  found  in 
Lower  Egypt,  as  well  as  in  the  country  towards 
Mount  Sinai,  and  onwards  to  Palestine.  From 
the  following  passages  we  get  some  information 
respecting  the  habits  and  the  supposed  properties 
of  the  plant.  Thus,  in  1  Kings  iv.  33,  it  is  said, 
*  Solomon  spoke  of  trees,  from  the  cedar-tree  that 
is  in  Lebanon,  even  unto  the  hyssop  that  springeth 
out  of  the  wall ;'  and  in  the  penitential  psalm  of 
David  (li.  7),  '  Purge  me  with  hyssop,  and  I 


IBZAN 

shall  be  clean :  wash  me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter 
than  snow.'  In  this  passage  it  is,  no  doubt,  con- 
sidered by  some  commentators  that  hyssop  is 
used  in  a  figurative  sense  ;  but  still  it  is  possible 
that  the  plant  may  have  possessed  some  general 
cleansing  properties,  and  thus  come  to  be  em- 
ployed in  preference  to  other  plants  in  the  cere- 
monies of  purification.  It  ought,  at  all  events,  to 
be  found  growing  upon  walls,  and  in  Palestine. 
In  the  account  of  the  crucifixion  of  our  Saviour, 
the  Apostle  John  says  (John  xix.  29),  '  Now 
there  was  set  a  vessel  full  of  vinegar,  and  they 
filled  a  sponge  with  vinegar,  and  put  it  upon 
hyssop,  and  put  it  to  his  mouth.'  In  the  parallel 
passages  of  Matthew  (xxvii.  48)  and  Mark  (xv. 
36),  it  is  stated  that  the  sponge  filled  with  vinegar 
was  put  upon  a  reed  or  stick.  To  reconcile  these 
statements,  some  commentators  have  supposed 
that  both  the  sponge  and  the  hyssop  were  tied  to 
a  stick,  and  that  one  apostle  mentions  only  the 
hyssop,  because  he  considered  it  as  the  most  im- 
portant ;  while,  for  the  same  reason,  the  other 
two  mention  only  the  stick ;  but  the  simplest 
mode  of  explaining  the  apparent  discrepancy  is 
to  consider  the  hyssop  and  the  stick  to  be  the 
same  thing — in  other  words,  that  the  sponge  was 
affixed  to  a  stick  of  hyssop. 

A  great  variety  of  plants  have  been  adduced  by 
different  authors  as  that  alluded  to  in  the  above  pas- 
sages. Some  contend  for  several  plants  belonging 
to  the  class  of  ferns,  such  as  maiden-hair,  wall-rue, 
pearlwort,  and  hair-moss :  others  for  a  species  of 
wormwood,  that  it  might  be  more  distasteful  to  our 
Saviour.  'The  majority,  however,  have  selected 
different  kinds  of  fragrant  plants  belonging  to  the 
natural  family  of  Labiata,  several  of  which  are 
found  in  dry  and  barren  situations  in  Palestine, 
and  also  in  some  parts  of  the  Desert.  Of  these 
may  be  mentioned  the  rosemary,  species  of  la- 
vender, of  mint,  of  marjoram,  of  thyme,  of  savory, 
of  thymbra,  and  others  of  the  same  tribe,  resem- 
bling each  other  much  in  characters  as  well  as  in 
properties:  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of 
them  grow  on  walls,  or  are  possessed  of  cleansing 
properties ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  the  rose- 
mary, they  are  not  capable  of  yielding  a  stick, 
nor  are  they  found  in  all  the  required  situations. 
Dr.  Eoyle,  who  has  recently  investigated  the 
subject,  is  of  opinion  that  as  the  caper  plant  has 
an  Arabic  name,  asuf,  similar  to  the  Hebrew  esob 
or  esof;  as  it  is  found  in  Lower  Egypt,  in  the 
deserts  of  Sinai,  and  in  New  Jerusalem ;  as  it 
grows  upon  rocks  and  walls,  was  always  supposed 
to  be  possessed  of  cleansing  qualities,  is  large 
enough  to  yield  a  stick ;  and  as  its  different  parts 
used  to  be  preserved  in  vinegar,  as  its  buds  now 
are,  he  is  warranted,  from  the  union  of  all  these 
properties  in  this  plant,  corresponding  so  closely 
to  those  of  the  original  esof,  in  considering  it  as 
proved  that  the  caper  plant  is  the  hyssop  of  Scrip- 


I. 


IB'ZAN  {illustrious),  the  tenth  'judge  of  Is- 
rael.' He  was  of  Bethlehem,  probably  the  Beth- 
lehem of  Zebulun  and  not  of  Judah.  He  governed 
seven  years.  The  prosperity  of  Ibzan  is  marked 
by  the  great  number  of  his  children  (tlurty  sons 


IDDO 

and  thirty  daughters),  and  his  wealth  by  tlieir 
marriages — for  they  were  all  married. 

ICH'ABOD  {where  is  the  glory),  sou  of  Phinehas 
and  graudson  of  Eli.  He  is  only  known  from  the 
unhappy  circumstances  of  his  birth,  which  occa- 
sioned this  name  to  be  given  to  him.  The  pains 
of  labour  came  upon  his  mother  when  she  heard 
that  the  ark  of  God  was  taken,  that  her  husband 
was  slain  in  battle,  and  that  these  tidings  had 
proved  fatal  to  his  father  Eli.  They  were  death- 
pains  to  her ;  and  when  those  around  sought  to 
cheer  her,  saying,  '  Fear  not,  for  thou  hast  borne 
a  son,'  she  only  answered  by  giving  him  the  name 
of  Ichabod,  saying,  '  The  glory  is  departed  from 
Israel'  (1  Sam.  iv.  19-22);  B.C.  1141.  The  name 
again  occurs  in  1  Sam.  xiv.  3  [Eli]. 

ICO'NIUM,  a  town,  formerly  the  capital  of 
Lycaonia,  as  it  is  now,  by  the  name  of  Konieh, 
of  Karamania,  in  Asia  Minor.  It  is  situated  in 
N.  lat.  37°  51',  E.  long.  32°  40',  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  inland  from  the  Mediter- 
ranean. It  was  visited  by  St.  Paul  in  a.d.  45, 
when  many  Gentiles  were  converted ;  but  some 
unbelieving  Jews  excited  against  him  and  Bar- 
nabas a  persecution,  which  they  escaped  with 
diflSculty  (Acts  xiii.  51 ;  xiv.  1,  &c.).  He  under- 
took a  second  journey  to  Iconium  in  a.d.  51. 
The  church  planted  at  this  place  by  the  apostle 
continued  to  flourish,  until,  by  the  persecutions  of 
the  Saracens,  and  afterwards  of  the  Seljukians, 
who  made  it  one  of  their  sultanies,  it  was  nearly 
extinguished.  But  some  Christians  of  the  Greek 
and  Armenian  churches,  with  a  Greek  metro- 
politan bishop,  are  still  found  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  not  being  permitted  to  reside  within  the  walls. 
Konieh  is  situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Taurus, 
upon  the  border  of  the  lake  Trogolis,  in  a  fertile 
plain,  rich  in  valuable  productions,  particularly 
apricots,  wine,  cotton,  flax,  and  grain.  The  cir- 
cumference of  the  town  is  between  two  and  three 
miles,  beyond  which  are  suburbs  not  much  less 
populous  than  the  town  itself.  The  town,  suburbs, 
and  gardens  are  plentifully  supplied  with  water 
from  streams  which  flow  from  some  hills  to  the 
westward,  and  which,  in  the  north-east,  join  the 
lake,  which  varies  in  size  with  the  season  of  the 
year.  In  the  town  carpets  are  manufactured,  and 
blue  and  yellow  leathers  are  tanned  and  dried. 
Cotton,  wool,  hides,  and  a  few  of  the  other  raw 
productions  which  enrich  the  superior  industry 
and  skill  of  the  manufacturers  of  Europe,  are  sent 
to  Smyrna  by  caravans. 

The  city,  like  all  those  renowned  for  superior 
sanctity,  abounds  with  dervishes,  who  meet  the 
passenger  at  every  turning  of  the  streets,  and  de- 
mand paras  with  the  greatest  clamour  and  inso- 
lence. The  bazaars  and  houses  have  little  to 
recommend  them  to  notice. 

1.  ID'DO  (seasonable),  a  prophet  of  Judah, 
who  wrote  the  history  of  Eehoboam  and  Abijah ; 
or  rather  perhaps  who,  in  conjunction  with  Se- 
raiah,  kept  the  public  rolls  during  their  reigns. 
It  seems  by  2  Chron.  xiii.  22,  that  he  named  his 
book  Midrash,  or  '  Exposition.'  Josephus  states 
that  this  Iddo  was  the  prophet  who  was  sent  to 
Jeroboam  at  Bethel,  and  consequently  the  same 
who  was  slain  by  a  lion  for  disobedience  to  his 
instructions  ( 1  Kings  xiii.)  ;  and  many  commen- 
tators have  followed  this  statement. 

2.  IDDO,  grandfather  of  the  prophet  Zechariah 
(Zech.  L  1 ;  Ezra.  t.  I ;  vi,  14). 


IDOLATRY 


415 


3.  IDDO,  chief  of  the  Jews  of  the  Captivity 
established  at  Casiphia,  a  place  of  which  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  determine  the  position.  It  was  to  him 
that  Ezra  sent  a  requisition  for  Levites  and  Ne- 
thinim,  none  of  whom  had  yet  joined  his  caravan. 
Thirty-eight  Levites  and  two  hundred  and  fifty 
Nethinim  responded  to  his  call  (Ezra  viii.  17-20), 
B.C.  457.  It  would  seem  from  this  that  Iddo  was 
a  chief  person  of  the  Nethinim,  descended  from 
those  Gibeonites  who  were  charged  with  the 
servile  labours  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple. 
This  is  one  of  several  circumstances  which  indi- 
cate that  the  Jews  in  their  several  colonies  under 
the  Exile  were  still  ruled  by  the  heads  of  their 
nation,  and  allowed  the  free  exercise  of  their 
worship. 

4.  IDDO  (lovely),  a  chief  of  the  half  tribe  of 
Manasseh  beyond  the  Jordan  (1  Chron.  xxvii. 
"1). 

IDLE.  The  ordinary  uses  of  this  word  re- 
quire no  illustration.  But  the  very  serious  pas- 
sage in  Matt.  xii.  36  may  suitably  be  noticed  in 
this  place.  In  the  Authorized  Version  it  is  trans- 
lated, '  I  say  unto  you,  that  every  idle  luord  that 
men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  an  account 
thereof  in  the  day  of  judgment.'  The  whole 
question  depends  upon  the  meaning,  or  rather  the 
force,  of  the  term  rendered  '  idle  word,'  concern- 
ing which  there  has  been  no  little  difference  of 
opinion.  Many  understand  it  to  mean  '  wicked 
and  injurious  words ;'  but  this  interpretation  has 
been  examined  with  much  nicety  by  Dr.  Titt- 
mann,  and  shown  to  be  untenable.  He  contends 
that  we  must  necessarily  understand  by  the  phrase 
a  certain  kind  of  words  or  discourse,  which, 
under  the  appearance  of  sincerity  or  candour,  is 
often  the  worst  possible,  and  '  condemns  a  man,' 
because  it  is  uttered  with  an  evil  purpose.  The 
meaning  of  the  expression,  then,  seems  to  be  void 
of  effect,  without  result,  followed  by  no  correspond- 
ing event.  Therefore  '  idle  words '  are  empty  or 
vain  words  or  discourse,  i.  e.  void  of  truth,  and 
to  which  the  event  does  not  correspond.  In  short, 
it  is  the  empty,  inconsiderate,  insincere  language 
of  one  who  says  one  thing  and  means  another. 
This  Tittmann  confirms  by  a  number  of  citations ; 
and  then  deduces  from  the  whole  that  the  sense 
of  the  passage  under  review  is :  '  Believe  me,  he 
who  uses  false  and  insincere  language  shall  suffer 
grievous  punishment :  your  words,  if  uttered  with 
sincerity  and  ingenuousness,  shall  be  approved ; 
but  if  they  are  dissembled,  although  they  bear  the 
strongest  appearance  of  sincerity,  they  shall  be 
condemned.' 

IDOLATRY.  In  giving  a  summary  view  of 
the  forms  of  idolatry  which  are  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  ■  it  is  expedient  to  exclude  all  notice  of 
those  illegal  images  which  were  indeed  designed 
to  bear  some  symbolical  reference  to  the  worship 
of  the  true  God,  but  which  partook  of  the  nature 
of  idolatry ;  such,  for  example,  as  the  golden  calf 
of  Aaron  (cf.  Neh.  ix.  18);  those  of  Jeroboam; 
the  singular  ephods  of  Gideon  and  Micah  (Judg. 
viii.  27 ;  xvii.  5) ;  and  the  Teraphim. 

Idolatry  was  the  most  heinous  offence  against 
the  Mosaic  law,  which  is  most  particular  in  de- 
fining the  acts  that  constitute  the  crime,  and 
severe  in  apportioning  the  punishment.  Thus,  it 
is  forbidden  to  make  any  image  of  a  strange  god ; 
to  prostrate  oneself  before  such  an  image,  or  be- 
fore those  natural  objects  which  were  also  wor- 


416 


IDOLATRY 


shipped  without  images,  as  the  sun  and  moon 
(Deut.  iv.  19);  to  suffer  the  altars,  images,  or 
groves  of  idols  to  stand  (Exod.  xxxiv.  13)  ;  or  to 
keep  the  gold  and  silver  of  which  their  images 
were  made,  and  to  suffer  it  to  enter  the  house 
(Deut.  vii.  25,  26);  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  most 
especially  to  offer  human  sacrifices ;  to  eat  of  the 
victims  offered  to  idols  by  others ;  to  prophesy  in 
the  name  of  a  strange  god ;  and  to  adopt  any  of 
the  fites  used  in  idolatrous  worship,  and  to  trans- 
fer them  to  the  worship  of  the  Lord  (Deut  xii. 
30,  31).  As  for  punishment,  the  law  orders  that 
if  an  individual  committed  idolatry  he  should  be 
stoned  to  death  (Deut.  xvii.  2-5) ;  that  if  a  town 
was  guilty  of  this  sin,  its  inhabitants  and  cattle 
should  be  slain,  and  its  spoils  burnt  together  with 
th<;  town  itself  (Deut.  xiii.  12-18).  To  what  de- 
gree also  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Old  Testament 
is  abhorrent  from  idolatry,  is  evident  (besides 
legal  prohibitions,  prophetic  denunciations,  and 
energetic  appeals  like  that  in  Isa.  xliv.  9-20)  from 
the  literal  sense  of  the  terms  which  are  used  as 
synonymes  for  idols  and  their  worship.  Thus 
idols  are  called  the  inane  (Lev.  xix.  4)  ;  vanities 
(Acts  xiv.  15;  Jer.  ii.  5);  nothing  (Isa.  Ixvi.  3); 
abominations  (1  Kings  xi.  5)  ;  and  their  worship 
is  called  whoredom. 

The  early  existence  of  idolatry  is  evinced  by 
Josh.  xxiv.  2,  where  it  is  stated  that  Abram  and 
his  immediate  ancestors  dwelling  in  Mesopotamia 
'served  other  gods.'  The  terms  in  Gen.  xxxi. 
53,  and  particularly  the  plural  form  of  the  verb, 
seem  to  show  that  some  members  of  Terah's 
family  had  each  different  gods.  From  Josh, 
xxiv.  14,  and  Ezek.  xx.  8,  we  learn  that  the 
Israelites,  during  their  sojourn  in  Egypt,  were 
seduced  to  worship  the  idols  of  that  country ; 
although  we  possess  no  particular  account  of 
their  transgression.  In  Amos  v.  25,  and  Acts 
yii.  42,  it  is  stated  that  they  committed  idolatry 
in  their  journey  through  the  wilderness ;  and  in 
Num.  XXV.  1,  sq.,  that  they  worshipped  the 
Moabite  idol  Baal-peor  at  Shittim.  After  the 
Israelites  had  obtained  possession  of  the  promised 
land,  we  find  that  they  were  continually  tempted 
to  adopt  the  idolatries  of  the  Canaanite  nations 
with  which  they  came  in  contact.  The  book  of 
Judges  enumerates  several  successive  relapses 
into  this  sin.  The  gods  which  they  served  during 
this  period  were  Baal  and  Ashtoreth,  and  their 
modifications ;  and  Syria,  Sidon,  Moab,  Ammon, 
and  Philistia,  are  named  in  Judg.  x.  6,  as  the 
sources  from  which  they  derived  their  idolatries. 
Then  Samuel  appears  to  have  exercised  a  bene- 
ficial influence  in  weaning  the  people  from  this 
folly  (1  Sam.  vii.);  and  the  worship  of  the  Lord 
acquired  a  gradually  increasing  hold  on  the  na- 
tion until  the  time  of  Solomon,  who  was  induced 
in  his  old  age  to  permit  the  establishment  of 
idolatry  at  Jerusalem.  On  the  division  of  the 
nation,  the  kingdom  of  Israel  (besides  adhering 
to  the  sin  of  Jeroboam  to  the  last)  was  specially 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  Baal,  which  Ahab  had 
renewed  and  carried  to  an  unprecedented  height ; 
'and  although  the  energetic  measures  adopted  by 
Jehu,  and  afterwards  by  the  priest  Jehoiada,  to 
suppress  this  idolatry,  may  have  been  the  cause 
why  there  is  no  later  express  mention  of  Baal, 
yet  it  is  evident  from  2  Kings  xiii.  6,  and  xvii. 
10,  that  the  worship  of  Asherah  continued  until 
the  deportation  of  the  ten  tribes.    This  event 


IDOLATRY 

also  introduced  the  peculiar  idolatries  of  the  As- 
syrian colonists  into  Samaria.  In  the  kingdom 
of  Judah,  on  the  other  hand,  idolatry  continued 
during  the  two  succeeding  reigns ;  was  suppressed 
for  a  time  by  Asa  ( 1  Kings  xv.  1 2) ;  was  revived 
in  consequence  of  Joram  marrying  into  the  family 
of  Ahab ;  was  continued  by  Ahaz ;  received  a 
check  from  Hezekiah ;  broke  out  again  more 
violently  under  Manasseh;  imtil  Josiah  made 
the  most  vigorous  attempt  to  suppress  it.  But 
even  Josiah's  efforts  to  restore  the  worship  of  the 
Lord  were  ineffectual;  for  the  later  prophets, 
Zephaniah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel,  still  continue 
to  utter  reproofs  against  idolatry.  Nor  did  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem  under  Jehoiachim  awaken 
this  peculiarly  sensual  people ;  for  Ezekiel  (viii.) 
shows  that  those  who  were  left  in  Jerusalem 
under  the  government  of  Zedekiah  had  given 
themselves  up  to  many  kinds  of  idolatiy ;  and 
Jeremiah  (xliv.  8)  charges  those  inhabitants  of 
Judah  who  had  found  an  asylum  in  Egypt,  with 
having  turned  to  serve  the  gods  of  that  country. 
On  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  after  the  Baby- 
lonian captivity,  they  appear,  for  the  first  time 
in  their  history,  to  have  been  permanently  im- 
pressed with  a  sense  of  the  degree  to  which  their 
former  idolatries  had  been  an  insult  to  God,  and 
a  degradation  of  their  own  understanding — an 
advance  in  the  culture  of  the  nation  which  may 
in  part  be  ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  Persian 
abhorrence  of  images,  as  well  as  to  the  effects  of 
the  exile  as  a  chastisement.  In  this  state  they 
continued  until  Antiochus  Epiphanes  made  the 
last  and  fruitless  attempt  to  establish  the  Greek 
idolatry  in  Palestine  (1  Mace.  i.). 

The  particular  forms  of  idolatry  into  which 
the  Israelites  fell  are  described  under  the  names 
of  the  different  gods  which  they  worshipped 
[AuHTORETH,  Baal,  &c.]  :  the  general  features  of 
their  idolatry  require  a  brief  notice  here.  Ac- 
cording to  Movers,  the  religion  of  all  the  idola- 
trous Syro- Arabian  nations  was  a  deification  of 
the  powers  and  laws  of  nature,  an  adoration  of 
those  objects  in  which  these  powers  are  considered 
to  abide,  and  by  which  they  act.  The  deity  is 
thus  the  invisible  power  in  nature  itself,  that 
power  which  manifests  itself  as  the  generator, 
sustainer,  and  destroyer  of  its  works.  This  view 
admits  of  two  modifications  :  either  the  separate 
powers  of  nature  are  regarded  as  so  many  dif- 
ferent gods,  and  the  objects  by  which  these 
powers  are  manifested — as  the  sun,  moon,  &c. — 
are  regarded  as  their  images  and  supporters;  or 
the  power  of  nature  is  considered  to  be  one  and 
indivisible,  and  only  to  differ  as  to  the  forms 
under  which  it  manifests  itself.  Both  views  co- 
exist in  almost  all  religions.  The  most  simple 
and  ancient  notion,  however,  is  that  which  con- 
ceives the  deity  to  be  in  a  human  form,  as  male 
and  female,  and  which  considers  the  male  sex  to 
be  the  type  of  its  active,  generative,  and  destruc- 
tive power ;  while  that  passive  power  of  nature 
whose  function  is  to  conceive  and  bring  forth,  is 
embodied  under  the  female  form.  The  human 
form  and  the  diversity  of  sex  lead  naturally  to 
the  different  ages  of  life — to  the  old  man  and  the 
youth,  the  matron  and  the  virgin— according  to 
the  modifications  of  the  conception ;  and  the 
myths  which  represent  the  influences,  the  changes, 
the  laws,  and  the  relations  of  these  natural  powers 
under  the  sacred  histories  of  such  gods,  coustitate 


IDUM^A 


IDUMiEA 


a  harmonious  development  of  such  a  religious 
system. 

Those  -who  saw  the  deity  manifested  by,  or 
conceived  him  as  resident  in,  any  natural  objects, 
could  not  fail  to  regard  the  sun  and  moon  as  the 
potent  rulers  of  day  and  night,  and  the  sources 
of  those  influences  on  which  all  animated  nature 
depends.  Hence  star-worship  forms  a  prominent 
feature  in  all  the  false  religions  mentioned  in  the 
Bible.  Of  this  character  chiefly  were  the  Egyp- 
tian, the  Canaanite,  the  Chaldaean,  and  the  Per- 
sian religions.  The  Persian  form  of  astrolatry, 
however,  deserves  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
others ;  for  it  allowed  no  images  nor  temples  of 
the  god,  but  worshipped  him  in  his  purest  sym- 
bol, fire.  It  is  understood  that  this  form  is  alluded 
to  in  most  of  those  passages  which  mention  the 
worship  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  heavenly  host,  by 
incense,  on  heights  (2  Kings  xxiii.  5,  12;  Jer. 
xix.  13).  The  other  form  of  astrolatry,  in  which 
the  idea  of  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets  is  blended 
with  the  worship  of  the  god  in  the  form  of  an 
idol,  and  with  the  addition  of  a  mythology  (as 
may  be  seen  in  the  relations  of  Baal  and  his  cog- 
nates to  the  sun),  easily  degenerates  into  lasci- 
viousness  and  cruel  rites. 

The  images  of  the  gods  were,  as  to  material,  of 
stone,  wood,  silver,  and  gold.  Those  of  metal 
had  a  trunk  or  stock  of  wood,  and  were  covered 
with  plates  of  silver  or  gold  (Jer.  x.  4) ;  or  were 
cast.  The  general  rites  of  idolatrous  worship 
consist  in  burning  incense  ;  in  offering  bloodless 
sacrifices,  as  the  dough-cakes  and  libations  in  Jer. 
vii.  18,  and  the  raisin-cakes  in  Hos.  iii.  1  ;  in 
sacrificing  victims  (1  Kings  xviii.  26),  and 
especially  in  human  sacrifices  [Moloch].  These 
offerings  were  made  on  high  places,  hills,  and 
roofs  of  houses,  or  in  shady  groves  and  valleys. 
Some  forms  of  idolatrous  worship  had  libidinous 
orgies  [Ashtoreth].  Pivinations,  oracles 
(2  Kings  i.  2),  and  rabdomancy  (Hos.  iv.  12)  form 
a  part  of  many  of  these  false  religions.  The 
priesthood  was  generally  a  numerous  body ;  and 
where  persons  of  both  sexes  were  attached  to  the 
service  of  any  god,  that  service  was  infamously 
immoral.  It  is  remarkable  that  the  Pentateuch 
makes  no  mention  of  any  temple  of  idols ;  after- 
wards we  read  often  of  such. 

IDUMiE'A  is  the  Greek  form  of  the  Hebrew 
name  Edom.  It  was  derived  from  Isaac's  son 
Edam,  otherwise  called  Esau,  the  elder  twin- 
brother  of  Jacob  [Esau].  It  signifies  red,  and 
seems  first  to  have  been  suggested  by  his  appear- 
ance at  his  birth,  when  '  he  came  out  all  red ' 
{i.e.  covered  with  red  hair,  Gen.  xxv.  25),  and 
was  afterwards  more  formally  and  permanently 
imposed  on  him  on  account  of  his  unworthy  dis- 
posal of  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  red  lentiles 
(Gen.  xxv.  30).  The  region  which  came  to  bear 
his  name  is  the  mountainous  tract  on  the  east  side 
of  the  great  valleys  el-Ghor  and  el-Arabah,  extend- 
ing between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Elanitic  Gulf 
of  the  Red  Sea.  Into  this  district  Esau  removed 
during  his  father's  lifetime,  and  his  posterity 
gradually  obtained  possession  of  it  as  the  country 
which  God  had  assigned  for  their  inheritance  in 
the  prophetic  blessing  pronounced  by  his  father 
Isaac  (Gen.  xxvii.  39,  40;  xxxii.  3;  Deut.  ii, 
5-12,  22).  Previously  to  their  occupation  of  the 
tountry,  it  was  called  Mount  Seir,  a  designation 
mdeed  which  it  never  entirely  lost    The  word 


setr  means  hairy  (being  thus  synonymous  with 
Esau),  and,  wllfen  applied  to  a  country,  may  sig- 
nify rugged,  mountainous,  and  so  says  Josephus 
{Antiq.  i.  20.  3) :  '  Esau  named  the  country 
"Roughness"  from  his  own  hairy  roughness.' 
But  in  Gen.  xxxvi.  20,  we  read  of  an  individual 
of  the  name  of  Seir,  who  had  before  this  inhabited 
the  land,  and  from  whom  it  may  have  received 
its  first  appellation. 

The  first  mention  made  of  Mount  Seir  in  Scrip- 
ture is  in  Gen.  xiv.  6,  where  Chedorlaomer  and 
his  confederates  are  said  to  have  smitten  '  the 
Horim  in  their  Mount  Seir.'  Among  the  earliest 
human  habitations  were  caves,  either  formed  by 
nature  or  easily  excavated,  and  for  the  construc- 
tion of  these  the  moimtains  of  Edom  afforded 
peculiar  facilities.  Hence  the  designation  given 
to  the  Aboriginal  inhabitants — Horim,  i.e.  cave- 
d  (Tellers,  an  epithet  of  similar  import  with  the 
Greek  Troglodytes.  Even  in  the  days  of  Jerome 
'  the  whole  of  the  southern  part  of  Idumsea,  from 
Eleutheropolis  to  Petra  and  Aila,  was  full  of 
caverns  used  as  dwellings  on  account  of  the  sun's 
excessive  heat;'  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  possessors  of  the  country  in  every  age 
occupied  similar  habitations,  many  traces  of 
which  are  yet  seen  in  and  near  Petra,  the  re- 
nowned metropolis. 

We  are  informed  in  Dent.  ii.  12,  that  '  the 
children  of  Esau  succeeded  [marg.  inherited]  the 
Horim  when  they  had  destroyed  them  from  be- 
fore them,  and  dwelt  in  their  stead,  as  Israel  did 
unto  the  land  of  his  possession,  which  Jehovah 
gave  unto  them.'  From  this  it  may  be  inferred, 
that  the  extirpation  of  the  Horim  by  the  Esauites 
was,  like  that  of  the  Canaanites  by  Israel, 
very  gradual  and  slow.  From  Genesis  xxxvi. 
(compare  1  Chron.  i.)  we  learn  this  much 
of  the  political  constitution  of  the  Seirite  Abori- 
gines, that,  like  the  Esauites  and  Israelites, 
they  were  divided  into  tribes,  and  these  tribes 
were  subdivided  into  families — the  very  polity 
which  still  obtains  among  the  Arabs  by  whom 
Idumaea  is  now  peopled.  Each  tribe  had  its  own 
Alhif—a.  term  which  is  unhappily  rendered  in 
the  English  Version  by  '  Duke ' — for  though  that 
has,  no  doubt,  the  radical  meaning  of  the  Latin 
dujT,  a  '  leader,'  it  now  only  suggests  the  idea  of  a 
feudal  title  of  nobility.  Of  these  chiefs  of  the 
Horites  seven  are  enumerated,  viz.,  Lotan,  Shobal, 
Zibeon,  Anah,  Dishon,  Ezer,  and  Dishan.  The 
only  one  of  these  who  is  spoken  of  as  related  to 
the  other  is  Anah,  the  son  of  Zibeon.  The  pri- 
mitive and  pastoral  character  of  the  people  is  in- 
cidentally brought  out  by  the  circumstance  that 
this  Anah,  though  a  chieftain's  son,  was  in  the 
habit  of  tending  his  father's  asses.  It  was  when 
thus  employed  that  he  found  in  the  wilderness 
eth-ha-yemim,  rendered  in  the  English  Version  by 
'  the  mules,'  but  meaning  more  probably  '  the  hot 
springs ;'  and  thus  interpreted,  the  passage  seems 
to  be  an  intimation  that  he  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover the  faculty  with  which  asses  and  other 
animals  are  endowed,  of  snuffing  the  moisture  of 
the  air,  and  thus  sometimes  leading  to  the  oppor- 
tune discovery  of  hidden  waters  in  the  desert 
There  is  in  the  country  to  the  south-east  of  the 
Dead  Sea  (which  formed  part  of  the  Seirite  pos- 
sessions), a  place,  Kallirhoe,  celebrated  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  for  its  warm  baths,  and 
which  has  been  visited  by  modem  travellers. 
2X 


418 


IDUMiEA 


Esau  first  married  into  two  Canaatiitish  families 
of  the  Hittite  and  Hivite  tribes  (Gen.  xxvi.  34 ; 
xxxvi.  2  ;  in  one  or  other  of  which  places,  how- 
ever, the  text  seems  corrupt) ;  but  anxious  to 
propitiate  his  oflFended  parents,  he  next  formed  a 
matrimonial  alliance  with  one  of  the  race  of 
Abraham,  viz.,  Mahalath,  otherwise  called  Bashe- 
math,  daughter  of  Ishmael,  and  sister  of  Ne- 
baioth,  whose  descendants,  the  Nabathseans,  by  a 
singular  coincidence,  obtained  in  after-times  pos- 
session of  the  land  of  Edom  (Gen.  xxviii.  9). 
Esau's  first-born  (by  Adah  or  Bashemath,  of  the 
daughters  of  Heth)  was  Eliphaz,  whose  son 
Teman  gave  name  to  a  district  of  the  country 
(Gen.  xxxvi.  11,  34;  1  Chron.  i.  45;  Ezek.  xxv. 
13;  Obad.  verse  9).  The  Temanites  were  re- 
nowned for  their  wisdom  (Jer.  xlix.  7,  20  ;  Baruch 
iii.  22,  23).  The  chief  speaker  in  the  book  of 
Job  is  another  Eliphaz,  a  Temanite, — which  is 
one  of  the  circumstances  that  have  led  many  to 
place  the  scene  of  that  story  in  the  land  of  Edom 
[Job].  The  name  of  Teman  was  preserved  to 
the  days  of  Eusebius  in  that  of  Thaiman,  a  small 
town  five  Eoman  miles  from  Petra.  Another  son 
of  the  first-mentioned  Eliphaz  was  Amalek,  who 
is  not  to  be  confounded,  however,  with  the  father 
of  the  Amalekites,  one  of  the  doomed  nations  of 
Canaan,  of  whom  we  hear  so  early  as  the  age  of 
Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  7). 

As  a  modern  Arab  sheikh  is  often  found  to  ex- 
ercise influence  far  beyond  the  sphere  of  his  here- 
ditary domain,  so  in  the  list  of  the  Edomite  emirs 
preserved  by  Moses  we  have  perhaps  only  the 
names  of  the  more  distinguished  individuals  who 
acquired  more  or  less  authority  over  all  the  tribes. 
This  oligarchy  appears  gradually  to  have  changed 
into  a  monarchy,  as  happened  too  among  the 
Israelites ;  for  in  addition  to  the  above  mentioned 
lists,  both  of  Horite  and  Esauite  leaders,  we  have, 
at  Gen.  xxxvi.  31,  a  catalogue  of  eight  kings 
(Bela,  Jobab,  Husham,  Hadad,  Samlah,  Saul, 
BaaJ-hanan,  Hadar  or  Hadad)  who  '  reigned  in 
the  land  of  Edom  before  there  reigned  any  king 
over  the  children  of  Israel.'  It  is  not  necessary 
to  suppose  that  this  was  said  by  Moses  propheti- 
cally: it  is  one  of  those  passages  which  may 
have  been  inserted  by  Ezra  when  finally  arrang- 
ing the  canon,  inasmuch  as  it  occurs  also  in  the 
first  book  of  Chronicles,  of  which  he  is  the  re- 
puted compiler.  The  period  when  this  change  to 
regal  government  took  place  in  Idurasea  can  only 
be  matter  of  conjecture.  In  the  Song  of  Moses 
(Exod.  XV.  15)  it  is  said  that  at  the  tidings  of 
Israel's  triumphant  passage  of  the  Ked  Sea  the 
rulers  or  princes  {Alluf)  of  Edom  trembled  with 
affright,  but  when,  some  forty  years  afterwards, 
application  had  to  be  made  by  the  Israelites  for 
leave  to  traverse  the  land  of  Edom,  it  was  to  the 
king  {Melek)  that  the  request  was  addressed 
(Num.  XX.  1 4).  The  road  by  which  it  was  sought 
to  penetrate  the  country  was  termed  '  the  king's 
highway'  (ver.  17),  supposed  by  Robinson  to  be 
the  Wady  el-Ghuweir,  for  it  is  almost  the  only 
valley  that  afi'ords  a  direct  and  easy  passage 
through  those  mountains.  From  a  comparison  of 
these  incidents  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  change 
in  the  form  of  government  took  place  during  the 
wanderings  of  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  unless 
we  suppose,  with  Rosenmuller,  that  it  was  only 
this  north-eastern  part  of  Edom  which  was  now 
subject  to  a  monarch,  the  rest  of  the  country  re- 


IDUM^A 

maining  under  the  .sway  of  its  former  chieftains. 
But  whether  the  regal  power  at  this  period  em- 
braced the  whole  territory  or  not,  perhaps  it  did 
not  supplant  the  ancient  constitution,  but  was 
rather  grafted  on  it,  like  the  authority  of  the 
Judges  in  Israel,  and  of  Saul,  the  first  king, 
which  did  not  materially  interfere  with  the  go- 
vernment that  previously  existed.  It  further  ap- 
pears, from  the  list  of  Idumaan  kings,  that  the 
monarchy  was  not  hereditary,  but  elective  (for  no 
one  is  spoken  of  as  the  son  or  relative  of  his  pre- 
decessor) ;  or  probably  that  chieftain  was  acknow- 
ledged as  sovereign  who  was  best  able  to  vindi- 
cate his  claim  by  force  of  arms.  Every  succes- 
sive king  appears  to  have  selected  his  own  seat  of 
government:  the  places  mentioned  as  having 
enjoyed  that  distinction  are  Dinhabah,  Avith, 
Pagu  or  Pai.  Even  foreigners  were  not  excluded 
from  the  throne,  for  the  successor  of  Samlah  of 
Masrekah  was  Saul,  or  Shaul,  '  of  Rechoboth,  on 
the  river.'  The  word  '  Rechoboth '  means,  liter- 
ally, streets,  and  was  a  not  uncommon  name 
given  to  towns;  but  the  emphatic  addition  of 
'  the  river,'  points  evidently  to  the  Euphrates,  and 
between  Rakkah  and  Anak,  on  that  river,  there 
are  still  the  remains  of  a  place  called  by  the 
Arabs  Rachabath-Malik-Ibn  Tank.  ,  In  the  age 
of  Solomon  we  read  of  one  Hadad,  who  '  was  of 
the  king's  seed  in  Edom  '  (1  Kings  xi.  14);  from 
which  some  have  conjectured  that  by  that  period 
there  was  a  royal  dynasty  of  one  particular 
family ;  but  all  that  the  expression  may  imply 
is,  that  he  was  a  blood-relation  of  the  last  king  of 
the  country.  Hadad  was  the  name  of  one  of  the 
early  sovereigns  '  who  smote  Midian  in  the  field  of 
Moab'  (Gen.  xxxvi.  35). 

The  unbrotherly  feud  which  arose  between 
Esau  and  Jacob  was  prolonged  for  ages  between 
their  posterity.  The  Israelites,  indeed,  were  com- 
manded '  not  to  abhor  an  Edomite,  for  he  was 
their  brother'  (Deut.  xxiii.  7);  but  a  variety  of 
circumstances  occurred  to  provoke  and  perpetuate 
the  hostility.  The  first  time  they  were  brought 
into  direct  collision  was  when  the  Edornites, 
though  entreated  by  their  '  brother  Israel,'  refused 
the  latter  a  passage  through  their  territories ;  and 
they  had  consequently  to  make  a  retrograde  and 
toilsome  march  to  the  Gulf  of  Elath,  whence  they 
had  to  '  compass  the  land  of  Edom'  by  the  moun- 
tain desert  on  the  east.  We  do  not  again  hear  of 
the  Edornites  till  the  days  of  Saul,  who  warred 
against  them  with  partial  success  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
47);  but  their  entire  subjugation  was  reserved 
for  David,  who  first  signally  vanquished  them  in 
the  Valley  of  Salt  (supposed  to  be  in  the  Ghor, 
beside  Usdum,  the  Mountain  of  Salt)  ;  and 
finally  placed  garrisons  in  all  their  country  (2 
Sam.  viii.  14  ;  1  Chron.  xviii.  11-13 ;  1  Kings  xi. 
15.  Comp.  the  inscription  of  Ps.  Ix.  and  v.  8, 
9  ;  cviii.  9,  10,  where  '  the  strong  city '  may  denote 
Selah  or  Petra).  Then  were  fulfilled  the  pro- 
phecies in  Gen.  xxv.  23  and  xxvii.  40,  that  the 
'  elder  should  serve  the  younger ;'  and  also  the 
prediction  of  Balaam  (Num.  xxiv.  18),  that  Edom 
and  Seir  should  be  for  possessions  to  Israel. 
Solomon  created  a  naval  station  at  Ezion-geber, 
at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Elath,  the  modern 
Akaba  (1  Kings  ix.  2C;  2  Chron.  viii.  18).  To- 
wards the  close  of  his  reign  an  attempt  was  made 
to  restore  the  independence  of  the  country  by  one 
Hadad,  an  Iduma;an  prince,  who,  when  a  child, 


IDUMiEA 

bad  been  carried  into  Egypt  at  the  time  of  David's 
invasion,  and  had  there  married  the  sister  of  Tah- 
panes  the  queen  (1  Kings  xi.  14-23)  [Hadad]. 
If  Edom  then  succeeded  in  shaking  off  the  yoke, 
it  was  only  for  a  season,  since  in  the  days  of  Jeho- 
shaphat,  the  fourth  Jewish  monarch  from  Solomon, 
it  is  said,  'there  was  no  king  in  Edom  ;  a  deputy 
was  king ;'  i.e.  he  acted  as  viceroy  for  the  king  of 
Judah.  For  that  the  latter  was  still  master  of  the 
country  is  evident  from  the  fact  of  his  having 
fitted  out,  like  Solomon,  a  fleet  at  Ezion-geber 
(1  Kings  xxii.  47,  48 ;  2  Chron.  xx.  36,  37).  It 
was,  no  doubt,  his  deputy  (called  king)  who 
joined  the  confederates  of  Judah  and  Israel  in 
their  attack  upon  Moab  (2  Kings  iii.  9,  12,  26). 
^'et  there  seems  to  have  been  a  partial  revolt  of 
the  Edomites,  or  at  least  of  the  mountaineers  of 
Seir,  even  in  the  reign  of  Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron. 
XX.  22)  ;  and  under  his  successor,  Jehoram,  they 
wholly  rebelled,  and  'made  a  king  over  them- 
selves' (2  Kings  viii.  20,  22 ;  2  Chron.  xxi.  8, 10). 
From  its  being  added  that,  notwithstanding  the 
temporary  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  '  Edom 
revolted  from  under  the  hand  of  Judah  unto  this 
day,'  it  is  probable  that  the  Jewish  dominion 
was  never  completely  restored.  Amaziah,  indeed, 
invaded  the  country,  and  having  taken  the  chief 
city,  Selah  or  Petra,  he,  in  memorial  of  the  con- 
quest, changed  its  name  to  Joktheel  (q.  d.  sub- 
dued of  God);  and  his  successor,  Uzziah,  re- 
tained possession  of  Elath  (2  Kings  xiv.  7  ;  2 
Chron.  xxv.  11-14;  xxvi.  3).  But  in  the  reign 
of  Ahaz,  hordes  of  Edomites  made  incursions  into 
Judah  and  carried  away  captives  (2  Chron. 
xxviii.  17).  About  the  same  period  Rezin,  king 
of  Syria,  expelled  the  Jews  from  Elath,  which 
(according  to  the  correct  reading  of  2  Kings  xvi. 
6)  was  thenceforth  occupied  by  the  Edomites. 
Now  was  fulfilled  the  other  part  of  Isaac's  pre- 
diction, viz.  that,  in  course  of  time,  Esau  '  should 
take  his  brother's  yoke  from  off  his  neck'  (Gen. 
xxvii.  40).  It  appears  from  various  incidental 
expressions  in  the  later  prophets,  that  the  Edomites 
employed  their  recovered  power  in  the  enlarge- 
ment of  their  territory  in  all  directions.  They 
spread  as  far  south  as  Dedan  in  Arabia,  and  north- 
ward to  Bozrah  in  the  Hauran;  though  it  is 
doubtful  if  the  Bozrah  of  Scripture  may  not  have 
been  a  place  in  Idumaea  Proper  (Isa.  xxxiv.  6 ; 
Ixiii.  1 ;  Jer.  xlix,  7,8-20;  Ezek.  xxv.  13  ;  Amos 
i.  12).  When  the  Chaldseans  invaded  Judah, 
under  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  Edomites  became  their 
willing  auxiliaries,  and  triumphed  with  fiendish 
malignity  over  the  ruin  of  their  kinsmen  the  Jews, 
of  whose  desolated  land  they  hoped  to  obtain  a 
large  portion  to  themselves  (Obad,  verses  1016; 
Ezek.  xxv.  12-14  ;  xxxv.  3-10 ;  xxxvi.  5  ;  Lament, 
iv.  21).  By  this  circumstance  the  hereditary 
hatred  of  the  Jews  was  rekindled  in  greater  fury 
than  ever,  and  hence  the  many  dire  denunciations 
of  the  '  daughter  of  Edom,'  to  be  met  with  in  the 
Hebrew  prophets  (Ps.  cxxxvii.  7-9  ;  Obad.  pas- 
sim ;  Jer.  xlix.  7  ;  Ezek.  xxv.  and  xxxv.).  From 
the  language  of  Malachi  (i.  2,  3),  and  also  from 
the  accounts  preserved  by  Josephus  {Antiq.  x.  9. 
7),  it  would  seem  that  the  Edomites  did  not 
wholly  escape  the  Chaldaan  scourge ;  but  instead 
of  being  carried  captive,  like  the  Jews,  they  not 
only  retained  possession  of  their  own  territory, 
but  became  masters  of  the  south  of  Judah,  as  far 
as  Hebron  '1   Mace.  v.  65,  comp.  -with  Ezek. 


IDUM^A 


419 


xxxv.  10;  xxxvi.  5).  Here,  however,  they  were, 
in  course  of  time,  successfully  attacked  by  the 
Maccabees,  and  about  b.c.  125,  were  finally  sub- 
dued by  John  Hyrcanus,  who  compelled  them  to 
submit  to  circumcision  and  other  Jewish  rites, 
with  a  view  to  incorporate  them  with  the  nation 
(1  Mace.  V.  3,  65;  2  Mace.  x.  16;  xii.  32; 
Joseph.  Antiq.  xiii.  9.  1 ;  15,  4).  The  amalga- 
mation, however,  of  the  two  races  seems  never  to 
have  been  effected,  for  we  afterwards  hear  of 
Antipater,  an  Idumsean  by  birth,  being  made  by 
Cffisar  procurator  of  all  Judeea;  and  his  son, 
commonly  called  Herod  the  Great,  was,  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  birth,  king  of  Judsea,  includmg 
Idumaea ;  and  hence  Roman  writers  often  speak 
of  all  Palestine  under  that  name.  Not  long  before 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  20,000  Idu- 
mseans  were  called  in  to  the  defence  of  the  city 
by  the  Zealots  ;  but  both  parties  gave  themselves 
up  to  rapine  and  murder.  This  is  the  last  men- 
tion made  of  the  Edomites  in  history.  The  author 
of  a  work  on  Job,  once  ascribed  to  Origen,  says 
that  their  name  and  language  had  perished,  and 
that,  like  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites,  they 
had  all  become  Arabs.  In  the  second  century 
Ptolemy  limits  the  name  Idumaea  to  the  country 
west  of  the  Jordan. 

But  while,  during  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  in 
Babylon,  the  Edomites  had  thus  been  extending 
their  territory  to  the  north-west,  they  were  them- 
selves supplanted  in  the  southern  part  of  their 
native  region  by  the  Nabathaans,  the  descendants 
of  Ishmael's  eldest  son ;  and  to  the  article  Ne- 
BAioTH  we  must  refer  the  reader  for  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  land  of  Edom. 

From  the  era  of  the  Crasades  down  to  the  pre- 
sent century  the  land  of  Esau  was,  to  Europeans, 
a  terra  incognita.  Its  situation  was  laid  down  on 
the  best  maps  more  than  a  hundred  miles  from 
the  true  position,  and  as  if  lying  in  a  direction 
where  it  is  now  known  there  is  nothing  but  a  vast 
expanse  of  desert.  Vohiey  had  his  attention 
drawn  towards  it,  when  at  Gaza,  by  the  vague 
reports  of  the  Arabs ;  and  in  1807  the  unfortunate 
Seetzen  penetrated  a  certain  way  into  the  country 
and  heard  of  the  wonders  of  the  Wady  Musa ; 
but  the  first  modern  traveller  who  '  passed  through 
the  land  of  Edom '  was  Burckhardt,  in  the  year 
1812.  And  it  has  been  well  remarked  by  Dr. 
Robinson  that  '  had  he  accomplished  nothing  but 
,  his  researches  in  these  regions,  his  journey  would 
I  have  been  worth  all  the  labour  and  cost  expended 
on  it,  although  his  discoveries  thus  shed  their 
strongest  light  upon  subjects  which  were  not  com- 
prehended in  the  plan  or  purpose  either  of  himself 
or  his  employers.'  Burckhardt  entered  Idumaea 
from  the  north,  and  in  the  year  1818  he  was  fol- 
lowed in  the  same  direction  by  Messrs.  Legh, 
Bankes,  Irby  and  Mangles.  In  1828  Laborde  and 
Linant  found  access  from  the  south;  and  since 
then  it  has  been  visited  and  described  by  so  many 
that  the  names  of  its  localities  have  become 
familiar  as  household  words. 

The  limit  of  the  wanderings  of  the  Israelites  m 
the  desert  was  the  brook  Zered,  after  crossing 
which  they  found  themselves  in  the  territory  of 
Moab  (Deut.  ii.  13-16).  This  brook  is  supposed 
to  be  identical  with  the  Wady  el-Ahstj,  which, 
rising  near  the  Castle  el-Ahsy,  on  the  route  to 
Mecca  of  the  Syrian  caravan  upon  the  high 
2b2 


420 


IDUM^A 


eastern  desert,  penetrates  through  the  whole  chain 
of  mountains  to  near  the  south-east  corner  of  the 
Dead  Sea.  It  was  thus  the  southern  border  of 
Moab  and  the  northern  of  Edom,  whence  the 
latter  region  extended  southwards  as  far  as  to 
Elath  on  the  Red  Sea.  The  valley  which  runs 
between  tlie  two  seas  consists  first  of  El-Ghor, 
■which  is  comparatively  low,  but  gradually  rises 
into  the  more  elevated  plain  of  El-Arabah  to  the 
south.  The  country  lying  vast  of  this  great 
valley  is  the  land  of  Iduma'a.  It  is  a  mountain 
tract,  consisting  at  the  base  of  low  hills  of  lime- 
stone or  argillaceous  rock,  then  lofty  mountains 
of  porphyry  forming  the  body  of  the  mountain  ; 
above  these,  sandstone  broken  up  into  irregular 
ridges  and  grotesque  groups  of  cliffs ;  and  again 
farther  back,  and  higher  than  all,  long  elevated 
ridges  of  limestone  without  precipices.  East  of 
all  these  stretches  off  indefinitely  the  high  plateau 
of  the  great  eastern  desert.  The  whole  breadth 
of  the  mountainous  tract  between  the  Arabah  and 
the  eastern  desert  does  not  exceed  fifteen  or  twenty 
geographical  miles.  Of  these  mountains  the  most 
remarkable  is  Mount  Hor,  near  the  Wady  Musa 
[HoR,  Mocnt].  While  the  mountains  on  the 
west  of  the  Arabah,  though  less  elevated,  are 
wholly  barren,  those  of  Iduma;a  seem  to  enjdy  a 
sufficiency  of  rain,  and  are  covered  with  tufts  of 
herbs  and  occasional  trees.  The  wadys,  too,  are 
full  of  trees  and  shrubs  and  flowers,  while  the 
eastern  and  higher  parts  are  extensively  culti- 
vated, and  yield  good  crops.  This  mountainous 
region  is  at  present  divided  into  two  districts. 
The  northern  bears  the  name  of  Jebal,  i.  e. '  The 
Mountain,'  the  Gebal  of  the  Hebrews  (Ps.  Ixxxiii. 
8),  and  the  Gebaleneof  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
The  southern  district  is  esh-Sherah,  extending  as 
far  as  Akabah,  and  including  Shobak,  Wady 
Mftsa,  Maan,  &c.  Burckhardt  mentions  a  third 
district,  Jehal  Hesma;  but  Robinson  says  that 
though  there  is  a  sandy  tract,  el-Hismah,  with 
mountains  around  it,  on  the  east  of  Akabah,  it 
does  not  constitute  a  separate  division. 

The  whole  of  this  region  is  at  present  occupied 
by  various  tribes  of  Bedouin  Arabs.  The  chief 
tribe  in  the  Jebal  is  the  Hejaya,  with  a  branch 
of  the  Kaabineh,  while  in  esh-Sherah  they  are 
all  of  the  numerous  and  powerful  tribe  of  the 
Haweitat,  with  a  few  independent  allies.  The 
Bedouins  in  Idumaea  have  of  late  years  been  par- 
tially subject  to  the  Pasha  of  Egypt,  paying  an 
annual  tribute,  which,  in  the  case  of  the  Beni 
Sukhr,  is  one  camel  for  two  tents.  The  fellahin, 
or  peasants,  are  half  Bedouin,  inhabiting  the  few 
villages,  but  dwelling  also  in  tents ;  they,  too, 
pay  tribute  to  the  Egyptian  government,  and  fur- 
nish supplies  of  grain. 

Among  the  localities  connected  with  Edom 
which  are  mentioned  in  Scripture  may  be  noticed 
Dinhabah,  Bozrah,  Themau,  Maon  (now  Maan), 
Kadesh-barnea  (which  Robinson  identifies  with 
el-Weibeh  in  the  Wady  el- Jeib).  Zephath  (which 
he  supposes  to  be  the  pass  of  Es-Sufah),  Elath, 
and  Ezion-geber,  &c.;  but  the  most  celebrated 
place  in  all  the  region  was  the  chief  city,  Selah 
or  Petra,  for  a  description  of  which  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  latter  head  [Petra]. 

Could  the  scene  of  the  book  of  Job  be  with 
certainty  fixed  in  Idumsea,  we  should  then  possess 
much  curious  and  valuable  information  respecting 
both  the  country  and  people  soon  after  it  had 


IMMANUEL 

been  colonized  by  the  descendants  of  fisau  (See 
Mason  Good,  Wemyss,  and  others  upon  Job). 
But  all  that  we  learn  directly  of  the  ancient 
Edomites  from  the  historical  books  of  Scripture 
represents  them  as  not,  indeed,  neglecting  agri- 
culture or  trade  (Num.  xx.  1 7),  yet,  on  the  whole, 
a  warlike  and  predatorj-  race,  who,  according  to 
the  prediction  of  their  progenitor  Isaac,  '  lived 
by  their  sword.'  The  situation  of  the  country 
afforded  peculiar  facilities  for  commerce,  which 
seems  to  have  been  prosecuted  from  a  very  early 
period.  '  Bordering,'  says  Volney,  '  upon  Ara- 
bia on  the  east  and  south,  and  Egypt  on  the  south- 
west, and  forming,  from  north  to  south,  the  most 
commodious  channel  of  communication  between 
Jerusalem  and  her  dependencies  on  the  Red  Sea, 
through  the  continuous  valleys  of  el-Ghor  and 
el-Arabah,  Idumsea  may  be  said  to  have  long 
formed  the  emporium  of  the  commerce  of  the 
East.'  The  era  of  its  greatest  prosperity  was 
after  the  Nabathieans  had  become  masters  of  the 
country  and  founded  the  kingdom  of  Arabia  Pe- 
trsea,  of  which  the  renowned  metropolis  was  Petra. 
The  religion  of  the  early  Edomites  was,  perhaps, 
comparatively  pure  ;  but  in  process  of  time  they 
embraced  idolatry  :  in  2  Chron.  xxv.  20,  we  read 
of  the  '  gods  of  Edom,'  one  of  whom,  according 
to  Josephus  {Antiq.  xv.  7.  9),  was  called  Kotz^. 
With  respect  to  the  striking  fulfilment  of  the 
prophetic  denunciations  upon  Edom,  we  need 
only  refer  the  reader  to  the  well-known  work  of 
Keith,  who  frequentlj'  errs,  however,  in  straining 
the  sense  of  prophecy  beyond  its  legitimate  im- 
port, as  well  as  in  seeking  out  too  literally  minute 
an  accomplishment 

ILLYR'ICUM,  a  country  lying  to  the  north- 
west of  Macedonia,  and  answering  nearly  to  that 
which  is  at  present  called  Dalmatia;  by  which 
name  indeed  the  southern  part  of  Illyricum  itself 
was  known,  and  whither  St.  Paul  informs  Timo- 
thy that  Titus  had  gone  (2  Tim.  iv.  10),  Paul 
himself  preached  the  Gospel  in  Illyricum,  which 
was  at  that  time  a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire 
(Rom.  XV.  19). 

IMMAN'UEL,  or  Emmandel.  This  word, 
meaning  '  God  with  us,'  occurs  in  the  celebrated 
verse  of  Isaiah  (vii.  14), '  Behold,  a  virgin  shall 
conceive  and  bear  a  son,  and  shall  call  his  name 
Immanuel.'  In  the  name  itself  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty ;  but  the  verse,  as  a  whole,  has  been  vari- 
ously interpreted.  From  the  manner  in  which 
the  word  God,  and  even  Jehovah,  is  used  in  the 
composition  of  Hebrew  names,  there  is  no  such 
peculiarity  in  that  of  Immanuel  as  in  itself  re- 
quires us  to  understand  that  he  who  bore  it  should 
be  in  fact  God.  Indeed,  it  is  used  as  a  proper 
name  among  the  Jews  at  this  day.  This  high 
sense  has,  however,  been  assigned  to  it  in  conse- 
quence of  the  application  of  the  whole  verse  by 
the  Evangelist  Matthew  (i.  23)  to  our  Divine 
Saviour.  Even  if  this  reference  did  not  exist, 
the  history  of  the  Nativity  would  irresistibly 
lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  verse — what- 
ever may  have  been  its  intermediate  signification 
— had  an  ultimate  reference  to  Christ. 

The  state  of  opinion  on  this  point  has  been 
thus  neatly  summed  up  by  Dr.  Henderson,  in  his 
note  on  the  text; — '  This  verse  has  long  been  a 
subject  of  dispute  between  Jews  and  professedly 
Christian  writers,  and  among  the  latter  mutually. 
While  the  former  reject  its  application  to  the 


INCENSE 

Messiah  altogether, — the  earlier  rabbins  explain- 
ing it  of  the  queen  of  Ahaz  and  the  birth  of  his 
son  Hezekiah;  and  the  later,  as  Kimchi  and 
Abarbanel,  of  the  prophets  own  wife, — the  great 
body  of  Christian  interpreters  have  held  it  to  be 
directly  and  exclusively  in  prophecy  of  our 
Saviour,  and  have  considered  themselves  fully 
borne  out  by  the  inspired  testimony  of  the  Evan- 
gelist Matthew.  Others,  however,  have  departed 
from  this  construction  of  the  passage,  and  have 
invented  or  adopted  various  hypotheses  in  sup- 
port of  such  dissent.  Grotius  and  others  suppose 
either  the  then  present  or  a  future  wife  of  Isaiah 
to  be  the  '  virgin'  referred  to.  A  second  class 
are  of  opinion  that  the  prophet  had  nothing  more 
in  view  than  an  ideal  virgin,  and  that  both  she 
and  her  son  are  merely  imaginary  personages, 
introduced  for  the  purpose  of  prophetic  illustra- 
tion. A  third  think  that  the  prophet  pointed  to 
a  young  woman  in  the  presence  of  the  kin»  and 
his  courtiers.  A  fourth  class  admit  the  hypo- 
thesis of  a  double  sense  :  one  in  which  the  words 
apply  primarily  to  some  female  living  in  the 
time  of  the  prophet,  and  her  giving  birth  to  a 
son  according  to  the  ordinary  laws  of  nature ;  or, 
as  Dathe  holds,  to  some  virgin,  who  at  that  time 
should  miraculously  conceive ;  and  the  other,  in 
which  they  received  a  secondary  and  plenary 
fulfilment  in  the  miraculous  conception  and  birth 
of  Jesus  Christ.' 

INCENSE,  a  perfume  which  gives  forth  its 
fragrance  by  burning,  and,  in  particular,  that 
perfume  which  was  burnt  upon  the  altar  of  in- 
cense [Altak;  Censer].  Indeed,  the  burning 
of  incense  seems  to  have  been  considered  among 
the  Hebrews  so  much  of  an  act  of  worship  or 
sacred  oflFering,  that  we  read  not  of  any  other 
use  of  incense  than  this  among  them.  Nor  among 
the  Egyptians  do  we  discover  any  trace  of  burnt 
perfume  except  in  sacerdotal  use;  but  in  the 
Persian  sculptures  we  see  incense  burnt  before 
the  king.  The  prohibition  of  the  Hebrews  to 
make  any  perfume  for  private  use — '  to  smell  to' 
— like  that  prepared  for  the  altar,  merely  implies, 
we  apprehend,  that  the  sacred  incense  had  a  pe- 
culiarly rich  fragrance  before  being  burnt,  which 
was  forbidden  to  be  imitated  in  common  per- 
fumes. 

The  ingredients  of  the  sacred  incense  are  enu- 
merated with  great  precision  in  Exod.  xxx.  34, 
35 :  '  Take  imto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte  and  gal- 
banum;  these  sweet  spices  with  pure  frankin- 
cense ;  of  each  shall  there  be  a  like  weight.  And 
thou  shalt  make  of  it  a  perfume,  a  confection 
after  the  art  of  the  apothecary,  tempered  toge- 
ther, pure  and  holy.'  For  an  explanation  of 
these  various  ingredients,  we  must  refer  to  their 
several  names  in  the  present  work.  The  further 
directions  are,  that  this  precious  compound  should 
be  made  or  broken  up  into  minute  particles,  and 
that  it  should  be  deposited,  as  a  very  holy  thing, 
in  the  tabernacle  '  before  the  testimony'  (or  ark). 
As  the  ingredients  are  so  minutely  specified,  there 
was  nothing  to  prevent  wealthy  persons  from 
having  a  similar  perfume  for  private  use :  and 
this,  therefore,  was  forbidden  under  pain  of  ex- 
communication :  '  Ye  shall  not  make  to  yourselves 
according  to  the  composition  thereof:  it  shall  be 
unto  thee  holy  for  the  Lord.  Whosoever  shall 
make  like  unto  that,  to  smell  thereto,  shall  even 
be  cut  off  from  his  people'  (ver.  37,  38). 


INDIA 


421 


According  to  Maimonides,  the  reason  for  tho  use 
of  incense  was  to  prevent  the  stench  which  would 
otherwise  have  been  occasioned  by  the  number 
of  beasts  every  day  slaughtered  in  the  sanctuary, 
and  to  render  the  odour  of  the  sanctuary,  and  of 
the  vestments  of  those  that  ministered,  exceedingly 
grateful. 

This  is  very  well ;  and  no  doubt  the  use  of 
incense,  which  we  always  find  in  religions  where 
worship  is  rendered  by  sacrifice,  had  its  origin  in 
some  such  considerations.  But  we  are  not  to  lose 
sight  of  the  symbolical  meaning  of  this  grateful 
offering.  It  was  a  symbol  of  prayer.  It  was 
offered  at  the  time  when  the  people  were  in  the 
posture  and  act  of  prayer ;  and  their  orisons  were 
supposed  to  be  presented  to  God  by  the  priest,  and 
to  ascend  to  Him  in  the  smoke  and  odour  of  that 
fragrant  offering.  This  beautiful  idea  of  the  in- 
cense frequently  occurs  in  Scripture  (comp.  ?s. 
cxli.  2;  Mai.  i.  11;  Zech.  xiv.  16;  Acts  x.  4; 
Rev.  V.  8 ;  viii.  4). 
INCHANTMENTS.  [Witchcraft.] 
INDIA.  This  name  occurs  only  in  Esther  i.  1 ; 
viii.  9,  where  the  Persian  king  is  described  as 
reigning  '  from  India  unto  Ethiopia,  over  a  hun- 
dred and  seven  and  twenty  provinces.'  It  is  found 
again,  however,  in  the  Apocrypha,  where  India 
is  mentioned  among  the  countries  which  the 
Romans  took  from  Antiochus  and  gave  to  Eu- 
menes  (1  Mace.  viii.  8). 

It  is  evident  from  all  ancient  history,  that  the 
country  known  as  India  in  ancient  times  extended 
more  to  the  west,  and  did  not  reach  so  far  to  the 
east — that  is,  was  not  known  so  far  to  the  east — 
as  the  India  of  the  moderns.  When  we  read  of 
ancient  India,  we  must  clearly  not  understand 
the  whole  of  Hindostan,  but  chiefly  the  northern 
parts  of  it,  or  the  countries  between  the  Indus  and 
the  Ganges ;  although  it  is  not  necessary  to  assert 
that  the  rest  of  that  peninsula,  particularly  its 
western  coast,  was  then  altogether  unknown.  It 
was  from  this  quarter  that  the  Persians  and  Greeks 
(to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  earliest  accounts 
of  India)  invaded  the  country ;  and  this  was  con- 
sequently the  region  which  first  became  generally 
known.  The  countries  bordering  on  the  Ganges 
continued  to  be  involved  in  obscurity,  the  great, 
kingdom  of  the  Prasians  excepted,  which,  situated 
nearly  above  the  modern  Bengal,  was  dimly  dis- 
cernible. Besides,  the  western  and  northern 
boundaries  were  not  the  same  as  at  present.  To 
the  west,  India  was  not  then  bounded  by  the 
river  Indus,  but  by  a  chain  of  mountains  which, 
under  the  name  of  Koh  (whence  the  Grecian  ap- 
pellation of  the  Indian  Caucasus),  extended  from 
Bactria  to  Makran,  or  Gedrosia,  enclosing  the 
kingdoms  of  Candahar  and  Cabul,  the  modem 
kingdom  of  Eastern  Persia  or  Afghanistan.  These 
districts  anciently  formed  part  of  India,  as  well 
as,  further  to  the  south,  the  less  perfectly  known 
countries  of  the  Arabi  and  Haurs,  bordering  on 
Gedrosia.  This  western  boundary  continued  at 
all  times  the  same,  and  was  removed  to  the  Indus 
only  in  consequence  of  the  victories  of  Nadir 
Shah. 

Towards  the  north,  ancient  India  overpassed 
not  less  its  present  limit.  It  comprehendett  the 
whole  of  the  mountainous  region  above  Cashmir, 
Badakshan,  Belur  Land,  the  western  boundary 
mountains  of  Little  Bucharia,  or  Little  Thibet, 
and  even  the  desert  of  Gobi,  so  far  as  it  was 


INHERITANCE 


INHERITANCE 


known.  The  discovery  of  a  passage  by  sea  to  j 
the  coasts  of  India  has  contributed  to  withdraw 
from  these  regions  the  attention  of  Europeans, 
and  left  them  in  an  obscurity  which  hitherto  has 
been  little  disturbed,  although  the  current  of 
events  seems  likely  ere  long  to  lead  to  our  better 
knowledge. 

From  this  it  appears  that  the  India  of  Scripture 
included  no  part  of  the  present  India,  seeing  that 
it  was  confined  to  the  territories  possessed  by  tlie 
Persians  and  the  Syrian  Greeks,  that  never  ex- 
tended beyond  the  Indus,  which,  since  the  time  of 
Nadir  Shah,  has  been  regarded  as  the  western 
boundary  of  India.  Something  of  India  beyond 
the  Indus  became  known  through  the  conquering 
march  of  Alexander,  and  still  more  through  that 
of  Seleucus  Nicator,  who  penetrated  to  the  banks 
of  the  Ganges ;  but  the  notions  thus  obtained  are 
not  embraced  in  the  Scriptural  notices,  which, 
both  in  the  canonical  and  the  apocryphal  text, 
are  confined  to  Persian  India. 

INHERITANCE.  The  laws  and  observances 
which  determine  the  acquisition  and  regulate  the 
devolution  of  property,  are  among  the  influences 
which  affect  the  vital  interests  of  states ;  and  it  is 
therefore  of  high  consequence  to  ascertain  the 
nature  and  bearing  of  the  laws  and  observances 
relating  to  this  subject  which  come  to  us  with 
the  sanction  of  the  Bible.  We  may  also  premise 
that,  in  a  condition  of  society  such  as  that  in 
which  we  now  live,  wherein  the  two  diverging 
tendencies  which  favour  immense  accumulations 
on  the  one  hand,  and  lead  to  poverty  and  pau- 
perism on  the  other,  are  daily  becoming  more 
and  more  decided,  disturbing,  and  baneful,  there 
seems  to  be  required  on  the  part  of  those  who 
take  Scripture  as  their  guide,  a  careful  study  of 
tlie  foundations  of  human  society,  and  of  the 
laws  of  property,  as  they  are  developed  in  the 
divine  records  which  contain  the  revealed  will  of 
God. 

That  will,  in  truth,  as  it  is  the  source  of  all 
created  things,  and  specially  of  the  earth  and 
its  intelligent  denizen,  man,  so  is  it  the  original 
foundation  of  property,  and  of  the  laws  by  which 
its  inheritance  should  be  regulated.  God,  as  the 
Creator  of  the  earth,  gave  it  to  man  to  be  held, 
cultivated,  and  enjoyed  (Gen.  i.  28,  sq.  ;  Ps. 
cxv.  16;  Eccles.  V.  9).  The  primitive  records 
are  too  brief  and  fragmentary  to  supply  us  with 
any  details  respecting  the  earliest  distribution 
or  transmission  of  landed  property  ;  but  from 
the  passages  to  which  reference  has  been  made, 
the  important  fact  appears  to  be  established 
beyond  a  question,  that  the  origin  of  property  is 
to  be  found,  not  in  the  achievements  of  violence, 
the  success  of  the  sword,  or  any  imaginary  im- 
plied contract,  but  in  the  will  and  the  gift  of  the 
common  Creator  and  bountiful  Father  of  the  hu- 
man race.  It  is  equally  clear  that  the  gift  was 
made,  not  to  any  favoured  portion  of  our  race, 
but  to  the  race  itself— to  man  as  represented  by 
our  great  primogenitor,  to  whom  the  use  of  the 
divine  gift  was  first  graciously  vouchsafed. 

The  impression  which  the  original  gift  of  the 
earth  was  calculated  to  make  on  men.  the  Great 
Donor  was  pleased,  in  the  case  of  Palestine,  to 
render,  for  his  own  wise  purposes,  more  decided 
and  emphatic  by  an  express  re-donation  to  the 
patriarch  Abraham  (Gen.  xiii.  14,  sq.).  Many 
years,  however,  elapsed  before  the  promise  was 


fulfilled.  Meanwhile  the  notices  which  we  have 
regarding  the  state  of  property  in  the  patriarchal 
ages,  are  few  and  not  very  definite.  The  products 
of  the  earth,  however,  were  at  an  early  period 
accumulated  and  held  as  property.  Violence  in- 
vaded the  possession  ;  opposing  violence  recovered 
the  goods.  War  soon  sprang  out  of  the  passions 
of  the  human  heart.  Tlie  necessity  of  civil  go- 
vernment was  felt.  Consuetudinary  laws  ac- 
cordingly developed  themselves.  The  head  of 
the  family  was  supreme.  His  will  was  law.  The 
physical  superiority  which  he  possessed  gave  him 
this  dominion.  The  same  influence  would  secure 
its  transmission  in  the  male  rather  than  the  fe- 
male line.  Hence  too  the  rise  of  the  rights  of 
primogeniture.  In  the  early  condition  of  society 
which  is  called  patriarchal,  landed  property  bad 
its  origin,  indeed,  but  could  not  be  held  of  first 
importance  by  those  who  led  a  wandering  life, 
shifting  continually,  as  convenience  suggested, 
from  one  spot  to  another.  Cattle  were  then  the 
chief  property  (Gen.  xxiv.  35).  But  land,  if  held, 
was  held  on  a  freehold  tenure ;  nor  could  any 
other  tenure  have  come  into  existence  till  more 
complex  and  artificial  relations  arose,  resulting, 
in  all  probability,  from  the  increase  of  population 
and  the  relative  insufiBciency  of  food.  When 
Joseph  went  down  into  Egj'pt,  he  appears  to  have 
found  the  freehold  tenure  prevailing,  which,  how- 
ever, he  converted  into  a  tenancy  at  will,  or,  at 
any  rate,  into  a  conditional  tenancy.  Other  in- 
timations are  found  in  Genesis  which  confirm 
the  general  statements  which  have  just  been  made. 
Daughters  do  not  appear  to  have  had  any  inhe- 
ritance. If  there  are  any  exceptions  to  this  rule, 
they  only  serve  to  prove  it.  Thus  Job  (the  book 
so  called  is  Undoubtedly  very  old,  so  that  there 
is  no  impropriety  in  citing  it  in  this  connection) 
is  recorded  (xlii.  15)  to  have  given  his  daughters 
an  inheritance  conjointly  with  their  brothers — a 
record  which  of  itself  proves  the  singularity  of 
the  proceeding,  and  establishes  our  position  that 
inheritance  generally  followed  the  male  line.  How 
highly  the  privileges  conferred  by  primogeniture 
were  valued,  may  be  learnt  from  the  history  of 
Jacob  and  Esau.  In  the  patriarchal  age  doubtless 
these  rights  were  very  great.  The  eldest  son,  as 
being  by  nature  the  first  fitted  for  command,  as- 
sumed influence  and  control,  under  his  father, 
over  the  family  and  its  dependents ;  and  when 
the  father  was  removed  by  death,  he  readily,  and 
as  if  by  an  act  of  Providence,  took  his  father's 
place.  Thus  he  succeeded  to  the  property  in  suc- 
ceeding to  the  headship  of  the  family,  the  clan, 
or  the  tribe.  At  first  the  eldest  son  most  probably 
took  exclusive  possession  of  his  father's  property 
and  power ;  and  when,  subsequently,  a  division 
became  customary,  he  would  still  retain  the  largest 
share— a  double  portion,  if  not  more  (Gen.  xxvii. 
25,  29,  40).  That  in  the  days  of  Abraham  other 
sons  partook  with  the  eldest,  and  that  too  though 
they  were  sons  of  concubines,  is  clear  from  the 
storj'  of  Hagar's  expulsion : — '  Cast  out  (said 
Sarah)  this  bondwoman  and  her  son ;  for  tne  son 
of  this  bondwoman  shall  not  be  heir  with  my  son, 
even  with  Isaac'  (Gen.  xxi.  10).  The  few  no- 
tices left  us  in  Genesis  of  the  transfer  of  property 
from  hand  to  hand  are  interesting,  and  bear  a  re- 
markable similarity  to  what  takes  place  in  East- 
ern countries  even  at  this  day  (Gen.  xxi.  22,  sq. ; 
xxiii.  9,  sq.).    The  purchase   of   the  Cave    of 


INHERITANCE 

Machpclah  as  a  family  burying-place  for  Abra- 
ham, detailed  in  the  last  passage,  serves  to  show 
the  safety  of  property  at  that  early  period,  and 
the  facility  with  which  an  inheritance  was  trans- 
mitted even  to  sons'  sons  (conip.  Gen.  xlix.  29). 
That  it  was  customary,  during  the  father's  life- 
time, to  make  a  disposition  of  property,  is  evident 
from  Gen.  xxiv.  35,  where  it  is  said  that  Abraham 
had  given  all  he  had  to  Isaac.  This  statement  is 
fiirther  confirmed  by  ch.  xxv.  5,  6,  where  it  is 
added  that  Abraham  gave  to  the  sons  of  his  con- 
cubines '  gifts,  sending  them  away  from  Isaac  his 
son,  while  he  yet  lived,  eastward  unto  the  east 
country.'  Sometimes,  however,  so  far  were  the 
children  of  unmarried  females  from  being  dis- 
missed with  a  gift,  tliat  they  shared  with  what 
we  should  term  the  legitimate  children,  in  the 
father's  property  and  rights.  Thus  Dan  and 
Naphtali  were  sons  of  Bilhah,  Rachel's  maid, 
whom  she  gave  to  her  husband,  failing  to  bear 
children  herself.  So  Gad  and  Asher  were,  under 
similar  circumstances,  sons  of  Zilpah,  Leah's 
maid  (Gen.  xxx.  2-14).  In  the  event  of  the 
eldest  son's  dying  in  the  father's  lifetime,  the 
next  son  took  his  place ;  and  if  the  eldest  son  left 
a  widow,  the  next  son  made  her  his  wife  (Gen. 
xxxviii.  T,  sq.),  the  offspring  of  which  union  was 
reckoned  to  the  first-born  and  deceased  son. 
Should  the  second  likewise  die,  the  third  son 
took  his  place  (Gen.  xxxviii.  11).  While  the 
rights  of  the  first-born  were  generally  established 
and  recognised,  yet  were  thej'  sometimes  set  aside 
in  favour  of  a  younger  child.  The  blessing  of 
the  father  or  the  grandsire  seems  to  have  been  an 
act  essential  in  the  devolution  of  power  and  pro- 
perty— in  its  effects  not  unlike  wills  and  testa- 
ments with  us ;  and  instances  are  not  wanting  in 
which  this  (so  to  term  it)  testamentary  bequest 
set  aside  consuetudinary  laws,  and  gave  prece- 
dence to  a  younger  son  (Gen.  xlviii.  15,  sq.). 
Special  claims  on  the  parental  regards  were  ac- 
knowledged and  rewarded  by  special  gifts,  as  in 
the  case  of  Jacob's  donation  to  Joseph  (Gen. 
xlviii.  22).  In  a  similar  manner,  bad  conduct 
on  the  part  of  the  eldest  son  (as  well  as  of  others) 
subjected  him,  if  not  to  the  loss  of  his  rights  of 
propert}-,  yet  to  the  evil  influence  of  his  father's 
dj'ing  malediction  (Gen.  xlix.  3)  ;  while  the  good 
and  favoured,  though  younger,  son  was  led  by 
the  paternal  blessing  to  anticipate,  and  probably 
also  to  reap,  the  richest  inheritance  of  individual 
and  social  happiness  (Gen.  xlix.  8-22). 

The  original  promise  made  to  Abraham  of  the 
land  of  Palestine  was  solemnly  repeated  to  Isaac 
(Gen.  xxvi.  3),  the  reason  assigned  being,  be- 
cause '  Abraham  obeyed  my  voice  and  kept  my 
charge,  my  commandments,  my  statutes,  and  my 
laws ;'  while  it  is  expressly  declared  that  the 
earlier  inhabitants  of  the  country  were  dispos- 
sessed and  destined  to  extermination  for  the 
greatness  of  their  iniquity.  The  possession  of 
the  promised  land  was  embraced  by  Isaac  in  his 
dying  benediction  to  Jacob  (Gen.  xxviii.  3,  4),  to 
whom  God  vouchsafed  (Gen.  xxviii.  15 ;  see  also 
XXXV.  10,  11)  to  give  a  renewed  assurance  of  the 
destined  inheritance.  That  this  donation,  how- 
ever, was  held  to  be  dependent  for  the  time  and 
manner  of  its  fulfilment  on  the  divine  will,  ap- 
pears from  Gen.  xxxiii.  18,  where  Jacob,  on 
coming  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  bought  for  an 
hundred  pieces  of  money  ♦  a  parcel  of  a  field,  at 


INHERITANCE 


423 


the  hand  of  the  children  of  Hamor.'  Delayed 
though  the  execution  of  the  promise  was,  con- 
fidence never  deserted  the  family  of  Abraham,  so 
that  Joseph,  dying  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  assured 
his  brothers  that  they  would  be  visited  of  God 
and  placed  in  possession  of  Canaan,  enjoining  on 
them,  in  this  conviction,  that  when  conducted 
to  their  possession,  they  should  carry  his  bones 
with  them  out  of  Egypt  (Gen.  1.  25). 

A  promise  thus  given,  thus  repeated,  and  thus 
believed,  easily,  and  indeed  unavoidably,  becam.e 
the  fundamental  principle  of  that  settlement  of 
property  which  Moses  made  when  at  length  he 
had  effected  the  divine  will  in  the  redemption  of 
the  children  of  Israel.  The  observances  and  prac- 
tices, too,  which  we  have  noticed  as  prevailing 
among  the  patriarchs  would,  no  doubt,  have  great 
influence  on  the  laws  which  the  Jewish  legislator 
originated  or  sanctioned.  The  land  of  Canaan 
was  divided  among  the  twelve  tribes  descended 
through  Isaac  and  Jacob  from  Abraham.  The 
division  was  made  by  lot  for  an  inheritance 
among  the  families  of  the  sons  of  Israel,  accord- 
ing to  the  tribes,  and  to  the  number  and  size  of 
families  in  each  tribe.  The  tribe  of  Levi,  how- 
ever, had  no  inheritance,  but  forty-eight  cities 
Avith  their  suburbs  were  assigned  to  the  Levites, 
each  tribe  giving  according  to  the  number  of 
cities  that  fell  to  its  share  (Num.  xxxiii.  50; 
xxxiv.  1  ;  xxxv.  1).  The  inheritance  thus  ac- 
quired was  never  to  leave  the  tribe  to  which  it 
belonged ;  every  tribe  was  to  keep  strictly  to  its 
own  inheritance.  An  heiress,  in  consequence,  was 
not  allowed  to  marry  out  of  her  own  tribe,  lest 
property  should  pass  by  her  marriage  into  another 
tribe  (Num.  xxxvi.  6-9).  This  restriction  led  to 
the  marriage  of  heiresses  with  their  iiear  rela- 
tions :  thus  the  daughters  of  Zelophehad  '  were 
married  unto  their  father's  brother's  sons,' '  and 
their  inheritance  remained  in  the  tribe  of  the 
family  of  their  father  '  (ver.  11,  12).  In  general 
cases  the  inheritance  went  to  sons,  the  first-born 
receiving  a  double  portion,  '  for  he  is  the  begin- 
ning of  his  father's  strength.'  If  a  man  had  two 
wives,  one  beloved,  the  other  hated,  and  if  the 
first-born  were  the  son  of  her  who  was  hated,  he 
nevertheless  was  to  enjoy  '  the  right  of  the  first- 
born '  (Deut.  xxi.  15).  If  a  man  left  no  sons,  the 
inheritance  passed  to  his  daughters ;  if  there  was 
no  daughter,  it  went  to  his  brothers;  in  case 
there  were  no  brothers,  it  was  given  to  his  father's 
brothers ;  if  his  father  had  no  brothers,  it  came 
into  possession  of  the  nearest  kinsman  (Num. 
xxvii.  8).  The  land  was  Jehovah's,  and  could 
not  therefore  be  permanently  alienated.  Every 
fiftieth  year,  whatever  land  had  been  sold  returned 
to  its  former  owner.  The  value  and  price  of  land 
naturally  rose  or  fell  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  years  there  were  to  elapse  prior  to  the  ensuing 
fiftieth  or  jubilee-year.  If  he  who  sold  the  land, 
or  a  kinsman,  could  redeem  the  land  before  the 
year  of  jubilee,  it  was  to  be  restored  to  him  on 
his  paying  to  the  purchaser  the  value  of  the  pro- 
duce of  the  years  remaining  till  the  jubilee. 
Houses  in  villages  or  unwalled  towns  might  not 
be  sold  for  ever ;  they  were  restored  at  the  jubilee, 
and  might  at  any  time  be  redeemed.  If  a  man 
sold  a  dwelling-house  situated  in  a  walled  city, 
he  had  the  option  of  redeeming  it  within  the 
space  of  a  full  year  after  it  had  been  sold ;  but  if 
it  remained  unredeemed,  it  belonged  to  the  pur- 


424 


INN 


chaser,  and  did  not  return  to  him  who  si>ld  it  even 
at  the  jubilee  (Lev.  xxv.  8,  23).  The  Levites 
•were  not  allowed  to  sell  the  land  in  the  suburbs 
of  their  cities,  though  they  might  dispose  of  the 
cities  themselves,  which,  however,  were  redeem- 
able at  any  time,  and  must  return  at  the  jubilee 
to  their  original  possessors  (Lev.  xxvii.  16). 

The  regulations  which  the  laws  of  Moses  esta- 
blished rendered  wills,  or  a  testamentary  dispo- 
sition of  (at  least)  landed  property,  almost,  if  not 
quite,  unnecessary  ;  we  accordingly  find  no  pro- 
vision for  anything  of  the  kind.  Some  difficulty 
may  have  been  now  and  then  occasioned,  when 
near  relations  failed ;  but  this  was  met  by  the 
traditional  law,  which  furnished  minute  directions 
on  the  point.  Personal  property  would  naturally 
follow  the  land,  or  might  be  bequeathed  by  word 
of  mouth.  At  a  later  period  of  the  Jewish  polity 
the  mention  of  wills  is  found,  but  the  idea  seems 
to  have  been  taken  from  foreign  nations.  In 
princely  families  they  appear  to  have  been  used, 
as  we  learn  from  Josephus ;  but  such  a  practice 
can  hardly  suffice  to  establish  the  general  use  of 
wills  among  the  people.  In  the  New  Testament, 
however,  wills  are  expressly  mentioned  (Gal.  iii. 
15;  Heb.  ix.  17). 

INK,  INKHOEN.    [Writing.] 

INN.  In  the  days  of  the  elder  patriarchs 
there  seem  to  have  been  no  places  specially  de- 
voted to  the  reception  of  travellers,  at  least  in  the 
pastoral  districts  frequented  by  those  venerable 
nomades  ;  for  we  find  Abraham,  like  the  Oriental 
shepherds  of  the  present  day,  under  a  strong 
sense  of  the  difficulties  and  privations  with  which 
journeying  in  those  regions  was  attended,  deem- 
ing it  a  sacred  duty  to  keep  on  the  outlook,  and 
offer  the  wayfaring  man  the  rites  of  hospitality 
in  his  own  tent.     Nor  could  the  towns  of  Pales- 


tine, as  it  would  seem,  at  that  remote  period, 
boiist  of  any  greater  advance  with  respect  to  esta- 
blishments of  this  sort  (see  Gen.  xix.  2) ;  from 
which  it  is  evident  that  the  custom,  which  is  still 
frequently  witnessed  in  the  cities  of  the  East,  was 
then  not  uncommon,  for  travellers  who  were  late 
in  arriving,  and  who  had  no  introductions  to  a 
private  family,  to  bivouac  in  the  streets,  or  wrap- 
ping themselves  up  in  the  ample  folds  of  their 
hykes,  to  pass  the  night  as  they  best  could  in  the 
open  air  (see  also  Judges  xix.  1.5).  In  the  Arab 
towns  and  villages,  however,  when  a  traveller 
arrives  in  the  daytime,  the  sheikh,  or  some  prin- 
cipal person  of  the  place,  goes  out  to  welcome 
him,  and  treats  him  with  great  civility  in  his  own 
house;  or  else  he  conducts  him  to  the  memil, 
which,  though  a  place  of  rather  a  nondescript 
character,  is  understood  to  be  the  house  occupied 
by  those  who  entertain  strangers,  when  there  are 
no  other  lodgings,  and  to  which  the  women  in  the 
sheikh's  house,  having  surveyed  the  number  of 
the  guests,  send  provisions  of  every  kind,  accord- 
ing to  the  season,  and  provide  every  accommoda- 
tion the  place  can  afford. 

The  first  mention  of  an  inn,  or  house  set  apart 


INN 

for  the  accommodation  of  travellers,  occurs  in  the 
account  of  the  return  of  Jacob's  sons  from  Egypt 
(Gen.  xlii.  27)  ;  and  as  it  was  situated  within  the 
confines  of  that  country,  and  at  the  first  stage 
from  the  metropolis,  it  is  probable  that  the  erec- 
tion of  such  places  of  entertainment  originated 
with  the  Egj'ptians,  who  were  far  superior  to  all 
their  contemporaries  in  the  habits  and  the  arts  of 
civilized  life.  The  Egyptian  inn,  where  the  sons 
of  Israel  halted  to  bait  their  asses,  was  probably, 
from  the  remote  period  to  which  it  belonged,  of 
a  rude  and  humble  description,  in  point  both  of 
appearance  and  accommodation ;  and  such  is  the 
low  state  of  art,  or  the  tyrannical  force  of  custom 
in  the  East,  that  establishments  of  this  kind  in 
the  present  day  can,  with  few  exceptions,  boast 
of  improvements,  that  render  them  superior  to 
the  mean  and  naked  poverty  of  those  which  re- 
ceived the  pilgrims  of  the  patriarchal  age. 

Khan,  or  haravanserai,  is  the  name  which  this 
kind  of  building  bears ;  and  though  the  terms 
are  often  applied  indiscriminately,  there  is  an 
acknowledged  distinction,  which  seems  to  be, 
that  khan  is  applied  to  those  which  are  situated 
in  or  near  towns,  whereas  caravanserais  (a  lodge 
for  caravans,  as  the  compound  word  imports)  is 
the  more  appropriate  designation  of  such  as  are 
erected  in  desert  and  sequestered  places.  Some 
of  these  buildings  are  provided  at  the  public 
expense,  or  owe  their  existence  to  devoted  Mus- 
sulmans, who  bestow  a  portion  of  their  wealth, 
as  a  meritorious  act  of  charity,  in  promoting  the 
comfort  and  refreshment  of  pilgi'ims ;  while 
others  are  erected  by  the  contributions  of  private 
merchants  for  their  own  accommodation.  The 
latter,  of  course,  are  the  most  spacious,  the  most 
elegant,  and  best  appointed ;  but  though  varying 
in  character  and  size,  this  class  of  establishments 
preserves  so  generally  the  same  uniform  plan  of 
construction,  that  a  description  of  one  may  serve 
to  convey  an  idea  of  all.  The  caravanserai  then 
is  a  large  edifice  presenting  the  form  of  a  square, 
the  sides  of  which,  about  100  yards  in  length 
each,  are  surrounded  by  an  external  wall  of 
fine  brickwork,  based  on  stone,  rising  generally 
to  the  height  of  twenty  feet.  In  the  middle  of 
the  front  wall  there  is  a  wide  and  lofty  archway, 
having  on  one  or  both  sides  a  lodge  for  the  porter 
and  other  attendants  ;  while  the  upper  part  of  it, 
being  faced  with  carving  or  ornamental  mason- 
work,  and  containing  several  rooms,  surmounted 
by  elegant  domes,  is  considered  the  most  honour- 
able place  of  the  building,  and  is  therefore  appro- 
priated to  the  use  of  the  better  sort.  This  arch- 
way leads  into  a  spacious  rectangle,  the  area 
forming  a  courtyard  for  cattle,  in  the  midst  of 
which  is  a  well  or  fountain.  Along  the  sides  of 
the  rectangle  are  piazzas  extending  the  whole 
length,  and  opening  at  every  few  steps  into  arched 
and  open  recesses,  which  are  the  entrances  into 
the  travellers'  apartments.  An  inner  door  behind 
each  of  these  conducts  to  a  small  oblong  chamber, 
deriving  all  its  light  from  the  door,  or  from  a 
small  open  window  in  the  back  wall  entirely 
destitute  of  furniture,  and  affording  no  kind  of 
accommodation  in  the  way  of  presses  or  shelves, 
except  some  rude  niches  excavated  in  the  thick 
walls.  This  cell  is  intended  for  the  dormitory  of 
the  traveller,  who  generally  prefers,  however,  the 
recess  in  front  for  sitting  in  under  shade  during 
the  daytime,  as  well  as  for  sleeping  in  during  the 


INN 


INSPIRATION 


night,  when  the  season  allows.  There  being  no 
other  door  but  the  entrance  arch,  each  occupant 
remains  isolated  in  his  own  quarters,  and  is  cut  off 
from  all  communication  with  the  other  inmates 
of  the  caravanserai.  But  in  the  middle  of  one  of 
the  three  sides,  or  in  large  caravanserais  of  each 
of  the  sides,  there  is  a  large  hall,  which  serves  as 
a  travellers'  room,  where  all  may  indiscriminately 
assemble  :  while  at  the  end  of  each  side  there  is 
a  staircase  leading  to  the  flat  roof  of  the  house, 
where  the  cool  breeze  and  a  viev/  of  the  surround- 
ing country  may  be  enjoyed.  These  chambers 
generally  stand  on  the  ground-floor,  which  is  a 
few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  court-yard ;  but  in 
the  few  buildings  of  this  sort  which  have  two 
stories,  the  travellers  are  accommodated  above, 
■while  the  under  flat  is  reserved  for  the  use  of 
their  servants,  or  appropriated  as  warehouses 
for  goods.  And  in  such  establishments  there 
is  found  one  other  additional  advantage  in 
having  a  supply  of  servants  and  cooks,  as  well  as 
a  shop  in  the  porter's  house,  where  all  commo- 
dities may  be  procured.  Caravanserais  of  this 
superior  class,  however,  are  rarely  to  be  met  with. 
The  most  part  are  but  wretched  lodging-places — 
filled,  it  may  be,  with  dirt  and  vermin — consist- 
ing only  of  bare  walls,  in  which  not  an  article  of 
furniture  is  to  be  seen,  nor  a  cooking  utensil  to 
be  found,  nor  provisions  of  any  sort  to  be  ob- 
tained for  love  or  money.  The  traveller  must 
carry  along  with  him,  as  well  as  provide  with  his 
own  hands,  whatever  is  necessary  for  his  use  and 
comfort.  He  must  also  subsist  on  the  supply  of 
food  and  articles  of  luxury  he  may  have  had  the 
foresight  to  provide,  as  no  addition  to  his  stores 
can  be  made  till  he  reaches  the  next  town.  In 
short,  in  many  of  the  khans  or  caravanserais  to 
which  he  may  come,  he  can  look  for  nothing  from 
the  keeper  except  to  show  him  the  way  to  his 
chamber,  and  give  him  the  key  if  it  is  furnished 
M-ith  a  door.  One  assistance  only  he  may  depend 
upon,  and  it  is  no  inconsiderable  one — that  of  re- 
ceiving some  attendance  and  aid  if  overtaken  by 
sickness ;  for  one  of  the  requisite  qualifications 
for  the  office  is,  that  the  functionary  possess  a 
knowledge  of  simples,  and  the  most  approved 
practice  in  case  of  fracture  or  common  ailments. 
And  hence  the  good  Samaritan  in  the  parable 
(Luke  X.  30),  although  he  was  obliged,  in  the 
lu-gency  of  the  case,  himself  to  apply  from  his 
own  store  a  few  simple  remedies  for  the  relief  of 
the  distressed  man,  left  him  with  full  confidence 
to  be  treated  and  nursed  by  the  keeper  of  the 
khan,  whose  assiduities  in  dressing  the  wounds 
and  bruises  of  his  patient  might  be  quickened, 
perhaps,  by  the  liberal  remuneration  he  was  pro- 
mised, as  well  as  by  the  example  of  the  humane 
traveller. 

Among  the  Egyptians,  and  indeed  among  the 
ancients  generally,  the  keepers  of  houses  of 
public  entertainment  were  always  women  ;  and 
hence  we  can  easily  account  for  the  ready  admis- 
sion which  the  spies  obtained  into  the  house  of 
Rahab, '  on  the  wall  of  Jericho,'  situated,  as  such 
houses  were,  for  the  reception  of  strangers,  for 
the  most  part  at  tlie  gate  or  entrance  into  the 
town  (Josh.  ii.  1).  This  woman  is  called  a  harlot 
in  our  translation,  but  the  original  Hebrew 
admits  of  being  translated  by  another  word,  to 
■which  no  degrading  or  infamous  associations  are 
attached. 


Although  it  is  probable  that  the  state  of  Judaea 
in  the  time  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  was,  in 
respect  to  means  of  communication,  much  su- 
perior to  that  of  any  Oriental  country  in  the 
present  day,  yet  the  warm  commendations  of 
hospitality  so  frequently  met  with  in  the  works 
of  contemporary  classical  writers,  as  well  as  the 
pressing  exhortations  of  the  inspired  Apostle  to 
the  practice  of  that  virtue,  too  plainly  prove  that 
travellers  were  then  chiefly  dependent  on  the 
kindness  of  private  individuals.  The  strong 
probability  is,  that  the  '  inns '  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament  find  their  true  and  correct  re- 
presentations in  the  Eastern  khans  and  caravan- 
serais of  the  present  day ;  and  that  the  Jews  of 
that  period  had  experience  of  nothing  better  than 
the  bare  walls  and  cell-like  apartments  of  such 
edifices  as  we  have  described  above. 

This  subject  acquires  additional  interest  from 
its  connection  with  the  birth  of  our  Lord ;  and 
there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  controversy  both 
respecting  the  character  of  the  building  from 
which  Mary  was  excluded  by  the  influx  of  com- 
pany, and  also  the  nature  of  the  place  where  she 
'  brought  forth  her  first-born  son.'  No  explana- 
tion, however,  that  we  have  met  with,  appears  so 
satisfactory,  and  conveys  such  an  intelligible 
picture  to  the  eye,  as  that  given  by  the  editor  of 
the  Pictorial  Bible  (Luke  ii.  7) ;  with  whose 
words  we  shall  conclude  this  article.  '  The 
most  complete  establishments  have  very  excel- 
lent stables  in  covered  avenues,  which  extend 
behind  the  ranges  of  apartments — that  is,  between 
the  back  wall  of  these  ranges  of  building  and  the 
external  wall  of  the  khan ;  and  the  entrance  to  it 
is  by  a  covered  passage  at  one  of  the  corners  of 
the  quadrangle.  The  stable  is  on  a  level  with 
the  court,  and  consequently  below  the  level  of 
the  buildings,  by  the  height  of  the  platform  on 
which  they  stand.  Nevertheless,  this  platform  is 
allowed  to  project  behind  into  the  stable,  so  as  to 
form  a  bench,  to  which  the  horses'  heads  are 
turned,  and  on  which  they  can,  if  they  like,  rest 
the  nose-bag  of  hair-cloth,  from  which  they  eat, 
to  enable  them  to  reach  the  bottom  when  its  con- 
tents get  low.  It  also  often  happens  that  not  only 
this  bench  exists  in  the  stable,  but  also  recesses 
corresponding  to  those  in  front  of  the  apartments, 
and  formed  by  the  side  walls  which  divide  the 
rooms,  being  allowed  to  project  behind  into  the 
stable,  just  as  the  projection  of  the  same  walls 
into  the  great  area  forms  the  recesses  in  front. 
These  recesses  in  the  stable,  or  the  bench  if  there 
are  no  recesses,  furnish  accommodation  to  the 
servants  and  others  who  have  charge  of  the 
beasts;  and  when  persons  find  on  their  arrival 
that  the  apartments  usually  appropriated  to  tra- 
vellers are  already  occupied,  they  are  glad  to 
find  accommodation  in  the  stable,  particularly 
when  the  nights  are  cold  or  the  season  in- 
clement. It  is  evident,  then,  from  this  descrip- 
tion, that  the  part  of  the  stable  called  '  the 
manger,'  could  not  reasonably  have  been  other 
than  one  of  those  recesses,  or  at  least  a  portion  of 
the  bench  which  we  have  mentioned,  as  afford- 
ing accommodation  to  travellers  under  certain 
circumstances.' 

INSPIRATION.  This  word  is  sometmies 
used  to  denote  the  excitement  and  action  of  a 
fervent  imagination  in  the  poet  or  orator.  But 
even  in  this  case  there  is  generally  a  reference  to 


426  INSPIRATION 

some  supposed  divine  influence,  to  which  the  ex- 
cited action  is  owing.  It  is  once  used  in  Scrip- 
ture to  denote  that  Divine  agency  by  -vrhich  man 
is  endued  with  the  faculties  of  an  intelligent 
being,  when  it  is  said,  '  the  inspiration  of  the 
Almighty  giveth  him  understanding.'  But  the 
inspiration  now  to  be  considered  is  that  which 
belonged  to  those  who  wrote  the  Scriptures,  and 
which  is  particularly  spoken  of  in  2  Tim.  iii.  16, 
and  in  2  Pet.  i.  21:  'AH  Scripture  is  given  by 
inspiration  of  God  ;'  '  Holy  men  of  God  spake  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'  These 
passages  relate  specially  to  the  Old  Testament ; 
but  there  is  at  least  equal  reason  to  predicate 
Divine  inspiration  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  definition  which  Dr.  Knapp  gives  of  in- 
spiration is  the  one  we  shall  adopt.  He  says, 
'  It  may  be  best  defined,  according  to  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  Scriptures  themselves,  as  an  ex- 
traordinary Divine  agency  upon  teachers  while 
giving  instruction,  whether  oral  or  written,  by 
which  they  were  taught  what  and  how  they  should 
write  or  speak.'  Or  we  may  say  more  briefly  that 
the  sacred  penmen  were  completely  under  the 
direction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  that  they  wrote 
under  a  plenary  inspiration.  Dr.  Calamy's  defii- 
nition  agrees  substantially  with  that  of  Dr. 
Knapp. 

To  prove  that  the  Scriptures  are  divinely  in- 
spired we  might  with  propriety  refer  to  the  excel- 
lence of  the  doctrines,  precepts,  and  promises, 
and  other  instructions,  which  they  contain;  to 
the  simplicity  and  majesty  of  their  style ;  to  the 
agreement  of  the  different  parts,  and  the  scope  of 
the  whole ;  especially  to  the  full  discovery  they 
make  of  man's  fallen  and  ruined  state,  and  the 
way  of  salvation  through  a  Redeemer ;  together 
with  their  power  to  enlighten  and  sanctify  the 
heart,  and  the  accompanying  witness  of  the  Spirit 
in  believers.  These  are  circumstances  of  real 
importance,  and  the  discerning  advocates  of  in- 
spiration have  not  overlooked  them.  But  the 
more  direct  and  conclusive  evidence  that  the 
Scriptures  were  Divinely  inspired  is  found  in 
the  testimony  of  the  writers  themselves.  And  as 
the  writers  did,  by  working  miracles,  and  in 
other  ways,  sufficiently  authenticate  their  Divine 
commission,  and  establish  their  authority  and 
infallibility  as  teachers  of  Divine  truth,  their  tes- 
timony, in  regard  to  their  own  inspiration,  is 
entitled  to  our  full  confidence.  For  who  can 
doubt  that  they  were  as  competent  to  judge  of, 
and  as  much  disposed  to  speak  the  truth  on  this 
subject  as  on  any  other?  If  then  we  admit  their 
Divine  commission  and  authority,  why  should  we 
not  rely  upon  the^plain  testimony  which  they 
give  concerning  the  Divine  assistance  afforded 
them  in  their  woi-k  ?  To  reject  their  testimony 
in  tliis  case  would  be  to  impeach  their  veracity, 
and  thus  to  take  away  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  religion.  And  it  is  well  known  that 
those  who  deny  the  justice  of  the  claim  which 
they  set  up  to  Divine  inspiration  do  in  fact  give 
up  the  infallible  truth  and  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  adopt  the  principles  of  deism. 

It  is,  then,  of  the  first  importance  to  inquire 
what  representations  are  made  by  the  prophets, 
and  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  respecting  the  in- 
spiration, and  the  consequent  authority,  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures. 

The  prophets  generally  professed  to  speak  the 


INSPIRATION 

word  of  God.  What  they  taught  was  introduced 
and  confirmed  by  a  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord ;'  or 
'  The  Lord  spake  to  me,  saying.'  And,  in  one 
way  or  another,  they  gave  clear  proof  that  they 
were  Divinely  commissioned,  and  spoke  in  the 
name  of  God,  or  as  it  is  expressed  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  God  spake  by  them. 

But  the  strongest  and  most  satisfactory  proof 
of  the  inspiration  and  Divine  authority  of  the  Old 
Testament  writings,  is  found  in  the  testimony  of 
Christ  and  the  Apostles. 

The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  possessed  the  spirit  of 
wisdom  without  measure,  and  came  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  truth.  His  works  proved  that  he  was 
what  he  declared  himself  to  be — the  Messiah,  the 
great  Prophet,  the  infallible  Teacher.  The  faith 
which  rests  on  him  rests  on  a  rock.  As  soon  then 
as  we  learn  how  he  regarded  the  Scriptures,  we 
have  reached  the  end  of  our  inquiries.  His  word 
is  truth.  Now  every  one  who  carefully  attends 
to  the  four  Gospels  will  find  that  Christ  every- 
where spoke  of  that  collection  of  writings  called 
the  Scripture  as  the  word  of  God;  that  he  re- 
garded the  whole  in  this  light ;  that  he  treated 
the  Scripture,  and  every  part  of  it,  as  infallibly 
true,  and  as  clothed  with  divine  authority,  thus 
distinguishing  it  from  every  mere  human  produc- 
tion. Nothing  written  by  man  can  be  entitled 
to  the  respect  which  Christ  showed  to  the  Scrip- 
tures. This,  to  all  Christians,  is  direct  and  in- 
controvertible evidence  of  the  Divine  origin  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  is  by  itself  perfectly  con- 
clusive. 

But  there  is  clear  concurrent  evidence,  and 
evidence  still  more  specific,  in  the  writings  of 
the  Apostles.  In  two  texts  in  particular  Divine 
inspiration  is  positively  asserted.  In  the  first 
(2  Tim.  iii.  16),  Paul  lays  it  down  as  the  charac- 
teristic of '  all  Scripture,'  that  it  '  is  given  by  in- 
spiration of  God,'  and  from  this  results  its  profit- 


The  other  text  (2  Pet.  i.  21)  teaches  that '  Pro- 
phecy came  not  by  the  will  of  man,  but  holy 
men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  This  passage,  which  the  Apostle 
Peter  applied  particularly  to  tht  subject  of  which 
he  was  speaking,  may  be  considered  as  explana- 
tory of  what  is  intended  by  inspiration.  For  to 
say  that  all  Scripture  is  Divinely  inspired,  and 
that  men  of  God  wrote  it  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost,  is  one  and  the  same  thing. 

The  various  texts  in  which  Christ  and  the 
Apostles  speak  of  Scripture  as  the  ivord  of  God, 
and  as  invested  with  authority  to  decide  all  ques- 
tions of  truth  and  duty,  fully  correspond  with  the 
texts  above  considered. 

From  this  view  of  the  subject  it  follows  that 
the  attempt  which  has  been  made  by  a  certain 
class  of  writers  to  account  for  the  production  of 
the  whole  or  any  part  of  the  Scriptures  by  the 
will  or  agency,  the  ingenuitj',  diligence,  or  fide- 
lity of  men,  in  the  use  of  the  means  within  their 
reach,  without  the  supernatural  influence  of  the 
Spirit,  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  teachings 
of  Christ  and  the  Apostles  as  to  the  origin  of 
the  Sacred  Writings. 

As  the  Christian  dispensation  surpasses  the 
former  in  all  spiritual  privileges  and  gifts,  it  is 
reasonable  to  presume  that  the  New  Testament 
was  written  under  at  least  an  equal  degree  of 
Divine  influence  with  the  Old,  and  that  it  comes 


INSPIRATION 

recommunded  to  us  by  equal  characteristics  of 
infalli!)le  truth.  But  of  this  there  is  clear  posi- 
tive evidence  from  the  New  Testament  itself. 

In  the  first  place,  Jes'is  Christ,  whose  works 
proved  him  to  be  the  great  unerriug  Teacher,  and 
to  be  possessed  of  all  power  in  Heaven  and  earth, 
gave  commission  to  his  Apostles  to  act  in  his  stead, 
and  to  carry  out  the  work  of  instruction  which  he 
had  beyun,  confirming  their  authority  by  investing 
them  with  power  to  perform  miracles.  But  how 
could  such  a  commission  have  answered  the  end 
proposed,  had  not  the  Divine  Spirit  so  guided  the 
Apostles  as  to  render  them  infallible  and  perfect 
teachers  of  Divine  truth  ? 

But,  secondly,  in  addition  to  this,  Jesus  ex- 
pressly promised  to  give  them  the  Holy  Spirit,  to 
abide  with  them  continualli/,  and  to  guide  them 
into  all  the  truth.  He  said  to  them,  '  When  they 
shall  deliver  you  up,  take  no  thought  how  or 
what  ye  shall  speak  for  it  shall  be  given  you  in 
the  same  hour  what  ye  shall  speak.  For  it  is 
not  ye  that  spoak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your  Father 
that  speaketh  in  you.'  Storr  and  Flatt  think  this 
is  the  idea  intended :  '  The  instructions  which  ye 
in  general  give  are  derived  not  so  much  from 
yourselves  as  from  the  Holy  Spirit.  Hence,  when 
ye  are  called  on  to  defend  your  doctrines,  ye 
need  feel  no  anxiety,  but  may  confidently  rely  on 
the  Holy  Spirit  to  vindicate  his  own  doctrines,  by 
suggesting  to  you  the  very  words  of  your  defence.' 
If  these  promises  were  not  fulfilled,  then  Jesus 
was  not  a  true  prophet.  If  they  were  fulfilled, 
as  they  certainly  were,  then  the  Apostles  had  the 
constant  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and,  whether 
engaged  in  speaking  or  writing,  were  under  Divine 
guidance,  and,  of  course,  were  liable  tcr  no  mis- 
takes either  as  to  the  matter  or  manner  of  their 
instructions. 

In  the  third  place,  the  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment manifestly  considered  themselves  to  be  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  their  instruc- 
tions, whether  oral  or  written,  to  be  clothed  with 
Divine  authority,  as  the  word  of  God. 

'We  speak,' they  say,  'as  of  God.'  Again, 
'  Which  things  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which 
man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  in  words  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  teacheth.'  They  declared  what  they 
taught  to  be  the  word  of  God,  and  the  things  they 
wrote  to  be  the  commandments  of  God.  Now  the 
Apostles,  being  honest,  unassuming,  humble  men, 
would  never  have  spoken  of  themselves  and  their 
writings  in  such  a  manner,  had  they  not  known 
themselves  to  be  under  the  unerring  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  their  instructions  perfectly 
in  accordance  with  the  mind  of  God. 

It  is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  plenary  in- 
spiration here  maintained,  that  God  operated  on 
the  minds  of  inspired  men  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
sometimes  by  audible  words,  sometimes  by  direct 
inward  suggestions,  sometimes  by  outward  visible 
signs,  sometimes  by  th«>  Urim  and  Thummim, 
and  sometimes  by  dreams  and  visions.  This 
variety  in  the  mode  of  Divine  influence  detracted 
nothing  from  its  certainty.  God  made  known 
his  will  equally  in  different  ways  ;  and,  whatever 
the  mode  of  his  operation,  he  made  it  manifest 
to  his  servants  that  the  things  revealed  were  from 
him. 

But  inspiration  was  concerned  not  only  in 
making  known  the  will  of  God  to  prophets  and 
Apostles,  but  also   in  giving  them  direction   in 


INSPIRATION 


427 


writing  the  Sacred  Books.  They  wrof*  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  in  this, 
also,  there  was  a  diversity  in  the  mode  of  Divine 
influence.  Sometimes  the  Spirit  of  God  moved 
and  guided  his  servants  to  write  things  which 
they  could  not  know  by  natural  means,  such  as 
new  doctrines  or  precepts,  or  predictions  of  future 
events.  Sometimes  he  moved  and  guided  them 
to  write  the  history  of  events  which  were  wholly 
or  partly  known  to  them  by  tradition,  or  by  the 
testimony  of  their  contemporaries,  or  by  their 
own  observation  or  experience.  In  all  these 
cases  the  Divine  Spirit  effectually  preserved  them 
from  all  error,  and  influenced  them  to  write  just 
so  much  and  in  such  a  manner  as  God  saw  to  be 
best.  Sometimes  he  moved  and  guided  them  to 
write  a  summary  record  of  larger  histories,  con- 
taining what  his  infinite  wisdom  saw  to  be  adapted 
to  the  end  in  view,  that  is,  the  benefit  of  his 
people  in  all  ages.  Sometimes  he  influenced  them 
to  make  a  record  of  important  maxims  in  com- 
mon use,  or  to  write  new  ones,  derived  either 
from  their  own  reason  or  experience,  or  from 
special  Divine  teaching.  Sometimes  he  influenced  i 
them  to  write  parables  or  allegories,  particularly  ' 
suited  to  make  a  salutary  impression  of  Divine  I 
things  on  the  minds  of  men  ;  and  sometimes  to  | 
record  supernatural  visions.  In  these  and  all 
other  kinds  of  writing  the  sacred  penmen  mani- 
festly needed  special  Divine  guidance,  as  no  man 
could  of  himself  attain  to  infallibility,  and  no 
wisdom,  except  that  of  God,  was  sufficient  to  de- 
termine what  things  ought  to  be  written  for  per- 
manent use  in  the  church,  and  what  manner  of 
writing  would  be  best  fitted  to  promote  the  great 
ends  of  revelation. 

Some  writers  speak  of  different  modes  and  dif- 
ferent kinds,  and  even  different  degrees  of  in- 
spiration. And  if  their  meaning  is  that  God 
influenced  the  minds  of  inspired  men  in  different 
ways  ;  that  he  adopted  a  variety  of  modes  in  re- 
vealing Divine  things  to  their  minds;  that  he 
guided  them  to  give  instruction  in  prose  and  in 
poetry,  and  in  all  the  different  forms  of  composi- 
tion ;  that  he  moved  and  guided  them  to  write 
history,  prophecy,  doctrines,  commands,  promises, 
reproofs,  and  exhortations,  and  that  he  adapted 
his  mode  of  operation  to  each  of  these  cases — 
against  this  no  objection  can  be  made.  It  is  a 
fact,  that  the  Scriptures  exhibit  specimens  of  all  I 
these  different  kinds  of  writing  and  these  different 
modes  of  Divine  instruction.  Still  each  and  every 
part  of  what  was  written  was  Divinely  inspired, 
and  equally  so.  It  is  all  the  word  of  God,  and 
clothed  with  Divine  authority,  as  much  as  if  it 
had  all  been  made  known  and  written  in  one  way. 

Dr.  Henderson,  who  labours  perhaps  with  too 
much  zeal  against  carrying  inspiration  to  ex- 
treme lengths,  still  says  that  if  those  who  hold  to 
different  modifications  of  inspiration  intend  that 
there  are  different  modifications  and  degrees  of 
authority  given  to  Scripture,  their  opinion  must 
meet  with  unqualified  reprobation  from  every 
sincere  believer.  He  insists  that  a  diversity  in 
the  modes  and  degrees  of  Divine  operation  did 
exist  in  the  work  of  inspiration,  and  that  this 
diversity  was  the  result  of  infinite  wisdom  adapt- 
ing itself  to  different  circumstances.  He  thinks 
that,  unless  we  admit  such  a  diversity,  we  cannot 
form  correct  ideas  of  the  subject.  But  he  is  con- 
fident that  the  distinction  which  he  endeavours 


428 


INSPIRATION 


to  establish  is  not  in  the  slightest  degree  hostile 
to  the  Divine  authority  of  Scripture.  He  affirms 
that  no  part  of  that  hob/  book  tvas  written  without 
miraculous  influence ;  that  all  parts  were  equally 
inspired ;  that  in  regard  to  the  whole  volume  the 
great  end  was  infallibly  attained,  namely,  the 
commitment  to  writing  of  precisely  such  matters 
as  God  designed  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
mankind;  that  the  sacred  penmen  wrote  what 
had  for  its  object  not  merely  the  immediate  be- 
nefit of  individual  persons  or  churches,  but  what 
would  be  useful  to  Christians  in  all  future  times ; 
and  that  in  regard  to  the  most  minute  and  incon- 
siderable things  which  the  Scripture  contains  we 
are  compelled  to  say,  This  also  cometh  from  the 
Lord. 

The  controversy  among  orthodox  divines  re- 
specting what  is  called  verbal  inspiration,  appears 
to  arise,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the  different 
senses  affixed  to  the  phrase. 

The  real  question,  and  the  whole  question  at 
issue,  may  be  stated  thus :  did  the  work  of  the 
Divine  Spirit  in  the  sacred  penmen  relate  to  the 
language  they  used,  or  their  manner  of  expressing 
their  ideas  ;  and  if  so,  how  far,  and  in  what  way  ? 

AH  those  with  whom  we  are  concerned  in  the 
discussion  of  this  question,  hold  that  Divine  in- 
spiration had  some  respect  to  the  language  em- 
ployed by  the  inspired  writers,  at  least  in  the 
way  of  general  supervision.  And  Dr.  Henderson 
shows,  in  various  passages  of  his  excellent  lec- 
tures, that  there  is  no  material  difference  between 
him  and  those  who  profess  to  maintain  higher 
ground.  He  allows  that,  to  a  certain  extent,  what 
is  called  verbal  inspiration,  or  the  inspiration  of 
words,  took  place.  '  In  recording  what  was  im- 
mediately spoken  with  an  audible  voice  by  Je- 
hovah, or  by  an  angel  interpreter ;  in  giving  ex- 
pression to  points  of  revelation  which  entirely 
surpassed  the  comprehension  of  the  writers ;  in  re- 
cording prophecies,  the  minute  bearings  of  which 
they  did  not  perceive ;  in  short,  in  committing  to 
writing  any  of  the  dictates  of  the  Spirit,  which 
they  could  not  have  otherwise  accurately  ex- 
pressed, the  writers,'  he  alleges,  '  were  supplied 
Avith  the  words  as  well  as  the  matter.'  He  says, 
that  even  when  Biblical  writers  made  use  of  their 
own  faculties,  and  wrote  each  one  in  his  own 
manner,  without  having  their  mental  constitution 
at  all  disturbed,  they  were  yet '  always  secured  by 
celestial  influence  against  the  adoption  of  any 
forms  of  speech,  or  collocation  of  words,  that 
would  have  injured  the  exhibition  of  Divine  truth, 
or  that  did  not  adequately  give  it  expression;' 
that  the  characteristic  differences  of  style,  so  ap- 
parent among  the  sacred  writers,  were  employed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  purposes  of  inspiration, 
and  '  were  called  forth  in  a  rational  way ;'  that 
the  writers,  '  being  acted  upon  by  the  Divine 
Spirit,  expressed  themselves  naturally ;  that  while 
the  Divine  influence  adapted  itself  to  whatever 
was  peculiar  in  the  minds  of  inspired  men,  it 
constantly  guided  them  in  writing  the  Sacred 
Volume.'  He  declares  his  belief  that  the  Scrip- 
tures were  written  not  under  a  partial  or  imper- 
fect, but  under  a  plenary  and  infallible,  inspira- 
tion ;  thai  they  were  entirely  the  result  of  Divine 
intervention,  and  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  oracles 
of  Jehovah. 

The  doctrine  of  a  plenary  inspiration  of  all 
Scripture  in  regard  to  the  language  employed,  as 


INSPIRATION 

well  as  the  thoughts  communicated,  ought  not  to 
be  rejected  without  valid  reasons.  The  doctrine 
is  so  obviously  important,  and  so  consonant  to  the 
feelings  of  sincere  piety,  that  those  evangelical 
Christians  who  are  pressed  with  speculative  ob- 
jections against  it,  frequently,  in  the  honesty  of 
their  hearts,  advance  opinions  which  fairly  imply 
it.  This  is  the  case,  as  we  have  seen,  with  Dr. 
Henderson,  who  says  that  the  Divine  Spirit  guided 
the  sacred  penmen  in  writing  the  Scriptures ;  that 
their  mode  of  expression  was  such  as  they  were 
instructed  by  the  Spirit  to  employ;  that  Paul 
ascribes  not  only  the  doctrines  which  the  Apostles 
taught,  but  the  entire  character  of  their  style,  to 
the  influence  of  the  Spirit.  He  indeed  says  that 
this  does  not  always  imply  the  immediate  commu- 
nication of  the  words  of  Scripture  ;  and  he  says  it 
with  good  reason.  For  immediate  properly  sig- 
nifies acting  without  a  ynedium,  or  ivithout  the  in- 
tervention of  another  cause  or  means,  not  acting  by 
second  causes.  Now  those  who  hold  the  highest 
views  of  inspiration  do  not  suppose  that  the  Divine 
Spirit,  except  in  a  few  instances,  so  influenced  the 
writers  of  Scripture  as  to  interfere  with  the  use 
of  their  rational  faculties  or  their  peculiar  mental 
habits  and  tastes,  or  in  any  way  to  supersede 
secondary  causes  as  the  medium  through  which 
his  agency  produced  the  desired  effect. 

In  regard  to  this  point,  therefore,  there  appears 
to  be  little  or  no  ground  for  controversy.  For,  if 
God  so  influenced  the  sacred  writers  that,  either 
with  or  without  the  use  of  secondary  causes,  they 
wrote  just  what  he  intended,  and  in  the  manner 
he  intended,  the  end  is  secured ;  and  what  they 
wrote  is  as  truly  his  word,  as  though  he  had 
written  it  with  his  own  hand  on  tables  of  stone, 
without  any  human  instrumentality.  The  very 
words  of  the  decalogue  were  all  such  as  God 
chose.  And  they  would  have  been  equally  so  if 
Moses  had  been  moved  by  the  Divine  Spirit  to 
write  them  with  his  hand.  The  expression,  that 
God  immediately  imparted  or  communicated  to  the 
writers  the  very  words  which  they  wrote,  is  evi- 
dently not  well  chosen.  The  exact  truth  is  that 
the  writers  themselves  were  the  subjects  of  the 
Divine  influence.  The  Spirit  employed  them  as 
active  instruments,  and  directed  them  in  writing, 
both  as  to  matter  and  manner.  They  wrote  '  as 
they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.'  The  mat- 
ter, in  many  cases,  was  what  they  before  knew, 
and  the  manner  was  entirely  conformed  to  their 
habits ;  it  was  their  own.  But  what  was  written 
was  none  the  less  inspired  on  that  account.  God 
may  have  influenced  and  guided  an  Apostle  as 
infallibly  in  writing  what  he  had  before  known, 
and  that  guidance  may  have  been  as  really  neces- 
sary, as  in  writing  a  new  revelation.  And  God 
may  have  influenced  Paul  or  John  to  write  a 
book  in  his  own  peculiar  style,  and  that  influence 
may  have  been  as  real  and  as  necessary  as  if  the 
style  had  been  what  some  would  call  a  IHviiie 
style.  It  was  a  Divine  style,  if  the  writer  used  it 
under  Divine  direction.  It  was  a  Divine  style, 
and  it  was,  at  the  same  time,  a  human  style,  and 
the  writer's  own  style,  all  in  one.  Just  as  the 
believer's  exercises,  faith  and  love,  are  his  own 
acts,  and  at  the  same  time  are  the  effects  of  Divine 
influence.  The  mental  exercises  of  Paul  and  of 
John  had  their  own  characteristic  peculiarities, 
as  much  as  their  style.  God  was  the  author  of 
John's  mind  and  all  that  was  peculiar  to  his 


INSPIRATION 

mental  faculties  and  habits,  as  really  as  of  Paul's 
miud  and  what  was  peculiar  to  him.  And  in  the 
work  of  inspiration  he  used  and  directed,  for  his 
own  purposes,  what  was  peculiar  to  each.  When 
God  inspired  different  men  he  did  not  make  their 
minds  and  tastes  all  alike,  nor  did  he  make  their 
language  alike.  Nor  had  he  any  occasion  for 
this  ;  for  while  they  had  different  mental  faculties 
and  habits,  they  were  as  capable  of  being  infallibly 
directed  by  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  infallibly  speak- 
ing and  writing  Divine  truth,  as  though  their  men- 
tal faculties  and  habits  had  been  all  exactly  alike. 
And  it  is  manifest  that  the  Scriptures,  written  by 
such  a  variety  of  inspired  men,  and  each  part 
agreeably  to  the  peculiar  talents  and  style  of  the 
writer,  are  not  only  equally  from  God,  but,  taken 
together,  are  far  better  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
general  instruction,  and  all  the  objects  to  be  ac- 
complished by  revelation,  than  if  they  had  been 
written  by  one  man,  and  in  one  and  the  same 
manner. 

This  view  of  plenary  inspiration  is  fitted  to 
relieve  the  diflSculties  and  objections  which  have 
arisen  in  the  minds  of  men  from  the  variety  of 
talent  and  taste  which  the  writers  exhibited,  and 
the  variety  of  style  which  they  used.  See,  it  is 
said,  how  each  writer  expresses  himself  naturally, 
in  his  own  way,  just  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do 
when  not  inspired.  And  see  too,  we  might  say 
in  reply,  how  each  Apostle,  Peter,  Paul,  or  John, 
when  speaking  before  rulers,  with  the  promised 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  spoke  naturally,  with  his 
own  voice,  and  in  his  own  way,  as  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  do  on  other  occasions  when  not 
inspired.  There  is  no  more  objection  to  plenary- 
inspiration  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other.  The 
mental  faculties  and  habits  of  the  Apostles,  their 
style,  their  voice,  their  mode  of  speech,  all  re- 
mained as  they  were.  What,  then,  had  the  divine 
Spirit  to  do  ?  What  was  the  work  which  apper- 
tained to  Him  ?  We  reply,  His  work  was  so  to 
direct  the  Apostles  in  the  use  of  their  own  talents 
and  habits,  their  style,  their  voice,  and  all  their 
peculiar  endowments,  that  they  should  speak  or 
write,  each  in  his  own  way,  just  what  God  would 
have  them  speak  or  write,  for  the  good  of  the 
Church  in  all  ages. 

The  fact  that  the  individual  peculiarities  of  the 
sacred  penmen  are  everywhere  so  plainly  im- 
pressed on  their  writings,  is  often  mentioned  as 
an  objection  to  the  doctrine,  that  inspiration  ex- 
tended to  their  language  as  well  as  their  thoughts. 
This  is,  indeed,  one  of  the  most  common  ob- 
jections, and  one  which  has  obtained  a  very  deep 
lodgment  in  the  minds  of  some  intelligent  Chris- 
tians. It  may,  therefore,  be  necessary  to  take 
some  further  pains  completely  to  remove  it.  And 
in  our  additional  remarks  relative  to  this  and 
other  objections,  it  will  come  in  our  way  to  show 
that  such  a  writer  as  Gaussen,  who  contends  with 
great  earnestness  and  ability  for  the  highest  views 
of  inspiration,  does  still,  on  all  important  points, 
agree  with  those  who  advocate  lower  views  of  the 
subject. 

Gaussen  says,  '  Although  the  title  of  each  book 
should  not  indicate  to  us  that  we  are  passing  from 
one  author  to  another ;  yet  we  could  quickly  dis- 
cover, by  the  change  of  their  characters,  that  a 
new  hand  has  taken  the  pen.  It  is  perfectly  easy 
to  recognise  each  one  of  them,  although  they 
speak  of  the  same  master,  teach  the  same  doe- 


INSPIRATION 


429 


trines,  and  relate  the  same  incidents.'  But  how 
does  ihis  prove  that  Scripture  is  not,  in  all  re- 
spects, inspired  ?  '  So  far  are  we,'  says  this 
author,  'from  overlooking  human  individuality 
everywhere  impressed  on  our  Sacred  Books,  that, 
on  the  contrary,  it  is  with  profound  gratitude, 
and  with  an  ever-increasing  admiration,  that  we 
regard  this  living,  i-eal,  human  character  infused 
so  charmingly  into  every  part  of  the  Word  of 
God.  We  admit  the  fact,  and  we  see  in  it  clear 
proof  of  the  Divine  wisdom  which  dictated  the 
Scriptures.' 

Those  who  urge  the  objection  above  mentioned 
are  plainly  inconsistent  with  themselves.  For 
while  they  deny  the  plenary  inspiration  of  some 
parts  of  Scripture,  because  they  have  these  marks  of 
individuality,  they  acknowledge  inspiration  in  the 
fullest  sense  in  other  parts,  particularly  ia  the 
prophecies,  where  this  individuality  of  the  writers 
is  equally  apparent. 

In  truth,  what  can  be  more  consonant  with  our 
best  views  of  the  wisdom  of  God,  or  with  the 
general  analogy  of  his  works,  than  that  he  should 
make  use  of  the  thoughts,  the  memories,  the 
peculiar  talents,  tastes,  and  feelings  of  his  ser- 
vants in  recording  his  Word  for  the  instruction 
of  men  ?  Why  should  he  not  associate  the  pe- 
culiarities of  their  personal  character  with  what 
they  write  under  his  personal  guidance  ?  But, 
independently  of  our  reasoning,  this  matter  is 
decided  by  the  Bible  itself.  '  AH  Scripture  is 
Divinely  inspired,'  and  it  is  all  the  Word  of  God. 
And  it  is  none  the  less  the  Word  of  God,  and 
none  the  less  inspired,  because  it  comes  to  us  in 
the  language  of  Moses,  and  David,  and  Paul,  and 
the  other  sacred  writers.  '  It  is  God  who  speaks 
to  us,  but  it  is  also  man ;  it  is  man,  but  it  is  also 
God.'  The  word  of  God,  in  order  to  be  intel- 
ligible and  profitable  to  us,  '  must  be  uttered  by 
mortal  tongues,  and  be  written  by  mortal  hands, 
and  must  put  on  the  features  of  human  thoughts. 
This  blending  of  humanity  and  Divinity  in  the  j 
Scriptures  reminds  us  of  the  majesty  and  the  con-  i 
descension  of  God.  Viewed  in  this  light,  the 
Word  of  God  has  unequalled  beauties,  and  exerts 
an  unequalled  power  over  our  hearts.' 

There  are  some  who  maintain  that  all  which 
was  necessary  to  secure  the  desired  results  was 
an  infallible  guidance  of  the  thoughts  of  the 
sacred  writers ;  that  with  such  a  guidance  they 
might  be  safely  left  to  express  their  thoughts  in 
their  own  way,  without  any  special  influence 
from  above. 

Now,  if  those  who  take  this  view  of  the  sub- 
ject mean  that  God  not  only  gives  the  sacred  pen- 
men the  very  ideas  which  they  are  to  write,  but, 
in  some  way,  secures  an  infallible  connection  be- 
tween those  ideas  and  a  just  expression  of  them 
in  words ;  then,  indeed,  we  have  the  desired  re- 
sult— an  infallible  revelation  from  God,  made  in 
the  proper  language  of  the  writers.  But  if  any 
one  supposes  that  there  is  naturally  such  an  in- 
fallible connection  between  right  thoughts  and  a 
just  expression  of  them  in  language,  without  an 
eff"ective  Divine  superintendence,  he  contradicts 
the  lessons  of  daily  experiencai  But  those  to 
whom  we  refer  evidently  do  not  themselves  be- 
lieve in  such  an  infallible  connection.  For  when 
they  assign  their  reason  for  denying  that  inspira- 
tion related  to  the  language  of  the  Scriptures, 
they  speak  of  the  different,  and,  as  they  regard 


430 


INSPIRATION 


IRON 


them,  the  contradictory  statements  of  facts  by 
differeut  writers.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the 
difficulty  presses  with  all  its  force  upon  those  who 
assert  the  inspiration  of  the  thoughts.  For  surely 
they  will  not  say  that  the  sacred  writers  had  true 
thoughts  in  their  minds,  and  yet  uttered  them  in 
the  language  of  falsehood.  This  would  cxintra- 
dict  their  own  idea  of  a  sure  connection  between 
the  conceptions  of  the  mind  and  the  utterance  of 
them  in  suitable  words,  and  would  clearly  show 
that  they  themselves  feel  it  to  he  necessary  that 
the  Divine  guidance  should  extend  to  the  words 
of  inspired  men  as  well  as  their  thoughts.  But 
if  the  inspired  writer  through  inadvertence  com- 
mitted a  real  mistake  as  to  a  matter  of  fact,  it 
must  have  been  a  mistake  in  his  thoughts  as  well 
as  in  his  words.  If,  then,  there  was  a  mistake, 
it  lay  in  his  thoughts.  But  if  there  was  no  mis- 
take, then  there  is  nothing  to  prove  that  inspira- 
tion did  not  extend  to  the  language.  If,  however, 
there  was  a  real  mistake,  then  the  question  is  not, 
what  becomes  of  verbal  inspiration,  but  what  be- 
comes of  inspiration  in  any  sense. 

It  is  sometimes  said  that  the  sacred  writers 
were  of  themselves  generally  competent  to  ex- 
press their  ideas  in  proper  language,  and  in  this 
respect  had  no  need  of  supernatural  assistance. 
But  there  is  just  as  much  reason  for  saying  that 
they  wei'e  of  themselves  generally  competent  to 
form  their  own  conceptions,  and  so  had  no  need 
of  supernatural  aid  in  this  respect.  It  is  just  as 
reasonable  to  say  that  Moses  could  recollect  what 
took  place  at  the  Ked  Sea,  and  that  Paul  could 
recollect  that  he  was  once  a  persecutor,  and  Peter 
what  took  place  on  the  mount  of  transfiguration, 
without  supernatural  aid,  as  to  say  that  they 
could,  without  such  aid,  make  a  proper  record 
of  these  recollections.  We  believe  a  real  and  in- 
fallible guidance  of  the  Spirit  in  both  respects, 
because  this  is  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  And  it 
is  obvious  that  the  Bible  could  not  be  what  Christ 
and  the  Apostles  considered  it  to  be,  unless  they 
were  Divinely  inspired. 

The  diversity  in  the  narratives  of  the  Evan- 
gelists is  sometimes  urged  as  an  objection  against 
the  position  we  maintain  in  regard  to  inspiration, 
but  evidently  without  reason,  and  contrary  to 
reason.  For  what  is  more  reasonable  than  to 
expect  that  a  work  of  Divine  origin  will  have 
marks  of  consummate  wisdom,  and  will  be  suited 
to  accomplish  the  end  in  view.  Now  it  will  not 
be  denied  that  God  determined  that  there  should 
be  four  narratives  of  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus 
from  four  historians.  If  the  narratives  were  all 
alike,  three  of  them  would  be  useless.  Indeed 
such  a  circumstance  would  create  suspicion,  and 
would  bring  discredit  upon  the  whole  concern. 
The  narratives  must  then  be  different.  And  if, 
besides  this  useful  diversity,  it  is  found  that  the 
seeming  contradictions  can  be  satisfactorily  re- 
conciled, and  if  each  of  the  narratives  is  given 
in  the  peculiar  style  and  manner  of  the  writers, 
then  all  is  natural  and  unexceptionable,  and  we 
have  the  highest  evidence  of  the  credibility  and 
truth  of  the  narratives. 

We  shall  ad-vtrt  to  one  more  objection.  It  is 
alleged  that  writers  who  were  constantly  under  a 
plenary  Divine  inspiration  would  not  descend  to 
the  unimportant  details,  the  trifling  incidents, 
which  are  found  in  the  Scriptures.  To  this  it 
may  be  replied  that  the  details  alluded  to  must 


be  admitted  to  be  according  to  truth,  and  that 
those  things  which,  at  first  view,  seem  to  be  trifles 
may,  when  taken  in  their  connections,  prove  to 
be  of  serious  moment.  And  it  is  moreover  mani- 
fest that,  considering  what  human  beings  and 
human  affairs  really  are,  if  all  those  things  which 
are  called  trifling  and  unimportant  were  excluded, 
the  Scriptures  would  fail  of  being  conformed  to 
fact ;  they  would  not  be  faithful  histories  of  hu- 
nian  life :  so  that  the  ver}-  circumstance  which 
is  demanded  as  proof  of  inspiration  would  become 
an  argument  against  it.  And  herein  we  cannot 
but  admire  the  perfect  wisdom  which  guided  the 
sacred  writers,  while  we  mark  the  weakness  and 
shallowness  of  the  objections  which  are  urged 
against  their  inspiration. 

On  the  whole,  after  carefully  investigating  the 
subject  of  inspiration,  we  are  conducted  to  the 
important  conclusion  that  'all  Scripture  is  Divinely 
inspired ;'  that  the  sacred  penmen  wrote  '  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost ;'  and  that  these 
representations  are  to  be  understood  as  implying 
that  the  writers  had,  in  all  respects,  the  effectual 
guidance  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  And  we  are  still 
more  confirmed  in  this  conclusion  because  we 
find  that  it  begets  in  those  who  seriously  adopt  it 
an  acknowledgment  of  the  Divine  origin  of 
Scripture,  a  reverence  for  its  teachings,  and  a 
practical  regard  to  its  requirements,  like  what 
appeared  in  Christ  and  his  Apostles.  Being  con- 
vinced that  the  Bible  has,  in  all  parts  and  in  all 
respects,  the  seal  of  the  Almighty,  and  that  it 
is  truly  and  entirely  from  God,  we  are  led  by 
reason,  conscience,  and  pietj-  to  bow  submissively 
to  its  high  authority,  implicitly  to  believe  its 
doctrines,  however  incomprehensible,  and  cor- 
dially to  obey  its  precepts,  however  contrary  to 
our  natural  inclinations.  We  come  to  it  from 
day  to  day,  not  as  judges,  but  as  learners,  never 
questioning  the  propriety  or  utility  of  any  of  its 
contents.  This  precious  Word  of  God  is  the 
perfect  standard  of  our  faith,  and  the  rule  of  our 
life,  our  comfort  iu  affliction,  and  our  sure  guide 
to  heaven. 

IRON.  Tubal-Cain  is  ihe  first-mentioned  smith, 
'  a  forger  of  every  instrument  of  iron'  (Gen.  iv. 
22).  From  that  time  we  meet  with  manufactures 
in  iron  of  the  utmost  variety  {some  articles  of 
which  seem  to  be  anticipations  of  what  are  com- 
monly supposed  to  be  modern  inventions);  as 
iron  weapons  or  instruments  (Num.  xxv.  7  ;  Job 
XX.  24)  ;  barbed  irons,  used  in  hunting  (Job  xli. 
7)  ;  an  iron  bedstead  (Deut.  iii.  11)  ;  chariots  of 
iron  (Josh.  xvii.  16,  and  elsewhere) ;  iron  weights 
(shekels)  (1  Sam.  xvii.  7) ;  harrows  of  iron  (2 
Sam.  xii.  31) ;  iron  armour  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  7),- 
tools  (I  Kings  vi.  7  ;  2  Kings  vi.  5);  horns  (1 
Kings  xxii.  11);  nails,  hinges  (1  Chron.  xxii. 
3)  ;  fetters  (Ps.  cv.  18)  ;  bars  (Ps.  cvii.  16) ;  iron 
bars  used  in  fortifying  the  gates  of  towns  (Ps. 
cvii.  16;  Isa.  xlv. '2);  a  pen  of  iron  (Job  xix. 
24;  Jer.  xvii.  1);  a  pillar  (Jer.  i.  18);  yokes 
(Jer.  xxviii.  13);  pan  (Ezek.  iv.  3);  trees  bound 
with  iron  (Dan.  iv.  15);  gods  of  iron  (Dan.  v. 
4);  threshing-instruments  (Amos  i.  3);  and  in 
later  times,  an  iron  gate  (Acts  xii.  10)  ;  the  actual 
cautery  (1  Tim.  iv.  2)  ;  breastplates  (Rev.  ix.  9). 

The  mineral  origin  of  iron  seems  clearly  al- 
luded to  in  Job  xxviii.  2.  It  would  seem  that  in 
ancient  times  it  was  a  plentiful  production  of 
Palestine  ("Deut.  viii.  9).    There  appear  to  have 


ISAAC 

been  furnaces  for  smelting  at  an  early  period  in 
Egypt  (Deut.  iv.  20).  The  requirement  that 
the  altar  should  be  made  of  '  whole  stones  over 
•which  no  man  had  lift  up  any  iron,'  recorded  in 
Josh.  viii.  31,  does  not  imply  any  objection  to 
iron  as  such,  but  seems  to  be  merely  a  mode  of 
directing  that,  in  order  to  prevent  idolatry,  the 
stones  must  not  undergo  any  preparation  by  art. 
Iron  was  prepared  in  abundance  by  David  for  the 
building  of  the  temple  (1  Chron.  xxii.  3),  to  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  thousand  talents  (1 
Chron.  xxix.  7),  or  rather  'without  weight'  (1 
Chron.  xxii.  14).  Working  in  iron  was  con- 
sidered a  calling  (2  Chron.  ii.  7)  [Smith].  Iron 
seems  to  have  been  better  from  some  countries, 
or  to  have  undergone  some  hardening  prepara- 
tion by  the  inhabitants  of  them,  such  as  were  the 
people  called  Chalybes,  living  near  the  Euxine 
Sea  (Jer.  xv.  12) ;  to  have  been  imported  from 
Tarshish  to  Tyre  (Ezek.  xxvii.  12),  and  '  bright 
iron'  from  Dan  and  Javan  (ver.  19).  The  su- 
perior hardness  of  iron  above  all  other  sub- 
stances is  alluded  to  in  Dan.  ii.  40.  It  was  found 
among  the  Midianites  (Num.  xxxi.  22),  and  was 
part  of  the  wealth  distributed  among  the  tribes 
at  their  location  in  the  land  (Josh.  xxii.  8). 

Iron  is  metaphor icaUy  alluded  to  in  the  follow- 
ing instances  : — affliction  is  signified  by  the  fur- 
■  nace  for  smelting  it  (Deut.  iv.  20) ;  under  the 
same  figure,  chastisement  (Ezek.  xxii.  18,  20, 
22) ;  reducing  the  earth  to  total  barrenness  by 
turning  it  into  iron  (Deut.  xxviii.  23);  slavery, 
by  a  yoke  of  iron  (Deut.  xxviii.  48) ;  strength, 
by  a  bar  of  it  (Job  xl.  18)  ;  the  extreme  of  hard- 
ness (Job  xli.  27)  ;  severity  of  government,  by  a 
rod  of  iron  (Ps.  ii.  9) ;  affliction,  by  iron  fetters 
(Ps.  cvii.  10) ;  prosperity,  by  giving  silver  for 
iron  (Isa.  Ix.'  17) ;  political  strength  (Dan.  ii.  33) ; 
obstinacy,  by  an  iron  sinew  in  the  neck  (Isa. 
xlviii.  4) ;  giving  supernatural  fortitude  to  a 
prophet,  making  him  an  iron  pillar  (Jer.  i.  18); 
destructive  power  of  empires,  by  iron  teeth  (Dan. 
vii.  7) ;  deterioration  of  character,  by  becoming 
iron  (Jer.  vi.  28  ;  Ezek.  xxii.  18),  which  resem- 
bles the  idea  of  the  iron  age ;  a  tiresome  burden, 
by  a  mass  of  iron  (Ecclus.  xxii.  15) ;  the  greatest 
obstacles,  by  walls  of  iron  (2  Mace.  xi.  9) ;  the 
certainty  with  which  a  real  enemy  will  ever  show 
I  his  hatred,  by  the  rust  returning  upon  iron  (Ec- 
clus. xii.  10).  Iron  seems  used,  as  by  the  Greek 
I  poets,  metonymically  for  the  sword  (Isa.  x.  34). 
The  following  is  selected  as  a  beautiful  compari- 
son made  to  iron  (Prov.  xxvii.  17):'  Iron  (lite- 
rally) uniteth  iron  ;  so  a  man  uniteth  the  coun- 
tenance of  his  friend,'  gives  stability  to  his  ap- 
pearance by  his  presence.  A  most  graphic  de- 
scription of  a  smith  at  work  is  found  in  Ecclus. 
xxxviii.  28. 

I'SAAC,  son  of  Abraham  and  Sarah,  bom  in 
his  parents'  old  age.  The  promise  of  a  son  had 
been  made  to  them  when  Abraham  was  visited 
I  by  the  Lord  in  the  plains  of  Mamre,  and  ap- 
'  peared  so  unlikely  to  be  fulfilled,  seeing  that 
both  Abraham  and  Sarah  were  '  well-stricken  in 
years,'  that  its  utterance  caused  the  latter  to 
laugh  incredulously.  Being  reproved  for  her 
unbelief,  she  denied  that  she  had  laughed.  The 
reason  assigned  for  the  special  visitation  thus 
promised  was,  in  elfect,  that  Abraham  was  pious, 
and  would  train  his  offspring  in  piety,  so  that  he 
would  become  the  founder  of  a  great  nation,  and 


ISAAC 


431 


all  the  nations  of  tlie  earth  should  be  blessed  in 
him. 

lu  due  time  Sarah  gave  birth  to  a  son,  who 
received  the  name  of  Isaac,  in  reference  to  the 
laughter  occasioned  by  the  announcement  of  the 
Divine  intention  (comp.  Gen.  xxi.  6;  xviii.  12; 
xvii.  17). 

The  first  fact  that  we  read  of  in  the  history  of 
Isaac,  is  the  command  given  to  his  father  to  offer 
the  youth — '  thy  son,  thine  only  son  Isaac,  whom 
thou  lovest ' — for  a  burnt-offering  on  a  mountain 
in  the  land  of  Moriah.  Abraham  proceeded  to 
obey  the  Divine  direction,  and  was  on  the  point  of 
slaying  Isaac,  when  his  hand  was  withheld  by 
the  interposition  of  God,  a  ram  for  sacrifice  being 
provided  instead. 

This  event  has  found  no  few  detractors,  and  va- 
rious attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  it  away. 
Eui  the  only  proper  way  is  to  consider  it  as  it  is 
represented  in  the  sacred  page.  The  command, 
then,  was  expressly  designed  to  try  Abraham's 
faith.  Destined  as  the  patriarch  was  to  be  the 
father  of  the  faithful,  was  he  worthy  of  his  high 
and  dignified  position?  If  his  own  obedience 
was  weak,  he  could  not  train  others  in  faith,  trust, 
and  love :  hence  a  trial  was  necessary.  That  he 
was  not  without  holy  dispositions  was  already 
known,  and  indeed  recognised  in  the  Divine  fa- 
vours of  which  he  had  been  the  object ;  but  was 
he  prepared  to  do  and  to  suffer  all  God's  will  ? 
Religious  perfection  and  his  position  alike  de- 
manded a  perfect  heart:  hence  the  kind  of  trial. 
If  he  were  willing  to  surrender  even  his  only 
child,  and  act  himself  both  as  offerer  and  priest 
in  the  sacrifice  of  the  required  victim,  if  he  could 
so  far  conquer  his  natural  affections,  so  subdue 
the  father  in  his  heart,  then  there  could  be  no 
doubt  that  his  will  was  wholly  reconciled  to  God's, 
and  that  he  was  worthy  of  every  trust,  confidence, 
and  honour.  The  trial  was  made,  the  fact  was 
ascertained,  the  victim  was  not  slain.  What  is 
there  in  this  to  which  either  religion  or  morality 
can  take  exception  ?  This  view  is  both  confirmed 
and  justified  by  the  words  of  God  (Gen.  xxii.  16, 
sq.),  'because  thou  hast  not  withheld  thy  only 
son,  in  blessing  1  will  bless  thee,  and  in  multi- 
plying I  will  multiply  thy  seed  as  the  stars  of  the 
heaven,  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth  be  blessed.' 

Isaac  passed  his  youthful  days  under  the  eye 
of  his  father,  engaged  in  the  care  of  flocks  and 
herds  up  and  down  the  plains  of  Canaan.  At 
length  his  father  wished  to  see  him  married. 
Abraham  therefore  gave  a  commission  to  his  old- 
est and  most  trustworthy  servant  to  the  effect  that, 
in  order  to  prevent  Isaac  from  taking  a  wife  from 
among  the  daughters  of  the  Canaanites,  he  should 
proceed  into  Mesopotamia,  and,  under  the  divine 
direction,  choose  a  partner  among  his  own  rela- 
tives for  his  beloved  son.  Rebekah,  in  conse- 
quence, becomes  Isaac's  wife,  when  he  was  now 
forty  years  of  age. 

Isaac  having,  in  conjunction  with  his  half- 
brother  Ishmael,  buried  Abraham  his  father,  '  in 
a  good  old  age,  in  the  cave  of  Machpelah,'  took 
up  a  somewhat  permanent  residence  '  by  the  well 
Lahai-roi,'  where,  being  blessed  of  God,  he  lived 
in  prosperity  and  at  ease.  One  source  of  regret, 
however,  he  deeply  felt.  Rebekah  was  barren. 
In  time,  two  sons,  Jacob  and  Esau,  are  granted 
to  his  prayers.    As  the  boys  grow,  Isaac  gave  a 


432 


ISAAC 


ISAIAH 


preference  to  Esau,  -who  seems  to  have  possessed 
those  robuster  qualities  of  character  in  which  his 
father  was  defective,  and  therefore  gratified  him 
by  such  dainties  as  the  pursuits  of  the  chace  en- 
abled the  youth  to  offer ;  while  Jacob,  '  a  plain 
man  dwelling  in  tents,'  was  an  object  of  special 
regard  to  Rebekah — a  division  of  feeling  and  a 
kind  of  partiality  which  became  the  source  of 
much  domestic  unhappiness,  as  well  as  of  jealousy 
and  hatred  between  the  two  sons. 

A  famine  compels  Isaac  to  seek  food  in  some 
foreign  land.  Divinely  warned  not  to  go  down 
to  Egypt,  the  patriarch  applies  to  a  petty  prince 
of  Philistia,  by  name  Abimelech,  who  permits 
him  to  dwell  at  Gerar.  Here  an  event  took  place 
which  has  a  parallel  in  the  life  of  his  father  Abra- 
ham. Rebekah  was  his  cousin  :  afraid  lest  she 
should  be  violently  taken  from  him,  and  his  own 
life  sacrificed  to  the  lust  of  Abimelech,  he  repre- 
sented her  as  his  sister,  employing  a  latitude  of 
meaning  which  the  word  'sister'  admits  in  Oriental 
usage.  The  subterfuge  was  discovered,  and  is 
justified  by  Isaac  on  the  grounds  which  prompted 
him  to  resort  to  it. 

Another  parallel  event  in  the  lives  of  Abraham 
and  Isaac  may  be  found  by  comparing  together 
Gen.  xxvi.  26,  sq.,  and  xxi.  22,  sq.  If  these 
parallels  should  excite  a  doubt  in  the  mind  of  any 
one  as  to  the  credibility  of  the  narratives,  let  him 
carefully  peruse  them,  and  we  think  that  the 
simplicity  and  naturalness  which  pervade  and 
characterize  them  will  effectually  substantiate  the 
reality  of  the  recorded  events,  and  explode  the 
notion  that  fiction  has  had  anything  to  do  in 
bringing  the  narrative  into  its  present  shape. 

Isaac,  in  his  old  age,  was,  by  the  practices  of 
Rebekah  and  the  art  of  Jacob,  so  imposed  upon 
as  to  give  his  blessing  to  the  younger  son  Jacob, 
instead  of  to  the  first-born  Esau,  and  with  that 
blessing  to  convey,  as  was  usual,  the  right  of 
headship  in  the  family,  together  with  his  chief 
possessions.  In  the  blessing  which  the  aged 
patriarch  pronounced  on  Jacob,  it  deserves  notice 
how  entirely  the  wished-for  good  is  of  an  earthly 
and  temporal  nature,  while  the  imagery  which  is 
employed  serves  to  show  the  extent  to  which  the 
poetical  element  prevailed  as  a  constituent  part 
of  the  Hebrew  character  (Geu.  xxvii.  27,  sq.). 
Most  natural,  too,  is  the  extreme  agitation  of  the 
poor  blind  old  man,  on  discovering  the  cheat 
which  had  been  put  upon  him : — '  And  Isaac 
trembled  very  exceedingly,  and  said  (to  Esau), 
Who  ?  where  is  he  that  hath  taken  venison  and 
brought  it  me,  and  I  have  eaten,  and  have 
blessed  him?  Yea,  and  he  shall  be  blessed.' 
Equally  natural  is  the  reply  of  Esau.  The  entire 
passage  is  of  itself  enough  to  vindicate  the  his- 
torical character  and  entire  credibiliiy  of  those 
sketches  of  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs  which 
Genesis  presents. 

The  stealing,  on  the  part  of  Jacob,  of  his 
father's  blessing  having  angered  Esau,  who 
seems  to  have  looked  forward  to  Isaac's  death  as 
affording  an  opportunity  for  taking  vengeance  on 
his  unjust  brother,  the  aged  patriarch  is  induced, 
at  his  wife's  entreaty,  to  send  Jacob  into  Mesopo- 
tamia, that,  after  his  own  example,  his  son  might 
take  a  wife  from  amongst  his  kindred  and 
people,  '  of  the  daughters  of  Laban,  thy  mother's 
brother.' 

This  is  the  last  important  act  recorded  of 


Isaac.  Jacob  having,  agreeably  to  his  father's 
command,  married  into  Laban's  family,  returned, 
after  some  time,  and  found  the  old  man  at  Mamre, 
in  the  city  of  Arbah,  which  is  Hebron,  where 
Abraham  and  Isaac  sojourned.  Here.  '  being 
old  and  full  of  days'  (180),  Isaac  '  gave  up  the 
ghost,  and  died,  and  was  gathered  unto  his 
people,  and  his  sons  Esau  and  Jacob  buried  him' 
(Gen.  XXXV.  27,  sq.). 

ISAI'AH  {help  of  Jehcvah).  The  heading  of 
this  book  places  the  prophet  under  the  reigns  of 
Uzziah,  Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  kings  of 
Judah;  and  an  examination  of  the  prophecies 
themselves,  independently  of  the  heading,  leads 
us  to  the  same  chronological  results.  Chapter 
vi.,  in  which  is  related  the  call  of  Isaiah,  not  to 
his  prophetic  office,  but  to  a  higher  degree  of  it, 
is  thus  headed :  '  In  the  year  in  which  king 
Uzziah  died  I  saw  the  Lord,'  &c.  The  collection 
of  prophecies  is  chronologically  arranged,  and 
the  utterances  in  the  preceding  chapters  (i.  to  vi.) 
belong  to  an  earlier  period,  preceding  the  last 
year  of  the  reign  of  Uzziah.  These  two  pro- 
phecies contain  the  sum  and  substance  of  what 
Isaiah  taught  during  twenty  years  of  his  life. 

The  continuation  of  prophetic  authorship,  or 
the  writing  down  of  uttered  prophecies,  depended 
upon  the  commencement  of  new  historical  deve- 
lopments, such  as  took  place  under  the  reigns  of 
Ahaz  and  Hezekiah.  Several  prophecies  in  the 
seventh  and  following  chapters  belong  to  the 
reign  of  Ahaz ;  and  most  of  the  subsequent  pro- 
phecies to  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  The  prophetic 
ministry  of  Isaiah  under  Hezekiah  is  also  de- 
scribed in  an  historical  section  contained  in 
chapters  xxxvi.-xxxix.  The  data  which  are 
contained  in  this  section  come  down  to  the  fif- 
teenth year  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah ;  con- 
sequently we  are  in  the  possession  of  historical 
documents  proving  that  the  prophetic  ministry  of 
Isaiah  was  in  operation  during  about  forty-seven 
or  fifty  years,  commencing  in  the  year  B.C.  763 
or  759,  and  extending  to  the  year  b.c.  713.  Of 
this  period,  from  one  to  four  years  belong  to  the 
reign  of  Uzziah,  sixteen  to  the  reign  of  Jotham, 
sixteen  to  the  reign  of  Ahaz,  and  fourteen  to  the 
reign  of  Hezekiah. 

Some  writers  have  advanced  the  opinion  that 
Isaiah  lived  to  a  much  later  period,  and  that  his 
life  extended  to  the  reign  of  Manasseh,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Hezekiah.  But  their  arguments  will 
not  stand  a  strict  scrutiny.  While,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  inscription  of  the  book  itself  shows  that 
all  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  in  our  collection  are 
included  within  the  period  from  Uzziah  to  Heze- 
kiah. Not  one  of  the  prophecies  which  are 
headed  by  an  inscription  of  their  own  is  placed 
after  the  fifteenth  year  of  Hezekiah ;  and  the  in- 
ternal evidence  leads  us  in  none  beyond  this 
period.  Hence  we  infer  that  the  prophetic  mi- 
nistry of  Isaiah  terminated  soon  after  its  fullest 
development,  to  which  it  attained  during  the 
period  of  the  Assyrian  invasion,  in  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah. 

According  to  these  statements,  Isaiah  belongs 
to  the  cycle  of  the  most  ancient  prophets  whose 
predictions  have  been  preserved  in  writing.  He 
was  a  contemporary  of  Hosea,  Amos,  and  Jonah, 
although  younger  than  those  prophets,  who  be- 
longed to  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  He  was  like- 
wise a  contemporary  and  co-worker  of  the  prophet 


ISAIAH 

Micah  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  We  infer  also 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  prophecies  of  Joel 
are  inserted  among  the  books  of  the  minor  pro- 
phets before  those  of  Micah,  that  Isaiah  must 
have  been  a  contemporary  of  Joel,  since  the  minor 
prophets  are  chronologically  arranged. 

Little  is  known  respecting  the  circumstances 
of  Isaiah's  life.  His  father's  name  was  Amoz. 
The  fathers  of  the  church  confound  him  with  the 
prophet  Amos,  because  they  were  unacquainted 
■with  Hebrew,  and  in  Greeli  the  two  names  are 
spelled  alike.  The  opinion  of  the  Rabbins,  that 
Isaiah  was  a  brother  of  King  Amaziah,  rests  also 
on  a  mere  etymological  combination.  Isaiah 
resided  at  Jerusalem,  not  far  from  the  temple. 
We  learn  from  chapters  vii.  and  viii.  that  he 
was  married.  Two  of  his  sons  are  mentioned, 
Shear-jashul  and  Maher-shalal-hash-baz  [See 
the  words].  Isaiah  calls  his  wife  a  prophetess. 
This  indicates  that  his  marriage-life  was  not  in 
opposition  to  his  vocation,  and  also  that  it  not 
only  went  along  with  his  vocation,  but  that  it 
was  intimately  interwoven  with  it.  This  name 
cannot  mean  the  wife  of  a  prophet,  but  indicates 
that  the  prophetess  of  Isaiah  had  a  prophetic  gift, 
like  Miriam,  Deborah,  and  Huldah.  The  ap- 
pellation here  given  denotes  the  genuineness  of 
their  conjugal  relation. 

Even  the  dress  of  the  prophet  was  subservient 
to  his  vocation.  According  to  chap.  xx.  2,  he 
wore  a  garment  of  hair-cloth  or  sackcloth.  This 
seems  also  to  have  been  the  costume  of  Elijah, 
according  to  2  Kings  i.  8 ;  and  it  was  the  dress  of 
John  the  Baptist.  Hairy  sackcloth  is  in  the 
Bible  the  symbol  of  repentance  (compare  Isa. 
xxii.  12,  and  1  Kings  xxi.  27).  This  costume 
of  the  prophets  was  a  prophetic  preaching  by  fact. 
The  prophetic  preacher  comes  forward  in  the 
form  of  personified  repentance.  What  he  does 
exhibits  to  the  people  what  they  should  do. 
Before  he  has  opened  his  lips  his  external  ap- 
pearance proclaims.  Repent. 

Besides  the  collection  of  prophecies  which  has 
been  preserved  to  us,  Isaiah  also  wrote  two  his- 
torical works,  which  did  not  originate  from  pro- 
phets. 

The  first  of  these  was  a  biography  of  King 
Uzziah  (comp.  2  Chron.  xxvi.  22)  :  '  Now  the 
rest  of  the  acts  of  Uzziah,  first  and  last,  did 
I&aiah  the  prophet,  the  son  of  Amoz,  write.'  The 
secoiui  historical  work  of  Isaiah,  was  a  bio- 
graphy of  King  Hezekiah,  which  was  subse- 
quently inserted  in  the  annals  of  Judah  and 
Israel.  These  annals  consisted  of  a  series  of 
proplietic  monographies,  which  were  received 
partly  entire,  partly  in  abstracts,  and  are  the 
chief  source  from  which  the  information  con- 
tained in  the  Chronicles  is  derived.  In  this  work 
of  Isaiah,  although  its  contents  were  chiefly  his- 
torical, numerous  prophecies  were  inserted.  Hence 
it  is  called  in  2  Chron.  xxsii.  32,  The  Vision  of 
Isaiah.  In  a  similar  manner  the  biography  of 
Solomon  by  Ahijah  is  called,  in  2  Chron.  ix.  29, 
'  the  prophecy  of  Ahijah.'  The  two  historical 
■works  of  Isaiah  were  lost,  together  with  the 
annals  of  Judah  and  Israel,  into  which  they  were 
embodied.  Whatever  these  annals  contained 
I  that  was  of  importance  for  all  ages,  has  been  pre- 
j  served  to  us  by  being  received  into  the  historical 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  predictions 
of  the  most  distinguished  prophets   hare  been 


ISAIAH 


433 


formed  into  separate  collections.  After  this  -was 
effected,  less  care  was  taken  to  preserve  the  more 
diffuse  annals,  which  also  comprehended  many 
statements,  of  value  only  for  particular  times  and 
places. 

The  Jewish  synagogue,  and  the  Christian 
church  during  all  ages,  have  considered  it  as  an 
undoubted  fact  that  the  prophecies  which  bear 
the  name  of  Isaiah  really  originated  from  that 
prophet.  But  in  the  last  quarter  of  the  eighteenth 
century  this  prevailing  conviction  appeared  to 
some  divines  to  be  inconvenient.  In  the  theology 
of  the  natural  man  it  passed  as  certain,  that 
nature  was  complete  in  itself,  and  that  prophecies, 
as  well  as  miracles,  never  had  occurred,  and  were 
even  impossible.  The  assumption  of  the  impos- 
sibility of  miracles  necessarily  demanded  that 
the  genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch  should  be  re- 
jected ;  and,  in  a  similar  manner,  the  assumption 
of  the  impossibility  of  prophecy  demanded  that  a 
great  portion  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  should 
be  rejected  likewise.  Here  also  the  wish  was 
father  to  the  thought,  and  interest  led  to  the  de- 
cision of  critical  questions,  the  arguments  for 
which  were  subsequently  discovered.  All  those 
who  attack  the  integral  authenticity  of  Isaiah 
agree  in  considering  the  book  to  be  an  anthology, 
or  gleanings  of  prophecies,  collected  after  the 
Babylonian  exile,  although  they  differ  in  their 
opinions  respecting  the  origin  of  this  collection. 
Koppe  gave  gentle  hints  of  this  view,  which  was 
first  explicitly  supported  by  Eichhorn  in  his 
Introduction.  Eichhorn  advances  the  hypothesis 
that  a  collection  of  Isaian  prophecies  (which 
might  have  been  augmented,  even  before  tho 
Babylonian  exile,  by  several  not  genuine  addi 
tions)  formed  the  basis  of  the  present  anthology, 
and  that  the  collectors,  after  the  Babyloniai 
Exile,  considering  that  the  scroll  on  which  thej 
were  written  did  not  form  a  volume  proportionatt 
to  the  size  of  the  three  other  prophetic  scrolls, 
containing  Ezekiel,  Jeremiah,  and  the  minor  pro- 
phets, annexed  to  the  Isaian  collection  all  other 
oracles  at  hand  whose  authors  were  not  known 
to  the  editors.  Gesenius,  on  the  contrary,  main- 
tained, in  his  introduction  to  Isaiah,  that  all  the 
non-Isaian  prophecies  extant  in  that  book  ori- 
ginated from  one  author  and  were  of  the  same 
date.  Umbreit  and  Koster  on  the  main  point 
follow  Gesenius,  considering  chapters  x'l.  to  Ixvi. 
to  be  a  continuous  whole,  written  by  a  pseudo- 
Isaiah  who  lived  about  the  termination  of  the 
Babylonian  exile.  In  reference  to  other  portions 
of  the  book  of  Isaiah,  the  authenticity  of  which 
has  been  questioned,  Umbreit  expresses  himself 
doubtiugly,  and  Koster  assigns  them  to  Isaiah. 
Gesenius  declines  to  answer  the  question,  how  it 
happened  that  these  portions  were  ascribed  to 
Isaiah,  but  Hitzig  felt  that  an  answer  to  it  might  j 
be  expected.  He  accordingly  attempts  to  ex-  | 
plain  why  such  additions  were  made  to  Isaiah  | 
and  not  to  any  of  the  other  prophetical  books,  by  '  \ 
the  extraordinary  veneration  in  which  Isaiah  was  ■  j 
held.  He  says  that  the  great  authority  of  Isaiah  | 
occasioned  important  and  distinguished  pro-  j 
phecies  to  be  placed  in  connection  with  his  name.  i 
But  he  himself  soon  after  destroys  the  force  of 
this  assertion  by  observing,  that  the  great  au- 
thority of  Isaiah  was  especially  owing  to  those  [ 
prophecies  which  were  falsely  ascribed  to  him. 
A  considerable  degree  of  suspicion  must,   how- 

2  F  , 

i 


434 


ISAIAH 


ISAIAH 


ever,  attach  to  the  boasted  certainty  of  such 
critical  investigations,  if  -vre  notice  how  widely 
these  learned  men  differ  in  defining  what 
is  of  Isaian  origin  and  what  is  not,  although 
they  are  all  linked  together  by  the  same  funda- 
mental tendency  and  interest.  There  are  very 
few  portions  in  the  whole  collection  whose  authen- 
ticity has  not  been  called  in  question  by  some  one 
or  other  of  the  various  impugners.  The  only 
portions  left  to  Isaiah  are  chaps,  i.  3-9,  xvii.,  xx., 
xxviii.,  xxxi.,  and  xxxiii.  All  the  other  chapters 
are  defended  by  some  and  rejected  by  others ; 
they  are  also  referred  to  widely  different  dates. 
In  the  most  modern  criticism,  however,  we  ob- 
serve an  inclination  again  to  extend  the  sphere 
of  Isaian  authenticity  as  much  as  the  dogmatic 
principle  and  system  of  the  critics  will  allow. 
Modern  criticism  is  inclined  to  admit  the  ge- 
nuineness of  chaps,  i.  to  xxiii.,  with  the  only 
exception  of  the  two  prophecies  against  Babylon 
in  chaps,  xiii.  and  xiv.,  and  in  chap.  xxi.  1-10. 
Chaps,  xxviii.-xxxiii.  are  allowed  to  be  Isaian  by 
Ewald,  Umbreit,  and  others. 

After  this  survey  of  the  present  state  of  the 
inquiry,  we  proceed  to  furnish,  first,  the  external 
arguments  for  the  integral  authenticity  of  Isaiah. 

1.  The  most  ancient  testimony  in  favour  of 
Isaiah's  being  the  author  of  all  the  portions  of 
the  collection  which  bears  his  name,  is  contained 
in  the  heading  of  the  whole  (i.  1),  'The  vision  of 
Isaiah  the  sou  of  Amoz,  which  he  saw  concerning 
Judah  and  Jerusalem,  in  the  days  of  Uzziah, 
Jotham,  Ahaz,  Hezekiah,  kings  of  Judah.'  It  is 
here  clearly  stated  that  Isaiah  was  the  author  of 
the  following  prophecies,  uttered  during  the 
reign  of  four  successive  kings.  This  inscription 
is  of  great  importance,  even  if  it  originated  not 
from  Isaiah,  but  from  a  later  compiler.  If  we 
adopt  the  latest  date  at  which  this  compilation 
could  have  been  made,  we  must  fix  it  at  the  time 
of  its  reception  into  the  canon  in  the  days  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah.  Consequently  the  compiler  could 
not  be  separated  by  many  years  from  the  pseudo- 
Isaiah  who  is  said  to  have  prophesied  just  before 
Babylon  was  conquered,  or  who,  according  to 
most  critics,  wrote  even  after  the  fall  of  Babylon. 
It  is  not  credible  that  a  compiler  living  so  "near 
the  times  of  the  author,  should  have  erroneously 
ascribed  these  prophecies  to  Isaiah,  who  lived  so 
much  earlier,  especially  if  we  bear  in  mind  that 
this  so-called  pseudo-Isaiah  must  have  been  a 
very  remarkable  person  in  an  age  so  devoid  of 
the  prophetic  spirit  as  that  in  which  he  is  said  to 
have  lived. 

It  is  still  less  credible  that  a  pseudo-Isaiah 
should  himself  have  fraudulently  ascribed  his 
prophecies  to  Isaiah.  None  of  the  adversaries 
of  the  authenticity  of  the  book  make  such  an 
assertion. 

If  the  compiler  lived  before  the  Exile,  the  in- 
scription appears  to  be  of  still  greater  importance. 
That  the  collection  was  made  so  early  is  very 
likely,  from  the  circumstance  that  Jeremiah  and 
other  prophets  apparently  made  use  of  the  pro- 
phecies of  Isaiah.  This  fact  indicates  that  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  early  excited  a  lively  in- 
terest, and  that  the  compiler  must  have  lived  at 
a  period  eai-iier  than  that  which  is  ascribed  to  the 
pseudo-Isaiah  himself.  From  all  this  we  infer 
that  the  compiler  lived  before  the  Exile.  The 
adversarie;;  themselves  felt  the  weight  of  this 


argument.  They,  tb?refore,  attempted  to  remove 
it  by  various  hypotneses,  which  received  a  sem- 
blance of  probability  from  the  circumstance  that 
even  the  considerate  Vitringa  had  called  in  ques- 
tion the  authenticity-  of  the  heading.  Vitringa 
conjectured  that  this  heading  belonged  originally 
to  the  first  chapter  alone.  He  further  conjectured 
that  it  originally  contained  only  the  words,  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah,  the  son  of  Amoz.  which  he  saw 
concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  The  following 
words,  he  says,  were  added  by  the  compiler,  who 
enlarged  the  particular  inscription  of  the  first 
chapter  to  a  general  one  of  the  whole  collection. 
According  to  Vitringa  the  inscription  does  not 
suit  the  whole  book,  the  contents  of  which  are 
not  confined  to  Judah  and  Jerusalem  alone.  But 
Judah  and  Jerusalem  are  always  the  chief  sub- 
ject, and,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  only  subject  of 
these  prophecies ;  and  there  is  no  prophecy  con- 
cerning other  nations  without  a  bearing  upon  the 
covenant-people.  No  prophet  against  foreign 
nations  prophesied  concerning  them  with  the 
view  to  spread  his  predictions  among  them,  be- 
cause the  mission  of  all  prophets  was  to  Israel 
The  predictions  against  foreign  nations  are  in- 
tended to  preserve  the  covenant-people  from 
despair,  and  to  strengthen  their  faith  in  the  omni- 
potence and  justice  of  their  God.  It  is  their 
object  to  annihilate  all  reliance  upon  political 
combinations  and  human  confederacies.  They 
are  intended  to  lead  Israel  to  the  question,  '  If 
they  do  these  things  in  the  green  tree,  what  shall 
be  done  in  the  drj'  ?'  But  they  are  also  designed 
to  indicate  the  future  conversion  of  the  heathen, 
and  to  open  to  the  view  of  the  faithful  the  future 
glory  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  its  final  victory- 
over  the  kingdoms  of  this  world;  and  thus  to 
extirpate  all  narrow-minded  nationality.  God 
shall  be  revealed  not  only  as  Jehovah,  hut  also 
as  Elohim.  His  relation  to  Israel  is  misunder- 
stood, if  that  relation  is  exclusively  kept  in  view 
without  any  regard  to  the  universe.  Therefore 
the  whole  collection  is  justly  entitled  Prophecies 
concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem.  No  matter 
whether  this  inscription  originated  from  Isaiah 
himself  or  from  an  ancient  compiler. 

The  inscription  in  ch.  i.  has  a  general  bearing 
upon  the  whole  collection.  Then  follows  the 
first  portion,  which  contains,  as  it  were,  the 
general  prophetic  programme.  Thereupon  fol- 
lows a  series  of  prophecies  directly  bearing  upon 
Judah  and  Jerusalem,  commencing  again  with  a 
particular  heading  (ii.  1).  To  this  succeeds  a 
series  of  prophecies  indirectly  bearing  upon  Judah 
and  Jerusalem,  but  directly  upon  foreign  nations. 
The  first  of  this  series  has  again  its  own  heading 
(xiii.  1). 

Gesenius,  advancing  in  the  direction  to  which 
Vitringa  had  pointed,  although  he  grants  the 
integral  authenticity  of  ch.  i.  1,  nevertheless 
maintains  that  this  heading  belonged  originally 
only  to  chs.  i.-xii.,  in  which  were  contained 
genuine  prophecies  of  Isaiah.  To  this  collection, 
he  asserts,  were  afterwards  subjoined  the  antho- 
logies contained  in  the  following  chapters,  and 
the  heading  was  then  misunderstood  as  applying 
to  the  whole  volume.  This  opinion  is  more  in- 
consistent than  that  of  Vitringa,  since  there  occur 
in  the  first  twelve  chapters  two  prophecies  against 
foreign  nations;  one  against  the  Assyrians,  in 
ch.  X.,  and  another  against  Epbraim,  in  ch.  ix. 


ISAIAH 

Vitringa,  Gesenius,  and  their  followers,  are 
also  refuted  by  the  parallel  passage  in  the  heading 
of  Amos,  '  The  words  of  Ainos,  which  he  saw 
concerning  Israel.'  The  prophecies  of  Amos  in 
general  are  here  said  to  be  concerning  Israel, 
although  there  are,  as  in  Isaiah,  several  against 
foreign  nations,  a  series  of  which  stands  even  at 
the  commencement  of  the  book.  To  this  we  may 
add  the  similarity  of  the  headings  of  other  pro- 
phetical books.  For  instance,  the  commencement 
of  Jeremiah,  Hosea,  Micah,  and  Zephauiah. 

2.  It  cannot  be  proved  that  there  ever  existed 
any  so-called  prophetic  anthology  as  has  been 
supposed  to  exist  in  the  book  of  Isaiah.  We  find 
nothing  analogous  in  the  whole  range  of  pro- 
phetic literature.  It  is  generally  granted  that 
the  collections  bearing  the  names  of  Jeremiah 
and  Ezekiel  contain  only  productions  of  those 
authors  whose  name  they  bear.  In  the  book  of 
the  minor  prophets,  the  property  of  each  is  strictly 
distinguished  from  the  rest  by  headings.  The 
authenticity  of  only  the  second  portion  of  Zecha- 
riah  has  been  attacked ;  and  this  with  very  feeble 
arguments,  which  have  been  refuted. 

But  even  if  it  could  be  proved  that  the  pro- 
phecies of  Zechariah  belonged  to  two  different 
authors,  namely,  as  Bertholdt  and  Gesenius  sup- 
pose, to  the  two  Zechariahs,  each  of  whom  hap- 
pened to  be  the  sou  of  a  Berechiah,  this  identity 
of  names  might  be  considered  an  inducement  for 
uniting  the  productions  of  tte  two  authors  in  one 
collection :  still  this  case  irould  not  be  analogous 
to  what  is  asserted  to  be  the  fact  in  Isaiah.  In 
Isaiah  it  is  alleged  no;:  only  that  a  series  of 
chapters  belonging  to  a  different  author  were 
subjoined,  commencing  about  chap,  xxxiv. ;  but 
it  is  affirmed  that,  even  in  the  first  thirty-three 
chapters,  the  genuine  and  spurious  portions  are 
intermixed,  h'efore  we  admit  that  the  compilers 
proceeded  here  in  a  manner  so  unreasonable  and 
so  contrary  to  their  usual  custom,  we  must  ex- 
pect some  cogent  proof  to  be  adduced ;  but  instead 
of  this,  nothing  but  bald  conjecture  and  feeble 
illustradous  have  been  offered. 

3.  According  to  the  opinion  of  several  critics, 
all  the  spurious  portions  of  Isaiah  belong  to  one 
and  the  same  author.  But  it  so  happens  that  the 
portion  which  is  most  emphatically  declared  to 
be  spurious,  namely,  chaps,  xiii.  and  xiv.,  bear 
an  inscription  which  expressly  ascribes  them  to 
Isaiah.  Now,  as  the  internal  arguments  against 
the  authenticity  of  all  the  portions  which  are  said 
to  be  spurious  are  nearly  identical,  if  the  opposi- 
tion to  chaps,  xiii.  and  xiv.  is  given  up,  it  cannot 
with  consistency  be  maintained  against  the  other 
portions.  This  argument  serves  also  as  an  answer 
to  those  who  ascribe  the  portions  which  they  con- 
sider spurious  to  several  authors.  The  contents 
of  these  portions  are  similar.  They  contain  pre- 
dictions of  the  fall  of  Babylon,  and  of  the  redemp- 
tion of  Israel  from  captivity.  Whatever  proves 
the  genuineness  of  one  of  these  portions,  indirectly 
proves  the  others  also  to  be  genuine. 

4.  According  to  Joseph  us  {Antiq.  xi.  c.  1, 
§1,2),  Cyrus  was  induced  by  the  prophecies  of 
Isaiah  respecting  him  to  allow  the  return  of  the 
Jews,  and  to  aid  them  in  rebuilding  the  temple. 
The  credibility  of  Josephus,  who  in  regard  to 
facts  of  ancient  history  is  not  always  to  be  relied 
upon,  is  here  supported  by  two  circumstances. 
First,  the  favour  shown  by  Cyrus  to  the  Jews, 


ISAIAH 


435 


which  remains  inexplicable  except  by  the  fact 
mentioned,  in  combination  with  the  influence  of 
Daniel.  In  modern  times,  the  favour  of  Cyrus 
to  the  Jews  has  been  called  a  prudential  measure ; 
but  it  does  not  appear  what  he  could  either  hope 
or  fear  from  a  people  so  enfeebled  as  the  Jews 
were  at  that  period.  It  has  been  added  that 
Cyrus  was  favourable  to  the  Jews  on  account  of 
the  similarity  between  the  Persian  and  the  Jewish 
religion  ;  but  there  is  no  historical  proof  that  the 
Persians,  on  any  other  occasion,  favoured  the 
Jews  on  account  of  their  religion.  The  favours 
shown  to  Nehemiah  on  behalf  of  Israel  were  only 
personal  favours,  owing  to  his  position  at  the 
Persian  court.  We  allow  that  all  this  would  be 
insufficient  to  prove  the  correctness  of  the  above 
statement  in  Josephus,  but  it  must  render  us  in- 
clined to  admit  its  truth. 

The  second  argument  is  much  stronger :  it  is, 
that  the  statement  of  Josephus  is  supported  by 
the  edict  of  Cyrus  (Ezra  i.).  This  edict  pre- 
supposes the  fact  related  by  Josephus,  so  that 
Jahn  calls  the  passage  in  Josephus  a  commentary 
on  the  first  chapter  of  Ezra,  in  which  we  read 
that  Cyrus  announces  in  his  edict  that  he  was 
commanded  by  Jehovah  to  build  him  a  temple  in 
Jerusalem,  and  that  he  received  all  the  conquered 
kingdoms  of  the  earth  as  a  gift  from  Jehovah. 
This  cannot  refer  to  any  other  predictions  of  the 
prophet,  but  only  to  what  are  called  the  spurious 
portions  of  Isaiah,  in  -which  the  Lord  grants  to 
Cyrus  all  his  future  conquests,  and  appoints  him 
to  be  the  restorer  of  his  temple  (comp.  xli.  2-4  ; 
Xliv.  24-28;  xiv.  1-13;  xlvi.  11;  xlviii.  13-15). 
The  edict  adopts  almost  the  words  of  these  pas- 
sages. In  reply  to  this,  our  adversaries  assert 
that  Cyrus  was  deceived  by  pseudo-prophecies 
forged  in  the  name  of  Isaiah ;  but  if  Cyrus  could 
be  deceived  in  so  clumsy  a  manner,  he  was  not 
the  man  that  history  represents  him ;  and  to  have 
committed  forgery  is  so  contrary  to  what  was  to 
be  expected  from  the  author  of  chaps,  xl.-lxvi., 
that  even  the  feelings  of  our  opponents  revolt  at 
the  supposition  that  the  pseudo-Isaiah  should 
have  forged  prophecies  after  the  event  in  the 
name  of  the  prophets. 

5.  Again,  the  most  ancient  production  of 
Jewish  literature  after  the  completion  of  the 
canon,  furnishes  proof  of  the  integral  authen- 
ticity of  Isaiah.  The  book  of  Jesus  Sirach,  com- 
monly called  Ecclesiasticus,  was  written  as  early 
as  the  thii'd  century  before  Christ,  as  Hug  has 
clearly  demonstrated,  in  opposition  to  those  who 
place  it  in  the  second  century  before  Christ.  In 
Ecclesiasticus  xlviii.  22-2.5,  Isaiah  is  thus  praised : 
'  For  Hezekiah  had  done  the  thing  that  pleased 
the  Lord,  and  was  strong  in  the  ways  of  David 
his  father,  as  Isaiah  the  prophet,  who  was  great 
and  faithful  in  his  vision,  had  commanded  him. 
In  his  time  the  sun  went  backward,  and  he 
lengthened  the  king's  life.  He  saw  by  an  ex- 
cellent spirit  what  should  come  to  pass  at  the 
last,  and  he  comforted  them  that  mourned  in 
Sion.  He  showed  what  should  come  to  pass  for 
ever,  and  secret  things  or  ever  they  came.' 

This  commendation  especially  refers,  as  even 
Gesenius  grants,  to  the  disputed  portions  of  the 
prophet,  in  which  we  find  predictions  of  the 
most  distant  futurity.  The  comfort  for  Zion  is 
found  more  particularly  in  the  second  part  of 
Isaiah,  which  begins  with  the  words  '  Comfort 
2  f2 


436 


ISAIAH 


ye,  comfort  ye  my  people.'  The  author  of  this 
second  part  himself  suys  (xlviii.  3),  '  I  have  de- 
clared the  former  things  from  the  beginning ; 
and  they  went  forth  out  of  my  mouth,  and  I 
showed  them.'  Thus  we  perceive  that  Jesus 
Sirach,  the  learned  scribe,  confidently  attributes 
the  debated  passages  to  Isaiah  in  such  a  manner 
as  plainly  indicates  that  there  was  no  doubt  in 
his  days  respecting  the  integral  authenticity  of 
that  book,  which  has  the  testimony  of  historical 
tradition  in  its  favour.  Jesus  Sirach  declares  his 
intention  (Ecclus.  xliv.-l.)  to  praise  the  most 
celebrated  men  of  his  nation.  The  whole  tenor 
of  these  chapters  shows  that  he  does  not  confine 
himself  to  celebrated  authors.  We  therefore  say 
that  the  praise  which  he  bestows  upon  Isaiah  is 
not  intended  for  the  book  personified,  but  for  the 
person  of  the  prophet.  If  Jesus  Sirach  had  en- 
tertained doubts  respecting  the  genuineness  of 
those  prophecies  on  which,  in  particular,  he 
bases  his  praise,  he  could  not  have  so  lauded  the 
prophet. 

In  the  Jewish  synagogue  the  integral  authen- 
ticity of  Isaiah  has  always  been  recognised. 
This  general  recognition  cannot  be  accounted  for 
except  by  the  power  of  tradition  based  upon 
truth;  and  it  is  supported  as  well  by  the  New 
Testament,  in  which  Isaiah  is  quoted  as  the 
author  of  the  whole  collection  which  bears  his 
name,  as  also  by  the  express  testimony  of  Jo- 
sephus,  especially  in  his  Antiquities  (x.  2.  2, 
and  xi.  1.1).  After  such  confirmation  it  would 
be  superfluous  to  mention  the  Talmudists. 

Thus  we  have  seen  that  we  possess  a  series  of 
external  arguments  in  favour  of  the  integral 
authenticity  of  Isaiah.  Each  of  these  arguments 
is  of  importance,  and,  in  their  combination,  they 
have  a  weight  which  could  only  be  counter- 
balanced by  insurmountable  difiiculties  in  the 
contents  of  these  prophecies;  and  it  has  been 
clearly  shown  that  there  are  no  such  difficulties, 
and  that  the  internal  arguments  unite  with  the 
external  in  .demonstrating  the  authenticity  of 
Isaiah  as  a  whole. 

No  definite  account  respecting  the  method 
pursued  in  collecting  into  books  the  utterances 
of  the  Prophets  has  been  handed  down  to  us. 
Concerning  Isaiah,  as  well  as  the  rest,  these 
accounts  are  wanting.  We  do  not  even  know 
vrhether  he  collected  his  prophecies  himself.  But 
•we  have  no  decisive  argument  against  this  opi- 
nion. The  argument  of  Kleinert,  in  his  above- 
mentioned  work  (p.  112),  is  of  slight  importance. 
He  says,  If  Isaiah  himself  had  collected  his  pro- 
phecies, there  would  not  be  wanting  some  which 
are  not  to  be  found  in  the  existing  book.  To 
this  we  reply  that  it  can  by  no  means  be  proved, 
with  any  degree  of  probability,  that  a  single  pro- 
phecy of  Isaiah  has  been  lost,  the  preservation  of 
which  would  have  been  of  importance  to  pos- 
terity, and  which  Isaiah  himself  would  have 
deemed  it  necessary  to  preserve.  Kleinert  ap- 
peals to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  prophecy  in  our 
collection  which  can  with  certainty  be  ascribed 
to  the  days  of  Jotham;  and  he  thinks  it  incre- 
dible that  the  prophet,  soon  after  having  been 
consecrated  to  his  office,  should  have  passed  full 
sixteen  years  without  any  revelation  from  God. 
This,  certainly,  is  unlikely;  but  it  is  by  no 
means  unlikely  that  during  this  time  he  uttered 
no  prophecy  -which  he  thought  proper  to  pre- 


ISAIAH 

serve.  Nay,  it  appears  very  probable,  if  we 
compare  the  rather  general  character  of  chapters 
i.-v.,  the  contents  of  which  would  apply  to  the 
days  of  Jotham  also,  since  during  his  reign  no 
considerable  changes  took  place ;  consequently 
the  prophetic  utterances  moved  in  the  same 
sphere  with  those  preserved  to  us  from  the  reign 
of  Uzziah.  Hence  it  was  natural  that  Isaiah 
should  confine  himself  to  the  communication  of 
some  important  prophetic  addresses,  which  might 
as  well  represent  the  days  of  Jotham  as  those  of 
the  preceding  reign.  We  must  not  too  closely 
identify  the  utterances  of  the  prophets  with  their 
writings.  Many  prophets  have  spoken  much  and 
written  nothing.  The  minor  prophets  were 
generally  content  to  write  down  the  quintessence 
alone  of  their  numerous  utterances.  Jeremiah 
likewise,  of  his  numerous  addresses  under  Josiah, 
gives  us  only  what  was  most  essential. 

To  us  it  seems  impossible  that  Isaiah  left  it  to 
others  to  collect  his  prophecies  into  a  volume, 
because  we  know  that  he  was  the  author  of  his- 
torical works;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  a  man 
accustomed  to  literary  occupation  would  have 
left  to  others  to  do  what  he  could  do  much  better 
himself. 

Hitzig  has  of  late  recognised  Isaiah  as  the  col- 
lector and  arranger  of  his  own  prophecies.  But 
he  supposes  that  a  number  of  pieces  were  inserted 
at  a  later  period.  Th<>  chronological  arrangement 
of  these  prophecies  is  -a  strong  argument  in  favour 
of  the  opinion  that  Isa^ah  himself  formed  them 
into  a  volume.  There  it  no  deviation  from  this 
arrangement,  except  in  a  fe-v  instances  where  pro- 
phecies of  similar  contents  are  placed  together; 
but  there  is  no  interruption  wlnich  might  appear 
attributable  to  either  accident  or  ignorance. 
There  is  not  a  single  piece  in  this  collection 
which  can  satisfactorily  be  shown  to  belong  to 
another  place.  All  the  portions,  the  date  of 
which  can  be  ascertained  either  by  external  or 
internal  reasons,  stand  in  the  right  place.  This 
is  generally  granted  with  respect  to  the  first 
twelve  chapters,  although  many  persons  errone- 
ously maintain  that  ch.  vi.  should  stand  ai  the 
beginning. 

Chaps,  i.-v.  belong  to  the  later  years  of  Uzziah ; 
chap.  vi.  to  the  year  of  his  death.  What  follows 
next,  up  to  chap.  x.  4,  belongs  to  the  reign  of 
Ahaz.  Chaps,  x.-xii.  is  the  first  portion  apper- 
taining to  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  Then  follows 
a  series  of  prophecies  against  foreign  nations,  in 
which,  according  to  the  opinions  of  many,  the 
chronological  arrangement  has  been  departed 
from,  and,  instead  of  it,  an  arrangement  accord- 
ing to  contents  has  been  adopted.  But  this  is  not 
the  case.  The  predictions  against  foreign  nations 
are  also  in  their  right  chronological  place.  They 
all  belong  to  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  and  are  placed 
together  because,  according  to  their  dates,  they 
belong  to  the  same  period.  In  the  days  of  Heze- 
kiah the  nations  of  Western  Asia,  dwelling  on 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris,  more  and 
more  resembled  a  threatening  tempest.  That  the 
prophecies  against  foreign  nations  belong  to  this 
period  is  indicated  by  the  home-prophecy  in  ch. 
xxii.,  which  stands  among  the  foreign  prophecies. 
The  assertion  that  the  first  twelve  chapters  are  a 
collection  of  home-prophecies  is  likewise  refuted 
by  the  fact  €hat  there  occur  in  these  chapters  two 
foreign  prophecies.     The  prophetic  gift  of  Isaiah 


ISAIAH 

•n-as  more  fully  unfolded  in  sight  of  the  Assyrian 
invasion  iiiuler  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  Isaiah,  in 
a  SL'i-ies  of  visions,  describes  what  Assyria  would 
do,  as  a  chastising  rod  iu  the  hand  of  the  Lord, 
and  what  the  successors  of  the  Assyrians,  the 
Chaldees,  would  perform,  according  to  the  decree 
of  God,  in  order  to  realise  divine  justice  on  earth, 
as  well  among  Israel  as  among  the  heathen.  The 
prophet  shows  that  mercy  is  hidden  behind  the 
clouds  of  wrath.  There  is  no  argument  to  prove 
that  the  great  prophetic  picture  in  chaps,  xxiv.- 
xxvii.  was  not  depicted  under  Hezekiah.  Chaps, 
xxviii.-xxxiii.  manifestly  belong  to  the  same 
reign,  but  somewhat  later  than  the  time  in  which 
ohaps.  X.,  xi.,  xii.  were  written.  They  were  com- 
posed about  the  time  when  the  i-esult  of  the  war 
against  the  Assyrians  was  decided.  With  the 
termination  of  this  war  terminated  also  the  public 
life  of  Isaiah,  who  added  an  historical  section  in 
chaps,  xxxvi.-xxxix.,  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
right  understanding  of  the  prophecies  uttered  by 
him  during  the  most  fertile  period  of  his  pro- 
phetic ministry.  Then  follows  the  conclusion  of 
his  work  on  earth.  The  second  part,  which  con- 
tains his  prophetic  legacy,  is  addressed  to  the 
small  congregation  of  the  faithful,  strictly  so 
called.  This  part  is  analogous  to  the  last  speeches 
of  Moses  in  the  fields  of  Moab,  and  to  the  last 
speeches  of  Christ  in  the  circle  of  his  disciples, 
related  by  John.  Thus  we  have  everywhere 
order,  and  such  an  order  as  could  scarcely  have 
proceeded  from  any  one  but  the  author. 

It  was  not  the  vocation  of  the  prophets  to 
I    change  anything  iu  the  religious  constitution  of 
Moses,    which   had  been    introduced   by   divine 
authority ;  and  they  were  not  called  upon  to  sub- 
stitute anything  new  in  its  place.     They  had  only 
to  point  out  the  new  covenant  to  be  introduced  by 
tlie  Itedeemer,  and  to  prepare  the  minds  of  men 
for  the  reception  of  it.     They  themselv-^s  in  all 
their  doings  were  subject  to  the  law  of  Moses. 
They  were  destined  to  be  extraordinary  ambas- 
sadors of  God,  whose  reign  in  Israel  was  not  a 
mere  name,  not  a  mere  shadow  of  earthly  royalty, 
but  rather  its  substance  and  essence.     They  were 
to  maintain  the  government  of  God,  by  punishing 
all,  both  high  and  low,  who  manifested  contempt 
of  the  Lawgiver  by  offending  against  his  laws. 
It  was  especially  their  vocation  to  counteract  the 
very  ancient  delusion,  according  to  which  an  ex- 
j    ternal  observance  of  rites  was  deemed  sufficient 
to  satisfy  God.     This  opinion  is  contrary  to  many 
'    passages  of  the  law  itself,  which  admonish  men 
''   to  circumcise  the  heart,  and  represent  the  sum  of 
j    the  entire  law  as  consisting  in  loving  God  with 
!   the  whole  heart ;  which  make  salvation  to  depend 
I   upon  being  internally  turned  towards  God,  and 
i   which  condemn  not  only  the  evil  deed,  but  also 
!   the  wicked  desire.    The  law  had,  however,  at  the 
1    first  assumed  a  form  corresponding  to  the  wants 
!   of  the  Israelites,  and  in  accordance  with  the  sym- 
bolical spirit  of  antiquity.    But  when  this  form, 
which  was  destined  to  be  the  living  organ  of  the 
Spirit,  was  changed  into  a  corpse  by  those  who 
were  themselves  spiritually  dead,  it  offered  a  point 
of  coalescence  for  the  error  of  those  who  contented 
themselves  with  external  observances. 

The  prophets  had  also  to  oppose  the  delusion  of 
those  who  looked  upon  the  election  of  the  people 
of  God  as  a  preservative  against  the  divine  judg- 
ments ;  who  supposed  that  their  descent  from  the 


ISAIAH 


437 


patriarchs,  with  whom  God  had  made  a  covenant, 
was  an  equivalent  for  the  sanctification  which 
they  wanted.  Even  Moses  had  strongly  opposed 
this  delusion ;  for  instance,  in  Lev.  xxvi.  and 
Deut.  xxxii.  David  also,  in  the  Psalms,  as  in  xv. 
and  xxiv.,  endeavours  to  counteract  this  error, 
which  again  and  again  sprang  up.  It  was  the 
vocation  of  the  prophets  to  insist  upon  genuine 
piety,  and  to  show  that  a  true  attachment  to  the 
Lord  necessarily  manifests  itself  by  obedience  to 
his  precepts ;  that  this  obedience  would  lead  to 
happiness,  and  disobedience  to  misfortune  and 
distress.  The  prophets  were  appointed  to  comfort 
the  faint-hearted,  by  announcing  to  them  the 
succour  of  God,  and  to  bring  glad  tidings  to  the 
faithful,  in  order  to  strengthen  their  fidelity. 
They  were  commissioned  to  invite  the  rebellious 
to  return,  by  painting  out  to  them  future  salva- 
tion, and  by  teaching  them  that  without  conver- 
sion they  could  not  be  partakers  of  salvation; 
and  in  order  that  their  admonitions  and  rebukes, 
their  consolations  and  awakenings,  might  gain 
more  attention,  it  was  granted  to  them  to  behold 
futurity,  and  to  foresee  the  blessings  and  judg- 
ments which  would  ultimately  find  their  full  ac- 
complishment in  the  days  of  Messiah.  In  Deut. 
xviii.  18,  where  the  Lord  says,  '  I  will  raise  them 
up  a  prophet  from  among  their  brethren  like  unto 
thee,  and  will  put  my  words  in  his  mouth ;  and 
he  sliall  speak  unto  them  all  that  I  shall  com- 
mand him,*  we  have  a  description  of  the  pro- 
phetical calling,  and  also  a  statement  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah.  He  refers 
expressly  in  many  places  to  the  basis  of  the 
ancient  covenant,  that  is,  to  the  law  of  Moses ; 
for  instance,  in  viii.  IC,  20,  and  xxx.  9,  10.  In 
many  other  passages  his  utterance  rests  on  the 
same  basis,  although  he  does  not  expressly  state 
it.  All  his  utterances  are  interwoven  with  refer- 
ences to  the  law.  It  is  of  importance  to  examine 
at  least  one  chapter  closely,  in  order  to  under- 
stand how  prophecies  are  related  to  the  law.  Let 
us  take  as  an  example  the  first.  The  beginning, 
'  Hear,  O  heavens,  and  give  ear,  0  earth,'  is  taken 
from  Deut.  xxxii.  Thus  the  prophet  points  out 
that  his  prophecies  are  a  commentary  upon  the 
Magna  Charta  of  prophetisra  contained  in  the 
books  of  Moses.  During  the  prosperous  condi- 
tion of  the  state  under  Uzziah  and  Jotham, 
luxurj'  and  immorality  had  sprung  up.  The  im- 
piety of  Ahaz  had  exercised  the  worst  influence 
upon  the  whole  people.  Great  part  of  the  nation 
had  forsaken  the  religion  of  their  fathers  and 
embraced  gross  idolatry ;  and  a  great  number  of 
those  who  worshipped  God  externally  had  for- 
saken Him  in  their  hearts.  The  divine  judgments 
were  approaching.  The  rising  power  of  Assyria 
was  appointed  to  be  the  instrument  of  divine 
justice.  Among  the  people  of  God  internal 
demoralisation  was  always  the  forerunner  of 
outward  calamity.  This  position  of  affairs  de- 
manded an  energetic  intervention  of  prophetism. 
Without  prophetism  the  number  of  the  elect 
would  have  been  constantly  decreasing,  and  even 
the  judgments  of  the  Lord,  if  prophetism  had 
not  furnished  their  interpretation,  would  have 
been  mere  facts,  which  would  have  missed  their 
aim,  and,  in  many  instances,  might  have  had  an 
effect  opposite  to  that  which  was  intended,  be- 
cause punishment  which  is  not  recognised  to  be 
punishment,  necessarily  leads  away  from  God. 


438 


ISAIAH 


The  prophet  attacks  the  distress  of  bis  nation, 
not  at  the  surface,  but  at  the  root,  by  rebuking 
the  prevailing  corruption.  Pride  and  arrogance 
appear  to  him  to  be  the  chief  roots  of  all  sins. 

He  inculcates  again  and  again  not  to  rely  upon 
the  creature,  but  upon  the  Creator,  from  whom 
all  temporal  and  spiritual  help  proceeds ;  that  in 
order  to  attain  salvation,  we  should  despair  of  our 
own  and  all  human  power,  and  rely  upon  God. 
He  opposes  those  who  expected  help  through 
foreign  alliances  with  powerful  neighbouring  na- 
tions against  foreign  enemies  of  the  state. 

The  people  of  God  have  only  one  enemy,  and 
one  ally,  that  is,  God.  It  is  foolish  to  seek  for 
aid  on  earth  against  the  power  of  heaven,  and  to 
fear  man  if  God  is  our  friend.  The  panacea 
against  all  distress  and  danger  is  true  conversion. 
The  politics  of  the  prophets  consist  only  in  point- 
ing out  this  remedy.  The  prophet  connects  with 
his  rebuke  and  with  his  admonition,  his  threaten- 
ings  of  divine  judgment  upon  the  stiff-necked. 
These  judgments  are  to  be  executed  by  the  inva- 
sion of  the  Syrians,  the  oppression  of  the  Assyrians, 
the  Babylonian  exile,  and  by  the  great  final 
separation  in  the  times  of  the  Messiah.  The  idea 
which  is  the  basis  of  all  these  threateniugs,  is 
pronounced  even  in  the  Pentateuch  (Lev.  x.  3), 
'  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  come  nigh  me, 
and  before  all  the  people  I  will  be  glorified ;'  and 
also  in  the  words  of  Amos  (iii.  2),  'You  only 
have  I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth ; 
therefore  I  will  punish  you  for  all  your  iniquities.' 
That  is,  if  the  people  do  not  voluntarily  glorify 
God,  He  glorifies  Himself  against  them.  Partly 
in  order  to  recall  the  rebellious  to  obedience, 
partly  to  comfort  the  faithful,  the  prophet  opens 
a  prospect  of  those  blessings  which  the  faithful 
portion  of  the  covenant  people  shall  inherit.  In 
almost  all  prophetic  utterances,  we  find  in  regular 
succession  three  elements— rebuke,  threatening, 
and  promise.  The  prophecies  concerning  the  de- 
struction of  powerful  neighbouring  states,  partly 
belong,  as  we  have  shown,  to  the  promises,  be- 
cause they  are  intended  to  prevent  despair,  which, 
as  well  as  false  security,  is  a  most  dangerous 
Jiindrance  to  conversion. 

In  the  direct  promises  of  deliverance  the  pur- 
pose to  comfort  is  still  more  evident.  This  de- 
liverance refers  either  to  burdens  which  pressed 
upon  the  people  in  the  days  of  the  prophet,  or  to 
burdens  to  come,  which  were  already  announced 
by  the  prophet ;  such,  for  instance,  were  the  op- 
pressions of  the  Syrians,  the  Assyrians,  and 
fiaally,  of  the  Chaldseans. 

The  proclamation  of  the  Messiah  is  the  inex- 
haustible source  of  consolation  among  the  pro- 
phets. In  Isaiah  this  consolation  is  so  clear  that 
some  fathers  of  the  church  were  inclined  to  style 
him  rather  evangelist  than  prophet. 

Isaiah,  however,  was  not  the  first  who  attained 
to  a  knowledge  of  the  personality  of  Messiah. 
Isaiah's  vocation  was  to  render  the  knowledge  of 
this  personality  clearer  and  more  definite,  and  to 
render  it  more  efficacious  upon  the  souls  of  the 
elect  by  giving  it  a  greater  individuality.  The 
person  of  the  Redeemer  is  mentioned  even  in 
Gen.  xlix.  10,  '  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from 
Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet, 
until  Shiloh  (the  tranquilliser)  come ;  and  unto 
Him  shall  the  gathering  of  the  people  be '  (i.  e. 
Him  shall  the  nations  obey).    The  personality  of 


ISAIAH 

Messiah  occurs  also  in  several  psalms  which  were 
written  before  the  times  of  Isaiah ;  for  instance, 
in  the  2nd  and  110th,  by  Uavid;  in  the  45th,  by 
the  sons  of  Korah;  in  the  72nd,  by  Solomon. 
Isaiah  has  especially  developed  the  perception  of 
the  prophetic  and  the  priestly  office  of  the  Ee- 
deemer,  while  in  the  earlier  annunciations  of  the 
Messiah  the  royal  office  is  more  prominent ;  al- 
though in  Psalm  ex.  the  priestly  office  also  is 
pointed  out.  Of  the  two  states  of  Christ,  Isaiah 
has  expressly  described  that  of  the  exinauition  of 
the  sutfering  Christ,  while,  before  him,  his  state 
of  glory  was  made  more  prominent.  In  the 
Psalms  the  inseparable  connection  between  jus- 
tice and  suffering,  from  which  the  doctrine  of  a 
suffering  Messiah  necessarily  results,  is  not  ex- 
pressly applied  to  the  Messiah.  We  must  not 
say  that  Isaiah  lirst  perceived  that  the  Messiah 
was  to  sufier,  but  we  must  gi-ant  that  this  know- 
ledge was  in  him  more  vivid  than  in  any  earlier 
■writer  ;  and  that  this  knowledge  was  first  shown 
by  Isaiah  to  be  an  integral  portion  of  Old  Testa- 
ment doctrine. 

The  following  are  the  outlines  of  Messianic 
prophecies  in  the  book  of  Isaiah :— A  scion  of 
David,  springing  from  his  family,  after  it  has 
fallen  into  a  very  low  estate,  but  being  also  of 
divine  nature,  shall,  at  first  in  lowliness,  bat  as  a 
prophet  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  proclaim 
the  divine  doctrine,  develope  the  law  in  truth, 
and  render  it  the  animating  principle  of  national 
life;  he  shall,  as  high-priest,  by  his  vicarious 
suffering  and  his  death,  remove  the  guilt  of  his 
nation,  and  that  of  other  nations,  and  finally  rule 
as  a  mighty  king,  not  only  over  the  covenant- 
people,  but  over  all  nations  of  the  earth  who  will 
subject  themselves  to  his  peaceful  sceptre,  not  by 
violent  compulsion,  but  induced  by  love  and  gra- 
titude. He  will  make  both  the  moral  and  the 
physical  consequences  of  sin  to  cease  ;  the  whole 
earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord,  and  all  enmity,  hatred,  and  destruction 
shall  be  removed  even  from  the  brute  creation. 
This  is  the  survey  of  the  Messianic  preaching  by 
Isaiah,  of  which  he  constantly  renders  prominent 
those  portions  which  were  most  calculated  to 
impress  the  people  under  the  then  existing  cir- 
cumstances. The  first  part  of  Isaiah  is  directed 
to  the  whole  people,  consequently  the  glory  of 
the  Messiah  is  here  dwelt  upon.  The  fear  lest 
the  kingdom  of  God  should  be  overwhelmed  by 
the  power  of  heathen  nations,  is  removed  by 
pointing  out  the  glorious  king  to  come,  who 
would  elevate  the  now  despised  and  apparently 
mean  kingdom  of  God  above  all  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world.  In  the  second  part,  which  is  more 
particularly  addressed  to  the  elect,  than  to  the 
whole  nation,  the  prophet  exhibits  the  Messiah 
more  as  a  divine  teacher  and  high-priest.  The 
prophet  here  preaches  righteousness  through  the 
blood  of  the  servant  of  God,  who  will  support 
the  weakness  of  sinners  and  take  upon  Himself 
their  sorrows. 

We  may  show,  by  an  example,  in  chap.  xix. 
18-25,  that  the  views  of  futurity  which  were 
granted  to  Isaiah  were  great  and  comprehensive, 
and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  raised  him  above  all 
narrow-minded  nationality.  It  is  there  stated 
that  a  time  should  come  when  all  tlie  heathen,  j 
subdued  by  the  judgments  of  the  Lord,  should 
be  converted  to  him,  and  being  placed  on  an 


ISAIAH 

equality  with  Israel,  with  equal  laws,  would 
equally  partake  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
form  a  brotherly  alliance  for  his  worship.  Not 
the  whole  mass  of  Israel  is  destined,  according 
to  Isaiah,  to  future  salvation,  but  only  the  small 
number  of  the  converted.  This  truth  he  announces 
most  definitely  in  the  sketch  of  his  prophecies 
contained  in  chapter  vi. 

_  Isaiah  describes  with  equal  vivacity  the  divine 
"ustice  which  punishes  the  sins  of  the  nation  with 
inexorable  severity.  Holy,  holy,  holy,  is  the 
Lord  of  Sabaoth,  is  the  key-note  of  his  prophe- 
cies. He  describes  also  the  divine  mercy  and 
covenant-fidelity,  by  which  there  is  always  pre- 
served a  remnant  among  the  people:  to  them 
punishment  itself  is  a  means  of  salvation,  so  that 
life  everywhere  proceeds  from  death,  and  the 
congregation  itself  is  led  to  full  victory  and 
glory. 

Isaiah  saw  the  moral  and  religious  degradation 
of  his  people,  and  also  its  external  distress,  both 
then  present  and  to  come  (chap.  vi.).  But  this 
did  not  break  his  courage;  he  confidently  ex- 
pected a  better  futurity,  and  raised  himself  in 
God  above  all  that  is  visible.  Isaiah  is  not  afraid 
when  the  whole  nation  and  its  king  tremble.  Of 
this  we  see  a  remarkable  instance  in  chapter  vii., 
and  another  in  the  time  of  the  Assyrian  invasion 
under  Hezekiah,  during  which  the  courage  of  his 
faith  rendered  him  the  saviour  of  the  common- 
wealth, and  the  originator  of  that  great  religious 
revival  which  followed  the  preservation  of  the 
state.  The  faith  of  the  king  and  of  the  people 
was  roused  by  that  of  Isaiah. 

Isaiah  stands  pre-eminent  above  all  other  pro- 
phets, as  well  in  the  contents  and  spirit  of  his 
predictions,  as  also  in  their  form  and  style.  Sim- 
plicity, clearness,  sublimity,  and  freshness,  are 
the  never-failing  characters  of  his  prophecies. 
Even  Eichhorn  mentions,  among  the  first  merits 
of  Isaiah,  the  concinnity  of  his  expressions,  the 
beautiful  outline  of  his  images,  and  the  fine  ex- 
ecution of  his  speeches.  In  reference  to  richness 
of  imagery  he  stands  between  Jeremiah  and 
Ezekiel.  Symbolic  actions,  which  frequently 
occur  in  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  seldom  occur  in 
Isaiah.  The  same  is  the  case  with  visions,  strictly 
so  called,  of  which  there  is  only  one,  namely, 
that  in  chapter  vi. ;  and  even  it  is  distinguished 
by  its  simplicity  and  clearness  above  that  of  the 
later  prophets.  But  one  characteristic  of  Isaiah 
is,  that  he  likes  to  give  signs — that  h,  a  fact  then 
present,  or  near  at  hand — as  a  pledge  for  the 
more  distant  futurity  ;  and  that  he  thus  supports 
the  feebleness  of  man  (comp.  vii.  20 ;  xxxvii.  30 ; 
xxxviii.  7.  sqq.).  The  instances  in  chapters  vii. 
and  xxxviii.  show  how  much  he  was  convinced 
of  his  vocation,  and  in  what  intimacy  he  lived 
with  the  Lord,  by  whose  assistance  alone  he 
could  effect  what  he  offers  to  do  in  the  one 
passage,  and  what  he  grants  in  the  other.  The 
spiritual  riches  of  the  prophet  are  seen  in  the 
variety  of  his  style,  which  always  befits  the  sub- 
ject. When  he  rebukes  and  threatens,  it  is  like 
a  storm,  and  when  he  comforts,  his  language  is 
as  tender  and  mild  as  (to  use  his  own  words)  that 
of  a  mother  comforting  her  son.  With  regard  to 
style,  Isaiah  is  comprehensive,  and  the  other 
prophets  divide  his  riches. 

Isaiah  enjoyed  an  authority  proportionate  to 
his  gifts.    We  learn  from  history  how  great  this 


ISH-BOSHETH 


439 


authority  was  during  his  life,  especially  under 
the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  Several  of  his  most  defi- 
nite prophecies  were  fulfilled  while  he  was  yet 
alive;  for  instance,  the  overthrow  of  the  king- 
doms of  Syria  and  Israel ;  the  invasion  of  the 
Assyrians,  and  the  divine  deliverance  from  it; 
the  prolongation  of  life  granted  to  Hezekiah  ;  and 
several  predictions  against  foreign  nations.  Isaiah 
is  honom-ably  mentioned  in  the  historical  books. 
The  later  prophets,  especially  Nahum,  Habakkuk, 
Zephaniah,  Jeremiah,  Haggai,  Zcchariah,  and 
Malachi,  clearly  prove  that  his  book  was  dili- 
gently read,  and  that  his  prophecies  were  atten- 
tively studied. 

The  authority  of  the  prophet  greatly  increased 
after  the  fulfilment  of  his  prophecies  by  the  Baby- 
lonian exile,  the  victories  of  Cyrus,  and  the  de- 
liverance of  the  covenant-people.  Even  Cyrus 
(according  to  the  above-mentioned  account  in  Jo- 
seY)\ms,  Antiq.  xi.  1.  §  1,2)  was  induced  to  set 
the  Jews  at  liberty  by  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
concerning  himself.  This  prediction  of  Isaiah 
made  so  deep  an  impression  upon  him  that  he 
probably  took  from  it  the  name  by  which  he  is 
generally  known  in  history.  Jesus  Sirach  (xlviii. 
22-25)  bestows  splendid  praise  upon  Isaiah,  and 
both  Philo  and  Josephus  speak  of  him  with  great 
veneration.  He  attained  the  highest  degree  of 
authority  after  the  times  of  the  New  Testament 
had  proved  the  most  important  part  of  his  pro- 
phecies, namely,  the  Messianic,  to  be  divine. 
Christ  and  the  Apostles  quote  no  prophecies  so 
frequently  as  those  of  Isaiah,  in  order  to  prove 
that  He  who  had  appeared  was  one  and  the  same 
with  Him  who  had  been  promised.  The  fathers 
of  the  church  abound  in  praises  of  Isaiah. 
ISH'BI,  or  ISHBI-BENOB.  [Giants.] 
ISH'-BOSHETH  (man  of  shame),  a  son  of 
king  Saul,  and  the  only  one  who  survived  him. 
In  1  Cliron.  viii.  33,  and  ix.  39,  this  name  is 
given  as  Eshhaal.  Baal  was  the  name  of  an 
idol,  accounted  abominable  by  the  Hebrews,  and 
which  scrupulous  persons  avoided  pronouncing, 
using  the  word  bos/ietli,  '  shame  '  or  '  vanity,'  in- 
stead. This  explains  Avhy  the  name  Eshbaal  is 
substituted  for  Ish-bosheth,  Jerubbaal  for  Jerub- 
besheth  (comp.  Judg.  viii.  35  with  2  Sam.  xi. 
21),  and  Merib-baal  for  Mephibosheth  (comp.  2 
Sam.  iv.  4  with  1  Chron.  viii.  34  and  ix.  40). 
Ish-bosheth  was  not  present  in  the  disastrous 
battle  at  Gilboa,  in  which  his  father  and  brothers 
perished ;  and,  too  feeble  of  himself  to  seize  the 
sceptre  which  had  fallen  from  the  hands  of  Saul, 
he  owed  the  crown  entirely  to  his  uncle  Abner, 
who  conducted  him  to  Mahanaim,  beyond  the 
Jordan,  where  he  was  recognised  as  king  by  ten 
of  the  twelve  tribes.  He  reigned  seven,  or,  as 
some  will  have  it,  two  years — if  a  power  so  un- 
certain as  his  can  be  called  a  reign.  Even  the 
semblance  of  authority  which  he  possessed  he 
owed  to  the  will  and  influence  of  Abner,  who 
himself  kept  the  real  substance  in  his  own  hands. 
A  sharp  quarrel  between  them  led  at  last  to  the 
ruin  of  Ish-bosheth.  Although  accustomed  to 
tremble  before  Abner,  even  his  meek  temper  was 
roused  to  resentment  by  the  discovery  that  Abner 
had  invaded  the  harem  of  his  late  father  Saul, 
which  was  in  a  peculiar  manner  sacred  under 
his  care  as  a  son  and  a  king.  By  this  act  Abner 
exposed  the  king  to  public  contempt ;  if  ijf  did 
not  indeed  leave  himself  open  to  the  suspicion  of 


440 


ISHMAEL 


ISLE,  ISLAND 


intending  to  advance  a  claim  to  the  crown  on  his 
own  behalf.  Abner  highly  resented  the  rebuke 
of  Ish-bosheth,  and  from  that  time  contemplated 
uniting  all  the  tribes  under  the  sceptre  of  David. 
Ish-bosheth,  however,  reverted  to  his  ordinary 
timidity  of  character.  At  the  first  demand  of 
David,  he  restored  to  him  his  sister  Michal,  who 
had  been  given  in  marriage  to  the  son  of  Jesse 
by  Saul,  and  had  afterwards  been  taken  from 
him  and  bestowed  upon  another.  It  is,  perhaps, 
right  to  attribute  this  act  to  his  weakness  ;  al  • 
though,  as  David  allows  that  he  was  a  righteous 
man,  it  may  have  been  owing  to  his  sense  of 
justice.  On  the  death  of  Abner  Ish-bosheth  lost 
all  heart  and  hope,  and  perished  miserably,  being 
murdered  in  his  own  palace,  while  he  took  his 
mid-day  sleep,  by  two  of  his  officers,  Baanah  and 
Kechab.  They  sped  with  his  head  to  David,  ex- 
pecting a  great  reward  for  their  deed ;  but  the 
monarch — as  both  right  feeling  and  good  policy 
required — testified  the  utmost  horror  and  con- 
cern. He  slew  the  murderers,  and  placed  the 
head  of  Ish-bosheth  with  due  respect  in  the  se- 
pulchre of  Abner,  B.C.  1048  (2  Sam.  ii,  8-1 1 ; 
iii.  6-39  ;  iv.). 

1.  ISH'MAEL  (heard  of  God),  Abraham's 
eldest  son,  bom  to  him  by  Hagar ;  the  circum- 
stances of  whose  birth,  early  history,  and  final 
expulsion  from  his  father's  tents,  are  related  in 
the  articles  Abraham,  Hagar  [see  also  Isaac, 
Inheritance].  He  afterwards  made  the  desert 
into  which  he  had  been  cast  his  abode,  and  by 
attaching  himself  to,  and  acquiring  influence 
over,  the  native  tribes,  rose  to  great  authority 
and  influence.  It  would  seem  to  have  been  the 
original  intention  of  his  mother  to  have  returned 
to  Egypt,  to  which  country  she  belonged;  but 
this  being  prevented,  she  was  content  to  obtain 
for  her  son  wives  from  thence.  Although  their 
lots  were  cast  apart,  it  does  not  appear  that  any 
serious  alienation  existed  between  Ishmael  and 
Isaac ;  for  we  read  that  they  both  joined  in  the 
sepulchral  rites  of  their  father  Abraham  (Gen. 
XXV,  9).  This  fact  has  not  been  noticed  as  it  de- 
serves. It  is  full  of  suggestive  matter.  As 
funerals  in  the  East  take  place  almost  imme- 
diately after  death,  it  is  evident  that  Ishmael 
must  have  been  called  from  the  desert  to  the 
death-bed  of  his  father ;  which  implies  that  re- 
lations of  kindness  and  respect  had  been  kept  up, 
although  the  brevity  of  the  sacred  narrative  pre- 
vents any  special  notice  of  this  circumstance. 
Ishmael  had  probably  long  before  received  an 
endowment  from  his  father's  property,  similar  to 
that  which  had  been  bestowed  upon  the  sons  of 
Keturah  (Gen.  xxv.  6).  Nothing  more  is  recorded 
of  him  than  that  he  died  at  the  age  of  137  years, 
and  was  the  father  of  twelve  sons,  who  gave  their 
names  to  as  many  tribes  (Gen.  xvii.  20 ;  xxv. 
13).  He  had  also  two  daughters,  one  of  whom 
became  the  wife  of  Esau. 

It  has  been  shown,  in  the  article  Arabia,  that 
Ishmael  has  no  claim  to  the  honour,  which  is 
usually  assigned  to  him,  of  being  the  founder  of 
the  Arabian  nation.  That  nation  existed  before 
he  was  born.  He  merely  joined  it,  and  adopted 
its  habits  of  life  and  character ;  and  the  tribes 
which  sprung  from  him  formed  eventually  an 
important  section  of  the  tribes  of  which  it  was 
composed.  The  celebrated  prophecy  which  de- 
scribes the  habits  of  life  which  he,  and  in  him 


his  descendants,  would  follow,  is  therefore  to 
be  regarded  not  as  describing  habits  which  he  . 
would  first  establish,  but  such  as  he  would  adopt. 
The  description  is  contained  in  the  address  of 
the  angel  to  Hagar,  when,  before  the  birth  of 
Ishmael,  she  fled  from  the  tents  of  Abraham : — 
'  Behold,  thou  art  with  child,  and  shalt  bear  a 
son,  and  shalt  call  his  name  Ishmael  {God  hears), 
because  the  Lord  hath  heard  thine  affliction. 
And  he  shall  be  a  wild  man :  his  hand  shall  be 
against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against 
him,  and  he  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren'  (Gen.  xvi.  11,  12).  This  means,  in 
short,  that  he  and  his  descendants  should  lead 
the  life  of  the  Bedouins  of  the  Arabian  deserts ; 
and  how  graphically  this  description  portrays 
their  habits,  may  be  seen  in  the  article  Arabia, 
in  the  notes  on  these  verses  in  the  '  Pictorial 
Bible,'  and  in  the  works  of  Niebuhr,  Burckhardt, 
Lane,  &c. ;  and,  more  particularly,  in  the  Arabian 
romance  of  Antar,  which  presents  the  most  per- 
fect picture  of  real  Bedouin  manners  now  in 
existence.  The  last  clause,  '  He  shall  dwell  in 
the  presence  of  all  his  brethren,'  is  pointedly 
alluded  to  in  the  brief  notice  of  his  death,  which 
states  that '  he  died  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren'  (Gen.  xxxv.  18).  Of  this  expression 
various  explanations  have  been  given,  but  the 
plainest  is  the  most  probable :  which  is,  that 
Ishmael  and  the  tribes  springing  from  him 
should  always  be  located  near  the  kindred  tribes 
descended  from  Abraham. 

2.  ISHMAEL,  a  prince  of  the  royal  line  of 
Judah,  who  found  refuge  among  the  Ammonites 
from  the  ruin  which  involved  his  family  and 
nation.  After  the  ChaldfEans  had  departed  he 
returned,  and  treacherously  slew  the  too-con- 
fiding Gedaliah,  who  had  been  made  governor  of 
the  miserable  remnant  left  in  the  land  [Geda- 
liahJ.  Much  more  slaughter  followed  this,  and 
Ishmael,  witli  many  people  of  consideration  as 
captives,  hastened  to  return  to  the  Ammonites. 
But  he  was  overtaken  near  the  pool  of  Gibeon, 
by  Johanan.  a  friend  of  Gedaliah,  and  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  his  prey  and  escape  for  his 
life,  with  only  eight  attendants,  to  Baalis,  king  of 
the  Ammonites,  with  whom  he  appears  to  have 
had  a  secret  understanding  in  these  transactions : 
B.C.  .588  (Jer.  xli.). 

ISLE,  ISLAND.  These  words  occur  iu  the 
Scriptures  in  the  three  following  senses.  First, 
that  of  dry  land  in  opposition  to  water ;  as  '  I  will 
make  the  rivers  islands'  (Isa.  xlii.  1.5).  In  Isa. 
XX.  C,  the  Isle  of  Ashdod  means  the  country,  and 
is  so  rendered  in  the  margin.  In  Isa.  xxiii.  2,  6, 
'  the  isle '  means  the  country  of  Tyre,  and  in 
Ezek.  xxvii.  G,  7,  that  of  Chittim  and  Elisha. 
(See  also  Job  xxii.  30.)  Secondly,  it  is  used 
both  in  Hebrew  and  English,  according  to  its 
geographical  meaning,  for  a  country  surrounded 
by  water,  as  in  Jer.  xlvii.  4,  '  the  isle  (margin) 
of  Caphtor,'  which  is  probably  that  of  Cyprus. 
'  The  isles  of  the  sea'  (Esth.  x.  1)  are  evidently 
put  in  opposition  to  '  the  land,'  or  continent.  In 
Ps.  xcvii.  1, '  the  multitude  of  the  isles '  seem  dis- 
tinguished from  the  earth  or  continents,  and  are 
evidently  added  to  complete  the  description  ot 
the  whole  world.  Thirdly :  the  word  is  used  by 
the  Hebrews  to  designate  all  those  countries  di- 
vided from  them  by  the  sea.  In  Isa.  xi.  1 1,  after 
an  enumeration  of  countries  lying  on  their  own 


ISRAEL 


ISRAEL 


441 


continent,  the  words  '  and  the  islands  of  the  sea ' 
are  added  in  order  to  comprehend  those  situate 
beyond  the  ocean.  The  following  are  additional 
instances  of  this  usage  of  the  word,  which  is  of 
very  frequent  occurrence  (Isa.  xlii.  10;  lix.  18; 
Ixvi.  19;  Jer.  xxv.  22;  Ezek.  xxvii.  3,  15;  Zeph. 
ii.  11).  It  is  observed  by  Sir  I.  Newton  {On 
Daniel,  p.  27G), '  By  the  earth  the  Jews  under- 
stood tlie  great  continent  of  all  Asia  and  Africa, 
to  which  they  had  access  by  land ;  and  by  the 
isles  of  the  sea  they  understood  the  places  to 
which  they  sailed  by  sea,  particularly  all 
Europe.' 

IS'RAEL  is  the  sacred  and  divinely  bestowed 
name  of  the  patriarch  Jacob,  and  is  explained  to 
mean,  '  A  prince  with  God.'  Although,  as  ap- 
plied to  Jacob  personally,  it  is  an  honourable 
or  poetical  appellation,  it  is  the  common  prose 
name  of  his  descendants;  while,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  title  Jacob  is  given  to  them  only  in 
poetry. 

The  separation  of  the  Hebrew  nation  into  two 
parts,  of  which  one  was  to  embrace  ten  of  the 
tribes,  and  be  distinctively  named  Israel,  had  its 
origin  in  the  early  power  and  ambition  of  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim.  The  rivalry  of  Ephraim  and 
Judah  began  almost  from  the  first  conquest  of  the 
land ;  nor  is  it  unsignificant,  that  as  Caleb  be- 
longed to  the  tribe  of  Judah,  so  did  Joshua  to 
that  of  Ephraim.  From  the  very  beginning.Judah 
learned  to  act  by  itself;  but  the  central  position 
of  Ephraim,  with  its  fruitful  and  ample  soil,  and 
the  long-continued  authority  of  Joshua,  must 
have  taught  most  of  the  tribes  west  of  the  Jordan 
to  look  up  to  Ephraim  as  their  head  ;  and  a  still 
more  important  superiority  was  conferred  on  the 
same  tribe  by  the  fixed  dwelling  of  the  ark  at 
Shiloh  for  so  many  generations  (Josh,  xviii.  &c.). 
Judah  could  boast  of  Hebron,  Machpelah,  Beth- 
lehem, names  of  traditional  sanctity  ;  yet  so  could 
Ephraim  point  to  Shechem,  the  ancient  abode 
of  Jacob  ;  and  while  Judah,  being  on  the  frontier, 
was  more  exposed  to  the  attack  of  the  powerful 
Philistines,  Ephraim  had  to  fear  only  those 
Canaanites  from  M'ithin  who  were  not  subdued  or 
conciliated.  The  haughty  behaviour  of  the 
Ephraimites  towards  Gideon,  a  man  of  Manasseh 
(J  ndg.  viii.  1), 'sufficiently  indicates  the  preten- 
sions they  made.  Still  fiercer  language  towards 
Jephthah  the  Gileadite  (Jud.  xii.  1)  was  retorted 
by  less  gentleness  than  Gideon  had  shown  ;  and 
a  bloody  civil  war  was  the  result,  in  which  their 
pride  met  with  a  severe  punishment.  This  may 
in  part  explain  their  quiet  submission,  not  only  to 
the  priestly  rule  of  Eli  and  his  sons,  who  had 
their  centre  of  authority  at  Shiloh,  but  to  Sanmel, 
whose  administration  issued  from  three  towns  of 
Benjamin.  Of  course  his  prophetical  character 
and  personal  excellence  eminently  contributed  to 
this  result ;  and  it  may  seem  that  Ephraim,  as 
well  as  all  Israel  besides,  became  habituated  to 
the  predominance  of  Benjamin,  so  that  no  serious 
resistance  was  made  to  the  supremacy  of  Saul. 
At  his  death  a  new  schism  took  place  through 
their  jealousy  of  Judah;  yet  in  a  few  years' 
time,  by  the  splendour  of  David's  victories,  and 
afterwards  by  Solomon's  peaceful  power,  a  per- 
manent national  union  might  seem  to  have  been 
effected.  But  the  laws  of  inheritance  in  Israel, 
excellent  as  they  were  for  preventing  permanent 
alienation  of  landed  property,  and  the  degrada- 


tion of  the  Hebrew  poor  into  pnedial  slaves, 
necessarily  impeded  the  perfect  fusion  of  the 
tribes,  by  discouraging  intermarriage,  and  hinder- 
ing the  union  of  distant  estates  in  the  same  hands. 
Hence,  when  the  sway  of  Solomon  began  to  be 
felt  as  a  tyranny,  the  old  jealousies  of  the  tribes 
revived,  and  Jeroboam,  an  Ephraimite  (1  Kings 
xi.  26),  being  suspected  of  treason,  fled  to  Shi- 
shak,  king  of  Egypt.  The  death  of  Solomon  was 
followed  by  a  defection  of  ten  of  the  tribes,  which 
established  the  separation  of  Israel  from  Judah 
(B.C.  975). 

This  was  the  most  important  event  which  had 
befallen  the  Hebrew  nation  since  their  conquest 
of  Canaan.  The  chief  territory  and  population 
were  now  with  Jeroboam,  but  the  religious  sanc- 
tion, the  legitimate  descent,  lay  with  the  rival 
monarch.  From  the  political  danger  of  allowing 
the  ten  tribes  to  go  up  to  the  sanctuary  of  Jeru- 
salem, the  princes  of  Israel,  as  it  were  in  self- 
defence,  set  up  a  sanctuary  of  their  own ;  and  the 
intimacy  of  Jeroboam  with  the  king  of  Egypt 
may  have  determined  his  preference  for  the  form 
of  idolatry  (the  calves)  which  he  established  at 
Dan  and  Bethel.  In  whatever  else  his  successors 
differed,  they  one  and  all  agreed  in  upholding 
this  worship,  which,  once  established,  appeared 
essential  to  their  national  unity.  Nevertheless  it 
is  generally  understood  to  have  been  a  worship  of 
Jehovah,  though  under  unlawful  and  degrading 
forms.  Worse  by  far  was  the  worship  of  Baal, 
which  came  in  under  one  monarch  only,  Ahab, 
and  was  destroyed  after  his  son  was  slain,  by 
Jehu.  A  secondary  result  of  the  revolution  was 
the  ejection  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  from  their  lands 
and  cities  in  Israel ;  at  least,  such  as  remained 
were  spiritually  degraded  by  the  compliances  re- 
quired, and  could  no  longer  offer  any  resistance 
to  the  kingly  power  by  aid  of  their  sacred  cha- 
racter. When  the  priestly  tribe  had  thus  lost 
independence,  it  lost  also  the  power  to  assist  the 
crown.  The  succession  of  Jeroboam's  family 
was  hallowed  by  no  religious  blessing ;  and  when 
his  son  was  murdered,  no  Jehoiada  was  found  to 
rally  his  supporters  and  ultimately  avenge  his 
cause.  The  example  of  successful  usurpation 
was  so  often  followed  by  the  captains  of  the 
armies,  that  the  kings  in  Israel  present  to  us  an 
irregular  series  of  dynasties,  with  several  short 
and  tumultuous  reigns.  This  was  one  cause  of 
disorder  and  weakness  to  Israel,  and  hindered  it 
from  swallowing  up  Judah  :  another  was  found 
in  the  relations  of  Israel  towards  foreign  powers, 
which  will  presently  be  dwelt  upon. 

With  regard  to  chronology,  the  following 
scheme  agrees  with  Winer  in  its  total  range,  but 
has  minor  changes  by  a  single  unit  in  some  rf 
the  kings : — 


Eehoboam .     . 

.   975 

Jeroboam.1 

Abijah.     .     . 

.   957 

Asa      ... 

.   9^5 

954 

Nadab       J 

952 

Baasha.      1 
Elah.          1 

929 

928 

Zimri,  Omri 

917 

Ahab.        -i 

Jehoshaphat    . 

.   914 

.     i 

S97 

Ahaziah.   f 

890 

Jehoram.  J 

Jehoram    .      . 

.   839 

Ahaziah     .     . 

Queen  Athaliah 
Jehoash 


Amaziah 
Uzziah. 


ISRAEL 

B.C. 

885 

884  Jehu 

878 

855  Jehoahaz. 

840  Jehoash. 

838 

824  Jeroboam  II. 


772  Zachariah. 

771  Shallum,  Menahem. 

7eo  Pekahiah. 

758  Pekah. 
.   757 
.   741 

729  Hosea. 
.    726 

721  Samaria  captured. 

The  dynasties  in  Israel  are  denoted  by  brackets. 


Jotham 
Ahaz    . 

Hezekiah 


Jeroboam  originally  fixed  on  Shechem  as  the 
centre  of  his  monarchy,  and  fortified  it ;  moved 
perhaps  not  only  by  its  natural  suitability,  but 
by  the  remembrances  of  Jacob  which  clove  to  it, 
and  by  the  auspicious  fact  that  here  first  Israel 
had  decided  for  him  against  Rehoboam.  But  the 
natural  delightfulness  of  Tirzah  (Cant.  vi.  4) 
led  him,  perhaps  late  in  his  reign,  to  erect  a 
palace  there  (1  Kings  xiv.  17).  After  the  murder 
of  Jeroboam's  son,  Baasha  seems  to  have  intended 
to  fix  his  capital  at  Ramah,  as  a  convenient 
place  for  annoying  the  king  of  Judah,  whom  he 
looked  on  as  his  only  dangerous  enemy ;  but 
when  forced  to  renounce  this  plan  (xv.  17,  21), 
he  acquiesced  in  Tirzah,  which  continued  to  be 
the  chief  city  of  Israel,  until  Omri,  who,  since  the 
palace  at  Tirzah  had  been  burned  during  the  civil 
war  (1  Kings  xvi.  18),  built  Samaria,  with  the 
ambition  not  uncommon  in  the  founder  of  a  new 
dynasty  (xvi.  24).  Samaria  continued  to  the  end 
of  the  monarchy  to  be  the  centre  of  administra- 
tion ;  and  its  strength  appears  to  have  justified 
Omri's  choice.  For  details,  see  Sasiakia  ;  also 
Tirzah  and  Shechem. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Jeroboam  carried 
back  with  him  into  Israel  the  good  will,  if  not  the 
substantial  assistance,  of  Shishak ;  and  this  will 
account  for  his  escaping  the  storm  from  Egypt 
which  swept  over  Rehoboam  in  his  fifth  year. 
During  that  first  period  Israel  was  far  from  quiet 
within.  Although  the  ten  tribes  collectively  had 
decided  in  favour  of  Jeroboam,  great  numbers  of 
individuals  remained  attached  to  the  family  of 
David  and  to  the  worship  at  Jerusalem,  and  in 
the  first  three  years  of  Rehoboam  migrated  into 
Judah  (2  Chron.  xi.  IG,  17).  Perhaps  it  was  not 
until  this  process  commenced,  that  Jeroboam  was 
worked  up  to  the  desperate  measure  of  erecting 
rival  sanctuaries  with  visible-  idols  (1  Kings  xii. 
27)  :  a  measure  which  met  the  usual  ill-success  of 
profane  state-craft,  and  aggravated  the  evil  which 
he  feared.  It  set  him  at  war  with  the  whole 
order  of  priests  and  Levites,  whose  expulsion  or 
subjugation,  we  may  be  certain,  was  not  effected 
without  convulsing  his  whole  kingdom,  and  so 
occupying  him  as  to  free  Rehoboam  froni  any  real 
danger,  although  no  peace  was  made.  The  king 
of  Judah  improved  the  time  by  immense  efforts 
in  fortifying  his  territory  (2  Chron.  xi.  5-11); 


ISRAEL 

and,  although  Shishak  soon  after  carried  off  the 
most  valuable  spoil,  no  great  or  definite  impres- 
sion could  be  made  by  Jeroboam.  Israel  having* 
so  far  taken  the  place  of  heathen  nations,  and 
being  already  perhaps  even  in  alliance  with 
Egypt,  at  an  early  period — we  know  not  how 
soon— sought  and  obtained  the  frieinlship  of  the 
kings  of  Damascus.  A  sense  of  the  gn- at  advan- 
tage derivable  from  such  a  union  seems  to  have 
led  Ahab  afterwards  to  behave  with  mildness  and 
conciliation  towards  Benhadad,  at  a  time  when 
it  could  have  been  least  expected  (1  Kings  xx. 
31-34).  From  that  transaction  we  learn  that 
Benhadad  I.  had  made  in  Damascus  '  streets  for 
Omri,'  and  Omri  for  Benhadad  in  Samaria.  This, 
no  doubt.  Implied  that  '  a  quarter '  was  assigned 
for  Syrian  merchants  in  Samaria,  which  was  pro- 
bably fortified  like  the  '  camp  of  the  Tyrians '  in 
Memphis,  or  the  English  factory  at  Calcutta ; 
and  in  it,  of  course,  Syrian  worship  would  be 
tolerated.  Against  such  intercourse  the  prophets, 
as  might  be  expected,  entered  their  protest  (ver. 
35-43) ;  but  it  was  in  many  ways  too  profitable 
to  be  renounced.  In  the  reign  of  Baasha,  Asa 
king  of  Judah,  sensible  of  the  dangerous  advan- 
tage gained  by  his  rival  through  the  friendship  of 
the  Syrians,  determined  to  buy  them  off  at  any 
price  [see  also  under  Judah];  and  by  sacrificing 
'  the  treasures  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  tlie 
treasflres  of  the  king's  house'  (xv.  18),  induced 
Benhadad  I.  to  break  his  league  with  Baasha  and 
to  ravage  all  the  northern  district  of  Israel.  This 
drew  off  the  Israelitish  monarch,  and  enabled 
Asa  to  destroy  the  fortifications  of  Ramah,  which 
would  have  stopped  the  coui-se  of  his  trade  (xv. 
17),  perhaps  that  with  the  sea-coast  and  with 
Tyre.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  war  be- 
tween Israel  and  Syria,  on  which  the  safety  of 
Judah  at  that  time  depended.  Cordial  union  was 
not  again  restored  between  the  two  northern  states 
until  the  days  of  Rezin  king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah 
the  son  of  Remaliah,  when  Damascus  must  have 
already  felt  the  rising  power  of  Nineveh.  The 
renewed  alliance  instantly  proved  so  disastrous 
to  Judah,  which  was  reduced  to  extremest  straits 
(Isa.  vii.  2 ;  2  Kings  xv.  37  ;  2  Chron.  xxviii. 
5,  C),  as  may  seem  to  justify  at  least  the  polici/ 
of  Asa's  proceeding.  Although  it  was  impossible 
for  a  prophet  to  approve  of  it  (2  Chron.  xvi.  7), 
we  may  only  so  much  the  more  infer  that  Judah 
was  already  brought  into  most  pressing  difficul- 
ties, and  that  the  general  course  of  the  war,  in 
spite  of  occasional  reverses,  was  decidedly  and 
increasingly  fiivourable  to  Israel. 

The  wars  of  Syria  and  Israel  were  carried  on 
chiefly  under  three  reigns,  those  of  Benhadad  II., 
Hazael,  and  Benhadad  III.,  the  two  first  mo- 
narchs  being  generally  prosperous,  especially 
Hazael,  the  last  being  as  decidedly  unsuccessful. 
Although  these  results  may  have  depended  in 
part  on  personal  qualities,  there  is  high  proba- 
bility that  the  feebleness  displayed  by  the  Syi-ians 
against  Jehoash  and  his  sou  Jeroboam  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  pressure  of  the  advancing  empire  of 
Nineveh. 

Asa  adhered,  through  the  whole  of  his  long 
reign,  to  the  policy  of  encouraging  hostility  be- 
tween the  two  northern  kingdoms ;  and  the  first 
Benhadad  had  such  a  career  of  success  that  his 
son  found  himself  in  a  condition  to  hope  for  an 
entire  conquest  of  Israel.     His  formidable  inva- 


ISRAEL 

sions  -wrought  an  entire  change  in  the  mind  of 
Jehoshaphat  (,1  Kings  xxii.  44),  -who  saw  that  if 
Israel  was  swallowed  up  by  Syria,  there  would 
be  no  safety  for  Judah.  We  may  conjecture  that 
this  consideration  determined  him  to  unite  the 
j  two  royal  families  ;  for  no  common  cause  would 
have  induced  so  religious  a  king  to  select  for  his 
son's  wife  Athaliah  the  daughter  of  Jezebel.  The 
age  of  Ahaziah,  who  was  sprung  from  this  mar- 
riage, forces  lis  to  place  it  as  early  as  B.C.  912, 
which  is  the  third  year  of  Jehoshaphat  and  sixth 
of  Ahab.  Late  in  his  reign  Jehoshaphat  threw 
himself  most  cordially  (1  Kings  xxii.  4)  into  the 
defence  of  Ahab,  and  by  so  doing  probably  saved 
Israel  from  a  foreign  yoke.  Another  mark  of  the 
low  state  into  which  both  kingdoms  were  falling, 
is,  that  after  Ahab's  death  the  Moabites  refused 
their  usual  tribute  to  Israel,  and  (as  far  as  can  be 
made  out  from  the  ambiguous  words  of  2  Kings 
iii.  27),  the  united  force  of  the  two  kingdoms 
failed  of  doing  more  than  irritate  them.  Soon 
after,  in  the  reign  of  Jehoram  son  of  Jehoshaphat, 
the  Edomites  followed  the  example,  and  esta- 
blished their  independence.  This  event  possibly 
engaged  the  whole  force  of  Judah,  and  hindered 
it  from  succouring  Samaria  during  the  cruel  siege 
which  it  sustained  from  Benhadad  II.,  in  the 
reign  of  Jehoram  son  of  Ahab.  The  declining 
years  and  health  of  the  king  of  Syria  gave  a  short 
respite  to  Israel ;  but,  in  B.C.  885,  Hazael,  by  de- 
feating the  united  Hebrew  armies,  commenced 
the  career  of  conquest  and  harassing  invasion  by 
which  he  '  made  Israel  like  the  dust  by  threshing.' 
Even  under  Jehu  he  subdued  the  trans-Jordanic 
tribes  (2  Kings  x.  32).  Afterwards,  since  he 
took  the  town  of  Gath  (2  Kings  xii.  17)  and 
prepared  to  attack  Jerusalem — an  attack  which 
Jehoash  king  of  Judah  averted  only  by  strictly 
following  Asa's  precedent— it  is  manifest  that  all 
the  passes  and  chief  forts  of  the  country  west  of 
the  Jordan  must  have  been  in  his  hand.  Indeed, 
as  he  is  said  '  to  have  left  to  Jehoahaz  only  fifty 
horsemen,  ten  chariots,  and  ten  thousand  footmen,' 
it  would  seem  that  Israel  was  strictly  a  conquered 
province,  in  which  Hazael  dictated  (as  the  Eng- 
lish to  the  native  rajahs  of  India)  what  military 
force  should  be  kept  up.  From  this  thraldom 
Israel  was  delivered  by  some  unexplained  agency. 
We  are  told  merely  that  '  Jehovah  gave  to  Israel 
a  Hfiviotir,  so  that  they  went  out  from  under  the 
hand  of  the  Syrians ;  and  the  children  of  Israel 
dwelt  in  their  tents  as beforetime,'  2  Kings  xiii.  5. 
It  is  allowable  to  conjecture  that  the  (apparently 
unknown)  deliverer  was  the  Assyrian  monarchy, 
which,  assaulting  Hazael  towards  the  end  of  the 
reign  of  Jehoahaz,  entirely  drew  away  the  Syrian 
armies.  That  it  was  some  urgent,  powerful,  and 
continued  pressure,  considering  the  great  strength 
which  the  empire  of  Damascus  had  attained, 
seems  clear  from  the  sudden  weakness  of  Syria 
through  the  reians  of  Jehoash  and  Jeroboam  II., 
the  former  of  whom  thrice  defeated  Benhadad  III. 
and  '  recovered  the  cities  of  Israel ;'  the  latter  not 
only  regained  the  full  territory  of  the  ten  tribes, 
but  made  himself  master  (for  a  time  at  least) 
of  Damascus  and  Hamath.  How  entirely  the 
friendship  of  Israel  and  Judah  had  been  caused 
and  cemented  by  their  common  fear  of  Syria,  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  no  sooner  is  the  power  of 
Damascus  broken  than  new  war  breaks  out  be- 
tween the  two  kingdoms,  which  ended  in  the 


ISRAEL 


443 


plunder  of  Jerusalem  by  Jehoash,  who  also  broke 
down  its  walls  and  carried  off  hostages;  after 
which  there  is  no  more  alliance  between  Judah 
and  Israel.  The  empire  of  Damascus  seems  to 
have  been  entirely  dissolved  under  the  son  of 
Hazael,  and  no  mention  is  made  of  its  kings  for 
eighty  years  or  more.  When  Pekah,  son  of  Re- 
maliah,  reigned  in  Samaria,  Rezin,  as  king  of 
Damascus,  made  a  last  but  ineffectual  effort  for 
its  independence. 

The  same  Assyrian  power  which  had  doubtless 
so  seriously  shaken,  and  perhaps  temporarily 
overturned,  the  kingdom  of  Damascus,  was  soon 
to  be  felt  by  Israel.  Menahem  was  invaded  by 
Pul  (the  first  sovereign  of  Nineveh  whose  name 
we  know),  and  was  made  tributary.  His  succes- 
sor, Tiglath-pileser,  in  the  reign  of  Pekah,  son  of 
Remaliah,  carried  captive  the  eastern  and  northern 
tribes  of  Israel  («.  e.  perhaps  all  their  chief  mea 
as  hostages?),  and  soon  after  slew  Rezin,  the  ally 
of  Pekah,  and  subdued  Damascus.  The  follow- 
ing emperor,  Shalmanezer,  besieged  and  captured 
Samaria,  and  terminated  the  kingdon*.  of  Israel, 
B.C.  721. 

This  branch  of  the  Hebrew  monarchy  suffered 
far  greater  and  more  rapid  reverses  than  the  other. 
From  the  accession  of  Jeroboam  to  the  middle  of 
Baasha's  reign  it  probably  increased  in  power; 
it  then  waned  with  the  growth  of  the  Damascene 
empire  ;  it  struggled  hard  against  it  under  Ahab 
and  Jehoram,  but  sank  lower  and  lower  ;  it  was 
dismembered  under  Jehu,  and  made  subject  under 
Jehoahaz.  From  B.C.  940  to  b.c.  850  is,  as  nearly 
as  can  be  ascertained,  the  period  of  depression ; 
and  from  B.C.  914  to  B.C.  830  that  of  friendship 
or  alliance  with  Judah.  But  after  (about)  B.C. 
850  Syria  began  to  decline,  and  Israel  soon  shot 
out  rapidly  ;  so  that  Joash  and  his  sou  Jeroboam 
appear,  of  all  Hebrew  monavchs,  to  come  next  to 
David  and  Solomon.  How  long  this  burst  of 
prosperity  lasted  does  not  distinctly  appear  ;  but 
it  would  seem  that  entire  dominion  over  the  ten 
tribes  was  held  until  Pekah  received  the  first 
blow  from  the  Assyrian  conqueror. 

Besides  that  which  was  a  source  of  weakness 
to  Israel  from  the  beginning,  viz.,  the  schism  of 
the  crown  with  the  whole  ecclesiastical  body, 
other  causes  may  be  discerned  which  made  the 
ten  tribes  less  powerful,  in  comparison  with  the 
two,  than  might  have  been  expected.  The  mar- 
riage of  Ahab  to  Jezebel  brought  with  it  no  poli- 
tical advantages  at  all  commensurate  with  the 
direct  moral  mischief,  to  say  nothing  of  the  spi- 
ritual evil ;  and  the  reaction  against  the  worship 
of  Baal  was  a  most  ruinous  atonement  for  the 
sin.  To  suppress  the  monstrous  iniquity,  Jehu 
not  only  put  to  death  Ahab's  wife,  grandson,  and 
seventy  sons,  but  murdered  first  the  king  of 
Judah  himself,  and  next  forty-two  youthful  and 
innocent  princes  of  his  house  ;  while,  strange  to 
tell,  the  daughter  of  Jezebel  gained  by  his  deed 
the  throne  of  Judah,  and  perpetrated  a  new  mas- 
sacre. The  horror  of  such  crimes  nnist  have 
fallen  heavily  on  Jehu,  and  have  caused  a  wide- 
spread disaffection  among  his  own  subjects.  Add 
to  this,  that  the  Phoenicians  must  have  deeply 
resented  his  proceedings ;  so  that  we  get  a  very 
sufficient  clue  to  the  prostration  of  Israel  under 
the  foot  of  Hazael  during  the  reign  of  Jehu  and 
his  son.  ,•  .    , 

Another  and  more  abiding  cause  of  political 


444  IfebAUHAK 

debility  iu  the  ten  tribes  was  found  iu  the  imper- 
fect consolidation  of  the  inhabitants  into  a  single 
nation.  Since  those  who  lived  east  of  the  Jordan 
retained,  to  a  great  extent  at  least,  their  pastoral 
habits,  their  union  with  the  rest  could  never  have 
been  very  firm;  and  when  a  king  was  neither 
strong  independently  of  them,  nor  had  good 
hereditary  pretensions,  they  wei'e  not  likely  to 
contribute  much  to  his  power.  After  their  con- 
quest of  the  Hagarenes  and  the  depression  of  the 
Moabites  and  Ammonites  by  David,  they  had 
free  room  to  spread  eastward ;  and  many  of  their 
chief  men  may  have  become  wealthy  in  flocks 
and  herds  (like  Machir  the  son  of  Ammiel,  of 
Lodebar,  and  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  2  Sam. 
xvii.  27),  over  whom  the  authority  of  the  Israel- 
itish  crown  would  natura.lly  be  precarious ;  while 
west  of  the  Jordan  the  agrarian  law  of  Moses 
made  it  difficult  or  impossible  for  a  landed  nobi- 
lity to  form  itself,  which  could  be  formidable  to 
the  royal  authority.  That  the  Arab  spirit  of 
freedom  was  rooted  in  the  eastern  tribes,  may 
perhaps  be  inferred  from  the  case  of  the  Re- 
chabites,  who  would  neither  live  in  houses  nor 
plant  vines :  undoubtedly  like  some  of  the  Na- 
bathseans,  lest,  by  becoming  settled  and  agricul- 
tural, they  should  be  enslaved.  Yet  the  need  of 
imposing  this  law  on  his  descendants  would  not 
have  been  felt  by  Jonadab,  had  not  an  opposite 
tendency  been  rising, — that  of  agricultural  settle- 
ment. 

Although  the  priests  and  Levites  nearly  dis- 
appeared out  of  Israel,  prophets  were  perhaps 
even  more  numerous  and  active  there  than  in 
Judah;  and  Ahijah,  whose  prediction  first  endan- 
gered Jeroboam  (1  Kings  xi.  29-40),  lived  in 
honour  at  Shiloh  to  his  dying  daj-  (xiv.  2). 
Obadiah  alone  saved  one  hundred  prophets  of 
Jehovah  from  the  rage  of  Jezebel  (xviii.  13). 
Possibly  their  extra-social  character  freed  them 
from  the  restraint  imposed  on  priests  and  Levites ; 
and  while  they  felt  less  bound  to  the  formal  rites 
of  the  Law,  the  kings  of  Israel  were  also  less 
jealous  of  them. 

1.  IS'SACHAR  (price-bought),  a  son  of  Jacob 
and  Leah,  born  B.C.  1749,  who  gave  name  to  one 
of  the  tribes  of  Israel  (Gen.  xxx.  18;  Num. 
xxvi.  25). 

2.  The  tribe  called  after  Issachar.  Jacob,  on 
his  death-bed,  speaking  metaphorically  of  the 
character  and  destinies  of  his  sons,  or  rather  of 
the  tribes  which  should  spring  from  them,  said, 
'  Issachar  is  a  strong  ass  couching  down  between 
two  burdens'  (Gen.  xlix.  14,  15).  Remembering 
the  character  of  the  ass  in  Eastern  countries,  we 
may  be  sure  that  this  comparison  was  not  intended 
in  disparagement.  The  ass  is  anything  but 
stupid ;  and  the  proverbial  obstinacy  which  it 
sometimes  exhibits  in  our  own  country,  is  rather 
the  result  of  ill-treatment  than  a  natural  charac- 
teristic of  the  animal.  Its  true  attributes  are 
patience,  gentleness,  great  capability  of  endurance, 
laborious  exertion,  and  a  meek  submission  to  au- 
thority. Issachar,  therefore,  the  progenitor  of  a 
race  singularly  docile,  and  distinguished  for  their 
patient  industry,  is  exhibited  under  the  similitude 
of  the  meekest  and  most  laborious  of  quadrupeds. 
The  descriptive  character  goes  on : — '  And  he 
saw  that  rest  was  good,  and  the  land  that  it  was 
pleasant,  and  he  bowed  his  shoulder  to  bear,  and 
became  a  servant  unto  tribute  •'  which  probably 


ITVRJEA. 

does  not  imply  that  reproach  upon  Issachar,  as 
addicted  to  ignominious  ease,  which  some  com- 
mentators find  in  it.  It  seems  simply  to  mean 
that  finding  itself  in  possession  of  a  most  fertile 
portion  of  Palestine,  the  tribe  devoted  itself  to  the 
labours  of  agriculture,  taking  little  interest  in  the 
public  affairs  of  the  nation.  Accordingly  Josephus 
says  that  the  heritage  of  the  tribe  '  was  fruitful  to 
admiration,  abounding  in  pastures  and  nurseries 
of  all  kinds,  so  that  it  would  make  any  man  in 
love  with  husbandry'  (Antiq.  v.  1.  22).  But 
although  a  decided  preference  of  agricultural 
over  commercial  or  military  pursuits  is  here  in- 
dicated, there  seems  no  reason  to  conclude,  as 
some  gather  from  the  last  clause,  that  the  tribe 
would  be  willing  to  purchase  exemption  from 
war  by  the  payment  of  a  heavy  tribute.  The 
words  do  not  necessarily  imply  this  ;  and  there 
is  no  evidence  that  the  tribe  ever  declined  any 
military  service  to  which  it  was  called.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  specially  commended  by  Deborah 
for  the  promptitude  with  which  it  presented  itself 
in  the  war  with  Jabin  ( Judg.  v.  15);  and  in  the 
days  of  David  honourable  testimony  is  borne  to 
its  character  (1  Chron.  xii.  32).  In  this  passage 
the  '  children  of  Issachar '  are  described  as  '  men 
that  had  understanding  of  the  times,  to  know 
what  Israel  ought  to  do,*  which  probably  means 
that  they  were  men  held  in  esteem  for  their  prU" 
dence  and  wisdom,  and  who  knew  that  the  time 
was  come  when  it  was  no  longer  safe  to  delay 
calling  David  to  the  throne  of  all  Israel.  On 
quitting  Egypt  the  tribe  of  Issachar  numbered 
54,000  adult  males,  which  gave  it  the  fifth  nume- 
rical rank  among  the  twelve  tribes,  Judah, 
Simeon,  Zebulun,  and  Dan,  being  alone  above  it. 
In  the  wilderness  it  increased  nearly  10,000,  and 
then  ranked  as  the  third  of  the  tribes,  Judah  and 
Dan  only  being  more  numerous  (Num.  i.  xxvi.). 
The  territory  of  the  tribe  comprehended  the 
whole  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  and  the  neigh- 
bouring districts — the  granary  of  Palestine.  It 
was  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Jordan,  on  the 
west  and  south  by  Manasseh,  and  on  the  north 
by  Asher  and  Zebulun.  It  contained  the  towns 
of  Megiddo,  Taanach,  Shunem,  Jezreel,  and  Beth- 
shan,  with  the  villages  of  Endor,  Aphek,  and 
Ibleam,  all  historical  names:  the  mountains  of 
Tabor  and  Gilboa,  and  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  were 
in  the  territory  of  this  tribe,  and  the  course  of  the 
river  Kishon  lay  through  it. 

ITH'AMAR  (palm-coasf),  fourth  sou  of  Aaron. 
He  was  consecrated  to  the  priesthood  along  with 
his  brothers  (Exod.  vi.  23;  Num.  iii.  2,  3). 
Nothing  is  individually  recorded  of  him,  except 
that  the  property  of  the  tabernacle  was  placed 
under  his  charge  (Exod.  xxxviii.  21),  and  that 
he  superintended  all  matters  connected  with  its 
removal  by  the  Levitical  sections  of  Gershon  and 
Merari  (Num.  iv.  28).  The  sacred  utensils  and 
their  removal  were  entrusted  to  his  elder  brother 
Eleazar.  Ithamar,  with  his  descendants,  occu- 
pied the  position  of  common  priests  till  the  iigh- 
priesthood  passed  into  his  family  in  the  person  of 
Eli,  under  circumstances  of  which  we  are  igno- 
rant. Abiathar,  whom  Solomon  deposed,  was 
the  last  high-priest  of  that  line ;  and  the  ponti- 
ficate then  reverted  to  the  elder  line  of  Eleazar  in 
the  person  of  Zadok  (1  Kings  ii.  27). 

ITURiE'A,  a  district  in  the  north-east  of  Pa- 
lestine, forming  the  tetrarchy  of  Philip.    Th« 


IVORY 

name  is  supposed  to  have  originated  with  Itur,  or 
Jetur,  one  of  Ishmael's  sons  (1  Chron.  i.  31).  In 
1  Chron.  v.  19  this  name  is  given  as  that  of  a 
tribe  or  nation  with  which  Reuben  (beyond  the 
Jordan)  warred  ;  and  from  its  being  joined  with 
the  names  of  other  of  Ishmael's  sons  it  is  evident 
that  a  tribe  descended  from  his  son  Jetur  is  inti- 
mated. 

During  the  Exile  this  and  other  border  coun- 
tries were  taken  possession  of  by  various  tribes, 
whom,  although  they  are  called  after  the  original 
names,  as  occupants  of  the  countries  which  had 
received  those  names,  we  are  no:  bound  to  regard 
as  descendants  of  the  original  possessors.  These 
new  Iturfeans  were  eventually  subdued  by  King 
Aristobulus  (b.c.  100)  ;  by  whom  they  were  con- 
strained to  embrace  the  Jewish  religion,  and 
Were  at  the  same  time  incorporated  with  the 
state.  Nevertheless  the  Iturseans  were  still  recog- 
nisable as  a  distinct  people  in  the  time  of  Pliny. 
As  already  intimated,  Herod  the  Great,  in  di- 
viding his'dominions  among  his  sons,  bequeathed 
Ituraja  to  Philip,  as  part  of  a  tetrarchy  composed, 
according  to  Luke,  of  Trachonitis  and  Itursea. 
The  name  is  so  loosely  applied  by  ancient  writers, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  fix  its  boundaries  with  pre- 
cision. Perhaps  it  may  suffice  for  general  pur- 
poses to  describe  it  as  a  district  of  indeterminate 
extent,  traversed  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  Lake 
of  Tiberias  to  Damascus.  The  present  Jedur 
probably  comprehends  the  whole  or  greater  part 
of  the  proper  Ituraea.  This  is  described  by 
Burckhardt  as  '  lying  south  of  Jebelkessoue,  east 
of  Jebel  es-Sheik  (Mount  Hermon),  and  west  of 
the  Hadj  road.'  He  adds,  that  it  now  contains 
only  twenty  inhabited  villages.  By  the  help  of 
these  lights  we  2iay  discover  that  Itnrsea  was  a 
plain  country,  about  thirty  miles  long  from  north 
to  south,  and  twenty-four  from  east  to  west, 
having  on  the  north  Abilene  and  the  Damascene 
district ;  on  the  south  Auranitis  and  part  of  Ba- 
shan  ;  on  the  east  the  stony  region  of  Trachonitis ; 
and  on  the  west  the  hill  country  of  Bashan. 

IVORY  (1  Kings  x.  22 ;  2  Chron.  ix.  21; 
Rev.  xviii.  12).  '  Elephant's  tooth,'  or  simply 
'  elephant,'  is  a  common  name  for  ivory,  not  only 
in  the  Oriental  languages  and  in  Greek,  but  also 
in  the  Western  tongues ;  although  in  all  of  them 
teeth  of  other  species  may  be  included.  Ele- 
phants' teeth  were  largely  imported  as  merchan- 
dise, and  also  brought  as  tribute  into  Egypt. 
The  processions  of  human  figures  bearing  pre- 
sents, &c.,  still  extant  on  the  walls  of  palaces 
and  tombs,  attest  by  the  black  crisp-haired 
bearers  of  huge  teeth,  that  some  of  these  came 
from  l''-tIiiopia  or  Central  Africa ;  and  by  white 
men  similarly  laden,  who  also  bring  an  Asiatic 
eUphant  and  a  white  bear,  that  others  cam'e  from 
the  East.  Phoenician  traders  had  ivory  in  such 
abundance,  that  the  chief  seats  of  their  galleys 
were  inlaid  with  it.  In  the  Scriptures,  according 
to  the  Chaldee  Paraphrase,  Jacob's  bed  ^cas  made 
of  this  substance  (Gen.  xlix.  33) ;  we  find  king 
Solomon  importing  it  from  Tarshish  (1  Kings  x. 
22) ;  and  if  Psalm  xlv.  8  was  written  before  his 
reign,  ivory  was  extensively  used  in  the  furniture 
of  royal  residences  at  a  still  earlier  period.  The 
tusks  of  African  elephants  are  generally  much 
longer  than  those  of  the  Asiatic ;  and  it  may  be 
observed  in  this  place,  that  the  ancients,  as  well 
j     as  the  moderns,  are  mistaken  when  they  assert 


JABAL 


445 


elephants'  tusks  to  be  a  kind  of  horns.  They 
are  genuine  teeth,  combining  in  themselves,  and 
occupying,  in  the  upper  jaw,  the  whole  mass  of 
secretions  which  in  other  animals  form  the  upper 
incisor  and  laniary  teeth.  They  are  useful  for 
defence  and  offence,  and  for  holding  down  green 
branches,  or  rooting  up  water-plants;  but  still 
they  are  not  absolutely  necessary,  since  there  is  a 
variety  of  elephant  in  the  Indian  forests  entirely 
destitute  of  tusks,  and  the  females  in  most  of  the 
races  are  either  without  them  or  have  them  very 
small ;  not  turned  downwards,  as  Bochart  states, 
but  rather  straight,  as  correctly  described  by 
Pliny. 

lYAR  is  the  late  name  of  that  month  which 
■w  as  the  second  of  the  sacred,  and  the  seventh  of 
the  civil  year  of  the  Jews,  and  which  began  with 
the  new  moon  of  May.  The  few  memorable  days 
in  it  are  the  10th,  as  a  fast  for  the  death  of  Eli ; 
the  14th,  as  the  second  or  lesser  Passover,  for 
those  whom  uncleanness  or  absence  prevented 
from  celebrating  the  feast  in  Nisan  (Num.  ix. 
11);  the  23rd,  as  a  feast  instituted  by  Simon  the 
Maccabee  in  memory  of  his  taking  the  citadel 
Acra  in  Jerusalem  (1  Mace.  xiii.  51,  52);  the 
28th,  as  a  fast  for  the  death  of  Samuel. 

The  name  lyar  does  not  occur  in  the  Old 
Testament,  this  month  being  always  described  as 
4he  second  month,  except  in  four  places  in  which 
it  is  called  Ziv  (1  Kings  v.  1,  37;  Dan.  ii,  31 ; 
iv.  33) ;  which  is  a  curtailed  form  for  '  zehiv,' 
bright,  an  appropriate  epithet  of  the  month  of 
flowers. 


J. 


JA'BAL  (a  stream),  a  descendant  of  Cain, 
son  of  Lamech  and  Adah,  who  is  described  in 
Gen.  iv.  20,  as  '  the  father  of  such  as  dwell  in 
tents,  and  have  cattle.'  This  obviously  means 
that  Jabal  was  the  first  who  adopted  that  nomade 
life  which  is  still  followed  by  numerous  Arabian 
and  Tartar  tribes  in  Asia.  Abel  had  long  before 
been  a  keeper  of  sheep ;  but  Jabal  invented  such 
portable  habitations  (formed,  doubtless,  of  skins) 
as  enabled  a  pastoral  people  to  remove  their 
dwellings  with  them  from  one  place  to  another, 
when  they  led  their  flocks  to  new  pastures. 

JAB'BOK,  one  of  the  streams  which  traverse 
the  country  east  of  the  Jordan,  and  which,  after 
a  course  nearly  from  east  to  west,  falls  into  that 
river  about  thirty  miles  below  the  lake  of  Ti- 
berias. It  seems  to  rise  in  the  Hauran  moun- 
tains, and  its  whole  course  may  be  computed  at 
sixty-five  miles.  It  is  mentioned  in  Scripture  as 
the  boundary  which  separated  the  kingdom  of 
Sihon,  king  of  the  Amorites,  from  that  of  Og, 
king  of  Bashan  (Josh.  xii.  1-6)  ;  and  it  appears 
afterwards  to  have  been  the  boundary  between 
the  tribe  of  Reuben  and  the  half-tribe  of  Ma- 
nasseh.  The  earliest  notice  of  it  occurs  in  Gen. 
xxxii.  22.  The  Jabbok  now  bears  the  name  of 
Zerka.  In  its  passage  westward  across  the  plains 
it  more  than  once  passes  under  ground ;  and  in 
summer  the  upper  portion  of  its  channel  becomes 
dry.  But  on  entering  the  more  hilly  country 
immediately  east  of  the  Jordan,  it  receivestribute 
from  several  springs,  which  maintain  it  as  a 
perennial  stream,  although  very  low  in  sum- 


446 


JABIN 


mer.  On  approaching  the  Jordan  it  flows  through 
a  deep  ravine,  the  steep  banks  being  overgrown 
with  the  Solammi  fnriosum,  which  attains  a  con- 
siderable size.  But  the  ravine  is  not  so  well 
wooded  as  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  The 
water  is  pleasant,  and  the  bed  being  rocky  the 
stream  runs  clear. 

JA'BESH,  or  Jabesh  Gilead,  a  town  beyond 
the  Jordan,  in  the  land  of  Gilead. 

Jabesh  belonged  to  the  half-tribe  of  Manasseh, 
and  was  sacked  by  the  Israelites  for  refusing  to 
join  in  the  war  against  Benjamin  (Judg.  xxi.  8). 
It  is  chiefly  memorable  for  the  siege  it  sustained 
from  Nahash,  king  of  the  Ammonites,  the  raising 
of  which  formed  the  first  exploit  of  the  newly- 
elected  king,  Saul,  and  procured  his  confirmation 
in  the  sovereignty.  The  inhabitants  had  agreed 
to  surrender,  and  to  have  their  right  eyes  put 
out  (to  incapacitate  them  from  military  service), 
but  were  allowed  seven  days  to  ratify  the  treaty. 
In  the  meantime  Saul  collected  a  large  army,  and 
came  to  their  relief  ( 1  Sam.  xi.).  This  service 
was  gratefully  remembered  by  the  Jabeshites ; 
and,  about  forty  years  after,  when  the  dead  bodies 
of  Saul  and  his  sons  were  gibbeted  on  the  walls 
of  Bethshan,  on  the  other  side  of  the  rirer,  they 
made  a  forced  march  by  night,  took  away  the 
bodies,  and  gave  them  honourable  burial  (1  Sam, 
xxxi.). 

Jabesh  still  existed  as  a  town  in  the  time  of 
Eusebius,  who  places  it  six  miles  from  Pella 
towards  Gerasa;  but  the  knowledge  of  the  site  is 
DOW  lost,  unless  we  accept  the  conclusion  of  Mr. 
Buckingham,  who  thinks  it  may  be  found  in  a 
place  called  Jehaz  or  Jejaz,  marked  by  ruins 
upon  a  hill,  in  a  spot  not  far  from  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  above  indications,  Jabesh  must  have 
been  situated. 

1.  JA'BIN  (cHscerner),  king  of  Hazor,and  one 
of  the  most  powerful  of  all  the  princes  who 
reigned  in  Canaan  when  it  was  invaded  by  the 
Israelites.  His  dominion  seems  to  have  extended 
over  all  the  north  part  of  the  country  ;  and  after 
the  ruin  of  the  league  formed  against  the  He- 
brews in  the  south  of  Adonizedek,  king  of  Jeru- 
salem, he  assembled  his  tributaries  near  the 
waters  of  Merom  (the  lake  Huleh),  and  called  all 
the  people  to  arms.  This  coalition  was  destroyed, 
as  the  one  in  the  south  had  been,  and  Jabin  him- 
self perished  in  the  sack  of  Hazor,  his  capital, 
B.C.  1450.  This  prince  was  the  last  powerful 
enemy  with  whom  Joshua  combated,  and  his 
overthrow  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  the 

I     crowning  act  in  the  conquest  of  the  Promised 
I     Land  (Josh.  xi.  1-14). 

2.  JABIN,  king  of  Hazor,  and  probably  de- 
I  scended  from  the  preceding.  It  appears  that 
j  during  one  of  the  servitudes  of  the  Israelites, 
j     probably  when  they  lay  under  the  yoke  of  Cushan 

or  Eglon,  the  kingdom  of  Hazor  was  recon- 
structed. The  narrative  gives  to  this  second 
Jabin  even  the  title  of  '  king  of  Canaan  ;'  and 
this,  with  the  possession  of  900  iron-armed  war- 
chariots,  implies  unusual  power  and  extent  of 
dominion.  The  iniquities  of  the  Israelites  having 
lost  them  the  Divine  protection,  Jabin  gained 
the  mastery  over  them ;  and,  stimulated  by  the 
remembrance  of  ancient  wrongs,  oppressed  them 
heavily  for  twenty  years.  From  this  thraldom 
they  were  relieved  by  the  great  victory  won  by 
Barak  in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  ever  the  hosts 


JACOD 

of  Jabin,  commanded  by  Sisera,  one  of  the  most 
renowned  generals  of  those  times,  B.C.  1285.  The 
well-compacted  power  of  the  king  of  Hazor  was 
not  yet,  however,  entirely  broken.  The  war  was 
still  prolonged  for  a  time,  but  ended  in  the  entire 
ruin  of  Jabin,  and  the  subjugation  of  his  terri- 
tories by  the  Israelites  (Judg.  iv.). 

This  is  the  Jabin  whose  name  occurs  in  Ps. 
Ixxxiii.  10. 

JA'CHIN  and  BO'AZ,  the  names  of  two 
brazen  pillars  in  the  porch  of  Solomon's  temple 
[Temple]. 

JACINTH.  The  stone  which  is  called  Ja- 
cinth in  Eev.  xxi.  20,  is  the  same  which  is  called 
in  the  Old  Testament  a  Liguee.  [See  the 
word.] 

JA'COB  was  the  second  son  of  Isaac  by  his 
wife  Rebekah.  Her  conceiving  is  stated  to  have 
been  supernatural.  Led  by  peculiar  feelings  she 
went  to  inquire  of  the  Lord,  and  was  informed 
that  she  was  indeed  with  child;  that  her  off- 
spring should  be  the  founders  of  two  nations,  and 
that  the  elder  should  serve  the  younger:  cir- 
cumstances which  ought  to  be  borne  in  mind 
when  a  judgment  is  pronounced  on  her  conduct 
in  aiding  Jacob  to  secure  the  privileges  of  birth 
to  the  exclusion  of  his  elder  brother  Esau. 

As  the  boys  grew,  Jacob  appeared  to  partake 
of  the  gentle,  quiet,  and  retiring  character  of  his 
father,  and  was  accordingly  led  to  prefer  the 
tranquil  safety  and  pleasing  occupations  of  a 
shepherd's  life  to  the  bold  and  daring  enterprises 
of  the  hunter,  for  which  Esau  had  an  irresistible 
predilection.  Jacob,  therefore,  passed  his  days 
in  or  near  the  paternal  tent,  simple  and  unpre- 
tending in  his  manner  of  life,  and  finding  in  the 
flocks  and  herds  which  he  kept  images  and  emo- 
tions which  both  filled  and  satisfied  his  heart. 
That  selfishness  and  a  prudence  which  approached 
to  cunning  had  a  seat  in  the  heart  of  the  youth 
Jacob,  appears  but  too  plain  in  his  dealing  with 
Esan,  when  he  exacted  from  a  famishing  brother 
so  large  a  price  for  a  mess  of  pottage  as  the  sur- 
render of  his  birthright. 

The  leaning  which  his  mother  had  in  favour 
of  Jacob  would  naturally  be  augmented  by  the 
conduct  of  Esau  in  marrying,  doubtless  contrary 
to  his  parents'  wishes,  two  Hittite  women,  who 
are  recorded  to  have  been  a  grief  of  mind  unto 
Isaac  and  to  Rebekah. 

Circumstances  thus  prepared  the  way  for  pro- 
curing the  transfer  of  the  birthright,  when  Isaac, 
being  now  old,  proceeded  to  take  steps  to  pro- 
nounce the  irrevocable  blessing  which  acted  with 
all  the  force  of  a  modern  testamentary  bequest. 
This  blessing,  then,  it  was  essential  that  Jacob 
should  receive  in  preference  to  Esau.  Here 
Rebekah  appears  the  chief  agent;  Jacob  is  a 
mere  instrument  in  her  hands.  Isaac  directs 
Esau  to  procure  him  some  venison.  This  Re- 
bekah hears,  and  urges  her  reluctant  favourite  to 
personate  his  elder  brother.  Jacob  suggests  dif- 
ficulties ;  they  are  met  by  Rebekah,  who  is  ready 
to  incur  any  personal  danger  so  that  her  object 
be  gained.  Her  voice  is  obeyed,  the  venison  is 
brought,  Jacob  is  equipped  for  the  deceit;  he 
helps  out  his  fraud  by  direct  falsehood,  and  the 
old  man,  whose  senses  are  now  failing,  is  at  last 
with  difficulty  deceived.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  this  is  a  most  reprehensible  transaction,  and 
presents  a  truly  painful  picture ;    in  which  a 


JACOB 

mother  conspires  with  one  son  in  order  to  cheat 
her  aged  husband,  with  a  -view  to  deprive  another 
son  of  his  rightful  inheritance.  Justification  is 
here  impossible;  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten 
in  the  estimate  we  foi-m  that  there  was  a  promise 
in  favour  of  Jacob,  that  Jacob's  qualities  had  en- 
deared him  to  his  mother,  and  that  the  prospect 
to  her  was  dark  and  <hreatening  which  arose 
when  she  saw  the  neglected  Esau  at  the  head  of 
the  house,  and  his  hateful  wives  assuming  com- 
mand over  herself. 

Punishment  in  this  world  always  follows  close 
upon  the  heels  of  transgression.  Fear  seized  the 
guilty  Jacob,  who  is  sent  by  his  father,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Eebekah,  to  the  original  seat  of  the 
family,  in  order  that  he  might  find  a  wife  among 
his  cousins,  the  daughters  of  his  mother's  brother, 
I.aban  the  Syrian.  Before  he  is  dismissed  Jacob 
again  receives  his  father's  blessing,  the  object 
obviously  being  to  keep  alive  in  the  young  man's 
mind  the  great  promise  given  to  Abraham,  and 
thus  to  transmit  that  influence  which,  under  the 
aid  of  Divine  Providence,  was  to  end  in  placing 
the  family  in  possession  of  the  land  of  Palestine, 
and  in  so  doing  to  make  it '  a  multitude  of  people.' 
Ou  his  journey  eastward  he  tarried  all  night 
upon  a  certain  plain,  where  he  was  favoured  with 
a  vision,  and  received  a  promise  of  divine  pro- 
tection in  all  the  way  on  which  he  should  go. 

Jacob,  on  coming  '  into  the  land  of  the  people 
of  the  East,'  providentially  met  with  Rachel, 
Laban's  daughter,  to  whom,  with  true  Eastern 
simplicity  and  politeness,  he  showed  such  courtesy 
as  the  duties  of  pastoral  life  suggest  and  admit. 
And  here  his  gentle  and  affectionate  nature  dis- 
plays itself  under  the  influence  of  the  bonds  of 
kindred  and  the  fair  form  of  youth  : — '  Jacob 
kissed  Rachel,  and  lifted  up  liis  voice  and  wept.' 

After  he  had  been  with  his  uncle  the  space  of 
a  month,  Laban  inquires  of  him  what  reward  he 
expects  for  his  services.  He  asks  for  the  '  beau- 
tiful and  well-favoured  Rachel.'  His  request  is 
granted  on  condition  of  a  seven  years'  service— a 
long  period  truly,  but  to  Jacob  '  they  seemed  but 
a  few  days  for  the  love  he  had  to  her.'  When 
the  time  was  expired,  the  crafty  Laban  availed 
himself  of  the  customs  of  the  countr}',  in  order  to 
substitute  his  elder  and  '  tender-eyed '  daughter 
Leah.  In  the  morning  Jacob  found  how  he  had 
been  beguiled ;  but  Laban  excused  himself,  say- 
ing, '  It  must  not  be  done  in  our  country,  to  give 
the  younger  before  the  first-born.'  Another  seven 
years'  service  gains  for  Jacob  the  beloved  Rachel. 
Leah,  however,  has  the  compensatory  privilege  of 
being  the  mother  of  the  first-born — Reuben  ;  three 
other  sons  successively  follow,  namely,  Simeon, 
Levi,  and  Judah,  sons  of  Leah.  This  fruitfulness 
was  a  painful  subject  of  reflection  to  the  barren 
Ilachel,  who  employed  language  on  this  occasion 
that  called  forth  a  reply  from  her  husband  which 
shows  that,  mild  as  was  the  character  of  Jacob,  it 
was  by  no  means  wanting  in  force  and  energy 
(Gen.  XXX.  2).  An  arrangement,  however,  took 
place,  by  which  Rachel  had  children  by  means 
of  her  maid  Bilhah,  of  whom  Dan  and  Naphtali 
Were  born.  Two  other  sons— Gad  and  Asher — 
were  born  to  Jacob  of  Leah's  maid,  Zilpah.  Leah 
herself  bare  two  more  sons,  namely,  Issachar  and 
Zebulun  ;  she  also  bare  a  daughter,  Dinah.  At 
length  Rachel  herself  bare  a  son,  and  she  called 
his  name  Joseph. 


JACOB 


447 


Most  faithfully,  and  with  great  success,  had 
Jacob  served  his  uncle  for  fourteen  years,  when 
he  became  desirous  of  returning  to  his  parents. 
At  the  urgent  request  of  Laban,  however,  he  is 
induced  to  remain.  The  language  employed 
upon  this  occasion  (Gen.  xxx.  25,  sq.)  shows  that 
Jacob's  character  had  gained  considerably  during 
his  service  both  in  strength  and  comprehensive- 
ness ;  but  the  means  which  he  employed  in  order 
to  make  his  bargain  with  his  uncle  work  so  as  to 
enrich  himself,  prove  too  clearly  that  his  moral 
feelings  had  not  undergone  an  equal  improve- 
ment, and  that  the  original  taint  of  prudence,  and 
the  sad  lessons  of  his  mother  in  deceit,  had  pro- 
duced some  of  their  natural  fruit  in  his  bosom. 

The  prosperity  of  Jacob  displeased  and  grieved 
Laban,  so  that  a  separation  seemed  desirable. 
His  wives  are  ready  to  accompany  him.  Accord- 
ir.gly  he  set  out,  with  his  family  and  his  property, 
'  to  go  to  Isaac  his  father  in  the  land  of  Canaan.' 
It  was  not  till  the  third  day  that  Laban  learned 
that  Jacob  had  fled,  when  he  immediately  set  out 
in  pursuit  of  his  nephew,  and  after  seven  days' 
journey  overtook  him  in  Mount  Gilead.  Labam, 
however,  is  divinely  warned  not  to  hinder  Jacob's 
return.  Reproach  and  recrimination  ensued. 
Even  a  charge  of  theft  is  put  forward  by  Laban 
— '  Wherefore  hast  thou  stolen  my  gods  ?'  In 
truth,  Rachel  had  carried  off  certain  images  which 
were  the  objects  of  superstitious  reverence.  Igno- 
rant of  this  misdeed,  Jacob  boldly  called  for  a 
search,  adding,  'With  whomsoever  thou  findest 
thy  gods,  let  him  not  live.'  A  crafty  woman's 
cleverness  eluded  the  keen  eye  of  Laban.  Rachel, 
by  an  appeal  which  one  of  her  sex  alone  could 
make,  deceived  her  father. 

Laban's  conduct  on  this  occasion  called  forth 
a  reply  from  Jacob,  from  which  it  appears  that 
his  service  had  been  most  severe,  and  which  also 
proves  that  however  this  severe  service  might 
have  encouraged  a  certain  servility,  it  had  not 
prevented  the  development  in  Jacob's  soul  of  a 
high  and  energetic  spirit,  which  when  roused 
could  assert  its  rights  and  give  utterance  to  senti- 
ments both  just,  striking,  and  forcible. 

Peace,  however,  being  restored,  Laban,  on  the 
ensuing  morning,  took  a  friendly,  if  not  an  affec- 
tionate farewell  of  his  daughters  and  their  sons, 
and  returned  home.  Meanwhile  Jacob,  going  on 
his  way,  had  to  pass  near  the  land  of  Seir,  in 
which  Esau  dwelt.  Remembering  his  own  con- 
duct and  his  brother's  threat,  he  was  seized  with 
fear,  and  sent  messengers  before  in  order  to  pro- 
pitiate Esau,  who,  however,  had  no  evil  design 
against  him ;  but,  when  he  '  saw  Jacob,  ran  to 
meet  him  and  embraced  him,  and  fell  on  his 
neck  and  kissed  him,  and  they  wept ' — the  one 
tears  of  joyful  recognition,  the  other  of  gladness 
at  unexpected  escape. 

It  was  immediately  preceding  this  interview 
that  Jacob  passed  the  night  in  wrestling  with  '  a 
man,'  who  is  afterwards  recognised  as  God,  and 
who  at  length  overcame  Jacob  by  touching  the 
hollow  of  his  thigh.  His  name  also  was  on  this 
event  changed  by  the  mysterious  antagonist  into 
Israel,  '  for  as  a  prince  hast  thou  power  with  God 
and  with  men,  and  hast  prevailed  '  (Gen.  xxxii. 
28).  It  is  added  that  on  this  accoimt  his  de- 
scendants abstained  from  eating  the  thigh  of 
slaughtered  animals. 

Having,  by  the  misconduct    of  Hamor    the 


446 


JACOB 


JAEL 


Hivite  and  the  hardy  valour  of  his  sons,  been 
involved  in  danger  from  the  natives  of  Shechem 
in  Canaan,  Jacob  is  divinely  directed,  and  under 
the  divine  protection  proceeds  to  Bethel,  where 
he  is  to  '  make  an  altar  unto  God  that  appeared 
uato  thee  when  thou  fleddest  from  the  face  of 
Esau  thy  brother.'  Obedient  to  the  divine  com- 
mand, he  first  purifies  his  family  from  '  strange 
gods,'  which  he  hid  under  '  the  oak  which  is  by 
Shechem ; '  after  which  God  appeared  to  him 
again  with  the  important  declaration,  '  I  am  God 
Almighty,'  and  renewed  the  Abrahamic  covenant. 
While  journeying  from  Beth-el  to  Ephrath  his 
beloved  llachel  lost  her  life  in  giving  birth  to  her 
second  sou,  Benjamin.  At  length  Jacob  came  to 
his  father  Isaac  at  Mamre,  the  family  residence, 
in  time  to  pay  the  last  attentions  to  the  aged  pa- 
triarch. Not  long  after  this  bereavement  Jacob 
was  robbed  of  his  beloved  son  Joseph  through  the 
jealousy  and  bad  faith  of  his  brothers.  This  loss 
is  the  occasion  of  showing  us  how  strong  were 
Jacob's  paternal  feelings ;  for  on  seeing  what  ap- 
peared to  be  proofs  that  '  some  evil  beast  had 
devoured  Joseph,'  the  old  man  '  rent  his  clothes, 
and  put  sackcloth  upon  his  loins,  and  mourned 
for  his  sou  many  days,  and  refused  to  be  com- 
forted.'— '  I  will  go  down  into  the  grave  unto  my 
son  mourning '  (Gen.  xxxvii.  33). 

A  widely  extended  famine  induced  Jacob  to 
send  his  sons  down  into  Egypt,  where  he  had 
heard  there  was  corn,  without  knowing  by  whose 
instrumentality.  The  patriarch,  however,  re- 
tained his  youngest  son  Benjamin,  '  lest  mischief 
should  befall  him,'  as  it  had  befallen  Joseph. 
The  young  men  returned  with  the  needed  sup- 
plies of  corn.  They  related,  however,  that  they 
had  been  taken  for  spies,  and  that  there  was  but 
one  way  in  which  they  could  disprove  the  charge, 
namely,  by  carrying  down  Benjamin  to  '  the  lord 
of  the  land.'  This  Jacob  vehemently  refused : — 
'  Me  have  ye  bereaved ;  Joseph  is  not,  and  Simeon 
is  not,  and  ye  will  take  Benjamin  ;  my  son  shall 
not  go  down  with  you ;  if  mischief  befall  him, 
then  shall  ye  bring  dovn  my  grey  hairs  with 
sorrow  to  the  grave '  (Gen.  xlii.  36).  The  pres- 
sure of  the  famine,  however,  at  length  forced 
Jacob  to  allow  Benjamin  to  accompany  his 
brothers  on  a  second  visit  to  Egypt ;  whence  in 
due  time  they  brought  back  to  their  father  the 
pleasing  intelligence,  'Joseph  is  yet  alive,  and 
he  is  governor  over  all  the  land  of  Egypt.'  How 
naturally  is  the  eifect  of  this  on  Jacob  told — '  and 
Jacob's  heart  fainted,  for  he  believed  them  not.' 
When,  however,  they  had  gone  into  particulars, 
he  added,  '  Enough,  Joseph  my  son  is  yet  alive ; 
I  will  go  and  see  him  before  I  die.' 

Encouraged  '  in  the  visions  of  the  night,'  Jacob 
goes  down  to  Egypt.  '  And  Joseph  made  ready 
his  chariot,  and  went  up  to  meet  Israel  his  father, 
to  Goshen,  and  presented  himself  unto  him  ;  and 
he  fell  on  his  neck,  and  wept  on  his  neck  a  good 
while.  And  Israel  said  unto  Joseph,  Now  let  me 
die,  since  I  have  seen  thy  face,  because  thou  art 
yet  alive '  (Gen.  xlvi.  29).  Joseph  proceeded  to 
conduct  his  father  into  the  presence  of  the  Egyp- 
tian monarch,  when  the  man  of  God,  with  that 
self-consciousness  and  dignity  which  religion 
gives,  instead  of  offering  slavish  adulation, 
'  blessed  Pharaoh.'  Struck  with  the  patriarch's 
venerable  air,  the  king  asked, '  How  old  art  thou  ?' 
What  composure  and  elevation  is  there  in  the 


reply, '  The  days  of  the  years  of  my  pilgrimage 
are  an  hundred  and  thirty  years ;  fcw  and  evil 
have  the  days  of  the  years  of  my  life  been;  and 
have  not  attained  unto  the  days  of  the  years  of 
the  life  of  my  fathers  in  the  days  of  their  pil- 
grimage :  and  Jacob  blessed  Pharaoh,  and  went 
out  from  before  Pharaoh'  (Gen.  xlvii.  8-10). 

Jacob,  with  his  sons,  now  entered  into  posses- 
sion of  some  of  the  best  land  of  Egypt,  where 
they  carried  on  their  pastoral  occupations,  and 
enjoyed  a  very  large  share  of  earthly  prosperity. 
The  aged  patriarch,  after  being  strangely  tossed 
about  on  a  very  rough  ocean,  found  at  last  a 
tranquil  harbour,  where  all  the  best  affections  of 
his  nature  were  gently  exercised  and  largely  un- 
folded. After  a  lapse  of  time  Joseph,  being  in- 
formed that  his  father  was  sick,  went  to  him,  when 
'  Israel  strengthened  himself,  and  sat  up  in  his 
bed.'  He  acquainted  Joseph  with  the  divine  pro- 
mise of  the  land  of  Canaan  which  yet  remained 
to  be  fulfilled,  and  took  Joseph's  sons,  Ephraim 
and  Manasseh,  in  place  of  Eeuben  and  Simeon, 
whom  he  had  lost.  Then  having  convened  his 
sons,  the  venerable  patriarch  pronounced  on 
them  also  a  blessing,  which  is  full  of  the  loftiest 
thought,  expressed  in  the  most  poetical  diction, 
and  adorned  by  the  most  vividly  descriptive  and 
engaging  imagery,  showing  how  deeply  religious 
his  character  had  become,  how  freshly  it  retained 
its  fervour  to  the  last,  and  how  greatly  it  had  in- 
creased in  strength,  elevation,  and  dignity  : — 
'  And  when  Jacob  had  made  an  end  of  command- 
ing his  sons,  he  gathered  up  his  feet  into  the  bed 
and  yielded  up  the  ghost,  and  was  gathered  unto 
his  people '  (Gen.  xlix.  33). 

JA'EL  {wild  goat),  wife  of  Heber,  the  Kenite. 
When  Sisera,  the  general  of  Jabin,  had  been  de- 
feated, he  alighted  from  his  chariot,  hoping  to 
escape  best  on  foot  from  the  hot  pursuit  of  the 
victorious  Israelites.  On  reaching  the  tents  of 
the  nomade  chief,  he  remembered  that  there  was 
peace  between  his  sovereign  and  the  house  of 
Heber  ;  and,  therefore,  applied  for  the  hospitality 
and  protection  to  which  he  was  thus  entitled. 
This  request  was  very  cordially  granted  by  the 
wife  of  the  absent  chief,  who  received  the  van- 
quished warrior  into  the  inner  part  of  the  tent, 
where  he  could  not  be  discovered  by  strangers 
without  such  an  intrusion  as  Eastern  customs 
would  not  warrant.  She  also  brought  him  milk 
to  drink,  when  he  asked  only  water ;  and  then 
covered  him  from  view,  that  he  might  enjoy 
repose  the  more  securely.  As  he  slept,  a  horrid 
thought  occurred  to  Jael,  which  she  hastened  too 
promptly  to  execute.  She  took  one  of  the  tent 
nails,  and  with  a  mallet,  at  one  fell  blow,  drove  it 
through  the  temples  of  the  sleeping  Sisera.  Soon 
after,  Barak  and  his  people  arrived  in  pursuit, 
and  were  shown  the  lifeless  body  of  the  man  they 
sought. 

It  does  not  seem  difficult  to  understand  the 
object  of  Jael  in  this  painful  transaction.  Her 
motives  seem  to  have  been  entirely  prudential, 
and,  on  prudential  grounds,  the  very  circum- 
stance which  renders  her  act  the  more  odious — 
the  peace  subsisting  between  the  nomade  chief 
and  the  king  of  Hazor — must,  to  her,  have  seemed 
to  make  it  the  more  expedient.  She  saw  that  the 
Israelites  had  now  the  upper  hand,  and  was  aware 
that,  as  being  in  alliance  with  the  oppressors  of 
Israel,  the  camp  might  expect  very  rough  treat- 


JAMES 

ment  from  the  pursuing  force  ;  which  ■would  be 
greatly  aggravated  if  Sisera  were  found  sheltered 
■within  it.  This  calamity  she  sought  to  avert, 
and  to  place  the  house  of  Heber  in  a  favourable 
position  with  the  victorious  party.  She  probably 
justified  the  act  to  herself,  by  the  consideration 
that,  as  Sisera  would  certainly  be  taken  and  slain, 
she  might  as  well  make  a  benefit  out  of  his  inevi- 
table doom,  as  incur  utter  ruin  in  the  attempt  to 
protect  him.  We  have  been  grieved  to  see  the 
act  vindicated  as  authorized  by  the  usages  of 
ancient  warfare,  of  rude  times,  and  of  ferocious 
manners.  There  was  not  warfare,  but  peace  be- 
tween the  house  of  Heber  and  the  prince  of  Hazor ; 
and,  for  the  rest,  we  will  venture  to  aflSrm  that 
there  does  not  now,  and  never  did  exist,  in  any 
country,  a  set  of  usages  under  which  the  act  of 
Jael  would  he  deemed  right. 

1 .  JA'IR  {enliyhtener),  son  of  Segub,  of  the  tribe 
of  Manasseh  by  his  mother,  and  of  Judah  by  his 
father.  He  appears  to  have  distinguished  himself 
i  s  an  expedition  against  the  kingdom  of  Bashan, 
the  time  of  which  is  disputed,  but  may  probably 
be  referred  to  the  last  year  of  the  life  of  Moses, 
B.C.  1451.  It  seems  to  have  formed  part  of  the 
operations  connected  with  the  conquest  of  the 
country  east  of  the  Jordan.  He  settled  in  the 
part  of  Argob  bordering  on  Gilead,  where  we 
find  twenty-three  -villages  named  collectively 
Havoth-jair,  or  'Jair's  villages'  (Num.  xxxii. 
41;   Deut.   iii.   14-,   Josh.  xiii.  30 ;  1  Chron.  ii. 

2.  JAIR,  eighth  judge  of  Israel,  of  Gilead,  in 
Manasseh,  beyond  the  Jordan ;  and,  therefore, 
probably  descended  from  the  preceding,  with 
whom,  indeed,  he  is  sometimes  confounded.  He 
ruled  twenty -two  years,  and  his  opulence  is  indi- 
cated in  a  manner  characteristic  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.  '  He  had  thirty  sons,  that  rode 
on  thirty  ass-colts,  and  they  had  thirty  cities, 
which  are  called  Havoth-jair,  in  the  land  of 
Gilead.'  The  twenty-three  villages  of  the  more 
ancient  Jair  were  probably  among  the  thirty 
which  this  Jair  possessed  (Judg.  x.  3).   B.C.  1210. 

JA'IRUS,  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue  at  Caper- 
naum, whose  daughter  Jesus  restored  to  life 
(Mark  v.  22  ;  Luke  viii.  41). 

JAMES.  Two,  if  not  three  persons  of  this 
name  are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 

1.  James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  brother  of 
the  Evangelist  John.  Their  occupation  was  that 
of  fishermen,  probably  at  Bethsaida,  in  partnership 
with  Simon  Peter  (Luke  v.  10).  On  comparing 
the  account  given  in  Matt.  iv.  21,  Mark  i.  19,  with 
that  in  John  i.,  it  would  appear  that  James  and 
John  had  been  acquainted  with  our  Lord,  and 
had  received  him  as  the  Messiah  some  time  before 
he  called  them  to  attend  upon  him  statedly — a 
call  with  which  they  immediately  complied. 
Their  mother's  name  was  Salome.  We  find 
James,  John,  and  Peter  associated  on  several  in- 
teresting occasions  in  the  Saviour's  life.  They 
alone  -were  present  at  the  Transfiguration  (Matt. 
xvii.  1  ;  Mark  ix.  2;  Luke  ix.  28);  at  the  resto- 
ration to  life  of  Jairus's  daughter  (Mark  v.  42  ; 
Luke  viii.  51)  ;  and  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
during  the  agony  (Mark  xiv.  33  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  37  ; 
Luke  xxi.  37).  With  Andrew  they  listened  in 
private  to  our  Lord's  discourse  on  the  fall  of  Je- 
rusalem (Mark  xiii.  3).  James  and  his  brother 
appear  to  have  indulged  in  false  notions  of  the 


JAMES,  EPISTLE  OF 


449 


kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  and  were  led  by  am- 
bitious views  to  join  in  the  request  made  to  Jesus 
by  their  mother  (Matt.  xx.  20-23  ;  Mark  x.  35). 
From  Luke  ix.  52,  we  may  infer  that  tlieir  tem- 
perament was  warm  and  impetuous.  On  account, 
probably,  of  their  boldness  and  energy  in  dis- 
charging their  Apostleship,  they  received  from 
their  Lord  the  appellation  of  Boanerges,  or  Sons 
if  Thunder.  James  was  the  first  martyr  among 
the  Apostles.  Clement  of  Alexandria,  in  a  frag- 
ment preserved  by  Eusebius,  reports  that  the 
ofl&cer  who  conducted  James  to  the  tribunal  was 
so  influenced  by  the  bold  declaration  of  his  faith 
as  to  embrace  the  Gospel  and  avow  himself  also 
a  Christian ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  be- 
headed at  the  same  time. 

2.  James,  the  son  of  Alphseus,  one  of  the  twelve 
Apostles  (Mark  iii.  18  :  Matt.  x.  3  ;  Luke  vi,  15  ; 
Acts  i.  13).  His  mother's  name  was  Mary  (Matt. 
xxvii.  56 ;  Mark  xv.  40) ;  in  the  latter  passage  he 
is  called  James  the  Less,  either  as  being  younger 
than  James  the  son  of  Alphteus,  or  on  account  of 
his  low  stature  (Mark  xvi.  1 ;  Luke  xxiv.  10). 

3.  James,  'thebrotherof  the  Lord' (Gal.  i.  19). 
Whether  this  James  is  identical  with  the  son  of 
Alphseus,  is  a  question  which  Dr.  Neander  pro- 
nounces to  be  the  most  difficult  in  the  Apostolic 
history,  and  which  cannot  yet  be  considered  as 
decided.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  he  was  a 
different  person. 

JAMES,  EPISTLE  OF.  This  is  called  by 
Eusebius  the  first  of  the  Catholic  Epistles.  As 
the  writer  simply  styles  himself  James,  a  servant 
of  God  and  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  doubts  have 
existed,  both  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  re- 
specting the  true 

Author  of  this  Epistle. — It  has  been  ascribed 
to  no  less  than  four  different  persons,  viz.  James, 
the  son  of  Zebedee ;  James,  the  son  of  Alphajus 
(who  were  both  of  the  number  of  the  twelve 
Apostles) ;  James,  our  Lord's  brother  (Gal.  i.  19) ; 
and  to  an  anonymous  author  who  assumed  the 
name  of  James  in  order  to  procure  authority  to  a 
supposititious  writing. 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  James  the  son  of 
Zebedee  is  the  author  of  this  epistle,  for  it  is  not 
credible  that  so  great  progress  as  the  epistle  im- 
plies had  been  made  among  the  dispersed  Jews 
before  the  martyrdom  of  James,  which  took  place 
at  Jerusalem,  about  a.d.  32  ;  and  if  the  author,  as 
has  been  commonly  supposed,  alludes  to  St.  Paul's 
Epistles  to  the  Romans  (a.d.  58)  and  Galatians 
(a.d.  55),  it  would  be  a  manifest  anachronism  to 
ascribe  this  epistle  to  the  son  of  Zebedee. 

The  claim  to  the  authorship  of  the  epistle, 
therefore,  rests  between  James  'the  Lord's 
brother,'  and  James  the  son  of  Alphseus.  In  the 
preceding  article  the  difficult  question,  whether 
these  names  do  not,  in  fact,  describe  the  same 
person,  has  been  referred  to :  it  suffices,  in  this 
place,  to  state  that  no  writer  who  regards  James 
'  the  Lord's  brother '  as  distinct  from  James  the 
son  of  Alphseus,  has  held  the  latter  to  be  the 
author  of  the  epistle :  and  therefore,  if  no  claim 
be  advanced  for  the  son  of  Zebedee,  James  '  the 
brother  of  the  Lord '  remains  the  only  person 
whom  the  name  at  the  head  of  this  epistle  could 
be  intended  to  designate. 

Hegesippus,  cited  by  Eusebius,  acquamts  us 
that  James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  who  obtained 
the  surname  of  the  Just,  governed  the  church  of 
2  O 


450 


JAMELS  EPISTLE  OF 


Jerusalem  along  with,  or  after  the  apostles. 
Eusebius  relates  that  he  was  the  first  who  held 
the  episcopate  of  Jerusalem  (Jerome  says  for 
thirty  years) ;  aud  both  he  and  Josephus  give 
an  account  of  his  martyrdom.  To  him,  there- 
!  fore,  is  the  authorship  of  an  epistle  addressed 
to  the  Jewish  Christians  with  good  reason 
ascribed. 

The  other  opinion,  which  considers  the  epistle 
as  written  by  an  anonymous  writer,  we  shall 
consider  in  treating  of  its  author. 

Eusebius  observes  that '  James,  the  brother  of 
Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ,'  is  said  to  have 
written  the  first  of  the  Catholic  Epistles  ;  but  it 
is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  considered  spurious. 
Not  many  of  the  ancients  have  mentioned  it,  nor 
that  called  the  Epistle  of  Jude  ....  Nevertheless 
■vre  know  that  these,  with  the  rest,  are  publicly 
read  in  most  of  the  churches.'  It  is,  however, 
cited  by  Clemens  Romanus  in  his  first  or  ge- 
nuine Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  It  seems  to  be 
alluded  to  in  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas, '  Resist 
the  devil,  and  he  will  be  confounded  and  flee 
from  you.'  It  is  also  generally  believed  to  be 
referred  to  by  Irenaeus,  '  Abraham  believed  God, 
and  it  was,'  &c.  Origen  cites  it  in  his  Comment. 
OH  John,  i.  xix.  iv.  306,  calling  it,  however,  the 
reputed  epistle  of  James.  We  have  the  authority 
of  Cassiodorus  for  the  fact  that  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus  commented  on  this  epistle ;  and  it  is  not 
only  expressly  cited  by  Ephrem  Syrus  (51, 
'  James  the  brother  of  our  Lord  says  "  weep  and 
howl,"  '  together  with  other  references),  but  it 
forms  part  of  the  ancient  Syriac  version,  a  work 
of  the  second  century.  But  though  '  not  quoted 
expressly  by  any  of  the  Latin  fathers  before  the 
fourth  century,'  it  was,  soon  after  the  time  of  the 
Council  of  Nice,  received  both  in  the  Eastern  and 
Western  churches  without  any  marks  of  doubt, 
and  was  admitted  into  the  canon  along  with  the 
other  Scriptures  by  the  Councils  of  Hippo  and 
Carthage.  Nor  (with  the  above  exceptions)  does 
there  appear  to  have  been  a  voice  raised  against 
it  since  that  period  until  the  era  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, when  the  ancient  doubts  were  revived  by 
Erasmus.  The  latter  objected  to  it  principally 
on  the  ground  that  it  '  directly  opposes  St.  Paul 
and  the  other  Scriptures  in  ascribing  justification 
to  works.'  This  opinion,  however,  has  been  suc- 
cessfully combated  by  Neander,  who  maintains 
that  there  is  no  discrepancy  whatever  between 
St.  Paul  and  St.  James ;  that  it  was  not  even  the 
design  of  the  latter  to  oppose  any-  misapprehen- 
sion respecting  St.  Paul's  doctrine,  but  that  they 
each  addressed  different  classes  of  people  from 
different  standing  points,  using  the  same  familiar 
examples.  '  Paul,'  he  says,  '  was  obliged  to 
point  out  to  those  who  placed  their  dependence 
on  the  justifying  power  of  the  works  of  the  law, 
the  futility  of  such  works  in  reference  to  justifica- 
tion, and  to  demonstrate  that  justification  and 
sanctification  could  proceed  only  from  the  faith 
of  the  Gospel :  James,  on  the  other  hand,  found  it 
necessary  to  declare  to  those  who  imagined  that 
they  could  be  justified  in  God's  sight  by  faith  in 
the  Jewish  sense  ....  that  this  was  completelj- 
valueless  if  their  course  of  life  were  not  conformed 
to  it.' 

By  those  who  consider  James  the  Just,  bishop 
of  Jerusalem,  to  have  been  the  author  of  this 
epistle,  it  is  generally  believed  to  have  been 


JAPHETH 

written  shortly  before  his  martyrdom,  which 
took  place  a.d.  62,  six  years  before  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  whose  impending  fate 
is  alluded  to  in  chap.  v.  Neander  fixes  its  date 
at  a  time  preceding  the  separate  formation  of 
Gentile  Christian  churches,  before  the  relation 
of  Gentiles  and  Jews  to  one  another  in  the 
Chi'istian  Church  had  been  brought  under  dis- 
cussion, in  the  period  of  the  first  spread  of 
Christianity  in  Syria,  Cilicia,  and  the  adjacent 
regions.  It  is  addressed  to  Jewish  Christians, 
the  descendants  of  the  twelve  tribes ;  but  the 
fact  of  its  being  written  in  Greek  exhibits  the 
author's  desire  to  make  it  generally  available  to 
Christians. 

Contents  and  Character  of  the  Epistle.— Th\s 
epistle  commences  with  consolations  addressed 
to  the  faithful  converts,  with  exhortations  to 
patience,  humility,  and  practical  piety  (ch.  i. 
1-27).  Undue  respect  to  persons  is  then  con- 
demned, and  love  enjoined  (ch.  ii.).  Erroneous 
ideas  on  justification  are  corrected  (ii.  13-26), 
the  temerity  of  new  teachers  is  repressed  (iii. 
12);  an  unbridled  tongue  is  inveighed  against, 
and  heavenly  wisdom  contrasted  with  a  spirit  of 
covetousuess  (1.3-18).  Swearing  is  prohibited 
(v.  12).  The  efficacy  of  prayer  is  proved  by  ex- 
amples, and  the  unction  of  the  sick  by  the  Pres- 
byters, together  with  prayer  and  mutual  con- 
fession, are  enjoined  as  instruments  of  recovery 
and  of  forgiveness  of  sins  (v.  14-18).  The  ap- 
proaching advent  of  the  Lord  is  foretold  (v.  7 ). 

The  style  of  this  epistle  is  close  and  sen- 
tentious. The  general  manner  of  the  writer,  says 
Jebb,  '  combines  the  plainest  and  most  practical 
good  sense  with  the  most  vivid  and  poetical  con- 
ception ;  the  imagery  various  and  luxuriant ;  the 
sentiments  chastened  and  sober ;  his  images,  in 
truth,  are  so  many  analogical  arguments,  and  if, 
at  the  first  view,  we  are  disposed  to  recreate  our- 
selves with  the  poet,  we  soon  feel  that  we  must 
exert  our  hardier  powers  to  keep  pace  with  the 
logician.'  Seller  designates  the  style  of  this 
epistle  as  '  sometimes  sublime  and  prophetical, 
nervous,  and  full  of  imagery.' 

The  eloquence  and  persuasiveness  of  St. 
James's  Epistle,  as  an  ethical  composition,  are 
such  as  must  command  universal  admiration. 

JAN'NES  AND  JAM'BRES.  two  of  the  Egyp- 
tian  magicians  who  attempted  by  their  enchant- 
ments to  counteract  the  influence  on  Pharaoh's 
mind  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  Moses.  Their 
names  occur  nowhere  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
and  only  once  in  the  New  Testament  (2  Tim.  iii. 
8).  The  Apostle  Paul  became  acquainted  with 
them,  most  probably,  from  an  ancient  Jewish  tra- 
dition, or,  as  Theodoret  expresses  it,  '  from  the 
unwritten  teaching  of  the  Jews.'  They  are  found 
frequently  in  the  Talmudical  and  Rabbinical 
writings,  but  with  some  variations. 

JA'PHETH,  a  son  of  Noah.  In  Gen.  v.  32  he 
is  mentioned  third  in  order  ;  but  some  think, 
from  Gen.  x.  21  (comp.  ix.  24),  that  he  was  the 
eldest  of  Noah's  sons,  begotten  one  hundred 
years  before  the  flood.  In  Gen.  x.  2,  sq.  he  is 
called  the  progenitor  of  the  extensive  tribes  in 
the  west  (of  iMirope)  and  north  (of  Asia),  of  the 
Armenians,  Medes,  Greeks,  Thracians,  &c.  The 
Arabian  traditions  rank  Japheth  among  the  pro- 
phets, and  enumerate  eleven  of  his  sons,  the  pro- 
genitors of  as  many  Asiatic  nations.     In  these 


JASHER 

traditions  he  is  therefore  simply  called  progenitor 
of  the  Turks  and  Barbarians. 

JAR'HA,  the  Egyptian  slave  of  a  Hebrew 
named  Sheshan,  -who  married  the  daughter  of  his 
master,  and  was,  of  course,  made  free.  As 
Sheshan  had  no  sons,  his  posterity  is  traced 
through  this  connection  (1  Chron.  ii.  34-41), 
whicli  is  the  only  one  of  the  kind  mentioned  in 
Scripture.  Jarha  was  doubtless  a  proselyte,  and 
the  anecdote  seems  to  belong  to  the  period  of  the 
sojourn  in  Egypt,  although  it  is  not  easy  to  see 
how  an  Egyptian  could  there  be  slave  to  an 
Israelite. 

JA'SHER,  BOOK  OF,  a  work  no  longer 
extant,  but  cited  in  Josh.  x.  13,  and  2  Sam.  i.  18. 
In  the  former  it  is  thus  introduced :  '  And  the 
sun  stood  still,  and  the  moon  stayed,  until  the 
people  had  avenged  themselves  upon  their  ene- 
mies. Is  not  this  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher  ? 
So  the  sun  stood  still  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  and 
hasted  not  to  go  down  about  a  whole  day,'  &c. 
And  in  the  passage  referred  to  in  2  Sam.  i.  it 
stands  thus:  ver.  17.  'And  David  lamented 
with  this  lamentation  over  Saul  and  over  Jona- 
than his  son:'  ver.  18.  '(Also  he  bade  them 
teach  the  children  of  Judah  [the  use  of]  the  bow : 
behold  it  is  written  in  the  book  of  Jasher.)'  After 
which  follows  the  lamentation  of  David.  As  the 
word  Jasher  signifies  just  or  upright,  by  which 
word  it  is  rendered  in  the  margin  of  our  Bibles, 
this  book  has  been  generally  considered  to  iiave 
been  so  entitled  as  containing  a  history  of  ji«s< 
men.  Bishop  Lowth,  however,  conceives,  from 
the  p<.ietical  character  of  the  two  passages  cited 
from  it,  that  it  was  most  probably  a  collection  of 
national  songs  written  at  various  times,  and  that 
it  derived  its  name  from  jashar,  'he  sang.'  It 
is,  at  the  same  time,  by  no  means  an  improbable 
conjecture,  that  the  book  was  so  called  from  the 
name  of  its  author.  Josephus  speaks  of  the  book 
of  Jasher  as  one  of  the  '  books  laid  up  in  the 
temple.' 

The  chief  interest  connected  with  the  Scrip- 
tural book  of  Jasher  arises  from  the  circumstance 
that  it  is  referred  to  as  the  authority  for  the 
standing  still  of  the  sun  and  moon.  There  are 
few  passages  in  Biblical  literature  the  explana- 
tion of  which  has  more  exercised  the  skill  of 
commentators  than  this  celebrated  one.  We 
shall  here  give  a  brief  account  of  the  most  ge- 
nerally received  interpretations. 

The  first  is  that  which  maintains  that  the  ac- 
count of  the  miracle  is  to  be  literalhj  understood. 
According  to  this  interpretation,  which  is  the 
most  ancient,  the  sun  itself,  which  was  then  be- 
lieved to  have  revolved  round  the  earth,  stayed 
his  course  for  a  day.  Those  who  take  this  view 
argue  that  the  theory  of  the  diurnal  motion  of  the 
earth,  which  has  been  the  generally  received 
one  since  the  time  of  Galileo  and  Copernicus,  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Scripture  narrative.  Not- 
withstanding the  general  rexieption  of  the  Co- 
pernican  system  of  the  universe,  this  view  con- 
tinued to  be  held  by  many  divines,  Protestant  as 
well  as  Roman  Catholic,  and  was  strenuously 
maintained  by  Buddeus  and  others  in  the  last 
century. 

But  in  more  recent  times  the  miracle  has  been 
explained  so  as  to  make  it  accord  with  the  now 
received  opinion  respecting  the  earth's  motion, 
and  the  Scripture  narrative  supposed  to  contain 


JAVAN 


451 


rather  an  optical  and  popular,  than  a  literal  ac- 
count of  what  took  place  on  this  occasion.  So 
that  it  was  in  reality  the  earth,  and  not  the 
sun,  which  stood  still  at  the  command  of 
Joshua. 

Another  opinion  is  that  first  suggested  by  Spi- 
noza, and  afterwards  maintained  by  Le  Clerc, 
that  the  miracle  was  produced  by  refraction  only, 
causing  the  sun  to  appear  above  the  horizon  after 
its  setting,  or  by  some  other  atmospherical  phe- 
nomena, which  produced  sufficient  light  to  enable 
Joshua  to  pursue  and  discomfit  his  enemies. 

The  last  opinion  we  shall  mention  is  that  of 
the  learned  Jew  Maimonides,  viz.  that  Joshua 
only  asked  of  the  Almighty  to  grant  that  he 
might  defeat  his  enemies  before  the  going  down 
of  the  sun,  and  that  God  heard  his  prayer, 
inasmuch  as  before  the  close  of  day  the  five 
kings  with  their  armies  were  cut  in  pieces. 
Grotius,  while  he  admitted  that  there  was  no  dif- 
ficulty in  the  Almighty's  arresting  the  course  of 
the  sun,  or  making  it  reappear  by  refraction,  ap- 
proved of  the  explanation  of  Maimonides,  which 
has  been  since  that  period  adopted  by  many 
divines. 

JASHO'BEAM,  son  of  Hachmoni,  one  of 
David's  worthies,  and  the  first  named  in  the  two 
lists  which  are  given  of  them  (2  Sam.  xxxiii.  8 ; 
1  Chron.  xi.  11). 

The  exploit  of  breaking  through  the  host  of 
the  Philistines  to  procure  David  a  draught  of 
water  from  the  well  of  Bethlehem,  is  ascribed  to 
the  three  chief  heroes,  and  therefore  to  Jasho- 
beam,  who  was  the  first  of  the  three  (2  Sam. 
xxiii.  13-17;  1  Chron.  xi.  15-19). 

A  Jashobeam  is  named  among  the  Korhites 
who  came  to  David  at  Ziklag  (1  Chron.  xii.  6) ; 
but  this  could  scarcely  have  been  the  same  with 
the  preceding. 

We  also  find  a  Jashobeam  who  commanded 
24,000,  and  did  duty  in  David's  court  in  the 
month  Nisan  (1  Chron.  xxvii.  2).  He  was  the 
son  of  Zabdiel ;  if,  therefore,  he  was  the  same  as 
the  first  Jashobeam,  his  patronymic  of  'the 
Hachmonite '  must  be  referred  to  his  race  rather 
than  to  his  immediate  father.  This  seems 
likely. 

JA'SON,  a  kinsman  of  St.  Paul,  and  his  host 
at  Thessalonica,  where  the  Jews  forced  his  house 
in  order  to  seize  the  Apostle.  Not  finding  the 
Apostle,  they  dragged  Jason  himself  and  some 
other  converts  before  the  magistrates,  who  re- 
leased them  with  an  admonition  (a.d.  53).  Jason 
appears  to  have  accompanied  the  Apostle  to 
Corinth  (Acts  xvii.  5-9 ;  Rom.  xvi.  21). 

JASPER.  Our  word  Jasper  is  plainly  from 
the  Greek  jaspis,  which  comes  from  the  Hebrew 
word  yashpeh.  Jasper  is  a  species  of  the  quartz 
family,  and  embraces  a  great  many  varieties. 
The  brown  Egyptian  variety  was  perhaps  the 
one  selected  for  the  breastplate  of  the  high-priest 
(Exod.  xxxviii.  19  ;  xxxix.  1).  The  brown  is  of 
various  shades,  disposed  in  concentric  stripes. 
It  occurs  loose  in  the  sands  of  Egypt,  and  is  cut 
into  ornaments.  . 

JA'VAN.  the  fourth  son  of  Japhet.  The  in- 
terest connected  with  his  name  arises  from  his 
being  the  supposed  progenitor  of  the  original  set- 
tlers in  Greece  and  its  isles  [Nations,  Disper- 
sion of]. 
JAVELIN.    [Arms.] 

2o2 


452 


JEHOAHAZ 


JEB'USITES,one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the 
nations  of  ('anaan,  who  settled  about  Mount 
Moriah,  where  they  built  Jerusalem,  and  called 
it  Jebus,  after  the  name  of  their  founder  (1  Chron. 
xi.  4).  Although  they  were  defeated  with  much 
slaughter,  and  Adonizedek,  their  king,  slain  by 
Joshua(Josh.  x.),  they  were  not  wholly  subdued, 
were  able  to  retain  their  city  till  after  his  death 
(Judg.  i.  8),  and  were  not  entirely  dispossessed 
of  it  till  the  time  of  David  (2  Sam.  v.).  By  that 
time  the  inveteracy  of  the  enmity  between  the 
Hebrews  and  such  of  the  original  inhabitants  as 
remained  in  the  land  had  much  abated,  and  the 
rights  of  private  property  were  respected  by  the 
conquerors.  This  we  discover  from  the  fact  that 
the  site  on  which  the  Temple  afterwards  stood 
belonged  to  a  Jebusite,  named  Araunah,  from 
whom  it  was  purchased  by  King  David,  who  de- 
clined to  accept  it  as  a  free  gift  from  the  owner 
(2  Sam.  xxiv.).  This  is  the  last  we  hear  of  the 
Jebusites. 

JliD'UTHUN  (praise-fiiver),  a  Levite  of  Me- 
rari's  family,  and  one  of  the  four  great  masters  of 
the  temple  music  (1  Chron.  xvi.  41,  42).  This 
name  is  also  put  for  his  descendants,  who  occur 
later  as  singers  and  players  on  instruments  (2 
Chron.  XXXV.  15  ;  Neh.  xi.  17). 

1.  JEHO'AHAZ  (God-sustained),  son  of  Jehu, 
king  of  Israel,  who  succeeded  his  father  in  B.C. 
8.56,  and  reigned  seventeen  years.  As  he  followed 
the  evil  courses  of  the  house  of  Jeroboam,  the 
Syrians  under  Hazael  and  Benhadad  were  suf- 
fered to  prevail  over  him  ;  so  that,  at  length,  he 
had  only  left  of  all  his  forces  fifty  horsemen,  ten 
chariots,  and  10,000  foot.  Overwhelmed  by  his 
calamities^  Jehoahaz  at  length  acknowledged  the 
authority  of  Jehovah  over  Israel,  and  humbled 
himself  before  him ;  in  consideration  of  which  a 
deliverer  was  raised  up  for  Israel  in  the  person 
of  Joash,  this  king's  son,  who  was  enabled  to 
expel  the  Syrians  and  re-establish  the  affairs  of 
the  kingdom  (2  Kings  xiii.  1-9,  25). 

2.  JEHOAHAZ,  otherwise  called  Shalltjm, 
seventeenth  king  of  Judah,  son  of  Josiah,  whose 
reign  began  and  ended  in  the  year  b.c.  608. 
After  his  father  had  been  slain  in  resisting  the 
progress  of  Pharaoh  Necho,  Jehoahaz,  who  was 
then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  was  raised  to  the 
throne  by  the  people,  and  received  at  Jerusalem 
the  regal  anointing,  which  seems  to  have  been 
usually  omitted  in  times  of  order  and  of  regular 
succession.  He  found  the  laud  full  of  trouble, 
but  free  from  idolatry.  Instead,  however,  of  fol- 
lowing the  excellent  example  of  his  father,  Jeho- 
ahaz fell  into  the  accustomed  crimes  of  his  pre- 
decessors ;  and  iinder  the  encouragements  which 
his  example  or  indifference  offered,  the  idols  soon 
re-appeared.  It  seems  strange  that  in  a  time  so 
short,  and  which  must  have  been  much  occupied 
in  arranging  plans  for  resisting  or  pacifying  the 
Egyptian  king,  he  should  have  been  able  to  de- 
serve the  stigma  which  the  sacred  record  has  left 
upon  his  name.  But  there  is  no  limit  except  in 
the  greatness  of  the  divine  power  to  the  activity 
of  evil  dispositions.  The  sway  of  Jehoahaz  was 
tenminated  in  three  months,  when  Pharaoh  Necho, 
on  his  victorious  return  from  the  Euphrates, 
thinking  it  politic  to  reject  a  king  not  nominated 
by  himself,  removed  him  from  the  throne,  and 
set  thereon  his  brother  Jehoiakim.  This  reign 
was  the  shortest  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  al- 


JEHOIACHIN 

though  in  that  of  Israel  there  were  several  shorter. 
The  deposed  king  was  at  first  taken  as  a  prisoner 
to  Riblah  in  Syria ;  but  was  eventually  carried 
to  Egypt,  where  he  died  (2  Kings  xxiii.  30-35  ; 
2  Chron.  xxxvi.  1-4;  1  Chron.  iii.  15  ;  Jer.  xxii. 
10-12). 

The  anointing  of  this  king  has  drawn  attention 
to  the  defect  of  his  title  as  the  reason  for  the  ad 
dition  of  that  solemn  ceremony.  It  appears  from 
1  Chron.  iii.  15  that  Josiah  had  four  sons,  o/ 
whom  Johanan  is  expressly  said  to  have  been  '  the 
first-born.'  But  he  seems  to  have  died  before  his 
father,  as  we  nowhere  find  his  name  historicallj 
mentioned,  while  those  of  the  other  brothers  ar< 
familiar  to  us.  If,  therefore,  he  died  childless 
and  Jehoahaz  were  the  next  son,  his  claim  would 
have  been  good.  But  he  was  not  the  next  son. 
His  name,  as  Shallum,  occurs  last  of  the  four  in 
1  Chron.  iii.  15;  and  from  the  historical  notices 
in  2  Kings  xxiii.  and  1  Chron.  xxxvi.  we  ascer- 
tain that  when  Josiah  died  the  ages  of  the  three 
surviving  sons  wei'e,  Eliakim  (Jehoiakim)  twenty- 
five  years,  Jehoahaz  (Shallum)  twenty-three 
years,  Mattaniah  (Zedekiah)  ten  years ;  conse- 
quently Jehoahaz  was  preferred  by  the  popular 
favour  above  his  elder  brother  Jehoiakim,  and  the 
anointing,  therefore,  was  doubtless  intended  to 
give  to  his  imperfect  claim  the  weight  of  that  so- 
lemn ceremony.  It  was  also  probably  suspected 
that,  as  actually  took  place,  the  Egyptian  king 
would  seek  to  annul  a  popular  election  unsanc- 
tioned by  himself;  but  as  the  Egyptians  anointed 
their  own  kings,  and  attached  much  importance 
to  the  ceremony,  the  possibility  that  he  would 
hesitate  more  to  remove  an  anointed  than  an  un- 
anointed  king  might  afford  a  further  reason  for 
the  anointing  of  Jehoahaz  [Anointing]. 

Jehoahaz  is  supposed  to  be  the  person  who  is 
designated  under  the  emblem  of  a  young  lion 
carried  in  chains  to  Egypt  (Ezek.  xix.  3,  4). 

JEHO'ASIL    [Joash.] 

JEHOI'ACHIN  (God-appointed),  by  contrac- 
tion Jeconiah  and  Coniah,  nineteenth  king  of 
Judah,  and  son  of  Jehoiakim.  When  his  father 
was  slain,  b.c.  599,  the  king  of  Babylon  allowed 
him,  as  the  rightful  heir,  to  succeed.  He  was 
then  eighteen  years  of  age,  according  to  2  Kings 
xxiv.  8 ;  but  only  eight  according  to  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  9.  Many  attempts  have  been  made  to 
reconcile  these  dates,  the  most  usual  solution 
being  that  he  had  reigned  ten  years  in  conjunc- 
tion with  his  father,  so  that  he  was  eight  when  he 
began  his  joint  reign,  but  eighteen  when  he  began 
to  reign  alone.  There  are,  however,  difficulties  in 
this  view,  which,  perhaps,  leave  it  the  safest 
course  to  conclude  that  'eight'  in  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  9,  is  a  corruption  of  the  text,  such  as 
might  easily  occur  from  the  relation  of  the 
numbers  eight  and  eighteen. 

Jehoiachin  followed  the  evil  courses  which  had 
already  brought  so  much  disaster  upon  the  royal 
house  of  David,  and  upon  the  people  under  its 
sway.  He  seems  to  have  very  speedily  indicated 
a  political  bias  adverse  to  the  interests  of  the 
Chaldaean  empire  ;  for  in  three  months  after  his 
accession  we  find  the  generals  of  Nebuchadnezzar 
again  laying  siege  to  Jerusalem,  according  to  the 
predictions  of  Jeremiah  (xxii.  18;  xxiv.  30). 
Convinced  of  the  futility  of  resistance,  Jehoiachin 
went  out  and  surrendered  as  soou  as  Nebuchad- 
nezzar arrived  in  person  before  the  city.     He 


JEHOIAKIM 

was  sent  away  as  a  captive  to  Babylon,  with  his 
mother,  his  generals,  and  his  troops,  together  with 
the  artificers  and  other  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem, 
to  the  number  of  ten  thousand.  Thus  ended  an 
unhappy  reign  of  three  months  and  ten  days.  If 
the  ChaldiEan  king  had  then  put  an  end  to  the 
show  of  a  monarchy,  and  annexed  the  country  to 
his  own  dominions,  the  event  would  probably 
have  been  less  unhappy  for  the  nation.  But  still 
adhering  to  his  former  policy,  he  placed  on  the 
throne  Mattaniah,  the  only  surviving  son  of 
Josiah,  whose  name  he  changed  to  Zedekiah 
(2  Kings  xxiv.  1-16;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9,  10; 
Jer.  xxix.  2  ;  xxxvii.  1). 

Jehoiachin  remained  in  prison  at  Babylon 
during  the  lifetime  of  Nebuchadnezzar:  but 
when  that  prince  died,  his  son,  Evil-merodach, 
not  only  released  him,  but  gave  him  an  honour- 
able seat  at  his  own  table,  with  precedence  over 
all  the  other  dethroned  kings  who  were  kept  at 
Babylon,  and  an  allowance  for  the  support  of  his 
rank  (2  Kings  xxv.  27-30;  Jer.  lii.  31-34).  To 
what  lie  owed  this  favour  we  are  not  told ;  but 
the  Jewish  commentators  allege  that  Evil-mero- 
dach had  himself  been  put  into  prison  by  hie 
fether  during  the  last  year  of  his  reign,  and  had 
there  contracted  an  intimate  friendship  with  the 
deposed  king  of  Judah. 

The  name  of  Jehoiachin  re-appears  to  fix  the 
epoch  of  several  of  the  prophecies  of  Ezekiel 
(Ezek.  i.  2),  and  of  the  deportation  which  ter- 
minated his  reign  (Esth.  ii.  vi.).  In  the  genea- 
logy of  Christ  (Matt.  i.  11)  he  is  named  as  the 
*  son  of  Josias'  his  uncle. 

JEHOl'ADA  (God-known),  high-priest  in  the 
times  of  Ahaziah  and  Athaliah.  He  is  only 
known  from  the  part  which  he  took  in  recover- 
ing the  throne  of  Judah  for  the  young  Joash, 
who  had  been  saved  by  his  wife  Jehoshebah 
from  the  massacre  by  which  Athaliah  sought  to 
exterminate  the  royal  line  of  David.  The  par- 
ticulars of  this  transaction  are  related  under  other 
heads  [Athaliah;  Joash].  Jehoiada  mani- 
fested much  decision  and  forecast  on  this  occa- 
sion; and  he  used  for  good  the  great  power 
which  devolved  upon  him  during  the  minority  of 
the  young  king,  and  the  influence  which  he  con- 
tinued to  enjoy  as  long  as  he  lived.  The  value 
of  this  influence  is  shown  by  the  misconduct  and 
the  disorders  of  the  kingdom  after  his  death. 
He  died  in  b.c.  834,  at  the  age  of  130,  and  his 
remains  were  honoured  with  a  place  in  the  se- 
pulchre of  the  kings  at  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xi. 
12  ;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  xxiv.). 

JEIIOI'AKIM  (God-established),  originally 
ELIAKIM,  second  son  of  Josiah,  and  eighteenth 
king  of  Judah.  On  the  death  of  his  father  the 
people  raised  to  the  throne  his  younger  brother 
Jehoahaz;  but  three  months  after,  when  the 
Egyptian  king  returned  from  the  Euphrates,  he 
removed  Jehoahaz,  and  gave  the  crown  to  the 
rightful  heir,  Eliakim,  whose  name  he  changed 
to  Jehoiakim.  This  change  of  name  often  took 
place  in  similar  circumstances ;  and  the  altered 
name  was  in  fact  the  badge  of  a  tributary  prince. 
Jehoiakim  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  608,  and  reigned 
eleven  years.  He,  of  course,  occupied  the  posi- 
tion of  a  vassal  of  the  Egyptian  empire,  but  how- 
ever heavy  may  have  been  the  Egyptian  yoke, 
Jehoiakim  was  destined  to  pass  under  one  heavier 
still. 


JEHOIAKIM  453 

In  the  third  year  of  his  reign,  being  besieged 
in  Jerusalem,  he  was  forced  to  submit  to  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and  was  by  his  order  laden  with 
chains,  with  the  intention  of  sending  him  captive 
to  Babylon  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6) ;  but  eventually 
the  conqueror  changed  his  mind  and  restored  the 
crown  to  him.  Many  persons,  however,  of  high 
family,  and  some  even  of  the  royal  blood,  were 
sent  away  to  Babylon.  Among  these  was 
Daniel,  then  a  mere  youth.  A  large  proportion 
of  the  treasures  and  sacred  vessels  of  the  temple 
were  also  taken  away  and  deposited  in  the  idol- 
temple  at  Babylon  (Dan.  i.  1,  2).  The  year  fol- 
lowing the  Egyptians  were  defeated  upon  the 
Euphrates  (Jer.  xlvi.  2),  and  Jehoiakim,  when 
he  saw  the  remains  of  the  defeated  army  pass  by 
his  territory,  could  not  but  perceive  how  vain 
had  been  that  reliance  upon  Egypt  against  which 
he  had  been  constantly  cautioned  by  Jeremiah 
(Jer.  xxxi.  1  ;  xlv.  l).  In  the  same  year  the 
prophet  caused  a  collection  of  his  prophecies  to 
be  written  out  by  his  faithful  Baruch,  and  to  be 
read  publicly  by  him  in  the  court  of  the  temple. 
This  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  king,  he 
sent  for  it  and  had  it  read  before  him.  But  he 
heard  not  much  of  the  bitter  denunciations  with 
which  it  was  charged,  before  he  took  the  roll 
from  the  reader,  and  after  cutting  it  in  pieces 
threw  it  into  the  brasier,  which,  it  being  winter, 
was  burning  before  him  in  the  halL  The  counsel 
of  God  against  him,  however,  stood  sure  ;  a  fresh 
roll  was  written,  with  the  addition  of  a  further 
and  most  awful  denunciation  against  the  king, 
occasioned  by  this  foolish  and  sacrilegious  act : 
'  He  shall  have  none  to  sit  upon  the  throne  of 
David :  and  his  dead  body  shall  be  cast  out  in 
the  day  to  the  heat  and  in  the  night  to  the  frost ' 
(Jer.  xxxvi.).  All  this,  however,  appears  to 
have  made  little  impression  upon  Jehoiakim, 
who  still  walked  in  his  old  paths. 

After  three  years  of  subjection,  Jehoiakim, ' 
finding  the  king  of  Babylon  fully  engaged  else- 
where, and  deluded  by  the  Egyptian  party  in  his 
court,  ventured  to  withhold  his  tribute,  and 
thereby  to  throw  off  the  Chaldcean  yoke.  This 
step,  taken  contrary  to  the  earnest  remonstrances 
of  Jeremiah,  was  the  ruin  of  Jehoiakim.  The 
land  was  ere  long  invaded  by  the  armies  of  the 
Chaldseans,  accompanied  by  a  vast  number  of 
auxiliaries  from  the  neighbouring  countries,  the 
Edomites,  Moabites,  and  others,  who  were  for 
the  most  part  actuated  by  a  fierce  hatred  against 
the  Jewish  name  and  nation.  The  events  of  the 
war  are  not  related.  Jerusalem  was  taken,  cr 
rather  surrendered  on  terms,  which  Josephus 
alleges  were  little  heeded  by  Nebuchadnezzar. 
It  is  certain  that  Jehoiakim  was  slain,  but  whether 
in  one  of  the  actions,  or,  as  Josephus  says,  after 
the  surrender,  we  cannot  determine.  His  body 
remained  exposed  and  unlamented  without  the 
city,  under  the  circumstau9es  foretold  by  the 
prophet — '  He  shall  be  buried  with  the  burial  of 
an  ass,  drawn  and  cast  forth  beyond  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem'  (Jer.  xxii.  18,  19 ;  1  Chron.  iii.  15; 
2  Kings  xxiii.  34-37;  xxiv.  1-7;  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  4-8). 

It  was  not  the  object  of  Nebuchadnezzar  to 

destroy  altogether  a  power  which,  as  tributary 

to  him,  formed  a  serviceable  outpost  towards 

Egypt,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  great  final 

I  object  of  all  his  designs  in  this  quarter.    H» 


454 


JEHOSHAPHAT 


therefore  still  maintained  the  throne  of  Judah, 
and  placed  ou  it  Jehoiachin,  the  son  of  the  late 
king.  He,  however,  sent  away  another  body,  a 
second  corps  of  the  nobles  and  chief  persons  (if 
the  nation,  three  thousand  in  number,  among 
■whom  was  Ezekiel,  afterwards  called  to  prophesy 
in  the  land  of  his  exile. 

JEHON'ADAB.    [Jonadab.] 

JEHO'RAM  (God-exalted),  eldest  son  and 
successor  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  fifth  king  of 
Judah,  who  began  to  reign  (separately")  in  b.c 
889,  at  the  age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  reigned 
five  years.  Jehoram  was  associated  with  his 
father  in  the  later  years  of  his  reign,  but  he  pro- 
fited little  by  this  association.  He  had  unhappily 
been  married  to  Athaliah,  the  daughter  of  Ahab 
and  Jezebel ;  and  her  influence  seems  to  have 
neutralized  all  the  good  he  might  have  derived 
from  the  example  of  his  father.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  his  reign  was  to  put  his  brothers  to  death 
and  seize  the  valuable  appanages  which  their 
father  had  in  his  lifetime  bestowed  upon  them 
After  this  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  him  giving 
way  to  the  gross  idolatries  of  that  new  and 
strange  kind — the  Phoenician — which  had  been 
brought  into  Israel  by  Jezebel,  and  into  Judah 
by  her  daughter  Athaliah.  For  these  atrocities 
the  Lord  let  forth  his  anger  against  Jehoram  and 
his  kingdom.  The  Edomites  revolted,  and,  ac- 
cording to  old  prophecies  (Gen.  xxvii.  40), shook 
off  the  yoke  of  Judah.  The  Philistines  on  one 
side,  and  the  Arabians  and  Cushites  on  the  other, 
also  grew  bold  against  a  king  forsaken  of  God, 
and  in  repeated  invasions  spoiled  the  laud  of  all 
its  substance ;  they  even  ravaged  the  royal 
palaces,  and  took  away  the  wives  and  children 
of  the  king,  leaving  him  only  one  son,  Ahaziah. 
Nor  was  this  all ;  Jehoram  was  in  his  last  days 
afflicted  with  a  frightful  disease  in  his  bowels, 
■which,  from  the  terms  employed  in  describing 
it,  appears  to  have  been  malignant  dysentery  in 
its  most  shocking  and  tormenting  form.  After  a 
disgraceful  reign,  and  a  most  painful  death, 
public  opinion  inflicted  the  posthumous  dishonour 
of  refusing  him  a  place  in  the  sepulchre  of  kings. 
Jehoram  was  by  far  the  most  impious  and  cruel 
tyrant  that  had  as  yet  occupied  the  throne  of 
Judah,  though  he  ■was  rivalled  or  surpassed  by 
some  of  his  successors  (2  Kings  viii.  lG-24;  2 
Chron.  xxi.). 

2.  JEHO'RAM,  King  of  Israel.     [Joram.] 

JEHOSH'APHAT  {God-judged),  the  fourth 
king  of  Judah,  and  sou  of  Asa,  whom  he  succeeded 
in  B.C.  914,  at  the  age  of  thirty- five,  and  reigned 
twenty-five  years.  He  commenced  his  reign  by 
fortifying  his  kingdom  against  Israel ;  and  having 
thus  secured  himself  against  surprise  from  the 
quarter  which  gave  most  disturbance  to  him,  he 
proceeded  to  purge  the  land  from  the  idolatries 
and  idolatrous  monuments  by  which  it  was  still 
tainted.  Even  the  high  places  and  groves, 
which  former  well-disposed  kings  had  suffered 
to  remain,  were  by  the  zeal  of  Jehoshaphat  in  a 
great  measure  destroyed.  The  chiefs,  with  priests 
and  Levites,  proceeded  from  town  to  town,  with 
the  book  of  the  law  in  their  hands,  instructing 
the  people,  and  calling  back  their  wandering 
affections  to  the  religion  of  their  fathers.  This 
•was  a  beautiful  and  interesting  circumstance  in 
the  operations  of  the  young  king. 

Jehoshaphat  was  too  well  instructed  in  the 


JEHOSHAPHAT 

great  principles  of  the  theocracy  not  to  know 
that  his  faithful  conduct  liad  entitled  him  to  ex- 
pect the  divine  protection.  Of  that  protection  he 
soon  had  manifest  proofs.  At  home  he  enjoyed 
peace  and  abundance,  and  abroad  security  and 
honour.  His  renown  extended  into  the  neigh- 
bouring nations,  and  the  Philistines,  as  well  as 
the  adjoining  Arabian  tribes,  paid  him  rich 
tributes  in  silver  and  in  cattle.  He  was  thus 
enabled  to  put  all  his  towns  in  good  condition,  to 
erect  fortresses,  to  organize  a  powerful  army, 
and  to  raise  his  kingdom  to  a  dejzree  of  import- 
ance and  splendour  which  it  had  not  enjoyed 
since  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes. 

The  weak  and  impious  Ahab  at  that  time  oc- 
cupied the  throne  of  Israel ;  and  Jehoshaphat, 
having  nothing  to  fear  from  his  power,  sought, 
or  at  least  did  not  repel,  an  alliar.ce  with  him. 
This  is  alleged  to  have  been  the  grand  mistake 
of  his  reign ;  and  that  it  was  such  is  proved  by 
the  consequences. 

A  few  years  after  we  find  Jehoshaphat  on  a 
visit  to  Ahab,  in  Samaria,  being  the  first  time 
any  of  the  kings  of  Israel  and  Judah  had  met  in 
peace.  He  here  experienced  a  reception  worthy 
of  his  greatness ;  but  Ahab  failed  not  to  take 
advantage  of  the  occasion,  and  so  worked  upon 
the  weak  points  of  his  character  as  to  prevail 
upon  him  to  take  arms  with  him  against  the 
Syrians,  with  whom  hitherto  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  never  had  any  war  or  occasion  of  quarrel. 
However,  Jehoshaphat  was  not  so  far  infatuated 
as  to  proceed  to  the  ■war  without  consulting  God. 
The  false  prophets  of  Ahab  poured  forth  ample 
promises  of  success,  and  one  of  them,  named 
Zedekiah,  resorting  to  material  symbols,  made 
him  horns  of  iron,  saying,  '  Tluis  saith  the  Lord, 
with  these  shalt  thou  smite  the  Syrians  till  they 
be  consumed.'  Still  Jehoshaphat  was  not  satis- 
fied; and  the  answer  to  his  further  inquiries 
extorted  from  him  a  rebuke  of  the  reluctance 
which  Ahab  manifested  to  call  Micah,  '  the  pro- 
phet of  the  Lord.'  Tlie  fearless  words  of  this 
prophet  did  not  make  the  impression  upon  the 
king  of  Judah  which  might  have  been  expected ; 
or  probably  he  then  felt  himself  too  deeply 
bound  in  honour  to  recede.  He  went  to  the 
fatal  battle  of  Ramoth-Gilead,  and  there  nearly 
became  the  victim  of  a  plan  which  Ahab  had 
laid  for  his  own  safety  at  the  expense  of  his  too 
confiding  ally.  He  persuaded  Jehoshaphat  to 
appear  as  king,  while  he  himself  went  disguised 
to  the  battle.  This  brought  the  heat  of  the  con- 
test around  him,  as  the  Syrians  took  him  for 
Ahab;  and  if  they  had  not  in  time  discovered 
their  mistake,  he  would  certainly  have  been 
slain.  Ahab  was  killed,  and  the  battle  lost 
[Ahab]  ;  but  Jehoshaphat  escaped,  and  returned 
to  Jerusalem. 

On  his  return  from  this  imprudent  expedition 
he  was  met  by  the  just  reproaches  of  the  propliet 
Jehu.  The  best  atonement  he  could  make  for 
this  error  was  by  the  course  he  actually  took,  i 
He  resumed  his  labours  in  the  fui  ther  extiriiation  I 
of  idolatry,  in  the  instruction  of  the  peo]ile,  and 
the  improvement  of  his  realm.  He  now  made 
a  tour  of  his  kingdom  in  person,  that  he  might 
see  the  ordinances  of  God  duly  estahlished,  and 
witness  the  due  execution  of  his  intentions  re- 
specting the  instruction  of  the  people  in  the 
divine  law.     This  tour  enabled  him  to  discern 


JEHOSHAPHAT 

many  defects  in  the  local  administration  of  justice, 
which  he  then  applied  himself  to  remedy.  He 
appointed  magistrates  in  every  city,  for  the  de- 
termination of  causes  civil  and  ecclesiastical. 
Then  he  established  a  supreme  council  of  justice 
at  Jerusalem,  composed  of  priests,  Levites,  and 
'  the  chiefs  of  the  fathers ;'  to  which  difficult 
cases  were  referred,  and  appeals  brought  from 
the  provincial  tribunals. 

The  activity  of  Jehoshaphat's  mind  was  then 
turned  towards  the  revival  of  that  maritime 
commerce  which  had  been  established  by  Solo- 
mon. The  land  of  Edom  and  the  ports  of  the 
Elanitic  Gulf  were  still  under  the  power  of 
Judah :  and  in  them  the  king  prepared  a  fleet 
for  the  voyage  to  Ophir.  Unhappily,  however, 
he  yielded  to  the  wish  of  the  king  of  Israel,  and 
allowed  him  to  take  part  in  the  enterprise.  For 
this  the  expedition  was  doomed  of  God,  and  the 
vessels  were  wrecked  almost  as  soon  as  they 
quitted  port.  Instructed  by  Eliezer,  the  prophet, 
as  to  the  cause  of  this  disaster,  Jehoshaphat 
equipped  a  new  fleet,  and  having  this  time  de- 
clined the  co-operation  of  the  king  of  Israel,  the 
voyage  prospered.  The  trade  was  not,  however, 
prosecuted  with  any  zeal,  and  was  soon  aban- 
doned [Commerce]. 

In  accounting  for  the  disposition  of  Jehosha- 
phat to  contract  alliances  with  the  king  of  Israel, 
we  are  to  remember  that  there  existed  a  powerful 
tie  between  the  two  courts  in  the  marriage  of 
Jehoshaphat's  eldest  son  with  Athaliah,  the 
daughter  of  Ahab  ;  and.  when  we  advert  to  the 
part  in  public  affairs  which  that  princess  after- 
wards took,  it  may  well  be  conceived  that  even 
thus  early  she  possessed  an  influence  for  evil  in 
the  court  of  Judah. 

After  the  death  of  Ahaziah,  king  of  Israel, 
Joram,  his  successor,  persuaded  Jehoshaphat  to 
join  him  in  an  expedition  against  Moab.  This 
alliance  was,  however,  on  political  grounds,  more 
excusable  than  the  two  former,  as  the  Moabites, 
who  were  under  tribute  to  Israel,  might  draw 
into  their  cause  th-e  Edomites,  who  were  tributary 
to  Judah.  Besides,  Moab  could  be  invaded  with 
most  advantage  from  the  south,  round  by  the  end 
of  the  Dead  Sea ;  and  the  king  of  Israel  could 
not  gain  access  to  them  in  that  quarter  but  by 
marching  through  the  territories  of  Jehoshaphat. 
The  latter  not  only  joined  Joram  with  his  own 
army,  but  required  his  tributary,  the  king  of 
Edom,  to  bring  his  forces  into  the  field.  During 
seven  days'  march  through  the  wilderness  of 
Edom,  the  army  suffered  much  from  want  of 
water;  and  by  the  time  the  allies  came  in  sight 
of  the  army  of  Moab,  they  were  ready  to  perish 
from  thirst.  In  this  emergency  the  pious  Jeho- 
shaphat thought,  as  usual,  of  consulting  the 
Lord  ;  and  hearing  that  the  prophet  Elisha  Avas 
in  the  camp,  the  three  kings  proceeded  to  his 
tent.  For  the  sake  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  for  his 
sake  only,  deliverance  was  promised ;  and  it 
came  during  the  ensuing  night,  in  the  shape  of 
an  abundant  supply  of  water,  which  rolled  down 
the  exhausted  wadys,  and  filled  the  pools  and 
hollow  grounds.  Afterwards  Jehoshaphat  took 
his  full  part  in  the  operations  of  the  campaign,  till 
the  armies  were  induced  to  withdraw  in  horror, 
by  witnessing  the  dreadful  act  of  Mesha,  king  of 
Moab,  in  ofiiering  up  his  eldest  son  in  sacrifice 
upon  the  wall  of  the  town  in  which  he  was  shut  up. 


JEHOVAH 


455     I 


This  war  kindled  another  much  more  dan-  | 
gerous  to  Jehosiiaphat.  The  Moabites,  being 
highly  exasperated  at  the  part  he  had  taken 
against  them,  turned  all  their  wrath  upon  him. 
They  induced  their  kindred,  the  Ammonites, 
to  join  them,  obtained  auxiliaries  from  the 
Syrians,  and  even  drew  over  the  Edomites  ;  so 
that  the  strength  of  all  the  neighbouring  nations 
may  be  said  to  have  been  united  for  this  great 
enterprise.  The  allied  forces  entered  the  land  of 
Judah  and  encamped  at  Engedi,  near  the  western 
border  of  the  Dead  Sea.  In  this  extremity  Jeho- 
shaphat felt  that  all  his  defence  lay  with  God. 
A  solemn  fast  was  held,  and  the  people  repaired 
from  the  towns  to  Jerusalem  to  seek  help  of  the 
Lord.  In  the  presence  of  the  assembled  mul- 
titude the  king,  in  the  court  of  the  temple,  offered 
up  a  fervent  prayer  to  God.  He  ceased ;  and  in 
the  midst  of  the  silence  which  ensued,  a  voice 
was  raised  pronouncing  deliverance  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord,  and  telling  them  to  go  out  on  the 
morrow  to  the  cliffs  overlooking  the  camp  of  the 
enemy,  and  see  them  all  overthrown  without  a 
blow  from  them.  The  voice  was  that  of  Jaha- 
ziel,  one  of  the  Levites.  His  words  came  to  pass. 
The  allies  quarrelled  among  themselves,  and  de-  i 
stroyed  each  other ;  so  that  when  the  Judahites 
came  the  next  day  they  found  their  dreaded 
enemies  all  dead,  and  nothing  was  left  for  them 
but  to  take  the  rich  spoils  of  the  slain.  This 
done,  they  returned  with  triumphal  songs  to 
Jerusalem.  Tliis  great  event  was  recognised 
even  by  the  neighbouring  nations  as  the  act  of 
God ;  and  so  strong  was  the  impression  which  it 
made  upon  them,  that  the  remainder  of  the  good 
king's  reign  was  altogether  undisturbed.  His 
death,  however,  took  place  not  very  long  after 
this,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  after  having  reigned 
twenty-five  years,  B.C.  896.  He  left  the  kingdom 
in  a  prosperous  condition  to  his  eldest  son  Je- 
horam,  whom  he  had  in  the  last  years  of  his  life 
associated  with  him  in  the  government. 

JEHOSHAPHAT,  VALLEY  OF,  the  name 
now  given  to  the  valley  which  bounds  Jerusalem 
on  the  East,  and  separates  i^  from  the  Mount  of 
Olives  [Jerusalem]. 

In  Joel  iii.  2,  12,  we  read,  'the  Lord  will 
gather  all  nations  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat, 
and  plead  with  them  there.'  Many  interpreters, 
Jewish  and  Christian,  conclude  from  this  that 
the  last  judgment  is  to  take  place  in  the  above- 
mentioned  valley.  But  there  is  no  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  the  valley  then  bore  any  such  name ; 
and  more  discreet  interpreters  understand  the  text 
to  denote  a  valley  in  which  some  great  victory 
was  to  be  won,  most  probably  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, which  should  utterly  discomfit  the  ancient 
enemies  of  Israel,  and  resemble  the  victory  which 
Jehoshaphat  obtained  over  the  Ammonites,  Moab- 
ites, and  Edomites  (2  Chron.  xx.  22--26).  Others 
translate  the  name  Jehoshaphat  into  God's  judg- 
ment, and  thus  read,  '  the  valley  of  God's  judg- 
ment,' which  is  doubtless  symbolical,  like  '  the 
valley  of  decision,'  i.  e.  of  punishment,  in  the  same 
chapter. 

JEHOSH'EBA,  daughter  of  Jehoram,  sister 
of  Ahaziah,  and  aunt  of  Joash,  kings  of  Judah. 
The  last  of  these  owed  his  life  to  her,  and  his 
crown  to  her  husband,  the  high-priest  Jehoiada 
[Jehoiada]. 

JEHO'VAH,  or  rather  perhaps  Jahveh,  the 


456 


JEHU 


name  by  -which  God  was  pleased  to  make  himself 
known,  under  the  covenant,  to  the  ancient  He- 
brews (Exod.  vi.  2,  3).  The  import  of  this  name 
has  been  considered  under  the  head  God. 

JE'HU  {God  is),  tenth  king  of  Israel,  and 
founder  of  its  fourth  dynasty,  who  began  to  reign 
in  B.C.  884,  and  reigned  twenty-eight  years. 

Jehu  held  a  command  in  the  Israelite  army 
posted  at  Ramoth-Gilead  to  hold  in  check  the 
Syrians,  who  of  late  years  had  made  strenuous 
efforts  to  extend  their  frontier  to  the  Jordan,  and 
had  possessed  themselves  of  much  of  the  territory 
of  the  Israelites  east  of  that  river.  Ahaziah,  king 
of  Judah,  had  taken  part  with  Joram,  king  of 
Israel,  in  this  war ;  and  as  the  latter  had  been 
severely  wounded  in  a  recent  action,  and  had 
gone  to  Jezreel  to  be  healed  of  his  wounds,  Aha- 
ziah had  also  gone  thither  on  a  visit  of  sympathy 
to  him. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  a  council  of  war  was  held 
among  the  military  commanders  in  camp,  when 
very  unexpectedly  one  of  the  disciples  of  the 
prophets,  known  for  such  by  his  garb,  appeared 
at  the  door  of  the  tent,  and  called  forth  Jehu,  de- 
claring that  he  had  a  message  to  deliver  to  him. 
He  had  been  sent  by  Elisha  the  prophet,  in  dis- 
charge of  a  duty  which  long  before  had  been 
confided  by  the  Lord  to  Elijah  (1  Kings  xix.  16), 
and  from  him  had  devolved  on  his  successor. 
When  they  were  alone  the  young  man  drew  fortli 
a  horn  of  oil  and  poured  it  upon  Jehu's  head,  with 
the  words,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  I 
have  anointed  thee  king  over  the  people  of  the 
Lord,  even  over  Israel.  And  thou  shalt  smite 
the  house  of  Ahab  thy  master,  that  I  may  avenge 
the  blood  of  my  servants  the  prophets,  and  the 
blood  of  all  the  servants  of  the  Lord,  at  the  hand 
of  Jezebel'  (2  Kings  ix.  7,  8).  Jehu  returned  to 
the  council,  probably  with  an  altered  air,  for  he 
was  asked  what  had  been  the  communication  of 
the  young  prophet  to  him.  He  told  them  plainly ; 
and  they  were  obviously  ripe  for  defection  from 
the  house  of  Ahab,  for  immediately,  taking  him 
in  triumph  to  '  the  top  of  the  stairs,'  they  spread 
their  mantles  beneath  his  feet,  and  proclaimed 
him  king  by  sound  of  trumpet  in  the  presence  of 
all  the  troops. 

Jehu  was  not  a  man  to  lose  any  advantage 
through  remissness.  He  immediately  entered  his 
chariot,  in  order  that  his  presence  at  Jezreel 
should  be  the  first  announcement  which  Joram 
could  receive  of  this  revolution. 

As  soon  as  the  advance  of  Jehu  and  his  party 
was  seen  in  the  distance  by  the  watchmen  upon 
the  palace-tower  in  Jezreel,  two  messengers  were 
successively  sent  forth  to  meet  him,  and  were 
commanded  by  Jehu  to  follow  in  his  rear.  But 
when  the  watchman  reported  that  he  could  now 
recognise  the  furious  driving  of  Jehu,  Joram 
went  forth  himself  to  meet  him,  and  was  accom- 
panied by  the  king  of  Judah.  They  met  in  the 
field  of  Naboth,  so  fatal  to  the  house  of  Ahab. 
The  king  saluted  him  with  '  Is  it  peace,  Jehu  ?' 
and  received  the  answer,  '  What  peace,  so  long  as 
the  whoredoms  (idolatries)  of  thy  mother  Jezebel 
and  her  witchcrafts  are  so  many?'  This  com- 
pletely opened  the  eyes  of  Joram,  who  exclaimed 
to  the  king  of  Judah,  'There  is  treachery,  O 
Ahaziah  !'  and  turned  to  flee.  But  Jehu  imme- 
diately drew  a  bow  with  his  full  strength  and 
sent  forth  an  arrow  which  passed  through  the 


JEHU 

king's  heart.  He  then  caused  the  body  to  be 
thrown  back  into  the  field  of  Naboth,'  out  of 
which  he  had  passed  in  his  attempt  at  flight.  The 
king  of  Judah  contrived  to  escape,  but  not  without 
a  wound,  of  which  he  afterwards  died  at  Megiddo 
[Ahaziah].  Jehu  then  entered  the  city,  whither 
the  news  of  this  transaction  had  already  preceded 
him.  As  he  passed  under  the  walls  of  the  palace 
Jezebel  herself,  studiously  arrayed  for  effect,  ap- 
peared at  one  of  the  windows,  and  saluted  him 
with  a  question  such  as  might  have  shaken  a  man 
of  weaker  nerves,  '  Had  Zimri  peace,  who  slew 
his  master  ?'  But  Jehu  was  unmoved,  and  instead 
of  answering  her,  called  out,  '  Who  is  on  my  side, 
who  ?'  when  several  eunuchs  made  their  appear- 
ance at  the  window,  to  whom  he  cried, '  Throw 
her  down !'  and  immediately  this  proud  and 
guilty  woman  lay  a  blood-stained  corpse  in  the 
road,  and  was  trodden  under  foot  by  the  horses 
[Jezebel].  Jehu  then  went  in  and  took  pos- 
session of  the  palace. 

He  was  now  master  of  Jezreel,  which  was,  next 
to  Samaria,  the  chief  town  of  the  kingdom ;  but 
he  could  not  feel  secure  while  the  capital  itself 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  royal  family,  and  of  those 
who  might  be  supposed  to  feel  strong  attachment 
to  the  house  of  Ahab.  The  force  of  the  blow 
which  he  had  struck  was,  however,  felt  even  in 
Samaria.  When  therefore  he  wrote  to  the  persons 
in  authority  there  the  somewhat  ironical  but  de- 
signedly intimidating  counsel,  to  set  up  one  of  the 
young  princes  in  Samaria  as  king  and  fight  out 
the  matter  which  lay  between  them,  they  sent  a 
very  submissive  answer,  giving  in  their  adhesion, 
and  professing  their  readiness  to  obey  in  all  things 
his  commands.  A  second  letter  from  Jehu  tested 
this  profession  in  a  truly  horrid,  and  exceedingly 
Oriental  manner,  requiring  them  to  appear  before 
him  on  the  morrow,  bringing  with  them  the  heads 
of  all  the  royal  princes  in  Samaria.  A  fallen 
house  meets  with  little  pity  in  the  East ;  and  when 
the  new  king  left  his  palace  the  next  morning,  he 
found  seventy  human  heads  piled  up  in  two  heaps 
at  his  gate.  There,  in  the  sight  of  these  heaps, 
Jehu  took  occasion  to  explain  his  conduct,  de- 
claring that  he  must  be  regarded  as  the  appointed 
minister  of  the  divine  decrees,  pronounced  long 
since  against  the  house  of  Ahab  by  the  prophets, 
not  one  of  whose  words  should  fall  to  the  ground. 
He  then  continued  his  proscriptions  by  extermi- 
nating in  Jezreel  not  only  all  in  whose  veins  the 
blood  of  the  condemned  race  flowed,  but  also — by 
a  considerable  stretch  of  his  commission — those 
officers,  ministers,  and  creatures  of  the  late  govern- 
ment, who,  if  suffered  to  live,  would  most  likely 
be  disturbers  of  his  own  reign.  He  then  proceeded 
to  Samaria.  So  rapid  had  been  these  proceedings 
that  he  met  some  of  the  nephews  of  the  king  of 
Judah,  who  were  going  to  join  their  uncle  at 
Jezreel,  and  had  as  yet  heard  nothing  of  the 
revolution  which  had  taken  place.  These  also 
perished  under  Jehu's  now  fully-awakened  thirst 
for  blood,  to  the  number  of  forty-two  persons. 

On  the  way  he  took  up  into  his  chariot  the 
pious  Jehonadab  the  Rechabite,  whose  austere 
virtue  and  respected  character  would,  as  he  felt, 
go  far  to  hallow  his  proceedings  in  the  eyes  of 
the  multitude.  At  Samaria  he  continued  the 
extirpation  of  the  persons  more  intimately  con- 
nected with  the  late  government.  This,  far  from 
being  in  any  way  singular,  is  a  common  circum- 


JEPHTHAH 

stance  in  Eastern  revolutions.  But  the  great 
object  of  Jehu  was  to  exterminate  the  ministers 
and  more  devoted  adherents  of  Baal,  who  had 
been  much  encouraged  by  Jezebel.  There  was 
even  a  temple  to  this  idol  in  Samaria ;  and  Jehu, 
never  scrupulous  about  the  means  of  reaching 
objects  which  he  believed  to  be  good,  laid  a  snare 
by  which  he  hoped  to  cut  off  the  main  body  of 
Baal's  ministers  at  one  blow.  He  professed  to 
be  a  more  zealous  servant  of  Baal  than  Ahab 
had  been,  and  proclaimed  a  great  festival  in  his 
honour,  at  which  none  but  his  true  servants  were 
to  be  present  The  prophets,  priests,  and  officers 
of  Baal  assembled  from  all  parts  for  this  great 
sacrifice,  and  sacerdotal  vestments  -were  given  to 
them,  that  none  of  Jehovah's  worshippers  might 
be  taken  for  them.  When  the  temple  was  full, 
soldiers  were  posted  so  that  none  might  escape ; 
and  so  soon  as  the  sacrifice  had  been  offered,  the 
word  was  given  by  the  king,  the  soldiers  entered 
the  temple,  and  put  all  the  worshippers  to  the 
sword.  The  temple  itself  was  then  demolished, 
the  images  overthrown,  and  the  site  turned  into  a 
common  jakes. 

Notwithstanding  this  zeal  of  Jehu  in  extermi- 
nating the  grosser  idolatries  which  had  grown  up 
under  his  immediate  predecessors,  he  was  not 
prepared  to  subvert  the  policy  which  had  led 
Jeroboam  and  his  successors  to  maintain  the 
i  schismatic  establishment  of  the  golden  calves  in 
Dan  and  Beth-el.  Here  Jehu  fell  short:  and 
this  very  policy,  apparently  so  prudent  and  far- 
sighted,  by  which  he  hoped  to  secure  the  stability 
and  independence  of  his  kingdom,  was  that  on 
account  of  which  the  term  of  rule  granted  to  his 
dynasty  was  shorted.  For  this,  it  was  foretold 
that  his  dynasty  should  extend  only  to  four  gene- 
rations ;  and  for  this,  the  divine  aid  was  withheld 
from  him  in  his  wars  with  the  Syrians  under 
Hazael  on  the  eastern  frontier.  Hence  the  war 
was  disastrous  to  him,  and  the  Syrians  were  able 
to  maintain  themselves  in  the  possession  of  a  great 
i  part  of  his  territories  beyond  the  Jordan.  He 
]  died  in  B.C.  856,  and  was  buried  in  Samaria, 
leaving  the  throne  to  his  son  Jehoahaz. 

2.  JEHU,  son  of  Hanani,  a  prophet,  who  was 
sent  to  pronounce  upon  Baasha,  king  of  Israel, 
and  his  house,  the  same  awful  doom  which  had 
been  already  executed  upon  the  house  of  Jero- 
boam (1  Kings  xvi.  1-7).  The  same  prophet  was, 
many  years  after,  commissioned  to  reprove  Jeho- 
shaphat  for  his  dangerous  connection  with  the 
hous«  of  Ahab  (2  Chron.  xix.  2). 

JEPH'THAH  {opener),  ninth  judge  of  Israel, 
of  the  tribe  of  Manasseh.  He  was  the  son  of 
a  person  named  Gilead  by  a  concubine.  After 
the  death  of  his  father  he  was  expelled  from  his 
home  by  the  envy  of  his  brothers,  who  refused 
him  any  share  of  the  heritage,  and  he  withdrew 
to  the  land  of  Tob,  beyond  the  frontier  of  the 
Hebrew  territories.  It  is  clear  that  he  had  before 
this  distinguished  himself  by  his  daring  character 
and  skill  in  arms ;  for  no  sooner  was  his  with- 
drawment  known  than  a  great  number  of  men  of 
desperate  fortunes  repaired  to  him,  and  he  be- 
came their  chief.  His  position  was  now  very 
similar  to  that  of  David  when  he  withdrew  from 
the  court  of  Saul.  To  maintain  the  people  who 
had  thus  linked  their  fortunes  with  his,  there  was 
DO  other  resource  than  that  sort  of  brigandage 
vhich  is  accounted  honooiable  in  the  East,  so 


JEPHTHAH 


457 


long  as  it  is  exercised  against  public  or  private 
enemies,  and  is  not  marked  by  needless  cruelty 
or  outrage. 

Jephthah  led  this  kind  of  life  for  some  years, 
during  which  his  dashing  exploits  and  successful 
enterprises  procured  him  a  higher  military  reputa- 
tion than  any  other  man  of  his  time  enjoyed. 

After  the  death  of  Jair  the  Israelites  gradually 
fell  into  their  favourite  idolatries,  and  were 
punished  by  subjection  to  the  Philistines  on  the  I 
west  of  the  Jordan,  and  to  the  Ammonites  on  the 
east  of  that  river.  The  oppression  which  they 
sustained  for  eighteen  years  became  at  length  so 
heavy  that  they  recovered  their  senses  and  re- 
turned to  the  God  of  their  fathers  with  humi- 
liation and  tears ;  and  he  was  appeased,  and  pro- 
mised them  deliverance  from  their  afHiction  (b.c. 
1143). 

The  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan  having  resolved 
to  oppose  the  Ammonites,  Jephthah  seems  to 
occur  to  every  one  as  the  most  fitting  leader.  A 
deputation  was  accordingly  sent  to  invite  him  to 
take  the  command.  After  some  demur,  on  ac- 
count of  the  treatment  he  had  formerly  received, 
he  consented.  The  rude  hero  commenced  his 
operations  with  a  degree  of  diplomatic  considera- 
tion and  dignity  for  which  we  are  not  prepared. 
The  Ammonites  being  assembled  in  force  for  one 
of  those  ravaging  incursions  by  which  they  had 
repeatedly  desolated  the  land,  he  sent  to  their 
camp  a  formal  complaint  of  the  invasion,  and  a 
demand  of  the  ground  of  their  proceeding.  Their 
answer  was,  that  the  land  of  the  Israelites  beyond 
the  Jordan  was  theirs.  It  had  originally  be- 
longed to  them,  from  whom  it  had  been  taken 
by  the  Amorites,  who  had  been  dispossessed  by 
the  Israelites :  and  on  this  ground  they  claimed 
the  restitution  of  these  lands.  Jephthah's  reply 
laid  down  the  just  principle  which  has  been  fol- 
lowed out  in  the  practice  of  civilized  nations,  and 
is  maintained  by  all  the  great  writers  on  the  law 
of  nations.  The  land  belonged  to  the  Israelites 
by  right  of  conquest  from  the  actual  possessors ; 
and  they  could  not  be  expected  to  recognise  any 
antecedent  claim  of  former  possessors,  for  whom 
they  had  not  acted,  who  had  rendered  them  no 
assistance,  and  who  had  themselves  displayed 
hostility  against  the  Israelites.  But  the  Ammon- 
ites re-asserted  their  former  views,  and  on  this 
issue  they  took  the  field. 

When  Jephthah  set  forth  against  the  Ammon- 
ites he  solemnly  vowed  to  the  Lord,  '  If  thou 
shalt  without  fail  deliver  the  children  of  Ammon 
into  my  hands,  then  it  shall  be,  that  whatsoever 
Cometh  forth  of  the  doors  of  my  house  to  meet  me, 
when  I  return  in  peace  from  the  children  of  Am- 
mon, shall  surely  be  the  Lord's,  and  I  will  offer 
it  up  for  a  burnt  offering.'  He  tvas  victorious. 
The  Ammonites  sustained  a  terrible  overthrow. 
He  did  return  in  peace  to  his  house  in  Mizpeh. 
As  he  drew  nigh  his  house,  the  one  that  came 
forth  to  meet  him  was  his  own  daughter,  his  only 
child,  in  whom  his  heart  was  bound  up.  She, 
with  her  fair  companions,  came  to  greet  the  tri- 
umphant hero  '  with  timbrels  and  with  dances.' 
But  he  no  sooner  saw  her  than  he  rent  his  robes, 
and  cried,  'Alas,  my  daughter!  thou  hast  brought 
me  very  low  ;  ...  for  1  have  opened  my  mouth 
unto  the  Lord,  and  cannot  go  back.'  Nor  did 
she  ask  it.  She  replied,  '  My  father,  if  thou  hast 
opened  thy  mouth  unto  the  Lord,  do  to  me  ao- 


458 


JEPHTHAH 


cording  to  that  which  has  proceeded  out  of  thy 
mouth ;  forasmuch  as  the  Lord  hath  taken  ven- 
geance for  thee  of  thine  enemies,  the  children  of 
Ammoii.'  But  after  a  pause  she  added,  '  Let 
this  thing  be  done  for  me:  let  me  alone  two 
months,  that  I  may  go  up  and  down  upon  the 
mountains,  and  bewail  my  virginity,  I  and  my 
fellows.'  Her  father  of  course  assented ;  and 
■when  the  time  expired  she  returned,  and,  we  are 
told,  '  he  did  with  her  according  to  his  vow.'  It 
is  then  added  that  it  became  '  a  custom  in  Israel, 
that  the  daughters  of  Israel  went  yearly  to  lament 
the  daughter  of  Jephthah  the  Gileadite  three  days 
in  the  year.' 

The  victory  over  the  Ammonites  was  followed 
by  a  quarrel  with  the  proud  and  powerful 
Ephraimites  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan.  This 
tribe  was  displeased  at  having  had  no  share  in 
the  glory  of  the  recent  victory,  and  a  large  body  of 
men  belonging  to  it,  who  had  crossed  the  river  to 
share  in  the  action,  used  very  high  and  threatening 
language  when  they  found  their  services  were  not 
required.  Jephthah,  finding  his  remonstrances 
had  no  effect,  re-assembled  some  of  his  disbanded 
troops  and  gave  the  Ephraimites  battle,  when  they 
were  defeated  with  much  loss.  The  victors  seized 
the  fords  of  the  Jordan,  and  when  any  one  came 
to  pass  over,  they  made  him  pronounce  the  word 
Shibboleth  [an  ear  of  corn],  but  if  he  could  not 
give  the  aspiration,  and  pronounced  the  word  as 
Sibboleth,  they  knew  him  for  an  Ephraimite,  and 
slew  him  on  the  spot. 

Jephthah  judged  Israel  six  years,  during  which 
we  have  reason  to  conclude  that  the  exercise  of 
his  authority  was  almost  if  not  altogether  con- 
fined to  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan. 

Vohimes  have  been  written  on  the  subject  of 
'  Jephthah's  rash  vow ; '  the  question  being 
whether,  in  doing  to  his  daughter  '  according  to 
his  vow,'  he  really  did  offer  her  in  sacrifice  or  not. 
The  negative  has  been  stoutly  maintained  by 
many  able  pens,  from  a  natural  anxiety  to  clear 
the  character  of  one  of  the  heroes  in  Israel  from 
so  dark  a  stain.  But  the  more  the  plain  rules  of 
common  sense  have  been  exercised  in  our  view  of 
biblical  transactions,  and  the  better  we  have  suc- 
ceeded in  realizing  a  distinct  idea  of  the  times  in 
which  Jephthah  lived  and  of  the  position  which 
he  occupied,  the  less  reluctance  there  has  been  to 
admit  the  interpretation  which  the  first  view  of 
the  passage  suggests  to  every  reader,  which  is, 
that  he  really  did  offer  her  in  sacrifice.  The  ex- 
planation which  denies  this  maintains  that  she 
was  rather  doomed  to  perpetual  celibacy ;  but  to 
live  unmarried  was  required  by  no  law,  custom, 
or  devotement  among  the  Jews :  no  one  had  a 
right  to  impose  so  odious  a  condition  on  another, 
nor  is  any  such  condition  implied  or  expressed  in 
the  vow  which  Jephthah  uttered.  The  Jewish 
commentators  themselves  generally  admit  that 
Jephthah  really  sacrificed  his  daughter ;  and  even 
go  so  far  as  to  allege  that  the  change  in  the  pon- 
tifical dynasty  from  the  house  of  Eleazar  to  that 
of  Ithamar  was  caused  by  the  high-priest  of  the 
time  having  suffered  this  transaction  to  take 
place. 

It  is  very  true  that  human  sacrifices  were  for- 
bidden by  the  law.  But  in  the  rude  and  unsettled 
age  in  which  the  judges  lived,  when  the  Israelites 
had  adopted  a  vast  number  of  erroneous  notions 
and  practices  from  their  heathen  neighbours,  many 


JEREMIAH 

things  were  done,  even  by  good  men,  which  the 
law  forbade  quite  as  positively  as  human  sacrifice. 
Again,  Jephthah  vows  that  whatsoever  came 
forth  from  the  door  of  his  house  to  meet  him 
'shall  surely  be  the  Lord's,  and  I  will  offer  it  up 
for  a  burnt-offering,'  which,  in  fact,  was  the  re- 
gular way  of  making  a  thing  wholly  the  Lord's. 
Afterwards  we  are  told  that  '  he  did  with  her  ac- 
cording to  his  vow,'  that  is,  according  to  the  plain 
meaning  of  plain  words,  offered  her  for  a  burnt- 
offering.  Then  follows  the  intimation  that  the 
daughters  of  Israel  lamented  her  four  days  every 
year.  People  lament  the  dead,  not  the  living. 
The  whole  story  is  consistent  and  intelligible, 
while  the  sacrifice  is  understood  to  have  actually 
taken  place  ;  but  becomes  perplexed  and  difficult 
as  soon  as  we  begin  to  turn  aside  from  this  obvious 
meaning  in  search  of  recondite  explanations. 

Professor  Bush,  in  his  elaborate  note  on  the 
text,  maintains  with  us  that  a  human  sacrifice 
was  all  along  contemplated.  But  he  suggests 
that  during  the  two  months  Jephthah  might 
have  obtained  better  information  i-especting  the 
nature  of  vows,  by  which  he  would  have  learned 
that  his  daughter  could  not  be  legally  offered, 
but  might  be  redeemed  at  a  valuation  (Lev.  xxvii. 
2-12).  This  is  possible,  and  is  much  more  likely 
than  the  popular  alternative  of  perpetual  celi- 
bacy ;  but  we  have  serious  doubts  whether  even 
this  meets  the  conclusion  that  '  he  did  with  her 
according  to  his  vow.'  Besides,  in  this  case, 
where  was  the  ground  for  the  annual  '  lamenta- 
tions '  of  the  daughters  of  Israel,  or  even  for  the 
'  celebrations '  which  some  understand  the  word 
to  mean  ? 

JFiRElSlVAH  (raised  up  or  appointed  bi/  God), 
was  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  a  priest  of  Anathoth,  in 
the  land  of  Benjamin  [Anathoth].  Jeremiah 
was  very  young  when  the  word  of  the  Lord  first 
came  to  him  (ch.  i.  6^.  This  event  took  place  in 
the  thirteenth  year  of  Josiah  (b.c.  629),  whilst 
the  youthful  prophet  still  lived  at  Anathoth.  It 
would  seem  that  he  remained  in  his  native  city 
several  years,  but  at  length,  in  order  to  escape 
the  persecution  of  his  fellow  townsmen  (ch.  xi. 
21),  and  even  of  his  own  family  (ch.  xii.  6),  as 
well  as  to  have  a  wider  field  for  his  exertions,  he 
left  Anathoth  and  took  up  his  residence  at  Jeru- 
salem. The  finding  of  the  book  of  the  law  five 
years  after  the  commencement  of  his  predictions, 
must  have  produced  a  powerful  influence  on  the 
mind  of  Jeremiah,  and  king  Josiah  no  doubt 
found  him  a  powerful  ally  in  carrying  into  effect 
the  reformation  of  religious  worship  (2  Kings 
xxiii.  1-25).  During  the  reign  of  this  monarch 
we  may  readily  believe  that  Jeremiah  would  be 
in  no  way  molested  in  his  work ;  and  that  from 
the  time  of  his  quitting  Anathoth  to  the  eighteenth 
year  of  his  ministry,  he  probably  uttered  his 
warnings  without  interruption,  though  with  little 
success  (see  ch.  xi.).  Indeed,  the  reformation 
itself  was  nothing  more  than  the  forcible  repres- 
sion of  idolatrous  and  heathen  rites,  and  the  re- 
establishment  of  the  external  service  of  God,  by 
the  command  of  the  king.  No  sooner,  therefore, 
was  the  influence  of  the  court  on  behalf  of  the 
true  religion  withdrawn,  than  it  was  evident  that 
no  real  improvement  had  taken  place  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  Jeremiah,  who  hitherto 
was  at  least  protected  by  the  influence  of  the  pious 
king  Josiah,  soon  became  the  object  of  attack,  as 


JEliEMlAH 

he  musf  doulitless  have  long  been  the  object  of 
dislike  to   tlioso  wlxise  interests  were  identified 
with  the  covriipti'ins  of  religion.  We  hear  nothing 
of  the  prophet  during  the  three  months  which 
constituted  the  i-hort  reign  of  Jehoahaz;  but  '  in 
the  beginning  of  the  reign   of  Jehoiakim '  the 
prophet  was  ii  terrupted  in  his  ministry  by  '  the 
priests  and  tlie  prophets,'  who  with  the  populace 
brought  him  before  the  civil  authorities,  urging 
that  capital   punishment  should  be  inflicted  on 
him  for  histhreateuingsof  evil  on  the  city  unless 
the  people  amended  their  ways  (ch.  xxvi.).    The 
princes  seem  to  have  been  in  some  degree  aware 
of  the  results  which  the  general  corruption  was 
bringing  on  the  state,  and  if  they  did  not  them- 
selves yield  to  the  exhortations  of  the  prophet, 
they  acknowledged  that  he  spoke  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord,  and  were  quite  averse  from  so  openly 
renouncing  His  authority  as   to    put  His   mes- 
senger to  death.     It  appears,  however,  that  it  was 
rather  owing  to  the  personal  influence  of  one  or 
two,   especially   Ahikam,    than   to   any  general 
feeling  favourable  to  Jeremiah,  that  his  life  was 
preserved.      In   the  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim 
(B.C.  606)  he  was  commanded  to  write  the  pre- 
dictions which  had  been  given  through  him,  and 
to  read  them  to  the  people.     As  he  was  at  that 
time  '  shut  up,'  and  could  not  himself  go  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord  (ch.  xxxvi.  5),  he  deputed 
Baruch  to  write  the  predictions  after  him,  and  to 
read   them    publicly   on    the    fast-day.      These 
threatenings    being    thus     anew    made    public, 
Baruch  was  summoned  before  the  princes  to  give 
an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  roll  con- 
taining them  had  come  into  his  possession.     The 
princes,   who,  without  strength   of  principle  to 
oppose  the  wickedness  of  the  king,  had  sufficient 
respect  for  religion,  as  well  as  sagacity  enough 
to   discern  the   importance   of  listening   to   the 
voice  of  God's  prophet,  advised  both  Baruch  and 
Jeremiah  to  conceal  themselves,  whilst  they  en- 
deavoured to  influence  the  mind  of  the  king  by 
reading  the  roll  to  him.     The  result  showed  that 
their  precautions  were  not  needless.     The  bold 
self-will  and  reckless  daring  of  the  monarch  re- 
fused to  listen  to  any  advice,  even  though  coming 
with  the  professed  sanction  of  the  Most  High. 
Having  read  three  or  four  leaves,  '  he  cut  the 
roll  with  the  penknife  and  cast  it  into  the  fire 
that  was   on  the  hearth,  until  all  the  roll  was 
consumed,'  and  gave  immediate  orders  for  the 
apprehension    of    Jeremiah   and   Baruch,   who, 
however,    were   both   preserved   from   the  vin- 
dictive monarch.     Of  the  history  of  Jeremiah 
during  the  eight  or  nine  remaining  years  of  the 
reign  of  Jehoiakim  we  have  no  certain  account. 
At  the  command  of  God  he  procured  another 
roll,  in  wliich  he  wrote  all  that  was  in  the  roll 
destroyed  by  tb.c  king,  '  and  added  besides  unto 
them  many  like  words'  (ch.  xxxvi.  32).     In  the 
short  reign  of  his  successor  Jehoiachin  or  Jeco- 
niah,  we  find  him  still  uttering  his  voice  of  warn- 
ing (see  ch.  xiii.  18;  comp.   2  Kings  xxiv.   12, 
and  ch.  xxiii.  24-30),  though  without  effect.     It 
was  probably  either  during  this  reign,  or  at  the 
commencement  of  the  reign  of  Zedekiah,  that  he 
was  put  in    confinement  by  Pashur,  the  '  chief 
governor  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.'     He  seems, 
however,  soon  to  have  been  liberated,  as  we  find 
that '  they  had  not  put  him  into  prison '  when  the 
army  of  Mebuchadnezzar  commenced  the  siege 


JEREMIAH 


459 


of  Jerusalem.     The  Chaldocans  drew  otf  their 
army  for  a  time,  on  the  report  of  help  coming 
from  Egypt  to  the  besieged  city ;  and  now  feel- 
ing the  danger  to  be  imminent,  and  yet  a  ray  of 
hope  brightening  their  prospects,  the  king  en- 
treated Jeremiah  to  pray  to  the  Lord  for  them. 
The  hopes  of  the  king  were  not  responded  to  in 
the  message  which  Jeremiah  received  from  God. 
He  was  assured  that  the  Egyptian  army  should 
return  to  their  own  land,  that   the  Chaldoeans 
should  come  again,  and  that  they  should  take  the 
city  and  burn  it  with  fire  (ch.  xxxvi.  7,  8).     The 
princes,  apparently  irritated  by  a  message  so  con- 
trary  to   their  wishes,  made   the   departure   of 
Jeremiah  from  the  city,  during  the  short  respite, 
the  pretext  for  accusing  him  of  deserting  to  the 
Chaldaeans,  and  he  was  forthwith  cast  into  prison. 
The  king  seems  to  have  been  throughout  inclined 
to  favour  the  prophet,  and  sought  to  know  from 
him  the  word  of  the  Lord ;  but  he  was  wholly 
under  the  influence  of  the  princes,   and   dared 
not  communicate  with  him  except  in  secret  (ch. 
xxxviii.   14,    28);    much   less  could   he   follow 
advice  so  obnoxious  to  their  views  as  that  which 
the  prophet   gave.     Jeremiah,  therefore,    more 
from   the  hostility  of  the  princes  than   the  in- 
clination of  the  king,  was  still   in  confinement 
when    the    city   was    taken.      Nebuchadnezzar 
formed  a  more  just  estimate  of  his  character 
and  of  the  value  of  his   counsels,  and  gave  a 
special  charge  to  his  captain  Nebuzar-adan,  not 
only  to  provide  for  him  but  to  follow  his  advice 
(ch.  xxxix.  1 2).     He  was  accordingly  taken  from 
the  prison  and  allowed  free  choice  either  to  go  to 
Babylon,  where  doubtless  he  would  have  been 
held  in  honour  in  the  royal  court,  or  to  remain 
with  his  own  people.     We  need  scarcely  be  told 
that  he  who  had  devoted  more  than  forty  years 
of  unrequited  service  to  the  welfare  of  his  fall- 
ing country  should  choose  to  remain  with  the 
remnant  of  his  people  rather  than  seek  the  pre- 
carious fame  which  might  await  him  at  the  court 
of  the  king  of  Babylon.     Accordingly  he  went 
to  Mizpah  with  Gedaliah,  whom  the  Babylonian 
monarch  had  appointed  governor  of  Judsca ;  and 
after  his  murder  sought   to   persuade  Johanan, 
who  was  then  the  recognised  leader  of  the  people, 
to  remain   in  the  land,  assuring  him   and   the 
people,  by  a  message  from  God   in   answer   to 
their  inquiries,   that   if  they   did  so  the   Lord 
would  build  them  up,  but  if  they  went  to  Egypt 
the  evils  which   they  sought   to  escape   should 
come  upon  them  there  (ch.  xlii.).     The  people 
refused  to  attend  to  the  divine  message,  and  under 
the  command  of  Johanan  went  into  Egypt,  taking 
Jeremiah  and  Baruch  along  with  them  (ch.  xliii. 
6).     In  Egypt  the  prophet  still  sought  to  turn 
the  people  to  the  Lord,  from  whom  they  had  so 
long  and  so  deeply  revolted  (ch.  xliv.) ;  but  his 
writings  give  us  no  subsequent  information  re- 
specting his  personal  history.    Ancient  traditions 
assert  that  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in 
Egypt.     According  to  the  pseudo-Epiphanius  he 
was  stoned  by  the  people  at  Taphna;,  the  same  as 
Tahpanhes,  where  the  Jews  were  settled.     It  is 
said  that  his  bones  were  removed  by  Alexander 
the  Great  to  Alexandria. 

Jeremiah  was  contemporary  with  Zephaniah, 
Habakkuk,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel.  None  of  these, 
however,  are  in  any  remarkable  way  connected 
with   him,    except  Ezekiel.     The  writings   and 


460 


JEHICHO 


character  of  these  two  eminent  prophets  furnish 
many  very  interesting  points  both  of  comparison 
and  contrast.  Both,  during  a  long  series  of  years, 
were  labouring  at  the  same  time  and  for  the 
same  object.  The  representations  of  both,  far 
separated  as  they  were  from  each  other,  are  in 
substance  singularly  accordant;  yet  there  is  at 
the  same  time  a  marked  difference  in  their  modes 
of  statement,  and  a  still  more  striking  diversity 
in  tlie  character  and  natural  disposition  of  the 
two.  No  one  who  compares  them  can  fail  to 
perceive  that  the  mind  of  Jeremiah  was  of  a 
softer  and  more  delicate  texture  than  that  of  his 
illustrious  contemporary.  His  whole  history  con- 
vinces us  that  he  was  by  nature  mild  and  retiring, 
highly  susceptible  and  sensitive,  especially  to 
sorrowful  emotions,  and  rather  inclined,  as  we 
should  imagine,  to  shrink  from  danger  than  to 
brave  it.  Yet,  with  this  acute  perception  of  in- 
jury, and  natural  repugnance  from  being  '  a  man 
of  strife,'  he  never  in  the  least  degree  shrinks 
from  publicity ;  nor  is  he  at  all  intimidated  by 
reproach  or  insult,  or  even  by  actual  punishment 
and  threatened  death,  when  he  has  the  message 
of  God  to  deliver.  He  is,  in  truth,  as  remark- 
able an  instance,  though  in  a  different  way,  of 
the  overpowering  influence  of  the  divine  energy 
as  Ezekiel.  The  one  presents  the  spectacle  of 
the  power  of  divine  inspiration  acting  on  a  mind 
naturally  of  the  firmest  texture,  and  at  once  sub- 
duing to  itself  every  element  of  the  soul ;  whilst 
the  other  furnishes  an  example,  not  less  memo- 
rable, of  moral  courage  sustained  by  the  same 
divine  inspiration  against  the  constantly  opposing 
influence  of  a  love  of  retirement  and  strong  sus- 
ceptibility to  impressions  of  outward  evil. 

The  style  of  Jeremiah  corresponds  with  this 
view  of  the  character  of  his  mind  ;  though  not 
deficient  in  power,  it  is  peculiarly  marked  by 
pathos.  He  delights  in  the  expression  of  the 
tender  emotions,  and  employs  all  the  resources  of 
kis  imagination  to  excite  corresponding  feelings 
in  his  readers.  He  has  an  irresistible  sympathy 
with  the  miserable,  which  finds  utterance  in  the 
most  touching  descriptions  of  their  condition. 
He  seizes  with  wonderful  tact  those  circum- 
stances which  point  out  the  objects  of  his  pity 
as  the  objects  of  sympathy,  and  founds  his  ex- 
postulations on  the  miseries  which  are  thus  exhi- 
bited. His  book  of  Lamentations  is  an  astonishing 
exhibition  of  his  power  to  accumulate  images  of 
sorrow.  The  whole  series  of  elegies  has  but  one 
object— the  expression  of  sorrow  for  the  forlorn 
condition  of  his  country ;  and  yet  he  presents 
this  to  us  in  so  many  lights,  alludes  to  it  by  so 
many  figures,  that  not  only  are  his  mournful 
strains  not  felt  to  be  tedious  reiterations,  but  the 
reader  is  captivated  by  the  plaintive  melancholy 
which  pervades  the  whole. 

The  genuineness  and  canonicity  of  the  writings 
of  Jeremiah  in  general  are  established  both  by 
the  testimony  of  ancient  writers,  and  by  quota- 
tions and  references  which  occoi*  in  the  New 
Testament. 

The  principal  predictions  relating  to  the  Mes- 
siah are  found  in  ch.  xxiii.  1-8;  xxx.  31-40; 
xxxiii.  14-26. 

JER'ICHO,  a  town  in  the  plain  of  the  same 
name,  not  far  from  the  river  Jordan,  at  the  point 
where  it  enters  the  Dead  Sea.  It  lay  before  the 
Israelites  when  they  crossed  the  river,  on  first 


JERICHO 

entering  the  Promised  Land;  and  the  account 
which  the  spies  who  were  sent  by  them  into  the 
city  received  from  their  hostess  Rahab,  tended 
much  to  encourage  their  subsequent  operations, 
as  it  showed  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
were  greatly  alarmed  at  their  advance,  and  the 
signal  miracles  which  had  marked  their  course 
from  the  Nile  to  the  Jordan.  The  strange  manner 
in  which  Jericho  itself  was  taken  must  have 
strengthened  this  impression  in  the  country,  and 
appears,  indeed,  to  have  been  designed  for  that 
effect.  The  town  was  utterly  destroyed  by  the 
Israelites,  who  pronounced  an  awful  curse  upon 
whoever  should  rebuild  it ;  and  all  the  inhabitants 
were  put  to  the  sword,  except  Rahab  and  her 
family  (Josh.  ii.  6).  In  these  accounts  Jericho  is 
repeatedly  called  '  the  city  of  palm-trees  ;'  which 
shows  that  the  hot  and  dry  plain,  so  similar  to 
the  land  of  Egypt,  was  noted  beyond  other  parts 
of  Palestine  for  the  tree  which  abounds  in  that 
country,  but  which  was  and  is  less  common  in  the 
land  of  Canaan  than  general  readers  and  painters 
suppose.  It  has  now  almost  disappeared  even  from 
the  plain  of  Jericho,  although  specimens  remain 
in  the  plain  of  the  Mediterranean  coast. 

Notwithstanding  the  curse,  Jericho  was  soon 
rebuilt  [Hiel],  and  became  a  school  of  the  pro- 
phets (Judg.  iii.  13;  1  Kings  xvi.  34;  2  Kings 
ii.  4,  5).  Its  inhabitants  returned  after  the  exile, 
and  it  was  eventually  fortified  by  the  Syrian 
general  Bacchides  (Ezra  ii.  34 ;  Neh.  iii.  2 ;  1 
Mace.  ix.  50).  Pompey  marched  from  Scytho- 
polis,  along  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  to  Jericho, 
and  thence  to  Jerusalem ;  and  Strabo  speaks  of 
the  castles  Thrax  and  Taurus,  in  or  near  Jericho, 
as  having  been  destroyed  by  him.  Herod  the 
Great,  in  the  beginning  of  his  career,  captured 
and  sacked  Jericho,  but  afterwards  strengthened 
and  adorned  it,  when  he  had  redeemed  its  revenues 
from  Cleopatra,  on  whom  the  plain  had  been  be- 
stowed by  Antony.  He  appears  to  have  often 
resided  here,  probably  in  winter :  he  built  over 
the  city  a  fortress  called  Cypres,  between  which 
and  the  former  palace  he  erected  other  palaces, 
and  called  them  by  the  names  of  his  friends. 
Here  also  was  a  hippodrome  or  circus,  in  which 
the  same  tyrant,  when  lying  at  Jericho  on  his 
death-bed,  caused  the  nobles  of  the  land  to  be  shut 
up,  for  massacre  after  his  death.  He  died  here ; 
but  his  bloody  intention  was  not  executed.  The 
palace  at  this  place  was  afterwards  rebuilt  more 
magnificently  by  Archelaus.  By  this  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  Jericho  which  existed  in  the  time  of 
our  Saviour  was  a  great  and  important  city — pro- 
bably more  so  than  it  had  ever  been  since  its 
foundation.  It  was  once  visited  by  him,  when  he 
lodged  with  Zaccheus,  and  healed  the  blind  man 
(Luke  xviii.  35-43  ;  xix.  1-7 ;  Matt.  xx.  29-34  ; 
Mark  x.  46-52).  Jericho  was  afterwards  made 
the  head  of  one  of  the  toparchies,  and  was  visited 
by  Vespasian  before  he  left  the  country,  who 
stationed  there  the  tenth  legion  in  garrison.  Eu- 
sebius  and  Jerome  describe  Jericho  as  having 
been  destroyed  during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  on 
account  of  the  perfidy  of  the  inhabitants,  but  add 
that  it  was  afterwards  rebuilt.  The  town,  how- 
ever, appears  to  have  been  overthrown  during  the 
Mohammedan  conquest ;  for  Adamnanus,  at  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century,  describes  the  site  as 
without  human  habitations,  and  covered  with 
corn  and  vbes.     The  celebrated  palm-groves 


JERICHO 

still  existed.  In  the  next  century  a  church  is 
mentioned;  and  in  the  ninth  century  several 
monasteries  appear.  About  the  same  time  the 
plain  of  Jericho  is  again  noticed  for  its  fertility 
and  peculiar  products ;  and  it  appears  to  have 
been  brought  under  cultivation  by  the  Saracens, 
for  the 'sake  of  the  sugar  and  other  products  for 
which  the  soil  and  climate  were  more  suitable 
than  any  other  in  Palestine.  Euins  of  extensive 
aqueducts,  with  pointed  Saracenic  arches,  remain 
in  evidence  of  the  elaborate  irrigation  and  culture 
of  this  fine  plain — which  is  nothing  without  water, 
and  everything  with  it— at  a  period  long  subse- 
quent to  the  occupation  of  the  countiy  by  the 
Jews.  It  is  to  this  age  that  we  may  probably 
1  efer  the  origin  of  the  castle  and  village,  which 
have  since  been  regarded  as  representing  Jericho. 
The  place  has  been  mentioned  by  travellers  and 


JERICHO  461 

pilgrims  down  to  the  present  time  as  a  poor  ham- 
let consisting  of  a  few  houses.  In  the  fifteenth 
century  the  square  castle  or  tower  began  to  pass 
among  pilgrims  as  the  house  of  Zaccheus,  a  title 
which  it  bears  to  the  present  day. 

The  village  now  regarded  as  representing  Je- 
richo is  supposed  to  date  its  origin  from  the  ninth 
century,  It  bears  the  name  of  Rihah,  and  is 
situated  about  the  middle  of  the  plain,  six  miles 
west  from  the  Jordan,  in  N.  lat.  31°  .57',  and  E. 
long.  35°  33'.  Dr.  Olin  describes  the  present 
village  as  '  the  meanest  and  foulest  of  Palestine.' 
It  may  perhaps  contain  forty  dwellings,  formed 
of  small  loose  stones.  The  most  impoi-tant  object 
is  a  square  castle  or  tower,  which  Dr.  Robinson 
supposes  to  have  been  constructed  to  protect  the 
cultivation  of  the  plain  under  the  Saracens.  It 
is   thirty  or  forty   feet  square,  and  about  the 


221.    [Jericho.] 


same  height,  and  is  now  in  a  dilapidated  con- 
dition. 

Rihah  may  contain  about  two  hundred  inha- 
bitants, who  have  a  sickly  aspect,  and  are  reckoned 
vicious  and  indolent.  They  keep  a  few  cattle  and 
sheep,  and  till  a  little  land  for  grain  as  well  as 
for  gardens.  A  small  degree  of  industry  and 
skill  bestowed  on  this  prolific  soil,  favoured  as  it 
is  with  abundant  water  for  irrigation,  would 
amply  reward  the  labour.  But  this  is  wanting ; 
and  everything  bears  the  mark  of  abject,  and, 
which  is  unusual  in  the  East,  of  squalid  poverty. 
There  are  some  fine  fig-trees  near  the  village, 
and  some  vines  in  the  gardens.  But  the  most 
distinguishing  feature  of  the  whole  plain  is  a 
noble  grove  of  trees  which  borders  the  village  on 
the  west,  and  stretches  away  northward  to  the 
distance  of  two  miles  or  more. 

This  grove  owes  its  existence  to  the  waters  of 
one  of  the  fountains,  the  careful  distribution  of 


which  over  the  plain  by  canals  and  aquedu'^ts 
did  once,  and  might  still,  cover  it  with  abund- 
ance. One  of  these  fountains  is  called  by  the 
natives  Ain  es-Sultan,  but  by  pilgrims  (he 
Fountain  of  Elias,  being  supposed  to  be  the 
same  whose  bitter  waters  were  cured  by  that 
prophet.  Dr.  Robinson  thinks  there  is  reason 
for  this  conclusion.  It  lies  almost  two  miles 
N.W.  from  the  village,  and  is  a  large  and  beau- 
tiful fountain  of  sweet  and  pleasant  waters.  Be- 
yond the  fountain  rises  up  the  bold  perpendicular 
face  of  the  mountain  Quarantana  (Kuruntiil), 
from  the  foot  of  which  a  line  of  low  hills  runs 
out  N.N.E.  in  front  of  the  mountains,  and  forms 
the  ascent  to  a  narrow  tract  of  table-land  along 
their  base.  On  this  tract,  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  about  two  and  a  half  miles  N.N.VV. 
from  the  Ain  es-Sultan,  i-s  the  still  larger  fountain 
of  Duk,  the  waters  of  which  are  brought  along 
the  base  of  Quarantana  in  a  canal  to  the  top  of 


462  JEROBOAM 

the  declivity  at  the  back  of  Ain  es-Sultan, 
■whence  they  were  formerly  distributed  to  several 
mills,  and  scattered  over  the  upper  part  of  the 
plain. 

Under  the  mountains  on  the  western  confine 
of  the  plain,  about  two  miles  west  of  Rihah,  and 
just  where  the  road  from  Jerusalem  comes  down 
into  the  plain,  are  considerable  ruins,  extending 
both  on  the  north  and  south  side  of  the  road. 
Mr.  Buckingham  was  the  first  to  suspect  that 
these  were  the  ruins  of  the  ancient  Jericho.  He 
shows  that  the  situation  agrees  better  with  the 
ancient  intimations  than  does  that  of  the  modern 
Tillage,  near  which  no  trace  of  ancient  ruins 
can  be  found.  Since  this  idea  was  started  the 
matter  has  been  examined  by  other  travellers ; 
and  the  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  Rihah  is 
certainly  not  the  ancient  Jericho,  and  that  there 
is  no  site  of  ancient  ruins  on  the  plain  which  so 
well  answers  to  the  intimations  as  that  now  de- 
scribed ;  although  even  here  some  drawback  to  a 
satisfactory  conclusion  is  felt,  in  the  absence  of' 
any  traces  of  those  great  buildings  which  be- 
longed to  the  Jericho  of  king  Herod. 

JEROBO'AM,  son  of  Nebat,  and  first  king  of 
Israel,  who  became  king  B.C.  975,  and  reigned 
22  years. 

He  was  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  the  son  of  a 
widow  named  Zeruiah,  when  he  was  noticed  by 
Solomon  as  a  clever  and  active  young  man,  and 
was  appointed  one  of  the  superintendents  of  the 
works  which  that  magnificent  king  was  carrying 
on  at  Jerusalem.  This  appointment,  the  reward 
of  his  merits,  might  have  satisfied  his  ambition 
had  not  the  declaration  of  the  prophet  Ahijah 
given  him  higher  hopes.  When  informed  that, 
by  the  divine  appointment,  he  was  to  become 
king  over  the  ten  tribes  about  to  be  rent  from  the 
house  of  David,  he  was  not  content  to  wait  pa- 
tiently for  the  death  of  Solomon,  but  began  to 
form  plots  and  conspiracies,  the  discovery  of 
which  constrained  him  to  flee  to  Egypt  to  escape 
condign  punishment.  The  king  of  that  country 
was  but  too  ready  to  encourage  one  whose  success 
must  necessarily  weaken  the  kingdom  which  had 
become  great  and  formidable  under  David  and 
Solomon,  and  which  had  already  pushed  its  fron- 
tier to  the  Red  Sea  (1  Kings  xi.  2fi-40). 
]  When  Solomon  died,  the  ten  tribes  sent  to  call 
I  Jeroboam  from  Egypt ;  and  he  appears  to  have 
headed  the  deputation  which  came  before  the  son 
of  Solomon  with  a  demand  of  new  securities  for 
the  rights  which  the  measures  of  the  late  king 
had  compromised.  It  may  somewhat  excuse  the 
harsh  answer  of  Rehoboam,  that  th«  demand  was 
urged  by  a  body  of  men  headed  by  one  whose 
pretensions  were  so  well  known  and  so  odious  to 
the  house  of  David.  The  imprudent  answer  of 
Rehoboam  rendered  a  revolution  inevitable,  and 
Jeroboam  was  then  called  to  reign  over  the  ten 
tribes,  by  the  style  of  'king  of  Israel'  (1  Kings 
xii.  1-20). 

The  general  course  of  his  conduct  on  the  throne 
has  already  been  indicated  in  the  article  Iskael, 
and  need  not  be  repeated  in  this  place.  The 
leading  object  of  his  policy  was  to  widen  the 
breach  between  the  two  kingdoms,  and  to  rend 
asunder  those  common  interests  among  all  the 
descendants  of  Jacob,  which  it  was  one  great 
object  of  the  law  to  combine  and  interlace.  To 
this  end  he  scrupled  not  to  sacrifice  the  most 


JEROBOAM 

sacred  and  inviolable  interests  and  obligations  of 
the  covenant  people,  by  forbidding  his  subjects  to 
resort  to  the  one  temple  and  altar  of  Jehovah  at 
Jerusalem,  and  by  establishing  shrines  at  Dan  and 
Beth-el — the  extremities  of  his  kingdom — where 
'golden  calves'  were  set  up  as  the  symbols  of 
Jehovah,  to  which  the  people  were  enjoined  to 
resort  and  bring  their  offerings.  The  pontificate 
of  the  new  establishment  he  united  to  his  crown, 
in  imitation  of  the  Egyptian  kings.  He  was 
officiating  in  that  capacity  at  Beth-el,  offering 
incense,  when  a  prophet  appeared,  and  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  announced  a  coming  time,  as 
yet  far  off,  in  which  a  king  of  the  house  of  David, 
Josiah  by  name,  should  burn  upon  that  unholy 
altar  the  bones  of  its  ministers.  He  was  then 
preparing  to  verify,  by  a  commissioned  prodigj-, 
the  truth  of  the  oracle  he  had  delivered,  when  the 
king  attempted  to  arrest  him,  but  was  smitten 
with  palsy  in  the  arm  he  stretclied  forth.  At  the 
same  moment  the  threatened  prodigy  took  place, 
the  altar  was  rent  asunder,  and  the  ashes  strewed 
far  around.  This  measure  had,  however,  no 
abiding  effect.  The  policy  on  which  he  acted 
lay  too  deep  in  what  he  deemed  the  vital  interests 
of  his  separate  kingdom,  to  be  even  thus  aban- 
doned :  and  the  force  of  the  considerations  which 
determined  his  conduct  may  in  part  be  appre- 
ciated from  the  fact  that  no  subseqiieut  king  of 
Israel,  however  well  disposed  in  other  respects, 
ever  ventured  to  lay  a  finger  on  this  schismatical 
establishment.  Hence  '  the  sin  of  Jeroboam  the 
son  of  Nebat,  wherewith  he  sinned  and  made 
Israel  'o  sin,'  became  a  standing  phrase  in  de- 
scribing that  iniquity  from  which  no  king  of 
Israel  departed  (1  Kings  xii.  25-3.3  ;  xiii.). 

The  contumacy  of  Jeroboam  eventually  brough*; 
upon  him  the  doom  which  he  probably  dreaded 
beyond  all  others — the  speedy  extinction  of  the 
dynasty  which  he  had  taken  so  much  pains  and 
incurred  so  much  guilt  to  estalilish  on  firm 
foundations.  His  son  Abijah  being  sick,  he  sent 
his  wife  disguised  to  consult  the  prophet  Ahijah, 
who  had  predicted  that  he  should  be  king  of 
Israel.  The  prophet,  although  he  had  become 
blind  with  age,  knew  the  queen,  and  slluted  her 
with — '  Come  in,  thou  wife  of  Jeroboam,  for  I 
am  sent  to  thee  with  heavy  tidings.'  These  were 
not  merely  that  the  son  should  die — for  that  was 
intended  in  mercy  to  one  who  alone,  of  all  the 
house  of  Jeroboam,  had  remained  faithful  to  his 
God,  and  was  the  only  one  who  should  obtain 
an  honoured  grave — but  that  his  race  should 
be  violently  and  utterly  extinguished :  '  I  will 
take  away  the  remnant  of  the  house  of  Jeroboam 
as  a  man  taketh  away  dung,  till  it  be  all  gone ' 
(1  Kings  xiv.  1-18). 

The  son  died  so  soon  as  the  mother  crossed  the 
threshold  on  her  return ;  and  as  the  death  of 
Jeroboam  himself  is  the  next  event  recorded,  it 
would  seem  that  he  did  not  long  survive  his  son. 
He  died  in  B.C.  954  (1  Kings  xiv.  20). 

Jeroboam  was  perhaps  a  less  remarkable  man 
than  the  circumstance  of  his  being  the  founder 
of  a  new  kingdom  might  lead  us  to  expect.  The 
tribes  would  have  revolted  without  him ;  and  he 
was  chosen  king  merely  because  he  had  been 
pointed  out  by  previous  circumstances.  His 
government  exhibits  but  one  idea — that  of  raising 
a  barrier  against  the  re-union  of  the  tribes.  Of 
this  idea  he  was  the  slave  and  victim :   and 


JERUSALEM 

i  although  the  barrier  which  he  raised  was  effec- 
tual for  its  purpose,  it  only  served  to  show  the 
■weakness  of  the  man  who  could  deem  needful  the 
protection  for  his  separate  interests  which  such  a 
barrier  otfered. 

2.  JEROBOAM,  thirteenth  king  of  Israel,  sou 
of  Joash,  whom,  in  B.C.  82-t,  he  succeeded  on  the 
throne,  and  reigned  forty-one  years.  He  followed 
the  example  of  the  first  Jeroboam  in  keeping  up 
the  idolatry  of  the  golden  calves.  Nevertheless 
the  Lord  had  pity  upon  Israel,  the  time  of  its 
rain  was  not  yet  come,  and  this  reign  was  long 
and  flourishing.  Jeroboam  brought  to  a  success- 
ful result  the  wars  which  his  father  had  under- 
taken, and  was  always  victorious  over  the  Syrians. 
He  even  took  their  chief  cities  of  Damascus  and 
Hamath,  which  had  formerly  been  subject  to  the 
sceptre  of  David,  and  restored  to  the  realm  of 
Israel  the  ancient  eastern  limits  from  Lebanon  to 


JERUSALEM 


463 


the  Dead  Sea.  He  died  in  b.c.  783  (2  Kings  xiii 
13;  xiv.  16,  23-29). 

The  Scriptural  account  of  this  reign  is  too 
short  to  enable  us  to  judge  of  the  character  of  a 
prince  under  whom  the  kingdom  of  Israel  seems 
to  have  reached  a  degree  of  prosperity  M-hich  it 
had  never  before  enjoyed,  and  was  not  able  long 
to  preserve. 

JERUB'-BAAL.    [Gideon.] 

JERU'SALEM  {habitation  of  peace),  the 
Jewish  capital  of  Palestine.  It  is  mentioned 
very  early  in  Scripture,  being  usually  supposed 
to  be  the  Salem  of  which  Melchizedek  was  king. 
The  Psalmist  says  (Ixxvi.  2) :  'In  Salem  is  his 
tabernacle,  and  his  dwelling-place  in  Sion.' 

The  mountain  of  the  land  of  Moriah,  which 
Abraham  (Gen.  xxii.  2)  reached  on  the  third 
day  from  Beersheba,  there  to  oflFer  Isaac,  is,  ac- 
cording to  Josephus,   the  mountain   on  which 


222.    [Jerusalem.] 


Solomon  afterwards  built  the  temple  (2  Chron. 
iii.  1). 

The  name  Jerusalem  first  occurs  in  Josh.  x.  1, 
where  Adoni-zedek,  king  of  Jerusalem,  is  men- 
tioned as  having  entered  into  an  alliance  with 
other  kings  against  Joshua,  by  whom  they  were 
all  overcome  (comp.  Josh.  xii.  lo). 

In  drawing  the  northern  border  of  Judah,  we 
find  Jerusalem  again  mentioned  (Josh.  xv.  8; 
comp.  Josh,  xviii.  16).  This  border  ran  through 
the  valley  of  Ben  Hinnom ;  the  country  on  the 
south  of  it,  as  Bethlehem,  belonged  to  Judah ; 
but  the  mountain  of  Zion,  forming  the  northern 
wall  of  the  valley,  and  occupied  by  the  Jebusites, 
appertained  to  Benjamin.  Among  the  cities  of 
Benjamin,  therefore,  is  also  mentioned  (Josh, 
xviii.  28)  '  Jebus,  which  is  Jerusalem '  (comp. 
Judg.  xix.  10;  1  Chron.  xi.  4). 

After  the  death  of  Joshua,  when  there  remained 


for  the  children  of  Israel  much  to  conquer  in 
Canaan,  the  Lord  directed  Judah  to  fight  against 
the  Canaanites ;  and  they  took  Jerusalem,  smote 
it  with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  set  it  on  fire 
(Judg.  i.  1-8).  After  that,  the  Judahites  and  the 
Benjamites  dwelt  with  the  Jebusites  at  Jerusa- 
lem ;  for  it  is  recorded  (Josh.  xv.  63)  that  the 
children  of  Judah  could  not  drive  out  the  Jebus- 
ites inhabiting  Jerusalem;  and  we  arc  further  ! 
informed  (Judg.  i.  21)  that  the  children  of  Ben-  i 
jamin  did  not  expel  them  from  Jerusalem.  Pro- 
bably the  Jebusites  were  removed  by  Judah  only 
from  the  lower  city,  but  kept  possession  of  the 
mountain  of  Zion,"which  David  conquered  at  a  I 
later  period.  Jerusalem  is  not  again  mentioned 
till  the  time  of  Saul,  when  it  is  stated  ( 1  Sam. 
xvii.  54)  that  David  took  the  head  of  Goliath  and 
brought  it  to  Jerusalem.  After  David,  who  had 
previously  reigned  over  Judah  alone  iu  Hebron, 


464 


JERUSALEM 


■was  called  to  rule  over  all  Israel,  he  led  his 
forces  against  the  Jebusites,  and  conquered  the 
castle  of  Ziou,  which  Joab  first  scaled  (2  Sam. 
V.  5-9;  1  Chron.  xii.  4-8).  He  then  fixed  his 
abode  on  this  mountain,  and  called  it '  the  city 
of  David.'  Thither  he  carried  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  and  there  he  built  unto  the  Lord  an 
altar  in  the  threshing-floor  of  Araunah  the  Je- 
busite,  on  the  place  where  the  angel  stood  who 
threatened  Jerusalem  with  pestilence  (2  Sam. 
xxiv.  1.5-25). 

The  reasons  which  led  David  to  fix  upon  Je- 
rusalem as  the  metropolis  of  his  kingdom  have 
been  alluded  to  elsewhere  [Israel  ;  Jvdasl]  ; 
being  chiefly,  that  it  was  in  his  own  tribe  of 
Judah,  in  which  his  influence  was  the  strongest, 
while  it  was  the  nearest  to  the  other  tribes  of  any 
site  he  could  have  chosen  in  Judah.  The  pe- 
culiar strength  also  of  the  situation,  enclosed  on 
three  sides  by  a  natural  trench  of  valleys,  could 
not  be  without  weight. 

The  promise  made  to  David  received  its  ac- 
complishment when  Solomon  built  his  temple 
upon  Mount  Moriah.  By  him  and  his  father  Je- 
rusalem had  been  made  the  imperial  residence  of 
the  king  of  all  Israel :  and  the  temple,  often 
called  '  the  house  of  Jehovah,'  constituted  it  at 
the  same  time  the  residence  of  the  King  of  kings, 
the  supreme  head  of  the  theocratical  state,  whose 
vicegerents  the  human  kings  were  taught  to  re- 
gard themselves.  It  now  belonged,  even  less 
than  a  town  of  the  Levites,  to  a'particular  tribe : 
it  was  the  centre  of  all  civil  and  religious  affairs, 
the  very  place  of  which  Moses  spoke,  Deut. 
xii.  5:  'The  place  which  the  Lord  your  God 
shall  choose  out  of  all  your  tribes  to  put  his  name 
there,  even  unto  his  habitation  shall  ye  seek,  and 
thither  thou  shalt  come'  (comp.  ix.  6 ;  xiii.  14; 
xiv.  23;  xvi.  11-16;  Ps.  cxxii.). 

The  importance  and  splendour  of  Jerusalem 
were  considerably  lessened  after  the  death  of 
Solomon  ;  under  whose  son,  Rehoboam,  ten  of  the 
tribes  rebelled,  Judah  and  Benjamin  only  re- 
maining in  their  allegiance.  Jerusalem  was  then 
only  the  capital  of  the  very  small  state  of  Judah. 
And  when  Jeroboam  instituted  the  worship  of 
golden  calves  in  Beth-el  and  Dan,  the  ten  tribes 
went  no  longer  up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  and 
sacrifice  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  (1  Kings  xii. 
26-30). 

After  this  time  the  history  of  Jerusalem  is 
continued  in  the  history  of  Judah,  for  which  the 
second  book  of  the  Kings  and  of  the  Chronicles 
are  the  principal  sources  of  information. 

After  the  time  of  Solomon,  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  was  almost  alternately  ruled  by  good 
kings,  '  who  did  that  which  was  right  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,'  and  by  such  as  were  idolatrous 
and  evil  disposed ;  and  the  reign  of  the  same  king 
often  varied  and  was  by  turns  good  or  evil.  The 
condition  of  the  kingdom,  and  of  Jerusalem  in 
particular  as  its  metropolis,  was  very  much  af- 
fected by  these  mutations.  Under  good  kings 
the  city  flourished,  and  under  bad  kings  it  suffered 
greatly.  Under^  Rehoboam  (b.c.  973)  it  was 
conquered  by  Shishak,  king  of  Egypt,  who  pil- 
laged the  treasures  of  the  temple  (2  Chron.  xii. 
9).  Under  Amaziah  it  was  taken  by  Jehoash, 
king  of  Israel,  who  broke  down  400  cubits  of  the 
wall  of  the  city,  and  took  all  the  gold  and  silver, 


JERUSALEM 

and  all  the  vessels  that  were  found  in  the  temple 
(2  Kings  xiv.  13,  14).  Uzziah,  sou  of  Amaziah, 
who  at  first  reigned  well,  built  towers  in  Jeru- 
salem at  the  corner-gate,  at  the  vallej-gate,  and 
at  the  turning  of  the  wall,  and  fortified  them 
(2  Chron.  xxvi.  9).  His  son,  Jotham,  built  the 
high  gate  of  the  temple,  and  reared  up  many 
other  stnictures  (2  Chron.  xxvii.  3,  4).  Hezekiah 
(b.c.  728)  added  to  the  other  honours  of  his  reign 
that  of  an  improver  of  Jerusalem.  His  most 
eminent  work  in  that  character  was  the  stopping 
of  the  upper  course  of  Gihon,  and  bringing  its 
waters  by  a  subterraneous  aqueduct  to  the  west 
side  of  the  city  (2  Chron.  xxxii.  30).  This  work 
is  inferred,  from  2  Kings  xx.,  to  have  been  of 
great  importance  to  Jerusalem,  as  it  cut  off  a 
supply  of  water  from  any  besieging  enemy,  and 
bestowed  it  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  city. 
Hezekiah's  son,  Manasseh,  in  his  later  and  best 
years,  built  a  strong  and  very  high  wall  on  the 
west  side  of  Jerusalem  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  14). 
The  works  in  the  city  connected  with  the  names 
of  the  succeeding  kings  of  Judah  were,  so  far  as 
recorded,  confined  to  the  defilement  of  the  house 
of  the  Lord  by  bad  kings,  and  its  purgation  by 
good  kings,  till  about  100  years  after  Manasseh, 
when,  for  the  abounding  iniquities  of  the  nation, 
the  city  and  temple  were  abandoned  to  destruc- 
tion. After  a  siege  of  three  years,  Jerusalem 
was  taken  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  razed  its 
walls,  and  destroyed  its  temple  and  palaces  with 
fire  (2  Kings  xxv. ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi. ;  Jer.  xxxix.). 
Thus  was  Jerusalem  smitten  with  the  calamity 
which  Moses  had  prophesied  would  befal  it,  if 
the  people  would  not  keep  the  commandments  of 
the  Lord,  but  broke  his  covenant  (Lev.  xxvi.  14  ; 
Deut.  xxviii.). 

But  God,  before  whom  a  thousand  years  are 
as  one  day,  gave  to  the  afflicted  people  a  glimpse 
beyond  the  present  calamity  and  retributive  judg- 
ment, into  a  distant  futurity.  The  same  prophets 
who  foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  also 
announced  the  consolations  of  a  coming  time. 

Moses  had  long  before  predicted  that  if  in  the 
land  of  their  captivity  they  repented  of  their  evil, 
they  should  be  brought  back  again  to  the  land 
out  of  which  they  had  been  cast  (Deut.  xxx. 
1-5;  comp.  1  Kings  viii.  46-53;  Neh.  i.  8,  9). 
The  Lord  also,  through  Isaiah,  condescended  to 
point  out  the  agency  through  which  the  restora- 
tion of  the  holy  city  was  to  be  accomplished,  and 
even  named  long  before  his  birth  the  very  person, 
Cyrus,  under  whose  orders  this  was  to  be  eff'ected 
(Isa.  xliv.  28;  comp.  Jer.  iii.  2,  7,  8 ;  xxiii.  3; 
xxxi.  10  ;  xxxii.  36,  37). 

Among  the  remarkably  precise  indications 
should  be  mentioned  that  in  which  Jeremiah 
(xxv.  9,  12)  limits  the  duration  of  Judah's  cap- 
tivity to  70  years. 

These  encouragements  were  continued  through 
the  prophets,  who  themselves  shared  the  cap- 
tivity. Of  this  number  was  Daniel  (ix.  16,  19), 
who  lived  to  see  the  reign  of  Cyrus,  king  of 
Persia  (Dan.  x.  1),  and  the  fulfilment  of  his 
prayer.  It  was  in  the  year  B  c.  500,  '  in  the  first 
year  of  Cyrus,'  that  in  accomplishment  of  the 
prophecy  of  Jeremiah,  the  Lord  stirred  up  the 
spirit  of  this  prince,  who  made  a  proclamation 
throughout  all  his  kingdom,  expressed  in  these 
remarkable  words :  '  The  Lord  God  of  heavea 


JERUSALEM 


JERUSALEM 


465 


hath  given  me  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and 
he  has  charged  vie  to  build  him  a  house  at  Jeru- 
salem, which  is  in  Judah.  Who  is  there  among 
you  of  all  liis  people  ?  his  God  be  with  him,  and 
let  him  go  up  to  Jeaisalem,  and  build  the  house 
of  the  Lord  God  of  Israel'  (Ezra  i.  2,  3).  This 
important  call  was  answered  by  a  considerable 
number  of  persons,  particularly  priests  and  Le- 
vites ;  and  tlie  many  who  declined  to  quit  their 
houses  and  possessions  in  Babylonia,  committed 
valuable  gifts  to  the  hands  of  their  move  zealous 
brethren.  Cyrus  also  caused  the  sacred  vessels 
of  gold  and  silver  which  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
taken  from  the  temple  to  be  restored  to  Shesh- 
bazzar,  the  prince  of  Judah,  who  took  them  to 
Jerusalem,  followed  by  42,300  people,  beside 
their  servants,  of  whom  there  were  7337  (Ezra 
i,  5-11). 

On  their  arrival  at  Jerusalem  they  contributed 
according  to  their  ability  to  rebuild  the  temple  ; 
Jeshua,  the  priest,  and  Zerubbabel,  reared  up  an 
altar  to  offer  burnt-offerings  tliereon  ;  and  when 
in  the  following  year  the  foundation  was  laid  of 
the  new  house  of  God,  '  the  people  shouted  for 
joy,  but  many  of  the  Levites  who  had  seen  the 
first  temple  wept  with  a  loud  voice '  (Ezra  iii. 
2,  12).  When  the  Samaritans  expressed  a  wish 
to  share  in  the  pious  labour,  Zerubbabel  declined 
the  offer  ;  and  in  revenge  the  Samaritans  sent  a 
deputation  to  king  Artaxerxes  of  Persia,  carrying 
a  presentment  in  which  Jerusalem  was  described 
as  a  rebellious  city  of  old  time,  which,  if  re- 
built, and  its  walls  set  up  again,  would  not  pay 
toll,  tribute,  and  custom,  and  would  thus  enda- 
mage the  public  revenue.  The  deputation  suc- 
ceeded, and  Artaxerxes  ordered  that  the  building 
of  the  temple  should  cease.  The  interruption 
thus  caused  lasted  to  the  second  year  of  the  reign 
of  Darius  (Ezra  iv.  24),  when  Zerubbabel  and 
Jeshua,  supported  by  the  prophets  Haggai  and 
Zechariah,  again  resumed  the  work,  and  would 
not  cease,  though .  cautioned  by  the  Persian  go- 
vernor of  Judaea.  On  the  matter  coming  before 
Darius  Hystaspis,  and  the  Jews  reminding  him 
of  the  permission  given  by  Cyrus,  he  decided  in 
their  favour,  and  also  ordered  that  the  expenses 
of  the  work  should  be  defrayed  out  of  the  public 
revenue  (Ezra  vi.  8).  In  the  sixth  year  of  the 
reign  of  Darius  the  temple  was  finished,  when 
they  kept  the  Feast  of  Dedication  with  great  joy, 
and  next  celebrated  the  Passover  (Ezra  vi.  15, 
16,  19).  Afterwards,  in  the  seventh  year  of  the 
second  Artaxerxes,.  Ezra,  a  descendant  of  Aaron, 
came  up  to  Jerusalem,  accompanied  by  a  large 
number  of  Jews  who  had  remained  in  Babylon. 
He  was  highly  patronised  by  the  king,  who  not 
only  made  him  a  large  present  in  gold  and  silver, 
but  published  a  decree  enjoining  all  treasurers 
of  Judsea  speedily  to  do  whatever  Ezra  should 
require  of  them  ;  allowing  him  to  collect  money 
throughout  the  whole  province  of  Babylon  for 
the  wants  of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  also 
giving  him  full  power  to  appoint  magistrates  in 
his  country  to  judge  the  people  (Ezra  vii.  viii.). 
At  a  later  period,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  king 
Artaxerxes,  Nehemiah,  who  was  his  cupbearer, 
obtained  permission  to  proceed  to  Jerusalem,  and 
to  complete  the  rebuilding  of  the  city  and  its 
wall,  which  he  happily  accomplished,  despite  of 
all  the  opposition  which  he  received  from  the 
enemies  of  Israel  (Neh.  i.  ii.  iv.  vi.).    The  city 


was  then  capacious  and  large,  but  the  people  in 
it  were  few,  and  many  houses  lay  still  in  ruins 
(Neh.  vii.  4).  At  Jerusalem  dwelt  the  rulers  of 
the  people  and  '  certain  of  the  children  of  Judah 
and  of  the  children  of  Benjamin  ;'  but  it  was  now 
determined  that  the  rest  of  the  people  should  cast 
lots  to  bring  one  of  ten  to  the  capital  (Neh.  xi. 
1-4).  All  strangers,  Samaritans,  Ammonites, 
Moabites,  &c.,  were  removed,  to  keep  the  chosen 
people  from  pollution  ;  ministers  were  appointed 
to  the  temple,  and  the  service  was  performed  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  Moses  (Ezrax. ;  Neh.  viii. 
X.  xii.  xiii.).  Of  the  Jerusalem  thus  by  such 
great  and  long-continued  exertions  restored,  very 
splendid  prophecies  were  uttered  by  those  pro- 
phets who  flourished  after  the  exile :  the  general 
purport  of  which  was  to  describe  the  temple  and 
city  as  destined  to  be  glorified  far  beyond  the 
former,  by  the  advent  of  the  long  and  eagerly 
expected  Messiah,  '  the  desire  of  all  nations ' 
(Zech.  ix.  9;  xii.  10;  xiii.  3;  Hagg.  ii.  6,  7; 
Mai.  iii.  11). 

Thus  far  the  Old  Testament  has  been  our 
guide  in  the  notices  of  Jerusalem.  For  what 
follows,  down  to  its  destruction  by  the  Romans, 
we  must  draw  chiefly  upon  Josephus,  and  the 
books  of  the  JMaccabees.  The  difficulty  here,  as 
before,  is  to  separate  what  properly  belongs  to 
Jerusalem  from  that  which  belongs  to  the  country 
at  large.  For  as  Jerusalem  was  invariably  af- 
fected by  whatever  movement  took  place  in  the 
country  of  which  it  was  the  capital,  its  history 
might  be  made,  and  often  has  been  made,  the 
history  of  Palestine. 

It  is  said  by  Josephus,  that,  when  the  do- 
minion of  this  part  of  the  world  passed  from  the 
Persians  to  the  Greeks,  Alexander  the  Great  ad- 
vanced against  Jerusalem  to  punish  it  for  the 
fidelity  to  the  Persians  which  it  had  manifested 
while  he  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Tyre. 
His  hostile  purposes,  however,  were  averted  by 
the  appeai-ance  of  the  high-priest  Jaddua  at  the 
head  of  a  u-aiu  of  priests  in  their  sacred  vest- 
ments. Alexander  recognised  in  him  the  figure 
which  in  a  dream  had  encouraged  him  to  under- 
take the  conquest  of  Asia.  He  therefore  treated 
him  with  respect  and  reverence,  spared  the  city 
against  which  his  wrath  had  been  kindled,  and 
granted  to  the  Jews  high  and  important  privi- 
leges. The  historian  adds  that  the  high-priest 
failed  not  to  apprise  the  conqueror  of  those  pro- 
phecies in  Daniel  by  which  his  successes  had 
been  predicted.  The  whole  of  this  story  is,  how- 
ever, liable  to  suspicion,  from  the  absence  of  any 
notice  of  the  circumstance  in  the  histories  of 
this  campaign  which  we  possess. 

After  the  death  of  Alexander  at  Babylon 
(B.C.  324),  Ptolemy  surprised  Jerusalem  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  when  the  Jews  would  not  fight, 
plundered  the  city,  and  carried  away  a  great 
number  of  the  inhabitants  to  Egypt,  where,  how- 
ever, from  the  estimation  in  which  the  Jews  of 
this  period  were  held  as  citizens,  important  pri- 
vileges were  bestowed  upon  them.  In  the 
contests  which  afterwards  followed  for  the  pos- 
session of  Syria  (including  Palestine),  Jerusalem 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  directly  injured, 
and  was  even  spared  when  Ptolemy  gave  up 
Samaria,  Acoo,  Joppa,  and  Gaza  to  pillage.  The 
contest  was  ended  by  the  treaty  in  B.C.  302, 
which  annexed  the  whole  of  Palestine,  together 
2h 


466 


JERUSALEM 


•with  Arabia  Petrsea  and  Ccele-Syria,  to  Egypt. 
Under  easy  subjection  to  the  Ptolemies  the  Jews 
I    remained  in  much  tranquillity  for  more  than  a 
j    hundred  years,  in  which  the  principal  incident, 
as  regards  Jerusalem  itself,  was  the  visit  which 
was  paid  to  it,  in  b.c  245,  by  Ptolemy  Euergetes, 
on  his  return  from  his  victories  in  the  East.     He 
I    offered   many  sacrifices,  and   made   magnificent 
j    presents  to   the  temple.      In  the  wars  between 
Antiochus  the  Great  and   the   kings   of  Egypt, 
1    from  B.C.  221   to  197,  Judsea  could  not  fail  to 
j    suffer  severely  ;  but  we  are  not  acquainted  with 
I    any  incident  in  which  Jerusalem  was  principally 
!    concerned  till  the  alleged  visit  of  Ptolemy  Phi- 
lopator  in  B.C.  211.     He  offered  sacrifices,  and 
I    gave  rich  gifts  to  the  temple,  but,  venturing  to 
enter  the  sanctuary,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances 
of  the  high-priest,  he  was  seized  with  a  super- 
natural dread,  and  fled  in  terror  from  the  place. 
It  is  said  that  on  his  return  to  Egypt  he  vented 
his  rage  on  the  Jews  of  Alexandria  in   a  very 
barbarous  manner  [Alexandria].   But  the  whole 
story  of  his  visit  and  its  results  rests  upon  the 
sole  authority  of  the  third  book  of  Maccabees 
(chaps,  i.  and  ii.),  and  is  therefore  not  entitled  to 
implicit  credit.     Towards  the  end  of  this  war  the 
Jews  seemed  to  favour  the  cause  of  Antiochus  ; 
and    after    he   had    subdued   the   neighbouring 
country,  they  voluntarily  tendered  their  submis- 
sion, and  rendered  their  assistance  in  expelling 
the  Egyptian  garrison  from  Mount  Zion.     For 
this  conduct  they  were  rewarded  by  many  im- 
portant privileges  by  Antiochus. 

Under  their  new  masters  the  Jews  enjoyed  for 
a  time  nearly  as  much  tranquillity  as  under  the 
generally  benign  and  liberal  government  of  the 
Ptolemies.  But  in  b.c.  176,  Seleucus  Philopator, 
hearing  that  great  treasures  were  hoarded  up  in 
the  temple,  and  being  distressed  for  money  to 
carry  on  his  wars,  sent  his  treasurer,  Heliodorus, 
to  bring  away  these  treasures.  But  this  per- 
sonage is  reported  to  have  been  so  frightened  and 
stricken  by  an  apparition  that  he  relinquished 
the  attempt ;  and  Seleucus  left  the  Jews  in  the 
undisturbed  enjoyment  of  their  rights.  His 
brother  and  successor,  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  how- 
ever, was  of  another  mind.  He  took  up  the 
design  of  reducing  them  to  a  conformity  of 
manners  and  religion  with  other  nations ;  or,  in 
other  words,  of  abolishing  those  distinctive  fea- 
tures which  made  the  Jews  a  peculiar  people, 
socially  separated  from  all  others.  This  design 
was  odious  to  the  great  body  of  the  people, 
ulthough  there  were  many  among  the  higher 
classes  who  regarded  it  with  favour.  Of  this 
way  of  thinking  was  Menelaus,  whom  Antiochus 
had  made  a  high-priest,  and  who  was  expelled 
by  the  orthodox  Jews  with  ignominy,  in  B.C. 
liiO,  when  they  heard  the  joyful  news  that  An- 
tiochus had  been  slain  in  Egypt.  The  rumour 
proved  untrue,  and  Antiochus  on  his  return 
punished  them  by  plundering  and  profaning  the 
temple.  Worse  e'vils  befel  them  two  years  after : 
for  Antiochus,  out  of  humour  at  being  compelled 
by  the  Romans  to  abandon  his  designs  upon 
Egypt,  sent  his  chief  collector  of  tribute,  Apol- 
louius,  with  a  detachment  of  22,000  men,  to  vent 
his  rage  on  Jerusalem.  This  person  plundered 
the  city,  and  razed  its  walls,  with  the  stones  of 
which  he  built  a  citadel  that  commanded  the 
temple  mount.     A  statue  of  Jupiter  was  set  up 


JERUSALEM 

in  the  temple ;  the  peculiar  observances  of  the 
Jewish  law  were  abolished ;  and  a  persecution 
was  commenced  against  all  who  adhered  to  these 
observances,  and  refused  to  sacrifice  to  idols. 
Jerusalem  was  deserted  by  priests  and  people, 
and  the  daily  sacrifice  at  the  altar  was  entirely 
discontinued. 

This  led  to  the  celebrated  revolt  of  the  Mac- 
cabees, who,  after  an  arduous  and  sanguinary 
struggle,  obtained  possession  of  Jerasalem  (b.c. 
163),  and  repaired  and  purified  the  temple,  which 
was  then  dilapidated  and  deserted.  The  sacri- 
fices were  then  recommenced,  exactly  three  years 
after  the  temple  had  been  dedicated  to  Jupiter 
Olympius.  The  castle,  however,  remained  in 
the  hands  of  the  Syrians,  and  long  proved  a  sore 
annoyance  to  the  Jews ;  but  at  length,  in  B.C. 
142,  it  was  taken  by  Simon  Maccabfeus,  who 
demolished  it  altogether,  that  it  might  not  again 
be  used  against  the  Jews  by  their  enemies. 
Simon  then  strengthened  the  fortifications  of  the 
mountain  on  which  the  temple  stood,  and  built 
there  a  palace  for  himself,  which  was  strengthened 
and  enlarged  by  Herod  the  Great,  who  called  it 
the  castle  of  Antonia,  under  which  name  it  makes 
a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  Jewish  wars  with  the 
Romans. 

Of  Jerusalem  itself  we  find  nothing  of  conse- 
quence till  it  was  taken  by  Pompey  in  the 
summer  of  B.C.  63,  and  on  the  very  day  observed 
by  the  Jews  as  one  of  lamentation  and  fasting,  in 
commemoration  of  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Twelve  thousand  Jews  were 
massacred  in  the  temple  courts,  including  many 
priests,  who  died  at  the  very  altar  rather  than 
suspend  the  sacred  rites.  On  this  occasion 
Pompej',  attended  by  his  generals,  went  into  the 
temple  and  viewed  the  sanctuary  ;  but  he  left  un- 
touched all  its  treasures  and  sacred  things,  while 
the  walls  of  the  city  itself  were  demolished. 
From  this  time  the  Jews  are  to  be  considered  as 
under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans.  The  trea- 
sures which  Pompey  had  spared  were  seized  a 
few  years  after  (B.C.  51)  by  Crassus.  In  the 
year  B.C.  43,  the  walls  of  the  city,  which  Pompey 
had  demolished,  were  rebuilt  by  Antipater,  the 
father  of  that  Herod  the  Great  under  whom 
Jerusalem  was  destined  to  assume  the  new  and 
more  magnificent  aspect  which  it  bore  in  the 
time  of  Christ,  and  which  constituted  the  Jeru- 
salem which  Josephus  desci-ibes.  The  temple 
itself  was  taken  down  and  rebuilt  by  Herod  the 
Great,  with  a  magnificence  exceeding  that  of 
Solomon's  (Mark  xiii.  1 ;  John  ii.  20 ;  see 
Temple).  It  was  in  the  courts  of  the  temple  as 
thus  rebuilt,  and  in  the  streets  of  the  citj'  as  thus 
improved,  that  the  Saviour  of  men  walked  up 
and  down.  Here  he  taught,  here  he  wrought 
miracles,  here  he  suffered;  and  this  was  the 
temple  whose  'goodly  stones'  the  apostle  ad- 
mired (Mark  xiii.  1),  and  of  which  he  foretold 
that  ere  the  existing  generation  had  passed  away 
not  one  stone  should  be  left  upon  another. 

Jerusalem  seems  to  have  been  raised  to  this 
greatness,  as  if  to  enhance  the  misery  of  its  over- 
throw. So  soon  as  the  Jews  had  set  the  seal  to 
their  formal  rejection  of  Christ,  by  putting  him 
to  death,  and  invoking  the  responsibility  of  his 
blood  upon  the  heads  of  themselves  and  of  their 
children  (Matt,  xxvii.  25),  its  doom  went  forth. 
After  having  been  the  scene  of  horrors  without 


JERUSALEM 

example,  it  was,  in  a.d.  70,  abandoned  to  the 
Romans,  who  razed  the  city  and  temple  to  the 
ground,  leaving  only  three  of  the  towers  and  a 
part  of  the  western  wall  to  show  how  strong  a 
place  the  Roman  arms  had  overthrown.  Since 
then  the  holy  city  has  lain  at  the  mercy  of  the 
Gentiles,  and  will  so  remain  '  until  the  times  of 
the  Gentiles  are  fulfilled.' 

Modern  History. — The  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem by  the  Romans  did  not  cause  the  site  to  be 
utterly  forsaken :  but  for  a  considerable  period 
there  is  no  mention  of  it  in  history.  Up  to  a.d. 
131  the  Jews  remained  tolerably  quiet.  The 
then  emperor,  Adrian,  among  other  measures  of 
precaution,  ordered  Jerusalem  to  be  rebuilt  as  a 
fortified  place  wherewith  to  keep  in  check  the 
whole  Jewish  population.  The  works  had  made 
some  progress,  when  the  Jews,  unable  to  endure 
the  idea  that  their  holy  city  should  be  occupied 
Dy  foreigners,  and  that  strange  gods  should  be 
set  up  within  it,  broke  out  into  open  i-ebellion 
under  the  notorious  Barchochebas,  who  claimed 
to  be  the  Messiah.  His  success  was  at  first  very 
great ;  bat  he  was  crushed  before  the  tremendous 
power  of  the  Romans,  so  soon  as  it  could  be 
brought  to  bear  upon  him ;  and  a  war  scarcely 
inferior  in  horror  to  that  under  Vespasian  and 
Titus  was,  like  it,  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  the  Jews  had  ob- 
tained possession.  This  was  in  a.d.  13.5,  from 
which  period  the  final  dispersion  of  the  Jews  has 
been  often  dated.  The  Romans  then  finished 
the  city  according  to  their  first  intention.  It 
was  made  a  Roman  colony,  inhabited  wholly  by 
foreigners,  the  Jews  being  forbidden  to  approach 
it  on  pain  of  death :  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Capito- 
linus  was  erected  on  Mount  Moriah,  and  the  old 
name  of  Jerusalem  was  sought  to  be  supplanted 
by  that  of  .iElia  Capitolina,  conferred  upon  it  in 
honour  of  the  emperor,  .lElius  Adrianus,  and 
Jupiter  Capitolinus.  This  name  was  retained 
for  some  time  by  the  Mohammedans  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  after  they  recovered  the  city  from  the 
Crusaders  that  it  became  generally  known 
among  them  by  the  name  of  El-Khuds — the 
holy — which  it  still  bears. 

From  the  rebuilding  by  Adrian  the  history  of 
Jerusalem  is  almost  a  blank  till  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine,  when  its  history,  as  a  place  of  extreme 
solicitude  and  interest  to  the  Christian  church, 
properly  begins.  Pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  City 
now  became  common  and  popular.  Such  a  pil- 
grimage was  undertaken  in  a.d.  326  by  the  em- 
perors  mother  Helena,  then  in  the  80th  year  of 
her  age,  who  built  churches  on  the  alleged  site  of 
the  nativity  at  Bethlehem,  and  of  the  resurrec- 
tion on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  This  example  may 
probably  have  excited  her  son  to  the  discovery  of 
the  site  of  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  to  the  erection 
of  a  church  thereon.  He  removed  the  temple  of 
Venus,  Avith  which,  in  studied  insult,  the  site 
had  been  encumbered.  The  holy  sepulchre  was 
(hen  purified,  and  a  magnificent  church  was,  by 
his  order,  built  over  and  around  the  sacred  spot. 
This  temple  was  completed  and  dedicated  with 
great  solemnity  in  a.d.  335.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  spot  thus  singled  out  is  the  same  which 
has  ever  since  been  regarded  as  the  place  in  which 
Christ  was  entombed  ;  but  the  correctness  of  the 
identification  then  made  has  been  of  late  years 
much  disputed. 


JERUSALEM 


467 


By  Constantine  the  edict,  excluding  the  Jews 
from  tlie  city  of  their  fathers'  sepulchres,  was  so 
far  repealed  that  they  were  allowed  to  enter  it 
once  a-year  to  wail  over  the  desolation  of  '  the 
holy  and  beautiful  house '  in  which  their  fathers 
worshipped  God.  When  the  nephew  of  Constan- 
tine, the  Emperor  Julian,  abandoned  Christianity 
for  the  old  Paganism,  he  endeavoured,  as  a  matter 
of  policy,  to  conciliate  the  Jews.  He  allowed 
them  free  access  to  the  city,  and  permitted  them 
to  rebuild  their  temple.  They  accordingly  began 
to  lay  the  foundations  in  a.d.  3G2  ;  but  the  speedy 
death  of  the  emperor  probably  occasioned  that 
abandonment  of  the  attempt  which  contemporary 
writers  ascribe  to  supernatural  hinderances.  The 
edicts  seem  then  to  have  been  renewed  which  ex- 
cluded the  Jews  from  the  city,  except  on  the  day 
of  annual  wailing. 

In  the  following  centuries  the  roads  to  Zion 
were  thronged  with  pilgrims  from  all  parts  of 
Christendom.  After  much  struggle  of  conflicting 
dignities,  the  'holy  city'  was,  in  a.d.  451,  de- 
clared a  patriarchate  by  the  council  of  Chal- 
cedon.  In  the  next  century  it  found  a  second 
Constantine  in  Justinian,  who  ascended  the  throne 
A.D.  527.  He  repaired  and  enriched  the  former 
structures,  and  built  upon  Mount  Moriah  a  mag- 
nificent church  to  the  Virgin,  as  a  memorial  of 
the  persecution  of  Jesus  in  the  temple. 

In  A.D.  614  the  Persians  took  it  by  storm,  and 
slew  thousands  of  the  inhabitants,  and  inflicted 
much  injury  on  the  buildings. 

Their  inroad  was  speedily  repaired.  But  in 
A.D.  036  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  more  for- 
midable enemy,  the  Khalif  Omar.  Bj'  his  orders 
the  magnificent  mosque  which  still  bears  his 
name  was  built  upon  Mount  Moriah,  upon  the 
site  of  the  Jewish  temple. 

Jerusalem  remained  in  possession  of  the  Ara- 
bians, and  was  occasionally  visited  by  Christian 
pilgrims  from  Europe,  till  towards  the  year  1000, 
when  a  general  belief  that  the  second  coming  of 
the  Saviour  was  near  at  hand  drew  pilgrims  in 
unwonted  crowds  to  the  Holy  Land.  The  sight, 
by  such  large  numbers,  of  the  holy  place  in  the 
hands  of  infidels,  the  exaction  of  tribute  by  the 
Moslem  government,  and  the  insults  to  which 
the  pilgrims,  often  of  the  highest  rank,  were 
exposed  from  the  Moslem  rabble,  excited  an  ex- 
traordinary ferment  in  Europe,  and  led  to  those 
remarkable  expeditions  for  recovering  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  from  the  Mohammedans,  which,  under 
the  name  of  the  Crusades,  will  always  fill  a  most 
important  and  curious  chapter  in  the  history  of 
the  world. 

On  the  17th  of  June,  1099,  the  Crusaders, 
under  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  appeared  before 
Jerusalem,  which  was  at  that  time  in  possession 
of  the  Fatemite  khalifs  of  Egypt. 

After  a  siege  of  forty  days  the  holy  city  was 
taken  by  storm  on  the  15th  day  of  July;  and  a 
dreadful  massacre  of  the  Moslem  inhabitants  fol- 
lowed, without  distinction  of  age  or  sex.  As  soon 
as  order  was  restored,  and  the  city  cleared  of  the 
dead,  a  regular  government  was  established  by 
the  election  of  Godfrey  as  king  of  Jerusalem. 
The  Christians  kept  possession  of  Jerusalem 
eighty-eight  years.  During  this  long  period  they 
appear  to  have  erected  several  churches  and 
many  convents.  Of  the  latter  few,  if  any,  traces 
remain;  and  of  the  former,  save  one  or  two  roins, 
a  H  2 


JEKUSALEM 


JERUSALEM 


the  church  of  the  holy  sepulchre,  which  they  re- 
built, is  the  only  memorial  which  attests  the 
existence  of  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Jerusalem. 
In  A.D.  1187  the  holy  city  was  wrested  from  the 
hands  of  the  Christians  by  the  Sultan  Saladin. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  day  Jerusalem 
lias  remained,  with  slight  interruption,  in  the 
hands  of  the  Moslems.  On  the  threatened  siege 
by  Richard  of  England  in  1192,  Saladin  took 
great  pains  in  strengthening  its  defences.  New 
walls  and  bulwarks  were  erected,  and  deep 
trenches  cut,  and  in  six  months  the  town  was 
stronger  than  it  ever  had  been,  and  the  works 
l)ad  the  firmness  and  solidity  of  a  rock.  But  in 
A.-D.  1219  the  Sultan  Melek  el-Moaddin  of  Da- 
mascus, who  then  had  possession  of  Jerusalem, 
ordered  all  the  walls  and  towers  to  be  demolished, 
except  the  citadel  and  the  enclosure  of  the 
mosque,  lest  the  Franks  should  again  become 
masters  of  the  city  and  find  it  a  place  of  strength. 
In  this  defenceless  state  Jerusalem  continued  till 
it  was  delivered  over  to  the  Christians  in  conse- 
quence of  a  treaty  with  the  emperor  Frederick  II., 
in  A.D.  1229,  with  the  understanding  that  the 
walls  should  not  be  rebuilt.  Yet  ten  years  later 
(a.d.  1239)  the  barons  and  knights  of  Jerusalem 
began  to  build  the  walls  anew,  and  to  erect  a 
strong  fortress  on  the  west  of  the  city.  But  the 
works  were  interrupted  by  the  emir  David  of 
Kerek,  who  seized  the  city,  strangled  the  Chris- 
tian inhabitants,  and  cast  down  the  newly  erected 
walls  and  fortress.  Four  years  after,  however 
(A.D.  1243),  Jerusalem  was  again  made  over  to 
the  Christians  without  any  restriction,  and  the 
wcirks  appear  to  have  been  restored  and  com- 
pleted ;  for  they  are  mentioned  as  existing  when 
the  city  was  stormed  by  the  wild  Kharismian 
hordes  in  the  following  year ;  shortly  after  which 
the  city  reverted  for  the  last  time  into  the  hands 
of  its  Mohammedan  masters,  who  have  kept  it 
to  the  present  day. 

From  this  time  Jerusalem  appears  to  have  sunk 
very  much  in  political  and  military  importance; 
and  it  is  scarcely  named  in  the  history  of  the 
Memluk  sultans  who  reigned  over  Egj'pt  and  the 
greater  part  of  Syria  in  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries.  At  length,  with  the  rest  of 
Syria  and  Egypt,  it  passed  under  the  sway  of  the 
Turkish  sultan  Selim  I.,  who  paid  a  hasty  visit 
to  the  holy  land  from  Damascus  after  his  return 
from  Egypt.  From  that  time  Jerusalem  has 
formed  a  part  of  the  Ottoman  empire,  and  during 
this  period  has  been  subject  to  few  vicissitudes ; 
its  history  is  accordingly  barren  of  incident. 
The  present  walls  of  the  city  were  erected  by 
Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  the'successor  of  Selim, 
in  A.D.  1542,  as  is  attested  by  an  inscription  over 
the  Jaffa  gate.  So  lately  as  a.d.  1 808,  the  church 
of  the  holy  sepulchre  was  partially  consumed  by 
fire;  but  the  damage  was  repaired  with  great 
labour  and  expense  by  September,  1810,  and  the 
traveller  now  finds  in  this  imposing  fabric  no 
traces  of  the  recent  calamity. 

In  A.D.  1832  Jerusalem  became  subject  to 
Mohammed  Ali,  the  pasha  of  Egypt,  the  holy 
city  opening  its  gates  to  him  without  a  siege. 
During  the  great  insurrection  in  the  districts  of 
Jerusalem  and  Nabulus,  in  1834,  the  insurgents 
seized  upon  Jerusalem,  and  held  possession  of  it 
for  a  time ;  but  by  the  vigorous  operations  of  the 
govenunent,  order  was  soon  restored,  and  the  city 


reverted  quietly  to  its  allegiance  on  the  approach 
of  Ibrahim  Pasha  with  his  troops.  In  1841 
Mohammed  Ali  was  deprived  of  all  his  Syrian 
possessions  by  European  interference,  and  Jeru- 
salem was  again  subjected  to  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment, under  which  it  now  remains.  It  is  not, 
perhaps,  the  happier  for  the  change.  The  only 
subsequent  event  of  interest  has  been  the  esta- 
blishment of  a  Protestant  bishopric  at  Jerusalem 
by  the  English  and  Prussian  governments,  and 
the  erection  upon  Mount  Ziou  of  a  church,  cal- 
culated to  hold  500  persons,  for  the  celebration 
of  divine  worship  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
English  church. 

General  Topography. — Jerusalem  lies  near 
the  summit  of  a  broad  mountain-ridge,  extending, 
without  interruption,  from  the  plain  of  Esdraelon 
to  a  line  drawn  between  the  south  end  of  the 
Dead  Sea  and  the  south-east  corner  of  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  or,  more  properly,  perhaps,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  extending  as  far  south  as  to  Jebel 
Araif  in  the  Desert,  where  it  sinks  down  at  once 
to  the  level  of  the  great  western  plateau.  This 
tract,  which  is  everywhere  not  less  than  from 
20  to  25  geographical  miles  in  breadth,  forms 
the  precipitous  western  wall  of  the  great  valley 
of  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea,  and  is  every- 
where rocky,  uneven,  and  mountainous ;  and  is, 
moreover,  cut  up  by  deep  valleys  which  run  east 
or  west  on  either  side  towards  the  Jordan  or  the 
Mediterranean.  The  line  of  division,  or  water- 
shed, between  the  waters  of  these  valleys,  follows 
for  the  most  part  the  height  of  land  along  the 
ridge ;  yet  not  so  but  that  the  heads  of  the  valleys, 
which  run  oflF  in  different  directions,  often  inter- 
lap  for  a  considerable  distance.  Thus,  for  ex- 
ample, a  valley  which  descends  to  the  Jordan 
often  has  its  head  a  mile  or  two  westward  of  the 
commencement  of  other  valleys  which  run  to  the 
western  sea. 

From  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  onwards 
toward  the  south,  the  mountainous  country  rises 
gradually,  forming  the  tract  anciently  known  as 
the  mountains  of  Ephraim  and  Judah;  until,  in 
the  Aacinity  of  Hebron,  it  attains  an  elevation  of 
nearly  3000  Paris  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Me- 
diterranean Sea.  Further  north,  on  a  line  drawn 
from  the  north  end  of  the  Dead  Sea  towards  the 
true  west,  the  ridge  has  an  elevation  of  only  about 
2500  Paris  feet;  and  here,  close  upon  the  water- 
shed, lies  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  Its  mean  geo- 
graphical position  is  in  lat.  31°  46'  43"  N.,  and 
long.  35"^  13'  E.  from  Greenwich. 

The  surface  of  the  elevated  promontory,  on 
which  the  city  stands,  slopes  somewhat  steeply 
towards  the  east,  terminating  on  the  brink  of  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  From  the  northern  part, 
near  the  present  Damascus  gate,  a  depression  or 
shallow  wady  runs  in  a  southern  direction, 
having  on  the  west  the  ancient  hills  of  Akra  and 
Zion,  and  on  the  east  the  lower  ones  of  Bezetha 
and  Moriah.  Between  the  hills  of  Akra  and 
Zion  another  depression  or  shallow  wady  (still 
easy  to  be  traced)  comes  down  from  near  the 
Jaffa  gate,  and  joins  the  former.  It  then  con- 
tinues obliquely  down  the  slope,  but  with  a 
deeper  bed,  in  a  southern  direction,  quite  to  the 
pool  of  Siloam  and  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
This  is  the  ancient  Tyropoeon.  West  of  its 
lower  part  Zion  rises  loftily,  lying  mostly  with- 
out the  modern  city ;  while  on  the  east  of  the 


JERUSALEM 

I  Tyropceon  and  the  valley  first  mentioned  lie 
Bezetha,  Moriah,  and  Ophel,  the  last  a  long  and 
comparatively  narrow  ridge,  also  outside  of  the 
modern  city,  and  terminating  in  a  rocky  point 

[  over  the  pool  of  Siloam.  These  three  last  hills 
may  strictly  be  taken  as  only  parts  of  one  and 
the  same  ridge.  The  breadth  of  the  -whole  site 
of  Jerusalem,  from  the  brow  of  the  valley  of 
Hinnom,  near  the  Jaffa  gate,  to  the  brink  of  the 
valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  is  about  1020  yards,  or 
nearly  half  a  geographical  mile. 

The  country  around  Jerusalem  is  all  of  lime- 
stone formation,  and  not  particularly  fertile.  The 
rocks  everywhere  come  out  above  the  surface, 
which  in  many  parts  is  also  thickly  strewed  with 
loose  stones ;  and  tlie  aspect  of  the  whole  region 
is  barren  and  dreary  ;  yet  the  olive  thrives  here 
abundantly,  and  fields  of  grain  are  seen  in  the 
valleys  and  level  places,  but  they  are  less  pro- 
ductive than  in  the  region  of  Hebron  and  Na- 
bulus.  Neither  vineyards  nor  fig-trees  flourish 
on  the  high  ground  around  the  city,  though  the 
latter  are  found  in  the  gardens  below  Siloam,  and 
very  frequently  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethlehem. 

Ancient  Jerusalem. — Every  reader  of  Scrip- 
ture feels  a  natural  anxiety  to  form  some  notion 
of  the  appearance  and  condition  of  Jerusalem,  as 
it  existed  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  or  rather  as  it 
stood  before  its  destruction  by  the  Komans. 
There  are  unusual  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
satisfying  this  desire,  although  it  need  not  be  left 
altogether  ungratified.  The  principal  sources  of 
these  difficulties  have  been  indicated  by  different 
travellers,  and  by  none  more  forcibly  than  by 
Richardson  (  Travels,  ii.  251).  '  It  is  a  tantalizing 
circumstance,  however,  for  the  traveller  who 
wishes  to  recognise  in  his  walks  the  site  of  par- 
ticular buildings,  or  the  scenes  of  memorable 
events,  that  the  greater  part  of  the  objects  men- 
tioned in  the  description,  both  of  the  inspired  and 
of  the  Jewish  historian,  are  entirely  razed  from 
their  foundation,  without  leaving  a  single  trace 
or  name  behind  to  point  out  where  they  stood. 
Not  an  ancient  tower,  or  gate,  or  wall,  or' hardly 
even  a  stone,  remains.  The  foundations  are  not 
only  broken  up,  but  every  fragment  of  which 
they  were  composed  is  swept  away,  and  the  spec- 
tator looks  upon  the  bare  rock  with  hardly  a 
sprinkling  of  earth  to  point  out  her  gardens  of 
pleasure,  or  groves  of  idolatrous  devotion.' 

To  the  difficulties  originating  in  these  causes 
may  be  added  those  which  arise  from  the  many 
ambiguities  in  the  description  left  by  Josephus, 
the  onJy  one  which  we  possess,  and  which  must 
form  the  ground- work  of  most  of  our  notices 
respecting  the  ancient  city.  There  are  indeed 
some  manifest  errors  in  his  account,  which  the 
critical  reader  is  able  to  detect  without  having 
the  means  to  rectify. 

In  describing  Jerusalem  as  it  stood  just  before 
its  destruction  by  the  Romans,  Josephus  states 
that  the  city  was  built  upon  two  hills,  between 
which  lay  the  valley  Tyropoeon  (Cheesemonger's 
Valley),  to  which  the  buildings  on  both  hills 
came  down.  This  valley  extended  to  the  fountain 
of  Siloam.  The  hill  on  which  the  upper  town 
stood  was  much  higher  than  the  other,  and 
straighter  in  its  extent.  On  account  of  its  forti- 
fications, David  called  it  the  Fortress  or  Castle ; 
but  in  the  time  of  Josephus  it  was  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Upper  Market.     The  other  hill,  on 


JERUSALEM  469 

which  was  situated  the  lower  town,  was  called 
Akra.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe  or 
crescent.  Opposite  to  Akra  was  a  third,  and 
naturally  lower  hill  (Moriah),  on  which  the 
temple  was  built;  and  between  this  and  Akra 
was  originally  a  broad  valley,  which  the  inha- 
bitants of  Jerusalem  filled  up  in  the  time  of 
Simon  Maccabseus  for  the  purpose  of  connecting 
the  town  with  the  temple.  At  the  same  time 
they  lowered  the  hill  Akra,  so  as  to  make  the 
temple  rise  above  it.  Both  the  hills  on  which 
the  upper  and  lower  towns  stood  were  externally 
surrounded  by  deep  valleys,  and  here  there  was 
no  approach  because  of  the  precipices  on  every 
side. 

The  single  wall  which  enclosed  that  part  of 
the  city  skirted  by  precipitous  valleys  began  at 
the  tower  of  Hippicus.  On  the  west  it  extended 
(southward)  to  a  place  called  Bethso,  and  the 
gate  of  tlie  Essenes ;  thence  it  kept  along  on  the 
south  to  a  point  over  against  Siloam  ;  and  thence 
on  the  east  was  carried  along  by  Solomon's  Pool 
and  Ophla  (Ophel),  till  it  terminated  at  the 
eastern  portico  of  the  temple.  Of  the  triple 
walls,  we  are  told  that  the  first  and  oldest  of 
these  began  at  the  tower  of  Hippicus,  on  the 
northern  part,  and,  extending  (along  the  northern 
brow  of  Zion)  to  the  Xystus,  afterwards  ter- 
minated at  the  western  portico  of  the  temple. 
The  second  wall  began  at  the  gate  of  Gennath 
(apparently  near  Hippicus),  and,  encircling  only 
the  northern  part  of  the  city,  extended  to  the 
castle  of  Antonia  at  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
area  of  the  temple.  The  third  wall  was  built  by 
Agrippa  at  a  later  period  :  it  also  had  its  begin- 
ning at  the  tower  of  Hippicus,  ran  northward  as 
far  as  the  tower  Psephinos ;  and  thence  sweeping 
round  towards  the  north-east  by  east,  it  turned 
afterwards  towards  the  south,  and  was  joined  to 
the  ancient  wall  at  or  in  the  valley  of  the  Kidron. 
This  wall  enclosed  the  hill  Bezetha.  From  other 
passages  we  learn  that  the  Xystus,  named  in  the 
above  descriptions,  was  an  open  place  in  the 
extreme  part  of  the  upper  city,  where  the  people 
sometimes  assembled,  and  that  a  bridge  connected 
it  with  the  temple. 

Dr.  Robinson,  in  comparing  the  information 
derived  from  Josephus  with  his  own  more  de- 
tailed account,  declares  that  the  main  features 
depicted  by  the  Jewish  historian  may  still  be 
recognised.  '  True,'  he  says,  '  the  valley  of  the 
Tyropceon,  and  that  between  Akra  and  Moriah, 
have  been  greatly  filled  up  with  the  rubbish  ac- 
cumulated from  the  repeated  desolations  of  nearly 
eighteen  centuries.  Yet  they  are  still  distinctly 
to  be  traced :  the  hills  of  Zion,  Akra,  Moriah, 
and  Bezetha,  are  not  to  be  mistaken ;  while  the 
deep  valleys  of  the  Kidron,  and  of  Hinnom,  and 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  are  permanent  natural 
features,  too  prominent  and  gigantic  indeed  to  be 
forgotten,  or  to  undergo  any  perceptible  change.' 

"The  details  embraced  in  this  general  notice 
must  be  more  particularly  examined  in  connec- 
tion with  modem  observations ;  for  it  is  to  be 
remembered  that  the  chief  or  only  value  of  these 
observations  consists  in  the  light  which  they 
throw  on  the  ancient  condition  and  history  of  the 
site. 

The  first  or  most  ancient  wall  appears  to  have 
enclosed  the  whole  of  Mount  Zion.  The  greater 
part  of  it,  therefore,  must  have  formed  the  ex- 


470 


JERUSALEM 


terior  and  sole  -wall  on  the  south,  overlooking 
the  deep  valleys  below  Mount  Zion ;  and  the 
northern  part  evidently  passed  from  the  tower  of 
Hippicus  on  the  west  side,  along  the  northern 
brow  of  Zion,  and  across  the  valley,  to  the 
western  side  of  the  temple  area.  It  probably 
nearly  coincided  with  the  ancient  wall  which 
existed  before  the  time  of  David,  and  which 
enabled  the  Jebusites  to  maintain  themselves  in 
possession  of  the  upper  city,  long  after  the  lower 
city  had  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Israelites. 
Mount  Zion  is  now  unwalled,  and  is  excluded 
from  the  modern  city.  No  trace  of  this  wall  can 
now  be  perceived,  but  by  digging  through  the 
rubbish  the  foundations  might  perhaps  be  dis- 
covered. 

The  account  given  by  Josephus,  of  the  second 
•wall,  is  very  short  and  unsatisfactory.  It  seems 
to  have  enclosed  the  whole  of  the  lower  city,  or 
Akra,  excepting  that  part  of  the  eastern  side  of 
it  which  fronted  the  Temple  area  on  Mount 
Moriah,  and  the  southern  side,  towards  the  valley 
which  separated  the  lower  from  the  upper  city. 
In  short,  it  was  a  continuation  of  the  external 
wall,  so  far  as  necessary,  on  the  west  and  north, 
and  on  so  much  of  the  east  as  was  not  already 
protected  by  the  strong  wall  of  the  Temple 
area. 

Although  these  were  the  only  walls  that  ex- 
isted in  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  we  are  not  to 
infer  that  the  habitable  city  was  confined  within 
their  limits.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  because  the 
city  had  extended  northward  far  beyond  the 
second  wall  that  a  third  was  built  to  cover  the 
defenceless  suburb:  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  this  unprotected  suburb,  called  Be- 
zetha,  existed  in  the  time  of  Christ.  This  wall 
is  described  as  having  also  begun  at  the  tower  ot 
Hippicus  :  it  ran  northward  as  far  as  to  the  tower 
Psephinos,  then  passed  down  opposite  the  sepul- 
chre of  Helena  (queen  of  Adiabene),  and,  being 
carried  along  through  the  royal  sepulchres,  turned 
at  the  corner  tower  by  the  Fullers'  monument, 
and  ended  by  making  a  junction  with  the  ancient 
wall  at  the  valley  of  the  Kidron.  It  was  begun 
ten  or  twelve  years  after  our  Lord's  crucifixion 
by  the  elder  Herod  Agrippa,  who  desisted  from 
completing  it  for  fear  of  oli'ending  the  Emperor 
Claudius.  But  the  design  was  afterwards  taken 
up  and  completed  by  the  Jews  themselves,  al- 
though on  a  scale  of  less  strength  and  magnifi- 
cence. Dr.  Robinson  thinks  that  he  discovered 
some  traces  of  this  wall,  which  are  described  in 
his  great  work. 

The  same  writer  thinks  that  the  wall  of  the 
new  city,  the  iElia  of  Adrian,  nearly  coincided 
with  that  of  the  present  Jerusalem. 

We  know  from  Josephus  that  the  circumference 
of  the  ancient  city  was  33  stadia,  equivalent  to 
nearly  three  and  a  half  geographical  miles.  The 
circumference  of  the  present  walls  does  not  ex- 
ceed two  and  a  half  geographical  miles ;  but  the 
extent  of  Mount  Zion,  now  without  the  walls, 
and  the  tract  on  the  north  formerly  enclosed,  or 
partly  so,  by  the  third  wall,  sufficiently  account 
for  the  difference. 

The  history  of  the  modern  walls  has  already 
been  given  in  the  sketch  of  the  modern  history  of 
the  city.  The  present  walls  have  a  solid  and 
formidable  appearance,  especially  when  cursorily 
observed  from  without;  and  they  are  streugth- 


JEKUSALEM 

ened,  or  rather  ornamented,  with  towers  and 
battlements  after  the  Saracenic  style.  They  are 
built  of  limestone,  the  stones  being  not  com- 
monly more  than  a  foot  or  15  inches  square. 
The  height  varies  with  the  various  elevations 
of  the  ground.  The  lower  parts  are  probably 
about  25  feet  high,  while  in  more  exposed 
localities,  where  the  ravines  contribute  less  to  the 
security  of  the  city,  they  have  an  elevation  of 
60  or  70  feet. 

Much  uncertainty  exists  respecting  the  ancient 
gates  of  Jerusalem.  Many  gates  are  named  in 
Scripture ;  and  it  has  been  objected  that  they  are 
more  in  number  than  a  town  of  the  size  of  Jeru- 
salem could  require — especially  as  they  all  occur 
within  the  extent  embraced  by  the  first  and  second 
walls,  the  third  not  then  existing.  It  has,  there- 
fore, been  suggested  as  more  than  probable  that 
some  of  these  gates  were  within  the  city,  in  the 
walls  which  separated  the  town  from  the  temple, 
and  the  upper  town  from  the  lower,  in  which 
gates  certainly  existed.  On  the  other  hand,  con- 
sidering the  circumstances  under  which  the  wall 
was  rebuilt  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah,  it  is  difficult 
to  suppose  that  more  than  the  outer  wall  was  then 
constructed,  and  certainly  it  was  in  the  wall  then 
built  that  the  ten  or  twelve  gates  mentioned  by 
Nehemiah  occur.  But  these  may  be  considerably 
reduced  by  supposing  that  two  or  more  of  the 
names  mentioned  were  applied  to  the  same  gate. 
If  this  view  of  the  matter  be  taken,  no  better  dis- 
tribution of  these  gates  can  be  given  than  that 
suggested  by  Raumer. 

A.  On  the  north  side. 

1.  The  Old  Gate,  probably  at  the  north-east 
corner  (Neh.  iii.  6  ;  xii.  39). 

2.  The  Gate  of  Ephraim  or  Benjamin  (Jer. 
xxxviii.  7 ;  xxxvii.  13 ;  Neh.  xii.  9  ;  2  Chron. 
XXV.  23).  This  gate  doubtless  derived  its  names 
from  its  leading  to  the  territory  of  Ephraim  and 
Benjamin;  and  Dr.  Robinson  supposes  it  may 
possibly  be  represented  by  some  traces  of  ruins 
which  he  found  on  the  site  of  the  present  gate  of 
Damascus. 

3.  The  Corner-gate,  300  cubits  from  the  former, 
and  apparently  at  the  north-west  corner  (2  Chron. 
XXV.  9  ;  2  Kings  xiv.  13;  Zech.  xiv.  10).  Pro- 
bably the  Gate  of  the  Furnaces  is  the  same  (Neh. 
iii.  2  ;  xii.  38). 

B.  On  the  west  side. 

4.  The  Valley-yate,  over  against  the  Dragon- 
fountain  of  Gihon  (Neh.  ii.  13  ;  iii.  13;  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  9).  It  was  probably  about  the  north-west 
corner  of  Zion,  where  there  appears  to  have  been 
always  a  gate,  and  Dr.  Robinson  supposes  it  to 
be  the  same  with  the  Gennath  of  Josephus. 

c.  On  the  south  side. 

5.  The  Dung-gate,  perhaps  the  same  as  Jo- 
sephus's  Gate  of  the  Essenes  (Neh.  ii.  13;  xii. 
31).  It  was  1000  cubits  from  the  valley-gate 
(Neh.  iii.  14),  and  the  dragon-well  was  between 
them  (Neh.  ii.  13).  This  gate  is  probably  also 
identical  with  'the  gate  between  two  walls' (2 
Kings  xxv.  4;  Jer.  xxxix.  4;  Lam.  ii.  7). 

6.  The  Gate  of  the  Fountain,  to  the  south-^ast 
(Neh.  ii.  14;  iii.  15);  the  gate  of  the  fountain 
near  the  king's  pool  (Neh.  ii.  14) ;  the  gate  of 
the  fountain  near  '  the  pool  of  Siloah  by  the  king's 
garden'  (Neh.  iii.  15).  The  same  gate  is  pro- 
bably denoted  in  all  these  instances,  and  the 
pools  seem  to  havs  been  also  the  same.     It  is  also 


JERUSALEM 

possible  that  this  fountain-gate  was  the  same 
otherwise  distinguished  as  the  brick-gate  (or 
potter's  gate),  leading  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom 
(Jer.  xix.  2,  where  the  Auth.  Ver.  has '  east-gate'). 
D.  On  the  east  side. 

7.  The  Water-gate  (Neh.  iii.  26). 

8.  The  Prison-gate,  otherwise  the  Horse-gate, 
near  the  temple  (Neh.  iii.  28  ;  xii.  39,  40). 

9.  The  Sheep-gate,  probably  near  the  sheep- 
pool  (Neh.  iii.  1-32  ;  xii.  29). 

It).  The  Fish-gate  was  quite  at  the  north-ea.'Jt 
(Neh.  iii.  3 ;  xii.  39 ;  Zeph.  i.  10 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiii. 
14). 

In  the  middle  ages  there  appear  to  have  been 
two  gates  on  each  side  of  the  city,  making  eight 
in  all ;  and  this  number,  being  only  two  short 
of  those  assigned  in  the  above  estimate  to  the 
ancient  Jerusalem,  seems  to  vindicate  that  esti- 
mate from  the  objections  which  have  been  urged 
against  it. 

On  the  west  side  were  two  gates,  of  which  the 
principal  was  the  Gate  of  David,  often  mentioned 
by  the  writers  on  the  Crusades.  It  corresponds 
to  the  present  Jaffa  gate.  The  other  was  the 
gate  of  the  Fullers'  Field,  so  called  from  Isa. 
vii.  3.  Tiiere  is  no  trace  of  it  in  the  present 
wall. 

On  the  north  there  were  also  two  gates ;  and 
all  the  middle-age  writers  speak  of  the  principal 
of  them  as  the  gate  of  St.  Stephen,  from  the  no- 
tion that  the  death  of  the  protomartyr  took  place 
near  it.  This  was  also  called  the  gate  of 
Ephraim,  in  reference  to  its  probable  ancient 
name.  The  present  gate  of  St.  Stephen  is  on  the 
east  of  the  city,  and  the  scene  of  the  martyrdom 
is  now  placed  near  it ;  but  there  is  no  account  of 
the  change.  Farther  east  was  the  gate  of  Ben- 
jamin, corresponding  apparently  to  what  is  now 
Killed  the  gate  of  Herod, 

On  the  east  there  seem  to  have  been  at  least 
two  gates.  The  northernmost  is  described  by 
Adamnanus  as  a  small  portal  leading  down  to 
the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  It  was  called  the 
prate  of  Jehoshaphat,  from  the  valley  to  which  it 
led.  It  seems  to  be  represented  by  the  present 
irate  of  St.  Stephen.  The  present  gate  of  St. 
Stephen  has  four  lions  sculptured  over  it  on  the 
outside,  which,  as  well  as  the  architecture,  show 
that  it  existed  before  the  present  walls.  The 
other  gate  is  the  famous  Golden  Gate  in  the 
eastern  wall  of  the  temple  area.  This  gate  is, 
from  its  architecture,  obviously  of  Roman  origin, 
and  is  conjectured  to  have  belonged  to  the  enclo- 
sure of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  which  was  built  by 
Adrian  upon  Mount  Moriah.  The  exterior  is 
now  walled  up ;  but  being  double,  the  interior 
forms  within  the  area  a  recess,  which  is  used  for 
prayer  by  the  Moslem  worshipper. 

On  the  south  side  were  also  two  gates.  The 
easternmost  is  now  called  by  the  Franks  the 
Dung-gate.  The  earliest  mention  of  this  gate  is 
by  Brocard,  about  a.d.  1283,  who  regards  it  as 
the  ancient  Water-gate.  Farther  west,  between 
the  eastern  brow  of  Zion  and  the  gate  of  David, 
the  Crusaders  found  a  gate  which  they  call  the 
Gate  of  Zion,  corresponding  to  one  which  now 
bears  the  same  name. 

Of  the  seven  gates  mentioned  as  still  existing, 
three,  the  Dung  Gate,  the  Golden  Gate,  and  He- 
rod's Gate,  are  closed.  Thus  there  are  only  four 
gates  now  in  use,  one  on  each  side  of  the  town, 


JERUSALEM 


471 


all  of  which  have  been  enumerated.      St.  Ste- 
phen's, on  the  east,  leads  to  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
Bethany,  and  Jericho.    Zion  Gate,  on  the  south    \ 
side  of  the  city,  connects  the   populous  quarter 
around  the  Armenian  convent  with  that  part  of 
Mount  Zion  which  is  outside  the  walls,  and  which    1 
is  much  resorted  to  as  being  the  great  field  of    | 
Christian  burial,  as  well  as  for  its  traditionary    j 
sanctitj-  as  the  site  of  David's  tomb,  the  house  of    t 
Caiaphas,  house  of  Mary,  &c.     The  Jaffa  Gate,    ! 
on  the  west,  is  the  termination  of  the  important    | 
routes  from  Jaffa,  Bethlehem,  and  Hebron.    The 
Damascus  Gate,  on  the  north,  is  also  planted  in    ! 
a  vale,  which  in  every  age  of  Jerusalem  must    ; 
have  been  a  great  public  way,  and  the  easiest  ap-    i 
proach  from  Samaria  and  Galilee.  ! 

The  towers  of  Jerusalem  are  often  mentioned 
in  Scripture  and  in  Josephus.  Most  of  the  towers 
mentioned  by  Josephus  were  erected  by  Herod 
the  Great,  and  were,  consequently,  standing  in  ' 
the  time  of  Christ.  It  was  on  these,  therefore, 
that  his  eyes  often  rested  when  he  approached 
Jerusalem,  or  viewed  its  walls  and  towers  from 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  Of  all  these  towers,  the 
most  important  is  that  of  Hippicus,  which  Jo- 
sephus, as  we  have  already  seen,  assumed  as  the 
starting-point  in  his  description  of  all  the  walls 
of  the  city.  Herod  gave  to  it  the  name  of  a 
friend  who  was  slain  in  battle.  It  was  a  qua- 
drangular structure,  25  cubits  on  each  side,  j 
and  built  up  entirely  solid  to  the  height  of  j 
30  cubits.  The  altitude  of  the  whole  tower  i 
was  80  cubits.  Dr.  Robinson  has  shown  that 
this  tower  should  be  sought  at  the  north-west 
corner  of  the  upper  city,  or  Mount  Zion.  This 
part,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  Jaffa  Gate, 
is  now  occupied  by  the  citadel.  It  is  an  irre- 
gular assemblage  of  square  towers,  surrounded 
on  the  inner  side  towards  the  city  by  a  low  wall, 
and  having  on  the  outer  or  west  side  a  deep  fosse. 
The  towers  which  rise  from  the  brink  of  the 
fosse  are  protected  on  that  side  by  a  low  sloping 
bulwark  or  buttress,  which  rises  from  the  bottom 
of  the  trench  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees. 
This  part  bears  evident  marks  of  antiquity,  and 
Dr.  Robinson  is  inclined  to  ascribe  these  massive 
outworks  to  the  time  of  the  rebuilding  and  forti- 
fying of  the  city  by  Adrian.  The  north-eastern 
tower  bears  among  the  Franks  the  name  of  the 
Tower  of  David,  while  they  sometimes  give  to 
the  whole  fortress  the  name  of  the  Castle  of 
David.  Taking  all  the  circumstances  into  ac- 
count. Dr.  Robinson  thinks  that  the  antique  lower 
portion  of  this  tower  is  in  all  probability  a  rem- 
nant of  the  tower  of  Hippicus,  which,  as  Josephus 
states,  was  left  standing  by  Titus  when  he  de- 
stroyed the  city. 

Josephus  describes  two  other  towers — those  of 
Phasaelus  and  Mariamne,  both  built  by  Herod, 
one  of  them  being  named  after  a  friend,  and  the 
other  after  his  favourite  wife.  They  stood  not  far 
from  Hippicus,  upon  the  first  or  most  ancient 
wall,  which  ran  from  the  latter  tower  eastward, 
along  the  northern  brow  of  Zion.  Connected  with 
these  towers  and  Hippicus  was  the  royal  castle  or 
palace  of  the  first  Herod,  which  was  enclosed  by 
this  wall  on  the  north,  and  en  the  other  sides  by 
a  wall  30  cubits  high.  These  were  the  three 
mighty  towers  which  Titus  left  standing  as  mo- 
numents of  the  strength  of  the  place  which  had 
yielded  to  his  arms.     But  nothing  now  remains 


472 


JERUSALEM 


save  the  above-mentioned  supposed  remnant  of 
the  tower  of  Hippicus. 

A  fourth  tower,  called  Psephinos,  is  mentioned 

by  Joseph  us.     It  stood  at  the  north-west  corner 

of  the  third  or  exterior  wall  of  the  city.     It  did 

!    not,  consequently,  exist  in  the  time  of  Christ, 

seeing  that  the  wall  itself  was  built  by  Herod 

I    Agrippa,    to    whom    also    the    tower    may    be 

I   ascribed. 

The  above  are  the  only  towers  which  the  his- 
torian particularly  mentions.     But  in  describing 
the  outer  or  third  wall  of  Agrippa,  he  states  that 
it  had   battlements  of  two  cubits,   and  turrets 
!   of  three  cubits  more :   and  as  the  wall  was  20 
cubits  high,  this  would  make  the  turrets  of  the 
height  of  25  cubits,  or  nearly  38  feet.     Many 
\   loftier  and  more  substantial  towers  than  these 
i    were  erected  on  each  of  the  walls  at  regulated 
distances,  and  furnished  with  every  requisite  for 
convenience  or  defence.     Of  those  on  the  third 
I    or  outer  wall   are   enumerated  ninety ;  on  the 
!   middle  or  second  wall,  forty ;  and  on  the  inner 
':    or  ancient  wall,  sixty. 

I        The  temple  was  in  all  ages  the  great  glory  and 

,    principal  public  building  of  Jerusalem,  as  the 

I   heathen  temple,  church,  or  mosque,  successively 

[    occupying  the  same  site,  has  been  ever  since  the 

Jewish  temple  was  destroyed.     That  temple  is 

reserved  for  a  separate  article  [Temple],  and 

there  are  few  other  public  edifices  which  require 

a  particular  description.    Those  most  connected 

with  Scripture  history  are  the  palace  of  Herod 

I    and  the    tower  of  Antonia.     The  former  has 

j   already  been  noticed.     In  the  time  of  Christ  it 

j   was  the  residence  of  the  Koman  procurators  while 

:   in  Jerusalem  ;  and  as  such  provincial  residences 

[   were  called  by  the  Romans  Prcetoria,  this  was 

■   the  prajtorium  or  judgment-hall  of  Pilate  (Matt. 

j    xxvii.  27  ;  Mark  xv.    16  ;  John  xviii.  28).     In 

I   front  of  the  palace  was  the  tribunal  or  '  judgment- 

[   seat,'  where  the  procurator  sat  to  hear  and  deter- 

'   mine  the  causes;  and  where  Pilate  was  seated 

'   when  Bur  Lord  was  brought  before  him.     It  was 

i   a  raised  pavement  of  mosaic  work,  called  in  the 

Hebrew  Gahhatha,  or  '  an  elevated  place '  [Judg- 

I   went-H^u,l]. 

1  The  tower  or  castle  of  Antonia  stood  on  a 
steep  rock  adjoining  the  north-west  corner  of  the 
.  temple.  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  it 
;  originated  under  the  Maccabees,  who  resided  in 
;  it.  As  improved  by  Herod,  who  gave  it  the 
1  name  of  Antonia,  after  his  patron  Mark  Antony, 
I  this  fortress  had  all  the  extent  and  appearance  of 
'■  a  palace,  being  divided  into  apartments  of  every 
I  kind,  with  galleries  and  baths,  and  also  broad 
>  halls  or  barracks  for  soldiers ;  so  that,  as  having 
]  everything  necessary  within  itself,  it  seemed  a 
[  city,  while  in  its  magnificence  it  was  a  palace. 
\  At  each  of  the  four  corners  was  a  tower,  one 
I  of  which  was  70  cubits  high,  and  overlooked 
\  the  whole  temple  with  its  courts.  The  fortress 
j  communicated  with  the  cloisters  of  the  temple  by 
I  secret  passages,  through  which  the  soldiers  could 
I  enter  and  quell  any  tumults,  which  were  always 
\  apprehended  at  the  time  of  the  great  festivals.  It 
i  was  to  a  guard  of  these  soldiers  that  Pilate  re- 
I  ferred  the  Jews  as  a  '  watch '  for  the  sepulchre  of 
:  Christ.  This  tower  was  also  'the  castle'  into 
which  St.  Paul  was  carried  when  the  Jews  rose 
against  him  in  the  temple,  and  were  about  to  kill 
j    him  ;  and  where  he  gave  his  able  and  manly  ac- 


JERUSALEM 

count  of  his  conversion  and  conduct  (Act  xn. 
27-40 ;  xxii.).  This  tower  was,  in  fact,  the  citadel 
of  Jerusalem. 

In  the  narratives  of  all  the  sieges  which  Jeru- 
salem has  suffered,  we  never  read  of  the  besieged 
suffering  from  thirst,  although  driven  to  the  most 
dreadful  extremities  and  resources  by  hunger, 
while  the  besiegers  are  frequently  described  as 
suffering  greatly  from  want  of  water,  and  as 
being  obliged  to  fetch  it  from  a  great  distance. 
This  is  a  very  singular  circumstance,  and  is 
perhaps  only  in  part  explained  by  reference  to 
the  system  of  preserving  water  in  cisterns,  as  at 
this  day  in  Jerusalem.  There  is,  however,  good 
ground  to  conclude  that  from  very  ancient  times 
there  has  been  under  the  temple  an  unfailing 
source  of  water,  derived  by  secret  and  subterra- 
neous channels  from  springs  to  the  west  of  the 
town,  and  communicating  by  other  subterra- 
neous passages  with  the  pool  of  Siloam  and  the 
fountain  of  the  Virgin  in  the  east  of  the  town, 
whether  they  were  within  Or  without  the  walls  of 
the  town.  The  ordinary  means  taken  by  the  in- 
habitants to  secure  a  supply  of  water  have  been 
described  under  the  article  Cistern. 

Modern  Jerusalem. — In  proceeding  to  fur- 
nish a  description  of  the  present  Jerusalem,  we 
shall,  for  the  most  part,  place  ourselves  under  the 
guidance  of  Dr.  Olin,  whose  account  is  not  OHly 
the  most  recent,  but  is  by  far  the  most  complete 
and  satisfactory  which  has  of  late  years  been  pro- 
duced. 

The  general  view  of  the  city  from  the  Mount 
of  Olives  is  mentioned  more  or  less  by  all  tra- 
vellers as  that  from  which  they  derive  their  most 
distinct  and  abiding  impression  of  Jerusalem. 

The  summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  is  about 
half  a  mile  east  from  the  city,  which  it  completely 
overlooks,  every  considerable  edifice  and  almost 
every  house  being  visible.  The  city  seen  from 
this  point  appears  to  be  a  regular  inclined  plain, 
sloping  gently  and  uniformly  from  west  to  east, 
or  towards  the  observer,  and  indented  by  a  slight 
depression  or  shallow  vale,  running  nearly 
through  the  centre  in  the  same  direction.  The 
south-east  corner  of  the  quadrangle — for  that 
may  be  assumed  as  the  figure  formed  by  the 
rocks— that  which  is  nearest  to  the  observer,  is 
occupied  by  the  mosque  of  Omar  and  its  exten- 
sive and  beautiful  grounds.  This  is  Mount  Mo- 
riah,  the  site  of  Solomon's  temple ;  and  the  ground 
embi-aced  in  the  sacred  enclosure,  which  conforms 
to  that  of  the  ancient  temple,  occupies  about  an 
eighth  of  the  whole  modern  city.  It  is  covered 
with  green  sward  and  planted  sparingly  with 
olive,  cypress,  and  other  trees,  and  it  is  certainly 
the  most  lovely  feature  of  the  town,  whether  we 
have  reference  to  the  splendid  structures  or  the 
beautiful  lawn  spread  out  around  them. 

The  south-west  quarter,  embracing  that  part  of 
Mount  Zion  which  is  within  the  modern  town,  is 
to  a  gi-eat  extent  occupied  by  the  Armenian  con- 
vent, an  enormous  edifice,  which  is  the  only  con- 
spicuous object  in  this  neighbourhood.  The 
north-west  is  largely  occupied  by  the  Latin  con- 
vent, another  very  extensive  establishment.  About 
midway  between  these  two  convents  is  the  castle 
or  citadel,  close  to  the  Bethlehem  gate,  already 
mentioned.  The  north-east  quarter  of  Jerusalem 
is  but  partially  built  up,  and  it  has  more  the  aspect 
of  a  rambling  agricultural  village  than  that  of  a 


JERUSALEM 

crowded  city.  The  vacant  spots  here  are  green 
•with  gardens  and  olive-trees.  There  is  another 
large  vacant  tract  along  the  southern  wall,  and 
west  of  uie  Haram,  also  covered  with  verdure. 
Near  the  centre  of  the  city  also  appear  tv.-o  or 
three  green  spots,  which  are  small  gardens.  The 
church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  is  the  only  conspi- 
cuous edifice  in  this  vicinity,  and  its  domes  are 
striking  objects.  There  are  no  buildings  which, 
either  from  their  size  or  beauty,  are  likely  to  en- 
gage the  attention.  Eight  or  ten  minarets  mark 
the  position  of  so  many  mosques  in  different  parts 
of  the  town,  but  they  are  only  noticed  because  of 
their  elevation  above  the  surrounding  edifices. 
Upon  the  same  principle  the  eye  rests  for  a  mo- 
ment upon  a  great  number  of  low  domes,  which 
form  the  roofs  of  the  principal  dwellings,  and 
relieve  the  heavy  uniformity  of  the  flat  plastered 
roofs  which  cover  the  greater  mass  of  more  humble 
habitations. 

From  the  same  commanding  point  of  view  a 
"few  olive  and  fig  trees  are  seen  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  scattered  ovei 
the  side  of'  Olivet  from  its  base  to  the  summit. 
They  are  sprinkled  yet  more  sparingly  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  city  on  Mounts  Zion  and 
'^phel.  North  of  Jerusalem  the  olive  plantations 
appear  more  numerous  as  well  as  thriving,  and 
thus  offer  a  grateful  contrast  to  the  sun-burnt  fields 
and  bare  rocks  which  predominate  in  this  land- 
scape. The  region  west  of  the  city  appears  to  be 
destitute  of  trees.  Fields  of  stunted  wheat,  yellow 
with  the  drought  rather  than  white  for  the  har- 
vest, are  seen  on  all  sides  of  the  town. 

Jerusalem,  as  seen  from  Mount  Olivet,  is  a 
plain  inclining  gently  and  equably  to  the  East. 
Once  enter  its  gates,  however,  and  it  is  found  to  be 
full  of  inequalities.  The  passenger  is  always  as- 
cending or  descending.  There  are  no  level  streets, 
and  little  skill  or  labour  has  been  employed  to  re- 
move or  diminish  the  inequalities  which  nature 
or  time  has  produced.  Houses  are  built  upon 
mountains  of  rubbish,  which  are  probably  twenty, 
thirty,  or  fifty  feet  above  the  natural  level,  and 
the  streets  are  constructed  with  the  same  dis- 
regard to  convenience,  with  this  difference,  that 
some  slight  attention  is  paid  to  the  possibility  of 
carrying  off  surplus  water.  The  latter  are,  with- 
out exception,  narrow,  seldom  exceeding  eight 
or  ten  feet  in  breadth.  The  houses  often  meet, 
and  in  some  instances  a  building  occupies  both 
sides  of  the  street,  which  runs  under  a  succession 
of  arches  barely  high  enough  to  permit  an  eques- 
trian to  pass  under  them.  A  canopy  of  old  mats 
or  of  plank  is  suspended  over  the  principal  streets 
when  not  arched.  This  custom  had  its  origin. 
no  doubt,  in  the  heat  of  the  climate,  which  is 
very  intense  in  summer,  and  it  gives  a  gloomy 
aspect  to  all  the  most  thronged  and  lively  parts 
of  the  city.  These  covered  ways  are  often  per- 
vaded by  currents  of  air  when  a  perfect  calm 
prevails  in  other  places.  The  principal  streets 
of  Jerusalem  run  nearly  at  right  angles  to  each 
other.  Very  few,  if  any,  of  them  bear  names 
among  the  native  population.  They  are  badly 
paved,  being  merely  laid  irregularly  with  raised 
stones,  with  a  deep  square  channel,  for  beasts  of 
burden,  in  the  middle ;  but  the  steepness  of  the 
ground  contributes  to  keep  them  cleaner  than  in 
most  Oriental  cities. 

The  houses  of  Jerusalem  are  substantially  htult 


JERUSALEM 


473     1 1 


of  the  limestone  of  which  the  whole  of  this  part 
of  Palestine  is  composed :  not  usually  hewn,  but 
broken  into  regular  forms,  and  making  a  solid 
wall  of  very  respectable  appearance.  For  the 
most  part  there  are  no  windows  next  to  the  street, 
and  the  few  which  exist  for  the  purposes  of  light 
or  ventilation  are  completely  masked  by  case- 
ments and  lattice-work.  The  apartments  receive 
their  light  from  the  open  courts  within.  The 
ground  plot  is  usually  surrounded  by  a  high  en- 
closure, commonly  forming  the  walls  of  the  bouse 
only,  but  sometimes  embracing  a  small  garden 
and  some  vacant  ground.  The  rain-water  which 
falls  upon  the  pavement  is  carefully  conducted, 
by  means  of  gutters,  into  cisterns,  where  it  is 
preserved  for  domestic  uses.  The  people  of  Jeru- 
salem rely  chiefly  upon  these  reservoirs  for  their 
supply  of  this  indispensable  article.  Stone  is 
employed  in  building  for  all  the  purposes  to 
which  it  can  possibly  be  applied,  and  Jerusalem 
is  hardly  more  exposed  to  accidents  by  fire  than 
a  quarry  or  subterranean  cavern.  The  floors, 
stairs,  &c.,  are  cf  stone,  and  the  ceiling  is  usually 
formed  by  a  coat  of  plaster  laid  upon  the  stones, 
which  at  the  same  time  form  the  roof  and  the 
vaulted  top  of  the  room.  Doors,  sashes,  and  a 
few  other  appurtenances,  are  all  that  can  usually 
be  afforded  of  a  material  so  expensive  as  wood. 
A  large  number  of  houses  in  Jerusalem  are  in  a 
dilapidated  and  ruinous  state. 

Nothing  of  this  would  be  suspected  from  the 
general  appearance  of  the  city  as  seen  from  the 
various  commanding  points  without  the  walls,  nor 
from  anything  that  meets  the  eye  in  the  streets. 
Few  towns  in  the  East  offer  a  more  imposing 
spectacle  to  the  view  of  the  approaching  stranger. 
He  is  struck  with  the  height  and  massiveness  of 
the  walls,  which  are  kept  in  perfect  repair,  and 
naturally  produce  a  favourable  opinion  of  the 
wealth  and  comfort  which  they  are  designed  to 
protect.  Upon  entering  the  gates,  he  is  apt,  after 
all  that  has  been  published  about  the  solitude 
that  reigns  in  the  streets,  to  be  surprised  at  meet- 
ing large  numbers  of  people  in  the  chief  thorough- 
fares, almost  without  exception  decently  clad. 
A  longer  and  more  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Jerusalem,  however,  does  not  fail  to  correct  this 
too  favourable  impression,  and  demonstrate  the 
existence  and  general  prevalence  of  the  poverty 
and  even  wretchedness  which  must  result  in  every 
country  from  oppression,  from  the  absence  of 
trade,  and  the  utter  stagnation  of  all  branches  of 
industry.  Considerable  activity  is  displayed  in 
the  bazaars,  which  are  supplied  scantily,  like 
those  of  other  Eastern  towns,  with  provisions, 
tobacco,  coarse  cottons,  and  other  articles  of 
prime  necessity.  A  considerable  business  is  still 
done  in  beads,  crosses,  and  other  sacred  trinkets, 
which  are  purchased  to  a  vast  amount  by  the 
pilgrims  who  annually  throng  the  holy  city.  The 
support  and  even  the  existence  of  the  considerable 
population  of  Jerusalem  depend  upon  this  tran- 
sient patronage — a  circumstance  to  which  a  grea* 
part  of  the  prevailing  poverty  and  degradation  is 
justly  ascribed.  "With  the  exception  of  some 
establishments  for  soap-making,  a  tannery,  and  a 
very  few  weavers  of  coarse  cottons,  there  do  not 
appear  to  be  any  manufacturers  properly  belong- 
ing to  the  place.  Agriculture  is  almost  equally 
wretched,  and  can  only  give  employment  to  a  few 
hundred  people.    The  masses  really  seem  to  be 


JERUSALEM 


JESHUA 


■witliotit  any  regular  employment.  A  considerable 
number,  especially  of  the  Jews,  professedly  live 
on  charity  Many  Christian  pilgrims  annually 
find  their  way  hither  on  similar  resources,  and 
the  approaches  to  the  holy  places  are  thronged 
with  beggars,  who  in  piteous  tones  demand  alms 
in  the  name  of  Christ  and  the  Blessed  Virgin. 
The  general  condition  of  the  population  is  that  of 
abject  poverty.  A  few  Turkish  officials,  eccle- 
siastical, civil,  and  military ;  some  remains  of 
the  old  Mohammedan  aristocracy — once  powerful 
and  rich,  but  now  much  impoverished  and  nearly 
extinct ;  together  with  a  few  tradesmen  in  easy 
circumstances,  form  almost  the  only  exceptions 
to  the  prevailing^  indigence.  There  is  not  a 
single  broker  among  the  whole  population,  and 
not  the  smallest  sum  can  be  obtained  on  the  best 
bills  of  exchange  short  of  Jaffa  or  Beirout. 

The  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem 
has  been  variously  estimated  by  different  tra- 
vellers. The  estimate  lately  given  by  Dr.  Schulz, 
the  Prussian  consul  at  Jerusalem,  is  as  follows : — 

I.  Mohammedans 5,000 

H.  Christians: — 

a.  Greeks 2,000 

b.  Roman  Catholics    ....       900 

c.  Armenians 350 

d.  Copts 100 

e.  Syrians 20 

f.  Abyssinians 20 

3,390 

III.  Jews: — 

a.  Turkish  subjects  (Sephardim)  6,000 

b.  Foreign  (ashkenazim),  namely, 

Polish,  Kussian,  and  German  1,100 

c.  Karaites 20 

7,120 

15,510 

The  language  most  generally  spoken  among 
them  is  the  Arabic.  Schools  are  rare,  and  con- 
sequently facility  in  reading  is  not  often  met 
with.  The  general  condition  of  the  inhabitants 
has  already  been  indicated. 

The  Turkish  governor  of  the  town  holds  the 
rank  of  Pasha,  but  is  responsible  to  the  Pasha  of 
i'eirout.  The  government  is  somewhat  milder 
than  before  the  period  of  the  Egyptian  dominion  ; 
but  it  is  said  that  the  Jewish  and  Christian  in- 
habitants at  least  have  ample  cause  to  regret  the 
change  of  masters,  and  the  American  missionaries 
lament  that  change  without  reserve.  Formerly 
there  were  in  Palestine  monks  of  the  Benedictine 
and  Augustine  orders,  and  of  those  of  St.  Basil 
and  St.  Anthony ;  but  since  1304  there  have  been 
none  but  Franciscans,  who  have  charge  of  the 
Latin  convent  and  the  holy  places.  They  resided 
on  Mount  Zion  till  a.d.  1561,  when  the  Turks 
allowed  them  the  monastery  of  St.  Salvador, 
which  they  now  occupy.  They  had  formerly  a 
handsome  revenue  out  of  all  Eoman  Catholic 
countries,  but  these  sources  have  fallen  off  since 
the  French  revolution,  and  the  establishment  is 
said  to  be  poor  and  deeply  in  debt.  The  ex- 
penses arise  from  the  duty  imposed  upon  the 
convent  of  entertaining  pilgrims  ;  and  the  cost  of 
maintaining  the  twenty  convents  belonging  to  I 
the  establishment  of  the  Terra  Santa  is  estimated  I 
at  40,000  Spanish  dollars  a-year.  The  convent 
contains  fifty    monks,    half   Italians    and    half 


Spaniards.  In  it  resides  the  Intendant  or  the 
Principal  of  all  the  convents,  with  the  rank  of 
abbot,  and  the  title  of  Guardian  of  Mount  Zion 
and  Gustos  of  the  Holy  Land.  There  is  also  a 
president  or  vicar,  who  takes  the  place  of  the 
guardian  in  case  of  absence  or  death.  The  pro- 
curator, who  manages  their  temporal  affairs,  is 
always  a  Spaniard.  A  council,  called  Discre- 
torium,  composed  of  these  officials  and  three 
other  monks,  has  the  general  management  oi 
both  spiritual  and  temporal  matters. 

There  is  a  Greek  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  but 
he  usually  resides  at  Constantinople,  and  is  re- 
presented in  the  holy  city  by  one  or  more  vicars, 
who  are  bishops  residing  in  the  great  convent 
near  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  In 
addition  to  thirteen  monasteries  in  Jerusalem, 
they  possess  the  convent  of  the  Holy  Cross,  near 
Jerusalem,  that  of  St.  Helena,  between  Jerusalem 
and  Bethlehem,  and  that  of  St.  John,  between 
Jerusalem  and  the  Dead  Sea.  All  the  monks  of 
the  convents  are  foreigners.  The  Christians  of 
the  Greek  rite  who  are  not  monks  are  all  native 
Arabs,  with  their  native  priests,  who  are  allowed 
to  perform  the  church  services  in  their  mother 
tongue — the  Arabic. 

The  Armenians  in  Jerusalem  have  a  patriarch, 
with  three  convents  and  100  monks.  They  have 
also  convents  at  Bethlehem,  Eamleh,  aud  Jaffa. 
Few  of  the  Armenians  are  natives:  they  are 
mostly  merchants,  and  among  the  wealthiest 
inhabitants  of  the  place;  and  their  convent  in 
Jerusalem  is  deemed  the  richest  in  the  Levant. 
Their  church  of  St.  James  upon  Mount  Zion  is 
very  showy  in  its  decorations,  but  void  of  taste. 
The  Coptic  Christians  at  Jerusalem  are  only 
some  monks  residing  in  the  convent  of  Es-Sultau, 
on  the  north  side  of  the  pool  of  Hezekiah.  There 
is  also  a  convent  of  the  Abyssinians,  and  one  be- 
longing to  the  Jacobite  Syrians. 

The  Jews  inhabit  a  distinct  quarter  of  the 
town  between  Mount  Zion  and  Mount  Moriah. 
This  is  the  worst  and  dirtiest  part  of  the  holy 
city,  and  that  in  which  the  plague  never  foils  to 
make  its  first  appearance.  Few  of  the  Jerusalem 
Jews  are  natives  ;  and  most  of  them  come  from 
foreign  parts  to  die  in  the  city  of  their  fathers' 
sepulchres.  They  are  for  the  most  part  wretch- 
edly poor,  and  depend  in  a  great  degree  for  their 
subsistence  upon  the  contributions  of  their  brethren 
in  different  countries.  The  expectation  of  sup- 
port from  the  annual  European  contributions 
leads  many  of  them  to  live  in  idleness.  Hence 
there  are  in  Jerusalem  500  acknowledged  paupers, 
and  500  more  who  receive  charity  in  a  quiet  way.  < 
Many  are  so  poor  that,  if  not  relieved,  they 
would  not  stand  out  the  winter  season.  A  few 
are  shopkeepers,  and  a  few  more  hawkers,  and 
a  very  few  are  operatives.  None  of  them  are 
agriculturists— not  a  single  Jew  cultivates  the 
soil  of  his  fathers. 

JESH'UA,  or  Joshua,  son  of  Jozedech,  and 
high-priest  of  the  Jews  when  they  returned,  under 
Zerubbabel,  from  the  Babylonian  exile  (B.C.  536). 
He  was,  doubtless,  born  during  the  exile.  His 
presence  and  exhortations  greatly  promoted  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city  and  temple.  The  altar 
of  the  latter  being  first  erected,  enabled  him  to 
sanctify  their  labour  by  the  religious  ceremonies 
and  offerings  which  the  law  required.  Jeshua 
joined  with  Zerubbabel  in  opposing  the  machi- 


JESUS  CHRIST 

nations  of  the  Samaritans  (Ezra  iv.  3)  ;  and  he 
was  not  found  wanting  in  zeal  when  the  works, 
after  having  been  interrupted,  were  resumed  in 
the  second  year  of  Darius  Hystaspis  (Ezra  v.  2  ; 
Hagg.  i.  12).  Several  of  the  prophet  Haggai's 
utterances  are  addressed  to  Jeshua  (Hagg.  i.  1 ; 
ii.  2),  and  his  name  occurs  in  two  of  the  sym- 
bolical prophecies  of  Zechariah  (iii.  1-10;  vi. 
11-1. 5).  In  the  first  of  these  passages  Jeshua,  as 
pontiff,  represents  the  Jewish  people  covered  at 
first  with  the  garb  of  slaves,  and  afterwards  with 
the  new  and  glorious  vestures  of  deliverance.  In 
the  second  he  wears  for  a  moment  crowns  of 
silver  and  gold,  as  symbols  of  the  sacerdotal  and 
regal  crowns  of  Israel,  M-hich  were  to  be  united 
on  the  head  of  the  Messiah. 

JESH'URUN,  a  name  poetically  applied  to 
Israel  in  Deut.  xxxii.  15 ;  xxxiii.  5,  26 ;  Isa. 
xliv.  2.  It  has  been  very  variously  understood, 
but  it  is  generally  agreed  to  be  a  poetical  dimi- 
nutive expressive  of  affection.  It  is  derived  from 
a  word  signifying  to  be  straight,  rigid,  upright, 
righteous.  In  this  character,  as  entirely  upright 
(for  the  termination  is  intensitive),  Jehovah  re- 
cognises his  people  in  consideration  of  their 
covenant  relation  to  him,  whereby,  while  they 
observed  the  terms  of  that  covenant,  they  stood 
legally  righteous  before  him  and  clean  in  his 
sight.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  ancient  kings 
are  said  to  have  done  'that  which  was  right'  in 
the  eyes  of  Jehovah. 

JES'SE  (firm),  a  descendant  of  Obed,  the  son  of 
Boaz  and  Ruth.  He  was  the  father  of  eight 
sons :  from  the  youngest  of  whom,  David,  is 
reflected  all  the  distinction  which  belongs  to  the 
name.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  person  of  some 
note  and  substance  at  Bethlehem,  his  property 
being  chiefly  in  sheep.  It  would  seem,  from 
1  Sam.  xvi.  10,  that  he  must  have  been  aware  of 
the  high  destinies  which  awaited  his  son ;  but  it 
is  doubtful  if  he  ever  lived  to  see  them  realized. 
The  last  historical  mention  of  Jesse  is  in  relation 
to  the  asylum  which  David  procured  for  him 
with  the  king  of  Moab  (1  Sam.xxii.  3). 

JE'SUS  CHRIST,  the  ordinary  designation  of 
the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  and  Saviour  of  man- 
kind. This  double  designation  is  not,  like  Simon 
Peter,  John  Mark,  Joses  Barnabas,  composed  of 
a  name  and  a  surname,  but,  like  John  the 
Baptist,  Simon  Magus,  Bar-Jesus  Elymas,  of  a 
proper  name,  and  an  official  title.  Jesus  was 
our  Lord's  proper  name,  just  as  Peter,  James, 
and  John  were  the  proper  names  of  three  of  his 
disciples.  The  name  seems  not  to  have  been  an 
uncommon  one  among  the  Jews  (Acts  xiii.  6; 
Col.  iv.  11).  To  distinguish  our  Lord  from  others 
bearing  the  name,  he  was  termed  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  (John  xviii.  7,  &c.),  and  Jesus  the  son 
of  Joseph  (John  vi.  42,  &c.). 

The  conferring  of  this  name  on  our  Lord  was 
not  the  result  of  accident,  or  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  things,  there  being  '  none  of  his  kin- 
dred,' so  far  as  we  can  trace  from  the  two  gene- 
alogies, '  called  by  that  name'  (Luke  i.  61).  It 
was  the  consequence  of  a  twofold  miraculous 
interposition.  "The  angel  who  announced  to  his 
virgin  mother  that  she  was  to  be  '  the  most 
honoured  of  women,'  in  giving  birth  to  the  Son 
of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  men,  intimated  also  to 
her  the  name  by  which  the  holy  child  was  to  be 
called :  '  Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus '  (Luke 


JESUS  CHRIST 


475 


i.  31).     And  it  was  probably  the  same  heavenly    1 
messenger  who  appeared  to  Joseph,  and,  to  re-    ' 
move  his  suspicions  and  quiet  his  fears,  said  to    ] 
him,  '  That  which  is  conceived  in  thy  wife  Mary    [ 
is  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  she  shall  bring  forth  a 
son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus '  (Matt.    | 
i.  20,  21).     The  pious  pair  were  '  not  disobedient    j 
to  the  heavenly  vision.'    '  When  eight  days  were 
accomplished  for  the  circumcising  of  the  child, 
his  name  was  called  Jesus,  which  was  so  named 
of  the  angel  before  he  was  conceived  in  the 
womb '  (Luke  ii.  21). 

The  precise  import  of  the  name  has  been  a 
subject  of  doubt  and  debate  among  interpreters. 
As  to  its  general  meaning  there  is  all  but  an 
unanimous  concurrence.  It  was  intended  to  de- 
note that  he  who  bore  it  was  to  be  a  Deliverer 
or  Saviour.  But  while  some  interpreters  hold 
that  it  simply  signifies  '  he  shall  save,'  others 
hold  that  it  is  a  compound  word  equivalent  to 
'  The  Salvation  of  the  Lord,'  or  '  The  Lord  the 
Saviour.'     It  is  not  a  matter  of  vital  importance. 

The  '  name  of  Jesus '  (Phil.  ii.  10)  is  not  the 
name  Jesus,  but  '  the  name  above  every  name ' 
(ver.  9),  i.  e.  the  supreme  dignity  and  authority 
with  which  the  Father  has  invested  Jesus  Christ, 
as  the  reward  of  his  disinterested  exertions  in 
the  cause  of  the  divine  glory  and  human  happi- 
ness ;  and  the  bowing  '  at  the  name  of  Jesus '  is 
obviously  not  an  external  mark  of  homage  when 
the  name  Jesus  is  pronounced,  but  the  inward 
sense  of  awe  and  submission  to  him  who  is  raised 
to  a  station  so  exalted. 

Cheist.  This  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  a 
proper  name,  but  an  official  title.  Jesus  Christ, 
or  rather,  as  it  generally  ought  to  be  rendered, 
Jesus  the  Christ,  is  a  mode  of  expression  of  the 
same  kind  as  John  the  Baptist,  or  Baptiser-  In 
consequence  of  not  adverting  to  this,  the  force 
and  even  the  meaning  of  many  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture are  misapprehended.  When  it  is  stated  that 
Paul  asserted, '  This  Jesus  whom  I  preach  unto 
you  is  Christ '  (Acts  xvii.  3),  that  he  '  testified 
to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  Christ '  (Acts  xviii.  5), 
the  meaning  is,  that  he  proclaimed  and  proved 
that  Jesus  was  the  Christ,  or  Messiah  —  the 
rightful  owner  of  a  title  descriptive  of  a  high 
official  station  which  had  been  the  subject  of 
ancient  prediction.  When  Jesus  himself  says 
that  '  it  is  life  eternal  to  know  the  only  true 
God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  has  sent '  (John 
xvii.  3),  he  represents  the  knowledge  of  himself 
as  the  Christ,  the  Messiah,  as  at  once  necessary 
and  sufficient  to  make  men  truly  and  perma- 
nently happy.  When  he  says,  '  What  think  ye  of 
Christ?  whose  son  is  he?'  (Matt.  xxii.  42),  he 
does  not  mean,  W^hat  think  ye  of  me,  or  of  my 
descent  ?  but,  What  think  ye  of  the  Christ— the 
Messiah— and  especially  of  his  paternity.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  word,  though  originally 
an  appellative,  and  intended  to  bring  before  the 
mind  a  particular  official  character  possessed  by 
him  to  whom  it  is  applied,  came  at  last,  like 
many  other  terms  of  the  same  kind,  to  be  often 
used  very  much  as  a  proper  name,  to  distinguish 
our  Lord  from  other  persons  bearing  the  name 
Jesus.  This  is  a  sense,  however,  of  compara- 
tively rare  occurrence  in  the  New  Testament. 

Proceeding,  then,  on  the  principle  that  Christ 
is  an  appellative,  let  us  inquire  into  its  origin 
and  signification  as  applied  to  our  Lord.    Ch&ist 


47G 


JESUS  CHRIST 


is  the  English  form  of  a  Greek  word,  correspond- 
ing in  meaning  to  the  Hebrew  word  Messiah, 
and  the  English  word  Anointed.  '  The  Christ ' 
is  just  equivalent  to  '  the  Anointed  One.'  The 
important  question,  however,  remains  behind, 
What  is  meant  when  the  Saviour  is  represented 
as  the  Anointed  One  ?  To  reply  to  this  question 
satisfactorily,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  some- 
what into  detail. 

Unction,  from  a  very  early  age,  seems  to  have 
been  the  emblem  of  consecration,  or  setting  apart 
to  a  particular,  and  especially  to  a  religious, 
purpose.  Under  the  Old  Testament  economy 
high-priests  and  kings  were  regularly  set  apart 
to  their  offices,  both  of  which  were,  strictly 
speaking,  sacred  ones,  by  the  ceremony  of 
anointing,  and  the  prophets  were  occasionally 
designated  by  the  same  rite.  This  rite  seems  to 
have  been  intended  as  a  public  intimation  of  a 
Divine  appointment  to  office.  Thus  Saul  is 
termed  '  the  Lord's  anointed'  (1  Sam.  xxiv.  6)  ; 
David,  '  the  anointed  of  the  God  of  Israel ' 
(2  Sam.  xxiii.  1) ;  and  Zedekiab,  '  the  anointed 
of  the  Lord'  (Lam.  iv.  20).  The  high-priest  is 
called  '  the  anointed  priest '  (Lev.  iv.  3). 

From  the  origin  and  design  of  the  rite,  it  is 
not  wonderful  that  the  term  should  have,  in  a 
secondary  and  analogical  sense,  been  applied  to 
persons  set  apart  by  God  for  important  purposes, 
though  not  actually  anointed.  Thus  Cyms,  the 
King  of  Persia,  is  termed  '  the  Lord's  anointed ' 
(Isa.  xlv.  1)  ;  the  Hebrew  patriarchs,  when  so- 
journing in  Canaan,  are  termed  '  God's  anointed 
ones '  (Ps.  cv.  15;  and  the  Israelitish  people 
receive  the  same  appellation  from  the  prophet 
Habakkuk  (Hab.  iii.  13). 

In  the  prophetic  Scriptures  we  find  this  appel- 
lation given  to  an  illustrious  personage,  who, 
under  various  designations,  is  so  often  spoken  of 
as  destined  to  appear  in  a  distant  age  as  a  great 
deliverer.  The  royal  prophet  David  seems  to 
have  been  the  first  who  spoke  of  the  great  deli- 
verer under  this  appellation  (Ps.  ii.  2 ;  xx.  1 ; 
xlv.  7).  In  all  the  passages  in  which  the  great 
deliverer  is  spoken  of  as  '  the  anointed  one,'  by 
David,  he  is  plainly  viewed  as  sustaining  the 
character  of  a  king. 

The  prophet  Isaiah  also  uses  the  appellation, 
'  the  anointed  one,'  with  reference  to  the  pro- 
mised deliverer,  but,  when  he  does  so,  he  speaks 
of  him  as  a  prophet  or  great  teacher.  He  intro- 
duces him  as  saying,  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
God  is  upon  me,  because  the  Lord  God  hath 
anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the 
meek ;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted, to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives,  and 
the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  who  are  bound, 
to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and 
the  day  of  vengeance  of  our  God,  to  comfort  all 
that  mourn,'  &c.  (Isa.  Ixi.  1,  &c.). 

Daniel  is  the  only  other  of  the  prophets  who 
uses  the  appellation  '  the  anointed  one '  in  refer- 
ence to  the  great  deliverer,  and  he  plainly  repre- 
sents him  as  not  only  a  prince,  but  also  a  high- 
priest,  an  expiator  of  guilt  (Dan.  ix.  24-26). 

During  the  period  which  elapsed  from  the 
close  of  the  prophetic  canon  till  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  no  appellation  of  the  expected  deliverer 
seems  to  have  been  so  common  as  the  Messiah  or 
Anointed  One ;  and  this  is  still  the  name  which 
the  unbelieving  Jews  ordinarily  employ  when 


JESUS  CHRIST 

speaking  of  him  whom  they  still  look  for  to 
avenge  their  wrongs  and  restore  them  to  more 
than  their  former  honours. 

Messiah,  Christ,  Anointed,  is,  then,  a  term 
equivalent  to  consecrated,  sacred,  set  apart ;  and 
as  the  record  of  Divine  revelation  is  called,  by 
way  of  eminence,  77/e  Bible,  or  book,  so  is  the 
Great  Deliverer  called  The  Messiah,  or  Anointed 
One,  much  in  the  same  way  as  he  is  termed  The 
Man,  The  Son  of  Man. 

The  import  of  this  designation  as  given  to  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  may  now  readily  be  apprehended. — 
(1.)  When  he  is  termed  the  Christ  it  is  plainly 
indicated  that  He  is  the  great  deliverer  promised 
under  that  appellation,  and  many  others  in  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  that  all  that  is 
said  of  this  deliverer  under  this  or  any  other  ap- 
pellation is  true  of  Him.  No  attentive  reader  of 
the  Old  Testament  can  help  noticing  that  in  every 
part  of  the  prophecies  there  is  ever  and  anon  pre- 
sented to  our  view  an  illustrious  personage  des- 
tined to  appear  at  some  future  distant  period, 
and,  however  varied  may  be  the  figurative  repre- 
sentations given  of  him,  no  reasonable  doubt  can 
be  entertained  as  to  the  identity  of  the  individual. 
It  is  quite  obvious  that  the  Messiah  is  the  same 
person  as  the  '  seed  of  the  woman '  who  was  to 
'  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent'  (Gen.  iii.  15)  ; 
'  the  seed  of  Abraham,  in  whom  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth  were  to  be  blessed'  (Gen.  xxii.  18) ; 
the  great  '  prophet  to  be  raised  up  like  unto 
Moses,'  whom  all  were  to  be  required  to  hear 
and  obey  (Dent,  xviii.  15)  ;  the  '  priest  after  the 
order  of  Melchizedek ;'  '  the  rod  out  of  the  stem 
of  Jesse,  which  should' stand  for  an  ensign  of  the 
people  to  which  the  Gentiles  should  seek '  (Isa. 
xi.  1,  10);  the  virgin's  son  whose  name  was  to 
be  Immanuel  (Isa.  vii.  14);  '  the  branch  of  Je- 
hovah '  (Isa.  iv.  2)  ;  '  the  Angel  of  the  Covenant ' 
(Mai.  iii.  1);  'the  Lord  of  the  Temple,'  &c.  &c. 
(ib.).  When  we  say,  then,  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  we  in  effect  say,  '  This  is  He  of  whom 
Moses,  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets  did  write ' 
(John  i.  45) ;  and  all  that  they  say  of  Him  is 
true  of  Jesus. 

Now  what  is  the  sum  of  the  prophetic  testimony 
respecting  him  ?  It  is  this — that  he  should  be- 
long to  the  very  highest  order  of  being,  the  in- 
communicable name  Jehovah  being  represented 
as  rightfully  belonging  to  him ;  that  '  his  goings 
forth  have  been  from  old,  from  everlasting' 
(Mic.  V.  2);  that  his  appropriate  appellations 
should  be  'Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty 
God '  (Isa.  ix.  6) ;  that  he  should  assume  human 
nature,  and  become  '  a  child  born '  of  the  Israel- 
itish nation  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Gen.  xlix.  10), 
of  the  family  of  David  (Isa.  xi.  1);  that  the  ob- 
ject of  his  appearance  should  be  the  salvation  of 
mankind,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  (Isa.  xlix.  6) ; 
that  he  should  be  '  despised  and  rejected '  of  his 
countrymen  ;  that  he  should  be  '  cut  off,  but  not 
for  himself;'  that  he  should  be  'wounded  for 
men's  transgressions,  bruised  for  their  iniquities, 
and  undergo  the  chastisement  of  their  peace;' 
that '  by  his  stripes  men  should  be  healed ;'  that 
'the  Lord  should  lay  on  him  the  iniquity'  of 
men;  that  'exaction  should  be  made  and  he 
should  answer  it ;'  that  he  should  '  make  his  soul 
an  offering  for  sin ;'  that  after  these  sufferings  he 
should  be  '  exalted  and  extolled  and  made  very 
high ;'  that  he  should  '  see  of  the  travail  of  his 


JESUS  CHRIST 

soul  and  be  satisfied,  and  by  his  knowledge  justify 
many '  (Isa.  liii.  passim)  ;  that  Jehovah  should  say 
to  him,  '  Sit  at  my  right  hand  until  I  make  thine 
enemies  thy  footstool'  (Ps.  ex.  1) ;  that  he  should 
be  brought  near  to  the  Ancient  of  Days,  and  that 
to  him  should  be  given  'dominion,  and  glory, 
and  a  kingdom,  that  all  people,  and  nations,  and 
languages  should  serve  him— an  everlasting  do- 
minion which  shall  not  pass  away, — a  kingdom 
that  shall  not  be  destroyed '  (Dan.  vii.  13,  14). 
All  this  is  implied  in  saying  Jesus  is  the  Christ. 
In  the  plainer  language  of  the  New  Testament 
'  Jesus  is  the  Christ '  is  equivalent  to  Jesus  is 
'God  manifest  in  the  flesh'  (1  Tim.  iii.  16),— the 
Sou  of  God,  who,  in  human  nature,  by  his  obe- 
dience, and  sufi'erings,  and  death  in  the  room  of 
the  guilty,  has  obtained  salvation  for  them,  and 
all  power  in  heaven  and  earth  for  himself,  that 
he  may  give  eternal  life  to  all  coming  to  the 
Father  through  him. 

(2.)  While  the  statement '  Jesus  is  the  Christ' 
is  thus  materially  equivalent  to  the  statement '  all 
that  is  said  of  the  Great  Deliverer  in  the  Old 
Testament  Scriptures  is  true  of  Him,'  it  brings 
more  directly  before  our  mind  those  truths  re- 
specting him  which  the  appellation  '  the  Anointed 
One'  naturally  suggests.  He  is  a  prophet,  a 
priest,  and  a  king.  He  is  the  great  revealer  of 
divine  truth  ;  the  only  expiator  of  human  guilt, 
and  reconciler  of  man  to  God ;  the  supreme  and 
sole  legitimate  ruler  over  the  understandings, 
consciences,  and  affections  of  men.  In  his  per- 
son, and  work,  and  word,  by  his  spirit  and  provi- 
dence, he  unfolds  the  truth  with  respect  to  the 
divine  character  and  will,  and  so  conveys  it  into 
the  mind  as  to  make  it  the  effectual  means  of 
conforming  man's  will  to  God's  will,  man's  cha- 
racter to  God's  character.  He  has  by  his  spotless, 
all-perfect  obedience,  amid  the  severest  suffer- 
ings, '  obedience  unto  death  even  the  death  of  the 
cross,'  so  illustrated  the  excellence  of  the  divine 
law  and  the  wickedness  and  danger  of  violating 
it,  as  to  make  it  a  righteous  thing  in  '  the  just 
God '  to  '  justify  tte  ungodly,'  thus  propitiating 
the  offended  majesty  of  heaven  ;  while  the  mani- 
ffstation  of  the  divine  love  in  appointing  and 
accepting  this  atonement,  when  apprehended  by 
the  mind  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
becomes  the  effectual  means  of  reconciling  man 
to  God  and  to  his  law,  '  transforming  him  by  the 
renewing  of  his  mind.'  And  now,  possessed  of 
'  all  power  in  heaven  and  earth,' '  all  power  over 
all  flesh,'  '  He  is  Lord  of  All.'  AH  external 
events  and  all  spiritual  influences  are  equally 
under  his  control,  and  as  a  king  he  exerts  his  au- 
thority in  carrying  into  full  effect  the  great  pur- 
poses which  his  revelations  as  a  prophet,  and  his 
great  atoning  sacrifice  as  a  high-priest,  were  in- 
tended to  accomplish. 

(3.)  But  the  full  import  of  the  appellation  the 
CuRisT  is  not  yet  brought  out.  It  indicates  that 
He  to  whom  it  belongs  is  the  anointed  prophet, 
priest,  and  king — not  that  he  was  anointed  by 
material  oil,  but  that  he  was  divinely  appointed, 
qualified,  commissioned,  and  accredited  to  be  the 
Saviour  of  men.  These  are  the  ideas  which  the 
term  anointed  seems  specially  intended  to  convey. 
Jesus  was  divinely  appointed  to  the  oflJces  he 
filled.  He  did  not  ultroneously  assume  them, 
'  he  was  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron '  (Heb.  v.  4  ; 
Isa.  xi,  2-4).      He   was  divinely   commissioned: 


JEW 


477 


'  The  Father  sent  him '  (Isa.  xlix.  fi).  He  is 
divinely  accredited  (Acts  ii.  22 ;  John  v.  37). 
Such  is  the  import  of  the  appellation  Christ. 

If  these  observations  are  clearly  apprehended 
there  will  be  little  difiiculty  in  giving  a  satisfac- 
tory answer  to  the  question  which  has  sometimes 
been  proposed — when  did  Jesus  become  Christ? 
when  was  he  anointed  of  God  ?  We  have  seen 
that  the  expression  is  a  figurative  or  analogical 
one,  and  therefore  we  need  not  wonder  tliat  its 
references  are  various.  The  appointment  of  the 
Saviour,  like  all  the  other  divine  purposes,  was, 
of  course,  from  eternity.  '  He  was  set  up  from 
everlasting'  (Prov.  viii.  23);  he  'was  fore- 
ordained before  the  foundation  of  the  world' 
(1  Pet.  i.  20).  His  qualifications,  such  of  them 
as  were  conferred,  were  bestowed  in  or  during 
his  incarnation,  when  '  God  anointed  him  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  power' (Acts  x.  38). 
His  commission  may  be  considered  as  given  him 
when  called  to  enter  on  the  functions  of  his  ofiice. 
He  himself,  after  quoting,  in  the  synagogue  of 
Nazareth,  in  the  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
the  passage  from  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  in 
which  his  unction  to  the  prophetical  office  is  pre- 
dicted, declared  '  This  day  is  this  Scripture  ful- 
filled in  your  ears.'  And  in  his  resurrection  and 
ascension,  God,  as  the  reward  of  his  loving 
righteousness  and  hating  iniquity,  '  anointed  him 
with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  his  fellows' (Ps. 
xlv.  7),  i.e.  conferred  on  him  a  regal  power, 
fruitful  in  blessings  to  himself  and  others,  far 
superior  to  that  which  any  king  had  ever  pos- 
sessed, making  him,  as  the  Apostle  Peter  ex- 
presses it,  'both  Lord  and  Christ'  (Acts  ii.  36). 
As  to  his  being  accredited,  every  miraculous 
event  performed  in  reference  to  him  or  by  him 
may  be  viewed  as  included  in  this  species  of 
anointing — especially  the  visible  descent  of  the 
Spirit  on  him  in  his  baptism. 

These  statements,  with  regard  to  the  import  of 
the  appellation  '  the  Christ,'  show  us  how  we  are 
to  understand  the  statement  of  the  Apostle  John, 
'  Whosoever  believeth  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ  is 
born  of  God'  (1  John  v.  1),  i.  e.  is  'a  child  of 
God,'  'born  again,'  'a  new  creature;'  and  the 
similar  declaration  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  '  No  man 
can  say  that  Jesus  is  the  Lord,'  i.  e.  the  Christ, 
the  Messiah,  'but  by  the  Holy  Ghost'  (1  Cor. 
xii.  3).  It  is  plain  that  the  proposition, '  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,'  when  understood  in  the  latitude  of 
meaning  which  we  have  shown  belongs  to  it, 
contains  a  complete  summary  of  the  truth  re- 
specting the  divine  method  of  salvation.  To 
believe  that  principle  rightly  understood,  is  to 
believe  the  Gospel— the  saving  truth,  by  the  faith 
of  which  a  man  is,  and  by  the  faith  of  which  only 
a  man  can  be,  brought  into  the  relation  or  formed 
to  the  character  of  a  child  of  God ;  and  though  a 
man  may,  without  divine  influence,  be  brought 
to  acknowledge  that '  Jesus  is  the  Lord,'  '  Messiah 
the  Prince,'  and  even  firmly  to  believe  that  these 
words  embody  a  truth,  yet  no  man  can  be  brought 
really  to  believe  and  cordially  to  acknowledge 
the  truth  contained  in  these  words,  as  we  have 
attempted  to  unfold  it,  without  a  peculiar  divine 
influence. 

JESUS,  surnamed  Justus.     [Justus.] 

JE'THRO.    [HoBAB.] 

JEW,  a  name  formed  from  that  of  the  patriarch 
Judah,  and  applied  in  its  first  use  to  one  belong- 


478 


JEZEBEL 


ing  to  the  tribe  or  country  of  Judah,  or  rather 
perhaps  to  a  subject  of  the  separate  kingdom  of 
Judah  (2  Kings  xvi.  6  ;  xxv.  5).  During  the 
Captivity  the  term  seems  to  have  been  extended 
to  all  the  people  of  the  Hebrew  language  and 
country,  -without  distinction  (Esth.  iii.  6,  9  ;  Dan. 
iii.  8,  12);  and  this  loose  application  of  the  name 
■was  preserved  after  the  restoration  to  Palestine, 
when  it  came  to  denote  not  only  every  descendant 
of  Abraham  in  the  largest  possible  sense,  but 
even  proselytes  who  had  no  blood-relation  to  the 
Hebrews  (Acts  ii.  5 ;  comp.  10).  See  the  articles 
IsBAEL;  Judah. 

JEZ'EBEL  (not  inhabited,  comp.  Isabella), 
daughter  of  Ethbaal,  king  of  Tyre  and  Sidon, 
and  consort  of  Ahab,  king  of  Israel  (b.c.  918). 
This  unsuitable  alliance  proved  most  disastrous 
to  the  kingdom  of  Israel ;  for  Jezebel  induced 
her  weak  husband  not  only  to  connive  at  her  in- 
troducing the  worship  of  her  native  idols,  but 
eventually  to  become  himself  a  worshipper  of 
them,  and  to  use  all  the  means  in  his  power  to 
establish  them  in  the  room  of  the  God  of  Israel. 
This  was  a  great  enormity.  The  worship  or  the 
golden  calves  which  previously  existed  was, 
however  mistakenly,  intended  in  honour  of  Je- 
hovah ;  but  this  was  an  open  alienation  from 
him,  and  a  turning  aside  to  foreign  and  strange 
gods,  which,  indeed,  were  no  gods.  Most  of  the 
particulars  of  this  bad  but  apparently  highly- 
gifted  woman's  conduct  have  been  related  in  the 
notices  of  Ahab  and  Elijah.  From  the  course 
of  her  proceedings  it  would  appear  that  she  grew 
to  hate  the  Jewish  system  of  law  and  religion,  on 
account  of  what  must  have  seemed  to  her  its  in- 
tolerance and  its  anti-social  tendencies.  She 
hence  sought  to  put  it  down  by  all  the  means 
she  could  command ;  and  the  imbecility  of  her 
husband  seems  to  have  made  all  the  powers  of 
the  state  subservient  to  her  designs.  The  man- 
ner in  which  she  acquired  and  used  her  power 
over  Ahab  is  strikingly  shown  in  the  matter  of 
Naboth,  which,  perhaps,  more  than  all  the  other 
affairs  in  which  she  was  engaged,  brings  out  her 
true  character,  and  displays  the  nature  of  her 
influence.  When  she  found  him  puling,  like  a 
spoiled  child,  on  account  of  the  refusal  of  Naboth 
to  gratify  him  by  selling  him  his  patrimonial 
vineyard  for  a  '  garden  of  herbs,'  she  teaches 
him  to  look  to  her,  to  rely  upon  her  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  his  wishes  ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
this  impression,  more  perhaps  than  from  savage- 
ness  of  temper,  she  scrupled  not  at  murder  under 
the  abused  forms  of  law  and  religion.  She  had 
the  reward  of  her  unscrupulous  decisiveness  of 
character  in  the  triumph  of  her  policy  in  Israel, 
where,  at  last,  there  were  but  7000  people  who 
had  not  bowed  the  knee  to  Baal,  nor  kissed  their 
hand  to  his  image.  Nor  was  her  success  confined 
to  Israel,  for  through  Athaliah — a  daughter  after 
her  own  heart — who  was  married  to  the  son  and 
successor  of  Jehoshaphat,  the  same  policy  pre- 
vailed for  a  time  in  Judah,  after  Jezebel  herself 
had  perished  and  the  house  of  Ahab  had  met  its 
doom.  It  seems  that  after  the  death  of  her  hus- 
band Jezebel  maintained  considerable  ascen- 
dancy over  her  son  Joram ;  and  her  measures 
and  misconduct  formed  the  principal  charge 
which  Jehu  cast  in  the  teeth  of  that  unhappy 
monarch  before  he  sent  forth  the  arrow  which 
slew  him.    The  last  effort  of  Jezebel  was  to  inti- 


JOAB 

niidate  Jehu  as  he  passed  the  palace,  by  warning 
him  of  the  eventual  rewards  of  even  successful 
treason.  It  is  eminently  characteristic  of  the 
woman,  that,  even  in  this  terrible  moment,  when 
she  knew  that  her  son  was  slain,  and  must  have 
felt  that  her  power  had  departed,  she  displayed 
herself  not  with  rent  veil  and  dishevelled  hair, 
'  but  tired  her  head  and  painted  her  eyes '  before 
she  looked  out  at  the  window.  The  eunuchs,  at 
a  word  from  Jehu,  having  cast  her  down,  she 
met  her  death  beneath  the  wall  [Jehu]  ;  and 
when  afterwards  the  new  monarch  bethought 
him  that,  as  '  a  king's  daughter,'  her  corpse 
should  not  be  treated  with  disrespect,  nothing 
was  found  of  her  but  the  palms  of  her  hands  and 
the  soles  of  her  feet.  The  dogs  had  eaten  all  the 
rest.  B.C.  884  (1  Kings  xvi.  31  ;  xviii.  4,  13, 19  ; 
xxi.  5-25;  2  Kings  ix.  7,  22,  30-37). 

JEZ'REEL,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Issachar 
(Josh.  xix.  18),  where  the  kings  of  Israel  had  a 
palace,  and  where  the  court  often  resided,  al- 
though Samaria  was  the  metropolis  of  the  king- 
dom. It  is  most  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
history  of  the  house  of  Ahab.  Here  was  the 
vineyard  of  Naboth,  which  Ahab  coveted  to  en- 
large the  palace-grounds  (1  Kings  xviii.  45,  46  ; 
xxi.),  and  here  Jehu  executed  his  dreadful  com- 
mission against  the  house  of  Ahab,  when  Jezebel, 
Joram,  and  all  who  were  connected  with  that 
wretched  dynasty,  perished  (2  Kings  ix.  14-37 ; 
x.  l-ll).  These  horrid  scenes  appear  to  have 
given  the  kings  of  Israel  a  distaste  to  this  resi- 
dence, as  it  is  not  again  mentioned  in  their  his- 
tory. It  is,  however,  named  by  Hosea  (i.  4; 
comp.  i.  11  ;  ii.  22)  ;  and  in  Judith  (i.  8 ;  iv.  3  ; 
vii.  3)  it  occurs  under  the  name  of  Esdraelon. 
In  the  days  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome  it  was  still 
a  large  village,  called  Esdraela.  Nothing  more 
is  heard  of  it  till  the  time  of  the  crusades,  when 
it  was  called  by  the  Franks  Parvum  Gerinum, 
and  by  the  Arabs  Zerin ;  and  it  is  described  as 
commanding  a  wide  prospect — on  the  east  to  the 
mountains  of  Gilead,  and  on  the  west  to  Mount 
Carmel.  But  this  line  of  identification  seems  to 
have  been  afterwards  lost  sight  of,  and  it  is  only 
of  late  that  the  identification  of  Zerin  and  Jezreel 
has  been  restored. 

Zerin  is  seated  on  the  brow  of  a  rocky  and 
very  steep  descent  into  the  great  and  fertile  val- 
ley of  Jezreel,  which  runs  down  between  the 
mountains  of  Gilboa  and  Hermon.  Lying  com- 
paratively high,  it  commands  a  wide  and  noble 
view,  extending  down  the  broad  valley  on  the 
east  to  Beisan  (Bethshean),  and  on  the  west  quite 
acro.ss  the  great  plain  to  the  mountains  of  Carmel. 
It  is  described  by  Dr.  Robinson  {Researches,  iii. 
163)  as  a  most  magnificent  site  for  a  city,  which, 
being  itself  a  conspicuous  object  in  every  part, 
would  naturally  give  its  name  to  the  whole 
region.  In  the  valley  directly  under  Zerin  is  a 
considerable  fountain,  and  another  still  larger 
somewhat  farther  to  the  east,  under  the  northern 
side  of  Gilboa,  called  Ain  Jalud.  There  can, 
therefore,  be  little  question  that,  as  in  Zerin  we 
have  Jezreel,  so  in  the  valley  and  the  fountain 
we  have  the  '  valley  of  Jezreel,'  and  the  fountain 
of  Jezreel,  of  Scripture. 

Zerin  has  at  present  little  more  than  twenty 
humble  dwellings,  mostly  in  ruins,  and  with  few 
inhabitants. 

JO'AB  {God-fathered),  one  of  the  three  sons 


JOAB 


JOAB 


470 


'  of  Zeruiah,  the  sister  of  David,  and  '  captain  of 
the  host'  (generalissimo)  of  the  army  during 
nearly  the  whole  of  David's  reign. 

He  first  appears  associated  with  his  two  bro- 
thers, Abishai  and  Asahel,  in  the  command  of 
David's  troops  against  Abner,  who  had  set  up  the 
claims  of  a  sou  of  Saul  in  opposition  to  those  of 
David,  who  then  reigned  in  Hebron.  The  armies 
having  met  at  the  pool  of  Gibeon,  a  general 
action  was  brought  on,  in  which  Abner  was 
worsted.  In  his  flight  he  had  the  misfortune  to 
kill  Joab's  brother,  the  swift-footed  Asahel,  by 
whom  he  was  pursued  (2  Sam.  ii.  13-32).  The 
consequences  of  this  deed  have  been  explained 
elsewhere  [Abnek;  Asahei.].  .Joab  smothered 
for  a  time  his  resentment  against  the  shedder  of 
his  brother's  blood;  but  being  whetted  by  the 
natural  rivalry  of  position  between  him  and 
Abner,  he  afterwards  made  it  the  instrument  of 
his  policy  by  treacherously,  in  the  act  of  friendly 
communication,  slaying  Abner,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  services  of  the  latter  to  David,  to 
whom  he  had  then  turned,  had  rendered  him  a 
most  dangerous  rival  to  him  in  power  and  influ- 
ence (2  Sam.  iii.  22-27).  That  Abner  had  at 
first  suspected  that  Joab  would  take  the  position 
of  blood-avenger  [Blood-Eevenge]  is  clear, 
from  the  apprehension  which  he  expressed 
(2  Sam.  ii.  22) ;  but  that  he  thought  that  Joab 
bad,  under  all  the  circumstances,  abandoned  this 

I  position,  is  shown  by  the  unsuspecting  readiness 
with  which  he  went  aside  with  him  (2  Sam.  iii. 

]  26,  27) ;  and  that  Joab  placed  his  murderous  act 
on  the  footing  of  vengeance  for  his  brother's 
blood,  is  plainly  stated  in  2  Sam.  iii.  30;  by 
which  it  also  appears  that  the  other  brother, 
Abishai,  shared  in  some  way  in  the  deed  and  its 
responsibilities.  At  the  same  time,  as  Abner 
was  perfectly  justified  in  slaying  Asahel  to  save 
bis  own  life,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  Joab  would 
ever  have  asserted  his  right  of  blood-revenge  if 
Abner  had  not  appeared  likely  to  endanger  his 
influence  with  David.  The  king,  much  as  he 
reprobated  the  act,  knew  that  it  had  a  sort  of  ex- 
cuse in  the  old  customs  of  blood-revenge,  and  he 
stood  habitually  too  much  in  awe  of  his  impetu- 
ous and  able  nephew  to  bring  him  to  punish- 
ment, or  even  to  displace  him  from  his  command. 
'  I  am  this  day  weak,'  he  said,  '  though  anointed 
king,  and  these  men,  the  sons  of  Zeruiah,  be  too 
hard  for  me '  (2  Sam.  iii.  39  ;  I  Chron.  xi.  4-9). 
Desirous  probably  of  making  some  atonement 
before  David  and  the  public  for  this  atrocity,  in 
a  way  which  at  the  same  time  was  most  likely 
to  prove  effectual — namely,  by  some  daring  ex- 
ploit— he  was  the  first  to  mount  to  the  assault  at 
the  storming  of  the  fortress  on  Mount  Sion, 
which  had  remained  so  long  in  the  hands  of  the 
Jebusites.  By  this  service  he  acquired  the  chief 
command  of  the  army  of  all  Israel,  of  which 
David  was  by  this  time  king  (2  Sam.  v.  6-10). 
It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  the  subsequent  acts 

I  of  Joab,  seeing  that  they  are  in  fact  the  public 
acts  of  the  king  he  served.     And  he  served  him 

1  faithfully  ;  for  although  he  knew  his  power  over 
David,  and  often  treated  him  with  little  cere- 
mony, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  was  most 
truly  devoted  to  his  interests,  and  sometimes  ren- 
dered him  good  service  even  against  his  own  will, 
as  in  the  affair  at  Mahanaim  (2  Sam.  xix.  5-8). 
But  Joab  had  no  principles  apart  from  what  he 


deemed  his  duty  to  the  king  and  the  people,  and 
was  quite  as  ready  to  serve  his  master's  vices  as 
his  virtues,  so  long  as  they  did  not  interfere 
with  his  own  interests,  or  tended  to  promote 
them  by  enabling  him  to  make  himself  useful  to 
the  king.  His  ready  apprehension  of  the  king's 
meaning  in  the  matter  of  Uriah,  and  the  facility 
with  which  he  made  himself  the  instrument  of 
the  murder,  and  of  the  hypocrisy  by  which  it  was 
covered,  are  proofs  of  this,  and  form  as  deep  a 
stain  upon  his  character  as  his  own  murders 
(2  Sam.  xi.  14-25).  As  Joab  was  on  good  terms 
with  Absalom,  and  had  taken  pains  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation  between  him  and  his 
father,  we  may  set  the  higher  value  upon  his 
firm  adhesion  to  David  when  Absalom  revolted, 
and  upon  his  stern  sense  of  duty  to  the  king — 
from  whom  he  expected  no  thanks — displayed 
in  putting  an  end  to  the  war  by  the  slaughter  of 
his  favourite  son,  when  all  others  shrunk  from 
the  responsibility  of  doing  the  king  a  service 
against  his  own  will  (2  Sam.  xviii.  1-14).  In 
like  manner,  when  David  unhappily  resolved  to 
number  the  people,  Joab  discerned  the  evil,  and 
remonstrated  against  it ;  and  although  he  did  not 
venture  to  disobey,  he  performed  the  duty  tardily 
and  reluctantly,  to  afford  the  king  an  opportunity 
of  reconsidering  the  matter,  and  took  no  pains  to 
conceal  hon'  odious  the  measure  was  to  him 
(2  Sam.  xxiv.  1-4).  David  was  certainly  un- 
grateful for  the  services  of  Joab,  when,  in  order 
to  conciliate  the  powerfal  party  which  had  sup- 
ported Absalom,  he  offered  the  command  of  the 
host  to  Amasa,  who  had  commanded  the  army  of 
Absalom  (2  Sam.  xix.  13).  But  the  inefficiency 
of  the  new  commander,  in  the  emergency  which 
the  revolt  of  Bichri's  son  produced,  arising  per- 
haps from  the  reluctance  of  the  troops  to  follow 
their  new  leader,  gave  Joab  an  opportunity  of 
displaying  his  superior  resources,  and  also  of  re- 
moving his  rival  by  a  murder  very  similar  to, 
and  in  some  respects  less  excusable  and  more  fou 
than,  that  of  Abner  [Amasa].  Besides,  Amasa 
was  his  own  cousin,  being  the  son  of  his  mother's 
sister  (2  Sam.  xx.  1-13). 

When  David  lay  on  his  death-bed,  and  a  de- 
monstration was  made  in  favour  of  the  succession 
of  the  eldest  surviving  son,  Adonijah,  whose  in- 
terests had  been  compromised  by  the  preference 
of  the  young  Solomon,  Joab  joined  the  party  of 
the  natural  heir.  It  would  be  unjust  to  regard 
this  as  a  defection  from  David.  It  was  nothing 
more  or  less  than  a  demonstration  in  favour  of 
the  natural  heir,  which,  if  not  then  made,  could 
not  be  made  at  all.  But  an  act  which  would 
have  been  justifiable,  had  the  preference  of  Solo- 
mon been  a  mere  caprice  of  the  old  king,  became 
criminal  as  an  act  of  contumacy  to  the  Divine 
king,  the  real  head  of  the  government,  who  had 
called  the  house  of  David  to  the  throne,  and  had 
the  sole  right  of  determining  which  of  its  mem- 
bers should  reign.  When  the  prompt  measures 
taken  under  the  direction  of  the  king  rendered 
this  demonstration  abortive  (1  Kings  i.  7),  Joab 
withdrew  into  private  life  till  some  time  after  the 
death  of  David,  when  the  fate  of  Adonijah,  and 
of  Abiathar— whose  life  was  only  spared  in  con- 
sequence of  his  sacerdotal  character — warned 
Joab  that  he  had  little  mercy  to  expect  from  the 
new  king.  He  fled  for  refuge  to  the  altar;  but 
when  Solomon  heard  this,  he  sent  Benaiah  to  put 


480 


JOASH 


him  to  death ;  and,  as  he  refused  to  come  forth, 
gave  orders  that  he  should  be  slain  even  at  the 
altar.  Thus  died  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
warriors  and  unscrupulous  men  that  Israel  ever 
produced.  His  corpse  was  removed  to  his  domain 
in  the  wilderness  of  Judah,  and  buried  there,  B.C. 
1015  (1  Kings  ii.  5,  28-.34). 

JOAN'NA,  wife  of  Chuza,  the  steward  of  He- 
rod Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee.  She  was 
one  of  those  women  who  followed  Christ,  and 
ministered  to  the  wants  of  him  and  his  disciples 
out  of  their  abundance.  They  had  all  been  cured 
of  grievous  diseases  by  the  Saviour,  or  had  re- 
ceived material  benefits  from  him ;  and  the  cus- 
toms of  the  country  allowed  them  to  testify  in 
this  way  their  gratitude  and  devotedness  without 
reproach.  It  is  usually  supposed  that  Joanna 
was  at  this  time  a  widow  (Luke  viii.  3 ;  xxiv.  10). 

1.  JO'ASH  (God-given),  a  contraction  of  Je- 
HOASH,  son  of  Ahaziah  and  eighth  king  of  Judah, 
who  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  878,  at  the  age  of 
seven,  and  reigned  forty-one  years. 

Joash,  when  an  infant,  was  secretly  saved  by 
his  aunt  Jehoshebah,  who  was  married  to  the 
high-priest  Jehoiada,  from  the  general  massacre 
of  the  family  by  Athaliah,  who  had  usurped  the 
throne  [Athaliah  ;  Jehoiada].  By  the  high- 
priest  and  his  wife  the  child  was  privily  brought 
up  in  the  chambers  connected  with  the  temple 
till  he  had  attained  his  eighth  year,  when  Je- 
hoiada deemed  that  the  state  of  affairs  required 
him  to  produce  the  youthful  heir  of  the  throne  to 
the  people,  and  claim  for  him  the  crown  which 
his  grandmother  had  so  unrighteously  usurped. 
Finding  the  influential  persons  whom  he  con- 
sulted favourable  to  the  design,  everything  was 
secretly,  but  admirably,  arranged  for  producing 
Joash,  and  investing  him  with  the  regalia,  in 
such  a  manner  that  Athaliah  could  have  no  sus- 
picion of  the  event  till  it  actually  occurred.  On 
the  day  appointed,  the  sole  surviving  scion  of 
David's  illustrious  house  appeared  in  the  place  of 
the  kings,  by  a  particular  pillar  in  the  tempJe- 
court,  and  was  crowned  and  anointed  with  the 
usual  ceremonies.  The  high-wrought  enthusiasm 
of  the  spectators  then  found  vent  in  clapping  of 
hands  and  exulting  shouts  of  '  Long  live  the 
king!'  The  joyful  uproar  was  heard  even  in 
the  palace,  and  brought  Athaliah  to  the  temple, 
from  which,  at  a  word  from  Jehoiada,  she  was 
led  to  her  death. 

Joash  behaved  well  during  his  non-age,  and  so 
long  after  as  he  remained  under  the  influence  of 
the  high-priest.  But  when  he  died  the  king  seems 
to  have  felt  himself  relieved  from  a  yoke  ;  and,  to 
manifest  his  freedom,  began  to  take  the  contrary 
course  to  that  which  he  had  followed  while  under 
pupilage.  Gradually  the  persons  who  had  pos- 
sessed influence  formerly,  when  the  house  of 
David  was  contaminated  by  its  alliance  with  the 
house  of  Ahab,  insinuated  themselves  into  his 
councils,  and  ere  long  the  worship  of  Jehovah 
and  the  observances  of  the  law  were  neglected, 
and  the  land  was  defiled  with  idolatries  and 
idolatrous  usages.  The  prophets  then  uttered 
their  warnings,  but  were  not  heard ;  and  the  in- 
fatuated king  had  the  atrocious  ingratitude  to  put 
to  death  Zechariah,  the  son  and  successor  of  his 
benefactor  Jehoiada.  For  these  deeds  Joash  was 
made  an  example  of  the  divine  judgments.  He 
saw  his  realm  devastated  by  the  Syrians  under 


JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF 

Hazael;  his  armies  were  cut  in  pieces  by  an 
enemy  of  inferior  numbers;  and  he  was  even 
besieged  in  Jerusalem,  and  only  preserved  his 
capital  and  his  crown  by  giving  up  the  treasures 
of  the  temple.  Besides  this,  a  painful  malady 
embittered  all  his  latter  days,  and  at  length  he 
became  so  odious  that  his  own  servants  conspired 
against  him,  and  slew  him  on  his  bed.  Joash 
was  buried  in  the  city  of  David  ;  but  a  place  in 
the  sepulchre  of  the  kings  was  denied  to  his  re- 
mains (2  Kings  xi. ;  xii. ;'  2  Chron.  xxiv.). 

2.  JOASH,  son  and  successor  of  Jehoahaz  on 
the  throne  of  Israel,  of  which  he  was  the  twelfth 
king.  He  began  to  reign  in  B.C.  810,  and  reigned 
sixteen  incomplete  years.  He  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  his  predecessors  in  the  policy  of  keeping 
up  the  worship  of  the  golden  calves ;  but,  apart 
from  this,  he  bears  a  fair  character,  and  had  in- 
tervals, at  least,  of  sincere  piety  and  true  devotion 
to  the  God  of  his  fathers.  He  held  the  prophet 
Elisha  in  high  honour,  looking  up  to  him  as  a 
father.  When  he  heard  of  his  last  illness  he  re- 
paired to  the  bed-side  of  the  dying  prophet,  and 
was  favoured  with  promises  of  victories  over  the 
Syrians,  by  whom  his  dominions  were  then 
harassed.  These  promises  were  accomplished 
after  the  prophet's  death.  In  three  signal  and 
successive  victories  Joash  overcame  the  Syrians, 
and  retook  from  them  the  towns  which  Hazael 
had  rent  from  Israel. 

These  advantages  rendered  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  more  potent  than  that  of  Judah.  He, 
however,  sought  no  quarrel  with  that  kingdom  ; 
but  when  he  received  a  defiance  from  Amaziah, 
king  of  Judah,  he  answered  with  becoming  spirit 
in  a  parable,  which  by  its  images  calls  to  mind 
that  of  Jotham  [Parables]  :  the  cool  disdain  of 
the  answer  must  have  been,  and  in  fact  was,  ex- 
ceedingly galling  to  Amaziah.  In  the  war,  or 
rather  action,  which  followed,  Joash  was  vic- 
torious. Having  defeated  Amaziah  at  Betli- 
shemesh,  in  Judah,  he  advanced  to  Jerusalem, 
broke  down  the  wall  to  the  extent  of  400  cubits, 
and  carried  away  the  treasures  both  of  the  temple 
and  the  palace,  together  with  hostages  for  the 
future  good  behaviour  of  the  crest-fajlen  Ama- 
ziah. Joash  himself  did  not  long  survive  this 
victory;  he  died  in  peace,  and  was  buried  in 
Samaria  (2  Kings  xiii.  9-25;  xiv.  1-17). 

JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF.  We  shall  consider, 
first,  the  contents  of  this  book  ;  secondly,  its  ob- 
ject ;  thirdly,  its  composition ;  and,  lastly,  the 
country,  descent,  and  age  of  its  author. 

I.  Contents.  In  the  land  of  Uz,  belonging  to 
the  northern  part  of  Arabia  Deserta,  lived  an 
honest,  pious  man,  called  Job.  For  his  sincere 
and  perfect  devotedness,  God  had  amply  blessed 
him  with  worldly  property  and  children ;  but  on 
Satan  obtaining  leave  to  tempt  him,  he  suddenly 
lost  the  fortune  of  his  life.  Ultimately  he  is 
smitten  with  a  severe  and  painful  disease;  but 
though  his  wife  moves  him  to  forsake  God,  lie 
still  continues  true  and  stanch  to  the  Lord. 
Three  friends,  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar,  hear 
of  his  calamities,  and  come  to  console  him.  His 
distressed  state  excites  their  heartfelt  compassion  ; 
but  the  view  which  they  take  of  its  origin  pre- 
vents them  from  at  once  assisting  him,  and  they 
remain  silent,  though  they  are  sensible  that  by  so 
doing  tliey  further  wound  his  feelings.  Seven 
days  thus  pass,  until  Job,  suspecting  the  cause  of 


JOB,  THK  COOK  OF 

their  conduct,  becomes  discomposed  and  breaks 
silence.  His  first  observations  are  based  on  the 
assertion — not,  indeed,  broadly  expressed— that 
God  acts  harshly  and  arbitrarily  in  inflicting 
calamity  on  men.  This  causes  a  discussion  be- 
tween him  and  his  friends,  which  is  divided  into 
three  main  parts,  each  with  subdivisions,  and 
embi'aces  the  speeches  of  the  three  friends  of 
Job,  and  his  answers :  the  last  part,  however, 
consists  of  only  two  subdivisions,  the  third  friend, 
Zophar,  having  nothing  to  rejoin.  By  this  silence 
the  author  of  the  book  generally  designates  the 
defeat  of  Job's  friends,  who  are  defending  a  com- 
mon cause.  Taking  a  general  view  of  the  argu- 
ment which  they  urge  against  him,  they  may  be 
considered  as  asserting  the  following  positions  : — 

1.  No  man  being  free  from  sin,  we  need  not 
wonder  that  we  are  liable  to  calamities,  for  which 
we  must  account  by  a  reference,  not  to  God,  but 
to  ourselves.  From  the  misery  of  the  distressed, 
otJiers  are  enabled  to  infer  their  guilt ;  and  they 
must  take  this  view  in  order  to  vindicate  divine 
justice. 

2.  The  distress  of  a  man  proves  not  only  that 
he  has  sinned,  but  shows  also  the  degree  and 
measure  of  his  sin ;  and  thus,  from  the  extent  of 
calamity  sustained,  may  be  inferred  the  extent  of 
sins  committed;  and  from  this  the  measure  of 
impending  misfortune. 

3.  A  distressed  man  may  recover  his  former 
happiness,  and  even  attain  to  greater  fortune  than 
he  ever  enjoyed  before,  if  be  takes  a  warning  from 
his  afflictions,  repents  ot  his  sins,  reforms  his  life, 
and  raises  himself  to  a  higher  degree  of  moral 
rectitude.  Impatience  and  irreverent  expostula- 
tion with  God  serve  but  to  prolong  and  increase 
punishment ;  for,  by  accusing  God  of  injustice, 
a  fresh  sin  is  added  to  former  transgressions. 

4.  Though  the  wicked  man  is  capable  of  pro- 
sperity, still  it  is  never  lasting.  The  most  awful 
retribution  soon  overtakes  him  ;  and  his  transient 
felicity  must  itself  be  considered  as  punishment, 
since  it  renders  hiia  heedless,  and  makes  him  feel 
misfortune  more  keenly. 

In  opposition  to  them,  Job  maintains : 
1.  The  most  upright  man  may  be  highly  un- 
fortunate— more  ?o  than  the  inevitable  faults  and 
shortcomings  of  human  nature  would  seem  to 
imply.  There  is  a  savage  cruelty,  deserving  the 
severities  of  the  Divine  resentment,  in  inferring 
the  guilt  of  a  man  from  his  distresses.  In  dis- 
tributing good  and  evil,  God  regards  neither 
merit  nor  guilt,  but  acts  according  to  His  sove- 
reign pleasure.  His  omnipotence  is  apparent  in 
every  part  of  the  creation ;  but  His  justice  cannot 
be  seen  in  the  government  of  the  world  ;  the 
afflictions  of  the  righteous,  as  well  as  the  prospe- 
rity of  the  wicked,  are  evidence  against  it.  There 
are  innumerable  cases,  and  Job  considers  his  own 
to  be  one  of  them,  in  which  a  sufferer  has  a  right 
to  justify  himself  before  God,  and  to  repine  at 
His  decrees.  Of  this  supposed  right  Job  freely 
avails  himself,  and  maintains  it  against  his 
friends. 

'2.  In  a  state  of  composure  and  calmer  reflec- 
tion. Job  retracts,  chiefly  in  his  concluding 
speech,  all  his  former  rather  extravagant  asser- 
tions, and  says  that,  although  God  generally 
afflicts  the  wicked  and  blesses  the  righteous,  still 
there  are  exceptions  to  this  rule,  single  cases  in 
which  the  pious  undergo  severe  trials  :  the  infe- 


JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF 


481 


rence,  therefore,  of  a  man's  guilt  from  his  mis- 
fortunes is  by  no  means  warranted.  For  the 
exceptions  established  by  experience  prove  that 
God  does  not  always  distribute  pro.sperity  and 
adversity  after  this  rule  ;  but  that  he  sometimes 
acts  on  a  different  principle,  or  as  an  absolute 
lord,  according  to  his  mere  will  and  pleasure. 

3.  Humbly  to  adore  God  is  our  duty,  even 
when  we  are  subject  to  calamities  not  at  all 
desei-ved ;  but  we  should  abstain  from  harshly 
judging  of  those  who,  when  distressed,  send  forth 
complaints  against  God. 

The  interest  of  the  narrative  is  kept  up  with    ' 
considerable  skill,   by   pi'ogressively  rising  and 
highly    passionate    language.       At    first,    Job's    j 
friends  charge  him,  and  he  defends  himself,  in 
mild  terms;  but  gradually  they  are  all  betrayed    { 
into  warmth  of  temper,  which  goes  on  increasing    | 
until  the  friends  have  nothing  more  to  object, 
and  Job  remains  in  possession  of  the  field.     The 
discussion  then  seems  to  be  at  an  end,  when  a    ! 
fresh  disputant,   Elihu,  appears.      Trusting    in     , 
his  just  cause.   Job  had  proudly  opposed  God,     i 
with  whom  he  expostulated,  and  whom  he  charged    j 
with  injustice,  when  the  sense  of  his  calamities    | 
should  have  led  him  to  acknowledge  the  sinful- 
ness  of  human  nature,  and  humbly  to  submit  to    j 
the  Divine  dispensations.     Making  every  allow- 
ance for  his  painful  situation,  and  putting  the    \ 
mildest  construction  on  his  expressions,  he  is  still     [ 
substantially  wrong,  and  could  not  therefore  be 
suffered  to  remain  the  vanquisher  in  this  high    ; 
argument.     He  had  silenced  his  friends,  but  the    j 
general  issue  remained  to  be  settled.     Elihu  had    j 
waited  till  Job  and  his  friends  had  spoken,  be-    | 
cause  they  were  older  than  he ;  but  when  he  saw    i 
that  the  three  visitors  ceased  to  answer,  he  offers    | 
himself  to  reason  with  Job,  and  shows  that  God    ! 
is  just  in  his  ways.     He  does  this,  I 

1.  From  the  nature  of  inflictions. — He  begins    I 
by  urging  that  Job  was  very  wrong  in  boasting    \ 
of  his  integrity,  and  making  it  appear  that  re-    I 
wards  wei-e  due  to  him  from  God.    How  righteous 
soever  he  was,  he  still  had  no  claim  to  reward ;    \ 
on  the  contrary,  all  men  are  sinners  in  God's 
eyes ;  and  nobody  can  complain  that  he  suffers 
unjustly,  for  the  very  greatest  sufferings  equal     . 
not  his  immense  guilt.     Then  Elihu  explains  a 
leading  point  on  which  he  differs  from  the  friends     i 
of  Job:  he  asserts  that  from  greater  sufferings 
inflicted  on  a  person  it  was  not  to  be  inferred  that 
he  had  sinned  more  than  others  afflicted  with  a 
less  amount  of  calamity.     Calamities  were,  in- 
deed, under  all  circumstances,  punishments  for 
sins  committed,  but  at  the  same  time  they  were 
correctives  also ;   and  therefoi-e  they  might  be 
inflicted  on  the  comparatively  most  righteous  in 
preference  to  others.     If  the  object  of  afflictions 
was  attained,  and  the  distressed  acknowledged 
his  sinfulness,  he  would  humble  himself  before 
God,  who  would  bless  him  with  greater  happiness 
than  he  ever  before  enjoyed.    But  he  who  took 
not  this  view,  and  did  not  amend  his  ways,  would 
be  ruined,  and  the  blame  would  rest  wholly  with 
himself     Consequently,  if  Job  made  the  best  of 
his   misfortune,    God   would   render    him    most    . 
happy;  but  if  he  continued  refractory,  punish- 
ment would  follow  his  offences. 

2.  From  a  clear  conception  of  the  nature  of  God. 
— '  The  whole  creation  shows  forth  His  majesty, 
and  evinces  His  justice.     For  a  man  to  stand  up 

21 


482  JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF 

against  Him  and  to  assert  that  he  suffers  inno- 
cently, is  the  greatest  anthropomorphism,  because 
it  ijoes  to  deny  the  Divine  majesty,  evident  in  all 
the  facts  of  the  created  world,  and  including 
God's  justice.  His  nature  being  one  and  indi- 
visible, it  cannot  on  one  side  exhibit  infinite 
perfection,  and  on  the  other  imperfection :  each 
example,  then,  of  God's  grandeur  in  the  creation 
of  the  -world  is  evidence  against  the  rash  accusers 
of  God's  justice.  God  must  be  just— this  is  cer- 
tain from  the  outset ;  and  hotv  His  justice  is  not 
impaired  by  calamities  inflicted  on  the  righteous 
and  on  thyself,  1  have  already  explained.' 

Job  had,  in  a  stirring  manner,  several  times, 
challenged  God  to  decide  tlie  contest.  Elihu 
suspects  the  approach  of  the  Lord,  when,  towards 
the  end  of  his  speech,  a  violent  thunder-storm 
arises,  and  God  answers  Job  out  of  the  whirl- 
wind, showing  how  foolishly  the  latter  had  acted 
in  offering  to  reason  with  Him,  when  His  works 
proved  His  infinite  majesty,  and,  consequently, 
His  absolute  justice.  Job  now  submits  to  God, 
and  humbly  repents  of  his  offence.  Hereupon 
God  addresses  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar, 
declaring  unto  them  His  displeasure  at  their 
unmerciful  dealing  with  their  friend,  the  conse- 
quences of  which  could  only  be  avoided  by  Job 
offering  a  propitiatory  sacrifice.  This  is  done, 
and  the  Lord  grants  unto  Job  ample  compensa- 
tion for  his  sufferings. 

n.  Design  of  the  book.  All  agree  that  the 
object  of  the  book  is  the  solution  of  the  question, 
how  the  afllictions  of  the  righteous  and  the 
prosperity  of  the  wicked  can  be  consistent  with 
God's  justice.  But  it  should  be  observed  that 
the  direct  problem  exclusively  refers  to  the  first 
point,  the  second  being  only  incidentally  dis- 
cussed on  occasion  of  the  leading  theme.  If  this 
is  overlooked,  the  author  would  appear  to  have 
solved  only  one  half  of  his  problem ;  the  case 
from  which  the  whole  discussion  proceeds,  has 
reference  merely  to  the  leading  problem. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  regarding  the 
sufferings  of  the  righteous  rests  on  two  positions. 

1.  Calamity  is  the  only  way  that  leads  to  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

2.  Calamity,  as  the  veiled  grace  of  God,  is  with 
the  pious  never  alone,  but  manifest  proofs  of 
Divine  favour  accompany  or  follow  it.  Though 
sunk  in  misery,  they  still  are  happier  than  the 
wicked,  and  when  it  has  attained  its  object,  it  is 
terminated  by  the  Lord. 

It  is  this  exclusively  correct  solution  of  the 
problem  which  occurs  in  the  book  of  Job.  It  is 
not  given  in  Job's  speeches  or  in  the  speeches  of 
his  friends,  neither  is  it  exclusively  given  in  the 
addresses  of  God  which  contain  only  the  basis  of 
the  solution,  not  the  solution  itself.  But  all  in- 
terpreters allow  that  it  is  set  forth  in  Elihu's 
speeches  which  appear  to  contain  the  opinion  of 
the  author. 

The  leading  principle  in  Elihu's  statement  is, 
that  calamity  in  the  shape  of  trial  was  inflicted 
even  on  the  comparatively  best  men,  but  that 
God  allowed  a  favourable  turn  to  take  place  as 
soon  as  it  had  attained  its  object.  Now  this  is 
the  key  to  the  events  of  Job's  life.  Though  a 
pious  and  righteous  maj,  he  is  tried  by  severe 
afflictions.  He  knows  not  for  what  purpose  he 
is  smitten,  and  his  calamity  continues  ;  but  when 
lie  learns  it  from  the  addresses  of  Elihu  and  God, 


JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF 

and  humbles  himself,  he  is  relieved  from  the 
burden  which  oppresses  him,  and  ample  prospe- 
rity atones  for  the  afBictions  he  has  sustained. 
Add  to  this,  that  the  remaining  portion  of  Elihu's 
speeches,  in  which  he  points  to  God's  infinite 
majesty  as  including  his  justice,  is  continued  in 
the  addresses  of  God ;  that  Elihu  foretells  God's 
appearance ;  that  he  is  not  punished  by  God  as 
are  the  friends  of  Job ;  in  fine,  that  Job  by  his 
very  silence  acknowledges  the  problem  to  have 
been  solved  by  Elihu ;  and  his  silence  is  the 
more  significant  because  Elihu  had  urged  him  to 
defend  himself  (xxxiii.  32),  and  because  Job  had 
repeatedly  declared  he  would  '  hold  his  peace,' 
if  it  was  shown  to  him  wherein  he  had  erred  (vi. 
24,  25  ;  xix.  4). 

In  regard  to  the  character  of  the  composition 
of  the  book  there  are  three  different  opinions  :— 
1.  Some  contend  that  the  book  contains  an 
entirely  true  history.  2.  Others  assert  that  it  is 
founded  on  a  true  history,  which  has  been  recast, 
modified,  and  enlarged  by  the  author.  3.  The 
third  opinion  is,  that  the  book  contains  a  narra- 
tive entirely  imaginary,  and  constructed  by  the 
author  to  teach  a  great  moral  truth. 

The  first  view,  taken  by  numerous  ancient  in- 
terpreters, is  now  abandoned  by  nearly  all  inter- 
preters. It  seems,  however,  to  have  been  adopted 
by  Josephus,  for  he  places  Job  in  the  list  of  the 
historical  books;  and  it  was  prevalent  with  all 
the  fathers  of  the  church.  In  its  support  it  is 
said,  1.  That  Job  is  (Ezek.  xiv.  14-20)  men- 
tioned as  a  public  character,  together  with  Noah 
and  Daniel,  and  represented  as  an  example  of 
piety.  2.  In  the  epistle  of  James  (v.  11),  patience 
in  sufferings  is  recommended  by  a  reference  to 
Job. 

We  must  confine  ourselves  to  contending  for 
an  historical  foundation  of  the  book,  but  must  not 
undertake  to  determine  the  exact  nature  of  the 
groundwork.  That  its  historical  framework  was 
poetically  enlarged  by  the  author,  has  been  al- 
ready observed  by  Luther.  As  for  the  rest,  the 
subtility  displayed  in  explaining  opposite  views, 
the  carefully  drawn  characters  of  the  persons 
introduced,  and  their  animated  discourses,  lead 
us  to  suppose  that  the  question  at  issue  had  pre- 
viously  been  the  subject  of  various  discussions 
in  presence  of  the  author,  who,  perhaps,  took  part 
in  them.  Thus  there  would  be  an  historical 
foundation,  not  only  for  the  facts  related  in  the 
book,  but  to  a  certain  extent  also  for  the 
speeches. 

Opinions  differed  in  ancient  times  as  to  the 
nation  to  which  the  author  belonged ;  some  con- 
sidering him  to  have  been  an  Arab,  others  an 
Israelite ;  but  the  latter  supposition  is  undoubt- 
edly preferable.  For,  1st,  we  find  in  our  book 
many  ideas  of  genuine  Israelite  growth:  the 
creation  of  the  world  is  described,  in  accordance 
with  the  prevailing  notions  of  the  Israelites,  as 
the  immediate  effect  of  Divine  omnipotence  ;  man 
is  formed  of  clay;  the  spirit  of  man  is  God's 
breath ;  God  employs  the  angels  for  the  perform- 
ance of  his  orders;  Satan,  the  enemy  of  the 
chosen  children  of  God,  is  his  instrument  for 
tempting  them;  men  are  weak  and  sinful;  no- 
body is  pure  in  the  sight  of  God ;  moral  corrup- 
tion is  propagated.  There  is  promulgated  to  men 
the  law  of  God,  which  they  must  not  infringe, 
and  the  transgressions  of  which  are  visited  on 


JOB,  THE  BOOK  OF 

offenders  with  punishments.  Moreover,  the 
nether  world  is  depicted  in  hues  entirely  Hebrew. 
To  these  particulars  might,  without  much  trouble, 
be  added  many  more;  but  the  deep-searching 
inquirer  will  particularly  weigh,  2ndly,  the  fact, 
that  the  book  displays  a  strength  and  fervour  of 
religious  faith,  such  as  could  only  be  expected 
within  the  domain  of  revelation. 

Proceeding  to  the  inquiry  as  to  the  age  of  the 
author  of  this  book,  we  meet  with  three  opi- 
nions:— 1.  That  he  lived  before  Moses,  or  was, 
at  least,  his  contemporary.  2.  That  he  lived  in 
the  time  of  Solomon,  or  in  the  centuries  next 
following.  3.  That  he  lived  shortly  before,  or 
during,  or  even  after  the  Babylonian  exile.  The 
view  of  those  who  assert  the  book  to  have  been 
written  long  after  the  Babylonian  exile,  can  be 
supported  neither  by  the  nature  of  its  language 
nor  bj'  reasons  derived  from  its  historical  ground- 
work, and  is  therefore  now  generally  rejected. 

Against  this  view,  militate,  first,  the  references 
to  it  in  the  Old  Testament,  which  prove  that  it 
was  before  this  period  a  generally  Imown  writing. 
Thus,  in  Ezek.  xiv.  14-20,  are  mentioned  '  three 
men,  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job,'  as  examples  of 
righteousness.  Further,  in  Jeremiah  xx.  14,  we 
find  evidently  imitated  Job's  cursing  of  the  day 
of  his  birth  (ch.  iii.).  Not  only  the  sentiments 
but  the  words  are  often  the  same.  There  are 
also  in  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah,  many  pas- 
sages clearly  alluding  to  our  book,  which  must 
have  eminently  suited  the  taste  of  this  prophet 
and  interested  him  (comp.  xvi.  13  with  Lam.  ii. 
16;  and  xix.  8,  with  Lam.  iii.  7,  9).  Another 
example  of  words  borrowed  from  Job  occurs  in 
Psalm  cvii.  42,  where  the  second  part  of  the 
verse  agrees  literally  with  Job  v.  16.  2.  A  most 
decisive  reason  against  assigning  the  composition 
of  Job  to  the  period  of  the  Exile  is  derived  from 
the  language,  since  it  is  fre«  from  those  Chal- 
daisms  which  occur  in  the  books  written  about 
that  time.  Eichhorn  justly  observes,  '  Let  him 
who  is  fit  for  such  researches,  only  read,  first,  a 
writing,  tainted  with  Aramajisms,  and  next  the 
book  of  Job  :  they  -will  be  found  diverging  as 
east  and  west.'  3.  Equally  conclusive  is  the 
poetical  character  of  the  book.  The  Exile  might 
produce  a  soft,  moving  poem,  but  could  not  give 
birth  to  such  a  rich,  compact,  animated,  and 
warm  composition  as  ours,  breathing  youthful 
freshness  throughout.  Ewald,  in  acknowledging 
this,  says  justly,  '  The  high  skill  displayed  in 
tliis  book  cannot  be  well  expected  from  later 
centuries,  when  poetry  had  by  degrees  generally 
declined,  and  particularly  in  the  higher  art  re- 
quired by  large  compositions ;  and  language  so 
concise  and  expressive  as  that  of  our  author,  is 
not  found  in  writings  of  later  times.' 

To  the  view  which  places  the  age  of  the  book 
of  Job  in  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  exile,  is 
most  opposed  that  which  assigns  the  composition 
of  it  to  a  period  prior  to  Moses.  In  support  of 
tliis  latter  view,  two  arguments  have  been  ad- 
duced. It  is  said,  1.  'There  is  in  the  book  of 
Job  no  direct  reference  to  the  Mosaic  legislation ; 
and  its  descriptions  and  other  statements  are 
suited  to  the  period  of  the  patriarchs ;  as,  for 
instance,  the  great  authority  held  by  old  men, 
the  high  age  of  Job,  and  fathers  oflering  sacri- 
fices for  their  families — which  leads  to  the  sup- 
position that  when  our  book  was  written  no 


JOB'S  DISEASE  483 

sacerdotal  order  yet  existed.'  These  points,  how- 
ever, are  quite  intelligible,  if  the  design  of  the 
book,  as  stated  above,  is  kept  in  view.  The 
author  intended  not  to  rest  the  decision  of  the 
question  at  issue  on  particular  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, but  on  religious  consciousness  and  ex- 
perience. This  at  once  explains  why  he  places 
the  scene  without  Palestine,  why  he  places  it  in 
the  patriarchal  age,  and  why  he  avoids  the  use 
of  the  name  Jehovah  ;  of  these  three  items  the 
Jiist  sufficiently  accounts  for  no  reference  being 
made  to  the  Mosaic  legislation.  2.  'The  lan- 
guage of  the  book  of  Job  seems  strongly  to 
support  the  opinion  of  its  having  been  written 
before  Moses.'  It  has  been  often  said,  that  no 
writing  of  the  Old  Testament  may  be  more  fre- 
quently illustrated  from  the  Arabic  than  this 
book.  In  answer  to  this  it  has  been  said  that 
this  inference  would  be  safe  only  if  the  book 
were  written  in  prose,  and  that  the  selection  of 
obsolete  and  rare  words  and  forms,  with  the 
Hebrews,  was  a  peculiar  feature  of  the  poetical 
style,  and  served  to  distinguish  it  from  the  usual, 
habitual  way  of  writing ;  and  that  this  peculiarity 
belongs  to  our  book  more  than  to  any  other. 

With  regard  to  the  reasons  in  support  of  the 
opinion  that  the  book  of  Job  was  written  after 
the  age  of  Moses,  most  of  them  are  either  not  con- 
clusive at  all,  or  not  quite  cogent.  Thus  it  is 
an  arbitrary  assumption,  proved  by  modern  re- 
searches to  be  erroneous,  that  the  art  of  writing 
was  unknown  previous  to  the  age  of  Moses.  The 
assertion  too,  that  the  marks  of  cultivation  and 
refinement  observable  in  our  book  belonged  to  a 
later  age,  rests  on  no  historical  ground.  The 
evident  correspondence  also  between  this  book 
and  the  Proverbs  and  Psalms  is  not  a  point 
proving  with  resistless  force  that  they  were  all 
written  at  the  same  time.  It  is,  indeed,  some- 
times of  such  a  kind,  that  the  authors  of  the 
Proverbs  and  Psalms  cannot  be  exactly  said  to 
have  copied  our  book ;  but  it  may  be  acooimted 
for  by  their  all  belonging  to  the  same  class  of 
writings,  by  the  very  great  uniformity  and  ac- 
cordance of  religious  conceptions  and  sentiments 
expressed  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  by  the  sta- 
bility of  its  religious  character. 

Summing  up  the  whole  of  our  investigations, 
we  take  it  to  be  a  settled  point  that  the  book  of 
Job  does  not  belong  to  the  time  of  the  Baby- 
lonian exile  ;  and  it  cannot  have  been  composed 
later  than  the  era  of  Isaiah,  who  alludes  to  it. 
With  this  result  we  must  rest  satisfied.  There 
remains  uncertainty,  but  it  does  not  concern  an 
important  point  of  religion.  The  significancy  of 
our  book  for  the  church  rests  on  the  evidence  of 
our  Lord  and  his  apostles  in  support  of  the  inspi- 
ration of  the  whole  collection  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  on  the  confirmation  which  this  external 
evidence  has  at  all  times  received,  and  continues 
to  receive,  from  the  internal  testimony,  among  the 
true  believers  of  all  ages. 

JOB'S  DISEASE.  The  opinion  that  the  ma- 
lady under  which  Job  suffered  was  elephantiasis, 
or  black  leprosy,  is  very  ancient,  and,  in  modem 
times,  it  is  entertained  by  the  best  scholars  gene- 
rally. The  passages  which  are  considered  to  in- 
dicate this  disease  are  found  in  the  description  of 
his  skin  burning  from  head  to  foot,  so  that  he  took 
a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself  (ii.  7,  8) ;  in  its  being 
covered  with  putrefaction  and  crusts  of  earth,  aud 
2  1  2 


484  JOEL 

being  at  one  time  stiff  and  hard,  wliile  at  another 
it  cracked  and  discharged  fluid  (vii.  5) ;  in  the 
offensive  breath  which  drove  away  the  kindness 
of  attendants  (xix.  17);  in  the  restless  nights, 
which  were  either  sleepless  or  scared  with  frightful 
dreams  (vii.  13, 14 ;  xxx.  17) ;  in  general  emacia- 
tion (xvi,  8)  ;  and  in  so  intense  a  loathing  of  the 
burden  of  life,  that  strangling  and  death  were 
preferable  to  it  (vii.  15). 

In  this,  as  in  most  other  Biblical  diseases,  there 
is  too  little  distinct  description  of  symptoms  to 
enable  us  to  determine  the  precise  malady  in- 
tended. But  the  general  character  of  the  com- 
plaint under  which  Job  suffered,  bears  a  greater 
resemblance  to  elephantiasis  than  to  any  other 
disease  [Leprosy]. 

JOCH'EBED  ( God-glorijied),  wife  of  Amram 
and  mother  of  Miriam,  Moses  and  Aaron.  In 
Exod.  vi.  20,  Jochebed  is  expressly  declared  to 
have  been  the  sister  of  Amram's  father,  and  con- 
sequently the  aunt  of  her  husband.  As  marriage 
between  persons  thus  related  was  afterwards 
forbidden  by  the  law  (Lev.  xviii.  12),  various 
attempts  have  been  made  to  show  that  the  rela- 
tionship was  more  distant  than  the  text  in  its 
literal  meaning  indicates.  We  see  no  necessity 
for  this.  The  mere  mention  of  the  relatiocship' 
implies  that  there  was  something  remarkable  in 
the  case ;  but  if  we  show  that  nothing  is  remark- 
able, we  do  away  the  occasion  for  the  relationship 
being  at  all  noticed.  The  fact  seems  to  be,  that 
where  this  marriage  was  contracted,  there  was  no 
law  forbidding  such  alliances,  but  they  must  in 
any  case  have  been  unusual,  although  not  for- 
bidden; and  this,  with  the  writer's  knowledge 
that  they  were  subsequently  interdicted,  suffi- 
ciently accounts  for  this  one  being  so  pointedly 
mentioned.  The  candour  of  the  historian  in  de- 
claring himself  to  be  sprung  from  a  marriage, 
afterwards  forbidden  by  the  law,  delivered  through 
himself,  deserves  especial  notice. 

JO'EL  {worshipper  of  Jehovah),  one  of  the 
twelve  minor  prophets,  the  son  of  Pethuel.  Of 
his  birth-place  nothing  is  known  with  certainty. 
From  the  local  allusions  in  his  prophecy,  we  may 
infer  that  he  discharged  his  office  in  the  kingdom 
of  Judah.  But  the  references  to  the  temple,  its 
priests  and  sacrifices,  are  rather  slender  grounds 
for  conjecturing  that  he  belonged  to  the  sacerdotal 
order.  Various  opinions  have  been  held  respect- 
ing the  period  in  which  he  lived.  It  appears 
most  probable  that  he  was  contemporary  with 
Amos  and  Isaiah,  and  delivered  his  predictions  in 
the  reign  of  Uzziah,  between  800  and  780  B.C. 

This  prophet  opens  his  commission  by  an- 
nouncing au  extraordinary  plague  of  locusts, 
accompanied  with  extreme  drought,  which  he 
depicts  in  a  strain  of  animated  and  sublime  poetry 
under  the  image  of  an  invading  army.  The  fide- 
lity of  his  highly-wrought  description  is  corro- 
borated and  illustrated  by  the  testimonies  of 
Shaw,  Volney,  Forbes,  and  other  eminent  travel- 
lers, who  have  been  eye-witnesses  of  the  ravages 
committed  by  this  most  terrible  of  the  insect 
j  tribe.  In  the  second  chapter,  the  formidable 
aspect  of  the  locusts — their  rapid  progress — their 
sweeping  devastation — the  awful  murmur  of  their 
countless  throngs — their  instinctive  marshalling — 
the  irresistible  perseverance  with  which  they 
make  their  way  over  every  obstacle  and  through 
every  aperture — are  delineated  with  the  utmost 


JOHANAN 

graphic  force.  There  is  considerable  diversity  of 
sentiment  as  to  the  point  whether  these  descrip- 
tions are  to  be  understood  literally  or  figuratively. 
The  figurative  interpretation  has,  it  must  be 
allowed,  the  support  of  antiquity.  It  was  adopted 
by  the  Chaldee  paraphrast,  Ephrem  the  Syrian 
(a.d.  350),  and  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Jerome 
(a.d.  400).  Ephrem  supposes  that  by  the  four 
different  denominations  of  the  locusts  were  in- 
tended Tiglath-pileser,  Shalmaneser,  Sennache- 
rib, and  Nebuchadnezzar.  The  Jews,  in  the  time 
of  Jerome,  understood  by  the  first  term  the  Assy- 
rians and  Chaldeans;  by  the  second,  the  Medes 
and  Persians ;  by  the  third,  Alexander  the  Great 
and  his  successors  ;  and  by  the  fourth,  the  Komans. 
Grotius  applies  the  description  to  the  invasions  by 
Pul  and  Shalmaneser.  Holzhausen  attempts  to 
unite  both  modes  of  interpretation,  and  applies 
the  language  literally  to  the  locusts,  and  meta- 
phorically to  the  Assyrians.  It  is  singular,  how- 
ever, that,  if  a  hostile  invasion  be  intended,  not 
the  least  hint  is  given  of  personal  injury  sustained 
by  the  inhabitants ;  the  immediate  effects  are  con- 
fined entirely  to  the  vegetable  productions  and 
the  cattle. 

The  prophet,  after  describing  the  approaching 
judgments,  calls  on  his  countrymen  to  repent, 
assuring  them  of  the  divine  placability  and  readi- 
ness to  forgive  (ii.  12-17).  He  foretels  the  restor- 
ation of  the  land  to  its  former  fertilitj%  and 
declares  that  Jehovah  would  still  be  their  God 
(ii.  18-26).  He  then  announces  the  spiritual 
blessings  which  would  be  poured  forth  in  the 
Messianic  age  (iii.  1-5,  Heb.  text ;  ii.  28-32,  Auth, 
Vers.).  This  remarkable  prediction  is  applied 
by  the  Apostle  Peter  to  the  events  that  transpired 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  16-21).  In  the 
last  chapter  the  divine  vengeance  is  denounced 
against  the  enemies  and  oppressors  of  the  chosen 
people,  of  whom  the  Phoenicians,  Egyptians,  and 
Edomites  are  especially  named. 

The  style  of  Joel,  it  has  been  remarked,  unites 
the  strength  of  Micah  with  the  tenderness  of  Jere- 
miah. In  vividness  of  description  he  rivals 
Nahum,  and  in  sublimity  and  majesty  is  scarcely 
inferior  to  Isaiah  and  Habakkuk. 

The  canonicity  of  this  book  has  never  been 
called  in  question. 

JOKA''N  AN  (God-bestoived)  ■  one  of  the  officers 
who  came  and  recognised  Gedaliah  as  governor 
of  Judaea  after  the  destruction  of  Jenisalem,  and 
who  appears  to  have  been  the  chief  in  authority 
and  influence  among  them.  He  penetrated  the 
designs  of  Ishmael  against  the  governor,  whom 
he  endeavoured,  without  success,  to  put  upon  his 
guard.  When  Ishmael  had  accomplished  his  de- 
j  sign  by  the  murder  of  Gedaliah,  and  was  carrying 
away  the  principal  persons  at  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment as  captives  to  the  Ammonites,  Johanan  pur- 
sued him,  and  released  them.  Being  fearful, 
however,  that  the  Chaldseans  might  misunder- 
stand the  afi'air,  and  make  him  and  those  who  were 
with  him  responsible  for  it,  he  resolved  to  with- 
draw for  safety  into  Egypt,  with  the  principal 
persons  of  the  remnant  left  in  the  land.  Jeremiah 
remonstrated  against  this  decision  ;  but  Johanan 
would  not  be  moved,  and  even  constrained  the 
prophet  himself  to  go  with  them.  They  pro- 
ceeded to  Taphanes,  but  nothing  further  is  re- 
corded of  Johanan.  B.C.  588  (2  Kings  xxT,  23; 
Jer.  xl.  8-16:  xli. ;  xlii. ;  xliii.). 


JOHN  THE  BAPTIST 

JOHN  THE  BAPTIST.  The  name  John 
denotes  grace  or  favour.  In  the  church  John 
commonly  bears  the  honourable  title  of  '  fore- 
runner of  the  Lord.' 

His  parents  were  Zacharias  and  Elisabeth,  the 
latter  '  a  cousin  of  Mary,'  the  mother  of  Jesus, 
whose  senior  John  was  by  a  period  of  six  months 
(Luke  i.).  According  to  the  account  contained 
in  the  first  chapter  of  Luke,  his  father,  while  en- 
gaged in  burning  incense,  was  visited  by  the  angel 
Gabriel,  who  informed  him  that  in  compliance 
■with  his  prayers  his  wife  should  bear  a  son, 
whose  name  he  should  call  John — in  allusion  to 
the  grace  thus  accorded.  A  description  of  the 
manner  of  his  son's  life  is  given,  which  in  effect 
states  that  he  was  to  be  a  Nazarite,  abstaining  from 
bodily  indulgences,  was  to  receive  special  favour 
and  aid  of  God,  was  to  prove  a  great  religious 
and  social  reformer,  and  so  prepare  the  way  for 
the  long-expected  Messiah.  Zacharias  was  slow 
to  believe  these  tidings  and  sought  some  token  in 
evidence  of  their  truth.  Accordingly  a  sign  was 
given  which  acted  also  as  a  punishment  of  his 
want  of  faith — his  tongue  was  sealed  till  the  pre- 
diction should  be  fulfilled  by  the  event.  Six 
months  after  Elisabeth  had  conceived  she  received 
a  visit  from  Mary,  the  future  mother  of  Jesus. 
Ou  being  saluted  by  her  relation,  Elisabeth  felt 
her  babe  leap  in  her  womb,  and,  being  filled  with 
the  holy  spirit,  she  broke  forth  into  a  poetic  con- 
gratulation to  Mary,  as  the  destined  mother  of  her 
Lord.  At  length  Elisabeth  brought  forth  a  son, 
whom  the  relatives  were  disposed  to  name  Zacha- 
rias, after  his  father — but  Elisabeth  was  in  some 
way  led  to  wish  that  he  ^ould  be  called  John. 
The  matter  was  referred  to  the  father,  who  sig- 
nified in  writing  that  his  name  was  to  be  John. 
This  agreement  with  Elisabeth  caused  all  to 
marvel.  Zacharias  now  had  his  tongue  loosed, 
and  he  first  employed  his  restored  power  in 
praising  God.  These  singular  events  caused  uni- 
versal surprise,  and  led  people  to  expect  that  the 
j    ohild  would  prove  a  distinguished  man. 

The  parents  of  John  were  not  only  of  a  priestly 
order,  but  righteous  and  devout.  Their  influence, 
in  consequence,  in  the  training  of  their  son,  would 
be  not  only  benign  but  suitable  to  the  holy  office 
which  he  was  designed  to  fill.  More  than  this — 
the  special  aids  of  God's  Spirit  were  with  him 
(Luke  i.  66).  As  a  consequence  of  the  lofty  in- 
fluences under  which  he  was  nurtured,  the  child 
waxed  strong  in  spirit.  The  sacred  writer  adds 
that '  he  was  in  the  deserts  till  the  day  of  his 
showing  unto  Israel '  (Luke  i.  80). 

In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius, 
John  made  his  public  appearance,  exhibiting  the 
austerity,  the  costume,  and  the  manner  of  life  of 
the  ancient  Jewish  prophets  (Luke  iii. ;  Matt. 
iii.).  His  raiment  was  camel's  hair  ;  he  wore  a 
plain  leathern  girdle  about  his  loins  ;  his  food  was 
what  the  desert  spontaneously  offered — locusts 
and  wild  honey  from  the  rock.  The  burden  of 
John's  preaching  bore  no  slight  resemblance  to 
the  old  prophetic  exhortations,  whose  last  echo 
had  now  died  away  for  centuries.  He  called  upon 
the  Jewish  people  to  repent,  to  change  their 
minds,  their  dispositions  and  affections,  and  thus 
prepared  the  way  for  the  great  doctrine  promul- 
gated by  his  Lord,  of  the  necessity  of  a  spiritual 
regeneration.  That  the  change  which  John  had 
in  view  was  by  no  means  of  so  great  or  so  elevated 


JOHN  THE  BAPTIST  48.-> 

a  kind  as  that  which  Jesus  required,  is  very  pro- 
bable ;  but  the  particulars  into  which  he  enters 
when  he  proceeds  to  address  classes  or  individuals 
(Matt.  iii.  7,  sq. ;  Luke  iii.  7,  sq.),  serve  fully  to 
show  that  the  renovation  at  which  he  aimed  was 
not  merely  of  a  material  or  organic,  but  chiefly  of 
a  moral  nature.  In  a  very  emphatic  manner  did 
he  warn  the  ecclesiastical  and  legal  authorities  of 
the  land  of  the  necessity  under  which  they  lay  of 
an  entire  change  of  view,  of  aim,  and  of  desire; 
declaring  in  explicit  and  awful  terms  that  their 
pride  of  nationality  would  avail  them  nothing 
against  the  coming  wrathful  visitation,  and  that 
they  were  utterly  mistaken  in  the  notion  that 
Divine  Providence  had  any  need  of  them  for  com- 
pleting its  own  wise  purposes  (Luke  iii.  8,  9). 
The  first  reason  assigned  by  John  for  entering  on 
his  most  weighty  and  perilous  ofiice  was  an- 
nounced in  these  words—'  the  kingdon)  of  heaven 
is  at  hand.'  It  was  his  great  work  to  prepare  tlie 
mind  of  the  nation,  so  that  when  Jesus  himself 
came  they  might  be  a  people  made  ready  for  the 
Lord. 

Had  we  space  to  develope  the  moral  character 
of  John,  we  could  show  that  this  fine,  stern, 
high-minded  teacher  possessed  many  eminent 
qualities;  but  his  personal  and  official  modesty 
in  keeping,  in  all  circumstances,  in  the  lower 
rank  assigned  him  by  God,  must  not  pass  without 
special  mention.  The  doctrine  and  manner  of 
life  of  John  appear  to  have  roused  the  entire  of 
the  south  of  Palestine,  and  people  flocked  from 
all  parts  to  the  spot  where,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan,  he  baptized  thousands  unto  repentance. 
Such,  indeed,  was  the  fame  which  he  had  gained, 
that  '  people  were  in  expectation,  and  all  men 
mused  in  their  hearts  of  John,  whether  he  were  the 
Christ  or  not'  (Luke  iii.  15).  Had  he  chosen,  John 
might  without  doubt  have  assumed  to  himself 
the  higher  office,  and  risen  to  great  worldly 
power.  But  he  was  faithful  to  his  trust,  and 
never  failed  to  declare,  in  the  fullest  and  clearest 
manner,  that  he  was  not  the  Christ,  but  merely 
his  harbinger,  and  that  the  sole  work  he  had  to 
do  was  to  usher  in  the  day-spring  from  on  high. 

The  more  than  prophetic  fame  of  the  Baptist 
reached  the  ears  of  Jesus  in  his  Nazarene  dwell- 
ing, far  distant  from  the  locality  of  John  (Matt. 
ii.  22,  23).  The  nature  of  the  report— namely, 
that  his  Divinely-predicted  forerunner  had  ap- 
peared in  Juda;a— showed  our  Lord  that  the 
time  was  now  come  for  his  being  made  manifest 
to  Israel.  Accordingly  he  comes  to  the  place 
where  John  is  to  be  baptized  of  him,  in  order 
that  thus  he  might  fulfil  all  that  was  required 
under  the  dispensation  which  was  about  to  dis- 
appear (Matt.  iii.  13).  John's  sense  of  inferiority 
inclines  him  to  ask  rather  than  to  give  baptism 
in  the  case  of  Jesus,  who,  however,  wills  to  have 
it  so,  and  is  accordingly  baptized  of  John.  Im- 
mediately on  the  termination  of  this  symbolical 
act,  a  Divine  attestation  is  given  from  the  opened 
vault  of  heaven,  declaring  Jesus  to  be  in  truth 
the  long-looked-for  Messiah—'  This  is  my  beloved 
Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased'  (Matt.  iii.  17). 

The  relation  which  subsisted  between  John 
and  Jesus,  after  the  emphatic  testimony  above 
recorded  had  been  borne,  we  have  not  the  mate- 
rials to  describe  with  full  certainty. 

It  seems  but  natural  to  think,  when  their 
hitherto  relative  position  is  taken  into  account, 


486         JOHN  THE  EVANGELIST 

that  John  ■would  forthwith  lay  down  his  office  of 
harbinger,  which,  now  that  the  Sun  of  Kighte- 
ousness  himself  had  appeared,  was  entirely  ful- 
filled and  terminated.  Such  a  step  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  taken.  On  the  contrary,  the  lan- 
guage of  Scripture  seems  to  imply  that  the  Bap- 
tist church  continued  side  by  side  with  the  Mes- 
sianic (Matt.  xi.  3;  Luke  vii.  19;  Matt.  ix.  14; 
Luke  xi.  1 ;  John  iii.  23),  and  remained  long 
after  John's  execution  (Acts  xix.  3).  Still,  though 
it  has  been  generally  assumed  that  John  did  not 
lay  down  his  office,  we  are  not  satisfied  that  the 
New  Testament  establishes  this  alleged  fact. 
John  may  have  ceased  to  execute  his  own  pecu- 
liar work,  as  the  forerunner,  but  may  justifiably 
have  continued  to  bear  his  most  important  testi- 
mony to  the  Messiahship  of  Christ ;  or  he  may 
even  ha%'e  altogether  given  up  the  duties  of 
active  life  some  time,  at  least,  before  his  death  ; 
and  yet  his  disciples,  both  before  and  after  that 
event,  may  have  maintained  their  individuality 
as  a  religious  communion.  Nor  is  it  impossible 
that  some  misconception  or  some  sinister  motive 
may  have  had  weight  in  preventing  the  Baptist 
church  from  dissolving  and  passing  into  that  of 
Christ.  It  was,  not  improbably,  with  a  view  to 
remove  some  error  of  this  kind  that  John  sent 
the  embassy  of  his  disciples  to  Jesus  which  is 
recorded  in  Matt.  xi.  3;  Luke  vii.  19.  No  inti- 
mation is  found  in  the  record  that  John  required 
evidence  to  give  him  satisfaction;  and  all  the 
language  that  is  used  is  proper  and  pertinent  if 
we  suppose  that  the  doubt  lay  only  in  the  minds 
of  his  disciples.  That  the  terms  employed  admit 
the  interpretation  that  John  was  not  without 
some  misgivings  (Luke  vii.  23 ;  Matt.  xi.  C),  we 
are  free  to  allow.  And  if  any  doubt  had  grown 
up  in  the  Baptist's  mind,  it  was  most  probably 
owing  to  the  defective  spirituality  of  his  views  ; 
for  even  of  him  Jesus  has  declared,  '  he  that  is 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than 
he '  (Matt.  xi.  11).  Were  this  the  case,  it  would 
of  itself  account  not  only  for  the  embassy  sent 
by  John  to  Jesus,  but  also  for  the  continuance 
and  perpetuation  of  John's  separate  influence  as 
the  founder  of  a  sect. 

The  manner  of  John's  death  is  too  well  known 
to  require  to  be  detailed  here  (Matt.  iv.  12 ;  liv.  3 ; 
Luke  iii.  19  ;  Mark  vi.  17  ;  Joseph.  Antiq.  xviii. 
5.  2).  He  reproved  a  tyrant  for  a  heinous  crime, 
and  received  his  reward  in  decapitation. 

JOHN  THE  EVANGELISt.  This  eminent 
Apostle  was  the  son  of  Zebedee,  a  fisherman,  and 
of  Salome.  It  is  probable  that  he  was  bom  at 
Bethsaida,  on  the  lake  of  Galilee.  His  parents 
appear  to  have  been  in  easy  circumstances;  at 
least,  we  find  that  Zebedee  employed  hired  ser- 
vants (Mark  i.  20),  and  that  Salome  was  among 
the  number  of  those  women  who  contributed  to 
the  maintenance  of  Jesus  (Matt,  xxvii.  .'56).  We 
also  find  that  John  received  Mary  into  his  house 
after  the  death  of  Jesus.  Since  this  house  seems 
to  have  been  situated  at  Jerusalem,  it  would  ap- 
pear that  he  was  the  owner  of  two  houses.  John's 
acquaintance,  also,  with  the  high-priest  (xviii. 
15)  seems  to  indicate  that  he  lived  at  Jerusalem, 
and  belonged  to  the  wealthier  class.  We  may 
suppose  that  from  a  tender  age  he  nourished 
religious  feelings,  since  Salome,  who  evinced  so 
much  love  for  Jesus,  probably  fostered  at  an 
earlier  period  those  hopes  of  a  Messiah  which 


JOHN  THE  EVANGELIST 

she  expresses  in  Matt.  xx.  20  ;  and  we  find  that 
he  entered  into  communion  with  the  Baptist  from 
pure  motives.  On  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  the 
Baptist  directed  John  to  Jesus,  and  he  immedi- 
ately became  the  Lord's  disciple,  and  accompanied 
him  on  his  return  to  Galilee.  Having  arrived 
there,  he  at  first  resumed  his  trade,  but  was 
afterwards  called  to  remain  permanently  with 
the  Kedeemer  (Luke  v.  5-10;.  Jesus  was  parti- 
cularly attached  to  John  (John  xiii.  23 ;  xix.  26  ; 
XX.  2;  xxi.  7),  who  was  one  of  the  three  who 
were  distinguished  above  the  other  apostles 
(Matt.  xvii.  1  ;  xxvi.  37 ;  Mark  v.  37).  After 
the  ascension,  John  abode  at  Jerusalem,  where 
Paul  met  him  on  his  third  journey,  about  the 
year  52  (Gal.  ii.  3-9).  Since  he  had  undertaken 
the  care  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  we  cannot  well 
suppose  that  he  left  Jerusalem  before  Marj-'s 
death ;  and,  indeed,  we  find  that  about  the  year 
58,  when  Paul  was  at  Ephesus,  John  was  not  yet 
living  there.  If  we  consider  the  great  importance 
of  Ephesus  among  the  various  churches  of  Asia 
Minor,  and  the  dangers  arising  from  false  teachers, 
who  were  prevalent  there  as  early  as  the  days  of 
Paul  (Acts  XX.  29),  it  will  appear  likely  that 
John  was  sent  to  Ephesus  after  Paul  had  left  that 
scene,  about  the  year  65.  During  the  time  of 
his  activity  in  Asia  Minor  he  was  exiled  by  the 
Roman  emperor  to  Patmos,  one  of  the  Sporadic 
isles  in  the  .^Egean  Sea,  where,  according  to 
Revelations  i.  9,  he  wrote  the  Apocalypse. 
Irenajus  and,  following  him,  Eusebius  state  that 
John  beheld  the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse  about 
the  close  of  the  reign  of  Domitian.  If  this  state- 
ment can  be  depended  iipon,  the  exile  to  Patmos 
also  took  place  under  Domitian,  who  died  a.d. 
96.  Tertullian  relates  that  in  the  reign  of  Domi- 
tian John  was  forcibly  conveyed  to  Rome,  where 
he  was  thrown  into  a  cask  of  oil ;  that  he  was 
miraculously  released,  and  then  brought  to  Pat- 
mos. But  since  none  of  the  ancient  writers  be- 
sides the  rather  undiscriminating  Tertullian, 
relate  this  circumstance,  and  since  this  mode  of 
capital  punislmient  was  unheard  of  at  Rome,  we 
ought  not  to  lay  much  stress  upon  it.  It  is,  how- 
ever, likely  that  John  was  called  to  suffer  for  his 
faith,  since  Polycrates,  bishop  of  Ephesus,  writing 
about  A.D.  200,  calls  him  '  inartyr.'  According 
to  Eusebius,  he  returned  from  exile  during  the 
reign  of  Nerva.  The  three  epistles  of  John,  as 
also  the  affecting  account  concerning  his  fidelity 
as  a  spiritual  pastor,  given  by  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  testify  that  he  was  the  pastor  of  a  large 
diocese.  John's  second  Epistle,  ver.  12,  and 
third  Epistle,  ver.  14,  indicate  that  he  made 
journeys  of  pastoral  visitation.  John  died  at 
Ephesus  past  the  age  of  ninety,  in  the  reign  of 
the  Emperor  Trajan.  According  to  Jerome,  he 
was  a  hundred  years  old,  and  according  to  Sui- 
das,  a  hundred  and  twenty."* 


*  Jerome  relates  that  when  John  had  attained 
a  great  age  he  was  so  feeble  that  he  could  not 
walk  to  the  assemblies  of  the  church  ;  he,  there- 
fore, caused  himself  to  be  carried  in  by  young 
men.  He  was  no  longer  able  to  say  much,  but 
he  constantly  repeated  the  words,  '  Little  chil- 
dren, love  one  another.'  On  being  asked  why  he 
constantly  repeated  this  one  saying,  he  replied, 
'  Because  it  is  the  command  of  the  Lord ;  and 
enough  is  done  if  this  is  done.' 


JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  OF 

JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  OF.  During  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  first  ten  years  of  the 
nineteenth,  the  Gospel  of  John  was  attacked,  but 
with  feeble  arguments,  by  some  English  Deists, 
and  by  four  German  theologians.  A  similar 
attack  has  lately  been  made  by  Strauss,  who, 
although  in  the  third  edition  of  The  Life  if  Jesus 
he  manifested  an  inclination  to  give  up  his 
doubts,  yet  resolutely  returned  to  them  in  the 
fourth  edition,  principally,  as  he  himself  con- 
fesses, because  '  without  them  one  could  not 
escape  from  believing  the  miracles  of  Christ.'  It 
is  unnecessary,  however,  to  refute  his  arguments, 
as  they  are  quite  unimportant,  and  have  met  with 
little  sympathy  even  in  Germany.  It  may  suffice 
to  observe,  that  during  the  lapse  of  ages  up  to  the 
conclusion  of  the  eighteenth  century,  no  one  ever 
expressed  a  doubt  respecting  the  genuineness  of 
John's  Gospel,  except  one  small  sect,  whose  scep- 
ticism, however,  was  not  based  upon  historical, 
but  merely  upon  dogmatical  grounds. 

John's  Gospel  diS'ers  very  much  in  substance 
from  the  first  three  Gospels.  But  the  most 
striking  difiE'erence  is  that  of  the  speeches ;  and 
even  here  the  difference  is,  perhaps,  still  more 
apparent  in  the  form  than  in  the  substance  of 
them.  The  difference  of  the  Contents  may  be 
accounted  for  by  supposing  that  John  intended 
to  relate  and  complete  the  history  of  the  Lord 
according  to  his  own  view  of  it.  We  are  led  to 
this  supposition  from  the  following  circumstances  : 
that,  with  the  exception  of  the  history  of  his  pas- 
sion and  his  resurrection,  there  are  only  two  sec- 
tions in  which  John  coincides  with  the  synoptic 
gospels  (vi,  1-21;  xii.  1);  that  he  altogether 
omits  such  important  facts  as  the  baptism  of 
Jesus  by  John,  the  history  of  his  temptation  and 
transfiguratiou,  the  institution  of  the  Lord's  sup- 
per, and  the  internal  conflict  at  Gethsemane; 
and  that  chapters  i.  32,  iii.  24,  xi.  2,  indicate 
that  he  presupposed  his  readers  to  be  already  ac- 
quainted with  the  Gospel  history.  He  confined 
himself  to  such  communications  as  were  wanting 
in  the  others,  especially  with  regard  to  the 
speeches  of  Jesus. 

The  peculiarities  of  John's  Gospel  more  espe- 
(rially  consist  in  the  four  following  doctrines : — 

1.  That  of  the  mystical  relation  of  the  Son  to 
the  Father. 

2.  That  of  the  mystical  relation  of  the  Ee- 
deemer  to  believers. 

3.  The  announcement  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
the  Comforter. 

4.  The  peculiar  importance  ascribed  to  Love. 
Although  there  can  be  shown  in  the  writings 

of  the  other  Evangelists  some  isolated  dicta  of 
the  Lord,  which  seem  to  bear  the  impress  of 
John,  it  can  also  be  shown  that  they  contain 
thoughts  not  originating  with  that  disciple,  but 
■with  the  Lord  himself.  Matthew  (xi.  27)  speaks 
of  the  relation  of  the  Son  to  the  Father  so  entirely 
in  the  style  of  John,  that  persons  not  sufficiently 
versed  in  Holy  Writ  are  apt  to  search  for  this 
passage  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  The  mystical 
union  of  the  Son  with  believers  is  expressed  in 
Matt,  xxviii.  20.  The  promise  of  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  order  to  perfect  the  disciples, 
is  found  in  Luke  xxiv.  49.  The  doctrine  of  Paul 
•with  respect  to  love,  in  1  Cor.  xiii.,  entirely  re- 
sembles what,  according  to  John,  Christ  taught 
on  the  same  subject.     Paul  here  deserves  our 


JOHN,  THE  GOSPEL  OF  487 

particular  attention.  In  the  writings  of  Paul 
are  found  Christian  truths  which  have  their 
points  of  coalescence  only  in  John,  viz.,  that 
Christ  is  the  imaye  of  the  invisible  God,  by  whom 
all  things  are  created  (Col.  i.  15,  16).  Paul 
considers  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the  church,  the 
spiritual  Christ,  as  Jesus  himself  does  (John  xiv 
16). 

That  the  speeches  of  Christ  have  been  faith- 
fully reported  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of 
the  speeches  of  the  Baptist  in  the  Gospel  of  John. 
The  Baptist's  speeches  bear  an  entirely  Old 
Testament  character :  they  are  full  of  allusions 
to  the  Old  Testament,  and  abound  in  sententious 
expressions  (John  iii.  27-30;  i.  26-36). 

We  have  already  intimated  our  opinion  as  to 
the  purport  and  plan  of  the  Gospel  of  John. 
Most  of  the  earlier  critics  considered  the  Gospel 
of  John  to  have  had  a  polemico-dogmatical  pur- 
port. According  to  Irenaeus,  John  wrote  with 
the  intention  of  combating  the  errors  of  Cerinthus 
the  Gnostic.  Others  suppose  that  his  writings 
were  directed  against  the  disciples  of  John  the 
Baptist.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Evangelist 
had  in  view,  both  in  his  Introduction  and  also  in 
ch.  xix.  34,  35,  some  heretical  opinions  of  those 
times;  but  it  cannot  be  maintained  that  this  is 
the  case  throughout  the  whole  of  the  Gospel.  He 
himself  states  (xx.  31)  that  his  work  had  a  more 
general  object. 

One  of  the  peculiarities  of  John  is,  that  in 
speaking  of  the  adversaries  of  Jesus,  he  always 
calls  them  the  Jews.  This  observation  has,  in 
modern  times,  given  rise  to  a  peculiar  opinion 
concerning  the  plan  of  John's  Gospel,  namely, 
that  the  Evangelist  has,  from  the  very  beginning 
of  the  Gospel,  the  following  theme  before  his 
eyes  :— The  eternal  combat  between  Divine  light 
and  the  corruption  of  mankind,  exemplified  by 
the  mutual  opposition  subsisting  between  the  hos- 
tile Jewish  party  and  the  manifestation  of  the 
Son  of  God,  which  combat  terminates  in  the  vic- 
tory of  light. 

"The  Introduction  of  the  Gospel  of  John  ex- 
presses this  theme  in  speaking  of  the  opposition 
of  the  world  to  the  incarnate  L«gos.  This  theme 
is  here  expressed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
leading  idea  of  a  musical  composition  is  expressed 
in  the  overture.  As  the  leading  idea  of  the  whole 
Epistle  to  the  Eomans  is  contained  in  ch.  i.  1 7,  so 
the  theme  of  the  Gospel  of  John  is  contained  in 
ch.  i.  11.13.  The  Gospel  is  divided  into  two 
principal  sections.  The  first  extends  to  ch.  xii. 
It  comprehends  the  public  functions  of  Jesus,  and 
terminates  with  a  brief  summary  (ver.  44-50). 
The  second  section  contains  the  history  of  the 
Passion  and  of  the  Resurrection.  The  reader  is 
prepared  for  this  section  by  ch.  xii.  23-32.  The 
leading  idea  of  this  speech  is,  that  Destruction  is 
necessary,  because  without  it  there  can  be  no 
Resurrection.  With  ch.  xiii.  begins  the  history 
of  our  Lord's  Passion.  In  the  third  verse  the 
Apostle  directs  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  suf- 
fering would  finally  lead  to  glory.  In  the  first 
section  is  described  how  the  opposition  of  the  in- 
fluential men  among  the  Jews  was  gradually 
increased  until  the  decisive  fact  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Lazarus  led  to  a  public  outburst  of  their 
hatred.  This  description  terminates  with  the 
official  decree  of  Caiaphas  (xi.  49,  50). 

The  Fathers  supposed  that  the  Gospel  of  John 


488        JOHN,  THE  EPISTLES  OF 

was  written  at  Ephesus,  and  there  is  some  inter- 
nal evidence  in  favour  of  the  statement.     One 
I    writer  affirms  that  John  wrote  the  Gospel  which 
bears  his  name  in  Patmos,  but  that  it  was  edited 
j    by  the  same  Gains  whom  Paul  in  the  epistle  to 
I    the  Romans  calls  mine  host.     One  might  be  in- 
;    clined  to   explain  by  this  circumstance  the  post- 
script contained  in  John  xxi.  24,  25. 

JOHN,  THE  EPISTLES  OF.  For  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  first  epistle  very  ancient  testi- 
mony may  be  adduced.  Papias,  the  disciple  of 
John,  quotes  some  passages  from  it.  Polycarp, 
also,  another  disciple  of  John,  quotes  a  passage 
from  this  epistle.     So,  also,  Irenxus. 

The  author  of  the  first  epistle  describes  him- 
st^lf,  at  its  commencement,  as  an  eye-witness  of 
the  life  of  our  Lord.     The  style  and  language 
■    manifestly  harmonize  with  those  of  tlie  author  of 
I    the  Gospel  of  John.     The  polemics,  also,  which 
j    in  ch.  ii.  18-26,  are  directed  against  the  Docetic 
j    Gnostics,  in  ch.  iv.  1-3,  agree  with  the  sphere  of 
action    in  Asia  Minor  in  which  the  Evangelist 
j    John  was  placed.     We  may,  therefore,  suppose 
that  the    epistle  was  written    to  Christian  con- 
gregations   in  Asia  Minor,   which  were    placed 
under  the  spiritual  care   of  the  apostle.      It  is 
generally   admitted   that   ch.  i.   2    refers  to  the 
Gospel.     If  this  is  correct,  the  apostle  wrote  this 
epistle  at  a  very  advanced  age,  after  he  had 
written  his  gospel.     The  epistle   breathes  love 
and  devotion,  but  also  zeal  for  moral  strictness 
j    (iii.  G-8  ;  v.  16).     There  is  a  remarkable  absence 
j    of  logical  connection  in  the  form  of  separate  ex- 
!    pressions,  and  in  the  transitions  from  one  thought 
to  another.     Some  writers  have  been  inclined  to 
!    find  a  reason  for  this  in  the  advanced  age  of  the 
I    writer.     Old  age  may,  perhaps,  have  contributed 
'    to  this  characteristic,  but  it  is  chiefly  attributable 
•    to  the  mental  peculiarity  of  the  apostle.    There 
I    has  been   no   subject   connected   with   Biblical 
literature   which   has    attracted   more  attention 
than  this  epistle,  in  consequence  of  the  contro- 
\    Tersies  which  have  existed  since  the  commence- 
I    ment  of  the  sixteenth  century,  respecting  the  ce- 
I    lebrated  passage  in  1  John  v.  7,  8.     We  cannot 
I    enter  here  into  the  history  of  that  controversy, 
I    which  has  continued  with  more  or  less  of  asperity 
1    to  our  own  day.     We  shall  merely  remark  that 
the  disputed  passage  is  found  in  no  Greek  ma- 
!    nuscript,  save  only  in  two,  both  belonging  to  the 
I    fifteenth  century ;  and  that  it  has  not  once  been 
quoted  by  any  of  the  Greek,  Latin,  or  Oriental 
j    fathers.     It  is  now,  therefore,  generally  omitted 
I    in  all  critical  editions  of  the  New  Testament. 
j        The  second  and  third  epistles  of  John  were 
!    originally  wanting  in  the  ancient  Syriac  trans- 
I    lation.     From  their  nature,  it  may  easily   be 
explained    how    it    happened    that    they    were 
i    less  generally  known  in  ancient  Christian  con- 
j    gregations,  and  that  the   fathers  do  not  quote 
I    them  so  often  as  other  parts  of  Scripture,  since 
1    they  are  very  short,  and  treat  of  private  afiFairs. 
!    The  private   nature   of  their  contents  removes 
also  the   suspicion   that  they  could   have  been 
forged,  since  it  would  be  difficult  to  discover  any 
;    purpose  which  could  have  led  to  such  a  forgery. 
I        The  second  epistle  is  addressed  to  a  lady,  called 
I    Kuria,  which  name  frequently  occurs  in  ancient 

writers  as  that  of  a  woman. 
I        The  third  epistle   is   addressed   to  Gains,  a 
j    person  otherwise  unknown.     It  is  remarkable 


JONADAB 

that  the  writer  of  this  epistle  calls  himself 'the 
presbyter '  or  '  elder.'  Some  writers  have  been 
inclined  to  ascribe  these  letters  to  the  presbyter 
John,  who  is  sometimes  spoken  of  in  the  ancient 
church,  and  to  whom  even  the  Apocalypse  has 
been  attributed ;  but  if  the  presbyter  John  wrote 
these  epistles,  John's  Gospel  also  must  be  ascribed 
to  the  same  person,  of  whom  otherwise  so  little 
is  known.  This,  however,  is  inadmissible.  We 
may  suppose  that  the  term  '  presbyter '  or 
'elder'  expressed  in  the  epistles  of  John  a 
degree  of  friendliness,  and  was  chosen  on  ac- 
count of  the  advanced  age  of  the  writer.  The 
apostle  Paul,  also,  in  his  friendly  letter  to  Phi- 
lemon, abstains  from  the  title  Apostle.  The  cir- 
cumstances and  events  in  the  church,  to  which 
the  second  epistle  alludes,  coincide  with  those 
which  are  otherwise  known  to  have  happened  in 
John's  congregation.  Here,  also,  are  allusions 
to  the  dangers  arising  from  the  Gnostic  heresy. 
The  admonition,  in  verse  10,  not  to  receive  such 
heretics  as  Christian  brethren,  agrees  with  the 
ancient  tradition,  that  John  made  haste  to  qnit 
a  public  bath  after  Cerinthus  the  Gnostic  entered 
it,  declaring  he  was  afraid  the  building  would 
fall  down. 

JOHN  MARK.    [Mabk.] 

JOHN  HYRCANUS.    [Maccabees.] 

JOI'ADA  (contraction  of  Jehoiada,  which 
see),  a  high-priest  of  the  Jews,  successor  to  Elia- 
shib,  or  Joashib,  who  lived  under  Nehemiar., 
about  B.C.  434  (Neh.  xiii.  28). 

JOK'SHAN  {fowler),  second  son  of  Abraham 
and  Keturah,  whose  sons  Sheba  and  Dedan  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  ancestors  of  the  Sabseans 
and  Dedanites,  who  peopled  a  part  of  Arabia 
Felix  (Gen.  xxv.  2,  3)  [Arabia]. 

JOK'TAN  {small),  one  of  the  sons  of  Eber,  a 
descendant  from  Shem  (Gen.  x.  25,  26),  and  the 
supposed  progenitor  of  many  tribes  in  Southern 
Arabia.  The  Arabians  call  him  Kahtan,  and  re- 
cognise him  as  one  of  the  principal  founders  of 
their  nation. 

JOK'TREEL  (God-subdued).  1.  A  name  given 
by  King  Azariah  to  the  city  Sela,  or  Petra,  the 
capital  of  Arabia  Petraa,  when  he  took  it  from 
the  Edomites  (2  Kings  xiv.  7)  [Petra].  2.  There 
was  also  a  city  of  this  name  in  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  38). 

JON' AD AB  ( God-impelled).  1 .  A  nephew  of 
David,  a  crafty  person,  whose  counsel  suggested 
to  his  cousin  Ammon  the  means  by  which  he  ac- 
complished his  abominable  design  upon  his  half- 
sister  Tamar  (2  Sam.  xiii.  4,  5). 

2.  A  son  or  descendant  of  Rechab,  the  pro- 
genitor of  those  nomadic  Rechabites,  who  held 
themselves  bound  by  a  vow  to  abstain  from  wine, 
and  never  to  relinquish  the  nomadic  life.  The 
principle  on  which  the  tribe  acted  may  be  con- 
sidered elsewhere  [Rechabites].  Jonadab  was 
at  the  head  of  this  tribe  at  the  time  when  Jehu 
received  his  commission  to  exterminate  the  house 
of  Ahab,  and  is  supposed  to  have  added  to  its 
ancient  austerities  the  inhibition  of  wine.  He 
was  held  in  great  respect  among  the  Israelites 
generally :  and  Jehu,  alive  to  the  importance  of 
obtaining  the  countenance  and  sanction  of  such  a 
man  to  his  proceedings,  took  him  up  in  his  chariot, 
when  on  his  road  to  Samaria  to  complete  the  work 
he  had  begun  at  Jezreel.  The  terms  of  the  col- 
loquy which  took  place  on  this  occasion  are  rather 


JONAH 

remarkable.  Perceiving  Jonadab,  he  saluted  him, 
and  called  out,  '  Is  thine  heart  right,  as  my  heart 
is  ■with  thy  heart  ?'  Jonadab  answered,  '  It  is.' 
Then  said  Jehu,  '  If  it  be,  give  me  thine  hand.' 
And  he  gave  him  his  hand,  and  was  taken  up 
into  the  chariot,  Jehu  inviting  him  to  '  Come  and 
see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord'  (2  Kings  x.  15-17; 
Jer.  XXXV.  (5-10).  It  would  seem  that  the  Re- 
chabites  were  a  branch  of  the  Kenites,  over 
another  branch  of  whom  Heber  -was  chief  in  the 
time  of  Deborah  and  Barak  (Judg.  iv.  11,  17) : 
and  as  it  is  expressly  said  that  Jonadab  went 
out  to  meet  Jehu,  it  seems  probable  that  the 
people  of  Samaria,  alarmed  at  the  menacing  letter 
which  they  had  received  from  Jehu,  had  induced 
Jonadab  to  go  to  meet  and  appease  him  on  the 
road.  His  venerated  character,  his  rank  as  the 
head  of  a  tribe,  and  his  neutral  position,  well 
qualified  him  for  this  mission  ;  and  it  was  quite 
as  much  the  interest  of  Jonadab  to  conciliate  the 
new  dynasty,  in  whose  founder  he  beheld  the 
minister  of  the  divine  decrees,  as  it  was  that  of 
Jehu  to  obtain  his  concurrence  and  support  in 
proceedings  which  he  could  not  but  know  were 
likely  to  render  him  odious  to  the  people. 

JO'NAH  (a  dove),  the  fifth  in  order  of  the  minor 
prophets.  No  era  is  assigned  to  him  in  the  book 
of  his  prophecy,  yet  there  is  little  doubt  of  his 
being  the  same  person  who  is  spoken  of  in  2  Kings 
xiv.  25.  His  birthplace  was  Gath-hepher,  in  the 
tribe  of  Zebulon.  Jonah  flourished  in  or  before 
the  reign  of  Jeroboam  II.,  and  predicted  the  suc- 
cessful conquests,  enlarged  territory,  and  brief 
prosperity  of  the  Israelitish  kingdom  under  that 
monarch's  sway. 

The  book  of  Jonah  contains  an  account  of  the 
prophet's  commission  to  denounce  Nineveh,  and 
of  his  refusal  to  undertake  the  embassy — of  the 
method  he  employed  to  escape  the  unwelcome 
task  [Tarshish],  and  the  miraculous  means 
■which  God  used  to  curb  his  self-willed  spirit, 
and  subdue  his  petulant  and  querulous  disposition. 
The  third  and  fourth  chapters  briefly  detail  Jo- 
nah's fulfilment  of  the  divine  command,  and 
present  us  with  another  exemplification  of  his 
refractory  temper.  His  attempt  to  flee  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  must  have  sprung  from  a 
partial  insanity,  produced  by  the  excitement  of 
distracting  motives  in  an  irascible  and  melan- 
choly heart.  The  temerity  and  folly  of  the  fugi- 
tive could  scarcely  be  credited,  if  they  had  not 
been  equalled  by  future  outbreaks  of  a  similar 
peevish  and  morbid  infatuation.  The  mind  of 
Jonah  was  dark  and  moody,  not  unlike  a  lake 
which  mirrors  in  the  waters  the  gloomy  thunder- 
clouds which  overshadow  it,  and  flash  over  its 
sullen  waves  a  momentary  gleam. 

The  history  of  Jonah  is  certainly  striking  and 
extraordinary.  Its  characteristi-c  prodigy  does 
not  resemble  the  other  miraculous  phenomena 
recorded  in  Scripture  ;  yet  Ave  must  believe  in  its 
literal  occurrence,  as  the  Bible  affords  no  indi- 
cation of  its  being  a  mythus,  allegory,  or  parable. 
On  the  other  hand,  our  Saviour's  pointed  and 
peculiar  allusion  to  it  is  a  presumption  of  its 
reality  (Matt.  xii.  40).  The  opinion  of  the  earlier 
Jews  is  also  in  favour  of  the  literality  of  the  ad- 
venture. It  requires  less  faith  to  credit  this  simple 
excerpt  from  Jonah's  biography,  than  to  believe 
the  numerous  hypotheses  that  have  been  invented 
to  deprive  it  of  its  supernatural  character,  the 


JONAH  489 

great  majority  of  them  being  clumsy  and  far- 
fetched, doing  violence  to  the  language,  and  de- 
spite to  the  spirit  of  revelation.  In  vindication 
of  the  reality  of  this  striking  narrative,  it  may 
be  argued  that  the  allusions  of  Christ  to  Old 
Testament  events  on  similar  occasions  are  to 
actual  occurrences  (John  iii.  14;  vi.  48);  that 
the  purpose  which  God  had  in  view  justified  his 
miraculous  interposition ;  that  this  miracle  must 
have  had  a  salutary  effect  both  on  the  minds  of 
the  Ninevites  and  on  the  people  of  Israel.  Neither 
is  the  character  of  Jonah  improbable.  Many 
reasons  might  induce  him  to  avoid  the  discharge 
of  his  prophetic  duty — fear  of  being  thought  a 
false  prophet,  scorn  of  a  foreign  and  hostile  race, 
desire  for  their  utter  destruction,  a  false  dignity 
■n'hicli  might  reckon  it  beneath  his  prerogative 
to  officiate  among  uncircumcised  idolaters.  Some, 
■who  cannot  altogether  reject  the  reality  of  the 
narrative,  suppose  it  to  have  had  an  historical 
basis,  though  its  present  form  be  fanciful  or 
mythical.  Grimm  regards  it  as  a  dream  pro- 
duced in  that  sleep  which  fell  upon  Jonah  as  he 
lay  on  the  sides  of  the  ship,  and  others  regard 
this  book  as  an  allegory. 

"Various  other  hypotheses  have  been  proposed 
which  are  all  vague  and  baseless,  and  do  not 
merit  a  special  refutation.  Endeavouring  to  free 
us  from  one  difficulty  they  plunge  us  into  others 
yet  more  intricate  and  perplexing.  Much  pro- 
fane wit  has  been  expended  on  the  miraculous 
means  of  Jonah's  deliverance,  very  unnecessarily 
and  very  absurdly ;  it  is  simply  said,  '  The  Lord 
had  prepared  a  great  fish  to  swallow  up  Jonah.' 
Now  the  species  of  marine  animal  is  not  defined, 
and  the  original  word  is  often  used  to  specify, 
not  the  genus  whale,  but  any  large  fish  or  sea- 
monster.  All  objections  to  its  being  a  whale 
which  lodged  Jonah  in  its  stomach  from  its 
straitness  of  throat,  or  rareness  of  haunt  ii^  the 
Mediterranean,  are  thus  removed.  The  Scrip- 
ture speaks  only  of  an  enormous  fish,  which 
under  God's  direction  swallowed  the  prophet,  and 
does  not  point  out  the  species  to  which  the  vora- 
cious prowler  belonged.  Since  the  days  of  Bo- 
chart  it  has  been  a  common  opinion  that  the  fish 
was  of  the  shark  species  or  '  sea-dog.'  Entire 
human  bodies  have  been  found  in  some  fishes  of 
this  kind.  The  stomach,  too,  has  no  influence  on 
any  living  substance  admitted  into  it.  Granting 
all  these  facts  as  proof  of  what  is  termed  the  eco- 
nomy of  miracles,  still  must  we  say,  in  reference 
to  the  supernatural  preservation  of  Jonah,  Is  any- 
thing too  hard  for  the  Lord  ? 

On  what  portion  of  the  coast  Jonah  was  set 
down  in  safety  we  are  not  infoi'med.  The  pro- 
phet proceeded,  on  receiving  a  second  commission, 
to  fulfil  it.  The  fearful  menace  had  the  desired 
effect.  The  city  humbled  itself  before  God,  and 
a  respite  was  vouchsafed.  The  king  (Pul,  ac- 
cording to  Usher)  and  his  people  fasted,  and 
their  penitence  was  accepted.  The  spirit  of  Jonah 
was  chafed  that  the  doom  he  had  uttered  was  not 
executed.  He  retired  to  a  station  out  of  the  city 
whence  he  might  witness  the  threatened  cata- 
strophe. Under  the  shadow  of  a  gourd  prepared 
by  God  he  reclined,  while  Jehovah  taught  him 
by  the  growth  and  speedy  death  of  this  plant, 
and  his  attachment  to  it,  a  sublime  lesson  of  pa- 
tient and  forgiving  generosity.  The  book  of 
Jonah  is  a  simple  narrative,  with  the  exception 


4W  JONATHAN 

of  the  prayer  or  thanksgiving  in  chap.  ii.  Its 
style  and  mode  of  narration  are  uniform.  There 
are  no  traces  of  compilation,  as  Nactigall  sup- 
posed; neither  is  the  prayer,  as  De  Wette 
imagines,  improperly  borrowed  from  some  other 
sources.  That  prayer  contains,  indeed,  not  only 
imagery  peculiar  to  itself,  but  also  such  imagery 
as  at  once  was  suggested  to  the  mind  of  a  pious 
Hebrew  preserved  in  circumstances  of  extreme 
jeopardy.  On  this  principle  we  account  for  the 
similarity  of  some  portions  of  its  phraseology  to 
Ps.  lix.,  xlii.,  &c.  The  language  in  both  places 
had  been  hallowed  by  frequent  usage,  and  had 
become  the  consecrated  idiom  of  a  distressed  and 
succoured  Israelite.  The  hymn  seems  to  have 
been  composed  after  his  deliverance,  and  the 
reason  why  his  deliverance  is  noted  after  the 
hymn  is  recorded  may  be  to  show  the  occasion 
of  its  composition. 

1.  JONATHAN  (God-yiven),  a  Levite  de- 
scended from  Gershom,  the  son  of  Moses,  not 
Manasseh,  as  in  our  common  copies,  an  interpo- 
lation made  (Judg.  xviii.  30)  in  order  to  save  the 
character  of  the  great  lawgiver  from  the  stain  of 
having  an  idolater  among  his  immediate  de- 
scendants. The  history  of  this  Jonathan  is  in- 
volved in  the  narrative  which  occupies  Judges 
xvii.,  xviii. ;  and  the  events  themselves  appear 
to  have  occurred  soon  after  the  death  of  Joshua, 
and  of  the  elders  who  outlived  him,  when  the 
government  was  in  a  most  unsettled  state. 

Jonathan,  who  was  resident  at  Bethlehem, 
lived  at  a  time  when  the  dues  of  the  sanctuary 
did  not  afford  a  livelihood  to  the  numerous  Le- 
vites  who  had  a  claim  upon  them ;  and  belonged 
to  a  tribe  destitute  of  the  landed  possessions 
which  gave  to  all  others  a  sufficient  maintenance. 
He,  therefore,  went  forth  to  seek  his  fortune.  In 
Mount  Ephraim  he  came  to  '  a  house  of  gods,' 
which  had  been  established  by  one  Micah,  who 
wanted  nothing  but  a  priest  to  make  his  esta- 
blishment complete  [Micah].  This  person  made 
Jonathan  what  was  manifestly  considered  the 
handsome  offer  of  engaging  hiai  as  his  priest  for 
his  victuals,  a  yearly  suit  of  clothes,  and  ten 
shekels  (twenty-five  shillings)  a  year  in  money. 
Here  he  lived  for  some  time,  till  the  Danite 
spies,  who  were  sent  by  their  tribe  to  explore  the 
north,  passed  this  way  and  formed  his  acquaint- 
ance. When,  not  long  after,  the  body  of  armed 
Danites  passed  the  same  way  when  going  to 
settle  near  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  the  spies 
mentioned  Micah's  establishment  to  them;  on 
which  they  went  and  took  away  not  only  *  the 
ephod,  the  teraphim,  and  the  graven  image,'  but 
the  priest  also,  that  they  might  set  up  the  same 
worship  in  the  place  of  which  they  were  going  to 
take  possession.  Micah  vainly  protested  against 
this  robbery ;  but  Jonathan  himself  was  glad  at 
the  improvement  in  his  prospects,  and  from  that 
time,  even  down  to  the  captivity,  he  and  his  de- 
scendants continued  to  be  priests  of  the  Danites 
in  the  town  of  Laish,  the  name  of  which  they 
changed  to  Dan. 

There  is  not  any  reason  to  suppose  that  this 
establishment,  whether  in  the  hands  of  Micah  or 
of  the  Danites,  involved  an  apostacy  from  Je- 
hovah. It  appears  rather  to  have  been  an  attempt 
to  localize  or  domesticate  His  presence,  under 
those  symbols  and  forms  of  service  which  were 
common  among   the   neighbouring  nations,    but 


JONATHAN 

were  forbidden  to  the  Hebrews.  The  offence 
here  was  twofold, — the  establishment  of  a  sacred 
ritual  different  from  the  only  one  which  the  law 
recognised,  and  the  worship  by  symbols,  naturally 
leading  to  idolatry,  with  the  ministration  of  one 
who  could  not  legally  be  a  priest,  but  only  a 
Levite,  and  under  circumstances  in  which  no 
Aaronic  priest  could  legally  have  officiated,  it 
is  more  than  likely  that  this  establishment  ^^as 
eventually  merged  in  that  of  the  golden  calf, 
which  Jeroboam  set  up  in  this  place,  his  choice 
of  which  may  very  possibly  have  been  deterniiued 
by  its  being  already  in  possession  of  '  a  hous«  of 
gods.' 

2.  JONATHAN,  eldest  son  of  Saul,  king  of 
Israel,  and  consequently  heir  apparent  of  the 
throne  which  David  was  destined  to  occupy 
(1  Sam.  xiv.  9 ;  1  Chron.  viii.  33;  ix.  39).  The 
war  with  the  Philistines,  which  occupied  the  early 
part  of  his  father's  reign,  afforded  Jonathan  more 
than  one  opportunity  of  displaying  the  chivalrous 
valour  and  the  princely  qualities  with  which  he 
was  endowed.  His  exploit  in  surprising  the  Phi- 
listine garrison  at  Michmash,  attended  only  by 
his  armour-bearer,  is  one  of  the  most  daring 
which  history  or  even  romance  records  (1  Sam. 
xiv.  1-14).  His  father  came  to  follow  up  this 
victory,  and  in  the  ensuing  pursuit  of  the  con- 
founded Philistines,  Jonathan,  spent  with  fatigue 
and  hunger,  refreshed  himself  with  some  wild 
honey  which  he  found  in  a  wood  through  which 
he  passed.  He  knew  not  that  his  father  had 
rashly  vowed  to  put  to  death  any  one  who  touched 
a  morsel  of  food  before  night.  When  the  fact 
transpired,  Saul  felt  himself  bound  to  execute  his 
vow  even  upon  his  gallant  son ;  but  the  people, 
with  whom  the  young  prince  was  a  great  fa- 
vourite, interposed  and  prevented  the  execution 
of  his  design  (1  Sam.  xiv.  16-52). 

Jealousy  and  every  mean  or  low  feeling  were 
strangers  to  the  generous  heart  of  Jonathan. 
Valiant  and  accomplished  himself,  none  knew 
better  how  to  acknowledge  valour  and  accom- 
plishment in  others.  The  act  of  David  in  meet- 
ing the  challenge  of  Goliath,  and  in  overcoming 
that  huge  barbarian,  entirely  won  his  heart ;  and 
from  that  day  forward  the  son  of  Jesse  found  no 
one  who  loved  him  so  tenderly,  who  admired  his 
high  gifts  with  so  much  enthusiasm,  or  who  risked 
so  much  to  preserve  him  from  harm,  as  the  very 
prince  whom  he  was  destined  to  exclude  from  a 
throne.  Jonathan  knew  well  what  was  to  happen, 
and  he  submitted  cheerfully  to  the  appointment 
which  gave  the  throne  of  his  father  to  the  young 
shepherd  of  Bethlehem.  In  the  intensity  of  his 
love  and  confidence  he  shrank  not  to  think  of 
David  as  his  destined  king  and  master ;  and  his 
dreams  of  the  future  pictured  nothing  brighter 
than  the  day  in  which  David  should  reign  over 
Israel,  and  he  be  one  with  him  in  friendship,  and 
next  to  him  in  place  and  council. 

When  Saul  began  to  hate  David  as  his  intended 
successor,  he  was  highly  displeased  at  the  friend- 
ship which  had  arisen  between  him  and  his  sou. 
This  exposed  Jonathan  to  much  contumely,  and 
even  to  danger  of  life ;  for,  once  at  least,  the 
king's  passion  against  him  on  this  account  rose  so 
high  that  he  cast  a  javelin  at  him  '  to  smite  him 
to  the  wall.' 

This  unequivocal  act  taught  Jonathan  that  the 
court  of  Saul  was  no  safe  place  for  David.    H« 


JOPPA 


JOPPA 


491 


823.   [Joppa.] 


told  him  so,  and  they  parted  with  many  tears. 
David  then  set  forth  upon  those  wanderings 
among  strangers  and  in  solitary  places,  which 
lasted  all  the  time  of  Saul.  The  friends  met  only 
once  more.  Saul  was  in  pursuit  of  David  when 
he  was  in  the  wilderness  of  Ziph ;  and  Jonathan 
could  not  forbear  coming  to  him  secretly  in  the 
wood  to  give  him  comfort  and  encouragement 
(1  Sam.  xxiii.  16-18).  Nothing  more  is  related 
of  Jonathan  till  both  he  and  his  father  lost  their 
lives  in  the  fatal  battle  of  Gilboa,  combating 
against  the  enemies  of  their  country. 

JOP'PA,  a  sea-port  town  and  haven  on  the 
coast  of  Palestine,  situated  on  an  eminence,  in  a 
sandy  soil,  about  forty  miles  N.W.  of  Jerusalem, 
and  nine  miles  W.N.W.  from  Ramleh.  It  was  a 
very  ancient  town.  To  say  nothing  respecting 
the  fabulous  accounts  of  its  great  antiquity,  it 
existed  when  the  Israelites  invaded  the  land  of 
Canaan,  and  is  mentioned  as  lying  on  the  bordee 
of  the  tribe  of  Dan  (Josh.  xix.  46).  Joppa  was 
the  only  port  possessed  by  the  Israelites  till  Herod 
formed  the  harbour  at  Ctesarea ;  and  hence  it  was 
here  that  the  timber  from  Lebanon  destined  for 
both  the  first  and  second  temples  was  landed 
(1  Kings  V.  9  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  16  ;  Ezra  iii,  7).  It 
was  the  place  to  which  Jonah  went,  in  expectation 
of  finding  a  ship  bound  on  some  distant  voyage, 
and  where  he  found  one  going  to  Tarshish  (Jonah 
i.  3).  Joppa  belonged  to  the  powers  which  were 
successively  dominant  on  this  shore  ;  and  it  does 
not  again  appear  in  Jewish  historj'  till  the  time  of 
Judas  Maccabaeus,  when  the  inhabitants  having, 
contrary  to  the  faith  of  treaties,  thrown  aoo  Jews 
into  the  sea,  the  hero,  to  avenge  them,  surprised 
the  haven  by  night,  and  set  the  shipping  on  fire 
(2  Mace.  xii.  3-7).  It  is  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  only  in  connection  with  the  visit  of 


the  Apostle  Peter,  who  here  raised  Tabitlia  from 
the  dead,  and  lodged  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town 
with  Simon,  the  tanner,  when  favoured  with  the 
vision  which  taught  him  to  '  call  no  man  common 
or  unclean '  (Acts  ix.  36-39;  x.  5,  18;  xi.  5). 
From  the  first  crusade  down  to  our  own  day, 
Joppa  has  been  the  landing-place  of  pilgrims 
going  to  Jerusalem.  There  is  still  here  an  hos- 
pital for  pilgrims,  dependent  on  the  convent  of 
St.,  Salvador  in  Jerusalem,  and  occupied  by 
Spanish  monks.  In  1797  the  place  was  taken  by 
storm  by  the  French  army  under  Napoleon,  and 
was  sacked  without  mercy;  when  the  Turkish 
prisoners,  to  the  number  of  500  or  600,  were 
carried  to  the  neighbouring  sand-hills  and  put  to 
death  by  his  order. 

Joppa  is  naturally  very  unfit  for  a  haven.  The 
port  is  so  dangerous,  from  exposure  to  the  open 
sea,  that  the  surf  often  rolls  in  with  the  utmost 
violence,  and  even  so  lately  as  1842  a  lieutenant 
and  some  sailors  were  lost  in  pulling  to  the  shore 
from  an  English  steamer  that  lay  in  the  harbour. 
But  however  bad,  it  was  the  only  port  which  ex- 
isted within  reach  of  the  important  district  whicii 
lay  behind  it  inland :  and  the  miserable  state  of 
the  ancient  roads,  or  rather  perhaps  the  absence 
of  any  roads,  made  a  near  harbour,  however  iu- 
commodious,  of  more  immediate  consequeuce  than 
a  good  one  at  a  greater  distance. 

The  town  is  approached  on  the  land  side 
through  rich  and  extensive  gardens  and  orchards, 
and  is  very  picturesquely  situated  upon  an  emi- 
nence or  promontory,  which  is  crowned  by  a 
castle.  It  chiefly  faces  the  north  ;  and  the  build- 
ings appear,  from  the  steepness  of  the  site,  as  if 
standing  upon  one  another.  The  aspect  of  the 
whole  is  mean  aud  gloomy,  and  inside  the  place 
has  all  the  appearance  of  a  poor  though  large 


492 


JORAM 


village.  There  are  no  public  buildings  to  engag'^ 
the  eye,  and  the  houses  are  mean  and  comfort- 
less. No  ancient  ruins  have  been  observed,  nor 
are  any  to  be  expected  in  a  place  so  often  de- 
stroyed in  war.  There  are  three  mosques  in 
Joppa,  and  Latin,  Greek,  and  Armenian  con- 
vents. The  former  is  that  in  which  European 
pilgrims  and  travellers  usually  lodge.  The  town 
still  enjoys  a  considerable  trade  with  the  neigh- 
bouring coasts.  Its  chief  manufacture  is  soap, 
which  is  largely  consumed  in  the  baths  of  Cairo 
and  Damascus  ;  and  its  excellent  fruits  are  ex- 
ported in  large  quantities,  especially  water-melons, 
which  are  very  extensively  cultivated  here  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  plain  of  Sharon.  The  in- 
habitauts  are  said  not  to  exceed  4000,  of  whom 
one-fourth  are  reckoned  to  be  Christians.  A 
British  consul  is  now  resident  in  the  place. 

JO'RAM  ( God-exalted,  a  contraction  of  Je- 
Horam),  ninth  king  of  Israel,  son  of  Ahab,  and 
successor  to  his  elder  brother  Ahaziah,  who  died 
childless.  He  began  to  reign  B.C.  89(J,  and  reigned 
twelve  years  (2  Kings  i.  17;  iii.  1).  Joram  ad- 
hered to  the  sinful  policy  of  Jeroboam  in  the 
matter  of  the  golden  calves ;  but,  although  his 
mother  Jezebel  was  still  alive,  he  discontinued 
the  dark  idolatries  of  Baal  which  she  had  intro- 
duced and  maintained  at  such  high  cost  of  guilt 
and  blood  to  the  nation. 

The  Moabites  had  been  tributary  to  the  crown 
of  Israel  since  the  separation  of  the  two  king- 
doms. But  king  Mesha  deemed  the  defeat  and 
death  of  Ahab  so  heavy  a  blow  to  the  power  of 
Israel  that  he  might  safely  assert  his  indepen- 
dence. He  accordingly  did  so,  by  withholding 
his  tribute  of  '  100,000  lambs,  and  100,000  rams, 
■with  the  wool.'  The  short  reign  of  Ahaziah  had 
afforded  no  opportunity  for  any  operations  against 
the  revolters  ;  but  the  new  king  hastened  to  re- 
duce them  again  under  the  yoke  they  had  cast 
off.  The  good  king  of  Judah,  Jehoshaphat,  was 
too  easily  induced  to  take  a  part  in  the  war. 
He  perhaps  feared  that  the  example  of  Moab, 
if  allowed  to  be  successful,  might  seduce  into  a 
similar  course  his  own  tributary,  the  king  of 
Edom,  whom  he  now  summoned  to  join  in  this 
expedition.  The  deliverance  of  the  allies  from 
perishing  for  lack  of  water,  and  the  signal  over- 
throw of  the  Moabites  at  the  word  of  Elisha,  have 
been  already  described  under  Elisha  and  Jeho- 
shaphat. 

After  this  a  more  redoubtable  enemy,  Benha- 
dad,  king  of  Syria,  occupied  for  a  long  time  the 
attention  and  strength  of  the  king.  In  the  sacred 
records  the  more  striking  events  of  this  war  seem 
to  be  recorded  for  the  sake  of  showing  forth  the 
great  acts  of  Elisha,  and  they  have  therefore 
been  related  under  his  name.  It  suffices  here_  to 
indicate  that  they  consisted  in  the  Syrian  king 
being  constrained  to  terminate  one  campaign  in 
consequence  of  all  his  plans  being  made  known 
by  the  prophet  to  the  king  of  Israel  (2  Kings  vi. 
1-23) ;  and  in  the  deliverance  of  Samaria,  ac- 
cording to  the  prediction  of  the  prophet,  from  a 
horrible  famine,  caused  by  the  city  being  besieged 
by  the  Syrians  (2  Kings  vi.  24-33 ;  vii.).  An 
interval  of  the  war  also  afforded  occasion  for  the 
remarkable  cure  of  Naaraan,  the  Syrian  leper, 
by  the  same  prophet  (2  Kings  v.)  [Naaman]. 

After  the  death  of  Benhadad,  Joram  found  a 
new  and  active  enemy  in  his  murderer  and  suo- 


JOSEPH 

cessor,  Hazaol.  During  the  illness  of  Benhadad, 
the  king  of  Israel  seems  to  have  employed  him- 
self in  strengthening  his  eastern  frontier  against 
the  Syrians,  and  in  fortifying  Kamoth-Gilead, 
which  had  fallen  into  his  hands,  and  which  his 
father  had  perished  in  the  attempt  to  recover  from 
the  Syrians.  This  strong  fortress  thenceforth  be- 
came the  head-quarters  of  the  operations  beyond 
the  river.  Hazael  was  scarcely  settled  on  the 
throne  before  he  took  arms,  and  marched  against 
Ramoth,  in  the  environs  of  which  the  Israelites 
sustained  a  defeat,  and  the  king  was  wounded. 
He  returned  to  Jezreel  to  be  healed  of  his  wounds, 
leaving  the  army  in  the  charge  of  Jehu,  one  of 
his  ablest  and  most  active  generals.  It  was  in 
this  interval  that  Jehu  was  anointed  king  of 
Israel  by  the  messenger  of  Elisha,  and  immedi- 
ately proceeded  to  Jezreel  to  fulfil  his  commission 
to  exterminate  the  house  of  Ahab.  The  king, 
who  AFent  forth  from  the  city  to  meet  him  when 
the  watchman  on  the  tower  of  Jezreel  announced 
his  approach,  was  slain  under  the  circumstances 
described  in  the  article  Jehu  ;  and  Ahaziah,  the 
king  of  Judah,  who  was  at  Jezi-eel  on  a  visit  to 
his  sick  cousin,  shared  his  fate  (b.c.  884).  With 
Joram  ended  the  dynasty  of  Ahab,  which  reigned 
forty-four  years  in  Israel  (2  Kings  viii.  25-29  ; 
ix.  1-20). 

JOR'DAN,  the  principal  river  of  Palestine. 
[Palestine.] 

JO'SEPH  (God-increased),  son  of  Jacob  and 
Rachel,  born  under  peculiar  circumstances,  as 
may  be  seen  in  Gen.  xxx.  22  ;  on  which  account, 
and  because  he  was  the  son  of  his  old  age  (xxxvii. 
3),  he  was  beloved  by  his  father  more  than  were 
the  rest  of  his  children,  though  Benjamin,  as  being 
also  a  son  of  Jacob's  favourite  wife,  Rachel,  was 
in  a  peculiar  manner  dear  to  the  patriarch.  The 
partiality  evinced  towards  Joseph  by  his  father 
excited  jealousy  on  the  part  of  his  brethren,  the 
rather  that  they  were  born  of  different  mothers 
(xxxvii.  2).  Joseph  had  reached  his  seventeenth 
year,  when  some  conduct  on  the  part  of  his 
brothers  seems  to  have  been  such  as  in  the 
opinion  of  Joseph  to  require  the  special  attention 
of  Jacob,  to  whom,  accordingly,  he  communi- 
cated the  facts.  This  greatly  increased  their  dis- 
like to  him,  and  they  henceforth  '  hated  him,  and 
could  not  speak  peaceably  unto  him '  (xxxvii.  4). 
Their  aversion,  however,  was  carried  to  the 
highest  pitch  when  Joseph  acquainted  them  with 
two  dreams,  which  appeared  to  indicate  that 
Joseph  would  acquire  pre-eminence  in  the  family, 
if  not  sovereignty ;  and  while  even  his  father  re- 
buked him,  his  brothers  were  filled  with  envy. 
Jacob,  however,  was  not  aware  of  the  depth  of 
their  ill  will ;  so  that  on  one  occasion,  having  a 
desire  to  hear  intelligence  of  his  sons,  who  were 
pasturing  their  flocks  at  a  distance,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  make  Joseph  his  messenger  for  that 
purpose.  His  appearing  in  view  of  his  brothers 
was  the  signal  for  their  malice  to  gain  head. 
They  began  to  devise  means  for  his  immediate 
destruction,  which  they  would  unhesitatingly 
have  effected,  but  for  his  half-brother,  Reuben, 
who,  as  the  eldest  son,  might  well  be  the  party 
to  interfere  on  behalf  of  Joseph.  A  compromise 
was  entered  into,  in  virtue  of  which  the  youth 
was  stripped  of  the  distinguishing  vestments 
which  he  owed  to  his  father's  affection,  and  cast 
into  a  pit.    Having  performed  this  evil  deed,  and 


JOSEPH 

while  they  were  taking  refreshment,  the  brothers 
beheld  a  caravan  of  Arabian  merchants,  ■who 
were  bearing  the  spices  and  aromatic  gums  of 
India  down  to  the  well-known  and  much-fre- 
quented mart,  Egypt.  On  the  proposal  of  Judah 
they  resolved  that,  instead  of  allowing  Joseph  to 
perish,  they  should  sell  him  to  the  mercliants. 
This  was  accordingly  done.  Joseph  was  sold  for 
a  slave,  to  be  conveyed  by  his  masters  into  Egypt. 
While  on  his  way  thither,  Reuben  retlirned  to  the 
pit,  intending  to  rescue  his  brother,  and  convey 
him  safely  back  to  their  father.  Joseph  was 
gone.  On  which  Reuben  went  to  the  wicked 
young  men,  who,  not  content  with  selling  a 
brother  into  slavery,  determined  to  punish  their 
father  for  his  partiality  towards  the  unoffending 
sufferer.  With  this  view  they  dipped  Josepli's 
party-coloured  garment  in  the  blood  of  a  kid  and 
sent  it  to  Jacob,  in  order  to  make  him  believe 
that  his  favourite  child  had  been  torn  to  pieces 
by  some  wild  beast.  The  trick  succeeded,  and 
Jacob  was  grieved  beyond  measure. 

Meanwhile  the  merchants  sold  Joseph  to  Poti- 
phar,  an  officer  of  Pharaoh's,  and  captain  of  the 
royal  guard,  who  was  a  native  of  the  country. 
In  Potiphar's  house  Joseph  enjoyed  the  highest 
confidence  and  the  largest  prosperity.  A  higher 
power  watched  over  him ;  and  whatever  he  un- 
dertook succeeded,  till  at  length  his  master  gave 
everything  into  his  hands.  But  a  second  time  he 
innocently  brought  on  himself  the  vengeance  of 
the  ill-disposed.  Charged  by  his  master's  wife 
with  the  very  crime  to  which  he  had  in  vain  been 
tempted,  he  was  at  once  cast  by  his  master  into 
the  state  prison. 

The  narrative,  which  is  obviously  constructed 
in  order  to  show  the  workings  of  divine  Provi- 
dence, states,  however,  that  Joseph  was  not  left 
without  special  aid,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
gained  favour  with  the  keeper  of  the  prison  to 
such  an  extent  that  every  thing  was  put  under 
his  direction.  Two  of  the  regal  officers,  '  the 
chief  of  the  butlers '  and '  the  chief  of  the  bakers,' 
having  offended  their  royal  master,  were  con- 
signed to  the  same  prison  with  Joseph.  While 
I  there,  each  one  had  a  dream,  which  Joseph  inter- 
preted correctly.  The  butler,  whose  fate  was 
auspicious,  promised  the  young  Hebrew  to  em- 
ploy his  influence  to  procure  his  deliverance ;  but 
when  again  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  '  butlership,' 
'  he  forgat '  Joseph  (xl.).  Pharaoh  himself,  how- 
ever, had  two  dreams,  which  found  in  Joseph  a 
successful  expounder ;  for  the  butler  then  remem- 
bered the  skill  of  his  prison-companion,  and  ad- 
vised his  royal  master  to  put  it  to  the  test  in  his 
own  case.  Pharaoh's  dream,  as  interpreted  by 
Joseph,  foreboded  the  approach  of  a  seven  years' 
famine ;  to  abate  the  evils  of  which  Joseph  re- 
commended that  some  '  discreet  and  wise  '  man 
should  be  chosen  and  set  in  full  power  over  the 
land  of  Egypt.  The  monarch  was  alarmed,  and 
called  a  council  of  his  advisers.  The  wisdom  of 
Joseph  was  recognised  as  of  divine  origin  and 
superemiuent  value ;  and  the  king  and  his  mi- 
nisters (whence  it  appears  that  the  Egyptian 
monarchy — at  Memphis — was  not  despotic,  but 
constitutional)  resolved  that  Joseph  should  be 
made  (to  borrow  a  term  from  Rome)  Dictator  in 
the  approaching  time  of  need.  The  highest  ho- 
nours were  conferred  upon  him.  He  was  made 
ruler   over    all   the   land  of   Egypt,   and  the 


JOSEPH 


493 


daughter  of  Poti-pherah,  priest  of  On,  given  him 
to  wife. 

Seven  years  of  abundance  afforded  Joseph  op- 
portunity to  carry  into  effect  such  plans  as  secured 
an  ample  provision  against  the  seven  years  of 
need.  The  famine  came,  but  it  found  a  prepared 
people.  The  visitation  did  not  depend  on  any 
mere  local  causes,  for  '  the  famine  was  over  all 
the  face  of  the  earth ;'  '  and  all  countries  came 
into  Egypt  to  Joseph  to  buy  com'  (ver.  56,  57). 
Among  these  customers  appeared  ten  brethren, 
sons  of  the  Hebrew  Jacob.  They  had  of  necessity 
to  appear  before  Joseph,  whose  licence  for  the 
purchase  of  corn  was  indispensable.  Joseph  had 
probably  expected  to  see  them,  and  he  seems  to 
have  formed  a  deliberate  plan  of  action.  His 
conduct  has  brought  on  him  the  always  ready 
charges  of  those  who  would  rather  impeach  than 
study  the  Bible,  and  even  friends  of  that  sacred 
book  have  hardly  in  this  case  done  Joseph  full 
justice.  Joseph's  main  object  appears  to  have 
been  to  make  his  brothers  feel  and  recognise  their 
guilt  in  their  conduct  towards  him.  For  this 
purpose  suffering,  then  as  well  as  now,  was  in- 
dispensable. Accordingly  Joseph  feigned  not  to 
know  his  brothers,  charged  them  with  being  spies, 
threatened  them  with  imprisonment,  and  allowed 
them  to  returQ  home  to  fetch  their  younger  bro- 
ther, as  a  proof  of  their  veracity,  only  on  condition 
that  one  of  them  should  remain  behind  in  chains, 
with  a  prospect  of  death  before  him  should  not 
their  words  be  verified.  Then  it  was,  and  not 
before,  that  '  they  said  one  to  another,  We  are 
verily  guilty  concerning  our  brother,  in  that  we 
saw  the  anguish  of  his  soul  and  would  not  hear ; 
therefore  is  this  distress  come  upon  us'  (xliii.  21). 
On  which,  after  weeping  bitterly,  he  by  common 
agreement  bound  his  brother  Simeon,  and  left 
him  in  custody.  At  length  Jacob  consented  to 
Benjamin's  going  in  company  with  his  brothers, 
and  provided  with  a  present  consisting  of  balm, 
honey,  spices  and  myrrh,  nuts  and  almonds,  and 
with  double  money  in  their  hands  (double,  in 
order  that  they  might  repay  the  sum  which  Jo- 
seph had  caused  to  be  put  into  each  man's  sack 
at  their  departure,  if,  as  Jacob  supposed,  '  it  was 
an  oversight '),  they  went  again  down  to  Egypt 
and  stood  before  Joseph  (xliii.  15);  and  there, 
too,  stood  Benjamin,  Joseph's  beloved  brother. 
The  i-equired  pledge  of  truthfulness  was  given. 
If  it  is  asked  why  such  a  pledge  was  demanded, 
since  the  giving  of  it  caused  pain  to  Jacob,  the 
answer  may  be  thus :  Joseph  knew  not  how  to 
demean  himself  towards  his  family  until  he  as- 
certained its  actual  condition.  That  knowledge 
he  could  hardly  be  certain  he  had  gained  from 
the  mere  words  of  men  who  had  spared  his  life 
only  to  sell  him  into  slavery.  How  had  these 
wicked  men  behaved  towards  his  venerable 
father  ?  His  beloved  brother  Benjamin,  was  he 
safe  ?  or  had  he  suffered  from  their  jealousy  and 
malice  the  worse  fate  with  which  he  himself  had 
been  threatened?  Nothing  but  the  sight  of  Ben- 
jamin could  answer  these  questions,  and  resolve 
these  doubts. 

Benjamin  had  come,  and  immediately  a  natural 
change  took  place  in  Joseph's  conduct :  the  bro- 
ther began  to  claim  his  rights  in  Joseph's  bosom. 
Jacob  was  safe,  and  Benjamin  was  safe.  Joseph's 
heart  melted  at  the  sight  of  Benjamm  :  '  And  he 
said  to  the  ruler  of  his  house,  Brmg  these  men 


494 


JOSEPH 


home,  and  slay  and  make  ready,  for  these  men 
shall  dine  with  me  at  noou'  (xliii.  16).  But 
guilt  is  always  the  ready  parent  of  fear.  Ac- 
cordingly the  brothers  expected  nothing  but  being 
reduced  to  slavery.  When  taken  to  their  own 
brother's  house,  they  imagined  they  were  being 
entrapped.  A  colloquy  ensued  between  them  and 
Joseph's  steward,  whence  it  appeared  that  the 
money  put  into  their  sacks,  to  which  they  now 
attributed  their  peril,  was  in  truth  a  present  from 
Joseph,  designed,  after  his  own  brotherly  manner, 
to  aid  his  family  in  their  actual  necessities.  Noon 
came,  and  with  it  Joseph,  whose  first  question 
regarded  home :  '  He  asked  them  of  their  welfare, 
and  said,  Is  your  father  well,  the  old  man  of 
whom  ye  spake  ?  is  he  yet  alive  ?  And  he  lifted 
up  his  eyes  and  saw  his  brother  Benjamin,  his 
mother's  son,  and  said.  Is  this  your  younger 
brother?  And  he  said,  God  be  gracious  unto 
thee,  my  son  ! '  '  And  Joseph  made  haste,  for 
his  bowels  did  yearn  upon  his  brother,  and  he 
sought  where  to  weep,  and  he  entered  into  his 
chamber  and  wept  there.'  Does  this  look  like 
harshness  ? 

The  connection  brings  into  view  an  Egyptian 
custom,  which  is  of  more  than  ordinary  import- 
ance, in  consequence  of  its  being  adopted  in  the 
Jewish  polity  ;  '  And  they  set  on  (food)  for  him 
by  himself  (Joseph),  and  for  them  by  themselves 
(the  brethren),  and  for  the  Egyptians  which  did 
eat  with  them,  by  themselves ;  because  the  Egyp- 
tians might  not  eat  bread  with  the  Hebrews ;  for 
that  is  an  abomination  with  the  Egyptians'  (ver. 
32).  This  passage  is  also  interesting,  as  proving 
that  Joseph  had  not,  in  his  princely  grandeur, 
become  ashamed  of  his  origin,  nor  consented  to 
receive  adoption  into  a  strange  nation :  he  was 
still  a  Hebrew,  waiting,  like  Moses  after  him,  for 
the  proper  season  to  use  his  po^yer  for  the  good  of 
his  own  people. 

Joseph,  apparently  with  a  view  to  ascertain  how 
far  his  brethren  were  faithfiil  to  their  father,  hit 
upon  a  plan  which  would  in  its  issue  serve  to 
show  whether  they  would  make  any,  and  what, 
sacrifice,  in  order  to  fulfil  their  solemn  promise 
of  restoring  Benjamin  in  safety  to  Jacob.  Ac- 
cordingly he  ordered  not  only  that  every  man's 
money  (as  before)  should  be  put  in  his  sack's 
mouth,  but  also  that  his  '  silver  cup  in  which  my 
lord  drinketh,  and  whereby  he  divineth,'  should 
be  put  in  the  sack's  mouth  of  the  youngest.  The 
bretlnen  departed,  but  were  soon  overtaken  by 
Joseph's  steward,  who  charged  them  with  having 
surreptitiously  carried  off  this  costly  and  highly- 
valued  vessel.  They  on  their  part  vehemently 
repelled  the  accusation,  adding,  '  with  whomso- 
ever of  thy  servants  it  be  found,  both  let  him 
die,  and  we  also  will  be  my  lord's  bondmen.'  A 
search  was  made,  and  the  cup  was  found  in  Ben- 
jamin's sack.  Accordingly  they  returned  to  the 
city.  And  now  came  the  hour  of  trial :  Would 
they  purchase  their  own  liberation  by  surrender- 
ing Benjamin  ?  After  a  most  touching  interview, 
in  which  they  proved  themselves  worthy  and 
faithful,  Joseph  declared  himself  unable  any 
longer  to  withstand  the  appeal  of  natural  affec- 
tion. On  this  occasion  judah,  who  was  the 
spokesman,  showed  the  deepest  regard  to  his 
aged  father's  feelings,  and  entreated  for  the  libe- 
ration of  Benjamin  even  at  the  price  of  his  own 
liberty.    In  the  whole  of  literature  we  know  of 


JOSEPH 

nothing  more    simple,    natural,  true,   and  im- 
pressive. 

Most  natural  and  impressive  is  the  scene  also 
which  ensues,  in  which  Joseph,  after  informing 
his  brethren  who  he  was,  and  inquiring,  first  of 
all,  '  Is  my  father  alive  ?'  expresses  feelings  free 
from  the  slightest  taint  of  revenge,  and  even  shows 
how,  under  Divine  Providence,  the  conduct  of  his 
brothers  had  issued  in  good — '  God  sent  me  before 
you  to  preserve  a  posterity  in  the  earth,  and  to 
save  your  lives  by  a  great  deliverance.'  Five 
years  had  yet  to  ensue  in  which  '  there  would 
be  neither  earing  nor  harvest ;'  and  therefore  the 
brethren  were  directed  to  return  home  and  bring 
Jacob  down  to  Egypt  with  all  speed.  '  And  he 
fell  upon  his  brother  Benjamin's  neck  and  wept ; 
and  Benjamin  wept  upon  his  neck.  Moreover, 
he  kissed  all  his  brethren,  and  wept  upon  them ; 
and  after  that  bis  brethren  talked  with  him' 
(xhr.  14,  15). 

The  news  of  these  striking  events  was  carried 
to  Pharaoh,  who  being  pleased  at  Joseph's  con- 
duct, gave  directions  that  Jacob  and  his  family 
should  come  forthwith  into  Egypt.  The  brethren 
departed,  being  well  provided  for — '  And  to  his 
father  Joseph  sent  ten  asses  laden  with  the  good 
things  of  Egypt,  and  ten  she  asses  laden  with 
com  and  bread  and  meat  for  his  father  by  the 
way.' 

'The  intelligence  which  they  bore  to  their 
father  was  of  such  a  nature  that  '  Jacob's  heart 
fainted,  for  he  believed  them  not.'  When,  how- 
ever, he  had  recovered  from  the  thus  naturally 
told  effects  of  his  surprise,  the  venerable  patri- 
arch said,  '  Enough ;  Joseph  my  son  is  yet 
alive :  I  will  go  and  see  him  before  I  die '  (xlv. 
26,  28). 

Accordingly  Jacob  and  his  family,  to  the 
number  of  threescore  and  ten  souls,  went  down 
to  Egypt,  and  by  the  express  efforts  of  Joseph, 
were  allowed  to  settle  in  the  district  of  Goshen, 
where  Joseph  met  his  father:  '  And  he  fell  on 
his  neck,  and  wept  on  his  neck  a  good  while.' 
There  Joseph  '  nourished  his  father  and  his 
brethren,  and  all  his  father's  household,  with 
bread,  according  to  their  families'  (xlvii.  12). 

Meanwhile  the  predicted  famine  was  pauper- 
izing Egjpt.  The  inhabitants  found  their  money 
exhausted,  and  their  cattle  and  substance  all  gone, 
being  parted  with  in  order  to  purchase  food  from 
the  public  granaries,  until  at  length  they  had 
nothing  to  give  in  return  for  sustenance  but  them- 
selves. 'Buy  us' — they  then  imploringly  said 
to  Joseph — '  and  our  land  for  bread,  and  we  and 
our  laud  will  be  slaves  unto  Pharaoh.'  '  And 
Joseph  bought  all  the  land  of  Egypt  for  Pharaoh, 
so  the  land  became  Pharaoh's.'  "The  people  too, 
'  Joseph  removed  to  cities  from  one  end  of  the 
borders  of  the  land  to  the  other  end.'  Religion, 
however,  was  too  strong  to  submit  to  these  politi- 
cal and  social  changes,  and  so  the  priests  still 
retained  their  land,  being  supplied  with  provi- 
sions out  of  the  common  store  gratuitously.  The 
land,  which  was  previously  the  people's  own,  was 
now  let  to  them  on  a  tenancy,  at  the  rent  of  one- 
fifth  of  the  produce :  the  land  of  the  priests  being 
exempted. 

Joseph  had  now  to  pass  through  the  mournful 
scenes  which  attend  on  the  death  and  burial  of  a 
father.  Having  had  Jacob  embalmed,  and  seen 
the  rites  of  mourning  fully  observed,  the  faithfiil 


JOSEPH 

and  affectionate  son  proceeded  into  the  land  of 
Canaan,  in  order,  agreeably  to  a  promise  which 
the  patriarch  had  exacted,  to  lay  the  old  man's 
bones  with  those  of  his  fathers,  in  '  the  field  of 
Ephron  the  Hittite.'  Having  performed  with  long 
and  bitter  mourning  Jacob's  funeral  rites,  Joseph 
returned  into  Egypt.  The  last  recorded  act  of 
his  life  forms  a  most  becoming  close.  After  the 
death  of  their  father,  his  brethren,  unable,  like 
all  guilty  people,  to  forget  their  criminality,  and 
characteristically  finding  it  difficult  to  think  that 
Joseph  had  really  forgiven  them,  grew  afraid,  now 
they  were  in  his  power,  that  he  would  take  an 
opportunity  of  inflicting  some  punishment  on 
them.  They  accordingly  go  into  his  presence, 
and,  in  imploring  terms  and  an  abject  manner, 
entreat  his  forgiveness.  '  Fear  not ' — this  is  his 
noble  reply — 'I  will  nourish  you  and  your  little 
ones.' 

Joseph  lived  an  hundred  and  ten  years,  kind 
and  gentle  in  his  affections  to  the  last ;  for  we  are 
told,  'The  children  of  Machir,  the  son  of  Ma- 
nasseh,  were  brought  up  upon  Joseph's  knees' 
(1.  23).  And  so  having  obtained  a  promise  from 
his  brethren,  that  when  the  time  came,  as  he 
assured  them  it  would  come,  that  God  should 
visit  them,  and  '  bring  them  unto  the  land  which 
he  sware  to  Abraham,  to  Isaac,  and  to  Jacob,' 
they  would  carry  up  his  bones  out  of  Egypt, 
Joseph  at  length  '  died,  and  they  embalmed  him, 
and  he  was  put  in  a  coffin '  (1.  26).  This  pro- 
mise was  religiously  fulfilled.  His  descendants, 
after  carrying  tlie  corpse  about  with  them  in  their 
wanderings,  at  length  put  it  in  its  final  resting- 
place  in  Shechem,  in  a  parcel  of  ground  that 
Jacob  bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor,  which  became 
the  inheritance  of  the  children  of  Joseph  (Josh. 
xxiv.  32). 

By  his  Egyptian  wife,  Asenath,  daughter  of  the 
high  priest  of  Heliopolis,  Joseph  had  two  sons, 
IManasseh  and  Ephraim  (Gen.  xli.  50,  sq.),  whom 
Jacob  adopted  (Gen.  xlviii.  5),  and  who  accord- 
ingly took  their  place  among  the  heads  of  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 

JOSEPH,  'the  husband  of  Mary,  of  whom 
was  born  Jesus,  who  is  called  Christ '  (Matt.  i. 
Iti).  By  Matthew  he  is  said  to  have  been  the 
son  of  Jacob,  whose  lineage  is  traced  by  the  same 
writer  through  David  up  to  Abraham.  Luke  re- 
presents him  as  being  the  son  of  Heli,  and  traces 
his  origin  up  to  Adam.  How  these  accounts  are 
to  be  reconciled,  is  shown  under  Genealogy. 

The  statements  of  Holy  Writ  in  regard  to 
Joseph  are  few  and  simple.  According  to  a 
custom  among  the  Jews,  traces  of  which  are  still 
found,  Joseph  had  pledged  his  faith  to  Mary ; 
but  before  the  marriage  was  consummated  she 
proved  to  be  with  child.  Grieved  at  this,  Joseph 
was  disposed  to  break  off  the  connection ;  but, 
not  wishing  to  make  a  public  example  of  one 
■whom  he  loved,  he  contemplated  a  private  dis- 
ruption of  their  bond.  From  this  step,  however, 
he  is  deterred  by  a  heavenly  messenger,  who 
assures  him  that  Mary  has  conceived  under  a 
divine  influence.  '  And  she  shall  bring  forth  a 
son,  and  thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus ;  for  he 
shall  save  his  people  from  their  sins'  (Matt.  i. 
18,  sq. ;  Luke  i.  27).  To  this  account  various 
objections  have  been  taken ;  but  most  of  them 
are  drawn  from  the  ground  of  a  narrow,  short- 
sighted, and  half-informed  rationalism,   which 


JOSEPH  495 

judges  everything  by  its  own  small  standard,  and 
either  denies  miracles  altogether,  or  admits  only 
such  miracles  as  find  favour  in  its  sight. 

Joseph  was  by  trade  a  carpenter,  in  which 
business  he  probably  educated  Jesus  (Matt.  xiii. 
55 ;  Mark  vi.  3).  The  word  rendered  '  carpenter' 
is  of  a  general  character,  and  may  be  fitly  ren- 
dered by  the  English  word  '  artificer '  or  '  arti- 
zan.'  Schleusner  asserts  that  the  universal  testi- 
mony of  the  ancient  church  represents  our  Lord 
as  being  a  carpenter's  son.  Hilariiis,  on  Mat- 
thew, asserts,  in  terms  which  cannot  be  mistaken, 
that  Jesus  was  a  smith.  Of  the  same  opinion  , 
was  the  venerable  Bede ;  while  others  have  held  '' 
that  our  Lord  was  a  mason,  and  Cardinal  Ca- 
jetan,  that  he  was  a  goldsmith.  The  last  notion 
probably  had  its  origin  in  those  false  associations 
of  more  modern  times  which  disparage  haud- 
iubuur.  Among  the  ancient  Jews  all  handi- 
crafts were  held  in  so  much  honour,  that  they 
were  learned  and  pursued  by  the  first  men  of  the 
nation. 

Christian  tradition  makes  Joseph  an  old  man 
when  first  espoused  to  Mary,  being  no  less  than 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  father  of  four  sons  and 
two  daughters.  The  painters  of  Christian  anti- 
quity conspire  with  the  writers  in  representing 
Joseph  as  an  old  man  at  the  period  of  the  birth 
of  our  Lord — an  evidence  which  is  not  to  be 
lightly  rejected,  though  the  precise  age  men- 
tioned may  be  but  an  approximation  to  fact. 

It  is  not  easy  to  determine  when  Joseph  died, 
but  it  has  been  alleged,  with  great  probability, 
that  he  must  have  been  dead  before  the  cru- 
cifixion of  Jesus.     There  being  no  notice   of 
Joseph  in  the  public  life   of  Christ,  nor  any 
reference  to  him  in  the  discourses  and  history, 
while  '  Mary  '   and   '  His  brethren  '   not  unfre- 
quently  appear,  these  circumstances  afford  evi-    | 
deuce  not  only  of  Joseph's  death,   but  of  the    j 
inferior  part  which,  as  legal  father  only  of  our    i 
Lord,  Joseph  might  have  been  expected  to  sus-    j 
tain.     So  far  as  our  scanty  materials  enable  us    i 
to  form  an  opinion,  Joseph  appears  to  have  been    j 
a  good,  kind,  simple-minded  man,  who,  while  he    [ 
aftorded   aid  in    protecting   and   sustaining  the    ! 
family,  would  leave  Mary  unrestrained  to  use  ail    j 
the  impressive   and  formative  influence  of  her    i 
gentle,  affectionate,  pious,  and  thoughtful  soul.        \ 

JOSEPH  OF  ARIMATHEA.  The  name  | 
Arimathea  denotes  probably  the  place  where  i 
Joseph  was  born,  not  that  where  he  resided,  j 
[Arimathea.]  ! 

Joseph  was  a  secret  disciple  of  Jesus — 'an  j 
honourable  counsellor,  who  waited  for  the  king-  i 
dom  of  God '  (Mark  xv.  43),  and  who,  on  learn-  j 
ing  the  death  of  our  Lord,  'came  and  went  in  ! 
boldly  unto  Pilate,  and  craved  the  body  of  Jesus.'  j 
Pilate  having  learned  from  the  centurion,  who  i 
commanded  at  the  execution,  that  Jesus  '  was  ac-  j 
tually  dead,'  gave  the  body  to  Joseph,  who  took  j 
it  down  and  wrapped  his  deceased  Lord  in  fine  I 
linen  which  he  had  purchased  for  the  purpose;  . 
after  which  he  laid  the  corpse  in  a  sepulchre  , 
which  was  hewn  out  of  a  rock,  and  rolled  a  stone  j 
unto  the  door  of  the  sepulchre  (Mark  xv.  43,  | 
sq.).  From  the  parallel  passages  in  Matthew  | 
(xxvii.  58,  sq.),  Luke  (xxiii.  50,  seq.)  and  John 
(xix.  38,  seq.),  it  appears  that  the  body  was  pre-  j 
viously  embalmed  at  the  cost  of  another  secret  j 
disciple,  Nicodemus,  and  that  the  sepulchre  was 


496 


JOSHUA 


new,  '  wherein  never  man  before  was  laid ;'  also 
that  it  lay  in  a  garden,  and  was  the  property  of 
Joseph  himself.  This  garden  was  '  in  the  place 
where  Jesus  was  crucified.'  Luke  describes  the 
character  of  Joseph  as  '  a  good  man  and  a  just,' 
adding,  that '  he  had  not  consented  to  the  counsel 
and  deed  of  them,'  r.  e.  of  the  Jewish  authorities. 
From  this  remark  it  is  clear  that  Joseph  was  a 
member  of  the  Sanhedrim :  a  conclusion  which  is 
corroborated  by  the  epithet '  counsellor,'  applied 
to  him.  by  both  Luke  and  Mark.  Tradition  re- 
presents Joseph  as  having  been  one  of  the  Seventy, 
and  as  having  first  preached  the  Gospel  in  our 
own  country. 

JOSEPH  CALLED  BARSABAS  was  one  of 
the  two  persons  whom  the  primitive  church,  im- 
mediately after  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  nomi- 
nated, praying  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  show 
which  of  them  should  enter  the  apostolic  band 
in  place  of  the  wretched  Judas.  On  the  lots 
being  cast,  it  proved  that  not  Joseph,  but  Mat- 
thias, was  chosen. 

Joseph  bore  the  honourable  surname  of  Justus, 
which  was  not  improbably  given  him  on  account 
of  his  well-known  probity.  He  was  one  of  those 
who  had  '  companied  with  the  Apostles  all  the 
time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out  amongst 
them,  beginning  from  the  baptism  of  John,'  until 
the  ascension  (Acts  i.  15,  sq.).  Tradition  also 
accounted  him  one  of  the  Seventy. 

1.  JO'SES,  son  of  Mary  and  Cleopas,  and  bro- 
ther of  James  the  Less,  of  Simon  and  of  Jude, 
and,  consequently,  one  of  those  who  are  called  the 
'  brethren '  of  our  Lord  (Matt.  xiii.  .55  ;  xxvii.  56  ; 
Mark  vi.  3 ;  xv.  40,  47).  [James  ;  Jude.]  He 
was  the  only  one  of  these  brethren  who  was  not 
an  apostle — a  circumstance  which  has  given  occa- 
sion to  some  unsatisfactory  conjecture.  It  is  per- 
liaps  more  remarkable  that  three  of  them  were 
apostles  thaii  that  the  fourth  was  not. 

2.  JOSES  [Barnabas]. 

JOSH'UA.  This  is  the  name  of  four  persons 
in  the  Old  Testament,  and  means  whose  salvation 
is  Jehovah.  The  most  distinguished  of  the  four 
persons  so  called,  who  occur  in  the  Old  Testament, 
is  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 
the  assistant  and  successor  of  Moses.  His  name 
was  originally  Oshea,  salvation  (Num.  xiii.  8) ; 
and  it  seems  that  the  subsequent  alteration  of  it 
by  Moses  (Nnm.  xiii.  16)  was  significant,  and 
proceeded  on  the  same  principle  as  that  of  Abram 
into  Abraham  (Gen.  xvii.  5),  and  of  Sarai  into 
Sarah  (Gen.  xvii.  15). 

In  the  Bible  Joshua  is  first  mentioned  as  being 
the  victorious  commander  of  the  Israelites  in  their 
battle  against  the  Amalekites  atRephidim(Exod. 
xvii.  8-16).  He  distinguished  himself  by  his 
courage  and  intelligence  during  and  after  the  ex- 
ploration of  the  land  of  Canaan,  on  which  occa- 
sion he  represented  his  tribe,  which  was  that  of 
Ephraim  (Num.  xiii.,  xiv.).  Moses,  with  the 
divine  sanction,  appointed  him  to  command  the 
Israelites,  even  during  his  own  lifetime  (Num. 
xxvii.  18-23 ;  Deut.  iii.  28 ;  xxxi.  23).  After  the 
death  of  Moses  he  led  the  Israelites  over  the 
Jordan,  fortified  a  camp  at  Gilgal  (Josh.  ix.  C ; 
X.  6-43),  conquered  the  southern  and  middle  por- 
tions of  Canaan  (vi.-x.),  and  also  some  of  the 
northern  districts  (ix.).  But  the  hostile  nations, 
although  subdued,  were  not  entirely  driven  out 
and  destroyed  (xiii.;  xxiii.  13;  Judg.  i.  27-35). 


JOSHUA 

In  the  seventh  year  after  entering  the  land,  it  was 
distributed  among  the  various  tribes,  which  then 
commenced  individually  to  complete  the  conquest 
by  separate  warfare  (xv.  13,  sq. ;  xvi.  10;  xvii, 
12,  sq.).  Joshua  died  110  years  old  (b.c.  1427\ 
and  was  buried  at  Timnath-serah  (Josh,  xxiv.), 
on  Mount  Ephraim. 

There  occur  some  vestiges  of  the  deeds  of 
Joshua  in  other  historians  besides  those  of  the 
Bible,  Procopius  mentions  a  Phceniciau  inscrip- 
tion near  the  city  of  Tingis  in  Mauritania,  the 
sense  of  which  Mas  : — '  We  are  those  who  fled  be- 
fore the  face  of  Joshua  the  robber,  the  son  of  Nun.' 

The  book  of  Joshua  is  so  called  from  the  per- 
sonage who  occupies  the  principal  place  in  the 
narration  of  events  contained  therein,  and  may  be 
considered  as  a  continuation  of  the  Pentateuch. 
The  Pentateuch,  and  especially  Deuteronomy,  are 
repeatedly  referred  to  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  the 
narration  of  which  begins  with  the  death  of 
Moses  and  extends  to  the  death  of  Joshua,  em- 
bracing a  chronological  period  of  somewhat  less 
than  thirty  years.  The  subject  of  the  book  is  thus 
briefly  stated  iu  ch.  i.  5,  6 :  '  There  shall  not  any 
man  be  able  to  stand  before  thee  all  the  days  of 
thy  life.  As  I  was  with  Moses,  so  I  will  be  with 
thee :  I  will  not  fail  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.  Be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage  ;  for  unto  this  people 
shalt  thou  divide  for  an  inheritance  the  land 
which  I  sware  unto  their  fathers  to  give  them.' 
In  these  two  verses  is  also  indicated  the  division 
of  the  book  into  two  principal  portions,  with 
reference  to  the  conquest  and  the  distribution  of 
the  land  of  Canaan.  The  conquest  is  narrated  in 
the  first  twelve,  and  the  distribution  in  the  follow- 
ing ten  chapters.  In  the  last  two  chapters  are 
subjoined  the  events  subsequent  to  the  distribution 
up  to  the  death  of  Joshua.  The  history  of  the 
conquest  of  Canaan  is  a  series  of  miracles,  than 
which  none  more  remarkable  are  recorded  in  any 
part  of  sacred  history.  The  passage  into  the  Pro- 
mised Land,  as  well  as  that  out  of  Egypt,  was 
through  water.  Jericho  was  taken  not  by  might, 
but  by  the  falling  of  the  walls  on  the  blast  of  the 
trumpets  of  seven  priests  ;  and  in  the  war  against 
Gibeon  the  day  was  prolonged  to  afi'ord  time  for 
the  completion  of  the  victory. 

It  is  generally  granted  that  the  first  twelve 
chapters  form  a  continuous  whole  :  although  the 
autiior,  in  ch.  x.  13,  refers  to  another  work,  he 
not  merely  transcribes  but  intimately  combines 
the  quotation  with  the  tenor  of  his  narration.  It 
is  certain  that  there  sometimes  occur  episodes 
which  seem  to  interrupt  the  chronological  con- 
nection, as  for  instance  the  portion  intervening 
between  chs.  i.,  ii.,  and  iii.  1.  But  it  belongs  to 
the  nature  of  detailed  historical  works  to  contain 
such  episodes. 

The  whole  tenor  of  the  first  twelve  chapters 
bespeaks  an  eye-witness  who  bore  some  part  in 
the  transactions— a  fact  proved  not  merely  by  such 
expressions  as  '  ave  passed  over,'  in  ch.  v.  1,  but 
especially  by  the  circumstantial  vividness  of  the 
narrative,  which  clearly  indicates  that  the  writer 
was  an  eye-witness. 

The  statement  that  the  monuments  which  he 
erected  were  extant  to  this  day,  indicates  that 
Joshua  did  not  promulgate  the  book  immediately 
after  the  events  narrated  (comp.  iv.  9;  vii.  26: 
viii.  28,  29  ;  x.  27).  The  book,  however,  could 
not  have  been  written  very  long  after  the  time  of 


JOSHUA 


JOSIAH 


497 


Joshua,  because  we  find  that  Rahab  was  still  alive 
when  it  was  composed  (vi.  29).  The  section  from 
chapter  xiii.  to  xxii.  inclusive,  which  contains  an 
account  of  the  distribution  of  the  land,  seems  to 
be  based  upon  written  documents,  in  which  the 
property  was  accurately  described.  That  this 
was  the  case  is  likely  not  merely  on  account  of 
the  peculiar  nature  of  the  diplomatic  contents  by 
which  this  '  Doomsday  Book '  is  distinguished 
from  the  preceding  part  of  Joshua,  but  also  on 
account  of  the  statement  in  chapter  xviii.  4,  where 
Joshua  says  to  the  children  of  Israel,  '  Give  out 
from  among  you  three  men  from  each  tribe :  and 
I  will  send  them,  and  they  shall  rise,  and  go 
through  the  land,  and  describe  it  according  to  the 
inheritance  of  them ;  and  they  shall  come  again 
to  me.'  Compare  ver.  6,  '  Ye  therefore  shall  de- 
scribe the  land  into  seven  parts.'  Compare  also 
verses  8  and  9,  '  And  the  men  arose  and  went 
away ;  and  Joshua  charged  them  that  went  to 
describe  the  land,  saying.  Go,  and  walk  through 
the  land,  and  describe  it,  and  come  again  to  me, 
that  I  may  here  cast  lots  for  you  before  the  Lord 
in  Shiloh.  And  the  men  went  and  passed  through 
the  land,  and  described  it  by  cities  into  seven 
parts  in  a  book,  and  came  again  to  Joshua  to  the 
host  at  Shiloh.' 

The  author  of  the  book  of  Joshua  frequently 
repeats  the  statements  of  the  Pentateuch  iu  a  more 
detailed  form,  and  mentions  the  changes  which 
had  taken  place  since  the  Pentateuch  was  written. 
Compare  Num.  xxxiv.  13  and  14,  with  Josh.  xiii. 
7,  sq. ;  Num.  xx^ii.  37,  with  Josh.  xiii.  17,  sq. ; 
Num.  XXXV.  with  Josh.  xxi. 

There  is  also  considerable  similarity  between 
the  following  passages  in  the  books  of  Joshua  and 
Judges : — Josh.  xiii.  4,  Judg.  iii.  3  ;  Josh.  xv. 
1.3,  sq.,  Judg,  i.  10,  20;  Josh.  xv.  1.5-19,  Judg.  i. 
11-1.5;  Josh.  XV.  62,  Judg.  i,  21  ;  Josh.  xvi.  10, 
Judg.  i.  29;  Josh.  xvii.  12,  Judg.  i.  27;  Josh, 
xix.  47,  Judg.  xviii. 

It  seems  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the 
author  of  chapters  xiii.-xxii.  to  furnish  authentic 
records  concerning  the  arrangements  made  by 
Joshua  after  the  conquest  of  Canaan.  Since  we 
do  not  find  in  the  subsequent  history  that  the 
tribes,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  disagreed  among 
themselves  about  the  ownership  of  the  land,  it 
would  appear  that  the  object  of  the  book  of 
Joshua,  as  a  '  Doomsday  Book,'  was  fully  attained. 
The  circumstance  that  the  book  of  Joshua  con- 
tains many  Canaanitish  names  of  places  to  which 
the  Hebrew  names  are  added,  seems  als«  to  indi- 
cate that  the  second  part  originated  in  an  early 
age,  when  neither  the  Canaanitish  name  was  en- 
tirely forgotten,  nor  the  Hebrew  name  fully  intro- 
duced ;  so  that  it  was  expedient  to  mention  both. 

In  the  last  two  chapters  occur  two  orations  of 
Joshua,  in  which  he  bids  farewell  to  the  people 
whom  he  had  commanded.  In  chapter  xxiv.  26, 
we  read, '  And  Joshua  wrote  these  words  in  the 
book  of  the  law  of  God.'  The  expression,  these 
words,  seems  to  refer  only  to  his  last  address,  and 
the  subsequent  resolution  of  the  people  to  follow 
his  example.  We  are  here,  however,  expressly 
informed  that  Joshua  did  write  this  much  ;  and 
consequently  we  deem  it  the  more  likely  that  he 
also  committed  to  writing  the  other  memorable 
events  connected  with  his  career,  such  as  the  con- 
quest and  the  distribution  of  the  land. 

Viewing  all  the  circumstances  together,  we 


consider  it  highly  probable  that  the  whole  book 
of  Joshua  was  composed  by  himself  up  to  the 
twenty-eighth  verse  of  the  last  chapter ;  to  which 
a  friendly  hand  subjoined  some  brief  notices,  con- 
tained in  verses  29-33,  concerning  the  death,  age, 
and  burial  of  Joshua ;  the  continuance  of  his  in- 
fluence upon  the  people ;  the  interment,  in  She- 
chem,  of  the  bones  of  Joseph,  which  the  children 
of  Israel  had  brought  from  Egypt ;  and  the  death 
and  burial  of  Eleazar,  the  son  of  Aaron,  whom  his 
son  Phinehas  interred  in  his  allotment  on  Mount 
Ephraim. 

The  authority  of  the  book  of  Joshua  mainly 
rests  upon  the  manner  in  which  it  is  treated  in 
other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

Besides  the  allusions  in  the  book  of  Judges,  we 
find  Joshua  referred  to  in  1  Kings  xvi.  34. 
(Comp.  Josh.  vi.  26).  The  second  and  third 
verses  of  Psalm  xliv.  contain  a  brief  summary  of 
the  whole  book  of  Joshua: — 'Thou  didst  drive 
out  the  heathen  with  thy  hand,  and  plantedst 
them  :  thou  didst  afflict  the  people,  and  cast  them 
out.  For  they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  by 
their  own  sword,  neither  did  their  own  arm  save 
them:  but  thy  right  hand  and  thine  arm,  and  the 
light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst  a 
favour  unto  them.'  (Compare  Psalm  Ixviii. 
12-14 ;  Ixxviii.  54,  55  ;  cxiv.  3  and  5,  Avhich  refer 
to  the  book  of  Joshua.)  Also,  Hab.  iii.  11  : 
'  The  sun  and  moon  stood  still  in  their  habitation,' 
&c.  Heb.  xiii.  5 :  '  For  he  hath  said,  I  will  never 
leave  thee,  nor  forsake  thee.'  (Compare  Josh.  i. 
5.)  Heb.  xi.  31:  'By  faith  the  harlot  Rahab 
perished  not  with  them  that  believed  not,  when 
she  had  received  the  spies  with  peace  ;'  and  James 
ii.  25 :  '  Likewise  also  was  not  Rahab  the  harlot 
justified  by  works,  when  she  had  received  the 
messengers,  and  had  sent  them  out  another  way  ?' 
(Compare  Josh.  ii.  and  vi.  22-25.)  Acts  vii.  45 : 
'  Which  (the  tabernacle)  also  our  fathers  that 
came  after  brought  in  with  Jesus  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Gentiles,  whom  God  drave  out  before 
the  face  of  our  fathers.'  (Compare  Josh.  iii.  14.) 
Heb.  xi.  30 :  'By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell 
down,  after  they  were  compassed  about  seven 
days.'  (Compare  Josh.  vi.  17-23.)  Heb.  iv.  8: 
'  For  if  Jesus  [Joshua]  had  given  them  rest,  then 
would  he  not  afterwards  have  spoken  of  another 
day.' 

The  other  persons  of  this  name  in  the  Bible 
are: 

Joshua,  a  Beth-shemite  (1  Sam.  vi.  14,  18), 
an  Israelite,  the  owner  of  the  field  into  which  the 
cart  came  which  bore  the  ark  on  its  return  from 
the  land  of  the  Philistines. 

Joshua  (2  Kings  xxiii.  8),  the  governor  of  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  at  the  commencement  of  tlie 
reign  of  Josiah. 

Joshua,  the  son  of  Josedec  (Hagg.  i.  1,  12, 14 ; 
Zech.  iii.  1,  3,  9  ;  vi.  11),  a  high-priest  in  the  time 
of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  [Jeshua]. 

JOSl'AH  {God-healed),  seventeenth  king  of 
Judah,  and  son  of  Amon,  whom  he  succeeded  on 
the  throne  in  b.c.  698,  at  the  early  age  of  eight 
years,  and  reigned  thirty-one  years. 

As  Josiah  thus  early  ascended  the  throne,  we 
may  the  more  admire  the  good  qualities  which 
he  manifested.  Avoiding  the  example  of  his 
immediate  predecessors,  he  '  did  that  which  was 
right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,  and  walked  in  all 
the  ways  of  David  his  father,  and  turned  not 
2S 


498 


JOSIAH 


aside  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left'  (2  Kings 
xxii.  1,  2 ;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  1,  2).  So  early  as 
the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age  he  began  to  mani- 
fest that  enmity  to  idolatry  in  all  its  forms  which 
distinguished  his  character  and  reign ;  and  he 
was  not  quite  twenty  years  old  when  he  pro- 
claimed open  war  against  it,  although  more  or 
less  favoured  by  many  men  of  rank  and  influence 
in  the  court  and  kingdom.  He  then  commenced 
a  thorough  purification  of  the  land  from  all  taint 
of  idolatry,  by  going  about  and  superintending 
in  person  the  operations  of  the  men  who  were 
employed  in  breaking  down  idolatrous  altars 
and  images,  and  cutting  down  the  groves  which 
had  been  consecrated  to  idol-worship.  His  detes- 
tation of  idolatry  could  not  have  been  more 
strongly  expressed  than  by  ransacking  the  sepul- 
chres of  the  idolatrous  priests  of  former  days, 
and  consuming  their  bones  upon  the  idol-altars 
before  they  were  overturned.  Yet  this  operation, 
although  unexampled  in  Jewish  history,  was 
foretold  326  years  before  Josiah  was  born,  bj' 
the  prophet  who  was  commissioned  to  denounce 
to  Jeroboam  the  future  punishment  of  his  sin. 
He  even  named  Josiah  as  the  person  by  whom 
this  act  was  to  be  performed ;  and  said  that  it 
should  be  performed  in  Beth-el,  which  was  then 
a  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  (1  Kings  xiii.  2). 
All  this  seemed  much  beyond  the  range  of  human 
probabilities.  But  it  was  performed  to  the  letter ; 
for  Josiah  did  not  confine  his  proceedings  to  his 
own  kingdom,  but  went  over  a  considerable  part 
of  the  neighbouring  kingdom  of  Israel,  which 
then  lay  comparatively  desolate,  with  the  same 
object  in  view ;  and  at  Beth-el  in  particular, 
executed  all  that  the  prophet  had  foretold  (2 
Kings  xxiii.  1-19;  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  3-7,  32). 
In  these  proceedings  Josiah  seems  to  have  been 
actuated  by  an  absolute  hatred  of  idolatry,  such 
!  as  no  other  king  since  David  had  manifested,  and 
which  David  had  scarcely  occasion  to  manifest  in 
the  same  degree. 

In  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  and  the 
twenty-sixth  of  his  age,  when  the  land  had  been 
thoroughly  purified  from  idolatry  and  all  that 
I  belonged  to  it,  Josiah  proceeded  to  repair  and 
beautify  the  temple  of  the  Lord.  In  the  course 
of  this  pious  labour,  the  high- priest  Hilkiah  dis- 
covered in  the  sanctuary  a  volume,  which  proved 
to  contain  the  books  of  Moses,  and  which,  from 
the  terms  employed,  seems  to  have  been  con- 
sidered the  original  of  the  law  as  written  by 
Moses.  On  this  point  there  has  been  much 
anxious  discussion  and  some  rash  assertion.  Some 
writers  of  the  German  school  allege  that  there 
is  no  external  evidence — that  is,  evidence  beside 
the  law  itself— that  the  book  of  the  law  existed 
till  it  was  thus  produced  by  Hilkiah.  This  as- 
sertion it  is  the  less  necessary  to  answer  here, 
as  it  is  duly  noticed  in  the  art.  Pentateuch. 
But  it  may  b**  observed  that  it  is  founded  very 
much  on  the  fact  that  the  king  was  greatly  as- 
tonished when  some  parts  of  the  law  were  read 
to  him.  It  is  indeed  perfectly  manifest  that  he 
had  previously  been  entirely  ignorant  of  much 
that  he  then  heard ;  and  he  rent  his  clothes  in 
consternation  when  he  found  that,  with  the  best 
intentions  to  serve  the  Lord,  he  and  all  his  people 
had  been  living  in  the  neglect  of  duties  which 
the  law  declared  to  be  of  vital  importance.  It  is 
certainly  diflBcult  to  account  for  this  ignorance. 


JOTHAM 

Some  suppose  that  all  the  copies  of  the  law  had 
perished,  and  that  the  king  had  never  seen  one. 
But  this  is  very  unlikely;  for  however  scarce 
complete  copies  may  have  been,  the  pious  king 
was  likely  to  have  been  the  possessor  of  one. 
The  probability  seems  to  be  that  the  passages 
read  were  those  awful  denunciations  against  dis- 
obedience with  which  the  book  of  Deuteronomy 
concludes,  and  which  from  some  cause  or  other 
the  king  had  never  before  read,  or  which  had 
never  before  produced  on  his  miud  the  same 
strong  conviction  of  the  imminent  dangers  under 
which  the  nation  lay,  as  now  when  read  to  him 
from  a  volume  invested  with  a  character  so  vene-  j 
rable,  and  brought  with  such  interesting  circum-  ] 
stances  under  his  notice. 

The  king  in  his  alarm  sent  to  Huldah  'the  j 
prophetess,'  for  her  counsel  in  this  emergency  j 
[Huldah]  :  her  answer  assured  him  that,  although  j 
the  dread  penalties  threatened  by  the  law  had  | 
been  incurred  and  would  be  inflicted,  he  should  | 
be  gathered  in  peace  to  his  fathers  before  the  | 
days  of  punishment  and  sorrow  came. 

It  was  perhaps  not  without  some  hope  of  avert- 
ing this  doom  that  the  king  immediately  called  i 
the  people  together  at  Jerusalem,  and  engaged  \ 
them  in  a  solemn  renewal  of  the  ancient  cove-  | 
naut  with  God.  When  this  had  been  done,  the  | 
Passover  was  celebrated  with  careful  attention  to  j 
the  directions  given  in  the  law,  and  on  a  scale  of  : 
unexampled  magnificence.  But  all  was  too  late ;  , 
the  hour  of  mercy  had  passed ;  for  '  the  Lord 
turned  not  from  the  fierceness  of  his  great  wrath,  i 
wherewith  his  anger  was  kindled  against  Judah'  { 
(2  Kings  xxii.  3-20;  xxiii.  21-27;  2  Chron.  j 
xxxiv.  8-33;  xxxv.  1-19). 

That  removal  from  the  world  which  had  been 
promised  to  Josiah  as  a  blessing,  was  not  long 
delayed,  and  was  brought  about  in  a  way  which    ' 
he  had  probably  not  expected.    His  kingdom  was    ; 
tributary   to   the  Chaldsean  empire;    and  when    ! 
Pharaoh-necho,  king  of  Egypt,  sought  a  passage    ' 
through  his  territories,  on  an  expedition  against    \ 
the  Chaldscans,  Josiah,  with  a  very  high  sense  of    ! 
the  obligations  which    his  vassalage    imposed,    j 
refused  to  allow  the  march  of  the  Egyptian  army    } 
through  his  dominions,  and  prepared  to  resist  the    ' ! 
attempt  by  force  of  arms.     Necho  was  very  un-    •  j 
willing  to  engage  in  hostilities  with  Josiah  ;  the    \ 
appearance  of  the   Hebrew  army  at  Megiddo,    ■ 
however,  brought  on  a  battle,  in  which  the  king 
of  Judah  was  so  desperately  wounded  by  arrows    i 
that  his  attendants  removed  him  from  the  war-    \ 
chariot,  and  placed  him  in  another,  in  which  he 
was  taken  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  died.    No  king    ' 
that  reigned  in  Israel    was    ever  more  deeply    ; 
lamented  by  all  his  subjects  than  Josiah :  and  we    ' 
are  told  that  the  prophet  composed  on  the  occa-    ; 
sion  an  elegiac  ode,  which  was  long  preserved 
among  the  people,  but  which  is  not  now  in  ex-    j 
istence  (2  Kings  xxiii.  29-37 ;  2  Chron.  xxxv.    i 
20-27).  i 

JOT,  properly  Iota,  designates  the  smallest  | 
letter  of  the  Greek  alphabet  (i);  derived  from  \ 
the  Hebrew  yorf  C*)  and  employed  metaphorically  j 
to  express  the  minutest  trifle.  It  is,  in  fact,  one  j 
of  several  metaphors  derived  from  the  alphabet —  i 
as  when  alpha,  the  first  letter,  and  omega,  the  | 
last,  are  employed  to  express  the  beginning  and  ! 
the  end. 

1.  JO'THAM  (God  is  upright),  the  youngeet  of 


JUBILEE 

Gideon's  seventy  legitimate  sons ;  and  the  only 
one  who  escaped  when  the  rest  were  massacred 
by  the  order  of  Abimelech.  When  the  fratricide 
was  made  king  by  the  people  of  Shechem,  the 
young  Jotham  was  so  daring  as  to  make  his 
appearance  on  Mount  Gerizim  for  the  purpose  of 
lifting  up  a  protesting  voice,  and  of  giving  vent 
to  his  ft-elings.  This  he  did  in  a  beautiful  pa- 
rable, wherein  the  trees  are  represented  as  making 
choice  of  a  king,  and  bestowing  on  the  bramble 
the  honour  which  the  cedar,  the  olive,  and  the 
vine  would  not  accept.  The  obvious  application, 
which  indeed  Jotham  failed  not  himself  to  point 
out,  nmst  have  been  highly  exasperating  to 
Abimelech  and  bis  friends ;  but  the  speaker  fled, 
as  soon  as  he  had  delivered  his  parable,  to  the 
town  of  Beer,  and  remained  there  out  of  his 
brother's  reach.  We  hear  no  more  of  him ;  but 
three  years  after,  if  then  living,  he  saw  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  malediction  he  had  pro- 
nounced (Judg.  ix.  5-21). 

2.  JOTHAM,  tenth  king  of  Judah,  and  son  of 
Uzziah,  whom  he  succeeded  in  b.c.  758,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five:  he  reigned  sixteen  years. 
His  father  having  during  his  last  years  been  ex- 
cluded by  leprosy  from  public  life  [Uzziah],  the 
government  was  administered  by  his  son.  Jotham 
profited  by  the  experience  which  the  reign  of  his 
father,  and  of  the  kings  who  preceded  him,  af- 
forded, and  he  ruled  in  the  fear  of  God,  although 
he  was  unable  to  correct  all  the  corrupt  practices 
into  which  the  people  had  fallen.  His  sincere 
intentions  were  rewarded  with  a  prosperous  reign. 
He  was  successfiil  in  his  wars.  The  Ammonites, 
■who  had  '  given  gifts '  as  a  sort  of  tribute  to 
Uzziah,  but  bad  ceased  to  do  so  after  his  leprosy 
had  incapacitated  him  from  governing,  were 
constrained  by  Jotham  to  pay  for  three  years  a 
heavy  tribute  in  silver,  wheat,  and  barley  (2 
Chron.  xxvi.  8 ;  xxvii.  5,  6).  Many  important 
public  works  were  also  undertaken  and  accom- 
plished by  Jotham.  The  principal  gate  ot  the 
temple  was  rebuilt  by  him  on  a  more  magnificent 
scale;  the  quarter  of  Ophel,  in  Jerusalem,  was 
strengthened  by  new  fortifications ;  various  towns 
were  built  or  rebuilt  in  the  motintains  of  Judah ; 
and  castles  and  towers  of  defence  were  erected 
in  the  wilderness.  Jotham  died  greatly  lamented 
by  his  people,  and  was  buried  in  the  sepulchre 
of  the  kings  (2  Kings  xv.  38  ;  2  Chron.  xvii.  3-9). 

JU'BAL  (music) ;  one  of  Cain's  descendants, 
son  of  Lamech  and  Adar.  He  is  described  as 
the  inventor  of  the  kinnor,  and  the  cgab,  ren- 
dered in  our  version  '  the  harp  and  the  organ,' 
but  perhaps  more  properly  '  the  lyre  and  mouth- 
organ,'  or  Pandean  pipe  (Gen.  iv.  21)  [Mosic]. 

JU'BILEE,  according  to  some  a  period  of 
fifty  years,  according  to  others,  though  less  pro- 
bably, of  fcn-ty-nine  years,  the  termination  of 
which  led  ^o  cei-tain  great  changes  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  Hebrews,  all  of  which  seem  to  have 
been  designed  and  fitted  to  bring  about  from  time 
to  time  a  restoration  of  the  original  social  state 
instituted  by  Moses,  and  so  to  sustain  in  its  un- 
impaired integrity  the  constitution  of  which  he 
was  the  author. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  Jubilee  was 
another  singular  Mosaic  institution,  namely,  the 
Sabbatical  year.  On  this  account  we  shall  speak 
briefly  of  the  latter,  as  preparatory  to  a  right 
uuderstaDding  of  the  former. 


JUBILEE 


499 


While  yet  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  and» 
therefore,  before  they  had  entered  '  the  land  of 
promise,'  the  children  of  Israel  received  from  the 
lips  of  their  great  legislator  the  following  law — 
'  six  years  thou  shalt  sow  thy  land,  and  shalt 
gather  in  the  fruits  thereof :  hut  the  seventh  i/ear 
thou  shalt  let  it  rest ;  that  thine  ox  and  thine  ass 
may  rest,  and  the  son  of  thy  handmaid  and  the 
stranger  maybe  refreshed'  (Exod.  xxiii.  10,  sq.). 
This  injunction  is  repeated  in  Lev.  xxv.  1-7, 
where  it  stands  as  proceeding  immediately  from 
the  Lord.  The  land  is  to  keep  '  a  sabbath  for  the 
Lord.'  Then  in  immediate  sequence  follows  the 
law  relating  to  the  Jubilee  (Lev.  xx.  8).  'And 
thou  shalt  number  seven  sabbaths  of  years  unto 
thee,  seven  times  seven  years,  forty  and  nine  years ; 
then  shalt  thou  cause  the  trumpet  of  the  Jubilee  to 
sound  in  the  tenth  day  of  the  seventh  month,  in 
the  day  of  atonement  shall  ye  make  the  trumpet 
."jound  throughout  all  your  land.  And  ye  shall 
hallow  the  Jiftieth  year,  and  proclaim  liberty 
throughout  all  the  land  unto  all  the  inhabitants 
thereof;  and  ye  shall  return  every  man  unto  his 
possession  and  unto  his  famil)^'  &c.  &c.  (Lev.  xxv. 
8-24).  Land  might  be  redeemed  by  a  kinsman  or 
by  the  party  who  sold  it ;  but  in  the  Jubilee  year 
it  must  return  to  its  original  proprietor.  Dwelling- 
houses  within  a  walled  city  might  be  redeemed 
within  the  first  year  ;  if  not  redeemed  within  tlie 
space  of  a  full  year  they  became  the  freehold  of 
the  purchaser.  The  houses  of  villages  were  1o  be 
counted  as  the  fields  of  the  country.  The  cities 
and  houses  of  the  Levites  were  redeemable  at  any 
time,  and  could  never  be  held  longer  than  the 
ensuing  Jub'lee  :  the  field  of  the  suburbs  of  their 
cities  might  not  be  sold  (vers.  25-38).  Israelites 
who  were  hired  servants  (Israelitish  6on(f-servants 
were  not  allowed)  might  serve  till  the  year  of 
Jubilee,  when  they  returned  to  their  possessions. 
A  Hebrew  sold  as  a  slave  to  a  foreigner  resident 
in  Palestine  was  redeemable  by  himself  or  rela- 
tives at  any  time,  by  making  payment  according 
to  the  number  of  years  to  elapse  before  the  next 
Jubilee  ;  but  at  the  Jubilee  such  bondsman  was, 
under  all  circumstances,  to  be  set  at  liberty  (vers. 
39-55).  The  only  exception  to  this  system  of  ge- 
neral restitution  was  in  the  case  of  property  set 
apart  and  devoted  to  the  Divine  service — '  Every 
devoted  thing  is  most  holy  unto  the  Lord ;  none 
devoted  shall  be  redeemed'  (Lev.  xxvii.  28-29). 

With  these  scriptural  details  the  account  given 
by  Josephus  (Antiq.  iii.  1 2. 3)  substantially  agrees ; 
and  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  Jewish  historian 
speaks  of  the  law  as  a  reality,  as  a  present  reality, 
as  something  in  actual  operation. 

The  time  required  by  the  Sabbatical  year  and 
by  the  Jubilee  to  be  rescued  from  the  labours  of 
the  field,  was  very  considerable.  Strictly  inter- 
preted the  language  we  have  cited  would  take  out 
of  the  ordinary  course  of  things  every  sixth, 
seventh,  and  eighth  year,  during  each  successive 
septenary,  till  the  circle  of  fifty  years  was  in  each 
period  completed.  Nay  more,  the  old  store,  pro- 
duced in  the  sixth  year,  was  to  last  until  the  ninth 
year,  for  the  sixth  year  was  to  bring  forth  fruits 
for  three  years. 

The  reader  has  now  before  him  the  whole  of 
this  extraordinary  piece  of  legislation,  which, 
viewed  in  all  its  bearings— in  its  effects  on  human 
labour,  on  character,  on  religious  institutions  and 
observances,  as  well  as  on  the  general  condition 
2k2 


500 


JUBILEE 


of  society,  no  less  than  on  the  productiveness  of 
the  land,  and  the  means  of  sustenance  to  its  inha- 
bitants— is  wholly  unparalleled  by  any  event  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  It  is,  however,  in  strict 
harmony  with  the  Mosaic  economy. 

The  recurring  periods  of  seven  years  are  in 
keeping  with  the  institution  of  the  seventh  day  as 
a  Sabbath  for  man  and  beast.    The  aim  in  both  is 
similar — needful  repose.     The  leading  idea  in- 
volved in  the  Jubilee — namely,  restitution — also 
harmonizes  with  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  Mosaic  system.    The  land  was  God's,  and  was 
entrusted  for  use  to  the  chosen  people  in  such  a 
way  that  every  individual  had  his  portion.     A 
power  of  perpetual  alienation  would  have  been  a 
virtual  denial  of  God's  sovereign  rights,  while  the 
I    law  of  Jubilee  was  one  continued  recognition  of 
them.     The  conception  is  purely  theocratical  in 
I    its  whole  character  and  tendencies.  The  theocracy 
j    was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  disallow  all  subordinate 
'  thrones,  principalities,  and  powers ;'  and  conse- 
j    quently,  to  demand  entire  equality  on  the  part  of 
I    the  people.   But  the  power  of  perpetual  alienation 
I    in  regard  to  land  would  have  soon  given  rise  to 
j    the  greatest  inequalities  of  social  condition,  pre- 
i    senting  splendid  affluence  on  one  side  and  sordid 
j    pauperism  on  the  other.     A  passage  in  Deutero- 
I    nomy  (xv.  4),  when  rightly  understood,  as  in  the 
j    marginal  translation — '  to  the  end  that  there  be 
I    no  poor  among  you  '—seems  expressly  to  declare 
I    that  the  aim  in  view,  at  least,  of  the  Sabbatical 
release,  was  to  prevent  the  rise  of  any  great  in- 
equality of  social  condition,  and  thus  to  preserve 
unimpaired  the  essential  character  of  the  theo- 
cracy. Equally  benevolent  in  its  aim  and  tendency 
does  this  institution  thus  appear,  showing  how 
thoroughly  the  great  Hebrew  legislator  cared  and 
provided  for   individuals,   instead  of  favouring 
classes.     Beginning  with  a  narrow  cycle  of  seven 
days,  he  went  on  to  a  wider  one  of  as  many  years, 
embracing  at  last  seven  times  seven  annual  revo- 
lutions, seeking  in  all  his  arrangements  rest  for 
man  and  beast,  and,  by  a  happy  personification, 
rest  even  for  the  brute  earth;  and  in  the  rest 
which  he  required  for  human  beings,  providing 
for  that  more  needful  rest  of  mind  which  the  sharp 
competitions  and  eager  rivalries  of  modern  society 
deny  to  ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand.     As 
being  of  a  benign  character  and  tendency,  the  law 
of  the  Sabbatical  and  Jubilee  year  is  in  accordance 
with  the  general  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  legislation, 
and  appears  not  unworthy  of  its  divine  origin. 

Warburton  adduced  this  law  in  order  to  show 
that  Moses  was  in  truth  sent  and  sustained  by  God, 
since  nothing  but  a  divine  power  could  have  given 
the  necessary  supplies  of  food  in  the  sixth  year ; 
and  no  unprejudiced  person  can  deny  the  force  of 
the  argument. 

Now  these  laws  either  emanated  from  Moses, 
or  they  did  not.  If  they  did  not,  they  arose  after 
the  settlement  in  Canaan,  and  are  of  such  a  na- 
ture as  to  convict  their  fabricator  of  imposture,  if, 
indeed,  any  one  could  have  been  found  so  daring 
as  to  bring  forth  laws  implying  institutions  which 
did  not  exist,  and  which  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances could  not  find  permanence,  even  if  they 
could  ever  be  carried  into  operation  at  all.  But 
if  these  laws  emanated  from  Moses,  is  it  credible 
that  he  would  have  given  utterance  to  commands 
which  convict  themselves  of  impossibility?  or 
caused  the  rise  of  institntions,  which,  if  uneup- 


JUDiEA 

ported  of  heaven,  must  come  to  a  speedy  termina- 
tion, and  in  so  doing  act  to  his  own  disci'edit  as  a 
professed  divine  messenger  ? 

But  it  may  be  asked,  Could  the  land  sustain  the 
people?  On  this  point  we  find  the  following  im- 
portant passage  in  Palfrey's  Lectures  on  the  Jewish 
Scriptures,  Boston,  1841,  vol.  i.  p.  303:  'I  find  no 
difficulty  arising  from  any  inadequacy  of  the 
produce  of  six  years  to  afford  sustenance  to  the 
people  for  seven.  To  say  that  this  was  intended 
would  merely  be  to  say  that  the  design  was  that 
the  consumption  of  each  year  should  only  amount 
on  an  average  to  six-sevenths  of  its  produce.  In 
such  an  arrangement  it  cannot  be  thought  that 
there  was  anything  impracticable.  There  are 
states  of  this  Union  which  export  yearly  more 
than  half  their  produce,  and  subsist  substantially 
on  the  remainder,  their  imports  consisting  mostly 
of  luxuries.  Again,  in  England  nearly  three 
quarters  of  the  families  are  engaged  in  commerce, 
manufactures,  professions,  and  unproductive  pur- 
suits ;  but  in  Judaea  every  man  was  a  producer  of 
food,  with  the  advantage  of  a  fine  climate  and  a 
rich  soil.' 

In  spite  of  all  these  arguments,  some  rational- 
istic writers  have  hazarded  the  surprising  assertion 
that  these  laws  were  not  executed  before  the  Baby- 
lonish exile.  But  in  addition  to  the  proofs  already 
mentioned,  we  have  the  positive  evidence  of  the 
Roman  historian  Tacitus  ( Hist.  v.  4),  of  Josephus 
(Antiq.  xiv.  10-6),  of  Ezekiel  (xlvi.  17),  and  of 
Isaiah  (Ixi.  1-2),  to  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
batical year  at  least.  And  since  the  essential  ele- 
ment of  this  system  of  law,  namely,  the  Sabbatical 
year,  was  an  established  institution  in  the  days  of 
Tacitus,  Josephus,  the  Maccabees,  Ezekiel,  and 
Isaiah,  we  think  the  fair  and  legitimate  inference 
is  in  favour  of  those  laws  having  been  long  pre- 
viously observed,  probably  from  the  early  periods 
of  the  Hebrew  republic.  Their  existence  in  a 
declining  state  of  the  commonwealth  cannot  be 
explained  without  seeking  their  origin  nearer  the 
fountain-head  of  those  pure,  living  waters,  which, 
with  the  force  of  all  primitive  enthusiasm,  easily 
effected  great  social  wonders,  especially  when 
divinely  guided  and  divinely  sustained. 

JUDiE'A,  the  southernmost  of  the  three  divi- 
sions of  the  Holy  Land.  It  denoted  the  kingdom 
of  Judah  as  distinguished  from  that  of  Israel. 
But  after  the  captivity,  as  most  of  the  exiles  who 
returned  belonged  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  the 
name  Judfea  (Judah)  was  applied  generally  to  the 
whole  of  Palestine  west  of  the  Jordan  (Hag.  i.  1, 
14 ;  ii.  2).  Under  the  Romans,  in  the  time  of 
Christ,  Palestine  was  divided  into  Judsea,  Galilee, 
and  Samaria  (John  iv.  4,  5 ;  Acts  ix.  31),  the  last 
including  the  whole  of  the  southern  part  west  of 
the  Jordan.  But  this  division  was  only  observed 
as  a  political  and  local  distinction,  for  the  sake  of 
indicating  the  part  of  the  country,  just  as  we  use 
the  name  of  a  county  (Matt.  ii.  1,  5 ;  iii.  1 ;  iv.  25 
Luke  i.  65) ;  but  when  the  whole  of  Palestine  was 
to  be  indicated  in  a  general  way,  the  term  JudsDa 
was  still  employed. 

It  is  only  Judaea,  in  the  provincial  sense,  that 
requires  our  present  notice,  the  country  at  large 
being  described  in  the  article  Palestine.  In 
this  sense,  however,  it  was  much  more  extensive 
than  the  domain  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  even  more 
so  than  the  kingdom  of  the  same  name.  There 
are  no  materials  for  describing  its  limits  with 


JUDAH 

precision  ;  bat  it  included  the  ancient  territories 
ofJudah,  Benjamin,  Dan,  Simeon,  and  part  of 
Ephraim. 

Judaea  is  a  country  full  of  hills  and  valleys. 
The  hills  are  generally  separated  from  one 
another  by  valleys  and  torrents,  and  are,  for  the 
most  part,  of  moderate  height,  uneven,  and  seldom 
of  any  regular  figure.  The  rock  of  which  they 
are  composed  is  easily  converted  into  soil,  which 
being  arrested  by  the  terraces  when  washed  down 
by  the  rains,  renders  the  hills  cultivable  in  a  i 
series  of  long,  narrow  gardens,  formed  by  these 
terraces  from  the  base  upwards.  In  this  manner 
the  hills  were  in  ancient  times  cultivated  most 
industriously,  and  enriched  and  beautified  with 
the  fig-tree,  the  olive-tree,  and  the  vine ;  and  it  is 
thus  that  the  scanty  cultivation  which  still  subsists 
is  now  carried  on.  But  when  the  inhabitants  were 
rooted  out,  and  the  culture  neglected,  the  terraces 
fell  to  decay,  and  the  soil  which  had  been  col- 
lected in  them  was  washed  down  into  the  valleys, 
leaving  only  the  arid  rock,  naked  and  desolate. 
This  is  the  general  character  of  the  scenery ;  but 
in  some  parts  the  hills  are  beautifully  wooded, 
and  in  others  the  application  of  the  ancient  mode 
of  cultivation  still  suggests  to  the  traveller  how 
rich  the  country  once  was  and  might  be  again, 
and  how  beautiftil  the  prospects  which  it  offered. 
As,  however,  much  of  this  was  the  result  of  cul- 
tivation, the  country  was  probably  anciently,  as  at 
present,  naturally  less  fertile  than  either  Samaria 
or  Galilee. 

JU'DAH  {celebrated),  fourth  son  of  Jacob  and 
Leah  (b.c.  1755).  The  narrative  in  Genesis 
brings  this  patriarch  more  before  the  reader,  and 
makes  known  more  of  his  history  and  character, 
than  it  does  in  the  case  of  any  other  of  the  twelve 
sons  of  Jacob,  with  the  single  exception  of  Joseph. 
It  is  indeed  chiefly  in  connection  with  Joseph  that 
the  facts  respecting  Judah  transpire  ;  and  as  they 
have  already  been  given  in  the  articles  Jacob  and 
Joseph,  it  is  only  necessary  to  indicate  them 
shortly  in  this  place.  It  was  Judah's  advice  that 
the  brethren  followed  when  they  sold  Joseph  to 
the  Ishmaelites,  instead  of  taking  his  life.  By  the 
light  of  his  subsequent  actions  we  can  see  that  his 
conduct  on  this  occasion  arose  from  a  generous 
impulse,  although  the  form  of  the  question  he  put 
to  them  has  been  sometimes  held  to  suggest  an 
interested  motive : — '  What  profit  is  it  if  we  slay 
our  brother  and  conceal  his  blood  ?  Come,  let  us 
sell  him,'  &c.  (Gen.  xxxvii.  26,  27). 

Not  long  after  this  Judah  withdrew  from  the 
paternal  tents,  and  went  to  reside  at  Adullam, 
in  the  country  which  afterwards  bore  his  name. 
Here  he  married  a  woman  of  Canaan,  called 
Shuah,  and  had  by  her  three  sons,  Er,  Onan,  and 
Shelah.  When  the  eldest  of  these  sons  became 
of  fit  age,  he  was  married  to  a  woman  named 
Tamar,  but  soon  after  died.  As  he  died  childless, 
the  patriarchal  law,  afterwards  adopted  into  the 
Mosaic  code  (Deut.  xxv.  6),  required  him  to 
bestow  upon  the  widow  his  second  son.  This  he 
did :  but  as  Onan  also  soon  died  childless,  Judah 
became  reluctant  to  bestow  his  only  surviving  son 
upon  this  woman,  and  put  her  off  with  the  excuse 
that  he  was  not  yet  of  sufficient  age.  Tamar 
accordingly  remained  in  her  father's  house  at 
Adullam.  She  had  the  usual  passion  of  Eastern 
women  for  offspring,  and  could  not  endure  the 
stigma  of  having  been  twice  married  without  bear- 


JUDAH,  TRIBE  OF 


501 


ing  children,  while  the  law  precluded  her  from 
contracting  any  alliance  but  that  which  Judah 
withheld  her  from  completing. 

Meanwhile  Judah's  wife  died,  and  after  the 
time  of  mourning  had  expired,  he  went,  accom- 
panied by  his  friend  Hirah,  to  attend  the  shearing 
of  his  sheep  at  Timnath  in  the  same  neighbour- 
hood. These  circumstances  suggested  to  Tamar 
the  strange  thought  of  connecting  herself  with 
Judah  himself,  imder  the  guise  of  a  loose  woman. 
Having  waylaid  him  on  the  road  to  Timnath,  she 
succeeded  in  her  object,  and  when  the  consequences 
began  to  be  manifest  in  the  person  of  Tamar, 
Judah  was  highly  enraged  at  her  crime,  and, 
exercising  the  powers  which  belonged  to  him  as 
the  head  of  the  family  she  had  dishonoured,  he 
commanded  her  to  be  brought  forth  and  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  as  an  adulteress.  But  when 
she  appeared,  she  produced  the  ring,  the  bracelet, 
and  the  stafi',  which  he  had  left  in  pledge  with  her ; 
and  put  him  to  confusion  by  declaring  that  they 
belonged  to  the  father  of  her  coming  offspring. 
Judah  acknowledged  them  to  be  his,  and  confessed 
that  he  had  been  wrong  in  withholding  Shelah 
from  her.  The  result  of  this  painful  affair  was 
the  birth  of  two  sons,  Zerah  and  Pharez,  from 
whom,  with  Shelah,  the  tribe  of  Judah  descended. 
Pharez  was  tlie  ancestor  of  the  line  from  which 
David,  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  Jesus  came  (Gen. 
xxxviii. ;  xlvi.  12;  1  Chron.  ii.  3-5;  Matt.  i.  3; 
Luke  iii.  33). 

These  circumstances  seem  to  have  disgusted 
Judah  with  his  residence  in  towns ;  for  we  find 
him  ever  afterwards  at  his  father's  tents.  His 
experience  of  life,  and  the  strength  of  his  cha- 
racter, appear  to  have  given  him  much  influence 
with  Jacob ;  and  it  was  chiefly  from  confidence 
in  him  that  the  aged  father  at  length  consented 
to  allow  Benjamin  to  go  down  to  Egypt.  That 
this  confidence  was  not  misplaced  has  already 
been  shown  [Joseph]  ;  and  there  is  not  iu  the 
whole  range  of  literature  a  finer  piece  of  true 
natural  eloquence  than  that  in  which  Judah  offers 
himself  to  remain  as  a  bond-slave  in  the  place  of 
Benjamin,  for  whose  safe  return  he  had  made 
himselfresponsible  to  his  father.  The  strong  emo- 
tions which  it  raised  in  Joseph  disabled  him  from 
keeping  up  longer  the  disguise  he  had  hitherto 
maintained,  and  there  are  few  who  ha.ve  read  it 
without  being,  like  him,  moved  even  to  tears. 

We  hear  nothing  more  of  Judah  till  he  re- 
ceived, along  with  his  brothers,  the  final  blessing 
of  his  father,  which  was  conveyed  in  lofty  lan- 
guage, glancing  far  into  futurity,  and  strongly 
indicative  of  the  high  destinies  which  awaited  the 
tribe  that  was  to  descend  from  him. 

2.  JUDAH,  TEIBE  OF.  This  tribe  sprang 
from  Judah,  thie  son  of  Jacob.  When  the  Israelites 
quitted  Egypt,  it  already  exhibited  the  elements 
of  its  future  distinction  in  a  larger  population 
than  any  of  the  other  tribes  possessed.  It  num- 
bered 74,000  adult  males,  being  nearly  12,000 
more  than  Dan,  the  next  in  point  of  numbers, 
and  34,100  more  than  Ephraim,  which  in  the 
end  contested  with  it  the  superiority  among  the 
tribes.  During  the  sojourn  in  the  wilderness, 
Judah  neither  gained,  like  some  tribes,  nor  lost 
like  others.  Its  nmnbers  had  increased  to  76,500, 
being  12,100  more  than  Issachar,  which  had  be- 
come next  to  it  in  population  (Num.  i.  25y.  In 
the  first  distribution  of  lands,  the  tribe  of  Judah 


&02  JUDAH,  KINGDOM  OF 

received  the  southernmost  part  of  Palestine,  to  the 
extent  of  fully  one-third  of  the  whole  country  to 
he  distributed  among  the  nine  and  a  half  tribes 
for  which  provision  was  to  be  made.  This  over- 
sight was  discovered  and  rectified  at  the  time  of 
the  second  distribution,  which  was  founded  on 
an  actual  survey  of  the  country,  when  Simeon 
and  Dan  received  allotments  out  of  the  territory 
which  had  before  been  wholly  assigned  to  Judah 
(Josh.  xix.  9).  That  which  remained  was  still 
very  large,  and  more  proportioned  to  the  future 
greatness  tlian  the  actual  wants  of  the  tribe. 
When  Judah  became  a  kingdom,  the  original 
extent  of  territory  assigned  to  the  tribe  was  more 
than  restored  or  compensated,  for  it  must  have 
included  the  domains  of  Simeon,  and  we  know 
that  Benjamin  was  included  in  it. 

The  history  of  the  Judges  contains  fewer  facts 
respecting  this  important  tribe  than  might  be  ex- 
pected. It  seems  however  to  have  been  usually 
considered  that  the  birthright  which  Reuben  for- 
feited had  passed  to  Judah  under  the  blessing  of 
Jacob  ;  and  a  sanction  was  given  to  this  impres- 
sion when,  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  the  divine 
oracle  nominated  Judah  to  take  precedence  of  the 
other  tribes  in  the  war  against  the  Canaanites 
(Judg.  i.  2).  It  does  not  appear  that  any  tribe 
was  disposed  to  dispute  the  superior  claim  of 
Judah  on  its  own  account,  except  Ephraim,  al- 
though in  doing  this  Ephraim  had  the  support  of 
other  tribes.  Ephraim  appears  to  have  rested  its 
claims  to  the  leadership  of  the  tribes  upon  the 
ground  that  the  house  of  Joseph,  whose  interest 
it  represented,  had  received  the  birthright,  or 
double  portion  of  the  eldest,  by  the  adoption  of 
the  two  sous  of  Joseph,  who  became  the  founders 
of  two  tribes  in  Israel.  The  existence  of  the  sa- 
cerdotal establishment  at  Shiloh,  in  Ephraim,  was 
doubtless  also  alleged  by  the  tribe  as  a  ground 
of  superiority  over  Judah.  When,  therefore, 
Judah  assumed  the  sceptre  in  the  person  of 
David,  and  wheo  the  sacerdotal  establishment 
was  removed  to  Jerusalem,  Ephraim  could  not 
brook  the  eclipse  it  had  sustained,  and  took  the 
first  opportunity  of  erecting  a  separate  throne, 
and  of  forming  separate  establishments  for  worship 
and  sacrifice.  Perhaps  the  separation  of  the  king- 
doms may  thus  be  traced  to  the  rivalry  of  the  two 
tribes.  After  that  separation  the  rivalry  was 
between  the  two  kingdoms  ;  but  it  was  still  popu- 
larly considered  as  representing  the  ancient  ri- 
valry of  these  great  tribes ;  for  the  prophei,  in 
foretelling  the  repose  of  a  coming  time,  describes 
it  by  saying,  '  The  envy  also  of  Ephraim  shall 
depart,  and  the  adversaries  of  Judah  shall  be  cut 
otf :  Ephraim  shall  not  envy  Judah,  and  Judah 
shall  not  vex  Ephraim'  (Isa.  xiii.  12). 

3.  JUDAH,  KINGDOM  OF.  When  the  ter- 
ritory of  all  the  rest  of  Israel,  except  Judah  and 
Benjamin,  was  lost  to  the  kingdom  of  Eehoboam, 
a  special  single  name  was  needed  to  denote  that 
which  remained  to  him  ;  and  almost  of  necessity 
the  word  Judah  received  an  extended  meaning, 
according  to  which  it  comprised  not  Benjamin 
only,  but  the  priests  and  Levites,  who  were  ejected 
in  great  numbers  from  Israel,  and  rallied  round 
the  house  of  David.  At  a  still  later  time,  when 
the  nationality  of  the  ten  tribes  had  been  dis- 
solved, and  every  practical  distinction  between 
the  ten  and  the  two  had  vanished  during  the  cap- 
tivity, the  scattered  body  had  no  visible  head, 


JUDAH,  KINGDOM  OF 

exoept  in  Jerusalem,  which  had  been  re-occupied 
by  a  portion  of  Judah' s  exiles.  In  consequence 
the  name  Judah  (or  Jew)  attached  itself  to  the 
entire  nation  from  about  the  epoch  of  the  resto- 
ration. But  in  this  article  Judah  is  understood 
of  the  people  over  which  David's  successors 
reigned,  from  Eehoboam  to  Zedekiah.  Under 
the  article  Israel  the  chronology  of  the  two 
kingdoms  has  been  discussed,  which,  however, 
was  not  carried  below  the  capture  of  Samaria, 
In  the  lower  part  of  the  list  we  lose  the  check 
which  the  double  line  of  kings  afforded ;  but  for 
the  same  reason  the  problem  is  simpler.  The 
only  difficulty  encountered  here  rises  out  of  the 
ages  assigned  to  some  of  the  kings  of  Judah.  For 
this  reason,  in  the  following  list,  all  their  ages 
are  inserted,  so  far  as  they  are  recorded.  It  has 
been  thought  sufficient  to  add  Winer's  chronology 
to  the  dates  as  given  above  in  the  article  Israel. 


Accession  of 

Years 

of 
Reign. 

Age. 

B.C. 

Father's 
Age  at 
Son's 
Birth. 

Eehoboam  . 

17 

41 

975 



Abijah   .... 

3 

— 

957 

*22 

Asa 

41 

— 

955 

♦22 

Jehoshaphat      .     . 

25 

35 

914 

*22 

f  Jehoram  installed'] 

8 

32 

— 

— 

Jehoram  alo7ie  . 

. — 

(35) 

889 

25 

Ahaziah.      .      .      . 

1 

22 

885 

17 

[Queen  Athaliah]  . 

7 

— 

884 

Jehoash       .      .     . 

39? 

7 

878 

22 

Amaziah 

29 

25 

838 

22 

Uzziah  .... 

53? 

16 

809 

38 

Jotham  .... 

16 

25 

757 

43 

Ahaz      .... 

16 

20 

741 

22 

Hezekiah     .     .     . 

29 

25 

726 

10 

Manasseh    .     .     . 

55 

12 

696 

42 

Amon     .... 

2 

22 

641 

45 

Josiah    .... 

31 

8 

639 

16 

Jehoahaz     •     .     . 

\ 

23 

609 

15 

Jehoiakim,  his  bro- 

ther   .... 

11 

25? 

609 

13? 

Jehoiachin  .      .     . 

1 

18 

598 

18 

Zedekiah,    his  fa- 

ther's brother      . 

11 

21 

598 

28 

Zedekiah  is  deposed 

583 

The  ages  of  Abijah  and  Asa  at  their  accession 
not  being  given,  the  three  first  numbers  in  the  last 
column  are  averages  only,  Eehoboam  having  been 
bom  66  or  67  years  before  Jehoshaphat.  A  glance 
at  the  table  is  sufficient  to  show  that  various  errors 
must  have  crept  into  the  numbers,  but  it  is  now 
extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  correct 
them. 

When  the  kingdom  of  Solomon  became  rent 
with  intestine  war,  it  might  have  been  foreseen 
that  the  Edomites,  Moabites,  and  other  surro'ond- 
ing  nations  would  at  once  refuse  their  accustomed 
tribute,  and  become  again  practically  independent; 
and  some  irregular  invasion  of  these  tribes  might 
have  been  dreaded.  It  was  a  mark  of  conscious 
weakness,  and  not  a  result  of  strength,  that  Eeho- 
boam fortified  15  cities  (2  Chron.  xi.  5-11),  in 
which  his  people  might  find  defence  against  the 
irregular  armies  of  his  roving  neighbours.  But 
a  more  formidable  enemy  came  in,  Shishak  king 


JUDAH,  KINGDOM  OF 

of  Egypt>  against  whom  the  fortresses  were  of  jio 
avail  {xi\.  4),  and  to  whom  Jerusalem  was  forced 
to  open  its  gates ;  and,  from  tho  despoiling  of  his 
treasures,  Kehoboam  probably  sustained  a  still 
greater  shock  in  its  moral  effect  on  the  Moabites 
and  Edomites,  than  in  the  direct  loss :  nor  is  it 
easy  to  conceive  that  he  any  longer  retained  the 
commerce  of  the  Red  Sea,  or  any  very  lucrative 
trade. 

After  Jehoshaphat  followed  the  calamitous 
affinity  with  the  house  of  Ahab,  and  the  mas- 
sacres of  both  families.  Under  Jehoiada  the 
priest,  and  Jehoash  his  pupil,  no  martial  efl'orts 
were  made  ;  but  Amaziah  sou  of  Jehoash,  after 
hiring  100,000  Israelites  to  no  purpose,  made 
war  on  the  Edomites,  slew  10,000,  and  threw 
10,000  more  down  from  the  top  of  their  rock 
(xxv.  5,  6,  11,  12).  His  own  force  in  Judah, 
from  20  years  old  and  upwards,  was  numbered 
at  300,000  choice  men,  able  to  handle  spear 
and  shield.  His  son  Uzziah  had  2600  military 
officers,  and  307,500  men  of  war  (xxvi.  12,  13). 
Ahaz  lost,  in  a  single  battle  with  Pekah,  120,000 
valiant  men  (xxviii.  6),  after  the  severe  slaughter 
he  had  received  from  Rezin  king  of  Syria ;  after 
which  no  further  military  strength  is  ascribed  to 
the  kings  of  Judah. 

These  figures  have  caused  no  small  perplexity, 
and  have  suggested  to  some  the  need  of  conjec- 
tural emendation.  It  perhaps  deserves  remark, 
that  in  the  book  of  Kings  no  numbers  of  such 
startling  magnitude  are  found.  The  army  as- 
cribed to  Kehoboam  (1  Kings  xii.  21)  is,  indeed, 
as  in  Chronicles,  180,000  men ;  but  if  we  explain 
it  of  those  able  to  fight,  the  number,  though  cer- 
tainly large,  may  be  dealt  with  historically. 

As  the  most  important  external  relations  of 
Israel  were  with  Damascus,  so  were  those  of 
Judah  with  Edom  and  Egypt.  Some  revolution 
in  the  state  of  Egypt  appears  to  have  followed  the 
reign  of  Shishak,  Apparently  the  country  must 
have  fallen  under  the  power  of  an  Ethiopian 
dynasty,  for  the  name  of  the  Liibim,  who  accom- 
panied Zerah  in  his  attack  ou  Asa,  is  generally 
regarded  as  proving  that  Zerah  was  from  Sennaar, 
the  ancient  Meroe.  But  as  this  invasion  was  sig- 
nally repulsed,  the  attempt  was  not  repeated ;  and 
Judah  enjoyed  entire  tranquillity  from  that 
quarter  until  the  invasion  of  Pharaoh  Necho.  In 
fact  it  may  seem  that  this  success  assisted  the 
reaction,  favourable  to  the  power  of  Judah,  which 
was  already  begun,  in  consequence  of  a  change 
in  the  policy  of  Damascus.  Asa  having  bought, 
by  a  costly  sacrifice,  the  serviceable  aid  of  the 
Damascene  king,  Israel  was  soon  distressed,  and 
Judah  became  once  more  formidable  to  her 
southern  neighbours.  Jehoshaphat  appears  to 
have  re-asserted  the  Jewish  authority  over  the 
Edomites  without  war,  and  to  have  set  his  own 
viceroy  over  them  (1  Kings  xxii.  47).  Intending 
to  resume  the  distant  commerce  which  had  been 
so  profitable  to  Solomon,  he  built  ships  suitable 
for  long  voyages  ('  ships  of  Tarshish '  as  they  are 
rightly  called  in  1  Kings  xxii.  48),  but  not  having 
the  advantage  of  Tyrian  sailors,  as  Solomon  had, 
he  lost  the  vessels  by  violent  weather  before  they 
had  sailed.  Upon  this,  Ahaziah,  king  of  Israel, 
offered  the  service  of  his  own  mariners,  probably 
from  the  tribe  of  Asher  and  others  accustomed 
to  the  Mediterranean ;  but  Jehoshaphat  was  too 
discouraged  to  accept  his  offer,  and  the  experi- 


JUDAH,  KINGDOM  OF 


503 


ment  was  never  renewed  by  any  Hebrew  king. 
The  Edomites,  who  paid  only  a  forced  allegiance, 
soon  after  revolted  from  Jehoram,  and  elected 
their  own  king  (2  Kings  viii.  20,  22).  At  a 
later  time  they  were  severely  defeated  by  Ama- 
ziah (2  Kings  xiv.  7),  whose  son,  Uzziah,  fortified 
the  town  of  Elath,  intending,  probably,  to  resume 
maritime  enterprise;  but  it  remained  a  barren 
possession,  and  was  finally  taken  from  them  by 
Kezin,  in  the  reign  of  Ahaz  (2  Kings  xvi.  6). 
The  Philistines,  in  these  times,  seem  to  have 
fallen  from  their  former  greatness,  their  league 
having  been  so  long  dissolved.  The  most  re- 
markable event  in  which  they  are  concerned  is 
the  assault  on  Jerusalem,  in  the  reign  of  Jeho- 
ram (2  Chron.  xxi.  IG,  17). 

It  is  strikingly  indicative  of  the  stormy  scenes 
through  which  the  line  of  David  passed,  that  the 
treasures  of  the  king  and  of  the  Temple  were  so 
often  plundered  or  bi-rgained  away.  First,  under 
Kehoboam,  all  the  hoards  of  Solomon,  conse- 
crated and  common  alike,  were  carried  off  by 
Shishak  (1  Kings  xiv.  26).  Two  generations 
later,  Asa  emptied  out  to  Benhadad  all  that  had 
since  accumulated  •  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  or 
in  the  kings  house.'  A  third  time,  when  Hazael 
had  taken  Gath,  and  was  preparing  to  march  on 
Jerusalem,  Jehoash,  king  of  Judah,  tui'ned  him 
away  by  sending  to  him  all  '  that  Jehoshaphat, 
Jehoram,  Ahaziah  and  Jehoash  himself  had  de- 
dicated, and  all  the  gold  that  was  found  in  the 
treasures  of  the  house  of  Jehovah  and  in  the 
•  king's  house '  (2  Kings  xii.  1 8).  In  the  very 
next  reign  Jehoash,  king  of  Israel,  defeated  and 
captured  Amaziah,  took  Jerusalem,  broke  down 
the  walls,  carried  off'  hostages,  and  plundered  the 
gold  and  silver  deposited  in  the  temple  and  in 
the  foyal  palace  (2  Kings  xiv.  11-14).  A  fifth 
sacrifice  of  the  sacred  and  of  the  royal  treasure 
was  made  by  Ahaz  to  Tiglath-pileser  (2  Kings 
xvi.  8).  The  act  was  repeated  by  his  son 
Hezekiah  to  Sennacherib,  who  had  demanded 
'  300  talents  of  silver  and  30  talents  of  gold.'  It 
is  extraordinary,  therefore,  to  find  expressions 
used  when  Nebuchadnezzar  took  the  city,  which 
at  first  sight  imply  that  Solomon's  far-famed 
stores  were  still  untouched  (2  Kings  xxiv.  13). 

The  severest  shock  which  the  house  of  David 
received  was  the  double  massacre  which  it  en- 
dured from  Jehu  and  from  Athaliah.  After  a 
long  minority,  a  youthful  king,  the  sole  sur- 
viving male  descendant  of  his  great-grandfather, 
and  reared  under  the  paternal  rule  of  the  priest 
Jehoiada,  to  whom  he  was  indebted  not  only  for 
(his  throne  but  even  for  his  recognition  as  a  son 
of  Ahaziah,  was  not  in  a  situation  to  uphold  the 
royal  authority.  That  Jehoash  conceived  the 
priests  to  have  abused  the  power  which  they  had 
gained,  sufficiently  appears  in  2  Kii^s  xii.,  where 
he  complains  that  they  had  for  twenty-three 
years  appropriated  the  money,  which  they  ought 
to  have  spent  on  the  repairs  of  the  temple. 
Jehoiada  gave  way ;  but  we  see  here  the  begin- 
ning of  a  feud  (hitherto  unknown  in  the  house 
of  David)  between  the  crown  and  the  priestly 
order;  which,  after  Jehoiada's  death,  led  to  the 
murder  of  his  son  Zachariah.  The  massacre  of 
the  priests  of  Baal,  and  of  Athaliah,  grand- 
daughter of  a  king  of  Sidon,  must  also  have 
destroyed  cordiality  between  the  Phoenicians  and 
the  kingdom  of  Judah ;  and  when  the  victorious 


504  JUDAS  MACCABtEUS 

Hazael  had  sul)jugated  all  Israel  and  showed 
himself  near  Jerusalem,  Jehoash  could  look  for 
no  help  from  without,  and  had  neither  the  faith 
of  Hezekiah  nor  a  prophet  like  Isaiah  to  support 
j    him.     The  assassination  of  Jehoash  in  his  bed 
■    by  '  his  own  servants'  is  described  in  the  Chro- 
nicles as  a  revenge  taken    upon  him  by  the 
i    priestly  party  for  his  murder  of  '  the  sons '  of 
!    Jehoiada ;  and  the  same  fate,  from  the  same  i.n- 
j    fluence,  fell  upoa  his  son  Amaziah,  if  we  may  sa 
interpret  the  words  in  2  Chron.  xxv.  27  :  '  From 
I    the  time  that  Amaziah  turned  away  from  foUow- 
I    lag  Jehovah  they  made  a  conspiracy  against 
him,'  &c.    Thus  the  house  of  David  appeared  to 
!    be  committing  itself,  like  that  of  Saul,_  to  per- 
j    manent  enmity  with  the  priests.     The  wisdom  of 
Uzziah,  during  a  long  reign,  averted  this  col- 
i    lision,  though  a  symptom  of  it  returned  towards 
I    its  close.     No  further  mischief  from  this  cause 
t    followed,  until   the  reign  of  his  grandson,  the 
weak  and  unfortunate  Ahaz :    after  which  the 
1    power  of  the  kingdom  rapidly  mouldered  away. 
i        The  struggle  of  the  crown  against  (what  we 
!    might  call)  the  constitutional  check  of  the  priests, 
I    was  perhaps  the  most  immediate  cause  of  the 
I    ruin  of  Judah.    Ahaz  was  probably  less  guided 
i    by  policy  than  by  superstition,  or  by  architectural 
I    taste,  in  erecting  his  Damascene  altar  (2  Kings 
1    xvi.  10-18).     But  the  far  more  outrageous  pro- 
1    ceedings  of  Manasseh  seem  to  have  been  a  sys- 
I    tematic  attempt  to  extirpate  the  national  religion 
I    because  of  its  supporting  the  priestly  power ;  and 
the  'innocent  blood  very  much,'    which  he  is 
stigmatized  for  shedding  (2  Kings  xxi.  16),  was 
undoubtedly  a  sanguinary  attack  on  the  party 
opposed  to  his  impious  and  despotic  innovations. 
The  storm  which  he  had  raised  did  not  burst  in 
his  lifetime  ;  but,  two  years  after,  it  fell  on  the 
head  of  his  son  Amon ;  and  the  disorganization 
of  the  kingdom  which  his  madness  had  wrought 
is  commemorated  as  the  cause  of  the  Babylonish 
captivity  (2  Kings  xxiii.  26  ;  xxiv.  3,  4).     It  is 
also  credible  that  the  long-continued  despotism 
had  greatly  lessened  patriotic  spirit;   and  that 
the  Jewish  people  of  the  declining  kingdom  were 
less  brave  against  foreign  invaders  than  against 
kindred  and  neighbour  tribes  or  civil  opponents. 
Faction  had  become  very  fierce  withui  Jerusalem 
itself  (Ezek.  xxii.),   and  civil    bloodshed    was 
common.    Wealth,  where  it  existed,  was  gene- 
rally a  source  of  corruption,  by  introducing  foreign 
luxury,    tastes,    manners,   superstitions,    immo- 
rality, or  idolatry  ;  and  when  consecrated  to  pious 
purposes,  as  by  Hezekiah  and  Josiah,  produced 
little  more  than  a  formal  and  exterior  religion. 

The  appointment  of  Hilkiah  to  the  oflSce  of 
high-priest  seems  to  mark  the  era  at  which  (by 
a  reaction  after  the  atrocities  of  Manasseh  and 
Amon)  the  purer  priestly  sentiment  obtained  its 
triumph  over  the  crown.  But  the  victory  came 
too  late.  Society  was  corrupt  and  convulsed 
within,  and  the  two  great  powers  of  Egypt  and 
Babylon  menaced  it  from  without.  True  lovers 
of  their  God  and  of  their  country,  like  Jeremiah, 
saw  that  it  was  a  time  rather  for  weeping  than 
for  action;  and  that  the  faithful  must  resign 
themselves  to  the  bitter  lot  which  the  sins  of 
their  nation  had  earned. 

JU'DAS  is  merely  the  Greek  form  of  the 
Hebrew  name  Judah. 

1.  JUDAS  MACCABiEUS.    [Maccabees.] 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT 

2.  JUDAS  ISCAR'IOT.  The  object  of  this 
article  is  not  to  elucidate  all  the  circumstances 
recorded  respecting  this  person,  but  simply  to 
investigate  his  motives  in  delivering  up  Jesus  to 
the  chief-priests.  The  evangelists  relate  his  pro- 
ceedings, but  give  no  opinion.  The  subject  is 
consequently  open  to  inquiry.  Our  conclusions 
must  be  guided  by  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  by 
the  known  feelings  and  principles  of  human 
nature.  The  only  conceivable  motives  for  the 
conduct  of  Judas  are,  a  sense  of  duty  in  bring- 
ing his  Master  to  justice,  resentment,  avarice, 
dissatisfaction  with  the  procedure  of  Jesus,  and 
a  consequent  scheme  for  the  accomplishment  of 
his  own  views.  With  regard  to  the  first  of 
these  motives,  if  Judas  had  been  actuated  by  a 
sense  of  duij  in  bringing  his  Master  to  justice 
for  anything  censurable  in  his  intentions,  words, 
or  actions,  he  woUd  certainly  have  alleged  some 
charge  against  him  in  his  first  interview  with 
the  chief-priests,  and  they  would  have  brought 
him  forward  as  a  witne^-s  against  Jesus,  espe- 
cially when  they  were  at  st  great  a  loss  for  evi- 
dence ;  or  they  would  have  reminded  him  of  his 
accusations  when  he  appealed  to  them  after  our 
Lord's  condemnation,  saying,  '  i  have  sinned  in 
that  I  have  betrayed  innocent  biood ' — a  confes- 
sion which  amounts  to  an  avowj  that  he  had 
never  seen  anything  to  blame  in  his  Master,  but 
everything  to  approve.  The  secona  motive  sup- 
posed, namely,  that  of  resentment,  is  lather  more 
plausible.  Jesus  had  certainly  rebuked  him  for 
blaming  the  woman  who  had  anointtd  him  in 
tlie  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  at  Bethany  (comp. 
Matt.  xxvi.  8-17;  John  xii.  4,  5);  a.id  Mat- 
thew's narrative  seems  to  connect  his  giing  to 
the  chief-priests  with  that  rebuke  (vej.  14): 
'  Then  one  of  the  twelve,  called  Judas  ls:ariot, 
went  unto  the  chief- priests ;'  but  closer  iaspec- 
tion  will  convince  the  reader  that  those  ,vords 
are  more  properly  connected  with  ver.  3  Be- 
sides, the  rebuke  was  genei'al,  '  Why  trou'jle  ye 
the  woman  ?'  Nor  was  it  nearly  so  harsh  as 
that  received  by  Peter,  'Get  thee  behind  me, 
Satan'  (Matt.  xvi.  23),  and  certainly  mt  so 
public  (Mark  viii.  32,  33).  Even  if  Judai  had 
felt  ever  so  much  resentment,  it  could  scarcely 
have  been  his  sole  motive ;  and  as  nearly  two 
days  elapsed  between  his  contract  with  the  cliief- 
priests  and  its  completion,  it  would  have  subsided 
during  the  interval,  and  have  yielded  to  that 
covetousness  which  m'c  have  every  reason  to 
believe  was  his  ruling  passion.  St.  John  ex- 
pressly declares  that  Judas  'was  a  thief,  and  had 
the  bag,  and  bare  (that  is,  conveyed  away  from 
it,  stole)  what  was  put  therein '  (xii.  6 ;  comp. 
XX.  15,  in  the  original).  This  rebuke,  or  rather 
certain  circumstances  attending  it,  might  have 
determined  him  to  act  as  he  did,  but  is  insuffi- 
cient, of  itself,  to  account  entirely  for  his  conduf.t, 
by  which  he  endangered  all  his  expectations 
worldly  advancement  from  Jesus,  at  the  v< 
moment  when  they  seemed  upon  the  verge 
being  fulfilled.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most  importa^  ^ 
feature  in  the  case,  that  the  hopes  entertained  bj 
Judas,  and  all  the  apostles,  from  their  Master's 
expected  elevation,  as  the  Messiah,  to  the  throne 
of  Judaea,  and,  as  they  believed,  to  the  empire  of 
the  whole  world,  were  never  more  stedfast  than 
at  the  time  when  he  covenanted  with  the  chief- 
priests  to  deliver  him  into  their  hands.     Nor 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT 


JUDAS  ISCARIOT 


505 


doe6  the  theory  of  mere  resentment  agree  with 
the  tenns  of  censure  in  which  the  conduct  and 
character  of  Judas  are  spoken  of  by  our  Lord 
and  the  evangelists.  Since,  then,  this  supposi- 
tion is  insufficient,  we  may  consider  another 
motive  to  which  his  conduct  is  more  commonly 
ascribed,  namely,  covetousness.  But  if  by 
covetousness  be  meant  the  eager  desire  to  obtain 
•the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,'  with  which  the 
chief-priests  '  covenanted  with  him '  (Matt.  xxvi. 
15),  it  presents  scarcely  a  less  inadequate  motive. 
Can  it  be  conceived  that  Judas  would  deliberately 
forego  the  prospect  of  immense  wealtli  from  his 
Master,  by  delivering  him  up  for  about  four 
pounds  ten  shillings  of  our  money,  upon  the 
highest  computation,  and  not  more  than  double 
in  value,  a  sum  which  he  might  easily  have  pur- 
loined from  the  bag  ?  Is  it  likely  that  he  would 
have  made  such  a  sacrifice  for  any  further  sum, 
however  large,  which  we  may  suppose  *  they 
promised  him'  (Mark  xiv.  11),  and  of  which  the 
thirty  pieces  of  silver  might  have  been  the  mere 
earnest  (Luke  xxii.  5)  ?  Had  covetousness  been 
his  motive,  he  would  have  ultimately  applied  to 
the  chief-priests,  not  to  bring  again  tlie  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  with  the  confession,  '  I  have 
sinned  in  that  I  have  betrayed  the  innocent 
blood'  (Matt,  xxvii.  4),  but  to  demand  the  com- 
pletion of  their  agreement  with  him.  We  are 
now  at  liberty  to  consider  the  only  remaining 
motive  for  the  conduct  of  Judas,  namely,  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  procedure  of  his  Master,  and 
a  consequent  scheme  for  the  furtherance  of  his 
own  views.  It  seems  to  us  likely,  that  the  im- 
patience of  Judas  for  the  accomplishment  of  his 
worldly  views,  which  we  conceive  to  have  ever 
actuated  him  in  following  Jesus,  could  no  longer 
be  restrained,  and  that  our  Lords  observations  at 
Bethany  served  to  mature  a  stratagem  he  had 
meditated  long  before.  He  had  no  doubt  been 
greatly  disappointed  at  seeing  his  Master  avoid 
being  made  a  king,  after  feeding  the  five  thousand 
in  Galilee.  Many  a  favourable  crisis  had  he 
seemed  to  lose,  or  had  not  dared  to  embrace,  and 
now  while  at  Bethany  he  talks  of  his  burial 
(John  xii.  7) ;  and  though  none  of  his  apostles, 
so  firm  were  their  worldly  expectations  from 
their  Master,  could  clearly  understand  such 
'sayings'  (Luke  xviii.  34);  yet  they  had  been 
made  'exceeding  sorry'  by  them  (^latt.  xvii. 
23).  At  the  same  time  Judas  had  long  been 
convinced  by  the  miracles  he  had  seen  his 
Master  perform  that  he  was  the  Messiah  (John 
vii.  31).  He  had  even  heard  him  accept  this 
title  from  his  apostles  in  private  (Matt.  xvi.  16). 
He  had  promised  them  that  when  he  should  '  sit 
upon  the  tlirone  of  liis  glory,  they  should  sit 
upon  twelve  thrones  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of 
Israel '  (Matt.  xix.  28).  Yet  now,  when  every- 
thing seemed  most  favourable  to  the  assumption 
of  empire,  he  hesitates  and  desponds.  Within  a 
few  days,  the  people,  who  had  lately  given  him  a 
triumphal  entry  into  the  city,  having  kept  the 
passover,  would  be  dispersed  to  their  homes,  and 
Judas  and  his  fellow  apostles  be,  perhaps,  re- 
quired to  attend  tlieir  Master  on  another  tedious 
expedition  through  the  country.  Hence  it  seems 
most  probable  that  Judas  resolved  upon  the  plan 
of  delivering  up  his  Master  to  the  Jewish  autho- 
rities, when  he  would  be  conjpelled,  in  self- 
defence,  to  prove  his  claims,  by  giving  them  the 


sign  from  heaven  they  had  so  often  demanded ; 
they  would,  he  believed,  elect  him  in  due  form 
as  the  King  Messiah,  and  thus  enable  him  to 
reward  his  followers.  He  did,  indeed,  receive 
from  Jesus  many  alarming  admonitions  against 
his  design ;  but  the  plainest  warnings  are  lost 
upon  a  mind  totally  absorbed  by  a  purpose,  and 
agitated  by  many  violent  passions.  The  worst 
he  would  permit  himself  to  expect,  was  a  tem- 
porary displeasure  for  placing  his  Master  in  this 
dilemma  ;  but  as  he  most  likely  believed,  judging 
from  himself,  that  Jesus  anticipated  worldly 
aggrandizement,  he  might  calculate  upon  his  for- 
giveness when  the  emergency  should  have  been 
triumphantly  surmounted.  Judas  could  not 
doubt  his  master's  ability  to  extricate  himself 
from  his  enemies  by  miracle.  He  had  known 
him  do  so  more  than  once  (Luke  iv.  30 ;  John 
vili.  59;  x.  39).  Hence  his  directions  to  the 
olficei-s  to  '  hold  him  fast,'  when  he  was  appre- 
hended (Matt  xxvi.  48).  With  other  Jews  he 
believed  the  Messiah  would  never  die  (John  xii. 
34);  accordingly,  we  regard  his  pecuniary  stipu- 
lation with  the  priests  as  a  mere  artful  cover  to 
his  deeper  and  more  comprehensive  design  ;  and 
so  that  he  served  their  purpose  in  causing  the 
apprehension  of  Jesus,  they  would  little  care  to 
scrutinize  his  motive.  All  they  felt  was  being 
'  glad '  at  his  proposal  (Mark  xiv.  11),  and  the 
plan  appeared  to  hold  good  up  to  the  very  moment 
of  our  Lord's  condemnation;  for  after  his  ap- 
prehension his  miraculous  power  seemed  unabated, 
from  his  healing  Malchus.  Judas  heard  him 
declare  that  he  could  even  then  '  ask,  and  his 
father  would  give  him  twelve  legions  of  angels ' 
for  his  rescue.  But  when  Judas,  who  awaited 
the  issue  of  the  trial  with  such  different  expecta- 
tions, saw  that  though  Jesus  had  avowed  himself 
to  be  the  Messiah,  he  had  not  convinced  the  San- 
hedrim ;  and,  instead  of  extricating  himself  from 
their  power  by  miracle,  had  submitted  to  be 
'  condemned,  buffeted,  and  spit  upon,'  by  his 
judges  and  accusers;  then  it  should  seem  he 
awoke  to  a  full  view  of  all  the  consequences  of 
his  conduct  The  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, '  that  Christ  should  suffer,'  and  of  Jesus, 
concerning  his  own  rejection  and  death,  flashed 
on  his  mind  in  their  true  sense  and  full  force, 
and  he  found  himself  the  wretched  instrument  of 
their  fulfilment  He  made  a  last  desperate  effort 
to  stay  proceedings.  He  presented  himself  to  the 
chief-priests,  offered  to  return  the  money,  con- 
fessed that  he  had  sinned  in  that  he  had  betrayed 
the  innocent  blood,  and  upon  receiving  their 
heartless  answer  was  wrought  into  a  phrenzy  of 
despair,  during  which  he  committed  suicide. 
There  is  much  siguificancy  in  these  words  of 
Matt,  xxvii.  3,  "Then  Judas,  when  he  saw  he 
was  condemned,'  not  expiring  on  the  cross,  '  re- 
pented himself,'  &c.  If  such  be  the  ti-ue  hypo- 
thesis of  his  conduct,  then,  however  culpable  it 
may  have  been,  as  originating  in  the  most  in- 
ordinate covetousness,  impatience  of  the  procedure 
of  Providence,  crooked  policy,  or  any  other  bad 
quality,  he  is  certainly  absolved  from  the  direct 
intention  of  procuring  his  Master's  death.  '  The 
difference,'  says  Archbishop  Whately,  '  between 
Iscariot  and  his  fellow  apostles  was,  that  though 
they  all  had  the  same  expectations  and  con- 
jectures, he  dared  to  act  on  his  conjectures,  de- 
parting from  the  plain  course  of  his  known  duty 


506 


JGDE,  EPISTLE  OF 


JUDGES 


to  follow  the  calculations  of  his  worldly  wisdom, 
and  the  schemes  of  his  worldly  ambition.' 

3.  JUDAS,  or  JUDE,  surnamed  Barsabas,  a 
Christian  teacher  sent  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch 
along  with  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Acts  xv.  22,  27, 
32),  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  one  of  the 
'eventy  disciples,  and  brother  of  Joseph,  also 
surnamed  Barsabas  (son  of  Sabas),  who  was  pro- 
posed, with  Matthias,  to  fill  up  the  place  of  the 
traitor  Judas  (Acts  i.  23),  Judas  and  Silas 
(who  was  also  of  the  party)  are  mentioned  to- 
gether as  '  prophets  '  and  '  chief  men  among  the 
brethren.' 

4,  JUDAS.     [JnDE.] 

5.  JUDAS,  a  Jew  of  Damascus,  with  whom 
Paul  lodged  (Acts  ix.  11). 

6,  JUDAS,  surnamed  the  Galilaean  (Acts  v. 
37),  so  called  also  by  Josephus,  and  likewise  '  the 
Gaulonite.'  In  company  with  one  Sadoc  he 
attempted  to  raise  a  sedition  among  the  Jews,  but 
was  destroyed  by  Cyrenius  (Quirinus),  then  pro- 
consul of  Syria  and  Judaea. 

JUDE,  OR  JUDAS.  There  were  two  of  this 
name  among  the  twelve  Apostles — Judas,  called 
also  Lebbaeus  and  Thaddaeus  (Matt.  x.  4  ;  Mark 
iii.  18,  which  see),  and  Judas  Iscariot.  Judas  is 
the  name  of  one  of  our  Lord's  brethren,  but  it  is 
not  agreed  whether  oar  Lord's  brother  is  the 
same  with  the  Apostle  of  this  name  [James]. 
We  are  not  informed  as  to  the  time  of  the  voca- 
tion of  the  Apostle  Jude  to  that  dignity.  Indeed, 
the  only  circumstance  relating  to  him  which  is 
recorded  in  the  Gospels  consists  in  the  question 
put  by  him  to  our  Lord  (John  xiv.  22).  '  Judas 
saith  unto  him  (not  Iscariot),  Lord,  how  is  it  that 
thou  wilt  manifest  thyself  to  us,  and  not  unto  the 
world  ? '  Nor  have  we  any  account  given  of  his 
proceedings  after  our  Lord's  resurrection,  for  the 
traditionary  notices  which  have  been  preserved 
of  him  rest  on  no  very  certain  foundation.  It 
has  been  asserted  that  he  was  sent  to  Edessa,  to 
Abgarus,  king  of  Osroene,  and  that  he  preached 
in  Syria,  Arabia,  Mesopotamia,  and  Persia;  in 
which  latter  country  he  suffered  martyrdom. 

JUDE,  EPISTLE  OF.  Doubts  have  been 
thrown  upon  the  genuineness  of  this  Epistle  from 
the  fact  of  the  writer  having  been  supposed  to 
have  cited  two  Apocryphal  books — Enoch  and 
the  Assumption  of  Moses.  But  notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  connected  with  this  point,  it  was 
treated  by  the  ancients  with  the  highest  respect, 
aud  regarded  as  the  genuine  work  of  an  inspired 
writer.  Although  Origeu  on  one  occasion  speaks 
doubtfully,  calling  it  the  '  reputed  Epistle  of 
Jude,'  yet  on  another  occasion,  and  in  the  same 
work,  he  says,  '  Jude  wrote  an  Epistle,  of  few 
lines  indeed,  but  full  of  the  powerful  words  of 
heavenly  grace,  who  at  the  beginning  says, 
"  Jude,  the  servant  of  Jesus  Christ  and  brother 
of  James."  '  The  Same  writer  calls  it  the  writing 
of  Jude  the  Apostle.  The  moderns  are,  however, 
divided  in  opinion  between  Jude  the  Apostle  and 
Jude  the  Lord's  brother,  if  indeed  they  be  dif- 
ferent persons.  The  author  simply  calls  himself 
Jude,  the  brother  of  James,  and  a  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  form  of  expression  has  given  rise 
to  various  conjectures.  Hug  supposes  that  he  in- 
timates thereby  a  nearer  degree  of  relationship 
than  that  of  an  Apostle.  At  the  same  time  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  the  circumstance  of 
his  not  naming  himself  an  apostle  is  not  of  itself 


necessarily  sufficient  to  militate  against  his  being 
the  Apostle  of  that  name,  inasmuch  as  St.  Paid 
does  not  upon  all  occasions  (as  in  Philippians, 
Thessalonians,  and  Philemon)  use  this  title. 
From  his  calling  himself  the  brother  of  James, 
rather  than  the  brother  of  the  Lord.  Michaelis 
deduces  that  he  was  the  son  of  Joseph  by  a 
former  wife,  and  not  a  full  brother  of  our  Lord's, 
as  Herder  contends  [James,  Jude].  From  the 
great  coincidence  both  in  sentiment  and  subject 
which  exists  between  this  Epistle  and  the  second 
of  St.  Peter,  it  has  been  thought  by  many  critics 
that  one  of  these  writers  had  seen  the  other's 
work ;  but  we  shall  reserve  the  discussion  as  to 
which  was  the  earlier  writing  until  we  come  to 
treat  of  St.  Peter's  Epistle.  Dr.  Lardner  sup- 
poses that  Jude's  Epistle  was  written  between 
the  years  C4  and  66,  Beausobre  and  L'Enfant 
between  70  and  75  (from  which  Dodwell  and 
Cave  do  not  materially  differ),  and  Dr.  Mill  fixes 
it  to  the  year  90.  If  Jude  has  quoted  the  apocry- 
phal book  of  Enoch,  as  seems  to  be  agreed  upon 
by  most  modern  critics,  and  if  this  book  was 
written,  as  Liicke  thinks,  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  the  age  of  our  Epistle  best  accords 
with  the  date  assigned  to  it  by  Mill. 

It  is  difficult  to  decide  who  the  persons  were  to 
whom  this  Epistle  was  addressed,  some  supposing 
that  it  was  written  to  converted  Jews,  others  to 
all  Christians,  without  distinction.  Many  of  the 
arguments  seem  best  adapted  to  convince  the 
Jewish  Christians,  as  appeals  are  so  strikingly 
made  to  their  sacred  books  and  traditions. 

The  design  of  this  Epistle  is  to  warn  the  Chris- 
tians against  the  false  teachers  who  had  insinu- 
ated themselves  among  them  and  disseminated 
dangerous  tenets  of  insubordination  and  licen- 
tiousness. The  author  reminds  them,  by  the 
example  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  that  God  had 
punished  the  rebellious  Jews ;  and  that  even  the 
disobedient  angels  had  shared  the  same  fate. 
The  false  teachers  to  whom  he  alludes  '  speak 
evil  of  dignities,'  while  the  archangel  Michael 
did  not  even  revile  Satan.  He  compares  them  to 
Balaam  and  Korah,  to  clouds  without  water,  and 
to  raging  waves.  Enoch,  he  says,  foretold  their 
wickedness ;  at  the  same  time  he  consoles  be- 
lievers, and  exhorts  them  to  persevere  in  faith 
and  love.  The  Epistle  is  remarkable  for  the 
vehemence,  fervour,  and  energy  of  its  composi- 
tion and  style. 

JUDGES.  This  name  is  applied  to  fifteen 
persons  who  at  intervals  presided  over  the  affairs 
of  the  Israelites  during  the  450  years  which 
elapsed  from  the  death  of  Joshua  to  the  accession 
of  Saul.  The  station  and  office  of  these  '  rulers 
of  the  people,'  as  the  original  literally  signifies, 
are  involved  in  great  obscurity,  partly  from  the 
want  of  clear  intimations  in  the  history  in  which 
their  exploits  and  government  are  recorded,  and 
partly  from  the  absence  of  parallels  in  the  history 
of  other  nations,  by  which  our  notions  might  be 
assisted.  They  may  be  briefly  described  as 
faithful  men,  who  acted  for  the  most  part  as 
agents  of  the  Divine  will,  regents  for  the  In- 
visible King  of  the  chosen  people ;  and  who, 
holding  their  commission  directly  from  him,  or 
with  his  sanction,  would  be  more  inclined  to  act 
as  dependent  vassals  of  Jehovah  than  kings,  who, 
as  members  of  royal  dynasties,  would  come  to 
reign  Avith   notions   of  independent  rights  and 


JUDGES 

royal  privileges,  -which  ■would  draw  away  their 
attention  from  their  true  place  in  the  theocracy. 
In  this  greater  dependence  of  the  judges  upon 
the  Divine  King  we  see  the  secret  of  their  insti- 
tution. The  Israelites  were  disposed  to  rest  upon 
their  separate  interests  as  tribes ;  and  having  thus 
allowed  the  standing  general  government  to  re- 
main inoperative  through  disuse,  they  would  in 
cases  of  emergency  have  been  disposed  to  forget 
that  Jehovah  had  taken  upon  himself  the  function 
of  their  Supreme  Ruler,  and  '  to  make  themselves 
a  king  like  the  nations,'  had  their  attention  not 
been  directed  to  the  appointment  of  officei-s  whose 
authority  could  rest  on  no  tangible  right  apart 
from  character  and  services,  which,  with  the 
temporary  nature  of  their  power,  rendered  their 
functions  more  accordant  with  the  principles  of 
the  theocracy  than  those  of  any  other  public  offi- 
cers could  be.  And  it  is  probably  in  this  adapt- 
ation to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  the  Hebrew 
theocracy  that  we  shall  discover  the  reason  of 
our  inability  to  find  any  similar  office  among 
other  nations. 

With  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  office  held  by 
these  judges,  it  is  usual  to  consider  them  as  com- 
mencing their  career  with  military  exploits  to 
deliver  Israel  from  foreign  oppression ;  but  this 
is  by  no  means  invariably  the  case.  Eli  and 
Samuel  were  not  military  men  ;  Deborah  judged 
Israel  before  she  planned  the  war  against  Jabin  ; 
and  of  Jair,  Ibzan,  Elon,  and  Abdon,  it  is  at  least 
uncertain  whether  they  ever  held  any  military 
command.  The  command  of  the  army  can  there- 
fore be  scarcely  considered  the  distinguishing 
characteristic  of  these  men,  or  military  exploits 
the  necessary  introduction  to  the  office.  In  many 
cases  it  is  true  that  military  achievements  were 
the  means  by  which  they  elevated  themselves  to 
the  rank  of  judges ;  but  in  general  the  appoint- 
ment may  be  said  to  have  varied  with  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  times,  and  with  the  particular  cir- 
cumstances which  in  times  of  trouble  would  draw 
the  public  attention  to  persous  who  appeared 
suited  by  their  gifts  or  influence  to  advise  in 
matters  of  general  concernment,  to  decide  in 
questions  arising  between  tribe  and  tribe,  to  ad- 
minister public  affairs,  and  to  appear  as  their 
recognised  head  in  their  intercourse  with  their 
neighbours  and  oppressors. 

In  nearly  all  the  instances  recorded  the  appoint- 
ment seems  to  have  been  by  the  free  unsolicited 
choice  of  the  people.  The  only  cases  of  direct 
Divine  appointment  are  those  of  Gideon  an-d 
Samson,  and  the  last  stood  in  the  peculiar  posi- 
tion of  having  been  from  before  his  birth  ordained 
'  to  begin  to  deliver  Israel.'  Deborah  was  called 
to  deliver  Israel,  but  was  already  a  judge. 
Samuel  was  called  by  the  Lord  to  be  a  prophet, 
but  not  a  judge,  which  ensued  from  the  high 
gifts  which  the  people  recognised  as  dwelling  in 
him ;  and  as  to  Eli,  the  office  of  judge  seems  to 
have  devolved  naturally,  or  rather  ez-ojfficio, 
upon  him  ;  and  his  case  seems  to  be  the  only  one 
in  which  the  high-priest  appears  in  the  character 
which  the  theocratical  institutions  designed  for 
him. 

The  following  clear  summary  of  their  duties 
and  privileges  is  given  by  Jahn : — '  The  office  of 
judges  or  regents  was  held  during  life,  but  it  was 
not  hereditary,  neither  could  they  appoint  their 
successors.    Their  authority  was  limited  by  the 


JUDGES 


507 


law  alone ;  and  in  doubtful  cases  they  were  di- 
rected to  consult  the  Divine  King  through  ttw 
priest  by  Urim  and  Thummim  (Num.  xxvii.  21). 
They  were  not  obliged  in  common  cases  to  ask 
advice  of  the  ordinary  rulers ;  it  was  sufficient  if 
these  did  not  remonstrate  against  the  measures  of 
the  judge.  In  important  emergencies,  however, 
they  convoked  a  general  assembly  of  the  rulers, 
over  which  they  presided  and  exerted  a  powerful 
influence.  They  could  issue  orders,  but  not  enact 
laws  ;  they  could  neither  IcA^y  taxes  nor  appoint 
officers,  except  perhaps  in  the  army.  Their  au- 
thority extended  only  over  those  tribes  by  whom 
they  had  been  elected  or  acknowledged ;  for  it 
is  clear  that  several  of  the  judges  presided  over 
separate  tribes.  There  was  no  income  attached 
to  their  office,  nor  was  there  any  income  appro- 
priated to  them,  unless  it  might  be  a  larger 
share  in  the  si)oils,  and  those  presents  which 
were  made  them  as  testimonials  of  respect  (Judg 
viii.  24).  They  bore  no  external  marks  of  dig- 
nity, and  maintained  no  retinue  of  courtiers, 
though  some  of  them  were  very  opulent.  They 
were  not  only  simple  in  their  manners,  moderate 
in  their  desires,  and  free  from  avarice  and  ambi- 
tion, but  noble  and  magnanimous  men,  who  felt 
that  whatever  they  did  for  theit  country  was 
above  all  reward,  and  could  not  be  recompensed  ; 
who  desired  merely  to  promote  the  public  good, 
and  who  chose  rather  to  deserve  well  of  their 
country  than  to  be  enriched  by  its  wealth.  This 
exalted  patriotism,  like  everything  else  connected 
with  politics  in  the  theocratical  state  of  the  He- 
brews, was  partly  of  a  religious  character,  and 
those  regents  always  conducted  themselves  as  the 
officers  of  God ;  in  all  their  enterprises  they  relied 
upon  Him,  and  their  only  care  was,  that  their 
countrymen  should  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
Jehovah,  their  invisible  king  (Judg.  viii.  22,  sq. ; 
comp.  Heb.  xi.).  Still  they  were  not  without 
faults,  neither  ai'e  they  so  represented  by  their 
historians ;  they  relate,  on  the  contrary,  with  the 
utmost  frankness,  the  great  sins  of  which  some 
of  them  were  guilty.  They  were  not  merely  de- 
liverers of  the  state  from  a  foreign  yoke,  but 
destroyers  of  idolatry,  foes  of  pagan  vices,  pro- 
moters of  the  knowledge  of  God,  of  religion,  and 
of  morality  j  restorers  of  theocracy  in  the  minds 
of  the  Hebrews,  and  powerful  instruments  of 
Divine  providence  in  the  promotion  of  the  great 
design  of  preserving  the  Hebrew  constitution, 
and,  by  that  means,  of  rescuing  the  true  religion 
from  destruction.' 

The  times  of  the  judges  would  certainly  not 
be  considered  so  turbulent  and  barbarous,  much 
less  would  they  be  taken,  contrary  to  the  clearest 
evidence  and  to  the  analogy  of  all  history,  for  a 
heroic  age,  if  they  were  viewed  without  the  pre- 
judices of  a  preconceived  hypothesis.  It  must 
never  be  forgotten  that  the  book  of  Judges  is  by 
no  means  a  complete  history.  This  no  impartial 
inquirer  can  ever  deny.  It  is,  in  a  manner,  a 
mere  register  of  diseases,  from  which,  however, 
we  have  no  right  to  conclude  that  there  were  no 
healthy  men,  much  less  that  there  were  no 
healthy  seasons;  since  the  book  itself,  for  the 
most  part,  mentions  only  a  few  tribes  in  which 
the  epidemic  prevailed,  and  notices  long  periods 
during  which  it  had  universally  ceased.  What- 
ever may  be  the  result  of  more  accurate  investi- 
gation, it  remains  undeniable  that  the  condition 


1    608  JUDGES 

[    of  the  Hebrews  during  this  period  perfectly  cor- 
!    responds  throughout  to  the  sanctions  of  the  law  ; 
and  they  Ayere  always   prosperous  when  they 
complied  with  the  conditions  on  which  prosperity 
I    was  promised  them ;  it  remains  undeniable  that 
i    the  government  of  God  was  clearly  manifested, 
!    not  only  to  the  Hebrews,  but  to  their  heathen 
I    neighbours ;  that  the  fulfilling  of  the  promises 
!    and  threatenings  of  the  law  were  so  many  sen- 
:    sible  proofs   of  the  universal   dominion  of  the 
I    Divine  King  of  the  Hebrews  ;  and,  consequently, 
I    that  all  the  various  fortunes  of  that  nation  were 
!    so  many  means  of  preserving  the  knowledge  of 
God  on  the  earth.    The  Hebrews  had  no  suffi- 
cient reason  to  desire  a  change  in  their  constitu- 
tion ;  all  required  was,  that  they  should  observe 
the  conditions  on  which  national  prosperity  was 
promised  them. 

The  chronology  of  the  period  in  which  the 
!    judges  ruled  is  beset  with  great  and  perhaps  in- 
j    superable  difficulties.  There  are  intervals  of  time 
the   extent   of  which   is   not   specified ;    as,  for 
!    instance,  that  from  Joshua's  death  to  the  yoke  of 
I    Chushan-rishathaim  (ii.  8) ;  that  of  the  rule  of 
!    Shamgar  (iii.  31);  that  between  Gideon's  death 
i    and  Abimelech's   accession  (viii.  31,  32);    and 
i    that  of  Israel's  renewal  of  idolatry  previous  to 
j    their  oppression  by  the  Ammonites  (x.   6,  7). 
I    Sometimes  round  numbers  seem  to  have  been 
j    given,  as  forty  years  for  the  rule  of  Othniel,  forty 
years  for  that  of  Gideon,  and  forty  years  also  for 
the  duration  of  the  oppression  by  the  Philistines. 
Twenty  years   are  given  for  the  subjection  to 
Jabin,  and  twenty  years  for  the  government  of 
Samson;  yet  the  latter  never  completely  con- 
quered  the  Philistines,   who,   on   the   contrary, 
succeeded  in  capturing  him.     Some  judges,  who 
are  commonly  considered  to  have  been  successive, 
were  in   all  probability  contemporaneous,   and 
ruled  over  different  districts.     Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  impossible  to  fix  the  date  of 
each  particular  event  in  the  book  of  Judges ;  but 
attempts  have  been  made  to  settle  its  general 
chronology,  of  which  we  must  in  this  place  men- 
tion the  most  successful. 

The  whole  period  of  the  judges,  from  Joshua 
to  Eli,  is  usually  estimated  at  299  years,  in  order 
to  meet  the  480  years  which  (1  Kings  vi.  I)  are 
said  to  have  elapsed  from  the  departure  of  the 
Israelites  from  Egypt  to  the  foundation  of  the 
temple  by  Solomon.  But  St.  Paul  says  (Acts 
xiii.  20),  '  God  gave  unto  the  people  of  Israel 
judges  about  the  space  of  450  years  until  Samuel 
the  prophet.'  Again,  if  the  number  of  years  spe- 
cified by  the  author  of  our  book,  in  stating  facts, 
is  summed  up,  we  have  410  years,  exclusive  of 
those  years  not  specified  for  certain  intervals  of 
time  above  mentioned.  In  order  to  reduce  these 
410  years  and  upwards  to  299,  events  and  reigns 
must,  in  computing  their  years  of  duration,  either 
be  entirely  passed  over,  or,  in  a  most  arbitrary 
way,  included  in  other  periods  preceding  or  subse- 
quent. This  has  been  done  by  Archbishop  Usher, 
whose  system,  here  peculiarly  faulty,  has  been 
adopted  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. He  excludes  the  repeated  intervals  during 
which  the  Hebrews  were  in  subjection  to  their 
enemies,  and  reckons  only  the  years  of  peace  and 
rest  which  were  assigned  to  the  successive  judges. 
For  example,  he  passes  over  the  eight  years  of 
servitude  inflicted  upon  the  Hebrews  by  Chushan- 


JUDGES 

rishathaim,  and,  without  any  interruption,  con- 
nects the  peace  obtained  by  the  victories  of  Othniel 
with  that  which  had  been  conferred  on  the  land 
by  the  government  of  Joshua ;  and  although  tfie 
sacred  historian  relates  in  the  plainest  terms  pos- 
sible that  the  children  of  Israel  served  the  king 
of  Mesopotamia  eight  years,  and  were  afterwards 
delivered  by  Othniel,  who  gave  the  land  rest  forty 
years,  the  archbishop  maintains  that  the  forty  years 
now  mentioned  began,  not  after  the  successes  of 
this  judge,  but  immediately  after  the  demise  of 
Joshua.  Nothing  certainly  can  be  more  obvious 
than  that  in  this  case  the  years  of  tranquillity  and 
the  years  of  oppression  ought  to  be  reckoned 
separately.  Again,  we  are  informed  by  the  sacred 
writer,  that  after  the  death  of  Ehud  the  children 
of  Israel  were  under  the  oppression  of  Jabin  king 
of  Hazor  for  twenty  years,  and  that  afterwards, 
when  their  deliverance  was  effected  by  Deborah 
and  Barak,  the  land  had  rest  forty  years.  Nothing 
can  be  clearer  than  this ;  yet  Usher's  system  leads 
him  to  include  the  twenty  years  of  oppression 
in  the  forty  of  peace,  making  both  but  forty  years. 
All  this  arises  from  the  obligation  which  Usher 
unfortunately  conceived  himself  under  of  follow- 
ing the  scheme  adopted  by  the  Masoretic  Jews, 
who,  as  Dr.  Hales  remarks,  have  by  a  curious 
invention  included  the  four  first  servitudes  in 
the  years  of  the  judges  who  put  an  end  to  them, 
contrary  to  the  express  declarations  of  Scripture, 
which  represents  the  administrations  of  the  judges, 
not  as  synchronising  with  the  servitudes,  but  as 
succeeding  them.  The  Rabbins  were  indeed  forced 
to  allow  the  fifth  servitude  to  have  been  distinct 
from  the  administration  of  Jephthah,  because  it 
was  too  long  to  be  included  in  that  administra- 
tion ;  but  they  deducted  a  year  from  the  Scrip- 
ture account  of  the  servitude,  making  it  only  six 
instead  of  seven  years.  They  sank  entirely  the 
sixth  servitude  of  forty  years  under  the  Philis- 
tines, because  it  was  too  long  to  be  contained  in 
Samson's  administration ;  and,  to  crown  all,  they 
reduced  Saul's  reign  of  forty  years  to  two  years 
only. 

"The  necessity  for  all  these  tortuous  operations 
has  arisen  from  a  desire  to  produce  a  ooaformity 
with  the  date  in  1  Kings  vi.  1,  which,  as  already 
cited,  gives  a  period  of  only  480  years  from  the 
Exode  to  the  foundation  of  Solomon's  temple. 
As  this  date  is  incompatible  with  the  sum  of  the 
different  numbers  given  in  the  book  of  Judges, 
and  as  it  differs  from  the  computation  of  Josephus 
and  of  all  the  ancient  writers  on  the  subject, 
whether  Jewish  or  Christian,  it  is  not  unsatis- 
factory to  find  grounds  which  leave  this  text  open 
to  much  doubt  and  suspicion.  We  cannot  here 
enter  into  any  lengthened  proof;  but  that  the  text 
did  not  exist  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  copies  of 
the  Scripture  till  nearly  three  centuries  after 
Christ,  is  evident  from  the  absence  of  all  reference 
to  it  in  the  works  of  the  learned  men  who  com- 
posed histories  of  the  Jews  from  the  materials 
supplied  to  them  in  the  sacred  books.  This  might 
be  shown  by  reference  to  various  authors,  who,  if 
the  number  specified  in  it  had  existed,  .could  not 
fail  to  have  adduced  it. 

It  only  remains  to  arrange  the  different  systems 
of  the  chronology  of  this  period  so  as  to  exhibit 
them  in  one  view  to  the  eye  of  the  reader.  It  has 
been  deemed  right,  for  the  better  apprehension  oi 
the  differences,  to  make  the  table  embrace  the 


JUDGES,  BOOK  OF 

whole  period  from  the  exode  to  the  building  of 
Solomon's  temple.  The  headings  are  taken  from 
Hales,  simply  because,  from  being  the  most  co- 
pious, they  can  afl'ord  a  framework  within  which 
all  the  explanations  may  be  inserted. 

The  authorities  for  this  table  are:  Josephus, 
Antiquities,  V.  1-10;  Theophilus,  Bp.  of  Antioch 


JUDGES,  BOOK  OF 


509 


(a.d.  330),  Epist.  ad  Atitoli/cum,  iii. ;  Eusebias 
(a.d.  330),  Praparatio  Erangelica,  x.  14;  Usher 
(1650),  Chronologia  Sacra,  p.  71  ;  Jackson  (1752), 
Chronological  Antiquities,  p.  145;  Hales  (1811), 
Analysis  of  Chronology,  i.  101  ;  Russell  (1827), 
Connection  of  Sacred  and  Profane  History,  i. 
147. 


Hales. 

Jackson. 

a 

I 

1 

i 
f 

.1 
1 

tsher. 

Yrs. 

B.C. 

Years. 

B.C. 

Yrs. 

Yrs. 

Yis. 

Years. 

Years. 

B.C. 

Exode  to  death  of  Moses  .     . 

40 

1648 

40 

1593 

40 

40 

40 

40 

40 

1491 

Joshua  (and  the)    .      .      .     ) 
Elders J 

26 

1608 

1 

•• 

25 

25 

27 

27 

•• 

1451 

First  Division  of  Lands    .     . 

.. 

1602 

U7 

1553 

Second  Division  of  Lands. 

.. 

1596 

,, 

.. 

64  m 

1444 

Anarchy  or  Interregnum  . 

10 

1582 

2 

L  Servitude,  Mesopotam,     . 

8 

1572 

8 

1526 

8 

18 

8 

40  j 

40 

1413 

1.  Othniel 

40 

1564 

40 

1518 

40 

40 

40 

1405 

IL  Servitude,  Moabit.     .     . 

18 

1524 

18 

1478 

.. 

18 

18 

1 

1343 

2.  Ehud  (and)  ....     1 

3.  Shamgar      .      .      .     .     / 
IlL  Servitude,  Canaanit.     . 

80 

1506 

80 

1460 

80 

|S0 

80 
1 

80 
omitted. 

jso 

1323 

20 

1426 

20 

1380 

20 

20 

20 

201 

40  r 

40 

1285 

4.  Deborah  and  Barak      .     . 

40 

1406 

40 

1360 

40 

40 

40 

1205 

IV.  Servitude,  Midian.  .     . 

7 

1368 

7 

1320 

7 

7 

7 

Z\ 

40 

1252 

5.  Gideon 

40 

1359 

40 

1313 

40 

40 

40 

1245 

6.  Abimelech 

3 

1319 

3 

1273 

3 

3 

3 

3 

92m 

1236 

7.  Tola 

23 

1316 

22 

1270 

22 

22 

22 

S} 

48 

1232 

8.  Jair 

22 

1293 

22 

1248 

22 

22 

22 

1210 

V.  Servitude,  Ammon.    .     . 

18 

1271 

18 

1226 

18 

18 

18 

'?} 

6 

1206 

9.  Jephthah 

6 

1253 

6 

1208 

6 

6 

6 

1188 

10.  Ibzan    „ 

7 

1247 

7 

1202 

7 

7 

7 

^1 

1182 

U.  Elon 

10 

1240 

10 

1195 

'^1 

10 

10 

10  I 

25 

1175 

12.  Abdon 

8 

1230 

8 

1185 

8 

8J 

1165 

VL  Servitude,  Philist.     201 
13.  Samson 20 j 

40 

1222 

40 

1177 

40 

40 
20 

40 
20 

40 
20 

40 

Interregnum 

., 

.. 

.. 

.. 

., 

40 

f 

14.  Eli 30) 

Samuel  called  as  a  prophet  10  j 

40 

1182 

20* 

1137 

20t 

40 

20 

40  J 

1157 

VII.  Servitude  or  Anarchy  . 

20 

1142 

20 

1117 

204 

15.  Samuel 

12 

1122 

20 

1097 

12 

12 

. , 

.. 

21 

1116 

Samuel  and  Saul    .      .      .181 
Saul 22j 

40 

1110 

i  20 

40 

18 

1077 

2 

20 

40 

40 

1095 

David 

40 

1070 

40 

1057 

40 

40 

40 

1} 

43 

1055 

Solomon  to  Found,  of  the  Temple 

3 

1030 

3 

1017 

3 

3 

3 

1014 

Exode  to  F.  of  Temple     .     . 

621 

1027 

579 

1014 

59H 

592 

612 

600 

478| 

1012 

JUDGES,  BOOK  OF,  the  third  in  the  list  of 
the  historical  compositions  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  consists  of  two  divisions,  the  first  comprising 
chaps,  i.-xvii. ;  the  second,  being  an  appendix, 
chaps,  xvii.-xxi. 

That  the  author,  in  composing  this  work,  had 
a  certain  design  in  view,  is  evident  from  ch.  ii. 
11-23,  where  he  states  the  leading  features  of  his 
narrative.  He  introduces  it  by  relating  (ch.  i.) 
the  extent  to  which  the  wars  against  the  Ca- 
naanites  were  continued  after  the  death  of  Joshua, 
and  what  tribes  had  spared  them  in  consideration 
of  a  tribute  imposed ;  also  by  alluding  (ch.  ii.  1-10) 
to  the  benefits  which  Jehovah  had  conferred  on 


*  Samson  and  Eli  are  supposed  to  have  been 
jad^es  simultaneously  during  20  years  of  this 
period. 


them,  and  the  distinguished  protection  with  which 
he  had  honoured  them.  Next  he  states  his  lead- 
ing object,  namely,  to  prove  that  the  calamities 
to  which  the  Hebrews  had  been  exposed  since  the 
death  of  Joshua  were  owing  to  their  apostacy  from 
Jehovah,  and  to  their  idolatry.  '  They  forsook 
the  Lord,  and  served  Baal  and  Ashtaroth '  (ch.  ii. 
13) ;  for  which  crimes  they  were  deservedly  pu- 
nished and  greatly  distressed  (ch.  ii.  15).  Never- 
theless, when  they  repented  and  obeyed  again  the 
commandments  of  the  Lord,  he  delivered  them 
out  of  the  hand  of  their  enemies  by  the  '  judges ' 
whom  he  raised  up,  and  made  them  prosper  (ch. 
ii.  16-23).     To  illustrate  this  theme,  the  author 


t  Besides  the  20  years  under  the  sixth  serri-   j 
tude. 


510  JUDGES,  BOOK  OF 

collected  several  fragments  of  the  Hebrew  history 
during  the  period  between  Joshua  and  Eli.  Some 
episodes  occur ;  but  in  arguing  his  subject  he 
never  loses  sight  of  his  leading  theme,  to  which, 
on  the  contrary,  he  frequently  recurs  while  stating 
facts,  and  shows  how  it  applied  to  them  ;  the  moral 
evidently  being,  that  the  only  way  to  happiness 
was  to  shun  idolatry  and  obey  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord.  The  design  of  the  author  was  not 
to  give  a  connected  and  complete  history  of  the 
Hebrews  in  the  period  between  Joshua  and  the 
kings ;  for  if  he  had  intended  a  plan  of  that  kind, 
he  would  also  have  described  the  state  of  the  do- 
mestic affairs  and  of  the  government  in  the  several 
tribes,  the  relation  in  which  they  stood  to  each 
other,  and  the  extent  of  power  exercised  by  a 
judge  ;  he  would  have  further  stated  the  number 
of  tribes  over  whom  a  judge  ruledj  and  the  number 
of  years  during  which  the  tribes  were  not  oppressed 
by  their  heathen  neighbours,  but  enjoyed  rest  and 
peace.  The  appendix,  containing  two  narratives 
(that  of  Micah  with  his  '  house  of  gods,'  and  the 
brutal  outrage  committed  by  the  Benjamites  of 
Gibeah),  further  illustrates  the  lawlessness  and 
anarchy  prevailing  in  Israel  after  Joshua's  death. 
If  the  first  and  second  divisions  had  been  by  the 
same  author,  the  chronological  indications  would 
also  have  been  the  same.  Now  the  author  of  the 
second  division  always  describes  the  period  of 
which  he  speaks  thus :  '  In  those  days  there  was 
no  king  in  Israel,  but  every  man  did  that  which 
was  right  in  his  own  eyes'  (ch.  xvii.  6  ;  xviii.  1 ; 
xix.  1 ;  xxi.  25) ;  but  this  expression  never  once 
occurs  in  the  first  division.  If  one  author  had 
composed  both  divisions,  instead  of  this  chrono- 
logical formula,  we  should  rather  have  expected, 
'  In  the  days  of  the  judges,'  '  At  a  time  when  there 
was  no  judge,'  &c.,  which  would  be  consonant  with 
the  tenor  of  the  first  sixteen  chapters.  The  style 
also  in  the  two  divisions  is  different,  and  it  will 
be  shown  that  the  appendix  was  written  much 
later  than  the  first  part.  All  modern  critics,  then, 
agree  in  this,  that  the  author  of  the  first  sixteen 
chapters  of  our  book  is  different  from  him  who 
composed  the  appendix.  The  authorship  of  the 
first  sixteen  chapters  has  been  assigned  to  Joshua, 
{  Samuel,  and  Ezra.  There  is  no  evidence,  however, 
I  in  support  of  any  of  these  opinions,  and  various 
j  conclusive  reasons  can  be  assigned  to  ehow  that 
I    they  are  incorrect. 

I        But  though  we  cannot  determine  the  authorship 
j    of  the  book  of  Judges,  still  its  age  may  be  deter- 
i    mined  from  internal  evidence.    The  first  sixteen 
chapters  must  have  been  written  under  Saul, 
I    whom  the  Israelites  made  their  king  in  the  hope 
'•    of  improving  their  condition.   Phrases  used  in  the 
j    period  of  the  Judges  may  be  traced  in  them,  and 
I    the  author  must  consequently  have  lived  near  the 
I    time  when  they  were  yet  current.     He  says  that 
I    in  his  time  '  the  Jebusites  dwelt  with  the  children 
1    of  Benjamin  in  Jerusalem'  (ch.  i.  21)  :  now  this 
was  the  case  only  before  David,  who  conquered 
the  town  and  drove  out  the  Jebusites.    Conse- 
quently, the  author  of  the  first  division  of  the 
book  of  Judges  must  have  \ired  and  vrfitten  be- 
fore David,  and  under  king  Saul.   If  he  had  lived 
under  David,  he  would  have  mentioned  the  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem  by  that  monarch,  as  the  nature 
of  his  subject  did  not  allow  him  to  pass  it  over  in 
silence.    The  omission,  moreover,  of  the  history, 
not  only  of  Samuel  but  a.lso  of  Eli,  indicates  an 


JUDGES,  BOOK  OF 

author  who,  living  in  an  age  very  near  that  of 
Eli,  considered  his  history  as  generally  known, 
because  so  recent.  The  exact  time  when  the 
appendix  was  added  to  the  book  of  Judges  cannot 
indeed  be  determined,  but  its  author  certainly 
lived  in  an  age  much  later  than  that  of  the 
recorded  events. 

It  was  published  at  a  time  when  the  events  re- 
lated were  generally  known,  and  when  the  vera- 
city of  the  author  could  be  ascertained  by  a  re- 
ference to  the  original  documents.  Several  of  its 
narratives  are  confirmed  by  the  books  of  Samuel 
(comp.  Judg.  iv.  2  ;  vi.  14  ;  xi.,  with  1  Sam.  xii. 
9-12:  Judg.  ix.  53  with  2  Sam.  xi.  21).  The 
Psalms  not  only  allude  to  the  book  of  Judges 
(comp.  Ps.  Ixxxiii.  11,  with  Judg.  vii.  25),  but 
copy  from  it  entire  verses  (comp.  Ps.  Ixviii.  8,  9 ; 
xcvii.  5 ;  with  Judg.  v.  4,  5).  Philo  and  Josephus 
knew  the  book,  and  made  use  of  it  in  their  own 
compositions.  The  New  Testament  alludes  to  it 
in  several  places  (comp.  Matt.  ii.  13-2-3  with  Judg. 
xiii.  5  ;  xvi.  1 7  ;  Acts  xiii.  20 ;  Heb.  xi.  32).  This 
external  evidence  in  support  of  the  authorityof 
the  book  of  Judges  is  corroborated  by  many  in- 
ternal proofs  of  its  authenticity.  All  its  narra- 
tives are  in  character  with  the  age  to  which  they 
belong,  and  agree  with  the  natural  order  of 
things.  We  find  here  that  shortly  after  the 
death  of  Joshua  the  Hebrew  nation  had,  by  seve- 
ral victories,  gained  courage  and  become  valorous 
(ch.  i.  and  xix.) ;  but  that  it  afterwards  turned 
to  agriculture,  preferred  a  quiet  life,  and  allowed 
the  Canaanites  to  reside  in  its  territory  in  con- 
sideration of  a  tribute  imposed  on  them,  when  the 
original  plan  was  that  they  should  be  expelled. 
This  changed  their  character  entirely :  they  be- 
came effeniinate  and  indolent— a  result  which  we 
find  in  the  case  of  all  nations  who,  from  a  no- 
madic and  warlike  life,  turn  to  agriculture.  The 
intercourse  with  their  heathen  neighbours  fre- 
quently led  the  uncultivated  Hebrews  to  idolatry ; 
and  this,  again,  further  prepared  them  for  servi- 
tude. They  were  consequently  overpowered  and 
oppressed  by  their  heathen  neighbours.  The  first 
subjugation,  indeed,  by  a  king  of  Mesopotamia, 
they  endured  but  eight  years;  but  the  second, 
more  severe,  by  Eglon,  lasted  longer :  it  was  the 
natural  consequence  of  the  public  spirit  having 
gradually  more  and  more  declined,  and  of  Eglon 
having  removed  his  residence  to  Jericho  with  a 
view  of  closely  watching  all  their  movements 
(Joseph.  Antiq.  v.  5).  When  Ehud  sounded  the 
trumpet  of  revolt,  the  whole  nation  no  longer 
rose  in  arms,  but  only  the  inhabitants  of  Mount 
Ephraim  (ch.  iii.  27) ;  and  when  Barak  called  to 
arms  against  Sisera,  many  tribes  remained  quietly 
with  their  herds  (ch.  v.  14,  15,  26,  28).  Of  the 
30,000  men  who  offered  to  follow  Gideon,  he 
could  make  use  of  no  more  than  300,  this  small 
number  only  being,  as  it  would  seem,  filled  with 
true  patriotism  and  courage.  Thus  the  people 
had  sunk  gradually,  and  deserved  for  forty  years 
to  bear  the  yoke  of  the  Philistines,  to  whom  they 
had  the  meanness  to  deliver  Samson,  who,  how- 
ever, loosed  the  cords  with  which  he  was  tied, 
and  killed  a  large  number  of  them  (ch.  xv.).  It 
is  impossible  to  consider  such  an  historical  work, 
which  perfectly  agrees  with  the  natural  course  of 
things,  as  a  fiction :  at  that  early  period  of  author- 
ship, no  writer  could  have,  from  fancy,  depicted 
the  character  of  the  Hebrews  so  conformably  witi 


JUDGMENT-HALL 

nature  and  established  facts.  All  in  this  book 
breathes  the  spirit  of  the  ancieut  world.  Martial 
law  \re  find  in  it,  as  could  not  but  be  expected, 
hard  and  wild.  The  conquered  people  are  subjected 
to  rough  treatment,  as  is  the  case  in  the  wars  of 
all  uncivilized  people ;  the  inhabitants  of  cities 
are  destroyed  wholesale  (ch.  viii.  Ifi,  17;  xx.). 
Hospitality  and  the  protection  of  strangers  re- 
ceived as  guests  is  considered  the  highest  virtue 
(ch.  xix. ;  comp.  Gen.  x\x.). 

In  the  state  of  oppression  in  which  the  Hebrews 
often  found  themselves  during  the  period  from 
Joshua  to  Eli,  it  was  to  be  expected  that  men, 
filled  with  heroism,  should  now  and  then  rise  up 
and  c;ill  the  people  to  arms  in  order  to  deliver 
them  from  their  enemies.  Such  valiant  men  are 
introduced  by  our  author,  and  he  extols  them, 
indeed,  highly  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  he  is  not 
silent  respecting  their  faults,  which  he  discloses 
in  a  way  proper  to  true  history,  but  impossible  to 
fiction,  which  could  have  no  other  object  than 
tie  aggrandisement  of  the  national  character  and 
exploits.  And  this  frank,  impartial  tone  pervades 
the  whole  work.  It  begins  with  displaying  the 
Israelites  as  a  refractory  and  obstinate  people, 
and  the  appendix  ends  with  the  statement  of  a 
crime  committed  by  the  Benjamites,  which  had  the 
most  disastrous  consequences.  At  the  same  time 
due  praise  is  bestowed  on  acts  of  generosity  and 
justice,  and  valiant  feats  are  carefully  recorded. 

Objections  have  been  made  to  the  authenticity 
of  this  book,  in  consequence  of  the  remarkable 
exploits  ascribed  to  its  heroes.  But  it  will  be 
easy  to  show  that,  when  properly  understood, 
these  exploits  do  not  necessarily  exceed  the  limits 
of  human  power.  Extraordinaiy  indeed  they 
were ;  but  they  are  not  alleged  by  the  Scripture 
itself  to  have  been  supernatural.  Those,  however, 
who  do  hold  them  to  have  been  supernatural 
rannot  reasonably  take  exception  to  them  on  the 
ground  of  their  extraordinary  character.  Con- 
sidering the  very  remote  period  at  which  our  book 
was  written — considering  also  the  manner  of  view- 
ing and  describing  events  and  persons  which  pre- 
vailed with  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  which  very 
much  difi'ers  from  that  of  our  age — taking,  more- 
over, into  account  the  brevity  of  the  narratives, 
which  consist  of  historical  fragments,  we  may 
well  wonder  that  there  do  not  occur  in  it  more 
diflSculties,  and  that  not  more  doubts  have  been 
raised  as  to  its  historical  authority. 

JUDGMENT-HALL  occurs  Matt,  xxvii.  27  ; 
Mark  xv.  16;  John  xviii.  28,  33;  xix.  9;  Acts 
xxiii.  35  ;  Phil.  i.  13.  In  all  these  passages 
except  one  (Mark  xv.  16)  the  English  version 
gives  an  explanation  of  the  word  rather  than  a 
translation:  thus,  Matt,  xxvii.  27,  '  the  common- 
hall  ;'  margin,  '  or  governor's  house :'  John  xviii. 
28,  33, '  the  judgment-hall ;'  margin,  '  or  Pilate's 
house  :'  Philjpp.  i.  13,  'the  palace;'  margin,  'or 
CjEsar's  court.'  Originally  the  word  signified 
Ihe  general's  tent  in  a  camp,  but  it  came  at  length 
iQ  be  applied  to  the  residence  of  the  civil  governor 
in  provinces  and  cities,  and  was  used  to  signify 
whatever  appertained  to  the  praetor  or  governor; 
for  instance,  his  residence,  either  the  whole  or  any 
part  of  it,  as  his  dwelling-house,  or  the  place 
where  he  administered  justice,  or  even  the  large 
enclosed  court  at  the  entrance  to  the  prtotorian 
residence. 

Upon  comparing  the  instances  in  which  the 


JUDITH 


511 


evangelists  mention  the  prsctorium,  it  will  be 
seen,  first,  that  in  John  xviii.  28,  it  means  the 
residenf'e  of  Pilate,  which  seems  to  have  been  the 
magnificent  palace  built  by  Herod,  situated  in  the 
north  part  of  the  upper  city,  west  of  the  temple, 
and  overlooking  the  temple.  Secondly,  the  word 
is  applied  in  the  New  Testament,  by  synecdoche, 
to  a  particular  part  of  the  prjetonan  residence. 
Thus,  Matt,  xxvii.  27,  and  Mark  xv.  16,  'And 
the  soldiers  led  Jesus  away  into  the  hall  called 
Prsetorium,  and  gathered  unto  them  the  whole 
band,  and  they  clothed  him  with  purple,'  &c.  ; 
where  the  word  rather  refers  to  the  court  or  area 
in  front  of  the  prsetorium,  or  some  other  court 
where  the  procurator's  guards  were  stationed.  In 
John  xix.  9,  the  word  seems  applied,  when  all  the 
circumstances  are  considered,  to  Pilate's  private 
examination  room.  In  like  manner,  when  Felix 
•commanded  Paul  to  be  kept  in  Herod's  prse- 
torium' (Acts  xxiii.  25),  the  words  apply  not 
only  to  the  whole  palace  originally  built  at 
CsEsarea  by  Herod,  and  now  most  likely  inhabited 
by  the  praetor,  but  also  to  the  keep  or  donjm,  a 
prison  for  confining  offenders,  such  as  existed  in 
our  ancient  royal  palaces  and  grand  baronial 
castles.  Thirdly,  in  the  remaining  instance  of 
the  word,  Phil.  i.  3,  '  So  that  my  bonds  in  Christ 
are  manifest  in  all  the  praetorium,'  '  palace,'  it  is, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  best  commentators,  used  to 
signify  the />?-«<onan  camp  at  Rome,  a  select  body 
of  troops  constituted  by  Augustus  to  guard  his 
person  and  to  have  charge  of  the  city,  so  that  the 
words  of  the  apostle  really  mean,  '  My  bonds  in 
Christ  are  manifest  to  all  the  praetorians,  and  by 
their  means  to  the  public  at  large.' 

JU'DITH,  the  name  of  one  of  the  apocryphal 
or  deutero-canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
is  placed  in  manuscripts  of  the  Alexandrine  ver- 
sion between  the  books  of  Tobit  and  Esther.  In 
its  external  form  this  book  bears  the  character  of 
the  record  of  an  historical  event,  describing  the 
complete  defeat  of  the  Assyrians  by  the  Jews 
through  the  prowess  of  a  woman. 

The  following  is  a  sketch  of  the  narrative : — 
Nebuchadnezzar,  or,  as  he  is  called  in  the  Greek, 
Nabuchodonosor,  king  of  the  Assyrians,  having, 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  his  reign,  conquered  and 
taken  Arphaxad,  by  whom  his  territory  had  been 
invaded,  formed  the  design  of  subduing  the  people 
of  Asia  to  the  westward  of  Nineveh  his  capital, 
who  had  declined  to  aid  him  against  Arphaxad. 
With  this  view  he  sent  his  general,  Holofernes, 
at  the  head  of  a  powerful  army,  and  soon  made 
himself  master  of  Mesopotamia,  Syria,  Libya, 
Cilicia,  and  Idumaea.  The  inhabitants  of  the  sea- 
coast  made  a  voluntary  submission  ;  which,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  their  territories  from  being 
laid  waste,  their  sacred  groves  burned,  and  their 
idols  destroyed,  in  order  that  divine  honours 
should  be  paid  only  to  Nebuchadnezzar.  Holo- 
fernes, having  finally  encamped  in  the  plain  of 
Esdraelon  (ch.  i.  3),  remained  inactive  for  a 
whole  month — or  two,  according  to  the  Latin 
version.  But  the  Jews,  who  had  not  long  re- 
turned from  captivity,  and  who  had  just  restored 
their  temple  and  its  worship,  prepared  for  war 
under  the  direction  of  their  high-priest  Joacim, 
or  Eliakim,  and  the  senate.  The  high-priest  ad- 
dressed letters  to  the  inhabitants  of  Bethulia  and 
Betomestham,  near  Esdraelon  (ch.  iv.  6),  charging 
them  to  guard  the  passes  of  the  mountains.    The 


512 


JUDITH 


Jews  at  the  same  time  kept  a  fast,  and  called  upon 
God  for  protection  against  their  enemies.  Ho!o- 
fernes,  astonished  at  their  audacity  and  prepara- 
tions, inquired  of  the  Moabites  and  Ammonites 
■who  these  people  -were.  Achior,  the  leader  of  the 
Ammonites,  informed  him  of  the  history  of  the 
Jews,  adding,  that  if  they  offended  their  God  he 
would  deliver  them  into  the  hands  of  their  ene- 
mies, but  that  otherwise  they  would  be  invincible. 
Holofernes,  however,  prepares  to  lay  siege  to 
Bethulia,  and  commences  operations  by  taking 
the  mountain  passes,  and  intercepting  the  water, 
in  order  to  compel  the  inhabitants  to  surrender. 
Ozias,  the  governor  of  the  city,  holds  out  as  long 
as  possible ;  but  at  the  end  of  thirty-  four  days' 
siege,  the  inhabitants  are  reduced  to  that  degree 
of  distress  from  drought,  that  they  are  determined 
to  surrender  unless  relieved  within  five  days. 
Meantime  Judith,  a  rich  and  beautiful  woman, 
the  widow  of  Manasseh,  forms  the  patriotic  design 
of  delivering  the  city  and  the  nation  With  this 
view  she  entreats  the  governor  and  elders  to  give 
up  all  idea  of  surrender,  and  to  permit  the  gates 
of  the  city  to  be  opened  for  her.  Arrayed  in  rich 
attire,  she  proceeds  to  the  camp  of  Holofernes, 
attended  only  by  her  maid,  bearing  a  bag  of  pro- 
visions. She  is  admitted  into  the  presence  of  Ho- 
lofernes, and  informs  him  that  the  Jews  could  not 
be  overcome  so  long  as  they  remained  faithful  to 
God,  but  that  they  had  now  sinned  against  Him 
in  converting  to  their  own  use  the  tithes,  which 
were  sacred  to  the  priests  alone ;  and  that  she 
had  fled  from  the  city  to  escape  the  impending 
and  inevitable  destruction  which  awaited  it.  She 
obtains  leave  to  remain  in  the  camp,  with  the 
liberty  of  retiring  by  night  for  the  purpose  of 
prayer,  and  promises  that  at  the  proper  moment 
she  will  herself  be  the  guide  of  Holofernes  to  the 
very  walls  of  Jerusalem.  Judith  is  favourably  en- 
tertained ;  Holofernes  is  smitten  with  her  charms, 
gives  her  a  magnificent  entertainment,  at  which, 
having  drunk  too  freely,  he  is  shut  up  with  her 
alone  in  the  tent.  Taking  advantage  of  her  op- 
portunity, while  he  is  sunk  in  sleep,  she  seizes 
his  falchion  and  strikes  off  his  head.  Giving  it 
to  her  maid,  who  was  outside  the  tent  door,  she 
leaves  the  camp  as  usual,  under  pretence  of  devo- 
tion, and  returns  to  Bethulia,  displaying  the  head 
of  Holofernes.  The  Israelites,  next  morning,  fall 
on  the  Assyrians,  who,  panic-struck  at  the  loss  of 
their  general,  are  soon  discomfited,  leaving  an 
immense  spoil  in  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 
The  whole  concludes  with  the  triumphal  song  of 
Judith,  who  accompanies  all  the  people  to  Jeru- 
salem to  give  thanks  to  the  Lord.  After  this  she 
returns  to  her  native  city  Bethulia,  gives  freedom 
to  her  maid,  and  dies  at  the  advanced  age  of  105 
years.  The  Jews  enjoying  a  profound  and  happy 
peace,  a  yearly  festival  (according  to  the  Vulgate) 
is  instituted  in  honour  of  the  victory. 

The  difficulties,  historical,  chronological,  and 
geographical,  comprised  in  the  narrative  of 
Judith  are  so  numerous  and  serious  as  to  be  held 
by  many  divines  altogether  insuperable.  Events, 
times,  and  manners  are  said  to  be  confounded, 
and  the  chronology  of  the  times  before  and  those 
after  the  exile,  of  the  Persian  and  Assyrian,  and 
even  of  the  Maccabaean  period,  confusedly  and 
tmaccountably  blended. 

The  authorship  of  the  book  is  as  uncertain  as 
its  date.    It  is  not  named  either  by  Philo  or 


KADESH 

Josephus ;  nor  have  we  any  indication  whatever 
by  which  to  form  a  conjecture  respecting  its 
author. 

The  original  language  is  uncertain.  Eichhorn 
and  Jahn  and  Seiler,  with  whom  is  Bertholdt, 
conceive  it  to  have  been  Greek.  Calmet  states, 
on  the  authority  of  Origen,  that  the  Jews  had  the 
book  of  Judith  in  Hebrew  in  his  time.  Jerome 
states  that  it  is  written  in  Chaldee,  from  which 
he  translated  it,  with  the  aid  of  an  interpreter, 
giving  rather  the  sense  than  the  words. 

Although  the  book  of  Judith  never  formed 
part  of  the  Jewish  canon,  and  finds  no  place  in 
the  ancient  catalogues,  its  authority  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  has  been  very  great. 

Along  with  the  other  deutero-canonical  books, 
it  has  been  at  all  times  read  in  the  church,  and 
lessons  are  taken  from  it  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land in  course. 

JU'LIA  (a  name  common  among  the  Romans), 
a  Christian  woman  of  Rome,  to  whom  St.  Paul 
sent  his  salutations  (Rom.  xvi.  15) ;  she  is 
named  with  Philologus,  and  is  supposed  to  have 
been  his  wife  or  sister. 

JU'LIUS,  the  centurion  who  had  the  charge  of 
conducting  Paul  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome,  and  who 
treated  him  with  much  consideration  and  kind- 
ness on  the  way  (Acts  xxvii.  1,  3). 

JUTVl  AS,  a  person  who  is  joined  with  Andro- 
nicus  in  Rom.  xvi.  7 :  '  Salute  Andronicus  and 
Juuias,  my  kinsmen  and  fellow-prisoners,  who 
are  of  note  among  the  apostles.'  They  were, 
doubtless,  Jewish  Christians. 

1.  JUSTUS,  surnamed  Barsabas.     [Joseph,] 

2.  JUSTUS,  a  Christian  at  Corinth,  with 
whom  Paul  lodged  (Acts  xviii.  7). 

3.  JUSTUS,  called  also  JESUS,  a  believing 
Jew,  who  was  with  Paul  at  Rome  wbcn  he  wrote 
to  the  Colossians  (Col.  iv.  m.  The  apostle 
names  him  and  Marcus  as  being  at  that  time  his 
only  fellow-labourers. 


K. 


KA'DESH,  or  Kadesh-barnea,  a  site  on  the 
south-eastern  border  of  the  Promised  Land  to- 
wards Edom,  of  much  interest  as  being  the  point 
at  which  the  Israelites  twice  encamped  with  the 
intention  of  entering  Palestine,  and  from  which 
they  were  twice  sent  back ;  the  first  time  in  pur- 
suance of  their  sentence  to  wander  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness,  and  the  second  time  from  the 
refusal  of  the  king  of  Edom  to  permit  a  passage 
through  his  territories.  It  was  from  Kadesh 
that  the  spies  entered  Palestine  by  ascending  the 
mountains ;  and  the  murmuring  Israelites,  after- 
wards attempting  to  do  the  same,  were  driven 
back  by  the  Amalekites  and  Canaanites,  and  after- 
wards apparently  by  the  king  of  Arad,  as  far  as 
Hormah,  then  called  Zephath  (Num.  xiii.  17; 
xiv.  40-45;  xxi.  1-3;  Deut.  i.  41-44;  comp. 
Judg.  i.  7).  There  was  also  at  Kadesh  a  foun- 
tain (En-mishpat)  mentioned  long  before  the 
exode  of  the  Israelites  (Gen.  xiv.  7) ;  and  the 
miraculous  supply  of  water  took  place  only  on 
the  second  visit,  which  implies  that  at  the  first 
there  was  no  lack  of  this  necessary  article.  After 
this,  Moses  sent  messengers  to  the  king  of  Edom, 
informing  him  that  they  were  in  Kadesh,  a  city 


KADMONITES 

in  the  uttermost  part  of  his  border,  and  asking 
leave  to  pass  through  his  country,  so  as  to  con- 
tinue their  course  round  Moab,  and  approach 
Palestine  from  the  east.  This  Edom  refused, 
and  the  Israelites  accordingly  marched  to  Mount 
Hor,  where  Aaron  died ;  and  then  along  the 
Arabah  (desert  of  Ziu)  to  the  Red  Sea  (Num. 
XX.  14-29).  The  name  of  Kadesh  again  occurs 
in  describing  the  southern  quarter  of  Judah,  the 
line  defining  -which  is  dra^vn  '  from  the  shore  of 
the  Salt  Sea,  from  the  bay  that  looked  south- 
ward ;  and  it  went  out  to  the  south  side  of  Ak- 
rabbim,  and  passed  along  to  Zin,  and  ascended 
up  on  the  south  side  to  Kadesh-barnea '  (Josh. 
XV.  1-3 ;  comp.  Num.  xxxiv.  j,  4). 

From  these  intimations  the  map-makers,  who 
found  it  difficult  to  reconcile  them  with  the  place 
usually  assigned  to  Kadesh  (in  the  desert  about 
midway  between  the  Mediterranean  and  Dead 
Sea),  were  in  the  habit  of  placing  a  second 
Kadesh  nearer  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Wady 
Arabah.  But  it  was  shown  by  Dr.  Kitto  in  the 
Pictorial  Bible  (Note  on  Num.  xx.  1)  that  one 
Kadesh  would  sufficiently  answer  all  the  condi- 
tions required,  by  being  placed  more  to  the 
south,  nearer  to  Mount  Hor,  on  the  west  border 
of  the  Wady  Arabah,  than  this  second  Kadesh. 

According  to  this  view  Kadesh  was  laid  down 
in  his  map  in  the  same  line,  and  not  far  from 
the  place  which  has  since  been  assigned  to  it 
from  actual  observation  by  Dr.  Robinson.  This 
concurrence  of  different  lines  of  research  in  the 
same  result  is  curious  and  valuable,  and  the 
position  of  Kadesh  will  be  regarded  as  now 
scarcely  open  to  dispute.  It  was  clear  that  the 
discovery  of  the  fountain  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  great  valley  would  go  far  to  fix  the  question. 
Robinson  accordingly  discovered  a  fountain  called 
Ain  el-Weibeh,  which  is  even  at  this  day  the 
most  frequented  watering-place  in  all  the  Arabah, 
and  he  was  struck  by  the  entire  adaptedness  of 
the  site  to  the  Scriptural  account  of  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Israelites  on  their  second  arrival  at 
Kadesh.  '  Over  against  us  lay  the  land  of  Edom  ; 
we  were  in  its  uttermost  border  ;  and  the  great 
Wady  el-Ghuweir  afforded  a  direct  and  easy 
passage  through  the  mountains  to  the  table-land 
above,  which  was  directly  before  us ;  while  fur- 
ther in  the  south  Mount  Hor  formed  a  prominent 
and  striking  object,  at  the  distance  of  two  good 
days'  journey  for  such  a  host '  {Bib,  Researches, 
ii.  .538).  Further  on  (p.  610)  he  adds:  'There 
the  Israelites  would  have  Mount  Hor  in  the 
S.S.E.  towering  directly  before  them.... in  the 
N.W.  rises  the  mountain  by  which  they  attempted 
to  ascend  to  Palestine,  with  the  pass  still  called 
Sufah  (Zephath) ;  while  further  north  we  find 
also  Tell  Arad,  marking  the  site  of  the  ancient 
Arad.  To  all  this  comes  then  the  vicinity  of 
the  southern  bay  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  line  of 
clifiFs  or  oifset  separating  the  Ghor  from  the 
Arabah,  answering  to  the  ascent  of  Akrabbim ; 
and  the  desert  of  Zin.  with  the  place  of  the  same 
name  between  Akrabbim  and  Kadesh,  not  im- 
probably at  the  water  of  Hash,  in  the  Arabah. 
In  this  way  all  becomes  easy  and  natural,  and 
the  Scriptural  account  is  entirely  accordant  with 
the  character  of  the  country.' 

KAD'MONITES,  oue  of  the  nations  of  Canaan, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  dwelt  in  the  north-east 
part  of  Palestine,  under  Mount  Hermon,  at  the 


KENITES 


513 


time  that  Abraham  sojourned  in  the  land  (Gen. 
XV.  19).  It  is  supposeil  that  the  name  denotes 
'  an  eastern  people,'  and  that  they  were  situated 
to  the  east  of  the  Jordan,  or  rather  that  it  was  a 
term  applied  collectively,  like  'Easterns,'  or 
'  Orientals,'  to  all  the  people  living  in  the  coun- 
tries beyond  that  river. 

KE'DAR  [black),  a  son  of  Ishmael,  and  the 
name  of  the  tribe  of  which  he  was  the  founder. 
The  name  is  sometimes  used  in  Scripture  as  that 
of  the  Bedouins  generally,  probably  because  this 
tribe  was  the  nearest  to  thera,  and  was  best  ac- 
quainted with  them  (Cant.  i.  5  ;  Isa.  xxi.  16,  17  ; 
Ix.  7).  A  great  deal  of  speculation  founded 
upon  the  meaning  of  the  word,  namely,  '  black,' 
may  be  dismissed  as  'wholly  useless.  The  Ke- 
darenes  were  so  called  from  Kedar,  and  not 
because  they  lived  in  'black'  tents,  or  because 
they  were  '  blackened'  by  the  hot  sun  of  Southern 
Arabia ;  neither  of  which  circumstances  could, 
even  if  true,  have  been  foreseen  at  the  time  that 
Kedar  received  his  name. 

KED'EMOTH,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Reuben 
(Josh.  xiii.  18),  near  the  river  Arnon,  which 
gave  its  name  to  the  wilderness  of  Kedemoth,  on 
the  borders  of  that  river,  from  whence  Moses 
sent  messengers  of  peace  to  Sihon,  king  of  Hesh- 
bon  (Deut.  ii.  '26),  the  southern  frontier  of  whose 
kingdom,  and  the  boundary  between  the  kingdom 
of  the  Ammonites  and  the  Moabites,  was  the 
Arnon. 

KE'DESH.  There  were  two  cities  of  this 
name ;  one  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  23), 
and  the  other  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  (xix.  37). 
This  last  was  the  more  considerable  of  the  two; 
it  was  a  Levitical  city,  and  one  of  the  six  cities 
of  refuge.  As  the  Kedesh  whose  king  was  slain 
by  Joshua  is  mentioned  among  the  cities  of  the 
north  (xii.  22),  it  was  doubtless  the  Kedesh  ot 
Naphtali,  of  which  also  Barak  was  a  native 
(Judg.  iv.  G). 
KED'RON.  [KiDRON.] 
KEI'LAH,  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XV.  44),  about  twenty  miles  south-west  from 
Jerusalem.  When  this  city  was  besieged  by  the 
Philistines,  David  was  commissioned  by  God  to 
relieve  it ;  notwithstanding  which,  if  he  had  not 
made  his  escape,  the  ungrateful  inhabitants  would 
have  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  Saul  (I 
Sam.  xxiii.  1-13).  Keilah  was  a  considerable 
city  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah  (Neh.  iii.  17,  18), 
and  existed  in  the  days  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome, 
who  place  it  eight  Roman  miles  from  Eleuthero- 
polis  on  the  road  to  Hebron. 

KEM'UEL  (assembly  of  God),  third  son  of 
Abraham's  brother  Nahor,  and  father  of  six  sons, 
the  first  of  whom  is  named  Aram,  and  the  last 
Bethuel  (Gen.  xxii.  21,  23).  All  these  are  un- 
known, except  the  last,  who  was  the  father  of 
Laban  and  Rebekah  (Gen.  xxiv.  15). 

KE'TSAZ  {hunting).  1.  A  descendant  of  Esau ; 
also  a  place  or  tract  of  country  in  Arabia 
Petrasa,  named  after  him  (Gen.  xxxvi.  11,  15, 
42). 

2.  The  younger  brother  of  Caleb,  and  father 
of  Othniel,  who  married  Caleb's  daughter  (Josh. 
XV.  17  ;  Judg.  i.  13;  1  Chron.  iv.  13). 

3.  A  grandson  of  Caleb  (1  Chron.  iv.  15). 
KE'NITES,  a   tribe   of  Midianites  dwelling 

among   the   Amalekites  (1   Sam.  xv.  6;    comp. 
Num.  xxiv.   20,  21),  or  occupying  in  semi-no- 
2  L 


5U  KETURAH 

madic  life  the  same  region  with  the  latter  people 
in  Arabia  Petrsca.  When  Saul  was  sent  to  de- 
stroy the  Amalekites,  the  Kenites,  who  had  joined 
them,  perhaps  upon  compulsion,  were  ordered  to 
depart  from  them  that  they  might  not  share  their 
fate;  and  the  reason  assigned  was,  that  they 
'  shewL'd  kindness  to  the  children  of  Israel  when 
they  came  out  of  Egypt.'  This  kindness  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  that  which  Jethro  and  his 
family  showed  to  Moses,  as  well  as  to  the  Israel- 
ites themselves,  in  consequence  of  which  the 
whole  tribe  appears  to  have  been  treated  with 
consideration,  while  the  family  of  Jethro  itself 
accompanied  the  Israelites  into  Palestine,  where 
they  continued  to  lead  a  nomade  life,  occupying 
there  a  position  similar  to  that  of  the  Tartar 
tribes  in  Persia  at  the  present  day.  To  this 
family  belonged  Heber,  the  husband  of  that  Jael 
who  slew  Sisera,  and  who  is  hence  called  '  Heber 
the  Kenite  '  (Judg.  iv.  11).  At  a  later  age  other 
families  of  Kenites  are  mentioned  as  resident  in 
Palestine,  among  whom  were  the  Piechabites 
(1  Chron.  ii.  55  ;  Jer.  xxxv.  2)  ;  but  it  is  not  clear 
whether  these  were  subdivisions  of  the  increasing 
descendants  of  Jethro,  as  seems  most  likely,  or 
families  which  availed  themselves  of  the  friendly 
dispositions  of  the  Israelites  towards  the  tribe  to 
settle  in  the  country.  It  appears  that,  whatever 
was  the  general  condition  of  tlie  Midianites,  the 
tribe  of  the  Kenites  possessed  a  knowledge  of  the 
true  God  in  the  time  of  Jethro  [Hobab]  ;  and 
that  those  families  which  settled  in  Palestine  did 
not  afterwards  lose  that  knowledge,  but  increased 
it,  is  clear  from  the  passages  which  have  been 
cited  [Midianites;  Rechabites]. 

KEN'IZZITES,  a  Canaanitish  tribe,  mentioned 
in  Gea.  xv.  19,  along  with  others,  over  which  it 
was  promised  that  the  seed  of  Abraham  should 
have  dominion.  The  notion  that  they  sprung 
from  Kenaz,  the  grandson  of  Edom,  and  had 
tneir  dwelling  somewhere  in  Idumaca,  cannot  be 
entertained,  seeing  that  the  tribe  is  named  long 
before  Kenaz  had  existence.  The  Kenizzites  of 
Num.  xxxii.  12  ;  Josh.  xiv.  6,  appear,  however, 
to  he  a  diflerent  race,  the  origin  of  which  may 
without  improbability  be  ascribed  to  Kenaz.  The 
Kenizzites  are  not  named  among  the  nations 
whom  the  Israelites  eventually  subdued ;  whence 
it  may  be  supposed  that  they  had  by  that  time 
merged  into  some  of  the  other  nations  which 
Israel  overcame. 

KETU'RAH  {incense),  the  second  wife,  or,  as 
she  is  called  in  1  Chron.  i.  32,  the  concubine  of 
Abraham,  by  whom  he  had  six  sons,  Zimran, 
Jokshan,  Medan,  Midian,  Ishbak,  and  Shuah, 
whom  he  lived  to  see  grow  to  man's  estate,  and 
whom  he  established  '  in  the  East  country,'  that 
they  might  not  interfere  with  Isaac  (Gen.  xxv. 
1-S).  As  Abraham  was  100  years  old  when  Isaac 
was  born,  who  was  given  to  him  by  the  special 
bounty  of  Providence  when  '  he  was  as  good  as 
dead'  (Heb.  xi.  12),  as  he  was  140  years  old 
when  Sarah  died;  and  as  he  himself  died  at  the 
age  of  175  years,  it  has  seemed  improbable  that 
these  six  sons  should  have  been  born  to  Abraham 
by  one  woman  after  he  was  140  years  old,  and 
that  he  should  have  seen  them  all  grow  up  to 
adult  age,  and  have  sent  them  forth  to  form  inde- 
pendent settlements  in  that  last  and  feeble  period 
of  his  life.  If  Isaac  was  born  to  him  out  of  the 
course  of  nature  when  he  was  100  years  old,  how 


KIDRON 

could  six  sons  be  born  to  him  in  the  course  of 
nature  after  he  was  140  ?  It  has  therefore  been 
suggested  by  good  commentatoi's,  that  as  Keturah 
is  called  Abraham's  '  concubine '  in  Chronicles, 
and  as  she  and  Hagar  are  probably  indicated  as 
his  '  concubines '  in  Gen.  xxv.  6,  Keturah  had  in 
fact  been  taken  by  Abraham  as  his  secondary  or 
concubine- wife  before  the  death  of  Sarah,  al- 
though the  historian  relates  the  incident  after 
that  event,  that  liis  leading  narrative  might  not 
be  interrupted.  According  to  the  standard  of 
morality  then  acknowledged,  Abraham  might 
quite  as  properly  have  taken  Keturah  before  as 
after  Sarah's  death  ;  nor  can  any  reason  wliy  he 
should  not  have  done  so.  or  why  he  should  have 
waited  till  then,  be  conceived.  This  explanation 
obviates  many  difficulties,  and  does  not  itself  con- 
tain any. 

KIB'ROTH-HATTA'AVAH,  an  encampment 
of  the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  [Wandering]. 
KID'RON  (the  turbid),  the  brook  or  winter 
torrent  which  flows  through  the  valley  of  Jeho- 
shaphat  (as  it  is  now  called),  on  the  east  side  of 
Jerusalem.  'The  brook  Kidron'  is  the  only 
name  by  which  '  the  valley '  itself  is  known  in 
Scripture  ;  for  it  is  by  no  means  certain,  nor  even 
probable,  that  the  name  '  valley  of  Jehoshaphat ' 
in  Joel  (iii.  12)  was  intended  to  apply  to  this 
valley.  The  word  rendered  '  brook '  (2  Sam.  xv. 
23 ;  1  Kings  ii.  37,  &c.),  may  be  taken  as  equiva- 
lent to  the  Arabic  Wady,  meaning  a  stream  and 
its  bed  or  valley,  or  properly  the  valley  of  a 
stream,  even  when  the  stream  is  dry.  The  Sep- 
tuagint,  Josephus,  and  the  Evangelists  (John 
xviii.  1),  designate  it  a  storm  brook,  or  winter 
torrent. 

The  brook  Kidron  derives  all  its  importance 
from  its  vicinity  to  the  holy  city,  being  nothing 
more  than  the  dry  bed  of  a  winter  torrent,  bear- 
ing marks  of  being  occasionally  swept  over  by  a 
large  volume  of  water.  No  stream  flows  through 
it,  except  during  the  heavy  rains  of  winter,  when 
the  waters  descend  into  it  from  the  neighbouring 
hills.  But  even  in  winter  there  is  no  constant 
flow,  and  the  resident  missionaries  assured  Dr. 
Robinson  that  they  had  not  during  several  years 
seen  a  stream  running  through  the  valley.  The 
ravine  in  which  the  stream  is  collected  takes  its 
origin  above  a  mile  to  the  north-east  of  the  city. 
This  ravine  deepens  as  it  proceeds,  and  forms  an 
angle  opposite  the  temple.  It  then  takes  a  south- 
east direction,  and,  passing  between  the  village 
of  Siloara  and  the  city,  runs  off  in  the  direction 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  through  a  singularly  wild  gorge, 
the  course  of  which  few  travellers  have  traced. 
It  is  in  this  ravine  that  the  celebrated  monastery 
of  Santa  Saba  is  situated.  Dr.  Madden,  who 
went  through  the  valley  to  the  Dead  Sea,  thus 
speaks  of  the  character  which  it  assumes  as  it 
approaches  the  monastery  : — '  After  traversing 
for  the  last  hour  a  wild  ravine,  formed  by  two 
rugged  perpendicular  mountains,the  sides  of  which 
contained  innumerable  caverns,  which  once 
formed  a  sort  of  troglodyte  city,  in  which  the 
early  Christians  resided,  the  sight  of  the  convent 
in  this  desolate  place  was  like  a  glimpse  of  para- 
dise.' On  leaving  the  convent  the  next  day  he 
says  that  he  '  marched  through  the  bed  of  the 
Kidron,  along  the  horrible  ravine  which  he  en- 
tered the  day  before;'  but  he  gives  no  account 
of  its  outlet  into  the  Dead  Sea.     This  defect  is 


KING 

supplied  by  Dr.  Robinson,  -who,  on  passing  along 
the  vcesterii  borders  of  the  lake,  came  '  to  the  deep 
ana  almost  impassable  ravine  of  the  Kidron,  run- 
ning down  by  iMar  Saba,  and  thence  called  Wady- 
er-l{ahib,  "  xMonk's  Valley  ;"  but  here  also  bear- 
ing the  name  of  Wady  en-Nar,  "  Fire  Valley." 
At  this  place  it  was  running  E.  S.  E.,  in  a  deep 
narrow  channel,  between  perpendicular  walls  of 
rock,  as  if  worn  away  by  the  rushing  waters  be- 
tween these  desolate  chalky  hills.  There  was, 
however,  no  water  in  it  now  ;  nor  had  there  ap- 
parently been  any  for  a  long  time.' 

KING,  a  title  applied  in  the  Scriptures  to  men 
(Luke  xxii.  2.5  ;  1  Tim.  ii.  1,  2  ;  1  Pet.  ii.  13-17), 
to  God  (,1  Tim.  i.  17;  vi.  15,  16),  and  to  Christ 
(Matt,  xxvii.  11  ;  Luke  xix.  38;  John  i.  49;  vi. 
15  ;  xviii.  32-37)^— to  men,  as  invested  with  regal 
authority  by  their  fellows ;  to  God,  as  the  sole 
proper  sovereign  and  ruler  of  the  universe ;  and 
to  Christ,  as  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  the 
King  of  the  Jews,  the  sole  Head  and  Governor  of 
his  church. 

Regal  authority  was  altogether  alien  to  the  in- 
stitutions of  Moses  in  their  original  and  unadul- 
terated form.  Their  fundamental  idea  was  that 
Jehovah  was  the  sole  king  of  the  nation  (1  Sam. 
viii.  7)  :  to  use  the  emphatic  words  in  Isa.  xxxiii. 
22,  '  The  Lord  is  our  judge,  the  Lord  is  our  law- 
giver, the  Lord  is  our  king.'  We  consider  it  as 
a  sign  of  that  self-confidence  and  moral  enterprise 
which  are  produced  in  great  men  by  a  conscious- 
ness of  being  what  they  profess,  that  Moses  ven- 
tured, with  his  half-civilized  hordes,  on  the  bold 
experiment  of  founding  a  society  without  a  king, 
and  that  in  the  solicitude  which  he  must  have 
felt  for  the  success  of  his  great  undertaking,  he 
forewent  the  advantages  which  a  regal  govern- 
ment would  have  afforded.  Nor  is  such  an  at- 
tempt a  little  singular  and  novel  at  a  period  and 
in  a  part  of  the  world  in  which  royalty  was  not 
only  general,  but  held  in  the  greatest  respect,  and 
sometimes  rose  to  the  very  height  of  pure  des- 
potism. Its  novelty  is  an  evidence  of  the  divine 
original  to  which  Moses  referred  all  his  polity. 
Equally  honourable  is  the  conduct  of  Moses  in 
denying  to  his  lower  nature  the  gratificatior  s 
which  a  crown  might  have  imparted,  and  it  is 
obvious  that  this  self-denial  on  the  part  of  Moses, 
this  omission  to  create  any  human  kingship,  is  in 
entire  accordance  with  the  import,  aim,  and  spirit 
of  the  Mosaic  institutions,  as  being  divine  in  their 
origin,  and  designed  to  accomplish  a  special  work 
of  Providence  for  man ;  and,  therefore,  affords, 
by  its  consistency  with  the  very  essence  of  the 
system  of  which  it  forms  a  part,  a  very  forcible 
argument  in  favour  of  the  divine  legation  of 
Moses. 

That  great  man,  however,  well  knew  what 
were  the  elements  with  which  he  had  to  deal  in 
framing  institutions  for  the  rescued  Israelites. 
Slaves  they  had  been,  and  the  spirit  of  slavery 
was  not  yet  wholly  eradicated  from  their  souls. 
They  had,  too,  witnessed  in  Egypt  the  more  than 
ordinary  pomp  and  splendour  which  environ  a 
throne,  dazzling  the  eyes  and  captivating  the  heart 
of  the  uncultured.  Not  improbably  the  prosperity 
and  abundance  which  they  had  seen  in  Egypt, 
and  in  which  they  had  been,  in  a  measure,  allowed 
to  partake,  might  have  been  ascribed  by  them  to 
the  regal  form  o£  the  Egyptian  government. 
Moses  may  well,  therefore,  have  apprehended  a 


KING 


515 


not  very  remote  departure  from  the  fundamental 
type  of  his  institutions.  Accordingly  he  makes 
a  special  provision  for  this  contingency  (Deut. 
xvii.  14),  and  labours,  by  anticipation,  to  guard 
against  the  abuses  of  royal  power.  Should  a  king 
be  demanded  by  the  people,  then  he  was  to  be  a 
native  Israelite  ;  he  was  not  to  be  drawn  away  by 
the  love  of  show,  especially  by  a  desire  for  that 
regal  display  in  which  horses  have  always  borne 
so  large  a  part,  to  send  down  to  Egypt,  still  less 
to  cause  the  people  to  return  to  that  land ;  he  was 
to  avoid  the  corrupting  influence  of  a  large  harem, 
so  common  among  Eastern  monarchs  ;  he  was  to 
abstain  from  amassing  silver  and  gold  ;  he  was  to 
have  a  copy  of  the  law  made  expressly  for  his 
own  study — a  study  which  he  was  never  to  inter- 
mit till  the  end  of  his  days ;  so  that  his  heart 
might  not  be  lifted  up  above  his  brethren,  that  he 
might  not  be  turned  aside  from  the  living  God, 
but  observing  the  divine  statutes,  and  thus  acknow- 
ledging himself  to  be  no  more  than  the  vicegerent 
of  heaven,  he  might  enjoy  happiness,  and  transmit 
his  authority  to  his  descendants. 

The  Jewish  polity,  then,  was  a  sort  of  sacer- 
dotal republic — we  say  sacerdotal,  because  of  the 
great  influence  which,  from  the  first,  the  priestly 
order  enjoyed,  having  no  human  head,  but  being 
under  the  special  supervision,  protection,  and 
guidance  of  the  Almighty.  The  nature  of  the 
consequences,  however,  of  that  divine  influence 
avowedly  depended  on  the  degree  of  obedience 
and  the  general  faithfulness  of  the  nation.  The 
good,  therefore,  of  such  a  superintendence  in  its 
immediate  results  was  pot  necessary,  but  contin- 
gent. The  removal  of  Moses  and  of  Joshua  by 
death  soon  left  the  people  to  the  natural  results 
of  their  own  condition  and  character.  Anarchy 
ensued.  Noble  minds,  indeed,  and  stout  hearts 
appeared  in  those  who  were  termed  Judges;  but 
the  state  of  the  country  was  not  so  satisfactory  as 
to  prevent  an  unenlightened  people,  having  low 
and  gross  affections,  from  preferring  the  glare  of 
a  crown  and  the  apparent  protection  of  a  sceptre, 
to  the  invisible  and,  therefore,  mostly  unrecog- 
nised arm  of  omnipotence.  A  king  accordingly 
was  requested.  The  misconduct  of  Samuel's  sons, 
who  had  been  made  judges,  was  the  immediate 
occasion  of  the  demand  being  put  forth.  The 
request  came  with  authority,  for  it  emanated  from 
all  the  elders  of  Israel,  who,  after  holding  a  formal 
conference,  proceeded  to  Samuel,  in  order  to  make 
him  acquainted  with  their  wish.  Samuel  was  dis- 
pleased ;  liut,  having  sought  in  prayer  to  learn  the 
divine  will,  he  is  instructed  to  yield  to  the  demand 
on  a  ground  which  we  should  not  assuredly  have 
found  stated,  had  the  book  in  which  it  appears 
been  tampered  with  or  fabricated  for  any  courtly 
purposes  or  any  personal  ends,  whether  by 
Samuel  himself,  or  by  David,  or  any  of  his  suc- 
cessors— 'for  they  have  not  rejected  thee  (Samuel), 
but  they  have  rejected  me,  that  I  should  not  reign 
over  them '  (ver.  7,  see  also  ver.  8).  Samuel  was, 
moreover,  directed  to  '  protest  solemnly  unto  them, 
and  show  them  the  manner  of  the  king  that  shall 
reign  over  them.'  Faithfully  did  the  prophet  de- 
pict the  evils  which  a  monarchy  would  inflict  on 
the  people.  In  vain  :  they  said,  '  Nay,  but  we 
will  have  a  king  over  us."  Accordingly,  Saul  the 
son  of  Kish,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  was,  by 
divine  direction,  selected,  and  privately  anointed 
by  Samuel '  to  be  captain  over  God's  inheritance:' 
2L2 


616 


KING 


KING 


thus  Le  was  to  hold  only  a  dalegated  and  subor- 
dinate authority.  Under  the  guidance  of  Samuel, 
Saul  Avas  subsequently  chosen  by  lot  from  among 
the  assembled  tribes ;  and  though  his  personal 
appearance  had  no  influence  in  the  choice,  yet 
when  he  was  plainly  pointed  out  to  be  the  indi- 
vidual designed  for  the  sceptre,  Samuel  called 
attention  to  those  qualities  which  in  less  civilized 
nations  have  a  preponderating  influence,  and  are 
never  without  effect,  at  least,  in  supporting  '  the 
divinity  which  doth  hedge  a  king  :'  '  See  ye  him 
whom  the  Lord  hath  chosen,  th;it  there  is  none 
like  him  among  all  the  people,'  for  he  was  higher 
than  any  of  the  people  from  his  shoulders  and 
upward  ;  '  and  all  the  people  shouted,  God  save 
the  king.' 

Emanating  as  the  royal  power  did  from  the 
demand  of  the  people  and  the  permission  of  a 
prophet,  it  was  not  likely  to  be  unlimited  in  its 
extent  or  arbitrary  in  its  exercise.  The  govern- 
ment of  God,  indeed,  remained,  being  rather  con- 
cealed and  complicated  than  disowned,  much  less 
superseded.  The  king  ruled  not  in  his  own  right, 
uor  in  virtue  of  the  choice  of  the  people,  but  by 
concession  from  on  high,  and  partly  as  the  servant 
and  partly  as  the  representative  of  the  theocracy. 
How  insecure,  indeed,  was  the  tenure  of  the 
kingly  power,  how  restricted  it  was  in  its  authority, 
appears  clear  from  the  comparative  facility  with 
which  the  crown  was  transferred  from  Saul  to 
David ;  and  the  part  which  the  prophet  Samuel 
took  in  effecting  that  transference  points  out  the 
quarter  where  lay  the  power  which  limited,  if  it 
did  not  primarily,  at  least,  control  the  royal  au- 
thority. We  must  not,  however,  expect  to  find 
any  definite  and  permanent  distribution  of  [lower, 
any  legal  determination  of  the  royal  prerogatives 
as  discriminated  from  the  divine  autliority;  cir- 
cumstances, as  they  prompted  certain  deeds,  re- 
stricted or  enlarged  the  sphere  of  the  monarch's 
action.  Thus,  in  1  Sam.  xi.  4,  sq.,  we  find  Saul, 
in  an  emergency,  assuming,  without  consultation 
or  deliberation,  the  power  of  demanding  some- 
thing like  a  levy  en  masse,  and  of  proclaiming 
instant  war.  With  the  king  lay  the  admiuistra- 
tion  of  justice  in  the  last  resort  (2  Sam.  xv.  2  ;  1 
Kings  iii.  IG,  sq.).  He  also  possessed  the  power 
of  life  and  death  (2  Sam.  xiv.).  To  provide  for 
and  superintend  the  public  worship  was  at  once 
his  duty  and  his  highest  honour  (1  Kings  viii. ; 
2  Kings  xii.  4;  xviii.  4;  xxiii.  1).  One  reason 
why  the  people  requested  a  king  was,  that  they 
might  have  a  recognised  leader  in  war  (1  Sam. 
viii.  20).  The  Mosaic  law  offered  a  powerful 
hindrance  to  royal  despotism  (1  Sam.  x.  25). 
The  people  also,  by  means  of  their  elders,  formed 
an  express  compact,  by  which  they  stipulated  for 
their  rights  (1  Kings  xii.  4),  and  were  from  time 
to  time  appealed  to,  generally  in  cases  of  '  great 
pith  and  moment '  (1  Chron."  xxix.  1  ;  2  Kings 
xi.  17.)  Nor  did  the  people  fail  to  interpose  their 
will,  where  they  thought  it  necessary,  in  opposi- 
tion to  that  of  the  monarch  (1  Sam.  xiv.  45).  The 
part  which  Nathan  took  against  David  shows  how 
effective,  as  well  as  bold,  was  the  check  exerted 
by  the  prophets ;  indeed,  most  of  the  prophetic 
history  is  the  history  of  the  noblest  opposition 
ever  made  to  the  vices  alike  of  royalty,  priest- 
hood, and  people.  When  needful,  the  prophet 
hesitated  not  to  demand  an  audience  of  the  king, 
nor  was  he  dazzled  or  deterred  by  royal  power 


and  pomp  (1  Kings  xx.  22,  38 ;  2  Eangs  i.  15). 
As,  however,  the  monarch  held  the  sword,  the 
instrument  of  death  was  sometimes  made  to  pre- 
vail over  every  restraining  influence  (1  Sam. 
xxii.  17). 

After  the  transfer  of  the  crown  from  Saul  to 
David,  the  royal  power  was  annexed  to  the  house 
of  the  latter,  passing  from  father  to  son,  with 
preference  to  the  eldest  born,  though  he  might 
be  a  minor.  Jehoash  was  seven  years  old  when 
he  began  to  reign  (2  Kings  xi.  21).  This  rale 
was  not,  however,  rigidly  observed,  for  instances 
are  not  wanting  in  which  nomination  of  a 
younger  son  gave  him  a  preferable  title  to  the 
crown  (1  Kings  i.  17;  2  Chron.  xi.  21):  the 
people,  too,  and  even  foreign  powers,  at  a  later 
period,  interrupted  the  regular  transmission  of 
royal  authority  (2  Kings  xxi.  24 ;  xxiii.  24,  .30 ; 
xxiv.  17).  The  ceremony  of  anointing,  which 
was  observed  at  least  in  the  case  of  Saul,  David, 
and  Solomon  (1  Sam.  ix.  14 ;  x.  1 ;  xv.  1 ;  xvi.  12 ; 
2  Sam.  ii.  4 ;  v.  1 ;  1  Kings  i.  34 ;  xxxix.  5),  and 
in  which  the  prophet  or  high-priest  who  per- 
formed the  rite  acted  as  the  representative  of  the 
theocracy  and  the  expounder  of  the  will  of  heaven, 
must  have  given  to  the  spiritual  power  very  con- 
siderable influence.  Indeed,  the  ceremony  seems 
to  have  been  essential  to  constitute  a  legitimate 
monarch  (2  Kings  xi.  12;  xxiii.  30);  and  thus 
the  authorities  of  the  Jewish  church  held  in  their 
hands,  and  had  subject  to  their  will,  a  most  im- 
portant power,  which  they  could  use  either  for 
their  own  purposes  or  the  common  good.  We 
have  seen  in  the  case  of  Saul  that  personal  and 
even  external  qualities  had  their  influence  in 
procuring  ready  obedience  to  a  sovereign ;  and 
further  evidence  to  the  same  effect  may  be  found 
in  Ps.  xiv.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxviii.  1 2  :  such  qualities 
would  naturally  excite  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
people,  who  appear  to  have  manifested  their  ap- 
proval by  acclamations  (1  Sam.  x.  24;  1  Kings 
i.  25;  2  Kings  ix.  13;  xi.  13;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  11). 
Jubilant  music  formed  a  part  of  the  popular  re- 
joicings (1  Kings  i.  40);  thank-offerings  were 
made  (1  Kings  i.  25) ;  the  new  sovereign  rode  in 
solemn  procession  on  the  royal  mule  of  his  pre- 
decessor (1  Kings  i.  38),  and  took  possession  of 
the  royal  harem — an  act  which  seems  to  have 
been  scarcely  less  essential  than  other  observances 
which  appear  to  us  to  wear  a  higher  character 
(1  Kings  ii.  13,  22  ;  2  Sam.  xvi.  22).  A  numerous 
harem,  indeed,  was  among  the  most  highly  esti- 
mated of  the  royal  luxuries  (2  Sam.  v.  13  ;  1  Kings 
xi.  1  ;  XX.  3).  It  was  under  the  supervision  and 
control  of  eunuchs,  and  passed  from  one  monarch 
to  another  as  a  part  of  the  crown-property  (2  Sam. 
xii.  8).  The  law  (Deut.  xvii.  l  7),  foreseeing  evils 
such  as  that  by  which  Solomon,  in  his  later  years, 
was  turned  away  from  his  fidelity  to  God,  had 
strictly  forbidden  many  wives  ;  but  Eastern  pas- 
sions and  usages  were  too  strong  for  a  mere 
written  prohibition,  and  a  corrupted  religion 
became  a  pander  to  royal  lust,  interpreting  the 
divine  command  as  sanctioning  eighteen  as  the 
minimum  of  wives  and  concubines.  In  the  ori- 
ginal distribution  of  the  land  no  share,  of  course, 
was  reserved  for  a  merely  possible  monarch  ;  yet 
the  kings  were  not  without  several  sources  of  in- 
come. In  the  earlier  periods  of  the  monarchy 
the  simple  manners  which  prevailed  would  ren- 
der copious  revenues  unnecessary ;  and  a  throne 


KING 

■which  was  the  result  of  a  spontaneous  demand  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  would  easily  find  support 
in  free-will  offerings,  especially  in  a  part  of  the 
world  where  the  great  are  never  approached 
without  a  present.  There  seems  also  reason  to 
conclude  that  tlie  amount  of  the  contributions 
made  by  the  people  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
monarch  depended,  in  a  measure,  on  the  degree 
of  popularity  which,  in  any  particular  case,  he 
enjoyed,  or  the  degree  of  sei-vice  which  he  ob- 
viously rendered  to  the  state  (1  Sam.  x.  27 ;  xvi. 
20;  2  Sam.  viii.  11;  1  Kings  x.  11,  25,  sq.). 
That  presents  of  small  value  and  humble  nature 
were  not  despised  or  thought  unfit  for  the  accept- 
ance of  royalty,  may  be  learnt  from  that  which 
Jesse  sent  to  Saul  (1  Sam.  xvi.  20),  'an  ass,  with 
bread  and  a  bottle  of  wine,  and  a  kid.'  The 
indirect  detail  '  of  the  substance  which  was  king 
David's,'  found  in  1  Chrou.  xxvii.  25,  sq.  (comp. 
1  Sam.  viii.  14 ;  2  Chron.  xxvi.  10,  sq.),  shows 
at  how  early  a  period  the  Israelitish  throne  was 
in  possession  of  very  large  property,  both  personal 
and  real.  The  royal  treasury  was  replenished  by 
confiscation,  as  in  the  case  of  Naboth  (1  Kings 
xxi.  16 ;  comp.  Ezek.  xlvi.  16,  sq. ;  2  Sam.  xvi.  4). 
Nor  were  taxes  unknown.  Samuel  had  predicted 
(1  Sam.  viii.  15),  'He  will  take  the  tenth  of  your 
seed  and  of  your  vineyards,'  &c. ;  and  so  in  other 
passages  (1  Kings  v.  13;  ix.  21)  we  find  that 
ievieti  both  of  men  and  money  were  made  for  the 
monarch's  purposes ;  and,  in  cases  of  special  need, 
these  exactions  were  large  and  rigorously  levied 
(2  Kings  xxiii.  35),  as  when  Jehoiakim  '  taxed 
the  land  to  give  the  money  according  to  the  com- 
mandment of  Pharaoh ;  he  exacted  the  silver  and 
the  gold  of  the  people  of  the  land,  of  every  one 
according  to  his  taxation.'  So  long,  however,  as 
the  native  vigour  of  a  young  monarchy  made 
victory  easy  and  frequent,  large  revenues  came  to 
the  king  from  the  spoils  of  war  (2  Sam.  viii.  2, 
sq.).  Commerce  also  then  supplied  abundant 
resources  (1  Kings  x.  15). 

According  to  Oriental  custom,  much  ceremony 
and  outward  show  of  respect  were  observed. 
Those  who  were  intended  to  be  received  with 
special  honour  were  placed  on  the  king's  right 
hand  (1  Kings  ii.  19).  The  most  profound  homage 
was  paid  to  the  monarch,  which  was  required  not 
merely  by  common  usage,  but  by  the  voice  of 
religious  wisdom  (Prov.  xxiv.  2 1) — a  requirement 
which  was  not  unnatural  in  regard  to  an  office 
that  was  accounted  of  divine  origin,  and  to  have 
a  sort  of  vice-divine  authority.  Those  who  pre- 
sented themselves  before  the  royal  presence  fell 
with  their  face  towards  the  ground  till  their  fore- 
head touched  it  (1  Sam.  xxv.  23  ;  2  Sam.  ix.  6  ; 
xix.  18),  thus  worshipping  or  doing  obeisance  to 
the  monarch,  a  ceremony  from  which  even  the 
royal  spouse  was  not  exempted  (1  Kings  i,  16). 
A  kiss  was  among  the  established  tokens  of 
reverence  (1  Sam.  x.  1 ;  Ps.  ii.  12),  as  were  also 
hyperbolical  wishes  of  good  (Dan.  ii.  4 ;  iii.  9). 
Serious  offences  against  the  king  were  punished 
witli  death  (1  Kings  xxi.  10). 

Deriving  their  power  originally  from  the  wishes 
of  the  people,  and  being  one  of  the  same  race,  the 
Hebrew  kings  were  naturally  less  despotic  than 
other  Oriental  sovereigns,  mingled  more  with  their 
subjects,  and  were  by  no  means  difficult  of  access 
(2  Sam.  xix.  8 ;  1  Kings  xx.  39 ;  Jer.  xxxviii.  7 ; 
1  Kings  iii.  16  ;  2  Kings  vi.  26 ;  viii.  3).    After 


KINGS,  BOOKS  OF 


5i: 


death  the  monarchs  were  interred  in  the  royal 
cemetery  in  Jerusalem  :  '  So  David  slept  with  "his 
fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David ' 
(1  Kings  ii.  10;  xi.  43;  xiv.  31).  But  bad  kings 
were  excluded  '  from  the  sepulchres  of  the  kings 
of  Israel'  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  27).  In  1  Kings  iv. 
will  be  found  an  enumeration  of  the  high  officers 
of  state  under  the  reign  of  Solomon  (see  also 
1  Kings  X.  5  ;  xii.  18  ;  xviii.  3 ;  2  Kings  viii.  16  ; 
X.  22;  xviii.  18;  xix.  2;  1  Chron.  xxvii.  25; 
Isa.  xxii.  15 ;  Jer.  Iii.  25).  The  misdeeds  of  the 
Jewish  crown,  and  the  boldness  whh  which  they 
were  reproved,  may  be  seen  exemplified  in  Jer. 
xxii. :  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Execute  judgment 
and  righteousness,  and  do  no  wrong;  do  no  vio- 
lence to  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  nor  the 
widow  ;  neither  shed  innocent  blood.  But  if  ye 
will  not  hear  these  words,  this  house  shall  become 
a  desolation.'  &c. 

KINGS,  BOOKS  OF.  The  two  books  of  Kings 
formed  anciently  but  one  book  in  the  Jewish 
Scriptures.  But  great  stress  cannot  always  be 
laid  on  the  Jewish  forms  of  the  sacred  books,  as 
they  were  arranged  so  as  to  correspond  with  the 
letters  of  the  Hebrew  alphabet. 

The  books  of  Kings  contain  the  brief  annals  of 
a  long  period,  from  the  accession  of  Solomon  till 
the  dissolution  of  the  commonwealth.  The  first 
chapters  describe  the  reign  of  Solomon  over  the 
united  kingdom,  and  the  revolt  under  Eehoboam. 
The  history  of  the  rival  states  is  next  narrated  in 
parallel  sections  till  the  period  of  Israel's  downfiil 
on  the  invasion  of  Shalmanezer.  Then  the  remain- 
ing yeai's  of  the  principality  of  Judah  are  recorded 
till  the  conquest  of  Nebuchadnezzar  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Babylonish  captivity.  In  the 
article  Israel,  the  period  comprised  has  been 
exhibited  under  the  name  and  reign  of  the  kings 
who  are  mentioned  in  these  books,  and  there  also, 
and  in  the  article  Judah,  the  chronology  of  the 
books  has  been  sufficiently  considered. 

There  are  some  peculiarities  in  this  succinct 
history  worthy  of  attention.  It  is  very  brief, 
but  very  suggestive.  It  is  not  a  biography  of  the 
sovereigns,  nor  a  mere  record  of  political  occur- 
rences, nor  yet  an  ecclesiastical  register.  King, 
church,  and  state  are  all  comprised  in  their 
sacred  relations.  It  is  a  theocratic  history,  a 
retrospective  survey  of  the  kingdoms  as  existing 
under  a  theocratic  government.  The  character 
of  the  sovereign  is  tested  by  his  fidelity  to  the 
religious  obligations  of  his  office,  and  this  decision 
in  reference  to  his  conduct  is  generally  added  to 
the  notice  of  his  accession.  The  new  king's 
religious  character  is  commonly  portrayed  by  its 
similarity  or  opposition  to  the  way  of  David,  of  his 
father,  or  of  Jei'oboam,  son  of  Nebat, '  who  made 
Israel  to  sin.'  Ecclesiastical  affairs  are  noticed 
with  a  similar  purpose,  and  in  contrast  with  past 
or  prevalent  apostacy,  especially  as  manifested  in 
the  popular  superstitions,  whose  shriues  were  on 
the  '  high  places.'  Political  or  national  incidents 
are  introduced  in  general  for  the  sake  of  illus- 
trating the  influence  of  religion  on  civic  pros- 
perity; of  showing  how  the  theocracy  maintained 
a  vigilant  and  vengeful  guardianship  over  its 
rights  and  privileges — adherence  to  its  principles 
securing  peace  and  plenty,  disobedience  to  them 
bringing  along  with  it  sudden  and  severe  retri- 
bution. The  books  of  Kings  are  a  verification  of 
the  Mosaic  warnings,  and  the  autlior  of  them  has 


518  KINGS,  BOOKS  OF 

kept  this  steadily  in  View.  He  has  given  a  brief 
history  of  his  people,  arranged  under  the  various 
political  chiefs  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that 
the  government  was  essentially  theocratic,  that 
its  spirit,  as  developed  in  the  Mosaic  writings, 
was  never  extinct,  however  modified  or  inactive 
it  might  sometimes  appear. 

Thus  the  books  of  Kings  appear  in  a  religious 
costume,  quite  different  from  the  form  they  would 
have  assumed  either  as  a  political  or  ecclesiastical 
narrative.  In  the  one  case  legislative  enactments, 
royal  edicts,  popular  movements,  would  have  oc- 
cupied a  prominent  place ;  in  the  other,  sacerdotal 
arrangements,  Levitical  service,  music  and  pa- 
geantry, would  have  filled  the  leading  sections  of 
the  treatise.  In  either  view  the  points  adduced 
would  have  had  a  restricted  reference  to  the 
palace  or  the  temple,  the  sovereign  or  the  pontiff, 
the  court  or  the  priesthood,  the  throne  or  the 
altar,  the  tribute  or  tithes,  the  nation  on  its  farms, 
or  the  tribes  in  the  courts  of  the  sacred  edifice. 
But  the  theocracy  conjoined  both  the  political 
and  religious  elements,  and  the  inspired  annalist 
unites  them  as  essential  to  his  design.  The 
agency  of  divinity  is  constantly  recognised,  the 
hand  of  Jehovah  is  continually  acknowledged. 
The  chief  organ  of  theocratic  influence  enjoys 
peculiar  prominence.  We  refer  to  the  incessant 
agency  of  the  prophets,  their  great  power  and 
peculiar  modes  of  action  as  detailed  by  the  com- 
poser of  the  books  of  Kings.  They  interfered 
with  the  succession,  and  their  instrumentality 
was  apparent  in  the  schism.  They  roused  the 
people,  and  they  braved  the  sovereign.  The 
balance  of  power  was  in  their  hands ;  the  regal 
dignity  seemed  to  be  sometimes  at  their  disposal. 
In  times  of  emergency  they  dispensed  with  usual 
modes  of  procedure,  and  assumed  an  authority 
with  which  no  subject  in  an  ordinary  state  can 
safely  be  intrusted,  executing  the  law  with  a  sum- 
mary promptness  which  rendered  opposition  im- 
possible, or  at  least  unavailing.  They  felt  their 
divine  commission,  and  that  they  were  the  cus- 
todiers of  the  rights  of  Jehovah,  while  at  the 
same  time  they  protected  the  interests  of  the 
nation.  The  divine  prerogative  was  to  them  a 
vested  right,  guarded  with  a  sacred  jealousy  from 
royal  usurpation  or  popular  invasion :  and  the  iu- 
'erests  of  the  people  were  as  religiously  protected 
against  encroachments,  too  easily  made  under  a 
form  of  government  which  had  not  the  safeguard 
of  popular  representation  or  aristocratic  privilege. 
The  priesthood  was  in  many  instances,  though 
there  are  some  illustrious  exceptions,  merely  the 
creature  of  the  crown,  and  therefore  it  became 
the  duty  of  the  prophets  to  assert  its  dignity  and 
stand  forth  in  the  majestic  insignia  of  an  embassy 
from  heaven. 

The  truth  of  these  sentiments  as  to  the  method, 
design,  and  composition  of  the  books  of  Kings,  is 
confirmed  by  ample  evidence. 

1.  Large  space  is  occupied  with  the  building 
of  the  temple — the  palace  of  the  Divine  Protector 
— his  throne  in  it  being  above  the  mercy-seat 
and  between  the  cherubim  (ch.  v.-viii.).  Care  is 
taken  to  record  the  miraculous  phenomenon  of 
the  descent  of  the  Shekinah  (ch.  viii.  10).  The 
prayer  of  Solomon  at  the  dedication  of  the  house 
IS  full  of  theocratic  views  and  aspirations. 

2.  Reference  is  often  made  to  the  Mosaic  Law 
■with  its  provisions ;  and  allusions  to  the  earlier 


KINGS,  BOOKS  OF 

history  of  the  people  frequently  occur  (1  Kings 
ii.  3;  iii.  14;  vi.  11,  12;  viii.  58,  &c. ;  2  Kings 
X.  31  ;  xiv.  6;  xvii.  13,  15,  37  ;  xviii.  4-6 ;  xxi. 
1-8).  Allusions  to  the  Mosaic  code  are  found 
more  frequently  toward  the  end  of  the  second 
book,  when  the  kingdom  was  drawing  near  its 
termination,  as  if  to  account  for  its  decay  and 
approaching  fate. 

3.  Phrases  expressive  of  Divine  interference 
are  frequently  introduced  (1  Kings  xi.  31  ;  xii. 
15  ;  xiii.  1,  2,  9  ;  and  xx.  13,  &c.). 

4.  Prophetic  interposition  is  a  very  prominent 
theme  of  record.  It  fills  the  vivid  foreground  of 
the  historical  picture.  Nathan  was  occupied  in 
the  succession  of  Solomon  (1  Kings  i.  45) ;  Ahijah 
was  concerned  in  the  revolt  (xi.  29-40).  She- 
maiah  disbanded  the  troops  which  Rehoboam  had 
mustered  (xii.  21).  Ahijah  predicted  the  ruin 
of  Jeroboam,  whose  elevation  he  had  promoted 
(xiv.  7).  Jehu,  the  prophet,  doomed  the  house 
of  Baasha  (xvi.  1).  The  reign  of  Ahab  and 
Ahaziah  is  marked  by  the  bold,  rapid,  myste- 
rious movements  of  Elijah.  Under  Ahab  occurs 
the  prediction  of  Micaiah  (xxii.  8).  The  actions 
and  oracles  of  Elisha  form  the  marvellous  topics 
of  narration  under  several  reigns.  The  agency 
of  Isaiah  is  also  recognised  (2  Kings  xix.  20; 
XX.  16).  Besides,  1  Kings  xiii.  presents  another 
instance  of  prophetic  operation  ;  and  in  xx.  35 
the  oracle  of  an  unknown  prophet  is  also  re- 
hearsed. Huldah,  the  prophetess,  was  an  im- 
portant personage  under  the  government  of 
Josiah  (2  Kings  xxii.  14).  Care  is  also  taken  to 
report  the  fulfilment  of  striking  prophecies,  in 
the  usual  phrase,  '  according  to  the  word  of  the 
Lord  '  (1  Kings  xii.  15 ;  xv.  29  ;  xvi.  12  ;  2  Kings 
xxiii.  15-18;  ix.  36;  xxiv.  2).  So,  too,  the  Old 
Syriac  version  prefixes,  '  Here  follows  the  book 
of  the  kings  who  flourished  among  the  ancient 
people  ;  and  in  this  is  also  exhibited  the  history 
of  the  prophets  who  flourished  during  their 
times.' 

5.  Theocratic  influence  is  recognised  both  in 
the  deposition  and  succession  of  kings  (1  Kings 
xiii.  33;  xv.  4,  5,  29,  30;  2  Kings  xi.  17,  &c.). 
It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  object  of  the  author 
of  the  Books  of  Kings  was  to  describe  the  history 
of  the  kingdoms,  especially  in  connection  with 
the  theocratic  element. 

The  authorship  and  age  of  this  historical  trea- 
tise may  admit  of  several  suppositions.  What- 
ever were  the  original  sources,  the  books  are 
evidently  the  composition  of  one  writer.  The 
style  is  generally  uniform  throughout.  The 
same  forms  of  expression  are  used  to  denote  the 
same  thing,  e.  g.  the  male  sex  (1  Kings  xiv.  10, 
&c.)  ;  the  death  of  a  king  (1  Kings  xi.  43,  &c.)  ; 
modes  of  allusion  to  the  law  (1  Kings  xi.  13) ; 
fidelity  to  Jehovah  (1  Kings  viii.  63,  &c.). 
Similar  idioms  are  ever  recurring,  so  as  to  pro- 
duce a  uniformity  of  style.  The  sources  whence 
this  historic  information  has  been  derived  have 
been  variously  named.  That  annals  contempo- 
rary with  the  events  which  they  describe  were 
written  in  the  early  period  of  the  Jewish  state, 
may  be  at  once  admitted.  Eichhorn  supposes 
that  the  sources  of  '  Kings '  were  private  histo- 
rical works.  Bertholdt,  Havernick,  and  Movers 
hold  that  the  books  are  extracts  from  the  public 
annals.  The  inspired  historiographer  refers  his 
readers  to  these  sources  of  evidence  in  such  fre- 


KIR-HARESH 

qaent  phrases  as  '  the  rest  of  the  acts.'  Sach  a 
reference  is  made  especially  to  the  sources,  when 
other  royal  acts  than  those  narrated  in  the  books 
of  Kings  are  glanced  at.  These  sources  are 
styled  the  book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of 
Judah  or  Israel.  Similar  phraseology  is  used  in 
Esther  x.  2  ;  vi.  1,  to  denote  the  official  annals  of 
the  Persian  empire.  Public  documents  are 
spoken  of  in  the  same  way  (Neh.  xii.  23). 
There  is  little  reason  to  suppose  that  the  book 
referred  to  in  this  last  passage  is  that  styled 
Chronicles  in  our  copy  of  the  Scriptures.  So  M'e 
infer  that  the  '  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the 
Kiugs'  so  often  alluded  to,  was  an  authentic 
document,  public  and  official.  Once  indeed  men- 
tion is  made  of  a  work  entitled  '  The  Book  of  the 
Acts  of  Solomon.' 

That  the  prophets  themselves  were  employed 
in  recording  contemporaneous  events  is  evident 
from  2  Chron.  xx.  34 ;  1  Chron.  xxix.  29.  In 
the  course  of  the  narrative  we  meet  with  many 
instances  of  description,  having  the  freshness  and 
form  of  nature,  and  which  are  apparently  direct 
quotations  from  some  journal,  written  by  one 
who  testified  what  he  had  seen  (1  Kings  xx.  10 ; 
2  Kings  xii.  1.5;  xiv.  8).  Thus  the  credibility 
of  the  history  contained  in  these  books  rests  upon 
a  sure  foundation. 

Now,  the  compiler  from  these  old  documents 
— he  who  shaped  them  into  the  form  they  have 
in  our  present  books  of  Kings — must  have  lived 
in  a  late  age.  The  Second  Book  of  Kings  con- 
cludes with  an  account  of  the  liberation  of  Je- 
hoiachin,  king  of  Judah,  from  prison  in  Babylon 
— an  event  which,  according  to  Jahn,  happened 
in  the  twenty -sixth,  or,  according  to  Prideaux, 
in  the  twenty-eighth  year  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  Jahn  and  Hiivernick  place  the  com- 
position of  '  Kings '  in  the  reign  of  Evil-mero- 
dach ;  and  De  Wette,  towards  the  end  of  the 
Captivity.  Jewish  tradition  makes  Jeremiah  the 
author.  Calmet  ascribes  the  anthorship  to  Ezra. 
The  former  opinion,  adopted  by  Grotius,  and 
lately  revindicated  by  Hiivernick,  certainly  ap- 
pears the  more  probable.  It  explains  the  close 
similarity  of  the  books  of  Kiugs  and  Jeremiah  in 
spirit,  style,  and  tendency,  more  easily  and  more 
satisfactorily  than  any  other  conjecture  of  like 
nature.  The  age  of  the  book  of  Kings  may  be 
intermediate  between  the  early  work  of  Samuel 
and  the  later  treatise  of  Chronicles. 

KIR,  a  people  and  country  subject  to  the  As- 
syrian empire,  to  which  the  conquered  Damas- 
cenes were  transplanted  (2  Kings  xvi.  9  ;  Isa. 
xxii.  6;  Amos  i.  5\  and  whither  also  the  Ara- 
maeans in  the  east  of  Syria  once  wandered  (Amos 
ix.  7).  This  is  supposed  by  ]\Iajor  Rennel  to  be 
the  same  country  which  still  bears  the  name  of 
A'wrdistan  or  A'oKrdistan.  There  are,  however, 
objections  to  this  view,  which  do  not  apply  so 
strongly  to  the  notion  of  Rosenmiiller  and  others, 
that  it  was  a  tract  on  the  river  Cyrus,  or  rather 
Kuros,  in  Zend  Koro,  which  rises  in  the  moun- 
tains between  the  Euxine  and  Caspian  Seas,  and 
runs  into  the  latter  after  being  joined  by  the 
Araxes.  Gurjistan,  or  Grusia  (Grusiana),  com- 
monly called  Georgia,  seems  also  to  have  derived 
its  name  from  this  river  Kur,  which  flows 
through  it. 

KIR-HA;RESH  ;  Kib-Hareseth  ;  Kir-Heres. 

[KIR-MOAB.] 


KIR-MOAB 


519 


KIR'JATH.  This  word  means  town  or  city, 
and  is  much  used  in  the  formation  of  names  of 
places,  like  our  own  town.  The  following  are  the 
principal  places  distinguished  by  this  term  : 

1.  KI'R-JATHA'IM  {double  town),  one  of  the 
most  ancient  towns  in  the  country  east  of  the 
Jordan,  as  it  was  possessed  by  the  gigantic 
Emira  (Gen.  xiv.  .'5),  who  were  expelled  by  the 
Moabites  (Deut.  ii.  9,  10),  who  in  their  turn 
were  dispossessed  by  the  Aniorites,  from  whom 
it  was  taken  by  the  Israelites.  Kir-jathaim  was 
then  assigned  to  Reuben  (Num.  xxxii.  37  ;  Josh, 
xiii.  19).  But  during  the  Assyrian  exile  the 
Moabites  again  took  possession  of  this  and  other 
towns  (Jer.  xlviii.  1-23  ;  Ezek.  xxv.  9).  Euse- 
bius  places  it  about  half  an  hour  west  of  the 
ruins  of  Medeba,  There  was  another  place  of 
this  name  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali  (1  Chroo. 
vi.  76). 

2.  KIR'JATH-AR'BA,  the  ancient  name  of 
Hebron,  but  still  in  use  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah 
(vi.  26)     [Hebron]. 

3.  KIR'JATH-BAAL  {city  of  Baal).  This 
city  is  more  usually  called  Kirjath-jeaeim. 

4.  KIR'JATH-HU'ZOTH  (c%  of  streets),  a 
town  in  Moab  (Num.  xxii.  39). 

5.  KIR'JATH-JE'ARIM  {city  of /crests),  one 
of  the  towns  of  the  Gibeonites  (josh.  ix.  17).  It 
was  to  this  place  that  the  ark  was  brought  from 
Bethshemesh,  after  it  had  been  removed  from  the 
land  of  the  Philistines,  and  where  it  remained  till 
removed  to  Jerusalem  by  David  (1  Sam.  vii. ;  1 
Chron.  xiii.).  This  was  one  of  the  ancient  sites 
which  were  again  inhabited  after  the  exile  (Ezra 
ii.  25  ;  Neh.  vii.  29).  Eusebius  and  Jerome  speak 
of  it  as  being  in  their  day  a  village  nine  or  ten 
miles  from  Diospolis  (Lydda),  on  the  road  to  Je- 
rusalem. Dr.  Robinson  thinks  it  possible  that  the 
ancient  Kirjath-jearim  may  be  recognised  in  the 
present  Kuryet-e.l-Enab.  The  close  correspond- 
ence of  name  and  position  seems  to  warrant  this 
conclusion.  This  place  is  that  which  ecclesiastical 
tradition  has  identified  with  the  Anathoth  of  Je- 
remiah, which  Dr.  Robinson  refers  to  Anata 
[Anathoth].  It  is  now  a  poor  village,  its  prin- 
cipal buildings  being  an  old  convent  of  the  Mi- 
norites, and  a  Latin  church.  The  latter  is  now 
deserted,  but  not  in  ruins,  and  is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  largest  and  most  solidly  constructed  churches 
in  Palestine  (Robinson,  ii.  109  ;  334-337). 

6.  KIR'JATH-SAN'NAH  {city  rf  palms ;  Josh. 
XV.  49),  otherwise  Kirjath-sepheb  {city  of  the 
book),  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  called  also 
Debir,  which  see  (Josh.  xv.  15,  16;  Judg.  i.  11, 
12). 

KIR'-MO'AB  ('  the  wall,  stronghold,  or  citadel 
of  Moab '),  Isa.  xv.  1  ;  called  also  Kir-hareseth 
and  Kir-heres  {brick-fortress ;  Isa.  xvi.  7,  11 ; 
Jer.  xlviii.  31),  a  fortified  city  in  the  territory  of 
Moab.  Joram  king  of  Israel  took  the  city,  and 
destroyed  it,  except  the  walls  ;  but  it  appears  from 
the  passages  here  cited  that  it  must  have  been  re- 
built before  the  time  of  Isaiah.  Abulfeda  describes 
Karak  as  a  small  town,  with  a  castle  on  a  high 
hill,  and  remarks  that  it  is  so  strong  that  one 
must  deny  himself  even  the  wish  to  take  it  by 
force.  In  the  time  of  the  Crusades,  and  when  in 
possession  of  the  Franks,  it  was  invested  by  Sa- 
ladin  ;  but  after  lying  before  it  a  month  he  was 
compelled  to  raise  the  siege.  The  first  person 
who  visited  the  place  in  modern  times  was  Sect- 


520 


KISHON 


zen,  -who  says,  '  Karak,  formerly  a  city  and 
bishop's  see,  lies  on  the  top  of  the  hill  near  the 
end  of  a  deep  valley,  and  is  surrounded  on  all 
sides  Tvith  lofty  mountains.  The  hill  is  very 
steep,  and  in  many  places  the  sides  are  quite  per- 
pendicular. The  -walls  round  the  town  are  for 
the  most  part  destroyed,  and  Karak  can  at  present 
boast  of  little  more  than  being  a  small  country 
town.  The  castle,  which  is  uninhabited,  and  in 
a  state  of  great  decay,  was  formerly  one  of  the 
strongest  in  these  countries.  The  inhabitants  of 
the  town  consist  of  Mohammedans  and  Greek 
Christians.  The  present  bishop  of  Karak  resides 
at  Jerusalem.  From  this  place  one  enjoys,  by 
looking  down  the  Wady  Karak,  a  fine  view  of 
part  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  even  Jerusalem  may 
be  distinctly  seen  in  clear  weather.  The  hill  on 
which  Karak  lies  is  composed  of  limestone  and 
brittle  marl,  with  many  beds  of  blue,  black,  and 
grey  flints.  In  the  neighbouring  rocks  there  are 
a  number  of  curious  grottoes  ;  in  those  which  are 
under  ground  wheat  is  sometimes  preserved  for  a 
period  of  ten  years.'  A  fuller  account  of  the 
place  is  given  by  Burckhardt,  by  whom  it  was 
next  visited ;  and  another  description  is  furnished 
by  Irby  and  Mangles.  From  their  account  it 
would  seem  that  the  caverns  noticed  by  Seetzen 
were  probably  the  sepulchres  of  the  ancient  town. 
We  also  learn  that  the  Christians  of  Karak  (which 
they  and  Burckhardt  call  Kerek)  are  nearly  as  nu- 
merous as  the  Turks,  and  boast  of  being  stronger 
and  braver.  They  were,  however,  on  good  terms 
with  the  Turks,  and  appeared  to  enjoy  equal  free- 
dom with  them. 

KISH,  son  of  Ner,  and  father  of  King  Saul 
(1  Sam.  ix.  l). 

KI'SHON,  a  river  which,  after  traversing  the 
plain  of  Acre,  enters  the  bay  of  the  same  name  at 
its  south-east  corner.  It  is  celebrated  in  Scrip- 
ture for  the  overthrow  of  the  host  of  Sisera  in  its 
overflowing  stream  (Judg.  iv.  13  ;  v.  21).  It  has 
been  usual  to  trace  the  source  of  this  river  to 
Mount  Tabor  ;  but  Dr.  Shaw  affirms  that  in  tra- 
velling along  the  south-eastern  brow  of  Mount 
Carmel,  he  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
sources  of  the  river  Kishon,  three  or  four  of 
which  lie  within  less  than  a  furlong  of  each  other, 
and  are  called  Eas  el-Kishon,  or  the  head  of  the 
Kishon.  These  alone,  without  the  lesser  contri- 
butions near  the  sea,  discharge  water  enough  to 
form  a  river  half  as  large  as  the  Isis.  During 
the  rainy  season  all  the  waters  which  fall  upon 
the  eastern  side  of  Carmel,  or  upon  the  rising 
grounds  to  the  southward,  empty  themselves  into 
it  in  a  number  of  torrents,  at  which  time  it  over- 
flows its  banks,  acquires  a  wonderful  rapidity, 
and  carries  all  before  it.  It  was  doubtless  in 
such  a  season  that  the  host  of  Sisera  was  swept 
awav,  in  attempting  to  ford  it.  Rut  such  inunda- 
tions are  only  occasional,  and  of  short  duration, 
as  is  indeed  implied  in  the  destruction  in  its 
waters  of  the  fugitives,  who  doubtless  expected 
to  pass  it  safely.  . 

The  course  of  the  stream,  as  estimated  from  the 
sources  thus  indicated,  is  not  more  than  seven 
miles.  It  runs  very  briskly  till  within  half  a 
league  of  the  sea ;  but  when  not  augmented  by 
rains,  it  never  falls  into  the  sea  in  a  full  stream, 
but  insensibly  percolates  through  a  bank  of  sand, 
■which  the  north  winds  have  thrown  up  at  its 
mouth.    It  was  in  this  state  t'tiat  Shaw  himself 


KISS 

found  it  in  the  month  of  April,  1722,  when  it  was 
crossed  by  him. 

Notwithstanding  Shaw's  contradiction,  the  as- 
sertion that  the  Kishon  derives  its  source  from 
Mount  Tabor  has  been  repeated  by  modern  tra- 
vellers as  confidently  as  by  their  ancient  prede- 
cessors. We  have  had  opportunities  of  seeing 
much  of  streams  similarly  constituted ;  and  it 
does  not  seem  to  us  difiicult  to  reconcile  the  seem- 
ingly conflicting  statements  with  reference  to  the 
Kishon.  On  further  inquiry,  and  more  extensive 
comparison  of  observations  made  at  diS'erent  times 
of  the  year,  it  will  probably  be  found  that  the 
remoter  source  of  the  river  is  really  in  Mount 
Tabor ;  but  that  the  supply  from  this  source  is  cut 
oS"  in  early  summer,  when  it  ceases  to  be  main- 
tained by  rains  or  contributory  torrents ;  whereas 
the  copious  supply  from  the  nearer  springs  at  Ras 
el-Kishon,  with  other  springs  lower  down,  keep  it 
up  from  that  point,  as  a  perennial  stream,  even 
during  the  drought  of  summer.  Thus  during  one 
part  of  the  year  the  source  of  the  river  may  appear 
to  be  in  Mount  Tabor,  while  during  another  part 
the  source  of  the  diminished  stream  is  at  Ras  el- 
Kishon. 

The  Scriptural  account  of  the  overthrow  of 
Sisera's  host  manifestly  shows  that  the  stream 
crossed  the  plain,  and  must  have  been  of  con- 
siderable size. 

The  transaction  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  who,  after 
his  sacrifice  on  Carmel,  commanded  the  priests  of 
Baal  to  be  slain  at  the  river  Kishon  (1  Kings 
xviii.  40),  requires  no  explanation,  seeing  that  it 
took  place  at  the  perennial  lower  stream.  This 
also  explains,  what  has  sometimes  been  asked, 
whence,  in  that  time  of  drought,  the  water  was 
obtained  with  which  the  prophet  inundated  his 
altar  and  sacrifice. 

KISS.  Originally  the  act  of  kissing  had  a 
symbolical  character,  and,  though  this  import  may 
now  be  lost  sight  of,  yet  it  must  be  recognised  the 
moment  we  attempt  to  understand  or  explain  its 
signification.  Acts  speak  no  less,  sometimes  far 
more  forcibly,  than  words.  In  the  language  of 
action,  a  kiss,  inasmuch  as  it  was  a  bringing  into 
contact  of  parts  of  the  body  of  two  persons,  was 
naturally  the  expression  and  the  symbol  of  afiec- 
tion,  regard,  respect,  and  reverence ;  and  if  any 
deeper  source  of  its  origin  were  sought  for,  it 
would,  doubtless,  be  found  in  the  fondling  and 
caresses  with  which  the  mother  expresses  her  ten- 
derness for  her  babe.  That  the  custom  is  of  very 
early  date  appears  from  Gen.  xxix.  IS,  where  we 
read — '  When  Laban  heard  the  tidings  of  Jacob, 
his  sister's  son,  he  ran  to  meet  him,  and  embraced 
him  and  kissed  him,  and  brought  him  to  his  house :' 
the  practice  was  even  then  established  and  recog- 
nised as  a  matter  of  course.  In  Gen.  xxvii.  26, 
27,  a  kiss  is  a  sign  of  affection  between  a  parent 
and  child.  It  was  also,  as  with  some  modern  na- 
tions, a  token  of  friendship  and  regard  bestowed 
whaa  friends  or  relations  met  or  separated  (Tobit 
vii.  6  ;  X.  1 2  ;  Luke  vii.  45 ;  xv.  20 ;  Acts  xx.  37  ; 
Matt.  xxvi.  48 ;  2  Sam.  xx.  9).  The  church  of 
Ephesus  wept  sore  at  Paul's  departure,  and  fell 
on  his  neck  and  kissed  him.  When  Orpah  quitted 
Naomi  and  Ruth  (Ruth  i.  14),  after  the  three  had 
lifted  up  their  voice  and  wept,  she  '  kissed  her 
mother-in-law,  but  Ruth  clave  unto  her.'  It  was 
usual  to  kiss  the  month  (Gen.  xxxiii.  4;  Exod. 
iv.  27  ;  xfiii.  7 ;  1  Sam.  xx.  41 ;  Prov.  xxiv.  26) 


KOPHER 

or  the  beard,  -which  -was  then  taken  hold  of  by  the 
hand  (2  Sam.  xx.  9).  Kissing  of  the  feet  was  an 
expression  of  lowly  and  tender  regard  (Luke  vii. 
38).  Kissing  of  the  hand  of  another  appears  to 
be  a  modern  practice  :  the  passage  of  Job  xxxi. 
27,  'Or  my  mouth  hath  kissed  my  hand,'  is  not 
in  point,  and  refers  to  idolatrous  usages,  namely, 
the  adoration  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  It  was  the 
custom  to  throw  kisses  towards  the  images  of  the 
gods,  and  towards  the  sun  and  moon  (1  Kings 
xix.  18  ;  Hosea  xiii.  2).  The  kissing  of  princes 
was  a  token  of  homage  (Ps.  ii.  12;  1  Sam.  x.  1). 
Xenophon  says  that  it  was  a  national  custom  with 
the  Persians  to  kiss  whomsoever  they  honoured. 
Kissing  the  feet  of  princes  was  a  token  of  subjec- 
tion and  obedience ;  which  was  sometimes  carried 
so  far  that  the  print  of  the  foot  received  the  kiss, 
so  as  to  give  the  impression  that  the  very  dust 
had  become  sacred  by  the  royal  tread,  or  that  the 
subject  was  not  worthy  to  salute  even  the  princes 
foot,  but  was  content  to  kiss  the  earth  itself  near 
or  on  which  he  trod  (Isa.  xlix.  23 ;  Micah  vii.  1 7  ; 
Ps.  Ixxii.  9).  The  Rabbins,  in  the  meddlesome, 
scrupulous,  and  falsely  delicate  spirit  which  ani- 
mated much  of  what  they  wrote,  did  not  permit 
more  than  three  kinds  of  kisses,  the  kiss  of  reve- 
rence, of  reception,  and  of  dismissal. 

The  peculiar  tendency  of  the  Christian  religion 
to  encourage  honour  towards  all  men,  as  men,  to 
foster  and  develop  the  softer  afi'ections,  and,  in 
the  trying  condition  of  the  early  church,  to  make 
its  members  intimately  known  one  to  another, 
and  unite  them  in  the  closest  bonds,  led  to  the 
observance  of  kissing  as  an  accompaniment  of 
that  social  worship  which  took  its  origin  in  the 
very  cradle  of  our  religion.  Hence  the  exhorta- 
tion— '  Salute  each  other  with  a  holy  kiss'  (Rom. 
xvi.  16  ;  see  also  1  Cor.  xvi.  20 ;  2  Cor.  xiii.  12 ; 
1  Thess.  V.  26  ;  in  1  Pet.  v.  14,  it  is  termed  '  a 
kiss  of  charity').  The  observance  was  continued 
in  later  days,  and  has  not  yet  wholly  disap- 
peared, though  the  peculiar  circumstances  have 
vanished  which  gave  propriety  and  emphasis  to 
such  an  expression  of  brotherly  love  and  Chris- 
tian friendship. 

KITE.     [Glede.] 

KNEADING-TROUGHS.     [Bread.] 

KO'HATH  (assemhli/),  son  of  Levi,  and  father 
of  Amram,  Izhar,  Hebron,  and  Uzziel  (Gen. 
xlvi.  11).  The  descendants  of  Kohath  formed 
one  of  the  three  great  divisions  of  the  Levitical 
tribe.  This  division  contained  the  priestly  family 
which  was  descended  from  Aaron,  the  son  of 
Amram.  In  the  service  of  the  tabernacle,  as 
settled  in  the  wilderness,  the  Kohathites  had  the 
distinguished  charge  of  bearing  the  ark  and  the 
sacred  vessels  (Exod.  vi.  16  ;  Num.  iv.  4-6). 

KO'PHER,  or  Gopher,  occurs  twice  in  the 
Song  of  Solomon  (i.  14;  iv.  13),  and  is  in  both 
places  translated  camphire  in  the  Authorized 
Version.  It  has  been  supposed  to  indicate  a 
bunch  of  grapes  (Botrus  kophcr),  also  camphor. 
The  word  camphire  is  the  old  mode  of  spelling  ; 
camphor,  but  this  substance  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  known  to  ancient  commerce ;  at  least 
we  cannot  adduce  any  proof  that  it  was  to.  The 
•word  Kopher  closely  resembles  the  Greek  Kupros, 
usually  written  Cypros.  Indeed,  as  has  been 
observed,  it  is  the  same  word,  with  the  Greek 
pronunciation  and  termination.  Mariti  remarks, 
that  '  the  shrub  known  in  the  Hebrew  language 


KOPHER 


521 


by  the  name  of  kopher  is  common  in  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  and  thence  had  its  Latin  name  :'  also, 
that  '  the  Botrus  Cypri  has  been  supposed  to  be 
a  kind  of  rare  and  exquisite  grapes,  transplanted 
from  Cyprus  to  Engaddi ;  but  the  Butriis  is 
known  to  the  natives  of  Cyprus  as  an  odoriferous 
shrub  called  henna,  or  alkanna.'  This  identity 
is  now  universally  acknowledged:  the  Kupros, 
therefore,  must  have  been  Lausouia  inermis,  as 
the  Hinna  of  the  Arabs  is  well  known  to  be.  If 
we  examine  the  works  of  Oriental  tiavcllers  and 
naturalists,  we  shall  find  that  this  plant  is  uni- 
versally esteemed  in  Eastern  countries,  and 
appears  to  have  been  so  from  the  earliest  times, 
both  on  account  of  the  fragrance  of  its  tlowors 
and  the  colouring  properties  of  its  leaves. 


224.    [Lawsonia  inermis.] 

Thus  RauwolfF,  when  at  Tripoli,  '  found  there 
another  tree,  not  unlike  unto  our  privet,  by  the 
Arabians  called  Alcana,  or  Henna,  and  by  the 
Grecians,  in  their  vulgar  tongue,  Schenna,  which 
they  have  from  Egypt,  where,  but  above  all  in 
Cayre,  they  grow  in  abundance.  The  Turks  and 
Moors  nurse  these  up  with  great  care  and  dili- 
gence, because  of  their  sweet-smelling  flowers. 
They  also,  as  I  am  informed,  keep  their  leaves 
all  winter,  which  leaves  they  powder  and  mix 
with  the  juice  of  citrons,  and  stain  therewith 
against  great  holidays  the  hair  and  nails  of  their 
children  of  a  red  colour,  which  colour  may  per- 
haps be  seen  with  us  on  the  manes  and  tails  of 
Turkish  horses.'  This  custom  of  dyeing  the 
nails  and  the  palms  of  the  hands  and  soles  of  the 
feet,  of  an  iron-rust  colour,  with  henna,  exists 
throughout  the  East,  from  the  Mediterranean  to 
the  Ganges,  as  well  as  in  Northern  Africa.  In 
some  parts  the  practice  is  not  confined  to  women 
and  children,  but  is  also  followed  by  men,  espe- 
cially in  Persia.  In  dyeing  the  beard,  the  hair 
is  turned  to  red  by  this  application,  which  is  then 
changed  to  black  by  a  preparation  of  indigo.  In 
dyeing  the  hair  of  children,  and  the  tails  and 
manes  of  horses  and  asses,  the  process  is  allowed 


622 


KORAH 


KORAH 


to  stop  at  the  red  colour  -which  the  henna  pro- 
duces, lu  reference  to  this  universal  practice  of 
the  East,  Dr.  Harris  observes  that '  the  expression 
in  Deut.  xxi.  1 2,  "  pare  her  nails,"  may  perhaps 
rather  mean  '•  adorn  her  nails,"  and  imply  the 
antiquity  of  this  practice.  This  is  a  universal 
custom  in  Egypt,  and  not  to  conform  to  it  would 
be  considered  indecent.  It  seems  to  have  been 
practised  by  the  ancient  Egyptians,  for  the  nails 
of  the  mummies  are  most  commonly  of  a  reddish 
hue.'  Seeing,  then,  that  the  henna  is  so  uni- 
versally admired  in  the  East,  both  on  account  of 
the  fragrance  of  its  flowers  and  the  dye  yielded 
by  its  leaves,  and  as  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  is 
the  Cypros  of  the  Greeks,  and  as  this  word  is  so 
similar  to  the  kopher  of  the  Hebrews,  there  is 
every  probability  of  this  last  being  the  henna  of 
the  Arabs,  Lawsonia  alba  of  botanists. 

KO'RAH  (ice),  a  Levite,  son  of  Izhar,  the 
brother  of  Amram,  the  father  of  Moses  and 
Aaron,  who  were  therefore  cousins  to  Korah 
(Exod.  vi.  21).  From  this  near  relationship  we 
may,  with  tolerable  certainty,  conjecture,  that 
the  source  of  the  discontent  which  led  to  the  steps 
afterwards  taken  by  this  unhappy  man,  lay  in 
his  jealousy  that  the  high  honours  and  privileges 
of  the  priesthood,  to  which  he,  who  remained  a 
simple  Levite,  might,  apart  from  the  divine  ap- 
pointment, seem  to  have  had  as  good  a  claim, 
should  have  been  exclusively  appropriated  to  the 
family  of  Aaron.  When  to  this  was  added  the 
civil  authority  of  Moses,  the  whole  power  over 
the  nation  would  seem  to  him  to  have  been  en- 
grossed by  his  cousins,  the  sons  of  Amram. 
Under  the  influence  of  these  feelings  he  or- 
gauized  a  conspiracy,  for  the  purpose  of  redressing 
what  appeared  to  him  the  evil  and  injustice  of 
this  arrangement.  Dathan,  Abiram,  and  On, 
the  chief  persons  who  joined  him,  were  of  the 
tribe  of  Reuben  ;  but  he  was  also  supported  by 
many  more  from  other  tribes,  making  up  the 
number  of  250,  men  of  name,  rank,  and  influence, 
all  who  may  be  regarded  as  representing  the 
families  of  which  they  were  the  heads.  The 
private  object  of  Korah  was  apparently  his  own 
aggrandizement,  but  his  ostensible  object  was  the 
general  good  of  the  people;  and  it  is  perhaps 
from  want  of  attention  to  this  distinction  that 
the  transaction  has  not  been  well  understood. 
The  design  seems  to  have  been  made  acceptable 
to  a  large  body  of  the  nation,  on  the  ground  that 
the  first-born  of  Israel  had  been  deprived  of 
their  sacerdotal  birthright  in  favour  of  the  Levites, 
while  the  Levites  themselves  announced  that  the 
priesthood  had  been  conferred  by  Moses  (as  they 
considered)  on  his  own  brother's  family,  in  pre- 
ference to  those  who  had  equal  claims  ;  and  it  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  the  Reubenites  may  have 
considered  the  opportunity  a  favourable  one  for 
the  recovery  of  their  birthright — the  double 
portion  and  civil  pre-eminence— which  had  been 
forfeited  by  them  and  given  to  Joseph. 

The  leading  conspirators  having  organized 
their  plans,  repaired  in  a  body  to  Moses  and 
Aaron,  boldly  charged  them  with  their  usurpa- 
tions, and  required  them  to  lay  down  their  ill- 
gotten  power.  Moses  no  sooner  heard  this  than 
he  fell  on  his  face,  confounded  at  the  enormity  of 
so  outrageous  a  revolt  against  a  system  framed  so 
carefully  for  the  benefit  of  the  nation.  He  left 
the  matter  in  the  Lord's  hands,  and  desired  them 


to  come  on  the  morrow,  provided  with  censers  for 
iucense,  that  the  Lord  himself,  .by  some  manifest 
token,  might  make  known  his  will  in  this  great 
matter.  As  this  order  was  particularly  addressed 
to  the  rebellious  Levites,  the  Reubenites  left  the 
place,  and  when  afterwards  called  back  by  Moses, 
returned  a  very  insolent  refusal,  charging  him 
with  having  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  under  false  pretences,  '  to  kill  them  in  the 
wilderness.' 

The  next  day  Korah  and  his  company  appeared 
before  the  tabernacle,  attended  by  a  multitude 
of  people  out  of  the  general  body  of  the  tribes. 
Then  the  Shekinah,  or  symbol  of  the  Divine  pre- 
seuce,  which  abode  between  the  cherubim,  ad- 
vanced to  the  entrance  of  the  sacred  fabric,  and  a 
voice  therefrom  commanded  Moses  and  Aaron  to 
stand  apart,  lest  they  should  share  in  the  destruc- 
tion which  awaited  the  whole  congregation.  On 
hearing  these  awful  words  the  brothers  fell  on 
their  faces,  and,  by  strong  intercession,  moved 
the  Lord  to  confine  his  wrath  to  the  leaders  in 
the  rebellion,  and  spare  their  unhappy  dupes. 
The  latter  were  then  ordered  to  separate  them- 
selves from  their  leaders  and  from  the  tenjts  in 
which  they  dwelt.  The  terrible  menace  involved 
in  this  direction  had  its  weight,  and  the  coilimand 
was  obeyed;  and  after  Moses  had  appealed  to 
■what  was  to  happen  as  a  proof  of  the  authority 
by  which  he  acted,  the  earth  opened,  and  received 
and  closed  over  the  tents  of  Korah,  Dathan,  and 
Abiram.  The  Reubenite  conspirators  were  in 
their  tents,  and  perished  in  them;  and  at  the 
same  instant  Korah  and  his  250,  who  were  oflFer- 
ing  incense  at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  were 
destroyed  by  a  fire  which  '  came  out  from  the 
Lord  ;'  that  is,  most  probably,  in  this  case,  from 
out  of  the  cloud  in  which  his  presence  dwelt. 
The  censers  which  they  had  used  were  afterwards 
made  into  plates,  to  form  an  outer  covering  to 
the  altar,  and  thus  became  a  standing  monument 
of  this  awful  transaction  (Num.  xvi.).  On,  al- 
though named  in  the  first  instance  along  with 
Dathan  and  Abiram,  does  not  further  appear 
either  in  the  rebellion  or  its  punishment.  It  is 
hence  supposed  that  he  repented  in  time:  and 
Abendana  and  other  Rabbinical  writers  allege 
that  his  wife  prevailed  upon  him  to  abandon  the 
cause. 

It  might  be  supposed  from  the  Scripture  narra- 
tive that  the  entire  families  of  the  conspirators 
perished  in  the  destruction  of  their  tents.  Doubt- 
less all  who  were  in  the  tents  perished ;  but  as 
the  descendants  of  Korah  afterwards  became  emi- 
nent in  the  Levitical  service,  it  is  clear  that  his 
sons  were  spared.  They  were  probably  living  in 
separate  tents,  or  were  among  those  who  sundered 
themselves  from  the  conspirators  at  the  command 
of  Moses.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
sons  of  Korah  were  children  when  their  father 
perished.  The  Korahites  were  appointed  by 
David  to  the  office  of  guarding  the  doors  of  the 
temple,  and  of  singing  praises.  They,  in  fact, 
occupied  a  distinguished  place  in  the  choral  ser- 
vice of  the  temple,  and  several  of  the  Psalms 
(xlii.  xliv.-xlix.  Ixxxiv.  Ixxxv.  Ixxxvii.lxxxviii.) 
are  inscribed  to  them.  Heman,  the  master  of 
song  under  David,  was  of  this  family,  and  his 
genealogy  is  traced  through  Korah  up  to  Leii 
(1  Chron.  vi.  31-38), 


LAMENTATIONS 


L. 


LAMENTATIONS 


523 


LA'BAN,  son  of  Bethuel,  and  grandson  of 
Nahor,  brother  of  Kebekah,  and  father  of  Jacob's 
two  wives.  Leah  and  Rachel  [Jacob]. 

LA'CHISH,  a  city  in  the  south  of  Judah,  in 
the  plain  between  Adoraim  and  Azekah  (Josh.  x. 
3,  5,  .31 ;  XV.  39).  It  was  rebuilt  and  fortified  by 
Kehoboam  (2  Chron.  xi.  9),  and  seems  after  that 
time  to  have  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  strongest 
fortresses  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  having  for  a 
time  braved  tlie  assaults  of  the  Assyrian  army 
under  Sennacherib  (2  Kings  xviii.  17;  xix.  8; 
2  Chron.  xxxii.  9).  Eusebius  and  Jerome  place 
it  seven  Roman  miles  from  Eleutheropolis  to- 
wards the  south.  There  has  not  been  any  more 
recent  notice  of  the  place,  and  no  modern  vestige 
of  the  name  or  site  has  been  discovered. 

LA'ISH.     [Dan.] 

LAKES.     [Palestine.] 

LA'MECH,  son  of  Methusael,  and  father  of 
Jabal,  Jubal,  Tubal-cain,  and  Naamah  (Gen.  iv. 
18,  24,  &c.).  He  is  recorded  to  have  taken  two 
wives,  Adah  and  Zillah ;  and  there  appears  no 
reason  why  the  fact  should  have  been  mentioned, 
unless'to  point  him  out  as  the  author  of  the  evil 
practice  of  polygamy.  The  manner  in  which  the 
sons  of  Lamech  distinguished  themselves  as  the 
inventors  of  useful  arts,  is  mentioned  under  their 
several  names.  The  most  remarkable  circum- 
stance in  connection  with  Lamech  is  the  poetical 
address  which  he  is  very  abruptly  introduced  as 
making  to  his  wives.  •  This  is  not  only  remark- 
able in  itself,  but  is  the  first  and  most  ancient 
piece  of  poetry  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures ;  and, 
indeed,  the  only  example  of  Antediluvian  poetry 
extant : — 

'  Adah  and  Zillah,  hear  my  voice ! 

Wives  of  Lamech,  receive  my  speech  ! 
If  I  slew  a  man  to  my  wounding. 

And  a  young  man — to  my  hurt : 
If  Cain  was  avenged  seven  times, 
Then  Lamech — seventy  times  seven.' 

This  exhibits  the  parallelism  and  other  charac- 
teristics of  Hebrew  poetry,  the  development  of 
which  belongs  to  another  article  [Poetry].  It 
has  all  the  appearance  of  an  extract  from  an  old 
poem,  which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  handed 
down  by  tradition  to  the  time  of  Moses.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  discover  to  what  it  refers,  and 
the  best  explanation  can  be  nothing  more  than  a 
conjecture.  So  far  as  we  can  make  it  out,  it 
v/ould  seem  to  be,  as  Bishop  Lowth  explains,  an 
apology  for  committing  homicide,  in  his  own  de- 
fence, upon  some  man  who  had  violently  assaulted 
him,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  struck  and  wounded 
him :  and  he  opposes  a  homicide  of  this  nature 
to  the  wilful  and  inexcusable  fratricide  of  Cain. 
Under  this  view  Lamech  would  appear  to  have 
intended  to  comfort  his  wives  by  the  assurance 
that  he  was  really  exposed  to  no  danger  from 
this  act,  and  that  any  attempt  upon  his  life  on 
the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  deceased  would  not 
fail  to  bring  down  upon  them  the  severest  ven- 
geance. 

2.  LAMECH,  son  of  Methuselah,  and  father 
of  Noah  (Gen.  v.  28-31). 

LAMENTATIONS.  This  book  is  called  by 
the  Hebrews,  '  Itow,'  from  the  first  word  of  the 


book  ;  but  sometimes  they  call  it  '  tears,'  or  '  la- 
mentation,' in  allusion  to  the  mournful  charactPf 
of  the  work,  of  which  one  would  conceive,  says 
Bishop  Lowth,  '  that  every  letter  was  written 
with  a  tear,  every  word  the  sound  of  a  broken 
heart.'  From  this,  or  rather  from  the  translation 
of  it  in  the  Septuagint,  comes  our  title  of  La- 
mentations. 

The  ascription  of  the  Lamentations  in  the  title 
is  of  no  authority  in  itself,  but  its  correctness  has 
never  been  doubted.  The  style  and  manner  of 
the  book  are  those  of  Jeremiah,  and  the  circum- 
stances alluded  to,  those  by  which  he  is  known  to 
have  been  suiTounded.  This  reference  of  tlie 
Lamentations  to  Jeremiah  occurs  in  the  intro- 
ductory verse  which  is  found  in  the  Septuagint: — 
'  And  it  came  to  pass,  after  Israel  had  be^n  car- 
ried away  captive,  and  Jerusalem  was  become 
desolate,  that  Jeremiah  sat  weeping,  and  lamented 
with  this  lamentation  over  Jerusalem,  and  said.' 

It  is  disputed  whether  or  not  this  verse  existed 
in  the  Hebrew  copies  from  which  the  translation 
of  the  Seventy  was  made.  We  are  certainly  not 
bound  by  its  authority  if  disposed  to  question  the 
conclusion  which  it  supports.  But  it  at  least 
shows  the  opinion  which  prevailed  as  to  the 
author,  and  the  occasion  of  the  book,  at  the  time 
the  translation  was  made.  That  opinion  is  now 
all  but  universally  acquiesced  in.  It  is  adopted 
by  nearly  all  commentators,  who,  as  they  pro- 
ceed through  the  book,  find  that  they  cannot  fol- 
low out  the  details  on  any  other  supposition.  We 
may,  under  this  view,  regard  the  two  first  chap- 
ters as  occupied  chiefly  with  the  circumstances  of 
the  siege,  and  those  immediately  following  that 
event.  In  the  third  the  prophet  deplores  the 
calamities  and  persecutions  to  which  he  had  him- 
self been  exposed  ;  the  fourth  refers  to  the  ruin 
and  desolation  of  the  city,  and  the  unhappy  lot 
of  Zedekiah ;  and  the  fifth  and  last  seems  to  be  a 
sort  of  prayer  in  the  name,  or  on  behalf  of,  the 
Jews  in  their  dispersion  and  captivity.  As  Jere- 
miah himself  was  eventually  compelled  to  with- 
draw into  Egypt  much  against  his  will  (Jer. 
xliii.  6),  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  last  chap- 
ter was  possibly  written  there.  Pareau  refers 
chap.  i.  to  Jer.  xxxvii.  5,  sqq. ;  chap.  iii.  to  Jer. 
xxxviii.  2,  sqq.;  chap.  iv.  to  Jer.  xxxix.  1,  sqq., 
and  2  Kings  xxv.  1,  sqq. ;  chap.  ii.  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  city  and  temple  ;  chap.  v.  is  admitted 
to  be  the  latest,  and  to  refer  to  the  time  after  that 
event.  Ewald  says  that  the  situation  is  the  same 
throughout,  and  only  the  time  difierent.  In 
chaps,  i.  and  ii.  we  find  sorrow  without  consola- 
tion ;  in  chap.  iii.  consolation  for  the  poet  him- 
self; in  chap.  iv.  the  lamentation  is  renewed  with 
greater  violence ;  but  soon  the  whole  people,  as  if 
urged  by  their  own  spontaneous  impulse,  fall  to 
weeping  and  hoping. 

Dr.  Blayney,  regarding  both  the  date  and 
occasion  of  the  Lamentations  as  established  by 
the  internal  evidence,  adds,  '  Nor  can  we  admire 
too  much  the  flow  of  that  full  and  graceful  pa- 
thetic eloquence,  in  which  the  author  pours  out 
the  eflfusions  of  a  patriotic  lieart,  and  piously 
weeps  over  the  ruins  of  his  venerable  country.' 
'  Never,'  says  an  unquestionable  judge  of  these 
matters,  '  was  there  a  more  rich  and  elegant  va- 
riety of  beautiful  images  and  adjuncts,  arranged 
together  within  so  small  a  compass,  nor  more 
happily  chosen  and  applied.' 


524 


LAMP 


In  the  ancient  copies  this  book  is  supposed  to 
hare  occupied  the  place  which  is  now  assigned 
to  it,  after  Jeremiah.  Indeed,  from  the  manner 
in  which  Josephus  reclions  up  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  it  has  been  supposed  that  Jere- 
miah and.it  originally  formed  but  one  book.  In 
the  Bible  now  used  by  the  Jews,  however,  the  book 
of  Lamentations  stands  in  the  Hagiographa,  and 
among  the  five  Megilloth,  or  books  of  Ruth, 
Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  and  Solomon's  Song.  They 
believe  that  it  was  not  written  by  the  gift  of 
prophecy,  but  by  the  spirit  of  God  (between 
which  they  make  a  distinction),  and  give  this 
as  a  reason  for  not  placing  it  among  the  prophets. 
It  is  read  in  their  synagognes  on  the  ninth  of 
the  month  Ab,  which  is  a  fast  for  the  destruction 
of  the  holy  city. 

LAMP.  Lamps  are  very  often  mentioned  in 
Scripture ;  but  there  is  nothing  to  give  any 
notion  of  their  form.     Almost  the  only  fact  we 


225.    [Egyptian  Lamps.] 

can  gather  is,  that  vegetable  oils  were  burnt  ir 
them,  and  especially,  if  not  exclusively,  olive-oil 
This,  of  the  finest  quality,  was  the  oil  used  in  the 
seven  lamps  of  the  Tabernacle  (Exod.  xxvii.  20). 
It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  that  while  the  golden 
candlestick,  or  rather  candelabrum,  is  so  mi- 
nutely described,  not  a  word  is  said  of  the  shape, 
or  even  the  material,  of  the  lamps  (Exod.  xxv. 
37).  This  was,  perhaps,  because  they  were  to  be 
of  the  common  forms,  already  familiarly  known 
to  tl)e  Hebrews,  and  the  same  probably  which 
were  used  in  Egypt,  which  they  had  just  quitted. 
They  were  in  this  instance  doubtless  of  gold, 
although  metal  is  scarcely  the  best  substance  for 
a  lamp.  The  golden  candlestick  may  also  sug- 
gest, that  lamps  in  ordinary  use  were  placed  on 
stands,  and  where  more  than  one  was  required, 
on  stands  with  two  or  more  branches.  The 
modern  Orientals,  who  are  satisfied  with  very 
little  light  in  their  rooms,  use  stands  of  brass  or 
wood,  on  which  to  raise  the  lamps  to  a  suflBcient 
height  above  the  floor  on  which  they  sit.  Such 
stands  are  shaped  not  unlike  a  tall  candlestick, 
spreading  out  at  the  top.  Sometimes  the  lamps 
are  placed  on  brackets  against  the  wall,  made 
for  the  purpose,  and  often  upon  stools.  Doubt- 
less the  same  contrivances  were  employed  by  the 
Hebrews. 


LAMP 

From  the  fact  that  lamps  were  carried  in  the 
pitchers  of  Gideon's  soldiers,  from  which,  at  the 
end  of  the  march,  they  were  taken  out,  and  borne 
in  the  hand  (Judg.  vii.  16,  20),  we  may  with 
certainty  infer  that  they  were  not,  like  many  of 
the  classical  lamps,  entirely  open  at  top,  but  so 
shaped  that  the  oil  could  not  easily  be  spilled. 


226.     [Classical  Lamps.J 

This  was  remarkably  the  case  in  the  Egyptian 
specimens,  and  is  not  rare  in  the  classical. 
Gideon's  lamps  must  also  have  had  handles ;  but 
that  the  Hebrew  lamps  were  always  furnished 
with  handles  we  are  not  bound  to  infer:  in 
Egypt  we  find  lamps  both  with  and  without 
handles. 

Although  the  lamp-oils  of  the  Hebrews  were 
exclusively  vegetable,  it  is  probable  that  animal 
fat  was  used,  as  it  is  at  present  by  the  Western 
Asiatics,  by  being  placed  in  a  kind  of  lamp,  and 
burnt  by  means  of  a  wick  inserted  in  it.  This 
we  have  often  witnessed  in  districts  where  oil- 
yielding  plants  are  not  common. 

Cotton  wicks  are  now  used  throughout  Asia ; 
but  the  Hebrews,  like  the  Egyptians,  probably 
employed  the  outer  and  coarser  fibre  of  flax; 
and  perhaps  linen  yarn,  if  the  Rabbins  are  cor- 
rect in  alleging  that  the  linen  dresses  of  the 
priests  were  unravelled  when  old,  to  furnish 
wicks  for  the  sacred  lamps  [Candlestick]. 

It  seems  that  the  Hebrews,  like  the  modern 
Orientals,  were  accustomed  to  burn  lamps  over- 
night in  their  chambers  ;  and  this  practice  may 
appear  to  give  point  to  the  expression  of  '  outer 
darkness,'  which  repeatedly  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament  (Matt.  viii.  12;  xxii.  13):  the  force  is 
greater,  however,  when  the  contrast  implied  in 
the  term  outer  is  viewed  with  reference  to  the 
effect  produced  by  sudden  expulsion  into  the  dark- 
ness of  night  from  a  chamber  highly  illuminated 
for  an  entertainment.  This  custom  of  burning 
lamps  at  night,  with  the  efi'ect  produced  by  their 
going  out  or  being  extinguished,  supplies  various 
figures  to  the  sacred  writers  (2  Sam.  xxi.  1 7  ; 
Prov.  xiii.  9  ;  xx.  20).  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  keeping  up  of  a  lamp's  light  is  used  as  a 
symbol  of  enduring  and  unbroken  succession  (1 
Kmgs  xi.  36;  xv.  4;  Ps.  cxxxii.  17\ 

It  appears  from  Matt.  xxv.  1,  that  the  Jews 
used  lamps  and  torches  in  their  marriage  cere- 


LANTERX 

monies,  or  rather  -when  the  bridegroom  earae  to 
conduct  home  the  bride  by  nighty  This  is  still 
the  custom  in  those  parts  of  tlie  East  where,  on 
account  of  the  heat  of  the  day,  the  bridal  pro- 
cession takes  place  in  the  night-time.  The  con- 
nection of  lamps  and  torches  with  marriage 
ceremonies,  it  may  be  observed,  is  still  preserved 
in  Western  Asia,  even  where  it  is  no  longer  usual 
to  bring  home  the  bride  by  night.  During  two, 
or  three,  or  more  nights  preceding  the  wedding, 
the  street  or  quarter  in  whicli  the  bridegroom 
lives  is  illuminated  with  chandeliers  and  lanterns, 
or  with  lanterns  and  small  lamps  suspended  from 
cords  drawn  across  from  the  bridegroom's  and 
several  other  houses  on  each  side  to  the  houses 
opposite;  and  several  small  silk  flags,  each  of 
two  colours,  generally  red  and  green,  are  attached 
to  other  cords.  Lamps  of  this  kind  are  some- 
times hung  over  doors.  There  are  some  indica- 
tions that  the  ancient  Egyptians  had  lamps  of 
glass;  and,  if  so,  there  is  no  reason  why  the 
Jews  also  might  not  have  had  them,  especially  as 
this  material  is  more  proper  for  lamps  intended 
to  be  hung  up,  and  therefore  to  cast  their  light 
down  from  above.  The  Jews  certainly  used 
lamps  in  other  festivals  besides  those  of  marriage. 
If  this  custom  had  not  been  so  general  in  the 
ancient  and  modern  East,  it  might  have  been 
supposed  that  the  Jews  adopted  it  from  the  Egyp- 
tians, who,  according  to  Herodotus,  bad  a  '  Feast 
of  Lamps,'  which  was  celebrated  at  Sais,  and, 
indeed,  throughout  the  country  at  a  certain 
season  of  the  year.  The  description  which  the 
historian  gives  of  the  lamps  employed  on  this 
occasion,  strictly  applies  to  those  in  modern  use 
already  described,  and  the  concurrence  of  both 
these  sources  of  illustration  strengthens  the  pro- 
bable analogy  of  Jewish  usage.  He  speaks  of 
them  as  '  small  vases  filled  with  salt  and  olive-oil, 
in  which  the  wick  floated,  and  burnt  during  the 
whole  night.'  It  does  not  indeed  appear  of  what 
materials  these  vases  were  made ;  but  we  may 
reasonably  suppose  them  to  have  been  of  glass. 

The  later  Jews  had  even  something  like  this 
feast  among  themselves.  A  'Feast  of  Lamps' 
was  held  every  year  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  the 
month  Chisleu.  It  was  founded  by  Judas  Mac- 
cabtcus  in  celebration  of  the  restoration  of  the 
temple  worship,  and  has  ever  since  been  observed 
by  the  lighting  up  of  lamps  or  candles  on  that 
day  in  all  the  countries  of  their  dispersion 
Other  Orientals  have  at  this  day  a  similar  feast 
of  which  the  'Feast  of  Lanterns'  among  the 
Chinese  is,  perhaps,  the  best  known. 

LANGUAGE.    [Tongues,  Confpsion  of.] 

LANTERN.  This  word  occurs  only  in  Joh 
xviii.  3,  where  the  party  of  men  which  went  out 
of  Jeru.salem  to  apprehend  Jesus  in  the  garden 
of  Gethsemane  is  described  as  being  provided 
'  with  lanterns  and  torches.'  In  the  article  Lamp 
it  has  been  shown  that  the  Jewish  lantern, 
if  we  may  so  call  it,  lamp-frame,  was  similar  to 
that  now  in  use  among  the  Orientals. 

As  the  streets  of  Eastern  towns  are  not  lighted 
at  night,  and  never  were  so,  lanterns  are  used  to 
an  extent  not  known  among  us.  Such,  doubtless, 
was  also  formerly  the  case ;  and  it  is  therefore 
remarkable  that  the  only  trace  of  a  lantern  which 
the  Egyptian  monuments  offer,  is  that  contained 
in  the  present  engraving  (No.  227).  In  this  case 
it  seems  to  be  borne  by  the  night-watch,  or  civic 


LAODICEA  525 

guard,  and  is  shaped  like  those  in  common  use 
among  ourselves.     A  similar  lantern  is  at  this 


day  used  in  Persia,  and  perhaps  docs  not  mate- 
rially differ  from  those  mentioned  in  Scripture. 
More  common  at  present  in  Western  Asia  is  a 
large  folding  lantern  of  waxen  cloth  strained 
over  rings  of  wire,  with  a  top  and  bottom  of 
tinned  copper.  It  is  usually  about  two  feet  long 
by  nine  inches  in  diameter,  and  is  carried  by 
servants  before  their  masters,  who  often  pay 
visits  to  their  friends  at  or  after  supper-time. 
In  many  Eastern  towns  the  municipal  law  for- 
bids any  one  to  be  in  the  streets  after  nightfall 
without  a  lantern. 

LAODICEA.  There  were  four  places  of  this 
name,  which  it  may  be  well  to  distinguish,  in 
order  to  prevent  them  from  being  confounded 
with  one  another.  The  first  was  in  the  western 
part  of  Phrygia,  on  the  borders  of  Lydia ;  the 
second,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  same  country, 
denominated  Laodicea  Combusta;  the  third,  on 
the  coast  of  Syria,  called  Laodicea  ad  Mare,  and 
serving  as  the  port  of  Aleppo  ;  and  the  fourth,  in 
the  same  country,  called  Laodicea  ad  Libanum, 
from  its  proximity  to  that  mountain.  The  third 
of  these,  that  on  the  coast  of  Syria,  was  destroyed 
by  the  great  earthqualie  of  Aleppo  in  August, 
1822,  and  at  the  time  of  that  event  was  supposed 
by  many  to  be  the  Laodicea  of  Scripture,  al- 
though in  fact  not  less  than  four  hundred  miles 
from  it.  But  the  first  named,  lying  on  the  con- 
fines of  Phrygia  and  Lydia,  about  forty  miles 
east  of  Ephesus,  is  the  only  Laodicea  mentioned 
in  Scripture,  and  is  that  one  of  the  'seven 
churches  in  Asia'  to  which  St.  John  was  com- 
missioned to  deliver  the  awful  warning  contained 
in  Rev.  iii.  14-19.  The  fulfilment  of  this  warn- 
ing is  to  be  sought,  as  we  take  it,  in  the  history 
of  the  Christian  church  which  existed  in  that 
city,  and  not  in  the  stone  and  mortar  of  the  city 
itself;  for,  although  it  is  true  that  the  city  is 
utterly  ruined,  it  is  not  the  city,  but  '  the  church 
of  the  Laodiceans,'  which  is  denounced. 

Laodicea  was  the  capital  of  Greater  Phrygia. 
and  a  very  considerable  city  at  the  time  it  was 
named  in  Scripture ;  but  the  frequency  of  earth- 
quakes, to  which  this  district  has  always  been 
liable,  demolished,  some  ages  after,  great  part  of 
the  city,  destroyed  many  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
eventually  obliged  the  remainder  to  abandon  the 
spot  altogether. 


526  LAPWING 

Laodicea  is  now  a  deserted  place,  called  by  the 
Turks  Eski-hissar  (  Old  Caslle).  From  its  ruins, 
Laodicea  seems  to  have  been  situated  upon  six  or 
seven  hills,  taking  up  a  large  extent  of  ground. 
To  the  north  and  north-east  runs  the  river  Lycus, 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  distant ;  but  nearer  it 
is  watered  by  two  small  streams,  the  Asopus  and 
Caprus,  the  one  to  the  west,  and  the  other  to  the 
south-east,  both  passing  into  the  Lycus,  which 
last  flows  into  the  Maeander. 

Laodicea  preserves  great  remains  of  its  import- 
ance as  the  residence  of  the  Roman  governors  of 
Asia  under  the  emperors  ;  namely,  a  stadium,  in 
uncommon  preservation,  three  theatres,  one  of 
which  is  450  feet  in  diameter,  and  the  ruins  of 
several  other  buildings.  Col.  Leake  says :  '  There 
are  few  ancient  sites  more  likely  than  Laodicea 
to  preserve  many  curious  remains  of  antiquity 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  soil ;  its  opulence,  and 
the  earthquakes  to  which  it  was  subject,  rendering 
it  probable  that  valuable  works  of  art  were  often 
there  buried  beneath  the  ruins  of  the  public  and 
private  edifices.' 

LAPWING.  The  original  word  thus  rendered 
in  our  version  has  been  surmised  to  mean 
'  double- crest;'  and  is  supposed  on  good  grounds 
to  mean  the  hoopoe,  rather  than  the  lapwing. 


238.  [Hoopoe.] 


The  hoopoe  is  not  uncommon  in  Palestine  at 
this  day,  and  was  from  remote  2ges  a  bird  of 
mystery.  The  summit  of  the  augural  rod  is  said 
to  have  been  carved  in  the  form  of  a  hoopoe's 
head;  and  one  of  the  kind  is  still  used  by  Indian 
gosseins,  and  even  Armenian  bishops,  attention 
being  no  doubt  drawn  to  the  bird  by  its  pecu- 
liarly arranged  black  and  white  bars  upon  a 
delicate  vinous  fawn-colour,  and  further  embel- 
lished with  a  beautiful  fan-shaped  crest  of  the 
same  colour,  tipped  with  white  and  black.  Its 
appellations  in  all  languages  appear  to  be  either 
imitations  of  the  bird's  voice  or  indications  of  its 
filthy  habits ;  which,  however,  modern  ornitho- 
logists deny,  or  do  not  notice.  In  Egypt  these 
birds  are  numerous ;  forming,  probably,  two 
species,  the  one  permanently  resident  about 
human  habitations,  the  other  migratory,  and  the 
same  that  visits  Europe.  The  latter  wades  in 
the  mud  when  the  Nile  has  subsided,  and  seeks 
for  worms  and  insects  ;  and  the  former  is  known 
to  rear  its  young  so  much  immersed  in  the  shards 
and  fragments  of  beetles,  &c.  as  to  cause  a  dis- 
agreeable smell  about  its  nest,  which  is  always  in 
holes  or  in  hollow  trees.  Though  an  unclean 
bird  in  the  Hebrew  law,  the  common  migratory 
hoopoe  is  eaten  in  Egypt,  and  sometimes  also  in 


LAZARUS 

Italy;  but  the  stationary  species  is  considered 
inedible.  It  is  unnecessary  to  give  further  de- 
scription of  a"tird  so  well  known  as  the  hoopoe, 
which,  though  not  common,  is  nevertheless  an 
annual  visitant  of  England,  arriving  soon  after 
the  cuckoo. 

LAYER,  a  basin  to  contain  the  water  used  by 
the  priests  in  their  ablutions  during  their  sacred 
ministrations.  Thei-e  was  one  of  brass  (fabricated 
out  of  the  metal  mirrors  which  the  women  brought 
from  Egypt,  Exod.  xxxviii.  8).  It  had  a  '  foot ' 
or  base,  which,  from  the  manner  in  which  '  the 
laver  and  its  foot'  are  mentioned,  must  have  been 
a  conspicuous  feature,  and  was  perhaps  separable 
from  the  basin  itself  for  the  purpose  of  removal. 
We  are  not  informed  of  the  size  or  shape  of  this 
laver  ;  but  it  appears  to  have  been  large.  It  stood 
between  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  and  the  door 
of  the  tabernacle  (Exod.  xxx.  18-21  ;  xl.  30-32). 
The  water  of  this  laver  seems  to  have  served  the 
double  purpose  of  washing  the  parts  of  the  sacri- 
fices, and  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  priests.  But 
in  the  temple  of  Solomon,  when  the  number  of 
both  priests  and  victims  had  greatly  increased, 
ten  lavers  were  used  for  the  sacrifices,  and  the 
molten  sea  for  the  personal  ablutions  of  the  priests 
(2  Chron.  iv.  6).  These  lavers  are  more  minutely 
described  than  that  of  the  tabernacle.  So  far  as 
can  be  made  out  from  the  description,  they  con- 
sisted of  a  square  base  or  stand  mounted  upon 
rollers  or  wheels,  and  adorned  with  figures  of 
palm-trees,  cherubim,  lions,  and  oxen.  The  stand 
doubtless  formed  a  hollow  basin  for  receiving  the 
water  which  fell  from  the  laver  itself,  and  which 
appears  to  have  been  drawn  from  it  by  means  of 
cocks  (1  Kings  vii.  27-39).  Each  of  the  lavei-s 
contained  forty  baths,  or,  according  to  the  usual 
computation,  about  300  English  gallons. 

In  the  second  temple  there  appears  to  have 
been  only  one  laver.  Of  its  size  or  shape  we 
have  no  information,  but  it  was  probably  like 
those  of  Solomon's  temple. 

LAWYER.  This  word,  in  its  general  sense, 
denotes  one  skilled  in  the  law,  as  in  Tit.  iii.  13. 
When,  therefore,  one  is  called  a  lawyer,  this  is 
understood  with  reference  to  the  laws  of  the  land 
in  which  he  lived  or  to  which  he  belonged. 
Hence  among  the  Jews  a  lawyer  was  one  versed 
in  the  laws  of  Moses,  which  he  taught  in  the 
schools  and  synagogues  (Matt,  xxviii.  3.5  ;  Luke 
X.  25).  The  same  person  who  is  called  '  a  lawyer' 
in  these  texts,  is  in  the  parallel  passage  (Mark 
xii.  28)  called  a  scribe  ;  whence  it  has  been  in- 
ferred that  the  functions  of  the  lawyers  and  the 
scribes  were  identical.  The  individual  may  have 
been  both  a  lawyer  and  a  scribe  ;  but  it  does  not 
thence  follow  that  all  lawyers  were  scribes.  Some 
suppose,  however,  that  the  '  scribes '  were  the 
public  expounders  of  the  law,  while  the  '  lawyers' 
were  the  private  expounders  and  teachers  of  it. 
But  this  is  a  mere  conjecture ;  and  nothing  more 
is  really  known  than  that  the  '  lawyers '  were  ex- 
pounders of  the  law,  whether  publicly  or  privately, 
or  both. 

LAZ'ARUS  (an  abridged  form  of  the  Hebrew 
name  Eleazer),  an  inhabitant  of  Bethany,  brother 
of  Mary  and  Martha,  who  was  honoured  with  the 
friendship  of  Jesus,  by  whom  he  was  raised  from 
the  dead  after  he  had  been  four  days  in  the  tomb. 
This  great  miracle  is  minutely  described  in  John 
xi.    The  credit  which  Christ  obtained  among  the 


LEAVEN  AND  FERMENT 

people  by  this  illustrious  act,  of  which  the  life  and 
presence  of  Lazarus  afforded  a  standing  evidence, 
induced  the  Sanhedrim,  iu  plotting  against  Jesus, 
to  contemplate  the  destruction  of  Lazarus  also 
(John  xii.  10).  Whether  they  accomplished  this 
object  or  not,  we  are  not  informed :  but  the  pro- 
bability seems  to  be  that  when  they  had  satiated 
their  malice  on  Christ,  they  left  Lazarus  un- 
molested. 

LEAD,  a  well-known  metal,  the  first  Scriptural 
notice  of  which  occurs  in  the  triumphal  song  in 
which  Moses  celebrates  the  overthrow  of  Pharaoh, 
whose  host  is  there  said  to  have  '  simk  like  lead ' 
iu  the  waters  of  the  Ked  Sea  (Exod.  xv.  10). 

Before  the  use  of  quicksilver  was  known,  lead 
was  used  for  the  purpose  of  purifying  silver,  and 
separating  it  from  other  mineral  substances.  To 
this  Jeremiah  alludes  where  he  figuratively  de- 
scribes the  corrupt  condition  of  the  people :  '  In 
their  fire  the  lead  is  consumed  (in  the  crucible) ; 
the  smelting  is  in  vain,  for  the  evil  is  not  sepa- 
rated' (Jer.  vi.  29). 

Job  (xix.  23,  24)  expresses  a  wish  that  his 
words  were  engraven  '  with  an  iron  pen  and  lead.' 
These  words  are  commonly  supposed  to  refer  to 
engraving  on  a  leaden  tablet ;  and  it  is  unde- 
niable that  such  tablets  were  anciently  used  as  a 
writing  material.  But  our  authorized  translators, 
by  rendering  '  an  iron  pen  and  lead  in  the  rock 
for  ever,'  seem  to  have  entertained  the  same  view 
with  Rosenmliller,  who  supposes  that  molten  lead 
was  to  be  poured  into  letters  sculptured  on  stone 
with  an  iron  chisel,  in  order  to  raise  the  in- 
scription. 

Although  the  Hebrew  weights  were  usually  of 
stone,  and  are  indeed  called  'stones,'  a  leaden 
weight  denominated  a/mch,  which  is  the  Arabic 
word  for  lead,  occurs  in  Amos  vii.  7,  8.  In  Acts 
xxvii.  28,  a  plummet  for  taking  soundings  at  sea 
is  mentioned,  and  this  was  of  course  of  lead. 

The  ancient  uses  of  lead  in  the  East  seem  to 
have  been  very  few ;  nor  are  they  now  numerous. 
One  may  travel  far  in  Western  Asia  witliout  dis- 
covering any  trace  of  this  metal  in  any  of  the 
numerous  useful  applications  which  it  is  made  to 
serve  in  European  countries. 

We  are  not  aware  that  any  trace  of  lead  has 
been  yet  found  within  the  limits  of  Palestine.  But 
ancient  lead-mines,  in  some  of  which  the  ore  has 
been  exhausted  by  working,  have  been  discovered 
by  Mr.  Burton  in  the  mountains  between  the  Red 
Sea  and  the  Nile ;  and  lead  is  also  said  to  exist  at 
a  place  called  ShefF,  near  Mount  Sinai. 

LE'AH  (wearied),  one  of  the  two  daughters  of 
Laban  who  became  the  wives  of  Jacob  [Jacob]. 

LEAVEN  AND  FERMENT.  The  organic 
chemists  define  the  process  of  fermentation,  and 
the  substance  which  excites  it,  as  follows : — 
'  Fermentation  is  nothing  else  but  the  putre- 
faction of  a  substance  containing  no  nitrogen. 
Ferment,  or  yeast,  is  a  substance  in  a  state  of 
putrefaction,  the  atoms  of  which  are  in  a  con- 
tinual motion.'  This  definition  is  in  strict  ac- 
cordance with  the  views  of  the  ancients,  and  gives 
point  and  force  to  many  passages  of  Sacred  Writ 
(Ps.  Ixxix.  21 ;  Matt.  xvi.  6, 11,12;  Markviii.  15; 
Luke  xii.  1 ;  xiii.  21 ;  1  Cor.  v.  5-8;  Gal.  v.  9). 
Leaven,  and  fermented  or  even  some  readily  fer- 
mentible  substances  (as  honey),  were  prohibited 
in  many  of  the  typical  institutions  both  of  the 
Jews  and  Gentiles.    Plutarch  assigns  as  the  rea- 


LEBANON 


527 


son  why  the  priest  of  Jupiter  was  not  allowed  to 
touch  leaven,  '  that  it  comes  out  of  corruption,  and 
corrupts  that  with  which  it  is  mingled.'  All  fer- 
mented substances  were  prohibited  in  the  Paschal 
Feast  of  the  Jews  (Exod.  xii.  8,  19,  20);  also 
during  the  succeeding  seven  days,  usually  called 
'  The  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread,'  though  bread 
is  not  in  the  original.  God  forbade  either yer- 
ment  or  honei/  to  be  offered  to  Him  in  his  temple 
(i.  e.  in  the  symbolical  rites),  while  they  were 
permitted  in  offerings  designed  to  be  consumed 
as  food  (Num.  xv.  20,  21).  On  the  same  prin- 
ciple of  symbolism,  God  prescribes  that  salt  shall 
always  constitute  a  part  of  the  oblations  to  Him 
(Lev.  ii.  13).  Salt  prevents  corruption  or  decay, 
and  preserves  flesh.  Hence  it  is  used  as  a  symbol 
of  incorrup'ion  and  perpetuity.  Thus  St.  Paul 
(comp.  Col.  'V.  6  ;  Eph.  iv.  29)  uses  '  salt'  as  pre- 
servative froin  corruption,  on  the  same  principle 
which  leads  him  to  employ  that  which  is  imjer- 
meiited  as  an  emblem  of  purity  and  uncorrupted- 
ness. 

•  The  usual  leaven  in  the  East  is  dough  kept  till 
it  becomes  sour,  and  which  is  kept  from  one  day 
to  another  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  leaven  in 
readiness.  Thus,  if  there  should  be  no  leaven  in 
all  the  country  for  any  length  of  time,  as  much 
as  might  be  required  could  easily  be  produced  in 
twenty-four  hours.  Sour  dough,  however,  is  not 
exclusively  used  for  leaven  in  the  East,  the  leei 
of  wine  being  in  some  parts  employed  as  yeast.' 

LEB'ANON,  a  long  chain  of  mountains  on  the 
northern  border  of  Palestine.  The  term  Libanus 
is  more  convenient  in  use  than  the  Hebrew  form 
Lebanon,  as  enabling  us  to  distinguish  the  parallel 
ranges  of  Libanus  and  Anti-Libanus,  which  have 
no  such  distinctive  names  in  connection  with  the 
Hebrew  designation.  Lebanon  seems  to  be  applied 
in  Scripture  to  either  or  both  of  these  ranges ; 
and  we  shall  also  use  it  in  this  general  sense : 
but  Libanus  means  distinctively  the  westernmost 
of  those  ranges,  which  faces  the  Mediterranean, 
and  Anti-Libanus  the  eastern,  facing  the  plain  of 
Damascus ;  in  which  sense  these  names  will  be 
used  in  this  article.  The  present  inhabitants 
of  the  country  have  found  the  convenience  of 
distinguishing  these  parallel  ranges ;  and  give  to 
Libanus  the  name  of  '  Western  Mountain '  (Jebel 
esh-Sharki),  and  to  Anti-Libanus  that  of  'Eastern 
Mountain '  (Jebel  el-Gharbi) ;  although  Jebel 
Libnan  (the  same  name  in  fact  as  Lebanon) 
occurs  among  the  Arabs  with  special  reference 
to  the  eastern  range. 

These  two  great  ranges,  which  together  form 
the  Lebanon  of  Scripture,  commence  about  the 
parallel  of  Tripoli  (lat.  34°  28'),  run  in  a  general 
direction  from  N.E.  to  S.W.,  through  about  one 
degree  of  latitude,  and  form,  at  their  southern 
termination,  the  natural  frontier  of  Palestine. 
These  parallel  ranges  enclose  between  them  a 
fertile  and  well-watered  valley,  averaging  about 
fifteen  miles  in  width,  which  is  the  Coele-Syria 
(Hollow  Syria)  of  the  ancients,  but  is  called  by 
the  present  inhabitants,  by  way  of  pre-eminence, 
el-Bekaa,  or  '  the  Valley,'  which  is  watered 
through  the  greater  portion  of  its  length  by  the 
river  Litany,  the  ancient  Leontes. 

Nearly  opposite  Damascus  the  Anti-Libanus 
separates  into  two  ridges,  which  diverge  some- 
what, and  enclose  the  fertile  Wady  et-Teim. 
The  easternmost  of  these  two  ridges,  which  has 


528 


LEBANON 


already  been  pointed  out  as  the  Harmon  of  Scrip- 
ture [Heioion],  Jebel  esh-Sheikh,  continues  its 
S.W.  course,  and  is  the  proper  prolongation  of 
Anti-Libauus.  From  the  base  of  the  higher  part 
of  this  ridge,  a  low  broad  spur  or  mountainous 
tract  runs  off  towards  the  south,  forming  the  high 
land  which  shuts  in  the  basin  and  Lake  of  el-Huleh 
on  the  east.  This  tract  is  called  Jebel  Heish,  the 
higher  portion  of  which  terminates  at  Tel  el-Faras, 
nearly  three  hours  north  of  Fiek.  The  other 
ridge  of  Anti-Libanus  takes  a  more  westerly- 
direction.  It  is  long,  low,  and  level ;  and  con- 
tinues to  border  the  lower  part  of  the  great  valley 
of  Bekaa,  until  it  seems  to  unite  with  the  higher 
bluffs  and  spurs  of  Lebanon,  and  thus  entirely 
to  close  that  valley.  In  fact,  only  a  narrow  gorge 
is  here  left  between  precipices,  in  some  places  of 
great  height,  through  which  flie  Litany  finds  its 
way  down  to  the  sea,  north  of  Tyre.  The  chain 
of  Lebanon,  or  at  least  its  higher  ridges,  may  be 
said  to  terminate  at  the  point  where  it  is  thus 
broken  through  by  the  Litany.  But  a  broad  and 
lower  mountainous  tract  continues  towards  the 
south,  bordering  the  basin  of  the  Huleh  on  the 
west.  It  rises  to  its  greatest  elevation  about  Safed 
(Jebel  Safed);  and  at  length  ends  abruptly  in 
the  mountains  of  Nazareth,  as  the  northern  wall 
of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon.  This  high  tract  may 
very  properly  be  regarded  as  a  prolongation  of 
Lebanon. 

The  mountains  of  Lebanon  are  of  limestone 
rock,  generally  of  a  whitish  hue,  and  from  the 
aspect  which  the  range  thus  bears  in  the  distance, 
in  its  cliffs  and  naked  parts,  the  name  of  Lebanon 
(which  signifies  '  white')  has  been  supposed  to  be 
derived;  but  others  seek  its  origin  in  the  snows 
which  rest  long  upon  its  summits,  and  perpetually 
upon  the  highest  of  them. 

Of  the  two  ranges,  that  of  Libanus  is  by  far 
the  highest.  Its  uppermost  ridge  is  marked  by 
a  line,  drawn  at  the  distance  of  about  two  hours' 
journey  from  the  summit,  above  which  all  is 
barren ;  but  the  slopes  and  valleys  below  this 
line  afford  pasturage,  and  are  capable  of  cultiva- 
tion, by  reason  of  the  numerous  springs  which 
are  met  with  in  all  directions.  Cultivation  is, 
however,  chiefly  found  on  the  seaward  slopes, 
where  numerous  villages  flourish,  and  every  inch 
of  ground  is  turned  to  account  by  tlie  industrious 
natives,  who,  in  the  absence  of  natural  levels, 
construct  artificial  terraces  in  order  to  prevent 
the  earth  from  being  swept  away  by  the  winter 
rains,  and  at  the  same  time  to  retain  the  water 
requisite  for  the  irrigation  of  the  crops.  When 
one  looks  upward  from  below,  the  vegetation  on 
these  terraces  is  not  visible;  so  that  the  whole 
mountain  appears  as  if  composed  only  of  immense 
rugged  masses  of  naked  whitish  rock,  traversed 
by  deep  wild  ravines,  running  down  precipitously 
to  the  plain.  No  one  would  suspect  among  these 
rocks  the  existence  of  a  vast  multitude  of  tlirifty 
villages,  and  a  numerous  population  of  moun- 
taineers, hardy,  industrious,  and  brave.  Here, 
amidst  the  crags  of  the  rocks,  are  to  be  seen  the 
remains  of  the  renowned  cedars;  but  a  much 
larger  proportion  of  firs,  oaks,  brambles,  mul- 
berry-trees, fig-trees,  and  vines. 

Although  the  general  elevation  of  Anti-Libanus 
is  infer.or  to  that  of  Libanus,  the  easternmost  of 
the  branches  into  which  it  divides  towards  its 
termination  (Jebel  esh-Sheikk)  rises  loftily,  and 


LEES 

OTertops  all  the  other  summits  of  heaven.  Onr 
information  respecting  Anti-Libanus  is  less  dis- 
tinct than  that  concerning  the  opposite  range.  It 
appears,  however,  that  it  has  fewer  inhabitants, 
and  is  scarcely  in  any  part  cultivated. 

None  of  the  summits  of  Libanus  or  Anti- 
Libanus  have  been  measured.  By  comparing  the 
accounts  of  different  travellers,  however,  as  to 
the  continuance  of  snow  upon  the  higher  summits, 
and  adjusting  them  with  reference  to  the  point  of 
perpetual  congelation  in  that  latitude,  a  rough 
estimate  may  be  formed,  that  the  average  height 
of  the  Libanus  mountains,  from  the  top  of  which 
the  snow  entirely  disappears  in  summer,  must  be 
considerably  below  1 1 ,000  feet,  probably  about 
10,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  But  the 
higher  points,  particularly  the  Sannin,  which  is 
the  highest  of  all,  must  be  above  that  limit,  as 
the  snow  rests  on  them  all  the  year.  By  the 
same  rule  the  average  height  of  the  Anti-Libanus  | 
range  is  reckoned  as  not  exceeding  9000  feet; 
but  its  highest  point,  in  the  Jebel  es-Sheik,  or 
Mount  Hermon,  is  considered  to  be  somewhat 
more  lofty  than  the  Sannin,  the  highest  point  of 
Libanus. 

In  Scripture  Lebanon  is  very  generally  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  cedar-trees  in  which 
it  abounded  ;  but  its  wines  are  also  noticed 
(Hosea  xiv.  8) ;  and  in  Cant.  iv.  11 ;  Hosea  xiv. 
7,  it  is  celebrated  for  various  kinds  of  fragrant 
plants. 

LEECH  occurs  only  in  Prov.  xxx.  15.  '  The 
horse-leech'  is  properly  a  species  of  leech  dis- 
carded for  medical  purposes  on  account  of  the 
coarseness  of  its  bite.  The  leech,  as  a  symbol, 
in  use  among  rulers  of  every  class  and  in  all 
ages,  for  avarice,  rapine,  plunder,  rapacity,  and 
even  assiduity,  is  too  well  known  to  need  illus- 
tration. 

LEES.  The  original  word  (Shemarim)  thus 
rendered  is  generally  understood  to  denote  the 
lees  or  dregs  of  wiue.  But  this  cannot  be  the 
meaning  of  the  term  in  Isa.  xxv.  C,  where,  we 
think,  it  must  refer  to  some  rich  preserves  appro- 
priate to  the  feast  of  which  that  text  speaks.  The 
verse  may  be  rendered  thus  : — '  And  Jehovah  of 
hosts  shall  make  to  all  peoples  in  this  mountain 
a  feast  of  fat  things,  a  feast  of  preserves,  of  the 
richest  fatness,  of  preserves  well  refined.'  Con- 
siderable diversity  of  opinion  has  obtained  among 
Biblical  critics  in  regard  to  both  the  literal 
meaning  and  pi-ophetic  bearing  of  this  text.  The 
most  usual  interpretation  supposes  a  reference  to 
wines  on  the  lees ;  but  there  are  strong  objections 
to  this  view,  the  most  obvious  of  which  is,  that  it 
is  exceedingly  inappropriate.  There  is  no  men- 
tion of  wine  in  the  original,  but  simply  of  dregs  ; 
and  interpreters  have  been  forced  to  suppose  a 
reference  to  the  former,  from  a  conviction  that 
the  latter  was  altogether  inapt.  The  mention  of 
dregs  does  not  natiu-ally  call  up  the  idea  of  wine 
which  has  been  drawn  from  them.  We  agree 
with  the  great  majority  of  interpreters,  that  a 
signal  blessing  is  here  referred  to ;  but  we  cannot 
agree  with  those  who  suppose  that  wine  drawn 
off  from  dregs  is  made  the  emblem  of  that  bless- 
ing. Such  wine  would  evidently  not  answer  the 
purpose.  It  was  not  the  best  wine.  We  regard 
it  as  indicating  something  excellent  in  its  kind, 
and  the  best  of  its  kind.  It  seems  to  refer  to  some 
rich  preserves  made  from  grapes  or  other  fruits. 


LEES 

It  is  difficult  to  say  how  these  preserves  were 
prepared.  '  In  the  East  grapes  enter  very  largely 
into  the  provisions  at  an  entertainment.  Thus 
Norden  was  treated  by  the  Aga  of  Assaoun  with 
coffee,  and  some  bunches  of  grapes  of  an  excel- 
lent taste.'  It  is  probable,  however,  that  some 
solid  preparation  of  the  dried  grape  is  here  in- 
tended. The  very  best  grapes  were  anciently, 
and  still  are,  employed  to  make  such  prepara- 
tions in  Palestine.  The  finest  grapes  in  that 
country  grow  in  the  vineyards  around  Hebron. 
'  The  produce  of  these  vineyards,'  says  Professor 
Robinson,  '  is  celebrated  throughout  Palestine. 
No  wme,  however,  nor  'Arak  is  made  from  them, 
except  by  the  Jews,  and  this  is  not  in  great 
quantity.  The  wine  is  good.  The  finest  grapes 
are  dried  as  raisins  ;  and  the  rest,  being  trodden 
and  pressed,  the  juice  is  boiled  down  to  a  syrup, 
■which,  under  the  name  of  Dibs,  is  much  used  by 
all  classes,  wherever  vineyards  are  found,  as  a 
condiment  with  their  food.  It  resembles  thin 
molasses,  but  is  more  pleasant  to  the  taste.'  The 
fact  here  stated  regarding  the  use  made  of  the 
finest  grapes,  supplies  us  with  an  article  worthy 
of  the  feast  mentioned  in  the  text.  Buckingham 
mentions  the  following  fUcts  : — '  By  way  of  des- 
sert, some  walnuts  and  dried  figs  were  afterwards 
served  to  us,  besides  a  very  curious  article,  pro- 
bably resembling  the  dried  wine  of  the  ancients, 
which  they  are  said  to  have  preserved  in  cakes. 
They  were  of  the  size  of  a  cucumber,  and  were 
made  out  of  the  fermented  juice  of  the  grape 
formed  into  a  jelly,  and  in  this  state  wound  round 
a  central  thread  of  the  kernel  of  walnuts ;  the 
pieces  of  the  nuts  thus  forming  a  support  for  the 
outer  coat  of  jelly,  which  became  harder  as  it 
dried,  and  would  keep,  it  is  said,  fresh  and  good 
for  many  months,  forming  a  welcome  treat  at  all 
times,  and  being  particularly  well  adapted  for 
sick  or  delicate  persons,  who  might  require  some 
grateful  provisions  capable  of  being  carried  in  a 
small  compass,  and  without  risk  of  injury  on  a 
journey.' 

After  a  full  consideration  of  the  subject,  we 
conclude  that  the  shemarim  of  this  text  was  a 
solid  article,  different  from  grape-cake,  as  not 
being  pressed  in  any  particular  form,  and  dif- 
ferent from  dried  grapes,  as  being  refined  and 
prepared  for  being  served  up  at  a  sumptuous 
entertainment. 

Neither  of  the  other  passages  (Jer.  xlviii.  1 1 , 
Zeph.  i.   12),  where  the  word  under  discussion 
occurs,  is  invested  with  special  interest.      The 
wine  was  separated  from  the  lees,  sometimes  at 
least,   by  being  drawn  off  from  one  vessel   to 
another,  as  appears  from    Jeremiah  xlviii.   11, 
which  Bishop  Lowth  renders  thus: — 
'  Moab  hath  been  at  ease  from  his  youth, 
And  he  hath  settled  upon  his  lees ; 
Nor  hath  he  been  drawn  off  from  vessel  to 

vessel, 
Neither  hath  he  gone  into  captivity  : 
Therefore  his  taste  remaineth  in  him, 
And  his  flavour  is  not  changed.' 

Moab  is  here  represented  as  spending  a  life  of 
quiet  indifference,  living  undisturbed  in  sin. 
Such,  too,  was  the  situation  of  those  of  whom 
Jehovah  says  (^eph.  i.  12),  'I  will  puni.sh  the 
men  that  are  settled  on  their  lees ;'  that  is,  those 
who  disregarded  his  admonitions,  and  prosecuted 


LENTILES 


529 


their  sinful  courses,  unmoved  by  his  threaten- 
ings. 

LEGION,  a  division  of  the  Roman  army.  It 
always  comprised  a  large  body  of  men ;  but  the 
number  varied  so  much  at  different  limes,  that 
there  is  considerable  discrepancy  in  the  state- 
ments with  reference  to  it.  The  legion  appears 
to  have  originally  contained  about  3000  men,  and 
to  have  risen  gradually  to  twice  that  number,  or 
even  more.  In  and  about  the  time  of  Christ  it 
seems  to  have  consisted  of  GOOO  men  ;  but  this 
was  exclusive  of  horsemen,  who  usually  formed 
an  additional  body  amounting  to  one-tenth  of  the 
infantry.  As  all  the  divisions  of  the  Roman 
army  are  noticed  in  Scripture,  we  may  add  that 
each  legion  was  divided  into  ten  cohorts  or  regi- 
ments, each  cohort  into  three  maniples  or  bands, 
and  each  maniple  into  three  centuries  or  com- 
panies of  100  each.  This  smaller  division  into 
centuries  or  hundreds,  from  the  form  in  which  it 
is  exhibited  as  a  constituent  of  the  larger  divi- 
sions, clearly  shows  that  6000  had  become  at 
least  the  formal  number  of  a  legion. 

The  word  legion  came  to  be  used  to  express  a 
great  nutober  or  multitude.  Thus,  the  unclean 
spirit  (Mark  v.  7),  when  asked  his  name,  answers, 
'  My  name  is  Legion,  for  we  are  many.' 

LENTILES.  Lentiles  appear  to'  have  been 
chiefly  used  for  making  a  kind  of  pottage.  The 
red  pottage  for  which  PJsau  bartered  his  birthright 
was  of  lentiles  (Gen.  xxv.  29-34).  The  term  red 
was,  as  with  us,  extended  to  yellowish  brown, 
which  must  have  been  the  true  colour  of  the 
pottage,  if  derived  from  lentiles.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  also  called  lentiles  red.  Lentiles 
were  among  the  provisions  brought  to  David 
when  he  fled  from  Absalom  (2  Sam.  xvii.  28), 
and  a  field  of  lentiles  was  *he  scene  of  an  exploit 
of  one  of  David's  heroes  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  11). 
From  Ezek.  iv.  9,  it  would  appear  that  lentiles 
were  sometimes  used  as  bread.  This  was,  doubt- 
less, in  times  of  scarcity,  or  by  the  poor.  Son- 
nini  assures  us  that  in  southernmost  Egypt,  where 
corn  is  comparatively  searce.  lentiles  mixed  with 
a  little  barley  form  almost  the  only  bread  iu  use 
among  the  poorer  classes.  It  is  called  betlan,  is 
of  a  golden  yellow  colour,  and  is  not  bad,  although 
rather  heavy.  In  that  country,  indeed,  probably 
even  more  than  in  Palestine,  lentiles  anciently, 
as  now,  formed  a  chief  article  of  food  among  the 
labouring  classes.  Large  quantities  of  lentiles 
were  exported  from  Alexandria.  Pliny,  iu  men- 
tioning two  Egyptian  varieties,  incidentally  lets 
us  know  that  one  of  them  was  red,  by  remarking 
that  they  like  a  red  soil,  and  by  speculating 
whether  the  pulse  may  not  have  thence  derived 
the  reddish  colour  which  it  imparted  to  the 
pottage  made  with  it.  This  illustrates  Jacob's 
red  pottage.  Dr.  Shaw  also  states  that  these 
lentiles  easily  dissolve  in  boiling,  and  form  a  red 
or  chocolate  coloured  pottage,  much  esteemed  in 
North  Africa  and  Western  Asia.  Putting  the.se 
facts  together,  it  is  likely  that  the  reddish  lentile, 
which  is  now  so  common  in  Egypt,  is  the  sort  to 
which  all  these  statements  refer. 

The  tomb-paintings  actually  exhibit  the  opera- 
tion of  preparing  pottage  of  lentile.s,  or,  as  Wil- 
kinson describes  it,  'a  man  engaged  in  cooking 
lentiles  for  a  soup  or  porridge;  his  companion 
brings  a  bundle  of  faggots  for  the  fire,  and  tJie 
lentiles  themselves  are  seen  standing  near  him  in 
2u 


530  LEOPARD 

■wicker  baskets.'    The  lentiles  of  Palestine  havo 
beeu  little  noticed  by  travellers. 


The  lentile  is  an  annual  plant,  and  the 
smallest  of  all  the  leguminosai  which  are  culti- 
vated. It  rises  with  a  weak  stalk  about  eighteen 
inches  high,  having  pinnate  leaves  at  each  joint 
composed  of  several  pairs  of  narrow  leaflets,  and 
terminating  in  a  tendril,  which  supports  it  by 
fasteniog  about  some  other  plant.    The   small 


230.     [Lentiles — Cicer  lens, 

flowers,  which  come  out  of  the  sides  of  the 
branches  on  short  peduncles,  three  or  four  toge- 
ther, are  purple,  and  are  succeeded  by  the  short 
and  flat  legumes,  which  contain  two  or  three  flat 
round  seeds  slightly  curved  in  the  middle.  The 
flower  appears  in  May,  and  the  seeds  ripen  in 
July.  When  ripe,  the  plants  are  rooted  up,  if 
they  have  been  sown  along  with  other  plants,  as 
is  sometimes  done ;  but  they  are  cut  down  when 
grown  by  themselves.  They  are  threshed,  win- 
nowed, and  cleaned  like  corn. 

LEOPARD  (Cant.  iv.  8 ;  Isa.  xi.  6 ;  Jer.  v.  6  ; 
xiii.  23 ;  Hos.  xiii.  7 ;  Hab.  i.  8 ;  Dan.  vii.  6 ; 


Rev.  xiu.    2:    Ecclus.    xxviii.    23).     Though 


LEPROSY 

zoologists  differ  in  opinion  respecting  the  identity 
of  the  leopard  and  the  panther,  and  dispute,  sup- 
posing them  to  be  distinct,  how  these  names 
should  be  respectively  applied,  and  by  what 
marks  the  animals  should  be  distinguished, 
nevertheless  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
leopard  of  the  Bible  is  that  great  spotted  feline 
which  anciently  infested  the  Syrian  mountains, 
and  even  now  occurs  in  the  wooded  ranges  of 
Libanus.  The  variety  of  leopard,  or  rather 
panther,  of  Syria,  is  considerably  below  the 
stature  of  a  lioness,  but  very  heavy  in  proportion 
to  its  bulk.  Its  general  form  is  so  well  known 
as  to  require  no  description  beyond  stating,  that 
the  spots  are  rather  more  irregular,  and  the 
colour  more  mixed  with  whitish,  than  in  the 
other  pantherine  felinse,  excepting  the  Pel  is 
Uncia,  or  Felis  Irbis,  of  High  Asia,  which  is 
shaggy  and  almost  white.  It  is  a  nocturnal,  cat- 
like animal  in  habits,  dangerous  to  all  domestic 
cattle,  and  sometimes  even  to  man.  In  the 
Scriptures  it  is  constantly  placed  in  juxtaposition 
with  the  lion  or  the  wolf;  which  last,  if  the 
hysena  be  intended,  forms  a  natural  association. 
There  is  in  Asia  Minor  a  species  or  variety  of 
panther,  much  larger  than  the  Syrian,  not  un- 
frequent  on  the  borders  of  the  snowy  tracts 
even  of  Mount  Ida,  above  ancient  Troy  ;  and  the 
group  of  these  spotted  animals  is  spread  over  the 
whole  of  Southern  Asia  to  Africa.  From  several 
names  of  places,  it  appears  that,  in  the  earlier 
ages  of  Israelitish  dominion,  it  was  sufficiently 
numerous  in  Palestine.  Leopard  skins  were 
worn  as  a  part  of  ceremonial  costume  by  the 
superiors  of  the  Egyptian  priesthood,  and  by 
other  personages  in  Nubia ;  and  the  animal  itself 
is  represented  in  the  processions  of  tributary 
nations. 

LEPROSY.  Leprosy  is  a  name  that  was 
given  by  the  Greek  physicians  to  a  scaly  disease 
of  the  skin.  During  the  dark  ages  it  was  indis- 
criminately applied  to  all  chronic  diseases  of  the 
skin,  and  more  particularly  to  elephantiasis,  to 
which  latter,  however,  it  does  not  bear  the 
slightest  resemblance.  The  disease,  as  it  is  known 
at  the  present  day,  commences  by  an  eruption  of 
small  reddish  spots  sliglitly  raised  above  tlie 
level  of  the  skin,  and  grouped  in  a  circle.  These 
spots  are,  soon  covered  by  a  very  thin,  semi-trans- 
parent scale  or  epidermis,  of  a  whitish  colour, 
and  very  smooth,  which  in  a  little  time  falls  off', 
and  leaves  the  skin  beneath  red  and  uneven. 
As  the  circles  inci-ease  in  diameter  the  skin  re- 
covers its  healthy  appearance  towards  the  centre 
fresh  scales  are  formed,  which  are  now  thicker, 
and  superimposed  one  above  the  other,  especially 
at  the  edges,  so  that  the  centre  of  the  scale 
appears  to  be  depressed.  The  scales  are  of  a 
greyish  white  colour,  and  have  something  of  a 
micaceous  or  pearly  lustre.  The  circles  are  gene- 
rally of  the  size  of  a  shilling  or  half-crown,  but 
they  have  beeu  known  to  attain  half  a  foot  in 
diameter.  The  disease  generaUy  aff'ects  the 
knees  and  elbows,  but  sometimes  it  extends  over 
the  whole  body;  in  which  case  the  circles  be- 
come confluent.  It  does  noi  at  all  affect  tlie 
general  health,  and  the  only  inconvenience  it 
causes  the  patient  is  a  slight  itching  when  the 
skin  is  heated  ;  or,  in  inveterate  cases,  when  the 
skin  about  the  joints  is  much  thickened,  it  may 
in  some  degree  impede  the  free  motion  of  the 


LEPROSY 


LEVI 


limbs.  It  is  common  to  both  sexes,  to  almost  all 
ages,  and  all  ranks  of  society.  It  is  not  in  the 
least  infectious,  but  it  is  always  difficult  to  be 
cured,  and  in  old  persons,  when  it  is  of  long 
standing,  may  be  pronounced  incurable.  It  is 
commonly  met  with  in  this  country  and  in  all 
parts  of  Europe.  On  turning  to  the  Mosaic 
account,  we  find  three  species  mentioned,  which 
■were  all  included  under  the  generic  term  of 
Bahe'ret,  or  '  bright  spot.'  The  first  is  called 
Bdhaq,  which  signifies  '  brightness,'  but  in  a 
subordinate  degree.  This  species  did  not  render 
a  person  unclean.  The  second  was  called  Baluret 
lebandh,  or  a  bright  white  Balicret.  The  third 
was  Bahe'ret  hehdh,  or  dusky  Bahe'ret,  spreading 
in  the  skin.  These  two  last  were  also  called  'a 
stroke,'  as  if  a  chastisement,  and  rendered  a 
person  unclean.  The  characteristic  marks  of  the 
Bahe'ret  lehanah  mentioned  by  Moses,  are  a 
glossy  white  and  spreading  scale  upon  an  ele- 
vated base,  the  elevation  depressed  in  the  middle, 
the  hair  on  the  patches  participating  in  the 
whiteness,  and  the  patches  themselves  perpetually 
increasing.  There  are  some  other  slight  affec- 
tions mentioned  by  name  in  Leviticus,  which  the 
priest  -was  required  to  distinguish  from  leprosy. 
If  a  person  had  any  of  the  above  diseases  he  was 
brought  before  the  priest  to  be  examined.  If  the 
priest  found  the  distinctive  signs  of  a  contagious 
leprosy,  the  person  was  immediately  declared 
unclean.  If  the  priest  had  any  doubt  on  the 
subject,  the  person  was  put  under  confinement 
for  seven  days,  when  he  was  examined  a  second 
time.  If  in  the  course  of  the  preceding  week  the 
eruption  had  made  no  advance,  he  was  shut  up 
for  another  seven  days ;  and  if  then  the  disease 
was  still  stationary,  and  had  none  of  the  dis- 
tinctive signs  above  noticed,  he  was  declared 
clean  (Lev.  xiii.). 

It  may  be  useful  here  to  subjoin  a  description 
of  elephantiasis,  or  the  leprosy  of  the  middle 
ages,  as  this  is  the  disease  from  which  most  of 
the  prevalent  notions  concerning  leprosy  have 
been  derived,  and  to  which  the  notices  of  lepers 
contained  in  modern  books  of  travels  exclusively 
refer. 

Elephantiasis  first  of  all  makes  its  appearance 
by  spots  of  a  reddish,  yellowish,  or  livid  hue, 
irregularly  disseminated  over  the  skin  and 
slightly  raised  above  its  surface.  These  spots 
are  glossy,  and  appear  oily,  or  as  if  they  were 
covered  with  varnish.  After  they  have  remained 
in  this  way  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  they  are 
succeeded  by  an  eruption  of  tubercles.  These 
are  soft,  roundish  tumours,  varying  in  size  from 
that  of  a  pea  to  that  of  an  olive,  and  are  of  a 
reddish  or  livid  colour.  They  are  principally 
developed  on  the  face  and  ears,  but  in  the  course 
of  years  extend  over  the  whole  body.  The  face 
becomes  frightfully  deformed;  the  forehead  is 
traversed  by  deep  lines  and  covered  with  nume- 
rous tubercles ;  the  eyebrows  become  bald, 
swelled,  furrowed  by  oblique  lines,  and  covered 
with  nipple-like  elevations ;  the  eyelashes  fall 
out,  and  the  eyes  assume  a  fixed  and  staring  look  ; 
the  lips  are  enormously  thickened  and  shining ; 
the  beard  falls  out;  the  chin  and  ears  are  en- 
larged and  beset  with  tubercles ;  the  lobe  and 
alae  of  the  nose  are  frightfully  enlarged  and 
deformed;  the  nostrils  irregularly  dilated,  inter- 
nally constricted,  and  excoriated ;  the  voice  is 


hoarse  and  nasal,  and  the  breath  intolerably  fetid. 
After  some  time,  generally  after  some  years, 
many  of  the  tubercles  ulcerate,  and  the  matter 
which  exudes  from  them  dries  to  crusts  of  a 
brownish  or  blacki.sh  colour;  but  this  process 
seldom  terminates  in  cicatrization.  The  extre- 
mities are  affected  in  the  same  way  as  the  face. 
The  hollow  of  the  foot  is  swelled  out,  so  that  the 
sole  becomes  flat ;  the  sensibility  of  the  skin  is 
greatly  impaired,  and,  in  the  hands  and  feet, 
often  entirely  lost ;  the  joints  of  the  toes  ulcerate 
and  fall  off  one  after  the  other ;  insupportable 
fcetor  exhales  from  the  whole  body.  The 
patient's  general  health  is  not  affected  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  his  sufferings  are  not  always 
of  the  same  intensity  as  his  external  deformity. 
Often,  however,  his  nights  are  sleepless  or  dis- 
turbed by  frightful  dreams ;  he  becomes  morose 
and  melancholy ;  he  shuns  the  sight  of  the 
healthy,  because  he  feels  what  an  object  of  disgust 
he  is  to  them,  and  life  becomes  a  loathsome  bur- 
den to  him ;  or  he  falls  into  a  state  of  apathy, 
and  after  many  years  of  such  an  existence  he 
sinks  either  from  exhaustion,  or  from  the  super- 
vention of  internal  disease.  The  Greeks  gave 
the  name  of  elephantiasis  to  this  disease,  because 
the  skin  of  the  person  affected  with  it  was  thought 
to  resemble  that  of  an  elephant,  in  dark  colour, 
ruggedness,  and  insensibility,  or,  as  some  have 
thought,  because  the  foot,  after  the  loss  of  the 
toes,  when  the  hollow  of  the  sole  is  filled  up  and 
the  ankle  enlarged,  resembles  the  foot  of  an 
elephant.  About  the  period  of  the  Crusades 
elephantiasis  spread  itself  like  an  epidemic  over 
all  Europe,  even  as  far  north  as  the  Faroe 
Islands ;  and  henceforth,  owing  to  the  above- 
named  mistakes,  every  one  became  familiar  with 
leprosy  under  the  form  of  the  terrible  disease 
that  has  just  been  described.  Leper  or  lazar- 
houses  abounded  everywhere  ;  as  many  as  2000 
are  said  to  have  existed  in  France  alone.  The 
disease  was  considered  to  be  contagious  possibly 
only  on  account  of  the  belief  that  was  entertained 
respecting  its  identity  with  Jewish  leprosy,  and 
the  strictest  regulations  were  enacted  for  seclud- 
ing the  diseased  from  society.  Towards  the 
commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
disease  gradually  disappeared  from  Europe,  and 
is  now  confined  to  intertropical  countries.  It 
existed  in  Faroe  as  late  as  1676,  and  in  the 
Shetland  Islands  in  1736,  long  after  it  had  ceased 
in  the  southern  parts  of  Great  Britain.  The  best 
authors  of  the  present  day  who  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  observing  the  disease  do  not  con- 
sider it  to  be  contagious.  There  seems,  however, 
to  be  little  doubt  as  to  its  being  hereditary. 

LE'VI  (a  joining),  the  third  son  of  Jacob  and 
Leah,  born  in  Mesopotamia  B.C.  1750  (Gen.  xxix. 
34).  No  circumstance  is  recorded  of  him  save 
the  part  which  he  and  his  full  brother  Simeon 
took  in  the  massacre  of  the  Shechemites,  to  avenge 
the  wrong  doue  to  their  sister  Dinah  (Gen. 
xxxiv.  2.5,  26).  This  transaction  was  to  his  last 
hour  regarded  by  Jacob  with  abhorrence,  and  he 
failed  not  to  allude  to  it  in  his  dying  declaration. 
As  Simeon  and  Levi  were  united  in  that  act,  so 
the  patriarch  couples  them  in  his  prophecy : 
'  Accursed  be  their  anger,  lor  it  was  fierce  \  and 
their  wrath,  for  it  was  cruel !  I  will  divide 
them  in  Jacob,  and  disperse  them  in  Israel.' 
And,  accordingly,  their  descendants  were  after- 
2  H  2 


532 


LEVITES 


■wards,  in  different  ways,  dispersed  amongthe  other  ] 
tribes;  altliough,  in  tlie  case  of  Levi,  this  curse 
was  eventually  turned  into  a  benefit  and  blessing. 
LEVI'ATHAN  (Job  iii.  8  ;  xli.  1 ;  Ps.  Ixxiv. 
14;  civ.  26  :  Isa.  xxvii.  1)  [Behemoth,  Croco- 
dile, Dragon].  Gesenius  very  justly  remarks 
that  this  word,  which  denotes  any  twisted  animal, 
is  especially  applicable  to  every  great  tenant  of 
the  waters,  such  as  the  great  marine  serpents  and 
crocodiles,  and,  it  may  be  added,  the  colossal 
serpents  and  great  monitors  of  the  desert.  In 
general  it  points  to  the  crocodile,  and  Job  xli.  is 
unequivocally  descriptive  of  that  Saurian.  Pro- 
bably the  Egyptian  crocodile  is  therein  depicted 
in  all  its  magnitude,  ferocity,  and  indolence, 
such  as  it  was  in  early  days,  when  as  yet  uncon- 
scious of  the  power  of  man,  and  only  individually 
tamed  for  the  purposes  of  an  imposture,  which 
had  sufficient  authority  to  intimidate  the  public 
and  protect  the  species,  under  the  sanctified 
pretext  that  it  was  a  type  of  pure  water,  and  an 
emblem  of  the  importance  of  irrigation  ;  though 
the  people  in  general  seem  ever  to  have  been 
disposed  to  consider  it  a  personification  of  the 
destructive  principle.  At  a  later  period  the 
Egyptians,  probably  of  such  places  as  Tentyris, 
where  crocodiles  were  not  held  in  veneration, 
not  only  hunted  and  slew  them,  but  it  appears 
from  a  statue  that  a  sort  of  Bestiarii  could  tame 
them  sufficiently  to  perform  certain  exhibitions 
mounted  on  their  backs.  The  intense  musky 
odour  of  its  flesh  must  have  rendered  the  croco- 
dile, at  all  times,  very  unpalatable  food,  but 
breast-armour  was  made  of  the  horny  and  ridged 
parts  of  its  back.  We  have  ourselves  witnessed 
a  periodical  abstinence  in  the  great  Saurians,  and 
have  known  negro  women,  while  bathing,  play 
with  young  alligators  ;  which,  they  asserted,  they 
could  do  without  danger,  unless  they  hurt  them 
and  thereby  attracted  the  vengeance  of  the 
mother;  but  the  impunity  most  likely  resulted 
from  the  period  of  inactivity  coinciding  with  the 
then  state  of  the  young  animals,  or  from  the 
negro  women  being  many  in  the  water  at  the 
same  time.  The  occurrence  took  place  at  Old 
Harbour,  Jamaica. 

LE'VITES,  the  descendants  of  Levi,  through 
his  sons  Gershon,  Kohath  and  Merari,  whose 
descendants  formed  so  many  sub-tribes  or  great 
families  of  the  general  body.  In  a  narrower 
sense  the  term  Levites  designates  the  great  body 
of  the  tribe  employed  in  the  subordinate  offices 
of  the  hierarchy,  to  distinguish  them  from  that 
one  family  of  their  body — the  family  of  Aaron — 
in  which  the  priestly  functions  were  vested. 

While  the  Israelites  were  encamped  before 
Mount  Sinai,  the  tribe  of  Levi,  to  which  Moses 
and  Aaron  belonged,  was,  by  special  ordinance 
from  the  Lord,  set  specially  apart  for  sacerdotal 
services,  in  the  place  of  the  first-born  of  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  and  families  to  whom  such  func- 
tions, according  to  ancient  usage,  belonged ;  and 
which  indeed  had  already  been  set  apart  as  holy, 
in  commemoration  cf  the  first-bom  of  the  Israel- 
ites having  been  spared  when  the  first-born  of 
the  Egyptians  were  destroyed  (Num.  iii.  12,  13, 
40-51  ;  Exod.  xiii.).  When  it  was  determined 
to  set  apart  a  single  tribe  of  Levi  for  this  service, 
the  numbers  of  the  first-born  in  Israel  and  of  the 
tribe  selected  were  respectively  taken,  when  it 
was  found  that  the  former  amounted  to  22,273, 


LEVITES 

and  the  latter  to  22,000.  Those  of  the  first-bom 
beyond  the  number  of  the  Levites  were  then 
redeemed  at  the  rate  of  five  shekels,  or  1 2s.  6d. 
each,  and  the  money  assigned  to  the  priests.  At 
the  same  time  the  cattle  which  the  Levites  then 
happened  to  possess  were  considered  as  equivalent 
to  all  the  firstlings  of  the  cattle  which  the  Israel- 
ites had;  and,  accordingly,  the  firstlings  were 
not  required  to  be  brought,  as  in  subsequent 
years,  to  the  altar  and  to  the  priesthood  (Num. 
iii.  41-51). 

In  the  wilderness  the  office  of  the  Levites  was 
to  carry  the  Tabernacle  and  its  utensils  and  fur- 
niture from  place  to  place,  after  they  had  been 
packed  up  by  the  priests  (Num.  iv.  4-15).  In 
this  service  each  of  the  three  Levitical  families 
had  its  separate  department ;  the  Gershonites 
carried  the  hangings  and  cords  of  the  Tabernacle, 
for  which  they  were  allowed  two  wains,  each 
drawn  by  four  oxen  (Num.  iii.  25,  26 ;  iv.  24-28 ; 
vii.  7).  The  Kohathites  carried  the  ark,  the  table 
of  shew-bread,  the  candlestick,  the  two  altars, 
and  such  of  the  hangings  as  belonged  to  the 
sanctuary  ;  for  this  they  had  no  wains  or  oxen, 
the  whole  being  carried  upon  their  shoulders 
(Num.  iii.  31;  iv.  4-15;  vii.  9);  the  Merarites 
had  charge  of  the  substantial  parts  of  the  Taber- 
nacle— the  boards,  pillars,  bars,  bases,  &c.,  and 
also  all  the  ordinai-y  vessels  of  service,  for  which 
they  were  allowed  four  wains  and  eight  oxen 
(Num.  iii.  36,  37;  iv.  31,  32;  vii.  8).  In  this 
manner  they  proceeded  in  all  their  journeys; 
and  when  they  settled  in  a  place,  and  had  erected 
the  Tabernacle,  the  difierent  families  pitched 
their  tents  around  it  in  the  following  manner: 
the  Gershonites  behind  it  on  the  west  (Num.  iii. 
23),  the  Kohathites  on  the  south  (iii.  29),  the 
Merarites  on  the  north  (iii.  35),  and  the  priests 
on  the  east  (iii.  38).  They  all  assisted  Aaron 
and  his  sons  in  taking  care  of,  and  attending  on, 
the  Tabernacle,  when  it  was  pitched ;  but  tliey 
were  allowed  to  take  no  part  in  the  services  of  the 
altar  (xviii.  2-7). 

This  was  the  nature  of  their  service  in  the 
desert ;  but  when  they  entered  the  land  of  Ca- 
naan, and  the  tabernaele  ceased  to  be  migratory, 
the  range  of  their  service  was  considerably 
altered.  While  part  attended  at  the  tabernacle, 
the  rest  were  distributed  through  the  country  in 
the  several  cities  which  were  allotted  to  them. 
These  cities  are  commonly  reckoned  forty-eight ; 
but  thirteen  of  them  were  reserved  for  the  priests, 
so  that  only  thirty-five  belonged  to  the  Levites. 
The  names  of  these  cities,  and  the  tribes  in  which 
they  were  situated,  are  given  in  Josh.  xxi.  20-42 ; 
1  Chron.  vi.  64-81.  Of  the  forty-eight  cities  six 
were  cities  of  refuge  for  the  unintentional  homi- 
cide, of  which  one.  Hebron,  was  a  priestly  city 
(Deut.  iv.  41-43;  Josh.  xx.  2-9). 

In  the  time  of  David,  when  the  number  of  the 
priests  and  Levites  had  much  increased,  a  third 
and  very  important  alteration  was  effected,  as 
much,  or  more,  with  reference  to  the  Temple,  for 
which  he  made  every  possible  preparation,  as  for 
the  existing  service  at  the  Tabernacle.  While 
the  priests  were  divided  into  twenty-four  courses, 
that  they  might  attend  the  Temple  in  rotation 
weekly,  and  only  officiate  aljout  two  weeks  in  the 
year,  the  Levites  were  also  divided  into  twenty- 
four  courses.  In  the  book  of  Chronicles  we  have 
four  times  twenty-four  courses  of  Levites  men- 


LEVITES 

tioned,  but  all  their  employments  are  not  dis- 
tinctly stated  (1  Chron.  xxiii.  7-23;  xxiv.  20-31 ; 
XXV.  1-31 ;  xxvi.  1-12).  The  most  conspicuous 
classification  is  that  of  twenty-four  courses  of  por- 
ters and  servitors,  and  twenty-four  of  musicians. 

The  office  of  the  porters  was  to  open  and  shut 
the  doors  and  gates  of  the  Temple-courts,  at 
which  they  also  attended  throughout  the  day  to 
prevent  the  entrance  of  any  harmful  or  unclean 
person  or  thing  (1  Chron.  xxvi.  17,  18).  They 
had  also  the  charge  of  the  treasure-chambers  in 
their  respective  wards ;  for  we  find  four  of  the 
chief  porters  holding  this  trust  in  1  Chron.  ix.  26, 
and  their  names  and  the  articles  in  their  charge 
are  given  in  1  Chron.  xxvi.  20-29;  2  Chron. 
xxxi.  12-14. 

Besides  acting  as  porters  and  servants  during 
the  day,  we  learn  that  they  were  also  the  guards 
of  the  Temple.  Without  entering  into  specific 
details,  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  whole  num- 
ber of  guards  to  the  Temple  at  night  is  stated  to 
have  been  twenty-four,  of  whom  three  were 
priests.  These  are  desci'ibed  as  having  been 
under  an  overseer  called  '  the  man  of  the  moun- 
tain of  the  house.'  He  went  his  rounds  to  see 
that  the  guards  were  at  their  posts :  if  he  found 
any  one  seated  who  should  have  been  standing, 
he  said,  '  Peace  be  unto  thee;'  but  if  he  found 
any  one  asleep,  he  struck  him,  and  sometimes  set 
fire  to  his  clothes. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  one  division  of  the  Le- 
vites  was  employed  as  porters  during  the  day, 
and  another  as  guards  during  the  night ;  a  third 
division  served  as  musicians.  A  catalogue  of 
these  is  given  in  1  Chron.  xxi.  1-9,  according  to 
their  employments ;  and  another,  according  to 
their  courses,  in  1  Chron.  xxi.  9-31.  We  shall 
have  to  speak  of  Music  under  that  head,  and 
need  only  here  state  that  on  grand  occasions, 
when  a  full  band  was  formed,  the  family  of 
Heman  sung  in  the  middle  (1  Chron.  vi.  33-38), 
the  family  of  Asaph  on  the  right  hand  (vi.  39-43), 
and  the  family  of  Ethan  on  the  left.  The  ordi- 
nary place  for  the  musicians,  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, was  at  the  east  end  of  the  court  of  the 
priests,  between  the  court  of  Israel  and  the  altar. 

It  seems  that  the  singers  could  never  be  under 
twelve,  because  that  number  was  particularly 
mentioned  at  their  first  appointment  (1  Chron. 
XXV.  9)  ;  but  there  was  no  objection  to  any  larger 
number.  The  young  sous  of  the  Levites  were, 
on  such  occasions  only,  allowed  to  enter  the  court 
of  the  priests  with  their  fathers,  that  their  small 
voices  might  relieve  the  deep  bass  of  the  men ; 
and  for  this  authority  was  supposed  to  be  found 
in  Ezra  iii.  9. 

The  Levites  were  not  at  liberty  to  exercise  any 
properly  sacerdotal  functions ;  but  on  extraordi- 
nary occasions  they  were  permitted  to  assist  in 
preparing  the  sacrifices,  without,  however,  in 
any  way  concerning  themselves  with  the  blood 
(2  Chron.  xxix.  34 ;  xxx.  16,  17  ;  xxxv.  1). 

In  Num.  iv.  3  the  Levites  are  described  as 
commencing  their  actual  service  at  thirty  years 
of  age;  but  iu  Num.  viii.  24,  25,  twenty-five  is 
the  age  mentioned ;  and  in  1  Chron.  xxiii.  24,  25, 
and  Ezra  iii.  8,  twenty.  The  reason  of  these 
apparent  discrepancies  is,  that  from  twenty-five 
to  thirty  they  were  in  the  state  of  probationers, 
doing  some  things,  but  excluded  from  others 
(Aben  Ezra,  on  Num.  viii.).    At  thirty  they  be- 


LEVITES 


533 


came  quahfied  for  every  part  of  the  Levitical 
service.  This  was  under  the  Tabernacle:  but 
when  the  Temple  was  built,  and  bodily  strength 
was  less  required,  the  age  was  reduced  to  twenty. 
After  fifty  they  were  no  longer  called  upon  to 
serve  as  a  matter  of  obligation  :  but  they  might 
attend  if  they  thouglit  proper,  and  perform  any 
usual  service  which  was  not  considered  burthen- 
some.  Thus,  in  the  wilderness,  they  ceased  at 
that  age  to  carry  any  part  of  the  burdeus  when 
the  ark  and  Tabernacle  were  removed  I'Num  viii 
25,  26),  ^ 

When  the  Levitical  body  was  first  set  apart 
for  its  sacred  duties,  the  existing  members  were 
consecrated  in  the  manner  particularly  described 
in  Num.  viii.  6,  22.  They,  and  in  them  their 
descendants,  were  thus  inducted  into  their  par- 
ticular office ;  and,  in  later  times,  when  any  one 
became  of  age,  it  was  sufficient  for  his  admission 
to  prove  that  he  belonged  to  a  Levitical  family, 
and,  probably,  to  offer  some  trifling  sacrifice.  It 
does  not  appear  that  the  Levites,  when  at  home, 
had  any  particular  dress  to  distinguish  them  from 
their  countrymen  ;  nor  is  there  any  positive  evi- 
dence that  they  had  any  distinctive  garb,  even 
when  on  actual  service  at  the  tabernacle  or 
temple.  Josephus  relates  that  only  six  years  be- 
fore the  destruction  of  the  Temple  by  the  Romans, 
the  Levites  were  allowed  by  Agrippa  to  wear  a 
linen  tunic,  like  the  priests — an  innovation  with 
which  the  latter  were  highly  displeased.  This 
shows  that  the  dress  of  the  Levites,  even  when 
on  duty,  had  not  previously  been  in  any  respect 
similar  to  that  of  the  priests. 

The  subsistence  of  the  Levites  was  provided 
for  in  a  peculiar  manner.  It  consisted,  first,  of  a 
compensation  for  the  abandonment  of  their  right 
to  one-twelfth  of  the  land  of  Canaan;  and, 
secondly,  of  a  remuneration  for  their  services  in 
their  official  capacity  as  devoted  to  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary.  The  territorial  compensation 
lay  in  the  48  cities  which  were  granted  to  the 
whole  tribe,  including  the  priests.  These  cities 
were  scattered  among  the  different  tribes,  as 
centres  of  instruction,  and  had  1000  square 
cubits,  equal  to  above  305  English  acres,  attached 
to  each  of  them,  to  serve  for  gardens,  vineyards, 
and  pasturage.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  this 
alone  could  not  have  been  an  adequate  compensa- 
tion for  the  loss  of  one-twelfth  of  the  soil,  seeing 
that  the  produce  of  305  acres  could  not  in  any 
case  have  sufficed  for  the  wants  of  the  inhabitants 
of  these  cities.  The  further  provision,  therefore, 
which  was  made  for  them  must  be  regarded  as 
partly  in  compensation  for  their  sacrifice  of  ter- 
ritory, although  we  are  disposed  to  look  upon  it 
as  primarily  intended  as  a  remuneration  for  the 
dedication  of  their  sei-vices  to  the  public.  This 
provision  consisted  of  the  tithe,  or  tenth  of  thi.' 
produce  of  the  grounds  allotted  to  the  other 
tribes.  The  simplest  view  of  this  payment  is  to 
regard  it,  first,  as  the  produce  of  about  as  much 
land  as  the  Levites  would  have  been  entitled  to 
if  placed  on  the  same  footing  with  regard  to  ter- 
ritory as  the  other  tribes ;  and  also  as  tlie  produce 
of  so  much  more  land,  which  the  other  tribes 
enjoyed  in  consequence  of  its  not  having  been 
assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Levi.  In  giving  the  pro- 
duce of  this  land  to  the  Levites  the  Israelites 
were  therefore  to  be  regarded  as  simply  releasing 
them  from  the  cares  of  agriculture,  to  enable 


534 


LEVITES 


them  to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  the 
sanctuary.  The  land  -which  produced  the  tithe 
was  just  so  much  land  held  by  the  other  tribes 
in  their  behalf;  and  the  labour  of  cultivating 
this  land  was  the  salary  paid  to  the  Levites  for 
their  official  services.  The  tenth  was  paid  to  the 
whole  tribe  of  Levi ;  but  as  the  Levites  had  to 
give  out  of  this  one-tenth  to  the  priests,  their  own 
allowance  was  only  nine-tenths  of  the  tenth.  A 
more  particular  account  of  tithes  belongs  to  an- 
other head  [Tithes].  The  Levites  had  also  a 
certain  interest  in  the  '  second  tithe,'  being  the 
portion  which,  after  the  first  tithe  had  been  paid, 
the  cultivator  set  apart  for  hospitable  feasts,  v  hich 
were  held  at  the  place  of  the  sanctuary  in  two 
out  of  three  years,  but  in  the  third  year  at  home. 
This  interest,  however,  extended  no  further  than 
that  the  offerer  was  particularly  enjoined  to  in- 
vite the  priests  and  Levites  to  such  feasts. 

The  earliest  notice  we  have  of  the  numbers  of 
the  Levites  occurs  at  their  first  separation  in  the 
desert,  when  there  were  32,300,  of  a  month  old 
and  upwards  ;  of  whom  8580  were  fit  for  service, 
or  between  the  ages  of  30  and  50  (Num.  iii.  22, 
28,  34;  iv.  2,  34-49).  Thirty-eight  years  after, 
just  before  the  Israelites  entered  Canaan,  they  had 
increased  to  23,000,  not  one  of  whom  had  been 
born  at  the  time  of  the  former  enumeration 
(Num.  xxvi.  57,  62-65).  About  460  years  after 
the  entry  into  Canaan  (b.c.  1015)  they  were 
again  numbered  by  David,  a  little  before  his 
death,  and  were  found  to  have  increased  to  38,000 
men  fit  for  Levitical  service — of  whom  24,000 
were  '  set  over  the  work  of  the  Lord,'  6000  were 
officers  and  judges,  4000  were  porters,  and  4000 
were  musicians  (1  Chron.  xxiii.  3,  4,  5).  If  the 
same  proportion  then  existed  between  those  come 
of  age  and  those  a  month  old  which  existed  when 
the  tribe  quitted  Egypt,  the  entire  number  of  the 
Levitical  body,  in  the  time  of  David,  must  have 
been  96,433. 

After  the  revolt  of  the  ten  tribes,  those  of  the 
Levites  who  resided  in  the  territories  of  those 
tribes,  having  resisted  the  request  of  Jeroboam  to 
transfer  their  services  to  his  idolatrous  establish- 
ments at  Dan  and  Bethel,  were  obliged  to  abandon 
their  possessions  and  join  their  brethren  in  Judah 
and  Benjamin  (2  Chron.  xi.  12,  13,  14;  xiii.  9); 
and  this  concentration  of  the  Levitical  body  in 
the  kingdom  of  Judah  must  have  had  an  im- 
portant influence  upon  its  condition  and  history. 
That  kingdom  thus  actually  consisted  of  three 
tribes— Judah,  Benjamin,  and  Levi — of  which 
one  was  devoted  to  sacerdotal  uses.  This  altered 
position  of  the  Levites— after  they  had  been  de- 
prived of  most  of  their  cities,  and  the  tithes  from 
ten  of  the  tribes  were  cut  off — presents  a  subject 
for  much  interesting  investigation,  into  which  we 
cannot  enter.  Their  means  must  have  been  much 
reduced ;  for  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  Judah 
and  Benjamin  alone  were  able,  even  if  willing, 
to  undertake  the  support  of  the  whole  Levitical 
body  on  the  same  scale  as  when  the  dues  of  all 
Israel  flowed  into  its  treasuries.  In  the  subsequent 
history  of  Judah  the  Levites  appear  less  frequently 
than  might  have  been  expected.  The  chief  public 
measure  in  which  they  were  engaged  was  the 
restoration  of  the  house  of  David  in  the  person  of 
young  Joash  (2  Chron.  xxiii.  1-11);  which  may 
be  regarded  as  mainly  the  work  of  the  Levitical 
body,  including  the  priests. 


LEVITICUS 

Under  the  edict  of  Cyrus,  only  341  Levites, 
according  to  Ezra  (ii.  40-42),  or  350,  according 
to  Nehemiah  (vii.  43-45),  returned  with  Zerub- 
babel  to  Jerusalem.  This  is  less  surprising  than 
might  at  first  sight  appear;  for  if,  before  the 
captivity,  the  great  body  of  them  had  been  in 
straitened  circumstances  and  without  fixed  pos- 
sessions in  Judah,  it  was  only  consistent  with 
human  prudence  that  those  who  had,  in  all 
probability,  comfortably  settled  themselves  in 
Babylon,  should  not  be  anxious  to  return  in 
such  numbers  to  Palestine  as  were  likely  to 
produce  similar  effects.  A  few  more  are  men- 
tioned in  Neh.  xii.  24-26.  Those  who  did  return 
seem  to  have  had  no  very  correct  notion  of  their 
obligations  and  duties  ;  for  there  were  many  who 
formed  matrimonial  alliances  with  the  idolaters 
of  the  land,  and  thereby  corrupted  both  their 
morals  and  genealogies.  But  they  were  prevailed 
upon  to  reform  this  abuse ;  and,  as  a  token  of 
obedience,  signed  the  national  covenant  with 
Nehemiah,  and  abode  at  Jerusalem  to  influence 
others  by  their  authority  and  example  (Neh.  x. 
9-13;  xi.  1.5-19). 

The  Levites  are  not  mentioned  in  the  Apocry- 
phal books,  and  very  slightly  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Luke  X.  32;  John  i.  19;  Acts  iv.  36);  but 
the  'scribes'  and  the  'lawyers,'  so  often  named 
in  the  Gospels,  are  usually  supposed  to  have 
belonged  to  them. 

It  would  be  taking  a  very  narrow  view  of  the 
duties  of  the  Levitical  body  if  we  regarded  them 
as  limited  to  their  services  at  the  sanctuary.  On 
the  contrary,  we  see  in  their  establishment  a  pro- 
vision for  the  religious  and  moral  instruction  of 
the  great  body  of  the  people,  which  no  ancient 
lawgiver  except  Moses  ever  thought  of  attending 
to.  But  that  this  was  one  principal  object  for 
which  a  twelfth  of  the  population— the  tribe  of 
Levi — was  set  apart,  is  clearly  intimated  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  9,  10  :  'They  shall  teach  Jacob  thy 
judgments  and  Israel  thy  law ;  they  shall  put 
incense  before  thee,  and  whole  burnt  sacrifice 
upon  thine  altar.'  They  were  to  read  the  volume 
of  the  law  publicly  every  seventh  year  at  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles  (Deut.  xxxi.  10-13).  '  This 
public  and  solemn  periodical  instruction,'  observes 
Dean  Graves  {Lectures,  p.  1 70), '  though  eminently 
useful,  was  certainly  not  the  entire  of  their  duty ; 
they  were  bound  from  the  spirit  of  this  ordinance 
to  take  care  that  at  all  times  the  aged  should  be 
improved  and  the  children  instructed  in  the 
knowledge  and  fear  of  God,  the  adoration  of  his 
majesty,  and  the  observance  of  his  law ;  and  for 
this  purpose  the  peculiar  situation  and  privileges 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  as  regulated  by  the  divine 
appointment,  admirably  fitted  them.' 
LEVITICUS,  tlie  third  book  of  Moses. 
Contents. — Leviticus  contains  the  further  state- 
ment and  development  of  the  Sinai  tic  legislation, 
the  beginnings  of  which  are  described  in  Exodus. 
It  exhibits  the  historical  progress  of  this  legis- 
lation ;  consequently  we  must  not  expect  to  find 
the  laws  detailed  in  it  in  a  systematic  form. 
There  is,  nevertheless,  a  certain  order  observed, 
which  arose  from  the  nature  of  the  subject,  and 
of  which  the  plan  may  easily  be  perceived.  The 
whole  is  intimately  connected  with  the  contents 
of  Exodus,  at  the  conclusion  of  which  book  that 
sanctuary  is  described  with  which  all  external 
worship  was  connected  (Exod.  xxxv.-xL). 


LEVITICUS 

Some  critics  have  strenuously  endeavoured  to 
prove  that  the  laws  contained  in  Leviticus  ori- 
ginated in  a  period  much  later  than  is  usually 
supposed.  But  the  following  observations  suffi- 
ciently support  their  Mosaical  origin,  and  show 
that  the  whole  of  Leviticus  is  historically  genuine. 
The  laws  in  ch.  i.-vii.  contain  manifest  vestiges 
of  the  Mosaical  period.  Here,  as  well  as  in 
Exi^us,  when  the  priests  are  mentioned,  Aaron 
and  his  sons  are  named  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  ch.  i. 
4,  7,  8,  11,  Sec.  The  labernacle  is  the  sanctuary, 
and  no  other  place  of  worship  is  mentioned  any- 
where. Expressions  like  the  following  constantly 
occur,  before  the  tabernacle  of' the  congregation,  or 
the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  (ch.  i. 
3 ;  iii.  8,  13,  &c.).  The  Israelites  are  always  de- 
scribed as  a  congregation  (ch.  iv.  13,  sq.),  under 
the  command  of  the  elders  of  the  congregation 
(ch.  iv.  15),  or  of  a  ruler  (ch.  iv.  22).  Every 
thing  has  a  reference  to  life  in  a  camp,  and  that 
camp  commanded  by  Moses  (ch.  iv.  12,  21  ;  vi. 
11 ;  xiv.  8;  xvi.  2G,  28).  A  later  writer  could 
scarcely  have  placed  himself  so  entirely  in  the 
times,  and  so  completely  adopted  the  modes  of 
thinking  of  the  age,  of  Moses :  especially  if,  as 
has  been  asserted,  these  laws  gradually  sprung 
from  the  usages  of  the  people,  and  were  written 
down  at  a  later  period  with  the  object  of  sanc- 
tioning them  by  the  authority  of  Moses.  They 
so  entirely  befit  the  Mos'aical  age,  that,  in  order 
to  adapt  them  to  the  requirements  of  any  later 
period,  they  must  have  undergone  some  modi- 
fication, accommodation,  and  a  peculiar  mode  of 
interpretation.  This  inconvenience  would  have 
been  avoided  by  a  person  who  intended  to  forge 
laws  in  favour  of  the  later  modes  of  Levitical 
worship.  A  forger  would  have  endeavoured  to 
identify  the  past  as  much  as  possible  with  the 
present. 

in  ch.  xvii.  occurs  the  law  which  forbids  the 
slaughter  of  any  beast  except  at  the  sanctuary. 
Th's  law  could  not  be  strictly  kept  in  Palestine, 
and  had  therefore  to  undergo  some  modification 
(Deut.  xii.).  Our  opponents  cannot  show  any 
rational  inducement  for  contriving  such  a  fiction. 
The  law  (ch.  xvii.  fi,  7)  is  adapted  to  the  nation 
only  while  emigrating  from  Egjpt.  It  was  the 
object  of  this  law  to  guard  the  Israelites  from 
falling  into  the  temptation  to  imitate  the  Egyptian 
rites  and  sacrifices  ofi'ered  to  he-goats ;  which 
word  signifies  also  demons  represented  under  the 
form  of  hegoats,  and  which  were  supposed  to 
inhabit  the  desert. 

The  laws  concerning  food  and  purifications 
appear  especially  important  if  we  remember  that 
the  people  emigrated  from  Egypt.  The  funda- 
mental principle  of  these  laws  is  undoubtedly 
Mosaical,  but  in  the  individual  application  of 
them  there  is  much  which  strongly  reminds  us 
of  Egypt.  This  is  also  the  case  in  Lev.  xviii.  sq., 
where  the  lawgiver  has  manifestly  in  view  the 
two  opposites,  Canaan  and  Egypt.  That  the 
lawgiver  was  intimately  acquainted  with  Egypt, 
is  proved  by  such  remarks  as  those  about  the 
Egyptian  marriages  with  sisters  (ch.  xviii.  3)  ;  a 
custom  which  stands  as  an  exception  among  the 
prevailing  habits  of  antiquity. 

The  book  of  Leviticus  has  a  prophetical  cha- 
racter. The  lawgiver  represents  to  himself  the 
future  history  of  his  people.  This  prophetical 
character   is   especially   manifest   in   chs.  xxv., 


LIBNAH 


535 


xxvi.,  where  the  law  appears  in  a  truly  sublime 
and  divine  attitude,  and  when  its  predictions 
refer  to  the  whole  futurity  of  the  nation.  It  is 
impossible  to  say  that  these  were  prophecies  de- 
livered after  the  event,  unless  we  would  assert 
that  this  book  was  written  at  the  close  of 
Israelitish  history.  We  must  rather  grant  that 
passages  like  this  are  the  real  basis  on  which  the 
authority  of  later  prophets  is  chiefly  built.  Such 
passages  prove  also,  in  a  striking  manner,  that 
the  lawgiver  had  not  merely  an  external  aim, 
but  that  his  law  had  a  deeper  purpose,  which  was 
clearly  understood  by  Moses  himself  That 
purpose  was  to  regulate  the  national  life  in  all 
its  bearings,  and  to  consecrate  the  whole  nation 
to  God.     See  especially  ch.  xxv.  18,  sq. 

But  this  ideal  tendency  of  the  law  does  not 
preclude  its  applicability  to  matters  of  fact.  The 
law  had  not  merely  an  ideal,  but  also  a  real  cha- 
racter, evidenced  by  its  relation  to  the  faithless- 
ness and  disobedience  of  the  nation.  The  whole 
future  history  of  the  covenant  people  was 
regulated  by  the  law,  which  has  manifested  its 
eternal  power  and  truth  in  the  history  of  the  people 
of  Israel.  Although  this  section  has  a  general 
bearing,  it  is  nevertheless  manifest  that  it  ori- 
ginated in  the  times  of  Moses.  At  a  later 
period,  for  instance,  it  would  have  been  imprac- 
ticable to  promulgate  the  law  concerning  the 
Sabbath  and  the  year  of  Jubilee  :  for  it  was  soon 
sufficiently  proved  how  far  the  nation  in  reality 
remained  behind  the  ideal  Israel  of  the  law. 
The  sabbatical  law  bears  the  impress  of  a  time 
when  the  whole  legislation,  in  its  fulness  and 
glory,  was  directly  communicated  to  the  people, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  attract,  penetrate,  and 
command. 

LIBERTINES.  'Certain  of  the  synagogue, 
which  is  called  (the  synagogue)  of  the  Libertines, 
and  Cyrenians,  and  Alexandrians,'  &c.,  are 
mentioned  in  Acts  vi.  9.  There  has  been  much 
diversity  in  the  interpretation  of  this  word. 
The  most  probable  opinion,  and  that  which  is 
now  generally  entertained,  is,  that  the  Libertini 
were  Jews,  whom  the  Romans  had  taken  in  war 
and  conveyed  to  Rome,  but  afterwards  freed  ; 
and  that  this  synagogue  had  been  built  at  their 
expense.  Libertini  is,  therefore,  to  be  regarded 
as  a  word  of  Roman  origin,  and  to  be  explained 
with  reference  to  Roman  customs.  Further,  we 
know  that  there  were  in  the  time  of  Tiberius 
many  libertini,  or  '  freed-men,'  of  the  Jewish 
religion  at  Rome. 

LIB'NAH,  one  of  the  royal  cities  of  the  Ca- 
naanites,  taken  by  Joshua  immediately  after 
Makkedah  (Josh.  x.  20,  30).  It  lay  within  the 
territory  assigned  to  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  42),  and 
became  one  of  the  Levitical  towns  in  that  tribe 
(Josh.  xxi.  13;  1  Chron.  vi.  57).  It  was  a 
strongly  fortified  place.  The  Assyrian  king 
Sennacherib  was  detained  some  time  before  it 
when  he  invaded  Judeea  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah ; 
and  it  was  before  it  that  he  sustained  that 
dreadful  stroke  which  constrained  him  to  with- 
draw to  his  own  country  (2  Kings  xix.  8 ;  Isa. 
xxxvii.  8).  In  the  reign  of  King  Jehoram, 
Libnah  is  said  to  have  revolted  from  him  (2  Kings 
viii.  22 ;  2  Chron.  xxi.  10).  Libnah  existed  as  a 
village  in  the  time  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  and 
is  placed  by  them  in  the  district  of  Eleuthero- 
polis. 


536 


LICE 


LIB'NATH,  or,  more  fully,  Shihor-Libnath, 
a  stream  near  Carmel,  on  the  borders  of  Asher 
(Josh.  xix.  26).  Michaelis  conceives  this  to  be 
the  ' glass-i'iver,'  i.e.  the  Belus,  from  whose 
sands  the  first  glass  was  made  by  the  Phoenicians. 

LIB'YA.  This  name,  in  its  largest  accepta- 
tion, was  used  by  the  Greeks  to  denote  the  whole 
of  Africa.  But  Libya  Proper,  which  is  the 
Libya  of  the  New  Testament  and  the  country  of 
the  Lubim  in  the  Old,  was  a  large  tract,  lying 
along  the  Mediterranean,  to  the  west  of  Egypt. 

Libya  is  supposed  to  have  been  first  peopled 
by,  and  to  have  derived  its  name  from,  the 
Lehabim  or  Lubim  [Nations,  Dispersion  of]. 
These,  its  earliest  inhabitants,  appear,  in  the 
time  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  have  consisted  of 
wandering  tribes,  who  were  sometimes  in  alliance 
with  Egypt,  and  at  others  with  the  Ethiopians, 
as  they  are  said  to  have  assisted  both  Shishak, 
king  of  Egypt,  and  Zerali  the  Ethiopian  in  their 
expeditions  against  Judasa  (2  Chron.  xii.  4 ;  xiv. 
8  ;  xvi.  9).  They  were  eventually  subdued  by 
the  Carthaginians  :  and  it  was  the  policy  of  that 
people  to  bring  the  nomade  tribes  of  Northern 
Africa  which  they  mastered  into  the  condition  of 
cultivators,  that  by  the  produce  of  their  industry 
they  might  be  able  to  raise  and  maintain  the 
numerous'  armies  with  which  they  made  their 
foreign  conquests.  But  Herodotus  ^  assures  us 
that  none  of  the  Libyans  beyond  the  Carthagi- 
nian territory  were  tillers  of  the  ground.  Since 
the  lime  of  the  Carthaginian  supremacy  the 
country,  with  the  rest  of  the  East,  has  successively 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Greeks,  Rooians, 
Saracens,  and  Turks.  The  name  of  Libya  occurs 
in  Acts  ii.  10,  where  '  the  dwellers  in  the  parts 
of  Libya  about  Cyrene'  ai-e  mentioned  among 
the  stranger  Jews  who  came  up  to  Jerusalem  at 
the  feast  of  Pentecost. 

LICE  occurs  in  Exod.  viii.  16,  17,  18  (Heb. 
12,  13,  14) ;  Ps.  cv.  31.  The  name  of  the 
creature  employed  in  the  third  plague  upon 
Egypt,  miraculously  produced  from  the  dust  of 
the'  land.  Its  exact  nature  has  been  much  dis- 
puted. Those  who  suppose  the  name  to  be 
derived  from  a  Hebrew  word  which  means  tofix, 
settle,  or  establish,  infer  lice  to  be  meant,  from 
their  fixing  themselves  on  mankind,  animals,  &c. 
Dr.  A.  Clarke  has  further  inferred  from  the 
words  '  in  man  and  in  beast,'  that  it  was  the 
'  tick.'  It  is  probable,  however,  that  not  lice, 
but  some  species  of  gnats  is  the  proper  rendering. 
It  is  not  a  valid  objection,  that  if  this  plague 
were  gnats,  &c.,  the  plague  of  flies  would  be 
anticipated,  since  the  latter  most  likgly  consisted 
of  one  particular  species  having  a  difierent  desti- 
nation [Fly]  ;  whereas  this  may  have  consisted 
of  not  only  mosquitoes  or  gnats,  but  of  some 
other  species  which  also  attack  domestic  cattle, 
as  the  osstrus,  or  tabaiius,  or  zimb ;  on  which  sup- 
position these  two  plagues  would  be  sulBciently 
distinct. 

But  since  mosquitoes,  gnats,  &c.,  have  ever 
been  one  of  the  evils  of  Egypt,  there  must  have 
been  some  peculiarity  attending  them  on  this 
occasion,  which  proved  the  plague  to  be  'the 
finger  of  God.'  From  the  next  chapter,  ver.  31, 
it  appears  that  the  flax  and  the  barley  were 
smitten  by  the  hail ;  that  the  former  was  begin- 
ning to  grow,  and  that  the  latter  was  in  the  ear 
— which,  according   to   Shaw,  takes   place    in 


LIGHT 

Egypt  in  March.  ■  Hence  these  gnats  would  be 
sent  about  February,  i.  e.  before  the  increase  of 
the  Nile,  which  takes  place  at  the  end  of  May, 
or  beginning  of  June.  Since,  then,  the  innu- 
merable swarms  of  mosquitoes,  gnats,  &c.,  which 
every  year  affect  the  Egyptians  come,  according 
to  Hasselquist,  at  the  increase  of  the  Nile,  the 
appearance  of  them  in  February  would  be  as 
much  a  variation  of  the  course  of  nature  as  the 
appearance  of  the  gadfly  in  January  would  be  in 
England.  They  were  also  probably  numerous 
and  fierce  beyond  example  on  this  occasion  ;  and 
as  the  Egyptians  would  be  utterly  unprepared 
for  them  (for  it  seems  that  this  plague  was  not 
announced),  the  effects  would  be  signally  dis- 
tressing. For  a  description  of  the  evils  inflicted 
by  these  insects  upon  man,  see  Kirby  and  Spence, 
Introduction,  to  Entomologij,  Lond.  1828,  i.  115, 
&c. 

LIGHT  is  represented  in  the  Scriptures  as  the 
immediate  result  and  offspring  of  a  divine  com- 
mand (Gen.  i.  3).  The  earth  was  void  and  dark, 
when  God  said,  '  Let  light  be,  and  light  was.' 
This  is  represented  as  having  preceded  the  plac- 
ing of 'lights  in  the  firmament  of  heaven,  the 
greater  light  to  rule  the  day,  and  the  lesser  light 
to  rule  the  night:  he  made  the  stars  also'  (Gen. 
i.  14,  sq.).  Whatever  opinion  may  be  entertained 
as  to  the  facility  with  which  these  two  separate 
acts  may  be  reconciled,  it  cannot  be  questioned 
that  the  origin  of  light,  as  of  every  other  part  of 
the  universe,  is  thus  referred  to  the  exertion  of 
the  divine  will :  as  little  can  it  be  denied  that 
the  narrative  in  the  original  is  so  simple,  yet  at 
the  same  time  so  majestic  and  impressive,  both 
in  thought  and  diction,  as  to  fill  the  heart  with 
a  lofty  and  pleasurable  sentiment  of  awe  and 
wonder. 

The  divine  origin  of  light  made  the  subject 
one  of  special  interest  to  the  Biblical  nations — 
the  rather  because  light  in  the  East  has  a  clear- 
ness, a  brilliancy,  is  accompanied  by  an  intensity 
of  heat,  and  is  followed  in  its  influence  by  a 
largeness  of  good,  of  which  the  inhabitants  of 
less  genial  climes  can  have  no  conception.  Light 
easily  and  naturally  became,  in  consequence, 
with  Orientals,  a  representative  of  the  highest 
human  good.  All  the  more  joyous  emotions  of 
the  mind,  all  the  pleasing  sensations  of  the  frame, 
all  the  happy  hours  of  domestic  intercourse,  were 
described  under  imagery  derived  from  light  (1 
Kings  xi.  36;  Isa.  Ivii.  8;  Esther  viii.  16;  Ps. 
xcvii.  11).  The  transition  was  natural  from 
earthly  to  heavenly,  from  corporeal  to  spiritual 
things ;  and  so  light  came  to  typify  true  religion 
and  the  felicity  which  it  imparts.  But  as  light 
not  only  came  from  God,  but  also  makes  man's 
way  clear  before  him,  so  it  was  employed  to  sig- 
nify moral  truth,  and  pre-eminently  that  divine 
system  of  truth  which  is  set  forth  in  the  Bible, 
from  its  earliest  gleamings  onward  to  the  perfect 
day  of  the  Great  Sun  of  Ivighteousness.  The 
application  of  the  term  to  religious  topics  had 
the  greater  propriety  because  the  light  in  the 
world,  being  accompanied  bj^  heat,  purifies, 
quickens,  enriches ;  which  efforts  it  is  the  pecu- 
liar province  of  true  religion  to  produce  in  the 
human  soul  (Isa.  viii.  20  ;  Matt.  iv.  1 6 ;  Ps,  cxix. 
105;  2  Pet.  i.  19;  Eph.  v.  8 ;  2  Tim.  i.  10;  1 
Pet.  ii.  9). 

It  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  special  providence 


LILY 

under  which  the  divine  lessons  of  the  Bible  were 
delivered,  that  the  views  which  the  Hebrews  took 
on  this  subject,  while  they  were  high  and  wortliy, 
did  not  pass  into  superstition,  and  so  cease  to  be 
trulj'  religious.  Other  Eastern  nations  beheld 
the  sun  when  it  shined,  or  the  moon  walking  in 
brightness,  and  their  hearts  were  secretly  enticed, 
and  their  mouth  kissed  their  hand  in  token  of 
adoration  (Job  xxxi.  26,  27).  This  '  iniquity ' 
the  Hebrews  not  only  avoided,  but  when  they 
considered  the  heavens  they  recognised  the  work 
of  God's  fingers,  and  learnt  a  lesson  of  humility 
as  well  as  of  reverence  (Ps.  viii.  3,  sq.). 

Among  the  personifications  on  this  point  which 
Scripture  presents  we  may  specify,  1.  God.  The 
Apostle  James  (i.  17)  declares  that  'every  good 
and  perfect  gift  cometh  down  from  the  Father  of 
lights,  with  whom  is  no  variableness,  neither 
shadow  of  turning;'  obviously  referring  to  the 
faithfulness  of  God,  and  the  constancy  of  his 
goodness,  which  shine  on  undimmed  and  unsha- 
dowed. So  Paul  (1  Tim.  vi.  16);  'God  who 
dwelleth  in  the  light  which  no  man  can  approach 
unto.'  Here  the  idea  intended  by  the  imagery  is 
the  incompreheusibleness  of  the  self-existent  and 
eternal  God. 

2.  Light  is  also  applied  to  Christ :  '  The  peo- 
ple who  sat  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light' 
(Matt.  iv.  16  ;  Luke  ii.  32  ;  John  i.  4,  sq.).  '  He 
was  the  true  light ;'  '  I  am  the  light  of  the  world' 
(John  viii.  12;  xii.  35,  3G). 

3.  It  is  further  used  of  angels,  as  in  2  Cor. 
xi.  U :  'Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an 
angel  of  light.'  4.  Light  is  moreover  employed 
of  me» :  John  the  Baptist  '  was  a  burning  and 
a  shiniig  light '  (John  v.  35) ;  '  Ye  are  the  light 
of  the  vorld '  (Matt.  v.  14 ;  see  also  Acts  xiii. 
47  ;  P]pi.  V.  8). 

LIGIS  ALOES.    [Aloes.] 

LI  GLEE.  The  Hebrew  word  Leshem  is  thus 
rendered  in  Exod.  xxviii.  19  ;  xxxix.  12  ;  and  in 
Rev.  xxi.20  it  is  put  as  equivalent  to  the  Jacinth 
or  Hyaciith;  and  it  is  certain  that  the  ligure 
and  the  jtcinth  are  regarded  as  the  same  stone. 
The  prevailing  colour  of  the  jacinth  is  orange- 
yellow-red'  which  passes  over  sometimes  into 
reddish-brovn,  sometimes  into  brownish  and  pale 
red,  and  sonetimes  into  imperfect  pistachio  green. 
It  is  harder  than  the  emerald,  but  the  artists  of 
antiquity  freGaently  engraved  upon  it.  It  comes 
to  us  from  th»  East  Indies. 

hUA.  Txis  plant  is  mentioned  in  the 
•well-known  aid  beautiful  passage  (Matt.  vi. 
26)  :  '  Considei  the  lilies  of  the  field,  how  they 
grow ;  they  toi.  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  and 
yet  I  say  unto  ;ou,  that  even  Solomon,  in  all 
his  glory,  was  n<t  arrayed  like  one  of  these ;'  so 
also  in  Luke  xii.  \7.  Here  it  is  evident  that  the 
plant  alluded  to  uust  have  been  indigenous  or 
grown  wild,  in  th.- vicinity  of  the  sea  of  Galilee, 
must  have  been  of  >n  ornamental  character,  and, 
from  the  Greek  naiie  given  to  it,  of  a  liliaceous 
nature.  Travellers 'n  Palestine  mention  that  in 
the  month  of  Januarjthe  fields  and  groves  every- 
where abouud  with  vicious  species  of  lily,  tulip, 
and  narcissus.  BenaH  noticed,  near  Acre,  on 
Jan.  18th,  and  about  .Xffa,  on  the  23rd,  tulips, 
white,  red,  blue,  &c.  Gumpenberg  saw  the 
meadows  of  Galilee  coveed  with  the  same  flowers 
on  the  31st.  Tulips  figUe  conspicuously  among 
the  flowers  of  Palestine,  So  Pococke  says,  'I 

I 


LINEN,  FINE 


537 


saw  many  tulips  growing  wild  in  the  fields  (in 
March),  and  any  one  who  considers  how  beautiful 
those  flowers  are  to  the  eye,  would  he  apt  to  con- 
jecture that  these  are  the  lilies  to  which  Solomon 
in  all  his  glory  was  not  to  be  compared.'  This 
is  much  more  likely  to  be  the  plant  intended 
than  some  others  which  have  been  adduced,  as, 
for  instance,  the  scarlet  amari/llis,  having  white 
flowers  with  bright  purple  streaks,  found  by  Salt 
at  Adowa.  Others  have  preferred  the  Crown 
imperial,  which  is  a  native  of  Persia  and  Cash- 
mere. Most  authors  have  united  in  considering 
the  white  lily,  Lilium  candidum,  to  be  the  plant 
to  which  our  Saviour  referred ;  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  it  has  ever  been  found  in  a  wild  state  in 
Palestine.  This  opinion  is  confirmed  by  a  cor- 
respondent at  Aleppo,  who  has  resided  long  in 
Syria,  but  is  acquainted  only  with  the  botany  of 
Aleppo  and  Antioch  :  '  I  never  saw  the  white  lily 
in  a  wild  state,  nor  have  I  heard  of  its  being  so 
in  Syria.  It  is  cultivated  here  on  the  roofs  of  the 
houses  in  pots  as  an  exotic  bulb,  like  thi'  dafibdil.' 
The  fallowing  extract  of  a  letter  from  Dr.  Bow- 
ring  throws  a  new  light  upon  the  subject :  '  I 
cannot  describe  to  you  with  botanical  accuracy 
the  lily  of  Palestine.  I  heard  it  called  by  the 
title  of  Lilia  syriaca,  and  I  imagine  under  this 
title  its  botanical  characteristics  may  be  hunted 
out.  Its  colour  is  a  brilliant  red ;  its  size  about 
half  that  of  the  common  tiger  lily.  The  white 
lily  I  do  not  remember  to  have  seen  in  any  part 
of  Syria.  It  was  in  April  and  May  that  1 
observed  my  flower,  and  it  was  most  abundant 
in  the  district  of  Galilee,  where  it  and  the  Eho- 
dodendron  (which  grew  in  rich  abundance  lound 
the  paths)  most  strongly  excited  my  attention.' 
On  this  Dr.  Lindley  observes,  '  It  is  clear  that 
neither  the  white  lily,  nor  the  Oporantlms  Ititeiis, 
nor  Ixiolirion,  will  answer  to  Dr.  Bowring's 
description,  which  seems  to  point  to  the  Chalce- 
doniau  or  scarlet  martugon  lily,  formerly  called 
the  lily  of  Byzantium,  found  from  the  Adriatic 
to  the  Levant,  and  which,  with  its  scarlet  turban- 
like flowers,  is  indeed  a  most  stately  and  striking 
object.'  As  this  lily  (the  Lilium  dialcedonicum 
of  botanists)  is  in  flower  at  the  season  of  the 
year  when  the  sermon  on  the  Mount  is  supposed 
to  have  been  spoken,  is  indigenous  in  the  very 
locality,  and  is  conspicuous,  even  in  the  garden, 
for  its  remarkable  showy  flowers,  there  can  now 
be  little  doubt  that  it  is  the  plant  alluded  to  by 
our  Saviour. 

LINEN,  FINE.  The  word  Shesh,  thus  trans- 
lated in  the  Authorized  Version,  occurs  twenty- 
eight  times  in  Exodus,  once  in  Genesis,  once  in 
Proverbs,  and  three  times  in  Ezekiel.  Consider- 
able doubts  have,  however,  always  been  enter- 
tained respecting  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  ; 
but  it  appears  to  us  to  signify  hemp,  which  is  a 
plant  that  in  the  present  day  is  extensively  dis- 
tributed, being  cultivated  in  Europe,  and  extend- 
ing through  Persia  to  the  southernmost  parts  of 
India.  In  the  plains  of  that  country  it  is  culti- 
vated on  account  of  its  intoxicating  product,  so 
well  known  as  bang ;  in  the  Himalayas  both  on 
this  account  and  for  its  yielding  the  ligneous  fibre 
which  is  used  for  sack  and  rope-making.  There 
is  no  doubt  that  it  might  easily  have  been  culti- 
vated in  Egypt.  Herodotus  mentions  it  as  being 
employed  by  the  Thracians  for  making  garments. 
•  These  were  so  like  linen,  that  none  but  a  very 


LION 


LION 


experienced  person  could  tell  -whether  they  were 
of  hemp  or  flax ;  one  who  had  never  seen  hemp 
would  certainly  suppose  them  to  be  linen.'  Hemp 
is  used  iu  the  present  day  for  smockfrocks  and 
tunics  ;  and  Russia  sheeting  and  Russia  duck  are 
well  known.  Dioscorides  describes  it  as  being 
employed  for  making  ropes,  and  it  was  a  good 
deal  cultivated  by  the  Greeks  for  this  purpose. 
Though  we  a"e  unable  at  present  to  prove  that  it 
was  cultivated  in  Egypt  at  an  early  period,  and 
used  for  making  garments,  yet  there  is  nothing 
improbable  in  its  having  been  so.  Indeed,  as  it 
was  known  to  various  Asiatic  nations,  it  could 
hardly  have  been  unknown  to  the  Egyptians. 
Hemp  might  thus  have  been  used  at  an  early 
period,  along  with  flax  and  wool,  for  making 
cloth  for  garments  and  for  hangings,  and  would 
be  much  valued  until  cotton  and  the  finer  kinds 
of  linen  came  to  be  known. 

LI'NUS,  one  of  the  Christians  at  Rome  whose 
salutations  Paul  sent  to  Timothy  (2  Tim.  iv.  21). 
He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  of  Rome 
after  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  and  Paul. 

LION,  the  most  powerful,  daring,  and  im- 
pressive of  all  carnivorous  animals,  the  most 
magnificent  in  aspect  and  awful  in  voice.  Being 
very  common  in  Syria  in  early  times,  the  lion 
naturally  supplied  many  forcible  images  to  the 
poetical  language  of  Scripture,  and  not  a  few  his- 
torical incidents  in  its  narratives.  This  is  shown 
by  the  great  number  of  passages  where  this  ani- 
mal, iu  all  the  stages  of  existence — as  the  whelp, 
the  young  adult,  the  fully  mature,  the  lioness — 
occurs  under  different  names,  exhibiting  that 
multiplicity  of  denominations  which  always  re- 
sults when  some  great  image  is  constantly  present 
to  the  popular  mind.  Thus  we  have,  1 .  Gor,  a 
lion's  whelp,  a  very  young  lion  (Gen.  xlix.  9  ; 
Dent,  xxxiii.  20 ;  Jer.  li.  38 ;  Ezek.  xix.  2 ; 
Nahum  ii.  11,  12,  &c.).  2.  Chephir,  a  young 
lion,  when  first  leaving  the  protection  of  the  old 
pair  to  hunt  independently  (Ezek.  xix.  2,  3 ; 
Ps.  xci.  13;  Prov.  xix.  12,  &c.).  3.  Ari,  an 
adult  and  vigorous  lion,  a  lion  having  paired, 
vigilant  and  enterprising  in  search  of  prey 
(Nahum  ii.  12  ;  2  Sam.  xvii.  10 ;  Num.  xxiii.  24). 
This  is  the  common  name  of  the  animal.  4. 
Saclial,  a  mature  lion  in  full  strength  ;  a  black 
lion?  (Job  iv.  10;  x.  16;  Ps.  xci.  13;  Prov. 
xxvi.  13;  Hosea  v.  14;  xiii.  7).  This  denomi- 
nation may  very  possibly  refer  to  a  distinct 
variety  of  lion,  and  not  to  a  black  species  or  race, 
because  neither  black  nor  white  lions  are  recorded, 
excepting  in  Oppian  ;  but  the  term  may  be  safely 
referred  to  the  colour  of  tiie  skin,  not  of  the  fur ; 


for  some  lions  have  the  former  fair,  and  ev^n 
rosy,  while  in  other  races  it  is  perfectly  black. 
An  Asiatic  lioness,  formerly  at  Exeter  Change, 
had  the  naked  part  of  the  nose,  the  roof  of  the 
mouth,  and  the  bare  soles  of  all  the  feet  pure 
black,  though  the  fur  itself  was  very  pale  buff. 
5.  Laish,  a  fierce  lion,  one  in  a  state  of  fury 
(Job  iv.  11  ;  Prov.  xxx.  30 ;  Isa.  xxx.  6).  6. 
Labia,  a  lioness  (Job  iv.  11,  where  the  lion's 
whelps  are  denominated  *  the  sons  of  Labiah,' 
(or  of  the  lioness). 

The  lion  is  the  largest  and  most  formidably 
armed  of  all  carnassier  animals,  the  Indian  tiger 
alone  claiming  to  be  his  equal.  One  full  grown, 
of  Asiatic  race,  weighs  above  450  pounds,  and 
those  of  Africa  often  above  500  pounds.  '  The  fall 
of  a  fore  paw  in  striking  has  been  estimated  to  be 
equal  to  twenty-five  pounds'  weight,  and  the  grasp 
of  the  claws,  cutting  four  inches  in  depth,  is  suflB- 
ciently  powerful  to  break  the  vertebrae  of  an  ox. 
The  huge  laniary  teeth  and  jagged  molars  worked 
by  powerful  jaws,  and  the  tongue  entirely  covered 
with  horny  papillae,  hard  as  a  rasp,  are  all  subser- 
vient to  an  immensely  strong,  muscular  structure, 
capable  of  prodigious  exertion,  and  minister  to 
the  self-confidence  which  these  means  of  attack 
inspire.  In  Asia  the  lion  rarely  measures  more 
than  nine  feet  and  a  half  from  the  nose  to  the  end 
of  the  tail,  though  a  tiger-skin  of  which  we  took 
the  dimensions  was  but  a  trifle  less  than  13  feet. 
In  Africa  they  are  considerably  larger,  and  sup- 
plied with  a  much  greater  quantity  of  3iane. 
Both  tiger  and  lion  are  furnished  with  a  small 
horny  apex  to  the  tail— a  fact  noticed  jy  the 
ancients,  but  only  verified  of  late  years,  liecause 
this  object  lies  concealed  in  the  hair  of  the  tip, 
and  is  very  liable  to  drop  off.  All  the  7arieties 
of  the  lion  are  spotted  when  whelps ;  iut  they 
become  gradually  buff  or  pale.  One  African 
variety,  very  large  in  size,  perhaps  i  distinct 
species,  has  a  peculiar  and  most  ferooous  phy- 
siognomy, a  dense  black  mane  exteniing  half 
way  down  the  back,  and  a  black  friige  along 
the  abdomen  and  tip  of  the  tail ;  whke  those  dt 
southern  Persia  and  the  Dekkan  are  learly  des- 
titute of  that  defensive  ornament.  7he  roaring 
voice  of  the  species  is  notorious  to  a  jroverb,  but 
the  warning  cry  of  attack  is  short,  siappish,  and 
sharp.  Like  all  the  felinae,  they  are  more  or  less 
nocturnal,  and  seldom  go  abroad  tf  pursue  their 
prey  till  after  sunset.  When  n»t  pressed  by 
hunger,  they  are  naturally  indolnt,  and,  from 
their  habits  of  uncontrolled  supenority,  perhaps 
capricious,  but  often  less  sanguinaiy  and  vindictive 
than  is  expected. 

Lions  are  monogamous,  the  nale  living  con- 
stantly with  the  lioness,  both  iunting  together, 
or  for  each  other  when  there  isa  litter  of  whelps ; 
and  the  mutual  aff^ection  and  care  for  their  off- 
spring which  they  display  areremarkable  in  ani- 
mals by  nature  doomed  to  live  by  blood  and 
slaughter.  It  is  while  seedling  prey  for  their 
young  that  they  are  most  dangerous ;  at  other 
times  they  bear  abstinence,and  when  pressed  by 
hunger  will  sometimes  fed  on  carcasses  found 
dead.  They  live  to  more  than  fifty  years  ;  con- 
sequently, having  annual  litters  of  from  three  to 
five  cubs,  they  multily  rapidly  when  not 
seriously  opposed.  In  iucient  times,  when  the 
devastations  of  Egyptin,  Persian,  Greek,  and 
Bomaa  armies  passed  over  Palestine,  there  can 


LITTER 

be  little  doubt  that  thesp  destroyers  made  their 
appearance  in  great  numbers.  The  fact,  indeed, 
ia  a.tes'^Q  b^  the  impression  which  their  increase 
made  upon  the  mixed  heathen  population  of  Sa- 
maria, when  Israel  was  carried  away  into  cap- 
tivity (2  Kings  xvii.  25,  26). 

The  Scriptures  present  many  striking  pictures 
of  lions,  touched  with  wonderful  force  and  fide- 
lity :  even  where  the  animal  is  a  direct  instru- 
ment of  the  Almighty,  while  true  to  his  mission, 
he  still  remains  so  to  his  nature.  Thus  nothing 
can  be  more  graphic  than  the  record  of  the  man 
of  God  (1  Kings  xiii.  28),  disobedient  to  his 
charge,  struck  down  from  his  ass,  and  lying 
dead,  while  the  lion  stands  by  him,  without 
touching  the  lifeless  body,  or  attacking  the  living 
animal,  usually  a  favourite  prey.  See  also  Gen. 
xlix.  9 ;  Job  iv.  10,  11 ;  Nahum  ii.  11,  12.  Sam- 
son's adventure  also  with  the  young  lion  (Judg. 
xiv.  5,  6),  and  the  picture  of  the  young  lion 
coming  up  from  the  underwood  cover  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan,  all  attest  a  perfect  know- 
ledge of  the  animal  and  its  habits.  Finally,  the 
lions  in  the  den  with  Daniel,  miraculously  leav- 
ing him  unmolested,  still  retain,  in  all  other 
respects,  the  real  characteristics  of  their  nature. 

The  lion,  as  an  emblem  of  power,  was  symbol- 
ical of  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Gen.  xlix.  9).  The 
type  recurs  in  the  prophetical  visions,  and  the 
figure  of  this  animal  was  among  the  few  which 
the  Hebrews  admitted  in  sculpture,  or  in  cast 
metal,  as  exemplified  in  the  throne  of  Solomon. 
Lions,  in  remote  antiquity,  appear  to  have  been 
trained  for  the  chace,  and  are,  even  now,  occa- 
sionally domesticated  with  safety.  Placability 
and  attachment  are  displayed  by  them  even  to 
the  degree  of  active  defence  of  their  friends,  as 
was  exemplified  at  Birr,  in  Ireland,  in  1839, 
when  '  a  keeper  of  wild  beasts,  being  within  the 
den,  had  fallen  accidentally  upon  a  tiger,  who 
immediately  caught  the  man  by  the  thigh,  ir  the 
presence  of  numerous  spectators ;  but  a  lion, 
being  in  the  same  compartment,  rose  up,  and 
seizing  the  tiger  by  the  neck,  compelled  it  to  let 
go,  and  the  man  was  saved.'  Numerous  anec- 
dotes of  a  similar  character  are  recorded  both  by 
ancient  and  modem  writers. 

Zoologists  consider  Africa  the  primitive  abode 
of  lions,  their  progress  towards  the  north  and 
west  having  at  one  time  extended  to  the  forests 
of  Macedonia  and  Greece ;  but  in  Asia,  never  to 
the  south  of  the  Nerbudda,  nor  east  of  the  lower 
Ganges.  Since  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  and 
even  since  the  havoc  which  the  ostentatious  bar- 
barism of  Roman  grandees  made  among  them, 
they  have  diminished  in  number  exceedingly, 
although  at  the  present  day  individuals  are  not 
unfrequently  seen  in  Barbary,  within  a  short  dis- 
tance of  Ceuta. 

LITTER.  The  word  translated  litter,  in  Isa. 
Ixvi.  20,  is  the  same  which,  in  Num.  vii.  3,  de- 
notes the  wains  or  carts  drawn  by  oxen,  in  which 
the  materials  of  the  tabernacle  were  removed 
from  place  to  place.  It  was  not,  therefore,  a 
litter,  which  is  not  drawn,  but  carried.  This  is 
the  only  place  in  which  the  word  occurs  in  the 
Authorized  translation.  We  are  not,  however,  to 
infer  from  this  that  the  Hebrews  had  no  vehicles 
of  the  kuid.  Litters  or  palanquins  were,  as  We 
k«iu«,  in  use  among  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
They  were  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  men  (No. 


LITTER 


,^39 


233),  and  appear  to  have  been  used  for  carrying 
persons  of  consideration  short  distances  on  visits, 
like  the  sedan  chairs  of  a  former  day  in  England. 
We  doubt  if  the  Hebrews  had  this  kind  of  litter, 
as  it  scarcely  agrees  with  their  simple,  unlux- 
urious  habits  ;  but  that  they  had  litters  borne  by 
beasts,  such  as  are  still  common  in  Western  Asia, 
seems  in  the  highest  degree  probable. 

In  Cant.  iii.  9  we  find  a  word  which  occurs 
nowhere  else  in  Scripture,  and  is  applied  to  a 
vehicle  used  by  king  Solomon.  This  word  is 
rendered  'chariot'  in  our  Authorized  version, 
although  unlike  any  other  word  so  rendered  in 
that  version.  It  literally  means  a  moving  couch, 
and   is  usually  conceived  to  denote   a   kind  of 


sedan,  litter,  or  rather  palanquin,  in  which  great 
personages  and  women  were  borne  from  place  to 
place.  The  name,  as  well  as  the  object,  immedi- 
ately suggests  that  it  may  have  been  nearly  the 
same  thing  as  the  moving  throne  or  seat  of  the 
Persians.     It  consists  of  a  light  frame  fixed  on 


two  strong  poles,  like  those  of  our  sedan-chair. 
The  frame  is  generally  covered  with  cloth,  and 
has  a  door,  sometimes  of  lattice  work,  at  each 
side.  It  is  carried  by  two  mules,  one  between 
the  poles  before,  the  other  behind.  These  con- 
veyances are  used  by  great  persons  when  disposed 
for  retirement  or  ease  during  a  journey,  or  when 
sick  or  feeble  from  age.  But  they  are  chiefly 
used  by  ladies  of  consideration  in  their  journeys 
(No.  234). 

The  popular  illustrators  of  Scripture  do  not 
appear  to  have  been  acquainted  with  this  and  the 
other  litters  of  Western  Asia ;  and  have,  there- 
fore, resorted  to  India,  and  drawn  their  illustra- 
tions from  the  palanquins  borne  by  men,  and 
from  the  howdahs  of  elephants.  This  is  unneces- 
sary, as  Western  Asia  still  supplies  conveyances 
of  this  description,  more  suitable  and  more  likely 
to  have  been  anciently  in  use,  than  any  which 
the  further  east  can  produce.  If  the  one  already 
described  should  seem  too  humble,  there  are  other 
takht-ravans  of  more  imposing  appearance.  Some 
readers  may  remember  the  '  litter  of  red  cloth. 


540 


LIVER 


adorned  willi  pearls  and  jewels,'  together  with 
ten  mules  (to  bear  it  by  turns),  which  the  king 
Zahr  Shah  prepared  lor  the  journey  of  his 
daughter.  This  was,  doubtless,  of  the  kind  which 
is  borne  by  four  mules,  two  behind  and  two  be- 
fore. In  Arabia,  or  in  the  countries  Avhere  Ara- 
bian usages  prevail,  two  camels  are  usually  em- 
ployed to  bear  the  takht-ravan,  and  sometimes 
two  horses.  When  borne  by  camels,  the  head  of 
tlie  hindmost  of  the  animals  is  bent  painfully 
down  under  the  vehicle.  This  is  the  most  com- 
fortable kind  of  litter,  and  two  light  persons  may 
ti'avel  in  it. 


The  shibreeyeh  is  another  kind  of  camel -litter, 
resembling  the  Indian  hoivdah,  by  which  name 
(or  rather  liddaj)  it  is  sometimes  called.  It  is 
composed  of  a  small  square  platform  with  a 
canopy  or  arched  covering.     It  accommodates 


but  one  person,  and  is  placed  upon  the  back  of  a 
camel,  and  rests  upon  two  square  camel-chests, 
one  on  each  side  of  the  animal.  It  is  very  evi- 
dent, not  only  from  the  text  in  view,  but  from 
others,  that  the  Hebrews  had  litters ;  and  there 
is  little  reason  to  doubt  that  they  were  the  same 
as  those  now  employed  in  Palestine  and  the 
neighbouring  countries,  where  there  are  still  the 
same  circumstances  of  climate,  the  same  domestic 
animals,  and  essentially  the  same  habits  of  life, 
as  in  the  Biblical  period. 

LIVER  occurs  in  Exod.  xxix.  13,  22;  Lev. 
iii.  4,  10,  15;  iv.  9;  vii.  4;  viii.  16,  25;  ix.  10, 
19  ;  Prov.  vii.  23  ;  Lam.  ii.  11  ;  Ezek.  xxi.  21. 
In  all  the  instances  where  the  word  occurs  in  the 
Pentateuch,  it  forms  part  of  the  phrase  translated 
in  the  Authorized  Version  '  the  caul  that  is  above 
the  liver,'  but  which  Gesenius  understands  to  be 
the  great  lobe  of  the  liver  itself,  rather  than  the 
caul  over  it.  Jahn  thinks  the  smaller  lobe  to  be 
meant.  It  appears  from  the  same  passages  that 
it  was  burnt  upon  the  altar,  and  not  eaten  as 
sacrificial  food.  The  liver  was  supposed  by  the 
>ncieut  Jews,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  to  be  the  seat 


^  LIZARD 

of  the  passions,  pride,  love,  &c.  Thus,  Gen.  xlix. 
6,  'with  their  assembly  let  not'  literally  'my 
liver  be  united.'  Wounds  in  the  liver  were  sup- 
posed to  be  mortal;  tluis  the  expressions  iu 
Prov.  vii.  23,  '  a  dart  through  his  liver,'  and  Lam. 
ii.  11,  '  my  liver  is  poured  out  upon  the  earth,' 
are  each  of  them  a  periphrasis  for  deatii  itself. 
The  passage  in  Ezekiel  (ch.  xxi.  21)  contains  au 
interesting  reference  to  the  most  ancient  of  all 
modes  of  divination,  by  the  inspection  of  the 
viscera  of  animals  and  even  of  mankind  sacri- 
ficially  slaughtered  for  the  purpose.  It  is  there 
said  that  the  king  of  Babylon,  among  other  modes 
of  divination,  referred  to  in  the  same  verse, 
'  looked  upon  the  liver.'  The  liver  was  always 
considered  the  most  important  organ  in  the  an- 
cient art  of  divination  by  the  entrails.  Philo- 
stratus  felicitously  describes  it  as  '  the  prophesy- 
ing tripod  of  all  divination.'  It  is  an  interesting 
inquiry  how  this  regard  to  it  originated.  Vitruvius 
suggests  a  plausible  theory  of  the  first  rise  of  di- 
vination by  the  liver.  He  says  the  ancients 
inspected  the  livers  of  those  animals  which  fre- 
quented the  places  where  they  wished  to  settle  ; 
and  if  they  found  the  liver,  to  which  they  chiefly 
ascribed  the  process  of  sanguification,  was  injured, 
they  concluded  that  the  water  and  nourishment 
collected  in  such  localities  were  unwholesome 
(i.  4).  But  divination  is  coeval  and  co-extensive 
with  a  belief  in  the  divinity.  We  know  that  as 
early  as  the  days  of  Cain  and  Abel  there  were 
certain  means  of  communication  between  God 
and  man,  and  that  those  means  were  connected 
with  the  sacrifice  of  animals ;  and  we  prefer  to 
consider  those  means  as  the  source  of  divination 
in  later  ages,  conceiving  that  when  the  real 
tokens  of  the  divine  interest  Avith  which  the  pri- 
mitive families  of  man  were  favoured  ceased,  in 
consequence  of  the  multiplying  of  human  trans- 
gressions, their  descendants  endeavoured  to  obtain 
counsel  and  information  by  the  same  external 
observances.  We  believe  that  thus  only  will  the 
minute  resemblances  be  accounted  for,  which  we 
discover  between  the  different  methods  of  divina- 
tion, utterly  untraceable  to  reason,  but  which  have 
prevailed  from  unknown  antiquity  among  the 
most  distant  regions.  It  is  further  important  to 
remark  that  the  first  recorded  instance  of  divina- 
tion is  that  of  the  teraphim  of  Laban,  a  native  of 
Padan-aram,  a  district  bordering  on  that  country 
(1  Sam.  xix.  13,  16),  but  by  which  teraphim  both 
the  Sept.  and  Josephus  understood  '  the  liver  of 
goats.' 

LIZARD.  Under  this  denomination  the 
modern  zoologist  places  all  the  cold-blooded 
animals  that  have  the  conformation  of  serpents 
with  the  addition  of  four  ieet.  Thus  viewed,  as 
one  great  family,  they  constitute  the  Saurians, 
Lacertina;,  and  Lacertidte  of  authors  ;  embracing 
numerous  generical  divisions,  which  commence 
with  the  largest,  that  is,  the  crocodile  group,  and 
pass  through  sundry  others,  a  variety  of  species, 
formidable,  disgusting,  or  pleasing  iu  appearance 
— some  equally  frequenting  the  land  and  water, 
others  absolutely  confined  to  the  earth  and  to  the 
most  arid  deserts  ;  and  though  in  general  harm- 
less, there  are  a  few  with  disputed  properties, 
some  being  held  to  poison  or  corrode  by  means 
of  the  exudation  of  an  ichor,  and  others  extolled 
as  of  medical  use  in  pharmacy  ;  but  these  pro- 
perties in  most,  if  not  in  all,  are  undetermined 


LIZARD 

or  illusory.  Of  some  genera,  such  as  the  cro- 
codile and  chameleon,  we  have  already  made 
mention  [Chameleon;  Crocodile;  Dragon; 
Leviathan],  and  therefore  we  shall  confine  our 
present  remarks  to  the  lizards  that  are  inhabitants 
of  Western  Asia  and  Egypt,  and  to  those  more 
particularly  noticed  in  the  Bible.  Of  these  com- 
mentators indicate  six  or  seven  species,  whereof 
some  indeed  may  be  misapprehended  ;  but  when 
it  is  considered  that  the  regions  of  Syria,  Arabia, 
and  Egypt  aie  overrun  with  animals  of  this 
family,  there  is  every  reason  to  expect  allusion 
to  more  than  one  genus  in  the  Scriptures,  where 
so  many  observations  and  similes  are  derived 
from  the  natural  objects  which  were  familiar  to 
the  various  writers.  In  Lev.  xi.  29  mention  is 
made  of  a  species  called  tzah,  which  Bochart 
refers  to  one  of  the  group  of  Monitors  or  Varanus, 
the  Nilotic  lizard.  Like  the  other  of  this  form, 
it  is  possessed  of  a  tail  double  the  length  of  the 
body,  but  is  not  so  well  known  in  Palestine, 
where  there  is  only  one  real  river  (Jordan), 
•which  is  not  tenanted  by  this  species.  We  have 
already  shown  that  the  true  crocodile  frequented 
the  shores  and  marshes  of  the  coast  down  to  a 
comparatively  late  period  ;  and  therefore  it  may 
well  have  had  a  more  specific  name  than  Levia- 
than— a  word  apparently  best  suited  to  the  dig- 
nified and  lofty  diction  of  the  prophets,  and  clearly 
of  more  general  signification  than  the  more  collo- 
quial designation.  Jerome  was  of  this  opinion  ; 
and  it  is  thus  likely  that  tzah  was  applied  to  both, 
as  waran  is  novt^  considered  only  a  variety  of,  or 
a  young,  crocodile.  There  is  a  second  of  the 
same  group,  Lacerta  Scincus  of  Merrem  (  Varanus 
Areii/jriiis),  Waran-el-hard,  also  reaching  to  six 
feet  ill  length ;  and  a  third,  not  as  yet  clearly 
described,  which  appears  to  be  larger  than  either, 
growing  to  nine  feet,  and  covered  with  bright 
cupreous  scales.  This  last  prefers  rocky  and 
stony  situations.  It  is  in  this  section  of  the 
Saurians  that  most  of  the  gigantic  fossil  species, 
the  real  '  children  of  the  giants,'  are  found  to  be 
located ;  and  of  the  existing  species  some  are  re- 
ported to  possess  great  strength.  One  of  the  last- 
mentiored  pursues  its  prey  on  land  with  a  rapid 
bounding  action,  feeds  on  the  larger  insects,  and 
is  said  to  attiick  game  in  a  body,  sometimes 
destroying  even  sheep.  The  Arabs,  in  agreement 
with  the  ancients,  assert  that  this  species  will  do 
fierce  and  victorious  battle  with  serpents. 


LOAN 


541 


237.    [Lacerta  Stellio.] 

We  come  next  to  the  group  of  lizards  more 
properly  so  called,  which  Hebrew  commentators 
take  to  be  the  letuah,  a  name  having  some  allu- 
sion to  poison  and  adhesiveness.  The  word 
occurs  only  once  ( Lev.  xi.  30),  where  Saurians 
alone  appear  to  be  indicated.  If  the  Hebrew  root 
were  to  guide  the  decision,  letaah  would  be  another 


name  for  the  gecko  or  unahah,  for  there  is  but  one 
species  which  can  be  deemed  venomous  ;  and  with 
regard  to  the  quality  of  adhesiveness,  though  the 
geckos  possess  it  most,  numerous  common  lizards 
run  up  and  down  perpendicular  walls  with  great 
facility.  We,  therefore,  take  chomet,  or  the 
sand  lizard  of  Bochart,  to  be  tiie  true  lizard, 
several  (probably  many)  species  existing  in  my- 
riads on  the  rocks  in  sandy  places,  and  in  ruins  in 
every  part  of  Palestine  and  the  adjacent  countries. 
There  is  one  species  particularly  abundant  and 
small,  well  known  in  Arabia  by  the  name  of  Sara- 
bandi.  W^e  now  come  to  the  Slellioues,  which 
have  been  confounded  with  the  noxious  geckos 
and  others  from  the  time  of  Aldrovandus,  and 
thence  have  been  a  source  of  inextricable  trouble 
to  commentators.  They  are  best  known  by  the 
bundles  of  starlike  spines  on  the  body. 

Next  we  place  the  Geckotians,  among  vrhich 
comes  anakah,  in  our  versions  denominated /er- 
ret,  but  which  is  with  more  propriety  transferred 
to  the  noisy  and  venomous  abu-burs  of  the  Arabs. 
The  particular  species  most  probably  meant  is 
the  lacerta  gecko  of  Hasselquist,  the  gecko  lohatus 
of  Geoffry,  "distinguished  by  having  the  soles  of 
the  feet  dilated  and  striated  like  open  fans,  from 
whence  a  poisonous  ichor  is  said  to  exude,  in- 
flaming the  human  skin,  and  infecting  food  that 
may  have  been  trod  upon  by  the  animal.  Hence 
the  Arabic  name  of  abu-burs,  or  '  father-leprosy,' 
at  Cairo. 

To  these  we  add  the  Chameleons,  already 
described  [Chameleon];  and  then  follows  the 
Scincus. 

Of  the  species  of  Seps,  that  is,  viviparous 
serpent-lizards,  having  the  body  of  snakes,  with 
four  weak  limbs,  a  species,  with  only  three  toes 
on  each  foot,  appears  to  extend  to  Syria. 

LOAN.  The  Mosaic  laws  which  relate  to  the 
subject  of  borrowing,  lending,  and  repaying,  are 
in  substance  as  follows: — If  an  Israelite  became 
poor,  what  he  desired  to  borrow  was  to  be  freely 
lent  to  him,  and  no  interest,  either  of  money  or 
produce,  could  be  exacted  from  him ;  interest 
might  be  taken  of  a  foreigner,  but  not  of  an 
Israelite  by  another  Israelite  (Exod.  xxii.  25 ; 
Deut.  xxiii.  19,  20;  Lev.  xxv.  35,  38).  At  the 
end  of  every  seven  years  a  remission  of  debts  was 
ordained  ;  every  creditor  was  to  remit  what  he 
had  lent:  of  a  foreigner  the  loan  might  be  exacted, 
but  not  of  a  brother.  If  an  Israelite  wished  to  i 
borrow,  he  was  not  to  be  refused  because  the  year  I 
of  remission  was  at  hand  (Deut.  XV.  1-11).  Pledges 
might  be  taken,  but  not  as  such  the  mill  or  the 
upper  millstone,  for  that  would  be  to  take  a  man's 
life  in  pledge.  If  the  pledge  was  raiment,  it  was 
to  be  given  back  before  sunset,  as  being  needful 
for  a  covering  at  night.  The  widow's  garment 
could  not  be  taken  in  pledge  (Exod.  xxii.  26,  27  ; 
Deut.  xxiv.  6,  17). 

These  laws  relating  to  loans  may  wear  a  strange 
aspect  to  the  mere  modern  reader,  and  cannot  be 
understood,  either  in  their  bearing  or  their  sanc- 
tions, unless  considered  from  the  Biblical  point  of 
view.  The  land  of  Canaan  (as  the  entire  world) 
belonged  to  its  Creator,  but  was  given  of  God  to 
the  descendants  of  Abraham  under  certain  con- 
ditions, of  which  this  liberality  to  the  needy  was 
one.  The  power  of  getting  loans  therefore  was  a 
part  of  the  poor  man's  inheritance.  It  wa.s  a  lien 
on  the  land  (the  source  of  all  property  with  agri- 


542 


LOAN 


CiJtural  people\  -which  was  as  valid  as  the  tenure 
of  any  given  portion  by  the  tribe  or  family  to 
whose  lot  it  had  fallen.  This  is  the  light  in  which 
the  Mosaic  polity  represents  the  matter,  and  in 
this  light,  so  long  as  that  polity  retained  its  force, 
would  it,  as  a  matter  of  course,  be  regarded  by 
the  owners  of  property.  Thus  the  execution  of 
this  particular  law  was  secured  by  the  entire  force 
with  which  the  constitution  itself  was  recom- 
mended and  sustained.  But  as  human  selfishness 
might  in  time  endanger  this  particular  set  of  laws, 
so  Moses  applied  special  support  to  the  possibly 
weak  part.  Hence  the  emphasis  with  which  he 
enjoins  the  duty  of  lending  to  the  needy.  Of  this 
emphasis  the  very  essence  is  the  sanction  supplied 
by  that  special  providence  which  lay  at  the  very 
basis  of  the  Mosaic  commonwealth  ;  so  that  lend- 
ing to  the  destitute  came  to  be  enforced  with  all 
the  power  derivable  from  the  express  will  of  God. 

That  the  system  of  law  regarding  loans  was 
carried  into  etfect  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt.  It 
formed  an  essential  part  of  the  general  constitu- 
tion, and  therefore  came  recommended  with  the 
entire  sanction  which  that  system  had  on  its  own 
behalf;  nor  were  there  any  predominant  antago- 
nist principles  at  work  which  would  prevent  this 
from  proceeding  step  by  step,  in  its  proper  place 
and  time,  with  the  residue  of  the  Mosaic  legisla- 
tion. Nor  do  the  passages  of  Scripture  (Job  xxii. 
G;  xxiv.  .3;  Matt,  xviii.  28;  Prov.  xxviii.  8; 
Ezek.  xviii.  8  ;  Ps.  xv.  5 ;  cix.  11),  which  give  us 
reason  to  think  that  usury  was  practised  and  the 
poor  debtor  oppressed,  show  anything  but  those 
breaches  to  which  laws  are  always  liable,  espe- 
cially iu  a  period  when  morals  grow  corrupt  and 
institutions  in  consequence  decline. 

While,  however,  the  benign  tendency  of  the 
laws  in  question  is  admitted,  may  it  not  be  ques- 
tioned whether  they  were  strictly  just  ?  Such  a 
doubt  could  arise  only  in  a  mind  which  viewed 
the  subject  from  the  position  of  our  actual  society. 
A  modern  might  plead  that  he  had  a  right  to  do 
what  he  pleased  with  his  own  ;  that  his  property 
of  €fvery  kind— land,  food,  money — was  his  own  ; 
and  that  he  was  justified  to  turn  all  and  each  part 
to  account  for  his  own  benefit.  Apart  from  reli- 
gious considerations  this  position  is  impregnable. 
But  such  a  view  of  property  finds  no  support  in 
the  Mosaic  institutions.  In  them  property  has  a 
divine  origin,  and  its  use  is  entrusted  to  man  on 
certain  conditions,  which  conditions  are  as  valid 
as  is  the  tenure  of  property  itself.  In  one  sense, 
indeed,  the  entire  land — all  property — was  a  great 
loan,  a  loan  lent  of  God  to  the  people  of  Israel, 
who  might  well  therefore  acquiesce  in  any  ar- 
rangement which  required  a  portion— a  small 
portion— of  this  loan  to  be  under  certain  circum- 
stances accessible  to  the  destitute.  This  view 
receives  confirmation  from  the  fact  that  interest 
might  be  taken  of  persons  who  were  not  Hebrews, 
and  therefore  lay  beyond  the  sphere  embraced  by 
this  special  arrangement. 

Had  the  Hebrews  enjoyed  a  free  intercourse 
with  other  nations,  the  permission  to  take  usury 
of  foreigners  might  have  had  the  effect  of  impo- 
verishing Palestine  by  affording  a  strong  induce- 
ment for  employing  capital  abroad;  but,  under 
the  actual  restrictions  of  the  Mosaic  law,  this  evil 
was  impossible.  Some  not  inconsiderable  advan- 
tages must  have  ensued  from  the  observance  of 
these  laws.     The  entire  alienation  and  loss  of  the 


LOCUST 

lent  property  were  prevented  by  that  peculiar  in- 
stitution which  restored  to  every  man  his  property 
at  the  great  year  of  release.  In  the  interval  be- 
tween the  jubilees  the  system  under  consideration 
would  tend  to  prevent  those  inequalities  of  social 
condition  which  always  arise  rapidly,  and  which 
have  not  seldom  brought  disaster  and  ruin  on 
states.  The  affluent  were  required  to  part  with 
a  portion  of  their  affluence  to  supply  the  wants 
of  the  needy,  without  exacting  that  recompense 
which  would  only  make  the  rich  richer  and  the 
poor  more  needy ;  thus  superinducing  a  state  of 
things  scarcely  more  injurious  to  the  one  than  to 
the  other  of  these  two  parties.  There  was  also 
in  this  system  a  strongly  conservative  influence. 
Agriculture  was  the  foundation  of  the  constitu- 
tion. Had  money-lending  been  a  trade,  money- 
making  would  also  have  been  eagerly  pursued. 
Capital  would  be  withdrawn  from  the  land  ;  the 
agriculturist  would  pass  into  the  usurer ;  huge 
inequalities  would  arise  ;  commerce  would  assume 
predominance,  and  the  entire  commonwealth  be 
overturned — ^changes  and  evils  which  were  pre- 
vented, or,  if  not  so,  certainly  retarded  and  abated, 
by  the  code  of  laws  regarding  loans.  As  it  was, 
the  gradually  increasing  wealth  of  the  country  was 
in  the  main  laid  out  on  the  soil,  so  as  to  augment 
its  productiveness  and  distribute  its  bounties. 

These  views  may  prepare  the  reader  for  con- 
sidering the  doctrine  of  '  the  Great  Teacher '  on 
the  subject  of  loans.  It  is  found  forcibly  ex- 
pressed in  Luke's  Gospel  (vi.  34,  35):  'If  ye 
lend  to  them  of  whom  ye  hope  to  receive,  what 
thank  have  ye  ?  for  sinners  also  lend  to  sinners,  to 
receive  as  much  again  :  but  love  ye  your  enemies, 
and  do  good,  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again  ; 
and  your  reward  shall  be  great,  and  ye  sliall  be 
the  children  of  the  Highest ;  for  he  is  kind  unto 
the  unthankful  and  to  the  evil.'  The  meaning  of 
the  passage  is  distinct  and  full,  unmistakeable, 
and  not  to  be  evaded.  He  commands  men  to 
lend,  not  as  Jews  to  Jews,  but  even  to  enemies, 
without  asking  or  receiving  any  return,  after  the 
manner  of  the  Great  Benefactor  of  the  Universe, 
who  sends  down  his  rains,  and  bids  his  sun  to 
shine  on  the  fields  of  the  unjust  as  well  as  of  the 
just.  To  attempt  to  view  this  command  in  the 
light  of  reason  and  experience  would  require 
space  which  cannot  here  be  given  ;  but  we  must 
add,  that  any  attempt  to  explain  the  injunction 
away  is  most  unworthy  on  the  part  of  professed 
disciples  of  Christ ;  and  that,  not  impossibly  at 
least,  fidelity  to  the  behests  of  Him  whom  ^Te 
call  Lord  and  Master  would  of  itself  answer 
all  doubts  and  remove  all  misgivings,  by  practi- 
cally showing  that  this,  as  every  other  doctrine 
that  fell  from  His  lips,  is  indeed  of  God  (John 
vii,  17). 

LOAVES.     [Bread.] 

LOCUST.  There  are  ten  Hebrew  words  which 
appear  to  signify  'locust'  in  the  Old  Testament. 
It  has  been  supposed,  however,  that  some  of  these 
words  denote  merely  the  different  states  through 
which  the  locust  passes  after  leaving  the  egg,  viz. 
the  larva,  the  pupa,  and  the  perfect  insect— all 
which  much  resemble  each  other,  except  that  the 
larva  has  no  wings,  and  that  the  pupa  possesses 
only  the  rudiments  of  those  members,  which  are 
fully  developed  only  in  the  adult  locust  (Mi- 
chaelis,  Supplem.  ad  Lex.  Hebr.  ii.  667,  1080). 
Bat  this  supposition  is  manifestly  wrong  with  re- 


LOCUST 

gard  to  four  of  the  terms,  because,  in  Lev.  xi.  22, 
the  word  '  after  his  kind,'  or  species,  is  added 
after  each  of  them  (conip.  ver.  14,  15,  16).  It 
is  most  probable,  therefore,  that  all  the  rest 
are  also  the  names  of  species,  but  we  know  not 
how  to  distinguish  the  several  species  from  each 
other. 

Locusts,  like  many  other  of  the  general  pro- 
visions of  nature,  may  occasion  incidental  and 
partial  evil ;  but  upon  the  whole  they  are  an  im- 
mense benefit  to  those  portions  of  the  world  which 
they  inhabit;  and  so  connected  is  the  chain  of 
being  that  we  may  safely  believe  that  the  advan- 
tage is  not  confined  to  those  regions.  '  They  clear 
the  way  for  the  renovation  of  vegetable  produc- 
tions which  are  in  danger  of  being  destroyed  by 
the  exuberance  of  some  particular  species,  and 
are  thus  fulfilling  the  law  of  the  Creator,  that  of 
all  which  he  has  made  should  nothing  be  lost. 
A  region  -which  has  been  choked  up  by  shrubs 
and  perennial  plants  and  hard  half-withered  im- 
palatable  grasses,  after  having  been  laid  bare  by 
these  scourges,  soon  appears  in  a  far  more  bcau- 
tifiil  dress,  with  new  herbs,  superb  lilies,  fresh 
annual  grasses,  and  young  and  juicy  shrubs  of 
perennial  kinds,  affording  delicious  herbage  for 
the  wild  cattle  and  game.'  Meanwhile  their  ex- 
cessive multiplication  is  repressed  by  numerous 
causes.  Contrary  to  the  order  of  nature  with  all 
other  insects,  the  males  are  far  more  numerous 
than  the  females.  It  is  believed  that  if  they  were 
equal  in  number  they  would  in  ten  years  annihi- 
late the  vegetable  system.  Besides  all  the  crea- 
tures that  feed  upon  them,  rains  are  very  de- 
structive to  their  eggs,  to  the  larvaj,  pupaj,  and 
perfect  insect.  When  perfect,  they  always  fly 
with  the  wind,  and  are  therefore  constantly  being 
carried  out  to  sea,  and  often  ignorantly  descend 
upon  it  as  if  upon  land.  Myriads  are  thus  lost 
in  the  ocean  every  year,  and  become  the  food  of 
fishes.  On  land  they  afford  in  all  their  several 
states  sustenance  to  countless  tribes  of  birds, 
beasts,  reptiles,  &c. ;  and  if  their  office  as  the 
scavengers  of  nature,  commissioned  to  remove 
all  superfluous  productions  from  the  face  of  the 
earth,  sometimes  incidentally  and  as  the  operation 
of  a  general  law,  interferes  with  the  labours  of 
man,  as  do  storms,  tempests,  &c.,  they  have,  from 
all  antiquity  to  the  present  hour,  afforded  him  an 
excellent  supply  till  the  land  acquires  the  benefit 
of  their  visitations,  by  yielding  him  in  the  mean- 
time an  agreeable,  wholesome,  and  nutritious 
aliment.  They  are  eaten  as  meat,  are  ground 
into  flour,  and  made  into  bread.  They  are  even 
an  extensive  article  of  commerce.  Diodorus 
Siculus  mentions  a  people  of  Ethiopia  who  were 
so  fond  of  eating  them  that  they  were  called 
Acridophagi,  '  eaters  of  locusts.'  Whole  armies 
have  been  relieved  by  them  when  in  danger  of 
perishing.  Their  great  flights  occur  only  every 
fourth  or  fifth  season.  Those  locusts  which  come 
in  the  first  instance  only  fix  on  trees,  and  do  not 
destroy  grain :  it  is  the  young  before  they  are 
able  to  fly  which  are  chiefly  injurious  to  the 
crops.  Nor  do  all  the  species  feed  upon  vege- 
tables ;  one,  comprehending  many  varieties,  the 
truxalis,  feeds  upon  insects.  Latreille  says  the 
house-cricket  will  do  so.  'Locusts,'  remarks  a 
very  sensible  tourist,  '  seem  to  devour  not  so 
much  from  a  ravenous  appetite  as  from  a  rage 
for  destroying.'     Destruction,  therefore,  and  not 


LONGEVITY  543 

food,  is  the  chief  impulse  of  their  devastations, 
and  in  this  consists  their  utility  ;  they  are  in  fact 
omnivorous.  The  most  poisonous  plants  are  in- 
different to  them ;  they  will  prey  even  upon  the 
crowfoot,  whose  causticity  burns  the  very  hides 
of  beasts.  They  simply  consume  everything  with- 
out predilection,  vegetable  matter,  linen,  woollen, 
silk,  leather,  &c. ;  and  Pliny  does  not  exaggerate 
when  he  says,  'and  even  the  doors  of  houses,' 
for  they  have  been  known  to  consume  the  very 
varnish  of  furniture.  They  reduce  everything 
indiscriminately  to  shreds,  which  become  ma- 
nure. It  might  serve  to  mitigate  popular  mis- 
apprehensions on  the  subject  to  consider  what 
would  have  been  the  consequence  if  locusts  had 
been  carnivorous  like  wasps.  All  terrestrial 
beings,  in  such  a  case,  not  excluding  man  himself, 
would  have  become  their  victims.  There  are,  no 
doubt,  many  things  respecting  them  yet  unknown 
to  us  which  would  still  further  justify  the  belief 
that  this,  like  '  every '  other  '  work  of  God  is 
good ' — benevolent  upon  the  whole. 
LOG.  [Weights  and  Measubes.] 
LOIS,  the  grandmother  of  Timothy,  not  by 
the  side  of  his  father,  who  was  a  Greek,  but  by 
that  of  his  mother.  Hence  the  Syriac  has  '  thy 
mother's  mother.'  She  is  commended  by  St. 
Paul  for  her  faith  (2  Tim.  i.  5)  ;  for  although 
she  might  not  have  known  that  the  Christ  was 
come,  and  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  he,  she  yet 
believed  in  the  Messiah  to  come,  and  died  in  that 
faith. 

LONGEVITY.  The  lengthened  ages  of  some 
of  the  ante  and  post-diluvian  fathers,  as  given  by 
Moses  in  the  Hebrew  text,  are  as  follows : — 

Years. 

Adam Gen.  v.      5  930 

Seth „  8  912 

Enos „  11  90.5 

Cainan „  14  910 

Mahalaleel      .     .      .       „  17  895 

.Tared „  20  962 

Enoch „  23  365 

Methuselah      .     .     .       „  27  969 

Lamech      .      .      .      .       „  31  777 

Noah „    ix.  29  9.50 

Shem „    xi.  10,  11     600 

Arphaxad.      ...         „         12,  13    438 

Salah „  14,  15     433 

Eber 16,  17     464 

Peleg ,  18,  19     239 

Reu „  20,  21     239 

Serug 22,  23     230 

Nahori.      .'     .      .      .       „  24,  25     148 

Terah „  32  205 

Abraham  ....       „   xxv.  7  175 

Infidelity  has  not  failed,  in  various  ages,  to 
attack  revelation  on  the  score  of  the  supposed  ab- 
surdity of  assigning  to  any  class  of  men  this 
lengthened  term  of  existence.  In  reference  to 
this  Josephus  remarks  : — '  Let  no  one  upon  com- 
paring the  lives  of  the  ancients  with  our  lives, 
and  with  the  few  years  which  we  now  live,  think 
that  what  we  say  of  them  is  false ;  or  make  the 
shortness  of  our  lives  at  present  an  argument  that 
neither  did  they  attain  to  so  long  a  duration  of 
life.'  When  we  consider  the  compensating  pro- 
cess which  is  going  on,  the  marvel  is  that  the 
human  fi-ame  should  not  last  longer  than  it  does. 
Some,  however,  have  supposed  that  the  years 
above  named  are  lunar,  consisting  of  about  thirty 


544 


LONGEVITY 


days ;  but  this  supposition,  with  a  view  to  reduce 
the  lives  of  the  ante-diluvians  to  our  standard,  is 
replete  with  difficulties.  At  this  rate  the  whole 
time,  from  the  creation  of  man  to  the  Flood, 
would  not  he  more  than  about  140  years  ;  and 
Methuselah  himself  would  not  have  attained  to 
the  age  which  many  even  now  do,  whilst  many 
must  have  had  children  when  mere  infants !  Be- 
sides, if  we  compute  the  age  of  the  post-diluvians 
by  this  mode  of  calculation— and  why  should  we 
not  ? — we  shall  find  that  Abraham,  who  is  said  to 
have  died  in  a  good  old  age  (Gen.  xxv.  8)  could 
not  have  been  more  than  Jlfteeii  ijears  old  !  Moses 
must  therefore  have  meant  solar,  not  lunar  years 
— not,  however,  exactly  so  long  as  ours,  for  the 
ancients  generally  reckoned  twelve  months,  of 
thirty  days  each,  to  the  year. 

But  it  is  asked,  if  Moses  meant  solar  years, 
how  came  it  to  pass  that  the  patriai'chs  did  not 
begin  to  beget  children  at  an  earlier  period  than 
they  are  reported  to  have  done?  Seth  was  105 
years  old,  on  the  lowest  calculation,  when  he 
begat  Enos;  and  Methuselah  187  when  Lamech 
was  born!  St.  Augustine  (i.  15)  explains  this 
difficulty  in  a  two-fold  manner,  by  supposing 

1.  Either  that  the  age  of  puberty  was  later  in 
proportion  as  the  lives  of  the  ante-diluvians  were 
longer  than  ours;  or 

2.  That  Moses  does  not  record  the  first-born 
sons,  but  as  the  order  of  the  genealogy  required, 
his  object  being  to  trace  the  succession  from  Adam, 
through  Seth,  to  Abraham. 

As  to  the  probable  reasons  why  God  so  pro- 
longed the  life  of  man  iu  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
world,  and  as  to  the  subordinate  means  by  which 
this  might  have  been  accomplished,  Josephus 
says  :  *  For  those  ancients  were  beloved  of  God, 
and  lately  made  by  God  himself;  and  because 
their  food  was  then  fitter  for  the  prolongation  of 
life,  they  might  well  live  so  great  a  number  of 
years  :  and  because  God  afforded  them  a  longer 
time  of  life  on  account  of  their  virtue  and  the 
good  use  they  made  of  it  in  astronomical  and 
geometrical  discoveries,  which  would  not  have 
afforded  the  time  for  foretelling  the  periods  of 
the  stars  unless  they  had  lived  600  years ;  for  the 
great  year  is  completed  in  that  interval.' 

In  the  above  passage  Josephus  enumerates /oHr 
causes  of  the  longevity  of  the  earlier  patriarchs. 
As  to  the  first,  viz.,  their  being  dearer  to  God 
than  other  men,  it  is  plain  that  it  cannot  be  main- 
tained ;  for  the  profligate  descendants  of  Cain 
were  equally  long-lived,  as  mentioned  above, 
with  others.  Neither  can  we  agree  in  the  second 
reason  he  assigns ;  because  we  find  that  Noah 
and  others,  though  born  so  long  subsequently  to 
the  creation  of  Adam,  yet  lived  to  as  great  an 
age,  some  of  them  to  a  greater  age  than  he  did. 
If,  again,  it  were  right  to  attribute  longevity  to 
the  superior  quality  of  the  food  of  the  ante- 
diluvians, then  the  seasons,  on  which  this  de- 
pends, must,  about  Moses'  time — for  it  was  then 
that  the  term  of  human  existence  was  reduced  to 
its  present  .-tandard — have  assumed  a  fixed  cha- 
racter. But  no  change  at  that  time  took  place  in 
the  revolution  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  by  which 
the  seasons  of  heat,  cold,  &c.,  are  regulated: 
hence  we  must  not  assume  that  it  was  the  nature 
of  the  fiuits  they  ate  which  caused  longevity. 
How  far  the  ante-diluvians  had  advanced  in  sci- 
entific research  generally,  and  in  astronomical 


LONGEVITY 

'  discovery  particularly,  we  are  not  informed ;  nor 
can  we  place  any  dependence  upon  what  Jose- 
phus says  about  the  two  inscribed  pillars  which 
remained  from  the  old  world.  We  are  not,  there- 
fore, able  to  determine,  with  any  confidence,  that 
God  permitted  the  earlier  generations  of  man  to 
live  so  long,  in  order  that  they  might  arrive  at  a 
high  degree  of  mental  excellence.  From  the  brief 
notices  which  the  Scriptures  afford  of  the  charac- 
ter and  habits  of  the  ante-diluvians,  we  should 
rather  infer  that  they  had  not  advanced  very  far 
in  discoveries  in  natural  and  experimental  philo- 
sophy [see  Ante-dilitvians].  We  must  suppose 
that  they  did  not  reduce  their  language  to  alpha- 
betical order  ;  nor  was  it  necessary  to  do  so  at  a 
time  when  human  life  was  so  prolonged,  that  the 
tradition  of  the  creation  passed  through  only  two 
hands  to  Noah.  It  would  seem  that  the  book 
ascribed  to  Enoch  is  a  work  of  post-diluvian 
origin.  Possibly  a  want  of  mental  employment, 
together  with  the  labour  they  endured  ere  they 
were  able  to  extract  from  the  earth  the  neces- 
saries of  life,  might  have  been  some  of  the  prox- 
imate causes  of  that  degeneracy  which  led  God 
in  judgment  to  destroy  the  old  world.  If  the 
ante-diluvians  began  to  bear  children  at  the  age 
on  an  average  of  100,  and  if  they  ceased  to  do  so 
at  600  years,  the  world  might  then  have  been  far 
more  densely  populated  than  it  is  now.  Sup- 
posing, moreover,  that  the  earth  was  no  more 
productive  antecedently  than  it  was  subsequently 
to  the  flood ;  and  that  the  ante-diluvian  fathers 
were  ignorant  of  those  mechanical  arts  which  so 
much  abridge  human  labour  now,  we  can  easily 
vinderstand  how  difficult  they  must  have  found  it 
to  secure  for  themselves  the  common  necessaries 
of  life,  and  this  the  more  so  if  animal  food  was 
not  allowed  them.  The  prolonged  life,  then,  of 
the  generations  before  the  flood,  would  seem  to 
have  been  rather  an  evil  than  a  blessing,  leading 
as  it  did  to  the  too  rapid  peopling  of  the  earth. 
We  can  readily  conceive  how  this  might  conduce 
to  that  awful  state  of  things  expressed  in  the 
words,  '  And  the  whole  earth  was  filled  with 
violence.'  In  the  absence  of  any  well  regulated 
system  of  government,  we  can  imagine  what  evils 
must  have  arisen  ;  the  unprincipled  would  oppress 
the  weak,  the  crafty  would  outwit  the  unsuspect- 
ing, and,  not  having  the  fear  of  God  before  their 
eyes,  destruction  and  misery  would  be  in  their 
ways.  Still  we  must  admire  the  providence  of 
God  in  the  longevity  of  man  immediately  after 
the  creation  and  the  flood.  After  the  creation, 
when  the  world  was  to  be  peopled  by  one  man 
and  one  woman,  the  age  of  the  greatest  part  of 
those  on  record  was  900  and  upwards.  But  after 
the  flood,  when  there  were  three  couples  to  re- 
people  the  earth,  none  of  the  patriarchs,  except 
Shem,  reached  the  age  of  500;  and  only  the 
tliree  first  of  his  line,  viz.,  Arphaxad,  Selah,  and 
Eber,  came  near  that  age,  which  was  in  the  first 
century  after  the  flood.  In  the  second  century 
we  do  not  find  that  any  attained  the  age  of  240  ; 
and  in  the  third  century  (about  the  latter  end  of 
which  Abraham  was  born)  none,  except  Terah, 
arrived  at  200  ;  by  which  time  the  world  was  so 
well  peopled,  that  they  had  built  cities,  and  were 
formed  into  distinct  nations  under  their  respective 
kings.     See  Gen.  xv. 

That  the  common  age  of  man  has  been  the 
same  in  all  times  since  the  world  was  peopled,  is 


LORD'S  DAY 

manifest  from  profane  as  well  as  sacred  history. 
Plato  lived  to  the  age  of  81,  and  was  accounted 
an  old  man  ;  and  those  •whom  Pliny  reckons  up 
(vii.  48)  as  rare  examples  of  long  life,  may,  for 
the  most  part,  be  equalled  in  modern  times.  We 
canuat,  then,  but  see  the  hand  of  God  in  the  pro- 
portion that  there  is  between  births  and  deaths  ; 
for  by  this  means  the  population  of  the  world  is 
kept  up.  If  the  fixed  standard  of  human  life 
were  that  of  Methuselah's  age,  or  even  that  of 
Abraham's,  the  world  would  soou  be  overstocked; 
or  if  the  age  of  man  were  limited  to  that  of  divers 
other  animals,  to  10,  20,  or  30  years  only,  the 
decay  of  mankind  would  then  be  too  fast.  But 
on  the  present  scale  the  balance  is  nearly  even, 
and  life  and  death  keep  an  equal  pace.  In  thus 
maintaining  throughout  all  ages  and  places  these 
proportions  of  mankind,  and  all  other  creatures, 
God  declares  himself  to  be  indeed  the  ruler  of 
the  world. 

LOOKING-GLASSES.    [Mirrors.] 

LORD,  a  Saxon  word  signifying  ruler  or 
governor.  In  the  Authorized  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  it  is  used  without  much  discrimination 
for  all  the  names  applied  to  God,  which  cannot 
be  helped,  as  our  language  does  not  afford  the 
same  number  of  distinguishing  titles  as  the  He- 
brew. When,  however,  the  word  represents  the 
dread  name  of  Jehovah,  it  is  printed  in  small 
capitals,  Lord,  and  is  by  this  contrivance  made 
a  distinguishing  term.  As  the  Hebrew  name 
Jehovah  is  one  never  used  with  reference  to  any 
but  the  Almighty,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
Septuagint,  imitated  by  our  own  and  other  ver- 
sions, has  represented  it  by  a  word  which  is  also 
used  for  the  Hebrew  '  Adonai,'  which  is  applied 
not  only  to  God,  but,  like  our  '  Lord,'  to  creatures 
also,  as  to  angels  (Gen.  xix.  2 ;  Dan.  x.  16,  17), 
to  men  in  authority  (Gen.  xlii.  30,  33),  and  to 
proprietors,  owners,  masters  (Gen.  xlv.  8).  The 
leading  idea  of  the  Hebrew,  the  Greek,  and  the 
English  words,  is  that  of  an  owner  or  proprietor, 
whether  God  or  man ;  and  it  occurs  in  the  infe- 
rior application  with  great  frequency  in  the  New 
Testament.  This  application  is  either  literal  or 
complimentary  ;  literal,  when  the  party  is  really 
an  owner  or  master,  as  in  Matt.  x.  24 ;  xx.  8 ; 
xxi.  40;  Acts  xvi.  16,  19;  Gal.  iv.  I,  &c. ;  or 
when  he  is  so  as  having  absolute  authority  over 
another  (Matt.  ix.  38  ;  Luke  x.  2),  or  as  being  a 
supreme  lord  or  sovereign  (Acts  xxv.  26) ;  and 
complimenlarr/,  when  used  as  a  title  of  address, 
especially  to  superiors,  like  the  English  Master, 
Sir,  as  in  Matt.  xiii.  27  ;  xxi.  20 ;  Mark  vii.  8  ; 
Luke  ix.  54. 

It  cannot  but  be  deemed  desirable  that,  instead 
of  the  extensive  use  of  the  word  Lord  which  we 
have  described,  discriminating  terms  should  be 
adopted  in  translations.  Apart  from  the  Jewish 
superstitions  which  influenced  the  Seventy  in 
their  translation,  there  can  be  no  good  reason 
why  the  name  Jehovah  should  not  be  retained 
wherever  it  occurs  in  the  Hebrew.  Then  Lord 
might  represent  Adonai;  or  perhaps  Sir,  or  Mas- 
ter, might  be  used  when  that  word  is  applied  to 
creatures ;  and  God  would  very  properly  repre- 
sent Elohim. 

LORD'S  DAY.  The  expression  so  rendered 
in  the  Authorized  English  Version  occurs  only 
once  in  the  New  Testament,  viz.  in  Rev.  i.  10, 
and  is  there  unaccompanied  by  any  other  words 


LOT  545 

tending  to  explain  its  meaning.  It  is,  however, 
well  known  that  the  same  phrase  was,  in  after 
ages  of  the  Christian  church,  used  to  signify  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  on  which  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  was  commemorated.  Hence  it  has  been 
inferred  that  the  same  name  was  given  to  that 
day  during  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  and  was  in 
the  present  instance  used  by  St.  John  in  this 
sense,  as  referring  to  an  institution  well  known, 
and  therefore  i-equiring  no  explanation  [see 
article  Sabbath]. 

LOT  (rt  covering)  ;  son  of  Haran  and  nephew 
of  Abraham,  who  by  the  early  death  of  his  father 
had  already  come  into  possession  of  his  property 
when  Abraham  went  into  the  land  of  Canaan 
(Gen.  xi.  31).  Their  united  substance,  consisting 
chiefly  in  cattle,  was  not  then  too  large  to  pre- 
vent them  from  living  together  in  one  encamp- 
ment. Eventually,  however,  their  possessions 
were  so  greatly  increased,  that  they  were  obliged 
to  separate ;  and  Abraham  with  rare  generosity 
conceded  the  choice  of  pasture-grounds  to  his 
nephew.  Lot  availed  himself  of  this  liberality  of 
his  uncle,  as  he  deemed  most  for  his  own  ad- 
vantage, by  fixing  his  abode  at  Sodom,  that  his 
flocks  might  pasture  in  and  around  that  fertile 
and  well-Avatered  neighbourhood  (Gen.  xiii.  5-13). 
He  had  soon  very  great  reason  to  regret  this 
choice  ;  for  although  his  flocks  fed  well,  his  soul 
was  starved  in  that  vile  place,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  were  sinners  before  the  Lord  exceedingly. 
There  '  he  vexed  his  righteous  soul  from  day  to 
day  with  the  filthy  conversation  of  the  wicked ' 
(2  Pet.  ii.  7). 

About  eight  years  after  his  separation  from 
Abraham  (b.c.  1913),  Lot  was  carried  away  pri- 
soner by  Chedorlaomer,  along  with  the  other 
inhabitants  of  Sodom,  and  was  rescued  and 
brought  back  by  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.),  as  related 
under  other  heads  [Abraham;  Chedorlaomer]. 
This  exploit  procured  for  Abraham  much  cele- 
brity in  Canaan ;  and  it  ought  to  have  procured 
for  Lot  respect  and  gratitude  from  the  people 
of  Sodom,  who  had  been  d^:-livered  from  hard 
slavery  and  restored  to  their  homes  on  his 
account.  But  this  does  not  appear  to  have  bee:i 
the  result. 

At  length  the  guilt  of  '  the  cities  of  the  plain ' 
brought  down  the  signal  judgments  of  Heaven. 
The  avenging  angels,  after  having  been  enter- 
tained by  Abraham,  repaired  to  Sodom,  where 
they  were  received  and  entertained  by  Lot,  who 
was  sitting  in  the  gate  of  the  town  when  they 
arrived.  While  they  were  at  supper  the  house 
was  beset  by  a  number  of  men,  who  demanded 
that  the  strangers  should  be  given  up  to  them, 
for  the  unnatural  purposes  which  have  given  a 
name  of  infamy  to  Sodom  in  all  generations.  Lot 
resisted  this  demand,  and  was  loaded  with  abuse 
by  the  vile  fellows  outside  on  that  account.  They 
had  nearly  forced  the  door,  when  the  angels  smote 
thera  with  instant  blindness,  by  which  their  at- 
tempts were  rendered  abortive,  and  they  were 
constrained  to  disperse.  Towards  morning  the 
angels  apprised  Lot  of  the  doom  which  hung 
over  the  place,  and  urged  him  to  hasten  thence 
with  his  family.  He  was  allowed  to  extend  the 
benefit  of  this  deliverance  to  the  families  of  his 
daughters  who  had  married  in  Sodom;  but  the 
warning  was  received  by  those  families  with  in- 
credulity and  insult,  and  he  therefore  left  Sodom 


546 


LOVE  FEAST 


LUCIFER 


were    also    signified    (according    to    Moshetra, 
Neander,    and    other    eminent    critics)    by    the 
phrases  hrmkiiig  of  bread  (Acts  ii.  42,  46,  xx.  7). 
or  reluctant  to  remove  from  the  place  which  had  j  We  find   the  term  agapa  thus  applied  once,  at 
long  been  her  home,  and  where  much  valuable    least,  in  the  New  Testament  (Jude  12),  'These 


accompanit-d  only  by  his  wife  and  two  daughters. 
As  they  went,  being  hastened  by  the  angels,  the 
wife,  anxious  for  those  who  had  been  left  behind. 


property  was  necessarily  left  behind,  lingered  be 
hind  the  rest,  and  -was  suddenly  involved  in  the 
destruction,  by  which — smothered  and  stiifened 
as  she  stood  by  saline  incrustations — she  became 
'  a  pillar  of  salt.' 

Lot  and  liis  daughters  then  hastened  on  to 
Zotir,  the  smallest  of  the  five  cities  of  the  plain, 
which  had  been  spared  on  purpose  to  afford  him 
a  refuge :  but,  being  fearful,  after  what  had 
passed,  to  remain  among  a  people  so  corrupted, 
he  soon  retired  to  a  cavern  in  the  neighbouring 
mountains,  and  there  abode.  After  some  stay  in 
this  place,  the  daughters  of  Lot  became  appre- 
hensive lest  the  family  of  their  father  should  be 
lost  for  want  of  descendants,  than  which  no 
greater  calamity  Mas  known  or  apprehended  in 
those  times  ■  and  in  the  belief  that,  after  what 
had  passed  in  Sodom,  there  was  no  hope  ot  their 
obtaining  suitable  husbands,  they,  by  a  con- 
trivance which  has  in  it  the  taint  of  Sodom, 
5vhere  they  had  been  brought  up,  made  tlieir 
father  drunk  with  wine,  and  in  that  state  seduced 
him  into  an  act  which,  as  they  well  knew,  would 
in  soberness  have  been  most  abhorrent  to  him. 
They  thus  became  the  mothers,  and  he  the 
father,  of  two  sous,  named  Moab  and  Ammon, 
I  from  whom  sprung  the  Moabites  and  Am- 
monites, so  often  mentioned  in  the  Hebrew  his- 
tory (Gen.  xix.).  This  circumstance  is  the  last 
which  the  Scripture  records  of  the  history  of 
Lot;  and  the  time  and  place  of  his  death  are 
unknown. 

LOTS,  FEAST  OF.  [Purim.] 
_  LOVE  FEAST,  usually  termed  Agape,  and 
signifying  the  social  meal  of  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians, which  generally  accompanied  the  Eucha- 
rist. If  we  reflect  on  the  profound  impression 
which  the  transactions  of  '  the  night  on  which 
the  Lord  was  betrayed'  (1  Cor.  xi.  23)  must 
have  made  on  the  minds  of  the  apostles,  nothing 
can  be  conceived  more  natural,  or  in  closer 
accordanoe  with  the  genius  of  the  new  dispensa- 
tion, than  a  wish  to  perpetuate  the  commemora- 
tion of  his  death  in  connection  with  their  social 
meal.  The  primary  celebration  of  the  Eucharist 
had  impressed  a  sacredness  on  the  previous  repast 
(comp.  Matt.  xxvi.  20,  Mark  xiv.  22,  with  Luke 
xxii.  20,  1  Cor.  xi.  25) ;  and  when  to  this  con- 
sideration we  add  the  ardent  faith  and  love  of  the 
new  converts  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  loss  of 
property  with  the  disru;  tiou  of  old  connections 
and  attachments  on  the  other,  which  must  have 
heightened  the  feeling  of  brotherhood,  we  need 
not  look  further  to  account  for  the  institution  of 
the  Agapa?,  at  once  a  symbol  of  Christian  love 
and  a  striking  exemplification  of  its  benevolent 
energy.  However  soon  its  purity  was  soiled,  at 
first  it  was  not  undeserving  of  the  eulogy  pro- 
nounced by  the  great  orator  of  the  church — '  A 
custom  most  beautiful  and  most  beneficial ;  for 
it  was  a  supporter  of  love,  a  solace  of  poverty, 
a  moderator  of  wealth,  and  a  discipline  of  humi- 
lity ! ' 

Thus  the  common  meal  and  the  Eucharist 
formed  together  one  whole,  and  were  conjointly 
denominated  the  Lord's  Supper  and  agape.    They 


are  spots  in  your  feasts  of  charity.' 

The  following  is  the  description  given  by  Ter- 
tullian  of  these  feasts.  '  The  nature  of  our 
Cmna,'  he  says,  '  may  be  gathered  from  its  name, 
which  is  the  Greek  term  for  love.  However 
much  it  may  cost  us,  it  is  real  gain  to  incur  such 
expense  in  the  cause  of  piety :  for  we  aid  the 
poor  by  this  refreshment ;  we  do  not  sit  down  to 
it  till  we  have  first  tasted  of  prayer  to  God;  we 
eat  to  satisfy  our  hunger ;  we  drink  no  more  than 
befits  the  temperate ;  we  feast  as  those  who  re- 
collect that  they  are  to  spend  the  night  in  devo- 
tion ;  we  converse  as  those  who  know  that  the 
Lord  is  an  ear-witness.  After  water  for  wash- 
ing hands,  and  lights  have  been  brought  in, 
every  one  is  required  to  sing  something  to  the 
praise  of  God,  either  from  the  Scriptures  or  from 
his  own  thoughts ;  by  this  means,  if  any  one  has 
indulged  in  excess,  he  is  detected.  The  feast  is 
closed  with  prayer.'  Contributions  or  oblations 
of  provisions  or  money  were  made  on  these 
occasions,  and  the  surplus  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  presiding  elder — compare  1  Tim.  v.  17,  by 
whom  it  was  applied  to  the  relief  of  orphans  and 
widows,  the  sick  and  destitute,  prisoners  and 
strangers. 

From  the  passages  in  the  Epistles  of  Jude  and 
Peter,  already  quoted,  and  more  particularly 
from  the  language  of  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xi.,  it  ap- 
pears that  at  a  very  early  period  the  Agapse  were 
perverted  from  their  original  design:  the  rich 
frequently  practised  a  selfish  indulgence,  to  the 
neglect  of  their  poorer  brethren  :  '  every  one  taketh 
before  other  his  own  supper'  (1  Cor.  xi.  21); 
i.  e.  the  rich  feasted  on  the  provisions  they 
brought,  without  waiting  for  the  poorer  mem- 
bers, or  granting  them  a  portion  of  their  abun- 
dance. 

On  account  of  these  and  similar  irregularities, 
and  probably  in  part  to  elude  the  notice  of  their 
persecutors,  the  Christians,  about  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  frequently  celebrated  the 
Eucharist  by  itself  and  before  daybreak.  From 
Pliny's  Epistle  it  appears  that  the  agapse  were 
suspected  by  the  Roman  authorities  of  belonging 
to  the  class  of  unions  or  secret  societies  which  were 
often  employed  for  political  purposes,  and  as 
such  denounced  by  the  imperial  edicts. 

In  modern  times  social  meetings  bearing  a 
resemblance  to  the  agapse,  and  in  allusion  to 
them  termed  '  Love  Feasts,'  have  been  regularly 
held  by  the  church  of  the  United  Brethren  and 
the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  also  in  Scotland  by 
the  followers  of  Mr.  Robert  Sandeman. 
LU'BIM,  the  Libyans.  [Libya.] 
LU'CIFER,  a  word  that  occurs  once  in  the 
English  Version  in  the  lines — 

'  How  art  thou  fallen  from  heaven, 
Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning! 
How  art  thou  felled  to  the  ground, 
That  didst  weaken  the  nations !' 
(Isa.  xiv.    12).      The  meaning  of  the  Hebrew 
word  seems  to  be  'brilliant,'  'splendid,'  '  illus 
trious,'  and  it  appears  to  have  been  the  Hebrew 
name    of   the    morning  star.      TertuHian    and 
Gregory  the  Great  understood  this  passage  of 


LITKE 

Isaiah  in  reference  to  the  fall  of  Satan ;  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  name  Lucifer  has  since 
been  applied  to  Satan  ;  and  this  is  now  the  usual 
acceptation  of  the  word.  But  Dr.  Henderson, 
who  in  his  Isaiah  renders  the  line,  '  Illustrious 
son  of  the  morning!'  justly  remarks  in  his  an- 
notation :  '  The  application  of  this  passage  to 
Satan,  and  to  the  fall  of  the  apostate  angels,  is 
one  of  those  gross  perversions  of  Sacred  Writ 
which  so  extensively  obtaiu,  and  which  are  to  be 
traced  to  a  proneness  to  seek  for  more  in  any 
given  passage  than  it  really  contains,  a  disposi- 
tion to  be  influenced  by  sound  rather  than  sense, 
and  an  implicit  faith  in  received  interpretations. 
The  scope  and  connection  show  that  none  but 
the  king  of  Babylon  is  meant.  In  the  figurative 
language  of  the  Hebrews  a  star  signifies  an 
illustrious  king  or  prince  (Num.  xxiv,  17; 
comp.  Rev.  ii.  28:  xxii.  10).  The  monarch  here 
referred  to,  having  surpassed  all  other  kings  in 
royal  splendour,  is  compared  to  the  harbinger  of 
day,  whose  brilliancy  surpasses  that  of  the 
surrounding  stars.  Falling  from  heaven  denotes 
a  sudden  political  overthrow — a  removal  from 
the  position  of  high  and  conspicuous  dignity 
formerly  occupied  (comp.  Rev.  vi.  13;  viii.  10). 

LU'CIUS  of  Cyrene,  a  person  named  along 
■with  Barnabas,  Saul,  and  others,  as  '  prophets 
and  teachers '  in  the  church  at  Antioch  (Acts 
xiii.  1).  Lucius  was  probably  one  of  '  the  syna- 
gogue of  the  Cyrenians,'  and  was  without  doubt 
one  of  the  men  of  Cyrene,  who  went  abroad  in 
consequence  of  the  persecution  raised  on  the 
death  of  Stephen  (Acts  vi.  9;  xi.  20).  Some 
suppose  that  he  was  one  of  the  seventy  disciples : 
and  the  tradition  is,  that  he  was  eventually 
bishop  of  Cyrene.  This  is  probably  the  same 
Lucius  who  is  mentioned  in  Rom.  xvi.  21  as 
Paul's  kinsman ;  and  he  has  been  supposed  by 
some  the  same  with  Luke  the  Evangelist. 

LUD,  fourth  son  of  Shem  (Gen.  x.  22).  For 
his  descendants,  see  Nations,  Dispersion  of. 

LU'DIM,  the  descendants  of  (Gen.  x.  1-3),  con- 
cerning whom  see  Nations,  Dispersion  of. 

LUKE.  This  name  is  a  contraction  of  Lu- 
canus,  and  indicates  that  Luke  was  descended 
from  heathen  ancestors,  and  that  he  was  either  a 
slave  or  a  freedman.  According  to  ecclesiastical 
tradition,  the  author  of  the  Gospel  is  the  same 
Luke  who  is  mentioned  in  Paul's  Epistles 
(Philem.  24;  2  Tim.  iv.  11  ;  Coloss.  iv.  14 j,  and 
■who  is  called,  in  the  last-mentioned  passage, 
'  the  physician.'  This  tradition  is  confirmed  by 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  according  to  which  the 
author  of  that  work  accompanied  the  Apostle 
Paul  in  his  journeys  (Acts  xvi.  10,  sq. ;  xx. 
5-13).  Luke  accompanied  Paul  also  in  his  last 
journeys  to  .lerusak-m  and  Rome  (Acts  xxi. 
1-17  ;  xxvii.  28).  The  profession  of  a  physician 
harmonises  also  with  the  condition  of  a  freedman, 
indicated  by  the  form  of  the  name.  The  higher 
ranks  of  the  Romans  were  disinclined  to  practise 
medicine,  which  they  left  rather  to  their  freed- 
men.  It  harmonises  with  this  that  Paul  (Coloss. 
iv.  14)  distinguishes  Luke  from  the  Christians  of 
Jewish  descent,  whom,  in  verses  11  and  12,  he 
styles,  '  being  of  the  Circumcision.'  Eusebius 
states  that  Antioch  in  Syria  was  the  native  city 
of  Luke.  In  this  city  there  was  at  an  early 
period  a  congregation  of  Christians  converted 
firom  heathenism.     Since  Luke  was  a  physician, 


LUKE 


547 


■we  must  suppose  that  he  was  a  man  of  education. 
To  those  sceptics  who  excuse  their  disbelief  of 
the  miracles  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  by  the  as- 
sertion that  their  authors  were  ill-iufornicd  Jews, 
greedy  of  the  marvellous,  it  must  appear  of 
some  importance  to  meet  in  Luke  a  well-informed 
Greek,  skilled  even  in  the  medical  sciences.  The 
higher  degree  of  his  education  is  further  proved 
by  the  classical  style  in  which  the  introduction 
to  his  Gospel,  and  the  latter  portion  of  the  Acts, 
are  written  ;  and  also  by  the  explicit  and  learned 
details  which  he  gives  in  the  Acts  on  various 
antiquarian,  historical,  and  geographical  subjects. 

It  is  important  to  notice  what  he  himself  says, 
in  his  introduction,  of  the  relation  borne  by  his 
writings  to  those  of  others.  It  is  evident  that 
even  then  '  many'  had  attempted  to  compose  a 
history  of  our  Lord  from  the  statements  of  eye- 
witnesses and  of  the  first  ministers  of  the  word  of 
God.  As  these  '  many'  are  distinguished  from 
eye-witnesses,  we  must  suppose  that  many  Chris- 
tians wrote  brief  accounts  of  the  life  of  Jesus, 
although  they  had  not  been  eye-witnesses.  It  is 
possible  that  Luke  made  use  of  such  writings. 
He  states  that  he  had  accurately  investigated  the 
truth  of  the  accounts  communicated,  and  that, 
following  the  example  of  the  '  many,'  he  had 
made  use  of  the  statements  of  eye-witnesses, 
whom  he  must  have  had  frequent  opportunities 
of  meeting  with  when  he  travelled  with  Paul. 

The  Gospel  of  St.  Luke  contains  exceedingly 
valuable  accounts,  not  extant  in  the  books  of  the 
other  evangelists  ;  for  instance,  those  concerning 
the  childhood  of  Jesus,  the  admirable  parables 
in  chapters  xv.  and  xvi.,  the  narration  respect- 
ing the  disciples  at  Emmaus,  the  section  from 
chap.  ix.  51  to  xix.  27,  which  contains  parti- 
culars mostly  wanting  in  the  other  evangelists. 
It  has  been  usual,  since  the  days  of  Schleier- 
macher,  to  consider  this  portion  as  the  report  of 
a  single  journey  to  the  feast  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  it 
is  evident  that  it  contains  accounts  belonging  to 
several  journeys,  undertaken  at  different  periods. 

As  to  the  statements  of  the  ancients  concerning 
the  date  or  time  when  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke 
was  written,  we  find  in  Irenseus,  that  Mark  and 
Luke  wrote  after  Matthew.  According  to  Euse- 
bius, Origen  stated  that  Luke  wrote  after  Mat- 
thew and  Mark;  but  Clemens  Alcxandrinus, 
according  to  the  same  writer,  asserted,  on  the 
authority  of  the  '  tradition  of  the  earlier  elders,' 
that  the  Gospels  containing  the  genealogies  were 
written  before  the  others.  According  to  this 
view,  Mark  was  written  after  Luke.  It  is  how- 
ever likely  that  this  statement  arose  from  a 
desire  to  explain  why  the  genealogies  were 
omitted  by  Mark  and  John. 

From  the  circumstance  that  the  book  of  Acts 
leaves  St.  Paul  a  captive,  without  relating  the 
result  of  his  captivity,  most  critics  have,  with 
considerable  probability,  inferred  that  Luke  ac- 
companied St.  Paul  to  Rome,  that  he  employed 
his  leisure  while  there  in  composing  the  Acts, 
and  that  he  left  off  writing  before  the  fate  of 
Paul  was  decided.  Now,  since  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Luke  was  written  before  the  Acts,  it  seems  to 
follow  that  it  was  written  a  considerable  time 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

It  is  likely  that  Luke,  during  Paul's  captivity 
at  Csesarea,  employed  his  leisure  in  collecting  the 
accounts  contained  in  his  Gospel  in  the  localities 
2n8 


548 


LYCIA 


where  the  events  to  which  they  relate  happened. 
The  most  ancient  testimonies  in  behalf  of  Luke's 
Gospel  are  those  of  Marcion,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  second  century,  and  of  Irenseus,  in  the  latter 
half  of  that  century. 

Besides  the  Gospel  which  bears  his  name, 
Luke  wrote  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  This  work 
contains  the  history  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  church  in  two  great  sections :  the  first 
embracing  the  spread  of  Christianity  among  the 
Jews,  chiefly  by  the  instrumentality  of  Peter 
(eh.  i.-xii.);  and  the  second,  its  spread  among  the 
heathen,  chiefly  by  the  instrumentality  of  Paul 
(ch.  xiii.-xxviii.). 

That  the  accounts  of  Luke  are  authentic  may 
be  perceived  more  especially  from  a  close  exami- 
nation of  the  inserted  discourses  and  letters.  The 
characteristic  marks  of  authenticity  in  the  oration 
of  the  Roman  lawyer  Tertullus,  in  ch.  xxiv.,  and 
in  the  oflScial  letters  in  ch.  xxiii.  26,  sq. ;  xv. 
23,  sq. ;  can  scarcely  be  overlooked.  The  ad- 
dress of  Paul  to  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian 
church  is  characteristically  Pauline,  and  even  so 
full  of  definite  allusions  and  of  similarity  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  that  it  furnishes  a  con- 
firmation of  the  authenticity  of  that  letter. 

As  for  the  testimonies  in  behalf  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Acts,  they  are  the  same  as  for  Luke's 
Gospel.  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Irenseus,  and 
Tertullian,  expressly  mention  the  Acts,  and  Eu- 
sebius  reckons  them  among  the  Homologoumena. 
However,  the  book  of  Acts  was  not  read  and 
quoted  so  often  in  the  early  church  as  other  parts 
of  Scripture. 

LUNATICS.  [Demoniacs.] 
LUZ,  the  ancient  name  of  Bethel  (Gen. 
xxviii.  19)  [Bethel].  The  spot  to  which  the 
name  of  Bethel  was  given  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  at  a  little  distance  in  the  environs  of 
Luz,  and  they  are  accordingly  distinguished  in 
Josh.  xvi.  2,  although  the  name  of  Bethel  was 
eventually  extended  to  that  town.  A  small  place 
of  the  same  name,  founded  by  an  inhabitant  of 
this  Luz,  is  mentioned  in  Judg.  i.  26. 

LYCAO'NIA,  a  province  of  Asia  Minor, 
having  Cappadocia  on  the  east,  Galatia  on  the 
north,  Phrygia  on  the  west,  and  Isauria  and 
Cilicia  on  the  south.  It  extends  in  length  about 
twenty  geographical  miles  from  east  to  west,  and 
about  thirteen  in  breadth.  It  was  an  undulating 
plain,  involved  among  mountains,  which  were 
noted  for  the  concourse  of  wild-asses.  The  soil 
was  so  strongly  impregnated  with  salt  that  few 
of  the  brooks  supplied  drinkable  water,  so  that 
good  water  was  sold  for  money.  But  sheep 
throve  on  the  pasturage,  and  were  reared  with 
great  advantage.  It  was  a  Roman  province  when 
visited  by  Paul  (Acts  xiv.  6),  and  its  chief  towns 
were  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  of  which  the 
first  was  the  capital.  '  The  speech  of  Lycaonia ' 
(Acts  xiv.  11)  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  been 
the  ancient  Assyrian  language,  also  spoken  by 
the  Cappadocians ;  but  it  is  more  usually  con- 
ceived to  have  been  a  corrupt  Greek,  intermingled 
with  many  Syriac  words. 

LYCIA,  a  province  in  the  south-west  of  Asia 
Minor,  having  Pamphylia  on  the  east,  Phrygia 
on  the  north,  Caria  on  the  west,  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean on  the  south.  G reat  part  of  the  country, 
however,  consists  of  a  peninsula  projecting  south 
into  the  Mediterranean.    It  is  mountainous,  and 


LYDDA 

is  watered  by  numerous  small  rivers  which  flow 
from  the  mountains.  Its  inhabitants  were  be- 
lieved to  be  descendants  of  Cretans,  who  came 
thither  under  Sarpedon,  brother  of  Minos.  One 
of  their  kings  was  Bellerophon,  celebrated  in 
mythology.  The  Lycians  were  a  warlike  people, 
powerful  on  the  sea,  and  attached  to  their  in- 
dependence, which  they  successfully  maintained 
against  Croesus,  king  of  Lj'dia,  and  Mere  after- 
wards allowed  by  the  Persians  to  retain  their 
own  kings  as  satraps.  Lycia  is  named  in  1  Mace. 
XV.  23,  as  one  of  the  countries  to  which  the  Ro- 
man senate  sent  its  missive  in  favour  of  the  Jews. 
The  victory  of  the  Romans  over  Antiochus  (b.c. 
189)  gave  Lycia  rank  as  a  free  state,  which  it 
retained  till  the  time  of  Claudius,  when  it  was 
made  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire.  Lycia 
contained  many  towns,  two  of  which  are  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament ;  Patara  (Acts  xxi. 
1,  2);  Myra  (Acts  xxvii.  5);  and  one,  Phaselis, 
in  the  Apocrypha  (1  Mace.  xv.  23). 

LYD'DA,  a  town  within  the  limits  of  the  tribe 
of  Ephraim,  nine  miles  east  of  Joppa,  on  the  road 
between  that  port  and  Jerusalem.  It  bore  in 
Hebrew  the  name  of  Lod,  and  appears  to  have 
been  first  built  by  the  Benjamites,  although  it 
lay  beyond  the  limits  of  their  territory ;  and  we 
find  it  again  inhabited  by  Benjamites  after  the 
Exile  (1  Chron.  viii.  12;  Ezra  ii.  33;  Neh.  xi. 
35).  It  is  mentioned  in  the  Apocrypha  (1  Mace, 
xi.  34),  as  having  been  taken  from  Samaria  and 
annexed  to  Judaea  by  Demetrius  Nicator;  and  at 
a  later  date  its  inhabitants  are  named  among 
those  who  were  sold  into  slavery  by  Cassius 
when  he  inflicted  the  calamity  of  his  presence 
upon  Palestine  after  the  death  of  Julius  Caesar. 
In  the  New  Testament  the  place  is  only  noticed, 
under  the  name  of  Lydda,  as  the  scene  of  Peter's 
miracle  in  healing  iEneas  (Acts  ix.  32,  3.5). 
Some  years  later  the  town  was  reduced  to  ashes 
by  Cestius  Gallus,  in  his  march  against  Jeru- 
salem; but  it  must  soon  have  revived,  for  not 
long  after  we  ^nd  it  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
toparchies  of  the  later  Juda;a,  and  as  such  it  sur- 
rendered to  Vespasian.  At  that  time  it  is  de- 
scribed by  Josephus  as  a  village  equal  to  a  city ; 
and  the  Rabbins  have  much  to  say  of  it  as  a  seat 
of  Jewish  learning,  of  which  it  was  the  most 
eminent  in  Jud  la  after  Jabneh  and  Bethar.  In 
the  general  change  of  names  which  took  place 
under  the  Roman  dominion,  Lydda  tecame  Dios- 
polis,  and  under  this  name  it  occurs  in  coins  of 
Severus  and  Caracalla,  and  is  often  mentioned  by 
Eusebius  and  Jerome.  It  was  early  the  seat  of  a 
bishopric,  and  is  known  to  have  continued  such 
until  at  least  a.d.  518.  Lydda  early  became 
connected  with  the  homage  paid  to  the  celebrated 
saint  and  martyr  St.  d-orge.  who  is  said  to  have 
been  a  native  of  this  place,  and  who  was  not  less 
renowned  in  the  ea<t  than  afterwards  in  the  west. 
A  church  was  here  erected  in  honour  of  him  by 
the  Em.oeror  Justinian.  This  church,  which 
stood  outside  the  town,  had  just  been  levelled  to 
the  ground  by  the  Moslems  when  the  Crusaders 
arrived  at  Lydda;  liut  it  was  soon  rebuilt  by 
them,  and  they  established  a  bishopric  of  Lydda 
and  Ramleh.  The  church  was  destroyed  by  Sa- 
ladin  in  1191  •.  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  it 
was  ever  rebuilt,  although  there  was  in  later  cen- 
turies an  unfounded  impression  that  the  church, 
the  ruins  of  which  were  then  seen,  and  which 


LYSIAS 

still  exist,  had  been  built  by  our  king  Richard. 
From  that  time  there  has  been  little  notice  of 
Lydda  by  travellers.  It  now  exists,  under  its 
ancient  name  of  Lud,  as  a  considerable  village  of 
small  houses,  with  nothing  to  distinguish  it  from 
ordinary  Moslem  villages,  save  the  ruins  of  the 
celebrated  church  of  i<t.  George,  which  are  situ- 
ated in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town.  The  build- 
ing must  have  been  very  large.  The  walls  of 
the  eastern  end  are  standing  only  in  the  parts 
near  the  altar,  including  the  arch  over  the  latter ; 
but  the  western  end  remains  more  perfect,  and 
has  been  built  into  a  large  mosque,  the  lofty  mi- 
naret of  which  forms  the  landmark  of  Lud. 

LYD'IA,  a  province  in  the  west  of  Asia  Minor, 
supposed  to  have  derived  its  name  from  Lud,  the 
fourth  son  of  Shem  (Gen.  x.  22 ;  see  Nations, 
DisPEKSioN  of).  It  was  bounded  on  the  east  by 
Greater  Phrygia,  on  the  north  by  iEolis  or 
Mysia,  on  the  west  by  Ionia  and  the  .'Egean  Sea, 
and  on  the  south  it  was  separated  from  Caria  by 
the  Mseander,  The  country  is  for  the  most  part 
level.  Among  the  mountains,  that  of  Tmolus 
was  celebrated  for  its  saffron  and  red  wine.  In 
the  palmy  days  of  Lydia  its  kings  ruled  from  the 
shores  of  the  .fflgean  to  the  river  HalyS;  and 
Croesus,  who  was  its  king  in  the  time  of  Solon 
and  of  Cyrus,  was  reputed  the  richest  monarch 
in  the  world.  He  was  able  to  bring  into  the  field 
an  army  of  420,000  toot  and  60,000  horse  against 
Cyrus,  by  whom,  however,  he  was  defeated,  and 
)iis  kingdom  annexed  to  the  Persian  empire 
(Hei-od.  i.  6).  Lydia  afterwards  formed  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  the  Seleucidae;  and  it  is  related 
in  1  Mace.  viii.  3,  that  Antiochus  the  Great  was 
compelled  by  the  Romans  to  cede  Lydia  to  king 
Eumenes.  In  the  time  of  the  travels  of  the 
Apostles  it  was  a  province  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Its  chief  towns  were  Sardis  (the  capital),  Thya- 
tira,  and  Philadelphia,  all  of  which  are  men- 
tioned in  the  New  Testament,  although  the  name 
of  the  province  itself  does  not  occur.  The  man- 
ners of  the  Lydians  were  corrupt  even  to  a 
proverb. 

LYD'IA,  a  woman  of  Thyatira,  '  a  seller  of 
purple,'  who  dwelt  in  the  city  of  Philippi  in 
Macedonia  (Acts  xvi.  14,  15).  Lydia  was  not  by 
birth  a  Jewess,  but  a  proselyte,  as  the  phrase 
'  who  worshipped  God '  imports.  She  was  con- 
verted by  the  preaching  of  Paul ;  and  after  she 
and  her  household  had  been  baptised,  she  pressed 
the  use  of  her  house  so  earnestly  upon  him  and 
his  associates,  that  they  were  constrained  to 
accept  the  invitation.  The  Lydians  were  famous 
for  the  art  of  dyeing  purple  vests,  and  Lydia,  as 
'  a  seller  of  purple,'  is  supposed  to  have  been  a 
dealer  in  vests  so  dyed,  rather  than  in  the  dye 
itself. 

LYSA'NIAS,  tetrarch  of  Abilene,  when  John 
commenced  his  ministry  as  the  harbinger  of 
Christ  (Luke  iii.  1).  He  is  supposed  to  hive 
been  son  or  grandson  of  amother  Lysanias,  known 
in  history,  who  was  put  to  death  by  Mark 
Antony,  and  part  of  his  territories  given  to  Cleo- 
patra [Abilene]. 

LYS'IAS,  or  Claudius  Lysias,  chiliarch  and 
commandant  of  the  Roman  troops  who  kept 
guard  at  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  by  whom  Paul 
was  secured  from  the  fury  of  the  Jews,  and  sent 
under  guard  to  the  procurator  Felix  at  Csesarea 
CActs  xxi.  a7  ;  xxiii.  31). 


MAACAH  549 

LYS'TRA,  a  city  of  Lycaonia  in  Asia  Minor, 
to  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  fled  from  the  danger 
which  threatened  them  at  Icouium  (Acts  xiv.  6). 
Here,  Paul  having  miraculously  cured  a  cripple, 
they  were  both  adored  as  gods ;  but  afterwards, 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Jews,  Paul  was  stoned 
and  left  for  dead  (Acts  xiv.  8-21).  Timothy  was 
a  native  of  Lystra  (Acts  xvi.  1 ).  This  city  was 
south  of  Iconium,  but  its  precise  site  is  un- 
certain, as  well  as  that  of  Derbe,  which  is  men- 
tioned along  with  it. 


M. 


MA'^ACAH,  or  Maacath,  a  city  and  region  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Hermon,  not  far  from  Geshur, 
a  district  of  Syria  (Josh.  xiii.  13  ;  2  Sam.x.  0,8  ; 
1  Chron.  xix.  7).  Hence  the  adjacent  portion  of 
Syria  is  called  Aram-Maacliah  or  Syria  of  Maachah 
(1  Chron.  xix.  7).  The  Israelites  seem  to  have  con- 
sidered this  territory  as  included  in  their  grant,  but 
were  never  able  to  get  possession  of  it  (Josh.  xiii. 
13).  In  the  time  of  David  the  small  state  had  a 
king  of  its  own,  who  contributed  1000  men  to  the 
grand  alliance  of  the  Syrian  nations  against  the 
Jewish  monarch  (2  Sam.  x.  6,  8).  The  lot  of  the 
half-tribe  of  Manasseh  beyond  the  Jordan  ex- 
tended to  this  country,  as  had  previously  the 
dominion  of  Og,  king  of  Bashan  (Dent.  iii.  14; 
Josh.  xii.  5).  Near,  or  within  the  ancient  limits 
of  Maacah,  was  the  town  called  for  that  reason 
Abel  beth-Maacah  [Abel]. 

MAACAH,  or  Maachah,  is  also  the  name  of 
several  persons  in  the  Old  Testament,  male  and 
female,  who  may  be  mentioned  to  distinguish 
them  from  one  another,  namely — 

1.  MAACAH,  the  father  of  Achish,  king  of 
Gath  (1  Kings  ii.  39). 

2.  MAACAH,  the  father  of  Hanan,  one  of 
David's  worthies  (1  Chron.  xi.  43). 

3.  MAACAH,  the  father  of  Shephatiah,  the 
military  chief  of  the  Simeonites  in  the  time  of 
David  (1  Chron.  xxvii.  16). 

4.  MAACAH,  a  person  whose  sex  does  not  ap- 
pear, one  of  the  offspring  of  Nahor's  concubine 
Reumah  (Gen.  xxii.  24). 

5.  MAACAH,  a  concubine  of  Caleb  (1  Chron. 
ii.  48). 

6.  MAACAH,  grand-daughter  of  Benjamin, 
who  was  married  to  Machir,  son  of  Manasseh 
(1  Chron.  vii.  16). 

7.  MAACAH,  daughter  of  Talmai,  king  of 
Geshur,  wife  of  David  and  mother  of  Absalom 
(2  Sam.  iii.  3).  In  1  Sam.  xxvii.  8,  we  read  of 
David's  invading  the  land  of  the  Geshurites,  and 
the  Jewish  commentators  allege  that  he  then  took 
the  daughter  of  the  king  captive,  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  her  great  beauty,  married  her,  after 
she  had  been  made  a  proselyte  according  to  the 
law  in  Deut.  xxi.  But  this  is  a  gross  mistake, 
for  the  Geshur  invaded  by  David  was  to  the  south 
of  Judah,  whereas  the  Geshur  over  which  Talmai 
ruled  was  to  the  north,  and  was  regarded  as  part 
of  Syria  (2  Sam.  xv.  8).  The  fact  appears  to  be 
that  David,  having  married  the  daughter  of  this 
king,  contracted  an  alliance  with  him,  in  order  to 
strengthen  his  interest  against  Ishbosheth  in  those 
parts. 

8.  MAACAH,   daughter  of  Abishalom,  wife 


5S0 


MACCABEES 


MACCABEES 


of  Rehoboam,  and  mother  of  Abijam  (1  Kings 
XV.  1 ).  In  verse  10  we  read  that  Asa's  '  mother's 
name  was  Maacah,  the  daughter  of  Abishalom.' 
It  is  evident  that  here  '  mother '  is  used  in  a  loose 
sense,  and  means  '  grandmother,'  which  the  Maa- 
cah named  in  verse  1  must  have  been  to  the  Asa 
of  verse  10.  The  Abishalom  who  was  the  father 
of  this  Maacah  is  called  Absalom  in  2  Chron.  xi. 
20,  21,  and  is  generally  supposed  by  the  Jews  to 
have  been  Absalom  the  son  of  David ;  which 
seems  not  improbable,  seeing  that  Rehoboam's 
other  two  wives  were  of  his  father's  family  (2 
Chron.  xi.  18).  But  Josephus  says  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  Tamar,  the  daughter  of  Absalom, 
and  consequently  his  granddaughter.  This  seems 
not  unlikely  [Abijah].  It  would  appear  that 
Asa's  own  mother  was  dead  before  he  began  to 
reign;  for  Maacah  bore  the  rank  and  state  of 
queen-mother  (resembling  that  of  the  Sultaness 
Valide  among  the  Turks),  the  powers  of  which 
she  so  much  abused  to  the  encouragement  of 
idolatry,  that  Asa  commenced  his  reforms  by 
'  removing  her  from  being  queen,  because  she  had 
made  an  idol  in  a  grove '  (I  Kings  xv.  13 ;  2 
Chron.  xv.  16). 

MACCABEES.  The  etymology  of  this  word 
is  too  uncertain  to  reward  the  inquiries  made 
respecting  it.  As  a  family,  the  Maccabees  com- 
menced their  career  of  patriotic  and  religious 
heroism  during  the  persecution  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  about  the  year  b.c.  167.  At  this 
time  the  aged  Mattathias,  a  descendant  of  the 
Asmonirans,  and  his  five  sons,  inhabited  the  town 
of  Modiu,  to  which  place  Antiochus  sent  certain 
of  his  officers  with  instructions  to  erect  an  altar 
for  heathen  sacrifices,  and  to  engage  the  inha- 
bitants in  the  celebration  of  the  most  idolatrous 
and  superstitious  rites.  The  venerable  Mattathias 
openly  declared  his  resolution  to  oppose  the 
orders  of  the  tyrant,  and  one  of  the  recreant  Jews 
approaching  the  altar  which  had  been  set  up,  he 
ruslied  upon  him,  and  slew  him  with  his  own 
hand.  His  part  thus  boldly  taken,  he  called  his 
sons  and  his  friends  around  him,  and  imme- 
diiitely  tied  to  the  mountains,  inviting  all  to  fol- 
low liim  who  had  any  zeal  for  God  and  the  law. 
A  small  band  of  resolute  and  devoted  men  was 
thus  formed,  and  the  governor  of  the  district  saw 
reason  to  fear  that  a  general  insurrection  would 
be  the  conse<iuence  of  their  proceeding.  By  a 
sudden  attack  directed  against  them  on  the  Sab- 
bath, when  he  knew  the  strictness  of  their  prin- 
ciples would  not  allow  them  to  take  measures  for 
their  defence,  he  threw  them  into  disorder,  and 
slew  about  a  thousand  of  their  number,  consisting 
of  men,  women,  and  children. 

Warned  by  this  event,  and  yielding  to  the 
necessity  of  their  present  condition,  Mattathias 
and  his  sons  determined  that  for  the  future  they 
would  defend  themselves  on  the  Sabbath  in  the 
same  manner  as  on  other  days.  The  mountain- 
hold  of  the  little  band  was  now  guarded  more 
cautiously  than  before.  Fresh  adherents  to  the 
holy  cause  were  continually  flocking  in ;  and  in 
a  few  months  the  party  found  itself  sufficiently 
strong  to  make  attacks  upon  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages of  the  neighbourhood,  throwing  down  the 
heathen  altars,  and  punishing  the  reprobates  who 
had  taken  part  with  the  enemies  of  God. 

By  the  death  of  Mattathias,  the  leadership  of 
the  party  devolved  upon  his  son  Judas  Macca- 


basus,  whose  worth  and  heroic  courage  pointed 
him  out  as  most  capable  of  caVrying  on  the  en- 
terprise thus  nobly  begun.  Judas  lost  no  time 
in  attacking  the  enemy.  He  made  himself 
master  of  several  towns,  which  he  fortified 
and  garrisoned.  Apollonius,  general  of  the  army 
in  Samaria,  hastened  to  stop  the  progress  of  the 
insurgents.  Judas  met  him  ou  the  way,  joined 
battle  with  him,  slew  him  and  routed  his  army. 
The  same  success  attended  him  in  his  encounter 
with  Seron,  general  of  the  Syrians ;  and  it  now 
became  evident  to  Antiochus  that  the  J(?wish  na- 
tion would  soon  be  delivered  from  his  yoke,  unless 
he  proceeded  against  them  with  a  more  formidable 
force.  While,  therefore,  he  himstlf  went  into 
Persia  to  recruit  his  treasures,  Lysias,  whom  he 
left  as  regent  at  home,  sent  an  army  into  Judsea, 
composed  of  forty  thousand  foot  and  seven  thou- 
sand cavalry.  This  powerful  array  was  further 
increased  by  auxiliaries  from  the  provinces,  and 
by  bands  of  Jews,  who  dreaded  nothing  more 
than  the  triumph  of  those  virtuous  men  of  their 
own  nation,  who  were  struggling  to  save  it  from 
reprobation.  So  unequal  did  the  forces  of  Judas 
appear  to  an  encounter  with  such  an  army,  that 
in  addressing  his  followers  he  urged  those  among 
them  who  had  any  especial  reason  to  love  the 
present  world  to  retire  at  once ;  while  to  those 
who  remained  he  pointed  out  the  promises  of  God 
as  the  best  support  of  their  courage  and  fidelity. 
By  a  forced  march  he  reached  a  portion  of  the 
enemy  encamped  at  Emmaus,  while  utterly  un- 
prepared for  his  approach.  Complete  success 
attended  this  bold  proceeding.  The  several 
parts  of  the  hostile  army  were  successively  put 
to  flight,  a  splendid  booty  was  secured,  and  Judas 
gained  a  position  which  made  even  the  most 
powerful  of  his  opponents  tremble.  Another  and 
more  numerous  army  was  sent  against  him  the 
following  year,  but  with  no  better  success.  At 
the  head  of  ten  thousand  determined  followers, 
Judas  defeated  the  army  of  Lysias,  consisting  of 
sixty  thousand.  A  way  was  thereby  opened  for 
his  progress  to  Jerusalem,  whither  he  imme- 
diately hastened,  with  the  devout  purpose  of 
purifying  the  temple  and  restoring  it  to  its 
former  glory.  The  solemn  religious  rites  hav- 
ing been  performed  which  were  necessary  to  the 
cleansing  of  the  sacred  edifice,  the  Festival  of  the 
Purification  was  instituted,  and  added  to  the 
number  of  the  other  national  festivals  of  more 
ancient  date. 

Judas  had  full  occupation  for  his  courage  and 
ability  in  repelling  the  incursions  of  those  nume- 
rous foes  who  dreaded  the  restoration  of  order 
and  religion.  But  every  day  added  to  his  suc- 
cesses. Having  overthrown  the  Syrian  com- 
manders sent  against  him,  he  occupied  Samaria, 
made  himself  master  of  the  strong  city  of  Hebron, 
of  Azotus,  and  other  important  places,  taking 
signal  vengeance  on  the  people  of  Joppa  and 
Jamnia,  who  had  treacherously  plotted  the  de- 
struction of  numerous  faithful  Jews. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes  was  succeeded  by  Anti- 
ochus Eupator.  At  first  this  prince  acted  towards 
the  Jews  with  moderation  and  tolerance.  But  he 
soon  afterwards  invaded  Judsea  with  a  powerful 
army,  and  was  only  induced  to  make  peace  with 
Maccabseus  by  the  fears  which  he  entertained  of 
a  rival  aspirant  to  the  throne.  His  caution  did 
not  save  him.     He  was  put  to  death  by  his  own 


MACCABEES 

uncle,  Demetrius,  who.  obtainiug  the  throne  of 
Syria,  made  peace  with  Judus,  but  took  posses- 
sion of  the  citadel  of  Jerusalem,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  his  general,  Nicunor,  and  a  body  of 
troops.  This  state  of  things  was  not  allowed  to 
last  long.  Demetrius  listened  to  the  reports  of 
Nicanor's  enemies,  and  threatened  to  deprive 
him  of  his  command  unless  he  could  disprove  the 
accusation  that  he  had  entered  into  a  league  with 
Judas,  aud  was  betraying  the  interests  of  his 
sovereign.  Nicanor  immediately  took  measures 
to  satii-fy  Demetrius,  and  Judas  saw  it  necessary 
to  escape  from  Jerusalem,  and  put  himself  in  a 
posture  of  defence.  A  battle  took  place  in  which 
he  defeated  his  enemy.  Another  was  soon  after 
fought  at  Beth-horon,  where  he  was  again  vic- 
torious. Nicanor  himself  fell  in  this  battle,  and 
his  head  and  right  hand  were  sent  among  the 
spoils  to  Jerusalem.  But  the  forces  of  Deme- 
trius were  still  numerous.  Judas  had  retired  to 
Laish  with  about  three  thousand  followers.  He 
was  there  attacked  by  overwhelming  numbers. 
Only  eight  hundred  of  his  people  remained 
faithful  to  him  on  this  occasion.  Resolved  not 
to  flee,  he  bravely  encountered  the  enemy,  and 
was  speedily  slain,  regarding  his  life  as  a  fitting 
sacrifice  to  the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged. 

Simon  and  Jonathan,  the  brothers  of  Judas, 
rallied  around  them  the  bravest  of  their  com- 
panions, and  took  up  a  strong  position  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Tekoa.  Jonathan  proved  him- 
self a  worthy  successor  of  his  heroic  brother, 
and  skilfully  evaded  the  first  attack  of  Bacchides, 
the  Syrian  general.  For  two  years  after  this, 
the  brothers  were  left  in  tranquillity,  and  they 
established  themselves  in  a  little  fortress  called 
Bethtasi,  situated  among  the  rocks  near  Jericho. 
The  skill  and  resolution  with  which  they  pursued 
their  measures  rendered  them  formidable  to  the 
enemy  ;  and  the  state  of  affairs  in  Syria  some 
time  after  obliged  Demetrius  to  make  JonaLlian 
the  general  of  his  forces  in  Judaa,  and  to  invest 
him  with  the  authority  of  governor  of  Jerusalem. 
To  this  he  was  compelled  by  the  rivalry  of 
Alexander  Balas  ;  but  his  policy  was  too  late  to 
secure  tlie  attachment  of  his  new  ally.  Jonathan 
received  offers  from  Alexander  to  support  his 
interests  among  the  Jews,  and  the  high-priesthood 
was  the  proffered  reward.  The  invitation  was 
accepted ;  and  Jonathan  became  the  first  of  the 
Asmonaean  line  through  which  the  high-priesthood 
was  so  long  transmitted.  Alexander  Balas  left 
nothing  undone  which  might  tend  to  secure  the 
fidelity  of  Jonathan.  He  gave  him  a  high  rank 
among  the  princes  of  his  kingdom,  and  adorned 
him  with  a  purple  robe.  Jonathan  continued  to 
enjoy  his  prosperity  till  the  year  B.C.  14,3,  when 
he  fell  a  victim  to  the  treachery  of  Trypho,  who 
aspired  to  the  Syrian  throne.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother  Simon,  who  confirmed  the  Jews 
in  their  temporary  independence;  and  in  the  year 
B.C.  141  they  passed  a  decree  whereby  the  dignity 
of  the  high -priesthood  and  of  prince  of  the  Jews 
was  rendered  hereditary  in  the  family  of  Simon. 
He  fell  a  victim  to  the  treachery  of  his  son-in-law, 
Ptolemy,  governor  of  Jericho ;  but  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  the  celebrated  John  Hyrcanus,  who 
possessed  the  supreme  authority  above  thirty 
years,  and  at  his  death  left  it  to  be  enjoyed  by 
his  son  Aristobulus,  who,  soon  after  his  accession 
to  power,  assumed  the  title  of  king.    This  dignity 


MACCABEES,  BOOKS  OF  ::>  1 

continued  to  be  enjoyed  by  descendants  of  tri'; 
Asmontean  family  till  the  year  B.C.  .34,  wher.  It 
ceased  with  the  downfall  of  Antigonus,  who, 
conquered  by  Herod  and  the  Romans,  was  put  to 
death  by  the  common  executioner. 

MACCABEES,  BOOKS  OF  [Apocrypha]. 
The  books  of  Maccabees  are  the  titles  of  certain 
Jewish  histories  containing  principally  the  details 
of  the  heroic  exploits  referred  to  in  the  preceding 
article. 

There  were  in  all  four  books  (to  which  some 
add  a  fifth)  known  to  the  ancients,  of  which  three 
are  still  read  in  the  eastern,  and  two  in  the  western 
church.  Of  these  the  tltird  is  the  first  in  order  of 
time.  We  shall,  however,  to  avoid  confusion, 
speak  of  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
commonly  enumerated. 

The  First  Book  of  Maccabees  contains  a 
lucid  and  authentic  history  of  the  undertakings 
of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  against  the  Jews,  from 
the  year  b.c.  175  to  the  death  of  Simon  Macca- 
bseus,  B.C.  135.  This  history  is  confessedly  of 
great  value.  AlthoHgh  its  brevity,  observes  De 
Wette,  renders  it  in  some  instances  unsatisfactory, 
defective,  and  uncritical,  and  occasionally  extra- 
vagant, it  is  upon  the  whole  entitled  to  credit, 
chronologically  accurate,  and  advantageou.sly  dis- 
tinguished above  all  other  historical  productions  of 
this  period.  It  is  the  second  book  in  order  of  time. 
There  is  little  question  that  this  book  was 
written  in  Hebrew,  although  the  original  is  now 
lost.  The  Greek  version  abounds  in  Hebraisms 
and  errors  of  translation. 

Of  the  author  nothing  is  known  ;  but  he  must 
have  been  a  Palestinian  Jew,  who  wrote  some 
considerable  time  after  the  death  of  Simon  Macca- 
bseus,  and  even  of  Hyrcanus,  and  made  use  of 
several  written,  although  chiefly  of  traditionary, 
sources  of  information.  At  the  same  time  it  is 
not  impossible  that  the  author  was  present  at 
several  of  the  events  which  he  so  graphically 
deecribes. 

The  Second  Book  of  Maccabees  (the  third 
in  order  of  time)  is  a  work  of  very  inferior  cha- 
racter to  the  first.  It  is  an  abridgment  of  a  more 
ancient  work,  written  by  a  Jew  named  Jason,  who 
lived  at  Cyrene  in  Africa,  comprising  the  prin- 
cipal transactions  of  the  Jews  which  occurred 
during  the  reigns  of  Seleucus  IV.,  Antiochus 
Epiphanes,  and  Antiochus  Eupator.  It  partly 
goes  over  the  same  ground  with  the  first  book, 
but  commences  ten  or  twelve  years  earlier,  and 
embraces  in  all  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  It  does 
not  appear  that  the  author  of  either  saw  the  other's 
work.  The  second  book  of  Maccabees  is  divided 
into  two  unconnected  parts.  It  commences  with 
a  letter  from  the  citizens  of  Jerusalem  and  Judaea 
to  the  Greek  Jews  in  Egypt,  written  b.c.  123 
(which  refers  to  a  former  letter  written  to  the 
same,  b.c.  143,  acquainting  them  of  their  suffer- 
ings), and  informs  them  that  their  worship  w.is 
now  restored,  and  that  they  were  celebrating  the 
Feast  of  Dedication.  The  second  part  (ii.  18) 
contains  a  still  more  ancient  letter,  written  B.C. 
159,  to  the  priest  Aristobulus,  the  tutor  of  King 
Ptolemy,  recounting,  besides  some  curious  matter, 
the  death  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  The  third 
part  contains  the  preface,  in  which  the  author 
states  that  he  is  about  to  epitomise  the  five  books 
of  Jason.  The  work  commences  with  the  attack 
of  Heliodorus  on  the  temple,  and  closes  with  the 


652 


MACCABEES,  BOOKS  OF 


death  of  Nicanor,  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  The 
history  supplies  some  blanks  in  the  first  book ; 
but  the  letters  prefixed  to  it  contradict  some  of 
the  facts  recorded  in  the  body  of  the  work,  and 
are  consequently  supposed  to  have  been  added  by 
another  hand.  Neither  are  the  letters  themselves 
considered  genuine,  and  they  were  probably 
written  long  after  the  death  of  Nicanor,  and 
even  of  John  Hyrcanus.  This  book  gives  a 
different  account  of  the  place  and  manner  of  the 
death  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  from  that  contained 
in  the  first  book. 

The  narrative,  as  De  Wette  observes,  abounds 
in  miraculous  adventures,  historical  and  chrono- 
logical errors,  extraordinary  and  arbitrary  em- 
bellishments, affected  descriptions,  and  moralising 
reflections.  We  are  not  aware  when  either  Jason 
himself  or  his  epitomiser  lived.  Jahu  refers  the 
age  of  the  epitomiser  to  some  time  previous  to  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  before  the  birth  of 
Christ,  and  De  Wette  maintains  that  Jason  must 
have  written  a  considerable  time  after  the  year 

B.C.  161. 

Jerome  observes  that  the  phraseology  of  this 
j  book  evinces  a  Greek  original.  The  elegance 
! ,  and  purity  of  the  style  have  misled  some  per- 
i  sons  into  the  supposition  that  its  author  was 
I  i    Josephus. 

I  The  Third  Book  of  Maccabkes,  still  read 
i  m  the  Greek  church,  is,  as  has  been  already  ob- 
served, the  first  in  order  ol  time.  It  contains  an 
account  of  the  persecution  of  the  Egyptian  Jews 
by  Ptolemy  Philopator,  who  is  said  to  have  pro- 
ceeded to  Jerusalem  after  his  victory  at  Eaphia 
over  Antiochus  the  Great,  b.c.  217,  and  after 
sacrificing  in  the  temple,  to  have  attempted  to 
force  his  way  into  the  Holy  of  Holies,  when  he 
was  prostrated  and  rendered  motionless  by  an 
invisible  hand.  Upon  his  return  to  Egypt,  he 
revenged  himself  by  shutting  up  the  Jews  in  the 
Hippodrome,  and  exposing  them  to  be  crushed 
beneath  the  feet  of  elephants.  This  book  contains 
an  account  of  their  deliverance  by  divine  inter- 
j  position.  It  is  anterior  in  point  of  date  to  the 
Maccabsean  period,  and  has  received  its  designa- 
tion from  a  general  resemblance  to  the  two  first 
books  in  the  heroic  character  of  the  actions  which 
it  describes.  Calmet  {Comvientary)  observes  that 
'  this  book  is  rejected  as  apocryphal  in  the  Latin 
Church ;  not,  however,  as  not  containing  a  true 
history,  but  as  not  being  inspired,  as  he  considers 
{  the  first  two  books  to  be.  It  is  nevertheless  re- 
I  garded  by  De  Wette  as  a  tasteless  fable,  and  not- 
withstanding the  relation  which  it  contains  of  an 
annual  festival,  considered  by  him  as  most  pro- 
bably destitute  of  any  historical  foundation. 
Dr.  Milman  {Hist,  of  the  Jews)  describes  it  as  a 
'  romantic  story.' 

The  author  is  unknown. 

The  Foubth  Book  of  Maccabees,  which  is 
also  found  in  the  Alexandrian  and  Vatican  ma- 
nuscripts, is  generally  supposed  to  be  the  same 
with  the  Supremacy  of  Reason,  attributed  to  Jose- 
phus, with  which  it  for  the  most  part  accords.  It 
consists  of  an  inflated  amplification  of  the  history 
of  the  martyrdom  of  Eleazar,  and  of  the  seven 
brothers,  whose  torments  and  death,  with  that  of 
their  mother,  form  the  subject  of  2  Mace.  ch. 
vi.  vii. 

Calmet  has  pointed  out  several  contradictions 
between  this  and  the  second  book,  as  well  as  the 


MACCABEES,  BOOKS  OF 

books  of  Moses,  together  with  some  opinions 
derived  from  the  Stoics,  such  as  the  equality  of 
crimes;  which,  he  supposes,  together  with  its 
tedious  descriptions,  have  consigned  it  to  the  rank 
of  an  Apocryphal  book. 

What  has  been  called  the  Fifth  Book  of 
Maccabees  is  now  extant  only  in  the  Arabic  and 
Syriac  languages. 

It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  author,  who 
could  scarcely  have  been  Josephus,  as  he  disagrees 
in  many  things  with  that  historian. 

The  work  consists  of  a  history  of  Jewish  affairs, 
commencing  with  the  attempt  on  the  treasury  at 
Jerusalem  by  Heliodorus,  and  ending  with  the 
tragic  fate  of  the  last  of  the  Asmonaean  princes, 
and  with  the  inhuman  execution  by  Herod  of  his 
noble  and  virtuous  wife  Mariamne,  and  of  his  two 
sons.  This  history  thus  fills  up  the  chasm  to  the 
birth  of  Christ. 

Dr.  Cotton  has  pointed  out  among  the  '  remark- 
able peculiarities '  found  in  this  book  the  phrases, 
'  Peace  be  unto  thee,'  and  '  God  be  merciful  to 
them,'  showing  that  the  practice  of  prayer  for  the 
dead  was  at  this  time  prevalent.  But  the  most 
remarkable  passage  in  reference  to  this  subject  is 
2  Mace.  xii.  40-45,  where  Judas  forwards  to  Jeru- 
salem 2000,  or  according  to  the  Syriac  3000,  and 
according  to  the  Vulgate  12,000  drachmas  of 
silver,  to  make  a  sin-offering  for  the  Jews  slain  in 
action,  on  whose  persons  were  found  things  con- 
secrated to  idols,  which  they  had  sacrilegiously 
plundered  in  violation  of  the  law  of  Moses  (Dent, 
vii.  25,  26).  The  author  of  the  book  remarks  that 
it  was  a  holy  and  good  thought  to  pray  for  the 
dead,  which,  he  observes,  would  have  been  super- 
fluous had  there  been  no  resurrection.  Calmet 
observes  that,  according  to  the  notions  of  the  Jews 
and  some  of  the  Christian  Fathers,  the  pains  of 
hell  for  those  who  died  in  mortal  sin  (as  appears 
to  have  been  the  case  of  these  Jews)  were  alle- 
viated by  the  prayers  and  alms  of  the  living,  if 
not  entirely  removed ;  and  cites  a  passage  from  a 
very  ancient  Christian  Liturgy  to  the  same  effect. 
This  learned  commentator  supposes  that  the 
ancient  and  Catholic  practice  of  prayer  for  the 
dead  had  its  origin  in  this  usage  of  the  Jews, 
although  he  admits  it  to  be  a  distinct  thing  from 
the  doctrine  of  purgatory  as  held  in  the  Roman 
Church. 

The  first  two  books  of  Maccabees  have  been  at 
all  times  treated  with  a  very  high  degree  of 
respect  in  the  Christian  Church.  Origen,  pro- 
fessing to  give  a  catalogue  of  the  twenty-two 
canonical  books,  of  which,  however,  he  actually 
enumerates  only  twenty-one,  adds,  '  besides,  there 
are  the  Maccabees.'  This  has  given  rise  to  the 
notion  that  he  intended  to  include  these  books  in 
the  canon,  while  others  have  observed  that  he  has 
omitted  the  minor  prophets  from  his  catalogue. 
In  his  preface  to  the  Psalms  he  excludes  the  two 
books  of  Maccabees  from  the  books  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, but  in  his  Princip.  (ii.  1),  and  in  his  Com- 
ment, ad  Rom.  ch.  v.,  he  speaks  of  them  as  inspired, 
and  as  of  equal  authority  with  the  other  books. 
St.  Jerome  says  that  the  Church  does  not  acknow- 
ledge them  as  canonical,  although  he  elsewhere 
cites  them  as  HuUj  Scripture.  Bellarmine  ac- 
knowledges that  these,  with  the  other  deutero- 
canonical  books,  are  rejected  by  Jerome,  as  they 
had  not  been  then  determined  by  any  general 
council.    The  first  councils  which  included  them 


MACEDONIA 

in  the  canonical  Scriptures  were  those  of  Hippo 
and  Carthage.  They  were  received  with  the 
other  Apocryphal  books  by  the  Council  of  Trent, 
liasnage,  cited  by  Larduer  {Credibility),  thinks 
that  the  word  '  Canonical '  may  be  supposed  to  be 
used  here  [by  the  councils  of  Hippo  and  Carthage] 
h>osely,  so  as  to  comprehend  not  only  those  books 
which  are  admitted  as  a  rule  of  faith,  but  those 
M-liich  are  esteemed  useful,  and  may  be  publicly 
read  for  the  edification  of  the  people,  in  contra- 
distinction to  such  books  as  were  entirely  rejected. 
This  is  also  the  opinion  of  the  Eoman  Catholic 
Professor  Jahn,  who  expresses  himself  in  nearly 
the  same  words.  Dr.  Lardner  conceives  that 
Augustine  also,  unless  he  would  contradict  him- 
self, must  be  understood  to  have  used  the  word  in 
the  same  sense. 

JIACEDO'NIA,  a  country  lying  to  the  north 
of  Greece  Proper,  having  on  the  east  Thrace  and 
the  jEgean  Sea,  on  the  west  the  Adriatic  and 
Illyria,  on  the  north  Dardauia  and  Maesia,  and 
oil  the  south  Thessaly  and  Epirus,  The  country 
is  supposed  to  have  been  first  peopled  by  Chittim 
or  Kittim,  a  son  of  Javan  (Gen.  x.  4)  [Nations, 
Disi'EKSioN  of]  ;  and  in  that  case  it  is  probable 
tliat  the  Macedonians  are  sometimes  intended 
when  the  word  Chittim  occurs  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Macedonia  was  the  original  kingdom  of 
Philip  and  Alexander,  by  means  of  whose  victories 
the  name  of  the  Macedonians  became  celebrated 
throughout  the  East,  and  is  often  used  for  the 
Greeks  in  Asia  generally.  The  rise  of  the  great 
empire  formed  by  Alexander  is  described  by  the 
prophet  Daniel  under  the  emblem  of  a  goat  with 
one  horn  (Dan.  viii.  3-8).  As  the  horn  was  a 
general  symbol  of  power,  and  as  the  oneness  of  the 
horn  implies  merely  the  unity  of  that  power,  we 
are  not  prepared  to  go  the  lengths  of  some  over- 
zealous  illustrators  of  Scripture,  who  argue  that 
if  a  one-horned  goat  were  not  a  recognised  symbol 
of  Macedonia  we  should  not  be  entitled  to  con- 
clude that  Macedonia  was  intended.  We  hold 
that  there  could  be  no  mistake  in  the  matter, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  usual  symbol  of 
Macedonia.  It  is,  however,  curious  and  interest- 
ing to  know  that  Daniel  did  describe  Macedonia 
under  its  usual  symbol,  as  coins  still  exist  in 
which  that  country  is  represented  under  the  figure 
of  a  one-horned  goat.  There  has  been  much  dis- 
cussion on  this  subject — more  curious  than  valu- 
able— but  the  kernel  of  it  lies  in  this  fact. 

When  subdued  by  the  Romans  under  Paulus 
iEmilius  (b.c.  168),  Macedonia  was  divided  into 
four  provinces ;  but  afterwards  (b.c.  142)  the 
whole  of  Greece  was  divided  into  two  great  pro- 
vinces, Macedonia  and  Achaia  [Greece,  Achaia]  . 
Macedonia  therefore  constituted  a  Roman  pro- 
vince, governed  by  a  proconsul,  in  the  time  of 
Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

The  Apostle  Paul  being  summoned  in  a  vision, 
while  at  Troas,  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Ma- 
cedonia, proceeded  thither,  and  founded  the 
churches  of  Thessalonica  and  Philippi  (Acts  xvi. 
9),  A.D.  55.  This  occasions  repeated  mention  of 
the  name,  either  alone  (Acts  xviii.  5  ;  xix.  21  ; 
Rom.  XV.  26;  2  Cor.  i.  16;  xi.  9;  Phil,  iv,  15), 
or  along  with  Achaia  (2  Cor.  ix.  2 ;  1  Thess.  i. 
8).  The  principal  cities  of  Macedonia  were 
Amphipolis,  Thessalonica,  and  Pella  (Liv,  xlv. 
29);  the  towns  *of  the  province  named  in  the 
New  Testament,    and  noticed   in    the  present 


MAGI 


553 


work,  are  Amphipolis,  Thessalonica,  Neapclis, 
ApoUonia,  and  Beroea. 

MACHPE'LAH  {twofold,  double),  the  name  of 
the  plot  of  ground  containing  the  cave  which 
Abraham  bought  of  Ephron  the  Hittite  for  a 
family  sepulchre  (Gen.  xxiii.  9,  17)  [Hebron]. 

MAD'Al,  third  son  of  Japhet  (Gen.  x.  2), 
from  whom  the  Medes,  &c.,  are  supposed  to  have 
descended  (Gog  ;  Nations,  Dispersion  of]. 

MADMAN'NAH,  a  city  of  Simeon  (Josh.  xv. 
31),  very  far  south  towards  Gaza  (1  Chron.  ii. 
49),  which  in  the  first  distribution  of  lands  had 
been  assigned  to  Judah.  Eusebius  and  Jerome 
identify  it  with  a  town  of  their  time,  called 
Menois,  near  the  city  of  Gaza. 

MADME'NAH,  a  town  only  named  in  Isa.  x. 
31,  where  it  is  manifestly  placed  between  Nob 
and  Gibeah.  It  is  generally  confounded  with 
the  preceding,  which  is  much  too  far  southward 
to  suit  the  context. 

MAG'DALA,  a  town  mentioned  in  Matt.  xv. 
39,  and  the  probable  birthplace  of  Mary  Magda- 
lene, i.  e.  Mary  of  Magdala.  It  must  have  taken 
its  name  from  a  tower  or  castle,  as  the  name 
signifies.  It  was  situated  on  the  lake  Genne- 
sareth,  but  it  has  usually  been  placed  on  the  east 
side  of  the  lake,  although  a  careful  consideration 
of  the  route  of  Christ  before  he  came  to,  and 
after  he  left,  Magdala,  would  show  that  it  must 
have  been  on  its  western  shore.  This  is  con- 
firmed by  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  (compiled  at 
Tiberias),  which  several  times  speaks  of  Magdala 
as  being  adjacent  to  Tiberias  and  Hamath,  or  the 
hot-springs.  It  was  a  seat  of  Jewish  learning 
after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  Rab- 
bins of  Magdala  are  often  mentioned  in  the 
Talmud.  A  small  Moslem  village,  bearing  the 
name  of  Mejdel,  is  now  found  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake  about  three  miles  north  by  west  of  Tiberias ; 
and  although  there  are  no  ancient  ruins,  the 
name  and  situation  are  very  strongly  in  favour 
of  the  conclusion  that  it  represents  the  Magdala 
of  Scripture.  This  was  probably  also  the  Mig- 
dal-el,  in  the  tribe  of  Naphtali,  mentioned  in 
Josh.  xix.  38. 

MAGI.  The  Magi  were  originally  one  of  the 
six  tribes  into  which  the  nation  of  the  Medes 
was  divided,  who,  like  the  Levites  under  the 
Mosaic  institutions,  were  intrusted  with  the  care 
of  religion:  an  ofiice  which  was  held  in  the 
highest  honour,  gave  the  greatest  influence,  and 
which  they  probably  acquired  for  themselves  only 
after  a  long  time,  as  well  as  many  worthy  efforts 
to  serve  their  country,  and  when  they  had  proved 
themselves  superior  to  the  rest  of  their  brethren. 
As  among  other  ancient  nations,  as  the  Egyptians, 
and  Hebrews,  for  instance,  so  among  the  Medes, 
the  priestly  caste  had  not  only  religion,  but  the 
arts  and  all  the  higher  culture,  in  their  charge. 
Their  name  points  immediately  to  their  sacer- 
dotal character  (from  Mag  or  Mog,  which  de- 
notes '  priest '),  either  because  religion  was  the 
chief  object  of  their  attention,  or  more  probably 
because,  at  the  first,  religion  and  art  were  so 
allied  as  to  be  scarcely  more  than  different  ex- 
pressions of  the  same  idea.  _ 

Little  in  detail  is  known  of  the  Magi  durmg 
the  independent  existence  of  the  Median  govern- 
ment ;  they  appear  in  their  greatest  glory  after 
the  Medes  were  united  with  the  Persians.  This 
doubtless  is  owing  to  the  general  imperfection  of 


554 


MAGI 


the  historical  materials  which  rdate  to  the  earlier 
periods.  So  great,  however,  was  the  iuflueuee 
which  the  Magi  attained  under  the  united  em- 
pire, that  the  Medes  were  not  ill  compensated  for 
their  loss  of  national  independence.  Under  the 
Medo-Persian  sway  the  Magi  formed  a  sacred 
caste  or  college,  which  was  very  famous  in  the 
ancient  world  for  the  practice  of  divination, 
astrology,  and  magic.  According  to  Strabo  the 
Magi  practised  different  sorts  of  divination — 1.  by 
evoking  the  dead  ;  2.  by  cups  or  dishes  (Joseph's 
divining  cup.  Gen.  xliv.  5);  3.  by  means  of 
water.  By  the  employment  of  these  means  the 
Magi  affected  to  disclose  the  future,  to  influence 
the  present,  and  to  call  the  past  to  their  aid. 
Even  the  visions  of  the  night  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  interpret,  not  empirically,  but  accord- 
ing to  such  established  and  systematic  rules  as  a 
learned  priesthood  might  be  expected  to  employ. 
The  success,  however,  of  their  efforts  over  the 
invisible  world,  as  well  as  the  holy  office  which 
they  exercised,  demanded  in  themselves  peculiar 
cleanliness  of  body,  a  due  regard  to  which  and 
to  the  general  principles  of  their  caste  would 
naturally  be  followed  by  professional  prosperity, 
■which  in  its  turn  conspired  with  prevailing  super- 
stition to  give  the  Magi  great  social  considera- 
tion, and  make  them  of  high  importance  before 
kings  and  princes  —  an  influence  which  they 
appear  to  have  sometimes  abused,  when,  descend- 
ing from  the  peculiar  duties  of  their  high  office, 
they  took  part  in  the  strife  and  competitions  of 
politics,  and  found  themselves  sufficiently  power- 
ful even  to  overturn  thrones. 

Abuses  bring  reform  ;  and  the  Magian  religion, 
which  had  lost  much  of  its  original  character, 
and  been  debased  by  some  of  the  lowest  elements 
of  earthly  passions,  loudly  called  for  a  renova- 
tion, when  Zoroaster  appeared  to  bring  about  the 
needful  change.  As  to  the  time  of  his  appear- 
ance, and  in  general  the  particulars  of  his  history, 
differences  of  opinion  prevail,  after  all  the  critical 
labour  that  has  been  expended  on  the  subject. 
Winer  says  he  lived  in  the  second  half  of  the 
seventh  century  before  Christ.  He  was  not  the 
founder  of  a  new  system,  but  the  renovator  of 
an  old  and  corrupt  one,  being,  as  he  himself  inti- 
mates, the  restorer  of  the  word  which  Ormuzd 
had  formerly  revealed,  but  which  the  influence  of 
Dews  had  degraded  into  a  false  and  deceptive 
magic.  To  destroy  this,  and  restore  the  pure  law 
of  Ormuzd,  was  Zoroaster's  mission.  After  much 
and  long-continued  opposition  on  the  part  of  the 
adherents  and  defenders  of  existing  corruptions, 
he  succeeded  in  his  virtuous  purposes,  and  caused 
his  system  eventually  to  prevail.  The  Magi,  as  a 
caste,  did  not  escape  from  his  reforming  hand. 
He  appears  to  have  remodelled  their  institute, 
dividing  it  into  three  great  classes: — 1,  learners  ; 
2,  masters ;  0,  perfect  scholars.  The  Magi  alone 
he  allowed  to  perform  the  religious  rites ;  they 
possessed  the  forms  of  prayer  and  worship  ;  they 
knew  the  ceremonies  which  availed  to  conciliate 
Ormuzd,  and  were  obligatory  in  the  public  offer- 
ings. They  accordingly  became  the  sole  medium 
of  communication  between  the  Deity  and  his 
creatures,  and  through  them  alone  Ormuzd  made 
his  will  known;  none  but  they  could  see  into 
the  future,  and  they  disclosed  their  knowledge  io 
those  only  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to  conciliate 
their  good  wilL    Henoe  the  power  which  the 


MAGI 

Magian  priesthood  possessed.  The  general  belief 
in  tlie  trustworthiness  of  their  predictions,  espe- 
cially when  founded  on  astrological  calculations, 
the  all  but  universal  custom  of  consulting  the  will 
of  the  divinity  before  entering  on  any  important 
undertaking,  and  the  blind  faith  which  wa.s  re- 
posed in  all  that  the  Magi  did,  reported,  or  com- 
manded, combined  to  create  for  that  sacerdotal 
caste  a  power,  both  in  public  and  in  private 
concerns,  which  has  probably  never  been  ex- 
ceeded. Neither  the  functions  nor  the  influence 
of  this  sacred  caste  were  reserved  for  peculiar, 
rare,  and  extraordinary  occasions,  but  ran  through 
the  web  of  human  life.  At  the  break  of  day  they 
had  to  chant  the  divine  hymns.  Tliis  office  being 
performed,  then  came  the  daily  sacrifice  to  be 
offered,  not  indiscriminately,  but  to  the  divinities 
whose  day  in  each  case  it  was— an  office  there- 
fore which  none  but  the  initiated  could  fulfil.  As 
an  illustration  of  the  high  estimation  in  which 
the  Magi  were  held,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  it 
was  considered  a  necessary  part  of  a  princely 
education  to  have  been  instructed  in  the  peculiar 
learning  of  their  sacred  order,  which  was  an 
honour  conceded  to  no  other  but  royal  person- 
ages, except  in  very  rare  and  very  peculiar  in- 
stances. This  Magian  learning  embraced  every- 
thing which  regarded  the  higher  culture  of  the 
nation,  being  known  in  history  under  the  desig- 
nation of  the  law  of  the  Medes  and  Persians.  It 
comprised  the  knowledge  of  all  the  sacred  rites, 
customs,  usages,  and  observances,  which  related 
not  merely  to  the  worship  of  the  gods,  but  to  the 
whole  private  life  of  every  worshipper  of  Ormuzd 
— the  duties  which,  as  such,  he  had  to  observe, 
and  the  punishments  which  followed  the  neglect 
of  these  obligations ;  whence  may  be  learnt  how 
necessary  the  act  of  the  priest  on  all  occa-sions 
was.  Under  the  veil  of  religion  the  priest  had 
bound  himself  up  with  the  entire  of  public  and 
domestic  life.  'The  judicial  office,  too,  appears  to 
have  been,  in  the  time  of  Cambyses,  in  the  hands 
of  the  Magi,  for  from  them  was  chosen  the  col- 
lege or  bench  of  royal  judges,  which  makes  its 
appearance  in  the  history  of  that  monarch.  Men 
who  held  these  offices,  possessed  this  learning,  and 
exerted  this  influence  with  the  people,  may  have 
proved  a  check  to  Oriental  despotism,  no  less 
powerful  than  constitutional,  though  the)'  were 
sometimes  unable  to  guarantee  their  own  lives 
against  the  wrath  of  the  monarch. 

If  we  turn  to  the  books  of  Scripture  we  find  the 
import  of  what  has  been  said  confirmed,  espe- 
cially in  the  book  of  Daniel,  where  the  great  in- 
fluence of  the  Magi  is  well  illustrated. 

The  Magi  were  not  confined  to  the  Medes  and 
Persians.  Since  they  are  mentioned  by  Hero- 
dotus as  one  of  the  original  tribes  of  the  Medes, 
they  may  have  been  primitively  a  Median  priest- 
hood. If  so  they  extended  themselves  into  otlier 
lands.  Possibly  Magi  may  have  been  at  first  not 
the  name  of  a  particular  tribe  or  priestly  caste, 
but  a  general  designation  for  priests  or  learned 
men ;  as  Pharaoh  denoted  not  an  individual,  but 
generally  king  or  ruler.  However  this  may  be, 
the  Chaldaeans  also  had  an  organized  order  of 
Magi,  a  caste  of  sacerdotal  scholars,  which  bore 
the  name  of  '  wise  men  '  (Jer.  1.  35) ;  '  the  wise 
men  of  Babylon'  (Dan.  ii.  12),  among  whom 
Daniel  is  classed  (ii.  18,  24).  Among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans  they  were  known  under  the  name  of 


MAHALATH 

Chaldseans,  and  also  of  Magi.  They  lived  scat- 
tered over  the  land  in  different  places  (Dan.  ii. 
14),  and  had  possessions  of  their  own.  The  temple 
of  Belus  was  employed  by  them  for  astronomical 
observations,  but  their  astronomy  was  connected 
with  the  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies  practised 
by  the  Babylonians, and  was  specially  directed  to 
vain  attempts  to  foretell  the  future,  predict  the 
fate  of  individuals  or  of  communities,  and  sway 
the  present,  in  alliance  with  augury,  incantation, 
and  magic  (Isa.  xlvii.  9,  13;  Dan.  ii.). 

It  is  easy  to  understand  how  the  lofty  science 
(so  called)  of  these  Magi — lofty  while  its  scholars 
surpassed  the  rest  of  the  world  in  knowledge,  and 
were  the  associate^  the  advisers,  the  friends,  and 
the  monitors  of  great  and  flourishing  mouarchs,  of 
indeed  successively  the  rulers  of  the  world — 
might,  could  indeed  hardly  fail,  as  resting  on  no 
basis  of  fact  or  reality,  in  process  of  time,  to  sink 
into  its  own  native  insignificance,  and  become 
either  a  mere  bugbear  to  frighten  the  ignorant,  or 
an  instrument  to  aid  the  fraudulent :  thus  hasten- 
ing on  to  the  contempt  into  which  all  falsities  are 
sure  sooner  or  later  to  fall.  The  decline  was  in- 
deed gradual ;  ages  passed  ere  it  was  completed  ; 
but  as  soon  as  it  ceased  to  have  the  support 
afforded  by  the  mighty  and  splendid  thrones  of 
Asia,  it  began  to  lose  its  authority,  which  the 
progress  of  knowledge  and  the  advent  of  Christ 
prevented  it  from  ever  regaining.  The  estima- 
tion, however,  in  which  Simon  Magus  was  evi- 
dently held,  as  recorded  in  the  Acts  ('  some  great 
one,'  &c.),  gives  reason  to  think  that  Magianism 
still  retained  a  large  share  of  its  influence  at  the 
commencement  of  our  era.  It  seems,  indeed,  to 
have  held  a  sort  of  middle  position,  half  way 
between  its  ancient  splendour  and  its  coming  de- 
gradation :  whence  we  may  understand  the  pro- 
priety of  the  visit  paid  by  the  Magi  to  the  new- 
born King  of  the  Jews  (Matt,  ii.,  '  star  in  the 
East ').  For  if  the  system  had  been  then  sunk  so 
low  as  to  correspond  in  any  degree  with  our  con- 
ception of  these  pretended  arts,  it  is  difficult  to 
assign,  at  least  to  the  unbeliever,  a  sufficient 
reason  why  the  visit  was  made,  or  at  any  rate 
why  it  was  recorded ;  but  its  credibility  is  ma- 
terially furthered  if  the  circumstances  of  the  case 
are  such  as  to  allow  us  to  regard  that  visit  as  a 
homage  paid  by  the  representatives  of  the  highest 
existing  influences  to  the  rising  star  of  a  new  day, 
in  the  fuller  light  of  which  they  were  speedily  to 
vanish. 

MAGICIANS,  the  title  which  in  our  version  is 
applied  to  the  '  wise  men '  of  Egypt  (Gen.  xli.  8, 
22  :  Kxod.  vii.  1 1 ;  viii.  7,  18,  19  ;  ix.  11),  and  of 
Babylon  (Dan.  i.  20;  ii.  2).  The  Hebrew  word 
properly  denotes  '  wise  men,'  as  they  called  them- 
selves and  were  called  by  others;  but,  as  we 
should  call  them,  '  men  eminent  in  learning  and 
science,'  their  exclusive  possession  of  which  in 
their  several  countries  enabled  them  occasionally 
to  produce  effects  which  were  accounted  super- 
natural by  the  people. 

MA'GOG,  son  of  Japhet  (Gen.  x.  2).  In  Eze- 
kiel  (xxxviii.  2  ;  xxxix.  6)  it  occurs  as  the  name 
of  a  nation,  coupled  with  Gog,  and  is  supposed  to 
represent  certain  Scythian  or  Tartar  tribes  de- 
scended from  the  son  of  Japhet  [Nations,  Dis- 
persion of]. 

MA'HALATH,  the  title  of  Psalms  liii.  and 
Ixxxviii.    [Psalms.] 


MALACHI  555 

MAHANA'IM  (two  hosts),  a  place  beyond  the 
Jordan,  north  of  the  river  Jabbok,  which  derived 
its  name  from  Jacob's  having  been  there  met  by 
the  angels  on  his  return  from  Padan-aram  (Gen. 
xxxii.  2).     The  name  was  eventually  extended 
to  the  town  which  then  existed,  or  which  after- 
wards arose  in  the  neighbourhood.     This  towu 
was  in  the  territory  of  the  tribe  of  Gad  (Josh. 
xiii.  26,  30),  and  was  a  city  of  the  Levites  (Josh. 
xxi.  39).     It  was  in  this  city  that  Ish-bosheth, 
the  son  of  Saul,  reigned  (2  Sam.  ii.  8),  probably 
because  he  found  the  influence  of  David's  name 
less  strong  on  the  east  than  on  the  west  of  the 
Jordan.    The  choice,  at  Vast,  seems  to  show  that 
Mahanaira  was   then   an  important   and   strong 
place.     Hence,  many  years  after,  David  himself 
repaired  to  Mahanaim  when  he  sought  refuae  be- 
yond the  Jordan  from  his  son  Absalom  (2"Sam. 
xvii.  24,  27 ;  1  Kings  ii.  8).     We  only  read  of   | 
Mahanaim  again  as  the  station  of  one  of  the  twelve    I 
officers  who  had  charge,  in  monthly  rotation,  of   \ 
raising  the  provisions  for  the  royal  establishments    i 
under  Solomon  (1  Kings  iv.  14),     The  site  has    I 
not  yet  been  identified. 

MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ,  words  prog-    j 
nost'ic  of  the  sudden  attack  of  the  Assyrian  army    i 
('he  hasteth  to  the  spoil'),  which  the  prophet    j 
Isaiah  was  first  commanded  to  write  in  large  cha-    i 
racters  upon  a  tablet,  and  afterwards  to  give  as  a 
symbolical  name  to  a  son  that  was  to  be  born  to 
him  (Isa.  viii.  1,  3).     It  is,  as  Dr.  Henderson  re-    ! 
marks,  the  longest  of  any  of  the  Scripture  name.s, 
but  has  its  parallels  in  this  respect  in  other  Ian-    I 
guages,  especially  in  our  own  during  the  time  of  I 
the  Commonwealth. 

MAH'LON,  one  of  the  two  sons  of  Elimelech 
and  Naomi,  and  first  husband  of  Ruth  the  Moab- 
itess  (Ruth  i.  2,  sq.).     [Ruth.] 

MAKKE'DAH,  a  royal  city  of  the  ancient 
Canaanites  (Josh.  xii.  10),  in  the  neighbourhood  | 
of  which  was  the  cave  in  which  the  five  kings 
who  confederated  against  Israel  took  refuge  after 
their  defeat  (Josh.  x.  10-29).  It  afterwards  be- 
longed to  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  41).  Makkedah  is 
placed  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  8  Roman  miles  to 
the  east  of  Eleutheropolis. 

MAL'ACHI,  the  last  of  the  minor  prophets,.and 
consequently  the  latest  writer  in  the  canon  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Nothing  is  known  of  his  person 
or  history.  It  appears  that  he  lived  after  Zecha- 
riah,  since  in  his  time  the  second  temple  was 
already  built  (ch.  iii.  10) ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
he  was  contemporary  with  Nehemiab  (comp.  ch. 
ii.  11,  with  Neh,  xiii.  23-27,  and  ch.  iii.  8,  with 
Neh.  xiii.  10). 

The  name  Malachi  means,  as  some  understand 
it,  my  angel ;  but  it  seems  more  correct  to  regard 
it  as  a  contracted  form  of  amjel  of  Jehovah.  As 
the  word  translated  '  angel '  means  also  a  '  mes- 
senger,' angels  being,  in  fact,  the  messengers  of 
God ;  and  as  the  prophets  are  often  styled  angels 
or  messengers  bf  Jehovah,  it  is  supposed  that 
'  Malachi '  is  merely  a  general  title  descriptive  of 
this  character,  and  not  a  proper  name.  It  has 
very  generally  been  supposed  that  this  prophet  is 
the  same  with  Ezra,  but  the  weight  of  authority 
is  decidedly  in  favour  of  his  separate  existence. 

Although  it  is  well  agreed  that  Malachi  was 
the  last  of  the  prophets,  the  date  of  his  prophecy 
has  been  variously  determined.  Usher  makes 
him  contemporary  with  Nehemiah,  in  B.C.  416; 


556  MALCHUS 

and  the  general  opinion  that  this  prophet  -vras 
contemporary  with,  or  immediately  followed, 
Nehemiah,  makes  most  of  the  proposed  alterna- 
tives range  within  a  few  years  of  that  date.  He 
censures  the  same  ofTeiices  which  excited  the  in- 
dignation of  Nehemiah,  and  which  that  governor 
had  not  been  able  entirely  to  reform.  Speaking 
of  God's  greater  kindness  to  the  Israelites  than 
to  the  Edomites,  he  begins  with  declaiming  against 
the  priests  for  their  profane  and  mercenary  con- 
duct, and  against  the  people  for  their  multiplied 
divorces  and  intermarriages  with  idolatrous  na- 
tion ;  he  threatens  them  with  punishment  and 
rejection,  declaring  tlial  God  would  '  make  his 
name  great  among  tlie  Gentiles'  (ch.  i.  11),  for 
tha:  he  was  wearied  with  the  impiety  of  Israel 
(ch.  i.  ii  ).  From  this  the  prophet  takes  occasion 
solemnly  to  proclaim  tliat  the  Lord  whom  they 
Bought  should  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  pre- 
ceded by  that  messenger  who,  like  a  harbinger, 
should  prepare  his  way  ;  that  the  Lord  when  he 
should  appear  would  purify  the  sons  of  Levi  from 
their  unrighteousness,  and  refine  them  as  metal 
from  the  dross  (ch.  iii.  1-3);  that  then  '  the  offer- 
ing of  Judah,'  the  spiritual  sacrifice  of  the  heart, 
'  should  be  pleasant  to  the  Lord,'  as  was  that  of 
the  patriarchs  and  their  uncorrupted  ancestors 
(ch.  iii.  4) ;  and  that  the  Lord  would  quickly  ex- 
terminate the  corruptions  and  adulteries  which 
prevailed.  The  prophet  then  proceeds  "with  an 
earnest  exhortation  to  repentance  ;  promising  high 
rewards  and  remembrance  to  the  righteous  in 
that  last  day  when  the  Lord  shall  make  up  his 
peculiar  ti'easures,  and  finally  establish  a  distinc- 
tion of  doom  and  condition  between  the  righteous 
and  the  wicked  (ch.  iii.  lG-18).  Malachi  then 
concludes  with  an  impressive  assurance  of  ap- 
proaching salvation  to  those  who  feared  God's 
name  from  that  '  fun  of  righteousness,'  who 
should  arise  with  healing  in  his  wings,  and  render 
them  triumphant ;  enjoining  in  the  solemn  close 
of  Iflis  exhortation,  when  uttering  as  it  were  the 
last  admonition  of  the  Jewish  prophets,  an  ob- 
servance of  the  law  of  Moses,  till  the  advent  of 
Elijah  the  prophet  (ch.  iv.  .5,  or  John  the  Baptist, 
who  came  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias.  Mark 
xi.  12;  Luke  i.  17),  who  before  the  coming  of 
that '  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,  should 
turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the  children,  and 
the  heart  of  the  children  to  their  fathers'  (ch.  iv.). 
Thus  Malachi  sealed  up  the  volume  of  prophecy 
with  the  description  of  that  personage  at  whose 
appearance  the  evangelists  begin  their  gospel 
history. 

The  claim  of  the  book  of  Malachi  to  its  place 
in  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament  has  never 
been  disputed  ;  and  its  authority  is  established 
by  the  references  to  it  in  the  New  Testament 
(Matt.  xi.  10;  xvii.  12;  Mark  i.  2;  ix.  11,  12 
Luke  i.  17;  Rom.  ix.  13). 

The  manner  of  Malachi  offers  few,  if  any,  dis- 
tinguishing characteristics.  The  style,  rhythm, 
and  imagery  of  his  writings  are  substantially 
those  of  the  old  prophets,  but  they  possess  no  re- 
markable vigour  or  beauty.  This  is  accounted 
for  by  his  living  during  that  decline  of  Hebrew 
poetry,  which  we  trace  more  or  less  in  all  the 
sacred  writings  posterior  to  the  Captivity. 

MAL'CHUS,  the  servant  of  the  high-priest 
Caiaphas,  whose  right  ear  was  cut  off  by  Peter  in 
the  ^rden  of  Gethsemane  (John  xviii.  10). 


MAN 

MALLOWS  (Job  xxx.  4).  The  proper  mean- 
ing of  the  word  (riialluach),  which  is  thus  ren- 
dered in  the  Authorized  Version,  has  given  rise 
to  considerable  discussion.  Mallows  are  still 
used  as  food  in  India,  as  they  formerly  were  in 
Europe,  and  probably  in  Syria.  '  We  saw,'  says 
Biddulph,  '  many  poor  people  collecting  mallows 
and  three-leaved  grass,  and  asked  them  what  they 
did  with  it ;  and  they  answered,  that  it  was  all 
their  food,  and  that  they  boiled  it,  and  did  eat 
it.'  Lady  Calcott  is  of  opinion  that  the  plant 
mentioned  by  the  patriarch  is  Jews*  mallow, 
which  still  continues  to  be  eaten  in  Egypt  and 
Arabia,  as  well  as  in  Palestine. 

The  learned  Bochart,  however,  contends  that 
the  word  malluach  denotes  a  saltish  plant,  which 
is  supposed  to  be  the  Atriplex  Halimus  of  bota- 
nists, or  tall  shrubby  Orache.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  species  of  Orache  were  used  as  articles  of  diet 
in  ancient  times,  and  probably  still  are  so  in  the 
countries  where  they  are  indigenous ;  but  there 
are  many  other  plants,  similar  in  nature,  that  is, 
soft  and  succulent,  and  usually  very  saline,  which, 
like  the  species  of  Atriplex,  belong  to  the  same 
natural  family  of  Chenopodece,  and  which  from 
their  saline  nature  have  received  their  respective 
names.  Some  of  these  are  shrubby,  but  most  of 
them  are  herbaceous,  and  extremely  common  in 
all  the  dry,  desert,  and  saline  soils  which  extend 
from  the  south  of  Europe  to  the  north  of  India. 
Most  of  them  are  saline  and  bitter,  but  some  are 
milder  in  taste  and  mucilaginous,  and  are  there- 
fore employed  as  articles  of  diet,  as  spinach  is  in 
Europe.  Salsola  indica,  for  instance,  which  is 
common  on  the  coasts  of  the  Peninsula  of  India, 
Dr.  Roxburgh  states,  saved  the  lives  of  many 
thousands  of  the  poor  natives  of  India  dui'ing  the 
famine  of  1791-2-3;  for  while  the  plant  lasted, 
most  of  the  poorer  classes  who  lived  near  the 
sea  had  little  else  to  eat ;  and  indeed  its  green 
leaves  ordinarily  form  an  essential  article  of  the 
food  of  those  natives  who  inhabit  the  maritime 
districts. 

MAM'MON,  a  Chaldee  word  signifying 
'  wealth '  or  '  riches,'  and  bearing  that  sense  in 
Luke  xvi.  9,  11  ;  but  also  used  by  our  Saviour 
(Matt.  vi.  24 ;  Luke  xvi.  13)  as  a  personification 
of  the  god  of  riches :  '  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon.' 

MAM'RE,  the  name  of  an  Amoritish  chief  who, 
with  his  brothers  Aner  and  Eshcol,  was  in  alliance 
with  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  13,  24).  Hence,  in  the 
Authorized  Version,  '  the  oaks  of  Mamre,'  '  plain 
of  Mamre'  (Gen.  xiii.  18;  xviii.  1),  or  simply 
'Mamre'  (xxiii.  17,  19  ;  xxxv.  27),  a  grove  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Hebron. 

MAN.  The  derivation  of  the  word  is  pro- 
bably from  dam,  likeness,  because  man  was  made 
in  the  likeness  of  God.  Others  have,  however, 
sought  to  derive  it  from  a  term  signifying  to  be 
'red'  or  'red-haired.  Adam  is  1.  the  proper 
name  of  the  first  man,  though  Geseuius  thinks 
that  when  so  applied  it  has  the  force  rather  of  an 
appellative,  and  that,  accordingly,  in  a  translation, 
it  would  be  better  to  render  it  the  man.  It  seems, 
however,  to  be  used  by  St.  Luke  as  a  proper  name 
in  the  genealogy  (iii.  38)  ;  by  St.  Paul  (Rom.  v. 
14;  1  Tim.  ii.  13,  14);  and  by  Jude  (14).  St. 
Paul's  use  of  it  in  1  Cor.  xv.  45  is  remarkably 
clear.  This  derivation  is  as  old  as  Josephus,  who 
says  that '  the  first  man  was  called  Adam,  because 


MANASSEH 


MANASSEH 


557 


he  was  formed  from  the  red  earth,'  and  adds, '  for 
the  true  virgin  earth  is  of  this  colour'  {Antiq.  i. 
1,  §  2).  But  is  this  true  ?  and  when  man  is  turned 
again  to  his  earth,  is  that  red  ?  2.  It  is  the  generic 
name  of  the  human  race  as  originally  created,  and 
afterwards,  like  the  English  word  man,  person, 
whether  man  or  woman  (Gen.  i.  26,  27  ;  v.  2  ; 
viii.  21;  Deut.  viii.  3;  Matt  v.  13,  16;  1  Cor. 
vii.  26),  and  even  without  regard  to  age  (John 
xvi.  21).  It  is  applied  to  women  only,  'the 
human  persons  of  women' (Num.  xxxi.  .').5).  .'3. 
[t  denotes  man  in  opposition  to  woman  (Gen.  iii. 
12;  Matt.  xix.  10),  though,  more  prop<=rly,  the 
husband  in  opposition  to  the  wife  (conip.  1  Cor. 
vii.  1).  4.  It  is  used,  though  very  rarely,  for 
those  who  maintain  the  dignity  of  human  nature, 
a  man,  as  we  say,  meaning  one  that  deserves  the 
name :  '  One  man  in  a  thousand  have  I  found,  but 
a  M'oraan,'  &c.  (Eccles.  vii.  28).  Perhaps  the 
Vi-ord  here  glances  at  the  original  uprightness  of 
man.  5.  It  is  frequently  used  to  denote  the  more 
degenerate  and  wicked  portion  of  mankind :  an 
instance  of  which  occurs  very  early,  '  The  sons, 
or  worshippers,  of  God  married  the  daughters  of 
men,  or  the  irreligious'  (Gen.  vi.  2).  6.  The 
word  is  used  to  denote  other  men,  in  opposition 
to  those  already  named,  as,  '  both  upon  Israel  and 
other  men  '  ( Jer.  xxxii.  20),  i.  e.  the  Egyptians. 
'  Like  other  men'  (Ps.  Ixxiii.  5),  i.  e.  common  men, 
in  opposition  to  better  men  (Ps.  Ixxxii.  7) ;  men 
of  inferior  rank,  as  opposed  to  men  of  higher 
rank  (see  Heb.,  Is.  ii.  9  ;  v.  15  ;  Ps.  xlix.  3  ;  Ixii. 
10  ;  Prov.  viii.  4).  The  phrase  '  son  of  man,'  in 
the  Old  Testament,  denotes  man  as  frail  and  un- 
worthy (Num.  xxiii.  19  ;  Job  xxv.  6  ;  Ezek.  ii. 
1,  3) ;  as  applied  to  the  prophet,  so  often,  it  has 
the  force  of  '  oh  mortal !'  There  are  three  other 
Hebrew  words  thus  translated  in  our  version,  and 
which  in  the  original  are  used  with  much  pre- 
cision :  one  denoting  a  man  as  distinguished  from 
a  woman  ;  another, '  mortals,'  as  transient,  perish- 
able, liable  to  sickness ;  and  a  third,  man,  in  re- 
gard to  the  superior  powers  and  faculties  with 
which  he  is  endowed  above  all  earthly  creatures. 

MAN'AEN,  a  Christian  teacher  at  Antioch, 
who  had  been  foster-brother  of  Herod  Antipas 
(Acts  xiii.  1).  He  is  supposed  to  have  been  one 
of  the  seventy  disciples,  but  this  is  uncertain,  as 
no  particulars  of  his  life  are  known. 

MANAS'SEH,  TRIBE  OF.  When  the  tribe 
of  Manafseh  quitted  Egypt,  it  numbered  32,200 
adult  males  (Num.  i.  34,  35),  being  8300  less 
than  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  the  younger  son  of 
Joseph.  This  was  the  lowest  number  of  adult 
males  in  any  tribe  at  that  period ;  but  if  we  add 
the  two  together,  the  tribe  of  Joseph,  composed 
of  these  two  tribes,  reached  to  72,700,  which  was 
more  than  any  other  tribe  contained,  except 
Judah.  During  the  sojourn  in  the  wilderness, 
the  tribe  of  Manasseh  rose  to  52,700  (Num.  xxvi. 
34),  being  an  increase  of  20,500.  "This  gave  it 
rank  in  point  of  population  as  the  sixth  of  the 
tribes,  Judah,  Issachar,  Zebulon,  Dan,  and  Asher 
only  being  more  numerous.  In  the  same  period 
Ephraim  had  declined  to  nearly  the  same  position 
which  Manasseh  had  previously  occupied,  its 
numbers  being  reduced  to  32,500.  Yet  the  pro- 
phecy of  Jacob  was  fulfilled,  and,  when  settled 
in  Canaan,  Ephraim  became  superior  in  wealth, 
power  and  population,  not  only  to  Manasseh,  but 
to  all  the  tribes  except  Judah.    One  circumstance 


tending  to  weaken  Manasseh  may  have  been  the 
division  which  took  place  in  it  on  entering  Pales- 
tine. The  pastoral  half  of  the  tribe  was  allowed 
to  establish  itself  with  Reuben  and  Gad,  on  the 
east  of  the  Jordan,  where  it  occupied  the  northern- 
most portion,  consisting  of  Argob  and  Bashan, 
from  the  Jabbok  to  Mount  Hermon  (Num.  xxxii. 
39;  xxxiv.  14;  Deut.  iii.  3;  Josh.  xii.  6;  xiii. 
7 ;  1  Chron.  vi.  23),  while  the  other  half  was 
provided  for  with  the  rest  of  the  tribes  in  Canaan 
proper,  west  of  the  Jordan,  where  it  had  a  fine 
tract  of  country  extending  from  that  river  to 
the  Mediterranean,  with  the  kindred  tribe  of 
Ephraim  on  the  south,  and  Issachar  on  the  north 
(Josh.  xvi.  9;  xvii..7-ll).  The  half-tribe  west 
of  the  river  was  not,  howevei;,  for  some  time  able 
to  expel  the  former  inhabitants  of  the  territory, 
so  as  to  obtain  the  exclusive  possession  of  it 
(Josh.  xvii.  12 ;  Judg.  i.  27).  The  tribe  of 
Manasseh  makes  no  figure  in  the  history  of  the 
Hebrews. 

1.  MANASSEH  {who  makes  forget,  see  Gen. 
xli.  51),  the  elder  of  the  two  sons  of  Joseph,  born 
in  Egypt  (Gen.  xli.  51  ;  xlvi.  20),  whom  Jacob 
adopted  as  his  own  (xlviii.  1 ) — by  which  act 
each  became  the  head  of  a  tribe  in  Israel.  The 
act  of  adoption  was  however  accompanied  by  a 
clear  intimation  from  Jacob,  that  the  descendants 
of  Manasseh,  although  the  elder,  would  be  far 
less  numerous  and  powerful  than  those  of  the 
younger  Bphraim.  The  result  corresponded 
remarkably  with  this  intimation  [Ephraim]. 

2.  MANASSEH,  fou.teenth  king  of  Judah, 
son  and  successor  of  Hezekiah,  who  began  to 
reign  in  B.C.  699,  at  the  early  age  of  twelve 
years,  and  reigned  fifty-five  years.  It  appears 
that  the  secret  enemies  of  the  vigorous  reforms 
of  Hezekiah  re-appeared,  and  managed  to  gain 
much  influence  at  court  during  the  youth  of  Ma- 
nasseh ;  and  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  re-establish 
all  the  idolatries  and  abominations  which  it  had 
taken  his  excellent  father  so  much  pains  to  sul> 
vert.  This  bent  having  been  unhappily  given 
to  die  mind  of  one  old  enough  to  listen  to  evil 
counsels,  but  too  young  to  see  their  danger,  the 
king  followed  it  with  all  the  reckless  ardour  of 
youth,  and  without  any  of  the  prudent  reserva- 
tions which  older  sovereigns,  more  discreet  in 
evincing  the  same  inclinations,  had  maintained. 
Idolatry  in  its  worst  forms,  and  all  the  abomina- 
tions connected  with  its  observances,  were  prac- 
tised without  stint  and  without  shame,  not  only 
in  the  face  of  the  temple,  but  iu  its  very  courts, 
where  altars  to  the  heavenly  bodies  were  set 
up,  and  rites  of  idolatrous  v.'oiship  performed. 
Under  this  altrered  state  of  things,  the  Judahites, 
with  the  sanction  of  the  king's  example,  rushed 
into  all  the  more  odious  observances  of  Syrian 
idolatry,  with  all  the  ardour  which  usually 
attends  the  outbreak  of  a  restrained  propensity, 
till  they  became  far  '  worse  than  the  heathen, 
whom  the  Lord  destroyed  before  the  children  of 
Israel.'  In  vain  did  the  prophets  raise  their 
voice  against  these  iniquities,  and  threaten 
Manasseh  and  his  kingdom  with  awfnl  tokens 
of  Divine  indignation.  Instead  of  profiting  by 
these  warnings,  the  kiiig  vented  his  rage  against 
those  by  whom  they  were  uttered,  and  in  this, 
and  other  ways,  filled  Jerusalem  with  innocent 
blood  beyond  any  king  who  reigned  before  him 
(1  Kings  xxi.  1-16;  2  Chron.  xxxiii.  I-IO). 


558  MANASSES,  PRAYER  OF 

At  length  the  wrath  of  God  burst  over  the 
guilty  king  and  nation.  At  this  time  there  was 
constant  war  between  Assyria  and  Egypt,  and  it 
would  seem  that  Manasseh  adhered  to  the  policy 
of  his  father  in  making-  common  cause  with  the 
latter  power.  This  or  some  other  cause  not 
stated  by  the  sacred  historian,  brought  into  Juda;a 
an  Assyrian  army,  under  the  generals  of  Esar- 
haddou,  which  carried  all  before  it.  The  miser- 
able king  attempted  flight,  but  was  discovered  in 
a  thorn-break  in  which  he  had  hidden  himself, 
was  laden  with  chains,  and  sent  away  as  a  cap- 
tive to  Babylon,  which  was  then  subject  to  the 
Assyrians,  where  he  was  cast  into  prison  (b.c. 
677).  Here,  at  last,  Manasseh  had  ample  oppor- 
tunity and  leisure  for  cool  reflection;  and  the 
hard  lessons  of  adversity  were  not  lost  upon  him. 
He  saw  and  deplored  the  evils  of  his  reign,  he 
became  as  a  new  man,  he  humbly  besought  par- 
don from  God,  and  implored  that  he  naight  be 
enabled  to  evince  the  sincerity  of  his  contrition, 
by  being  restored  to  a  position  for  undoing  all 
that  it  had  been  the  business  of  his  life  to  effect. 
His  prayer  was  heard.  His  captivity  is  supposed 
to  have  lasted  a  year,  and  he  was  then  restored 
to  his  kingdom  under  certain  obligations  of  tri- 
bute and  allegiance  to  tlie  king  of  Assyria,  which, 
although  not  expressed  in  the  account  of  this 
transaction,  are  alluded  to  in  the  history  of  his 
successors  (2  Chron.  xxxiii.  11-13). 

On  his  return  to  Jerusalem,  Manas^h  exerted 
himself  to  the  utmost  in  correcting  the  errors  of 
his  early  reign,  and  in  establishing  the  worship 
of  Jehovah  in  its  former  purity  and  splendour. 
The  good  conduct  of  his  latter  reign  was  re- 
warded with  such  prosperity  as  enabled  him  to 
do  much  for  the  improvement  and  strengthening 
of  his  capital  and  kingdom.  He  thoroughly 
repaired  the  old  walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  added  a 
new  wall  on  the  side  towards  Gihon ;  he  sur- 
rounded and  fortified  by  a  separate  wall  the  hill 
or  ridge  on  the  east  of  Zion,  which  bore  the  name 
of  Ophel,  and  he  strengthened,  garrisoned,  and 
provisioned  'the  fenced  cities  of  Judah'  (2 
Chron.  xxxiii.  13-17).  He  died  in  peace  (b.c. 
664),  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight,  after  having 
reigned  longer  than  any  other  king  of  Judah, 
and  was  buried  in  a  sepulchre  which  he  had 
prepared  for  himself  in  his  own  garden  (xxxiii. 
20). 

MANAS'SES,  PRAYER  OF  [Apocrypha]. 
This  pseudepigraphal  work  has  come  down  to  us 
in  the  MSS.  of  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  is  found 
in  the  early  printed  editions  of  that  version. 
Du  Pin  asserts  that  the  Latin  fathers  have  often 
cited  this  prayer  ;  but  the  earliest  reference  to  it 
which  we  know  of  is  in  the  Apostolical  Consti- 
tutions attributed  to  Clemens  Romauus,  but  which 
are  generally  believed  to  be  a  work  of  the  fourth 
century.  In  this  work  the  prayer  is  cited  as  if 
it  were  an  integral  portion  of  the  book  of  Chro- 
nicles, together  with  some  traditionary  accounts 
of  the  nature  of  his  imprisonment  in  shackles  of 
iron,  and  of  his  miraculous  release :  which  are 
also  alluded  to  in  the  Targum  on  Chronicles. 
It  is  entitled  '  The  Prayer  of  Manasses,  king 
of  Judah,  when  he  was  holden  captive  in  Baby- 
lon,' and  had  doubtless  its  origin  from  2  Chron. 
xxxiii.  12,  13.  This  prayer,  however,  not  being 
found  in  the  Hebrew,  and  not  being  cited  by  the 
more  emineat  fathers,  nor  contaiued  in  any  of 


MANDRAKE 

the  catalogues  of  ancient  councils,  has  not  been 
received  in  the  church  as  genuine  or  canonical. 
It  is  classed  in  the  Sixth  Article  of  the  Church 
of  England,  among  the  '  other  books  read  by  the 
church  for  example  of  lite  and  instruction  of 
manners;'  but  the  Church  of  Rome  classes  it 
with  3rd  and  4th  Esdras,  removing  it  to  the  end 
of  the  Bible,  and  rejecting  it  from  the  deutero- 
canonical,  as  well  as  from  the  proto-canonical 
books. 

The  prayer  of  Manasses  abounds  in  pious 
sentiments.  Dr.  Home  describes  it  as  not  un- 
worthy of  the  occasion  on  which  it  is  pretended 
to  have  been  composed.  Du  Pin  observes  that, 
though  not  very  'eloquent,  it  is  full  of  good 
thoughts. 

MANDRAKE.  This  word  only  occurs  in  two 
places  of  Scripture ;  first  in  Genesis  xxx.  14-16  ; 
and  secondly,  in  Canticles  vii.  13.  From  the 
notices  givei  in  these  passages  of  their  qualities 
it  is  evident  that  mandrakes  were  collected  in 
the  fields,  that  they  were  fit  for  gathering  in  the 
wheat  harvest  in  Mesopotamia,  where  the  first 
occurrence  took  place;  that  they  were  found 
in  Palestine;  that  they  or  the  plants  which 
yielded  them  diffused  a  peculiar  odour,  and  that 
they  were  supposed  to  be  possessed  of  aphro- 
disiac powers,  or  of  assisting  in  producing  con- 
ception. 

The  plant  referred  to  is  probably  mandragora. 


lAtropa  Mandragora.] 


'  At  the  village  of  St.  John  in  the  mountains,' 
says  Mariti,  'about  six  miles  south-west  from 
Jerusalem,  this  plant  is  found  at  present,  as  well 
as  in  Tuscany.  It  grows  low,  like  lettuce,  to 
which  its  leaves  have  a  strong  resemblance, 
except  that  they  have  a  dark  green  colour.  The 
flowers  are  purple,  and  the  root  is  for  the  most 
part  forked.  The  fruit,  when  ripe  in  the  begin- 
ning of  May,  is  of  the  size  and  colour  of  a  small 
apple,  exceedingly  i-uddy,  and  of  a  most  agree- 


MANNA 

able  odour ;  our  guide  thought  us  fools  for  sus- 
pecting it  to  be  unwholesome.'  Maundrell  was 
informed  by  the  chief  priest  of  the  Samaritans 
that  it  was  still  noted  for  its  genial  virtue.  Has- 
selquist  also  seems  inclined  to  consider  this  the 
plant  referred  to,  for,  when  at  Nazareth,  he  says, 
'  what  I  found  most  remarkable  in  their  villages 
was  the  great  quantity  of  mandrakes  that  grew 
in  a  vale  below  it.  The  fruit  was  now  (May  IC) 
ripe.  From  the  season  in  which  this  mandrake 
blossoms  and  ripens  its  fruit,  one  might  form 
a  conjecture  that  it  is  Rachel's  dudairn  (man- 
drakes). These  were  brought  her  in  the  wheat 
harvest,  which  in  Galilee  is  in  the  mouth  of  May, 
about  this  time,  and  the  mandrake  was  now  in 
fruit.' 

MANNA,  or  Man.  The  name  given  to  the 
miraculous  food  upon  which  the  Israelites  were 
fed  for  forty  years,  during  their  wanderings  in 
the  desert.  The  same  name  has  in  later  ages 
been  applied  to  some  natural  productions,  chietiy 
found  in  warm  dry  countries,  but  which  have 
little  or  no  resemblance  to  the  original  manna. 
This  is  first  mentioned  in  Exod.  xvi.  It  is  there 
described  as  being  first  produced  after  the  eighth 
encampment  in  the  desert  of  Sin,  as  white  like 
hoar  frost  (or  of  the  colour  of  bdellium.  Num.  xi. 
7),  round,  and  of  the  bigness  of  coriander  seed 
(gad).  It  fell  with  the  dew  every  morning,  and 
when  the  dew  was  exhaled  by  the  heat  of  the 
sun,  the  manna  appeared  alone,  lying  upon  the 
ground  or  the  rocks  round  the  encampment  of  the 
Israelites.  '  When  the  children  of  Israel  saw  it, 
they  said  one  to  another,  What  is  it  ?  for  they 
knew  not  what  it  was'  (Exod.  xvi.  15).  In  the 
Authorized,  and  some  other  versions,  this  passage 
is  inaccurately  translated — which  indeed  is  ap- 
parent from  the  two  parts  of  the  sentence  contra- 
dicting each  other.  Josephus  {Antiq.  iii.  1.  §  10), 
as  quoted  by  Dr.  Harris,  says :  '  The  Hebrews 
call  this  food  manna,  for  the  particle  man  in  our 
language  is  the  asking  of  a  question,  What  is 
this  ?  (man-hn).  Moses  answered  this  question 
by  telling  them,  'This  is  the  bread  which  the 
Lord  hath  given  you  to  eat.'  We  are  further 
informed  that  the  manna  fell  every  day,  except 
n  the  Sabbath.  Every  sixth  day,  that  is  on  Fri- 
day, there  fell  a  double  quantity  of  it.  Every 
man  was  directed  to  gather  an  omer  (about  three 
English  quarts)  for  each  member  of  his  family  ; 
and  the  whole  seems  afterwards  to  have  been 
measured  out  at  the  rate  of  an  omer  to  each 
person :  '  He  who  gathered  raiich  had  nothing 
over,  and  he  who  gathered  little  had  no  lack.' 
That  which  remained  ungathered  dissolved  in  the 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  was  lost.  The  quantity  col- 
lected was  intended  for  the  food  of  the  current 
day  only;  for  if  any  were  kept  till  next  morning, 
it  corrupted  and  bred  worms.  Yet  it  was  directed 
that  a  double  quantity  should  be  gathered  on  the 
sixth  day  for  consumption  on  the  Sabbath.  And 
it  was  found  that  the  manna  kept  for  the  Sabbath 
remained  sweet  and  wholesome,  notwithstanding 
that  it  corrupted  at  other  times,  if  kept  for  more 
than  one  day.  In  the  same  manner  as  they  would 
have  treated  grain,  they  reduced  it  to  meal, 
kneaded  it  into  dough,  and  baked  it  into  cakes, 
and  the  taste  of  it  was  like  that  of  wafers  made 
with  honey,  or  of  fresh  oil.  In  Num.  xi.  6-9, 
where  the  description  of  the  manna  is  repeated 
an  omer  of  it  is  directed  to  be  preserved  as  a 


MANNA 


559 


memorial  to  fiiture  generations, '  that  they  may 
see  the  bread  wherewith  I  have  fed  you  in  the 
wilderness;'  and  in  •To.'-hua  v.  12  we  learn  that 
after  the  Israelites  had  encamped  at  Gilgal,  and 
'did  eat  of  the  old  coin  of  the  land,  the  manna 
ceased  on  the  morrow  after,  neither  had  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  manna  any  more,' 


[1.  Alhagi  maurorum.    2.  Tamaris  gallica.] 


This  miracle  is  referred  to  in  Deut.  viii.  3; 
Neh.  ix.  20 ;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  24 ;  John  vi.  31,  49, 
58  ;  Heb.  ix.  4.  Though  the  manna  of  Scripture 
was  so  evidently  miraculous,  both  in  the  mode  and 
in  the  quantities  in  which  it  was  produced,  and 
though  its  properties  were  so  different  from  any 
thing  with  which  we  are  acquainted,  yet,  because 
its  taste  is  in  Exodus  said  to  be  like  that  of  wafers 
made  with  honey,  many  writers  have  thought 
that  they  recognised  the  manna  of  Scripture  in  a 
sweetish  exudation  which  is  found  on  several 
plants  in  Arabia  and  Persia.  The  name  man,  or 
manna,  is  applied  to  this  substance  by  the  Arab 
writers,  and  was  probably  so  applied  even  before 
their  time.  But  the  term  is  now  almost  entirely 
appropriated  to  the  sweetish  exudation  of  the  ash 
trees  of  Sicily  and  Italy.  These,  however,  have 
no  relation  to  the  supposed  manna  of  Scripture. 
Of  this  one  kind  is  known  to  the  Arabs  by  the 
name  of  guzunjbeen,  being  the  produce  of  a  plant 
called  guz,  and  which  is  ascertained  to  be  a  species 
of  tamarisk.  The  same  species  seems  also  to  be 
called  toor/a,  and  is  common  along  different  parts 
of  the  coast  of  Arabia.  It  is  also  found  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Mount  Sinai.  In  the  month  of 
June  it  drops  from  the  thorns  of  the  tamarisk 
upon  the  fallen  twigs,  leaves  and  thorns,  which 
always  cover  the  ground  beneath  the  tree  in  the 
natural  state.  The  Arabs  use  it  as  they  do  honey, 
to  pour  over  their  unleavened  bread,  or  to  dip 
their  bread  into ;  its  taste  is  agreeable,  somewhat 
aromatic,  and  as  sweet  as  honey.  If  eaten  in  any 
quantity  it  is  said  to  be  highly  purgative.'  When 
Lieut.  Wellsted  visited  this  place  in  the  month  of 
September,  he  found  the  extremities  of  the  twigs 
and  branches  retaining  the  peculiar  sweetness  and 
flavour  which  characterize  the  manna.  The  Be- 
douins collect  it  early  in  the  morning,  and,  after 
straining  it  through  a  cloth,  place  it  either  in 
skins  or  gourds  ;  a  considerable  quantity  is  con- 
sumed by  themselves ;  a  portion  is  sent  to  Cairo ; 


560 


MARAH 


and  some  is  also  disposed  of  to  the  monks  at 
Mount  Sinai.  The  latter  retail  it  to  the  Russian 
pilgrims.'  '  The  Bedouins  assured  me  that  the 
whole  quantity  collected  throughout  the  Penin- 
sula, in  the  most  fruitful  season,  did  not  exceed 
150  wogas  (about  700  pounds);  and  that  it  was 
usually  disposed  of  at  the  rate  of  60  dollars  the 
woga.' 

Another  kind  of  manna,  which  has  been  sup- 
posed to  be  that  of  Scripture,   is  yielded  by  a 
thorny  plant  very  common   from  the  north   of 
India' to  Syria,  and  which  by  the  Arabs  is  called 
Al-haj;    whence  botanists  have  constructed  the 
name  Alhagi.     The  Alhagi  muurorum  is  remark- 
able for  the  exudation  of  a  sweetish  juice,  which 
concretes  into  small  granular  masses,  and  which 
is  usually  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Persian 
manna.     The   climates  of  Persia  and  Bokhara 
seem   also  well  suited  to  the  secretion   of  this 
manna,  which  in  the  latter  country  is  employed 
as  a  substitute  for  sugar,  and  is  imported  into 
India   for    medicinal    use    through    Gaiibul  and 
Khorassan.     These   two,  from   the   localities   m 
which  they  are  produced,  have  alone  been  thought 
to  be  the  manna  of  Scripture.    But,  besides  these, 
there  are  several  other  kinds  of  manna.     Indeed, 
a  sweetish  secretion  is' found  on  the  leaves   of 
many  other  plants,  produced  sometimes  by  the 
plant  itself,  at  others  by  the  punctures  of  insects. 
It  has  been  supposed,  also,  that  these  sweetish 
exudations  being  evaporated  during  the  beat  of 
the  day  in  still  weather,  may  afterwards  become 
deposited,  with  the  dew,  on  the  ground,  and  on 
the  leaves  of  plants ;  and  thus  explain  some  of 
the  phenomena  which   have   been   observed  by 
travellers  and  others.     But  none  of  these  mannas 
explain,  nor  can  it  be  expected  that  they  should 
explain,  the  miracle  of  Scripture,  by  which  abund- 
ance is  stated  to  have  been  produced  for  millions, 
where  hundreds  cannot  now  be  subsisted. 
MANOAH,  father  of  Samson  [Samson]. 
MANSLAYER.     [Blood-Revenge]. 
MA'ON,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XV.  5.5),  which  gave  name  to  a  wilderness  where 
David  hid  himself  from  Saul,  and  around  which 
the  churlish  Nabal  had  great  possessions  (1  Sam. 
xxiii.  24,  25 ;  xxv.  2).    Jerome  places  it  to  the 
east  of  Daroma.     The  name  does  not  occur  in 
modern  times,  and  Dr.  Robinson  regards  it  as 
one  of  the  sites  first  identified  by  himself.     He 
finds  it  in  the  present  Main,  which  is  about  seven 
miles  south  by  east  from  Hebron.     Here  there  is 
a  conical  hill  about  200  feet  high,  on  the  top  of 
which  are  some  ruins  of  no  great  extent,  consist- 
ing of  foundations  of  hewn  stone,  a  square  enclo- 
sure, the  remains  probably  of  a  tower  or  castle, 
and  several  cisterns.    The  view  from  the  summit 
is  extensive.    This  is  Main.    The  traveller  found 
here  a  band  of  peasants  keeping  their  flocks,  and 
dwelling   in   caves   amid   the   ruins  (Bibl.  He- 
searches,  ii.  190-196). 

MA'HAH  (bitterness).  The  Israelites,  in  de- 
parting from  Egypt,  made  some  stay  on  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea,  at  the  place  where  it  had 
been  crossed  by  them.  From  this  spot  they  pro- 
ceeded southward  for  three  days  without  finding 
any  water,  and  then  came  to  a  well,  the  waters 
of  which  were  so  bitter,  that,  thirsty  as  they  were, 
they  could  not  drink  them.  The  well  was  called 
Marah  from  the  quality  of  its  waters.  This 
name,  in  the  form  of  Amarah,  is  now  borne  by 


MARAH 

the  barren  bed  of  a  winter  'orrent,  a  little  be3'ond 
which  is  still  found  a  well  called  Howara,  the 
bitter  watei-s  of  which  answer  to  this  description. 
Camels  will  drink  it;  but  the  thiisty  Arabs  never 
partake  of  it  themselves;  and  it  is  said  to  be  the 
only  water  on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea  which 
they  cannot  drink.  The  water  of  this  well,  when 
first  taken  into  the  mouth,  seems  insipid  rather 
than  bitter,  but  when  held  in  the  mouth  a  few 
seconds  it  becomes  exceedingly  nauseous.  The 
well  rises  within  an  elevated  mound  surrounded 
by  sand-hills,  and  two  small  date-trees  grow 
near  it. 

The  Hebrews,  unaccustomed  as  yet  to  the 
hardships  of  the  desert,  and  having  been  in  the 
habit  of  drinking  their  full  of  the  best  water  in 
the  world,  were  much  distressed  by  its  scarcity 
in  the  region  wherein  they  now  wandered ;  and 
in  their  disappointment  of  the  relief  expected 
from  this  well,  they  murmured  grt-atly  against 
Moses  for  having  brought  them  into  such  a  dry 
wilderness,  and  asked  him,  '  What  shall  we 
drink?'  On  this  Moses  cried  to  Jehovah,  who  | 
indicated  to  him  '  a  certain  tree,'  on  throwing  | 
the  branchefi  of  which  into  the  well,  its  waters 
became  sweet  and  fit  for  use.  The  view  which 
has  been  taken  of  this  transaction  by  Dr.  Kitto, 
in  the  Pictorial  Hist,  of  Palestine^  ii.  209,  210, 
is  here  introduced,  as  it  has  been  judged  satisfac- 
tory, and  as  no  new  information  on  the  subject 
has  since  been  obtained. 

'  The  question  connected  with  this  operation  is 
— whether  the  effect  proceeded  from  the  inherent 
virtue  of  the  tree  in  sweetening  bad  water  ;  or 
that  it  had  no  such  virtue,  and  that  the  effect  was 
purely  miraculous.  In  support  of  the  former 
alternative,  it  may  be  asked  why  the  tree  should 
have  been  pointed  out  and  used  at  all,  unless  it 
had  a  curative  virtue  ?  And  to  this  the  answer 
may  be  found  in  the  numerous  instances  in  which 
God  manifests  a  purpose  of  working  even  his  i 
miracles  in  accordance  with  the  general  laws  by 
which  he  governs  the  world,  and  for  that  purpose 
disguising  the  naked  exhibition  of  supernatural 
power,  by  the  interposition  of  an  apparent  cause ; 
while  yet  the  true  character  of  the  event  is  left 
indisputable,  by  the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  j 
apparent  cause  to  produce,  by  itself,  the  resulting 
effect.  This  tends  to  show  that  the  tree,  or  por- 
tion of  it,  need  not  be  supposed,  from  the  mere 
fact  of  its  being  employed,  to  have  had  an  inhe- 
rent curative  virtue.  It  had  not  necessarily  any 
such  virtue  ;  and  that  it  positively  had  not  such 
virtue  seems  to  follow,  or,  at  least,  to  be  rendered 
more  than  probable  by  the  consideration  that,  in 
the  scanty  and  little  diversified  vegetation  of  this 
district,  any  such  very  desirable  virtues  in  a  tree, 
or  part  of  a  tree,  could  scarcely  have  been  undis- 
covered before  the  time  of  the  history,  and  if 
they  had  been  discovered,  could  not  but  have 
been  known  to  Moses ;  and  the  Divine  indication 
of  the  tree  would  not  have  been  needful.  And, 
again,  if  the  corrective  qualities  were  inherent, 
but  were  at  this  time  first  made  known,  it  is  in- 
credible that  so  valuable  a  discovery  would  ever 
have  been  forgotten  ;  and  yet  it  is  manifest  that 
in  after-times  the  Hebrews  had  not  the  know- 
ledge of  any  tree  which  could  render  had  water 
drinkable  ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  desert  have 
not  only  not  preserved  the  knowledge  of  a  fact 
which  would  have  been  so  important  to  them. 


MARK 

bnt  have  not  discovered  it  in  the  thirty-five  cen- 
turies which  have  since  passed.  This  is  shown 
by  the  inquiries  of  travellers,  some  of  whom 
were  actuated  by  the  wish  of  finding  a  plant 
which  might  supersede  the  miracle.  No  such 
plant,  however,  can  be  found  ;  and  whatever  the 
tree  was,  it  can  have  had  no  more  inherent  virtue 
in  sweetening  the  bitter  well  of  Marah,  than  the 
salt  had,  which  produced  the  same  efl:ect,  when 
thrown  by  Elisha  into  the  well  of  Jericho.' 

MARANA'THA.    [Anathema.] 

M ARCHESHVAN  is  the  name  of  that  month 
which  was  the  eighth  of  the  sacred  and  the 
second  of  the  civil  year  of  the  Jews,  which  began 
with  the  new  moon  of  our  November.  There 
was  a  fast  on  the  6th,  in  memory  of  Zedekiah's 
being  blinded,  after  he  had  witnessed  the  slaugh- 
ter of  his  sons  (2  Kings  xxv.  7). 

This  month  is  always  spoken  of  in  the  Old 
Testatnent  by  its  numerical  designation,  except 
once,  when  it  is  called  Bui  (1  Kings  vi.  .38),  sup- 
posed to  be  a  shortened  form  of  the  Hebrew  word 
signifying  '  rain ;'  and  the  signification  of  rain- 
mouth  is  well  suited  to  November  in  the  climate 
of  Palestine. 

MARE'SHAH,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  14),  rebuilt  and  fortified  by  Rehoboam 
(2  Chron.  xi.  8).  The  Ethiopians  under  Zerah 
were  defeated  by  Asa  in  the  valley  near  Mare- 
shah  (2  Chron.  xiv.  9-13).  It  was  laid  desolate 
by  Judas  Maccabseus,  on  his  march  from  Hebron 
toAshdod  (1  Mace.  v.  65-68;  Joseph,  ^n^i^.  xli. 
8.  6).  Josephus  mentions  it  among  the  towns 
possessed  by  Alexander  Jannaeus,  which  had 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  Syrians  {lb.  xiii.  1.5.  4); 
but  by  Pompey  it  was  restored  to  the  former  in- 
habitants, and  attached  to  the  province  of  Syria 
{lb.  xiv.  4.  4).  Maresa  was  among  the  towns 
rebuilt  by  Gabinius  {lb.  xiv.  5.  3),  but  was  again 
destroyed  by  the  Parthians  in  their  irruption 
against  Herod  {lb.  xiv.  5.  3).  A  place  so  often 
mentioned  in  history  must  have  been  of  consider- 
able importance ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  it 
was  ever  again  rebuilt.  The  site,  however,  is 
set  down  by  Eusebins  and  Jerome  as  within  two 
miles  of  Eleutheropolis,  but  the  direction  is  not 
stated.  Dr.  Robinson  found,  at  a  mile  and  a 
h&M  south  of  the  site  of  Eleutheropolis,  a  remark- 
able tell,  or  artificial  hill,  with  foundations  of 
some  buildings.  As  there  are  no  other  ruins  in 
the  vicinity,  and  as  the  site  is  admirably  suited 
for  a  fortress,  this,  he  supposes,  may  have  been 
Mareshah. 

MARK.  According  to  ecclesiastical  testi- 
monies, the  evangelist  Mark  is  the  same  person 
■who  in  the  Acts  is  called  by  the  Jewish  name 
John,  whose  Roman  surname  was  Marcus  (Acts 
xii.  12,  25).  This  person  is  sometimes  called 
simply  John  (Acts  xiii.  5,  13) ;  and  sometimes 
Mark  (Acts  xv.  39). 

Mary,  Mark's  mother,  had  a  house  at  Jerusa- 
lem, in  which  the  Apostles  were  wont  to  assemble 
(Acts  xii.  12).  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians 
(iv.  10.  11)  Mark  is  mentioned  among  the  assist- 
ants of  Paul,  and  as  being  one  of  the  converts 
from  Judaism.  From  this  passage  we  learn  also 
that  Mark  was  a  cousin  of  Barnabas,  which  cir- 
cumstance confirms  the  opinion  that  he  was  of 
Jewish  descent  It  was  probably  Barnabas  who 
first  introduced  him  to  Paul.  He  accompanied 
Panl  aud  Barnabas  on  their  travels  as  an  assistant 


MARK 


561 


(Acts  xii.  25  ;  xiii.  5).  When  they  had  arrived 
in  Pamphylia,  Mark  left  them  and  returned  to 
Jerusalem,  from  which  city  they  had  set  out 
(Acts  xiii.  13).  On  this  account  Paul  refused  to 
take  Mark  with  him  on  his  second  apostolical 
journey,  '  and  so  Barnabas  took  Mark,  and  sailed 
unto  Cyprus '  (Acts  xv.  .37-39).  It  seems,  how- 
ever, that  Mark,  at  a  later  period,  became  recon- 
ciled to  Paul,  since,  according  to  Col.  iv.  10,  and 
Philem.  24,  he  was  with  the  Apostle  during  his  first 
captivity  at  Rome ;  and,  according  to  2  Tim.  iv. 
11,  he  was  also  with  him  during  his  second  cap- 
tivity. The  passage  in  Colossians  proves  also 
that  he  was  about  to  undertake  for  Paul  a  journey 
to  Colosse. 

There  is  a  unanimous  ecclesiastical  tradition 
that  Mark  was  the  companion  and  '  interpreter ' 
ot  Peter,  probably  so  called  because  he  was  the 
assistant  of  Peter,  and  either  orally  or  in  writing 
communicated  and  developed  what  Peter  taught. 
This  tradition  is  the  more  credible,  as  the  New 
Testament  does  not  contain  any  passage  that 
could  have  led  to  its  invention.  The  testimony 
in  favour  of  the  connection  between  Mark  and 
Peter  is  so  old  and  respectable,  that  it  cannot  be 
called  in  question.  It  first  occurs  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  second  century,  and  proceeds 
from  the  presbyter  John ;  it  afterwards  appears 
in  Irena;us ;  in  TertuUian  ;  in  Clemens  Alexau- 
drinus,  Jerome,  and  others. 

Eusebius  represents  {Hist.  Eccles.  ii.  15)  from 
the  later  life  of  Mark,  that  he  was  with  Peter  at 
Rome.  Epiphanius  and  others  inform  us  that 
he  introduced  the  Gospel  into  Egypt,  founded  the 
church  at  Alexandria,  and  that  he  died  in  the 
eighth  year  of  Nero's  reign. 

The  Gospel  of  Mark. — The  same  ancient 
authors,  who  call  Mark  a  disciple  and  secretary 
of  Peter,  state  also  that  he  wrote  his  Gospel  ac- 
cording to  the  discourses  of  that  Apostle.  The 
most  ancient  statement  of  this  fact  is  that  of  the 
presbyter  John  and  of  Papias,  which  we  thus 
translate  from  Eusebius  {Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  39): — 
Mark  having  become  secretary  to  Peter,  what- 
ever he  put  into  style  he  wrote  with  accuracy, 
but  did  not  observe  the  chronological  order  of 
the  discourses  and  actions  of  Christ,  because  he 
was  neither  a  hearer  nor  a  follower  of  the  Lord ; 
but  at  a  later  period,  as  I  have  said,  wrote  for 
Peter  to  meet  the  requisites  of  instruction,  but  by 
no  means  with  the  view  to  furnish  a  connected 
digest  of  the  discourses  of  our  Lord.  Conse- 
quently Mark  was  not  in  fault  when  he  wrote 
down  circumstances  as  he  i-ecollected  them  ;  for 
he  had  only  the  intention  to  omit  nothing  of  what 
he  had  heard,  and  not  to  misrepresent  anything. 

It  has  been  noticed  in  the  article  Luke  that, 
according  to  Irenseus,  the  Gospels  of  Mark  and 
Luke  were  written  later  than  that  of  Matthew ; 
and  according  to  a  tradition  preserved  by  Cle- 
mens Alexandrinus,  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and 
Luke  preceded  that  of  Mark.  The  chronolo- 
gical order  of  the  Gospels  is,  according  to  Origen, 
the  same  in  which  they  follow  each  other  in  the 
codices.  Irenseus  states  that  Mark  wrote  after 
the  death  of  Peter  and  Paul ;  but,  according  to 
Clemens  Alexandrinus  and  Eusebius,  he  wrote 
at  Rome  while  Peter  was  yet  living.  These 
various  data  leave  us  in  uncertainty. 

In  the  article  Gospels  we  have  stated  our  opi- 
nion concerning  the  relative  position  in  vhieb 
2o 


562 


MARRIAGE 


the  evangelists  stand  to  each  other.  We  do  not 
see  any  reason  to  contradict  the  unanimous  tra- 
dition of  antiquity  concerning  the  dependence  of 
Mark  upon  Peter.  We  deem  it  possible,  and 
even  probable,  that  Luke  read  Mark,  and  that  he 
also  alludes  to  him  by  reckoning  him  among  the 
many  who  had  written  gospel  history  before  him. 
This  supposition,  however,  is  by  no  means  neces- 
sai'y  or  certain  ;  and  it  is  still  possible  that  Mark 
wrote  after  Luke.  Some  of  the  ancient  ttstimonies 
which  we  have  quoted,  namely,  those  of  Irenajus, 
Clemens  Alexandrinus,  Jerome,  and  others,  state 
that  Mark's  Gospel  was  written  at  Rome.  Whe- 
ther this  was  the  case  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  it 
was  written  for  Gentile  Christians.  This  appears 
from  the  explanation  of  Jewish  customs  (ch.  vii. 
2.  11 ;  xii.  18  ;  xiii.  3  ;  xiv.  12 ;  sv.  G,  42).  The 
same  view  is  confirmed  by  the  scarcity  of  quotas 
tions  from  the  Old  Testament,  perhaps  also  by 
the  absence  of  the  genealogy  of  Christ,  and  by 
the  omission  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  w'hich 
explains  the  relation  of  Christ  to  the  Old  Testa- 
ment dispensation,  and  which  was,  therefore,  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  Matthew. 

The  characteristic  peculiarity  of  Mark  as  an 
author  is  particularly  manifest  in  two  points : 
1.  He  reports  rattier  the  works  than  the  dis- 
courses of  our  Saviour ;  2.  He  gives  details  more 
minutely  and  graphically  than  Matthew  and 
Luke ;  for  instance,  he  describes  the  cures  effected 
by  Jesus  more  exactly  (iv.  31,  41;  vi.  5,  13; 
vii.  33  ;  viii.  23).  He  is  also  more  particular  in 
stating  definite  numbers  (v.  13,  42  ;  vi.  7, 14,  30), 
and  furnishes  more  exact  dates  and  times  (i.  32, 
3.'j;  ii.  1,  26;  iv.  26,  3.5;  vi.  2;  xi.  11,  19,  20, 
&c.).  It  may  be  that  these  characteristics  of 
Mark  originated  from  his  connection  with  Peter. 

Most  of  the  materials  of  Mark's  narrative  occur 
also  in  Matthew  and  Luke.     He  has,  however, 
sections  exclusively  belonging  to  himself,  viz.  iii.  j 
21,  31,  sq. ;  vi.  17,  sq.  ;  xi.  U  ;  xii.  28,  sq. 

We  mention  the  conclusion  of  Mark's  Gospel 
separately,  since  its  genuineness  may  be  called  in 
question. 

Among  the  Codices  Majusculi  the  Codex  B. 
omits  ch.  xvi.  9-20  altogether,  and  several  of  the 
Codices  MiTuisciilim^LTk  this  section  with  asterisks 
as  doubtful.  Several  ancient  Fathers  and  authors 
of  Scholia  state  that  it  was  wanting  in  some  ma- 
nuscripts. We  cannot,  however,  suppose  that  it 
was  arbitrarily  added  by  a  copyist,  since  at  pre- 
sent all  codices,  except  B.,  and  all  ancient  versions 
contain  it,  and  the  Fathers  in  general  quote  it. 
We  may  also  say  that  Mark  could  not  have  con- 
cluded his  Gospel  with  ver.  8,  unless  he  had  been 
accidentally  prevented  from  finishing  it.  Hence 
Michaelis  and  Hug  have  inferred  that  the  addition 
was  made  by  the  evangelist  at  a  later  period,  in 
a  similar  manner  as  John  made  an  addition  in 
ch.  xxi.  of  his  gospel.  Perhaps  also  an  intimate 
friend,  or  an  amanuensis,  supplied  the  defect.  If 
either  of  these  two  hypotheses  is  well  founded,  it 
may  be  understood  why  several  codices  were  for-  j 
merly  without  this  conclusion,  and  why,  never- 
theless, it  was  found  in  most  of  them. 

MARRIAGE.— The  Levirate  Law.— The 
divine  origin  of  marriage,  and  the  primitive  state 
of  the  institution,  are  clearly  recorded  in  the  in- 
stance of  the  first  human  pair  (Gen.  ii.  18-2,5), 
whence  it  appears  that  woman  was  made  after 
man  to  be  '  a  helper  suited  to  him.'     The  narra- 


MARRIAGE 

tivc  is  calculated  to  convey  exalted  ideas  of  Uie 
institution.  It  is  introduced  by  a  declaration  of 
the  Lord  God,  that '  it  is  not  good  that  the  man 
should  be  alone  '  (ver.  1 8)  ;  of  the  truth  of  which 
Adam  had  become  convinced  by  experience.  In 
order  still  further  to  enliven  his  sense  of  his  de- 
ficiency, the  various  species  of  creatures  are  made 
to  pass  in  review  before  him,  '  to  see  what  he 
would  call  them  f  on  which  occasion  he  could 
behold  each  species  accompanied  by  its  appro- 
priate helper,  and  upon  concluding  his  task  would 
become  still  more  affectingly  aware,  that  amid  all 
animated  nature  '  there  was  not  found  an  help 
meet  for  himself.'  It  was  at  this  juncture,  when 
his  heart  was  thus  thoroughly  prepared  to  appre- 
ciate the  intended  blessing,  that  a  divine  slumber, 
or  trance,  fell  upon  him — a  state  in  which,  as  in 
after  ages,  the  exercise  of  the  external  senses 
being  suspended,  the  mental  powers  are  peau- 
liarly  prepared  to  receive  revelations  from  God 
(Gen.  XV.  12;  Acts  x.  10:  xxvii.  17;  2  Cor.  xii. 
2).  His  exclamation  when  Eve  was  brought  to 
him  shows  that  he  had  been  fully  conscious  of  the 
circumstances  of  her  creation,  and  had  been  in- 
structed by  them  as  to  the  nature  of  the  relation 
which  would  thenceforth  subsist  between  them. 
'  The  man  said,  this  time,  it  is  bone  of  my  bone, 
and  flesh  of  my  flesh  ;  this  shall  be  called  woman, 
for  out  of  man  was  this  taken.'  The  remaining 
words,  '  for  this  cause  shall  a  mau  leave  his  father 
and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  unto  his  wife,  and 
they  (two)  shall  be  one  flesh,'  which  might  other- 
wise seem  a  proleptical  announcement  by  the 
historian  of  the  social  obligations  ot  paarriage, 
are  by  our  Lord  ascribed  to  the  Divine  agent 
concerned  in  the  transaction,  either  uttered  by 
him  personally,  or  by  the  mouth  of  Adam  while 
in  a  state  of  inspiration.  '  Have  ye  not  read  that 
he  that  made  them  at  the  beginning,  made  them 
male  and  female,  and  said,  for  this  cause,'  &c. 
(Matt.  xix.  4,  5).  It  is  a  highly  important  cir- 
cumstance in  this  transaction,  that  God  created 
only  o?ie  female  for  one  mau,  and  united  them — a 
circumstance  which  is  the  very  basis  of  our  Lord's 
reasoning  in  the  passage  against  divorce  and  re- 
marriage ;  but  which  basis  is  lost,  and  his  reason- 
ing consequently  rendered  inconclusive,  by  the 
inattention  of  our  translators  to  the  absence  of  the 
article,  '  he  made  them  a  male  and  a  female,  and 
said,  they  shall  become  one  flesh  ;  so  that  they 
are  no  more  two,  but  one  flesh.  What,  therefore, 
God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder.' 
'  The  weight  of  our  Lord's  argument,'  says  Camp- 
bell, '  lay  in  this  circumstance,  that  God  at  first 
created  no  more  than  a  single  pair,  one  of  each 
sex,  whom  he  united  in  the  bond  of  marriage, 
and,  in  so  doing,  exhibited  a  standard  of  that 
union  to  all  generations.'  The  apostacy  intro- 
duced a  new  feature  into  the  institution,  namely, 
the  subjection  of  the  wife's  will  to  that  of  her 
husband  (Gen.  iii.  16;  comp.  Num.  xxx,  6-16). 
The  primitive  model  was  adhered  to  even  by  Cain, 
who  seems  to  have  had  but  one  wife  (Gen.  iv.  17). 
Polygamy,  one  of  the  earliest  developments  of 
human  degeneracy,  was  introduced  by  Lamech, 
who  'took  unto  him  two  wives '(Gen.  iv.  19; 
circa  3874  B.C.).  The  intermarriage  of '  the  Sons 
of  God,'  i.  e.  the  worshippers  of  the  true  God,  with 
'  the  daughters  of  men,'  i.  e.  the  irreligious  (B.C. 
2408),  is  the  next  incident  in  the  history  of  mar- 
riage.   They  indulged  in  unrestrained  polygamy 


MARRIAGE 

'they  took  them  wives  of  all  that  they  chose.' 
From  this  event  may  be  dated  that  headlong  de- 
generacy of  mankind  at  this  period,  which  ulti- 
mately brought  on  them  extirpation  by  a  deluge 
(Gen.  vi.  3-7).  At  the  time  of  that  catastrophe 
Noah  had  but  one  wife  (Gen.  vii.  7),  and  so  each 
of  his  sons  (ver.  13).  Pursuing  the  investigation 
of  the  subject  according  to  chronological  arrange- 
ment, Job  next  appears  (b.c.  2130)  as  the  husband 
of  one  wife  (Job  ii.  9;  xix.  17).  Reference  is 
made  to  the  adulterer,  who  is  represented  as  in 
terror  and  accursed  (xxiv.  15-18).  The  wicked 
man  is  represented  as  leaving  '  widows '  behind 
him ;  whence  his  polygamy  may  be  inferred 
(xxvii.  15).  Job  expresses  his  abhorrence  of 
fornication  (xxxi.  l),  and  of  adultery  (ver.  9), 
which  appears  in  his  time  to  have  been  punished 
by  the  judges  (ver.  11).  Following  the  same  ar- 
rangement, we  find  Abraham  and  Nahor  intro- 
duced as  having  each  one  wife  (Gen.  xi.  29). 
From  the  narrative  of  Abraham's  first  equivoca- 
tion concerning  Sarah,  it  may  be  gathered  that 
marriage  was  held  sacred  in  Egypt.  Abraham 
fears  that  the  Egyptians  would  sooner  rid  them- 
selves of  him  by  murder  than  infringe  by  adultery 
the  relation  of  his  wife  to  an  obscure  stranger. 
The  reproof  of  Pharaoh,  'Why  didst  thou  say. 
She  is  my  sister  ?  so  I  might  have  taken  her  to 
me  to  wife :  now  therefore  behold  thy  wife,  talce 
her,  and  go  thy  way'  (Gen.  xii.  11-19),  affords 
a  most  honourable  testimony  to  the  views  of  mar- 
riage entertained  by  Pharaoh  at  that  period,  and 
most  likely  by  his  court  and  nation.  It  seems 
that  Sarah  was  Abrahams  half-sister.  Such  mar- 
riages were  permitted  till  the  giving  of  the  law 
(Lev.  xviii.  9).  Thus  Amram,  the  father  of  Moses 
and  Aaron,  married  his  father's  sister  (Exod.  vi. 
20),  a  union  forbidden  in  Lev.  xviii.  12. 

"The  first  mention  of  concubinage,  or  the  con- 
dition of  a  legal  though  subordinate  wife,  occurs 
in  the  case  of  Hagar,  Sarah's  Egyptian  handmaid, 
whom  Sarah,  still  childless,  after  a  residence  of 
ten  years  in  Canaan,  prevailed  on  Abraham,  appa- 
rently against  his  will,  to  receive  into  that  rela- 
tion (Gen.  xvi.  1),  which  was  however  considered 
inviolable  (Gen.  xlix.  4 ;  Lev.  xviii.  8  ;  2  Sam. 
iii.  8,  16,  21,  22 ;  1  Chron.  v.  1).  The  vehement 
desire  for  offspring,  common  to  women  in  the 
East,  as  appears  from  the  histories  of  Rebecca 
(Gen.  XXV.  21),  of  Rachel  (xxx.  1),  of  Leah  (ver. 
5),  and  of  Hannah  (1  Sam.  i.  6,  7),  seems  to  have 
been  Sarah's  motive  for  adopting  a  procedure 
practised  in  such  cases  in  that  region  in  all  ages. 
The  miseries  naturally  consequent  upon  it  are 
amply  portrayed  in  the  history  of  the  Patriarchs 
(Gen.  xvi.  4-10;  xxx.  1,  3,  15). 

Lot  does  not  appear  to  have  exceeded  one  wife 
(Gen.  xix.  15).  The  second  equivocation  of  the 
same  kind  by  Abraham  respecting  Sarah  elicits 
equally  honourable  sentiments  concerning  mar- 
riage, on  the  part  of  Abimelech,  king  of  Gerar 
(Gen.  XX.  5,  6,  9,  10,  &c.),  who,  it  appears,  had 
but  one  proper  wife  (ver.  17;  see  also  ch.  xxvi. 
7-11).  Perhaps  Abraham  relied  on  the  ancient 
custom,  which  will  shortly  be  adverted  to,  of  the 
consent  of  the  '  brother '  being  requisite  to  the 
sister's  marriage,  and  thus  hoped  to  secure  his 
wife's  safety  and  his  own.  In  ancient  times  the 
parents  chose  wives  for  their  children  (Gen.  xxi. 
21  ;  Kxxviii.  5  ;  Deut.  xxii.  16)  ;  or  the  man  who 
wished  a  particular  female  asked  his  father  to 


MARRIAGE 


563 


obtain  her  from  her  father,  as  in  the  case  of 
Shechem  (b.c.  1732;  Gen.  xxxi  v.  4-6;  comp. 
Judges  xiv.  2,  3).  The  consent  of  her  brothers 
seems  to  have  been  necessary  (ver.  5,  8,  11,  13, 
14;  comp.  Gen.  xxiv.  50;  2  Sam.  xiii.  20-29). 
A  dowry  was  given  by  the  suitor  to  the  fatlier 
and  brethren  of  the  female  (ver.  11,  12;  comp. 
1  Sam.  xviii.  25 ;  Hos.  iii.  2).  This,  in  a  com- 
mon cas?,  amounted  to  from  30  to  50  shekels, 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses  (comp.  Exod.  xxii. 
16;  Deut.  xxii.  29).  Pausanias  considers  it  so 
remarkable  for  a  man  to  part  with  his  daughter 
without  receiving  a  marriage-portion  with  her, 
that  he  takes  pains,  in  a  case  he  mentions,  to  ex- 
plain the  reason.  In  later  times  we  meet  with 
an  exception  (Tobit  viii.  23).  It  is  most  likely 
that  from  some  time  before  the  last-named  period 
the  Abrahamidse  restricted  their  marriages  to 
circumcised  persons  (Gen.  xxviii.  8  ;  comp.  Judg. 
iii.  6;  1  Kings  xi.  8,  11,  16;  Joseph.  Antiq.  xi. 
8.  2;  xii.  4,  6:  xviii.  9,  5).  The  marriage  of 
Isaac  developes  additional  particulars ;  for  beside 
Abraham's  unwillingness  that  his  son  should 
marry  a  Canaanitess  (Gen.  xxiv.  3 ;  comp.  xxvi. 
34;  xxvii.  46;  Exod.  xxxiv.  16;  Josh,  xxiii. 
12  ;  Ezra  ix.  2;  x.  3,  10,  11),  costly  jewels  are 
given  to  the  bride  at  the  betrothal  (ver.  22),  and 
'  precious  things  to  her  mother  and  brother ' 
(ver.  53) ;  a  customary  period  between  espousals 
and  nuptials  is  referred  to  (ver.  55);  and  the 
blessing  of  an  abundant  offspring  invoked  upon 
the  bride  by  her  relatives  (ver.  GO)— which  most 
likely  was  the  only  marriage  ceremony  then  and 
for  ages  afterwards  (comp.  Ruth  iv.  11-13;  Ps. 
xlv.  16,  17)  ;  but  in  Tobit  vii.  3,  the  father  places 
his  daughter's  right  hand  in  the  hand  of  Tobias 
before  he  invokes  his  blessing.  It  is  remarkable 
that  no  representation  has  been  found  of  a  mar- 
riage ceremony  among  the  tombs  of  Egypt.  The 
Rabbins  say  that  among  the  Jews  it  consisted  of 
a  kiss  (Cant.  i.  2).  It  is  probable  that  the  mar- 
riage covenant  was  committed  to  writing  (Prov. 
ii.  17;  Mai.  ii.  14;  Tobit  vii.  13,  14);  perhaps, 
also,  confirmed  with  an  oath  (Ezra  xvi.  8).  It 
seems  to  have  been  the  custom  with  the  patriarchs 
and  ancient  Jews  to  bury  their  wives  in  their 
own  graves,  but  not  their  concubines  (Gen.  xlix. 
31).  In  Gen.  xxv.  1,  Abraham,  after  the  death 
of  Sarah,  marries  a  second  wife.  Esau's  poly- 
gamy is  mentioned  Gen.  xxviii.  9  ;  xxxvi.  2-13 
(B.C.  17C0).  Jacob  serves  seven  years  to  obtain 
Rachel  in  marriage  (Gen.  xxix.  18-20);  and  has 
a  marriage  feast,  to  which  the  men  of  the  place 
are  invited  (ver.  22  ;  comp.  Cant.  v.  1 ;  viii.  33). 
Samson's  marriage  feast  lasts  a  week  (Judg.  xiv. 
10-12;  B.C.  1136;  comp.  John  ii.  1,  &c.) ;  in 
later  times  it  lasted  longer  (Tobit  viii.  19).  The 
persons  invited  to  Samson's  marriage  are  young 
men  (Judg.  xiv.  10)  ;  called  '  sons  of  the  bride- 
chamber,'  Matt.  ix.  1 5.  Females  were  invited  to 
marriages  (Ps.  xlv.  14),  and  attended  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  to  their  abode  (1  Mace.  ix.  37); 
and  in  the  time  of  Christ,  if  it  was  evening,  with 
lamps  and  flambeaux  (Matt.  xxv.  1-10).  In  later 
ages  the  guests  were  summoned  when  the  banquet 
was  ready  (Matt.  xxii.  3),  and  furnished  with  a 
marriage  garment  (ver.  11).  The  father  of  the 
bride  conducted  her  at  night  to  her  husband 
(Gen.  xxix.  23;  Tobit  viii.  1).  The  bride  and 
bridegroom  were  richly  ornamented  (Isa.  Ixi. 
10).  In  Mesopotamia,  and  the  East  generally,  it 
2o2 


564 


MARRIAGE 


was  the  custom  to  marry  the  eldest  sister  first 
(Gen.  xxix.  26).  By  the  deception  practised 
upon  Jacob  in  that  country,  he  marries  two  -wives, 
and,  apparently,  without  any  one  objecting  (ver. 
31).  Laban  obtains  a  promise  from  Jacob  not  to 
marry  any  more  wives  than  Rachel  and  Leah 
(Gen.  xxxi.  50).  The  wives  and  concubines  of 
Jacob  and  their  children  travel  together  (Gen. 
xxxii.  22,  23)  ;  but  a  distinction  is  made  between 
them  in  the  hour  of  danger  (Gen.  xxxiii.  1,2; 
comp.  Gen.  xxv.  6).  Following  the  arrange- 
ment we  have  adopted,  we  now  meet  with  the 
first  reference  to  the  Levirale  Law.  Judah, 
Jacob's  son  by  Leah,  had  married  a  Canaanitish 
woman  (Gen.  xxxviii,  2).  His  first-born  son 
was  Er  (ver.  3).  Judah  took  a  wife  for  him 
(ver.  G).  Er  soon  after  died  (ver.  7),  and  Judah 
said  to  Onan,  'Go  in  unto  thy  brother's  wife, 
Tamar,  and  marry  her,  and  raise  up  seed  to  thy 
brother.'  '  Onan' knew  that  the  offspring  would 
not  be  his.'  All  these  circumstances  bespeak  a 
pre-established  and  well  known  law,  and  he 
evaded  the  purpose  of  it,  and  thereby,  it  is  said, 
incurred  the  wrath  of  God  (ver.  10).  It  seems, 
from  the  same  account,  to  have  been  well  under- 
stood, that  upon  his  death  the  duty  devolved 
upon  the  next  surviving  brother.  No  change  is 
recorded  in  this  law  till  just  before  the  entrance 
of  Israel  into  Canaan  (b.c.  1451),  at  which  time 
Moses  modified  it  by  new  regulations  to  this 
effect : — '  If  brethren  dwell  together  {i.  e.  in  the 
same  locality),  and  one  of  them  die,  and  leave 
no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dead  must  not  marry 
out  of  the  family,  but  her  husband's  brother 
or  his  next  kinsman  must  take  her  to  wife,  and 
perform  the  duty  of  a  husband's  brother,  and  the 
first-born  of  this  union  shall  succeed  in  the  name 
of  his  deceased  father,  that  his  name  may  be 
extant  in  Israel ;'  not  literally  bear  his  name,  for 
Ruth  allowed  her  son  by  Boaz  to  be  called  Obed, 
and  not  Mahlon,  the  name  of  her  first  husband 
(Ruth  iv.  17,  yet  see  Josephus,  Antiq.  ir.  8,  23). 
In  case  the  man  declined  the  office,  the  woman 
was  to  bring  him  before  the  elders,  loose  his  shoe 
from  off  his  foot,  and  spit  in,  or,  as  some  render 
it,  before  his  face,  by  way  of  contempt  (Deut 
xxv.  9,  10:  Josephus  understands  in  the  face, 
Antiq.  v.  9.  4),  and  shall  say,  '  So  shall  it  be 
done  unto  the  man  that  will  not  build  up  his 
brother's  house ;  and  his  name  shall  be  called  in 
Israel,  the  house  of  him  that  hath  his  shoe  loosed,' 
quasi  Raresole !  It  does  not  appear  that  the 
original  law  was  binding  on  the  brother,  if 
already  married  ;  and  we  may  well  believe  that 
Moses,  who  wished  to  mitigate  it,  allowed  of  that 
exception.  The  instance  of  Ruth  (b.c.  1245), 
who  married  Boaz,  her  husband's  relation,  ex- 
hibits the  practice  of  the  law  under  the  Judges. 
Boaz  was  neither  the  father  of,  nor  the  nearest 
relation  to,  Elimelech,  father-in-law  to  Ruth,  the 
wife  of  Mahlon.  and  yet  he  married  her  after  the 
refusal  of  him  who  was  the  nearest  relation 
(Ruth  ii.  20  :  iii.,  iv.). 

It  should  seem,  from  the  instance  of  Potiphar's 
wife,  that  monogamy  was  practised  in  Egypt 
(Gen.  xxxix.  7).  Pharaoh  gave  to  Joseph  one 
wife  (Gen.  xli.  45).  The  Israelites,  while  in 
Egypt,  seem  to  have  restricted  themselves  to  one. 
One  case  is  recorded  of  an  Israelite  who  had 
married  an  Egyptian  woman  (Lev.  xxiv.  10). 
The  giTiug  of  the  law  (b.c.  1491)  acqaaints  ns 


MARRIAGE 

with  many  regulations  concerning  marriage, 
which  were  different  from  the  practices  of  the 
Jews  while  in  Egypt,  and  from  those  of  the 
Canaanites,  to  whose  laud  they  were  approaching 
(Lev.  xviii.  3).  There  we  find  laws  for  regulat- 
ing the  marriages  of  bondmen  (Exod.  xxi.  3,  4), 
and  of  a  bondmaid  (ver.  7-12).  The  prohibition 
against  marriages  with  the  Canaanites  is  esta- 
blished by  a  positive  law  (Exod.  xxiv.  16). 
Marriage  is  prohibited  with  any  one  near  of  kin, 
'  of  the  remainder  of  his  flesh  '  (Lev.  xviii.  6-19). 
A  priest  is  prohibited  from  marrying  one  that 
had  been  a  harlot,  or  divorced  (Lev.  xxi.  7.) 
The  high-priest  was  also  excluded  from  marry- 
ing a  widow,  and  restricted  to  one  wife  (ver.  13, 
14).  Daughters  who,  through  want  of  brothers, 
were  heiresses  to  an  estate,  were  required  to 
marry  into  their  own  tribe,  and,  if  possible,  a 
kinsman,  to  prevent  the  estate  passing  into 
another  family  (Num.  xxvii.  1-11  ;  xxxvi.  1-12). 
The  husband  had  power  to  annul  his  wife's  vow, 
if  he  heard  it,  and  interfered  at  the  time  (Num. 
XXX.  6-16).  If  a  man  had  betrothed  a  wife,  he 
was  exempt  from  the  wars,  &c.  (Deut.  xx.  7 ; 
xxiv.  5).  It  was  allowed  to  marry  a  beautiful 
captive  in  war,  whose  husband  probably  had 
been  killed  (Deut.  xxi.  10-14,  &c.).  Abundance 
of  offspring  was  one  of  the  blessings  promised 
to  obedience,  during  the  miraculous  providence 
which  superintended  the  Theocracy  (Lev.  xxvi. 
9  ;  Deut.  vii.  13,  14  ;  xxviii.  11 ;  Ps.  cxxvii.  3  ; 
cxxviii.  3) ;  and  disappointment  in  marriage  was 
one  of  the  curses  (Deut.  xxviii.  18.  SO:  comp. 
Ps.  xlvii.  9;  Jer.  viii.  10).  A  daughter  of  a 
distinguished  person  was  offered  in  marriage  as 
a  reward  for  perilous  services  (Josh.  xv.  16,  17  ; 
1  Sara.  xvii.  25).  Concubinage  appears  in  Israel 
(b.c.  1413),  (Judg.  xix.  1-4).  The  violation  of  a 
concubine  is  avenged  (Judg.  xx.  5-10).  Poly- 
gamy (Judg.  viii.  30).  The  state  of  marriage 
among  the  Philistines  may  be  inferred,  in  the 
time  of  Samison,  from  the  sudden  divorce  from 
him  of  his  wife  bv  her  father,  and  her  being 
given  to  his  friend  (Judg.  xiv.  20),  and  from  the 
father  offering  him  a  younger  sister  instead 
(Judg.  XV.  2).  David's  numerous  wives  (2  Sam. 
iii.  3-5).  In  Ps.  xlv.,  which  is  refened  to  this 
period  by  the  best  harmonists,  there  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  a  royal  marriage  upon  a  most  magnificent 
scale.  The  marriage  of  Solomon  to  Pharaoh's 
daughter  is  recorded  in  1  Kings  iii.  1 ;  to  which 
the  Song  of  Solomon  probably  relates,  and  from 
which  it  appears  that  his  mother  '  crowned  him 
with  a  crown  on  the  day  of  his  espousals'  (ver.  3, 
11).  It  would  appear  that  in  his  time  females 
were  married  young  (Prov.  ii.  17  ;  comp.  Joel  i. 
8);  also  males  (Prov.  v.  18).  An  admirable 
description  of  a  good  wife  is  given  in  Prov.  xxxi. 
10-31.  The  excessive  multiplication  of  wives 
and  concubines  was  the  cause  and  effect  of  Solo- 
mon's apostacy  in  his  old  age  (1  Kings  xi.  1-8), 
He  confesses  his  error  in  Ecclesiastes,  where  he 
eulogizes  monogamy  (viii.  9;  vii;  29).  Reho- 
boam  took  a  plurality  of  wives  (2  Chron.  xL  18- 
21);  and  so  Abijah  (2  Chrou.  xiii.  21),aDdAhab 
(1  Kings  XX.  3),  and  Btlshazzar,  king  of  Babylon 
(Dan.  v.  2).  It  would  seem  that  the  outward 
manners  of  the  Je  «&,  about  the  time  of  our  Lord's 
advent,  had  become  improved,  since  there  is  no 
case  recorded  iu  the  New  Testament  of  poly- 
gamy or  concubinage  among  them.     Our  Lord 


MARTHA 

excludes  all  causes  of  divorce,  except  whoredom 
(Matt  V.  32),  and  ascribes  the  origin  of  the 
Mosaic  law  to  the  hardness  of  their  hearts.  The 
same  doctrine  concerning  divorce  had  been 
taught  by  the  prophets  (Jer.  iii.  I ;  Micah  ii.  9 ; 
Mai.  ii.  14-16).  The  apostles  inculcate  it  like- 
wise (Rom.  vii.  3;  1  Cor.  vii.  4, 10,  11,  39);  yet 
St.  Paul  considers  obstinate  desertion  by  an  un- 
believing party  as  a  release  (1  Cor.  vii.  15).  Our 
Lord  does  not  reprehend  celibacy  for  the  sake 
of  religion, '  those  who  make  themselves  eunuchs 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake '  (Matt.  xix. 
12;  comp.  1  Cor.  vii.  32,  36).  Second  marriages 
not  condemned  in  case  of  death  (Rom.  vii.  12). 
Mixed  marriages  disapproved  (1  Cor.  vii.  39 ; 
2  Cor,  vL  14).  Early  marriage  not  recom- 
mended (1  Cor.  vii.  36).  Marriage  aflFords  the 
means  of  copious  illustrations  to  the  writers  of 
Scriptare.  The  prophets  employ  it  to  represent 
the  relation  of  the  Jewish  church  to  Jehovah, 
and  the  apostles  that  of  the  Christian  church  to 
Christ.  The  applications  they  make  of  the  idea 
constitute  some  of  the  boldest  and  most  touching 
figures  in  the  Scripture. 

MARS'  HILL.    [Areopagus.] 

MAR'THA,  sister  of  Lazarus  and  Mary,  who 
resided  in  the  same  house  with  them  at  Bethany 
fLAzABUs].  From  the  house  at  Bethany  being 
called  '  her  house,'  in  Luke  x.  38,  and  from  the 
leading  part  which  Martha  is  always  seen  to  take 
in  domestic  matters,  it  has  seemed  to  some  that 
she  was  a  widow,  to  whom  the  house  at  Bethany 
belonged,  and  with  whom  her  brother  and  sister 
lodged ;  but  this  is  uncertain,  and  the  common 
opinion,  that  the  sisters  managed  the  household 
of  their  brother,  is  more  probable.  Luke  pro- 
bably calls  it  her  house  because  he  had  no  occa- 
sion to  mention,  and  does  not  mention,  Lazarus ; 
and  when  we  speak  of  a  house  which  is  occupied 
by  different  persons,  we  avoid  circumlocution  by 
calling  it  the  house  of  the  individual  who  happens 
to  be  the  subject  of  our  discourse.  Jesus  was 
intimate  with  this  family,  and  their  house  was 
often  his  home  when  at  Jerusalem,  being  accus- 
tomed to  retire  thither  in  the  evening,  after  hav- 
ing spent  the  day  in  the  city.  The  point  which 
the  Evangelists  bring  out  most  distinctly  with 
respect  to  Martha,  lies  in  the  contrariety  of  dis- 
position between  her  and  her  sister  Mary.  The 
first  notice  of  Christ's  visiting  this  family  occurs 
in  Luke  x.  38-42.  He  was  received  with  great 
attention  by  the  sisters ;  and  Martha  soon 
hastened  to  provide  suitable  entertainment  for 
the  Lord  and  his  followers,  while  Mary  remained 
in  his  presence,  sitting  at  his  feet,  and  drinking 
in  the  sacred  words  that  fell  from  his  lips.  The 
active,  bustling  solicitude  of  Martha,  anxious  that 
the  best  things  in  the  house  should  be  made  sub- 
servient to  the  Master's  use  and  solace,  and  the 
quiet  earnestness  of  Mary,  more  desirous  to 
profit  by  the  golden  opportunity  of  hearing  his 
instructions,  than  to  minister  to  his  personal 
wants,  strongly  mark  the  points  of  contrast  in 
the  characters  of  the  two  sisters. 

The  part  taken  by  the  sisters  in  the  transac- 
tions connected  with  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  LazaiTis,  is  entirely  and  beautifully  in  accord- 
ance with  their  previous  history.  Martha  is 
still  more  engrossed  with  outward  things,  while 
Mary  surrenders  herself  more  to  her  feelings, 
and  to   inward   meditation.     When   they  heard 


MARTYR 


565 


that  Jesus  was  approaching,  Martha  ha.stened 
beyond  the  village  to  meet  him,  '  but  Mary  sat 
still  in  the  house '  (John  xi.  20,  22).  When  she 
saw  Jesus  actually  appear,  whose  presence  had 
been  so  anxiously  desired,  she  exhibits  a  strong 
degree  of  faith,  and  hesitates  not  to  express  a 
confident  hope  that  he,  to  whom  all  things  were 
possible,  would  even  yet  afford  relief.  But,  as 
is  usual  with  persons  of  her  lively  character, 
when  Christ  answered,  with  what  seemed  to  her 
the  vague  intimation,  '  Thy  brother  shall  rise 
again,'  she  was  instantly  cast  down  from  her 
height  of  confidence,  the  reply  being  less  direct 
than  she  expected :  she  referred  this  saying  to 
the  general  resurrection  at  the  last  day,  and 
thereon  relapsed  into  despondency  and  grief. 
This  feeling  Jesus  reproved,  by  directing  her 
attention,  before  all  other  things,  to  that  inward, 
eternal,  and  divine  life,  which  consists  in  union 
with  him,  and  which  is  raised  far  above  the 
power  even  of  the  grave.  This  he  did  in  the 
magnificent  words,  *  I  am  the  resurrection,  and 
the  life :  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were 
dead,  yet  shall  he  live :  and  whosoever  liveth 
and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die.  Believest 
thou  this?"  Sorrow  and  shame  permitted  the 
troubled  Martha,  in  whose  heart  the  feeling  of  an 
unconditional  and  entire  surrender  to  his  will 
was  re-awakened,  to  make  only  the  general  con- 
fession that  he  was  actually  the  promised  Mes- 
siah; in  which  confession  she,  however,  com- 
prised an  acknowledgment  of  his  power  and 
greatness.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  she  found 
nothing  in  this  discourse  with  Christ,  to  en- 
courage her  first  expectation  of  relief;  and  with 
the  usual  rapid  change  in  persons  of  lively  sus- 
ceptibilities, she  had  now  as  completely  aban- 
doned all  hope  of  rescue  for  her  brother,  as  she 
had  before  been  sanguine  of  his  restoration  to 
life.  Thus,  when  Jesus  directed  the  stone  to  be 
rolled  away  from  the  sepulchre,  she  gathered 
from  this  no  ground  of  hope  ;  but  rather  objected 
to  its  being  done,  because  the  body,  which  had 
been  four  days  in  the  tomb,  must  already  have 
become  disagreeable.  The  reproof  of  Christ, 
'  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that,  if  thou  wouldest  be- 
lieve, thou  shouldest  see  the  glory  of  God  ?' 
suggests  that  more  discourse  had  passed  between 
them  than  the  evangelist  has  recorded,  seeing 
that  no  such  assurance  is  contained  in  the  pre- 
vious narrative  ^^John  xi.  39,  40). 

Nothing  more  is  recorded  of  Martha,  save  that 
some  time  after,  at  a  supper  given  to  Christ  and 
his  disciples  at  Bethany,  she,  as  usual,  busied 
herself  in  the  external  service.  Lazarus,  so  mar- 
vellously restored  from  the  grave,  sat  with  her 
guests  at  table.  '  Martha  served,'  and  Mary 
occupied  her  favourite  station  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  which  she  bathed  with  her  tears,  and 
anointed  with  costly  ointment  (John  xii.  1,  2) 
[Lazarus;  Mart]. 

There  are  few  characters  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment,  and  certainly  no  female  character,  so 
strongly  brought  out  in  its  natural  points  as  that 
of  Martha ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  observe  that 
Luke  and  John,  although  relating  different  trans- 
actions in  which  she  was  concerned,  perfectly 
agree  in  the  traits  of  character  which  they  assign 
to  her. 

MARTYR.  This  word  means  properly  a 
witiwsa,  and  is  applied  in  the  New  Testament — 


566 


MARY 


1.  To  judicial  witnesses  (Matt,  xviii.  16;  xxvi. 
65;  Mark  xiv.  63  ;  Acts  vi.  13;  vii.  58;  2  Cor. 
xiii.  1 ;  1  Tim.  v.  19 ;  Heb.  x.  28).  2.  To  one 
■who  has  testified,  or  can  testify  to  the  truth  of 
■what  he  has  seen,  heard,  or  known.  This  is  a 
frequent  sense  in  the  New  Testament :  as  in  Luke 
xxiv.  48 ;  Acts  i.  8,  22  ;  Rom.  i.  9  ;  2  Cor.  i.  23  ; 
1  Thes.  ii.  .5,  10;  1  Tim.  vi.  12;  2  Tim.  ii.  2; 
1  Pet.  V.  1  ;  Rev.  i.  5 ;  iii.  14 ;  xi.  3,  and  else- 
where. 3.  The  meaning  of  the  word  which  has 
now  become  the  most  usual,  is  that  in  which  it 
occurs  most  rarely  in  the  Scripture,  i.  e.,  one  who 
by  his  death  bears  witness  to  the  truth.  In  this 
sense  we  only  find  it  in  Acts  xxii.  20  ;  Rev.  ii. 
13 ;  xvii.  6.  This  now  exclusive  sense  of  the 
word  was  brought  into  general  use  by  the  early 
ecclesiastical  writers,  who  applied  it  to  every  one 
who  suffered  death  in  the  Christian  cause. 
Stephen  was  in  this  sense  the  first  martyr 
[Stephen]  ;  and  the  spiritual  honours  of  his  death 
tended  in  no  small  degree  to  raise  to  the  most 
extravagant  estimation,  in  the  early  church,  the 
value  of  the  testimony  of  blood.  Eventually  a 
martyr's  death  was  supposed,  on  the  alleged  au- 
thority of  the  under-named  texts,  to  cancel  all  the 
sins  of  the  past  life  (Luke  xii.  50;  Mark  x.  39)  ; 
to  supply  the  place  of  baptism  (Matt.  x.  39) ;  and 
at  once  to  secure  admittance  to  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  in  Paradise  (Matt.  v.  10-12).  In  imita- 
tion of  the  family  custom  of  annually  comme- 
morating at  the  grave  the  death  of  deceased 
members,  the  churches  celebrated  the  deaths  of 
their  martyrs  by  prayer  at  their  graves,  and  by 
love-feasts.  From  this  high  estimation  of  the 
martyrs,  Christians  were  sometimes  led  to  deliver 
themselves  up  voluntarily  to  the  public  au- 
thorities— thus  justifying  the  charge  of  fanaticism 
brought  against  them  by  the  heathen.  For  the 
most  part,  however,  this  practice  was  discoun- 
tenanced, the  words  of  Christ  himself  being 
brought  against  it  (Matt.  x.  23;  see  Gieseler, 
Eccles.Hist.  i.  109,  110). 

1.  MARY  (Miriam),  'the  Mother  of  Jesus ' 
(Acts  i.  14),  and  'Mary  his  Mother'  (Matt.  ii. 
1 1 ),  are  the  appellations  of  one  who  has  in  later 
times  been  generally  called  the  '  Virgin  Mary,' 
but  who  is  never  so  designated  in  Scripture. 

Little  is  known  of  this  'highly  favoured'  in- 
dividual, in  whom  was  fulfilled  the  first  prophecy 
made  to  man,  that '  the  seed  of  the  woman  should 
bruise  the  serpent's  head '  (Gen.  iii.  15).  As  her 
history  was  of  no  consequence  to  Christianity,  it 
is  not  given  at  large.  Her  genealogy  is  recorded 
by  St.  Luke  (ch.  iii.),  in  order  to  prove  the  truth 
of  the  predictions  which  had  foretold  the  descent 
of  the  Messiah  tVom  Adam  through  Abraham  and 
David,  with  the  design  evidently  of  showing  that 
Christ  was  of  that  royal  house  and  lineage. 

Kusebius,  the  early  ecclesiastical  historian, 
although  unusually  lengthy  upon  '  the  name  Jesus,' 
and  the  genealogies  in  Matthew  and  Luke's 
Gospels,  throws  no  new  light  upon  Mary's  birth 
and  parentage.  The  legends  respecting  Anne, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  her  mother,  are  pure 
fables  without  tl>e  slightest  evidence. 

The  earliest  event  in  her  history,  of  which  we 
have  any  notice,  was  the  annunciation  to  her  by 
the  angel  Gabriil  that  she  was  destined,  whilst 
yet  a  pure  virgin,  to  become  the  mother  of  the 
Messiah — an  event  which  was  a  literal  fulfilment 
of  the  prophecy  given  centuries  before  by 


MARY 

that '  a  virgin  should  conceive,  and  bear  a  son, 
and  should  call  his  name  Immanuel,'  which 
being  interpreted,  is  '  God  with  us'  (Isa.  vii,  14; 
Matt.  i.  23).  On  this  occasion  she  was  explicitly 
informed  that  she  should  conceive  by  the  mira- 
culous power  of  God,  and  that  her  child  should 
be  '  Holy,'  and  be  called  '  the  Son  of  God.'  As 
a  confirmation  of  her  faith  in  this  announcement 
she  was  also  told  by  the  angel  that  her  cousin 
Elizabeth,  who  was  the  wife  of  one  of  the  chief 
priests,  and  who  was  now  far  advanced  in  years, 
had  conceived  a  son,  and  that  the  time  was  not 
far  ofiF  when  her  reproach  among  women  should 
cease  (Luke  i.  36). 

Almost  immediately  on  receiving  this  an- 
nouncement Mary  hastened  from  Nazareth, 
where  she  was  when  the  angel  visited  her,  to 
the  house  of  her  cousin,  who  was  then  residing 
in  the  hilly  district  in  '  a  city  of  Judah,'  supposed 
to  be  Hebron.  The  meeting  of  these  two  pious 
females,  on  whom  such  unexpected  privileges 
had  been  conferred,  was  one  of  mutual  congra- 
tulations, and  united  thanksgiving  to  the  author 
of  their  blessings.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that 
Mary  uttered  the  Magnificat  —  that  splendid 
burst  of  grateful  adoration  which  Christians  of 
all  parties  have  from  the  earliest  times  delighted 
to  adopt  as  expressive  of  the  best  feelings  of  the 
pious  heart  towards  God  (Luke  i.  39-56).  After 
spending  three  months  with  her  relative,  Mary 
returned  to  Nazareth,  where  a  severe  trial 
awaited  her,  arising  out  of  the  condition  in 
which  it  had  now  become  apparent  she  was. 
Betrothed  (perhaps  in  early  life)  to  a  person  of 
the  name  of  Joseph,  an  artificer  of  some  sort 
(Matt.  xiii.  55,  probably,  as  our  translators  sup- 
pose, a  carpenter),  the  Jewish  law  held  her  ex- 
posed to  the  same  penalties  which  awaited  the 
married  wife  who  should  be  found  unfaithful  to 
the  spousal  vow.  Joseph,  however,  being  a 
right-hearted  man  (one  who  feels  and  acts  as 
a  man  ought  to  do  in  the  circumstances  in  which 
he  is  placed),  was  unwilling  to  subject  her  to  the 
evils  of  a  public  exposure  of  what  he  deemed  her 
infidelity ;  and  accordingly  was  turning  in  his 
mind  how  he  might  privately  dissolve  his  con- 
nection with  her,  when  an  angel  was  sent  to  him 
also  to  inform  him  in  a  dream  of  the  true  statJ  of 
the  case,  and  enjoin  upon  him  to  complete  his 
engagement  with  her  by  taking  her  as  his  wife. 
This  injunction  he  obeyed,  and  hence  came  to  be 
regarded  by  the  Jews  as  the  father  of  Jesus 
(Matt.  i.  18-25). 

Summoned  by  an  edict  of  Augustus,  which 
commanded  that  a  census  of  the  population  of 
the  whole  Roman  empire  should  be  taken,  and 
that  each  person  should  be  enrolled  in  the  chief 
city  of  his  family  or  tribe,  Mary  and  her  husband 
went  up  to  Bethlehem,  the  city  of  the  Davidic 
family;  aud  whilst  there  the  child  Jesus  was 
born.  After  this  event  the  only  circumstances  in 
her  history  mentioned  by  the  sacred  historians 
are  her  appearance  and  offerings  in  the  temple 
according  to  the  law  of  Moses  (Luke  i.  22,  ff.)  ; 
her  return  with  her  husband  to  Nazareth  (Luke 
ii.  39);  their  habit  of  annually  visiting  Jeru- 
salem at  the  Feast  of  the  Passover  (ver.  41)  ;  the 
appearance  of  the  Magi,  which  seems  to  have 
occurred  at  one  of  these  periodic  visits  (Matt.  ii. 
1-12)  ;  the  flight  of  the  holy  family  into  Egypt, 
and  their  return,  after  the  death  of  Herod,  to 


MARY  MAGDALENE 

Nazareth  (ver.  13-23)  ;  the  scene  which  occurred 
on  another  of  those  periodic  visits  when,  after 
having  proceeded  two  days'  journey  on  her  way 
homeward,  she  discovered  that  her  son  was  not  in 
the  company,  and,  on  returning  to  Jerusalem, 
found  him  sitting  in  the  temple  with  the  doctors 
of  the  law,  '  both  hearing  thera  and  asking  them 
questions'  (Luke  ii.  42-52) ;  her  appearance  and 
conduct  at  the  marriage-feast  in  Cana  of  Galilee 
(John  ii.  1,  ft".);  her  attempt  in  the  synagogue  at 
Capernaum  to  induce  Jesus  to  desist  from  teach- 
ing (Matt.  xii.  46,  ft".)  ;  her  accompanying  of  her 
son  when  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem  immediately 
before  his  crucifixion  ;  her  following  him  to  Cal- 
vary ;  her  being  consigned  by  him  while  hanging 
on  the  cross  to  the  care  of  his  beloved  apostle 
John,  who  from  that  time  took  her  to  reside  in  his 
house  (John  xix.  25,  S.) ;  and  her  associating  with 
the  disciples  at  Jerusalem  after  his  ascension 
(Acts  i.  14). 

The  truditions  respecting  the  death  of  Mary 
diffier  materially  from  each  other.  There  is  a 
letter  of  the  General  Council  of  Ephesus  in  the 
fifth  century,  which  states  that  she  lived  at  Ephesus 
with  St.  John,  and  there  died  and  was  buried. 
Another  epistle  of  the  same  age  says  she  died  at 
Jerusalem,  and  was  buried  in  Gethsemane.  The 
legend  tells  that  three  days  after  her  interment, 
when  the  grave  was  opened  (that  Thomas  the 
Apostle  might  pay  reverence  to  her  remains),  her 
body  was  not  to  be  found,  '  but  only  an  exceeding 
fragrance,'  whereupon  it  was  concluded  that  it 
had  been  taken  up  to  heaven.  The  translations 
of  Enoch  and  Elijah,  and  the  ascension  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  took  place  while  they  were 
alii.e,  and  the  facts  are  recorded  by  the  inspira- 
tion of  God ;  but  when  the  dead  body  of  Mary 
was  conveyed  through  the  earth,  and  removed 
thence,  there  were  no  tvitnesses,  and  no  revelation 
was  ever  made  of  the  extraordinary  and  novel 
incident,  which  certainly  has  no  parallel  in  Scrip- 
ture. This  miraculous  event  is  appropriately 
called  '  the  Assumption.' 

It  is  said  that  Mary  died  in  a.d.  63.  The  Canon 
of  Scripture  was  closed  in  ad.  96,  thirty-three 
years  after  her  decease;  which,  however,  is 
never  alluded  to  by  any  of  the  Apostles  in  their 
writings,  nor  by  St.  John,  to  whose  care  she  was 
entrusted. 

In  the  Romish  Church  many  facts  are  believed 
and  doctrines  asserted  concerning  the  Virgin 
Mary,  such  as  her  immaculate  conception — her 
perpetual  virginity — her  right  to  receive  worship, 
and  her  mediation  and  intercession,  which  not 
only  are  without  any  authority  from  Scripture, 
but  many  of  which  are  diametrically  opposed  to 
its  declarations. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mary  ever  saw  Christ 
after  the  resurrection ;  for  she  was  not  one  of  the 
'chosen  witnesses'  specified  in  Scripture,  as  Mary 
Magdalene  was. 

2.  MARY  MAGDALENE  was  probably  so 
called  from  Magdala  in  Galilee,  the  town  where 
she  may  have  dwelt.  According  to  the  Tal- 
mudists,  Magdalene  signifies  '  a  plaiter  of  hair.' 

Much  wrong  has  been  done  to  this  individual 
from  imagining  that  she  was  the  person  spoken 
of  by  St.  Luke  in  ch.  vii.  39  ;  but  tliere  is  no  evi- 
dence to  support  this  opinion.  How  Mary  Mag- 
dalene came  to  be  identified  with  the  person  here 
mentioned,  it  is  difficult  to  say :  but  such  is  the 


MARY 


567 


case :  and  accordingly  she  is  generally  regarded 
as  having  been  a  woman  of  depraved  character. 
For  such  an  inference,  however,  there  appears  to 
be  no  just  ground  whatever. 

The  earliest  notice  of  Mary  Magdalene  is  in 
St.  Luke's  Gospel  (viii.  2),  where  it  is  recorded 
that  out  of  her  '  had  gone  seven  devils,'  and  that 
she  was  '  with  Joanna,  the  wife  of  Herod's  steward, 
and  Susanna,  and  many  others,  which  ministered 
unto  Christ  of  their  substance.' 

This  is  sufficient  to  prove  that  she  had  not  been 
known  as  a  person  of  bad  character ;  and  it  also 
implies  that  she  was  not  poor,  or  amongst  the 
lower  classes,  when  she  was  the  companion  of 
one  whose  husband  held  an  important  office  m 
the  king's  household. 

It  is  as  unjust  to  say  that  she  who  had  been  so 
physically  wretched  as  to  be  possessed  by  seven 
devils,  was  dissolute,  as  to  affirm  that  au  insane 
person  is  necessarily  depraved. 

In  the  Saviour's  last  hours,  and  at  his  death 
and  resurrection,  Mary  Magdalene  was  a  chief 
and  important  witness.  She  was  one  of  the 
women  who  stood  by  the  cross  (Matt.  xxvi.  55- 
56)  :  who  after  his  death  beheld  where  the  body 
was  laid  (Mark  xv.  47),  and  who  prepared  spices 
and  ointments  to  embalm  it.  She  visited  the 
sepulchre  early  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
while  it  was  yet  dark  (John  xx.  1);  and  when 
Peter  and  John  returned  to  their  own  homes  she 
remained  at  the  sepulchre  weeping,  and  had  her 
patient  waiting  rewarded  by  the  appearance  of 
her  risen  Lord. 

3.  MARY,  wife  of  Cleophas  or  Alphaeus,  and 
sister  of  the  Lord's  mother  (Mat.  xxvii.  56 ; 
Mark  xv.  40 ;  John  xix.  25).  This  Mary  was 
one  of  those  holy  women  who  followed  Christ, 
and  was  present  at  the  crucifixion  ;  and  she  is 
that  '  other  Mary '  who,  with  Mary  Magdalene, 
attended  the  body  of  Christ  to  the  sepulchre  when 
taken  down  from  the  cross  (Matt,  xxvii.  61 
Mark  xv.  47 ;  Luke  xxiii.  55).  She  was  also 
among  those  who  went  on  the  morning  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week  to  the  sepulchre  to  anoint 
the  body,  and  who  became  the  first  witnesses  of 
the  resurrection  (Matt,  xxviii.  1  ;  Mark  xvi.  1 ; 
Luke  xxiv.  1).  .Tames,  Joses,  Jude,  and  Simon, 
who  are  called  the  Lord's  brethren  [see  the 
names ;  also  Ai.ph.eus  ;  Brother],  are  very 
generally  supposed  to  have  been  the  sons  of  this 
Mary,  and  therefore  cousins  of  Jesus,  the  term 
brother  having  been  used  with  great  latitude 
among  the  Hebrews. 

4.  MARY,  sister  of  Lazarus  and  Martha. 
The  friendship  of  our  Lord  for  this  family 
has  been  explained  in  other  articles  [Lazarus  ; 
Martha]. 

The  points  of  interest  in  connection  with  Mary 
individually  arise  from  the  contrast  of  character 
between  her  and  her  sister  Martha,  and  from  the 
incidents  by  which  that  contrast  was  evinced. 
Apart  from  this  view,  the  most  signal  incident  in 
the  history  of  Mary  is  her  conduct  at  the  supper 
which  was  given  to  Jesus  in  Bethany,  when  he 
came  thither  after  having  raised  Lazarus  from 
the  dead.  The  intense  love  which  distinguished 
her  character  then  glowed  with  the  highest  fer- 
vour, manifesting  the  depth  of  her  emotion  and 
gratitude  for  the  deliverance  from  the  cold  terrors 
of  the  grave  of  that  brother  who  now  sat  alive 
and  cheerful  with  the  guests  at  table.     She  took 


568 


MATTHEW 


the  station  she  best  loved,  at  the  feet  of  Jesus. 
Among  the  ancients  it  was  usual  to  wash  the  feet 
of  guests  before  an  entertainment,  and  with  this 
the  anointing  of  the  feet  was  frequently  connected 
[Anointing].  Mary  possessed  a  large  quantity 
of  very  costly  ointment ;  and  in  order  to  testify 
her  gratitude  she  sacrificed  it  all  by  anointing 
with  it  the  feet  of  Jesus.  We  are  told  that  the 
disciples  murmured  at  the  extravagance  of  this 
act,  deeming  that  it  would  have  been  much  wiser, 
if  she  had  sold  the  ointment  and  given  the  money 
to  the  poor.  But  Jesus,  looking  beyond  tlie  mere 
external  act  to  the  disposition  which  gave  birth 
lo  it — a  disposition  which  marked  the  intensity 
of  her  gratitude — vindicated  her  deed.  Always 
meditating  upon  his  departure,  and  more  espe- 
cially at  that  moment,  when  it  was  so  near  at 
hand,  he  attributed  to  this  act  a  still  higher  sense 
— as  having  reference  to  his  approaching  death. 
The  dead  were  embalmed :  and  so,  he  said,  have 
I  received,  by  anticipation,  the  consecration  of 
death  (John  xii.  1-8;  Matt.  xxvi.  6-13;  Mark 
xiv.  3-9). 

MAS'CHIL,  a  title  of  some  of  the  Psalms 
Psalms]. 

MAS'SA,  an  encampment  of  the  Israelites 
[Wandering]. 

MATTH'EW.  According  to  Mark  ii.  14, 
Matthew  was  a  son  of  Alphseus.  It  is  generally 
supposed  that  Jacobus,  or  James,  the  sou  of  Al- 
phaeus,  was  a  son  of  Mary,  the  wife  of  Cleophas, 
who  was  a  sister  of  the  mother  of  Jesus  (John 
xix.  25).  If  this  opinion  is  correct,  Matthew  was 
one  of  the  relations  of  Jesus.  Matthew  was  a 
portitor,  or  inferior  collector  of  customs  at  Caper- 
naum, on  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  He  was  not  a 
publicanus,  or  general  farmer  of  customs.  We 
may  suppose  either  that  he  held  his  appointment 
at  the  port  of  Capernaum,  or  that  he  collected 
the  customs  on  the  high  road  to  Damascus,  which 
went  through  what  is  now  called  Khan  Minyeh, 
which  place,  as  Kobinson  has  shown,  is  the  ancient 
Capernaum.  Thus  we  see  that  Matthew  belonged 
to  the  lower  class  of  people. 

In  Mark  ii.  14,  and  Luke  v.  27,  he  is  called 
Levi,  We  hence  conclude  that  he  had  two  names. 
This  circumstance  is  not  mentioned  in  the  list 
of  the  apostles  (Matt.  x.  and  Luke  vi.) ;  but  the 
omission  does  not  prove  the  contrary,  as  we  may 
infer  from  the  fact  that  Lebbaeus  is  also  called 
Judas  in  Luke  vi.  16,  in  which  verse  the  name 
Lebbaeus  is  omitted.  In  Matt.  ix.  9  is  related  how 
Matthew  was  called  to  be  an  apostle.  We  must, 
however,  suppose  that  he  was  previously  ac- 
quainted with  Jesus,  since  we  read  in  Luke  vi.  13, 
that  when  Jesus,  before  delivering  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  selected  twelve  disciples,  who  were  to 
form  the  circle  of  his  more  intimate  associates, 
Matthew  was  one  of  them.  After  this  Matthew 
returned  to  his  usual  occupation ;  from  which 
Jesus,  on  leaving  Capernaum,  called  him  away. 
On  this  occasion  Matthew  gave  a  parting  enter- 
tainment to  his  friends.  After  this  event  he  is 
mentioned  only  in  Acts  i.  13. 

According  to  a  statement  in  Clemens  Alexan- 
drinus,  Matthew  abstained  from  animal  food. 
Hence  some  writers  have  rather  hastily  con- 
cluded that  he  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Essenes. 
It  is  true  that  the  Essenes  practised  abstinence 
in  a  high  degree;  but  it  is  not  true  that  they 
rejected  animal  food  altogether.    Admitting  the 


MATTHEW 

I  account  in  Clemens  Alexandrinus  to  be  correct, 
it  proves  only  a  certain  ascetic  strictness,  of 
which  there  occur  vestiges  in  the  habits  of  other 
Jews. 

According  to  another  account,  which  is  as  old 
as  the  first  century,  Matthew,  after  the  death  of 
Jesus,  remained  about  fifteen  years  in  Jerusalem. 
This  agrees  with  the  statement  in  Eusebius  {Hist. 
Eccles.  iii.  24),  that  Matthew  preached  to  his  own 
nation  before  he  went  to  foreign  countries.  Rufinus 
{Hist.  Eccles.  x.  9)  and  Socrates  {Hist.  Eccles.  i. 
19)  state  that  he  afterwards  went  into  Ethiopia; 
and  other  authors  mention  other  countries. 
There  also  he  probably  preached  specially  to 
the  Jews.  According  to  Heracleon  (about  a.d. 
15U)  and  Clemens  Alex.  {Strom,  iv.  9),  Matthew 
was  one  of  those  apostles  who  did  not  suflFer 
martyrdom. 

The  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew. — The  genuine- 
ness of  this  Gospel  has  been  more  strongly  at- 
tacked than  that  of  any  of  the  three  others,  as 
well  by  EXTERNAL  as  by  internal  arguments. 
With  regard  to  the  former,  external  testimonies 
are  clearly  in  favour  of  the  genuineness  of  this 
Gospel.  Its  authenticity,  indeed,  is  as  well  sup- 
ported as  that  of  any  work  of  classical  antiquity. 
It  can  also  be  proved  that  it  was  early  in  use 
among  Christians,  and  that  the  Apostolical  Fathers 
at  the  end  of  the  first  century  ascribed  to  it  a  cano- 
nical authority. 

A  good  deal  of  discussion  respecting  the  ques- 
tion— whether  or  not  there  was  a  Hebrew  Gospel 
of  St.  Matthew,  has  arisen  out  of  a  statement 
made  by  Papias,  that '  Matthew  wrote  the  sayings 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue.'  Tholuck,  who  inclines  to 
the  opinion  that  the  original  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew 
was  written  in  Hebrew,  thinks  it  by  no  means  im- 
probable that,  after  several  inaccurate  and  imper- 
fect translations  of  this  original  came  into  circu- 
lation, Matthew  himself  was  prompted  by  this  cir- 
cumstance to  publish  a  Greek  ti'anslation,  or  to 
have  his  Gospel  translated  under  his  own  super- 
vision. 

With  regard  to  the  internal  arguments  which 
have  been  brought  against  the  authenticitj'  of  this 
Gospel,  it  has  been  objected,  1st,  that  the  repre- 
sentations of  Matthew  have  not  that  vivid  clear- 
ness which  characterizes  the  narration  of  an  eye- 
witness, and  which  we  find,  for  instance,  in  the 
Gospel  of  John.  Even  Mark  and  Luke  surpass 
Matthew  in  this  respect.  Compare,  for  example,  . 
Matt.  iv.  18  Avith  Luke  v.  1,  sq. ;  Matt.  viii.  .5,  sq. 
with  Luke  vii.  1,  sq.  This  is  most  striking  in  the 
history  of  his  own  call,  where  we  should  expect  a 
clearer  representation. 

2nd.  He  omits  some  facts  which  every  apostle 
certainly  knew.  For  instance,  he  mentions  only 
one  journey  of  Christ  to  the  passover  at  Jerusa- 
lem, namely,  the  last ;  and  seems  to  be  acquainted 
only  with  one  sphere  of  Christ's  activity,  namely, 
Galilee. 

3rd.  He  relates  unchronologically,  and  trans- 
poses events  to  times  in  which  they  did  not  hap- 
pen ;  for  instance,  thj  event  mentioned  in  Luke 
iv.  14-30  must  have  happened  at  the  commence- 
ment of  Christ's  public  career,  but  Matthew  relates 
it  as  late  as  ch.  xiii.  53,  sq. 

4th.  He  embodies  in  one  discourse  several 
sayings  of  Christ  which,  according  to  Luke,  were 
pronounced  at  different  times  (comp.  Matt.  v.  viL, 
and  xxii'u). 


MATTHEW 

To  these  objections  we  may  reply  as  follows : — 

1st.  The  gift  of  narrating  luminously  is  a  per- 
gonal qualification  of  which  even  an  apostle  might 
be  destitute,  and  which  is  rarely  found  among  the 
lower  orders  of  people :  this  argument  therefore 
has  recently  been  given  up  altogether.  In  the 
history  of  his  call  to  be  an  apostle,  Matthew  has 
this  advantage  over  Mark  and  Luke,  that  he  re- 
lates the  discourse  of  Christ  (ix.  1 3)  with  greater 
completeness  than  these  evangelists.  Luke  relates 
that  Matthew  prepared  a  great  banquet  in  his 
house,  while  Matthew  simply  mentions  that  an 
entertainment  took  place,  because  the  apostle 
could  not  well  write  that  he  himself  prepared  a 
great  banquet. 

2nd.  An  argumentum  a  silentio  must  not  be 
urged  against  the  evangelists.  The  raising  of 
Lazarus  is  narrated  only  by  John ;  and  the  raising 
of  the  youth  at  Nain  only  by  Luke ;  the  appear- 
ance to  five  hundred  brethren  after  the  resur- 
rection, which,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Paul 
(I  Cor.  XV.  6),  was  a  fact  generally  known,  is  not 
recorded  by  any  of  the  evangelists.  The  apparent 
restriction  of  Christ's  sphere  of  activity  to  Galilee 
we  find  also  in  Mark  and  Luke.  This  peculiarity 
arose  perhaps  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
apostles  first  taught  in  Jerusalem,  where  it  was 
unnecessary  to  relate  what  had  happened  there, 
but  where  the  events  which  had  taken  place  in 
Galilee  were  unknown,  and  required  to  be  nar- 
rated :  thus  the  sphere  of  narration  may  have 
gradually  become  fixed. 

3rd.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
Evangelists  intended  to  write  a  chronological 
biography.  On  the  contrary,  we  learn  from 
Luke  i.  4,  and  John  xx.  31,  that  their  object 
was  of  a  more  practical  and  apologetical  ten- 
dency. With  the  exception  of  John,  the  Evan- 
gelists have  grouped  their  communications  more 
according  to  the  subjects  than  according  to  chro- 
nological succession.  This  fact  is  now  generally 
admitted.  The  principal  groups  of  facts  recorded 
by  St.  Matthew  are:  —  1.  The  preparation  of 
Jesus,  narrated  in  ch.  i.-iv.  16.  2.  The  public 
ministry  of  Jesus,  narrated  in  ch.  iv.  1 7-xvi.  20. 
3.  The  conclusion  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  narrated 
in  ch.  xvi.  2l-xxviii. 

But  our  opponents  further  assert  that  the 
Evangelist  not  only  groups  together  events  be- 
longing to  diflferent  times,  but  that  some  of  his 
dates  are  incorrect:  for  instance,  the  date  in 
Matt.  xiii.  53  cannot  be  correct  if  Luke,  ch.  iv., 
has  placed  the  event  rightly.  If,  however,  we 
carefully  consider  the  matter,  we  shall  find  that 
Matthew  has  placed  this  fact  more  chronologically 
than  Luke.  It  is  true  that  the  question  in  Matt, 
xiii.  54,  and  the  annunciation  in  Luke  iv.  18-21, 
seem  to  synchronize  best  with  the  first  public  ap- 
pearance of  Jesus.  But  even  Schleiermacher, 
who,  in  his  work  on  Luke,  generally  gives  the 
preference  to  the  arrangement  of  that  evangelist, 
nevertheless  obsei-ves  (p.  63)  that  Luke  iv.  23 
leads  us  to  suppose  that  Jesus  abode  for  a  longer 
period  in  Capernaum  (comp.  the  words  '  as  his 
custom  was '  in  ver.  16). 

4th.  If  the  evangelist  arranges  his  statements 
according  to  subjects,  and  not  chronologically, 
we  must  not  be  surprised  that  he  connects  similar 
sayings  of  Christ,  inserting  them  in  the  longer 
discourses  after  analogous  topics  had  been  men- 
tiooed.    These  discoorses  are  not  compiled  by 


MEDEBA 


569 


the  Evangelist,  but  always  form  the  fundamental 
framework  to  which  sometimes  analogous  subjects 
are  attached.  But  even  this  is  not  the  case  in  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount ;  and  in  ch.  xiii.  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  the  parables  were  spoken  at  dif- 
ferent times.  In  the  discourses  recorded  in  ch.  x. 
and  xxiii.,  it  can  be  proved  that  several  sayings 
are  more  correctly  placed  by  Matthew  than  by 
Luke  (comp.  especially  Matt,  xxiii.  37-39  with 
Luke  xiii.  34,  3.5). 

These  arguments  may  be  supported  by  adding 
the  positive  internal  proofs  which  exist  in  favour 
of  the  apostolical  origin  of  this  Gospel.  1.  The 
nature  of  the  book  agrees  entirely  with  the  state- 
ments of  the  Fathers  of  the  church,  from  whom 
we  learn  that  it  was  written  for  Jewish  readers. 
None  of  the  other  Evangelists  quote  the  Old  Tes- 
tament so  often  as  Matthew,  who,  moreover,  does 
not  explain  the  Jewish  rites  and  expressions, 
which  are  explained  by  Mark  and  John.  2.  If 
there  is  a  want  of  precision  in  the  narration  of 
facts,  there  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  peculiar  accu- 
racy and  richness  in  the  reports  given  of  the  dis- 
courses of  Jesus ;  so  that  we  may  easily  conceive 
why  Papias  styled  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  tke 
sayings  of  the  Lord. 

Some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  most  important 
sayings  of  our  Lord,  the  historical  credibility  of 
which  no  sceptic  can  attack,  have  been  preserved 
by  Matthew  alone  (Matt.  xi.  28-30  ;  xvi.  16-19  ; 
xxviii.  20;  comp.  also  xi.  2-21  ;  xii.  3-6,  25-29; 
xvii.  12,  25,  26  ;  xxvi.  13).  Above  all,  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount  must  here  be  considered,  which 
is  given  by  Matthew,  and  which  forms  the  most 
beautiful  and  the  best  arranged  whole  of  all  the 
evangelical  discourses. 

With  regard  to  the  date  of  this  gospel,  Cle- 
mens Alexandrinus  and  Origen  state  that  it  was 
written  before  the  others.  Irenseus  agrees  with 
them,  but  places  its  origin  rather  late — namely,  at 
the  time  when  Peter  and  Paul  were  at  Eome. 
Even  De  Wette  grants  that  it  was  written  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  In  proof  of  this  we 
may  also  quote  ch.  xxvii.  8. 

MATTHl'AS  {Matthew),  one  of  the  seventy 
disciples  who  was  chosen  by  lot,  in  preference  to 
Joseph  Barsabas,  into  the  number  of  the  apostles, 
to  supply  the  deficiency  caused  by  the  treachery 
and  suicide  of  Judas  (Acts  i.  23-26).  Nothing  is 
known  of  his  subsequent  career. 

MAZZA'EOTH  (Job  xxxviii.  32).  [Astro- 
nomy.] 

MEASURES.     [Weights  and  Measures.] 

ME'DAD  and  EL'DAD,  two  of  the  seventy 
elders  who  were  nominated  to  assist  Moses  in  the 
government  of  the  people,  but  who  remained  in 
the  camp,  probably  as  modestly  deeming  them- 
selves unfit  for  the  office,  when  the  others  pre- 
sented themselves  at  the  Tabernacle.  The  Divine 
spirit,  however,  rested  on  them  even  there,  '  and 
they  prophesied  in  the  camp'  (Num.  xi.  24-29). 
The  Targum  of  Jonathan  alleges  that  these  two 
men  were  brothers  of  Moses  and  Aaron  by  the 
mothers  side. 

ME'DAN  or  Madan,  son  of  Abraham,  by  Ke- 
turah  (Gen.  xxv.  2).  He  and  his  brother  Midian 
are  supposed  to  have  peopled  the  country  of 
Midian,  east  of  the  Dead  Sea. 

MED'EBA,  a  town  east  of  the  Jordan,  in  the 
tribe  of  Reuben  (Josh.  xiii.  9,  16),  before  which 
was  fought  the  great  battle  in  which  Joab  defeated 


570  MEDES 

the  Ammonites  and  their  allies  (I  Chron.  xix.  7). 
It  originally  belonged  to  the  Moabites  (Num. 
xxi.  30);  and  after  the  captivity  of  the  tribes  be- 
yond the  Jordan,  they  again  took  possession  of  it 
(Isa.  XV.  2).  The  Onomasticon  places  it  near 
Heshbon  ;  and  it  was  once  the  seat  of  one  of  the 
thirty-five  bishoprics  of  Arabia  (Keland,  Palces- 
iiiia,  pp.  217,  223,  226).  Medeba,  now  in  ruins, 
still  retains  its  ancient  name,  and  is  situated  upon 
a  round  hill  seven  miles  south  of  Heshbon.  The 
ruins  are  about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  circuit,  but 
not  a  single  edifice  remains  perfect. 

MEDES,  the  inhabitants  in  ancient  times  of 
one  of  the  most  fruitful  and  populous  countries  of 
Asia,  called  Media,  the  precise  boundaries  of 
■<7hich  it  is  not  easy,  if  indeM  it  is  now  possible, 
to  ascertain.  Winer  defines  it  as  the  country 
which  lies  westward  and  southward  from  the 
Caspian  Sea.  between  35°  and  40^  of  N.  lat. 
Nature  has  divided  Media  into  three  great  divi- 
sions. Oq  the  north  is  a  flat,  moist,  and  insalu- 
brious district,  stretching  along  the  Caspian  Sea, 
which  is  made  a  separate  portion  by  a  chain  of 
hills  connected  with  Anti-Taurus.  In  this  plain 
and  on  these  mountains  there  live  uncultivated 
and  independent  tribes.  The  country  is  now 
known  under  the  names  of  Masanderan  and 
Gilan.  South  of  this  mountain  range  lies  the 
country  which  the  ancients  denominated  Atropa- 
teue,  being  separated  on  the  west  from  Armenia 
by  Mount  Caspius,  which  springs  from  Ararat ; 
and  on  the  south  and  south-east  by  the  Orontes 
range  of  hills,  which  runs  through  Media.  South 
and  south-east  of  the  Orontes  is  a  third  district, 
formerly  termed  Great  Media,  which  Mount 
Zagros  separates  from  Assyria  on  the  west,  and 
from  Persia  on  the  south :  on  the  east  it  is  bor- 
dered by  deserts,  and  connected  on  the  north-east 
with  Parthia  and  Hyrcania  by  means  of  Mount 
Caspius,  being  now  called  Irak-Ajemi.  This  for 
the  most  part  is  a  high  hilly  country,  yet  not  with- 
out rich  and  fruitful  valleys,  and  even  plains. 
The  sky  is  clear  and  bright,  and  the  climate 
healthy.  Media  Atropatene,  which  corresponds 
pretty  nearly  with  the  modern  Azerbijan,  contains 
fruitful  and  well-peopled  valleys  and  plains.  The 
northern  mountainous  region  is  cold  and  unfruit- 
ful. In  Great  Media  lay  the  metropolis  of  the 
country,  Ecbatana,  as  well  as  the  province  of 
Rliagiana  and  the  city  Ehagee,  with  the  plain  of 
Nisaeum,  celebrated  in  the  time  of  the  Persian 
empire  for  its  horses  and  horse-races.  This  plain 
was  near  the  city  Nissea,  around  which  ytere  fine 
pasture  lands  producing  excellent  clover.  The 
horses  were  entirely  white,  and  of  extraordinary 
height  and  beauty,  as  well  as  speed.  They  con- 
stituted a  part  of  the  luxury  of  the  great,  and  a 
tribute  in  kind  was  paid  from  them  to  the  mo- 
narch, who,  like  all  Eastern  sovereigns,  us«d  to 
delight  in  equestrian  display.  Some  idea  of  the 
opulence  of  the  country  may  be  had  when  it  is 
known  that,  independently  of  imposts  rendered 
in  money.  Media  paid  a  yearly  tribute  of  not  less 
than  3000  horses,  4000  mules,  and  nearly  100,000 
sheep.  The  races,  once  celebrated  through  the 
world,  appear  to  exist  no  more ;  but  Ker  Porter 
saw  the  Shah  ride  on  festival  occasions  a  splendid 
horse  of  pure  white.  Cattle  abounded,  as  did  the 
richest  fruits,  a?  pines,  citrons,  oranges,  all  of 
peculiar  excellence,  growing  as  in  their  native 
land.    Here  also  was  found  the  Silphiom  (pro- ; 


bably  assafoetida),  which  formed  a  considerable 
article  in  the  commerce  of  the  ancients,  and  was 
accounted  worth  its  weight  in  gold.  The  Median 
dress  was  proverbially  splendid ;  the  dress,  that 
is,  of  the  highest  class,  which  seems  to  have  gained 
a  sort  of  classical  authority,  and  to  have  been  at  a 
later  period  worn  at  the  Persian  court,  probably 
in  part  from  its  antiquity.  This  dress  the  Persian 
monarchs  used  to  present  to  those  whom  they 
wished  to  honour,  and  no  others  were  permitted 
to  wear  it.  It  consisted  of  a  long  white  loose 
robe,  or  gown,  flowing  down  to  the  feet,  and  en- 
closing the  entire  body.  The  nature  and  the  cele- 
brity of  this  dress  combine  with  the  natural  rich- 
ness of  the  country  to  assure  us  that  the  ancient 
Medians  had  made  no  mean  progress  in  the  arts ; 
indeed,  the  colours  of  the  Persian  textures  are 
known  to  have  been  accounted  second  only  to 
those  of  India.  If  these  regal  dresses  were  of 
silk,  then  was  there  an  early  commerce  between 
Media  and  India ;  if  not,  weaving,  as  well  as  dye- 
ing, must  have  been  practised  and  carried  to  a 
high  degree  of  perfection  in  the  former  country 
(Dan.  iii.  21). 

The  religion  of  the  Medes  consisted  in  the  wor- 
ship of  the  heavenly  bodies,  more  particularly  the 
sun  and  moon,  and  the  planets  Jupiter,  Venus, 
Saturn,  Mercury,  and  Mars.  The  priestly  caste 
were  denomibated  magi ;  they  were  a  separate 
tribe,  and  had  the  charge  not  only  of  religion,  but 
of  all  the  higher  culture. 

The  language  of  the  ancienf  Mede's  was  not 
connected  with  the  Shemitic,  but  the  Indian ;  and 
divided  itself  into  two  chief  branches,  th6  Zend, 
spoken  in  North  Media,  and  the  Pehlvi,  spoken  in 
Lower  Media  and  Parthia ;  which  last  \fras  the 
dominant  tongue  among  the  Parthians. 

The  Medes  originally  consisted  of  .six  tribes,  of 
which  the  Magi  were  one.  Being  overcome  by 
Ninus,  they  formed  a  part  of  the  great  Assyrian 
empire,  which,  however,  lost  in  course  of  time  the 
primitive  simplicity  of  manners  to  which  its  do- 
minion was  owing,  and  fell  into  luxury  and  con- 
sequent weakness  ;  when  Arbaces,  who  governed 
the  country  as  a  satrap  for  Sardanapalus,  taking 
advantage  of  the  effeminacy  of  that  monarch, 
threw  off  his  yoke,  destroyed  his  capital,  Nineveh, 
and  became  himself  sovereign  of  the  Medes^  in  the 
ninth  century  before  the  Christian  era.  Accord- 
ing to  Diodorus,  this  empire  extended  through  nine 
monarchs,  enduring  310  years,  until  Astyages,  son 
of  Cyaxares,  was  dethi-oned  by  Cyrus  in  the  year 
of  the  world  3495,  when  Media  became  a  part  of 
the  Persian  empire,  sinking  from  the  same  inevi- 
table causes  as  those  which  enabled  it  to  gain  over- 
the  Assyrian  power  the  dominion  of  Asia.  The 
account  given  by  Herodotus  varies  from  that  now 
set  forth.  We  do  not  propose  to  subject  the  diver- 
sities to  a  critical  investigation,  believing  that 
little,  if  any,  good  could  result,  at  least  within  our 
narrow  space.  Dates,  names,  and  dynasties  may 
be  more  or  less  uncertain,  but  the  facts  we  have 
given  are  unimpeached.  The  magnitude  of  the 
Median  empire  is  another  important  fact  equally 
well  ascertained.  Being  in  their  time  the  most 
valorous,  as  well  as  the  most  powerful  nation  of 
Asia,  the  Medes  extended  their  power  towards  the 
east  and  the  west  beyond  any  strictly  definable 
limits,  though,  like  dominion  generally  in  Ori- 
ental countries,  it  was  of  a  vague,  variable,  and 
unstable  kind.    That  they  regarded  the  Tigris  as 


MEDES 

their  western  boundary  appears  from  the  fact  that 
they  erected  on  its  banks  strongholds,  such  as 
Mespila  and  Larissa  ;  but  that  they  carried  their 
victorious  arms  still  farther  -westward,  appears 
from  both  Herodotus  (i.  134)  and  Isaiah  (xiii.  17, 
18).     The  eastern  limits  of  the  empire  seem  to 
have  been  different  at  different  periods.     Heeren 
inclines  to  the  opinion  that  it  may  have  reached 
as  far  as  the  Oxus,  and  even  the  Indus.     Many, 
however,  were  the  nations  and  tribes  which  were 
under  the  sway  of  its  sovereigns.     The  govern- 
ment was  a  succession  of  satrapies,  over  all  of 
which  the  Medcs  were  paramount ;  but  the  dif- 
ferent nations  exerted  a  secondary  dominion  over 
each  other,  diminishing  with  the  increase  of  dis- 
tance from  the  centre  of  royal  power,  to  which 
ultimately  the  tribute  paid  by  each  dependent  to 
\iis  superior  eventually  and  securely  came.     Not 
only  were  the  Medes  a  powerful,  but  also  a  wealthy 
and  cultivated  people  ;  indeed,  before  they  sank, 
in  consequence  of  their  degeneracy,  into  the  Per- 
sian empire,  they  were  during  their  time  the  fore- 
nio#  people  of  Asia,  owing  their  celebrity  not  only 
to  their  valour,  but  also  to  the  position  of  their 
country,  which  was  the  great  commercial  highway 
of  Asia.    The  sovereigns  exerted  absolute  and 
unlimited  dominion,  exacted  a  rigid  court-cere- 
monial,  and  displayed  a  great  love  of  pomp. 
Under  the  Persian  monarchs  Media  formed  a  pro- 
7iuce,  or  satrapy,  by  itself,  whose  limits  did  n.it 
correspond  with  independent  Media,  but  cannot 
be  accurately  defined.    To  Media  belonged  an- 
other country,  namely.  Aria,  which,  Heeren  says, 
took  its  name  from  the  river  Arius  (now  Heri), 
but  which  appears  to  contain  the  elements  of  the 
name  in  the  Zend  language,  which  was  common 
to  the  two,  if  not  to  other  Eastern  nations,  who 
were    denominated   Indians   by   Alexander  the 
Great,  as  dwellers  in  or  near  the  Indus,  which  he 
also  misnamed,  but  who  were  known  in  their  own 
tongue  as  Arians.     Subsequently,  however,  from 
whatever  cause,  the  Arians  were  separated  from 
the  Medes,  forming  a  distinct  satrapy  in  the  Per- 
sian empire.    Thus  the  name  of  a  clan,  or  gens, 
became  the  name  of  a  nation,  and  then  of  an  indi- 
vidual tribe.     It  may  be  added  that  Schlosser 
holds  it  as  a  fundamental  fact,  that  the  Medes  and 
Persians  formed  in  reality  one  kingdom,  only  that 
now  one,  now  another,  of  the  two  elements  gained 
predominance :  whence  he  thinks  himself  enabled 
to  explain  the  discrepancies  which  the  ancients 
present  as  to  the  names  and  succession  of  mo- 
narchs. 

The  Medes  are  not  mentioned  in  sacred  Scrip- 
ture till  the  days  of  Hoshea,  king  of  Israel,  about 
740  B.C.,  when  Shalnianeser,  king  of  Assyria, 
brought  that  monarch  under  his  yoke,  and  in  the 
ninth  year  of  his  reign  took  Samaria,  and  carried 
Israel  away  into  Assyria,  placing  them  in  Halah 
and  in  Habor,  by  the  river  of  Gozan,  and  in  the 
cities  of  the  Medes.  Here  the  Medes  appear  as  a 
part  of  the  Assyrian  empire ;  but  at  a  later  period 
Scripture  exhibits  them  as  an  independent  and 
sovereign  people  (Isa.  xiii.  17;  Jer.  xxv.  25;  li. 
11,  28).  In  the  last  passage  their  kings  are  ex- 
pressly named :  '  The  Lord  hath  raised  up  the 
kings  of  the  Medes ;  for  his  device  is  against  Ba- 
bylon to  destroy  it.'  '  Prepare  against  her  (Baby- 
Ion)  the  kings  of  the  Medes,  the  captains  thereof, 
and  all  the  rulers  thereof.'  It  has  been  conjee- 
tared  that  soon  after  the  time  of  Arbaces  tiiey 


MEDIATOR 


671 


again  fell  under  the  dominion  of  the  Assyria..8  ; 
butavailing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  aff'ir-.  d 
by  the  distant  expeditions  which  Sennacheri  >  tii 
dertook,  they  gained  their  freedom,  and  fou.n  >i\ 
a  new  line  of  kings  under  Dejoces.  Indeed,  so 
sudden  and  rapid  are  the  changes  of  government, 
even  to  the  present  day,  in  Oriental  monarchies, 
that  we  need  not  be  surprised  at  any  difficulties 
which  may  occur  in  arranging  the  dynasties  or 
the  succession  of  kings,  scarcely  in  any  ancient 
history,  certainly  least  of  all  in  the  fragmentary 
notices  preserved  regarding  the  kings  of  Media 
and  other  neighbouring  empn-es.  According, 
however,  to  other  historical  testimony,  we  find 
the  Medes  and  Persians  united  as  one  people  in 
holy  writ  (Dan.  v.  28;  vi.  1.5  ;  viii.  20;  Esth.  i. 
3,  18  ;  X.  2),  in  the  days  of  Cyrus,  who  destroyed 
the  separate  sovereignty  of  the  former.  To  the 
united  kingdom  Babylon  was  added  as  a  province. 
After  the  lapse  of  about  200  years,  Media,  in 
junction  with  the  entire  Persian  monarchy,  fell 
under  the  yoke  of  Alexander  the  Great  (B.C. 
330) ;  but  after  the  death  of  Alexander  it  became, 
under  Seleucus  Nicator,  the  Macedonian  governor 
of  Media  and  Babylonia,  a  portion  of  the  new 
Syrian  kingdom  (1  Macc.vi.  66),  and,  after  many 
variations  of  warlike  fortune,  passed  over  to  the 
Parthian  monarchy  (1  Mace,  xiv.  2  ;  Strabo,  xvi. 
p.  745). 

The  ancient  Medes  were  a  warlike  people,  and 
much  feared  for  their  skill  in  archery.  They 
appear  armed  with  the  bow  in  the  army  of  the 
Persians,  who  borrowed  the  use  of  that  weapon 
from  them.  Those  who  remained  in  the  more 
mountainous  districts  did  not  lose  their  valour ; 
but  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  and  towns  which 
covered  the  plains,  in  becoming  commercial  lost 
their  former  hardy  habits,  together  with  their 
bravery,  and,  giving  way  to  luxury,  became  in 
process  of  time  an  easy  prey  to  new  aspirants  to 
martial  fame  and  civil  dominion. 

MEDIATOR.  1.  '  Mediator  '  is  a  word  pecu- 
liar to  the  Scriptures,  and  is  used,  in  an  accom- 
modated sense,  by  many  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  to 
denote  one  who  intervenes  between  two  dispensa- 
tions. Hence  it  is  applied  to  John  the  Buptist, 
because  he  came,  as  it  were,  between  the  Mosaic 
and  Christian  dispensations. 

2.  Again,  it  signifies,  in  its  more  proper  sense, 
an  internuncius,  or  ambassador,  one  who  stands  as 
the  channel  of  communication  between  two  con- 
tracting parties.  Some  commentators  think  that 
the  Apostle  Paul,  in  Gal.  iii.  19,  calls  Moses  me- 
diator, because  he  conveyed  the  expression  of 
God's  will  fo  the  people,  and  reported  to  God  their 
wants,  wishes,  and  determinations.  Many  ancient 
and  modern  divines,  however,  are  of  opinion  that 
Christ  himself,  and  not  Moses,  is  here  meant  by 
the  inspired  Apostle,  and  this  view  would  seem 
to  be  confirmed  by  comparing  Deut.  xxxiii.  2  with 
Acts  vii.  38-52. 

3.  Christ  is  called  Mediator  by  virtue  of  the 
reconciliation  He  has  efiected  between  a  justly 
offended  God  and  his  rebellious  creature  man. 
In  this  sense  of  the  term  Moses  was,  on  many 
occasions,  an  eminent  type  of  Christ.  The  latter, 
however,  was  not  Mediator,  merely  by  reason  of 
his  coming  between  God  and  his  creatures,  as 
certain  heretics  would  afiirm ;  but  because  he 
appeased  his  wrath,  and  made  reconciliation  for 
iniquity. 


572 


MELCHIZEDEK 


MEGID'DO,  in  Zech.  xii.  11,  a  town  belong- 
ing to  Manasseh,  although  within  the  boundaries 
ot  Issachar  (Josh.  xvii.  11).  It  had  been  ori- 
ginally one  of  the  royal  cities  of  the  Canaanites 
(Josh.  xii.  21),  and  was  one  of  those  of  which 
the  Israelites  were  unable  for  a  long  time  to  gain 
actual  possession.  Megiddo  was  rebuilt  and  for- 
tified by  Solomon  (1  Kings  ix.  15),  and  thither 
Ahaziah  king  of  Judah  fled  when  wounded  by 
Jehu,  and  died  there  (2  Kings  ix.  27).  It  was 
in  tlie  battle  near  this  place  that  Josiah  was  slain 
by  Pharaoh  -  Necho  (2  Kings  xxiii.  29,  30; 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  20-25).  From  the  great  mourn- 
ing held  for  his  loss,  it  became  proverbial  to 
compare  any  grievous  mourning  as  being  '  like 
the  mourning  of  Hadadrimmon  in  tlie  valley  of 
Megiddon '  (Zech.  xii.  11).  '  The  waters  of 
Megiddo '  are  mentioned  in  Judges  v.  19;  and 
are  probably  those  formed  by  the  river  Kishon. 
Eusebius  and  Jerome  do  not  attempt  to  mark  the 
situation  of  the  place,  and  it  appears  that  the 
name  Megiddo  was  in  their  time  already  lost. 
They  often  mentioned  a  town  called  Legio,  which 
must  in  their  day  have  been  an  important  and 
M'ell-kuown  place,  as  they  assume  it  as  a  central 
point  from  which  to  mark  the  position  of  several 
other  places  in  this  quarter.  This  has  been 
identified  with  the  village  now  called  Lejjun, 
whicli  is  situated  upon  the  we^stern  border  of  the 
great  plain  of  Esdraelon,  where  it  begins  to  rise 
gently  towards  the  low  range  of  wooded  hills 
that  connect  Carmel  with  the  mountains  of 
Samaria.  This  place  was  visited  by  Maundrell, 
who  speaks  of  it  as  an  old  village  near  a  brook, 
with  a  khan  then  in  good  repair.  This  khan 
was  for  the  accommodation  of  the  caravan  on 
the  route  between  Egypt  and  Damascus,  which 
passes  here.  Having  already  identified  the  present 
village  of  Taannuk  with  the  ancient  Taanach, 
the  vicinity  of  this  to  Lejjun  induced  Dr.  Robin- 
son to  conceive  that  the  latter  might  be  the 
ancient  Megiddo,  seeing  that  Taanach  and  Me- 
giddo are  constantly  named  together  in  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  to  this  a  writer  in  a  German  review 
adds  the  further  consideration  that  the  name  of 
Legio  was  latterly  applied  to  the  plain,  or  low 
valley  along  the  Kishon,  as  that  of  Megiddo 
had  been  in  more  ancient  times.  If  this  ex- 
planation be  accepted,  and  it  is  certainly  pro- 
bable, though  not  certain,  it  only  remains  to 
conclude  that  the  ancient  Legio  was  not  founded 
by  the  Romans,  but  that  this  was  a  new  name 
imposed  upon  a  still  older  place,  which,  like  the 
names  Neapolis  (now  Nabulus)  and  Sebaste 
(now  Sebiistieh),  has  maintained  itself  in  the 
mouths  of  the  native  population,  while  the  earlier 
name  has  perished. 

MELCHIZ'EDEK  {lung  of  ri(/hteousness), 
'  priest  of  the  most  high  God,'  and  king  of 
Salem,  who  went  forth  to  meet  Abraham  on  his 
return  from  the  pursuit  of  Chedorlaomer  and  his 
allies,  who  had  carried  Lot  away  captive.  He 
brought  refreshment,  described  in  the  general 
terms  of  '  bread  and  wine,'  for  the  fatigued 
warriors,  and  bestowed  his  blessing  upon  their 
leader,  who,  in  return,  gave  to  the  royal  priest 
a  tenth  of  all  the  spoil  which  had  been  acquired 
in  his  expedition  (Gen.  xiv.  18,  20). 

This  statement  seems  sufficiently  plain,  and 
to  otfer  nothing  very  extraordinary ;  yet  it  has 
formed  the  basis  of  much  speculation  and  con- 


MELITA 

troversy.  In  particular,  the  fact  that  Abraham 
gave  a  tithe  to  Melchizedek  attracted  much  at- 
tention among  the  later  Jews.  In  one  of  the 
Messianic  Psalms  (ex.  4),  it  is  foretold  that  the 
Messiah  should  be  '  a  priest  after  the  order  o  i 
Melchizedek  ;'  which  the  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  (vi.  20)  cites  as  showing  that  Mel- 
chizedek was  a  type  of  Christ,  and  the  Jews 
themselves,  certainly  on  the  authority  of  this 
passage  of  the  Psalms,  regai-ded  Melchizedek  as 
a  type  of  the  regal-priesthood,  higher  than  that 
of  Aaron,  to  which  the  Messiah  should  belong. 
The  bread  and  wine  which  were  set  forth  on  the 
table  of  shew-bread,  was  also  supposed  to  be  re- 
presented by  the  bread  and  wine  which  the  king 
of  Salem  brought  forth  to  Abraham  (Schottgen, 
Ilor.  Heh.  ii.  645).  A  mysterious  supremacy 
came  also  to  be  assigned  to  Melchizedek,  by 
reason  of  his  having  received  tithes  from  tba 
Hebrew  patriarch ;  and  on  this  point  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (vii.  1-10)  expatiat*.!S  strongly,  as 
showing  the  inferiority  of  the  priesthood  repre- 
sented, to  that  of  Melchizedek,  to  which^the 
Messiah  belonged.  '  Consider  how  great  this 
man  was,  unto  whom  even  the  patriarch  Abraham 
gave  a  tenth  of  the  spoils ;'  and  he  goes  on  to 
argue  that  the  Aaronic  priesthood,  -who  them- 
selves received  tithes  of  the  Jews,  actually  paid 
tithes  to  Melchizedek  in  the  person  of  their  great 
ancestor.  This  superiority  is,  as  we  take  it,  in- 
herent in  his  typical  rather  than  his  personal 
character.  But  the  Jews,  in  admitting  this 
official  or  personal  superiority  of  Melchizedek  to 
Abraham,  sought  to  account  for  it  by  alleging 
that  the  royal  priest  was  no  other  than  Shem,  the 
most  pious  of  Noah's  sons,  who,  according  to  the 
shorter  chronology,  might  have  lived  to  the  time 
of  Abraham.  Such  conjectures  require  no  re- 
futation. The  best  founded  opinion  seems  to  be 
that  of  Carpzov  and  the  most  judicious  modems, 
who,  after  Josephus,  allege  that  Melchizedek  was 
a  principal  person  among  the  Canaanites  and 
posterity  of  Noah,  and  eminent  for  holiness  and 
justice,  and  therefore  discharged  the  priestly  as 
well  as  regal  functions  among  the  people :  and 
we  may  conclude  that  his  twofold  capacity  of 
king  and  priest  (characters  very  commonly 
united  in  the  remote  ages)  afforded  Abraham  an 
opportunity  of  testifying  his  thankfulness  to 
God  in  the  manner  usual  in  those  times,  by  offer- 
ing a  tenth  of  all  the  spoil.  This  combination 
of  characters  happens  for  the  first  time  in  Scrip- 
ture to  be  exhibited  in  his  person,  which,  with 
the  abrupt  manner  in  which  he  is  introduced, 
and  the  nature  of  the  intercourse  between  him 
and  Abraham,  render  him  in  various  respects  an 
appropriate  and  obvious  type  of  the  Messiah  in 
his  united  regal  and  priestly  character. 

Salem,  of  which  Melchizedek  was  king,  is 
usually  supposed  to  have  been  the  original  of 
Jerusa/e;«. 

MEL'ITA,  an  island  in  the  Meditcrranoar, 
on  which  the  ship  which  was  conveying  St.  Paul 
as  a  prisoner  to  Rome  was  wrecked,  and  which 
was  the  scene  of  the  interesting  circumstances 
recorded  in  Acts  xxvii.  28. 

Melita  was  the  ancient  name  of  Malta,  and  also 
of  a  small  island  in  the  Adriatic,  now  called 
Meleda,  and  each  of  these  has  found  warm  advo- 
cates for  its  identification  with  the  Melita  of 
Scripture.      The  received   and  long-established 


MBLITA 

opinion  is  undoubtedly  in  favour  of  Malta ;  and 
those  who  uphold  the  claims  of  Meleda  are  to  be 
regarded  as  dissenting  from  the  general  conclu- 
sion. This  dissent  proceeds  chiefly  upon  the 
ground  that  the  ship  of  St.  Paul  was  '  driven 
about  in  (the  sea  of)  Adria,'  when  wrecked  on 
Melita.  But  it  has  been  shown  from  ancient 
writers,  that  the  name  Adria  was  not,  in  its 
ancient  acceptation,  limited  to  the  present  Adri- 
atic Sea,  but  comprehended  the  seas  of  Greece 
and  Sicily,  and  extended  even  to  Africa.  Con- 
sequently the  only  strong  argument  in  favour  of 
Meleda  must  be  regarded  as  having  been  entirely 
overthrown. 

The  name  of  St.  Paul's  Bay  has  been  given  to 
the  place  where  the  shipwreck  is  supposed  to 
have  taken  place.  This,  the  sacred  historian 
says,  was  at '  a  certain  creek  with  a  shore,'  i.  e. 
a  seemingly  practicable  shore,  on  which  they 
purposed,  if  possible,  to  strand  the  vessel,  as 
their  only  apparent  chance  to  escape  being  broken 
on  the  rocks.  In  attempting  this  the  ship  seems 
to  have  struck  and  gone  to  pieces  on  the  rocky 
headland  at  the  entrance  of  the  creek.  This 
agrees  very  well  with  St.  Paul's  Bay,  more  so 
than  with  any  other  creek  of  the  island.  This 
bay  is  a  deep  inlet  on  the  north  side  of  the  island, 
being  the  last  indentation  of  the  coast  but  one 
from  the  western  extremity  of  the  island.  It  is 
about  two  miles  deep,  by  one  mile  broad.  The 
harbour  which  it  forms  is  very  unsafe  at  some 
distance  from  the  shore,  although  there  is  good 
anchorage  in  the  middle  for  light  vessels.  The 
most  dangerous  part  is  the  western  headland  at 
the  entrance  of  the  bay,  particularly  as  there  is 
close  to  it  a  small  island  (Salamone),  and  a  still 
smaller  islet  (Salamonetta),  the  currents  and 
shoals  around  which  are  particularly  dangetous 
in  stormy  weather.  It  is  usually  supposed  that 
the  vessel  struck  at  this  point.  From  this  place 
the  ancient  capital  of  Malta  (now  Citta  Vecchia, 
Old  City)  is  distinctly  seen  at  the  distance  of 
about  five  miles ;  and  on  looking  towards  the 
bay  from  the  top  of  the  church  on  the  summit  of 
the  hill  whereon  the  city  stands,  it  occurred  to 
the  present  writer  that  the  people  of  the  towu 
might  easily  from  this  spot  have  perceived  in  the 
morning  that  a  wreck  had  taken  place ;  and  this 
is  a  circumstance  which  throws  a  fresh  light  on 
some  of  the  circumstances  of  the  deeply  interest- 
ing transactions  which  ensued. 

The  sacred  historian  calls  the  inhabitants  'bar- 
barians :' — '  the  barbarous  people  showed  us  no 
small  kindness.'  This  is  far  from  implying  that 
they  were  savages  or  uncivilized  men ;  it  merely 
intimates  that  they  were  not  of  Greek  or  Roman 
origin.  This  description  applies  to  the  ancient 
inhabitants  of  Malta  most  accurately ;  and  as  it 
could  not  apply  to  the  inhabitants  of  Melida, 
who  were  Greeks,  this  is  another  argument  to 
show  that  not  Melida  but  Malta  is  the  Melita  of 
Scripture. 

The  island  of  Malta  lies  in  the  Mediterranean, 
about  sixty  miles  south  from  Cape  Passaro  in 
Sicily.  It  is  sixty  miles  in  circumference,  twenty 
in  length,  and  twelve  in  breadth.  Near  it,  on 
the  west,  is  a  smaller  island,  called  Gozo,  about 
thirty  miles  in  circumference.  Malta  has  no 
mountains  or  high  hills,  and  makes  no  figure 
from  the  sea.  It  is  naturally  a  barren  rock,  but 
has  been  made  in  parts  abundantly  fertile  by  the  I 


MELON 


573 


industry  and  toil  of  man.  The  island  was  first 
colonized  by  the  Phoenicians,  from  whom  it  was 
taken  by  the  Greek  colonists  in  Sicily,  about  B.C. 
736  ;  but  the  Carthaginians  began  to  dispute  its 
possession  about  B.C.  528,  and  eventually  became 
entire  masters  of  it.  From  their  hands  it  passed 
into  those  of  the  Komans  B.C.  242,  who  treated 
the  inhabitants  well,  making  Melita  a  munici- 
pium,  and  allowing  the  people  to  be  governed  by 
their  own  laws.  The  government  was  adminis- 
tered by  a  propraetor,  who  depended  upon  the 
praetor  of  Sicily  ;  and  this  office  appears  to  have 
been  held  by  Publius  when  Paul  was  on  the 
island  (Acts  xxviii.  7).  On  the  division  of  the 
Roman  empire,  Melita  belonged  to  the  western 
portion ;  but  having,  in  a.d.  553,  been  recovered 
from  the  Vandals  by  Belisarius,  it  was  afterwards 
attached  to  the  empire  of  the  East.  About  the 
end  of  the  ninth  century  the  island  was  taken 
from  the  Greeks  by  the  Arabs,  who  made  it  a 
dependency  upon  Sicily,  which  was  also  in  their 
possession.  The  Arabs  have  left  the  impress  of 
their  aspect,  language,  and  many  of  their  cus- 
toms, upon  the  present  inhabitants,  whose  dialect 
is  to  this  day  perfectly  intelligible  to  the  Ara- 
bians and  to  the  Moors  of  Africa.  Malta  was 
taken  from  the  Arabs  by  the  Normans  in  A.D. 
1090,  and  afterwards  underwent  other  changes 
till  A.D.  1530,  M-hen  Charles  V.,  who  had  annexed 
it  to  his  empire,  transferred  it  to  the  Knights  of 
St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  whom  the  Turks  had  re- 
cently dispossessed  of  Rhodes.  Under  the  knights 
it  became  a  flourishing  state,  and  was  the  scene 
of  their  greatest  glory  and  most  signal  exploits. 
The  institution  having  become  unsuited  to  modem 
times,  the  Order  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem,  com- 
monly called  Knights  of  Malta,  gradually  fell 
into  decay,  and  the  island  was  surrendered  to  the 
French  under  Buonaparte  when  on  his  way  to 
Egypt  in  1798.  From  them  it  was  retaken  by 
the  English  with  the  concurrence  and  assistance 
of  the  natives  ;  and  it  was  to  have  been  restored 
to  the  Knights  of  Malta  by  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaty  of  Amiens  ;  but  as  no  sufficient  security  for 
the  independence  of  the  Order  (composed  mostly 
of  Frenchmen)  could  be  obtained,  the  English 
retained  it  in  their  hands,  which  necessary  in- 
fraction of  the  treaty  was  the  ostensible  ground 
of  the  war  which  only  ended  with  the  battle  of 
Waterloo.  The  island  is  still  in  the  hands  of  the 
English,  who  have  lately  remodelled  the  govern- 
ment to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  numerous  inha- 
bitants. It  has  recently  become  the  actual  seat  of 
an  Anglican  bishopric,  which  however  takes  its 
title  from  Gibraltar  out  of  deference  to  the  exist- 
ing Roman  Catholic  bishopric  of  Malta,  a  defer- 
ence not  paid  to  the  Oriental  churches  in  re- 
cently establishing  the  Anglican  bishopric  of 
Jerusalem. 

MELON.    Tlie  word  thus  rendered,  and  no 
doubt  correctly,  occurs  only  in  Num.  xi.  .'5.    The 
gourd  tribe  are  remarkable  for  their  power  of 
adapting   themselves   to  the  different  situations 
where  they  can  be  grown.    Neither  extreme  heat 
nor  extreme  moisture  prove  injurious  to  them.    I 
Mr.  Moorcroft  describes  an  extensive  cultivation    I 
of  melons  and  cucumbers  on  the  beds  of  weeds    I 
which  float  on  the  lakes  of  Cashmere.     They  are    | 
similarly  cultivated  in  Persia  and  in  China.     In 
India  '  some  of  the  species  may  be  seen  in  the 
most  arid  places,  others  in  the  densest  jungles. 


574 


MELON 


Planted  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  they  emulate  the 
viue  in  ascending  its  branches ;  and  near  a  hut 
tbey  soon  cover  its  thatch  with  a  coating  of 
green.  They  form  a  principal  portion  of  the 
culture  of  Indian  gardens ;  the  farmer  even  rears 
them  in  the  ntighbourhood  of  his  wells'  (Eoyle, 
Himalayan  Botany,  p.  218). 

These  plants,  though  known  to  the  Greeks,  are 
not  natives  of  Europe,  but  of  Eastern  countries, 
whence  they  must  have  been  introduced  into 
Greece.  They  probably  may  be  traced  to  Syria 
or  Egypt,  whence  other  cultivated  plants,  as  well 
as  civilization,  have  travelled  westwards.  In 
Egypt  they  formed  a  portion  of  the  food  of  the 
people  at  the  very  early  period  when  the  Israel- 
ites were  led  by  Moses  from  its  rich  cultivation 
into  the  midst  of  the  desert.  The  melon,  the 
water-melon,  and  se\eral  others  of  the  Cucurbi- 
taceae,  are  mentioned  by  Wilkinson  ( Thebes,  p. 
212  ;  Ancient  Egyptians,  iv.  62),  as  still  cultivated 
there,  and  are  described  as  being  sown  in  the 
middle  of  December,  and  cut,  the  melons  in 
ninety  and  the  cucumbers  in  sixty  days. 

The  melon  was  known  to  the  Romans,  and 
cultivated  by  Columella,  with  the  assistance  of 
some  precaution  at  cold  times  of  the  year.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  introduced  into  this  country 
about  the  year  1520,  and  was  called  musk-melon 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  pumpkin,  which  was 
usually  called  melon. 

The  melon,  being  thus  a  native  of  warm  cli- 
mates, is  necessarily  tender  in  those  of  Europe, 
but,  being  an  annual,  it  is  successfully  cultivated 
by  gardeners  with  the  aid  of  glass  and  artificial 
heat  of  about  75°  to  80^.  The  fruit  of  the  melon 
may  be  seen  in  great  variety,  whether  with  respect 
to  the  colour  of  its  rind  or  of  its  flesh,  its  taste  or 
its  odour,  and  also  its  external  form  and  size. 
The  flesh  is  soft  and  succulent,  of  a  white,  yel- 
lowish, or  reddish  hue,  of  a  sweet  and  pleasant 
taste,  of  an  agreeable,  sometimes  musk-like  odour, 
and  forms  one  of  the  most  delicious  of  fruits, 
which,  when  taken  iu  moderation,  is  wholesome, 
but,  like  all  other  fruits  of  a  similar  kind,  is 
liable  to  cause  indigestion  and  diarrhoea  when 
eaten  in  excess,  especially  by  those  unaccustomed 
to  its  use. 

With  the  melon  it  is  necessary  to  notice  the 
Water-Melon,  which  at  present  is  cultivated  in 
all  parts  of  Asia,  in  the  north  of  Africa,  and  in 
the  south  of  Europe. 

The  water-melon  is  clearly  distinguished  by 
Alpinus  as  cultivated  in  Egypt.  Though  resem- 
bling the  oth-er  kinds  very  considerably  in  its  pro- 
perties, it  is  very  different  from  them  in  its  deeply- 
cut  leaves,  from  which  it  is  compared  to  a  very 
different  plant  of  this  tribe — that  is,  the  colocynth. 
A  few  others  have  cut  leaves,  but  the  water-melon 
is  so  distinguished  among  the  edible  species.  The 
plant  is  hairy,  with  trailing  cirrhiferous  stems. 
The  pulp  abounds  so  much  in  watery  juice,  that 
it  will  run  out  by  a  hole  made  through  the  rind ; 
and  it  is  from  this  peculiarity  that  it  has  obtained 
the  names  of  water-melon,  melon  d'eau,  wasser- 
melon.  Hasselquist  says  that  it  is  cultivated  on 
the  banks  of  the  Nile,  iu  the  rich  clayey  earth 
which  subsides  during  the  inundation,  and  serves 
'  the  Egyptians  for  meat,  drink,  and  physic.  It 
is  eaten  in  abundance,  during  the  season,  even  by 
the  richer  sort  of  people  ;  but  the  common  people, 
on  whom  Providence  hath  bestowed  nothing  but 


MEMPHIS 

poverty  and  patience,  scarcely  eat  anything  but 
these,  and  account  this  the  best  time  of  the  year, 
as  they  are  obliged  to  put  up  with  worse  at  other 
seasons  of  the  year.' 

MEM'PHIS,  a  very  ancient  city,  the  capital  of 
Lower  Egypt,  standing  at  the  apex  of  the  Delta, 
ruins  of  which  are  still  found  not  far  from  its 
successor  and  modern  representative,  Cairo.  Its 
Egyptian  name,  in  the  hieroglyphics,  is  Menofri ; 
in  Coptic,  Memfi,  Manfi,  Membe,  Panoufi  or 
Mefi,  being  probably  corrupted  from  Man-nofri, 
'  the  abode,'  or,  as  Plutarch  terms  it,  '  the  haven 
of  good  men.'  It  was  called  also  Pthah-ei,  the 
abode  of  Pthah.  In  Hebrew  the  city  bears  the 
name  of  Moph  (Hos.  ix.  6),  or  Noph  (Isa.  xix.  13). 
These  several  names  are  obviously  variations  of 
one,  of  which  Meph  seems  to  contain  the  essential 
sounds.  Whether  we  may  hence  derive  support 
to  the  statement  that  the  place  was  founded  by 
Menes,  the  first  human  king  of  Egypt,  or  whether 
we  have  here  a  very  early  instance  of  the  custom 
which  prevailed  so  extensively  among  the  Greeks 
and  Romans,  of  inventing  founders  for  cities, 
having  names  correspondent  with  the  names  of 
the  places  they  were  said  to  have  built,  it  is  im-r 
possible,  with  the  materials  we  possess,  to  deter- 
mine with  any  fair  approach  to  certainty.  Menes, 
however,  is  universally  reputed  to  have  founded 
not  only  Memphis  but  Thebes ;  the  addition  of 
the  latter  may  seem  to  invalidate  his  claim  to  the 
former,  making  us  suspect  that  here,  too,  we  have 
a  case  of  that  custom  of  referring  to  some  one  dis- 
tinguished name  great  events  which  happened,  in 
truth,  at  different  and  far  distant  eras.  If,  as  is 
probable,  Thebes  as  well  as  Memphis  was,  a*  any 
early  period,  the  seat  of  a  distinct  dynasty,  the 
cradle  and  the  throne  of  a  line  of  independent 
sovereigns,  they  coujd  scarcely  have  had  one 
founder. 

Memphis  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  Menes, 
who,  according  to  tradition,  having  diverted  the 
course  of  the  Nile,  which  had  washed  the  foot  of 
the  sandy  mountains  of  the  Libyan  chain,  obliged 
it  to  run  in  the  centre  of  the  valley,  and  built  the 
city  Memphis  in  the  bf^d  of  the  ancient  channel. 
This  change  was  effected  by  constructing  a  dyke 
about  a  hundred  stadia  above  the  site  of  the  pro- 
jected city,  whose  lofty  mounds  and  strong  em- 
bankments turned  the  water  to  the  East  and  con- 
fined the  river  to  its  new  bed.  The  dyke  was 
carefully  kept  in  repair  by  succeeding  kings,  and 
even  as  late  as  the  Persian  invasion,  a  guard  was 
always  maintained  there  to  overlook  the  necessary 
repairs ;  for,  as  Herodotus  asserts,  if  the  river  were 
to  break  through  the  dyke,  the  whole  of  Memphis 
would  be  in  danger  of  being  overwhelmed  with 
water,  especially  at  the  period  of  the  inundation. 
Subsequently,  however,  when  the  increased  deposit 
of  the  alluvial  soil  had  raised  the  circumjacent 
plains,  the  precautions  became  unnecessary ;  and 
though  the  spot  where  the  diversion  of  the  Nile 
was  made  may  still  be  traced,  owing  to  the  great 
bend  it  takes  about  fourteen  miles  above  ancient 
Memphis,  the  lofty  mounds  once  raised  there  are 
no  longer  visible.  The  site  of  Memphis  was  first 
accurately  fixed  by  Pococke,  at  the  village  of 
Metrahenny.  According  to  the  reports  of  the 
French,  the  heaps  which  mark  the  site  of  the 
ancient  buildings  have  three  leagues  of  circum- 
ference ;  but  this  is  less  than  its  extent  in  early 
times,  since  Diodorus  gives  it  150  stadia,  or  six 


MENE 

leagues  and  a  quarter.  Memphis  declined  after 
the  foundation  of  Aleiamdria,  and  its  materials 
were  carried  off  to  build  Cairo. 

The  kingdom  of  which  Memphis  was  the  capi- 
tal was  most  probably  the  Egypt  of  the  patriarchs, 
in  which  Abraham,  Jacob,  and  the  Israelites  re- 
sided. Psammetichus,  in  becoming  sole  monarch 
of  all  Egypt,  raised  Memphis  to  the  dignity  of  the 
one  metropolis  of  the  entire  land,  after  which 
Memphis  grew  in  the  degree  in  which  Thebes  de- 
clined. It  became  distinguished  for  a  multitude 
of  splendid  edifices,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned a  large  and  magnificent  temple  to  Vulcan, 
who  was  called  by  the  Egyptians  Phthah,  the  de- 
miurgos,  or  creative  power.  Under  the  doniiliion 
of  tlie  Persians,  as  well  as  of  the  Ptolemies, 
Memphis  retained  its  pre-eminence  as  the  capital, 
though  even  in  the  time  of  the  former  it  began 
to  part  with  its  splendour ;  and  when  the  latter 
bestowed  their  favour  on  Alexandria,  it  suffered 
a  material  change  for  the  worse,  from  which  the 
place  never  recovered.  In  the  days  of  Strabo 
many  of  its  fine  buildings  lay  in  ruins,  though 
the  city  was  still  large  and  populous.  The  final 
blow  was  given  to  the  prosperity  of  Memphis  in 
the  time  of  Abdollatif,  by  the  erection  of  the 
Arabian  city  of  Cairo. 

That  the  arts  were  carried  to  a  great  degree  of 
excellence  at  Memphis  is  proved  by  the  most 
abundant  evidence.  Its  manufactures  of  glass 
were  famed  for  the  superior  quality  of  their  work- 
manship, with  which  Rome  continued  to  be  sup- 
plied long  after  Egypt  became  a  province  of  the 
empire.  The  environs  of  Memphis  presented  cul- 
tivated groves  of  the  acacia  tree,  of  whose  wood 
were  made  the  planks  and  masts  of  boats,  the 
handles  of  offensive  weapons  of  war,  and  various 
articles  of  furniture.  Memphis  was  also  distin- 
guished as  being  the  place  where  Apis  was  kept, 
and  where  his  worship  received  special  honour. 

MEN'AHEM  (consoler),  sixteenth  king  of 
Israel,  who  began  to  reign  b.c.  772,  and  reigned 
ten  years.  Menahem  appears  to  have  been  one 
of  the  generals  of  king  Zechariah.  When  he 
heard  the  news  of  the  murder  of  that  prince,  and 
the  usurpation  of  Shallum,  he  was  at  Tirzah,  but 
immediately  marched  to  Samaria,  where  Shallum 
had  shut  himself  up,  and  slew  him  in  that  city. 
He  then  usurp.^d  the  throne  in  his  turn;  and 
forthwith  marched  to  Tiphsah,  which  refused  to 
acknowledge  his  rule.  Having  taken  this  place 
after  a  siege,  he  treated  the  inhabitants  with  a 
degree  of  savage  barbarity,  which,  as  Josephus 
remarks  {Antiq.  ix.  11.  1),  would  not  have  been 
pardonable  even  to  foreigners.  He  adhered  to 
the  sin  of  Jeroboam,  like  the  other  kings  of  Israel. 
In  his  time  the  Assyrians,  under  their  king  Pul, 
made  their  first  appearance  on  the  borders  of  Pa- 
lestine ;  and  Menahem  was  only  able  to  save  him- 
self from  this  great  invading  power  at  the  heavy 
price  of  1000  talents  of  silver,  which  he  raised  by 
a  tax  of  50  shekels  from  every  man  of  substance 
in  Israel.  This  was  probably  the  only  choice  left 
to  him  ;  and  h,'  is  not  therefore  to  be  blamed,  as 
he  had  not  that  resource  in  the  treasures  of  the 
temple  of  which  the  kings  of  Judah  availed  them- 
selves in  similar  emergencies.  Menahem  died  in 
B.C.  7B1,  leaving  the  throne  to  his  son  Pekahiah 
(2  Kings  XV.  14-22). 

ME'NE,  MJl'NE,  TE'KEL,  UPHAR'SIN, 
tLe  inscription  supernaturally  written  '  upon  the 


MEPHIBOSHETH 


575 


plaster  of  the  wall '  in  Belshazzar's  palace  at  Ba- 
bylon (Dan.  V.  .5-25);  which  'the  astrologers,  the 
Chaldaeans,  and  the  soothsayers '  could  neither 
read  nor  interpret,  but  which  Daniel  first  read, 
and  then  interpreted.  Yet  the  words,  as  they  are 
found  in  Daniel,  are  pure  Chaldee,  and  if  they 
appeared  in  the  Chaldee  character,  could  have 
been  read,  at  least,  by  any  person  present  on  the 
occasion  who  understood  the  alphabet  of  his  own 
language.  To  account  for  their  inability  to  deci- 
pher this  inscription,  it  has  been  supposed  that  it 
consisted  of  those  Chaldee  words  written  in  an- 
other character.  Dr.  Hales  thinks  that  it  may 
have  been  written  in  the  primitive  Hebjew  cha- 
racter, from  which  the  Samaritan  was  formed,  and 
that,  in  order  to  show  on  this  occasion  that  the 
writer  of  the  inscription  was  the  offended  God  of 
Israel,  whose  authority  was  being  at  that  moment 
peculiarly  despised  (ver.  2,  3,  4),  he  adopted  his 
own  sacred  character,  in  which  he  had  originally 
written  the  Decalogue,  which  Daniel  could  under- 
stand, though  it  would  be  unknown  to  the  wise 
men  of  Babylon.  This  theory  has  the  recom- 
mendation, tnat  it  involves  as  little  as  possible  of 
miraculous  agency.  It  has  been  supposed  by 
some,  that '  the  wise  men '  were  not  so  much  at 
fault  to  read  the  inscription,  as  to  explain  its 
meaning ;  and  certainly  it  is  said  throughout  our 
narrative  that '  the  wise  men  could  not  read  the 
writing,  nor  make  known  the  interpretation  of  it,' 
phrases  which  would  seem  to  mean  one  and  the 
same  thing;  since,  if  they  mean  different  things, 
the  order  of  ideas  would  be  that  they  could  not 
interpret  nor  even  read  it,  and  Wiutle  accordingly 
translates,  '  oould  not  read  so  as  to  interpret  it ' 
{Improved  Version  of  Daniel,  Lond.  1807).  At 
all  events  the  meaning  of  the  inscription  by  itself 
would  be  extremely  enigmatical  and  obscure. 
To  determine  the  application,  and  to  give  the  full 
sense,  of  an  isolated  device  which  amounted  to  no 
more  than  '  he  or  it  is  numbered,  he  or  it  is  num- 
bered, he  or  it  is  weighed,  they  are  divided,'  must 
surely  have  required  a  supernatural  endowment 
on  the  part  of  Daniel— a  conclusion  which  is  con- 
firmed by  the  exact  coincidence  of  the  event  with 
the  prediction,  which  he  propounded  with  so 
much  fortitude  (ver.  30,  31). 

MENI  is  mentioned  in  Isa.  Ixv.  11,  together 
with  Gad,  as  receiving  an  offering  of  mixed  wine. 
The  word  is  either  taken,  by  those  namely  who 
consider  Gad  in  that  passage  to  mean  troop,  to 
signify  a  multitude,  a  number ;  or,  by  those  who 
suppose  the  whole  verse  to  refer  to  idolatrous 
worship,  to  be  the  name  of  a  god,  and  to  mean 
destiny.  Pocock  has,  moreover,  pointed  out  the 
resemblance  between  Meni  and  Manat,  an  idol  of 
the  ancient  Arabs.  The  fact  of  Meni  being  a 
Babylonian  god  renders  it  probable  that  some 
planet  was  worshipped  under  this  name :  but  there 
is  much  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the  particular 
planet  to  which  the  designation  of  destiny  would 
be  most  applicable.  It  also  deserves  notice  that 
there  are  some,  who  consider  Gad  and  Meni  to  be 
names  for  one  and  the  same  god,  and  who  chiefly 
differ  as  to  whether  the  sun  or  the  moon  is  the 
god  intended. 

MEPHIB'OSHETH  {extermivation  of .  idols ; 
also  in  1  Chron.  ix.  40,  Mkrib-Baai,),  son  of 
Jonathan  and  nephew  of  Saul  (2  Sam.  iv.  4).  He 
was  only  five  years  of  age  when  his  father  and 
grandfather  were  slain  in  Mount  Gil  boa :  and  ou 


376 


MEPHIBOSHETH 


the  news  of  this  catastrophe,  the  woman  who  had 
charge  of  the  child,  apprehending  that  David 
would  exterminate  the  whole  house  of  Saul,  fled 
away  with  him  ;  but  in  her  hasty  flight  she  stum- 
bled with  the  child,  and  lamed  him  for  life  (B.C. 
10.55).  Under  this  calamity,  which  was  very  in- 
capacitating in  times  when  agility  and  strength 
were  of  prime  importance,  Mephibosheth  was 
unable  to  take  any  part  in  the  stirring  political 
events  of  his  early  life.  According  to  our  notions, 
he  should  have  been  the  heir  of  the  house  of  Saul ; 
hut  in  those  times  a  younger  son  of  an  actual  king 
was  considered  to  have  at  least  as  good  a  claim  as 
the  son  of  an  heir  apparent  who  had  never  reigned, 
and  even  a  better  claim  if  the  latter  were  a  minor. 
This,  with  his  lameness,  prevented  Mephibosheth 
from  ever  appearing  as  the  opponent  or  rival  of 
his  uncle  Ishbosheth  on  the  one  hand,  or  of  David 
on  the  other  (2  Sam.  ix.).  He  thus  grew  up  in 
quiet  obscurity  in  the  house  of  Machir,  one  of  the 
great  men  of  the  country  beyond  the  Jordan  (2 
Sam.  ix.  4  ;  xvii.  27)  ;  and  his  very  existence  was 
unknown  to  David  till  that  monarch,  when  firmly 
settled  in  his  kingdom,  inquired  whether  any  of 
the  family  of  Jonathan  survived,  to  whom  he 
might  show  kindness  for  his  father's  sake. 
Hearing  then  of  Mephibosheth  from  Ziba,  who  had 
been  the  royal  steward  under  Saul,  he  invited  him 
to  Jerusalem,  assigned  him  a  place  at  his  own 
table,  and  bestowed  upon  him  lauds,  which  were 
managed  for  him  by  Ziba,  and  which  enabled 
him  to  support  an  establishment  suited  to  his 
rank.  He  lived  in  this  manner  till  the  revolt  of 
Absalom,  and  then  David,  in  his  flight,  having 
noticed  the  absence  of  Mephibosheth,  inquired  for 
him  of  Ziba,  and  being  informed  that  he  had  re- 
mained behind  in  the  hope  of  being  restored  to  his 
father's  throne,  instantly  and  very  hastily  revoked 
the  grant  of  land,  and  bestowed  it  on  Ziba  (2  Sam. 
xvi.  1-4).  Afterwards,  on  his  return  to  Jeru- 
salem, he  was  met  with  sincere  congratulations 
by  Mephibosheth,  who  explained  that  being  lame 
he  had  been  unable  to  follow  the  king  on  foot,  and 
that  Ziba  had  purposely  prevented  his  beast  from 
being  made  ready  to  carry  him  :  and  he  declared 
that  so  far  from  having  joined  in  heart,  or  even 
appearance,  the  enemies  of  the  king,  he  had  re- 
mained as  a  mourner,  and,  as  his  appearance  de- 
clared, had  not  changed  his  clothes,  or  trimmed 
his  beard,  or  even  dressed  his  feet,  from  the  day 
that  the  king  departed  to  that  on  which  he  re- 
turned. David  could  not  but  have  been  sensible 
that  he  had  acted  wrong,  and  ought  to  have  been 
touched  by  the  devotedness  of  his  friend's  son,  and 
angry  at  the  imposition  of  Ziba ;  but  to  cover  one 
fault  by  another,  or  from  indifference,  or  from 
reluctance  to  offend  Ziba,  who  had  adhered  to 
him  when  so  m.any  old  friends  forsook  him,  he 
answered  coldly,  '  Why  speakest  thou  any  more 
of  thy  matters  ?  I  have  said,  thou  and  Ziba  divide 
the  land.'  The  reply  of  Mephibosheth  was 
worthy  of  the  son  of  the  generous  Jonathan  : — 
'  Yea,  let  him  take  all ;  forasmuch  as  my  lord 
the  king  is  come  again  in  peace  unto  his  own 
house  '  (2  Sam.  xix.  24-30). 

We  hear  no  more  of  Mephibosheth,  except  that 
David  was  careful  that  he  should  not  be  included 
in  the  savage  vengeance  which  the  Gideonites 
were  suffered  to  execute  upon  the  house  of  Saul 
for  the  great  wrong  they  had  sustained  during  his 
reign  (2  Sam.  xxi.  7).    Another  Mephibosheth, 


MERIBAH 

a  son  of  Saul  by  his  concubine  Rizpah,  was,  how- 
ever, among  those  who  suffered  on  that  occasion 
(ver.  8,  9). 

ME'RAB  (increase)  eldest  daughter  of  king 
Saul,  who  was  promised  in  marriage  to  David  ; 
but  when  the  time  fixed  for  their  union  ap- 
proached, she  was,  to  the  surprise  of  all  Israel, 
bestowed  in  marriage  upon  an  unknown  person- 
age named  Adriel  (1  Sam.  xiv.  49  ;  xviii.  17-19). 
By  him  she  had  six  sons,  who  were  among  those 
of  the  house  of  Saul  that  were  given  up  to  the 
Gibeonites,  who  put  them  to  death  in  expiation  for 
the  wrongs  they  had  sustained  from  their  grand- 
father. 

MERA'RI  (bitter),  youngest  son  of  Levi,  born 
in  Canaan  (Gen.  xlvi.  11  ;  Exod.  vi.  16  ;  Num. 
iii.  17:1  Chron.  vi.  1).  He  is  only  known  from 
his  name  having  been  given  to  one  of  the  three 
great  divisions  of  the  Levitical  tribe. 

MERCURY.    [Hermes.] 

MERCY-SEAT.  The  Hebrew  name  literally 
denotes  a  cover,  and,  in  fact,  describes  the  lid  of 
the  ark  with  cherubim,  over  which  appeared  '  the 
glory  of  God'  (Exod.  xxvi.  17,  sq. ;  xxx.  8; 
xxxi.  7,  and  elsewhere)  [Abk].  The  word 
used  in  the  Septuagint  and  New  Testament  to 
translate  this  term,  signifies  the  '  expiatory '  or 
'  propitiatory,'  in  allusion  to  that  application  of 
the  Hebrew  word  which  we  have  noted  :  which 
application  is  in  this  instance  justified  and  ex- 
plained by  reference  to  the  custom  of  the  high- 
priest  once  a-year  entering  the  most  holy  plactj, 
and  sprinkling  the  lid  of  the  ark  with  the  blood 
of  an  expiatory  victim,  whereby  '  he  made  atone- 
ment for  the  sins  of  the  people.'  As  this  was  the 
most  solemn  and  significant  act  of  the  Hebrew 
ritual,  it  is  natural  that  a  reference  to  it  should 
be  involved  in  the  name  which  the  covering  of 
the  ark  acquired.  By  a  comparison  of  the  texts 
in  which  the  word  occurs,  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  would,  in  fact,  have  been  little  occasion  to 
name  the  cover  of  the  ark  separately  from  the 
ark  itself,  but  for  this  important  ceremonial. 

MERI-BA'AL,  or  MERIB-BAAL,  a  name 
given  to  Mephibosheth,  son  of  Jonathan,  in 
1  Chron.  viii.  34 ;  ix.  40  [Mephibosheth].  Of 
the  two  the  latter  seems  the  more  correct  form. 
It  means  '  contender  against  Baal.'  Some  think 
that  the  difference  has  arisen  from  some  corruption 
of  the  text ;  but,  from  the  analogy  of  Ishbosheth, 
whose  original  name  was  Esh-baal,  it  seems  more 
like  a  designed  alteration,  arising  probably  from 
the  reluctance  of  the  Israelites  to  pronounce  the 
name  of  Baal  [Ishbosheth]. 

1.  MER'IBAH  (quarrel,  strife),  one  of  the 
names  given  by  Moses  to  the  fountain  in  the 
desert  of  Sin,  on  the  western  gulf  of  the  Red  Sea, 
that  issued  from  the  rock  which  he  smote  by  the 
divine  command  (Exod.  xvii.  1-17).  He  called 
the  place,  indeed,  Massa  (temptation)  and  Men 
bah,  and  the  reason  is  assigned  '  because  of  the 
chidinij  of  the  children  of  Israel,  and  because  they 
did  there  tempt  the  Lord'    [Wandering]. 

2.  MER'IBAH,  another  fountain  produced  in 
the  same  manner,  and  under  similar  circumstances, 
in  the  desert  of  Zin  (Wady  Arabah),  near  Kadesh ; 
and  to  which  the  name  was  given  with  a  similar 
reference  to  the  previous  misconduct  of  the 
Israelites  (Num.  xx.  13,  24;  Deut.  xxxiii.  8). 
In  the  last  text,  which  is  the  only  one  where  the 
two  places  are  mentioned  together,  the  former  is 


MESHA 

called  Massah  only,  to  prevent  the  confusion  of 
the  two  Meribahs,  '  Whom  thou  didst  prove  at 
Massah,  and  with  whom  thou  didst  strive  at  the 
waters  of  Meribah.'  Indeed  this  latter  Meribah 
is  almost  always  indicated  by  the  addition  of 
'  waters,'  i.  e.  '  waters  of  Meribah,'  as  if  further 
to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  (Ps.  Ixxxi.  8 ; 
cvi.  32) ;  and  still  more  distinctly  '  waters  of 
Meribah  in  Kadesh'  (Num.  xxvii.  14;  Deut. 
xxxii.  51 ;  Ezek.  xlvii.  19).  Only  once  is  this 
place  called  simply  Meribah  (Ps.  xcv.  8). 

MERO'DACH  occurs  in  Jer.  1.  2,  in  such  con- 
nection with  idols  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  it  is 
the  name  of  a  Babylonian  god.  In  conformity 
with  the  general  character  of  Habylonian  idolatry, 
Merodach  is  supposed  to  be  the  name  of  a  planet ; 
and,  as  the  Tsabian  and  Arabic  names  for  Mars 
are  Nerig  and  Mirrich,  '  arrow,'  there  is  some 
presumption  that  it  may  be  Mars.  As  for  etymo- 
logies of  the  word,  Gesenius  has  suggested  that  it 
is  the  Persian  mardak,  the  diminutive  of  mard, 
'  man,'  used  as  a  term  of  endearment ;  or,  rather, 
that  it  is  from  the  Persian  and  ludo-Germanic 
mord,  or  mort  (which  means  death,  and  is  so  far 
in  harmony  with  the  conception  of  Mars,  as  the 
lesser  star  of  evil  omen),  and  the  affix  och,  which 
is  found  in  many  Assyrian  names,  as  Nisroch, 
&c. 

ME'ROM.  '  The  waters  of  Merom,'  of  Josh. 
ix.  5,  are  doubtless  the  lake  Samechonitis,  now 
called  Huleh,  the  upper  or  highest  lake  of  the 
Jordan  [Palestine]. 

ME'ROZ,  a  place  in  the  northern  part  of  Pa- 
lestine, the  inhabitants  of  which  are  severely  re- 
prehended in  Judg.  v.  23,  for  not  having  taken 
the  field  with  Barak  against  Sisera.  It  would 
seem  as  if  they  had  had  an  opportunity  of  ren- 
dering some  particular  and  important  service  to 
the  public  cause,  which  they  neglected.  The  site 
is  not  known  :  Eusebius  and  Jerome  fix  it  twelve 
Roman  miles  from  Sebaste,  on  the  road  to 
Dothaim ;  but  this  position  Would  place  it  south 
of  the  field  of  battle,  and  therefore  scarcely  agrees 
with  the  history. 

ME'SECH  ;  ME'SHECH.  [Nations,  Disper- 
sion OF.] 

1.  ME'SHA,  a  place  mentioned  in  describing 
that  part  of  Arabia  inhabited  by  the  descendants 
of  Joktan  (Gen.  x.  30).  [See  Nations,  Disper- 
sion OF.] 

2.  MESHA  {deliverance),  a  king  of  Moab,  who 
possessed  an  immense  number  of  flocks  and  herds, 
and  appears  to  have  derived  his  chief  wealth  from 
them.  In  the  time  of  Ahab,  he  being  then  under 
tribute,  'rendered  unto  the  king  of  Israel  100,000 
lambs,  and  100,000  rams,  with  the  wool  (2  Kings 
iii.  4).  These  numbers  may  seem  exaggerated,  if 
understood  as  the  amount  of  yearly  tribute.  It  is, 
therefore,  more  probable  that  the  greedy  and  im- 
placable Ahab  had  at  some  one  time  levied  this 
enormous  impost  upon  the  Moabites ;  and  it  is 
likely  that  it  was  in  the  apprehension  of  a  recur- 
rence of  such  ruinous  exactions,  that  they  seized 
the  opportunity  for  revolt,  which  the  death  of 
Ahab  seemed  to  offer  (2  Kings  i.  1 ;  iii.  5).  The 
short  reign  of  Ahaziah  afforded  no  opportunity 
for  reducing  them  to  obedience;  but  after  his 
death  his  brother  and  successor,  Jehoram,  made 
preparations  for  war ;  and  induced  Jehoshaphat 
to  join  him  in  this  expedition.  The  result,  with 
the  part  taken  by  Elisha  the  prophet,  has  been 


MESSIAH 


577 


related  under  other  heads  [Elisha  ;  Jehokam  ; 
Jehoshaphat].  King  Mesha  was  at  length 
driven  to  shut  himself  up,  with  the  remnant  of 
his  force,  in  Areopolis,  his  capital.  He  was  there 
besieged  so  closely,  that,  having  been  foiled  in 
an  attempt  to  break  through  the  camp  of  the 
Edomites  (who  were  present  as  vassals  of  Judah), 
he  was  reduced  to  extremities,  and,  in  the  mad- 
ness of  his  despair,  sought  to  propitiate  his  angry 
gods  by  offering  up  his  own  son,  the  heir  of  "his 
crown,  as  a  sacrifice,  upon  the  wall  of  the  city. 
On  beholding  this  fearful  sight,  the  besiegers 
withdrew  in  horror,  lest  some  portion  of  the 
monstrous  crime  might  attach  to  their  own  souls. 
By  this  withdrawal  they,  however,  aff'orded  the 
king  the  relief  he  desired,  and  this  was,  no  doubt, 
attributed  by  him  to  the  efficacy  of  his  offering, 
and  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  gods  therewith. 
The  invaders,  however,  ravaged  the  country  as 
they  withdrew,  and  returned  with  much  spoil  to 
their  own  land  [Moabites]. 

MESOPOTA'MIA.     [Aram.] 

MESSl'AH  {anointed,  which  is  also  the  signi- 
fication of  Christ).  In  order  to  have  an  accurate 
idea  of  the  Scriptural  application  of  the  term,  we 
must  consider  the  custom  of  anointing  which 
obtained  amongst  the  Jews.  That  which  was  spe- 
cifically set  apart  for  God's  service  was  anointed, 
whether  persons  or  things  [Anointing].  Thus 
we  read  that  Jacob  poured  oil  upon  the  pillar 
(Gen.  xxviii.  18,  22).  The  tabernacle  also  and 
its  utensils  were  anointed  (Lev.  viii.  10),  being 
thereby  appropriated  to  God's  service.  13ut  this 
ceremony  had,  moreover,  relation  to  persons. 
Thus  priests,  as  Aaron  and  his  sons,  were 
anointed,  that  they  might  minister  unto  God 
(Exod.  xl.  13,  15).  Kings  were  anointed.  Hence 
it  is  that  a  king  is  designated  the  Lord's  anointed. 
Saul  and  David  were,  according  to  the  divine 
appointment,  anointed  by  Samuel  (1  Sam.  x.  1  , 
XV.  1  ;  xvi.  3,  13).  Zadok  anointed  Solomon, 
that  there  might  be  no  dispute  who  should  succeed 
David  (1  Kings  i.  39).  We  cannot  speak  with 
confidence  as  to  whether  the  prophets  were 
actually  anointed  with  the  material  oil.  We 
have  neither  an  express  law  nor  practice  to  this 
eff'ect  on  record.  True  it  is  that  Elijah  is  com- 
manded to  anoint  Elisha  to  be  prophet  in  his 
room  (1  Kings  xix.  16);  but  no  more  may  be 
meant  by  this  expression  than  that  he  should 
constitute  him  his  successor  in  the  prophetic 
office ;  for  all  that  he  did,  in  executing  his  diving 
commission,  was  to  cast  his  own  garment  upon 
Elisha  (1  Kings  xix.  19);  upon  which  he  arose 
and  ministered  unto  him  (ver.  21).  For  king? 
and  priests  the  precept  and  practice  are  unques- 
tionable. 

But  the  name  Messiah  \s,par  excellence,  applied 
to  the  Redeemer  of  man  in  the  Old  Testament 
(Dan.  ix.  16  ;  Ps.  ii.  2).  The  words  of  Hannah, 
the  mother  of  Samuel,  at  the  close  of  her  divine 
song,  are  very  remarkable  (I  Sam.  ii.  10) :  '  The 
adversaries  of  the  Lord  shall  be  broken  in  pieces ; 
out  of  heaven  shall  He  thunder  upon  them  :  the 
Lord  shall  judge  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  and  he 
shall  give  strength  unto  his  king,  and  exalt  the 
horn  of  his  Messiah.'  The  Hebrews  as  yet  had 
BO  king ;  hence  the  passage  may  be  taken  as  a 
striking  prophecy  of  the  promised  deliverer.  In 
various  parts  of  the  New  Testament  is  this  epithet 
applied  to  Jesus.  Si.  Peter  (Acts  x.  36,  38) 
3p 


573 


MESSIAH 


informs  Cornelius  the  centurioa  that  God  had 
anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the  Christ,  and 
our  Lord  himself  acknowledges  to  the  woman  of 
Samaria  that  he  is  the  expected  Messiah  (John 
iv.  25).  This  term,  however,  as  applied  to  Jesus, 
is  less  a  name  than  the  expression  of  his  office. 

Thus  the  Jews  had  in  type,  under  the  Mosaic 
dispensation,  what  we  have  in  substance  under 
the  Christian  system.  The  prophets,  priests,  and 
kings  of  the  former  economy  were  types  of  Him 
who  sustains  these  offices  as  the  head  of  his  mys- 
tical body,  the  Church.  As  the  priests  and  kings 
of  old  were  set  apart  for  their  offices  and  dignities 
by  a  certain  form  prescribed  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
so  was  the  blessed  Saviour  by  a  better  anointing 
(of  which  the  former  was  but  a  shadow),  even  by 
the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus  the  apostle  tells  us  that 
God  anointed  Jesus  of  Nazareth  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  with  power  (Acts  x.  38).  He  was 
anointed : — 

First,  at  his  conception ;  the  angel  tells  Mary, 
'  The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon  thee,  and  the 
power  of  the  Highest  shall  overshadow  thee  : 
therefore  that  holy  thing  which  shall  be  born  of 
thee  shall  be  called  the  Sou  of  God'  (Luke  i.  35). 

Second,  at  his  baptism  at  the  river  Jordan 
(Matt.  iii.  13;  Mark  i.  9,  10,  U,  12).  St.  Luke, 
moreover,  records  (Luke  iv.  17,  21)  that  our 
Lord  being  at  Nazareth,  he  had  given  unto  him 
the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah ;  and  on  reading 
from  ch.  Ixi.  1,  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me,'  &c.,  he  said  to  his  hearers,  '  This  day  is  this 
Scripture  fulfilled  in  your  ears.' 

But  as  the  Jews  will  not  acknowledge  the  right 
of  either  Jesus  or  his  apostles  to  apply  the  pro- 
phetic passages  which  point  to  the  Messiah  to 
himself,  it  now  remains  for  us  to  show — 

First,  That  the  promised  Messiah  has  already 
come. 

Second,  That  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  unquestion- 
ably he. 

To  prove  the  first  assertion,  we  shall  confine 
our  remarks  to  three  prophecies.  The  first  occurs 
in  Gen.  xlix.  8,  10,  where  Jacob  is  giving  his 
sons  his  parting  benediction,  &c.  When  he  comes 
to  Judah  he  says  :  '  The  sceptre  shall  not  depart 
from  Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his 
feet,  until  Shiloh  come;  and  unto  him  shall  the 
gathering  of  the  people  be.'  It  is  evident  that  by 
Judah  is  here  meant,  not  the  person  but  the  tribe ; 
for  Judah  died  in  Egypt,  without  any  pre-emi- 
nence. By  sceptre  and  lawgiver  are  obviously 
intended  the  legislative  and  ruling  power,  which 
did,  in  the  course  of  time,  commence  in  David, 
and  which,  for  centuries  afterwards,  was  continued 
in  his  descendants.  Whatever  variety  the  form, 
of  government — whether  monarchical  or  aristo- 
cratical — might  have  assumed,  the  law  and  polity 
were  still  the  same.  This  prediction  all  the  ancient 
Jews  referred  to  the  Messiah.  Now,  that  the 
sceptre  has  departed  from  Judah,  and,  conse- 
quently, that  the  Messiah  has  come,  we  argue 
from  the  acknowledgments  of  some  most  learned 
Jews  themselves.  The  precise  time  when  all 
authority  departed  from  Judah  is  disputed.  Some 
date  its  departure  from  the  time  when  Herod,  an 
Iduma;an,  set  aside  the  Maccabees  and  Sanhedrim. 
Others  think  that  it  was  when  Vespasian  and 
Titus  destroyed  Jerusalem  and  the  temple,  that 
the  Jews  lost  the  last  vestige  of  authority.  If, 
therefore,  the  sceptre  has  departed  from  Judah 


MESSIAH 

— and  who  can  question  it  who  looks  at  the 
broken-up,  scattered,  and  lost  state  of  that  tribe 
for  ages  ? — the  conclusion  is  clearly  irresistible, 
that  the  Messiah  must  have  long  since  come! 

The  next  proof  that  the  Messiah  lias  long  since 
come,  may  be  adduced  from  Dan.  ix.  25,  26,  27. 
It  is  evident  that  the  true  Messiah  is  here  spoken 
of.  He  is  twice  designated  by  the  very  name. 
And  if  we  consider  what  the  work  is  which  he  is 
here  said  to  accomplish,  we  shall  have  a  full 
confirmation  of  this.  Who  but  He  could  finish 
and  take  away  transgression,  make  reconciliation 
for  iniquity,  bring  in  everlasting  righteousness, 
seal  up  the  vision  and  prophecy,  confirm  the 
covenants  with  many,  and  cause  to  cease  the 
sacrifice  and  oblation  ?  If  then  it  be  the  true 
Messiah  who  is  described  in  the  above  prophecy, 
it  remains  for  us  to  see  how  the  time  predicted 
for  his  coming  has  long  since  transpired.  This 
is  expressly  said  to  be  seventy  weeks  from  the 
going  forth  of  the  commandment  to  restore  and 
build  Jerusalem.  That  by  seventy  weeks  are 
to  be  understood  seventy  sevens  of  years,  a  day 
being  put  for  a  year,  and  a  week  for  seven  years, 
making  up  490  years,  is  allowed  by  Kimchi, 
Jarchi,  Rabbi  Saadias,  and  other  learned  Jews, 
as  well  as  by  many  Christian  commentators. 
This  period  of  time  then  tnust  have  long  since 
elapsed,  whether  we  date  its  commencement  from 
the  first  decree  of  Cyrus  (Ezra  i.  1,  2),  the  second 
of  Darius  Hystaspes  (ch.  vi.  15),  or  that  of  Ar- 
taxerxes  (ch.  viii.  11). 

We  can  only  barely  allude  to  one  remarkable 
prediction  more,  which  fixes  the  time  of  the 
Messiah's  advent,  viz.,  Hag.  ii.  7-9:  'I  will 
shake  all  nations,  and  the  desire  of  all  nations 
shall  come  :  and  I  will  fill  this  house  with  glory, 
saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The  silver  is  mine,  and 
the  gold  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.  The 
glory  of  this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than  of 
the  former,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts.'  The  glory 
here  spoken  of  must  be  in  reference  to  the  Mes- 
siah, or  on  some  other  account.  It  could  not 
have  been  said  that  the  second  Temple  exceeded 
in  glory  the  former  one  ;  for  in  many  particulars, 
according  to  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Jews 
them.selves,  it  was  far  inl'erior  both  as  a  building 
(Ezra  iii.  3,  12).  and  in  respect  of  the  symJ)ols 
and  tokens  of  God's  special  favour  being  wanting. 
The  promised  glory,  therefore,  must  refer  to  the 
coming  and  presence  of  him  who  was  promised 
to  the  world  before  there  was  any  nation  of  the 
Jews;  and  who  is  aptly  called  the  '  Desire  of  all 
I  nations.'  This  view  is  amply  confirmed  by  the 
j  prophet  Malachi  (ch.  iii.  1).  Since  then  the 
j  very  Temple  into  which  the  Saviour  was  to  ente^ 
has  for  ages  been  destroyed.  He  tniist,  if  the 
integrity  of  this  prophecy  be  preserved,  have  come. 
That  there  was,  at  the  time  of  our  Lord's  birth, 
a  great  expectation  of  the  Messiah,  both  amongst 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  may  be  seen  from  Tacitus, 
Suetonius,  and  Josephus,  as  well  as  from  the 
sacred  Scriptures.  We  may  just  add,  that  as 
there  was  a  general  expectation  of  the  Messiah 
at  this  time,  so  there  were  many  impostors  who 
drew  after  them  many  followers  (Joseph.  Antiq. 
XX.  2.  6;  De  Bell.  Jud.  Ivii.  31).  Christ  pro- 
phesies of  such  persons  (Matt.  xxiv.  24,  29). 

The  limits  of  tliis  article  will  admit  of  our 
only  touching  upon  the  proofs  that  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  and  noue  other,  is  the  very  Messiah 


METALS 

■who  was  to  come.  What  was  predicted  of  the 
Messiah  was  fulHlled  in  Jesus.  VVas  the  Messiah 
to  be  of  the  seed  of  the  woman  (Gen.  iii.  15), 
and  this  woman  a  virgin  ?  (Isa.  vii.  14).  So  we 
are  told  (Gal.  iv.  4  ;  Matt.  i.  18,  and  22,  23)  that 
Jesus  was  made  of  a  woman,  and  born  of  a  vir- 
gin. Was  it  predicted  that  he  (Messiah)  should 
be  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  of  the  family  of  Jesse, 
and  of  the  house  of  David  ?  (Mich.  v.  2 ;  Gen. 
xlix.  10;  Isa.  xi.  10;  Jer.  xxiii.  5).  This  was 
falfiiled  in  Jesus  (Luke  i.  27,  69;  Matt.  i.  1) 
[Genealogy]. 

2.  If  the  Messiah  was  to  be  a  prophet  like  unto 
Moses,  so  was  Jesus  also  (Isa.  xviii. ;  John  vi. 
14).  If  the  Messiah  was  to  appear  in  the  second 
Temple,  so  did  Jesus  (Hag.  ii.  7,  9 ;  John  xviii. 
20). 

3.  Was  Messiah  to  work  miracles  ?  (Isa.  xxxv. 
5,  6 ;  comp.  Matt.  xi.  4,  ,5). 

4.  If  the  M(.ssiah  was  to  suffer  and  die  (Isa. 
liii.),  we  find  that  Jesus  died  in  the  same  manner, 
at  the  very  time,  and  under  the  identical  circum- 
stances, which  were  predicted  of  him.  The  very 
man  who  betrayed  him,  the  price  for  which  he 
was  sold,  the  indignities  he  was  to  receive  in  his 
last  moments,  the  parting  of  his  garments,  and 
his  last  words,  &c.,  were  all  foretold  of  the  Mes- 
siah, and  accomplished  in  Jesus. 

5.  Was  the  Messiah  to  rise  from  the  dead? 
So  did  Jesus.  How  stupendous  and  adorable 
is  the  Providence  of  God,  who,  through  so  many 
apparent  contingencies,  brought  such  things  to 
pass! 

METALS.  The  principal  metals  are  in  this 
work  considered  separately  under  their  several 
names ;  and  a  few  general  observations  alone  are 
necessary  in  this  place. 

The  mountains  of  Palestine  contained  metals, 
nor  were  the  Hebrews  ignorant  of  the  fact  (Deut. 
viii.  9);  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  under- 
stood the  art  of  mining.  They  therefore  obtained 
from  others  the  superior  as  well  as  the  inferior 
metals,  and  worked  them  up.  They  received 
also  metal  utensils  ready  made,  or  metal  in  plates 
(Jer.  X.  9),  from  neighbouring  and  distant  coun- 
tries of  Asia  and  Europe.  The  metals  named  in 
the  Old  Testament  are  iron  (steel,  Jer.  xv.  12) ; 
copper,  or  copper  ore;  silver;  gold;  lead;  and 
tin.  The  trade  in  these  metals  was  chiefly  in  the 
hands  of  the  Phoenicians  (Ezek.  xxvii.  7),  who 
obtained  them  from  their  colonies,  principally 
those  in  Spain  (Jer.  x.  9;  Ezek.  xxvii.  12). 
Some  also  came  from  Arabia  (Ezek.  xxvii.  19), 
and  some  apparently  from  the  countries  of  the 
Caucasus  (Ezek.  xxvii.  1.3).  A  composition  of 
several  metals  is  expressed  by  the  Hebrew  word 
chasmil.  In  general  the  ancients  had  a  variety 
of  metallic  compositions,  and  that  which  the  word 
chasmil  describes  appears  to  have  been  very 
valuable.  Whether  it  was  the  same  as  that 
precious  compound  known  among  the  ancients  as 
Corinthian  brass  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  likely  that 
iu  later  times  the  Jews  possessed  splendid  vessels 
of  the  costly  compound  known  by  that  name. 
Indeed  this  is  distinctly  affirmed  by  Josephus 
{Vita,  13). 

The  vast  quantity  of  silver  and  gold  used  in 
the  temple  in  the  time  of  Solomon,  and  which 
was  otherwise  possessed  by  the  Jews  during  the 
flourishing  time  of  the  nation,  is  very  remark- 
able, under  whatever  interpretation  we  regard 


METALS 


579 


such  texts  as  I  Chron.  xxii.  14 ;  xxix.  4.  &c.  In 
like  manner,  we  find  among  other  ancient  Asiatic 
nations,  and  also  among  the  Romans,  extraordi- 
nary wealth  in  gold  and  silver  vessels  and  orna- 
ments of  jewellery.  As  all  the  accounts,  received 
from  sources  so  various,  cannot  be  founded  on 
exaggeration,  we  may  rest  assured  that  the  pre- 
cious metals  were  in  those  ancient  times  obtained 
abundantly  from  mines— gold  from  Afiica,  India, 
and  perhaps  even  then  from  Northern  Asia ;  and 
silver  principally  from  Spain. 

The  following  are  the  metallic  manufactures 
named  in  the  Old  Testament :— Of  iroTi,  axes 
(Deut.  xix.  5;  2  Kings  vi.  5);  saws  (2  Sam. 
xii.  31);  stone-cutters'  tools  (Deut.  xxvii.  5); 
saucepans  (Ezek.  iv.  3) ;  bolts,  chains,  knives, 
&c.,  but  especially  weapons  of  war  (1  Sam.  xvii. 
/  ;  1  Mace.  vi.  3.5).  Bedsteads  were  even  some- 
times made  of  iron  (Deut.  iii,  11);  'chariots  of 
iron,'  i.  e.  war-chariots,  are  noticed  elsewhere 
[Ch.^uiots].  Of  copper  we  find  vessels  of  all 
kinds  (Lev.  vi.  28  ;  Num.  xvi.  39  ;  2  Chron.  iv. 
16;  Ezek.  viii.  27);  and  also  weapons  of  war, 
principally  helmets,  cuirasses,  shields,  spears 
(1  Sam.  xvii.  5;  vi.  38;  2  Sam.  xxi.  16);  also 
chains  (Judg.  xvi.  21);  and  even  mirrors  (Exod. 
xxxviii.  8)  [Coppek]  .  Gold  and  silver  furnished 
articles  of  ornament,  also  vessels,  such  as  cups, 
goblets,  &c.  The  holy  vessels  of  the  temple  were 
mostly  of  gold  (Ezra  v.  14).  Idolaters  had  idols 
and  other  sacred  objects  of  silver  (Exod.  xx.  20  ; 
Isa.  ii.  20  ;  Acts  xvii.  29  ;  xix.  24).  Lead  is 
mentioned  as  being  used  for  weights,  and  for 
plumb-lines  in  measuring  (Amos  vii.  7  ;  Zech.  v. 
8).  Some  of  the  tools  of  workers  in  metal  are 
also  mentioned :  anvil  (Isa.  xli.  7) ;  hammer 
(Isa.  xli.  7)  ;  pincers;  and  bellows  (Jer.  vi.  29)  ; 
crucible  (Prov.  xvii.  3)  ;  melting-furnace  (Ezek. 
xxii.  18). 

There  are  also  allusions  to  various  operations 
connected  with  the  prepai-ation  of  metals.  1 .  The 
smelting  of  metal  was  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
rendering  it  fluid,  but  in  order  to  separate  and 
purify  the  richer  metal  when  mixed  with  baser 
minerals,  as  silver  from  lead,  &c.  (Isa.  i.  25 ; 
comp.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxvii.  47 ;  Ezek.  xxii. 
18-20).  For  the  actual  or  chemical  separation 
other  materials  were  mixed  in  the  smelting,  such 
as  alkaline  salts  (Isa.  i.  25) ;  and  lead  (Jer.  vi. 
29;  comp.  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.  xxxiii.  31).  2.  The 
casting  of  images  (Exod.  xxv.  12  ;  xxvi.  37  ; 
Isa.  xl.  19) ;  which  are  always  of  gold,  silver, 
or  copper.  The  casting  of  iron  is  not  mentioned, 
and  was  perhaps  unknown  to  the  ancients.  3. 
The  hammering  of  metal,  and  making  it  into 
broad  sheets  (Num.  xvi.  38;  Isa.  xliv.  12;  Jer. 
X.).  4.  Soldering  and  welding  parts  of  metal 
together  (Isa.  xli.  7).  5.  Smoothing  and  polish- 
ing metals  (1  Kings  vii.  45).  6.  Overlaying 
with  plates  of  gold  and  silver  and  copper  (Exod. 
xxv.  11-24;  1  Kings  vi.  20;  2  Chron.  iii.  5; 
comp.  Isa.  xl.  19).  The  execution  of  these  dif- 
ferent metallurgic  operations  appears  to  have 
formed  three  distinct  branches  of  handicraft  be- 
fore the  P^xile ;  for  we  read  of  the  blacksmith, 
by  the  name  of  the  'worker  in  iron'  (Isa.  xliv, 
12);  the  brass-founder  (1  Kings  vii.  14);  and 
the  gold  and  silver  smith  (Judg.  xvii.  4;  Mai. 
iii.  2). 

The  invention  of  the  metallurgic  arts  is  in 
Scripture  ascribed  to  Tubal-cain  i^Gen.  iv.  22).  Id 
2  p  2 


580 


MICAH 


later  times  the  manufacture  of  useful  utensils  and 
implements  in  metals  seems  to  have  been  carried 
on  to  a  considerable  extent  among  the  Israelites, 
if  we  may  jadge  from  the  frequent  allusions  to 
them  by  the  poets  and  prophets.  But  it  does  not 
appear  that,  in  the  finer  and  more  elaborate 
branches  of  this  great  art,  they  made  much,  if 
any  progress,  during  the  flourishing  times  of  their 
commonwealth ;  and  it  will  be  remembered  that 
Solomon  was  obliged  to  obtain  assistance  from 
the  Phoenicians  in  executing  the  metal  work  of 
the  temple  (1  Kings  vii.  13). 

The  Hebrew  workers  in  iron,  and  especially 
such  as  made  arms,  were  frequently  carried  away 
by  the  different  conquerors  of  the  Israelites  (I 
Sam.  xiii.  19  ;  2  Kings  xxiv.  14,  15 ;  Jer.  xxiv. 
1 ;  xxix.  2)  ;  which  is  one  circumstance  among 
others  to  show  the  high  estimation  in  which  this 
branch  of  handicraft  was  anciently  held. 

METHU'SAEL  {man  of  God),  son  of  Mehu- 
jael,  of  the  race  of  Cain  (Gen.  iv.  18). 

METHU'SELAH  {man  of  the  dust),  son  of 
Enoch,  and  remarkable  as  being  the  oldest  of 
those  antediluvian  patriarchs  whose  great  ages 
are  recorded  (Gen.  v.  21, 22).  At  the  age  of  187 
years  he  begat  Lamech  (the  father  of  Noah) ; 
after  which  he  lived  782  years,  makmg  altogether 
969  years  [Longevity]. 

Ml'CAH,  one  of  the  twelve  Minor  Prophets, 
who,  according  to  the  inscription  of  the  book, 
prophesied  during  the  reigns  of  Jotham,  Ahaz, 
and  Hezekiah  (b.c.  759-699),  and  was  conse- 
quently contemporary  with  Isaiah.  It  is,  how- 
ever, doubtful  whether  any  accurate  separation 
of  the  particular  prophecies  of  Micah  can  be 
ascertained.  He  was  a  native  of  Moresheth  of 
Gath  (i.  14, 15),  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from 
another  town  of  the  same  name,  in  the  tribe  of 
Judah  (Josh.  xv.  44 ;  2  Chron.  xiv.  9,  10). 
Micah  is  to  be  distinguished  from  a  former  pro- 
phet of  the  same  name,  called  also  Micaiah,  men- 
tioned in  1  Kings  xxii.  8  (B.C.  897). 

The  contents  of  Micah's  prophecy  may  be 
briefly  summed  up.  It  consists  of  two  parts,  the 
first  of  which  terminates  with  chapter  v.  He 
commences  with  a  majestic  exordium  (i.  2-4),  in 
which  is  introduced  a  sublime  theophany,  the 
Lord  descending  from  his  dwelling-place  to  judge 
the  nations  of  the  earth,  who  are  approaching  to 
receive  judgment.  There  is  then  a  sudden  trans- 
ition to  the  judgment  of  Israel,  whose  captivity 
is  predicted  (chaps,  i.  and  ii.).  That  of  Judah 
follows,  when  the  complete  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem is  foretold,  with  the  expatriation  of  the 
Jews  to  Babylon,  their  future  return,  the  glories 
of  Sion,  and  the  celebrity  of  its  temple  (iv.  1,  8, 
9, 12),  with  the  chastisement  prepared  for  the  op- 
pressors of  the  Jews  (ver.  13).  After  this,  glo- 
rious wars  are  seen  in  perspective,  attended  with 
great  slaughter  (ch.  v.);  after  many  calamities 
a  ruler  is  seen  to  arise  from  Bethlehem.  An  in- 
vasion of  the  Assyrians  is  predicted,  to  oppose 
which  there  will  be  no  want  of  able  leaders  (v. 
4-8).  A  r.ew  monarchy  is  beheld,  attended  with 
wars  and  destruction. 

The  second  part,  from  this  to  the  end,  consists 
of  an  elegant  dialogue  or  contestation  between 
the  Lord  and  his  people,  in  which  the  corruption 
of  their  morals  is  reproved,  and  their  chastise- 
ment threatened ;  but  they  are  consoled  by  the 
promise  of  a  return  from  their  captivity. 


MICAH 

Jahn  (Litrod.)  points  out  the  following  pre- 
dictions as  contained  in  the  prophet  Micah. 
1.  The  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel, 
which  was  impending  when  the  prophecy  was 
delivered,  and  which  was  fulfilled  in  the  taking 
of  Samaria  by  Shalmaneser,  in  the  sixth  year  of 
Hezekiah  (2  Kings  xvii.),  and  then  that  of  the 
kingdom  of  Judah,  with  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem (iii.  12 ;  vii.  13).  2.  The  Babylonian 
captivity  (iv.  10,  11  ;  vii.  7,  8,  13).  These  pre- 
dictions were  delivered  1 50  years  before  the  event, 
when  the  Chaldseans,  by  whom  they  were  accom- 
plished, were  scarcely  known  as  a  people.  3.  The 
return  from  the  exile,  with  its  happy  effects,  and 
the  tranquillity  enjoyed  by  the  Jews  under  the 
Persian  and  Grecian  monarchies,  which  referred 
to  events  from  200  to  500  years  distant  (iv.  18; 
vii.  11;  xiv.  12).  4.  The'heroic  deeds  of  the 
Maccabees,  and  their  victories  over  the  Syrians  or 
Syro-Macedonians,  called  Assyrians  in  Micah  v., 
as  well  as  Zechariah  x.  11  (iv.  13).  5.  The  esta- 
blishment of  the  royal  residence  in  Sion  (iv.  8). 
6.  The  birth  and  reign  of  the  Messiah  (v.  2). 
The  three  last  prophecies,  observes  this  learned 
writer,  are  more  obscure  than  the  others,  by  rea- 
son of  the  remote  distance,  in  point  of  time,  of 
their  accomplishment,  from  the  period  of  their 
being  delivered. 

There  is  no  prophecy  in  Micah  so  interesting 
to  the  Christian  as  that  in  which  the  native  place 
of  the  Messiah  is  announced.  '  But  thou,  Beth- 
lehem Ephratah  [though]  thou  be  little  among 
the  thousands  of  Judah,  |  yet]  out  of  thee  shall 
he  come  forth  unto  me,  [that  is]  to  be  ruler  in 
Israel '  (Eng.  Authorized  Version).  The  citation 
of  this  passage  by  the  Evangelist  differs  both 
from  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint : — '  And 
thou,  Bethlehem,  [in]  the  land  of  Judah,  art  not 
the  least  among  the  princes  of  Judah  :  for  out  of 
thee  shall  come  a  governor,  that  shall  rule  [Gr. 
feed]  my  people  Israel'  (Matt.  ii.  6).  The  dif- 
ference, however,  is  but  verbal. 

Of  more   importance  is  the  application  of  the 
prophecy.     It  is  evident  that  the  Jews  in  the  time 
of  Jesus  interpreted  this  passage  of  the  birth-place 
of  the  Messiah  (Matt.  ii.   5;  John  vii.  41,  42). 
But  some  of  the  later  Rabbinical  writers  have 
maintained  that  it  had  only  an  indirect  reference 
to  the  birth  place  of  the  JNlessiah,  who  was  to  be 
a  descendant  of  David,  a  Bethleheniite,  but  not 
of  necessity  himself  born  in  Bethlehem.     Others,     j 
however,  expressly  mention  Bethlehem   as   the 
birth-place  of  the  Messiah.     Jahn  observes  that 
it  is  evident  that  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  Christ 
expected  the  Messiah's  birth  to  take   phice   at 
Beihlchem ;  and  he  contends  that  it  is  not  pos-    ] 
sible  to  apply  the  prophecy  fully  and  literally  to    j 
any  but  Him  who  was  uot'only  of  the  house  and 
lineage  of  David,  but  was  actually  born  ai  Beth-    I 
leheni,  according  to  the  direct  testimony  of  both    j 
St.  Matthew's  and  St.  Luke's  Gospels.  j 

The  style  of  Micah  is  sublime  and  vehement,  in 
which  respects  he  exceeds  ."^mos  and  Hosea.  De 
Wette  observes  that  he  has  more  roundness,  ful- 
ness, and  clearness  in  his  style  and  rhythm  than 
the  latter  prophet.  He  abounds  in  rapid  transi- 
tions and  elegant  tropes,  and  piquant  plays  upon 
words.  He  is  successful  in  the  use  of  the  dialogue, 
and  his  prophecies  are  penetratt-d  by  the  purest 
spirit  of  morality  and  piety  (see  especially  ch.  vL 
6-8;  and  vii.  1-10). 


MICHAEL 

Mican  is  the  third  of  the  minor  prophets  ac- 
cording to  the  arrangement  of  the  Septuagint,  the 
sixth  according  to  the  Hebrew,  and  the  fifth  ac- 
cording to  the  date  of  his  prophecies. 

2.  MIC  AH.  An  Ephraimite,  apparently  con- 
temporary with  the  elders  who  outlived  Joshua. 
He  secretly  appropriated  1 100  shekels  of  silver 
•which  his  mother  had  saved ;  but  being  alarmed 
at  her  imprecations  on  the  author  of  her  loss,  he 
confessed  the  matter  to  her,  and  restored  the 
money.  She  then  forgave  him,  and  returned  him 
the  silver,  to  be  applied  to  the  use  for  which  it 
had  been  accumulated.  Two  hundred  shekels  of 
the  amount  were  given  to  the  founder,  as  the 
cost  or  material  of  two  teraphim,  the  one  molten 
and  the  other  graven  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  money 
served  to  cover  the  other  expenses  of  the  semi- 
idolatrous  establishment  which  was  formed  in  the 
house  of  Micah,  of  which  a  wandering  Levite  be- 
came the  priest,  at  a  yearly  stipend;  till  the 
Danite  army,  on  their  journey  to  settle  northward 
in  Laish,  took  away  both  the  establishment  and 
the  priest,  which  they  afterwards  maintained  in 
their  new  settlement  (Judg.  xvii.  18)  [Dan  ; 
Jonathan  2].  The  establishments  of  this  kind, 
of  which  there  are  other  instances — as  that  of 
Gideon  at  Ophrah — were,  although  most  mis- 
takenly, formed  in  honour  of  Jehovah,  whom 
they  thus  sought  to  serve  by  means  of  a  local 
worship,  in  imitation  of  that  at  Shiloh.  This  was 
in  direct  contravention  of  the  law,  which  allowed 
but  one  place  of  sacrifice  and  ceremonial  service  ; 
and  was  something  of  the  same  kind,  although 
different  in  extent  and  degree,  as  the  service  of 
the  golden  calves,  which  Jeroboam  set  up,  and  his 
successors  maintained,  in  Dan  and  Bethel.  The 
previous  existence  of  Micah's  establishment  in  the 
former  city  no  doubt  pointed  it  out  to  Jeroboam 
as  a  suitable  place  for  one  of  his  golden  calves. 

MICAI'AH  (who  as  Jehovah  ?),  a  prophet  of 
the  time  of  Ahab.  He  was  absent  from  the  mob 
of  false  prophets  who  incited  the  kings  of  Israel 
and  Judah  to  march  against  the  Syrians  in  Ea- 
moth-gilead ;  for  Ahab,  having  been  offended  by 
his  sincerity  and  boldness,  had  not  called  for  him 
on  this  occasion.  But  he  was  seat  for  at  the  spe- 
cial desire  of  Jehoshaphat ;  and  as  he  declared 
against  the  enterprise,  which  the  other  prophets 
encouraged,  Ahab  commanded  him  to  be  impri- 
soned, and  allowed  only  '  bread  and  water  of 
uffliction '  till  he  returned  from  the  wars  in  peace. 
To  which  the  propliet  ominously  answered,  '  If 
thou  return  at  all  in  peace,  then  the  Lord  hath 
not  spoken  by  me '  (1  Kings  xxii.  8-28).  The 
event  corresponded  with  this  intimation  [Ahab]  ; 
but  we  have  no  further  information  concerning 
the  prophet. 

2.  MICAIAH.  One  of  the  princes  whom  Je- 
hoshaphat sent  to  'teach  in  the  cities  of  Judah' 
(2  Chron.  xviii.  7). 

3.  MICHAIAH,  son  of  Gemariah,  who,  after 
having  heard  Baruch  read  the  terrible  predictions 
of  Jeremiah  in  his  father's  hall,  went,  apparently 
with  good  intentions,  to  report  to  the  king's 
officers  what  he  had  heard  (Jer.  xxxvi.  11-13). 

Ml'CHAEL  {who  as  God  ?),  the  name  given  to 
one  of  the  chief  angels,  who,  in  Dan.  x.  10-21,  is 
described  as  having  special  charge  of  the  Israel- 
ites as  a  nation  ;  and  in  Jude  9,  as  disputing  with 
Satan  about  the  body  of  Moses,  in  which  dispute, 
instead  of  bringing  against  the  arch-enemy  any 


MICHAL  581 

railing  accusation,  he  only  said,  '  The  Lord 
rebuke  thee,  O  Satan  !'  Again,  in  ]Jev.  xii.  7-9, 
Michael  and  his  angels  are  represented  as  warring 
with  Satan  and  his  angels  in  the  upper  regions, 
from  which  the  latter  are  east  down  upon  the 
earth.  This  is  all  the  reference  to  Michael  which 
we  find  in  the  Bible. 

The  passages  in  Daniel  and  Revelations  must 
be  taken  as  symbolical,  and  in  that  view  offer 
little  difficulty.  The  allusion  in  Jude  9  is  more 
difficult  to  understand,  unless,  with  Vitringa, 
Lardner,  Macknight,  and  others,  we  regard  it 
also  as  symbolical ;  in  which  case  the  dispute  re- 
ferred to  is  that  indicated  in  Zech.  iii.  1  ;  and 
'  the  body  of  Moses '  as  a  symbolical  phrase  for 
the  Mosaical  law  and  institutions  [Jude].  A 
comparison  of  Jude  9  with  Zech.  iii.  1  gives  much 
force  and  probability  to  this  conjecture. 

MI'CH AL  (who  as  God '?),  youngest  daughter 
of  king  Saul  (1  Sam.  xiv.  49).  She  became 
attached  to  David,  and  made  no  secret  of  her 
love ;  so  that  Saul,  after  he  had  disappointed 
David  of  the  elder  daughter  [Merab],  deemed  it 
prudent  to  bestow  Michal  in  marriage  upon  him 
(1  Sam.  xviii.  20-28).  Saul  had  hoped  to  make 
her  the  instrument  of  his  designs  against  David, 
but  was  foiled  in  his  attempt  through  the  devoted 
attachment  of  the  wife  to  her  husband.  Of  this 
a  most  memorable  instance  is  given  in  1  Sam.  xix. 
11-17.  When  David  escaped  the  javelin  of  Saul 
he  retired  to  his  own  house,  upon  which  the  king 
set  a  guard  over-night,  with  the  intention  to  slay 
him  in  the  morning.  This  being  discovered  by 
Michal,  she  assisted  him  to  make  his  escape  by  a 
window,  and  afterwards  amused  the  intended 
assassins  under  various  pretences,  in  order  to 
retard  the  pursuit.  When  these  were  detected, 
Michal  pretended  to  her  father  that  David  had 
threatened  her  with  death  if  she  did  not  assist  his 
escape.  Saul  probably  did  not  believe  this ;  but 
he  took  advantage  of  it  by  cancelling  the  mar- 
riage, and  bestowing  her  upon  a  person  named 
Phalti  (2  Sam.  xxv.  44).  David,  however,  as  the 
divorce  had  been  without  his  consent,  felt  that  the 
law  (Deut.  xxiv.  4)  against  a  husband  taking 
back  a  divorced  wife  could  not  apply  in  this  case : 
he  therefore  formally  reclaimed  her  of  Ish-bosheth, 
who  employed  no  less  a  personage  tlian  Abner  to 
take  her  from  Phalti,  and  conduct  her  with  all 
honour  to  David.  It  was  under  cover  of  this 
mission  that  Abner  sounded  the  elders  of  Israel 
respecting  their  acceptance  of  David  for  king,  and 
conferred  with  David  himself  on  the  same  subject 
at  Hebron  (2  Sam.  iii.  12-21). 

The  re-union  was  less  happy  than  might  have 
been  hoped.  On  that  great  day  when  the  ark  was 
brought  to  Jerusalem,  Michal  viewed  the  proces- 
sion from  a  window,  and  the  royal  notions  she  had 
imbibed  were  so  shocked  at  the  sight  of  the  king 
not  only  taking  part  in,  but  leading,  the  holy 
transports  of  his  people,  that  she  met  him  on  his 
return  home  with  a  keen  sarcasm  on  his  undig- 
nified and  unkingly  behaviour.  This  ill-timed 
sneer,  and  the  unsympathising  state  of  feeling 
which  it  manifested,  drew  from  David  a  severe 
but  not  unmerited  retort ;  and  the  Great  King,  in 
whose  honour  David  incurred  this  contumely, 
seems  to  have  punished  the  wrong  done  to  him, 
for  we  are  told  that  'therefore  .Michal,  the  daugh- 
ter of  Saul,  had  no  child  to  the  day  of  her  death ' 
(2  Sam.  vi.  16-23).    It  was  thus,  perhaps,  a* 


582 


MIDIANITES 


Abarbanel  remarks,  ordered  by  Providence  that 
the  race  of  Saul  aud  David  should  not  be  mixed, 
and  that  no  one  deriving  any  apparent  right  from 
Saul  should  succeed  to  the  throne. 

MICH'MAS,  or  Michmash,  a  town  of  Ben- 
jamin (Ezra  ii.  27  ;  Neh.  xi.  31  ;  comp.  vii.  31), 
east  of  Beth-aven  (1  Sam.  xiii.  5),  and  south  from 
Migron,  on  the  road  to  Jerusalem  (Isa.  x.  28). 
The  words  of  1  Sam.  xiii.  2,  xiv.  4,  and  Isa.  x.  29, 
show  that  at  Michmas  was  a  pass  where  the  pro- 
gress of  a  military  body  might  be  impeded  or 
opposed.  It  was  perhaps  for  this  reason  that 
Jonathan  Maccabaeus  fixed  his  abode  at  Michmas 
(1  Mace.  ix.  73) ;  and  it  is  from  the  chivalrous 
exploit  of  another  hero  of  the  same  name,  the  son 
of  Saul,  that  the  place  is  chiefly  celebrated  (1  Sam. 
xiii.,  xiv.  4-16).  Eusebius  describes  Michmas  as 
a  large  village  nine  Roman  miles  from  Jerusalem, 
on  the  road  to  Ramah.  Travellers  have  usually 
identified  it  with  Bir  or  el-Bireh ;  but  Dr.  Robin- 
son recognises  it  in  a  place  still  bearing  the  name 
of  Muklimas,  at  a  distance  and  position  which 
correspond  well  with  these  intimations.  This  is 
a  village  situated  upon  a  slope  to  the  north  of  a 
valley  called  Wady  es-Suweinit.  It  is  small,  and 
almost  desolate,  but  bears  marks  of  having  been 
once  a  place  of  strength  and  importance.  There 
are  many  foundations  of  hewn  stones,  and  some 
columns  lie  among  them.  The  valley  es-Suweinit, 
steep  and  precipitous,  is  probably  the  '  passage  of 
Michmash '  mentioned  in  Scripture.  In  it,  says 
Dr.  Robinson,  '  just  at  the  left  of  where  we 
crossed,  are  two  hills  of  a  conical,  or  rather 
spherical,  form,  having  steep  rocky  sides,  with 
small  wadys  running  up  between  each  so  as 
almost  to  isolate  them.  One  of  them  is  on  the 
side  towards  Jeba  (Gibeah),  and  the  other  to- 
wards Mukhmas.  These  would  seem  to  be  the 
two  rocks  mentioned  in  connection  with  Jona- 
than's adventure  (1  Sam.  xiv.  4,  5).  They  are 
not,  indeed,  so  "  sharp"  as  the  language  of  Scrip- 
ture would  seem  to  imply  ;  but  they  are  the  only 
rocks  of  the  kind  in  this  vicinity.  The  northern 
one  is  connected  towards  the  west  with  an  emi- 
nence still  more  distinctly  isolated.' 

MID'IAN,  fourth  son  of  Abraham,  by  Keturah, 
and  progenitor  of  the  Midianites  (Gen.  xxv.  2). 

MID'IANITES,  a  tribe  of  people  descended 
from  Abraham's  son  Midian.  His  descendants 
must  have  settled  in  Arabia,  j.nd  engaged  in  trade 
at  an  early  period,  if  we  identify  them  with  those 
who  in  the  time  of  Jacob  appear,  along  with  the 
Ishmaelites,  as  merchants  travelling  from  Gilead 
to  Egypt,  and  who,  having  in  their  way  bought 
Joseph  from  his  brethren,  sold  him  in  the  latter 
country  (Gen.  xxxvii.  28,  36).  It  is,  however, 
very  difficult  to  conceive  that  the  descendants  of 
a  son  of  Abraham,  born  so  many  years  after  Isaac, 
had  become  a  tribe  of  people  at  the  time  when 
the  descendants  of  Isaac  himself  were  so  few. 
One  is  therefore  much  inclined  to  suppose  that 
these  Midianites  were  different  and  distinct  from 
those  descended  from  Abraham's  son ;  and  there 
appears  the  more  ground  for  this  when  at  a  later 
period  we  find  two  tribes  of  Midianites,  different 
in  locality  and  character,  and  different  in  their 
feelings  towards  the  Israelites.  If  this  distinction 
be  admitted,  then  it  would  be  necessary  to  seek 
the  earlier  Midianites  in  those  dwelling  about  the 
eastern  arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  among  whom  Moses 
found  refuge  when  '  he  fled  from  Egypt,'  and 


MIGRON 

whose  priest  or  sheikh  was  Jethro,  who  became 
the  father-in-law  of  the  future  lawgiver  (Exod. 
iii.  1  ;  xviii.  .5;  Num.  x.  29).  These,  if  not  of 
Hebrew,  would  appear  to  have  been  of  Cushite 
origin,  and  descended  from  Midian  the  son  of 
Cush.  We  do  not  again  meet  with  these  Mi- 
dianites in  the  Jewish  history,  but  they  appear  to 
have  remained  for  a  long  time  settled  in  the 
same  quarter,  where  indeed  is  the  seat  of  the 
only  Midianites  known  to  Oriental  authors. 

The  other  Midianites,  undoubtedly  descended 
from  Abraham  and  Keturah,  occupied  the  coun- 
try east  and  south-east  of  the  Moabites,  who  were 
seated  on  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea ;  or  rather, 
perhaps,  we  should  say  that,  as  they  appear  to 
have  been  a  semi-nomade  people,  they  pastured 
their  flocks  in  the  unsettled  country  "oeyond  the 
Moabites,  with  whom,  as  a  kindred,  although 
more  settled  tribe,  they  seem  to  have  been  on 
the  most  friendly  terms,  and  on  whose  borders 
were  situated  those  '  cities  and  goodly  castles 
which  they  possessed'  (Num.  xxxi.  10).  These 
Midianites,  like  the  other  tribes  and  nations  who 
had  a  common  origin  with  them,  were  highly 
hostile  to  the  Israelites.  In  conjunction  with  the 
Moabites,  they  designedly  enticed  them  to  idolatrj' 
as  they  approached  Canaan  (Num.  xxxi.  2,  5  ; 
xxv.  6,  14-18);  on  which  account  Moses  attacked 
them  with  a  strong  force,  killed  all  their  fighting 
men,  including  their  five  princes  or  emirs,  and 
made  the  women  and  children  captives  (Num. 
xxxi.).  The  account  of  the  spoil  confirms  the 
view  which  we  have  taken  of  the  semi-noraade 
position  of  the  Midianites — namely,  675,000  !>heep, 
72,000  beeves,  61,000  asses,  32,000  persons.  This 
was  only  the  '  prey,'  or  live  stock ;  but  besides 
this  there  was  a  great  quantity  of  •  barbaric  pearl 
and  gold,'  in  the  shape  of  'jewels  of  gold,  chains, 
and  bracelets,  rings,  ear-rings,  and  tablets.' 

Some  time  after  the  Israelites  olitained  pos- 
session of  Canaan,  the  Midianites  had  become  so 
numerous  and  powerful,  that,  for  seven  successive 
years,  they  made  inroads  into  the  Hebrew  territory 
in  the  time  of  harvest,  carrying  ofl'  the  fruits  and 
cattle,  and  desolating  the  land.  .At  length  Gideon 
was  raised  up  as  the  deliverer  of  his  country,  and 
his  triumph  was  so  complete  that  the  Israelites 
were  never  more  molested  by  them  (Judg.  vi.  1-7  ; 
vii. ;  viii.).  To  this  victory  there  are  subsequent 
allusions  in  the  sacred  writings  (Ps.  Ixxxiii.  10, 
12  ;  Isa.  ix.  4  ;  x.  6) ;  but  the  Midianites  do  not 
again  appear  in  sacred  or  profane  history. 

MIG'DOL,  a  place  between  which  and  the 
Red  Sea  the  Israelites  were  commanded  to  encamp 
on  leaving  Egypt  (Exod.  xiv.  2 ;  Num.  xxxiii.  7) 
[Exodus].  The  name,  which  means  a  tower, 
appears  to  indicate  a  fortified  place.  In  Jer. 
xliv.  1 ;  xlvi.  14,  it  occurs  as  a  city  of  Egypt,  and 
it  would  seem  to  have  been  the  last  town  on  the 
Egyptian  frontier,  in  the  direction  of  the  Red  Sea; 
hence  '  from  Migdol  to  Syeue,'  in  Ezek.  xxix.  10 ; 

XXX.  6. 

MIG'RON,  a  town  which,  from  the  historical 
indications,  must  have  been  south  or  south-west 
of  Ai,  and  north  of  Michmas  (Isa.  x.  28).  From 
Michmas  northward  a  narrow  valley  extends  out 
of  and  at  right  angles  with  thnt  which  has  been 
identified  as  the  pass  of  Michinas  ^Michmas]. 
The  town  of  Mi^/on  seems  to  have  been  upon 
and  to  hav:  commanded  .ne  pass  through  this 
valley,  but  its  precise  .situation  Las  not  been  de- 


MILK 

termined.  Saul  was  stationed  at  the  further  side 
of  Gibeah,  '  under  a  pomegranate-tree  which  is 
by  Migron'  (1  Sam.  xiv.  2),  when  Jonathan  per- 
formed his  great  exploit  at  Michmas ;  and  this  is 
to  be  explained  on  the  supposition  that  Migron 
was  on  the  boi-der,  towards  Michmas,  of  the 
district  to  which  Gibeah  gave  its  name. 
MIL'COM.     [Moloch.] 

MILE.  This  word  is  only  mentioned  in  Matt. 
V.  41,  where  Christ  says,  'If  any  one  compel 
thee  to  go  with  him  one  mile,  go  with  him  two  ' 
The  mile  was  originally  (as  its  derivation  from 
mille,  '  a  thousand,'  implies)  a  Roman  measure 
of  1000  geometrical  paces  (passiis)  of  .5  feet  each, 
and  was  therefore  equal  to  .5000  Roman  feet. 
Taking  the  h'oman  foot  at  11-6490  English 
inches,  the  Roman  mile  would  be  1C18  English 
yards,  or  142  yards  less  than  the  English  statute 
mile.  By  another  calculation,  in  which  the  foot 
is  taken  at  11  •  62  inches,  the  mile  would  be  little 
more  than  1614  yards.  The  number  of  Roman 
miles  in  a  degree  of  a  large  circle  of  the  earth  is 
very  little  more  than  75.  The  Roman  mile  con- 
tained 8  Greek  stadia.  The  Greek  stade  hence 
bore  the  same  relation  to  the  Roman  mile  which 
the  English  furlong  does  to  the  English  mile. 

MILE'TUS,  a  city  and  sea-port  of  Ionia  in 
Asia  Minor,  about  thirty-six  miles  south  of  Ephe- 
sus.  St.  Paul  touched  at  this  port  on  his  voyage 
from  Greece  to  Syria,  and  delivered  to  the  elders 
of  Ephesus,  who  had  come  to  meet  him  there,  a 
remarkable  and  affecting  address  (Acts  xx.  15- 
38).  Miletus  was  a  place  of  considerable  note, 
and  the  ancient  capital  of  Ionia  and  Caria.  It 
was  the  birth-place  of  several  men  of  renown — 
Thales,  Timotheus,  Anaximander,  Anaximenes, 
Democritus.  Ptolemy  places  Miletus  in  Caria 
by  the  sea,  and  it  is  stated  to  have  had  four  ha- 
vens, one  of  which  was  capable  of  holding  a  fleet. 
It  was  noted  for  a  famous  temple  of  Apollo,  the 
oracle  of  which  is  known  to  have  been  consulted 
so  late  as  the  fourth  century.  There  was,  how- 
ever, a  Christian  church  in  the  place  ;  and  in  the 
fifth,  seventh,  and  eighth  centuries  we  read  of 
bishops  of  Miletus,  who  were  present  at  several 
councils.  The  city  fell  to  decay  after  its  con- 
quest by  the  Saracens,  and  is  now  in  ruins,  not 
far  from  the  spot  where  the  Meander  falls  into 
the  sea.  The  site  bears,  among  the  Turks,  the 
name  of  Melas. 

MILK.  Milk,  and  the  preparations  from  it, 
butter  and  cheese,  are  often  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture. Milk,  in  its  fresh  state,  appears  to  have 
been  used  very  largely  among  the  Hebrews,  as 
is  usual  among  people  who  have  much  cattle,  and 
yet  make  but  sparing  use  of  their  flesh  for  food. 
The  proportion  which  fresh  milk  held  in  the 
dietary  of  the  Hebrews,  must  not,  however,  be 
measured  by  the  comparative  frequency  with 
which  the  word  occurs;  because,  in  the  greater 
number  of  examples,  it  is  employed  figuratively, 
to  denote  great  abundance,  and  in  many  instances 
it  is  used  as  a  general  term  for  all  or  any  of  the 
preparations  from  it. 

In  its  figurative  use,  the  word  occurs  sometimes 
simply  as  the  sign  of  abundance  (Gen.  xlix.  12  ; 
Ezek.  xxv.  4;  Joel  iii.  18,  &c.);  but  more  fre- 
quently in  combination  with  honey — '  milk  and 
honey '  being  a  phrase  which  occurs  about  twenty 
times  in  Scripture.  Thus  a  rich  and  fertile  soil 
is  described  as  a  '  land  flowing  with  milk  and 


MILK  583 

honey:'  -which,  although  usually  said  of  Pales- 
tine, is  also  applied  to  other  fruitful  countries,  as 
Egypt  (Num.  xvi.  13).  Hence  its  use  to  denote 
the  food  of  children.  Milk  is  also  constantly 
employed  as  a  symbol  of  the  elementary  parts  or 
rudiments  of  doctrine  (1  Cor.  iii.  2;  Heb.  v.  12, 
13) ;  and  from  its  purity  and  simplicity,  it  is  also 
made  to  symbolize  the  unadulterated  word  of 
God  (1  Pet.  ii.  2  ;  comp.  Isa.  Iv.  l). 

In  reading  of  milk  in  Scripture,  the  milk  of 
cows  naturally  presents  itself  to  the  mind  of  the 
European  reader ;  but  in  Western  Asia,  and  es- 
pecially among  the  pastoral  and  senii-pastoral 
people,  not  only  cows,  but  goats,  sheep,  and 
camels,  are  made  to  give  their  milk  for  the  sus- 
tenance of  man.  That  this  was  also  the  case 
among  the  Hebrews,  may  be  clearly  inferred  even 
from  the  slight  intimations  which  the  Scriptures 
afford.  Thus  we  read  of '  butter  of  kine,  and 
milk  of  sheep' (Deut.  xxxii.  14);  and  in  Prov. 
xxvii.  27,  the  emphatic  intimation,  '  Thou  shalt 
have  goats'  milk  for  food,'  seems  to  imply  that 
this  was  considered  the  best  for  use  in  the  simple 
state.  'Thirty  milch  camels'  were  among  the 
cattle  which  Jacob  presented  to  his  brother  Es2lu 
(Gen.  xxxii.  15),  implying  the  use  of  camels' 
milk. 

The  Hebrew  word  for  curdled  milk  is  always 
translated  '  butter '  in  the  Authorized  Version. 
It  seems  to  mean  both  butter  and  curdled  milk, 
but  most  generally  the  latter;  and  the  context 
will,  in  most  cases,  suggest  the  distinction,  which 
has  been  neglected  by  our  translators.  It  was 
this  curdled  milk,  highly  esteemed  as  a  refresh- 
ment in  the  East,  that  Abraham  set  before  the 
angels  (Gen.  xviii.  8),  and  which  Jael  gave  to 
Sisera,  instead  of  the  water  which  he  asked  (Judg. 
V.  25).  In  this  state  milk  acquires  a  slightly  in- 
ebriating power,  if  kept  long  enough.  Isaiah  vii. 
22,  where  it  is  rendered  '  butter,'  is  the  only  text 
in  which  the  word  is  coupled  with  '  honey,'  and 
there  it  is  a  sign  of  scarcity,  not  of  plenty,  as 
when  honey  is  coupled  with  fresh  milk.  It 
means  that  there  being  no  fruit  or  grain,  the  rem- 
nant would  have  to  live  on  milk  and  honey ;  and, 
perhaps,  that  milk  itself  would  be  so  scarce,  that 
it  would  be  needful  to  use  it  with  economy  ;  and 
hence  to  curdle  it,  as  fresh  milk  cannot  be  pre- 
served for  chary  use.  Although,  however,  this 
word  properly  denotes  curdled  milk,  it  seems 
also  to  be  sometimes  used  for  milk  in  general 
(Deut.  xxxii.  14;  Job  xx.  15;  Isa.  vii.  15). 

The  most  striking  Scriptural  allusion  to  milk 
is  that  which  forbids  a  kid  to  be  seethed  in  its 
mother's  milk,  and  its  importance  is  attested  by 
its  being  thrice  repeated  (Exod.  xxiii.  19  ;  xxxiv. 
20;  Deut.  xiv.  21).  There  is,  perhaps,  no  prt- 
cept  of  Scripture  which  has  been  more  variously 
interpreted  than  this.  It  is  probable  that  the 
prohibition  refers  not  to  a  common  act  of  cookery, 
but  to  an  idolatrous  or  magical  rite.  Maimo- 
nides  urges  this  opinion.  He  says,  '  Flesh  eaten 
with  milk,  or  in  milk,  appears  to  me  to  have 
been  prohibited,  not  only  because  it  afibrds  gross 
nourishment,  but  because  it  savoured  of  idolatry, 
some  of  the  idolaters  probably  doing  it  in  their 
worship,  or  at  their  festivals.'  This  is  confirmed 
by  an  extract  which  Cudworth  gives  from  an 
ancient  Karaite  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch  . 
'  It  was  a  custom  of  the  ancient  heathen,  when 
they  had  gathered  in  all  their  fruits,  to  take  a 


684 


MILL 


kid,  and  boii  it  in  the  dam's  milk,  and  then  in  a 
magical  way  to  go  about  and  besprinkle  with  it 
all  their  trees,  and  fields,  and  gardens,  and  or- 
chards, thinking  that  by  this  means  they  should 
make  them  fructify,  and  bring  forth  more  abun- 
dantly the  following  year.'  Some  such  rite  as 
this  is  supposed  to  be  the  one  interdicted  by  the 
prohibition. 
j  Butter  is  not  often  mentioned  in  Scripture, 
and  even  less  frequently  than  our  version  would 
suggest.  Indeed,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it 
denotes  butter  in  any  place  besides  Deut.  xxxii. 
14,  'butter  of  kine,'  and  Prov.  xxx.  33,  '  the 
churning  of  milk  bringeth  forth  butter,'  as  all 
the  other  texts  will  apply  better  to  curdled  milk 
than  to  butter.  Butter  was,  however,  doubtless 
much  in  use  among  the  Hebrews,  and  we  may  be 
sure  that  it  was  prepared  in  the  same  manner  as 
at  this  day  among  the  Arabs  and  Syrians.  The 
milk  is  put  into  a  large  copper  pan  over  a  slow 
fire,  and  a  little  leben  or  sour  milk  (the  same  as 
the  curdled  milk  mentioned  above),  or  a  portion 
of  the  dried  entrails  of  a  Jamb,  is  thrown  into  it. 
The  milk  then  separates,  and  is  put  into  a  goat- 
skin bag,  which  is  tied  to  one  of  the  tent  poles, 
and  constantly  moved  backwards  and  forwards 
for  two  hours.  The  buttery  substance  then  co- 
agulates, the  water  is  pressed  out,  and  the  butter 
put  into  another  skin.  In  two  days  the  butter  is 
again  placed  over  the  fire,  with  the  addition  of  a 
quantity  of  burgul  (wheat  boiled  with  leaven,  and 
dried  in  the  sun),  and  allowed  to  boil  for  some 
time,  during  which  it  is  carefully  skimmed.  It 
is  then  found  that  the  burgul  has  precipitated  all 
the  foreign  substances,  and  that  the  butter  re- 
mains quite  clear  at  the  top.  This  is  the  process 
used  by  the  Bedouins,  and  it  is  also  the  one  em- 
ployed by  the  settled  people  of  Syria  and  Arabia. 
The  chief  difference  is,  that  in  making  butter  and 
cheese  the  townspeople  employ  the  milk  of  cows 
and  buffaloes,  whereas  the  Bedouins,  who  do  not 
keep  these  animals,  use  that  of  sheep  and  goats. 
The  butter  is  generally  white,  of  the  colour  and 
consistence  of  lard,  and  is  not  much  relished  by 
English  travellers.  It  is  eaten  with  bread  in 
large  quantities  by  those  who  can  afford  it,  not 
spread  out  thinly  over  the  surface,  as  with  us, 
but  taken  in  mass  with  the  separate  morsels  of 
bread  [Cheese]. 

MILL.  The  mill  for  grinding  corn  had  not 
wholly  superseded  the  mortar  for  pounding  it  in 
the  time  of  Moses.  The  mortar  and  the  mill  are 
named  together  in  Num.  xi.  8.  But  fine  meal, 
that  is,  meal  ground  or  pounded  fine,  is  mentioned 
so  early  as  the  time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xviii.  6)  : 
hence  mills  and  mortars  must  have  been  pre- 
viously known.  The  mill  common  among  the 
Hebrews  differed  little  from  that  which  is  in  use 
to  this  day  throughout  Western  Asia  and  North- 
ern Africa.  It  consisted  of  two  circular  stones 
two  feet  in  diameter,  and  half  a  foot  thick.  The 
lower  is  called  the  '  nether  millstone,'  Job  xli.  16 
(24),  and  the  upper  the  '  rider '  (Judg.  ix.  53 ; 
2  Sam.  xi.  21).  The  former  was  usually  fixed 
to  the  floor,  and  had  a  slight  elevation  in  the 
centre,  or,  in  other  words,  was  slightly  convex 
in  the  upper  surface.  The  upper  stone  had  a  con- 
cavity in  its  under  surface  fitting  to,  or  receiving, 
the  convexity  of  the  lower  stone.  There  was  a 
hole  in  the  top,  through  which  the  corn  was  in- 
troduced by  haudfuls  at  a  time.   The  upper  stone 


MILLET 

had  an  upright  stick  fixed  in  it  as  a  handle,  by 
which  it  was  made  to  turn  upon  the  lower  stone, 
and  by  this  action  the  corn  was  groimd,  and  came 
out  at  the  edges.  As  there  were  neither  public 
mills  nor  bakers,  except  the  king's  (Gen.  xl.  2  ; 
Hos.  vii.  4-8),  each  family  possessed  a  mill ;  and 


■^■^lofv; 


as  it  was  in  daily  use,  it  was  made  an  infringe- 
ment of  the  law  for  a  person  to  take  another's 
mill  or  millstone  in  pledge  (Deut.  xxiv.  6).  The 
mill  was,  as  now,  commonly  turned  by  two  per- 
sons, usually  women,  and  these,  the  work  being 
laborious,  the  lowest  maid-servants  in  the  house. 
They  sat  opposite  each  other.  One  took  hold  of 
the  mill-handle,  and  impelled  it  half  way  round  ; 
the  other  then  seized  it,  and  completed  the  revo- 
lution (Exod.  xi.  ^ ;  Job  xxxi.  10,  11 ;  Isa.  xlvii. 
2;  Matt.  xxiv.  41).  As  the  labour  was  severe 
and  menial,  enemies  taken  in  war  were  often  con- 
demned to  perform  it  (Judg.  xvi.  21 ;  Lam.  v.  13). 
It  will  be  seen  that  this  millstone  does  not  mate- 
rially differ  from  the  Highland  quern ;  and  is, 
indeed,  an  obvious  resource  in  those  remote  quar- 
ters, where  a  population  is  too  thin  or  too  scat- 
■iered  to  afford  remunerative  employment  to  a 
miller  by  trade.  In  the  East  this  trade  is  still 
unknown,  the  hand-mill  being  in  general  and 
exclusive  use  among  the  corn-consuming,  and 
the  mortar  among  the  rice-consuming,  nations 
[Bread]  . 

MILLET  occurs  in  Ezek.  iv.  9,  where  the 
Prophet  is  directed  to  take  unto  him  wheat,  and 
barley,  and  beans,  and  lentiles,  and  millet  and 
fitches,  and  to  put  them  into  one  vessel,  and  to 
make  bread  thereof  for  himself.  All  the  grains 
enumerated  in  this  verse  continue  to  form  the 
chief  articles  of  diet  in  the  East  in  the  present 
day,  as  they  appear  to  have  done  in  ancient  times. 
The  common  millet  is  cultivated  from  the  middle 
of  Europe  to  the  most  southern  part  of  India,  and 
is  sometimes  cultivated  in  England  on  account  of 
the  seeds  being  used  for  feeding  birds  and  poul- 
try. But  the  grain  is  usually  imported  into  this 
coimtry  from  the  Mediterranean.    In  India  it  is 


!  MINISTER 

I  cultivated  in  the  cold  weather,  that  is,  in  the 
j  same  season  with  wheat  and  barley,  and  is  an 
I  article  of  diet  with  the  inhabitants.  Having 
'  mentioned  the  extreme  points  where  this  grain 
j  is  cultivated,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that 
it  is  produced    in  the   intermediate    countries. 


S4I.     [Millet — Panicum  miliaceum. 


Toumefort  says  that  in  the  Isle  of  Samos  the  in- 
habitants, in  preparing  their  bread,  knead  together 
one  half  wheat  and  the  other  half  barley  and 
millet  mixed  together.  It  is  also  an  article  of 
diet  both  in  Persia  and  India,  and  is  so  univer- 
sally cultivated  in  the  East  as  one  of  their  smaller 
corn-grasses,  that  it  is  most  likely  to  be  the  kind 
alluded  to  in  the  passage  of  Ezekiel. 

MIL'LO.  This  word  denotes  '  fulness,'  and  is 
applied  to  a  mound  or  rampart,  probably  as  being 
filled  up  with  stones  or  earth.  Hence  it  is  the 
name  given  to 

1.  Part  of  the  citadel  of  Jerusalem,  probably 
the  rampart  (2  Sam.  v.  9 ;  1  Kings  ix.  15,24; 
xi,  27 ;   1  Chron.  xi.  8  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  .5). 

2.  The  fortress  in  Shccliem.  '  All  the  men  of 
Shechem,  and  all  that  dwelt  in  the  house  of 
Millo ;'  that  is,  in  the  castle  or  citadel  (Judg.  ix, 
6,  20). 

MINISTER,  one  who  acts  as  the  less  or  in- 
ferior agent,  in  obedience  or  subservience  to 
another,  or  who  serves,  officiates,  &c.,  as  distin- 
guished from  the  master  or  superior.  In  the  Old 
Testament  the  term  is  applied  to  Joshua  as  the 
minister  of  Moses  (Exod.  xxiv.  13),  and  to  Elisha 
as  the  minister  to  Elijah  (2  Kings  vi.  15).  Per- 
sons thus  designated  sometimes  succeeded  to  the 
office  of  their  principal,  as  did  Joshua  and  Elisha. 
The  word  is  applied  to  the  angels,  Ps.  ciii.  21  ; 
comp.  Ps.  civ.  4 ;  Heb.  i.  7  ;  and  also  to  the  Jews  in 
their  capacity  as  a  sacred  nation,  '  Men  shall  call 
you  the  ministers  of  our  God'  (Isa.  Ixi.  6);  and 
to  the  priests  (Jer,  xxxiii.  21 ;  Ezek.  xliv.  11;  j 
xlv.  4;  Joel  i.  9).    In  the  New  Testament  the  I 


MINT  585 

term  is  applied  to  Christian  teachers.  Acts  xiii. 
2  ;  Kom.  xv.  16  ;  and  to  Christ,  Heb.  viii.  2  ;  to 
the  collectors  of  the  Roman  tribute,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  divine  authority  of  political  govern- 
ment, '  they  are  God's  ministers.'  The  word  di- 
a^oBos, '  minister,'  is  applied  to  Christian  teachers, 
1  Cor.  iii.  5  ;  2  Cor.iii.  6;  vi.  4  ;  xi.  23;  1  Thess. 
iii.  2  ;  to  false  teachers,  2  Cor.  xi.  15  ;  to  Christ, 
Rom.  XV.  8,  16  ;  Gal.  ii.  17  ;  to  heathen  magis- 
trates, Rom.  xiii.  4 ;  in  all  which  passages  it  has 
the  sense  of  a  minister,  assistant,  or  servant  in 
general,  as  in  Matt,  xx.  26  ;  but  it  means  a  par- 
ticular sort  of  minister,  'a  deacon,'  in  Philip,  i.  1  ; 
1  Tim.  iii.  8,  12.  Another  word  similarly  ren- 
dered is  applied  to  Christian  ministers,  Luke  i.  2  ; 
Acts  xxvi.  16  ;  2  Cor.  iv.  1.  The  word  denotes, 
in  Luke  iv,  20,  the  attendant  in  a  synagogue  who 
handed  the  volume  to  the  reader,  and  returned  it 
to  its  place.  In  Acts  xiii,  5  it  is  applied  to  '  John 
whose  surname  was  Mark,'  in  his  capacity  as 
an  attendant  or  assistant  on  Barnabas  and  Saul, 
It  primarily  signifies  an  under-rower  on  board  a 
galley,  of  the  class  who  used  the  longest  oars,  and 
consequently  performed  the  severest  duty,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rower  upon  the  upper  bench 
of  the  three,  and  from  the  sailors  or  the  marines : 
hence  in  general  a  hand,  agent,  minister,  attend- 
ant, &c. 
MIN'NI,    [Armenia.] 

MIN'NITH,  a  town  in  the  country  of  the  Am- 
monites (Judg.  xi.  33),  celebrated  for  the  excel- 
lence of  its  wheat,  which  was  exported  to  the 
markets  of  Tyre  (Ezek.  xxvii.  1 7).  It  still  existed 
in  the  age  of  Eusebius,  four  R.  miles  from  Hesh- 
bon,  on  the  road  to  Philadelphia. 

MINT  is  mentioned  in  Matt,  xxiii.  23  :  '  Woe 
unto  you.  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for 
ye  pay  tithe  of  mint  and  anise  (properly  dill) 
and  cummin,  and  have  omitted  the  weightier 
matters  of  the  law;'  and,  again,  in  Luke  xi.  42 : 
'  But  woe  unto  you,  Pharisees  !  for  ye  tithe  mint 
and  rue,  and  all  manner  of  herbs,  and  pass  over 
judgment  and  the  love  of  God :  these  ought  ye  to 
have  done,  and  not  to  leave  the  other  undone.' 
All  the  plants  mentioned  in  the  above  passages 
belong  to  the  smaller  ones  cultivati-d  in  gardens 
in  Europe,  and  which  usually  come  under  the 
denomination  of  sweet  herbs.  Lady  Calcott  in- 
quires whether  mint  was  one  of  the  bitter  herbs 
which  the  Israelites  ate  with  the  Paschal  Lamb ; 
and  infers  the  probability  of  its  being  so  from  our 
own  practice  of  eating  lamb  with  mint  sauce. 
Dr.  Harris  argues  that  mint,  anise,  and  cummin 
were  not  tithed,  and  that  the  Pharisees  only  paid 
tithes  of  these  plants  from  an  overstrained  inter- 
pretation of  the  law.  But,  in  the  article  Dill,  it 
may  be  seen  that  dill  was  tithed,  and  it  is  one  of 
the  herbs  mentioned  along  with  mint.  The 
meaning,  therefore,  seems  to  be,  that  the  Pha- 
risees, while,  in  conformity  with  the  law,  they 
paid  these  minute  tithes,  neglected  the  most  im- 
portant moral  duties, — truth,  justice,  and  mercy: 
for  it  is  added,  '  these  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and 
not  to  leave  the  other  undone.' 

The  species  of  mint  most  common  in  Syria  is 
Mentha  sijlvestris,  found  by  Russell  at  Aleppo,  and 
mentioned  by  him  as  one  of  the  herbs  cultivated 
in  the  gardens  there.  It  also  occurs  in  Greece, 
Taurus,  Caucasus,  the  Altai  Range,  and  as  far  as 
Cashmere,  whtnce  we  have  obtained  specimens. 
Mint  is  highly  esteemed  in  Eastern  countries, 


686  MIRACLES 

and  apparently  was  so  also  by  the  Jews.  It  -was 
much  esteemed  by  the  ancients,  as  Pliny  testifies. 
Dioscondes  also  mentions  it  as  useful  to  the  sto- 
mach, and  peculiarly  grateful  as  a  condiment. 
Mint  was  employed  by  the  ancients  in  the  pre- 
paration of  many  dishes. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  the  exact  species  or 
variety  of  mint  employed  by  the  ancients.  There 
are  numerous  species  very  nearly  allied  to  one 
another.  They  usually  grow  in  moist  situations, 
and  are  herbaceous,  perennial,  of  powerful  odour, 
especially  when  bruised,  and  have  small  reddish- 
coloured  flowers,  arranged  in  spikes  or  whorls. 
The  taste  of  these  plants  is  bitter,  warm,  and 
pungent,  but  leaving  a  sensation  of  coolness  on 
the  tongue  :  in  their  properties  they  are  so  similar 
to  each  other,  tbat  either  in  medicine,  or  as  a  con- 
diment, one  species  may  safely  be  substituted  for 
another.     • 

MIRACLES.  God  sees  fit  to  carry  on  his 
common  operations  on  established  and  uniform 
principles.  These  principles,  whether  relating  to 
the  physical  or  moral  world,  are  called  the  laws 
of  nature.  And  by  the  laws  of  nature  the  most 
enlightened  philosophers  and  divines  have  under- 
stood the  uniform  plan  according  to  which,  or  the 
uniform  manner  in  which,  God  exercises  his  power 
throughout  the  created  universe. 

This  uniform  method  of  divine  operation  is 
evidently  conducive  to  the  most  important  ends. 
It  manifests  the  immutable  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God,  and,  in  ways  too  many  to  be  here  speci- 
fied, promotes  the  welfare  of  his  creatures. 
Without  the  influence  of  this  uniformity,  rational 
beings  would  have  no  eflPectual  motive  to  effort, 
and  the  affairs  of  the  universe,  intelligent  and  un- 
intelligent, would  be  in  a  state  of  total  confusion. 
And  this  general  fact  may  be  considered  as  a 
sufficient  reason  why  God,  in  the  common  course 
of  his  providence,  has  adopted  a  uniform  method 
of  operation  in  preference  to  any  other. 

But  if,  in  conducting  the  affairs  of  his  great 
empire,  God  sees,  in  any  particular  case,  as  good 
a  reason  for  a  deviation  from  this  uniform  order, 
as  there  is  generally  for  uniformity,  that  is,  if  the 
glory  of  his  attributes  and  the  good  of  his  crea- 
tures require  it — and  no  one  can  say  that  such  a 
case  may  not  occur — then,  unquestionably,  the 
unchangeable  God  will  cause  such  a  deviation  ; 
in  other  words,  will  work  miracles. 

It  is  admitted  that  no  man,  apart  from  the 
knowledge  of  tacts,  could  ever,  by  mere  reason- 
ing, have  arrived  at  a  confident  belief,  that  the 
conjuncture  supposed  would  certainly  occur. 
But  to  us,  who  know  that  mankind  are  so  de- 
praved and  wretched,  and  that  the  efforts  of 
human  wisdom  to  obtain  relief  have  been  in  vain, 
the  importance  of  a  special  divine  interposition 
is  very  apparent.  And  being  informed  what  the 
plan  is,  which  a  merciful  God  has  adopted  for 
our  recovery  to  holiness  and  happiness,  and  being 
satisfied  that  this  plan,  so  perfectly  suited  to  the 
end  in  view,  could  never  have  been  discovered 
by  man,  and  never  executed,  except  by  a  divine 
dispensation  involving  miracles,  we  conclude, 
that  the  introduction  of  a  new  and  miraculous 
dispensation  was  in  the  highest  degree  an  honour 
to  (jod  and  a  blessing  to  the  world.  The  mode 
which  God  has  chosen  to  impart  the  knowledge 
of  this  dispensation  to  man,  is  that  of  making  a 
revelation  to  a  number  of  individuals,  who  are  to 


MIRACLES 

write  and  publish  it  for  ♦^f>  >ienefit  of  the  world. 
This  revelation  to  individuals  is  made  in  such  a 
manner  as  renders  it  certain  to  their  minds,  that 
the  revelation  is  from  God.  But  how  can  that 
revelation  be  made  available  to  others  ?  It  will 
not  answer  the  purpose  for  those  who  receive  it 
merely  to  declare  that  God  has  made  such  a  re- 
velation to  them,  and  authorized  them  to  proclaim 
it  to  their  fellow-creatures.  For  how  shall  we 
know  that  they  are  not  deceivers  ?  Or,  if  their 
character  is  such  as  to  repel  any  suspicion  of  this 
kind,  how  shall  we  know  that  they  are  not  them- 
selves deceived  ?  Have  we  not  a  right,  nay,  are 
we  not  bound  in  duty,  to  ask  for  evidence  of  the 
divine  authority  of  what  they  reveal  ?  But  what 
evidence  will  suffice?  'fhe  reply  is  obvious. 
The  revelation,  in  order  to  be  of  use  to  us,  as  it 
is  to  those  who  receive  it  directly  from  God,  must 
not  only  be  declared  by  them  to  us,  but  must 
have  a  divine  attestation.  In  other  words,  those 
who  declare  it  to  us  must  show,  by  some  incontest- 
able proof,  that  it  is  from  God.  Such  proof  is 
found  in  a  miracle.  If  an  event  takes  place  which 
we  know  to  be  contrarj'  to  the  laws  of  nature, 
we  at  once  recognise  it  as  the  special  act  of  him 
who  is  the  God  of  nature,  and  who  alone  can 
suspend  its  laws,  and  produce  effects  in  another 
way.  The  evidence  of  a  direct  interposition  of 
God  given  in  this  way  is  irresistible.  No  man, 
no  infidel,  could  witness  an  obvious  miracle,  with- 
out being  struck  with  awe,  and  recognising  the 
finger  of  God. 

it  is  clear  that  no  event,  which  can  be  ac- 
counted for  on  natural  principles,  can  prove  a 
supernatural  interposition,  or  contain  a  divine 
attestation  to  the  truth  of  a  prophet's  claim.  But 
when  we  look  at  an  event  which  cannot  be  traced 
to  the  laws  of  nature,  and  is  clearly  above  them, 
such  as  the  burning  of  the  wood  upon  the  altar 
in  the  case  of  Elijah's  controversy  with  the  false 
prophets,  or  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  we 
cannot  avoid  the  conviction,  that  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth  does,  by  such  a  miracle,  give 
his  testimony,  that  Elijah  is  his  prophet,  and  that 
Jesus  is  the  Messiah.  The  evidence  arising  from 
miracles  is  so  striking  and  conclusive,  that  there  I 
is  no  way  for  an  infidel  to  evade  it,  but  to  deny  I 
the  existeuce  of  miracles,  and  to  hold  that  all  the  ' 
events  called  miraculous  may  be  accounted  for 
according  to  the  laws  of  nature. 

Hume  arrays  uniform  e.rperience  against  the 
credibility  of  miracles.  But  the  shallow  sophistrj' 
of  his  argument  has  been  fully  exposed  by  Camp- 
bell, Paley,  and  many  others.  We  inquire  what 
and  how  much  he  means  by  uniform  experience. 
Does  he  mean  his  own  experience  ?  But  because 
he  has  never  witnessed  a  miracle,  does  it  follow 
that  others  have  not  ?  Does  he  mean  the  uniform 
experience  of  the  greater  part  of  mankind  ?  But 
how  does  he  know  that  the  experience  of  a  smaller 
part  has  not  been  different  from  that  of  the 
greater  part?  Does  he  mean,  then,  the  uniform 
experience  of  all  mankind  in  all  ages?  How 
then  does  his  argument  stand  ?  He  undertakes 
to  prove  that  no  man  has  ever  witnessed  or  ex- 
perienced a  miracle,  and  his  real  argument  is, 
that  no  one  has  ever  witnessed  or  experienced  it. 
In  other  words,  to  prove  that  there  has  never  been 
a  miracle,  he  asserts  that  there  never  has  been  a 
miracle.  This  is  the  nature  of  his  argument — 
an  example  of  begging  the  question,  which  a  man 


MIRACLES 


MIRROR 


587 


of  Hume's  logical  powers  would  never  have 
resorted  to,  had  it  uot  been  for  his  enmity  to 
religion. 

The  miraculous  events  recorded  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, particularly  those  which  took  place  in  the 
times  of  Moses  and  Christ,  have  all  the  marks 
which  are  necessary  to  prove  them  to  have  been 
matters  of  fact,  and  worthy  of  full  credit,  and  to 
distiufjuish  them  from  the  feats  of  jugglers  and 
impostors.  Tliis  has  been  shown  very  satisfac- 
torily by  Leslie,  Paley,  Douglas,  and  many 
others.  These  miracles  took  place  in  the  most 
public  manner,  and  in  the  presence  of  many  wit- 
nesses ;  so  that  there  was  opportunity  to  subject 
them  to  the  most  searching  scrutiny.  Good  men 
and  bad  men  were  able  and  disposed  to  examine 
them  thoroughly,  and  to  prove  them  to  have  been 
impostures,  if  they  had  been  so. 

A  large  number  of  men,  of  unquestionable 
honesty  and  intelligence,  constantly  aflBrmed  that 
the  miracles  took  place  before  their  eyes.  And 
some  of  these  original  witnesses  wrote  and  pub- 
lished histories  of  the  facts,  in  the  places  where 
they  were  alleged  to  have  occurred,  and  near  the 
time  of  their  occurrence.  In  these  histories  it 
was  openly  asserted  that  the  miracles,  as  de- 
scribed, were  publicly  known  and  acknowledged 
to  have  taken  place ;  and  this  no  one  took  upon 
him  to  contradict,  or  to  question.  Moreover, 
many  persons  who  stood  forth  as  witnesses  of 
these  miracles  passed  their  lives  in  labours,  dan- 
gers, and  suflerings,  in  attestation  of  the  accounts 
they  delivered,  and  solely  in  consequence  of  their 
belief  of  the  truth  of  those  accounts ;  and,  from 
the  same  motive,  they  voluntarily  submitted  to 
new  rules  of  conduct ;  while  nothing  like  this  is 
true  respecting  any  other  pretended  miracles. 

It  has  been  a  long  agitated  question,  whether 
miracles  have  ever  been  wrought,  or  can  be  con- 
sistently supposed  to  be  wrought,  hy  apostate 
spirits. 

It  is  sufficient  to  say  here,  that  it  would  be 
evidently  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  God 
to  empower  or  to  suffer  wicked  beings  to  work 
miracles  in  support  of  falsehood.  And  if  wicked 
spirits  in  the  time  of  Christ  had  power  to  produce 
preternatural  effects  upon  the  minds  or  bodies  of 
men,  and  if  those  effects  are  to  be  ranked  among 
real  miracles  (which,  however,  we  do  not  affirm), 
still  the  end  of  miracles  is  not  contravened. 
For  those  very  operations  of  evil  spirits  were 
under  the  control  of  divine  providence,  and  were 
made  in  two  ways  to  subserve  the  cause  of  Christ. 
First;  they  furnished  an  occasion,  as  doubtless 
they  were  designed  to  do,  for  Christ  to  show  his 
power  over  evil  spirits,  and,  by  his  superior 
miracles,  to  give  a  new  proof  of  his  Messiahship. 
Secondly  ;  the  evil  spirits  themselves  were  con- 
strained to  give  their  testimony,  that  Jesus  was 
the  Christ,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel. 

As  to  the  time  when  the  miraculous  dispensa- 
tion ceased,  we  can  only  remark,  that  the  power 
of  working  miracles,  Avhich  belonged  pre-emi- 
nently to  Christ  and  his  apostles,  and,  in  inferior 
degrees,  to  many  other  Christians  in  the  apostolic 
age,  subsided  gradually.  After  the  great  object 
of  supernatural  works  was  accomplished  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Christian  religion,  with  all 
its  sacred  truths,  and  its  divinely  appointed  in- 
stitutions, during  the  life  of  Christ  and  his 
apostles,  there  appears  to  have  been  no  further 


occasion  for  miracles,  and  no  satisfactory  evi- 
dence that  they  actually  occurred. 

MIR'IAM  {bitterness),  sister  of  Moses  and 
Aaron,  and  supposed  to  be  the  same  that  watched 
her  infant  brother  when  exposed  on  the  Nile ;  in 
which  case  she  was  probably  ten  or  twelve  years 
old  at  the  time  (Exod.  ii.  4,  sq.).  When  ttie 
Israelites  left  Egypt,  Miriam  naturally  became 
the  leading  woman  among  them.  She  is  called 
'  a  prophetess '  (Exod.  xv.  20).  After  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Red  Sea,  she  led  the  music,  dance, 
and  song,  with  which  the  women  celebrated  their 
deliverance  (Exod.  xv.  20-22).  The  arrival  of 
Moses'  wife  in  the  camp  seems  to  have  created 
in  her  an  unseemly  dread  of  losing  her  influence 
and  position,  and  led  her  into  complaints  of  and 
dangerous  reflections  upon  Moses,  in  which  Aaron 
joined.  For  this  she  was  smitten  with  leprosy, 
and,  although  healed  at  the  intercession  of  Moses, 
was  excluded  for  seven  days  from  the  camp 
(Num.  xii. ;  Deut.  xxiv.  9).  Her  death  took 
place  in  the  first  month  of  the  fortieth  year  after 
the  Exodus,  at  the  encampment  of  Kadesh-barnea 
(Num.  XX.  1),  where  her  sepulchre  was  still  to 
be  seen  in  the  time  of  Eusebius. 

MIRROR  (Exod.  xxxviii.  8;  Job  xxxH.  8). 
In  the  first  of  these  passages  the  mirrors  in  the 
possession  of  the  women  of  the  Israelites,  when 


242.     [Egyptian  Metal  MirroK.] 

they  quitted  Egypt,  are  described  as  being  of 
brass ;  for  '  the  laver  of  brass,  and  the  foot  of  it,' 
are  made  from  them.  In  the  second,  the  rrma- 
ment  is  compared  to  '  a  molten  mirror.'  In  fact, 
all  the  mirrors  used  in  ancient  times  were  of 
metal ;  and  as  those  of  the  Hebrew  women  in 
the  wilderness  were  brought  out  of  Egypt,  they 
were  doubtless  of  the  same  kind  as  those  which 
have  been  found  in  the  tombs  of  that  country, 
and  many  of  which  now  exist  in  our  museums 
and  collections  of  Egyptian  antiquities.  These 
are  of  mixed  metals,  chiefly  copper,  nmst  care- 
fully wrought  and  highly  polished;  and  so  ad- 
mirably did  the  skill  of  the  Egyptians  succeed 
in  the  composition  of  metals,  that  this  fubsfitute 
for  our  modern  looking-glass  was  susceptible  of 
a  lustre  which  has  even  been  partially  revived 
at  the  present  day  in  some  of  those  discovered  at 


588 


MIZPAH 


MOABITES 


Thebes,  though  buried  in  the  earth  for  so  many- 
centuries.  The  mirror  itself  was  nearly  round, 
and  was  inserted  in  a  handle  of  wood,  stone,  or 
metal,  the  form  of  which  varied  according  to  the 
taste  of  the  owner. 

MISH'AEL,  one  of  the  three  companions  of 
Daniel,  who  were  cast  into  the  burning  furnace 
by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  were  miraculously  de- 
livered from  it  (Dan.  iii.  13-30).  The  Chaldsean 
name  was  Meshech  (Dan.  i.  7)» 

MISH'PAT,  a  fountain  in  Kadesh  [see  Ka- 
desh]  . 

MIS'REPHOTH-MA'IM,  a  place  or  district 
dear  Sidon  (Josh.  xi.  8;  xiii.  G).  The  name 
means  '  burnings  of  water,'  which  Kimchi  under- 
stands of  warm  baths ;  but  more  probably  it 
means  burnings  bij  or  beside  the  water — either 
lime-kilns  or  smelting  furnaces  situated  near 
water. 

MITE,  a  small  piece  of  money,  two  of  which 
made  a  quadrans — four  of  the  latter  being  equal 


243.    [Roman  Quadrans.] 


to  the  Roman  as.  The  as  was  of  less  weight  and 
value  in  later  than  in  early  times.  Its  original 
value  was  3  •  4  farthings,  and  afterwards  2\  far- 
things. The  latter  was  its  value  in  the  time  of 
Christ,  and  the  mite  being  one-eighth  of  that 
sum,  was  little  more  than  one-fourth  of  an 
English  farthing.  It  was  the  smallest  coin 
known  to  the  Hebrews  (Luke  xii.  59). 

MITH'CAH,  one  of  the  encampments  of  the 
Israelites  [Wandering]. 

MITYLE'NE,  the  capital  of  the  isle  of  Lesbos, 
in  the  jEgean  Sea,  about  seven  miles  and  a  half 
from  the  opposite  point  on  the  coast  of  Asia  Mi- 
nor. It  was  a  well-built  town,  but  unwholesomely 
situated.  It  was  the  native  place  of  Pittacus, 
Theophanes,  Theophrastus,  Sappho,  Alcaeus,  and 
Diophanes.  St.  Paul  touched  at  Mitylene  in  his 
voyage  from  Corinth  to  Judsea  (Acts  xx.  14). 
It  does  not  appear  that  any  Christian  church  was 
established  at  this  place  in  the  apostolic  age.  No 
mention  is  made  of  it  in  ecclesiastical  history 
until  a  late  period ;  and  in  the  second  century 
heathenism  was  so  rife  in  Mitylene  that  a  man 
was  annually  sacrificed  to  Dionysus.  In  the 
fifth,  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  centuries,  we, 
however,  find  bishops  of  Mitylene  present  at 
several  councils.  Mitylene  still  exists,  and  has 
given  its  name,  in  the  form  of  Mytilni,  to  the 
whole  island ;  but  it  is  now  a  place  of  no  im- 
portance. 

MIZ'PAH.  The  word  signifies  a  watch-tower, 
and  is  the  name  of  several  towns  and  places  in 
lofty  situations,  whether  furnished  with  a  watch- 
tower  or  nnt. 

1.  MIZPAH,  a  town  or  city  in  Gilead  (Judg. 
X.  17;  xi.  11,  34;  Hos.  v.  1).  The  place  origi- 
nated in  the  heap  of  stones  set  up  by  Laban,  and  to 
■which  he  gave  his  name  (Gen.  xxxi.  49).     Some 


confound  this  with  the  Mizpeh  of  Gilead  in 
Judg.  xi.  29  ;  but  it  is  better  to  distinguish  them 
[Mizpeh  3]. 

2.  MIZPAH,  a  city  of  Benjamin,  where  the 
people  were  wont  to  convene  (Josh,  xviii.  26  ; 
Judg.  XX.  1,  3  ;  xxi.  1  ;  1  Sam.  vii.  5-16  ;  x.  17, 
sq. ).  It  was  afterwards  fortified  by  Asa,  to  pro- 
tect the  borders  against  the  kingdom  of  Israel  (1 
Kings  XV.  22 ;  2  Chron.  xvi.  6).  In  later  times 
it  became  the  residence  of  the  governor  under  the 
Chalda?ans  (Jer.  xl.  G,  sq. ;  comp.  Neh.  iii.  7,  15, 
19).  Its  position  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture or  by  Josephus  ;  but  it  could  not  have  been 
far  from  Ramah,  since  king  Asa  fortified  it  with 
materials  taken  from  that  place  ;  and  that  it  was 
situated  on  an  elevated  spot  is  clear  from  its  name. 
Neby  Samwil,  a  poor  village  seated  upon  the 
summit  of  an  elevated  ridge  about  four  and  a  half 
miles  N.N.W.  from  Jerusalem,  is  supposed  to 
correspond  with  the  position  of  Mizpah. 

MIZ'PEH.  This  name  has  the  same  meaning 
and  application  as  Mizpah,  and  is  borne  by  several 
places  mentioned  in  Scripture. 

1.  MIZPEH,  a  town  in  the  plains  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  38).  Eusebius  and  Jerome  identify  it 
with  a  place  which,  in  their  time,  bore  the  name 
of  Mapha,  on  the  borders  of  Eleutheropolis  south- 
ward, on  the  road  to  MWz,  or  Jerusalem. 

2.  MIZPEH,  the  place  more  usually  called 
Mizpah,  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  is  once  called 
Mizpeh  (Josh,  xviii.  26)   [Mizpah  2]. 

3.  MIZPEH  OF  GILEAD,  through  or  by 
which  Jephthah  passed  in  his  pursuit  of  the  Am- 
monites (Judg.  xi.  29).  Some  think  it  the  same 
with  Mizpah  1 ;  and  it  is  possibly  the  same  with 
the  Ramath-mizpeh  of  Josh.  xiii.  26. 

4.  MIZPEH,  a  valley  in  the  region  of  Lebanon 
(Josh.  xi.  8 ;  comp.  xi.  3). 

MIZ'RAIM,  or  land  of  Mizraim,  the  name 
by  which,  in  Scripture,  Egypt  is  generally  desig- 
nated, apparently  from  its  having  been  peopled 
by  Mizraim,  the  son  of  Ham  (Gen.  x.).  This 
ancient  title  is  still  preserved  in  Misr,  the  exist- 
ing Arabic  name  of  the  country  [Egypt]. 

MNA'SON,  an  'old  disciple,'  with  whom  St. 
Paul  lodged  when  at  Jerusalem  in  a.d.  58  (Acts 
xxi.  16).  He  seems  to  have  been  a  native  of 
Cyprus,  but  an  inhabitant  of  Jerusalem,  like 
Joses  and  Barnabas.  Some  think  that  he  was 
converted  by  Paul  and  Barnabas  while  at  Cyprus 
(Acts  xiii.  9) ;  but  the  designation  '  an  old  dis- 
ciple,' has  more  generally  induced  the  conclusion 
that  he  was  converted  by  Jesus  himself,  and  was 
perhaps  one  of  the  seventy. 

MOAB,  son  of  Lot  and  his  eldest  daughter 
(Gen.  xix.  30-38).  He  was  born  about  the  same 
time  with  Isaac,  and  became  the  founder  of  the 
Moabites. 

MO'ABITES,  a  tribe  descended  from  Moab  the 
son  of  Lot,  and  consequently  related  to  the  He- 
brews (Gen.  xix.  37).  Previous  to  the  exodus  of 
the  latter  from  Egypt,  the  former,  after  expelling 
the  original  inhabitants,  called  Emims  (Gen.  xiv. 
5;  Deut.  ii.  11),  had  possessed  themselves  of  the 
region  on  the  east  of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Jordan, 
as  far  north  as  the  river  Jabbok.  But  the  north- 
ern, and  indeed  the  finest  and  best,  portion  of  the 
territory,  viz.  that  extending  from  the  Jabbok  to 
the  Arnon,  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the 
Amorites,  who  founded  there  one  of  their  king- 
doms, with  Heshbon  for  its  capital  (Num.  xxL 


MOABITES 


MOABITES 


26).     Og  had   established  another  at  Bashan.  I  Jabbok,  -svhich  was  wrested  from  the  Moahites  by 
Hence  at  the  time  of  the  exodus  the  valley  and    the  Amorites,  and  afterwards  of  the  territory  pes- 


river  Arnon  constituted  the  northern  boundary  of 
Moab  (Num.  xxi.  13;  Judg.  xi.  18).  As  the 
Hebrews  advanced  in  order  to  take  possession  of 
Canaan,  they  did  not  enter  the  proper  territory  of 
the  Moabites  (Deut.  ii.  0  ;  Judg.  xi.  18),  but  con- 
quered the  kingdom  of  the  Amorites  (a  Canaan- 
itish  tribe),  which  had  formerly  belonged  to 
Moab  ;  whence  the  western  part,  lying  along  the 
Jordan,  frequently  occurs  under  the  name  of 
'plains  of  Moab'  (Deut.  i.  .5;  xxix.  1).  The 
Moabites,  fearing  the  numbers  that  were  march- 
ing around  them,  showed  them  at  least  no  kind- 
ness (Deut.  xxiii.  3)  ;  and  their  king  (Balak) 
hired  Balaam  to  utter  prophetic  curses,  which, 
however,  were  converted  into  blessings  in  his 
mouth  (Num.  xii.  sq.).  The  Gadites  now  took 
possession  of  the  northern  portion  of  this  terri- 
tory, which  the  Amorites  had  wrested  from  the 
Moabites,  and  established  themselves  there  ;  while 
the  Reubeuites  settled  in  the  southern  part  (Num. 
xxxii.  34;  comp.  Josh,  xiii.,  which,  however, 
differs  somewhat  in  the  designation  of  particular 
towns). 

We  see  the  first  hostilities  breaking  out  in  the 
beginning  of  the  period  of  the  Judges,  when  the 
Hebrews  had  been  for  a  long  time  tributary  to  the 
Moabites.  but  threw  off  their  yoke  under  Ehud 
(Judg.  iii.  12-30).  Towards  the  end  of  this  pe- 
riod, however,  peace  and  friendship  were  restored, 
mutual  honours  were  reciprocated  (as  the  history 
of  Ruth  shows),  and  Moab  appears  often  to  have 
afforded  a  place  of  refuge  to  outcasts  and  emi- 
grant Hebrews  (Ruth  i.  1 ;  comp.  1  Sam.  xxii. 
3,  4  ;  Jer.  xl.  11 ;  Isa.  xvi.  2).  After  Saul  had 
waged  successful  war  against  them  (1  Sam.  xiv. 
47),  David  made  them  tributary  (2  Sam.  viii.  2, 
12;  xxiii.  20).  The  right  to  levy  this  tribute 
seems  to  have  been  transferred  to  Israel  after  the 
division  of  the  kingdom;  for  upon  the  death  of 
Ahab  (about  B.C.  896),  they  refused  to  pay  the 
customary  tribute  of  100,000  lambs  and  as  many 
rams  (2  Kings  i.  1  ;  iii.  4;  comp.  Isa.  xvi.  I). 
Jehoram  (b.c.  896),  in  alliance  with  Judah  and 
Edom,  sought  indeed  to  bring  them  back  to  their 
subjection.  The  invading  army,  after  having 
been  preserved  from  perishing  by  thirst  through 
the  intervention  of  Elisha,  defeated  the  Moabites 
and  ravaged  the  country ;  but,  through  the  strange 
conduct  of  the  king,  in  offering  up  in  sacrifice 
his  son  [Mesha],  were  induced  to  retire  without 
completing  the  object  of  the  expedition.  The 
Moabites  deeply  resented  the  part  which  the  king 
of  Judah  took  in  this  invasion,  and  formed  a 
powerful  confederacy  with  the  Ammonites,  Edom- 
ites,  and  others,  who  marched  in  great  force  into 
Judaea,  and  formed  their  camp  at  Engedi,  where 
they  fell  out  among  themselves  and  destroyed 
each  other,  through  the  special  interposition  of 
Providence  in  favour  of  Jehoshaphat  and  his 
people  (2  Kings  iii.  4,  sq. ;  comp.  2  Chron.  xx. 
1-30)  [Elisha  ;  Jehokam  ;  Jehoshaphat]. 
Under  Jehoash  (b.c.  849)  we  see  them  undertake 
incursions  into  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  carry 
on  offensive  war  against  it  (2  Kings  xiii.  20). 

Though  the  subsequent  history  of  Israel  often 
mentions  the  Moaliites,  yet  it  is  silent  respecting 
a  circumstance  which,  in  relation  to  one  passage, 
is  of  the  greatest  importance,  namely,  the  re-con- 
quest of  the  territory  between  the  Arnon  and  the 


sessed  by  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad.  This 
territory  in  general  we  see.  according  to  Isa.  xvi., 
in  the  possession  of  the  Moabites  again.  Even 
Selah,  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Edomites,  seems 
likewise,  from  Isa.  xvi.  1,  to  have  belonged  to 
them,  at  least  for  a  time.  The  most  natural  sup- 
position is,  that,  after  the  carrying  away  of  those 
tribes  into  captivity,  the  Moabites  occupied  their 
territory;  as  it  is  expressly  stated  (Jer.  xlix.  1-5) 
that  the  Amorites  intruded  tl\eniselves  into  the 
territory  of  the  captive  Gadites,  as  the  Edomites 
did  in  respect  to  the  Jews  at  a  later  period. 

Still  later,  under  Nebuchadnezzar,  we  see  the 
Moabites  acting  as  the  auxiliaries  of  the  Chal- 
daeans  (2  Kings  xxiv.  2),  and  beholding  with 
malicious  satisfaction  the  destruction  of  a  kindred 
people  (Ezek.  xxv.  8-11);  yet,  according  to  an 
account  in  Josephus  {Antiq.  x.  9.  7),  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, when  on  his  way  to  Egypt,  made  war 
upon  them,  and  subdued  them,  together  with  the 
Ammonites,  five  years  after  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem. 

That  continual  wars  and  contentions  must  have 
created  a  feeling  of  national  hostility  between  the 
Hebrews  and  the  Moabites,  may  be  readily  con- 
ceived. This  feeling  manifested  itself  on  the  part 
of  the  Hebrews,  sometimes  in  bitter  proverbs, 
sometimes  in  the  denunciations  of  the  prophets  ; 
on  the  part  of  the  Moabites  in  proud  boastings 
and  expressions  of  contempt  (Isa.  xvi.  6). 

Among  the  prophecies,  however,  that  of  Balaam 
(Num.  xxii.-xxiv.)  is  above  all  remarkable,  in 
which  this  ancient  prophet  (who  withal  was  not 
an  Israelite),  hired  by  ISIoab  to  curse,  is  impelled 
by  the  Divine  Spirit  to  t/e.ss  Israel,  and  to  an- 
nounce the  future  destruction  of  Moab  by  a 
mighty  hero  in  Israel  (Num.  xxiv.  17).  The 
destruction  of  the  J.Ioabites  for  their  scorn  and 
contempt  of  Israel  is  predicted  by  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Amos,  and  Zephaniah. 

After  the  exile  an  intimate  connection  between 
the  two  nations  had  found  place  by  means  of 
intermarriages  (Ezra  ix.  1,  sq. ;  Neh.  xiii.  1), 
which,  however,  were  dissolved  by  the  theocratic 
zeal  of  Ezra.  The  last  (chronologically)  notice 
of  the  Moabites  which  occurs  in  Scripture  is  in 
Dan.  xi.  41,  which  contains  an  obscure  intimation 
of  the  escape  of  the  Moabites  from  the  overthrow 
with  which  neighbouring  countries  would  be 
visited  {Antiq.  xiii.  15).  Thenceforth  their 
name  is  lost  under  that  of  the  Arabians,  as  was 
also  the  case  with  Ammon  and  Edom.  Until  of 
late  the  accounts  of  the  territory  of  Moab  are  un- 
commonly meagre,  but  within  these  few  years  it 
has  been  explored  by  various  travellers,  who 
have  shed  a  new  light  on  the  topography  of  this 
region. 

From  their  researches  we  learn  that  in  the 
land  of  Moab,  which  lay  to  the  east  and  south- 
east of  Judaea,  and  which  bordered  on  tlie  east, 
north-east,  and  partly  on  the  south  of  the  Desd 
Sea,  the  soil  is  rather  more  diversified  than  that 
of  Ammon  ;  and,  where  the  desert  and  plains  of 
salt  have  not  encroached  upon  its  borders,  of 
equal  fertility.  There  are  manifest  and  abundant 
signs  of  its  ancient  importance.  The  whole  of  the 
plains  are  covered  with  the  sites  of  towns  on  every 
eminence  or  spot  convenient  for  the  construction 
of  one ;  and  as  the  land  is  capable  of  rich  culti« 


590 


MOLOCH 


vation,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  country,  now 
so  deserted,  once  presented  a  continued  picture  of 
plenty  and  fertility.  The  form  of  fields  is  still 
visible,  and  there  are  remains  of  Roman  highways 
which  are  in  some  places  completely  paved,  '  and 
on  which  there  are  milestones  of  the  times  of 
Trajan,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and  Severus,  with  the 
numbers  of  the  miles  legible  upon  them.  Wher- 
ever any  spot  is  cultivated  the  corn  is  luxuriant ; 
and  the  frequency  and  almost,  in  many  instances, 
the  close  vicinity  of  the  sites  of  ancient  towns, 

I  prove  that  the  population  of  the  country  was  for- 
merly proportioned  to  its  fertility.     It  was  in  its 

I  state  of  highest  prosperity  that  the  prophets  fore- 
told that  the  cities  of  Moab  should  become  deso- 
late, without  any  to  dwell  in  them ;  and  accord- 
ingly we  find,  that  although  the  sites,  ruins,  and 
names  of  many  ancient  cities  of  Moab  can   be 

I  traced,  not  one  of  them  exists  at  the  present  day 
as  tenanted  by  man.  The  argument  for  the  in- 
spiration of  the  sacred  records  deducible  from 
this,  among  other  facts  of  the  same  kind,  is  pro- 
duced with  considerable  force  by  Dr.  Keith  in 
his  work  on  Prophecy. 

MOLE  {choled,  Lev.  xi.  29,  in  our  version 
'weasel').  Altliough  the  similarity  of  sound  in 
names  is  an  unsafe  ground  to  depend  upon  vfhen 
it  is  applied  to  specific  animals,  still,  the  Hebrew 
and  Syriac  appearing  likewise  to  imply  creeping 
into,  creeping  underneath  by  burrowing — charac- 
teristics most  obvious  in  moles — and  the  Arabic 
denomination  being  undoubted,  choled  may  be 
assumed  to  indicate  the  above  animal.  This  con- 
clusion is  the  more  to  be  relied  on  as  the  animal 
is  rather  common  in  Syria,  and  in  some  pla-ces 
abundant.  Zoologists  have  considered  the  par- 
ticular species  to  be  the  Talpa  Europcea,  which, 
under  the  name  of  the  common  mole,  is  so  well 
known  as  not  to  require  a  more  particular  de- 
scription. The  ancients  represented  the  mole  to 
have  no  eyes:  which  assertion  later  scientific 
writers  believed  they  had  disproved  by  showing 
our  species  to  be  possessed  of  these  organs,  though 
exceedingly  small.  Nevertheless,  recent  observa- 
tions have  proved  that  a  species,  in  other  respects 
scarcely,  if  at  all,  to  be  distinguished  from  the 
common,  is  totally  destitute  of  eyes.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  Italy,  and  probably  extends  to  the  East, 
instead  of  the  Europaa.  Moles  must  not,  how- 
ever, be  considered  as  forming  a  part  of  the 
Rodent  order,  whereof  all  the  families  and  genera 
are  provided  with  strong  incisor  teeth,  like  rats 
and  squirrels,  and  therefore  intended  for  subsist- 
ing chiefly  on  grain  and  nuts :  they  are  on  the 
contrary  supplied  with  a  great  number  of  small 
teeth,  to  the  extent  of  twenty-two  in  each  jaw — 
indicating  a  partial  regimen  ;  for  they  feed  on 
worms,  larvae,  and  under-ground  insects,  as  well 
as  on  roots,  and  thus  belong  to  the  insectivorous 
order  :  which  brings  the  application  of  the  name 
somewhat  nearer  to  carnivora  and  its  received 
interpretation  '  weasel.' 

MO'LOCH,  or  rather  MoLECH.is  chiefly  found 
in  the  Old  Testament  as  the  national  god  of  the 
Ammonites,  to  whom  children  were  sacrificed  by 
fire.  There  is  some  difficulty  in  ascertaining  at 
what  period  the  Israelites  became  acquainted  with 
this  idolatry ;  yet  various  reasons  render  it  pro- 
bable that  it  was  before  the  time  of  Solomon,  the 
date  usually  assigned  for  its  introduction.  Never- 
theless, it  is  for  the  first  time  directly  stated  that 


MONEY 

Solomon  erected  a  high-place  for  Moleoh  on  the 
Mount  of  Olives  (1  Kings  xi.  7) ;  and  from  that 
period  his  worship  continued  uninterruptedly 
there,  or  in  Tophet,  in  the  valley  of  Hinnom, 
until  Josiah  defiled  both  places  ( 2  Kings  xxiii. 
10,  13).  Jehoahaz,  however,  the  son  and  suc- 
cessor of  Josiah,  again  '  did  what  was  evil  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah,  according  to  all  that  his  fathers 
had  done  '  (.2  Kings  xxiii.  32).  The  same  broad 
condemnation  is  made  against  the  succeeding 
kings,  Jehoiakim,  Jehoiacliin,  and  Zedekiah; 
and  Ezekiel,  writing  during  the  captivity,  says, 
'  Do  you,  by  offering  your  gifts,  and  by  making 
your  sons  pass  through  the  fire,  pollute  yourselves 
with  all  your  idols  until  this  daij,  and  shall  I  be 
enquired  of  by  you?'  (xx.  31).  After  the  resto- 
ration, all  traces  of  this  idolatry  disappear. 

It  has  Iteen  attempted  to  explain  the  terms  in 
which  the  act  of  sacrificing  children  is  described 
in  the  Old  Testament  so  as  to  make  them  mean  a 
mere  passing  between  two  fires,  without  any  risk 
of  life,  for  the  purpose  of  purification.  This 
theory — which  owes  its  origin  to  a  desire  in  some 
Rabbins  to  lessen  the  mass  of  evidence  which 
their  own  history  offers  of  the  perverse  idolatries 
of  the  Jews — is  effectually  declared  untenable  by 
such  passages  as  Ps.  cvi.  38  ;  Jer.  vii.  31  ;  Ezek. 
xvi.  20 ;  xxiii.  37 ;  the  last  two  of  which  may 
also  be  adduced  to  show  that  the  victims  were 
slaughtered  before  they  were  burnt. 

MONEY.  This  term  is  used  to  denote  what- 
ever commodity  the  inhabitants  of  any  country 
may  have  agreed  or  are  compelled  to  receive  as 
an  equivalent  for  their  labour,  and  in  exchange 
for  other  commodities. 

Different  commodities  have  been  used  as  money 
in  the  primitive  state  of  society  in  all  countries, 
such  as  skins,  cattle,  corn,  dried  fish,  sugar,  and 
salt.  A  long  period  of  time  must  have  intervened 
between  the  first  introduction  of  the  precious  me- 
tals into  commerce,  and  their  becoming  generally 
used  as  money.  The  peculiar  qualities  which  so 
eminently  fit  them  for  this  purpose  would  only  be 
gradually  discovered.  They  would  probably  be 
first  introduced  in  their  gross  and  unpurified  state. 
A  sheep,  an  ox,  a  certain  quantity  of  corn,  or  any 
other  article,  would  afterwards  be  bartered  or  ex- 
changed for  pieces  of  gold  or  silver  in  bars  or 
ingots,  in  the  same  way  as  they  would  formerly 
have  been  exchanged  for  iron,  copper,  cloth,  or 
anything  else.  The  merchants  would  soon  begin 
to  estimate  their  proper  value,  and,  in  effecting 
exchanges,  would  first  agree  upon  the  quality  of 
the  metal  to  be  given,  and  then  the  quantity 
which  its  possessor  had  become  bound  to  pay 
would  be  ascertained  by  weight.  This,  according 
to  Aristotle  and  Pliny,  was  the  manner  in  which 
the  precious  metals  were  originally  exchanged 
in  Greece  and  Italy.  The  same  practice  is  still 
observed  in  different  countries.  In  many  parts 
of  China  and  Abyssinia  the  value  of  gold  and 
silver  is  always  ascertained  by  weight.  Iron  was 
the  first  money  of  the  Lacedscmonians,  and  copper 
of  the  Romans. 

In  the  sacred  writings  there  is  frequent  men- 
tion of  gold,  silver,  and  brass,  sums  of  money, 
purchases  made  with  money,  current  money,  and 
money  of  a  certain  weight.  Indeed,  the  money  of 
Scripture  is  all  estimated  by  weight.  '  Abraham 
weighed  to  Ephron  the  silver  which  he  had  named 
in  the  audience  of  the  sons  of  Heth,  four  hundred 


MONEY 


MOON 


591 


shekels  of  silver,  current  money  with  the  mer- 
chant' (Gen.  xxiii.  19).  The  brethren  of  Joseph 
carried  back  into  Egypt  the  money  '  in  full 
•weight'  which  they  had  found  in  their  sacks 
(Gen.  xliii.  21).     (See  also  Gen.  xxiv.  22;  Jer. 


IS  considered  to  be  the  first  mention  of  Hebrew 
money,  properly  so  called.  It  consisted  of  shekels 
and  demi-shekels,  the  third  part  of  a  shekel,  and 
the  quarter  of  a  shekel,  of  silver. 

From  the  time  of  Julius  Ciesar,  who  first  struck 


xxxii.  9;  Amos  viii.  .5  ;  Deut.  xxv.  13).  It  was  I  a  living  portiait  on  his  coins,  the  IJoman  coins 
customary  for  the  Jews  to  have  scales  attached  to  !  rmi  in  a  continued  succession  of  so-called  Casars, 
their  girdles  for  weighing  the  gold  and  silver  they  j  their  queens  and  crown-princes,  from  about  B.C. 
received  ;  but  the  Canaanites  carried  them  in  their  I  48  down  to  Romulus  Augustulus,  emperor  of 
hands.  i  the  West,  who  was  dethroned  by  Odoacer  about 

There  is  no  direct  allusion  in  the  sacred  a.d.  475. 
writings  to  coined  money  as  belonging  to  the  After  its  subjugation  by  Rome  umch  foreign 
Jewish  nation.  In  Gen.  xxxiii.  19,  Jacob  is  said  ,  money  found  its  way  into  the  land  of  Judaja. 
to  have  bought  a  part  of  a  field  '  for  an  hundred  i  The  piece  of  tribute  money,  or  coin  mentioned  in 
pieces  of  money  ;'  and  the  friends  of  Job  are  said  i  Luke  xx.  24,  as  presented  to  our  Saviour,  bore  the 
to  have  given  him  each  '  a  piece  of  money'  (Job  i  image  and  superscription  of  the  Roman  emperor, 
xlii.  1 1).  The  term  in  the  original  is  kesiioth,and  1  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  a  large  quantity 
is  by  some  thought  to  denote  '  sheep '  or  '  lamb ;'  1  of  Roman  coins  was  at  that  time  in  circulation 
by  others  a  kind  of  money  having  the  impression  j  throughout  Judsca. 

of  a  sheep  or  lamb  ;  and  by  others  again  a  purse  I  MONEY  CHANGERS.  It  is  mentioned  by 
of  money.  The  most  correct  translation  may  be  Volney  that  in  Syria,  Egypt,  and  Turkey,  when 
presumed  to  be  that  which  favours  the  idea  of  a  i  any  considerable  payments  are  to  be  made,  an 
piece  of  money  bearing  some  stamp  or  mark  agent  of  exchange  is  sent  for,  who  counts  paras 
indicating  that  it  was  of  the  value  of  a  sheep  or  by  thousands,  rejects  pieces  of  false  money,  and 
lamb.  Maurice,  in  his  Antiquities  cf  India  (vol.  1  weighs  all  the  sequins  either  separately  or  toge- 
vii.),  bears  testimony  to  the  fact  that  the  earliest  1  ther.  It  has  hence  been  suggested  that  the  '  cur- 
coins  were  stamped  with  the  figure  of  an  ox  or  j  rent  money  with  the  merchant,'  mentioned  in 
sheep.  In  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  specimen 
of  the  original  Roman  As,  the  surface  of  which  is 
nearly  the  size  of  a  brick,  with  the  figure  of  a  bull 
impressed  upon  it.  Other  devices  would  suggest 
themselves  to  difi"ereut  nations  as  arising  out  of, 
or  connected  with,  particular  places  or  circum- 
stances, as  the  Babylonish  lion,  iEgina's  tortoise, 
Boeotia's  shield,  the  lyre  of  Mitylene,  the  wheat 
of  Metapontum.  Religion  would  also  at  an  early 
period  claim  to  be  distinguished,  and  accordingly 
the  effigies  of  Juno,  Diana,  Ceres,  Jove,  Hercules, 
Apollo,  Bacchus,  Pluto,  Neptune,  and  many  other 
of  the  heathen  deities  are  found  impressed  upon 
the  early  coins.  The  Jews,  however,  were  the 
worshippers  of  the  one  only  true  God ;  idolatry 
was  strictly  forbidden  in  their  law  ;  and  there- 
fore their  shekel  never  bore  a  head,  but  was 
impressed  simply  with  the  almond  rod  and  the 
pot  of  manna. 


The  first  Roman  coinage  took  place,  according 
to  Pliny  (Hist.  Nat.  xxxiii.  3),  in  the  reign  of 
Servius  Tullius,  about  .550  years  before  Christ ; 
but  it  was  not  until  Alexander  of  Macedon  had 
subdued  the  Persian  monarchy,  and  Julius  Csesar 
had  consolidated  the  Roman  empire,  that  the 
image  of  a  living  ruler  was  permitted  to  be 
stamped  upon  the  coins.  Previous  to  that  period 
heroes  and  deities  alone  gave  currency  to  the 
money  of  imperial  Rome. 

Antiochus  Sidetes,  king  of  Syria,  is  represented 
to  have  granted  to  Simon  Maccabaeus  the  privilege 
of  coining  money  in  Judsea  (1  Mace.  xv.  6).  This 


Scripture  (Gen.  xxiii.  16),  might  have  been  such 
as  was  approved  of  by  competent  judges  whose 
business  it  was  to  detect  fraudulent  money  if 
offered  in  payment.  It  appears  that  there  were 
bankers  or  money-changers  in  Judsea,  who  made 
a  trade  of  receiving  money  in  deposit  and  paying 
interest  for  it  (Matt.  xxv.  27).  Some  of  them 
had  even  established  themselves  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  (xxi.  1 2),  where 
they  were  in  the  practice  of  exchanging  one  spe- 
cies of  money  for  another.  Persons  who  came 
from  a  distance  to  worship  at  Jerusalem  would 
naturally  bring  with  them  the  money  current  in 
their  respective  districts,  and  it  might  therefore 
be  a  matter  of  convenience  for  them  to  get  this 
money  exchanged  at  tlie  door  of  the  temple  for 
that  which  was  current  in  Jerusalem,  and  upon 
their  departure  to  receive  again  that  species  of 
money  which  circulated  in  the  districts  to  which 
they  -were  journeying.  These  money-changers 
would,  of  course,  charge  a  commission  upon  all 
their  transactions,  but  from  the  observation  of 
our  Saviour,  when  he  overthrew  the  tables  of 
those  in  the  temple,  it  may  be  inferred  that  they 
were  not  distinguished  for  honesty  and  fair  deal- 
ing :  '  It  is  written,  my  house  shall  be  called  the 
house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of 
thieves'  (ver.  13). 

MOON.  The  worship  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
was  among  the  earliest  corruptions  of  religion, 
which  would  naturally  take  its  rise  in  the  eastern 
parts  of  the  world,  where  the  atmosphere  is  pure 
and  transparent,  and  the  heavens  as  bright  as 
they  are  glowing.  In  these  countries  the  moon 
is  of  exceeding  beauty.  If  the  sun  'rules  the 
day,'  the  moon'has  the  throne  of  night,  which,  if 
less  gorgeous  than  that  of  the  sun,  is  more  at- 
tractive, because  of  a  less  oppressively  brilliant  . 
light,  while  her  retinue  of  surrounding  stars  seems 
to  give  a  sort  of  truth  to  her  regal  state,  and  cer- 
tainly adds  not  inconsiderably  to  her  beauty. 
The  moon  was  therefore  worshipped  as  a  goddess 
in  the  East  at  a  verj'  early  period  ;  in  India  un- 
der the  name  of  Maja ;  amonjf  the  Assj.  rians  at 


692 


MORDECAI 


Mylitta;  with  the  Phojnicians  she  -was  termed 
Astarte  or  Asliteroth,  who  was  also  denominated 
the  Syrian  mother.  The  Greeks  and  Romans 
worshipped  her  as  Artemis  and  Diana.  Job 
(xxxi.  26)  alludes  to  the  power  of  the  moon  over 
the  human  soul :  '  If  I  beheld  the  sun  when  it 
shined,  or  the  moon  walking  in  brightness,  and 
my  heart  hath  been  secretly  enticed,  or  my  mouth 
hath  kissed  my  hand  :  this  also  were  an  iniquity, 
for  I  should  have  denied  the  God  that  is  above.' 
The  moon,  as  being  mistress  of  the  night,  may 
well  have  been  considered  as  the  lesser  of  the  two 
great  lights  of  heaven  (Gen.  i.  16).  It  was  ac- 
cordingly regarded  in  the  old  Syrian  superstition 
as  subject  to  the  sun's  influence,  which  was  wor- 
shipped as  the  active  and  generative  power  of 
nature,  while  the  moon  was  reverenced  as  the 
passive  and  producing  power.  The  moon,  ac 
cordingly,  was  looked  upon  as  feminine.  Herein 
Oriental  usage  agrees  with  our  own.  But  this 
usage  was  by  no  means  universal. 

The  epithet  '  queen  of  heaven '  appears  to  have 
been  very  common.  Nor  was  it,  any  more  than 
the  worship  of  the  moon,  unknown  to  the  Jews, 
as  may  be  seen  in  a  remarkable  passage  in  Jere- 
miah (xliv.  17),  where  the  Israelites  (men  and 
women,  the  latter  exert  most  influence)  appear 
given  over  to  this  species  of  idolatry :  '  We  will 
certainly  burn  incense  to  the  queen  of  heaven,  and 
pour  out  drink-offerings  unto  her,  as  we  have 
done,  we  and  our  fathers  ;  for  then  had  we  plenty 
of  victuals,  and  were  well,  and  saw  no  evil.  But 
since  we  left  off  to  burn  incense  to  the  queen  of 
heaven,  we  have  wanted  all  things.'  The  last 
verse  of  the  passage  adds  to  the  burnt-offerings 
and  drink-offerings,  '  cakes  to  worship  her.' 
Vows  were  also  made  by  the  Jews  to  the  moon, 
which  superstition  required  to  be  fulfilled  (ver. 
25). 

The  baneful  influence  of  the  moon  still  finds 
credence  in  the  East.  Moonlight  is  held  to  be 
detrimental  to  the  eyes.  In  Ps.  cxxi.  6  we  read, 
'  The  sun  shall  not  smite  thee  by  day,  nor  the 
moon  by  night ;'  so  that  the  impression  that  the 
moon  may  do  injury  to  man  is  neither  partial  nor 
vague.  Rosenmiiller  refers  this  to  the  cold  of 
night,  which,  he  says,  is  very  great  and  sensible 
in  the  East,  owing,  partly,  to  the  great  heat  of 
the  day.  If  this  extreme  (comparative)  cold  is 
considered  in  connection  with  the  Oriental  custom 
of  sleeping  out  of  doors,  on  the  flat  roofs  of 
houses,  or  even  on  the  ground,  without  in  all 
cases  sufficient  precautionary  measures  for  pro- 
tecting the  frame,  we  see  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing whence  arose  the  evil  influence  ascribed 
to  the  moon. 

MOON,  NEW.  [Festivals.] 
MOH'DECaI  (supposed  to  come  from  the 
Persian  wjrd  s\gjnfy\ng  little  man,  maniiikin  :  or, 
according  to  others,  from  the  idol  Merodach,  thus 
signifying  a  votar;/  of  Merodach.  The  last  sup- 
position is  not  unlikely,  seeing  that  Daniel  had 
the  Chaldsnan  name  of  Belshazzar),  son  of  Jair, 
of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  descended  from  one  of 
the  capt'rves  transported  to  Babylon  with  Jehoia- 
chin  lEsth.  ii.  ."i).  He  was  resident  at  Susa,  then 
the  metropolis  of  the  Persian  empire,  and  had 
under  his  care  his  niece  Hadessa,  otherwise 
Esther,  at  the  time  when  the  fairest  damsels  of 
the  land  were  gathered  together,  that  from  among 
them  a  fitting  successor  to  queen  Vashti  might  be 


MORDECAI 

selected  for  king  Ahasuems.    Among  them  was 
Esther,  and  on  her  the  choice  fell ;  while,  by 
what  management  we  know  not,  her  relationship    ! 
to  Mordecai,  and  her  Jewish  descent,  remained    ( 
unknown  at  the  palace.     The  uncle  lost  none  of    ' 
his  influence  over  the   niece  by  her  elevation,    J 
although  the  seclusion  of  the  royal  harem  ex-    i 
eluded   him  from   direct  intercourse   with   her.    [ 
He  seems  to  have  held  some   office  about   the 
court ;  for  we  find  him  in  daily  attendance  there,    i 
and  it  appears  to  have  been  through  this  employ-    ! 
meut  that  he  became  privy  to  a  plot  of  two  of  the    ! 
chamberlains  against  the  life  of  the  king,  which    j 
through  Esther  he  made  known  to  the  monarch,    i 
This  great  service  was  however  suffered  to  pass    ' 
without   reward   at   the    time.     On   the  rise   of    j 
Haman  to  power  at  court.  Mordecai  alone,  of  all 
the  nobles  and  officers  who  crowded  the  royal 
gates,  refused  to  manifest  the  customary  signs  of 
homage  to  the  royal  favourite.     It  would  be  too 
much   to   attribute   this  to  an  independence   of 
spirit,  which,  however  usual  in  Europe,  is  un- 
known in  Eastern  courts.     Haman  was  an  Ama- 
lekite;  and  Mordecai  brooked  not  to  bow  himself 
down  before  one  of  a  nation   which    from   the 
earliest  times  had  been  the  most  devoted  enemies 
of  the  Jewish  people.     The  Orientals  are  tena- 
cious  of  the  outward  marks  of  respect,  which 
they  hold  to  be  due  to  the  position  they  occupy  ; 
and  the  erect  mien  of  Mordecai  among  the  bend- 
ing courtiers  escaped  not  the  keen  eye  of  Haman. 
He  noticed  it,  and  brooded  over  it  from  day  to 
day :  he  knew  well  the  class  of  feelings  in  which 
it  originated,  and — remembering  the  eternal  en- 
mity vowed  by  the  Israelites  against  his  people, 
and  how  often  their  conquering  sword  had  all 
but  swept  his  nation  from  the  face  of  the  earth — 
he  vowed  by  one  great  stroke  to  exterminate  the 
Hebrew  nation,  the  fate  of  which  he  believed  to 
be  in  his  hands.     The  temptation  was  great,  and 
to  his  ill-reghlated  mind  irresistible.     He  there- 
fore procured  the  well-known  and  bloody  decree 
from  the  king  for  the  massacre  of  all  the  Israel- 
ites in  the  empire  in  one  day.     When  this  decree 
became  known  to  Mordecai,  he  covered  himself 
with  sackcloth  and  ashes,  and  rent  the  air  with 
his   cries.      This  being  made  known  to  Esther 
through  the  servants   of  the   harem,  who  now 
knew  of  their  relationship,  she  sent  Hatach,  one 
of  the  royal  eunuchs,  to  demand  the  cause  of  his 
grief:  through  that  faithful  servant  he  made  the 
facts  known  to  her,  urged  upon  her  the  duty  of 
delivering  her  people,  and  encouraged  her  to  risk 
the  consequences  of  the  attempt.     She  was  found 
equal  to  the  occasion.     She  risked  her  life  bj' 
entering  the  royal  presence  uncalled,  and  having 
by  discreet  management  procured  a  favourable 
opportunity,  accused  Haman  to  the  king  of  plot- 
ting to  destroy  her  and  her  people.     His  doom 
was  seali^d  on  this  occasion  by  the  means  which 
in  his  agitation  he  took  to  avert  it ;  and  when 
one  of  the  eunuchs  present  intimated  that  this 
man  had  prepared  a  gallows  fifty  cubits  high  on 
which  to  hang  Mordecai,  the  king  at  once  said, 
'  Hang  him  thereon.'     This  was,  in  fact,  a  great 
aggravation  of  his  offence,  for  the  previous  night, 
the  king,  being  unable  to  sleep,  had  commanded 
the  records  of  his  reign  to  be  read  to  him ;  and 
the  reader  had  providentially  turned  to  the  part 
recording  the  conspiracy  which  had  been  frus- 
trated through  Mordecai,    The  king  asked  what 


MOSES 


MOSES 


had  been  the  reward  of  this  mighty  service,  and 
being  answered  '  Nothing,'  he  commanded  that 
any  one  who  happened  to  be  in  attendance  with- 
out, sliould  be  called.  Haman  was  there,  having 
come  for  the  very  purpose  of  asking  the  king's 
leave  to  hang  Mordecai  upon  the  gallows  he  had 
prepared,  and  was  asked  what  should  be  done  to 
the  man  whom  the  king  delighted  to  honour  ? 
Thiukiu^  that  the  king  could  delight  to  honour 
no  one  but  himself,  he  named  the  highest  and 
most  public  honours  he  could  conceive,  and  re- 
ceived from  the  monarch  the  astounding  answer, 
'  Make  haste,  and  do  even  so  to  Mordecai  that 
sitteth  in  the  king's  gate  !'  Then  was  Haman 
constrained,  without  a  word,  and  -witli  seeming 
cheerfulness,  to  repair  to  the  man  whom  he  hated 
beyond  all  the  world,  to  invest  him  with  the 
royal  robes,  and  to  conduct  him  in  magnificent 
cavalcade  through  the  city,  proclaiming,  '  Thus 
shall  it  be  done  to  the  man  whom  the  king  de- 
lighteth  to  honour.'  After  this  it  may  seem  that 
it  was  a  strong  sense  of  the  fitness  of  the  case  for 
the  literal  application  of  the  lex  talionis,  that 
induced  the  king,  when  he  heard  of  the  gallows 
prepared  for  Mordecai,  to  command  that  Hanma 
himself  should  be  hanged  thereon. 

Mordecai  was  invested  with  power  greater 
than  that  which  Haman  had  lost,  and  the  first 
use  he  made  of  it  was,  as  far  as  possible,  to 
neutralize  or  counteract  the  decree  obtained  by 
him.  It  could  not  be  recalled,  as  the  kings  of 
Persia  had  no  power  to  rescind  a  decree  once 
issued  ;  but  as  the  altered  wish  of  the  court  was 
known,  and  as  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  stand 
on  their  defence,  they  were  preserved  from  the 
intended  destruction,  although  much  blood  was, 
on  the  appointed  day,  shed  even  in  the  royal  city. 
The  Feast  of  Purim  was  instituted  in  memory  of 
this  deliverance,  and  is  celebrated  to  this  dav 
(Esth.  ii.  .5  ;  x.)  [Purim]. 

A  Mordecai,  who  returned  from  the  exile  with 
Zerubbabel,  is  mentioned  in  Ezra  ii.  2,  and  Neh. 
vii.  7 ;  but  this  cannot  well  have  been  the  Mor- 
decai of  Esther,  as  some  have  supposed. 

MORI'AH,  one  of  the  hills  of  Jerusalem,  on 
which  the  temple  was  built  by  Solomon  (2  Chroii. 
iii.  1).  The  name  seldom  occurs,  being  usually 
included  in  that  of  Zion,  to  the  north-east  of 
which  it  lay,  and  from  which  it  was  separated  by 
the  valley  of  Tyropoeon  (Joseph.  Antiq.  viii.  3-9) 
[Jerusalem].  The  Land  of  Moriah,  whither 
Abraham  went  to  offer  up  Isaac  (Gen.  xxii.  2), 
is  generally  supposed  to  denote  the  same  place, 
and  may  at  least  be  conceived  to  describe  the 
surrounding  district.  The  Jews  themselves 
believe  that  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings  in  the 
temple  stood  upon  the  very  site  of  the  altar  on 
which  the  patriarch  purposed  to  sacrifice  his 
son. 

MOSE'RAH,  MOSEROTH,  a  station  of  the 
Israelites  near  Mount  Hor  (Num.  xxxiii.  30) 
[Wandering]. 

MO'SES,  the  lawgiver  of  Israel,  belonged  to 
the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  was  a  son  of  Amram  and 
Jochebed  (Exod.  vi.  20).  According  to  Exod. 
ii.  10,  the  name  means  drawn  out  of  water,  and  is 
therefore  a  significant  memorial  of  the  marvel- 
lous preservation  of  Moses  when  an  infant,  iu 
spite  of  those  Pharaonic  edicts  which  were  pro- 
mulgated in  order  to  lessen  the  number  of  the 
Israelites.     It  was  the  intention  of  divine  pro- 


vidence that  the  great  and  wonderful  destiny  of 
the  child  should  be  from  the  first  apparent :  and 
what  the  I^ord  had  done  for  Moses  he  intended 
also  to  accomplish  for  the  whole  nation  of  Israel. 

It  was  an  important  event  that  the  infant 
Moses,  having  been  exposed  near  the  banks  of 
the  Nile,  was  found  there  by  an  Egyptian  prin- 
cess ;  and  that,  having  been  adopted  by  her,  he 
thus  obtained  an  education  at  the  royal  court 
(Exod.  ii.  1-10).  Having  been  taught  all  the 
wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  (Acts  vii.  22 ;  comp. 
Joseph.  Antiq.  ii.  9.  7),  the  natural  gifts  of 
Moses  were  fully  developed,  and  he  thus  became 
in  many  respects  better  prepared  for  his  future 
vocation. 

After  Moses  had  grown  up,  he  returned  to  his 
brethren,  and,  in  spite  of  the  degraded  state  of 
his  people,  manifested  a  sincere  attachment  to 
them.  He  felt  deep  compassion  for  their  suffer- 
ings, and  showed  his  indignation  against  their 
oppressors  by  slaying  an  Egyptian  whom  he  saw 
ill  treating  an  Israelite.  This  doubtful  act  be- 
came by  Divine  Providence  a  means  of  advancing 
him  further  in  his  preparation  for  his  future 
vocation,  by  inducing  him  to  escape  into  the 
Arabian  desert,  where  he  abode  for  a  considerable 
period  with  the  Midianitish  prince,  Jethro,  whose 
daughter  Zipporah  he  married  (Exod.  ii.  11,  sq.). 
Here,  in  the  solitude  of  pastoral  life,  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  ripen  gradually  for  his  high  calling, 
before  he  was  unexpectedly  and  suddenly  sent 
back  among  his  people,  in  order  to  achieve  their 
deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage. 

His  entry  upon  this  vocation  was  not  in  con- 
sequence of  a  mere  natural  resolution  of  Moses, 
whose  constitutional  timidity  and  want  of  courage 
rendered  him  disinclined  for  such  an  under- 
taking. An  extraordinary  divine  operation  was 
required  to  overcome  his  disinclination.  On 
Mount  Horeb  he  saw  a  burning  thorn-bush,  in 
the  flame  of  which  he  recognised  a  sign  of  the 
immediate  presence  of  Deity,  and  a  divine  ad- 
monition induced  him  to  resolve  upon  the  deliver- 
ance of  his  people.  He  returned  into  Egypt, 
where  neither  the  dispirited  state  of  the  Israelites, 
nor  the  obstinate  opposition  and  threatenings  of 
Pharaoh,  were  now  able  to  shake  the  man  of 
God. 

Supported  by  his  brother  Aaron,  and  commis- 
sioned by  God  as  his  chosen  instrument,  proving, 
by  a  series  of  marvellous  deeds,  in  the  midst  of 
heathenism,  the  God  of  Israel  to  be  the  only  true 
God,  Moses  at  last  overcame  the  opposition  of  the 
Egyptians.  According  to  a  divine  decree,  the 
people  of  the  Lord  were  to  quit  Egypt,  under  the 
command  of  Moses,  in  a  triumphant  manner. 
The  punishments  of  God  were  poured  down  upon 
the  hostile  people  iu  an  increasing  ratio,  termi- 
nating in  the  death  of  the  firstborn,  as  a  sign  that 
all  had  deserved  death.  The  formidable  power 
of  paganism,  in  its  conflict  with  the  theocracy, 
was  obliged  to  bow  before  the  apparently  weak 
people  of  the  Lord.  The  Egyptians  paid  tribute 
to  the  emigrating  Israelites  (Exod.  xii.  35),  who 
set  out  laden  with  the  spoils  of  victory. 

The  enraged  king  vainly  endeavoured  to  de- 
stroy the  emigrants.  Moses,  firmly  relying  upon 
miraculous  help  from  the  Lord,  led  his  people 
through  the  Red  Sea  into  Arabia,  while  the  host 
of  Pharaoh  perished  in  its  waves  (Exod.  xii.- 

XV.). 

2ii 


594 


MOSES 


MOTHEK 


After  inis  began  the  most  important  functions 
of  Moses  as  the  lawgiver  of  th«  Israelites,  who 
were  destined  to  enter  into  Canaan  as  the  people 
of  promise,  upon  whom  rested  the  ancient  bless- 
ings of  the  patriarchs.  By  the  instrumentality  of 
Moses  they  were  appointed  to  enter  into  intimate 
communion  with  God  through  a  sacred  covenant, 
and  to  be  firmly  bound  to  him  by  a  new  legisla- 
tion. Moses,  having  victoriously  repulsed  tlie 
attack  of  the  Amalekites,  marched  to  Mount 
Sinai,  where  he  signally  punished  the  defection 
of  his  people,  and  gave  them  the  law  as  a  testi- 
mony of  divine  justice  and  mercy.  From  Mount 
Sinai  they  proceeded  northward  to  the  desert  of 
Paran,  and  sent  ^pies  to  explore  the  Land  of 
Canaan  (Num.  x.-xiii.).  Ou  this  occasion  broke 
out  a  violent  rebellion  against  the  lawgiver,  which 
he,  however,  by  divine  assistance,  energetically 
repressed  (Num.  xiv.-xvi.). 

The  Israelites  frequently  murmured,  and  were 
c^isobedient  during  about  forty  years.  In  a  part 
of  the  desert  of  Kadesh,  which  was  called  Zin, 
near  the  boundaries  of  the  Edomites,  after  the 
sister  of  Moses  had  died,  and  after  even  the  new 
generation  had,  like  their  fathers,  proved  to  be 
obstinate  and  desponding,  Moses  fell  into  sin,  and 
was  on  that  account  deprived  of  the  privilege  of 
introducing  the  people  into  Canaan.  He  was  ap- 
pointed to  lead  them  only  to  the  boundary  of  their 
country,  to  prepare  all  that  was  requisite  for  their 
entry  into  the  land  of  promise,  to  admonish  them 
impressively,  and  to  bless  them. 

It  was  according  to  God's  appointment  that  the 
new  generation  also,  to  whom  the  occupation  of 
the  country  had  been  promised,  uhould  arrive  at 
their  goal  only  after  having  vanquished  many 
obstacles.  Even  before  they  had  reached  the  real 
boundaries  of  Canaan  they  were  to  be  subjected 
to  a  heavy  and  purifying  trial.  It  was  important 
that  a  man  like  Moses  was  at  the  head  of  Israel 
during  all  these  providential  dispensations.  His 
authority  was  a  powerful  preservative  against 
despondency  under  heavy  trials. 

Having  in  vain  attempted  to  pass  through  the 
territory  of  the  Edomites,  the  people  marched 
round  its  boundaries  by  a  circuitous  and  tedious 
route.  Two  powerful  kings  of  the  Amorites, 
Sihon  and  Og,  were  vanquished.  Moses  led  the 
people  into  the  fields  of  Moab  over  against 
Jericho,  to  the  very  threshold  of  Canaan  (Num. 
XX.,  xxi.). 

Moses  happily  averted  the  danger  which 
threatened  the  Israelites  on  the  part  of  Midian 
(Num.  xxv.-xxxi.).  Hence  he  was  enabled  to 
grant  to  some  of  the  tribes  permanent  dwellings 
in  a  considerable  tract  of  country  situated  to  the 
east  of  the  river  Jordan  (Num.  xxxii.),  and  to 
give  to  his  people  a  foretaste  of  that  well-being 
which  was  in  store  for  them. 

Moses  made  excellent  preparations  for  the  con- 
quest and  distribution  of  the  whole  country,  and 
took  leave  of  his  people  with  powerful  admoni- 
tions and  impressive  benedictions,  transferring 
his  government  to  the  hands  of  Joshua,  who  was 
not  unworthy  to  become  the  successor  of  so  great 
a  man.  With  a  longing  but  gratified  look,  he 
surveyed,  from  the  elevated  ground  on  the  border 
of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  beautiful  country  destined 
for  his  people. 

Moses  died  in  a  retired  spot  at  the  age  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  years.     He  remained  vigor- 


ous in  mind  and  body  to  the  last.  His  body  was 
not  buried  in  the  promised  land,  and  his  grave 
remained  unknown,  lest  it  should  become  an 
object  of  superstitious  and  idolatrous  worship. 

The  Pentateuch  is  the  greatest  monument  of 
Moses  as  an  author.  The  ninetieth  psalm  also 
seems  to  be  correctly  ascribed  to  him.  Some 
learned  men  have  endeavoured  to  prove  that  he 
was  the  author  of  the  book  of  Job,  but  their 
arguments  are  inconclusive  [Job]. 

Numerous  traditions,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, have  been  current  respecting  so  cele- 
brated a  personage.  Some  of  these  were  known 
to  the  ancient  Jews,  but  most  of  them  occur  in 
later  rabbinical  writers. 

The  name  of  Moses  is  celebrated  among  the 
Arabs  also,  and  is  the  nucleus  of  a  mass  of  le- 
gends. The  Greek  and  Itoman  classics  repeatedly 
mention  Moses,  but  their  accounts  contain  the 
authentic  Biblical  history  in  a  greatly  distorted 
form. 

MOTH  occurs  in  Job  iv.  19;  xiii.  28  ;  xxvii. 
18;  Isa.  1.  9;  li.  8;  Hosea  v.  12;  Matt.  vi.  10, 
20 ;  Luke  xii.  .33 ;  Ecclus.  xix.  3 ;  xlii.  13.  There 
is  no  Biblical  insect  whose  identity  is  better  a.s- 
certained.  The  following  allusions  to  the  moth 
occur  in  Scripture: — to  its  being  produced  in 
clothes — '  for  from  garments  cometh  a  moth' 
(Ecclus.  xlii.  13):  to  its  well-known  fragility  — 
'  mortal  men  are  crushed  before  the  moth'  (Job 
iv.  19),  literally  '  before  the  face  of  the  moth.' 
The  allusion  to  '  the  house  of  the  moth'  (Job 
xxvii.  18)  seems  to  refer  plainly  to  the  silky 
spindle-shaped  case,  covered  with  detached  liairs 
and  particles  of  wool,  made  and  inhabited  by  the 
larva  of  the  Tima  sarcilella ;  or  to  the  felted 
case  or  tunnel  formed  by  the  larva  of  the  Tinea 
pellionella ;  or  to  the  arched  gallery  formed  by 
eating  through  wool  by  the  larva  of  the  Tinea 
tapelzella.  References  occur  to  the  destructive- 
ness  of  the  clothes-moth :  '  as  a  garment  that  is 
moth-eaten  '  (Job  xiii.  28)  ;  '  the  moth  shall  eat 
them  up'  (Isa.  1.  9);  '  the  moth  shall  eat  them 
up  like  a  garment '  (li.  8) ;  '  I  will  be  to  Ephraim 
as  a  moth,'  i.  e.  will  secretly  consume  him  (Hcs. 
V.  12);  comp.  Matt.  vi.  19,  20;  Luke  xii.  33; 
James  v.  2,  metaphorically.  Since  the  '  trea- 
sures '  of  the  Orientals,  in  ancient  times,  consisted 
partly  of  '  garments,  both  new  and  old  '  (Matt, 
xiii.  52 ;  and  comp.  Josh.  vii.  21 ;  Judg.  xiv.  12), 
the  ravages  of  the  clothes-moth  afforded  them  a 
lively  emblem  of  destruction.  Moths,  like  fleas, 
&c.,  amid  other  more  immediate  purposes  of 
their  existence,  incidentally  serve  as  a  stimulus 
to  human  industry  and  cleanliness  ;  for,  by  a  re- 
markable discrimination  in  her  instinct,  the 
parent  moth  never  deposits  her  eggs  in  garments 
frequently  overlooked  or  kept  clean.  Indeed, 
the  most  remarkable  of  all  proofs  of  animal  in- 
telligence is  to  be  found  in  the  larvae  of  the 
water-moth,  which  get  into  straws,  and  adjust 
the  weight  of  their  case  so  that  it  can  always 
float :  when  too  heavy  they  add  a  piece  of  straw 
or  wood,  and  when  too  light  a  bit  of  gravel. 

MOTHER.  The  ordinary  applications  of  the 
word  require  no  illustration ;  but  the  following 
points  of  Hebrew  usage  may  be  noticed.  When 
the  father  had  more  tlian  one  wife,  the  son  seems 
to  have  confined  the  title  of  '  mother '  to  his  real 
mother,  by  which  he  distinguished  her  from  the 
other  wives  of  his  father.     Hence  the  source  of 


MOUNTAINS 

Joseph's  peculiar  interest  in  Benjamin  is  indi- 
cated iu  Gen.  xliii.  29,  by  his  being  '  his  mother's 
son.'  The  other  brethren  were  the  sons  of  his 
father  hy  other  wives.  Nevertheless,  when  this 
precision  was  not  necessary,  the  step-mother  was 
sometimes  styled  mother.  Thus  Jacob  (Gen. 
xxxvii.  10)  speaks  of  Leah  as  Joseph's  mother, 
for  his  real  mother  had  long  been  dead.  The 
step-mother  was  however  more  properly  distin- 
guished from  the  womb-mother  by  the  name  of 
'  father's  wife.'  The  word  '  mother '  was  also, 
like  father,  brother,  sister,  employed  by  the  He- 
brews in  a  somewhat  wider  sense  than  is  usual 
Avith  us.  It  is  used  of  a  grandmother  (1  Kings 
XV.  10),  and  even  of  any  female  ancestor  (Gen. 
iii.  20)  ;  of  a  benefactress  (Jndg.  v.  7),  and  as 
expressing  intimate  relationship  (Job  xvii.  14). 
In  Hebrew,  as  in  English,  a  nation  is  considered 
as  a  mother,  and  individuals  as  her  children 
(Isa.  1.  1 ;  Jer.  1.  12  ;  Ezek.  xix.  2  ;  Hos.  ii.  4  ; 
iv.  5) ;  so  our  '  mother-country,'  which  is  quite 
as  good  as  '  father-land,'  which  we  seem  begin- 
ning to  copy  from  the  Germans.  Large  and 
important  cities  are  also  called  mothers,  i.  e. 
'  mother-cities,'  with  reference  to  the  dependent 
towns  and  villages  (2  Sam.  xx.  19),  or  even  to 
the  inhabitants,  who  are  called  her  children  (Isa. 
iii.  12;  xlix.  23)  [Woman]. 

MOUNTAINS.  The  mountains  mentioned  in 
Scripture  are  noticed  under  their  different  names, 
and  a  general  statement  with  reference  to  the 
mountains  of  Palestine  is  given  under  that  head. 
We  have  therefore  in  this  place  only  to  notice 
more  fully  some  remarkable  symbolical  or  figu- 
rative uses  of  the  word  in  the  Bible. 

In  Scripture  the  governing  part  of  the  body 
politic  appears  under  symbols  of  different  kinds. 
If  the  allegory  or  figurative  representation  is 
taken  from  the  heavens,  the  luminaries  denote 
the  gOTerning  body  ;  if  from  an  animal,  the  head 
or  horns ;  if  from  the  earth,  a  mountain  or  for- 
tress ;  and  in  this  case  the  capital  city  or  residence 
of  the  governor  is  taken  for  the  supreme  power. 
These  mutually  illustrate  each  other.  For  a 
capital  city  is  the  head  of  the  political  body  ;  the 
head  of  an  ox  is  the  fortress  of  the  animal ; 
mountains  are  the  natural  fortresses  of  the  earth ; 
and  therefore  a  fortress  or  capital  city,  though 
seated  in  a  plain,  may  be  called  a  mountain. 
Thus  the  words  head,  mountain,  hill,  city,  horn, 
and  king,  are  used  in  a  manner  as  synonymous 
terms  to  signify  a  kingdom,  monarchy,  or  repub- 
lic, united  under  o?ie  government,  only  with  this 
difference,  that  it  is  to  be  understood  in  different 
respects ;  for  the  term  head  represents  it  in  re- 
spect of  the  capital  city ;  mountain  or  hill  in 
respect  of  the  strength  of  the  metropolis,  which 
gives  law  to,  or  is  above,  and  commands  the  ad- 
jacent territory.  When  David  says,  '  Lord,  by 
thy  favour  thou  hast  made  my  mountain  to  stand 
strong'  (Ps.  XXX.  7),  he  means  to  express  the 
stability  of  his  kingdom. 

It  is  according  to  these  ideas  that  the  kingdom 
of  the  Messiah  is  described  under  the  figure  of  a 
mountain  (Isa.  ii.  2 ;  xi.  9  ;  Dan.  ii.  35),  and  its 
universality  by  its  being  the  resort  of  all  nations, 
and  by  its  filling  the  whole  earth.  The  mystic 
mountains  in  the  Apocalypse  denote  kingdoms 
and  states  subverted  to  make  room  for  the  Mes- 
siah's kingdom  (Kev.  vi.  14;  xvi.  20). 

The  Chaldaean  monarchy  is  described  as  a 


MOURNING 


595 


mountain  in  Jer.  Ii.  25 ;  Zech.  iv.  7.  In  this 
view,  then,  a  mountain  is  the  symbol  of  a  king- 
dom, or  of  a  capital  city  with  its  domains,  or  of  a 
king,  which  is  the  same. 

Mountains  are  frequently  used  to  signify  places 
of  strength,  of  what  kind  soever,  and  to  whatso- 
ever use  applied  (Jer.  iii.  23). 

Eminences  were  very  commonly  chosen  for  the 
sites  of  pagan  temples :  these  became  places  of 
asylum,  and  were  looked  upon  as  the  fortresses 
and  defenders  of  the  worshippers,  by  reason  of 
the  presence  of  the  false  deities  in  them.  On 
this  account  mountains  were  the  strongholds  of 
paganism,  and  therefore  iu  several  parts  of  Scrip- 
ture they  signify  idolatrous  temples  and  places  of 
worship  (Jer.  ii.  23;  Ezek.  vi.  2-G;  Mic.  iv.  1  ; 
comp.  Deut.  xii.  2;  Jer.  ii.  20;  iii.  16;  Ezek. 
vi.  3). 

MOURNING.  This  head  embraces  both  the 
outward  expressions  of  sorrow  for  the  dead,  re- 
ferred to  in  the  Scriptures,  and  those  expressions 
which  were  intended  to  exhibit  repentance,  &c. 
These  subjects  may  be  noticed  according  to 
Townsend's  chronological  arrangement,  and  since 
they  nearly  approximate,  will  be  pursued  together. 
Under  this  arrangement,  the  earliest  reference  to 
any  kind  of  mourning  is  that  of  Job  (b.c.  2130), 
who,  being  informed  of  the  destruction  of  his 
children  as  the  climax  of  his  calamities,  '  arose, 
rent  his  mantle,  shaved  his  head,  and  fell  down 
upon  the  ground  and  worshipped'  (Job  i.  20), 
uttered  sentiments  of  submission  (ver.  21),  and 
sat  down  among  the  ashes  (ch.  ii.  8).  His  friends 
came  to  him  by  an  appointment  among  themselves 
to  mourn  with  him  and  comfort  him  (ver.  11); 
they  lift  up  their  voices  and  wept  upon  a  view  of 
his  altered  appearance  ;  they  rent  every  man  his 
mantle  and  sprinkled  dust  upon  their  heads  to- 
M'ards  heaven  (ver.  12),  and  sat  down  with  him 
on  the  ground  seven  days  and  seven  nights, 
waiting  till  his  grief  should  subside  before  they 
commenced  their  ofiice  as  mourners.  Job  then 
bewails  aloud  his  unhappy  condition  (ch.  iii.). 
In  ch.  xvi.  15,  16,  reference  is  made  to  the  cus- 
toms of  sewing  sackcloth  upon  the  skin,  defiling 
the  head  with  dust,  and  suffering  the  face  to  be 
begrimed  with  weeping.  Clamour  in  grief  is 
referred  to  (xix.  7;  xx.  28):  it  is  considered  a 
wicked  man's  portion  that  his  widows  shall  not 
weep  at  his  death  (xxvii.  15).  However  it  is  to 
be  accounted  for,  in  the  course  of  the  book  of  Job 
nearly  all  the  chief  characteristics  of  eastern 
mourning  are  introduced.  This  will  appear  as 
we  proceed.  The  next  instance  is  that  of  Abraham, 
who  came  to  mourn  and  weep  for  Sarah  (bc.  1871), 
words  which  denote  a  formal  mourning  (Gen. 
xxiii.  2).  Days  of  mourning  are  referred  to  in 
regard  to  the  expected  death  of  Isaac  (Gen.  xxvii. 
41 ).  These  appear  generally  to  have  consisted  of 
seven,  as  for  Saul  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  13).  Weeping 
appears  (b.c.  1729),  either  as  one  chief  expression 
of  mourning,  or  as  the  general  name  for  it. 
Hence  when  Deborah,  Rebecca's  nurse,  was 
buried  at  Bethel  under  an  oak,  at  this  period,  the 
tree  was  called  Allon-bachuth,  the  oak  of  weeping 
(Geu.  XXXV.  8).  The  children  of  Israel  were 
heard  to  weep  by  Moses  throughout  their  families, 
every  man  in  the  door  of  his  tent  (Num.  xi.  10  ; 
comp.  xiv.  1 ;  XXV.  6).  So  numerous  are  the  re- 
ferences to  tears  in  the  Scriptures  as  to  give  the 
impression  that  the  Orientals  had  them  uearly  at 
2q2 


596 


MOURNING 


command  (comp.  Ps.  vi.  6).  Reuben  rent  his 
clothes  upon  finding  Joseph  gone  (Gen.  xxxvii. 
29),  and  uttered  lamentations  (ver.  30).  Jacob 
rends  his  clothes  and  puts  sackcloth  upon  his 
loics,  and  mourns  for  his  son  many  days ;  his  sons 
and  his  daughters  rise  up  to  comfort  him,  and  he 
gives  utterance  to  his  grief;  '  thus  his  father  wept 
for  him '  (Gen.  xxxvii.  34, 35).  Joseph's  brothers 
rend  their  clothes  (Gen.  xliv.  13);  and  this  act, 
as  expressive  of  grief  or  horror,  occurs  in  multi- 
tudes of  passages  down  to  the  last  age  of  the 
Jewish  empire  (Acts  xiv.  14).  Scarcely  less 
numerous  are  the  references  to  Sackcloth  on  the 
loins  as  an  expression  of  mourning ;  we  have  even 
lying  in  sackcloth  (1  Kings  xxi,  27),  and  sack- 
cloth upon  both  man  and  beast  at  Nineveh  (Jonah 
iii.  8).  Joseph's  brethren  fell  to  the  ground  before 
him  in  token  of  grief  (Gen.  xliv.  14);  and  this, 
or  lying  or  sitting  on  the  ground,  was  a  common 
token  of  mourning  (comp.  Ps.  xxxv.  14 ;  1  Sam. 
XXV.  24;  Isa.  iii.  26;  xlvii.  1  ;  Ezek.  xxvi.  IC, 
&c.).  The  next  incident  in  the  history  of  the 
subject  is  the  mourning  for  Jacob  by  the  Egyp- 
tians, which  was  conducted,  no  doubt,  by  pro- 
fessional mourners  during  threescore  and  ten  days 
(Gen.  1.  3),  called  the  days  of  mourning  (ver.  4), 
though  most  likely  that  computation  includes  the 
process  of  embalming.  It  seems  to  have  amounted 
to  a  royal  mourning,  doubtless  out  of  regard  to 
Joseph.  The  mourning  for  Joseph's  father  was 
renewed  by  Joseph's  command,  with  a  very  great 
and  sore  lamentation,  upon  the  funeral  cavalcade 
having  arrived  in  Canaan,  and  continued  seven 
days  (ver.  10).  When  the  children  of  Israel 
(bc.  1491)  mourned  under  the  threat  of  the 
divine  displeasure,  they  did  not  put  on  their 
ornaments  (Exod.  xxxiii.  4;  comp.  Joel  ii.  16; 
Ezek.  xxiv.  17).  At  the  giving  of  the  law  the 
modes  of  mourning  were  regulated  by  several 
enactments.  It  was  forbidden  the  Jews  to  make 
cuttings  in  their  flesh  for  the  dead  (Lev.  xix.  28). 
The  ancient  Egyptians,  according  to  HerodoUis, 
did  not  cut  themselves  (ii.  61) ;  it  was  a  Syrian 
custom,  as  appears  from  the  votaries  of  Baal 
(1  Kings  xviii.  28);  nor  were  the  Jews  allowed 
to  make  any  baldness  between  their  eyes  for  the 
dead  (Deut.  xiv.  1).  The  priests  were  forbidden 
to  uncover  the  head  in  mourning  (Lev.  x.  6),  or 
to  rend  their  clothes,  or  to  contract  the  cere- 
monial defilement  involved  in  mourning  except 
for  their  nearest  kindred  (Lev.  xxi.  1,  4)  ;  but  the 
high-priest  was  entirely  forbidden  to  do  so  even 
for  his  father  or  his  mother  (ver.  11),  and  so  was 
the  Nazarite  (Num.  vi.  7).  These  prohibitions  re- 
specting the  head  and  the  beard  (Lev.  xix.  27) 
seem  to  have  been  restricted  to  funeral  occasions, 
as  the  customs  referred  to  were  lawfully  practised 
on  other  sorrowful  events  (comp.  Ezra  ix.  3 ;  Job 
i.  20;  Isa.  xxii.  12;  Jer.  vii.  29;  Micah  i.  16). 
Even  the  food  eaten  by  mourners  was  considered 
unclean  (comp.  Deut.  xxvi.  14,  with  Hos.  iX.  4; 
Ezek.  xxiv.  17).  The  Jews  were  commanded  to 
afHict  their  souls  on  the  day  of  atonement  (Lev. 
xxiii.  27),  and  at  the  Feast  of  Trumpets  (Num. 
xxix.  7).  All  the  house  of  Israel  mourned  for 
Aaron  thirty  days  (Num.  xx  29).  The  Israelites 
wept  for  Moses  thirty  days,  called  the  days  of 
weeping  and  mourning  for  Moses  (Deut.  xxxiv. 
8;  B.C.  14.51).  Joshua  and  the  elders  of  Israel 
put  dust  upon  their  heads  at  the  defeat  of  Ai,  and 
fasted  (Josh.  vii.  6),  as  did  the  eleven   tribes 


MOURNING 

after  the  defeat  at  Gibeah,  and  wept  (Judg.  xx. 
26),  as  did  all  the  Israelites  at  the  command 
of  Joshua,  on  which  occasion  it  is  said  '  they 
drew  water  and  poured  it  out  before  the  Lord ' 
(1  Sam.  vii.  6  ;  comp.  Ps.  xxii,  14).  The  prophet 
Joel  commanded  a  fast  as  part  of  a  national 
mourning.  A  fast  is  proclaimed  to  all  the  inha- 
bitants or  visitors  at  Jerusalem  (Jer.  xxxvi.  9  ; 
comp.  Zech.  vii.  .5).  Fasting  is  practised  at 
Nineveh  as  part  of  a  public  humiliation  (Jonah 
iii.  5).  In  our  Lord's  language,  '  to  fast'  and 
'  to  mourn '  are  the  same  thing  (Matt.  ix.  1 5). 
Public  humiliations  attended  with  religious  as- 
semblies and  prayers  (Joel  ii.  16,  17) ;  with  fasts 
(Isa.  Iviii.  3) ;  see  all  these  united  (1  Mace.  iii. 
44,  47,  48).  The  first  complete  description  of 
mourning  for  the  dead  occurs  in  2  Sam.  iii.  31,  3.5. 
Elegies  were  composed  by  the  prophets  on  several 
disastrous  occasions  (Ezek.  xxvi.  1-18;  xxvii. 
1-36  ;  Amos  V.  1,  &c.).  In  Ps.  xxxv.,  which  is 
ascribed  to  David,  there  is  a  description  of  the 
humiliations  practised  by  the  friends  of  the  sick, 
in  order  to  procure  their  recovery.  Samuel  is 
honoured  with  a  public  mourning  by  the  Israel- 
ites (1  Sam.  XXV.  1),  b.c.  1058.  Upon  the  death 
of  Saul,  David  wrote  an  elegy  (2  Sam.  i.  17-27). 
This,  like  that  upon  the  death  of  Abner,  seems 
to  be  a  poetical  description  of  the  character  of 
the  departed,  like  the  dirge  for  an  Egyptian  king. 
Lifting  up  the  hands  seems  to  have  been  an  ex- 
pression of  grief  (Ps.  cxli.  2;  Lam.  i.  17  ;  Ezra 
ix.  5).  Messengers  were  sent  to  condole  with 
survivors ;  thus  David  sent  such  to  Hanun,  king 
of  Ammon,  upon  the  death  of  his  father  (2  Sam. 
X.  1,  2);  'Many  of  the  Jews  came  to  comfort 
Martha  and  Mary '  (John  xi.  19) ;  'A  great  com- 
pany of  women  attended  our  Lord  to  the  cross, 
bewailing  and  lamenting  him'  (Luke  xxiii.  27); 
'  Much  people '  were  with  the  widow  of  Nain 
(Luke  vii..  12).  Indeed,  if  persons  met  a  funeral 
procession  they  were  expected  to  join  it — a  custom 
which  is  thought  to  illustrate  St.  Paul's  words, 
'Weep  with  them  that  weep'  (Rom.  xii.  15). 
Ashes  were  often  laid  on  the  head  in  token  of 
mourning;  thus  '  Tamar  put  ashes  on  her  head, 
rent  her  garment,  and  laid  her  hand  upon  her 
head,  and  went  on  crying'  (2  Sam.  xiii.  19,  20  ; 
comp.  Isa.  Ixi.  3  ;  2  Esdras  ix.  38).  They  even 
wallowed  in  ashes  (Ezek.  xxvii.  30).  Mourning 
apparel  is  first  mentioned  in  2  Sam.  xiv.  2,  where 
it  appears  that  the  wearer  did  not  anoint  himself 
with  oil  (comp.  Matt.  vi.  17).  The  first  reference 
to  hired  mourners  occurs  in  Eccles.  xii.  5,  '  The 
mourners  go  about  the  streets.'  They  are  cer- 
tainly alluded  to  in  Jer.  ix.  17-20,  *  the  mourning 
women'  (probably  widows,  comp.  Ps.  Ixxviii. 
64 ;  Acts  ix.  39).  Another  reference  to  them 
occurs  in  2  Chron.  xxxv.  25.  The  greater  num- 
ber of  the  mourners  in  ancient  Egypt  were 
women,  as  in  the  modern  East.  In  the  following 
cut  (No.  245)  mourners,  all  females,  are  shown 
casting  dust  upon  their  heads  before  the  mummy 
of  a  man.  Mourning  for  the  dead  was  conducted 
in  a  tumultuous  manner;  they  also  wept  and 
wailed  greatly  (Mark  v.  38).  Even  devout  men 
made  great  lamentations  (Acts  viii.  2). 

Among  other  signs  of  mourning  they  shaved 
the  head,  and  even  tore  off  the  hair  (Amos  viii. 
10;  Micah  i.  16  ;  Isa.  xv.  2  ;  xxii.  12 ;  Jer.  vii. 
29).  Ezra  plucked  off  the  hair  of  his  head  and  of 
his  beard  (Ezra  ix.  3 ;  Joseph.  Antiq.  xvi.  7.  5). 


MOUSE 

The  Jews  went  up  to  the  house-tops  to  mourn 
(Isa.  XV.  2,  3;  xxii.  1);  and  so  did  the  Moabites 


245.    [Egyptian  Mourners — ashes  on  Head.] 

(Jer.  xlviii.  37,  38 ;  Judith  viii.  5).  They  also 
made  cuttings  in  their  hands  (Jer.  xlviii.  37,  38) ; 
they  smote  upon  the  thigh  (Jer.  xxxi.  19 ;  Ezek. 
xxi.  12) ;  on  the  breast  (Nahum  ii.  7  ;  Lukexviii. 
13;  xxiii.  48);  they  smote  both  hands  together 
(Num.  xxiv.  10),  stamped  -with  the  foot  (Ezek. 
vi.  11),  bowed  down  the  head  (Lam.  ii.  10),  co- 
vered the  lips  (Micah  iii.  7),  the  face  (2  Sam. 
xix.  4),  and  the  head  (2  Sam.  xv.  30),  and  went 
barefoot  (2  Sam.  xv.  30).  Neighbours  and  friends 
provided  food  for  the  mourners  (2  Sam.  iii.  35  ; 
Jer.  xvi.   7;  comp.   Ezek.   xxiv.  17);  this  was 


246.     [Wail  with  Tabrets,  &c.] 

called  '  the  bread  of  bitterness,'  '  the  cup  of  con- 
solation.' In  later  times  the  Jews  had  a  custom 
of  giving  bread  to  the  poor,  at  funerals,  and  leav- 
ing it  for  their  use  at  tombs  and  graves.  Women 
went  to  tombs  to  indulge  their  grief  (John  xi. 
31);  anniversary  mournings  (1  Esdras  i.  22). 

MOUSE.  The  word  occurs  where,  it  seems, 
the  nomenclature  in  modern  zoology  would  point 
out  two  species  of  distinct  genera  (Lev.  xi.  29  ; 
1  Sam.  vi.  4,  ^,  11,  18;  Isa.  Ixvi.  17).  It  is 
likely  that  the  Hebrews  extended  the  acceptation 
of  the  word  achbar,  in  the  same  manner  as  was 
the  familiar  custom  of  the  Greeks,  and  still  more 
of  the  Romans,  who  included  within  their  term 
mus  several  species,  such  as  shrews,  stoats,  &c. 
In  the  above  texts,  all  in  I  Sam.  vi.  apparently 
refer  to  the  short-tailed  field-mouse,  which  is  still 
the  most  destructive  animal  to  the  harvests  of 
Syria,  and  is  most  likely  the  species  noticed  in 
antiquity  and  during  the  crusades ;  for,  had  they 
been  jerboas  in  shape  and  resembled  miniature 
kangaroos,  we  would  expect  William  of  Tyre  to 
have  mentioned  the  peculiar  form  of  the  de- 
stroyers, which  was  then  unknown  to  Western 
Europe ;  whereas,  they  being  of  species  or  ap- 


MUSIC  B97 

pearance  common  to  the  Latin  nations,  no  par- 
ticulars were  required.  But  in  Leviticus  and 
Isaiah,  where  the  mouse  is  declared  an  unclean 
animal,  the  species  most  accessible  and  likely  to 
invite  the  appetite  of  nations  who,  like  the  Arabs, 
were  apt  to  covet  all  kinds  of  animals,  even  when 
expressly  forbidden,  were,  no  doubt,  the  ham- 
ster and  the  dormouse  :  aud  both  are  still  eaten 
in  common  with  the  jerboa,  by  the  Bedouins, 
who  are  but  too  often  driven  to  extremity  by 
actual  waut  of  food. 

MOUTH.  The  ordinary  applications  of  this 
word,  common  to  all  languages,  require  no  ex- 
planation ;  but  the  following  somewhat  peculiar 
uses  may  he  noted :  '  Heavy-mouthed,'  that  is, 
slow  of  speech,  and  so  translated  in  Exod.  iv, 
10;  'smooth  mouth'  (Ps.  xxvi.  28),  that  is,  a 
flattering  mouth  ;  so  also  '  a  mouth  of  deceit ' 
(Ps.  cix.  2).  The  following  are  also  remarkable 
phrases :  '  To  speak  with  one  mouth  to  mouth, 
that  is,  in  person,  without  the  intervention  of  an 
interpreter  (Num.  xii.  8;  comp.  1  Kings  viii.  15; 
Jer.  xxxii.  4).  'With  one  mouth,'  that  is,  with 
one  voice  or  consent  (Josh.  ix.  2  ;  1  Kings  xxii. 
13;  2  Chron.  xviii.  12).  'With  the  whole 
mouth,'  that  is,  with  the  utmost  strength  of  voice 
(Job  xix.  16;  Ps.  Ixvi.  17).  'To  put  words 
into  one's  mouth,'  that  is,  to  suggest  what  one 
shall  say  (Exod.  iv.  15;  Num.  xxii.  38;  xxiii. 
5,  12;  2  Sam.  xiv.  19,  &c.).  'To  be  in  one's 
mouth,'  is  to  be  often  spoken  ofi  as  a  law,  &c. 
(Exod.  xiii.  9;  comp.  Ps.  v.  10;  xxxviii.  15). 
'  To  lay  the  hand  upon  the  mouth,'  is  to  be  silent 
(Judg.  xviii.  19  ;  Job  xxi.  5  ;  xl.  4  ;  comp.  Prov. 
XXX.  32),  just  as  we  lay  the  finger  on  the  mouth 
to  enjoin  silence.  '  To  write  from  the  mouth  of 
any  one '  is  to  do  so  from  his  dictation  (Jer. 
xxxvi.  4,  27,  32  ;  xlv.  1). 

The  mouth,  as  the  organ  of  speech,  also  signifies 
the  words  that  proceed  out  of  it,  which  in  the 
sacred  style  are  the  same  as  commands  aud 
actions.  Hence,  for  a  person  or  thing  to  come 
out  of  the  mouth  of  another  is  to  be  constituted 
or  commanded  to  become  an  agent  or  minister 
under  a  superior  power :  this  is  frequent  in  the 
Revelations  (Rev.  xvi.  13,  14;  i.  l(i ;  xi.  4,  5; 
xii.  15;  ix.  19).  The  term  viouih  is  not  only 
applied  to  a  speech  or  words,  but  to  the  speaker 
(Exod.  iv.  16;  Jer.  xv.  19),  in  which  sense  it 
has  a  near  equivalent  in  our  expression  '  mouth- 
piece.' 

MUSIC.  It  seems  probable  that  music  is  the 
oldest  of  all  the  fine  arts.  It  is  more  than  any 
other  an  immediate  work  of  nature.  Hence  we  find 
it  among  all  nations,  even  those  which  are  totally 
ignorant  of  every  other  art.  Some  instruments 
of  music  are  in  Scripture  named  even  before 
the  deluge,  as  being  invented  by  Jubal,  one  of 
Cain's  descendants  (Gen.  iv.  21);  and  some  will 
regard  this  as  confirmed  by  the  common  opinion 
of  the  Orientals.  Chardin  relates  that  the  Per- 
sians aud  Arabians  call  musicians  and  singers 
Kayne,  or  '  descendants  from  Cain.'  The  instru- 
ments invented  by  Jubal  seem  to  have  remained 
in  use  after  the  flood,  or  at  least  the  names  were 
still  in  use,  and  occur  in  the  latest  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  Music,  in  practical  use,  _  is 
almost  constantly  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  song  and  the  dance  (Gen.  xxxi.  27  ;  Exod. 
XV.  20),  and  was  doubtless  employed  to  elevate 
the  former   and  regulate  the   latter.     Women 


598 


MUSIC 


MUSIC 


especially  are  seen  to  have  employed  it  in  this 
connection  from  the  earliest  times  (Exod.  xv.  20 ; 
Judg.  xi.  34;  1  Sam.  xviii.  6).  At  a  later 
period  we  trace  the  appearance  of  foreign  girls  in 
Palestine,  as  in  Greece  and  Italy,  who  visited 
the  towns  like  the  Bayaderes  of  the  present  day 
(Isa.  xxiii.  16).  Music  was  also  through  all 
periods  used  in  social  meetings,  and  in  public 
rejoicings  (1  Kings  i.  40;  Isa.  v.  12;  xiv.  11; 
xxiv.  8;  Amos  vi.  5;  Hag.  v.  14;  1  Mace.  ix. 
39  ;  Judith  iii.  8).  By  David  music  was  vari- 
ously and  conspicuously  connected  with  the 
temple  worship  (1  Chron.  xxv.  1);  in  particular, 
the  Levites,  in  their  several  choirs,  performed 
their  music  divided  into  different  classes  at  the 
great  sacrifices  (2  Chron.  xxix.  25  ;  xxx.  21  ; 
XXXV.  15).  The  prophets  also  appear  to  have 
regarded  music  as  necessary  to  their  services  (1 
Sam.  X.  5) ;  and  they  used  it  sometimes  for  the 
purpose,  apparently,  of  bringing  their  minds  into 
the  frame  suited  for  prophetic  inspirations  (2 
Kings  iii.  15).  In  the  case  of  David  playing 
before  Saul,  we  have  marked  and  interesting 
evidence  that  the  effect  of  music  in  soothing  the 
perturbations  of  a  disordered  intellect  was  well 
known  among  the  Hebrews  (1  Sam.  xvi.  16). 

With  respect  to  the  nature  of  the  Hebrew 
music,  it  was  doubtless  of  the  same  essential 
character  as  that  of  other  ancient  nations,  and  of 
all  the  present  Oriental  nations ;  consisting  not 
so  much  in  harmony  (in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
term)  as  in  unison  or  melody. 

The  old,  the  young,  maidens,  &c.,  appear  to 
have  sung  one  part.  The  instruments  by  which, 
in  singing,  this  melody  was  accompanied,  occu- 
pied the  part  of  a  sustained  base ;  and,  if  we  are 
disposed  to  apply  in  this  case  what  Niebuhr  has 
told  us,  the  beauty  of  the  concerts  consisted  in 
this— that  other  persons  repeated  the  music  which 
had  just  been  sung,  three,  four,  or  five  notes, 
lower  or  higher.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the 
concert  which  Miriam  held  with  her  musical 
fellows,  and  to  which  the  '  toph,'  or  tabret,  fur- 
nished the  continued  base.  To  this  mode  of 
performance  belongs  the  24th  Psalm,  which  rests 
altogether  upon  the  varied  representation ;  in 
like  manner,  also,  the  20th  and  21st  Psalms. 
This  was  all  the  change  it  admitted ;  and  al- 
though it  is  very  possible  that  this  monotonous, 
or  rather  unisonous  music,  might  not  be  interest- 
ing to  ears  tuned  to  musical  progressions,  modu- 
lations, and  cadences,  there  is  something  in  it 
with  •which  the  Orientals  are  well  pleased. 

A  music  of  this  description  could  easily  dis- 
pense with  the  compositions  which  mark  the 
time  by  notes ;  and  the  Hebrews  do  not  appear 
to  have  known  anything  of  musical  notation  ; 
for  that  the  accents  served  that  purpose  is  a 
position  which  yet  remains  to  be  proved.  At  the 
best  the  accent  must  have  been  a  very  imperfect 
instrument  for  this  purpose,  however  high  its 
antiquity. 

The  Hebrew  music  is  judged  to  have  been  of  a 
shrill  character ;  for  this  would  result  from  the 
nature  of  the  instruments — harps,  flutes,  and 
cymbals — which  were  employed  in  the  temple 
service. 

The  manner  of  singing  single  songs  was,  it 
seems,  ruled  by  that  of  others  in  the  same  mea- 
sure, and  it  is  usually  supposed  that  many  of  the 
titles  of  the  Psalms  are  intended  to  indicate  the 


names  of  other  songs  according  to  which  these 
were  to  be  sung  [Psalms]. 

The  allusions  to  music  in  the  Scriptures  are 
so  incidental  and  concise,  that  it  will  never  be 
possible  to  form  out  of  them  a  complete  or  con- 
nected view  of  the  state  of  musical  science  among 
the  ancient  Hebrews.  The  little  knowledge 
which  has  been  realized  on  the  subject  has  been 
obtained  chiefly  through  the  patient  labours  and 
minute  investigations  of  Calmet,  Forkel,  Pfeiffer, 
Jahn,  Winer,  De  Wette,  and  other  authors. 

It  is  less  difficult  to  determine  the  general 
character  of  the  Hebrew  instruments  of  music, 
than  to  identify  the  particular  instruments  which 
are  named  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  We  see 
certain  instruments  ditferent  from  our  own  in 
use  among  the  modern  Orientals,  and  we  infer 
that  the  Hebrew  instruments  were  probably  not 
unlike  these.  When,  however,  we  endeavour  to 
identify  with  these  a  particular  instrument  named 
by  the  Hebrews,  our  difficulty  begins ;  because 
the  Hebrew  names  are  seldom  to  be  recognised 
in  those  which  they  now  bear,  and  because  the 
Scripture  affords  us  little  information  respecting 
the  form  of  the  instruments  which  it  mentions. 

The  matter  naturally  arranges  itself  under  the 
following  heads — 

I.  Stringed  Instruments, 
II.  Wind  Instruments. 
III.  Instruments  of  Percussion. 

I. — 1.  At  the  head  of  the  Stringed  Instru- 
ments we  must  place  the  kinnor,  which  is  ren- 
dered 'harp'  in  the  Authorized  Version.  The 
invention  and  first  use  of  this  instrument  are 
ascribed  to  Jubal  (Gen.  iv.  21);  and  Laban 
names  it  among  the  instruments  which  should 
have  celebrated  the  departure  of  his  son-in-law 
(Gen.  xxxi.  27).  In  the  first  ages  the  kinnor  was 
Con&?crated  to  joy  and  exultation ;  hence  the 
frequency  of  its  use  by  David  and  others  in 
praise  of  the  Divine  Majesty.  It  is  thought 
probable  that  the  instrument  received  some  im- 
provements from  David  (comp.  Amos  vi.  5).  In 
bringing  back  the  ark  of  the  covenant  (1  Chron. 
xvi.  5),  as  well  as  afterwards,  at  the  consecration 
of  the  temple,  the  kinnor  was  assigned  to  players 
of  known  eminence,  chiefly  of  the  family  of  Je- 
duthun  (1  Chron.  xxv.  3).  The  sorrowing  Jews 
of  the  captivity,  far  removed  from  their  own  land 
and  the  shadow  of  the  sanctuary,  hung  their 
kinnors  upon  the  willows  by  the  waters  of  Baby- 
lon, and  refused  to  sing  the  songs  of  Zion  in  a 
strange  land  ( Ps.  cxxxvii.  2).  Many  other  pas- 
sages of  similar  purport  might  be  adduced  in 
order  to  fix  the  uses  of  an  instrument,  the  name 
of  which  occurs  so  often  in  the  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures. They  mostly  indicate  occasions  of  joy, 
such  as  jubilees  and  festivals.  Of  the  instrument 
itself  the  Scripture  affords  us  little  further  infor- 
mation than  that  it  was  composed  of  the  sounding 
parts  of  good  wood,  and  furnished  with  strings. 
David  made  it  of  the  berosh  wood  [Berosh]; 
Solomon  of  the  more  costly  algum  (2  Sam.  vi.  5  ; 
2  Kings  X.  12) ;  and  Josephus  mentions  some 
composed  of  the  mixed  metal  called  electrum. 
He  also  asserts  that  it  was  furnished  with  ten 
strings,  and  played  with  a  plectrum  {Antiq.  vii. 
12.  3) ;  which  however  is  not  understood  to  imply 
that  it  never  had  any  other  number  of  strings,  or 
was  always  played  with  the  plectrum.  David 
certainly  played  it  with  the  hand  (1  Sam.  xvi. 


MUSIC 

23;  xviii.  10  ;  xix.  9),  and  it  was  probably  used 
in  both  -ways,  according  to  its  size. 

That  this  instrument  was  really  a  harp,  is  now 
very  generally  denied ;  some  writers  on  the  sub- 
ject conclude  that  it  was  a  kind  of  guitar,  and 
there  is  little  room  to  doubt  that  this  instrument 
was  known  to  the  Hebrews,  and  probably  in  use 
among  them.  It  has  been  suggested,  however,  by 
the  editor  of  the  Pictorial  Bible  (on  Ps.  xliii.  4) 
that  the  lyre,  in  some  of  its  various  kinds,  was 
denoted  by  the  word  kiinwr ;  and  subsequent  in- 
quiry has  tended  to  establish  this  conclusion  as 
firmly  perhaps  as  the  nature  of  the  subject  admits. 


MUSIC 


.■599 


it  was  composed  of  strings  stretched  over  a 
wooden  frame.  This  being  assumed  or  granted, 
we  must  proceed  to  seek  some  hint  concerning  its 
shape ;  and  we  find  nothing  more  tangible  than 
the  concurrent  testimony  of  Jerome,  Isidorus,  and 
Cassiodorus,  that  it  was  like  the  Greek  letter  A 
inverted  (v)- 


247.  [Eiryptian  figures  of  lyres.  1,  2,  played  without,  and 
3,  4,  with  the  plectrum;  4  is  the  supposed  Hebrew 
lyrv.] 

2.  The  Nebel  is  the  next  instrument  which 
requires  attention.  The  word  is  rendered  '  psal- 
tery '  in  the  Authorized  Version.  As  to  when 
this  instrument  was  invented,  and  when  it  came 
into  use  among  the  Hebrews,  nothing  can  be 
determined  with  certainty.  The  first  mention  of 
it  is  in  the  reign  of  Saul  (1  Sam.  x.  5),  and  from 
that  time  forward  we  continue  to  meet  with  it  in 
the  Old  Testament.  The  use  of  the  instrument 
prevailed  particularly  in  the  public  worship  of 
God.  It  was  played  upon  by  several  persons  in 
the  grand  procession  at  the  removal  of  the  ark  (1 
Chron.  xv.  16  ;  xvi.  5) ;  and  in  the  final  organ- 
ization of  the  temple  music  it  was  entrusted  to  the 
families  of  Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jeduthun  (1 
Chron.  XXV.  1-7).  Out  of  the  worship  of  God,  it 
was  employed  at  festivals  and  for  luxurious  pur- 
poses (Amos  vi.  5).  In  the  manufacture  of  this 
instrument  a  constant  increase  of  splendour  was 
exhibited.  The  first  we  meet  with  were  made 
simply  of  the  wood  of  the  berosh  (2  Sam.  vi.  5 ; 
1  Chron.  xiii.  8),  others  of  the  rarer  o/t/TOj  tree  (1 
Kings  X.  12  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  11);  and  some  perhaps 
of  metal  (Joseph.  Antiq.i.  8.  3),  unless  the  last  is 
to  be  understood  of  particular  parts  of  the  in- 
strument. 

Conjectures  respecting  the  probable  form  of 
this  instrument  have  been  exceedingly  various. 
Passing  by  the  eccentric  notion  that  the  nebel  was 
a  kind  of  bagpipe,  we  may  assume  from  the  evi- 
dent tendency  of  the  Scriptural  intimations,  and 
from  the  general  bearing  of  other  authorities,  that 


248.    [Egyptian  triangular  instruments.; 


We  are,  however,  far  from  thinking  that  the 
nehel  was  always  of  this  shape.  It  appears  to  us 
to  be  a  general  name  for  several  of  the  larger 
stringed  instruments  of  the  harp  kind,  and  also  to 
denote,  in  a  more  special  sense,  one  particular 
sort.  In  fact  we  have  the  names  of  several  instru- 
ments which  are  generally  conceived  to  be  dif- 
ferent varieties  of  the  nebel.  One  of  these  kinds, 
if  not  the  principal  kind,  or  the  one  most  fre- 
quently denoted  by  the  word,  was  the  ancient 
harp,  agreeing  more  or  less  with  that  represented 
in  the  Egyptian  monuments. 


249.    [Grand  Egyptian  harps.] 

3.  AsoR  occurs  as  an  instrument  in  only  a  few 
places,  and  never  but  in  connection  with  the  nebel. 
This  has  given  rise  to  the  conjecture  that  the  two 
instruments  may  have  differed  from  each  other 
only  in  the  number  of  their  strings,  or  the  open- 
ings at  the  bottom.  We  see  no  reason  to  dissent 
fVom  this  conclusion. 

4.  GiTTiTH  is  a  word  which  occurs  in  the  titles 
to  Ps.  viii.,  Ixxxi.,  Ixxxiv.,  and  is  generally  sup- 
posed to  denote  a  musical  instrument.  From  the 
name  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  an  instrument 
which  David  brought  from  Gath ;  and  it  has 
been  inferred  from  Isa.  xvi.  10,  that  it  was  in 
particular  use  at  the  vintage  season.  If  an  in- 
strument of  music,  it  is  remarkable  that  it  does 
not  occur  in  the  list  of  the  instruments  assigned 
by  David  to  the  temple  musicians;  nor  even 
in  that  list  which  appears  in  verses  1  and  2  of 
Ps,  Ixxxi.,  in  the  title  of  which  it  is  found.    The 


600 


MUSIC 


supposition  of  Geseuius,  that  it  is  a  general  name 
for  a  stringed  instrument,  obviates  this  difficulty. 

5.  The  -word  Minnim,  which  occurs  in  Ps.  xlv. 
8,  and  cl.  4,  is  supposed  by  some  to  denote  a 
stringed  instrument,  but  it  seems  merely  a  poetical 
allusion  to  the  strings  of  any  instrument. 

6.  The  Sabeca  is  the  instrument  rendered 
'sackbut,'  in  Dan.  iii.  5,  7,  10,  15.  It  seems  to 
have  been  a  species  of  harp  or  lyre,  and,  as  some 
think,  was  only  a  species  of  the  nebel,  distinguished 
by  the  number  of  its  strings. 


250.    [Bow-shaped  Egyptian  instruments.] 

7.  The  Pesanterin  is  the  psaltery  of  the 
Greeks:  it  occurs  only  in  Dan.  iii.  7,  10,  15, 
where  it  is  supposed  to  represent  the  Hebrew 
nsbel. 

8,  The  word  Machai>ath,  which  occurs  in  the 
titles  of  Ps.  liii.  and  Ixxxviii.,  is  supposed  by 
Gesenius  and  others  to  denote  a  kind  of  lute  or 
guitar,  which  instrument  others  find  in  the  mtn- 
nim  above  noticed.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  Hebrews  were  in  possession  of  instru- 
ments of  this  kind,  although  we  cannot  say  with 
certainty  that  these  are  the  precise  words  by  which 
they  are  denoted. 


S5I .    [Egyptian  Instruments  of  the  Lute  kind.] 

II,  WiXD  Instruments. — There  is,  happily, 
less  difficulty  with  respect  to  instruments  of  this 
class  than  M-ith  respect  to  stringed  instruments. 
The  most  ordinary  division  of  these  is  into  trum- 
pets and  pipes,  of  Mhich  the  Hebrews  had  both, 
and  of  various  kinds. 

1 .  The  word  Keren,  '  horn,'  sometimes,  but 
not  often,  occurs  as  the  name  of  a  musical  instru- 
ment (Josh.  vi.  5;  1  Chron.  xxv.  5  ;  Dan.  iii.  5, 
7,  10, 15).  Of  natural  horns,  and  of  instruments 
iu  the  shape  of  horns,  the  antiquity  and  general 
use  are  evinced  by  every  extensive  collection  of 
antiquities.  It  is  admitted  that  natural  horns  were 
at  first  used,  and  that  they  at  length  came  to  be 


MUSIC 

imitated  in  metal,  but  were  still  called  homg. 
This  use  and  application  of  the  word  are  illus- 
trated in  our  '  cornet.'  It  is  generally  conceived 
that  rams'  horns  were  the  instruments  used  by  the 
early  Hebrews  ;  and  these  are,  indeed,  expressly 
named  in  our  own  and  many  other  versions,  as 
the  instruments  used  at  the  noted  siege  of  Jericho 
(Josh.  vi.  5) ;  and  the  horns  are  those  of  the  ram 
which  Josephus  assigns  to  the  soldiers  of  Gideon 
{Antiq.  v.  6.  5;  comp.  Judg.  vii.  Ifi). 

2.  The  name  Shophar,  which  is  a  far  more 
common  word  than  keren,  is  rendered  '  trumpet ' 
in  the  Authorized  Version.  This  name  seems, 
first,  to  denote  horns  of  the  straighter  kind,  in- 
cluding, probably,  those  of  neat  cattle,  and  all  the 
instruments  which  were  eventually  made  in  imi- 
tation of  and  in  improvement  upon  such  horns. 
It  is,  however,  difficult  to  draw  a  distinction  be- 
tween it  and  the  keren,  seeing  that  the  words  are 
sometimes  used  synonymously.  Upon  the  whole, 
we  may  take  the  shophar,  however  distinguished 
from  the  kere}i,  to  have  been  that  kind  of  horn  or 
horn-shaped  trumpet  which  was  best  known  to 
the  Hebrews.    The  name  shophar  means  bright 


252.     [1,  2,  3,  4,  Ancient  horns  and  curved  trumpets  ; 
5,  straight  trumpet ;  6,  pipe.] 

or  clear,  and  the  instrument  may  be  conceived  to 
have  been  so  called  from  its  clear  and  shrill 
sound,  just  as  we  call  an  instrument  a  'clarion,' 
and  speak  of  a  musical  tone  as  'brilliant'  or 
'  clear.'  In  the  service  of  God  this  shophar  or 
trumpet  was  only  employed  in  making  announce- 
ments, and  for  calling  the  people  together  in  the 
titoe  of  the  holy  solemnities,  of  war,  of  rebellion, 
or  of  any  other  great  occasion  (Exod.  xix.  13 ; 
Num.  x.  10;  Judg.  iii.  7;  1  Sam.  xiii.  3;  xv. 
10  ;  2  Chron.  xv.  14 ;  Isa.  xviii.  3). 

3.  The  Chatzozerah  was  the  straight  trumpet, 
different  from  the  shophar,  which  was  more  or 
less  bent  like  a  horn.  There  has  been  various 
speculation  on  the  name ;  but  we  are  disposed  to 
assent  to  the  conclusion  of  Gesenius,  that  it  is  an 
onomatopoetic  word,  imitating  the  broken  pulse- 
like sound  of  the  trumpet,  like  the  Latin  taratan- 
tara.  Among  the  Israelites  these  trumpets  were 
a  divine  regulation,  Moses  having  been  expressly 
directed  how  to  make  them  (Num.  x.  2).  They 
were  of  pure  beaten  silver,  but  the  particular  form 
does  not  appear  in  Scripture.  They  are  figured, 
however,  on  the  arch  of  Titus,  among  the  other 
spoils  of  the  Jewish  Temple  (Fig.  5,  No.  252), 
and  they  correspond  with  the  description  which 
Josephas,  vho,  as  a  priest,  could  not  iu  this  matter 


MUSIC 

be  mistaken,  has  given :  '  Moses,'  he  says,  *  in- 
vented a  kind  of  trumpet  of  silver  ;  in  length  it 
was  little  less  than  a  cubit,  and  it  was  somewhat 
thicker  than  a  pipe ;  its  opening  was  oblong,  so 
as  to  permit  blowing  on  it  with  the  mouth ;  at  the 
lower  end  it  had  the  form  of  a  hell,  like  the  horn.' 
The  tone  of  this  trumpet,  or  rather  the  noise  made 
by  blowing  on  it,  was  very  variable,  and  is  dis- 
tinguished by  different  terms  in  Scripture. 

4.  JoBEL.  There  has  been  much  speculation 
concerning  the  term,  and  it  seems  now  to  be 
agreed  that  the  word  does  not  denote  a  separate 
instrument,  but  is  an  epithet  applied  to  the  trum- 
pets with  which  the  jubilees  were  proclaimed,  i.  e. 
the  'juii7ee-trumpet ;'  and  as  the  same  trumpets 
■were  used  for  signals  and  alarms,  'the  alarm- 
trumpet,  the  alarm-horn.'  This  name  for  the 
sound  of  music  is  supposed  to  be  derived  from 
Jubal,  the  inventor  of  instruments  of  music. 

Wind  instruments  of  softer  sound  next  require 
attention.     The  first  and  principal  of  these  is  the 

5.  Chalil,  the  meaning  of  which  is  bored 
through,  denotes  a  pipe,  perforated  and  furnished 
•with  holes.  There  are  but  five  places  where  it 
occurs  in  the  Old  Testament  (1  Sam.  x.  5;  1 
Kings  i.  40 ;  Isa.  v.  12 ;  xxx.  29  ;  Jer.  xlviii.  36) ; 
but  would  seem  to  have  come  rather  late  into  use 
among  the  Hebrews,  and  probably  had  a  foreign 
origin.  The  passages  to  which  we  have  referred 
will  indicate  the  use  of  this  instrument  or  class 


253.    [Egyptian  reed-pipes.] 

of  instruments ;  but  of  the  form  we  can  only  guess 
by  reference  to  those  of  the  ancient  Egyptians, 
which  are  very  similar  to  those  still  in  use  in 
Western  Asia.  The  pipe  is,  however,  rarely 
introduced  in  the  Egj'ptian  sculptures,  and  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  held  in  much  estima- 
tion. The  principal  are  the  single  and  double 
pipes.  The  single  pipe  of  the  Greeks  is  allowed 
to  have  been  introduced  from  Egypt,  from  which 
the  Jews  probably  had  theirs,  it  was  a  straight 
tube,  without  any  increase  at  the  mouth,  and  when 
played  was  held  with  both  hands.  It  was  usually 
of  moderate  length,  about  eighteen  inches,  but 
occasionally  less,  and  sometimes  so  exceedingly 
long,  and  the  holes  so  low  that  the  player  was 
obliged  to  extend  his  arms  to  the  utmost.  Some 
had  three  holes,  others  four,  and  actual  specimens 
made  of  common  reed  have  been  found. 


SS4.    [1,  2,  3,  Single  pipes ;  4,  double  pipe.] 

The  double  pipe  was  formed  with  two  of  such 


MUSIC  COl 

tabes,  of  equal  or  unequal  lengths,  having  a  com- 
mon mouth-piece,  and  each  played  with  the  cor- 
responding hand.  They  were  distinguished  as 
the  right  and  left  pipes,  and  the  latter,  having  but 
few  holes  and  emitting  a  deep  sound,  served  as  a 
base  ;  the  other  had  more  holes  and  gave  a  sharp 
sound  :  this  pipe  is  still  used  in  Palestine. 

From  the  references  which  have  been  given  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  pipe  was,  among  the  Jews, 
chiefly  consecrated  to  joy  and  pleasure.  So  much 
was  this  the  case  that  in  the  time  of  Judas  Mac- 
caliseus  the  Jews  complained  '  that  joy  was  taken 
from  Jacob,  and  the  pipe  with  the  harp  ceased ' 
(1  Mace.  iii.  45).  It  was  particularly  used  to 
enliven  the  periodical  journeys  to  Jerusalem  to 
attend  the  great  festivals  ( Isa.  xxx.  29)  ;  and  this 
custom  of  enlivening  with  music  the  tedium  of 
travelling  is  common  in  the  East  at  this  day. 
Athena;us  tells  us  of  a  plaintive  pipe  which  was 
in  use  among  the  Phoenicians.  This  serves  to 
illustrate  Matt.  ix.  23,  where  our  Saviour,  finding 
the  flute-players  with  the  dead  daughter  of  the 
ruler,  orders  them  away,  because  the  damsel  was 
not  dead ;  and  in  this  we  also  recognise  the  re- 
gulation of  the  Jews,  that  every  one,  however 
poor  he  might  be,  should  have  at  least  two  pipes 
at  the  death  of  his  wife. 

6.  The  word  Mishrokitha  occurs  four  times 
in  Daniel  (ch.  iii.  5,  7,  10,  15),  but  nowhere  else, 
and  appears  to  be  the  Chaldsean  name  for  the 
flute  with  two  reeds,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken. 

7.  Ugab  is  the  word  rendered  '  organ '  in  our 
version.  This  and  the  kinnor  are  the  instruments 
whose  invention  is  ascribed  to  Jubal  (Gen.  iv. 
21),  and  higher  antiquity  cannot  therefore  be 
claimed  for  any  instrument.  There  are  only  three 
other  places  in  which  it  is  mentioned  in  the  Old 
Testament;  two  in  the  book  of  Job(xxi.  12;  xxx. 
31),  and  one  in  the  Psalms  (cl.  4).  The  name  is 
taken  from  the  term  oryanon,  employed  by  the 
Septuagint,  which  simply  denotes  a  double  or 
manifold  pipe  ;  and  hence  in  particular  the  Pan- 
daan  or  shepherd's  pipe,  which  is  at  this  day 
called  a  '  mouth-organ  '  among  ourselves.  For- 
merly it  was  called  simply  '  organ,'  and  '  mouth ' 
has  been  added  to  distinguish  it  from  the  com- 
paratively modern  instrument  which  has  usurped 
the  more  simple  designation  of  '  organ.'  'the 
Panda;an  pipe  is  an  instrument  of  such  antiquity 
that  the  profane  writers  do  not  know  to  whom  to 
ascribe  it.  This  antiquity  corresponds  with  the 
Scriptural  intimation  concerning  the  itgah,  and 
justifies  us  in  seeking  for  the  syrinx  among  the 
more  ancient  instruments  of  the  Orientals,  espe- 
cially as  it  is  still  common  in  Western  Asia. 
Niebuhr  saw  it  in  the  hands  of  a  peasant  at  Cairo ; 
and  Russell  says  that '  the  si/ritix  or  Pan's  pipe  is 
still  a  festival  instrument  in  Syria  ;  it  is  known 
also  in  the  city,  but  very  few  performers  can 
sound  it  tolerably  well.  The  higher  notes  are 
clear  and  pleasing,  but  the  longer  reeds  are  apt, 
like  the  dervise  flute,  to  make  a  hissing  sound, 
though  blown  by  a  good  player.  The  number  of 
reeds  of  which  the  si/riiu:  is  composed  varies  in 
diflterent  instruments  from  five  to  twenty-tliree.' 
The  classical  sj/rinx  is  usually  said  to  have  had 
seven  reeds,  biit  we  find  some  in  the  monuments 
with  a  greater  number,  and  the  shepherd  of 
Theocritus  had  one  of  nine  reeds. 

III.  Instbdments  of  Pebcussion, — or  such 


602 


MUSIC 


as  give  forth  their  sounds  on  being  struck  or 
shaken. 

1.  The  -wyjrd  Toph  seems  to  have  denoted 
primarily  the  tambourine,  and  generally  all  in- 
struments of  the  drum  kind  which  were  in  use 
among  the  Israelites.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
doubt  about  this  instrument.  All  the  translations 
and  lexicons  agree  in  this  one  point ;  and  we 
have,  besides,  the  actual  evidence  of  existing  in- 
struments of  this  kind  among  the  Arabians,  bear- 
ing the  same  name  in  the  forms  of  doff  and  adufe. 
The  toph  was  known  to  the  Jews  before  they 
quitted  Syria  (Gen.  xxxi.  27);  it  is  also  men- 
tioned by  Job(xxi.  12),  and  it  is  the  first  in- 
strument named  after  the  exode,  being  that  with 
which  Miriam  led  the  dances  with  which  the 
daughters  of  Israel  celebrated  the  overthrow  of 
Pharaoh  (Exod.  xv.  20).  It  was  employed  by 
David  in  all  the  festivities  of  religion  (2  Sam.  vi. 
T>).  Isaiah  adduces  it  as  the  instrument  of  vo- 
luptuaries, but  left  in  silence  amid  wars  and 
desolations  (Isa.  xxiv.  8).  The  occasions  on 
which  it  was  used  were  mostly  joyful,  and  those 
who  played  upon  it  were  generally  females  (Ps. 
Ixviii.  2.5),  as  was  the  case  among  most  ancient 
nations,  and  is  so  at  the  present  day  in  the  East. 
It  is  nowhere  mentioned  in  connection  with 
battles  or  warlike  transactions. 


255.    [Tambourines.     1,  angular;  2,  circular.] 

Whether  the  Israelites  had  drums  or  not  does 
not  clearly  appear,  and  in  the  absence  of  evidence 
pro  or  con  it  is  useless  to  speculate  on  the  subject, 
if  they  had,  they  must  be  included  under  the 
general  name  of  toph.  The  ancient  Egyptians 
had  a  long  drum,  very  similar  to  the  tom-toms  of 


<^.r: 


256.    [Ancient  Egyptian  drums.] 
India  (No.  256,  figs.  1,  3).    It  was  about  two  feet 


MUSIC 

or  two  feet  and  a  half  in  length,  and  was  beaten 
with  the  hand.  The  case  was  of  wood  or  copper, 
covered  at  both  ends  with  parchment  or  leather, 
and  braced  with  cords  extended  diagonally  over 
the  exterior  of  the  cylinder.  It  was  used  chiefly 
in  war.  There  was  another  larger  drum,  less 
unlike  our  own ;  it  was  about  two  feet  and  a  half 
long  by  about  two  feet  broad,  and  was  shaped 
much  like  a  sugar-cask  (No.  257,  fig.  3).  It  was 
formed  of  copper,  and  covered  at  the  ends  with 
red  leather,  braced  by  catgut  springs  passing 
through  small  holes  in  its  broad  margin.  This 
kind  of  drum  was  beaten  with  sticks  (fig.  5)  It 
does  not  appear  on  the  monuments,  but  an  actual 
specimen  was  found  in  the  excavations  made  by 
D'Athanasi,  in  1823,  and  is  now  in  the  museum 
at  Paris. 

Another  species  of  drum  is  represented  in  the 
Egyptian  paintings,  and  is  of  the  same  kind 
which  is  still  in  use  in  Egypt  and  Arabia,  under 
the  name  of  the  darabooha  drum.  It  is  made  of 
parchment  stretched  over  the  top  of  a  fimnel- 
shaped  case  of  metal,  wood,  or  pottery  (No.  257, 
figs.  1,  2,  4).  It  is  beaten  with  the  hand,  and 
when  relaxed,  the  parchment  is  braced  by  ex- 
posing it  for  a  few  moments  to  the  sun,  or  the 
warmth  of  a  fire.    This  kind  of  drum  claims 


257.     [Di 


1,  2,  4,  modern  oriental ;  3,  ancient 
Egyptian;  3,  sticks  to  3.] 


particular  attention  from  its  being  supposed  to  be 
represented  on  one  of  the  coins  ascribed  to  Simon 
Maccabaeus. 

2.  The  word  Phaamon  denotes  the  small 
golden  appendages  to  the  robe  of  the  high-priest 
(Exod.  xxviii.  33  ;  xxxix.  25),  which  all  versions 
agree  in  rendering  '  bells,'  or  '  little  bells.' 

3.  The  words  Tzeltzelim,  Metzilloth,  and 
Metzilthaim,  are  translated  cymbals  in  most 
versions,  except  in  Zech.  xiv.  20.  where  they  are 
rendered  '  bells ' — the  '  bells  of  the  horses.'  If 
the  words,   however,   denote   cymbals   in    other 


258.    [Cymbals— Egyptian.] 

places,  they  cannot  well  denote  a  different  thing 
there.  There  is  an  important  passage  (Ps.  cl.  5), 
'  Praise  him  with  the  clear  cymbal,  praise  him 
with  the  resounding  cymbal,'  which  clearly  points 
to  two  instruments  under  the  same  name,  and 
leaves  us  to  conclude  that  the  Hebrews  had  both 
hand-cymbals  and  finger-cymbals  (or  castagnets). 


MUSTARD  TREE 


MUSTARD  TREE 


603 


although  it  may  not  in  all  cases  be  easy  to  say 
which  of  the  two  is  intended  in  particular  texts. 
Cymbals  figure  in  the  grand  procession  at  the 
removal  of  the  ark  (1  Chron.  xiii.  8):  other  in- 
stances occur  of  their  being  used  in  the  worship 
of  God  (Neh.  xii.  27  ;  Ps.  cl.  5 ;  1  Chron,  xv. 
2);  and  the  ilhistrious  Asaph  was  himself  a 
player  on  the  cymbal  (1  Chron.  xvi.  5).  The 
sound  of  these  instruments  is  very  sharp  and 
piercing,  but  it  does  not  belong  to  fine,  speaking, 
expressive  music. 

4.  The  name  Shalishim  occurs  but  once,  viz. 
in  1  Sam.  xviii.  6,  and  is  there  uncertainly  ren- 
dered, in  the  Authorized  Version,  '  instruments 
of  music,'  and  in  the  margin  '  three-stringed  in- 
struments.' The  word  is  plural,  and  means 
'  threes.'  Most  writers,  proceeding  upon  this  in- 
terpretation, identify  it  with  the  triangle,  which 
Avhenffius  (iv.  23)  alleges  to  have  been  a  Syrian 
invention. 

5.  Menaaneim  is  another  word  which  occurs 
but  once  in  Scripture  (2  Sam.  vi.  5),  where  our 
version  translates  it  by  '  cymbals,'  although  it  has 
appropi-iated  another  word  to  that  instrument.  It 
is  now  more  generally  thought  to  denote  the 
sistrum.     The  sistrum  was  generally  from  eight 


characteristics,  notwithstanding  the  several  at- 
tempts which  have  been  made.  The  subject  was 
investigated  by  Dr.  Royle  in  a  paper  read  before 


259.     [Sistra — various  Egyptian  specimens.] 


to  sixteen  or  eighteen  inches  in  length,  and  en- 
tirely of  bronze  or  brass.  It  was  sometimes  inlaid 
with  silver,  gilt,  or  otherwise  ornamented,  and 
being  held  upright  was  shaken,  the  rings  moving 
to  and  fro  upon  the  bars.  The  last  were  fre- 
quently made  to  imitate  snakes,  or  simply  bent  at 
each  end  to  secure  them  from  slipping  through 
the  holes.  Several  actual  specimens  of  these  in- 
struments have  been  found,  and  are  deposited  in 
the  British,  Berlin,  and  other  museums.  They 
are  mostly  furnished  with  sacred  symbols,  and 
were  chiefly  used  by  the  priests  and  priestesses  in 
the  ceremonies  of  religion,  particularly  in  those 
connected  with  the  worship  of  Isis. 

MUSTARD  TREE.  The  Sinapi  of  the  Greek 
Testament,  rendered  '  mustard  tree '  in  the  Au- 
thorized Version,  has  engaged  the  attention  of 
many  commentators,  great  difficulty  having  been 
experienced  in  finding  a  plant  with  the  requisite 


260.     [Salvadora  Persica.] 

the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  on  the  16th  March, 
1844.  Having  referred  to  the  passages  of  the 
New  Testament  in  which  the  word  occurs  (Matt, 
xiii.  31  ;  xvii.  20;  Mark  iv.  31  ;  Luke  xiii.  19  ; 
xvii.  6),  be  first  showed  how  unsuitable  were  the 
plants  which  had  been  adduced  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  sacred  narrative,  and  mentioned 
that  his  own  attention  had  been  turned  to  the 
subject  in  consequeuce  of  the  present  Bishop  of 
Lichfield  having  informed  him  that  Mr.  Amueny, 
a  Syrian  student  of  King's  College,  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  tree.  Mr.  A.  stated  that  this 
tree  was  found  near  Jerusalem,  but  most  abun- 
dantly on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  and  round  the 
sea  of  Tiberias  ;  that  its  seed  was  employed  as  a 
substitute  for  mustard,  and  that  it  was  called 
khardal,  which,  indeed,  is  the  common  Arabic 
name  for  mustard.  Dr.  Royle  knew  a  tree  of 
N.  W.  India,  which  was  there  called  kharjal,  and 
which  appeared  possessed  of  the  requisite  proper- 
ties, but  he  could  not  find  it  mentioned  in  any 
systematic  work,  or  local  Flora,  as  a  native  of 
Palestine.  The  plant  is  Salvadora  Persica,  a 
large  shrub,  or  tree  of  moderate  size,  a  native  of 
the  hot  and  dry  parts  of  India,  of  Persia,  and  of 
Ar'abia.  Dr.  Roxburgh  describes  the  berries  as 
much  smaller  than  a  grain  of  black  pepper, 
having  a  strong  aromatic  smell,  and  a  taste  much 
like  that  of  garden  cresses.  Irby  and  Mangles, 
in  their  travels,  mention  a  tree  which  they  sup- 
pose to  be  the  mustard  tree  of  Scripture.  They 
met  with  it  while  advancing  towards  Kerak,  from 
the  southern  extremity  of  the  Dead  Sea.  It  bore 
its  fruit  in  bunches  resembling  the  currant;  and 
the  seeds  had  a  pleasant,  though  strongly  aromatic 
taste,  nearly  resembling  mustard.  They  say, '  We 
think  it  possible  that  this  is  the  tree  our  Saviour 
alluded  to  in  the  parable  of  the  mustard  seed,  and 
not  the  mustard  plant  which  we  have  in  the  north, 
and  which,  even  when  growing  large,  can  never 
be  called  a  tree,  whereas  the  other  is  really  such, 
and  birds  might  easily,  and  actually  do,  take 
shelter  under  its  shadow.'  On  further  inquiry, 
Dr.  Royle  learned  that  a  specimen  of  the  tree  had 
been  brought  home  by  Mr.  W.  Barker,  and  that 
it  had  been  ascertained  by  Messrs.  Don  and 


MYRRH 


604 

Lambert  to  be  the  Salvadora  Persica  of  bota- 
nists. 

The  paper  above  referred  to  concludes  by 
stating  it  as  an  important  fact,  that  the  writer 
had  come  to  the  same  conclusion  as  Irby  and 
Mangles,  by  an  independent  mode  of  investigation, 
even  -when  he  could  not  ascertain  that  the  plant 
existed  in  Palestine  ;  which  is,  at  all  events,  in- 
teresting, as  proving  that  the  name  kharjal  is  ap- 
plied, even  in  so  remote  a  country  as  the  north- 
west of  India,  to  the  same  plant  which,  in  Syria, 
is  called  khardal,  and  which  no  doubt  is  the 
ahardal  of  the  Talmudists,  one  of  whom  describes 
it  as  a  tree  of  which  the  wood  was  sufficient  to 
cover  a  potter's  shed,  and  another  says  that  he 
was  wont  to  climb  into  it,  as  men  climb  into  a 
fig-tree.  Hence  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that 
Salvadora  Persica  is  the  mustard  tree  of  Scrip- 
tare.  The  plant  has  a  small  seed,  which  pro- 
duces a  large  tree  with  numerous  branches,  in 
which  the  birds  of  the  air  may  take  shelter.  The 
seed  is  possessed  of  the  same  properties,  and  is 
used  for  the  same  purposes,  as  mustard,  and  has 
a  name,  khardal,  of  which  sinapi  is  the  true  trans- 
lation, and  which,  moreover,  grows  abundantly 
on  the  very  shores  of  the  sea  of  Galilee,  where 
our  Saviour  addressed  to  the  multitude  the  parable 
of  the  mustard  seed. 

MY'RA,  one  of  the  chief  towns  of  Lycia,  in 
Asia  Minor.  It  lay  about  a  league  from  the  sea 
(in  N.  lat.  36°  18';  E.  long.  30°),  upon  a  rising 
ground,  at  the  foot  of  which  flowed  a  navigable 
river  with  an  excellent  harbour  at  its  mouth. 
The  town  now  lies  desolate.  When  Paul  was  on 
his  voyage  from  Ctcsarea  to  Rome,  he  and  the 
other  prisoners  were  landed  here,  and  were  re- 
embarked  in  a  ship  of  Alexandria  bound  to  Rome 
(Acts  xxvii.  5). 

MYRRH  is  the  exudation  of  a  little-known 
tree  found  in  Arabia,  but  much  more  extensively 
in  Abyssinia.  It  formed  an  article  of  the  earliest 
commerce,  was  highly  esteemed  by  the  Egyptians 
and  Jews,  as  well  as  by  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
as  it  still  is  both  in  the  East  and  in  Europe.  The 
earliest  notice  of  it  occurs  in  Exod.  xxx.  23, 
'Take  thou  also  unto  thee  principal  spices,  of 
pure  myrrh  (morderor)  500  shekels.'  It  is  after- 
wards mentioned  in  Esther  ii.  12,  as  employed 
in  the  purification  of  women  :  in  Ps.  xlv.  8,  as  a 
perfume,  '  All  thy  garments  smell  of  myrrh,  and 
aloes,  and  cassia  ;'  also  in  several  passages  of  the 
Song  of  Solomon  (iv.  6 ;  v.  5).  We  find  it  men- 
tioned in  Matt.  ii.  11,  among  the  gifts  presented 
by  the  wise  men  of  the  East  to  the  infant  Jesus — 
'  gold,  and  frankincense,  and  myrrh.'  It  may 
be  remarked  as  worthy  of  notice,  that  myrrh  and 
frankincense  are  frequently  mentioned  together. 
In  Mark  xv.  23,  we  learn  that  the  Roman  soldiei* 
'gave  him  (Jesus)  to  drink  wine  mingled  with 
myrrh;  but  he  received  it  not.'  The  Apostle 
John  (xix.  39)  says,  'Then  came  also  Nico- 
demus,  and  brought  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and 
aloes,  about  an  hundred  pound  weight,'  for  the 
purpose  of  embalming  the  body  of  our  Saviour. 

Though  myrrh  seems  to  have  been  known  from 
the  earliest  times,  and  must  consequently  have 
been  one  of  the  most  ancient  articles  of  com- 
merce, the  country  producing  it  long  remained 
unknown.  Some  is  undoubtedly  procured  in 
Arabia,  but  the  largest  quantity  has  always  been 
obtained  from  Africa.    Mr.  Johnson,  in  his  re- 


MYRTLE 

cently  published  Travels  in  Abyssinia  (i.  249), 
mentions  that '  Myrrh  and  mimosa  trees  abounded 
in  this  place'  (Koranhedudah  in  Adal).  The 
former  he  describes  as  being  '  a  low,  thorny, 
ragged-looking  tree,  with  bright-green  trifoliate 
leaves  ;  the  gum  exudes  from  cracks  in  the  bark 
of  the  trunk  near  the  root,  and  flows  freely  upon 


261.    [Balsamodendron  Myrrha.] 

the  stones  immediately  underneath.  Artificially 
it  is  obtained  by  bruises  made  with  stones.  The 
natives  collect  it  principally  in  the  hot  months  of 
July  and  August,  but  it  is  to  be  found,  though  in 
very  small  quantities,  at  other  times  of  the  year. 

Several  kinds  of  myrrh  were  known  to  the 
ancients  ;  and  in  modem  commerce  we  have 
Turkish  and  East  Indian  myrrh,  and  difiFerent 
names  used  to  be,  and  are  still  applied  to  it,  as 
red  and  fattj  myrrh,  myrrh  in  tears,  in  sorts,  and 
myrrh  in  grains.  In  the  Bible  also  several  kinds 
of  myrrh  are  enumerated,  respecting  which  va- 
rious opinions  have  been  entertained. 

Myrrh,  it  is  well  known,  was  celebrated  in  the 
most  ancient  times  as  a  perfume,  and  a  fumi- 
gator,  as  well  as  for  its  uses  in  medicine.  Myrrh 
was  burned  in  the  temples,  and  employed  in  em- 
balming the  bodies  of  the  dead.  It  was  offered 
in  presents,  as  natural  products  commonly  were 
in  those  days,  because  such  as  were  procured 
from  distant  countries  were  very  rare.  The  an- 
cients prepared  a  wine  of  myrrh,  and  also  an  oil  of 
myrrh,  and  it  formed  an  ingredient  in  many  of 
the  most  celebrated  compound  medicines,  as  the 
Theriaca,  the  Mithridata,  Manus  Dei,  &c.  Even 
in  Europe  it  continued  to  recent  times  to  enjoy 
the  highest  medicinal  reputation,  as  it  does  in  the 
East  in  the  present  day.  From  the  sensible  pro- 
perties of  this  drug,  and  from  the  virtues  which 
were  ascribed  to  it,  we  may  satisfactorily  account 
for  the  mention  of  it  in  the  several  passages  of 
Scripture  which  have  been  quoted. 

MYRTLE  occurs  in  several  passages  of  the 
Old  Testament,  as  in  Isa.  xli.  19;  Iv.  13;  Neh. 
viii.  15;  Zech.  i.  8,  10,  11. 

The  myrtle  has  from  the  earnest  periods  been 


MYSTERY 

highly  esteemed  in  all  tlie  countries  of  the  south 
of  Europe.  By  the  Greeks  and  Romans  it  was 
dedicated  to  Venus,  and  employed  in  making 
wreaths  to  crown  lovers,  but  among  the  Jews  it 
was  the  emblem  of  justice.  The  note  of  the 
Chaldee  Targum  on  the  name  Esther,  according 
to  Dr.  Harris,  is,  '  they  call  her  Hadassah  because 
she  was  jKsf,  and  those  that  are  just  are  compared 
to  mi/rtles.' 

The  repute  which  the  myrtle  enjoyed  in  ancient 
times  it  still  retains,  notwithstanding  the  great 
accession  of  ornamental  shrubs  and  flowers  which 
has  been  made  to  the  gardens  and  greenhouses  of 
Europe.  This  is  justly  due  to  the  rich  colouring 
of  its  dark  green  and  shining  leaves,  contrasted 
with  the  white  starlike  clusters  of  its  flowers, 
affording  in  hot  countries  a  pleasant  shade  under 
its  branches,  and  diffusing  an  agreeable  odour 
from  its  flowers  or  bruised  leaves.  It  is,  how- 
ever, most  agreeable  in  appearance  when  in  the 
state  of  a  shrub,  for  when  it  grows  into  a  tree,  as 
it  does  in  hot  counties,  the  traveller  looks  under 
instead  of  over  its  leaves,  and  a  multitude  of  small 
branches  are  seen  deprived  of  their  leaves  by  the 
crowding  of  the  upper  ones.  This  shrub  is  com- 
mon in  the  southern  provinces  of  Spain  and  France, 
as  well  as  in  Italy  and  Greece ;  and  also  on  the 
northern  coast  of  Africa,  and  in  Syria.  The 
poetical  celebrity  of  this  plant  had,  no  doubt, 
some  influence  upon  its  employment  in  medicine, 
and  numerous  properties  are  ascribed  to  it  by 
Dioscorides  (i.  127).  It  is  aromatic  and  astringent, 
and  hence,  like  many  other  such  plants,  forms  a 
stimulant  tonic,  and  is  useful  in  a  variety  of  com- 
plaints connected  with  debility.  Its  berries  were 
formerly  employed  in  Italy,  and  still  are  so  in 
Tuscany,  as  a  substitute  for  spices,  now  imported 
so  plentifully  from  the  far  East.  A  wine  was 
also  prepared  from  them,  which  was  called  myr- 
tidanum,  and  their  essential  oil  is  possessed  of 
excitant  properties.  In  many  parts  of  Greece 
and  Italy  the  leaves  are  employed  in  tanning 
leather.  The  myrtle,  possessing  so  many  remark- 
able qualities,  was  not  likely  to  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  the  sacred  writers,  as  it  is  a  well-known 
inhabitant  of  Judaea. 

MYS'IA,  a  province  occupying  the  north-west 
angle  of  Asia  Minor,  and  separated  from  Europe 
only  by  the  Propontis  and  Hellespont:  on  the 
south  it  joined  J5olis,  and  was  separated  on  the 
east  from  Bithynia  by  the  river  ^Esopus.  Latterly 
j^Eolis  was  included  in  Mysia,  which  was  then 
separated  from  Lydia  and  Ionia  by  the  river 
Hermus,  now  Sarabad  or  Djedis.  In  ancient 
times  the  province  of  Mysia  was  celebrated  for 
its  fertility  in  corn  and  wine,  and  although  now 
but  poorly  tilled,  it  is  still  one  of  the  finest  tracts 
in  Asia  Minor.  Paul  passed  through  this  pro- 
vince and  embarked  at  its  chief  port,  Troas,  on 
his  first  voyage  to  Europe  (Acts  xvi.  7,  8). 

MYSTERY.  A  most  unscriptural  and  dan- 
gerous sense  is  but  too  often  put  upon  this  word, 
as  if  it  meant  something  absolutely  unintelligible 
and  incomprehensible ;  whereas,  in  every  instance 
in  which  it  occurs  in  the  Sept.  or  New  Testa- 
ment, it  is  applied  to  something  which  is  revealed, 
declared,  explained,  spoken,  or  which  may  be 
known  or  understood.  This  fact  will  appear 
from  the  following  elucidation  of  the  passages  in 
•which  it  is  found.  First,  it  is  sometimes  used  to 
denote  the  meaning  of  a  symbolical  represent- 


NAAMAN  605 

ation,  whether  addressed  to  the  mind  by  a  parable, 
allegory,  &c.,  or  to  the  eye,  by  a  vision,  &c. 
(Matt.  xiii.  10;  Mark  iv.  11).  Again,  the  mys- 
tery or  symbolical  vision  of  the  '  seven  stars  and 
of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks'  (Rev.  i.  12, 16), 
is  explained  to  mean  '  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches  of  Asia,  and  the  seven  churches  them- 
selves' (ver.  20).  Again,  '  the  mystery '  or  sym- 
bolical representation  '  of  the  woman  upon  a 
scarlet-coloured  beast'  (Rev.  xvii.  3-6)  is  also 
explained:  '  I  will  tell  thee  the  mystery  of  the 
woman,'  Sec.  (xvii.  7).  When  St.  Paul,  speaking 
of  marriage,  says, '  this  is  a  great  mystery '  (Eph. 
V.  32),  he  evidently  treats  the  original  institution 
of  marriage  as  aflrbrding  a  figurative  represent- 
ation of  the  union  betwixt  Christ  and  the  church. 
The  word  is  also  used  to  denote  an}  thing  what- 
ever which  is  hidden  or  concealed,  till  it  is  ex- 
plained. Thus  it  is  employed  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment to  denote  those  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
general  or  particular,  which  the  Jews  and  the 
world  at  large  did  not  understand,  till  they  were 
revealed  by  Christ  and  his  apostles, '  Great  is  the 
mystery  of  godliness,'  i.  e.  the  Christian  religion 
(1  Tim.  iii.  16),  the  chief  parts  of  which  the 
apostle  instantly  proceeds  to  adduce, — '  God  was 
manifest  in  the  flesh,  justified  by  the  Spirit,  seen 
of  angels,'  &c.— facts  which  had  not  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  (1  Cor.  ii.  9)  until  God  visibly 
accomplished  them,  and  revealed  them  to  the 
apostles  by  inspiration  (ver.  10).  Thus  also  the 
Gospel  in  general  is  called  '  the  mystery  of  the 
faith'  (1  Tim.  iii.  9),  and  '  the  mystery  which 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  had  been  hid 
with  God,  but  which  was  now  made  known 
through  means  of  the  church'  (Eph.  iii.  9).  The 
same  word  is  used  respecting  certain  particular 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  as,  for  instance,  '  the 
partial  and  temporary  blindness  of  Israel,'  of 
which  mystery  '  the  Apostle  would  not  have 
Christians '  ignorant  (Rom.  xi.  25),  and  which 
he  explains  (ver.  25-32).  He  styles  the  calling 
of  the  Gentiles  '  a  mystery  which,  in  other  ages, 
was  not  made  known  unto  the  sons  of  men  as  it 
is  now  revealed  unto  the  holy  apostles  and  pro- 
phets by  the  Spirit'  (Eph.  iii.  4-6 ;  comp.  i.  9,  10, 
&c.).  To  this  class  we  refer  the  well-known 
phrase,  '  Behold  I  show  you  a  mystery  ( 1  Cor. 
XV.  51),  we  shall  all  be  changed;'  and  then  fol- 
lows an  explanation  of  the  change  (ver.  51-55). 
And  in  the  prophetic  portion  of  his  writings 
'  concerning  the  mystery  of  iniquity  '  (2  Thess. 
ii.  7),  he  speaks  of  it  as  being  ultimately  *  re- 
vealed '  (ver.  8) ;  and  to  conipL-te  the  proof  that 
the  word  '  mystery  '  is  used  in  the  sense  of  know- 
able  secrets,  we  add  the  words  '  Though  /  under- 
stand all  mi/steries'  (1  Cor.  xiii.  2). 


N. 


1.  NA'AMAH  (/>/easan<),  daughter  of  Lamech 
and  Zillah,  and  sister  of  Tubal-cain  (Gen.  iv.  22).    ' 

2.  NAAMAH,  an  Ammonitess,  one  of  the  j 
wives  of  Solomon,  and  mother  of  Rehoboam  ' 
(1  Kings  xiv.  21). 

NA'AMAN  {pleasantnexs),  commander  of  the  | 
armies  of  Damascene  Syria,  in  the  time  of  Joram,  j 
king  of  Israel.  Through  his  valour  and  abilities  I 
Naaman  held  a  high  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  \ 


N A AM AN 


N A BOTH 


king  Eenhadad ;  and  althougli  he  wSs  afflicted 
with  leprosy,  it  would  seem  that  this  did  not.  as 
among  the  Hebrews,  operate  as  a  disqualification 
for  public  employiTient.  Nevertheless,  the  con- 
dition of  a  leper  could  not  but  have  been  in  his 
high  place  both  afflicting  and  painful :  and  when 
it  was  heard  that  a  little  Hebrew  slave-girl,  who 
waited  upon  Naaman's  wife,  had  spoken  of  a 
prophet  in  Samaria  who  could  cure  her  master 
of  his  leprosy,  the  faint  and  uncertain  hope  thus 
offered  was  eagerly  seized ;  and  the  general  ob- 
tained permission  to  visit  the  place  where  this 
relief  was  to  be  sought.  Benhadad  even  fur- 
nished him  with  a  letter  to  his  old  enemy  king 
Joram ;  but  as  this  letter  merely  stated  that  Naa- 
man  had  been  sent  for  him  to  cure,  the  king  of 
Israel  rent  his  clothes  in  astonishment  and  anger, 
suspecting  that  a  request  so  impossible  to  grant, 
involved  a  studied  insult  or  an  intention  to  fix  a 
quarrel  upon  him  with  a  view  to  future  aggres- 
sions. "When  tidings  of  this  affair  reached  the 
prophet  Elisha,  he  desired  that  the  stranger  might 
be  sent  to  him.  Naaman  accordingly  went,  and 
his  splendid  train  of  chariots,  horses,  and  laden 
camels  filled  the  street  before  the  prophet's  house. 
As  a  leper,  Naaman  could  not  be  admitted  into 
the  house ;  and  Elisha  did  not  come  out  to  him 
as  he  expected,  and  as  he  thought  civility  re- 
quired ;  but  he  sent  out  his  servant  to  tell  him  to 
go  and  dip  himself  seven  times  in  the  Jordan,  and 
that  his  leprosy  would  then  pass  from  him.  He 
was,  however,  by  this  time  so  much  chafed  and 
disgusted  by  the  apparent  neglect  and  incivility 
with  which  he  had  been  treated,  that  if  his  at- 
tendants had  not  prevailed  upon  him  to  obey  the 
directions  of  the  prophet,  he  would  have  returned 
home  still  a  leper.  But  he  went  to  the  Jordan, 
and  having  bent  himself  seven  times  beneath  its 
waters,  rose  from  them  clear  from  all  leprous 
stain.  His  gratitude  was  now  proportioned  to  his 
previous  wrath,  and  he  drove  back  to  vent  the 
feelings  of  his  full  heart  to  the  prophet  of  Israel. 
He  avowed  to  him  his  conviction  that  the  God  of 
Israel,  through  whom  this  marvellous  deed  had 
been  wrought,  was  great  beyond  all  gods ;  and  he 
declared  that  henceforth  he  would  worship  Him 
only,  and  to  that  end  he  proposed  to  take  with 
him  two  mules'  load  of  the  soil  of  Israel  wherewith 
to  set  up  in  Damascus  an  altar  to  Jehovah.  This 
shows  he  had  heard  that  an  altar  of  earth  was 
necessary  (Exod.  xx.  24) ;  and  the  imperfect  no- 
tions which  he  entertained  of  the  duties  which  his 
desire  to  serve  Jehovah  involved,  were  natural  in 
an  uninstructed  foreigner.  He  had  also  heard 
that  Jehovah  was  a  very  jealous  God,  and  had 
forbidden  any  of  his  servants  to  bow  themselves 
dowti  before  idols  ;  and  therefore  he  expressed  to 
Elisha  a  hope  that  he  should  be  forgiven  if,  when 
his  public  duty  required  him  to  attend  his  king 
to  the  teniple  of  Rimmon,  he  bowed  with  his 
master.  The  grateful  Syrian  would  gladly  have 
pressed  upon  Elisha  gifts  of  high  value,  but  the 
holy  man  resolutely  refused  to  take  anything,  lest 
the  glory  redounding  to  God  from  this  great  act 
should  in  any  degree  be  obscured.  His  servant, 
Gehazi,  was  less  scrupulous,  and  hastened  with  u 
lie  in  his  mouth  to  ask  in  his  master's  name  for  a 
portion  of  that  which  Elisha  had  refused.  The 
illustrious  Syrian  no  sooner  saw  the  man  running 
after  his  chariot,  than  he  alighted  to  meet  liim,  and 
happy  to  relieve  himself  in  some  degree  under  the 


sense  of  overwhelming  obligation,  be  sent  him 
back  with  more  than  he  had  ventured  to  ask  (2 
Kings  v.).  Nothing  more  is  known  of  Naaman  ; 
and  what  befel  Gehazi  is  related  under  another 
head  [Gehazi]. 

NA'BAL  {stupid,  foolish),  a  descendant  of 
Caleb,  dwelling  at  Maon,  and  having  large  pos- 
sessions near  Carmel  of  Judah,  in  the  same  neigh- 
bourhood. He  had  abundant  wealth,  being  the 
possessor  of  3000  sheep  and  1000  goats,  b\it  his 
churlish  and  harsh  character  had  not  been  soft- 
ened by  the  prosperity  with  which  he  had  been 
favoured.  He  was  holding  a  great  sheep-shearing 
of  his  numerous  flocks  at  Carmel — which  was  a 
season  of  great  festivity  among  the  sheep-masters 
of  Israel — when  David  sent  some  of  his  young 
men  to  request  a  small  supply  of  provisions,  of 
which  his  troop  was  in  great  need.  He  was  war- 
ranted in  asking  this,  as,  while  Nabal's  flocks 
were  out  in  the  desert,  the  presence  of  David  and 
his  men  in  the  neighbourhood  had  effectually  pro- 
tected them  from  the  depredations  of  the  Arabs. 
But  Nabal  refused  this  application,  with  harsh 
words,  reflecting  coarsely  upon  David  and  his 
troop  as  a  set  of  worthless  runagates.  On  learning 
this,  David  was  highly  incensed,  and  set  out  with 
his  band  to  avenge  the  insult.  But  his  intention  was 
anticipated  and  averted  by  Nabal's  wife  Abigail, 
who  met  him  on  the  road  with  a  most  acceptable 
supply  of  provisions,  and,  by  her  consummate  tact 
and  good  sense,  mollified  his  anger,  and,  indeed, 
caused  him  in  the  end  to  feel  thankful  that  he  had 
been  prevented  from  the  bloodshed  which  would 
have  ensued.  When  Nabal,  after  recovering  f  oni 
the  drunkenness  of  the  feast,  was  informed  of 
these  circumstances,  he  was  struck  with  such  in- 
tense terror  at  the  danger  to  which  he  had  been 
exposed,  that  'his  heart  died  within  him,  and  he 
became  as  a  stone  ;'  which  seems  to  have  been  the 
exciting  cause  of  a  malady  that  carried  him  off 
about  ten  days  after.  David,  not  long  after, 
evinced  the  favourable  impression  which  the  good 
sense  and  comeliness  of  Abigail  had  made  upon 
him,  by  making  her  his  wife,  B.C.  1061  (1  Sam. 
XXV.)  [Abigail]. 

NABATHiE'ANS.     [Nebaioth.] 

NA'BOTH  Cfruit,  produce),  an  inhabitant  of 
Jezreel,  who  was  the  possessor  of  a  patrimonial 
vineyard  adjoining  the  garden  of  the  palace  which 
the  icings  of  Israel  had  there.  King  Ahab  had 
conceived  a  desire  to  add  this  vineyard  to  his 
ground,  to  make  of  it  '  a  garden  of  herbs,'  but 
found  that  Naboth  could  not,  on  any  consideration, 
be  induced  to  alienate  a  property  which  he  had 
derived  from  his  fathers.  This  gave  the  khig  so 
much  cgncern,  that  he  took  to  his  bed  and  refused 
his  food  ;  but  when  his  wife,  the  notorious  Jeze- 
bel, understood  the  cause  of  his  trouble,  she  bade 
him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  she  would  procure  him 
the  vineyard.  Some  time  after  Naboth  was,  at  a 
public  feast,  accused  of  blasphemy,  by  an  order 
from  her  under  the  royal  seal,  and,  being  con- 
demned through  the  testimony  of  false  witnesses, 
was  stoned  to  death,  according  to  the  law,  outside 
the  town  (Lev.  xxiv.  16;  Num.  xv.  30\  His 
estate,  by  a  usage  which  appears  to  have  crept  in, 
was  forfeited  to  the  crown. 

When  Ahab  heard  of  the  death  of  Naboth — and 
he  must  have  known  how  that  death  had  been  ac- 
complished, or  he  would  not  have  supposed  him- 
self a  gainer  by  the  event — he  hastened  to  take 


NAllUM 

But  he  was  speedily  taught  that  this 
horrid  crime  had  not  passed  without  notice  by  the 
all-seeing  God,  and  would  not  remain  unpunished. 
The  only  tribunal  to  which  he  remained  account- 
able, pronounced  his  doom  through  the  prophet 
Elijah,  who  met  him  on  the  spot,  '  In  the  place 
where  dogs  licked  the  blood  of  Naboth,  shall 
dogs  lick  thy  blood,  even  thine '  (1  Kings  xxi.). 

NA'CHON.  The  floor  of  Nachon  is  the  name 
given  to  the  threshing-floor  near  which  Uzzah 
was  slain,  for  laying  his  hand  upon  the  ark  (2 
Sam.  vi.  6). 

NA'CHOR.     [Nahor.] 

1.  NA'DAB  {liberal),  eldest  son  of  Aaron, 
who,  with  his  brother  Abihu,  was  slain  for  offer- 
ing strange  fire  to  the  Lord  [Abihu]. 

2.  NADAB,  son  of  Jeroboam,  and  second  king 
of  Israel.  He  ascended  the  throne  upon  the 
death  of  his  father  (b.c.  954),  whose  deep-laid, 
but  criminal  and  dangerous  policy,  he  followed. 

NAHA'LIEL,  an  encampment  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  wilderness  [Wandering]. 

NAHAL'LAL,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Zebulun 
(Josh.  xix.  1.5),  which  was  assigned  to  the  Le- 
vites  (Josh,  xxi,  35),  but  of  which  Zebulun  was 
slow  in  dispossessing  the  Canaanites  (Judg.  i.  30). 

1.  NA'HASH  (a  serpent),  a  person  named 
only  in  2  Sam.  xvii.  25  ;  and  as  he  is  there  de- 
scribed as  the  father  of  Abigail  and  Zeruiah,  who 
are  elsewhere  called  the  sisters  of  David,  this 
must  have  been  either  another  name  for  Jesse, 
or,  as  some  suppose,  of  a  former  husband  of 
David's  mother. 

2.  NAHASH,  king  of  the  Ammonites,  noted 
for  the  barbarous  terms  of  capitulation  which  he 
oifered  to  the  town  of  Jabesh-Gilead,  and  for  his 
subsequent  defeat  by  Saul  [Jabesh]. 

1.  NA'HOR  (^snorting),  or  rather  Nachor,  as 
in  Luke  iii.  34,  son  of  Serug,  and  father  of 
Terah,  the  father  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xi.  22-25). 

2.  NAHOR,  grandson  of  the  preceding,  being 
one  of  the  sons  of  Terah,  and  brother  of  Abra- 
ham. Nahor  espoused  Milcah  his  niece,  daughter 
of  his  eldest  brother  Haran  (Gen.  xi.  27-29). 
Nahor  did  not  quit  his  native  place,  '  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,'  when  the  rest  of  the  family  removed 
to  Haran  (Gen.  xi.  30) ;  but  it  would  appear  that 
he  went  thither  afterwards,  as  we  eventually  find 
his  son  Bethuel,  and  his  grandson  Laban,  esta- 
blished ther-e  (Gen.  xxvii.  43  ;  xxix.  5). 

NAH'SHON  {enchanter),  from  which  he  is 
called  Naason  in  the  genealogies  of  Christ  in 
Matt.  i.  4  ;  Luke  iii.  32,  son  of  Aminadab,  and 
prince  or  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  at  the  time 
of  the  exode  (Num.  i.  7;  ii.  3). 

NAHUM  {consolation),  the  seventh  of  the 
minor  prophets,  according  to  the  arrangement  of 
both  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,  but  the  sixth  in 
point  of  date,  was  a  native  of  Elkosh,  a  village 
of  Galilee.  He  prophesied  in  Judah  after  the 
deportation  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  soon  after  the 
unsuccessful  irruption  of  Sennacherib  (ch.  i. 
11-13;  ii.  1,  14),  consequently  towards  the  close 
of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  fix  the  date  with  precision,  from  the 
allusion  to  the  destruction  of  No-Ammon  or 
Thebes  in  Egypt  (ch.  iii.  8);  but  as  it  is  un- 
certain when  this  event  took  place,  Eichhorn  and 
others  have  conjectured  that  it  was  near  the 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah,  or  about 
B.C.   720,  as  about  this   time  Sargon,  king  of  I 


NAKED 


607 


Assyria,  waged  an  unsuccessful  war  for  three 
years  against  Egypt  (Isa.  xx.). 

The  contents  of  the  prophecy  of  Nahum  are  as 
follows: — Chap.  i.  2-7.  The  destruction  of  Ni- 
neveh and  of  the  Assyrian  monarchy  is  depicted 
in  the  liveliest  colours,  together  with  the  relief 
of  Judah  from  oppression.  The  destruction  of 
Nineveh  is  detailed  with  still  greater  particu- 
larity in  the  third  chapter;  which  has  induced 
some  to  suppose  that  the  prophet  refers  to  two 
different  events — the  sack  of  Nineveh  by  the 
Medes,  B.C.  867,  in  the  reign  of  Sardanapalus, 
and  its  second  and  final  destruction,  under  Chy- 
niladan,  by  Cyaxares  the  First  and  Nabopolassar, 
B.C.  625.  But  this  opinion  has  been  satisfactorily 
refuted  by  Jahn  and  De  Wette. 

The  beauty  of  the  style  of  Nahum  has  been 
universally  felt.  It  is  classic,  observes  De  Wette, 
in  all  respects.  It  is  marked  by  clearness,  by  its 
finished  elegance,  as  well  as  by  fire,  richness,  and 
originality.  The  rhythm  is  regular  and  lively. 
The  whole  book  remarkably  coherent,  and  the 
author  only  holds  his  breath,  as  it  were,  in  the 
last  chapter.  Jahn  observes  that  the  language  is 
pure,  with  a  single  exception;  that  the  style  is 
ornate,  and  the  tropes  bold  and  elegant  (render- 
ing it,  however,  necessary  for  the  reader  to 
supply  some  omissions  ;  see  ii.  8  ;  ix.  3,  16)  ;  and 
that  the  descriptions  of  the  divine  omnipotence, 
and  of  the  destruction  of  Nineveh,  are  resplendent 
with  all  the  perfection  of  oratory. 

NAIL.  There  are  two  Hebrew  words  thus 
translated  in  the  Auth.  Vers.,  which  it  may  be 
well  to  distinguish. 

1.  Yathed,  which  usually  denotes  a  peg,  pin, 
or  nail,  as  driven  into  a  wall  (^Ezek.  xv.  3 ;  Isa. 
xxii.  25)  ;  and  more  especially  a  tent-pin  driven 
into  the  earth  to  fasten  the  tent  (Exod.  xxvii.  19  ; 
XXXV.  18;  xxxviii,  31;  Judg.  iv.  21,  22;  Isa. 
xxxiii.  20  ;  liv.  2). 

2.  Mismeroth,  which,  with  some  variations  of 
form,  is  applied  to  ordinary  and  ornamental 
nails.  It  always  occurs  in  the  plural,  and  is  the 
word  which  we  find  in  1  Chron.  xxii.  3  ;  2  Chron. 
iii.  9  ;  Isa.  xli.  7  ;  Jer.  x.  4 ;  Eccles.  xii.  11.  The 
last  of  these  texts  involves  a  very  significant 
proverbial  application — 'The  words  of  the  wise 
are  as  nails  infixed,'  &c. 

NA'IN,  a  town  of  Palestine,  where  Je.sus 
raised  the  widow's  son  to  life  (Luke  vii.  11-17). 
Eusebius  and  Jerome  describe  it  as  near  Endor. 

NAI'OTH,  a  place  in  or  near  Ramah,  where 
Samuel  abode  with  his  disciples  (1  Sam.  xix.  18, 
19,  22,  23;  xx.  1), 

NAKED.  The  word  arom,  rendered  '  naked ' 
in  our  Bibles,  does  not  in  many  places  mean  ab- 
solute nakedness.  It  has  this  meaning  in  such 
passages  as  Job  i.  21  ;  Eccles.  v.  15  ;  Mic,  i.  8; 
Amos  ii.  16.  But  in  other  places  it  means  one 
who  is  ragged  or  poorly  clad  (1  John  xxi.  7  ;  Isa. 
Iviii.  7)  ;  which  does  not  indeed  differ  from  a 
familiar  application  of  the  word  '  naked '  among 
ourselves.  A  more  peculiar  and  Oriental  sense  of 
the  word  is  that  in  which  it  is  applied  to  one  who 
has  laid  aiiide  his  loose  outer  garment,  and  goes 
about  in  his  tunic,  and  it  was  thus  that  Isaiah 
went '  naked '  and  barefoot  (Isa.  xx.  2 ;  comp.  John 
xxi.  7).  Persons  in  tlieir  own  houses  freely  laid 
aside  their  outer  garment,  and  appeared  in  their 
tunic  and  girdle ;  but  this  is  undress,  and  they 
would  count  it  improper  to  appear  abroad,  or  to  see 


608 


NATHAN 


NATHANAEL 


company  in  their  own  house  without  the  outer 
robe. 

NA'OMI,  wife  of  Elimelech  of  Bethlehem,  and 
mother-in-law  of  Ruth,  in  whose  history  hers  is 
involved  [Ruth]. 

NAPH'TALI  (my  wrestling),  the  sixth  son  of 
Jacob,  and  his  second  by  Bilhah,  Rachel's  hand- 
maid, born  B.C.  1747,  in  Padan-Aram.  Nothing 
of  his  personal  history  is  recorded.  The  descrip- 
tion given  of  Naphtali  in  the  testamentary  bless- 
ing of  Jacob  (Gen.  xlix.  21)  has  been  variously 
rendered.  In  the  Authorized  Version  it  is  trans- 
lated '  a  bind  let  loose,  he  giveth  goodly  words.' 
liut,  according  to  the  reading  in  the  Septuagint, 
the  verse  maybe  rendered,  'Naphtali  is  a  goodly 
tree  [terebinth  or  oak]  that  puts  forth  iovely 
branches.'  We  certainly  incline  to  this  view  of 
the  text ;  the  metaphor  which  it  involves  being 
well  adapted  to  the  residence  of  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali,  which  was  a  beautiful  woodland  coun- 
try, extending  to  Mount  Lebanon,  and  producing 
fruits  of  every  sort.  With  this  interpretation, 
better  than  with  the  other,  agrees  the  blessing  of 
Moses  upon  the  same  tribe :  '  O  Naphtali,  satisfied 
with  favour,  and  full  with  the  blessing  of  the 
Lord,  possess  thou  the  west  and  the  south' 
(Deut.  xxxiii.  23). 

When  the  Israelites  quitted  Egypt,  the  tribe  of 
Naphtali  numbered  53,400  adult  males  (Num. 
i.  43),  which  made  it  the  sixth  in  population 
among  the  tribes ;  but  at  the  census  taken  in  the 
plains  of  Moab  it  counted  only  45,400  (Num. 
xxvi.  50),  being  a  decrease  of  8000  in  one  gene- 
ration, whereby  it  became  the  seventh  in  point 
of  numbers.  The  limits  of  the  territory  assigned 
to  this  tribe  are  stated  in  Josh.  xix.  32-39,  which 
show  that  it  possessed  one  of  the  finest  and  most 
fertile  districts  of  Upper  Galilee,  extending  from 
the  Lake  Gennesareth  and  the  border  of  Zebulun, 
on  the  south,  to  the  sources  of  the  Jordan  and  the 
spurs  of  Lebanon  on  the  north,  and  from  the 
Jordan,  on  the  east,  to  the  borders  of  Asher  on 
the  west.  But  it  was  somewhat  slow  in  acquiring 
possession  of  the  assigned  territory  (Judg.  i.  33). 
The  chief  towns  of  the  tribe  were  Kedesh,  Hazwr, 
Harosheth,  and  Chinnereth,  which  last  was  also 
the  name  of  the  great  lake  afterwards  called 
Gennesareth.  In  the  Hebrew  history  Naphtali 
is  distinguished  for  the  alacrity  with  which  it 
obeyed  the  call  to  arms  against  the  oppressors  of 
Israel  when  many  other  tribes  held  back  (Judg. 
iv.  10;  v.  18;  vi.  35;  vii.  23).  In  the  time  of 
David  the  tribe  had  on  its  rolls  37,000  men  fit  for 
military  service,  armed  with  shields  and  spears, 
under  a  thousand  officers  (1  Chron.  xii.  34). 

NARCIS'SUS,  a  person  of  Rome,  apparently 
of  some  consequence,  to  the  believers  of  whose 
household  St.  Paul  sent  his  greetings  (Rom.  xvi. 
11).  Many  commentators  have  supposed  this 
person  the  same  Narcissus  who  was  the  freedman 
and  favourite  of  the  Emperor  Claudius. 

NA'THAN  {given),  a  prophet  of  the  time  of 
David.  When  that  monarch  conceived  the  idea 
of  building  a  temple  to  Jehovah,  the  design 
and  motives  seemed  to  Nathan  so  good  that  he 
ventured  to  approve  of  it  without  the  Divine 
authority,  but  the  night  following  he  received 
the  Divine  command,  which  prevented  the  king 
from  executing  this  great  work  (2  Sara.  vii.  2,  sq. ; 
1  Chron.  xvii.).  Nathan  does  not  again  appear 
in  the  sacred  history  till  be  comes  forward  in  the 


name  of  the  Lord  to  reprove  David,  and  to  de- 
nounce dire  punishment  for  his  frightful  crime 
in  the  matter  of  Uriah  and  Bathsheba.  This  he 
does  by  exciting  the  king's  indignation,  and  lead- 
ing him  to  condemn  himself,  by  reciting  to  hira 
the  very  striking  parable  of  the  traveller  and  the 
lamb.  Then,  changing  the  voice  of  a  suppliant 
for  that  of  a  judge  and  a  commissioned  prophet, 
he  exclaims,  '  Thou  art  the  man  !'  and  proceeds 
to  announce  the  evils  which  were  to  embitter  the 
remainder  of  his  reign  (2  Sam.  xii.  1,  sq. ;  corap. 
Ps.  li.).  The  lamentations  of  the  repentant  king 
drew  forth  some  mitigation  of  punishment;  but 
the  troubled  history  of  the  remainder  of  his  reign 
shows  how  completely  God's  righteous  doom  was 
fulfilled.  The  child  conceived  in  adultery  died ; 
but  when  Bathsheba's  second  son  was  born,  the 
prophet  gave  him  the  name  of  Jedidiah  {beloved 
of  Jehovah),  although  he  is  better  known  by  that 
of  Solomon  (2  Sam.  xii.  24,  25).  He  recognised 
in  this  young  prince  the  successor  of  David ;  and 
it  was  in  a  great  measure  through  his  interposi- 
tion that  the  design  of  Adonijah  to  seize  the  crown 
was  unsuccessful  (1  Kings  i.  8,  sq.).  Nathan 
probably  died  soon  after  the  accession  of  Solomon, 
for  his  name  does  not  again  historically  occur. 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  Solomon  was  brought 
up  under  his  care.  His  sons  occupied  high  places 
in  this  king's  court  (1  Kings  iv.  5).  He  assisted 
David  by  his  counsels  when  he  re-organized  the 
public  worship  (2  Chron.  xxix.  25)  ;  and  he  com- 
posed annals  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived  (1 
Chron.  xxix.  29;  2  Chron.  ix.  29);  but  these 
have  not  been  preserved  to  us.  In  Zechariah 
(xii.  12)  the  name  of  Nathan  occurs  as  repre- 
senting the  great  family  of  the  prophets. 

NATHAN'AEL  {given  of  God),  a  person  of 
Cana  in  Galilee,  who,  when  informed  by  Philip 
that  the  Messiah  had  appeared  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  asked,  '  Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth?'  But  he  nevertheless 
accepted  Philip's  laconic  invitation,  '  Come  and 
see  !'  When  Jesus  saw  him  coming  he  said, 
'  Behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile.' 
Astonished  to  hear  this  from  a  man  to  whom  he 
supposed  himself  altogether  unknown,  he  asked, 
'  Whence  knowest  thou  me  ?'  And  the  answer, 
'  Before  that  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast 
under  the  fig-tree,  I  saw  thee,'  wrought  such 
conviction  on  his  mind  that  he  at  once  exclaimed, 
'  Rabbi,  thou  art  the  son  of  God  ;  thou  art  the 
king  of  Israel!'  (John  i.  45-51).  It  is  clear,  from 
the  effect,  that  Nathanael  knew  by  this  that  Jesus 
was  supernaturally  acquainted  with  his  disposition 
and  character,  as  the  answer  had  reference  to  the 
private  acts  of  devotion,  or  to  the  meditations 
which  filled  his  mind,  when  under  the  fig-tree  io 
his  garden.  It  is  questioned  whether  Jesus  had 
actually  seen  Nathanael  or  not  with  his  bodily 
eyes.  It  matters  not  to  the  result ;  but  the  form 
of  the  words  employed  seems  to  suggest  that  he  had 
actually  noticed  him  when  under  the  fig-tree,  and 
had  then  cast  a  look  through  his  inward  being. 
It  is  believed  that  Nathanael  is  the  same  as  the 
apostle  Bartholomew.  All  the  disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist  named  in  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John 
became  apostles ;  and  St.  John  does  not  name 
Bartholomew,  nor  the  other  evangelists  Nathanael 
in  the  lists  of  the  apostles  (Matt.  x.  3;  Mark  iii.  18; 
Luke  vi.  1 4) :  besides,  the  name  of  Bartholomew 
always  follows  that  of  Philip ;  and  it  would  appear 


inAZARENE 

that  Bartholomew  (son  of  Tholmai)  is  no  more 
than  a  surname  [Bartholomew]. 

NATIONS,  DISPERSION  OF.  Under  this 
or  some  similar  designation,  it  has  been  the  pre- 
valent opinion  that  the  outspreading,  which  is  the 
entire  subject  of  Genesis,  eh.  x.,  and  the  scattering 
narrated  in  ch.  xi.  1-9,  refer  to  the  same  event, 
the  latter  being  included  in  the  former  descrip- 
tion, and  being  a  statement  of  the  manner  in  which 
the  separation  was  effected.  From  this  opinion, 
however,  we  dissent.  An  unbiassed  reading  of 
the  text  appears  most  plainly  to  mark  the  dis- 
tinctness, iu  time  and  character,  of  the  two  narra- 
tives. The  first  was  universal,  regulated,  orderly, 
quiet,  and  progressive:  the  second,  local,  em- 
bracing only  a  part  of  mankind,  sudden,  tur- 
bulent, and  attended  with  marks  of  the  Divine 
displeasure. 

The  former  is  introduced  and  entitled  in  these 
words  : — '  Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth ; — these 
are  the  three  sons  of  Noah  ;  and  from  them  was 
the  whole  earth  overspread.'  After  the  mention 
of  the  sons  of  Japheth,  it  is  added,  *  From  these 
the  isles  of  the  nations  were  dispersed,  in  their 
lands,  each  to  its  language,  to  their  families,  in 
their  nations.'  A  formula  somewhat  differing  is 
annexed  to  the  descendants  of  Ham :  '  These  are 
the  sons  of  Ham,  [according]  to  their  families, 
to  their  tongues,  in  their  lands,  in  their  nations.' 
The  same  phrase  follows  the  enumeration  of  the 
Iiouse  of  Shem  :  and  the  whole  concludes  with, 
'  These  are  the  families  of  the  sons  of  Noah, 
[according]  to  their  generations,  in  their  nations ; 
and  from  these  the  nations  were  dispersed  in  the 
earth  after  the  Flood'  (Gen.  ix.  1 9 ;  x.  5,  20, 31, 32). 

The  second  relation  begins  in  the  manner  which 
often,  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  introduces  a  new 
subject.  We  shall  present  it  in  a  literality  even 
servile,  that  the  reader  may  gain  the  most  prompt 
apprehension  of  the  meaning.  '  And  it  was  all  the 
earth  (but  with  perfect  propriety  it  might  be  ren- 
dered the  whole  land,  country,  region,  or  district)  : 
lip  one  and  words  one  [i.  e.  the  same,  similar]. 
And  it  was  in  their  going  forwards  that  they  dis- 
covered a  plain  in  the  country  Shinar  ;  and  they 
fixed  [their  abode]  there.'  Then  comes  the  nar- 
rative of  their  resolving  to  build  a  lofty  tower 
which  should  serve  as  a  signal-point  for  their 
rallying  and  remaining  united.  The  defeating  of 
this  purpose  is  expressed  in  the  anthropomorphism 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  earliest  Scriptures, 
and  was  adapted  to  the  infantile  condition  of  man- 
kind. '  And  Jehovah  scattered  them  from  thence 
upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  [or  land],  and 
they  ceased  to  build  the  city '  (ch.  xi.  2-9). 

NAVIGATION.     [Ship.] 

NAZARENE',  an  epithet  constituting  a  part 
of  one  of  the  names  given  to  our  Lord.  From 
the  number  of  times  that  the  epithet  is  employed, 
it  appears  that  it  became  at  the  very  first  an  ap- 
pellation of  our  Lord,  and  was  hence  applied  to 
designate  his  followers.  Considering  that  the 
name  was  derived  from  the  place  where  Jesus 
resided  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  we  see 
no  reason  to  think  that  at  first  it  bore  with  it,  in 
its  application  to  him  or  his  followers,  anything 
of  an  offensive  nature.  Such  a  designation  was 
in  this  case  natural  and  proper.  In  process  of 
time,  however,  other  influences  came  into  opera- 
tion. Nazareth  was  in  Galilee,  a  part  of  Pal es- 
tiue  which  was  held  in   disesteem    for  several 


NAZARITE 


e09 


reasons : — its  was  a  provincial  dialect ;  lying  re- 
mote from  the  capital,  its  inhabitants  spoke  a 
strange  tongue,  which  was  rough,  harsh,  and  un- 
couth, having  peculiar  combinations  of  words, 
and  words  also  peculiar  to  themselves ;  its  popu- 
lation was  impure,  being  made  up  not  only  of 
provincial  Jews,  but  also  of  heathens  of  several 
sorts,  Egyptians,  Arabians,  Phoenicians;  its 
people  were  in  an  especial  manner  given  to  be 
seditious,  which  quality  of  character  they  not 
rarely  displayed  in  the  capital  itself  on  occasion 
of  the  public  festivals  ;  whence  may  be  seen  the 
point  of  the  accusation  made  against  Paul,  as 
'  ringleader  of  the  sect  of  Nazarenes '  (Acts  xxiv. 
5).  As  Galilee  was  a  despised  part  of  Palestine, 
so  was  Nazareth  a  despised  part  of  Galilee,  being 
a  small,  obscure,  if  not  mean  place.  Accordingly 
its  inhabitants  were  held  in  little  consideration 
by  other  Galileans,  and,  of  course,  by  those  Jews 
who  dwelt  in  Judaja.  Hence  the  name  Nazarene 
came  to  bear  with  it  a  bad  odour,  and  was  nearly 
synonymous  with  a  low,  ignorant,  and  uncul- 
tured, if  not  un-Jewish  person  (Kuinoel,  in  Matt. 
ii.  23).  It  became  accordingly  a  contemptuous 
designation  and  a  term  of  reproach,  and  as  such, 
as  well  as  a  mere  epithet  of  description,  it  is  used 
in  the  New  Testament. 

NAZ'ARITE.  This  word  is  derived  from  a 
Hebrew  word,  which  signifies  to  '  separate  one's- 
self ;'  and  as  such  separation  from  ordinary  life 
to  religious  purposes  must  be  by  abstinence  ol 
some  kind,  so  it  denotes  '  to  refrain  from  any- 
thing.' Hence  the  import  of  the  term  Nazarite— 
one,  that  is,  who,  by  certain  acts  of  self-denial, 
consecrated  himself  in  a  peculiar  manner  to  the 
service,  worship,  and  honour  of  God. 

We  are  here,  it  is  clear,  in  the  midst  of  a  sphere 
of  ideas  totally  dissimilar  to  the  genius  of  the 
Christian  system  ;  a  sphere  of  ideas  in  which  the 
outward  predominates,  in  which  self-mortification 
is  held  pleasing  to  God,  and  in  which  man's 
highest  service  is  not  enjoyment  with  gratitude, 
but  privation  with  pain. 

It  may  be  questioned,  if  at  least  so  much  of 
this  set  of  notions  as  supposes  the  Deity  to  be 
gratified  and  conciliated  by  the  privations  of  his 
creatures,  is  in  harmony  with  the  ideas  of  God 
which  the  books  of  Moses  exhibit,  or  had  their 
origin  in  the  law  he  promulgated.  The  manner 
in  which  bespeaks  on  the  subject  (Num.  vi.  1-21) 
would  seem  to  imply  that  he  was  not  introducing 
a  new  law,  but  regulating  an  old  custom ;  for  his 
words  take  for  granted,  that  the  subject  was 
generally  and  well  known,  and  that  all  that  was 
needed  was  such  directions  as  should  bring  exist- 
ing observances  into  accordance  with  the  Mosaic 
ritual. 

The  law  of  the  Nazarite,  which  may  be  found 
in  Num.  vi.,  is,  iu  effect,  as  follows  : — male  and 
female  might  assume  the  vow;  on  doing  so  a 
person  was  understood  to  separate  himself  unto 
the  Lord  ;  this  separation  consisted  in  abstinence 
from  wine  and  all  intoxicating  liquors,  and  from 
everything  made  therefrom  :  '  From  vinegar  of 
wine,  and  vinegar  of  strong  drink ;  neither  shall 
he  drink  any  liquor  of  grapes,  nor  eat  moist  grapes 
or  dried ;'  he  was  to  '  eat  nothing  of  the  vine-tree, 
from  the  kernels  even  to  the  husks.'  Nor  was  a 
razor  to  come  upon  his  head  all  the  time  of  his 
vow  ;  he  was  to  '  be  holy,  and  let  the  locks  of  the 
hair  of  his  head  grow.'  With  special  care  was  he 
2  n 


610 


NAZARITE 


to  avoid  touching  any  dead  body  whatever.  Be- 
ing holy  unto  the  Lord,  he  was  not  to  make  him- 
self unclean  by  touching  the  corpse  even  of  a  rela- 
tive. Should  he  happen  to  do  so,  he  was  then  to 
shave  his  head  and  ofi'er  a  sin-offering  and  a  burnt- 
otfering;  thus  making  an  atonement  for  himself, 
'  for  that  he  sinned  by  the  dead.'  A  lamb  also, 
of  the  first  year,  was  to  be  offered  as  a  trespass- 
offering.  On  the  termination  of  the  period  of  the 
vow  the  Nazarite  himself  was  brought  unto  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation,  there 
to  offer  a  burnt-offering,  a  sin-offering,  a  peace- 
offering,  and  a  meat  and  a  drink-offering.  The 
Nazarite  also  shaved  his  head  at  the  door  of  the 
tabernacle,  and  put  the  hair  grown  during  the 
time  of  separation  into  the  fire  which  was  under 
the  sacrifice  of  the  peace-offerings.  '  And  the 
priest  shall  take  the  sodden  shoulder  of  the  ram 
and  one  unleavened  cake  out  of  the  basket,  and 
one  unleavened  wafer,  and  shall  put  them  in  the 
hands  of  the  Nazarite  after  the  hair  of  his  separa- 
tion is  shaven ;  and  the  priest  shall  wave  them  for 


NAZARETH 

a  wave-offering.'  '  After  that  the  Nazarite  may 
drink  wine.' 

There  are  not  wanting  individual  instances 
which  serve  to  illustrate  this  vow,  and  to  show 
that  the  law  in  the  case  went  into  operation. 
Hannah,  Samson's  mother,  became  a  Nazarite 
that  she  might  have  a  son.  Samson  himself  was 
a  Nazarite  from  the  time  of  his  birth  (Judg.  xiii.). 

From  the  language  employed  by  Samson,  as 
well  as  from  the  tenor  of  the  law  in  this  case,  the 
retention  of  the  hair  seems  to  have  been  one 
essential  feature  in  the  vow.  It  is,  therefore, 
somewhat  singular  that  any  case  should  have  been 
considered  as  the  Nazaritic  vow  in  which  tlie 
shaving  of  the  head  is  put  forth  as  the  chief  par- 
ticular. St.  Paul  is  supposed  to  have  been  under 
this  vow,  when  (Acts  xviii.  18)  he  is  said  to  have 
'  shorn  his  head  in  Cenchrea,  for  he  had  a  vow  ' 
(see  also  Acts  xxi.  24).  The  head  was  not  shaven 
till  the  vow  was  performed,  when  a  person  had 
not  a  vow. 

NAZ'ARETH,  a  town  in  Galilee,  in  which  the 


262.     [Nazareth.] 


parents  of  Jesus  were  resident,  and  where  in  con- 
sequence he  lived  till  the  commencement  of  his 
ministry.  It  derives  all  its  historical  importance 
from  this  circumstance,  for  it  is  not  even  named 
iu  the  Old  Testament  or  by  Josephus  :  which  suf- 
fices to  show  that  it  could  not  have  been  a  place 
of.  any  consideration,  and  was  probably  no  more 
than  a  village. 

Nazareth  is  situated  about  six  miles  W.N.W. 
from  Mount  Tabor,  on  the  western  side  of  a  nar- 
row oblong  basin,  or  depressed  valley,  about  a 
mile  long  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad.  The 
buildings  stand  on  the  lower  part  of  the  slope  of 
the  western  hill,  which  rises  steep  aud  high  above 
them.  It  is  now  a  small,  but  more  than  usually 
well-built  place,  containing  about  three  thousand 
inhabitants,  of  whom  two-thirds  are  Christians. 


The  flat-roofed  houses  are  built  of  stone,  and  are 
mostly  two  stories  high.  The  environs  are  planted 
with  luxuriantly-growing  fig-trees,  olive-trees, 
and  vines,  and  the  crops  of  corn  are  scarcely 
equalled  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
Canaan.  All  the  spots  which  could  be  supposed 
to  be  in  any  v\ay  connected  with  the  history  of 
Christ  are,  of  course,  pointed  out  by  the  monks 
aud  local  guides,  but  on  authority  too  precarious 
to  deserv.'  any  credit,  and  with  circumstances  too 
puerile  for  reverence.  It  is  enough  to  know  that 
the  Lord  dwelt  here  ;  that  for  thirty  years  he  trod 
this  !?pot  of  earth,  and  that  his  eyes  were  familiar 
witli  the  objects  spread  around.  In  the  south- 
west partof  tiie  town  is  a  small  Maronite  church, 
under  a  precipice  of  the  hill,  which  here  breaks 
off  in  a  perpendicular  wall  forty  or  fifty  feet  in 


NEBAIOTH 


NEBAIOTH 


611 


height.  Dr.  Robinson  noticed  several  such  pre- 
cipices in  the  western  hill  around  the  village,  and 
■with  very  good  reason  concludes  that  one  of  these, 
probably  the  one  just  indicated,  may  well  have 
been  the  spot  whither  the  Jews  led  Jesus,  'unto 
the  brow  of  the  hill  whereon  the  city  was  built, 
that  they  might  cast  him  down  headlong '  (Luke  iv. 
28-30) ;  and  not  the  precipice,  two  miles  from 
the  village,  overlooking  the  plain  of  Esdraelon, 
which  monkish  tradition  indicates  to  the  traveller 
as  the  '  Mount  of  Precipitation.' 

NEAF'OLIS,  a  maritime  city  of  Macedonia, 
near  the  borders  of  Thrace,  now  called  Napoli. 
Paul  landed  here  on  his  first  journey  into  Europe 
(Acts  xvi.  11). 

NEBAI'OTH,  or  Nebajoth,  the  first-born  son 
of  Ishmael  (Gen.  xxv.  13;  1  Chron.  i.  29),  and 
the  prince  or  sheikh  of  one  of  the  twelve  Ishmael- 
itish  tribes,  which,  as  well  as  the  territory  they 
occupied,  continued  to  bear  his  name  in  after 
times  (Gen.  xxv.  16;  eomp.  ch.  xvii.  20).  One 
of  Esau's  wives,  Mahalath,  otherwise  called 
Bashemath,  is  expressly  designated  as  '  the  sister 
of  Nebaioth'  (Gen.  xxviii.  9  ;  xxxvi.  3) ;  and  by  a 
singular  coincidence  the  land  of  Esau,  or  Edom, 
was  ultimately  possessed  by  the  posterity  of  Ne- 
baioth. In  common  with  the  other  Ishmaelites, 
they  first  settled  in  the  wilderness  '  before '  {i.  e. 
to  the  east  of)  their  brethren,  the  other  descend- 
ants of  Abraham ;  by  which  we  are  probably  to 
understand  the  great  desert  lying  to  the  east  and 
south-east  of  Palestine  (Gen.  xxv.  18;  xxi.  21  ; 
xvi.  12;  and  see  the  article  Arabia).  From  va- 
rious references  in  Scripture  it  is  evident  that  the 
tribe  of  Nebaioth  for  ages  followed  the  nomadic 
life  of  shepherds. 

The  successful  invasion  of  Western  Asia,  first 
by  the  Assyrians  and  afterwards  by  the  Chaldse- 
ans,  could  not  but  affect  the  condition  of  the 
tribes  in  Northern  Arabia,  though  we  possess  no 
record  of  the  special  results.  The  prophet  Isaiah, 
after  his  obscure  oracle  regarding  Dumah  (ch. 
xxi.  11,  12),  introduces  a  'judgment  upon  Ara- 
bia,' i.  e.  Desert  Arabia,  which  some  suppose  to 
have  been  fulfilled  by  Sennacherib,  while  others 
think  it  refers  to  the  later  events  that  are  foretold 
by  Jeremiah  (ch.  xlix.  28-33)  as  befalling  '  Ke- 
dar  and  the  kingdoms  of  Hazor,'  in  consequence 
of  the  ravages  of  Nebuchadnezzar.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  we  know  that  when  the  latter  carried  the 
Jews  captive  to  Babylon,  the  Edomites  made 
themselves  masters  of  a  great  part  of  the  south  of 
Palestine  [Idum^a],  while  either  then  or  at  a 
later  period  they  themselves  were  supplanted  in 
the  southern  part  of  their  own  territory  by  the 
Nabathaeans,  though  doubtless  this  general  desig- 
nation included  a  variety  of  Arab  races  who  took 
their  common  name  from  the  progenitor  of  the 
largest  or  most  influential  tribe,  Nebaioth,  the 
first-born  of  Ishmael. 

The  territory  occupied  by  the  Nabathaeans  in 
its  widest  sense  included  the  whole  of  Northern 
Arabia  from  the  Euphrates  to  the  Elanitic  Gulf 
of  the  Red  Sea;  but  more  strictly  taken  it  denoted 
(at  least  in  later  times)  only  a  portion  of  the 
southern  part  of  that  vast  region.  We  first  hear 
of  the  Nabathseans  in  history  in  the  reign  of  An- 
tigonus,  who  succeeded  Alexander  the  Great  in 
Babylon,  and  died  in  the  year  B.C.  301.  He  sent 
two  expeditions  against  them  ;  but  both  were  un- 
successful.   The  Nabathaeans  were  as  yet  essen- 


tially a  pastoral  people,  though  they  were  like- 
wise engaged  in  commerce,  which  they  after- 
wards prosecuted  to  a  great  extent,  and  thereby 
acquired  great  riches  and  renown.  It  was  in  this 
way  that  they  gradually  became  more  fixed  in 
their  habits;  and  living  in  towns  and  villages 
they  were  at  length  united  under  a  regular  mo- 
narchical government,  constituting  the  kingdom 
of  Arabia,  or  more  strictly  Arabia  Petraja,  the 
name  being  derived  not,  as  some  suppose,  from 
the  rocky  nature  of  the  country,  but  from  the 
chief  city  Petra. 

The  common  name  of  the  kings  of  Arabia 
Petrsea  was  either  Aretas  or  Obodas.  Even  in 
the  time  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (about  B.C.  1 6C), 
we  read  in  2  Mace.  v.  8,  of  an  Aretas,  king  of  the 
Arabians  ;  and  from  that  period  downwards  they 
came  frequently  into  contact  both  with  the  Jews 
and  Romans,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  books  of  the 
Maccabees  and  the  writings  of  Josephus.  Long 
before  the  kingdom  of  Arabia  was  actually  con- 
quered by  the  Romans,  its  sovereigns  were  de- 
pendent on  the  Roman  power.  An  expedition 
was  sent  thither  by  Augustus,  under  ^Elius 
Gallus,  governor  of  Egypt,  and  a  personal  friend 
of  the  geographer  Strabo,  who  has  left  us  an  ac- 
count of  it.  After  various  obstacles,  he  at  last 
reached  Albns  Pagus,  the  emporium  of  the  Na- 
bathaeans, and  the  port  of  Petra,  which  was  pro- 
bably at  or  near  Elath.  Another  friend  of  Strabo, 
the  Stoic  philosopher  Athenodorus,  had  spent 
some  time  in  Petra,  and  related  to  him  with  ad- 
miration how  the  inhabitants  lived  in  entire  har- 
mony and  union  under  excellent  laws.  The 
kingdom  was  hereditary  ;  or  at  least  the  king 
was  always  one  of  the  royal  family,  and  had  a 
prime  minister  or  vizier,  who  was  styled  the  king's 
brother.  Another  Arabian  king  of  the  name  of 
Aretas  is  the  one  mentioned  by  St.  Paul  (2  Cor. 
ii.  32 ;  comp.  Acts  vii.  24,  25 ;  Joseph.  Antiq. 
xviii.  5.  1).  We  find  that  a  former  Aretas  had 
been  invited  to  assume  the  sovereignty  by  the  in- 
habitants of  Damascus:  and  now,  during  the 
weak  reign  of  Caligula,  the  same  city  is  seized 
by  another  Aretas,  and  governed  through  an 
ethnarch,  as  related  by  Paul.  The  kingdom  of 
Arabia  Petraea  maintained  its  nominal  inde- 
pendence till  about  A.D.  105,  in  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Trajan,  when  it  was  subdued  by  Cor- 
nelius Palma,  governor  of  Syria,  and  annexed  to 
the  vast  empire  of  Rome, 

The  Nabathaeans  had,  as  we  have  seen,  early 
applied  themselves  to  commerce,  especially  as 
carriers  of  the  products  of  Arabia,  India,  and  the 
far-distant  East,  which,  as  we  learn  from  Strabo, 
were  transported  on  camels  from  the  above-men- 
tioned Leuke  Kome  to  Petra,  and  thence  to 
Rhinocoloura  (el-Arish)  and  elsewhere.  '  But 
under  the  Roman  dominion  the  trade  of  these 
regions  appears  t-o  have  widely  extended  itself, 
and  to  have  flourished  in  still  greater  prosperity ; 
probably  from  the  circumstance  that  the  lawless 
rapacity  of  the  adjacent  nomadic  hordes  was  now 
kept  in  check  by  the  Roman  power,  and  pnrticu- 
larly  by  the  garrisons  which  were  everywhere 
established  for  this  specific  purpose.  The  country, 
too,  was  now  rendered  more  accessible,  and  the 
passage  of  merchants  and  caravans  more  practi- 
cable, by  mditary  ways.  But  as  the  power  of 
Rome  fell  into  decay,  the  Arabs  of  the  desert 
would  seem  again  to  have  acquired  the  ascend- 
2r2 


612  NEBUCHADNEZZAR 

ancy.  They  plundered  the  cities,  but  did  not 
destroy  them ;  and  hence  those  regions  are  still 
full  of  uninhabited,  yet  stately  and  often  splendid 
ruins,  of  ancient  wealth,  and  taste,  and  greatness. 
Even  Petra,  the  rich  and  impregnable  metropolis, 
was  subjected  to  the  same  fate ;  and  now  exists, 
iu  its  almost  inaccessible  loneliness,  only  to  ex- 
cite the  curiosity  of  the  scholar,  and  the  wonder 
of  the  traveller,  by  the  singularity  of  its  site,  its 
ruins,  and  its  fortunes.' 

In  the  course  of  the  fourth  century  this  region 
came  to  be  included  under  the  general  name  of 
'  Palestine.'  It  became  the  diocese  of  a  metro- 
politan, whose  seat  was  at  Petra,  and  who  was 
afterwards  placed  under  the  patriarch  of  Jeru- 
salem. With  the  Mohammedan  conquest  in  the 
seventh  century  its  commercial  prosperity  disap- 
peared. Lying  between  the  three  rival  empires 
of  Arabia,  Egypt,  and  Syria,  it  lost  its  ancient 
independence ;  the  course  of  trade  was  diverted 
into  new  channels ;  its  great  routes  were  aban- 
doned; and  at  length  the  entire  country  was 
quietly  yielded  up  to  the  Bedawees  of  the  sur- 
rounding wilderness,  whose  descendants  still 
claim  it  as  their  domain.  During  the  twelfth 
century  it  was  partially  occupied  by  the  Crusa- 
ders, who  gave  it  the  name  of  Arabia  Tertia,  or 
St/ria  Sobal.  From  that  period  it  remained  un- 
vlsited  by  Europeans,  and  had  almost  disappeared 
from  their  maps,  until  it  was  partially  explored, 
first  by  Seetzen  in  1807,  and  more  fully  by 
Burckhardt  in  18lS;  and  now  the  wonders  of 
the  Wady  Mflsa  are  familiarly  known  to  all. 

1.  NE'BO,  a  Chaldaean  idol  mentioned  in  Isa. 
xlvi.  1,  and  supposed  to  have  been  the  symbol  of 
the  planet  Mercury,  the  celestial  scribe  and  in- 
terpreter of  the  gods,  answering  to  the  Hermes 
and  Anubis  of  the  Egyptians.  He  was  likewise 
worshipped  by  the  Sabians  in  Arabia.  The 
divine  worship  paid  to  this  idol  by  the  Chaldseans 
and  Assyrians  is  attested  by  many  compound 
proper  names  of  which  it  forms  part,  as  JVebu- 
chadnezzar,  iVe6«zaradan,  iVeiuhashban ;  besides 
others  mentioned  in  classical  writers, —  Nabo- 
nedus,  Aaionassar,  iVafturianus,  iVa6onabus,  Na- 
topolassar. 

•I.  NEBO,  the  name  of  a  mountain  on  the  con- 
fines of  Moab  (Deut.  xxxii.  49  ;  xxxiv.  1),  and 
of  a  town  near  it  (Num.  xxxii.  3,  38  ;  Isa.  xv.  2). 
Since  the  time  of  Seetzen  and  Burckhardt,  Mount 
Nebo  has  been  usually  identified  with  Mount 
Attarus,  east  of  the  Dead  Sea, 

3.  NEBO,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Ezra 
ii.  29") ;  or  more  fully,  in  order  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  preceding, '  the  other  Nebo'  (Neh.  vii.  33). 

NEBUCHADNEZ'ZAR  (Kings,  Chronicles, 
and  Daniel ;  Jer.  xxvii. ;  xxviii ;  xxxiv.  1 ; 
xxxix.  1  ;  Ezek.  xxvi.  7  ;  and  Ezra  v.  12  ;  written 
also  Nebuchadrezzar,  generally  in  Jeremiah,  and 
in  Ezek.  xxx.  18)  was  the  name  of  the  Chaldsean 
monarch  of  Babylon  by  whom  Judah  was  con- 
quered, and  the  Jews  led  into  their  seventy  years' 
captivity.  The  name  of  this  monarch  has  been 
commonly  explained  to  signify  the  treasure  of 
Nebo,  but  according  to  some  it  signifies  Nebo  the 
prince  of  gods. 

The  only  notices  which  we  have  of  this  mo- 
narch in  the  canonical  writings  are  found  in  the 
books  of  Kings,  Chronicles,  Daniel,  and  Ezra, 
and  in  the  allusions  of  the  prophets  Jeremiah 
and  Ezckiel. 


NEBUCHADNEZZAR 

From  2  Kings  xxiii.  29,  and  2  Chron.  xxxv. 
20,  we  gather  that  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  (b.c. 
610),  Pharaoh- Necho,  king  of  Egypt,  having 
approached  by  sea  the  coast  of  Syria,  made  a 
friendly  application  to  King  Josiah  to  be  allowed 
a  passage  through  his  territories  to  the  dominions 
of  the  Assyrian  monarch,  with  whom  he  was 
then  at  war  (2  Chron.  xxxv.  20,  21).  The  design 
of  Pharaoh-Necho  was  to  seize  upon  Carchemish 
(Circesium  or  Cercusium),  a  strong  post  on  tlie 
Euphrates  ;  but  Josiah,  who  was  tributary  to  the 
Babylonian  monarch,  opposed  his  progress  at 
Megiddo,  where  he  was  defeated  and  mortally 
wounded  [Josiah].  Necho  marched  upon  Jeru- 
salem, when  the  Jews  became  tributary  to  the  king 
of  Egypt.  Upon  this,  Nebuchadnezzar,  king  of 
Babylon  (2  Kings  xxiv.  I ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  6, 
where  this  monarch's  name  is  for  the  first  time 
introduced),  invaded  Judah,  retook  Carchemish, 
with  the  territory  which  had  been  wrested  from 
him  by  Necho,  seized  upon  Jehoiakim,  the  vassal 
of  Pharaoh-Necho,  and  reduced  him  to  submission 
(B.C.  607).  Jehoiachim  was  at  first  loaded  with 
chains,  in  order  to  be  led  captive  to  Babylon, 
but  was  eventually  restored  by  Nebuchadnezzar 
to  his  throne,  on  condition  of  paying  an  annual 
tribute.  Nebuchadnezzar  carried  off  part  of  the 
ornaments  of  the  Temple,  together  with  several 
hostages  of  distinguished  rank,  among  whom 
were  the  youths  Daniel  and  his  three  friends 
Hananiah,  Azariah,  andMishael(Dan.  i.).  These 
were  educated  at  court  in  the  language  and 
sciences  of  the  Chaldseans,  where  they  subse- 
quently filled  offices  of  distinction.  The  sacred 
vessels  were  transferred  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to 
his  temple  at  Babylon  (Isa.  xxxix.;  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  6,  7)  [Babylon]. 

After  the  conquest  of  Judaea,  Nebuchadnezzar 
turned  his  attention  towards  the  Egyptians,  whom 
he  drove  out  of  Syria,  taking  possession  of  all  the 
land  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  river  (2 
Kings  xxiv.  7) :  which  some  suppose  to  mean  the 
Nile,  but  others  a  small  river  in  the  desert, 
which  was  reckoned  the  boundary  between  Pales- 
tine and  Egypt. 

The  fate  of  Jerusalem  was  now  rapidly  ap- 
proaching its  consummation.     After  three  years 
of  fidelity,  Jehoiachim  renounced  his  allegiance 
to  Babylon,  and  renewed  his  alliance  with  Necho, 
when  Nebuchadnezzar  sent  incursions  of  Ammon- 
ites, Moabites,  and  Syrians,  together  with  Chal- 
dxans,  to  harass  him.     At  length,  in  the  eleventh 
year  of  his  reign,  he  was  made   prisoner,  and 
slain  (Jer  xxii.)  [Jehoakim].   He  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Jehoiachin,  who,  after  three  months'     | 
reign,   surrendered  himself  with  his  family  to     j 
Nebuchadnezzar,  who  had  come  in  person  to  be-     i 
siege  Jerusalem,  in  the  eighth  year  of  his  reigti     j 
(2   Kings  xxiv.   10-12)    [Jehoiachin].     Upon     I 
this    occasion  all  the   most  distinguished    inha-     j 
bitants,   including  the   artificers,  -were  led  cap-     I 
five  [Captivities].     Among  the  captives,  who     ! 
amounted  to  no  less  than  50,000,  were  Ezekiel     j 
(Ezek.  i.  1 )  and  Mordecai  [Esther].  The  golden     : 
vessels  of  Solomon  were  now  removed,  with  the 
royal  treasures,  and  Mattaniah,  the  brother  of    \ 
Jehoiachin,  placed  ou  the  throne  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, xviio  gave  him  the  name  of  Zedekiab,  and     j 
Dound  him  by  an  oath  not  to  enter  into  an  alliance     i 
with  Egypt.     Zedekiah,  however,  in  the  ninth     i 
year  of  hu  reign,  formed  an  alliance  with  Pha-    j 


NEB  UCH A  DN  EZZ  A  R 

raoh-Hophra,  the  successor  of  Necho.  Hophra, 
coming  to  the  assistance  of  Zedekiah,  was  driven 
back  into  Egypt  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  finally 
captured  Jerusalem  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Zede- 
kiah's  reign  (b.c.  5S8)  [Zedekiah].  The  Tem- 
ple, and  the  -whole  city,  with  its  towers  and  walls, 
were  all  razed  to  the  ground  by  Nebuzaradan, 
Nebuchadnezzar's  lieutenant,  and  the  principal 
remaining  inhabitants  put  t©  death  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar at  Riblah.  Jeremiah  was,  however, 
spared,  and  Gedaliah  appointed  governor.  He 
was  shortly  after  murdered  by  I&hmael,  a  member 
of  the  royal  family,  who  was  himself  soon  obliged 
to  take  refuge  among  the  Ammonites.  Many  of 
the  remaining  Jews  tied  into  Egypt,  accompanied 
by  Jeremiah ;  those  who  remained  were  soon 
after  expatriated  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  depo- 
pulated the  whole  country. 

He  next  undertook  the  siege  of  Tyre,  and  after 
its  destruction  proceeded  to  Egypt,  now  distracted 
by  internal  commotions,  and  devastated  or  made 
himself  master  of  the  whole  country  from  Migdol 
to  Syene  (according  to  the  reading  of  the  Seventy, 
Ezek.  xxix.  10 ;  xxx.  6),  transferring  many  of 
the  inhabitants  to  the  territory  beyond  the 
Euphrates. 

We  have  referred  to  the  captivity  of  the  pro- 
phet Daniel,  and  have  to  turn  to  the  book  which 
bears  his  name  for  the  history  of  this  prophet, 
who,  from  an  exile,  was  destined  to  become  the 
great  protector  of  his  nation.  In  the  second  year 
of  the  reign  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Daniel,  who  was 
found  superior  in  wisdom  to  the  Chaldean  magi, 
was  enabled  not  only  to  interpret,  but  to  reveal  a 
dream  of  Nebuchadnezzar's,  the  very  subject  of 
which  that  monarch  had  forgotten  [Dreams]. 
This  was  the  dream  of  the  statue  consisting  of 
four  different  metals,  which  Daniel  interpreted 
of  four  successive  monarchies,  the  last  of  which 
was  to  be  the  reign  of  the  Messiah.  Daniel  was 
elevated  to  be  first  minister  of  state,  and  his  three 
friends  were  made  governors  of  provinces.  The 
history  of  these  events  (Dan.  ii.  4,  8,  9  J  is  written 
in  the  Chaldee  language,  together  with  the  nar- 
rative which  immediately  follows  (ch.  iii.),  of  the 
golden  statue  erected  by  Nebuchadnezzar  in  the 
plain  of  Dura,  for  refusing  to  worship  which,  Da- 
niel's three  friends  were  thrown  into  a  furnace,  but 
miraculously  preserved.  The  fourth  chapter,  also 
written  in  Chaldee,  contains  the  singular  history 
of  the  judgment  inflicted  on  Nebuchadnezzar  as 
a  punishment  for  his  pride,  and  which  is  narrated 
in  the  form  of  a  royal  proclamation  from  the  mo- 
narch himself,  giving  an  account  to  his  people  of 
his  a£9iction  and  recovery.  This  aflBiction  had 
been,  by  the  monarch's  account,  predicted  by 
Daniel  a  year  before,  in  the  interpretation  of  his 
fearful  dream  of  the  tree  in  the  midst  of  the  earth. 
While  walking  in  his  palace,  and  admiring  his 
magnificent  works,  he  uttered,  in  the  plenitude  of 
his  pride,  the  remarkable  words  recorded  in  ver. 
30,  '  Is  not  this  great  Babylon  that  I  have  built 
for  the  house  of  the  kingdom,  by  the  might  of 
my  power,  and  for  the  honour  of  my  majesty  ?' 
He  had  scarce  uttered  the  words,  when  a  voice 
from  heaven  proclaimed  to  him  that  his  kingdom 
was  departed  from  him ;  that  he  should  be  for 
seven  times  (generally  supposed  to  mean  years, 
although  some  reduce  the  period  to  fourteen 
months)  driven  from  the  habitations  of  men  to 
dTTell  among  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  made  to 


NECHO 


618 


eat  grass  as  an  ox,  until  he  learned  '  that  the 
Most  High  ruleth  in  the  kingdom  of  men,  and 
giveth  it  to  whomsoever  he  will.'  The  sentence 
was  immediately  fulfilled,  and  Nebuchadnezzar 
continued  in  this  melancholy  state  during  the  pre- 
dicted period,  at  the  end  of  which  he  was  restored 
to  the  use  of  his  understanding  (ver.  36).  We 
have  no  account  in  Scripture  of  any  of  the  actions 
of  this  monarch's  life  after  the  period  of  his  re- 
covery, but  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  his  suc- 
cessor Evil-merodach  is  represented  as  having 
taken  place  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  Jehoia- 
chin,  answering  to  B.C.  562  (2  Kings  xxv.  27). 

The  difficulties  attending  the  nature  of  the  dis- 
ease and  recovery  of  Nebuchadnezzar  have  not 
escaped  the  notice  of  commentators  in  ancient  as 
well  as  modern  times.  Origen  supposed  that  the 
account  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  metamorphosis  was 
merely  a  representation  of  the  fall  of  Luciffer. 
Bodin  maintains  that  Nebuchadnezzar  underwent 
an  actual  metamorphosis  of  soul  and  body,  a 
similar  instance  of  which  is  given  by  Cluvier  on 
the  testimony  of  an  eye-witness.  Tertullian  con- 
fines the  transformation  to  the  body  only,  but 
without  loss  of  reason,  of  which  kind  of  meta- 
morphosis St.  Augustine  reports  some  instances 
said  to  have  taken  place  in  Italy,  to  which  he 
himself  attaches  little  credit;  butGaspard  Peucer 
asserts  that  the  transformation  of  men  into  wolves 
was  very  common  in  Livonia.  Some  Jewish 
Rabbins  have  asserted  that  the  soul  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, by  a  real  transmigration,  changed  places 
with  that  of  an  ox ;  while  others  have  supposed 
not  a  real,  but  an  apparent  or  docetic  change,  of 
which  there  is  a  case  recorded  in  the  life  of  St. 
Macarius,  the  parents  of  a  young  woman  having 
been  persuaded  that  their  daughter  had  been 
transformed  into  a  mare.  The  most  generally 
received  opinion,  however,  is,  that  Nebuchad- 
nezzar laboured  under  that  species  of  hypochon- 
driacal monomania  which  leads  the  patient  to 
fancy  himself  changed  into  an  animal  or  other 
substance,  the  habits  of  which  he  adopts.  To 
this  disease  of  the  imagination  physicians  have 
given  the  name  of  Lycanthropy,  Zoanthropy,  or 
Insania  Canina  [Diseases  of  the  Jews]. 

NEBUSHAS'BAN  (Jer.  xxxix.  13),  a  follower 
of  Nebu;  the  name  of  one  of  the  Babylonian 
officers  sent  by  Nebuzar-adan  to  take  Jeremiah 
out  of  prison. 

NEBUZAR'-ADAN  (1  Kings  xxv.  8;  Jer. 
xxxix.  9  ;  xl.  1 ;  Iii.  12,  &c.).  '  Nebu  is  the  Lord,' 
according  to  the  Hebrew ;  or,  according  to  the 
Persian, '  Nebu  is  wise.'  The  name  of  the  cap- 
tain of  Nebuchadnezzar's  guard,  by  whom  the 
ruin  of  Jerusalem  was  completed. 

NE'CHO,  an  Egyptian  king,  son  and  successor 
(according  to  Herodotus,  ii.  158)  of  Psamme- 
tichus,  and  contemporary  of  the  Jewish  king  Jo- 
sias  (B.C.  610).  The  wars  and  success  of  Necho, 
in  Syria,  are  recorded  by  sacred  as  well  as  pro- 
fane writers.  Studious  of  military  renown,  and 
the  furtherance  of  commerce,  Necho,  on  ascend- 
ing the  throne  of  Egypt,  applied  himself  to  re- 
organize the  army,  and  to  equip  a  powerful  fleet. 
In  order  to  promote  his  purposes,  he  courted  the 
Greeks,  to  whose  troops  he  gave  a  post  next  to 
his  Egyptians.  He  fitted  out  a  fleet  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, and  another  in  the  Red  Sea.  Having 
engaged  some  expert  Phoenician  sailors,  he  sent 
them  on  a  voyage  of  discovery  along  the  coast  of 


614 


NECHO 


Africa.  To  him  belongs  the  honour  of  being 
the  first  to  equip  an  expedition  for  the  purpose  of 
circumnavigating  Africa,  and  he  thereby  ascer- 
tained the  peninsular  form  of  that  continent, 
twenty-one  centuries  before  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  was  seen  by  Diaz,  or  doubled  by  Vasco  de 
Gama. 

Before  entering  on  this  voyage  of  discovery, 
Necho  had  commenced  re-opening  the  canal  from 
the  Nile  to  the  lied  Sea,  which  had  been  cut 
many  years  before  by  Sesostris  or  Rameses  the 
Great.  The  work,  however,  if  we  may  believe 
Herodotus,  was  abandoned,  an  oracle  warning  the 
Egyptian  monarch  that  he  was  labouring  for  the 
barbarian  (Herod,  ii.  158j. 

Necho  also  turned  his  attention  to  the  Egyp- 
tian conquests  already  made  in  Asia :  and,  fear- 
ing lest  the  growing  power  of  the  Babylonians 
should  endanger  the  territories  acquired  by  the 
arms  of  his  victorious  predecessors,  he  determined 
to  check  their  progress,  and  to  attack  the  enemy 
on  his  own  frontier.  With  this  view  he  collected 
a  powerful  army,  and  entering  Palestine,  fol- 
lowed the  route  along  the  sea-coast  of  Judaea,  in- 
tending to  besiege  the  town  of  Carchemish  on  the 
Euphrates.  But  Josiah,  king  of  Judah,  offended 
at  the  passage  of  the  Egyptian  army  through  his 
territories,  resolved  to  impede,  if  unable  to  pre- 
vent, their  march.  Necho  sent  messengers  to 
induce  him  to  desist,  assuring  him  that  he  had 
no  hostile  intentions  against  Judaea, 'but  against 
the  house  wherewith  I  have  war ;  for  God  com- 
manded me  to  make  haste.'  This  conciliatory 
message  was  of  no  avail.  Josiah  posted  himself 
in  the  valley  of  Megiddo,  and  prepared  to  oppose 
the  Egyptians.  In  this  valley  the  feeble  forces 
of  the  Jewish  king,  having  attacked  Necho,  were 
routed  with  great  slaughter.  Josiah,  being 
wounded  in  the  neck  with  an  arrow,  ordered  his 
attendants  to  take  him  from  the  field.  Escaping 
from  the  heavy  shower  of  arrows  with  which  their 
broken  ranks  were  overwhelmed,  they  removed 
him  from  the  chariot  in  which  he  had  been 
wounded,  and  placing  him  in  a  '  second  one  that  he 
liad,'  they  conveyed  him  to  Jerusalem,  where  he 
died  (2  Kings  xxiii.  29,  sq.;  2  Chron.  xxxv. 
20,  sq.). 

Intent  upon  his  original  project,  Necho  did  not 
stop  to  revenge  himself  upon  the  Jews,  but  con- 
tinued his  march  to  the  Euphrates.  Three  months 
had  scarcely  elapsed,  when,  returning  from  the 
capture  of  Carchemish  and  the  defeat  of  the 
Chaldceans,  he  learned  that,  though  Josiah  had 
left  an  elder  son,  Jehoahaz  had  caused  himself  to 
be  proclaimed  king  on  the  death  of  his  father, 
without  soliciting  Necho  to  sanction  his  taking 
the  crown.  Incensed  at  this,  he  ordered  Jehoahaz 
to  meet  him  '  at  Riblah,  in  the  land  of  Hamath  ;' 
and  having  deposed  him,  and  condemned  the  land 
to  pay  a  heavy  tribute,  he  carried  him  a  prisoner 
to  Jerusalem.  On  arriving  there,  Necho  made 
Eliakim,  the  eldest  son,  king,  changing  his  name 
to  Jehoiakim ;  and  taking  the  silver  and  gold 
which  had  been  levied  upon  the  Jewish  nation, 
he  returned  to  Egypt  with  the  captive  Jehoahaz, 
who  there  terminated  his  short  and  unfortunate 
career.  Herodotus  says  that  Necho,  after  having 
routed  the  Syrians  (the  Jews)  at  Magdolus,  took 
Cadytis,  a  large  city  of  Syria,  in  Palestine, 
which,  he  adds,  is  very  little  less  than  Sardis  (ii. 
159 ;  iii.  5).    By  Cadytis  there  is  scarcely  a  doubt 


NEHEMIAH 

he  meant  Jerusalem  ;  the  word  is  only  a  Greek 
form  of  the  ancient,  as  well  as  the  modern,  name 
of  that  city. 

Pleased  with  his  success,  the  Egyptian  monarch 
dedicated  the  dress  he  wore  to  the  Deity  who 
was  supposed  to  have  given  him  the  victory.  He 
did  not  long  enjoy  the  advantages  he  had  ob- 
tained. In  the  fourjh  year  after  his  expedition, 
being  alarmed  at  the  increasing  power  of  the 
Babylonians,  he  again  marched  into  Syria,  and 
advanced  to  the  Euphrates.  The  Babylonians 
were  prepared  for  his  approach.  Nebuchadnezzar 
completely  routed  his  army,  recovered  the  town 
of  Carchemish,  and,  pushing  his  conquests 
through  Pafestine,  took  from  Necho  all  the  terri- 
tory belonging  to  the  Pharaohs,  from  the  Eu- 
phrates to  the  southern  extremity  of  Syria  (2 
Kings  xxiv.  7 ;  Jer.  xlvi.  2;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  9  ; 
2  Kings  xxiv.  8).  Nebuchadnezzar  deposed  Je- 
hoiachin,  who  had  succeeded  his  father,  and 
carried  the  warriors  and  treasures  away  to  Ba- 
bylon; a  short  time  previous  to  which  Necho 
died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Psammetichus  II. 

NEG'INIOTH,  a  word  which  occurs  in  the 
titles  of  several  Psalms  [Psalms]. 

NEHEMI'AH  {comforted  of  Jehovah).  Three 
persons  of  this  name  occur  in  Scripture;  one,  the 
son  of  Azbuk  (Neh.  iii.  IG),  respecting  whom  no 
more  is  known  than  that  he  was  ruler  in  Beth-zur, 
and  took  a  prominent  part  in  repairing  the  wall  of 
Jerusalem  [Beth-zur].  Another  is  mentioned 
(Ezra  ii.  2  ;  Neh.  vii.  7)  among  those  who  accom- 
panied Zerubbabel  on  the  first  return  from  cap- 
tivity. Nothing  further  is  known  of  this  man, 
though  some  writers  hold  him,  without  valid 
reasons,  to  be  the  same  with  the  well-known 
Jewish  patriot. 

Nehemiah,  whose  genealogy  is  unknown,  ex- 
cept that  he  was  the  son  of  Hachaliah  (Neh.  i.  1), 
and  brother  of  Hanani  (Neh.  vii.  2).  Some  think 
he  was  of  priestly  descent,  because  his  name  ap- 
pears at  the  head  of  a  list  of  priests  in  Neh.  x.  1-8  ; 
but  it  is  obvious,  from  Neh.  ix.  38,  that  he  stands 
there  as  a  prince,  and  not  as  a  priest — that  he 
heads  the  list  because  he  was  head  of  the  nation. 
Others  with  some  probability  infer,  from  his  sta- 
tion at  the  Persian  court  and  the  high  commission 
he  received,  that  he  was,  like  Zerubbabel,  of  the 
tribe  of  Judah  and  of  the  house  of  David. 

While  Nehemiah  was  cupbearer  in  the  royal 
palace  at  Shushan,  in  the  twentieth  year  of  Arta- 
xerxes  Longimanus,  or  444  years  B.C.  [Ahta- 
XERXEs],  he  learned  the  mournful  and  desolate 
condition  of  the  returned  colony  in  Judaea.  This 
filled  him  with  such  deep  and  prayerful  concern 
for  his  country,  that  his  sad  countenance  revealed 
to  the  king  his  '  sorrow  of  heart;'  which  induced 
the  monarch  to  ascertain  the  cause,  and  also  to 
vouchsafe  the  remedy,  by  sending  him,  with  full 
powers,  to  rebuild  the  wall  of  Jerusalem,  and  '  to 
seek  the  welfare  of  the  children  of  Israel.'  Being 
furnished  with  this  high  commission,  and  enjoy- 
ing the  protection  of  a  military  escort  (ch.  ii.  9), 
Nehemiah  reached  Jerusalem  in  the  year  B.C.  444, 
and  remained  there  till  B.C.  432,  being  actively 
engaged  for  twelve  years  in  promoting  the  public 
good  (ch.  V.  14).  The  principal  work  which  he 
then  accomplished  was  the  rebuilding,  or  rather 
the  repairing,  of  the  city  wall,  which  was  done 
I  in  fifty  and  two  days'  (ch.  vi.  1.5),  notwithstand- 
ing many  discouragements  and  difficulties,  caused 


NEIIEMIAH 

chiefly  by  Sanhallat,  a  Moabite  of  Horonaim,  and 
Tobiah,  an  Ammonite,  who  were  leading  men  in 
the  rival  and  unfriendly  colony  of  Samaria  (eh. 
iv.  1-3).  These  men,  with  their  allies  among  the 
Arabians,  Ammonites,  and  Ashdodites  (oh.  iv.  7), 
sought  to  hinder  the  re-fortifying  of  Jerusalem, 
first  by  scoffing  at  the  attempt ;  then  by  threaten- 
ing to  attack  the  workmen — which  Neheniiah 
averted  by  '  setting  a  watch  against  them  day  and 
night,'  and  arming  the  whole  people,  so  that 
'  every  one  with  one  of  his  hands  wrought  in  the 
work,  and  with  the  other  hand  held  a  weapon ' 
(ch.  iv.  7-18);  and  finally,  when  scot!'s  and  threats 
had  failed,  by  using  various  stratagems  to  weaken 
Nehemiah's  authority,  and  even  to  take  his  life 
(ch.  vi.  1-1+).  But  in  the  midst  of  these  dangers 
from  without,  our  patriot  encountered  troubles 
and  hlnderances  from  his  own  people,  arising  out 
of  the  general  distress,  which  was  aggravated  by 
the  cruel  exactions  and  oppression  of  their  nobles 
and  rulers  (ch.  v.  1-5).  These  popular  grievances 
were  promptly  redressed  on  the  earnest  and  solemn 
remonstrance  of  Neheniiah,  who  had  himself  set 
a  striking  example  of  retrenchment  and  generosity 
in  his  high  office  (ch.  v.  6-19).  It  appears  also 
(  (ch.  vi.  17-19)  that  some  of  the  chief  men  in 
Jerusalem  were  at  that  time  in  conspiracy  with 
Tobiah  against  Nehemiah.  The  wall  was  thus 
built  in  '  troublous  times '  (Dan.  ix.  25)  ;  and 
its  completion  was  most  joyously  celebrated  by  a 
solemn  dedication  (ch.  xii.  27-43). 

Having  succeeded  in  fortifying  the  city,  Nehe- 
miah turned  his  attention  to  other  measures  in 
order  to  secure  its  good  government  and  pros- 
perity. He  appointed  some  necessary  officers 
(ch.  vii.  1-3;  also  ch.  xii.  44-47  \  and  excited 
among  the  people  more  interest  and  zeal  in  reli- 
gion by  the  public  reading  and  exposition  of  the 
law  (ch.  viii.  1-12),  by  the  unequalled  celebration 
of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (ch.  viii.  13-18),  and 
by  the  observance  of  a  national  fast,  when  the 
sins  of  the  people  and  the  iniquities  of  their 
fathers  were  publicly  and  most  strikingly  con- 
fessed (ch.  ix.),  and  when  also  a  solemn  covenant 
was  made  by  all  ranks  and  classes  '  to  walk  in 
God's  law,'  by  avoiding  intermarriages  with  the 
heathen,  by  strictly  observing  the  Sabbath,  and 
by  contributing  to  the  support  of  the  temple  ser- 
vice (ch.  x.).  But  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
as  yet  too  few  to  defend  it  and  to  ensure  its  pros- 
perity ;  and  hence  Nehemiah  brought  one  out  of 
every  ten  in  the  country  to  take  up  his  abode  in 
the  ancient  capital,  which  then  presented  so  few 
inducements  to  the  settler,  that  '  the  people  blessed 
all  the  men  that  willingly  oltigred  themselves  to 
dwell  at  Jerusalem'  (ch.  vii,  4;  also  ch.  xi, 
1-19). 

In  these  important  public  proceedings,  which 
appear  all  to  have  happened  in  the  first  year  of 
his  government,  Nehemiah  enjoyed  the  assistance 
of  Ezra,  who  is  named  on  several  occasions  as 
taking  a  prominent  part  in  conducting  affairs 
(ch.  viii.  1,  9,  13;  xii.  36).  Ezra  had  gone  up 
to  Jerusalem  thirteen  years  before  according  to 
some,  or  thirty-three  years  according  to  others  ; 
but  on  either  reckoning,  without  supposing  un- 
usual longevity,  he  might  well  have  lived  to  be 
Nehemiah's  fellow-labourer  [Ezra]. 

Nehemiah,  at  the  close  of  his  successful  admi- 
nistration, '  from  the  twentieth  year  even  to  the 
thirty-second  year  of  Artaxerxes  the  king '  (ch.  v. 


NEHEMIAH 


61& 


14),  returned  to  Babylon  in  the  year  B.C.  432, 
and  resumed,  as  some  think,  his  duties  as  royal 
cupbearer. 

He  returned,  however,  after  a  while,  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  his  services  became  again  requisite, 
in  consequence  of  abuses  that  had  crept  in  during 
his  absence.  His  stay  at  the  court  of  Artaxerxes 
was  not  very  long  (certainly  not  above  nine 
years)  ;  '  for  after  certain  days  he  obtained  leave 
of  the  king  and  came  to  Jerusalem'  (ch.  xiii. 
6,  7). 

After  his  return  to  the  government  of  .Tudsea, 
Nehemiah  enforced  the  separation  of  all  the 
mixed  multitude  from  Israel  (ch.  xiii.  1-3);  and 
accordingly  expelled  Tobiah  the  Ammonite  from 
the  chamber  which  the  high-priest,  Eliashib,  had 
prepared  for  him  in  the  temple  (ch.  xiii.  4-9). 
Better  arrangements  were  also  made  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  temple  service  (ch.  xiii.  10-14),  and 
for  the  rigid  observance  of  the  Sabbath  (ch.  xiii. 
1.5-22).  One  of  the  last  acts  of  his  government 
was  an  effort  to  put  an  end  to  mixed  marriages, 
which  led  him  to  '  chase  '  away  a  son  of  Jolada 
the  high-priest,  because  he  was  son-in-law  to  San- 
ballat  the  Horonite  (ch.  xiii.  23-29).  His  second 
administration  probably  lasted  about  ten  years, 
and  terminated  about  the  year  b.c.  405,  towards 
the  close  of  the  reign  of  Darius  Nothus,  who  is 
mentioned  in  ch.  xii.  22  [Darius].  At  this  time 
Nehemiah  would  be  between  sixty  and  seventy 
years  old,  if  we  suppose  him  (as  most  do)  to  have 
been  only  between  twenty  and  thirty  when  he 
first  went  to  Jerusalem.  Of  the  place  and  year 
of  his  death  nothing  is  known. 

The  Book  of  Nehemiah,  which  bears  the 
title  Nehemiah's  Words,  was  anciently  connected 
with  Ezra,  as  if  it  formed  part  of  the  same  work. 
It  arose,  doubtless,  from  the  fact  that  Nehemiah 
is  a  sort  of  continuation  of  Ezra  [Ezra]. 

The  canonical  characterof  Nehemiah's  work  is 
established  by  very  ancient  testimony. 

The  contents  of  the  book  have  been  specified 
above  in  the  biography  of  the  author.  The  work 
can  scarcely  be  called  a  history  of  Nehemiah  and 
his  times.  It  is  rather  a  collection  of  notices  of 
some  important  transactions  that  happened  during 
the  first  year  of  his  government,  with  a  few  scraps 
from  his  later  history.  The  contents  appear  to 
be  arranged  in  chronological  order,  with  the 
exception  perhaps  of  ch.  xii.  27-43,  where  the 
account  of  the  dedication  of  the  wall  seems  out  of  i 
its  proper  place :  we  might  expect  it  rather  after 
ch.  vii.  1-4,  where  the  completion  of  the  wall  is 
mentioned. 

As  to  the  date  of  the  book,  it  is  not  likely  that 
it  came  from  Nehemiah's  hand  till  near  the  close 
of  his  life.  Certainly  it  could  not  have  been  all 
written  before  the  expulsion  of  the  priest,  recorded 
in  ch.  xiii.  23-29,  which  took  place  about  the  year 
B.C.  413. 

While  the  book  as  a  whole  is  considered  to 
have  come  from  Nehemiah,  it  consists  in  part  of 
compilation.  He  doubtless  wrote  the  greater 
part  himself,  but  some  portions  he  evidently  took 
from  other  works.  It  is  allowed  by  all  that  he  is, 
in  the  strictest  sense,  the  author  of  the  narrative 
from  ch.  i.  to  ch.  vii.  5.  The  account  in  ch  vii.  6-73 
is  avowedly  compiled,  for  he  says  in  ver.  5, '  I  found 
a  regiefer,'  &c.  This  register  we  actually  find 
also  in  Ezra  ii.  1-70  :  hence  it  might  be  thought 
that  our  author  borrowed  this  part  from  Ezra ; 


616 


NERGAL 


but  it  is  more  likely  that  they  both  copied  from 
public  docutneuts,  such  as  '  the  book  of  the  chro- 
uicles,'  mentioned  in  Neh.  xii.  23. 

Chapters  viii.-x.  were  probably  not  -vvTitten  by 
Nehemiah,  since  the  narrative  respecting  him  is 
in  the  third  person  (ch.  viii.  9  ;  x.  1),  and  not  in 
the  first,  as  usual  (ch.  ii.  9-20).  Havernick,  in- 
deed, makes  it  appear,  from  the  contents  and 
style,  that  Ezra  was  the  writer  of  this  portion. 
The  remaining  chapters  (xi.-xiii.)  also  exhibit 
some  marks  of  compilation  (ch.  xii.  26,  47);  but 
there  are,  on  the  contrary,  clear  proofs  of  Nehe- 
miah's  own  authorship  in  ch.  xii.  27-43,  and  in 
ch.  xiii.  6-31  ;  and  hence  Havernick  thinks  he 
wrote  the  whole  except  ch.  xii.  1-26,  which  he 
took  from  '  the  book  of  the  chronicles,'  mentioned 
in  ver.  23. 

NEHILOTH,  a  word  which  occurs  in  the  title 
of  the  fifth  Psalm  [Psalms]. 

NEHUSH'TA  (brass),  the  mother  of  king  Je- 
hoiachin  (2  Kings  xxiv.  8). 

NER  (a  light),  grandfather  of  king  Saul  (1  Sam. 
xiv.  50,  51 ;  xxvi.  5  ;   1  Chron.  viii.  33). 

NERD  or  Nard  is  mentioned  in  three  places 
in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  and  by  Mark  and  John 
in  the  New  Testament.  It  is  translated  in  the 
Authorized  Version  by  the  Vt-ord  spikenard,  which 
indicates  a  far-famed  perfume  of  the  East,  that 
has  often  engaged  the  attention  of  critics,  but  the 
plant  which  yields  it  has  only  been  ascertained  in 
very  recent  times.  That  the  nerd  of  Scripture 
was  a  perfume  is  evident  from  the  fact  that,  in 


263.    [Nardostachys  Jatamansi.] 

Cant.  i.  12  ;  iv.  14,  it  is  mentioned  along  with 
many  of  the  most  valued  aromatics  which  were 
known  to  the  ancients.  That  the  nard  or  nardus 
was  of  great  value  we  learn  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment (Mark  xiv.  3  ;  John  xii.  3). 
NER'GAL.     Recent  inquiries  into  the  astro- 


NET 

latry  of  the  Assyrians  and  Chaldscans  have  led  to 
the  conclusion  that  Nergal  is  one  of  the  names  for 
the  planet  Mars.  This  name  of  the  planet,  both 
among  the  Zabians  and  Arabians,  means  ill-luck, 
misfortune ;  and  it  was  by  no  means  peculiar  to 
the  mythology  of  the  West  to  make  it  the  symbol 
of  bloodshed  and  war.  Among  the  people  first 
named,  the  planet  Mars  was  typified  under  the 
figure  of  a  man  holding  in  one  hand  a  drawn 
sword,  and  in  the  other  a  human  head  just  cut 
off;  and  his  garments  were  also  red,  which,  as 
well  as  the  other  ideas  attached  to  this  idol,  were 
no  doubt  founded  on  the  reddish  hue  which  the 
body  of  the  planet  presents  to  the  eye.  Among 
the  southern  Arabs  his  temple  was  painted  red ; 
and  they  offered  to  him  garments  stained  with 
blood,  and  also  a  warrior  (probably  a  prisoner), 
who  was  cast  into  a  pool. 

NER'GAL -SHARE'ZER  {Nergal,  prinoe  of 
fire).  I.  A  military  chieftain  under  Nebuchad- 
nezzar (Jer.  xxxix.  3).  2.  The  chief  of  the  magi 
(  Rab-mag)  under  the  same  king,  and  present  in 
the  same  expedition  (Jer.  xxxix.  3,  13). 

NET.  There  are  in  Scripture  several  words 
denoting  different  kinds  of  nets,  and  this,  with  the 
frequency  of  images  derived  from  them,  shows 
that  nets  were  much  in  use  among  the  Hebrews ' 
for  fishing,  hunting,  and  fowling.  Indeed,  for 
the  two  latter  purposes,  nets  were  formerly  used 
to  an  extent  of  which  now,  since  the  invention  of 
fire-arms,  a  notion  can  scarcely  be  formed. 

We  have  no  positive  information  concerning 
the  nets  of  the  Hebrews,  and  can  only  suppose 
that  they  were  not  materially  different  from 
those  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  concerning  which 
we  now  possess  very  good  information.  Indeed, 
the  nets  of  Egypt,  the  fishers  who  used  them,  and 
the  fish  c&ught  by  them,  are  more  than  once 
mentioned  in  Scripture  (Isa.  xix.  8).  The  usual 
fishing  net  among  this  people  was  of  a  long  form, 
like  the  common  drag-net,  with  wooden  floats  on 
the  upper,  and  leads  on  the  lower  side.  It  was 
sometimes  let  down  from  a  boat,  but  those  who 
pulled  it  usually  stood  on  the  shore,  and  landed 
the  fish  on  a  shelving  bank.    This  mode,  how- 


mmrnmmrnmmmM?! 


ever,  was  more  adapted  to  river  than  to  lake 
fishing ;  and  hence,  in  all  the  detailed  examples 
of  fishing  in  the  New  Testament,  the  net  is  cast 
from  and  drawn  into  boats,  excepting  in  one  case 
where,  the  draft  being  too  great  to  take  into  the 
boat,  the  fishers  dragged  the  net  after  their  boats 
to  the  shore  (John  xxi.  6,  8).  Sometimes  use 
was  made  of  a  smaller  net  for  catching  fish  in 
shallow  water,  furnished  with  a  pole  on  either 
side,  to  which  it  was  attached ;  and  the  fisher- 
man, holding  one  of  the  poles  in  either  hand, 
thrust  it  below  the  surface  of  the  water,  and 
awaited  the  moment  when  a  shoal  of  fish  passed 


NETHINIM 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  fishermen 
in  the  boat,  excepting  the  master  (No.  264),  are 


NICODEMUS 


617 


almost  naked,  as  are  also  those  who  have  occasion 
to  wade  in  the  water  in  hauling  the  net  to  the 
shore  (No.  265).  Such  seems  also  to  have  been 
the  practice  among  the  Hebrew  fishermen ;  for 
Peter,  when  he  left  the  boat  to  hasten  on  shore 
to  his  risen  Lord,  '  girt  his  fisher's  coat  unto  him, 
for  he  was  naked '  (John  xxi.  7) ;  although,  in 
this  case,  the  word  '  naked '  must  be  understood 
•with  some  latitude  [Naked]. 

Nets  were  also  used  in  taking  birds,  to  an 
extent  of  which  we  can  scarcely  form  an  ade- 
quate conception.  A  clap-net  was  usually  em- 
ployed. This  was  of  different  kinds.  It  consisted 
of  two  sides  or  frames,  over  which  the  net-work 
was  spread :  at  one  end  was  a  short  net,  which 
they  fastened  to  a  bush,  or  a  cluster  of  reeds, 
and  at  the  other  was  one  of  considerable  length, 
which,  as  soon  as  the  birds  were  seen  feeding 
in  the  area  within,  was  pulled  by  the  fowlers, 
causing  the  instantaneous  collapse  of  the  two  sides 
(No.  266). 


In  hunting,  a  space  of  considerable  size  was 
sometimes  enclosed  with  nets,  into  which  the 
animals  were  driven  by  beaters.  The  spots  thus 
enclosed  were  usually  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
water-brooks  to  which  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
repairing  in  the  morning  and  evening ;  and  having 
awaited  the  time  when  they  went  to  drink,  the 
hunters  disposed  their  nets,  occupied  proper  posi- 
tions for  observing  them  unseen,  and  gradually 
closed  in  upon  them.  These  practices  are  ob- 
viously alluded  to  in  such  passages  as  Job  xix. 
6 ;  Ps.  cxl.  5 ;  Isa.  li.  20. 

NETH'INIM.  This  name,  which  means  '  the 
given'  or  'the  devoted,'  was  applied  to  the 
servants  of  the  temple,  or  temple  slaves,  who 
■were  under  the  Levites  in  the  ministry  of  the 
tabernacle  and  temple.  The  first  servants  whom 
the  Levites  obtained  were  the  Gibeonites,  on 
whom  devolved  the  very  laborious  services  of 
fetching  water  and  collecting  wood  (Josh.  ix. 
S-27).  The  number  of  such  servants  appears  to 
have  been  increased  by  David ;  and  it  seems  to 
have  been  then,  when  these  servants  ceased  to  be 
wholly  Gibeonites,  that  Nethinim  came  into  use 
as  a  proper  name  for  the  whole  class  (Ezra 
viii.  20).     From  that  time  forward,  they  appear 


to  have  been  no  longer  regarded  or  treated  as 
slaves,  but  as  the  lowest  order  of  the  servants  of 
the  sanctuary ;  who,  although  in  their  origin 
foreigners  and  heathen,  had  doubtless  embraced 
the  Jewish  religion.  These  did  not  all  forget 
their  relationship  to  the  sanctuary  during  the 
Captivity.  Some  of  them  returned  to  their 
duties  under  the  decree  of  Cyrns,  and  were  placed 
in  cities  with  the  Levites  (Neh.  xi.  3  ;  Ezra  ii. 
70  ;  1  Chron.  ix.  27).  It  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  many  of  them  would  return  to  this  humble 
station  in  Palestine,  but  220  accompanied  Ezra 
(Ezra  viii.  20),  and  392  Zerubbabel  (ii.  5-8). 
The  voluntary  devotedness  which  was  thus  mani- 
fested by  these  persons  considerably  raised  the 
station  of  the  Nethinim,  which  was  thenceforth 
regarded  rather  as  honourable  than  degrading. 
Their  number  was,  however,  insufficient  for  the 
service  of  the  temple  ;  whence,  as  Josephus  tells 
us,  a  festival,  called  Xylophoria,  was  established, 
in  which  the  people,  to  supply  the  deficiency, 
were  obliged  to  bring  a  certain  quantity  of  wood 
to  the  temple  for  the  use  of  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offering. 

NETO'PHAH,  a  place  not  far  from  Bethlehem 
in  Judsea  (Ezra  ii.  22  ;  Neh.  vii.  26).  Hence  the 
Gentile  name  Netophite  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  28,  29: 
2  Kings  XXV.  23). 

NETTLES.  The  word  (chantT)  which  is  so 
rendered,  occurs  in  three  places  in  Scripture. 
Thus  in  Prov.  xxiv.  30,  31,  it  is  written,  '  1  went 
by  the  field  of  the  slothful,  &c.,  and,  lo,  it  was 
all  grown  over  with  thorns,  and  nettles  (chu- 
rullim)  had  covered  the  face  thereof  So  in  Job 
XXX.  7  it  is  stated  that  he  was  insulted  by  the 
children  of  those  whom  he  would  formerly  have 
disdained  to  employ,  and  who  were  so  abject  and 
destitute  that  '  among  the  bushes  they  brayed ; 
under  the  nettles  they  were  gathered  together ;' 
and  in  Zeph.  ii.  9.  'Surely  Moab  shall  be  as 
Sodom,  and  the  children  of  Ammon  as  Gomorrah, 
even  the  breeding  of  nettles,  and  salt-pits,  and  a 
perpetual  desolation.'  Considerable  difficulty 
has  been  experienced  in  determining  the  plant 
which  is  alluded  to  in  the  above  passages.  The 
majority  of  translators  and  commentators  have 
thought  that  some  thorny  or  prickly  plant,  or  a 
nettle,  is  intended.  Hence  brambles,  the  wild 
plum,  and  thistles,  have  been  severally  selected  ; 
but  nettles  have  had  the  greatest  number  of  sup- 
porters. 

NETTLE.  [Thorn.] 
NEW  MOON.  [FE.STIVALS;  Moon.] 
NEW  YEAR.    [Year.] 
NIB'HAZ,  an  idol  of  the  Avites  (2  Kings  xvii. 
31).      In   the   Zabian   books  the   corresponding 
name  is  that  of  an  evil  demon,  who  sits  on  a 
throne  upon  the  earth,  while  his  feet  rest  on  the 
bottom  of  Tartarus ;  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
this  should  be  identified  with  the  Avite  Nibhaz. 

NICODE'MUS,  a  Pharisee  and  member  of  the 

Sanhedrim,  who  was  impressed  by  what  he  had 

,  heard  concerning  Jesus  ;  but  being  unwilling,  on 

'  account  of  his  station,  to  commit  himself  without 

I  greater  surety   than   he   possessed,  repaired   by 

I  night  to  the   house  in  which  Christ  dwelt,  and 

held  with   him  that  important  discourse  which 

occupies  the  third  chapter  of  John's  Gospel.    The 

effect  which  was  then  produced  upon   his  mind 

may  be  collected  from  the  fact  that  subsequently, 

at  one  of  the  sittings  of  the  venerable  body  to 


618  NICOLAITANS 

which  he  belonged,  he  ventured  to  let  fall  a  few 
words  in  favour  of  Jesus,  whose  proceedings 
were  then  in  question  (John  vii.  50) ;  and  that 
he  took  part  with  his  colleague,  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  in  rendering  the  last  honours  to  the 
body  of  the  crucified  Redeemer  (John  xix.  39). 
Nothing  further  is  known  of  Nicodemus  from 
Scripture.  Tradition,  however,  adds  that  after 
he  had  thus  openly  declared  himself  a  follower  of 
Jesus,  and  had  been  baptized  by  Peter,  he  was 
displaced  fi-om  his  office,  and  expelled  from  Jeru 
salem  (Phot.  Cod.  p.  171).  It  is  added  that  he 
found  refuge  in  a  country  house  of  his  cousin 
Gamaliel,  and  remained  there  till  his  death.  Too 
strong  an  appreciation  of  the  world's  good  opinion 
seems  to  have  been  the  failing  of  Nicodemus. 
We  do  not  lay  much  stress  upon  what  he  ventured 
to  say  in  the  Sanhedrim ;  for  he  suffered  himself 
to  be  easily  put  down,  and  did  not  come  forward 
with  any  bold  avowal  of  his  belief.  Winer  calls 
attention  to  the  fact,  that  although  he  took  part 
in  the  sepulchral  rites  of  Jesus,  he  did  not  join 
Joseph  in  his  application  to  Pilate  for  the  body  of 
his  crucified  Lord;  and  justly  remarks  that  such 
characters  usually  require  a  strong  external  im- 
pulse to  bring  them  boldly  forward,  which  im- 
pulse was  probably  in  this  case  supplied  by  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus. 

NICOLA'ITANS.  This  word  occurs  twice  in 
the  New  Testament  (Rev.  ii.  6,  15).  In  the 
former  passage  the  conduct  of  the  Nicolaitans  is 
condemned  ;  in  the  latter,  the  angel  of  the  church 
in  Pergamus  is  censured  because  certain  members 
of  his  church  held  their  doctrine.  Various  tra- 
ditionary accounts  of  the  origin  and  practices  of 
this  sect  have  been  given  by  the  fathers,  but  none 
of  them  are  entitled  to  any  credit. 

It  is  evident  from  the  accounts  which  they  give, 
that  the  Nicolaitans  with  whom  they  were  ac- 
quainted were  Gnostics ;  since  they  impute  to 
them  the  distinctive  tenets  and  practices  of  the 
Gnostics.  But  in  the  short  allusion  in  Rev.  ii.  6, 
15,  there  is  nothing  to  identify  the  tenets  or  con- 
duct alluded  to  with  Gnosticism,  even  supposing 
that  Gnosticism,  properly  so  called,  existed  in 
the  Apostolic  age,  which,  to  say  the  least,  has 
not  been  proved' to  be  the  case.  So  that  the  con- 
jecture mentioned  by  Mosheim,  and  which  Ter- 
tuUian  appears  to  favour,  may  be  regarded  as 
probable,  that  the  Nicolaitans  mentioned  in  Reve- 
lation had  erroneously  been  confounded  with  a 
party  of  Gnostics  formed  at  a  later  period  by  one 
Nicholas. 

The  ingenious  conjecture  of  Michaelis  is  worthy 
of  consideration,  who  supposes  that  by  Nicolai- 
tans (Rev.  ii.  6,  15)  the  same  class  of  persons  is 
intended  whom  St.  Peter  (2  Ep.  ii.  15)  describes 
asfullov)ers  of  the  way  of  Balaam ;  and  that  their 
name,  Nicolaitans,  is  merely  a  Greek  translation 
of  their  Hebrew  designation.  The  only  objection 
which  occurs  to  us  against  this  very  ingenious 
and  probable  supposition,  arises  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that,  m  the  passage.  Rev.  ii.  14,  15, 
Doth  'they  that  hold  the  doctrine  of  Balaam,' 
and  '  the  Nicolaitans,'  are  specified,  and  are 
distinguished  from  each  other:  '  So  hast  thou 
also,'  the  Nicolaitans,  as  well  as  the  Balaamites, 
mentioned  in  the  previous  verse.  So  that  what- 
ever general  agreement  there  might  be  between 
those  two  classes  of  heretics — and  their  colloca- 
tion in  the  passage  before  us  seems  to  imply  that  j 


NIGHT-HAWK 

there  was  such  agreement— it  appears  eqoallj 
evident  that  some  distinction  also  must  have  sepa- 
rated them  the  one  from  the  other. 

NICOLAS,  a  proselyte  of  Antioch,  and  one  of 
the  seven  deacons  (Acts  vi.  5).  Nothing  further  is 
known  of  him ;  but  a  large  body  of  unsafe  tradi- 
tion has  been  connected  with  his  name,  under  the 
supposition  that  he  was  the  founder  of  the  heresy 
of  the  Nicolaitans,  stigmatised  in  Rev.  ii.  6,  15. 
(See  the  preceding  article.) 

NICOF'OLIS,  a  city  of  Thrace,  now  Nicopi, 
on  the  river  Nessus,  now  Karasou,  which  was 
here  the  boundary  between  Thrace  and  Mace- 
donia ;  and  hence  the  city  is  sometimes  reckoned 
as  belonging  to  the  latter.  In  Titus  iii.  15,  Paul 
expresses  an  intention  to  winter  at  Nicopolis,  and 
invites  Titus,  then  in  Crete,  to  join  him  there. 

NI'GER.   [Simon.] 

NIGHT.  The  general  division  of  the  night 
among  the  Hebrews  has  been  described  under 
Day  ;  and  it  only  remains  to  indicate  a  few 
marked  applications  of  the  word.  The  term  of 
human  life  is  usually  called  a  day  in  Scripture  ; 
but  in  one  passage  it  is  called  nigJit,  to  be  followed 
soon  by  day,  '  the  day  is  at  hand '  (Rom.  viii. 
12).  Being  a  time  of  darkness,  the  image  and 
shadow  of  death,  in  which  the  beasts  of  prey  go 
forth  to  devour,  it  was  made  a  symbol  of  a  season 
of  adversity  and  trouble,  in  which  men  prey  upon 
each  other,  and  the  strong  tyrannize  over  the  weak 
(Isa.  xxi.  12;  Zech.  xiv.  6,  7;  comp.  Rev.  xxi. 
23 ;  xxii.  5).  Hence  continued  day,  or  the  ab- 
sence of  night,  implies  a  constant  state  of  quiet 
and  happiness,  undisturbed  by  the  vicissitudes  of 
peace  and  war.  Night  is  also  put,  as  in  our  own 
language,  for  a  time  of  ignorance  and  helplessness 
(Mic.  iii.  6).  In  John  ix.  4,  night  represents  j 
death,  a  necessary  result  of  the  correlative  usage 
which  makes  life  a  day. 

NIGHT-HAWK  (Lev.  xi.  16;  Deut.  xiv.  15) 
is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  unclean  birds  in  the 
Pentateuch,  but  so  little  characterized  that  no 
decided  opinion  can  be  expressed  as  to  what 
species  is  really  intended.  Commentators  incline 
to  the  belief  that  the  name  imports  voracity,  and 
therefore  indicates  a  species  of  owl,  which,  how- 
ever, we  take  to  be  not  this  bird,  but  the  lilith  ; 
and  as  the  night-hawk  of  Europe,  or  a  species 
very  nearly  allied  to  it,  is  an  inhabitant  of  Syria, 
there  is  no  reason  for  absolutely  rejecting  it  in 
this  place,  since  it  belongs  to  a  genus  highly  con- 
nected with  superstitions  in  all  countries;  and 
though  a  voracious  bird  among  moths,  and  other 
insects  that  are  abroad  during  darkness,  it  is 
absolutely  harmless  to  all  other  animals,  and  as 
wrongfully  accused  of  sucking  the  udders  of 
goats,  as  of  being  an  indicator  of  misfortune  and 
death  to  those  who  happen  to  see  it  fly  past  them 
after  evening  twilight ;  yet,  beside  the  name  of 
'goatsucker,'  it  is  denominated  'night-hawk' 
and  'night-raven,'  as  if  it  were  a  bulky  species, 
with  similar  powers  of  mischief  as  those  day 
birds  possess.  The  night-hawk  is  a  migratory 
bird,  inferior  in  size  to  a  thrush,  and  has  very 
weak  talons  and  bill ;  hut  the  gape  or  mouth  is 
wide;  it  makes  now  and  then  a  plaintive  cry, 
and  preys  on  the  wing ;  it  flies  with  the  velocity 
and  action  of  a  swallow,  the  two  genera  being 
nearly  allied.  Like  those  of  most  night  birds, 
the  eyes  are  lar^e  and  remarkable,  and  the  plu- 
mage a  mixture  of  colours  and  dots,  with  a  pre- 


NIMROD 

vailing  grey  effect;  it  is  finely  -webbed,  and 
entirely  noiseless  in  its  passage  through  the  air. 
Thus  the  bright  eyes,  wide  mouth,  sudden  and 
inaudible  flight  in  the  dusk,  are  the  original 
causes  of  the  superstitious  fear  these  birds  have 
excited;  and  as  there  are  in  southern  clinaates 
other  species  of  this  genus,  much  larger  in  size, 
with  peculiarly  contrasted  colours,  strangely  dis- 
posed feathers  on  the  head,  or  paddle-shaped 
single  plumes,  one  at  each  shoulder,  projecting 
in  the  form  of  two  additional  wings,  and  with 
plaintive  loud  voices  often  uttered  in  the  night, 
all  the  species  contribute  to  the  general  awe 
they  have  inspired  iu  every  country  and  in  all 
ages. 

NILE.  [Egypt.] 
NIM'RA.  [Beth-Nimka.] 
NIM'ROD,  a  son  of  Cush,  the  eldest  son  of 
Ham  (Gen.  x.  8-10).  Five  sons  of  Cush  are 
enumerated  in  ver.  7  in  the  more  usual  manner 
of  this  chapter ;  but  a  change  of  phrase  intro- 
duces Nimrod.  This  difference  may  indicate  that 
while,  iu  relation  to  the  other  five,  the  names 
have  a  national  and  geographical  reference,  this 
appellation  is  exclusively  personal.  It  denotes 
intensively  the  extremely  i/npioiis  rebel.  Hence 
we  conceive  that  it  was  not  his  original  proper 
name,  but  was  affixed  to  him  afterwards,  perhaps 
even  after  his  death,  as  a  characteristic  appel- 
lative. 

No  other  persons  connected  with  this  woi-k 
must  be  considered  as  answerable  for  the  opinion 
which  the  writer  of  this  article  thinks  to  rest 
upon  probable  grounds,  that  the  earlier  part  of 
the  book  of  Genesis  consists  of  several  indepen- 
dent and  complete  compositions,  of  the  highest 
antiquity  and  authority,  marked  by  some  differ- 
ences of  style,  and  having  clear  indications  of 
commencement  in  each  instance.  If  this  suppo- 
sition be  admitted,  a  reason  presents  itself  for  the 
citation  of  a  proverbial  phrase  in  ch.  x.  9.  The 
single  instance  of  minute  circumstantiality,  in  so 
brief  a  relation,  seems  to  imply  that  the  writer 
lived  near  the  age  of  Nimrod,  while  his  history 
was  still  a  matter  of  traditional  notoriety,  and 
the  comparison  of  any  hero  with  him  was  a  fa- 
miliar form  of  speech.  It  is  also  supposed  that 
those,  not  fragments,  but  complete,  though  short 
and  separate  compositions  (of  which  eight  or 
more  are  hypothetically  enumerated  in  J.  Pye 
Smith's  Scripture  and  Geology,  p.  202),  were, 
under  Divine  authority,  prefixed  by  Moses  to  his 
own  history.  Their  series  has  a  continuity  gene- 
rally, but  not  rigorously  exact.  If  we  place  our- 
selves in  such  a  point  of  time,  suppose  the  age 
succeeding  Nimrod,  which  might  be  the  third 
century  after  the  Deluge,  we  may  see  how  natu- 
rally the  origination  of  a  common  phrase  would 
rise  in  the  writer's  mind  ;  and  that  a  motive  of 
usefulness  would  be  suggested  with  it.  But  both 
these  ideas  involve  that  of  nearness  to  the  time  ; 
a  period  in  which  the  country  traditions  were  yet 
fresh,  and  an  elucidation  of  them  would  be  ac- 
ceptable and  consonant  to  general  feeling.  The 
following  is  a  close  translation  of  the  passage  iu 
which  mention  is  made  of  Nimrod: — '  And  Cush 
begat  Nimrod :  he  hegan  to  be  a  hero  in  the 
earth  [or  in  the  land] :  he  was  a  hero  at  the  chace 
in  the  presence  of  Jehovah ;  on  which  account 
the  saying  is.  Like  Nimrod,  the  hero  of  the  chace, 
in  the  presence  of  Jehovah.    And  the  chief  [city] 


NINEVEH 


619 


of  his  dominion  was  Babel ;  and  [he  founded] 
Ezek  and  Akkad,  and  Kalneh,  in  the  land  of 
Shinar.' 

Interpreters,  with  scarcely  an  exception,  from 
the  Septuagint  and  the  Targums  down  to  our 
own  times,  understand  the  whole  case  thus  :  that 
Nimrod  was  a  man  of  vast  bodily  strength,  and 
eminent  for  courage  and  skill  iu  the  arts  of  hunt- 
ing down  and  capturing  or  killing  the  dangerous 
animals,  which  probably  were  both  very  nume- 
rous and  frequently  of  enormous  size  ;  that,  by 
these  recommendations,  he  made  himself  the 
favourite  of  bold  and  enterprising  young  men, 
who  readily  joined  his  hunting  expeditions  ;  that 
hence  he  took  encouragement  to  break  the  patri- 
archal union  of  venerable  and  peaceful  subordi- 
nation, to  set  himself  up  as  a  military  chieftain, 
assailing  and  subduing  men,  training  his  adhe- 
rents into  formidable  troops,  by  their  aid  subdu- 
ing the  inhabitants  of  Shinar  and  its  neighbour- 
ing districts;  and  that,  for  consolidating  and 
retaining  his  power,  now  become  a  despotism,  he 
employed  his  subjects  in  building  forts,  which 
became  towns  and  cities,  that  which  was  after- 
wards called  Babel  being  the  principal.  Com- 
bining this  with  the  contents  of  chapter  xi.,  we 
infer  that  Nimrod  either  was  an  original  party 
in  the  daring  impiety  of  building  the  tower,  or 
subsequently  joined  himself  to  those  who  had 
begun  it.  "The  former  fact  is  positively  affirmed 
by  Josephus ;  but  it  is  not  pi-obaljle  that  he  could 
have  any  other  evidence  than  that  of  the  general 
interpretation  of  his  countrymen.  The  late  Mr. 
Rich,  not  thirty  years  ago,  iu  the  extensive  plain 
where  lie  buried  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  discovered 
the  very  i-emarkable  mound  with  remains  of 
buildings  on  its  summit  (of  which  see  the  figure 
iu  the  article  Babel),  which  even  now  bears  the 
name  of  Birs  Nimrod ;  and  this  may  well  be 
regarded  as  some  confirmation  of  the  common 
opinion. 

As  a  great  part  of  the  ancient  mythology  and 
idolatry  arose  from  the  histories  of  chiefs  and 
sages,  decorated  with  allegorical  fables,  it  is  by 
no  means  improbable  that  the  life  and  actions  of 
Nimrod  gave  occasion  to  stories  of  this  kind. 
Hence,  some  have  supposed  him  to  have  been 
signified  by  the  Indian  Bacchus,  deriving  that 
name  from  Bar-Chus,  '  son  of  Cush ;'  and,  it  is 
probable,  by  the  Persian  giant  Gibber  (answering 
to  the  Hebrew  Gibbor,  '  mighty  man,'  '  hero,'  in 
Gen.  X.  8,  9) ;  and  by  the  Greek  Orion,  whose 
fame  as  a  '  mighty  hunter'  is  celebrated  by 
Homer,  in  the  Odyssey,  xi.  571-4.  The  Persian 
and  the  Grecian  fables  are  both  represented  by 
the  well-known  and  magnificent  constellation. 

NIN'EVEH,  meaning  the  dwelling  of  Ninus  ; 
a  famous  city  of  the  ancient  world,  capital  of  the 
great  Assyrian  empire,  which  stood  on  the  eastern 
bank  of  the  river  Tigris,  opposite  to  the  present 
Mosul ;  its  actual  site  being  most  probably  the 
same  with  that  of  Nunia  and  the  tomb  of  Jonah, 
about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  river,  in 
the  midst  of  ruins,  N.  lat.  .36°  20'  17" ;  E.  loug.  43° 
10'  17".  The  Bible  makes  the  city  a  sort  of 
colony  from  Babylon  or  Babel,  Shinar  [see 
Babel],  stating  (Gen.  x.  11),  '  out  of  that  land 
(Babel,  &c.,  in  the  land  of  Shinar)  went  forth 
Asshur  and  builded  Nineveh.'  After  this  simple 
statement  the  sacred  record  is  for  a  long  time 
entirely   silent   respecting  Nineveh,   which,   -we 


620 


NINEVEH 


may  therefore  presume,  remained  inconsiderable 
for  many  generations.  At  length,  seme  fifteen 
hundred  years  after  the  first  mention  of  the  place, 
in  the  days  of  Jeroboam  II.,  king  of  Israel  (b.c. 
825),  Nineveh  again  enters  by  name  on  the  Bib- 
lical record,  having  meanwhile  grown  into  a 
mighty  power.  This  re-appearance  of  Nineveh 
is  accidental,  and  shows  that  the  Bible  does  not 
profess  to  give  any  orderly  and  systematic  his- 
tory of  the  world.  Other  countries  come  on  the 
scene  and  disappear,  just  as  the  course  of  events 
in  the  kingdoms  of  Judah  and  Israel  seems  to 
require  or  may  chance  to  occasion.  Nineveh  is 
described  in  the  book  of  Jonah  as  '  that  great 
city,'  '  an  exceeding  great  city  of  three  days' 
journey,'  probably  in  a  straight  line  through  the 
place,  as  the  large  cities  of  Asia  stood  on  a  great 
extent  of  country,  having  gardens,  and  even 
fields,  in  the  midst  of  them  ;  and  Jonah  is  said  to 
•  enter  into  the  city  a  day's  journey  '  (ch.  iii.  4) 


NINEVEH 

before  he  began  to  foretell  its  overthrow ;  that  is, 
as  is  most  likely,  he  penetrated  into  the  heart  of 
the  place,  as  being  that  which  was  most  suitable 
for  delivering  his  burden.  The  magnitude  of 
the  place  may  also  be  gathered  from  what  is  said 
in  the  last  verse  of  the  book :  '  That  great  city, 
wherein  are  more  than  six  score  thousand  persons 
that  cannot  discern  between  their  right  hand  and 
their  left  hand,  and  also  much  cattle  (grazing).' 
The  population  of  a  place  must  have  been  im- 
mense in  which  there  were  no  fewer  than  120,0U0 
children — young  children  the  language  employed 
seems  to  denote.  It  also  appears  from  the  samt- 
book  that  the  state  of  society  was  highly  com- 
plex, organized  in  divers  ranks  from  the  king 
and  the  noble  to  the  peasant;  and,  if  we  may 
argue  from  the  exactness  with  which  the  number 
of  children  is  given,  we  should  be  justified  in 
asserting  that  the  people  were  in  an  advanced 
stage  of  civilization,  seeing  that  their  social  sta- 


267.     [Nineveh.] 


tistics  were  well  attended  to  and  carefully  pre- 
served. Civilization,  however,  had  brought 
luxury,  and  luxury  corruption  of  morals,  for 
'  their  wickedness  had  gone  up  before  God'  (ch. 
i.  2).  Yet  was  not  their  iniquity  of  the  lowest 
kind,  for  the  Ninevites  repented  at  the  preaching 
of  Jonah. 

A  few  years  later  we  find  the  prophet  Nahum 
intrusted  with  '  the  burden  of  Nineveh.'  From 
this  book  it  would  appear  that  the  repentance  of 
the  city,  if  sincere,  was  not  durable.  Therefore 
was  the  anger  of  Jehovah  about  to  fall  upon  it 
and  make  it  a  perpetual  waste.  The  impending 
destruction  of  this '  great  city'  was  also  foretold  by 
Zephaniah  (ii.  13),  and  by  Isaiah  (xiv.  24)  in 
language  which  gives  a  striking  view  of  its  com- 
mercial greatness  (it  was  the  entrepot  for  the 
trade  of  Eastern  and  Western  Asia),  its  surpassing 
opulence,  its  high  culture,  its  immense  popula- 
tion, and  deep  criminality  (see  Nahum,  chap,  iii., 


and  Ezek.  chap.  xxxi.).  From  Strabo  we  learr 
that  the  place  was  much  greater  than  even  Baby- 
lon; and  from  Diodorus  Siculus,  that  it  measured 
480  stadia  in  circumference,  having  very  high 
and  broad  walls,  which,  aided  by  the  river,  ren- 
dered it  impregnable.  This  safety  was,  however, 
merely  imaginary.  Sardanapalus,  who  had  a 
full  share  of  the  vices  of  his  subjects,  endured  in 
the  eighth  century  before  Christ  a  siege  of  three 
years'  duration  at  the  hands  of  the  Medes,  under 
Arbaces,  which  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  city 
(Diod.  Sic.  ii.  26).  But  so  large  and  so  powerful 
a  capital  was  not  easily  destroyed.  Nineveh  was 
the  seat  of  an  Assyrian  kingdom  till  the  year 
B.C.  625,  when  it  was  taken  by  Nabopolassar  of 
Babylon,  and  Cyaxares,  king  of  the  Medes, 
which  led  to  the  destruction  of  the  Assyrian  king- 
dom. Nineveh  flourished  no  more.  Strabo  repre- 
sents it  as  lying  waste ;  though  in  the  times  of  the 
Roman  emperors  some  remains  of  it  seem  to  have 


NITRE 

Barvived,  as  a  Nineveh  on  the  Tigris  is  mentioned 
in  Tacitus,  and  is  characterized  as  a  fort,  pro- 
bably some  small  fortification  raised  out  of  the 
ruins  of  the  city  for  predatory  purposes. 

The  present  remains  comprise  a  rampart  and 
foss,  four  miles  in  circuit,  with  a  moss-covered 
wall  about  twenty  feet  in  height.  The  ruins  at 
first  sight  present  a  range  of  hills.  From  these 
hills  large  stones  are  constantly  dug  out,  from 
which  probably  a  bridge  over  the  Tigris  has  been 
built. 

Jonah's  connection  with  the  city  is  still  pre- 
served in  a  tomb  which  bears  his  name ;  but  how 
far  back  in  antiquity  this  building  runs,  it  is  now 
impossible  to  say.  The  tomb  stands  on  a  hill, 
and  is  covered  by  a  mosque  which  is  held  in  great 
veneration.  Bricks,  partly  whole,  partly  in  frag- 
ments, and  pieces  of  gypsum  with  inscriptions  in 
the  arrow-head  character,  are  found  from  time 
to  time.  Landseer,  in  his  Sabaaii  Researches, 
gives  an  engraving  of  cylinders  dug  up  at  Nine- 
veh, which  he  states  to  be  numerous  in  the  East, 
and  supposes  to  have  been  employed  as  signets  : 
they  are  of  jasper,  chalcedony,  and  jade,  and  bear 
astronomical  emblems,  the  graving  of  which,  es- 
pecially considering  the  hardness  of  the  mate- 
rials, shows  a  high  state  of  art. 

Mosul,  with  which  Nineveli  is  commonly  iden- 
tified, stands  on  the  opposite,  or  western  bank  of 
the  Tigris,  and  lies  so  near  the  river  that  its 
streets  are  often  flooded.  This  place,  like  its 
great  prototype,  carries  on  a  trade  (though  to  a 
small  extent]  between  the  East  and  the  West. 
The  climate  is  stated  to  be  very  healthy ;  the 
average  temperature  of  summer  not  exceeding 
66=^  Fahr. ;  but  in  spring,  during  the  floods,  epi- 
demics are  common,  though  not  fatal. 

NI'SAN,  the  first  month  of  the  Hebrew  civil 
year.  Abib,  by  which  name  this  month  is  called 
in  the  Pentateuch  (Exod.  xiii.  4;  xxiii.  15; 
Deut.  xvi.  1),  means  an  ear  of  grain,  a  green  ear  ; 
and  hence  '  the  month  Abib '  is  '  the  month  of 
green  ears.'  It  thus  denoted  the  condition  of  the 
barley  in  the  climate  of  Egypt  and  Palestine  in 
this  month.  Nisan,  otherwise  Abib,  began  with 
the  new  moon  of  April,  or,  according  to  the  Rab- 
bins, of  March  [Month]. 

NIS'ROCH,  an  idol  of  the  Ninevites  (2  Kings 
xix.  37;  Isa.  xxxvii.  38).  The  word  is  now 
usually  supposed  to  mean  'great  eagle.'  This 
bird  was  held  in  peculiar  veneration  by  the  an- 
cient Persians ;  and  was  likewise  worshipped  by 
the  Arabs  before  the  time  of  Mohammed. 

NITRE  occurs  in  Prov.  xxv.  20;  Jer.  ii.  22; 
where  the  substance  in  question  is  described  as 
efifervescing  with  vinegar,  and  as  being  used  in 
washing;  neither  of  which  particulars  applies  to 
what  is  now,  by  a  misappropriation  of  this  ancient 
name,  called  '  nitre,'  and  which  in  modern  usage 
means  the  saltpetre  of  commerce,  but  they  both 
apply  to  the  natron,  or  true  nitrum  of  the  ancients. 
Natron,  though  found  in  many  parts  of  the  East, 
has  ever  been  one  of  the  distinguishing  natural 
productions  of  Egypt.  The  principal  natron  lakes 
now  found  in  that  country,  six  in  number,  are 
situate  in  a  barren  valley  about  thirty  miles  west- 
ward of  the  Delta,  where  it  both  floats  as  a  whit- 
ish scum  upon  the  water,  and  is  found  deposited 
at  the  bottom  in  a  thick  incrustation,  after  the 
water  is  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  summer.  It 
IB  a  natural  mineral  alkali,  composed  of  the  car- 


NOAH  621 

bonate,  sulphate,  and  muriate  of  soda,  derived 
from  the  soil  of  that  region.  Forskal  says  that 
it  is  known  by  the  name  atrmi,  or  nutriin,  that  it 
effervesces  with  vinegar,  and  is  used  as  soap  in 
washing  linen,  and  by  the  bakers  as  yeast,  and  in 
cookery  to  assist  in  boiling  meat,  &c.  Combined 
with  oil  it  makes  a  harder  and  firmer  soap  than 
the  vegetable  alkali. 

NO,  or  NO-AMMON.    [Thebes.] 
NO'AH,  the  second  father  of  the  human  race, 
was  the  son  of  the  second  Lamech,  the  grandson 
of  Methuselah,  and  the  tenth  in  descent  from 
Adam. 

The  father  of  Noah  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  Lamech  who  was  the  fourth  in  descent 
from  Cain.  The  two  Lamechs  have  one  remark- 
able circumstance  in  common ;  to  each  of  them 
a  fragment  of  inartificial  poetry  is  attached  as  his 
own  composition.  That  of  the  Cainitic  Lamech 
is  in  Gen.  iv.  23,  24.  That  of  the  Sethite  now 
comes  before  us  in  ch.  v.  28,  29  : — "  Lamech  lived 
182  years,  and  then  begat  a  son,  and  he  called 
his  name  Noah,  saying 

This  shall  comfort  us 

From  our  labour. 

And  from  the  sorrowful  toils  of  our  hands  ; 

From  the  ground, 

Which  Jehovah  hath  cursed.' 
The  allusion  is  undoubtedly  to  the  penal  conse- 
quences of  the  fall  in  eartlily  toils  and  sufferings, 
and  to  the  hope  of  a  Deliverer  excited  by  the 
promise  made  to  Eve.  That  this  expectation  was 
grounded  upon  a  divine  communication  we  infer 
from  the  importance  attached  to  it,  and  the  con- 
fidence of  its  expression. 

That  the  conduct  of  Noah  corresponded  to  the 
faith  and  hope  of  his  father  we  have  no  reason  to 
doubt.  The  brevity  of  the  history  satisfies  not 
human  curiosity.  He  was  born  six  hundred  years 
before  the  Deluge.  We  may  reasonably  suppose 
that  through  that  period  he  maintained  the  cha- 
racter given  of  him: — 'Noah  found  favour  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord.  Noah  M'as  a  just  man,  and 
perfect  in  his  generations.  Noah  walked  with 
God'  (ch.  vi.  8,  9).  These  words  declare  his 
piety,  sincerity,  and  integrity,  that  he  maintained 
habitual  communion  with  the  Father  of  Mercies, 
by  the  exercises  of  devotion,  and  that  he  was  an 
inspired  instrument  of  conveying  the  will  of  God 
to  mankind.  The  wickedness  of  the  human  race 
had  long  called  upon  the  wisdom  and  justice  of 
God  for  some  signal  display  of  his  displeasure,  as 
a  measure  of  righteous  government  and  an  ex- 
ample to  future  ages.  For  a  long  time,  probably 
many  centuries,  the  better  part  of  men,  the  de- 
scendants of  Seth,  had  kept  themselves  from  so- 
ciety with  the  families  of  the  Cainite  race.  The 
former  class  had  become  designated  as  '  the  sons 
of  God,'  faithful  and  obedient:  the  latter  were 
called  by  a  term  evidently  designed  to  form  an 
appellation  of  the  contrary  import,  '  daughters 
of  men,'  of  impious  and  licentious  men.  These 
women  possessed  beauty  and  blandishments,  by 
which  they  won  the  affections  of  unwary  men, 
and  intermarriages  upon  a  great  scale  took  place. 
As  is  usual  in  such  alliances  the  worse  part 
gained  the  ascendancy.  The  offspring  became 
more  depraved  than  the  parents,  and  a  universal 
corruption  of  minds  and  morals  took  place.  Many 
of  them  became  '  giants,  the  mighty  men  of  old, 
men  of  renown,'  apostates  (as  the  word  implies), 


622 


NOB 


!  heroes,  warriors,  plunderers,  '  filling  the  earth 
I  with  violence.'  God  mercifully  afibrded  a  respite 
'  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  (ch.  vi.  3 ;  1 
I  Pet.  iii.  20 ;  2  Pet.  ii.  5),  during  which  Noah 
:  sought  to  work  salutary  impressions  upon  their 
i  minds,  and  to  bring  them  to  repentance.  Thus 
1  he  was  '  a  preacher  of  righteousness,'  exercising 
I  faith  in  the  testimony  of  God,  moved  with  holy 
I  reverence,  obeying  the  divine  commands,  and, 
I  by  the  contrast  of  his  conduct,  condemning  the 
j  world  (Heb.  xi.  7):  and  probably  he  had  during 
j  a  long  previous  period  laboured  in  that  benevo- 
I    lent  and  pious  work. 

I  At  last  the  threatening  was  fulfilled.  All  hu- 
j  man  kind  perished  in  the  waters,  except  this  emi- 
I  nently  favoured  and  righteous  man,  with  his 
'  three  sons  (born  about  a  hundred  years  before) 
I  and  the  four  wives  [Deluge]. 
!  At  the  appointed  time  this  terrible  state  of  the 
I  earth  ceased,  and  a  new  surface  was  disclosed  for 
I  the  occupation  and  industry  of  the  delivered 
i  family.  In  some  places  that  surface  would  be 
I  washed  bare  to  the  naked  rock,  in  others  sand 
j  would  be  deposited,  which  would  be  long  uncul- 
j  livable ;  but  by  far  the  larger  portion  would  be 
covered  with  rich  soil.  With  agriculture  and  its 
I  allied  arts  the  antediluvians  must  have  been  well 
I  acquainted  [Adam].  The  four  men,  in  the 
I  vigour  of  their  mental  faculties  and  bodily 
I   strength,  according  to  the  then  existing  scale  of 

■  human  life,  would  be  at  no  loss  for  the  profitable 
application  of  their  powers.      Immediately  after 

i  the  desolating  judgment  the  merciful  Jehovah 
'  gave  intimations  of  his  acceptance  of  the  sacri- 
;  fice  and  thanksgivings  of  Noah  and  his  family, 
j  and  of  his  gracious  purposes  revealed  in  the  form 
I  of  a  solemn  covenant  for  the  continual  benefit  of 
them  and  their  posterity.  The  beautiful  phe- 
I  nomenon  of  the  rainbow  was  put  to  a  new  and 
1  significant  use.  As  infallibly  certain  as  is  the 
I  production  of  a  rainbow  under  certain  conditions 
!  of  the  atmosphere,  so  certain  and  sure  of  fulfil- 
i   ment  are  the  promises  of  Jehovah. 

As  the  flood  affected  equally  the  common  an- 
1    cestry  of  mankind,  all  nations  that  have  not  sunk 
into  the  lowest  barbarism  would  be  likely  to  pre- 
serve the  memory  of  the  chief  person  connected 
.   with  it ;  and  it  would  be  a  natural  fallacy  that 
'    every  people  should  attach  to  itself  a  principal 
.   interest  in  that  catastrophe,  and  regard  that  chief 
person  as  the   founder  of  their  own  nation  and 
belonging  to  their  own  locality.     Hence  we  can 
well  account  for  the  traditions  of  so  many  peoples 
'   upon  this  capital  fact  of  ancient  history,  and  the 
:    chief  person  in  it ; — the  Xisuthrus  of  the  Chal- 
,    dseans,  with  whom  is   associated  a  remarkable 
',   number  of  precise  circumstances,  corresponding 

■  to  the  Mosaic  narrative ;  the  Phrygian  A'be  of  the 
:   celebrated  Apameau  medal,  which,  besides  Noah 

and  his  wife  with  an  ark,  presents  a  raven,  and 
I  a  dove  with  an  olive-branch  in  its  mouth ;  the 
I  Manes  of  the  Lydians :  the  Deucalion  of  the 
;  Syrians  and  the  Greeks,  of  whose  deluge  the 
'  account  given  by  Lucian  is  a  copj-  almost  ex- 
i  actly  circumstantial  of  that  in  the  book  of  Gene- 
I  sis ;  the  many  coincidences  in  the  Greek  my- 
'  thologY  in  respect  of  Saturn,  Janus,  and  Bacchus ; 
I  the  traditions  of  the  aboriginal  Americans,  as 
I    stated  by  Clavigero,  in  his  History  of  Mexico  ; 

and  many  others. 
j       NOB,  a  city  of  Benjamin,  in  the  vicinity  of 


NUMBERS 

Jerusalem,  belonging  to  the  priests,  and  where 
the  tabernacle  was  stationed  in  the  time  of  Saul 
(1  Sam.  xxi.  2;  xxii.  9,  11,  19;  Neb.  xi.  32 ; 
Isa.  X.  32).  From  the  last  of  these  texts  it  would 
appear  that  Jerusalem  was  visible  from  Nob, 
which,  therefore,  must  have  been  situated  some- 
where upon  the  ridge  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
north-east  of  the  city. 

NOBLEMAN.  The  word  so  rendered  in  John 
iv.  46,  probably  signifies  one  belonging  to  the 
court.  This  person  was,  therefore,  probably  of 
the  court  of  Herod  Antipas,  who  reigned  over 
Galilee  and  Persea. 

NOD,  the  land  to  which  Cain  withdrew,  and 
in  which  he  appears  to  have  settled  (Gen.  iv.  16). 
While  the  site  of  paradise  itself  remains  undeter- 
mined, it  is  useless  to  seek  for  that  of  the  land  of 
Nod.  This  land,  wherever  it  was,  could  not  have 
had  a  name  till  Cain  went  to  it ;  and  it  was  doubt- 
less called  Nod  (which  signifies^t$i/if,  wandering), 
from  the  circumstance  that  Cain  fled  to  it. 

NOPH.     [Memphis.] 

NORTH.  The  Shemite,  in  speaking  of  the 
quarters  of  the  heavens  and  of  the  earth,  supposes 
his  face  turned  towards  the  east,  so  that  the  east 
is  before  him,  the  west  behind,  the  south  on  the 
right  hand,  and  the  north  on  the  left.  Hence  the 
words  which  signify  east,  west,  north,  and  south, 
signify  also  that  which  is  before,  behind,  on  the 
right  hand,  and  on  the  left.  The  Hebrew  word, 
translated  north,  occurs  in  the  five  following 
senses: — 1.  It  denotes  a  particular  quarter  of  the 
heavens ;  thus,  '  fair  weather  cometh  out  of  the 
north '  (Job  xxxvii.  22 ;  see  also  Eccles.  i.  6,  and 
Ezek.  i.  4).  2.  It  means  a  quarter  of  the  earth 
(Ps.  cvii.  3;  Isa.  xliii.  6;  Ezek.  xx.  47;  xxxii. 
30;  com  p.  Luke  xiii.  29).  3.  It  occurs  in  the 
sense  of  a  northern  aspect  or  direction,  &c. ;  thus, 
■  looking  north '  (1  Kings  vii.  25  ;  1  Chron.  ix. 
24;  Num.  xxxiv.  7);  on  'the  north  side'  (Ps. 
xlviii.  2  ;  Ezek.  viii.  14  ;  xl.  44;  comp.  Rev.  xxi. 
1 3).  4.  It  seems  used  as  the  conventional  name 
for  certain  countries,  irrespectively  of  their  true 
geographical  situation,  namely.  Babylonia,  Chal- 
dsea,  Assyria,  and  Media,  which  are  constantly 
represented  as  being  to  the  north  of  Judjca,  though 
some  of  them  lay  rather  to  the  east  of  Palestine. 
Thus  Assyria  is  called  the  north  (Zeph.  ii.  13), 
and  Babylonia  (Jer.  i.  14;  xlvi.  6,  10,  20,24; 
Ezek.  xxvi.  7  ;  Judith  xvi.  4).  5.  The  Hebrew 
word  is  applied  to  the  north  wind ;  see  Prov. 
xxvii.  16,  and  Cant.  iv.  6. 

NOSE-JEWEL.     [Women.] 

NOVICE,  or  Neophyte,  one  newly  converted 
(literally  newh/  planted),  not  yet  matured  in 
Christian  experience  (1  Tim.  iii.  6).  The  word 
continued  to  be  in  use  in  the  early  church ;  but 
it  gradually  acquired  a  meaning  somewhat  dif- 
ferent from  that  which  it  bore  under  the  Apostles, 
when 'newly  converted' and  'newly  baptized' 
described,  in  fact,  the  same  condition,  the  con- 
verted being  at  once  baptized.  For  when,  in 
subsequent  years,  the  church  felt  it  prudent  to 
put  converts  under  a  course  of  instruction  before 
admitting  them  to  baptism  and  the  full  privileges 
of  Christian  brotherhood,  the  term  Novices  was 
sometimes  applied  to  them,  although  more  usually 
distinguished  by  the  general  term  of  Catechu- 
mens. 

NUMBERS  is  the  appellation  given  to  the 
fourth  book  of  Moses. 


NUMBERS 

This  book  embraces  more  especially  the  cou- 
tinuation  of  the  Sinaitic  legislation,  the  march 
through  the  wUderness,  the  rejection  of  a  whole 
generation,  and  the  commencement  of  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan.  Thus  we  see  that  it  treats  on 
very  different  subjects,  and  on  this  account  it 
has  frequently  been  attempted  to  resolve  it  into 
separate  fragments  and  documents,  and  to  repre- 
sent it  as  being  composed  of  the  most  hetero- 
geneous niaterials.  We  will  endeavour  to  refute 
this  opinion,  by  furnishing  an  accurate  survey  of 
its  contents,  and  by  describing  the  internal  con- 
nection of  its  component  parts,  so  that  the  or- 
ganization of  the  book  may  be  clearly  under- 
,  stood. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  the  law  having  been 
stated  in  the  precediug  books,  that  of  Numbers 
commences  with  the  arrangements  requisite  for 
preserving  good  order  in  tlie  camp  of  the  Israel- 
ites. The  people  are  numbered  for  the  express 
purpose  of  separating  the  Levites  from  those  Is- 
raelites who  had  to  bear  arms,  and  of  thus  intro- 
ducing into  practice  the  law  concerning  the  first- 
born, for  whom  the  tribe  of  Levi  became  a 
substitute.  For  this  reason  the  people  are  not 
merely  numbered,  but  also  classed  according  to 
their  descent ;  the  order  which  each  tribe  should 
occupy  in  the  camp  is  defined,  and  the  Levites 
are  introduced  into  their  respective  functions 
(ch.  i.-iv.). 

The  camp,  having  been  consecrated,  was  to  be 
kept  pure  according  to  the  law  of  Levitical 
cleansings ;  consequently  all  persons  were  ex- 
cluded from  it  who  were  afflicted  with  leprosy, 
who  had  become  unclean  by  a  flux,  and  who  had 
touched  a  corpse  (ch.  v.  1-4). 

Thus,  after  civil  and  sacerdotal  life  had  been 
brought  into  a  definite  form,  other  laws  based 
upon  this  form  came  into  force,  especially  those 
laws  which  regulated  the  authority  of  the  priests 
in  civil  affairs  (ch.  v.  5  ;  vi.  27).  These  regu- 
lations conclude  with  the  beautiful  form  of  bene- 
diction which  indicates  the  blessing  to  be  expected 
from  the  true  observance  of  the  preceding  direc- 
tions. The  people  are  impressed  with  this  fact ; 
the  hearts  of  the  Israelites  are  Milling  to  offer 
the  required  gifts,  and  to  intrust  them  to  the 
Levites. 

Jehovah  is  faithful  to  his  promise,  and  glori- 
ously reveals  himself  to  his  people  (ch.  vii.).  Be- 
fore the  Levites  enter  upon  the  discharge  of  their 
sacred  functions,  the  law  concerning  the  lamps  to 
be  lighted  in  the  sanctuary  is  significantly  re- 
peated (ch.  viii.).  These  lamps  symbolize  the 
communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  bring  to 
the  recollection  of  the  nation  the  blessings  of 
theocracy  to  be  derived  from  setting  apart  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  which  had  recently  been  separated 
from  the  rest  of  the  people. 

Then  follows  a  description  of  the  celebration  of 
the  Pasfover,  preparatory  to  the  departure  of  the 
people  from  Mount  Sinai  (ch.  ix.  1-14).  Some 
regulations  are  connected  with  the  celebration  of 
the  Passover,  and  the  whole  miraculous  guidance 
of  the  people  5s  described  (ch.  ix.  1.5-x.). 

Thus  the  entrance  of  Israel  into  the  Holy  Land 
seemed  to  be  fully  prepared ;  and  it  was  of  great 
importance  to  show  how  they  were  prevented 
from  entering  it.  Accurate  details  are  therefore 
given  of  the  spirit  wiiich  pervaded  the  nation;  a 
spirit  which,  in  spite  of  the  forbearance  of  God 


NUMUEKS  623 

manifested  itself  ip  daring  rebellions  against  the 
divine  authority  (ch.  xi.,  xii.). 

Now  comes  the  turning  point  of  the  history 
Everything  seems  externally  prepared  for  the  con- 
quest of  the  country,  when  it  appears  that  the 
nation  are  not  yet  internally  ripe  f  )r  the  perform- 
ance of  so  important  an  act  (ch.  xiii.,  xiv.). 

In  immediate  connection  with  this  aie  some 
laws  which  were  given  in  the  desert ;  the  inten- 
tion of  which  was  to  recal  to  the  recollection  of 
the  rejected  race,  which  had  been  justly  con- 
demned to  suffer  severe  punishment,  that  never- 
theless they  had  not  ceased  to  be  the  people  of  the 
covenant,  and  the  depositary  of  divine  revelation 
(comp.  ch.  XV.  2,  13-16,  22,  2.3,  37,  sq.).  In  this 
respect  the  facts  mentioned  in  ch.  xv.  32-36,  and 
ch.  xvi.  are  also  of  great  importance.  They  show, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  continuance  of  an  evil  dis- 
position in  the  people,  and,  on  the  other,  the  ma- 
jesty of  God  watching  over  his  holy  law. 

The  contents  of  ch.  xv.-xix.  are  of  a  similar 
character.  The  facts  there  recorded  relate  to  a 
period  of  thirty-eight  years.  The  conciseness 
with  which  they  are  stated  significantly  indicates 
the  strictly  legal  and  theocratical  principles  of  the 
Mosaical  legislation.  The  period  of  Israel's  rejec- 
tion is  characterized  by  the  circumstance,  that  the 
historian  is  almost  silent  respecting  it,  as  being  a 
period  not  strictly  belonging  to  theocratical  his- 
tory. During  this  period  the  striking  deeds  of 
God,  his  miracles  and  signs,  the  more  prominent 
operations  of  his  grace,  and  his  peculiar  blessings, 
cease.  The  rejection  of  the  nation  consisted  in 
this  suspension  of  the  divine  operations.  During 
this  period  God,  as  it  were,  ignored  his  people. 
Consequently,  the  historian  also  almost  ignores 
the  rebellious  race.  But  the  period  in  which  the 
divine  promises  Avere  to  be  fulfilled  a^jain  forms  a 
prominent  portion  of  the  history.  The  termina- 
tion of  the  penal  period  is  the  commencement  of 
the  most  important  era  in  the  Mosaical  history. 
It  brings  the  legislation  to  a  splendid  conclusion. 
The  most  glorious  facts  here  follow  each  other  in 
close  succession;  facts  which  were  intended 
clearly  to  demonstrate  that  the  chosen  people 
entered  into  the  land  of  promise,  not  by  their  own 
.power  and  might,  but  that  this  laud  was  given 
into  their  hands  by  the  God  of  promise. 

There  have  frequently  been  raised  strong 
doubts  against  the  historical  credibility  of  the 
book  of  Numbers,  although  it  is  impressed  with 
indubitable  marks  of  the  age  to  which  it  refers, 
and  of  perfect  authenticity.  The  author  proves 
himself  to  possess  an  intimate  knowledge  of 
Egypt  and  of  Egyptian  histoiy,  and  manners  and 
customs.  Narratives  like  the  history  of  Balaam 
furnish  also  numerous  proofs  of  their  high 
antiquity.  Its  geographical  statements  are  found 
to  be  uncommonly  accurate,  and  the  nations  par- 
ticularly mentioned  in  that  prophecy  belong  to 
the  Mosaical  period,  and  some  of  them  at  a  later 
era  disappeared  entirely  from  history.  The  list 
of  stations  in  chap,  xxxiii.  bears  undeniable 
marks  of  antiquity ;  and  the  historical  notices 
which  the  list  contains  demonstrate  the  accurate 
historical  information  of  the  author.  Moreover 
the  great  fact  which  is  the  basis  of  the  narrative 
of  the  whole  book — the  sojourn  of  the  Israelites 
during  forty  years  in  the  wilderness — can  only 
be  accounted  for  by  assuming  an  extraordinary 
divine  intervention. 


624 


OAK 


NUN  (a  fish),  the  father  of  Joshua,  who  is 
hence  constantly  called  Joshua  ben- Nun, '  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun.'  Nothing  is  known  of  the  per- 
son who  bore  this  name. 

NUTS.  This  word  occurs  only  in  Gen.  xliii. 
11,  where  Jacob,  wishing  to  conciliate  the  ruler 
of  Egypt,  desires  his  sons  on  their  return  to  '  take 
of  the  best  fruits  in  the  land  in  their  vessels  and 
carry  down  the  man  a  present,'  and  along  with 
other  articles  mentions  'nuts  and  almonds.' 
There  is  little  doubt  that  pistachio-tiuts  is  the 
article  here  meant. 

The  pistachio-nut-tree  is  well  known,  extend- 
ing as  it  does  from  Syria  to  Affghanistan.  From 
the  latter  country  the  seeds  are  carried  as  an 
article  of  commerce  to  India,  where  they  are 
eaten  in  their  uncooked  state,  added  to  sweet- 
meats, or  as  a  dessert  fried  with  pepper  and  salt, 
being  much  relished  by  Europeans  for  the  deli- 
cacy of  their  flavour.  The  pistacia-tree  is  most 
common  in  the  northern,  that  is.  the  cooler  parts 
of  Syria,  but  it  is  also  found  wild  in  Palestine  in 
some  very  remarkable  positions,  as  Mount  Tabor, 
and  the  summit  of  Mount  Attarus  (Nebo?).  It 
delights  in  a  dry  soil,  and  rises  to  the  height  of 
20,  and  sometimes  30  feet.  As  it  belongs  to  the 
same  genus  as  the  terebinth-tree,  so  like  it  the 
male  and  female  flowers  grow  on  separate  trees. 


0. 


OAK.  In  our  version  various  words  are  ren- 
dered by  '  oak,'  particularly  Alah,  which  more 
probably  denotes  the  terebinth-tree.  The  oak 
is,  in  fact,  less  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
original  than  in  the  A.  V.,  where  it  occurs  so 
often  as  to  suggest  that  the  oak  is  as  conspicuous 
and  as  common  in  Palestine  as  in  this  country. 
But  in  Syria  oaks  are  by  no  means  common, 
except  in  hilly  regions,  where  the  elevation  gives 
the  effect  of  a  more  northern  climate ;  and  even 
in  such  circumstances  it  does  not  attain  the 
grandeur  in  which  it  often  appears  in  our  lati- 
tudes. Indeed,  Syria  has  not  the  species  which 
forms  the  glory  of  our  own  forests.  The  '  oaks 
of  Bashau'  are  in  Scripture  mentioned  with 
peculiar  distinction  (Isa.  ii.  3 ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  6 ; 
Zech.  xi.  2),  as  if  in  the  hills  beyond  the  Jordan 
the  oaks  had  been  more  abundant  and  of  larger 
growth  than  elsewhere.  This  is  the  case  even 
at  the  present  day.  In  the  hilly  regions  of 
Bashau  and  Gilead,  Burckhardt  repeatedly  men- 
tions forests  of  thick  oaks— thicker  than  any 
forests  which  he  had  seen  in  Syria.  Oaks  of 
low  stature  are  frequent  on  the  hills  and  plains 
near  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  and  in  the  lower 
slopes  of  Lebanon.  Lord  Lindsay  describes  the 
hills  of  northern  Judaea  about  Hebron  as  covered 
to  the  top  with  low  shrubs  of  the  prickly  oak. 
Prickly  and  evergreen  oaks  occur  between  Sa- 
maria and  Mount  Carmel,  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  Kishon.  The  thick  trees  which  cover  Mount 
Tabor  are  composed  chiefly  of  oaks  and  pistachio- 
trees. 

The  species  of  oak  found  in  Palestine  are,  1, 
The  Evergreen  Oak.  This  is  a  tall  but  not  wide- 
spreading  tree,  and  the  timber  being  very  hard, 
is  much  used  for  purposes  in  which  compactness 


OATH 

and  durability  are  required.  2.  The  Holly- 
leaved  Montpelier  Oak,  another  evergreen.  This 
tree  also,  as  its  name  imports,  is  a  native  of 
Southern  Europe,  and  is  markedly  distinguished 
from  the  former  by  its  numerous  straggling 
branches  and  the  thick  nnderdown  of  its  leaves. 
3.  The  Hairy-cupped  Oak,  so  called  from  the 
bristly  appearance  of  the  calyx.  It  grows  to  a 
considerable  size,  and  furnishes  an  excellent 
timber,  much  used  by  the  Turks  in  the  building 
of  ships  and  houses.  4.  The  Great  Prickly- 
cupped  Oak,  which  takes  its  name  from  its  large 
prickly  calyx.  This  species  is  common  in  the 
Levant,  whei-e  it  is  a  handsome  tree,  which  it  is 
not  in  our  ungenial  climate,  though  it  has  long 
been  cultivated.  The  wood  of  this  species  is  of 
little  worth ;  but  its  acorns  form  the  valonia  of 
commerce,  of  which  150,000  cwt.  are  yearly 
imported  into  this  country  for  the  use  of  tanners. 
5.  The  Kermes  Oak  takes  its  name  from  an 
insect  (hermes,  of  the  genus  coccus)  which  adheres 
to  the  branches  of  this  bushy  evergreen  shrub,  in 
the  form  of  small  reddish  balls  about  the  size  of 
a  pea.  This  affords  a  crimson  dye,  formerly 
celebrated,  but  now  superseded  by  cochineal. 
This  dye  was  used  by  the  ancient  Hebrews. 

From  the  hints  of  travellers  there  appear  to  be 
some  other  species  of  oaks  in  Palestine,  but  their 
information  is  not  sufficiently  distinct  to  enable 
us  to  identify  them. 

OATH,  an  appeal  to  God  in  attestation  of  the 
truth  of  what  you  say,  or  in  confirmation  of  what 
you  promise  or  undertake.  Cicero  correctly 
terms  an  oath  a  religious  affirmation ;  that  is,  an 
affirmation  with  a  religious  sanction.  Hence  it 
appears  that  there  are  two  essential  elements  in 
an  oath  :  first,  the  human,  a  declared  intention  of 
speaking  the  truth,  or  performing  the  action  in  a 
given  case ;  secondly,  the  divine,  an  appeal  to 
God,  as  a  Being  who  knows  all  things  and  will 
punish  guilt.  According  to  usage,  however,  there 
is  a  third  element  in  the  idea  which  '  oath  '  com- 
monly conveys,  namely,  that  the  oath  is  taken 
only  on  solemn,  or,  more  specifically,  on  juridical 
occasions. 

The  essence  of  an  oath  lies  obviously  in  the 
appeal  which  is  thereby  made  to  God,  or  to  divine 
knowledge  and  power.  The  customary  form 
establishes  this,  '  So  help  me  God.'  The  Latin 
words  (known  to  have  been  used  as  early  as  the 
sixth  century),  whence  our  English  form  is  taken, 
may  be  thus  rendered:  so  mai/  God  and  these  holy 
gospels  help  7ne ;  that  is,  '  as  I  say  the  truth.'  The 
present  custom  of  kissing  a  book  containing  the 
Gospels  has  in  England  taken  place  of  the  latter 
clause  in  the  Latin  formula. 

Oaths  did  not  take  their  origin  in  any  divine 
command.  They  were  a  part  of  that  consuetudi- 
nary law  which  Moses  found  prevalent,  and  was 
bound  to  respect,  since  no  small  portion  of  the 
force  of  law  lies  in  custom,  and  a  legislator  can 
neither  abrogate  nor  institute  a  binding  law  of 
his  own  mere  will.  Accordingly,  Moses  made 
use  of  the  sanction  which  an  oath  gave,  but  in 
that  general  manner,  and  apart  from  minute  di- 
rections and  express  words  of  approval ;  which 
shows  that  he  merely  used,  without  intending  to 
sanction,  an  instrument  that  he  found  in  existence 
and  could  not  safely  dispense  with.  Examples 
are  found  in  Exod.  xxii.  11,  where  an  oath  is 
ordered  to  be  applied  in  the  case  of  lost  property ; 


OATH 


OBADIAH 


625 


and  here  we  first  meet  with  what  may  strictly  be 
called  a  judicial  oath  (Lev.  vi.  3-5). 

The  forms  of  adjuratiou  found  in  the  Scriptures 
are  numerous.  Said  sware  unto  Jonathan,  '  As 
the  Lord  liveth '  (1  Sam.  xix.  6).  'A  heap  and 
a  pillar  '  Avere  for  a  witness  between  Laban  and 
Jacob,  with  the  ensuing  for  a  sanction,  '  The  God 
of  Abraham  and  the  God  of  Nahor,  the  God  of 
their  father,  judge  betwixt  us.  And  Jacob  sware 
by  the  fear  of  his  father  Isaac '  (Gen.  xxxi.  52, 
sq.).  A  common  formula  is,  '  The  Lord  do  so  to 
me  and  more  also'  (Ruth  i.  17  ;  1  Sam.  iv.  44), 
which  approaches  nearly  to  our  modern  form, 
'  So  help  me  God,'  and  is  obviously  elliptical. 
Reference  appears  to  be  had  to  the  ancient  cus- 
tom of  slaying  some  animal  in  confirmation  of  a 
treaty  or  agreement.  The  animal  thus  slain  and 
offered  in  a  burnt  offering  to  God  became  an 
image  or  type,  betokening  the  fate  which  would 
attend  that  one  of  the  two  contracting  parties  who 
failed  in  his  engagement ;  subsequently  the  sacri- 
fice was  in  ordinary  cases  omitted,  and  the  form 
came  in  itself  to  have  the  force  of  a  solemn 
asseveration. 

An  oath,  making  an  appeal  to  the  divine 
justice  and  power,  is  a  recognition  of  the  divinity 
of  the  being  to  whom  the  appeal  is  made.  Hence 
to  swear  by  an  idol  is  to  be  convicted  of  idolatry. 
Such  an  act  is  accordingly  given  in  Scripture  as 
a  proof  of  idolatry  and  a  reason  for  condign 
punishment.  '  How  shall  I  pardon  thee  for  this  ? 
Thy  children  have  forsaken  me,  and  sworn  by 
them  that  are  no  gods '  (Jer.  v.  7 ;  xii.  16  ;  Amos 
viii.  14;  Zeph.  i.  5). 

Other  beings  besides  God  are  sometimes  added 
in  the  form  of  an  oath :  Elijah  said  to  Elisha, 
•  As  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth'  (2 
Kings  ii.  2  ;  1  Sam.  xx.  3).  The  party  addressed 
is  frequently  sworn  by,  especially  if  a  prince : 
'  As  thy  soul  liveth,  my  lord,  I  am  the  woman,' 
&c.  (TSam.  i.  26;  xvii.  55;  xxv.  26;  2  Sam. 
xi.  1 1).  The  Hebrews  as  well  as  the  Egyptians 
swore  also  by  the  head  or  the  life  of  an  absent  as 
well  as  a  present  prince:  '  By  the  life  of  Pha- 
raoh' (Gen.  xlii.  15).  Hanway  says  that  the 
most  sacred  oath  among  the  Persians  is  '  by  the 
king's  head.' 

The  oath-taker  swore  sometimes  by  his  own 
head  (Matt.  v.  36) ;  or  by  some  precious  part  of 
his  body,  as  the  eyes  ;  sometimes,  but  only  in  the 
case  of  the  later  Jews,  by  the  earth,  the  heaven, 
and  the  sun  (Matt.  v.  34,  35) ;  as  well  as  by  angels ; 
by  the  temple  (Matt,  xxiii.  16),  and  even  by  parts 
of  the  temple  (Matt,  xxiii.  16).  They  also  swore 
by  Jerusalem,  as  the  holy  city  (Matt.  v.  35). 
The  Rabbinical  writers  indulge  in  much  pro- 
lixity on  the  subject  of  oaths,  entering  into  nice 
distinctions,  and  showing  themselves  exquisite 
casuists. 

We  have  already  intimated  that  it  was  usual 
to  put  the  hand  under  the  thigh  (Gen.  xxiv.  2; 
xlvii.  29).  The  more  usual  employment  of  the 
hand  was  to  raise  it  towards  heaven  ;  designed, 
probably,  to  excite  attention,  to  point  out  the 
oath-taker,  and  to  give  solemnity  to  the  act  (Gen. 
xiv.  22,  23).  In  the  strongly  anthropomorphitic 
language  of  parts  of  the  Scripture,  even  God  is 
introduced  saying,  '  T  lift  up  my  hand  to  heaven, 
and  say,  I  live  for  ever '  (Deut.  xxxii.  40).  It 
can  only  be  by  the  employment  of  a  similar  li- 
cence that  the  Almighty  is  represented  as  in  any 


way  coming  under  the  obligation  of  an  oath 
(Exod.  vi.  8;  Ezek.  xx.  5).  Instead  of  the  head, 
the  phylactery  was  sometimes  touched  by  the 
Jews  on  taking  an  oath. 

The  levity  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  regard  to 
oaths,  though  reproved  by  some  of  their  doctors, 
was  notorious ;  and  their  conduct  in  this  respect 
was  severely  censured  by  Christ  himself  in  lan- 
guage which  seems  to  forbid  the  use  of  oaths 
altogether  (Matt.  v.  34-37  ;  James  v.  12). 

OBADI'AH  (servant  of  Jehovah),  the  name  of 
several  persons  mentioned  in  Scripture. 

1.  OBADIAH,  the  fourth  of  the  minor  pro- 
phets according  to  the  Hebrew,  the  fifth  accord- 
ing to  the  Greek,  and  the  eighth  according  to 
chronological  arrangement,  is  supposed  to  have 
prophesied  about  the  year  b.c.  599.  We  have, 
however,  but  a  small  fragment  of  his  prophecies, 
and  it  is  impossible  to  determine  anything  with 
certainty  respecting  himself  or  his  history.  It  is 
evident  from  ver.  20  that  he  prophesied  while 
Jerusalem  was  subjected  to  the  yoke  of  the  Chal- 
daeans,  and  after  the  expatriation  of  several  of 
the  citizens — which  refers  him  to  the  period  after 
the  seventh  year  of  the  captivity,  b.c.  599.  From 
a  comparison  of  Obad.  ver.  1-4,  with  Jer.  xlix. 
14-16;  Obad.  ver.  6,  with  Jer.  xlix.  9,  10; 
and  Obad.  ver.  8,  with  Jer.  xlix.  7,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  one  of  these  prophets  had  read  the 
other's  work.  It  is  not  easy,  observes  Calmet, 
to  decide  which  of  the  two  copied  from  the  other ; 
but  from  the  fact  that  Jeremiah  had  made  use  of 
the  writings  of  other  prophets  also,  it  has  been 
generally  concluded  that  Obadiah  was  the  ori- 
ginal writer. 

His  prophecies  are  directed  against  the  Edom- 
ites,  and  in  this  respect  correspond  with  Amos  i. 
11,  Jer.  xlix.  22,  Ezek.  xxv.  12-14,  and  Ps. 
cxxxvii.  7.  He  menaces  Edom  with  destruction 
for  their  hostile  feeling  towards  Judah,  and  their 
insulting  conduct  towards  the  Hebrews  when 
Jerusalem  was  taken  (ver.  11,  12);  but  consoles 
the  Jews  with  a  promise  of  restoration  from  their 
captivity,  when  the  Hebrews  and  the  Ten  Tribes 
shall  repossess  both  their  land  and  that  of  Edom 
and  Philistia — a  prophecy  which  was  fulfilled  in 
the  time  of  the  Maccabees,  under  John  Hyrcanus, 
B.C.  125. 

The  language  of  Obadiah  is  pure  ;  but  Jahn 
and  others  have  observed  that  he  is  inferior  to 
the  more  ancient  prophets  in  his  too  great  addic- 
tion to  the  interrogatory  form  of  expression  (see 
ver.  8).  His  sentiments  are  noble,  and  his  figures 
bold  and  striking. 

2.  OBADIAH,  the  governor  of  King  Ahab's 
household,  and  high  in  the  confidence  of  liis 
master,  notwithstanding  his  aversion  to  the  idola- 
tries which  the  court  patronized.  In  the  persecu- 
tion raised  by  Jezebel,  Obadiah  hid  one  hundred 
of  the  Lord's  prophets  in  caves,  and  supplied  them 
secretly  with  nourishment  during  the  famine.  It 
was  this  person,  when  sent  out  to  explore  the 
country  in  the  vain  search  of  pasture  unconsumed 
by  the  drought,  whom  Elijah  encountered  when 
about  to  show  himself  to  Ahab,  and  who  was  re- 
luctantly prevailed  upon  to  conduct  the  prophet 
to  his  master  (1  Kings  xviii.  4-16),  B.C.  906. 

3.  OBADIAH,  one  of  the  heroes  of  the  tribe 
of  Gad,  who  joined  David  at  Ziklag  (1  Chron. 
xii.  9). 

4.  OBADIAH,  one  of  the  nobles  whom  Je- 

2  s 


C26 


OFFERING 


hoshapbat  sent  to  teach  in  the  cities  of  Judah  (2 
Chron.  xvii.  7). 

5.  OBADIAH,  one  of  the  Levites  -who  pre- 
sided over  the  restoration  of  the  temple  under 
Josiah  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  12). 

6.  OBADIAH,  the  head  of  a  party,  consisting 
of  218  males,  with  females  and  children  in  pro- 
portion, who  returned  with  Ezra  from  Babylon 
(^Ezra  viii.  9). 

7.  OBADIAH,  one  of  the  priests  who  sealed 
the  written  covenant  which  Nehemiah  caused  the 
people  to  enter  into  (Neh.  x.  .5). 

Other  persons  of  this  name  occur  in  1  Chron. 
iii.  21  ;  vii.  3;  viii.  38;  ix.  16,  44;  xxvii.  19. 

O'BED  (serving),  son  of  Boaz  and  Euth,  and 
father  of  Jesse  the  father  of  David,  according  to 
the  apparently  incomplete  genealogical  list  (Ruth 
iv.  17;  1  Chron.  ii.  12).  The  name  occurs  in 
the  genealogies  of  Matthew  (i.  5)  and  Luke  (iii. 
32). 

O'BED-E'DOM  (serviiig  Edom),  a  Levite  in 
whose  premises,  and  under  whose  care,  the  ark 
M-as  deposited,  when  the  death  of  Uzzah  caused 
David  to  apprehend  danger  in  taking  it  farther. 
It  remained  here  three  months,  during  which  the 
family  of  Obed-edom  so  signally  prospered,  that 
the  king  was  encouraged  to  resume  his  first  in- 
tention, which  he  then  happily  carried  into  effect 
(2  Sam.  vi.  10-12).  We  learn  from  1  Chron. 
xvi.  38,  that  Obed-edom's  connection  with  the  ark 
did  not  then  terminate,  he  and  his  brethren  hav- 
ing charge  of  the  doors  of  the  sanctuary  (1  Chron. 
XV.  18,  24). 

O'BIL  {chief  of  the  camels),  an  Ishmaelite,  or 
Arab,  doubtless  of  the  nomade  tribes,  who  had 
charge  of  the  royal  camels  in  the  time  of  David 
— an  exceedingly  fit  employment  for  an  Arab 
(1  Chron.  xxvii.  30).  As  Obil  means  in  Arabic 
'  a  keeper  of  camels,'  Jerome  reasonably  infers 
that  the  person  had  his  name  from  his  office, 
which  has  always  been  a  very  common  circum- 
stance in  the  East. 

OBLATION.   [Offering.] 

O'BOTH,  a  station  of  the  Israelites  [Wan- 
debikg]. 

1.  O'DED  (erecting),  the  prophet  who  re- 
monstrated against  the  detention  as  captives  of 
the  persons  whom  the  army  of  King  Pekah  had 
brought  prisoners  from  Judah,  and  at  whose  sug- 
gestion they  were  handsomely  treated,  and  con- 
ducted back  with  all  tenderness  and  care  to  their 
own  country  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  9). 

2.  ODED,  father  of  Azariah  the  prophet,  who 
was  commissioned  to  meet  and  encourage  Asa 
on  his  return  from  defeating  the  Ethiopians  (2 
Chron.  xv.  1-8). 

OFFERING  is  anything  presented  to  God  as 
a  means  of  conciliating  his  favour :  which  being 
in  the  Jewish,  as  well  as  in  all  other  religions, 
considered  as  the  one  thing  needful,  offerings  ac- 
cordingly have  always  constituted  an  essential 
part  of  public  worship  and  private  piety. 

Offerings  have  been  divided  into  three  kinds : 
those  which  are  designed  to  procure  some  favour 
or  benefit ;  those  which  are  expressive  of  grati- 
tude for  bounties  or  mercies  received ;  those 
which  are  meant  to  atone  for  sins  and  to  propi- 
tiate the  Deity.  Among  the  Hebrews  we  find  a 
complex  and  multiform  system  of  offerings  ex-  j 
tending  through  the  entire  circle  of  divine  wor- 
ship,  and  prescribing  the   minutest   details.    A  | 


OFFERING 

leading  distinction  separates  their  offerings  into 
unbloody  and  bloody.  Used  in  its  widest  sense 
the  term  offering,  or  oblation,  indicates  in  the 
Hebrew  ritual  a  very  great  number  of  things— as 
the  firstlings  of  tlie  flock,  first-fruits,  tithes, 
incense,  the  shew-bread,  the  wood  for  burning  in 
the  temple.  The  objects  offered  were  salt,  meal, 
baked  and  roasted  grain,  olive-oil,  clean  animals, 
sucli  as  oxen,  goats,  doves,  but  not  fish.  The 
animals  were  required  to  be  spotless,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  doves,  not  under  eight  days 
old,  younger  animals  being  tasteless  and  innutri- 
tions. The  smaller  beasts,  such  as  sheep,  goats, 
and  calves,  were  commonly  one  year  old.  Oxen 
were  offered  at  three  years  of  age ;  in  Judges 
(vi.  25)  one  is  offered  which  is  seven  years  old. 
As  to  sex,  an  option  was  sometimes  left  to  the 
offerer,  as  in  peace  and  sin  offerings ;  at  other 
times  males  were  required,  as  in  burnt  sacrifices, 
for,  contrary  to  classical  usage,  the  male  was 
considered  the  more  perfect.  In  burnt  offerings 
and  in  thank  offerings  the  kind  of  animal  was 
left  to  the  choice  of  the  worshipper,  but  in  tres- 
pass and  sin  offerings  it  was  regulated  by  law. 
If  the  desire  of  the  worshipper  was  to  express  his 
gratitude,  he  offered  a  peace  or  thank  offering : 
if  to  obtain  forgiveness,  he  offered  a  trespass  or 
sin  offering.  Burnt-offerings  were  of  a  general 
kind.  Hecatombs  or  large  numbers  of  cattle 
were  sacrificed  on  special  occasions  (see  1  Kings 
viii.  5,  63).  Offerings  were  also  either  public  or 
private,  prescribed  or  free-will.  Sometimes  they 
were  presented  by  an  individual,  sometimes  by  a 
family  ;  once,  or  at  regular  and  periodic  intervals. 
Foreigners  were  permitted  to  make  offerings  on 
the  national  altar.  Offerings  were  made  by 
Jews  for  heathen  princes.  In  the  case  of  bloody 
offerings  the  possessor,  after  he  had  sanctified 
himself,  brought  the  victim,  in  case  of  thank- 
offerings,  with  his  horns  gilded  and  with  gar- 
lands, &c.,  to  the  altar,  where,  laying  his  hand 
on  the  head  of  the  animal,  he  thus,  in  a  clear  and 
pointed  way,  devoted  it  to  God.  Having  so  done, 
he  proceeded  to  slay  the  victim  himself;  -which 
act  might  be,  and  in  later  times  was,  done  by  the 
priests,  and  probably  by  the  Levites.  The  blood 
was  taken,  and,  according  to  the  kind  of  offering, 
sprinkled  upon  the  altar,  or  brought  into  the 
temple  and  there  shed  upon  the  ark  of  the 
covenant  and  smeared  upon  the  horns  of  the 
altar  of  incense,  and  then  the  remainder  poured 
forth  at  the  foot  of  the  altar  of  burnt-offerings.  L 
Having  slain  the  animal,  the  offerer  struck  off 
its  head,  which,  when  not  burnt,  belonged  either 
to  the  priest  or  to  the  offerer.  The  victim  was 
then  cut  into  pieces,  which  were  either  all,  or 
only  the  best  and  most  tasty,  set  on  fire  on  the 
altar  by  the  priests  or  the  offerer,  or  must  be 
burnt  without  the  precincts  of  the  holy  city.  The 
treatment  of  doves  may  be  seen  in  Lev.  i.  14,  fq. ; 
V.  8.  In  some  sacrifices  heaving  and  waving 
were  usual  either  before  or  after  the  slaying. 

The  place  where  offerings  were  exclusively  to 
be  presented  was  the  outer  court  of  the  national 
sanctuary,  at  first  the  Tabernacle,  afterwards  the 
Temple.  Every  oflering  mad-e  elsewhere  was 
forbidden  under  penalty  of  death.  The  precise 
spot  is  laid  down  in  Lev.  i.  3 ;  iii.  2,  '  at  the 
door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation  before 
the  Lord.'  The  object  of  these  regulations  was 
to  prevent  any  secret  idolatrous  rites  from  taking 


OIL 


OLIVE-TREE 


627 


place  under  the  mask  of  the  national  ritual ;  and 
a  common  place  of  worship  must  have  tended 
considerably  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  people, 
whose  constant  disagreements  required  precau- 
tions of  a  special  kind  (1  Kings  xii.  27).  The 
oneness,  however,  of  the  place  of  sacrifice  was 
not  strictly  preserved  in  the  troubled  period  of 
the  Judges,  nor  indeed  till  the  time  of  David 
(I  Kings  iii.  2,  3).  Offerings  were  made  in 
other  places  besides  the  door  of  the  Tabernacle 
(1  Sam.  vii.  17;  Judg.  ii.  5).  High  places, 
which  had  long  been  used  by  the  Canaanites,  re- 
tained a  certain  sanctity,  and  were  honoured 
with  offerings  (Judg.  vi.  26;  xiii.  19).  Even 
the  loyal  Samuel  followed  this  practice  (1  Sam.), 
and  David  endured  it  (1  Kings  iii.  2).  After 
Solomon  these  offerings  on  high  places  still  con- 
tinued. In  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  cut  off  as  its 
subjects  were  from  the  holy  city,  the  national 
temple  was  neglected. 

Under  the  load  and  the  multiplicity  of  these 
outward  oblations,  however,  the  Hebrews  forgot 
the  substance,  lost  the  thought  in  the  symbol, 
the  thing  signified  in  the  sign ;  and,  failing  in 
those  devotional  sentiments  and  that  practical 
obedience  which  offerings  were  intended  to  pre- 
figure and  cultivate,  sank  into  the  practice  of 
mere  dead  works.  Hereupon  began  the  prophets 
to  utter  their  admonitory  lessons,  to  which  the 
world  is  indebted  for  so  many  graphic  descrip- 
tions of  the  real  nature  of  religion  and  the  only 
true  worship  of  Almighty  God  (Isa.  i.  11 ;  Jer. 
vi.  20;  vii.  21,  sq. ;  Hos.  vi.  6;  Amos  v.  22; 
Micah  vi.  6,  sq. ;  comp.  Ps.  xl.  6 ;  li.  17,  sq. ; 
Prov.  xxi.  3). 

OG  (giant),  an  Amovitish  king  of  Bashan  (Num. 
xxi.  33 ;  xxxii.  33  ;  Dent.  iv.  47  ;  xxxi.  4).  In 
form  he  was  a  giant,  so  that  his  bedstead  was 
preserved  as  a  memorial  of  his  huge  stature  (Deut. 
iii.  11  ;  Josh.  xiii.  12)  [Bed].  He  was  defeated 
by  the  Israelites  under  Moses  (Num.  xxi.  33 ; 
Deut.  i.  4  ;  iii.  3)  ;  and  his  country,  which  con- 
tained many  walled  cities  (Deut.  iii.  4-10),  was 
assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Manasseh  (Deut.  iii.  13  ; 
Josh.  xiii.  30). 

OIL  was  far  more  extensively  used  among  the 
ancient  Hebrews  than  in  our  northern  climate. 
The  use  of  oil  is  equally  general  throughout 
Western  Asia  at  the  present  time,  as  it  was  in 
primitive  ages.  Oil  was  much  used  instead  of 
butter  and  animal  fat,  at  meals  and  in  various 
preparations  of  food  (see  Food,  and  comp.  Ezek. 
xvi.  13).  In  such  uses  oil,  when  fresh  and  sweet, 
is  more  agreeable  than  animal  fat.  The  Orientals 
think  so ;  and  Europeans  soon  acquire  the  same 
preference.  Oil  was  also  in  many  cases  taken  as 
a  meat-offering;  and  it  was  then  mixed  with 
the  meal  of  oblation  [Offering].  The  rite  of 
sprinkling  with  oil,  as  a  libation,  does  not  occur 
in  the  law,  but  seems  to  be  alluded  to  in  Micah 
vi.  7. 

The  application  of  oil  to  the  person  has  been 
described  in  the  article  Anointing.  Whether  for 
luxury  or  ceremony,  the  head  and  beard  were 
the  parts  usually  anointed,  and  this  use  of  oil  be- 
came at  length  proverbially  common  among  the 
Israelites  (Prov.  xxi.  17). 

The  employment  of  oil  for  burning  has  been  il- 
lustrated in  the  article  Lamps.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary to  add,  that  for  this,  and  indeed  for  most 
other  purposes,  olive-oil  was  considered  the  best, 


and  was  therefore  used  in  the  lamps  of  the  taber- 
naclfel 

OLIVE-TREE.  It  is  more  than  probable  that 
the  olive  was  introduced  from  Asia  into  Europe ; 
and  though  it  continues  to  be  much  cultivated  in 
Syria,  it  is  yet  much  more  extensively  so  in  the 
south  of  Europe,  whence  the  rest  of  the  world  is 
chiefly  supplied  with  olive-oil. 

The  olive-tree  is  of  slow  growth,  but  remark- 
able for  the  great  age  it  attains.  It  never,  how- 
ever, becomes  a  very  large  tree,  though  sometimes 
two  or  three  stems  rise  from  the  same  root,  and 
reach  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  high.  The  leaves 
are  in  pairs,  lanceolate  in  shape,  of  a  dull  green 
on  the  upper,  and  hoary  on  the  under  surface. 
Hence  in  countries  where  the  olive  is  extensively 
cultivated,  the  scenery  is  of  a  dull  character  from 
this  colour  of  the  foliage.  The  fruit  is  an  ellip- 
tical drupe,  with  a  hard  stony  kernel,  and  remark- 
able from  the  outer  fleshy  part  being  that  in 


268.    [Olea  Europea.] 

which  much  oil  is  lodged,  and  not,  as  is  usual,  in 
the  almond  of  the  seed.  It  ripens  from  August 
to  September. 

Of  the  olive-tree  two  varieties  are  particularly 
distinguished ;  the  long-leafed,  which  is  cultivated 
in  the  south  of  France  and  in  Italy,  and  the 
broad-leafed  in  Spain,  which  has  also  its  fruit 
much  larger  than  that  of  the  former  kind.  That 
the  olive  grows  to  a  great  age,  has  long  been 
known.  Pliny  mentions  one  which  the  Athenians 
of  his  time  considered  to  be  coeval  with  their  city, 
and  therefore  1600  years  old.  Near  Terni,  in 
the  vale  of  the  cascade  of  Marmora,  there  is  a 
plantation  of  very  old  trees,  supposed  to  consist 
of  the  same  plants  that  were  growing  there  m  the 
time  of  Pliny.  Chateaubriand  says :  '  Those  m 
the  garden  of  Olivet  (or  Gethsemane)  are  at  least 
of  the  times  of  the  Eastern  empire,  as  is  demon- 
strated by  the  following  circumstance.  In  Tur- 
282 


628 


OLIVES,  MOUNT  OF 


key  every  olive-tree  found  standing  by  the  Mus- 
sulmans, when  they  conquered  Asia,  pays  one 
medina  to  the  Treasury,  -while  each  of  those 
planted  since  the  conquest  is  taxed  half  its  pro- 
duce. The  eight  olives  of  which  we  are  speaking 
are  charged  only  eight  medinas.  By  some,  espe- 
cially by  Dr.  Martin,  it  is  supposed  that  these 
olive-trees  may  have  been  in  existence  even  in 
the  time  of  our  Saviour. 

The  wood  of  the  olive-tree,  which  is  imported 
into  this  country  from  Leghorn,  is  described  by 
M.  Holtzapffel  to  be '  like  that  of  the  box,  but 
softer,  with  darker  grey-coloured  veins.  The 
roots  have  a  very  pretty  knotted  and  curly  cha- 
racter ;  they  are  much  esteemed  on  the  continent 
for  making  embossed  boxes,  pressed  into  engraved 
metallic  moulds.'  A  resin-like  exudation  is  ob- 
tained from  it,  which  was  known  to  the  ancients, 
and  is  now  sometimes  called  olive-gum ;  but  the 
fruit,  with  its  oil,  is  that  which  renders  the  tree 
especially  valuable.  The  green  unripe  fruit  is 
preserved  in  a  solution  of  salt,  and  is  well  known 
at  our  desserts.  The  fruit  when  ripe  is  bruised 
in  mills,  and  the  oil  pressed  out  of  the  paste. 

The  olive  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  the  plants 
specifically  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  the  fig  being 
the  first.  Thus,  in  Gen.  viii.  11,  the  dove  is  de- 
scribed as  bringing  the  olive-branch  to  Noah.  It 
is  always  enumerated  among  the  valued  trees  of 
Palestine ;  which  Moses  describes  (Deut.  vi.  11 ; 
viii.  8)  as  'a  land  of  oil-olive  and  honey'  (so  in 
xxviii.  40,  &c.);  and  (2  Chron.  ii.  10)  Solomon 
gave  to  the  labourers  sent  him  by  Hiram,  king 
of  Tyre,  20,000  baths  of  oil.  Besides  this,  im- 
mense quantities  must  have  been  required  for 
home  consumption,  as  it  was  extensively  used  as 
an  article  of  diet,  for  burning  in  lamps,  and  for 
the  ritual  service.  The  olive  still  continues  one 
of  the  most  extensively  cultivated  of  plants.  The 
olive,  being  an  evergreen,  was  adduced  as  an  em- 
blem of  prosperity  (Ps.  Hi.  8),  and  it  has  continued, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  to  be  an  emblem  of  peace 
among  all  civilized  nations. 

OLIVES,  MOUNT  OF,  a  mountain  or  ridge 
now  called  by  the  Arabs  Jebel  et-Tur,  lying  to 
the  east  of  Jerusalem,  from  which  it  is  separated 
only  by  the  narrow  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  To- 
wards the  south  it  sinks  down  into  a  lower  ridge, 
over  against  the  so-called  '  well  of  Nehemiah,' 
now  called  by  Franks  the  Mount  of  OflFence,  in 
allusion  to  the  idolatrous  worship  established  by 
Solomon  '  on  the  hill  that  is  before,'  that  is,  east- 
ward of '  Jerusalem.'  In  this  direction  lies  the 
usual  road  to  Bethany,  so  often  trodden  by  our 
Saviour.  About  a  mile  towards  the  north  is  an- 
other summit,  nearly  or  quite  as  high  as  the 
middle  one.  The  ridge  between  the  two  bends 
slightly  eastward,  leaving  room  for  the  valley 
below  to  expand  somewhat  in  that  part.  The 
view  of  the  Holy  City  and  of  the  Dead  Sea,  from 
the  southern  summit,  is  described  in  the  article 
Jerdsalem  ;  that  from  the  northern  summit  does 
not  embrace  the  Dead  Sea.  The  elevation  of  the 
central  peak  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  is  stated  by 
Schubert  at  2556  Paris  feet,  or  416  Paris  feet 
above  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat ;  and  hence  it 
appears  to  be  175  Paris  feet  above  the  highest 
part  of  Mount  Zion.  Beyond  the  northern  sum- 
mit the  ridge  sweeps  round  towards  the  west,  and 
spreads  out  into  the  high  level  tract  north  of  the 
city,  which  is  skirted  on  the  west  and  south  by 


ON 

the  upper  part  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 
This  inconsiderable  ridge  derives  all  its  im- 
portance from  its  connection  with  Jerusalem,  and 
from  the  sacred  associations  which  hence  became 
connected  with  it.  To  the  mount  whose  ascent 
David  '  went  up,  weeping  and  barefoot,'  to  which 
our  Saviour  ofttimes  withdrew  with  his  disciples, 
over  which  he  often  passed,  and  from  which  he 
eventually  ascended  into  heaven,  belongs  a  higher 
degree  of  sacred  and  moral  interest  than  is  to  be 
found  in  mere  physical  magnitude,  or  than  the 
record  connects  even  with  Lebanon,  Tabor,  or 
Ararat. 

OLYM'PAS,  a  Christian  at  Rome,  whom 
Paul  salutes  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  (Rom. 
xvi.  15). 

OME'GA,  the  last  letter  of  the  Greek  alphabet, 
proverbially  applied  to  express  the  end,  as 
Alpha,  the  first  letter,  the  beginning  of  anything 
[Alpha]. 

O'MER.     [Weights  and  Measures.] 

OM'RI  {God-taught),  sixth  king  of  Israel,  who 
began  to  reign  in  B.C.  929,  and  reigned  twelve 
years.  He  was  raised  to  the  throne  by  the  army, 
while  it  was  engaged  in  the  siege  of  Gibbethon,  a 
Levitical  city  in  Dan,  of  which  the  Philistines 
had  gained  possession,  when  the  news  came  to  the 
camp  of  the  death  of  Elah,  and  the  usurpation  of 
Zimri.  On  this,  the  army  proclaimed  their 
general,  Omri,  king  of  Israel.  He  then  lost  not 
a  moment,  but  leaving  Gibbethon  in  the  power 
of  the  infidels,  went  and  besieged  his  competitor 
in  Tirzah.  But  he  was  no  sooner  delivered  of 
this  rival  [Zimri],  than  another  appeared  in  the 
person  of  Tibni,  whom  a  part  of  the  people  had 
raised  to  the  throne,  probably  from  unwilling- 
ness to  submit  to  military  dictation.  This  occa- 
sioned a  civil  war,  which  lasted  six  years,  and 
left  Omri  undisputed  master  of  the  throne,  b.c. 
925.  His  reign  lasted  six  years  more,  and  its 
chief  event  was  the  foundation  of  Samaria,  which 
thenceforth  became  the  capital  city  of  the  king- 
dom of  Israel  (1  Kings  xvi.  15-28)  [Samaria]. 

ON  {strength),  a  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Reuben, 
who  was  one  of  the  accomplices  of  Korah  in  the 
revolt  against  the  authority  of  Moses  and  Aaron. 
He  is  mentioned  among  the  leaders  of  this  con- 
spiracy in  the  first  instance  (Num.  xvi.  17),  but 
does  not  appear  in  any  of  the  subsequent  trans- 
actions, and  is  not  by  name  included  in  the  final 
punishment.  The  Rabbinical  tradition  is,  that 
the  wife  of  On  persuaded  her  husband  to  abandon 
the  enterprise, 

ON,  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  world,  situ- 
ated in  Lower  Egypt,  about  two  hours  N.N.E. 
from  Cairo.  The  Septuagint  translates  the  name 
On  by  Heliopolis,  which  signifies  '  city  of  the 
sun  ;'  and  in  Jer.  xliii.  13,  it  bears  a  name,  Beth- 
shemesh,  of  equivalent  import.  On  is  a  Coptic 
and  ancient  Egyptian  word,  signifying  light  and 
the  sun.  The  site  is  now  marked  by  low  mounds, 
enclosing  a  space  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
in  length  by  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  which  was 
once  occupied  by  houses  and  by  the  celebrated 
Temple  of  the  Sun.  This  area  is  at  present  a 
ploughed  field,  a  garden  of  herbs ;  and  the  soli- 
tary obelisk  which  still  rises  in  the  midst  of  it  is 
the  sole  remnant  of  the  former  splendours  of  the 
place.  In  the  days  of  Edrisi  and  Abdallatif  the 
place  bore  the  name  of  Ain  Shems ;  and  in  the 
neighbouring  village,  Matariyeh,  is  still  shown 


ONESIMUS 

an  ancient  •vrell  bearing  the  same  name.  Near 
by  it  is  a  very  old  sycamore,  its  trunk  straggling 
and  gnarled,  under  which  legendary  tradition 
relates  that  the  holy  family  ouce  i-ested.  Helio- 
polis  was  the  capital  of  a  district  or  nomos  bear- 
ing the  same  name. 

The  place  is  mentioned  in  Gen.  xli.  45,  where 
it  is  said  that  Pharaoh  gave  to  Joseph  a  wife, 
Asenath,  the  daughter  of  Poti-pherah,  priest  of 
On  (ver.  50).  From  the  passage  in  Jeremiah  it 
may  be  inferred  that  it  was  distinguished  for 
idolatrous  worship.  The  names,  '  City  of  the 
Sun,'  '  Temples  of  the  Sun,'  connected  with  the 
place,  taken  in  conjunction  with  the  passage  just 
alluded  to,  seem  to  refer  the  mind  to  the  purer 
form  of  worship  which  prevailed  at  a  very  early 
period  in  Egypt,  namely,  the  worship  of  the 
heavenly  bodies,  and  thence  to  carry  the  thoughts 
to  the  deteriorations  which  it  afterwards  under- 
went in  sinking  to  the  adoration  of  images  and 
animals. 

The  traces  of  this  city  which  are  found  in 
classic  authors  correspond  with  the  little  of  it 
that  we  know  from  the  brief  intimations  of  Holy 
Writ  According  to  Herodotus,  Heliopolis  was 
one  of  the  four  great  cities  that  were  rendered 
famous  in  Egypt  by  being  the  centres  of  solemn 
religious  festivals,  which  were  attended  by  splen- 
did processions  and  homage  to  the  gods.  In 
Heliopolis  the  observance  was  held  in  honour  of 
the  sun.  It  had  its  priesthood,  a  numerous  and 
learned  body,  celebrated  before  other  Egyptians 
for  their  historical  and  antiquarian  lore  ;  it  long 
continued  the  university  of  the  Egyptians,  the 
chief  seat  of  their  science ;  the  priests  dwelt  as  a 
holy  community  in  a  spacious  structure  appro- 
priated to  their  use.  'The  city  suffered  heavily 
by  the  Persian  invasion.  At  an  early  period 
remains  of  its  famous  temple  were  found.  An 
obelisk  which  the  Emperor  Augustus  caused  to 
be  carried  to  Rome,  and  placed  in  the  Campus 
Martins,  is  held  by  Zoega  to  have  been  brought 
from  Heliopolis,  and  to  have  owed  its  origin  to 
Sesostris.  This  city  furnished  works  of  art  to 
Augustus  for  adorning  Home,  and  to  Constantine 
for  adorning  Constantinople.  Kitter  says  that 
the  sole  remaining  obelisk  is  from  60  to  70  feet 
high,  of  a  block  of  red  granite,  bearing  hiero- 
glyphics which  remind  the  beholder  of  what 
Strabo  terms  the  Etruscan  style.  '  The  figure  of 
the  cross  which  it  bears  has  attracted  the  special 
notice  of  Christian  antiquaries.' 

O'NAN  {strong,  stout),  second  son  of  Jndah, 
who,  being  constrained  by  the  obligations  of  the 
ancient  Levirate  law  to  espouse  Tamar,  his  elder 
brother's  widow,  took  means  to  frustrate  the  in- 
tention of  this  usage,  which  was  to  provide  heirs 
for  a  brother  who  had  died  childless.  This  crime, 
rendered  without  excuse  by  the  allowance  of  poly- 
gamy, and  the  seriousness  of  which  can  scarcely 
be  appreciated  but  in  respect  to  the  usages  of  the 
times  in  which  it  was  committed,  was  punished 
by  premature  death  (Gen.  xxxviii.  4,  sq.) 

ONE'SIMUS  {profitable',,  a  slave  belonging  to 
Philemon  of  Colossse,  who  fled  from  his  master, 
and  proceeded  to  Rome,  where  he  was  converted 
by  St.  Paul,  who  sent  him  back  to  his  master,  a 
friend  and  convert  of  the  apostle,  with  an  eloquent 
letter,  the  purport  of  which  is  described  in  the 
article  Philemon.  Onesimus,  accompanied  by 
Tychicus,  left  Rome  with  not  only  this  epistle, 


ONYX  629 

but  with  those  to  the  Ephesians  and  Colossinns 
(Col.  iy.  9).  It  is  believed  that  Onesimas,  anxious 
to  justify  the  confidence  which  Paul  reposed  in 
him,  by  appearing  speedily  before  his  master,  left 
Tychicus  to  take  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians ; 
and  hastened  to  Colossi,  where  he  doubtless  re- 
ceived the  forgiveness  which  Paul  had  so  touch- 
ingly  implored  for  him  as  '  a  brother  beloved.' 
An  uncertain  tradition  makes  Onesimus  to  have 
been  bishop  of  Bersea,  where  he  is  said  to  have 
suffered  martyrdom.  The  part  which  Paul  took 
in  this  difficult  and  trying  case  is  highly  honour- 
able to  him;  while  for  Onesimus  himself,  the 
highest  praise  is,  that  he  obtained  the  friendship 
and  confidence  of  the  apostle. 

ONESIPH'ORUS  {profit-bringer),  a  believer 
of  Ephesus,  who  came  to  Rome  during  the  second 
captivity  of  St.  Paul  in  that  city;  and  having 
found  out  the  apostle,  who  was  in  custody  of  a 
soldier,  to  whose  arm  his  own  was  chained,  was 
'  not  ashamed  of  his  chain,'  but  attended  him 
frequently,  and  rendered  him  all  the  services  in 
his  power.  This  faithful  attachment,  at  a  time 
of  calamity  and  desertion,  was  fiilly  appreciated 
and  well  remembered  by  the  apostle,  who,  in  his 
Epistle  to  Timothy,  carefully  records  the  circum- 
stance ;  and,  after  charging  him  to  salute  in  his 
name  '  the  household  of  Onesiphorus,'  expresses 
the  most  earnest  and  grateful  wishes  for  his 
spiritual  welfare  (1  Tim.  ii.  16-18).  It  would 
appear  from  this  that  Onesiphorus  had  then 
quitted  Rome. 

ONION.  Onions  are  mentioned  in  Num. 
xi.  5,  among  the  articles  of  food  for  which  the 
Israelites  murmured.  The  onion  was  early  em- 
ployed as  an  article  of  diet  in  Egypt.  It  is 
distinguished  from  other  species  of  Allium  by  its 
fistular  leaves  and  swelling  stalks,  and  is  well 
known  to  be  cultivated  in  all  parts  of  Europe 
and  in  most  parts  of  Asia.  Its  native  country  is 
not  known ;  but  it  is  probable  that  some  part  of 
the  Persian  region  may  have  first  produced  it  in 
a  wild  state,  as  many  species  of  Allium  are  found 
in  the  mountainous  chain  which  extends  from  the 
Caspian  to  Cashmere,  and  likewise  in  the  Hima- 
layan Mountains.  It  is  common  in  Persia,  where 
it  is  called  piaz,  and  has  been  long  introduced 
into  India,  where  it  receives  the  same  name. 
The  onions  of  warm  dry  countries  grow  to  a 
considerable  size,  and,  instead  of  being  acrid  and 
pungent  in  taste,  are  comparatively  bland,  and 
mild  and  nutritious  articles  of  diet.  This  is 
particularly  conspicuous  in  the  Portugal  onions, 
which  are  largely  imported  into  this  country. 
Other  celebrated  varieties  are  those  of  Spain  and 
Tripoli ;  but  Egypt  itself  is  famed  for  the  pro- 
duction of  fine  onions,  as  stated  by  Hasselquist : 
'  Whoever  has  tasted  onions  in  Egypt,  must  allow 
that  none  can  be  had  better  in  any  part  of  the 
universe.  Here  they  are  sweet ;  in  other  coun- 
tries they  are  nauseous  and  strong.  Here  they 
are  soft ;  whereas  in  the  northern  and  other  parts 
they  are  hard,  and  their  coats  are  so  compact,  that 
they  are  difficult  of  digestion.  Hence  they  cannot 
in  any  place  be  eaten  with  less  prejudice  and  more 
satisfaction  than  in  Egypt.' 

O'NYX.  The  Hebrew  word  translated  by 
'  onyx-stone'  in  Gen.  ii.  12,  is  diff'erent  from  that 
so  rendered  in  the  descriptions  of  the  breastplate 
of  the  high-priest  (Exod.  XX viii.  19;  xxxix.  11), 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  onyx  is  really  intended 


630 


OPHIR 


by  either.  This  stone  has  a  whitish  ground,  and 
is  variegated  with  bands  of  white  and  brown 
which  run  parallel  to  each  other.  It  is  a  semi- 
pellucid  stone  of  a  fine  flinty  texture,  taking  an 
excellent  polish,  and  is  strictly  of  the  flint  or 
siliceous  class.  '  Onyx '  is  the  Greek  word  for 
the  human  nail;  and  the  stone  takes  its  name 
from  the  resemblance  of  the  ground-colour  to 
that  lunated  spot  at  the  base  of  the  nail. 

O'PHEL,  a  place  or  quarter  of  Jerusalem  near 
the  walls  (2  Chron.  xxvii.  3 ;  xxxiii.  44),  on  the 
east  side  (Neh.  iii.  26;  xi.  21).  From  the  inti- 
mations regarding  it  given  by  Josephus,  Winer 
collects  that  Ophel  was  a  high  or  ascending  place, 
built  over  (in  the  ancient  city)  with  houses.  This 
view  is  confirmed  by  Dr.  Robinson,  who  identifies 
it  with  the  low  ridge  which  extends  southward 
from  the  temple  mount  to  Mount  Zion,  between 
the  exterior  valley  of  Jehoshaphat  and  the  in- 
terior valley  of  Tyropceon.  This  ridge  is  consi- 
derably below  the  level  of  Mount  Moriah ;  its 
length  is  1.550  feet,  and  its  breadth  in  the  middle 
part,  from  brow  to  brow,  290  feet  [Jerusalem]. 

OPHIR  occurs  first,  as  the  proper  name  of  one 
of  the  thirteen  sons  of  Joktan,  the  son  of  Eber,  a 
great-grandson  of  Shem,  in  Gen.  x.  26-29.  Many 
Arabian  countries  are  believed  to  have  been 
peopled  by  these  persons,  and  to  have  been  called 
after  their  respective  names,  as  Sheba,  &c.,  and 
among  others  Ophir.  Ophir  occurs  also  as  the 
name  of  a  place,  country,  or  region,  famous  for 
its  gold,  which  Solomon's  ships  visited  in  company 
with  the  Phoenician.  The  difficulty  is  to  ascer- 
tain where  Ophir  was  situated.  The  first  theory 
which  appears  to  be  attended  with  some  degree  of 
evidence  not  purely  fanciful  is  that  Ophir  was 
situate  in  Arabia.  In  Gen.  x.  29,  Ophir  stands  in 
the  midst  of  other  Arabian  countries.  Still,  as 
Gesenius  observes,  it  is  possiblj'  mentioned  in  that 
connection  only  on  account  of  its  being  an  Arabian 
colony  planted  abroad.  Though  gold  is  not  now 
found  in  Arabia,  yet  the  ancients  ascribe  ittotho 
inhabitants  in  great  plentj-  (Judg.  viii.  24,  26  ;  2 
Chron.  i. ;  1  Kings  x.  1,  2;  Ps.  Ixxii.  15).  This 
gold.  Dr.  Lee  thinks,  was  no  other  than  the  gold 
of  Havilah  (Gen.  ii.  11),  which  he  supposes  to 
have  been  situate  somewhere  in  Arabia.  Bu' 
Diodorus  Siculus  ascribes  gold-mines  to  Arabia. 
He  also  testifies  to  the  abundance  of 'precious 
stones'  there  (ii.  54),  especially  among  the  inha- 
bitants of  Sabas  (iii.  40;  comp.  Gen.  ii.  12;  2 
Chron.  ix.  1  ;  1  Kings  x.  1,  2).  Others  suppose 
that,  though  Ophir  was  situate  somewhere  on  the 
coast  of  Arabia,  it  was  rather  an  emporium,  at 
which  the  Hebrews  and  Tyrians  obtained  gold, 
silver,  ivory,  apes,  almug-trees,  &c.,  brought  thi- 
ther from  India  and  Africa  by  the  Arabian  mer- 
chants, and  even  from  Ethiopia,  to  which  Hero- 
dotus (iii.  114)  ascribes  gold  in  great  quantities, 
elephants'  teeth,  and  trees  and  shrubs  of  every 
kind.  In  behalf  of  the  supposition  that  Ophir 
was  the  Arabian  port  Aphar,  it  may  be  remarked 
that  the  name  has  undergone  similar  changes  to 
that  of  the  Sept.  of  Ophir ;  for  it  is  called  by 
Arrian  Aphar,  by  Pliny  Saphar,  by  Ptolemy 
Sapphera,  and  by  Stephanus  Saphirini.  Grotius 
thinks  his  to  be  Ophir.  The  very  name  El  Ophir 
has  been  lately  pointed  out  as  a  city  of  Oman,  in 
former  times  the  centre  of  a  very  active  Arabian 
commerce.  In  favour  of  the  theory  which  places 
Ophir  in  Africa,  it  has  been  suggested  that  we 


OREB  AND  ZEEB 

have  the  very  name  in  afri,  Africa.  Origen  alsc 
says,  on  Job  xxii.  24,  that  some  of  the  inter- 
preters understood  Ophir  to  be  Africa.  Michaelis 
supposes  that  Solomon's  fleet,  coming  down  the 
Red  Sea  from  Ezion-geber,  coasted  along  the 
shore  of  Africa,  doubling  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  came  to  Tarshish,  which  he,  with  manj' 
others,  supposes  to  have  been  Tartessus  in  Spain, 
and  thence  back  again  the  same  way ;  that  this 
conjecture  accounts  for  their  three  years'  voyage 
out  and  home ;  and  that  Spain  and  the  coasts  of 
Africa  furnished  all  the  commodities  which  they 
brought  back.  Strabo  indeed  says  that  Spain 
abounded  in  gold,  and  immensely  more  so  in 
silver  (see  1  Mace.  viii.  3).  Others  have  not 
hesitated  to  carry  Solomon's  fleet  round  from 
Spain  up  the  Mediterranean  to  Joppa.  In  behalf 
of  the  conjecture  that  Ophir  was  in  India,  the 
following  arguments  are  alleged :  that  it  is  most 
natural  to  understand  from  the  narrative  that  all 
the  productions  said  to  have  been  brought  from 
Ophir  came  from  one  and  the  same  coimtry,  and 
that  they  were  all  procurable  only  from  India. 
The  Sept.  translators  also  appear  to  have  under- 
stood it  to  be  India.  Josephus  also  gives  to  the 
sons  of  Joktan  the  locality  from  Cophen,  an 
Indian  river,  and  in  part  of  Asia  adjoining  it 
(Antiq.  i.  6.  4).  He  also  expressly  and  unhesi- 
tatingly affirms  that  the  land  to  which  Solomon 
sent  for  gold  was  '  anciently  called  Ophir,  but 
now  the  Aurea  Chersonesus,  which  belongs  to 
India'  (Antiq.  viii.  6.  4).  There  are  several 
places  comprised  in  that  region  which  was  actu- 
ally known  as  India  to  the  ancients  [India],  any 
of  which  would  have  supplied  the  cargo  of  Solo- 
mon's fleet :  for  instance,  the  coast  of  Malabar. 
Perhaps  the  most  probable  of  all  is  Malacca, 
which  is  known  to  be  the  Aurea  Chersonesus  of 
the  ancients.  It  is  also  worthy  of  remark  that  the 
natives  of  Malacca  still  call  their  gold-mines 
ophirs.  On  the  other  hand,  some  writers  give  a 
wider  extent  to  the  country  in  question.  Heeren 
observes  that '  Ophir,  like  the  name  of  all  other 
very  distant  places  or  regions  of  antiquity,  like 
Thule,  Tartessus,  and  others,  denotes  no  parti- 
cular spot,  but  only  a  certain  region  or  part  of  the 
world,  such  as  the  East  or  West  Indies  in  modem 
geography.  Hence  Ophir  was  the  general  name 
for  the  rich  countries  of  the  south  lying  on  the 
African,  Arabian,  or  Indian  coasts,  as  far  as  at 
that  time  known.' 

1.  OPH'RAH,  a  town  of  Benjamrn  (Josh,  xviii. 
23),  seemingly  in  the  north-east  of  that  tribe's 
domain  (1  Sam.  xiii.  17).  Accordingly  it  is 
placed  by  Eusebius  and  Jerome  five  Roman  miles 
east  of  Bethel.  This  corresponds  with  the  posi- 
tion of  a  place  called  et-Taiyibeh,  which  was 
visited  by  Dr.  Robinson  in  his  excursion  to 
Bethel.  It  is  now  a  small  village,  curiously  situ- 
ated upon  a  conical  hill,  on  the  summit  of  which 
is  an  old  tower,  whence  is  commanded  a  splendid 
view  of  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  the  Dead  Sea, 
and  the  eastern  mountains. 

2.  OPHRAH,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Manasseh, 
to  which  Gideon  belonged, and  where  he  continued 
to  reside  after  he  had  delivered  Israel  from  the 
Midianites,  establishing  there  his  ephod,  which  be- 
came a  snare  to  Israel  (Judg.  vi.  11-24  ;  viii.  27). 

O'REB  and  ZE'EB,  the  remarkable  names 
(raven  and  wolf)  of  two  emirs  of  the  Midianites, 
who  were  made  prisoners  by  the  Ephraimites  in 


OSSIFRAGE 

attempting  to  recross  the  Jordan  after  the  victory 
of  Gideon.  They  were  put  to  death  by  the  cap- 
tors, and  their  heads  carried  as  a  trophy  to  the 
conqueror,  who  was  then  on  the  other  side  the 
Jordan  (Judg.  vii.  25;  viii.  3).  The  first  of 
these  princes  met  his  death  near  a  rock,  which 
thenceforth  bore  his  name  (Isa.  x.  26) ;  the  other 
seems  to  have  at  first  sought  refuge  in  one  of  those 
excavations  in  which  wines  were  preserved,  and 
which  was  thenceforth  called  the  winepress  of 
Zeeb  (Judg.  vii.  25). 

ORI'ON.    [Astronomy.] 

OR'PAH  (fawn),  daughter-in-law  of  Naomi, 
who  remained  behind  among  her  kindred  in 
Moab,  when  Ruth  returned  with  Naomi  to  Beth- 
lehem (Ruth  i.  4-14)  [Ruth]. 

OSPRAY,  an  unclean  bird,  which  has  been 
identified  with  the  haliaetus  or  sea-eagle.  Species 
of  this  bird  occur  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  Ame- 
rica, and  Australia. 

Mr.  Macgillivray  describes  '  its  savage  scream 
of  anger  when  any  one  approaches  the  neighbour- 
hood of  its  nest,  its  intimidating  gestures,  and 
even  its  attempts  to  molest  individuals  who  have 
ventured  among  its  native  crags.' 

Mr.  Selby,  respecting  the  ospray,  observes,  '  It 
is  strictly  piscivorous,  and  is  found  only  in  the 
vicinity  of  lakes,  rivers,  or  such  pools  as  abound 
with  fish.  It  is  a  powerful  bird,  often  weighing 
five  pounds  ;  the  linibs  are  very  vinscular  in  pro- 
portion to  its  general  dimensions;  its  feet  are 
admirably  adapted  for  retaining  firm  hold  of  its 
slippery  prey.'  Mr.  Montagu  remarks,  '  Its  prin- 
cipal food  is  fish,  which  it  often  catches  with  great 
dexterity,  by  pouncing  upon  them  with  vast  ra- 
pidity, and  carrying  them  off  in  its  talons. 

OSSIFRAGE,  a  bird  of  prey,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  be  identical  with  the  griffon  of  Cuvier, 
the  Gypaetos  barbatus  of  nomenclators.  The 
species  in  Europe  is  little  if  at  all  inferior  in  size 
to  the  Condor  of  South  America,  measuring  from 


269.    [Gypaetos  bailatus.] 

the  point  of  the  bill  to  the  end  of  the  tail  four 
feet  two  or  three  inches,  and  sometimes  ten  feet 
in  the  expanse  of  wing ;  the  head  and  neck  are 
not,  like  those  of  vultures,  naked,  but  covered  with 
whitish  narrow  feathers  ;  and  there  is  a  beard  of 
bristly  hair  under  the  lower  mandible :  the  rest 
of  the  plumage  is  nearly  black  and  brown,  with 


OSTRICH  631 

some  whitish  streaks  on  the  shoulders,  and  an 
abundance  of  pale  rust-colour  on  the  back  of  the 
neck,  the  thighs,  vent,  and  legs ;  the  toes  are  short 
and  bluish,  and  the  claws  strong.  In  the  young 
the  head  and  neck  are  black,  and  the  species  or 
variety  of  Abyssinia  appears  to  be  rusty  and  yel- 
lowish on  the  neck  and  stomach. 

OSTRICH.  The  ostrich  is  frequently  men- 
tioned in  the  Bible  in  terms  of  great  beauty  and 
precision ;  which  commentators,  perhaps  more 
conversant  with  the  exploded  misstatements  of 
the  ancients  than  with  the  true  physiological 
history  of  the  bird  in  question,  have  not  been 
happy  in  explaining,  sometimes  referring  it  to 
wrong  species,  such  as  the  peacock,  or  mistaking 


it  for  the  stork,  the  eagle,  or  the  bustard  (Lev. 
xi.  19;  Deut.  xiv.  15;  Job  xxx.  29;  xxxix.  13; 
Isa.  xiii,  21 ;  xxxiv.  13 ;  xliii.  20 ;  Jer.  l.  39 ; 
Lam.  iv.  3 ;  Micah  i.  8).  In  several  of  these 
passages  'owls'  has  been  used  in  our  version  for 
ostriches,  which  the  original  word  there  employed 
really  means. 

There  are  two  varieties,  if  not  two  species,  of  the 
ostrich ;  one  never  attaining  seven  feet  in  height, 
and  covered  chiefly  with  grey  and  dingy  feathers : 
the  other  sometimes  growing  to  more  than  ten 
feet,  and  of  a  glossy  black  plumage ;  the  males  in 
both  having  the  great  feathers  of  the  wings  and 
tail  white,  but  the  females  the  tail  only  of  that 
colour.  Their  dimensions  render  them  both  the 
largest  animals  of  the  feathered  creation  now 
existing.  They  appear  promiscuously  in  Asia 
and  Africa,  but  the  troops  or  coveys  of  each  are 
always  separate;  the  grey  is  more  common  in 
the  south,  while  the  black,  which  grows  largest 
in  CaflFraria,  predominates  to  the  north  of  the 
equator.  The  common-sized  ostrich  weighs  about 
eighty  pounds. 

Ostriches  are  gregarious — from  families  consist- 
ing of  a  male  with  one  or  several  female  birds,  and 
perhaps  a  brood  or  two  of  young,  up  to  troops  of 
near  a  hundred.  They  keep  aloof  from  the  pre- 
sence of  water  in  the  wild  and  arid  desert,  mixing 
without  hesitation  among  herds  of  gnu,  wild 
asses,  quaggas,  and  other  striped  Equidae,  and 
the    larger  species   of  Autilopidoe.    From  the 


632 


OSTRICH 


nature  of  their  food,  which  consists  of  seeds  and 
vegetables,  although  seldom  or  never  in  want  of 
drink,  it  is  evident  that  they  must  often  approach 
more  productive  regions,  which,  by  means  of  the 
great  rapidity  of  motion  they  possess,  is  easily 
accomplished ;  and  they  are  consequently  known 
to  be  very  destructive  to  cultivated  fields.  As  the 
organ  of  taste  is  very  obtuse  in  these  birds,  they 
swallow  with  little  or  no  discrimination  all  kinds 
of  substances,  and  among  others  stones ;  it  is  also 
probable  that,  like  poultry,  they  devour  lizards, 
snakes,  and  the  young  of  birds  that  fall  in  their 
H-ay.  It  is  not  yet  finally  decided  whether  the 
two  species  are  polygamous,  though  concurrent 
testimony  seems  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  fact : 
there  is,  however,  no  uncertainty  respecting  the 
nest,  which  is  merely  a  circular  basin  scraped  out 
of  the  soil,  with  a  slight  elevation  at  the  border, 
and  sufficiently  large  to  contain  a  great  number 
of  eggs ;  for  from  twelve  to  about  sixty  have  been 
found  in  them,  exclusive  of  a  certain  number, 
always  observed  to  be  outlying,  or  placed  beyond 
the  raised  border  of  the  nest,  and  amounting  ap- 
parently to  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole.  These 
are  supposed  to  feed  the  young  brood  when  first 
hatched,  either  in  their  fresh  state,  or  in  a  cor- 
rupted form,  when  the  substance  in  them  has 
produced  worms.  These  eggs  are  of  different 
periods  of  laying,  like  those  within,  and  the  birds 
hatched  form  only  a  part  of  the  contents  of  a 
nest,  until  the  breeding  season  closes.  The  eggs 
are  of  different  sizes,  some  attaining  to  seven 
inches  in  their  longer  diameter,  and  others  less, 
having  a  dirty  white  shell,  finely  speckled  with 
rust-colour;  and  their  weight  borders  on  three 
pounds.  Within  the  tropics  they  are  kept  suf- 
ficiently warm  in  the  day-time  not  to  require  in- 
cubation, but  beyond  these  one  or  more  females 
sit  constantly,  and  the  male  bird  takes  that  duty 
himself  after  the  sun  is  set.  It  is  then  that  the 
short  roar  may  be  heard  during  darkness ;  and  at 
other  times  different  sounds  are  uttered,  likened 
to  the  cooing  of  pigeons,  the  cry  of  a  hoarse  child, 
and  the  hissing  of  a  goose ;  no  doubt  expressive  of 
different  emotions. 

Although  possessed  of  strength  sufficient  to 
carry  with  velocity  two  adult  human  beings,  and 
although  readily  tamed,  even  when  taken  in  a 
state  of  maturity,  nay  easily  rendered  familiar 
and  docile,  and  although  they  are  by  no  means 
the  stupid  creatures  they  have  been  believed,  still 
their  voracity,  leading  to  the  destruction  of  young 
poultry,  and  the  impracticability  of  guiding  their 
powers,  will  ever  render  them  unsafe  and  unpro- 
fitable domestics.  Though  at  first  sight  useless, 
we  may  be  assured  that  Providence  has  not  ap- 
pointed their  abode  in  the  desert  in  vain ;  and 
they  still  continue  to  exist,  not  only  in  Africa, 
but  in  the  region  of  Arabia,  east  and  south  of 
Palestine  beyond  the  Euphrates ;  but  it  may  be 
a  question  whether  they  extend  so  far  to  the  east- 
ward as  Goa,  although  that  limit  is  assigned 
them  by  late  French  ornithologists. 

The  flesh  of  a  young  ostrich  is  said  to  be  not 
unpalatable;  but  its  beiug  declared  unclean  in  the 
Mosaic  legislation  may  be  ascribed  to  a  twofold 
cause.  The  first  is  sufliciently  obvious  from  its 
indiscriminate  voracity  already  mentioned,  and 
the  other  may  have  been  an  intention  to  lay  a  re- 
striction upon  the  Israelites  in  order  to  wean 
them  from  the  love  of  a  nomade  life,  which 


OWL 

hunting  in  the  desert  would  have  fostered ;  for 
ostriches  must  be  sought  on  the  barren  plains, 
where  they  are  not  accessible  on  foot,  except 
by  stratagem.  When  pursued,  they  cast  stones 
and  gravel  behind  them  with  great  force ;  and 
though  it  requires  long  endurance  and  skill, 
their  natural  mode  of  fleeing  in  a  circular  form 
enables  well-mounted  Arabs  to  overtake  and  slay 
them. 

OTH'NIEL  {lion  of  God),  first  judge  of  Israel, 
son  of  Kenaz,  the  younger  brother  of  Caleb, 
whose  daughter  Achsah  he  obtained  in  marriage 
by  his  daring  valour  at  the  siege  of  Debir  (Josh. 
XV.  17;  Judg.  i.  13;  1  Chron.  iv.  13).  Eendered 
famous  among  his  countrymen  by  this  exploit, 
and  connected  by  a  twofold  tie  with  one  of  the 
only  two  Israelites  of  the  former  generation  who 
had  not  died  in  the  desert,  we  are  prepared  for 
the  fact  that  on  him  devolved  the  mission  to  de- 
liver Israel  from  the  Mesopotamian  oppression 
under  which,  in  punishment  for  their  sins,  they 
fell  after  the  death  of  Joshua  and  of  the  elders 
who  outlived  him  (Judg.  iii.  9).  This  victory 
secured  to  Israel  a  peace  of  forty  years. 

OWL.  There  are  noticed  in  Egypt  and  Syria 
three  well-known  species  of  the  genus  Strix,  or 
owl : — '  the  great-eared  owl ;'  the  common  barn 
owl ;  and  the  little  owl.  In  this  list  the  long- 
eared  owl,  the  short-eared  owl,  known  nearly 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  the  Oriental  owl  of 
Hasselquist,  are  not  included,  and  several  other 
species  of  these  wandering  birds,  both  of  Africa 
and  Asiatic  regions,  occur  in  Palestine.  The 
barn  owl  is  still  sacred  in  Northern  Asia. 


The  eagle-owl,  or  great-eared  owl,  we  do  not  find 
in  ornithological  works  as  an  inhabitant  of  Syria, 
though  no  doubt  it  is  an  occasional  winter  visitant ; 
and  the  smaller  species,  which  may  be  a  rare  but 
permanent  resident,  probably  also  visiting  Egypt. 
It  is  not,  however,  we  believe,  that  species,  but 
the  Otus  ascalaphus  of  Cuvier,  which  is  common 
in  Egypt,  and  which  in  all  probability  is  the 
type  of  the  innumerable  representations  of  an 
eared  owl  in  hieroglyphical  inscriptions. 

Next  we  have  the  short-eared  owl,  likewise 
found  in  Egypt  and  Arabia,  as  well  as  to  the 
north  of  Syria,  a  bold,  pugnacious  bird,  residing 
in  ruined  buildings,  mistaken  by  commentators 
for  the  screech-owl.  The  spectral  species,  again, 
confounded  with  the  goat-sucker,  is,  we  believe, 
Strix  coromanda  [Night-Hawk],  and  the  same 
as  the  Oriental  owl  of  Hasselquist 


ox 


PALESTINE 


The  little  owl  of  Egypt  is  not  likely  to  be  the 
Passerine  species  of  Europe,  and  probably  does 
not  occur  under  a  distinct  name  in  Biblical  He- 
brew ;  but  that  the  owls  which  inhabited  Pales- 
tine were  numerous  may  be  inferred  with  toler- 
able certainty  from  the  abundance  of  mice,  rats, 
and  other  vermin,  occasioned  by  the  ofFal  and 
offerings  at  the  numerous  sacrifices,  and  conse- 
quently the  number  of  nocturnal  birds  of  prey 
that  subsisted  upon  them,  and  were  tolerated  for 
that  purpose. 

OX.  Having  already  noticed  the  domestic 
beeves  under  Buix  and  Calf  (to  which  we  refer), 
the  few  words  added  here  will  apply  to  the 
breeds  of  Western  Asia  and  the  manner  of  treat- 
ing them.  The  earliest  pastoral  tribes  appear  to 
have  had  domesticated  cattle  in  the  herd ;  and 
judging  from  the  manners  of  South  Africa,  where 
we  find  nations  still  retaining  in  many  respects 

J)rimeval  usages,  it  is  likely  that  the  patriarchal 
amilies,  or  at  least  their  moveables,  were  trans- 
ported on  the  backs  of  oxen  in  the  manner  which 
the  Caffires  still  practise,  as  also  the  Gwallahs 
and  grain-merchants  in  India,  who  come  down 
from  the  interior  with  whole  droves  bearing 
burthens. 

The  breeds  of  Egj'pt  were  various,  differing  in 
the  length  and  flexures  of  the  horns.  There 
were  some  with  long  horns,  others  with  short, 
and  even  none,  while  a  hunched  race  of  Nubia 
reveals  an  Indian  origin,  and  indicates  that  at 
least  one  of  the  nations  on  the  Upper  Nile  had 
come  from  the  valleys  of  the  Ganges ;  for  it  is 
to  the  east  of  the  Indus  alone  that  that  species  is 
to  be  found  whose  original  stock  appears  to  be 
the  mountain  yak. 

The  domestic  buffalo  was  unknown  to  Western 
Asia  and  Egypt  till  after  the  Arabian  conquest : 
it  is  now  common  in  the  last-mentioned  region 
and  far  to  the  south,  but  not  beyond  the  equator ; 
and  from  structural  diff'erences  it  may  be  sur- 
mised that  there  was  in  early  ages  a  domesticated 
distinct  species  of  this  animal  in  Africa.  In 
Syria  and  Egypt  the  present  races  of  domestic 
cattle  are  somewhat  less  than  the  large  breeds  of 
Europe,  and  those  of  Palestine  appear  to  be  of  at 
least  two  forms,  both  with  short  horns  and  both 
used  to  the  plough,  one  being  tall  and  lanky,  the 
other  more  compact ;  and  we  possess  figures  of 
the  present  Egyptian  cattle  with  long  horns  bent 
down  and  forwards.  From  Egyptian  pictures  it 
is  to  be  inferred  that  large  droves  of  fine  cattle 
were  imported  from  Abyssinia,  and  that  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile  they  were  in  general  stall-fed, 
used  exclusively  for  the  plough,  and  treated  with 
humanity.  In  Palestine  the  Mosaic  law  provided 
with  care  for  the  kind  treatment  of  cattle ;  for  in 
treading  out  corn—  the  Oriental  mode  of  separa- 
ting the  grain  from  the  straw — it  was  enjoined 
that  the  ox  should  not  be  muzzled  (Deut.  xxv. 
4),  and  old  cattle  that  had  long  served  in  tillage 
were  often  suffered  to  wander  at  large  till  their 
death — a  practice  still  in  vogue,  though  from  a 
different  motive,  in  India.  But  the  Hebrews  and 
other  nations  of  Syria  grazed  their  domestic 
stock,  particularly  those  tribes  which,  residing  to 
the  east  of  the  Jordan,  had  fertile  districts  for  that 
purpose.  Here,  of  course,  the  droves  became  shy 
and  wild ;  and  though  we  are  inclined  to  apply 
the  passage  in  Ps.  xxii.  12,  to  wild  species,  yet 
old  bulls,  roaming  at  large  in  a  land  where  the 


lion  still  abounded,  no  doubt  became  fierce ;  and 
as  they  would  obtain  cows  from  the  pastures, 
there  must  have  been  feral  breeds  in  the  woods, 
as  fierce  and  resolute  as  real  wild  Uri. 


P. 


PA'DAN-A'RAM.    [Aram.] 

PALACE,  in  Scripture,  denotes  what  is  con- 
tained within  the  outer  enclosure  of  the  royal  re- 
sidence, including  all  the  buildings,  courts,  and 
gardens  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  19  ;  comp.  Ps.  xlviii.  4  ; 
cxxii.  7;  Prov.  ix.  3 ;  xviii.  19;  Isa.  xxiii.  13; 
xxv.  2;  Jer.  xxii.  14;  Amos  i.  7,  12,  14;  Nah. 
ii.  6).  In  the  New  Testament  the  term  palace  is 
applied  to  the  residence  of  a  man  of  rank  (Matt. 
xxvi.  3  ;  Mark  xiv.  66  ;  Lukexi.  21 ;  John  xviii. 
15).  The  specific  allusions  are  to  the  palace 
built  by  Herod,  which  was  afterwards  occupied 
by  the  Roman  governors,  and  was  the  prsctorium, 
or  hall,  which  formed  the  abode  of  Pilate  when 
Christ  was  brought  before  him  (Mark  xv.  16) : 
the  other  passages  above  cited,  except  Luke  xi. 
21,  refer  to  the  residence  of  the  high-priest. 

The  particulars  which  have  been  given  under 
the  head  House,  require  only  to  be  aggrandized 
to  convey  a  suitable  idea  of  a  palace;  for  the 
general  arrangements  and  distribution  of  parts 
are  the  same  in  the  palace  as  in  the  house,  save 
that  the  courts  are  more  numerous,  and  with 
more  distinct  appropriations,  the  buildings  more 
extensive,  and  the  materials  more  costly.  The 
palace  of  the  kings  of  Judah  in  Jerusalem  was 
that  built  by  Solomon,  called  '  the  house  of  the 
forest  of  Lebanon,'  of  which  some  particulars 
are  given  in  1  Kings  vii,  1-12 ;  and  if  read  along 
with  the  description  which  Josephus  gives  of  the 
same  pile  (Aiitiq.  v.  5),  a  faint  idea  may  be  formed 
of  it,  as  a  magnificent  collection  of  buildings  in 
adjoining  courts,  connected  with  and  surrounded 
by  galleries  and  colonnades. 

PAL'ESTINE.  This  name,  usually  applied 
to  the  country  formerly  inhabited  by  the  Israelites, 
does  not  occur  in  the  Hebrew  Bible.  It  is,  how- 
ever, derived  from  Philistia,  or  the  country  of  the 
Philistines,  which  comprised  the  southern  part 
of  the  coast  plain  of  Canaan  along  the  Mediter- 
ranean. The  word  Philistia  occurs  in  Exod. 
xiii.  17;  Ps.  Ix.  8  ;  Ixxxiii.  7  ;  Ixxxvii.  4 ;  cviii.  9  ; 
Isa.  xiv.  29,  31.  From  this  arose  the  name  Pales- 
tine, which  was  applied  by  most  ancient  writers, 
and  even  by  Josephus,  to  the  whole  land  of  the 
Israelites. 

Names. — The  other  names  of  the  country 
may  be  given  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence  in 
Scripture. 

1.  Canaan,  from  Canaan,  the  fourth  son  of 
Ham,  from  whom  the  first  inhabitants  were  de- 
scended. It  is  the  most  ancient  name  of  the 
country,  and  is  first  found  as  such  in  Gen.  xi.  31. 
This  denomination  was  confined  to  the  country 
between  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Jordan  ;  but 
in  later  times  it  was  understood  to  include  PhoE- 
nicia  (Isa.  xxiii.  11  ;  Matt.  xv.  21,  22),  and  also 
the  land  of  the  Philistines. 

2.  Zand  of  Israel.  This  name  was  given  to  the 
whole  country  as  distributed  among  and  occupied 
by  the  tribes  of  Israel. 


634 


PALESTINE 


3.  Land  of  Promise.  So  called  as  the  land 
which  God  promised  to  the  patriarchal  fathers 
to  bestow  on  their  descendants. 

4.  Land  cf  Jehovah.  So  called  as  being  in  a 
special  and  peculiar  sense  the  property  of  Jehovah, 
who,  as  the  sovereign  proprietor  of  the  soil,  granted 
it  to  the  Hebrews  (Lev.  xxv.  23  ;  Ps.  Ixxxv.  1 ; 
Isa.  viii.  8). 

.").  The  Hohj  Land.  This  name  only  occurs 
in  Zech.  ii.  12.  The  land  is  here  called  'Holy,' 
as  being  the  Lord's  property,  and  sanctified  by 
his  temple  and  worship. 

5.  Judah,  Judcea.  This  name  belonged  at  first 
to  the  territory  of  the  tribe  of  Judah  alone.  After 
the  separation  of  the  two  kingdoms,  one  of  them 
took  the  name  of  Judah,  which  contained  the  ter- 
ritories both  of  that  tribe  and  of  Benjamin.  After 
the  Captivity,  down  to  and  after  the  time  of  Christ, 
Judffia  was  used  in  a  loose  way  as  a  general  name 
for  the  whole  country  of  Palestine  ;  but  in  more 
precise  language,  and  with  reference  to  internal 
distribution,  it  denoted  nearly  the  territories  of 
the  ancient  kingdom,  as  distinguished  from  Sa- 
maria aud  Galilee  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan,  and 
Perfea  on  the  east. 

Divisions. — The  divisions  of  Palestine  were 
difierent  in  different  ages. 

1.  In  the  time  of'  the  Patriarchs,  the  country 
was  divided  among  the  tribes  or  nations  de- 
scended from  the  sons  of  Canaan.  The  precise 
locality  of  each  nation  is  not,  in  every  case,  dis- 
tinctly known ;  but  our  map  exhibits  the  most 
probable  arrangement. 

2.  After  the  Conquest  the  land  was  distributed 
by  lot  among  the  tribes.  The  particulars  of  this 
distribution  will  be  best  seen  by  reference  to  the 
map. 

3.  After  the  Captiviti/  we  hear  very  little  of 
the  territories  of  the  tribes,  for  ten  of  them  never 
returned  to  occupy  their  ancient  domains. 

4.  In  the  time  of  Christ  the  country  on  the  west 
of  the  Jordan  was  divided  into  the  provinces  of 
Galilee,  Samaria,  and  Judaa.  Galilee  is  a  name 
which  was  applied  to  that  part  of  Palestine  north 
of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon  or  Jezreel.  This  pro- 
vince was  divided  into  Lower  or  Southern,  and 
Upper  or  Northern  Galilee.  Samaria  occupied 
nearly  the  middle  of  Palestine  ;  but.  although  it 
extended  across  the  country,  it  did  not  come 
down  to  the  sea-shore.  Judaea,  as  a  province, 
corresponded  to  the  northern  and  western  parts 
of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  that  name ;  but  the 
south-eastern  portion  formed  the  territory  of 
Tdumffia.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan  th6 
divisions  were,  at  this  time,  more  numerous  and 
less  distinct.  The  whole  country  generally  was 
called  Persea,  and  was  divided  into  eight  districts 
or  cantons,  namely  : — 1 .  Percea,  in  the  more 
limited  sense,  which  was  the  southernmost  can- 
ton, extending  from  the  river  Arnon  to  the  river 
Jabbok,  2.  Gilead,  north  of  the  Jabbok,  and 
highly  populous.  3.  DecapoUs,  or  the  district 
of  ten  cities,  which  were  Scythopolis  or  Bethshan 
(on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan),  Hippos,  Gadara, 
Pella,  Philadelphia  (formerly  Rabbath),  Dium, 
Canatha,  Gerasa,  Raphana,  and  perhaps  Damas- 
cus. 4.  Gaulonitis,  extending  to  the  north-east 
of  the  Upper  Jordan  and  of  the  lake  of  Gennesa- 
reth.  5.  Batanaea,  the  ancient  Bashan,  but  less 
extensive,  east  of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth.  6. 
Auranitis,  also  called  Iturcea,  and  known  to  this 


PALESTINE 

day  by  the  old  name  of  Hauran  (Ezek.  xlvii.  16- 
18),  to  the  north  of  Batansca  and  the  east  of  Gau- 
lonitis. 7.  Trachonitis,  extending  to  the  north 
of  Gaulonitis,  and  east  from  Paneas  (Caesarea 
Philippi)  and  the  sources  of  the  Jordan,  where 
it  was  separated  from  Galilee  (Luke  iii.  1). 
8.  Abilene,  in  the  extreme  north,  among  the 
mountains  of  Anti-Libanus,  between  Baalbec  and 
Damascus.  The  more  important  of  these  names 
have  been  noticed  under  their  several  heads. 

Situation  and  Boundahies. — Palestine  is 
the  south-western  part  of  Syria,  extending  from 
the  mountains  of  Lebanon  to  the  borders  of 
Egypt.  It  lies  about  midway  between  the  equa- 
tor and  the  polar  circle,  to  which  happy  position 
it  owes  the  fine  medium  climate  which  it  pos- 
sesses. Its  length  is  embraced  between  30°  40' 
and  33°  32'  of  N.  latitude,  aud  between  33°  45' 
of  E.  longitude  iu  the  south-west,  aud  35°  48'  in 
the  north-east.  The  breadth  may  be  taken  at  an 
average  of  sixty-five  miles,  the  extreme  breadth 
being  about  100  miles.  The  length,  from  Mount 
Hermon  in  the  north,  to  which  the  territory  of 
Manasseh  beyond  the  Jordan  extended  (Josh, 
xiii.  11),  to  Kadesh-bamea  in  the  south,  to  which 
the  territory  of  Judah  reached,  was  180  miles. 

Palestine  may  be  regarded  as  embracing  an 
area  of  almost  1 1,000  square  miles.  But  the  real 
surface  is  much  greater  than  this  estimate  would  | 
imply  ;  for  Palestine  being  essentially  a  hilly 
country,  the  sides  of  the  mountains  and  the 
slopes  of  the  hills  enlarge  the  available  surface 
to  an  extent  which  does  not  admit  of  calculation. 
With  regard  to  the  lines  of  boundary,  the 
clearest  description  of  them  is  that  contained  in 
Num.  xxxiv.  From  the  statements  there  made 
it  appears  that  the  writer,  after  prolonging  the 
eastern  boundary-line  from  the  end  of  the  Dead 
Sea  down  the  edge  of  the  Arabah,  to  a  point 
somewhere  south  of  Kadesh-barnea,  then  turns 
off  westward  to  form  the  southern  line,  which  he 
extends  to  the  Mediterranean,  at  a  point  where 
'  the  river  of  Egypt '  falls  into  the  sea.  This 
river  of  Egypt  is  usually,  and  on  very  adequate 
grounds,  supposed  to  be  the  stream  which  falls 
into  the  sea  near  El-Arish. 

The  western  border  is  stated  as  defined  by  the 
Mediterraiiean  coast.  But  the  Hebrews  never 
possessed  the  whole  of  this  territory.  The 
northern  part  of  the  coast,  from  Sidon  to  Akko 
(Acre),  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Phoenicians,  and 
the  southern  part,  from  Azotus  to  Gaza,  was  re- 
tained by  the  Philistines,  except  at  intervals  ; 
and  a  central  portion,  about  one-third  of  the 
whole,  from  Mount  Carmel  to  Jabneh  (Jamnia) 
was  alone  permanently  open  to  the  Israelites. 

The  northern  boundary-line  commenced  at  the 
sea  somewhere  not  far  to  the  south  of  Sidon, 
whence  it  was  extended  to  Lebanon,  and  crossing 
the  narrow  valley  which  leads  into  the  great 
plain  enclosed  between  Libanus  and  Anti-Liba- 
nus, terminated  at  Mount  Hermon,  in  the  latter 
range. 

The  eastern  boundary,  as  respects  Canaan 
Proper,  was  defined  by  the  Jordan  and  its  lakes ; 
but  as  respects  the  whole  country,  including  the 
portion  beyond  the  Jordan,  it  extended  to  Sal- 
chah,  a  town  on  the  eastern  limits  of  Bashan. 
From  this  point  it  must  have  inclined  somewhat 
sharply  to  the  south-west,  to  the  point  where  the 
Wady-ed-Deir  enters  the  Zerka,  and  thence  it 


PALESTINE 

probably  extended  almost  due  south  to  the  Arnon, 
which  was  the  southern  limit  of  the  eastern  ter- 
ritory. 

MiNF.RALOGY. — The  mountains  on  the  west  of 
the  Jordan  consist  chiefly  of  chalk,  on  which 
basalt  begins  to  occur  beyond  Cana  (northward). 
The  so-called  white  limestone,  which  is  met  with 
around  Jerusalem  and  thence  to  Jericho,  which 
covers  the  summit  and  forms  the  declivities  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  which  is  also  found  at 
Mount  Tabor  and  around  Nazareth,  is  a  kind  of 
chalk  considerably  indurated,  and  approaching 
to  whitish  compact  limestone.  '  Layers  and  de- 
tached masses  of  flint  are  very  commonly  seen  in 
it.  Besides  this  indurated  chalk,  a  stone  is  found 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Jerusalem,  chiefly 
towards  the  north,  as  well  as  towards  Safet,  and 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  which,  together 
with  the  dolomite  formation  occasionally  met 
with,  appears  to  be  of  what  in  Germany  is  called 
the  Jura  formation.  Palestine  may  be  most  em- 
phatically called  the  country  of  salt,  which  is 
produced  in  vast  abundance,  chiefly  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  deserves  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  great  natural  salt-works 
of  the  world.' 

Under  this  head  it  may  be  noted  that  the  fine 
impalpable  desert-sand,  which  proves  so  menacing 
to  travellers,  and  even  to  inhabitants,  is  scarcely 
found  in  Palestine  Proper  ;  but  it  occurs  beyond 
Lebanon,  near  Beirut,  and  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Damascus. 

Palestine  is  eminently  a  country  of  caverns, 
to  which  there  is  frequent  allusion  in  Scripture 
[Caves],  and  which  are  hardly  so  numerous  in 
any  country  of  the  same  extent.  Many  of  them 
were  enlarged  by  the  inhabitants,  and  even  arti- 
ficial grottoes  were  formed  by  manual  labour. 
In  these  the  inhabitants  still  like  to  reside  ;  as  in 
summer  they  afibrd  protection  from  the  heat,  and 
in  winter  from  cold  and  rain.  Even  now,  in 
many  places,  houses  are  obsers'ed  built  so  near  to 
rocks,  that  their  cavities  may  be  used  for  rooms 
or  sheds  suited  to  the  condition  of  the  seasons. 
Though  the  country  is  not  unfrequently  visited 
by  earthquakes,  they  leave  behind  no  such  fright- 
ful traces  as  those  of  Asia  Minor ;  as  the  vaults 
of  limestone  offer  more  effectual  resistance  than 
the  sandstone  of  the  latter  country. 

We  are  glad  to  see  so  competent  a  witness  as 
Schubert  bear  his  testimony  to  the  natural  re- 
sources of  the  soil,  which  superficial  observers, 
judging  only  from  present  appearance,  have  so 
often  questioned.  He  says,  'no  soil  could  be 
naturally  more  fruitful  and  fit  for  cultivation 
than  that  of  Palestine,  if  man  had  not  destroyed 
the  source  of  fertility  by  annihilating  the  former 
green  covering  of  the  hills  and  slopes,  and  thereby 
destroying  the  regular  circulation  of  sweet  water, 
which  ascends  as  vapour  from  the  sea  to  be 
cooled  in  the  higher  regions,  and  then  descends 
to  form  the  springs  and  rivers,  for  it  is  well  known 
that  the  vegetable  kingdom  performs  in  this 
circulation  the  function  of  capillary  tubes.  But 
although  the  natives,  from  exasperation  against 
their  foreign  conquerors  and  rulers,  and  the  in- 
vaders who  have  so  often  overruled  this  scene  of 
ancient  blessings,  have  greatly  reduced  its  pros- 
perity, still  1  cannot  comprehend  how  not  only 
scoffers  like  Voltaire,  but  early  travellers,  who 
doubtless  intended  to  declare  the  truth,  represent 


PALESTINE  635 

Palestine  as  a  natural  desert,  whose  soil  never 
could  have  been  fit  for  profitable  cultivation. 
Whoever  saw  the  exhaustless  abundance  of  plants 
on  Carmel  and  the  border  of  the  desert,  tiie  grassy 
carpet  of  Esdraelon,  the  lawns  adjoining  the 
Jordan,  and  the  rich  foliage  of  the  forests  of 
Mount  Tabor ;  whoever  saw  the  borders  of  the 
lakes  of  Merom  and  Gennesareth,  wanting  only 
the  cultivator  to  intrust  to  the  soil  his  seed  and 
plants,  may  state  what  other  country  on  earth, 
devastated  by  two  thousand  years  of  warfare  and 
spoliation,  could  be  more  fit  for  being  again  taken 
into  cultivation.  The  bountiful  hand  of  the  Most 
High,  which  formerly  showered  abundance  upon 
this  renowned  land,  continues  to  be  still  open  to 
those  desirous  of  his  blessings.' 

The  following  table  of  levels  in  Palestine  is 
copied  from  a  recently  published  supplement  to 
P.aumer's  Pnldstina.'  The  measurements  are  in 
Paris  feet,  above  and  beloiv  the  level  of  the  Dead 
Sea. 

Above. 

Great  Hermon 10,000 

Mount  St.  Catherine  (in  Sinai)  8063 
Jebel  Mousa  (in  Sinai) .  .  .  7033 
Jebel  et-Tyh  (in  Sinai).      .     .       4300 

Jebel  er-Ramah 3000 

Kanneytra 2850 

Hebron 2700 

Mount  of  Olives 2536 

Sinjil 2520 

Safet 2500 

Mount  Gerizim 2400 

Semua 2225 

Damascus 2186 

Kidron  (brook) 2140 

Nabulus 1751 

Mount  Tabor 1748 

Pass  of  Zephath 1437 

Desert  of  et-Tyh      ....       1400 

Nazareth 821 

Zerin 515 

Plain  of  Esdraelon  ....         459 
Below. 
Lake  of  Tiberias      ....         329'^' 
The  Arabah  at  Kadesh.     .     .  91 

Dead  Sea 1312* 

Some  of  these  results  are  most  extraordinary. 
First,  here  is  the  remarkable  fact,  that  the  Mount 
of  Olives  and  the  Kidron,  and  consequently  Je- 
rusalem, stand  700  feet  higher  than  the  top  of 
Mount  Tabor,  and  about  2500  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Mediterranean.  More  to  the  south, 
Hebron  stands  on  still  higher  ground ;  and  while 
it  is  2700  feet  above  the  sea  on  the  one  hand,  the 
Asphaltic  Lake  lies  4000  feet  below  it  on  the 
other.  This  fact  has  no  known  parallel  in  any 
other  region,  and  within  so  short  a  distance  of 
the  sea ;  and  the  extraordinary  depression  of  the 
lake  (1337  feet  below  the  sea  level)  adequately 
accounts  for  the  very  peculiar  climate  which  its 
remarkable  basin  exhibits.  The  points  at  Tiberias 
to  the  north,  and  Kadesh  to  the  south  of  the  Dead 


*  These  measurements  are  in  English  feet,  and 
give  the  results  of  the  lines  of  altitude  carried 
from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Dead  Sea  and 
the  Lake  of  Tiberias,  by  the  British  engineers 
left  in  Syria  to  make  a  military  survey  of  the 
country,  when  the  fleet  was  withdrawn  from  the 
coast  in  1841. 


636 


PALESTINE 


Sea,  are  both,  and  nearly  equally,  below  the 
Mediterrauean  level,  and  taken,  together,  they 
show  the  great  slope  botk  from  the  north  and  from 
the  south  towards  the  Dead  Sea,  confirming  the 
discovery  of  Dr.  Robinson,  that  the  water-shed 
to  the  south  of  the  Asphaltic  Lake  is  towards  its 
basin,  and  that,  therefore,  the  Jordan  could  not 
at  any  time,  as  the  country  is  at  present  consti- 
tuted, have  flowed  on  southward  to  the  Elanitic 
Gulf,  as  was  formerly  supposed. 

Mountains. — As  all  the  principal  mountains 
of  Palestine  are  noticed  in  this  work  under  their 
respective  names,  it  is  unnecessary  to  offer  any 
observations  under  this  head. 

The  most  important  or  the  most  distinguished 
of  the  plains  and  valleys  of  Palestine  are  those  of 
Lebanon,  of  the  Jordan,  of  Jericho,  of  Esdraelon, 
and  of  the  Coast. 

The  Plain  of  Lebanon  may  be  described  as  the 
valley  which  is  enclosed  between  the  parallel 
mountain  ranges  of  Libanus  and  Anti-Libanus. 
This  enclosed  plain  is  the  Coele-Syria  of  the  an- 
cients, and  now  bears  the  name  of  el-Bekka  (the 
Valky).  It  is  about  ninety  miles  in  length,  from 
north  to  south,  by  eleven  miles  in  breadth,  nearly 
equal  throughout,  except  that  it  widens  at  the 
northern  end  and  narrows  at  the  southern.  This 
plain  is,  perhaps,  the  most  rich  and  beautiful 
part  of  Syria. 

The  Plain  of  the  Jordan.  By  this  name  we 
understand  the  margin  of  the  lakes,  as  well  as 
the  valley  watered  by  the  river.  Here  the  heat 
is  still  greater  than  in  the  valley  of  Lebanon, 
and  as  water  is  usually  wanting,  the  whole  plain 
is  barren  and  desolate. 

The  Plain  of  Jericho  is  but  an  opening  or 
expansion  in  the  plain  of  the  Jordan,  towards  the 
Dead  Sea.  It  is  partly  desert,  but,  from  the 
abundance  of  water  and  the  heat  of  the  climate, 
it  might  be  rendered  highly  productive  ;  indeed, 
the  fertility  of  this  plain  has  been  celebrated  in 
every  age.  But  of  all  the  productions  which  once 
distinguished  it,  and  the  greater  part  of  which  it 
enjoyed  in  common  with  Egypt,  very  few  now 
remain. 

The  Plain  of  Esdraelon  is  often  mentioned  in 
sacred  history  (Judg.  iv.  13,  15,  16;  v.  19;  2 
Kings  xxiii.  29;  Zech.  xii.  11;  Judith  i.  8),  as 
the  great  battle-field  of  the  Jewish  and  other  na- 
tions, under  the  names  of  the  Valley  of  Megiddo 
and  the  Valley  of  Jezreel ;  and  by  Josephus  as 
the  Great  Plain.  This  extensive  plain,  exclu- 
sive of  three  great  arms  which  stretch  eastward 
towards  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  may  be  said 
to  be  in  the  form  of  an  acute  triangle,  having  the 
measure  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  miles  on  the 
porth,  about  eighteen  on  the  east,  and  above 
twenty  on  the  south-west.  In  the  western  por- 
tion it  seems  perfectly  level,  with  a  general  de- 
clivity towards  the  Mediterranean;  but  in  the 
east  it  is  somewhat  undulated  by  slight  spurs  and 
swells  from  the  roots  of  the  mountains  :  from  the 
eastern  side  three  great  valleys  go  off  to  the  valley 
of  the  Jordan.  These  valleys  are  separated  by 
the  ridges  of  Gilboa  and  Little  Hermon,  and  the 
space  which  lies  between  these  two  ridges  is  the 
proper  valley  of  Jezreel,  which  name  seems  to  be 
sometimes  given  to  the  whole  plain  of  Esdraelon. 
The  valley  of  Jezretl  is  a  deep  plain,  and  about 
three  miles  across.  Before  the  verdure  of  spring 
and  early  summer  has  been  parched  up  by  the 


PALESTINE 

heat  and  drought  of  the  late  summer  and  autumn, 
the  view  of  the  Groat  Plain  is,  from  its  fertility 
and  beauty,  very  delightful.  The  plain  itself  is 
almost  without  villages,  but  there  are  several  on 
the  slopes  of  the  enclosing  hills,  especially  on  the 
side  of  Mount  Carmel. 

The  Plain  of  the  Coast  is  that  tract  of  land 
which  extends  along  the  coast,  between  the  sea 
and  the  mountains.  In  some  places,  where  the 
mountains  approach  the  sea,  this  tract  is  inter- 
rupted by  promontories  and  rising  grounds ;  but, 
taken  generally,  the  whole  coast  of  Palestine  may 
be  described  as  an  extensive  plain  of  various 
breadth.  Sometimes  it  expands  into  broad  plains, 
at  others  it  is  contracted  into  narrow  valleys. 
With  the  exception  of  some  sandy  tracts  the  soil 
is  throughout  rich,  and  exceedingly  productive. 
The  climate  is  everywhere  very  warm,  and  is 
considered  rather  insalubrious  as  compared  with 
the  upland  country.  It  is  not  mentioned  by  any 
one  collective  name  in  Scripture.  The  part 
fronting  Samaria,  and  between  Mount  Carmel 
and  Jaffa,  near  a  rich  pasture-ground,  was  called 
the  Valley  of  Sharon ;  and  the  continuation 
southward,  between  Jaffa  and  Gaza,  was  called 
The  Plain,  as  distinguished  from  the  hill-country 
of  Judah. 

Rivers. — The  Jordan  is  the  only  river  of  any 
note  in  Palestine,  and  besides  it  there  are  only 
two  or  three  perennial  streams.  The  greater 
number  of  the  streams  which  figure  in  the  history, 
and  find  a  place  in  the  maps,  are  merely  torrents 
or  watercourses. 

The  Jordan.  We  should  like  to  consider  thia 
river  simply  as  the  stream  issuing  from  the  reser- 
voir of  the  lake  Hnleh,  but  custom  requires  its 
source  to  be  traced  to  some  one  or  more  of  the 
streams  which  form  that  reservoir.  The  two 
largest  streams,  which  enter  the  lake  on  the 
north,  are  each  formed  by  the  junction  of  two 
others.  It  is  usual  to  refer  the  origin  of  a  river 
to  its  rentotest  sources ;  but  in  this  case  the 
largest  and  longest,  being  the  most  easterly  of 
the  two  streams,  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
at  any  time  identified  with  the  Jordan — that 
honour  having  for  ages  been  ascribed  to  the 
western  stream ;  this  river  has  distinct  sources, 
at  Banias  and  at  Tel-el-Kadi.  It  is  the  former 
of  these  where  a  stream  issues  from  a  spacious 
cavern  under  a  wall  of  rock  which  Josephus  de- 
scribes as  the  main  source  of  the  Jordan. 

The  true  Jordan — the  stream  that  quits  the 
lake  Huleh — passes  rapidly  along  the  narrow 
valley,  and  between  well-shaded  banks,  to  the 
lake  of  Gennesareth :  the  distance  is  about  nine 
miles.  Nearly  two  miles  below  the  lake  is  a 
bridge,  called  Jacob's  bridge ;  and  here  the  river 
is  about  eighty  feet  wide,  and  four  feet  deep. 

On  leaving  the  lake  of  Gennesareth  the  river 
enters  a  very  broad  valley,  or  Ghor,  which 
varies  in  width  from  five  to  ten  miles  between 
the  mountains  on  each  side.  Within  this  valley 
there  is  a  lower  one,  and  within  that,  in  some 
parts,  another  still  lower,  through  which  the 
river  flows  ;  the  inner  valley  is  about  half  a  mile 
wide,  and  is  generally  green  and  beautiful, 
covered  with  trees  and  bushes,  whereas  the  upper 
or  large  valley  is,  for  the  most  part,  sandy  or 
barren.  The  distance  between  the  lake  of  Genne- 
sareth and  the  Dead  Sea,  in  a  direct  line,  is  about 
sixty  miles.    In  the  first  part  of  its  course  the 


PALESTINE 

stream  is  clear,  but  it  becomes  tnrbid  as  it  ad- 
vances to  the  Dead  Sea,  probably  from  passing 
over  beds  of  sandy  clay.  The  water  is  very 
■wholesome,  always  cool  and  nearly  tasteless. 
The  breadth  and  depth  of  the  river  vary  much 
in  different  places  and  at  different  times  of  the 
year.  Dr.  Shaw  calculates  the  average  breadth 
at  thirty  yards,  and  the  depth  at  nine  feet.  In 
the  season  of  flood,  in  April  and  early  in  May, 
the  river  is  full,  and  sometimes  overflows  its  lower 
banks,  to  which  fact  there  are  several  allusions 
in  Scripture. 

The  Kishon,  that  'ancient  river,'  by  whose 
wide  and  rapid  stream  the  hosts  of  Sisera  were 
swept  away  (Judg.  iv.  13;  v.  21),  has  been 
noticed  under  the  proper  head  [Kishon]. 

The  Beliis,  now  called  Nahr  Kardanus,  enters 
the  bay  of  Acre  higher  up  than  the  Kishon.  It 
is  a  small  stream,  fordable  even  at  its  mouth  in 
summer.  It  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and 
is  chiefly  celebrated  for  the  tradition,  that  the 


PALESTINE 


637 


accidental  vitrefaction  of  its  sands  taught  man 
the  art  of  making  glass. 

The  other  streams  of  note  enter  the  Jordan 
from  the  east ;  these  are  the  Jarmuth,  the  Jabbok, 
and  the  Arnon,  of  which  the  last  two  have  been 
noticed  under  their  proper  heads.  The  Jarmuth, 
called  also  Sheriat-el-Mandhour,  anciently  Hie- 
romax,  joins  the  Jordan  five  miles  below  the  lake 
of  Gennesareth.  Its  source  is  ascribed  to  a  small 
lake,  almost  a  mile  in  circumference,  at  Mezareib, 
which  is  thirty  miles  east  of  the  Jordan.  It  is  a 
beautiful  stream,  and  yields  a  considerable  body 
of  water  to  the  Jordan  [Arnon  ;  Jabbok]. 

Lakes. — The  river  Jordan  in  its  course  forms 
three  remarkable  lakes,  in  the  last  of  which, 
called  the  Dead  Sea,  it  is  lost : — 

The  Lake  Merom  or  Samochonitis,  now  called 
Huleh,  the  first  of  these,  serves  as  a  kind  of  reser- 
voir to  collect  the  waters  which  form  the  Jordan, 
and  again  to  send  them  forth  in  a  single  stream. 
In  the  spring,  when  the  waters  are  highest,  the 


272.  iFord  of  the  Jordan. . 


lake  is  seven  miles  long  and  three  and  a  half 
broad  ;  but  in  summer  it  becomes  a  mere  marsh, 
lu  some  parts  it  is  sown  with  rice,  and  its  reeds 
and  rushes  afford  shelter  to  wild  hogs. 

The  Lahe  of  Gennesareth,  called  also  the  Sea  of 
Galilee,  and  the  Zake  of  Tiberias.  After  quitting 
the  lake  Merom,  the  river  Jordan  proceeds  for 
about  thirteen  miles  southward,  and  then  enters 
the  great  lake  of  Gennesareth.  This  lake  lies 
very  deep,  among  fruitful  hills  and  mountains, 
from  which,  in  the  rainy  season,  many  rivulets 
descend ;  its  shape  will  be  seen  from  the  map. 
Its  extent  has  been  greatly  over-rated :  Professor 
Kobinson  considers  that  its  length,  in  a  straight 
line,  does  not  exceed  eleven  or  twelve  geographi- 
cal miles,  and  that  its  breadth  is  from  five  to  six 
miles.  From  numerous  indications,  it  is  judged 
that  the  bed  of  this  lake  was  formed  by  some 
ancient  volcanic  eruption,  which  history  has  not 
recorded.  Its  waters  are  very  clear  and  sweet, 
and  contain  various  kinds  of  excellent  fish  in 


great  abundance.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
several  of  the  apostles  were  fishermen  of  this 
lake,  and  that  it  was  also  the  scene  of  several 
transactions  in  the  life  of  Christ.  The  borders 
of  the  lake  were  in  the  time  of  Christ  well 
peopled,  being  covered  with  numerous  towns 
and  villages;  but  now  they  are  almost  desolate, 
and  the  fish  and  water-fowl  are  but  little  dis- 
turbed. 

The  Dead  Sea,  called  also  the  Salt  Sea,  the  Sea 
of  Sodoin,  and  the  Asphaltic  Lake  {Lucus  As- 
phaltites),  is  from  its  size  the  most  important, 
and  from  its  history  and  qualities  the  most  re- 
markable, of  all  the  lakes  of  Palestine.  It  is 
now  thought  probable  that  before  the  destruction 
of  the  cities  of  the  plain,  a  lake  existed,  which,  as 
now,  received  the  river  Jordan,  but  that  an  en- 
croachment of  the  waters,  southward,  took  place 
when  these  cities  were  destroyed,  overwhelming 
a  beautiful  and  well-watered  plain  which  lay  on 
the  southern  border  of  the  lake,  and  on  which 


638  PALESTINE 

Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah,  Zeboim,  and  Zoar 
were  situated. 

The  Dead  Sea  is  about  thirty-nine  or  forty 
geographical  miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and 
nine  or  ten  miles  wide  from  east  to  west ;  and  it 
lies  embedded  very  deep  between  lofty  cliffs  on 
the  western  side,  which  are  about  1 500  feet  high, 
and  mountains  on  the  eastern  shore,  the  highest 
ridges  of  which  are  reckoned  to  be  from  2000  to 
2500  feet  above  the  water.  The  water  of  the 
lake  is  much  Salter  than  that  of  the  sea.  From 
the  quantity  of  salt  which  the  water  holds  in 
solution  it  is  thick  and  heavy,  and  no  fish  can 
live,  or  marine  plants  grow  in  it.  Lying  in  its 
deep  cauldron,  surrounded  by  lofty  cliffs  of  naked 
limestone  rock,  exposed  for  seven  or  eight  months 
in  the  year  to  the  unclouded  beams  of  a  burning 
sun,  nothing  but  sterility  and  solitude  can  be 
looked  for  upon  its  shores ;  and  nothing  else  is 
actually  found,  except  in  those  parts  where  there 
are  fountains  or  streams  of  fresh  water ;  in  all 
which  places  there  is  a  fertile  soil  and  abundant 
vegetation.  Birds  also  abound,  and  they  are 
observed  to  fly  over  and  across  the  sea  without 
being,  as  old  stories  tell,  injured  or  killed  by  its 
exhalations. 

On  the  borders  of  this  lake  is  found  much  sul- 
phur, in  pieces  as  large  as  walnuts,  and  even 
larger.  There  is  also  a  black  shining  stone, 
which  will  partly  burn  in  the  fire,  and  which 
then  emits  a  bituminous  smell :  this  is  the  '  stink- 
stone  '  of  Burckhardt.  At  Jerusalem  it  is  made 
into  rosaries  and  toys,  of  which  great  quantities 
are  sold  to  the  pilgrims  who  visit  the  sacred 
places.  Another  remarkable  production  found 
here,  from  which,  indeed,  the  lake  takes  one  of 
its  names,  is  asphaltiim,  or  bitumen.  Josephus 
says,  that '  the  sea  in  many  places  sends  up  black 
masses  of  aspbaltum,  which  float  upon  the  sur- 
face, having  the  size  and  shape  of  headless  oxen.' 
From  recent  information  it  appears  that  large 
masses  are  rarely  found,  and  then  generally  after 
earthquakes.  The  substance  is  doubtless  pro- 
duced from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  in  which  it 
coagulates,  and  rises  to  the  surface ;  or  possibly 
the  coagulation  may  have  been  ancient,  and  the 
substance  adheres  to  the  bottom  until  detached 
by  earthquakes  and  other  convulsions,  when  its 
buoyancy  brings  it  to  the  surface.  We  know 
that  'the  vale  of  Siddim'  (Gen.  xiv.  10)  was 
anciently  '  full  of  slime-pits'  or  sources  of  bitu- 
men ;  and  these,  now  under  the  water,  probably 
supply  the  asphaltum  which  is  found  on  such 
occasions. 

Climate  and  Seasons.— The  variations  of 
sunshine  and  rain  which,  with  us,  extend  through- 
out the  year,  are  in  Palestine  confined  chiefly  to 
the  latter  part  of  autumn  and  the  winter.  During 
all  the  rest  of  the  year  the  sky  is  almost  uninter- 
ruptedly cloudless,  and  rain  very  rarely  falls. 

The  autumnal  rains  usually  commence  at  the 
latter  end  of  October,  or  beginning  of  November, 
not  suddenly,  but  by  degrees ;  which  gives  op- 
portunity to  the  husbandman  to  sow  his  wheat 
and  barley.  During  the  months  of  November 
and  December  the  rains  continue  to  fall  heavily ; 
afterwards  they  return  at  longer  intervals,  and 
are  not  so  heavy ;  but  at  no  period  during  the 
winter  do  they  entirely  cease  to  occur.  Rain 
continues  to  fall  more  or  less  during  the  month 
of  March,  but  is  afterwards  very  rare.     Morning 


PALESTINE 

mists  occur  as  late  as  May,  but  rain  almost  never. 
Rain  in  the  time  of  harvest  was  as  incompre- 
hensible to  an  ancient  Jew  as  snow  in  summer 
(Prov.  xxvi.  I;  1  Sam.  xii.  17;  Amos  iv.  7). 
'The  '  early  '  and  the  '  latter  '  rains,  for  which  the 
Jewish  husbandmen  awaited  with  longing  (Prov. 
xvi.  15  ;  James  v.  7),  seem  to  have  been  the  first 
showers  of  autumn,  which  revived  the  parched 
and  thirsty  soil,  and  prepared  it  for  the  seed ;  and 
the  later  showers  of  spring,  which  continued  to 
refresh  and  forward  the  ripening  crops  and  the 
vernal  products  of  the  fields. 

The  cold  of  winter  is  not  severe,  and  the  ground 
is  never  frozen.  Snow  falls  more  or  less,  but 
even  in  the  higher  lands  it  does  not  lie  long  on 
the  ground.  'Thunder  and  lightning  are  frequent 
in  the  winter. 

In  the  plains  and  valleys  the  heat  of  summer 
is  oppressive,  but  not  in  the  more  elevated  tracts, 
as  at  Jerusalem,  except  when  the  south  wind  {Si- 
rocco) blows  (Luke  xii.  55).  In  such  high 
grounds  the  nights  are  cool,  often  with  heavy 
dew.  The  total  absence  of  rain  in  summer  soon 
destroys  the  verdure  of  the  fields,  and  gives  to 
the  general  landscape,  even  in  the  high  country, 
an  aspect  of  drought  and  barrenness.  No  green 
thing  remains  but  the  foliage  of  the  scattered 
fruit-trees,  and  occasional  vineyards  and  fields  of 
millet.  In  autumn  the  whole  land  becomes  dry 
and  parched  ;  the  cisterns  are  nearly  empty,  and 
all  nature,  animate  and  inanimate,  looks  forward 
with  longing  for  tlie  return  of  the  rainy  season. 

In  the  hill-country  the  season  of  harvest  is 
later  than  in  the  plains  of  the  Jordan  and  of  the 
sea-coast.  The  barley -harvest  is  about  a  foi-t- 
night  earlier  than  that  of  wheat.  In  the  plain  of 
the  Jordan  tlie  wheat -harvest  is  early  in  May  ;  in 
the  plains  of  the  Coast  and  of  Esdraelon  it  is 
towards  the  latter  end  of  that  month;  and  in  the 
hills,  not  until  June.  The  general  vintage  is  in 
September,  but  the  first  grapes  ripen  in  July,  and 
from  that  time  the  towns  are  well  supplied  with 
this  fruit. 

The  climate  of  Palestine  has  always  been  con- 
sidered healthy,  and  the  inhabitants  have  for  the 
most  part  lived  to  a  good  old  age  (Tacit.  Hist. 
V.  6).  Jerusalem,  in  particular,  from  its  great 
elevation,  clear  sky  and  invigorating  atmosphere, 
should  be  a  healthy  place,  and  so  it  is  generally 
esteemed  ;  but  the  plague  frequently  appears 
among  its  ill-fed  and  uncleanly  population  ;  and 
bilious  fevers,  the  result  of  great  and  sudden 
vicissitudes  of  temperature,  are  more  common 
than  might  be  expected  in  such  a  situation. 

Inhabitants. — Under  this  head  we  present 
the  reader  -with  the  following  observations  of 
Dr.  Olin  (  Travels,  ii.  438,  439) :— '  The  inha- 
bitants of  Palestine  are  Arabs ;  that  is,  they  speak 
the  Arabic,  though,  with  slight  exceptions,  they  are 
probably  all  descendants  of  the  old  inhabitants 
of  Syria.  They  are  a  fine,  spirited  race  of  men, 
and  gave  Mohammed  Ali  much  trouble  in  sub- 
duing them,  and  still  more  in  retaining  them  in 
subjection.  They  are  said  to  be  industrious  for 
Orientals,  and  to  have  the  right  elements  for 
becoming,  under  better  auspices,  a  civilized  in- 
tellectual nation The  mercantile  class  is 

said  to  be  little  respected,  and  generally  to  lack 
integrity.  Veracity  is  held  very  lightly  by  all 
classes.  The  people  are  commonly  temperate 
and  frugal,  which  may  be  denominated  Oriental 


PALESTINE 

virtues.  Their  situation,  with  regard  to  the  phy- 
sical means  of  comfort  and  subsistence,  is,  in 
many  respects,  favourable,  and  under  a  tolerable 
government  would  be  almost  unequalled.  As  it 
is,  the  Syrian  peasant  and  his  family  fare  much 
better  than  the  labouring  classes  of  Europe. 
The  people  almost  always  appear  well  clothed. 
Their  houses,  too,  though  often  of  a  slight  con- 
struction and  mean  appearance,  must  be  pro- 
nounced commodious  when  compared  with  the 
dark,  crowded  apartments  usually  occupied  by 
the  corresponding  classes  in  Europe.  Agricul- 
tural wages  vary  a  good  deal  in  diftV rent  parts 
of  the  country,  but  I  had  reason  to  conclude  that 
the  average  was  not  less  than  three  or  four  piasters 
per  day.'  With  all  these  advantages  population 
is  on  the  decline,  arising  from  polygamy,  military 
conscription,  unequal  and  oppressive  taxation, 
forced  labour,  general  insecurity  of  property,  the 
discouragement  of  industry,  and  the  plague. 

Natural  History. — As  all  the  objects  of 
natural  history,  mentioned  in  Scripture,  are  in 
tlie  present  work  examined  under  the  proper 
heads  with  unexampled  care  and  completeness, 
by  writers  eminent  m  their  several  departments, 
it  is  unnecessary  in  this  place  to  go  over  the 
ground  which  has  been  so  advantageously  pre- 
occupied. It  may  suffice  to  mention  the  follow- 
ing facts  in  respect  to  the  actual  natural  history 
of  the  country. — The  olive  certainly  was,  and 
still  continues  to  be,  the  chief  of  all  the  trees  of 
Palestine,  which  seems  to  be  its  natural  home. 
Excellent  oil  is  still  obtained  from  the  fruit.  But 
although  the  pre-eminence  among  the  trees  of 
Palestine  must  be  assigned  to  the  olive,  jig-trees 
also  occur  in  great  numbers,  and  the  plantations 
sometimes  cover  large  tracts  which  the  eye  can 
scarcely  embrace.  The  fruit  has  a  peculiarly 
pleasant  flavour,  and  an  aromatic  sweetness,  but 
is  generally  smaller  than  that  of  Smyrna.  The 
vine,  which  is  now  only  found  in  some  districts 
of  Palestine,  is  not  surpassed  by  any  on  earth  for 
the  strength  of  its  juice,  and— at  least  in  the 
southern  mountains — for  the  size  and  abundance 
of  the  grapes. 

The  first  tree  whose  blossoms  appear  prior  to 
the  period  of  the  latter  rains,  and  open  in  the 
very  deep  valleys  before  the  cold  days  of  February 
set  in,  is  the  Luz  or  almond-tree.  In  March,  the 
fruit-trees  are  in  blossom,  among  which  are  the 
apricot,  the  apple,  and  the  pear;  in  April  the 
purple  of  the  pomegranate  flowers  combines  with 
the  white  of  the  myrtle  blossoms ;  and  at  the 
same  period  the  roses  of  the  country,  and  the 
variegated  ladanes  (Cistus) ;  the  zukkmi-tree 
(Eiseagnus  angustifolius),  the  storax-tree,  whose 
flowers  resemble  those  of  the  German  jasmine 
(Philadelphus  coronarius),  emit  their  fragrant 
odours.  The  palm-tree  is  not  now  seen  in  the 
interior  of  the  country  ;  but  it  thrives  well  in  the 
low  lands  near  the  coast.  The  tall  cypress  only 
exists  in  Palestine,  as  cultivated  by  man,  in 
gardens,  and  in  cemeteries,  and  other  open  places 
of  towns.  But  as  the  spontaneous  growth  of  the 
country,  we  find  upon  the  heights  and  swelling 
hills  the  azarole  (Crataegus  azarolus),  the  walnut- 
tree,  the  strawberry-tree,  the  laurel-tree,  the  lau- 
restinus,  species  of  the  pistachio  and  terebinth 
trees,  of  evergreen  oaks,  and  of  the  rhamnus  of 
the  size  of  trees  and  shrubs,  the  cedrine  juniper- 
tree,  and  some  sorts  of  thymelseus  ;  while  on  the 


PALESTINE  6S9 

formerly  wooded  heights  various  kinds  of  pine- 
trees,  large  and  small,  still  maintain  their  ground. 
The  sycamore,  the  carob  trees,  and  the  opuntia 
fig-trees,  are  only  found  as  objects  of  cultivation 
in  or  near  towns ;  and  orchards  of  orange  and 
lemon  trees  occur  chiefly  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Nabulus  (Shechem). 

The  various  kinds  of  corn  grow  spontaneously 
in  great  plenty  in  many  districts,  chiefly  in  the 
plains  of  Jezreel  and  the  heights  of  Galilee,  being 
the  wild  progeny  of  formerly  cultivated  fields, 
and  bearing  testimony  by  their  presence  to  the 
fitness  of  the  soil  for  the  production  of  grain.  In 
addition  to  wheat  and  barley,  among  this  wild 
growth,  the  common  rye  was  often  seen.  The 
present  course  of  agriculture,  which  is  but  care- 
lessly practised,  comprises  nearly  the  same  kinds 
of  grain  which  are  grown  in  Egypt.  Fields  are 
seen  covered  with  the  dhurah,  or  Holchus 
sorghum.  Maize,  spelt,  and  barley  thrive  every- 
where ;  and  rice  is  produced  on  the  Upper  Jordan 
and  the  marshy  borders  of  the  lake  Merom.  Upon 
the  Jordan,  near  Jacob's  bridge,  may  be  seen  fine 
tail  specimens  of  the  papyrus  reed.  Of  pulse  the 
inhatiitants  grow  the  chick  pea,  the  blue  chickling 
vetch,  the  Egyptian  bean,  the  kidney  bean,  the 
yilban  (Lathy russativus),  together  with  the  lentil, 
and  the  grey  or  field  pea.  Of  esculent  vegetables, 
the  produce  of  the  various  species  of  hibiscus  are 
much  liked  and  cultivated.  In  some  places  the 
Christian  inhabitants  or  Franks  are  endeavouring 
to  introduce  the  potato.  In  the  garden  of  the  j 
monasteries  tlie  artichoke  is  very  common :  in 
most  districts,  as  about  Nabulus  (Shechem),  the 
water-melon  and  cucumber  are  very  common. 
Hemp  is  more  generally  grown  in  Palestine 
than  flax ;  and  in  favourable  localities  cotton  is 
cultivated,  and  also  madder  for  dyeing. 

Herds  of  black  cattle  are  now  but  rarely  seen 
in  Palestine.     The  ox  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Jerusalem   is  small  and  unsightly,  and  beef  or 
veal  is  but  rarely  eaten.     But  in  the  northern 
parts  of  the  country  the  ox  thrives  better  and  is 
more  frequently  seen.     The  buffalo  thrives  upon 
the  coast,  and  is  there  equal  in  size  and  strength 
to  the  buffalo  of  Egypt.     Sheep  and  goats  are 
still  seen  in  great  numbers  in  all  parts  of  the 
country :  their   flesh   and  milk  serve  for  daily 
food,  and  their  wool  and  hair  for  clothing.     The 
common  sort  of  sheep  in  Palestine  manifest  the 
tendency  to  form  a  fat  and  large  tail.    The  long- 
eared  Syrian  goat  is  furnished  with  hair  of  con-    i 
siderable  fineness,  but  seemingly  not  so  fine  as    j 
that  of  the  same  species  of  goat  in  Asia  Minor,    j 
Of  animals  of  the  deer  kind,  Schubert  saw  only    i 
the  female  of  the  fallow-deer ;  but  several  species    i 
of  antelopes  are  met  with  in  the  country.  I 

Camels  are  not  reared  to  any  extent  worth 
mentioning.  Palestine  cannot  boast  of  its  native 
breed  of  horses,  although  tine  animals  of  beautiful 
shape,  and  apparently  of  high  Arabian  race,  are 
not  unfrequently  seen.  The  ass  of  the  country 
scarcely  takes  higher  relative  rank  than  the 
horse ;  asses  and  mules  are  still,  however,  much 
used  for  riding,  as  they  afford  a  means  of  loco- 
motion well  suited  to  the  difficult  mountain  paths 
of  the  country.  Boars  are  very  often  observed 
upon  Mount  Tabor  and  the  Lesser  Hermon,  as 
well  as  on  the  woody  slopes  of  Mount  Carmel. 
Among  indigenous  animals  of  the  genus ^eZis,  we 
may  name  the  common  panther,  which  is  found 


640 


PALM-TREE 


among  the  mountains  of  central  Palestine ;  and 
in  the  genus  canis  there  is  the  small  Abul  JShos- 
sei/n,  or  Canis  famelicus,  and  a  kind  of  large  fox 
(Canis  Syriacus).  In  addition  to  these  is  the 
jackal,  -which  is  very  injurious  to  the  flock?. 
The  hyoena  is  found  chiefly  in  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan,  and  in  the  mountains  around  the  lake  of 
Tiberias,  but  is  also  occasionally  seen  in  other 
districts  of  Palestine.  Bears  are  said  to  be  found 
in  the  Anti-Libanus,  not  far  from  Damascus.  A 
hedgehog,  procured  near  Bethlehem,  was  found 
to  resemble  the  common  European  animal,  and 
not  to  be  the  long-eared  Egyptian  species.  The 
hare  is  the  same  as  the  Arabian.  The  porcu- 
pine is  frequently  found  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks. 

Among  the  larger  birds  of  prey  the  common 
vulture  and  the  kite  are  oftenest  seen.  The 
native  wild  dove  differs  not  perceptibly  from  our 
own  species,  which  is  also  the  case  with  the 
shrikes,  crows,  rollers,  and  other  species  found  in 
Palestine. 

Tortoises  are  not  uncommon.  Serpents  are 
rare,  and  none  of  those  which  have  been  observed 
are  poisonous.  The  Janthina  fragilis,  which 
yields  the  common  purple  dye,  has  been  noticed 
near  the  coast.  Among  the  insects  the  bee  is  the 
most  conspicuous.  Mosquitoes  are  somewhat 
troublesome.  Beetles  are  abundant,  and  of  various 
species. 

PALM.     [Weights  and  Measures.] 

PALM-TKEE.  The  family  of  palms  is  cha- 
racteristic of  tropical  countries,  and  but  few  of 
them  extend  into  northern  latitudes.  In  the  old 
world,  the  species  P.  dacti/lifera,  genus  Phoenix, 
is  that  found  farthest  north.  It  spreads  along 
the  course  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris  across  to 
Palmyra  and  the  Syrian  coast  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean. It  has  been  introduced  into  the  south  of 
Spain,  and  thrives  well  at  Malaga ;  and  is  also 
cultivated  at  Bordaghiere  in  the  south  of  France, 
chiefly  on  account  of  its  leaves,  which  are  sold  at 
two  periods  of  the  year,  in  Spring  for  Palm  Sun- 
day, and  again  at  the  Jewish  Passover. 

The  peculiarities  of  the  palm-tree  are  such  that 
they  could  not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
writers  of  any  country  where  it  is  indigenous, 
and  especially  from  its  being  an  indication  of  the 
vicinity  of  water  even  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
desert  country.  Its  roots,  though  not  penetrat- 
ing very  deep,  or  spreading  very  wide,  yet  sup- 
port a  stem  of  considerable  height,  which  is  re- 
markable for  its  uniformity  of  thickness  through- 
out. The  centre  of  this  lofty  stem,  instead  of 
being  the  hardest  part,  as  in  other  trees,  is  soft 
and  spongy,  and  the  bundles  of  woody  fibres 
successively  produced  in  the  interior  are  regu- 
larly pushed  outwards,  until  the  outer  part  be- 
comes the  most  dense  and  hard,  and  is  hence 
most  fitted  to  answer  the  purposes  of  wood.  The 
outside,  though  devoid  of  branches,  is  marked 
with  a  number  of  protuberances,  which  are  the 
points  of  insertion  of  former  leaves.  These  are 
from  four  to  six  and  eight  feet  in  length,  ranged 
in  a  bunch  round  the  top  of  the  stem,  the  younger 
and  softer  being  in  the  centre,  and  the  older  and 
outer  series  hanging  down.  They  are  employed 
for  covering  the  roofs  or  sides  of  houses,  for 
fences,  frame-work,  mats,  and  baskets.  The 
male  and  female  flowers  being  on  different  trees, 
the  latter  require  to  be  fecundated  by  the  pollen 
of  the  former  before  the  fruit  can  ripen.    The 


PANNAG 

tender  part  of  the  spatha  of  the  flowers  being 
pierced,  a  bland  and  sweet  juice  exudes,  which 
being  evaporated,  yield  sugar,  and  is  no  doubt 
what  is  alluded  to  in  some  passages  of  Scripture: 
if  it  be  fermented  and  distilled  a  strong  spirit  or 
arak  is  yielded.  The  fruit,  however,  winch  is 
yearly  produced  in  numerous  clusters  and  in  the 
utmost  abundance,  is  its  chief  value ;  for  whole 
tribes  of  Arabs  and  Africans  find  their  chief  sus- 
tenance in  the  date,  of  which  even  the  stony 
seeds,  being  ground  down,  yield  nourishment  to 
the  camel  of  the  desert. 


273.    [1.  Cluster  of  dates ;  2.  flower;  3.  a  date;  4.  sec- 
tion of  the  same.] 

The  palm-tree  is  first  mentioned  in  Exod.  xv. 
27,  when  the  Israelites  encamped  at  Elim,  where 
there  were  twelve  wells  and  threescore  and  ten 
palm-trees.  In  the  present  day  Wady  Ghorendel 
is  found  the  largest  of  the  torrent  beds  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Sinai  peninsula,  and  is  a  valley 
full  of  date-trees,  tamarisks,  &c.  Jericho  was 
called  the  City  of  Palm-Trees,  no  doubt  from 
the  locality  being  favourable  to  their  growth. 
Mariti  and  Shaw  describe  them  as  still  existing 
there,  though  in  diminished  numbers.  The  palm- 
tree  was  considered  characteristic  of  Judsea,  not 
so  much  probably  because  it  was  more  abundant 
there  than  in  other  countries,  but  because  that 
was  the  first  country  where  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  would  meet  with  it  iu  proceeding  south- 
ward. Hence  the  coins  of  the  Roman  conquerors 
of  Juda;a  have  inscribed  on  them  a  weeping 
female  sitting  under  a  palm-tree,  with  the  in- 
scription '  Judsea  capta.' 

PALSY.    [Diseases.] 

PAMPHYL'IA,  a  province  in  the  southern 
part  of  Asia  Minor,  having  the  Mediterranean 
on  the  south,  Cilicia  on  the  east,  Pisidia  on  the 
north,  and  Lycia  on  the  west.  It  was  nearly 
opposite  the  island  of  Cyprus ;  and  the  sea  be- 
tween the  coast  and  the  island  is  called  in  Acts 
the  sea  of  Pamphylia.  The  chief  cities  of  this 
province  were  Perga  and  Attalia.  Christianity 
was  probably  first  preached  in  this  country  by 
some  of  the  Jewish  proselytes  who  were  converted 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  10,  15,  38).  It 
was  afterwards  visited  by  Paul  and  Barnabas 
(Acts  xiii.  13). 

PAN'NAG  occurs  only  once  in  Scripture,  but 
so  much  uncertainty  exists  respecting  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word,  that  in  many  translations,  as,  for 
instance,  in  the  Authorized  English  Version,  the 


PARABLE 

original  is  retained.  Thus  in  the  account  of  the 
commerce  of  Tyre,  it  is  stated  in  Ezek.  xxvii. 
17,  'Judah  and  the  land  of  Israel,  they  -were  thy 
merchants;  they  traded  in  thy  markets  wheat 
of  Minnith.  and  Pannag,  and  oil,  and  honey,  and 
balm  '  (Izeri,  translated  also  rosin  in  the  margin 
nf  the  English  liible").  From  the  context  it  is 
evident  that  wheat,  oil,  and  honey,  were  conveyed 
by  Judah  and  Israel,  that  is,  the  products  of  their 
country  as  an  agricultural  people,  as  articles  of 
traffic  to  the  merchants  and  manufacturers  of 
Tyre,  who,  it  is  certain,  must,  from  their  insular 
position,  have  obtained  their  chief  articles  of 
diet  from  the  neighbouring  land  of  Syria.  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  pannng  and  tzeri,  what- 
ever they  may  have  been,  were  the  produce  of 
Palestine,  or  at  least  of  Syria.  Some  have  con- 
sidered pannag  to  indicate  balsam,  others  cassia, 
and  some  again  sweetmeats.  The  Syrian  version 
renders  it  by  a  word  which  signifies  millet.  The 
variety  and  conflicting  character  of  these  inter- 
pretations are  a  sufficient  proof  that  pannag  must 
still  be  considered  undetermined. 

PAPER,  PAPYRUS.     [Writing.] 

PATHOS,  a  city  of  Cyprus,  at  the  western 
extremity  of  the  island,  and  the  seat  of  the 
Roman  governor.  That  officer,  when  Paul 
visited  the  place,  was  named  Sergius  Paulus, 
who  was  converted  through  the  preaching  of  the 
apostle  and  the  miracle  performed  on  Elymas 
(Acts  xiii.  6-11).  Paphos  was  celebrated  for  a 
temple  of  Venus,  whoso  infamous  rites  were  still 
practised  here  400  years  afterwards,  notwith- 
standing the  success  of  Paul,  Barnabas,  and 
others,  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  Paphos  is  now 
a  poor  and  inconsiTlerable  place,  but  gives  its 
name  to  a  Greek  bishopric. 

PARABLE.  The  word  parable  denotes  1.  an 
obscure  or  enigmatical  saying,  e.  g.  Ps.  xlix.  4 ; 
Ixxviii.  2. 

2.  It  denotes  a  fictitious  narrative,  invented  for 
the  purpose  of  conveying  truth  in  a  less  offensive 
or  more  engaging  form  than  that  of  direct  asser- 
tion. Of  this  sort  is  the  parable  by  which  Nathan 
reproved  David  (2  Sam.  xii.  2,  3).  To  this  class 
also  belong  the  parables  of  Christ.  3.  Any  dis- 
course expressed  in  figurative,  poetical,  or  highly 
ornamented  diction  is  called  a  parable.  Thus  it 
is  said.  'Balaam  took  up  his  parable'  (Num. 
xxiii.  7) ;  and,  '  Job  continued  his  parable '  (Job 
xxvii.  1). 

In  the  New  Testament  the  word  seems  to  have 
a  more  restricted  signification,  being  generally 
employed  in  the  .second  sense  mentioned  above, 
viz.,  to  denote  a  fictitious  narrative,  under  which 
is  veiled  some  important  truth.  Another  mean- 
ing which  the  word  occasionally  bears  in  the 
New  Testament  is  that  of  a  type  or  emblem,  as  in 
Heb.  ix.  9,  where  the  original  word  is  rendered 
iu  our  version^^wre. 

The  excellence  of  a  parable  depends  on  the 
propriety  and  force  of  the  comparison  on  which 
it  is  founded ;  on  the  general  fitness  and  harmony 
of  its  parts ;  on  the  obviousness  of  its  main  scope 
or  design ;  on  the  beauty  and  conciseness  of  the 
style  in  which  it  is  expressed ;  and  on  its  adapta- 
tion to  the  circumstances  and  capacities  of  the 
hearers.  If  the  illustration  is  drawn  from  an 
object  obscure  or  little  known,  it  will  throw  no 
light  on  the  point  to  be  illustrated.  If  the  resem- 
blance is  forced  and  inobvious,  the  mind  is  pcr- 


PARADISE  641 

plexed  and  disappointed  in  seeking  for  it  We 
must  be  careful,  however,  not  to  insist  on  too 
minute  a  correspondence  of  the  objects  compared. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  resemblance  will 
hold  good  in  every  particular  ;  but  it  is  sufficient 
if  the  agreement  exists  in  those  points  on  which 
the  main  scope  of  the  parable  depends. 

If  we  test  the  parables  of  the  Old  Testament  by 
the  rules  above  laid  down,  we  shall  not  find  them 
wanting  in  any  excellence  belonging  to  this 
species  of  composition.  What  can  be  more  for- 
cible, more  persuasive,  and  more  beautiful  than  the 
parables  of  Jotham  (Judg.  ix,  7-15),  of  Nathan 
(2  Sam.  xii.  1-14),  of  Isaiah  (v.  1-5),  and  of 
Ezekiel  (xix.  1-9)  ? 

But  the  parables  uttered  by  our  Saviour  claim 
pre-eminence  over  all  others  on  account  of  their 
number,  variety,  appositeness,  and  beauty.  In- 
deed it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  mode  of 
instruction  better  fitted  to  engage  the  attention, 
interest  the  feelings,  and  impress  the  conscience, 
than  that  which  our  Lord  adopted.  Among  its 
advantages  may  be  mentioned  the  following: — 
1.  It  secured  the  attention  of  multitudes  who 
would  not  have  listened  to  truth  conveyed  in  the 
form  of  abstract  propositions. 

2.  This  mode  of  teaching  was  one  with  which 
the  Jews  were  familiar  and  for  which  they  enter- 
tained a  preference. 

3.  Some  truths  whicti,  if  openly  stated,  would 
have  been  opposed  by  a  barrier  of  prejudice,  were 
in  this  way  insinuated,  as  it  were,  into  men's 
minds,  and  secured  their  assent  unawares. 

4.  The  parabolic  style  was  well  adapted  to 
conceal  Christ's  meaning  from  those  who,  through 
obstinacy  and  perverseness,  were  indisposed  to 
receive  it.  This  is  the  meaning  of  Isaiah  in  the 
passage  quoted  in  Matt.  xiii.  13.  Not  that  the 
truth  was  ever  hidden  from  those  who  sincerely 
sought  to  Itnowit;  but  it  was  wrapped  in  just 
enough  of  obscurity  to  veil  it  from  those  who 
*had  pleasure  in  unrighteousness,'  and  who 
would  'not  come  to  the  light  lest  their  deeds 
should  be  reproved.'  In  accordance  with  strict 
justice,  such  were  '  given  up  to  strong  delusions, 
that  they  might  believe  a  lie.'  '  With  the  upright 
man  thou  wilt  show  thyself  upright ;  with  thefro- 
ward  thou  wilt  show  ihi/selfj'roward.' 

The  scope  or  design  of  Christ's  parables  is 
sometimes  to  be  gathered  from  his  own  express 
declaration,  as  in  Luke  xii.  16-20;  xiv.  11  ;  xvi. 
9.  In  other  cases  it  must  be  sought  by  consider- 
ing the  context,  the  circumstances  iu  which  it 
was  spoken,  and  the  features  of  the  narrative 
itself,  I.  e.  the  literal  sense.  For  the  right  under- 
standing of  this,  an  acquaintance  with  the  cus- 
toms of  the  people,  with  the  productions  of  their 
country,  and  with  the  events  of  their  history,  is 
often  desirable.  Most  of  our  Lord's  parables, 
however,  admit  of  no  doubt  as  to  their  main 
scope, and  are  so  simple  and  perspicuous  that  'he 
who  runs  may  read,'  '  if  there  be  first  a  willing 
mind.'  To  those  more  difficult  of  comprehension, 
more  thought  and  study  should  be  given,  agree- 
ably to  the  admonition  prefixed  to  some  of  them 
by  our  Lord  himself,  '  Whoso  hearetb,  let  him 
understand.' 

PAR'ADISE,  the  term  which  by  long  and  ex- 
tensive use  has  been  employed  to  designate  the 
Gardes  of  Eden,  the  first  dwelling-place  of  hu- 
man beings.  The  word  was  used  by  Xenophon 
2t 


642  PARADISE 

and   Plutarch    to   signify   an   extensiv*  plot   of 

I  ground,  enclosed  with  a  strong  fence   or  -wall, 

I  abounding  in  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  and   garden 

I  culture,  and  in  which  choice  animals  were  kept 

I  in  different  ways  of  restraint  or  freedom,  accord- 

I  ing   as  they  were    ferocious  or  peaceable ;    thus 

!  answering  very  closely  to  our  English  word  park, 

j  with  the  addition  of  gardens,  a  menagerie,  and  an 


From  its  original  meaning  the  term  came  by 
degrees  to  be  employed  as  a  metaphor  for  the 
abstract  idea  of  exquisite  delight,  and  then  was 
transferred  still  higher  to  denote  the  happiness  of 
the  righteous  in  the  future  state.  Tiie  origin  of 
this  application  must  be  assigned  to  the  Jews  of 
i  the  middle  period  between  the  Old  and  the  New 
i  Testament.  The  Talmudical  writings  contain 
j  frequent  references  to  Paradise  as  the  immortal 
heaven,  to  which  the  spirits  of  the  just  are  ad- 
mitted immediately  upon  the  liberation  from  the 
body. 

Hence  we  see  that  it  was  in  the  acceptation  of 
the  current  Jewish  phraseology  that  the  expres- 
sion was  used  by  our  Lord  and  the  apostles: 
'  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise ;' 
'  He  was  caught  up  into  Paradise  ;'  '  The  tree  of 
life,  which  is  in  the  Paradise  of  my  God '  (Luke 
xxiii.  43;  2  Cor.  xii.  4;  Rev.  ii.  7). 

Eden  is  the  most  ancient  and  venerable  name 
in  geography,  the  name  of  the  first  district  of  the 
earth's  surface  of  which  human  beings  could 
have  any  knowledge. 

All  that  we  know  of  it  goes  to  show  that  Eden 
was  a  tract  of  country  ;  and  that  in  the  most  eli- 
gible part  of  it  was  the  Paradise,  the  garden  of 
all  delights,  in  which  the  Creator  was  pleased  to 
place  his  new  and  pre-eminent  creature,  with  the 
inferior  beings  for  his  sustenance  and  solace. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  exact  geographical 
position  of  Eden,  dissertations  innumerable  have 
been  written.  Many  authors  have  given  descrip- 
tive lists  of  them,  with  arguments  for  and  against 
each.  But  we  more  than  doubt  the  possibility  of 
finding  any  locality  that  will  answer  to  all  the 
conditions  of  the  problem.  That  Phrat  is  the 
Euphrates,  and  Hiddekel  the  Tigris,  is  agreed, 
with  scarcely  an  exception ;  but  in  determining 
the  two  other  rivers,  great  diversity  of  opinion 
exists;  and,  to  our  apprehension,  satisfaction  is 
and  must  remain  unattainable,  from  the  impossi- 
bility of  making  the  evidence  to  cohere  in  all  its 
parts.  It  has  been  remarked  that  this  difficulty 
might  have  been  expected,  and  is  obviously  pro- 
bable, from  the  geological  changes  that  may  have 
taken  place,  and  especially  in  connL'Ctioii  with  the 
deluge.  This  remark  would  not  be  applicable, 
to  the  extent  that  is  necessary  for  the  argument, 
except  upon  the  supposition  before  mentioned, 
that  the  earlier  parts  of  the  book  of  Genesis  con- 
sist of  primeval  documents,  even  antediluvian, 
and  that  this  is  one  of  theui.  There  is  reason  to 
think  that  since  the  deluge  the  face  of  the  country 
cannot  have  undergone  any  change  approaching 
to  what  the  hypothesis  of  a  postdiluvian  composi- 
tion would  require.  But  we  think  it  highly  pro- 
bable that  the  principal  of  the  immediate  causes 
of  the  deluge,  the  '  breaking  up  of  the  fountains 
of  the  great  deep,'  was  a  subsidence  of  a  large 
part  or  parts  of  the  land  between  the  inhabited 
tract  (which  we  humbly  venture  to  place  in  E. 
long,  from  Greenwich,  30°  to  90°,  and  N,  lat.  25° 


PARADISE 

to  40°)  and  the  sea  which  lay  to  the  south ;  or  an 
elevation  of  the  bed  of  that  sea.  Either  of  these 
occurrences,  produced  by  volcanic  causes,  or  both 
of  them  conjointly  or  successively,  would  be  ade- 
quate to  the  production  of  the  awful  deluge,  and 
the  return  of  the  waters  would  be  effected  by  an 
elevation  of  some  part  of  the  district  which  had 
been  submerged;  and  that  part  could  scarcely 
fail  to  be  charged  with  animal  remains.  Now 
the  recent  geological  researches  of  Dr.  Falconer 
and  Capt.  Cautley  have  brought  to  light  bones, 
more  or  less  mineralized,  of  the  giraffe  in  the 
Sewalik  range  of  hills,  which  seems  to  be  a 
branch  of  the  Himalaya,  westward  of  the  river 
Jumna.  But  the  giraffe  is  not  an  animal  that 
can  live  in  a  mountainous  region,  or  even  on  the 
skirts  of  such  a  region;  its  subsistence  and  its 
safety  require  '  an  open  country  and  broad  plains 
to  roam  over.'  The  present  position,  therefore, 
of  these  fossil  remains,  lodged  in  ravines  and 
vales  among  the  peaks,  at  vast  elevations,  leads 
to  the  supposition  of  a  late  elevation  of  extensive 
plains. 

Thus  we  seem  to  have  a  middle  course  pointed 
out  between  the  two  extremes  ;  the  one,  that  by 
the  deluge,  the  ocean  and  the  land  were  made  to 
exchange  places  for  permanency  ;  the  other,  that 
very  little  alteration  was  produced  in  the  con- 
figuration of  the  earth's  surface.  Indeed,  such 
alteration  might  not  be  considerable  in  places 
very  distant  from  the  focus  of  elevation  ;  but  near 
that  central  district  it  could  not  but  be  very  great. 
An  alteration  of  level,  five  hundred  times  less 
than  that  effected  by  the  upthrow  of  the  Hima- 
layas, would  change  the  beds  of  many  rivers,  and 
quite  obliterate  others. 

From  all  we  can  learn,  then,  of  the  Garden  of 
Eden,  it  appears  to  have  been  a  tract  of  country, 
the  finest  imaginable,  lying  probably  between  the 
33rd  and  the  37th  degree  of  N.  latitude,  of  such 
moderate  elevation,  and  so  adjusted,  with  respect 
to  mountain  ranges  and  water-sheds  and  forests, 
as  to  preserve  the  most  agreeable  and  salubrious 
conditions  of  temperature  and  all  atmospheric 
changes.  Its  surface  must  therefore  have  been 
constantly  diversified  by  hill  and  plain.  From 
its  hill-sides,  between  the  croppings  out  of  their 
strata,  springs  trickled  out,  whose  streamlets,  join- 
ing in  their  courses,  formed  at  the  bottom  small 
rivers,  which  again  receiving  other  streams 
(which  had  in  the  same  way  flowed  down  from 
the  higher  grounds),  became,  in  the  bottom  of 
every  valley,  a  more  considerable  river.  These 
valleys  inosculated,  as  must  consequently  their 
contained  streams  ;  wider  valleys  or  larger  plains 
appeared ;  the  river  of  each  united  itself  with  that 
of  its  next  neighbour ;  others  contributed  their 
waters  as  the  augmenting  stream  proceeded ;  and 
finally  it  quitted  the  land  of  Eden,  to  continue  its 
course  to  some  sea,  or  to  lose  its  waters  by  the  eva- 
poration of  the  atmosphere  or  the  absorption  of 
the  sandy  desert.  In  the  finest  part  of  this  land  of 
Eden,  the  Creator  had  formed  an  enclosure,  pro- 
bably by  rocks  and  forests  and  rivers,  and  had 
filled  it  with  every  product  of  nature  conducive 
to  use  and  happiness.  Due  moisture,  of  both  the 
ground  and  the  air,  was  preserved  by  the  stream- 
lets from  the  nearest  hills,  and  the  rivulets  from 
the  more  distant ;  and  such  streamlets  and  rivu- 
lets, collected  according  to  the  levels  of  the  sur- 
rounding country  ('it  proceeded  from  Eden'j 


PARTHIA 

flowed  oif  afterwards  in  four  larger  streams,  each 
of  which  thus  became  the  source  of  a  great  river. 

With  regard  to  its  locality,  after  the  explica- 
tion we  have  given  it  may  seem  the  most  suitable 
to  look  for  the  site  of  Paradise  on  the  south  of 
Armenia.  From  this  opinion  few,  we  think,  will 
dissent. 

PA'EAN,  a  name  which  seems  to  be  applied  in 
Scripture  to  the  whole  of  the  desert  region  extend- 
ing from  the  frontiers  of  Judah  to  the  borders  of 
Sinai.  The  name  is  still  preserved  in  that  of 
Wady  Feiran,  a  valley  of  the  lower  Sinai, 
through  which  lay  the  road  which  appears  to 
have  been  taken  by  the  Israelites  in  their  march 
to  the  upper  region.  In  this  valley  there  are  ruins 
of  a  town,  and  indeed  of  more  than  one,  with 
towers,  aqueducts,  and  sepulchral  excavations ; 
and  here  Riippell  found  the  remains  of  a  church, 
which  he  assigns  to  the  fifth  century.  This  was 
the  Pharan  or  Faran  which  had  a  Christian  po- 
pulation, and  was  the  seat  of  a  bishopric  so  early 
as  A.D.  400. 

PARCHMENT.    [Writing.] 

PARLOUR.    [HocsE.] 

PAR'MEN  AS,  one  of  the  seven  first  deacons  of 
the  church  formed  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  vi.  5). 
Nothing  more  is  known  of  him ;  but  the  Roman 
martyrologies  allege  that  he  sufiiered  martyrdom 
under  Trajan. 

PAR'THI  A,  the  country  of  the  Parthians,  men- 
tioned in  Acts  ii.  9,  as  being,  with  their  neigh- 
bours the  Medes  and  Elamites,  present  at  Jeru- 
salem on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  persons  re- 
ferred to  were  Jews  from  Parthia,  and  the  passage 
is  a  strong  evidence  showing  how  widely  spread 
were  members  of  the  Hebrew  family  in  the  first 
century  of  our  era.  The  term  originally  referred 
to  a  small  mountainous  district  lying  to  the  north- 
east of  Media.  Afterwards  it  came  to  be  applied 
to  the  great  Parthian  kingdom,  into  which  this 
province  expanded.  Parthia  Proper,  or  Ancient 
Parthia,  lying  between  Aria  and  Hyrcania,  the 
residence  of  a  rude  and  poor  tribe,  and  traversed 
by  bare  mountains,  woods,  aqd  sandy  steppes, 
formed  a  part  of  the  great  Persian  monarchy, 
being  a  dependency  on  the  satrapy  of  Hyrcania. 
Its  inhabitants  were  of  Scythian  origin.  They 
formed  a  part  of  the  army  of  Xerxes,  and  were 
found  in  that  of  the  last  Darius.  In  the  breaking 
up  of  the  kingdom  of  Alexander  the  Parthians 
took  sides  with  Eumenes,  and  became  subject  to 
Antigonus  and  the  Seleucidse.  About  256  years 
before  Christ  Arsaces  rose  against  the  Syro-Mace- 
douian  power,  and  commenced  a  new  dynasty  in 
his  own  person,  designated  by  the  title  of  Arsa- 
cid£E.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  great  Par- 
thian empire,  which  extended  itself  in  the  early 
days  of  Christianity  over  all  the  provinces  of  what 
had  been  the  Persian  kingdom,  having  the  Eu- 
phrates for  its  western  boundary,  by  which  it  was 
separated  from  the  dominions  of  Rome.  It  was 
divided  into  eighteen  provinces.  Now  at  peace, 
now  in  bitter  hostilities  with  Rome,  now  the  victor 
and  now  the  vanquished,  the  Parthians  were  never 
subjugated  by  the  Romans.  At  length  Artaxerxes 
founded  a  new  dynasty.  Representing  himself  as 
a  descendant  of  the  ancient  Persian  kings,  and 
calling  upon  the  Persians  to  recover  their  inde- 
pendence, he  raised  a  large  army,  defeated  the 
Parthians  in  a  great  battle,  succeeded  to  all  the 
dominious  of  the  Parthian  kings,  and  founded  the 


PARTRIDGE  643 

new  Persian  empire,  to  the  rulers  of  which  is 
commonly  given  the  name  of  the  Sassanida).  The 
government  of  Parthia  was  monarchical ;  but  as 
there  was  no  settled  and  recognised  line  of  suc- 
cession, rival  aspirants  were  constantly  presenting 
themselves,  which  weakened  the  country  with  in- 
ternal broils,  especially  as  the  Romans  saw  it  to 
be  their  interest  to  foster  dissensions  and  encou- 
rage rivalries,  and  led  eventually  to  the  overthrow 
of  the  dynasty  in  the  case  of  the  successful  aspirant 
Artaxerxes.  During  the  Syro-Macedonian  period 
the  Parthian  and  Jewish  history  kept  apart  in 
separate  spheres,  but  under  the  Romans  the  Par- 
thians defended  the  party  of  Antigonus  against 
Hyrcanus,  and  even  took  and  plundered  Jeru- 
salem. 

PARTRIDGE  (1  Sam.  xxvi.  20;  Jer.  xvii. 
11;  Ecclus.  xi.  31).  Late  commentators  state 
that  there  are  four  species  of  the  tetrao  (grouse) 
of  Linnaeus  abundant  in  Palestine ;  the  francolin 
{T.  francolinus),  the  katta  (Jl  alchata),  the  red- 
legged  or  Barbary  partridge  {T.  petrosus),  and 
the  Greek  partridge  (T.  saxatilis).  In  this  now 
obsolete  classification  there  are  included  not  less 
than  three  genera,  according  to  the  more  correct 
systems  of  recent  writers,  and  not  one  strictly  a 
grouse  occurs  in  the  number,  though  the  real  T. 
Urogallus,  or  cock  of  the  woods,  is  reported  to 
frequent  Asia  Minor  in  winter,  and  in  that  case  is 
probably  no  stranger  in  Libanus.  There  is,  how- 
ever, the  genus  Pterocles,  of  which  the  P.  alchata 
is  the  katta,  ganga,  cata,  and  pin-tailed  grouse  of 
authors,  a  species  very  common  in  Palestine,  and 
innumerable  in  Arabia;  but  it  is  not  the  only 
one,  for  the  sand-grouse  of  Latham  (P.  arenarius) 
occurs  in  France,  Spain,  Barbary,  Arabia,  Persia, 
and  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mediterranean,  or  all 
round  Palestine.  P.  Atahicus,  and  probably  P. 
exustus,  or  the  Arabian  and  singed  gangas,  occur 
equally  in  tlie  open  districts  of  the  south,  peopling 
the  desert  along  with  the  ostrich.  All  are  dis- 
tinguished from  other  genera  of  Tetraonida  by 
their  long  and  powerful  wings,  enabling  them  to 
reach  water,  which  they  delight  to  drink  in 
abundance  ;  and  by  this  propensity  they  often  in- 
dicate to  the  thirsty  caravan  in  what  direction  to 
find  relief.  They  feed  more  on  insects,  larvae, 
and  worms  than  on  seeds,  and  none  of  the  species 
having  a  perfect  hind  toe  that  reaches  the  ground, 
they  run  fast :  these  characteristics  are  of  some 
importance  in  determining  whether  they  were 
held  to  be  really  clean  birds,  and  consequently 
could  be  the  selav  of  the  Israelites,  which  our  ver- 
sions have  rendered  '  quail '  [Quail  ;  Unclean 
Birds]. 

The  Francolin  forms  a  second  genus,  whereof 
the  common  tree-partridge  is  the  Syrian  species 
best  known,  though  most  likely  not  the  only  one 
of  that  country.  It  is  larger  than  the  ganga ;  the 
male  is  always  provided  with  one  pair  of  spurs 
(though  others  of  the  genus  have  two),  and  has 
the  tail  longer  than  true  partridges.  This 
species  is  valued  for  the  table,  is  of  handsome 
plumage,  and  common  from  Spain  and  France, 
on  both  sides  of  the  Mediterranean,  eastward  to 
Bengal. 

The  partridge  is  a  third  genus,  reckoning  in 
Syria  the  two  species  before  named,  both  red- 
legged  and  furnished  with  orange  and  black 
crescents  on  the  sides ;  but  the  other  markings 
diifer,  and  the  Barbary  species  is  smaller  than 
2tS 


644 


PASHUK 


the  Greek.  They  are  inferior  in  delicacy  to  the 
common  partridge,  and  it  is  probable  that  Perdix 
lufa,  and  the  Caspian  partridge,  both  resembling 


the  former  in  many  particulars,  are  no  strangers 
in  Syria. 

The  expostulation  of  David  -with  Saul,  where 
he  says,  'The  king  of  Israel  is  come  out  to  seek  a 
flea,  as  when  one  doth  hunt  a  partridge  on  the 
mountains,'  is  perfectly  natural;  for  the  red- 
legged  partridges  are  partial  to  upland  brush- 
wood, which  is  not  an  uncommon  character  of 


the  hills  and  mountains  of  Palestine;  and  the 
koria  sitting  on  her  eggs  and  not  hatching  them 
Jer.  xvii.  11),  we  take  to  allude  to  the  liability 
of  the  nest  being  trodden  under  foot,  or  robbed 
Dy  carnivorous  animals,  notwithstanding  all  the 
care  and  interesting  manoeuvres  of  the  parent 
birds  to  save  it  or  the  brood ;  for  this  genus  is 
monogamous,  nestles  on  the  ground,  and  both 
male  and  female  sit  and  anxiously  watch  over 
t!ie  safety  of  their  young. 

PARVA'IM,  a  region  producing  the  finest  gold 
(2  Chron.  iii.  G).  There  is  very  strong  reason  to 
conclude,  with  Bochart,  that  it  is  the  same  with 
Ophir. 

1.  PASH'UR,  son  of  Immer,  a  priest,  and 
chief  overseer  of  the  Temple,  who  smote  Jeremiah 
and  put  him  in  the  stocks  for  his  prophecies  of 
captivity  and  ruin;  on  which  the  prophet  was 
commissioned  to  declare  that  he  should  be  one  of 
those  to  go  into  exile,  and  that  he  and  all  his 
friends  should  die  in  Babylon,  and  be  buried 
there  (Jer.  xx.  1-6). 

2.  PASHUR,  son  of  Melchiah,  a  high  officer  of 


PASSOVER 

king  Zedekiah,  and  one  of  those  at  whose  in- 
stance Jeremiah  was  cast  into  prison  (Jer.  xxi. 
1  ;  xxxviii.  1-6).  A  descendant  of  his  is  men- 
tioned among  the  new  colonists  of  Jerusalem  after 
the  captivity  (Neh.  xi.  12). 

PASS'OVER.  The  Passover,  like  the  sabbath 
and  other  institutions,  had  a  two-fold  reference — 
historical  and  typical.  As  a  commemorative  in- 
stitution it  was  designed  to  preserve  amongst  the 
Hebrews  a  grateful  sense  of  their  redemption 
from  Egyptian  bondage,  and  of  the  protection 
granted  to  their  first-born  on  the  night  when  all 
the  first-born  of  the  Egyptians  were  destroyed 
(Exod.  xii.  27) ;  as  a  typical  institute  its  object 
was  to  shadow  forth  the  great  facts  and  conse- 
quences of  the  Christian  Sacrifice  (1  Cor.  v.  7). 

The  word  Passover  has  three  general  accept- 
ations in  Scripture.  1st  It  denotes  the  yearly 
solemnity  celebrated  on  the  14th  day  of  Nisan  or 
Abib,  which  was  sti-ictly  the  Passover  of  the 
Lamb,  for  on  that  day  the  Israelites  were  com- 
manded to  roast  the  lamb  and  eat  it  in  their  own 
houses ;  2nd.  It  signifies  that  yearly  festivity, 
celebrated  on  the  15th  of  Nisan,  which  may  be 
called  the  Feast  of  tlie  Passover  (Deut.  xvi.  2 ; 
Num.  xxviii.  16,  17)  ;  3rd.  It  denotes  the  whole 
solemnity,  commencing  on  the  14th,  and  ending 
on  the  21st  day  of  Nisan  (Luke  xxli.  1).  The 
paschal  lamb,  in  the  age  following  the  first  insti- 
tution of  the  Passover  in  Egypt,  and  after  the 
settlement  of  the  Hebrews  in  Palestine,  could 
only  be  killed  by  the  priests  in  the  court  of  the 
temple  (Deut.  xvi.  5-7;  2  Chron.  xxxv.  1-11; 
Lev.  xvii.  3-6),  whence  the  owner  of  the  Iamb 
received  it  from  the  priests,  and  '  brought  it  to 
his  house  in  Jerusalem,  and  roasted  it,  and  ate  it 
in  the  evening ;'  and  it  was  thus  that  Christ  kept 
the  Passover,  eating  it  in  a  chamber  within 
Jerusalem  (Luke  xxii.  7-11);  but  the  feast  of  «n- 
fermcnted  things  (Exod.  xii.  15)  the  Jews  thought 
themselves  bound  to  keep  in  every  place  in  which 
they  might  dwell,  if  they  could  not  visit  Jeru- 
salem. As,  however,  from  the  evening  of  the  )  4th 
to  the  21st  day  of  Abib  or  Nisan  (April),  all  fer- 
ment was  banished  from  the  habitations  of  the 
Hebrews,  both  institutions  thus  received  a  com- 
mon name  (1  Cor.  v.  5,  7,  8,  13). 

On  the  10th  of  the  month  Abib,  the  master  of 
a  family  separated  a  ram  or  a  goat  of  a  year  old, 
withont  blemish  (Exod.  xii.  1-6  ;  1  Pet.  i.  19), 
which  was  slain  on  the  14th  daj',  between  the  two 
evenings,  before  the  altar  (Deut.  xvi.  2,  5,  6).* 


*  The  Jewish  day  had  twelve  hours  (John  xi. 
9),  counting  from  sunrise,  about  six  of  the  clock 
of  our  time.  The  ninth  hour  (or  three  in  the 
afternoon)  was  the  hour  of  prayer,  when  they 
went  into  the  temple,  at  the  daily  evening  sacri- 
fice (Acts  iii.  1).  This  was  the  ordinary  time  for 
the  Passover,  as  appears  from  the  Babylonian 
Talmud.  '  The  daily  evening  sacrifice  was  killed 
at  the  eighth  hour  and  a-half,  and  it  was  offered 
up  at  the  ninth  hour  and  a-half  In  the  evening  of 
the  Passover  it  was  killed  at  the  seventh  hour  and 
a  half,  and  offered  at  the  eighth  hour  and  a-half.' 
Thus  in  the  evening  of  times  (Heb.  i.  2 ;  1  Pet.  i. 
19,  20),  or  last  days,  about  the  same  hour  of  the 
day  when  the  paschal  lamb  was  offered  in  the 
temple,  did  Christ  die  on  Calvary,  so  that  the 
substance  and  the  shadow  corresponded  (Mark 
XV.  25-33). 


PASTURAGE 

Originally  the  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  posts 
of  the  door  (Exod.  xii.  7),  but  afterwards  the 
priests  sprinkled  the  blood  upon  the  bottom  of  the 
altar  (comp.  Deut.  vi.  9  ;  1  Pet.  i.  2 ;  Heb.  -viii. 
10;  ix.  13,  14).  The  ram  or  kid  was  roasted  iu 
an  oven  whole,  with  two  spits  made  of  pome- 
granate wood  thrust  through  it,  the  one  length- 
wise, the  other  transversely  (crossing  the  longi- 
tudinal one  near  the  fore-legs),  thus  forming  a 
cross.  Thus  roasted  with  fire,  as  an  emblem  of 
purification,  it  was  served  up  with  a  bitter  salad 
unpickled,  indicative  of  the  bitterness  of  their 
bondage  in  Egypt,  and  with  the  flesh  of  the  other 
sacrifices  (Deut.  xvi.  2-6).  What  of  the  flesh  re- 
mained uneaten  was  to  be  consumed  with  fire, 
lest  it  should  see  corruption  (comp.  Exod.  xii. 
10;  Ps.  xvi.  10;  Acts  ii.  27).  Not  fewer  than 
ten,  nor  more  than  twenty  persons,  were  admitted 
to  this  sacred  solemnity.  At  its  first  observance 
the  Hebrews  ate  the  Passover  with  loins  girt 
about,  sandals  on  their  feet,  staves  in  their  hands, 
and  in  haste,  like  travellers  equipped  and  pre- 
pared for  immediate  departure  (Exod.  xii.  11); 
but  subsequently  the  usual  mode  of  reclining  was 
adopted  in  token  of  rest  and  security  (John  xiii.  23). 

PASTURAGE.  In  the  first  period  of  their 
history  the  Hebrews  led  an  unsettled  pastoral 
life,  such  as  we  still  find  among  many  Oriental 
tribes.  One  great  object  of  the  Mosaical  polity 
was  to  turn  them  from  this  condition  into  that  of 
fixed  cultivators  of  the  soil.  Pasturage  was, 
however,  only  discouraged  as  a  condition  of  life 
unfriendly  to  settled  habits  and  institutions,  and 
not  as  a  pursuit  connected  with  agriculture. 
Hence,  although  in  later  times  the  principal  at- 
tention of  the  Hebrews  was  given  to  agriculture, 
the  tending  of  sheep  and  cattle  was  not  at  any 
time  neglected. 

The  shepherds  who  move  about  with  their 
flocks  from  one  pasture-groimd  to  another,  ac- 
cording to  the  demands  of  the  season,  the  state  of 
the  herbage,  and  the  supply  of  water,  are  called 
nomades — that  is,  not  merely  shepherds,  but  wan- 
dering shepherds.  They  feed  their  flocks  on  the 
'  commons,'  or  the  deserts  and  wildernesses,  which 
no  settled  or  cultivating  people  have  appropriated. 
At  first,  no  pastoral  tribe  can  have  any  particular 
property  in  such  tracts  of  ground  iu  preference  to 
another  tribe ;  but,  in  the  end,  a  particular  tract 
becomes  appropriated  to  some  one  tribe,  or  section 
of  a  tribe,  either  from  long  occupation,  or  from 
digging  wells  therein.  According  to  the  ideas  of 
the  East,  the  digging  of  a  well  is  so  meritorious 
an  act,  that  he  who  performs  it  acquires  a  property 
in  the  waste-lands  around.  In  the  time  of  the 
patriarchs,  Palestine  was  but  thinly  peopled  by 
the  Cauaanites,  and  ofl'ered  many  such  tracts  of 
unappropriated  grounds  fit  for  pasturage.  In 
these  they  fed  their  flocks,  without  establishing 
any  exclusive  claims  to  the  soil,  until  they  pro- 
ceeded to  dig  wells,  which,  being  considered  as  an 
act  of  appropriation,  was  opposed  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  (Gen.  xxi.  25,  26).  After  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan,  those  Israelites  who  possessed 
large  flocks  and  herds  sent  them  out,  under  the 
care  of  shepherds,  into  the  '  wildernesses,'  or 
commons,  of  the  east  and  south,  where  there 
are  rich  and  juicy  pasturages  during  the  moist 
seasons  of  the  year.  1  Sam.  xvii.  28;  xxv. 
4-15  ;  1  Chron.  xxvii.  29-31  ;  Isa.  Ixv.  10  ; 
Jer,  L  39. 


PAUL 


645 


PA-rARA,  a  port  of  Lycia  in  Asia  Minor, 
■where  Paul,  on  his  voyage  to  Jerusalem,  changed 
his  ship  for  one  bound  to  Phojuicia  (Acts  xxi.  1, 
2).  Patara  was  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Xan- 
thus,  and  had  a  famous  temple  and  oracle  o' 
Apollo. 

PATH'ROS,  a  name  given  to  Egypt,  particu- 
larly Upper  Egypt,  by  the  prophet  Ezekiel  (ch. 
XXIX.  14;  XXX.  14)  [Egypt]. 

PAT'MOS,  a  rocky  and  bare  island  of  the 
JEgezn  Sea,  about  fifteen  miles  in  circumference, 
and  reckoned  as  one  of  the  Sporades.  On  account 
of  its  stern  and  desolate  character,  the  island  was 
used,  under  the  Roman  empire,  as  a  place  of 
banishment,  which  accounts  for  the  exile  of 
John  thither  '  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  '  (Rev. 
i.  9)  [John].  He  was  here  favoured  with  those 
visions  which  are  contained  in  the  Apocalypse, 
and  to  which  the  place  owes  its  Scriptural  in- 
terest. 

On  approaching  the  island  the  coast  is  found 
to  be  high,  and  to  consist  of  a  succession  of  capes, 
which  form  so  many  ports,  some  of  which  are 
excellent.  The  only  one  in  use  is,  however,  a 
deep  bay,  sheltered  by  high  mountains  on  every 
side  but  one,  where  it  is  protected  by  a  projecting 
cape.  The  town  attached  to  this  port  is  situated 
upon  a  high  rocky  mountain,  rising  immediately 
from  the  sea;  and  this,  with  the  Scala  below 
upon  the  shore,  consisting  of  some  shops  and 
houses,  forms  the  only  inhabited  site  of  the 
island. 

Patmos  is  deficient  of  trees,  but  abounds  in 
flowering  plants  and  shrubs.  Walnuts  ^nd  other 
fruit  trees  are  grown  in  the  orchards;  and  the 
wine  of  Patmos  is  the  strongest  and  best  fla- 
voured of  any  in  the  Greek  islands.  Maize 
and  barley  are  cultivated,  but  not  in  a  quantity 
sufficient  for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants,  and  for 
the  supply  of  their  own  vessels  and  others  which 
often  put  in  at  the  great  harbour  for  provisions. 
The  island  now  bears  the  names  of  Patino  and 
Palmosa,  and  the  inhabitants  do  not  exceed  4000 
or  5000,  many  of  whom  are  emigrants  from  the 
neighbouring  continent. 

PAVEMENT.     [Gabbatha.] 

PAVILION.     [Tent.] 

PAUL,  originally  Saul,  was  a  native  of  Tar- 
sus, a  city  of  Cilicia  (Acts  xxii.  3,  &c.),  and  was 
of  Jewish  descent,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  (Phil, 
iii.  5).  From  his  father  he  inherited  the  rights 
of  Roman  citizenship,  which  had  probably  been 
earned  by  some  of  his  ancestry  through  services 
rendered  to  the  Roman  state.  The  supposition 
that  he  enjoyed  them  in  virtue  of  being  a  native 
of  Tarsus  is  not  well  founded. 

At  that  time  Tarsus  was  the  rival  of  Athens 
and  Alexandria  as  a  place  of  learning  and  philo- 
sophical research ;  but  to  what  extent  the  future 
'  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles '  enjoyed  the  advantage 
of  its  schools  we  have  no  means  of  accurately 
determining.  It  must  be  allowed,  however,  that 
the  mere  circumstance  of  having  spent  his  early 
years  in  such  a  city  as  Tarsus  could  not  but  exert 
a  very  powerful  influence  on  the  mind  of  such  a 
man  as  Paul,  in  the  way  of  sharpening  his  facul- 
ties, refining  his  tastes,  and  enlarging  the  circle 
of  his  sympathies  and  aSections. 

But  whatever  uncertainty  may  hang  over  the 
early  studies  of  the  Apostle  in  the  department  of 
Greek  learning,  there  caabe  no  doubt  (hat,  beiog 


646  PAUL 

the  son  of  a  Pharisee,  and  destined,  in  all  proba- 
bility, from  his  infancy  to  the  pursuits  of  a  doctor 
of  Jewish  law,  he  would  be  carefully  instructed 
from  his  earliest  years  in  the  elements  of  Rabbi- 
nical lore.  It  is  probable  also  that  at  this  time 
he  acquired  his  skill  in  that  handicraft  trade  by 
which  in  later  years  he  frequently  supported 
himself  (Acts  xvii.  3;  1  Cor.  iv.  12,  &c.)  ;  for 
it  was  a  maxim  among  the  Jews,  that  '  he  who 
does  not  teach  his  son  a  trade,  teaches  him  to 
steal.' 

At  the  proper  age  (supposed  to  be  after  he  was 
fourteen  years  old),  the  Apostle  proceeded  to 
Jerusalem,  to  prosecute  his  studies  in  the  learning 
of  the  Jews.  Here  he  became  a  student  under 
Gamaliel,  a  distinguished  teacher  of  the  law,  and 
who  is  supposed  to  be  the  person  of  that  name  who 
is  celebrated  in  the  writings  of  the  Talmudists  as 
one  of  the  seven  teachers  to  whom  the  title  '  Rab- 
ban  '  was  given.  Besides  acquaintance  with  the 
^Jewish  law,  and  a  sincere  conviction  of  the 
supreme  excellence  of  Judaism,  Gamaliel  appears 
to  have  possessed  a  singularly  calm  and  judicious 
mind,  and  to  have  exercised  a  freedom  of  thought 
as  well  as  pursued  a  range  of  study  very  unlike 
what  was  common  among  the  party  to  which  he 
belonged  (Acts  v.  34-39).  It  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  instructions  and  example  of  such  a 
teacher  must  have  exercised  a  powerful  influence 
01)  the  mind  of  the  future  Apostle. 

We  now  approach  the  period  in  Paul's  history 
when  he  becomes  a  prominent  figure  on  the  page 
of  the  sacred  historian,  and  when,  consequently, 
the  facts  of  his  life  can  be  more  confidently  nar- 
rated. He  is  introduced  to  our  notice  by  the 
sacred  historian  for  the  first  time  in  connection 
with  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen,  in  which  trans- 
action he  was,  if  not  an  assistant,  something  more 
than  a  mere  spectator.  Immediately  after  this 
event  he  is  represented  as  sharing  the  counsels  of 
the  chief  priests,  and  as  intrusted  by  them  with 
the  entire  responsibility  of  executing  their  designs 
against  the  followers  of  Jesus  (Acts  xxvi.  10,  1'2). 
For  such  a  task  he  showed  a  painful  aptitude,  and 
discharged  it  with  a  zeal  which  spared  neither 
age  nor  sex  (Acts  viii.  1-3;  xxvi.  10,  11'^  But 
whilst  thus,  in  his  ignorance  and  unbelief,  he  was 
seeking  to  be  '  injurious '  to  the  cause  of  Christ, 
the  great  Author  of  Christianity  was  about  to 
make  him  a  distinguished  trophy  of  its  power,  and 
one  of  the  most  devoted  and  successful  of  its  ad- 
vocates. Whilst  journeying  to  Damascus,  with 
a  commission  from  the  high  priest,  to  arrest  and 
bring  back  as  pr'soners  to  Jerusalem  the  Chris- 
tians who  had  escaped  thither  from  the  fury  of 
their  persecutors,  and  when  he  had  almost  com- 
pleted his  journey,  he  was  suddenly  arrested  by  a 
miraculous  vision  of  Christ,  who  addressing  him 
from  heaven,  demanded  the  reason  of  his  furious 
zeal,  in  the  remarkable  words,  '  Saul,  Saul,  why 
persecutest  thou  me  ?'  Struck  to  the  ground  by 
the  suddenness  and  overwhelming  splendour  of 
the  vision,  and  only  able  to  ask  by  whom  it  was 
he  was  thus  addressed,  he  received  for  answer, 
'  I  am  Jesus  of  Nazareth  whom  thou  persecutest ; 
but  arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told 
thee  what  to  do.'  This  command  the  confounded 
and  now  humble  zealot  immediately  rose  to  obey, 
but  as  the  brilliancy  of  the  light  which  had  shone 
around  him  had  dazzled  him  to  blindness,  he  had 
to  be  led  into  the  city  by  his  attendants.    Here 


PAUL 

he  remained  for  three  days  and  nights  in  a  state 
of  deep  mCLtal  conflict  and  dejection,  tasting 
neither  meat  nor  drink,  until  a  person  of  the 
name  of  Ananias  appeared  at  the  command  of 
Christ  to  relieve  his  distress,  and  to  admit  him 
into  the  Christian  fraternity  by  baptizing  him 
into  the  name  of  the  Lord  (Acts  ix.  1-18). 

Immediately  on  his  conversion  to  Christianity 
Saul  seems  to  have  gone  into  Arabia,  where  he 
remained  three  years  (Gal.  i.  11-17)  ;  and  where 
he,  in  all  probability,  was  chiefly  occupied  by 
meditation  and  study,  in  preparing  himself  for 
the  great  work  to  which  he  had  been  called. 
Here  also  we  may  venture  to  suppose  he  received 
that  Gospel  which  afterwards  he  preached  '  by 
revelation  '  from  Christ  (Gal.  i.  12). 

Returning  from  Arabia  to  Damascus  the  Apostle 
commenced  liis  public  efforts  in  the  service  of 
Christ,  by  boldly  advocating  in  the  synagogues 
of  the  Jews  the  claims  of  Jesus  to  be  venerated  as 
the  Son  of  God.  At  first  astonished,  the  Jews 
were  afterwards  furiously  incensed  at  this  change 
in  the  opinions  and  conduct  of  Saul,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  their  attempts  upon  his  liberty  and 
life,  he  was  obliged  to  make  his  escape  from 
Damascus.  This  he  effected  with  difficulty  by 
the  aid  of  the  Christians,  some  of  whom  let  him 
down  in  a  basket  from  the  window  of  a  dwelling 
erected  upon  the  outer  wall  of  the  city  (Acts  ix. 
21,  &c. ;  2  Cor.  xi.  32).  After  this  he  -went  up 
to  Jerusalem  (for  the  Jijst  time  after  his  con- 
version), where,  on  the  testimony  of  Barnabas, 
he  was  acknowledged  as  a  Christian  brother,  and 
admitted  by  the  Apostles  to  that  place  in  their 
fraternity  which  had  been  assigned  to  him  by 
Christ.  From  Jerusalem  he  was  soon  driven  by 
the  hostility  of  the  Jews ;  when,  after  visiting 
Caesarea,  he  went  to  his  native  town  Tarsus, 
where  he  abode  several  years  (Acts  ix.  26-30). 
From  this  retreat  he  was  summoned  by  Bar- 
nabas, who,  having  been  appointed  by  the 
Apostles  at  Jerusalem  to  visit  the  church  at 
Antioch,  where  accessions  had  been  made  to  the 
number  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  from  among 
the  Gentiles  as  well  as  the  Jews,  and  finding  the 
need  of  counsel  and  co-operation  in  his  work, 
went  to  Tarsus  to  procure  the  assistance  of  Saul 
(Acts  xi.  22-25).  After  residing  and  labouring 
for  a  year  in  Antioch,  these  two  distinguished 
servants  of  Christ  were  sent  up  to  Jerusalem 
with  certain  contributions  which  had  been  made 
among  the  Christians  at  Antioch,  on  behalf  of 
their  brethren  in  Judea,  who  were  suffering  from 
the  effects  of  a  dearth  (Acts  xi.  27-30).  This,  as 
commonly  received,  was  the  Apostle's  second  visit 
to  Jerusalem  after  his  conversion. 

Having  discharged  this  commission,  they  re- 
turned to  Antioch,  accompanied  by  John  Mark, 
the  nephew  of  Barnabas,  and  were  shortly  after- 
wards despatched  by  that  church,  in  obedience 
to  an  injunction  from  heaven,  on  a  general  mis- 
sionary tour.  In  the  course  of  this  tour,  during 
the  earlier  part  only  of  which  they  were  accom- 
panied by  Mark,  in  consequence  of  his  shrinking 
from  the  toils  and  dangers  of  the  journey  and 
returning  to  Jerusalem,  they  visited  Seleucia, 
Cyprus,  Perga  in  Pamphylia,  Antioch  in  Pisidia, 
Iconium,  Lystra  and  Derbe,  cities  of  Lycaonia 
(in  the  former  of  which  the  fickle  populace, 
though  at  first  they  had  with  difficulty  been  pre- 
vented from  offering  them  Divine  honours,  were 


PAUL 

almost  immediately  afterwards,  at  the  instigation  I 
of  the  Jews,  led  to  stone  the  Apostle  until  he  was 
left  for  dead)  ;  and  then  they  returned  by  way  of  1 
Attalia,  a  city  of  Pamphylia,  by  sea  to  Antioch, 
where  they  rehearsed  to  the  church  all  that  God 
had  done  by  them  (Acts  xiii.-xiv.).  This  formed 
the  Apostle's ^Vsf  great  missionary  tour. 

In  the  narrative  of  this  journey,  given  by 
Luke,  the  historian,  without  assigning  any  reason 
for  so  doing,  drops  the  name  Saul,  and  adopts 
that  of  Paul,  in  designating  the  Apostle.  It  is 
probable  from  this,  thaJ  it  was  during  this  journey 
that  the  Apostle's  change  of  name  actually  took 
place.  What  led  to  that  change  we  can  only 
conjecture  ;  and  of  conjectures  on  this  point  there 
has  been  no  lack.  The  most  probable  opinion  is, 
that  as  the  Romans  and  Greeks  were  in  the  habit 
of  softening  the  Hebrew  names  in  pi-onunciation, 
and  accommodating  their  form  to  that  of  the 
Latin  or  Greek,  they  substituted  Paul  for  Saul, 
and  the  Apostle  henceforward  adopted  the  sub- 
stituted name  as  his  usual  designation. 

Not  long  after  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  re- 
turned to  Antioch,  they  were  deputed  by  the 
church  there  again  to  visit  Jerusalem,  to  consult 
the  Apostles  and  elders  upon  the  question,  which 
certain  members  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem  had 
raised  in  that  at  Antioch,  whether  converts  from 
heathenism  required  to  be  circumcised,  and  so 
become  Jews  before  they  could  be  saved  ?  The 
Apostle  on  this  occasion  visited  Jerusalem  for 
the  tJtird  time  after  his  conversion ;  and  after  the 
question  had  been  settled  by  the  parties  in  that 
city  with  whom  the  power  to  do  so  lay,  he  and 
his  companion  returned  to  Antioch.  After  re- 
storing peace  to  the  church  there,  Paul  proposed 
to  Barnabas  to  undertake  another  missionary 
tour,  to  which  the  latter  cordially  assented ;  but, 
unhappily,  on  the  very  eve  of  their  departure  a 
contention  arose  between  them,  in  consequence  of 
Barnabas  being  determined  to  take  with  them  his 
nephew  John  Mark  ;  and  Paul  being  equally  de- 
termined that  one,  who  had  on  a  former  occasion 
ingloriously  deserted  them,  should  not  again  be 
employed  in  the  work.  Unable  to  come  to  an 
agreement  on  this  point,  they  separated ;  and 
Paul,  accompanied  by  Silas,  commenced  his  se- 
cond missionary  journey,  in  the  course  of  which, 
after  passing  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  he  re- 
visited Lystra  and  Derbe.  At  the  former  of  these 
places  he  found  Timothy,  whom  he  associated 
with  Silas,  as  the  companion  of  his  further  tra- 
vels, after  he  had  been  ordained  by  the  Apostle 
and  the  presbytery  of  the  church  of  which  he 
was  a  member  (1  Tim.  iv.  14").  Paul  then  passed 
through  the  regions  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  and 
avoiding  Asia,  strictly  so  called,  and  Bithynia, 
he  came  with  his  companions  by  way  of  Mysia  to 
Troas,  on  the  borders  of  the  Hellespont.  Hence 
they  crossed  to  Samothracia,  and  thence  to  Nea- 
polis,  and  so  to  Philippi,  whither  he  had  been 
summoned  in  a  vision  by  a  man  of  Macedonia 
saying,  '  Come  over  and  help  us.'  After  some 
time  spent  in  this  city,  they  passed  through  Am- 
phipolis  and  Apollouia,  cities  of  Macedonia,  and 
came  to  Thessalonica,  where,  though  they  abode 
only  a  short  time,  they  preached  the  Gospel  with 
no  small  success.  Driven  from  that  city  by  the 
malice  of  the  Jews,  they  came  by  night  to  Berea, 
another  city  of  Macedonia,  where  at  first  they 
were  favourably  received  by  the  Jews,  until  a 


PAUL 


647 


party  from  Thessalonica,  which  had  followed 
them,  incited  the  Bereans  against  them.  Paul, 
as  especially  obnoxious  to  the  Jews,  deemed  it 
prudent  to  leave  the  place,  and  accordingly  re- 
tired to  Athens,  where  lie  determined  to  await 
the  arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy.  Whilst  resid- 
ing in  this  city,  and  observing  the  manners  and 
religious  customs  of  its  inhabitants,  his  spirit  was 
stirred  within  him,  when  he  saw  how  entirely 
they  were  immersed  in  idolatry  ;  and,  unable  to 
refrain,  he  commenced  in  the  synagogues  of  the 
Jews  and  in  the  market-place  to  hold  discussions 
with  all  whom  he  encountered.  This  led  to  his 
being  taken  to  the  Areopagus,  where,  surrounded 
by  perhaps  the  shrewdest,  most  polished,  most 
acute,  most  witty,  and  most  scornful  assemblage 
that  ever  surrounded  a  preacher  of  Christianity, 
he,  with  exquisite  tact  and  ability,  exposed  the 
folly  of  their  superstitions,  and  unfolded  the  cha- 
racter and  claims  of  the  living  and  true  God. 
For  the  purpose  of  more  effectually  arresting  the 
attention  of  his  audience,  he  commenced  by  re- 
ferring to  an  altar  in  their  city,  on  which  he  had 
read  the  inscription,  to  an  unknown  God ;  and, 
applying  this  to  Jehovah,  he  proposed  to  declare 
to  them  that  Deity  whom  thus,  without  knowing 
him,  they  were  worshipping. 

On  being  rejoined  by  Timothy  (1  Thess.  iii.  1), 
and  perhaps  also  by  Silas,  the  Apostle  sent  them 
both  back  to  Macedonia,  and  went  alone  to  visit 
Corinth,  whither  they  soon  after  followed  him 
(Acts  xviii.  5).  Here  he  abode  for  a  year  and  a 
half  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  supporting  him- 
self by  his  trade  as  a  tent-maker,  in  which  he  was 
jo'ned  by  a  converted  Jew  of  the  name  of  Aquila, 
wbo,  with  his  wife  Priscilla,  had  been  expelled 
from  Rome  by  an  edict  of  the  emperor,  forbidding 
Jews  to  remain  in  that  city.  Driven  from  Co- 
rinth by  the  enmity  of  the  Jews,  he,  along  with 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  betook  himself  to  Ephcsus, 
whence,  after  a  residence  of  only  a  few  days,  lie 
went  up  to  Jerusalem,  being  commanded  by  God 
to  visit  that  city,  at  the  time  of  the  approaching 
passover.  His  visit  on  this  occasion — the/ottrtli 
since  his  conversion — was  very  brief;  and  at  the 
close  of  it  he  went  down  to  Antioch,  thereby  com- 
pleting his  second  great  apostolic  tour. 

At  Antioch  he  abode  for  some  time,  and  then, 
accompanied,  as  is  supposed,  by  Titus,  he  com- 
menced another  extensive  tour,  in  the  course  of 
which,  after  passing  through  Phrygia  and  Ga- 
latia, he  visited  Ephesus.  The  importance  of 
this  city,  in  relation  to  the  region  of  Hither  Asia, 
determined  him  to  remain  in  it  for  a  considerable 
time;  and  he  accordingly  continued  preaching 
the  Gospel  there  for  three  years,  with  occasional 
brief  periods  of  absence,  for  the  purpose  of  visit- 
ing places  in  the  vicinity.  With  such  success 
were  his  efforts  crowned,  that  the  gains  of  those 
who  were  interested  in  supporting  the  worship  of 
Diana,  the  tutelar  goddess  of  the  city,  began  to  be 
seriously  affected  ;  and  at  the  instigation  of  one  of 
these,  by  name  Demetrius,  a  silversmith,  who  had 
enjoyed  a  lucrative  traffic  by  the  manufacture  of 
what  appear  to  have  been  miniature  representa- 
tions of  the  famous  temple  of  Diana,  a  popular 
tumult  was  excited  against  the  Apostle,  from  the 
fury  of  which  he  was  with  difficulty  rescued  by 
the  sagacity  and  tact  of  the  town-clerk,  aided  by 
others  of  the  chief  men  of  the  place,  who  appear 
to  have  been    friendly  towards  Paul.    By  this 


643  PAUL 

occurrence  the  A  postle's  removal  from  Ephesus, 
on  -which,  however,  he  had  already  determined 
(Acts  xix.  21),  was  in  all  probability  expedited; 
and,  accordingly,  he  very  soon  after  the  tumult 
went  by  way  of  Troas  to  Philippi,  where  he  ap- 
pears to  have  resided  some  time,  and  from  which, 
as  his  head-quarters,  he  made  extensive  excursions 
into  the  surrounding  districts,  penetrating  even  to 
lllyricum,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Adriatic 
(Kora.  XV,  19).  From  Philippi  he  went  to  Co- 
rinth, where  he  resided  three  mouths,  and  then 
returned  to  Philippi,  having  been  frustrated  in 
his  design  of  proceeding  through  Syria  to  Jeru- 
salem by  the  malice  of  the  Jews.  Sailing  from 
Philippi,  he  came  to  Troas,  where  he  abode  seven 
days;  thence  he  journeyed  on  foot  to  Assos ; 
thence  he  proceeded  by  sea  to  Miletus,  where  he 
had  an  aflfecting  interview  with  the  elders  of  the 
church  at  Ephesus  (Acts  xx.  17,  sq.)  ;  thence  he 
sailed  for  Syria,  and,  after  visiting  several  inter- 
mediate ports,  landed  at  Tyre  ;  and  thence,  after 
a  residence  of  seven  days,  he  travelled  by  way  of 
Ptolemais  and  Caesarea  to  Jerusalem.  This  con- 
stituted his Jifth  visit  to  that  city  after  his  con- 
version. 

On  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem  he  had  the  morti- 
fication to  find  that,  whilst  the  malice  of  his 
enemies  the  Jews  was  unabated,  the  minds  of 
many  of  his  brother  Christians  were  alienated 
from  him  on  account  of  what  they  deemed  his  too 
lax  and  liberal  notions  of  the  obligations  of  the 
Mosaic  ritual.  To  obviate  these  feelings  on  their 
part,  he,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Apostle  James, 
joined  himself  to  four  persons  who  had  taken  on 
them  the  vows  of  a  Nazarite,  and  engaged  to  pay 
the  cost  of  the  sacrifices  by  which  the  Mosaic 
ritual  required  that  such  should  be  absolved  from 
their  vows.  But  this  somewhat  questionable  act 
of  the  Apostle  had  no  effect  whatever  in  securing 
for  him  any  mitigation  of  the  hatred  with  which 
he  was  regarded  by  the  unconverted  Jcavs  ;  on  the 
contrary,  his  appearance  in  the  temple  so  much 
exasperated  them,  that,  before  his  vow  was  ac- 
complished, they  seized  him,  and  would  have  put 
himto  death  had  not  Lysias,  the  commander  of 
the  Roman  cohort  in  the  adjoining  citadel,  brought 
soldiers  to  his  rescue.  Under  the  protection  of 
Lysias,  the  Apostle  addressed  the  angry  mob,  set- 
ting forth  the  main  circumstances  of  his  life,  and 
especially  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  and  his 
appointment  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Gentiles. 
Up  to  this  point  they  heard  him  patiently ;  but 
no  sooner  had  he  insinuated  that  the  Gentiles 
were  viewed  by  him  as  placed  on  a  par  with  the 
Jews,  than  all  their  feelings  of  national  bigotry 
burst  forth  in  a  tempest  of  execration  and  fury 
against  the  Apostle.  Lysias,  ignorant  of  what 
Paul  had  been  saying,  from  his  having  addressed 
the  people  in  Hebrew,  and  suspecting  from  these 
vehement  demonstrations  of  the  detestation  in 
which  he  was  held  by  the  Jews  that  something 
flagrantly  vicious  must  have  been  committed  by 
him,  gave  orders  that  he  should  be  examined,  and 
forced  by  scourging  to  confess  his  crime.  From 
this  indignity  Paul  delivered  himself  by  asserting 
his  privileges  as  a  Roman  citizen,  whom  it  was 
not  lawful  to  bind  or  scourge.  Next  day,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Sanhedrim,  he  entered  into  a  de- 
fence of  his  conduct,  in  the  course  of  which, 
having  avowed  himself  a  believer  in  the  doctrine 
of  a  bodily  resurrection,  he  awakened  so  fierce  a 


PAUL 

controversy  on  this  point  between  the  Pharisees 
and  the  Sadducees  in  the  council,  that  Lysias, 
fearing  he  might  be  torn  to  pieces  among  them, 
gave  orders  to  remove  him  into  the  fort.  From 
a  conspiracy  into  which  above  forty  of  the  Jews 
had  entered  to  assassinate  him  he  was  delivered 
by  the  timely  interposition  of  his  nephew,  who, 
having  acquired  intelligence  of  the  plot,  intimated 
it  first  to  Paul,  and  then  to  Lysias.  Alarmed  at 
the  serious  appearance  which  the  matter  was  as- 
suming, Lysias  determined  to  send  Paul  to  Cae- 
sarea, where  Felix  the  procurator  was  residing, 
and  to  leave  the  affair  to  his  decision.  At  Cae- 
sarea Paul  and  his  accusers  were  heard  by  Felix ; 
but  though  the  Apostle's  defence  was  unanswer- 
able, the  procurator,  fearful  of  giving  the  Jews 
offence,  declined  pronouncing  any  decision,  and 
still  retained  Paul  in  bonds.  Some  time  after  he 
was  again  summoned  to  appear  before  Felix, 
who,  along  with  his  wife  Drusilla,  expressed  a 
desire  to  hear  him  '  concerning  the  faith  in 
Christ;'  and  on  this  occasion  the  faithful  and 
fearless  Apostle  discoursed  so  pointedly  on  certain 
branches  of  good  morals,  in  which  the  parties  he 
was  addressing  were  notoriously  deficient,  that 
Felix  trembled,  and  hastily  sent  him  from  his 
presence.  Shortly  after  this  Felix  was  succeeded 
in  his  government  by  Porcius  Festus,  before 
whom  the  Jews  again  brought  their  charges 
against  Paul ;  and  who,  when  the  cause  came  to 
be  heard,  showed  so  much  of  a  disposition  to 
favour  the  Jews,  that  the  Apostle  felt  himself  con- 
strained to  appeal  to  Ca-sar.  To  gratify  King 
Agrippa  and  his  wife  Bernice,  who  had  come  to 
Cajsarea  to  visit  Festus,  and  whose  curiosity  was 
excited  by  what  they  had  heard  of  Paul,  he  was 
again  called  before  the  governor,  and  '  permitted 
to  speak  for  himself.'  On  this  occasion  he  reca- 
pitulated the  leading  points  of  his  history,  and 
gave  such  an  account  of  his  views  and  designs, 
that  a  deep  impression  was  made  on  the  mind  of 
Agrippa  favourable  to  Christianity  and  to  the 
Apostle  ;  so  much  so  that,  but  for  his  having  ap- 
pealed to  Caesar,  it  is  probable  he  would  have 
been  set  at  liberty.  His  cause,  however,  having 
by  that  appeal  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
emperor,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  go  to 
Rome,  and  thither  accordingly  Festus  sent  him. 
His  voyage  was  long  and  disastrous.  Leaving 
Caesarea  when  the  season  was  already  consi- 
derably advanced,  they  coasted  along  Syria  as 
far  as  Sidon,  and  then  crossed  to  Myra,  a  port  of 
Lycia ;  thence  they  sailed  slowly  to  Cnidus ;  and 
thence,  in  consequence  of  unfavourable  winds, 
they  struck  across  to  Crete,  and  with  difficulty 
reached  a  port  on  the  southern  part  of  that  island 
called '  The  Fair  Haven,'  near  the  town  of  Lasea. 
There  Paul  urged  the  centurion,  under  whose 
charge  he  and  his  fellow-prisoners  had  been 
placed,  to  winter ;  but  the  place  not  being  very 
suitable  for  this  purpose,  and  the  weather  pro- 
mising favourably,  this  advice  was  not  followed, 
and  they  again  set  sail,  intending  to  reach  Phoe- 
nice,  a  port  in  the  same  island,  and  there  to 
winter.  Scarcely  had  they  set  sail,  however, 
when  a  tempest  arose,  at  the  mercy  of  which  they 
were  driven  for  fourteen  days  in  a  westerly  di- 
rection, until  they  were  cast  upon  the  coast  of 
Malta,  where  they  suffered  shipwreck,  but  with- 
out any  loss  of  life.  Hospitably  received  by  the 
natives,  they  abode  there  three  months,  during 


PEARLS 

which  time  Paul  had  a  favourable  opportunity  of 
preaching  the  Gospel,  and  of  showing  the  power 
with  which  he  was  endued  for  the  authentication 
of  his  message  by  performing  many  miracles  for 
the  advantage  of  the  people.  On  the  approach 
of  spring  they  availed  themselves  of  a  ship  of 
Alexandria  which  had  wintered  in  the  island, 
and  set  sail  for  Syracuse,  where  they  remained 
three  days ;  thence  they  crossed  to  Rhegium,  in 
Italy ;  and  thence  to  Puteoli,  from  which  place 
Paul  and  his  companions  journeyed  to  Rome. 
Here  he  was  delivered  by  the  centurion  to  the 
captain  of  the  guard,  who  permitted  him  to  dwell 
in  his  own  hired  house  under  the  surveillance  of 
a  soldier.  And  thus  he  continued  for  two  years, 
'  receiving  all  that  came  to  him,  preaching  the 
kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things  which 
concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  confi- 
dence, no  man  forbidding  him '  (Acts  xxi.  1 7  ; 
xxviii.  31). 

At  this  point  the  evangelist  abruptly  closes  his 
narrative,  leaving  us  to  glean  our  information  re- 
garding the  subsequent  history  of  the  Apostle 
from  less  certain  sources.  Tradition  stedfastly 
affirms  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome,  and 
that  the  manner  of  his  death  was  by  beheading ; 
but  whether  this  took  place  at  the  close  of  the 
imprisonment  mentioned  by  Luke,  or  after  a 
second  imprisonment  incurred  subsequent  to  an 
intervening  period  of  freedom  and  active  exertion 
in  the  cause  of  Christianity,  has  been  much  dis- 
cussed by  modern  writers. 

If,  on  the  evidence  furnished  by  the  allusions 
in  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,  we  adopt  the 
latter  hypothesis,  it  will  follow  that  Paul,  during 
the  interval  between  his  first  and  second  im- 
prisonments, undertook  an  extensive  apostolic 
tour,  in  the  course  of  which  he  visited  his  former 
scenes  of  labour  in  Asia  and  Greece,  and  perhaps 
also  fulfilled  his  purpose  of  going  into  Spain 
(Rom,  XV.  24-28).  He  probably  also  visited 
Crete  and  Dalmatia. 

PEACOCK.  A  good  deal  of  discussion  has 
taken  place  respecting  the  precise  meaning  of  the 
■word  which  is  thus  rendered  in  the  Authorized 
Version  (I  Kings  x.  22  ;  2  Chron.  ix.  21).  Some 
have  supposed  that  a  crested  parrot  is  meant, 
others  that  the  pheasant  is  the  bird  intended,  but 
the  weight  of  evidence  is  in  favour  of  the  usual 
rendering. 

There  are  only  two  species  of  true  peacocks, 

viz.,  that  under  consideration,  which  is  the  Pavo 

eristatus  of  Linn.;  and  another,   Pavo  muticus, 

more  recently  discovered,  Avhich  difl'ers  in  some 

particulars,  and  originally  belongs  to  Japan  and 

China.    Peacocks  bear  the  cold  of  the  Himalayas : 

they  run  with  great  swiftness,  and  where  they  are, 

serpents  do  not  abound,  as  they  devour  the  young 

!    with   great  avidity,  and,  it  is  said,  attack  with 

spirit  even  the  cobra  de  capello  when  grown  to 

!     considerable  size,  arresting  its  progress  and  con- 

I     fusing  it  by  the  rapidity  and  variety  of  their  evo- 

I     lutions  around  it,  till  exhausted  with  fatigue  it  is 

i     struck  on  the  head  and  despatched. 

]        A  detailed  description   of  a  species  so  well 

known,  we  deem  superfluous. 
'  PEARLS.  It  is  doubtful  that  pearls  are  men- 
;  tioned  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  word  gabish, 
I  rendered  'pearl'  in  Job  xxviii.  18,  appears  to 
!  mean  crystal ;  and  the  word  peninim,  which  our 
;    version  translates  by  '  rubies,'  is  now  supposed  to 


PELEG 


649 


mean  coral  [Coral].  But  in  the  New  Testament 
the  pearls  are  repeatedly  mentioned.  In  Matt, 
xiii.  45, 46,  a  merchant  (travelling  jeweller)  seek- 
ing goodly  pearls,  finds  one  pearl  of  great  price, 
and  to  be  able  to  purchase  it,  sells  all  that  he  has — 
all  the  jewels  he  had  previously  secured.  In 
1  Tim.  ii.  9,  and  Rev.  xvii.  4,  pearls  are  mentioned 
as  the  ornaments  of  females  ;  iu  Rev.  xviii.  12-16, 
among  costly  merchandize;  and  Rev.  xxi.  12, 
the  twelve  gates  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem  are 
'  twelve  pearls.'  These  intimations  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  pearls  were  in  more  common  use 
among  the  Jews  after  than  before  the  captivity, 
while  they  evince  the  estimation  in  which  they 
were  in  later  times  held.  The  island  of  Tylos 
(Bahrein)  was  especially  renowned  for  its  fishery 
of  pearls  ;  the  Indian  ocean  was  also  known  to 
produce  pearls.  '  Pearls  have  at  all  times  been 
esteemed  one  of  the  most  valuable  commodities 
of  the  East.  Their  modest  splendour  and  simple 
beauty  appear  to  have  captivated  the  Orientals, 
even  more  than  the  dazzling  brilliancy  of  the 
diamond,  and  have  made  them  at  all  times  the 
favourite  ornament  of  despotic  princes.  In  the 
West,  the  passion  for  this  elegant  luxury  was  at 
its  height  about  the  period  of  the  extinction  of 
Roman  freedom,  and  they  were  valued  in  Rome 
and  Alexandria  as  highly  as  precious  stones.  In 
Asia  this  taste  was  of  more  ancient  date,  and  may 
be  traced  to  a  period  anterior  to  the  Persian 
dynasty ;  nor  has  it  ever  declined.  A  string  of 
pearls  of  the  largest  size  is  an  indispensable  part 
of  the  decorations  of  an  Eastern  monarch.  It 
was  thus  that  Tippoo  was  adorned  when  he  fell 
before  the  gates  of  his  capital ;  and  it  is  thus  that 
the  present  ruler  of  the  Persians  is  usually  de- 
corated. 

PE'KAH  {open-eyed),  the  officer  who  slew  Pe- 
kahiah  and  mounted  the  throne  in  his  stead  (b  c. 
758),  becoming  the  eighteenth  king  of  Israel. 
He  reigned  twenty  years.  Towards  the  close  of 
his  life  (but  not' before  the  seventeenth  year  of 
his  reign)  he  entered  into  a  league  with  Rezin, 
king  of  Damascene-Syria,  against  Judah;  and 
the  success  which  attended  their  operations  in- 
duced Ahaz  to  tender  to  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of 
Assyria,  his  homage  and  tribute,  as  the  price  of 
his  aid  and  protection.  The  result  was  that  the 
kings  of  Syria  and  Israel  were  soon  obliged  to 
abandon  their  designs  against  Judah  in  order  to 
attend  to  their  own  dominions,  of  which  con- 
siderable parts  were  seized  and  retained  by  the 
Assyrians.  Israel  lost  all  the  territory  east  of 
the  Jordan,  and  the  two  and  a  half  tribes  which 
inhabited  it  were  sent  into  exile.  These  disasters 
seem  to  have  created  such  popular  discontent  as 
to  give  the  sanction  of  public  opinion  to  the  con- 
spiracy headed  by  Hoshea,  in  which  the  king  lost 
his  life  (2  Kings  xv.  25,  sq. ;  xvi.  5,  sq. ;  Isa. 
vii. ;  viii.  1-9;  xvii.  1-11). 

PEKAHI'AH  {Jehovah  has  opened  his  eyes), 
son  and  successor  of  Menahem,  king  of  Israel, 
who  began  to  reign  in  b.c.  760.  He  patronized 
and  supported  the  idolatry  of  the  golden  calves ; 
and  after  an  undistinguished  reign  of  two  years, 
Pekah,  one  of  his  generals,  conspired  against 
him,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Argob  and  Ansh,  and 
fifty  Gileadites,  slew  him  in  the  haram  of  his 
own  palace  (2  Kings  xv.  22-25). 

PE'LEG,  son  of  Eber,  and  fourth  m  descent 
from  Shem.     His  name  means  divinon,  and  is 


650 


PENTATEUCH 


saici  to  have  been  given  him  '  because  in  his  days 
the  earth  was  divided  '  (Gen.  x.  25 ;  xi.  16). 

PEL.1CAN  (Lev.  xi.  18;  Deut.  xiv.  17  ;  Ps. 
cii.  6;  Isa.  xxxiv.  11  ;  Zeph.  ii.  14). 

The  name  kaatli  thus  rendered,  is  supposed 
to  be  derived  from  the  action  of  throwing  up 
food,  which  the  bird  really  efi'ects  when  dis- 
charging the  contents  of  the  bag  beneath  its 
bill.  But  it  may  be  suggested,  as  not  unlikely, 
that  the  name  is  imitative  of  the  voice  of  the 
pelican,  wliich,  although  seldom  heard  in  cap- 
tivity, is  uttered  frequently  at  the  periods  of 
migration,  and  is  compared  to  the  braying  of  an 
ass. 

Pelicans  are  chiefly  tropical  birds,  equal  or 
superior  in  bulk  to  the  common  swan :  they  have 
powerful  wings ;  fly  at  a  great  elevation ;  are 
partially  gregarious ;  and  though  some  always 
remain  m  their  favourite  subsolar  regions,  most 
of  them  migrate  in  our  hemisphere  with  the 
northern  spring,   occupy   Syria,  the  lakes   and 


rivers  of  temperate  Asia,  and  extend  westward 
into  Europe  up  the  Danube  into  Hungary,  and 
northward  to  some  rivers  of  southern  Kussia. 
They  likewise  frequent  salt-water  marshes,  and 
the  shallows  of  harbours,  but  seldom  alight  on 
the  open  sea,  though  they  are  said  to  dart  down 
upon  fish  from  a  considerable  height. 

PE'LITHITES.     [Cherethites  and  Peli- 

THITES.] 

PEN.     [Writing.] 

PENI'KL  {face  of  God),  or  Pendel,  a  place 
beyond  the  Jordan,  where  Jacob  wrestled  with 
the  angel,  and  '  called  the  name  of  the  place 
Peniel ;  for  1  have  seen  God  face  to  face,  and  my 
life  is  preserved  '  (Gen.  xxxii.  30).  There  was 
in  after-times  a  fortified  town  in  this  place,  the 
inhabitants  of  which  exposed  themselves  to  the 
resentment  of  Gideon,  for  refusing  succour  to  his 
troops  when  pursuing  the  Midianites  (Judg.  viii. 
8).  The  site  is  not  known ;  but  it  must  have 
been  at  some  point  on  or  not  far  from  the  north 
bank  of  the  Jabbok.  Men  of  this  name  occur  in 
1  Chron.  iv.  4  ;  viii.  25. 

PENIN'NAH  (coral),  one  of  the  two  wives  of 
Elkanah,  the  father  of  Samuel  (1  Sam.  i.  2). 

PENNY.     [Drachma;  Denarius.] 

PENTATEUCH  is  the  title  given  to  the  five 
books  of  Moses.  The  Jews  usually  call  the  Pen- 
tateuch the  law. , 


PENTATEUCH 

In  considering  the  Pentateuch,  the  first  question 
which  arises  is— Who  was  its  author  ?  It  is  of 
great  importance  to  hear,  first,  what  the  book 
itself  says  on  this  subject.  The  Pentateuch  does 
not  present  itself  as  an  anonymous  production. 
It  is  manifestly  intended  and  destined  to  be  a 
public  muniment  for  the  whole  people,  and  it 
does  not  veil  its  origin  in  a  mysterious  obscurity  ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  book  speaks  most  clearly  on 
this  subject. 

According  to  Exod.  xvii.  14,  Moses  was  com- 
manded by  God  to  write  the  victory  over  the 
Amalekites  in  the  book.  This  passage  shows  that 
the  account  to  be  inserted  was  intended  to  form 
a  portion  of  a  more  extensive  work,  with  which 
the  reader  is  supposed  to  be  acquainted.  It  also 
proves  that  Moses,  at  an  early  period  of  his  public 
career,  was  filled  with  the  idea  of  leaving  to  iiis 
people  a  written  memorial  of  the  Divine  guidance, 
and  that  he  fully  understood  the  close  and  ne- 
cessary connection  of  an  authoritative  law  with  a 
written  code.  It  is,  therefore,  by  no  means  sur- 
prising that  the  observation  repeatedly  occurs, 
that  Moses  wrote  down  the  account  of  certain 
events  (Exod.  xxiv.  4,  7 ;  xxxiv.  27,  28  ;  Num. 
xxxiii.  2).  Especially  important  are  the  state- 
ments in  Deut.  i.  5;  xxviii.  58.  In  Deut.  xxxi. 
9,  24  (30)  the  whole  work  is  expressly  ascribed 
to  Moses  as  the  author,  including  the  poem  in 
Deut.  xxxii.  It  may  be  made  a  question  whether 
the  band  of  a  later  writer,  who  finished  the  Peii- 
tateuch,  is  perceptible  from  ch,  xxxi.  24  (comp. 
xxxiii.  1,  and  xxxiv.),  or  whether  the  words  in 
xxxi.  24-30  are  still  the  words  of  Moses.  In 
the  former  case  we  have  two  witnesses,  viz. 
Moses  himself,  and  the  continuator  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch ;  in  the  latter  case,  which  seems  to  us 
the  more  likely,  we  have  the  testimony  of  Moses 
alone. 

Modern  criticism  has  raised  many  objections 
against  these  statements  of  the  Pentateuch  re- 
lative to  its  own  origin.  Many  critics  suppose 
that  they  can  discover  in  the  Pentateuch  indica- 
tions that  the  author  intended  to  make  himself 
known  as  a  person  diflferent  from  Moses.  The 
most  important  objection  is  the  follov.'ing :  that 
the  Pentateuch,  speaking  of  Moses,  always  uses 
the  third  person,  bestows  praise  upon  him,  and 
uses  concerning  him  expressions  of  respect.  The 
Pentateuch  even,  exhibits  Moses  quite  objectively 
in  the  blessing  recorded  in  Deut.  xxxiii.  4,  5. 

To  this  objection  we  reply,  that  the  use  of  the 
third  person  proves  nothing.  The  later  Hebrew 
writers  also  speak  of  tliemselves  in  the  third  per- 
son. We  might  adduce  similar  instances  from 
the  classical  authors,  as  CiEsar,  Xenophon,  and 
others.  The  use  of  the  third  person,  instead  of 
the  first,  prevails  also  among  Oriental  authors. 
In  addition  to  this  we  should  observe,  that  the 
nature  of  the  book  itself  demands  the  use  of  the 
third  person,  in  reference  to  Moses,  throughout 
the  Pentateuch.  This  usage  entirely  corresponds 
with  the  character  both  of  the  history  and  of  the 
law  contained  in  the  Pentateuch.  If  we  consider 
that  the  Pentateuch  was  destined  to  be  a  book  of 
divine  revelation,  in  which  God  exhibited  to  bis 
people  the  exemplification  of  his  providential 
guidance,  we  cannot  expect  that  Moses,  by  whom 
the  Lord  had  communicated  his  latest  revelations, 
should  be  spoken  of  otherwise  than  in  the  third 
person.     In  the  poetry  contained  in  Deut.  xxxiii. 


PENTATEUCH 

4,  Moses  speaks  in  the  name  of  the  people,  "which 
he  personifies  and  introduces  as  speaking.  The 
expressions  in  Exod.  xi.  3,  and  Num.  xii.  3  and 
7,  belong  entirely  to  the  context  of  history,  and 
to  its  faithful  and  complete  relation  ;  consequently 
it  is  by  no  means  vain  boasting  that  is  there  ex- 
pressed, but  admiration  of  the  divine  mercy  glo- 
rified in  the  people  of  God.  In  considering  these 
passages  we  must  also  bear  in  mind  the  far  greater 
number  of  other  passages  which  speak  of  the 
feebleness  and  the  sins  of  Moses. 

It  is  certain  that  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch 
asserts  himself  to  be  Moses.  The  question  then 
arises,  whether  it  is  possible  to  consider  this  as- 
sertion to  be  true— whether  Moses  can  be  ad- 
mitted to  be  the  author?  In  this  question  is 
contained  another,  viz.  whether  the  Pentateuch 
forms  such  a  continuous  whole  that  it  is  possible 
to  ascribe  it  to  one  author  ?  This  question  has 
been  principally  discussed  in  modern  criticism. 
In  various  manners  it  has  been  tried  to  destroy 
the  unity  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  to  resolve  its 
constituent  parts  into  a  number  of  documents  and 
fragments.  Eichhorn  and  his  followers  assert 
that  Genesis  only  is  composed  of  several  ancient 
documents.  This  assertion  is  still  reconcilable 
with  the  Mosaical  origin  of  the  Pentateuch.  But 
Vater  and  others  allege  that  the  whole  Pentateuch 
is  composed  of  fragments  ;  from  which  it  neces- 
sarily follows  that  Moses  was  not  the  author  of 
the  whole.  Modern  critics  are,  however,  by  no 
means  unanimous  in  their  opinions.  The  latest 
writer  on  this  subject,  Ewald,  in  his  history  of 
the  people  of  Israel,  asserts  that  there  were  seven 
different  authors  concerned  in  the  Pentateuch. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  internal  unity  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch has  been  demonstrated  in  many  able 
essays.  The  attempts  at  division  are  especially 
supported  by  an  appeal  to  the  prevailing  use  of 
the  different  names  of  God  in  various  portions  of 
the  work ;  but  the  arguments  derived  from  this 
circumstance  have  been  found  insufficient  to 
prove  that  the  Pentateuch  was  written  by  dif- 
ferent authors. 

The  inquiry  concerning  the  unity  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch is  intimately  connected  with  its  histo- 
rical CHARACTER.  If  there  are  in  the  Penta- 
teuch decided  contradictions,  or  different  con- 
tradictory statements  of  one  and  the  same  fact, 
not  only  its  unity  but  also  its  historical  truth 
would  be  negatived.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
work  is  to  be  considered  as  written  by  Moses, 
the  whole  style  and  internal  veracity  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch must  correspond  with  the  character  of 
Moses.  Considerate  critics,  who  are  not  under 
the  sway  of  dogmatic  prejudices,  find  that  the 
passages  which  are  produced  in  order  to  prove 
that  the  Pentateuch  was  written  after  the  time  of 
Moses,  by  no  ff.eans  support  such  a  conclusion, 
and  that  a  more  accurate  examination  of  the 
contents  of  the  separate  portions  discovers  many 
vestiges  demonstrating  that  the  work  originated 
in  the  age  of  Moses. 

In  the  remote  times  of  Jewish  and  Christian 
antiquity,  we  find  no  vestiges  of  doubt  as  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  Mosaical  books.  The  Gnostics, 
indeed,  opposed  the  Pentateuch,  but  attacked  it 
merely  on  account  of  their  dogmatical  opinions 
concerning  the  Law.  and  Judaism  in  general ; 
consequently  they  did  not  impugn  the  authenti- 
city, but  merely  the  divine  authority  of  the  Law. 


PENTECOST  651 

Heathen  authors  alone,  as  Celsus  and  Julian,  re- 
presented the  contents  of  the  Pentateuch  as  being 
mythological,  and  paralleled  them  with  Pagan 
mythology. 

In  the  middle  ages,  but  not  earlier,  we  find 
some  very  concealed  critical  doubts  in  the  works 
of  some  Jews — as  Isaac  Ben  Jasos,  who  lived  in 
the  eleventh  century,  and  Aben  Ezra.  After 
the  Reformation,  it  was  sometimes  attempted  to 
demonstrate  the  later  origin  of  the  Pentateuch. 
Such  attempts  were  made  by  Spinoza,  Richard 
Simon,  Le  Clerc,  and  Van  Dale  ;  but  these  critics 
were  not  unanimous  in  their  results. 

In  the  period  of  English,  French,  and  German 
deism,  the  Pentateuch  was  attacked  rather  by 
jests  than  by  arguments.  Attacks  of  a  more 
scientific  nature  were  made  about  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  But  these  were  met  by  such 
critics  as  John  David  Michaelis  and  Eichhorn, 
who  energetically  and  effectually  defended  the 
genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch.  These  critics, 
however,  on  account  of  their  own  false  position, 
did  as  much  harm  as  good  to  the  cause. 

A  new  epoch  of  criticism  commences  about 
the  year  1805.  This  was  produced  by  Vater's 
Commentary  and  de  Wette's  Beitrdge  zur  Ein- 
leitung  in  das  alte  Testament.  Vater  embodied 
all  the  arguments  which  had  been  adduced 
against  the  authenticity  of  the  Pentateuch,  and 
applied  to  the  criticism  of  the  sacred  books  the 
principles  which  Wolf  had  employed  with  re- 
ference to  the  Homeric  poems.  He  divided  the 
Pentateuch  into  fragments,  to  each  of  which  he 
assigned  its  own  period,  but  referred  the  whole 
generally  to  the  age  of  the  Assyrian  or  Babylo- 
nian exile.  Since  the  days  of  Vater  a  series  of 
the  most  different  hypotheses  has  been  produced 
by  German  critics  about  the  age  of  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  that  of  its  constituent  sections.  No 
one  critic  seems  fully  to  agree  with  any  other ; 
and  frequently  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  opinions 
advanced  are  quite  arbitrarj',  and  destitute  of  any 
sure  foundation. 

PEN'TECOST,  the  name  (signifying  fiftieth) 
given  in  the  New  Testament  to  the  Feast  of 
Weeks,  or  of  Ingathering,  which  was  celebrated 
on  the  fiftieth  day  from  the  festival  of  unleavened 
bread,  or  the  Passover ;  or  seven  weeks  from  the 
1 6th  day  of  Nisan.  It  was  a  festival  of  thanks 
for  the  harvest,  and  commenced  immediately  after 
the  Passover  [Festivals].  It  was  one  of  the 
three  great  yearly  festivals',  in  which  all  the  males 
were  required  to  appear  before  God  at  the  place 
of  his  sanctuary.  Josephus  states  that  in  his 
time  great  numbers  of  Jews  resorted  from  every 
quarter  to  Jerusalem  to  keep  this  festival.  This 
testimony  affords  interesting  corroboration  of 
Acts  ii.  1,  9-11  ;  XX.  16  ;  1  Cor.  xvi.  8,  in  which 
the  same  fact  appears.  The  commencement  of 
the  Christian  church  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
preceded  as  it  was  by  our  Lord's  ascension,  at- 
tached a  peculiar  interest  to  this  season,  and 
eventually  led  to  its  being  set  apart  for  the  com- 
memoration of  these  great  events.  It  was  not, 
however,  established  as  one  of  tlie  great  festivals 
until  the  fourth  century.  The  combination  of 
two  events  (the  Ascension  and  the  descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost)  in  one  festival  has  a  parallel  in  the 
original  Jewish  feast,  which  is  held  to  have  in- 
cluded the  feast  of  first-fruits,  and  of  the  delivering 
of  the  law  (Exod.  xxiii.  16  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  14-21 ; 


652  PERFUMES 

Num.  xxviii.  26).  Jndeed,  this  festival  in  some 
respects  bears  a  close  analogy  to  the  Jewish  one  ; 
I  and  is  evidently  little  more  than  a  modification 
j  of  it.  The  converts  of  that  day,  on  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  descended,  were  the  first  fruits  of 
the  Spirit.  This  festival  became  one  of  the  three 
baptismal  seasons,  and  it  derives  its  name  of 
Whitsunday,  or  white-Sunday,  from  so  many 
being  clad  in  white  on  this  the  day  of  their 
baptism. 

1.  PE'OR,  a  mountain  in  the  land  of  Moab 
(Num.  xxiii.  28).  Eusebius  places  it  between 
Livias  and  Esbus,  over  against  Jericho ;  which 
shows  that  it  was  not  supposed  to  be  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  as  usually  stated.  It  has  not  in  modern 
times  beeu  recognised. 

2.  PEOR,  an  idol.  [Baal-Peor.] 
PE'REZ-UZ'ZAH,  a  place  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Jerusalem,  which  obtained  this  name 
(meaning  'breach  of  Uzzah')  from  the  judgment 
inflicted  upon  Uzzah  for  rashly  handling  the  ark 
(2  Sam.  vi.  8;  1  Chron.  xiii.  11). 

PERFUMES.  In  the  article  Anointing  we 
have  noticed  the  use  of  perfumes  in  Eastern  coun- 
tries ;  and  in  the  botanical  articles  all  the  aro- 
matic substances  mentioned  in  Scripture  are  care- 
fully examined.  Here,  therefore,  we  have  only 
to  add  a  favr  remarks,  which  the  scope  of  those 
articles  does  not  embrace. 

The  ointments  and  oils  used  by  the  Israelites 
were  rarely  simple,  but  were  compound  of  va- 
rious ingredients  (Job  xli.  22).  Olive  oil,  the 
valued  product  of  Palestine  (Deut.  xxviii.  40 ; 
Mic.  vi.  15),  was  combined  with  sundry  aroma- 
tics,  chiefly  foreign  (1  Kings  x.  10  ;  Ezek.  xxvii. 
22),  particularly  bosem,  myrrh,  and  nard  [see 
these  words].  Such  ointments  were  for  the  most 
part  costly  (Amos  vi.  6),  and  formed  a  much- 
coveted  luxury.  The  ingredients,  and  often  the 
prepared  oils  and  resins  in  a  state  fit  for  use, 
were  obtained  chiefly  in  traffic  from  the  Phoeni- 
cians, who  imported  them  in  small  alabaster 
boxes  [Alabaster],  in  which  the  delicious  aroma 
was  best  preserved.  The  preparation  of  the 
more  costly  unguents  required  peculiar  skill  and 
therefore  formed  a  particular  profession.  The  ro- 
kechim  of  Exod.  xxx.  25,  35 ;  Neb.  iii.  8 ;  Eccles. 
X.  1,  called  '  Apothecary'  in  the  Auth.  Vers.,  was 
no  other  than  a  maker  of  perfumes.  So  strong 
were  the  better  kinds  of  ointments,  and  so  per- 
fectly were  the  diflferent  component  substances 
amalgamated,  that  they  have  been  known  to  re- 
tain their  scent  several  hundred  years.  One  of 
the  alabaster  vases  in  the  museum  at  Alnwick 
Castle  contains  some  of  the  ancient  Egyptian 
ointment,  between  two  and  three  thousand  years 
old,  and  yet  its  odour  remains. 

The  '  holy  anointing  oil,'  employed  in  the  sa- 
cerdotal unction,  was  composed  of  two  parts 
'myrrh,'  two  parts  'cassia,'  one  part  'cinnamon,' 
one  part  '  sweet  calamus,'  compounded  '  according 
to  the  art  of  the  perfumer,'  with  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  the  purest  olive  oil  to  give  it  the  proper 
consistence  (Exod.  xxx.  23,  25).  It  was  strictly 
forbidden  that  any  perfume  like  this,  that  is, 
composed  of  the  same  ingredients,  should  be  used 
for  common  purposes,  or  indeed  made  at  all  (xxx. 
32,  33). 

The  prodigious  quantity  of  this  holy  ointment 
made  on  the  occasion  which  the  text  describes, 
being  ao  less  thaa  750  ounces  of  solids  com- 


PERGAMOS 

pcunded  with  five  quarts  of  oil,  may  give  some 
idea  of  the  profuse  use  of  perfumes  among  the 
Hebrews.  We  are,  indeed,  told  by  the  Psalmist 
(cxxxiii.  2),  that  when  the  holy  anointing  oil 
was  poured  upon  the  head  of  Aaron,  it  flowed 
down  over  his  beard  and  dress,  even  to  the  skirts 
of  his  garments. 

PER'GA,  a  town  of  Pamphylia,  in  Asia  Minor, 
situated  upon  the  river  Cestrus,  sixty  stades  from 
its  estuary.  On  a  hill  near  the  town  stood  a  ce- 
lebrated temple  of  Artemis,  at  which  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  surrounding  country  held  a  yearly 
festival  in  honour  of  the  goddess.  Perga  was 
originally  the  capital  of  Pamphylia;  but  when 
that  province  was  divided  into  two.  Side  became 
the  chief  town  of  the  first,  and  Perga  of  the  se- 
cond Pamphylia.  The  apostle  Paul  was  twice 
at  this  place  (Acts  xiii.  13;  xiv.  25).  In  the  first 
instance  he  seems  to  have  landed  at  Perga,  and 
the  Cestrus  was  then,  in  fact,  navigable  to  the 
town,  although  the  entrance  to  the  river  is  now 
impassable,  having  long  been  closed  by  a  bar. 
The  site  has  been  established  by  Col.  Leake,  as 
that  where  extensive  remains  of  vaulted  and  ruined 
buildings  were  observed  by  General  Kohler  on 
the  Cestrus,  west  of  Stavros.  It  is  called  by  the 
Turks  Eski-kalesi. 

PER'GAMOS,  or  Pergamum,  a  town  of  the 
Great  Mysia,  the  capital  of  a  kingdom  of  the 
same  name,  and  afterwards  of  the  Roman  pro- 
vince of  Asia  Propria.  The  river  Caicus,  which 
is  formed  by  the  union  of  two  branches  meeting 
thirty  or  forty  miles  above  its  mouth,  waters  an 
extensive  valley  not  exceeded  in  natural  beauty 
and  fertility  by  any  in  the  world.  In  this  valley, 
in  N.  lat.  39°  4',  E.  long.  27°  12',  stood  Perga- 
mos,  at  the  distance  of  about  twenty  miles  from 
the  sea.  It  lay  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Caicus, 
at  the  base  and  on  the  declivity  of  two  high  and 
steep  mountains,  on  one  of  which  now  stands  a 
dilapidated  castle.  About  two  centuries  before 
the  Christian  era,  Pergamos  became  the  residence 
of  the  celebrated  kings  of  the  family  of  Attalus, 
and  a  seat  of  literature  and  the  arts.  King  Eu- 
menes,  the  second  of  the  name,  greatly  beautified 
the  town,  and  increased  the  library  of  Pergamos 
so  considerably  that  the  number  of  volumes 
amounted  to  200,000.  As  the  papyrus  shrub  had 
not  yet  began  to  be  exported  from  Egypt,  sheep 
and  goat  skins,  cleaned  and  prepared  for  the  pur- 
pose, were  used  for  manuscripts ;  and  as  the  art 
of  preparing  them  was  brought  to  perfection  at 
Pergamos,  they,  from  that  circumstance,  obtained 
the  name  of  pergamena,  or  parchment.  The  li- 
brary remained  at  Pergamos  after  the  kingdom 
of  the  Attali  had  lost  its  independence,  until  An- 
tony removed  it  to  Egypt,  and  presented  it  to 
Queen  Cleopatra.  The  valuable  tapestries,  called 
in  Latin  aulaea,  from  having  adorned  the  hall  of 
King  Attalus,  were  also  wrought  in  this  town. 
The  last  king  of  Pergamos  bequeathed  his  trea- 
sures to  the  Romans,  who  took  possession  of  tlie 
kingdom  also,  and  erected  it  into  a  province  un- 
der the  name  of  Asia  Propria.  Pergamos  retained 
under  the  Romans  that  authority  over  the  cities  of 
Asia,  which  it  had  acquired  under  the  successors 
of  Attalus,  and  it  still  preserves  many  vestiges  of 
its  ancieut  magnificence.  Remains  of  the  Ascle- 
pium  and  of  some  other  temples,  of  the  theatre, 
stadium,  amphitheatre,  and  several  other  build- 
ings, are  still  to  been  seen.    Even  now,  Perga- 


PERSIANS 

mos,  under  the  name  of  Bergamo,  is  a  place  of 
considerable  importance,  containing  a  population 
estimated  at  14,000,  of  -whom  about  3000  are 
Greeks,  300  Armenians,  and  the  rest  Turks.  The 
town  consists  for  the  most  part  of  small  and  mean 
■wooden  houses,  among  which  appear  the  remains 
of  early  Christian  churches,  showinp;  'like  vast 
fortresses  amid  vast  barracks  of  wood.' 

In  Pergamos  was  one  of '  the  seven  churches 
of  Asia,'  to  which  the  Apocalypse  is  addressed. 
This  church  is  commended  for  its  fidelity  and 
firmness  in  the  midst  of  persecutions,  and  in  a  city 
so  eminently  addicted  to  idolatry.  '  I  know,'  it 
is  said,  '  thy  works,  and  where  thou  dwellest,  even 
where  Satan's  seat  is'  (Kev.  ii.  13).  Now  there 
was  at  Pergamos  a  celebrated  and  much  fre- 
quented temple  of  .ffisculapius,  who  probably 
there,  as  in  other  places,  was  worshipped  in  the 
form  of  a  living  serpent,  fed  in  the  temple,  and 
considered  as  its  divinity.  Hence  ^sculapius 
was  called  the  god  of  Pergamos,  and  on  the  coins 
struck  by  the  town  iEsculapius  appears  with  a 
rod  encircled  by  a  serpent.  As  the  sacred  writer 
mentions  (Eev.  xii.  9)  the  great  dragon  and  the 
old  serpent,  there  is  reason  to  conclude  that  when 
he  says  in  the  above  passage,  that  the  church  of 
Pergamos  dwelt '  where  Satan's  seat  is,'  he  alludes 
to  the  worship  of  the  serpent,  which  was  there 
practised. 

PER'IZZITE,  a  Canaanitish  tribe  inhabiting 
the  mountainous  region  which  they  eventually 
yielded  to  Ephraim  and  Judah  (Josh.  xi.  3 ;  xvii. 
15;  Judg.  i.  4,  5).  They  were  kindred  to  the 
Canaanites  strictly  so  called  (Exod.  xxiii.  23; 
Judg.  i.  45) :  sometimes  Canaanites  and  Periz- 
zites  are  put  for  all  the  other  tribes  of  Canaan 
(Gen.  xiii.  7 ;  xxxiv.  30)  ;  while  in  other  places 
the  Perizzites  are  enumerated  with  various  other 
tribes  of  the  same  stock  (Gen.  xv.  20;  Exod.  iii. 
8,  17  ;  Dent.  vii.  l,  &c.).  A  residue  of  the  Pe- 
rizzites still  remained  in  the  time  of  Solomon, 
and  were  by  him  subjected  to  bond-service  (1 
Kings  ix.  20). 

PERSIANS,  the  name  of  people  and  nation 
which  occurs  only  in  the  later  eriods  of  the  bi- 
blical history,  and  then  for  the  most  part  in  con- 
junction with  the  Medes  [Medes] — a  conjunction 
which  tends  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  sacred 
records,  since  the  most  respectable  historical  au- 
thorities have  found  reason  to  conclude  that  the 
Medes  and  Persians  were  in  truth  but  one  nation, 
only  that  at  an  earlier  period  the  Medes,  at  a  later 
period  the  Persians,  gained  the  upper  hand  and 
bore  sway.  This  ascendancy,  in  the  case  of  the 
Persians,  as  generally  in  the  ancient  Asiatic  go- 
vernments, was  owing  to  the  corrupting  and 
enervating  influence  of  supreme  and  despotic 
power  on  the  one  side,  and  on  the  other  to  the 
retention  on  the  part  of  mountaineers,  or  of  tribes 
seated  remotely  from  the  centre  of  the  empire,  of 
primitive  simplicity, — in  laborious  lives,  hard 
fare,  and  constant  exposure,  which  create  patient 
endurance,  athletic  strength,  manly  courage,  in- 
dependence :  qualities  which  in  their  turn  refuse 
or  throw  off  a  yoke,  and  convert  a  subject  into  a 
conquering  and  ruling  nation.  At  what  precise 
time  this  great  change  was  brought  about  in  re- 
gard to  the  Medes  and  Persians,  we  are  not  in  a 
condition  to  determine  historically.  With  Cyrus 
the  elder,  however,  begins  (b.c.  558)  the  domi- 
nation of  the  Persian  dynas'y  which  held  rule  over 


PERSIANS 


653 


Media  as  well  as  Persia.  Whether  Cyrus  came 
to  the  throne  by  inheritance,  as  the  son-in-law  of 
Cambyses  II.,  according  to  Xenophon,  or  whether 
he  won  the  throne  by  vanquishing  Astyages,  the 
last  Median  king,  agreeably  to  the  statements  of 
Herodotus,  is  one  of  those  many  points  connected 
with  early  Eastern  history,  which,  for  want  of 
documents,  and  iu  the  midst  of  historical  discre- 
pancies, must  remain  probably  for  ever  uncer- 
tain. 

The  most  interesting  event  to  the  theologian  in 
the  history  of  Cyrus  is  the  permission  which  he 
gave  (B.C.  536)  to  the  captive  Jews  to  return  to 
their  native  land.  After  a  prosperous  reign  of  the 
unusual  length  in  Asiatic  monarchies  of  thirty 
years,  Cyrus  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  (b.c. 
529).  He  was  succeeded  by  Cambyses  (b.c.  529), 
who,  according  to  Herodotus,  reigned  seven  years 
and  five  months.  Then  came  (b.c.  522)  Smerdis, 
nominally  brother  of  Cambyses,  but  in  reality  a 
Magian ;  and  as  the  Magi  were  of  Median  blood, 
this" circumstance  shows  that,  though  the  Medes 
had  lost  the  sovereignty,  they  were  not  without 
great  power.  Smerdis  being  assassinated  (b.c. 
521),  Darius  Hystaspis  was  elected  king.  He 
favoured  the  Jews,  and  permitted  them  to  resume 
and  complete  the  building  of  their  temple,  which 
had  been  broken  ofi"  by  reason  of  jealousy  on  the 
part  of  the  heterogeneous  populations  of  Samaria 
(Ezra  iv.  2  :  2  Kings  xvii.  24),  and  the  influence 
which  they  exerted  at  the  Persian  court  (Ezra 
iv.  U).  The  last  monarch  had  for  successor 
Xerxes  (b.c.  485),  who  is  probably  the  Ahasuerus 
of  Esther  and  Mordecai.  After  a  reign  of  twenty 
years,  Xerxes  was  murdered  by  Artabanus,  who, 
however,  enjoyed  his  booty  only  for  the  short 
period  of  seven  months.  The  next  in  order  was 
Artaxerxes  (I.)  Longimanus  (b.c.  465),  who  en- 
joyed his  power  for  the  surprisingly  long  period  of 
forty  years,  and  then  quietly  handed  the  sceptre 
over  to  his  son  Xerxes  II.  (b.c.  424),  who  reigned 
but  two  months.  He  was  followed  by  his  step- 
brother Sogdianus  (b.c.  424),  whose  rule  came  to 
an  end  in  seven  months ;  thus  making  way  for 
Darius  Nothus,  whose  reign  lasted  nineteen  years. 
Artaxerxes  (11.)  Mnemon  next  took  the  throne 
(B.C.  404),  and  is  reported  to  have  reigned  forty 
or  forty-three  years  (Diod.  Sicul.  xiii.  108  ;  xv. 
93).  His  successor  was  Artaxerxes  Ochus  (b.c. 
364),  who  occupied  the  throne  for  twenty-six 
years.  Then  came  Arses  (B.C.  338),  reigning 
three  years.  At  last  Darius  Codomanuus  (B.C. 
335)  ascended  the  throne.  But  the  valour,  har- 
dihood, and  discipline  which  had  gained  the  do- 
minion, and  which,  as  the  length  of  several  reigns 
in  the  succession  shows,  had  sustained  it  with  a 
firm  ard  effectual  hand,  were  almost  at  an  end, 
having  been  succeeded  by  the  effeminacy,  the 
luxuriousness,  and  the  vices  which  had  caused 
the  dissolution  of  earlier  Asiatic  dynasties,  and 
among  them  that  of  the  Medes,  which  the  Per- 
sians had  set  aside.  When  this  relaxation  of 
morals  has  once  taken  place,  a  dynasty  or  a  na- 
tion only  waits  for  a  conqueror.  In  this  case  one 
soon  appeared  in  the  person  of  Alexander,  mis- 
named the  Great,  who  assailing  Darius  on  seve- 
ral occasions,  finally  overcame  him  at  Arbela 
(B.C.  330),  and  so  put  a  period  to  the  Persian 
monarchy  after  it  had  existed  for  219  years.  On 
this  the  country  shared  the  fate  that  befell  the 
other  parts  of  the  world  which  the  Macedonian 


654 


PERSIANS 


madman  had  overrun  ;  but,  more  fortunate  than 
that  of  other  eastern  nations,  the  name  of  Persia 
and  of  Persians  has  been  preserved  even  to  the 
present  day,  as  the  representative  of  a  people  and 
a  government. 

The  events  which  transpired  during  this  suc- 
cession of  Persian  kings,  so  far  as  they  are  con- 
nected with  the  biblical  history,  may  be  thus 
briefiy  narrated :— Cyrus,  having  conquered  Ba- 
bylon, permitted  the  Jews  to  quit  their  captivity 
and  return  into  Palestine,  affording  them  aid  for 
the  reconstruction  of  their  national  house  of  wor- 
ship. Under  Cambyses,  who  invaded  Egypt  and 
became  master  of  the  land,  adversaries  of  the  Jews 
tried  to  render  them  objects  of  suspicion  at  the 
court;  which  intrigues,  however,  had  full  effect 
only  in  the  reign  of  his  successor,  Smerdis,  who 
issued  a  decree  expressly  commanding  the  build- 
ing of  the  temple  to  cease  (Ezra  iv.  21) ;  in  which 
prohibition  Smerdis,  as  he  was  of  the  Magian 
tribe  and  therefore  of  the  priestly  caste,  may  have 
been  influenced  by  religious  considerations.  A 
milder  and  more  liberal  policy  ensued.  Darius, 
having  by  search  in  the  national  records  ascer- 
tained what  Cyrus  had  done  towards  the  Jews, 
took  off  the  prohibition,  and  promoted  the  re- 
building of  the  temple.  Darius  Hystaspis  was 
distinguished  for  great  enterprises,  as  well  as 
liberal  ideas.  He  carried  the  renown  of  the  Per- 
sian arms  to  India,  Libya,  and  Europe,  and  began 
the  Persian  attempt  to  subjugate  Greece.  What 
Xerxes  undertook,  and  what  success  he  had  in  Ids 
warlike  undertakings  against  Greece,  is  known  to 
all.  His  conduct  towards  the  Jews,  as  well  as 
his  own  despotism  and  luxuriousness,  are  ex- 
hibited in  the  book  of  Esther  with  great  force  as 
well  as  truth.  Artaxerxes  Longimanus  led  an 
army  into  Egypt,  which  had  rebelled  against  its 
Persian  masters.  He  was  compelled  to  make 
peace  with  the  Greeks.  Palestine  must  have  suf- 
fered much  by  the  passage  of  troops  through  its 
borders  on  their  way  from  Persia  to  Egypt ;  the 
new  colony  at  Jerusalem  began  to  sink,  when  the 
monarch  permitted  Nehemiah  to  proceed  with 


277.    [Ancient  Persian  king  on  throne.^ 


i  full  powers  to  the  Jewish  capital,  in  order  to 
I  strengthen  the  hands  of  his  brethren.  Darius 
I  Nothus  had  to  fight  on  all  sides  of  his  kingdom, 
I  and  made  Phoenicia  the  scene  of  a  war  against 

the  combined  forces  of  Egypt  and  Arabia.  Even 
I  Artaxerxes  Mnemon,  though  long  busied  with 
I  his  arms  in  other  parts,  did  not  lose  sight  of 
I  Egypt,  which  had  thrown  off  his  yoke,  and  sent 
j  new  Persian  armies  into  the  vicinity  of  Palestine. 
i  In  consequence,  the  Jews  had  much  to  endure 
j  from  the  insolence  of  a  Persian  general,  namely, 
I  Bagoses,  who  polluted  the  temple,  and  '  punished 

the  Jews  seven  years.'    Ochus  followed  the  plan 


PERSIANS 

of  his  father,  subdued  the  revolted  PhcEnicians, 
and  again  fell  upon  Egypt.  The  remaining 
period  of  the  Persian  dominion  over  the  Jews 
passed  away  peaceably. 

The  biblical  books,  Daniel,  Esther,  Nehemiah, 
and  Ezra,  combine  to  present  a  true  as  well  as 
high  idea  of  the  Persian  court  and  government. 
The  extent  of  the  government  as  represented  in 
the  book  of  Esther,  was  from  India  to  Ethiopia, 
including  127  provinces.  The  empire  was  under 
the  control  of  vassal  princes  and  nobles,  '  the 
power  of  Persia  and  Media,'  under  whom  were 
governors  of  various  ranks,  and  officers  for  every 
species  of  duty.  It  was  specially  the  duty  of 
seven  ministers  of  state  ('chamberlains')  to  serve 
in  the  immediate  presence  of  the  monarch.  Other 
officers,  however  high  in  rank,  were  admitted  to 
the  royal  person  only  through  the  barriers  of  a 
strictly-observed  ceremonial.  Even  the  prime 
minister  himself,  and  the  favoured  concubine  who 
was  honoured  with  the  title  of  queen,  durst  come 
no  nearer  than  the  outer  court,  unless,  on  making 


278.    [Ancient  Persian  guards.] 

their  appearance,  the  king  extended  towards  them 
his  sceptre  of  gold.  The  gorgeousness  of  the 
court  dazzles  the  mind,  and  surpasses  imagination. 
Though  the  monarch  was  despotic,  he  was  not 
strictly  arbitrary.  Aided  by  a  council,  controlled 
by  a  priesthood,  guided  by  the  past  as  well  as 
influenced  by  the  present,  the  king,  much  as  he 
may  have  been  given  up  to  his  personal  pleasures, 
must  yet  have  had  a  difficult  office  to  fill,  and 
heavy  duties  to  discharge.  Rulers  are  generally 
insecure  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  their  des- 
potism ;  and  so  we  find,  from  the  plot  against  the 
life  of  Ahasuerus  (Xerxes,  b.c.  485-465),  which 
Mordecai  discovered  and  made  known,  that  even 
the  recesses  of  a  palace  did  not  protect  the  kings 
of  Persia  from  the  attempts  of  the  assassin.  In 
the  punishment,  however,  which  fell  upon  the 
wicked  Haman,  we  see  the  summary  means  which 
the  Persian  monarchs  employed  for  avenging  or 
defending  themselves,  as  well  as  the  unshared 
and  unqualified  power  which  they  held  over  the 
life  of  their  subjects  even  in  the  highest  grades. 
Indeed  it  is  not  possible  to  read  the  book  of  Es- 
ther without  fancying  more  than  once  that  you 
are  in  the  midst  of  the  court  of  the  Grand 
Seignior.  Not  least  among  the  causes  of  this  il- 
lusion is  what  is  narrated  in  regard  to  the  haram 
of  Xerxes.  The  women,  it  seems,  had  a  palace 
of  their  own,  and  dwelt  there  apart  from  thu 
king,  who  paid  them  visits  of  ceremony. 

'The  greatness  of  the  power  of  the  chief  viziers 
of  the  Persian  monarchy  is  illustrated  in  the  re 


PESTILENCE 

corded  acts  of  Hainan  and  Mordecai.  The  mode 
of  delegating  power  -was  by  presenting  to  the  in- 
trusted person  the  royal  signet,  which  appears  to 
have  licensed  him  to  do  what  he  would,  by  such 
means  as  he  pleased. 

On  the  i-eligion  of  the  ancient  Persians  we  re- 
fer to  the  articles  Medes  and  Magi,  from  whom 
the  Persians  received  their  religion,  as  well  as 
the  constitution  of  their  social  state.  If,  indeed, 
the  Persians,  as  a  separate  tribe  in  the  general 
government  of  the  Medes,  succeeded  in  getting 
the  upper  hand  of  their  effeminate  masters,  and 
wresting  the  sceptre  from  their  enfeebled  hands, 
the  Medes  were  not  without  a  recompense  in  that 
they  perpetuated,  even  by  the  instrumentality  of 
their  conquerors,  most  of  the  higher  appliances 
anJ  effects  of  civilization  to  whicli  in  the  course 
of  ages  they  had  given  birth,  and  which  have  in 
all  ages  constituted  the  true  honour  of  men  and 
the  best  treasure  of  states.  The  oldest  Persians 
were,  however,  fire-worshippers — a  species  of 
idolatry  which  is  least  removed  from  monotheism, 
and  also  least  unpardonable  in  such  a  clime  as 
that  of  Persia.  That  such  a  worship  is  not  in- 
compatible with  the  esoteric  recognition  of  one 
intelligent  Creator  is  obvious,  for  the  fire  may 
have  been  regarded,  and  doubtless  by  the  wise 
and  philosophic  was  regarded,  as  merely  sym- 
bolical of  the  Great  Power  which,  as  imaged 
in  the  sun,  quickens,  vivifies,  and  blesses  all 
things.  But  even  this  simple  form  of  symbolical 
worship  tended  to  corruption ;  and  though  we 
are  unable  to  trace  the  steps  of  the  progress,  yet 
we  know  that  it  did  gradually,  in  the  case  of  the 
Persians,  lead  first  to  dualism,  and  then  to  gross 
idolatry. 

The  name  '  Persia '  is  not  found  in  the  older 
records  of  the  Bible,  but  after  the  Babylonish 
period  it  occurs  frequently  (2  Chron.  xxxvi.  20, 
22  :  Ezra  iv.  5,  sq. ;  vi.  14,  sq. ;  Esth.  i.  3 ;  viii. 
10;  1  Mace.  i.  1),  meaning  the  great  Persian 
kingdom  founded  by  Cyrus,  which  in  the  period 
of  its  highest  glory  comprised  all  Asiatic  coun- 
tries from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Indus,  from 
the  Black  and  Caspian  Sea  to  Arabia  and  the 
Indian  Ocean. 

The  Persian  language  was  diverse  from  the 
Shemitic,  and  connected  with  the  Indo-Germanic 
tongues,  of  which  the  Sanscrit  may  be  considered 
as  the  eldest  branch. 

PESTILENCE.  The  terms  pestilence  and 
plague  are  used  with  much  laxity  in  our  Auth. 
Version.  The  latter,  however,  is  by  far  the  wider 
term,  as  we  read  of '  plagues  of  leprosy,' '  of  hail,' 
and  of  many  other  visitations.  Pestilence  is  em- 
ployed to  denote  a  deadly  epidemic.  In  our  time, 
however,  both  these  terms  are  nearly  synony- 
mous ;  but  plague  is,  by  medical  writers  at  least, 
restricted  to  mean  the  glandular  plague  of  the 
East.  There  is  indeed  no  description  of  any 
pestilence  in  the  Bible,  which  would  enable  us  to 
form  an  adequate  idea  of  its  specific  character. 
Severe  epidemics  are  the  common  accompani- 
ments of  dense  crowding  in  cities,  and  of  famine ; 
and  we  accordingly  often  find  them  mentioned  in 
connection  (Lev.  xxvi.  25;  Jer.  xiv.  12;  xxix. 
18;  Matt.  xxiv.  7;  Lukexxi.  11).  But  there  is 
no  better  argument  for  believing  that '  pestilence ' 
in  these  instances  means  the  glandular  plague, 
than  the  fact  of  its  being  at  present  a  prevalent 
epidemic  of  the  East.    It  is  also  remarkable  that 


PETER 


655 


the  Mosaic  law,  which  contains  such  strict  rules 
for  the  seclusion  of  lepers,  should  have  allowed  a 
disease  to  pass  unnoticed,  which  is  above  all 
others  the  most  deadly,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
most  easily  checked  by  sanatory  regulations  of 
the  same  kind. 

PE'TER  (originally  Simeon  or  Simon,  /leurd) 
was  a  native  of  Bethsaida,  in  Galilee,  and  was  the 
son  of  a  certain  Jonas,  or  John  ;  whence  he  is 
named  on  one  occasion  in  the  Gospi-l  history 
Simon  Barjona,  that  is,  son  of  Jona  (Matt.  xvi. 
17).  Along  with  his  brother  Andrew,  he  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  fisherman  on  the  sea  of  Gali- 
lee. It  is  probable  that,  before  tliey  became 
known  to  Christ,  they  were  both  disciples  of  John 
the  Baptist.  Their  becoming  known  to  Christ 
was  owing  to  John's  pointing  him  out  on  the  day 
after  his  baptism  to  Andrew  and  another  disciple 
(probably  the  evangelist  John),  as  '  the  Lamb  of 
God ;'  on  which  they  immediately  followed 
Christ,  and  spent  some  time  in  receiving  his  in- 
structions. Shortly  after  this,  Andrew  finding 
Simon,  carried  him  to  Christ,  who,  on  receiving 
him  as  his  disciple,  bestowed  upon  him  that  sur- 
name by  which  he  has  since  that  time  been  most 
commonly  designated  :  '  When  Jesus  beheld  him 
he  said.  Thou  art  Simon  the  son  of  Jona ;  thou 
shalt  be  called  Cephas,  which  is  by  interpretation 
a  stone.'  After  this  interview  the  two  brothers 
seem  to  have  returned  to  their  usual  occupation 
for  a  season,  as  we  have  an  account  in  Matthew 
(iv.  18-20)  of  their  being  summoned  from  that 
occupation  by  Christ  on  a  subsequent  occasion, 
posterior  to  his  temptation  in  the  wilderness,  and 
to  the  commencement  of  his  public  ministry  as  a 
religious  teacher.  From  this  time  forward  they 
were  his  devoted  and  admiring  followers.  In  the 
course  of  the  evangelical  history  several  anecdotes 
of  Peter  are  incidentally  recorded,  for  the  pur- 
pose, doubtless,  principally  of  illustrating  the  cha- 
racter and  teaching  of  our  Lord,  but  which  tend 
also  to  throw  light  upon  the  history  and  character 
of  his  attached  disciple.  Such  are  the  accounts 
furnished  by  the  evangelists  of  his  walking  upon 
the  agitated  waters  of  the  sea  of  Galilee  to  meet 
his  master  (Matt.  xiv.  22-31 ;  Mark  vi.  4.5-50); 
of  his  bold  and  intelligent  avowals  of  the  un- 
doubted Messiahship  of  Jesus,  notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  which  he,  along  with  the  rest  of 
the  disciples,  felt  in  reconciling  what  they  saw 
in  him  with  what  they  had  fondly  expected  the 
Christ  to  be  (Matt.  xvi.  13-20);  of  his  rash  but 
affectionate  rebuke  of  his  Lord  for  speaking  of 
suffering  and  death  as  in  prospect  for  him,  and  as 
forming  a  necessary  part  of  his  mediatorial  work 
(Matt.  xvi.  21-23);  of  his  conduct  in  first  reject- 
ing, with  an  earnestness  bordering  on  horror,  the 
offer  of  Christ  to  wash  his  feet,  and  then,  when  the 
symbolical  nature  of  that  act  had  been  explained 
to  him,  his  over-ardent  zeal  that  not  his  feet  only, 
but  also  his  hands  and  his  head,  might  be  wa<ihed 
(John  xiii.  4-10);  of  his  bold  and  somewhat 
vaunting  avowal  of  attachment  to  his  Master, 
and  his  determination  never  to  forsake  him,  fol- 
lowed by  his  disgraceful  denial  of  Jesus  in  the 
hour  of  trial  (John  xiii.  36,  37 ;  Mark  xiv.  29, 
&c.) ;  of  his  deep  and  poignant  contrition  for  this 
sin  (Matt.  xxvi.  75) ;  and  of  his  Lord's  ample 
forgiveness  of  his  offence,  after  he  had  received 
from  him  a  profession  of  attachment  as  strong  and 
as  frequently  repeated  as  his  former  denial  of  him 


656 


PETER 


PETER 


(John  xxi.  15-18).  From  these  notices  it  is  easy 
to  gather  a  tolerably  correct  conception  of  the  pre- 
dominating features  of  the  apostle's  character  up 
to  this  period.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
undoubted  piety,  of  ardent  attachment  to  his 
Master,  and  of  great  zeal  for  what  he  deemed  his 
Master's  honour ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  with  a 
mind  ratlier  quick  than  accurate  in  its  apprehen- 
sions, and  with  feelings  rather  hasty  in  their  im- 
pulse than  determined  and  continuous  in  their 
exercise.  Hence  his  readiness  in  avowing  his 
opinions,  and  his  rashness  in  forming  them  ;  and 
hence  also  the  tendency  which  beset  his  honest 
openness  to  degenerate  into  bravado,  and  his  deter- 
minations of  valour  to  evaporate  into  cowardice 
at  appalling  forms  of  danger.  His  fall,  however, 
and  his  subsequent  restoration,  connected  as  these 
were  with  the  mysterious  events  of  his  Master's 
crucifixion  and  resurrection,  and  with  the  new 
light  which  had  by  them  been  cast  around  his  cha- 
racter and  work,  produced  a  powerful  change  for 
the  better  upon  the  apostle's  mind.  From  this 
time  forward  he  comes  before  us  under  a  new 
aspect.  A  sober  dignity  and  firmness  of  purpose 
have  displaced  his  former  hasty  zeal ;  sagacity  and 
prudence  characterize  his  conduct ;  and  whilst  his 
love  to  his  Master  shows  no  symptom  of  abate- 
ment, it  displays  itself  rather  in  active  labour  and 
much-enduring  patience  in  his  service,  than  in 
loud  protestations  or  extravagant  exhibitions  of 
attachment.  In  the  subsequent  Scripture  history 
he  is  presented  to  us  as  the  courageous  herald  of 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  by  whose  mouth  the  first 
public  declaration  of  salvation  through  the  cruci- 
fied Jesus  was  made  to  the  people ;  by  whose 
advice  and  counsel  the  early  churches  were  planted 
and  governed;  and  by  whom  the  prejudices  of 
Judaism  were  first  fairly  surmounted,  and  the 
Gospel  preached  in  all  its  universal  freeness  to 
the  Gentile  world.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
contain  recitals  of  many  iuteresting  incidents 
which  befell  him  whilst  engaged  in  those  efforts. 
Of  these,  the  chief  are  his  imprisonment  and  trial 
before  the  Sanhedrim  for  preaching  Christ,  and 
his  bold  avowal  of  his  determination  to  persist  in 
that  work  (Acts  iv.  1-22)  ;  his  miraculously  in- 
flicting the  punishment  of  death  on  the  infatuated 
couple  who  had  dared  to  try  an  experiment  upon 
the  omniscience  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (v.  1-11);  his 
visit  to  Samaria,  and  rebuke  of  Simon  Magus,  who 
deemed  that  the  miracles  of  the  apostle  were  the 
result  of  some  deep  magic  spell  of  which  he  had 
not  yet  become  possessed,  and  which,  conse- 
quently, he  was  desirous  of  purchasing  from  Peter 
l^viii.  14-24) ;  the  vision  by  which  he  was  taught 
that  the  ancient  ritual  distinctions  between  clean 
and  unclean  had  been  abolished,  and  thereby  pre- 
pared to  attend  on  the  summons  of  Cornelius,  to 
whom  he  preached  the  Gospel  (x.  1-48) ;  his  ap- 
prehension by  Herod  Agrippa,  and  his  deliverance 
by  the  interposition  of  an  angel,  who  opened  for 
him  the  doors  of  his  prison,  and  set  him  free 
(xii.  3-19);  and  his  address  to  the  council  at  Je- 
rusalem, on  the  occasion  of  a  request  for  advice 
and  direction  being  sent  to  the  church  there  by 
the  church  in  Antioch,  in  which  he  advocated  the 
exemption  of  Gentile  converts  from  the  ceremo- 
nial institutes  of  the  law  of  Moses  (xv.  6-11).  In 
all  these  incidents  we  trace  the  evidences  of  his 
mind  having  undergone  an  entire  cliange,  both  as 
to  its  views  of  truth  and  impressions  of  duty,  from 


what  is  displayed  by  the  earlier  events  of  his 
history.  On  one  occasion  only  do  we  detect  some- 
thing of  his  former  weakness,  and  that,  strangely 
enough,  in  regard  to  a  matter  in  which  he  had 
been  the  first  of  the  apostles  to  perceive,  and  the 
first  to  recommend  and  follow,  a  correct  course  of 
procedure.  The  occasion  referred  to  was  his  with- 
drawing, through  dread  of  the  censures  of  his 
Jewish  brethren,  from  the  Gentiles  at  Antioch, 
after  having  lived  in  free  and  friendly  intercourse 
with  them,  and  his  timidly  dissembling  his  con- 
victions as  to  the  religious  equality  of  Jew  and 
Gentile.  For  this  Paul  withstood  him  to  the  face, 
and  rebuked  him  sliarply,  because  of  the  injury 
which  his  conduct  was  calculated  to  produce  to 
the  cause  of  Christianity.  With  this  single  excep- 
tion, however,  his  conduct  seems  to  have  been  in 
full  accordance  with  the  name  which  his  Master 
had  prophetically  bestowed  on  him  when  he  called 
him  Simon  the  Kock,  and  with  the  position  which 
Paul  himself  assigns  to  him,  at  the  very  time  that 
he  recounts  his  temporary  dereliction,  as  one  of 
'the  Pillars  of  the  Church'  (Gal.  ii.  9,  14). 

Thus  far  we  are  enabled,  from  the  inspired 
documents,  to  trace  the  history  of  this  apostle  ; 
but  for  what  remains  we  must  be  indebted  to 
evidence  of  a  less  explicit  and  certain  character. 
Ecclesiastical  tradition  asserts  that  he  performed 
an  extensive  missionary  tour  throughout  those 
districts,  to  the  converts  in  which  his  epistles  ai-e 
addressed.  This  tradition,  however,  though  de- 
riving some  countenance  from  1  Pet.  v.  13,  is 
very  uncertain.  Another  tradition  reports  the 
apostle  as  having  towards  the  close  of  his  life 
visited  Rome,  become  bishop  of  the  church  in 
that  city,  and  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  perse- 
cution raised  against  the  Christians  by  Nero. 
The  importance  of  these  points  in  connection 
with  the  claims  urged  by  the  Catholics  on  behalf 
of  the  supremacy  of  the  pope,  has  led  to  a  careful 
and  sifting  examination  of  the  accuracy  of  this 
tradition ;  the  result  of  which  seems  to  be,  that 
whilst  it  is  admitted  as  certain  that  Peter  suffered 
martyrdom,  in  all  probability  by  crucifixion,  and 
as  probable  that  this  took  place  at  Rome,  it  has, 
nevertheless,  been  made  pretty  clear  that  he  never 
was  for  any  length  of  time  resident  in  that  city, 
and  morally  certain  that  he  never  was  bishop  of 
the  church  there. 

The  assertion  that  Peter  was  bishop  of  Rome 
is  connected  with  another,  by  which  the  claims  of 
the  papacy  are  sought  to  be  established,  namely, 
that  to  him  was  conceded  a  right  of  supremacy 
over  the  other  apostles.  In  support  of  this,  an 
appeal  is  made  to  those  passages  in  the  Gospels, 
where  declarations  supposed  to  imply  the  bestowal 
of  peculiar  honour  and  distinction  on  Peter  are 
recorded  as  having  been  addressed  to  him  by  our 
Lord.  The  most  important  of  these  are  :  '  Thou 
art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  will  I  build  my 
church'  (Matt.  xvi.  18);  and,  'Unto  thee  will 
I  give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  &c. 
(Matt.  xvi.  19).  At  first  sight  these  passages 
would  seem  to  bear  out  the  assumption  founded 
on  them  ;  but,  upon  a  more  careful  investigation, 
it  will  be  seen  that  this  is  rather  in  appearance 
than  in  reality.  The  force  of  both  is  greatly 
impaired  for  the  purpose  for  which  Catholics 
produce  them,  by  the  circumstance,  that  whatever 
of  power  or  authority  they  may  be  supposed  to 
confer  upon  Peter,  must  be  regarded  as  sharea 


PETER 

by  him  ■with  the  other  apostles,  inasmuch  as  to 
them  also  are  ascribed  in  other  passages  the  same 
qualities  and  powers  which  are  promised  to  Peter 
in  those  under  consideration.     If  by  the  former 
of  these  passages  we  are  to  understand  that  the 
church  is  built  upon  Peter,  the  apostle  Paul  in- 
forms us  that  it  is  not  on   him  alone  that  it  is 
built,  but  upon  all  the  apostles  (Ephes.  ii.  20); 
and  in  the   book  of  Revelation  we  are  told,  that 
on  the  twelve  foundations  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
(the  Christian  church)  are  inscribed  '  the  names 
of  the  twelve  apostles  rf  the  Lamb'    (xxi.    14). 
As  for  the  declaration  in  the  latter  of  these  pas- 
sages, it  was  in  all  its  essential  parts  repeated  by 
our  Lord  to  the  other  disciples  immediately  before 
his  passion,  as  announcing  a  privilege  which,  as 
his   apostles,   they   were  to   possess  in  common 
(Matt,  xviii.  18;  John  xx.  23).     It  is,  moreover, 
uncertain  in  what  sense  our  Lord  used  the  lan- 
guage in  question.     In  both  cases  his  words  are 
metaphorical;  and  nothing  can  be  more  unsafe 
than  to  build  a  theological  dogma  upon  language 
of  which  the  meaning  is  not  clear,  and  to  which, 
from  the  earliest  ages,  different  interpretations 
have  been  atiixed.     And,  finally,  even  granting 
the  correctness  of  that  interpretation  which  Catho- 
lics put  upon  these  verses,  it  will  not  bear  out  the 
conclusion  they  would   deduce  from  them,  inas- 
much as  the  judicial  supremacy  of  Peter  over 
the  other  apostles  does   not  necessarily  follow 
from  his  possessing  authority  over  the  church. 
On   the  other  side,  it  is  certain  that  there  is  no 
instance  on  record  of  the  apostle's  having  ever 
claimed  or  exercised  this  supposed  power ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  oftener  than  once  repre- 
sented as  submitting  to  an  exercise  of  power  upon 
the  part  of  others,  as  when,  for  instance,  he  went 
forth  as  a  messenger  from  the  apostles  assembled 
in  Jerusalem  to  the  Christians  in  Samaria  (Acts 
viii.  14),  and  when  he  received  a  rebuke  from 
Paul,  as  already  noticed.     This  circumstance  is 
so  fatal,  indeed,  to  the  pretensions  which  have 
been  urged  in  favour  of  his  supremacy  over  the 
other  apostles,  that  from  a  very  early  age  attempts 
have  been  made  to  set  aside   its   force,  by  the 
hypothesis  that  it  is  not    of   Peter  the  apostle, 
but  of  another  person  of  the  same  name,  that 
Paul  speaks  in   the  passage  referred  to.     This 
hypothesis,   however,  is  so  plainly  contradicted 
by  the  words  of  Paul,  who  explicitly  ascribes 
apostleship  to  the  Peter  of  whom  he  writes,  that 
it  is  astonishing  how  it  could  have  been  admitted 
even   by   the  most  blinded  zealot  (vers.  8,  9). 
Whilst,  however,  it  is  pretty   well  established 
that  Peter  enjoyed  no  judicial  supremacy  over 
the  other  apostles,  it  would,  perhaps,  be  going  too 
far  to  affirm  that  no  dignity  or  primacy  what- 
soevei    -was  conceded  to  him  en  the  part  of  his 
brethien.     His  superiority  in   point  of  age,  his 
distinguished  personal  excellence,  his  reputation 
and  success  as  a  teacher  of  Christianity,  and  the 
prominent  part  which  he  had  ever  taken  in  his 
Master's  affairs,  both  before  his  death  and  after 
his  ascension,  furnished  sufficient  grounds  for  his 
being  raised  to  a  position  of  respect  and  of  moral 
influence  in  the  church  and  amongst  his  brother 
apostles.     These    circumstances,   taken   in    con- 
nection  with  the   prevalent  voice  of  Christian 
antiquity,  would  seem  to  authorize  the  opinion 
thr>t  Peter  occupied  some  such  position  as  that 
of  president  iu  the  apostolical  college,  but  without 


PETER,  EPISTLES  OF 


©67 


any  power  or  authority  of  a  judicial  kind  over 
his  brother  apostles. 

PETER,  EPISTLES  OF.  Of  the  seven  Ca- 
tholic  Epistles,  there  are  two  ascribed  to  St. 
Peter.  The  first  of  these  is  one  of  those  univer- 
sally received  in  the  early  church.  The  second 
ranks  among  the  controverted. 

The  First  Epistle  of  St.  Peter.— The  ex- 
ternal evidence  in  favour  of  the  geimineness  of 
this  Epistle  is  complete.  '  One  Epistle  of  Peter,' 
says  Eusebius,  'called  the  first,  is  universally 
received.'  '  In  fact,'  says  De  Wette,  '  if  we  ex- 
cept its  omission  in  the  ancient  catalogue  in 
Muratori,  and  its  rejection  by  the  Paulicians,  it 
has  been  never  called  in  question.' 

The  internal  evidence  is  equally  complete. 
The  author  calls  himself  the  apostle  Peter  (ch. 
i.  1),  and  the  whole  character  of  the  Epistle  shows 
that  it  proceeds  from  a  writer  w  ho  possessed  great 
authority  among  those  whom  he  addresses,  who 
were  most  probably  composed  chiefly  of  Jewish 
Christians.  The  writer  describes  himself  as  '  an 
elder,'  and  '  a  witness  of  Christ's  sufferings  '  (v. 
1).  The  vehemence  and  energy  of  the  style  are 
altogether  appropriate  to  the  warmth  and  zeal  of 
Peter's  character;  and  every  succeeding  critic, 
who  has  entered  into  its  spirit,  has  felt  impressed 
with  the  truth  of  the  observation  of  Erasmus, 
'  that  this  epistle  is  full  of  apostolical  dignity 
and  authority,  and  worthy  of  the  prince  of  the 
apostles.' 

The  only  indication  as  to  the  place  from  whence 
this  letter  was  addressed  to  the  five  provinces,  is 
contained  in  ch.  v.  ver.  13 :  '  She  in  Babylon, 
elected  with  you,  saluteth  you.'  For  whether 
'  she  in  Babylon '  refers  to  the  church  or  to  an 
individual  (in  which  latter  case  Peter's  wife  is 
the  person  generally  believed  to  be  referred  to), 
the  letter  must  have  been  written  in,  or  at  least 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Babylon. 

The  Epistle  must  have  been  written  before 
A.D.  67-68,  the  year  of  St.  Peter's  martyrdom. 
Lardner  places  the  date  in  a.d.  63  or  64,  chiefly 
from  the  fact  that  an  earlier  date  than  a.d.  63  can- 
not be  assigned  for  his  arrival  at  Rome.  Hug  fixes 
the  date  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Nero's  reign,  or 
A.D.  65,  a  year  after  the  conflagration  of  the  city, 
and  five  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

To  afford  consolation  to  the  persecuted  appears 
to  have  been  the  main  object  of  this  Epistle.  To 
this  the  moral  instructions  are  subsidiary.  The 
exhortations  to  a  pure  conscience,  to  rebut  the 
calumnies  of  the  time  by  their  innocence,  to  ab- 
stain from  violent  disputes,  to  pay  respect  to  the 
existing  authorities,  to  exercise  increasing  love 
and  fidelity,  were  exhortations  all  given  with  a 
view  to  alleviate  their  fate,  or  enable  them  to  bear 
it.  The  repeated  references  to  the  example  of 
Jesus  in  his  death  and  sufferings  are  designed  to 
strengthen  them  for  the  endurance  of  calamities. 
The  exhortation  to  the  slaves,  too,  has  reference 
to  the  unhappy  days,  in  which,  for  real  or  ima- 
ginary wrongs  and  hardships,  they  frequently  be- 
came the  accusers  and  betrayers  of  their  masters. 
The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  contents : — 
The  salutation  and  introduction,  in  which  the 
inhabitants  of  the  five  provinces  who  were  pur- 
chased by  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  are  exhorted 
to  prepare  themselves  for  a  reward  higher  than 
the  enjoyments  of  this  fleeting  life  (i.  1-13).  They 
are,  therefore,  recommended  to  lay  aside  anything 
2U 


658 


PETER.  EPISTLES  OF 


PETER.  EPISTLES  OF 


•which  couid  render  them  unworthy  of  Christ,  the 
centre  of  their  hopes,  their  pattern  and  their 
Saviour,  and  so  to  regulate  their  conduct  to  their 
superiors  that  none  should  be  able  to  reproach 
them  as  'evildoers.'  These  precepts  were  to  ex- 
tend to  slaves,  to  whom  the  meek  and  suffering 
Jesus  should  be  an  example.  Women,  too,  were 
to  render  their  submissive  uoiseless  virtue  their 
^hiefest  ornament,  and  men  should  cherish  and 
honour  them.  All  should  be  full  of  sympathy 
and  love,  and  mutual  indulgence.  Their  inno- 
cence should  be  so  marked  as  to  shame  the  calum- 
niator, and  they  should  make  preparation  for  the 
approaching  catastrophe,  when  they  should  have 
an  opportunity  of  imitating  Jesus  in  their  suffer- 
ings :  hoping  for  them  all  to  have  no  other  re- 
proach than  that  of  being  his  disciples.  The 
presbyters  are  enjoined  to  watch  over  their  flocks, 
and  the  subordinate  to  pay  them  respect,  and 
all  should  be  on  the  watch,  and  lay  aside  their 
worldly  cares.  All  these  exhortations  are  enforced 
by  the  example  of  Christ,  and  by  the  punishment 
of  the  disobedient  in  the  days  of  Noah,  those 
spirits  in  prison  to  whom  Christ  went  and 
preached  (iii.  19,  20). 

Thk  Second  Epistle  of  St.  Petek  has  been 
the  subject  of  more  discuss-on  than  any  other  book 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  its  genuineness  has 
been  contested  by  not  a  few  of  the  ablest  critics. 
We  are  informed  both  by  Origen  and  Eusebius 
that  though  it  was  generally  received  in  their 
time,  doubts  were  entertained  respecting  its  right 
to  a  place  among  the  Catholic  Epistles.  Before 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  however,  these 
doubts  had  subsided,  and  this  epistle  was  received 
as  genuine  by  Athanasius,  Jerome,  Augustine,  and 
other  eminent  fathers. 

It  is  enumerated  in  the  canon  of  Laodicea 
(a.d.  .360  ?),  and  in  the  85th  apostolical  canon, 
and  was  finally  adopted  by  the  councils  of  Hippo 
and  Carthage,  Avhich  included  among  the  canon- 
ical books  all  those  which  are  now  commonly 
received. 

Although  before  this  period  certain  books  were 
rejected  from  the  defect  of  historical  evidence,  or 
from  internal  grounds  of  suspicion,  an  undeviating 
uniformity  now  took  place,  and  no  controversy 
was  raised  respecting  any  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  until  the  inquiring  age  which  ushered 
in  the  Reformation.  The  genuineness  of  this 
opistle  was  then  called  in  question  by  Erasmus 
and  Calvin.  It  was,  however,  received  by  all  the 
Reformed  Confessions,  as  well  as  by  the  Council 
of  Trent.  It  has  been  since  that  period  rejected 
by  Grotius,  Scaliger,  Salmasius,  Semler,  Eich- 
horn,  Schmidt,  Walker,  Schott,  Guericke,  Cred- 
ner,  De  Wette,  Ullman,  to  some  extent,  and 
Neander.  Among  its  numerous  defenders  it  will 
be  suflScient  to  mention  the  names  of  Michaelis, 
Lardner,  Pott,  Augusti,  Flatt,  Dahl,  Beriholdt, 
who,  however,  rejects  the  second  chapter ; 
Nietzche  and  Olshausen,  with  the  learned  Roman 
Catholics  Hug  and  Feilmoser :  the  latter,  however, 
fluctuates  in  his  opinion. 

Before  proceeding  to  consider  the  grounds  for 
ind  against  the  rejection  of  this  epistle,  it  may  be 
useful  to  inquire  into  its  internal  structure  and 
contents. 

The  writer  designates  himself  here  as  the  apostle 
Peter  (2  Pet.  i.  1)  more  clearly  than  in  the  first 
epistle ;  as  personally  known  to  Jesus  (i.  1 4) ;  as  a 


beloved  brother  of  Piul  (iii.  1 5) ;  and  as  the  author 
of  the  first  epistle  ( iii.  1).  It  is  addressed  to  the  same 
persons  with  the  first,  whom  he  presupposes  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  writings  of  St.  Paul  (iii.  15  ; 
comp.  Rom.  ii.  4).  He  refers  to  his  approaching 
death  (i.  14),  The  main  object  is  the  refutation 
of  erroneous  teachers.  He,  therefore,  as  an  eye- 
witness of  the  acting  and  teaching  of  Jesus,  is 
enabled  to  give  them  more  accurate  instruction 
than  those  who  would  mislead  them.  He  exhorts 
them  to  advance  in  the  knowledge  and  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  by  adding  to  their  faith  fortitude,  and  every 
other  excellent  quality.  He  denounces  (ch.  ii.) 
punishment  against  false  teachers,  by  examples 
drawn  from  the  disobedient  angels,  the  world  be- 
fore the  flood,  and  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  He 
inveighs  against  those  teachers  for  resigning 
themselves  to  impurity,  and  speaking  evil  of  God 
and  angels,  whereas  angels  have  not  ventured  to 
do  this  even  of  Satan.  "He  compares  them  to  the 
false  prophet  Balaam,  and  to  clouds  filled  with 
wind.  He  rebukes  those  mockers  who  doubted  of 
the  coming  of  Christ,  which  was  only  delayed  in 
mercy,  but  predicts  the  dissolution  of  the  world  by 
fire,  and  warns  them  to  keep  themselves  in  readi- 
ness for  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth. 

The  main  reasons  which  induced  many  of  the 
ancients  to  reject  this  epistle  arose  from  the  dif- 
ference in  style  and  structure  between  the  first 
and  second  epistle.  But  in  compensation  for  these 
alleged  differences  the  resemblances  are  remark- 
ably striking,  and  there  are  several  words  used  in 
a  peculiar  sense  in  both  epistles. 

Some  critics  have,  indeed,  vindicated  the  genuine- 
ness of  the  epistle  principally  on  the  ground  of 
resemblance  in  both  sentiment  and  diction.  Of 
these  it  will  be  sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  refer 
to  Hug  and  Michaelis.  The  former  of  these  ob- 
serves that  the  resemblance  between  the  two  is  'so 
thorough  as  to  denote  an  identity  of  authorship ;' 
and  Michaelis  had  before  this  asserted  that  the 
agreement  between  them  appeared  to  him  to  be 
such,  '  that  if  the  second  was  not  written  by  St. 
Peter,  the  person  who  forged  it  not  only  possessed 
the  power  of  imitation  in  a  very  unusual  degree, 
but  understood  likewise  the  design  of  the  first 
epistle,  with  which  the  ancients  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  acquainted.'  The  principal  difference 
of  style,  however,  is  found  in  the  second  chapter, 
the  character  of  which  is  totally  unlike  anything 
contained  in  the  first  epistle.  The  resemblance, 
indeed,  between  this  chapter  and  the  short  epistle 
of  St.  Jude  is  so  striking,  that  it  has  been  at  all 
times  perceived  that  one  must  have  at  least  read, 
if  not  copied  from  the  other. 

All  those  theologians  who  have  disputed  the 
genuineness  of  Peter's  second  epistle,  have  main- 
tained that  its  writer  adopted  the  sentiments  and 
language  of  Jude,  and  this  opinion  is  favoured 
even  by  many  of  the  modern  advocates  of  its 
genuineness,  including  Olshausen  and  Hug.  But 
which  of  the  two  wrote  first  is,  notwithstanding,  a 
question  impossible  to  decide.  '  St.  Jude's  Epistle 
is  so  like  the  second  chapter  of  St.  Peter's  Second 
Epistle,'  says  Bishop  Sherlock,  '  the  figures  and 
images  in  both  are  so  much  the  same,. . .  .that  it 
has  been  commonly  thought  that  St.  Jude  copied 
after  St.  Peter's  Epistle.'  This  was  the  more 
generally  received  opinion,  and  was  held  among 
the  ancients  by  (Ecumenius,  and  maintained  at 
the  time  of  the  Reformation  by  Luther.    One  set 


PETRA 

of  Clitics  have  supposed  that  one  of  the  writers  of 
these  epistles  had  intended  to  illustrate  at  large 
-what  the  other  had  briefly  stated ;  others,  that  one 
sought  to  abridge  what  the  other  had  stated 
diffusely.  The  former  of  these  views  is  main- 
tained by  Hug  and  Olshausen.  The  latter  writer 
founds  his  view  on  the  fact  that  Peter  does  not 
give  the  minute  statements  found  in  Jude,  espe- 
cially in  regard  to  the  history  of  angels  ;  in  which 
passages  Jude  alone  goes  into  details,  while  Peter 
advances  a  general  historical  fact, — which  he  con- 
ceives to  be  characteristic  of  a  later  composition. 

Dr.  Sherlock,  bishop  of  London,  adopted  a 
middle  course,  and  endeavoured  to  account  for  the 
remarkable  resemblance  between  the  two  writers 
by  supposing  that  each  quotes  from  a  common 
Hebrew  document.  But  this  ingenious  conjecture 
has  been  found  untenable.  Attempts  have  been 
made  to  support  these  arguments  against  the  ge- 
nuineness of  this  epistle  by  other  alleged  internal 
marks  of  spuriousness,  such  as  the  anachronisms 
which  it  is  said  to  contain.  But  these  arguments 
have  been  successfully  combated  by  Nietzche, 
Olshausen,  and  other  writers. 

It  is  fully  conceded  that  there  is  no  other  book 
in  the  New  Testament  against  whose  authority  so 
many  arguments  can  be  adduced  as  against  this 
epistle.  One  of  the  most  impartial  as  well  as 
ablest  critics  of  modern  times,  after  weighing 
them  all,  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  neither  its 
genuineness  nor  its  spuriousness  can  be  demon- 
strated by  undoubted  arguments ;  but,  while  he 
admits  that  unfriendly  critics  will  see  occasion 
for  doubt,  yet,  relying  on  subjective  grounds,  he 
is  persuaded  of  the  authenticity  of  the  epistle, 
and  that  the  arguments  which  go  to  disprove 
its  genuineness  are  not  of  sufficient  weight  to 
establish  its  spuriousness,  or  cause  it  to  be 
'  stricken  from  the  number  of  inspired  books.' 

By  those  who  acknowledge  its  genuineness  its 
date  is  generally  fixed  about  the  year  a.d.  65,  or 
not  long  before  Peter's  death,  which  they  deduce 
trom  2  Pet.  i.  14.  Wetstein  concludes  from 
2  Pet.  iii.  that  it  must  have  been  written  before 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  in  which  case  none 
will  allege  that  any  but  Peter  could  have  been 
its  author.  If  it  were  proved  that  Peter  had 
Jude's  epistle  before  him,  this  must  have  been 
written  not  long  before  the  same  period,  which 
agrees  with  the  time  assigned  by  Dr.  Lardner, 
between  64  and  66  [Jcde].  But  if  Jude  certainly 
quoted  the  book  of  Enoch,  and  if  the  result  of  the 
investigation  of  Liicke,  who  concludes  that  this 
book  was  written  in  the  first  century,  at  the  time 
of  the  Jewish  war,  and  probably  after  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  be  correct,  this  circum- 
stance would  of  itself,  cateris  paribus,  settle  the 
question  in  favour  of  the  priority  of  St.  Peter's 
second  epistle  [Jode].  Bishop  Sherlock  main- 
tains that  there  are  no  less  than  five  years  inter- 
vening between  the  date  of  the  two  epistles  of 
Peter. 

PE'TRA  was  the  capital  of  the  Nabathsean 
Arabs  in  the  land  of  Edom,  and  seems  to  have 
given  name  to  the  kingdom  and  region  of  Arabia 
Petiaa.  As  there  is  mention  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment of  a  stronghold  which  successively  belonged 
to  the  Amorites  (Judg.  i.  36),  the  Edomites  (2 
Kings  xiv.  7)  and  the  Moabites  (Isa.  xvi.  1, 
comp.  in  Heb.  ch.  xlii.  11),  and  bore  in  Hebrew 
the  name  of  Selah,  which  has  the  same  meaning 


PHARISEES  659 

as  Petra  in  Greek,  viz.,  '  a  rock,'  that  circum- 
stance has  led  to  the  conjecture  that  the  Petra  of 
the  Nabathffians  had  been  the  Selah  of  Edom. 
But  the  consideration  of  that  point  in  a  work  of 
this  nature  falls  more  naturally  under  the  Bible 
head  of  Selah,  to  which  article  accordingly  the 
reader  is  referred ;  and  there  likewise  the  question 
will  he  disposed  of  as  to  whether  (on  the  supposi- 
tion of  Petra  being  the  Selah  of  Scripture)  its  site 
is  to  be  identified  with  that  of  the  modern  Kerek, 
or  with  the  locality  of  the  for  famed  Wudij  Musa 
[Arabia;  Idum^a  ;  Nebaioth]. 

PHA'RAOH,  the  general  title  of  the  kings  of 
Egypt  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  found  only 
there  and  in  the  writers  who  have  drawn  from 
that  source.  It  often  stands  simply  like  a  proper 
name  (Gen.  xii,  15;  xxxvii.  ,36;  xl.  2,  sq. ;  xliv. 
l,sq. ;  and  so  generally  throughout  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  also  in  Cant.  i.  9  ;  Isa.  xix.  1 1  ;  xxx. 
2).  '  King  of  Egypt'  is  sometimes  subjoined  to 
it  (1  Kings  iii.  1 ;  2  Kings  xvii.  7;  xviii.  21); 
and  sometimes  also  the  more  specific  designation 
or  real  proper  nAie  of  the  monarch  is  indicated, 
as  Pharaoh  Necho  (2  Kings  xxiii.  33),  Pharaoh 
Hophra  (Jer.  xliv.  30).  Josephus  intimates  that 
the  word  signifies  'the  king'  in  the  Egyptian 
language  {Antiq.  viii.  6.  2).  The  idea  has,  how- 
ever, been  more  recently  started  that  Pharaoh 
corresponds  to  the  Egyptian  phra,  '  the  sun,' 
which  is  written  as  an  hieroglyphic  symbol 
over  the  titles  of  kings.  It  seems  to  us  that 
this  explanation  might  be  admitted  without  con- 
tradicting the  other,  seeing  that  it  is  not  only 
possible,  but  highly  probable,  that  the  Egyptians 
should  make  the  name  of  the  sun  a  royal  title, 
and  that  at  length  custom  rendered  it  equivalent 
to  '  king.'  The  practice  of  ancient,  and,  indeed, 
modern  Oriental  kings,  of  associating  the  idea 
of  their  own  dignity  with  the  glory  of  the  sun, 
is  well  known. 

PHA'RAOH-HOPH'RA.  [Hophra.] 
PHA'RAOH- NE'CHO.  [Necho.] 
PHAR'ISEES.  The  name  denotes  those  who 
are  separated,  i.  e.  from  ordinary  persons,  of 
course,  by  the  correctness  of  their  opinions  and 
the  holiness  of  their  lives.  They  were  a  Jewish 
sect  who  had  the  dominant  influence  in  the 
time  of  our  Lord,  to  whose  faults  the  overthrow 
of  the  state  may  be  attributed,  and  who  have  to 
bear  the  awful  burden  of  having  crucified  the 
Lord  and  giver  of  life. 

The  precise  period  when  the  Pharisees  appeared 
as  a  sect,  history  does  not  supply  us  with  the  means 
of  determining.  That  they,  however,  as  well  as 
their  natural  opponents,  the  Sadducees,  existed  in 
the  priesthood  of  Jonathan — in  the  interval,  that 
is,  between  159  and  144  before  Christ — is  known 
from  Josephus,  who  makes  mention  of  them  as 
well  as  of  the  sect  of  the  Essenes.  The  terms  he 
employs  warrant  the  conviction  that  they  were 
then  no  novelties,  but  well  known,  well  defined, 
and  two  established  religious  parties.  But  from 
the  time  of  Jonathan  to  that  of  Ezra  (about 
4C0  B.C.),  there  had  taken  place  no  great  forma- 
tive event  such  as  could  of  itself  cause  so  great  a 
change  in  the  Hebrew  system  as  was  the  rise  of 
these  sects  ;  whereas  the  influences  to  which  the 
Israelites  had  been  subject  in  the  Medo-Persian 
dominions,  and  the  necessarily  somewhat  new 
direction  which  things  took  on  the  rebuilding  of 
the  Temple  and  the  restoration  of  the  civil  and 
2  u  2 


PHARISEES 


PHARISEES 


religious  polity,  could  hardly  fail,  considering  the 
distance  from  Moses  at  wliich  these  changes  hap- 
pened, and  the  great  extent  to  which  the  people 
had  lost  even  the  knowledge  of  the  institutions 
and  language  of  their  forefathers,  to  lead  to  diver- 
sities of  views,  interests,  and  aims,  whence  sects 
■would  spring  as  a  natural  if  not  inevitable  result. 
There  is.  therefore,  good  reason  to  refer  the  origin 
of  the  Pharisees  to  the  time  of  the  return  from 
the  Babylonish  captivity,  a  period  which  consti- 
stutes  a  marked  epoch,  as  dividing  the  Hebraism 
of  the  older  and  purer  age  from  the  Judaism  of 
the  later  and  more  corrupt  times.  Nor,  did  our 
space  allow,  should  we  find  it  diflicult  to  trace  the 
leading  features  of  the  Pharisaic  character  back 
to  those  peculiar  opinions  and  usages  with  which 
the  old  Israelitish  type  of  mind  had  been  made 
familiar,  and  at  the  same  time  corrupt,  in  the 
Persian  empire. 

But  as  we  think  it  more  for  the  reader's  in- 
struction to  lay  before  him  the  very  words  in 
which  this  sect  is  described,  than  to  give  a  philo- 
sophical account  of  the  rise  anH  connection  of 
their  principles,  to  which  of  necessity  our  own 
views  would  impart  a  colouring,  we  shall  proceed 
to  transcribe  a  nearly  literal  translation  of  the 
most  important  passages  in  the  writings  of  Jo- 
sephus  referring  to  the  opinions  and  practices  of 
this  powerful  sect. 

'  The  Pharisees  have  delivered  to  the  people  a 
great  many  observances  by  succession  from  their 
fathers,  which  are  not  written  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  for  that  reason  it  is  that  the  Sadducees  reject 
them,  and  say  that  we  are  to  esteem  those  observ- 
ances to  be  obligatory  which  are  in  the  written 
word,  but  are  not  to  observe  what  are  derived 
from  the  tradition  of  our  forefathers.  Hence 
great  disputes.  The  Sadducees  are  able  to  per- 
suade none  but  the  rich,  and  have  not  the  popu- 
lace obsequious  to  them,  but  the  Pharisees  have 
the  multitude  on  their  side.'  'The  Pharisees 
are  not  apt  to  be  severe  in  punishments '  (Joseph. 
Anliq.  xiii.  10.  5  and  6;  Epiphan.  Hcer.  15). 

'The  Pharisees  live  meanly  and  despise  deli- 
cacies in  diet;  and  they  follow  the  conduct  of 
reason,  and  what  that  prescribes  to  them  as  good 
they  do.  They  also  pay  respect  to  such  as  are 
in  years ;  nor  are  they  so  bold  as  to  contradict 
them  in  anything  which  they  have  introduced ; 
and  when  they  determine  that  all  things  are  done 
by  fate,  they  do  not  take  away  from  men  the 
freedom  of  acting  as  they  think  fit,  since  their 
notion  is  that  it  hath  pleased  God  to  make  a  con- 
stitution of  things  whereby  what  he  wills  is  done, 
but  so  that  the  will  of  man  can  act  virtuously  or 
viciously.  They  also  believe  that  souls  have  an 
immortal  vigour  in  them,  and  that  under  the 
earth  there  will  be  rewards  or  punishments,  ac- 
cording as  men  have  lived  virtuously  or  viciously 
in  this  life.  The  latter  are  to  be  detained  in  an 
everlasting  prison ;  but  the  former  shall  have 
power  to  revive  and  live  again  :  on  account  of 
which  doctrine  they  are  able  greatly  to  persuade 
the  body  of  the  people  ;  and  whatsoever  is  done 
about  divine  worship,  prayers,  and  sacrifices,  is 
performed  according  to  their  directions,  insomuch 
that  the  cities  gave  great  attestations  to  them  on 
account  of  their  entire  virtuous  conduct'  (Joseph. 
Antiq.  xviii.  1.  3). 

'  The  Pharisees  are  those  who  are  esteemed 
most  skilful  in  the  exact  interpretation  of  the 


laws.  They  ascribe  all  to  Fate  (or  Providence) 
and  to  God,  and  yet  allow  that  to  act  what  is 
right,  or  the  contrary,  is  for  the  most  part  in  the 
power  of  man.  They  say  that  all  souls  are  in- 
corruptible, but  that  the  souls  of  good  men  only 
are  removed  into  other  bodies,  and  that  the  souls 
of  bad  men  are  subject  to  eternal  punishment 
Moreover,  the  Pharisees  are  friendly  to  one  an- 
other, and  are  for  the  exercise  of  concord  and  re- 
gard for  the  public'  (Joseph.  De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  8. 14). 

'  The  Pharisees  are  a  sect  of  Jews  which  appear 
to  be  more  pious  than  others,  and  to  expound  the 
laws  more  accurately.  These  Pharisees  artfully 
insinuated  themselves  into  her  (Queen  Alexan- 
dra's) favour  by  little  and  little,  and  became  the 
real  administrators  of  public  affairs ;  they  ba- 
nished and  restored  whom  they  pleased ;  they 
bound  and  loosed  at  their  pleasure  ;  they  had  the 
enjoyment  of  the  royal  authority,  whilst  the  ex- 
penses and  the  difficulties  of  it  belonged  to  Alex- 
andra. She  was  a  sagacious  woman  in  the  ma- 
nagement of  great  affairs,  and  became  not  only 
very  powerful  at  home,  but  terrible  also  to  foreign 
potentates  ;  while  she  governed  other  people,  the 
Pharisees  governed  her.  She  was  so  superstitious 
as  to  comply  with  their  desires,  and  accordingly 
they  slew  whom  they  pleased'  (Joseph.  De  Bell. 
Jud.  i.  5.  2.  3). 

'  There  was  a  certain  sect  that  were  Jews,  who 
valued  themselves  highly  upon  the  exact  skill 
they  had  in  the  law  of  their  fathers,  and  made 
men  believe  they  were  highly  favoured  by  God, 
by  whom  this  set  of  women  were  inveigled. 
These  are  those  that  are  called  the  sect  of  the  Pha- 
risees, who  were  able  to  make  great  opposition  to 
kings ;  a  cunning  sect  they  were,  and  soon  ele- 
vated to  a  pitch  of  open  fighting  and  doing  mis- 
chief. Accordingly,  when  all  the  people  of  the 
Jews  gave  assurance  of  their  good  will  to  Ca;sar 
and  to  the  king's  government,  these  men  did  not 
swear,  being  about  6000 ;  and  when  the  king 
imposed  a  fine  upon  them,  Phreroras'  wife  paid 
it.  In  order  to  requite  this  kindness,  since  they 
were  believed  to  have  a  foreknowledge  of  things  to 
come  by  divine  inspiration,  they  foretold  how 
God  had  decreed  that  Herod's  government  should 
cease,  and  that  the  kingdom  should  come  to  her 
and  Phreroras,  and  to  their  children  ;  so  the  king 
Herod  slew  such  of  the  Pharisees  as  were  prin- 
cipally accused,  and  all  who  had  consented  to 
what  the  Pharisees  had  foretold '  (Joseph.  Antiq. 
xvii.  2.  4). 

'  The  Pharisees  say  that  some  actions,  but  not 
all,  are  the  work  of  fate ;  that  some  of  them  are  in 
our  own  power,  and  that  they  are  liable  to  fate,  but 
are  not  caused  by  fate'  (Joseph.  Antiq.  xiii.  5.  9). 

'  The  sect  of  the  Pharisees  are  supposed  to  ex- 
cel others  in  the  accurate  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  their  country'  (Joseph.   Vita,  ^  38). 

'  The  Pharisees  have  so  great  a  power  over  the 
multitude  that  when  they  say  anything  against 
the  king  or  against  the  high-pries^  they  are  ge- 
nerally believed '  (Joseph.  Antiq.  xiii.  10.  5). 

'  The  bodies  of  all  men  are  mortal,  and  are 
created  out  of  corruptible  matter ;  but  the  soul  is 
ever  immortal,  and  is  a  portion  of  the  divinity 
that  inhabits  our  bodies'  {De  Bell.  Jud.  iii.  8.  5). 

'Being  now  nineteen  years  old,  I  began  to 
conduct  myself  according  to  the  rule  of  the  sect 
of  the  Pharisees,  which  is  of  kin  to  the  sect  of 
Stoics,  as  the  Greeks  call  them'  (Joseph.  Vita  §  2). 


PHARISEES 

There  is  another  source  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  Pharisees — the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  light  in  which  they  here  appear  varies,  of 
course,  with  the  circumstances  to  which  its  origin 
is  due.  The  reader  has  just  had  before  him  the 
account  of  a  friend  and  an  adherent,  an  account 
which,  therefore,  we  may  believe,  is  conceived 
and  set  forth  in  the  most  favourable  manner. 
The  Gospels  present  the  character  of  the  Phari- 
sees in  a  darker  hue,  inasmuch  as  here  a  higher 
standard  is  brought  into  use,  a  loftier  morality  is 
the  judge.  To  pass  on  to  the  views  given  in  the 
New  Testament.  The  high  repute  in  which  the 
Pharisees  were  held,  as  expositors  of  the  national 
laws,  whether  civil  or  religious,  may  be  seen  in 
John  vii.  48  ;  Acts  xxii.  3 ;  the  casuistry  which 
they  employed  in  expounding  the  Scriptures,  in 
Matt.  ix.  34  ;  xv.  5  ;  xxiii.  16  ;  Mark  vii.  7,  sq. ; 
their  excessive  zeal  in  proselytism,  Matt,  xxiii. 
1 5 ;  yet  their  concealment  of  light  and  hindrance 
of  progress.  Matt,  xxiii.  13 ;  their  inordinate 
regard  for  externals,  and  oppressive  but  self-spar- 
ing rule.  Matt,  xxiii.  3,  sq.,  25;  their  affectation 
of  grandeur  and  distinction.  Matt,  x.^iii.  5,  sq. ; 
their  shocking  hypocrisy,  Matt,  xxiii.  14,  27,  sq. ; 
their  standing  on  inconsiderable  points,  while 
they  neglected  such  as  were  of  consequence,  pre- 
ferring ceremonial  rites  to  justice  and  charity. 
Matt,  xxiii.  24 ;  xii.  2-7 ;  Luke  vi.  7  ;  John  ix. 
If),  sq. ;  Mark  vii.  I;  the  display  which  they 
aft'ected  even  in  works  of  religion,  Matt.  vi.  1, 
sq. ;  xxiii.  5  ;  their  pride  and  self-giratulation  as 
assuredly,  and  before  others,  religious  men,  Luke 
xviii.  9,  sq. ;  their  regard  to  tradition.  Matt.  xv. 
2  ;  Mark  vii.  3  ;  they  formed  schools  which  had 
masters  and  disciples.  Matt.  xxii.  16;  Luke  v. 
33 ;  agreeably  with  their  general  doctrines,  they 
regarded  the  act  rather  than  the  motive,  Luke  xL 
39  ;  xviii.  11,  sq. ;  and  were  given  to  fasts,  prayers, 
washing,  paying  of  tithes,  alms,  &c.,  Matt.  ix.  14 ; 
xxiii.  15,  23;  Luke  xi.  39,  sq. ;  xviii.  12;  exhi- 
biting themselves  to  the  people,  in  order  to  gain 
their  favour,  as  self-denying,  holy  men,  zealous 
for  God  and  the  law,  a  kind  of  Jewish  stoics. 
Matt.  ix.  11 ;  Luke  v.  30;  vi.  2 ;  Matt,  xxiii.  5, 
15,29;  while  in  reality  they  were  fond  of  the 
pleasures  of  sense,  and  were  men  of  lax  morals, 
Matt.  V,  20;  xv.  4,  8;  xxiii.  3,  14,  23,  25;  John 
viii.  7.  At  an  early  period  they  determined  in 
the  Sanhedrim  to  withstand  and  destroy  Jesus, 
instigated  doubtless  by  the  boldness  with  which 
he  taught  the  necessity  of  personal  righteousness 
and  pure  worship  (Matt.  xii.  1 4). 

In  regard  to  the  opinions  of  the  Pharisees,  the 
New  Testament  affords  only  fragments  of  inform- 
ation, which  are,  however,  in  accordance  with  the 
fuller  particulars  furnished  by  Josephus.  From 
Acts  xxiii.  6,  8,  we  learn  that  they  believed  in 
the  existence  of  higher  created  beings  than  man, 
doubtless  the  good  and  bad  spirits  of  the  Chaldee 
philosophy.  The  same  places  also  instruct  us 
that  they  held  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  (comp. 
Matt.  xxii.  24,  sq.). 

It  thus  appears  that  the  Pharisees  were  in  ge- 
neral a  powerful  religious  party,  or  rather  the 
predominant  influence,  in  the  Jewish  state,  who 
aspired  to  the  control  of  the  civil  and  religious 
institutions,  affected  popularity  among  the  people, 
exerted  influence  in  the  councils  of  kings,  queens, 
and  people  of  rank ;  were  the  recognised  teachers 
and  guides  of  the  national  mind,  proud  of  their 


PHICOL 


661 


orthodoxy,  pluming  themselves  on  their  superior 
sanctity,  practising  austerities  outwardly,  but 
inwardly  indulging  tlieir  passions,  and  descending 
to  unworthy  and  shameful  acts ;  and  withal  of 
narrow  spirit,  contracted  views,  seeking  rather 
their  own  aggrandisement  than  the  public  good, 
of  which  they  used  the  name  merely  as  a  pretext 
and  a  cover. 

We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  there  were 
no  individuals  in  the  body  free  from  its  prevail- 
ing vices.  There  did  not  fail  to  be  i-pright  and 
pure-minded  men,  who  united  inward  piety  to 
outward  correctness  of  conduct,  and  were  indeed 
superior  to  the  principles  of  their  sect ;  such  was 
Nicodemus  (John  iii.  1);  such  also  Gamaliel 
may  have  been  (Acts  v.  34).  Of  men  of  this  kind 
many  were  led  to  embrace  the  Gospel  (Acts 
XV.  5). 

In  general,  however,  their  power  was  all  di- 
rected against  Jesus  and  his  work.  With  what 
force  they  must  have  acted  appears  obvious  from 
the  preceding  remarks.  Nor  is  the  reader  to 
imagine  that  they  were  merely  a  few  learned 
men,  congregated  together  in  the  capital,  engaged 
in  learned  pursuits  or  religious  practices,  and  in 
consequence  leaving  our  Lord  at  liberty  to  pur- 
sue his  ordinary  duties  up  and  down  the  land. 
The  capital  was  doubtless  their  head-quarters, 
but  they  pervaded  the  entire  country  in  consider- 
able numbers,  and  were  therefore  present  in  all 
parts  to  withstand  the  publication  of  the  Gospel 
of  that  kingdom  every  feature  of  which  they  hated 
(Luke  V.  17);  and  as  they  constituted  a  large 
portion  of  the  Sanhedrim  (Acts  v.  34 ;  xxiii.  6, 
sq.),  and  had  an  almost  unlimited  influence  with 
the  people,  great  indeed  was  the  power  which 
they  wielded  in  their  conflict  with  the  infant 
church.  Perhaps  there  never  was  an  instance  in 
any  social  condition  in  which  the  elements  of 
power  supplied  by  religion,  politics,  high  life,  and 
humble  condition  were  more  thoroughly  or  more 
densely  combined  in  order  to  oppose  and  destroy 
the  young  power  of  new  ideas  and  lofty  aims. 
The  victory,  however,  was  for  man,  because  it 
was  also  of  God.  Darkness,  indeed,  prevailed  for 
three  days,  covering  the  land,  and  casting  a  thick 
shadow  over  the  world.  But  the  sun  of  righteous- 
ness arose,  and  still  shines. 

Pharisaism,  how  compact  soever  might  be  its 
appearance  outwardly,  and  as  against  a  common 
enemy,  had  its  own  internal  dissensions.  The 
question  of  more  or  less  of  moderate  or  extreme 
views,  of  what  on  one  side  would  be  called  tem- 
porising and  on  the  other  consistency,  agitated 
this  school  as  it  has  agitated  most  others.  In  the 
age  of  our  Lord  there  were  two  leading  parties, 
that  of  Hillel  and  that  of  Schammai,  the  former 
representing  a  moderate  Pharisaism,  the  latter 
'  the  straitest  sect,'  to  which  Paul  had  probably 
belonged. 

PHAE'PAR,  one  of  the  rivers  of  Damascus 
[Abana  and  Pharpar]. 

PHE'BE.     [Ph(ebe.] 

PHENI'CE,  a  city  on  the  south-east  of  Crete, 
writh  a  harbour,  in  the  attempt  to  reach  which  the 
ship  in  -which  Paul  voyaged  as  a  prisoner  to 
Rome,  was  driven  out  of  its  course,  and  eventually 
wrecked  (Acts  xxvii.  12). 

PHI'COL  {mouth  of  all,  i.e.  all  commanding), 
the  proper  or  more  probably  the  titular  name  of 
the  commander  of  the  troops  of  Abimelech,  the 


663  PHILEMON,  EPISTLE  TO 

Philistine  king  of  Gerar,  If  the  Abimelech  of 
the  time  of  Isaac  was  the  sou  of  the  Abimelech  of 
the  time  of  Abraham,  we  may  conclude  that  the 
Phicol  who  attended  ou  the  second  Abimelech  was 
the  successor  of  the  one  who  was  present  with  the 
first  at  the  interview  with  Abraham  (Gen.  xxi. 
22 ;  xxvi.  26).  But  the  whole  subject  of  these 
interviews  is  beset  with  difficulties  [Ablbielech  ; 
Abraham;  Isaac]. 

PHILADEL'PHIA,  a  city  of  Lesser  Asia,  and 
one  of  the  seven  containing  the  Christian  churches 
to  which  the  Apocalyptic  admonitions  were  ad- 
dressed. The  town  stood  about  twenty-five  miles 
south-east  from  Sardis,  in  N.  lat.  32°  28',  E.  long. 
28°  30',  in  the  plain  of  Hermus,  about  midway 
between  the  river  of  that  name  and  the  termina- 
tion of  Mount  Tmolus.  It  was  the  second  in 
Lydia,  and  was  built  by  King  Attains  Phila- 
delphus,  from  whom  it  took  its  name.  In  B.C. 
133  the  place  passed,  with  the  dominion  in  which 
it  lay,  to  the  Romans.  The  site  is  reputed  by 
Strabo  to  have  been  very  liable  to  earthquakes ; 
but  it  continued  a  place  of  importance  and  of 
strength  down  to  the  Byzantine  age  ;  and  of  all 
the  towns  in  Asia  Minor  it  withstood  the  Turks 
the  longest.  It  was  taken  by  Bajazet  I.  in  a.d. 
1392. 

Philadelphia  still  exists  as  a  Turkish  town, 
under  the  name  of  Allah  Shehr,  '  city  of  God,'  i.  e. 
High-town.  It  covers  a  considerable  extent  of 
ground,  running  up  the  slopes  of  four  hills,  or 
rather  of  one  hill  with  four  flat  summits.  The 
country,  as  viewed  from  these  hills,  is  extremely 
magnificent — gardens  and  vineyards  lying  at  the 
back  and  sides  of  the  town,  and  before  it  one  of 
the  most  extensive  and  beautiful  plains  of  Asia. 
The  town  itself,  although  spacious,  is  miserably 
built  and  kept,  the  dwellings  being  remarkably 
mean,  and  the  streets  exceedingly  filthy.  Across 
the  summits  of  the  hill  behind  the  town  and  the 
small  valleys  between  them  runs  the  town  wall, 
strengthened  by  circular  and  square  towers,  and 
forming  also  an  extensive  and  long  quadrangle 
in  the  plain  below.  The  missionaries  Fisk  and 
Parsons,  in  1822,  were  informed  by  the  Greek 
bishop  that  the  town  contained  3000  houses,  of 
•which  he  assigned  250  to  the  Greeks,  and  the  rest 
to  the  Turks.  On  the  same  authority  it  is  stated 
that  there  are  five  churches  in  the  town,  besides 
twenty  others  which  were  too  old  or  too  small  for 
ttse.  Six  minarets,  indicating  as  many  mosques, 
are  seen  in  the  town ;  and  one  of  these  mosques  is 
believed  by  the  native  Christians  to  have  been  the 
church  in  which  assembled  the  primitive  Christ- 
ians addressed  in  the  Apocalypse.  There  are  few 
ruins ;  but  in  one  part  there  are  still  found  four 
strong  marble  pillars,  which  supported  the  dome 
of  a  church.  The  dome  itself  has  fallen  down, 
but  its  remains  may  be  observed,  and  it  is  seen 
that  the  arch  was  of  brick.  On  the  sides  of  the 
pillars  are  inscriptions,  and  some  architectural 
ornaments  in  the  form  of  the  figures  of  saints. 
One  solitary  pillar  of  high  antiquity  has  been 
often  noticed,  as  reminding  beholders  of  the  re- 
markable words  in  the  Apocalyptic  message  to  the 
Philadelphian  church : — '  Him  that  overcometh 
will  I  make  a  pillar  in  the  temple .  of  my  God ; 
and  he  shall  go  no  more  out'  (Rev.  iii.  12). 

PHILEMON,  EPISTLE  TO.  That  this 
epistle  was  written  by  the  apostle  Paul  is  the  con- 
stan',  tradition  of  the  ancient  church.    It  is  ex-  I 


PHILEMON,  EPISTLE  TO 

pressly  cited  as  such  by  Origen ;  it  is  referred  to 
as  such  by  Tertullian ;  and  both  Eusebius  and 
Jerome  attest  its  universal  reception  as  such  in 
the  Christian  world. 

This  epistle  was  evidently  written  during  the 
apostle's  imprisonment  (ver.  9,  10),  and,  as  we 
have  already  endeavoured  to  show  [Colossians, 
Epistle  to  the],  during  his  two  years'  imprison- 
ment at  Rome.  It  was  occasioned  by  his  sending 
back  to  Philemon  his  runaway  slave  Onesimus, 
who,  having  found  his  way  to  Rome,  was  there, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  apostle,  con- 
verted to  Christianity ;  and,  after  serving  Paul 
for  a  season,  was  by  him  restored  to  his  former 
master,  without  whose  consent  the  apostle  did  not 
feel  at  liberty  to  retain  him.  The  epistle  com- 
mences with  the  apostle's  usual  salutation  to  those 
to  whom  he  wrote  ;  after  which  he  affectionately 
alludes  to  the  good  reputation  which  Philemon, 
as  a  Christian,  enjoyed,  and  to  the  joy  which  the 
knowledge  of  this  afforded  him  (ver.  1-7).  He 
then  gently  and  gracefully  introduces  the  main 
subject  of  his  epistle  by  a  reference  to  the  spiritual 
obligations  under  which  Philemon  lay  to  him,  and 
on  the  ground  of  which  he  might  utter  as  a  com- 
mand what  he  preferred  urging  as  a  request. 
Onesimus  is  then  introduced ;  the  change  of  mind 
and  character  he  had  experienced  is  stated  ;  his 
offence  in  deserting  his  master  is  not  palliated  ; 
his  increased  worth  and  usefulness  are  dwelt  upon, 
and  his  former  master  is  intreated  to  receive  him 
back,  not  orily  without  severity,  but  with  the  feel- 
ing due  from  one  Christian  to  another  (ver.  8-16). 
The  apostle  then  delicately  refers  to  the  matter 
of  compensation  for  any  loss  which  Philemon 
might  have  sustained  either  through  the  disho- 
nesty of  Onesimus,  or  simply  through  the  want  of 
his  service ;  and  though  he  reminds  his  friend 
that  he  might  justly  hold  the  latter  his  debtor  for 
a  much  larger  amount  (seeing  he  owed  to  the 
apostle  his  own  self),  he  pledges  himself,  under 
his  own  hand,  to  make  good  that  loss  (ver.  17-19). 
The  epistle  concludes  with  some  additional  ex- 
pressions of  friendly  solicitude ;  a  request  that 
Philemon  would  prepare  the  apostle  a  lodging,  as 
he  trusted  soon  to  visit  him ;  and  the  salutations 
of  the  apostle  and  some  of  the  Christians  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded  at  the  time  (ver.  20-25). 

This  epistle  has  been  universally  admired  as  a 
model  of  graceful,  delicate,  and  manly  writing. 
'  It  is  a  voucher,'  says  Eichhorn, '  for  the  apostle's 
urbanity,  politeness,  and  knowledge  of  the  world. 
His  advocacy  of  Onesimus  is  of  the  most  insinu- 
ating and  persuasive  character,  and  yet  without 
the  slightest  perversion  or  concealment  of  any  fact 
The  errors  of  Onesimus  are  admitted,  as  was  ne- 
cessary, lest  the  just  indignation  of  his  master 
against  him  should  be  roused  anew  ;  but  they  are 
alluded  to  in  the  most  admirable  manner:  the 
good  side  of  Onesimus  is  brought  to  view,  but  in 
such  a  way  as  to  facilitate  the  friendly  reception 
of  him  by  his  master,  as  a  consequence  of  Christ- 
ianity, to  which  he  had,  during  his  absence,  been 
converted  ;  and  his  future  fidelity  is  vouched  for 
by  the  noble  principles  of  Christianity  which 
he  had  embraced.  The  apostle  addresses  Phile- 
mon ou  the  softest  side:  who  would  wilfully 
refuse  to  an  aged,  a  suffering,  and  an  unjustly  im- 
prisoned friend  a  request  ?  And  such  was  he  who 
thus  pleaded  for  Onesimus.  The  person  recom- 
mended is  a  Christian,  a  dear   friend   of  the 


PHILIP 

apostle's,  and  one  -who  had  personally  served  him : 
if  Philemon  will  receive  him  kindly,  it  will  afford 
the  apostle  a  proof  of  his  love,  and  yield  him  joy. 
What  need,  then,  for  long  urgency  ?  The  apostle 
is  certain  that  Philemon  will,  of  his  own  accord, 
do  even  more  than  he  is  asked.  More  cogently 
and  more  courteously  no  man  could  plead.' 

PHILE'TUS,  an  apostate  Christian,  mentioned 
by  Paul  in  connection  with  Hymenaeus,  2  Tim. 

ii.  17    [HvMKNiELS]. 

1.  PHIL'IP,  one  of  the  twelve  apostles.  He 
was  of  Bellisaida, '  the  city  of  Andrew  and  Peter ' 
(John  i.  44).  He  became  one  «f  the  disciples  of 
John  the  Baptist,  and  was  in  the  neighbourhood 
where  John  was  baptizing,  at  the  time  of  our 
Lord's  baptism.  Andrew  and  John,  who  were 
also  disciples  of  the  Baptist,  heard  the  testimony 
concerning  Jesus  which  the  latter  gave,  and 
thenceforth  attached  themselves  to  him  as  the 
promised  Messiah.  Through  Andrew  his  brother, 
Simon  (Peter)  was  brought  to  Christ;  and  as  on 
the  next  day  Philip  unhesitatingly  accompanied 
Jesus  when  called  to  follow  him,  it  is  probable 
that  his  townsmen  had  previously  spoken  to  him 
of  Jesus  as  the  long-expected  Saviour  (John  i. 
3.5-44).  Philip  was  thus  the  fourth  of  the  apostles 
who  attached  themselves  to  the  person  of  Jesus — 
of  those  '  who  left  all  and  followed  him.'  The 
first  act  of  Philip  was  to  bring  to  the  Lord  Na- 
thanael,  who  is  supposed  to  have  also  become  an 
apostle  under  the  name  of  Bartholomew  (John  i. 
45-51).  Little  more  is  recorded  of  Philip  in  the 
Scriptures  ;  but  it  is  remarkable  that  when  Christ 
beheld  the  five  thousand  people  whom  he  after- 
wards fed  with  five  loaves  and  two  fishes,  he 
singled  out  Philip  for  the  question, '  Whence  shall 
we  buy  bread  that  these  may  eat  ?'  It  is  added, 
'  This  he  said  to  prove  him,  for  he  himself  knew 
what  he  would  do.'  Bengel  and  others  suppose 
that  this  was  because  the  charge  of  providing  food 
had  been  committed  to  Philip,  while  Chrysostom 
and  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  rather  suppose  it  was 
because  this  apostle  was  weak  in  faitli.  The 
answer  of  Philip  agrees  well  enough  with  either 
supposition,  'Two  hundred  pennyworth  of  bread 
is  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  every  one  of  them 
may  take  a  little'  (John  vi.  1-7).  But  it  is  well 
to  compare  this  with  John  xiv.  8,  where  the  inap- 
propriate remark  of  Philip,  'Lord,  show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us,'  evincjs  that  he  expe- 
rienced in  a  degree  beyond  his  brother  apostles 
the  difficulty  which  they  generally  felt  in  raising 
themselves  above  the  things  of  sense. 

Intermediately,  we  find  recorded  the  applica- 
tion to  Philip  of  certain  '  Greeks  '  (proselytes  of 
the  gate)  at  Jerusalem,  who  wished  to  be  intro- 
duced to  Jesus,  of  whom  they  had  heard  so  much. 
Knowing  that  his  Master  was  not  forward  to  gra- 
tify mere  curiositj-,  Philip  was  uncertain  whether 
to  comply  with  their  wish  or  not,  but  first  con- 
sulted Andrew,  who  went  with  him  to  mention 
the  circumstance  to  Jesus  (John  xii.  21,  22). 
This  incident,  although  slight,  is  indicative  of 
character,  as  we  feel  sure  that  some  of  the  other 
apostles,  Peter  for  instance,  would  at  once  have 
complied  with  or  declined  this  application  on 
their  own  responsibility.  The  sacred  history  only 
adds  to  these  facts,  that  Philip  was  present  with 
the  other  apostles  at  the  religious  assembly  fol- 
lowing the  Lord's  resurrection  (Acts  i.  13). 

The  later  traditions  concerning  this  apostle  are 


PHILIPPI 


G63 


vague  and  uncertain ;  but  there  is  nothing  impro- 
bable in  the  statement  that  he  preached  the  Gospel 
in  Phrygia,  and  that  he  met  his  death  at  Hiera- 
polis  in  Syria. 

2.  PHILIP,  one  of  the  seven  first  deacons  (Acts 
vi.  5) ;  also  called  an  '  Evangelist '  (xxi.  8),  which 
denotes  one  of  those  ministers  of  the  primitive 
church,  who,  without  being  attached  to  any  par- 
ticular congregation,  preached  the  Gospel  from 
place  to  place  (Eph.  iv.  1 1 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  5).  Being 
compelled  to  leave  Jerusalem  by  the  persecution 
which  ensued  on  Stephen's  death,  Philip  was  in- 
duced to  take  refuge  in  Samaria.  He  there  came 
to  a  city  where  Simon  Magus  was  held  in  high 
reverence  through  the  wonders  which  he  :rroiight. 
But  the  substantial  and  beneficent  miracles  which 
were  performed  by  Philip  in  the  name  of  Jesns, 
drew  away  their  attention  from  the  impostor,  and 
prepared  their  minds  for  the  reception  of  the 
Gospel.  Simon  himself  seems  to  have  regarded 
him  as  in  league  with  some  superhuman  being, 
and  looking  upon  baptism  as  the  initiatory  rite  of 
a  compact  through  which  he  might  obtain  the 
same  powers,  he  solicited  and  obtained  baptism 
from  the  Evangelist  [Simon  Magus].  After 
Peter  and  John  had  come  to  Samaria  to  complete 
and  carry  on  the  work  which  Philip  had  been  the 
means  of  commencing,  the  Evangelist  himself  was 
directed  by  a  divine  impulse  to  proceed  towards 
Gaza,  where  he  met  the  treasurer  of  C'andace, 
queen  of  Ethiopia  [Candace  ;  Ethiopia],  by 
whose  conversion  and  baptism  he  became  the  in- 
strument of  planting  the  first  seeds  of  the  Gospel 
in  Ethiopia  (Acts  viii.  1-39).  Philip  then  retraced 
his  steps,  and  after  pausing  at  Azotus,  preached 
the  Gospel  from  town  to  town  till  he  came  to  Cul;- 
sarea  (ver.  40).  At  this  place  he  seems  to  have 
settled  ;  for  when  Paul  was  on  his  last  journey  to 
Jerusalem,  he  and  his  party  were  entertained  in 
the  house  of  Philip,  on  which  occasion  it  is  men- 
tioned that  he  had  '  four  daughters,  virgins,  who 
did  prophesy'  (Acts  xxi.  9),  or  who  were  endued 
with  the  faculty  of  speaking  under  divine  inspi- 
ration and  of  predicting  future  events,  together 
with  other  supernatural  gifts  vouchsafed  to  the 
primitive  Christians  in  accordance  with  the  pro- 
phecy in  Acts  ii.  18.  With  this  fact  the  Scrip- 
tural history  of  Philip  closes,  and  the  traditions 
which  refer  to  his  subsequent  proceedings  are  un- 
certain and  conflicting. 

3.  PHILIP,  son  of  Herod  the  Great,  and 
tetrarch  of  Batausea,  Trachonitis,  and  Auranitis 
(Luke  iii.  1)  [Hekodian  Family]. 

4.  PHILIP,  called  by  Josephus  Herod,  son 
of  Herod  the  Great,  and  first  husband  of  Herodias 
[Heeodian  Family]. 

PHILIP'PI,  a  city  of  the  proconsular  Mace- 
donia, situated  eastward  of  Amphipolis,  within 
the  limits  of  ancient  Thrace  (Acts  xvi.  12;  xx. 
6  ;  Phil.  i.  1).  It  was  anciently  called  Krenides 
(  fountains)  from  its  many  fountains  ;  but  having 
been  taken  and  fortified  by  Philip  of  Macedon, 
he  named  it,  after  himself,  Philippi.  In  the 
vicinity  were  mines  of  gold  and  silver ;  and  the 
spot  eventually  became  celebrated  for  the  battle 
in  which  Brutus  and  Cassius  were  defeated. 
Paul  made  some  stay  in  this  place  on  his  first 
arrival  in  Greece,  and  here  founded  the  church 
to  which  he  afterwards  addressed  one  of  his 
epistles.  It  was  here  that  the  interesting  cir- 
cumstances related  in  Acts  xvi.  occurred;  and 


664  PHILItVlANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

the  city  was  again  visited  by  the  Apostle  on  his 
depai-ture  from  Greece  (Acts.  xx.  6).  In  the 
former  passage  (xvi.  12)  Philippi  is  called  a 
colony,  and  this  character  it  had  in  fact  acquired 
through  many  of  the  followers  of  Antony  having 
been  colonized  thither  by  Augustus  (Dion.  Cass. 
xlvii.  432).  The  fact  that  Philippi  was  a  colony 
was  formerly  disputed  ;  but  its  complete  verifi- 
cation has  strongly  attested  the  minute  accuracy 
of  the  sacred  narrative.  The  plain  in  which  the 
ruins  of  Philippi  stand  is  embraced  by  the  parallel 
arms  of  mountains  extended  from  the  Necrokop, 
which  pour  into  the  plain  many  small  streams, 
by  which  it  is  abundantly  watered  and  fertilized. 
The  acropolis  is  upon  a  mount  standing  out  into 
the  plain  from  the  north-east,  and  the  city  seems 
to  have  extended  from  the  base  of  it  to  the  south 
and  south-west.  The  remains  of  the  fortress  upon 
the  top  consist  of  three  ruined  towers  and  con- 
siderable portions  of  walls  of  stone,  brick,  and 
very  hard  mortar.  The  plain  below  does  not 
now  exhibit  anything  but  ruins — heaps  of  stone 
and  rubbish,  overgrown  with  thorns  and  briars ; 
but  nothing  of  the  innumerable  busts  and  statues, 
thousands  of  columns,  and  vast  masses  of  classic 
ruins,  of  which  the  elder  travellers  speak.  Ruins 
of  private  dwellings  are  still  visible  ;  also  some- 
thing of  a  semicircular  shape,  probably  a  forum 
or  market-place,  'perhaps  the  one  where  Paul 
and  Silas  received  their  undeserved  stripes.'  The 
most  prominent  of  the  existing  remains  is  the 
remainder  of  a  palatial  edifice,  the  architecture 
of  which  is  grand,  and  the  materials  costly.  The 
pilasters,  chapiters,  &c.,  are  of  the  finest  white 
marble,  and  the  walls  were  formerly  encased 
with  the  same  stone.  These  marble  blocks  are 
gradually  knocked  down  by  the  Turks,  and 
'  wrought  into  their  silly  gravestones.'  The  tra- 
vellers were  informed  that  many  of  the  ruins  are 
now  covered  by  stagnant  water,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  they  may  be  seen;  but  they  did  not  visit 
this  spot. 

PHILIPPIANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE.  Of 
this  part  of  the  Apostle  Paul's  writings  the 
authenticity  has  never  been  questioned.  Pro- 
fessing to  be  written  by  that  distinguished  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  it  bears  on  every  part  of  it  the 
impress  of  his  peculiar  style,  manner  of  thought, 
and  form  of  doctrine  ;  and  the  internal  evidence 
of  authenticity  arising  from  the  incidental  allu- 
sions in  it  to  persons  and  circumstances  is  very 
strong. 

From  allusions  in  the  epistle  itself,  it  is  evident 
that  it  was  written  at  Rome  during  the  period  of 
the  apostle's  two  years'  imprisonment  in  that  city, 
and  in  all  probability  towards  the  close  of  that 
period  (i.  13,  14,  23,  26  ;  ii.  18,  2.5).  It  seems  to 
have  been  composed  on  the  occasion  of  the  return 
to  Philippi  of  Epaphroditus,  a  member  of  the 
church  in  that  place,  who  had  been  deputed  to 
Rome  with  a  pecuniary  contribution  from  the 
church  in  aid  of  the  apostle.  Full  of  gratitude 
for  this  work  of  friendly  remembrance  and  regard, 
Paul  addressed  to  the  church  in  Philippi  this 
epistle,  in  which,  besides  expressing  his  thanks 
for  their  kindness,  he  pours  out  a  tlood  of  elo- 
quence and  pathetic  exhortation,  suggested  partly 
by  his  own  circumstances,  and  partly  by  what  he 
had  learned  of  their  state  as  a  church.  That 
state  appears  to  have  been  on  the  whole  very 
prosperous,  as  there  is  much  commendation  of 


PHILIPPIANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

the  Philippians  in  the  epistle,  and  no  censure  is 
expressed  in  any  part  of  it  either  of  the  church 
as  a  whole,  or  of  any  individuals  connected  with 
it.  At  the  same  time  the  apostle  deemed  it  ne- 
cessary to  put  them  on  their  guard  against  the 
evil  influences  to  which  they  were  exposed  from 
Judaizing  teachers  and  false  professors  of  Chris- 
tianity. These  cautions  he  interposes  between 
the  exhortations  suggested  by  his  own  state  and 
by  the  news  he  had  received  concerning  the  Phi- 
lippians, with  which  his  epistle  commences  and 
with  which  it  closes.  We  may  thus  divide  the 
epistle  into  three  parts.  In  the  first  of  these 
(i.,  ii.),  after  the  usual  salutation  and  an  out- 
pouring of  warm-hearted  afiection  towards  the 
Philippian  church  (i.  1-11),  the  apostle  refers  to 
his  own  condition  as  a  prisoner  at  Rome ;  and 
lest  they  should  be  cast  down  at  the  thought  of 
the  unmerited  indignities  he  had  been  called  upon 
to  suffer,  he  assures  them  that  these  had  turned 
out  rather  to  the  furtherance  of  that  great  cause 
on  which  his  heart  was  set,  and  for  which  he  was 
willing  to  live  and  labour,  though,  as  respected 
his  personal  feelings,  he  would  rather  depart  and 
be  with  Christ,  which  he  deemed  to  be  '  far  better' 
(12-24).  He  then  passes  by  an  easy  transition  to 
a  hortatory  address  to  the  Philippians,  calling 
upon  them  to  maintain  steadfastly  their  profes- 
sion, to  cultivate  humanity  and  brotherly  love, 
to  work  out  their  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling,  and  concluding  by  an  appeal  to  their 
regard  for  his  reputation  as  an  apostle,  which 
could  not  but  be  affected  by  their  conduct,  and 
a  reference  to  his  reason  for  sending  to  them 
Epaphroditus  instead  of  Timothy,  as  he  had  ori- 
ginally designed  (i.  25  ;  ii.  30).  In  part  second 
he  strenuously  cautions  them,  as  already  observed, 
against  Judaizing  teachers,  whom  he  stigmatizes 
as  'dogs'  (in  i-eference  probably  to  their  im- 
pudent, snarling,  and  quarrelsome  habits),  '  evil- 
workers,'  and  '  the  concision  ;'  by  which  latter 
term  he  means  to  intimate,  as  Theophylact  re- 
marks {ill  he),  that  the  circumcision  in  which 
the  Jews  so  much  gloried  had  now  ceased  to 
possess  any  spiritual  significance,  and  was  there- 
fore no  better  than  a  useless  mutilation  of  the 
person.  On  this  theme  he  enlarges,  making  re- 
ference to  his  own  standing  as  a  Jew,  and  inti- 
mating, that  if  under  the  Christian  dispensation 
Jewish  descent  and  Jewish  privileges  were  to  go 
for  anything,  no  one  could  have  stronger  claims 
on  this  ground  than  he ;  but  at  the  same  time 
declaring,  that  however  he  had  once  valued  these, 
he  now  counted  them  '  all  but  lost  for  the  excel- 
lency of  the  knowledge  of  Christ'  (iii.  1-12).  A 
reference  to  his  own  sanctified  ambition  to  ad- 
vance in  the  service  of  Christ  leads  him  to  exhort 
the  Philippians  to  a  similar  spirit ;  from  this  he 
passes  to  caution  them  against  unnecessary  con- 
tention, and  against  those  who  walk  disorderly, 
concluding  by  reminding  them  of  the  glorious 
hopes  which,  as  Christians,  they  entertained  (ver. 
13-21).  In  the  thh-d  part  we  have  a  series  of 
admonitions  to  individual  members  of  the  church 
at  Philippi  (iv.  1-3),  followed  by  some  general 
exhortations  to  cheerfulness,  moderation,  prayer, 
and  good  conduct  (ver.  4-9);  after  which  come  a 
series  of  allusions  to  the  apostle's  circumstances 
and  feelings,  his  thanks  to  the  Philippians  for 
their  seasonable  aid,  and  his  concluding  bene- 
dictions and  salutations  (ver.  10-23). 


PHILISTINES 

This  epistla  is  -written  throughout  in  a  very 
I  animated  and  elevated  style.  It  is  full  of  the 
most  sublime  thoughts  and  the  most  affectionate 
exhortations.  It  resembles  more  the  production 
of  a  father  addressing  his  children,  than  that  of  an 
apostle  laying  down  authoritatively  what  is  to  be 
received  and  followed.  The  whole  of  it  shows, 
j  as  Theophylact  observes,  how  very  much  he  loved 
and  estimated  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

PHILIS'TINES,  a  tribe  which  gave  its  name 
to  the  country  known  as  Palestine,  though  it 
occupied  only  a  portion  of  the  southern  coast, 
namely,  that  which  was  bounded  on  the  west  by 
the  hill  country  of  Ephraim  and  Judah,  and  on 
the  south  extended  from  Joppa  to  the  borders  of 
Egypt,  thus  touching  on  the  Israelite  tribes  Dan, 
Simeon,  and  Judah.  Indeed  the  portions  of  Si- 
meon and  Dan  covered  a  large  part  of  Philistia, 
but  its  possession  hy  the  Israelites  was  disputed, 
and  was  never  entirely  achieved.  This  country 
•was  originally  held  by  the  Avims,  who  were 
destroyed  and  their  land  seized  by  the  Caphto- 
rims,  coming  forth  out  of  Caphtor  (Deut.  ii.  23). 
In  Jer.  xlvii.  4  the  Philistines  are  denominated 
'  the  remnant  of  the  country  (or  isle)  of  Caphtor.' 
In  Amos  ix.  7,  the  Divine  Being  asks,  '  Have  I 
not  brought  the  Philistines  from  Caphtor?  '  The 
Caphtorim  and  the  Philistim  are  also  associated 
together  as  kindred  tribes  in  the  genealogical  list 
of  nations  given  in  Gen.  x.  14,  both  being  de- 
scendants of  Mizraim.  Some  imagine  that  Caphtor 
is  Cappadocia :  others  with  more  reason  affirm 
that  it  is  Crete,  and  that  the  Philis.tines,  being  a 
part  of  the  great  Shemitic  family,  went  westward 
under  pressure  from  the  wave  of  population  which 
came  down  from  the  higher  country  to  the  sea- 
coast,  but  afterwards  returned  eastward  from  Crete 
to  Palestine.  Another  opinion,  which  is  supported 
by  very  plausible  arguments,  is,  that  the  Philis- 
tines are  to  be  identified  with  the  Hycksos  or 
Shepherd-kings,  who  were  expelled  from  Egypt, 
and  taking  possession  of  Canaan  gave  to  it  the 
name  of  Falisthan,  i.  e.,  Shepherd-land.  This 
view  appears  to  be  countenanced  by  Gen.  x.  13, 
14,  where  the  Philistines  are  derived  from  Miz- 
raim, that  is  from  Egypt. 

If  now  we  follow  the  Biblical  accounts,  we  find 
the  history  of  the  Philistines  to  be  in  brief  as  fol- 
lows. They  had  established  themselves  in  their 
land  as  early  as  the  time  of  Abraham,  when  they 
had  founded  a  kingdom  at  Gerar  (Gen.  xxi.  32 ; 
xxvi.  1).  When  the  Israelites  left  Egypt,  they 
were  deterred  by  fear  of  the  power  of  the  Philis- 
tines from  returning  by  the  shortest  road — that 
which  the  caravans  still  take — because  it  lay 
through  the  country  of  the  Philistines  (Exod. 
xiii.  17).  In  the  time  of  Jo-shua  (xiii.  3)  the 
Philistines  appear  in  a  league  of  five  princes, 
governors  of  so  many  tribes  or  petty  states — '  all 
the  borders  of  the  Philistines  from  Sihor  which 
is  before  Egypt  even  unto  the  borders  of  Ekron 
northward  counted  to  the  Canaanites.'  Joshua 
appears  to  have  thought  it  prudent  to  attempt 
nothing  for  the  dispossession  of  the  Philistines, 
and  he  therefore  had  no  hostile  relations  with 
them;  for  the  division  of  Philistia  among  the 
tribes  was  nothing  more  than  a  prospective  but 
unfulfilled  arrangement  (Josh.  xv.  45;  xix.  43). 
The  days  of  the  Judges,  however,  brought  con- 
flicts between  the  Israelites  and  the  Philistines, 
•who  dwelt  wide  over  the  land,  and  even  exercised 


PHILISTINES 


665 


dominion  over  their  Hebrew  neighbours  (Judg. 
iii.  31 ;  x.  7  ;  xiii.  1 ;  xiv.  2,  4.  .5  ;  xw.  1 1). 

In  the  time  of  Eli  the  Philistines  succeeded  in 
getting  the  ark  into  their  possession  (1  Sam.  iv.); 
but  a  defeat  which  they  suffered  under  Samuel 
put  an  end  to  their  dominion,  after  it  had  lasted 
forty  years  (1  Sam.  vii.).^  This  subjection  of  the 
Israelites  began  after  the  death  of  Jair,  and  con- 
tinued to  the  termination  of  the  period  embraced 
in  the  book  of  Judges.  Within  this  space  of  time 
fall  the  life  and  the  heroic  actions  of  Samson. 
Notwithstanding  the  total  defeat  which  the  Phi- 
listines had  undergone,  and  the  actual  termination 
of  their  political  supremacy,  they  continued  to  be 
troublesome  neighbours.  'There  was  sore  war 
against  the  Philistines  all  the  days  of  Saul'  (1 
Sam.  xiv.  52);  a  conflict  which  was  carried  on 
with  various  success,  and  in  which  the  king  found 
great  support  in  the  prudent  bravery  of  his  son 
Jonathan  and  the  high  courage  of  David  (1  Sam. 
xiii.  4  ;  xiv. ;  xvii.  18  ;  xix.  8  ;  xxiii.  28).  Even 
after  his  separation  from  Saul  David  inflicted 
many  blows  on  the  Philistines  (1  Sam.  xxiii.); 
but  soon  saw  himself  obliged  to  seek  refuge  in 
Gath  (1  Sam.  xxvii.),  and  was  in  consequence 
near  making  common  cause  with  them  against 
Saul  (]  Sam.  xxix.),  who  met  with  his  death  at 
their  hands  while  engaged  in  battle  (1  Sam. 
xxxi.).  They  also  raised  their  arms  against  Da- 
vid, when  he  had  become  king  of  all  Israel,  but 
were  several  times  beaten  by  that  brave  monarch 
(2  Sam.  V.  17,  sq. ;  viii.  1).  '  Mighty  men,'  per- 
forming valorous  deeds  in  imitation  of  David's 
rencontre  with  Goliath,  gave  the  king  their  sup- 
port against  this  brave  and  persevering  enemy 
(2  Sam.  xxiii,  8,  sq.).  Solomon  appears  to  have 
been  undisturbed  by  the  Philistines,  but  they  had 
settlements  in  the  land  of  Israel  under  the  early 
Ephraimitic  kings  (1  Kings  xv.  27;  xvi.  15). 
To  Jehoshaphat  they  became  tributary  (2  Chrou. 
xvii.  11).  Under  Jehoram,  however,  they,  in 
union  with  the  Arabians,  fell  on  Jerusalem,  and 
carried  off  the  king's  substance,  as  well  as  his 
wives  and  children  (2  Chron.  xxi.  16).  On  the 
other  hand,  in  the  reign  of  king  Jehoash,  their  city 
Gath  was  taken  by  Hazael,  king  of  Syria,  who 
also  threatened  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xii.  17).  But 
in  the  time  of  Ahaz  they  revolted,  and  carried 
with  them  a  part  of  western  Judah,  having  '  in- 
vaded the  cities  of  the  low  country  and  of  the  south 
of  Judah,  and  taken  Bethshemesh  and  Ajalon,' 
&c.  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  18;  comp,  Isa.  xiv.  29). 
Hezekiah  in  the  first  years  of  his  reign  obtained 
some  advantages  over  them  (2  Kings  xviii.  8). 
Soon,  however,  Assyrian  armies  went  against 
Philistia,  and,  with  a  view  to  an  invasion  of 
Egypt,  got  into  their  power  the  strong  frontier- 
fortress  of  Ashdod  (Isa.  xx.  1),  which  at  a  later 
time  Psammetichus  took  from  them,  after  a  siege 
of  twenty-nine  years  (Herod,  ii.  157).  In  con- 
sequence of  the  hostile  relations  between  Assyria 
and  Egypt,  Philistia  sufiered  for  a  long  period, 
as  the  troops  of  the  former  power  took  their  way 
through  that  land,  and  Pharaoh-Necho  captured 
the  stronghold  Gaza  (Isa.  xlvii.  1).  The  same 
was  done  by  Alexander  the  Great  in  his  expedi- 
tion to  Egypt.  On  the  destruction  of  the  Jewish 
state,  the  Philistines,  like  other  neighbouring 
peoples,  acted  ill  towards  the  Jews,  having  '  taken 
vengeance  with  a  despiteful  heart'  (Ezek.  xxv. 
15).     Many  of  those  who  returned  from  the  cap- 


666  PHINEHAS 

tivity  '  had  married  wives  of  Ashdod,  and  their 

speech  spoke  half  in  the  speech  of  Ashdod  '  (Neh. 
xiii.  23,  sq.).  In  the  Maccabsean  period  the  Phi- 
listines were  Syrian  subjects,  and  had  at  times 
to  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  Jews  (1  Mace.  x.  86  ; 
xi.  60,  sq.).  King  Alexander  (Balus)  gave  Jo- 
nathan a  part  of  their  territory,  Accaron,  with 
the  borders  thereof  in  possession  (1  Mace.  x.  89). 
The  Jewish  monarch  Alexander  Jannteus  over- 
came and  destroyed  Gaza.  By  Pompey  Azotus, 
Jamnia,  and  Gaza  were  united  to  the  Roman  pro- 
vince of  Syria  ;  but  Gaza  was  given  by  Augustus 
to  King  Herod. 

The  Philistine  cities  were  greatly  distinguished. 
Along  the  whole  coast  from  north  to  south  there 
ran  a  line  of  towns — in  the  north  the  Phoenician, 
in  the  south  the  Philistine — which  were  powerful, 
rich,  and  well-peopled.  The  chief  cities  of  the 
Philistines  were  five— Gaza,  Ashdod,  Askalon, 
Gath,  and  Ekron  (Josh.  xiii.  3;  Judg.  iii.  3). 
Several  of  these  Palestinian  cities  flourished  at 
the  same  time ;  and  though  now  these  now  those 
cities  gained  at  difl^erent  periods  pre-eminence  in 
power,  wealth,  and  population,  and  though  some 
did  not  rise  till  others  had  declined  or  perished, 
yet  is  it  true  that  from  the  earliest  times  till  the 
century  after  Christ  a  number  of  important  towns 
existed  on  the  narrow  strip  of  laud  which  borders 
the  Mediterranean  sea,  such  as  was  never  seen  in 
any  other  part  of  the  world,  the  Ionian  coast  of 
Asia  Minor  not  excepted. 

The  greatness  of  these  cities  was  mainly  owing 
to  commerce,  for  the  coast  of  Palestine  was  in 
♦.he  earliest  ages  exclusively  in  possession  of  the 
trade  which  was  carried  on  between  Europe  and 
Asia.  Besides  a  great  transit  trade,  they  had 
internal  sources  of  wealth,  being  given  to  agri- 
culture (Judg.  XV.  5).  In  the  time  of  Saul  they 
were  evidently  superior  in  the  arts  of  life  to  the 
Israelites ;  for  we  read  (1  Sam.  xiii.  20)  that  the 
latter  were  indebted  to  the  former  for  the  utensils 
of  ordinary  life.  Their  religion  was  not  essen- 
tially different  from  that  of  the  Phoenicians.  The 
idol  which  they  most  reverenced  was  Astarte,  the 
Assyrian  Semiramis,  or  Derketo,  who  was  also 
honoured  as  Dagon,  in  a  very  ancient  temple  at 
Askalon  and  at  Gaza,  also  at  Ashdod  (Judg.  xvi. 
23  ;  1  Sam.  v.  1,  sq.;  1  Mace.  x.  83).  This  was 
a  species  of  fish-worship,  a  remnant  of  which  may 
still  be  found  in  the  special  care  taken  of  certain 
holy  fish  in  some  parts  of  Syria.  In  Ekron  Baal- 
zebub  had  his  chief  seat.  Priests  and  soothsayers 
were  numerous  (1  Sam.  vi.  2).  Their  magicians 
were  in  repute  (Isa.  ii.  6),  and  the  oracle  of  Baal- 
zebub  was  consulted  by  foreigners  (2  Kings  i.  2). 
They  had  the  custom  of  carrying  with  them  in 
war  the  images  of  their  gods  (2  Sam.  v.  21). 
Tradition  makes  the  Philistines  the  inventors  of 
the  bow  and  arrow. 

PH I  LOL'OG US,  one  of  the  Christians  at  Rome 
to  whom  Paul  sent  his  salutations  (Rom.  xvi.  15). 
Dorotheus  makes  him  one  of  the  seventy  disciples, 
and  alleges  that  he  was  placed  by  the  apostle  An- 
drew as  bishop  of  Sinope,  in  Pontus.  But  this 
seems  altogether  improbable. 

PHIN'EHAS  {mottlk  of  brass),  son  of  Eleazar 
and  grandson  of  Anron  the  high-priest.  An  inci- 
dent which  illustrates  the  zealous  and  somewhat 
passionate  character  of  Phinehas,  occurred  before 
the  Israelites  entered  the  Promised  Land.  The 
Israelites  were  encamped  in  the  plains  of  Moab, 


PHCENICIA 

and  were  lamenting  the  sin  into  which  they  had 
been  seduced  by  the  Midianites.  when  a  prince  of 
Judah  named  Zimri  was  beheld  conducting  a 
woman  of  Midian  named  Cozbi  to  his  tent  The 
licentious  effrontery  of  this  act  kindled  the  wrath 
of  Phinehas,  who  hastened  after  them  into  the  tent, 
and  transfixed  them  both  with  his  javelin  (Num. 
XXV.  7,  sq.).  This  bold  act  pointed  out  Phinehas 
to  Moses  as  a  proper  person  to  accompany  as  priest 
the  expedition  which  was  immediately  after  sent 
forth,  under  the  command  of  Joshua,  against  the 
Midianites,  and  by  which  the  cause  of  the  deluded 
Israelites  was  abundantly  avenged  (Num.  xxxi. 
6,  sq.).  After  the  conquest  of  the  Promised  Land, 
when  the  warriors  of  the  two  and  half  tribes  be- 
yond the  Jordan  were  permitted  to  return  to  their 
homes,  Phinehas  was  at  the  head  of  the  deputation 
sent  after  them  to  inquire  and  remonstrate  con- 
cerning the  altar  which,  on  their  way,  they  had 
set  up  on  the  bank  of  the  Jordan  ;  and  it  was  he 
doubtless  who  pronounced  the  forcible  address  to 
the  supposed  offenders.  He  was  certainly  the  first 
to  express  his  satisfaction  and  joy  at  the  explana- 
tion which  was  given,  and  which,  with  a  lightened 
heart,  he  bore  back  to  the  tribes  assembled  at  Shi- 
loh  (Josh.  xxii.  5,  sq.). 

It  appears  that  while  his  father  lived  Phinehas 
filled  the  post  of  superintendent  or  chief  of  the 
Levites,  probably  after  Eleazar  became  high- 
priest  (Num.  iii.  32;  1  Chron.  ix.  20).  At  the 
death  of  his  father  he  succeeded  to  the  pontificate 
(Josh.  xxiv.  33) ;  but  the  only  case  in  which  he 
appears  officially  in  the  Bible  is  in  connection 
with  the  unhappy  circumstances  recorded  at  the 
end  of  the  book  of  Judges,  in  which  he  comes 
forward  as  high-priest  to  consult  Jehovah.  This 
mention  of  his  name  enables  us  to  conclude  that 
the  chronological  place  of  these  occurrences  would 
be  rather  towards  the  beginning  than  at  the  latter 
end  of  the  book  in  which  they  are  found  [J  udges  ; 
Priest]. 

2.  PHINEHAS,  son  of  Eli  the  high-priest,  and 
brother  of  Hophni  [Eli  ;  Hophni  ;  Samuel]. 

PHLEG'ON,  one  of  the  Christians  of  Rome  to 
whom  Paul  sent  his  salutations  (Rom.  xvi.  14). 
The  legend  (ap.  Dorotheus)  makes  him  to  have 
been  one  of  the  seventy  disciples,  and  bishop  of 
Marathon. 

PHffi'BE,  a  deaconess  of  the  church  at  Cen- 
chreae,  recommended  to  the  kind  attention  of  the 
church  of  Rome  by  St.  Paul,  who  had  received 
hospitable  treatment  from  her  (Rom.  xvi.  1).  It 
is  probable  that  she  was  the  bearer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans. 

PIKENI'CIA,  and  the  PHCENICIANS.  This 
name  was  used  bjf  the  ancients  sometimes  in  a 
wider,  sometimes  in  a  narrower  sense.  Phoenicia, 
in  its  widest  signification,  embraces  the  whole 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean  situated  between  the 
river  Orontesand  Pelusium.  In  a  more  restricted 
sense  it  was  regarded  as  the  territory  between 
the  river  Eleutheros  on  the  north,  and  Dora  on 
the  south. 

Phoenicia  is  situated  between  about  lat.  33" 
and  35°  N.,  and  under  long.  33°  E.  The  whole 
of  Phoenicia  is  situated  at  the  western  declivity 
of  Mount  Lebanon.    Compare  the  article  Li- 

BANUS. 

Phoenicia  was  distinguished  by  the  variety  of 
its  vegetable  productions.  This  variety  was  occa- 
sioned by  the  great  diversity  of  climate  produced 


PHCENICIA 


PHCENICIA 


667 


by  the  diversity  in  the  elevation  of  the  soil.  The 
Lebanon  is  said  to  bear  winter  on  its  head, 
spring  on  its  shoulders,  autumn  in  its  lap,  and  to 
have  summer  at  its  feet.  The  fertility  of  Phoe- 
nicia is  increased  by  the  numerous  streams  whose 
springs  are  in  Mount  Lebanon.  Even  in  the  Song 
of  Solomon  we  read  the  praises  of  the  spring  of 
living  waters  which  flows  down  from  Lebanon. 
The  dense  population  assembled  in  the  great  mer- 
cantile towns  greatly  contributed  to  augment  by 
artificial  means  the  natural  fertility  of  the  soil. 
The  population  of  the  country  is  at  present  very 
much  reduced,  but  there  are  still  found  aqueducts 
and  artificial  vineyards  formed  of  mould  carried 
up  to  the  terraces  of  the  naked  rock.  Even  now 
Phoenicia  is  among  the  most  fertile  in  Western 
Asia.  It  produces  wheat,  rye,  and  barley,  and, 
besides  the  more  ordinary  fruits,  also  apricots, 
peaches,  pomegranates,  almonds,  citrons,  oranges, 
figs,  dates,  sugar-cane,  and  grapes,  which  furnish 
an  excellent  wine.  In  addition  to  these  products, 
it  yields  cotton,  silk,  and  tobacco.  The  country 
is  also  adorned  by  the  variegated  flowers  of  olean- 
der and  cactus.  The  higher  regions  are  distin- 
guished from  the  bare  mountains  of  Palestine  by 
being  covered  with  oaks,  pines,  cypress-trees, 
acacias,  and  tamarisks ;  and  above  all  by  ma- 
jestic cedars,  of  which  there  are  still  a  few  very 
old  trees,  whose  stems  measure  from  thirty  to 
forty  feet  in  circumference.  The  inJiabitants  of 
Sur  still  carry  on  a  profitable  traflBc  with  the  pro- 
duce of  Mount  Lebanon,  namely,  wood  and  char- 
coal. Phoenicia  produces  also  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats ;  and  innumerable  swarms  of  bees  supply 
excellent  honey.  In  the  forests  there  are  bears, 
wolves,  panthers,  and  jackals.  The  sea  furnishes 
great  quantities  of  fish,  so  that  Sidon,  the  most 
ancient  among  the  Phoenician  towns,  derived  its 
name  from  fishing. 

The  inhabitants  of  Phoenicia  might  at  the  first 
view  appear  to  have  derived  their  origin  from  the 
same  source  (pre-Abrahamite)  as  the  Hebrews ; 
for  they  spoke  the  same  language. 

In  the  Old  Testament  the  Phoenicians  and 
Canaanites  are,  however,  described  as  descending, 
not  from  Shem,  but  from  Ham.  Herodotus,  also, 
jn  the  authority  of  some  Persian  historians,  states 
that  the  Phoenicians  came  as  colonists  to  the  Syrian 
coasts  from  the  Erythrasan  Sea. 

The  first  Phoenician  colony  was  Sidon,  which 
is  therefore  called  in  Genesis  (x.  15)  the  first- 
born of  Canaan.  But  soon  other  colonies  arose, 
like  Arka  (Gen.  x.  17),  Aradus,  and  Smyrna 
(Gen.  X.  18),  &c.,  whose  power  extended  beyond 
the  Jordan,  and  who  drove  out  before  them  the 
earlier  inhabitants  of  Palestine.  Hence  it  arose 
that  the  appellation,  *  the  land  of  Canaan '  (the 
netlierlands  or  lowlands),  was  transferred  to  the 
whole  of  Palestine,  although  it  is  by  no  means  a 
country  of  a  low  level,  but  is  full  of  high  eleva- 
tions. However,  the  Canaanites,  in  a  stricter 
sense,  were  the  people  who  resided  in  the  lower 
regions  along  the  coast,  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan. 

When  the  Israelites  conquered  the  country,  the 
Canaanites  on  the  Phoenician  coast,  who  resided 
In  powerful  maritime  towns,  preserved  their  in- 
dependence, and  were  called  Canaanites  in  parti- 
rular.  Thus  we  read,  in  Isa.  xxiii,  11,  Canaan, 
In  the  signification  of  Phoenicia. 

The   Carthaginians,  as  Phoenician   colonists. 


maintained,  even  in  the  days  of  St.  Augustine, 
that  they  were  Canaanites. 

During  the  period  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan 
by  the  Israelites,  the  Phoenicians  possessed  the 
following  towns,  which  we  will  enumerate  suc- 
cessively, in  the  direction  from  south  to  north  : — 
Dora  (Josh.  xi.  2;  xvii.  11,  sq.) ;  Ptolemais 
(Judg.  i.  3.3);  Ecdippa  (Josh.  xix.  29);  Tyre 
( Josh.  xix.  29);  Sarepta  (1  Kings  xvii.  9,  sq. ; 
Luke  iv.  26);  Sidon  (Gen.  x.  15);  Berytus 
(Ezek.  xlvii.  16  ;  2  Sam.  viii.  8);  Byblus  (Josh. 
xiii.  5);  Tripolis,  Simyra  (Gen.  x.  18);  Arka 
(Gen.  X.  17) ;  Simna  (Gen.  x.  16)  ;  Aradus  (Gen, 
X.  18). 

Heeren,  in  his  work.  On  the  Commerce  and 
Politics  of  the  Ancients,  vol.  i.  part  ii.  p.  9,  Got- 
tingen,  1824,  justly  observes  that  the  numerous 
towns  which  were  crowded  together  in  the  narrow 
space  of  Phoenicia  covered  almost  the  entire 
coast,  and,  together  with  their  harbours  and 
fleets,  must  have  presented  an  aspect  which  has 
scarcely  ever  been  equalled,  and  which  was 
calculated  to  impress  every  stranger  on  his  ar- 
rival with  the  ideas  of  wealth,  power,  and  en- 
terprise. 

As  the  annals  and  public  documents  of  the 
Phoenicians  have  all  been  lost,  our  knowledge  of 
their  history  is  consequently  confined  to  occa- 
sional notices  in  the  Hebrew  and  classical  authors 
of  antiquity.  This  deficiency  of  historical  in- 
formation arises  also  from  the  circumstance  that 
the  facts  of  Phoenician  history  were  less  connected 
than  the  events  in  the  history  of  other  nations. 
The  Phoenicians  never  formed  one  compact  body 
politic,  and  consequently  did  not  always  gradually 
advance  in  their  political  constitution  and  in  the 
extent  of  their  power.  Every  town  endeavoured 
to  advance  its  commerce  in  its  own  way.  Thus 
there  constantly  entered  into  the  life  of  the  Phoe- 
nicians new  elements,  which  disturbed  a  gradual 
historical  progress.  Phoenicia  was  a  country 
favourable  to  the  growth  of  maritime  towns,  but 
did  not  afford  room  for  great  political  events. 
The  history  of  the  Phoenicians  is  that  of  their 
external  commerce. 

A  mercantile  nation  cannot  bear  despotic  go- 
vernment, because  the  greatest  external  liberty 
is  requisite  in  order  constantly  to  discover  new 
sources  of  gain,  and  to  enlarge  the  roads  of  com- 
merce. The  whole  of  Phoenicia  consisted  of  the 
territories  belonging  to  the  various  towns.  Each 
of  these  territories  had  its  own  constitution,  and 
in  most  of  them  a  king  exercised  supreme  power. 
We  hear  of  kings  of  Sidon,  Tyre,  Aradus,  and 
Byblus.  It  seems  that  after  Nebuchadnezzar  had 
besieged  Tyre  in  vain,  the  royal  dignity  ceased 
for  some  time,  and  that  there  existed  a  kind 
of  republican  administration,  under  suffetes  or 
judges.  The  regal  power  was  always  limited 
by  the  magistracy  and  the  priesthood.  The  in- 
dependent Phoenician  states  seem  to  have  formed 
a  confederation,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  for 
some  time  Sidon,  and  at  a  later  period  Tyre.  Tri- 
polis was  built  conjointly  by  the  various  states 
in  order  to  form  the  seat  of  their  congress.  The 
smaller  states  were  sometimes  so  much  oppressed 
by  Tyre,  that  they  preferred  rather  to  submit  to 
external  enemies. 

The  position  of  Phoenicia  was  most  favourable 
for  the  exchange  of  the  produce  of  the  East  and 
West.    The  Libanus  furnished  excellent  timber 


668 


PHOENICIA 


for  ships.  Corn  was  imported  from  Palestine. 
Persians,  Lj  dians  and  Lyciaus  frequently  served 
as  mercenaries  in  the  Phoenician  armies  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  10,  1 1).  Phoenicia  exported  wine  to  Egypt. 
Purple  garments  were  best  manufactured  in  Tyre. 
Glass  was  made  in  Sidon  and  Sarepta.  In  Phoe- 
nicia was  exchanged  the  produce  of  all  known 
countries.  After  David  had  vanquished  the 
Edomites  and  conquered  the  coasts  of  the  Eed 
Sea,  King  Hiram  of  Tyre  entered  into  a  con- 
federacy with  Solomon,  by  which  he  ensured  for 
his  people  the  right  of  navigation  to  India.  The 
combined  fleet  of  the  Israelites  and  Phoenicians 
sailed  from  the  seaports  of  Ezion-geber  and  Elath. 
These  ports  were  situated  on  the  eastern  branch 
of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Sinus  ^laniticus,  or  Gulf 
of  Akaba.  Israelitish-Phcenician  mercantile  ex- 
peditions proceeded  to  Ophir,  perhaps  Abhira, 
situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Indus.  It  seems, 
however,  that  the  Indian  coasts  in  general  were 
also  called  Ophir.  Three  years  were  required 
in  order  to  accomplish  a  mercantile  expedition  to 
Ophir  and  to  return  with  cargoes  of  gold,  algum- 
wood,  ivory,  silver,  monkeys,  peacocks,  and  other 
Indian  produce. 

It  seems,  however,  that  these  mercantile  expe- 
ditions to  India  were  soon  given  up,  probably  on 
account  of  the  great  difficulty  of  navigating  the 
Ked  Sea.  King  Jehoshaphat  endeavoured  to 
recommence  these  expeditions,  but  his  fleet  was 
wrecked  at  Ezion-geber  ( 1  Kings  xxii.  49). 
About  B.C.  61C  or  (iOl,  Phoenician  seamen  un- 
dertook, at  the  command  of  Pharaoli-Necho,  a 
voyage  of  discovery,  proceeding  from  the  Red 
Sea  round  Africa,  and  returning  after  two  years 
through  the  columns  of  Hercules  to  Egypt 
(Herod,  iv.  42).  The  27th  chapter  of  Ezekiel 
mentions  the  commerce  by  land  between  India 
and  Phoenicia.  The  names  of  mercantile  esta- 
blishments on  the  coasts  of  Arabia  along  the  Per- 
sian Gulf  have  partly  been  preserved  to  the  pre- 
sent day,  In  these  places  the^  Phoenicians  ex- 
changed the  prod  ace  of  the  west  for  that  of  India, 
Arabia,  and  Ethiopia.  Arabia  especially  furnished 
incense,  gold,  and  precious  stones.  The  Midian- 
ites  (Gen.  xxxvii.  28)  and  the  Edomites  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  16)  effected  the  transit  by  their  caravans. 
The  fortified  Idumsean  town  Petra  contained 
probably  the  storehouses  in  which  the  produce 
of  southern  countries  was  collected.  From  Egypt 
the  Phoenicians  exported  especially  byssus  (Ezek. 
xxvii.  7)  for  wine.  According  to  an  ancient 
tradition,  the  tyrant  of  Thebes,  Busiris,  having 
soiled  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  all  foreigners, 
was  killed  by  the  Tyrian  Hercules.  This  indi- 
cates  that  Phoenician  colonists  established  them- 
selves and  their  civilization  successfully  in  Upper 
Egypt,  where  all  strangers  usually  had  been  per- 
secuted. 

At  a  later  period  Memphis  was  the  place  where 
most  of  the  Phoenicians  in  Egypt  were  established. 
Phoenician  inscriptions  found  in  Egypt  prove  that 
even  under  the  Ptolemies  the  intimate  connection 
between  Phoenicia  and  Egjpt  still  existed. 

From  Palestine  the  Phoenicians  imported,  be- 
sides wheat,  especially  from  Judaea,  ivory,  oil, 
and  balm ;  also  wool,  principally  from  the  neigh- 
bouring nomadic  Arabs.  Damascus  furnished 
wine  (Ezek.  xxvii.  5,  6,  17,  18,  21,)  and  the 
mountains  of  Syria  wood.  The  tribes  about  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea  furnished  slaves  and 


PHCENICIA 

iron.  Horsemen,  horses,  and  mules,  came  from 
the  Armenians. 

The  treasures  of  the  East  were  exported  from 
Phoenicia  by  ships  which  sailed  first  to  Cyprus, 
the  mountains  of  which  are  visible  from  the 
Phoenician  coast.  Cyprus  was  subject  to  Tyre 
up  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great.  There 
are  still  found  Phoenician  inscriptions  which 
prove  the  connection  of  Cyprus  with  Tyre.  At 
Rhodes  also  are  found  vestiges  of  Phoenician  in- 
fluence. From  Rhodes  the  mountains  of  Crete 
are  visible.  This  was  of  great  importance  for 
the  direction  of  navigators  before  the  discovery 
of  the  compass.  In  Crete,  and  also  in  the  Cy- 
cladic  and  Sporadic  Isles,  are  vestiges  of  Phoe- 
nician settlements.  On  the  Isle  of  Thasos,  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Thrace,  the  Phoenicians  had 
gold  mines ;  and  even  on  the  southern  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea  they  had  factories.  However, 
when  the  Greeks  became  more  powerful,  the 
Phoenicians  sailed  more  in  other  directions.  They 
occupied  also  Sicily  and  the  neighbouring  islands, 
but  were,  after  the  Greek  colonization,  confined 
to  a  few  towns,  Motya,  Soloes,  Panormus.  The 
Phoenician  mercantile  establishments  in  Sardinia 
and  the  Balearic  Isles  could  scarcely  be  called 
colonies. 

Carthage  was  a  Phoenician  colony,  which  pro- 
bably soon  became  important  by  commerce  with 
the  interior  of  Africa,  and  remained  connected 
with  Tyre  by  means  of  a  common  sanctuary. 
After  Phoenicia  had  been  vanquished  by  the  As- 
syrians, Babylonians,  and  Persians,  the  settle- 
ments in  Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Spain  came  into 
the  power  of  Carthage.  The  Phoenicians  had  for 
a  long  period  exported  from  Spain  gold,  silver, 
tin,  iron,  lead  (Ezek.  Xxxviii.  13),  fruit,  wine, 
oil,  wax,  fish,  and  wool.  Their  chief  settlement 
was  Tarshish. 

There  are  other  names  of  towns  in  Spain  which 
have  a  Phoenician  derivation,  such  as  Gades,  Ma- 
laga, and  Belon. 

The  voyage  to  Tarshish  was  the  most  important 
of  those  undertaken  by  the  Plioenicians.  Hence 
it  was  that  their  largest  vessels  were  all  called 
ships  of  Tarshish,  although  they  sailed  in  other 
directions  (1  Kings  x.  22). 

It  appears,  also,  that  the  Phoenicians  exported 
tin  from  the  British  Isles,  and  amber  from  the 
coasts  of  Prussia.  Their  voyages  on  the  western 
coasts  of  Africa  seem  to  have  been  merely  voyages 
of  discovery,  without  permanent  results,  'i'he 
Spanish  colonies  were  probably  the  principal 
sources  of  Phoenician  wealth,  and  were  founded 
at  a  very  remote  period.  The  migration  of  the 
Phoenician,  Cadmus,  into  Boeotia,  likewise  be- 
longs to  the  earlier  period  of  Phoenician  coloni- 
zation. 

Phoenicia  flourished  most  in  the  period  from 
David  to  Cyrus,  B.C.  1050-550.  In  this  period 
were  founded  the  African  colonies,  Carthage, 
Utica,  and  Leptis.  These  colonies  kept  up  a  fre- 
quent intercourse  with  the  mother  country,  but 
were  not  politically  dependent.  This  preserved 
Phoenicia  from  the  usual  stagnation  of  Oriental 
states.  The  civilization  of  the  Phoenicians  had  a 
great  influence  upon  other  nations.  Their  voy- 
ages are  described  in  Greek  mythology  as  the 
expeditions  of  the  Tyrian  Hercules.  The  course 
of  the  Tyrian  Hercules  was  not  marked  like  that 
of  other  conquerors — viz.,  Medes  and  Assyrians — 


PHRYGIA 

by  mined  cities  and  devastated  countries,  but  by 
flourishiug  colonies,  by  agriculture,  and  the  arts 
of  peace. 

According  to  the  Phoenician  religion,  the  special 
object  of  worship  was  the  vital  power  in  nature, 
which  is  either  producing  or  destroying.  The 
productive  power  of  nature,  again,  is  either  pro- 
creative,  masculine,  or  receptive,/e/nt/u'He.  These 
fundamental  ideas  are  represented  by  the  Phoe- 
niciau  gods,  who  appear  under  a  great  variety  of 
names,  because  these  leading  ideas  may  be  repre- 
sented in  many  different  ways. 

We  need  not  here  enter  into  details  concerning 
the  Phoenician  gods,  as  the  principal  of  them 
have  been  noticed  under  their  names  [Baal, 
Ashtoreth].  It  suffices  to  state  generally,  that 
the  procreative  principle  was  worshipped  as  Baal, 
lord,  and  as  the  sun.  The  rays  of  the  sun  are, 
however,  not  only  procreative,  but  destructive ; 
and  this  destructive  power  is  especially  repre- 
sented in  the  Ammonitish  fire-god  Moloch.  Thus 
Baal  represented  both  the  generative  and  destruc- 
tive principles  of  nature ;  in  which  latter  capacity 
the  Hebrews  worshipped  him  by  human  sacrifice 
(1  Kings  xviii.  28 ;  Jer.  xix.  5).  He  was  the 
tutelary  god  of  Tyre,  and  hence  had  the  name  of 
iSIelkar,  equivalent  to  Melech-kereth,  'king  of 
the  city,'  whom  the  Greeks  called  the  Tyrian 
Hercules. 

Of  Baaltis,  or  Astarte,  which  are  usually  iden- 
tified, although  they  seem  to  have  been  originally 
different,  we  shall  here  add  nothing  to  what  has 
been  already  stated  under  Ashtoreth. 

Besides  these  principal  deities,  the  Phoenicians 
worshipped  seven  kabirim,  miyhltj  ones,  whose 
numbers  corresponded  with  the  seven  planets. 
These  kabirim  were  considered  as  protectors  of 
men  in  using  the  powers  of  nature,  especially 
navigation.  With  these  seven  kabirim  was  asso- 
ciated Esmun  (the  eiglilh),  representing  the  sky 
full  of  fixed  stars,  surrounding  the  seven  planets, 
the  refreshing  air  and  the  warmth  of  life.  Many 
Phoenician  names  are  compounded  with  Esmun. 
Heuce  we  infer  that  he  was  frequently  wor- 
siiippt-d. 

PHRY'GIA,  an  inland  province  of  Asia  Minor, 
bounded  on  the  north  by  Bithynia  and  Galatia, 
on  the  east  by  Cappadocia  and  Lycaonia,  on  the 
south  by  Lycia,  Pisidia,  and  Isauria,  and  on  the 
west  by  Caria,  Lydia,  and  Mysia.  In  early  times 
Phrygia  seems  to  have  comprehended  the  greater 
part  of  the  peninsula  of  Asia  Minor.  It  was 
subsequently  divided  into  Phrygia  Major  on  the 
south,  aud  Phrygia  Minor  or  Epictetus  (acquired) 
on  the  north-west.  The  Romans  divided  the 
province  into  three  districts:  Phrygia  Salutaris 
on  the  east,  Phrygia  Pacatiana  on  the  west,  and 
Phrygia  Katakekaumene  (the  burnt)  in  the 
middle.  The  country,  as  defined  by  the  specified 
limits,  is  for  the  most  part  level,  aud  verj-  abun- 
dant in  corn,  fruit,  and  wine.  It  had  a  peculiar 
and  celebrated  breed  of  cattle,  and  the  fine  raven- 
black  wool  of  the  sheep  around  Laodicea  on  the 
Lycus  was  in  high  repute.  The  Msoander  and 
the  Hermus  were  its  chief  rivers.  The  Phry- 
gians were  a  very  ancient  people,  and  are  sup- 
posed to  have  formed,  along  with  the  Pelasgi,  the 
aborigines  of  Asia  Minor.  Jews  from  Phrygia 
were  present  in  Jerusalem  at  the  Feast  of  Pente- 
cost (Acts  ii.  10),  and  the  province  was  afterwards 
twice  traversed  by  St.  Paul  in  his  missionary 


PHYSIC,  PHYSICIANS 


669 


journeys  (Acts  xvi.  6;  xviii.  23).  The  cities  oi 
Laodicea,  Hierapolis,  and  Colossac,  mentioned  in 
the  New  Testament,  belonged  to  Phrygia,  and 
Antioch  in  Pisidia  was  also  within  its  limits. 

PHUL.    [PuL.] 

PHUT,  a  son  of  Ham  (Gen.  x.  6),-  progenitor 
of  an  African  people  of  the  same  name,  some- 
times rendered  'Libya'  (Jer.  xlvi.  9;  Ezek. 
xxvii.  10;  XXX.  5  ;  xxxviii.  5  ;  Nah.  iii.  9). 

PHYLACTERY,  strips  of  parchment  inscribed 
with  particular  passages  of  Scripture  (Deut.  vi. 
4-9;  xi,  13-21;  Exod.  xiii.  1-10,  11-lG).  They 
were  folded  up  and  enclosed  in  a  small  leather 
box,  and  worn  upon  the  forehead  nearly  between 
the  eyes,  or  upon  the  left  arm  near  to  the  heart, 
being  attached  by  straps  of  leather.  They  were 
considered  as  thus  reminding  the  wearers  to  fulfil 
the  law  with  the  head  and  heart ;  and  they  were 
also  regarded  as  amulets,  protecting  the  wearer 
from  the  powers  of  evil,  especially  demons.  These 


appendages  were  used  during  the  stated  prayers, 
aud  only  by  men.  The  whole  observance  is 
founded  on  the  authority  of  tlie  texts  which  are 
written  on  the  strips  of  parchment,  as  Exod.  xiii. 
16  :  'It  shall  be  for  a  token  upon  thine  hand,  and 
for  frontlets  (bands,  fillets)  between  thine  eyes ;' 
which,  although  in  all  probability  only  figurative 
expressions,  have  beeu  literally  understood,  and 
acted  upon  by  the  Jews  since  the  Exile.  In  ex- 
isting usage  the  skin  employed  in  making  the 
phylacteries  is  prepared  with  much  care,  aud  the 
writing  traced  with  minute  accuracy  and  neat- 
ness. The  Hebrew  ritualists  give  very  exact  and 
numerous  directions  on  this  subject,  which  are 
required  to  be  closely  observed.  The  case  itself 
is  composed  of  several  layers  of  parchment  or  of 
black  calf-skin.  The  phylacteries  for  the  head 
have  four  cavities,  in  each  of  which  is  put  one  of 
the  four  texts  to  which  we  have  referred  ;  but 
the  phylacteries  for  the  arm  have  only  one  cavity, 
containing  the  same  texts  all  written  on  one  slip 
of  parchment.  Lightfoot  thinks  it  not  unlikely 
that  our  Saviour  himself  wore  the  Jewish  phy- 
lacteries, as  well  as  the  fringes,  according  to  the 
custom  of  his  nation ;  and  that  in  Matt,  .\xiii.  5, 
our  Lord  condemns  not  the  wearing  of  tliem,  but 
the  pride  and  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  in 
making  them  broad  and  visible,  to  obtain  respect 
and  reputation  for  wisdom  and  piety. 

PHYSIC;  PHYSICIANS.  There  can  be  no 
question  that  the  Israelites  brought  some  know- 
ledge of  medicine  with  them  from  Egypt,  whose 


67o 


PI-BESETH 


physicians  were  celebrated  in  all  antiquity.  To 
the  itate  of  medical  knowledge  in  that  country 
there  are  indeed  some  allusions  in  Scripture,  as 
contained  in  the  notice  of  the  corps  of  physicians 
in  the  service  of  Joseph  (Gen.  1.  2) ;  of  the  use 
of  artificial  help  and  practised  midwives  in  child- 
birth (Exod.  i.  Iti);  and  of  the  'many  medicines' 
which  their  medical  practice  had  brought  into 
use  (Jer.  Ixvi.  U). 

In  the  early  stage  of  medical  practice  attention 
was  confined  among  all  nations  to  surgical  aid  and 
external  applications :  even  down  to  a  compara- 
tively late  period  outward  maladies  appear  to  have 
been  the  chief  subjects  of  medical  treatment  among 
the  Hebrews  (Isa.  i.  6;  Ezek.  xxx.  21 ;  2  Kings 
viii.  29;  ix.  15);  and  although  they  were  not 
altogether  without  remedies  foi  internal  or  even 
mental  disorders  (2  Chron.  xvi.  12;  1  Sam.  xvi. 
16),  they  seem  to  have  made  but  little  progress 
in  this  branch  of  the  healing  art.  The  employ- 
ment of  the  physician  was,  however,  very  general 
both  before  and  after  the  Exile  (2  Chron  .xvi.  12 ; 
Jer.  viii.  22  ;  Sirach  xxxviii.  1 ;  Mark  v,  26 ; 
comp.  Luke  iv.  23;  v.  31  ;  viii.  43). 

The  medicines  most  in  use  were  salves,  par- 
ticularly balms  f  Jer.  viii.  21  ;  xlvi.  11),  plasters 
or  poultices  (2  Kings  xx.  7),  oil-baths,  mineral 
baths,  river  bathing  (2  Kings  v.  10).  The  re- 
medies for  internal  complaints  were  mostly  very 
simple,  such  as  our  old  herbalists  would  have 
beeu  disposed  to  recommend. 

Amulets  were  also  much  in  use  among  the 
Jews.  Strict  persons,  however,  discountenanced 
such  practices  as  belonging  to  '  the  ways  of  the 
Amorites.'  Enchantments  were  also  employed 
by  those  who  professed  the  healing  art,  especially 
in  diseases  of  the  mind;  and  they  were  much  in 
the  habit  of  laying  their  hands  upon  the  patient 
(2  Kings  v.  11  ;  Joseph.  Antiq.  ii.  5). 

The  part  taken  by  the  priest  in  the  judgment 
on  leprosy,  &c.,  has  led  to  an  impression,  that  the 
medical  art  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Levitical 
body.  This  may  in  some  degree  be  true ;  not  be- 
cause they  were  Levites,  but  because  they,  more 
than  any  other  Hebrews,  had  leisure,  and  some- 
times inclination  for  learned  pursuits.  The  acts 
prescribed  for  the  priest  by  the  law  do  not,  how- 
ever, of  themselves,  prove  anything  on  this  point, 
as  the  inspection  of  leprosy  belonged  rather  to 
sanitary  police  than  to  medicine — although  it 
was  certainly  necessary  that  the  inspecting  priest 
should  be  able  to  discriminate,  according  to  the 
rules  laid  down  in  the  law,  the  diagnosis  of  the 
disease  placed  under  his  control  (Lev.  xii.  13 ; 
xiv.  15).  The  priests  themselves  were  apt  to 
take  colds,  &c.,  from  being  obliged  to  minister 
at  all  times  of  the  year  with  naked  feet ;  whence 
there  was  in  latter  times  a  medical  inspector  at- 
tached to  the  temple  to  attend  to  their  com- 
plaints. 

Of  anatomical  knowledge  some  faint  traces 
may  be  discerned  in  such  passages  as  Job  ix. 
8,  sq.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Hebrews  were 
in  the  habit  of  opening  dead  bodies  to  ascertain 
the  causes  of  death.  We  know  that  the  Egyptians 
were  so,  and  their  practice  of  embalmment  must 
have  given  them  much  anatomical  knowledge. 
But  to  the  acquisition  of  such  knowledge  there 
were  great  obstacles  among  a  people  to  whom 
simple  contact  with  a  corpse  conveyed  pollution. 

Pl-BESETH,  a  city  of  Egypt,  named  with 


PILATE,  PONTIUS 

several  others  in  Ezek.  xxx.  17.  The  name  was 
derived  from  the  goddess  Bubastis,  whom  the 
Greeks  identified  with  their  Artemis.  A  great 
festive  pilgrimage  was  yearly  made  to  her  temple 
in  this  place  by  great  numbers  of  people.  Bu- 
bastus  was  taken  by  the  Persians,  who  destroyed 
the  walls ;  but  it  was  still  a  place  of  some  con- 
sideration under  the  Romans.  It  was  near  Bu- 
bastus  that  the  canal  leading  to  Arsinoe  (Suez) 
opened  to  the  Nile ;  and  although  the  mouth  was 
afterwards  often  changed  and  taken  more  south- 
ward, it  has  now  returned  to  its  first  locality,  as 
the  present  canal  of  Tel-el-Wadee  conmiences  in 
the  vicinity  of  Tel  Basta.  This  Tel  Basta,  which 
undoubtedly  represents  Bubastus,  is  in  N.  lat. 
30°  36' ;  E.  long.  31°  33'.  The  site  is  occupied 
by  mounds  of  great  extent,  which  consist  of  the 
crude  brick  houses  of  the  town,  with  the  usual 
heaps  of  broken  pottery.  The  temple,  of  which 
Herodotus  states  that, 'although  others  in  Egypt 
were  larger  and  more  magnificent,  none  were 
more  beautiful,  is  entirely  destroyed  ;  but  the  re- 
maining stones,  being  of  the  finest  red  granite, 
confirm  the  historian's  testimony. 

PIGEON.     [Dove;  Turtle-Dove.] 

PI-HAHI'ROTH,  a  place  near  the  northern 
end  of  the  Gulf  of  Suez,  east  of  Baal-zephon 
(Exod.  xiv.  2,  9  ;  Num.  xxxiii.  7).  The  Hebrew 
signification  of  the  words  would  be  equivalent  to 
'  mouth  of  the  caverns ;'  but  it  is  doubtless  an 
Egyptian  name,  and  as  such  would  signify  a 
'  place  where  grass  or  sedge  grows.' 

PI'LATE,  PON'TIUS,  was  the  sixth  Roman 
Procurator  of  Judaea  (Matt,  xxvii.  2  ;  Mark  xv, 
1 ;  Luke  iii.  1  ;  John  xviii.-xix.),  under  whom 
our  Lord  taught,  suffered,  and  died  (Acts  iii.  13 ; 
iv.  27;  xiii-  28;  1  Tim.  vi.  13;  Tacit.  Annal. 
XV.  44).  The  testimony  of  Tacitus  on  this  point 
is  no  less  clear  than  it  is  important ;  for  it  fixes 
beyond  a  doubt  the  time  when  the  foundations  of 
our  religion  were  laid.  The  words  of  the  great 
historian  are  :  '  The  author  of  that  name  (Chris- 
tian) or  sect  was  Christ,  who  was  capitally 
punished  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  by  Pontius 
Pilate.' 

Pilate  was  the  successor  of  Valerius  Gratus, 
and  governed  Judsea,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius.  He  held  his  office  for  a 
period  of  ten  years.  The  agreement  on  this 
point  between  the  accounts  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  those  supplied  by  Josephus,  is  entire 
and  satisfactory. 

Pilate's  conduct  in  his  office  was  in  many  re- 
spects highly  culpable.  Josephus  has  recorde<l 
two  instances  in  which  Pilate  acted  very  tyran- 
nically (Anliq.  xviii.  3.  1  ;  comp.  I)e  Bell  Jiid. 
ii.  9.  2,  sq.)  in  regard  to  the  Jews.  He  conducted 
himself  with  equal  injustice  and  cruelty  to  the 
Samaritans  also.  His  own  misconduct  led  the 
Samaritans  to  take  a  step  which  in  itself  does  not 
appear  seditious  or  revolutionary,  when  Pilate 
seized  the  opportunity  to  slay  many  of  the  people, 
not  only  in  the  fight  which  ensued,  but  also  in 
cold  blood  after  they  had  given  themselves  up. 
'  But  when  this  tumult  was  appeased,  the  Samari- 
tan Senate  sent  an  embassy  to  Vitellius,  now 
President  of  Syria,  and  accused  Pilate  of  the 
murder  of  those  who  had  been  slain.  So  Vitel- 
lius sent  Marcellus,  a  friend  of  his,  to  take  care 
of  the  affairs  of  Juda;a,  and  ordered  Pilate  to  go 
to  Rome  to  answer  before  the  emperor  to  th4 


PILATE,  PONTIUS 

accusation  of  the  Jews.  Pilate,  when  he  had 
tarried  ten  years  in  Judica,  made  haste  to  Rome, 
and  this  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  Vitellius, 
■which  he  durst  not  contradict;  but  before  he 
could  get  to  Rome,  Tiberius  was  dead'  (Joseph. 
Anlip.  xviii.  4.  2).  This  removal  took  place 
before  the  Passover,  in  a.d.  36,  probably  about 
September  or  October,  a.d.  S.'d  ;  Pilate  must, 
therefore,  as  he  spent  ten  years  in  Judsea,  have 
entered  on  his  government  about  October,  a.d. 
25,  or  at  least  before  the  Passover,,  a.d.  26,  in 
the  twelfth  year  of  Tiberius's  sole  empire. 

To  be  put  out  of  his  goverument  by  Vitellius, 
on  the  complaints  of  the  people  of  his  province, 
must  have  been  a  very  grievous  mortification  to 
Pilate :  and  though  the  emperor  was  d*Bd  before 
he  reached  Rome,  he  did  not  long  enjoy  such 
impunity  as  guilt  permits  ;  for,  as  Eusebius  states, 
he  shortly  afterwards  made  away  with  himself  out 
of  vexation  for  his  many  misfortunes. 

Owing  to  the  atrocity  of  the  deed  in  which 
Pilate  took  a  principal  part,  and  to  the  wounded 
feelings  of  piety  with  which  that  deed  has  been 
naturally  regarded  by  Christians,  a  very  dark  idea 
has  been  formed  of  the  character  of  this  Roman 
governor.  That  character  was  undoubtedly  bad ; 
but  moral  depravity  has  its  degrees,  and  the  cause 
of  religion  is  too  sacred  to  admit  any  spurious  aid 
from  exaggeration.  It  is  therefore  desirable  to 
form  a  just  conception  of  the  character  of  Pilate, 
and  to  learn  specifically  what  were  the  vices 
under  which  he  laboured.  For  this  purpose  a 
brief  outline  of  the  evangelical  account  seems 
necessary.  The  narratives  on  which  the  follow- 
ing statement  is  founded  may  be  found  in  John 
xviii.,  xix.;  Matt,  xxvii.  j  Markxv. ;  Lukexxiii. 

Jesus  having  been  betrayed,  apprehended,  and 
found  guilty  of  blasphemy  by  the  Jewish  San- 
hedrim, is  delivered  to  Pilate  in  order  to  undergo 
the  punishment  of  death,  according  to  the  law  in 
that  case  provided.  This  delivery  of  Jesus  to 
Pilate  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  fact,  that 
the  Jews,  though  they  retained  for  the  most  part 
their  laws  and  customs,  both  civil  and  religious, 
did  not  possess  the  power  of  life  and  death  which 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Roman  governor.  Pilate 
could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  Jesus  and  his 
pretensions.  He  might,  had  he  chosen,  have  im- 
mediately ordered  Jesus  to  be  executed,  for  he 
had  been  tried  and  condemned  to  death  by  the 
laws  of  the  land ;  but  he  had  an  alternative.  As 
the  execution  of  the  laws,  in  the  case  at  least  of 
capital  punishments,  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Roman  Procurator,  so  without  any  violent  strain- 
ing might  his  tribunal  be  converted  into  a  court 
of  appeal  in  the  last  instance.  At  any  rate,  re- 
monstrance against  an  unjust  verdict  was  easy 
and  proper  on  the  part  of  a  high  officer,  who,  as 
having  to  inflict  the  punishment,  was  in  a  mea- 
sure responsible  for  its  character.  And  remon- 
strance might  easily  lead  to  a  revision  of  the 
grounds  on  which  the  verdict  had  been  given, 
and  thus  a  cause  might  virtually  be  brought,  de 
novo,  before  the  Procurator :  this  took  place  in 
the  case  of  our  Lord.  Pilate  gave  him  the 
benefit  of  a  new  trial,  and  pronounced  him 
innocent. 

This  review  of  the  case  was  the  alternative  that 
lay  before  Pilate,  the  adoption  of  which  speaks 
undoubtedly  in  his  favour,  and  may  justify  us  in 
declaring  that  bis  guilt  was  not  of  the  deepest  dye. 


PILATE,  PONTIUS 


671 


That  the  conduct  of  Pilate  was,  however,  highly 
criminal  cannot  be  denied.  But  his  guilt  was 
light  in  comparison  of  the  criminal  depravity  of 
the  Jews,  especially  the  priests.  His  was  the  guilt 
of  weakness  and  fear,  theirs  the  guilt  of  settled 
and  deliberate  malice.  His  state  of  mind  prompted 
him  to  attempt  the  release  of  an  accused  person  in 
opposition  to  the  clamours  of  a  misguided  mob ; 
theirs  urged  them  to  compass  the  ruin  of  an  ac- 
quitted person  by  instigating  the  populace,  calum- 
niating the  prisoner,  and  terrifying  the  judge.  If 
Pilate  yielded  against  his  judgment  under  the  fear 
of  personal  danger,  and  so  took  part  in  an  act  of 
unparalleled  injustice,  the  priests  and  their  ready 
tools  originated  the  false  accusation,  sustained 
it  by  subornation  of  perjury,  and  when  it  was 
declared  invalid,  enforced  their  own  unfounded 
sentence  by  appealing  to  the  lowest  passions. 
Pilate,  it  is  clear,  was  utterly  destitute  of  prin- 
ciple. He  was  willing,  indeed,  to  do  right,  if  he 
could  do  right  without  personal  disadvantage. 
Of  gratuitous  wickedness  he  was  perhaps  inca- 
pable, certainly  in  the  condemnation  of  Jesus  he 
has  the  merit  of  being  for  a  time  on  the  side  of 
innocence.  But  he  yielded  to  violence,  and  so 
committed  an  awful  crime.  In  his  hands  was  the 
life  of  the  prisoner.  Convinced  of  his  innocence 
he  ought  to  have  set  him  at  liberty,  thus  doing 
right  regardless  of  consequences.  But  this  is  an 
act  of  high  virtue  which  we  hardly  look  for  at  the 
hands  of  a  Roman  governor  of  Juda;a;  and  though 
Pilate  must  bear  the  reproach  of  acting  contrary 
to  his  own  declared  convictions,  yet  he  may 
equally  claim  some  credit  for  the  apparently  sin- 
cere efforts  which  he  made  in  order  to  defeat  the 
malice  of  the  Jews  and  procure  the  liberation  of 
Jesus. 

If  now  we  wish  to  fonn  a  judgment  of  Pilate's 
character,  we  easily  see  that  he  was  one  of  that 
large  class  of  men  who  aspire  to  public  offices, 
not  from  a  pure  and  lofty  desire  of  benefiting  the 
public  and  advancing  the  good  of  the  world,  but 
from  selfish  and  personal  considerations,  from  a 
love  of  distinction,  of  power,  of  self-indulgence ; 
being  destitute  of  any  fixed  principles,  and  having 
no  aim  but  office  and  influence,  they  act  right 
only  by  chance  and  when  convenient,  and  are 
wholly  incapable  of  pursuing  a  consistent  course, 
or  of  acting  with  firmness  and  self-denial  in  cases 
in  which  the  preservation  of  integrity  requires 
the  exercise  of  these  qualities.  Pilate  was  obvi- 
ously a  man  of  weak,  and  therefore,  with  his 
temptations,  of  corrupt  character.  This  want  of 
strength  will  readily  account  for  his  failing  to 
rescue  Jesus  from  the  rage  of  his  enemies,  and 
also  for  the  acts  of  injustice  and  cruelty  which  he 
practised  in  his  government, — acts  which,  con- 
sidered in  them.selves,  wear  a  deeper  dye  than 
does  the  conduct  which  he  observed  in  surrender- 
ing Jesus  to  the  malice  of  the  Jews.  And  this 
same  weakness  may  serve  to  explain  to  the  reader 
how  much  influence  would  be  exerted  on  this  un- 
just judge,  not  only  by  the  stern  bigotry  and  per- 
secuting wrath  of  the  Jewish  priesthood,  but 
specially  by  the  not  concealed  intimations  which 
they  threw  out  against  Pilate,  that,  if  he  liberated 
Jesus,  he  was  no  friend  of  Tiberius  and  must 
expect  to  have  to  give  an  account  of  his  conduct 
at  Rome.  And  that  this  was  no  idle  threat, 
Pilate's  subsequent  deposition  by  Vitellius  shows 
very  plainly ;  nor  could  the  procurator  have  been 


672 


PISGAH 


ignorant  either  of  the  stern  determination  of  the 
Jewish  character,  or  of  the  offence  he  had  by  his 
acts  given  to  the  heads  of  the  nation,  or  of  the  in- 
security, at  that  very  hour,  -when  the  contest  be- 
tween him  and  the  priests  was  proceeding  regard- 
ing the  innocent  victim  whom  they  lusted  to 
destroy,  of  his  own  position  in  the  office  which  he 
held,  and  which,  of  course,  he  desired  to  retain. 
On  the  whole,  then,  viewing  the  entire  conduct 
of  Pilate,  his  previous  iniquities  as  well  as  his 
bearing  on  the  condemnation  of  Jesus — viewing 
his  own  actual  position  and  the  malignity  of  the 
Jews,  we  cannot,  we  confess,  give  our  vote  with 
those  who  have  passed  the  severest  condemnation 
on  this  weak  and  guilty  governor. 

That  Pilate  made  an  official  report  to  Tiberius 
of  the  condemnation  and  punishment  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  likely  in  itself,  and  is  confirmed  by  the 
voice  of  antiquity.  Lardner,  who  has  fully  dis- 
cussed the  subject,  decides  that '  it  must  be  allowed 
by  all  that  Pontius  Pilate  composed  some  me- 
moirs concerning  our  Saviour,  and  sent  them  to 
the  emperor.'  These  documents  have  in  some 
way  been  lost,  and  what  we  now  have  under  the 
title  of  the  Acts  of  Pontius  Pilate  and  his  letter  to 
Tiberius,  are  manifestly  spurious,  though  they 
have  probably  been  fabricated  in  some  keeping 
with  the  geiniine  pieces,  the  loss  of  which  the 
composers  of  the  existing  documents  sought  as 
well  as  they  could  to  repair. 

PINE-TREE.  The  Hebrewname,  Oren.occurs 
only  once  in  Scripture,  and  is  variously  translated ; 
but  from  the  manner  in  which  it  is  introduced,  it 
is  impossible  to  determine  whether  any  of  the 
translations  are  correct.  The  orm  is  mentioned 
with  other  trees,  of  whose  timber  idols  were  made, 
in  Isa.  xliv.  14:  'He  heweth  him  down  cedars 
(eres)  and  taketh  the  cj/press  {tirzah),  and  the  oak 
(allon),  which  he  strengtheneth  for  himself  among 
the  trees  of  the  forest ;  he  planteth  an  ash  {oren), 
and  the  rain  doth  nourish  it'  Though  the  Eng- 
lish version  renders  it  ash,  others  consider/>tne-<ree 
to  be  the  correct  translation ;  but  for  neither  does 
there  appear  to  be  any  decisive  proof,  nor  for  the 
rubus  or  bramble,  adopted  for  oren  in  the  fable  of 
the  Cedar  and  Rubus. 

PINNACLE.  In  the  account  of  our  Lord's 
temptation  (Matt.  iv.  5),  it  is  stated  that  the  devil 
took  him  to  Jerusalem, '  and  set  him  on  a  pinnacle 
of  the  temple.'  The  part  of  the  temple  denoted 
by  this  term  has  been  much  questioned  by  dif- 
ferent commentators,  and  the  only  certain  con- 
clusion seems  to  be  that  it  cannot  be  understood  in 
the  sense  usually  attached  to  the  word,  i.  e.  the 
point  of  a  spiral  ornament.  Grotius,  Hammond, 
Doddridge,  and  others,  take  it  in  the  sense  of 
balustrade  or  pinnated  battlement.  But  it  is  now 
more  generally  supposed  to  denote  what  was  called 
the  king's  portico,  which  is  mentioned  by  Josephus 
{Aiitiq.  XV.  1 1.  5),  and  is  the  same  which  is  called 
in  Scripture  '  Solomon's  porch.' 
PIPE.  [Musical  Instruments.] 
PI'RATHON,  a  town  in  the  land  of  Ephraim, 
to  which  Abdon,  judge  of  Israel,  belonged,  and 
in  which  he  was  buried  (Judg.  xii.  l.S.  15). 

PIS'GAH,  a  mountain  ridge  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  on  the  southern  border  of  the  kingdom  of 
Sihon  (Num.  xxi.  20;  xxiii.  14;  Deut.  iii.  27; 
Josh.  xii.  3).  In  it  was  Mount  Nebo,  from  which 
Moses  viewed  the  Promised  Land  before  he  died 
(Deut.  xxxiv.  1)  [Nebo]. 


280.     [Platanus  Orientalis— Plane-tree.] 

translators,  to  which  the  balance  of  critica. 
opinion  inclines,  and  which  actually  grows  in 
Palestine.  The  beech,  the  maple,  and  the  ches- 
nut  have  been  adopted,  in  different  modern  ver- 
sions, as  representing  the  Hebrew  Armon;    but 


PLANE-TREE 

PISID'IA,  a  district  of  Asia  Minor,  lying 
mostly  on  Mount  Taurus,  between  Pamphylia, 
Phrygia,  and  Lycaonia.  Its  chief  citj'  was  An- 
tioch,  usually  called  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  metropolitan  city  of  the  same 
name  [Antioch,  2]. 

PITCH.      [ASPHALTUM.] 

Pl'THOM,  one  of  the  '  treasure-cities'  which 
the  Israelites  built  in  the  land  of  Goshen  '  for 
Pharaoh'  (Exod.  i.  1 1)  [Egypt;  Goshen].  The 
site  is  by  general  consent  identified  with  that  of 
the  Patumos  of  Herodotus  (ii.  158).  Speaking 
of  the  canal  which  connected  the  Nile  with  the 
Red  Sea,  this  author  says,  '  The  water  was  ad- 
mitted into  it  from  the  Nile.  It  began  a  little 
above  th^city  Bubastus  [Pi-beseth],  near  the 
Arabian  city  Patumos,  but  it  discharged  itself 
into  the  Red  Sea.'  According  to  this,  Patumos 
was  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pelusiac  arm 
of  the  Nile,  not  far  from  the  canal  which  unites 
the  Nile  with  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  Arabian  part  I 
of  Egypt.  We  gather  from  the  Itinerarium  of  ' 
Antoninus  that  this  city  Avas  twelve  Roman  mile." 
distant  from  Heroopolis,  the  ruins  of  which  are 
found  in  the  region  of  the  present  Abu-Keisheid. 
All  these  designations  are  appropriate  if,  with 
the  scholars  who  accompanied  the  French  expe- 
dition, we  place  Pithom  on  the  site  of  the  present 
Abhaseh,  at  the  entrance  of  the  Wady  Fumilat, 
where  there  was  at  all  times  a  strong  military 
post. 

PLANE-TREE.  The  tree  called  in  Hebrew 
Armon  is  named  thrice  in  the  Scriptures.  It 
occurs  among  the  'speckled  rods'  which  Jacob 
placed  in  the  watering-troughs  before  the  sheep 
(Gen.  XXX.  37):  its  grandeur  is  indicated  in 
Ezek.  xxxi.  8,  as  well  as  in  Ecclus.  xxiv.  19 :  it 
is  noted  for  its  magnificence,  shooting  its  high 
boughs  aloft.  This  description  agrees  well  with 
the  plane-tree  Avhich  is  adapted  by  all  the  ancient 


PONTUS 

scarcely  any  one  now  doubts  that  it  means  the 
plane-tree.  It  may  be  remarked  that  this  tree  is 
iu  Genesis  associated  with  others— the  willow  and 
the  poplar — whose  habits  agree  with  it ;  they  are 
all  trees  of  the  low  grounds,  and  love  to  grow 
■where  the  soil  is  rich  and  humid. 

PLAGUE.     [Pestilence.] 

PLEDGE.     [Loan.] 

PLOUGH.    [Agriculture.] 

POL'LUX.    [Castor  and  Pollux.] 

POLYGAMY.     [Marriage.] 

POMEGRANATE.  The  pomegranate  is  a 
native  of  Asia ;  and  we  may  trace  it  from  Syria, 
through  Persia,  even  to  the  mountains  of  Northern 
India.  It  is  common  in  Northern  Africa,  and 
was  early  cultivated  in  Egypt :  hence  the  Israel- 
ites in  the  desert  complain  (Num.  xx.  5),  '  It  is 
no  place  of  seed,  or  of  figs,  or  of  vines,  or  of  pome- 
granates.' Being  common  in  Syria  and  Persia, 
it  must  have  early  attracted  the  attention  of 
Eastern  nations.  In  the  present  day  it  is  highly 
valued,  and  travellers  describe  the  pomegranate  as 
being  delicious  throughout  Persia.  The  late  Sir 
A.  Burnes  states  that  the  famous  pomegranates 
without  seeds  are  grown  in  gardens  under  the 
snowy  hills,  near  the  river  Cabul.  The  bright 
and  dark-green  foliage  of  the  pomegranate,  and 
its  flowers  conspicuous  for  the  crimson  colour 
both  of  the  calyx  and  petals,  must  have  made  it 
an  object  of  desire  in  gardens ;  while  its  large 
reddish-coloured  fruit,  filled  with  numerous  seeds, 
each  surrounded  with  juicy  pleasant-tasted  pulp, 
would  make  it  still  more  valuable  as  a  fruit  in 
warm  countries.  The  pulpy  grains  of  this  fruit 
are  sometimes  eaten  by  themselves,  sometimes 
sprinkled  with  sugar ;  at  other  times  the  juice  is 
pressed  out  and  made  into  wine,  or  one  of  the 
esteemed  sherbets  of  the  East.  This  seems  also 
to  have  been  the  custom  in  ancient  times,  for  it  is 
said  in  Canticles,  viii.  2,  '  I  would  cause  thee  to 
drink  of  spiced  wine  of  the  juice  of  my  pome- 
granate.' 

The  promegranate  was  well  known  to  the 
Greeks.  It  was  employed  as  a  medicine  by 
Hippocrates,  and  is  mentioned  by  Homer.  Vari- 
ous parts  of  the  plant  were  employed  medicinally, 
as,  for  instance,  the  root,  or  rather  its  bark,  the 
flowers,  and  the  double  flowers ;  also  the  rind 
of  the  pericarp.  Some  of  the  properties  which 
these  plants  possess,  make  them  useful  both  as 
drugs  and  as  medicines.  We  have  hence  a  com- 
bination of  useful  and  ornamental  properties, 
which  would  make  the  pomegranate  an  object  sure 
to  command  attention  :  and  these,  in  addition  to 
the  showy  nature  of  the  flowers,  and  the  roundish 
form  of  the  fruit,  crowned  by  the  protuberant 
remains  of  the  calyx,  would  induce  its  selection 
as  an  ornament  to  be  imitated  in  carved  work. 
Hence  we  find  frequent  mention  of  it  as  an  orna- 
ment on  the  robes  of  the  priests  (Exod.  xxviii.  33  ; 
xxxix.  24);  and  also  in  the  temple  (1  Kings  vii. 
18,  20,  42  ;  2  Kings  xxv.  17  ;  2  Chron.  iii.  16  ; 
iv.  IS).  It  might,  therefore,  well  be  adduced  by 
Moses  among  the  desirable  objects  of  the  land 
of  promise  (Deut.  viii.  8) :  '  a  land  of  wheat,  and 
barley,  and  vines,  and  fig-trees,  and  pomegra- 
nates ;  a  land  of  oil-olive  and  honey.' 
PONTIUS  PILATE.  [Pilate.] 
PONTUS,  the  north-eastern  province  of  Asia 
Minor,  which  took  its  name  from  the  sea  [Pontus 
Euxinus]  that  formed  its  northern  frontier.    On 


POPLAK 


fi'S 


the  east  it  was  bounded  by  Colchis,  on  the  south 
by  Cappadocia  and  part  of  Armenia,  and  on  the 
west  by  Paphlagonia  and  Galatia.  Ptolemy  and 
Pliny  regard  Pontus  and  Cappadocia  as  one 
province;  but  Strabo  rightly  distinguishes  them, 
seeing  that  each  formed  a  distinct  government 
with  its  own  ruler  or  prince.  The  family  of 
Mithridates  reigned  in  Pontus,  and  that  of  Ariara- 
thes  in  Cappadocia.  The  two  countries  were  also 
separated  naturally  from  each  other  by  the  Li- 
thrus  and  Ophlimus  mountains.  The  kingdom 
of  Pontus  became  celebrated  under  Mithridates 
the  Great,  who  waged  a  long  war  with  the  Ro- 
mans, in  which  he  was  at  length  defeated,  and 
his  kingdom  annexed  to  the  Roman  empire  by 
Pompey.  That  Jews  had  settled  in  Pontus,  pre- 
vious to  the  time  of  Christ,  is  evident  from  the  fact, 
that  strangers  from  Pontus  were  among  those  as- 
sembled at  Jerusalem  at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost 
(Acts  ii.  9).  Christianity  also  became  early 
known  in  this  country,  as  the  strangers  'in  Pon- 
tus '  are  abiong  those  to  whom  Peter  addressed 
his  first  epistle  (1  Pet.  i.  1).  Of  this  province 
Paul's  friend,  Aquila,  was  a  native  (Acts  xviii. 
2).  The  principal  towns  of  Pontus  were  Amasia, 
the  ancient  metropolis,  and  the  birth-place  of  the 
geographer  Strabo,  Themiscyra,  Cerasus,  and 
Trapezus  ;  which  last  is  still  an  important  town 
under  the  name  of  Trebizond. 

POPLAR.  (The  word  thus  rendered  (Zibnek) 
occurs  in  two  places  of  Scripture,  viz.  Gen.  xxx. 
37 ;  Hos.  iv.  13,  and  is  supposed  to  indicate  either 
the  white  poplar  or  the  storax  tree.  The  argu- 
ments in  support  of  the  respective  claims  of  these 
are  nearly  equally  balanced,  although  those  in 
favour  of  the  storax  appear  to  us  to  preponderate. 
The  white  poplar  is  said  to  be  called  white,  not 
on  account  of  the  whiteness  of  its  bark,  but  of 
that  of  the  under  surface  of  its  leaves.  It  may 
perhaps  be  so  designated  from  the  whiteness  of 
its  hairy  seeds,  which  have  a  remarkable  appear- 
ance when  the  seed  covering  first  bursts.  The 
poplar  is  certainly  common  in  the  countries  where 
the  scenes  are  laid  of  the  transactions  related  in 
the  above  passages  of  Scripture.  Lubne,  both  in 
Arabic  and  in  Persian,  is  the  name  of  a  tree,  and 
of  the  fragrant  resin  employed  for  fumigating, 
which  exudes  from  it,  and  which  is  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  Storax.  This  resin  was 
well  known  to  the  ancients,  and  is  mentioned  by 
Hippocrates  and  Theophrastus.  Dioscorides  de- 
scribes several  kinds,  all  of  which  were  obtained 
from  Asia  Minor  ;  and  all  that  is  now  imported 
is  believed  to  be  the  produce  of  that  country. 
But  the  tree  is  cultivated  in  the  south  of  Europe, 
though  it  does  not  there  yield  any  storax.  It  is 
found  in  Greece,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  native 
of  Asia  Minor,  whence  it  extends  into  Syria,  and 
probably  farther  south.  It  is  therefore  a  native 
of  the  country  which  was  the  scene  of  the  trans- 
action related  in  the  above  passage  of  Genesis. 

From  the  description  of  Dioscorides,  and  his 
comparing  the  leaves  of  the  styrax  to  those  of 
the  quince,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  same  tree  be- 
ing intended :  especially  as  in  early  times,  as  at 
the  present  day,  it  yielded  a  highly  fragrant  bal- 
samic substance  which  was  esteemed  as  a  medi- 
cine, and  employed  in  fumigation.  From  the  si- 
milarity of  the  Hebrew  name  lihneh  to  the  Ara- 
bic lubne,  and  from  the  Septuagint  having  in 
Genesis  translated  the  former  by  styrax,  it 
2x 


C74 


POTSHERD 


PRiETORIUM 


seems  most  probable  that  this  was  the  tree  in- 
tended. It  is  capable  of  yielding  white  wands  as 
well  as  the  poplar ;  and  it  is  also  well  qualified 
to  afford  complete  shade  under  its  ample  foliage, 
as  in  the  passage  of  Hos.  iv.  13.  We  may  also 
suppose  it  to  have  been  more  particularly  alluded 
to,  from  its  being  a  tree  yielding  incense.  '  They 
sacrifice  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  and 
burn  incense  upon  the  hills,  under  the  terebinth 
andthestorax  trees,  because  the  shadow  thereof  is 

POR'CIUS  FEST'US.    [Festcs.] 

POSSESSION.    [Demoniacs.] 

POT'IPHAR  (contract,  of  Potipherah),  an  of- 
ficer of  Pharaoh,  probably  the  chief  of  his  body- 
guard (Gen.  xxxix.  1).  Of  the  Midianitish  mer- 
chants he  purchased  Joseph,  whose  treatment  by 
him  is  described  under  that  head.  The  keeper 
of  the  prison  into  which  the  son  of  Jacob  was 
eventually  cast  treated  him  with  kindness,  and 
confided  to  him  the  management  of  the  prison ; 
and  this  confidence  was  afterwards  sanctioned  by 
the  *  captain  of  the  guard '  himself,  as  the  officer 
responsible  for  the  safe  custody  of  prisoners 
of  state.  It  is  sometimes  denied,  but  more  usually 
maintained,  that  this  '  captain  of  the  guard '  was 
the  same  with  the  Potiphar  who  is  before  desig- 
nated by  the  same  title.  We  believe  that  this 
'  captain  of  the  guard '  and  Joseph's  master  were 
the  same  person.  It  would  be  in  accordance  with 
Oriental  usage  that  offenders  against  the  court, 
and  the  officers  of  the  court,  should  be  in  custody 
of  the  captain  of  the  guard ;  and  that  Potiphar 
should  have  treated  Joseph  well  after  having  cast 
him  into  prison,  is  not  irreconcilable  with  the 
facts  of  the  case.  After  having  imprisoned  Jo- 
seph in  the  first  transport  of  his  choler,  he  might 
possibly  discover  circumstances  which  led  him  to 
doubt  his  guilt,  if  not  to  be  convinced  of  his  in- 
nocence. The  mantle  left  in  the  hands  of  his 
mistress,  and  so  triumphantly  produced  against 
him,  would,  when  calmly  considered,  seem  a 
stronger  proof  of  guilt  against  her  than  against 
him :  yet  still,  to  avoid  bringing  dishonour  upon 
his  wife,  and  exposing  her  to  new  temptation,  he 
may  have  deemed  it  more  prudent  to  bestow  upon 
his  slave  the  command  of  the  state  prison,  than 
to  restore  him  to  his  former  employment 

POTIPH'ERAH,  the  priest  of  On,  or  Helio- 
polis,  whose  daughter  Azenath  became  the  wife  of 
Joseph  [Azenath].  The  name  is  Egyptian,  and 
means  '  who  belongs  to  the  sun.' 

POTSHERD.  Potsherd  is  figuratively  used 
in  Scripture  to  denote  a  thing  worthless  and  in- 
significant (Ps.  xxii.  15;  Prov.  xxvi.  23;  Isa. 
xlv,  9).  It  may  illustrate  some  of  these  allusions 
to  femiud  the  reader  of  the  fact,  that  the  sites  of 
ancient  towns  are  often  covered  at  the  surface 
with  great  quantities  of  broken  pottery.  The  pre- 
sent writer  has  usually  found  this  pottery  to  be 
of  coarse  texture,  but  coated  and  protected  with 
a  strong  and  bright-coloured  glaze,  mostly  bluish- 
green,  and  sometimes  yellow.  These  fragments 
give  to  some  of  the  most  venerable  sites  in  the 
world  the  appearance  of  a  deserted  pottery  rather 
than  of  a  town.  The  fact  is,  however,  that  they 
occur  only  upon  the  sites  of  towns  which  were 
built  with  crude  brick ;  and  this  suggests  that  the 
heaps  of  ruin  into  which  these  had  fallen  being 
disintegrated,  and  worn  at  the  surface  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  weather,  bring  to  view  and  leave  ex- 


posed the  broken  pottery,  which  is  not  liable  to 
be  thus  dissolved  and  washed  away.  This  expla- 
nation was  suggested  by  the  actual  survey  of  such 
ruins ;  and  we  know  not  that  a  better  has  yet 
been  offered  in  any  other  quarter.  It  is  certainly 
remarkable  that  of  the  more  mighty  cities  of  old 
time,  nothing  but  potsherds  now  remain  visible 
at  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

Towns  built  with  stone,  or  kiln-burnt  bricks, 
do  not  exhibit  this  form  of  ruin,  which  is,  there- 
fore, not  usually  met  with  in  Palestine. 

POTTER.  The  potter,  and  the  produce  of  his 
labours,  are  often  alluded  to  in  the  Scriptures. 
The  fragility  of  his  wares,  and  the  ease  with 
which  they  are  destroyed,  supply  apt  emblems  of 
the  facility  with  which  human  life  and  power 
may  be  broken  and  destroyed.  It  is  in  this 
figurative  use  that  the  potter's  vessels  are  most 
frequently  noticed  in  Scripture  (Ps.  ii.  9;  Isa. 
XXX.  14;  Jer.  xix.  11;  Rev.  ii.  27).  In  one  place, 
the  power  of  the  potter  to  form  with  his  clay,  by 


281.    [Modem  Egyptian  Potter.] 

the  impulse  of  his  will  and  hand,  vessels  either 
for  honourable  or  for  mean  uses,  is  employed  with 
great  force  by  the  apostle  to  illustrate  the  abso- 
lute power  of  God  in  moulding  the  destinies  of 
men  according  to  his  pleasure  (Rom.  ix.  21). 
The  first  distinct  mention  of  earthenware  vessels 
is  in  the  case  of  the  pitchers  in  which  Gideon's 
men  concealed  their  lamps,  and  which  they  broke 
in  pieces  when  they  withdrew  their  lamps  from 
them  (Judg.  vii.  16,  19).  Pitchers  and  bottles 
are  indeed  mentioned  earlier;  but  the  'bottle' 
which  contained  Hagar's  water  (Gen.  xxi.  14, 
1.5)  was  undoubtedly  of  skin;  and  although 
Rebekah's  pitcher  was  possibly  of  earthenware 
(Gen.  xxiv.  14,  15),  we  cannot  be  certain  that  it 
was  so. 
POTTER'S-FIELD.  [Aceldama.] 
PRiETO'RIUM.  This  word  denotes  the 
general's  tent  in  the  field,  and  also  the  house  or 
palace  of  the  governor  of  a  province,  whether  a 
praetor  or  not.  In  the  Gospels  it  is  applied  to 
the  palace  built  by  Herod  the  Great,  at  Jerusalem, 
and  which  eventually  became  the  residence  of  the 
Roman  governors  in  that  city  (Matt,  xxvii.  27; 
Mark  XV.  16;  John  xviii.  28,  38;  xix.  9).  In 
the  two  first  of  these  texts  it  may,  however,  de- 
note the  court  in  front  of  the  palace,  where  the 
procurator's  guards  were  stationed  [Jerusalem J. 
Herod  bailt  another  palace  at  Csesarea.  and  this 


PRIEST 

also  is  called  the  Prsetorium  in  Acts  xxiii.  35,  pro- 
bably because  it  had,  in  like  manner,  become  the 
residence  of  the  Roman  governor,  -w^hose  head- 
quarters were  at  Caesarea.  In  Philipp.  i.  13,  the 
word  denotes  the  Praetorian  camp  at  Rome,  i.  e. 
the  camp  or  quarters  of  the  Praetorian  cohort  at 
Rome. 

PRIEST,  HIGH-PRIEST,  &c.  A  priest  may 
be  defined  as  one  who  officiates  or  transacts  with 
God  on  behalf  of  others  statedly,  or  for  the  occa- 
sion (Heb.  V.  1). 

The  designation  and  call  of  Aaron  and  his  sons 
to  the  priesthood  are  commanded  in  Exod.  xxviii. 
1 ;  and  holy  garments  to  be  made  for  Aaron,  '  for 
glory  and  for  beauty '  (ver.  2),  and  for  his  sons 
(ver.  40\  by  persons  originally  skilful,  and  now 
also  inspired  for  the  purpose  (ver.  3),  the  chief  of 
whom  were  Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  (xxxi.  2-6).  As 
there  were  some  garments  common  both  to  the 
priests  and  the  high-priest,  we  shall  begin  with 
those  of  the  former,  taking  them  in  the  order  in 
which  they  would  be  put  on.  1.  The  first  was 
'  linen-breeches,'  or  drawers  (xxviii.  42).  These 
were  to  be  of  fine  twined  linen,  and  to  reach 
from  the  loins  to  the  middle  of  the  thighs.  Such 
drawers  were  worn  universally  in  Egypt.    No 


282.    [Drawen  and  girdle.] 

mention  occurs  of  the  use  of  drawers  by  any  other 
class  of  persons  in  Israel  except  the  priests,  on 
whom  it  was  enjoined  for  the  sake  of  decency. 
2.  The  coat  of  fine  linen  or  cotton  (Exod.  xxxix. 
27).  This  was  worn  by  men  in  general  (Gen. 
xxxvii.  3) ;  also  by  women  (2  &im.  xiii.  18 ; 
Cant.  V.  3),  next  to  the  skin.  It  was  to  be  of 
woven  work.  Josephus  states  that  it  reached 
down  to  the  feet,  and  sat  close  to  the  body ;  and 
had  sleeves,  which  were  tied  fast  to  the  arms ; 
and  was  girded  to  the  breast  a  little  above  the 
elbows  by  a  girdle.  It  had  a  narrow  aperture 
about  the  neck,  and  was  tied  with  certain  strings 
hanging  down  from  the  edge  over  the  breast  and 
back,  and  was  fastened  above  each  shoulder.  But 
this  garment,  in  the  case  of  the  priests  and  high- 
priest,  was  to  be  broidered  (xxviii.  4), '  a  broidered 
coat,'  by  which  Gesenius  understands  a  coat  of 
cloth  worked  in  checkers  or  cells.  3.  The  girdle 
^xxviii.  40).  This  was  also  worn  by  magistrates 
(Isa.  xxii.  21).  The  girdle  for  the  priests  was 
to  be  made  of  fine  twined  linen,  and  blue,  and 


PRIEST  675 

purple,  and  scarlet,  of  needlework  (xxxix.  29). 
Josephus  describes  it  as  often  going  round,  four 
fingers  broad,  but  so  loosely  woven  that  it  might 
be  taken  for  the  skin  of  a  serpent ;  and  that  it  was 


283.    [Girdle  and 


embroidered  with  flowers  of  scarlet,  and  purple, 
and  blue,  but  that  the  warp  was  nothing  but  linen. 
The  mode  of  its  hanging  down  is  illustrated  by 
the  cut  No.  285,  where  the  girdle  is  also  richly 
embroidered ;  while  the  imbricated  appearance  of 
the  girdle  may  be  seen  very  plainly  in  No.  282. 
The  next  cut.  No.  283,  of  a  priestly  scribe  of 
ancient  Egypt,  ofiiers  an  interesting  specimen  of 
both  tunic  and  girdle.  4.  The  bonnet,  cap,  or 
turban,  (xxviii.  40).  The  bonnet  was  to  be  of 
fine  linen  (xxxix.  28).  In  the  time  of  Josephus 
it  was  circular,  covering  about  half  the  head, 
something  like  a  crown,  made  of  thick  linen 
swathes  doubled  round  many  times,  and  sewed 
together,  surrounded  by  a  linen  cover  to  hide  the 
seams  of  the  swathes,  and  sat  so  close  that  it  would 
not  fall  offwhen  the  body  was  bent  down  {Antiq. 
iii.  7.  3).  The  dress  of  the  high-priest  was  pre- 
cisely the  same  with  that  of  the  common  priests 
in  all  the  foregoing  particulars;  in  addition  tJ 
which  he  had  (1)  a  robe  (xxviii.  4).    This  was 


884.     [Egyptian  tunic] 


676 


PRIEST 


not  a  mantle,  but  a  second  and  larger  coat  -with- 
out sleeves  ;  a  kind  of  surtout  worn  by  the  laity, 
especially  persons  of  distinction  (Job.  i.  20;  ii. 
12:  bv  kings,  1  Sam.  xv.  27  ;  xviii.  4;  xxiv.  5, 
12).  This  garment,  when  intended  for  the  high- 
priest,  and  then  called  '  the  robe  of  the  ephod,' 
was  to  be  of  one  entire  piece  of  woven  work,  all 
of  blue,  with  an  aperture  for  the  neck  in  the 
middle  of  the  upper  part,  having  its  rim  strength- 
ened and  adorned  with  a  border.  The  hem  had 
a  kind  of  fringe,  composed  of  tassels,  made  of 
blue,  purple,  and  scarlet,  in  the  form  of  pome- 
granates ;  and  between  every  two  promegranates 
there  was  a  small  golden  bell,  so  that  there  was 
a  bell  and  a  pomegranate  alternately  all  round 
(xxviii.  31-35).  The  use  of  these  bells  may  have 
partly  been,  that  by  the  high-priest  shaking  his 
garment  at  the  time  of  his  offering  incense  on 
the  great  day  of  expiation,  &c.,  the  people  without 
might  be  apprised  of  it,  and  unite  their  prayers 
■with  it  (comp.  Ecclus.  xlv.  9;  Luke  i.  10;  Acts 
X.  4;  Rev.  viii.  3,  4).  Josephus  describes  this 
robe  of  the  ephod  as  reaching  to  the  feet,  and  con- 
sisting of  one  entire  piece  of  woven-work,  and 
parted  where  the  hands  came  out  (John  xix.  23). 
He  also  states  that  it  was  tied  round  with  a  girdle, 
embroidered  with  the  same  colours  as  (he  former, 
-with  a  mixture  of  gold  interwoven  (Antiq.  iii.  7. 
4).  The  fringe  of  bells  and  pomegranates  seems 
to  have  been  the  priestly  substitute  for  the  fringe 
bound  with  a  blue  riband,  which  all  the  Israelites 
were  commanded  to  wear.  Many  traces  of  this 
fringe  occur  in  the  Egyptian  remains.  (2.)  The 
ephod  (Exod.  xxviii.  4).  This  was  a  short  cloak 
covering  the  shoulders  and  breast.  It  is  said  to 
Lave  been  worn  by  Samuel  while  a  youth  minis- 


285.     [Ephod  and  girdle.] 

tering  before  the  Lord  (1  Sam.  ii.  18)  ;  by  David, 
while  engaged  in  religious  service  (2  Sam.  vi. 
14);  and  by  inferior  priests  (1  Sam.  xxii.  18). 
But  in  all  these  instances  it  is  distinguished  as  a 
linen  ephod,  and  was  not  a  sacred  but  honorary 
vestment;  but  the  ephod  of  the  high-priest  was  to 
be  made  of  gold,  of  blue,  of  purple,  of  scarlet,  and 
fine  twined  linen,  with  cunning  work.  Though 
it  probably  consisted  of  one  piece,  woven  through- 
out, it  had  a  back  part  and  a  front  part,  united  by 


PRIEST 

shoulder-pieces.  It  had  also  a  girdle  ;  or  rather 
strings  went  out  from  each  side  and  tied  it  to  the 
body.  On  the  top  of  each  shoulder  was  to  be  an 
onyx  stone,  set  in  sockets  of  gold,  each  having 
engraven  upon  it  six  of  the  names  of  the  children 
of  Israel,  according  to  the  precedence  of  birth,  to 
memorialize  the  Lord  of  the  promises  made  to 
them  (Exod.  xxviii.  6-12,  29).  Josephus  gives 
sleeves  to  the  ephod  {Antiq.  iii.  7.  5).  It  may  be 
considered  as  a  substitute  for  the  leopard-skin 
worn  by  the  Egyptian  high-priests  in  their  most 
sacred  duties,  as  in  No.  285,  where  the  ephod 
appears  no  less  plainly.  Then  came  (3)  the  breast- 
plate, a  gorget,  ten  inches  square,  made  of  the 
same  sort  of  cloth  as  the  ephod,  and  doubled  so 
as  to  form  a  kind  of  pouch  or  bag  (Exod.  xxxix. 
9),  in  which  was  to  be  put  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
MiM,  which  are  also  mentioned  as  if  already  known 
(xxviii.  30).  The  external  part  of  this  gorget  was 
set  with  four  rows  of  precious  stones ;  the  first 
row,  a  sardius,  a  topaz,  and  a  carbuncle ;  the 
second,  an  emerald,  a  sapphire,  and  a  diamond ; 
the  third,  a  ligure,  au  agate,  and  an  amethyst; 
and  the  fourth,  a  beryl,  an  onyx,  and  a  jasper, — 
set  in  a  golden  socket.  Upon  each  of  these  stones 
was  to  be  engraven  the  name  of  one  of  the  sons 
of  Jacob.  In  the  ephod,  in  which  there  was  a 
space  left  open  sufficiently  large  for  the  admission 
of  this  pectoral,  were  four  rings  of  gold,  to  which 
four  others  at  the  four  corners  of  the  breastplate 
corresponded ;  the  two  lower  rings  of  the  latter 
being  fixed  inside.  It  was  confined  to  the  ephod 
by  means  of  dark  blue  ribands,  which  passed 
through  these  rings ;  and  it  was  also  suspended 
from  the  onyx  stones  on  the  shoulder  by  chains 
of  gold,  or  rather  cords  of  twisted  gold  threads, 
which  were  fastened  at  one  end  to  two  other  larger 
rings  fixed  in  the  upper  corners  of  the  pectoral, 
and  by  the  other  end  going  round  the  onyx  stones 
on  the  shoulders,  and  returning  and  being  fixed 
in  the  larger  ring.  The  breastplate  was  further 
kept  in  its  place  by  a  girdle,  made  of  the  same 
stuff,  which  Josephus  says  was  sewed  to  the 
breastplate,  and  which,  when  it  had  gone  once 
round,  was  tied  again  upon  the  seam  and  hung 
down.  It  appears  in  No.  287.  4.  The  remain- 
ing portion  of  dress  peculiar  to  the  high-priest 
was  the  mitre  (xxviii.  4).  The  Bible  says  nothing 
of  the  difference  between  this  and  the  turban  of 
the  common  priests.  It  is,  however,  called  by  a 
different  name.  It  was  to  be  of  fine  linen  (ver. 
39).  Josephus  says  it  was  the  same  in  construc- 
tion and  figure  with  that  of  the  common  priest, 
but  that  above  it  there  was  another,  with  swathes 
of  blue,  embroidered,  and  round  it  was  a  golden 
crown,  polished,  of  three  rows,  one  above  another, 
out  of  which  rose  a  cup  of  gold,  which  resembled 
the  calyx  of  the  herb  called  by  Greek  botanists 
hyoscyamus.  He  ends  a  most  laboured  descrip- 
tion by  comparing  the  shape  of  it  to  a  poppy  (iii. 
7.  6). '  Upon  comparing  his  account  of  the  bonnet 
of  the  priests  with  the  mitre  of  the  high-priests, 
it  would  appear  that  the  latter  was  conical.  The 
cut,  No.  286,  presents  the  principal  forms  of  the 
mitres  worn  by  the  ancient  priests  of  Egypt,  and 
affords  a  substantial  resemblance  of  that  prescribed 
to  the  Jews,  divested  of  idolatrous  symbols,  but 
which  were  displaced  to  make  way  for  a  simple 
plate  of  gold,  bearing  the  inscription, 'Holiness 
to  Jehovah.'  This  plate  extended  from  one  ear  to 
the  other,  being  bound  to  the  forehead  by  strings 


PRIEST 

tied  behind,  and  further  secured  in  its  position 
by  a  blue  riband  attached  to  the  mitre  (Exod. 
xxviii.  36-39;  xxxix.  30;  Lev.  viii.  9).     The 


PRIEST 


677 


286.     [Egyptian  mitres.] 

magnificent  dress  of  the  high-priest  was  not  al- 
ways worn  by  him.  It  was  exchanged  for  one 
wholly  of  linen,  and  therefore  white,  though  of 
similar  construction,  when  on  the  day  of  expiation 
he  entered  into  the  Holy  of  Holies  (Lev.  xvi.  4, 
23);  and  neither  he  nor  the  common  priests  wore 
their  appropriate  dress,  except  when  officiating. 
The  garments  of  the  inferior  priests  appear  to 
have  been  kept  in  the  sacred  treasury  (Ezra  ii, 
69  ;  Neh.  vii.  70). 

The  next  incident  in  the  history  is,  that  Moses 
receives  a  command  to  consecrate  Aaron  and  his 
sons  to  the  priests'  office  (Exod.  xxviii.  41),  with 
the  following  ceremonies.  They  were  to  be  washed 
at  the  door  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  congregation 
(xxix.  4),  where  the  altar  of  burnt  offering  stood 
(xl.  6,  29).  Aaron  was  then  robed  in  his  ponti- 
fical garments  (vers.  4-6),  and  anointed  with  a 
profusion  of  oil  (ver.  7);  whence  he  was  called 
'  the  priest  that  is  anointed '  (Lev.  iv.  3,  &c. ;  Ps. 
cxxxiii.  2).  This  last  act  was  the  peculiar  and 
only  distinguishing  part  of  Aaron's  consecration  ; 
for  the  anointing  of  his  sons  fxxx.  30)  relates 
only  to  the  unction  (xxix.  31 ),  by  a  mixture  made 
of  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  and  of  the  anointing 
oil,  which  was  sprinkled  upon  both  Aaron  and  his 
sons,  and  upon  their  garments,  as  part  of  their 
consecration.  Hence  then  Aaron  received  two 
unctions.  In  after-times  the  high-priest  took  an 
oath  (Heb.  vii.  23)  to  bind  him,  as  the  Jews  say, 
to  a  strict  adherence  to  established  customs.  The 
other  details  of  this  ceremony  of  consecration  are 
all  contained  in  one  chapter  (Exod.  xxix.),  to 
which  we  must  be  content  to  refer  the  reader. 
The  entire  ceremony  lasted  seven  days,  on  each 
of  which  all  the  sacrifices  were  repeated  (Lev. 
viii.  33),  to  which  a  promise  was  added,  that  God 
would  sanctify  Aaron  and  his  sons,  that  is,  declare 
them  to  be  sanctified,  which  he  did,  by  the  appear- 
ance of  his  glory  at  their  first  sacrifice,  and  by  the 
fire  which  descended  and  consumed  their  burut- 
ofiFerings  (Lev.  ix.  23,  24).  Thus  were  Aaron  and 
his  sons  and  their  descendants  separated  for  ever, 
to  the  office  of  the  priesthood,  from  all  other  Is- 
raelites. There  was  consequently  no  need  of  any 
further  consecration  for  them  or  their  descend- 
ants. The  first-born  son  of  Aaron  succeeded  him 
in  the  office,  and  the  elder  son  among  all  his  de- 


scendants ;  a  rule  which,  though  deviated  from  in 
after-times,  was  ultimately  resumed.  The  next 
successor  was  to  be  anointed  and  consecrated  in 
his  father's  holy  garments  (ver.  29),  which  he 
must  wear  seven  days  when  he  went  into  the 
tabernacle  of  the  congregation  to  minister  (ver. 
30  ;  comp.  Num.  xx.  26-:i8 ;  xxxv.  25),  and  make 
an  atonement  for  all  things  and  persons  (Lev.  xvi. 
32-34),  and  for  himself  (comp.  ver.  11),  besides 
the  offering  (vi.  20-22).  The  common  priests 
were  required  to  prove  their  descent  from  Aaron. 
No  age  was  prescribed  for  their  entrance  on  their 
ministry,  or  retirement  from  it. 

We  shall  now  give  a  summary  of  the  duties 
and  emoluments  of  the  high-priest  and  common 
priests  respectively.  Besides  his  lineal  descent 
from  Aaron,  the  high-priest  was  required  to  be 
free  from  every  bodily  blemish  or  defect  (Lev. 
xxi.  16-23);  but  though  thus  incapacitated,  yet, 
his  other  qualifications  being  sufficient,  he  might 
eat  of  the  food  appropriated  to  the  priests  (ver.  22). 
He  must  not  marry  a  widow,  nor  a  divorced 
woman,  or  profane,  or  that  had  been  a  harlot,  but 
a  virgin  Israelitess  (ver.  14).  In  Ezekiel's  vision 
a  general  permission  is  given  to  the  priests  to 
marry  a  priest's  widow  (xliv.  22).     The  high- 


287.     [High-priest.] 

priest  might  not  observe  the  external  signs  of 
mourning  for  any  person,  or  leave  the  sanctuary 
upon  receiving  intelligence  of  the  death  of  even 
father  or  mother  (ver.  10-12 ;  comp.  x.  7).  Public 
calamities  seem  to  have  been  an  exception,  for 
Joacim  the  high-priest,  and  the  priests,  in  such 
circumstances  ministered  in  sackcloth  with  ashes 
on  their  mitres  (Judith  iv.  14,  15  ;  comp.  Joel  i. 
13).  He  must  not  eat  anything  that  died  of  itself, 
or  was  torn  of  beasts  (Lev.  xxii.  8);  must  wash 
his  hands  and  feet  when  he  went  into  the  taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation,  and  when  he  came 
near  to  the  altar  to  minister  (Exod.  xxx.  19-21). 
At  first  Aaron  was  to  burn  incense  on  the  golden 
altar  every  morning  when  he  dressed  the  lamps, 
and  every  evening  when  he  lighted  them,  but  in 


678 


PRIEST 


later  times  the  common  priest  performed  this 
duty  (Luke  i.  8,  9) ;  to  offer,  as  the  Jews  under- 
stand it,  daily,  morning  and  evening,  the  pecu- 
liar meat-offering  he  offered  on  the  day  of  his 
consecration  (Exod.  xxix) ;  to  perform  the  cere- 
monies of  the  great  day  of  expiation  (Lev.  xvi.); 
to  arrange  the  shew-bread  every  Sabbath,  and  to 
eat  it  in  the  holy  place  (xxiv.  9) ;  must  abstain 
from  the  holy  things  during  his  uncleanness  (xxii. 
1-3) ;  also  if  he  became  leprous,  or  contracted 
uncleanness  (ver.  4-7).  If  he  committed  a  sin  of 
ignorance  he  must  offer  a  sin-offering  for  it  (iv. 
3-13)  ;  and  so  for  the  people  (ver.  12-22)  ;  was  to 
eat  the  remainder  of  the  people's  meat-offerings 
with  the  inferior  priests  in  the  holy  place  (vi.  16) ; 
to  judge  of  the  leprosy  in  the  human  body  or 
garments  (xiii.  2-59);  to  adjudicate  legal  ques- 
tions (Deut.  xvii.  12).  Indeed,  when  there  was 
no  divinely  inspired  judge,  the  high-priest  was 
the  supreme  ruler  till  the  time  of  David,  and 
again  after  the  captivity.  He  must  be  present  at 
the  appointment  of  a  new  ruler  or  leader  (Num. 
xxvii.  19),  and  ask  counsel  of  the  Lord  for  the 
ruler  (ver.  21).  Eleazar  with  others  distributes 
the  spoils  taken  from  the  Midianites  (Num.  xxxi. 
21,  26).  To  the  high-priest  also  belonged  the 
appointment  of  a  maintenance  from  the  funds  of 
the  sanctuary  to  an  incapacitated  priest  (1  Sam. 
ii.  36,  margin).  Besides  these  duties,  peculiar  to 
himself,  he  had  others  in  common  with  the  infe- 
rior priests.  Thus,  when  the  camp  set  forward, 
'  Aaron  and  his  sons '  were  to  take  the  tabernacle 
to  pieces,  to  cover  the  various  portions  of  it  in 
cloths  of  various  colours  (iv.  .5-15),  and  to  ap- 
point the  Levites  to  their  services  in  carrying 
them ;  to  bless  the  people  in  the  form  prescribed 
(vi.  23-27),  to  be  responsible  for  all  official  errors 
and  negligences  (xviii.  1),  and  to  have  the  general 
charge  of  the  sanctuary  (ver,  5). 

Emoluments  of  the  High-Priest. — Neither  the 
high-priest  nor  common  priests  received  '  any  in- 
heritance '  at  the  distribution  of  Canaan  among 
the  several  tribes  (Num.  xviii.  20;  Deut.  xviii. 
1,  2),  but  were  maintained,  with  their  families, 
upon  certain  fees,  dues,  perquisites,  &c.,  arising 
from  the  public  services,  which  they  enjoyed  as 
a  common  fund.  Perhaps  the  only  distinct  pre- 
rogative of  the  high-priest  was  a  tenth  part  of  the 
tithes  assigned  to  the  Levites  (Num.  xviii.  28  ; 
comp.  Neh.  x.  38) ;  but  Josephus  represents  this 
also  as  a  common  fund  (Antiq.  iv.  4.  4). 

Duties  of  the  Priests. — Besides  those  duties 
already  mentioned  as  common  to  them  and  the 
high-priests,  they  were  required  to  prove  their 
descent  from  Aaron,  to  be  free  from  all  bodily 
defect  or  blemish  (Lev.  xxi.  16-23);  must  not 
observe  mourning,  except  for  near  relatives  (xxi. 
1-5) ;  must  not  marry  a  woman  that  had  been  a 
harlot,  or  divorced,  or  profane.  The  priest's 
daughter  who  committed  whoredom  was  to  be 
burnt,  as  profaning  her  father  (xxi.  9).  The 
priests  were  to  have  the  charge  of  the  sanctuary 
and  altar  (Num.  xviii.  5).  The  fire  upon  the 
altar,  being  once  kindled  (Lev.  i.  7),  the  priests 
were  always  to  keep  it  burning  (vi.  13).  In  later 
times,  and  upon  extraordinary  occasions,  at  least, 
they  flayed  the  burnt-offerings  (2  Chron.  xxix. 
34),  and  killed  the  Passover  (Ezra  vi.  20).  They 
•were  to  receive  the  blood  of  the  burnt-offerings 
in  basins  (Exod.  xxiv.  6),  and  sprinkle  it  round 
about  the  altar,  arrange  tlie  wood  and  the  Are, 


PRISCILLA 

and  to  burn  the  parts  of  the  sacrifices  (Lev.  i.  S- 
10).  If  the  burnt-sacrifice  were  of  doves,  the 
priest  was  to  nip  off  the  head  with  his  finger-nail, 
squeeze  out  the  blood  on  the  edge  of  the  altar, 
pluck  off  the  feathers,  and  throw  them  with  the 
crop  into  the  ash-pit,  divide  it  down  the  wings, 
and  then  completely  burn  it  (ver.  15-17).  He 
was  to  offer  a  lamb  every  morning  and  evening 
(Num.  xxviii.  3),  and  a  double  number  on  the 
Sabbath  (ver.  9),  the  burnt-offerings  ordered  at 
the  beginning  of  months  (ver.  11),  and  the  same 
on  the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  (ver.  19),  and 
on  the  day  of  the  First  Fruits  (ver.  26) ;  to  receive 
the  meat-offering  of  the  offerer,  bring  it  to  the 
altar,  take  of  it  a  memorial,  and  burn  it  upon  the 
altar  (Lev.  ii.) ;  to  sprinkle  the  blood  of  the  peace- 
offerings  upon  the  altar  round  about,  and  then  to 
offer  of  it  a  burnt-offering  (iii.) ;  to  offer  the  sin- 
offering  for  a  sin  of  ignorance  in  a  ruler  or  any 
of  the  common  people  (iv.  22-25) ;  to  eat  the  sin- 
offering  in  the  holy-place  (vi.  26 ;  comp.  x.  1 6- 
18);  to  offer  the  trespass-offering  (ver.  6-19;  vi. 
6,  7),  to  sprinkle  its  blood  round  about  the  altar 
(vii.  2),  to  eat  of  it,  &c.  (ver.  6) ;  to  eat  of  the 
shew-bread  in  the  holy  place  (xxiv.  9) ;  to  offer 
for  the  purification  of  women  after  child-birth 
(xii.  6,  7) ;  to  judge  of  the  leprosy  in  the  human 
body  or  garments ;  to  decide  when  the  leper  was 
cleansed,  and  to  order  a  sacrifice  for  him  (xiv.  3, 
4) ;  to  administer  the  rites  used  at  pronouncing 
him  clean  (ver.  6,  7);  to  present  him  and  his 
offering  before  the  Lord,  and  to  make  an  atone- 
ment for  him  (ver.  10-32) ;  to  judge  of  the  leprosy 
in  a  house  (xiv.  33-47),  to  decide  when  it  was  clean 
(ver.  48),  and  to  make  an  atonement  for  it  (ver. 
49-53)  ;  to  make  an  atonement  for  men  cleansed 
from  an  issue  of  uncleanness  (xv.  14,  15),  and 
for  women  (ver.  29,  30) ;  to  offer  the  sheaf  of 
First  Fruits  (xxiii.  10,  11);  to  estimate  the  com- 
mutation in  money  for  persons  in  cases  of  a  sin- 
gular or  extraordinary  vow  (xxvii.  8),  or  for  any 
devoted  unclean  beast  (ver.  11, 12),  or  for  a  house 
(ver.  14),  or  field  (xviii.  23)  ;  to  conduct  the 
ordeal  of  the  bitter  water  (Num.  v.  12-31);  to 
make  an  atonement  for  a  Nazarite  who  had  acci- 
dentally contracted  uncleanness  (vi.  13) ;  to  offer 
his  offering  when  the  days  of  his  separation  were 
fulfilled  (ver.  14,  16);  to  blow  with  the  silver 
trumpets  on  all  occasions  appointed  (vi.  13-17), 
and  ultimately  at  morning  and  evening  service 
(1  Chron.  xvi.  6) ;  to  make  an  atonement  for  the 
people  and  individuals  in  case  of  erroneous  worship 
(Num.  XV.  15,  24,  25,  27) ;  to  make  the  ointment 
of  spices  (1  Chron.  ix.  30) ;  to  prepare  the  water 
of  separation  (Num.  xix.  1  -1 1 ) ;  to  act  as  assessors 
in  judicial  proceedings  (Deut.  xvii.  9;  xix.  7); 
to  encourage  the  army  when  going  to  battle,  and 
probably  to  furnish  the  officers  with  the  speech 
(ver.  5-9) ;  to  superintend  the  expiation  of  an  un- 
certain murder  (xxi.  5),  and  to  have  charge  of 
the  law  (xxxi.  9). 

Christians  are  figuratively  called  priests  (Rer. 
i.  6  ;  XX.  6).  The  student  will  observe  the  im- 
portant distinction,  that  the  term  'priest,'  with 
which  term  the  idea  of  a  sacrifice  was  always 
connected  in  ancient  times,  is  never  applied  to 
the  pastor  of  the  Christian  church. 

PRIS'CA.     [Priscilla.] 

PRISCIL'LA,  or  Prisca,  wife  of  Aquila,  and 
probably,  like  Phoebe,  a  deaconess.  She  shared 
the  travels,  labours,  and  dangers  of  her  husband. 


PROGNOSTICATORS 

and  is  always  named  along  with  him  (Rom.  xvi. 
3;  1  Cor.  xvi.  19;  2  Tim.  iv.  19)  [AquilaI. 

PRISON.    [Punishment.] 

PRIZE.     TGames.] 

PROCH'ORUS,  one  of  the  seven  first  deacons 
of  the  Christian  church  (Acts  vi.  5).  Nothing  is 
known  of  him. 

PROCONSUL,  a  Roman  officer  appointed  to 
the  government  of  a  province  with  consular  au- 
thority. He  was  chosen  out  of  the  body  of  the 
senate ;  and  it  was  customary,  when  any  one's 
consulate  expired,  to  send  him  as  a  proconsul  into 
some  province.  He  enjoyed  the  same  honour 
with  the  consuls,  but  was  allowed  only  six  lictors 
with  the  fasces  before  him. 

The  proconsuls  decided  cases  of  equity  and 
justice,  either  privately  in  their  palaces,  where 
they  received  petitions,  heard  complaints,  and 
granted  writs  under  their  seals ;  or  publicly  in 
the  common  hall,  with  the  formalities  generally 
observed  in  the  courts  at  Rome.  These  duties 
were,  however,  more  frequently  delegated  to  their 
assessors,  or  other  judges  of  their  own  appoint- 
ment. As  the  proconsuls  had  also  the  direction 
of  justice,  of  war,  and  of  the  revenues,  these  de- 
partments were  administered  by  their  lieutenants, 
or  legati,  who  were  usually  nominated  by  the 
senate.  The  office  of  the  proconsuls  lasted  gene- 
rally for  one  year  only,  and  the  expense  of  their 
journeys  to  and  from  their  provinces  was  defrayed 
by  the  public.  After  the  partition  of  the  pro- 
vinces between  Augustus  and  the  people,  those 
who  presided  over  the  provinces  of  the  latter 
were  especially  designated  proconsuls,  for  whom 
it  appears  to  have  been  customary  to  decree 
temples.  Livy  (viii.  and  xxvi.)  mentions  two  other 
classes  of  proconsuls :  those  who,  being  consuls, 
had  their  office  continued  beyond  the  time  ap- 
pointed by  law ;  and  those  who,  being  previously 
in  a  private  station,  were  invested  with  this  ho- 
nour, either  for  the  government  of  provinces,  or 
to  command  in  war.  Some  were  created  procon- 
suls by  the  senate  without  being  appointed  to  any 
province,  merely  to  command  in  the  army,  and 
to  take  charge  of  the  military  discipline  ;  others 
were  allowed  to  enter  upon  their  proconsular  office 
before  being  admitted  to  the  consulship,  but  hav- 
ing that  honour  in  reserve. 

When  the  Apostle  Paul  was  at  Corinth,  he  was 
brought  before  Gallic,  the  proconsul  of  Achaia, 
one  of  the  provinces  of  Greece,  of  which  Corinth 
was  the  chief  city,  and  arraigned  by  the  Jews  as 
one  who  '  persuadeth  men  to  worship  God  con- 
trary to  the  law'  (Acts  xviii.  13);  but  Gallic  re- 
fused to  act  as  a  judge  of  such  matters,  and '  drave 
them  from  the  judgment-seat '  (ver.  16). 

PROGNOSTICATORS.  The  phrase '  monthly 
prognosticators '  occurs  in  the  Authorized  Version 
of  Isa.  xlvii.  13,  where  the  prophet  is  enumera- 
ting the  astrological  superstitions  of  the  Chal- 
daeans.  The  original  might  perhaps  be  more 
exactly  rendered,  as  by  Dr.  Henderson,  '  prog- 
nosticators at  the  new  moons.'  It  is  known  that 
the  Chaldaean  astrologers  professed  to  divine  fu- 
ture events  by  the  positions,  aspects,  and  appear- 
ances of  the  stars,  which  they  regarded  as  having 
great  influence  on  the  affairs  of  men  and  king- 
doms ;  and  it  would  seem,  from  the  present  text, 
that  they  put  forth  accounts  of  the  events  which 
might  be  expected  to  occur  from  month  to  month, 
like  oar  old  almanac-makers.    Some  carry  the 


PROPHECY 


679 


analogy  further,  and  suppose  that  they  also  gave 
monthly  tables  of  the  weather  ;  but  such  prognos- 
tications are  only  cared  for  in  climates  where  the 
weather  is  uncertain  and  variable;  while  in  Chal- 
daea,  where  (as  we  know  from  actual  experience) 
the  seasons  are  remarkably  regular  in  their  dura- 
tion and  recurrence,  and  where  variations  of  the 
usual  course  of  the  weather  are  all  but  unknown, 
no  prognosticator  would  gain  much  honour  by 
foretelling  what  every  peasant  know?. 

PROPHECY.  The  principal  considerations 
involved  in  this  important  subject  may  be  ar- 
ranged under  the  following  heads : — 

I.  The  nature  of  Prophecy,  and  its  posititn  in 
the  economy  of  the  Old  Testament  .—DWinc  inspi- 
ration is  only  the  general  basis  of  the  prophetic 
office,  to  which  two  more  elements  must  be 
added : — 

1.  Inspiration  was  imparted  to  the  prophets  in 
z.  peculiar  form.  This  appears  decisively  from 
Num.  xii.  6,  &c.,  which  states  it  as  characteristic 
of  the  prophet,  that  he  obtained  divine  inspiration 
in  visions  and  dreams,  consequently  in  a  state 
different  from  that  in  which  inspirations  were 
conveyed  to  Moses  and  the  apostles. 

2.  Generally  speaking,  every  one  was  a  prophet 
to  whom  God  communicated  his  mind  in  this  pe- 
culiar manner.  When  the  Mosaic  economy  had 
been  established,  a  new  element  was  added ;  the 
prophetic  gift  was  after  that  time  regularly  con- 
nected with  the  prophetic  office,  so  that  the  latter 
came  to  form  part  of  the  idea  of  a  prophet. 
Speaking  of  office,  we  do  not  of  course  mean  one 
conferred  by  men,  but  by  God ;  the  mission  to 
Israel,  with  which  the  certainty  of  a  continued, 
not  temporary,  grant  of  the  donum  propheticum 
was  connected. 

That  the  Lord  would  send  such  prophets  was 
promised  to  the  people  by  Moses,  who  by  a  special 
law  (Deut  xviii.  1)  secured  them  authority  and 
safety.  As  his  ordinary  servants  and  teachers, 
God  appointed  the  Priests:  the  characteristic 
mark  which  distinguished  the  prophets  from  them 
was  inspiration ;  and  this  explains  the  circum- 
stance that,  in  times  of  great  moral  and  religious 
corruption,  when  the  ordinary  means  no  longer 
sufficed  to  reclaim  the  people,  the  number  of  pro- 
phets increased.  The  regular  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  was  no  part  of  the  business  of 
the  prophets ;  their  proper  duty  was  only  to  rouse 
and  excite.  In  this  point,  however,  there  was  a 
difference  between  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and  the 
kingdom  of  Judah.  In  the  latter  the  agency  of 
the  prophets  was  only  subsidiary  to  that  of  the 
regular  servants  of  God,  the  priests  and  the  Le-- 
vites.  But  in  the  former  the  prophets  were  the 
regular  servants  of  God,  for  the  priesthood  there 
had  no  divine  sanction,  and  was  corrupt  in  its 
very  source.  With  the  office  of  the  prophets 
therefore  all  stood  or  fell,  and  hence  they  were 
required  to  do  many  things  besides  what  the 
original  conception  of  the  office  of  a  prophet 
implied. 

In  their  labours,  as  respected  their  own  times, 
the  prophets  were  strictly  bound  to  the  Mosaic 
law,  and  not  allowed  to  add  to  it  or  to  diminish 
ought  from  it ;  what  was  said  in  this  respect  to 
the  whole  people  (Deut.  iv.  2;  xiii.  1)  applied 
also  to  them.  We  find,  therefore,  prophecy  always 
takes  its  ground  on  the  Mosaic  law,  to  which  it 
refers,  from  which  it  derives  its  sanction,  and 


680  PROPHECY 

■with  which  it  is  fully  impressed  and  saturated. 
They  were  indeed  commissioned  to  foretell  days 
when  a  new  covenant  will  be  made  with  the 
house  of  Israel  and  with  the  house  of  Judah  (Jer. 
xxxi.  31>  But  for  their  own  times  they  never 
once  dreamt  of  altering  any,  even  the  minutest 
and  least  essential  precept,  even  as  to  its  form ; 
how  much  less  as  to  its  spirit,  which  even  the 
Lord  himself  declares  (Matt.  v.  18)  to  be  immu- 
table and  eternal. 

As  to  prophecy  in  its  circumscribed  sense,  or 
tiie  foretelling  of  future  events  by  the  prophets, 
some  expositors  would  explain  all  predictions  of 
special  events ;  while  others  assert  that  no  pre- 
diction contains  anything  but  general  promises 
or  threatenings,  and  that  the  prophets  knew  no- 
thing of  the  particular  manner  in  which  their 
predictions  might  be  realized.  Both  these  classes 
deviate  from  the  correct  view  of  prophecy ;  the 
former  resort  often  to  the  most  arbitrary  interpre- 
tations, and  the  latter  are  opposed  by  a  mass  of 
facts  against  which  they  are  unable  successfully 
to  contend. 

Some  interpreters,  misunderstanding  passages 
like  Jer.  xviii.  8;  xxvi.  13,  have  asserted  that 
all  prophecies  were  conditional ;  and  have  even 
maintained  that  their  revocability  distinguished 
the  true  predictions  from  soothsaying.  But  be- 
yond all  doubt,  when  the  prophet  denounces  the 
divine  judgments;  he  proceeds  on  the  assumption 
that  the  people  will  not  repent,  an  assumption 
which  he  knows  from  God  to  be  true.  Were  the 
people  to  repent,  the  prediction  would  fail ;  but 
because  they  will  not,  it  is  uttered  absolutely.  It 
does  not  follow,  however,  that  the  prophet's  warn- 
ings and  exhortations  are  useless.  These  serve 
'  for  a  witness  against  them  ;'  and  besides,  amid 
the  ruin  of  the  mass,  individuals  might  be  saved. 
Viewing  prophecies  as  conditional  predictions 
nullifies  them. 

The  sphere  of  action  of  the  prophets  was  limited 
to  Israel.  Many  predictions  of  the  Old  Testament 
concern,  indeed,  the  events  of  foreign  nations, 
but  they  are  always  uttered  and  written  with 
reference  to  Israel,  and  the  prophets  thought  not 
of  publishing  them  among  the  heathens  them- 
selves. 

II.  Duration  of  the  Prophetic  office. — Although 
we  meet  with  cases  of  prophesying  as  early  as 
the  age  of  the  patriarchs,  still  the  roots  of  pro- 
phetism  among  Israel  are  properly  fixed  in  the 
Mosaic  economy.  The  main  business  of  Moses 
was  not  that  of  a  prophet,  but  he  was  occasionally 
commissioned  to  foretell  what  was  to  befall  Israel 
in  the  latter  days,  and  he  instilled  into  the  con- 
gregation of  Israel  those  truths  which  form  the 
foundation  of  prophecy,  and  thus  prepared  the 
ground  from  which  it  could  spring  up.  In  the 
age  of  the  Judges,  prophecy,  though  existing  only 
in  scattered  instances,  exerted  a  powerful  influ- 
ence. From  this  time  to  the  Babylonian  exile, 
there  happened  hardly  any  important  event  in 
which  the  prophets  did  not  appear  as  performing 
the  leading  part.  About  a  hundred  years  after 
the  return  from  the  Babylonian  exile,  the  pro- 
phetic profession  ceased.  The  Jewish  tradition 
uniformly  states  that  Haggai,  Zechariah,  and 
Malachi  were  the  last  prophets. 

III.  Manner  of  Life  of  the  Prophets.— The 
prophets  went  about  poorly  and  coarsely  dressed 
(2  Kiogs  i.  8),  not  as  a  mere  piece  of  asceticism, 


PROPHECY 

but  that  their  very  apparel  might  teach  what  the 
people  ought  to  do.  Generally  the  prophets  were 
not  anxious  of  attracting  notice  by  ostentatious 
display ;  nor  did  they  seek  worldly  wealth,  most 
of  them  living  in  poverty  and  even  want  (1  Kings 
xiy.  3;  2  Kings  iv.  1).  Insult,  persecution,  im- 
prisonment, and  death,  were  often  the  reward  of 
their  godly  life.  Repudiated  by  the  world  in 
which  they  were  aliens,  they  typified  the  life  of 
Him  whose  appearance  they  announced,  and 
whose  spirit  dwelt  in  them.  The  prophets  ad- 
dressed the  people  of  both  kingdoms  :  they  were 
not  confined  to  particular  places,  but  prophesied 
where  it  was  required.  For  this  reason  they  were 
most  numerous  in  capital  towns,  especially  in  Je- 
rusalem, where  they  generally  spoke  in  the  temple. 
Sometimes  their  advice  was  asked,  and  then  their 
prophecies  take  the  form  of  answers  to  questions 
submitted  to  them  (Isa.  xxxvii.,  Ez.  xx.,  Zech. 
vii.).  But  much  more  frequently  they  felt  them- 
selves inwardly  moved  to  address  the  people  with- 
out their  advice  having  been  asked,  and  they  were 
not  afraid  to  stand  forward  in  places  where  their 
appearance,  perhaps,  produced  indignation  and 
terror.  Whatever  lay  within  or  around  the  sphere 
of  religion  and  morals,  formed  the  object  of  their 
care.  Priests,  princes,  kings,  all  must  hear  them 
— must,  however  reluctantly,  allow  them  to  per- 
form their  calling  as  long  as  they  spoke  in  the 
name  of  the  true  God,  and  as  long  as  the  result  did 
not  disprove  their  pretensions  to  be  the  servants  of 
the  invisible  King  of  Israel  (Jer.  xxxvii.  15-21), 
There  were  institutions  for  training  propheU ;  the 
senior  members  instructed  a  number  of  pupils 
and  directed  them.  These  schools  had  been  first 
established  by  Samuel  (1  Sam.  x.  8;  xix.  19); 
and  at  a  later  time  there  were  such  institutions 
in  different  places,  as  Bethel  and  Gilgal  (2  Kings 
ii.  3  ;  iv.  38  ;  vi.  1).  The  pupils  of  the  prophets 
lived  in  fellowship  united,  and  were  called  'sons 
of  the  prophets  ;'  whilst  the  senior  or  experienced 
prophets  were  considered  as  their  spiritual  pa- 
rents, and  were  styled  fathers  (comp.  2  Kings  ii. 
12  ;  vi.  21).  Samuel,  Elijah,  and  Elisha,  are 
mentioned  as  principals  of  such  institutions.  From 
them  the  Lord  generally  chose  his  instruments. 
Amos  relates  of  himself  (vii.  14,  15),  as  a  thing 
uncommon,  that  he  had  been  trained  in  no  school 
of  prophets,  but  was  a  herdsman,  when  the  Lord 
took  him  to  prophesy  unto  the  people  of  Israel. 
At  the  same  time,  this  example  shows  that  the  be- 
stowal of  prophetic  gifts  was  not  limited  to  the 
schools  of  the  prophets.  Women  also  might  come 
forward  as  prophetesses,  as  instanced  in  Miriam, 
Deborah,  and  Huldah,  though  such  cases  are  of 
comparatively  rare  occurrence.  We  should  also 
observe,  that  only  as  regards  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  we  have  express  accounts  of  the  continu- 
ance of  the  schools  of  prophets.  What  is  re- 
corded of  them  is  not  directly  applicable  to  the 
kingdom  of  Judah,  especially  since,  as  stated 
above,  prophecy  had  in  it  an  essentially  different 
position.  We  cannot  assume  that  the  organiza- 
tion and  regulations  of  the  schools  of  the  prophets 
in  the  kingdom  of  Judah  should  have  been  as 
settled  and  established  as  in  the  kingdom  of 
Israel.  The  prophets  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel 
stood  in  a  hostile  position  to  the  priests.  These 
points  of  difference  in  the  situation  of  the  pro- 
phets of  the  two  kingdoms  must  not  be  lost  sight 
of;  and  we  fixrther  add,  that  prophecy  in  the 


rROPHECY 

kingdom  of  Israel  was  much  more  connected  with 
extraordiuary  events  than  in  the  kingdom  of  Ju- 
dah :  the  history  of  the  latter  offers  no  propheti- 
cal deeds  equalling  those  of  Elijah  and  Elisha. 

IV.  Si/mbolic  Actions  of  the  Prophets. — In  the 
midst  of  the  prophetic  declarations  symbolic  ac- 
tions are  often  mentioned,  -which  the  prophets 
had  to  perform.  The  opinions  of  interpreters  on 
these  are  divided.  Some  assert  that  they  always, 
at  least  generally,  were  really  done  ;  others  assert 
that  they  had  existence  only  in  the  mind  of  the 
prophets,  and  formed  part  of  their  visions.  The 
latter  view,  which  was  espoused  by  Calvin,  is 
probably  the  correct  one.  Some  of  the  symbolic 
actions  prescribed  to  the  prophets  could  not  have 
been  performed  by  them  (Ezek.  ii.  9  ;  iii.  2,  3 ; 
iv.  4-8);  others  are  inconsistent  with  decorum 
CHos.  i.  2-1 1 ;  Ezek.  iv.  12-15).  These  are  there- 
fore to  be  regarded  as  internal,  not  external 
facts. 

V.  Criteria  by  which  True  and  False  Prophets 
n-ere  distinguished. — As  Moses  had  foretold,  a 
host  of  false  prophets  arose  in  later  times  among 
the  people,  who  promised  prosperity  without  re- 
pentance, and  preached  the  Gospel  without  the 
law.  But  how  were  the  people  to  distinguish 
true  and  false  prophets  ?  In  the  law  concerning 
prophets  (Deut.  xviii.  20  ;  comp.  xiii.  7-9),  the 
following  enactments  are  contained. 

1.  The  prophet  who  speaks  in  the  name  of  other 
Gods  is  to  be  considered  as  false,  and  to  be  pu- 
nished capitally. 

2.  The  same  punishment  is  to  be  inflicted  on 
him  who  speaks  in  the  name  of  the  true  God,  but 
whose  predictions  are  not  accomplished. 

3.  From  the  above  two  criteria  of  a  true  pro- 
phet, flows  the  third,  that  his  addresses  must  be  in 
strict  accordance  with  the  law. 

4.  In  the  above  is  also  founded  the  fourth  cri- 
terion, that  a  true  prophet  must  not  promise  pro- 
sperity 7vithout  repentance  ;  and  that  he  is  a  false 
prophet,  'of  the  deceit  of  his  own  heart,'  who 
does  not  reprove  the  sins  of  the  people,  and  who 
does  not  inculcate  on  them  the  doctrines  of  divine 
justice  and  retribution. 

In  addition  to  these  negative  criteria,  there 
were  positive  ones  to  procure  authority  to  true 
prophets.  First  of  all,  it  must  be  assumed  that 
the  prophets  themselves  received,  along  with  the 
divine  revelations,  assurance  that  these  were 
really  divine.  Now,  when  the  prophets  them- 
selves were  convinced  of  their  divine  mission, 
they  could  in  various  ways  prove  it  to  others, 
whom  they  were  called  on  to  enlighten. 

(a.)  To  those  who  had  any  sense  of  truth,  the 
Spirit  of  God  gave  evidence  that  the  prophecies 
were  divinely  inspired. 

(fc.)  The  prophets  themselves  utter  their  firm 
conviction  that  they  act  and  speak  by  divine  au- 
thority, not  of  their  own  accord.  Their  pious  life 
bore  testimony  to  their  being  worthy  of  a  nearer 
communion  with  God,  and  defended  them  from 
the  suspicion  of  intentional  deception  ;  their  so- 
briety of  mind  distinguished  them  from  all  fana- 
tics, and  defended  them  from  the  suspicion  of 
self-delusion ;  their  fortitude  in  suffering  for  truth 
proved  that  they  had  their  commission  from  no 
human  authority. 

(c.)  Part  of  the  predictions  of  the  prophets  re- 
ferred to  proximate  events,  and  their  accomplish- 
ment was  divine  evidence  of  their  divine  origin. 


PROSELYTE 


681 


(See  1  Sam.  iii.  19;  Isa.  xxxvii.  21,  sq, ;  Jer. 
xxii.  11,  12;  Ezek.  xii.  12,  13;  xxiv.)  Whoever 
had  been  once  favoured  with  such  a  testimonial, 
his  authority  was  established  for  his  whole  life. 

(d.)  Sometimes  the  divine  mission  of  the  pro- 
phets was  also  proved  by  miracles,  but  this  oc- 
curred only  at  important  crises,  when  the  existence 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel  was  in  jeopardy,  as  in 
the  age  of  Elijah  and  Elisha. 

VI.  Promxilgation  of  the  Prophetic  Declara- 
tions.— Usually  the  prophets  promulgated  their 
visions  in  public  places  before  the  congregated 
people.  Still  some  portions  of  the  prophetic 
books,  as  the  entire  second  part  of  Isaiah  and  the 
description  of  the  new  temple  (Ezek.  xl.-xlviii.), 
probably  were  never  communicated  orally.  In 
other  cases  the  prophetic  addresses,  first  delivered 
orally,  were  next,  when  committed  to  writing,  re- 
vised and  improved.  Especially  the  books  of  the 
lesser  prophets  consist,  for  the  greater  part,  not 
of  separate  predictions,  independent  of  each  other, 
but  form,  as  they  now  are,  a  whole,  that  is,  give 
the  quintessence  of  the  prophetic  labours  of  their 
authors.  There  is  evidence  to  prove  that  the 
later  prophets  sedulously  read  the  writings  of  the 
earlier,  and  that  a  prophetic  canon  existed  before 
the  present  was  formed.  Zechariah  explicitly 
alludes  to  writings  of  former  prophets  ;  '  to  the 
words  which  the  Lord  has  spoken  to  earlier  pro- 
phets, when  Jerusalem  was  inhabited  and  in  pros- 
perity '  (Zech.  i.  4 ;  vii.  7,  12).  In  consequence 
of  the  prophets  being  considered  as  organs  of 
God,  much  care  was  bestowed  on  the  preservation 
of  their  publications.  Ewald  himself,  though  he 
thinks  that  a  great  number  of  prophetic  compo- 
sitions has  been  lost,  cannot  refrain  from  observ- 
ing (p.  56),  'We  have  in  Jer.  xxvi.  1-19  a  clear 
proof  of  the  exact  knowledge  which  the  better 
classes  of  the  people  had  of  all  that  had,  a  hundred 
years  before,  happened  to  a  prophet,  of  his  words, 
misfortunes,  and  accidents.' 

The  collectors  of  the  Canon  arranged  the  pro- 
phets chronologically,  but  considered  the  whole 
of  the  twelve  lesser  prophets  as  one  work,  which 
they  placed  after  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel,  inasmuch 
as  the  three  last  lesser  prophets  lived  later  than 
they.  The  collection  of  the  lesser  prophets  them- 
selves was  again  chronologically  disposed  ;  still 
Hosea  is,  on  account  of  the  extent  of  his  work, 
allowed  precedence  before  those  lesser  prophets, 
who,  generally,  were  his  contemporaries,  and  also 
before  those  who  flourished  at  a  somewhat  earlier 
period. 

PROSELYTE,  the  name  applied  in  the  New 
Testament  and  the  Septuagint  to  converts  from 
heathenism  to  Judaism.  In  the  Old  Testament 
such  persons  are  called  strangers  and  settlers.  For 
the  reception  and  treatment  of  these,  provision 
was  made  in  the  law  of  Moses  (Exod.  xii.  48 ; 
Lev.  xvii.  8  ;  Num.  xv.  15,  &c.);  and  the  whole 
Jewish  state  was  considered  as  composed  of  the 
two  classes,  Jews,  and  strangers  within  their 
gates,  or  proselytes.  In  later  years  this  distinc- 
tion was  observed  even  to  the  second  generation. 

It  has  been  customary  to  make  a  distinction 
between  two  classes  of  Jewish  proselytes,  the  one 
denominated  proselytes  of  the  gate,  and  the  other 
proselytes  of  the  covenant,  or  of  righteousness. 
Under  the  former  have  been  included  those  con- 
verts from  heathenism  who  had  so  fur  renounced 
idolatry  as  to  become  worshippers  of  the  one  God, 


e82 


PROSELYTE 


acd  to  observe,  generally,  what  have  been  called 
the  seven  Noachic  precepts,  viz.,  against  idolatry, 
profanity,  incest,  murder,  dishonesty,  eating  blood, 
or  things  strangled,  and  allowing  a  murderer  to 
live,  but  had  not  formally  enrolled  themselves  in 
the  Jewish  state.  The  latter  is  composed  of  those 
who  had  submitted  to  circumcision,  and  in  all 
respects  become  converts  to  Judaism.  The  accu- 
racy of  this  distinction,  however,  has  been  called 
in  question  by  several,  especially  by  Lardner, 
whose  arguments  appear  decisive  of  the  question 
(  Works,  vol.  vi.  pp.  522-533  ;  vol.  xi.  pp.  313-324, 
8vo.  edit.  1788).  That  there  were,  in  later  times 
especially,  many  among  the  Jews  who  had  re- 
nounced the  grosser  parts  of  heathenism  without 
having  come  over  entirely  to  Judaism,  is  beyond 
all  doubt ;  but  that  these  were  ever  counted  pro- 
selytes admits  of  question.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
proselytes  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  were 
all  persons  who  had  received  circumcision,  and 
entered  the  pale  of  the  Jewish  community. 

The  rites  by  which  a  proselyte  was  initiated 
are  declared  by  the  Rabbins  to  have  been,  in  the 
case  of  a  man,  three,  viz.,  circumcision,  baptism, 
and  a  free-will  sacrifice.  In  the  case  of  a  woman 
the  first  was  of  necessity  omitted.  As  to  the  first 
and  last  of  these,  their  claim  to  be  regarded  as 
accordant  with  the  ancient  practice  of  the  Jews 
has  been  on  all  hands  admitted  without  scruple  ; 
but  it  has  been  matter  of  keen  question  whether 
the  second  can  be  admitted  to  have  been  practised 
before  the  Christian  era.  The  substance  of  much 
learned  discussion  on  this  head  we  shall  attempt 
summarily  to  state. 

There  is  no  direct  evidence  that  this  rite  was 
practised  by  the  Jews  before  the  second  or  third 
century  of  the  Christian  era ;  but  the  fact  that  it 
was  practised  by  them  then  necessitates  the  in- 
quiry :  when  and  how  did  such  a  custom  arise 
among  them  ?  That  they  borrowed  it  from  the 
Christians  is  an  opinion  which  cannot  be  for  a 
moment  admitted  by  any  who  reflect  on  the  im- 
placable hatred  Avith  which  the  Jews  for  many 
centuries  regarded  Christianity,  its  ordinances, 
and  its  professors.  Some  learned  men  have 
adopted  the  notion  that  the  custom  of  baptizing 
proselytes  arose  gradually  out  of  the  habit  which 
the  Jews  had  of  purifying  by  ablution  whatever 
they  deemed  unclean,  and  that  it  was  not  formally 
adopted  as  an  initiatory  rite  till  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  temple  service,  and  when  in  conse- 
quence of  imperial  edicts  it  became  difficult  to 
circumcise  converts.  But  as  the  Rabbins  pre- 
scribed both  baptism  and  circumcision  as  initiatory 
rites  for  proselytes,  it  is  manifestly  absurd  to  say 
that  the  former  was  instituted  in  consequence  of 
the  difficulty  of  performing  the  latter.  And  this 
hypothesis  still  leaves  unremoved  the  master  diffi- 
culty of  tliat  side  of  the  question  which  it  is  de- 
signed to  support,  viz.,  the  great  improbability  of 
the  Jews  adopting  for  the  first  time  subsequently 
to  the  death  of  Christ,  a  religious  rite  which  was 
well  known  to  be  the  initiatory  rite  of  Christi- 
anity. On  the  other  hand  we  have,  in  favour  of 
the  hypothesis  that  proselyte  baptism  was  prac- 
tised anterior  to  the  time  of  our  Lord,  some 
strongly  corroborative  evidence.  We  have,  in 
the  first  place,  the  unanimous  tradition  of  the 
Jewish  Hiibbins,  who  impute  to  the  practice  an 
antiquity  commensurate  almost  with  that  of  their 
nation.    2dly.  We  have  the  fact  that  the  Baptism 


PROSEUCHA 

of  John  the  Baptist  was  not  regarded  by  the  people 
as  aught  of  a  novelty,  nor  was  represented  by  him 
as  resting  for  its  authority  upon  any  special  di- 
vine relation.  3dly.  We  have  the  fact  that  the 
Pharisees  looked  upon  the  baptism  both  of  John 
and  Jesus  as  a  mode  of  proselyting  men  to  their 
religious  views  CJohn  iv.  1-3),  and  that  the  dis- 
pute between  the  Jews  and  some  of  John's  dis- 
ciples about  purifying  was  apparently  a  dispute 
as  to  the  competing  claims  of  John  and  Jesus  to 
make  proselytes  (John  iii.  25,  sq.).  4thly.  We 
have  the  fact,  that  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  Peter 
addressed  to  a  multitude  of  persons  collected  from 
several  dififerent  and  distant  countries,  Jews  and 
proselytes,  an  exhortation  to  '  Repent  and  be  bap- 
tized' (Acts  ii.  38),  from  which  it  may  be  fairly 
inferred  that  they  all  knew  what  baptism  meant, 
and  also  its  connection  with  repentance  or  a  change 
of  religious  views.  5thly.  We  have  the  fact  that, 
according  to  Josephus,  the  Essenes  were  in  the 
habit,  before  admitting  a  new  convert  into  their 
society,  solemnly  and  ritually  to  purify  him  with 
waters  of  cleansing,  a  statement  which  cannot  be 
understood  of  their  ordinary  ablutions  before 
meals,  for  Josephus  expressly  adds,  that  even 
after  this  lustration  two  years  had  to  elapse  before 
the  neophyte  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  living  with 
the  proficients.  And,  6thly.  We  have  the  mode 
in  which  Josephus  speaks  of  the  baptism  of  John, 
when,  after  referring  to  John's  having  exhorted 
the  people  to  virtue,  righteousness,  and  godliness, 
as  preparatory  to  baptism,  he  adds,  'For  it  ap- 
peared to  him  that  baptism  was  admissible  not 
when  they  used  it  for  obtaining  forgiveness  of 
some  sins,  but  for  the  purification  of  the  body 
when  the  soul  had  been  already  cleansed  by 
righteousness  '  (Antiq.  xviii.  5.  2) ;  which  seems 
to  indicate  the  conviction  of  the  historian  that 
John  did  not  introduce  this  rite,  "but  only  gave  to 
it  a  peculiar  meaning. 

On  these  grounds  we  adhere  to  the  opinion  that 
proselyte  baptism  was  known  as  a  Jewish  rite  an- 
terior to  the  birth  of  Christ. 

From  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  the  desire  to 
make  proselytes  prevailed  among  the  Jews  to  a 
very  great  extent,  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
Pharisees,  whose  intemperate  zeal  for  this  object 
our  Lord  pointedly  rebuked  (Matt,  xxiii.  15). 
The  greater  part  of  their  converts  were  females, 
which  has  been  ascribed  to  the  dislike  of  the 
males  to  submit  to  circumcision.  Josephus  tells 
us  that  the  Jews  at  Antioch  were  continually  con- 
verting great  numbers  of  the  Greeks,  and  that 
nearlj'  all  the  women  at  Damascus  were  attached 
to  Judaism. 

PROSEUCHA,  a  word  signifying  *  prayer,' 
and  always  so  translated  in  the  Auth.  Version. 
It  is,  however,  applied,  per  meton.,  to  a  place  of 
prayer, — a  place  where  assemblies  for  prayer  j 
were  held,  whether  a  buildiug  or  not.  In  this 
sense  it  seems  also  to  be  mentioned  in  Luke  vi. 
12,  where  the  words  rendered  by  our  translators, 
*  in  prayer  to  God,'  might  rather  signify,  '  in  an 
oratory  of  God,'  or  a  place  that  was  devoted  to 
his  service,  especially  for  prayer.  In  the  same 
sense  the  phrase  must,  still  more  certainly,  be 
understood  in  Acts  xvi.  13,  where  the  Syriac  has, 
'because  there  was  perceived  to  be  a  house  of 
prayer;'  and  the  Arabic,  'a  certain  place  which 
was  supposed  to  be  a  place  of  prayer.' 

That  there  really  were  such  places  of  devotion 


PROVERBS,  THE  BOOK  OF 

among  the  Jews  is  unquestionable.  They  were 
mostly  outside  those  towns  in  which  there  were 
no  synagogues,  because  the  laws  or  their  admi- 
nistrators would  not  admit  any.  They  appear  to 
have  been  usually  situated  near  a  river,  or  the 
sea-shore,  for  the  convenience  of  ablution  (Joseph. 
Aniiq.  xiv.  10,  23).  Sometimes  the  proseucha 
was  a  large  building,  as  that  at  Tiberias  (/.  c. 
§  54),  so  that  the  name  was  sometimes  applied 
even  to  synagogues.  But,  for  the  most  part,  the 
proseuchse  appear  to  have  been  places  in  the  open 
air,  in  a  grove,  or  in  shrubberies,  or  even  under 
a  tree,  although  always,  as  we  may  presume,  near 
water,  for  the  convenience  of  those  ablutions 
which  with  the  Jews  always  preceded  prayer. 

PROVERBS,  THE  BOOK  OF.  That  Solo- 
mon was  the  author  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs  has 
never  been  questioned.  Some  have  indeed  thought 
that  he  composed  a  part  only  of  the  Proverbs  in- 
cluded in  that  book,  and  collected  the  others  from 
various  sources.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  he 
availed  himself  of  any  sayings  already  current 
which  he  regarded  as  useful  and  important. 
Whether  he  ever  made  any  coUection  of  his 
proverbs  in  writing  is,  however,  doubtful.  From 
the  twenty-fifth  chapter  to  the  end,  we  are  ex- 
pressly informed,  was  written  out  and  added  to 
the  previous  portion,  by  order  of  King  Hezekiah. 
The  divine  authority  of  the  book  is  sufficiently 
proved  by  the  quotations  made  from  it  in  the 
New  Testament  (Rom.  xii.  16  ;  Heb.  xii.  5,  6  ; 
1  Pet.  iv.  8;  1  Thess.  v.  15). 

The  characteristics  of  the  proverbial  style  (in 
the  more  restricted  sense  of  the  word)  are,  accord- 
ing to  Bishop  Lowth,  1.  Brevity;  2.  Obscurity; 
3.  Elegance.  The  first  of  these  is,  however,  the 
only  one  that  can  be  considered  at  all  universal. 
Many  of  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon  can  hardly  lay 
claim  to  elegance,  according  to  the  most  liberal 
application  of  the  term,  and  comparatively  few 
of  them  are  at  all  obscure  as  to  meaning.  The 
same  remark  applies  with  even  greater  force  to 
the  proverbs  of  every-day  life,  e.  g.  Time  and 
tide  tarry  for  no  man.  Haste  makes  waste.  Make 
hay  while  the  sun  shines.  A  fool  and  his  money 
are  soon  parted.  We  should  be  rather  inclined 
to  name,  as  a  characteristic  of  the  proverb,  a 
pointed  and  sometimes  antithetical  form  of  ex- 
pression ;  and  this,  in  addition  to  brevity  or  sen- 
tentiotisness,  constitutes  perhaps  the  only  universal 
distinction  of  this  species  of  composition.  Con- 
ciseness indeed  enters  into  the  very  essence  of  the 
proverb. 

We  were  about  to  adduce  examples  from  the 
book  of  Proverbs,  of  these  two  excellencies — sen- 
tentiousness  and  point — but  it  is  impossible  to 
select,  where  almost  every  verse  is  an  illustra- 
tion. Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  the  struc- 
ture of  the  Hebrew  language  admits  of  a  much 
higher  degree  of  excellence  in  this  particular  than 
is  possible  in  the  English  tongue.  We  give  two 
examples  taken  at  random.  '  A  man's  heart  de- 
viseth  his  way :  but  the  Lord  directeth  his  steps.' 
Here  are  twelve  words ;  in  the  original  seven 
only  are  employed.  '  When  a  man's  ways  please 
the  Lord,  he  muketh  even  his  enemies  to  be  at  peace 
with  him.'  Eighteen  words;  in  the  Hebrew 
eight. 

From  its  brevity,  its  appositeness,  and  its  epi- 
grammatic point,  a  proverb  once  heard  remains 
fixed  in  the  memory.    Like  an  outline  sketch 


PROVERBS,  THE  BOOK  OF        683 

which  pleases  more  than  a  finished  drawing,  be- 
cause it  leaves  more  to  the  imagination,  a  pro- 
verb is  peculiarly  fitted  to  impress  the  mind,  be- 
cause it  suggests  more  than  it  expresses.  The 
same  eflfect  is  produced  by  the  obscurity  observ- 
able in  some  proverbs ;  an  obscurity  consequent 
in  part  on  their  sententiousness,  and  in  part  on 
their  figurative  dress. 

But  Solomon  must  have  had  other  reasons  for 
selecting  it,  peculiar  to  the  age  and  country  in 
which  he  lived.  The  Hebrews  have  been  called 
a  nation  of  children.  The  mode  of  teaching  by 
aphorisms  is  especially  adapted  to  men  in  an 
early  stage  of  culture,  who  have  not  yet  learned  to 
arrange  and  connect  their  various  knowledges  into 
a  system.  Accordingly  we  find  this  mode  of 
writing  employed  in  the  most  remote  ages ;  and 
wise  sayings,  maxims,  apophthegms,  constitute  a 
large  part  of  the  early  literature  of  most  nations. 
Especially  is  this  true  of  the  Oriental  nations. 
The  fondness  of  the  people  of  the  East  for  parables, 
enigmas,  allegories,  and  pithy  sayings,  has  itself 
become  a  proverb. 

As  an  example  of  the  former  we  may  refer  to 
Prov.  ii.  1-5,  and  of  the  latter  to  Prov.  x.  27-29. 

The  first  nine  chapters  of  the  book  of  Proverbs 
are  remarkably  distinguished  from  the  remainder, 
and  form  a  continuous  discourse,  written  in  the 
highest  style  of  poetry,  adorned  with  apt  and 
beautiful  illustrations,  and  with  various  and  strik- 
ing figures. 

At  the  tenth  chapter  a  different  style  com- 
mences. From  ch.  x.  to  ch.  xxii.  17,  is  a  series 
of  pithy  disconnected  maxims,  on  various  sub- 
jects, and  applicable  to  the  most  diverse  situation. 
From  ch.  xxii.  17  to  ch.  xxv.  a  style  resembling 
that  of  the  exordium,  though  inferior  in  elegance 
and  sublimity,  prevails ;  and  at  the  twenty-fifth 
chapter  the  separate  maxims  recommence.  These 
compose  the  remainder  of  the  book,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  thirtieth  chapter,  which  is  ascribed 
to  Agur,  and  the  thirty-first,  which  is  said  to  be 
the  advice  given  to  king  Lemuel  by  his  mother. 
Who  these  persons  are  is  not  known.  The  sup- 
position that  Lemuel  is  another  name  of  Solomon 
does  not  appear  to  be  supported  by  proof. 

The  thirtieth  chapter  affords  an  example  of 
another  species  of  writing,  closely  allied  to  the 
proverb,  and  equally  in  favour  among  the  Ori- 
entals. It  is  that  of  riddles  or  enigmas,  designed 
to  exercise  the  wit  and  ingenuity  of  the  hearer, 
and  to  impart  instruction  through  the  medium  of 
amusement. 

The  concluding  chapter,  containing  the  coun- 
sels addressed  to  King  Lemuel  by  his  mother, 
needs  no  elucidation.  It  presents  a  beautiful 
picture  of  female  excellence  in  an  age  and  coun- 
try where  modesty,  industry,  submission,  and  the 
domestic  and  matronly  virtues,  were  esteemed  the 
only  appropriate  ornaments  of  woman. 

If  we  turn  our  attention  to  the  maxims  which 
compose  the  greater  part  of  the  book  of  Proverbs, 
we  shall  find  enough  to  excite  our  wonder  and 
admiration.  Here  are  not  only  the  results  of  the 
profoundest  human  sagacity,  the  counsels  and 
admonitions  of  the  man  who  excelled  in  wisdom 
all  who  went  before,  and  all  who  came  after  him, 
but  of  such  a  man  writing  under  divine  inspira- 
tion. And  how  numerous,  how  various,  how  pro- 
found, how  important  are  his  instructions ! 

These  directions  are  adapted  to  the  wants  of 


684 


PROVIDENCE 


every  class  and  rank  of  men,  and  to  every  relation 
of  life.  The  rich  and  the  poor,  the  learned  and 
the  ignorant,  the  master  and  the  servant,  the 
monarch  and  the  subject,  may  here  find  the  coun- 
sels they  need.  '  Apples  of  gold  in  baskets  of  sil- 
ver '  are  fit  emblems  of  such  prudent  and  whole- 
some counsels,  clothed  in  such  an  attractive  garb. 

PROVIDENCE.  The  word  Providence  ori- 
ginally meant  foresight.  By  a  well-known  figure 
of  speech,  called  metonymy,  we  use  a  word  denot- 
ing the  means  by  which  we  accomplish  anything 
to  denote  the  end  accomplished;  we  exercise  care 
over  anything  by  means  of  foresight,  and  indicate 
that  care  by  the  word  foresight.  On  the  same 
principle  the  word  Providence  is  used  to  signify 
the  care  God  takes  of  the  universe.  As  to  its  in- 
herent nature,  it  is  the  power  which  God  exerts, 
without  intermission,  in  and  upon  all  the  ivorks  of 
his  hands.  But  defined  as  to  its  visible  manifesta- 
tions, it  is  God's  preservation  and  government  of 
all  things.  As  a  thing  is  known  by  its  opposites, 
the  meaning  of  Providence  is  elucidated  by  con- 
sidering that  it  is  opposed  to  fortune  and  for- 
tuitous accidents. 

Providence,  considered  in  reference  to  all  things 
existing,  is  termed  by  Knapp  universal ;  in  re- 
ference to  moral  beings,  special;  andiu  reference 
to  holy  or  converted  beings,  particular. 

Providence  is  usually  divided  into  three  divine 
acts :  preservation,  co-operation,  and  government. 
1.  By  preservation  is  signified  the  causing  of 
existence  to  continue.  2.  Co-operation  is  the  act 
of  God  which  causes  the  powers  of  created  things 
to  remain  in  being.  3.  Government,  as  a  branch 
of  Providence,  is  God's  controlling  all  created 
things  so  as  to  promote  the  highest  good  of  the 
whole. 

Among  the  proofs  of  divine  Providence  may  be 
reckoned  the  following : — One  argument  in  proof 
of  Providence  is  analogous  to  one  mode  of  proving 
a  creation.  If  we  cannot  account  for  the  existence 
of  the  world  without  supposing  its  coming  into 
existence,  or  beginning  to  be ;  no  more  can  we 
account  for  the  world  continuing  to  exist,  without 
supposing  it  to  he  preserved ;  for  it  is  as  evidently 
absurd  to  suppose  any  creature  prolonging  as  pro- 
ducing its  own  being. 

A  second  proof  of  Providence  results  from  the 
admitted  fact  of  creation.  Whoever  has  made 
any  piece  of  mechanism,  therefore  takes  pains  to 
preserve  it.  Parental  affection  moves  those  who 
have  given  birth  to  children  to  provide  for  their 
sustentation  and  education.  It  is  both  reasonable 
and  Scriptural  to  contemplate  God  as  sustaining 
the  universe  because  he  made  it. 

A  third  proof  of  Providence  is  found  in  the 
divine  perfections.  Since,  among  the  divine  per- 
fections, are  all  power  and  all  knowledge,  the 
non-existence  of  Providence,  if  there  be  none, 
must  result  from  a  want  of  will  in  God.  But  no 
want  of  will  to  exercise  a  Providence  can  exist, 
for  God  wills  whatever  is  for  the  good  of  the 
universe,  and  for  his  own  glory ;  to  either  of 
which  a  Providence  is  clearly  indispensable. 
God  therefore  has  resolved  to  exercise  his  power 
and  knowledge  so  as  to  subserve  the  best  ends 
with  his  creation. 

A.  fourth  proof  of  God's  Providence  appears  in 
the  order  which  prevails  in  the  universe.  That 
summer  and  winter,  seed-time  and  harvest,  cold 
and  heat,  day  and  night,  are  fixed  by  a  law,  was 


PROVIDENCE 

obvious  even  to  men  who  never  heard  of  God's 
covenant  with  Noah.  But  our  sense  of  order  is 
keenest  where  we  discern  it  in  apparent  confusion. 
The  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies  are  eccentric 
and  intervolved,  yet  are  most  regular  when  they 
seem  most  lawless.  They  were  therefore  com- 
pared by  the  earliest  astronomers  to  the  discords 
which  blend  in  a  harmony,  and  to  the  wild  starts 
which  often  heighten  the  graces  of  a  dance. 
Modern  astronomy  has  revealed  to  us  so  much 
miraculous  symmetry  in  celestial  phenomena,  that 
it  shows  us  far  more  decisive  proofs  of  a  Ruler 
seated  on  the  circle  of  the  heavens,  than  were 
vouchsafed  to  the  ancients. 

A  fifth  proof  of  a  Providence  is  furnished  by 
the  fact  that  so  many  men  are  here  rewarded  and 
punished  according  to  a  righteous  law.  The 
wicke4  often  feel  compunctious  visitings  in  the 
midst  of  their  sins,  or  smart  under  the  rod  of 
civil  justice,  or  are  tortured  with  natural  evils. 
With  the  righteous  all  things  are  in  general  re- 
versed. The  miser  and  envious  are  punished  as 
soon  as  they  begin  to  commit  their  respective 
sins  ;  and  some  virtues  are  their  own  present  re- 
ward. But  we  would  not  dissemble  that  we  are 
here  met  with  important  objections,  although  in- 
finitely less,  even  though  they  were  unanswerable, 
than  beset  such  as  would  reject  the  doctrine  of 
Providence.  It  is  said,  and  we  grant,  that  the 
righteous  are  trodden  under  foot,  and  the  vilest 
men  exalted ;  that  the  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor 
the  battle  to  the  strong ;  that  virtue  starves  while 
vice  is  fed ;  and  that  schemes  for  doing  good  are 
frustrated,  while  evil  plots  succeed.  But  we  may 
reply,  1 .  The  prosperity  of  the  wicked  is  often 
apparent,  and  well  styled  a  shining  misery.  '*. 
We  are  often  mistaken  in  calling  such  or  such 
an  afflicted  man  good,  and  such  or  such  a  prospe- 
rous man  bad.  .'3.  The  miseries  of  good  men  are 
generally  occasioned  by  their  own  fault,  since 
they  have  been  so  foolhardy  as  to  run  counter  to 
the  laws  by  which  God  acts,  or  have  aimed  at 
certain  ends  while  neglecting  the  appropriate 
means.  4.  Many  virtues  are  proved  and  aug- 
mented by  trials,  and  not  only  proved,  but  pro- 
duced, so  that  they  would  have  had  no  existence 
without  them.  5.  The  unequal  distribution  of 
good  and  evil,  so  far  as  it  exists,  carries  our 
thoughts  forward  to  the  last  judgment,  and  a  re- 
tribution according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body, 
and  can  hardly  fail  of  throwing;  round  the  idea 
of  eternity  a  stronger  air  of  reality  than  it  might 
otherwise  wear.  All  perplexity  vanishes  as  we 
reflect  that, '  He  cometh  to  judge  the  earth.'  6. 
Even  if  we  limit  our  views  to  tihis  world,  but  ex- 
tend them  to  all  our  acquaintance,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  the  tendencies,  though  not  always  the 
effects,  of  vice  are  to  misery,  and  those  of  virtue 
to  happiness.  These  tendencies  are  especially 
clear  if  our  view  embraces  a  whole  lifetime,  and 
the  clearer  the  longer  the  period  we  embrace. 
Indeed,  as  soon  as  we  leave  what  is  immediately 
before  our  eyes,  and  glance  at  the  annals  of  the 
world,  we  behold  so  many  manifestations  of  God, 
that  we  may  adduce  as 

A  sixth  proof  of  Providence  the  facts  of  history. 
The  giving  and  transmission  of  a  revelation,  it 
has  been  justly  said, — the  founding  of  religious 
institutions,  as  the  Mosaic  and  the  Christian, — 
the  raising  up  of  prophets,  apostles,  and  defenders 
of  the  faith,— the  ordering  of  particular  events. 


PSALMS,  BOOK  OF 

such  as  the  Reformation, — the  more  remarkable 
deliverances  noticed  in  the  lives  of  those  devoted 
to  the  good  of  the  world,  &e. — all  indicate  the 
wise  and  benevolent  care  of  God  over  the  human 
family.  But  the  historical  proof  of  a  Providence 
is  perhaps  strongest  where  the  wrath  of  man  has 
been  made  to  praise  God,  or  where  efforts  to  dis- 
honour God  have  been  constrained  to  do  him 
honour. 

As  a  seventh  ground  for  believing  in  Provi- 
dence, it  may  be  said  that  Providence  is  the  ne- 
cessary basis  of  all  religion.  For  what  is  religion  ? 
One  of  the  best  definitions  calls  it  the  belief  in  a 
superhuman  Power,  which  has  great  influence  in 
human  affairs,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  wor- 
shipped. But  take  away  this  influence  in  human 
affairs,  and  you  cut  off  all  motive  to  worship. 
To  the  same  purpose  is  the  te.\t  in  Hebrews :  '  He 
that  Cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and 
that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  such  as  diligently  seek 
him.'  If  then  the  religious  sentiments  thrill  us 
not  in  vain, — if  all  attempts  of  all  men  to  com- 
mune with  God  have  not  always  and  everywhere 
been  idle,— there  must  be  a  Providence. 

In  the  eighth  place,  we  may  advert  to  the  proof 
of  Providence  from  the  common  consent  of  man- 
kind, with  the  single  exception  of  atheists. 

In  the  last  place,  the  doctrine  of  Providence  is 
abundantly  proved  by  the  Scriptures. 

PRUNING-HOOK.    [Vine.] 

PSALMS,  BOOK  OF.  This  collection  of 
sacred  poetry  received  its  name  in  consequence 
of  the  lyrical  character  of  the  pieces  of  which  it 
consists,  as  intended  to  be  sung  to  stringed  and 
other  instruments  of  music. 

In  Ps.  Ixxii.  2D  we  find  all  the  preceding  com- 
positions (Ps.  i.-lxxii.)  styled  Prayers  of  David, 
because  many  of  them  are  strictly  prayers,  and 
all  are  pervaded  by  the  spirit  and  tone  of  suppli- 
cation. 

All  the  Psalms,  except  thirty-four,  bear  super- 
scriptions. The  authority  of  the  titles  is  a  matter 
of  doubt.  By  most  of  the  ancient  critics  they 
were  considered  genuine,  and  of  equal  authority 
with  the  Psalms  themselves,  while  most  of  the 
moderns  reject  them  wholly  or  in  part.  It  de- 
serves to  be  noticed,  however,  that  they  are  re- 
ceived by  Tholuck  and  Hengstenberg  in  their 
works  on  the  Psalms.  Of  the  antiquity  of  the  in- 
scriptions there  can  be  no  question,  for  they  are 
found  in  the  Septuagint.  They  are  supposed  to 
be  even  much  older  than  this  version,  since  they 
were  no  longer  intelligible  to  the  translator,  who 
often  makes  no  sense  of  them. 

A  good  deal  may  be  plausibly  said  both  for 
and  against  the  authority  of  these  titles,  but  on 
the  whole  it  seems  the  part  of  sober  criticism  to 
receive  the  titles  as  historically  valid,  except  when 
we  find  strong  internal  evidence  against  them. 

The  design  of  these  inscriptions  is  to  specify 
either  the  author,  or  the  chief  singer,  or  the  his- 
torical subject  or  occasion,  or  the  use,  or  the  style 
of  poetry,  or  the  instrument  and  style  of  music. 
Some  titles  simply  designate  the  author,  as  in  Ps. 
XXV.,  while  others  specify  several  of  the  above 
particulars,  as  in  Ps.  11.  The  longest  and  fullest 
title  cf  all  is  prefixed  to  Ps.  Ix.,  where  we  have 
the  author,  the  chief  musician  (not  by  name),  the 
historical  occasion  (comp.  2  Sam.  viii.),  the  use 
or  design,  the  style  of  poetry,  and  the  instrument 
or  sti  le  of  music.     It  is  confessedly  very  difficult, 


PSALMS,  BOOK  OF  685 

if  not  impossible,  to  explain  all  the  terms  em- 
ployed m  the  inscriptions  ,  and  htnce  critics  have 
diSered  exceedmgly  in  their  conjectures.  The 
difficulty,  arising  no  doubt  from  ignorance  of  the 
Temple  music,  was  felt,  it  would  seem,  as  early 
as  the  age  of  the  Sept. ;  and  it  was  felt  so  much 
by  the  translators  of  our  Authorized  Version, 
that  they  generally  retained  the  Hebrew  words, 
even  though  Luther  had  set  the  example  of  trans- 
lating them  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

Of  the  terms  left  untranslated  or  obscure  in  our 
Bible,  it  may  be  well  to  offer  some  explanation 
in  this  place,  taking  them  in  alphabetical  order 
for  the  sake  of  convenience. 

Aijeleth  sha/iar,  '  hind  of  the  morning,'  i.  e.  the 
sun,  or  the  dawn  of  day.  This  occurs  only  in 
Ps.  xxii.,  where  we  may  best  take  it  to  designate 
a  song,  perhaps  commencing  with  these  words,  or 
bearing  this  name,  to  the  melody  of  which  the 
psalm  was  to  be  sung. 

Alamoth,  Ps.  xlvi.,  probably  signifies  '  virgins,' 
and  hence  denotes  music  for  female  voices,  or  the 
treble. 

Al-taschith,  '  destroy  thou  not,*  is  found  over 
Ps.  Ivii.,  Iviii.,  lix.,  Ixxv.,  and  signifies,  by  general 
consent,  some  well-known  ode  beginning  with  the 
expression,  to  the  tune  of  which  these  composi- 
tions were  to  be  sung. 

Degrees  appears  over  fifteen  Psalms  (cxx.- 
cxxxiv.),  called  Songs  of  Degrees,  and  has  been 
explained  in  various  ways,  of  which  the  following 
are  the  chief.  1 .  The  ancients  understood  by  it 
stairs  or  steps;  and  in  accordance  with  this, 
Jewish  writers  relate  that  these  Psalms  were  sung 
on  fifteen  steps,  leading  from  the  court  of  Israel 
to  the  court  of  the  women.  This  explanation  is 
now  exploded.  2.  Luther,  whom  Tholuck  is 
inclined  to  follow,  renders  the  title  a  song  in  the 
higher  choir,  supposing  the  Psalms  to  have  been 
sung  from  an  elevated  place  or  ascent,  or  with 
elevated  voice.  3.  Gesenius  and  De  Wette  think 
the  name  refers  to  a  peculiar  rhythm  in  these 
songs,  by  which  the  sense  advances  by  degrees, 
and  so  ascends  from  clause  to  clause.  4.  Accord- 
ing to  the  most  prevalent  and  probable  opinion, 
the  title  signifies  song  of  the  ascents,  or  pilgrim 
song,  meaning  a  song  composed  for,  or  sung  dur- 
ing the  journeyings  of  the  people  up  to  Jerusalem, 
whether  as  they  returned  from  Babylon,  or  as 
they  statedly  repaired  to  the  national  solemnities. 
Journeys  to  Jerusalem  are  generally  spoken  of 
as  ascents,  on  account  of  the  elevated  situation  of 
the  city  and  temple  (see  Ezra  vii.  9,  and  espe- 
cially Ps.  cxxii.  4).  This  explanation  of  the  name 
is  favoured  by  the  brevity  and  the  contents  of 
these  songs. 

Gittith  appears  over  Ps.  viii.,  Ixxxi.,  Ixxxiv.,  I 
and  is  of  very  uncertain  meaning,  though  not  | 
improbably  it  signifies  an  instrument  or  tune  I 
brought  from  the  city  of  Gath.  In  the  opinion 
of  not  a  few  the  Avord  denotes  either  an  instru-  | 
ment  or  a  melody  used  in  the  vintage.  | 

Higgaion  is  found  over  Ps.  ix.   16,  and  pro-  t 
bably  means  either  musical  sound,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  most,  or  meditation,  according  to 
Tholuck  and  Hengstenberg. 

Jeduthxin\sfonv>A  over  Ps.  xxxix.,  Ixii.,  Ixxvii., 
and  is  generally  taken  for  the  name  of  choristers 
descended  from  Jeduthun,  of  whom  we  read  in 
1  Chron.  xxv.  1,  3,  as  one  of  David's  three  chief 
musicians  or  leaders  of  the  Temple  mosic. 


086 


PSALMS,  BOOK  OF 


Jonath-elem-rechohim,  'the  mute  dove  among 
strangers,'  found  only  over  Ps.  Ivi.,  may  well  de- 
note the  subject  of  the  song,  viz.,  David  himself, 
'  when  the  Philistines  took  him  in  Gath ;'  or  it  is 
the  name  or  commencement  of  an  ode  to  the  air 
of  which  this  psalm  was  sung. 

Leaniioth,  in  the  title  of  Ps.  Ixxxviii.,  means  to 
sitig,  denoting  that  it  was  to  be  sung  in  the  way 
described. 

Mahalath  occurs  in  Ps.  liii.  and  Ixxxviii.,  and 
denotes,  according  to  some,  a  sort  oi flute;  ac- 
cording to  Gesenius,  in  his  last  edition  of  his 
Thesaurus,  a  lute ;  but  in  the  opinion  of  Fiirst,  a 
tune,  named  from  the  first  word  of  some  popular 
song.  Upon  Mahalath,  Leannoth,  Ps.  Ixxxviii., 
is  accordingly  a  direction  to  chant  it  to  the  in- 
strument or  tune  called  mahalath. 

Maschil  is  found  in  the  title  of  thirteen  psalms. 
According  to  Gesenius,  De  Wette,  and  others,  it 
means  a  poem,  so  called  either  for  its  skilful  com- 
position or  for  its  wise  and  pious  strain.  The 
common  interpretation,  which  Tholuck  and  Heng- 
stenberg  follow,  makes  it  a  didactic  poem. 

Michtam  is  prefixed  to  Ps.  xvi.,  Ivi.,  Ix.,  and  is 
subject  to  many  conjectures.  But  the  true  ex- 
planation is  most  likely  that  offered  by  Gesenius, 
De  Wette,  Rosenmiiller,  and  Tholuck,  who  hold 
it  to  signify  a  '  writing'  or  'poem.' 

Muth-lahhen  (Ps.  ix.)  presents  a  perfect  riddle, 
owing  to  the  various  readings  of  MSS.,  and  the 
contradictory  conjectures  of  the  learned.  Some 
explain  it  as  the  subject  or  occasion  of  the  song, 
but  most  refer  it  to  the  music.  Gesenius,  in  his 
last  edition,  renders  it — with  virgins'  voice/or  the 
boys,  i.  e.  to  be  sung  by  a  choir  of  boys  in  the 
treble, 

Neginoth,  Ps.  iv.  and  four  others.  This  name 
clearly  denotes  'stringed  instruments'  in  general. 

Nehiloth  (Ps.  v.)  denotes  '  pipes '  or  '  flutes,' 

Selah  is  found  seventy-three  times  in  the 
Psalms,  generally  at  the  end  of  a  sentence  or 
paragraph;  but  in  Ps.  Iv.  19  and  Ivii.  3  it  stands 
in  the  middle  of  the  verse.  While  most  authors 
have  agreed  in  considering  this  word  as  somehow 
relating  to  the  vmsic,  their  conjectures  about  its 
precise  meaning  have  varied  greatly.  But  at 
present  these  two  opinions  chiefly  obtain :  first, 
that  it  signifies  a  raising  of  the  voice  or  music ;  or, 
second,  a  pause  in  the  singing.  Probably  selah 
was  used  to  direct  the  singer  to  be  silent,  or  to 
pause  a  little,  while  the  instruments  played  an 
interlude  or  symphony.  In  Ps.  ix.  16  it  occurs 
in  the  expression  higgaion  selah,  which  Gesenius, 
with  much  probability,  renders  instrumental  mu- 
sic, pause,  i.  e.  let  the  instruments  strike  up  a 
symphony,  and  let  the  singer  pause.  By  Tholuck 
and  Hengstenberg,  however,  the  two  words  are 
rendered  meditation,  pause,  i.  e.  let  the  singer  me- 
ditate or  reflect  while  the  music  stops. 

Sheminith  (Ps.  vi.  and  xii.)  means  properly 
eighth,  and  denotes  either,  as  some  think,  an  in- 
strument with  eight  chords,  or,  more  likely,  music 
in  the  lower  notes,  or  bass. 

ShiifgaioH  (Ps.  vii.)  denotes,  according  to  Gese- 
nius and  Fiirst,  a  song  or  hymn  ;  but  Ewald  and 
Hengstenberg  understand  by  it  '  error  or  wan- 
dering," supposing  that  the  aberrations  of  the 
wicked  are  the  subject  of  the  Psalm.  According 
to  RosenrauUer,  De  Wette,  and  Tholuck,  it  means 
a  '  plaintive  song  or  elegy.' 

Shushan  (Ps,  Ix.),  and  in  plural 


PSALMS,  BOOK  OF 

(Ps,  xlv.,  xlix.,  Ixxx.).  This  word  commonly 
signifies  lili/,  and  probably  denotes  either  an  in- 
strument bearing  some  resemblance  to  a  lily 
(perhaps  cymbal),  or  a  melody  named  lily  for  its 
pleasantness. 

Respecting  the  aitthors  of  the  Psalms,  many  of 
the  ancients,  both  Jews  and  Christians,  main- 
tained that  they  were  all  written  by  David: 
which  is  one  of  the  most  striking  proofs  of  their 
uncritical  judgment.  The  titles  and  the  contents 
of  the  Psalms  most  clearly  show  that  they  were 
composed  at  difierent  and  remote  periods,  by 
several  poets,  of  whom  David  was  only  the 
largest  and  most  eminent  contributor.  Accord- 
ing to  the  inscriptions  we  have  the  following  list 
of  authors : — 

1.  David,  'the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel'  (2 
Sam.  xxiii.  1).  To  him  are  ascribed  seventy- 
three  Psalms  in  the  Hebrew  text ;  and  at  least 
eleven  others  in  the  Sept.,  namely,  xxxiii.,  xliii., 
xci.,  xciv.-xcix.,  civ.,  cxxxvii. ;  to  which  may  be 
added  Ps.  x.,  as  it  forms  part  of  Ps.  ix.  in  that 
version.  From  what  has  been  advanced  above 
respecting  the  authority  of  the  titles,  it  is  obviously 
injudicious  to  maintain  that  David  composed  ail 
that  have  liis  name  prefixed  in  the  Hebrew,  or  to 
suppose  that  he  did  not  compose  some  of  the  eleven 
ascribed  to  him  in  the  Sept.,  and  of  the  others 
which  stand  without  any  author's  name  at  all. 
We  cannot  feel  sure  that  Ps.  cxxxix.  is  David's, 
for  its  Chaldaisms  (ver.  2,  8,  16,  17)  betray  a 
later  age ;  and  Ps.  cxxii.  can  scarcely  be  his,  for 
its  style  resembles  the  later  Hebrew,  and  its  de- 
scription of  Jerusalem  can  hardly  apply  to  David's 
time.  Besides,  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the 
Sept.  gives  this  and  the  other  Songs  of  Degrees 
without  specifying  the  author.  Of  those  which 
the  Sept.  ascribes  to  David,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  Ps,  xcix.  and  civ.  are  really  his;  and  of 
those  which  bear  no  name  in  either  text,  at  least 
Ps.  ii.  appears  to  be  David's. 

David's  compositions  are  generally  distin- 
guished by  sweetness,  softness,  and  grace;  but 
sometimes,  as  in  Ps.  xviii.,  they  exhibit  the  sub- 
lime. His  prevailing  strain  is  plaintive,  owing 
to  his  multiplied  and  sore  trials,  both  before  and 
after  his  occupation  of  the  throne.  The  cele- 
brated singers  who  were  contemporaries  of  David 
were  men,  like  himself,  moved  by  the  divine 
afflatus  not  only  to  excel  in  music,  but  also  to 
indite  hallowed  poetry.  Of  these  Psalmists  the 
names  of  several  are  preserved  in  the  titles. 

2.  Asaph  is  named  as  the  author  of  twelve 
Psalms,  viz.,  1.,  Ixxiii.-lxxxiii.  He  was  one  of 
David's  chief  musicians  [Asaph].  All  the  poems 
bearing  his  name  cannot  be  his ;  for  in  Ps.  Ixxiv., 
Ixxix.,  and  Ixxx.,  there  are  manifest  allusions  to 
very  late  events  in  the  history  of  Israel,  Asaph 
appears  from  Ps.  1.,  Ixxiii.,  and  Ixxviii.,  to  have 
been  the  greatest  master  of  didactic  poetry,  excel- 
ling alike  in  sentiment  and  in  diction. 

3.  The  sons  of  Korah  was  another  family  of 
choristers  (see  Korah,  at  the  end),  to  whom 
eleven  of  the  most  beautiful  Psalms  are  ascribed. 

4.  Heman  was  another  of  David's  chief  singers 
(1  Chron.  xv.  19):  he  is  called  the  Ezrahite,  as 
being  descended  from  some  Ezrah,  who  appears 
to  have  been  a  descendant  of  Korah :  at  least 
Heman  is  reckoned  a  Kohathite  (1  Chron.  vi. 
33-38),  and  was  therefore  probably  a  Korahite ; 
for  the  Kohathites  were  continued  and  counted  in 


PSALMS,  BOOK  OF 

the  line  of  Korah ;  see  1  Chroii.  vi.  22,  37,  38 
[Hem an].  Thus  Heman  was  both  an  Ezrahite 
and  of  the  sons  of  Korah.  That  Ps.  Ixxxviii. 
was  written  by  him  is  not  unlikely,  though  many 
question  it. 

5.  Ethan  is  reputed  the  author  of  Ps.  Ixxxix. 
He  is  doubtless  the  Levite  of  Merari's  family 
whom  David  made  chief  musician  along  with 
Asaph  and  Heman  (1  Chron.  vi.  44  ;  xxv.  1,  fi). 
The  Psalm  could  not,  however,  be  composed  by 
him,  for  it  plainly  alludes  (ver.  38-44)  to  the 
downfall  of  the  kingdom. 

6.  Solomon  is  given  as  the  author  of  Ps.  Ixxii. 
and  cxxvii.,  and  there  is  no  decided  internal  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary,  though  most  consider  him 
to  be  the  subject  and  not  the  author  of  Ps.  Ixxii. 

7.  Moses  is  reputed  the  writer  of  Ps.  xc,  and 
there  is  no  strong  reason  to  doubt  the  tradition. 

Jeduthun  is  sometimes,  without  just  ground, 
held  to  be  named  as  the  author  of  Ps.  xxxix. 
Many  conjectures  have  been  formed  respecting 
other  writers,  especially  of  the  anonymous  psalms. 
The  Sept.  seemingly  gives,  as  authors,  Jeremiah, 
(Ps.  cxxxvii.),  and  Haggai  and  Zechariah  (Ps. 
cxxxviii.).  But  these  conjectures  are  too  un- 
certain to  call  for  further  notice  in  this  place. 

The  dates  of  the  Psalms,  as  must  be  obvious 
from  what  has  been  stated  respecting  the  authors, 
are  very  various,  ranging  from  the  time  of  Moses 
to  that  of  the  Captivity — a  period  of  nearly  1000 
years. 

The  Psalter  is  divided  in  the  Hebrew  into  five 
books,  and  also  in  the  Sept.  version,  which  proves 
the  division  to  be  older  than  b.c.  200. 

Th^  first  hook  (i.-xli.)  consists  wholly  of  David's 
songs,  his  name  being  prefixed  to  all  except  i., 
ii.,x.,  and  xxxiii. ;  and  it  is  evidently  the  first 
collection,  having  been  possibly  made  in  the  time 
of  Hezekiah,  who  is  known  to  have  ordered  a 
collection  of  Solomon's  proverbs  (Prov.  xxv.  1), 
and  to  have  commanded  the  Levites  to  sing  the 
words  of  David  (2  Chron.  xxix.  30). 

The  second  book  (xlii.-lxxii.)  consists  mainly 
of  pieces  by  the  sons  of  Korah  (xlii.-xlix.),  and  by 
David  (li.-lxv.),  which  may  have  been  separate 
minor  collections.  It  is  not  likely  that  this  col- 
lection was  made  till  the  period  of  the  Captivity, 
if  interpreters  are  right  in  referring  Ps.  xliv.  to 
the  days  of  Jeremiah. 

The  third  book  (Ixxiii.-lxxxix.)  consists  chiefly 
of  Asaph's  psalms,  but  comprises  apparently  two 
smaller  collections,  the  one  Asaphitic  (Ixxiii.- 
Ixxxiii.),  the  other  mostly  Korahitic  (Ixxxiv.- 
Ixxxix.).  The  collector  of  this  book  had  no  in- 
tention to  bring  together  songs  written  by  David, 
and  therefore  he  put  the  above  notice  at  the  end 
of  the  second  book.  The  date  of  this  collection 
must  be  as  late  as  the  return  from  Babylon,  for 
Ps.  Ixxxv.  implies  as  much. 

The  fourth  book  (xc.-cvi.)  and  the  fifth  (cvii.- 
cl.)  are  made  up  chiefly  of  anonymous  liturgic 
pieces,  many  of  which  were  composed  for  the 
service  of  the  second  temple.  In  the  last  book 
we  have  the  Songs  of  Degrees  f^cxx.-cxxxiv.), 
which  seem  to  have  been  originally  a  separate 
collection. 

The  inspiration  and  canonical  authority  of  the 
Psalms  are  established  by  the  most  abundant  and 
convincing  evidence.  They  never  were,  and  never 
can  be,  rejected,  except  by  impious  impugners 
of  all  divine  revelation.     Not  to  mention  other 


PUBLICAN 


687 


ancient  testimonies,  we  find  complete  evidence 
in  the  New  Testament,  where  the  book  is  quoted 
or  referred  to  as  divine  by  Christ  and  his  apostles 
at  least  seventy  times.  No  other  writing  is  so 
frequently  cited  ;  Isaiah,  the  next  in  the  scale  of 
quotation,  being  cited  only  about  fifty-five  times. 

PSALTERY.     [Musical  Instruments.! 

PTOLEMA'IS.    [AccHc] 

PTOL'EMY.  This  common  name  of  the  Greek 
kings  of  Egypt  does  not  occur  in  the  canonical 
Scripture,  but  is  frequent  in  the  books  of  Macca- 
bees and  in  Josephus  (see  the  article  Egypt). 

PUBLICAN,  a  person  who  farmed  the  taxes 
and  public  revenues.  This  office  was  usually 
held  by  Roman  knights,  an  order  instituted  as 
early  as  the  time  of  Romulus,  and  composed  of 
men  of  great  consideration  with  the  government, 
'  the  principal  men  of  dignity  in  their  several 
countries,'  who  occupied  a  kind  of  middle  rank 
between  the  senators  and  the  people.  Although 
these  officers  were,  according  to  Cicero,  the  orna- 
ment of  the  city  and  the  strength  of  the  common- 
wealth, they  did  not  attain  to  great  offices,  nor 
enter  the  senate,  so  long  as  they  continued  in  the 
order  of  knights.  They  were  thus  more  capable 
of  devoting  their  attention  to  the  collection  of 
the  public  revenue. 

The  publicans  were  distributed  into  three 
classes :  the  farmers  of  the  revenue,  their  part- 
ners, and  their  securities,  corresponding  to  the 
Mancipes,  Socii,  and  Prsedes.  They  were  all 
under  the  Qusestores  iErarii,  who  presided  over 
the  finances  at  Rome.  Strictly  speaking,  there 
were  only  two  sorts  of  publicans,  the  Mancipes 
and  the  Socii.  The  former,  who  were  generally 
of  the  equestrian  order,  and  much  superior  to  the 
latter  in  rank  and  character,  are  mentioned  by 
Cicero  with  great  honour  and  respect ;  but  the 
common  publicans,  the  collectors  or  receivers  of 
the  tribute,  as  many  of  the  Socii  were,  are 
covered  both  by  heathens  and  Jews  with  oppro- 
brium and  contempt. 

The  name  and  professiou  of  a  publican  were, 
indeed,  extremely  odious  among  the  Jews,  who 
submitted  with  much  reluctance  to  the  taxes 
levied  by  the  Romans.  The  Galileans  or  He- 
rodians,  the  disciples  of  Judas  the  Gaulonite, 
were  the  most  turbulent  and  rebellious  (Acts  v. 
37).  They  thought  it  unlawful  to  pay  tribute, 
and  founded  their  refusal  to  do  so  on  their  being 
the  people  of  the  Lord,  because  a  true  Israelite 
was  not  permitted  to  acknowledge  any  other 
sovereign  than  God  (Joseph.  Antiq.  xviii.  2). 
The  publicans  were  hated  as  the  instruments  by 
which  the  subjection  of  the  Jews  to  the  Roman 
emperor  was  perpetuated;  and  the  paying  of 
tribute  was  regarded  as  a  virtual  acknowledgment 
of  his  sovereignty.  They  were  also  noted  for 
their  imposition,  rapine,  and  extortion,  to  which 
they  were,  perhaps,  more  especially  prompted  by 
having  a  share  in  the  farm  of  the  tribute,  as 
they  were  thus  tempted  to  oppress  the  people 
with  illegal  exactions,  that  they  might  the  more 
speedily  enrich  themselves.  Those  Jews  who 
accepted  the  office  of  publican  were  execrated  by 
their  own  nation  equally  with  heathens :  '  Let 
him  be  unto  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  pub- 
lican '  (Matt,  xviii.  17).  It  is  said  they  were  not 
allowed  to  enter  the  temple  or  synagogues,  to 
engage  in  the  public  prayers,  fill  offices  of  judi- 
cature, or  even  give  testimony  in  courts  of  justice. 


688  PUNISHMENTS 

According  to  the  Rabbins,  it  was  a  maxim  that  a 
religious  man  who  became  a  publican  was  to  be 
driven  out  of  the  religious  society.  They  would 
not  receive  their  presents  at  the  temple  any  more 
than  the  price  of  prostitution,  of  blood,  or  of 
anything  wicked  and  offensive. 

PUB'LIUS,  governor  of  Melita  at  the  time  of 
Paul's  shipwreck  on  that  island  (Acts  xxviii.  7,  8). 
Paul  having  healed  his  father,  probably  enjoyed 
his  hospitality  during  the  three  months  of  his  stay 
in  the  island  [Melita]. 

PU'DENS,  one  of  the  persons  whose  saluta- 
tions Paul,  writing  from  Rome,  sends  to  Timothy 
(2  Tim.  iv.  21).  Nothing  is  really  known  of  him; 
but  the  martyrologies  make  him  to  have  been  a 
person  of  figure  at  Rome,  of  the  senatorial  order, 
and  father  of  two  pious  virgins,  Praxis  and  Pu- 
dentia. 

PUL,  king  of  Assyria.    [Assyria.] 
PULSE.     [Beans.] 

PUNISHMENTS.  This  subject  is  properly 
restricted  to  the  penalty  imposed  on  the  com- 
mission of  some  crime  or  offence  against  law.  It 
is  thus  distinguished  from  private  retaliation  or 
revenge,  cruelty,  torture,  popular  violence,  certain 
customs  of  war,  &c.  Human  punishments  are  such 
as  are  inflictt^d  immediately  on  the  person  of  the 
offender,  or  indirectly  upon  his  goods,  &c.  For  the 
leading  points  in  the  literature  of  the  question 
concerning  future  and  divine  punishment  see  SouL. 
Capital  punishment  is  usually  supposed  to  have 
been  instituted  at  the  deluge  (Gen.  ix.  5,  6). 
Aruheim,  however,  thus  explains  the  precept :  if 
one  stranger  slay  another,  the  kinsmen  of  the 
murdered  man  are  the  avengers  of  blood  ;  but  if 
he  be  slain  by  one  of  his  own  kindred,  the  other 
kinsmen  must  not  spare  the  murderer,  for  if  they 
do,  then  divine  providence  will  require  the  blood 
— that  is,  will  avenge  it.  This  interpretation  would 
account  for  the  custom  of  blood-revenge  among  all 
the  ancient  and  Asiatic  nations.  The  extensive 
prescription  of  capital  punishment  by  the  Mosaic 
law,  which  we  cannot  consider  as  a  dead  letter, 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  peculiar  circum- 
stances of  the  people.  They  were  a  nation  of 
newly-emancipated  slaves,  and  were  by  nature 
perhaps  more  than  commonly  intractable ;  and  if 
we  may  judge  by  the  laws  enjoined  on  them, 
which  Mr.  Hume  well  remarks  are  a  safe  index 
to  the  manners  and  disposition  of  any  people,  we 
must  infer  that  they  had  imbibed  all  the  dege- 
nerating influences  of  slavery  among  heathens. 

The  mode  of  capital  punishment,  which  consti- 
tutes a  material  element  in  the  character  of  any  law, 
was  probably  as  humane  as  the  circumstances  of 
Moses  admitted.  It  was  probably  restricted  to 
lapidation  or  stoning,  which,  by  skilful  manage- 
ment, might  produce  instantaneous  death.  It  was 
an  Egyptian  custom  (Exod.  viii.  26).  The  public 
effusion  of  blood  by  decapitation  cannot  be  proved 
to  have  been  a  Mosaic  punishment.  The  appear- 
ance of  decapitation,  '  slaying  by  the  sword,'  in 
later  times  (2  Sam.  iv.  8,  20,  21,  22;  2  Kings  x. 
6-8),  has  no  more  relation  to  the  Mosaic  law  than 
the  decapitation  of  John  the  Baptist  by  Herod 
(Matt.  xiv.  8-12) ;  or  than  the  hewing  to  pieces 
of  Agag  before  the  Lord  by  Samuel,  as  a  punish- 
ment in  hind  (1  Sam.  xv.  33).  Execution  was 
ordered  by  Moses,  probably  adopting  an  ancient 
custom,  to  be  begun  first  by  the  witnesses,  a  regu- 
lation which  constituted  a  tremendous  appeal  to 


PUNISHMENTS 

their  moral  feelings,  and  afterwards  to  be  com- 
pleted  by  the   people   (Dent.  xiii.  10;  xvii.  7; 
Josh.  vii.  25 ;  John  viii.  7).     It  was  a  later  inno- 
vation that  immediate  execution  should  be  done 
by  some  personal  attendant,  by  whom  the  office 
was  probably  considered  as  an  honour  (2  Sam.  i. 
15;  iv.  12).    Stoning  therefore  was,  probably,  the 
only  capital  punishment  ordered  by  Moses.  "  It  is 
observable  that  neither  this  nor  any  other  punish- 
ment was,  according  to  his  law,  attended  with 
insult  or  torture  (comp.  2  Mace.  vii.).     Nor  did 
his  laws  admit  of  those  horrible  mutilations  prac- 
tised  by  other   nations.      Mutilation   of  such   a 
nature  amounts  to  a  perpetual  condemnation  to 
infamy  and  crime.     It  will   shortly  be  seen  that 
the  lex  talionis,  '  an  eye  for  an  eye,'  &c.,  was 
adopted  by  Moses  as  the  principle,  but  not  the 
mode  of  punishment.      He  seems   also  to   have 
understood  the  true  end  of  punishment,  which  is 
not  to  gratify  the   antipathy  of  society  against 
crime,  nor  moral  vengeance,  which  belongs  to 
God  alone,  but  prevention.    '  All  the  people  shall 
hear  and  fear,  and  do  no  more  so  presumptuously' 
(Deut.  xvii.  13;  xxix.  20).     His  laws  are  equally 
free  from  the  characteristic  of  savage  legislation, 
that  of  involving  the  family  of  the  offender  in  his 
punishment.     He  did  not  allow  parents  to  be  put 
to  death  for  their  children,  nor  children  for  their 
parents  (Deut.  xxiv.  16),  as  did  the  Chaldseans 
(Dan.  vi.  24),   and   the   kings  of  Israel  (comp. 
1  Kings  xxi. ;  2  Kings  ix.  26).     Various  punish- 
ments were  introduced  among  the  Jews,  or  became 
known  to  them  by  their  intercourse  with  other  na- 
tions,— viz.,  precipitation,  or  throwing,  or  causing 
to  leap,  from  the  top  of  a  rock :  to  which  ten  thou- 
sand Idumajans  were  condemned  by  Amaziah,  king 
of  Judah  (2  Ohron.  xxv.  12).     The  inhabitants 
of  Nazareth  intended  a  similar  fate  for  our  Lord 
(Luke  iv.  29).     This  punishment  resembles  that 
of  the  Tarpeian  rock  among  the  Romans.   Cutting 
asunder  appears  to  have  been  a  Babylonian  custom 
(Dan.  ii.  5 ;  iii.  29  ;  Luke  xii.  46  ;  Matt.  xxiv.  51) ; 
but  the  passages  in  the  Gospels  admit  of  the  milder 
interpretation  of  scourging  with  severity,  discard- 
ing from  oflBce,  &c.    Beating  to  death  was  a  Greek 
punishment   for  slaves.      It  was   inflicted   on  a 
wooden  frame,  on  which  the  criminal  was  bound 
and  beaten  to  death  (2  Mace.  vi.  19,  28 ;  comp.    j 
V.  30).     Fighting  with  wild  beasts  was  a  Roman    | 
punishment,  to  which  criminals  and  captives  in    | 
war  were  sometimes  condemned  (Adam,  Roman 
Antiq.,  p.  344 ;  2  Tim.  iv.  17;  comp.  1  Cor.  xv. 
32).     Drowning  with  a  heavy  weight  around  the 
neck,  was  a  Syrian,  Greek,  and  Roman  punish- 
ment.    For  Crucifixion,  see  the  Article. 

Posthumous  insults  offered  to  the  dead  bodies 
of  criminals,  though  common  in  other  nations,    I 
were  very  sparingly  allowed  by  Moses.     He  per-    j 
mit.ted  only  hanging  on  a  tree  or  gibbet ;  but  the    i 
exposure  was  limited  to  a  day,  and  burial  of  the    j 
body  at  night  was  commanded  (Deut.  xxi.  22).    i 
Such  persons  were   esteemed   '  cursed  of  God ' 
(comp.  Josh.  viii.  29;    x.  26;    2  Sam.  iv.  12) — a 
law  which  the  later  Jews  extended  to  crucifixion 
(John  xix.  31,  &c. ;  Gal.  iii.  13).     Hanging  alive 
may  have  been  aCanaanitish  punishment,  since  it 
was  practised  by  the  Giheonites  on  the  sons  of  Saul 
(2  Sam.  xxi.  9).     Another  posthumous  insult  in 
later  times  consisted  in  heaping  stones  on  the  body 
or  grave  of  the  executed  criminal  (Josh.  vii.  25, 
26).    To  'make  heaps'  of  houses  or  cities  is  a 


PUNISHMENTS 

phrase  denoting  complete  and  ignominious  de- 
struction (Isa.  XXV.  2  ;  Jer.  ix.  11).  Burning  the 
dead  bod;/  seems  to  have  been  a  very  ancient 
posthumous  insult:  it  was  denounced  by  Judah 
against  hisdaughter-in-law.Tamar,  when  informed 
that  she  was  with  child  (Gen.  xxxviii.  24).  Seldon 
thinks  that  this  means  merely  branding  on  the  fore- 
head. IMoses  retained  this  ancient  ignominy  for 
two  offences  only,  which  from  the  nature  of  things 
must  have  been  comparatively  rare,  viz.,  for 
bigamji  with  a  mother  and  her  daughter  (Lev. 
XX.  -1),  and  for  the  case  of  a  priest's  daughter  who 
committed  whoredom  (xxi.  9).  Though  '  burning' 
only  be  specified  in  these  cases,  it  may  be  safely 
inferred  tliat  the  previous  death  of  the  criminals, 
probably  by  lapidation,  is  to  be  understood  (comp. 
Josh.  yii.  25).  Among  the  heathens  this  merciful 
preliminary  was  not  always  observed,  as  for 
instance  in  the  case  of  Shadrach,  Meshach,  and 
Abednego  (Dan.  iii.). 

Among  the  minor  corporal  punishments  ordered 
by  Moses,  was  scourging;  or  the  infliction  of 
blows  on  the  back  of  an  offender  with  a  rod.  It 
was  limited  by  him  to  forty  stripes,  a  number 
which  the  Jews  in  later  times  were  so  careful 
not  to  exceed,  that  they  inflicted  but  thirty-nine 
(2  Cor.  xi.  24).  It  was  to  be  inflicted  on  the 
offender  lying  on  the  ground,  in  the  presence  of 
a  judge  (Lev.  xix.  20;  Deut.  xxii.  18;  xxv. 
2,  3).  We  have  abundant  evidence  that  it  was 
an  ancient  Egyptian  punishment.  Corporal 
punishment  of  this  kind  was  allowed  by  Moses, 
by  masters  to  servants  or  slaves  of  both  sexes 
(Exod.  xxi.  20).  Scourging  was  common  in 
after  times  among  the  Jews,  who  associated  with 
it  no  disgrace  or  inconvenience  be^iond  the  phy- 
sical pain  it  occasioned,  and  from  which  no  sta- 
tion was  exempt  (Prov.  xvii.  26 ;  comp.  x.  13  ; 
Jer.  xxxvii.  1.5-20).  Hence  it  became  the  sym- 
bol for  correction  in  general  (Ps.  Ixxxix.  32). 
Solomon  is  a  zealous  advocate  for  its  use  in  edu- 
cation (Prov.  xiii.  24 ;  xxiii.  1.3,  14  ;  comp.  Eccles. 
XXX.  1 ).  It  was  inflicted  for  ecclesiastical  offences 
in  the  synagogue  (Matt.  X.  17;  Acts  xxvi.  11). 
The  Mosaic  law,  however,  respecting  it,  affords 
a  pleasing  contrast  to  the  extreme  and  unlimited 
scourging  known  among  the  Romans,  but  which, 
according  to  the  Porcian  law,  could  not  be  in- 
flicted upon  a  Roman  citizen  (Acts  xvi.  22-37  ; 
xxii.  25).  Reference  to  tTie  scourge  with  scor- 
pions, {.  e.  a  whip  or  scourge  armed  with  knots 
or  thorns,  occurs  in  1  Kings  xii.  11. 

Retaliation  is  doubtless  the  most  natural  of  all 
kinds  of  punishment,  and  would  be  the  most  just 
of  all,  if  it  could  be  instantaneously  and  univer- 
sally inflicted.  But  when  delayed  it  is  apt  to 
degenerate  into  revenge.  Hence  the  desirable- 
ness that  it  should  be  regulated  and  modified  by 
law.  iMoses  accordingly  adopted  the  principle, 
but  lodged  the  application  of  it  in  the  judge. 
'If  a  man  blemish  his  neighbour,  as  he  hath 
done,  so  shall  it  be  done  to  him.  Life  for  life, 
eye  for  eye,  tooth  for  tooth,  wound  for  wound, 
stripe  for  stripe,  breach  for  breach'  (Exod.  xxi. 
23-2^5;  Lev.  xxiv.  19-22).  His  system  of  com- 
pensations, &c.,  occurs  in  Exod.  xxi.  He,  how- 
ever, makes  wilful  murder,  even  of  a  slave, 
always  capital,  as  did  the  Egyptians.  The 
Egjptians  doomied  the  false  accuser  to  the  same 
punishment  which  he  endeavoured  to  bring  on 
Lis  victim,  as  did  Moses  (Deut.  xix.  19).    Im- 


PURIM  689 

prisonment,  not  as  a  punishment,  but  custody, 
till  the  royal  pleasure  was  known,  appears  among 
the  Egyptians  (Gen.  xxxix.  20,  21).  Mose! 
adopted  it  for  like  purposes  (Lev.  xxvi.  12).  In 
later  times,  It  appears  as  a  punishment  inflicted 
by  the  kings  of  Judah  and  Israel  (2  Chron.  xvi 
10;  1  Kings  xxii.  27;  Jer.  xxxvii.  21);  and 
during  the  Christian  era,  as  in  the  instance  of 
John  (Matt.  iv.  12),  and  Peter  (Acts  xii.  4). 
Murderers  and  debtors  were  also  committed  to 
prison  ;  and  the  latter  '  tormented'  till  they  paid 
(Matt,  xviii.  30;  Luke  xxiii.  19).  A  common 
prison  is  mentioned  (Acts  v.  18);  and  also  an 
inner  prison  or  dungeon,  which  was  sometimes  a 
pit  (Jer.  xxxviii.  G),  in  which  were  '  stocks '  (Jer 
XX.  2  ;  xxix.  26 ;  Acts  xvi.  24).  Prisoners  are 
alluded  to  (Job  iii.  18),  and  stocks  (xiii.  27). 
Banishment  was  impracticable  among  the  Jews. 
It  was  inflicted  by  the  Romans  on  John  (Rev.  i. 
9).  Cutting  or  plucking  off  Hie  hair  is  alluded  to 
(Isa.  1.  6  ;  Nehem.  xiii.  25).  Excision,  or  '  cut- 
ting off  from  his  people,'  is  denounced  against 
the  uncircumcised  as  early  as  the  covenant  with 
Abraham  (Gen.  xvii.  14).  This  punishment  is 
expressed  in  the  Mosaic  law  by  the  formulae— 
'that  soul  shall  be  destroyed  from  its  people' 
(Lev.  xvii.  20,  21);  'from  Israel'  (Exod.  xii. 
15) ;  '  from  the  midst  of  the  congregation  '  (Num. 
xix.  20)  ;  '  it  shall  be  destroyed '  (Lev.  xvii.  14 ; 
XX.  17);  which  terms  sometimes  denote  capital 
punishment  (Exod.  xxxi.  14;  comp.  xxxv.  2- 
Num.  XV.  32,  &c.)  [Anathema]. 

Ecclesiastical  punishments  are  prescribed,  as 
might  be  expected  under  a  theocracy,  but  these 
were  moderate.  Involuntary  transgressions  of 
the  Levitical  law,  whether  of  omission  or  com- 
mission, were  atoned  for  by  a  sin-offering  (Lev. 
iv.  2,  &c.;  v.  1.  4-7).  This  head  embraced  a 
rash  or  neglected  oath,  keeping  back  evidence  in 
court  (Lev.  iv.  2,  &c. ;  v.  1 ;  iv.  7),  breach  of 
trust,  concealment  of  property  when  found,  or 
theft,  even  when  the  offender  had  already  cleared 
himself  by  oath,  but  was  now  moved  by  con- 
science to  make  restitution.  By  these  means,  and 
by  the  payment  of  twenty  per  cent,  beyond  the 
amount  of  his  trespass,  the  offender  might  cancel 
the  crime  as  far  as  the  church  was  concerned 
(Lev.  vi.  1-7;  Num.  v.  6-10).  Adultery  with  a 
slave  was  commuted  from  death  to  stripes  and  a 
trespass-offering  (Lev.  xix.  20-22).  All  these 
cases  involved  public  confession,  and  the  expenses 
of  the  offering. 

Future  punishment. — Though  the  doctrine  of  a 
future  state  was  known  to  the  ancient  Hebrews, 
yet  temporal  punishment  and  reward  were  the 
immediate  motives  held  out  to  obedience.  Hence 
the  references  in  the  Old  Testament  to  punish- 
ment in  a  future  state  are  obscure  and  scanty. 
See  Hades  ;  Heaven  :  Hei.l. 

PU'NON,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Israelites 
in  the  desert.    [Wandering.] 

PURIFICATIONS.    [Ablution.]  j 

PU'KIM  (Esther  iii.  7 ;  ix.  24,  sq.),  a  cele-  I 
brated  Jewish  festival  instituted  by  Mordecai,  at  ' 
the  suggestion  of  Esther,  in  the  reign  of  Aha-  | 
suerus,  king  of  Persia,  to  commemorate  the  deli-  ; 
verance  of  the  Jews  from  the  designs  of  Haman 
[Esther;  Haman;  Mordecai].  It  derived  its  { 
name  from  the  lots  cast  every  day  for  twelve  i 
months  in  presence  of  Haman,  wiih  the  view  of  I 
discovering  an  auspicious  day  for  the  destruction    ! 

^_J 


690  PURPLE 

of  all  the  Jews  in  the  Persian  dominions ;  when 
the  lot  fell  on  the  13th  day  of  Adar  (February 
and  part  of  March)  [Festivals]. 

The  particulars  of  the  mode  in  which  the  Jews 
observe  this  festival  will  be  found  detailed  by 
Buxtorf.  We  shall  select  a  few  of  the  most 
striking.  The  book  of  Esther  is  read  from  be- 
ginning to  end ;  and  even  the  reading  of  the  law 
is  on  this  day  postponed  to  it.  It  may  be  also 
read  in  any  language  which  the  reader  under- 
stands. When  Mordecai's  nan.e  occurs,  the  whole 
congregation  exclaim,  Bless' ,<  be  Murdecai !  and, 
on  mention  of  that  of  Haman,  they  say,  Mai/  his 
mime  perish  !  and  it  is  usual  for  the  children  to 
hiss,  spring  rattles,  strike  the  walls  with  ham- 
mers, and  make  all  sorts  of  noises.  These  noisy 
portions  of  the  ceremony  have,  however,  been 
long  discontinued  in  England,  except  in  the 
synagogues  of  some  foreign  Jews.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  day  is  spent  in  festivity,  in  com- 
memoration of  Esther's  feast :  upon  which  occa- 
sion the  Jews  send  presents  to  each  other,  the 
men  to  the  men,  and  the  women  to  the  women. 
They  also  bestow  alms  on  the  poor,  from  the 
benefit  of  which  Christians  and  other  Gentiles 
are  not  excluded.  Plays  and  masquerades  fol- 
low ;  nor  is  it  considered  a  breach  of  the  law  of 
Moses  on  this  occasion,  for  men  and  women  to 
assume  the  garb  of  the  other  sex.  Purim  is  the 
last  festival  in  the  Jewish  ecclesiastical  year, 
being  succeeded  by  the  next  Passover. 

PURPLE,  BLUE,  CRIMSON,  SCARLET. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  this  colour  was 
obtained,  like  the  far-famed  Tyrian  purple,  from 
the  juice  of  certain  species  of  shell-fish.  The  dye 
called  purple  by  the  ancients,  and  its  various 
shades,  were  obtained  from  many  kinds  of  shell- 
fish, all  of  which  are,  however,  ranged  by  Pliny 
under  two  classes:  one  called  '  buccinum,'  be- 
cause shaped  like  a  horn,  found,  he  says,  in  cliffs 
and  rocks,  and  yielding  a  sullen  blue  dye ;  the 
other  called  'purpura,'  or  ' pelagia,' the  proper 
purple  shell,  taken  by  fishing  in  the  sea,  and 


288.    [Murex  trunculus.] 

yielding  the  deep  red  colour  which  was  chiefly 
valued.  Both  sorts  were  supposed  to  be  as  many 
years  old  as  they  had  spirals  round.  The  juice 
of  the  whole  shell-fish  was  not  used,  but  only  a 
little  thin  liquor  called  the  flower,  contained  in  a 
white  vein  or  vessel  in  the  neck.  The  larger 
purples  were  broken  at  the  top  to  get  at  this  vein 
without  injuring  it,  but  the  smaller  were  pressed 
in  mills.  The  Murex  trunculus  was  the  species 
used  by  the  ancient  Tyrians.  It  is  of  common 
occurrence  now  on  the  same  coasts,  and  through- 


PURPLE 

out  the  whole  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  even  of 
the  Atlantic.  The  ancients  applied  the  word 
translated  'purple,' not  to  one  colour  only,  but 
to  the  whole  class  of  dyes  manufactured  from  the 
juices  of  shell-fish,  as  distinguished  from  the  ve- 
getable dyes,  and  comprehending  not  only  what 
is  commonly  called  purple,  but  also  light  and 
dark  purple,  and  almost  every  shade  between. 

Purple  was  employed  in  religious  worship  both 
among  Jews  and  Gentiles.  It  was  one  of  the 
colours  of  the  curtaius  of  the  tabernacle  ;  of  the 
vail ;  of  the  curtain  over  the  grand  entrance ;  of 
the  ephod  of  the  high  priest,  and  of  its  girdle  ;  of 
the  breast-plate ;  of  the  hem  of  the  robe  of  the 
ephod,  &c.  The  Babylonians  arrayed  their  idols 
in  it.  It  was  at  an  early  period  worn  by  kings 
(Judg.  viii.  26).  Homer  speaks  as  if  it  were 
almost  peculiar  to  them.  In  Acts  x.  14,  refe- 
rence is  found  to  Lydia,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira, 
a  seller  of  purple  cloth.  The  manufacture  seems 
to  have  decayed  with  its  native  city.  A  colony 
of  Jews,  which  was  established  at  Thebes  in 
Greece  in  the  twelfth  century,  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive manufactory  for  dyeing  purple.  It  ulti- 
mately became  superseded  by  the  use  of  indigo, 
cochineal,  &c.,  whence  a  cheaper  and  finer  purple 
was  obtained,  and  free  from  the  disagreeable 
odour  which  attended  that  derived  from  shell-fish. 

2.  Blue,  a  colour  almost  constantly  associated 
with  purple,  is  supposed  to  have  been  obtained 


289.     [Helix  ianthina.] 

from  another  purple  shell-fish  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, the  conchi/lium  of  the  ancients,  the  Helix 
ianthina  of  Linnaeus.  The  Scriptures  afford  no 
clue  to  this  colour :  some  suppose  it  to  be  dark- 
coloured  and  deep  purple,  but  Josephus  evidently 
takes  the  Hebrew  word  to  mean  '  sky-colour.' 
These  statements  may  be  reconciled  by  the  fact, 
that  in  proportion  as  the  sky  is  clear  and  serene, 
it  assumes  a  dark  appearance,  which  is  still  more 
observable  in  an  eastern  climate.  The  chief 
references  to  this  colour  in  Scripture  are  as 
follows: — The  robe  of  the  high-priest's  ephod 
was  to  be  all  of  blue  (Exod.  xxviii.  31)  ;  so  the 
loops  of  the  curtains  to  the  tabernacle ;  the  ri- 
band for  the  breast-plate,  and  for  the  plate  for 
the  mitre  ;  the  people  were  commanded  to  wear 
a  riband  of  blue  above  the  fringe  of  their  gar- 
ments (Num.  XV.  38). 

3.  Crimson  occurs  in  2  Chron.  ii.  7-14  ;  iii.  14. 
This  word  is  by  some  supposed  to  signify  another 
kind  of  shell-fish,  yielding  a  crimson  dye,  so 
called  because  found  on  the  shore  near  Mount 
Carmel. 

4.  Scarlet,  often  associated  with  purple  and 
blue.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived  from 
the  coccus,  from  which  the  ancients  procured  a 
blood-red  crimson  dye.  It  was  the  female  of  this 
remarkable  insect  that  was  employed ;  and  though 


QUAIL 

snpplanted  by  the  cochineal,  it  is  still  used  for 
the  purpose  in  India  and  Persia.  It  attains  the 
size  and  form  of  a  pea,  is  of  a  violet  black  colour, 
covered  with  a  whitish  powder  adhering  to  plants, 
chiefly  various  species  of  oak,  and  so  closely  re- 
sembling grains,  that  its  insect  nature  was  not 
generally  known  for  many  centuries.  The  word 
^scarlet '  siyvified  crimson  in  the  time  of  our  trans- 
lators, rather  than  the  colour  now  called  by  that 
name,  and  which  was  unknown  in  the  time  of 
James  I.  This  insect  is  widely  distributed  over 
many  of  the  south-ea-stern  countries  of  the  ancient 
world.  It  occurs  abundantly  in  Spain,  and  is 
found  on  the  Quercus  coccifera,  or  kermes  oak  in 
Palestine. 


290.    [Coccus  ilicis,  on  a  branch.] 

PUTE'OLI,  a  maritime  town  of  Campania,  in 
Italy,  on  the  north  shore  of  the  bay  of  Naples, 
and  about  eight  miles  north-west  from  the  city 
of  that  name,  where  it  still  exists  under  the  name 
of  Pozzuoli.  It  derived  its  name  from  its  tepid 
baths,  whence  the  district  in  which  it  exists  is 
now  called  Terra  di  Lavoro.  It  was  a  favourite 
watering-place  of  the  Romans,  as  its  numerous 
hot-springs  were  judged  eflScacious  for  the  cure 
of  various  diseases.  It  was  also  the  port  where 
ships  usually  discharged  their  passengers  and 
cargoes,  partly  to  avoid  doubling  the  promontory 
of  Circeium,  and  partly  because  there  was  no 
commodious  harbour  nearer  to  Rome.  Hence 
the  ship  in  which  Paul  was  conveyed  from  Melita, 
landed  the  prisoners  at  this  place,  where  the 
apostle  staid  for  a  week  (Acts  xxviii.  13).  The 
harbour  was  protected  by  a  celebrated  mole,  the 
remains  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen. 


Q. 


QUAIL  occurs  in  Exod.  xvi.  13;  Num.  xi. 
31,  32  ;  Ps.  cv.  40.  Quails  form  a  subdivision  of 
the  Tetraonidce,  or  grouse  family,  being  distin- 


QUEEN  691 

guished  from  partridges  by  their  smaller  size, 
finer  bill,  shorter  tail,  and  the  want  of  a  red 
naked  eyebrow  and  of  spurs  on  the  legs.  There 
are  several  species,  whereof  the  common,  now 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  Coturnix  dactyli- 
sonans,  is  abundant  in  all  the  temperate  regions 
of  Europe  and  Western  Asia,  migrating  to  and 
from  Africa  in  the  proper  season. 

Of  a  bird  so  well  known  no  figure  or  further 
particular  description  appears  to  be  necessary, 
beyond  mentioning  the  enormous  flights  which, 
after  crossing  an  immense  surface  of  sea,  are  an- 
uually  observed  at  the  spring  and  fall  to  take  a 
brief  repose  in  the  islands  of  Malta,  Sicily,  Sar- 
dinia, Crete,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  and  about 
Constantinople,  where  on  those  occasions  there  is 
a  general  shooting-match,  which  lasts  two  or 
three  days.  The  providential  nature  of  their 
arrival  within  and  around  the  camp  of  the  Israel- 
ites, in  order  that  they  might  furnish  meat  to  a 
murmuring  people,  appears  from  tlie  fact  of  its 
taking  place  where  it  was  not  to  be  expected :  the 
localities,  we  presume,  being  out  of  the  direction 
of  the  ordinary  passage ;  for,  had  this  not  been 
the  case,  the  dwellers  in  that  region,  and  the  Is- 
raelites themselves,  accustomed  to  tend  their 
flocks  at  no  great  distance  from  the  spot,  would 
have  regarded  the  phenomenon  as  a  well-known 
periodical  occurrence. 

QUAR'TUS,  a  Christian  resident  at  Corinth, 
and,  from  his  name,  apparently  a  Roman,  whose 
salutations  Paul  communicated  to  the  Church  of 
Rome  in  his  epistle  thereto  (Rom.  xvi.  23). 

QUATER'NION.  A  '  quaternion  of  soldiers' 
(Acts  xii.  4)  was  a  detachment  of  four  men, 
which  was  the  usual  number  of  a  Roman  night- 
watch.  Peter,  therefore,  was  guarded  by  four 
soldiers,  two  within  the  prison,  and  two  outside 
the  doors  ;  and  as  the  watch  was  usually  changed 
every  three  hours,  it  was  necessary  that  the '  four 
quaternions '  mentioned  in  the  text  should  be  ap- 
pointed for  the  purpose. 

QUEEN.  The  Hebrews  had  no  word  properly 
answering  to  our  term  '  queen,'  which  is  the  femi- 
nine of '  king ;'  neither  had  they  the  dignity  which 
that  word  denotes.  Among  them  there  was 
neither  a  '  queen  regnant'  nor  a  '  queen  consort.' 
The  Jewish  kings  however  had,  like  other  east- 
ern monarchs,  a  chief  wife  in  their  harem,  and 
this  is  no  doubt  the  rank  indicated  in  the  Bible 
by  the  words  which  we  render  '  queen.' 

Very  different  was,  and  is  to  this  day,  in 
Western  Asia,  the  position  of  the  king's  mother, 
whose  state  is  much  the  nearest  to  that  of  an  Eu- 
ropean queen  of  any  with  which  the  East  is  ac- 
quainted. It  is  founded  on  that  essential  principle 
of  Oriental  manners  which  in  all  cases  considers 
the  mother  of  the  husband  as  a  far  superior  person 
to  his  wife,  and  as  entitled  to  more  respect  and 
attention.  This  principle  should  be  clearly  un- 
derstood, for  it  extends  throughout  the  Bible,  and 
is  yet  entirely  different  from  our  own  social  ar- 
rangements, under  which  the  mother,  as  soon  as 
she  becomes  widowed,  abandons  her  place  as  head 
of  the  family  to  the  daughter-in-law.  Examples 
of  the  great  influence  possessed  by  the  king's 
mother  occur  frequently  in  Scripture. 

In  how  marked  a  manner  does  the  mother  of 

Solomon  come  forward  at  the  end  of  her  husband's 

and  the  beginning  of  her  sou's  reien  !     She  takes 

an  active  part  in  securing  her  son's  succession  ; 

2  Y  2 


692 


KABBAH 


RAIIAB 


it  is  in  the  conviction  of  her  commanding  influ- 
ence that  Adonijah  engages  her  to  promote  his 
suit,  alleging  '  he  will  not  say  thee  nay  ;'  and 
then,  when  Bathsheha  appears  before  her  son,  the 
monarch  rises  from  his  place,  advances  to  meet 
her,  bows  himself  before  her,  and  seats  her  on 
the  right  hand  of  his  throne  (1  Kings  i.,  ii.)-  That 
the  king's  mother  possessed  high  dignity  is  further 
evinced  by  the  fact  that  Asa  found  it  necessary  to 
remove  his  mother  Maachah  '  from  being  queen,' 
on  account  of  her  abuse  of  the  power  which  that 
character  conferred  (1  Kings  xv.  13).  Jezebel 
was,  as  already  stated,  very  powerful  in  the  life- 
time of  her  husband  ;  but  it  is  only  under  her  son 
that  she  is  called  '  the  queen  ;'  and  the  whole 
history  of  his  reign  evinces  the  important  part 
which  she  took  in  public  afEairs  (2  Kings  ix.  22, 
30,  37  ;  X.  13).  Still  more  marked  was  the  in- 
fluence which  her  daughter  Athaliah  exercised 
in  JuHah  during  the  reign  of  her  son  Ahaziah, 
which  was  indeed  such  as  enabled  her  at  his 
death  to  set  the  crown  on  her  own  head,  and  to 
present  the  anomaly  in  Jewish  history  of  a  reg- 
nant queen  (2  Kings  xi.). 

QUEEN  OF  HEAVEN.     [Ashtoeeth.] 
QUEEN  OF  SHEBA.     [Sheba.] 
QUIVER.    [Armour,  Arms.] 


R. 


RA'AMAH,  a  city  of  the  Cushites,  or  of  Cushite 
origin  (Gen.  x.  7 ;  1  Chron.  i.  9 ;  Ezek.  xxvii. 
22).     Its  situation  is  not  clearly  known. 

RAAM'SES.     [Rameses.] 

RAB'BAH.  This  name,  which  properly  de- 
notes a  great  city  or  metropolis,  is  given  in  Scrip- 
ture to  the  capital  of  the  Ammonites  (Josh.  xiii. 
2.'i  ;  2  Sam.  xi.  1  ;  xii.  27  ;  1  Chron.  xx.  1  ;  Jer. 
xlix.  3) ;  the  full  name  of  which,  however,  as 
given  in  Deut.  iii.  11,  appears  to  have  been  Rab- 
bath-beni-Ammon.  It  was  in  this  place  that  the 
great  iron  bedstead  of  Og  king  of  Bashan  was 
preserved  (Deut.  iii.  11).  It  was  besieged  by 
Joab,  and  when  on  the  point  of  yielding  to  that 
general,  was  surrendered  to  David  in  person  (2 
Sam.  xi.  12).  After  this  Rabbah  was  included 
in  the  tribe  of  Gad.  After  the  separation  of  the 
ten  tribes,  Rabbah,  with  the  whole  territory  be- 
yond the  Jordan,  adhered  to  the  kingdom  of 
Israel,  till  it  was  ravaged  by  the  Assyrians  under 
Tiglathpileser,  and  the  inhabitants  expatriated  to 
Media.  The  Ammonites  then  recovered  posses- 
sion of  Rabbah  and  the  other  cities  and  territories 
which  had  in  former  times  been  taken  from  them 
by  the  Israelites.  Some  centuries  later,  when 
these  parts  were  subject  to  Egypt.  Rabbah  was 
restored  or  rebuilt  by  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  and 
called  by  him  Philadelphia,  and  under  this  name 
it  is  often  mentioned  by  Greek  and  Roman 
writers. 

Rabbah  appears  to  have  consisted,  like  Aroer, 
of  two  parts;  the  city  itself,  and  'the  city  of 
waters,'  or  royal  city,  which  was  probably  a  de- 
tached portion  of  the  city  itself,  insulated  by  the 
stream  on  which  it  was  situated.  The 'city  of 
waters '  was  taken  by  Joab ;  but  against  the  city 
itself  he  was  obliged  to  call  for  the  assistance  of 
David  with  a  reinforcement  (2  Sam.  xii.  29). 

The  ruins  of  Rabbah  stand  about   19  miles 


south-east  of  Szalt,  in  a  long  valley  traversed  by 
a  stream,  the  Moiet  Amman,  which  at  this  place 
is  arched  over,  the  bed  as  well  as  the  banks  being 
paved.  The  prophet  Ezekiel  foretold  that  Rabbah 
should  become  '  a  stable  for  camels,'  and  the 
country  '  a  couching  place  for  flocks '  (Ezek.  xxv. 
5).  This  has  been  literally  fulfilled,  and  Burck- 
hardt  actually  found  that  a  party  of  Arabs  had 
stabled  their  camels  among  the  ruins  of  Rabbah. 

The  Rabbah  of  Josh.  xv.  60  was  in  the  tribe  of 
Judah. 

RAB'BATH-AM'MON.     [Rabbah.] 

RAB'BATH  MOAB.     [Ar.] 

RABBI,  a  title  of  honour  given  to  the  teachers 
of  the  law  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and  for  which 
there  is  no  exact  equivalent  in  our  language, 
though  perhaps  in  purport  and  usage  it  comes 
near  to  '  doctor '  or  '  master :'  a  word  combining 
both  these  significations  would  fairly  represent  it. 

RABBONI,  the  title  of  highest  honour  applied 
by  the  Jews  to  the  teachers  of  the  law  [Rabbi]. 

RAB'SARIS,  one  of  the  three  Assyrian  gene- 
rals in  command  of  the  army  which  appeared 
before  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xviii.  17)  [Rab-sha- 
keh].  The  word  means  '  chief  of  the  eunuchs,' 
who  is  always  an  officer  of  high  rank  and  dignity 
in  the  Oriental  courts  ;  and  his  cares  are  not  con- 
fined to  the  harem,  but  many  high  public  func- 
tions devolve  upon  him. 

RAB'-SHAKEH  {chief-cup-bearer).  Notwith- 
standing its  seemingly  official  significance,  it  ap- 
pears to  have  been  used  as  a  proper  name,  as 
Butler  with  us  ;  for  the  person  who  bore  it  was 
a  military  chief  in  high  command,  under  Sen- 
nacherib king  of  Assyria.  Yet  it  is  not  impos- 
sible, according  to  Oriental  usages,  that  a  royal 
cup-bearer  should  hold  a  military  command ;  and 
the  office  itself  was  one  of  high  distinction.  He  is 
the  last  named  of  three  Assyrian  generals  who 
appeared  before  Jerusalem ;  and  was  the  utterer 
of  the  insulting  speeches  addressed  to  the  be- 
sieged. 2  Kings  xviii.  17,  19;  26,  28,  37  ;  xix. 
4,  8  ;  Isa.  xxxvi.  2,  4.  12,  13,  22  ;  xxxvii.  4,  8. 

RA'CHEL  (an  ewe\  one  and  the  most  beloved 
of  the  two  daughters  of  Laban,  whom  Jacob  mar- 
ried (Gen.  xxix.  16,  seq.),  and  who  became  the 
mother  of  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  in  giving  birth 
to  the  latter  of  whom  she  died  near  Bethlehem, 
where  her  sepulchre  is  shown  to  this  day  (Gen. 
XXX.  22;  XXXV.  16).  For  more  minute  particu- 
lars see  Jacob,  with  whose  history  Rachel's  is 
closely  involved. 

RAGU'EL,  or  Recel  {friend  of  God).  1.  A 
son  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxxvi.  4,  10).  2.  The  father 
of  Jethro  (Exod.  ii.  18;  Num.  x.  29).  Some 
confound  him  with  Jethro;  but  in  the  text  last 
cited,  he  is  called  the  father  of  Hobab,  who  seems 
to  have  been  the  same  as  Jethro.  In  the  same 
passage,  indeed,  the  daughters  of  the  '  priest  of 
Midian '  relate  to  '  Reuel  their  father '  their  ad- 
venture with  Moses :  which  might  seem  to  sup- 
port his  identity  with  Jethro ;  but  it  is  quite  a 
Scriptural  usage  to  call  a  grandfather  '  father,' 
and  a  granddaughter,  'daughter'  [Hohab].  3. 
Another  person  of  this  name  occurs  in  1  Chron. 
ix.  8. 

1.  RA'HAB,  a  name  signifying  '  sea-monster,' 
which  is  applied  as  an  appellation  to  Eg)'pt  in 
Ps.  Ixxiv.  13,  14  ;  Ixxxvii.  4;  Ixxxix.  10;  Isa. 
Ii.  9  (and  sometimes  to  its  king,  Ezek.  xxix.  3  ; 
xxxiii.  3,  comp.  Ps.  Ixviii.  31);   which   meta- 


KAMAH 

phorical  desiguation  probably  involves  an  allusion 
to  the  crocodiles,  hippopotami,  and  other  aquatic 
creatures  of  the  Nile. 

2.  KA'HAB,  properly  Rachab  (large),  a 
-woman  of  Jericho  who  received  into  her  house 
the  two  spies  who  were  sent  by  Joshua  into 
that  city  ;  concealed  them  under  the  flax  laid  out 
upon  the  house-top,  when  they  were  sought  after ; 
and,  having  given  them  important  information, 
which  showed  that  the  inhabitants  were  much 
disheartened  at  the  miracles  which  had  attended 
the  march  of  the  Israelites,  enabled  them  to 
escape  over  the  wall  of  the  town,  upon  which  her 
dwelling  was  situated.  For  this  important  ser- 
vice Eahab  and  her  kindred  were  saved  by  the 
Hebrews  from  the  general  massacre  which  fol- 
lowed the  taking  of  Jericho  (Josh.  ii.  1-21 ;  vi. 
17  ;  comp.  Heb.  xi.  31). 

In  the  narrative  of  these  transactions  Rahab  is 
called  zonah,  which  our  own,  after  the  ancient 
versions,  renders  '  harlot.'  The  Jewish  writers, 
however,  being  unwilling  to  entertain  the  idea  of 
their  ancestors  being  involved  in  a  disreputable 
association  at  the  commencement  of  their  great 
undertaking,  chose  to  interpret  the  word '  hostess,' 
one  who  keeps  a  public  house.  But  the  word 
signifies  harlot  in  every  other  text  where  it  occurs, 
the  idea  of  '  hostess '  not  being  represented  oy  this 
or  any  other  word  in  Hebrew,  as  the  function  re- 
presented by  it  did  not  exist.  There  were  no 
inns  ;  and  when  certain  substitutes  for  inns  event- 
ually came  into  use,  they  were  never,  in  any 
Eastern  country,  kept  by  women.  On  the  other 
hand,  strangers  from  beyond  the  river  might  have 
repaired  to  the  house  of  a  harlot  without  suspi- 
cion or  remark.  The  house  of  such  a  woman  was 
also  the  only  one  to  which  they,  as  perfect  stran- 
gers, could  have  had  access,  and  certainly  the 
only  one  in  which  they  could  calculate  on  obtain- 
ing the  information  they  required  without  danger 
from  male  inmates.  If  we  are  concerned  for  the 
morality  of  Rahab,  the  best  proof  of  her  refor- 
mation is  found  in  the  fact  of  her  subsequent 
marriage  to  Salmon :  this  implies  her  previous 
conversion  to  Judaism,  for  which  indeed  her  dis- 
course with  the  spies  evinces  that  she  was  pre- 
pared. 

RAIN.    [Palestine.] 

RAM.     [Sheep.] 

RA'MAH  (a  high  place,  height),  the  name  of 
several  towns  and  villages  in  Palestine,  which  it 
is  not  in  all  cases  easy  to  distinguish  from  one 
another. 

1.  RAMAH,  a  town  of  Benjamin  (Josh,  xviii. 
2.5),  in  the  vicinity  of  Gibeah  and  Geba;  on  the 
way  from  Jerusalem  to  Bethel  (Judg.  iv.  5),  and 
not  far  from  the  confines  of  the  two  kin{.'doms. 
Jerome  places  it  six  Roman  miles  north  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  Josephus  places  it  forty  stadia  from 
Jerusalem.  In  accordance  with  all  these  inti- 
mations, at  the  distance  of  two  hours'  journey 
north  of  Jerusalem,  upon  a  hill  a  little  to  the  east 
of  the  great  northern  road,  a  village  still  exists 
under  the  name  of  er-Ram,  in  which  we  cannot 
hesitate  to  recognise  the  representative  of  the 
ancient  Ramah. 

2.  RAMAH,  of  Samuel,  so  called,  where  the 
prophet  lived  and  was  buried  (1  Sam.  i.  19;  ii. 
11;  vii.  17;  viii.  -4;  xv.  34;  xvi.  13,  19;  xviii. 
19,  22,  23 ;  xxv.  1  ;  xxviii.  3).  It  is  probably 
the  same  with  the  Ramathaim-Zophim  to  which 


RAMS'  SKINS,  RED  693 

his  father  Elkanah  belonged  (1  Sam.  i.  1,  19). 
The  position  of  this  Ramah  was  early  lost  sight 
of  by  tradition,  and  the  variety  of  conflicting 
opinions  regarding  it  shows  that  nothing  is  known 
with  certainty  on  the  subject. 

3.  RAMAH,  a  city  of  Naphtali  (Josh.  xix. 
36). 

4.  RAMAH,  a  town  of  Gilead  (2  Kings  viii. 
29),  the  name  of  which  is  given  more  fully  in 
Josh.  xiii.  26,  as  Ramoth-Mizpeh. 

RAME'SES,  an  Egyptian  city  in  the  land  of 
Goshen,  built,  or  at  least  fortified,  by  the  labour 
of  the  Israelites  (Gen.  xlvii.  1 1 ;  Exod.  i.  1 1 ;  xii. 
37 ;  Num.  xxxiii.  3-5).  The  name  of  the  city 
seems  to  have  been  sometimes  given  to  the  whole 
province  (Gen.  xlvii.  11),  by  which  it  would  ap- 
pear to  have  been  the  chief  city  of  the  district. 
It  was  probably  situated  on  the  water-shed  between 
tb**  Bitter  Lakes  and  the  Valley  of  the  Seven 
Wells,  not  far  from  Heroopolis,  but  not  identical 
with  that  city.  The  name  means  '  son  of  the 
sun,'  and  was  borne  by  several  of  the  ancient 
kings  of  Egypt,  one  of  whom  was  probably  the 
founder  of  the  city. 

RAMOTH  {heights,  pi.  of  Ramah).  There  were 
several  places  of  this  name,  usually  with  some 
addition  to  distinguish  them  from  one  another. 

1.  RAMOTH-GILEAD,  called  also  Ramoth- 
Mizpeh,  or  simply  Ramoth,  a  town  in  Gilead, 
within  the  borders  of  Gad  (Josh.  xiii.  26),  which 
belonged  to  the  Levites  (Josh.  xxi.  38 ;  1  Chron. 
vi.  65,  80).  It  was  one  of  the  cities  of  refuge 
(Dent.  iv.  43 ;  Josh.  xx.  8),  and  one  of  the 
towns  in  which  an  intendaut  was  stationed  by 
Solomon  (1  Kings  iv.  13).  It  was  the  last  of 
their  conquests  which  the  Syrians  held  ;  and  Ahab 
was  killed  (1  Kings  xxii.  1-37  ;  2  Chron.  xviii.), 
and  fourteen  years  after  his  son  Joram  was 
wounded  (2  Kings  viii.  28),  in  the  attempt  to 
recover  it.  The  strength  of  the  place  is  attested 
by  the  length  of  time  the  Syrians  were  enabled 
to  hold  it,  and  by  Ahab  and  Joram  having  both 
been  solicitous  to  obtain  the  aid  of  the  kings  of 
Judah  when  about  to  attack  it ;  these  being  two  of 
the  only  three  expeditions  in  which  the  kings  of 
Judah  and  Israel  ever  co-operated.  It  was  here 
also  that  Jehu  was  proclaimed  and  anointed 
king  (2  Kings  ix.  1-6);  but  it  is  not  very  clear 
whether  the  army  was  then  still  before  the  town, 
or  in  actual  possession  of  it.  Eusebius  places 
Ramoth-Gilead  on  the  river  Jabbok,  fifteen 
Roman  miles  west  of  Philadelphia  (Rabbah), 
where  the  ruins  of  a  town  are  still  to  be  seen. 
Buckingham  is,  however,  more  disposed  to  seek 
the  site  of  Ramoth-Gilead  in  a  place  now  called 
Ramtha,  or  Rameza,  which  is  about  twenty-three 
miles  N.W.N,  from  Philadelphia,  and  about  four 
miles  north  of  the  Jabbok,  where  he  noticed  some 
ruins  which  he  could  not  examine. 

RA'MATH-LE'HI.  This  name,  which  means 
height  of  the  jawbone,  belonged  to  a  place  on  the 
borders  of  Philistia,  and  is  referred  by  the  sacred 
writer  to  the  jaw-bone  with  which  Samson 
slaughtered  the  Philistines  (Judg.  xv.  17). 

RA'MOTH-NE'GEB  (Ramolh  of  the  south),  a 
city  in  the  tribe  of  Simeon  (Josh.  xix.  8 ;  i  Sam. 
XXX.  27). 

RAMS'  HORNS.     [Musical  Instkdments.] 

RAMS"  SKINS,  RED,  occurs  in  Exod.  xxv. 
5,  and  xxxv.  7.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
red  rams'  skins  here  noticed  are  to  be  understood 


694  RECHABITES 

as  the  produce  of  the  African  Aoudad,  the  Ovis 
tragelaphtts  of  naturalists,  whereof  the  bearded 
sheep  are  a  domesticated  race.  We  agree  with 
Dr.  Mason  Harris,  that  the  skins  in  question  were 
most  likely  tanned  and  coloured  crimson. 

RAVEN.  The  raven  is  very  generally  con- 
founded M'ith  the  carrion  crow,  but  though  very 
similar  is  quite  distinct  from  it.  Its  size  is  larger, 
its  black  colour  more  iridescent ;  it  is  gifted  with 
greater  sagacity  ;  is  naturally  observant  and 
solitary,  while  the  crow  is  gregarious  in  its 
habits ;  lives  in  pairs ;  has  a  most  acute  scent ; 
and  flies  to  a  great  height. 

Whether  the  raven  of  Palestine  is  the  common 
species,  or  the  Corvus  Montanns  of  Temminck, 
is  not  quite  determined  ;  for  there  is  of  the  ravens, 
or  greater  form  of  crows,  a  smaller  group  in- 
cluding two  or  three  others,  all  similar  in  man- 
ners, and  unlike  the  carrion  crows,  which  are 
gregarious,  and  seemingly  identical  in  both 
hemispheres.  Sometimes  a  pair  of  ravens  will 
descend  without  fear  among  a  flight  of  crows, 
take  possession  of  the  carrion  that  may  have 
attracted  them,  and  keep  the  crows  at  a  distance 
till  they  themselves  are  gorged.  The  habits  of 
the  whole  genus  render  it  unclean  in  the  Hebrew 
law;  and  the  malignant,  ominous  expression  of 
the  raven,  together  with  the  colour  of  its  plumage, 
powers  of  voice,  and  solitary  habits,  are  the  causes 
of  that  universal  and  often  superstitious  attention 
with  which  mankind  have  ever  regarded  it.  This 
bird  is  the  first  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  as  being 
sent  forth  by  Noah  out  of  the  ark  on  the  subsiding 
of  the  waters ;  and  in  1  Kings  xvii.  4,  ravens  bring 
flesh  and  bread  at  morning  and  eve  to  the  pro- 
phet Elijah. 

REBEK'AH  (a  noosed  cord)  ;  daughter  of 
Bethuel,  and  sister  of  Laban,  who  became  the 
wife  of  Isaac,  and  the  mother  of  Jacob  and  Esau. 
The  particulars  of  her  history  and  conduct,  as 
given  in  Scripture,  chiefly  illustrate  her  preference 
of  Jacob  over  Esau,  and  have  been  related  in  the 
article  Jacob:  see  also  Isaac. 

RE'CHAB  {rider),  son  of  Hemath  the  Kenite, 
and  probably  a  descendant  of  Jethro  [Kenites]  : 
he  is  only  known  as  the  father  of  Jonadab,  the 
founder  of  the  sect  of  Rechabites,  which  took  from  j 
him  its  name  (2  Kings  x.  15  ;  1  Chrou.  ii.  5.5; 
Jer.  XXXV.  6).  ! 

RE'CHABITES.     The    tribe    or    family   of  j 
Kenites,  whom  Jonadab,  the  son  of  Rechab,  sub-  ' 
jected  to  a  new  rule  of  life  ;  or  rather  bound  to  | 
the  continued  observance  of  ancient  usages  which  • 
were   essential   to   their  separate   existence,  but 
■which  the  progress  of  their  intercourse  with  towns 
seemed  likely  soon  to  extinguish.    By  thus  main-  \ 
taining  their  independent  existence  as  a  pastoral 
people,  they  would  keep  themselves  from  being 
involved  in  the  distractions  and  internal  wars  of 
the  country,  would  be  in  no  danger  of  becoming 
objects  of  jealousy  and  suspicion  to  the  Israelites, 
and  would  be  able  at  all  times  to  remove  from  a 
country    in   which   they   were   strangers.      The 
Rechabites  found  so  much  advantage  in  these  , 
rules,  that  they  observed  them  with  great  strict-  ! 
ness  for  about  300  years,  when  we  first  become 
aware  of  their  existence.     Jeremiah  put  to  the 
proof  their  adherence  to  their  founder's  rules,  and 
they  stood  the  test  ;Jer.  xxxv.  6,  7).  .        .    | 

What  eventually  became  of  the  Rechabites  is 
not  known.     The  probability  is  that,  when  they  . 


REHOBOTH-IR 

found  themselves  no  longer  safe  among  the 
Hebrews,  they  withdrew  into  the  desert  from 
which  they  at  first  came,  and  which  was  peopled 
by  men  of  similar  habits  of  life,  among  whom,  in 
the  course  of  time,  they  lost  their  separate  exist- 
ence. 

RECORDER,  the  title  of  a  high  officer  in  the 
court  of  the  kings  of  Judah  (2  Sam.  viii.  16  ;  1 
Kings  iv.  3  ;  2  Kings  xviii.  18).  '  Remembrancer' 
would  perhaps  be  a  more  exact  translation  of 
the  title.  The  officer  thus  designated  seems  to 
have  been  not  only  the  grand  custodier  of  the 
public  records,  but  to  have  kept  the  responsible 
registry  of  the  current  transactions  of  the  govern- 
ment. This  was  an  employment  of  the  very 
first  rank  and  dignity  in  the  courts  of  the 
ancient  East. 

REED.  The  word  thus  translated  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  Kaneh,  which  occurs  in  1  Kings 
xiv.  15  ;  2  Kings  xviii.  21  ;  Job  xl.  21  ;  Isa.  xix. 
6  ;  xxxv.  7  ;  xxxvi.  6  ;  xlri.  3 ;  Ezek.  xxix.  G. 
It  is  the  probable  source  of  our  word  cane,  a  term 
which  seems  to  have  been  used  at  the  time  our 
translation  was  made  in  a  more  general  sense 
than  at  present,  when  the  term  cane  has  been 
applied  more  particularly  to  the  stems  of  the 
Calamus  rutang,  and  other  species  of  rattan 
canes,  which  we  have  good  grounds  for  believing 
were  unknown  to  the  ancients.  In  most  of  the 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament  the  word  Kaneh 
Seems  to  be  applied  strictly  to  reeds  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  growing  in  water,  that  is,  to  the 
hollow  stems  or  culms  of  grasses,  which  are 
usually  weak,  easily  shaken  about  by  wind  or 
by  water,  fragile,  and  breaking  into  sharp-pointed 
splinters. 

RED  SEA.     [Sea.] 

RED  SEA,  PASSAGE  OF.    [Exodus.] 

REFINER.     [Metals.] 

REFUGE,  CITIES  OF.  [Cities  of  Re- 
fuge.] 

RF/HOB,  called  also  Beth-Rehob,  a  town  on 
the  northern  boixler  of  Palestine  (Num.  xiii.  22), 
not  far  from  Dan  (Judg.  xviii.  27-29).  It  was 
assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Asher  (Josh.  xix.  28),  and 
was  a  Levitical  city  (Josh.  xxi.  31  ;  1  Chron.  vi. 
73).  It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  the 
Israelites  ever  had  it  in  actual  possession  (comp. 
Judg.  i.  31 ;  2  Sam.  x.  6,  8). 

REHOB,  the  father  of  Hadadezer,  king  of 
Zobah,  in  Syria  (2  Sam.  viii.  3). 

RKHOBO'AM  (^e  enlarges  the  people),  only 
son  of  Solomon,  born  of  an  Ammonitess,  called 
Naamah  (1  Kings  xiv.  21,  31).  His  reign  com- 
menced B.C.  975,  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  forty- 
one,  and  lasted  seventeen  years.  This  reign  was 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  political  crisis  which 
gave  rise  to  it,  and  which  resulted  in  the  separa- 
tion of  the  previously  single  monarchy  into  two 
kingdoms,  of  which  the  smaller,  which  took  the 
name  of  Judah,  adhered  to  the  house  of  David. 
All  the  points  involved  in  this  important  event, 
and  its  immediate  results,  have  been  considered 
in  the  articles  Israel,  Jekoboam,  Judah. 

REHO'BOTH,  a  name  meaning  '  wide  places,' 
or  '  ample  room,'  as  is  indicated  by  Isaac  in  giv- 
ing it  to  some  of  the  wells  which  he  dug  in  the 
south  of  Palestine  (Gen.  xxvi.  22). 

REHOBOTH-IR  {Rehobolh-city),  a  town  of 
ancient  Assyria  (Gen.  x.  11),  the  site  of  which 
has  not  been  ascertained. 


RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST 

REHOBOTH-HAN'NAHAR,  or  Rehoboth  of 
the  river,  the  birth-place  of  one  of  the  Edomitish 
kings,  named  Saul  (Gen.  xxxvi.  37).  The  river 
is,  doubtless,  the  Euphrates,  and  the  place  is  pro- 
bably represented  by  the  modern  er-Rahabeh, 
upon  the  west  bank  of  that  river,  between  Rakkah 
and  Anah. 

REM'PHAN,  or  Rephan,  a  name  quoted  in 
Acts  vii.  40,  from  Amos  v.  '2G.  But  according  to 
the  received  pointing,  the  passage  would  better 
read,  '  Ye  bore  the  tabernacle  of  your  king  (idol), 
and  the  statue  (or  statues)  of  your  idols,  the  star 
of  your  god,  which  ye  make  to  yourselves.'  Ac- 
cording to  this  reading,  the  name  of  the  idol  so 
■worshipped  by  the  Israelites  is  in  fact  not  given, 
although  the  mention  of  a  star  still  suggests  that 
some  planet  is  intended.  The  reference  is  pro- 
^  bably  to  Saturn,  who  was  worshipped  by  the 
'  Semitic  nations  along  with  Mars  as  an  evil  demon 
to  be  propitiated  with  sacrifices. 

REPH'AIM,  an  ancient  people  of  unusual 
stature,  who,  iu  the  time  of  Abraham,  dwelt  in 
the  country  beyond  the  Jordan,  iu  and  about 
Ashtoreth-Karuaim  (Gen.  xiv.  5).  There  seems 
reason  to  think  that  the  Rephaim  were  the  most 
ancient  or  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  Palestine 
prior  to  the  Canaanites,  by  whom  they  were  gra- 
dually dispossessed  of  the  regions  west  of  the 
Jordan,  and  driven  beyond  that  river.  Only  a 
remnant  of  the  race  remained  at  the  time  of  the 
ingress  of  the  Israelites  imder  Joshua. 

REPHAIM,  VALLEY  OF,  a  valley  begin- 
ning adjacent  to  the  valley  of  Hinnom,  south- 
west of  Jerusalem,  and  stretching  away  south- 
west on  the  right  of  the  road  to  Bethlehem  (Josh. 
XV.  8  ;  xvii.  5  ;  xviii.  6  ;  2  Sam.  v.  18,  22).  This 
name  corroborates  the  presumption  that  the  Re- 
phaim were  originally  west  of  the  Jordan. 

REPH'IDIM,  a  station  of  the  Israelites  in  pro- 
ceeding to  Sinai.     [Sinai.] 

RE'SEN,  an  ancient  town  of  Assyria,  described 
as  a  great  city  lying  between  Nineveh  and  Calah 
(Gen.  X.  12).     Its  site  is  unknown. 

RESURRECTION  OF  CHRIST.  After  our 
Lord  had  completed  the  work  of  redemption  by 
his  death  upon  the  cross,  he  rose  victorious  from 
the  grave,  and  to  those  who  through  faith  in  him 
should  become  members  of  his  body,  he  became 
'  the  prince  of  life.'  Since  this  event,  however, 
independently  of  its  importance  in  respect  to  the 
internal  connection  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  was 
manifestly  a  miraculous  occurrence,  the  credibility 
of  the  narrative  has  been  denied  by  some,  while 
others  who  have  admitted  the  facts  as  recorded 
to  be  beyond  dispute,  yet  have  attempted  to  show 
that  Christ  was  not  really  dead ;  but  that,  being 
stunned  and  palsied,  he  wore  for  a  time  the 
appearance  of  death,  and  was  afterwards  restored 
to  consciousness  by  the  cool  grave  and  the  spices. 

Objections  of  this  nature  do  not  require  notice 
here;  but  a  few  words  upon  the  apparent  discre- 
pancies of  the  Gospel  narratives  will  not  be  mis- 
placed. These  discrepancies  were  early  per- 
ceived ;  and  various  writers  have  commented  on 
them  with  the  view  of  throwing  uncertainty  and 
doubt  over  the  whole  of  this  portion  of  Gospel 
history.  A  numerous  host  of  theologians,  how- 
ever, rose  to  combat  and  refute  these  objections  ; 
among  others  Griesbach,  who  remarks  that  all 
the  discrepancies  are  trifling,  and  not  of  such 
moment  as  to  render  the  narrative  uncertain  and 


REUBEN 


69£ 


suspected,  or  to  destroy  or  even  diminish  the  cre- 
dibility of  the  Evangelists ;  but  rather  serve  to 
show  how  extremely  studious  they  were  of  truth, 
'  and  how  closely  and  even  scrupulously  they  fol- 
lowed their  documents.' 

RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY.  This 
expression  is  used  to  denote  the  revivification  of 
the  human  body  after  it  has  been  forsaken  by  the 
soul,  or  the  re-union  of  the  soul  hereafter  to  the 
body  which  it  had  occupied  in  the  present  world. 
Considerable  diversity  of  opinion  has  prevailed 
respecting  the  extent  to  which  the  doctrine  of  the 
resurrection  was  known  to  the  ancient  Jews.  In 
the  time  of  Christ,  however,  the  belief  of  this 
doctrine  in  connection  with  a  state  of  future  retri- 
bution, was  held  by  the  Pharisees  and  the  great 
body  of  the  Jewish  people,  and  was  only  disputed 
by  the  Sadducees. 

But  although  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection 
was  thus  prevalent  among  the  Jews  in  the  time 
of  Christ,  it  might  still  have  been  doubtful  and 
obscure  to  us,  had  not  Christ  given  to  it  the  sanc- 
tion of  his  authority,  and  declared  it  a  constituent 
part  of  his  religion  (e.  g..  Matt.  xxii. ;  John  v., 
viii.  xi.). 

The  principal  points  which  can  be  collected 
from  the  New  Testament  on  this  subject  are  the 
following: — 1.  The  raising  of  the  dead  is  every 
where  ascribed  to  Christ,  and  is  represented  as 
the  last  work  to  be  undertaken  by  him  for  the 
salvation  of  man  (John  v.  21  ;  xi.  25  ;  1  Cor.xv. 
22,  sq. ;  1  Thess.  iv.  15;  Rev.  i.  18).  2.  All  the 
dead  will  be  raised,  without  respect  to  age,  rank, 
or  character  in  this  world  (John  v.  28,  29  ;  Acts 
xxiv.  15;  I  Cor.  xv.  22).  3,  This  event  is  to 
take  place  not  before  the  end  of  the  world,  or  the 
general  judgment  (John  v.  21  ;  vi.  39,  40;  xi. 
24  ;  1  Cor.  xy.  22-28 ;  1  Thess.  iv.  15  ;  Rev.  xx. 
11).  4.  The  manner  in  which  this  marvellous 
change  shall  be  accomplished  is  necessarily  be- 
yond our  present  comprehension  ;  and,  therefore, 
the  Scripture  is  content  to  illustrate  it  by  figura- 
tive representations,  or  by  proving  the  possibility 
and  intelligibility  of  the  leading  facts.  Some  of 
the  figurative  descriptions  occur  in  John  v.; 
Matt.  xxiv. ;  1  Cor.  xv.  52;  1  Thess.  iv.  16; 
Phil.  iii.  21.  5.  The  possibility  of  a  resurrection 
is  powerfully  argued  by  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xv.  32, 
sq.,  by  comparing  it  with  events  of  common  oc- 
currence in  the  natural  world.  (See  also  ver.  12- 
14,  and  compare  Acts  iv.  2.)  But  although  this 
body  shall  be  so  raised  as  to  preserve  its  identity, 
it  must  yet  undergo  certain  purifying  changes  to 
fit  it  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  to  render  it 
capable  of  immortality  (1  Cor.  xv.  35,  sq.), 
so  that  it  shall  become  a  glorified  bodv  like  that 
of  Christ  (ver.  49;  Rom,  vi.  9;  Phil.  iii.  21); 
and  the  bodies  of  those  whom  the  last  day  finds 
alive,  will  undergo  a  similar  change  without  tast- 
ing death  (I  Cor.  xv.  51,  53;  2  Cor.  v.  4;  1 
Thess.  iv.  15,  .*q.;  Phil.  iii.  21). 

REU'BEN  {behold  a  son),  eldest  son  of  Jacob 
by  Leah  (Gen.  xxix.  32;  xxxv.  23;  xlvi.  8). 
His  improper  intercourse  with  Bilhah,  his  father's 
concubine  wife,  was  an  enormity  too  great  for 
Jacob  ever  to  forget,  and  he  spoke  of  it  with 
abhorrence  even  on  his  dying  bed  (Gen.  xxxii. 
22  ;  xlix.  4).  For  his  conduct  in  this  matter, 
Jacob,  in  his  last  blessing,  deprived  him  of  the 
pre-eminence  and  double  portion  which  belonged 
to  his  birth-right,  assigning  the  former  to  Judab, 


I     696  REVELATION,  BOOK  OF 

I     and  the  latter  to  Joseph  (Gen.  xlix.  3,  4  ;  comp. 
]     ver.  8-10;  xlviii.   5).     The  doom,  'Thou  shall 
I     not  excel,'  was  exactly  fulfilled  in  the  destinies  of 
the  tribe  descended  from  Reuben,  which  makes 
I     no  figure  in  the  Hebrew  history,  and  never  pro- 
j     duced  any  eminent  person.     At  the  time  of  the 
I     Exodus,  this  tribe  numbered  46,500  adult  males, 
I     which  ranked  it  as  the  seventh  in  population  ;  but 
I    at  the  later  census  before  entering  Canaan,  its 
numbers  had  decreased  to  43,7.30,  which  rendered 
!     it  the  ninth  in  population  (Num.  i.  21 ;  xxvi.  5). 
The  Reubenites  received  for  their  inheritance  the 
fine  pasture-land  (the  present  Belka)  on  the  east 
of  the  Jordan,  which  to  a  cattle-breeding  people, 
as  they  were,  must  have  been  very  desirable  (Num. 
xxxii.   1   sq. ;  xxxiv.   14;  Josh.  i.   14;  xv.   17). 
This  lay  south  of  the  territories  of  Gad  (Deut.  iii. 
12,  16),  and  north  of  the  river  Arnon.    Although 
thus  settled  earlier  than  the  other  tribes,  except- 
ing Gad  and  half  Manasseh,  who  shared  with 
them  the  territory  beyond  the  Jordan,  the  Reu- 
benites willingly  assisted  their  brethren  in  the 
wars  of  Canaan  (Num.  xxxii.  27,  29  ;  Josh.  iv. 
12);    after  which   they   returned   to   their  own 
lands  (Josh.  xxii.  15);  and  we  hear  little  more 
of  them  till  the  time  of  Hazael,  king  of  Syria, 
who  ravaged  and  for  a  time  held  possession  of 
their  country  (2  Kings  x.  33).     The  Reubenites, 
and  the  other  tribes  beyond  the  river,  were  natu- 
rally the  first  to  give  way  before  the  invaders  from 
the  East,  and  were  the  first  of  all  the  Israelites 
sent  into  exile  by  Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria, 
B.C.  773  (1  Chron.v.  26). 

REVELATION.  BOOK  OF.  In  respect  to  the 
authorship  of  this  book,  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
the  writer  styles  himself  John,  but  does  not  call 
himself  an  apostle  (i.  4,  9  ;  xxii.  8;.  Hence  some 
have  attributed  the  book  to  another  John,  usually 
designated  the  presbyter.  But  there  is  no  direct 
evidence  that  this  was  the  case;  while  on  the 
other  hand  Justin  Martyr,  TertuUian,  Clement  of 
Alexandria,  and  Origen,  all  ascribe  it  to  the 
Apostle.  We  are  disposed,  therefore,  to  abide  by 
the  ancient  opinion  that  the  book  was  written  by 
the  beloved  disciple.  Ecclesiastical  tradition 
clearly  favours  this  view,  while  the  objections 
from  alleged  internal  evidence,  so  earnestlj'  urged 
by  recent  German  critics,  do  not  appear  suffi- 
ciently strong  to  overturn  it. 

But  the  entire  question  of  authorship  is  more 
curious  than  profitable.  The  book  may  not  have 
been  written  by  an  apostle,  and  yet  be  equal  in 
authority  to  any  acknowledged  production  of  an 
apostle.  Luke  was  only  an  evangelist;  and  yet 
his  writings  are  infallibly  true  and  correct  in 
every  particular,  because  they  proceeded  from 
the  Holy  Spirit.  The  question  whether  the  Apo- 
calypse was  written  by  an  apostle  or  not,  is  of 
trifling  importance  as  long  as  its  inspiration  is 
maintained.  If  any  imagine  that,  in  attempting 
to  destroy  the  directly  apostolic  authorship,  they 
lessen  the  value  or  disturb  the  canonical  credit  of 
the  book,  they  are  mistaken. 

The  canonical  authority  of  the  book  has  been 
called  in  question,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times.  But  the  external  evidence  in  favour  of  its 
authenticity  and  genuineness  is  overwhelming, 
while  internal  circumstances  amply  confirm  it. 

The  style,  language,  and  manner  of  the  book 
cannot  be  mistaken.  In  dignity  and  sublimity 
it  is  equal  to  any  of  the  New  Testament  writings, 


REVELATION,  BOOK  OF 

if  not  superior  to  them  all.  The  variety  and 
force  of  the  images  impress  the  mind  of  every 
reader  with  conceptions  of  a  divine  origin. 
Surely  no  uninspired  man  could  have  written  in 
such  a  strain. 

There  is  considerable  difficulty  in  ascertain- 
ing the  time  and  place  at  which  it  was  written. 
The  prevalent  opinion  is,  that  the  book  was 
written  a.d.  96  or  97,  at  Patmos  or  Ephesus, 
after  Domitian's  death,  i.  e.  under  Nerva.  There 
is  no  definite  external  evidence  on  this  point, 
and,  judging  from  internal  circumstances,  some 
writers  assign  it  to  the  time  of  Nero,  and  the 
locality  of  Patmos,  a.d.  G7  or  68.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  fixed  upon  this  date. 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament,  like  those  of 
the  Old,  were  designed  to  promote  the  instruction 
of  God's  people  in  all  ages.  They  were  adapted 
to  teach,  exhort,  and  reprove  all  mankind.  They 
do  not  belong  to  the  class  of  ephemeral  writings 
that  have  long  since  fulfilled  the  purpose  for 
which  they  were  originally  composed.  Their 
object  was  not  merely  a  local  or  partial  one.  So 
of  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  suited  to  all.  '  Blessed 
is  he  that  readeth,  and  they  that  hear  the  words 
of  this  prophecy.'  But  this  general  characteristic 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  fact  that  it  arose 
out  of  specific  circumstances,  and  was  primarily 
meant  to  subserve  a  definite  end.  When  first 
written,  it  was  destined  to  suit  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  the  early  Christians.  The  times 
were  troublous.  Persecution  had  appeared  in 
various  forms.  The  followers  of  Christ  were 
exposed  to  severe  sufferings  for  conscience  sake. 
Their  enemies  were  fierce  against  them.  Com- 
paratively few  and  feeble,  the  humble  disciples 
of  the  Lamb  seemed  doomed  to  extinction.  But 
the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse  was  prompted  to 
present  to  them  such  views  as  were  adapted  to 
encourage  them  to  steadfastness  in  the  faith — to 
comfort  them  in  the  midst  of  calamity — and  to 
arm  them  with  resolution  to  endure  all  the  as- 
saults of  their  foes.  Exalted  honours,  glorious 
rewards,  are  set  before  the  Christian  soldier  who 
should  endure  to  the  end.  A  crown  of  victory — 
the  approbation  of  the  Redeemer — everlasting 
felicity ; — these  are  prepared  for  the  patient  be- 
liever. In  connection  with  such  representations 
the  final  triumph  of  Christianity  and  the  Mes- 
siah's peaceful  reign  with  hi*  saints,  form  topics 
on  which  the  writer  dwells  with  emphatic  earnest- 
ness (See  chap.  i.  1-3;  ii.  1;  iii.  22;  xxii.  6, 
7,  10-17).  The  suffering  Christians  of  primitive 
times  may  have  sorrowfully  thought  that  they 
should  never  be  able  to  stand  the  shock  of  their 
bitter  and  bloody  assailants,  the  power  and  policy 
of  the  world  being  leagued  against  them — but 
the  statements  of  the  writer  all  tend  to  the 
conclusion  that  truth  should  make  progress  in 
the  earth,  and  tlie  church,  emerging  out  of  all 
struggles,  wax  stronger  and  stronger.  If  such  be 
the  primary  and  principal  aim  of  the  book,  it 
follows  that  we  should  not  look  in  it  for  a  history 
of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world.  To  compose  a 
civil  history  did  not  comport  with  the  writer's 
object.  The  genius  of  Christ's  kingdom  is  totally 
different  from  that  of  the  kingdoms  of  the  world. 
It  advances  steadily  and  silently,  independently 
of,  and  frequently  in  opposition  to  them.  Hence 
the  Apocalypse  cannot  contain  a  history  of  the 
world.      It    exhibits  a    history   of  the  church. 


RHODES 


ROSE 


697 


specially  of  its  early  struggles  with  the  powers  of 
darkness  and  the  malice  of  superstition.  Trials 
impending  over  the  church,  and  judgments  over 
her  enemies, — these  form  the  burden  of  the  pro- 
phecy. 

The  body  of  the  work  is  contained  in  chaps, 
iv.-xxii.  6,  and  is  almost  entirely  a  series  of  sym- 
bolic representations.  To  this  is  prefixed  a  pro- 
logue (i.-iv).  A  brief  epilogue  is  subjoined 
(xxii.  6-21).  The  prologue  is  of  considerable 
length,  embracing  separate  epistles  to  the  seven 
churches  in  Asia  Minor,  peculiarly  fitted  to 
admonish  and  console  amid  the  sufferings  which 
were  impending.  After  the  prologue  or  intro- 
duction, we  come  to  the  body  of  the  work  itself, 
commencing  with  the  fourth  chapter.  With 
regard  to  the  symbolical  predictions  of  which 
this  part  of  the  work  consists,  the  mere  statement 
of  the  various  conflicting  theories  which  have 
been  propounded  would  occupy  a  large  volume. 
We  cannot  therefore  enter  upon  a^  subject  so 
extensive,  but  must  content  ourselves  with  refer- 
ring the  reader  to  the  works  in  which  the  inter- 
pretation of  these  prophecies  is  discussed  iu  all 
its  bearings. 

RE'ZEPH,  a  city  which  occurs  among  those 
subdued  by  the  Assyrians  (2  Kings  xix.  12;  Isa. 
xxxvii.  12).  It  is  possibly  the  same  with  the 
Rasapha  which  Abulfeda  places  at  nearly  a  day's 
journey  west  of  the  Euphrates. 

RE'ZIN,  the  last  king  of  Damascene-Syria, 
slain  by  Tiglath-pileser  (2  Kings  xv.  37 ;  xvi. 
5-10  ;  Isa.  vii.  1 ;  viii.  4-7)  [Damascus]. 

RE'ZON  (prince)  ;  an  oflicer  of  Hadadezer, 
king  of  Zobah,  who  established  the  independence 
of  Damascus,  and  made  it  the  seat  of  the  king- 
dom of  Damascene-Syria,  so  often  mentioned  in 
the  history  of  the  Hebrew  kingdoms  ( 1  Kings  xi. 
23,  24)  [Damascus]. 

RHE'GIUM,  a  city  on  the  coast  of  Italy,  near 
its  south-western  extremity,  opposite  Messina  in 
Sicily  (Acts  xxviii.  13).  It  is  now  called  Keggio, 
and  is  the  capital  of  Calabria. 

RHO'DA  (Rose),  a  servant  maid  mentioned  in 
Acts  xii.  13. 

RHO'DES,  an  island  in  the  Mediterranean, 
near  the  coast  of  Asia  Elinor,  celebrated  from  the 
remotest  antiquity  as  the  seat  of  commerce,  na- 
vigation, literature,  and  the  arts,  but  now  reduced 
to  a  state  of  abject  poverty  by  the  devastations  of 
war  and  the  tyranny  and  rapacity  of  its  Turkish 
rulers.  It  is  of  a  triangular  form,  about  forty- 
four  leagues  in  circumference,  twenty  leagues 
long  from  north  to  south,  and  about  six  broad. 
It  was  famed  in  ancient  times,  and  is  still  cele- 
brated, for  its  delightful  climate  and  the  fertility 
of  its  soil.  It  contains  two  cities — Rhodes,  the 
capital,  inhabited  chiefly  by  Turks,  and  a  small 
number  of  Jews;  and  the  ancient  Lindus,  now 
reduced  to  a  hamlet,  peopled  by  Greeks,  who  are 
almost  all  engaged  in  commerce.  Besides  these 
there  are  five  villages  occupied  by  Turks  and  a 
small  number  of  Jews ;  and  five  towns  and  forty- 
one  villages  inhabited  by  Greeks.  The  whole 
population  is  estimated  at  20,000.  The  city  of 
Rhodes  is  famous  for  its  huge  brazen  statue  of 
Apollo,  called  Colossus,  which  stood  at  the  mouth 
of  the  harbour,  and  was  so  high  that  ships  passed 
iu  full  sail  between  its  legs.  There  is  not  a 
single  vestige  of  this  celebrated  work  of  art  now 
remaining.      St.  Paul  appears  to  have  visited 


Rhodes  while  on  his  journey  to  Jerusalem,  a.d.  58 
(Acts  xxi.  1). 

The  antiquities  of  Rhodes  reach  no  farther 
back  than  the  residence  of  the  knights  of  St.  John 
of  Jerusalem.  The  remains  of  their  fine  old 
fortress,  of  great  size  and  strength,  are  still  to  be 
seen.  In  modern  times  Rhodes  has  been  chiefly 
celebrated  as  one  of  tlie  last  retreats  of  this  mi- 
litary order,  under  whom  it  obtained  great  cele- 
brity by  its  heroic  resistance  to  the  Turks ;  but 
in  the  time  of  Solyman  the  Great  a  capitulation 
was  agreed  upon,  and  the  island  was  finally  sur- 
rendered to  the  Turks,  under  whom  it  has  since 
continued. 

RIB'LAH,  a  town  on  the  northern  border  of 
Palestine,  in  the  district  of  Haraath,  through 
which  the  Babylonians,  both  in  their  irruptions 
and  departures,  were  accustomed  to  pass  (Num. 
xxxiv.  11;  2  Kings  xxiii.  33;  xxv.  26;  Jer. 
xxxix.  5  ;  lii.  10).  This  place  is  nowhere  men- 
tioned but  in  the  Bible. 

RIDDLE,  literally,  '  something  intricate  or 
complicated.'  An  example  of  a  riddle  occurs  in 
Judg.  xiv.  12-19,  where  Samson  proposes  to  the 
thirty  young  Philistines  who  attended  his  nup- 
tials, an  enigma,  derived  from  the  circumstance 
of  his  having  lately  found  a  swarm  of  bees  and 
honey  in  the  skeleton  of  the  lion,  which  he  had 
killed  some  months  before,  when  he  had  come  to 
espouse  his  wife.  This  riddle  or  enigma,  though 
unfair  in  regard  to  those  who  accepted  the  pledge 
to  unravel  it,  because  they  were  ignorant  of  the 
particular  fact  by  the  knowledge  of  which  alone 
it  could  be  explained  by  them,  nevertheless 
answers  to  the  approved  definitiou  of  an  enigma, 
as  consisting  of  an  artful  and  abstruse  proposition, 
put  in  obscure,  ambiguous,  and  even  contrary 
terms,  in  order  to  exercise  the  ingenuity  of  others 
in  finding  out  its  meaning. 

RIM'MON,  the  name  of  several  places  in  Pa- 
lestine, probably  distinguished  by  the  presence  of 
pomegranate-trees. 

1.  A  city  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  in  the  south 
of  Palestine  (Josh.  xv.  32;  xix.  7;  1  Ghron.  iv. 
32  ;  Zech.  xiv.  10). 

2.  A  town  on  a  high  conical  chalky  rock  or 
peak,  north-east  of  Gibeah  and  Miehmash,  near 
the  desert  (Judg.  xx.  45,  47;  xxi.  13).  The 
Onomasticon  places  it  fifteen  miles  north  of  Jeru- 
salem, which  corresponds  to  the  situation  of  this 
rock,  \Nhich  is  still  crowned  by  a  village  bearing 
the  name  of  Rummon. 

3.  A  city  of  Zebulon  (Josh.  xix.  3 ;  I  Chron. 
vi.  62). 

4.  A  station  of  the  Israelites  after  leaving  Sinai 
(Num.  xxxiii.  19). 

RIM'MON,  an  idol  worshipped  by  the  Syrians 
(2  Kings  V.  18).  As  this  name  is  found  nowhere 
but  in  the  Bible,  and  there  only  in  the  present 
text,  nothing  positive  can  be  aflarmed  concerning 
the  power  it  symbolized. 

Rl'PHATH,  a  northern  people  descended  from 
Gomer  (Gen.  x.  3). 

RIZ'PAH  (a  coal) ;  a  concubine  of  Saul,  me- 
morable for  the  touching  example  of  maternal 
affection  which  she  aflbrded,  in  watching  the 
dead  bodies  of  her  sons,  and  driving  the  birds 
away  from  them,  when  they  had  been  gibbeted  by 
the  Giheonites  (2  Sam.  iii.  7  ;  xxi.  8,  10,  11). 

ROSE.  The  Hebrew  word  rendered  '  rose '  in 
Sol.  Song  xi.  1,  and  Isa.  xxxv.  1,  is  not  now 


eaS        ROMANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

generally  understood  to  denote  a  rose,  but  pro- 
bably a  species  of  narcissus.  But  by  the  Greek 
word  rendered  '  rose '  in  the  Apocryphal  books 
(Ecclus.  xxiv.  14;  xxxix.  13;  I.  8;  Wisd.  xi.  8), 
that  flower  is  generally  allowed  to  be  designated. 
The  rose  was  as  highly  esteemed  among  an- 
cient, as  it  is  among  modern  nations,  if  -we  may 
judge  by  the  frequent  references  to  it  in  the  poets 
of  antiquity.  As  we  know  that  it  continues  to  be 
the  favourite  flower  of  the  Persians,  and  is  much 
cultivated  in  Egypt,  we  might  expect  more  fre- 
quent mention  of  some  of  its  numerous  species 
and  varieties  in  the  Jewish  writings.  This,  how- 
over,  is  not  the  case,  and  probably  arises  from  its 
being  less  common  in  a  wild  state  in  a  compara- 
tively dry  and  warm  climate  like  that  of  Syria. 
It  is,  however,  indigenous  in  some  parts.  Monro, 
as  quoted  in  Kitto's  Phi/sical  Histonj  of  Palestine, 
'  found  in  the  valley  of  Baalbek,  a  creeping  rose 
of  a  bright  yellow  colour  in  full  bloom,  about  the 
end  of  May.  About  the  same  time,  on  advancing 
towards  Rama  and  Joppa  from  Jerusalem,  the 
hills  are  found  to  be  to  a  considerable  extent 
covered  with  white  and  pink  roses.'  Mariti  found 
the  greatest  quantity  of  roses  in  the  hamlet  of  St. 
John,  in  the  desert  of  the  same  name.  '  In  this 
place  the  rose-plants  form  small  forests  in  the 
gardens.  The  greatest  part  of  the  roses  reared 
there  are  brought  to  Jerusalem,  where  rose-water 
is  prepared  from  them,  of  which  the  scent  is  so 
very  exquisite,  that  in  every  part  of  Lycia,  and 
also  in  Cyprus,  it  is  in  request  above  all  other 
rose-waters.'  Burckhardt  was  struck  with  the 
number  of  rose-trees  which  he  found  among  the 
ruins  of  Bozra  beyond  the  Jordan.  That  the 
rose  was  cultivated  in  Damascus  is  well  known. 
Indeed  one  species  is  named  Rosa  Damascena 
from  being  supposed  to  be  indigenous  there.  '  In 
the  gardens  of  the  city  roses  are  still  much  cul- 
tivated. Monro  says  that  in  s'ze  they  are  inferior 
to  our  damask  rose,  and  less  perfect  in  form ;  but 
that  their  odour  and  colour  are  far  more  rich. 
The  only  variety  that  exists  in  Damascus  is  a 
white  rose,  which  appears  to  belong  to  the  same 
species,  diff'ering  only  in  colour.' 

ROE,     The  Arabian  gazelle  is  probably  de- 
noted by  the  Hebrew  word  translated  'roe'  in 
the  Authorized  Version. 
ROLL.     [Writing.] 

ROMANS,  THE  EPISTLE  TO  THE.  This 
epistle  claims  our  interest  more  than  the  other 
didactic  epistles  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  because  it 
is  more  systematic,  and  because  it  explains  espe- 
cially that  truth  whicn  became  subsequently  the 
principle  of  the  reformation,  viz.,  righteousness 
through  faith. 

At  the  period  when  the  apostle  wrote  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  was  between  fifty  and 
sixty  years  old.  After  having  spent  two  years 
and  a  half  at  Ephesus,  he  planned  a  journey  to 
Macedonia,- Achaia,  Jerusalem,  and  Rome  (Acts 
xix.  21).  Having  spent  about  three  months  in 
travelling,  he  arrived  at  Corinth,  where  he  re- 
mained three  months  (Acts  xx.  2);  and  during 
this  second  abode  at  Corinth  he  wrote  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  (comp.  1  Cor.  xvi.  1-3,  and  2  Cor. 
ix.  with  Rom  xv.  25).  Paul  dispatched  this 
letter  by  a  Corinthian  woman,  who  was  just  then 
travelling  to  Rome  (xvi.  1),  and  sent  greetings 
from  an  inhabitant  of  Corinth  (xvi.  23;  comp. 
1  Cor.  i.  14). 


ROMANS,  EPISTLE  TO  THE 

It  is  probable  that  the  epistle  was  written 
about  the  year  58  or  59.  The  congregation  of 
Christians  at  Rome  was  formed  at  a  very  early 
period,  but  its  founder  is  unknown.  Paul  him- 
self mentions  two -distinguished  teachers  at  Rome, 
who  were  converted  earlier  than  himself.  Ac- 
cording to  Rom.  i.  8,  the  Roman  congregation 
had  then  attained  considerable  celebrity,  as  their 
faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Jews  at  Rome  were  first 
converted  to  Christianity.  But  at  the  time  when 
this  epistle  was  written  it  appears  that  the  Gentile 
Christians  in  the  Roman  church  were  then  more 
numerous  than  the  converted  Jews. 

In  the  introduction  the  apostle  states  that  he 
had  long  entertained  the  wish  of  visiting  the  me- 
tropolis, in  order  to  confirm  the  faith  of  the 
church,  and  to  be  himself  comforted  by  that 
faith.  But  having  hitherto  been  hindered  from 
carrying  his  intention  into  eflFect,  he  avails  him- 
self of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  the  journey  of 
Phoebe  to  Rome,  to  send  in  writing  the  sum  and 
substance  of  the  Christian  doctrine  which  he  had 
been  prevented  from  preaching  in  that  city. 

The  apostle  commences  his  epistle  by  describ- 
ing the  two  great  divisions  of  the  human  race, 
viz.,  those  who  underwent  the  preparatory  spi- 
ritual education  of  the  Jews,  and  those  who  did 
not  undergo  such  a  preparatory  education.  The 
chief  aim  of  all  nations,  according  to  him,  should 
be  the  righteousness  before  the  face  of  God,  or  ab- 
solute realization  of  the  moral  law.  According 
to  the  apostle,  the  heathen  also  have  their  Ian;  as 
well  religious  as  moral  internal  revelation  (Rom. 
i.  19,  32;  ii.  15).  The  heathen  have,  however, 
not  fulfilled  that  law  which  they  knew,  and  are  in 
this  respect  like  the  Jews,  who  also  disregarded 
their  own  law  (ii.).  Both  Jews  and  Gentiles  are 
transgressors,  or  by  the  law  separated  from  the 
grace  and  sonship  of  God  (Rom.  ii.  12;  iii.  20); 
consequently  if  blessedness  could  only  be  obtaiued 
by  fulfilling  the  demands  of  God,  no  man  could 
be  blessed.  God,  however,  has  gratuitously  givon 
righteousness  and  blessedness  to  all  who  believe 
in  Christ  (iii.  21-31);  the  Old  Testament  also 
recognises  the  value  of  religious  faith  (iv.)  :  thus 
we  freely  attain  to  peace  and  sonship  of  God  pre- 
sently, and  have  before  us  still  greater  things,  viz., 
the  future  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
(v.  1-11).  The  human  race  has  gained  in  Christ 
much  more  than  it  lost  in  Adam  (v.  12,  21).  This 
doctrine  by  no  means  encourages  sin  (vi.) :  on  the 
contrary,  men  who  are  conscious  of  divine  grace 
fulfil  the  law  much  more  energetically  than  they 
were  able  to  do  before  having  attained  to  this 
knowledge,  because  the  law  alone  is  even  apt  to 
sharpen  the  appetite  for  sin,  and  leads  finally  to 
despair  (vii.) ;  but  now  we  fiilfil  the  law  by 
means  of  that  new  spirit  which  is  given  unto  us, 
and  the  full  development  of  our  salvation  is  still 
before  us  (viii.  1-27).  The  sufferings  of  the  pre- 
sent time  cannot  prevent  this  development,  and 
must  rather  work  for  good  to  them  whom  God 
from  eternity  has  viewed  as  faithful  believers; 
and  nothing  can  separate  such  believers  from  the 
eternal  love  of  God  (viii.  28-39).  It  causes  pain 
to  behold  the  Israelites  themselves  shut  out  from 
salvation ;  but  they  themselves  are  the  cause  of 
this  seclusion,  because  they  wanted  to  attain  sal- 
vation by  their  own  resources  and  exertions,  by 
their  descent  from  Abraham,  and  by  their  fulfil- 


ROME 

ment  of  the  law  :  t)ms,  however,  the  Jews  have 
not  obtained  that  salvation  which  God  has  freely 
oflFered  under  the  sole  condition  of  faith  in  Christ 
(ix.)  ;  the  Jews  have  not  entered  upon  the  way  of 
faith,  therefore  the  Gentiles  were  preferred,  which 
was  predicted  by  the  prophets.  However,  the 
Jewish  race,  as  such,  has  not  been  rejected ;  some 
of  them  obtain  salvation  by  a  selection  made  not 
according  to  their  works,  but  according  to  the 
grace  of  God.  If  some  of  the  Jews  are  left  to 
their  own  obduracy,  even  their  temporary  fall 
serves  the  plans  of  God,  viz.,  the  vocation  of  the 
Gentiles.  After  the  mass  of  the  Gentiles  shall 
have  entered  in,  the  people  of  Israel  also,  in  their 
collective  capacity,  shall  be  received  into  the 
church  (xi.). 

The  authenticitj'  of  this  epistle  has  never  been 
questioned. 

ROME,  the  famous  capital  of  the  Western 
World,  and  the  present  residence  of  the  Pope, 
stands  on  the  river  Tiber,  about  fifteen  miles  from 
its  mouth,  in  the  plain  of  what  is  noW  called  the 
Campagna,  in  lat.  41°  ,54'  N.,  long.  12°  28'  E. 
The  country  around  the  city  is  not  a  plain,  but  a 
sort  of  undulating  table-land,  crossed  by  hills, 
while  it  sinks  towards  the  south-west  to  the 
marshes  of  Maremma,  which  coast  the  Mediter- 
ranean. In  ancient  geography  the  country,  in 
the  midst  of  which  Rome  lay,  was  termed  Latium, 
which,  in  the  earliest  times,  comprised  within  a 
space  of  about  four  geographical  square  miles  the 
country  lying  between  the  Tiber  and  the  Numi- 
cius,  extending  from  the  Alban  Hills  to  the  sea, 
having  for  its  chief  city  Laurentum.  Here,  on 
the  Palatine  Hill,  was  the  city  of  Rome  founded, 
but  it  was  extended,  by  degrees,  so  as  to  take  in 
six  other  hills,  at  the  foot  of  which  ran  deep 
valleys  that,  in  early  times,  were  in  part  over- 
flowed with  water,  while  the  hill  sides  were 
covered  with  trees.  The  site  occupied  by  modern 
Rome  is  not  precisely  the  same  as  that  which  was 
at  any  period  covered  by  the  ancient  city :  the 
change  of  locality  being  towards  the  north-west, 
the  city  has  partially  retired  from  the  celebrated 
hills.  About  two-thirds  of  the  area  within  the 
walls  (traced  by  Aurelian)  are  now  desolate,  con- 
sisting of  ruins,  gardens,  and  fields,  with  some 
churches,  convents,  and  other  scattered  habita- 
tions. Originally  the  city  was  a  square  mile  in 
circumference.  The  ground  on  which  the  mo- 
dern city  is  built  covers  about  one  thousand  acres, 
or  one  mile  and  a  half  square  ;  its  walls  form  a 
circuit  of  fifteen  miles,  and  embrace  an  area  of 
three  thousand  acres.  Three  of  the  seven  hills 
are  covered  with  buildings,  but  are  only  thinly 
inhabited.  The  greatest  part  of  the  population 
is  now  comprised  within  the  limits  of  the  Campus 
Martius.  The  ancient  city,  however,  was  more 
than  treble  the  size  of  the  modern,  for  it  had 
very  extensive  suburbs  beyond  the  walls.  The 
population  in  1836  consisted  of  153,678,  exclusive 
of  Jews,  who  amount  to  3700. 

The  connection  of  the  Romans  with  Palestine 
caused  Jews  to  settle  at  Rome  in  considerable 
numbers.  On  one  occasion,  in  the  reign  of  Tibe- 
rius, when  the  Jews  were  banished  from  the  city 
by  the  emperor,  for  the  misconduct  of  some  mem- 
bers of  their  body,  not  fewer  than  four  thousand 
enlisted  in  the  Roman  army  which  was  then  sta- 
tioned in  Sardinia.  From  Philo  also  it  appears 
that  the  Jews  iu  Rome  were  allowed  the  free 


RUFUS 


699 


use  of  their  national  worship,  and  generally  the 
observance  of  tlieir  ancestral  customs.  Then,  as 
now,  the  Jews  lived  in  a  part  of  the  city  appro- 
priated to  themselves,  where  with  a  zeal  for  which 
the  nation  had  been  some  time  distinguished,  they 
applied  themselves  with  success  to  proselytising. 
They  appear,  however,  to  have  been  a  restless 
colony ;  for  when,  after  their  expulsion  under 
Tiberius,  numbers  had  returned  to  Rome,  they 
were  again  expelled  from  the  city  by  Claudius. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Christians,  as  well  as  the 
Jews,  properly  so  called,  were  included  in  this 
expulsion. 

The  question.  Who  founded  the  church  at 
Rome?  is  one  of  some  interest  as  between  Catholic 
and  Protestant.  The  former  assigns  the  honour 
to  Peter,  and  on  this  grounds  an  argument  in 
favour  of  the  claims  of  the  papacy.  There  is, 
however,  no  sufiicient  reason  for  believing  that 
Peter  was  ever  even  so  much  as  within  the  walls 
of  Rome. 

ROOF.    [House.] 

ROOM.    [House.] 

RUBY.  The  word  rendered  '  ruby '  in  the 
Authorized  Version  (Job  xxviii.  18;  Prov.  iii. 
15;  viii.  11;  xx.  15;  xxxi.  JO;  Lam.  iv.  7) 
appears  rather  to  indicate  '  pearls.'  The  ruby  is,  | 
however,  generally  supposed  to  be  represented  by 
the  word  rendered  '  agate '  in  Ezek.  xxvii.  6,  and 
Isa.  liv.  12.  The  Oriental  ruby  is  distinguished 
for  its  vivid  red  colour,  and  was  regarded  as  the 
most  valuable  of  precious  stones  next  after  the 
diamond. 

RUE.  The  word  rae  occurs  only  in  Luke  xi. 
42.  '  But  woe  unto  you,  Pharisees  !  for  ye  tithe 
mint  and  rue  and  all  manner  of  herbs,  and  pass 
over  judgment,'  &c.  In  the  parallel  passage.  Matt. 
xxiii.  23,  dill,  translated  anise  in  the  English 
Version,  is  mentioned  instead  of  rue.  Both  dill 
and  rue  were  cultivated  in  the  gardens  of  Eastern 
countries  in  ancient  times  as  they  are  at  the  pre- 
sent day.  Rue  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  medi- 
cine, even  as  early  as  the  time  of  Hippocrates. 
Pliny  says,  '  Rue  is  an  herbe  as  medicinable  as 
the  best.  That  of  the  garden  hath  a  broader 
leafe,  and  brauncheth  more  than  the  wild,  which 
is  more  hotte,  vehement,  and  rigorous  iu  ail  opera- 
tions ;  also  that  is  it  sowed  usually  in  Februarie, 
when  the  western  wind,  Favonius,  bloweth.'  That 
it  was  employed  as  an  ingredient  in  diet,  and  as  a 
condiment,  is  abundantly  evident  from  Apicius,  as 
noticed  by  Celsius,  and  is  not  more  extraordi- 
nary than  the  fondness  of  some  Eastern  nations 
for  assafoetida  as  a  seasoning  to  food.  That  one 
kind  was  cultivated  by  the  Israelites  is  evident 
from  its  being  mentioned  as  one  of  the  articles  of 
which  the  Pharisees  paid  their  tithes,  though  they 
neglected  the  weightier  matters  of  the  law.  Ro- 
senmuller  states  that  in  the  Talmud  the  rue  is 
indeed  mentioned  amongst  kitchen  herbs ;  but, 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  there  expressly  stated,  that 
it  is  tithe  free,  it  being  one  of  those  herbs  which 
are  not  cultivated  in  gardens,  according  to  the 
g-eneral  rule  established  in  the  Talmud. 

RU'FUS.  A  person  of  this  name  was  one  of 
the  sons  of  Simon  the  Cyrenian,  who  was  com- 
pelled to  bear  the  cross  of  Christ  (Mark  xv.  21): 
he  is  supposed  to  be  tlie  same  with  the  Rufus  to 
whom  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Romans,  sends  his 
greeting  in  the  remarkable  words,  '  Salute  Rufus, 
chosen  in  the  Lord,  and  his  mother  and  mine' 


700 


RUSH 


(Rom.  xvi.  13).  He  is  said  to  have  been  one  of 
the  seventy  disciples,  and  eventually  to  have  had 
charge  of  the  church  at  Thebes. 

RUSH.  The  Hebrew  word  gome,  translated 
'  rush  '  and  '  bulrush  '  in  our  Authorized  Version 
(Job  viii.  11;  Isa.  xxxv.  7;  Exod.  ii.  3;  Isa. 
xviii.  2)  should  be  rendered  papyrus. 


This  plant  is  now  well  known :  it  belongs  to 
the  tribe  of  sedges,  and  is  not  a  rush  or  bulrush, 
as  in  the  Authorized  Version.  It  may  be  seen 
growing  to  the  height  of  six  or  eight  feet,  even  in 
tubs,  in  the  hothouses  of  this  country,  and  is  de- 
scribed by  the  ancients  as  growing  in  the  shallow 
parts  of  the  Nile.  The  root  is  fleshy,  thick,  and 
spreading  ;  the  stems  triangular,  eight  or  ten  feet 
in  height,  of  which  two  or  so  are  usually  under 
water,  thick  below  but  tapering  towards  the  apex, 
and  destitute  of  leaves  ;  those  of  the  base  broad, 
straight,  and  sword-ahaped,  but  much  shorter  than 
the  stem.  Cassiodorus,  as  quoted  by  Carpenter, 
graphically  described  it  as  it  appears  on  the  banks 
of  the  Nile,  '  There  rises  to  the  view  this  forest 
without  branches,  this  thicket  without  leaves, 
this  harvest  of  the  waters,  this  ornament  of  the 
marshes.' 

The  papyrus  was  well  known  to  the  ancients  as 
a  plant  of  the  waters  of  Egypt.  It  was  found  in 
almost  every  part  of  Egypt  inundated  by  the  Nile, 
in  the  Delta,  especially  iu  the  Sebennytic  nome, 
and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Memphis,  &c.  By 
some  it  was  thought  peculiar  to  Egypt;  by  others 
it  was  thought  to  be  a  native  also  of  India,  of  the 
Euphrates  near  Babylon,  of  Syria,  and  of  Sicily  ; 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  grow  in 
the  waters  of  hot  countries,  as,  for  instance,  near 
Babylon  or  in  India. 

A  brief  description  of  the  uses  of  this  plant,  as 
given  in  the  works  of  the  ancients,  is  thus  summed 
up  by  Parkinson  in  his  Herbal,  p.  1207:  'The 
plant,  say  the  ancients,  is  sweete,  and  used  by  the 
Egyptians,  before  that  bread  of  come  was  known 


RUTH 

unto  them,  for  their  food,  and  in  their  time  was 
chawed,  and  the  sweetnesse  sucked  forth,  the  rest 
being  spit  out;  the  roote  serveth  them  not  only 
for  fewell  to  burne,  but  to  make  many  sorts  of 
vessels  to  use,  for  it  yielded  much  matter  for  the 
purpose.  The  stalke  is  profitable  to  many  uses, 
as  to  make  ships,  and  of  the  barke  to  weave,  and 
make  sailes,  mats,  carpels,  some  kinds  of  gar- 
ments, and  ropes  also.'  The  construction  of  pa- 
pyrus  boats  is  mentioned  by  Theophrastus ;  and 
Plutarch  says,  '  Isis  circumnavigated  the  marshes 
in  a  papyrus  wherry  for  the  purpose  of  collecting 
the  pieces  of  Osiris's  body.'  From  Heliodorus's  ac- 
count it  appears  that  the  Ethiopians  made  use  of 
similar  boats ;  for  he  relates  that  the  Ethiopians 
passed  in  reed  wherries  over  the  Astaboras  ;  and 
he  adds  that  these  reed  wherries  were  swiftsailing, 
being  made  of  a  light  material,  and  not  capable 
of  carrying  more  than  two  or  three  men.  Bruce 
relates  that  a  similar  kind  of  boat  was  made  in 
Abyssinia  even  in  his  time,  having  a  keel  of 
acacia  wood,  to  which  the  papyrus  plants,  first 
sewed  together,  are  fastened,  being  gathered  u<p 
before  and  behind,  and  the  ends  of  the  plants  thus 
tied  together.  Representations  of  some  Egyptian 
boats  are  given  in  the  Pictorial  Bible  (ii.  p.  135) ; 
where  the  editor  remarks  that  when  a  boat  is 
described  as  being  of  reeds  or  rushes  or  papyrus 
(as  in  Egypt),  a  covering  of  skin  or  bitumen  is  to 
be  understood.  That  the  papyrus  was  employed 
for  making  paper  is  also  well  known,  and  Wil- 
kinson mentions  that  from  ancient  paper  being 
found  at  Thebes  and  elsewhere,  it  is  evident  that 
this  application  of  it  was  much  anterior  to  the 
time  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

RUTH,  a  Moabitish  woman,  brought,  under 
peculiar  circumstances,  into  intimate  relation  with 
the  stock  of  Israel,  and  whose  history  is  given  in 
one  of  the  books  of  the  sacred  canon  which  bears 
her  name.  The  narrative  that  brings  her  into  the 
range  of  inspired  story  is  constructed  with  idyllic 
simplicity  and  pathos,  and  forms  a  pleasant  relief 
to  the  sombre  and  repulsive  shades  of  the  picture 
which  the  reader  has  just  been  contemplating  in 
the  later  annals  of  the  Judges.  It  is  the  domestic 
history  of  a  family  compelled,  by  the  urgency  of 
a  famine,  to  abandon  the  land  of  Canaan,  and 
seek  an  asylum  in  the  territories  of  Moab.  Eli- 
melech,  the  head  of  the  emigrating  household, 
dies  in  the  land  of  his  sojourn,  where  his  two 
surviving  sons  '  took  them  wives  of  the  women  of 
Moab ;  the  name  of  the  one  was  Orpah,  and  the 
name  of  the  other  Ruth.'  On  the  death  of  the 
sons,  the  widowed  parent  resolving  to  return  to 
her  country  and  kindred,  the  filial  affection  of 
the  daughters-in-law  is  put  to  a  severe  test,  and 
Ruth  determines  at  all  hazards  to  accompany 
Naomi.  She  accordingly  arrives  at  Bethlehem 
with  her  mother,  where,  in  the  extremity  of  want, 
she  goes  to  glean  after  the  reapers  in  the  harvest- 
field  of  Boaz,  a  wealthy  kinsman  of  her  deceased 
father-in-law,  Elimelech.  Attracted  by  her  ap- 
pearance, and  informed  of  her  exemplary  conduct 
towards  her  mother-in-law,  Boaz  bade  her  return 
from  day  to  day,  and  directed  his  servants  to  give 
her  a  courteous  welcome.  An  omen  so  propitious 
could  not  but  be  regarded  as  a  special  encourage- 
ment to  both,  and  Naomi  therefore  counselled 
Ruth  to  seek  an  opportunity  for  intimating  to 
Boaz  the  claim  she  had  upon  him  as  the  nearest 
kinsman  of  her  deceased  husband.  Boaz  received 


RYE 

this  intimation  favourably,  yet  he  replied  that 
there  was  another  person  more  nearly  related  to 
the  family  than  himself,  whose  title  must  first  be 
disposed  of.  Without  delay  he  applied  himself 
to  ascertain  whether  the  kinsman  in  question  was 
inclined  to  assert  his  right — a  right  which  ex- 
tended to  a  purchase  of  the  ransom  (at  the  Jubilee) 
of  Elimelech's  estate.  Finding  him  indisposed  to 
the  measure,  he  obtained  from  him  a  release,  rati- 
fied according  to  the  legal  forms  of  the  time,  and 
then  proceeded  himself  to  redeem  the  patrimony 
of  Elimelech,  and  espoused  the  widow  of  his  son, 
in  order  '  to  raise  up  the  name  of  the  dead  upon 
his  inheritance.'  From  this  union  sprang  David, 
the  illustrious  king  of  Israel,  whose  line  the 
writer  traces  up.  in  conclusion,  through  Boaz,  to 
Pharez,  son  of  Judah. 

The  Book  of  Kpth  is  inserted  in  the  Canon, 
according  to  the  English  arrangement,  between 
the  book  of  Judges  and  the  books  of  Samuel,  as  a 
sequel  to  the  former  and  an  introduction  to  the 
latter.  The  true  date  and  authorship  of  the 
book  are  alike  unknown,  though  the  current  of 
opinion  is  in  favour  of  Samuel  as  the  writer.  Its 
canonical  authority  has  never  been  questioned. 

EYE.  The  word  thus  rendered  {Kusseme(K) 
in  Exod.  ix.  32  ;  Isa.  xxviii.  25,  is  translated 
fitches  in  Ezek.  iv.  9 ;  but  its  true  meaning  still 
remains  uncertain.  It  was  one  of  the  cultivated 
grains  both  of  Egypt  and  of  Syria,  and  one  of 
those  employed  as  an  article  of  diet.  It  was  also 
sown  along  with  wheat,  or,  at  least,  its  crop  was 
in  the  same  state  of  forwardness ;  for  we  learn 
from  Exod.  ix.  32,  that  in  the  seventh  plague  the 
hail-storm  smote  the  barley  which  was  in  the  ear, 
and  the  flax  which  was  boiled;  but  that  the  wheat 
and  the  kussemeth  were  not  smitten,  for  they  were 
not  grown  up.  That  kussemeth  was  cultivated  in 
Palestine  we  learn  from  Isa.  xxviii.  25,  where  it 
is  mentioned  along  with  ketzah  and  cumin,  wheat 
and  barley  ;  and  sown,  according  to  some  trans- 
lators, '  on  the  extreme  border  of  the  fields,'  as  a 
kind  of  fence  for  other  kinds  of  corn.  This  is 
quite  an  Oriental  practice,  and  may  be  seen  in 
the  case  of  flax  and  other  grains  in  India,  at  the 
present  day.  The  rye  is  a  grain  of  cold  climates, 
and  is  not  cultivated  even  in  the  south  of  Europe. 
Korte  declares  that  no  rye  grows  in  Egypt ;  and 
Shaw  states  that  rye  is  little  known  in  Barbary 
and  Egypt.  That  the  kussemeth  was  employed 
for  making  bread  by  the  Hebrews  we  know  from 
Ezek.  iv.  9,  where  the  prophet  is  directed  to  'take 
wheat,  and  barley,  and  beans,  and  lentiles,  and 
millet,  and  kussemeth,  and  put  them  in  a  vessel, 
and  make  bread  thereof.' 

Though  it  is  very  unlikely  that  kussemeth  can 
mean  rye,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  what  cultivated 
grain  it  denotes.  The  principal  kinds  of  grain,  it 
is  to  be  observed,  are  mentioned  in  the  same  pas- 
sages with  the  kussemeth.  Celsius  has,  as  usual, 
with  great  labour  and  learning,  collected  together 
the  ditferent  translations  which  have  been  given 
of  this  difficult  word.  In  the  Arabic  translation 
of  Exod.  ix.  32,  it  is  rendered  j«/6an,  a  species  of 
pulse.  By  other  Arabian  writers  it  is  considered 
to  mean  peas,  and  also  beans.  Many  translate  it 
vetches,  as  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  Exod. 
ix.  32.  The  majority,  however,  instead  of  a 
legume,  consider  kussemeth  to  indicate  one  of  the 
cereal  grains,  as  the  rye  or  the  oat,  neither  of 
which  is  it  likely  to  have  been.     Several  eminent 


SABBATH 


701 


authors  consider  that '  spelt '  is  the  grain  referred 
to,  and  it  seems  very  probable  that  this  is  the  true 
meaning.  There  are  two  kinds  of  spelt,  both  of 
which  were  cultivated  and  esteemed  as  food  in 
Egypt  and  Syria.  That  it  was  highly  esteemed 
by  the  ancients  is  evident  from  Dioscorides  de- 
scribing it  as  more  nourishing  than  barley,  and 
grateful  in  taste.  The  goodness  of  this  grain  is 
also  implied  from  the  name  of  semen  having  been 
especially  applied  to  it. 

Triticum  Spelta,  or  Spelt,  is  in  many  respects 
so  closely  allied  to  the  common  wheats  as  to  have 
been  thought  by  some  old  authors  to  have  been 
the  original  stock  of  the  cultivated  kinds;  but  for 
this  there  is  no  foundation,  as  the  kind  cultivated 
for  ages  in  Europe  does  not  differ  from  specimens 
collected  in  a  wild  state.  These  were  found  by  a 
French  botanist,  Michaux,  in  Persia,  on  a  moun- 
tain four  days'  journey  to  the  north  of  Hamadan. 
It  is  cultivated  in  many  parts  of  Germany,  in 
Switzerland,  in  the  south  of  France,  and  in  Italy. 
It  is  commonly  sown  in  spring,  and  collected  iu- 
July  and  August.  Though  some  circumstances 
seem  to  point  to  this  species  as  the  kussemeth  of 
Scripture,  the  subject  is  still  susceptible  of  farther 
investigation,  and  can  only  be  finally  determined 
by  first  ascertaining  the  modern  agriculture  of 
eastern  countries,  and  comparing  it  with  the 
ancient  accounts  of  the  agriculture  of  Syria  and 
Egypt. 


S. 


SABBATH.  The  original  word  signifies 
simply  rest,  cessation  from  labour  or  employment. 

The  term,  however,  became  appropriated  in  a 
specific  religious  sense,  to  signify  the  dedication 
of  a  precise  portion  of  time  to  cessation  from 
worldly  labour,  and  a  peculiar  consecration  by 
virtue  of  which  a  sanctity  was  ascribed  to  the 
portion  of  time  so  set  apart. 

Was  there  any  Sabbath  before  the  Law?  This 
is  a  question  of  great  importance;  for  Paley 
distinctly  admits  thiat,  '  if  the  divine  command 
was  actually  delivered  at  the  creation,  it  was 
addressed,  no  doubt,  to  the  whole  human  spe- 
cies alike,  and  continues,  unless  repealed  by  some 
subsequent  revelation,  binding  upon  all  who  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  it.'  The  mention  made  of 
the  Sabbath  in  Gen,  ii.  3,  would  seem  to  decide 
this  question  in  the  aflftrmative.  The  meaning  of 
the  passage  admits  of  no  dispute.  To  sanctify  the 
seventh  day  clearly  means,  to  set  it  apart  for  a 
sacred  use.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  evade 
the  force  of  this  passage  by  assuming  it  to  be  an 
anticipation  of  an  event  which  took  place  upwards 
of  2000  years  afterwards.  That  God  did  not 
then  bless  and  sanctify  the  Sabbath,  but  that  when 
he  did  so,  it  was  for  the  reason  mentioned  in  the 
text.  But  this  argument  proceeds  on  the  assump- 
tion that  the  book  of  Genesis  was  not  written  till 
after  the  giving  of  the  law  from  Sinai.  Of  this 
there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence,  and  it  is  in  it- 
self exceedingly  improbable  ;  besides  this  inter- 
pretation does  evident  violence  to  the  context. 

The  division  of  time  into  periods  of  seven  days 
of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  account  of  the 
deluge,  and  which  is  found  among  ail  ancient  na- 
tions^ Egyptians,  Arabians,  Greeks,  Romans,  and 


702 


SABBATH 


even  among  the  American  Indians,  furnishes  a 
strong  confirmation  of  the  opinion  that  the  Sab- 
bath is  coeval  with  the  creation.  Besides,  there 
is  evidence  that  the  Sabbath  was  known  and  ob- 
served by  the  Israelites  before  the  law  was  de- 
livered on  Mount  Siiiai.  This  did  not  occur  until 
the  third  month  after  the  departure  out  of  Egypt, 
■whereas  we  are  informed  that  in  the  second 
month  the  people  of  their  own  accord  gathered 
a  double  portion  of  manna  on  the  sixth  day,  be- 
cause the  seventh  day  was  the  Sabbath  (Exod. 
xvi.  22).  This  is  corroborated  by  the  language 
of  the  fourth  commandment,  '  Eeineinher  the  Sab- 
bath day  to  keep  it  holy ' — a  mode  of  expression 
which  is  not  used  in  reference  to  the  Passover  or 
any  other  festival  which  Moses  had  instituted. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  on  the  fact  that  its  po- 
sition in  the  midst  of  the  moral  law  distinctly 
points  to  its  perpetual  and  universal  obligation, 
while  the  circumstance  that  it  had  a  peculiar  re- 
lation to  the  Israelites  did  not  alter  its  relation  to 
other  nations,  or  take  it  out  of  the  class  of  laws  to 
which  it  originally  belonged. 

That  the  Sabbath  was  binding  under  the  Mo- 
saic law,  all  are  agreed,  but  some  aflSrm  that  it  is 
conclusively  proved  by  Col.  ii.  16  that  the  obli- 
gation ceased  when  the  Jewish  economy  was 
abolished.  '  The  truth,  however,'  saith  Bishop 
Horsley,  '  is,  that  in  the  apostolical  age,  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  though  it  was  observed  with  great 
reverence,  was  not  called  the  Sabbath-day,  but 
the  Lord's  day;  that  the  separation  of  the 
Christian  church  from  the  .Jewish  communion 
might  be  marked  by  the  name  as  well  as  by  the 
day  of  their  weekly  festival ;  and  the  name  of 
the  sabbath-days  was  appropriated  to  the  Satur- 
days and  certain  days  in  tlie  Jewish  church 
which  were  likewise  called  Sabbaths  in  the  law, 
because  they  were  observed  with  no  less  sanctity. 
The  sabbath-days,  therefore,  of  which  St.  Paul  in 
this  passage  speaks,  were  not  the  Sundays  of  the 
Christians,  but  the  Saturday  and  other  sabbaths 
of  the  Jewish  calendar.  The  Judaizing  heretics, 
with  whom  St.  Paul  was  all  his  life  engaged, 
were  strenuous  advocates  for  the  observance  of 
these  Jewish  festivals  in  the  Christian  church ; 
and  bis  (St.  Paul's)  admonition  to  the  Colossians 
is,  that  they  should  not  be  disturbed  by  the  cen- 
sures of  those  who  reproached  them  for  neglecting 
to  observe  these  sabbaths  with  Jewish  cere- 
monies.' 

The  transfer  of  the  day  on  which  the  Sabbath 
is  observed  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  is  justified  on  the  ground  that  the 
change  was  made  under  the  authority  of  the 
Apostles.  Some  divines  of  great  authority  are 
of  opinion  that  the  day  itself  was  not  an  essential 
part  of  the  original  enactment,  which  ordains  not 
necessarily  every  seventh  day,  but  one  day  in 
seven,  as  holy  time.  In  the  primitive  ages  of 
man,  the  creation  of  the  world  was  the  benefac- 
tion by  which  God  was  principally  known,  and 
for  which  he  was  chiefly  to  be  worshipped.  The 
Jews,  in  their  religious  assemblies,  had  lo  com- 
memorate other  blessings —the  political  creation 
of  their  nation  out  of  Abraham's  family,  and  their 
deliverance  from  Egyptian  bondage.  Christians 
have  to  commemorate,  besides  the  common  bene- 
fit of  the  creation,  the  transcendant  blessing  of 
our  redemption,— our  new  creation  to  the  hope 
of  everlasting  life,  of  which  our  Lord's  resurrec- 


SACKCLOTH 

tion  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  was  a  sure. 
pledge  and  evidence.  Thus  in  the  progress  of 
ages,  the  Sabbath  acquired  new  ends,  by  new 
manifestations  of  the  divine  mercy  ;  and  these 
new  ends  justify  corresponding  alterations  of  the 
original  institution.  Ilorsley,  and  those  who 
agree  with  him,  allege,  that  upon  our  Lord's 
resurrection,  the  Sabbath  was  transferred  in  me- 
mory of  that  event,  the  great  foundation  of  the 
Christian's  hope,  from  the  last  to  tiie  first  day  of 
the  week.  '  The  alteration  seems  to  have  been 
made  by  the  authority  of  the  Apostles,  and  to 
have  taken  place  the  very  day  in  which  our  Lord 
arose  ;  for  on  that  day  the  Apostles  were  assem- 
bled; and  on  that  day  sevennight  they  were  as- 
sembled again.  The  celebration  of  these  two 
first  Sundays  was  honoured  by  our  Lord's  pre- 
sence. It  was,  perhaps,  to  set  a  mark  of  distinc- 
tion upon  this  day  in  particular,  that  the  inter- 
vening week  passed  off",  as  it  would  seem,  with- 
out any  repetition  of  his  first  visit  to  the  eleven 
Apostles.  From  that  time,  the  Sunday  was  the 
constant  Sabbath  of  the  primitive  church.  The 
Christian,  therefore,  who  devoutly  sanctifies  one 
day  in  seven,  although  it  be  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  not  the  la.'it.  as  was  originally  ordained, 
may  rest  assured,  that  he  fully  satisfies  the  spirit 
of  the  ordinance'  (Horsley,  i.  334,  33.5;  compare 
Holden's  Christian  Sabbath,  pp.  28(>,  287). 

In  justification  of  the  change,  it  has  also  been 
well  remarked,  that  the  same  portion  of  time 
which  constituted  the  seventh  day  from  the  crea- 
tion could  not  be  simultaneously  observed  in  all 
parts  of  the  earth,  and  that  it  is  not  therefore  pro- 
bable that  the  original  institution  expressed  more 
than  one  day  in  seven — a  seventh  day  of  rest  after 
six  days  of  toil,  from  whatever  point  the  enume- 
ration might  set  out  or  the  weekly  cycle  begin.  If 
more  had  been  intended,  it  would  have  been  ne- 
cessary to  establish  a  rule  for  the  reckoning  of  days 
themselves,  which  has  been  difiTerent  in  different 
nations ;  some  reckoning  from  evening  to  evening, 
as  the  Jews  do  now  ;  others  from  midnight  to  mid- 
night, &c.  Even  if  this  point  were  determined, 
the  diff'erence  of  time  produced  by  dift'erence  of 
latitude  and  longitude  would  again  throw  the 
whole  into  disorder ;  and  it  is  not  probable  that 
a  law  intended  to  be  universal  would  be  fettered 
with  that  circumstantial  exactness  which  would 
render  difficult  and  sometimes  doubtful  astrono- 
mical calculations  necessary  in  order  to  its  being 
obeyed  according  to  the  intentions  of  the  law- 
giver. 

SABBATH-DAY'S  JOURNEY  (Acts  i.  12), 
the  distance  which  the  Jews  were  permitted  to 
journey  from  and  return  to  their  places  of  resi- 
dence upon  the  Sabbath-day  (Exod.  xvi.  29). 
There  is  some  diversity  of  sentiment  with  respect 
to  the  precise  distance  indicated.  But  taking  all 
circumstances  into  account,  it  seems  likely  that 
the  ordinary  Sabbath-day's  journey  was  a  some- 
what loosely  determined  distance,  seldom  more 
than  the  whole  and  seldom  less  than  three-quar- 
ters of  a  geographical  mile. 

SABBATIC  YEAR.     [Jcbilee.] 

SABiEANS.     [Sheba] 

SACKCLOTH.  The  sackcloth  mentioned  in 
Scripture  was,  as  it  is  still  in  the  East,  a  coarse 
black  cloth,  commonly  made  of  hair  ( Rev.  vi.  12), 
and  was  used  for  straining  liquids,  for  sacks,  and 
for  mourning  garments.    In  the  latter  case  it  was 


SACRIFICES 

worn  instead  of  the  ordinary  raiment,  or  bound 
upon  the  loins,  or  spread  under  the  mourner  on 
tlie  grouud  i  Gen.  xxxvii.  34  ;  1  Kings  xxiii.  2  ; 
Isa.  Iviii.  5;  Jcel  i.  8;  Jon.  iii.  5)  [Mourning]. 
Such  garments  were  also  worn  by  prophets,  and 
by  ascetics  generally  (Isa.  xx.  2;  Zech.  iii.  4 ; 
comp.  2  Kings  i.  8  ;  Matt.  v.  4).  • 

SACRIFICES.  The  sacrifices  and  other  offer- 
ings required  by  the  Hebrew  ritual  have  been 
enumerated  under  Offering  ;  and  in  this  place 
it  is  only  requisite  to  offer  a  few  remarks  upon 
the  great  and  much  controverted  questions — 
Whether  sacrifice  was  in  its  origin  a  human  in- 
vention, or  a  divine  institution  ;  and  whether  any 
of  the  sacrifices  before  the  law,  or  under  the  law, 
were  sacrifices  or  expiation. 

From  the  universality  of  sacrifice,  it  is  obvious 
that  the  rite  arose  either  from  a  common  source, 
or  from  a  common  sentiment  among  nations 
widely  dispersed,  and  very  differently  constituted. 
Remembering  that  Noah,  the  common  ancestor 
of  the  post-diluvian  nations,  offered  sacrifice,  we 
are  enabled  to  trace  back  the  custom  through  all 
nations  to  him;  and  he  doubtless  derived  it 
through  the  antediluvian  fathers,  from  the  sacri- 
fices which  the  first  men  celebrated,  of  which  we 
have  an  example  in  that  of  Abel.  The  question 
concerning  the  divine  or  human  origin  of  sacri- 
fices, therefore,  centres  upon  the  conclusions 
which  we  may  be  able  to  draw  from  the  circum- 
stances and  preliminaries  of  that  transaction. 
Abel  brought  for  sacrifice  one  of  the  lambs  of 
his  flock,  for  he  was  a  shepherd  ;  and  with  his 
offering  God  was  well  pleased :  Cain  brought  of 
the  fruits  of  the  ground,  for  he  was  a  husband- 
man ;  and  with  his  offering  God  was  not  well 
pleased.  We  are  told  by  the  Apostle  (Heb.  xi. 
4)  that  it  was  '  by  faith  that  Abel  offered  a  more 
acceptable  sacrifice  than  Cain,'  which  presupposes 
a  divine  revelation :  otherwise  we  cannot  see  how 
faitli  could  have  been  exercised,  or  to  what  object 
it  could  be  directed. 

That  this  was  not  the  first  sacrifice  is  held  by 
many  to  be  proved  by  the  fact,  that  '  unto  Adam 
and  his  wife  the  Lord  made  coats  of  skin,  and 
clothed  them'  (Gen.  iii.  21) ;  for,  it  is  urged,  that 
as  animal  food  does  not  appear  to  have  been  used 
before  the  deluge,  it  is  not  easy  to  understand 
whence  these  skins  came,  probably  before  any 
animal  had  died  naturally,  unless  from  beasts 
offered  in  sacrifice.  And  if  the  first  sacrifices  had 
been  offered  by  Adam,  the  arguments  for  the  di- 
vine institution  of  the  rite  are  of  the  greater  force, 
seeing  that  it  was  less  likely  to  occur  sponta- 
neously to  Adam  than  to  Abel,  who  was  a  keeper 
of  sheep.  Further,  if  the  command  was  given  to 
Adam,  and  his  sons  had  been  trained  in  observ- 
ance of  the  rite,  we  can  the  better  understand  the 
merit  of  Abel,  and  the  demerit  of  Cain,  without 
further  explanation.  Apart  from  any  considera- 
tions arising  out  of  the  skin-vestures  of  Adam 
and  his  wife,  it  would  seem  that  if  sacrifice  was 
a  divine  institution,  and,  especially,  if  the  rite 
bore  a  piacuJar  significance,  it  would  have  been 
at  once  prescribed  to  Adam,  after  sin  had  entered 
the  world,  and  death  by  sin,  and  not  have  been 
postponed  till  his  sons  has  reached  manhood. 

Among  the  considerations  urged  in  support  of 
the  opinion,  that  sacrifice  must  have  originated  in 
a  divine  command,  it  has  been  suggested  as  ex- 
ceedingly  doubtful,   whether,   independently  of 


SACRIFICES  703 

such  a  command,  and  as  distinguished  from  ve- 
getable oblations,  animal  sacrifice,  which  involves 
the  practice  of  slaughtering  and  burning  an  inno- 
cent  victim,  could  ever,  under  any  aspect,  have 
been  adopted  as  a  rite  likely  to  gain  the  favour  of 
God.  Our  own  course  of  scriptural  education  pre- 
vents us,  perhaps,  from  being  competent  judges 
on  this  point:  but  we  have  means  of  judging  how 
so  singular  a  rite  must  strike  the  minds  of  think- 
ing men,  not  in  the  same  degree  prepossessed  by 
early  associations.  The  ancient  Greek  masters 
of  thought  not  unfrequently  expressed  their  asto- 
nishment how,  and  upon  what  rational  principles, 
so  strange  an  institution  as  that  of  animal  sacri- 
fice could  ever  have  originated  ;  for  as  to  the  no- 
tion of  its  being  pleasing  to  the  Deity,  such  a 
thing  struck  them  as  a  manifest  impossibility. 

A  strong  moral  argument  in  favour  of  the  di- 
vine institution  of  sacrifice,  somewhat  feebly  put 
by  Hallet  {Comment,  on  Heb.  xi.  4,  cited  by  Ma- 
gee,  On  the.  Atonement),  has  been  reproduced  with 
increased  force  by  Faber  (  Prim.  Sacrifice,  p.  183). 
It  amounts  to  this: — 

Sacrifice,  when  uncommanded  by  God,  is  a 
mere  act  of  gratuitous  superstition.  Whence,  on 
the  principle  of  St.  Paul's  reprobation  of  what  he 
denominates  will-worship,  it  is  neither  acceptable 
nor  pleasing  to  God. 

But  sacrifice,  during  the  patriarchal  ages,  was 
accepted  by  God,  and  was  plainly  honoured  with 
his  approbation. 

Therefore  sacrifice,  during  the  patriarchal  age, 
could  not  have  been  an  act  of  superstition  uncom- 
manded by  God. 

If,  then,  such  was  the  character  of  primitive 
sacrifice  :  that  is  to  say,  if  primitive  sacrifice  was 
not  a  mere  act  of  gratuitous  superstition  uncom- 
manded by  God, — it  must,  in  that  case,  indu- 
bitably have  been  a  divine,  and  not  a  human  in- 
stitution. 

If  it  be  held  that  any  of  the  ancient  sacrifices 
were  expiatory  or  piacular,  the  argument  for 
their  divine  origin  is  strengthened  ;  as  it  is  hard 
to  conceive  the  combination  of  ideas  under  which 
the  notion  of  expiatory  sacrifice  could  be  worked 
out  by  the  human  mind.  The  doctrine  of  an  atone- 
ment by  animal  sacrifice  cannot  he  deduced  from 
the  light  of  nature,  or  from  the  principles  of  reason. 
If,  therefore,  the  idea  existed,  it  must  either  have 
arisen  in  the  fertile  soil  of  a  guessing  superstition, 
or  have  been  divinely  appointed.  Now  we  know 
that  God  cannot  approve  of  unwarranted  and 
presumptuous  superstition  :  if  therefore  he  can  he 
shown  to  have  received  with  approbation  a  spe- 
cies of  sacrifice  undiscoverable  by  the  light  of 
nature,  or  from  the  principles  of  reason,  it  fol- 
lows that  it  must  have  been  of  his  own  institu- 
tion. 

That  piacular  sacrifices  existed  under  the  law 
of  Moses  can  scarcely  admit  of  denial.  But  the 
question,  of  the  existence  of  expiatory  sacrifice 
before  the  law,  is  more  difficult,  and  is  denied  hy 
many,  who  believe  that  it  was  revealed  under 
the  law.  The  arguments  already  stated  in  favour 
of  the  divine  institution  of  primitive  sacrifice,  go 
equally  to  support  the  existence  of  piacular  sacri- 
fice ;  the  idea  of  which  seems  more  urgently  to 
have  required  a  divine  intimation.  Besides,  ex- 
piatory sacrifice  is  found  to  have  existed  among 
all  nations,  in  conjunction  with  eucharistic  and 
impetratory  sacrifices ;  and  it  lies  at  the  root  of 


704 


SADDUCEES 


SADDUCEES 


the  principle  on  which  human  sacrifices  were  of- 
fered among  the  ancient  nations.  This  being  the 
case,  it  is  difficnlt  to  believe  but  that  the  idea 
was  derived,  along  with  animal  sacrifice  itself, 
from  the  practice  of  Noah,  and  preserved  among 
his  various  descendants.  This  argument,  if  valid, 
would  show  the  primitive  origin  of  piacular  sacri- 
fice. Now  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  idea 
of  sacrifice  which  Noah  transmitted  to  the  post- 
diluvian world,  was  the  same  that  he  had  derived 
from  his  pious  ancestors,  and  the  same  that  was 
evinced  by  the  sacrifice  of  Abel,  to  which  we 
are,  by  the  course  of  the  argument,  again  brought 
back.  Now  if  that  sacrifice  was  expiatory,  we 
have  reason  to  conclude  that  it  was  divinely 
commanded  :  and  the  supposition  that  it  was  both 
expiatory  and  divinely  commanded,  makes  the 
whole  history  far  more  clear  and  consistent  than 
any  other  which  has  been  or  can  be  offered.  It 
amounts  then  to  this — that  Cain,  by  bringing 
an  eucharistic  offering,  when  his  brother  brought 
one  which  was  expiatory,  denied  virtually  that 
his  sins  deserved  death,  or  that  he  needed  the 
blood  of  atonement. 

These  are  the  principal  considerations  which 
seem  suitable  to  this  place,  on  a  subject  to  the 
complete  investigation  of  which  many  large  vo- 
lumes have  been  devoted. 

SACKIFICE,  HUMAN.  The  offering  of 
human  life,  as  the  most  precious  thing  on  earth, 
came  in  process  of  time  to  be  practised  in  most 
countries  of  the  world.  All  histories  and  tra- 
ditions darken  our  idea  of  the  earlier  ages  with 
human  sacrifices.  But  the  period  when  such 
prevailed  was  not  the  earliest  in  time,  though 
probably  the  earliest  in  civilization.  The  prac- 
tice was  both  a  result  and  a  token  of  barbarism 
more  or  less  gross.  In  this,  too,  the  dearest  object 
was  primitively  selected.  Human  life  is  the 
most  precious  thing  on  earth,  and  of  this  most 
precious  possession  the  most  precious  portion  is 
the  life  of  one's  child.  Children  therefore  were 
offered  in  fire  to  the  false  divinities,  and  in  no 
part  of  the  world  with  less  regard  to  the  claims 
of  natural  affection  than  in  the  land  where,  at  a 
later  period,  the  only  true  God  had  his  peculiar 
worship  and  highest  honours. 

It  is  under  these  circumstances  a  striking  fact 
that  the  Hebrew  religion,  even  in  its  most  rudi- 
mental  condition,  should  be  free  from  the  conta- 
mination of  human  sacrifices.  The  case  of  Isaac 
and  that  of  Jephthah's  daughter  cannot  impair 
the  general  truth,  that  the  offering  of  human  be- 
ings is  neither  enjoined,  allowed,  nor  practised  in 
the  Biblical  records.  On  the  contrary,  such  an 
offering  is  strictly  prohibited  by  Moses,  as  ad- 
verse to  the  will  of  God,  and  an  abomination  of 
the  heathen.  '  Thou  shalt  not  let  any  of  thy  seed 
pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch :  defile  not  your- 
selves with  any  of  these  things'  (Lev.  xviii.  21 ; 
see  also  ch.  xx.  2 ;  Deut.  xii.  .31  ;  Ps.  cvi.  .37  ; 
Isa.  Ixvi.  3  ;  Jer.  xxiii.  37).  We  do  not  hesitate 
to  urge  this  fact  as  not  least  considerable  among 
many  proofs  not  only  of  the  superior  character, 
but  of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Hebrew  worship. 

SAD'DUCEES:  one  of  the  three  sects  of 
Jewish  philosophers,  of  which  the  Pharisees  and 
the  Essenes  were  the  others,  who  had  reached 
their  highest  state  of  prosperity  about  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era.  * 

The  peculiar  doctrines  of  the  Saddacees  natu- 


rally sprung  out  of  Pharisaic  errors ;  but  the 
time  when  this  sect  came  into  existence  history 
does  not  define.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  how- 
ever, that  they  were  posterior  to  the  Pharisees. 
And  although  so  soon  as  the  Pharisaic  elements 
began  to  become  excessive,  there  existed  in 
Judaism  itself  a  sufficient  source  for  Sadduceeism, 
yet,  as  a  fact,  we  hive  no  doubt  that  Grecian 
philosophy  lent  its  aid  to  the  development  of 
Sadduceeism.  Whence  we  are  referred  for  the 
rise  of  the  latter  to  the  period  when  the  conquests 
and  the  kingdoms  which  ensued  from  the  expe- 
dition of  Alexander  had  diffused  a  very  large 
portion  of  Grecian  civilization  over  the  soil  of 
the  East,  and  especially  over  Western  Asia. 

As  may  be  inferred  from  what  has  been  ad- 
vanced, the  Sadducees  stood  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  Pharisees.  So  they  are  described  by  Jose- 
phus,  and  so  they  appear  in  the  New  Testament. 
Hostile,  however,  as  these  two  sects  were,  they 
united  for  the  common  purpose  of  opposing  our 
Lord  (Matt.  iii.  7;  xvi.  1,  e,  11,  sq.;  xxii.  23, 
34  ;  Acts  iv.  1  ;  v.  17).  In  opposing  the  Pharisees 
the  Sadducees  were  led  to  impeach  the  principal 
doctrines,  and  so  to  deny  all  the  '  traditions  of 
the  elders,'  holding  that  the  law  alone  was  the 
written  source  of  religious  truth.  By  more  than 
one  consideration,  however,  it  might  be  shown 
that  they'are  in  error  who  so  understand  the  fact 
now  stated,  as  if  the  Sadducees  received  no  other 
parts  of  the  Jewish  canon  than  the  Pentateuch  ; 
for  in  truth  they  appear  to  have  held  the  common 
opinion  regarding  the  sacred  books.  The  Sad- 
ducees taught  that  the  soul  of  man  perished 
together  with  his  body,  and  that  of  course  there 
was  neither  reward  nor  punishment  after  death 
(Joseph.  De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  8.  14  ;  comp.  Matt, 
xxii.  23).  Indeed  they  appear  to  have  disowned 
the  moral  philosophy  which  obtrudes  the  idea  of 
recompense. 

They  held  that  the  Scriptures  did  not  contain 
the  doctrine  of  a  future  life.  They  were  thus 
naturally  led  also  to  deny  the  existence  of  angels 
and  spirits  (Acts  xxiii.  8).  They  taught  the 
absolute  freedom  of  the  human  mind,  and  ac- 
cording to  Josephus,  while  '  the  Pharisees  ascribe 
all  to  fate  and  to  God,  the  Sadducees  take  away 
fate  entirely,  and  suppose  that  God  is  not  con- 
cerned in  our  doing  or  not  doing  evil ;  and  they 
say  that  to  act  what  is  good  or  what  is  evil  is 
in  man's  own  choice ;  and  that  all  things  depend 
on  our  own  selves.'  An  inference  injurious  to 
them  has  been  deduced  from  this  position,  as  if 
they  denied  divine  providence  altogether ;  but 
their  reception  of  the  canonical  books,  and  their 
known  observance  of  the  usages  for  divine  wor- 
ship therein  prescribed,  are  incompatible  with 
such  a  denial. 

As  might  be  expected  from  the  nature  of  their 
system,  their  doctrines  held  sway  over  but  com- 
paratively few  persons,  and  those  mostly  men 
distinguished  by  wealth  or  station.  What  Jose- 
phus says  of  the  repulsiveness  of  their  manners 
is  in  keeping  with  their  general  principles.  A 
sceptical  materialism  is  generally  accompanied 
by  an  undue  share  of  self-confidence  and  self- 
esteem,  which  are  among  the  least  sociable  of 
human  qualities. 

The  Sadducees,  equally  with  the  Pharisees, 
were  not  only  a  religious  but  a  political  party. 
Indeed  as  long  as  the  Mosaic  polity  retained  an 


SALEM 

influence,  social  policy  could  not  be  sundered 
from  religion  ;  for  religion  was  everything.  Ac- 
cordingly the  Sadducees  formed  a  part  of  the 
Jewish  parliament,  the  Sanhedrim  (^Acts  xxiii. 
6),  and  sometimes  enjoyed  the  dignity  of  supreme 
power  in  the  high-priesthood.  Their  f)ossession 
of  power,  however,  seems  to  have  been  owing 
mainly  to  their  individual  personal  influence,  as 
men  of  superior  minds  or  eminent  position,  since 
the  general  current  of  favour  ran  adversely  to 
tliem,  and  their  enemies,  the  Pharisees,  spared 
no  means  to  keep  them  and  their  opinions  in  the 
background. 

SAFFRON  occurs  only  once  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, viz.  in  Cant.  iv.  14,  where  it  is  mentioned 
along  with  several  fragrant  and  stimulant  sub- 
stances, such  as  spikenard,  calamus,  and  cinna- 
mon, trees  of  frankincense,  myrrh,  and  aloes ; 
we  may,  therefore,  suppose  that  it  was  some 
substance  possessed  of  similar  properties.  Saffron 
has  from  the  earliest  times  been  cultivated 
in  Asiatic  countries,  as  it  still  is  in  Persia 
and  Cashmere.  Dioscorides  describes  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  it,  and  Pliny  states  that  the 
benches  of  the  public  theatres  were  strewed  with 
saffron  :  indeed  '  the  ancients  frequently  made 
use  of  this  flower  in  perfumes.  Not  only  saloons, 
theatres,  and  places  which  were  to  be  filled  with 
a  pleasant  fragrance  were  strewed  with  this  sub- 
stance, but  all  sorts  of  vinous  tinctures  retaining 
the  scent  were  made  of  it,  and  this  costly  perfume 
was  poured  into  small  fountains,  which  diffused 
the  odour  that  was  so  highly  esteemed.  Even 
fruit  and  comfitures  placed  before  guests  and  the 
ornaments  of  the  rooms  were  spread  over  with  it. 
It  was  used  for  the  same  purpose  as  the  modern 
pot-pourri.'  In  the  present  day  a  very  high 
price  is  given  in  India  for  saffron  imported  from 
Cashmere ;  native  dishes  are  often  coloured  and 
flavoured  with  it,  and  it  is  in  high  esteem  as  a 
stimulant  medicine. 

The  name  saffron,  as  usually  applied,  does  not 
denote  the  whole  plant,  nor  even  the  whole  flower 
of  c/ocHs  sativns,  but  only  the  stigmas,  with  part 
of  the  style,  which,  being  plucked  out,  are  care- 
fully dried.  These,  when  prepared,  are  dry, 
narrow,  thread-like,  and  twisted  together,  of  an 
orange-yellow  colour,  having  a  peculiar  aromatic 
and  penetrating  odour,  with  a  bitterish  and  some- 
what aromatic  taste,  tinging  the  mouth  and 
saliva  of  a  yellow  colour.  Sometimes  the  stig- 
mas are  prepared  by  being  submitted  to  pressure, 
and  thus  made  into  what  is  called  cake  saffron,  a 
form  in  which  it  is  still  imported  from  Persia 
into  India.  Hay  saffron  is  obtained  in  this 
country  chiefly  from  France  and  Spain,  though 
it  is  aLso  sometimes  prepared  from  the  native 
crocus  cultivated  for  this  purpose.  Saffron  was 
formerly  highly  esteemed  as  a  stimulant  medi- 
cine, and  still  enjoys  high  repute  in  Eastern 
countries,  both  as  a  medicine  and  as  a  con- 
diment. 

SA'LAH  (a  shoot),  a  son  or  grandson  of  Ar- 
phaxad  (Gen.  x.  24  ;  xi.  13  ;  Luke  iii.  Z^). 

SAL'AMIS,  one  of  the  chief  cities  of  Cyprus, 
on  tht.  south-east  coast  of  the  island  (Acts  xiii.  .5). 
It  was  afterwards  called  Constantia,  and  in  still 
later  times  Famagusta  [Cyprus]. 

S.\LA'THIEL.     [Shealtiel.] 

SA'LEM  (peace),  the  original  name  of  Jeru- 
salem (Gen.  xiv.  18 ;  Heb.  vii.  1,  2),  and  which 


SALT 


705 


continued  to  be  used  poetically  in  later  times  (Ps. 
Ixxvi.  2)  TJeriisalem]. 

SA'LIM.  a  place  near  JEnon,  where  John  bap- 
tized (John  iii.  23).  Nothing  is  known  of  this 
site. 

SAL'MON  (clothed),  the  father  of  Boaz  (Ruth 
iv.  21  ;  Matt.  i.  4,  5  ;  Luke  iii.  32). 

SALMO'NE,  a  promontory  forming  the  east- 
ern extremity  of  the  island  of  Crete  (Acts 
xxvii.  7). 

SALO'ME,  a  woman  of  Galilee,  who  accom 
panied  Jesus  in  some  of  his  journeys,  and  minis- 
tered unto  him  ;  and  was  one  of  those  who  wit- 
nessed his  crucifixion  and  resurrection  (Mark  xv. 
40  ;  xvi.  1).  It  is  gathered  by  comparing  these 
texts  with  Matt,  xxvii.  56,  that  she  was  the  wife 
of  Zebedee,  and  mother  of  the  apostles  James 
and  John. 

SALOME  was  also  the  name  (though  not 
given  in  Scripture)  of  that  daughter  of  Herodias, 
whose  dancing  before  her  uncle  and  father-in- 
law,  Herod  Antipas,  was  instrumental  in  pro- 
curing the  decapitation  of  John  the  Baptist  [He- 
KODiAN  Family;  John  the  Baptist]. 

SALT  was  procured  by  the  Hebrews  from 
two  sources  :  first,  from  rock-salt,  obtained  from 
j  hills  of  salt  which  lie  about  the  southern  ex- 
tremity of  the  Dead  Sea;  and  secondly,  from 
the  waters  of  that  sea,  which,  overflowing  the 
banks  yearly,  and  being  exhaled  by  the  sun  and 
the  heat,  left  behind  a  deposit  of  salt  both  abund- 
ant and  good. 

From  Job  vi.  6  it  is  clear  that  salt  was  used 
as  a  condiment  with  food.  Salt  was  also  mixed 
with  fodder  for  cattle  (Isa.  xxx.  24).  As  offer- 
ings, viewed  on  their  earthly  side,  were  a  pre- 
sentation to  God  of  what  man  found  good  and 
pleasant  for  food,  so  all  meat-offerings  were  re- 
quired to  be  seasoned  with  salt  (Lev.  ii.  13). 
Salt,  therefore,  became  of  great  importance  to 
Hebrew  worsliippers ;  it  was.  sold  accordingly 
in  the  temple  market,  and  a  large  quantity  was 
kept  in  the  Temple  itself,  in  a  chamber  appro- 
priated to  the  purpose.  The  incense,  '  perfume,' 
was  also  to  have  salt  as  an  ingredient  (Exod. 
xxx.  35 ;  marginal  reading  '  salted '),  where  it 
appears  to  have  been  symbolical,  as  well  of  the 
divine  goodness  as  of  man's  gratitude,  on  the 
principle  that  of  every  liounty  vouchsafed  of 
God,  it  became  man  to  make  an  acknowledgment 
in  kind. 

As  salt  thus  entered  into  man's  food,  so,  to  eat 
salt  with  any  one,  was  to  partake  of  his  fare,  to 
share  his  hospitality;  and  hence,  by  implication, 
to  enjoy  his  favour,  or  to  be  in  his  confidence. 
Hence,  also,  salt  became  an  emblem  oi  fidelitj' 
and  of  intimate  friendship.  At  the  present  hour 
the  Arabs  regard  as  their  friend  him  who  has 
eaten  salt  with  them,  that  is,  has  partaken  ot 
their  hospitality.  The  domestic  sanctity  which 
thus  attached  itself  to  salt  was  much  enhanced 
in  influence  by  its  religious  applications,  so  that 
it  became  symbolical  of  the  most  sacred  and 
binding  of  obligations.  Accordingly  '  a  covenant 
of  salt '  was  accounted  a  very  solemn  bond  (Num. 
xviii.  19;  2  Chron.  xiii.  5  ;  Lev.  ii.  13)  :  a  sig- 
nification to  which  force  would  be  given  by  the 
preservative  quality  of  salt. 

But  salt,  if  used  too  abundantly,  is  destructive 
of  vegetation  and  causes  a  desert.  Hence  arose 
another  class  of  figurative  applications.  Destroyed 
2  z 


)06 


SALUTATION 


cities  were  sown  with  salt  to  intimate  that  they 
were  devoted  to  perpetual  desolation  (Judg.  ix. 
45) ;  salt  became  a  symbol  of  barrenness  (Deut. 
xxix.  23 ;  Zeph.  ii.  9)  ;  and  '  a  salt  land  '  (Jer. 
xvii.  G)  signifies  a  sterile  and  unproductive  dis- 
trict (Job  xxxix.  6). 

We  have  reserved  to  the  end  reference  to  a  sin- 
gular usage  among  the  Israelites,  namely,  wash- 
ing new-born  infants  in  salt  water ;  which  was 
regarded  as  so  essential  that  those  could  have 
hardly  any  other  than  an  ill  fate  who  were  de- 
prived of  the  rite  (Ezek.  xvi.  4).  The  practice 
obviously  arose  from  a  regard  to  the  preserving, 
the  domestic,  the  moral,  and  the  religious  uses  to 
which  salt  was  applied,  and  of  which  it  became 
the  emblem. 

SALUTATION.  The  forms  of  salutation  that 
prevailed  among  the  Hebrews,  so  far  as  can  be 
collected  from  Scripture,  are  the  following: — 

1.  '  Blessed  be  thou  of  the  Lord,'  or  equivalent 
phrases. 

2.  '  The  Lord  he  with  thee.' 

3.  '  Peace  be  unto  thee,'  or  '  upon  thee,'  or  '  with 
thee.'  In  countries  often  ravaged,  and  among 
people  often  ruined  by  war, '  peace '  implied  every 
blessing  of  life;  and  this  phrase  had  therefore 
the  force  of '  Prosperous  be  thou.'  This  was  the 
commonest  of  all  salutations  (Judg.  xix.  20; 
Ruth  ii.  4 ;  1  Sam.  xxv.  6 ;  2  Sam.  xx.  9 ;  Ps. 
cxxix.  8). 

4.  '  Live,  my  lord,'  was  a  common  salutation 
among  the  Phoenicians,  and  was  also  in  use  among 
the  Hebrews,  but  was  by  them  only  addressed  to 
their  kings  in  the  extended  form  of '  Let  the  king 
live  for  ever!'  (1  Kings  i.  31);  which  was  also 
employed  in  the  Babylonian  and  Persian  courts 
(Dan.  ii.  4;  iii.  9;  v.  10;  vi.  7,  22;  Neh.  ii.  3). 

.5.  'Joy  to  thee!  joy  to  you  I'  rendered  by  Hail! 
an  equivalent  of  the  Latin  Ave  !  Salve !  (Matt. 
xxvii.  29;  xxviii.  9;  Mark  xv.  IS;  Luke  i.  28; 
John  xix.  3). 

The  gestures  and  inflections  used  in  salutation 
varied  with  the  dignity  and  station  of  the  person 
saluted  ;  as  is  the  case  with  the  Orientals  at  this 
day.  It  is  usual  for  the  person  who  gives  or  re- 
turns the  salutation,  to  place  at  the  same  time  his 
right  hand  upon  his  breast,  or  to  touch  his  lips, 
and  then  his  forehead  or  turban,  with  the  same 
hand.     In  some  cases  the  body  is  gently  inclined, 


while  the  right  hand  is  laid  upon  the  lell  breast. 
A  person  of  the  lower  orders,  in  addressing  a 


SALUTATION 

superior,  does  not  always  give  the  salam,  but 
shows  his  respect  to  high  rank  by  bending  down 
his  hand  to  the  ground,  and  then  putting  it  to  his 
lips  and  forehead.  It  is  a  common  custom  for  a 
man  to  kiss  the  hand  of  his  superior  instead  of 
his  own  (generally  on  the  back  only,  but  some- 
times on  both  back  and  front),  and  then  to  put  it 
to  his  forehead  in  order  to  pay  more  particular 
respect.  Servants  thus  evince  their  respect  to- 
wards their  masters.  The  son  also  thus  kisses 
the  hand  of  his  father,  and  the  wife  that  of  her 
husband.     Very  often,  however,  the  superior  does 


not  allow  this,  but  only  touches  the  hand  ex- 
tended to  take  his  ;  whereupon  the  other  puts  the 
hand  that  has  been  touched  to  his  own  lips  and 
forehead.  The  custom  of  kissing  the  beard  is 
still  preserved,  and  follows  the  first  and  preli- 
minary gesture ;  it  usually  takes  place  on  meet- 
ing after  an  absence  of  some  duration,  and  not  as 
an  every-day  compliment.  In  this  case,  the  per- 
son who  gives  the  kiss  lays  the  right  hand  under 
the  beard,  and  raises  it  slightly  to  his  lips,  or 
rather  supports  it  while  it  receives  his  kiss.  This 
custom  strikingly  illustrates  2  Sam.  xx.  9.  In 
Arabia  Petrsea,  and  some  other  parts,  it  is  more 
usual  for  persons  to  lay  the  right  sides  of  their 
cheeks  together. 


294. 

Among  the  Persians,  persons  in  saluting  under 
the  same  circumstances,  often  kiss  eacli  other  on 
the  lips  ;  but  if  one  of  the  individuals  is  of  high 
rank,  the  kiss  is  given  on  the  cheek  instead  of  the 


SAMARIA 

lips.  This  seems  to  illustrate  2  Sam.  xx.  9; 
Gen.  xxix.  11,  13;  xxxiii.  4;  xlviii.  10-12; 
Exod.  iv.  27  ;  xviii.  7. 

SAMA'lllA  {watch-height),  a  city,  situated 
near  the  middle  of  Palestine,  built  by  Omri,  king 
of  Israel,  on  a  mountain  or  hill  of  the  same  name, 
about  B.C.  925.  It  was  the  metropolis  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel,  or  of  the  ten  tribes.  The  hill 
was  purchased  from  the  owner,  Shemer,  from 
whom  the  city  took  its  name  (1  Kings  xvi.  23, 
24).  Samaria  continued  to  be  the  capital  of 
Israel  for  two  centuries,  till  the  carrying  away  of 
the  ten  tribes  by  Shalmaneser,  about  B.C.  720 
(2  Kings  xvii.  3,  5).  During  all  this  time  it  was 
the  seat  of  idolatr}',  and  is  often  as  such  de- 
noimced  by  the  prophets,  sometimes  in  connec- 
tion with  Jerusalem.  It  was  the  seat  of  a  temple 
of  Baal,  built  by  Ahab,  and  destroyed  by  Jehu 
(1  Kings  xvi.  32,  33 ;  2  Kings  x.  18-28).  It  was 
the  scene  of  many  of  the  acts  of  the  prophets 
Elijah  and  Elisha,  connected  with  the  various 
famines  of  the  land,  the  unexpected  plenty  of 
Samaria,  and  the  several  deliverances  of  the  city 
from  the  Syrians.  After  the  exile  of  the  ten 
tribes,  Samaria  appears  to  have  continued,  for  a 
time  at  least,  the  chief  city  of  the  foreigners 
brought  to  occupy  their  place  ;  although  Shechem 
soon  became  the  capital  of  the  Samaritans  as  a 
religious  sect.  John  Hyrcanus  took  the  city 
after  a  year's  siege,  and  razed  it  to  the  ground. 
Yet  it  must  soon  have  revived,  as  it  is  not  long 
after  mentioned  as  an  inhabited  place  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Jews.  Pompey  restored  it  to  its 
former  possessors ;  and  it  was  afterwards  rebuilt 
by  Gabinius.  Augustus  bestowed  Samaria  on 
Herod  ;  who  eventually  rebuilt  the  city  with  great 
magnificence,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Sebaste. 
Here  Herod  planted  a  colony  of  6000  persons, 
composed  partly  of  veteran  soldiers,  and  partly  of 
people  from  the  environs ;  enlarged  the  circum- 
ference of  the  city ;  and  surrounded  it  with  a 
strong  wall  twenty  stades  in  circuit.  In  the 
midst  of  the  city — that  is  to  say,  upon  the  summit 
of  the  hill — he  left  a  sacred  place  of  a  stade  and 
a  half,  splendidly  decorated,  and  here  he  erected 
a  temple  to  Augustus,  celebrated  for  its  magni- 
tude and  beauty.  The  whole  city  was  greatly 
ornamented,  and  became  a  strong  fortress.  Such 
was  the  Samaria  of  the  time  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, where  the  Gospel  was  preached  by  Philip, 
and  a  church  was  gathered  by  the  apostles  (Acts 
viii.  .5,  9,  sq.).  At  what  time  the  city  of  Herod 
became  desolate,  no  existing  accounts  state  ;  but 
all  the  notices  of  the  fourth  century  and  later 
lead  to  the  inference  that  its  destruction  had 
already  taken  place.  A  few  scanty  notices  of 
San)aria  are  found  scattered  through  the  works 
of  ancient  travellers,  but  it  was  not  till  the  present 
century  that  it  was  fully  explored  and  described. 

The  hill  of  Samaria  is  an  oblong  mountain  of 
considerable  elevation,  and  very  regular  in  form, 
situated  in  the  midst  of  a  broad  deep  valley.  Be- 
yond this  valley,  which  completely  isolates  the 
hill,  the  mountains  rise  again  on  every  side, 
forming  a  complete  wall  around  the  city.  They 
are  terraced  to  the  tops,  sown  in  grain,  and 
planted  with  olives  and  figs,  in  the  midst  of 
which  a  number  of  handsome  villages  appear  to 
great  advantage,  their  white  stone  cottages  con- 
trasting strikingly  with  the  verdure  of  the  trees. 
•  The  hill  of  Samaria '  itself  is  cultivated  from 


SAMARITANS 


707 


its  base,  the  terraced  sides  and  summits  being 
covered  with  corn  and  with  olive-trees.  The 
most  conspicuous  ruin  of  the  place,  is  the  church 
dedicated  to  John  the  Baptist,  erected  on  the  spot 
which  an  old  tradition  fixed  as  the  place  of  his 
burial,  if  not  of  his  martyrdom.     It  is  said  to 


295.    [Samaria  :  Church  of  St.  John.] 

have  been  built  by  the  Empress  Helena  ;  but  the 
architecture  limits  its  antiquity  to  the  period  of 
the  crusades,  although  a  portion  of  the  eastern 
end  seems  to  have  been  of  earlier  date.  On  the 
summit  of  the  hill  is  an  area,  once  surrounded  by 
limestone  columns,  of  which  fifteen  are  still 
standing,  and  two  prostrate.  There  is  no  trace 
of  the  order  of  their  architecture,  nor  any  indica- 
tions of  the  nature  of  the  edifice  to  M'hieh  they 
belong.  On  the  W.S.W.  descent  of  the  hill  there 
is  a  very  remarkable  colonnade,  of  which  eighty- 
two  columns  are  still  standing,  and  the  number  of 
those  fallen  and  broken  must  be  much  greater. 
They  may  without  much  hesitation  be  referred  to 
the  time  of  Herod  the  Great,  and  must  be  re- 
garded as  belonging  to  some  one  of  the  splendid 
edifices  with  which  he  adorned  the  city. 

SAM  AR'ITANS.  In  the  books  of  Kings  there 
are  brief  notices  of  the  origin  of  the  people  called 
Samaritans.  The  ten  tribes  which  revolted  from 
Rehoboam,  son  of  Solomon,  chose  Jeroboam  for 
their  king.  After  his  elevation  to  the  throne  he 
set  up  golden  calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel,  lest  re- 
peated visits  of  his  subjects  to  Jerusalem,  for  the 
purpose  of  worshipping  the  true  God,  should 
withdraw  their  allegiance  from  himself.  After- 
wards Samaria,  built  by  Omri,  became  the  metro- 
polis of  Israel,  and  thus  the  separation  between 
Judah  and  Israel  was  rendered  complete.  The 
people  took  the  name  Samaritans  from  the  capital 
city.  In  the  ninth  year  of  Hosea,  Samaria  was 
taken  by  the  Assyrians  under  Shalmaneser,  who 
carried  away  the  inhabitants  into  captivity,  and 
introduced  colonies  into  their  place  from  Babylon, 
Cuthah,  Ava,  Hamath,  and  Sepliarvaim.  These 
new  inhabitants  carried  along  with  them  their 
own  idolatrous  worship ;  and  on  being  infested 
with  lions,  sent  to  Esarhaddon,  king  of  Assyria. 
2  Z  2 


706 


SAMOTHRACE 


A  priest  of  the  tribe  of  Levi  was  accordingly  dis- 
patched to  them,  who  came  and  dwelt  in  Bethel, 
teaching  the  people  how  they  should  fear  the 
Lord.  Thus  it  appears  that  the  people  were  a 
mixed  race.  The  greater  part  of  the  Israelites 
had  been  carried  away  captive  by  the  Assyrians, 
including  the  rich,  the  strong,  and  such  as 
were  able  to  bear  arms.  But  the  poor  and  the 
feeble  had  been  left.  With  them,  therefore,  the 
heathen  colonists  became  incorporated.  As  the 
people  were  a  mixed  race,  their  religion  also  as- 
sumed a  mixed  character.  In  it  the  worship  of 
idols  M'as  associated  with  that  of  the  true  God. 
But  apostacy  from  Jehovah  was  not  universal. 
On  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonish 
captivity,  the  Samaritans  wished  to  join  thera  in 
rebuilding  the  temple  (Ezra  iv.  2).  But  the  Jews 
declined  the  proffered  assistance ;  and  from  this 
time  the  Samaritans  threw  every  obstacle  in  their 
way.  Hence  arose  that  inveterate  enmity  be- 
tween the  two  nations  which  afterwards  increased 
to  such  a  height  as  to  become  proverbial.  In  the 
reign  of  Darius  Nothus,  Manasses,  son  of  the 
Jewish  high  -  priest,  married  the  daughter  of 
Sanballat  the  Samaritan  governor ;  and  to  avoid 
the  necessity  of  repudiating  her,  as  the  law  of 
Moses  required,  went  over  to  the  Samaritans,  and 
became  high-priest  in  the  temple  which  his  father- 
in-law  built  for  him  on  Mount  Gerizim.  From 
this  time  Samaria  became  a  refuge  for  all  mal- 
content Jews ;  and  the  very  name  of  each  people 
became  odious  to  the  other.  About  the  year 
B.C.  109,  John  Hyrcauus,  high-priest  of  the  Jews, 
destroyed  the  city  and  temple  of  the  Samaritans ; 
bnt  B.C.  25,  Herod  rebuilt  them  at  great  expense. 
In  their  new  temple,  however,  the  Samaritans 
could  not  be  induced  to  offer  sacrifices,  but  still 
continued  to  worship  on  Gerizim.  At  the  present 
day  they  have  dwindleil  down  to  a  few  families. 
Shechem,  now  called  Nabulus,  is  their  place  of 
abode.  They  still  possess  a  copy  of  the  Mosaic  law, 
which,  it  is  well  known,  forms  the  only  portion 
of  Scripture  the  Samaritans  have  ever  received  or 
acknowledged.  The  opinion  that  copies  of  the 
Pentateuch  must  have  been  in  the  hands  of  Israel 
from  the  time  of  Rehoboam,  as  well  as  among 
Judah,  has  been  held  by  many  distinguished 
critics,  and  appears  to  be  correct.  The  prophets, 
who  frequently  inveigh  against  the  Israelites  for 
their  idolatry  and  their  crimes,  never  accuse  them 
of  being  destitute  of  the  law,  or  ignorant  of  its 
contents.  It  is  wholly  improbable,  too,  that  the 
people,  when  carried  captive  into  Assyria,  took 
with  them  all  the  copies  of  the  law.  Thus  we 
are  brought  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  Samaritan, 
as  well  as  the  Jewish  copy,  originally  flowed  from 
the  autograph  of  Moses.  The  two  constitute,  in 
feet,  different  recensions  of  the  same  work,  and 
coalesce  in  point  of  antiquity. 

SA'MOS,  an  island  in  the  iEgean  Sea,  near  the 
coast  of  Lydia,  in  Asia  Minor,  and  separated  only 
by  a  narrow  strait  from  the  promontory  which 
terminates  in  Cape  Trogyllium.  The  apostle 
Paul  touched  at  the  island  in  his  voyage  from 
Greece  to  Syria  (ActsxX.  15).  Samos  contained, 
some  years  ago,  about  eo,000  people,  inhabiting 
eighteen  large  villages,  and  about  twenty  small 
ones. 

SAMOTHRA'CE,  an  island  in  the  north-east 
part  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  above  the  Hellespont, 
with  a  lofty  mountain,  and  a  city  of  the  same 


SAMSON 

name.  The  island  was  celebrated  for  the  mys- 
teries of  Ceres  and  Proserpine,  and  was  a  sacred 
asylum.  Paul  touched  at  this  island  on  his  first 
voyage  to  Europe  (Acts  xvi.  11).  The  island  is 
now  called  Samandrachi.  It  is  but  thinly  peopled, 
and  contains  only  a  single  village. 

SAM'SON.  This  celebrated  champion  and 
judge  of  Israel,  was  the  son  of  Manoah,  of  the 
tribe  of  Dan,  and  born  a.m.  2S48,  of  a  mother 
whose  name  is  nowhere  given  in  the  Scriptures, 
His  birth  was  announced  by  a  heavenly  messenger, 
who  declared  to  his  mother  that  the  child  with 
which  she  was  pregnant  was  to  be  a  son,  who 
should  be  a  Nazarite  from  his  birth,  upon  whose 
head  no  razor  was  to  come,  and  who  was  to  prove 
a  signal  deliverer  to  his  people.  She  was  directed, 
accordingly,  to  conform  her  own  regimen  to  the 
tenor  of  the  Nazarite  law,  and  strictly  abstain 
from  wine  and  all  intoxicating  liquor,  and  from 
every  species  of  impure  food  [Nazarite].  Ac- 
cording to  the  '  prophecy  going  before  upon  him,' 
Samson  was  born  in  the  following  year,  and  his 
destination  to  great  achievements  began  to  evince 
itself  at  a  very  early  age  by  the  illapses  of  super- 
human strength  which  came  from  time  to  time 
upon  him.  Those  specimens  of  extraordinary 
prowess,  of  which  the  slaying  of  the  lion  at  Tim- 
nath  without  weapons  was  one,  were  doubtless  the 
result  of  that  special  influence  of  the  Most  High 
which  is  referred  to  in  Judg.  xiii.  25. 

As  the  position  of  the  tribe  of  Dan,  bordering 
upon  the  territory  of  the  Philistines,  exposed  them 
especially  to  the  predatory  incursions  of  this 
people,  it  was  plainly  the  design  of  heaven  to 
raise  up  a  deliverer  in  that  region  where  he  was 
most  needed.  The  Philistines,  therefore,  became 
very  naturally  the  objects  of  that  retributive 
course  of  proceedings  in  which  Samson  was  to  be 
the  principal  actor,  and  upon  which  he  could 
only  enter  by  seeking  some  occasion  of  exciting 
hostilities  that  would  bring  the  two  peoples  into 
direct  collision.  Such  an  occasion  was  afforded 
by  his  meeting  with  one  of  the  daughters  of  the 
Philistines  at  Timnath,  whom  he  besought  his 
parents  to  procure  for  him  in  marriage. 

At  his  wedding- feast,  the  attendance  of  a  large 
company  of  friends  of  the  bridegroom,  convened 
ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  honouring  his  nup- 
tials, but  in  reality  to  keep  an  insidious  watch 
upon  his  movements,  furnished  the  occasion  of  a 
common  Oriental  device  for  enlivening  enter- 
tainments of  this  nature.  He  propounded  a  riddle, 
the  solution  of  which  referred  to  his  obtaining  a 
quantity  of  honey  from  the  carcase  of  a  slain 
lion,  and  the  clandestine  manner  in  which  his 
guests  got  possession  of  the  clue  to  the  enigma 
cost  thirty  Philistines  their  lives.  The  next  in- 
stance of  his  vindictive  policy  was  prompted  by 
the  ill-treatment  which  he  had  received  at  the 
hands  of  his  father-in-law,  who,  upon  a  frivolous 
pretext,  had  given  away  his  daughter  in  marriage 
to  another  man,  and  was  executed  by  securing  a 
multitude  of  foxes,  or  rather  jackals,  and,  by 
tying  firebrands  to  their  tails,  setting  fire  to  the 
cornfields  of  his  enemies.  The  indignation  of  the 
Philistines,  on  discovering  the  author  of  the  out- 
rage, vented  itself  upon  the  family  of  his  father- 
in-law,  who  had  been  the  remote  occasion  of  it, 
in  the  burning  of  their  house,  in  which  both 
father  and  daughter  perished.  This  was  a  fresh 
provocation,  for  which  Samson  threateued  to  be 


SAMSON 

revenged ;  and  thereupon  falling  upon  them  with- 
out ceremony  he  smote  them,  as  it  is  said, '  hip 
and  thigh  with  a  great  slaughter.' 

Having  subsequently  taken  up  his  residence  in 
the  rock  Etam,  he  was  thence  dislodged  by  con- 
senting to  a  pusillanimous  arrangement  on  the 
part  of  his  own  countrymen,  by  which  he  agreed 
to  surrender  liiniself  in  bonds  provided  Ihey  would 
not  themselves  fall  upon  him  and  kill  him.  Being 
brought  in  this  apparently  helpless  condition  to  a 
place  called  from  the  event  Lehi,  a  jaio,  his  pre- 
ternatural potency  suddenly  put  itself  forth,  and 
snapping  the  cords  asunder,  and  snatching  up  the 
jaw-bone  of  an  ass,  he  dealt  so  effectually  about 
him,  that  a  thousand  men  were  slain  on  the  spot. 
That  this  was  altogether  the  work,  not  of  man, 
but  of  God,  was  soon  demonstrated.  Wearied 
with  his  exertions,  the  illustrious  Danite  became 
faint  from  thirst,  and  as  there  was  no  water  in 
the  place,  he  prayed  that  a  fountain  might  be 
opened.  His  prayer  was  heard ;  God  caused  a 
stream  to  gush  from  a  hollow  rock  hard  by,  and 
Samson  in  gratitude  gave  it  the  name  of  En- 
hahhore,  a  word  that  signifies  '  the  well  of  him 
that  prayed,'  and  which  continued  to  be  the  de- 
signation of  the  fountain  ever  after. 

The  Philistines  were  from  this  time  held  in 
such  contempt  by  their  victor,  that  he  went 
openly  into  the  city  of  Gaza,  where  he  seems 
to  have  suffered  himself  weakly  to  be  drawn 
into  the  company  of  a  woman  of  loose  character, 
the  yielding  to  whose  enticements  exposed  him 
to  the  most  imminent  peril.  His  presence  being 
soon  noised  abroad,  an  attempt  was  made  during 
the  night  forcibly  to  detain  him,  by  closing  the 
gates  of  the  city  and  making  them  fast ;  but 
Samson,  apprised  of  it,  rose  at  midnight,  and 
breaking  away  bolts,  bars,  and  binges,  departed, 
carrying  the  gates  upon  his  shoulders,  to  the  top 
of  a  neighbouring  hill  that  looks  toivards  Hebron 
(not '  before  Hebron,'  as  the  words  are  rendered  in 
the  Authorized  Version).  After  this  his  enemies 
strove  to  entrap  him  by  guile  rather  than  by 
violence;  and  they  were  too  successful  in  the 
end.  Falling  in  love  with  a  woman  of  Sorek, 
named  Delilah,  he  became  so  infatuated  by  his 
passion,  that  nothing  but  his  bodily  strength  could 
equal  his  mental  weakness.  The  princes  of  the 
Philistines,  aware  of  Samson's  infirmity,  deter- 
mined by  means  of  it  to  get  possession,  if  possible, 
of  his  person.  For  this  purpose  they  propose  a 
tempting  bribe  to  Delilah,  and  she  enters  at  once 
into  the  treacherous  compact.  She  employs  all 
her  art  and  blandishments  to  worm  from  him  the 
secret  of  his  prodigious  strength.  Having  for 
some  time  amused  her  with  fictions,  he  at  last,  in 
a  moment  of  weakness,  disclosed  to  her  the  fact 
that  it  lay  in  his  hair,  which  if  it  were  shaved 
would  leave  him  a  mere  common  man.  Not  that 
his  strength  really  lay  in  his  hair,  for  this  in  fact 
had  no  natural  influence  upon  it  one  way  or  the 
other.  His  strength  arose  from  his  relation  to 
God  as  a  Nazarite,  and  the  preservation  of  his 
hair  unshorn  was  the  viark  or  siyn  of  his  Naza- 
riieship,  and  a  pledge  on  the  part  of  God  of  the 
continuance  of  his  miraculous  physical  powers. 
If  he  lost  this  sign,  the  badge  of  his  consecration, 
he  broke  his  vow,  and  consequently  forfeited  the 
thing  signified.  God  abandoned  him,  and  he 
was  thenceforward  no  more,  in  this  respect,  than 
an    ordinary  man.     His    treacherous   paramour 


SAMUEL 


709 


seized  the  first  opportunity  of  putting  his  de- 
claration to  the  test.  She  shaved  his  head  while 
he  lay  sleeping  in  her  lap,  and  at  a  concerted 
signal  he  was  instantly  arrested  by  his  enemies 
lying  in  wait.  Having  so  long  presumptuously 
played  with  his  ruin,  Heaven  leaves  him  to  him- 
self, as  a  punishment  for  his  former  guilty  in- 
dnlgence.  He  is  made  to  reap  as  he  had  sown, 
and  is  consigned  to  the  hands  of  his  relentless 
foes.  His  punishment  was  indeed  severe,  though 
he  amply  revenged  it,  as  well  as  redeemed  in 
a  measure  his  own  honour,  by  the  manner  in 
which  he  met  his  death.  The  Philistines  having 
deprived  him  of  sight,  at  first  immured  him  in 
a  prison,  and  made  him  grind  at  the  mill  like  a 
slave,  thus  reducing  him  to  the  lowest  state  of 
degradation  and  shame. 

In  process  of  time,  while  remaining  in  this 
confinement,  his  hair  recovered  its  growth,  and 
with  it  such  a  profound  repentance  seems  to  have 
wrought  in  his  heart  as  virtually  re-invested  him 
with  the  character  and  the  powers  he  had  so 
culpably  lost.  Of  this  fact  his  enemies  were  not 
aware.  Still  exulting  in  their  possession  of  the 
great  scourge  of  their  nation,  they  kept  him,  like 
a  wild  beast,  for  mockery  and  insult.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  when  an  immense  multitude,  in- 
cluding the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  Philistines, 
were  convened  in  a  large  amphitheatre,  to  cele- 
brate a  feast  in  honour  of  their  god  Dagon,  who 
had  delivered  their  adversary  into  their  hands, 
Samson  was  ordered  to  be  brought  out  to  be  made 
a  laughing-stock  to  his  enemies,  a  butt  for  their 
scoffs,  insults,  mockeries,  and  merriment.  Se- 
cretly determined  to  use  his  recovered  strength 
to  tremendous  effect,  he  persuaded  the  boy  who 
guided  his  steps  to  conduct  him  to  a  spot  where 
he  could  reach  the  two  pillars  upon  which  the 
roof  of  the  building  chiefly  rested.  Here,  after 
pausing  for  a  short  time,  while  he  prefers  a  brief 
prayer  to  Heaven,  he  grasps  the  massy  pillars, 
and  bowing  with  resistless  force,  the  whole  build- 
ing rocks  and  totters,  and  the  roof,  encumbered 
with  the  weight  of  the  spectators,  rushes  down, 
and  the  whole  assembly,  including  Samson  him- 
self, are  crushed  to  pieces  in  the  ruin. 

Thus  terminated  the  career  of  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  personages  of  all  history,  whether 
sacred  or  profane.  The  enrolment  of  his  name 
by  an  apostolic  pen  (Heb.  xi.  32)  in  the  list  of 
the  ancient  worthies,  '  who  had  by  faith  obtained 
an  excellent  repute,'  warrants  us  undoubtedly  to 
entertain  a  favourable  estimate  of  his  character  on 
the  whole,  while  at  the  same  time  the  fidelity  of 
the  inspired  narrative  has  perpetuated  the  record 
of  infirmities  which  must  for  ever  mar  the  lustre 
of  his  noble  deeds. 

SAM'UEL,  the  last  of  those  extraordinary 
regents  that  presided  over  the  Hebrew  common- 
wealth under  the  title  of  Judges.  The  circum- 
stances of  his  birth  are  detailed  at  length  in  the 
first  chapter  of  the  book  of  Samuel.  His  mother 
vowed  that  if  Jehovah  should  give  her  a  man- 
child,  she  would  devote  him  to  the  Lord  all  the 
days  of  her  life.  Her  prayer  was  heard,  and 
when  the  birth  of  a  son  fulfilled  her  hopes,  this 
child  of  prayer  was  named  Samukl  (heard  of 
God).  In  consequence  of  his  mother's  vow,  the 
boy  was  from  his  early  years  set  apart  to  the  ser- 
vice of  Jehovah,  under  the  immediate  tutelage 
of  Eli. 


SAMUEL 


SAMUEL 


The  degeneracy  of  the  people  at  this  time  was 
extreme.  The  tribes  seem  to  have  administered 
their  affairs  as  independent  republics,  the  national 
confederacy  was  weak  and  disunited,  and  the 
spirit  of  public  patriotic  enterprise  had  been  worn 
out  by  constant  turmoil  and  invasion.  The  theo- 
cratic intluence  was  also  scarcely  felt,  its  peculiar 
ministers  being  withdrawn,  and  its  ordinary  mani- 
festations, except  in  the  routine  of  the  Levitical 
ritual,  having  ceased ;  '  the  word  of  the  Lord  was 
precious  in  those  days,  there  was  no  open  vision ' 
(iii.  1).  The  young  devotee,  '  the  child  Samuel,' 
was  selected  by  Jehovah  to  renew  the  deliverance 
of  his  oracles.  As  he  lay  in  his  chamber  adjoin- 
ing the  sacred  edifice,  the  Lord,  by  means  adapted 
to  his  juvenile  capacity,  made  known  to  him  his 
first  and  fearful  communication — the  doom  of 
Eli's  apostate  house.  Other  revelations  speedily 
followed  this ;  the  frequency  of  God's  messages 
to  the  young  prophet  established  his  fame  ;  and 
the  exact  fulfilment  of  them  secured  his  reputa- 
tion. The  fearful  fate  pronounced  on  the  head 
and  family  of  the  pontificate  was  soon  executed. 
Hophni  and  Phinehas,  Eli's  sons,  both  fell  in  one 
day;  the  Israelites  were  defeated  with  a  great 
slaughter,  and  the  ark  of  God  was  taken.  Their 
father  sat  by  the  wavside  to  gather  the  earliest 
news  of  the  battle,  ror  his  '  heart  trembled  for 
the  ark  of  God ;'  and  as  a  fugitive  from  the  scene 
of  conflict  reported  to  him  the  sad  disaster- 
Israel  routed  and  fleeing  in  panic,  Hophni  and 
Phinehas  both  slain,  and  the  ark  of  God  taken— 
this  last  and  overpowering  intelligence  so  shocked 
him,  that  he  fainted  and  fell  from  his  seat,  and  in 
his  fall  'brake  his  neck  and  died'  (iv.  18). 
When  the  feeble  administration  of  Eli,  who  had 
judged  Israel  forty  years,  was  concluded  by  his 
death,  Samuel  was  too  young  to  succeed  to  the 
regency,  and  the  actions  of  this  earlier  portion 
of  his  life  are  left  unrecorded.  The  ark,  which 
had  been  captured  by  the  Philistines,  soon  vindi- 
cated its  majesty,  and  after  being  detained  among 
them  seven  months,  was  sent  back  to  Israel.  It 
did  not,  however,  reach  Shiloh,  in  consequence 
of  the  fearful  judgment  of  Bethshemesh  (vi.  19), 
but  rested  in  Kirjath-jearim  for  no  fewer  than 
twenty  years  (vii.  2).  It  is  not  till  the  expiration 
of  this  period  that  Samuel  appears  again  in  the 
history.  This  long  season  of  national  humilia- 
tion was  to  some  extent  improved.  'AH  the 
house  of  Israel  lamented  after  the  Lord,'  and 
Samuel,  seizing  upon  the  crisis,  issued  a  public 
manifesto,  exposing  the  sin  of  idolatry,  urging 
on  the  people  religious  amendment,  and  pro- 
mising political  deliverance  on  their  reformation. 
The  people  obeyed,  the  oracular  mandate  was 
effectual,  and  the  principles  of  the  theocracy  again 
triumphed  (vii.  4).  The  tribes  were  summoned 
by  the  prophet  to  assemble  in  Mizpeh,  and  at 
this  assembly  of  the  Hebrew  comitia,  Samuel 
seems  to  have  been  elected  regent  (vii.  6). 

This  mustering  of  the  Hebrews  at  Mizpeh  on 
the  inauguration  of  Samuel  alarmed  the  Philis- 
tines, and  their  'lords  went  up  against  Israel.' 
Samuel  assumed  the  functions  of  the  theocratic 
viceroy,  offered  a  solem  oblation,  and  implored 
the  immediate  protection  of  Jehovah.  He  was 
answered  with  propitious  thunder.  A  fearful 
storm  burst  upon  the  Philistines  they  were  sig- 
nally defeated,  and  did  not  recruU  their  strength 
again  during  the  administration  of  the  prophet- 


judge.  The  grateful  victor  erected  a  stone  of 
remembrance,  and  named  it  Ebenezer  {the  stone 
of  help).  From  an  incidental  allusion  (vii.  14) 
we  learn,  too,  that  about  this  time  the  Amorites, 
the  Eastern  foes  of  Israel,  were  also  at  peace  with 
them.  The  presidency  of  Samuel  appears  to 
have  been  eminently  successful.  From  the  very 
brief  sketch  given  us  of  his  public  life,  we  infer 
that  the  administration  of  justice  occupied  no  little 
share  of  his  time  and  attention.  He  went  from 
year  to  year  in  circuit  to  Bethel,  Gilgal,  and 
Mizpeh,  places  not  very  far  distant  from  each 
other,  but  chosen  perhaps  because  they  were  the 
old  scenes  of  worship. 

The  dwelling  of  the  prophet  was  at  Ramah, 
where  religious  worship  was  established  after  the 
patriarchal  model,  and  where  Samuel,  like  Abra- 
ham, built  an  altar  to  the  Lord. 

In  Samuel's  old  age  two  of  his  sons  were  ap- 
pointed by  him  deputy-judges  in  Beersheba. 
These  young  men  possessed  not  their  father's  in- 
tegrity of  spirit,  but  '  turned  aside  after  lucre, 
took  bribes,  and  perverted  judgment '  (1  Sam. 
viii.  3).  The  advanced  years  of  the  venerable 
ruler  himself,  and  his  approaching  dissolution, 
the  certainty  that  none  of  his  family  could 
fill  his  oflSce  with  advantage  to  the  country, 
the  horror  of  a  period  of  anarchy  which  his 
death  might  occasion,  the  necessity  of  having 
some  one  to  put  an  end  to  tribal  jealousies  and 
concentrate  the  energies  of  the  nation,  especially 
as  there  appeared  to  be  symptoms  of  renewed 
warlike  preparations  on  the  part  of  the  Ammo- 
nites (xii.  12) — these  considerations  seem  to  have 
led  the  elders  of  Israel  to  adopt  the  bold  step 
of  assembling  at  Ramah  and  soliciting  Samuel 
'  to  make  a  king  to  judge  them.'  The  proposed 
change  from  a  republican  to  a  regal  form  of  go- 
vernment displeased  Samuel  for  various  reasons. 
Besides  its  being  a  departure  from  the  first  po- 
litical institute,  and  so  far  an  infringement  en  the 
rights  of  the  divine  head  of  the  theocracy,  it 
was  regarded  by  the  regent  as  a  virtual  charge 
against" himself,  and  might  appear  to  him  as  one 
of  those  examples  of  popular  fickleness  and  in- 
gratitude which  the  history  of  every  realm  ex- 
hibits in  profusion.  Jehovah  comforts  Samuel 
in  this  respect  by  saying, '  They  have  not  rejected 
thee,  but  they  have  rejected  me.'  Being  warned 
of  God  to  accede  to  their  request  for  a  king,  and 
yet  to  remonstrate  with  the  people,  and  set  before 
the  nation  the  perils  and  tyranny  of  a  monarchical 
government  (viii.  10),  Samuel  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  sovereign.  Saul,  son  of  Kish,  'a 
choice  young  man  and  a  goodly,'  whom  he  had 
met  unexpectedly,  was  pointed  out  to  him  by 
Jehovah  as  the  king  of  Israel,  and  by  the  prophet 
was  anointed  and  saluted  as  monarch.  Samuel 
again  convened  the  nation  at  Mizpeh,  again  with 
honest  zeal  condemned  their  project,  but  caused 
the  sacred  lot  to  be  taken.  The  lot  fell  on  Saul. 
The  prophet  now  formally  introduced  him  to  the 
people,  who  shouted  in  joyous  acclamation  '  God 
save  the  king." 

Not  content  with  oral  explanations,  this  last  of 
the  republican  chiefs  not  only  told  the  people  the 
manner  of  the  kingdom,  '  but  wrote  it  in  a  book 
and  laid  it  up  before  the  Lord.'  What  is  here 
asserted  of  Samuel  may  mean,  that  he  extracted 
from  the  Pentateuch  the  recorded  provision  of 
Moses  for  a  future  monarchy,  and  added  to  it  such 


SAMUEL,  BOOKS  OF 

warnings,  and  counsels,  and  safeguards  as  his 
inspired  sagacity  might  suggest.  Saul's  first  battle 
being  so  successful,  and  the  preparations  for  it 
displaying  no  ordinary  energy  and  promptitude 
of  character,  his  popularity  was  suddenly  ad- 
vanced, and  his  throne  secured.  Taking  advan- 
tage of  the  general  sensation  in  favour  of  Saul, 
Samuel  cited  the  people  to  meet  again  in  Gilgal, 
to  renew  the  kingdom,  to  ratify  the  new  consti- 
tution, and  solemnly  iustal  the  sovereign  (xi.  14). 
Here  the  upright  judge  made  a  powerful  appeal 
to  the  assembly  in  vindication  of  his  government, 
and  the  whole  multitude  responded  in  unanimous 
approval  of  his  honesty  and  intrepidity  (xii.  3, 
4).  Then  he,  still  jealous  of  God's  prerogative 
and  the  civil  rights  of  his  people,  briefly  narrated 
their  history,  showed  them  how  they  never  wanted 
chieftains  to  defend  them  when  they  served  God, 
and  declared  that  it  was  distrust  of  God's  raising 
up  a  new  leader  in  a  dreaded  emergency  that 
excited  the  outcry  for  a  king.  In  proof  of  this 
charge  he  appealed  to  Jehovah,  who  answered  in 
a  fearful  hurricane  of  thunder  and  rain.  The 
terrified  tribes  confessed  their  guilt,  and  besought 
Samuel  to  intercede  for  them  in  his  disinterested 
patriotism. 

It  is  said  (vii.  1.5)  that  Samuel  judged  Israel 
all  the  days  of  his  life.  The  assertion  may  mean 
that  even  after  Saul's  coronation  Samuel's  power, 
though  formally  abdicated,  was  yet  actually  felt 
and  exercised  in  the  direction  of  state  affairs. 
No  enterprise  could  be  undertaken  without 
Samuel's  concurrence.  His  was  an  authority 
higher  than  the  king's.  We  find  Saul,  having 
mustered  his  forces,  about  to  march  against  the 
Philistines,  yet  delaying  to  do  so  till  Samuel  con- 
secrated the  undei'taking.  He  came  not  at  the 
time  appointed,  as  Saul  thought,  and  the  impa- 
tient monarch  proceeded  to  offer  sacrifice — a 
fearful  violation  of  the  national  law.  The  pro- 
phet arrived  as  the  religious  service  was  con- 
cluded, and  rebuking  Saul  for  his  presumption, 
distinctly  hinted  at  the  short  continuance  of  his 
kingdom.  Again  we  find  Samuel  charging  Saul 
with  the  extirpation  of  the  Amalekites.  The 
royal  warrior  proceeded  on  the  expedition,  but 
obeyed  not  the  mandate  of  Jehovah.  His  apolo- 
gies, somewhat  craftily  framed,  for  his  inconsist- 
enciis,  availed  him  not  with  the  prophet,  and  he 
was  by  the  indignant  seer  virtually  dethroned. 
He  had  forfeited  his  crown  by  disobedience  to 
God.  Yet  Samuel  mourned  for  him.  But  now 
the  Lord  directed  him  to  make  provision  for  the 
future  government  of  the  country  (xvi.  1).  To 
prevent  strife  and  confusion  it  was  necessary,  in 
the  circumstances,  that  the  second  king  should 
be  appointed  ere  the  first  sovereign's  demise. 
Samuel  went  to  Bethlehem  and  set  apart  the 
youngest  of  the  sons  of  Jesse,  '  and  came  to  see 
Saul  no  more  till  the  day  of  his  death.'  At  length 
Samuel  died  (xxv.  1),  and  all  Israel  mourned  for 
him,  and  buried  him  in  his  house  at  Ramah. 

SAMUEL,  BOOKS  OF.  The  two  books  of 
Samuel  were  anciently  reckoned  as  but  one  among 
the  Jews,  and  that  they  form  only  one  treatise  is 
apparent  from  their  structure. 

The  contents  of  these  books  belong  to  an  inter- 
esting period  of  Jewish  history.  The  preceding 
book  of  Judges  refers  to  the  affairs  of  the  re- 
public as  they  were  administered  after  the  Con- 
(juest,  when  the  nation  was  a  congeries  of  inde- 


SAMUEL,  BOOKS  OF 


711 


pendent  cantons,  sometimes  partially  united  for 
a  season  under  an  extraordinary  dictator.  As, 
however,  the  mode  of  government  was  changed, 
and  remained  monarchical  till  the  overthrow  of 
the  kingdom,  it  was  of  national  importance  to 
note  the  time,  method,  and  means  of  the  altera- 
tion. This  change  happening  under  the  regency 
of  the  wisest  and  best  of  their  sages,  his  life  be- 
came a  topic  of  interest.  The  first  book  of  Samuel 
gives  an  account  of  his  birth  and  early  call  to 
the  duties  of  a  seer,  under  Eli's  pontificate ;  de- 
scribes the  low  and  degraded  condition  of  the 
people,  oppressed  by  foreign  enemies ;  proceeds 
to  narrate  the  election  of  Samuel  as  judge ;  his 
prosperous  regency ;  the  degeneracy  of  his  sons, 
the  clamour  for  a  change  in  the  civil  constitution; 
the  installation  of  Saul ;  his  rash  and  reckless 
character;  his  neglect  of,  or  opposition  to.  the 
theocratic  elements  of  the  government.  Then 
the  historian  goes  on  to  relate  God's  choice  of 
David  as  king ;  his  endurance  of  long  and  harass- 
ing persecutioii  from  the  reigning  sovereign  ;  the 
melancholy  defeat  and  death  of  Saul  on  the  field 
of  Gilboa ;  the  gradual  elevation  of  the  man 
'  according  to  God's  own  heart '  to  universal 
dominion ;  his  earnest  efforts  to  obey  and  follow 
out  the  principles  of  the  theocracy;  his  formal 
establishment  of  religious  worship  at  Jerusalem, 
now  the  capital  of  the  nation ;  and  his  series  of 
victories  over  all  the  enemies  of  Judsa  that  were 
wont  to  molest  its  frontiers.  The  annalist  re- 
cords David's  aberrations  from  the  path  of  duty ; 
the  unnatural  rebellion  of  his  son  Absalom,  and 
its  suppression ;  his  carrying  into  effect  a  census 
of  his  dominions,  and  the  Divine  punishment 
which  this  act  incurred:  and  concludes  with  a 
few  characteristic  sketches  of  his  military  staff. 
The  second  book  of  Samuel,  while  it  relates  the 
last  words  of  David,  yet  stops  short  of  his  death. 
As  David  was  the  real  founder  of  the  monarchy 
and  arranger  of  the  religious  economy;  the  great 
hero,  legislator,  and  poet  of  his  country ;  as  his 
dynasty  maintained  itself  on  the  throne  of  Judah 
till  the  Babylonian  invasion ;  it  is  not  a  matter 
of  wonder  that  the  description  of  iiis  life  and 
government  occupies  so  large  a  piH  lion  of  early 
Jewish  history.  The  books  of  Sumuel  thus  con- 
sist of  three  interlaced  biographies — those  of 
Samuel,  Saul,  and  David. 

The  attempt  to  ascertain  the  authorship  of  this 
early  history  is  attended  with  difficulty.  Ancient 
opinion  is  in  favour  of  the  usual  theory,  that  the 
first  twenty-four  chapters  were  written  by  Samuel, 
and  the  rest  by  Nathau  and  Gad.  Various  argu- 
ments have  of  late  been  brought  against  this 
opinion,  but  they  are  more  ingenious  than  solid. 
The  striking  circumstance  that  these  books  do 
not  record  David's  death,  though  they  give  his 
last  words — his  last  inspired  effusion — afford,  to 
say  the  least  of  it,  a  strong  presumption  that  they 
must  have  been  composed  before  that  monarch 
'  slept  with  his  fathers.' 

The  design  of  these  books  is  not  very  different 
from  that  of  the  other  historical  treatises  of  the 
Old  Testament.  The  books  of  Kings  are  a  history 
of  the  nation  £:s  a  theocracy  ;  those  of  Chronicles 
have  special  reference  to  the  form  and  ministry 
of  the  religious  worship,  as  bearing  upon  its  re- 
establishment  after  the  return  from  Babylon. 
Samuel  is  more  biographical,  yet  the  theocratic 
element  of  the  government  is  not  overlooked.    It 


712 


SANDAL 


is  distinctly  brought  to  view  in  the  early  chapters 
concerning  Eli  and  his  house,  and  the  fortunes  of 
the  ark;  in  the  passages  Avhich  describe  the 
change  of  the  constitution  ;  in  the  blessing  which 
rested  on  the  house  of  Obed-Edom ;  in  the  curse 
which  fell  on  the  Bethshemites,  and  Uzzah  and 
Saul,  for  intrusive  interference  with  holy  things. 
The  book  shows  clearly  that  God  Mas  a  jealous 
God  ;  that  obedience  to  him  secured  felicity ;  that 
the  natiou  sinned  in  seeking  another  king ;  that 
Saul's  special  iniquity  was  his  impious  oblivion 
of  his  station  as  only  Jehovah's  vicegerent,  for  he 
contemned  the  prophets  and  slew  the  priesthood ; 
and  that  David  owed  his  prosperity  to  his  careful 
culture  of  the  sacred  principle  of  the  Hebrew  ad- 
ministration. This  early  production  contained 
lessons  both  for  the  people  and  for  succeeding 
monarchs,  bearing  on  it  the  motto,  'Whatsoever 
things  were  written  aforetime  were  written  for 
our  learning.' 

SANBAL'LAT,  a  native  of  Horonaim,  beyond 
the  Jordan  (Neh.  ii.  10),  and  probably  also  a 
Moabitish  chief,  whom  (perhaps  from  old  national 
hatred)  we  find  united  in  council  with  the  Sama- 
ritans, and  active  in  attempting  to  deter  the  re- 
turned exiles  from  fortifying  Jerusalem  (Neh. 
iv.  1,  sq.  ;  vi.  1,  sq.).  Subsequently,  during  the 
absence  of  Nehemiah  in  Persia,  a  son  of  Joiada, 
the  high  priest,  was  married  to  his  daughter 
(Neh.  xiii.  28). 

SANDAL,  a  covering  for  the  feet,  usually  de- 
noted by  the  word  translated  '  shoe'  in  the  Autho- 
rized Version.  It  was  usually  a  sole  of  hide, 
j  leather,  or  wood,  bound  on  to  the  foot  by  thongs ; 
but  it  may  sometimes  denote  such  shoes  and 
buskins  as  eventually  came  into  use. 

Ladies  of  rank  appear  to  have  paid  great  atten- 
]  tion  to  the  beauty  of  their  sandals  (Cant.  vii.  1); 
though,  if  the  bride  in  that  book  was  an  Egyptian 
I  princess,  as  some  suppose,  the  exclamation,  '  How 
beautiful  are  thy  feet  with  sandals,  0  prince's 
;  daughter !'  may  imply  admiration  of  a  luxury 
1  properly  Egyptian,  as  the  ladies  of  that  country 
'  were  noted  for  their  sumptuous  sandals.  But  this 
I  taste  was  probably  general ;  for,  at  the  present 
I  day,  the  dress  slippers  of  ladies  of  rank  are  among 
I  the  richest  articles  of  their  attire,  being  elabo- 
I  rately  embroidered  with  flowers  and  other  figures 
'   wrought  in  silk,  silver,  and  gold. 


It  does  not  seem  probable  that  the  sandals  of 
the  Hebrews  differed  much  from  those  used  in 
Egypt,  excepting,  perhaps,  that  from  the  greater 
roughness  of  their  country,  they  were  usually  of 


SANHEDRIM 

more  substantial  make  and  materials.  The 
Egyptian  sandals  varied  slightly  in  form :  those 
worn  by  the  upper  classes,  and  by  women,  were 
usually  pointed  and  turned  up  at  the  end,  like 
our  skates  and  many  of  the  Eastern  slippers  at  the 
present  day.  They  were  made  of  a  sort  of  woven 
or  interlaced  work  of  palm-leaves  and  papyrus- 
stalks  or  other  similar  materials,  and  sometimes 
of  leather  ;  and  were  frequently  lined  with  cloth, 
on  w  hich  the  figure  of  a  captive  was  painted ; 
that  humiliating  position  being  considered  suited 
to  the  enemies  of  their  country,  whom  they  hated 
and  despised.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  Jews 
adopted  this  practice ;  but  the  idea  which  it  ex- 
pressed, of  treading  their  enemies  under  their  feet, 
was  familiar  to  them  (Josh.  x.  24).  Those  of 
the  middle  classes  who  were  in  the  habit  of 
wearing  sandals,  often  preferred  walking  bare- 
footed. 


297.     [Greek  and  Roman  Sandals 


In  transferring  a  possession  or  domain  It  was 
customary  to  deliver  a  sandal  (Euth  iv.  7),  as  in 
our  middle  ages,  a  glove.  Hence  the  action  of 
throwing  down  a  shoe  upon  a  region  or  territory, 
was  a  symbol  of  occupancy.  So  Ps.  Ix.  10.  In 
Ruth,  as  above,  the  delivering  of  a  sandal  sig- 
nified that  the  next  of  kin  transferred  to  another 
a  sacred  obligation ;  and  he  was  hence  called 
'  sandal-loosed.' 

It  was  undoubtedly  the  custom  to  take  off  the 
sandals  on  holy  ground,  in  the  act  of  worship, 
and  in  the  presence  of  a  superior.  Hence  the 
command  to  take  the  sandals  from  the  feet  under 
such  circumstances  (Exod.  iii.  5;  Josh.  v.  15). 
This  is  still  the  well-known  custom  of  the  Eastm- 
an Oriental  taking  off  his  shoe  in  cases  in  which 
a  European  would  remove  his  hat.  The  shoes 
of  the  modern  Orientals  are,  however,  made  to 
slip  off  easily,  which  was  not  the  case  with 
sandals,  that  required  to  be  unbound  with  some 
trouble.  This  operation  was  usually  performed 
by  servants ;  and  hence  the  act  of  unloosing  the 
sandals  of  another  became  a  familiar  symbol  of 
servitude  (Mark  i.  7;  Luke  iii.  IG;  John  i.  27; 
Acts  xiii.  25). 

SANHE'DRIM,  more  properly  Sanhedrin, 
the  supreme  judicial  council  of  the  Jews,  espe- 
cially for  religious  affairs.  This  council  con- 
sisted of  seventy  members.  To  this  number  the 
high  priest  was  added,  '  provided  he  was  a  man 
endowed  with  wisdom.'  According  to  Dr.  Jost, 
the  members  of  the  council '  consisted  of  the  most 


SANHEDRIM 

eminent  priests,  and  of  the  scribes  of  the  people, 
who  were  chosen  for  life,  but  each  of  whom  had 
to  look  to  his  own  industry  for  his  support.'  In 
the  New  Testament  they  are  frequently  termed 
Priests,  Elders,  and  Scribes.  By  the  first  are  to 
be  understood,  not  such  as  had  sustained  the  oflBce 
of  high-priest,  but  the  chief  men  among  the 
priests;  probably  the  presidents  of  the  twenty- 
four  classes  into  which  the  priesthood  was 
divided.  By  the  second,  we  are  probably  to  un- 
derstand the  select  men  of  the  people — persons 
whose  rank  or  standing  led  to  their  being  raised 
to  this  distinction.  And  by  the  last  are  desig- 
nated those,  whether  of  the  Levitical  family  or 
not,  who  gave  themselves  to  the  pursuit  of  learn- 
ing, especially  to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture, 
and  of  the  traditions  of  the  fathers. 

In  the  council  the  office  of  president  belonged 
to  the  high-priest,  if  he  was  a  member  of  it. 
Next  in  rank  to  him  was  the  vice-president,  who 
bore  the  title  oi  Futlier  of  the  House  of'  Judgment ; 
whose  duty  it  was  to  supply  the  place  of  the  pre- 
sident in  case  he  should  be  prevented  by  any  ac- 
cidental cause  from  discharjiing  his  duties  him- 
self. The  third  grade  of  rank  was  that  of  the 
aa^e,  whose  business  was  to  give  counsel  to  the 
assembly.  The  assembly,  when  convened,  sat  in 
the  form  of  a  semicircle,  or  half-moon,  the  pre- 
sident occupying  the  centre.  At  each  extremity 
stood  a  scribe,  whose  duty  it  was  to  record  the 
sentence  pronounced  by  the  council.  The  meet- 
ings of  this  council  were  usually  held  in  the 
morning.  Their  place  of  meeting  was  a  hall, 
close  by  the  great  gate  of  the  temple,  and  leading 
from  the  outer  court  of  the  women  to  the  holy 
place.  In  cases  of  urgency  the  Sanhedrim  might 
be  convened  in  the  house  of  the  high-priest  (Matt. 
xxvi.  3). 

The  functions  of  the  Sanhedrim  were,  accord- 
ing to  the  Jewish  writers,  co-extensive  with  the 
civil  and  religious  relations  of  the  people.  But 
in  the  notices  of  this  body,  contained  in  the  New 
Testament,  we  find  nothing  which  would  lead  us 
to  infer  that  their  powers  extended  beyond  mat- 
ters of  a  religious  kind.  Questions  of  blasphemy, 
of  sabbath-breaking,  of  heresy,  are  those  alone 
which  we  find  referred  to  their  judicature  (comp. 
Matt.  xxvi.  57-65  ;  John  v.  11,  18  ;  Matt.  xii.  14, 
I  sq. ;  Acts  v.  17,  sq.,  &c.).  On  those  guilty  of 
these  crimes  they  could  pronounce  sentence  of 
death  ;  but  under  the  Roman  government,  it  was 
not  competent  for  them  to  execute  this  sentence. 

At  what  period  in  the  history  of  the  Jews  the 
Sanhedrim  arose,  is  involved  in  much  uncertainty. 
The  Jews  trace  this  council  to  the  times  of  Moses, 
and  find  the  origin  of  it  in  the  appointment  of  a 
body  of  elders  as  the  assistants  of  Moses  in  the 
j   discharge  of  his  judicial   functions   (Num.   xi. 
I    16,  17).     There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  this 
'■   was  any  other  than  a  temporary  arrangement  for 
<   the  benefit  of  Moses ;  nor  do  we,  in  the  historical 
;   books  of  the  Old  Testament,  detect  any  traces 
j  whatever  of  the  existence  of  this  council  in  the 
I   times  preceding  the  Babylonish  captivity,  nor  in 
j   those  immediately  succeeding  the  return  of  the 
Jews  to  their  own  land.     The  earliest  mention  of 
the  existence  of  this  council  by  Josephus,  is  in 
connection  with  the  reign  of  Hyrcanus  II.,  B.C. 
69.    It  is  probable,  however,  that  it  existed  before 
this  time — that  it  arose  gradually  after  the  cessa- 
tion of  the  prophetic  office  in  Judah,  in  conse- 


SARDIUS 


713 


quence  of  the  felt  want  of  some  supreme  direction 
and  judicial  authority— that  the  number  of  its 
members  was  fixed  so  as  to  correspond  with  that 
of  the  council  of  elders  appointed  to  assist  Moses — 
and  that  it  first  assumed  a  formal  and  influential 
existence  in  the  later  years  of  the  Macedo-Grecian 
dynasty. 

SAPPHl'RA,  the  wife  of  Ananias,  and  his  ac- 
complice in  the  sin  for  which  he  died  (Acts  v, 
1-10).  Unaware  of  the  judgment  which  had  be- 
fallen her  husband,  she  entered  the  place  about 
three  hours  after,  probably  to  look  for  him  ;  and 
being  there  interrogated  by  Peter,  repeated  ard 
persisted  in  the  '  lie  unto  the  Holy  Ghost,'  which 
had  destroyed  her  husband ;  on  which  the  grieved 
apostle  made  known  to  her  his  doom,  and  pro- 
nounced her  own — '  Behold,  the  feet  of  those  who 
have  buried  thy  husband  are  at  the  door,  and 
shall  carry  thee  out.'  On  hearing  these  awful 
words,  she  fell  dead  at  his  feet  [Ananias]. 

SAP'PHIRE,  a  precious  stone,  mentioned  in 
Exod.  xxiv.  10;  xxviii.  18;  Job  xxviii.  16; 
Ezek.  xxviii.  13;  Rev.  xxi.  19.  It  is  next  in 
hardness  and  value  to  the  diamond,  and  is  mostly 
of  a  blue  colour  of  various  shades.  It  is  often 
found  in  collections  of  ancient  gems. 

SAHAH  (a.  princess,  u  noble  ladi/),  the  wife  of 
Abraham,  and  mother  of  Isaac.  She  was  at  first 
called  Sarai,  which  Ewald  explains  to  mean  con- 
tentious, quarrelsome.  As  Sarah  never  appears 
but  in  connection  with  some  circumstance  in 
which  her  husband  was  principally  concerned,  all 
the  facts  of  her  history  have  already  been  given 
in  the  article  Abraham,  and  her  conduct  to  Hagar 
is  considered  in  the  article  which  bears  her 
name. 

SAR'DIS,  the  capital  of  the  ancient  kingdom 
of  Lydia,  situated  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Tmolus, 
in  a  fine  plain  watered  by  the  river  Pactolus,  is 
in  N.  lat.  38°  30';  E.  long.  27°  57'.  Sardis  was 
a  great  and  ancient  city,  and  from  its  wealth  and 
importance  was  the  object  of  much  cupidity  and 
of  many  sieges.  When  taken  by  Cyrus,  under 
Croesus,  its  last  king,  who  has  become  proverbial 
for  his  riches,  Sardis  was  one  of  the  most  splendid 
and  opulent  cities  of  the  East.  After  their  vic- 
tory over  Antiochus  it  passed  to  the  Romans, 
under  whom  it  rapidly  declined  in  rank  and  im- 
portance. In  the  time  of  Tiberius  it  was  destroyed 
by  an  earthquake,  but  was  rebuilt  by  order  of  the 
emperor.  The  inhabitants  of  Sardis  bore  an  ill 
repute  among  the  ancients  for  their  voluptuous 
habits  of  life.  The  place  that  Sardis  holds  in  the 
Apocalypse,  as  one  of  the  '  Seven  Churches  of 
Asia,'  is  the  source  of  the  peculiar  interest  with 
which  the  Christian  reader  regards  it.  From 
what  is  said  it  appears  that  it  had  already  declined 
much  in  real  religion,  although  it  still  maintained 
the  name  and  external  aspect  of  a  Christian 
church,  'having  a  name  to  live,  while  it  was 
dead'  (Rev.  iii.  1). 

Successive  earthquakes,  and  the  ravages  of  the 
Saracens  and  Turks,  have  reduced  this  once  flou- 
rishing city  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  presenting  many 
remains  of  its  former  splendour.  The  habitations 
of  the  living  are  confined  to  a  few  miserable  cot- 
tages, forming  a  village  called  Sart. 

SAR'DIUS,  one  of  the  precious  stones  in  the 
breastplate  of  the  high-priest  (K.xod.  xxviii.  17_; 
xxxix.  10),  and  also  mentioned  in  Ezek.  xxviiL 
13.     The  sardius  is  the  stone  now  called  the  car- 


714 


SATAN 


nelian,  from  its  colour,  -which  resembles  that  of 
raw  flesh.  The  Hebrew  name  is  derived  from  a 
root  which  signifies  being  red.  The  sardius  or 
carneliau  is  of  the  flint  family,  and  is  a  kind  of 
chalcedony.  The  more  vivid  the  red  in  this 
stone,  the  higher  is  the  estimation  in  which  it  is 
held.  It  was  anciently,  as  now,  more  frequently 
engraved  on  than  any  other  stone.  The  ancients 
called  it  sardius,  because  Sardis  in  Lydia  was  the 
place  where  they  first  became  acquainted  with  it ; 
but  the  sardius  of  Babylon  was  considered  of 
greater  value.  The  Hebrews  probably  obtained 
the  carnelian  from  Arabia.  In  Yemen  there  is 
found  a  very  fine  dark-red  carnelian,  which  is 
called  el-Ahik.  The  Arabs  wear  it  on  the  finger, 
on  the  arm  above  the  elbow,  and  in  the  belt  be- 
fore the  abdomen.  It  is  supposed  to  stop  hemorr- 
hage when  laid  on  a  fresh  wound. 

SARDO'NYX,  a  precious  stone  exhibiting  a 
milk-white  variety  of  the  onyx  or  chalcedony, 
intermixed  with  shades  or  stripes  of  the  sardian 
(or  carnelian)  ;  hence  the  compound  name  of  sard- 
onyx.    It  is  mentioned  in  Rev.  xxi.  20. 

SAREP'TA  (Luke  iv.  26),  Hebrew  Zarephath, 
a  Phoenician  town  between  Tyre  and  Sidon,  men- 
tioned in  I  Kings  xvii.  9,  10;  Obad.  20.  It  is 
the  place  where  Elijah  went  to  dwell,  and  where 
he  performed  the  miracle  of  multiplying  the  bar- 
rel of  meal  and  cruse  of  oil,  and  where  he  raised 
the  widow's  son  to  life.  It  still  subsists  as  a  large 
village,  under  the  name  of  Sarafend. 

SAR'GON,  king  of  Assyria.     [Assybia.] 

SA'TAN  {the  adversary  or  opposer).  The  doc- 
trine of  Satan  and  of  Satanic  agency  is  to  be  made 
out  from  revelation,  and  from  reflection  in  agree- 
ment with  revelation. 

Besides  Satan,  he  is  called  the  Devil,  the  Dra- 
gon, the  Evil  One,  the  Angel  of  the  Bottomless 
Pit,  the  Prince  of  this  World,  the  Prince  of  the 
Power  of  the  Air,  the  God  of  this  World,  Apol- 
lyon,  Abaddon,  Belial,  Beelzebub.  Satan  and 
Devil  are  the  names  by  which  he  is  oftener  dis- 
tinguished than  by  any  other,  the  foimer  being 
applied  to  him  about  forty  times,  and  the  latter 
about  fifty  times. 

The  word  Satan  occurs  in  its  specific  sense  as  a 
proper  name  in  Zech.  iii.  1,  2,  and  in  the  1st  and 
2nd  chapters  of  Job,  See  also  1  Chron.  xxi.  1. 
When  we  pass  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament, this  doctrine  of  an  invisible  evil  agent 
becomes  more  clear.  With  the  advent  of  Christ 
and  the  opening  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  the 
great  opposer  of  that  kingdom,  the  particular  ad- 
versary and  antagonist  of  the  Saviour,  would  na- 
turally become  more  active  and  more  known. 
The  antagonism  of  Satan  and  his  kingdom  to 
Christ  and  his  kingdom  runs  through  the  whole 
of  the  New  Testament. 

Devil  is  the  more  frequent  term  of  designation 
given  to  Satan  in  the  New  Testament.  With  one 
or  two  exceptions,  which  go  to  confirm  the  rule, 
the  usits  loquendi  of  the  New  Testament  shows 
this  term  to  be  a  proper  name,  applied  to  an  ex- 
traordinary being,  whose  influence  upon  the  hu- 
man race  is  great  and  mischievous  (Matt.  iv. 
1-11;  Luke  viii.  12;  John  viii.  44;  Acts  xiii. 
10;  Ephes.  vi.  11  ;  1  Pet.  v.  8:  1  John  iii.  8; 
Rev.  xii.  9).  In  the  original  this  name  is  given 
exclusively  to  the  prince  of  evil  spirits,  never  to 
these  spirits  themselves,  who,  in  connection  with 
demoniacal  possessions,  are  almost  always  termed 


SATAN 

'demoos' — a  distinction  which  the  Authorized 
Version  has  failed  to  observe- 

We  determine  the  personality  of  Satan  by  the 
same  criteria  that  we  use  in  determining  whether 
Ca;s:ir  and  Napoleon  were  real,  personal  beings, 
or  the  personifications  of  abstract  ideas,  viz.,  by 
the  tenor  of  history  concerning  them,  and  the 
ascription  of  personal  attributes  to  them.  All 
the  forms  of  personal  agency  are  made  use  of  by 
the  sacred  writers  in  setting'  forth  the  character 
and  conduct  of  Satan.  They  describe  him  as 
having  power  and  dominion,  messengers  and  fol- 
lowers. He  tempts  and  resists;  he  is  held  ac- 
countable, charged  with  guilt ;  is  to  be  judged, 
and  to  receive  final  punishment.  On  the  supposi- 
tion that  it  was  the  object  of  the  sacred  writers  to 
teach  the  proper  personality  of  Satan,  they  could 
have  found  no  more  express  terms  than  those 
which  they  have  actually  used.  And  on  the  sup- 
position that  they  did  not  intend  to  teach  such  a 
doctrine,  their  use  of  language,  incapable  of  com- 
municating any  other  idea,  is  wholly  inexplicable. 

The  class  of  beings  to  which  Satan  originally 
belonged,  and  which  constituted  a  celestial  hier- 
archy, is  very  numerous  :  '  Ten  thousand  times 
tea  thousand  stood  before  him'  (Dan.  vii.  10). 
They  were  created  and  dependent  (John  i.  3). 
Analogy  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  there  are 
difi'erent  grades  among  the  angels  as  among  other 
races  of  beings.  The  Scriptures  warrant  the 
same.  Michael  is  described  as  one  of  the  chief 
princes  (Dan.  x.  13)  ;  as  chief  captain  of  the  host 
of  Jehovah  (Josh.  v.  14).  Similar  distinctions 
exist  among  the  fallen  angels  (Col.  ii.  1.5  ;  Eph. 
vi.  12).  It  is  also  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they 
were  created  susceptible  of  improvement  in  all 
respects,  except  moral  purity,  as  they  certainly 
were  capable  of  apostacy.  As  to  the  time  when 
they  were  brought  into  being,  the  Bible  is  silent ; 
and  where  it  is  silent,  we  should  be  silent,  or 
speak  with  modesty.  It  is  probable,  that  as 
they  were  the  highest  in  rank  among  the  crea- 
tures of  God,  so  they  were  the  first  in  the  order  of 
time ;  and  that  they  may  have  continued  for  ages 
in  obedience  to  their  Maker,  before  the  creation 
of  man,  or  the  fall  of  the  apostate  angels. 

The  Scriptures  are  explicit  as  to  the  apostacy  of 
some,  of  whom  Satan  was  the  chief  and  leader 
(Jude,  ver.  6  ;  2  Pet.  ii.  4).  Those  who  followed 
him  in  his  apostacy  are  described  as  belonging  to 
him.  The  company  is  called  the  devil  and  his 
angels  (Matt  xxv.  41).  The  relation  marked 
here  denotes  the  instrumentality  which  the  devil 
may  have  exerted  in  inducing  those  called  his 
angels  to  rebel  against  Jehovah  and  join  them- 
selves to  his  interests.  As  to  what  constituted  the 
first  sin  of  Satan  and  his  followers,  there  has  been 
a  diversity  of  opinions.  Some  have  supposed  that 
it  was  the  beguiling  of  our  first  parents.  Others 
have  believed  that  the  first  sin  of  the  angels  is 
mentioned  in  Gen.  vi.  2.  The  sacred  writers 
intimate  very  plainly  that  the  first  transgression 
was  pride,  and  that  from  this  sprang  open  rebel- 
lion. Of  a  bishop,  the  apostle  says  ( 1  Tim.  iii.  6), 
'  He  must  not  be  a  novice,  lest,  being  pufied  up 
with  pride,  he  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the 
devil.'  From  which  it  appears  that  pride  was  the 
sin  of  Satan,  and  that  for  this  he  was  condemned. 
This,  however,  marks  the  quality  of  the  sin,  and 
not  the  act. 

The  agency  of  Satan  extends  to  all  that  he  does 


SATYK 

or  causes  to  be  done.  To  this  agency  the  follow- 
ing restrictions  have  been  generally  supposed  to 
exist:  it  is  limited,  first,  by  the  direct  power  of 
God ;  he  cannot  transcend  the  power  on  which  he 
is  dependent  for  existence; — secondly,  by  the 
finiteness  of  his  own  created  faculties; — thirdly, 
by  the  established  connection  of  cause  and  effect, 
or  the  laws  of  nature.  The  miracles,  which  he 
has  been  supposed  to  have  the  power  of  working, 
are  denominated  lying  signs  and  wonders  (2  Thess. 
ii.  9).  With  these  restrictions,  the  devil  goes 
about  like  a  roaring  lion. 

His  agency  is  moral  and  physical.  First,  mo- 
ral. He  beguiled  our  first  parents,  and  thus 
brought  sin  and  death  upon  them  and  their  pos- 
terity (Gen.  iii.).  He  moved  David  to  number 
the  people  (1  Chron.  xxi.  1).  He  resisted  Jo- 
shua the  high-priest  (Zech.  iii.  1).  He  tempted 
Jesus  (Matt,  iv.) ;  entered  into  Judas,  to  induce 
him  to  betray  his  master  (Luke  xxii.  3) ;  insti- 
gated Ananias  and  Sapphira  to  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  (Acts  V.  3) ;  hindered  Paul  and  Barnabas 
on  their  way  to  the  Thessalonians  (1  Thess.  ii. 
18).  He  is  the  spirit  that  now  worketh  in  the 
children  of  disobedience  (Eph.  ii.  2) ;  and  he  de- 
ceiveth  the  whole  world  (Rev.  xii.  9). 

But  his  efforts  are  directed  against  the  bodies 
of  men,  as  well  as  against  their  souls.  That  the 
agency  of  Satan  was  concerned  in  producing 
physical  diseases  the  Scriptures  plainly  teach 
(Job  ii.  7  ;  Luke  xiii.  16).  Peter  says  of  Christ, 
that  he  went  about  doing  good  and  healing  all 
that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil  (Acts  x.  38). 

It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that  there  are  difficulties 
connected  with  the  agency  ascribed  to  Satan.  But 
objections  are  of  little  weight  when  brought 
against  well-authenticated  facts.  Any  objections 
raised  against  the  agency  of  Satan  are  equally 
valid  against  his  existence.  If  he  exists,  he 
must  act ;  and  if  he  is  evil,  his  agency  must  be 
evil.  The  influence  exerted  by  wicked  spirits 
no  more  militates  against  the  benevolence  of 
God,  than  does  the  agency  of  wicked  men,  or  the 
existence  of  moral  evil  in  any  form.  Evil  agents 
are  as  really  under  the  divine  control  as  are  good 
agents.  And  out  of  evil,  God  will  cause  good  to 
come.  He  will  make  the  wrath  of  devils  as  well 
as  of  men  to  praise  him,  and  the  remainder  He 
will  restrain. 

S.A.TYR.  There  is  much  to  suggest  the  pro- 
bability that  the  'satyr'  of  Isa.  xiii.  21,  and 
xxxiv.  14,  if  not  also  the  'hairy  ones'  (rendered 
'  devils ')  of  Lev.  xvii.  7,  were  no  other  than  a 
species  of  ape  or  baboon.  The  only  species  of  ape 
of  the  baboon  form  known  in  Arabia  is  the  Macacus 
Arabicus.  remarkable  for  stature  and  aspect,  hav- 
ing the  doglike  nose  and  approximating  eyes  of 
baboons  ;  the  skin  of  the  face  of  a  reddish  colour  ; 
the  snout,  lips,  and  chin  black ;  the  forehead 
low,  and  the  sides  of  the  head  furnished  with 
bushy,  long,  white  hair;  the  breast,  arms  and 
shoulders  similarly  covered,  but  the  loins  and 
lower  extremities  of  a  fine  chestnut ;  the  tail  of 
the  same  colour,  of  no  great  length,  tufted  at  the 
end,  and  all  the  hands  black.  It  is  found  from 
the  straits  of  Babel-Mandeb,  through  Southern 
Arabia  to  the  Euphrates,  and  even  beyond  the 
junction  of  that  river  with  the  Tigris.  Like  other 
large  and  formidable  Simiadaj,  it  is  less  solicitous 
about  the  vicinity  of  trees,  because  it  is  armed 
■with  powerful  canines ;  holds  its  enemy  firmly 


SAUL 


715 


grasped,  and  fights,  not  singly,  but  assisted  by 
the  whole  troop:  it  frequents  scrubby  under- 
wood near  water,  but  becomes  more  rare  eastward 
of  Yemen.  Comparing  the  characters  of  this 
species,  we  find  it  by  C(ni figuration,  colours,  and 
manners  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  purposes  of 
idolatry  in  its  grossest  and  most  debasing  aspect. 
The  Hebrew  people,  already  familiar  with  a  si- 
milar worship  in  Egypt,  may   have  copied  the 


298.  [Macacus  Arabicus. 
native  tribes  in  the  wilderness,  and  thus  drawn 
upon  themselves  the  remonstrance  in  Lev.  xvii. 
7,  where  the  allusion  to  these  animals  is  very 
descriptive,  as  is  that  in  Isa.  xiii.  21  ;  and  again, 
xxxiv.  14,  where  the  image  is  perfect,  when  we 
picture  to  ourselves  the '  hairy  ones '  lurking  about 
the  river  in  the  juniper  and  liquorice  jungle,  as 
described  by  Mr.  Eich  in  his  Memoir  on  the  Ruins 
of  Babylon. 

SAUL,  sonofKish,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin, 
was  the  first  king  of  the  Israelites.  The  corrnpi 
administration  of  justice  by  Samuel's  sons  fur- 
nished an  occasion  to  the  Hebrews  for  rejecting 
that  theocracy,  of  which  they  neither  appreciated 
the  value,  nor,  through  their  unfaithfulness  to  it, 
enjoyed  the  full  advantages  (1  Sam.  viii.).  An 
invasion  by  the  Ammonites  seems  also  to  have 
conspired  with  the  cause  just  mentioned,  and 
with  a  love  of  novelty,  in  prompting  the  de- 
mand for  a  king  (1  Sam.  xii.  12)— an  officer 
evidently  alien  to  the  genius  of  the  theocracy, 
though  contemplated  as  an  historical  certainty, 
and  provided  for  by  the  Jewish  lawgiver  (1  Sam. 
xii.  17-20;  Deut.  xvii.  14-20).  An  explana- 
tion of  the  nature  of  this  request,  as  not  only 
an  instance  of  ingratitude  to  Samuel,  but  of  re- 
bellion against  Jehovah,  and  the  delineation  of 
the  manner  in  which  their  kings— notwithstand- 
ing the  restrictions  prescribed  in  the  law — might 
be  expected  to  conduct  themselves  (1  Sam.  viii. 
11 ;  X.  25),  having  failed  to  move  the  people  from 
their  resolution,  the  Lord  sent  Saul,  who  had  left 
home  in  quest  of  his  father's  asses,  which  had 
strayed,  to  Samuel,  who  having  informed  Saul  of 
the  divine  purpose  regarding  him,  and  having  at 
a  feast  shown  him  a  preference,  which,  no  doubt, 
the  other  guests  understood,  privately  anointed 
him  king,  and  gave  him  various  tokens,  by  which 
he  might  be  assured  that  his  designation  was  from 
Jehovah  (1  Sam.  ix.  x.).  Moved  by  the  autho- 
rity of  Samuel,  and  by  the  fulfilment  of  these 
signs,  Saul's  reluctance  to  a.ssume  the  office  to 
which  he  was  called  was  overcome.  On  his  way 
home,  meeting  a  company  of  prophets,  he  was 


716 


SAUL 


seized  with  the  prophetic  aiBatus,  and  so  gave 
occasion  to  a  proverb  afterwards  in  use  among 
the  Jews.     Immediately  after,   Saul  was  elected 
at  Mizpah  in  a  solemn  assembly  by  the  determi- 
nation of  the  miraculous  lot — and  both  previously 
to  that  election  (x.  16),  and  subsequently,  when 
insulted  by  the  worthless  portion  of  the  Israelites, 
he  showed  that  modesty,  humility,   and  forbear- 
ance which  seem  to  have  characterised  him  till 
corrupted  by  the  possession  of  power.     The  per- 
son thus  set  apart  to  discharge  the  royal  function, 
possessed    at   least   those    corporeal   advantages 
which  most  ancient  nations  desiderated  in  their 
sovereigns.     His  person  was  tall  and  command- 
ing, and  he  soon  showed  that  his  courage  was  not 
inferior  to  his  strength  (1  Sam.  ix.    1;  x.  23). 
His  belonging  to  Benjamin  also,  the  smallest  of 
the  tribes,  though  of  distinguished  bravery,  pre- 
vented tlie  mutual  jealousy  with  which  either  of 
the  two  great  tribes,  Judah  and  Ephraim,  would 
have  regarded  a  king  chosen  from  the  other  ;  so 
that  his  election  was  received  with  general  re- 
joicing, and  a  number  of  men,  moved  by  the  au- 
thority of  Samuel  (x.  20),  even  attached  them- 
selves to  him  as  a  body-guard,  or  as  counsellors 
and  assistants.  In  the  mean  time  the  Ammonites, 
whose  invasion  had  hastened  the  appointment  of 
a  king,  having  besieged  Jabesh  in  Gilead,  and 
Nahash  flieir  king  having  proposed  insulting  con- 
ditions to  them,  the  elders  of  that  town,  appa- 
rently not  aware  of  Saul's  election  (1  Sam.  xi.  3), 
sent   messengers    through    the    land    imploring 
help.    Saul  acted  with  wisdom  and  promptitude  ; 
summoning  the  people,  en  masse,  to  meet  him 
at  Bezek,  at  the  head  of  a  vast  multitude  he 
totally  routed  the  Ammonites.  He  and  the  people 
then  betouk  themselves,   under  the  direction  of 
Samuel,  to  Gilgal,  there  with  solemn  sacrifices  to 
reinstal    the  victorious   leader   in   his  kingdom 
(I  Sam.  xi.).     At  Gilgal  Saul  was  publicly  an- 
ointed, and  solemnly  installed  in  the  kingdom  by 
Samuel,  who  took  occasion  to  vindicate  the  purity 
of  his  own  administration — which  he  virtually 
transferred   to  Saul— to  censure  the  people  for 
their  ingratitude  and  impiety,  and  to  warn  both 
them  and  Saul  of  the  danger  of  disobedience  to 
the  commands  of  Jehovah  (1  Sam.xii.).  [Samuel.] 
The  restrictions  on  which  he  held  the  sove- 
reignty had  (1  Sam.  x.  25)  been  fully  explained 
as  well  to  Saul  as  to  the  people,  so  that  he  was 
not  ignorant  of  his  true  position  as  merely  the 
lieutenant  of  Jehovah,  king  of  Israel,  who   not 
only  gave  all  the  laws,  but  whose  will,  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  them,  was  constantly  to  be  consulted 
and  complied  with.     The  first  occasion  on  which 
his  obedience  to  this  constitution  was  put  to  the 
test  brought  out    those  defects  in  his  character 
M'hich  showed  his  unfitness   for  his  high  office, 
and  incurred  a  threat  of  that  rejection  which  his 
subsequent  conduct  confirmed  (1  Sam.  xiii.  13). 
Having  organized  a  small  standing  army,  part 
of  which,  under  Jonathan,  had  taken  a  fort  of 
the  Philistines,  Saul  summoned   the   people  to 
withstand  the  forces  which  their  oppressors,  now 
alarmed  for  their  dominion,  would  naturally  as- 
semble.    But  so  numerous  a  host  came  against 
Saul,  that  the  people,  panic-stricken,  fled  to  rocks 
and  caverns  for  safety — years  of  servitude  having 
extinguished  their   courage,  which  the  want  of 
arms,  of  which  the  policy  of  the  Philistines  had 
deprived  them,  still  further  diminished.    Appa- 


SAUL 

rently  reduced  to  extremity,  and  the  seventh  day 
being  come,  but  not  being  ended,  the  expiration 
of  which  Samuel  had  enjoined  him  to  wait,  Saul 
'  offered  a  burnt  offering,'  thus  intruding  into  the 
priest's  office.  Samuel  having  denounced  the 
displeasure  of  Jehovah  and  its  consequences,  left 
him,  and  Saul  returned  to  Gibeah.  Left  to  him- 
self, Sauls  errors  multiplied  apace.  Jonathan, 
having  assaulted  a  garrison  of  the  Philistines 
(apparently  at  Michmash,  1  Sam.  xiv.  31,  which, 
therefore,  must  have  been  situated  near  Migron 
in  Gibeah,  ver.  1,  and  within  sight  of  it,  ver.  1  5), 
Saul,  aided  by  a  panic  of  the  enemy,  an  earth- 
quake, and  the  co-operation  of  his  fugitive  sol- 
diers, effected  a  great  slaughter ;  but  by  a  rash 
and  foolish  denunciation,  he  (1)  impeded  his  suc- 
cess (ver.  30),  (2)  involved  the  people  in  a  vio- 
lation of  the  law  (ver.  33),  and  (3),  unless  pre- 
vented by  the  more  enlightened  constience  of  the 
people,  would  have  ended  with  putting  Jonathan 
to  death  for  an  act  which,  being  done  in  igno- 
rance, could  involve  no  guilt. 

Another  trial  was  afforded  Saul  before  his  final 
rejection,  the  command  to  extirpate  the  Amale- 
kites,  whose  hostility  to  the  people  of  God  was 
inveterate  (Dent.  xxv.  18;  Exod.  xvii.  8-I<J; 
Num.  xiv.  42-4.5  ;  Judg.  iii.  13;  vi.  3),  and  who 
had  not  by  repentance  averted  that  doom  which 
had  been  delayed  .550  years  (1  Sam.  xiv.  48).  A 
second  time  Saul  wilfully  virolated  the  divine  com- 
mission with  which  he  had  been  intrusted.  This 
stubbornness  in  persisting  to  rebel  against  the  di- 
rections of  Jehovah  was  now  visited  by  thai  final 
rejection  of  his  family  from  succeeding  him  on 
the  throne,  which  had  before  been  threatened 
(ver.  23;  xiii.  13,  14).  After  this  second  and 
flagrant  disobedience,  Saul  recei\  ed  no  more  pub- 
lic countenance  from  the  venerable  prophet,  who 
now  left  him  to  his  sins  and  his  punishment ; 
'  nevertheless,  he  mourned  for  Saul,'  and  the  Lord 
repented  that  he  had  made  Saul  king  (xv.  35). 

The  denunciations  of  Samuel  sunk  into  the 
heart  of  Saul,  and  produced  a  deep  melancholy, 
which  either  really  was,  or  which  his  physicians 
(1  Sam.  xvi.  14,  15  ;  comp.  Gen.  i.  2)  told  him, 
was  occasioned  by  an  evil  spirit  from  the  Lord. 
By  the  advice  of  his  servants,  music  was  employed 
for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  deep  melancholy 
into  which  he  had  fallen,  and  David  was  recom- 
mended to  his  notice  as  one  '  cunning  in  playing.' 
Some  critics  have  supposed,  however,  and  appa- 
rently with  good  reason,  that  this  event  occurred 
subsequently  to  the  transactions  recorded  in  chap, 
xviii. 

Though  not  acquainted  with  the  unction  of 
David,  yet  having  received  intimation  that  the 
kingdom  should  be  given  to  another,  Saul  soon 
suspected  from  his  accomplishments,  heroism, 
wisdom,  and  popularity,  that  David  was  his  des- 
tined successor ;  and,  instead  of  concluding  that 
his  resistance  to  the  divine  purpose  would  only 
accelerate  his  own  ruin,  Saul,  in  the  spirit  of 
jealousy  and  rage,  commenced  a  series  of  mur- 
derous attempts  on  the  life  of  his  rival  (xviii.  10, 
11 ;  xix.  10),  that  must  have  lost  him  the  respect 
and  sympathy  of  his  people,  which  they  secured 
for  the  object  of  his  malice  and  envy,  whose  no- 
ble qualities  also  they  both  exercised  and  rendered 
more  conspicuous.  The  slaughter  of  Ahimelech 
the  priest  (1  Sam.  xxii.),  under  pretence  of  his 
being  a  partisan  of  David,  and  of  eighty-five 


SCEPTRE 

other  priests  of  the  house  of  Eli,  to  -whom  no- 
thing could  be  imputed,  as  well  as  the  -whole  in- 
habitants of  Nob,  was  an  atrocity  perhaps  never 
exceeded. 

Having  compelled  David  to  assume  the  posi- 
tion of  an  outlaw,  around  whom  gathered  a  num- 
ber of  turbulent  and  desperate  characters,  Saul 
might  persuade  himself  that  he  was  justified  in 
bestowing  on  another  the  hand  of  his  younger 
daughter  whom  he  had  given  David  to  wife,  and 
in  making  expeditions  to  apprehend  and  destroy 
him.  A  portion  of  the  people  were  base  enough 
to  minister  to  the  evil  passions  of  Saul  (1  Sam. 
xxiii.  19;  xxvi.  1),  and  others,  perhaps,  might 
colour  their  fear  by  the  pretence  of  conscience 
(xxiii.  12).  But  his  sparing  Saul's  life  twice, 
when  lie  was  completely  in  his  power,  must  have 
destroyed  all  colour  of  right  in  Saul's  conduct  in 
the  minds  of  the  people,  as  it  also  did  in  his  own 
conscience  (xxiv.  3-7  ;  xxvi.).  Though  thus  de- 
graded and  paralysed  by  the  indulgence  of  ma- 
levolent passions,  Saul  still  acted  with  vigour  in 
repelling  the  enemies  of  his  country,  and  in  other 
affairs  wherein  his  jealousy  of  David  was  not  con- 
cerned (xxiii.  27,  28). 

The  measure  of  Saul's  iniquity,  now  almost 
full,  was  completed  by  an  act  of  direct  treason 
against  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel  (Exod.  xxii. 
18;  Lev.  xix.  31;  xx.  27;  Deut.  xviii.  10,  11), 
in  consulting  a  woman  that  had  a  familiar  spirit. 
[The  question  as  to  the  character  of  the  apparition 
evoked  by  the  Witch  of  Endor,  falls  more  properly 
to  be  considered  under  the  article  Witchcraft.] 
Assured  by  this  woman  of  his  own  death  the  next 
day,  and  that  of  his  sons  ;  of  the  ruin  of  bis  army, 
and  the  triumph  of  his  most  formidable  enemies, 
whose  invasion  had  tempted  him  to  try  this  un- 
hallowed expedient;  Saul,  in  a  state  of  dejection 
which  could  not  promise  success  to  his  followers, 
met  the  enemy  next  day  in  Gilboa,  on  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  great  plain  of  Esdraelon  ;  and  hav- 
ing seen  the  total  rout  of  his  army,  and  the 
slaughter  of  his  three  sous,  of  whom  the  mag- 
nanimous Jonathan  was  one  ;  and,  having  in  vain 
solicited  death  from  the  hand  of  his  armour- 
bearer,  Saul  perished  at  last  by  his  own  hand 
(1  Sam.  xxxi.  1-7 ;  1  Chron.  x.  13,  14). 

When  the  Philistines  came  on  the  morrow  to 
plunder  the  slain,  they  found  Saul's  body  and  the 
bodies  of  his  sons,  which,  having  beheaded  them, 
they  fastened  to  the  wall  of  Bethshan ;  but  the 
men  of  Jabesh-gilead,  mindful  of  their  former 
obligation  to  Saul  (1  Sam.  xi.),  wheu  they  heard 
of  the  indignity,  gratefully  and  heroically  went 
by  night  and  carried  them  off,  and  buried  them 
under  a  tree  in  Jabesh,  and  fasted  seven  days. 
From  Jabesh  the  bones  of  Saul  and  of  his  sons 
were  removed  by  David,  and  buried  in  Zelah,  in 
the  sepulchre  of  Kish  his  father. 
SCAPE-GOAT.  [Goat,  Scape.] 
SCARLET.  [Purple.] 
SCEPTKE.  The  Hebrew  word  thus  rendered 
in  its  primary  signification  denotes  a  staff  of  wood 
(Ezek.  xix.  1 1 ),  about  the  height  of  a  man,  which 
the  ancient  kings  and  chiefs  bore  as  an  insigne  of 
honour  (Amos  i.  5  ;  Zech.  x.  11  ;  Ezek.  xix.  11 ; 
Wisd.  X.  14;  comp.  Gen.  xlix.  10;  Num.  xxiv. 
17 ;  Isa.  xiv.  5).  As  such  it  appears  to  have  ori- 
ginated in  the  shepherd's  staff,  since  the  first 
kings  were  mostly  nomade  princes  (Strabo,  xvi, 
783 ;  comp.  Ps.  xxix.). 


SCYTHIAN 


717 


A  golden  sceptre,  that  is,  one  washed  or  plated 
with  gold,  is  mentioned  in  Ezek.  iv.  11.  Inclin- 
ing the  sceptre  was  a  mark  of  kingly  favour 
(Esth.  iv.  11),  and  the  kissing  it  a  token  of  sub- 
mission (Esth.  V.  2).  Saul  appears  to  have  car- 
ried his  javelin  as  a  mark  of  superiority  (1  Sam. 
XV.  10;  xxii.  6). 

SCRIBES,  a  learned  body  of  men,  otherwise 
denominated  lawyers,  whose  influence  with  the 
Jewish  nation  was  very  great  at  the  time  when 
our  Saviour  appeared. 

There  is  every  probability  that  they  must  have 
taken  their  rise  contemporaneously  with  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Mosaic  polity.  They  were  both 
a  learned  and  a  sacred  caste.  They  had  the  care 
of  the  law ;  it  was  their  duty  to  make  transcripts 
of  it ;  they  also  expounded  its  difficulties,  and 
taught  its  doctrines,  and  so  performed  several 
functions  which  are  now  distributed  among  dif- 
ferent professions,  being  keepers  of  the  records, 
consulting  lawyers,  authorized  expounders  of  holy 
writ,  and,  finally,  schoolmasters — thus  blending 
together  in  one  character  the  several  elements  of 
intellectual,  moral,  social,  and  religious  influence. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  scribes  are  found  as 
a  body  of  high  state  functionaries,  who,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Pharisees  and  the  high-priests, 
constituted  the  Sanhedrim,  and  unittd  all  the 
resources  of  their  power  and  learning  in  order  to 
entrap  and  destroy  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  The 
array  of  influence  thus  brought  against '  the  car- 
penter's son  '  was  very  great.  That  influence  com- 
prised, besides  the  supreme  power  of  the  state,  the 
first  legal  functionaries,  who  watched  Jesus  closely 
in  order  to  detect  him  in  soipe  breach  of  the  law ; 
the  recognised  expositors  of  duty,  who  lost  no 
opportunity  to  take  exception  to  his  utterances, 
to  blame  his  conduct,  and  misrepresent  his  morals; 
also  the  acutest  intellects  of  the  nation,  who  eagerly 
sought  to  entangle  him  in  the  web  of  their  so- 
phistries, or  to  confound  him  by  their  artful  ques- 
tions. Yet  even  all  these  malign  influences  failed. 
Jesus  was  triumphant  in  argument ;  he  failed 
only  when  force  interposed  its  revengeful  arm.       1 

SCRIPTURE  (HOLY),  or  Scriptures  (Holt),  I 
the  term  generally  applied  in  the  Christian  Church   I 
since  the  second  century,  to  denote  the  collective 
writings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments. 

SCYTH'IAN,  a  name  which  occurs  only  in 
Col.  iii.  11,     It  was  anciently  applied  sometimes  \ 


299.    [1.  A  Scjrthian.    2.  A  Scythian  General.] 


718 


SEA 


SEA 


to  a  particular  people,  and  sometimes  to  all  the 
nomade  tribes  which  had  their  seat  to  the  north 
of  the  Black  and  Caspian  seas,  stretching  indefi- 
nitely eastward  into  the  unknown  regions  of  Asia. 
It  had  thus  much  the  same  latitude  as  '  Tartars,' 
and  was  in  like  manner  synonymous  with  Bar- 


The  Scythians  were,  in  fact,  the  ancient  repre- 
sentatives of  the  modern  Tartars,  and  like  them 
moved  from  place  to  place  in  carts  drawn  by  oxen. 

SEA.  The  term  'sea'  was  much  more  in  use 
among  the  Hebrews  than  with  us,  being  applied 
by  them  generally  to  all  large  collections  of 
water,  as  they  had  not  a  set  of  terms  such  as  we 
employ  to  discriminate  the  different  kinds. 

1.  The  Mediterkanean,  being  on  the  west, 
and  therefore  behind  a  person  facing  the  east,  is 
called  in  Scripture  the  Hinder  Sea  (Deut.  xi.  24; 
Joel  ii.  20),  that  is,  Western  Sea ;  and  also,  '  the 
Sea  of  the  Philistines'  (Exod.  xxiii.  31),  as  that 
people  possessed  the  largest  proportion  of  its  shore 
in  Palestine.  Being  also  the  largest  sea  with 
which  the  Hebrews  were  acquainted,  they  called 
it  by  pre-eminence,  '  </;e  Great  Sea'  (Num. 
xxxiv.  C,  7;  Josh.  i.  4;  ix.  1;  Ezek.  xlvii.  10, 
1.5,  20)  ;  or  simply  '  the  sea '  (Josh.  xv.  47). 

2.  The  Red  Sea. — How  thisgulf  of  the  Indian 
Ocean  came  by  the  name  of  Red  Sea  is  not  agreed. 
Prideaux  assumes  (Connection,  i.  14,  15)  that  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  the  bordering  countries 
called  it  Yam  Edom,  or,  '  the  sea  of  Edom '  (it  is 
never  so  called  in  Scripture),  as  its  north-eastern 
part  washed  the  country  possessed  by  the  Edom- 
ites.  Now  Edom  means  red  (Gen.  xxv.  30),  and 
the  Greeks,  who  borrowed  the  name  from  the 
Phcenicians,  mistook  it  for  an  appellative  instead 
of  a  proper  name,  and  rendered  by  '  the  Red  Sea.' 
Others  have  conjectured  that  the  Arabian  Gulf 
derived  its  name  from  the  coral  rocks  and  reefs 
in  which  it  abounds ;  but  the  coral  of  the  Red  Sea 
is  white,  not  red.  It  is  now  in  question  whether 
the  name  originated  from  the  singularly  red  ap- 
pearance presented  by  some  of  the  mountains 
along  the  western  cdast;  or  from  the  redness 
which  the  surface  of  the  water  sometimes  assumes 
from  its  being  covered  to  a  great  extent  with  a 
numberless  multitude  of  very  small  mollusca. 

The  ancients  applied  the  name  of  Erythraean 
Sea  not  only  to  the  Arabian  Gulf,  but  to  that 
part  of  the  Indian  Ocean  which  is  enclosed  be- 
tween the  peninsulas  of  India  and  Arabia ;  but 
in  modern  usage  the  name  of  Red  Sea  is  restricted 
to  the  Arabian  Gulf,  which  enters  into  the  land 
from  the  Indian  Ocean  in  a  westerly  direction, 
and  then,  at  the  straits  of  Bab-el-Mandeb,  turns 
N.N.W.,  maintaining  that  direction  till  it  makes 
a  near  approach  to  the  Mediterranean,  from  which 
its  western  arm  is  only  separated  by  the  isthmus 
of  Suez.  It  thus  separates  the  western  coast  of 
Arabia  from  the  Eastern  coast  of  the  north-eastern 
part  of  Africa.  It  is  about  1400  miles  in  length 
from  Suez  to  the  straits,  and  on  an  average  150 
miles  in  breadth.  On  approaching  its  northern 
termination  the  gulf  divides  into  two  branches, 
which  enclose  between  them  the  peninsula  of 
Sinai.  The  western  arm,  which  terminates  a 
little  above  Suez,  is  far  more  extensive  than  the 
other,  and  is  that  which  was  crossed  by  the  Israel- 
ites in  their  escape  from  Egypt.  This  arm,  an- 
ciently called  Heroopoliticus  Sinus,  and  now  the 
Gulf  of  Suez,  is  190  miles  long  by  an  average 


breadth  of  21  miles;  but  at  one  part  fBirket  el- 
Faroun)  it  is  as  wide  as  32  miles.  The  eastern 
arm,  which  terminates  at  Akabah,  and  bears  the 
name  of  the  Gulf  of  Akabah,  was  anciently  called 
iElaniticus  Sinus,  from  the  port  of  iElana,  the 
Scriptural  Elath,  and  is  about  112  miles  long  by 
an  average  breadth  of  15  miles.  Towards  its 
extremity  were  the  ports  of  Elath  and  Eziongeber, 
celebrated  in  the  history  of  the  attempts  made  by 
the  Hebrew  kings  to  establish  a  maritime  traffic 
with  the  East  [see  the  several  words]. 

3.  The  Sea  of  Chinnereth  (Num.  xxxiv. 
11),  called  in  the  New  Testament  '  the  Sea  of 
Galilee'  (Matt.  iv.  18),  the  'Sea  of  Tiberias' 
(John  xxi.  1 ),  and  '  the  sea '  or  '  lake  of  Genne- 
sareth'  (Matt.  xiv.  34;  Mark  vi.  53  ;  Luke  v.  17)  ; 
which  last  is  but  a  variation  of  the  Hebrew  name. 

This  lake  lies  very  deep,  among  fruitful  hills 
and  mountains,  from  which,  in  the  rainy  season, 
many  rivulets  descend:  its  shape  will  be  seen 
from  the  map.  The  Jordan  enters  it  on  the  north, 
and  quits  it  on  the  south  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the 
river  passes  through  it  without  the  waters  ming- 
ling. Its  extent  has  been  greatly  over-rated.  Dr. 
Robinson  considers  that  its  length,  in  a  straight 
line,  does  not  exceed  eleven  or  twelve  geographical 
miles,  and  that  its  breadth  is  from  five  to  six 
miles.  From  numerous  indications  it  is  inferred 
that  the  bed  of  this  lake  was  formed  by  some 
ancient  volcanic  eruption,  which  history  has  not 
recorded:  the  waters  are  very  clear  and  sweet, 
and  contain  various  kinds  of  excellent  fish  in 
great  abundance.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
several  of  the  apostles  were  fishermen  of  this  lake, 
and  that  it  was  also  the  scene  of  several  transac- 
tions in  the  life  of  Christ:  it  is  thus  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  but  very  rarely 
in  the  Old.  The  borders  of  the  lake  were  in  the 
time  of  Christ  well  peopled,  being  covered  with 
numerous  towns  and  villages ;  but  now  they  are 
almost  desolate,  and  the  fish  and  water-fowl  are 
but  little  disturbed. 

4.  The  Dead  Sea,  called  in  Scripture  the 
Sail  Sea  (Gen.  xiv.  3),  the  Sea  of  the  Plain,  or 
the  Arabah  (Deut.  iv.  40),  and  the  Eastern  Sea 
(Joel  ii.  20;  Ezek.  xlvii.  18;  Zech.  xiv.  8).  It 
is  not  named  or  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament. 
From  its  history  and  qualities,  it  is  the  most  re- 
markable of  all  the  lakes  of  Palestine;  and  is 
supposed  either  to  have  originated  in,  or  at  least 
to  have  been  greatly  enlarged  by,  the  awful  event 
which  overwhelmed  the  cities  of  the  plain. 

It  is  about  thirty-nine  or  forty  geographical 
miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and  nine  or  ten 
miles  wide  from  east  to  west :  it  lies  embedded 
very  deep  between  lofty  cliffs  on  the  western  side, 
which  are  about  1500  feet  high,  and  mountains 
on  the  eastern  shore,  the  highest  ridges  of  which 
are  reckoned  to  be  from  2000  to  2500  feet  above 
the  water.  The  water  of  the  lake  is  much  Salter 
than  that  of  the  sea.  From  the  quantity  of  salt 
which  it  holds  in  solution  it  is  thick  and  heavy, 
and  no  fish  can  live  or  marine  plants  grow  in  it. 
The  old  stories  about  the  pestiferous  qualities  of 
the  Dead  Sea  and  its  waters  are  mere  fables  or 
delusions ;  the  actual  apptarances  being  the  na- 
tural and  obvious  effects  of  the  confined  and  deep 
situation,  the  intense  heat,  and  the  uncommon 
saltness  of  the  waters. 

On  the  borders  of  this  lake  is  found  much 
sulphur,  in  pieces  as  large  as  walnuts,  and  even 


SEAL 

larger.  There  is  also  a  black  shining  stone, 
which  -will  partly  burn  in  the  fire,  and  which 
then  emits  a  bituminous  smell :  this  is  the  '  stink- 
stone'  of  Burckhardt.  At  Jerusalem  it  is  made 
into  rosaries  and  toys,  of  which  great  quantities 
are  sold  to  the  pilgrims  who  visit  the  sacred 
places.  Another  remarkable  production,  from 
which,  indeed,  the  lake  takes  one  of  its  names,  is 
the  asphalttim,  or  bitumen.  Josephus  says,  that 
'  the  sea  in  many  places  sends  up  black  masses 
of  asphaltum,  which  float  upon  the  surface,  having 
the  size  and  shape  of  headless  oxen.'  From  recent 
information  it  appears  that  large  masses  are  rarely 
found,  and  then  generally  only  after  earthquakes. 
The  substance  is  doubtless  produced  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  in  which  it  coagulates,  and 
rises  to  the  surface  ;  or  possibly  the  coagulation 
may  have  been  ancient,  and  the  substance  ad- 
heres to  the  bottom  until  detached  by  earthquakes 
and  other  convulsions,  when  its  buoyancy  brings 
it  to  the  surface.  We  know  that  '  the  vale  of  Sid- 
dim'  (Gen.  xiv.  10)  was  anciently  'full  of  slime- 
pits,'  or  sources  of  bitumen  ;  and  these,  now  under 
the  water,  probably  supply  the  asphaltum  which 
is  found  on  such  occasions. 

5.  The  Lake  Merobi  is  named  once  only  in 
Scripture,  where  it  is  called  waters  of  Merom 
(Josh.  xi.  5,  7).  By  Josephus  it  is  called  Seme- 
chonitis,  and  at  present  bears  the  name  of  Iluleh : 
this  is  the  uppermost  and  smallest  of  the  three 
lakes  on  the  Jordan.  It  serves  as  a  kind  of  reser- 
voir to  collect  the  waters  which  form  that  river, 
and  again  to  send  them  forth  in  a  single  stream. 
In  the  spring,  when  the  waters  are  highest,  the 
lake  is  seven  miles  long  and  three  and  a  half 
broad  ;  but  in  summer  it  becomes  a  mere  marsh. 
In  some  parts  it  is  sown  with  rice,  and  its  reeds 
and  rushes  afford  shelter  to  wild  hogs. 

SEA,  MOLTEN.  The  immense  brazen  re- 
servoir which,  with  smaller  lavers  [Layer],  stood 
in  the  court  of  Solomon's  temple,  was  thus,  by 
hyperbole,  denominated.  It  was  of  a  hemispheri- 
cal figure,  ten  cubits  in  width,  five  deep,  and 
thirty  in  circumference.  In  1  Kings  vii.  23,  it  is 
stated  to  have  contained  2000  baths,  equal  to 
16,000  gallons;  but  in  2  Chron.  iv.  5,  it  is  said 
to  have  contained  3000  baths,  and  the  latter  esti- 
mate is  followed  by  Josephus.  It  was  probably 
capable  of  holding  the  larger  quantity,  but  did 
not  usually  contain  more  that  the  smaller.  It 
was  decorated  on  the  upper  edge  with  figures  re- 
sembling lilies  in  bloom,  and  was  enriched  with 
various  ornamental  objects ;  and  it  rested,  or 
seemed  to  rest,  upon  the  backs  of  twelve  oxen, 
three  looking  to  the  north,  three  to  the  east,  three 
to  the  south,  and  three  to  the  west  (1  Kings  vi. 
26  ;  vii.  40-47  ;  2  Chron.  iv.  3-.5.  The  conception, 
and  still  more  the  successful  execution  of  this 
great  work,  gives  a  very  favourable  idea  of  the 
state  of  the  metallurgical  arts  in  the  time  of 
Solomon. 

SEAL.  There  seem  to  have  been  two  kinds 
of  seals  in  use  among  the  Hebrews.  A  notion  ap- 
pears to  exist  that  all  ancient  seals,  being  signets, 
were  rings,  intended  to  be  worn  on  the  hand.  But 
this  was  by  no  means  the  case  ;  nor  is  it  so  now  in 
the  East,  where  signet  rings  are  still,  probably, 
as  common  as  they  ever  were  in  ancient  times. 
Their  general  use  of  seals  was  very  different  from 
ours,  as  they  were  employed  not  for  the  purpose 
of  impressing  a  device  on  wax,  but  in  the  place 


SEIR 


719 


of  a  sign  manual,  to  stamp  the  name  of  the  owner 
upon  any  document  to  which  he  desired  to  affix 
it.  The  name  thus  impressed  had  the  same  legal 
validity  as  the  actual  signature,  as  is  still  the 
case  in  the  East.  This  custom  was  ancient,  and, 
no  doubt,  existed  among  the  Hebrews  (Gen. 
xxxviii.  18  ;  Cant.  viii.  G;  Haggai  ii.  23).  These 
seals  are  often  entirely  of  metal— brass,  silver,  or 
gold  ;  but  sometimes  of  stone  set  in  metal. 

If  a  door  or  box  was  to  be  sealed,  it  was  first 
fastened  with  some  ligament,  over  which  was 
placed  some  well-compacted  clay  to  receive  the 
impression  of  the  seal.  Clay  was  used  because  it 
hardens  in  the  heat,  which  would  dissolve  wax; 
and  this  is  the  reason  that  wax  is  not  used  in 
the  East.  There  are  distinct  allusions  to  this 
custom  in  Job  xxxviii.  14;  Cant.  iv.  12. 

Signet  rings  were  very  common,  especially 
among  persons  of  rank.  They  were  sometimes 
wholly  of  metal,  but  often  the  inscription  was 
borne  by  a  stone  set  in  silver  or  gold.  The  im- 
pression from  the  signet  ring  of  a  monarch  gave 
the  force  of  a  royal  decree  to  any  instrument  to 
which  it  was  affixed.  Hence  the  delivery  or 
transfer  of  it  to  any  one  gave  the  power  of  using 
the  royal  name,  and  created  the  highest  office  in 
the  state  (Gen.  xli.  42;  Esth.  iii.  10,  12;  viii.  2; 
Jer.  xxii.  24;  Dan.  vi.  10,  13,  17:  comp.  1 
Kings  xxi.  8). 

SEBA  was  the  eldest  son  of  Cush  (Gen.  X.  7 ; 

1  Chron,  i.  9),  and  gave  name  to  the  countiy  of 
Seba  or  Saba,  and  to  one  of  the  tribes  called 
Sabaeans,  not,  however,  the  Shebaiim,  but  the 
Sebaiim.  There  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  that 
their  ultimate  settlement  was  in  that  region  of 
Africa  which  was  known  to  the  Hebrews  as  the 
land  of  Cush,  and  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans  as 
Ethiopia;  and  the  Scriptural  notices  respecting 
them  and  their  country  have  been  already  anti- 
cipated in  the  articles  Cush  and  Ethiopia. 

SECUN'DUS,  a  disciple  of  Thessalonica,  who 
accompanied  Paul  in  some  of  his  voyages  (Acts 
XX.  4). 

SEER.    [Prophecy.] 

SE'IK  (hairy).  1.  A  phylarch  or  chief  of  the 
Horim,  who  were  the  former  inhabitants  of  the 
country  afterwards  possessed  by  the  Edomites. 

2.  Seir,  Mount.  The  mountainous  country 
of  the  Edomites,  extending  from  the  Dead  Sea  to 
the  Elanitic  Gulf.  The  name  is  usually  derived 
from  the  Seir  above  mentioned,  and  as  he  was 
a  great  chief  of  the  original  inhabitants,  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  reject  such  a  conclusion.  These  mountains 
were  first  inhabited  by  the  Horim  (Gen.  xiv.  6 ; 
Deut.  ii.  12);  then  by  Esau  (Gen.  xxxii.  3; 
xxxiii.  14,  16)  and  his  posterity  (Deut.  ii.  4,  19; 

2  Chron.  xx.  10).  The  northern  part  of  them 
now  bears  the  designation  of  Jebal,  and  the  south- 
ern that  of  esh-Sherah,  which  seems  no  other 
than  a  modification  of  the  ancient  name.  The 
whole  breadth  of  the  mountainous  tract  between 
the  Arabah  (the  great  valley  between  the  Dead 
Sea  and  Elanitic  Gulf)  and  the  eastern  desert 
above  is  about  15  or  20  geog.  miles.  These 
mountains  are  quite  different  in  character  from 
those  which  front  them  on  the  other  (west)  side 
of  the  Arabah.  The  latter  seem  to  be  not  more 
than  two-thirds  as  high  as  the  former,  and  are 
wholly  desert  and  sterile;  while  those  on  the 
east  appear  to  enjoy  a  sufficiency  of  rain,  and  are 
covered  with  tuf^s  of  herbs  and  occasional  trees. 


720 


SELAH 


The  valleys  are  also  full  of  trees  and  shrubs  and 
flowers,  the  eastern  and  higher  parts  being  exten- 
sively cultivated,  and  yielding  good  crops.  It  is 
indeed  the  region  of  which  Isaac  said  to  his  son 
Esau,  '  Behold,  thy  dwelling  shall  be  of  the  fat- 
ness of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew  of  heaven  from 
above  '  (Gen.  xxvii.  39). 

3.  A  mountain  in  the  territory  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XV.  10), 

SE'LAH.    [Psalms.] 

SE'LAH,  or  rather  Sela  {rock);  Gr.  Petra, 
which  has  the  same  signification  as  Selah,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Edomites  in  Mount  Seir.  In 
the  Jewish  history  it  is  recorded  that  Amaziah, 
king  of  Judah,  '  slew  of  Edom  in  the  valley  of 
Salt  ten  thousand,  and  took  Selah  by  war,  and 
called  the  name  of  it  Joktheel  unto  this  day  '  (2 
Kings  xiv.  7).  This  name  seems  however  to  have 
passed  away  with  the  Hebrew  rule  over  Edom, 
for  no  further  trace  of  it  is  to  be  found ;  and  it  is 
still  called  Selah  by  Isaiah  (xvi.  1).  These  are 
all  the  certain  notices  of  the  place  in  Scripture. 
Mention  is  made  of  it  by  Strabo,  Pliny,  and  other 
ancient  writers  ;  but  from  a.d.  536,  down  to  the 
present  century,  not  the  slightest  notice  of  the 
city  is  to  be  found  in  any  quarter;  and  as  no  trace 
of  it  as  an  inhabited  site  is  to  be  met  with  in  the 
Arabian  writers,  the  probability  seems  to  be  that 
it  was  destroyed  in  some  unrecorded  incursion  of 
the  desert  hordes,  and  was  afterwards  left  un- 
peopled. It  was  identified  by  Burckhardt  in  1812 
as  the  ancient  capital  of  Arabia  Petraea ;  and  since 
that  time  has  been  visited  by  various  travellers, 
who  have  given  a  minute  description  of  its  pre- 
sent condition. 


300.     [Petra,  from  above  the  Amphitheatre.] 

The  ruined  city  lies  in  a  narrow  valley,  sur- 
rounded by  lofty,  and,  for  the  most  part,  perfectly 
precipitous  mountains.  Those  which  form  its 
southern  limit  are  not  so  steep  as  to  be  impassable; 
and  it  is  over  these,  or  rather  through  them, 
along  an  abrupt  and  diflBcult  ravine,  that  travel- 
lers from  Sinai  or  Egypt  usually  wind  their  la- 
borious way  into  the  scene  of  magnificent  desola- 
tion. The  ancient  and  more  interesting  entrance 
is  on  the  eastern  side,  through  the  deep  narrow 
gorge  of  Wady  Syke.  The  boundaries  of  the 
city  are  marked  with  perfect  distinctness  by  the 
precipitous  mountains  by  which  the  site  is  encom 
passed;  and  they  give  an  extent  of  more  than  i 
mile  in  length,  nearly  from  north  to  south,  by  a 
variable  breadth  of  about  half  a  mile.  The  sides 
of  the  valley  are  walled  up  by  perpendicular  rocks, 


SELAH 

from  four  hundred  to  six  or  seven  hundred  feet 
high.  The  northern  and  southern  barriers  are 
neither  so  lofty  nor  so  steep,  and  they  both  admit 
of  the  passage  of  camels. 

The  chief  public  buildings  occupied  the  banks 
of  the  river  and  the  high  ground  farther  south,  as 
their  ruins  sufficiently  show.  One  sumptuous 
edifice,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  palace,  re- 
mains standing,  though  in  an  imperfect  and  dila- 
pidated state.  It  is  an  imposing  ruin,  thoughjiot 
of  the  purest  style  of  architecture,  and  is  the  only 
constructed  edifice  now  standing  in  Petra. 

In  various  other  parts  of  the  valley  are  piles  of 
ruins — columns  and  hewn  stones— parts  no  doubt 
of  important  public  buildings,  which  indicate  the 
great  wealth  and  magnificence  of  this  ancient 
capital,  as  well  as  its  unparalleled  calamities.  A 
large  surface  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  is 
covered  with  substructions,  which  probably  be- 
longed to  private  habitations. 

The  mountain  torrents  which,  at  times,  sweep 
over  the  lower  parts  of  the  ancient  site,  have  un- 
dermined many  foundations,  and  carried  away 
many  a  chiselled  stone,  and  worn  many  a  finished 
specimen  of  sculpture  into  unshapely  masses. 
The  soft  texture  of  the  rock  seconds  the  destruc- 
tive agencies  of  the  elements.  Even  the  accu- 
mulations of  rubbish,  which  mark  the  site  of  all 
other  deca3ed  cities,  have  mostly  disappeared; 
and  the  extent  which  was  covered  with  human 
habitations  can  only  be  determined  by  the  broken 
pottery  scattered  over  the  surface,  or  mingled 
with  the  sand — the  universal,  and,  it  would  seem, 
an  imperishable  memorial  of  popular  cities  that 
exist  no  longer. 

The  attention  of  travellers  has  however  been 
chiefly  engaged  by  the  excavations  which,  having 
more  successfully  resisted  the  ravages  of  time, 
constitute  at  present  the  great  and  peculiar  at- 
traction of  the  place.  These  excavations,  whether 
formed  for  temples,  tombs,  or  the  dwellings  of 
living  men,  surprise  the  visitor  by  their  incredible 
number  and  extent.  They  not  only  occupy  the 
front  of  the  entire  mountain  by  which  the  valley 
is  encompassed,  but  of  the  numerous  ravines  and 
recesses  which  radiate  on  all  sides  from  this  en- 
closed area.  Were  these  excavations,  instead  of 
following  all  the  sinuosities  of  the  mountain  and 
its  numerous  gorges,  ranged  in  regular  order, 
they  proltably  would  form  a  street  not  less  than  five 
or  six  miles  in  length.  By  far  the  largest  number 
were  manifestly  designed  as  places  for  the  inter- 
ment of  the  dead;  and  thus  exhibit  a  variety  in 
form  and  size,  of  interior  arrangement  and  exter- 
nal decorations,  adapted  to  the  diff'erent  fortunes 
of  their  occupants.  Some  of  them  are  plain  and 
unadorned,  but  there  is  a  vast  number  of  excava- 
tions enriched  with  various  architectural  orna- 
ments. The  interior  ofthese  unique  and  sumptuous 
monuments  is  quite  plain  and  destitute  of  all  deco- 
ration, but  the  exteriors  exhibit  some  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  imposing  results  of  ancient  taste  and 
skill  which  have  remained  to  our  times.  The  front 
of  themountam  is  wrought  into  fa9ades  of  splendid 
temples,  rivalling  in  their  aspect  and  symmetry 
the  most  celebrated  monuments  of  Grecian  art. 
Columns  of  various  orders,  graceful  pediments, 
broad  rich  entablatures,  and  sometimes  statuary, 
all  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  and  still  forming 
part  of  the  native  mass,  transform  the  base  of  the 
I  mountain  into  a  vast  splendid  pile  of  architecture 


SENNACHERIB 

while  the  overhanging  cliffs,  towering  above  in 
shapes  as  rugced  and  wild  as  any  on  which  the 
eye  ever  rested,  form  the  most  striking  and  curious 
of 


SERAPHIM 


721 


[Interior  of  a  tomb.] 


But  nothing  contributes  so  much  to  the  almost 
magical  effect  of  some  of  these  monuments,  as  the 
rich  and  various  colours  of  the  rock  out  of  which, 
or  more  properly  in  which,  they  are  formed. 
Red,  purple,  yellow,  azure  or  sky  blue,  black  and 
white,  are  seen  in  the  same  mass  distinctly  in 
successive  layers,  or  blended  so  as  to  form  every 
shade  and  hue  of  which  they  are  capable — as 
brilliant  and  as  soft  as  they  ever  appear  in  flowers, 
or  in  the  plumage  of  birds,  or  in  the  sky  when 
illuminated  by  the  most  glorious  sunset.  It  is 
more  easy  to  imagine  than  describe  the  effect  of 
tall,  graceful  columns,  exhibiting  these  exquisite 
colours  in  their  succession  of  regular  horizontal 
strata. 

SELEU'CIA,  a  city  of  Syria,  situated  west  of 
Autioch,  on  the  sea-coast,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Orontes  ;  sometimes  called  Seleucia  Pieria,  from 
the  neighbouring  Mount  Pierus :  and  also  Seleucia 
ad  Mare,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  several 
other  cities  of  the  same  name,  all  of  them  deno- 
minated from  Seleucus  Nicanor.  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas on  their  first  journey  embarked  at  this  port 
for  Cyprus  (Acts  xiii.  4). 

SE'NIR.     [Hermon.] 

SENNACHE'RIB,  king  of  Assyria,  who,  in 
the  fourteenth  year  of  King  Hezekiah  (b.c.  713), 
came  up  against  all  the  fenced  cities  of  Judah, 
and  took  them ;  on  which  Hezekiah  agreed  to  pay 
the  Assyrian  monarch  a  tribute  of  three  hundred 
talents  of  silver  and  thirty  talents  of  gold.  This, 
however,  did  not  satisfy  Sennacherib,  who  sent 
an  embassy  with  hostile  intentions,  charging  He- 
zekiah with  trusting  on  '  this  bruised  reed  Egypt.' 
The  king  of  Judah  in  his  perplexity  had  recourse 
to  Isaiah,  who  counselled  confidence  and  hope, 
giving  a  divine  promise  of  miraculous  aid.  Mean- 
while '  Tirhakah,  king  of  Ethiopia,'  and  of  Thebes 
in  Egypt,  had  come  out  to  fight  against  the  Assy- 
rians, who  had  threatened  Lower  Egypt  with  an  in- 
vasion. On  learning  this,  Sennacherib  sent  another 
deputation  to  Hezekiah,  who  thereon  applied  for 
aid  to  Jehovah,  who  promised  to  defend  the  capi- 
tal. 'And  it  came  to  pass  that  night  that  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  went  out  and  smote  in  the  camp 
of  the  Assyrians  an  hundred  fourscore  and  five 
thousand;  and  when  they  arose  early  in  the 
morning,  behold  they  were  all  dead  corpses '  (2 


Kings  xviii.  13,  sq.).  On  this,  Sennacherib  re- 
turned to  Nineveh,  and  was  shortly  after  mur- 
dered by  two  of  his  sons  as  he  was  praying  in 
the  house  of  Nisroch  his  god  (2  Kings  xix.  36, 
sq. ;  2  Chron.  xxxii. ;   Isa.  xxxvii.). 

SE'PH  AR, '  a  mountain  of  the  east,'  a  line  drawn 
from  which  to  Mesha  formed  the  boundary  of  the 
Joktanite  tribes  (Gen.  x.  30). 

SEPH'ARAD,  a  region  to  which  the  exiles 
from  Jerusalem  were  taken  (Obad.  20).  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  a  district  of  Asia  Minor,  or  at 
least  near  to  it. 

SEPHARVA'IM.  a  city  of  the  Assyrian  em- 
pire, whence  colonists  were  brought  into  the 
territory  of  Israel,  afterwards  called  Samaria 
(2  Kings  xvii.  24;  xviii.  34;  xix.  13;  Isa 
xxxvi.  19;  xxxvii.  13).  The  place  is  proba- 
bly represented  by  Sipphara  in  Mesopotamia, 
situated  upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Euphrites 
above  Babylon. 

SEPULCHRE.    [Burial.] 

SERAI'AH  (warrior  of  Jehovah).  There  are 
several  persons  of  this  name  in  Scripture. 

1.  Skraiah,  the  scribe  or  secretary  of  David 
(2  Sam.  viii.  17). 

2.  Seraiah,  the  father  of  Ezra  (Ez.  vii.  1). 

3.  Seraiah,  the  high  priest  at  the  time  that 
Jerusalem  was  taken  by  the  Chaldseans.  He  was 
sent  prisoner  to  Nebuchadnezzar  at  Riblah,  who 
put  him  to  death  (2  Kings  xxv.  18 ;  1  Chron.  vi. 
14;  Jer.  lii.  24;  Ez.  vii.  1). 

4.  Seraiah,  son  of  Azriel,  one  of  the  persons 
charged  with  the  apprehension  of  Jeremiah  and 
Baruch  (Jer.  xxxvi.  26). 

5.  Seraiah,  son  of  Neriah,  who  held  a  high 
office  in  the  court  of  King  Zedekiah,  the  nature 
of  which  is  somewhat  uncertain.  In  the  Auth. 
Vers,  we  have,  '  This  Seraiah  was  a  quiet  prince,' 
which  should  be  rendered,  according  to  Gesenius, 
'chief  of  the  quarters'  for  the  king  and  his  army, 
that  is  quartermaster-general.  This  Seraiah  was 
sent  by  Zedekiah  on  an  embassy  to  Babylon,  pro- 
bably to  render  his  submission  to  that  monarch, 
about  seven  years  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem. 
He  was  charged  by  Jeremiah  to  communicate  to 
the  Jews  already  in  exile  a  book,  in  which  the 
prophet  had  written  out  his  prediction  of  all  the 
evil  that  should  come  upon  Babylon.  It  is  not 
stated  how  Seraiah  acquitted  himself  of  his  task; 
but  that  he  accepted  it  at  all,  shows  such  respect 
for  the  prophet  as  may  allow  us  to  conclude  that 
he  would  not  neglect  the  duty  which  it  imposed. 

6.  Seraiah,  son  of  Tanhumeth,  an  accomplice 
of  Ishmael  in  the  conspiracy  against  Gedaliah 
(2  Kings  xxv.  23  ;  Jer.  xl.  8). 

SE'RAH  (abundance),  daughter  of  Asher,  named 
among  those  who  went  d6wn  into  Egypt  (Gen.  xlvi. 
17  ;  Num.  xxvi.  46;  1  Chron.  vii.  30). 

SER'APHIM,  or  Seraphs,  the  plural  of  the 
word  saraph,  'burning,'  or  ' fiery :'  celestial  beings 
described  in  Isa.  vi.  2-6,  as  an  order  of  angels  or 
ministers  of  God,  who  stand  around  his  throne, 
having  each  six  wings,  and  also  hands  and  feet, 
and  praising  God  with  their  voices.  They  were 
therefore  of  human  form,  and,  like  the  Cherubim, 
furnished  with  wings  as  the  swift  messengers  of 
God.  ... 

There  is  much  symbolical  force  and  propriety 
in  the  attitude  in  which  the  Seraphim  are  de- 
scribed as  standing ;  while  two  of  their  wings 
were  kept  ready  for  instant  flight  in  the  seryice 


722 


SERPENT 


of  God,  -with  two  others  they  hid  their  face,  to 
express  their  unworthiness  to  look  upon  the  divine 
Majesty  (comp.  Exod.  iii.  6),  and  with  two  others 
they  covered  their  feet,  or  the  whole  of  the  lower 
part  of  their  bodies — a  practice  which  still  pre- 
vails in  the  East,  when  persons  appear  in  a  mo- 
narch's presence. 

SER'GIUS  PAULUS,  a  Roman  proconsul  in 
command  at  Cyprus,  who  was  converted  by  the 
preaching  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  (Acts  xiii.  7). 
The  title  given  to  this  functionary  exhibits  one  of 
those  minute  accuracies  which,  apart  from  its  in- 
spiration, would  substantiate  the  sacred  book  as  a 
genuine  and  contemporary  record.  Cyprus  was 
originally  a  pratorian  province,  and  not  procon- 
sular; but  it  was  left  by  Augustus  under  the 
Senate,  and  hence  was  governed  by  a  proconsul, 
as  stated  by  the  Evangelist  (Acts  xiii.  6,  8,  12). 
Sergius  is  described  by  the  Evangelist  as  a  '  dis- 
creet' or  'intelligent'  man;  by  which  we  are 
probably  to  understand  that  he  was  a  man  of 
large  and  liberal  views,  and  of  an  inquiring  turn 
of  mind.  Hence  he  had  entertained  Elymas,  and 
hence  also  he  became  curious  to  hear  the  new 
doctrine  which  the  apostle  brought  to  the  island. 
Nothing  of  his  history  subsequent  to  his  conver- 
sion is  known  from  Scripture. 

SERPENT.  Serpents  may  be  divided  gene- 
rally into  two  very  distinct  sections, — the  first 
embracing  all  those  that  are  provided  with  move- 
able tubular  fangs  and  poison-bags  in  the  upper 
jaw ;  all  regarded  as  ovoviviparous,  and  called 
by  contraction  vipers :  they  constitute  not  quite 
one  fifth  of  the  species  hitherto  noticed  by  natu- 
ralists. The  second  section,  much  more  nume- 
rous, is  the  colubrine,  not  so  armed,  but  not  there- 
fore always  entirely  innocuous,  since  there  may 


302.  [1.  Shephiphon:  Cerastes.  2.  Peten  :  Coluber  Le- 
hetina.  3.  Python  tigris  Albicans ;  probably  Thai- 
banne.] 

be  in  some  cases  venomous  secretions  capable  of 
penetrating  into  the  wounds  made  by  their  fixed 
teeth,  which  in  all  serpents  are  single  points,  and 
in  some  species  increase  in  size  as  they  stand  back 
in  the  jaws.  The  greater  part,  if  not  all,  the  in- 
nocuous species  are  oviparous,  including  the 
largest  or  giant  snakes,  and  the  pelamis  and  hy- 
drophis,  or  water-serpents,  among  wliich  several 
are  venomous. 

Scriptural  evidence  attests  the  serpent's  influ- 
ence on  the  early  destinies  of  mankind ;  and  this 


SERPENT 

fact  may  be  traced  in  the  history,  the  legends,  and 
creeds  of  most  ancient  nations.  It  is  far  from 
being  obliterated  at  this  day  among  the  pagan, 
barbarian,  and  savage  tribes  of  both  continents, 
where  the  most  virulent  and  dangerous  animals  of 
the  viviparous  class  are  not  uncommonly  adored, 
but  more  generally  respected,  from  motives  ori- 
ginating in  fear;  and  others  of  the  oviparous 
race  are  suffered  to  abide  in  human  dwellings, 
and  are  often  supplied  with  food,  from  causes 
not  easily  determined,  excepting  that  the  ser- 
pent is  ever  considered  to  be  possessed  of  some 
mysterious  superhuman  knowledge  or  power. 

The  supposed  winged  serpent,  which  appears 
to  be  alluded  to  in  'the  fiery  flying  serpent'  of 
Isaiah  (xiv.  29;  xxx.  6),  seems,  as  well  as  the 
'  adder,'  to  have  been  a  species  of  Have,  and  pro- 
bably one  of  the  more  eastern  species  or  varieties, 
which  have  the  faculty  of  actually  distending  the 
hood,  as  if  they  had  wings  at  the  side  of  the  head, 
and  are  the  same  as,  or  nearly  allied  to,  the  well 
known  spectacle-snake  of  India. 

The  serpent  named  Ephoeh  (Job  xx.  16,  and 
Isaiah  xxx.  6),  and  which  seems  to  be  the  same 
as  the  '  viper '  of  the  New  Testament  (Matt.  iii. 
7  ;  xii.  -34  ;  xxiii.  -33  ;  Luke  iii.  7 ;  Acts  xxviii. 
3),  was  probably  a  species  allied  to  the  Effah,  a 
serpent  which,  although  not  above  a  foot  in  length, 
is  regarded  as  the  most  formidable  of  Northern 
Africa. 

The  serpent  which  in  Deut.  xxxii.  33 ;  Job  xx. 

14,  16;  Ps.  Iviii.  4;  xci.  13;  Isa.  xi.  8,  occurs 
under  the  Hebrew  name  of  Pethen,  is  probably 
the  Bsetan  of  Forskal ;  the  Coluber  {vipera)  Lebe- 
tina  of  Linn.,  and  by  him  characterized  as  one 
foot  in  length,  the  body  spotted  with  black  and 
white,  and  oviparous  (?),  though  excessively  poi- 
sonous. This  is  usually  regarded  as  the  '  asp '  of 
the  ancients,  and  the  '  deaf  adder '  of  Ps.  Iviii.  5,  6. 
This  is  uncertain ;  and  it  may  be  remarked  that 
the  so-called  '  deaf  adder '  is  not  without  hearing, 
but  is  only  not  obedient  to  the  musical  notes  of 
the  serpent-charmers. 

The  serpent  called  in  the  Hebrew  of  Deut.  viii. 

15,  by  the  name  of  Izimmaon,  appears  to  be  the 
'  Drought '  of  some  versions,  so  called  because  of 
the  intolerable  thirst  occasioned  by  its  bite.  It 
would  therefore  seemingly  form  in  modern  no- 
menclature one  of  the  genus  Hurria,  and  sub- 
genus Dipsas  or  Bongarus ;  but  no  species  of  this 
division  of  snakes  has  yet  been  found  in  Western 
Asia.  Another  serpent  mentioned  in  Scripture 
is  the  tzepha,  or  tziphoni,  translated  '  cockatrice ' 
in  Prov.  xxiii.  32,  and  Isa.  xi.  8.  This  is  an  in- 
definite English  name,  which  belongs  to  no  iden- 
tified serpent,  and  now  appears  only  in  the  works 
of  ancient  compilers  and  heralds,  where  it  is 
figured  with  a  crest,  though  there  is  no  really 
crested  or  frilled  species  known  to  exist  in  the 
whole  Ophidian  order.  There  are,  however,  two 
very  distinct  species  of  horned  serpents  in  Egjpt 
and  Northern  Africa,  probably  extending  to  Syria 
and  Arabia.  They  are  of  different  genera ;  for 
the  Cerastes,  supposed  to  be  the  shephiphon  of  the 
Bible,  is  a  viper  with  two  scales  on  the  head,  one 
above  each  eye,  standing  erect  somewhat  in  the 
form  of  horns.  This  is  a  dangerous  species, 
usually  burrowing  in  sand  near  the  holes  of  jer- 
boas, and  occasionally  in  the  cattle-paths;  for 
there  are  now  few  or  no  ruts  of  cart-wheipls, 
where  it  is  pretended  they  used  to  conceal  them- 


selves  to  assault  unwary  passers.     It  is  still  com- 
mon in  Egypt  and  Arabia. 
SERVAiNT.     [Slave.] 

SE'RUG  {shoot,  tendril),  son  of  Reu.and  father 
of  Nahor  the  grandfather  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xi. 
20  ;  1  Chron.  i.  6).  He  was  130  years  old  at  the 
birth  of  Nahor,  and  died  at  the  age  of  330.  The 
name  occurs  in  the  genealogy  of  Christ  (Luke  iii. 
35).  The  Jewish  traditions  affirm  that  Serug  was 
the  first  of  his  line  who  fell  into  idolatry  ;  and  this 
seems  to  he  sanctioned  by,  and  is  probably  built 
upon,  the  charge  of  idolatry  brought  against  Te- 
rah  and  the  fathers  beyond  the  Euphrates  in  Josh, 
xxiv.  2. 

SETH  (compensation),  the  third  son  of  Adam, 
to  whom  Eve  gave  this  name  in  consequence  of 
regarding  him  as  sent  to  replace  Abel,  whom  Cain 
had  slain  (Gen.  iv.  25,  26  ;  v.  3,  sq.). 

SEVEN.  This  word  is  used  to  express  the 
number  6+1.  The  Lexicons  generally,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  also  assign  to  the  word  and 
its  derivatives  the  further  office  of  a  round  or  in- 
definite number,  to  express  a  small  number,  in 
the  sense  of  several  (as  we  use  ten  or  a  dozen). 
It  appears  to  us  possible  to  resolve  the  passages 
quoted  in  support  of  this  view  into  the  idea  of 
sufficiency,  satisfaction,  fulness,  completeness,  per- 
fection, abundance,  &c.,  intimated  in  the  Hebrew 
root,  from  which  the  numeral  in  question  is  de- 
rived. For  instance,  1  Sam.  ii.  5,  '  The  barren 
hath  born  seven,'  that  is,  hath  been  blessed  with 
an  ample  family ;  Ruth  iv.  1 5,  '  Better  to  thee 
than  seven  sons,'  i.  e.  an  abundance  of  them ; 
Prov.  xxvi.  25,  'There  are  seven  abominations 
in  his  heart,'  i.  e.  completeness  of  depravity. 
Thus  also  the  phrase,  '  To  flee  seven  Avays '  (Deut. 
xxviii.  7).  denotes  a  total  overthrow  ;  to  '  punish 
seven  times'  (Lev.  xxvi.  24),  to  punish  completely ; 
'Six  and  seven  troubles,'  a  very  great  and  entire 
calamity  (Job  V.  19  i;  'Give  a  portion  to  seven, 
also  to  eight,'  be  not  only  duly  liberal,  but  abun- 
dant ;  *  Silver  purified  seven  times,'  perfectly 
purified  (Ps.  xii.  6).  The  word  is  used  in  the 
New  Testament  to  express  the  same  idea  of  abun- 
dance or  completeness.  Thus  '  the  seven  spirits 
before  the  throne  '  would  seem  to  be  a  periphrasis 
of  perfection,  denoting  the  Holy  Spirit  (Rev.  i.  4). 
It  is  most  likely  that  the  idea  of  sufficiency  and 
completeness  became  originally  associated  with 
the  number  seven,  from  the  Creator  having 
finished,  completed,  or  made  sufficient,  all  his 
work  on  the  seventh  day ;  and  that  hence  also  it 
was  adopted  as  a  sacred  number,  or  a  number 
chiefly  employed  in  religious  concerns,  in  order 
to  remind  mankind  of  the  creation  and  its  true 
author.  Thus  there  were  seven  offerings  in 
making  a  covenant  (Gen.  xxi.  28) ;  seven  lamps 
in  the  golden  candlestick  (Exod.  xxxvii.  23)  ;  the 
blood  was  sprinkled  seven  times  (Lev.  iv.  16, 17)  ; 
every  seventh  year  was  sabbatical,  seven  sabbaths 
of  years  in  the  jubilee  (xxv.  8);  seven  trumpets, 
seven  priests  that  sounded  them  seven  days  round 
V  Jericho,  seven  lamps,  seven  seals,  &c.  &c.  Seven 
was  considered  a  fortunate  number  among  the 
Persians  (Esth.  i.  10-14 ;  ii.  9).  Cicero  calls  it 
the  knot  and  cement  of  all  things,  as  being  that 
by  which  the  natural  and  spiritual  world  are 
comprehended  in  one  idea.  Nor  is  this  subject 
devoid  of  practical  utility.  The  references  which 
occur  in  the  patriarchal  history  to  ihe  number 
seven,  as  denoting  a  week  or  period  of  seven  days, 


SHALLUM  723 

sufficiency,  &c.,  and  a  sacred  number,  afibrd  a 
minute,  indirect,  but  not  an  inconsiderable  argu- 
ment, that  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath  was  both 
established  and  observed  from  the  commence- 
ment ;  and  not,  as  Paley  thinks,  during  the  wan- 
dering in  the  wilderness:  an  argument  abun- 
dantly confirmed  by  the  regard  to  the  seventh 
day,  which  has  prevailed  too  far  and  wide  among 
various  nations,  to  be  attributed  to  their  com- 
paratively late  intercourse  with  the  Jews. 

SHAAL'BIM  {city  of  foxes),  called  also  Shaal- 
BIK,  a  city  of  the  tribe  of  Dan  (Josh.  xix.  42),  but 
of  which  it  could  not  for  a  long  while  dispossess 
the  Amorites  (Judg.  i.  35).  In  the  time  of  Solo- 
mon it  was  the  station  of  one  of  the  twelve  officers 
or  intendants  appointed  to  regulate  the  collection 
of  provisions  for  the  court  (1  Kings  iv.  9).  One 
of  David's  worthies  belonged  to  this  place  (2  Sam. 
xxiii.  32 ;  1  Chron.  xi.  32). 

SHAALIM  (foxes'  region),  a  district  named  in 
1  Sam.  ix.  4 ;  probably  that  in  which  Shaalbim 
was  situated. 

SHAASH'GAZ,  the  appropriate  name  (mean- 
ing in  Persian,  servant  of  the  beautiful)  of  a  Per- 
sian eunuch,  the  keeper  of  the  women  in  the  court 
of  Ahasuerus  (Esth.  ii.  14). 

SHAD'DAI,  an  epithet  or  name  applied  to  Je- 
hovah. In  Gen.  xvii.  1  if  is  given  as  El- 
Shaddai  in  the  Authorized  Version ;  but  is 
everywhere  else  rendered  by  '  Almighty,'  which 
is  its  true  signification. 

SHA'DRACH,  one  of  the  three  friends  of 
Daniel,  who  were  delivered  from  the  burning, 
fiery  furnace  [Abednego]. 

SHAL'ISHA,  a  district  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
mountains  of  Ephraim  (1  Sam.  ix.  4),  in  which 
appears  to  have  been  situated  the  city  of  Baal- 
Shalisha  (2  Kings  iv.  22).  This  city  is  called  by 
Eusebius  Beth-Shalisha,  and  is  placed  by  him  15 
miles  from  Diospolis  (Lydda),  towards  the  north. 

SHALLOT.  The  original  word  (shvmim) 
occurs  only  once  in  Scripture,  and  that  in  the 
passage  (Num.  xi.  5)  where  the  Israelites  are 
described  as  murmuring,  among  other  things,  for 
the  leeks,  the  onions,  and  the  garlic  (shuviim)  of 
Egypt.  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  its  being  cor- 
rectly so  translated.  Ancient  authors  mention 
that  garlic  was  cultivated  in  Egypt.  Herodotus 
enumerates  it  as  one  of  the  substances  upon  which 
a  large  sum  (1600  talents)  was  spent  for  feeding 
labourers  employed  in  building  the  Pyramids. 
The  species  considered  to  have  been  thus  culti- 
vated in  Egypt  is  Allium  Ascalonicum,  which  is 
the  most  common  in  Eastern  countries,  and  ob- 
tains its  specific  name  from  having  been  brought 
into  Europe  from  Ascalon.  It  is  now  usually 
known  in  the  kitchen  garden  by  the  name  of 
'  eschalot '  or  '  shallot,'  and  is  too  common  to  re- 
quire a  fuller  notice. 

SHAL'LUM  (retribution),  the  fifteenth  king  of 
Israel.  In  the  troubled  times  which  followed  the 
death  of  Jeroboam  II.,  b.c.  772,  his  son  Zecha- 
riah  was  slain  in  the  presence  of  the  people  by 
Shallum,  who  by  this  act  extinguished  the  dynasty 
of  Jehu.  Shallum  then  mounted  the  throne  (B.C. 
771),  but  occupied  it  only  one  month,  being 
opposed  and  slain  by  Menahem,  who  mounted  the 
throne  thus  vacated  (2  Kings  xv.  10-15). 

2.  A  king  of  Judah,  son  of  Josiah  (Jer.  xxii. 
11),  better  known  by  the  name  of  Jehoahaz  [Je- 
hoahaz  II.]. 

3A2 


724 


SHAREZER 


3.  The  husband  of  Huldah  the  prophetess  (2 
Kmgs  xxii.  14).  Several  other  persons  of  this 
name  occur  in  Ezra  ii.  42 ;  vii.  2 ;  x.  24,  42 ; 
Neh.  iii.  12;  vii.  45;  1  Chron.  ii.  40. 

SHALMANE'SER,  king  of  Assyria  [Assy- 
ria]. 

SHAM'GAR,  son  of  Anath,  and  third  judge  of 
Israel.  It  is  not  known  whether  the  only  exploit 
recorded  of  him  was  that  by  which  his  authority 
was  acquired.  It  is  said  that  he  '  slew  of  the 
Philistines  600  men  with  an  ox-goad  '  (Judg.  iii. 
31).  It  is  supposed  that  he  was  labouring  iu  the 
field,  without  any  other  weapon  than  the  long 
staff  armed  with  a  strong  point,  used  in  urging 
and  guiding  the  cattle  yoked  to  the  plough,  when 
he  perceived  a  party  of  the  Philistines,  whom, 
with  the  aid  of  the  husbandmen  and  neighbours, 
he  repulsed  with  much  slaughter.  The  date  and 
duration  of  his  government  are  unknown,  but 
may  be  probably  assigned  to  the  end  of  that  long 
period  of  repose  which  followed  the  deliverance 
under  Ehud.  In  Shamgar's  time,  as  the  song  of 
Deborah  informs  us  (Judg.  v.  6),  the  condition  of 
the  people  was  so  deplorably  insecure,  that  the 
highways  were  forsaken,  and  travellers  went 
through  by-ways,  and,  for  the  same  reason,  the 
villages  were  abandoned  for  the  walled  towns. 

1.  SHA'MIR,  a  city  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  48). 

2.  SHAMIR,  a  city  in  the  mountains  of 
Ephraim,  where  Tola  lived  and  was  buried 
(Judg.  X.  1,  2). 

SHAM'MAH  {astonishment),  one  of  the  three 
chief  of  the  thirty  champions  of  David.  The  ex- 
ploit by  which  he  obtained  this  high  distinction, 
as  described  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  11,  12,  is  manifestly 
the  same  as  that  which  in  1  Chron.  xi.  12-14,  is 
ascribed  to  David  himself,  assisted  by  Eleazar  the 
son  of  Dodo.  The  inference,  therefore,  is,  that 
Shammah's  exploit  lay  in  the  assistance  which  he 
thus  rendered  to  David  and  Eleazar.  It  consisted 
in  the  stand  which  the  others  enabled  David  to 
make,  in  a  field  of  lentiles,  against  the  Philistines. 
Shammah  also  shared  in  the  dangers  which  Ele- 
azar and  Jashobeam  incurred  in  the  chivalric  ex- 
ploit of  forcing  a  way  through  the  Philistine  host 
to  gratify  David's  thirst  for  the  waters  of  Bethle- 
hem (2  Sam.  xxiii.  16). 

Other  persons  of  this  name  occur,  2.  A  son 
of  Reuel  (Gen.  xxxvi.  13,  17).  3.  A  brother  of 
David  (1  Sam.  xvi.  9  ;  xvii.  3),  who  is  elsewhere 
called  Shimeah  (2  Sam.  xiii.  .?,  32)  and  Shimma 
(1  Chron.  ii.  13).  4.  One  of  David's  thirty 
champions,  seemingly  distinct  from  the  chief  of 
the  same  name  (2  Sam.  xxiii.  33).  5.  Another 
of  the  champions  distinguished  as  Shammah  the 
Harodite ;  he  is  called  Shammoth  in  1  Chron.  xi. 
27,  and  Shamhuth  in  1  Chron.  xxvii.  8.  That 
three  of  the  thirty  champions  should  bear  the 
same  name  is  somewhat  remarkable. 

SHA'PHAN,  the  scribe  or  secretary  of  King 
Josiah  (2  Kings  xxii.  3,  12;  Jer.  xxxvi.  10; 
comp.  Ezra  viii.  11).  Contemporary  with  him 
was  a  state  officer  named  Ahikam,  constantly 
mentioned  as  '  the  son  of  Shaphan'  (2  Kings  xxii. 
12;  XXV.  22;  Jer.  xxvi.  24;  xxxix.  14;  and  per- 
haps xxxix.  3) ;  but  this  Shaphan,  the  father  of 
Ahikam,  can  hardly  be  the  same  with  Shaphan 
the  scribe,  although  the  heedless  reader  may  be 
apt  to  confound  them. 

SHARE'ZER  (Persic,  prince  of  fire),  a  son  of 
Sennacherib,  one  of  those  who  slew  his  father 


SHEBA,  SABiEANS 

(.2  Kings  xix.  37 ;  Isa.  xxxvii.  38).  Another 
person  of  this  name  occurs  in  Zech.  vii.  2. 

SIIA'RON,  a  level  tract  along  the  Mediterra- 
nean, between  Mount  Carmel  and  Csesarea,  cele- 
brated for  its  rich  fields  and  pastures  (Josh.  xii. 
18  ;  Cant.  ii.  1 ;  Isa.  xxxiii.  9  ;  xxxv.  2  ;  Ixv.  10 ; 

1  Chron.  xxvii.  9).  See  the  head  '  Plains,'  in  the 
art.  Palestine. 

SHA'VEH,  a  valley  on  the  north  of  Jerusalem 
called  also  the  King's  Dale  (Gen.  xiv.  1 7 ;  comp. 

2  Sam.  xviii.  18), 
SHA'VEH-KIR'JATHAIM  (Gen.  xiv.  .'■\  a 

plain  near  the  city  of  Kirjathaim,  beyond  Jordan, 
which  eventually  belonged  to  Reuben  (Num. 
xxxii.  37  ;  Josh.  xiii.  19). 

SHEAL'TIEL  (asked  of  God),  the  father  of 
Zerubbabel  (Ezra  iii.  2  ;  Neh.  xii.  1  ;  Hag.  i.  12, 
14;  ii.  2) ;  called  also  Salathiel  (1  Chron.  iii.  7). 

SHE'AR-JA'SHUB  {the  remnant  shall  return), 
son  of  the  prophet  Isaiah,  who  accompanied  his 
father  when  he  proceeded  to  deliver  to  king  Ahaz 
the  celebrated  prophecy  contained  in  Isa.  vii.  (^see 
verse  3).  As  the  sons  of  Isaiah  sometimes  stood 
for  signs  in  Israel  (Isa.  viii.  18),  and  the  name  of 
Maher-shalal-hash-baz  was  given  to  one  of  them 
by  way  of  prophetic  intimation,  it  has  been  con- 
jectured that  the  somewhat  remarkable  name  of 
Shear-jashub  intimated  that  the  people  who  had 
then  retired  within  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  should 
return  in  peace  to  their  fields  and  villages.  But 
we  cannot  build  on  this,  as  it  is  not  distinctly 
stated  that  the  name  of  Shear-jashub  was  chosen, 
like  that  of  his  brother,  with  any  prophetic  in- 
tention. 

SHE'BA,  SAB^ANS.  As  much  confusion 
has  been  introduced  by  the  variety  of  meanings 
which  the  name  Sabcpans  has  been  made  to  bear, 
it  may  be  proper  to  specify  in  this  place  their  dis- 
tinctive derivations  and  use.  In  our  Authorized 
Version  of  Scripture  the  term  seems  to  be  applied 
to  thjee  different  tribes.  1st.  To  the  Sebaiim,  the 
descendants  of  Seba  or  Saba,  son  of  Cush,  who 
ultimately  settled  in  Ethiopia.  2nd.  To  the  She- 
baiim,  the  descendants  of  Sheba,  son  of  Joktan, 
the  Sahai  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  settled 
in  Arabia  Felix.  They  are  the  *  Sabseans '  of 
Joel  iii.  8,  to  whom  the  Jews  were  to  sell  the 
captives  of  Tyre.  3rd.  To  another  tribe  of  She- 
bans,  a  horde  of  Bedawee  marauders  in  the  days 
of  Job  (ch.  i.  15)  ;  for  whether  we  place  the  land 
of  Uz  in  Idumaa  or  in  Ausitis,  it  is  by  no  means 
likely  that  the  Arabs  of  the  south  would  extend 
their  excursions  so  very  far.  We  must,  therefore, 
look  for  this  tribe  in  Desert  Arabia ;  and  it  is 
singular  enough,  that  besides  the  Seba  of  Cush, 
and  the  Shaba  of  Joktan,  there  is  another  Sheba, 
son  of  Jokshan,  and  grandson  of  Abraham,  by 
Keturah  (Gen.  xxv.  33);  and  his  posterity  appear 
to  have  been  '  men  of  the  wilderness,'  as  were 
their  kinsmen  of  Midian,  Ephah,  and  Dedan, 

Yet,  as  if  to  increase  the  confusion  in  the  use 
of  this  name  of  '  Saba;ans,'  it  has  also  been  ap- 
plied— 4th.  To  the  ancient  star-worshippers  of 
Western  Asia,  though  they  ought  properly  to  bf 
styled  Tsabians,  and  their  religion  not  Sabaism 
hat  Tsabaism.  5th.  The  name  of  Sabseans,  or 
Sabians,  has  also  been  given  to  a  modern  sect  in. 
the  East,  the  Mandaites,  or,  as  they  are  commonly 
but  incorrectly  called,  the  '  Christians '  of  St. 
John  ;  for  they  deny  the  Messiahship  of  Christ, 
and  pay  superior  honour  to  John  the  Baptist. 


SHECHEM 

SHE'BAT,  the  eleventh  month  of  the  Hebrew 
year,  from  the  new  moon  of  February  to  the  new 
moon  of  March.  The  name  only  occurs  once  in 
Scripture  (Zech.  i.  7),  and  is  the  same  which  is 
given  in  the  Arabic  and  Syriac  languages  to  the 
same  month. 

SHEB'NA  (a  youth),  the  prefect  of  the  palace 
to  kingHezekiah  (^Isa.  xxii.  15);  afterwards  pro- 
moted to  be  scribe  or  secretary  to  the  same  mo- 
narch, when  his  former  office  was  given  to  Elia- 
kim  (Isa.  xxii.  15;  xxxvi.  3;  2  Kings  xviii.  26, 
27;  xix.  2). 

SHE'CHEM,  a  town  of  central  Palestine,  in 
Samaria,  among  tlie  mountains  of  Ephraiin  (Josh. 
XX.  7  ;  1  Kings  xii.  25),  in  the  narrow  valley  be- 
tween the  mountains  of  Ebal  audGerizim  (comp. 
Judg.  ix.  7),  and  consequently  within  the  tribe  of 
Ephraim  (Josh.  xxi.  20).  It  is  in  N.  lat.  32''  17', 
E.  long.  35°  20',  being  thirty-four  miles  north  of 
Jerusalem  and  seven  miles  south  of  Samaria.  It 
was  a  very  ancient  place,  and  appears  to  have 
arisen  as  a  town  in  the  interval  between  the 
arrival  of  Abraham  in  Palestine  and  the  return 
of  Jacob  from  Padan-aram,  for  it  is  mentioned 
only  as  a  place,  described  by  reference  to  the 
oaks  in  the  neighbourhood,  when  Abraham  came 
there  on  first  entering  the  land  of  Canaan  (Gen. 
xii.  6).  But,  in  the  history  of  Jacob  it  repeatedly 
occurs  as  a  town  having  walls  and  gates :  it  could 
not,  however,  have  been  very  large  or  important, 
if  we  may  judge  from  the  consequence  which  the 
inhabitants  attached  to  an  alliance  with  Jacob, 
and  from  the  facility  with  which  the  sons  of  the 
patriarch  were  able  to  surprise  and  destroy  them 
(Gen.  xxxiii.  18,  19;  xxxiv.  1,  2,  20,  24,  26). 
After  the  conquest  of  the  country,  Shechem  was 
made  a  city  of  refuge  (Josh.  xx.  7),  and  one  of 
the  Levitical  towns  (Josh.  xxi.  21),  and  during 
the  lifetime  of  Joshua  it  was  a  centre  of  union  to 
the  tribes  (Josh.  xxiv.  1,  25),  probably  because  it 
was  the  nearest  considerable  town  to  the  residence 
of  that  chief  in  Timnath-serah.  In  the  time  of  the 
judges,  Shechem  became  the  capital  of  the  king- 
dom set  up  by  Abimelech  (Judg.  ix.  1,  sq.),  but 
was  at  length  conquered  and  destroyed  by  him 
(Judg.  ix.  34).  It  must,  however,  have  been  ere 
long  rebuilt,  for  it  had  again  become  of  so  much 
importance  by  the  time  of  Rehoboam's  accession, 
that  he  there  gave  the  meeting  to  the  delegates 
of  the  tribes,  which  ended  in  the  separation  of  the 
kingdom  (1  Kings  xii.  10).  It  was  Shechem  which 
the  first  monarch  of  the  new  kingdom  made  the 
capital  of  his  dominions  (1  Kings  xii.  25;  comp. 
xiv.  17),  although  later  in  his  reign  the  pleasant- 
ness of  Tirzah  induced  him  to  build  a  palace  there, 
and  to  make  it  the  summer  residence  of  his  court ; 
which  gave  it  such  importance,  that  it  at  length 
oanie  to  be  regarded  as  the  capital  of  the  kingdom, 
till  Samaria  eventually  deprived  it  of  that  honour 
(1  Kings  xiv.  7;  xvi.  24)  [Israel].  Shechem, 
however,  still  throve.  It  subsisted  during  the  exile 
(Jer.  xii.  5),  and  continued,  for  many  ages  after, 
the  chief  seat  of  the  Samaritans  and  of  their  wor- 
ship, their  sole  temple  being  upon  the  mountain 
(Gerizim),  at  whose  foot  the  city  stood  [Sama- 
RiTAN.s].  The  city  was  taken,  and  the  temple 
destroyed,  by  John  Hyrcanus,  B.C.  129.  In  the 
New  Testament  it  occurs  under  tlie  name  of 
Sychar  (John  iv.  5),  which  seems  to  have  been  a 
sort  of  nick  uame,  such  as  the  Jews  were  fond  of 
impocing  upon  places  they  disliked.     Stephen, 


SHEEP 


725 


however,  in  his  historical  retrospect,  still  uses  the 
proper  and  ancient  name  (Acts  vii.  16).  Not  long 
after  the  times  of  the  New  Testament  the  place 
received  the  name  of  Neapolis,  which  it  still  re- 
tains in  the  Arabic  form  of  Nabulus,  being  one 
of  the  very  few  names  imposed  by  the  Romans  in 
Palestine  which  have  survived  to  the  present  day. 
It  had  probably  suffered  much,  if  it  was  not  com- 
pletely destroyed,  in  the  war  with  the  Romans, 
and  would  seem  to  have  been  restored  or  rebuilt 
by  Vespasian,  and  then  to  have  taken  this  new 
name.  It  has  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Ma- 
hometans since  a.d.  1242. 

There  is  no  reason  to  question  that  the  present 
town  occupies  the  site  of  the  ancient  Shechem, 
although  its  dimensions  are  probably  more  con- 
tracted. The  fertility  and  beauty  of  the  deep  and 
narrow  valley  in  which  the  town  stands,  especially 
in  its  immediate  neighbourhood,  have  been  much 
admired  by  travellers,  as  far  exceeding  what  they 
had  seen  in  any  other  part  of  Palestine.  The 
town  itself  is  long  and  narrow,  extending  along 
the  N.E.  base  of  Mount  Gerizim,  and  partly  rest- 
ing upon  its  declivity.  The  population  of  the 
place  is  rated  by  Dr.  Olin  at  8000  or  10,000,  of 
whom  500  or  600  are  Christians  of  the  Greek 
communion,  and  the  rest  Moslems,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  about  130  Samaritans,  and  one-third 
that  number  of  Jews.  The  inhabitants  bear  the 
character  of  being  an  unusually  valiant  as  well  as 
a  turbulent  race,  and  some  years  since  maintained 
a  desperate  struggle  against  the  Egyptian  govern- 
ment in  some  bloody  rebellions. 

2,  SHECHEM,  son  of  Hamor,  prince  of  the 
country  or  district  of  Shechem,  in  which  Jacob 
formed  his  camp  on  his  return  from  Mesopotamia. 
This  young  man  having  seen  Jacob's  daughter 
Dinah,  was  smitten  with  her  beauty,  and  de- 
flowered her.  This  wrong  was  terribly  and 
cruelly  avenged  by  the  damsel's  uterine  brothers, 
Simeon  and  Levi,  as  described  in  the  article  Dinah 
(Gen.  XXXV.).  It  seems  likely  that  the  town  of 
Shechem,  even  if  of  recent  origin,  must  have 
existed  before  the  birth  of  a  man  so  young  as 
Hamor's  son  appears  to  have  been  ;  and  we  may 
therefore  suppose  it  a  name  preserved  in  the 
family,  and  which  both  the  town  and  the  princes 
inherited.  Shechem's  name  is  always  connected 
with  that  of  his  father  Hamor  (Gen.  xxxiii.  19 ; 
XXXV.;  Acts  vii.  16). 

SHEEP.  The  normal  animal,  from  which  all 
or  the  greater  part  of  the  western  domestic  races 
of  sheep  are  assumed  to  be  descended,  is  still 


303.    [Syrian  Sheep.] 

found  wild  in  the  high  mountain  regions  of  Persia, 
and  is  readily  distinguished  from  two  other  wild 
species  bordering  on  the  same  region.     What 


726 


SHEKINAH 


breeds  the  earliest  shepherd  tribes  reared  in  and 
about  Palestine  can  now  be  only  inferred  from 
negative  characters ;  yet  they  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  they  were  the  same,  or  nearly  so,  as 
the  common  horned  variety  of  Egypt  and  conti- 
nental Europe :  in  general  white,  and  occasionally 
black,  although  there  was  on  the  upper  Nile  a 
speckled  race  ;  and  so  early  as  the  time  of  Aris- 
totle the  Arabians  possessed  a  rufous  breed, 
another  with  a  very  long  tail,  and  above  all  a 
broad-tailed  sheep,  which  at  present  is  commonly 
denominated  the  Syrian.  Flocks  of  the  ancient 
breed,  derived  from  the  Bedouins,  are  now  extant 
in  Syria,  with  little  or  no  change  in  external  cha- 
racters, chiefly  the  broad-tailed  and  the  common 
horned  white,  often  with  black  and  white  about 
the  face  and  feet,  the  tail  somewhat  thicker  and 
longer  than  the  European.  The  others  are  chiefly 
valued  for  the  fat  of  their  broad  tails,  which  tastes 
not  unlike  marrow  ;  for  the  flesh  of  neither  race 
is  remarkably  delicate,  nor  are  the  fleeces  of  su- 
perior quality.  Sheep  in  the  various  conditions 
of  existence  wherein  they  would  occur  among  a 
pastoral  and  agricultural  people,  are  noticed  in 
numerous  places  of  the  Bible,  and  furnish  many 
beautiful  allegorical  images,  where  purity,  inno- 
cence, mildness,  and  submission  are  portrayed, 
— the  Saviour  himself  being  denominated  '  the 
Lamb  of  God,'  in  twofold  allusion  to  his  patient 
meekness,  and  to  his  being  the  true  paschal  lamb, 
'  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world '  (Rev. 
xiii.  8).  Some  commentators  affirm  that  the 
Hebrew  word  kesitah,  which  occurs  only  in  Gen. 
xxxiii.  19,  and  Job  xlii.  11,  and  is  in  the  Autho- 
rized Version  rendered  money,  literally  means 
sheep  or  lambs,  and  should  be  so  translated. 
Others,  with  greater  probability,  suppose  that  it 
refers  to  a  piece  of  coined  naoney  bearing  the 
figure  of  a  sheep ;  and  it  is  certain  that  Phoenicia 
had  sheep  actually  impressed  on  a  silver  coin. 


304.    [Supposed  Kesitah.] 

SHEKEL.  [Weights  and  Measures,] 
SHEKINAH  or  Shechinah,  a  term  applied  by 
the  ancient  Jews,  especially  in  the  Chaldee  Tar- 
gums,  to  that  visible  symbol  of  the  divine  glory 
■which  dwelt  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple.  It 
is  evident  from  many  passages  of  Scripture  that 
the  Most  High,  -whose  essence  no  man  hath  seen, 
or  can  see,  was  pleased  anciently  to  manifest  him- 
self to  the  eyes  of  men  by  an  external  visible 
symbol.  As  to  the  precise  nature  of  the  pheno- 
menon thus  exhibited,  -we  can  only  say,  that  it 
appears  to  have  been  a  concentrated  glowing 
brightness,  a  preternatural  splendour,  an  effulgent 
something,  which  was  appropriately  expressed  by 
the  term  '  Glory ;'  but  whether  in  philosophical 
strictness  it  was  material  or  immaterial,  it  is  pro- 
bably impossible  to  determine.  A  luminous  object 
of  this  description  seems  intrinsically  the  most 
appropriate  symbol  of  that  Being  of  whom,  per- 
haps in  allusion  to  this  very  mode  of  manifesta- 


SHEMAIAH 

tion,  it  is  said  that  'he  is  light,'  and  that  *he 
dwelleth  in  light  unapproachable,  and  full  of 
glory.'  The  presence  of  such  a  sensible  repre- 
sentation of  Jehovah  seems  to  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary in  order  to  harmonize  what  is  frequently 
said  of '  seeing  God'  with  the  truth  of  his  nature 
as  an  incorporeal  and  essentially  invisible  spirit. 
While  we  are  told  in  one  place  that  '  no  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time,'  we  are  elsewhere  informed 
that  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  the  seventy  elders, 
'  saio  the  God  of  Israel,'  when  called  up  to  the 
summit  of  the  Holy  Mount.  So  also  Isaiah  says 
of  himself  (Isa.  vi.  1, 5)  that '  in  the  year  that  king 
Uzziah  died  he  saw  the  Lord  sitting  upon  his 
throne,'  and  that,  in  consequence,  he  cried  out, 
'  I  am  undone  ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  Lord 
of  hosts.'  In  these  cases  it  is  obvious  that  the 
object  seen  was  not  God  in  his  essence,  but  some 
external  visible  symbol,  which,  because  it  stood 
for  God,  is  called  by  his  name. 

Of  all  the  divine  appearances  granted  in  the 
earlier  ages  of  the  world,  the  most  signal  and 
illustrious  was  undoubtedly  that  which  was 
vouchsafed  in  the  pillar  of  cloud  that  guided  the 
march  of  the  children  of  Israel  through  the  wil- 
derness on  their  way  to  Canaan.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  columnar  cloud  was  the  seat 
of  the  shekinah.  Within  the  towering  aerial  mass, 
we  suppose,  was  enfolded  the  inner  effulgent 
brightness,  to  which  the  appellation  '  Glory  of  the 
Lord'  more  properly  belonged,  and  which  was 
only  occasionally  disclosed.  In  several  instances 
in  which  God  would  indicate  his  anger  to  his 
people,  it  is  said  that  they  looked  to  the  cloud 
and  beheld  the  'Glory  of  the  Lord'  (Num.  xiv. 
10;  xvi.  19,  42).  So  when  he  would  inspire  a 
trembling  awe  of  his  Majesty  at  the  giving  of  the 
Law,  it  is  said,  the  '  Glory  of  the  Lord  appeared 
as  a  devouring  fire'  on  the  summit  of  the  mount. 
Nor  must  the  fact  be  forgotten  in  this  connection, 
that  when  Nadab  and  Abihu,  the  two  sons  of  Aaron, 
offended  by  strange  fire  in  their  offerings,  a  fatal 
flash  from  the  cloudy  pillar  instantaneously  ex- 
tinguished their  lives.  The  evidence  would  seem 
then  to  be  conclusive,  that  this  wondrous  pillar- 
cloud  was  the  seat  or  throne  of  the  shekinah,  the 
visible  representative  of  Jehovah  dwelling  in  the 
midst  of  his  people. 

SHEM  (name),  one  of  the  three  sons  of  Noah 
(Gen.  V.  32),  from  whom  descended  the  nations 
enumerated  in  Gen.  x.  22,  sq.,  and  who  was  the 
progenitor  of  that  great  branch  of  the  Noachic 
family  (called  from  him  Shemitic  or  Semitic)  to 
which  the  Hebrews  belong.  The  name  of  Shem 
is  placed  first  wherever  the  sous  of  Noah  are  men- 
tioned together ;  whence  he  would  seem  to  have 
been  the  eldest  brother.  But  against  this  conclu- 
sion is  brought  the  text  Gen.  x.  21,  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  Authorized,  and  many  other  versions, 
has  '  Shem  the  brother  of  Japheth  the  elder ;' 
whence  it  has  been  conceived  very  generally  that 
Japheth  was  really  the  eldest,  and  that  Shem  is 
put  first  by  way  of  excellency,  seeing  that  from 
him  the  holy  line  descended.  But  this  conclusion 
is  not  built  upon  a  critical  knowledge  of  the 
Hebrew,  which  would  show  that  'the  elder'  must 
in  this  text   be  referred  not  to  Japheth  but  to 

Shem,  so  that  it  should  be  read  '  Shem the 

elder  brother  of  Japheth.' 

1 .  SHEM AI'AH  (whom  Jehovah  hears),  a  pro- 
phet of  the  time  of  Rehoboam,  who  was  commis- 


SHEVA 

sioned  to  enjoin  that  monarch  to  forego  his  design 
of  reducing  the  ten  tribes  to  obedience  (1  Kings 
xii.  22-24).  In  1  Chron.  xii.  1.5,  this  Shemaiah 
is  stated  to  have  written  the  Chronicles  of  the 
reign  in  which  he  flourished. 

2.  SHEMAIAH,  a  person  who,  without  autho- 
rity, assumed  the  functions  of  a  prophet  among 
the  Israelites  in  exile.     He  was  so  much  annoyed 


SHIBBOLETH 


727 


SHEW-BREAD.  In  the  outer  apartment  of 
the  tabernacle,  on  the  right  hand,  or  north  side, 
stood  a  table,  made  of  acacia  (shittim)  wood,  two 
cubits  long,  one  broad,  and  one  and  a  half  high, 
and  covered  with  lamina;  of  gold.  The  top  of  the 
leaf  of  this  table  was  encircled  by  a  border  or  rim 
of  gold.  The  frame  of  the  table,  immediately 
below  the  leaf,  was  encircled  with  a  piece  of  wood 


by  the  prophecies  which  Jeremiah  sent  to  Baby-  of  about  four  inches  in  breadth,  around  the  edge 
Ion,  the  tendency  of  which  was  contrary  to  his  of  which  was  a  rim  or  border,  similar  to  that 
own,  that  he  wrote  to  Jerusalem,  denouncing  the  around  the  leaf.  A  little  lower  down,  but  at 
prophet  as  an  impostor,  and  urging  the  authorities  equal  distances  from  the  top  of  the  table,  there 
to  enforce  his  silence.  In  return  he  received  new  I  were  four  rings  of  gold  fastened  to  the  legs, 
prophecies,  announcing  that  he  should  never  be-  through  which  staves  covered  with  gold  were 
hold  that  close  of  the  bondage  which  he  fancied  insertedfor  the  purpose  of  carrying  it  (Exod.  xxv. 
to  be  at  hand,  and  that  none  of  his  race  should!  23-28;  xxxvii.  10-16).  These  rings  were  not 
witness  the  re-establishment  of  the  nation  fJer.  '  found  in  the  table  which  was  afterwards  made 
xxix.  24-32).  I  for  the  temple,  nor  indeed  in  any  of  the  sacred 

SHEME'BER(Zo/?y^/?iyi<).kingofZebnim,one  i  furniture,  where  they  had  previously  been,  except 
of  the  five  '  cities  of  the  plain '  (Gen.  xiv.  2).  1  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant.     Twelve  unleavened 

SHE'MER  {lees),  the  owner  of  the  hill  of  Sa-  1  loaves  were  placed  upon  this  table,  which  were 
maria,  which  derived  its  name  from  him.  Omri  j  sprinkled  with  frankincense  (the  Sept.  adds  salt ; 
bought  the  hill  for  two  talents  of  silver,  and  built  1  Lev.  xxiv.  7).  The  number  twelve  represented 
thereon  the  city,  also  called  Samaria,  which  he  the  twelve  tribes,  and  was  not  diminished  after 
made  the  capital  of  his  kingdom  (1  Kings  xvi.  24)  !  the  defection  of  ten  of  the  tribes  from  the  worship 
[Samakia].  As  the  Israelites  were  prevented  of  God  in  his  sanctuary,  because  the  covenant 
by  the  law  (Lev.  xxv.t23)  from  thus  alienating  '  with  the  sons  of  Abraham  was  not  formally  abro- 
their  inheritances,  and  as  his  name  occurs  without  gated,  and  because  there  were  still  many  true 
the  usual  genealogical  marks,  it  is  more  than  pro-  Israelites  among  the  apostatizing  tribes.  The 
bable  that  Shemer  was  descended  from  those  Ca-  twelve  loaves  were  also  a  constant  record  against 
naanites  whom  the  Hebrews  had  not  dispossessed    them,  and  served  as  a  standing  testimonial  that 


of  their  lands. 

1.  SHEPHATI'AH  (whom  Jehovah  defends),  a 
son  of  David  by  Abital  (2  Sam.  iii.  4). 

2.  SHEPHATIAH,  one  of  the  nobles  who 
urged  Zedekiah  to  put  Jeremiah  to  death  (Jer. 
xxxviii.  1). 

3.  SHEPHATIAH,  one  of  the  heads  of 
families  who  settled  in  Jerusalem  after  the  exile 
(Neh.  xi.  G). 

4.  SHEPHATIAH,  the  head  of  one  of  the 
families,  numbering  three  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  persons,  of  the  returned  exiles  (Ezra  ii.  4, 
57). 

5.  SHEPHATIAH,  a  son  of  king  Jehoshaphat 
(2  Chron.  xxi.  2). 

6.  SHEPHATIAH,  one  of  the  chief  of  those 
valiant  men  who  went  to  David  when  at  Ziklag 
(1  Chron.  xii.  .5). 

7.  SHEPHATIAH,  the  governor  of  the  tribe 
of  Simeon  in  the  time  of  David  (1  Chron.  xxvii. 
16). 

SHEPHERD.    [Pasturage.] 

SHE'SHACH,  a  name  twice  given  by  Jeremiah 
to  Babylon  (Jer.  xxv.  26 ;  li.  41).  Its  etymology 
and  proper  signification  are  doubtful. 

SHE'SHAN  (Uli/),  a  Hebrew,  who  during  the 
sojourn  in  Egypt  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage 
to  his  freed  Egyptian  slave  (1  Chron,  ii.  34) 
[Jarhah]. 

SHKSHBAZ'ZAR.    [Zerubbabel.] 

SHE'THAR  (Pers.,  os<ar),  one  of  the  seven 
princes  of  Persia  and  Media,  •  who  saw  the 
king's  face,  and  sat  the  first  in  the  kingdom ' 
(Est.  i.  14). 

SIIE'THAR-BOZ'NAI  (Pers.,  shining  star), 
one  of  the  Persian  governors  in  Syria,  who  visited 
Jerusalem  in  company  with  Tatnai,  to  investigate 
the  charges  made  against  the  Jews  (Ezra  v,  3 ; 
-vi.  6)  [Tatnai]. 

SHE'VA,    [Seraiah.] 


their  proper  place  was  before  the  forsaken  altar 
of  Jehovah. 

The  loaves  were  placed  in  two  piles,  one  above 
another,  and  were  changed  every  Sabbath  day  by 
the  priests.  The  frankincense  that  had  stood  on 
the  bread  during  the  week  was  then  burnt  as  an 
oblation,  and  the  removed  bread  became  the  pro- 
perty of  the  priests,  who,  as  God's  servants,  had 
a  right  to  eat  of  the  bread  that  came  from  his 
table  ;  but  they  were  obliged  to  eat  it  in  the  holy 
place,  and  nowhere  else.  No  others  might  law- 
fully eat  of  it ;  but  in  a  case  of  extreme  emer- 
gency the  priest  incurred  no  blame  if  he  im- 
parted it  to  persons  who  were  in  a  state  of  cere- 
monial purity,  as  in  the  instance  of  David  and  his 
men  (1  Sam.  xxi.  4-6  ;  Matt.  xii.  4).  The  bread 
was  called  '  the  bread  of  the  face,'  or,  '  of  the 
presence,'  because  it  was  set  forth  before  the  face 
or  in  the  presence  of  Jehovah  in  his  holy  place. 
This  is  translated  '  shew-bread.'  It  is  also  called 
'  the  bread  arranged  in  order,'  and  '  the  perpetual 
bread,'  because  it  was  never  absent  from  the 
table  (Lev.  xxiv.  6,  7  ;  1  Chron.  xxiii.  29). 

Wine  also  was  placed  upon  the  table  of 'shew- 
bread,'  in  bowls,  some  larger,  and  some  smaller, 
also  in  vessels  that  were  covered,  and  in  cups, 
which  were  probably  employed  in  pouring  in  and 
taking  out  the  wine  from  the  other  vessels,  or  in 
making  libations.  They  appear  in  the  Authorized 
Version  as  '  spoons '  (see  generally  Exod.  xxv. 
29,  30;  xxxvii.  10-16;  xl.  4,  24;  Lev.  xxiv.  5-9; 
Num.  iv.  7). 

SHIB'BOLETH.  The  word  means  a  stream 
or  flood,  and  was  hence  naturally  suggested  to 
the  followers  of  Jephthah,  when,  havmg  seized 
the  fords  of  the  Jordan  to  prevent  the  retreat  of 
the  defeated  Ephraimites,  they  sought  to  distm- 
guish  them  through  their  known  inability  to 
utter  the  aspirated  sound  sh.  The  fugitives  gave 
instead  the  unaspirated  s,   sibboleth,  on   which 


728 


SHILOH 


they  were  slain  without  mercy  (Judg.  xii.  6). 
The  certainty  which  w'as  felt  that  the  Ephraim- 
ites  could  not  pronounce  sli,  is  very  remarkable, 
and  strongly  illustrates  the  varieties  of  dialect 
which  had  already  arisen  in  Israel,  and  which 
perhaps  even  served  to  distinguish  different  tribes, 
as  similar  peculiarities  distinguish  men  of  dif- 
ferent counties  with  us.  If  what  is  here  men- 
tioned as  the  characteristic  of  a  particular  tribe 
had  been  shared  by  other  tribes,  it  would  not 
have  been  sufficiently  discriminating  as  a  test. 

SHIELD,     [Arms.] 

SHI'LOH,  the  epithet  applied,  in  the  prophetic 
benediction  of  Jacob  on  his  death-bed  (Gen.  xlix. 
10),  to  the  personage  to  whom  '  the  gathering  of 
the  nations  should  be,'  and  which  has  ever  been 
regarded  by  Christians  and  by  the  ancient  Jews 
as  a  denomination  of  the  Messiah.  The  oracle 
occurs  in  the  blessing  of  Judah,  and  is  thus 
worded — 'The  sceptre  shall  not  depart  from 
Judah,  nor  a  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet, 
imtil  Shiloh  come :  and  unto  him  the  gathering 
of  the  people  shall  be.'  The  term  itself,  as  well 
as  the  whole  passage  to  which  it  belongs,  has 
ever  been  a  fruitful  theme  of  controversy  between 
Jews  and  Christians,  the  former,  although  they 
admit  for  the  most  part  the  Messianic  reference 
of  the  text,  being  still  fertile  in  expedients  to 
evade  the  Christian  argument  founded  upon  it. 
Neither  our  limits  nor  our  object  will  permit  us 
to  enter  largely  into  the  theological  bearings  of 
this  prediction ;  but  it  is  perhaps  scarcely  possible 
to  do  justice  to  the  discussion  as  a  question  of 
pure  philology,  without  at  the  same  time  display- 
ing the  strength  of  the  Christian  interpretation, 
and  trenching  upon  the  province  occupied  by  the 
proofs  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  being  the  Messiah  of 
the  Old  Testament  prophecies. 

Various  etymologies  have  been  assigned  to  the 
term.  Some  very  eminent  commentators  trace  it 
to  the  root  to  rest,  to  be  at  peace,  and  make  it 
equivalent  to  Pacificator,  Ti-anquillizer,  or  Great 
Author  of  Peace.  This  is  a  sense  accordant  with 
the  anticipated  and  realized  character  of  the 
Messiah,  one  of  whose  crowning  denominations  is 
'  Prince  of  Peace.'  Another  opinion  is,  that  it  is 
derived  from  a  word  which  signifies  to  ask,  seek, 
require,  and  that  its  import  is  the  asked,  the  de- 
sired, a  designation  which  is,  equally  with  the 
former,  in  accordance  with  the  character  of  the 
predicted  Messiah,  and  is  free  from  some  philo- 
logical objections  to  which  the  other  derivation  is 
liable. 

2.  SHILOH,  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 
situated  among  the  hills  to  the  north  of  Bethel, 
eastward  of  the  great  northern  road,  where  the 
tabernacle  and  ark  remained  for  a  long  time,  from 
the  days  of  Joshua,  during  the  ministry  of  all 
the  judges,  down  to  the  end  of  Eli's  life  (Josh, 
xviii.  1 ;  1  Sam.  iv.  3).  To  this  circumstance 
Shiloh  owed  all  its  importance ;  for  after  the  loss 
of  the  ark — which  never  returned  thither  after  it 
had  been  restored  to  Israel  by  the  Philistines — 
it  sunk  into  insignificance.  It  was,  indeed,  the 
residence  of  Ahijah  the  prophet  (1  Kings  xi.  29  ; 
xii.  15;  xiv.  2),  but  it  is  more  than  once  men- 
tioned as  accursed  and  forsaken  (Ps.  Ixxviii.  60 ; 
Jer.  vii.  12,  14;  xxvi.  6).  The  last  mention  of 
it  in  Scripture  is  in  Jer.  xii.  5,  which  only  shows 
that  it  survived  the  exile.  Dr.  Robinson  identifies 
it  with  a  place  named  Seilun,  a  city  surrounded 


SHIP 

by  hills,  with  an  opening  by  a  narrow  valley  into 
a  plain  on  the  south.  The  ruins  consist  chiefly 
of  an  old  tower  with  walls  four  feet  thick,  and 
of  large  stones  and  fragments  of  columns  indi- 
cative of  an  ancient  site  (Eobinson's  Palestine, 
iii.  85-89). 

SHIM'EI  (re«ow«ec?),  a  member  of  the  family 
of  Saul,  residing  at  Bahurini,  who  grievously  in- 
sulted king  David  when  he  fled  from  Absalom 
(2  Sam.  xvi.  5-13).  The  king  not  only  saved 
him  from  the  immediate  resentment  of  his  fol- 
lowers, but  on  his  triumphant  return  by  the  same 
road  after  the  overthrow  of  his  rebellious  son,  he 
bestowed  on  Shimei  the  pardon  which  he  im- 
plored (2  Sam.  xix.  16).  It  seems,  however,  that 
it  was  policy  which  chiefly  dictated  this  course, 
for  it  was  by  the  advice  of  David  himself  (I  Kings 
ii.  8,  9)  that  Solomon,  after  his  father's  death, 
made  Shimei  a  prisoner  at  large  in  Jerusalem 
(1  Kings  ii.  36,  37).  Three  years  after  he  broke 
his  parole  by  leaving  Jerusalem  in  pursuit  of 
some  runaway  slaves,  and  was,  on  his  return,  put 
to  death  by  order  of  the  king  (1  Kings  ii.  39-46). 

SHI'NAR,  the  proper  name  of  Babylonia,  par- 
ticularly of  t)ie  country  around  Babvlon  (Gen.  x. 
10;  xiv.  1  ;  Isa.  xi,  11 ;  Dan.  i.  2 ;  Zech.  v.  11) : 
[Babylonia]. 

SHIP.  In  few  things  is  there  greater  danger 
of  modern  associations  misleading  the  reader  of 
the  Scriptures  than  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  the 
present  article.  Both  the  ships  and  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  ancients,  even  of  the  most  maritime 
states,  were  as  dissimilar  as  things  of  the  same 
kind  can  well  be  to  the  realities  which  the  terms 
now  represent.  Navigation  confined  itself  to 
coasting,  or  if  necessity,  foul  weather,  or  chance 
drove  a  vessel  from  the  land,  a  regard  to  safety 
urged  the  commander  to  a  speedy  return,  for  he 
had  no  guide  but  such  as  the  stars  might  afford 
under  skies  with  which  he  was  but  imperfectly 
acquainted.  And  ships,  whether  designed  for 
commercial  or  warlike  purposes,  were  small  in 
size  and  frail  in  structure. 

The  Jews  cannot  be  said  to  have  been  a  sea- 
faring people ;  yet  their  position  on  the  map  of 
the  world  is  such  as  to  lead  us  to  feel  that  they 
could  not  have  been  ignorant  of  ships  and  the 
business  which  relates  thereunto.  Phoenicia,  the 
north-western  part  of  Palestine,  was  unquestion- 
ably among,  if  not  at  the  head  of,  the  earliest 
cultivators  of  maritime  affairs.  Then  the  Holy 
Land  itself  lay  with  one  side  coasting  a  sea  which 
was  anciently  the  great  highway  of  navigation, 
and  the  centre  of  social  and  commercial  enter- 
prise. Within  its  own  borders  it  had  a  navigable 
lake.  And  the  Ked  Sea  itself,  which  conducted 
towards  the  remote  east,  was  at  no  great  distance 
even  from  the  capital  of  the  land.  Then  at  dif- 
ferent points  in  its  long  line  of  sea-coast  there 
were  harbours  of  no  mean  repute.  Yet  the  de- 
cidedly agricultural  bearing  of  the  Israelitish 
constitution  checked  such  a  development  of  power, 
activity,  and  wealth,  as  these  favourable  oppor- 
tunities might  have  called  forth  on  behalf  of 
seafaring  pursuits.  And  it  is  evident  that  the 
Israelites  must  have  only  partially  improved  their 
local  advantages,  since  we  find  Hiram,  king  of 
Tyre,  acting  as  carrier  by  sea  for  Solomon,  en 
gaging  to  convey  in  floats  to  Joppathe  timber  cut 
in  Lebanon  for  the  temple,  and  leaving  to  the 
Hebrew  prince  the  duty  of  transporting  the  wood 


SHIP 

from  the  coast  to  Jerusalem.  And  when,  after 
having  conquered  Elath  aud  Ezion-geber  on  the 
further  arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  Solomon  proceeded 
to  convert  them  into  naval  stations  for  his  own 
purposes,  he  was  still,  whatever  he  did  himself, 


SHISHAK 


729 


indebted  to  Hiram  for  '  shipmen  that  had  know- 
ledge of  the  sea'  (1  Kings  ix.  26 ;  x.  22). 

The  reader  of  the  New  Testament  is  well 
aware  how  frequently  he  finds  himself  with  the 
Saviour  on   the  romantic   shores  of  the  sea  of 


305.    [Ancient  Ship  of  the  largest  kind. J 


Gennesareth.  There  Jesus  is  seen,  now  address- 
ing the  people  from  on  board  a  vessel  (Matt.  xiii. 
2;  Luke  v.  3);  now  sailing  up  and  down  the 
lake  (Matt.  viii.  23  ;  ix.  1 ;  xiv.  13  ;  John  vi.  17). 
Some  of  his  earliest  disciples  were  proprietors  of 
barks  which  sailed  on  this  inland  sea  (Matt.  iv. 
21  ;  John  xxi.  3;  Luke  v.  3).  But  it  is  evident 
that  these  'ships'  must  have  been  small,  though 
they  were  more  than  mere  boats. 


[Ancient  Light-vessel,  Pompeii.] 


The  vessels  connected  with  Biblical  history 
were  for  the  most  part  ships  of  burden,  almost  in- 
deed exclusively  so,  at  least  within  the  period  of 
known  historical  facts.  In  a  ship  of  this  kind 
was  Paul  conveyed  to  Italy.  They  were,  for  the 
purposes  to  which  they  were  destined,  rounder 
and  deeper  than  ships  of  war,  and  sometimes  of 
great  capacity.  In  consequence  of  their  bulk, 
and  when  laden,  of  their  weight,  they  were  im- 
pelled by  sails  rather  than  by  oars.  On  the  prow 
stood  the  insignia  from  which  the  ship  was 
named,  and  by  which  it  was  known.  These  in 
Acts  (xxxviii.  H)  are  called  'sign,'  which  it 
appears  consisted  in  this  case  of  figures  of  Castor 
and  Pollux,  brilliant  constellations,  auspicious  to 
navigators.  Each  ship  was  provided  with  a  boat, 
intended  in  the  case  of  peril  to  facilitate  escape 
( Acts  xxvii.  16;  xxx.  32),  aud  several  anchors 
(Acts  xxvii.  29,  40);  also  a  plumb-line  for  sound- 
ing (Acts  xxvii.  28).      Mention  is  made  (Acts 


xxvii.  40)  of  a  'mainsail,'  which,  however, 
should  probably  be  rather  termed  the  '  topsail.' 
In  great  danger  it  was  customary  to  gird  the 
vessel  with  cables,  in  order  to  prevent  her  from 
falling  to  pieces  under  the  force  of  wind  and  sea 
(Acts  xxvii.  17).  The  captain  was  denominated 
steersman,  though  he  was  a  different  person  from 
him  who  had  the  actual  charge  of  the  helm. 

The  dangers  of  the  ocean  to  sailors  on  board 
such  ships  as  these  were,  and  in  the  then  ignorance 
of  navigation,  caused  sailing  to  be  restricted  to 
the  months  of  spring,  summer,  and  autumn ; 
winter  was  avoided.  To  the  Romans  the  sea  was 
opened  in  March  and  closed  in  November  (Acts 
xxvii.  9);  and  ships  tyhich  towards  the  end  of 
the  year  were  still  at  sea  earnestly  sought  a  har- 
bour in  which  to  pass  the  winter  (Acts  xxvii.  12). 

SHI'SHAK,  a  king  of  Egypt  contemporary 
with  Jeroboam,  to  whom  he  gave  an  asylum  when 
he  fled  from  Solomon  (1  Kings  xi.  40).  This  was 
indicative  of  his  politic  disposition  to  encourage 
the  weakening  of  the  neighbouring  kingdom,  the 
growth  of  which  under  David  and  Solomon  was 
probably  regarded  by  the  kings  of  Egypt  with 
some  alarm.  After  Jeroboam  had  become  king 
of  Israel,  and  probably  at  his  suggestion,  Shishak 
invaded  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  B.C.  971,  at  the 
head  of  an  immense  army ;  and  after  having 
taken  the  fortified  places,  advanced  against  Jeru- 
salem. Satisfied  with  the  submission  of  Reho- 
boam,  and  with  the  immense  spoils  of  the  Temple, 
the  king  of  Egypt  withdrew  without  imposing  any 
onerous  conditions  upon  the  humbled  grandson 
of  David  (1  Kings  xiv.  25,  26  ;  2  Chron.  xii.  2- 
9).  Shishak  has  been  identified  as  the  first  king 
of  the  22nd  orDiospolitau  dynasty,  the  Sesonchis 
of  profane  history.  His  name  has  been  found  on 
the  Egyptian  monuments.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  of  Ethiopian  origin,  and  it  is  supposed  that, 
with  the  support  of  the  military  caste,  he  dethroned 
the  Pharaoh  who  gave  his  daughter  to  Solomon 
(1  Kings  iii.  1).  In  the  palace-temple  of  Karnak 
there  still  exists  a  large  bas-relief  representing 
Sesonchis,  who  bears  to  the  feet  of  three  great 
Theban  gods  the  chiefs  of  vanquished  nations. 
To  each  figure  is  attached  an  oval,  indicating  the 
town  or  district  which  he  represents.  One  of  the 
figures,  with  a  pointed  beard  and  a  physiognomy 


730 


SHITTIM 


decidedly  Jewish,  bears  on  his  oval,  characters 
which  M.Champollion  interprets  YoodaMelchi, 
or  '  kingdom  of  Judah.'  It  is  well  to  observe 
that  this  figure  has  not,  as  some  have  hastily  con- 
ceived, been  alleged  to  represent  the  king,  but  to 
personify  the  kingdom  of  Judah. 

SHIT'TAH  and  SHIT'TIM  occur  in  several 
passages  of  Exodus,  and  indicate  the  kind  of  wood 
which  was  employed  in  making  various  parts  of 
the  tabernacle  while  the  Israelites  were  wander- 
ing in  the  wilderness.  It  is  mentioned  also  as 
forming  part  of  the  offerings,  as  in  Exod.  xxv.  5, 
'  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  badgers'  skins,  and 
shittim  wood;'  and  in  xxxv.  7,  24.  In  Isa.  xli. 
19,  it  is  mentioned  as  a  tree  worthy  of  planting: 
'  I  will  plant  in  the  wilderness  the  cedar,  the  shit- 
tak  tree,  and  the  myrtle,  and  the  oil  tree,'  etc. 
It  is  exceedingly  probable  that  the  tree  referred 
to  belongs  to  the  Acacia,  found  both  in  Egypt 
and  in  the  deserts  of  Arabia.  '  The  acacia  tree,' 
says  Dr.  Shaw,  '  being  by  much  the  largest  and 
most  common  tree  in  these  deserts  (Arabia  Pe- 
trrea),  we  have  some  reason  to  conjecture  that  the 
shittim  wood  was  the  wood  of  the  acacia,  espe- 
cially as  its  flowers  are  of  an  excellent  smell,  for 
the  shittah  tree  is,  in  Isa.  xli.  19.  joined  with  the 
myrtle  and  other  fragrant  shrutis.'  Dr.  Kitto 
says :  '  The  required  species  is  found  in  either  the 
Acacia  gummifera,  or  in  the  A.  Seyel,  or  rather 
ra  both.    They  both  grow  abundantly  in  the  val- 


[Acacia  Seyel.] 


leys  of  that  region  iu  which  the  Israelites  wan- 
dered for  forty  years,  and  both  supply  products 
which  must  have  rendered  them  of  much  value 
to  the  Israelites.  We  think  the  probability  is, 
that  the  A.  Seyel  supplied  the  shittim  wood,  if, 
indeed,  the  name  did  not  denote  acacia  wood  in 
general.  This  tree  grows  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
feet  in  height.'  Robinson  and  Smith  frequently 
mention  the  Seyel  as  occurring  in  the  same  situa- 
tions. It  is  very  probable  therefore  that  it  yielded 
the  shittim  wood  of  Scripture. 

SHIT'TIM,  a  spot  in  the  plain  of  Moab,  east  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  where  the  Israelites  formed  their 
last  encampment  before  passingthe  Jordan  (Num. 
xxv.  \  ;  comp.  Micah  vi.  5)  [Wakdering], 


SIHOR 

SHITTIM,  VALLEY  OF,  mentioned  in  Joel 
iii.  18.  It  must  certainly  have  been  west  of  the 
Jordan,  and  probably  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Jerusalem,  although  the  particular  vale  cannot 
now  be  distinguished.  The  name  is  probably  to 
be  regarded  as  an  appellative — '  acacia  vale  '  de- 
noting, perhaps,  as  that  tree  delights  in  a  dry  soil, 
an  arid,  unfruitful  vale. 

SHOE.     [Sandal.] 

SHU'NESI,  a  town  of  the  tribe  of  Issachar 
(Josh.  xix.  18),  where  the  Philistines  encamped 
before  Saul's  last  battle  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  4),  and  to 
which  belonged  Abishag,  the  last  wife  of  David 
(1  Kings  i.  3),  and  'the  Shunamite  woman,"  with 
whom  Elisha  lodged  (2  Kings  iv.  8-37 ;  viii.  1- 
6).  Eusebius  and  Jerome  describe  it  as,  in  their 
day,  a  village,  lying  five  Roman  miles  from 
Mount  Tabor  towards  the  south.  They  call  it 
Sulem.  It  has  of  late  years  been  recognised  in 
a  village  called  Solam,  three  miles  and  a  half 
north  of  Zerin  (Jezreel),  which  is  a  small  place 
on  the  slope  of  a  hill,  where  nothing  occurs  to  de- 
note an  ancient  site. 

SHUR,  a  city  on  the  confines  of  Egypt  and  Pa- 
lestine (Gen.  xvi.  7  ;  xx.  1 ;  xxv.  18;  1  Sam.  xv. 
7 ;  xxvii.  8).  Josephus  makes  it  the  same  as  Pe- 
lusium  (Antiq.  vi.  7.  3;  comp.  1  Sam.  xv.  7); 
but  this  city  bore  among  the  Hebrews  the  name 
of  Sin.  More  probably  Shur  was  somewhere  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  modern  Suez.  The  desert  ex- 
tending from  the  borders  of  Palestine  to  Shur,  is 
called  in  Exod.  xv.  22,  the  '  desert  of  Shur,'  but 
in  Num.  xxxiii.  8,  the  '  desert  of  Etham.'      , 

SHU'SHAN,  or  Susa,  the  chief  town  of  Su- 
siana,  and  capital  of  Persia,  in  which  the  kings 
of  Persia  had  their  winter  residence  (Dan.  viii.  2  ; 
Neh.  i.  1 ;  Esther  i.  2,  5).  It  was  situated  upon 
the  Eulseus  or  Choaspes,  probably  on  the  spot 
now  occupied  by  the  village  Shus.  At  that  place 
there  are  extensive  ruins,  stretching  perhaps 
twelve  miles  from  one  extremity  to  the  other,  and 
consisting,  like  the  other  ruins  of  this  region,  of 
hillocks  of  earth  and  rubbish  covered  with  broken 
pieces  of  brick  and  coloured  tile.  At  the  foot  of 
these  mounds  is  the  so-called  tomb  of  Daniel,  a 
small  building  erected  on  the  spot  where  the  re- 
mains of  that  prophet  are  locally  believed  to  rest. 
It  is  apparently  modern  ;  but  nothing  but  the  be- 
lief that  this  was  the  site  of  the  prophet's  sepulchre 
could  have  led  to  its  being  built  iu  the  place 
where  it  stands ;  and  it  may  be  added  that  such 
identifications  are  of  far  more  value  in  these  parts, 
where  occasion  for  them  is  rare,  than  among  the 
crowded  'holy  places'  of  Palestine.  The  city  of 
Shus  is  now  a  gloomy  wilderness,  infested  by  lions, 
hyaenas,  and  other  beasts  of  prey.  It  is  in  N.  lat. 
31°  56' and  E.  long.  48^  26'. 

SI'DON.     [ZiDON.] 

SI'HON  {sweeping  away  ;  i.  e.  a  warrior  sweep- 
ing all  before  him),  the  king  of  the  Amorites, 
reigning  at  Heshbon,  who  was  destroyed,  and  his 
kingdom  subjugated,  in  the  attempt  to  resist  the 
progress  of  the  Israelites  through  his  dominions 
(Num.  xxi.  21,  23,  sq.)  [x\morites]. 

SI'HOR,  more  properly  Shichor,  the  Hebrew 
proper  name  for  the  Nile  (Isa.  xxiii,  3  ;  Jer.  ii. 
18).  The  word  means  'black;'  and  a  corre- 
sponding name  or  epithet  was  by  the  Greeks 
applied  to  the  same  river  on  account  of  the 
black  slime  left  after  the  subsidence  of  the  inun- 
dation. 


SILOAM 

SI'HOR-LIB'NATH,  a  small  stream  or  river 

emptying  itself  into  the  sea  in  the  territory  of 
Asher  (Josh.  xix.  26).  Michaelis  translates  it 
'glass-river,'  and  identifies  it  with  the  Belus, 
which  joins  the  sea  near  Acre,  and  from  -whose 
sands  the  first  glass  was  made  by  the  Phoenicians. 

SI'LA?^,  a  contraction  of  Silvanus,  a  distin- 
guished Christian  teacher  in  the  church  at  Jeru- 
salem, who,  with  Barnabas,  was  associated  by 
that  church  with  Paul  (Acts  xv.  22,  32),  and  ac- 
companied him  in  his  second  journey  through 
Asia  Minor  to  Macedonia  (Acts  xv.  40;  xvi.  19, 
25  ;  xvii.  4).  He  remained  behind  at  Berea  for 
a  short  time,  when  Paul  was  obliged  to  flee  from 
that  place  (Acts  xvii.  10,  14).  They  met  again 
at  Corinth  (Acts  xviii.  5;  comp.  Thess.  i.  1), 
where  Silas  was  active  iu  the  work  of  an  evange- 
list (2  Cor.  i.  19).  He  is  invariably  called  Sil- 
vanus in  the  Epistles,  but  the  contraction  Silas  is 
always  used  in  the  Acts.  Whether  this  Silvanus 
is  the  same  person  who  Avas  the  bearer  of  St.  Pe- 
ter's epistle  to  the  churches  in  Asia  Minor  (1  Pet. 
V.  12),  cannot  be  ascertained.  The  traditions  re- 
gard Silas  and  Silvanus  as  different  persons,  mak- 
ing the  former  bishop  of  Corinth,  and  the  latter 
bishop  of  Thessalonica. 

SIL'OAH.     [Su>OAM.] 

SIL'OAM  or  Shiloah  (Neh.  ii.  1.5  ;  John  ix. 
7-11).  Neither  of  these  passages  affords  any 
clue  to  the  situation  of  Siloam  ;  but  this  silence  is 
supplied  by  Josephus,  who  makes  frequent  men- 
tion of  it  as  a  fountain  (De  Bell.  Jud.  v.  4,  §  1, 
2),  and  indicates  its  situation  at  the  mouth  of  the 
valley  of  Tyropoeon,  where  the  fountain,  now  and 
long  since  indicated  as  that  of  Siloam,  is  still 
found.  The  pool  of  Siloam  is  within  and  at  the 
mouth  of  the  valley  of  Tyropoeon,  and  about 
eighty  paces  above  its  termination  is  that  of  Je- 
hoshaphat.  Tlie  water  flows  out  of  a  small  arti- 
ficial basin  under  the  cliff,  the  entrance  to  which 
is  excavated  in  the  form  of  an  arch,  and  is  im- 
mediately received  into  a  larger  reservoir,  fifty- 
three  feet  in  length  by  eighteen  feet  in  width. 
The  water  passes  out  of  this  reservoir  through  a 
channel  cut  in  the  rock, which  is  covered  for  a  short 
distance  ;  but  subsequently  it  opens  and  discloses 
a  lively  copious  stream,  which  is  conducted  into 
an  enclosed  garden  planted  with  fig-trees.  The 
small  upper  basin  or  fountain  excavated  in  the 
rock  is  merely  the  entrance,  or  rather  the  termi- 
nation of  a  long  and  narrow  subterranean  passage 
beyond,  by  which  the  water  comes  from  the 
Fountain  of  the  Virgin.  This  has  been  established 
beyond  dispute  by  Dr.  Robinson,  who,  with  his 
companion,  had  the  hardihood  to  crawl  through 
the  passage.  It  is  thus  proved  that  the  water  of 
both  these  fountains  is  the  same,  though  some 
travellers  have  pronounced  the  water  of  Siloam 
to  be  bad,  and  that  of  the  other  fountain  good. 
It  has  a  peculiar  taste,  sweetish  and  very  slightly 
brackish,  but  not  at  all  disagreeable.  "The  most 
remarkable  circumstance  is  the  ebb  and  flow  of 
the  waters,  which,  although  often  mentioned  as  a 
characteristic  of  Siloam,  must  belong  equally  to 
both  fountains.  Dr.  Robinson  himself  witnessed 
this  phenomenon  in  the  fountain  of  the  Virgin, 
where  the  water  rose  in  five  minutes  one  foot  in 
the  reservoir,  and  in  another  five  minutes  sunk  to 
its  former  level.  The  intervals  and  the  extent  of 
the  flow  and  ebb  in  this  and  the  fountain  of  Si- 
loam, vary  with  the  season ;  but  the  fact,  thoagh 


SIMEON 


731 


it  has   not  yet  been    accounted  for,  is  beyond 
dispute. 

SILVA'NUS.    [Silas.] 

SILVER.  There  is  no  mention  of  this  metal 
in  Scripture  until  the  time  of  Abraham.  Before 
that  time  brass  and  iron  appear  to  have  been  the 
only  metals  in  use  (Gen.  iv.  22).  Abraham  was 
rich  in  gold  and  silver,  as  well  as  in  flocks  and 
herds,  and  silver  in  his  day  was  in  general  circu- 
lation as  money.  It  was  uncoined,  and  estimated 
always  by  weight.  Coined  money  was  not 
in  use  among  the  Israelites  until  an  advanced 
period  of  their  history.  The  Romans  are  said  to 
have  had  only  copper  money  until  within  five 
years  of  the  first  Punic  war,  when  they  began  to 
coin  silver.  Their  coins  were  extensively  intro- 
duced into  Judasa  after  it  became  a  Roman  pro- 
vince. 

Silver,  as  well  as  gold,  is  frequently  mentioned 
in  Scripture.  They  were  both  largely  used  by 
the  Jews  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  of  orna- 
ment, and  of  various  vessels  for  domestic  purposes, 
and  also  for  the  service  of  the  temple.  Many  of 
the  idols,  and  other  objects  belonging  to  the 
idolatrous  nations,  are  stated  to  have  been  of  sil- 
ver. This  metal  was  so  abundant  as  to  be  little  I 
thought  of  in  the  days  of  Solomon,  although  it  | 
was  at  that  time,  and  both  before  and  long  after- 
wards, the  principal  medium  of  exchange  among 
the  Jews — the  only  recognised  standard  or  mea- 
sure of  value. 

SIM'EON  (favourable  hearing),  the  second 
son  of  Jacob,  boru  of  Leah  (Gen.  xxix.  .33),  and 
progenitor  of  the  tribe  of  the  same  name.  He 
was  the  full  brother  of  Levi  (Gen.  xxxiv.  2.5 ; 
XXXV.  23),  with  whom  he  took  part  in  cruelly 
avenging  upon  the  men  of  Shechem  the  injury 
which  their  sister  Dinah  had  received  from  the 
son  of  Hamor  (Gen.  xxxiv.  25-30)  [Dinah]. 
The  ferocity  of  character  thus  indicated  probably 
furnishes  the  reason  why  Joseph  singled  Simeon 
out  to  remain  behind  in  Egypt,  when  his  other 
brethren  were  the  first  time  dismissed  (Gen.  xlii. 
24);  but  when  they  returned  he  was  restored 
safely  to  them  (Gen.  xliii.  23).  Nothing  more  of 
his  personal  history  is  known.  The  tribe  de- 
scended from  Simeon  contained  59,300  able- 
bodied  men  at  the  time  of  the  Exode  (Num.  i. 
23),  but  was  reduced  to  22,000  before  entering 
Palestine  (Num.  xxvi.  14).  This  immense  de- 
crease in  the  course  of  one  generation  was  greater 
than  thatsustained  by  all  the  other  tribes  together, 
and  reduced  Simeon  from  the  third  rank  to  the 
lowest  of  all  in  point  of  numbers.  It  cannot  well 
be  accounted  for  but  by  supposing  that  the  tribe 
erred  most  conspicuously,  and  was  punished  most 
severely  in  those  transactions  which  drew  down 
judgments  from  God.  As  it  appeared  that  Judah 
had  received  too  large  a  territory  in  the  first  distri- 
bution of  lands,  a  portion  of  it  was  afterwards  as- 
signed to  Simeon.  This  portion  lay  in  the  south- 
west, towards  the  borders  of  Philistia  and  the 
southern  desert,  and  contained  seventeen  towns 
(Josh.  xix.  1-9).  However,  the  Judahites  must  af- 
terwards have  re-appropriated  some  of  these  towns ; 
at  least  Beersheba  fl  Kings  ix.  3)  and  Ziklag 
(1  Sam.  xxvii.  6)  appear  at  a  subsequent  period 
as  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  The  re- 
markable passage  in  1  Chron.  iv.  41-43  points  to 
an  emigration  of  or  from  this  tribe,  perhaps  more 
extensive  than  the  words  would  seem  to  indicate. 


732 


SIMON 


and  suggests  that  when  they  ceased  to  have  com- 
mon interests,  this  small  tribe  was  obliged  to  give 
way  before  the  greater  power  of  Judah  and  the 
pressure  of  its  population  (corap.  Gen.  xlix.  7). 
Nothing  more  of  this  tribe  is  recorded,  although 
its  name  occurs  in  unhistorical  intimations  (Ezek. 
xlviii.  24;  Rev.  vii.  8). 

2.  SIMEON,  the  aged  person  who,  when  Jesus 
was  presented  by  his  mother  at  the  temple,  re- 
cognised the  infant  as  the  expected  Messiah,  and 
took  him  in  his  arms  and  blessed  him,  glorifying 
God  (Luke  ii.  25-35).  The  circumstance  is  inte- 
resting, as  evincing  the  expectations  which  were 
then  entertained  of  the  speedy  advent  of  the  Mes- 
siah; and  important  from  the  attestation  which  it 
conveyed  in  favour  of  Jesus,  from  one  who  was 
known  to  have  received  the  divine  promise  that 
he  should  ♦  not  taste  of  death  till  he  had  seen  the 
Lord's  Christ.'  It  has  been  often  supposed  that 
this  Simeon  was  the  same  with  Rabban  Simeon, 
the  son  of  the  famous  Hillel,  and  father  of  Ga- 
maliel ;  but  this  is  merely  a  conjecture,  founded 
on  circumstances  too  weak  to  establish  such  a 
conclusion. 

SI'MON,  the  same  name,  in  origin  and  signi- 
fication, as  Simeon. 

1.  SIMON  MACCAB-TLUS.  [Maccab^an 
Family.] 

2.  SIMON,  the  apostle,  to  whom  Christ  gave 
the  name  of  Peter,  after  which  he  was  rarely 
called  by  his  former  name  alone,  but  usually  by 
that  of  Peter,  or  else  Simon  Peter  [Peter]. 

3.  SIMON,  surnamed  Zelotes,  one  of  the 
twelve  apostles  (Luke  vi.  15;  Acts  i.  13),  and 
probably  so  named  from  having  been  one  of  the 
Zealots.  He  is  also  called  '  The  Canaanite '  in 
Matt.  X,  4  ;  Mark  iii.  18.  This,  however,  is  not, 
as  is  usually  the  case,  to  be  taken  for  a  Gentile 
name,  but  is  merely  an  Aramaic  word  signifying 
'  zeal,'  and  therefore  of  the  same  signification  as 
Zelotes.  Simon  is  the  least  known  of  all  the 
apostles,  not  a  single  circumstance,  beyond  the 
fact  of  his  apostleship,  being  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures.  He  is  probably  to  be  identified  with 
Simon  the  son  of  Cleophas ;  and  if  so,  the  tra- 
ditions concerning  that  person,  given  by  those 
who  make  them  distinct,  must  be  assigned  to  him. 
These  traditions,  however,  assign  a  difi"erent 
destiny  to  this  Simon,  alleging  that  he  preached 
the  Gospel  throughout  North  Africa,  from  Egypt 
to  Mauritania,  and  that  he  even  proceeded  to  the 
remote  isles  of  Britain. 

4.  SIMON,  son  of  Cleophas  and  Mary,  brother 
of  the  apostles  James  and  Jude,  and  a  kinsman 
of  Jesus  (Matt.  xiii.  55  ;  Mark  vi.  3).  He  is 
probably  the  same  with  the  Simon  Zelotes  above 
mentioned,  and  in  that  case  we  must  regard  the 
separate  traditions  respecting  him  as  apocryphal, 
and  take  those  assigned  to  the  present  Simon  as 
proper  to  both.  They  amount  to  this,  that  after 
St.  James  had  been  slain  by  the  Jews  in  a.d.  62, 
his  brother  Simon  was  appointed  to  succeed  him 
in  the  government  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem, 
and  that  forty- three  years  after,  when  Trajan 
caused  search  to  be  made  for  all  those  who  claimed 
to  be  of  the  race  of  David,  he  was  accused  before 
Atticus,  the  governor  of  Palestine,  and  after  en- 
during great  torture  was  crucified,  being  then 
120  years  of  age. 

5.  SIMON,  father  of  Judas  Iscariot  (John  vi. 
71;  xii.  4;  xiii.  2,26). 


SIMON 

6.  SIMON,  a  Pharisee  who  invited  Jestis  to 
his  house  (Luke  vii.  40,  43,  44\ 

7.  SIMON  THE  LEPER,  so  called  from  bar- 
ing formerly  been  afflicted  with  leprosy  (Matt. 
xxvi.  6  ;  Mark  xiv.  3).  He  was  of  Bethany,  and 
after  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  gave  a  feast,  probably 
in  celebration  of  that  event,  at  which  both  Jesus 
and  Lazarus  were  present  (comp.  John  xii.  2). 
He  was,  therefore,  probably  a  near  friend  or 
relation  of  Lazarus:  some  suppose  that  he 
was  his  brother  ;  others  that  he  was  tlie  husband 
of  Mary,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  who  at  this 
feast  anointed  the  Lord's  feet,  and  that  Laza- 
rus abode  with  them.  But  all  this  is  pure  con- 
jecture. 

8.  SIMON  THE  CYRENIAN,  who  was  com- 
pelled to  aid  in  bearing  the  cross  of  Jesus  (Matt, 
xxvii.  32;  Mark  xv.  21;  Luke  xxiii.  26). 
Whether  this  surname  indicated  that  Simon  was 
one  of  the  many  Jews  from  Cyrene,  who  came  to 
Jerusalem  at  the  Passover,  or  that  he  was  origin- 
ally from  Cyrene,  although  then  settled  at  Jeru- 
salem, is  uncertain.  The  latter  seems  the  more 
likely  opinion,  as  Simon's  two  sons,  Alexander 
and  Rufus,  were  certainly  disciples  of  Christ; 
and  it  was  perhaps  the  knowledge  of  this  fact 
which  led  the  Jews  to  incite  the  soldiers  to  lay 
on  him  the  burden  of  the  cross.  The  family  of 
Simon  seems  to  have  resided  afterwards  at  Rome ; 
for  St.  Paul,  in  his  epistle  to  the  church  there, 
salutes  the  wife  of  Simon  with  tenderness  and 
respect,  calling  her  his  'mother,'  though  he  does 
not  expressly  name  her  :  '  Salute  Rufus,  and  his 
mother  and  mine'  (Rom.  xvi.  13). 

9.  SIMON  THE  TANNER,  with  whom  St. 
Peter  lodged  at  Joppa  (Acts  ix.  43 ;  x.  6 ;  xvii. 
32).  He  was  doubtless  a  disciple.  His  house 
was  by  the  seaside,  beyond  the  wall,  as  the  trade 
of  a  tanner  was  one  which  the  Jews  did  not  allow 
to  be  carried  on  inside  their  towns. 

10.  SIMON  MAGUS.  In  the  eighth  chapter 
of  the  Acts  we  read  that  Philip  the  Evangelist, 
whilst  preaching  the  Gospel  in  a  city  of  Samaria, 
came  in  contact  with  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Simon,  who  had  formerly  exercised  immense 
power  over  the  minds  of  the  people  by  his  skill 
in  the  resources  of  magic.  So  high  were  the 
pretensions  of  this  impostor,  and  so  profound  the 
impression  he  had  made  on  the  minds  of  the 
multitude,  that  they  not  only  received  with 
readiness  all  that  he  taught,  but  admitted  his 
claim  to  be  regarded  as  an  incarnation  of  the  de- 
miurgic power  of  God.  The  doctrines  of  Philip, 
however,  concerning  Christ  as  the  true  and  only 
incarnation  of  Deity,  supported  by  the  unparal- 
leled and  beneficent  miracles  which  he  per- 
formed, had  the  efiect  of  dispelling  this  delusion, 
and  inducing  the  people  to  renounce  their  alle- 
giance to  Simon  and  receive  baptism  as  the  dis- 
ciples of  Christ.  On  the  mind  of  Simon  himself 
so  deep  an  impression  was  produced,  that  he  pro- 
fessed himself  a  disciple  of  Jesus,  and  as  such  was 
baptized  by  Philip. 

On  the  news  of  Philip's  success  reaching  Jeru- 
salem, Peter  and  John  went  down  to  Samaria  to 
confer  upon  the  new  converts  the  spiritual  gifts 
which  were  vouchsafed  to  the  primitive  churches. 
During  their  visit  Simon  discovered  that  by 
means  of  prayer  ^nd  the  imposition  of  hands  the 
Apostles  were  able  to  dispense  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  and  supposing  probably  that  in  this 


SIN 

lay  the  much-prized  secret  of  their  superior 
power,  he  attempted  to  induce  them  to  impart  to 
him  this  power  by  offering  them  money.  This, 
•which  for  such  a  man  was  a  very  natural  act,  in- 
timated to  the  Apostles  at  once  his  true  character 
(or  rather,  to  express  more  accurately  our  con- 
viction, it  enabled  them  to  manifest  to  the  people 
and  publicly  to  act  upon  what  their  own  power 
of  discerning  spirits  must  have  already  taught 
tfaem  of  his  true  character) ;  and  accordingly  Pe- 
ter indignantly  repudiated  his  offer,  proclaimed 
his  utter  want  of  all  true  knowledge  of  Christian 
doctrine,  and  exhorted  him  to  repentance  and  to 
prayer  for  forgiveness.  The  words  of  Peter  on 
this  occasion,  it  is  justly  remarked  by  Neander, 
'  present  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  which  so  ex- 
pressly intimates  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  right 
state  of  mind  for  the  reception  of  all  that  Chris- 
tianity conveys,  in  direct  opposition  to  the  Ma- 
gianism,  which  denies  all  necessary  connection 
between  the  state  of  mind  and  that  v/hich  is  di- 
vine and  supernatural,  brings  down  the  divine 
and  supernatural  within  the  sphere  of  ordinary 
nature,  and  imagines  that  divine  power  may  be 
appropriated  by  means  of  something  else  than 
that  which  is  allied  to  it  in  man's  nature,  and 
which  supplies  the  only  point  of  union  between 
the  two.'  The  solemn  and  threatening  words  of 
the  Apostle  struck  dread  into  the  bosom  of  the 
impostor,  who  besought  the  Apostle  to  pray  for 
him  that  none  of  the  things  he  had  threatened 
might  come  upon  him — an  entreaty  which  shows 
that  his  mind  still  laboured  under  what  Neander 
above  describes  as  the  chief  error  of  the  Magian 
doctrine. 

After  this  we  read  no  more  of  Simon  Magus 
in  the  New  Testament. 

Simon's  doctrines  were  substantially  those  of 
the  Gnostics,  and  he  is  not  without  reason  re- 
garded as  the  first  who  attempted  to  engraft  the 
theurgy  and  egotism  of  the  Magian  philosophy 
upon  Christianity.  He  represented  himself,  ac- 
cording to  Jerome,  as  the  Word  of  God,  the  Per- 
fection, the  Paraclete,  the  Almighty,  the  All  of 
Deity ;  and  Irenseus  (i.  20)  tells  us  he  carried 
with  him  a  beautiful  female  named  Helena,  whom 
he  set  forth  as  the  first  idea  of  Deity.  If  this  be 
not  exaggerated  fable  on  the  part  of  his  enemies, 
we  must  suppose  that  such  modes  of  speech  and 
representation  were  adopted  by  him  as  suited  to 
the  highly  allegorical  character  of  Orientalism 
in  his  day ;  for  were  we  to  suppose  him  to  have 
meant  such  utterances  to  be  taken  literally,  we 
should  be  constrained  to  look  upon  him  in  the 
light  of  a  madman. 

SIN,  a  city  of  Egypt,  which  is  mentioned  in 
Ezek.  XXX.  15,  16,  in  connection  with  Thebes  and 
Memphis,  and  is  described  as  '  the  strength  of 
Egypt,'  showing  it  to  have  been  a  fortified  place. 
The  Sept  makes  it  to  have  been  Sai's,  but  Jerome 
regards  it  as  Pelusium.  This  latter  identification 
has  been  generally  adopted,  and  is  scarcely  open 
to  dispute.  Pelusium  was  anciently  a  place  of 
great  consequence.  It  was  strongly  fortified, 
being  the  bulwark  of  the  Egyptian  frontier  on 
the  eastern  side,  and  was  considered  the  '  key,' 
or,  as  the  prophet  terms  it,  '  the  strength'  of 
Egypt.  It  was  near  this  place  that  Pompey  met 
his  death,  being  murdered  by  order  of  Ptolemy, 
■whose  protection  he  had  claimed.  It  lay  among 
ffwamps  and  morasses  on  the  most  easterly  estuary 


SINAI 


738 


of  the  Nile  (which  received  from  it  the  name  of 
Ostium  Pelusiacum),  and  stood  twenty  stades 
from  the  Mediterranean.  The  site  is  now  only 
approachable  by  boats  during  a  high  Nile,  or  by 
land  when  the  summer  sun  has  dried  the  nmd 
left  by  the  inundation:  the  remains  consist  merely 
of  mounds  and  a  few  fallen  columns.  The  climate 
is  very  unwholesome. 

SIN,  the  desert  which  the  Israelites  entered  on 
turning  off  from  the  Red  Sea  (Exod.  xvi.  1 ;  xvii. 
1 ;  Num.  xxxiii.  12)  [Sinai]. 

SI'NAI.  The  Hebrew  name,  denoting  a  dis- 
trict of  broken  or  cleft  rocks,  is  descriptive  of  the 
region  to  which  it  is  applied.  That  region,  ac- 
cording to  Exod.  xix.  1  ;  Lev.  vii.  38  ;  Num.  i. 
1,  3,  4,  is  a  wild  mountainous  country  in  Arabia 
Petraea,  whither  the  Israelites  went  from  Kephi- 
dim,  after  they  had  been  out  of  Egypt  for  the 
space  of  three  months.  Here  the  law  was  given 
to  Moses,  which  fact  renders  this  spot  one  of  spe- 
cial and  lasting  interest.  From  the  magnitude 
and  prominence  of  the  Sinaitic  group  of  moun- 
tains, the  entire  district  of  which  it  forms  a  part 
has  received  the  name  of  the  peninsula  of  Sinai. 
This  peninsula  may  be  roughly  described  as 
formed  by  a  line  running  from  Suez  to  Ailah,  all 
that  lies  on  the  south  of  this  line  falling  within 
the  peninsula.  In  the  present  day  the  name  Sinai 
is  given  by  Christians  to  the  cluster  of  mountains 
to  which  we  have  referred  ;  but  the  Arabs  have 
no  other  name  for  this  group  than  Jebel  et-Tur, 
sometimes  adding  the  distinctive  epithet  Sina.  In 
a  stricter  sense  the  name  Sinai  is  applied  to  a  very 
lofty  ridge  which  lies  between  the  two  parallel 
valleys  of  Shu'eib  and  el-Leja.  Of  this  ridge  the 
northern  end  is  termed  Horeb,  the  southern  Sinai, 
now  called  Jebel  Mflsa,  or  Moses'  Mount.  The 
entire  district  is  a  heap  of  lofty  granite  rocks, 
with  steep  gorges  and  deep  valleys.  The  Sinai 
ridge,  including  Horeb,  is  at  least  three  miles  in 
length.  It  rises  boldly  and  majestically  from  the 
southern  end  of  the  plain  Rahah,  which  is  two 
geographical  miles  long,  and  ranges  in  breadth 
from  one-third  to  two-thirds  of  a  mile,  making  at 
least  one  square  mile.  This  space  is  nearly 
doubled  by  extensions  of  the  valley  on  the  west 
and  east.  '  The  examination  convinced  us,'  says 
Robinson  (Biblical  Researches,  i.  141),  '  that  here 
was  space  enough  to  satisfy  all  the  requisitions  of 
the  Scriptural  narrative,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the 
assembling  of  the  congregation  to  receive  the 
law.'  Water  is  abundant  in  this  mountainous 
region,  to  which  the  Bedouins  betake  themselves 
when  oppressed  by  drought  in  the  lower  lands. 
As  there  is  water,  so  also  is  there  in  the  valleys 
great  fruitfulness  and  sometimes  luxuriance  of 
vegetation,  as  well  as  beauty.  What  was  the 
exact  locality  from  which  the  law  was  given,  it 
may  not  be  easy  to  ascertain.  The  book  of 
Deuteronomy  (i.  6;  iv.  18,  &c.)  makes  it  to  be 
Horeb,  which  seems  most  probable  ;  for  this,  the 
north  end  of  the  range,  rises  immediately  from 
the  plain  of  which  we  have  just  spoken  as  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Israelites.  Sinai  is,  indeed, 
generally  reputed  to  be  the  spot,  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  southern  extremity  of  the  range  is  de- 
nominated Moses*  Mount;  but  this  may  have 
arisen  from  confounding  together  two  meanmgs 
of  Sinai,  inasmuch  as  it  denotes,  1,  a  district ;  2,  a 
particular  part  of  that  district.  It  was  no  doubt 
on  Horeb,  in  the  region  of  Sinai,  that  the  law  wan 


734 


SINAI 


promulgated.  Eobinson  imputes  the  common 
error  to  tradition,  and  declares  that  '  there  is  not 
the  slightest  reason  for  supposing  that  Moses  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  summit  which  now  bears 
his  name.  It  is  three  miles  distant  from  the  plain 
on  which  the  Israelites  must  have  stood,  and  hid- 
den from  it  by  the  intervening  peaks  of  modern 
Horeb.  No  part  of  the  plain  is  visible  from  the 
summit,  nor  are  the  bottoms  of  the  adjacent  val- 
leys, nor  is  any  spot  to  be  seen  around  it  where 
the  people  could  have  been  assembled.'  Eobinson 
also  ascended  the  northern  extremity  of  the  ridge, 
and  had  there  a  prospect  whicli  he  thus  describes  : 
— '  The  whole  plain,  er-Rahah,  lay  spread  out 
beneath  our  feet  with  the  adjacent  Wadys  and 
mountains.  Our  conviction  was  strengthened 
that  here,  or  on  some  one  of  the  adjacent  cliff's, 
was  the  spot  where  the  Lord  "  descended  in  fire," 
and  proclaimed  the  law.  Here  lay  the  plain 
where  the  whole  congregation  might  be  as- 
sembled ;  here  was  the  mount  that  could  be  ap- 
proached and  touched,  if  not  forbidden  ;  and  here 
the  mountain  brow  where  alone  the  lightnings 
and  the  thick  cloud  would  be  visible,  and  the 
thunders  and  the  voice  of  the  trump  be  heard 
when  "  the  Lord  came  down  in  the  sight  of  all 
the  people  upon  Mount  Sinai."  We  gave  our- 
selves up  to  the  impressions  of  the  awful  scene, 
and  read,  with  a  feeling  that  will  never  be  for- 
gotten, the  sublime  account  of  the  transaction  and 
the  commandment  there  promulgated.' 

Having  thus  given  a  general  view  of  Sinai,  we 
shall  now  briely  trace  the  Israelites  in  their 
journey  to  the  mountain.  Another  article  [Wan- 
dering] will  follow  their  course  into  the  Land  of 
Promise.  When  safe  on  the  eastern  shore,  the 
Israelites,  had  they  taken  the  shortest  route  into 
Palestine,  would  have  struck  at  once  across  the 
desert  in  a  south-easterly  direction  to  el-Arish  or 
Gaza.  But  this  route  would  have  brought  them 
into  direct  collision  with  the  Philistines,  with 
whom  they  were  as  yet  quite  unable  to  cope.  Or 
they  might  have  traversed  the  desert  of  Paran, 
following  the  pilgrim  road  of  the  present  day  to 
Elath,  and,  turning  to  the  north,  have  made  for 
Palestine.  In  order  to  accomplish  this,  however, 
hostile  hordes  and  nations  would  have  to  be  en- 
countered, whose  superior  skill  and  experience  in 
war  might  have  proved  fatal  to  the  uewly  libe- 
rated tribes  of  Israel.  They  were,  therefore, 
wisely  directed  to  take  a  course  which  necessitated 
the  lapse  of  time,  and  gave  promise  of  affording  in- 
tellectual and  moral  discipline  of  the  highest  value. 

Moses  did  not  begin  his  arduous  journey  till, 
with  a  piety  and  a  warmth  of  gratitude  which 
well  befitted  the  signal  deliverance  that  his  people 
had  just  been  favoured  with,  he  celebrated  the 
power,  majesty,  and  goodness  of  God  in  a  tri- 
umphal ode,  full  of  the  most  appropriate,  striking, 
and  splendid  images  ;  in  which  commemorative 
festivity  he  was  assisted  by  '  Miriam  the  pro- 
phetess, the  sister  of  Aaron,'  and  her  associated 
female  band,  with  poetry,  music,  and  dancing. 
The  spot  where  these  rejoicings  were  held,  could 
not  have  been  far  from  that  which  still  bears  the 
name  of  Ayun  Musa,  '  the  fountains  of  Moses,' 
the  situation  of  which  is  even  now  marked  by  a 
few  palm-trees.  This  was  a  suitable  place  for  the 
encampment,  because  well  supplied  with  water. 
Here  Robinson  counted  seven  fountains,  near 
which  he  saw  a  patch  of  barley,  and  a  few  cab- 


SINAI 

bage  plants.  Hence  the  Israelites  proceeded 
along  the  coast,  three  days'  journey,  into  what  is 
termed  the  wilderness  of  Shiir.  During  this 
march  they  found  no  water.  The  district  is  hilly 
and  sandy,  with  a  few  watercourses  running  into 
the  Red  Sea,  wliich,  failing  rain,  are  dry.  At  the 
end  of  three  days  the  Israelites  reached"  the  foun- 
tain Marah,  but  the  waters  were  bitter,  and  could 
not  be  drunk.  The  stock  which  they  had  brought 
with  them  being  now  exhausted,  they  began  to 
utter  murmurinps  on  finding  themselves  disap- 
pointed at  Marah.  Moses  appealed  to  God,  who 
directed  him  to  a  tree,  which,  being  thrown  into 
the  waters,  sweetened  them.  The  people  were 
satisfied  and  admonished.  About  this  station 
authorities  are  agreed.  It  is  identified  with  the 
fountain  Hawarah.  The  basin  is  six  or  eight 
feet  in  diameter,  and  the  water  Robinson  found 
about  two  feet  deep.  Its  taste  is  unpleasant, 
saltish,  and  somewliat  bitter. 

The  next  station  mentioned  in  Scripture  is 
Elim,  where  were  twelve  wells  of  water,  and 
three  score  and  ten  palm-trees.  As  is  customary 
with  travellers  in  these  regions,  '  they  encamped 
there  by  the  waters'  (Exod.  xvi.  1).  This  place 
is  generally  admitted  to  be  Wady  Ghuruudel, 
lying  about  half  a  day's  journey  south-east  from 
Marah.  The  way  from  Egypt  to  Sinai  lies  through 
this  valley ;  and,  on  account  of  its  water  and  vtr- 
dure,  it  is  a  chief  caravan  station  at  the  present 
day.  From  Elim  the  Israelites  marched,  en- 
camping on  the  shore  of  the  Red  Sea,  for  which 
purpose  they  must  have  kept  the  high  ground  for 
some  time,  since  the  precipices  of  Jebel  Hummam 
— a  lofty  and  precipitous  mountain  of  chalky 
limestone — run  down  to  the  brink  of  the  sea. 
They,  therefore,  went  on  the  land  side  of  this 
mountain  to  the  head  of  Wady  Taiyikeh,  which 
passes  down  south-west  through  the  mountains  to 
the  shore.  On  the  plain  at  the  mouth  of  this 
valley  was  the  encampment  '  by  the  Red  Sea ' 
(Num.  xxxiii.  10). 

According  to  Num.  xxxiii.  11,  the  Israelites 
removed  from  the  Red  Sea,  and  encamped  next 
in  the  wilderness  of  Sin.  This  Robinson  identifies 
with  '  the  great  plain  which,  beginning  near  el- 
Milrkhah,  extends  with  greater  or  less  breadth 
almost  to  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula.  In  its 
broadest  part  it  is  called  el-Kaa'  (i.  106).  Thus 
they  kept  along  the  shore,  and  did  not  yet  ascend 
any  of  the  fruitful  valleys  which  run  up  towards 
the  centre  of  the  district.  They  arrived  in  the 
wilderness  of  Sin  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  tlie 
second  month  a.'^ter  their  departure  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt ;  and  being  now  wearied  with  their 
journey,  and  tired  of  their  scanty  fare,  they  began 
again  to  murmur.  The  contrast  between  the  scant 
supply  of  the  desert  and  the  abundance  of  Egypt, 
furnished  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  outbreak 
of  dissatisfaction.  Bread  and  flesh  were  the  chief 
demand;  bread  and  flesh  were  miraculously  sup- 
plied ;  the  former  by  manna,  the  latter  by  quails. 

The  next  station  mentioned  in  Exodus  is  Re- 
phidim;  but  in  Num.  xxxiii.  Dophkah  and  Alush 
are  added.  The  two  latter  were  reached  after  the 
people  had  taken  '  their  journey  out  of  the  wil- 
derness of  Sin.'  Dophkah  is  probably  to  be  found 
near  the  spot  where  Wady  Feiran  runs  into  the 
gulf  of  Suez.  Alush  may  have  lain  on  the  shore 
near  Has  Jehan,  From  this  point  a  range  of  cal- 
careous rocks,  termed  Jebal  Hemam,  stretches 


SLAVE 

along  the  shore,  near  the  southern  end  of  which 
the  Hebrews  took  a  sudden  turn  to  the  north-east, 
and,  going  up  Wady  Hibrau,  reached  the  central 
Sinaitic  dis-tnct. 

This  was  the  last  station  before  Sinai  itself  was 
reached.  Naturally  enough  is  it  recorded,  that 
'  there  was  no  water  for  the  people  to  drink.'  The 
road  was  an  arid  gravelly  plain ;  on  either  side 
were  barren  rocks.  A  natural  supply  was  im- 
possible. A  miracle  was  wrought,  and  water  was 
given.  The  Scripture  makes  it  clear  that  it  was 
from  the  Sinaitic  group  that  the  water  was  pro- 
duced (Exod.  xvii.  6).  The  plain  received  two 
descriptive  names — Massah,  'Temptation;'  and 
Meribah,  '  Strife.'  It  appears  that  the  congrega- 
tion was  not  allowed  to  pursue  their  way  to  Sinai 
unmolested.  The  Arabs  thought  the  Israelites 
suitable  for  plunder,  and  fell  upon  them.  These 
hordes  are  termed  Amalekites.  It  appears  that 
the  conflict  M'as  a  severe  and  doubtful  one,  which, 
by  some  extraordinary  aid,  ended  in  favour  of 
the  children  of  Israel.  This  aggression  on  the 
part  of  Aiualek  gave  occasion  to  a  permanent 
national  hatred,  which  ended  only  in  the  exter- 
mination of  the  tribe  (Num.  xxiv.  20;  Exod. 
xvM.  14-16).  In  commemoration  of  this  victory 
Moses  was  commanded  to  write  an  account  of  it 
in  a  book :  he  also  erected  there  an  altar  to  Je- 
hovah, and  called  the  name  of  it  '  Jehovah,  my 
banner.' 

Sl'NIM,  a  people  whose  country,  *  land  of  Si- 
nim,'  is  mentioned  only  in  Isa.  xlix.  12,  where 
the  context  implies  a  remote  region,  situated  in 
the  eastern  or' southern  extremity  of  the  earth. 
Many  Biblical  geographers  think  this  may  pos- 
sibly denote  the  Sinese  or  Chinese,  whose  country 
is  Sina,  China.  This  view  is  not  void  of  proba- 
bility, but  objections  to  it  are  obvious  and  consi- 
derable. Some,  therefore,  think  that  by  the  Siuim 
the  inhabitants  of  Pelusium  (Sin)  are,  by  synec- 
doche, denoted  for  the  Egyptians.  But  as  the 
text  seems  to  point  to  a  region  more  distant, 
others  have  upheld  the  claims  of  the  people  of 
Syene,  talien  to  represent  the  Ethiopians  [Syene]. 

SIN'ITES,  a  people  probably  near  Mount  Le- 
non  (Gen.  x.  17  ;  1  Chron.  i.  15). 

SISERA  {battle-array),  the  general  in  com- 
mand of  the  mighty  army  of  the  Canaanitish 
king  Jabin.  As  this  is  the  only  instance  in  those 
early  times  of  armies  being  commanded  by  other 
than  kings  in  pei'son,  the  circumstance,  taken  in 
connection  with  others,  intimates  that  Sisera  was 
a  general  eminent  for  his  abilities  and  success. 
He  was,  however,  defeated  by  Barak,  and  slain 
(Judg.  iv.  2-22),  under  the  circumstances  which 
have  been  described  in  the  article  Jael. 

SI' VAN,  the  third  month  of  the  Hebrew  year, 
from  the  new  moon  of  June  to  the  new  moon  of 
July. 

SLAVE  (Auth.  Eng.  Version,  servant  and 
bondman).  It  is  difiBcult  to  trace  the  origin  of 
slavery.  It  may  have  existed  before  the  deluge, 
when  violence  filled  the  earth,  and  drew  upon  it 
the  vengeance  of  God.  But  the  first  direct  refer- 
ence to  slavery,  or  rather  slave-trading,  in  the 
Bible,  is  found  in  the  history  of  Joseph,  who  was 
sold  by  his  brethren  to  the  Ishmaelites  (Gen. 
xxxvii.  27,  28).  In  Ezek,  xxvii.  12,  13,  we  find 
a  reference  to  the  slave-trade  carried  on  with 
Tyre  by  Javan,  Tubal,  and  Meshech.  And  in 
the  ADOcalypse  we  find  enumerated  in  the  mer- 


SLAVE 


78« 


chandise  of  the  mystic  Babylon,  slaves  and  the 
souls  of  men  (Kev.  xviii.  13). 

The  sacred  historians  refer  to  various  kinds  of 
bondage : — 

1.  Patriarchal  Servitude. — The  exact  nature 
of  this  service  cannot  be  defined :  there  can  be  no 
doubt,  however,  that  it  was  regulated  by  princi- 
ples of  justice,  equity,  and  kindness.  The  servants 
of  the  patriarchs  were  of  two  kinds,  those  '  born 
in  the  house,'  and  those  '  bought  with  money  ' 
(Gen.  xvii.  13).  The  servants  born  in  the  house 
were  perhaps  entitled  to  greater  privileges  than 
the  others.  Eliezer  of  Damascus,  a  home-born 
servant,  was  Abraham's  steward,  and,  in  default 
of  issue,  would  have  been  his  heir  (Gen.  xv.  2-4). 
This  class  of  servants  was  honoured  with  the 
most  intimate  confidence  of  their  masters,  and 
was  employed  in  the  most  important  services. 
An  instance  of  this  kind  will  be  found  in  Gen. 
xxiv.  1-9,  where  the  eldest  or  chief  servant  of 
Abraham's  house,  who  ruled  over  all  that  he  had, 
was  sent  to  Mesopotamia  to  select  a  wife  for  Isaac, 
who  was  then  forty  years  of  age.  The  servants 
of  Abraham  were  admitted  into  the  same  religious 
privileges  with  their  master,  and  received  the  i 
seal  of  the  covenant  (Gen.  xvii.  9,  14,  24,  27).     ' 

There  is  a  clear  distinction  made  between  the 
'  servants '  of  Abraham  and  the  things  which 
constituted  his  property  or  wealth.  Abraham 
was  very  rich  in  cattle,  in  silver,  and  in  gold 
(Gen.  xiii.  2,  .5).  But  when  the  patriarchs  power 
or  greatness  is  spoken  of,  then  servants  are  spoken 
of  as  well  as  the  objects  which  constituted  his 
riches  (Gen.  xxiv.  34,  35).  A  similar  distinction 
is  made  in  the  case  of  Isaac  and  of  Jacob.  In  no 
single  instance  do  we  find  that  the  patriarchs 
either  gave  away  or  sold  their  servants,  or  pur- 
chased them  of  third  persons.  Abraham  had  ser- 
vants '  bought  with  money.'  It  has  been  assumed 
that  they  were  bought  of  third  parties,  whereas 
there  is  no  proof  that  this  was  the  case.  The 
probability  is  that  they  sold  themselves  to  the 
patriarch  for  an  equivalent ;  that  is  to  say,  they 
entered  into  voluntary  engagements  to  serve  him 
for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  of  time,  in  return 
for  the  money  advanced  them.  Probably  Job  | 
had  more  servants  than  either  of  the  patriarchs 
to  whom  reference  has  been  made  (Job  i.  2,  3).  j 
In  what  light  he  regarded,  and  how  he  treated, 
his  servants,  may  be  gathered  from  Job  xxxi. 
13-23.  And  that  Abraham  acted  in  the  same 
spirit,  we  have  the  Divine  testimony  in  Jer.  xxii. 
15,  16,  17,  where  his  conduct  is  placed  in  direct 
contrast  with  that  of  some  of  his  descendants, 
who  used  their  neighbour's  service  without  wages,  | 
and  gave  him  not  for  his  work  (ver.  1 3).  j 

2.  Egyptian    Bondage. — The    Israelites   were     i 
frequently   reminded,   after    their    exode    from    j 
Egypt,  of  the  oppressions  they  endured  in  that    j 
'  house  of  bondage,'  from  which  they  had  been 
delivered  by  the  direct  interposition  of  God.   The 
design  of  these  admonitions  was  to  teach  them 
justice  and  kindness  towards  their  servants  when 
they  should  become  settled  in  Canaan,  as  well  as 
to   impress  them  with   gratitude   towards   their 
great  deliverer.    The   Egyptians  had  domestic 
servants,  who  may  have  been  slaves  (Exod.  ix. 
14   20   21  •  xi.  5).     But  the  Israelites  were  not 
dispersed  among  the  families  of  Egypt;  they 
formed  a  special  community.    They  had  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  land  of  Goshen,  '  the  best 


736 


SLAVE 


part  of  the  land  of  Egypt.'  They  lived  in  per- 
manent dwellings,  their  own  houses,  and  not  in 
tents.  Each  family  seems  to  have  had  its  own 
house;  and  judging  from  the  regulations  about 
eating  the  Passover,  they  could  scarcely  have 
been  small  ones.  They  appear  to  have  been 
"well  clothed.  They  owned  '  flocks  and  herds, 
and  very  much  cattle.'  They  had  their  own 
form  of  government ;  and,  although  occupying  a 
province  of  Egypt,  and  irihvlanj  to  it,  they  pre- 
served their  tribes  and  family  divisions,  and  their 
internal  organization  throughout.  They  had  to 
a  considerable  degree  the  disposal  of  their  own 
time.  They  were  not  unacquainted  with  the  fine 
arts.  They  were  all  armed.  The  women  seem 
to  have  known  something  of  domestic  refinement. 
They  were  familiar  with  instruments  of  music, 
and  skilled  in  the  working  of  fine  fabrics ;  and 
both  males  and  females  were  able  to  read  and 
write.  Their  food  was  abundant  and  of  great 
variety.  The  service  required  from  the  Israeliti^s 
by  their  task-masters  seems  to  have  been  exacted 
from  males  only,  and  probably  a  portion  only  of 
the  people  were  compelled  to  labour  at  any  one 
time.  As  tributaries,  they  probably  supplied 
Jevies  of  men,  from  which  the  wealthy  appear  to 
have  been  exempted.  The  poor  were  the  op- 
pressed ;  '  and  all  the  service  wherewith  they 
made  them  serve  was  with  rigour.'  But  Jehovah 
saw  their  '  afflictions  and  heard  their  groanings,' 
and  delivered  them,  after  having  inflicted  the 
most  terrible  plagues  on  their  oppressors. 

3.  Jewish  Servitude. — Whatever  difficulties 
may  be  found  in  indicating  the  precise  nature  of 
patriarchal  servitude,  none  exists  in  reference  to 
that  which  was  sanctioned  and  regulated  by  the 
Mosaic  institutes. 

The  moral  law  is  a  revelation  of  great  princi- 
ples. It  requires  supreme  love  to  God  and  uni- 
versal love  among  men  ;  and  whatever  is  incom- 
patible with  the  exercise  of  that  love,  is  strictly 
forbidden  and  condemned.  Hence,  immediately 
after  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai,  as  if  to  guard 
against  all  slavery  and  slave-trading  on  the  part 
of  the  Israelites,  God  promulgated  this  ordinance : 
'  He  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him,  or  if  he 
be  found  in  his  hands,  he  shall  surely  be  put  to 
death'  (Exod.  xxi.  16;  Deut.  xxiv.  7).  The 
crime  is  stated  in  its  threefold  form,  man-stealing, 
selling,  and  holding;  the  penalty  for  either  of 
which  was  death.  The  law  punished  the  steal- 
ing of  mere  property  by  enforcing  restitution,  in 
some  cases  twofold,  in  others  fivefold  (Exod. 
xxii.  14).  When  property  was  stolen,  the  legal 
penalty  was  compensation  to  the  person  injured  ; 
but  when  a  man  was  stolen,  no  property  compen- 
sation was  allowed  ;  death  was  inflicted,  and  the 
guilty  offender  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  life  for  his 
transgression.  Such  was  the  operation  of  this 
law,  and  the  obedience  paid  to  it,  that  we  have 
not  the  remotest  hint  that  the  sale  and  purchase 
of  slaves  ever  occurred  among  the  Israelites. 
The  cities  of  Judsea  were  not,  like  the  cities  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  slave-markets ;  nor  were  there 
found  throughout  all  its  coasts  either  helots  or 
slaves.  With  the  Israelites,  service  was  either 
voluntary,  or  judicially  imposed  by  the  law  of 
God  (Lev.  XXV.  39,  47  ;  Exod.  xxi.  7  ;  xxii.  3,  4 ; 
Deut.  XX.  14).  Strangers  only,  or  the  descendants 
of  strangers,  became  their  possession  by  purchase 
(Lev.  XXV.  44-46) ;  but,  howoer  acquired,  the 


SLAVE  j 

law  gave  the  Jewish  servants  many  rights  and    i 
privileges ;    they   were   admitted   into   covenant    | 
with  God;  they  were  guests  at  all  the  national    1 
and  family  festivals ;  they  were  statedly  instructed    i 
in  morals  and  religion  ;  and  they  were  released 
from  their  regular  labour  nearly  one-half  of  their    | 
term  of  servitude.    The  servants  of  the  Israelites    I 
were   protected   by  the   law  equally  with  their    | 
masters;  and  their  civil  and  religious  rights  were     I 
the  same.     Finally,  these  servants  had  the  power 
of  changing  their  masters,  and  of  seeking  protec- 
tion where  they  pleased  (Deut.  xxiii.   15,  16); 
and  should  their  masters,  by  any  act  of  violence, 
injure   their   persons,  they 'were   released   from 
their  engagements   (Exod.   xxi.   26,  27).     The 
term  of  Hebrew  servitude  was  six  years,  beyond 
which  they  could  not  be  held  unless  they  entered 
into  new  engagements  (Exod.  xxi.  1-11  ;  Deut. 
XV.  12)  ;  while  that  of  strangers,  over  whom  the 
rights  of  the  master  were  comparatively  absolute 
(Lev.  XXV.  44-46),  terminated  in  every  case  on 
the  return  of  the  jubilee,  when  liberty  was  pro- 
claimed to  all  (Lev.  xxv.  8,  10,  54). 

4.  Gibeonitish  Servitude. — The  condition  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Gibeon,  Chephirah,  Beeroth, 
and  Kirjath-jearim,  under  the  Hebrew  common- 
wealth, was  not  that  of  slavery.  It  was  volun- 
tary (Josh.  ix.  8-11).  They  were  not  employed 
in  the  families  of  the  Israelites,  but  resided  in 
their  own  cities,  tended  their  own  flocks  and 
herds,  and  exercised  the  functions  of  a  distinct 
though  not  independent  community  (Josh.  x. 
6-18).  The  injuries  inflicted  on  them  by  Saul 
were  avenged  by  the  Almighty  on  his  descendants 
(2  Sam.  xxi.  1-9).  They  appear  to  have  been 
devoted  exclusively  to  the  service  of  the  '  house 
of  God '  or  the  Tabernacles,  and  only  a  few  of 
them  comparatively  could  have  been  engaged  at 
any  one  time.  The  rest  dwelt  in  their  cities,  one 
of  which  was  a  great  city,  as  one  of  the  royal 
cities.  The  service  they  rendered  may  be  re- 
garded as  a  natural  tribute  for  the  privilege  of 
protection.  No  service  seems  to  have  been  re- 
quired of  their  wives  and  daughters. 

The  laws  which  the  great  Deliverer  and  Re- 
deemer of  mankind  gave  for  the  government  of 
his  kingdom,  were  those  of  universal  justice  and 
benevolence,  and  as  such  were  subversive  of  every 
system  of  tyranny  and  oppression.  To  suppose, 
therefore,  as  has  been  rashly  asserted,  that  Jesus 
or  his  Apostles  gave  their  sanction  to  the  existing 
systems  of  slavery  among  the  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, is  to  dishonour  them.  That  the  reciprocal 
duties  of  masters  and  servants  were  inculcated, 
admits,  indeed,  of  no  doubt  (Col.  iii.  22 ;  iv.  1 ; 
Tit.  ii.  9;  1  Pet.  ii.  18;  Eph.  vi.  5-9).  But  the 
performance  of  these  duties  on  the  part  of  the 
masters,  supposing  them  to  have  been  slave- 
masters,  would  have  been  tantamount  to  the  utter 
subversion  of  the  relation.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  either  that  '  servants  under  the  yoke,'  or 
the  slaves  of  heathens,  are  exhorted  to  yield  obe- 
dience to  their  masters  (1  Tim.  vi.  1).  But  this 
argues  no  approval  of  the  relation ;  for,  1.  Jesus, 
in  an  analogous  case,  appeals  to  the  paramount 
law  of  nature  as  superseding  such  temporary  re- 
gulations as  the  '  hardness  of  men's  hearts '  had 
rendered  necessary ;  and,  2.  St.  Paul,  while  coun- 
selling the  duties  of  contentment  and  submission 
under  inevitable  bondage,  inculcates  at  the  same 


SLAVE 

time  on  the  slave  tlie  duty  of  adopting  all  legiti- 
mate means  of  obtaining  his  freedom  (1  Cor.  vii. 
18-20). 

5.  Roman  Slaveri/. — Our  limits  will  not  allow 
us  to  enter  into  detail  on  the  only  kind  of  slavery 
referred  to  in  the  New  Testament,  for  there  is  no 
indication  that  tlie  Jews  possessed  any  slaves  in 
the  time  of  Christ.  Suffice  it  therefore  to  say, 
that,  in  addition  to  the  fact  that  Roman  slavery 
was  perpetual  and  hereditary,  the  slave  had  no 
protection  whatever  afrainst  the  avarice,  rage,  or 
lust  of  his  master.  The  bondsman  was  viewed 
less  as  a  human  being,  subject  to  arbitrary  do- 
minion, than  as  an  inferior  animal,  dependent 
wholly  on  the  will  of  his  owner.  The  master 
possessed  the  uncontrolled  power  of  life  and  death 
over  his  slave, — a  power  which  continued  at  least 
to  the  time  of  the  emperor  Hadrian.  He  might, 
and  frequently  did,  kill,  mutilate,  and  torture  his 
slaves,  for  any  or  for  no  offence  ;  so  that  slaves 
were  sometimes  crucified  from  mere  caprice.  He 
might  force  them  to  become  prostitutes  or  gla- 
diators ;  and,  instead  of  the  perpetual  obligation  of 
the  marriage  tie,  their  temporary  unions  were 
formed  and  dissolved  at  his  command,  families  and 
friends  were  separated,  and  no  obligation  e.visted 
to  provide  for  their  wants  in  sickness  or  in  health. 
Hut,  notwithstanding  all  the  barbarous  cruelties 
of  Roman  slavery,  it  had  one  decided  advantage 
over  that  which  was  introduced  in  modern  times 
into  European  colonies,  both  law  and  custom 
being  decidedly  favourable  to  the  freedom  of  the 
slave.  The  Mahommedan  law  also,  in  this  re- 
spect, contrasts  favourably  with  those  of  the 
European  settlements. 

Although  the  condition  of  the  Roman  slaves 
was  no  doubt  improved  under  the  emperors,  the 
early  effects  of  Christian  principles  were  mani- 
fest in  mitigating  the  horrors,  and  bringing  about 
the  gradual  abolition  of  slavery.  '  It  is  not,'  says 
Robertson,  '  the  authority  of  any  single  detached 
precept  in  the  Gospel,  but  the  spirit  and  genius 
of  the  Christian  religion,  more  powerful  than  any 
particular  command,  which  has  abolished  the 
practice  of  slavery  throughout  the  world.'  Al- 
though, even  in  the  most  corrupt  times  of  the 
church,  the  operation  of  Christian  principles 
tended  to  this  benevolent  object,  they  unfortu- 
nately did  not  prevent  the  revival  of  slavery  in 
the  European  settlements  in  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  together  with  that  nefarious 
traffic,  the  suppression  of  which  has  rendered  the 
name  of  Wilberforce  for  ever  illustrious.  Modern 
servitude  had  all  the  characteristic  evils  of  the 
Roman,  except,  perhaps,  the  uncontrolled  power 
of  life  and  death,  while  it  was  destitute  of  that 
redeeming  quality  to  which  we  have  referred, 
its  tendency  being  to  perpetuate  the  condition  of 
slavery.  It  has  also  been  supposed  to  have  intro- 
duced the  unfortunate  prejudice  of  colour,  which 
was  unknown  to  the  ancients.  It  was  the  bene- 
volent wish  of  the  philosophic  Herder  that  the 
time  might  come  'when  we  shall  look  back 
with  as  much  compassion  on  our  inhuman 
traffic  in  negroes,  as  on  the  ancient  Roman 
slavery  or  Spartan  helots.'  This  is  now  no 
longer  a  hope,  so  far  as  England  is  concerned, 
as  she  not  only  set  the  example  of  abolishing  the 
traffic,  but  evinced  the  soundness  of  her  Chris- 
tian principles  by  the  greatest  national  act  of 
justice  which  history  has  yet  recorded,  in  the 


SMYRNA 


737 


total  abolition  of  slavery  throughout  all  her  de- 
pendencies. 

SLIME.       [.\SPHAI.TUM.] 

SMITH.  The  word  so  rendered  literally  sig- 
nifies a  workman  in  stone,  wood,  or  metal,  but  if 
sometimes  more  accurately  defined  by  what  fol- 
lows. The  first  smith  mentioned  in  Scripture  is 
Tubal-Cain.  whom  some  writers,  arguing  from 
the  similarity  of  the  names,  identify  with  \"ulcan. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  '  an  instructor  of  every 
artificer  in  brass  and  iron '  (Gen.  iv.  22,,  or  per- 
haps more  properly,  a  whetter  or  sharpener  of 
every  instrument  of  copper  or  iron.  As  the  art 
of  the  smith  is  one  of  the  first  essentials  to  civili- 
zation, the  mention  of  its  founder  was  worthy  of 
a  place  among  the  other  fathers  of  inventions 
So  requisite  was  the  trade  of  a  smith  in  ancient 
warfare,  that  conquerors  removed  these  artizans 
from  a  vanquished  nation,  in  order  the  more 
effectually  to  disable  it.  Thus  the  Philistines 
deprived  the  Hebrews  of  their  smiths  (1  Sam. 
xiii.  19;  comp.  Judg.  v.  8).  So  Nebuchadnezzar, 
king  of  Babylon,  treated  them  in  later  times  (2 
Kings  xxiv.  14;  Jer.  xxiv.  1  ;  xxix.  2).  In  the 
New  Testament  we  meet  with  Demetrius,  '  the 
silversmith,'  at  Ephesus;  but  the  commentators 
are  not  agreed  whether  he  was  a  manufacturer  of 
small  silver  models  of  the  Temple  of  Diana,  or  at 
least  of  the  chapel  which  contained  the  famous 
statue  of  the  goddess,  to  be  sold  to  foreigners,  or 
used  in  private  devotion,  or  taken  with  them  by 
travellers  as  a  safeguard ;  or  whether  he  made 
large  coins  representing  the  temple  and  image.  A 
coppersmith  named  Alexander  is  mentioned^  as  an 
opponent  of  St.  Paul  (2  Tim.  iv.  14)  [Coal; 
Iron  ;  Metals]. 

SMYR'NA,  a  celebrated  commercial  city  of 
Ionia,  situated  near  the  bottom  of  that  gulf  of  the 
iEgean  Sea  which  received  its  name  from  it,  at  j 
the  mouth  of  the  small  river  Meles,  and  .320 
stades  north  of  Ephesus.  It  is  in  N-  lat.  38^  26', 
E.  long.  27^  7'.  Smyrna  was  a  very  ancient  city, 
but  having  been  destroyed  by  the  Lydians  it  lay 
waste  400  years,  to  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great.  It  was  rebuilt  at  the  distance  of  twenty 
stades  from  the  ancient  citj',  and  we  soon  find  it 
flourishing  greatly ;  and  in  the  time  of  tlie  first 
Roman  emperors  it  was  one  of  the  finest  cities  ol 
Asia.  It  was  at  this  period  that  it  became  the 
seat  of  a  Christian  church,  which  is  noticed  in  the 
Apocalypse,  as  one  of '  the  seven  churches  of  Asia' 
(Rev.  i.  11;  ii.  8-11).  It  was  destroyed  by  an 
earthquake  in  a.d.  1 77  ;  but  the  emperor  Marcus 
Aurelius  caused  it  to  be  rebuilt  with  even  more 
than  its  former  splendour.  It  afterwards,  how- 
ever, suffered  greatly  from  earthquakes  and  con- 
flagrations, and  must  be  regarded  as  having  de- 
clined much  from  its  ancient  importance,  although 
from  the  convenience  of  its  situation  it  has  still 
maintained  its  rank  as  a  great  city  and  the  centra) 
emporium  of  the  Levantine  trade.  The  Turks 
call  it  Izmir.  It  is  a  better  built  town  than  Con- 
stantinople, and  in  proportion  to  its  size  there  are 
few  places  in  the  Turkish  dominions  which  hav€ 
so  large  a  population.  It  is  computed  at  1-30,000, 
of  which  the  Franks  compose  a  far  greater  pro- 
portion than  in  any  other  town  of  Turkey ;  and 
they  are  generally  in  good  circumstances.  Next 
to  the  Turks  the  Greeks  form  the  most  numerous 
class  of  inhabitants,  and  they  have  a  bishop  and 
two  churches.  The  unusually  large  proportion 
3  B 


738  SOAP 

of  Christians  in  the  town  renders  it  peculiarly  1 
unclean  in  the  ej'es  of  strict  Moslems,  whence  it 
has  acquired  among  them  the  name  of  Giaour  j 
Izmir,  or  Infidel  Smyrna.  There  are  in  it  20,000  i 
Greeks,  SOOO  Armenians,  1000  Europeans,  and  ' 
9000  Jews  :  the  rest  are  Moslems. 

The  prosperity  of  Smyrna  is  now  rather  on  the 
increase  than  the  decline. 

It  stands  at  the  foot  of  a  range  of  mountains, 
which  enclose  it  on  three  sides.  The  only  ancient 
ruins  are  upon  the  mountains  behind  the  town, 
and  to  the  south.  But  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
relics  of  antiquity  have  been  carried  away.  The 
stadium,  of  which  the  ground-plot  only  remains, 
is  supposed  to  be  the  place  where  Polycarp,  the 
disciple  of  St.  John,  and  probably  '  the  angel  of 
the  church  of  Smyrna'  (John  ii.  8),  to  whom 
the  Apocalyptic  message  was  addressed,  suffered 
martyrdom.  The  Christians  of  Smyrna  hold  the 
memory  of  this  venerable  person  in  high  honour, 
and  go  annually  in  procession  to  his  supposed 
tomb,  which  is  at  a  short  distance  from  the  place 
of  martyrdom. 

SNAIL.  Snails  and  slugs  are  not  very  com- 
mon in  countries  so  dry  in  summer  as  Palestine. 
Hence,  perhaps,  the  fact,  that  there  is  only  one 
allusion  to  them  in  Scripture.  This  occurs  in 
Psalm  Iviii.  8,  where  the  figure  seems  to  be  more 
significant,  if  understood  of  snails  without  shells, 
t.  e.  slugs,  rather  than  shell-snails,  though  true  of 
both. 

SO,  a  king  of  Egypt,  whom  Hoshea,  the  last 
king  of  Israel,  called  to  his  help  against  the  As- 
syrians under  Shahnaneser  (2  Kings  xvii.  4).  It 
has  been  questioned  whether  this  So  was  the  same 
with  Sabaco,  the  first  king  of  the  Ethiopian  dy- 
nasty in  Upper  Egypt,  or  his  son  and  successor 
Sevechus,  the  second  king  of  the  same  dynasty, 
and  the  immediate  predecessor  of  Tirhakah. 

SOAP.  The  word  thus  translated  in  the 
Auth.  Version  is  in  Hebrew  borith.  It  occurs  in 
two  passages  of  Scripture — first,  in  Jerem.  ii. 
22,  '  For  though  thou  wash  thee  with  nitre,  and 
take  thee  much  sope  {borith),  yet  thine  iniquity 
is  marked  before  me,  saith  the  Lord  God  ;'  and 
again,  in  Malachi  iii.  2,  '  But  who  may  abide  the 
day  of  his  coming  ?  and  who  shall  stand  when  he 
appeareth  ?  for  he  is  like  a  refiner's  fire,  and  like 
fuller's  sope  {borith).'  From  neither  of  these 
passages  does  it  distinctly  appear  whether  the 
substance  referred  to  by  the  name  of  borith  was 
obtained  from  the  mineral  or  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  But  it  is  evident  that  it  was  possessed 
of  cleansing  properties. 

In  the  above  passage  of  Jeremiah  we  have  7ieter 
(nitre)  and  borith  (soap)  indicated  as  being  both* 
employed  for  washing,  or  possessed  of  some  cleans- 
ing properties;  and  yet,  from  occurring  in  the 
same  passage,  they  must  have  differed  in  some 
respects.  The  nitre  is,  without  doubt,  the  natural 
carbonate  of  soda ;  and  as  this  is  alluded  to  in  one 
member  of  the  sentence,  it  becomes  probable  that 
the  artificial  carbonates  may  be  alluded  to  in  the 
)ther,  as  both  were  in  early  times  employed  by 
Asiatic  nations  for  the  purposes  of  washing. 

Hence  it  is  probable  that  the  ashes  of  plants, 
called  boruk  and  boreh  by  Asiatic  nations,  may 
be  alluded  to  under  the  name  of  borith,  as  there 
is  no  proof  that  soap  is  intended,  though  it  may 
have  been  known  to  the  same  people  at  very  early 
periods.    Still  less  is  it  probable  that  borax  is 


SOLOMON 

meant,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some  authors,  ap- 
parently from  the  mere  similarity  of  name. 

SOD'OM,  a  city  in  the  vale  of  Siddim,  where 
Lot  settled  after  his  separation  from  Abraham 
(Gen.  xiii.  12  ;  xiv.  12  :  xix.  1).  It  had  its  own 
chief  or  '  king,'  as  had  the  other  four  cities  of  the 
plain  (Gen.  xiv.  2,  8,  10),  and  was  along  with 
them,  Zoar  only  excepted,  destroyed  by  fire  from 
heaven,  on  account  of  the  gross  wickedness  of  the 
inhabitants  ;  the  memory  of  which  event  has  been 
perpetuated  in  a  name  of  infamy  to  all  genera- 
tions (Gen.  xix.).  The  destruction  of  Sodom 
claims  attention  from  the  solemnity  with  which 
it  is  introduced  (Gen.  xviii.  20-22);  from  the 
circumstances  which  preceded  and  followed — the 
intercession  of  Abraham,  the  preservation  of  Lot, 
and  the  judgment  which  overtook  his  lingering 
wife  (Gen.  xviii.  25-33 ;  xix.) ;  and  from  the 
nature  of  the  physical  agencies  through  which 
the  overthrow  was  effected.  It  has  usually  been 
assumed  that  the  vale  of  Siddim  occupied  the 
basin  of  what  is  now  the  Dead  Sea,  which  did 
not  previously  exist,  but  was  one  of  the  results  of 
this  catastrophe.  It  has  now,  however,  been  esta- 
blished by  Dr.  Robinson,  that  a  lake  to  receive 
the  Jordan  and  other  waters  must  have  occupied 
this  basin  long  before  the  catastrophe  of  Sodom, 
but  of  much  less  extent  than  the  present  Dead 
Sea.  It  is  extremely  probable  that  its  southern 
extremity  covers  the  once  fertile  vale  of  Siddim, 
and  the  site  of  Sodom  and  the  other  cities  which 
the  Lord  destroyed;  and  that,  in  the  words  of 
Dr.  Eobinson — '  by  some  convulsion  or  catas- 
trophe of  nature,  connected  with  the  miraculous 
destruction  of  the  cities,  either  the  surface  of  this 
plain  was  scooped  out,  or  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
was  heaved  up,  so  as  to  cause  the  M'aters  to  over- 
flow, and  cover  permanently  a  larger  tract  thaa 
formerly.  The  country  is,  as  we  know,  subject 
to  earthquakes,  and  exhibits  also  frequent  traces 
of  volcanic  action.  It  would  have  been  no  un- 
common effect  of  either  of  these  causes  to  heave 
up  the  bottom  of  the  ancient  lake,  and  thus  pro- 
duce the  phenomenon  in  question.  But  the  his- 
torical account  of  the  destruction  of  the  cities 
implies  also  the  agency  of  fire.  Perhaps  both 
causes  were  therefore  at  work  ;  for  volcanic  action 
and  earthquakes  go  hand  in  hand ;  and  the  accom- 
panying electric  discharges  usually  cause  light- 
nings to  play  and  thunders  to  roll.  In  this  way 
we  have  all  the  phenomena  which  the  most  literal 
interpretation  of  the  sacred  records  can  demand.' 

SOL'OMON  {pacific).  The  reign  of  Solomon 
over  all  Israel,  although  second  in  importance 
only  to  that  of  David,  has  so  little  variety  of  in- 
cident as  to  occupy  a  far  less  space  in  the  Bible 
narrative.  In  the  declining  age  of  David,  his 
eldest  surviving  son,  Adonijah,  endeavoured  to 
place  himself  on  the  throne,  by  the  aid  of  Joab 
the  chief  captain,  and  Abiathar  one  of  the  chief 
priests,  both  of  whom  had  been  associated  with 
David's  early  sufferings  under  the  persecution  of 
Saul.  The  aged  monarch  did  not  for  a  moment 
give  way  to  the  formidable  usurpation,  but  at  the 
remonstrance  of  his  favourite,  Bathsheba,  resolved 
forthwith  to  raise  her  son  Solomon  to  the  throne. 
To  Joab  he  was  able  to  oppose  the  celebrated 
name  of  Benaiah  ;  to  Abiathar  his  colleague  Zadok 
and  the  aged  prophet  Nathan.  The  plot  of  Ado- 
nijah was  at  once  defeated  by  this  decisive  mea- 
sure; and  Solomon,  being  anointed  by  Nathan, 


SOLOMO?f 


was  solemnly  acknowledged  as  king.  The  date 
of  this  event  is,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained, 
B.C.  1015.  The  death  of  David  would  seem  to 
have  followed  very  quick  upon  these  transactions. 
At  least,  no  public  measures  in  the  interval  are 
recorded,  except  Solomon's  verbal  forgiveness  of 
Adonijah.  But  after  the  removal  of  David,  the 
first  events  of  which  we  hear  are  the  destruction 
of  Adonijah,  Joab,  and  Shimei  son  of  Gera,  with 
the  degradation  of  Abiathar. 

After  this  the  history  enters  upon  a  general 
narrative  of  the  reign  of  Solomon ;  but  we  have 
very  few  notices  of  time,  and  cannot  attempt  to 
fix  the  order  of  any  of  the  events.  All  the  in- 
formation, however,  which  we  have  concerning 
him  may  be  consolidated  under  the  following 
heads:  (1)  his  traffic  and  wealth  ;  (2)  his  build- 
ings ;  (3)  his  ecclesiastical  arrangements  ;  (4)  his 
general  administration  ;  (5)  his  seraglio ;  (6)  his 
enemies. 

(1.)  The  overflowing  wealth  in  which  he  is  so 
vividly  depicted  is  not  easy  to  reduce  to  a  modern 
financial  estimate ;  partly  because  the  numbers 
ire  so  often  treacherous,  and  partly  because  it  is 
uncertain  what  items  of  expenditure  fell  on  the 
general  funds  of  the  government.  But  abandon- 
ing all  attempt  at  numerical  estimates,  it  cannot 
be  doubted  that  the  wealth  of  Solomon  was  very 
great. 

The  profound  peace  which  the  nation  enjoyed 
IS  a  fruit  of  David's  victories  stimulated  the  in- 
dustry of  all  Israel.  The  tribes  beyond  the  Jordan 
had  become  rich  by  the  plunder  of  the  Hagarenes, 
and  had  a  wide  district  where  their  cattle  might 
multiply  to  an  indefinite  extent.  The  agricultural 
tribes  enjoyed  a  soil  and  climate  in  some  parts 
eminently  fruitful,  and  in  all  richly  rewarding 
the  toil  of  irrigation ;  so  that,  in  the  security  of 
peace,  nothing  more  was  wanted  to  develope  the 
resources  of  the  nation  than  markets  for  its  various 
produce.  In  food  for  men  and  cattle,  in  timber 
and  fruit  trees,  in  stone,  and  probably  in  the  use- 
ful metals,  the  land  supplied  of  itself  all  the  first 
wants  of  its  people  in  abundance.  For  exportation, 
it  is  distinctly  stated  that  wheat,  barley,  oil,  and 
wine,  were  iu  chief  demand ;  to  which  we  may 
conjecturally  add,  wool,  hides,  and  other  raw 
materials.  The  king  undoubtedly  had  large  dis- 
tricts and  extensive  herds  of  his  own  ;  but  besides 
this,  he  received  presents  in  kind  from  his  own 
people  and  from  the  subject  nations.  He  was 
himself  at  once  monarch  and  merchant.  By  his 
intimate  commercial  union  with  the  Tyrians  he 
was  put  into  the  most  favourable  of  all  positions 
for  disposing  of  his  goods  ;  and  by  the  aid  of  their 
enterprise  and  experience  carried  on  a  lucrative 
trade  with  various  countries. 

The  visit  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba  to  Solomon, 
although  not  strictly  commercial,  rose  out  of 
commercial  intercourse,  and  may  perhaps  be  here 
noticed.  The  territory  of  Sheba,  according  to 
Strabo,  reached  so  far  north  as  to  meet  that  of  the 
Nabathseans,  although  its  proper  seat  was  at  the 
southernmost  angle  of  Arabia.  The  very  rich 
presents  made  by  the  queen  show  the  extreme 
value  of  her  commerce  with  the  Hebrew  mo- 
narch ;  and  this  early  interchange  of  hospitality 
derives  a  peculiar  interest  from  the  fact,  that  in 
much  later  ages— those  of  the  Maccabees  and 
downwards — the  intercourse  of  the  Jews  with 
Sheba  became  so  intimate,  and  their  influence, 


SOLOMON  739 

and  even  power,  so  great.  Jewish  circumcision 
took  root  there,  and  princes  held  sway  who  were 
called  Jewish. 

(2.)  Besides  the  great  work  which  has  rendered 
the  name  of  Solomon  so  famous— the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem— we  are  informed  of  the  palaces  which 
he  built,  viz.,  his  own  palace,  the  queen's  palace, 
and  the  house  of  the  forest  of  Lebanon,  his  porch 
(or  piazza)  for  no  specified  object,  and  his  porch 
of  judgment,  or  law  court.  He  also  added  to  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  and  fortified  Millo  ('in  the 
city  of  David,'  2  Chron.  xxxii.  .5),  and  many 
other  strongholds.  In  all  these  works  he  had 
the  aid  of  the  Tyrians,  whose  skill  in  hewing 
timber  and  in  carving  stone,  and  in  the  applica- 
tion of  machines  for  conveying  hea'  y  masses,  was 
of  the  first  importance. 

(3  )  The  ecclesiastical  arrangemants  of  Solomon 
were  of  the  most  magnificent  description,  and  for 
a  time  he  zealously  worshipped  and  faithfully 
served  the  God  of  his  fathers.  But  after  the 
death  of  Nathan  and  Zadok,  those  faithful  friends 
of  David,  '  his  wives  turned  away  his  heart  after 
other  gods,  and  his  heart  was  not  perfect  with 
the  Lord  as  was  the  heart  of  David  his  father' 
(1  Kings  xi,  1-8).  Side  by  side  with  the  worship 
of  Jehovah  foreign  idolatries  were  established ; 
and  the  disgust  which  this  inspired  in  the  pro- 
phets of  Jehovah  is  clearly  seen  in  the  address  of 
Ahijah  the  Shilonite  to  Jeroboam,  so  manifestly 
exciting  him  to  rebel  against  the  son  of  David 
(1  Kings  xi.  29-39). 

(4.)  Concerning  his  general  administration 
little  is  recorded  beyond  the  names  of  various 
high  officers.  But  it  is  probable  that  Solomon's 
peculiar  talents  and  taste  led  him  to  perform  one 
function  which  is  always  looked  for  in  Oriental 
royalty,  viz.,  to  act  personally  as  Jiidije  in  cases 
of  oppression.  His  award  between  the  two  con- 
tending mothers  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  isolated 
fact :  and  '  the  porch  of  judgment '  which  he  built 
for  himself  may  imply  that  he  devoted  fixed  por- 
tions of  time  to  the  judicial  duties  (see  2  Kings 
XV.  5,  of  Jotham).  The  celebrity  which  Solomon 
gained  for  wisdom,  although  founded  mainly 
perhaps  on  his  political  and  commercial  sagacity, 
must  have  received  great  popular  impetus  from 
his  administration  of  law,  and  from  his  readiness 
in  seeing  through  the  entanglements  of  afiairs 
which  arise  in  commercial  transactions. 

(.5.)  For  the  harem  of  Solomon — consisting  of 
700  wives  and  300  concubines — no  other  apology 
can  be  made,  than  the  fact,  that  in  countries 
where  polygamy  is  not  disreputable,  an  unlimited 
indulgence  as  to  the  number  of  wives  is  looked 
upon  as  the  chief  luxury  of  wealth,  and  the  most 
appropriate  appendage  to  royalty. 

The  commercial  union  of  Tyre  with  Egypt,  in 
spite  of  the  vast  diversity  of  genius  between  the 
two  nations,  was  in  those  days  very  close ;  and  it 
appears  highly  probable  that  the  afiinity  to  Pharaoh 
was  sought  by  Solomon  as  a  means  of  aiding  his 
commercial  projects.  Although  his  possession  of 
the  Edomite  ports  on  the  gulf  of  Akabah  made 
him  to  a  certain  extent  independent  of  Egypt,  the 
friendship  of  that  power  must  have  been  of  extreme 
importance  to  him  in  the  dangerous  navigation  of 
the  Red  Sea  ;  and  was  perhaps  a  chief  cause  of  his 
brilliant  success  in  so  new  an  enterprise.  That 
Pharaoh  continued  for  some  time  on  good  terms 
with  him,  appears  from  a  singular  present  which 
3  B  2 


740 


SOSIPATER 


the  Egyptian  king  made  him  (1  Kings  ix.  16): 
'  Pharaoh  had  gone  up  and  taken  Gezer,  and  burnt 
it  with  fire,  and  slain  the  Canaanites  that  dwelt 
in  the  city,  and  given  it  for  a  present  unto  his 
daughter,  Solomon's  wife ;'  in  consequence  of 
which  Solomon  rebuilt  and  fortified  the  town.  In 
his  declining  years  a  very  different  spirit  is  mani- 
fested towards  him  by  Shishak,  the  new  Egyptian 
king ;  whether  after  the  death  of  the  princess  who 
had  been  the  link  between  the  two  kingdoms,  or 
from  a  different  view  of  policy  in  the  new  king,  is 
unknown. 

(6.)  The  enemies   especially  named  as  rising 
against  him  in  his  later  years,  are  Jeroboam,  Ha- 
dad  the  Edomite,  and  Rezon  of  Damascus.     The 
first  is  described  as  having  had  no  treasonable  in- 
tentions, until  Solomon   sought  to  kill  him,  on 
learning  the  prophecy  made  to  him  by  Ahijah. 
Jeroboam  was  received  and  fostered  by  Shishak, 
king  of  Egypt,  and  ultimately  became  the  provi- 
dential instrument  of  punishing    Solomon's  ini- 
quity, though  not  without  heavy  guilt  of  his  own. 
As  for  Hadad,  his  enmity  to  Israel  began  from 
the  times  of  David,  and  is  ascribed  to  the  savage 
butchery  perpetrated  by  Joab  on  his  people.     He 
also,  when  a  mere  child,  was  warmly  received  in 
Egypt,  apparently  by  the  father-in-law  of  Solomon ; 
but'  this  does  not  seem  to  have  been  prompted  by 
hostility  to   David.     Having  married   the  sister 
cf  Pharaoh's  queen,  he  must  have  been  in  very 
high  station  in  Egypt;  still,  upon  the  death  of 
David,  he  begged  leave  to  depart  into  Edom,  and 
during  the  earlier  part  of  Solomon's  reign  was 
probably  forming  his  party  in  secret,  and  prepar- 
ing for  that  dangerous  border  warfare  which  he 
carried  on  somewhat  later.     Rezon,  on  the  con- 
trary, seems  to  have  had  no  personal  cause  against 
the  Hebrew  monarchy ;  but  having  become  power- 
ful at  Damascus  and  on  its  frontier,  sought,  not  in 
vain,  to  aggrandize  himself  at  its  expense.     The 
revenues  which  would  have  maintained  it  were 
spent  on  a  thousand  royal  wives  :  the  king  himself 
was  unwarlike ;  and  a  petty  foe,  if  energetic,  was 
very  formidable.    Such  were  the  vexations  which 
darkened  the  setting  splendours  of  the  greatest 
Israelitish  king.     But  from  within  also  his  pros- 
perity was  unsound.     Deep  discontent  pervaded 
his  own  people,  when  the  dazzle  of  his  grandeur 
had  become  familiar ;  when  it  had  become  clear, 
that  the  royal  wealth,  instead  of  denoting  national 
well  being,  was  really  sucked  out  of  the  nation's 
vitals.    Having  no  constitutional  organ  to  express 
their  discontent,  they  waited  sullenly,  until  the 
recognition  of  a  successor  to  the  crown  should 
give  them  the  opportunity  of  extorting  a  removal 
of  burdens  which  could  not  permanently  be  en- 
dured. 
SOLOMON'S  SONG.    [Canticles.] 
SONG.    [Poetry.] 
SOOTHSAYER.    [Divination.] 
SOP'ATER,  a  Christian  at  Beraea,  and  one  of 
the  party  of  brethren  who  accompanied  Paul  into 
Asia  Minor  from  Greece  (Acts  xx.  4).     He  is 
supposed  to  be  the  same  with  the  Sosipater  named 
in  Rom.  xvi.  21 ;  and,  if  so,  was  a  kinsman  of 
St.  Paul. 
SORCERER.    [Divination.] 
SO'REK,  a  valley,  probably  so  called  from  its 
vineyards  (Judg.  xvi.  4).     Eusebius  and  Jerome 
place  it  north  of  Eleutheropolis,  and  near  to  Zorah. 
SOSIP'ATER.    [SopATER.] 


SOUL 

SOS'THENES,  the  chief  of  the  synagogue  at 
Corinth,  when  Paul  was  in  that  city  on  his  second 
journey  into  Greece  (Acts  xviii.  17).  He  was 
seized  and  beaten  by  the  people,  before  the  judg- 
ment-seat of  Gallio,  on  account  of  the  tumult 
raised  by  the  Jews  against  Paul,  of  which  he 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  leaders.  He  is 
supposed  to  have  been  after\vards  converted  to 
Christianity,  as  a  Sosthenes  is  mentioned  by  Paul 
as  'a  brother,'  and  coupled  with  himself  in  1  Cor. 
i.  1.  This  identity  is,  however,  a  pure  conjecture, 
and  not  remarkably  probable ;  but  apart  from 
it,  we  know  nothing  of  this  second  Sosthenes. 
Eusebius  makes  him  one  of  the  seventy  disciples, 
and  later  tradition  describes  him  as  bishop  of 
Kolophon. 

SOUL.  The  present  article  is  a  sequel  to  that 
on  Punishment,  iu  which  the  literature  only  of 
the  question  concerning  future  punishment  will 
be  briefly  stated.  The  literature  of  the  question 
concerning  the  nature  and  duration  of  future 
punishment  consists  of  the  following  particulars. 
First,  its  duration  was  believed  by  the  heathens 
to  be  eternal.  Secondly,  there  is  a  still  more 
striking  similarity  between  the  descriptions  both 
of  the  nature  and  duration  of  future  punishment 
given  in  the  Apocryphal  books  and  those  of  the 
New  Testament.  Thus  Judith  xvi.  17:  'Woe 
to  the  nations  which  rise  up  against  my  kindred  ! 
the  Lord  Almighty  will  take  vengeance  on  them 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  in  putting  fire  and  worms 
in  their  flesh ;  and  they  shall  feel  them,  and  weep 
for  ever'  (comp.  Ecclus.  vii.  17;  Mark  ix.  44). 
These  terms  seem  borrowed  from  Isaiah's  descrip- 
tion of  a  different  subject  (ch.  Ixvi.  24).  Thirdly, 
Josephus  describes  the  doctrine  of  everlasting 
punishment  as  being  held  by  the  Pharisees  and 
Essenes  :  '  that  the  souls  of  the  wicked  should  be 
punished  with  perpetual  punishment,  and  that 
there  was  appointed  for  them  a  perpetual  prison' 
(De  Bell.  Jud.  ii.  8.  11,  14;  Antiq.  xviii.  1.  3). 
In  the  New  Testament  the  nature  of  future 
punishment  is  almost  always  described  by  figures. 
The  most  abstract  description  occurs  in  Rom.  ii. 
9-16:  '  Tribulation  and  anguish  upon  every  soul 
of  man  that  doeth  evil,  in  the  day  when  God 
shall  judge  the  secrets  of  men.'  Our  Lord  gene- 
rally describes  it  under  figures  suggested  by  some 
comparison  he  had  just  before  made,  and  in  unison 
with  it.  Thus,  having  described  future  happiness 
under  the  figure  of  a  midnight  banquet,  lighted 
up  with  lamps,  then  the  state  of  the  rejected  is 
described  under  that  of  '  outer  darkness '  outside 
the  mansion,  and  'gnashing' or  chattering  'of 
teeth,'  from  the  extreme  cold  of  an  Oriental  night 
(Matt.  viii.  12;  Luke  xiii.  28).  If  'the  end  of 
the  world '  be  described  by  him  under  the  figure 
of  a  harvest,  then  the  wicked,  who  are  repre- 
sented by  the  tares,  are  accordingly  gathered  and 
burned.  Our  Lord  also  frequently  represents 
future  punishment  under  the  idea  of  fire,  which 
Calvin,  on  Isa.  Ixvi.  24,  remarks,  must  be  under- 
stood metaphorically  of  spiritual  punishment. 
Indeed  both  the  nature  and  varieti/  of  the  figures 
employed  by  our  Saviour  in  regard  to  the  subject 
fully  justify  Paley's  observation,  'that  our  Lord's 
discourses  exhibit  no  particular  description  of  the 
invisible  world.  The  future  happiness  of  the  good 
and  the  future  misery  of  the  bad,  which  is  all  we 
want  to  be  assured  of,  is  directly  and  positively 
affirmed,  and  is  represented  by  metaphors  and 


SPAIN 

comparisons  which  ■were  plainly  intended  as  me- 
taphors and  comparisons,  and  nothing  more.  As 
to  the  rest  a  solemn  reserve  is  maintained '  {Evi- 
dences of'  Christianiti/,  part  ii.  ch.  ii.).  The  ques- 
tion of  the  duration  of  future  punishment  chiefly 
turns  on  the  force  of  the  words  translated  '  ever,' 
♦everlasting,'  'never,'  which  our  Lord  and  his 
apostles  apply  to  it,  and  which  it  is  well  known 
have  sometimes  a  limited  signification,  and  are 
very  variously  translated  in  the  English  version. 
Heuce,  therefore,  it  is  urged  on  the  one  side,  that 
we  can  never  settle  the  precise  import  of  these 
words,  as  applied  in  the  New  Testament  to  the 
duration  of  future  punishment,  until  we  shall  be 
able  also  to  answer  the  following  questions ; 
namely,  Was  it  part  of  the  commission  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles  to  determine  this  matter  ?  and  if 
so,  In  what  sense  were  the  terms  they  used  in 
regard  to  it  meant  by  themselves,  and  understood 
by  their  hearers — whether  as  denoting  a  punish- 
ment of  unknown  duration,  or  one  literally  co- 
existent with  the  duration  of  the  Eternal  God  ? 
On  the  other  side  it  is  objected,  that  the  same 
word  is  applied  both  to  the  happiness  of  the 
righteous  and  the  misery  of  the  wicked,  though 
varied  in  our  translation  of  Matt.  xxv.  46 :  '  These 
shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment,  but 
the  righteous  into  life  eternal.'  Upon  this  truly 
important  subject  we  cordially  acquiesce  in  the 
remark  of  Doddridge :  '  Miserable  are  they  who 
venture  their  souls  upon  the  possibility  that  the 
words  in  question,  when  applied  to  future  punish- 
ment, may  have  a  limited  meaning.' 

SOUTH.  The  country,  or  quarter  of  the  hea- 
vens, which  the  Shemite,  standing  with  his  face 
to  the  east,  supposes  to  be  on  his  right  hand. 
An  important  use  of  the  word  is  as  the  name  or 
designation  of  the  desert  regions  lying  at  the 
south  of  Judaea,  consisting  of  the  deserts  of  Shur, 
Zin,  and  Paran,  the  mountainous  country  of 
Edom  or  Idumjea,  and  part  of  Arabia  Petriea 
(Gen.  xii.  9 ;  xiii.  1).  In  this  region  the  Amale- 
kites  are  said  to  have  dwelt,  '  in  the  land  of  the 
south,'  when  Moses  sent  the  spies  to  view  the 
land  of  Canaan  (Num.  xiii.  29),  viz.,  the  locality 
between  Idumaea  and  Egypt,  and  to  the  east  of 
the  Dead  Sea  and  Mount  Seir  [ Amalekites]  . 
The  inhabitants  of  this  region  were  included  in 
the  conquests  of  Joshua  (x.  40).  To  the  same 
region  belongs  the  passage,  'Turn  our  captivity 
as  the  streams  in  the  south'  (Ps.  cxxvi.  4) ;  which 
suddenly  fill  the  wadys  or  valleys  during  the 
season  of  rain  (comp.  Ezek.  vi.  3  ;  xxxiv.  13 ; 
XXXV.  8  ;  xxxvi.  4,  6).  These  are  dry  in  summer 
(Job  vi.  15-18).  Through  part  of  this  sterile  re- 
gion the  Israelites  must  repass  in  their  vain  appli- 
cation to  Egypt.  It  is  called  the  Wilderness  of 
Judaea  (Matt.  iii.  1 ;  Josh.  xv.  61).  Through 
part  of  this  region  lay  the  road  from  Jerusalem 
to  Gaza,  '  which  is  desert'  (Acts  viii.  26). 
SOWER,  SOWING.  [Agriculture.] 
SPAIN  (Rom.  XV.  24,  28).  This  name  was 
anciently  applied  to  the  whole  Peninsula  which 
now  comprises  Spain  and  Poitugal.  In  the  time 
of  Paul  Spain  was  a  Roman  province,  and  many 
Jews  appear  to  have  settled  there.  It  seems 
clear  from  Rom.  xv.  24, 28,  that  Paul  formed  the 
design  of  proceeding  to  preach  the  Gospel  in 
Spain :  that  he  ever  executed  this  intention  is 
necessarily  denied  by  those  who  hold  that  the 
apostle  sustained  but  one  imprisonment  at  Rome, 


SPIDER 


741 


y,  that  in  which  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles 
leave  him ;  and  even  those  who  hold  that  he  was 
released  from  this  imprisonment  can  only  con- 
jecture that,  in  the  interval  between  it  and  the 
second,  he  fulfilled  his  intention.  There  is,  in 
fact,  during  the  three  first  centuries,  no  evidence 
on  the  subject,  beyond  a  vague  intimation  by 
Clement,  which  is  open  to  different  explanations 
[Paul]  ;  and  later  traditions  are  of  small  value. 

SPARROW  occurs  in  Gen.  vii.  14;  Lev.  xiv. 
4  ;  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  3  ;  cii.  7  ;  Matt.  x.  29  ;  Luke  xii. 
6,  7.  The  Hebrew  word  includes  not  only  the 
sparrow,  but  also  the  whole  family  of  small  birds 
not  exclusively  feeding  on  grain,  but  denomi- 
nated clean,  or  those  that  might  be  eaten  accord- 
ing to  the  law.  It  includes  many  insectivorous 
and  frugivorous  species,  all  the  thrushes  we  have 
in  Europe,  and  the  rose-coloured  ousel  or  locust- 
bird,  rare  with  us,  but  numerous  and  cherished 
in  the  East,  solely  for  the  havoc  it  makes  among 
locusts.  It  also  includes  perhaps  the  starlings, 
the  nightingale,  all  the  European  larks,  the  wag- 
tails, and  all  the  tribe  of  finches ;  but  not  fly- 
catchers, nor  indeed  swallows,  which,  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  were  reckoned,  along  with 
night-hawks  or  goatsuckers,  and  crows,  among 
the  unclean  and  prohibited  species.  In  Syria 
the  sparrow  is  the  same  vivacious  familiar  bird 
we  find  it  in  Europe,  and  equally  frequents  the 
residence  of  man. 

SPEAR.     [Arms.] 

SPICES.  This  word,  which  occurs  very  fre- 
quently in  our  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  has 
usually  been  considered  to  indicate  several  of  the 
aromatic  substances  to  which  the  same  general 
name  is  applied  in  the  present  day.  And  we 
have  as  much  assurance  as  is  possible  in  such 
cases  that  the  majority  of  the  substances  referred 
to  have  been  identified,  and  that  among  the  spices 
of  early  times  were  included  many  of  those  which 
now  form  articles  of  commerce  from  India  to 
Europe. 

SPIDER  occurs  in  Job  viii.  14;  Isa.  lix.  5. 
In  the  first  of  these  passages,  the  reference  seems 
clear  to  the  spider's  web,  or  literally,  house, 
whose  fragility  is  alluded  to  as  a  fit  representa- 
tion of  the  hope  of  a  profane,  ungodly,  or  projli- 
gate  person;  for  so  the  original  word  really 
means,  and  not  '  hypocrite,'  as  in  our  version. 
The  object  of  such  a  person's  trust  or  confidence, 
who  is  always  really  in  imminent  danger  of  ruin, 
may  be  compared  for  its  uncertainty  to  the  spi- 
der's web.  '  He  shall  lean  upon  his  house  {i.  e. 
to  keep  it  steady  when  it  is  shaken) ;  he  shall 
hold  it  fast  (z.  e.  when  it  is  about  to  be  destroyed) ; 
nevertheless  it  shall  not  endure  (ver.  15).  In 
the  second  passage  (Isa.  lix.  5)  it  is  said,  '  The 
wicked  weave  the  spider's  web '  (literally,  '  thin 
threads');  but  it  is  added,  'their  thin  threads 
shall  not  become  garments,  neither  shall  they 
cover  themselves  with  their  works  ;'  that  is,  their 
artifices  shall  neither  succeed,  uor  conceal  them- 
selves, as  does  the  spider's  web.  This  allusion 
intimates  no  antipathy  to  the  spider  itself,  or  to 
its  habits  when  directed  towards  its  own  purposes; 
but  simply  to  the  adoption  of  those  habits  by  man 
towards  his  fellow-creatures.  There  has  long 
been  a  popular  prejudice  against  spiders,  and  the 
poet  Thomson  has  stigmatized  them  os 
'  Cunning  and  fierce — 
Mixture  abhorred }' 


742 


SPIRIT 


but  these  epithets  are  in  reality  as  unjustly  ap- 
plied to  them  (at  least  with  reference  to  the  mode 
by  which  they  procure  necessary  subsistence),  as 
to  the  patient  sportsman,  who  lays  snares  for  the 
birds  that  are  to  serve  for  the  dinner  of  his 
family :  while  it  can  be  further  pleaded  in  behalf 
of  spiders,  that  they  are  actively  serviceable  to 
the  human  race,  in  checking  the  superfecundity 
jf  other  insects,  and  afford  in  their  various  pro- 
ledures  the  most  astonishing  displays  of  that  Su- 
preme Intelligence  by  which  they  are  directed. 

SPIKENARD.    [Nebd.] 

SPIRIT  and  HOLY  SPIRIT.  The  leading 
significations  of  the  original  words  thus  rendered 
may  be  classed  under  the  following  heads : — 

1.  The  primary  sense  of  the  term  is  wind. 
•  He  that  formeth  the  mountains  and  createth  the 
wind'  (Amos  iv.  13;  Isa.  xxvii.  8).  'The  wind 
bloweth  where  it  listeth  '  (John  iii.  8).  This  is 
the  ground  idea  of  the  term  '  spirit ' — air — ether 
—air  refined,  sublimated,  or  vitalized :  hence  it 
denotes — 

2.  Breath,  as  of  the  mouth.  '  At  the  blast  of 
:he  breath  of  his  nostrils  are  they  consumed '  (Job 
■T,  9).  'The  Lord  shall  consume  that  wicked 
jne  with  the  breath  of  his  mouth  '  (2  Thess.  ii.  8). 

3.  The  vital  principle  which  resides  in  and 
inimates  the  body  (Eccles.  viii.  8;  Gen.  vi.  17  ; 
7ii.  15). 

In  close  connection  with  this  use  of  the  word 
s  another — 

4.  In  which  it  has  the  sense  of  appaiition — 
-.pectre  (Luke  xxiv.  37,  39  ;  Matt.  xiv.  26). 

5.  The  sou/— the  rational  immortal  principle, 
)y  which  man  is  distinguished  from  the  brute 
ireation  (Luke  xxiii.  46;  Acts  vii.  59;  1  Cor.  v. 
5 ;  vi.  20 ;  vii.  34  ;  Heb.  xii.  9). 

6.  The  race  of  superhuman  created  intelli- 
gences. 

7.  The  term  is  applied  to  the  Deity,  as  the 
sole,  absolute,  and  uncreated  Spirit.  'God  is  a 
Spirit.'  This,  as  a  predicate,  belongs  to  the 
iivine  nature,  irrespective  of  the  distinction  of 
persons  in  that  nature.  But  its  characteristic 
application  is  to  the  third  person  in  the  Divinity, 
who  is  called  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  of  his 
essential  holiness,  and  because  in  the  Christian 
scheme  it  is  his  peculiar  work  to  sanctify  the 
people  of  God.  He  is  denominated  TJie  Spirit, 
by  way  of  eminence,  as  the  immediate  author  of 
spiritual  life  in  the  hearts  of  Christians. 

The  words  Spirit,  and  Holy  Spirit,  frequently 
aocur  in  the  New  Testament,  by  metonymy,  for 
the  influence  or  effects  of  His  agency. 

a.  As  a  procreative  power — '  the  power  of  the 
Highest' (Luke  i.  35). 

b.  As  an  influence,  with  which  Jesus  was  en- 
dued (Luke  iv.  4). 

c.  As  a  divine  inspiration  or  afflatus,  by  which 
the   prophets   and  holy  men  wrote   and   spoke. 

Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Ghost'  (2  Pet.  i.  21;  Num.  xi.  26; 
Neh.  ix.  30 ;  Ezek.  iii.  12, 14 ;  Rev.  i.  10  ;  iv.  2  ; 
'vii.  3).  .        ,  .  ^ 

d.  As  miraculous  gifts  and  powers,  with  which 
the  Apostles  were  endowed,  to  qualify  them  for 
the  work  to  which  they  were  called  (John  xx. 
•22  ;  Acts  ii.  4). 

But  the  phrase.  Holy  Spirit,  is  specially  used 
to  denote  a  divine  personal  agent.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  associated,  as  a  distinct  person,  with  the 


SPIRIT 

Father  and  the  Son,  in  the  baptismal  formula 
and  the  apostolical  benediction.  The  Father  and 
Son  are  real  persons.  It  is  reasonable  to  think 
that  the  spirit  who  is  joined  with  them  in  this 
solemn  form  of  induction  into  the  Christian 
church,  is  also  a  personal  agent,  and  not  an  ab- 
straction— a  mere  power  or  influence.  The  sub- 
ject is  baptized  into  the  belief  of  three  personal 
agents.  To  suppose  that,  .in  this  solemn  profession 
of  faith,  he  avows  his  belief  in  the  Father  and 
the  Son,  and  the  poicer  or  influence  of  God,  is 
forced  and  frigid. 

He  is  baptized  into  the  name  of  each  of  the 
three  (Matt,  xxviii.  19).  We  are  not  baptized 
into  the  name  of  an  influence  or  a  power,  but  into 
the  name  of  a  person — of  three  real  and  distinct 
subjects,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

In  the  apostolical  benedictions,  the  Spirit,  as  a 
person,  is  associated  in  the  same  way  with  the 
Father  and  Son  (2  Cor.  xiii.  13).  In  this  uniting 
of  the  three  there  is  the  recognition  of  the  dis- 
tinct personality  of  each,  in  the  separate  gift 
which  is  appropriated  to  each. 

Distinct  personal  acts  and  attributes  are  ascribed 
to  the  Holy  Spirit  too  frequently  and  fully  to  ad- 
mit of  explanation  by  the  prosopopoeia. 

The  Holy  Ghost  speaks,  by  Esaias  the  prophet 
(Acts  xxviii.  25),  expressly  (1  Tim.  iv.  1).  He 
teaches  (Luke  xii.  12).  He  reproves  the  world  of 
sin  (John  xvi.  8).  The  spirit  helpeth  our  infir- 
mities, and  maketh  intercession  for  the  saints 
(Rom.  viii.  26,  27).     He  is  grieved  (Eph.  iv.  30). 

Apostles  are  set  apart  to  him  in  the  work  of 
the  ministry,  and  he  appoints  them  to  that  work 
(Acts  xiii.  2  ;  xv.  28). 

These  are  all  acts  which  imply  a  personal 
agent.  And  these  acts  and  attributes  distinguish 
the  Spirit  from  the  person  of  the  Father  on  the 
one  hand,  and  from  the  personal  subjects  upon 
which  he  acts  on  the  other. 

The  Spirit,  as  a  personal  agent,  comes  from  the 
Father,  is  sent  by  the  Father,  and  of  course  can- 
not be  the  Father.  As  sent  by  the  Father,  he 
maketh  intercession  for  the  saints,  according  to 
the  icill  of  God,  i.  e.  the  Father  from  whom  he 
came.  The  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the 
deep  things  of  God  (1  Cor.  ii.  10).  If  there  be 
no  distinct  personality  of  the  Spirit  separate  from 
that  of  the  Father,  the  real  import  of  these  pas- 
sages must  be,  that  the  Father  comes  from  him- 
self, is  sent  by  himself,  makes  intercession  to 
himself,  according  to  the  will  of  himself,  and 
that  he  searches  the  deep  things  of  himself, — 
which  is  a  style  of  writing  not  to  be  ascribed  to 
any  rational  man,  and  certainly  not  to  inspired 
apostles. 

The  Spirit  of  God  (1  Cor.  ii.  1 1)  is  not  a  created 
spirit ;  and  if  uncreated,  it  must  be  divine  in  the 
highest  sense  ;  but  this  Spirit  is  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  a  proper  person ;  hence  he  is  God. 

As  the  author  of  regf-neration,  or  of  the  new 
spiritual  and  incorruptible  life  in  the  heart  of  the 
believer,  he  must  be  divine.  This  change,  the 
Scriptures  abundantly  declare,  is  wrought  by  the 
Spirit  and  power  of  God. 

Blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  only 
sin  for  which  there  is  no  remission  (Matt.  xii. 
31).  This  sin  against  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  what- 
ever it  may  consist,  is  distinguished  from  all 
other  sins  by  a  degree  of  guilt  which  renders  it 


STANDARDS 

anpardonable.  If  he  be  not  in  his  nature  truly 
God,  there  is  nothing  in  him  to  give  to  sin  against 
him  such  a  peculiar  aggra%'ation.  Although  it  is 
not  simply  because  the  Spirit  is  God  that  blas- 
phemy against  him  is  unpardonable — for  then 
would  blasphemy  against  the  Father  and  the  Son 
also  be  unpardonable— yet  it  is  a  sin  against  God, 
and.  as  being  against  the  third  person  of  the  God- 
head, it  is  aggravated  to  a  degree  of  enormity 
■which  it  could  not  receive  if  committed  against 
any  other  being  than  God. 

The  divine  and  incommunicable  attributes  of 
the  Deity  are  ascribed  to  the  Spirit.  These  attri- 
butes belong  exclusively  to  the  divine  nature ;  he 
who  possesses  them  must  have  the  divine  nature 
and  honour  as  God. 

Works  truly  divine  are  attributable  to  the 
Holy  Spirit,  as  creation  and  preservation,  and 
especially  the  work  of  sanctification. 

Of  the  office  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  say,  that  it  is  not  ministerial,  like  that  of 
the   angels  and   apostles,  but  it  is  the  peculiar 
work  in  the  salvation  of  man  which  he  performs, 
as  sent  by  the  Father  and  the  Son. 
SPOUSE.    [Marriage.] 
SPRI NG.     [Palestine.] 
STA'CHYS,    an  unknown  person,   from  his 
name  apparently  a  Greek,  a  disciple  at  Rome 
and  a  friend  of  Paul  (Rom.  xvi.  9). 

STAC'TE  occurs  only  once  in  Scripture  (Exod, 
XXX.  34).  '  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses, 
Take  unto  thee  sweet  spices,  stacte  (iiataf),  and 
onycha,  and  galbanum ;  these  sweet  spices  with 
pure  frankincense.'  '  Thou  shalt  make  it  a  per- 
fume after  the  art  of  the  apothecary '  (ver.  35). 
Iiataf  has,  however,  been  variously  translated. 
Celsius  is  of  opinion  that  it  means  the  purest  kind 
of  myrrh,  called  stacte  by  the  Greeks.  But  it  is 
difficult  if  not  impossible  to  arrive  at  certainty 
on  the  subject. 

STANDARDS.  Standards  and  ensigns  are 
to  be  regarded  as  efficient  instruments  for  main- 
taining the  ranks  and  files  of  bodies  of  troops ; 
and  in  Num.  ii.  2  they  are  particularly  noticed, 
the  Israelites  being  not  only  enjoined  to  encamp 
'  each  by  the  standard  of  his  tribe  and  the  ensign 
of  his  father's  house,'  but,  as  the  sense  evidently 
implies,  in  orders  or  lines.  It  is  clear,  when  this 
verse  is  considered  in  connection  with  the  reli- 
gious, military,  and  battle  pictures  on  Egyptian 
monuments,  that  the  Hebrews  had  ensigns  of  at 
least  three  kinds,  namely ;  1.  The  great  standards 
of  the  tribes,  serving  as  rallying  signals  for 
marching,  forming  in  battle  array,  and  for  en- 
camping ;  2.  The  divisional  standards  of  clans ; 
and,  3.  Those  of  houses  or  families ;  which  after 
the  occupation  of  the  Promised  Land  may  gradu- 
ally have  been  applied  more  immediately  to  corps 
and  companies,  when  the  tribes,  as  such,  no  longer 
regularly  took  the  field. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  what  were  the 
form,  colours,  materials.and  symbols  of  the  Hebrew 
ensigns ;  but  we  may  be  certain  that  they  could 
not  have  resembled  modern  banners,  as  has  been 
generally  supposed.  We  know  that  as  early  as 
the  days  of  the  exode  of  Israel  the  Egyptians  had 
ensigns  of  different  kinds,  and  it  is  very  likely 
that  the  standards  in  use  among  that  people  were, 
under  proper  modifications,  adopted  by  the  Israel- 
ites when  they  were  about  to  become  wanderers 
over  desert  regions  where  order  and  discipline, 


STAR  IN  THE  EAST 


743 


indications  of 


8.  1.  Bactri an  eagle  ;  2.  Persian  vexlllum  ;  3.  Standard 
of  Sesostris;  4.  Egyptian  ensign  set  in  a  frame,  signal  of 
castrametation  and  of  direction  ;  5.  Telegraphic  ensign, 
varying  with  each  Pharaoh ;  6.  Subordinate  Egyptian 
ensigns;  7.  Tribal  tablet;  8.  Plume  ensign  used  in 
temples. 

STAR  IN  THE  EAST.  Matthew  (ch.  ii.  1, 
sq.)  relates  that  at  the  time  of  the  birth  of  our 
Lord  there  came  wise  men  (magi)  from  the  East 
to  Jerusalem,  to  inquire  after  the  newly-born  king 
of  the  Jews,  in  order  that  they  might  offer  him 
presents  and  worship  him.  A  star,  which  they 
had  seen  in  the  East,  guided  them  to  the  house 
where  the  infant  Messiah  was.  Having  come 
into  his  presence,  they  presented  unto  him  gifts — 
gold,  and  frankincense,  and  myrrh. 

Our  space  will  not  allow  us  to  enter  upon  the 
consideration  of  the  various  theories  which  have 
been  framed  to  explain  this  portion  of  the  sacred 
narrative.  We  must  content  ourselves  with  a 
brief  statement  of  the  theory  of  the  distinguished 
astronomer  Kepler,  which  appears  to  us  the  right 
view  of  the  case. 

These  wise  men  were  Chaldsean  magi.  A  con- 
viction had  long  been  spread  throughout  the  East, 
that  about  the  commencement  of  our  era  a  great 
and  victorious  prince,  or  the  Messiah,  was  to  be 
born.  His  birth  was,  in  consequence  of  words  of 
Sacred  Scripture  (Num.  xxiv.  17),  connected  with 
the  appearance  of  a  star.  Calculatif>ns  seem  to 
have  led  the  astrological  astronomers  of  Mesopo- 
tamia to  fix  the  time  for  the  advent  of  this  king 
in  the  latter  days  of  Herod,  and  the  place  in  the 
land  of  Judaea.     Accordingly,  at  the  appointed 


744 


STEPHEN 


time  two  planets,  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  were  in  con- 
junction under  such  circumstances  as  to  appear 
one  resplendent  heavenly  body,  and  to  marshal 
the  way  for  the  magi  from  their  own  homes  to 
Jerusalem,  Bethlehem,  and  the  inn. 

Kepler  found  by  the  calculations  which  he  made 
that  Jupiter  and  Saturn  were  in  conjunction  in 
the  coRstellation  of  the  Fishes  (a  fish  is  the  astro- 
logical symbol  of  Judcea)  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
year  of  Home  747,  and  were  joined  by  Mars  in 
748.  The  two  planets  went  past  each  other  three 
times,  came  very  near  together,  and  showed  them- 
selves all  night  long  for  months  in  conjunction 
with  each  other,  as  if  they  would  never  separate 
again.  Their  first  union  in  the  East  awoke  the 
attention  of  the  magi,  told  them  the  expected  time 
had  come,  and  bade  them  set  oif  without  delay 
towards  Judsea  (the  fish  land).  When  they 
reached  Jerusalem  the  two  planets  were  once 
more  blended  together.  Then,  in  the  evening, 
they  stood  in  the  southern  part  of  the  sky,  point- 
ing with  their  united  rays  to  Bethlehem,  where 
prophecy  declared  the  Messiah  was  to  be  born. 
The  magi  followed  the  finger  of  heavenly  light, 
and  were  brought  to  the  child  Jesus.  The  con- 
clusion, in  regard  to  the  time  of  the  advent,  is, 
that  our  Lord  was  born  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  of  Rome  747,  or  six  years  before  the  common 
era. 

STEPH'ANAS,  a  disciple  at  Corinth,  whose 
household  Paul  baptized  (1  Cor.  i.  16),  being  the 
first  converted  to  Christianity  in  Achaia  (1  Cor. 
xvi.  15). 

STE'PHEN,  one  of  the  seven  first  deacons,  and 
the  proto-martyr,  of  the  Christian  church.  There 
have  been  various  conjectures  respecting  his  early 
history,  but  the  first  authentic  notice  we  find  of 
him  is  in  Acts  vi.  5.  In  the  distribution  of  the 
common  fund  that  was  intrusted  to  the  Apostles 
(Acts  iv.  35-37)  for  the  support  of  the  poorer 
brethren,  the  Hellenistic  Jews  complained  that  a 
partiality  was  shown  to  the  natives  of  Palestine, 
and  that  the  poor  and  sick  among  their  widows 
were  neglected.  The  complaint  of  the  Hellenists 
having  reached  the  ears  of  the  apostles,  immedi- 
ate directions  were  given  by  them  with  a  view  to 
remove  the  cause  of  it.  Unwilling  themselves  to 
be  called  away  from  their  proper  employment  of 
extending  the  bounds  of  the  Christian  community, 
they  told  the  assembled  multitude  of  believers  to 
select  seven  men  of  their  own  number,  in  whose 
faith  and  integrity  they  might  repose  entire  con- 
fidence, for  the  superintendence  of  everything 
connected  with  the  relief  of  the  poor.  The  pro- 
posal of  the  apostles  met  with  the  approbation  of 
the  brethren,  who  proceeded  at  once  with  the 
choice  of  the  prescribed  number  of  individuals, 
among  whom  Stephen  is  first  mentioned.  He  is 
distinguished  in  Scripture  as  a  man  '  full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost '  (Acts  vi.  5).  The  newly 
elected  individuals  were  brought  to  the  apostles, 
who  ordained  them  to  their  office,  and  they  entered 
upon  their  duties  with  extraordinary  zeal  and 
success.  The  number  of  the  disciples  was  greatly 
increased,  and  many  priests  were  among  the  con- 
verts. In  this  work  Stephen  greatly  distinguished 
himself  by  the  miracles  he  performed  before  the 
people,  and  by  the  arguments  he  advanced  m 
support  of  the  Christian  cause.  From  his  foreign 
descent  and  education  he  was  naturally  led  to 
address  himself  to  the  Hellenists,  and  in  his  dis- 


STORK 

putations  with  Jews  of  the  Synagogue  of  the 
Libertines  and  Cyrenians,  &c.  [Synagogue  and 
Libertine],  he  brought  forward  views  of  the 
Christian  scheme  that  could  not  be  relished  by 
the  bigots  of  the  ancient  faith.  As  they  were  un- 
able to  withstand  his  powers  of  reasoning,  their 
malice  was  excited ;  they  suborned  false  witnesses 
against  him,  and  dragged  him  before  the  Sanhe- 
drim as  a  blasphemer.  The  speech  which  Stephen 
made  in  defending  himself  against  this  accusation 
is  well  deserving  of  the  most  careful  study.  He 
first  enters  upon  a  historical  statement,  involving 
a  refutation  of  the  charges  which  had  been  made 
against  him  of  hostility  to  the  Old  Testament 
institutions ;  but  at  the  same  time  sliowing  that 
acceptance  with  God  does  not  depend  upon  out- 
ward relations.  Under  the  same  form  he  illus- 
trates the  providential  care  exercised  by  the 
Almighty  in  regard  to  the  Jewish  people,  along 
with  the  opposition  exhibited  by  the  Jews  towards 
those  sent  to  them  by  God.  And  he  points  the 
application  of  his  whole  discourse  by  charging  his 
carnal-minded  hearers  with  resisting,  like  their 
fathers,  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  effect  upon  his 
auditors  was  terrible.  Conscience-smitten,  they 
united  in  wreaking  their  vengeance  on  the  faithful 
denouncer  of  their  guilt.  They  drowned  his 
voice  with  their  clamorous  outcries,  they  stopped 
their  ears  against  him,  they  rushed  on  him  with 
one  accord  in  a  tumultuary  manner,  they  can-ied 
him  forth,  and  without  waiting  for  the  authority 
of  la  w,  they  stoned  him  to  death  as  a  blasphemer. 
The  frantic  violence  of  his  persecutors  did  not 
disturb  the  tranquillity  of  the  martyr,  and  he  died 
praying  that  his  murderers  might  be  forgiven 
(vii.  60). 

The  only  other  particular  connected  with  Ste- 
phen, mentioned  in  Scripture,  is,  that  '  devout 
men  carried  him  to  his  burial,  and  made  great 
lamentation  over  him '  (viii.  2). 

STOICS  AND  EPICUREANS.  Reference  is 
made  in  Acts  xvii.  18  to  certain  philosophers  be- 
longing to  these  celebrated  sects  as  having  '  en- 
countered '  Paul  at  Athens. 

The  Stoics  derive  their  name  from  stoa, '  a 
porch  ;'  because  their  founder  Zeno  (who  was  born 
from  3tio  to  350  years  B.C.)  was  accustomed  to 
teach  in  a  certain  porch  at  Athens. 

The  Epicureans  were  named  after  their  founder 
Epicurus,  who  is  said  to  have  been  born  at  Athens 
B.C.  3-i4,  and  to  have  opened  a  school  (or  rather  a 
garden)  where  he  propagated  his  tenets,  at  a  time 
when  the  doctrines  of  Zeno  had  already  obtained 
credit  and  currency. 

STONING.  [Punishments.] 
STORAX.  This  tree  is  a  native  of  Greece, 
Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Palestine,  and  is  about 
twenty  feet  high,  with  leaves  like  those  of  the 
quince,  and  flowers  somewhat  resembling  those  of 
the  orange.  Storax  was,  and  is  still,  much  es- 
teemed, both  as  an  incense  and  for  its  medical 
properties.  It  consists  chiefly  of  resin,  a  volatile 
oil,  and  some  benzoic  acid.  It  has  a  grateful 
balsamic  odour,  which  no  doubt  made  it  valued 
in  ancient  times. 

STORK.  The  Hebrew  name  of  this  bird  im- 
plied affection,  from  the  belief  general  through- 
out all  ancient  Asia  in  the  attachment  of  these 
birds  to  each  other,  and  some  have  supposed  that 
their  English  name  has  a  similar  derivation. 
The  strength  of  the  affection  of  the  parent  birds 


STORK 

towards  their  young  has  been  verified  by  the  mo- 
derns, in  cases  where  the  mother  bird  has  perished 
while  endeavouring  to  save  her  progeny. 


Storks  are  about  a  foot  less  in  height  than  the 
crane,  measuring  only  three  feet  six  inches  from 
the  tip  of  the  bill  to  the  end  of  the  toes,  and 
nearly  the  same  to  the  end  of  the  tail.  They  have 
a  stout,  pointed,  and  rather  long  bill,  which,  toge- 
ther with  their  long  legs,  is  of  a  bright  scarlet 
colour ;  the  toes  are  partially  webbed,  the  nails 
at  the  extremities  flat,  and  but  little  pointed  be- 
yond the  tips  of  the  joints.  The  orbits  are  black- 
ish, but  the  whole  bird  is  white,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  scapulars,  the  greater  wing  covers, 
and  all  the  quills,  which  are  deep  black :  they  are 
doubly  scalloped  out,  with  those  nearest  the  body 
almost  as  long  as  the  very  foremost  in  the  wing. 
This  is  a  provision  of  nature,  enabling  the  bird 
more  effectually  to  sustain  its  after  weight  in  the 
air ;  a  faculty  exceedingly  important  to  its  mode 
of  flight  with  its  long  neck,  and  longer  legs 
equally  stretched  out,  and  very  necessary  to  a 
migrating  species  believed  to  fly  without  alight- 
ing from  the  lower  Rhine,  or  even  from  the 
vicinity  of  Strasburg,  to  Africa,  and  to  the 
Delta  of  the  Nile.  The  passage  is  performed  in 
October,  and,  like  that  of  cranes,  in  single  or  in 
double  columns,  uniting  in  a  point  to  cleave  the 
air;  but  their  departure  is  seldom  seen,  because 
they  start  generally  in  the  night :  they  rise  always 
with  clapping  wings,  ascending  with  surprising 
rapidity  oui  of  human  sight,  and  arriving  at  their 
southern  dcstiiiatlon  as  if  by  enchantment.  Here 
they  reside  until  the  last  days  of  March,  when 
they  again  depart  for  the  north,  but  more  leisurely 
and  less  congregated.  A  feeling  of  attachment, 
not  without  superstition,  procures  them  an  unmo- 
lested life  in  all  Moslem  countries,  and  a  notion 
of  their  utility  still  protects  tliem  in  Switzerland, 
Western  Germany,  and  Holland.  Storlss  build 
their  nests  in  pine,  fir,  cedar,  and  other  coniferous 
trees,  but  seem  to  prefer  lofty  old  buildings, 
towers,  and  ruins.  With  regard  to  the  snake- 
eating  habits  of  the  species,  the  chief  resort  of 
storks,  for  above  half  the  year,  is  in  climates  where 
serpents  do  not  abound:  and  they  seem  at  all 
times  to  prefer  eels,  frogs,  toads,  newts,  and 
lizards ;  which  sulficieutly  accounts  for  their 
being  regarded  as  unclean.  Storks  feed  also  on 
field  mice ;  but  they  do  not  appear  to  relish  rats, 
though  they  break  their  bones  by  repeated  blows 
of  their  bills. 


SUPPER  OF  THE  LORD  745 

STREETS.    [Towns.] 
STRIPES.    [Punishments.] 

1.  SUC'COTH  {booths),  the  first  encampment 
of  the  Israelites  on  the  Egyptian  side  of  the  Red 
Sea  (Exod.  xii.  37;  xiii,  20;  Num.  xxxiii.  5 
[Exodus]. 

2.  SUC'COTH,  a  town  in  the  tribe  of  Gad 
(Josh.  xiii.  27),  on  the  east  of  the  Jordan  (Judg. 
viii.  5;  1  Kings  vii.  6).  The  spot  in  which  the 
town  stood  is  called  '  the  valley  of  Succotli,'  and 
must  have  been  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Jordan. 
The  place  derived  its  name  from  Jacob  having 
tarried  some  time  there  on  his  return  from  Padan- 
aram,  and  made  booths  for  his  cattle  (Gen 
xxxiii.  17). 

SUMMER.    [Palestine.] 

SUPPER  OF  THE  LORD,  so  called  by  St. 
Paul  in  his  historical  reference  to  the  Passover 
Supper  as  observed  by  Jesus  on  the  night  in  which 
he  was  betrayed  (1  Cor.  xi.  20;  Matt.  xxvi. 
20-31).  As  regards  the  day  on  which  our  Lord 
observed  the  Passover,  it  seems  more  propvi-  to 
say,  that  the  Pharisees,  the  dominant  party  among 
the  Jews,  deferred  its  observance  a  day  in  accord- 
ance with  their  traditions,  than  that  Jesus  antici- 
pated it.  What  one  party  considered  the  four- 
teenth Nisan,  would  to  the  other  be  the  thirteenth. 
This  supposition  seems  best  to  harmonize  any 
apparent  discrepancy  in  the  accounts  of  the  evan- 
gelists. 

Several  controverted  points  may  perhaps  be 
best  adjusted  by  a  connected  harmony  of  the  last 
Passover  of  the  Lord,  constructed  from  the  evan- 
gelic narratives"  alluding  to  it,  but  filling  up  the 
various  omitted  circumstances  from  the  known 
Passover  rites  [Passover]. 

'  Now,  when  it  was  evening,  Jesus  sat  down 
with  the  twelve  (Matt.)  Apostles '  (Mark).  The 
first  customary  washing  and  purifications  being 
performed,  the  blessing  over  the  first  cup  of  wine, 
which  began  the  feast,  would  be  pronounced,  pro- 
bably in  the  usual  form — '  We  thank  thee,  O  God, 
our  Heavenly  Father,  who  hast  created  the  fruit 
of  the  vine.' 

Then  probably  the  second  cup  of  wine  was 
mingled,  and  with  the  flesh  of  the  paschal  lamb, 
feast  oS'erings,  and  other  viands,  placed  before 
the  Lord.  ♦  And  he  said  unto  them,  With  desire 
have  I  desired  to  eat  this  Pascha  with  you  before 
I  suffer ;  for  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall  no  more  eat 
thereof  until  it  be  fulfilled  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  he  took  the  [second]  cup,  and  gave  thanks, 
and  said.  Take  this,  and  divide  among  you,  for  I 
say  unto  you,  I  will  not  henceforth  drink  of  the 
fruit  of  the  vine  until  the  kingdom  of  God  shall 
corae '  (Luke). 

When  the  wine  distributed  to  each  would  be 
drunk  off,  one  of  the  unleavened  cakes  would  next 
be  broken,  the  blessing  said  over  it,  and  a  piece 
distributed  to  each  disciple,  probably  with  the 
usual  formula :— '  This  is  the  bread  of  affliction 
which  your  fathers  did  eat  in  the  land  of  Egypt ' 
— i.  e.,  not  the  identical  bread,  transubstantiated, 
but  a  memorial  or  sign  of  it.  The  company 
would  then  proceed  with  the  proper  supper,  eat- 
ing of  the  feast-offering,  and,  after  a  benediction, 
of  the  paschal  lamb. 

'And  as  they  were  at  supper,  the  Devil  having 
now  put  it  into  the  heart  of  Judas  to  betray  him ; 
Jesus,  knowing  that  the  Father  had  given  all 
things  into  his  hands,  and  that  he  was  come  from 


746 


SWALLOW 


God,  and  was  going  to  God,  riseth  from  supper ; 
and '  after  due  preparations  '  began  to  wash  the 
disciples'  feet'  (John).  After  this  striking  sym- 
bolic exhortation  to  humility  and  mutual  service 
fJohn  xiii.  6-20),  'Jesus  was  troubled  in  spirit, 
and  bare  witness,  and  said,  Verily,  verily,  1  say 
unto  you,  that  one  of  you  will  betray  me.  Then 
the  disciples  looked  on  one  another,  doubting  of 
whom  he  spake '  (John).  '  And  they  were  very 
sorry,  and  began  each  of  them  to  say  unto  him, 
Lord,  is  it  I?'  (Matt.)  'One  of  the  disciples, 
leaning  back  on  Jesus's  breast,  saith  unto  him, 
Lord,  is  it  I  ?  Jesus  answered.  He  it  is  to  whom 
I  shall  give  a  sop,  when  I  have  dipped  it.  And 
after  dipping  the  sop  he  giveth  it  to  Judas  Isca- 
riot.  Then  Satan  entered  into  him.  Jesus  saith 
unto  him.  What  thou  doest,  do  quickly.  He  then, 
on  taking  the  sop,  went  immediately  out ;  and  it 
was  night '  (John). 

The  supper  would  then  proceed,  until  each  had 
eaten  sufficient  of  the  paschal  lamb  and  feast- 
ofi'ering. 

'  And  as  they  were  eating,  Jesus  took  the 
bread,'  the  other  unleavened  cake  left  unbroken, 
'  and  blessed '  God  '  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to 
the '  eleven  '  disciples,  and  said.  Take  eat ;  this  is 
my  body  (Matt.,  Mark),  which  is  broken  for  you: 
this  do  in  remembrance  of  me'  (Luke,  Paul, 
1  Cor.  xi.  24). 

The  supper  being  concluded,  the  hands  were 
usually  washed  the  second  time,  and  the  third  cup 
or  '  cup  of  blessing'  (1  Cor.  x.  16)  prepared,  over 
which  the  master  usually  gave  thanks  for  the 
Covenant  of  Circumcision,  and  for  the  law  given 
to  Moses.  Jesus,  therefore,  at  this  juncture,  an- 
nounced, with  peculiar  appropriateness,  his  New 
Covenant. 

'  After  the  same  manner,  also,  Jesas  took  the 
cup  after  supper,  and,  having  given  thanks,  gave 
it  to  them,  saying.  Drink  all  of  you  out  of  it;  for 
this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  covenant,  which  is 
shed  for  many  for  forgiveness  of  sins  (Matt.): 
this  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink,  in  remembrance  of 
me '  (I  Cor.  xi.  24).  *  But  I  say  unto  you,  I  shall 
not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of  the  vine,  until 
that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in  my 
Father's  kingdom '  (Matt.). 

'  And  when  they  had  sung  a  hymn '  (Matt.), 
probably  the  Hallel,  our  Lord  discoursed  long 
with  liis  disciples  about  his  approaching  death 
and  departure  (John  xiii.  31 ;  xiv.  31),  and  when 
he  had  finished  he  said,  '  Arise,  let  us  go  hence.' 
'  And  they  went  out  on  to  the  Mount  of  Olives ' 
(Matt.). 

SU'SA.    [Shushan.] 

SWALLOW.  The  species  of  this  bird  in  Syria 
and  Palestine,  so  far  as  they  are  known,  appear  all 
to  be  the  same  as  those  of  Europe :  they  are,  1. 
The  chimney  swallow,  with  a  forked  tail,  marked 
with  a  row  of  white  spots. 

2.  The  martin  or  common  window  swallow. 

3.  Sand-martin  or  shore-bird,  not  uncommon  in 
northern  Egypt,  near  the  mouths  of  the  Delta, 
and  in  southern  Palestine,  about  Gaza,  where  it 
nestles  in  holes,  even  on  the  sea-shore. 

4.  The  swift  or  black  martin,  distinguished 
by  its  larger  size,  short  legs,  very  long  wings, 
forked  tail,  and  by  all  the  toes  of  the  feet  turning 
forward:  these,  armed  with  small,  crooked, 
and  very  sharp  claws,  enable  the  bird  to  hang 
against  the  sides  of  walls,  but  it  cannot   rise 


SWEET  CANE 

from  the  ground  on  account  of  the  length  of  its 
wings. 


310.    [The  Swift— Duiuri.] 

SWEARING.    [Oath.] 

SWEET  CANE,  or  CALAMUS,  is  mentioned 
in  various  passages  of  Scripture  (Exod.  xxx.  23  ; 
Jer.  vi.  20,  &c.),  from  which  we  learn  that  it  was  fra- 
grant and  reed-like,  and  that  it  was  brought  from 
a  lar  country  (Jer.  vi.  20  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  10):  Dan 
also  and  Javan  going  to  and  fro  carried  bright 
iron,  cassia,  and  calamus  to  the  markets  of  Tyre. 

If  we  recur  to  the  method  which  we  have 
adopted  in  other  cases,  of  examining  the  writings 
of  ancient  heathen  authors,  to  ascertain  if  they 
describe  anything  like  the  substances  noticed  in 
the  sacred  writings,  we  shall  experience  no  diffi- 
culty in  identifying  the  '  sweet  cane,  or  reed,  from 
a  far  country.'  It  is  stated  to  be  a  produce  of 
India,  of  a  tawny  colour,  much  jointed,  breaking 
into  splinters,  and  having  the  hollow  stem  filled 
with  pith,  like  the  web  of  a  spider;  also  that 
it  is  mixed  with  ointments  and  fumigations  on 
account  of  its  odour.  Theophrastus  describes 
both  the  calamus  and  schoenus  as  natives  of  Syria, 
or  more  precisely,  of  a  valley  between  Mount 
Lebanon  and  a  small  mountain,  where  there  is  a 
plain  and  a  lake,  in  parts  of  which  there  is  a 
marsh,  where  they  are  produced,  the  smell  being 
perceived  by  any  one  entering  the  place.  This 
account  is  virtually  followed  by  Pliny,  though  he 
also  mentions  the  sweet  calamus  as  a  produce  of 
Arabia.  A  writer  in  the  Gardener's  Chronicle 
(ii.  756)  has  adduced  a  passage  from  Poly  bins 
(v.  46),  as  elucidating  the  foregoing  statement 
of  Theophrastus  :  '  From  Laodicea  Antiochus 
marched  with  all  his  army,  and  having  passed 
the  desert,  entered  a  close  and  narrow  valley, 
which  lies  between  the  Libanus  and  Anti-Libanus, 
and  is  called  the  Vale  of  Marsyas.  The  narrowest 
part  of  the  valley  is  covered  by  a  lake  with 
marshy  ground,/rom  whence  are  gathered  aromatic 
reeds' 

That  there  may  be  some  moderately  sweet- 
scented  grass,  or 'rush-like  plant,  such  as  the 
Acorus  Calamus  of  botanists  (long  used  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  true  calamus),  in  the  fiat  country 
between  Libanus  and  Anti-Libanus,  is  quite  pos- 
sible ;  but  we  have  no  proof  of  the  jfact.  Burck- 
hardt,  in  that  situation,  could  find  only  ordinary 
rushes  and  reeds.  Though  Theophrastus,  Poly- 
bius,  and  Strabo  mention  this  locality  as  that  pro- 
ducing the  calamus,  yet  others  give  Arabia,  or  the 


SWEET  CANE 

country  of  the  Sabwans,  as  that  which  produced 
the  aromatic  retd;  while  Dioscorides,  the  only 
author  who  writes  expressly  of  the  drugs  known 
to  the  ancients,  mentions  it  as  being  the  produce 
of  India. 


31 1.    [Andropogon  calamus  aromaticus.] 

As  this  plant  is  a  true  grass,  it  has  necessarily 
reed-like  stems.  They  are  remarkable  for  their 
agreeable  odour :  so  are  the  leaves  when  bruised, 
and  also  the  delightfully  fragrant  oil  distilled 
from  them.  Hence  it  appears  more  fully  entitled 
to  the  commendations  which  the  calamus  aroma- 
ticus or  sweet-cane  has  received,  than  any  other 
plant  that  has  been  described,  even  the  attar  of 
roses  hardly  excepted.  That  a  grass  similar  to 
the  fragrant  andropoyon,  or  at  least  one  growing 
in  the  same  kind  of  soil  and  climate,  was  employed 
by  the  ancients,  we  have  evidence  in  the  fact  of 
the  Phoenicians  who  accompanied  Alexander  in 
his  march  across  the  arid  country  of  Gedrosia 
having  recognised  and  loaded  their  cattle  with  it, 
as  one  of  the  perfumes  of  commerce.  It  is  in  a 
similar  country,  that  is,  the  arid  plains  of  Central 
India,  that  the  above  andropogon  calamus  aroma- 
ticus is  found,  and  where  the  fragrant  essential  oil 
is  distilled  from  its  leaves,  culms,  and  roots. 

If  we  compare  the  foregoing  statement  with  the 
different  passages  of  Scripture,  we  shall  find  that 
this  fragrant  grass  answers  to  all  that  is  required. 
Thus  in  Exod.  xxx.  23,  the  fragrant  reed,  along 
with  the  principal  spices,  such  as  myrrh,  sweet 
cinnamon,  and  cassia,  is  directed  to  be  made  into 
an  oil  of  holy  ointment.  So  the  calamus  aro- 
maticus may  be  found  mentioned  as  an  ingre- 
dient in  numerous  fragrant  oils  and  ointments, 
from  the  time  of  Theophrastus  to  tli?it  of  the 


SYCAMORE  747 

Arabs.  Its  essential  oil  is  now  sold  in  the  shops, 
but  under  the  erroneous  name  of  oil  of  spikenard, 
which  is  a  very  different  substance  [Spikenard]. 
In  Cant.  iv.  U  it  is  mentioned  along  with  spike- 
nard, saffron,  cinnamon,  trees  of  frankincense, 
myrrh,  and  aloes.  Again,  its  value  is  indicated 
in  Isa.  (xliii.  24),  '  thou  hast  bought  me  no  sweet 
cane  with  money  ;'  and  that  it  was  obtained  from 
a  distant  land  is  indicated  in  Jer.  vi.  20, '  to  what 
purpose  Cometh  there  to  me  incense  from  Sheba, 
and  the  sweet  cane  from  a  far  coimtry  ?' — wTiile 
the  route  of  the  commerce  is  pointed  out  in  Ezek. 
xxvii.  19,  '  Dan  also  and  Javan  going  to  and  fro 
occupied  in  thy  fairs :  bright  iron,  cassia,  and 
calamus  were  in  thy  market.'  To  the  Scripture 
notices,  then,  as  well  as  to  the  description  of 
Dioscorides,  the  tall  grass  which  yields  the  fra- 
grant grass-oil  of  Central  India  answers  in  every 
respect. 

SWINE.  Egyptian  pictures,  the  parable  of 
the  Prodigal  Son,  and  Christ's  miraculous  cure  of 
the  demoniac,  when  he  permitted  swine  to  be  pos- 
sessed and  destroyed  by  rushing  over  a  precipice 
into  the  sea  of  Galilee,  furnish  ample  proofs  that 
during  the  dominion  of  the  Romans  the  domes- 
ticated breeds  of  these  animals  were  reared  in 
great  numbers  among  the  Jews,  notwithstanding 
the  strong  prohibition  in  the  law  of  Moses.  Com- 
mentators ascribe  this  abundance  of  swine  to  the 
numerous  Pagan  sacrifices  of  these  animals  in  tlie 
temples :  but  we  do  not  deem  this  to  be  a  suffi- 
ciently correct  view  of  the  case,  since  hogs  of 
every  denomination  were  less  used  for  that  pur- 
pose than  oxen,  goats,  and  sheep.  May  it  not  be 
conjectured  that  in  those  days  of  a  greatly  con- 
densed population  the  poor  found  in  swine's  flesh, 
and  still  more  in  the  fat  and  lard,  melted  forculi- 
uary  purposes,  as  it  still  is  in  every  part  of  Pagan 
Africa,  a  most  desirable  aliment,  still  more  accept- 
able than  the  salt  fish  imported  from  Sidon,  to 
season  their  usual  vegetable  diet  ? 

SWORD.     [Arms.] 

SYCAMINE  TREE  is  mentioned  only  once  in 
the  New  Testament,  in  Luke  xvii.  C,  '  And  the 
Lord  said,  If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard- 
seed,  ye  might  say  unto  this  si/camine-tree,'  &c. 
From  a  slight  similarity  in  name,  this  tree  has 
often  been  confounded  with  the  sycamore,  both  by 
ancient  and  modem  writers.  Both  trees  are,  how- 
ever, mentioned  by  the  apostle,  who  must  have 
had  the  technical  knowledge  necessary  for  distin- 
guishing such  things.  Though  the  English  ver- 
sion avoids  translating  the  word,  there  can  be 
little  doubt  of  the  mulberry-tree  being  intended ; 
and  it  is  frequently  so  rendered.  The  mulberry 
is  a  tree  which  we  might  expect  to  find  mentioned 
in  Scripture,  since  it  is  so  common  in  Palestine. 
It  is  constantly  alluded  to  by  old  travellers,  and 
indeed  is  much  cultivated  in  the  present  day,  in 
consequence  of  its  afi'ording  food  for  the  silk- 
worm; and  it  must  have  been  common  also  in 
early  times,  or  the  silk-worms  would  not  have 
obtained  suitable  food  when  first  introduced.  As 
the  mulberry-tree  is  common,  as  it  is  lofty  and 
affords  shade,  it  is  well  calculated  for  the  illus- 
tration of  the  above  passage  of  Luke. 

SYCAMORE.  This  word  occurs  in  several 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament.  From  the  con- 
text it  is  evident  that  it  must  have  been  a  tree  of 
some  size,  common  in  the  plains,  unable  to  bear 
great  cold,  with  wood  of  inferior  quality,  but 


748 


SYENE 


still  cultivated  and  valued  on  account  of  its  fruit. 
It  was  not  what  is  called  sycamore  in  this  coun- 
try, which  is  a  kind  of  maple,  and  in  some  of  its 
characters  the  reverse  of  what  is  required,  but 
rather  the  mulberry  tree,  the  Ficus  Sycomorus  of 
botanists,  which  is  a  genuine  species  of  Ficus. 
The  fruit  in  its  general  characters  resembles  that 
of  the  fig,  while  the  leaves  resemble  those  of  the 
mulberry  tree. 


312.    [Sycamore-Fig.     Ficus  Sycomorus.] 

The  ancients  were  well  acquainted  with  it; 
and  it  is  common  in  Egypt  as  well  as  in  Syria. 
In  Egypt,  being  one  of  "the  few  trees  indigenous 
in  that  country,  its  wood  Mas  proportionally 
much  employed,  as  in  making  mummy-cases, 
though  it  is  coarse  grained,  and  would  not  be 
valued  where  other  trees  are  more  common. 
Though  the  wood  of  this  sycamore  is  coarse 
grained,  it  is  yet  very  durable  in  a  dry  climate 
like  that  of  Egypt;  hence  the  mummy-cases  even 
in  the  present  day  swui  as  if  made  with  fresh 
wood.  This  may,  no  doubt,  be  partly  ascribed 
to  the  preservative  effects  of  the  resinous  coats, 
paints,  &c.  with  wliicli  they  are  impregnated. 
That  the  sycamore  was  cultivated  and  esteemed 
in  Palestine  we  learn  from  1  Chron.  xxvii.  28, 
'  And  over  the  olive  trees  and  the  sycamore  trees 
that  were  in  the  low  plains  was  Baal-hanan  Uie 
Gederite.'  This  was  on  account  of  its  fruit, 
which  it  bears  on  its  stem  and  branches,  like  the 
common  fig,  and  continues  to  produce  in  succes- 
sion for  months.  The  fruit  is  palatable,  sweetish 
in  taste,  and  still  used  as  food  in  the  East.  As 
the  sycamore  is  a  lofty,  shady  tree,  it  is  well 
suited  for  climbing  up  into,  as  described  in  Luke 
xix.  4,  where  Zacchoeus  ascends  one  to  see  Jesus 
pass  by. 

SY'CHAR,  a  name  of  reproach  applied  by  the 
Jews  to  Shechem  [Shechem]. 

SY'CHEM,  the  name  for  ShecJiem  in  Acts  vii. 
16,  being  that  also  used  in  the  Septuagint  version 
of  the  Old  Testament  [Shechem]. 

SYE'NE,  a  city  of  Egypt,  situated  in  the 
Thebais,  on  the  southern  extremity  of  the  land 
towards  Ethiopia.     Eztkiei,  describing  the  «it»©- 


SYNAGOGUE 

lation  to  be  brought  upon  Egypt  through  its 
whole  extent,  says,  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  will 
make  the  Land  of  Egypt  utterly  desolate,  from 
the  tower  of  S3  ene  even  to  the  border  of  Cush 
(Arabia),'  or,  as  some  read,  'from  Migdol  to 
Syene,'  implying,  according  to  either  version  ot 
the  passage,  the  whole  length  of  the  country  from 
north  to  south.  Syene  is  represented  by  the  pre- 
sent Assouan,  which  exhibits  few  remains  of  the 
ancient  city,  except  some  granite  columns  of  a 
comparatively  late  date,  and  the  sekos  of  a  small 
temple. 

SYN'AGOGUE,  a  Jewish  place  of  worship. 
The  Greek,  from  which  the  word  is  immediately 
derived,  denotes  '  an  assembly ;'  but  afterwards, 
by  a  natural  deflection  of  meaning,  came  to  desig- 
nate the  building  in  which  such  assembly  met. 

The  precise  age  of  the  introduction  of  syna- 
gogues among  the  Israelites  it  does  not  appear 
easy  to  determine.  In  all  probability,  however, 
they  had  their  origin  about  the  period  of  the 
exile ;  and  there  were  then  peculiar  circumstances 
which  called  for  their  establishment.  Deprived 
of  the  solemnities  of  their  national  worship,  yet 
still  retaining  their  religious  convictions,  and 
keenly  feeling  the  loss  they  had  endured,  ear- 
nestly, too,  longing  and  praying  for  a  restoration 
of  their  forfeited  privileges,  the  captive  Israelites 
could  not  help  meeting  together  for  the  purposes 
of  mutual  sympathy,  counsel,  and  aid,  or  of  prayer 
and  other  devout  exercises.  But  prayer  makes 
every  spot  holy  ground.  Some  degree  of  secrecy, 
too,  may  have  been  needful  in  the  midst  of  scoffing 
and  scornful  enemies.  Thus  houses  of  prayer 
would  arise;  and  the  peculiar  form  of  the  syna- 
gogue worship— namely,  devotion  apart  from  ex- 
ternal oblations — would  come  into  being. 

The  authority  of  the  Talmudists  (such  as  it 
is)  would  go  to  show  that  a  synagogue  existed 
wherever  there  were  ten  families.  What,  however, 
is  certain  is,  that  in  the  times  of  Jesus  Christ 
synagogues  were  found  in  all  the  chief  cities  and 
lesser  towns  of  Palestine.  From  Acts  vi.  9,  it 
appears  that  every  separate  tribe  and  colony  had 
a  synagogue  in  Jerusalem.  Synagogues  were 
built  sometimes  on  the  outside  of  cities,  but  more 
frequently  within,  and  preferably  on  elevated 
spots.  At  a  later  period  they  were  fixed  near 
burial-places.  A  peculiar  sanctity  was  attached 
to  these  spots,  even  after  the  building  had  fallen 
to  ruin.  In  the  Synagogue  pious  Israelites  as- 
sembled every  Sabbath  and  festival  day,  the 
women  sitting  apart  from  the  men ;  and  at  a  later 
period,  on  every  second  and  fifth  day  of  each 
week,  for  the  purposes  of  common  prayer,  and  to 
hear  portions  of  the  sacred  books  read;  which 
was  performed  sometimes  by  any  one  of  the  com- 
pany (Luke  ii.  16),  or,  according  to  Philo,  byany 
one  of  the  priests  or  elders,  who  expounded  each 
particular  as  he  proceeded.  The  writings  thus 
read  aloud  and  expounded  were  the  Law,  the 
Prophets,  and  other  Old  Testament  books  (Acts 
xiii.  15;  xv.  21). 

The  expositor  was  not  always  the  same  person 
as  the  reader.  A  memorable  instance  in  which 
the  reader  and  the  expositor  was  the  same  person, 
and  yet  one  distinct  from  the  stated  functionary, 
may  be  found  in  Luke  iv.  16,  sq.,  in  which  our 
Lord  read  and  applied  to  himself  the  beautiful 
passage  found  in  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (Ixi.  4). 

After  the  reading  and  expositioa  were  coa- 


SYRIA 

eluded,  a  blessing  was  pronounced,  commonly  by 
a  priest.  The  people  gave  a  response  by  utter- 
iug  the  word  Aiiien ;  -when  the  assembly  broke  up 
(1  Cor.  xiv.  16). 

At  the  head  of  the  officers  stood  the  '  ruler  of 
the  synagogue,'  who  had  the  chief  direction  of  all 
the  affairs  connected  with  the  purposes  for  which 
the  synagogue  existed  (Luke  viii.  49  ;  xiii.  14 ; 
Mark  v.  3.5,  seq. ;  Acts  xviii.  8).  Next  in  rank 
were  the  elders  (Luke  vii.  3),  called  also  'beads 
of  the  synagogue'  (Mark  v.  22  ;  Acts  xiii.  15),  as 
well  as  '  shepherds '  and  '  presidents,'  who  formed 
a  sort  of  college  or  governing  bod}'  under  the 
presidency  of  the  chief  ruler.  There  was  in  the 
third  place  '  the  angel  of  the  church,'  who  in  the 
synagogue  meetings  acted  commonly  as  the 
speaker,  or  as  the  Protestant  minister,  conduct- 
ing the  worship  of  the  congregation,  as  well  as 
performed  on  other  occasions  the  duties  of  secre- 
tary and  messenger.  Then  came,  fourthly,  '  the 
minister '  (Luke  iv.  20),  the  attendant  who  handed 
the  books  to  the  reader,  was  responsible  for  the 
cleanliness  of  the  room,  and  for  its  order  and  de- 
cency, and  opened  and  closed  the  synagogue,  of 
which  he  had  the  general  care.  In  addition,  there 
probably  were  almoners  or  deacons  (Matt.  vi.  2), 
who  collected,  held,  and  distributed  the  alms  of 
the  charitable. 

In  regard  to  the  furniture  of  the  synagogue, 
seats  merely  are  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament 
(Matt,  xxiii.  6;  James  ii.  3).  The  'chief  seats,' 
or  rather  '  front  seats,'  were  occupied  by  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees.  The  outfit  may  have 
been  more  simple  in  the  days  of  Christ ;  still 
there  was  probably  then,  as  well  as  at  a  later 
period,  a  sort  of  pulpit,  and  a  desk  or  shelf,  for 
holding  the  sacred  books.  Some  sort  of  summary 
judicature  seems  to  have  been  held  in  the  syna- 
gognes,  and  punishments  of  flogging  and  beating 
inflicted  on  the  spot  (Matt.  x.  17  ;  xxiii.  34  ;  Mark 
xiii.  9;  Luke  xii.  11;  xxi.  12;  Acts  xxii.  19; 
xxvi.  11 ;  1  Cor.  xi.  22).  The  causes  of  which 
cognizance  was  here  taken  were  perhaps  exclu- 
sively of  a  religious  kind.  It  certainly  appears 
from  the  New  Testament  that  heresy  and  apostacy 
were  punished  before  these  tribunals  by  the  appli- 
cation of  stripes. 

SYN'TYCHE,  a  female  Christian  named  in 
Phil.  iv.  2. 

SYR'ACl^SE,  a  celebrated  city  on  the  south- 
east coast  of  the  island  of  Sicily.  It  was  a  strong, 
wealthy,  and  populous  place.  The  great  wealth 
and  power  of  Syracuse  arose  from  its  trade,  which 
was  carried  on  extensively  while  it  remained  an 
independent  state  under  its  ovni  kings  ;  but  about 
200  B.C.  it  was  taken  by  the  Romans,  after  a  siege 
rendered  famous  by  the  mechanical  contrivances 
whereby  Archimedes  protracted  the  defence.  Sy- 
racuse still  exists  as  a  considerable  town  under 
its  original  name,  and  some  ruins  of  the  ancient 
city  yet  remain.  St.  Paul  spent  three  days  at 
Syracuse,  after  leaving  Melita,  when  being  con- 
veyed as  a  prisoner  to  Rome  (Acts  xxviii.  12). 

SYR'IA.  It  is  difficult  to  define  the  limits  of 
ancient  Syria,  as  the  name  seems  to  have  been 
very  loosely  applied  by  the  old  geographers.  In 
general,  however,  we  may  perceive  that  they 
made  it  include  the  tract  of  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Euphrates  and  the  Mediterranean,  from 
the  mountains  of  Taurus  and  Amanus  in  the 
north,  to  the  desert  of  Suez  and  the  borders  of 


SYRIA 


749 


Egj'pt  on  the  south ;  which  coincides  pretty  well 
with  the  modern  application  of  the  name.  It  may 
be  described  as  composed  of  three  tracts  of  land, 
of  very  different  descriptions.  That  which  adjoins 
the  Mediterranean  is  a  hot,  damp,  and  rather  un- 
wholesome, but  very  fruitful  valley.  The  part 
next  to  this  consists  of  a  double  chain  of  moun- 
tains, running  parallel  from  south-west  to  north- 
east, with  craggy  precipitous  rocks,  devious  val- 
leys, and  hollow  defiles.  The  air  is  here  dry 
and  healthy ;  and  on  the  western  declivities  of 
the  mountains  are  seen  beautiful  and  highly  cul- 
tivated terraces,  alternating  with  well-watered 
valleys,  which  have  a  rich  and  fertile  soil,  and 
are  densely  peopled.  The  eastern  declivities,  on 
the  contrary,  are  dreary  mountain  deserts,  con- 
nected with  the  third  region,  which  may  be  de- 
scribed as  a  spacious  plain  of  sand  and  rock,  pre- 
senting an  extensive  and  almost  unbroken  level. 

Spring  and  autumn  are  very  agreeable  in  Syria, 
and  the  heat  of  summer  in  the  mountain  districts 
is  supportable.  But  in  the  plains,  as  soon  as  the 
sun  reaches  the  equator,  it  becomes  of  a  sudxk-n 
oppressively  hot,  and  this  heat  continues  till  the 
end  of  October.  On  the  other  hand,  the  winter 
is  so  mild,  that  orange-trees,  fig-trees,  palms,  and 
many  tender  shrubs  and  plants  flourish  in  the 
open  air,  while  the  heights  of  Lebanon  are  glit- 
tering with  snow  and  hoar-frost.  In  the  districts, 
however,  which  lie  north  and  east  of  the  moun- 
tains, the  severity  of  winter  is  greater,  though  the 
heat  of  the  summer  is  not  less.  At  Antioch, 
Aleppo,  and  Damascus,  there  are  ice  and  snow 
for  several  weeks  every  winter.  Yet,  upon  the 
whole,  the  climate  and  soil  combine  to  render 
this  country  one  of  the  most  agreeable  residences 
throughout  the  East. 

The  principal  Syrian  towns  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture are  the  following,  all  of  which  are  noticed 
under  their  respective  names  in  the  present  work  : 
— Antioch,  Seleucia,  Helbon,  Rezeph,  Tiphsah, 
Rehoboth,  Harnath,  Riblali,  Tadmor,  Baal-Gad, 
Damascus,  Hobah,  Beth- Eden. 

Syria,  when  we  first  become  acquainted  with 
its  history,  was  divided  into  a  number  of  small 
kingdoms,  of  which  the  most  important  of  those 
mentioned  in  Scripture  was  that  of  which  Damas- 
cus was  the  metropolis.  A  sketch  of  its  historj' 
is  given  under  Damascus.  These  kingdoms  were 
broken  up,  or  rather  consolidated  by  conquerors, 
of  whom  the  first  appears  to  have  been  Tiglath- 
pileser.  King  of  Assyria,  about  V.'VO  B.C.  After  the 
fall  of  the  Assyrian  monarchy.  Syria  came  under 
the  Chaldscan  yoke.  It  shared  the  fate  of  Baby- 
lonia when  that  country  was  conquered  by  the 
Persians  ;  and  was  again  subdued  by  Alexander 
the  Great.  At  his  death  in  b.c.  323  it  was  erected 
into  a  separate  monarchy  under  the  Seleucida;,  and 
continued  to  be  governed  by  its  own  sovereigns 
until,  weakened  and  devastated  by  civil  wars  be- 
tween competitors  for  the  throne,  it  was  finally, 
about  B.C.  65,  reduced  by  Pompey  to  the  condition 
of  a  Roman  province,  after  the  monarchy  had  sub- 
sisted 257  years.  On  the  decline  of  the  Homan 
empire,  the  Saracens  became  the  next  possessors  of 
Syria,  about  a.d.  622  ;  and  when  the  crusading 
armies  poured  into  Asia,  this  country  became  the 
chief  theatre  of  the  great  contest  between  the  armies 
of  the  Crescent  and  the  Cross,  and  its  plains  were 
deluged  with  Christian  and  Moslem  blood.  For 
nearly  a  century  tlie  Crusaders  remained  masters 


750 


TABERNACLE 


of  the  chief  places  in  Syria ;  but  at  length  the 
power  of  the  Moslems  predominated,  and  in  118G 
Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egypt,  found  himself  in  pos- 
session of  Syria.  It  remained  subject  to  the  sul- 
tans of  Egypt  till,  in  a.d.  1517,  the  Turkish  sul- 
tan, Selim  I.,  overcame  the  Memlook  dynasty, 
and  Syria  and  Egypt  became  absorbed  in  the 
Ottoman  empire.  In  1832,  a  series  of  successes 
over  the  Turkish  arms  gave  Syria  to  Mehemet 
All,  the  Pasha  of  Egypt;  from  whom,  however, 
after  nine  years,  it  again  passed  to  the  Turks,  in 
consequence  of  the  operations  undertaken  for  that 
purpose  by  the  fleet  under  the  command  of  Ad- 
miral Stopford,  the  chief  of  which  was  the  bom- 
bardment of  Acre  in  November,  1840.  The 
treaty  restoring  Syria  to  the  Turks  was  ratified 
early  in  the  ensuing  year. 

SYRO-PHCENICIA,  or  Ph(enicia  Proper, 
called  Syro  or  Syrian  Phoenicia,  from  being  in- 
cluded in  the  Roman  province  of  Syria.  It  in- 
cludes that  part  of  the  coast  of  Canaan,  on  the 
borders  of  the  Mediterranean,  in  which  the  cities 
of  Tyre  and  Sidou  were  situated  ;  and  the  same 
country,  which  is  called  Syro-Phoenicia  in  the 
Acts,  is  in  the  Gospels  called  the  coasts  of  Tyre 
and  Sidon.  The  woman  also  described  an  Syro- 
Phoeiiician  in  Mark  vii.  2-6,  is  in  Matt.  xv.  22 
called  a  Canaanitish  woman,  because  that  country 
was  still  occupied  by  the  descendants  of  Canaan, 
of  whom  Sidon  was  the  eldest  son. 


TA'ANACH,  a  royal  city  of  the  Canaanites 
(Josh.  xii.  21),  in  the  territory  of  Issachar,  but 
assigned  to  Manasseh  (Judg.  i.  27  ;  v.  19;  Josh, 
xvii.  11-21 ;  1  Kings  iv.  12).  Schubert,  followed 
by  Robinson,  finds  it  in  the  modern  Taannuk,  now 
a  mean  hamlet  on  the  south  side  of  a  small  hill, 
with  a  summit  of  table-land.  It  lies  on  the  south- 
western border  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  four 
miles  south  of  Megiddo,  in  connection  with  which 
it  is  mentioned  in  the  triumphal  song  of  Deborah 
and  Barak  (Judg.  v.  19). 

TA'BEAL  {God  is  good),  father  of  the  unnamed 
person  on  whom  Rezin,  king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah, 
king  of  Israel,  proposed  to  bestow  the  crown  of 
Judah  in  case  they  succeeded  in  dethroning  Ahaz 
(Isa.  vii.  b).  Who  '  Tabeal's  son'  was  is  un- 
known, but  it  is  conjectured  that  he  was  some 
factious  and  powerful  Ephraimite  (perhaps  Zichri, 
2  Chron.  xxviii.  7),  who  promoted  the  war  in 
the  hope  of  this  result. 

TAB'ERAH,  one  of  the  stations  of  the  Israel- 
ites in  the  desert  [Wandering]. 

TABERNACLE  (<en<  of  assembli/).  We  may 
distinguish  in  the  Old  Testament  three  sacred  ta- 
bernacles: I.  The  Ante-Sinaitic,  which  was 
probably  the  dwelling  of  Moses,  and  was  placed 
by  the  camp  of  the  Israelites  in  the  desert,  for  the 
transaction  of  public  business  (Exod.  xxxiii.  7). 

II.  The  Ante-Sinaitic  tabernacle,  which  had 
served  for  the  transaction  of  public  business  pro- 
bably from  the  beginning  of  the  exodus,  was  su- 
perseded by  the  Sinaitic ;  this  was  constructed  by 
Bezaleel  and  Aholiab  as  a  portable  mansion- 
house,  guildhall,  and  cathedral,  and  set  up  on  the 
first  day  of  the  first  month  in  the  second  year 


TABERNACLES,  FEAST  OF 

after  leaving  Egypt.     Of  this  alone  we  have  ac- 
curate descriptions. 

III.  The  Davidic  tabernacle  was  erected  by 
David  in  Jerusalem  for  the  reception  of  the  ark 
(2  Sam.  vi.  12),  while  the  old  tabernacle  remained 
to  the  days  of  Solomon  at  Gibeon,  together  with 
the  brazen  altar,  as  the  place  where  sacrifices 
were  offered  (1  Chron.  xvi.  39,  and  2  Chron.  i.  3). 
The  second  of  these  sacred  tents  is,  as  the  most 
important,  called  the  tabernacle  par  excellence. 
Moses  was  commanded  by  Jehovah  to  have  it 
erected  in  the  Arabian  desert,  by  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  the  Israelites,  who  carried  it 
about  with  them  in  their  migrations  until  after 
the  conquest  of  Canaan,  when  it  remained  sta- 
tionary for  longer  periods  in  various  towns  of 
Palestine. 

The  materials  of  which  this  tent  was  composed 
were  so  costly,  that  sceptics  have  questioned  whe- 
ther they  could  be  furnished  by  a  nomadic  race. 
The  tabernacle  exceeded  in  costliness  and  splen- 
dour, in  proportion  to  the  slender  means  of  a  no- 
madic people,  the  magnificence  of  any  cathedral  of 
the  present  day,  compared  with  the  wealth  of  the 
surrounding  population.  The  mode  of  collecting 
the  voluntary  otferings  for  this  great  work,  and 
the  design  of  the  structure,  are  fully  described  in 
Exod.  XXV.  to  xxvii.,  and  in  xxxv.  to  xxxvii. 

TABERNACLES,  FEAST  OF,  one  of  the 
three  great  festivals  of  the  Jews,  being  that  of  the 
closing  year,  as  the  Passover  was  of  the  spring. 
In  Lev.  xxiii.  34-43,  directions  for  observing  the 
feast  are  given  in  very  clear  terms  (comp.  Num. 
xxix.  13-34).  It  was  held  in  commemoration  of 
the  divine  goodness  as  exercised  towards  the  Jews 
when  they  were  wandering  in  the  desert,  as  well 
as  expressive  of  gratitude  for  the  supply  of  the 
rich  fruits  of  the  earth ;  and  so  was  fitted  to 
awaken  the  most  lively  feelings  of  piety  in  the 
minds  of  the  Hebrews  in  each  successive  genera- 
tion. From  the  writings  of  the  Rabbins  we  learn, 
1.  That  those  who  took  part  in  the  festival  bore 
in  their  left  hand  a  branch  of  citron,  and  in  their 
right  a  palm  branch,  entwined  with  willows  and 
myrtle.  2.  A  libation  of  water  took  place  on 
each  of  the  seven  days  (Isa.  xii.  3  ;  John  vii.  37)  ; 
at  the  time  of  the  morning  oblation  a  priest  drew 
from  the  fount  of  Siloam  water  in  a  jar  holding 
three  logs,  and  poured  it  out,  together  with  wine, 
into  two  channels  or  conduits,  made  on  the  west 
side  of  the  altar,  the  water  into  the  one,  the  wine 
into  the  other.  3.  In  the  outer  court  of  the  wo- 
men there  began,  on  the  evening  of  the  first  day, 
an  illumination  on  great  golden  candlesticks, 
which  threw  its  light  over  the  whole  of  Jerusalem  ; 
and  a  dance  by  torch-light,  attended  by  song  and 
mu.sic,  was  performed  before  the  candelabra. 
From  these  details,  it  appeaa-s  that  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  was  a  season  of  universal  joy.  Je- 
rusalem bore  the  appearance  of  a  camp.  The 
entire  population  again  dwelt  in  tents,  but  not 
with  the  accompaniments  of  travel,  fatigue,  and 
solicitude  ;  all  was  hilarity,  all  wore  a  holiday- 
appearance  ;  the  varied  green  of  the  ten  thousand 
branches  of  different  trees ;  the  picturesque  cere- 
mony of  the  water-libation,  the  general  illumina- 
tion, the  sacred  solemnities  in  and  before  the 
temple;  the  feast,  the  dance,  the  sacred  song; 
the  full  harmony  of  the  choral  music  ;  the  bright 
joy  that  lighted  up  every  face,  and  the  gratitude 
at  '  harvest  home/  which  swelled  every  bosom, 


TABOR 

— all  conspired  to  make  these  days  a  season  of 
pure,  deep,  and  lively  joy,  which,  in  all  its  ele- 
ments, finds  no  parallel  among  the  observances 
of  men. 

TABI'THA  (antelope),  the  Arama?an  name  of 
a  Christian  female,  called  in  Greek  Dorcas,  re- 
sident at  Joppa,  whose  benevolent  and  liberal 
conduct,  especially  in  providing  the  poor  with 
clothing,  so  endeared  her  to  the  Church  in  that 
place,  that  on  her  death  they  sent  for  Peter,  then 
six  miles  off  at  Lydda,  impU)ring  him  to  come  to 
them.  The  apostle  complied  with  their  urgent 
request,  and  after  fervent  prayer  to  God,  bade 
the  dead  arise  ;  on  which  Tabitha  '  opened  her 
eyes,  and  when  she  saw  Peter,  she  sat  up.'  This 
great  miracle  was  not  only  an  act  of  benevolence, 
but  tended  to  give  authority  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Apostles,  and  to  secure  attention  for  the  doctrines 
which  they  promulgated  (see  Acts  ix.  .36-42). 

1 .  T A'BOR,  a  mountain  on  the  confines  of 
Zebulun  and  Naphtali,  standing  out  in  the  north- 
cast  border  of  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  the  name  of 
which  appears  among  Greek  and  Roman  writers 
in  the  forms  of  Itabyrion  and  Atabyrion,  and 
which  is  now  known  by  the  name  of  Jebel  Tur. 
Mount  Tabor  stands  out  alone  and  eminent  above 
the  plain,  with  all  its  fine  proportions  from  base 
to  summit  displayed  at  one  view.  It  lies  at  the 
distance  of  two  hours  and  a  quarter  south  of  Na- 
zareth. According  to  the  barometrical  measure- 
ments of  Schubert,  the  height  of  Tabor  above  the 
level  of  the  sea  is  1748  Paris  feet,  and  1310  Paris 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain  at  its  base.  Seen 
from  the  south-west,  it  presents  a  semi-globular 
appearance ;  but  from  the  north-west,  it  more  re- 
sembles a  truncated  cone.  By  an  ancient  path, 
which  winds  considerably,  one  may  ride  to  the 
summit,  where  is  a  small  oblong  plain,  with  the 
foundations  of  ancient  buildings.  The  view  of 
the  country  from  this  place  is  very  beautiful  and 
extensive.  The  mountain  is  of  limestone,  which 
is  the  general  rock  of  Palestine.  The  sides  of 
the  mountain  are  mostly  covered  with  bushes, 
and  woods  of  oak  trees  (ilex  and  Ergilops),  with 
occasionally  pistachio  trees,  presenting  a  beautiful 
appearance,  and  affording  a  fine  shade. 

This  mountain  is  several  times  mentioned  in 
the  Old  Testament  (Josh.  xix.  12,  22;  Judg.  iv. 
fi,  12,  14);  but  not  in  the  New.  Its  summit  has, 
however,  been  usually  regarded  as  the  'high 
mountain  apart,'  where  our  Lord  was  transfigured 
before  Peter,  James,  and  John.  But  the  proba- 
bility of  this  is  opposed  by  circumstances  which 
cannot  be  gainsaid.  It  is  manifest  that  the  Trans- 
figuration took  place  in  a  solitary  place,  not  only 
from  the  word  '  apart,'  but  from  the  circumstance 
that  Peter  in  his  bewilderment  proposed  to  build 
•  three  tabernacles  '  on  the  spot  (Matt.  xvii.  1-8  ; 
Luke  ix.  28-36).  But  we  know  that  a  fortified 
town  occupied  the  top  of  Tabor  for  at  least  220 
years  before  and  60  years  after  the  birth  of 
Christ,  and  probably  much  before  and  long  after ; 
and  the  tradition  itself  cannot  be  traced  back 
earlier  than  towards  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 

2.  TABOR  is  also  the  name  of  a  grove  of  oaks 
in  the  vicinity  of  Benjamin,  in  1  Sam.  x.  3,  the 
topography  of  which  chapter  is  usually  much  em- 
barrassed by  the  groundless  notion  that  Mount 
Tabor  is  meant 

3.  TABOR,  a  Levitical  city  in  Zebulun,  situ 
ated  upon  Mount  Tabor  (1  Chron.  vi.  62). 


T.ADMOR 


751 


TABh'K'I'.      [MlTSlCAL  IsSTRirMtNTS.] 

TAHliET.  (Weights  and  Mkasures.] 
TAD'MOR  or  Tamau,  a  town  built  by  king 
Solomon  (1  Kings  ix.  18  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  4).  The 
name  Tamar  signifies  a  palm-tree,  and  hence  the 
Greek  and  Roman  designation  of  Palmyka,  '  city 
of  palms ;'  but  this  name  never  superseded  the 
other  among  the  natives,  who  even  to  this  day 
give  it  the  name  of  Thadnior.  Palm  trees  are 
still  found  in  the  gardens  around  the  town,  but 
not  in  such  numbers  as  would  warrant,  as  they 
once  did,  the  imposition  of  the  name.  Tadnior 
was  situated  between  the  Euphrates  and  Ilamath, 
to  the  south-east  of  that  city, 'in  a  fertile  tract  or 
oasis  of  the  desert.  It  was  built  by  Solomon, 
probably  with  the  view  of  securing  an  interest  in 
and  command  over  the  great  caravan  traffic  from 
the  east,  similar  to  that  which  he  had  established 
in  respect  of  the  trade  between  Syria  and  Egypt. 
Tadmor  vas  for  a  long  period  under  the  sway 
of  the  Romans.  But  in  the  third  century  it  at- 
tained independence  under  Odenatus  and  his  cele- 
brated consort  Zenobia.  It  returned  again,  how- 
ever, under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans,  and 
after  various  vicissitudes  of  fortune,  it  ultimately 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  successors  of  Moham- 
med. From  about  the  middle  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury it  seems  gradually  to  have  fallen  into  decay, 
but  its  magnificent  ruins  were  scarcely  known  in 
Europe  till  towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  ruins  cover  a  sandy  plain  stretching  along 
the  bases  of  a  range  of  mountains  called  Jebel 
Belaes,  running  nearly  north  and  south,  dividing 
the  great  desert  from  the  desert  plains  extending 
westward  towards  Damascus,  and  the  north  of 
Syria.  The  general  aspect  which  these  relics  of 
ancient  art  and  magnificence  present,  is  well  de- 
scribed by  Volney : — '  In  the  space  covered  by 
these  ruins  we  sometimes  find  a  palace,  of  which 
nothing  remains  but  the  court  and  walls  ;  some- 
times a  temple  whose  peristyle  is  half  thrown 
down  ;  and  now  a  portico,  a  gallery,  or  triumphal 
arch.  Here  stand  groups  of  columns,  whose  sym- 
metry is  destroyed  by  the  fall  of  many  of  them  ; 
there,  we  see  them  ranged  in  rows  of  such  length 
that,  similar  to  rows  of  trees,  they  deceive  the 
sight  and  assume  the  appearance  of  continued 
walls.  If  from  this  striking  scene  we  cast  our 
eyes  upon  the  ground,  another,  almost  as 
varied,  presents  itself;  on  all  sides  we  behold 
nothing  but  subverted  shafts,  some  whole,  others 
shattered  to  pieces,  or  dislocated  in  their  joints ; 
and  on  which  side  soever  we  look,  the  earth  is 
strewed  with  vast  stones,  half  buried;  M'ith 
broken  entablatures,  mutilated  friezes,  disfigured 
reliefs,  effaced  sculptures,  violated  tombs,  and 
altars  defiled  by  dust.' 

The  present  Tadmor  consists  of  numbers  of 
peasants'  mud  huts,  clustered  together  around  the 
great  Temple  of  the  Sun.  This  temple  is  the  most 
remarkable  and  magnificent  ruin  of  Palmyra. 
The  court  by  which  it  was  enclosed  was  179  feet 
square,  witi.in  which  a  double  row  of  columns 
was  continued  all  round.  They  were  390  in 
number,  of  which  about  sixty  still  remain  stand- 
ing. In  the  middle  of  the  court  stood  the  temple, 
an  oblong  quadrangular  building,  surrounded 
with  columns,  of  which  about  twenty  still  exist, 
though  without  capitals,  of  which  they  have  been 
plundered,  probably  because  tliey  were  composed 


752 


TAMARISK 


of  metal.     In  the  interior,  at  the  south  end,  is 
now  the  humble  mosque  of  the  village. 

TAHP'ANHES,  or  Tehaphnehes,  a  city  of 
Egypt.  The  former  name  is  used  by  Jeremiah 
(ii.  16;  xliii.  7-9;  xliv.  I;  xlvi.  14),  and  the 
latter  by  Ezekiel  (xxx.  18).  This  was  doubtless 
Daphne,  a  strong  boundary  city  on  the  Pelusiac 
arm  of  the  Nile.  A  mound  called  Tel  Defenneh, 
nearly  in  a  direct  line  between  the  modern  Zan 
and  Pelusium,  is  supposed  from  its  name  ; 
position  to  mark  the  site  of  Daphne.  Isaiah  (xxx. 
4)  names  it  in  the  abbreviated  form  Hanes.  It 
was  to  this  place  that  Johanan  and  his  party  re- 
paired, taking  Jeremiah  with  them,  after  the 
murder  of  Godaliah. 

TAH'PENES  {head  of  the  age),  a  queen  of 
Egypt,  consort  of  the  Pharaoh  contemporary  with 
David.  Her  sister  was  given  in  marriage  to 
Hadad,  the  fugitive  prince  of  Edom  (1  Kings  xi. 
19)  [Hadad]. 

TAL'MAI  (full  of  furrows),  king  of  Geshur, 
and  father  of  David's  wife  Maacah,  the  mother 
of  Absalom  (2  Sam.  iii.  3;  xiii.  37  ;  1  Chron.  iii. 
I,  2)  [Geshuk]. 

1.  TA'MAR  (palm-tree),  a  Canaanitish  wo- 
man, espoused  successively  to  the  two  sons  of 
Judah,  Er  and  Onan ;  but  as  they  both  died 
childless,  Judah  hesitated  to  give  her  his  third  son 
Shelah,  as  patriarchal  usage  required.  This  set 
her  upon  the  contrivance  described  in  Gen. 
xxxviii. ;  and  two  sons,  Pharez  and  Zarah,  thus 
became  the  fruit  of  her  criminal  intercourse  with 
Judah  himself  [Judah], 

2.  TAMAR,  daughter  of  David  by  Maacah, 
who  was  also  the  mother  of  Absalom.  The  un- 
happy consequences  of  the  criminal  passion  en- 
tertained for  this  beautiful  damsel  by  her  half- 
brother  Amnon,  brutally  gratified  by  him,  and 
terribly  avenged  by  Absalom,  formed  the  ground- 
work of  the  family  distractions  which  embittered 
the  latter  years  of  David's  reign  (2  Sam.  xiii.) 
[Absalom  ;  Amnon  ;  David]. 

TAMARISK.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the 
meaning  of  the  word  eshel,  which  occurs  in  three 
places  of  Scripture,  in  one  of  which,  in  our  Au- 
thorized Version,  it  is  rendered  grove,  and  in  the 
other  two  tree.  The  first  notice  of  this  tree  is  in 
Gen.  xxi.  33,  '  And  Abraham  planted  a  grove 
(eshel)  in  Beersheba,  and  called  there  on  the  name 
of  the  Lord.'  The  second  notice  is  in  1  Sj^m.  xxii. 
6 :  '  Now  Saul  abode  in  Gibeah  under  a  tree  (eshel) 
in  Ramah,  having  his  spear  in  his  hand,  and  all 
his  servants  were  standing  about  him.'  Under 
such  a  tree  also  he  and  his  sons  were  buried,  for 
it  is  said  (1  Sam.  xxxi.  13),  '  And  they  took  their 
bones,  and  buried  them  under  a  tree  (eshel)  at 
Jabesh,  and  fasted  seven  days.' 

From  the  characteristics  of  the  tamarisk-tree 
of  the  East,  it  certainly  appears  as  likely  as  any 
to  have  been  planted  in  Beersheba  by  Abraham, 
because  it  is  one  of  the  few  trees  which  will  flou- 
rish and  grow  to  a  great  size  even  in  the  arid 
desert.  It  has  also  a  name  in  Arabic,  asul,  very 
similar  to  the  Hebrew  eshel.  Besides  the  advan- 
tage of  affording  shade  in  a  hot  country,  it  is  also 
esteemed  on  account  of  the  excellence  of  its  wood, 
which  is  converted  into  charcoal.  It  is  no  less 
valuable  on  account  of  the  galls  with  which  its 
branches  are  often  loaded,  and  which  are  nearly 
as  astringent  as  oak-ga.ls.  It  is  also  one  of  those 
trees  which  were  esteemed  by  the  ancients. 


TAPPUAH 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  only  tree  which 
is  found  growing  among  the  ruins  of  Babylon  is  a 
tamarisk.  Thus,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Kasr, 
where  Ker  Porter  thought  he  saw  traces  of  the 
hanging  gardens,  there  stands  upon  an  artificial 


313.    [Tamarisk.     Tamarix  orientalis.] 

eminence  a  tree  to  which  the  Arabs  give  the  name 
of  athela.  It  is  a  species  of  tree  altogether  foreign 
to  the  country.  Two  of  the  attendants  of  Ker 
Porter,  who  were  natives  of  Bender  Bushire,  as- 
sured him  that  there  are  trees  of  that  kind  in  their 
country,  which  attain  a  very  great  age,  and  are 
called  gaz.  '  The  one  in  question  is  in  appearance 
like  the  weeping-willow,  but  the  trunk  is  hollow 
through  age,  and  partly  shattered.  The  Arabs 
venerate  it  as  sacred,  in  consequence  of  the  Calif 
Ali  having  reposed  under  its  shade  after  the  battle 
ofHillah.' 

TAM'MUZ,  a  Syrian  deity,  for  whom  the  He- 
brew idolatresses  were  accustomed  to  hold  an 
annual  lamentation  (Ezek.  viii.  14).  This  idol 
was  the  same  with  the  Phoenician  Adon  or  Adonis, 
and  the  feast  itself  such  as  they  celebrated.  The 
feast  held  in  honour  of  Tammuz  was  solstitial, 
and  commenced  with  the  new  moon  of  July,  in 
the  mouth  also  called  Tammuz ;  it  consisted  of 
two  parts,  the  one  consecrated  to  lamentation, 
and  the  other  to  joy ;  in  the  days  of  grief  they 
mourned  the  disappearance  of  the  god,  and  in  the 
days  of  gladness  celebrated  his  discovery  and 
return.  Tammuz  appears  to  have  been  a  sort  of 
incarnation  of  the  sun,  regarded  principally  as  in 
a  state  of  passion  and  sufferance,  in  connection 
with  the  apparent  vicissitudes  in  its  celestial  po- 
sition, and  with  respect  to  the  terrestrial  meta- 
morphoses produced,  under  its  influence,  upon 
vegetation  in  advancing  to  maturity. 

TAP'PUAH,  or  BETH-TAPPnAH,  a  city  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah,  not  far  from  Hebron  (Josh.  xv. 
53).  Robinson  identifies  it  with  an  old  village, 
called  Teffuh,  which  he  found  upon  the  hills 
north-west  of  Hebron.  2.  Another  Tappuah  lay 
in  the  plain  of  Judah,  apparently  in  the  vicinity 
of  Zanoah,  Jarmuth,  Socoh,  etc.  (Josh.  xv.  34) : 
which  of  these  was  the  place  conquered  by  Joshua 
is  not  very  clear  (Josh.  xii.  17;  comp.  x.  6). 
3.  Another  place  of  the  same  name  occurs  on  the 


TARSUS 


TEKOA 


763 


confines  of  Ephraim  and  Manasseh  (Josh.  xvi.  8). 
4.  And  in  1  Chron.  ii.  43,  a  man  of  this  name 
appears. 

TARES.  The  -word  (zizanion)  thus  rendered 
occurs  in  Matt.  xiii.  2.5,  and  several  of  the  follow- 
ing verses.  It  is  evident  from  the  narrative  that 
the  wheat  and  the  zizanion  must  have  had  consi- 
derable resemblance  to  each  other  in  the  herba- 
ceous parts,  which  could  hardly  be  the  case,  unless 
they  were  both  of  the  family  of  the  grasses.  That 
such,  however,  is  the  case,  is  evident  from  what 
Volney  says,  that  the  peasants  of  Palestine  and 
Syria  do  not  cleanse  away  the  seeds  of  weeds 
from  their  corn,  but  even  leave  that  called  Siwan 
by  the  Arabs,  which  stuns  people  and  makes  them 
giddy,  as  he  himself  experienced.  The  Ziwan  of 
the  Arabs  is  concluded  to  be  our  Darnel,  the  Lo- 
lium  temulentum  of  botanists,  and  is  well  suited  to 
the  palate.  It  is  a  grass  often  found  in  corn-fields, 
resembling  the  wheat  until  both  are  in  ear,  and 
remarkablcas  one  of  the  very  few  of  the  numerous 
family  of  grasses  possessed  of  deleterious  proper- 
ties. 

TAR'SHISH,  a  celebrated  part  of  the  ancient 
world,  about  the  exact  position  of  which  opinions 
are  much  divided.  From  a  careful  examination 
of  the  various  Scriptural  accounts  and  allusions  it 
appears  that  Tarshish  was  an  old,  celebrated, 
opulent,  cultivated,  commercial  city,  which  car- 
ried on  trade  in  the  Mediterranean  and  with  the 
sea-ports  of  Syria,  especially  Tyre  and  Joppa, 
and  that  in  all  probability  it  is  to  be  identified 
with  Tartessus  in  Spain,  which  appears  to  have 
lain  not  far  from  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  and  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Guadalquivir,  consequently  at 
no  great  distance  from  the  famous  Granada  of 
later  days.  It  is  not  improbable,  however,  tliat 
the  name  may  have  been  employed  in  a  wider 
sense,  and  may  have  denoted  the  district  of  south- 
western Spain,  comprising  the  several  colonies 
u  liich  Tyre  planted  in  that  country. 

TARSHISH,  a  precious  stone,  so  called  as 
brought  from  Tarshish,  as  Ophir  is  also  put  for 
the  gold  brought  from  thence  (Exod.  xxviii.  20  ; 
xxxix.  13  ;  Ezek.  i.  16  ;  x.  9  ;  xxviii.  1.3 ;  Cant. 
V.  14;  Dan.  x.  «).  The  Septuagint,  followed  by 
Josephus,  makes  it  the  '  chrysolite,'  i.  e.  the  topaz 
of  the  moderns,  which  is  still  found  in  Spain. 
Others  suppose  it,  to  be  '  amber ;'  but  this  does 
not  agree  witli  the  passages  in  Exodus,  which 
make  the  Tarshish  to  have  been  one  of  the  en- 
graved stones  of  the  high-priest's  breast-plate. 
The  word  is  translated  '  beryl '  in  the  Authorized 
Version. 

TAR'SUS,  a  celebrated  city,  the  metropolis  of 
Cilicia,  in  Asia  Minor,  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Cydnus,  which  flowed  through  it,  and  divided  it 
into  two  parts.  Tarsus  was  a  distinguished  seat 
of  Greek  philosophy  and  literature,  and,  from  the 
number  of  its  schools  and  learned  men,  was  ranked 
by  the  side  of  Athens  and  Alexandria.  Augustus 
made  Tarsus  free.  This  seems  to  have  implied 
the  privilege  of  being  governed  by  its  own  laws 
and  magistrates,  with  freedom  from  tribute ;  but 
did  not  confer  the  jus  coloniarum,nor  the  jus  civi- 
talis:  and  it  was  not  therefore,  as  usually  sup- 
posed, on  this  account,  that  Paul  enjoyed  the  pri- 
vilege of  Roman  citizenship.  Tarsus,  indeed, 
eventually  did  become  a  Roman  colony,  which 
gave  to  the  inhabitants  this  privilege;  but  this 
was  not  till  long  after  the  time  of  Paul.   We  thus 


find  that  the  Roman  tribune  at  Jerusalem  ordered 
Paul  to  be  scourged,  though  he  knew  that  he  was 
a  native  of  Tarsus,  but  desisted  on  learning  that 
he  was  a  Roman  citizen  (Acts  ix.  11  ;  xxi.  39; 
xxii.  24,  27).  In  the  time  of  Abulfeda,  that  is, 
towards  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  and  beginning 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  Tarsus  was  still  large, 
and  surrounded  by  a  double  wall,  and  in  the  oc- 
cupation of  Armenian  Christians.  It  is  now  a 
poor  and  decayed  town,  inhabited  by  Turks  ;  but 
it  is  not  so  much  fallen  as  many  other  anciently 
great  towns  of  the  same  quarter,  the  population 
being  estimated  at  30,000.  There  are  some  con- 
siderable remains  of  the  ancient  city. 

TAR'TAK,  an  idol  of  the  Avites,  introduced 
by  them  into  Samaria  (2  Kings  xvii.  31). 

TAR'TAN,  an  As.syrian  general  whom  Senna- 
cherib sent,  accompanied  by  Rabsaris  and  Rab- 
shakeh,  to  Jerusalem  (2  Kings  xviii.  17).  It  is 
not  known  whether  this  is  the  same  officer  who  in 
a  preceding  reign  besieged  and  took  Ashdod  for 
his  master  (Isa.  xx.  1). 

TAT'NAI  (Pers.,  perhaps  gift),  a  Persian 
governor,  who  succeeded  Rehum  in  the  rule  of 
Samaria,  and  probably  of  other  provinces  north 
of  Judsea.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  more  just 
person,  and  more  friendly  to  the  Jews,  than  his 
predecessor.  An  adverse  report  of  their  proceed- 
ings at  Jerusalem  reached  him ;  but  he  resolved 
to  suspend  his  judgment  till  he  had  examined  into 
the  matter  on  the  spot.  He  accordingly  repaired 
thither,  accompanied  by  another  great  officer, 
named  Shethar-boznai,  and  their  colleagues,  and 
finding  that  the  Jews  alleged  the  authority  of  a 
royal  decree  for  their  proceedings,  he  sent  to  the 
supreme  government  a  temperate  and  fair  report, 
founded  on  the  information  he  had  obtained,  sug- 
gesting that  the  statement  made  by  the  Jews  as  to 
the  decree  of  Cyrus  and  other  matters  should  be 
verified  by  reference  to  the  archives  at  Babylon. 
Then,  without  one  word  to  influence  the  decision 
or  to  prejudice  the  claim  advanced,  Tatnai  con- 
cludes with  intimating  that  he  awaits  the  royal 
orders.  This  official  letter  of  the  Persian  governor 
is  quite  a  model  of  exactness,  moderation,  and 
truth,  and  gives  a  very  favourable  idea  of  the  ad- 
ministrative part  of  the  Persian  government.  This 
took  place  in  the  second  year  of  Darius,  B.C.  519. 
The  rescript  being  favourable  to  the  claim  of  the 
Jews,  whose  statement  had  been  verified  by  the 
discovery  of  the  original  decree  of  Cyrus,  Tatnai 
and  his  colleagues  applied  themselves  with  vigour 
to  the  execution  of  the  royal  commands  (Ezra  v, 
and  vi.). 

TAVERNS,  THE  THREE.  The  name  of  a 
small  place  on  the  Appian  way,  mentioned  in 
Acts  xxviii.  15.  It  probably  derived  its  name 
from  three  large  inns,  or  eating-houses,  for  the 
refreshment  of  travellers  passing  to  and  from 
Rome.  The  place  still  remains,  and  is  called  Tre 
Taverne:  it  is  about  thirty-three  miles  from 
Rome. 

TE'BETH,  the  tenth  month  (Esth.  ii.  16)  of 
the  sacred  year  of  the  Hebrews,  commenced  with 
the  new  moon  in  December,  and  terminated  at 
the  new  moon  in  January. 

TEIL-TREE  (Isa.  vi.  13)  is  the  linden-tree,  or 
Tilia  Eiiropceus  of  botanists. 
TE'KEL.     [Mene,  &c.] 
TEKO'A,  a  city  south  of  Bethlehem,  on  the 
borders  of  the  desert  to  which  it  gave  name,  and 
3  c 


754 


TEMPLE 


noted  as  the  residence  of  '  the  wise  •woman '  who 
interceded  for  Absalom  ;  as  one  of  the  towns  for- 
tified by  Rehoboam  ;  and  as  the  birthplace  of  the 
prophet  Amos  (2  Sam.  xiv.  2;  1  Chron.  ii.  24; 
2  Chron.  xx.  20  ;  Jer.  vi.  1 ;  Amos  i.  1).  The 
site  has  long  been  known ;  it  lies  six  miles  south 
of  Bethlehem,  on  an  elevated  hill,  not  steep,  but 
broad  at  the  top,  and  covered  with  ruins  to  the 
extent  of  four  or  five  acres.  The  site  commands 
extensive  prospects,  and  towards  the  east  is 
bounded  only  by  the  level  mountains  of  Moab. 
Before  and  during  the  Crusades  Tekoa  was  well 
inhabited  by  Christians;  but  in  a.d.  1138  it  was 
sacked  by  a  party  of  Turks  from  beyond  the 
Jordan,  and  nothing  furth%r  is  known  of  it  till 
the  seventeenth  century,  when  it  lay  desolate,  as 
it  has  ever  since  done. 

TE'LEM,  a  city  in  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  24). 

TE'MA,  a  tract  and  people  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  Arabian  desert,  adjacent  to  the  Syrian 
desert,  so  called  from  Tema,  the  son  of  Ishmael 
(Gen.  XXV.  1.5;  Job  vi.  19;  Isa.  xxi.  14;  Jer. 
xxv.  23).  This  tract  is  still  called  Tema  by  the 
Arabs  [Ababia]. 

TE'MAN,  a  grandson  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxxvi. 
11,  15);  also  a  city,  region,  and  people  on  the 
east  of  Idumsea  sprung  from  him  (Gen.  xxxvi. 
42;  Jer.  xlix.  7;  Ezek.  xxv.  13;  Amos  i.  11, 
12;  ()bad.9).  Like  other  Arabs  (1  Kingsv.l2), 
the  Temanites  were  celebrated  for  wisdom  (Jer. 
xlix.  7  ;  Bar.  iii.  22,  23  ;  comp.  Job  ii.  1 1 ;  xxi.  I). 

TE'MANITE,  one  belonging  to  the  tribe  or 
country  of  Tema  (Job  ii.  11  ;  xxi.  1). 

TEMPLE.  After  the  Israelites  had  exchanged 
their  nomadic  life  for  a  life  in  permanent  habita- 
tions, it  was  becoming  that  they  should  exchange 
also  their  movable  sanctuary  or  tabernacle  for  a 
temple.  There  elapsed,  however,  after  the  con- 
quest of  Palestine,  several  centuries  during  which 
the  sanctuary  continued  movable,  although  the 
nation  became  more  and  more  stationary.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  first  who  planned  the  erection  of  a 
stone-built  sanctuary  was  David,  who,  when  he 
was  inhabiting  his  house  of  cedar,  and  God  had 
given  him  rest  from  all  his  enemies,  meditated 
the  design  of  building  a  temple  in  which  the  ark 
of  God  might  be  placed,  instead  of  being  depo- 
sited 'within  curtains,'  or  in  a  tent,  as  hitherto. 
This  design  was  at  first  encouraged  by  the  pro- 
phet Nathan :  but  he  was  afterwards  instructed 
to  tell  David  that  such  a  work  was  less  appro- 
priate for  him,  who  had  been  a  warrior  from  his 
youth,  and  had  shed  much  blood,  than  for  his 
son,  who  should  enjoy  in  prosperity  and  peace 
the  rewards  of  his  father's  victories.  Neverthe- 
less, the  design  itself  was  highly  approved  as  a 
token  of  proper  feelings  towards  the  Divine  King 
(2  Sam.  vii.  1-12  ;  1  Chron.  xvii.  1-14;  xxviii.). 
We  learn,  moreover,  from  1  Kings  v.,  and  1  Chron. 
xxii.,  that  David  had  collected  materials  which 
were  afterwards  employed  in  the  erection  of  the 
temple,  which  was  commenced  four  years  after 
his  death,  about  B.C.  1012,  four  hundred  and 
eighty  years  after  the  Exodus  from  Egypt,  and 
was  about  seven  years  in  building.  We  thus 
learn  that  the  Israelitish  sanctuary  had  remained 
movable  more  than  four  centuries  subsequent  to 
the  conquest  of  Canaan. 

The  site  of  the  temple  was  on  Mount  Moriah, 
which  was  at  first  insufl&cient  for  the  temple  and 
altar,  and  therefore  walls  and  buttresses  were 


TEMPLE 

built  in  order  to  gam  more  ground  by  filling  up 
the  interval  with  earth.  The  hill  was  also  forti- 
fied by  a  threefold  wall,  the  lowest  tier  of  which 
was  in  some  places  more  than  300  cubits  high; 
and  the  depth  of  the  foundation  was  not  visible, 
because  it  had  been  necessary  in  some  parts  to 
dig  deep  into  the  ground  iu  order  to  obtain  suflB- 
cient  support.  The  dimensions  of  the  stones  of 
which  the  walls  were  composed  were  enormous; 
Josephus  mentions  a  length  of  40  cubits. 

The  workmen  and  the  materials  employed  in 
the  erection  of  the  temple  were  chiefly  procured 
by  Solomon  from  Hiram,  king  of  Tyre,  who  was 
rewarded  by  a  liberal  importation  of  wheat. 
Josephus  states  that  the  foundation  was  sunk  to 
an  astonishing  depth,  and  composed  of  stones  of 
singular  magnitude,  and  very  durable.  Being 
closely  mortised  into  the  rock  with  great  inge- 
nuity, they  formed  a  basis  adequate  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  intended  structure. 

The  temple  itself  and  its  utensils  are  described 
in  1  Kings  vi.  and  vii.,  and  2  Chron.  iii.  and  iv. 

Divines  and  architects  have  repeatedly  endea- 
voured to  represent  the  architectural  proportions 
of  the  temple,  which  was  60  cubits  long,  20 
wide,  and  30  high.  The  internal  dimension  of 
the  '  holy '  was  40  cubits  long,  20  cubits  wide, 
and  30  cubits  high.  The  holy  was  separated 
from  the  '  holy  of  holies '  by  a  partition,  a  large 
opening  in  which  was  closed  by  a  suspended  cur- 
tain. The  holy  of  holies  was  on  the  western 
extremity  of  the  entire  building,  and  its  internal 
dimensions  formed  a  cube  of  20  cubits.  On  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  building  was  the  porch, 
at  the  entrance  of  which  stood  the  two  columns 
called  Jachin  and  Boaz,  which  were  23  cubits 
high. 

The  temple  was  also  surrounded  by  three 
stories  of  chambers,  each  of  which  stories  was  five 
cubits  high,  so  that  there  remained  above,  ample 
space  for  introducing  the  windows,  which  served 
chiefly  for  ventilation,  as  the  light  within  the 
temple  was  obtained  from  the  sacred  candlesticks. 
The  windows  which  are  mentioned  in  1  Kings  vi. 
4,  consisted  probably  of  lattice-work. 

It  seems  from  the  descriptions  of  the  temple 
to  be  certain  that  the  holy  of  holies  was  an 
adi/tum  without  windows.  To  this  fact  Solomon 
seems  to  refer  when  he  spake,  '  The  Lord  said 
that  he  would  dwell  in  the  thick  darkness' 
(I  Kings  viii.  12). 

From  1  Kings  vii.  10,  we  learn  that  the  private 
dwellings  of  Solomon  were  built  of  massive  stone. 
We  hence  infer,  that  the  framework  of  the  temple 
also  consisted  of  the  same  material.  The  temple 
was,  however,  wainscoted  with  cedar  wood,  which 
was  covered  with  gold.  The  boards  within  the 
temple  were  ornamented  by  beautiful  carvings 
representing  cherubim,  palms,  and  flowers.  The 
ceiling  of  the  temple  was  supported  by  beams  of 
cedar  wood.  The  wall  which  separated  the  holy 
from  the  holy  of  holies  probably  consisted  not  of 
stone,  but  of  beams  of  cedar.  The  partitions  were 
probably  in  part  reticulated,  so  that  the  incense 
could  spread  from  the  holy  to  the  most  holy. 

The  floor  of  the  temple  was  throughout  of 
cedar,  but  boarded  over  with  planks  of  tir  (I  Kings 
vi.  15).  The  doors  of  the  oracle  were  composed 
of  olive-tree  ;  but  the  doors  of  the  outer  temple 
had  posts  of  olive-tree  and  leaves  of  tir  (1  Kings 
vi.  31,  sq.).    Both  doors,  as  well  that  which  led 


TEMPLE 

into  the  temple  as  that  which  led  from  the  holy 
to  the  holy  of  holies,  had  folding  leaves,  which, 
however,  seem  to  have  beeu  usually  kept  open, 
the  aperture  being  closed  by  a  suspended  curtain. 

Within  the  holy  of  holies  stood  only  the  ark  of 
the  covenant ;  but  within  the  holy  were  ten 
golden  candlesticks,  and  the  altar  of  incense 
(comp.  the  separate  articles). 

The  temple  was  surrounded  by  an  inner  court, 
which  in  Chronicles  is  palled  the  Court  of  the 
Priests,  and  in  Jeremiah  the  Upper  Court.  This 
again  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  consisting  of 
cedar  beams  placed  on  a  stone  foundation  (1  Kings 
vi.  36).  Besides  this  inner  court  there  is  men- 
tioned a  Great  Court  (^2  Chron.  iv.  9).  This 
court  was  also  more  especially  called  the  court 
of  the  Lord's  house  (Jer.  xix.  12;  xxvi.  2). 
These  courts  were  surrounded  by  spacious  build- 
ings, which,  however,  according  to  Josephus, 
seem  to  have  been  partly  added  at  a  period  later 
than  that  of  Solomon.  From  these  descriptions 
we  learn  that  the  temple  of  Solomon  was  not 
distinguished  by  magnitude,  but  by  good  archi- 
tectural proportions,  beauty  of  workmanship,  and 
costliness  of  materials.  Many  English  churches 
have  an  external  form  not  unlike  that  of  the 
temple  of  Solomon. 

There  was  a  treasury  in  the  temple,  in  which 
much  precious  metal  was  collected  for  the  main- 
tenance of  public  worship.  The  gold  and  silver 
of  the  temple  was,  however,  frequently  applied 
to  political  purposes,  and  the  treasury  was  re- 
peatedly plundered  by  foreign  invaders.  The 
sacred  edifice  was  burned  down  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, B.C.  .^88,  having  stood  since  its  commence- 
ment 417  or  418  years.  Thus  terminated  what 
the  later  Jews  called  the  first  hojtse. 

The  Second  Temple. — In  the  year  B.C.  536 
the  Jews  obtained  permission  from  Cyrus  to  colo- 
nise their  native  land.  Cyrus  commanded  also 
that  the  sacred  utensils  which  had  been  pillaged 
from  the  first  temple  should  be  restored,  and  that 
for  the  restoration  of  the  temple  assistance  should 
be  granted  (Ezra  i.  and  vi. ;  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  22, 
sq.).  The  first  colony,  which  returned  under 
Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  having  collected  the  ne- 
cessary means,  and  having  also  obtained  the 
assistance  of  Phcenician  workmen,  commenced  in 
the  second  year  after  their  return,  B.C.  534,  the 
rebuilding  of  the  temple.  The  Sidouians  brought 
rafts  of  cedar  trees  from  Lebanon  to  Joppa. 
The  Jews  refused  the  co-operation  of  the  Sama- 
ritans, who,  being  thereby  offended,  induced  the 
Icing  A rtasashta  (probably  Smerdis)  to  prohibit 
the  building.  And  it  was  only  in  the  second  year 
of  Darius  Hystaspis,  b.c.  52i),  that  the  building 
was  resumed.  It  was  completed  in  the  sixth 
year  of  this  king,  B.C.  516. 

This  second  temple  was  erected  on  the  site  of 
the  former,  and  probably  after  the  same  plan. 
The  old  men  who  had  seen  the  first  temple  were 
moved  to  tears  on  beholding  the  second,  which 
appeared  insignificant  in  comparison  with  the 
first  (Ezra  iii,  12;  Haggai  ii.  3,  sq.).  It  seems, 
however,  that  it  was  not  so  much  in  dimensions 
that  the  second  temple  was  inferior  to  the  first, 
as  in  splendour,  and  in  being  deprived  of  the  ark 
of  the  covenant,  which  had  been  burned  with 
the  temple  of  Solomon. 

Temple  of  Herod. — Herod,  wishing  to  in- 
gratiate himself  with  the    people,    and    being 


TEMPLE  755 

fond  of  architectural  display,  undertook  not 
merely  to  repair  the  second  temple,  but  to  raise 
a  perfectly  new  structure.  As,  however,  the 
temple  of  Zerubbabel  was  not  actually  destroyed, 
but  only  removed  after  the  preparations  for  the 
new  temple  were  completed,  there  has  arisen 
some  debate  whether  the  temple  of  Herod  could 
properly  be  called  the  third  temple. 

The  work  was  commenced  in  the  eighteenth 
year  of  the  reign  of  Herod ;  that  is,  about  the 
year  734-735  from  the  building  of  Rome,  or 
about  twenty  or  twenty-one  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  Priests  and  Levites  finished  the 
temple  itself  in  one  year  and  a  half.  The  out- 
buildings and  courts  required  eight  years.  How- 
ever, some  building  operations  were  constantly 
in  progress  under  the  successors  of  Herod,  and  it 
is  in  reference  to  this  we  are  informed  that  the 
temple  was  finished  only  under  Albinus,  the  last 
procurator  but  one,  not  long  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Jewish  war  in  which  the  temple 
was  again  destroyed.  It  is  in  reference  also  to 
these  protracted  building  operations  that  the 
Jews  said  to  Jesus,  '  Forty  and  six  years  was  this 
temple  in  building'  (John  ii.  20). 

The  whole  of  the  structures  belonging  to  the 
temple  were  a  stadium  square,  and  consequently 
four  stadia  (or  half  a  Roman  mile)  in  circum- 
ference. The  temple  was  situated  on  the  highest 
point,  not  quite  in  the  centre,  but  rather  to  the 
north-western  corner  of  this  square,  and  was  sur- 
rounded by  various  courts,  the  innermost  of 
which  was  higher  than  the  next  outward,  which 
descended  in  terraces.  The  temple,  consequently, 
was  visible  from  the  town,  notwithstanding  its 
various  high  enclosures.  The  outer  court  was 
called  the  mountain  of  the  house,  and  had  five 
principal  gates.  Annexed  to  the  outer  wall  were 
halls  which  surrounded  the  temple.  The  Levites 
resided  in  these  halls,  and  they  seem  likewise  to 
have  been  used  by  religious  teachers  for  the  pur- 
pose of  addressing  their  hearers.  Thus  we  find 
that  Jesus  had  there  various  opportunities  for 
addressing  the  people  and  refuting  cavillers. 

Here  also  the  first  Christians  could  daily  as- 
semble with  one  accord  (Acts  ii.  4G).  Within 
this  outer  court  money-changers  and  cattle-dealers 
transacted  a  profitable  business,  especially  during 
the  time  of  Passover.  The  profaneness  to  which 
this  money-changing  and  cattle -dealing  gave  rise 
caused  the  indignation  of  our  Lord,  who  suddenly 
expelled  all  these  trafRckers  from  their  stronghold 
of  business  (Matt.  xxi.  12,  sq. ;  Mark  xi.  15-17; 
Luke  xix.  4,5,  46  ;  John  ii.  13-17). 

The  holy  of  holies  was  entirely  empty,  but 
there  was  a  stone  in  the  place  of  the  ark  of  the 
covenant,  on  which  the  high- priest  placed  the 
censer.  Before  the  entrance  of  the  holy  of  holies 
was  suspended  a  curtain,  which  was  rent  by  the 
earthquake  that  followed  after  the  crucifixion. 

The  temple  was  situated  upon  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  Mount  Moriah,  which  is  separated  to 
the  east  by  a  precipitous  ravine  and  the  Kidron 
from  the  Mount  of  Olives,  which  is  much  higher 
than  Moriah.  On  the  south  the  temple  was 
bounded  by  the  ravine  which  separates  Moriah 
from  Ziou,  or  the  lower  city  from  the  upper  city. 
Opposite  to  the  temple,  at  the  foot  of  Zion,  were 
formerly  the  king's  gardens,  and  higher  up,  in  a 
south-westerly  direction,  the  stronghold  of  Zion, 
or  the  city  of  David,  on  a  higher  level  than  the 
3c2 


756  TEMPLE 

temple.  The  temple  was  in  ancient  -warfare 
almost  impregnable,  from  the  ravines  at  the  pre- 
cipitous edge  of  which  it  stood ;  but  it  required 
more  artificial  fortifications  on  its  tvestern  and 
northern  sides,  which  were  surrounded  by  the 
city  of  Jerusalem  ;  for  this  reason  there  was 
erected  at  its  north-western  corner  the  tower  of 
Antouia,  which,  although  standing  on  a  lower 
level  than  the  temple  itself,  was  so  high  as  to 
overlook  the  sacred  buildings,  with  which  it  was 
connected  partly  by  a  large  staircase,  partly  by 
a  subterraneous  communication.  This  tower 
protected  the  temple  from  sudden  incursions  from 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  from  dangerous  com- 
motions among  the  thousands  who  were  frequently 
assembled  within  the  precincts  of  the  courts, 
which  also  were  sometimes  used  for  popular 
meetings.  Under  the  sons  of  Herod,  the  temple 
remained  apparently  in  good  order,  and  Herod 
Agrippa,  who  was  appointed  by  the  Emperor 
Claudius  its  guardian,  even  planned  the  repair  of 
the  eastern  part,  which  had  probably  been  de- 
stroyed during  one  of  the  conflicts  between  the 
Jews  and  Romans  of  which  the  temple  was  re- 
peatedly the  scene  (^Antiq.  xvii.  10).  Many  writers 
on  the  subject  have  adopted  a  style  as  if  they 
possessed  much  information  about  the  archives 
of  the  temple  ;  there  are  a  few  indications  from 
which  we  learn  that  important  documents  were 
deposited  in  the  tabernacle  and  temple.  Even  in 
Deut.  xxxi.  26,  we  find  that  the  book  of  the  law 
was  deposited  in  the  ark  of  the  covenant.  2  Kings 
xxii.  8,  Hilkiah  rediscovered  the  book  of  the  law 
in  the  house  of  Jehovah.  In  2  Mace.  ii.  13,  we 
find  a  bibliotheca  or  library  mentioned,  apparently 
consisting  chiefly  of  the  canonical  books,  and 
probably  deposited  in  the  temple.  In  Josephus 
it  is  mentioned  that  a  book  of  the  law  was  found 
in  the  temple.  It  appears  that  the  sacred  writings 
were  kept  in  the  temple.  Copies  of  political  do- 
cuments seem  to  have  been  deposited  in  the  trea- 
sury of  the  temple. 

During  the  final  struggle  of  the  Jews  against 
the  Romans,  a.d.  70,  the  temple  was  the  last 
scene  of  the  tug  of  war.  The  Romans  rushed 
from  the  tower  Antonia  into  the  sacred  precincts, 
the  halls  of  which  were  set  on  fire  by  the  Jews 
themselves.  It  was  against  the  will  of  Titus 
that  a  Roman  soldier  threw  a  firebrand  into 
the  northern  outbuildings  of  the  temple,  which 
caused  the  conflagration  of  the  whole  structure, 
although  Titus  himself  endeavoured  to  extinguish 
the  fire. 

The  sacred  utensils,  the  golden  table  of  the 
shew-bread,  the  book  of  the  law,  and  the  golden 
candlestick,  were  displayed  in  the  triumph  at 
Rome.  Representations  of  them  are  still  to  be 
seen  sculptured  in  relief  on  the  triumphal  arch 
of  Titus.  The  place  where  the  temple  had  stood 
seemed  to  be  a  dangerous  centre  for  the  rebellious 
population,  until,  in  A.d.  136,  the  Emperor 
Hadrian  founded  a  Roman  colony,  under  the 
name  .^lia  Capitolina,  on  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem, 
and  dedicated  a  temple  to  Jupiter  Capitolinus  on 
the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  Jehovah.  Henceforth 
no  Jew  was  permitted  to  approach  the  site  of  the 
ancient  temple. 

The  Emperor  Julian  undertook,  a.d.  363,  to 
rebuild  the  temple;  but  after  considerable  pre- 
parations and  much  expense,  he  was  compelled  to 
desist  by  flames  which  burst  forth  from  the  foun- 


TENT 

dations.  A  splendid  mosque  now  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  temple.  This  mosque  was  erected  by 
the  caliph  Omar  after  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem 
by  the  Saracens,  a.d.  636. 

TEMPTATION  OF  OUR  LORD  (Matt.  iv. 
1-11 ;  Mark  i.  12,  13;  Luke  iv.  1-12).  The  po- 
pular view  of  this  undoubted  portion  of  our 
Saviour's  history,  is,  that  it  is  a  narrative  of  out- 
ward transactions  ;  that  our  Saviour  immediately 
after  his  baptism  was  conducted  by  the  Spirit 
into  the  wilderness — either  the  desolate  and 
mountainous  region  now  called  Quarantania  by 
tlie  people  of  Palestine,  or  the  great  desert  of 
Arabia,  mentioned  in  Deut.  xxxii.  10  ;  viii.  1.5  ; 
Hos.  xiii.  .5 ;  Jer.  ii.  6,  &c. — where  the  devil 
tempted  him  in  person,  appeared  to  him  in  a 
visible  form,  spoke  to  him  in  an  audible  voice, 
removed  him  to  the  summit  '  of  an  exceeding 
high  mountain,'  and  to  the  top  of  '  a  pinnacle  (3 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem ;'  whereas  the  view  taken 
by  many  learned  commentators,  ancient  and 
modern,  is,  that  it  is  the  narrative  of  a  vision, 
which  was  designed  to  '  supply  that  ideal  experi- 
ence of  temptation  or  trial,  which  it  was  provided 
in  the  divine  counsels  for  our  Lord  to  receive, 
previously  to  entering  upon  the  actual  trials  and 
difficulties  of  his  ministry.' 

TENT.  The  patriarchal  fathers  of  the  Israel- 
ites were  dwellers  in  tents,  and  their  descendants 
proceeded  at  once  from  tents  to  houses.  We 
therefore  read  but  little  of /ijUs  among  them;  and 
never  as  the  fixed  habitations  of  any  people  with 
whom  they  were  conversant.  Tents  were  in- 
veiitcri  before  the  Deluge,  and  appear  from  the 
fiibt  to  have  been  associated  with  the  pastoral 
life,  to  wbich  a  movable  habitation  was  necessary 
(Gen.  iv.  20).  The  practice  of  the  pastoral 
fathers  was  to  pitch  their  tents  near  wells  of 
Vatcr,  and.  if  possible,  under  some  shady  tree 
(Gen.  xviii.  4;  Judg.  iv.  5).  The  first  tents 
were  undoubtedly  covered  with  skins,  of  which 
there  are  traces  in  the  Pentateuch  (Exod.  xxvi. 


314.    [Arabian  Tent.] 

14) ;  but  nearly  all  the  tents  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture were,  doubtless,  of  goats'  hair,  spun  and 
woven  by  the  women  (Exod.  xxxv.  26 ;  xxxvi. 
14);  such  as  are  now,  in  Western  Asia,  used  by 
all  who  dwell  in  tents;  hence  their  black  colour 
(Sol.  Song,  i.  h).  Tents  of  linen  were,  and  still 
are,  only  used  occasionally,  for  holiday  or  travel- 
ling purposes,  by  those  who  do  not  habitually 
live  in  them.  The  patriarchal  tents  were  proba- 
bly such  as  we  now  see  in  Arabia,  of  an  oblong 
shape,  and  eight  or  ten  feet  high  in  the  middle. 
They  vary  in  size,  and  have,  accordingly,  a  greater 
or  less  number  of  poles  to  support  them— from 
three  to  nine.     An  encampment  is  generally  ar- 


TEREBINTH 

ranged  circularly,  forming  an  enclosure,  within 
■  which  the  cattle  are  driven  at  night,  and  the 
centre  of  which  is  occupied  by  the  tent  or  tents  of 
the  Emir  or  Sheikh.  If  he  is  a  person  of  much 
consequence,  he  may  have  three  or  four  tents,  for 
himself,  his  wives,  his  servants,  and  strangers 
respectively.  The  two  first  are  of  the  most  im- 
portance, and  we  know  that  Abraham's  wife  had 
a  separate  tent  (Gen.  xxiv.  27).  It  is  more  usual, 
however,  for  one  very  large  tent  to  be  divided  into 
two  or  more  apartments  by  curtains.  The  Holy 
Tabernacle  was  on  this  model  (Exod.  xxvi.  31-37). 

TE'RAH,  son  of  Nahor  and  father  of  Abra- 
ham, who,  with  his  family,  quitted  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees  to  go  to  the  land  which  God  should 
show  him,  '  but  tarried  at  Harau  in  Mesopotamia, 
and  there  died  at  the  age  of  205  years '  (Gen.  xi. 
24-32 ;  Acts  vii.  2-4).  From  the  latter  text,  it 
appears  that  the  first  call  which  prompted  them 
to  leave  Ur  was  addressed  to  Abraham,  not  to 
Terah,  as  well  as  the  second,  which,  after  the 
death  of  his  father,  induced  him  to  proceed  from 
Haran  to  Canaan  [Abrahaih].  The  order  to 
Abraham  to  proceed  to  Canaan  immediately  after 
Terah's  death  seems  to  indicate  that  the  pause  at 
Haran  was  on  his  account.  Whether  he  declined 
to  proceed  any  further,  or  his  advanced  age  ren- 
dered him  unequal  to  the  fatigues  of  the  journey, 
can  only  be  conjectured. 

TER'APHIM  were  tutelar  household  gods,  by 
whom  families  expected,  for  worship  bestowed, 
to  be  rewarded  with  domestic  prosperity,  such  as 
plenty  of  food,  health,  and  various  necessaries  of 
domestic  life. 

We  have  most  remarkable  proofs  that  the  wor- 
ship of  teraphim  co-existed  with  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  even  in  pious  families;  and  we  have 
more  than  one  iustauce  of  the  wives  of  worship- 
pers of  Jehovah  not  finding  full  contentment  and 
satisfaction  in  the  stern  moral  truth  of  spiritual 
worship,  and  therefore  carrying  ou  some  private 
symbolism  by  fondling  the  teraphim. 

We  find  in  Gen.  xxxi.  19,  that  Rachel  stole 
the  images  (teraphim)  belonging  to  her  father 
without  the  knowledge  of  her  husband,  who, 
being  accused  by  his  father-in-law  of  having 
stolen  his  gods,  answered,  '  With  whomsoever 
thou  findest  thy  gods,  let  him  not  live.'  Laban 
searched,  but  found  not  the  images  (teraphim). 

Among  the  ancient  Israelites  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  was  frequently  blended  with  that  of  a 
graven  image  or  teraphim,  but  on  every  revival 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  written  revelation  of 
God  the  teraphim  were  swept  away  together  with 
the  worse  forms  of  idolatry  (2  Kings  xxiii.  24) . 

The  teraphim  were  consulted  by  persons  on 
whom  true  religion  had  no  firm  hold,  in  order  to 
elicit  some  supernatural  omens  similar  to  the  au- 
guries of  the  Romans  (Zech.  x.  2;  Ezek.  xxi. 
21-26). 

TEREBINTH.  This  is  the  proper  rendering 
of  the  word  (Alah)  which  has  been  variously 
ti-anslated  as  oak,  teil  tree,  elm,  and  even  plane. 
In  Palestine  and  the  neighbouring  countries,  the 
terebinth  seems  to  be  regarded  with  much  the 
same  distinction  as  the  oak  is  in  our  northern 
latitudes.  The  tree  is  long  lived.  About  the 
time  of  Christ,  there  was  at  Mamre  near  Hebron 
a  venerable  terebinth,  which  a  tradition,  old  in 
the  time  of  Josephus,  alleged  to  be  that  under 
which  Abraham  pitched  his  tent  (Gen.  xiii.  18). 


TETRARCH 


757 


Dr.  Robinson  states,  that  at  the  point  where  the 
roads  from  Gaza  to  Jerusalem,  and  from  Hebron 
to  Ramleh,  cross  each  other,  he  observed  an  im- 
mense terebinth  tree,  the  largest  he  saw  any- 
where in  Palestine;  'This  species  (Pislacia 
Terebinthtts)  is  without  doubt,'  he  adds,  '  the  tere- 
binth of  the  Old  Testament,  and  under  the  shade 
of  such  a  tree  Abraham  may  well  have  pitched 
his  tent  at  Mamre.'  The  terebinth  is  not  an  ever- 
green, as  has  often  been  represented,  but  its  small 
feathered  lancet-shaped  leaves  fall  in  the  autumn, 
and  are  renewed  in  the  spring.  The  flowers  are 
small,  and  are  followed  by  small  oval  berries, 
hanging  in  clusters  from  two  to  five  inches  in 
length,  resembling  much  the  clusters  of  the  vine 
when  the  grapes  are  just  set.  From  incisions  in 
the  trunk,  there  is  said  to  flow  a  sort  of  transparent 
balsam,  constituting  a  very  pure  and  fine  species 
of  turpentine,  with  an  agreeable  odour,  and  har- 
dening gradually  into  ft  transparent  gum  [Oak]. 


315,    [Terebinth  tree.] 

TER'TIUS.  We  learn  from  Rom,  xvi.  22  ('  I 
Tertius,  who  wrote  this  epistle,  salute  you  in  the 
Lord  '),  that  the  Apostle  Paul  dictated  that  epistle 
to  Tertius.  Some  writers  say  that  Tertius  was 
bishop  of  Iconium. 

TERTUL'LUS,  the  Roman  orator  or  advocate 
employed  by  the  Sanhedrim,  to  sustain  their  ac- 
cusation against  Paul  before  the  Roman  governor 
(Acts  xxiv.  1-8).  The  Jews,  as  well  as  the  other 
peoples  subject  to  the  Romans,  in  their  accusa- 
tions and  processes  before  the  Roman  magistrates, 
were  obliged  to  follow  the  forms  of  the  Roman 
law,  of  which  they  knew  little.  The  different 
provinces,  and  particularly  the  principal  cities, 
consequently  abounded  with  persons  who,  at  the 
same  time  advocates  and  orators,  were  equally 
ready  to  plead  in  civil  actions  or  to  harangue  on 
public  afl'airs.  This  they  did,  either  in  Greek  or 
Latin,  as  the  place  or  occasiou  required. 

TESTAMENT.     [Bible.] 

TET'RAKCH,  a  prince  or  sovereign  who  holds 
or  governs  a  fourth  part  of  a  kingdom,  without 
wearing  the    diadem    or    bearing  the    title    of 


768 


THEBES 


THESSAbONIANS 


king.  Such  was  the  original  import  of  the  word, 
but  it  was  afterwards  applied  to  any  petty 
king  or  sovereign,  and  became  synonymous  with 
ethnarch. 

In  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar  Herod's  king- 
dom of  Judaea  was  divided  into  three  parts,  which 
were  called  tetrarchies,  and  the  sovereigns  te- 
trarchs.  His  sons  were  made  the  heirs  to  his 
kingdom.  Archelaus  became  tetrarch  of  Judaea, 
Samaria,  and  Idumsea ;  Philip  of  Trachonitis  and 
Iturcea ;  and  Herod  Antipas  of  Galilee  and  Peraea 
(Luke  iii.  1).  Herod  Agrippa,  the  nephew  of 
Herod  A  ntipas,  who  afterwards  obtained  the  title 
of  king  (Acts  xxv.  13),  was  in  the  reign  of  Ca- 
ligula invested  with  royalty,  and  appointed  te- 
trarch of  Abilene  ;  to  which  was  afterwards  added 
Galilee  and  Peraea,  Judaea  and  Samaria ;  until  at 
length  his  dominion  extended  over  the  whole 
land  of  Palestine  [Herodian  Family].  The 
title  of  tetrarch  was  frequently  conferred  upon 
the  descendants  of  Herod  the  Great  by  the  Eoman 
emperors. 

TH  ADDE'US,  a  surname  of  the  Apostle  Jude, 
who  was  also  called  Lebbseus  (Matt.  x.  3 ;  Mark 
iii.  18;  comp.  Luke  vi.  16)  [Jude]. 

THAM'MUZ.     [Tammuz.] 

THEBES  is  a  name  borne  by  two  of  the  most 
celebrated  cities  in  the  ancient  world,  Thebes  in 
Bceotia,  and  Thebes  in  Egypt.  Of  the  latter  it  is 
that  we  have  here  to  speak  in  brief,  referring 
those  who  wish  for  detailed  information  to  the 
works  of  Wilkinson,  especially  his  Modern  Egypt 
and  Thebes. 

The  name  Thebes  is  corrupted  from  the  Tape 
of  the  ancient  Egyptian  language,  the  meaning 
of  which  appears  to  be  '  the  head,'  Thebes  being 
the  capital  of  the  Thebais  in  Upper  Egypt.  It 
is  termed  in  Scripture  No  and  No-Ammon  ( Jerem. 
xlvi.  25 ;  Ezek.  xxx,  14 ;  Nahum  iii.  8).  Thebes 
was  situate  on  both  sides  of  the  river  Nile,  and 
had  canals  cutting  the  land  in  all  directions.  It 
was  probably  the  most  ancient  city  of  Egypt,  and 
the  residence  in  very  early  ages  of  Egyptian 
kings  who  ruled  the  land  during  several  dynas- 
ties. The  plain  was  adorned  not  only  by  large 
and  handsome  dwellings  for  man,  but  by  temples 
and  palaces,  of  whose  grandeur  words  can  give 
but  a  faint  conception.  Of  these  edifices  there 
are  still  in  existence  ruins  that  astound  and  de- 
light the  traveller.  The  most  ancient  remains 
now  existing  are  in  the  immense  temple,  or  rather 
cluster  of  temples,  of  Kai-nak,  the  largest  and 
most  splendid  ruin  of  which  either  ancient  or 
modern  times  can  boast,  being  the  work  of  a 
number  of  successive  monarchs,  each  anxious  to 
surpass  his  predecessor  by  increasing  the  dimen- 
sions of  the  part  he  added.  Osirtasen  I.,  the 
contemporary  of  Joseph,  is  the  earliest  morarch 
whose  name  appears  on  the  monuments  of  Thebes. 
On  the  western  shore  the  chief  points  of  interest 
are  the  palace  and  temple  of  Rameses  II.,  erro- 
neously called  the  Memnonium  ;  the  temples  of 
Medinet  Habu,  the  statue  of  Memnon,  and  the 
tombs  of  the  kings.  On  the  eastern  shore  are  the 
temple  of  Luksor,  and  the  temple  of  Karnak, 
already  mentioned.  'It  is  impossible,'  says 
Robinson  {Bib.  Researches,  i.  29),  '  to  wander 
among  these  scenes  and  behold  these  hoary  yet 
magnificent  ruins  without  emotions  of  astonish- 
ment and  deep  solemnity.  Everything  around 
testifies  of  vastness  and  of  utter  desolation.    Here 


lay  once  that  mighty  city  whose  power  and  splen- 
dour were  proverbial  throughout  the  ancient 
world.'  Yet,  like  all  earthly  things,  Thebes  had 
her  period  of  death.  She  sprang  up,  flourished, 
declined,  and  sank.  Memphis  rose  to  be  her 
rival  when  Thebes  began  to  part  with  her  glory. 
She  was  plundered  by  Cambyses,  and  destroyed 
by  Ptolemy  Lathyrus.  In  Strabo's  time  the  city 
was  already  fallen  ;  yet  its  remains  then  covered 
eighty  stadia,  and  the  inhabited  part  was  divided 
into  many  separate  villages,  as  the  ruins  now  are 
portioned  out  between  nine  hamlets.  The  period 
in  which  Thebes  enjoyed  the  highest  prosperity 
Robinson  considers  to  have  been  coeval  with  the 
reigns  of  David  and  Solomon.  This,  however, 
appears  too  late  a  date.  From  the  passage  in 
Nahum  (iii.  8,  sq.),  it  would  seem  that  in  his 
day  (according  to  Josephus,  cir.  750  B.C.)  the  city 
had  suffered  a  terrible  overthrow — how  long  pre- 
viously is  not  recorded,  for  we  do  not  know  what 
conquest  or  what  conqueror  was  here  intended 
by  the  prophet.  The  walls  of  all  the  temples  at 
Thebes  are  covered  with  sculptures  and  hiero- 
glyphics, representing  in  general  the  deeds  of  the 
kings  who  founded  or  enlarged  these  structures. 
Many  of  these  afford  happy  illustrations  of  Egyp- 
tian history. 

THE'BEZ,  a  place  near  Shechem,  where 
Abimelech  met  his  death  (Judg.  ix.  50 ;  2  Sam. 
xi.  21).  It  seems  to  be  the  same  with  the  place 
now  called  Tubas. 

THEOPH'ILUS  {lover  of  God),  a  person  of 
distinction,  to  whom  St.  Luke  inscribed  his  Gos- 
pel and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (Luke  i.  3 ;  Acts 
i.  1).  The  title  given  him,  translated  '  most  ex- 
cellent,' is  the  same  which  is  given  to  governors 
of  provinces,  as  Felix  and  Festus  (Acts  xxiii.  26  ; 
xxvi.  25) ;  whence  he  is  conceived  by  some  to  have 
been  a  civil  magistrate  in  some  high  office.    . 

THESSALONIANS,  EPISTLES  TO  THE. 
— FiKST  Epistle. — The  authenticity  and  canoni- 
cal authority  of  this  epistle  have  been  from  the 
earliest  ages  admitted ;  nor  have  these  points  ever 
been  called  in  question,  either  in  ancient  or 
modern  times,  by  those  who  have  received  any  of 
Paul's  Epistles. 

This  epistle  has  generally  been  regarded  as  the 
first  written  by  Paul  of  those  now  extant.  In 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  (xvii.  5,  sq.)  we  are  told 
that  Paul,  after  preaching  the  Gospel  with  suc- 
cess at  Thessalouica,  had  to  flee  from  that  city  in 
consequence  of  the  malice  of  the  Jews  ;  that  he 
thence  betook  himself  to  Berea,  in  company  with 
Silas;  that,  driven  by  the  same  influence  from 
Berea,  he  journeyed  to  Athens,  leaving  Silas  and 
Timothy  (the  latter  of  whom  had  probably  pre- 
ceded him  to  Berea)  behind  him  ;  and  that  after 
remaining  in  that  city  for  some  time,  he  went  to 
Corinth,  where  he  was  joined  by  Timothy  and 
Silas.  It  appears  also  from  this  epistle  (iii.  1,  2, 
5),  that  whilst  at  Athens  he  had  commissioned 
Timothy  to  visit  the  infant  church  at  Thessalonica ; 
and  from  Acts  xvii.  15,  16,  we  learn  that  he  ex- 
pected to  be  joined  by  Timothy  and  Silas  in  that 
city.  Whether  this  expected  meeting  ever  took 
place  there,  is  a  matter  involved  iu  much  uncer- 
tainty. 

But  whatever  view  we  adopt  on  this  point,  it 
seems  indisputable  that  this  epistle  was  not  writ- 
ten until  Paul  met  Timothy  and  Silas  at  Corinth. 
The  ancient  subscription,  indeed,  testifies  that  h 


THESSALONIANS 

was  written  at  Athens ;  but  that  this  could  not  be 
the  case  is  clear  from  the  epistle  itself.  It  must, 
however,  have  beeu  written  very  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  Corinth;  for,  at  the  time  of  his  writing, 
Timothy  had  just  arrived  from  Thessalonica, 
and  Paul  had  not  been  long  in  Corinth  before 
Timothy  and  Silas  joined  him  there  (Acts  xvii. 
1-5). 

The  design  of  this  epistle  is  to  comfort  the 
Thessalonians  under  trial,  and  to  encourage  them 
to  the  patient  and  consistent  profession  of  Christi- 
anity. The  epistle  may  be  conveniently  divided 
into  two  parts.  The  former  of  these,  which  com- 
prises the  first  three  chapters,  is  occupied  with 
statements  chiefly  of  a  retrospective  character  :  it 
details  the  apostle's  experience  among  the  Thes- 
salonians, his  confidence  in  them,  his  deep  regard 
for  them,  and  his  efiForts  and  prayers  on  their  be- 
half. The  latter  part  of  the  epistle  (iv.  h)  is,  for 
the  most  part,  of  a  hortatory  character :  it  contains 
the  apostle's  admonitions  to  the  Thessalonians  to 
walk  according  to  their  profession  ;  to  avoid  sen- 
suality, dishonesty,  and  pride;  to  cultivate  bro- 
therly love,  to  attend  diligently  to  the  duties  of 
life,  to  take  the  comfort  which  the  prospect  of 
Christ's  second  coming  was  calculated  to  convey, 
but  not  to  allow  that  to  seduce  them  into  indolence 
or  idle  speculations ;  to  render  due  respect  to  their 
spiritual  superiors ;  and,  by  attention  to  a  number 
of  duties  which  the  apostle  specifies,  to  prove 
themselves  worthy  of  the  good  opinion  he  enter- 
tained of  them.  He  concludes  the  epistle  by  oifer- 
ing  fervent  supplication  on  their  behalf,  and  the 
usual  apostolic  benediction. 

Second  Epistle. — The  apostle's  allusion  in 
his  former  epistle  to  the  second  coming  of  Christ, 
and  especially  his  statement  in  ch.  iv.  15-18,  ap- 
pear to  have  been  misunderstood  by  the  Thessa- 
lonians or  wilfully  perverted  by  some  among 
them,  so  as  to  favour  the  notion  that  that  event 
was  near  at  hand.  This  notion  some  inculcated 
as  a  truth  specially  confirmed  to  them  by  the 
Spirit ;  others  advocated  it  as  part  of  the  apostolic 
doctrine  ;  and  some  claimed  for  it  the  specific 
support  of  Paul  in  a  letter  (ii.  2).  Whether  the 
letter  here  referred  to  is  the  apostle's  former 
epistle  to  the  Thessalonians,  or  one  forged  in  his 
name  by  some  keen  and  unscrupulous  advocates 
of  the  notion  above  referred  to,  is  uncertain. 

On  receiving  intelligence  of  the  trouble  into 
which  the  Thessalonians  had  been  plunged,  in 
consequence  of  the  prevalence  among  them  of 
the  notion  (from  whatever  source  derived)  that 
the  second  coming  of  Christ  was  nigh  at  hand, 
Paul  wrote  to  them  this  second  epistle,  in  which 
he  beseechingly  adjures  them  by  the  very  fact 
that  Christ  is  to  come  a  second  time,  not  to  be 
shaken  in  mind  or  troubled,  as  if  that  event  were 
near  at  hand.  He  informs  them  that  much  was 
to  happen  before  that  should  take  place,  and  espe- 
cially predicts  a  great  apostacy  from  the  purity 
and  simplicity  of  the  Christian  faith  (ii.  5-12J. 
He  then  exhorts  them  to  hold  fast  by  the  traditions 
they  had  received,  whether  by  word  or  epistle,  and 
commends  them  to  the  consoling  and  sustaining 
grace  of  God  ( ver.  15-17).  The  rest  of  the  epistle 
consists  of  expressions  of  aflfection  to  the  Thessa- 
lonians, and  of  confidence  in  them :  of  prayers 
on  their  behalf,  and  of  exhortations  and  directions 
suited  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were 
placed. 


THEUDAS  759 

There  is  the  strongest  reason  for  believing  that 
this  second  epistle  was  written  very  soon  after  the 
first,  and  at  the  same  place,  viz.  Corinth.  The 
internal  evidence  in  favour  of  the  genuineness  of 
this  epistle  is  equally  strong  with  that  which 
attests  the  first. 

THESSALONI'CA,  now  called  Salonichi,  is 
still  a  city  of  about  sixty  or  seventy  thousand 
inhabitants,  situated  on  the  present  gulf  of  Saloni- 
chi, which  was  formerly  called  Sinus  Thermaicus, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Echedorus.  It  was  the 
residence  of  a  prceses,  the  principal  city  of  the 
second  part  of  Macedonia,  and  was  by  later  writers 
even  styled  vietropnlis.  Under  the  Romans  it 
became  great,  populous,  and  wealthy.  It  had 
its  name  from  Thessalonice,  wife  of  Cassander, 
who  built  the  city  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  Ther- 
ma;,  after  which  town  the  Sinus  Thermaicus  was 
called.  Thessalonica  was  267  Roman  miles  eist 
of  Apollonia  and  Dyrrachium,  66  miles  from 
Amphipolis,  89  from  Philippi,  433  west  from  By- 
zantium, and  1 50  south  of  Sophia.  A  great  num- 
ber of  Jews  were  living  at  Thessalonica  in  the 
time  of  the  apostle  Paul,  and  also  many  Christian 
converts,  most  of  whom  seem  to  have  been  either 
Jews  by  birth  or  proselytes  before  they  embraced 
Christianity  by  the  preaching  of  Paul.  Jews 
are  still  very  numerous  in  this  town,  and  possess 
much  influence  there.  They  are  unusually  ex- 
clusive, keeping  aloof  from  strangers.  The  apos- 
tolical history  of  the  place  is  given  in  the  pre- 
ceding article.  The  present  town  stands  on  the 
acclivity  of  a  steep  hill,  rising  at  the  north- 
eastern extremity  of  the  bay.  It  presents  an  im- 
posing appearance  from  the  sea,  with  which  the 
interior  by  no  meang  corresponds.  The  principal 
antiquities  are  the  propy  Isea  of  the  hippodrome,  the 
rotunda,  and  the  triumphal  arches  of  Augustus 
and  Constantine. 

THEU'DAS,  a  Jewish  insurgent,  who  was  slain, 
while  a  band  of  followers  that  he  had  induced  to 
join  him  were  scattered  and  brought  to  nought. 
This  statement  was  made  by  Gamaliel  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Sanhedrim  held  about  a.d.  33,  to 
consider  what  measures  should  be  taken  for  the 
suppression  of  the  Gospel  now  preached  and  re- 
commended by  the  virgin  zeal  of  Peter  and  the 
apostles  (Acts  v.  29,  34,  sq.).  Josephus  (Antiq. 
XX.  5.  1)  tells  us  of  a  Theudas  who,  under  the 
procurator  Phadus  (^a.d  44),  set  up  for  a  prophet, 
and  brought  ruin  on  himself  and  many  whom  he 
deluded,  and  attempts  have  been  made,  though  not 
very  successfully,  to  identify  the  Theudas  of  Ga- 
maliel with  the  insurgent  spoken  of  by  Josephus, 
who  appeared  eleven  years  later. 

These  remarks  have  been  made  to  meet  the 
ordinary  view  of  the  case.  But  the  name  Theudas 
is  an  Aramaic  form  of  the  Greek  Theodolos.  which 
is  a  literal  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Matthias  or 
Matthew.  It  is,  then,  of  a  Matthew  tliat  Luke 
speaks;  and  in  Josephus  {Antiq.  xvii.  6.  2-4)  we 
find  a  detailed  account  of  one  Matthew,  a  distin- 
guished teacher  among  the  Jews,  who,  in  the 
latter  days  of  Herod  the  Great,  raised  a  band  of 
his  scholars  to  efi'ect  a  social  reform  in  the  spirit 
of  the  old  Hebrew  constitution,  by  'destroying 
the  heathen  works  which  the  king  had  erected 
contrary  to  the  law  of  their  fathers.'  A  large 
golden  eagle,  which  the  king  had  caused  to  be 
erected  over  the  great  gate  of  the  Temple,  in 
defiance  of  the  law  that  forbids  images  or  «pre- 


760 


THOMAS 


sentations  of  any  living  creatures,  was  an  object 
of  their  special  dislike,  which,  on  hearing  a  false 
report  that  Herod  was  dead,  Matthias  and  his 
companions  proceeded  to  demolish;  when  the 
king's  captain,  supposing  the  undertaking  to  have 
a  higher  aim  than  was  the  fact,  came  upon  the 
riotous  reformers  with  a  band  of  soldiers,  and  ar- 
rested the  proceedings  of  the  multitude.  Dispers- 
ing the  mob,  he  apprehended  forty  of  the  bolder 
spirits,  together  with  Matthias  and  his  fellow- 
leader  Judas.     Matthias  was  burnt. 

THIEF,  PENITENT,  ON  THE  CROSS 
(Luke  xxiii.  39-43).  It  has  been  assumed  that 
this  man  had  been  very  wicked ;  that  he  con- 
tinued so  till  he  was  nailed  to  the  cross ;  that  he 
joined  the  other  malefactor  in  insulting  the 
Saviour ;  and  that  then,  by  a  miracle  of  grace,  he 
■was  transformed  into  a  penitent  Christian.  Some 
eminent  writers,  however,  are  of  opinion,  that  he 
was,  in  all  probability,  not  a  thief  who  robbed 
for  profit,  but  one  of  the  insurgents  who  had  taken 
up  arms  on  a  principle  of  resistance  to  the  Roman 
oppression,  and  to  what  they  thought  an  unlaw- 
ful burden,  the  tribute-money.  They  are  of  opi- 
nion, also,  that  it  is  far  from  certain  that  either  his 
faith  or  repentance  was  the  fruit  of  this  particular 
season.  He  must  have  known  something  of  the 
Saviour,  otherwise  he  could  not  have  said  'he 
hath  done  nothing  amiss.'  He  was  convinced  of 
our  Lord's  Messiahship  :  '  Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom.'  Koecher 
tells  us  that  it  is  a  very  ancient  tradition  that 
the  thief  was  not  converted  at  the  cross,  but 
was  previously  imbued  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel. 

THIGH,  the  part  of  the  body  from  the  legs  to 
the  trunk,  of  men,  quadrupeds,  &c.  Putting  the 
hand  under  the  thiyh  appears  to  have  been  a  very 
ancient  custom,  upon  occasion  of  taking  an  oath 
to  any  one.  Abraham  required  this  of  the  oldest 
servant  of  his  house,  when  he  made  him  swear 
that  he  would  not  take  a  wife  for  Isaac  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Canaanites  (Gen.  xxiv.  2-9). 
Jacob  required  it  of  his  son  Joseph,  when  he 
bound  him  by  oath  not  to  bury  him  in  Egypt, 
but  with  his  fathers  in  the  land  of  Canaau  (xlvii. 
29-31).  The  origin,  form,  and  import  of  this 
ceremony  in  taking  an  oath,  are  very  doubtful. 
Smiting  on  the  thigh  denotes  penitence  (Jer.  xxxi. 
19),  grief,  and  mourning  (Ezek.  xxi.  12). 

THISTLE.     [Thorns.] 

THOMAS.  The  word  is  equivalent  to  the 
Greek  Didymus,  twin. 

The  Apostle  Thomas  (Matt.  x.  3 ;  Mark  iii.  18 ; 
Luke  vi.  15;  Acts  i.  13)  has  been  considered  a 
native  of  Galilee,  like  most  of  the  other  apostles 
(John  xxi.  2)  ;  but  according  to  tradition  he  was 
a  native  of  Antiochia,  and  had  a  twin-sister 
called  Lysia. 

In  the  character  of  Thomas  was  combined 
great  readiness  to  act  upon  his  convictions,  to  be 
faithful  to  his  faith  even  unto  death,  so  that  he 
even  exhorted  his  fellow-disciples,  on  his  last 
journey  to  Jenisalem,  '  Let  us  also  go,  that  we 
may  die  with  him '  (John  xi.  1 6),  together  with 
that  careful  examination  of  evidence  which  will 
be  found  in  all  persons  who  are  resolved  really  to 
obey  the  dictates  of  their  faith.  Whosoever  is 
minded,  like  most  religionists  who  complain  of 
the  scepticism  of  Thomas,  to  follow  in  the  com- 
mon transactions  of  life  the  dictates  of  vulgar 


THORNS  AND  THISTLES 

prudence,  may  easily  abstain  from  putting  his 
hands  into  the  marks  of  the  nails  and  into  the 
side  of  the  Lord  (John  xx.  25);  but  whosoever  is 
ready  to  die  with  the  Lord  will  be  inclined  to 
avail  himself  of  extraordinary  evidence  for  extra- 
ordinary facts,  since  nobody  likes  to  suffer  mar- 
tyrdom by  mistake.  These  remarks  are  directed 
against  Winer  and  others,  who  find  in  the  cha- 
racter of  Thomas  what  they  consider  contradictory 
traits,  viz.,  inconsiderate  faith,  and  a  turn  for 
exacting  the  most  rigorous  evidence.  We  find 
that  a  resolute  and  lively  faith  is  always  neces- 
sarily combined  with  a  sense  of  its  importance, 
and  with  a  desire  to  keep  its  objects  unalloyed  and 
free  from  error  and  superstition.  Christ  himself 
did  not  blame  Thomas  for  availing  himself  of 
all  possible  evidence,  but  only  pronounced  those 
blessed  who  would  be  open  to  conviction  even  if 
some  external  form  of  evidence  should  not  be 
within  their  reach. 

Thomas  preached  the  Gospel  in  Parthia  (Ori- 
geu),  and,  according  to  Jerome,  in  Persia;  and 
was  buried  at  Edessa.  According  to  a  later  tra- 
dition Thomas  went  to  India,  and  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom there. 

THORNS  AND  THISTLES.  There  are  a 
considerable  number  of  words  in  Scripture  which 
have  been  considered  to  indicate  brambles,  briers, 
thorns,  thistles.  Rabbinical  writers  state  that 
there  are  no  less  than  twenty-two  words  in  the 
Bible  signifying  thorny  and  prickly  plants ;  but 
some  of  these  are  probably  so  interpreted  only 
because  they  are  unknown,  and  may  merely  de- 
note insignificant  shrubs. 


316.    [Zizyphus  Spina  Christ!.] 

The  cut  given  above  represents  the  Zizyphus 
Spina  Christi,  of  which  Hasselquist  says,  '  In  all 
probability  this  is  the  tree  which  afforded  the 
crown  of  thorns  put  upon  the  head  of  Christ.  It 
is  very  common  in  the  East.     This  plant  is  very 


THYINE  WOOD 

fit  for  the  purpose,  for  it  has  many  small  and 
sharp  spines,  which  are  well  adapted  to  give  pain : 
the  crown  might  easily  be  made  of  these  soft, 
round,  and  pliant  branches;    and  what  in   my 
opinion  seems  to  be  the  greater  proof  is,  that  the 
leaves  very  much  resemble  those  of  ivy,  as  they 
are  of  a  very  deep  glossy  green.      Perhaps  the 
enemies  of  Christ  would  have  a  plant  somewhat 
resembling  that  with  which  emperors  and  gene- 
rals were  crowned,  that  there  might  be  a  calumny 
even  in  the  punishment.' 
THRESHING.     [Agriculture.] 
THRONE,   the  ornamented    seat    on    which 
royal  personages  gave  audience  on  state  occasions 
among  the  Hebrews  (1  Kings  ii.  19;  xxii.  10; 
comp.  Esth.  V.  1).     It  was  originally  a  decorated 
arm-chair,  higher  than  an  ordinary  seat,  so  as  to 
require  a  foot-stool  to  support  the  feet.     Some 
times  the  throne  was  placed  on  a  platform  as- 
cended by  steps  (Isa.  vi.  1).     Solomon  made  a 
throne  of  ivory  overlaid  with  gold,  which  had  six 
steps,  with  six  lions  on  each  side  (1  Kings  x.  18). 
Archelaus  addressed  the  multitude  from  '  an  ele- 
vated seat  and  a  throne  of  gold.'     A  throne  be- 
came the  emblem  of  regal  power  (Gen.  xli.  40) ; 
whence  the  phrases,  '  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  his 
kingdom'  (Deut.  xvii.  18),  that  is,  to  rule  as  a 
monarch ;  and  '  to  sit  on  the  throne  of  a  person  ' 
(1  Kings  i.  13;  2  Kings  x.  30),  which  signifies, 
to  be  his  successor. 
THUM'MIM.    [Urim  and  Thummim.] 
THYATI'RA,  a  city  on  the  northern  border  of 
Lydia,  about  twenty-seven  miles  from  Sardis,  the 
seat  of  one  of  the  seven   Apocalyptic  churches 
(Rev.  i.  11  ;  ii.  18).  Its  modern  name  is  Ak-hissar, 
or  the  white  castle.     According  to  Pliny,  it  was 
known   in  earlier   times  by   the  names  Pelopia 
and  Euhippa   {Hist.  Nat.  v.  29),     Strabo  asserts 
that  it  was  a  Macedonian  colony  (xiii.  p.  928). 
The  Roman  road  from  Pergamus  to  Sardis  passed 
through  it.    It  was  noted  for  the  art  of  dyeing,  as 
appears  from  Acts  xvi.  14.     It  still  maintains  its 
reputation  for  this  manufacture,  and  large  quan- 
tities of  scarlet  cloth  are  sent  weekly  to  Smyrna. 
The  town  consists  of  about  two  thousand  houses, 
for  which  taxes  are  paid  to  the  government,  be- 
sides two  or  three  hundred  small   huts;  of  the 
former  300  are  inhabited  by  Greeks,  30  by  Ar- 
menians, and  the  rest  by  Turks.     The  common 
language  of  all  classes  is  the  Turkish;  but  in 
writing  it,  the  Greeks  use  the  Greek,  and  the  Ar- 
menians the  Armenian   characters.    There  are 
nine  mosques  and  one  Greek  church. 

THYINE  WOOD  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
articles  of  merchandise  which  would  cease  to  be 
purchased  in  consequence  of  the  fall  of  Babylon 
(Rev.  xviii.  12).  This  wood  was  in  considerable 
demand  by  the  Romans,  being  much  employed 
by  them  in  the  ornamental  wood-work  of  their 
villas,  and  also  for  tables,  bowls,  and  vessels  of 
different  kinds.  It  is  noticed  by  most  ancient 
authors,  from  the  time  of  Theophrastus.  It  was 
the  citron-wood  of  the  Romans,  and  was  pro- 
duced only  in  Africa,  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Mount  Atlas,  and  in  Granada.  It  grew  to  a 
great  size. 

This  cedar  or  citron-wood  was  most  likely  pro- 
duced by  Callilris  quadrivalvis,  the  Thuja  arti- 
culata  of  Linnaeus,  which  is  a  native  of  Mount 
Atlas,  and  of  other  uncultivated  hills  on  the  coast 
of  Africa. 


TIBERIUS 


761 


317.     [Callitris  quadrivalvis.] 


TIBE'RIAS  is  a  small  town  situated  about  the 
middle  of  the  western  bank  of  the  lake  of  Gen- 
nesareth;  according  to  Joliffe,  about  twenty 
English  miles  from  Nazareth  and  ninety  from 
Jerusalem.  Tiberias  was  chiefly  built  by  the 
tetrarch  Herodes  Antipas,  and  called  by  him 
after  the  emperor  Tiberius. 

From  the  time  of  Herodes  Antipas  to  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign  of  Herodes  Agrippa  II., 
Tiberias  was  the  principal  city  of  the  province. 
It  was  one  of  the  four  cities  which  Nero  added 
to  the  kingdom  of  Agrippa.  Sepphoris  and 
Tiberias  were  the  largest  cities  of  Galilee.  In 
the  last  Jewish  war  the  fortifications  of  Tiberias 
were  an  important  military  station. 

According  to  Josephus,  the  inhabitants  of  Ti- 
berias derived  their  maintenance  chiefly  from 
the  navigation  of  the  lake  of  Gennesareth,  and 
from  its  fisheries.  After  the  destruction  of  Jeru- 
salem Tiberias  was  celebrated  during  several 
centuries  for  its  famous  Rabbinical  academy. 

Not  far  from  Tiberias,  in  the  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood t)f*the  town  of  Emmaus,  were  warm 
mineral  springs,  whose  celebrated  baths  are 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  belonging  to  Tiberias 
itself.  These  springs  contain  sulphur,  salt,  and 
iron ;  and  were  employed  for  medicinal  purposes. 

According  to  Jolifte  {Travels,  pp.  48,  49,  sq.), 
the  modern  Tabaria  has  about  four  thousand 
inhabitants,  a  considerable  part  of  whom  are 
Jews. 

TIBE'RIUS,  the  third  Emperor  of  Rome.  He 
is  mentioned  by  name  only  by  St.  Luke,  who 
fixes  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  reign  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  of 
Christ  (Luke  iii.  1).  The  other  passages  in 
which  he  is  mentioned  under  the  title  of  Cassar, 
oflfer  no  points  of  personal  allusion,  and  refer  to 
him  simply  as  the  emperor  (Matt.  xxii.  1 7,  sq, ; 


762 


TIMNAH 


Mark  xii.  14,  sq. ;  Luke  xx.  22,  sq. ;  xxiii.  2,  sq. ; 
John  xix.  12,  sq.). 

TIB'NI  {building  of  God),  one  of  those  factious 
men  -who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  troubles 
■which  followed  the  violent  death  of  Elah.  He 
disputed  the  throne  of  Israel  with  Omri,  and  the 
civil  war  which  was  thus  kindled  between  the 
two  factions  lasted  for  about  three  years  with 
varying  success,  till  the  death  of  Tibni  left  his 
adversary  master  of  the  crown,  B.C.  929  (1  Kings 
xvi.  21-23). 

TI'DAL  (veneration),  one  of  the  allies  who 
with  Chedorlaomer  invaded  Palestine  in  the 
time  of  Abraham  (Gen.  xiv.  1).  Tidal  bears 
the  somewhat  singular  title  of  '  king  of  nations  ' 
or  '  Gentiles '  (goyim).  We  cannot  tell  who 
these  Goyim  were  over  whom  Tidal  ruled ;  but 
it  seems  probable  that  he  was  a  chief  of  several 
confederated  tribes,  whose  military  force  he  con- 
tributed to  the  expedition  of  Chedorlaomer. 

TIG'LATH-PILE'SER,  the  Assyrian  king 
who  subjected  the  kingdom  of  Israel  in  b.c.  747 
[Assyria;  Iskael]. 

TIGRIS,  one  of  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise, 
twice  mentioned  in  Scripture  under  the  name  of 
HiDDEKEL  (Gen.  ii.  14;  Dan.  x,  4),  which  sig- 
nifies '  the  rapid  Tigris.' 

The  Tigris  rises  in  the  mountains  of  Armenia, 
about  fifteen  miles  south  of  the  sources  of  the 
Euphrates,  and  pursues  nearly  a  regular  course 
south-east  till  its  junction  with  that  river  at 
Korna,  fifty  miles  above  Basrah  (Bassorah).  The 
Tigris  is  navigable  for  boats  of  twenty  or  thirty 
tons'  burden  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Odorneh, 
but  no  further ;  and  the  commerce  of  Mosul  is 
consequently  carried  on  by  rafts  supported  on  in- 
flated sheep  or  goats' skins.  The  Tigris,  between 
Bagdad  and  Korna,  is,  on  an  average,  about  two 
hundred  yards  wide ;  at  Mosul  its  breadth  does 
not  exceed  three  hundred  feet.  The  banks  are 
steep,  and  overgrown  for  the  most  part  with 
brushwood,  the  resort  of  lions  and  other  wild 
animals.  "The  middle  part  of  the  river's  course, 
from  Mosul  to  Korua,  once  the  seat  of  high 
culture  and  the  residence  of  mighty  kings,  is 
now  desolate,  covered  with  the  relics  of  ancient 
greatness  iu  the  shape  of  fortresses,  mounds,  and 
dams,  which  had  been  erected  for  the  defence 
and  irrigation  of  the  country.  At  the  ruins  of 
Nimrod,  eight  leagues  below  Mosul,  is  a  stone 
dam  quite  across  the  river,  which,  when  the 
stream  is  low,  stands  considerably  above  the 
surface,  and  forms  a  small  cataract;  but  when 
the  stream  is  swollen,  no  part  of  it  is  visible,  the 
water  rushing  over  it  like  a  rapid,  and  boiling 
up  with  great  impetuosity.  It  is  a  work  of  great 
skill  and  labour,  and  now  venerable  for  its  anti- 
quity. At  some  short  distance  below  there  is 
another  Zikr  (dyke),  but  not  so  high,  and  more 
ruined  than  the  former.  The  river  rises  twice 
in  the  year :  the  first  and  great  rise  is  in  April, 
and  is  caused  by  the  melting  of  the  snows  in  the 
mountains  of  Armenia ;  the  other  is  in  November, 
and  is  produced  by  the  periodical  rains. 

TIMBRELS.     [Musical  Instruments.] 

TIM'NA  (restraint),  a  concubine  of  Eliphaz, 
the  son  of  Esau  (Gen.  xxxvi.  12-22;  1  Chron. 
i.  36)  From  her  the  name  passed  over  to  an 
Edomitish  tribe  (Gen.  xxxvi.  40;  1  Chron.  i.  51). 

TIM'NAH  or  TIMNATH,  an  ancient  city  of 
the  Canaanites  (Gen.  xxxviii.  12),  first  assigned 


TIMOTHY,  EPISTLES  TO 

to  the  tribe  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  10-.57),  and 
afterwards  to  Dan  (Josh.  xix.  43) ;  but  it  long 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Philistines 
(Judg.  xiv.  1;  2  Chron.  xxviii.  18;  comp. 
Joseph.  Antiq.  v.  8.  5).  It  is  chiefly  noted  as 
the  abode  of  Samson's  bride,  and  the  place  where 
he  held  his  marriage  feast.  It  is  probably  repre- 
sented by  a  deserted  site  now  called  Tibneh, 
which  is  about  one  hour's  journey  south-west 
of  Zerah,  the  residence  of  Samson.  Another 
Timuah  lay  in  the  mountains  of  Judah  (Josh. 
XXV.  57  ;  Gen.  xxviii.  12-14). 

TIM'NATH-  HE'RES.     [Timnath-serah.] 

TIM'NATH-SE'RAH  (portion  of  abundance, 
i.e.  remainimj  portion),  a  town  in  the  mountains  of 
Ephraim,  which  was   assigned  to   Joshua,  and 
became  the  place   of  his  residence   and  burial 
(Josh.  xix.  50;  xxiv.  30).     In  Judg.  ii.  9,  it  is 
called  Timnath-heres  {portion  of  the  sun) ;  but 
the  former  is  probably  the  correct  reading,  since 
a  possession  thus  given  to  Joshua  after  the  rest 
of  the  land  was  distributed  (Josh.  xix.  49),  would     | 
strictly  be  a  portion  remaining.     This  was  pro-     j 
bably  the  same  with  the  Timnah  of  Josephus,     | 
the  head  of  a  toparchy  lying  between  tiiose  of    | 
Groplma  and  Lydda;  which  seems  to  be  recog-     j 
nised  in  a  place  called  Tibneh,  lying  north-west     ! 
of  Gophna  on  the  Roman  road  to  Antipatris.  j 

TIMOTHY,  a  young  Christian  of  Derbe,  j 
grandson  of  Lois,  and  son  of  Eunice,  a  Jewess, 
by  a  Greek  father,  who  was  probably  a  proselyte 
(Acts  xvi.  1 ;  XX.  4).  He  seems  to  have  been 
brought  up  with  great  care  in  his  family,  and  to 
have  profited  well  by  the  example  of  the  '  un- 
feigned faith'  which  dwelt  in  the  excellent 
women  named  iu  2  Tim.  i.  5;  iii.  15.  The 
testimonials  which  Paul  received  in  Lycaonia  in 
favour  of  this  young  disciple,  induced  the 
apostle  to  make  him  the  companion  of  his  jour- 
neys and  labours  in  preaching  the  Gospel  (Acts 
xvi.  2,  3;  1  Tim.  iv.  12).  He  became  his  most 
faithful  and  attached  colleague ;  and  is  frequently 
named  by  Paul  with  truly  paternal  tenderness 
and  regard.  Timothy  appears  to  have  been  with 
the  apostle  at  Rome,  and  to  have  been,  like  him, 
a  prisoner  there,  though  liberated  before  him 
(Heb.  xiii.  23).  His  subsequent  history  is,  how- 
ever, unknown.  It  appears  from  I  Tim.  i.  3, 
that  when  Paul  went  into  Macedonia  he  left 
Timothy  in  charge  of  the  church  at  Ephesus,  and 
there  are  indications  that  he  was  still  at  Ephesus  j 
when  the  apostle  was  (as  usually  understood)  a 
second  time  captive  at  Rome,  and  without  hope  j 
of  deliverance  (I  Tim.  iii.  14).  The  tradition  is, 
that  Timothy  retained  the  charge  of  the  church  j 
at  Ephesus  till  his  death,  and  eventually  suffered  | 
martyrdom  in  that  city.  I 

TIMOTHY,  EPISTLES  TO.  The  authen-  ; 
ticity  of  these  epistles  is  proved  by  the  testimony  | 
of  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  writers,  Barnabas, 
Clement  of  Rome,  Polycarp,  Ignatius,  and  many 
others ;  and  though  modern  German  critics  have 
attempted  to  set  aside  this  weighty  mass  of 
external  evidence  by  minute  and  carping  critical 
objections,  they  have  completely  failed.  AVith 
regard  to  the  time  when  they  were  composed,  it 
is  clear  that  the  first  epistle  was  written  not 
long  after  Paul  had  left  Ephesus  for  Macedonia 
(ch.  i.  3),  and  in  all  probability  after  the  de- 
parture from  Ephesus  mentioned  Acts  xx.  1. 
With  respect  to  the  second  epistle,  it  is  certain 


TINSHEMETH 

that  it  vas  written  at  Kome,  and  while  Paul  was 
a  prisoner  there  (i.  8-16;  ii.  9;  i.  17;  iv.  20. 
Whether  this  was  during  his  first  or  second  im- 
piisonment  has  been  matter  of  dispute,  and, 
though  not  without  difficuhies,  the  opinion  that 
this  epistle  was  written  during  his  second  im- 
prisonment seems  upon  the  whole  the  preferable. 

The  design  of  tlie  first  epistle  is  partly  to 
instruct  Timothy  in  the  duties  of  that  office  with 
which  he  had  been  intrusted,  partly  to  supply 
him  with  credentials  to  the  churches  which  he 
might  visit,  and  partly  to  furnish  through  him 
guidance  to  the  churches  themselves.  It  may  be 
divided  into  three  parts,  exclusive  of  the  intro- 
duction (i.  1,  2),  and  the  conclusion  (vi.  20,  21). 
In  the  fir.-t  of  these  parts  (i.  3-20)  the  apostle 
reminds  Timothy  generally  of  his  functions,  and 
especially  of  the  duties  he  had  to  discharge  in 
reference  to  certain  false  teachers,  who  were 
anxious  to  bring  the  believers  under  the  yoke  of 
the  law.  In  the  second  (ii.-vi.  2)  he  gives 
Timothy  particular  instructions  concerning  the 
orderly  conducting  of  divine  worship,  the  qualifi- 
cations of  bishops  and  deacons,  and  the  proper 
mode  of  behaving  himself  in  a  church.  In  the 
third  (yi.  3-19)  the  apostle  discourses  against 
some  vices  to  which  the  Christians  at  Ephesus 
seem  to  have  been  prone. 

The  design  of  the  second  epistle  is  partly  to 
inform  Timothy  of  the  apostle's  trying  circum- 
stances at  Rome,  and  partly  to  utter  a  last  warn- 
ing voice  against  the  errors  and  delusions  which 
were  corrupting  and  disturbing  the  churches.  It 
consists  of  an  inscription  (i.  1-5) ;  of  a  series  of 
exhortations  to  Timothy,  to  be  faithful  in  his  zeal 
for  sound  doctrine,  patient  under  afiQiction  and 
persecution,  careful  to  maintain  a  deportment 
becoming  his  office,  and  diligent  in  his  endea- 
vours to  counteract  the  unhallowed  efforts  of  the 
false  teachers  (i.  6 ;  iv.  8) ;  and  a  conclusion  in 
which  Paul  requests  Timothy  to  visit  him,  and 
sends  the  salutations  of  certain  Christians  at 
Rome  to  Timothy,  and  those  of  the  apostle  him- 
self to  some  believers  in  Asia  Minor. 

TIN.  If  this  substance  be  really  intended 
by  the  Hebrew  M'ord,  which  seems  somewhat 
doubtful,  it  is  first  mentioned  among  the  metals 
which  were  to  be  purified  by  fire  found  among 
the  prey  taken  from  the  Midianites  (Num.  xxxi. 
22).  It  is  also  named  among  the  articles  of 
commerce  which  the  Tyrians  received  from 
Tarshish  (Ezek.  xxvii.  12);  and  a  levelling  in- 
strument of  this  metal  used  by  builders  is  noticed 
in  Zech.  iv.  10.  The  Hebrew  word  also  denotes 
the  alloy  of  lead,  tin,  and  other  inferior  metals, 
combined  with  silver  in  the  ore  and  separated 
from  it  by  smelting  (Isa.  i.  25). 

TINSHEMETH  (Swan,  Lev.  xi.  18;  Deut. 
xiy.  16).  There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that 
this  is  not  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  thus 
rendered  in  our  common  version,  for  the  swan  is 
not  a  bird  which,  in  migrating  to  the  south, 
even  during  the  coldest  seasons,  appears  to  pro- 
ceed further  than  France  or  Spain,  though  no 
doubt  individuals  may  be  blown  onwards  in  hard 
gales  to  the  African  shore.  In  all  probability 
the  bird  referred  to  is  the  porphyrion  or  purple 
gallinula.  The  porphyrion  is  superior  in  bulk 
to  our  water-hen  or  gallinula,  has  a  hard  crimson 
shield  on  the  forehead,  and  flesh-coloured  legs ; 
the  head,  neck,  and  sides  are  of  a   beautiful 


TIRHAKAH 


763 


turquoise  blue,  the  upper  and  back  parts  of  a 
dark  but  brilliant  indigo. 

The  porphyrion  is  a  remarkable  bird,  abound- 
ing in  the  southern  and  eastern  parts  of  Europe 
and  Western  Asia,  feeding  itself  standing  on  one 
leg,  and  holding  its  food  in  the  claws  of  the  other. 
It  was  anciently  kept  tame  in  the  precincts  of 
pagan  temples,  and  therefore  perhaps  was  marked 
unclean,  as  most,  if  not  all,  the  sacred  animals 
of  the  heathens  were. 


318.     [The  Porphyrion.] 


TIPH'SAH,  a  large  and  opulent  city  on  the 
western  bank  of  the  Euphrates.  It  is  doubtless 
the  same  as  the  Thapsacus  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans.  The  name  means  '  ford  ;'  and  the  town 
was,  in  fact,  situated  at  the  lowest  fording-place 
of  the  Euphrates  ;  whence  it  became  the  point  of 
trading-communication  between  the  natives  east 
and  west  of  the  river.  On  this  account,  and  as 
commanding  the  ford,  the  possession  of  the  place 
was  deemed  of  great  importance  by  the  ruling 
powers  of  the  day.  This  circumstance  explains 
the  contentions  of  the  kings  of  Syria  and  Egypt 
respecting  Carchemish,  which  was  a  strong  place 
a  little  lower  down  the  river,  at  the  junction  of 
the  Chaboras.  Solomon  obtained  possession  of 
Tiphsah  (1  Kings  iv.  24),  probably  in  connection 
with  the  series  of  operations  (of  which  the  build- 
ing or  fortification  of  Tadmor  was  one)  adopted 
by  him  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the  Eastern 
trade  into  his  own  dominions  [Solomon  ;  Tad- 
mor] .  Nothing  remains  of  Tiphsah  at  the  present 
day  except  the  name  ;  but  the  site  is  supposed  to 
be  marked  by  the  village  of  Ed-Deyr. 

TIKHA'KAH,  king  of  Cush  (Ethiopia  in  the 
Common  Version),  who  in  the  days  of  Hezekiah 
came  out  against  Sennacherib  when  he  was 
making  war  on  Judah  (2  Kings  xix.  9;  Isa. 
xxxvii.  9).  He  is  the  Tarakos  of  Manetho,  the 
third  king  of  the  twenty-fifth  dynasty,  and  the 
Tearkon  of  Strabo  (xv.  687),  with  whom  the 
twenty-fifth  Ethiopic  dynasty  came  to  an  end. 
His  successful  opposition  to  the  power  of  Assyria 
is  recorded  on  the  walls  of  a  Theban  temple,  for 
at  Medinet  Abu  are  the  figure  and  the  name  of 
this  king  and  the  captives  he  took.  That  Tir- 
hakah  ruled  at  Napata,  now  Gebcl  Berkel.  and 
in  the  Thebaid  at  the  same  period,  is  proved  by 
the  additions  he  made  to  the  temples  of  Thebes, 
and  by  the  monuments  he  built  in  Ethiopia. 
That  he  was  a  very  potent  monarch  is  evident 
from  his  defeat  of  Sennacherib,  as  well  as  from 
the  monuments  he  has  left  both  in  Egypt  an-l 


r64 


TITHE 


Ethiopia,  and,  his  maintenance  of  the  Egyptian 
possessions  in  Asia. 

TIR'SHATA,  a  title  borne  by  Zerubbabel  and 
Nebemiah  as  Persian  governors  of  Judsea  (Ezra 
ii.  63;  Neh.  \'n.  65,  70;  viii.  9;  x.  2).  It 
seems  to  come  from  the  Persic  torsh,  '  severe,' 
and,  in  that  case,  would  be  equivalent  to  '  your 
severity  :'  comp.  '  dread  sovereign.' 

TIR'ZAH,  an  ancient  Canaanitish  city  (Josh, 
xii.  24),  pleasantly  situated  (Cant.  vi.  4),  which 
Jeroboam  made  the  capital  of  his  kingdom,  and 
which  retained  that  rank  till  Samaria  was  built 
by  Omri  (1  Kings  x. ;  xv.  21  ;  xvi.  24;  2  Kings 
XV.  4).     The  site  is  entirely  unknown. 

TlSH'BITE,  the  GentUe  name  of  Elijah— 
'Elijah  the  Tishbite '  (I  Kings  xvii.  1,  2;  xxi. 
17) — derived  from  a  town  called  Tishbi  in  the 
tribe  of  Naphtali,  the  name  of  which  occurs  only 
in  the  apocryphal  book  of  Tobit,  i.  2. 

TIS'RI  was  the  first  month  of  the  civil,  and 
the  seventh  month  of  the  ecclesiastical  year,  in 
which  fell  the  Festival  of  Atonement  and  that  of 
Tabernacles.  In  1  Kings  viii.  2,  it  is  termed  the 
month  of  Ethanim,  that  is,  the  month  of  stream- 
ing rivers,  which  are  filled  during  this  month  by 
the  autumnal  rains.  It  corresponds  with  our 
September — October. 

TITHE,  &c.  (Lev.  xxvii.  30,  31,  32),  derived 
from  the  word  signifying  '  ten,'  which  also  means 
'to  be  rich;'  hence  ten  is  the  rich  number,  be- 
cause including  all  the  units  under  it.  This  num- 
ber seems  significant  of  completeness  or  abundance 
in  many  passages  of  Scripture.  Jacob  said  unto  : 
Laban,  '  Thou  hast  changed  my  wages  these  ten 
times'  (Gen.  xxxi.  41);  'Am  not  I  better  to 
thee  than  ten  sons?'  (1  Sam.  i.  8) ;  'These  ten 
times  have  ye  reproached  me '  (Job  xix.  3) ; 
'Thy  pound  hath  gained  ten  pounds'  (Luke  xix. 
16),  &c.  This  number,  as  the  end  of  less  num- 
bers and  beginning  of  greater,  and  as  thus  sig- 
nifying perfection,  sufl&ciency,  &c.,  may  have  been 
selected  for  its  suitableness  to  those  Eucharistic 
donations  to  religion,  &c.,  which  mankind  were 
required  to  make  probably  in  primeval  times. 
Abraham  gave  to  Melchizedec, '  a  priest  of  the 
most  high  God,'  a  tenth  of  all  the  spoils  he  had 
taken  from  Chedorlaomer  (Gen.  xiv.  20 ;  Heb. 
vii.  4).  The  incidental  way  in  which  this  fact  is 
stated,  seems  to  indicate  an  established  custom. 
Jacob's  vow  (Gen.  xxviii.  22)  seems  simply  to 
relate  to  compliance  with  an  established  custom ; 
his  words  are,  literally,  '  And  all  that  thou  shalt 
give  me,  1  will  assuredly  tithe  it  unto  thee,'  The 
Mosaic  law,  therefore,  in  this  respect,  as  well  as 
in  others,  was  simply  a  reconstitution  of  the  pa- 
triarchal religion.  Thus,  the  tenth  of  military 
spoils  is  commanded  (Num.  xxxi.  31).  For  the 
law  concerning  tithes  generally,  see  Lev.  xxvii. 
30,  &c.,  when*  they  are  first  spoken  of  as  things 
already  known.  'These  tithes  consisted  of  a  tenth 
of  all  that  remained  after  payment  of  the  first- 
fruits  of  seeds  and  fruits,  and  of  calves,  lambs, 
and  kids.  This  was  called  the  first  tithe,  and 
belonged  to  God  as  the  sovereign  and  proprietor 
of  the  soil  (Lev.  xxvii.  30-32  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi. 
'5,  6).  The  proceeds  of  this  rent,  God,  as  king, 
appropriated  to  the  maintenance  and  remunera- 
tion of  his  servants  the  Levites,  to  be  paid  to 
them  in  their  several  cities  (Num.  xviii.  21-24). 
A  person  might  redeem  or  commute  in  money 
his  tithes  of  seeds  and  fruits,  by  adding  the  value 


TITUS 

of  a  fifth  part  to  them  (Lev.  xxvii.  31).     Out  of 
this  tithe  the  Levites  paid  a  tenth  to  the   priests, 
called  the  tithe  of  tithes,  or  tithe  of  holy  things 
(Num.   xviii.   26-28);  and  another  tiihe  of  the 
produce  of   the   fields  belonging  to  their  cities 
(ver.  29).     The  first  tithe  being  paid,  the  propri- 
etor had  to  set  apart  out  of  the  remainder  a  se- 
cond tithe,  to  be  expended  by  him  in  the  courts 
of  the  tabernacle,  in  entertaining  the  Levites  and 
his  own  family,  &c.  (Deut.  xii.  18).  If  the  trouble 
and   expense   of  transporting   this   second   tithe 
in  kind  to  the  tabernacle  were  too  great,  he  might 
turn  it  into  money,  but  this  he  must  take  in  per- 
son, and  expend  there  for  the  appointed  purpose 
(ver.  24-28).     It  seems  that  the  people  were  left 
to  their  own  consciences  in  regard  to    the  just 
payment  of  their  tithes,  subject,  however,  to  the 
solemn  declaration  '  before  the  Lord,'  which  they 
were  required  to  make  concerning  it  everj^  third 
year  (Deut.  xxvi.  12-16).     Possibly  the  Levites 
were  not  prohibited  from  taking  due  care   that 
they  received  their  rights,  inasmuch  as  in  later 
times,  at  least,  they  paid  their  own  tithes  to  the 
priests  under  sacerdotal  supervision  (Neh.  x.  38). 
Upon  examination  it  will  be  found  that  the 
payments    required    by  Moses    of  the    Jewish 
people  were  exceedingly  moderate,  and  were  no 
doubt  easily  borne  till  they  chose  to  incur  the 
additional  expenses  of  a  regal  establishment.     It 
pleased   God,  while    sustaining  the   relation    to 
them  of  sovereign  and  proprietor  of  the  land,  to 
require  the  same  quit-rent  of  one-tenth  which 
was  usually  paid  to  the  kings  in  other  nations 
(1  Sam.  viii.  14,  15,  17;    comp.  1  Mace.  ii.  35). 
Aristotle  speaks  of   it  as  'an  ancient   law'  at 
Babylon.     In  Egypt  one-fifth  was  paid  to  the 
king,  which  was  more  than  the  first-fruits  and 
first  and  second  tithes  put  together.     This  quit- 
rent  God  appointed  to  be  paid  to  the  Levites  for 
their  subsistence,  since  their  festive  share  in  the 
second  tithes  can  hardly  be  accounted  part  of  their 
income.     They  had,  as  a  tribe  of  Israel,  an  origi- 
nal right  to  one-twelfth  of  the  land,  for  which 
they  received    no  other  compensation  than  the 
tithes,  subject  to  the  sacerdotal  decimation,  their 
houses,  and  glebes.     In  return   for  these,   they 
consecrated  their  time  and  talents  to  the  service 
of  the  public  [Levites].     The  payment  of  tithes, 
&c.,  was  re-established  at  the  restoration  of  re- 
ligion by  Hezekiah  (2  Chron.  xxxi.  .5,  6,  12),  and 
upon  the  return  from  the  captivity  by  Nehemiah 
(x.  37;  xii.  44;  xiii.  5).     The  prophet  Malachi 
reproves  the  people  for  their   detention  of   the 
tithes,  &c.,  for  which  they  had  brought  a  divine 
chastisement  by  famine    upon    themselves,  and 
promises  a  restoration  of  plenty  upon  their  amend- 
ment (iii.  8-12  ;    comp.  iii.  9;  Ecclus.  xxxv.  9). 
In  our  Saviour's  time  the  Pharisees  scrupulously 
paid  their  tithes,  but  neglected  the  weightier  mat- 
ters of  the  law.     His  comment  on  their  conduct 
conveys  no  censure  on  their  punctiliousness  on 
this  point,  but  on  their  neglect  of  more  important 
duties  :  '  These  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
leave  the  other  undone '  (Matt,  xxiii.  23 ;  Luke 
xviii.  12). 

TI'TUS,  a  Christian  teacher,  and  companion 
and  fellow-labourer  of  St.  Paul.  He  was  of 
Greek  origin,  but  was  converted  by  the  apostle, 
who  therefore  calls  him  his  own  son  in  the  faith 
(Gal.  ii.  3  ;  Tit  i.  4).  He  was  one  of  the  per- 
sons sent  by  the  church  of  Antioch  to  Jerusalem 


TITUS,  EPISTLE  TO 

to  consult  the  apostles,  and  it  was  not  judged  ne- 
cessary that  he  should  receive  circumcision  (Acts 
XV.  2  ;  Gal.  ii.  1).  After  a  time  we  find  him  iu 
company  with  Paul  at  Ephesus,  whence  he  was 
sent  to  Corinth  (2  Cor.  xii.  18),  where  he  was 
well  received,  discharged  with  discretion  the  task 
confided  to  him,  and  declined  to  sutler  the  church 
to  defray  his  expenses  (2  Cor.  viii.  13,  sq. ;  xii. 
18).  He  then  proceeded  to  Macedonia,  and  at 
Philippi  rejoined  his  master,  who  had  vainly  been 
expecting  him  at  Troas  (2  Cor.  vii.  6  ;  ii.  12, 13). 
He  was  then  employed  by  Paul  in  preparing  the 
collection  for  the  poor  saints  in  Judaea,  and,  as 
an  incident  of  this  mission,  became  the  bearer  of 
the  second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians  (2  Cor.  viii. 
16,  17,  23).  On  a  subsequent  journey,  Titus  was 
left  by  the  apostle  in  Crete,  to  establish  and  re- 
gulate the  churches  in  that  island  (Tit.  i.  5),  and 
he  was  still  there  when  he  received  the  epistle 
from  St.  Paul  which  bears  his  name  (Tit.  iii.  12). 
He  is  therein  desired  to  join  the  apostle  at  Nico- 
polis;  and  it  is  presumed  that  he  did  so,  and 
afterwards  accompanied  him  in  his  last  journey 
to  Rome,  whence  he  was  sent  into  Dalmatia  (2 
Tim.  iv.  10).  Tradition  states  that  Titus  eventu- 
ally returned  to  Crete,  and  died  there  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

TITUS,  EPISTLE  TO.  The  genuineness  of 
this  Epistle  is  attested  by  a  large  body  of  evidence, 
and  seems  never  to  have  been  questioned,  except 
by  the  heretic  Marcion,  and  that  upon  the  most 
frivolous  grounds,  until,  in  recent  times,  it  was 
attacked  by  Eichhorn  and  De  Wette.  But  their 
objections  are  of  such  a  nature  that  it  is  unne- 
cessary to  enter  upon  any  examination  of  them 
here. 

It  has  been  supposed,  on  apparently  good 
grounds,  that  the  apostle  wrote  this  epistle  at 
Ephesus  shortly  after  he  had  visited  Crete  (ch.  i. 
5),  and  when  he  was  about  to  spend  the  winter 
in  Nicopolis  (iii.  12).  From  the  close  resem- 
blance between  this  epistle  and  the  first  epistle  to 
Timothy,  we  are  naturally  led  to  conclude  that 
both  must  have  been  written  while  the  same  lead- 
ing ideas  and  forms  of  expression  were  occupying 
the  apostle's  mind. 

The  task  which  Paul  had  committed  to  Titus, 
when  he  left  him  in  Crete,  was  one  of  no  small 
difficulty.  The  character  of  the  people  was  un- 
steady, insincere,  and  quarrelsome ;  they  were 
given  to  greediness,  licentiousness,  falsehood,  and 
drunkenness,  in  no  ordinary  degree;  and  the 
Jews  who  had  settled  among  them  appear  to  have 
even  gone  beyond  the  natives  in  immorality. 
Among  such  a  people  it  was  no  easy  office  which 
Titus  had  to  sustain  when  commissioned  to  carry 
forward  the  work  Paul  had  begun,  and  to  set  in 
order  the  affairs  of  the  churches  which  had  arisen 
there,  especially  as  heretical  teachers  had  already 
crept  in  among  them.  Hence  Paul  addressed  to 
him  this  Epistle,  the  main  design  of  which  is  to 
direct  him  how  to  discharge  with  success  the 
duties  to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  For  this 
purpose  the  apostle  dilates  upon  the  qualifications 
of  elders,  and  points  out  the  vices  from  which 
such  should  be  free  (ch.  i.). 

He  then  describes  the  virtues  most  becoming 
in  aged  persons,  in  the  female  sex,  in  the  young, 
in  servants,  and  in  Christians  generally  (ch.  li.). 
From  this  he  proceeds  to  enjoin  obedience  to  civil 
rulers,  moderation,  gentleness,  and  the  avoidance 


TONGUE 


766 


of  all  idle  and  unprofitable  speculations  (iii.  l-ll). 
He  then  invites  Titus  to  join  him  at  Nicopolis, 
commends  to  him  certain  brethren  who  were 
about  to  visit  Crete,  and  concludes  with  the  apos- 
tolic benediction  (ver.  12-15). 

TOB,  a  region  or  district  beyond  the  Jordan, 
into  which  Jephthah  withdrew  when  expelled 
from  Gilead  (Judg.  xi.  .5).  As  the  name  occurs 
nowhere  else,  it  is  impossible  to  determine  with 
certainty  its  position. 

TOBrAH,a  base  Samaritan,  who,  having  raised 
himself  from  a  state  of  slavery  to  be  a  trusted 
favourite  of  Sanballat,  did  his  utmost  to  gratify 
his  master  by  resisting  the  proceedings  of  Nehe- 
miah  in  rebuilding  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  His 
dishonest  practices  and  threats  proved  alike  un- 
successful ;  but  during  the  temporary  absence  of 
Nehemiah,  Tobiah  succeeded,  with  the  aid  of 
his  relative  Eliashib,  the  priest,  in  getting  him- 
self comfortably  and  splendidly  established  in  '  a 
great  chamber  in  the  house  of  God'  (ch.  xiii.  4). 
But  his  glory  was  short-lived.  Nehemiah  re- 
turned, and  caused  him  and  his  household-stuff  to 
be  ignominiously  cast  out  of  the  temple.  This  is 
the  last  that  we  know  of  this  member  of  that  vile 
class  who  are  ready  and  unscrupulous  tools  in  the 
hands  of  their  superiors  for  any  dishonourable 
undertaking. 

TO'BIT,  BOOK  OF  [Apocktpha],  one  of  the 
deutero-canonical  books,  containing  the  private 
history  of  a  venerable  and  pious  old  man  of  this 
name,  who  was  carried  captive  into  Assyria  by 
Shalmaneser. 

Nothing  is  known  with  certainty  respecting 
either  the  author  or  the  age  of  the  book.  Professor 
Stewart  ascribes  it  to  an  early  period  of  the  exile. 
All  ancient  writers  looked  upon  the  narrative  as 
historical  and  authentic.  But  the  question  has 
been  raised  in  modern  times,  whether  the  book  is 
to  be  regarded  as  a  true  history  or  a  moral  fiction. 
Luther  was  the  first  who  adopted  the  latter  view ; 
others  have  maintained  that  the  book  is  partly 
historical,  partly  mythical.  Gutmann,  a  modern 
Jewish  Eabbi,  adopts  the  opinion  that  it  is  a  fic- 
tion founded  on  facts. 

Its  authority  in  the  early  Christian  church  is 
beyond  question. 

TOGAR'MAH  is  the  Hebrew  name  of  Ar- 
menia. The  Armenians  consider  themselves  to 
be  descended  from  Gomer,  through  Torgom,  and 
therefore  they  call  themselves  the  house  of  Toryom. 
The  sons  of  Gomer  were  Ashkenaz,  Riphath,  and 
Togarmah  (Gen.  x.  3;  1  Chron.  i.  6). 

Armenia  was,  according  to  Strabo,  distinguished 
by  the  production  of  good  horses.  This  account 
harmonizes  with  the  statement  that  the  house  of 
Togarmah  traded  in  the  fairs  of  Tyre  in  horses, 
and  horsemen,  and  mules  (Ezek.  xxvii.  14).  The 
situation  of  Togarmah  was  north  of  Palestine : 
'  Gomer  and  all  his  bands  ;  the  house  of  Togar- 
mah of  the  north  quarters'  (Ezek.  xxxviii.  G). 

TOMB.     [BuKiAL.] 

TONGUE  is  used,  1.  Uterally,  for  the  human 
tongue.  '  Every  one  that  lappeth  the  water  with 
his  tongue,  as  a  dog  lappeth'  (Judg.  vii.  5). 
Various  explanations  have  been  oiTered,  why 
Gideon's  three  hundred  followers  should  have 
been  selected  because  they  lapped  water  out  of 
their  hands,  standing  or  perhaps  moving  onward, 
while  they  who  stayed  and  '  bowed  down  to  drink ' 
were  rejected.    Josephus  says,  that  the  former 


706        TONGUES,  CONFUSION  OF 

thereby  showed  their  timorousness  and  fear  of 
beiug  overtaken  by  the  enemy,  and  that  these 
poor-spirited  men  were  chosen  on  purpose  to  il- 
lustrate the  power  of  God  in  the  victory  {Antiq. 
V.  6.  3.)  2.  It  is  personified.  *  Unto  me  every 
tongue  shall  swear,'  that  is,  every  man  (Isa.  xlv. 
23;  comp.  Rom.  xiv.  11;  Phil.  ii.  11;  Isa.  liv. 
17).  3.  It  is  used  by  metonymt/  for  speech  gene- 
rally. '  Let  us  not  love  in  tongue  only  '  (1  John 
iii.  18).  4.  For  a  particular  language  or  dialect, 
spoken  by  any  particular  people.  '  Every  one 
after  his  tongue'  (Gen.  x.  5,  20,  31).  .5.  For  the 
people  speaking  a  language  (Isa.  Ixvi.  18  ;  Dan. 
iii.4,  7,&c. ;  Rev.  v.  9).  6.  Itis  iisei figurative!;/ 
for  anything  resembling  a  tongue  in  shape.  Thus, 
»  a  wedge  of  gold,'  literally  a  '  tongue  '  (Josh, 
vii.  21,  24).  The  miraculous  gift  of  tongues,  as 
well  as  its  corresponding  gift  of  interpretation, 
has  been  the  subject  of  two  opinions.  It  was 
promised  by  Christ  to  believers  (Mark  xvi.  17) ; 
and  fulfilled  at  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  4,  11).  In 
1  Cor.  xiv.  2,  39,  we  have  '  to  pray  in  a  tongue ' 
(ver.  14), '  to  speak  words  in  a  tongue  '  (ver.  19). 
The  obvious  explanation  of  most  of  these  pas- 
sages is,  to  speak  in  other  living  languages,  the 
supernatural  acquisition  of  which  demonstrated 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  and  was  a  means  of  dif- 
fusing it.  Some  verses  however  in  1  Cor.  xiv. 
have  given  rise  to  the  notion  of  a  strange,  ecstatic, 
inspired,  unearthly  language ;  but  these  all  admit 
of  a  different  solution.  In  ver.  2,  'he  who 
speaketh  in  a  tongue  '  evidently  means,  he  who 
speaks  some  foreign  living  language;  the  sup- 
plied word  '  unknown  '  in  the  Auth.  Vers,  is 
needless,  and  misleads  the  English  reader.  It  is 
further  said  that  '  he  edifieth  himself  (which,  as 
]\Iacknight  justly  pleads,  required  that  he  should 
understand  himself),  and  edifieth  the  church  also 
if  an  interpreter  were  present  (ver.  28).  The 
key  to  the  difficulties  of  this  subject  is  the  sup- 
posed absence  of  an  inspired  interpreter  (ver.  28), 
in  which  case  the  gift  would  not  be  profitable  to 
the  hearers.  The  gift  of  tongues  was  to  cease  (I 
Cor.  xiii.  8). 

TONGUES,  CONFUSION  OF.  The  part  of 
the  primeval  history  which  relates  this  fact,  so  re- 
markable and  influential  upon  the  subsequent  for- 
tunes of  mankind,  is  contained  in  Gen.  xi.  1-10. 
This  narrative,  which  is  given  in  the  style  best 
adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  mankind  in  the' 
infantile  state  of  our  race,  may,  we  conceive,  be 
resolved  into  a  statement  to  this  effect : — 

An  orderly  and  peaceful  distribution  and  mi- 
gration of  the  families  descended  from  Noah  had 
been  directed  by  divine  authority,  and  carried 
into  general  effect.  But  there  was  a  part  of  man- 
kind who  would  not  conform  themselves  to  this 
wise  and  benevolent  arrangemL-nt.  This  rebel- 
lious party,  having  discovered  a  region  to  their 
taste,  determined  to  remain  in  it.  They  proceeded 
to  erect  a  lofty  edifice,  which  was  to  be  a  signal 
house,  a  rallying  point,  and  probably  to  erect 
around  it  groups  of  habitations,  not  mere  tents, 
but  houses  with  brick  walls,  so  that  the  adven- 
turers had  both  a  city  and  a  tower.  This  was  an 
act  of  rebellion  against  the  divine  government. 
The  omniscient  and  righteous  God  therefore  frus- 
trated it,  by  inflicting  upon  them  a  remarkable 
affection  of  the  organs  of  speech,  which  produced 
discord  and  sepai-ation. 

II.  The  date  of  this  event  we  cannot 


TOPHET 

torily  place  so  early  as  at  100  years  after  the 
flood,  as  it  is  in  the  commonly  received  chrono- 
logj.  Every  view  that  we  can  take  of  the  pre- 
vious history  inclines  us  to  one  of  the  larger 
systems,  that  of  the  Septuagint,  which  gives  530 
years,  or  that  of  Josephus,  adopted  with  a  little 
emendation  by  Dr.  Hales,  which  gives  600  years ; 
and  thus  we  have  at  least  five  centuries  for  the 
intervening  period. 

III.  Upon  the  question.  Whether  all  of  man- 
kind were  engaged  in  this  act  of  concerted  dis- 
obedience, or  only  a  part?  we  confess  ourselves 
unable  to  adduce  irrefragable  evidence  on  either 
side,  but  we  think  that  there  is  a  great  prepon- 
derance of  argument  on  the  part  of  the  latter 
supposition. 

IV.  Admitting,  however,  our  inability  to  de- 
termine, with  absolute  certainty,  on  which  side  of 
this  alternative  the  truth  lies,  no  difference  accrues 
to  the  subject  of  this  article.  What  were  the  phe- 
nomena of  the  case  ?  In  what  did  the  Confusion 
of  Tongues  actually  consist'^  For  the  answer  a 
considerable  variety  of  opinions  has  been  pro- 
mulgated. 

But  the  hypothesis  of  a  change  in  the  pronun- 
ciation, leading  to  diversified  results,  some  of 
which  might  be  of  permanent  influence,  appears 
to  us  to  have  the  most  of  probability  and  reason 
on  its  side. 

TOPAZ,  a  precious  stone  ;  one  of  those  which 
were  in  the  breastplate  of  the  high-priest  (Exod. 
xxviii.  17),  and  the  origin  of  which  is  referred 
to  Cush  (Job  xxviii.  19).  It  has  been  identified 
with  the  gem  to  which  the  moderns  have  ap- 
plied that  name.  This  is  a  preciiais  stone,  hav- 
ing a  strong  glass  lustre.  Its  prevailing  colour 
is  wine-yellow  of  every  degree  of  shade.  The 
dark  shade  of  this  colour  passes  over  into  carna- 
tion red,  and  sometimes,  although  rarely,  into 
lilac;  the  pale  shade  of  the  wine-yellow  passes 
into  greyish ;  and  from  yellowish-white  into 
greenish-white  and  pale  green,  tincal  and  cela- 
don-green. It  may  thus  be  difficult  to  determine 
whether  the  stone  in  question  was  the  yellow 
topaz ;  but  that  it  was  a  topaz  there  is  little  rea- 
son to  doubt. 

It  is  clear  that  the  stone  was  highly  prized  by 
the  Hebrews.  Job  declares  that  wisdom  was 
more  precious  than  the  topaz  of  Cush  (Job 
xxviii.  19);  and  as  the  name  Cush  includes 
Southern  Arabia  and  the  Arabian  Gulf,  the  in- 
timation coincides  with  the  statement  of  Pliny 
and  others,  that  the  topazes  known  to  them  came 
from  the  Topaz  Island  in  the  Red  Sea,  whence 
they  was  probably  brought  by  the  Phoenicians. 
In  Ezek.  xxviii.  13,  the  topaz  is  named  among  the 
precious  stones  with  which  the  king  of  Tyre  was 
decked. 

TO'PHET,  a  place  very  near  to  Jerusalem,  on 
the  south-east,  in  the  valley  of  the  children  of 
Hinnom,  where  the  ancient  Canaanites,  and  after- 
wards the  apostate  Israelites,  made  their  children 
to  pass  through  the  fire  to  Moloch  (comp.  Ps. 
cvi.  38  ;  Jer.  vii.  31).  After  the  return  from  the 
captivity,  the  Jews  resumed  the  ancient  name 
for  the  whole  valley,  viz.,  the  valley  of  Hinnom ; 
and  in  order  to  perpetuate  the  disgrace  of  idola- 
try, they  made  it  the  common  receptacle  of  the 
tilth,  &c.  of  the  city,  in  which  'fires'  were  conti- 
nually kept  burning,  to  consume  the  carcasses  of 
animals,  executed  criminals,   &c.,    the    uncon- 


TOWNS 

Burned  portions  of  which,  as  well  as  the  off-scour- 
ings  ill  general,  became  the  nidus  of  insects, 
whose  larva),  or  '  -worms,'  revelled  in  the  corrup- 
tion. These  circumstances  furnished  the  most 
apt  repri'sentation  to  the  Jewish  mind  of  future 
punishment. 

TOWNS.  We  use  the  term  in  its  general  sig- 
nification, so  as  to  embrace  any  assemblage  of  in- 
habited human  dwellings  of  larger  size  than  a 
hamlet  or  a  village. 

The  formation  of  towns  was  obviously  a  work 
of  time,  and  they  were,  no  doubt,  originally  built 
around  a  stronghold  or  fort,  to  which  the  inhabi- 
tants looked  for  protection  against  the  incursions 
of  eneuiies.  In  the  time  of  the  Patriarchs  we 
find  towns  existing  in  Palestine  which  were  ori- 
ginally surrounded  with  fortifications,  so  as  to 
make  them  'fenced  cities.'  In  these  dwelt  the 
agricultural  population,  who  by  means  of  these 
places  of  strength  defended  themselves  and  their 
property  from  the  nomad  tribes  of  the  neighbour- 
ing desert,  who  then,  as  they  do  now,  lived  by 
plunder.  Nor  were  works  of  any  great  strength 
necessary.  In  Palestine  at  the  present  day,  while 
walls  are  in  most  parts  an  indispensable  protec- 
tion, and  agriculture  can  be  advantageously  pro- 
secuted only  so  far  as  sheltered  by  a  fortified 
town,  erections  of  a  very  slight  nature  are  found 
sufficient  for  the  purpose,  the  rather  becuuse  the 
most  favourable  localities  offer  themselves  on  all 
sides,  owing  to  the  natural  inequality  of  the 
ground. 

Of  the  ancient  method  of  building  in  towns 
and  cities  we  have  r.o  accurate  knowledge.  But 
the  law  of  sameness  which  prevails  so  rigidly  in 
Eastern  countries,  gives  us  an  assurance  that  a 
modern  town  in  Palestine  may  be  roughly  taken 
as  a  type  of  its  ancient  predecessors. 

At  the  gates  of  the  town,  which  were  frequented 
as  the  court  of  justice,  the  town's  market,  the 
rendezvous  for  loungers,  newsmongers,  pleasure- 
seekers,  there  were  wide  open  places  of  greater 
or  less  dimensions,  where  on  imi)ortant  occasions 
the  entire  population  assembled  for  consultation 
or  for  action  (Neh.  viii.  1,  1(3;  2  Chron.  xxxii. 
6;  2  Sam.  xxi.  12 ;  Job  xxix.  7  ;  2  Kings  vii.  1). 
The  streets  were  not  so  narrow  as  streets  gene- 
rally are  in  modern  Oriental  towns.  Their  names 
were  sometimes  taken  from  the  wares  or  goods 
that  were  sold  in  tliem  :  thus  iu  Jer.  xxxvii.  21, 
we  read  of  '  the  bakers'  street.'  The  present  ba- 
zaars seem  to  be  a  continuation  of  this  ancient 
custom.  The  streets  of  Jerusalem  at  least  were 
paved  ;  but  the  streets  of  most  cities  of  Palestine 
would  not  need  paving,  in  consequence  of  the 
rocky  nature  of  the  foundations  on  which  they 
lay.  Herod  the  Great  laid  au  open  road  in  An- 
tioch  with  polished  stone.  In  regard  to  the  earlier 
periods,  we  find  only  a  notice  to  the  efl'ect  that 
Solomon  caused  the  fore-court  of  the  temple  to  be 
laid  with  fiags.  Besides  paved  streets,  Jerusa- 
lem before  the  exile  had  an  extensive  system  of 
watercourses  or  aqueducts,  which  seems  to  have 
been  rendered  necessary  by  the  natural  supply 
having  been  limited  to  one  or  two  spots  in  the 
immediate  vicinity.  The  population  of  towns 
cannot  now  be  ascertained  with  any  degree  of  ac- 
curacy, for  the  materials  are  not  only  scanty  and 
discouuected,  but  iu  a  measure  uncertain.  Ue- 
specting  the  government  of  towns,  we  have  no 
detailed  inforjuatiou  relating  to  the  ante-exiliaa 


TRANSFIGURATION 


767 


periods,  though  it  was  probably  in  the  hands  of 
the  elders;  and  in  Dent.  xvi.  18,  Moses  com- 
mands, '  Judges  and  officers  shall  thou  make  thee 
in  all  thy  gates,  and  they  shall  judge  the  people 
with  just  judgment.'  In  the  post-exilian  era 
magistrates  occur  under  the  name  of  Council,  at 
whose  head  was  a  president  or  mayor. 

TRACHONI'TIS  was,  in  the  days  of  the  He- 
rodian  dynasty,  the  name  of  the  country  situated 
between  the  Antilibauus  and  the  Arabian  moun- 
tains south  of  Damascus  and  west  of  the  pro- 
vinces of  Batanoea,  Gaulonitis,  Itura'a,  and  Au- 
ranitis,  under  about  the  thirty-third  degree  of 
northern  latitude.  It  is  at  present  called  Ledja. 
The  eastern  range  of  mountains  is  now  called 
Jfbel  Manai,  and  contains  great  caverns  iu 
chalk  rocks.  The  southern  portions  of  the  an- 
cient Trachonitis,  or  the  present  Ledja,  consist 
cbietiy  of  basalt  rocks. 

TRANCE  (Gen.  ii.  21,  &c.),  a  sirpernatural 
state  of  body  and  mind,  the  nature  of  which  has 
been  well  conjectured  by  Doddridge,  who  defines 
it — '  Such  a  rapture  of  mind  as  gives  the  person 
who  falls  into  it  a  look  of  astonishment,  and  ren- 
ders him  insensible  of  the  external  objects  around 
him,  while  in  the  meantime  his  imagination  is 
agitated  in  an  extraordinary  manner  with  some 
striking  scenes  which  pass  before  it  and  take  up 
all  the  attention.' 

TRANSFIGURATION.  One  of  the  most 
wonderful  incidents  in  the  life  of  our  Saviour 
upon  earth,  and  one  so  instructive  that  we  can 
never  exhaust  its  lessons,  is  the  Transfiguration. 
The  apostle  Peter,  towards  the  close  of  his  life,  in 
running  his  mind  over  the  proofs  of  Christ's  ma- 
jesty, found  none  so  conclusive  and  irrefragable 
as  the  scenes  when  he  and  others  were  with  him 
in  the  holy  mount,  as  eye-witnesses  that  he  re- 
ceived from  God  the  Father  honour  and  glory, 
when  there  came  such  a  voice  to  him  from  the 
excellent  glory,  'This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  am  well  pleased.'  If  we  divide  Christ's 
public  life  into  three  periods — the  first  of  mira- 
cles to  prove  his  divine  mission,  the  second  of  pa- 
rables to  inculcate  virtue,  and  the  third  of  suffer- 
ing, first  clearly  revealed  and  then  endured,  to 
atone  for  sin — the  transfiguration  may  be  viewed 
as  his  baptism  or  initiation  into  the  third  and  last. 
He  went  up  the  mount  of  transfiguration  on  the 
eighth  day  after  he  had  bidden  every  one  who 
would  come  after  him  take  up  his  cro.ss,  declar- 
ing that  his  kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  that 
he  must  suffer  many  things,  and  be  killed,  &c. 

I'he  mount  of  transfiguration  was  long  thought 
to  have  been  Mount  Tabor ;  but  as  tliis  height  is 
fifty  miles  from  Cassarea  Philippi,  where  Jesus 
last  taught,  it  is  now  supposed  to  have  been  a 
mountain  much  less  distant,  namely.  Mount  Her- 
mon. 

The  final  causes  of  the  transfiguration,  although 
in  part  wrapped  up  in  mystery,  appear  to  be  in 
part  plain.  Among  its  intended  lessons  may  be 
the  following : — First,  to  teach  that,  in  spite  of 
the  calumnies  which  the  Pharisees  had  heaped 
on  Jesus,  the  old  and  new  dispensations  are  in 
harmony  with  each  other.  To  this  end  the  au- 
thor and  the  restorer  of  the  old  dispensation  talk 
with  the  founder  of  the  new,  as  if  his  -scheme, 
even  the  most  repulsive  feature  of  it,  was  con- 
templated by  theirs,  as  the  reality  of  which 
they  had  promulgated  only  types  and  shadows. 


768  TiaBUTE 

Secondly,  to  teach  that  the  new  dispensation  was 
superior  to  the  old.  Moses  and  Elias  appear  as 
inferior  to  Jesus,  not  merely  since  their  faces  did 
not,  so  far  as  we  know,  shine  like  the  sun,  but 
chiefly  because  the  voice  from  the  excellent  glory 
commanded  to  hear  him,  in  preference  to  them. 
Thirdly,  to  gird  up  the  energies  of  Jesus  for  the 
great  agony  which  was  so  soon  to  excruciate  him. 
Fourthly,  to  comfort  the  hearts  of  the  disciples, 
who,  being  destined  to  see  their  master,  whom 
they  had  left  all  to  follow,  nailed  to  a  cross,  to  be 
themselves  persecuted,  and  to  suffer  the  want  of 
all  things,  were  in  danger  of  despair.  But  by 
being  eye-witnesses  of  his  majesty  they  became 
convinced  that  his  humiliation,  even  though  he 
descended  into  the  place  of  the  dead,  was  volun- 
tary, and  could  not  continue  long. 

TRIAL.    [Punishment.] 

TRIBES, — the  name  of  the  great  groups  of 
families  into  which  the  Israelitish  nation,  like 
other  Oriental  races,  was  divided.  The  modern 
Arabs,  the  Bedouins,  and  the  Berbers,  and  also 
the  Moors  on  the  northern  shores  of  Africa,  are 
still  divided  into  tribes.  The  clans  in  Scotland 
are  also  analogous  to  the  tribes  of  the  ancient 
Israelites.  In  Gen.  xlix.  the  tribes  are  enumerated 
according  to  their  progenitors;  viz.,  1,  Reuben, 
the  first-born;  2,  Simeon,  and  3,  Levi,  instru- 
ments of  cruelty  ;  4,  Judah,  whom  his  brethren 
shall  praise;  5,  Zabulon,  dwelling  at  the  haven 
of  the  sea ;  6,  Issachar,  the  strong ;  7,  Dan,  the 
judge;  8,  Gad,  whom  a  troop  shall  overcome, 
but  who  shall  vanquish  at  last;  9,  Asher,  whose 
bread  shall  be  fat ;  10,  Naphtali,  giving  goodly- 
words;  11,  Joseph,  the  fruitful  bough;  12,  Ben- 
jamin, the  wolf:  all  these  were  originally  the 
twelve  tribes  of  Israel.  In  this  enumeration  it  is 
remarkable  that  the  subsequent  division  of  the 
tribe  of  Joseph  into  the  two  branches  of  Kphraim 
and  Manasseh,  is  not  yet  alluded  to.  After  this 
later  division  of  the  very  numerous  tribe  of  Jo- 
seph into  the  two  branches  of  Ephraim  and  Ma- 
nasseh had  taken  place,  there  were,  strictly  speak- 
ing, thirteen  tribes.  It  was,  however,  usual  to 
view  them  as  comprehended  under  the  number 
twelve,  which  was  the  more  natural,  since  one  of 
them,  namely,  the  caste  of  the  Levites,  did  not 
live  within  such  exclusive  geographical  limits  as 
were  assigned  to  the  others  after  they  exchanged 
their  nomadic  migrations  for  settled  habitations, 
but  dwelt  in  towns  scattered  through  all  the  other 
twelve  tribes.  Concerning  the  arrangement  of 
these  tribes  on  their  march  through  the  wilder- 
ness, in  their  encampments  around  the  ark,  and 
in  their  occupation  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  see  the 
cognate  articles,  such  as  Exodus,  Encampment, 
Genealogies,  Levites,  Wandering,  and  the 
nam«?s  of  the  several  tribes. 

TRIBUTE,  a  tax  which  one  prince  or  state 
agrees,  or  is  compelled,  to  pay  to  another,  as  the 
purchase  of  peace,  or  in  token  of  dependence. 

The  Israelites  were  at  various  times  subjected 
to  heavy  taxes  and  tributes  by  their  foreign  con- 
querors. After  Judsea  was  reduced  to  a  Roman 
province,  a  new  poll  of  the  people  and  an  esti- 
mate of  their  substance  were  taken  by  command 
of  Augustus,  in  order  that  he  might  more  cor- 
rectly regulate  the  tribute  to  be  exacted.  This 
was  a  capitation-tax  levied  at  so  much  a  head, 
and  imposed  upon  all  males  from  14,  and  all 
females  from  12,  up  to  65  years  of  age. 


TROPHIMUS 

To  oppose  the  levying  of  this  tribute  Judas  the 
Gaulonite  raised  an  insurrection  of  the  Jews,  as- 
serting that  it  was  not  lawful  to  pay  tribute  to  a 
foreigner,  that  it  was  a  token  of  servitude,  and 
that  the  Jews  were  not  allowed  to  acknowledge 
any  for  their  master  who  did  not  worship  the 
Lord.  They  boasted  of  being  a  free  nation,  and 
of  never  having  been  in  bondage  to  any  man 
(John  viii.  33).  These  sentiments  were  exten- 
sively promulgated,  but  all  their  eflforts  were  of 
no  avail  in  restraining  or  mitigating  the  exac- 
tions of  their  conquerors. 

The  Pharisees  who  sought  to  entangle  Jesus  in 
his  talk,  sent  unto  him  demanding  whether  it  was 
lawful  to  give  tribute  unto  Caesar  or  not;  but 
knowing  their  wicked  designs,  he  replied,  '  Why 
tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites  ? '  '  Render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,  and  uuto 
God  the  things  that  are  God's.' 

The  apostles  Peter  and  Paul  severally  recom- 
mended submission  to  the  ruling  powers,  and  in- 
culcated the  duty  of  paying  tribute :  '  tribute  to 
whom  tribute  is  due'  (Rom.  xiii.  1-8;  1  Peter 
ii.  13). 

TRIBUTE-MONEY.  The  money  collected 
by  the  Romans  in  payment  of  the  taxes  imposed 
upon  the  Jews.  The  phrase  may  apply  to  money 
of  any  description,  coined  or  uncoined.  The 
piece  shown  to  our  Saviour  at  his  own  request 
was  a  Roman  coin,  bearing  the  image  of  one  of 
the  Cffisars,  and  must  have  been  at  that  time  cur- 
rent in  Judsca,  and  received  in  payment  of  the  tri- 
bute in  common  with  other  descriptions  of  money 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  tribute  was 
collected  exclusively  in  Roman  coins,  or  that  the 
tribute-money  was  a  description  of  coin  different  j 
from  that  which  was  in  general  circulation  | 
[Money].  j 

TRO'AS,  more  fully  Alexandria-Troas,  a  city  ; 
of  northern  or  Lesser  Mysia,  in  Asia  Minor,  1 
situated  on  the  coast  at  some  distance  southward 
from  the  site  of  Troy,  upon  an  eminence  opposite 
the  island  of  Tenedos.  Paul  was  twice  at  this 
place  (Acts  xvi.  8,  9;  xx.  6;  2  Cor.  ii.  12;  2  Tim. 
iv.  13).  The  name  Troas,  or  Troad,  strictly  be- 
longed to  the  whole  district  around  Troy.  Alex- 
andria-Troas is  represented  by  the  present  Eski- 
Stamboul,  and  its  ruins  are  now  concealed  in  the 
heart  of  a  thick  wood  of  oaks,  with  which  the 
country  abounds. 

TROGYL'LIUM,  a  town  and  promontory  on 
the  western  coast  of  Asia  Minor,  opposite  Samos,     | 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Mycale  (Strabo,  xiv.  p.  636). 
It  is  mentioned  in  Acts  xx.  15.  i 

TROPH'IMUS,  a  uisciple  of  Ephesus,  who  ac-    j 
companied  St.  Paul  into  Judaea,  and  was  the  in-    [ 
nocent  cause  of  the  dangers  which  the  apostle    i 
there  encountered ;  for  having  been  recognised    I 
by  some  Jews  of  Asia  Minor,  and  seen  in  com- 
pany with  Paul,  they  took  occasion  to  accuse 
Paul  of  having  brought  Greeks  into  the  temple 
(Acts  XX.  4 ;  xxi.  29).     His  name  does  not  again 
occur  till  after,  seemingly,  the  first  imprisonment 
of  Paul.     In  one  of  the  ensuing  journeys  he  re- 
mained behind  at  Miletus  sick  (2  Tim.  iv.  20). 
This  circumstance  is  regarded  as  furnishing  a 
strong  fact  to  show  that  Paul  was  twice  impri- 
soned at  Rome;  for  Trophimus,  in  the  first  passage 
to  Miletus  (Acts  xx.  15),  was  not  left  behind,  but 
proceeded  to  Judaea ;  after  which  we  do  not  lose 
sight  of  Paul  for  one  day,  and  know  that  he  was 


TYCHICUS 

not  again  at  Miletus  before  his  first  imprisonment 
at  Rome. 
TRUMPET.     [Musical  Instruments.1 
TRUMPETS,  FEAST  OF.     [Festivals.1 
TRYPHE'NA  and  TRYPHO'SA,  female  dis- 
ciples at  Rome,  who  laboured  to  extend  the  Gos- 
pel and  to  succour  the  faithful  (Rom.  xvi.  12). 
Their  history  is  unknown ;  but,  from  their  names, 
they  were  probably  sisters. 

TU'BAL,  a  son  of  Japhet,  and  a  people  de- 
scended from  him  (Gen.  x.  2;  Isa.  Ixvi.  19; 
Ezek.  xxvii.  1.3  ;  xxxii.  26  ;  xxxviii.  2,  3 ;  xxxix. 
1),  supposed  to  have  been  settled  in  Asia  Minor 
near  the  Euxine  [Nations,  Dispersion  of]. 

TU'BAL-CA'IN,  son  of  Lamech  and  Zillah, 
to  whom  the  invention  of  the  art  of  forging  metals 
is  ascribed  in  Gen.  iv.  22  [Smith]. 

TURTLE-DOVE  occurs  in  Gen.  xv.  9  ;  Lev. 
i.  14:  V.  7,  11,  &c. ;  Luke  ii.  24. 


TYRE 


769 


The  birds  of  this  subgenus  are  invariably 
smaller  than  pigeons  properly  so  called;  they 
are  mostly  marked  with  a  patch  of  peculiarly 
coloured  scutellated  feathers  on  the  neck,  or  with 
a  collar  of  black,  and  have  often  other  markings 
on  the  smaller  wing-covers.  The  species  Columba 
Tiirtur,  with  several  varieties  merely  of  colour, 
extends  from  the  Avest  of  Europe  through  the 
north  of  Africa,  to  the  islands  south  of  China. 
The  turtle-dove  of  Palestine  is  specifically  the 
same ;  but  there  is  also  a  second,  we  believe  local : 
both  migrate  further  south  in  winter,  but  return 
very  early ;  when  their  cooing  voice  in  the  woods 
announces  the  spring.  In  the  rites  of  the  Hebrew 
law,  full-grown  or  old  turtle-doves  might  be  of- 
fered in  pairs,  but  only  the  young  of  pigeons  not 
full  grown.  They  were  the  usual  offering  of  the 
poor,  a  circumstance,  Bochart  remarks,  indicating 
the  humble  station  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  since  at 
her  purification  she  offered  a  pair  of  turtle-doves 
instead  of  a  lamb. 

TYCH'ICUS  is  the  name  of  an  assistant  and 
companion  of  the  Apostle  Paul.  He  accompanied 
Paul  on  his  third  missionary  journey  (Acts  xx. 
4),  and  was,  at  a  later  period,  the  bearer  of  Paul's 
letter  from  Rome  to  the  Colossians.  Paul  styled 
him  a  beloved  brother,  faithful  minister,  and  fel- 
low-servant in  the  Lord,  who  should  declare  all 
his  state  unto  the  Colossians,  to  whom,  he  was  sent 
that  he  might  know  their  estate  and  comfort  their 
hearts  (Col.  iv.  7,  8").  For  a  similar  purpose  Ty- 
chicus  was  sent  to  the  Ephesians  also  (Eph.  vi. 
21,  22;  1  Tim.  iv.  12),  and  employed  in  various 
missionary  journeys  (Tit.  iii.  12).  According  to  tra- 
dition, Tychicus  was  made  bishop  of  Chalcedon. 

TYPE.  The  bestdefinition  of  this  word,  in  its 
theological  sense,  is  that  which  Heb.  x.  1  sopplies : 


a  type  is  a  shadow  of  good  things  to  come,  or  as 
the  apostle  elsewhere  expresses  it  (Col.  ii.  17),  « a 
shadow  of  things  to  come ;  but  the  body  is  of 
Christ.'  Adopting  this  definition  as  the  correct 
one,  we  proceed  briefly  to  point  out  the  diiferent 
t'/pes  by  which  God  was  pleased  in  various  ages 
to  adumbrate  the  person  and  work  of  the  Redeemer. 
1.  Before  the  law,  Adam,  Enoch,  Noah,  Melchize- 
dec,  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Joseph  were  eminently 
typical  of  Christ.  Again,  under  the  law,  Moses, 
Joshua,  Samson,  David,  Solomon,  Elijah,  Elisha, 
Jonah,  Zerubbabel,  and  Joshua  the  high  priest, 
were,  in  many  points,  singularly  types  of  Christ. 

2.  The  first-born,  the  Nazarites,  prophets, 
priests,  and  kings,  were  typical  orders  of  persons. 

3.  Under  the  head  of  things  tifpical  may  be 
noticed :  Jacob's  ladder,  the  burning  bush,  the 
pillar  of  cloud  and  fire,  the  manna,  the  rock,  and 
the  brazen  serpent. 

4.  Actions  typical  were:  the  deliverance  out 
of  Egypt,  passage  of  the  Red  sea,  sojourn  in  the 
wilderness,  passage  over  the  Jordan,  entrance  into 
Canaan,  and  restoration  from  Babylon. 

5.  Rites  typical  were:  circumcision,  various 
sacrifices,  and  sundry  purifications. 

6.  Places  typical  were :  the  land  of  Canaan, 
the  cities  of  refuge,  the  tabernacle,  and  the  temple. 

The  above  types  were  designed  to  shadow  forth 
Christ  and  the  blessings  of  his  salvation;  but 
there  were  others  also  which  pointed  at  our  mise- 
ries without  him.  There  were  ceremonial  un- 
cleannesses ;  the  leprosy,  for  instance,  was  a 
type  of  our  natural  pollution ;  and  Hagar  and 
Ishmael  a  type  of  the  covenant  of  works. 

As  there  must  be  a  similarity  or  analogy  be- 
tween the  type  and  the  antitype,  so  there  is  also 
a  disparity  or  dissimilitude  between  them. 

It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  type  and  antitype 
that  they  should  agree  in  all  things;  else,  in- 
stead of  similitude,  there  would  be  identity. 
Hence  the  apostle,  whilst  making  Adam  a  type 
of  Christ,  yet  shows  how  infinitely  the  latter  ex- 
celled" the  former  (1  Cor.  xv.  47).  So  the  priests 
of  old  were  types  of  Christ,  though  he  infinitely 
excelled  them  both  as  to  his  own  person  and  as  to 
the  character  of  his  priesthood  (see  Heb.  vii., 
viii.,  ix.,  and  x.). 

TYRAN'NUS,  a  sophist  or  rhetorician  of 
Ephesus,  who  kept  one  of  those  schools  of  philo- 
sophy and  eloquence  so  common  at  that  period. 
St.  Paul  preached  for  two  years  daily  in  his  school 
after  quitting  the  synagogue  (Acts  xix.  9).  This 
proves  that  the  school  was  Greek,  not  Jewish.  It 
does  not  appear  whether  Tyrannus  was  himself  a 
convert  or  not ;  for  it  may  be  that  he  let  to  the 
apostle  the  house  or  hall  which  he  used :  but  it  is 
more  pleasant  to  suppose  that  he  was  a  convert, 
and  that  the  apostle  was  hospitably  entertained  by 
him  and  obtained  the  use  of  the  hall  in  which  he 
himself  taught. 

TYRE.  The  original  position  of  this  famous 
city  was  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, about  midway  between  Egypt  and  Asia 
Minor,  near  the  north-western  frontier  of  Pales- 
tine. It  was  a  colony  of  Zidon,  and  was  | 
founded  before  the  records  of  history.  | 

As  early  as  the  eleventh  century  before  the  ad-  j 
vent  of  Christ,  the  Tyrians  had  become  famous  | 
for  skill  in  the  arts.  About  1 142  B.C.  (2  Sam.  v.  | 
11),  their  king  Hiram  sent  cedar-trees  to  Jerusa- 
lem,  and  workmen  who  built  David  a  house.  A  I 
3d  j 


770 


TYRE 


generation  later,  -when  Solomon,  preparing  to 
build  the  temple,  sent  to  the  same  monarch  for 
similar  assistance,  he  said  to  him  (1  Kings  v.  6), 
'  Thou  knowest  that  there  is  not  among  us  any 
that  can  skill  to  hew  timber  like  unto  the  Sido- 
nians.'  He  also  (1  Kings  vii.  13)  sent  and  fetched 
Hiram  out  of  Tyre,  a  widow's  son,  filled  with  cun- 
ning to  work  all  works  in  brass.  In  subsequent 
ages,  every  king  coveted  a  robe  of  Tyrian  purple, 
and  Ezekiel  (xxvii.  16)  speaks  of  'the  multitude 
of  wares  of  its  making,' — emeralds,  purple,  and 
broidered  work,  and  fine  linen,  and  coral,  and 
agate. 

The  commerce  of  Tyre  was  commensurate  with 
its  manufactures.  Situate  at  the  entry  of  the 
sea,  it  became  a  merchant  of  the  people  for  many 
isles.  It  was  inhabited  by  seafaring  men,  and 
was  styled  by  way  of  eminence  '  the  merchant- 
city,'  whose  merchants  were  princes,  whose  traf- 
fickers were  the  honourable  of  the  earth '  (Isa. 
xxiii.  8).  Among  their  other  colonies,  whither 
their  own  feet  carried  them  afar  off  to  sojourn,' 
were  Cyprus,  Utica,  and  Carthage.  In  the  27th 
chapter  of  Ezekiel,  Syria,  Persia,  and  Egypt, 
Spain,  Greece,  and  every  quarter  of  the  ancient 
world,  are  portrayed  hastening  to  lay  their  most 
precious  things  at  the  feet  of  Tyre,  who  sat  en- 
throned on  ivory,  covered  with  blue  and  purple 
from  the  isles  of  Elishah;  while  the  Gamma- 
dims  were  in  her  towers,  hanged  their  shields 
upon  her  walls  round  about,  and  made  her  beauty 
perfect. 

Near  the  close  of  the  eighth  century  before  the 
Christian  era,  Shalmaneser,  the  king  of  Assyria 
who  captured  Samaria,  was  led  by  cupidity  to 
ay  siege  to  Tyre.  He  cut  off  its  supplies  of 
water  which  aqueducts  had  furnished,  but  wells 
within  the  walls  supplied  their  place  ;  and  at  the 
.nd  of  five  years  ■  he  gave  up  his  blockade  as 
nopeless. 

It  was  against  a  city  such  as  this,  so  confident, 
md  to  all  appearance  so  justifiably  confident,  of 
sitting  a  queen  for  ever,  that  several  prophets, 
particularly  Isaiah  and  Ezekiel,  fulminated  the 
denunciations  which  Jehovah  dictated.  They 
prophesied  that  it  should  be  overthrown  by  Ne- 
Duchadnezzar,  that  it  should  revive,  but  at  length 
oe  destroyed  and  never  rebuilt. 

Before  a  generation  had  passed  away,  accord- 
ing to  Josephus,  Philostratus,  and  the  Seder  01am, 
Nebuchadnezzar  came  up,  as  had  been  pre- 
dicted (Ezek.  xxvi.  7-13),  making  a  fort,  casting 
a  mount,  and  lifting  up  the  buckler.  At  the  end 
of  thirteen  years  (about  a.m.  3422)  he  took  the 
city,  and  Tyre  was  forgotten  seventy  years,  as 
had  been  foretold  by  Isaiah  (xxiii.  1 5).  In  the 
year  B.C.  332  Tyre,  which  had  been  rebuilt  on  an 
island  half  a  mile  from  the  shore,  and  had  again 
become  a  flourishing  emporium  for  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world  upon  the  face  of  the  earth, 
'  and  heaped  up  silver  as  the  dust,  and  fine  gold 
as  the  mire  of  the  streets,'  was  assailed  by  Alex- 
ander the  Great  in  the  midst  of  his  Oriental  ca- 
reer of  conquest.  It  sustained  a  siege  of  seven 
months,  and  was  at  length  taken  only  by  means 
of  a  mole,  by  which  the  island  was  turned  into  a 
peninsula,  and  rendered  accessible  by  land  forces. 
In  constructing  this  mole  Alexander  made  use  of 
the  ruins  of  the  old  city,  and  thereby  fulfilled 
two  prophecies  (Ezek.  xxvi.  12,  and  ver.  21).  So 
utterly  were  the  ruins  of  old  Tyre  thrown  into 


UNCLEAN  BIRDS 

the  sea,  that  its  exact  site  is  confessedly  undeter 
minable. 

The  mole  of  Alexander  has  prevented  Tyre 
from  becoming  insulated  again.  The  revival  of 
the  city  was  long  retarded  by  the  rivalship  of  the 
newly-founded  Alexandria,  and  by  other  causes, 
but  it  was  at  length  partially  restored,  and  was 
often  the  subject  of  contest  during  the  crusades. 
It  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Europeans  till  1291, 
when  it  was  finally  yielded  to  the  Moslems. 
Its  fortifications,  which  were  almost  impregnable, 
were  demolished,  and  it  has  never  since  been  a 
place  of  consequence.  Travellers  of  every  suc- 
ceeding century  describe  it  as  a  heap  of  ruins, 
broken  arches  and  vaults,  tottering  walls  and 
towers,  with  a  few  starveling  wretches  housing 
amid  the  rubbish.  It  was  half  ruined  by  an 
earthquake  in  1837.  One  of  the  best  accounts  of 
its  present  appearance  is  given  by  Dr.  Robinson, 
who  spent  a  sabbath  there  in  1838  (Biblical  Re- 
searches, iii.  395) :  '  I  continued  my  walk,'  says 
he,  '  along  the  shore  of  the  peninsula,  part  of 
which  is  now  unoccupied,  except  as  "  a  place  to 
spread  nets  upon,"  musing  upon  the  pride  and  fall 
of  ancient  Tyre.  Here  was  the  little  isle,  once 
covered  by  her  palaces  and  surrounded  by  her 
fleets :  but  alas !  thy  riches  and  thy  fame,  thy 
merchandise,  thy  mariners  and  thy  pilots,  thy 
caulkers,  and  the  occupiers  of  thy  merchandise 
that  were  in  thee, — where  are  they  ?  Tyre  has 
indeed  become  like  the  "  the  top  of  a  rock."  The 
sole  tokens  of  her  more  ancient  splendour — co- 
lumns of  red  and  grey  granite,  sometimes  forty  or 
fifty  heaped  together,  or  marble  pillars — lie  broken 
and  strewed  beneath  the  waves  in  the  midst  of 
the  sea ;  and  the  hovels  that  now  nestle  upon  a 
portion  of  her  site  pi'esent  no  contradiction  of  the 
dread  decree,  "  Thou  shalt  be  built  no  more."  ' 


u. 


U'LAI,  a  river  which  flowed  by  Susa  [Shu- 
shan]  into  the  united  stream  of  the  Tigris  and 
Euphrates.  It  is  mentioned  in  Dan.  viii.  2.  It 
is  called  by  Pliny  Eulseus,  but  is  described  by 
Greek  writers  under  the  name  of  Choaspes,  and 
is  now  known  by  the  name  of  Kerah,  called  by 
the  Turks  Karasu.  This  river  is  formed  by  the 
junction  of  many  streams  in  the  province  of  Ar- 
delan,  in  Kurdistan.  It  runs  through  the  plain 
of  Kermanshah,  and  being  greatly  increased  in 
magnitude  by  the  junction  of  two  small  rivers, 
proceeds  with  a  furious  course  towards  Khuzistan, 
receiving  numerous  tributaries  in  its  passage.  It 
passes  on  the  west  of  the  ruins  of  Shus  [Susa : 
see  Shdshan],  and  enters  the  Shat-ul-Arab  about 
twenty  miles  below  Korna. 

UNCLEAN  BIRDS.  The  species  which  the 
law  forbade  the  Israelites  to  use  for  food  (Levit, 
xi.  and  Deut.  xiv.)  include  bats,  because  in  the 
most  ancient  classifications  of  animals,  all  flying 
animals  were  considered  to  belong  more  to  birds 
than  quadrupeds ;  in  other  respects  the  list  is 
confined  nearly  to  the  same  genera  and  species 
as  are  at  the  present  day  rejected  in  all  Christian 
countries.  There  are  only  twenty  named;  but 
in  the  text  the  additional  words  '  of  the  like  kind' 
clearly  imply  sometimes  even  more  than  genera, 
and  the  explanations  of  &e  law  superadded  by 


UNICORN 

human  authority  indicate  several  which  do  not 
occur  in  either  list.  Every  ornithologist  who  re- 
views this  question  with  care  will  feel  that,  with 
certain  exceptions,  the  proposed  identifications 
cannot  be  regarded  as  claiming  entire  confidence. 
UNICOKN.  The  radical  meaning  of  the  He- 
brew word  (reem)  thus  rendered  furnishes  no 
evidence  that  an  animal  such  as  is  now  under- 
stood by  '  unicorn '  was  known  to  exist,  or  that  a 
rhinoceros  is  thereby  absolutely  indicated ;  and 
here  is  no  authority  whatever  for  the  inference 
Jiat  either  was  at  any  time  resident  in  Western 
Asia. 


URIJAH 


771 


320.    [Bibos  cavifrons.] 

The  Indian  rhinocerotes  are  essentially  tropical 
animals,  and  there  is  no  indication  extant  that  in 
a  wild  state  they  ever  extended  to  the  west  of  the 
Indus.  Early  colonies  and  caravans  from  the 
East  most  probably  brought  rumours  of  the  power 
and  obstinacy  of  these  animals  to  Western  Asia, 
and  it  might  have  been  remarked  that  under  ex- 
citement the  rhinoceros  raises  its  head  and  horn 
on  high,  as  it  were  in  exultation,  though  it  is 


321.    [Horn  of  the  unknown  species  of  Rhinoceros.] 

most  likely  because  the  sense  of  smelling  is  more 
potent  in  it  than  that  of  sight,  which  is  only 
lateral,  and  confined  by  the  thickness  of  the 
folds  of  skin  projecting  beyond  the  eye-balls. 
The  rhinoceros  is  not  absolutely  untamable — a 
fact  implied  even  in  Job.  Thus  we  take  this 
species  as  the  original  type  of  the  unicorn ;  but 
the  active  invention  of  Arabic  minds,  accident- 
ally, perhaps,  in  the  first  instance,  discovered  a 
species  of  Oryx  (generically  bold  and  pugnacious 
ruminants),  with  the  loss  of  one  of  its  long, 
slender,  and  destructive  horns.  In  this  animal 
the  reem  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  far  East  became 
personified,  being  most  probably  an  Oryx  Leu- 
coryx,  since  individuals  of  that  species  have  been 
repeatedly  exhibited  in  subsequent  ages  as  uni- 
corns, when  accident  or  artifice  had  deprived 
them  of  one  of  their  frontal  weapons.  In  Africa, 
however,  among  three  or  four  known  species  of 
rhinoceros,  and  vague  rumours  of  a  Bisulcate 
species  of  unicorn,  probably  only  the  repetition 
of  Arabian  reports,  there  appears  to  exist  between 
Congo,  Abyssinia,  and  the  Cape,  precisely  the 
terra  incognita  of  Africa,  a  real  pachydermous 
animal,  which  seems  to  possess  the  characteristics 


of  the  poetical  unicorn.  In  the  narratives  of  the 
natives  of  the  different  regions  in  question  there 
is  certainly  both  exaggeration  and  error;  but 
they  all  incline  to  a  description  which  would 
make  the  animal  indicated  a  pachyderm  of  the 
rhinoceros  group,  with  a  long  and  slender  horn 
proceeding  from  the  forehead,  perhaps  with  an- 
other incipient  behind  it,  and  in  general  structure 
much  lighter  than  other  rhinocerotes. 

U'PHAZ,  a  country  from  which  gold  was  ob- 
tained (Jer.  X.  9 ;  Dan.  x.  5).  It  is  generally 
supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Ophir. 

UPPER-ROOM.    [House.] 

UR,  of  the  Chaldees,  was  the  native  place  of 
the  family  of  Abraham,  whence  he  migrated  first 
to  Haran  and  then  to  Canaan  (Gen.  xi.  28,  31  ; 
XV.  7  ;  Neh.  ix.  7 ;  Acts  vii.  4).  It  is  supposed 
to  be  a  district  identical  with  the  modern  pa- 
shaiic  of  Urfa,  to  which  there  belong  several 
districts,  among  others  Rouha,  which  is  the  an- 
cient Edessa. 

UR'BAN,  a  disciple  at  Rome,  and  one  of 
Paul's  companions  in  labour  (Rom.  xvi.  9). 
Nothing  is  known  of  him ;  but  his  name  shows 
him  to  have  been  a  Roman. 

URI'AH  (Jlame  of  Jehovah),  a  Hittite,  and 
therefore  a  descendant  of  the  ancient  inhabit- 
ants of  Palestine,  whose  name  occurs  in  the  list 
of  the  '  worthies '  or  champions  of  king  David, 
in  whose  army  he  was  an  officer.  He  was  the 
husband  of  Bathsheba ;  and  while  he  was  absent 
with  the  army  before  Rabbah,  David  conceived 
and  gratified  a  criminal  passion  for  his  wife. 
The  king  then  directed  Joab  to  send  him  to 
Jerusalem,  but  failing  to  make  his  presence  in- 
strumental in  securing  Bathsheba  from  the  legal 
consequences  of  her  misconduct,  he  sent  him 
back  with  a  letter  directing  Joab  to  expose  him 
to  the  enemy  in  such  a  manner  as  to  ensure  his 
destruction.  This  the  unscrupulous  Joab  ac- 
complished; and  David  then  took  the  widow 
into  his  own  harem  (2  Sam.  xi. ;  xxiii.  39)  [David  ; 
Bathsheba]. 

1.  URl'JAH  (Jlame  of  Jehovah),  high  priest 
of  the  Jews  in  the  time  of  King  Ahaz.  He  re- 
ceived from  this  young  prince,  who  was  then  at 
Damascus,  the  model  of  an  altar  which  had  there 
engaged  his  attention,  with  orders  to  make  one 
like  it  at  Jerusalem.  It  was  his  duty  to  refuse 
compliance  with  this  dangerous  order;  but  he 
made  such  haste  in  his  obedience  that  the  altar 
was  completed  by  the  time  Ahaz  returned  ;  and 
he  afterwards  went  so  far  in  his  subservience  as 
to  ofiFer  upon  this  new  and  unauthorized  altar  the 
sacrifices  prescribed  by  the  law  of  Moses  (2  Kings 
xvi.  10-12).  He  was  probably  not  so  fully  aware 
as  he  ought  to  have  been  of  the  crime  and  danger 
involved  in  this  concession  to  a  royal  caprice, 
being  a  transgression  of  the  law  which  fixed  the 
form  of  the  Mosaical  altar  (Exod.  xxvii.  1-8 ; 
xxxviii.  1-7);  for  he  appears  to  have  been  in 
intention  a  good  man,  as  he  is  one  of  the 'faith- 
ful witnesses '  chosen  by  Isaiah  (viii.  2)  to  attest 
one  of  his  prophecies. 

2.  URIJAH,  a  prophet,  son  of  Shemaiah  of 
Kirjath-jearim  in  Judah,  who,  in  the  time  of 
Jehoiakim,  uttered  prophecies  against  Judaea  and 
Jerusalem,  of  the  same  tenour  as  those  which  Je- 
remiah was  commissioned  to  deliver.  Menaced 
with  death  by  the  king,  Urijah  sought  refuge  in 
Egypt ;  but  Judsea  was  at  that  time  subject  to 


772.  UZZAH 

Pharaoh-Necho,  -who  had  no  interest  in  protecting 
a  proscribed  fugitive  who  foretold  the  conquests 
of  the  Babylonians.  He  was  therefore  delivered 
up  on  the  demand  of  Jehoiakim,  who  put  him  to 
death,  and  ordered  him  to  be  buried  dishonour- 
ably in  one  of  the  graves  of  the  meanest  of  the 
people  (Jer.  xxvi.  20.  21). 

U'RIMandTHUM'MIM.  There  are  two  prin- 
cipal opinions  respecting  the  UrimandThummim. 
One  is,  that  these  words  simply  denote  the  four 
rows  of  precious  stones  in  the  breastplate  of  the 
high-priest,  and  are  so  called  from  their  brilliancy 
and  perfection  ;  which  stones,  in  answer  to  an 
appeal  to  God  in  difficult  eases,  indicated  his  mind 
and  will  by  some  supernatural  appearance.  Thus, 
as  we  know  that  upon  each  of  the  stones  was  to  be 
engraven  the  name  of  one  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  it 
has  been  conjectured  that  the  letters  forming  the 
divine  response  became  some  way  or  other  dis- 
tinguished from  the  other  letters.  It  has  been 
conjectured  by  others  that  the  response  was  given 
by  an  audible  voice  to  the  high-priest  arrayed  in 
full  pontificals,  and  standing  in  the  holy  place 
with  his  face  turned  towards  the  ark.  The  other 
principal  opinion  is,  that  the  UrimandThummim 
were  two  small  oracular  images,  similar  to  the 
Teraphim,  personifying  revelation  and  truth, 
which  were  placed  in  the  cavity  or  pouch  formed 
by  the  folds  of  the  breastplate,  and  which  uttered 
oracles  by  a  voice.  Tlie  latter  is  corroborated  by 
the  authority  of  Philo,  and  seems  to  be  best  sup- 
ported by  external  evidence. 

USURY,  an  unlawful  contract  for  the  loan  of 
money,  to  be  returned  again  with  exorbitant  in- 
crease. By  the  laws  of  Moses  the  Israelites  were 
forbidden  to  take  usury  from  their  brethren  upon 
the  loan  of  money,  victuals,  or  anything  else,  not, 
it  has  been  observed  by  Michaelis,  as  if  he  abso- 
lutely and  in  all  cases  condemned  the  practice, 
for  he  expressly  permitted  interest  to  be  taken 
from  strangers,  and  from  the  Canaanites,  but  only 
out  of  favour  to  the  poorer  classes.  After  the 
return  of  the  Jews  from  captivity,  they  were  re- 
quired by  Nehemiah  to  '  leave  off  this  usury,'  and 
to  restore  to  their  brethren  what  they  had  exacted 
from  them — '  their  lands,  their  vineyards,  their 
olive-yards,  and  their  houses ;  also  the  hundredth 
part  of  the  money,  and  of  the  corn,  the  wine,  and 
the  oil '  (Neh.  v.  1 0, 11 ).  Our  Saviour  denounced 
all  extortion,  and  promulgated  a  new  law  of  love 
and  forbearance  : — '  Give  to  every  man  that  asketh 
of  thee,  and  of  him  that  taketh  away  thy  goods, 
ask  them  not  again.'  '  Love  ye  your  enemies,  and 
do  good,  and  lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again  ' 
(Luke  vi.  30,  35). 

UZ,  a  region  and  tribe  named  in  Job  i.  1 ;  Jer. 
XXV.  20 ;  Lam.  iv.  21 ;  now  generally  supposed  to 
have  been  situated  in  the  south  of  Arabia  Deserta, 
between  Idumaea,  Palestine,  and  the  Euphrates. 

U'Z  AL,  a  descendant  of  Joktan,  founder  of  one 
of  the  numerous  tribes  of  Joktanidae  in  Yemen 
(Gen.  X.  27). 

UZ'ZAH  (strength),  son  of  Abinadab,  a  Levite, 
who,  with  his  brother  Ahio,  conducted  the  new 
cart  on  which  the  ark  was  taken  from  Kirjath- 
jearim  to  Jerusalem.  When  the  procession  reached 
the  threshing-floor  of  Nachon,  the  oxen  drawing 
the  cart  became  unruly,  and  Uzzah  hastily  put 
forth  his  hand  to  stay  the  ark,  which  was  shaken 
by  their  movements.  For  this  the  anger  of  the 
Lord  smote  him,  and  he  died  on  the  spot.    This 


UZZIAH 

judgment  appeared  to  David  so  severe,  or  even 
harsh,  that  he  was  much  distressed  by  it,  and  be- 
coining  afraid  to  take  the  ark  any  farther,  left  it 
there,  in  charge  of  Obed-edom,  till  three  months 
after,  when  he  finally  took  it  to  Jerusalem  (2  Sam. 
vi.  1-11).  The  whole  proceeding  was  very  irre- 
gular, and  contrary  to  the  distinct  and  far  from 
unmeaning  regulations  of  the  law,  which  pre- 
scribed that  the  ark  should  be  carried  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  Levites  (Exod.  xxv.  14),  whereas 
here  it  was  conveyed  in  a  cart  drawn  by  oxen. 
The  ark  ought  to  have  been  enveloped  in  its 
coverings,  and  thus  wholly  concealed  before  the 
Levites  approached  it;  but  it  does  not  appear 
that  any  priest  took  part  in  the  matter,  and  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  ark  was  brought  forth,  ex- 
posed to  the  common  gaze,  in  the  same  manner 
in  which  it  had  been  brought  back  by  the  Phi- 
listines (1  Sam.  vi.  13-19).  It  was  the  duty  of 
Uzzah,  as  a  Levite,  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
the  proper  course  of  proceeding:  he  was  there- 
fore the  person  justly  accountable  for  the  neglect; 
and  the  judgment  upon  him  seems  to  have  been 
the  most  effectual  course  of  ensuring  attention  to 
the  proper  course  of  proceeding,  and  of  checking 
the  growing  disposition  to  treat  the  holy  mysteries 
with  undue  familiarity.  That  it  had  this  effect 
is  expressly  stated  in  1  Chron.  xv.  2,  13. 

UZ'ZEN-SHE'RAH.  a  small  city,  founded  by 
Sherah,  the  daughter  of  Ephraim  (1  Chron.  vii.  24). 

UZZI'AH  {might  of  Jehovah),  otherwise  called 
AzAKiAH,  a  king  of  Judah,  who  began  to  reign 
B.C.  809,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  reigned  fifty- 
three  years,  being,  with  the  sole  exception  of 
Manasseh's,  the  longest  reign  in  the  Hebrew 
annals.  Uzziah  was  but  five  years  old  when  his 
father  was  slain.  He  was  sixteen  before  he  was 
formally  called  to  the  throne  :  and  it  is  disputed 
by  chronologers,  whether  to  count  the  fifty-two 
years  of  his  reign  from  the  beginning  or  from  the 
end  of  the  eleven  intervening  years.  In  the  first 
half  of  his  reign,  Uzziah  behaved  well,  and  was 
mindftil  of  his  true  place  as  viceroy  of  the  Divine 
King.  He  accordingly  prospered  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings. His  arms  were  successful  against  the 
Philistines,  the  Arabians,  and  the  Ammonites. 
He  restored  and  fortified  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
and  planted  on  them  engines  for  discharging 
arrows  and  great  stones ;  he  organized  the  mili- 
tary force  of  the  nation  into  a  kind  of  militia, 
composed  of  307,500  men,  under  the  command  of 
2600  chiefe,  and  divided  into  bands  liable  to  be 
called  out  in  rotation ;  for  these  he  provided  vast 
stores  of  all  kinds  of  weapons  and  armour, — spears, 
shields,  helmets,  breastplates,  bows,  and  slings. 

Nor  were  the  arts  of  peace  neglected  by  him : 
he  loved  and  fostered  agriculture ;  and  he  also 
dug  wells,  and  constructed  towers  in  the  desert, 
for  the  use  of  the  flocks.  At  length,  when  he 
had  consolidated  and  extended  his  power,  and 
developed  the  internal  resources  of  his  country, 
Uzziah  fell.  His  prosperity  engendered  the  pride 
which  became  his  ruin.  In  the  twenty-fourth 
year  of  his  reign,  incited  probably  by  the  example 
of  the  neighbouring  kings,  who  united  the  regal 
and  pontifical  functions,  Uzziah,  unmindful  of 
the  fate  of  Dathan  and  Abiram,  dared  to  attempt 
the  exercise  of  one  of  the  principal  functions  of 
the  priests,  by  entering  the  holy  place  to  burn  in- 
cense at  the  golden  altar.  But,  in  the  very  act, 
he  was  smitten  with  leprosy,  and  was  thrust  forth 


VEIL 

by  the  priests.  He  continued  a  leper  all  the  rest 
of  his  life,  and  lived  apart  as  such,  the  public 
functions  of  the  government  being  administered 
by  his  son  Jotham,  as  soon  as  he  became  of  suffi- 
cient age  (2  Kings  xv.  27,  28 ;  2  Chron.  xxvi.). 


VASH'TI  (beauty),  the  wifeof  Ahasuerus,  king 
of  Persia,  -whose  refusal  to  present  herself  un- 
veiled before  the  compotators  of  the  king  led  to 
her  degradation,  and  eventually  to  the  advance- 
ment of  Esther  (Esth.  i.  9-12)  [Ahasuerus; 
Esther]. 

VAT,  the  receptacle  in  which  grapes  and 
olives  were  trodden  with  the  feet.  Vats  were 
either  formed  with  stones  and  covered  with  inso- 
luble cement,  or  were,  in  favourable  localities, 
hewn  out  of  the  rock,  forming  raised  reservoirs, 
into  which  the  picked  grapes  were  cast  and 
trodden  upon  by  men  to  press  out  the  must,  or 
new  wine,  which  flowed  out  through  gratings  or 
spouts  into  large  vessels  placed  outside.  In  the 
Egyptian  paintings  these  vats  are  represented  as 
having  a  temporary  beam  extended  over  them, 
with  short  ropes  hanging  down,  by  which  the 
treaders  held  fast,  and  which  greatly  helped  them 
in  their  labour,  inasmuch  as  the  beam  acted  as  a 
lever  in  its  rebound,  lifting  them  up  from  the 
mass  of  grapes  into  which  they  sank. 


VINE 


778 


322.     rWine-presa.] 

This  work,  although  laborious,  was  performed 
with  great  animation,  accompanied  by  vintage- 
songs,  and  with  a  peculiar  shout  or  cry,  and  some- 
times by  instrumental  music  (Isa.  xvi.  9,  10; 
Jer.  XXV.  30  ;  xlviii.  .32,  33). 

VEIL.  In  ancient  as  in  modem  times  there 
were  different  kinds  of  this  essential  article  of  an 
Eastern  female's  attire.  These  are  essentially  of 
two  descriptions.  The  first,  and  which  alone  offer 
any  resemblance  to  the  veils  used  among  us,  are 


those  which  the  Eastern  women  wear  in-doors, 
and  which  are  usually  of  muslin  or  other  light 
texture,  attached  to  the  head-dress  and  falling 
down  over  the  back.  They  are  of  different  kinds 
and  names,  some  descending  only  to  the  waist, 
while  others  reach  nearly  to  the  ground.  These 
are  not  used  to  conceal  the  face. 


323.     [Dress  Veils,  &c.    In-door.] 

The  veils  mentioned  in  Scripture  were,  no 
doubt,  mostly  analogous  to  the  wrappers  of  dif- 
ferent kinds  in  which  the  Eastern  women  envelop 


324.    [Out-doot  Veils.] 

themselves  when  they  quit  their  houses.  These 
are  of  great  amplitude,  and,  among  the  common 
people,  of  strong  and  coarse  texture,  like  that  in 
which  Ruth  carried  home  her  corn  (Ruth  iii.  15). 

VEIL  OF  THE  TABERNACLE  AND 
TEMPLE.     [Tabernacle;  Temple.] 

VERMILION.    [Purple.] 

VINE,  THE,  with  its  fruit,  the  grape,  as  well 
as  wine,  is  very  frequently  mentioned  in  Scrip- 
ture, as  might  be  expected  from  its  being  a  native 
of  the  East,  well  known  to  ancient  nations,  and 
highly  esteemed  for  its  various  natural  and  arti- 
ficial products.  The  vine  is  a  native  of  the  hilly 
region  on  the  southern  shores  of  the  Caspian,  and 
in  the  Persian  province  of  Ghilan.  Every  part 
of  it  was  and  still  continues  to  be  highly  valued. 
1  The  sap  was  at  one  time  used  in  medicine.     Ver- 


774  VINE,  WILD 

juice  expressed  from  wild  grapes  is  well  known 
for  its  acidity.  The  late  Sir  A.  Burnes  mentions 
that  in  Caubul  they  use  grape  powder,  obtained 
by  drying  and  powdering  the  unripe  fruit,  as  a 
pleasant  acid.  When  ripe,  the  fruit  is  everywhere 
highly  esteemed,  both  fresh  and  in  its  dried  state 
as  raisins.  The  juice  of  the  ripe  fruit,  called 
must,  is  valued  as  a  pleasant  beverage.  By  fer- 
mentation, wine,  alcohol,  and  vinegar  are  ob- 
tained ;  the  lees  yield  tartar ;  an  oil  is  sometimes 
expressed  from  the  seeds ;  and  the  ashes  of  the 
twigs  were  formerly  valued  in  consequence  of 
yielding  a  salt,  which  we  now  know  to  be  car- 
bonate of  potash. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  vine  is 
so  frequently  mentioned  both  in  the  Old  and  in 
the  New  Testament,  for  it  was  one  of  the  most 
valuable  products  of  Palestine,  and  of  particularly 
fine  quality  in  some  of  the  districts.  Those  of 
Eshcol,  Sorek,  Jibmah,  Jazer,  and  Abel,  were 
particularly  distinguished. 

VINE,  WILD.  It  is  related  in  2  Kings  iv. 
38-40,  that  Elisha  having  come  again  to  Gilgal, 
when  there  was  a  famine  in  the  land,  and  many 
sons  of  the  prophets  were  assembled  there,  he 
ordered  his  servant  to  prepare  for  them  a  dish  of 
vegetables :  '  One  went  out  into  the  field  to  gather 
herbs  (oroth),  and  found  a  wild  vine,  and  gathered 
thereof  wild  gourds  (pakyoth  sadeh)  his  lap-full, 
and  came  and  shred  them  into  the  pot  of  pottage, 
for  they  knew  them  not.'  '  So  they  poured  out 
for  the  men  to  eat :  but  as  they  were  eating  of 
the  pottage,  they  cried  out,  '  O  thou  man  of  God, 
there  is  death  in  the  pot ;  and  they  could  not  eat 
thereof.'  From  this  it  appears  that  the  servant 
mistook  the  fruit  of  one  plant  (pakyoth)  for  some- 
thing else,  called  oroth,  and  that  the  former  was 
vine  like,  that  is,  with  long  weak  slender  stems, 
and  that  the  fruit  had  some  remarkable  taste,  by 
which  the  mistake  was  discovered  whenever  the 
pottage  was  tasted.  Though  a  few  other  plants 
have  been  indicated,  the  pakyoth  has  almost  uni- 
versally been  supposed  to  be  one  of  the  family  of 
the  gourd  or  cucumber-like  plants,  several  of 
which  are  conspicuous  for  their  bitterness,  and  a 
few  poisonous,  while  others,  it  is  well  known,  are 
edible.  Therefore  one  of  the  former  may  have 
been  mistaken  for  one  of  the  latter,  or  the  oroth 
may  have  been  some  similarly  shaped  fruit,  as  for 
instance  the  egg-plant,  used  as  a  vegetable. 

The  plant  referred  to  has  usually  been  supposed 
to  be  the  colocynth,  which  is  essentially  a  desert 
plant.  Dr.  Kitto  says, '  In  the  desert  parts  of 
byria,  Egypt,  and  Arabia,  and  on  the  banks  of 
the  rivers  "rigris  and  Euphrates,  its  tendrils  run 
over  vast  tracts  of  ground,  ofiiering  a  prodigious 
number  of  gourds,  which  are  crushed  under  foot 
by  camels,  horses,  and  men.  In  winter  we  have 
seen  the  extent  of  many  miles  covered  with  the 
connecting  tendrils  and  dry  gourds  of  the  pre- 
ceding season,  the  latter  exhibiting  precisely  the 
same  appearance  as  in  our  shops,  and  when 
crushed,  with  a  crackling  noise,  beneath  the  feet, 
discharging,  in  the  form  of  a  light  powder,  the 
valuable  drug  which  it  contains.'  The  Globe 
Cucumber,  Dr.  Kitto  continues,  '  derives  its  spe- 
cific name  (  Cucumisprophetarurn)  from  the  notion 
that  it  afforded  the  gourd  which  "  the  sons  of  the 
prophets"  shred  by  mistake  into  their  pottage, 
and  which  made  them  declare,  when  they  came 
to  taste  it,  that  there  was  "  death  in  the  pot." 


VOW 

This  plant  is  smaller  in  every  part  than  the 
common  melon,  and  has  a  nauseous  odour,  while 
its  fruit  is  to  the  full  as  bitter  as  the  Coloquintida. 
The  fruit  has  a  rather  singular  appearance  from 
the  manner  in  which  its  surface  is  armed  with 
prickles,  which  are,  however,  soft  and  harm- 
less' {Pictorial  Palestine;  Physical  Geog.  p. 
cclxxxix.).  But  this  plant,  though  it  is  nauseous 
and  bitter  as  the  Colocynth,  yet  the  fruit,  not  being 
bigger  than  a  cherry,  does  not  appear  likely  to 
have  been  that  which  was  shred  into  the  pot. 
Celsius,  however,  was  of  opinion  that  the  Cucumis 
agresiis  of  the  ancients,  and  which  was  found  by 
Belon  in  descending  from  Mount  Sinai,  was  the 
plant.  This  plant  is  now  called  squirting  cu- 
cumber, and  is  a  well-known  drastic  purgative, 
violent  enough  in  its  action  to  be  considered  even 
a  poison.  Its  fruit  is  ovate,  obtuse,  and  scabrous. 
But  it  is  not  easy  to  say  whether  this  or  the 
Colocynth  is  most  likely  to  have  been  the  plant 
mistaken  for  oroth  ;  but  the  fruit  of  this  species 
might  certainly  be  mistaken  for  young  gherkins. 
Both  are  bitter  and  poisonous. 

A  fruitful  vine  is  often  adduced  as  an  emblem 
of  the  Hebrew  nation,  and  also  the  vine  that  was 
brought  out  of  Egypt.  A  period  of  security  and 
repose  is  figured  by  every  one  sitting  under  his 
own  vine  and  fig-tree  ;  and  prosperity  by  '  Judah, 
a  lion's  whelp,  binding  his  foal  to  the  vine,  and 
his  ass's  colt  to  the  choice  vine  ;'  both  indications 
of  Eastern  manners,  where  sitting  in  the  shade 
is  most  pleasant,  and  tying  cattle  in  similar 
situations  a  common  practice,. 

The  vine  must  have  been  cultivated  in  very 
early  times,  as  we  are  informed  in  Gen.  ix.  20, 
that  Noah  planted  the  vine  immediately  after  the 
deluge;  and  bread  and  wine  are  mentioned  in 
Gen.  xiv,  18.  In  Egypt  also  we  have  early  notice 
of  it  (Gen.  xl.  9,  10),  as  Pharaoh's  chief  butler 
saw  in  a  dream  a  vine  with  three  branches ;  and 
the  Israelites  complain  (Num.  xx.  5)  that  Moses 
and  Aaron  had  brought  them  out  of  Egypt  into 
that  dry  and  barren  land,  where  there  were  neither 
figs  nor  vines.  The  wines  of  Syria  were  in  early 
times  also  highly  esteemed ;  and  though  the  growth 
of  the  vine  has  much  decreased,  from  the  dimi- 
nished population  and  the  Mohammedan  rule,  yet 
travellers  still  speak  with  enthusiasm  of  some  of 
the  wi»es,  as  of  the  vino  d'oro  of  Lebanon. 

VINEGAR.     [Wine.] 

VIOL.    [Musical  Instrdments.] 

VIPER.     [Serpent.] 

VOW  may  be  defined  as  a  religious  under- 
taking, either,  1.  Positive,  to  do  or  perform  ;  2.  or 
Negative,  to  abstain  from  doing  or  performing  a 
certain  thing.  The  morality  of  vows  we  shall 
not  here  discuss,  but  merely  remark  that  vows 
were  quite  in  place  in  a  system  of  religion  which 
so  largely  consisted  of  doing  or  not  doing  certain 
outward  acts,  with  a  view  of  pleasing  Jehovah 
and  gaining  his  favour.  The  Israelite,  who  had 
been  taught  by  performances  of  daily  recurrence 
to  consider  particular  ceremonies  as  essential  to 
his  possessing  the  divine  favour,  may  easily  have 
been  led  to  the  conviction  which  existed  pro- 
bably in  the  primitive  ages  of  the  world,  that 
voluntary  oblations  and  self-imposed  sacrifices 
had  a  special  value  in  the  sight  of  God.  And 
when  once  this  conviction  had  led  to  correspond- 
ing practice,  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than  of 
the  highest  consequence  that  these  sacred  pro- 


VULTURE 

mises,  which  in  sanctity  differed  little  from  oaths, 
should  be  religiously  and  scrupulously  observed. 

Vows,  which  rest  on  a  human  view  of  religious 
obligations,  assuming  as  they  do  that  a  kind  of 
recompense  is  to  be  made  to  God  for  good  en- 
joyed, or  consideration  ofiFered  for  good  deside- 
rated, or  a  gratuity  presented  to  buy  off  an  im- 
pending or  threatened  ill,  are  found  in  existence 
in  the  antiquities  of  ail  nations,  and  present  them- 
selves in  the  earliest  Biblical  periods  (Gen. 
xxviii.  20  ;  Judg.  xi.  30 ;  1  Sam.  i.  11  ;  2  Sam. 
XV.  8).  With  great  propriety  the  performance  of 
these  voluntary  undertakings  was  accounted  a 
highly  religious  duty  (Judg.  xi.  35 ;  Eccles.  v. 
4,  5).  The  words  of  the  last  vow  are  too  em- 
phatic, and  in  the  present  day  too  important,  not 
to  be  cited :  '  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest  not 
vow,  than  that  thou  shouldest  vow  and  not  pay  ' 
(comp.  Ps.  l-wi.  13,  sq. ;  Ixxvi.  11  ;  cxvi.  18). 
The  views  which  guided  the  Mosaic  legislation 
■were  not  dissimilar  to  those  just  expounded.  Like 
a  wise  lawgiver,  Moses,  in  this  and  in  other  par- 
ticulars, did  not  attempt  to  sunder  the  line  of 
continuity  between  the  past  and  the  present.  He 
found  vows  in  practice ;  he  aimed  to  regulate 
what  it  would  have  been  folly  to  try  to  root  out 
(Deut.  xxiii.  21,  sq.).  The  words  in  the  22nd 
verse  are  clearly  in  agreement  with  our  remarks : 
'  If  thou  shalt  forbear  to  vow,  it  shall  be  no  sin 
in  thee.' 

VULTURE.  An  unclean  bird  (Lev.  xi.  14). 
The  species  of  vulture,  properly  so  called,  have 
the  head  naked  or  downy,  the  crop  external,  and 
very  long  wings  ;  they  have  all  an  offensive  smell, 
and  we  know  of  none  that  even  the  scavenger- 
ants  will  eat.  When  dead  they  lie  on  the  ground 
untouched  till  the  sun  has  dried  them  into  mum- 
mies. Those  found  in  and  about  the  Egyptian 
territory  are  Viiltur  fulvtis,  V.  gyps  (Savigny), 
V  JEgimtius  (Savigny),  V.  monachus  (Arabian 
vulture),  V.  cinereus,  V.  Nubicus,  and  a  black 
species,  which  is  often  figured  on  Egyptian  mo- 
numents as  the  bird  of  victory,  hovering  over  the 
head  of  a  national  hero  in  battle,  and  sometimes 
with  a  banner  in  each  talon.  It  is  perhaps  the 
gi/paetus  harbatus  (peres),  or  lamvier  geijer ;  for 
though  neither  a  vulture  nor  an  eagle,  it  is  the 
largest  bird  of  prey  of  the  old  continent,  and  is 
armed  like  the  eagle  with  formidable  claws.  The 
head  is  wholly  feathered ;  its  courage  is  equal  to 
its  powers,  and  it  has  a  strength  of  wing  probably 
superior  to  all  raptorians,  excepting  the  condor. 
It  is  found  with  little  or  no  difference  from  Nor- 
way to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  from  the 
Pyrenees  to  Japan.  Most  of  the  above-named 
species  are  occasionally  seen  in  the  north  of 
Europe.  The  voice  varies  in  different  species, 
but  those  of  Egypt,  frequenting  the  Pyramids, 
are  known  to  bark  in  the  night  like  dogs.  Ex- 
cepting the  carrion  vultures,  all  the  other  species 
are  of  large  size ;  some  superior  in  bulk  to  the 
swan,  and  others  a  little  less. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  White  Carrion 
Vulture  (  Vultur  percnopterus)  is  the  bird  called 
in  Hebrew  (as  it  still  is  in  Arabic)  Racham,  ren- 
dered Gier-eagle  in  Lev.  xi.  18;  Deut.  xiv.  17. 
It  forms  a  small  group  of  Vulturidse,  subgeneri- 
cally  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Percnopterus 
and  Neophron,  differing  from  the  other  vultures 
in  the  bill  being  longer,  straight,  more  attenuated, 
and  then  uncinated,  and  in  the  back  of  the  head 


WAGES 


r75 


and  neck  being  furnished  with  longish,  narrow, 
suberectile  feathers.  In  size  the  species  is  little 
bulkier  than  a  raven,  but  it  stands  high  on  the 
legs.  Always  soiled  with  blood  and  garbage, 
offensive  to  the  eye  and  nose,  it  yet  is  protected 
in  Egypt  both  by  law  and  public  opinion  for  the 
services  it  renders  in  clearing  the  soil  of  dead 
carcasses  putrefying  in  the  sun,  and  the  cultivated 
fields  of  innumerable  rats,  mice,  and  other  ver- 
min. It  extends  to  Palestine  in  the  summer 
season,  but  becomes  scarce  towards  the  north, 
where  it  is  not  specially  protected ;  and  it  accom- 
panies caravans,  feasting  on  their  leavings  and 
on  dead  camels,  &c. 


325.    [Vultur  percnopterus.] 


w. 


j 

WAGES.     The  word  rendered  in  the  English    j 
Version  by  this  term,  signifies  primarily  '  to  pur-    i 
chase,'  to  obtain  by  some  consideration  on  the    1 
part  of  the  purchaser;  thence  to  obtain  on  the    | 
part  of  the  seller  some  consideration  for  some-    ! 
thing  given  or  done,  and  hence  to  hire,  to  pay,    \ 
or  receive  wages.    Wages,  then,  according  to  the    ; 
earliest  usages  of  mankind,  are  a  return  made  by    i 
a  purchaser  for  something  of  value — specifically    j 
for  work  performed.     And  thus  labour  is  recog-    | 
nised  as  property,  and  wages  as  the  price  paid  or    i 
obtained  in  exchange  for  such  property.     In  this    ! 
relation  there  is  obviously  nothing  improper  or    i 
humiliating  on  the  side  either  of  the  buyer  or    I 
the  seller.   They  have  each  a  certain  thing  which    I 
the  other  wants,  and  in  the  exchange  which  they    j 
in   consequence    make,   both   parties    are   alike    I 
served.     In  these  few  words  lies  the  theory  and 
also  the  justification  of  all  service.     The  entire 
commerce'  of  life  is  barter.     In  hire,  then,  there 
is  nothing  improper  or  discreditable.     It  is  only 
a  hireling,  that  is,  a  mercenary,  a  mean  sordid 
spirit,  that  is  wrong.     So  long  as  a  human  being 
has  anything  to  give  which  another  human  being 
wants,  so  long  has  he  something  of  value  in  the 
great  market  of  life ;  and  whatever  that  some- 


776 


WANDERING 


thing  may  be,  provided  it  does  not  contribute  to 
evil  passions  or  evil  deeds,  he  is  a  truly  respect- 
able capitalist,  and  a  useful  member  of  the  social 
community.  The  Scriptural  usage  in  applying 
the  term  translated  '  wages '  to  sacred  subjects — 
thus  the  Almighty  himself  says  to  Abraham 
(Gen.  XV.  1),  '  1  am  thy  exceeding  great  reward' 
— tends  to  confirm  these  views,  and  to  suggest 
the  observance  of  caution  in  the  employment  of 
the  words  '  hire'  and  '  hireling,'  which  have  ac- 
quired an  offensive  meaning  by  no  means  origin- 
ally inherent  in  themselves,  or  in  the  Hebrew 
-words  for  which  they  stand  (Gen.  xxx.  18,  32, 
33). 

WAGGON.    [Cart.] 

WAIL.     [Mourning.] 

WALLS.     [Fortifications;  Towns.] 

WALNUT.  Walnuts  are  probably  intended 
in  the  Song  of  Solomon,  vi.  11,  '  I  went  into  the 
garden  of  nuts.'  The  Hebrew  name  (egoz)  is 
evidently  the  same  as  the  Persian  gowz,  which 
has  been  converted  by  the  Arabs  into  jowz,  by 
a  process  common  in  the  case  of  many  other 
words  beginning  with  the  interchangeable  letters 
gaf  aud  jini.  In  both  languages  these  words, 
when  they  stand  alone,  signify  the  walnut,  gouz- 
bu7i  being  the  walnut-tree  :  when  used  in  compo- 
sition they  may  signify  the  nut  of  any  other  tree ; 
thus  jouz-i-boa  is  the  nutmeg,  jouz-i-hindi  is  the 
Indian  or  cocoa-nut,  &c.  So  the  Greeks  em- 
ployed Kapvov,  and  the  Romans  mix,  to  denote  the 
walnut,  which  last  remains  in  modern  languages, 
as  Ital.  noce,  Fr.  jioix,  Span,  nuez,  and  Ger.  inisz. 
The  walnut  was  also  called  royal  nut,  and  also 
Persian,  from  having  been  so  highly  esteemed, 
and  from  having  been  introduced  into  Greece 
from  Persia.  That  the  walnut  was  highly  es- 
teemed in  the  East  we  learn  from  Abulpharagius, 
and  that  it  is  found  in  Syria  has  been  recorded 
by  several  travellers.  That  it  was  planted  at  an 
early  period  is  well  known,  and  might  be  easily 
proved  from  a  variety  of  sources. 

The  walnut-tree  is  well  known  as  a  lofty,  wide- 
spreading  tree,  affording  a  grateful  shade,  and  of 
which  the  leaves  have  an  agreeable  odour  when 
bruised.  The  flowers  begin  to  open  in  April, 
and  the  fruit  is  ripe  in  September  and  October. 
The  tree  is  much  esteemed  for  the  excellence  of 
its  wood ;  and  the  kernel  of  the  nut  is  valued  not 
only  as  an  article  of  diet,  but  for  the  oil  which  it 
yields.  Being  thus  known  to,  and  highly  valued 
by,  the  Greeks  in  early  times,  it  is  more  than 
probable  that,  if  not  indigenous  in  Syria,  it  was 
introduced  there  at  a  still  earlier  period,  and  that 
therefore  it  may  be  alluded  to  in  the  above  pas- 
sage, more  especially  as  Solomon  has  said,  '  I 
made  me  gardens  and  orchards,  and  planted 
trees  in  them  of  all  kind  of  fruits'  (Eccles. 
ii.  5). 

WANDERING.  In  our  office  of  tracing  the 
steps  of  the  Israelites  from  Goshen  to  Palestine, 
we  have  conducted  them  across  the  Red  Sea  to 
their  first  great  station  on  its  eastern  bank,  and 
thence  onward  along  the  shore  and  over  the  cliffs 
of  that  sea,  till,  following  them  up  Wady  Hebron, 
we  placed  and  left  them  before  Mount  Horeb,  in 
the  capacious  plain  Rahah,  which,  having  its 
■widest  part  in  the  immediate  front  of  that  im- 
mense mass  of  rock,  extends  as  if  with  two  arms, 
one  towards  the  north-west,  the  other  towards  the 
north-east.    A  belief  prevailed  that  there  was  no 


WANDERING 

spot  in  the  Sinaitic  district  on  which  the  people 
of  Israel  could  assemble.  But  Dr.  Robinson  has 
shown  that  this  opinion  is  incorrect,  and  that  in 
all  probability  the  plain  er-Rihah,  over  which 
Mount  Horeb  impends,  is  the  spot  where  the  con- 
gregation of  Israel  assembled.  '  We  were  sur- 
prised,' says  he,  *  as  well  as  gratified  to  find  here,  in 
the  inmost  recesses  of  these  dark  granite  cliffs, 
this  fine  plain  spread  out  before  the  mountain, 
and  I  know  not  where  I  have  felt  a  thrill  of 
stronger  emotion  than  when,  in  first  crossing  the 
plain,  the  dark  precipices  of  Horeb  rising  in 
solemn  grandeur  before  us,  we  became  aware  of 
the  entire  adaptedness  of  the  scene  to  the  pur- 
poses for  which  it  was  chosen  by  the  Great  He- 
brew legislator.' 

After  having  been  about  a  year  in  the  midst  of 
this  mountainous  region,  the  Israelites  broke  up 
their  encampment,  and  began  their  journey  in 
the  order  of  their  tribes,  Judah  leading  the  way 
with  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  directing  cloud  (Num.  ix.  15,  sq. ;  x.  11, 
sq.).  They  proceeded  down  Wady  Seikh,  having 
the  wilderness  of  Paran  before  them,  in  a  north- 
westerly direction ;  but  having  come  to  a  gorge 
in  the  mountains,  they  struck  in  a  north-north- 
easterly direction  across  a  sandy  plain,  and  then 
over  the  Jebel  et-Tih,  and  came  down  Wady 
Zulakah,  to  the  station  Taberah.  It  took  the 
army  three  days  to  reach  this  station.  Whatever 
name  the  place  bore  before,  it  now  received  that 
of  Taberah  (tire),  from  a  supernatural  fire  with 
which  murmurers,  in  the  extreme  parts  of  the 
camp,  were  destroyed  as  a  punishment  for  their 
guilt.  Here,  too,  the  mixed  multitude  that  was 
among  the  Israelites  not  only  fell  a-lusting  them- 
selves, but  also  excited  the  Hebrews  to  remember 
Egyptian  fish  and  vegetables  with  strong  desire, 
and  to  complain  of  the  divinely  supplied  manna. 
The  discontent  was  intense  and  widely  spread. 
Moses  became  aware  of  it,  and  forthwith  felt  his 
spirit  misgive  him.  He  brings  the  matter  before 
Jehovah,  and  receives  Divine  aid  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  seventy  elders  to  assist  him  in  the  impor- 
tant and  perilous  office  of  governing  the  gross, 
sensuous,  and  self-willed  myriads  whom  he  had 
to  lead  to  Canaan.  Moreover,  an  abundance  of 
flesh  meat  was  given  in  a  most  profuse  supply  of 
quails.  It  appears  that  there  were  now  600,000 
footmen  in  the  congregation. 

The  next  station  was  Kibroth-hattaavah,  near 
which  there  are  fine  springs  and  excellent  pas- 
turage. This  spot,  the  name  of  which  signifies 
'  graves  of  lust,.',  was  so  denominated  from  a 
plague  inflicted  on  the  people  in  punishment  of 
their  rebellious  disposition  (Num.  xi.  33 ;  1  Cor. 
X.  6),  Thence  they  journeyed  to  Hazeroth,  which 
Robinson,  after  Burckhardt,  finds  in  el-Hudhera, 
where  is  a  fountain,  together  with  palm-trees.  At 
Hazeroth,  where  the  people  seem  to  have  remained 
a  short  time,  there  arose  a  family  dissension  to 
increase  the  difficulties  of  Moses.  Aaron,  appa- 
rently led  on  by  his  sister  Miriam,  who  may  have 
been  actuated  by  some  feminine  pique  or  jealousy, 
complained  of  Moses  on  the  ground  that  he  had 
married  a  Cusliite,  that  is,  an  Arab  wife,  and  the 
malcontents  went  so  far  as  to  set  up  their  own 
claims  to  authority  as  not  less  valid  than  those  of 
Moses.  An  appeal  is  made  to  Jehovah,  who  vin- 
dicates Moses,  rebukes  Aaron,  and  punishes  Mi- 
riam (Num.  xii.). 


WANDERING 

*  And  afterward  the  people  removed  from  Haze- 
roth,  and  pitched  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,'  at 
Kadesh  (Num.  xii.  IG;  xiii.  26).  Here  it  was 
that  twelve  men  (spies)  were  sent  into  Canaan  to 
survey  the  country,  who  went  up  from  the  wil- 
derness of  Zin  (Nuni.  xiii.  21)  to  Hebron;  and 
returning  after  forty  days,  brought  back  a  very 
alarming  account  of  what  they  had  seen.  It  is 
evident  that  at  this  point  there  is  a  great  blank  in 
the  Scripture  narrative  of  the  wanderings  of  the 
Israelites.  They  were  ordered  to  turn  back  into 
the  desert '  by  the  way  of  the  Red  Sea.'  In  this 
wilderness  they  wandered  eight-and-thirty  years, 
but  little  can  be  set  forth  respecting  the  course  of 
their  march.  The  next  notice  of  the  Israelites  is, 
that  in  the  first  month  they  came  into  the  desert 
of  Zin  and  abode  again  at  Kadesh ;  here  Miriam 
dies ;  Moses  and  Aaron  bring  water  from  the 
rock ;  &  passage  is  demanded  through  the  laud  of 
Edom,  and  refused;  and  they  then  journeyed 
from  Kadesh  to  Mount  Hor,  where  Aaron  dies 
in  the  fortieth  year  of  the  departure  from  Egypt, 
in  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  month,  corresponding 
to  a  part  of  August  and  September.  Here,  then, 
between  August  of  the  second  year  and  August  of 
the  fortieth  year,  we  have  an  interval  of  thirty- 
eight  years  of  wandering  in  the  desert. 

In  this  way  the  Scriptural  account  of  the  jour- 
neyings  of  the  Israelites  becomes  perfectly  har- 
monious and  intelligible.  The  eighteen  stations 
mentioned  only  in  the  general  list  in  the  book  of 
Numbers  as  preceding  the  arrival  at  Kadesh,  are 
then  apparently  to  be  referred  to  this  eight  and 
thirty  years  of  wandering,  during  which  the  people 
at  last  approached  Ezion-geber,  and  afterwards 
returned  northwards  a  second  time  to  Kadesh,  in 
the  hope  of  passing  directly  through  the  land  of 
Edom,  Their  wanderings  extended,  doubtless, 
over  the  western  desert;  although  the  stations 
named  are  probably  only  those  bead-quarters 
where  the  tabernacle  was  pitched,  and  where 
Moses  and  the  elders  and  priests  encamped; 
while  the  main  body  of  the  people  was  scattered 
iu  various  directions. 

Where,  then,  was  Kadesh?  Clearly,  on  the 
borders  bf  Palestine,  We  agree  with  Robinson 
and  Ranmer  in  placing  it  nearly  at  the  top  of  the 
Wady  Arabah,  where,  indeed,  it  is  fixed  by  Scrip- 
ture, for  in  Numbers  xii,  \  6  we  read,  '  Kadesh, 
a  city  in  the  uttermost  of  thy  (Edom)  border.' 
The  precise  spot  it  may  be  difficult  to  ascertain, 
but  here,  in  the  wilderness  of  Zin,  which  lay  in 
the  more  comprehensive  district  of  Paran,  is 
Kadesh  to  be  placed. 

When  we  begin  to  take  up  the  thread  of  the 
story  at  the  second  visit  to  Kadesh,  we  find  time 
had,  in  the  interval,  been  busy  at  its  destructive 
work,  and  we  thus  gain  confirmation  of  the  view 
which  has  been  taken  of  such  second  visit.  No 
sooner  has  the  sacred  historian  told  us  of  the 
return  of  the  Israelites  to  Kadesh,  than  he  records 
the  death  and  burial  of  Miriam,  and  has,  at  no 
great  distance  of  time,  to  narrate  that  of  Aaron 
and  Moses.  While  still  at  Kadesh  a  rising  against 
these  leaders  takes  place,  on  the  alleged  ground 
of  a  want  of  water.  Water  is  produced  from  the 
rock  at  a  spot  called  hence  Meribah  (strife).  But 
Moses  and  Aaron  displeased  God  in  this  pro- 
ceeding, probably  because  they  distrusted  God's 
general  providence  and  applied  for  extraordinary 
resources.    On  account  of  this  displeasure  it  was 


WANDERING 


777 


announced  to  them  that  they  should  not  enter 
Canaan,  A  similar  transaction  has  been  already 
spoken  of  as  taking  place  in  Rephidim  (Exod, 
xvii.  1).  The  same  name,  Meribah,  was  occa- 
sioned in  that  as  in  this  matter.  Hence  it  has  been 
thought  that  we  have  here  two  versions  of  the 
same  story.  But  there  is  nothing  surprising,  under 
the  circumstances,  in  the  outbreak  of  discontent 
for  want  of  water,  which  may  well  have  happened 
even  more  than  twice.  The  places  are  different, 
very  wide  apart ;  the  time  is  difl'erent ;  and  there 
is  also  the  great  variation  arising  out  of  the  con- 
duct and  punishment  of  Moses  and  Aaron.  On 
the  whole,  therefore,  we  judge  the  two  records  to 
speak  of  different  transactions. 

Relying  on  the  ties  of  blood  (Gen.  xxxii.  8) 
Moses  sent  to  ask  of  the  Edomites  a  passage 
through  their  territory  into  Canaan.  The  answer 
was  a  refusal,  accompanied  by  a  display  of  force. 
The  Israelites,  therefore,  were  compelled  to  turn 
their  face  southward,  and  making  a  turn  round  the 
end  of  the  Elanitic  gulf  reached  Mount  Hor,  near 
Petra,  on  the  top  of  which  Aaron  died.  Finding 
the  country  bad  for  travelling,  and  their  food  un- 
pleasant, Israel  again  broke  out  into  rebellious 
discontent,  and  was  punished  by  fiery  serpents 
which  bit  the  people,  and  much  people  died,  when 
a  remedy  was  provided  in  a  serpent  of  brass  set  on 
a  pole  (Num.  xxi.  4,  sq.).  Still  going  northward, 
and  probably  pui'suing  the  caravan  route  from 
Damascus,  they  at  length  reached  the  valley  of 
Zared  (the  brook),  which  may  be  the  present 
Wady  Kerak,  that  runs  from  the  east  into  the 
Dead  Sea.  Hence  they  '  removed  and  pitched  on 
the  other  side  of  Arnon,  which  is  in  the  border  of 
Moab,  between  Moab  and  the  Amorites' (Num. 
xxi.  13).  Beer  (the  well)  was  the  next  station, 
where,  finding  a  plentiful  supply  of  water,  and 
being  rejoiced  at  the  prospect  of  the  speedy  ter- 
mination of  their  journey,  the  people  indulged  in 
music  and  song,  singing 'the  song  of  the  well' 
(Num.  xxi.  17,  18).  The  Amorites  being  re- 
quested, refused  to  give  Israel  a  passage  through 
their  borders,  and  so  the  nation  was  again  com- 
pelled to  proceed  still  in  a  northerly  course.  At 
length  having  beaten  the  Amorites,  and  Og,  king 
of  Bashan,  they  reached  the  Jordan,  and  pitched 
their  tents  at  a  spot  which  lay  opposite  Jericho. 
Here  Balak,  king  of  the  Moabites,  alarmed  at  their 
numbers  and  their  successful  prowess,  invited 
Balaam  to  curse  Israel,  in  the  hope  of  being  thus 
aided  to  overcome  them  and  drive  them  out.  The 
intended  curse  proved  a  blessing  in  the  prophet's 
mouth.  While  here  the  people  gave  w  ay  to  the 
idolatrous  practices  of  the  Moabiies,  when  a  ter- 
rible punishment  was  inflicted,  partly  by  a  plague 
which  took  off  24,000,  and  partly  by  the  avenging 
sword.  Moses,  being  commanded  to  take  the  sum 
of  the  children  of  Israel,  from  twenty  years  up- 
wards, found  they  amounted  to  600,730,  among 
whom  there  was  not  a  man  of  them  whom  Moses 
and  Aaron  numbered  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai 
(Num.  xxvi.  47,  64).  Moses  is  now  directed  to 
ascend  Abarim,  to  Mount  Nebo,  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  over  against  Jericho,  in  order  that  he  might 
survey  the  land  which  he  was  not  to  enter  on  ac- 
count of  his  having  rebelled  against  God's  com- 
mandment in  the  desert  of  Zin  (Num.  xxvii.  12 ; 
Deut.  xxxii.  49).  Conformably  with  the  divine 
command,  Moses  went  up  from  the  plains  of 
Moab  unto  the  mountain  of  Nebo,  to  the  top  of 


778 


WAR 


Pisgah,  and  there  he  died,  at  the  age  of  120  years : 
'His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated'  (Deut.  xxxiv.).  Under  his  successor, 
Joshua,  the  Hebrews  were  forthwith  led  across 
the  Jordan,  and  established  in  the  Land  of  Pro- 
mise. 

Thus  a  journey,  which  they  might  have  per- 
formed in  a  few  months,  they  spent  forty  years  in 
accomplishing,  bringing  on  themselves  unspeak- 
able toil  and  trouble,  and  in  the  end,  death,  as  a 
punishment  for  their  gross  and  sensual  appetites, 
and  their  unbending  indocility  to  the  diviije  will 
(Num.  xiv.  23;  xxvi.  65).  Joshua,  however, 
gained  thereby  a  great  advantage ;  inasmuch  as 
it  was  with  an  entirely  new  generation  that  he 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  civil  and  religious 
institutions  of  the  Mosaic  polity  in  Palestine. 
This  advantage  assigns  the  reason  why  so  long  a 
period  of  years  was  spent  in  the  wilderness. 

WAK.  Under  this  head  we  may  notice  some 
of  the  usages  of  Hebrew  warfare  which  have  not 
been  considered  under  other  heads,  referred  to  at 
the  end  of  this  article. 

The  army  of  Israel  was  chiefly  composed  of 
infantry,  formed  into  a  trained  body  of  spearmen, 
and,  in  greater  numbers,  of  slingers  and  archers, 
with  horses  and  chariots  in  small  proportion,  ex- 
cepting during  the  periods  when  the  kingdom 
extended  over  the  desert  to  the  Ked  Sea.  The 
irregulars  were  drawn  from  the  families  and 
tribes,  particularly  Ephraim  and  Benjamin,  but 
the  heavy  armed  derived  their  chief  strength 
from  Judah,  and  were,  it  appears,  collected  by  a 
kind  of  conscription,  by  tribes,  like  the  earlier 
Roman  armies  ;  not  through  the  instrumentality 
of  selected  officers,  but  by  genealogists  of  each 
tribe,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  princes. 
Of  those  returned  on  the  rolls,  a  proportion 
greater  or  less  was  selected,  according  to  the 
exigency  of  the  time  ;  and  the  whole  male  popula- 
tion might  be  called  out  on  extraordinary  occa- 
sions. When  kings  had  rendered  the  system  of 
government  better  organised,  there  was  a  sort  of 
muster-master,  who  had  returns  of  the  effective 
force,  or  number  of  soldiers  ready  for  service, 
but  who  was  a  kind  of  secretary  of  state.  These 
officers,  or  the  shoterim,  struck  out,  or  excused 
from  service  :— 1st,  those  who  had  built  a  house 
without  having  yet  inhabited  it ;  2nd,  those  who 
had  planted  an  olive  or  vineyard,  and  had  not 
tasted  the  fruit — which  gave  leave  of  absence  for 
five  years  ;  3rd,  those  who  were  betrothed,  or  had 
been  married  less  than  one  year ;  4th,  the  faint- 
hearted, which  may  mean  the  constitutionally  de- 
licate, rather  than  the  cowardly. 

The  levies  were  drilled  to  march  in  ranks  (1 
Chron.  xii.  38),  and  in  column  by  fives  abreast 
(Exod.  xiii.  18)  ;  hence  it  may  be  inferred  that 
they  borrowed  from  the  Egyptian  system  a  deci- 
mal formation,  two  fifties  in  each  division  making 
a  solid  square,  equal  in  rank  and  file  :  for  twice 
ten  in  rank  and  five  in  file  being  told  off  by  right 
hand  and  left  hand  files,  a  command  to  the  left 
hand  files  to  face  about  and  march  six  or  eight 
paces  to  the  rear,  then  to  front  and  take  one  step 
to  the  right  would  make  the  hundred  a  solid 
square,  with  only  the  additional  distance  between 
the  right  hand  or  unmoved  files  necessary  to  use 
the  shield  and  spear  without  hindrance;  while 
the  depth  being  again  I'educed  to  five  files,  they 
could  face  to  the  right  or  left,  and  march  firmly 


WAR 

in  column,  passing  every  kind  of  ground  without 
breaking  or  lengthening  their  order. 

With  centuries  thus  arranged  in  masses,  both 
movable  and  solid,  a  front  of  battle  could  be 
formed  in  simple  decimal  progression  to  a  thou- 
sand, ten  thousand,  and  to  an  army  at  all  times 
formidable  by  its  depth,  and  by  the  facility  it 
aflforded  for  the  light  troops,  chariots  of  war,  and 
cavalry,  to  rally  behind  and  to  issue  from  thence 
to  the  front.  Archers  and  slingers  could  ply  tlieir 
missiles  from  the  rear,  which  would  be  more  cer- 
tain to  reach  an  enemy  in  close  conflict,  than 
was  to  be  found  the  case  with  the  Greek  phalanx, 
because  from  the  great  depth  of  that  body  mis- 
siles from  behind  were  liable  to  fall  among  its 
own  front  ranks.  These  divisions  were  com- 
manded, it  seems,  by  ketsinim,  officers  in  charge 
of  one  thousand,  who,  in  the  first  ages,  may  have 
been  the  heads  of  houses,  but  in  the  time  of  the 
kings  were  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  had  a 
seat  in  the  councils  of  war  ;  but  the  commander 
of  the  host,  such  as  Joab,  Abner,  Benaiah,  &c., 
was  either  the  judge,  or  under  the  judge  or 
king,  the  supreme  head  of  the  army,  and  one  ci 
the  highest  officers  in  the  state.  He,  as  well  as 
the  king,  had  an  armour-bearer,  whose  duty  was 
not  only  to  bear  his  shield,  spear,  or  bow,  and  to 
carry  orders,  but,  above  all,  to  be  at  the  chief's 
side  in  the  hour  of  battle  ( Judg.  ix.  54  ;  1  Sam. 
xiv.  6 ;  xxxi.  4,  5).  Beside  the  royal  guards, 
there  was,  as  early  at  least  as  the  time  of  David, 
a  select  troop  of  heroes,  who  appear  to  have  had 
an  institution  very  similar  in  principle  to  our 
modern  orders  of  knighthood. 

In  military  operations,  such  as  marches  in 
quest  of,  or  in  the  presence  of,  an  enemy,  and  in 
order  of  battle,  the  forces  were  formed  into  three 
divisions,  each  commanded  by  a  chief  captain  or 
commander  of  a  corps,  or  third  part,  as  was  also 
the  case  with  other  armies  of  the  east ;  these  con- 
stituted the  centre,  and  right  and  left  wing,  and 
during  a  march  formed  the  van,  centre,  and  rear. 
The  war-cry  of  the  Hebrews  was  not  intonated 
by  the  ensign-bearers,  as  in  the  West,  but  by  a 
Levite;  for  priests  had  likewise  charge  of  the 
trumpets,  and  the  sounding  of  signals  ;  and  one  of 
them,  called  '  the  anointed  for  war,'  who  is  said 
to  have  had  the  charge  of  animating  the  army 
to  action  by  an  oration,  may  have  been  appointed 
to  utter  the  cry  of  battle  (Deut.  xx.  2).  It  was 
a  mere  shout  (1  Sam.  xvii.  20),  or,  as  in  later 
ages.  Hallelujah  !  while  the  so-called  mottoes  of 
the  central  banners  of  the  four  great  sides  of  the 
square,  of  Judah,  Reuben,  Ephraim,  and  Dan, 
were  more  likely  the  battle-songs  which  each  of 
the  fronts  of  the  mighty  army  had  sung  on  com- 
mencing the  march  or  advancing  to  do  battle 
(Num.  X.  34,  35,  36 ;  Deut.  vi.  4). 

Before  an  engagement  the  Hebrew  soldiers 
were  spared  fatigue  as  much  as  possible,  and 
food  was  distributed  to  them ;  their  arms  were 
enjoined  to  be  in  the  best  order,  and  they  formed 
a  line,  as  before  described,  of  solid  squares  of 
hundreds,  each  square  being  ten  deep,  and  as 
many  in  breadth,  with  sufficient  intervals  between 
the  files  to  allow  of  facility  in  the  movements, 
the  management  of  the  arms,  and  the  passage  to 
the  front  or  rear  of  slingers  and  archers,  'fhese 
lasts  occupied  posts  according  to  circumstances, 
on  the  flanks,  or  in  advance,  but  in  the  heat  of 
battle  were  sheltered  behind  the  squares  of  spear- 


WASHING 

men ;  the  slingers  were  always  stationed  in  the 
rear,  until  they  were  ordered  forward  to  cover 
the  front,  impede  an  hostile  approach,  or  com- 
mence an  engagement.  Meantime,  the  king,  or 
his  representative,  appeared  clad  in  holy  orna- 
ments, and  proceeded  to  make  the  final  disposi- 
tions for  battle,  in  the  middle  of  his  chosen 
braves,  and  attended  by  priests,  who,  by  their 
exhortations,  animated  the  ranks  within  hearing, 
while  the  trumpets  waited  to  sound  the  signal. 
It  was  now,  with  the  enemy  at  hand,  we  may 
suppose,  that  the  slingers  would  be  ordered  to 
pass  forward  between  the  intervals  of  the  line, 
and,  opening  their  order,  would  let  fly  their  stone 
or  leaden  missiles,  until,  by  the  gradual  approach 
of  the  opposing  fronts,  they  would  be  hemmed 
in  and  recalled  to  the  rear,  or  ordered  to  take  an 
appropriate  position.  Then  was  the  time  when 
the  trumpet-bearing  priests  received  command  to 
sound  the  charge,  and  when  the  shout  of  battle 
burst  forth  from  the  ranks.  The  signal  being 
given,  the  heavy  infantry  would  press  forward 
imder  cover  of  their  shields,  the  rear  ranks  might 
then,  when  so  armed,  cast  their  darts,  and  the 
archers,  behind  them  all,  shoot  high,  so  as  to 
pitch  their  arrows  over  the  lines  before  them, 
into  the  dense  masses  of  the  enemy  beyond.  If 
the  opposing  forces  broke  through  the  line,  we 
may  imagine  a  body  of  charioteers  reserve,  rush- 
ing from  their  post,  and  charging  in  among  the 
disjointed  ranks  of  the  enemy,  before  they  could 
reconstruct  their  order ;  or  wheeling  round  a 
flank,  fall  upon  the  rear ;  or  being  encountered 
by  a  similar  manoeuvre,  and  perhaps  repulsed,  or 
rescued  by  Hebrew  cavalry.  The  king,  mean- 
while, surrounded  by  his  princes,  posted  close  to 
the  rear  of  his  line  of  battle,  and  in  the  middle 
of  showered  missiles,  would  watch  the  enemy 
and  strive  to  remedy  every  disorder.  Thus  it 
was  that  several  of  the  sovereigns  of  Judah  were 
slain  (2  Chron.  xviii.  33;  xxxv.  23),  and  that 
such  an  enormous  waste  of  human  life  took  place ; 
for  two  hostile  lines  of  masses,  at  least  ten  in 
depth,  advancing  under  the  confidence  of  breast- 
plate and  shield,  when  once  engaged  hand  to 
hand,  had  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  nature  to 
retreat ;  because  the  hindermost  ranks  not  being 
exposed  personally  to  the  first  slaughter,  would 
not,  and  the  foremost  could  not,  fall  back ;  nei- 
ther could  the  commanders  disengage  the  line 
without  a  certainty  of  being  routed.  The  fate 
of  the  day  was  therefore  no  longer  within  the 
control  of  the  chief,  and  nothing  but  obstinate 
valour  was  left  to  decide  the  victory.  Sometimes 
a  part  of  the  army  was  posted  in  ambush,  but 
this  manoeuvre  was  most  commonly  practised 
against  the  garrisons  of  cities  (Josh.  viii.  12; 
Judg.  XX.  38).  In  the  case  of  Abraham  (Gen. 
xiv.  1 5),  when  he  led  a  small  body  of  his  own 
people,  suddenly  collected,  and  falling  upon  the 
guard  of  the  captives,  released  them,  and  recovered 
the  booty,  it  was  a  surprise,  not  an  ambush  ;  nor 
is  it  necessary  to  suppose  that  he  fell  in  with  the 
main  army  of  the  enemy.  At  a  later  period  there 
is  no  doubt  the  Hebrews  formed  their  armies,  in 
imitation  of  the  Romans,  into  more  than  one  line 
of  masses,  and  modelled  their  military  institutions 
as  near  as  possible  upon  the  same  system.  [Arms  ; 
Akmoor;  Encampment;  Engines;  Forti- 
fications; Standards.] 
WASHING.     [Ablution.] 


WASHING  OF  FEET 


779 


WASHING  OF  FEET.  The  custom  of  wash- 
ing the  feet  held,  in  ancient  times,  a  place  among 
the  duties  of  hospitality,  being  regarded  as  a 
mark  of  respect  to  the  guest,  and  a  token  of 
humble  and  affectionate  attention  on  the  part  of 
the  entertainer.  It  had  its  origin  in  circumstances 
for  the  most  part  peculiar  to  the  East. 

In  general,  in  warm  Oriental  climes,  cleanliness 
is  of  the  highest  consequence,  particularly  as  a 
safeguard  against  the  leprosy.  The  East  knows 
nothing  of  the  factitious  distinctions  which  pre- 
vail in  these  countries  between  sanitary  regula- 
tions and  religious  duties  ;  but  the  one,  as  much 
as  the  other,  is  considered  a  part  of  that  great 
system  of  obligations  under  which  man  lies  to- 
wards God.  What,  therefore,  the  health  demands, 
religion  is  at  hand  to  sanction.  Cleanliness  is  in 
consequence  not  next  to  godliness,  but  a  part  of 
godliness  itself. 

As  in  this  Oriental  view  may  be  found  the 
origin  and  reason  of  much  of  what  the  Mosaic 
law  lays  down  touching  clean  and  unclean,  so 
the  practice  of  feet-washing  in  particular,  which 
considerations  of  purity  and  personal  propriety 
recommended,  hospitality  adopted  and  religion 
sanctioned. 

In  temperate  climes  bathing  is  far  too  much 
neglected ;  but  in  the  East  the  heat  of  the  atmos- 
phere and  the  dryness  of  the  soil  would  render 
the  ablution  of  the  body  peculiarly  desirable,  and 
make  feet-washing  no  less  grateful  than  salutary 
to  the  weary  traveller.  The  foot,  too,  was  less 
protected  than  with  us.  In  the  earliest  ages  it  pro- 
bably had  no  covering ;  and  the  sandal  worn  in 
later  times  was  little  else  than  the  sole  of  our  shoe 
bound  under  the  foot.  Even  this  defence,  how- 
ever, was  ordinarily  laid  aside  on  entering  a  house, 
in  which  the  inmates  were  either  barefoot  or  wore 
nothing  but  slippers. 

The  washing  of  the  feet  is  among  the  most 
ancient,  as  well  as  the  most  obligatory,  of  the  rites 
of  Eastern  hospitality.  From  Gen.  xviii.  4,  xix. 
2,  it  appears  to  have  existed  as  early  as  the  days 
of  the  patriarch  Abraham.  In  Gen.  xxiv.  32, 
also, '  Abraham's  servant '  is  provided  with  water 
to  wash  his  feet,  and  the  men's  feet  that  were  with 
him.  The  same  custom  is  mentioned  in  Judg. 
xix.  21.  From  1  Sam.  xxv.  41,  it  appears  that 
the  rite  was  sometimes  performed  by  servants  and 
sons,  as  their  appropriate  duty,  regarded  as  of  an 
humble  character.  Hence,  in  addition  to  its 
being  a  token  of  affectionate  regard,  it  was  a  sign 
of  humility. 

The  most  remarkable  instance  is  found  in  the 
13th  chapter  of  John's  Gospel,  where  our  Saviour 
is  represented  as  washing  the  feet  of  his  disciples, 
with  whom  he  had  taken  supper.  Minute  parti- 
culars are  given  in  the  sacred  narrative,  which 
should  be  carefully  studied,  as  presenting  a  true 
Oriental  picture.  From  ver.  12,  sq.,  it  is  clear 
that  the  act  was  of  a  symbolical  nature,  designed 
to  teach  brotherly  humility  and  goodwill. 

It  was  specially  customary  in  the  days  of  our 
Lord  to  wash  before  eating  (Matt.  xv.  2 ;  Luke 
xi.  38).  But  Jesus  did  not  pay  a  scrupulous 
regard  to  the  practice,  and  hence  drew  blame  upon 
himself  from  the  Pharisees  (Luke  xi.  38).  In 
this  our  Lord  was  probably  influenced  by  the 
superstitious  abuses  and  foolish  misinterpretations 
connected  with  washing  before  meat.  For  the 
same  reason  he  may  purposely  have  postponed 


780 


WATER 


tlie  act  of  washing  his  disciples'  feet  till  after 
supper,  lest,  while  he  was  teaching  a  new  lesson 
of  humility,  he  might  add  a  sanction  to  current 
and  baneful  errors  [Ablution]. 

The  union  of  affectionate  attention  and  lowly 
service   is   found   indicated   by  feet-washing   in 

1  Tim.  V.  10,  where,  among  the  signs  of  the 
widows  that  were  to  be  honoured — supported, 
that  is,  at  the  expense  of  the  church — this  is  given, 
if  any  one  '  have  washed  the  saints'  feet.' 

Feet-washing  became,  as  might  be  expected,  a 
part  of  the  observances  practised  in  the  early 
Christian  church.  The  real  signification,  how- 
ever, was  soon  forgotten,  or  overloaded  by  super- 
stitious feelings  and  mere  outward  practices. 
Traces  of  the  practice  abound  in  ecclesiastical 
history,  and  remnants  of  the  abuse  are  still  to  be 
found,  at  least  in  the  Romish  church. 

WATCH.  Watching  must  have  been  coeval 
with  danger,  and  danger  arose  as  soon  as  man 
became  the  enemy  of  man,  or  had  to  guard  against 
the  attacks  of  wild  animals.  Accordingly  we  find 
traces  of  the  practice  of  watching  in  early  por- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  annals.  Watching  must 
have  been  carried  to  some  degree  of  completeness 
in  Egypt,  for  we  learn  from  Exod.  xiv.  24,  that 
the  practice  had,  at  the  time  of  the  Exodus,  caused 
the  night  to  be  divided  into  different  watches  or 
portions,  mention  being  made  of  the  '  morning 
watch.'  Compare  I  Sam.  xi.  11.  In  the  days  of 
the  Judges  (vii.  19)  we  find  'the  middle  watch' 
mentioned.  See  Luke  xii.  38.  At  a  later  period 
Isaiah  plainly  intimates  (xxi.  5, 6),  that  there  was 
a  watch-tower  in  Jerusalem,  and  that  it  was  cus- 
tomary on  extraordinary  occasions  to  set  a  watch- 
man. Watchmen  were,  however,  even  at  an  earlier 
day,  customarily  employed  in  the  metropolis,  and 
their  post  was  at  the  gates  (2  Sam.  xviii.  24,  sq. ; 

2  Kings  ix.  17,  sq. ;  Ps.  cxxvii.  1 ;  Prov.  viii.  34), 
where  they  gave  signals  and  information,  either 
by  their  voice  or  with  the  aid  of  a  trumpet  (Jer. 
vi.  17;  Ezek.  xxxiii.  6).  At  night  watchmen 
were  accustomed  to  perambulate  the  city  (Cant. 
iii.  3;  V.  7).  In  the  New  Testament  we  find 
mention  made  of  the  second,  the  third,  and  the 
fourth  watch  (Luke  xii.  38  ;  Matt.  xiv.  25).  The 
space  of  the  natural  night,  from  the  setting  to  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  the  ancient  Jews  divided  into 
three  equal  parts  of  four  hours  each.  But  the 
Romans,  imitating  the  Greeks,  divided  the  night 
into  four  watches,  and  the  Jews,  from  the  time 
they  came  under  subjection  to  the  Romans,  fol- 
lowing this  Roman  custom,  also  divided  the  night 
into  four  watches,  each  of  which  consisted  of  three 
hours  (Mark  xiii.  35).  The  terms  by  which  the 
old  Hebrew  division  of  the  night  was  charac- 
terized are,  1.  the  first  watch,  beginning  of  the 
watches  (Lam.  ii.  19);  2.  'the  middle- watch ' 
(Judg.  vii.  19) ;  3.  '  the  morning-watch  '  (Deut. 
xiv.  24  ;  1  Sam.xi.  11).  The  first  extended  from 
sun-set  to  our  ten  o'clock,  the  second  from  ten  at 
night  till  two  in  the  morning,  and  the  third 
from  that  hour  till  sun-rise. 

WATER.  No  one  can  read  far  in  the  sacred 
Scriptures  without  being  reminded  of  the  vast 
importance  of  water  to  the  Hebrews  in  Palestine, 
and  indeed  in  every  country  to  which  their  his- 
tory introduces  us ;  and  more  particularly  in  the 
deserts  in  which  they  wandered  on  leaving  Egypt, 
as  well  as  those  into  which  they  before  or  after- 
wards sent  their  flocks  for  pasture.    The  natural 


WATER 

waters  have  already  been  disposed  of  in  the 
articles  Palestine  and  River  ;  and  in  Cistern 
and  Jerusalem  notice  has  been  taken  of  some 
artificial  collections.  It  now  remains  to  complete 
the  subject,  under  the  present  head,  by  the  addi- 
tion of  such  details  as  may  not  have  been  compre- 
hended under  the  articles  referred  to. 
_  It  has  been  shown  that  the  absence  of  small 
rivers,  through  the  want  of  rain  in  summer,  ren- 
ders the  people  of  the  settled  country,  as  well  as 
of  the  deserts,  entirely  dependent  upon  the  water 
derived  from  wells,  and  that  preserved  in  cisterns 
and  reservoirs,  during  the  summer  and  autumn ; 
and  gives  an  importance  unknown  in  our  humid 
climate  to  the  limited  supply  thus  secured. 

With  respect  to  reservoirs,  the  articles  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  will  supply  all  the  in- 
formation necessary,  except  that  we  may  avail 
ourselves  of  this  opportunity  of  noticing  the 
so-called  Pools  of  Solomon,  near  Bethlehem. 
'  They  consist  of  three  enormous  tanks,'  says  Dr. 
Wilde, '  sunk  in  the  side  of  a  sloping  ground,  and 
which  from  time  immemorial  have  been  con- 
sidered to  be  the  workmanship  of  Solomon ;  and 
certainly  they  are  well  worthy  the  man  to  whom 
tradition  has  assigned  their  construction.  These 
reservoirs  are  each  upon  a  distinct  level,  one 
above  the  other,  and  are  capable  of  holding  an 
immense  body  of  water.  They  are  so  constructed, 
both  by  conduits  leading  directly  from  one  an- 
other, and  by  what  may  be  termed  anastamosing 
branches,  that  when  the  water  in  the  upper  one 
has  reached  to  a  certain  height,  the  surplus  flows 
off  into  the  one  below  it,  and  so  on  into  the  third. 
These  passages  were  obstructed  and  the  whole  of 
the  cisterns  were  out  of  repair  when  we  visited 
them,  so  that  there  was  hardly  any  water  in  the 
lowest,  while  the  upper  one  was  nearly  full  of 
good  pure  water.  Small  aqueducts  lead  from 
each  of  these  cisterns  to  a  main  one  that  conducts 
the  water  to  Jerusalem.  They  are  all  lined  with  a 
thick  layer  of  hard  whitish  cement,  and  a  flight  of 
steps  leads  to  the  bottom  of  each,  similar  to  some 
of  those  in  the  holy  city.  Where  the  lowest  cistern 
joins  the  valley  of  Etham  it  is  formed  by  an  em- 
bankment  of  earth,  and  has  a  sluice  to  draw  off 
the  water  occasionally.  A  short  distance  from 
the  upper  pool  I  descended  into  a  narrow  stone 
chamber,  through  which  the  water  passes  from 
the  neighbouring  spring  on  its  course  to  the 
cisterns. 

'  On  our  return  to  the  city  we  followed  the 
track  of  the  aqueduct  as  far  as  Bethlehem,  and 
afterwards  crossed  it  in  several  places  on  the 
road.  It  is  very  small,  but  the  water  runs  in  it 
with  considerable  rapidity,  as  we  could  perceive 
by  the  open  places  left  in  it  here  and  there.  From 
the  very  tortuous  course  that  this  conduit  takes  in 
following  the  different  sinuosities  of  the  ground, 
being  sometimes  above  and  sometimes  beneath 
the  surface,  it  is  difficult  to  persuade  oneself  that 
it  does  not  run  up  hill,  as  many  have  supposed. 
Finally,  it  crosses  over  the  valley  of  Rephaim,  on 
a  series  of  arches,  to  the  north  of  the  lower  pool  of 
Gihon,  and  winding  round  the  southern  horn  of 
Zion,  is  losJ,  to  view  in  the  ruins  of  the  city.  It 
very  probably  supplied  the  pool  of  Bethesda, 
after  having  traversed  a  course  of  certainly  not 
less  than  from  thirteen  to  fifteen  miles.' 

With  respect  to  wells,  their  importance  is  very 
great,  especially  in  the  desert,  where  the  means 


WATER 

of  forming  them  are  deficient,  as  well  as  the 
supply  of  labour  iit'cessary  for  such  undertakings, 
•which,  after  all,  are  not  always  rewarded  by  the 
discovery  of  a  supply  of  water.  Hence  in  such 
situations,  and  indeed  in  the  settled  countries  also, 
the  wells  are  of  the  utmost  value,  and  the  water 
in  most  cases  is  very  frugally  used  (Num.  xx. 
17-1<>;  Deut.  ii.  6,  28;  Job  xxii.  7).  Wearenot, 
however,  to  seek  an  explanation  of  the  contests 
about  wells  which  we  find  in  the  histories  of 
Abraham  and  Isaac  (Gen.  xxi.  25-31  ;  xxvi. 
15-22)  merely  in  the  value  of  the  well  itself,  but 
in  the  apprehension  entertained  by  the  Philistines 
that  by  the  formation  of  such  wells  the  patriarchs 
would  be  understood  to  create  a  lien  on  the  lands 
in  which  they  lay,  and  would  acquire  an  inde- 
feasible right  of  occupation,  or  rather  of  pos- 
session ;  and  it  might  seem  to  them  inconvenient 
that  so  powerful  a  clan  should  acquire  such  a 
right  in  the  soil  of  so  small  a  territory  as  that 
which  belonged  to  them.  Hence  their  care,  when 
Abraham  afterwards  left  their  part  of  the  country, 
to  fill  up  the  wells  which  he  had  digged;  and 
hence,  also,  the  renewed  and  more  bitter  strife 
with  Isaac  when  he,  on  arriving  there,  proceeded 
to  clear  out  those  wells  and  to  dig  new  ones 
himself. 


326.     [Well  and  Bucket  at  Jaffa.] 

It  appears  in  Scripture  that  the  wells  were 
sometimes  owned  by  a  number  of  persons  in  com- 
mon, and  that  flocks  were  brought  to  them  for 
watering  on  appointed  days,  in  an  order  previ- 
ously arranged.  A  well  was  often  covered  with 
a  great  stone,  which  being  removed,  the  person 
descended  some  steps  to  the  surface  of  the  water, 
and  on  his  return  poured  into  a  trough  that  which 
he  had  brought  up  (Gen.  xxiv.  11-15;  xxix. 
8-10;  Exod.  ii.  16;  Judg.  v.  11).  There  is,  in 
fact,  no  intimation  of  any  other  way  of  drawing 
water  from  wells  in  Scripture.  But  as  this  could 
only  be  applicable  in  cases  where  the  well  was  not 
deep,  we  must  assume  that  they  had  the  use  of 
those  contrivances  which  are  still  employed  in 
the  East,  and  some  of  which  are  known  from  the 
Egyptian  monuments  to  have  been  very  ancient. 
This  conclusion  is  the  more  probable  as  the  wells 
in  Palestine  are  mostly  deep  (Prov.  xx.  5 ;  John 
iv.  1 1 ).  Jacob's  well  near  Shechem  is  said  to  be 
120  feet  deep,  with  only  fifteen  feet  of  water  in 
it ;  and  the  labour  of  drawing  from  so  deep  a  well 
probably  originated  the  first  reluctance  of  the 
woman  of  Samaria  to  draw  water  for  Jesus :  '  Sir, 
thou  hast  nothing  to  draw  with,  and  the  well  is 
deep.'  From  this  deeper  kind  of  well  the  water 
is  drawn  by  hand  in  a  leathern  bucket  not  too 
heavy,  sometimes  by  a  windlass,  but  oftener,  when 
the  water  is  only  of  moderate  depth,  by  the 
shadoof,  which  is  the  most  common  and  simple  of 
all  the  macliines  used  in  the  East  for  raising 


WEAVING  781 

water,  whether  from  wells,  reservoirs,  or  rivers. 
This  consists  of  a  tapering  lever  unequally  ba- 
lanced upon  an  upright  body  variously  con- 
structed, and  from  the  smaller  end  of  which  is 
suspended  the  bucket  by  a  rope.  This,  when 
lowered  into  the  well,  is  raised  full  of  water  by 
the  weight  of  the  heavier  end.  By  this  contriv- 
ance the  manual  power  is  applied  in  lowering  the 
bucket  into  the  well,  for  it  rises  easily,  and  it  is 
only  necessary  to  regulate  the  ascent.  This  ma- 
chine is  in  use  under  slight  modifications  from 
the  Baltic  to  the  Yellow  Sea,  and  was  so  from  the 
most  remote  ages  to  the  present  day.  The  spe- 
cimen in  the  annexed  woodcut  occurs  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Jaffa.  The  water  of  wells,  as 
well  as  of  fountains,  was  by  the  Hebrews  called 
'  living  water,'  translated  '  running  water,'  and 
was  highly  esteemed  (Lev.  xiv.  5 ;  Num.  xix. 
17).  It  was  thus  distinguished  from  water  pre- 
served in  cisterns  and  reservoirs. 

WEAPONS.    [Arms.] 

WEASEL.  The  Viverrida  and  Mustellidm 
appear,  both  anciently  and  among  ourselves,  col- 
lected into  a  kind  of  group,  under  an  impression 
that  they  belong  to  the  feline  family  ;  hence  we, 
like  the  ancients,  still  use  the  words  civet-cat, 
tree-cat,  pole-cat,  &c. ;  and,  in  reality,  a  consider- 
able number  of  the  species  have  partially  retrac- 
tile claws,  the  pupils  of  the  eyes  being  contractile 
like  those  of  cats,  of  which  they  even  bear  the 
spotted  and  streaked  liveries.  All  such  naturally 
have  arboreal  habits,  and  from  their  low  lengthy 
forms  are  no  less  disposed  to  burrow ;  but  many 
of  them,  chiefly  in  other  hemispheres,  are  excellent 
swimmers.  One  of  these  species,  allied  to  if  not 
the  same  as  genetta  barbara,  is  the  Thela  jElan, 
by  Bochart  described  as  having  '  various  colours, 
and  as  being  spotted  like  a  pard.'  There  are  be- 
sides, in  the  same  region,  the  ?nmse  ferret  or  pole- 
cat, for  these  two  are  not  specifically  distinct,  the 
weasel  dififering  from  ours  chiefly  in  its  superior 
size  and  darker  colours.  A  paradoxurus,  identical 
with  or  nearly  allied  to  P.  typus,  occurs  in  Arabia ; 


[Paradoxurus  Typus— the  Palm-Martii 


for  it  seems  these  animals  are  found  wherever 
there  are  palmifera,  the  date-palm  in  particular 
being  a  favourite  residence  of  the  species.  Two 
or  three  varieties,  or  perhaps  species,  of  nems 
occur  in  Egypt  solely.  Arabia  Proper  has  several 
other  animals  not  clearly  distinguished,  though 
belonging  to  the  families  here  noticed. 

WEAVING  is  too  necessary  an  art  not  to  have 
existed  in  the  early  periods  of  the  world.    It  ap- 


782 


WEDDING 


pears,  indeed,  to  have  in  all  nations  come  into 
existence  with  the  first  dawnings  of  civilization. 
The  Egyptians  had,  as  might  be  expected,  already 
made  considerable  progress  therein  when  the  Is- 
raelites tarried  amongst  them ;  and  in  this  as  well 
as  in  many  other  of  the  arts  of  life,  they  became 
the  instructors  of  that  people.     Textures  of  cotton 
and  of  flax  were  woven  by  them  ;  whence  we  read 
of  the '  vestures  of  fine  linen '  with  which  Pharaoh 
arrayed  Joseph  (Gen.  xli.  42)  ;  terms  which  show 
that  the  art  of  fabricating  cloth  had  been  success- 
fully cultivated.     Indeed  Egypt  was  celebrated 
among  the  Hebrews  for  its  manufacturing  skill. 
Thus  Isaiah  (xix.  9)  speaks  of  '  them  that  work 
in  fine  flax,  and  them  that  weave  net-works.'    That 
these  fabrics  displayed  taste  as  well  as  skill  may 
be  inferred  from  Ezekiel  xxvii.   7,  'Fine  linen 
with  broidered  work  from  Egypt.'     So  in  PrOv, 
vii.  16,  '  I  have  decked  my  couch  with  coverings 
of  tapestry,  with  fine  linen  of  Egypt'     If,  how 
ever,  the  Hebrews  learnt  the  art  of  weaving  in 
Egypt,  they  appear  to  have  made  progress  therein 
from  their  own  resources,  even  before  they  entered 
Palestine ;  for  having  before  them  the  prospect 
of  a   national  establishment  in  that  land,  they 
would  naturally  turn  their  attention  to  the  arts 
of  life,  and  had  leisure  as  well  as  occasion,  during 
their  sojourn  of  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  for 
practising  those  arts  ;  and  certainly  we  cannot 
but  understand  the  words  of  Moses  to  imply  that 
the  skill  spoken  of  in  Exod.  xxxv.  30,  sq.,  came 
from  a  Hebrew  and  not  a  foreign  impulse.  Among 
the  Israelites  weaving,  together  with  spinning, 
was  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands  of  females 
(Prov.  xxxi.  13,   19);  nor  did  persons  of  rank 
and  distinction  consider    the  occupation   mean 
(Exod.  xxxv.  25;  2  Kings  xxiii.  7).     But  as  in 
Egypt  males  exclusively,  so  in  Palestine  men 
conjointly  with  women,  wove  (Exod.  xxxv.  3.5). 
From   1  Chron.  iv.  21  it  may   be  inferred  that 
there  were  in  Israel  a  class  of  master-manufac- 
turers.    The  loom,  as  was  generally  the  case  in 
the  ancient  world,  was  high,  requiring  the  weaver 
to  stand  at  his  employment. 

Connected  with  the  loom  are,  1.  the  shuttle 
(Job  vii.  6)  ;  2.  the  weaver's  beam  (1  Sam.  xvii. 
7;  2  Sam.  xxi.  19);  3.  a  weaver's  pin  (Judg. 
xvi.  14).  The  degree  of  skill  to  which  the  He- 
brews attained  it  is  diflScult  to  measure.  The 
stuffs  which  they  wove  were  of  linen,  flax,  and 
wool.  Among  the  latter  mast  be  reckoned  those 
of  camels'  and  goats'  hair,  which  were  used  by 
the  poor  for  clothing  and  for  mourning  (Exod. 
xxvi.  7 ;  xxxv.  6 ;  Matt.  iii.  4).  Garments 
woven  in  one  piece  throughout,  so  as  to  need  no 
making,  were  held  in  high  repute ;  whence  the 
Jews  have  a  tradition  that  no  needle  was  em- 
ployed on  the  clothing  of  the  high  priest,  each 
piece  of  which  was  of  one  continued  texture. 
This  notion  throws  light  on  the  language  used 
by  John  xix.  23 — '  the  coat  was  without  seam,' — 
words  that  are  explained  by  those  which  follow, 
and  which  VVetstein  regards  as  a  gloss—'  woven 
from  the  top  throughout.'  This  seamless  coat, 
which  has  lately  given  occasion  to  the  great  re- 
ligious reformatory  movement  begun  by  the  priest 
Ronge,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  our  Lord, 
knowing  that  his  time  was  now  come,  had  ar- 
rayed himself  in  vestments  suitable  to  the  dig- 
nity of  his  Messianic  office. 
WEDDING.    [Marriage.] 


13'7         Paris  grains. 


WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES 

WEEK.     [Sabbath.] 

WEEKS,  FEAST  OF.    [Pentecost.1 

WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES.  This  is  a 
subject  on  which  our  knowledge  is  by  no  means 
complete  and  satisfactory,  as  the  notices  respecting 
it  which  the  Bible  supplies  are  fragmentary  and 
scattered. 

With  respect  to  the  coins  in  use  among  the 
Hebrews,  it  is  evident  that  there  prevailed  among 
the  Hebrews  at  an  early  period  a  very  consider- 
able and  much  employed  metallic  medium. 
Mention  is  made  of  talents,  shekels,  half-shekels, 
and  gerahs.  It  is  impossible  to  determine  with 
absolute  certainty  the  relative  value  of  these 
coins,  but  the  following  table  has  been  con- 
structed from  an  examination  of  the  coins  of 
Simon  Maccajsaeus,  and  is  probably  very  nearly 
correct : — 

Gerah 

Bekah,  or  common 

shekel  , ,     137  , , 

Sacred  shekel  ,,274  ,, 

Maneh  ,,     13,700  ,, 

Talent  , ,    822,000  , , 

These  conclusions  find  corroboration  by  being 
compared  with  the  weights  of  other  Eastern  na- 
tions, and  the  whole  inquiry  authorizes  the  in- 
ference that  one  general  system  prevailed  in  the 
more  civilized  nations,  being  propagated  from  the 
East,  from  an  early  period  of  history. 

In  the  New  Testament  (Matt,  xvii,  24)  the 
Temple-tax  is  a  didrachm ;  from  other  sources 
we  know  that  this  '  tribute '  was  half  a  shekel ; 
and  in  verse  27  the  stater  is  payment  of  this  tax 
for  two  persons.  Now  the  stater — a  very  com- 
mon silver  Attic  coin,  the  tetradrachm— weighed 
328-8  Paris  grains ;  thus  not  considerably  sur- 
passing the  sacred  shekel  (274  Paris  grains). 
And  there  is  reason  in  the  passage  of  Matthew 
and  in  early  writers  for  regarding  the  stater  of 
the  New  Testament  as  the  same  with  the  Attic 
tetradrachm. 

Names  of  measures  of  length  are  for  the  most 
part  taken  from  members  of  the  human  body, 
which  offered  themselves,  so  to  say,  naturally  for 
the  purpose,  and  have  generally  been  used  in  all 
times  and  places  in  instances  where  minute  ac- 
curacy was  not  demanded. 

At  the  basis  of  the  Hebrew  system  of  measures 
of  length  lies  the  cubit,  the  fore-arm,  or  the  dis- 
tance from  the  point  of  the  elbow  to  the  tip  of  the 
third  finger. 

A  longer  measure,  applied  in  measuring  build- 
ings, was  the  reed,  or  more  properly  '  rod  '  (Ezek. 
xli.  8;  Apoc.  xxi.  15).  Smaller  measures  of 
length  were,  1.  a  span,  from  a  root  meaning  to 
expand  (the  hand).  2.  The  breadth  of  the  hand 
(1  Kings  vii.  26;  Exod.  xxv.  25).  3.  The  finger 
(Jerem.  Iii.  21),  the  denomination  of  the  smallest 
measure  of  length.  Thus  we  have  the  breadth  of 
the  finger,  of  the  hand,  of  the  span— the  length 
from  the  tip  of  the  little  finger  to  the  point  of 
the  thumb, — and  the  cubit. 

As  we  have  no  unit  of  measure  given  us  in  the 
Scriptures,  nor  preserved  to  us  in  the  remains  of 
any  Hebrew  building,  and  as  neither  the  Rabbins 
nor  Josephus  afford  the  information  we  want,  we 
have  no  resource  but  to  apply  for  information  to 
the  measures  of  length  used  in  other  countries. 
We  go  to  the  Egyptians.    The  longer  Egyptian 


WHALE 

cnbit  contained  about  234-333  Paris  lines,  the 
shorter  about  ■^04-8.  According  to  this  the  He- 
brew measures  of  length  were  these ; — 

Sacred  cubit      .   234- 333      Paris  lines. 
The  span     .     .   117-l(i6  ,, 

The  palm     .      .     39-055  ,, 

The  finger   .      .       9-7637 
Common  cubit      204  -8  , , 

The  span      ..    102-4  ,, 

The  palm     ..     34-133 
The  finger  •     .       8-533  ,, 

The  two  sets  of  measures,  one  for  dry,  another 
for   liquid  things,  rest  on  the  same  system,  as 
appears  from  the  equality  of  the  standard  for  dry 
goods,  namely  the  ephah,  with  that  for  liquids, 
namely  bath.     Mention  is  made  of  the  homer, 
cab,  bath  and  ephah — which  are  the  same,  bin, 
and  log.     The  relations  of  these  measures  to  the 
homer,  the  greatest  of  them,  is  exhibited  in  the 
following  table : — 
Homer.     .     .       1 
Bath  and  Ephah  10      1 
Seah     ...     30      3       1 
Hin  .    .      .      .     60       6       2       1 
Gomer       .     .   100     10      3^     If     1 
Cab      ...  180     18      6      3       11     1 
Log      .     .     .  720     72    24     12      7^     4     1 
The  actual  size  of  these  measures,  as  stated  by 
Josephus,  is  as  follows : — 

Size.  Weight  in  Water. 

Par.  cub.  in.  Par.  gr. 

Homer  19857-7  7398000 

Ephah      1985-77  739800 

Seah  661-92  246600 

Hin  330-96  123300 

Gomer       198-577  73980 

Cab  110-32  41100 

Log  27-58  10275 

Bockh  has  proved  that  it  is  in  Babylon  we  are 
to  look  for  the  frundations  of  the  metrological 
systems  of  the  ancient  world;  for  the  entire 
system  of  measures,  both  eastern  and  western, 
must  be  referred  to  the  Babylonish  foot  as  to  its 
basis.  On  Babylon  also  the  ancient  world  was 
dependent  for  its  astronomy.  Hence  Babylon 
appears  as  the  land  which  was  the  teacher  of  the 
east  and  the  west  in  astronomical  and  mathe- 
matical knowledge,  standing  as  it  were  in  the 
middle  of  the  ancient  world,  and  sending  forth 
rays  of  light  from  her  two  extended  hands.  Pa- 
lestine could  not  be  closed  against  these  illumina- 
tions, which  in  their  progress  westward  must  have 
enlightened  its  inhabitants,  who  appear  to  have 
owed  their  higliest  earthly  culture  to  the  Baby- 
lonians and  the  Egyptians. 
WELL.     [Wat'er.] 

W  EST.  The  Shemite,  in  speaking  of  the  quar- 
ters of  the  heavens,  &c.,  supposes  his  face  turned 
towards  the  east ;  so  that  the  east  is  before  him ; 
the  south  on  his  right  hand ;  the  north  on  his  left 
hand,  and  the  west  behind  him;  and  the  various 
■words  employed  to  designate  the  quarters  of  the 
heavens  have  literally  the  signification  mentioned 
(  Voyage  en  Sp-ie,  torn.  i.  p.  ^97  ;  Shaw's  Travels, 
p.  329). 

WHALE  occurs  in  several  places  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  once  in  the  New  Testament.  In 
the  passages  where  scales  and  feet  are  mentioned 
as  belonging  to  the  animals  so  designated,  com- 


WHEAT 


783 


mentators  have  shown  that  the  crocodile  is 
intended,  which  then  is  synonymous  with  the 
leviathan;  and  they  have  endeavoured  also  to 
demonstrate,  where  they  draw  the  dugs  to  suckle 
their  young,  that  seals  are  meant,  although  cetacea 
nourish  theirs  in  a  similar  manner.  It  may  be 
doubted  whether,  in  most  of  the  cases,  the  poetical 
diction  points  absolutely  to  any  specific  animal, 
particularly  as  there  is  more  force  and  grandeur 
in  a  generalized  and  collective  image  of  the  huge 
monsters  of  the  deep,  not  inappropriately  so  called, 
than  in  the  restriction  to  any  one  species,  since  all 
are  in  Gen.  i.  26  made  collectively  subservient  to 
the  supremacy  of  man.  But  criticism  is  still 
more  inappropriate  when,  not  contented  with 
pointing  to  some  assumed  species,  it  attempts  to 
rationalise  miraculous  events  by  such  arguments ; 
as  in  the  case  of  Jonah,  where  the  fact  of  whales 
having  a  small  gullet,  and  not  beiiig  found  in  the 
Mediterranean,  is  adduced  to  prove  that  the  hnge 
fish  was  not  a  cetacean,  but  a  shark !  It  may  be 
observed,  besides,  of  cetaceous  animals,  that 
though  less  frequent  in  the  Mediterranean  than  in 
the  ocean,  they  are  far  from  being  unknown  there. 

WHEAT  occurs  in  various  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  word  so 
rendered  has  this  signification. 

Wheat  having  been  one  of  the  earliest  culti- 
vated grains,  is  most  probably  of  Asiatic  origin, 
as  no  doubt  Asia  was  the  earliest  civilized,  as  well 
as  the  first  peopled  country.  As  both  wheat  and 
barley  are  cultivated  in  the  plains  of  India  in  the 
winter  months,  where  none  of  the  species  of  these 


328.    [Triticnin  compositura— Egyptian  Wheat.] 


genera  are  indigenous,  it  is  probable  that  both 
have  been  introduced  into  India  from  the  north, 
that  is,  from  the  Persian,  and  perhaps  from  the 
Tartarian  region,  where  these  and  other  species  of 
barley  are  most  successfully  and  abundantly  cul- 
tivated. Different  species  of  wheat  were  no  doubt 
cultivated  by  the  ancients ;  but  both  barley  and 
wheat  are  too  well  known  to  require  further  illn»- 
tration  in  this  place. 


784 


WIND 


WHIRLWIND.     [Winds.] 

WILDERNESS.     [Desekts.] 

WILLOW-TREE  (Ezek.  xvii.  5).  The  spe- 
cies of  willow  here  referred  to  is  supposed  to  be  a 
peculiar  sort  called  safsaf,  the  Salix  ^yptiaca 


329.    [Salix  .^yptiaca.] 

of  botanists.  The  stems  and  twigs  are  long,  thin, 
weak,  and  of  a  pale  yellow-colour  ;  on  their  twigs 
here  and  there  are  shoots  of  a  span  long,  like  unto 
the  Cypriotish  wild  fig-trees,  which  put  forth  in 
the  spring  tender  and  woolly  flowers,  like  unto 
the  blossoms  of  the  poplar-tree,  only  they  are  of  a 
more  drying  quality,  of  a  pale  colour,  and  a  fra- 
grant smell.  The  inhabitants  pull  of  these  great 
quantities,  and  distil  a  very  precious  and  sweet 
water  out  of  them. 

WIMPLE.     [Veil.] 

WIND.  The  Hebrew  word  signifies  air  in  mo- 
tion generally,  as  breath,  wind,  &c.  It  is  used,  1. 
for  the  wind  as  a  natural  phenomenon  (Gen.  iii.  8  ; 
Job  xxi.  18;  xxx.  15,  22;  xxxvii.  21;  Ps.  i.  4; 
ciii.  16;  Prov.  xxx.  4;  Eccles.  i.  6;  xi.  4;  Isa. 
-rii.  2;  xvii.  13;  xl.  7;  Jer.  x.  13;  li.  16;  Amos 
xiv.  13).  It  is  poetically  ascribed  to  the  imme- 
diate agency  of  God  (Ps.  cxxxv.  7;  cxlvii.  18). 
2.  T^he  wind  occurs  as  the  medium  of  the  divine 
interposition,  or  agency  (Gen.  i.  2 ;  viii.  1  ;  Ex. 
XV.  10 ;  Num.  xi.  31  ;  1  Kings  xviii.  45 ;  xix.  11 ; 
Job  i.  19  ;  Isa.  xi.  5 ;  Jonah  i.  4).  In  the  New 
Testament,  the  wind  was  supernaturally  employed 
at  the  day  of  Pentecost,  like  the  '  sound '  and 
'fire'  CActs  ii.  3).  [Spirit.]  To  this  class  of 
instances  we  refer  Gen.  i.  2, '  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters.'  Along 
with  Patrick  and  Rosenmiiller,  we  construe  the 
phrase,  'a  wind  of  God,'  a  wind  employed  as  the 
medium  of  divine  agency.  3.  The  wind  is  used 
metaphorically  in  the  following  instances :  '  The 
wings  of  the  wind '  denote  the  most  rapid  motion 
(2  Sam.  xxii.  1 1).    Anything  light  or  trifling  is 


WIND 

called  wind  (Job  vii.  7  ;  Isa.  xli.  29 ;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  i 
39;  comp.  Eph.iv.  14;  Ecclus.v.  9).  Violent  yet 
empty  speech  is  called  '  a  strong  wind,'  or  a  mere  I 
tempest  of  words  (Job  viii.  2).  '  Vain  knowledge '  | 
is  called  knowledge  of  wind  (Job  xv.  2) ;  '  vain 
words,'  words  of  wind  (xvi.  3).  Many  expressive 
phrases  are  formed  with  this  word.  '  To  inherit 
the  wind,'  denotes  extreme  disappointment  ( Prov. 
xi.  29)  ;  'to  hide  the  wind,'  impossibility  (xxvii. 
16);  to  'labour  for  the  wind,'  to  labour  in  vain 
(Ecc.  V.  16) ;  'to  bring  forth  wind,'  great  patience 
and  pains  for  no  purpose  (Isa.  xxvi.  18  ;  comp. 
Hos.  viii.  7  ;  xii.  1) ;  'to  become  wind,'  to  result 
in  nothingness  (Jer.  v.  13).  'The  four  winds' 
denote  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  (Ezek. 
xxxvii.  9) ;  'to  scatter  to  all  winds,'  to  disperse 
completely  (Ezek.  v.  10;  xii.  41 ;  xvii.  21);  'to 
cause  to  come  from  all  winds,'  to  restore  com- 
pletely (xxxvii.  9).  '  The  wind  hath  bound  her 
upon  her  wings,'  means  deportation  into  a  far 
country  (Hos.  iv.  19);  'to  sow  the  wind  and  reap 
the  whirlwind,'  unwise  labour  and  a  fruitless 
result  (viii.  7) ;  'to  feed  on  the  wind,'  to  pursue 
delusory  schemes  (xii.  1)  ;  'to  walk  in  wind,'  to 
live  and  act  in  vain  (Micah  ii.  11);  'to  observe 
the  wind,'  to  be  over  cautious  (Eccles.  xi.  4) ;  to 
'  winnow  with  every  wind,'  to  be  credulous,  apt  to 
receive  impressions  (v.  9).  4.  The  east  wind. 
Dr.  Shaw  remarks,  that  every  wind  is  called  by 
the  Orientals  an  east  wind  which  blows  from 
any  point  of  the  compass  between  the  east  and 
north,  and  between  the  east  and  south  ( Travels, 
p.  285).  If  the  east  wind  happens  to  blow  a  few 
days  in  Palestine  during  the  months  of  May, 
June,  July,  and  August,  it  occasions  great  destruc- 
tion to  the  vines  and  harvests  on  the  land,  and  also 
to  the  vessels  at  sea  on  the  Mediterranean.  It  is 
accordingly  often  used  to  denote  any  pernicious 
wind,  as  in  Ps.  xlviii.  7.  It  is  used  metaphorically 
for  pernicious  speech,  a  storm  of  words  (Job  xv. 
2)  ;  calamities,  especially  by  war  (Isa.  xxvii.  8 ; 
Jer.  xviii.  17  ;  Ezek.  xvii.  10 ;  xix.  12  ;  xxvii.  26  ; 
Hos.  xiii.  15).  The  east  wind  denotes  divine 
judgment  (Job  xxvii.  21).  Phrases. — '  To  follow 
the  east  wind,'  is  to  pursue  a  delusory  and  fatal 
course  (Hos.  xii.  1).  5.  West  wind.  6.  North 
wind  (Prov.  xxv.  23).  7.  South  wind  (Job 
xxxvii.  17;  Ps.  Ixxviii.  26;  Luke  xii.  55);  Si- 
rocco (Acts  xxvii.  13).  8.  The/o«r  winds.  This 
phrase  is  equivalent  to  the  four  quarters  of  the 
world  (Ezek.  xxxvii.  9 ;  2  Esdras  xiii.  5),  the 
several  points  of  the  compass,  as  we  should  say 
(Dan.  viii.  8).  Phrases. — '  Striving  of  the  four 
winds,'  is  great  .political  commotions  (Dan.  vii.  2 ; 
comp.  Jer.  iv.  11,  12;  li.  1);  to  '  hold  the  four 
winds,'  is  by  contrary  to  secure  peace  (Rev.  vii. 
1);  'to  be  divided  to  the  four  winds,'  implies 
utter  dispersion  (Dan.  xi,  4  ;  Jer.  xlix.  32  ;  Ezek. 
V.  10,  12  ;  xvii.  2).  The  Hebrews,  like  other 
ancient  nations,  had  but  few  names  of  winds.  One 
Greek  name  of  a  wind  occurs  in  Acts  xxvii.  14, 
Euroclydon,  a  tempestuous  wind  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, now  called  a  Levanter,  ESpos,  Evrus, 
'  east  wind,'  and  K\vh(ev, '  a  wave,'  quasi  an  east- 
ern tempest.  Other  MSS.  read  EvpvKKvSwi',  Eu- 
rychjdon,  from  fhpis,  '  broad,'  and  kKvScou,  '  a 
wave,'  or  rough  wavy  sea ;  and  then  the  word 
would  mean  the  wind  which  peculiarly  excites 
the  waves.  Shaw  defends  the  common  reading, 
and  describes  the  wind  as  blowing  in  all  direc- 
tions from  the  N.E.  round  by  the  N.  to  the  SJE. 


WISDOM  OF  SOLOMON 

( Travels,  p.  .330,  &c.  4to. ;  see  Bowyer's  conjec- 
tures, and  Doddridge,  in  loc).  The  Hebrews 
had  no  single  terms  indicating  the  relative  velo- 
city of  the  air  in  motion,  like  our  words  breeze, 
gale,  &c.  Such  gradations  they  expressed  by 
some  additional  word,  as  '  great,'  n?n!l"nT),  '  a 
great  wind'  (Jonah  i.  4),  'rough,'  nCJ'p,  &c. 
Nor  have  we  any  single  word  indicating  the  de- 
structive effects  of  the  wind,  like  their  verbs  lyD 
and  -lyb,  as  DIl'DNI  (Zech.  vii.  14,  &c.),  and 
answering  to  the  Greek  word  dvet^6(t>eopo9  (see 
Sept.  of  Gen.  xli.  6,  2.3).  Our  vielaphorical  use 
of  the  word  storm  comes  nearest.  The  phrase 
myp  nn,  'stormy  wind,'  -rvtvfxa  KaraiylSos, 
spiritiis  procellcE,  occurs  in  Ps.  cvii.  25;  cxlviii. 
8.  It  is  metaphorically  used  for  the  divine  judg- 
ments (Ezek.  xiii.  11,  13).  The  word  usually 
translated  '  whirlwind '  means  more  properly  a 
storm  (2  Kings  ii.  1,  11 ;  Job  xxxviii.  1  ;  xl.  6  ; 
Zech.  ix.  14).  The  Hebrew  word  is  used  meta- 
phorically for  the  divine  judgments  (Isa.  xl.  24 ; 
xli.  16) ;  and  to  describe  them  as  sudden  and  irre- 
sistible (Jer.  xxiii.  19;  xxv.  32;  xxx.  23). 
Total  defeat  is  often  compared  to  '  chaff  scattered 
by  a  whirlwind '  (Isa.  xvii.  13).  It  denotes  the 
rapidity  and  irresistibleness  of  the  divine  judg- 
ments (Isa.  Ixvi.  5).  The  phrase  '  to  reap  the 
whirlwind  '  denotes  useless  labour  (Hos.  viii.  7) ; 
'  the  day  of  the  whirlwind,'  destruction  by  war 
(Amos  i.  14).  A  beautiful  comparison  occurs  in 
Prov.  x.  25  :  'As  the  whirlwind  passeth,  so  is  the 
wicked  no  more :  but  the  righteous  is  an  ever- 
lasting foundation.' 

WINDOW.    [HotrsE.] 

WINE.  No  fewer  than  thirteen  distinct  He- 
brew and  Greek  terms  are  rendered  in  our  com- 
mon version  by  the  word  '  wine.'  Besides  the 
pure  juice  of  the  grape,  frequent  mention  is  made 
in  Scripture  of  a  kind  of  boiled  wine  or  syrup, 
the  thickness  of  which  rendered  it  necessary  to 
mingle  water  with  it  previously  to  drinking  (Prov. 
ix.  2,  5),  and  also  of  a  mixed  wine,  made  strong 
and  inebriating  by  the  addition  of  drugs,  such  as 
myrrh,  mandragora,  and  opiates  (Prov.  xxiii.  30  ; 
Isa.  V,  22).  This  custom  has  prevailed  from  the 
earliest  ages,  and  is  still  extant  iu  the  East.  We 
are  not,  however,  to  conclude  that  all  mixe'd  wine 
was  pernicious  or  improper.  There  were  two 
very  opposite  purposes  sought  by  the  mixture  of 
drinks.  While  the  wicked  sought  out  a  drugged 
mixture,  and  was  '  mighty  to  mingle  strong  drink,' 
Wisdom,  on  the  contrary,  mingled  her  wine  with 
water  or  with  milk  (Prov.  ix.  2,  5)  merely  to 
dilute  it  and  make  it  properly  drinkable.  Of  the 
latter  mixture  Wisdom  invites  the  people  to  drink 
freely,  but  on  the  use  of  the  former  an  emphatic 
woe  is  pronounced.  In  Isa.  xxv.  6,  mention  is 
made  of '  wines  on  the  lees.'  The  original  sig- 
1  ifies  'preserves'  or  'jellies,'  and  is  supposed  to 
lefer  to  the  wine  cakes  which  are  esteemed  a 
L  reat  delicacy  in  the  East. 

WINNOWING.       [AcRICULTtTRE.] 

WINTER.    [Palestine.] 

WISDOM  OF  SOLOMON  [Apocrypha]  is 
I  he  name  of  one  of  the  deuterocanonical  books. 
'I  he  anonymous  author  personates  King  Solomon, 
"horn  he  introduces  as  speaking;  but  from  the 
citations  of  the  prophets  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  it 
n  ay  be  inferred  that  the  writer  had  no  intention 
'  f  giving  it  to  be  understood  that  it  was  written 


WISDOM  OF  JESUS  SIRACH       785 

by  Solomon  ;  but  that  he  only  followed  a  common 
custom  of  Greek  and  other  writers,  in  employing 
the  name  of  this  distinguished  royal  penman.  It 
is  divided  into  two,  or,  according  to  some,  into 
three  parts.  The  first  six  chapters  contain  enco- 
miums on  Wisdom,  which  all,  and  especially 
kings,  are  admonished  to  acquire,  as  the  true 
security  against  present  evils,  and  as  leading  to 
future  glory  and  immortality,  while  a  contrary 
course  tends  to  misery  here,  and  still  greater 
misery  hereafter.  In  chaps,  vii.  and  viii.  Solomon 
is  introduced,  teaching  how  wisdom  is  to  be  ac 
quired;  and  in  chap.  x.  is  given  his  prayer  foi 
this  inestimable  gift.  Chaps,  x.-xix.  contain  his- 
torical examples,  drawn  from  the  Old  Testament 
showing  the  happiness  which  had  resulted  from 
the  pursuit  of  wisdom,  and  the  fatal  consequences 
of  sin,  especially  the  sin  of  idolatry.  The  book 
concludes  with  divers  pious  and  philosophical  ob- 
servations. 

The  Book  of  Wisdom  has  been  always  'ad- 
mired for  the  sublime  ideas  which  it  contains  of 
the  perfections  of  God,  and  for  the  excellent 
moral  tendency  of  its  precepts '  (Home's  Introd.), 
Its  style,  observes  Bishop  Lowth,  after  Calmet, 
'  is  unequal,  often  pompous  and  turgid,  as  well 
as  tedious  and  diffuse,  and  abounds  in  epithets 
directly  contrary  to  the  practice  of  the  Hebrews  : 
it  is,  however,  sometimes  temperate,  poetical,  and 
sublime.'  Calmet  supposes  that  the  author  had 
read  the  works  of  the  Greek  poets  and  philo- 
sophers. 

Although  there  have  not  been  wanting  indi- 
viduals who  have  contended  for  a  Hebrew,  Syriac, 
or  Chaldee  original,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
it  was  written  in  Greek. 

Nothing  is  known  with  certainty  respecting  the 
author.  All  that  can  be  concluded  with  any  de- 
gree of  probability  is,  that  he  was  an  Alexandrian 
Jew,  who  lived  after  the  transplanting  of  the 
Greek  philosophy  into  Egypt,  and  who  seems  to 
refer  to  the  oppressions  of  the  later  Ptolemies. 
Jahn  conceives  that  the  book  was  written  at  the 
close  of  the  first  or  beginning  of  the  second  cen- 
tury before  the  Christian  era. 

WISDOM  OF  JESUS,  SON  OF  SIRACH, 
one  of  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha,  consists  of  a 
collection  of  moral  sentences  after  the  manner  of 
the  Proverbs  of  Solomon  (i.-ix.  xxiv.  comp.  with 
Prov.  i.-ix.).  The  work  is  arranged  upon  nj 
systematic  plan,  but  abounds  in  directions  relating 
to  religion  and  human  conduct.  Wisdom  is  re- 
presented here,  as  in  Proverbs,  as  the  source  of 
human  happiness,  and  the  same  views  of  human 
life,  founded  on  the  belief  of  a  recompense,  per- 
vade the  instructions  of  this  book  also,  wherein, 
however,  a  more  matured  reflection  is  perceptible. 
It  is  in  fact  the  composition  of  a  philosopher  who 
had  deeply  studied  the  fortunes  and  manners  of 
mankind,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  avail  himself  of 
the  philosophy  of  older  moralists.  It  abounds  in 
grace,  wisdom,  and  spirit,  although  sometimes 
more  particular  in  inculcating  principles  of  polite- 
ness than  those  of  virtue.  It  is  not  unfrequently 
marked  by  considerable  beauty  and  elegance  of 
expression,  occasionally  rising  to  the  sublimest 
heights  of  human  eloquence.  It  has  been  observed 
of  it  by  Addison  (see  Home's  Introd.,  vol.  iv.) 
that  '  it  would  be  regarded  by  our  modem 
wits  as  one  of  the  most  shining  tracts  of  morality 
that  are  extant,  if  it  appeared  under  the  name 
3  b 


786 


WITCHCRAFTS 


of  a  Confucius  or  of  any  celebrated  Grecian  phi- 
losopher.' 

The  author  calls  himself  Jesus,  son  of  Sirach, 
of  Jerusalem,  but  we  know  nothing  further  of  him. 

The  original  of  the  book  was  Hebrew.  Its  age 
is  not  easily  determined;  but  according  to  the 
most  probable  hypothesis  the  author  lived  B.C.  180, 
and  the  translator,  who  was  his  grandson,  B.C.  130. 

WITCH.  The  fem.,  a  sorceress,  is  found  in 
Exod.  xxii.  18  ;  the  mas.,  a  sorcerer  or  magician, 
in  Exod.  vii.  11;  Deut.  xviii.  10;  Dan.  ii.  2; 
Mai.  iii.  5.  In  the  New  Testament  '  sorcerer ' 
occurs  in  Rev.  xxi.  8  ;  xxii.  15. 

WITCHCRAFTS  occurs  in  2  Kings  ix.  22 ; 
Isa.  xlvii.  9,  12 ;  Mic.  v.  12  ;  Nah.  iii.  4;  and  in 
the  New  Testament,  Gal.  v.  20;  Eev.  ix.  21; 
xviii.  23.  The  precise  idea,  if  any,  now  asso- 
ciated with  the  word  '  witch,'  but,  however,  de- 
voutly entertained  by  nearly  the  whole  nation  in 
the  time  of  our  translators,  is  that  of  a  female, 
who,  by  the  agency  of  Satan,  or  rather,  of  a 
familiar  spirit  or  gnome  appointed  by  Satan  to 
attend  on  her,  performs  operations  beyond  the 
powers  of  humanity,  in  consequence  of  her  com- 
pact with  Satan,  written  in  her  own  blood,  by 
which  she  resigns  herself  to  him  for  ever.  Among 
other  advantages  resulting  to  her  from  this  en- 
gagement is  the  power  of  transforming  herself 
into  any  shape  she  pleases;  which  was,  however, 
generally  that  of  a.  hare;  transporting  herself 
through  the  air  on  a  broomstick,  sailing  'on  the 
sea  in  a  sieve,'  gliding  through  a  keyhole,  inflict- 
ing diseases,  &c.  upon  mankind  or  cattle.  The 
belief  in  the  existence  of  such  persons  cannot  be 
traced  higher  than  the  middle  ages,  and  was  pro- 
bably derived  from  the  wild  and  gloomy  mytho- 
logy of  the  northern  nations,  amongst  whom  the 
Fatal  Sisters,  and  other  impersonations  of  destruc- 
tive agency  in  a  female  form,  were  prominent  ar- 
ticles of  the  popular  creed.  A  very  different  idea 
was  conveyed  by  the  Hebrew  word,  which  pro- 
bably denotes  a  sorceress  or  magician,  who  pre- 
tended to  discover,  and  even  to  direct  the  effects 
ascribed  to  the  operation  of  the  elements,  con- 
junctions of  the  stars,  the  influence  of  lucky  and 
unlucky  days,  the  power  of  invisible  spirits,  and 
of  the  inferior  deities.  Sir  Walter  Scott  well  ob- 
serves, that '  the  sorcery  of  witchcraft  of  the  Old 
Testataent  resolves  itself  into  a  trafficking  with 
idols  and  asking  counsel  of  false  deities,  or,  in 
other  words,  into  idolatry.'  Accordingly,  sorcery 
is  in  Scripture  uniformly  associated  with  idolatry 
(Deut.  xviii.  9-14;  2  Kings  ix.  22;  2  Chron. 
xxxiii.  5,  6,  &c. ;  Gal.  v.  20 ;  Rev.  xxi.  8).  The 
modern  idea  of  witchcraft,  as  involving  the  assist- 
ance of  Satan,  is  inconsistent  with  Scripture,  where, 
as  in  the  instance  of  Job,  Satan  is  represented  as 
powerless  till  God  gave  him  a  limited  commission ; 
and  when  '  Satan  desired  to  sift  Peter  as  wheat,' 
no  reference  is  made  to  the  intervention  of  a  witch. 
Nor  do  the  actual  references  to  magic  in  Scripture 
involve  its  reality.  The  mischiefs  resulting  from 
the  pretension,  under  the  theocracy,  to  an  art 
which  involved  idolatry,  justified  the  statute  which 
denounced  it  with  death ;  though  instead  of  the 
unexampled  phrase, '  thou  shall  not  suffer  to  live,' 
Michaelis  conjectures, '  shall  not  be '  (Exod.  xxii. 
18),  which  also  better  suits  the  parallel,  '  There 
shall  not  be  found  among  you,  &c„  a  witch' 
(Deut.  xviii.  10).  Indeed,  as  '  we  know  that  an 
idol  is  nothing  in  the  \rorld,  and  that  there  is 


WITCHCRAFTS 

none  other  gods  but  one '  (1  Cor.  viii.  4),  we  must 
believe  all  pretensions  to  traffic  with  the  one,  or 
ask  counsel  of  the  other,  to  be  equally  vain.  Upon 
the  same  principle  of  suppressing  idolatry,  how- 
ever, the  prophets  of  Baal  also  were  destroyed, 
and  not  because  Baal  had  any  real  existence,  or 
because  they  could  avail  anything  by  their  invo- 
cations. '  The  witch  of  Eudor,'  as  she  is  com- 
monly but  improperly  called,  belongs  to  another 
class  of  pretenders  to  supernatural  powers  [Divi- 
nation]. She  was  a  necromancer,  or  one  of  those 
persons  who  pretended  to  call  up  the  spirits  of  the 
dead  to  converse  with  the  living  (see  Isa.  viii.  19 ; 
xxix.  4 ;  Ixv.  .3).  It  is  related  as  the  last  and 
crowning  act  of  Saul's  rebellion  against  God,  that 
he  consulted  '  a  woman  who  had  a  familiar  spirit ' 
(1  Sam.  xxviii.  7),  literally  '  a  mistress  of  the  Ob,' 
— an  act  forbidden  by  the  divine  law  (Lev.  xx.  6), 
which  sentenced  the  pretenders  to  such  a  power 
to  death  (ver.  27),  and  which  law  Saul  himself 
had  recently  enforced  (1  Sam.  xxviii.  3,  9),  be- 
cause, it  is  supposed,  they  had  freely  predicted  his 
approaching  ruin ;  although  after  the  well-known 
prophecies  of  Samuel  to  that  effect,  the  disasters 
Saul  had  already  encountered,  and  the  growing 
influence  of  David,  there  'needed  no  ghost  to 
come  from  the  grave  to  tell  them  this.'  Various 
explanations  of  this  story  have  been  offered.  It 
has  been  attempted  to  resolve  the  whole  into  un- 
posture  and  collusion.  Saul,  who  was  naturally  a 
weak  and  excitable  man,  had  become,  through  a 
long  series  of  vexations  and  anxieties,  absolutely 
'  delirious,'  as  Patrick  observes :  '  he  was  afraid 
and  his  heart  greatly  trembled,'  says  the  sacred 
writer.  In  this  state  of  mind,  and  upon  the  very 
eve  of  his  last  battle,  he  commissions  his  own  ser- 
vants to  seek  him  a  woman  that  had  a  familiar 
spirit,  and,  attended  by  two  of  them,  he  comes  to 
her  '  by  night,'  the  most  favourable  time  for  im- 
position. He  converses  with  her  alone,  his  two 
attendants,  whether  his  secret  enemies  or  real 
friends,  being  absent,  somewhere,  yet,  however, 
close  at  hand.  Might  not  one  of  these,  or  some 
one  else,  have  agreed  with  the  woman  to  per- 
sonate Samuel  in  another  room  ? — for  it  appears 
that  Saul,  though  he  spoke  with,  did  not  see  the 
ghost  (ver.  13,  14):  who,  it  should  be  observed, 
told  him  nothing  but  what  his  own  attendants 
could  have  told  him,  with  the  exception  of  those 
words,  'to-morrow  shalt  thou  and  thy  sons  be 
with  me '  (ver.  19);  to  which,  however,  it  is  re- 
plied, that  Saul's  death  did  not  occur  upon  the 
morrow,  and  that  the  word  so  translated  is  suf- 
ficiently ambiguous,  for  though  it  means  '  to-mor- 
row '  in  some  passages,  it  means  the.  future,  inde- 
finitely, in  others.  It  is  further  urged,  that  her 
'  crying  with  a  loud  voice,'  and  her  telling  Saul, 
at  the  same  time,  that  she  knew  him,  were  the 
well-timed  arts  of  the  sorceress,  intended  to  mag- 
nify her  pretended  skill.  Others  are  of  opinion 
that  the  story  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  theory 
of  ventriloquism.  But  it  is  objected  against  this, 
or  any  other  hypothesis  of  collusion,  that  the 
sacred  writer  not  only  represents  the  Pythoness 
as  affirming,  but  also  himself  affirms,  that  she 
saw  Samuel,  and  that  Samuel  spoke  to  Saul,  nor 
does  he  drop  the  least  hint  that  it  was  not  the  real 
Samuel  of  whom  he  was  speaking.  Others  have 
given  a  literal  interpretation  of  the  story,  and 
have  maintained  that  Samuel  actually  appeared 
to  Saul.    Such  also  is  the  view  Josephus  takes 


.       WOLF 

(Antiq.  vi.  14.  3,  4),  where  he  bestows  a  laboured 
ealogium  upon  the  woman.  It  is,  however,  ob- 
jected, that  the  actual  appearance  of  Samuel  is 
inconsistent  with  all  we  are  taught  by  revelation 
concerning  the  state  of  the  dead ;  involves  the 
possibility  of  a  spirit  or  soul  assuming  a  corporeal 
shape,  conversing  audibly,  &c. ;  and  further,  that 
it  is  incredible  that  God  would  submit  the  departed 
souls  of  his  servants  to  be  summoned  back  to  earth, 
by  rites  either  utterly  futile,  or  else  deriving  their 
efficacy  from  the  co-operation  of  Satan.  Others 
have  supposed  that  the  woman  induced  Satan  or 
some  evil  spirit  to  personate  Samuel.  But  this 
theory,  beside  other  difficulties,  attributes  nothing 
less  than  miraculous  power  to  the  devil ;  for  i* 
supposes  the  apparition  of  a  spiritual  and  incor- 
poreal being,  and  that  Satan  can  assume  the  ap- 
pearance of  any  one  he  pleases.  Others  have 
maintained  another  interpretation,  that  the  whole 
account  is  the  narrative  of  a  miracle,  a  divine  re- 
presentation or  impression,  partly  upon  the  senses 
of  Saul,  and  partly  upon  those  of  the  woman,  and 
intended  for  the  rebuke  and  punishment  of  Saul. 
It  is  urged  that  God  interposed  with  a  miracle 
previously  to  the  use  of  any  magical  formulee,  as 
he  did  when  the  king  of  Moab  had  recourse  to 
sorceries  to  overrule  the  mind  of  Balaam,  so  that 
he  was  compelled  to  bless  those  whom  Balak 
wanted  him  to  curse  (Num.  xxiii.). 

WITNESS.  It  occurs,  1st,  in  the  sense  of  a 
person  who  deposes  to  the  occurrence  of  any  fact, 
a  witness  of  any  event.  It  means  a  judicial  wit- 
ness in  Exod.  xxiii.  1 ;  Lev.  v.  1 ;  Num.  v.  13  ; 
XXXV.  30  (comp.  Deut.  xvii.  6 ;  xix.  1 5 ;  Matt, 
xviii.  16;  2  Cor.  xiii.  1);  Prov.  xiv.  5;  xxiv. 
28  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  65  ;  Acts  vi,  13  ;  1  Tim.  v.  19  ; 
Heb.  X.  28.  It  is  applied,  generally,  to  a  person 
who  certifies,  or  is  able  to  certify,  to  any  fact 
which  has  come  under  his  cognizance  (Josh.  xxiv. 
22;  Isa.  viii.  2;  Luke  xxiv.  48;  Acts  i.  8,  22 ; 
1  Thess.  ii.  10;  1  Tim.  vi.  12;  2  Tim.  ii.  2; 
1  Pet.  i.  5).  So  in  allusion  to  those  who  witness 
the  public  games  (Heb.  xii.  1).  It  is  also  applied 
to  any  one  who  testifies  to  the  world  what  God 
reveals  through  him  (Rev.  xi.  3).  In  the  latter 
sense  the  Greek  word  is  applied  to  our  Lord 
(Rev.  i.  5;  iii.  14).  It  is  further  used  in  the 
ecclesiastical  sense  of  martyr. 
WIZARD.  [Divination.] 
WOLF  (Gen.  xlix.  37 ;  Isa,  xi.  6 ;  Ixv.  25 ; 
Jer.  V.  6,  &c. ;  Matt.  vii.  15;  x.  16;  Luke  x.  3  ; 
John.  X.  12;  Acts  xx.  29;  Ecclus.  viii.  17),  a 
fierce  carnivorous  animal,  very  nearly  allied  to 
the  dog,  and  so  well  known  in  Europe  as  to  re- 
quire no  particular  description ;  but  the  identity 
of  the  species  in  Palestine,  though  often  asserted, 
is  by  no  means  established ;  for  no  professed 
zoologist  has  obtained  the  animal  in  Syria,  while 
other  travellers  only  pretend  to  have  seen  it. 
Unquestionably  a  true  wolf,  or  a  wild  canine 
with  very  similar  manners,  was  not  infrequent 
in  that  country  during  the  earlier  ages  of  the 
world,  and  even  down  to  the  commencement  of 
our  era.  The  prophets,  as  well  as  the  Messiah, 
allude  to  it  in  explicit  language.  At  this  day  the 
true  wolf  is  still  abundant  in  Asia  Minor,  as  well 
as  in  the  gorges  of  Cilicia,  and  from  the  travel- 
ling disposition  of  the  species,  wolves  may  be  ex- 
pected to  reside  in  the  forests  of  Libanus ;  but 
there  is  no  satisfactory  evidence  that  this  is  at 
present  the  case.    It  may  be,  as  there  are  no 


WOMAN 


787 


forests  to  the  south  of  Lebanon,  that  these  ravenous 
beasts,  who  never  willingly  range  at  a  distanca 
from  cover,  have  forsaken  the  more  open 
country. 


[Egyptian  Wolf.] 


WOMAN.  Like  our  own  term  Woman,  the 
Hebrew  word  now  so  translated  is  used  of  married 
and  unmarried  females.  The  derivation  of  the 
word  shows  that  according  to  the  conception  of 
the  ancient  Israelites  woman  was  man  in  a  modi- 
fied form — one  of  the  same  race,  the  same  genus, 
as  man ;  a  kind  of  female  man.  How  slightly 
modified  that  form  is,  how  little  in  original  struc- 
ture woman  differs  from  man,  physiology  has 
made  abundantly  clear.  Different  in  make  as  man 
and  woman  are,  they  differ  still  more  in  character ; 
and  yet  the  great  features  of  their  hearts  and 
minds  so  closely  resemble  each  other,  that  it  re- 
quires no  depth  of  vision  to  see  that  these  twain 
are  one.  This  most  important  fact  is  character- 
istically set  forth  in  the  Bible  in  the  account 
given  of  the  formation  of  woman  out  of  one  of 
Adam's  ribs  (Gen.  ii.  21-24).  Those  who  have 
been  pleased  to  make  free  with  this  simple  nar- 
rative may  well  be  required  to  show  how  a  rude 
age  could  more  effectually  have  been  taught  the 
essential  unity  of  man  and  woman— a  unity  of 
nature  which  demands,  and  is  perfected  only  in, 
a  unity  of  soul.  The  conception  of  the  Biblical 
writer  goes  beyond  even  this,  but  does  not  extend 
farther  than  science  and  experience  unite  to  jus- 
tify. There  was  solid  reason  why  it  was  not 
good  for  Adam  '  to  be  alone.'  Without  an  help 
meet  he  would  have  been  an  imperfect  being. 
The  genus  homo  consists  of  man  and  woman. 
Both  are  necessary  to  the  idea  of  man.  The  one 
supplements  the  qualities  of  the  other.  They  are 
not  two,  but  one  flesh,  and  as  one  body  so  one 
soul. 

It  will  at  once  be  seen  that  under  the  influence 
of  a  religion,  at  the  bottom  of  which  lay  those 
ideas  concerning  the  relations  of  the  sexes  one  to 
another,  slavery  on  the  part  of  the  woman  was 
impossible.  This  fact  is  the  more  noticeable,  and 
it  speaks  the  more  loudly  in  favour  of  the  divine 
origin  of  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  because  the 
East  has  in  all  times,  down  to  the  present  day, 
kept  woman  everywhere,  save  in  those  places  in 
which  Judaism  and  Christianity  have  prevailed, 
in  a  state  of  low,  even  if  in  some  cases  gilded, 
bondage,  making  her  the  mere  toy,  plaything, 
and  instrument  of  man. 

The  singular  beauty  of  the  Hebrew  women, 
and  the  natural  warmth  of  their  affections,  have 
conspired  to  throw  gems  of  domestic  lor>elines8 
3k2 


738 


WOMAN 


orrer  the  pages  of  the  Bible.  In  no  history  can 
there  be  found  an  equal  number  of  charming 
female  portraits.    From  Hagar  down  to  Mary 


331.    [Syro-Arabian  costume.    In-door  dress.] 

and  Martha,  the  Bible  presents  pictures  of  wo- 
manly beauty  that  are  unsurpassed  and  rarely 
paralleled.  But  we  should  very  imperfectly  re- 
present in  these  general  remarks  the  formative 
influence  of  the  female  character  as  seen  in  the 
Bible,  did  not  we  refer  these  amiable  traits  of 
character  to  the  pure  and  lofty  religious  ideas 
which  the  Biblical  books  present.  If  woman 
there  appears  as  the  companion  and  friend  of  man, 
she  owes  her  elevation  in  the  main  to  the  religion 
of  Moses  and  to  that  of  Jesus.  The  first  system — 
as  a  preparatory  one — did  not  and  could  not  com- 
plete the  emancipation  of  woman.    There  was 


332.    [Young  lady  in  fuU  dress.] 

needed  the  finishing  touch  which  the  Great 
Teacher  put  to  the  Mosaic  view  of  the  relations 
between  the  sexes.  Recognising  the  fundamental 
truths  which  were  as  old  as  the  creation  of  man, 
Jesus  proceeded  to  restrain  the  much-abused  fk- 
cility  of  divorce,  leaving  only  one  cause  why  the 
marriage-bond  should  be  broken,  and  at  the  same 
time  teaching  that  as  the  origin  of  wedlock  was 
divine,  so  its  severance  ought  not  to  be  the  work 
of  man.  Still  further— bringing  to  bear  on  the 
domestic  ties  his  own  doctrine  of  immortality,  he 


WOMAN    • 

made  the  bond  co-existent  with  the  undying  soul, 
only  teaching  that  the  connection  would  be  re- 
finedwith  the  refinement  of  our  affections  and 
our  liberation  from  these  tenements  of  clay  in 
which  we  now  dwell  (Matt.  v.  32 ;  xix.  3,  sq. ; 
xxii.  23,  sq.).  With  views  so  elevated  as  these, 
and  with  affections  of  the  tenderest  benignity, 
the  Saviour  may  well  have  won  the  warm  and 
gentle  hearts  of  Jewish  women.  Accordingly, 
the  purest  and  richest  human  light  that  lies  on 
the  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  comes  from  the 
band  of  high-minded,  faithful,  and  affectionate 
women,  who  are  found  in  connection  with  Christ 
from  his  cradle  to  his  cross,  his  tomb  and  his  re- 
surrection. These  ennobling  influences  have 
operated  on  society  with  equal  benefit  and  power. 
Woman,  in  the  better  portions  of  society,  is  now 
a  new  being.  And  yet  her  angelic  career  is  only 
just  begun.  She  sees  what  she  may,  and  what 
under  the  Gospel  she  ought  to  be ;  and  ere  very 
long,  we  trust,  a  way  will  be  found  to  employ  in 
purposes  of  good,  energies  of  the  finest  nature 
which  now  waste  away,  from  want  of  scope,  in 
the  ease  and  refinements  of  affluence,  if  not  in  the 
degradations  of  luxury — a  most  precious  offering 
made  to  the  Moloch  of  fashion,  but  which  ought 
to  be  consecrated  to  the  service  of  that  God  who 
gave  these  endowments,  and  of  that  Saviour  who 
has  brought  to  light  the  rich  capabilities,  and 
exhibited  the  high  and  holy  vocation  of  the  fe- 
male sex. 

Women  appear  to  have  enjoyed  considerably 
more  freedom  among  the  Jews  than  is  now  al- 
lowed them  in  western  Asia,  although  in  other 
respects  their  condition  and  employments  seem  to 
have  been  not  dissimilar. 

The  employments  of  the  women  were  very  va- 
rious, and  sufficiently  engrossing.  In  the  earlier 
or  patriarchal  state  of  society,  the  daughters  of 
men  of  substance  tended  their  fathers'  flocks 
(Gen.  xxix.  9;  Exod.  ii.  16).  In  ordinary  cir- 
cumstances the  first  labour  of  the  day  was  to 
grind  corn  and  bake  bread,  as  already  noticed. 
The  other  cares  of  the  family  occupied  the  rest 
of  the  day.  The  women  of  the  peasantry  and  of 
the  poor  consumed  much  time  in  collecting  fuel, 
and  in  going  to  the  wells  for  water.  The  wells 
were  usually  outside  the  towns,  and  the  labour  of 
drawing  water  from  them  was  by  no  means  con- 
fined to  poor  women.  This  was  usually,  but  not 
always,  the  labour  of  the  evening ;  and  the  water 
was  carried  in  earthen  vessels  borne  upon  the 
shoulder  (Gen.  xxiv.  1.5-20;  John  iv.  7,  28). 
Working  with  the  needle  also  occupied  much  of 
their  time,  as  it  would  seem  that  not  only  their 
own  clothes  but  those  of  the  men  were  made  by 
the  women.  Some  of  the  needlework  was  very 
fine,  and  much  valued  (Exod.  xxvi.  36  ;  xxviii. 
39;  Judg.  V.  30;  Fs.  xlv.  14).  The  women  ap- 
pear to  have  spun  the  yarn  for  all  the  cloth  that 
was  in  use  (Exod.  xxxv.  25 ;  Prov.  xxxi.  19) ; 
and  much  of  the  weaving  seems  also  to  have  been 
executed  by  them  (Judg.  xvi.  13, 14 ;  Prov.  xxxi. 
22).  The  tapestries  for  bed-coverings,  mentioned 
in  the  last-cited  text,  were  probably  produced  in 
the  loom,  and  appear  to  have  been  much  valued 
(Prov.  vii.  16). 

We  have  no  certain  information  regarding  the 
dress  of  the  women  among  the  poorer  classes; 
bnt  it  was  probably  coarse  and  simple,  and  not 


WOMAN 

materially  different  from  that  which  we  now  see 
among  the  Bedouin  women,  and  the  female  pea- 
santry of  Syria.  This  consists  of  drawers,  and  a 
long  and  loose  gown  of  coarse  blue  linen,  with 
some  ornamental  bordering  wrought  with  the 
needle,  in  another  colour,  about  the  neck  and 
bosom.    The  head  is  covered  with  a  kind  of  tur- 


WOMAN 


789 


333.     [Matron  in  full  dress.] 

ban,  connected  with  which,  behind,  is  a  veil, 
which  covers  the  neck,  back,  and  bosom  [Veil]  . 
We  may  presume,  with  still  greater  certainty, 
that  women  of  superior  condition  wore  over  their 
inner  dress  a  frock  or  tunic  like  that  of  the  men, 
but  more  closely  fitting  the  person,  with  a  girdle 
formed  by  an  unfolded  kerchief.  Their  head- 
dress was  a  kind  of  turban,  with  different  sorts  of 


[Nose-jewel.] 


veils  and  wrappers  used  under  various  circum- 
stances. The  hair  was  worn  long,  and,  as  now, 
was  braided  into  numerous  tresses,  with  trinkets 
and  ribands  n  Cor.  xi.  15 ;  1  Tim.  ii.  9;  I  Pet. 


111.  3).  With  the  head-dress  the  principal  olrna- 
ments  appear  to  have  been  connected,  such  as  a 
jewel  for  the  forehead,  and  rows  of  pearls  (Sol. 
Song,  i.  10;  Ezek.  xvi.  12).  Ear-rings  were  also 
worn  (Isa.  iii.  20 ;  Ezek.  xvi.  12),  as  well  as  a 
nose-jewel,  consisting,  no  doubt,  as  now,  either  of 
a  ring  inserted  in  the  cartilage  of  the  nose,  or  an 
ornament  like  a  button  attached  to  it.  The  nose- 
jewel  was  of  gold  or  silver,  and  sometimes  set 
with  jewels  (Gen.  xxiv.  47;  Isa.  iii.  21).  Brace- 
lets were  also  generally  worn  (Isa.  iii.  19;  Ezek. 
xvi,  11),  and  ankiets,  which,  as  now,  were  pro- 
bably more  like  fetters  than  ornaments  (Isa.  iii. 
1 6,  20).  The  Jewish  women  possessed  the  art  of 
staining  their  eye-lids  black,  for  effect  and  ex- 
pression (2  Kings  ix.  30  ;  Jer.  iv.  30  ;  Ezek. 
xxiii.  40) ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  they 
had  the  present  practice  of  staining  the  nails,  and 
the  palms  of  their  hands  and  soles  of  their  feet, 
of  an  iron-rust  colour,  by  means  of  a  paste  made 
from  the  plant  called  hen/ta.  This  plant  appears 
to  be  mentioned  in  Sol.  Song,  i.  14,  and  its  present 
use  is  probably  referred  to  in  Deut.  xxi.  12  ;  2 
Sam.  xix.  24. 

The  customs  concerning  marriage,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances which  the  relation  of  wife  and  mother 
involved,  have  been  described  in  the  article  Mar- 
riage. 

The  Israelites  eagerly  desired  children,  and 
especially  sons.  Hence  the  messenger  who  first 
brought  to  the  father  the  news  that  a  son  was 
born,  was  well  rewarded  (Job  iii.  3 ;  Jer.  xx. 
15).  The  event  was  celebrated  with  music  ;  and 
the  father,  when  the  child  was  presented  to  him, 
pressed  it  to  his  bosom,  by  which  act  he  was  un- 
derstood to  acknowledge  it  as  his  own  (Gen.  1. 
23;  Job  iii.  12;  Ps.  xxii.  10).  On  the  eighth 
day  from  the  birth  the  child  was  circumcised 
(Gen.  xvii.  10)  ;  at  which  time  also  a  name  was 
given  to  it  (Luke  i.  59).  The  first-born  son  was 
highly  esteemed,  and  had  many  distinguishing 
privileges.  He  had  a  double  portion  of  the  es- 
tate (Deut.  xxi.  17);  he  exercised  a  sort  of  pa- 
rental authority  over  his  younger  brothers  (Gen. 
XXV.  23,  &c. ;  xxvii.  29  ;  Exod.  xii.  29  ;  2  Chron. 
xxi.  3)  ;  and  before  the  institution  of  the  Leviti- 
cal  priesthood  he  acted  as  the  priest  of  the  family 
(Num.  iii.  12,  13;  viii.  18).  The  patriarchs  ex- 
ercised the  power  of  taking  these  privileges  from 
the  firstborn,  and  giving  them  to  any  other  son, 
or  of  distributing  them  among  different  sons ;  but 
this  practice  was  overruled  by  the  Mosaical  law 
(Deut.  xxi.  15-17). 

The  child  continued  about  three  years  at  the 
breast  of  the  mother,  and  a  great  festival  was 
given  at  the  weaning  (Gen.  xxi.  8 ;  1  Sam.  i. 
22-24;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  6;  Matt.  xxi.  16).  He 
remained  two  years  longer  in  charge  of  the  wo- 
men ;  after  which  he  was  taken  under  the  especial 
care  of  the  father,  with  a  view  to  his  proper  train- 
ing (Deut.  vi.  20-25  ;  xi.  19).  It  appears  that 
those  who  wished  for  their  sons  better  instruc- 
tion than  they  were  themselves  able  or  willing  to 
give,  employed  a  private  teacher,  or  else  sent 
them  to  a  priest  or  Levite,  who  had  perhaps  se- 
veral others  under  his  care.  The  principal  ob- 
ject was,  that  they  should  be  well  acquainted  with 
the  law  of  Moses  ;  and  reading  and  writing  were 
taught  in  subservience  to  this  leading  object. 

The  authority  of  a  father  was  very  great  among 
the  Israelites,  and  extended  not  only  to  his  sous, 


790 


WORMWOOD 


but  to  his  grandsons — indeed  to  all  who  were  de- 
scended from  him.  His  power  had  no  recognised 
limit,  and  even  if  he  put  his  son  or  grandson  to 
death,  there  was,  at  first,  no  law  by  which  he 
could  be  brought  to  account  (Gen.  xxi.  14; 
xxxviii.  24).  But  Moses  circumscribed  this 
power,  by  ordering  that  when  a  father  judged  his 
son  worthy  of  death,  he  should  bring  him  before 
the  public  tribunals.  If,  however,  he  had  struck 
or  cursed  his  father  or  mother,  or  was  refractory 
or  disobedient,  he  was  still  liable  to  capital  pu- 
nishment (Exod.  XXI.  15,  17 ;  Lev.  xx.  9  ;  Deut. 
xxi.  18-21).— Ed. 

WOOL.    [Sheep.] 

WORMWOOD,  STAR  OF  (Rev.  viii.  10,  11), 
the  Apocalyptic  appellation  for  the  national  de- 
mon of  Egypt,  set  forth  in  the  vision  of  Patmos 
as  a  luminous  idol  presiding  over  '  the  third  part 
of  the  waters.'  The  vocation  of  this  star  was  to 
destroy  by  poison,  not  by  fire,  sword,  or  famine. 

St.  John  seems  to  employ  this  symbol  of 
Egyptian  poison  and  bitterness,  as  the  prototype 
of  a  great  Anti-Christian  Power,  which  would 
poison  and  embitter  the  pure  waters  of  Christian 
life  and  doctrine,  converting  them  into  '  worm- 
wood.' 

WORMWOOD.  This  proverbially  bitter  plant 
is  used  in  the  Hebrew,  as  in  most  other  languages, 
metaphorically,  to  denote  the  moral  bitterness  of 
distress  and  trouble  (Deut.  xxix.  17  ;  Prov.  v.  4 ; 
Jer.  ix.  15 ;  xxiii.  15  ;  Lam.  iii.  15, 19 ;  Amos  v.  7  ; 
vi.  12).  Thence  also  the  name  given  to  the  fatal 
star  in  Rev.  viii.  10, 1 1.  Artemisia  is  the  botanical 
name  of  the  genus  of  plants  in  which  the  different 
species  of  wormwoods  are  found.  The  plants  of 
this  genus  are  easily  recognised  by  the  multitude 
of  fine  divisions  into  which  the  leaves  are  usually 
separated,  and  the  numerous  clusters  of  small, 
round,  drooping,  greenish-yellow  or  brownish 
flower-heads  with  which  the  branches  are  laden. 


335.    [Artemisia  Judaica.] 

It  must  be  understood  that  our  common  worm- 
wood does  not  appear  to  exist  in  Palestine,  and 
cannot  therefore  be  that  specially  denoted  by  the 
Scriptural  term.  Indeed  it  is  more  than  probable 
that  the  word  is  intended  to  apply  to  all  the  plants 
of  this  class  that  grew  in  Palestine,  rather  than 
to  any  one  of  them  in  particular.  The  ex- 
amples of  this  genus  that  have  been  found  in  that 
country  are : — 1.  Arteviisia  Judaica,  which,  if  a 
particular  species  be  intended,  is  probably  the 
Absinthium  of  Scripture.  Rauwolff  found  it 
about  Bethlehem,  and  Shaw  in  Arabia  and  the 
deserts  of  Numidia  plentifully.  This  plant  is  erect 
and  shrubby,  with  stem  about  eighteen  inches 
high.  Its  taste  is  very  bitter ;  and  both  the  leaves 
and  seeds  are  much  used  in  Eastern  medicine, 
and  are  reputed  to  be  tonic,  stomachic,  and  ant- 
helmintic. 2.  Artemisia  Romana,  which  was 
found  by  Hasselquist  on  Mount  Tabor.    This 


WRITING 

species  is  herbaceous,  erect,  with  stem  one  or  two 
feet  high  (higher  when  cultivated  in  gardens), 
and  nearly  upright  branches.  The  plant  has  a 
pleasantly  aromatic  scent ;  and  the  bitterness  of 
its  taste  is  so  tempered  by  the  aromatic  flavour  as 
scarcely  to  be  disagreeable.  3.  Artemisia  abro- 
tanum,  found  in  the  south  of  Europe,  as  well  as 
in  Syria  and  Palestine,  and  eastward  even  to 
China.  This  is  a  hoary  plant,  becoming  a  shrub 
in  warm  countries ;  and  its  branches  bear  loose 
panicles  of  nodding  yellow  flower-heads.  It  is 
bitter  and  aromatic,  with  a  very  strong  scent.  It 
is  not  much  used  in  medicine  ;  but  the  branches 
are  employed  in  imparting  a  yellow  dye  to  wool. 

WRESTLING.    [Games.] 

WRITING  is  an  art  by  which  facts  or  ideas 
are  communicated  from  one  person  to  another  by 
means  of  given  signs,  such  as  symbols  or  letters. 
It  has  been  a  generally  received  and  popular  opi- 
nion that  writing  was  first  used  and  imparted  to 
mankind  when  God  wrote  the  Ten  Command- 
ments on  the  tables  of  stone ;  but  the  silence  of 
Scripture  upon  the  subject  would  rather  suggest 
that  so  necessary  an  art  had  been  known  long 
before  that  time,  or  otherwise  the  sacred  historian 
would  probably  have  added  this  extraordinary 
and  divine  revelation  to  the  other  parts  of  his 
information  respecting  the  transactions  on  Mount 
Sinai. 

After  the  gift  of  language  (which  was  indis- 
pensable to  rational  creatures),  it  would  seem  that 
writing  was  the  most  highly  beneficial  and  im- 
portant boon  which  could  be  conferred  on  men 
possessed  of  intellect  and  understanding,  who 
from  their  circumstances  must  divide  and  spread 
over  the  whole  earth,  and  yet  be  forced  from 
various  necessities  to  maintain  intercourse  with 
each  other.  Even  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world 
writing  was  requisite  to  transmit  and  receive  ac- 
curately intelligence  from  the  scattered  commu- 
nities, to  convey  to  posterity  events  which  were 
destined  to  act  upon  all  time,  and  especially  to 
preserve  unimpared  the  knowledge  of  God.  Is 
it  then  too  much  to  believe  that  God  by  revelation 
immediately  imparted  to  mankind  the  power  of 
writing  ?  For  it  does  not  appear  that  any  person 
ever  invented  an  alphabet  who  had  not  previously 
heard  of  or  seen  one ;  and  every  nation  which 
possessed  the  art  always  professed  to  have  derived 
its  knowledge  from  a  God. 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  consequence  that 
the  most  exact  accounts  should  have  been  pre- 
served of  the  creation,  the  fall  of  man,  and  many 
prophecies  of  deepest  interest  to  unborn  genera- 
tions. The  ages  and  genealogies  of  the  patri- 
archs ;  the  measures  of  the  ark  ;  the  first  kingly 
government  in  Assyria ;  the  history  of  Abraham 
and  his  descendants  for  430  years,  including 
minute  circumstances,  changes,  and  conversations, 
in  many  different  countries ;  could  scarcely  have 
been  perfectly  preserved  by  oral  descent  for 
twenty  centuries,  unless  the  antediluvians  and 
their  immediate  posterity  did  not  partake  of  the 
failings  of  Christians  in  the  defects  of  forgetful- 
ness  and  exaggeration  ;  but  allowing  the  art  of 
writing  to  have  been  given  with  language,  there  is 
no  difficulty,  and  it  becomes  obvious  that  each 
transaction  would  be  recorded  and  kept  exactly 
as  it  was  either  revealed  or  happened. 

It  is  evident  from  the  allusions  made  to  the 
subject  in  the  sacred  Scriptures,  that  the  know- 


WRITING 

ledge  of  writing  -was  possessed  by  the  human 
family  at  a  very  early  period.  In  the  fifth 
chapter  of  Genesis  it  is  said, '  This  is  the  book  of 
the  generations.'  If  there  had  been  merely  a 
traditionary  recollection  of  '  the  generations  of 
Adam,'  preserved  only  by  transmission  from  one 
memory  to  another  for  more  than  a  thousand 
years,  the  term  book  would  have  been  most  inap- 
plicable, and  could  not  have  been  used. 

In  the  book  of  Job,  which  is  considered  to  be 
the  most  ancient  written  document  extant,  it  is 
said  (chap.  xix.  23,  24),  '  Oh,  that  my  words 
■were  now  written  !  Oh,  that  they  were  printed 
in  a  book !  that  they  were  graven  with  an  iron 
pen !'  Also  Job  xxxi.  35,  '  mine  adversary  had 
written  a  book.'  Such  expressions  could  not  have 
been  used,  and  would  have  had  no  meaning,  if 
the  art  of  writing  had  been  unknown  ;  nor  could 
there  have  been  such  terms  as  book  and  pen,  if 
the  things  themselves  had  not  existed. 

If,  then,  it  be  granted  that  the  book  of  Job 
was  written,  and  such  expressions  were  current 
before  the  Exode,  it  becomes  evident  from  sacred 
history  that  writing  was  not  only  in  use  before 
the  law  was  given  on  Mount  Sinai,  but  that  it 
was  also  known  amongst  other  patriarchal  tribes 
than  the  children  of  Israel. 

Be/ore  the  law  was  given  by  God  to  Moses,  he 
had  been  commanded  to  write  the  important 
transactions  which  occurred  during  the  progress 
of  the  Israelites  from  Egypt  to  Canaan ;  for  in 
Exod.  xvii.  14  it  is  recorded,  '  And  the  Lord  said 
unto  Moses,  Write  this  for  a  memorial  in  a  book.' 
An  account  of  the  discomfiture  of  the  Amalekites 
is  the  first  thing  said  to  have  been  written  by 
Moses.  This  battle  was  fought  ere  the  people 
left  Rephidim  (Exod.  xvii.  13),  from  whence 
they  departed  into  the  wilderness  of  Sinai  (Exod. 
xix.  2),  and  therefore  that  writing  was  drawn  up 
before  the  events  on  the  mount  took  place.  The 
law  was  '  written  by  the  finger  of  God'  (Exod. 
xxxi.  18)  B.C.  1491,  and  since  that  time  there  is 
no  question  as  to  the  existence  of  the  art  of 
writing. 


YEAR 


791 


Books  and  writing  must  have  been  familiar  to 
Moses,  '  who  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians  '  (Acts  vii.  22),  for  at  the  time  of 
his  birth  that  people  had  arrived  at  a  high  pitch 
of  civilization ;  and  now  that  the  mysterious 
hieroglyphics  have  been  deciphered,  it  has  been 
found  that  from  the  earliest  era  Egypt  possessed 
B  knowledge  of  writing,  and  that  many  of  the 


inscriptions  were  written  before  the  Exodus  of 
the  Hebrews. 

Letters  are  generally  allowed  to  have  been 
introduced  into  Europe  from  Phoenicia,  and  to 
have  been  brought  from  thence  by  Cadmus  into 
Greece,  about  fifteen  centuries  before  Christ, 
which  time  coincides  with  the  eighteenth  Egyp- 
tian dynasty  ;  but  whilst  none  may  deny  such  to 
have  been  the  origin  of  European  alphabetical 
characters,  it  does  not  prove  the  Phoenicians  to 
have  been  the  inventors  of  writing.  That  people 
occupied  Phoenicia  in  very  early  times  after  the 
Deluge ;  and  if  the  patriarch  and  his  sons  pos- 
sessed the  knowleage  of  letters,  their  posterity 
would  doubtless  preserve  the  remembrance  and 
practice  of  such  an  invaluable  bequest,  which 
would  be  conveyed  by  their  colonists  into  Greece 
and  Africa.  In  the  New  World  it  was  found 
that  the  Peruvians  had  no  system  of  writing, 
whilst  the  Mexicans  had  made  great  advances  in 
hieroglyphical  paintings.  The  Aztecs,  who  pre- 
ceded the  Mexicans,  had  attained  much  profi- 
ciency in  the  art,  such  as  was  adequate  to  the 
wants  of  a  people  in  an  imperfect  state  of  civili- 
zation. 

Various  have  been  the  materials  and  imple- 
ments used  for  writing.  Paper  made  from  the 
papyrus  is  now  in  existence  which  was  fabricated 
2000  years  B.C.  Moses  hewed  out  of  the  rock 
two  tables  of  stone  on  which  the  Commandments 
were  written  (Exod.  xxxiv.  1).  After  that  time 
the  Jews  used  rolls  of  skins  for  their  sacred 
writings.  They  also  engraved  writing  upon 
gems  or  gold  plates  (Exod.  xxxix.  30). 

Before  the  discovery  of  paper  the  Chinese 
wrote  upon  thin  boards  with  a  sharp  tool.  Reeds 
and  canes  are  still  used  as  writing  implements 
amongst  the  Tartars ;  and  the  Persians  and  other 
Orientals  write  for  temporary  purposes  on  leaves, 
or  smooth  sand,  or  the  bark  of  trees.  The  Arabs 
in  ancient  times  wrote  their  poetry  upon  the 
shoulder-blades  of  sheep. 

The  Greeks  occasionally  engraved  their  laws 
on  tables  of  brass.  Even  before  the  days  of 
Homer  table-books  were  used,  made  of  wood,  cut 
in  thin  slices,  which  were  painted  and  polished, 
and  the  pen  was  an  iron  instrument  called  a  style. 
In  later  times  these  surfaces  were  waxed  over, 
that  the  M-riting  might  be  obliterated  for  further 
use.  Table-books  were  not  discontinued  till  the 
fourteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era. 

At  length  the  superior  preparations  of  paper, 
parchment,  and  vellum,  became  general,  and 
superseded  other  materials  in  many,  and  all  en- 
tirely civilized,  nations. 


Y. 


YEAR.  The  Hebrew  year  consisted  of  twelve 
unequal  months,  which,  previously  to  the  exile, 
were  lunar.  The  twelve  solar  months  made  up 
only  354  days,  constituting  a  year  too  short  by 
no  fewer  than  eleven  days.  This  deficiency  would 
have  soon  inverted  the  year,  and  could  not  have 
existed  even  for  a  short  period  of  time  without 
occasioning  derangements  and  serious  inconveni- 
ence to  the  Hebrews,  whose  year  was  so  full  of 
festivals.  At  an  early  day,  then,  we  may  well 
believe  a  remedy  was  provided  for  this  evil.  The 


792 


ZABAD 


course  which  the  ancients  pursued  is  unknown, 
but  Ideler  {Ckronol.  i.  490)  may  be  consulted  for 
an  ingenious  conjecture  on  the  subject.  The  later 
Jews  intercalated  a  month  every  two  or  every 
three  j'ears,  taking  care,  however,  to  avoid  making 
the  seventh  au  intercalated  year.  The  supple- 
mentary month  was  added  at  the  termination  of 
the  sacred  year,  the  twelfth  month  (February  and 
March),  and  as  this  bore  the  name  of  Adar,  so 
the  interposed  month  was  called  Veadar,  or  Adar 
the  Second.  The  year,  as  appears  from  the  ordi- 
nary reckoning  of  the  months  (Lev.  xxiii.  34 ; 
XXV.  9 ;  Num.  ix.  11;  2  Kings  xxv.  8 ;  Jer. 
xxxix.  2;  comp.  1  Mace.  iv.  52;  x.  21),  began 
with  the  month  Nisan  (Esth.  iii.  7),  agreeably  to 
an  express  direction  given  by  Moses  (Exod.  xii. 
2 ;  Num.  ix.  1).  This  commencement  is  gene- 
rally thotight  to  be  that  of  merely  the  ecclesias- 
tical year  ;  and  most  Jewish,  and  many  Christian 
authorities,  hold  that  the  civil  year  originally 
began,  as  now,  with  the  month  Tisri.  The  an- 
cient Hebrews  possessed  no  such  thing  as  a  formal 
and  recognised  era.  Their  year  and  their  months 
were  determined  and  regulated,  not  by  any  sys- 
tematic rules  of  astronomy,  but  by  the  first  view 
or  appearance  of  the  moon.  In  a  similar  manner 
they  dated  from  great  national  events,  as  the  de- 
parture from  Egypt  (Exod.  xix.  1 ;  Num.  xxxiii. 
38;  1  Kings  vi.  1);  from  the  ascension  of  mo- 
narchs,  as  in  the  books  of  Kings  and  Chronicles ; 
or  from  the  erection  of  Solomon's  temple  (1  Kings 
f'm.  1 ;  ix.  10);  and  at  a  later  period,  from  the 
commencement  of  the  Babylonish  captivity  (Ezek. 
xxxiii.  21  ;  xl.  1).  When  they  became  subjects 
)f  the  Grseco-Syrian  empire  they  adopted  the  Se- 
eucid  era,  which  began  with  the  year  B.C.  312, 
when  Seleucus  conquered  Babylon. 


Z. 


1.  ZA'BAD  {God  given),  a  person  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah,  mentioned  in  1  Chron.  ii.  36,  among 
the  descendants  of  Sheshan,  by  the  marriage  of 
his  daughter  with  au  Egyptian  servant  [Jarha  ; 
Sheshan]. 

2.  ZABAD,  a  grandson  of  Ephraim,  who,  with 
others  of  the  family,  was  killed  during  the  life- 
time of  Ephraim,  by  the  men  of  Gath,  in  an 
attempt  which  the  Hebrews  seem  to  have  made 
to  drive  off  their  cattle  (1  Chron.  vii.  21).  [See 
Ephraim.] 

3.  ZABAD,  son  of  an  Ammonitess  named  Shi- 
meath,  who,  in  conjunction  with  Jehozabad,  the 
son  of  a  Moabitess,  slew  King  Joash,  to  whom 
they  were  both  household  oificers,  in  his  bed  (2 
Kings  xii.  21 ;  2  Chron.  xxiv.  25,  26).  In  the 
first  of  these  texts  he  is  called  Jozachar.  The 
sacred  historian  does  not  appear  to  record  the 
mongrel  parentage  of  these  men  as  suggesting  a 
reason  for  their  being  more  easily  led  to  this  act, 
but  as  indicating  the  sense  which  was  entertained 
of  the  enormity  of  Joash's  conduct,  that  even 
they,  though  servants  to  the  king,  and  though 
only  half  Jews  by  birth,  were  led  to  conspire 
against  him  '  for  the  blood  of  the  sons  of  Jehoiada 
the  priest.'  It  would  seem  that  their  murderous 
act  was  not  abhorred  by  the  people ;  for  Amaziah, 
the  son  of  Joash,  did  not  venture  to  call  them  to 
account  till  he  felt  himself  well  established  on 


ZADOK 

the  throne,  when  they  were  both  put  to  death 
(2  Kings  xiv.  5,  6  ;  2  Chron.  xxv.  3,  4). 

4.  ZABAD,  one  of  the  persons  who,  at  the  in- 
stance of  Ezra,  put  away  the  foreign  wives  they 
had  taken  after  the  return  from  captivity  (Ezra 
X.  27). 

ZAB'UD  {bestowed),  a  sou  of  Nathan  the  pro- 
phet, who  held  under  Solomon  the  important 
place  of '  king's  friend,'  or  favourite  (1  Kings  iv. 
5),  which  Hushai  had  held  under  David  (1  Chron. 
xxvii.  33),  and  which  a  person  named  Elkanah 
held  under  Ahaz  (2  Chron.  xxviii.  7).  Azariah, 
another  sou  of  Nathan,  was  '  over  all  the  (house- 
hold) officers '  of  king  Solomon ;  and  their  ad- 
vancement may  doubtless  be  ascribed  not  only  to 
the  young  king's  respect  for  the  venerable  pro- 
phet, who  had  been  his  instructor,  but  to  the 
friendship  he  had  contracted  with  his  sons  during 
the  course  of  education.  The  office,  or  rather 
honour,  of  '  friend  of  the  king,'  we  find  in  all  the 
despotic  governments  of  the  East.  It  gives  high 
power,  without  the  public  responsibility  which 
the  holding  of  a  regular  office  in  the  state  neces- 
sarily imposes.  It  implies  the  possession  of  the 
utmost  confidence  of,  and  familiar  intercourse 
with,  the  monarch,  to  whose  person  '  the  friend ' 
at  all  times  has  access,  and  whose  influence  is 
therefore  often  far  greater,  even  in  matters  of 
state,  than  that  of  the  recognised  ministers  of 
government. 

ZABULUN.    [Zebulun.] 

ZACCHE'US,  a  superintendent  of  taxes  at 
Jericho.  Having  heard  of  the  Redeemer,  he  felt 
a  great  desire  to  see  him  as  he  drew  near  that 
place ;  for  which  purpose  he  climbed  up  into  a 
sycamore-tree,  because  he  was  little  of  stature. 
Jesus,  pleased  with  this  manifestation  of  his 
eagerness,  and  knowing  that  it  proceeded  from  a 
heart  not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God,  saw  fit 
to  honour  Zaccheus  by  becoming  his  guest.  This 
offended  the  self-righteous  Jews,  who  objected 
that '  he  was  gone  to  be  a  guest  with  a  man  that 
is  a  sinner.'  This  offensive  imputation  was  met 
by  Zaccheus  in  the  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  concep- 
tion of  goodness—'  The  half  of  my  goods  I  give 
to  the  poor ;  and  if  I  have  taken  anything  from 
any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him  four- 
fold.' He  that  knew  the  heart  of  man  knew  not 
only  the  truth  of  this  statement,  but  that  the  good 
works  of  Zacclieus  emanated  from  right  motives, 
and  therefore  terminated  the  conversation  with 
the  words,  '  This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this 
house,  forsomuch  as  he  also  is  a  son  of  Abraham ' 
— a  declaration  which,  whether  Zaccheus  was  by 
birth  a  Jew  or  not,  signifies  that  he  had  the  same 
principle  of  faith  which  was  imputed  to  Abraham, 
the  father  of  the  faithful,  for  righteousness  (Luke 
xix.  2,  sq.). 

Tradition  represents  Zaccheus  as  the  first 
Christian  bishop  of  Caesarea. 

ZACHARI'AH.     [Zechariah.] 

ZACHARIAS.     [Zechakiah.] 

ZA'DOK  {jiisl).  There  are  several  men  of 
this  name  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament. 

1.  In  the  reign  of  David,  Zadok  (the  son  of 
Ahitub  and  father  of  Ahiraaaz)  (1  Chron.  vi.  8) 
and  Ahimelech  were  the  priests  (2  Sam.  viii.  17). 
Zadok  and  the  Levites  were  with  David,  when, 
after  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  B.C.,  he 
fled  from  Absalom  ;  but  the  king  ordered  Zadok 
to  carry  back  the  ark  of  God  into  the  city  (2  Sam. 


ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH 

XT.  24,  25,  27,  29,  35,  36;  xviii.  19,  22,  27). 
The  king  also,  considering  Zadok  a  seer,  com- 
manded him  to  return  to  the  city,  stating  that  he 
■would- wait  in  the  plain  of  the  wilderness  until  he 
should  receive  such  information  from  him  and 
his  son  Ahimaaz,  and  also  from  the  son  of  Abia- 
thar,  as  might  induce  him  to  remove  farther 
away.  On  hearing  that  Ahithophel  had  joined 
Absalom,  David  requested  Hushai,  his  friend,  to 
feign  himself  to  be  also  one  of  the  conspirators, 
and  to  inform  Zadok  and  Abiathar  of  the  counsels 
adopted  by  Absalom  and  his  rebellious  confede- 
rates. The  request  of  David  was  complied  with, 
and  the  plans  of  the  rebels  made  known  to  David 
by  the  instrumentality  of  Zadok  and  the  others. 

After  Absalom  was  vanquished,  David  sent  to 
Zadok  and  Abiathar,  the  priests,  saying,  '  Speak 
unto  the  elders  of  Judah,  Why  are  ye  the  last  to 
bring  the  king  back  to  his  house  ? '  &c.  (2  Sam. 
xix.  11 ;  XX.  25).  When  Adonijah  attempted  to 
succeed  to  the  throne,  Abiathar  countenanced 
him,  but  Zadok  was  not  called  to  the  feast  at 
which  the  conspirators  assembled.  King  David 
sent  for  Zadok  and  Nathan  the  prophet  to  anoint 
Solomon  king  (1  Kings  i.  32-45). 

2.  In  1  Chron.  vi.  12,  and  Neh.  xi.  11,  an- 
other Zadok  is  mentioned,  the  father  of  whom 
was  also  called  Ahitub,  and  who  begat  Shallum. 
This  Zadok  descended  from  Zadok  the  priest  in 
the  days  of  David  and  Solomon,  and  was  the  an- 
cestor of  Ezra  the  scribe  (Ezra  vii.  2).  We  learn 
from  Ezek.  xl.  46  ;  xliii.  19  ;  xliv.  15  ;  xlviii.  11, 
that  the  sons  of  Zadok  were  a  pre-eminent  sacer- 
dotal family. 

3.  Zadok  was  also  the  name  of  the  father-in- 
law  of  Uzziah  and  the  grandfather  of  king 
Jotham,  who  reigned  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighth  century  before  Christ  (2  Kings  xv.  33 ; 
2  Chron.  xxvii.  1). 

4  and  5.  Two  priests  of  the  name  of  Zadok 
are  mentioned  in  Neh.  iii.  4-29,  as  having  as- 
sisted in  rebuilding  the  wall  of  Jerusalem  about 
B.C.  445. 

The  Zadok  mentioned  in  Neh.  x.  22  as  having 
sealed  the  covenant,  and  Zadok  the  scribe  named 
in  Neh.  xiii.  13,  are  probably  the  same  who 
helped  to  build  the  wall. 

ZAL'MON,  a  mountain  in  Samaria  near  to 
Shechem  (Judg.  ix.  48).  Many  suppose  this  to 
be  the  same  with  the  Zalmon  of  Ps.  Ixviii.  15  : 
'  where  the  Almighty  scattered  kings  in  it  (the 
land),  there  was  snow  as  in  Zalmon; 'i.e.  the 
fields  were  whitened  with  the  bones  of  the  slain. 

ZALMUN'NA.     [Zebah  and  Zalmunna.] 

ZAMZUM'MIMS,  a  race  of  giants  dwelling 
anciently  in  the  territory  afterwards  occupied  by 
the  Ammonites,  but  extinct  before  the  time  of 
Moses  (Deut.  ii.  20). 

Z  ANO'AH  (7narsli,  bog),  one  of  the  towns  of  Ju- 
dah '  in  the  valley '  (Josh.  xv.  34) ;  which  Je- 
rome identifies  with  a  village  called  in  his  time 
Zanua,  on  the  borders  of  Eleutheropolis,  on  the 
road  to  Jerusalem.  The  name  of  Zanua  is  still 
connected  with  a  site  on  the  slope  of  a  low  hill 
not  far  east  of  Ain  Shems  (Beth-shemesh). 

ZAPHNATH-PAANEAH,  an  Egyptian  name 
given  by  Pharaoh  to  Joseph  in  reference  to  his 
public  office.  Rosellini  interprets  it  to  mean  '  the 
salvation '  or  '  saviour  of  the  age.'  But  Gesenius 
and  others  incline  rather  to  regard  it  as  signify- 
ing '  sustainer  of  the  age.' 


ZEBULUN  793 

ZAR'EPHATH.    [Sarepta.] 

ZEALOTS,  the  followers  of  Judas  the  Gau- 
lonite  or  Galilean  [Judas].  Joscphus  speaks  of 
them  as  forming  the 'fourth  sect  of  Jewish  phi- 
losophy,' and  as  distinguished  from  the  Pharisees 
chiefly  by  a  quenchless  love  of  liberty  and  a  con- 
tempt of  death.  Their  leading  tenet  was  the 
unlawfulness  of  paying  tribute  to  the  Romans,  as 
being  a  violation  of  the  theocratic  constitution. 
This  principle,  which  they  maintained  by  force 
of  arms  against  the  Roman  government,  was  soon 
converted  into  a  pretext  for  deeds  of  violence 
against  their  own  countrymen ;  and  during  the 
last  days  of  the  Jewish  polity,  the  Zealots  were 
lawless  brigands  or  guerillas,  the  pest  and  terror  of 
the  land.  After  the  death  of  Judas,  and  of  his  two 
sons,  Jacob  and  Simon  (who  suffered  crucifixion), 
they  were  headed  by  Eleazar,  one  of  his  descend- 
ants, and  were  often  denominated  Sicarii,  from 
the  use  of  a  weapon  resembling  the  Roman  Sica. 

ZE'BAH  AND  ZALMUN'NA,  chiefs  of  the 
Midianites,  whom  Gideon  defeated  and  slew 
[Gideon]. 

ZEB'EDEE  {Jehovah's  gift),  husband  of  Sa- 
lome, and  father  of  the  apostles  James  and  John 
(Matt.  X.  2  ;  xx.  20  ;  xxvi.  37  ;  xxvii.  56  ;  Mark 
iii.  17 ;  x.  35 ;  John  xxi.  2).  He  was  the  owner 
of  a  fishing  boat  on  the  lake  of  Gennesaret,  and, 
with  his  sons,  followed  the  business  of  a  fisher- 
man. He  was  present,  mending  the  nets  with 
them,  when  Jesus  called  James  and  John  to  fol- 
low him  (Matt.  iv.  21  ;  Mark  i.  19 ;  Luke  v.  10); 
and  as  he  offered  no  obstacle  to  their  obedience, 
but  remained  alone  without  murmuring  in  the 
vessel,  it  is  supposed  that  he  had  been  previously 
a  disciple  of  John  the  Baptist,  and,  as  such,  knew 
Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah.  At  any  rate,  he  must 
have  known  this  from  his  sons,  who  were  certainly 
disciples  of  the  Baptist.  It  is  very  doubtful 
whether  Zebedee  and  his  sons  were  of  that  very 
abject  condition  of  life  which  is  usually  ascribed 
to  them.  They  seem  to  have  been  in  good  cir- 
cumstances, and  were  certainly  not  poor.  Zebe- 
dee was  the  owner  of  a  '  ship,'  or  fishing  smack, 
as  we  should  call  it — and,  perhaps,  of  more  than 
one  ;  he  had  labourers  under  him  (Mark  i.  20)  ; 
his  wife  was  one  of  those  pious  women  whom  the 
Lord  allowed  '  to  minister  unto  him  of  their  sub- 
stance ; '  and  the  fact  that  Jesus  recommended 
his  mother  to  the  care  of  John,  implies  that  he 
had  the  means  of  providing  for  her ;  whilst  a  still 
further  proof  that  Zebedee's  family  was  not  alto- 
gether mean,  may  be  found,  perhaps,  in  the  fact, 
that  John  was  personally  known  to  the  high-priest 
(John  xviii.  16). 

1.  ZEBO'IM,  a  valley  and  town  in  the  tribe  ol 
Benjamin  (1  Sam.  xiii.  )8  ;  Neh.  xi.  34). 

2.  ZEBOIM,  a  city  in  the  vale  of  Siddim,  de- 
stroyed along  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  (Gen. 
x.  19;  xiv.  2;  Hos.  xi.  8).    [Sodom.] 

ZE'BUL  (a  dwelling),  an  officer  whom  Abime- 
lech  left  in  command  at  Shechem  in  his  own  ab- 
sence; and  who  discharged  with  fidelity  and 
discretion  the  difficult  trust  confided  to  him  (Judg. 
ix.  29-41).    See  the  particulars  in  Abimelech. 

ZEB'ULUN  (habitation),  the  sixth  and  last 
son  of  Jacob  by  Leah  (Gen.  xxx.  19,  seq. ;  xxxv. 
23),  who,  in  the  order  of  birth,  followed  his  bro- 
ther Issachar,  with  whom,  in  history,  as  in  the 
promised  land,  he  was  closely  connected  (Deut. 
xxxiii.  18).    Zebulun  was   the  founder  of  the 


794 


ZECHARIAH 


ZACHAEIAH 


tribe  which  bore  his  name  (Gen.  xlvi.  14),  and 
which,  while  yet  iu  the  wilderness,  was  respectable 
for  numbers  (Num.  i.  30 ;  xxvi.  26).  Zebulun 
obtained  its  lot  in  north  Palestine  between  Naph- 
tali  on  the  north  and  Issachar  on  the  south,  while 
Asher  stretched  along  both  it  and  Naphtali  on  the 
west  (Josh.  xix.  10,  seq.).  The  countrj'  of  the 
Zebulonites  bordered  towards  the  east  on  the 
south-western  side  of  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  and 
was  connected  with  the  Mediterranean  by  means 
of  Carmel  (Gen.  xlix.  13).  Its  inhabitants  in 
consequence  took  part  in  seafaring  concerns.  They 
failed  to  expel  all  the  native  race,  but  made  those 
of  them  that  remained  tributaries  (Judg.  i. 
30).  One  of  the  judges  of  Israel,  Elon,  was  a 
Zebulonite  (Judg.  xii.  11).  A  city  lying  on  the 
borders  of  Asher  also  bore  the  name  of  Zebulun 
(Josh.  xix.  27). 

ZECHARI'AH  (whom  Jehovah  remembers),  a 
very  common  name  among  the  Jews,  borne  by 
the  following  persons  mentioned  in  Scripture. 

1.  Zechariah,  son  of  Jeroboam  II.,  and  four- 
teenth king  of  Israel.  He  ascended  the  throne  in 
B.C.  772,  and  reigned  six  months.  The  few 
months  of  Zechariah's  reign  just  sufficed  to  evince 
his  inclination  to  follow  the  bad  course  of  his 
predecessors ;  and  he  was  then  slain  by  Shallum, 
who  usurped  the  crown.  With  his  life  ended  the 
dynasty  of  Jehu  (2  Kings  xiv.  29  ;  xv.  8-12), 

2.  Zechariah,  high  priest  in  the  time  of 
Joash,  king  of  Judah.  He  was  son,  or  perhaps 
grandson,  of  Jehoiada  and  Jehosheba ;  the  latter 
was  the  aunt  of  the  king,  who  owed  to  her  his 
orown,  as  he  did  his  education  and  throne  to  her 
husband  [Joash].  Zechariah  could  not  bear  to 
see  the  evil  courses  into  which  the  monarch 
eventually  fell,  and  by  which  the  return  of  the 
people  to  their  old  idolatries  was  facilitated,  if 
not  encouraged.  Therefore,  when  the  people 
were  assembled  at  one  of  the  solemn  festivals,  he 
took  the  opportunity  of  lifting  up  his  voice  against 
the  growing  corruptions.  This  was  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  king,  in  the  court  of  the  temple. 
The  people  were  enraged  at  his  honest  boldness, 
and  with  the  connivance  of  the  king,  if  not  by  a 
direct  intimation  from  him,  they  seized  the  pon- 
tiflF,  and  stoned  him  to  death,  even  in  that  holy 
spot,  '  between  the  temple  and  the  altar.'  His 
dying  cry  was  not  that  of  the  first  Christian 
martyr,  '  Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge ' 
(Acts  vii.  60),  but '  The  Lord  look  upon  it,  and 
require  it '  (2  Chron.  xxiv.  20-22).  It  is  to  this 
dreadful  affair  that  our  Lord  is  supposed  to  allude 
in  Matt,  xxiii.  35;  Luke  xi.  51. 

3.  Zechakiah,  described  as  one  '  who  had  un- 
derstanding in  the  visions  of  God '  (2  Chron. 
xxvi.  7).  It  is  doubtful  whether  this  eulogium 
indicates  a  prophet,  or  simply  describes  one  emi- 
nent for  his  piety  and  faith.  During  his  lifetime 
Uzziah,  king  of  Judah,  was  guided  by  his  coun- 
sels, and  prospered :  but  went  wrong  when  death 
had  deprived  him  of  his  wise  guidance.  Nothing 
is  known  of  this  Zechariah's  history.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  he  may  be  the  same  whose  daughter 
became  the  wife  of  Ahaz,  and  mother  of  Hezekiah 
(2  Kings  xvi.  1,  2 ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  1). 

4.  Zechariah,  son  of  Jeberechiah,  a  person 
whom,  together  with  Urijah  the  high  priest, 
Isaiah  took  as  a  legal  witness  of  his  marriage 
with  '  the  prophetess '  (Isa.  viii.  2).  This  was  iu 
the  reign  of  Ahaz,  and  the  choice  of  the  prophet 


shows  that  Zechariah  was  a  person  of  conse- 
quence. 

5.  Zechariah,  the  eleventh  in  order  of  the 
minor  prophets,  was  '  the  son  of  Berechiah,  the 
son  of  Iddo,  the  prophet.'  He  seems  to  have 
entered  upon  his  office  in  early  youth  (Zech.  ii.  4). 
The  period  of  bis  introduction  to  it  is  specified 
as  the  eighth  month  of  the  second  year  of  Darius, 
a  very  short  time  later  than  the  prophet  Haggai. 
The  mission  of  Zechariah  had  especial  reference 
to  the  affairs  of  the  nation  that  had  been  restored 
to  its  territory.  The  second  edict,  granting  per- 
mission to  rebuild  the  temple,  had  been  issued, 
and  the  office  of  Zechariah  was  to  incite  the 
flagging  zeal  of  the  people,  in  order  that  the  aus- 
picious period  might  be  a  season  of  religious  re- 
vival as  well  as  of  ecclesiastical  reorganization ; 
and  that  the  theocratic  spirit  might  resume  its 
former  tone  and  energy  in  the  breasts  of  all  who 
were  engaged  in  the  work  of  restoring  the  '  holy 
and  beautiful  house,'  where  their  fathers  had 
praised  Jehovah.  The  prophet  assures  them  of 
success  in  the  work  of  re-erecting  the  sacred 
edifice,  despite  of  every  combination  against 
them ;  for  Zerubbabel  '  should  bring  forth  the 
head  stone  with  shouting,  Grace,  grace  unto  it' — 
comforts  them  with  a  solemn  pledge  that,  amidst 
fearful  revolutions  and  conquests  by  which  other 
nations  were  to  be  swept  away,  they  should  re- 
main uninjured;  for,  says  Jehovah,  'He  that 
toucheth  you  toucheth  the  apple  of  mine  eye ' — 
sketches  in  a  few  vivid  touches  the  blessings  and 
glory  of  the  advent  of  Messiah — imparts  conso- 
lation to  those  who  were  mourning  over  their  un- 
worthiness,  and  pronounces  a  heavy  doom  on  the 
selfish  and  disobedient,  and  on  such  as  in  a  re- 
mote age,  imbibing  their  spirit,  '  should  fall  after 
the  same  example  of  unbelief.'  The  pseudo- 
Epiphanius  records  some  prodigies  wrought  by 
Zechariah  in  the  land  of  Chaldsea,  and  some 
wondrous  oracles  which  he  delivered ;  and  he 
and  Dorotheus  both  agree  in  declaring  that  the 
prophet  died  in  Judsea  in  a  good  old  age,  and  was 
buried  beside  his  colleague  Haggai. 

The  book  of  Zechariah  consists  of  four  general 
divisions. 

I.  The  introdactioD  or  inaugural  discourse  (ch. 
i.  1-16). 

II.  A  series  of  nine  visions,  extending  onwards 
to  ch.  vii.,  communicated  to  the  prophet  in  the 
third  month  after  his  installation.  These  visions 
were, — 

1.  A  rider  on  a  roan  horse  among  the  myrtle- 
trees,  with  his  equestrian  attendants,  who  report 
to  him  the  peace  of  the  world,  symbolizing  the 
fitness  of  the  time  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  pro- 
mises of  God,  his  people's  protector. 

2.  Four  horns,  symbols  of  the  oppressive  ene- 
mies by  which  Judah  had  been  on  all  sides  sur- 
rounded, and  four  carpenters,  by  whom  these 
horns  are  broken,  emblems  of  the  destruction  of 
these  anti-theocratic  powers. 

3.  A  man  with  a  measuring-line  describing  a 
wider  circumference  for  the  site  of  Jerusalem,  as 
its  population  was  to  receive  a  vast  increase, 
foreshowing  that  many  more  Jews  would  return 
ft-om  Babylon  and  join  their  countrymen,  and 
indicating  the  conversion  of  heathen  nations 
under  the  Messiah,  when  out  of  Zion  should  go 
forth  the  law  and  the  word  of  the  Lord  from  Je- 
rusalem. 


ZACHARIAH 

4.  The  high-priest  Joshua  before  the  angel  of 
the  Lord,  with  Satan  at  his  right  hand  to  oppose 
him.  The  sacerdotal  representative  of  the  people, 
clad  in  the  filthy  garments  in  which  he  had  re- 
turned from  captivity,  seems  to  be  a  type  of  the 
guilt  and  degradation  of  his  country  ;  while  for- 
giveness and  restoration  are  the  blessings  which 
the  pontiff  symbolically  receives  from  Jehovah, 
when  he  is  reclad  in  holy  apparel  and  crowned 
with  a  spotless  turban,  the  vision  at  the  same  time 
stretching  into  far  futurity,  and  including  the 
advent  of  Jehovah's  servant  the  Branch. 

5.  A  golden  lamp-stand  fed  from  two  olive- 
trees,  one  growing  on  each  side,  an  image  of  the 
value  and  divine  glory  of  the  theocracy  as  now 
seen  in  the  restored  Jewish  church,  supported, 
not  '  by  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah,'  and  of  the  spiritual  development  of 
the  old  theocracy  in  the  Christian  church,  which 
enlightens  the  world  through  the  continuous  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

6.  A  flying  roll,  the  breadth  of  the  temple- 
porch,  containing  on  its  one  side  curses  against 
(he  ungodly,  and  on  its  other  anathemas  against 
the  immoral,  denoting  that  the  head  of  the  theo- 
cracy, the  Lord  of  the  temple,  would  from  his 
place  punish  those  who  violated  either  the  first 
or  the  second  table  of  his  law. 

7.  A  woman  in  an  ephah  (at  length  pressed 
down  into  it  by  a  sheet  of  lead  laid  over  its 
mouth),  borne  along  in  the  air  by  two  female 
figures  with  storks'  wings,  representing  the  sin 
and  punishment  of  the  nation.  The  fury,  whose 
name  is  Wickedness,  is  repressed,  and  trans- 
ported to  the  laud  of  Shinar ;  {.  e.  idolatry,  in  the 
persons  of  the  captive  Jews,  was  for  ever  re- 
moved at  that  period  from  the  Holy  Land,  and, 
as  it  were,  taken  to  Babylon,  the  home  of  image- 
worship. 

8.  Four  chariots  issuing  from  two  copper 
mountains,  and  drawn  respectively  by  red,  black, 
white,  and  spotted  horses,  the  vehicles  of  the  four 
winds  of  heaven,  a  hieroglyph  of  the  swiftness 
and  extent  of  divine  judgments  against  the  former 
oppressors  of  the  covenant  people.  Judgments 
seem  issuing  from  God's  holy  habitation  in  the 
midst  of  the  '  mountains  which  are  round  about 
Jerusalem,'  or  from  between  those  two  hills,  the 
ravine  dividing  which  forms  the  valley  of  Jeho- 
shaphat,  directly  under  the  temple  mountain, 
where  dwelt  the  head  of  the  theocracy. 

9.  The  last  scene  is  not  properly  a  vision,  but 
an  oracle  in  connection  with  the  preceding  visions, 
and  in  reference  to  a  future  symbolical  act  to  be 
performed  by  the  prophet.  In  presence  of  a  de- 
portation of  Jews  from  Babylon,  the  prophet  was 
charged  to  place  a  crown  on  the  head  of  Joshua 
the  high-priest,  a  symbol  which,  whatever  was  its 
immediate  signification,  was  designed  to  pre- 
figure the  royal  and  sacerdotal  dignity  of  the 
man  whose  name  is  Branch,  who  should  sit  as 
•  a  priest  upon  his  tlirone.' 

The  meaning  of  all  the  preceding  varied  images 
and  scenes  is  explained  to  the  prophet  by  an 
attendant  angelic  interpreter. 

III.  A  collection  of  four  oracles  delivered  at 
various  times  in  the  fourth  year  of  Derius,  and 
partly  occasioned  by  a  request  of  the  nation  to 
be  divinely  informed,  whether,  now  on  their 
happy  return  to  their  fatherland,  the  month  of 
Jerusalem's  overthrow  should  be  registered  in 


ZEDEKIAH 


795 


the.ir  sacred  calendar  as  a  season  of  fasting  and 
humiliation.  The  prophet  declares  that  these 
times  should  in  future  ages  be  obsei-ved  as  festive 
solemnities. 

IV.  The  8th,  9th,  10th,  and  11th  chapters 
contain  a  variety  of  prophecies  unfolding  the 
fortunes  of  the  people,  their  safety  in  the  midst 
of  Alexander's  expedition,  and  their  victories 
under  the  Maccabaean  chieftains,  including  the 
fate  of  many  of  the  surrounding  nations,  Hadrach 
(Persia),  Damascus,  Tyre,  and  Philistia. 

V.  The  remaining  three  chapters  graphically 
portray  the  future  condition  of  the  people,  espe- 
cially in  Messianic  times,  and  contain  allusions 
to  the  siege  of  the  city,  the  means  of  escape  by 
the  cleaving  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  with  a 
symbol  of  twilight  breaking  into  day,  and  living 
water  issuing  from  Jerusalem,  concluding  with  a 
blissful  vision  of  the  enlarged  prosperity  and. 
holiness  of  the  theocratic  metropolis,  when  upon 
the  bells  of  the  horses  shall  be  inscribed  '  holiness 
unto  the  Lord.' 

The  language  of  Zechariah  has  not  the  purity 
and  freshness  of  a  former  age.  A  slight  tinge  of 
Chaldaism  pervades  the  composition.  The  sym- 
bols with  which  he  abounds  are  obscure,  and 
their  prosaic  structure  is  difiiise  and  unvaried. 
The  rhythm  of  his  poetry  is  unequal,  and  its 
parallelisms  are  inharmonious  and  disjointed. 
His  language  has  in  many  phrases  a  close 
alliance  with  that  of  the  other  prophets,  and 
occasional  imitations  of  them,  especially  of  Eze- 
kiel,  characterize  his  oracles.  He  is  also  peculiar 
in  his  introduction  of  spiritual  beings  into  his 
prophetic  scenes. 

6.  Zechariah,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist 
r  John  the  Baptist]. 

"  ZEDEKI'AH,  son  of  Josiah,  the  twentieth  and 
last  king  of  Judah,  was,  in  place  of  his  brother 
Jehoiakim,  set  ou  the  throne  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
who  changed  his  name  from  Mattaniah  to  that  by 
which  he  is  ordinarily  spoken  of  As  the  vassal 
of  the  Babylonian  monarch,  he  was  compelled  to 
take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  him,  which,  how- 
ever, he  observed  only  till  an  opportunity  ofiered 
for  throwing  ofi"  his  yoke.  Success  in  such  am 
undertaking  was  not  likely  to  attend  his  efforts. 
His  heart  was  not  right  before  God,  and  therefore 
was  he  left  without  divine  succour.  Corrupt  and 
weak,  he  gave  himself  up  into  the  hands  of  his 
nobles,  and  lent  an  ear  to  false  prophets ;  while 
the  faithful  lessons  of  Jeremiah  were  unwelcome, 
and  repaid  by  incarceration.  Like  all  of  his 
class,  he  was  unable  to  follow  good,  and  became 
the  slave  of  wicked  men,  afraid  alike  of  his  own 
nobility  and  of  his  foreign  enemies.  By  his  folly 
and  wickedness  he  brought  the  state  to  the  brink 
of  ruin.  Yet  the  danger  did  not  open  his  eyes. 
Instead  of  looking  to  Jehovah,  he  threw  himself 
for  support  on  Egypt,  when  the  Chaldsean  came 
into  the  land  and  laid  siege  to  his  capital.  The 
siege  was  begun  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  tenth 
month  in  the  ninth  year  of  his  reign.  For  a  year 
and  a  half  did  Jerusalem  eff"ectually  withstand 
Nebuchadnezzar.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  how- 
ever, the  city  was  stormed  and  taken  (B.C.  .588), 
when  Zedekiah,  who  had  fled,  was  captured  on 
the  road  to  Jericho.  Judgment  was  speedily  exe- 
cuted: his  sons  were  slain  before  his  eyes,  and  he 
himself  was  deprived  of  sight  and  sent  in  chains 
to  Babylon,  where  he  died  in  prison  (2  Bangs 


796 


ZEPHANIAH 


xxiv.  17,  seq. ;  xxv.  1,  seq. ;  2Chron,  xxxvi.  10, 
seq. ;  Jer.  xxviii. ;  xxxiv. ;  xxxvii. ;  xxxviii. ; 
xxxix. ;  lii.;  Ezek.  xvii.  15). 

ZELO'PHEH  AD,  son  of  Hepher,  a  descendant 
of  Joseph,  who  had  no  sons,  but  five  daughters. 
These  came  to  Moses  and  Eleazar  when  now  at 
the  edge  of  the  promised  land,  to  lay  their  case 
before  them  for  adjudication.  Their  father  had 
died  in  the  wilderness,  leaving  no  male  child. 
The  daughters  thought  themselves  entitled  to  take 
their  father's  share  of  the  land.  Moses  on  this 
brought  their  cause  before  Jehovah,  who  ordered 
that  they  should  receive  their  father's  inheritance, 
taking  occasion  to  establish  the  general  rule  :  '  If 
a  man  die,  and  have  no  son,  then  ye  shall  cause 
his  inheritance  to  pass  unto  his  daughter,'  and 
failing  daughters,  to  his  next  of  kin  (Num.  xxvi. 
33;  xxvii.  1,  sq.     Compare  Josh.  xvii.  3,  sq.). 

ZE'NAS,  a  disciple  who  visited  Crete  with 
Apollos,  bearing  seemingly  the  epistle  to  Titus, 
in  which  Paul  recommends  the  two  to  his  atten- 
tions (Tit.  iii.  13).  He  is  called 'the  lawyer;' 
and  as  his  name  is  Greek,  it  seems  doubtful  whe- 
ther he  is  so  called  as  being,  or  having  been,  a 
doctor  of  the  Jewish  law,  or  as  being  a  pleader 
at  the  Roman  tribunals.  The  most  probable  opi- 
nion is,  perhaps,  that  which  makes  him  an  Hel- 
lenistic Jew,  and  a  doctor  of  the  Mosaical  law. 

ZEPHANI'AH,  the  ninth  in  order  of  the 
minor  prophets.  The  name  seems  to  have  been  a 
common  one  among  the  Jews.  Contrary  to  usual 
custom,  the  pedigree  of  the  prophet  is  traced  back 
for  four  generations — '  the  son  of  Cushi,  the  son 
of  Gedaliah,  the  son  of  Amariah,  the  son  of  Hiz- 
kiah.'  As  there  was  at  least  another  Zephaniah,  a 
conspicuous  personage  at  the  time  of  the  captivity, 
the  parentage  of  the  prophet  may  have  been 
recounted  so  minutely  to  prevent  any  reader  from 
confounding  the  two  individuals.  The  so-called 
Epiphanius  asserts  that  Zephaniah  was  of  the 
tribe  of  Simeon,  of  the  hill  Sarabatha.  The 
existence  of  the  prophet  is  known  only  from  his 
oracles,  and  these  have  no  biographical  sketches ; 
so  that  our  knowledge  of  this  man  of  God  com- 
prises only  the  fact  and  the  results  of  his  inspira- 
tion. It  may  be  safely  inferred,  however,  that 
he  laboured  with  Josiah  in  the  pious  work  of  re- 
establishing the  worship  of  Jehovah  in  the  land. 

It  is  recorded  (ch.  i.)  that  the  word  of  the  Lord 
came  to  him  '  in  the  days  of  Josiah,  the  son  of 
Amon,  king  of  Judah.'  We  have  reason  for  sup- 
posing that  he  flourished  during  the  earlier  portion 
of  Josiah's  reign.  In  the  second  chapter  (vers. 
13-15)  he  foretells  the  doom  of  Nineveh,  and 
the  fall  of  that  ancient  city  happened  about  the 
eighteenth  year  of  Josiah.  In  the  commence- 
ment of  his  oracles  also,  he  denounces  various 
forms  of  idolatry,  and  specially  the  remnant  of 
Baal.  The  reformation  of  Josiah  began  in  the 
twelfth,  and  was  completed  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  his  reign.  So  thorough  was  his  extirpation  of 
the  idolatrous  rites  and  hierarchy  which  defiled 
his  kingdom,  that  be  bunit  down  the  groves,  dis- 
missed the  priesthood,  threw  down  the  altars,  and 
made  dust  of  the  images  of  Baalim.  Zephaniah 
must  have  prophesied  prior  to  this  religious  revolu- 
tion, while  some  remains  of  Baal  were  yet  secreted 
in  the  land,  or  between  the  twelfth  and  eighteenth 
years  of  the  royal  reformer.  So  Hitzig  and 
Movers  place  him ;  while  Eichhorn,  Bertholdt, 
and  Jaeger  incline  to  give  him  a  somewhat  later 


ZEPHATHAH 

date.  At  all  events,  he  flourished  between  the 
years  B.C.  642  and  B.C.  611 ;  and  the  portion  of 
his  prophecy  which  refers  to  the  destruction  of 
the  Assyrian  empire  must  have  been  delivered 
prior  to  the  year  B.C.  625,  the  year  in  which 
Nineveh  fell.  The  publication  of  these  oracles 
was,  therefore,  contemporary  with  a  portion  of 
those  of  Jeremiah,  for  the  word  of  the  Lord  came 
to  him  in  the  thirteenth  year  of  the  reign  of 
Josiah.  Indeed,  the  Jewish  tradition  is,  that 
Zephaniah  had  for  his  colleagues  Jeremiah  and 
the  prophetess  Huldah,  the  former  fixing  his 
sphere  of  labour  in  the  thoroughfares  and  market- 
places, the  latter  exercising  her  honourable  voca- 
tion in  the  college  in  Jerusalem. 

The  book  consists  of  only  three  chapters.  In 
the  first,  the  sins  of  the  nation  are  severely 
reprimanded,  and  a  day  of  fearful  retribution  is 
menaced.  The  circuit  of  reference  is  wider  in 
the  second  chapter,  and  the  ungodly  and  perse- 
cuting states  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Judsea  are 
also  doomed ;  but  in  the  third  section,  while  the 
prophet  inveighs  bitterly  against  Jerusalem  and 
her  magnates,  he  concludes  with  the  cheering 
prospect  of  her  ultimate  settlement  and  blissful 
theocratic  enjoyment. 

The  style  of  this  prophet  has  not  the  sustained 
majesty  of  Isaiah,  or  the  sublime  and  original 
energ)-  of  Joel :  it  has  no  prominent  feature  of 
distinction ;  yet  its  delineations  are  graphic,  and 
many  of  its  touches  are  bold  and  striking.  For 
example,  in  the  first  chapter  the  prophet  groups 
together  in  his  descriptions  of  the  national  idolatry 
several  characteristic  exhibitions  of  its  forms  and 
worship.  The  verses  are  not  tame  and  prosaic 
portraiture,  but  form  a  series  of  vivid  sketches. 
The  poet  seizes  on  the  more  strange  peculiarities 
of  the  heathen  worship — uttering  denunciations 
on  the  remnant  of  Baal,  the  worshippers  of  Che- 
marim — the  star-adorers,  the  devotees  of  Mal- 
cham,  the  fanatics  who  clad  themselves  in  strange 
apparel,  and  those  who  in  some  superstitious 
mummery  leapt  upon  the  threshold.  Not  a  few 
verses  occur  in  the  course  of  the  prophecy  which, 
in  tone  and  dignity,  are  not  unworthy  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  the  more  distinguished  effusions  of 
the  Hebrew  bards.  The  language  is  pure  :  it  has 
not  the  classic  ease  and  elegance  of  the  earlier 
compositions,  but  it  wants  the  degenerate  feeble- 
ness and  Aramaic  corruption  of  the  succeeding 
era.  Zephaniah  is  not  expressly  quoted  in  the 
New  Testament;  but  clauses  and  expressions 
occur  which  seem  to  ha-ve  been  formed  from  his 
prophecy  (Zeph.  iii.  9  ;  Rom.  xv.  6,  &c.).  He 
was,  in  fine,  as  Cyril  of  Alexandria  terms  him,  '  a 
true  prophet,  and  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  bringing  his  oracles  from  the  mouth  of 
God.' 

ZE'PHATH,  a  Canaanitish  city,  afterwards 
called  Hormah  (Judg.  i.  17).  The  ancient  de- 
signation is  perhaps  retained  in  the  modern  Sufah, 
the  name  of  a  difficult  pass  leading  up  from  the 
Arabah  to  the  south  of  Judah. 

ZEPH'ATHAH,  a  valley  at  Mareshah,  in  the 
tribe  of  Judah  (2  Chron.  xiv.  10),  where  Asa  de- 
feated Zerah  the  Cushite.  Mareshah  was  near 
Eleutheropolis,  and  Robinson  thinks  the  valley 
may  have  been  the  broad  wady  which  comes 
down  from  Beit  Jibrin  (Eleutheropolis)  towards 
Tell  es-Saifeh;  in  which  last  name  a  trace  of 
Zeohathah  may  verhaps  be  recognised. 


ZIBA 

1.  ZE'RAH  (a  rising),  son  of  Judah  and  Ta- 
niar,  and  younger  but  twin  brother  of  Pharez 
(Gen.  xxxviii.  30;  Matt.  i.  3). 

2.  ZERAH,  son  of  Reuel  and  grandson  of  Esau 
(Gen.  xxxvi.  13,  17). 

3.  ZERAH,  son  of  Simeon  and  founder  of  a 
family  in  Israel  (Num.  xxvi.  13).  He  is  called 
Zohar  in  Gen.xlvi.  10:  his  descendants  are  called 
Zarhites  in  Num.  xxvi.  13,  20. 

4.  ZERAH,  the  Cushite  king  or  leader  -who 
invaded  Judah  in  the  tenth  year  of  king  Asa  (b.c. 
941),  with  an  army  of  'a  thousand  thousands' 
(i.  e.  very  many  thousands)  of  men,  and  three 
hundred  chariots.  Asa  defeated  them  in  the  val- 
ley of  Zephathah  at  Mareshah,  utterly  routed  them, 
pursued  them  to  Gerar,  and  carried  back  much 
plunder  from  that  neighbourhood.  We  are  left 
uncertain  as  to  the  country  from  -which  Zerah 
came,  and  no  conjecture  has  yet  been  made  which 
is  without  serious  diflSculties. 

ZE'RED,  the  name  of  a  valley  (Num.  xxi.  12) 
and  of  the  stream  flowing  through  it,  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea  [Riveb]. 

ZER'EDA,  a  city  of  Manasseh,  near  Beth-shan 
(1  Kings  xi.  26 ;  2  Chron.  iv.  17). 

ZE'RESH  (Pers.  gold),  the  wife  of  Haman 
(Esth.  V.  10 ;  vi.  13),  and  well  worthy  of  him,  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  advice  she  gave  him  to 
prepare  a  gibbet  and  ask  the  king's  leave  to  hang 
Mordecai  thereon  [Haman  ;  Mokdecai]. 

ZERU'AH  (leprous),  the  widowed  mother  of 
Jeroboam  (1  Kings  xi.  26). 

ZERUB'BABEL  (sown  in  Babylon),  called  also 
*  Sheshbazzar,  prince  of  Judah '  (Ezra  i.  8),  son 
(comp.  1  Chron.  iii.  17)  of  Shealtiel,  of  the  royal 
house  of  David  (1  Chron.  iii.),  was  the  leader  of 
the  first  colony  of  Jews  that  returned  from  cap- 
tivity to  their  native  land  under  the  permission  of 
Cyrus,  carrying  with  them  the  precious  vessels 
belonging  to  the  service  of  God.  With  the  aid  of 
Joshua  and  his  body  of  priests,  Zerubbabel  pro- 
ceeded, on  his  arrival  in  Palestine,  to  rebuild  the 
fallen  city,  beginning  with  the  altar  of  burnt- 
offerings,  in  order  that  the  daily  services  might 
be  restored.  The  Samaritans,  however,  having 
been  ofifended  at  being  expressly  excluded  from 
a  share  in  the  land,  did  all  they  could  to  hinder 
the  work,  and  even  procured  from  the  Persian 
court  an  order  that  it  should  be  stopped.  Ac- 
cordingly, everything  remained  suspended  till  the 
second  year  of  Darius  Hystaspis  (b.c.  521),  when 
the  restoration  was  resumed  and  carried  to  com- 
pletion, according  to  Josephns,  owing  to  the  in- 
fluence of  Zerubbabel  with  the  Persian  monarch 
(Antiq.  xi.  3;  Ezra;  Haggai  i.  1-14;  ii.  1). 

ZERUI'AH  (wounded),  daughter  of  Jesse,  sister 
of  David  (1  Chron.  ii.  16),  and  mother  of  Joab, 
Abishai,  and  Asahel  (2  Sam.  ii.  18;  iii.  39;  viii. 
16  ;  xvi.  9). 

ZI'BA  (statue),  a  servant  of  the  house  of  Saul, 
of  whom  David  inquired  if  there  was  any  one  left 
of  the  house  of  Saul  to  whom  the  monarch  might 
show  favour.  Mephibosheth  was  in  consequence 
found,  and  having  been  certified  of  David's  friend- 
ship, Ziba,  who  was  at  the  head  of  a  large  family, 
having  fifteen  sons  and  twenty  slaves,  was  ap- 
pointed to  till  the  land  for  the  prince,  and 
generally  to  constitute  his  household  and  do  him 
service  (2  Sam.  ix.  2-10).  This  position  Ziba 
employed  for  his  master's  harm.  When  David 
had  to  fly  from  Jerusalem  ia  consequence  of  the 


ZIKLAG  797 

rebellion  of  Absalom,  Ziba  met  the  king  with  a 
large  and  acceptable  present : — '  But  where  is 
Mephibosheth  ?'  asked  the  fugitive  monarch  ;  '  in 
Jerusalem,'  was  the  answer ;  '  for  he  said.  To-day 
shall  the  house  of  Israel  restore  me  the  kingdom 
of  my  father.'  Enraged  at  this,  which  looked 
like  ingratitude  as  well  as  treachery,  David  there- 
upon gave  to  the  faithless  Ziba  all  the  property  of 
Mephibosheth  (2  Sam.  xvi.  1,  sq.).  On  David's 
return  to  his  metropolis  an  explanation  took  place, 
when  Mephibosheth  accused  Ziba  of  having  slan- 
dered him ;  and  David,  apparently  not  being  per- 
fectly satisfied  with  the  defence,  gave  his  final 
award,  that  the  land  should  be  divided  between 
the  master  and  his  servant  (2  Sam.  xix.  24,  sq.). 

ZIB'EON  (dyed),  a  son  of  Seir,  phylarch  or 
head  of  the  Hivites  (Gen.  xxxvi.  2,  20,  24,  29). 

ZICH'RI  (renowned),  an  Ephraimite,  probably 
one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  tribe,  and  one  of  the 
generals  of  Pekah  king  of  Israel.  It  has  been 
supposed  that  he  took  advantage  of  the  victory  of 
this  monarch  over  the  army  of  Judah  to  penetrate 
into  Jerusalem,  where  he  slew  one  of  the  sons  of 
Ahaz,  the  governor  of  the  palace,  and  the  king's 
chief  minister  or  favourite.  It  is  difficult  without 
this  supposition  to  explain  2  Chron.  xxviii.  17. 
There  is  some  probability  in  the  conjecture,  that 
he  was  the  '  Tabael's  son  whom  Pekah  and  Rezin 
designed  to  set  upon  the  throne  of  Judah  [Ta- 
baelJ. 

ZI'DON.  1.  The  eldest  son  of  Canaan  (Gen. 
X.  15).  2.  One  of  the  most  ancient  cities  in  Phoe- 
nicia. Justin  derives  the  name  from  the  Phoenician 
word  for  Jish ;  but  Josephus,  from  the  son  of  Ca- 
naan. It  had  a  very  commodious  harbour,  which 
is  now  nearly  choked  up  with  sand :  it  was  distant 
one  day's  journey  from  the  fountains  of  the  Jordan, 
400  stadia  from  Berytus,  and  200  stadia  from  Tyre 
(Strabo,  xvi.  pp.  756,  757).  It  was  situated  in 
the  allotment  of  the  tribe  of  Asher,  but  never 
conquered  (Judg.  i.  31);  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
sometimes  a  formidable  enemy  (Judg.  x.  12). 
Even  in  Joshua's  time  it  was  called  Tsidon- 
Rabba,  or  Great  Zidon  (Josh.  xix.  28).  It  was 
noted  in  very  early  times  for  its  extensive  traffic 
(Isa.  xxiii.  2  ;  Ezek.  xxvii.  8)  and  manufactures, 
particularly  glass.  Frequent  reference  to  it  occurs 
in  Homer.  "The  best  vessels  in  the  fleet  of  Xerxes 
were  Sidouian.  Its  modern  name  is  Saide.  In 
Hasselquist's  time  (1750)  its  exports  to  France 
were  considerable;  but  at  present  its  traffic  is 
chiefly  confined  to  the  neighbouring  towns ;  the 
population  is  about  15,000. 

ZIF  (bloom-mouth),  an  ante-Exilian  name  of 
the  second  Hebrew  month  (1  Kings  vi.  1-37),  cor- 
responding with  our  April  and  May.  This,  the 
second  month  of  the  sacred,  was  the  eighth  of  the 
civil  year.  The  second  month  bore  also  the  name 
lyar. 

ZIK'LAG,  a  city  belonging  to  the  tribe  of 
Simeon  (Josh.  xv.  31 ;  xix.  5),  but  at  times  sub- 
ject to  the  Philistines  of  Gath,  whose  king,  Achish, 
bestowed  it  upon  David  for  a  residence ;  after 
which  it  pertained  to  Judah  (1  Sam.  xxvii.  6 ; 
XXX.  1,  14,  26 ;  2  Sam.  i.  1 ;  1  Chron.  iv.  30 ; 
Neh.  xi.  28). 

While  David  was  absent  with  his  men  to  join 
Achish,  Ziklag  was  burned  and  plundered  by  the 
Amalekites;  and  on  his  return,  after  receiving 
the  spoil  from  them,  he  remained  here  till  called 
to  assume  the  crown  after  the  death  of  Saul.    It 


798 


ZIPH 


\ras  during  his  stay  iu  this  place  that  he  was 
joined  by  many  considerable  and  valiant  persons, 
■whose  adhesion  to  his  cause  was  of  much  import- 
ance to  him,  and  who  were  ever  after  held  in 
high  esteem  in  his  court  and  army. 

ZIL'LAH  (shade),  one  of  the  wives  of  La- 
mech,  and  mother  of  Tubal-cain  (Gen.  iv.  19) 
[Lamech]. 

ZIL'PAH  (a  dropping),  a  female  servant  of 
Laban,  whom  he  gave  to  Leah  on  her  marriage 
with  Jacob  (Gen.  xxix.  24),  and  whom  Leah 
eventually  induced  him  to  take  as  a  concubine- 
wife  ;  in  which  capacity  she  became  the  mother 
of  Gad  and  Asher  (Gen.  xxx.  9-13;  xxxv.  26  ; 
xxxvii.  2  ;  xlvi.  18). 

ZIM'RAN  {sung,  i.  e.  celebrated  in  song),  a  son 
of  Abraham  by  Keturah,  and  the  name  of  an 
Arabian  tribe  descended  from  him  (Gen.  xxv.  2  ; 
1  Chron.  i.  32).  This  name  may  perhaps  be  con- 
nected with  the  Zabram  mentioned  by  Ptolemy 
as  a  city  with  a  king,  situated  between  Mecca 
and  Medina. 

ZIM'RL  There  are  four  persons  of  this  name 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament : — 

1.  A  son  of  Zerah,  who  was  a  son  of  Judah  by 
Tamar  (1  Chron.  ii.  6). 

2.  The  name  of  the  Israelite  slain,  together 
with  the  Midianitish  woman,  in  Shittim,  by 
Phinehas,  was  Zimri,  the  son  of  Salu,  a  prince 
of  a  chief  house  among  the  Simeonites  (Num. 
xxv.  14). 

3.  King  Saul  begat  Jonathan,  who  begat  Merib- 
baal,  who  begat  Micah,  who  begat  Ahaz,  who 
begat  Jehoadah,  whose  sons  were  Alemeth,  Az- 
maveth,  and  Zimri.  Zimri  begat  Moza,  &c. 
(1  Chron.  viii.  36  ;  ix.  42). 

4.  In  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  Asa,  king  of 
Judah,  Elah,  the  son  of  Baasha,  began  to  reign 
over  Israel  in  Tirzah.  After  he  had  reigned  two 
years,  Zimri,  the  captain  of  half  his  chariots, 
conspired  against  him  when  he  was  in  Tirzah, 
drunk  in  the  house  of  his  steward.  Zimri  went 
in  and  smote  and  killed  him,  and  reigned  in  his 
stead,  about  b.c.  928  ;  and  he  slew  all  the  house 
of  Baasha,  so  that  no  male  was  left.  Zimri 
reigned  only  seven  days  at  Tirzah.  The  people 
who  were  encamped  at  Gibbethon,  which  belonged 
to  the  Philistines,  heard  that  Zimri  had  slain  the 
king.  They  made  Omri,  the  captain  of  the  host, 
king  over  Israel  in  the  camp.  Omri  besieged 
Tirzah  and  took  it.  Zimri,  seeing  that  the  city 
was  taken,  went  into  the  king's  palace,  set  it  on 
fire,  and  perished  in  it  for  his  sins  iu  walking  in 
the  way  of  Jeroboam,  and  for  making  Israel  to 
sin  (1  Kings  xvi.  1-20 ;  2  Kings  ix.  31). 

5.  The  kings  of  Zimri,  mentioned  in  Jer.  xxv. 
25,  seem  to  have  been  the  kings  of  the  Zimranites, 
the  descendants  of  Zimran,  son  of  Abraham  by 
Keturah  (Gen.  xxv.  2  ;   1  Chron.  i.  32). 

ZIN,  a  desert  on  the  south  of  Palestine,  and 
westward  from  Idumaea,  in  which  was  situated 
the  city  of  Kadesh-barnea  (Num.  xiii.  22  ;  xx.  1 ; 
xxvii.  14).  Its  locality  is  therefore  fixed  by  the 
considerations  which  determine  the  site  of  Ka- 
desh  to  the  western  part  of  the  Arabah  south  of 
the  Dead  Sea. 

ZrON.     [Jerusalem.] 

ZIPH,  the  name  of  a  city  in  the  tribe  of  Judah 
(Josh.  XV.  55  ;  2  Chron.  xi.  8),  and  of  a  desert 
in  its  vicinity  (1  Sam.  xxiii.  14,  15).  It  is  men- 
tioned by  Jerome  ( Onomast.  s.  v.),  but  had  not 


ZOAN 

been  since  noticed  till  Dr.  Robinson  found  the 
name  iu  the  Tell  Zif  (Hill  of  Zif  ),  which  occurs 
about  four  miles  and  a  half  S.  by  E.  from  Hebron-, 
and  is  a  round  eminence  about  a  hundred  ffce> 
high,  situated  in  a  plain.  A  site  also  called  Zif, 
lies  about  ten  minutes  east  of  this,  upon  a  low 
hill  or  ridge  between  two  small  wadys,  which 
commence  here  and  run  towards  tht  Dead  Sea. 
There  is  now  little  to  be  seen  besides  broken 
walls  and  foundations,  mostly  of  unhewn  stones, 
but  indicative  of  solidity. 

ZIPPOR'AH  {little  bird),  one  .>f  the  seven 
daughters  of  Reuel  (comp.  Exod.  xviii.),  priest 
of  Midian,  who,  in  consequence  of  aid  rendered 
to  the  young  women  when,  on  their  going  to  pro- 
cure water  for  their  father's  flocks,  they  were  set 
on  by  a  party  of  Bedouins,  was  given  to  Moses 
in  marriage  (Exod.  ii.  16,  sq.).  A  son,  the  fruit 
of  this  union,  remained  for  some  time  after  his 
birth  uncircumcised ,  but  an  illness  into  which 
Moses  fell  in  a  khan  when  on  his  way  to  Pharaoh, 
being  accounted  a  token  of  the  divine  displeasure, 
led  to  the  circumcision  of  the  child,  when  Zip- 
porah,  having  it  appears  reluctantly  yielded  to 
the  ceremony,  exclaimed,  '  Surely  a  bloody  hus- 
band thou  art  to  me '  (Exod.  iv.  26).  This  event 
seems  to  have  caused  some  alienation  of  feeling, 
for  Moses  sent  his  wife  back  to  her  father,  by 
whom  she  is  again  brought  to  her  husband  v/hile 
in  the  desert,  when  a  reconciliation  took  place, 
which  was  ratified  by  religious  rites  (Gen.  xviii. 
l,sq.). 

ZIPPORIS,  or  Sepphoris,  was,  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era,  a  principal  and 
strongly  fortified  city  of  Galilee,  under  latitude 
32°  44'.  It  was  surrounded  by  many  villages, 
and  situated  near  Mount  Asamon  in  the  centre  of 
Galilee,  in  a  very  strong  and  secure  situation. 
It  is  also  called  Diocsesarea,  Sepphoris,  and  Se- 
phorum,  and  described  as  contiguous  to  Mount 
Carmel  and  Cana,  six  miles  west  of  Nazareth, 
and  twenty  from  Tiberias.  Zipporis  is  celebrated 
in  the  works  of  Josephus  as  a  military  station, 
and  in  the  Talmud  on  account  of  its  famed  rab- 
binical academy.  Rabbi  Judah  Hakkadosh,  or 
the  Saint,  resided  seventeen  years  in  Zipporis, 
and  he  used  frequently  to  say  that  Jacob  so- 
journed in  Egypt  seventeen  years,  and  Judah 
in  Zipporis  seventeen  years.  He  resided  also  in 
Beth-shaarim,  but  died  in  Zipporis.  Josephus 
mentions  Sepphoris  frequently  as  the  greatest  town 
of  Galilee,  and  built  in  a  well-fortified  situation. 
It  was  one  of  the  five  cities  in  which  the  assem- 
blies of  the  Synedrium  were  held.  It  was  de- 
stroyed A.D.  339,  in  consequence  of  the  rebellion 
of  its  citizens. 

ZIZ,  a  cliff  or  pass  leading  up  from  the  Dead 
Sea  towards  Jerusalem,  by  which  the  bands  of 
the  Moabites  and  Ammonites  advanced  against 
Jehoshaphat  (2  Chron.  xx.  16).  They  seem  to 
have  come  round  the  south  end  of  the  Dead  Sea, 
and  along  the  western  shore  as  far  as  Engedi, 
where  there  is  a  pass  which  leads  out  northward 
towards  Tekoa.  This  is  the  route  which  is  taken 
by  the  Arabs  in  their  marauding  expeditions  at 
the  present  day. 

ZO'AN,  an  ancient  city  of  Lower  Egypt,  situ- 
ated on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Tanitic  branch  of 
the  Nile.  Zoan  is  of  considerable  Scriptural 
interest.  It  was  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  Egypt, 
having   been  boilt  seven  years  after  Hebron, 


ZOAN 

which  already  existed  in  the  time  of  Abraham 
(Num.  xiii.  22;  comp.  Gen.  xxii.  2).  It  seems 
also  to  have  been  one  of  the  principal  capitals,  or 
royal  abodes,  of  the  Pharaohs  (Isa.  xix.  11,  13; 
XXX.  4)  ;  and  accordingly  '  the  field  of  Zoau,'  or 
the  fine  alluvial  plain  around  the  city,  is  de- 
scribed as  the  scene  of  the  marvellous  works 
which  God  wrought  in  the  time  of  Moses  (Ps. 
Ixxviii.  12,  33).  The  destruction  predicted  in 
Ezek.  XXX.  14,  has  long  since  befallen  Zoan.  The 
'  field '  is  now  a  barren  waste ;  a  canal  passes 
through  it  without  being  able  to  fertilize  the  soil ; 
'  fire  has  been  set  in  Zoan :'  and  the  royal  city  is 
now  the  habitation  of  fishermen,  the  resort  of 
wild  beasts,  and  infested  by  reptiles  and  malig- 
nant fevers.  The  locality  is  covered  with  mounds 
of  unusual  height  and  extent,  full  of  the  frag- 
ments of  pottery  which  such  sites  usually  exhibit 
These  extend  for  about  a  mile  from  north  to 
south,  by  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  The 
area  in  which  the  sacred  enclosure  of  the  temple 
stood,  is  about  1500  feet  by  1250,  surrounded  by 
the  mounds  of  fallen  houses,  whose  increased 
elevation  above  the  site  of  the  temple  is  doubtless 
attributable  to  the  frequent  change  in  the  level 
of  the  houses  to  protect  them  from  the  inunda- 
tion, and  the  unaltered  position  of  the  sacred 
buildings.  There  is  a  gateway  of  granite  and 
fine  gritstone  to  the  enclosure  of  this  temple, 
bearing  the  name  of  Rameses  the  Great.  Though 
in  a  very  ruinous  condition,  the  fragments  of 
walls,  columns,  and  fallen  obelisks  sufficiently 
attest  the  former  splendour  of  the  building  to 
which  they  belonged.  The  obelisks  are  all  of 
the  time  of  Rameses  the  Great  (b.c.  1355).  The 
name  of  this  king  most  frequently  occurs ;  but 
the  ovals  of  his  successor  Pthamen,  of  Osirtasen 
III.,  and  of  Tirhakah,  have  also  been  found.  The 
time  of  Osirtasen  III.  ascends  nearly  to  that  of 
Joseph,  and  his  name,  therefore,  corroborates  the 
Scriptural  account  of  the  antiquity  of  the  town. 
Two  black  statues,  and  a  granite  sphinx,  with 
blocks  of  hewn  and  occasionally  sculptured  gra- 
nite, are  among  the  objects  which  engage  the 
attention  of  the  few  travellers  who  visit  this  deso- 
late place.  The  modern  village  of  San  consists 
of  mere  huts,  with  the  exception  of  a  ruined  kasr 
of  modern  date. 

ZO'AR,  a  town  originally  called  Bala,  and  one 
of  the  five  cities  of  the  plain  of  Siddim.  It  was 
doomed  with  the  rest  to  destruction,  but  spared 
at  the  intercession  of  Lot  as  a  place  to  which  he 
might  escape.  He  alleged  the  smallness  of  the 
city  as  a  ground  for  asking  this  favour;  and 
hence  the  place  acquired  the  name  of  Zoar,  or 
'  smallness'  (Gen.  xiii.  10  ;  xiv.  2,  8  ;  xix.  20, 
22,  30).  It  is  only  again  mentioned  in  Deut. 
xxxiv.  3  ;  Isa.  xv.  5 ;  Jer.  xlviii.  34 ;  which  pas- 
sages indicate  that  it  belonged  to  the  Moabites, 
and  was  a  place  of  some  consequence.  Eusebius 
and  Jerome  describe  it  as  having  in  their  day 
many  inhabitants,  and  a  Roman  garrison.  Stephen 
of  Byzantium  calls  it  a  large  village  and  fortress. 
In  the  Ecclesiastical  Notitia  it  is  mentioned  as 
the  seat  of  a  bishop  of  the  Third  Palestine,  down 
to  the  centuries  preceding  the  Crusades.  The 
Crusaders  seem  to  have  found  it  under  the  nam* 
of  Segor,  and  they  describe  the  place  as  pleasantly 
situated,  with  many  palm-trees.  Dr.  Robinson 
supjyjses  that  it  must  have  lain  on  the  east  of  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  he  thinks  that  Irby  and  Mangles 


ZORAH 


799 


have  rightly  fixed  its  position  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Wady  Kerak,  at  the  point  where  the  latter  opens 
upon  the  isthmus  of  the  long  peninsula  which 
stands  out  from  the  eastern  shore  of  the  lake 
towards  its  southern  end.  At  this  point  Irby  and 
Mangles  discovered  the  remains  of  an  ancient 
town.  Here  '  stones  that  have  been  used  in 
building,  though  for  the  most  part  unknown,  are 
strewed  over  a  great  surface  of  uneven  ground, 
and  mixed  with  bricks  and  pottery.  This  ap- 
pearance continues  without  interruption,  during 
the  space  of  at  least  half  a  mile,  quite  down  to 
the  plain,  so  that  it  would  seem  to  have  been  a 
place  of  considerable  extent.  We  noticed  one 
column,  and  we  found  a  pretty  specimen  of 
antique  variegated  glass.  It  may  possibly  be  the 
site  of  the  ancient  Zoar  '  (Travels,  p.  448). 

ZO'BAH,  a  Syrian  kingdom,  whose  king  made 
war  with  Saul  (1  Sam.  xiv.  47),  with  David  (2 
Sam.  viii.  3 ;  x.  6),  and  with  Solomon  (2  Chron. 
viii.  3). 

1.  ZO'HAR  (whiteness'),  a  son  of  Simeon  [Ze- 
rah]. 

2.  ZOHAR,  the  father  of  Ephron  the  HittitK 
(Gen.  xxiii.  8;  xxv.  9). 

3.  ZOHAR  (in  Keri ;  in  Chetib,  Jezoar),  a 
descendant  of  Judah  (1  Chron.  iv.  7). 

ZO'PHAR  (sparrow  f),  one  of  Job's  three 
friends  and  opponents  in  argument  (Job  ii.  11; 
xi.  1 ;  XX.  1  ;  xiii.  9).  He  is  called  a  Naama- 
thite,  or  inhabitant  of  Naamah,  a  place  whose  si- 
tuation is  unknown,  as  it  could  not  be  the  Naamah 
mentioned  in  Josh.  xv.  41.  Wemyss,  in  his  Job 
and  his  Times  (p.  Ill),  well  characterizes  this 
interlocutor : — '  Zophar  exceeds  the  other  two,  if 
possible,  in  severity  of  censure ;  he  is  the  most 
inveterate  of  the  accusers,  and  speaks  without 
feeling  or  pity.  He  does  little  more  than  repeat 
and  exaggerate  the  arguments  of  Bildad.  He  un- 
feelingly alludes  (ch.  xi.  15)  to  the  efi'ects  of 
Job's  disease  as  appearing  in  his  countenance. 
This  is  cruel  and  invidious.  Yet  in  the  same 
discourse  how  nobly  does  he  treat  of  the  divine 
attributes,  showing  that  any  inquiry  into  them  is 
far  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  human  mind  !  And 
though  the  hortatory  part  of  the  first  discourse 
bears  some  resemblance  to  that  of  Eliphaz,  yet  it 
is  diversified  by  the  fine  imagery  which  he  em- 
ploys. He  seems  to  have  had  a  full  conviction 
of  the  providence  of  God,  as  regulating  and  con- 
trolling the  actions  of  men  ;  but  he  limits  all  his 
reasonings  to  a  present  life,  and  makes  no  refer- 
ence to  a  future  world.  This  circumstance  alone 
accounts  for  the  weakness  and  fallacy  of  these 
men's  judgments.  In  his  second  discourse  there 
is  much  poetical  beauty  in  the  selection  of  images, 
and  the  general  doctrine  is  founded  in  truth  ;  its 
fallacy  lies  in  its  application  to  Job's  peculiar 
case.  The  whole  indicates  great  warmth  of  tem- 
per, inflamed  by  misapprehension  of  its  object 
and  by  mistaken  zeal.' 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  Zophar  has  but  two 
speeches,  whereas  the  others  have  three  each. 
When  Job  had  replied  (ch.  xxvi.-xxxi.)  to  the 
short  address  of  Bildad  (ch.  xxv.),  a  rejoinder 
might  have  been  expected  from  Zophar ;  but  he 
said  nothing,  the  three  friends,  by  common  con- 
sent, then  giving  up  the  contest  in  despair  (ch. 
xxxii.  1)  [Job]. 

ZO'RAH  (hornets'  town),  a  town  reckoned  ag 
in  the  plain  of  Judah  (Josh.  xv.  33),  but  inha- 


800 


ZURIEL 


bited  by  Danites  (xix.  41),  not  far  from  Eshtaol, 
and  chiefly  celebrated  as  the  birthplace  of  Samson 
(Judg.  xiii.  2,  25  ;  xviii.  2, 8,  11 ;  comp.  2  Chron. 
xi.  12;  Neh.  xi.  29).  The  site  may  still  be  re- 
cognised under  the  name  of  Surah,  situated  upon 
a  spur  of  the  mountains  running  into  the  plain 
north  of  Beth-shemesh. 

ZU'KIEL  {God  is  my  rock),  son  of  Abihail, 
and  family  chief  or  genesarch  of  the  Merarites  at 
the  organkatioQ  of  the  Levitical  establishment 


ZDZIMS 

(Num.  iii.  35).  It  does  not  appear  to  which  of 
the  two  great  divisions  of  the  Merarites  he  be- 
longed. 

ZU'ZIMS,  one  of  the  ancient  tribes  or  nations 
conquered  by  Chedorlaomer  and  his  allies  (Gen. 
xiv.  5).  The  Zuzims  were  settled  beyond  the 
Jordan,  and  are  perhaps  the  same  as  the  Zam- 
zummims  of  Deut.  ii.  20.  The  Syriac  and  Onke- 
los,  like  the  Septuagint,  take  the  word  for  an 
appellative,  signifying  'strong'  or  « valiant.' 


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